A New Platform [Intro Post April!]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

Two days after they return from their mission they are awoken as usual "Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Egret. The shop has been updated and points have been applied to passengers tickets."

Those that go to check the shop terminals will find they have indeed updated, with the option to buy larger items and also animals. The morning goes on until just after noon there is a second announcement.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and they are soon surrounded by the fog that means they are at a platform. Though the fog is thick, thicker than usual perhaps, there are patches on sunlight shining through and it is pleasantly warm.

The doors open and the first few to disembark do so with rucksacks on, hoods pulled up, silent and almost blank faced. Cu Chulain, Dio Brando, Disreputable Dog, Heiji Hattori, Loki Maedhros, Maglor, Naruto, Thor, Tobias Fangor.

They walk to the barriers, show their tickets and disappear.

But on the platform itself there are once again new faces. All are stood, waiting for the train.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam. Billowing around them as they come to their senses. They are standing, in clothes that are not their own, styles they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze but then as people begin to shift or call out it will become apparent they are not alone.

The platform is not large and it holds eighteen figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. It's warm but foggy making it hard to see much, but there are clearer patches bathed in sunlight found across the platform. Both left and right the tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is a roaring sound and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out into the cold step a selection of people. Some are human, some are less so. They are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple.

The Train

The doors hiss open. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there is anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would not be a good thing. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information. The store rooms have been restocked with an abundance of onions, in case the passengers weren't bored of them yet.

Passengers who are not brand new will notice that the train has gotten yet longer again with a sixth sleeper cabin for new arrivals.

New passengers will find their tickets allow them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches and you will hopefully find a pillow for your bed if it has not been nabbed by a roommate, there are also spare blankets for if it gets cold.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express.” A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Comments

[bethereprompto]

His fingers curled around Noct's, feeling like he finally had a piece of him that had been missing ever since he got thrown from the train. "You're mine too. And Noct.. this doesn't change how I feel about you. I'm sorry this came up so fast too. Like, you just got here and this is a lot being thrown your way. So for that, I'm sorry."

His gaze managed to find Noct's again and his smile was creeping back. "It's pretty amazing. Not only that but like.. we don't have anyone after us here. So, we can really just be us." He blinked back a little emotion in his eyes as he thought about it. "It's a relief. And now that you're here? It's.. I don't know. It's incredible. You being here is incredible."

[sonoflucis]

Something about the way Prompto had said nothing would change between them made Noct's eyes burn and well up with tears. Things could be like they were before Insomnia fell.

Well, except now his best friend was sleeping with his Shield.

"Incredible..." He said softly. "You..." He tried to throw some humor in. "You had time to miss me while you were hooking up with Gladio?"

[bethereprompto]

That was exactly what Prompto had been trying to say! Somehow Noct had heard it even if he hadn't gotten the words just right. They were free. Even if the train was crowded and they couldn't get off, they were still free of what they left behind in Eos- especially Noct. That was what had made Prompto hopeful despite his fear that Noct would arrive and his feelings wouldn't have changed.

The joke landed and Prompto laughed. There were notes of surprise there had been a joke at all but also enjoying thoroughly that Noct felt like he could do that. "Hey! We're not rabbits!" Although they didn't have a ton to do around here and Prompto didn't have roommates up until- aw, crap. He probably had roommates now, didn't he? "We play games in the game room! There's some cool virtual reality video games and like all the board games you'd ever want! It's pretty fun!"

[sonoflucis]

Noct felt relief wash over him as Prompto laughed. That was a sweet sound. "That does sound pretty fun." He admitted. He had to know something, though. "Did you always like Gladio?"

[bethereprompto]

Prompto was almost out of his chair ready to take Noct to show him the game room when that question stops him like spell. He stared with those wide blue eyes at his bestest friend that ever evered in his life. It would be so easy to just say yes or no or whatever, but he deep down, he wanted to answer the question he believed Noct was trying to ask and hadn't quite.

"N- not.. Not only him but yeah." It sounded almost more of a question than an answer but he was curious whether he was on the mark here. He might be totally misreading things. They had been apart for two weeks after all! Things could change or get rusty, right?

[sonoflucis]

"Well, I know that." Noct said, rolling his eyes. "I know how enamored you were with Cindy. I just had no clue about Gladio..." Noct shifted in his seat. Why was he so nervous about all this. "I mean, they're both pretty tough, so I guess maybe you have a type...?"

[bethereprompto]

Oooo Cindy! How had he forgotten about Cindy! Such perfect, beautiful goddess! Perfect smile, divine voice, amazing.. everything. "Oh right. Yeah, her too." What if SHE showed up next?! This could be the best train ever!

His attention snapped back to Noct at the mention of a 'type'. His gaze shifted to a bit smug- maybe a little admiration (a lot) too. "Yeah, I think I do." He paused thinking about Iggy. "I don't know why Iggy's always been different but he always seemed more like a.. well, like our mom."

[sonoflucis]

"Her, too?" Noct tilted his head. So, Prompto had someone else he had a crush on...?

Oh. Oh.

"Oh yeah, I bet you have a crush on Cor, too!" That made sense. He was a little on the sterner side of the tough type, but Prompto seemed to adore him. Noct did, too, honestly.

"Iggy's not really the tough type." Noct pointed out. "Stern, but not like...'might snap you in half if you look at him wrong' tough."

[bethereprompto]

Was Noct being coy? Prompto looked at him funny at the question. Although the mention of Cor.. he'll just quietly drool over him too. Cor was so dreamy.. and a little scary. He was more of Gladio's gruffness and less of his playfulness. Not no playfulness but less. He'd been an excellent teacher so he would never think anything negative about the man. And those muscles..

He makes a face at the description of what his 'type' is now being viewed as. "Cindy's not like that and neither are you, Buddy!"

[sonoflucis]

Coy? Nope. Completely oblivious? Yep.

"Cindy could totally snap us in half if she wanted to." Noct pointed out. He had seen her lift car engines. "Well, I know I'm not like that, but we weren't talking about-"

He stopped and stared at Prompto.

They hadn't been talking about him. Had they?

He turned bright red and suddenly, he couldn't speak.

[bethereprompto]

Oh.. he hadn't meant to say that. Oh no. He really shouldn't have said that. Was it too late to crawl under the table? His cheeks were just as red as Noct's as he mentally scrambled to figure out what to do next.

".. sorry. Um.." Crap. "C- can we talk about chocobos now?" He forced an exaggerated grin hoping maybe humor might break the tension or at least make Noct look less like Prompto had admitted to wearing women's underwear.

He drew his hand back, unsure what to do. "Hey, I'm not.. I'm not asking for anything. This doesn't have to mean anything. It's just.. I thought you knew already. I didn't mean to mess anything up. I mean, you're you and I'm.. well, me. A- and it doesn't.. I don't.. uh.. do you want me to go away?"

[sonoflucis]

"You didn't mess anything up." Noct said, his voice quiet. He couldn't understand. Why him? Compared to Gladio, he was definitely not a catch. He looked at his empty hand, his throat tight. "I don't want you to go away. I just don't understand...especially when you have Gladio."

[bethereprompto]

That reassurance was enough to get Prompto's smile to tentatively turn genuine again. He followed Noct's gaze to his hand and put his own back where it had been.

He took a moment to think about an answer instead of just blurting out the first thing that popped in his head. Noct deserved a better answer than that. This was their hearts Prompto was talking about, after all.

"I don't know either," he finally admitted. That wasn't actually a better answer, but it was honest. "I mean.. we've all been in love with you for like.. ever. How could we not? You're wonderful Noct! You're our everything. Any one of us would do anything for you. And.. I don't know. I don't think having feelings for you mean I don't have feelings for Gladio." It was strange talking so honestly about this stuff. He'd just assumed all this time that he'd been silly and these were the same kind of elusive 'never gonna happen' dreams that Cindy had been.

[sonoflucis]

Noct held on to Prompto's hand, not sure he believed that he was so wonderful. The way that Prompto was talking didn't make any sense either. "We? Why are you saying we?" Was he saying that someone else felt this way about him?

[bethereprompto]

Prompto felt like he was just making Noct's head explode even more and was this really his place? Probably not, but he was already ankles deep, so he might as well take the plunge- conversation wise.

"Wow Noct, really? I mean we like Iggy, Gladio, and I. We. When have we ever not been we? I guess you could argue 'we' when you're included too, but then I'd be saying you were in love with yourself. Not that you shouldn't love yourself! You should. You're incredible! Just, 'in love' and 'love'.. I don't know how that's supposed to work when you're talking about yourself. You might have to ask someone smarter than me like Iggy."

[sonoflucis]

Noct bit his lip, unsure what to think. "Well, I knew you guys loved me, but I didn't think it was like... you know, in love. And you and Gladio are seeing each other and Iggy has a boyfriend..." Noct slumped. "I don't want to ruin anything."

[bethereprompto]

Prompto rolled his eyes but had a warm smile on his face. "Noct! You aren't ruining anything. You're adding to it. All of us have been missing you! So don't worry about that, okay?"

He took in more of Noct's demeanor. "Do you need to crash somewhere for a while? You look awfully tired." And stressed out.

[sonoflucis]

Noct wasn't sure that was true. If they had feelings for him, wouldn't it ruin what they had with each other? It was all so hard to understand.

"Yeah, I think I need some time to think about all this." He sighed. "We're okay, but it's a lot to think about."

[bethereprompto]

He got up and moved to the other side of the table so he could slip in and give his buddy another big hug. He knew this was maybe crowding his friend, but he looked like he could use one.

"It'll be okay. No matter what. I'm still your best bud till death. You're stuck with me!"

[sonoflucis]

Noct smiled softly, returning the hug. "I know. Same." He promised. They would always be best friends. He just had to take some time to try to make sense of everything he had heard.

[bethereprompto]

After a few moments- probably longer than most hugs should be- he drew back and slipped out of the booth. "Do you want to crash in my room or I can show you where yours is? You should've gotten a ticket with a room number on it."

Oh right, he had the bag. He picked it off the seat he'd been using and gave it to Noct. "You should also have something from home in there. I have my camera."

[sonoflucis]

Noct shook his head. "I think I'm just going to chill here for the moment." Noct said. He took the back and looked inside. He found the Ring of The Lucii. He laughed wryly. "Of course it would be this damned thing."

[bethereprompto]

Prompto frowned when he saw it was the ring that Noct hated. He'd hoped it would be something nice and sentimental.

"Sorry." He patted Noct's shoulder lightly. "Well I'm going to stay in this area in case you need anything okay? All these rooms- well most of these rooms have the glass walls so you'll be able to find me easy enough." He started to leave before stopping at the door. He looked back like maybe he wanted to say something but opted against it. He instead smiled and waved before leaving.

[sonoflucis]

Noct nodded and put the ring away before looking around the walls. "Okay. See you later." He waved at Prompto before leaning against the wall and closing his eyes. His head was starting to hurt.