(open) i don't know how to word it

[flatteries]

Who: Inigo and you!
When: Fiddlesticks 27
Where: Sleeper carriages, luggage carriage
What: Inigo loses a boyfriend.
Warnings: None, just a very sad Inigo.

( scenario a - sleeper carriages )

Maybe you've already noticed it, but something about Inigo today seems.. off. Or at least, extra off, considering Inigo has already seemed to be acting more strangely than usually the past few days, especially since the day of the party.

But today? Today things have seemed to reach a fever pitch. Maybe you're worried enough to go check up on him, in which case you might find the guy in one of the hallways of the sleeper carriages, near his room. If you bother to ask him what's up though, he'll just laugh.

"What? No, I'm fine! Of course I'm fine, what could po--"

That's the exact moment he turns to head into his room to try and hide from this conversation, only to forget to scan his ticket. Which means he's just walking head-first into the door, causing him to topple over to the ground.

It's fine. He's fine. This is fine.

( scenario b - luggage carriage )

Inigo is trying really hard to carry on as usually. Really, he is. Because that's just what he does. He's not someone who sits around and mopes. Sure, the circumstances here may be different than the ones back home, but old habits are hard to give up, and Inigo's oldest and most stubborn habit is definitely the thought running through his mind that he has to be okay. He has to be strong. So despite the moments where he slips up and seems off, he tries so hard to laugh. And joke. As if nothing is up.

As if he doesn't feel like his heart has been torn straight out of his body.

But it's so hard to keep it up all the time. At least the shower is a good place to cry, but when Inigo finds it occupied exactly at the moment he needs it, he quickly tries to look for another place. He knows nowhere on the train is safe to hide from everyone, but he figures the luggage carriage is at least the furthest out of the way. It's the only option right now. It's either that, or crying in the middle of the train.

Which is why if you happen to be in the luggage carriage - or went looking for him everywhere only to end up here - you may find Inigo sitting on top of some suitcases. His knees are drawn up to his chest, and although that makes it impossible to see his face from the current angle, the telltale sounds of sobs are probably all anyone needs to see what's going on here.

Comments

b

[blitzcheer]

It's not quite luck, but maybe luck's cousin that finds Tidus heading for the luggage carriage when the other's in it. Wandering, not really looking for anything to do, but hoping some spontaneous and extraordinary event will happen to him if he goes through enough of the endless sleeper cabins so he doesn't have to think about his own life. It's dumb and it's stupid, but he does it anyway; because time isn't endless but it sure feels like it, and doing any actual meaningful activity -- or even meaningless, like playing games or watching a movie -- makes Tidus want to tear his hair out at the idea.

Well, not that dramatic, but close enough.

None of the doors between the carriages send Tidus to some other dimension, and so he reaches the luggage carriage with that disgusting smell of nicotine in the air that crinkles his nose when it reaches him, walking with a lazy interest when he hears a sound. A familiar sound, not that strange, but it still makes him confused and curious, searching it out after a paused question to himself if he should.

And a familiar frame greets him, if from an angle and position that's unfamiliar, but still that makes Tidus say, when his steps pause to a halt:

"...Inigo?"

[flatteries]

Despite his crying, it's like Inigo is hyper-aware of the sounds around him. There's no way he would miss a voice calling out his name - the moment Tidus' voice reaches his ears, it's like his heart freezes up for a moment. This is exactly the kind of situation he wanted to avoid. Inigo really doesn't want anyone to see him like this.

So he quickly reaches up with a hand to wildly wipe at his eyes, hoping he can somehow look a bit more presentable before Tidus can fully see his face.

But it's impossible. Even though he tries so hard to get rid of the tears, he can't stop crying now the floodgates have been opened. And that realisation just makes him even more upset in turn. He can't even control something as simple as his own emotions, let alone the way other people feel about him, let alone whatever is going on with this train that keeps taking people away from him.

It means he's still crying when he looks up and sees Tidus, and his effort to try and sound normal is a total failure when his voice shakes as he speaks up. ".. hi, Tidus."

[blitzcheer]

When he was looking for a distraction from his own life, finding a friend (or anyone, really) in the midst of crying without a way to silence their tears wasn't what Tidus was hoping for. It does take him away from his own thoughts, everything he'd be carrying to this moment; the features of his face loosening with confusion and concern.

Unsure of his steps, and hesitant in place when he asks, that concern growing, "What's wrong? ...What happened?"

[flatteries]

"I, uh.."

There's a bit of a croak at the end of that sentence, like his crying makes it hard for his words to trail off like that, and Inigo frowns at the realisation that there's no way he can hide this or smoothe it over. Tidus isn't a total idiot, there's no way he's going to believe it if Inigo says he's fine while he's sitting here crying in a far off corner of the train. No way to claim some dust got into his eyes or anything.

"You.. haven't checked the list of passengers lately, huh?"

Not that he expects everyone to check it obsessively. But Inigo just really doesn't want to have to say the words directly. Yuki is gone. Yuki is gone, and he rejected me almost right before he disappeared. He probably disappeared since he couldn't stand even being on the same train as me.

This is a dumb indirect way of saying it, but it's the best he can do right now. Unless he wants to start crying even harder again than the few tears that now roll down his cheeks fairly silently.

B

[adropofsunlight]

Rapunzel always had a lot of free time due to the fact she manages to do her chores rather quickly. having lived in a tower for so long, being able to do such things in a quick manner had just become normal to her and being on the train didn't stop that.

But it meant she had way to much free time and not much to really fill it. So exploration and finding as many places to paint on as possible/ So why would she be heading towards the luggage carriage. For that exact reason. Not that it needed any paint, but it was still free space.

As her bare feet touched the carriage she found herself pausing for a moment. She thought she had seen something or someone and as she slowly made her way closer before realizing who it actually was.

"Inigo... I didn't expect to see you here?" She soon found herself pausing again, something seemed... off to say the least. Something just wasn't right. It felt like something she had seen before.

With that in mind she figured maybe it was best to make sure the other was actually okay.

"I-Is something wrong? You don't seem yourself."

[flatteries]

Sweet Naga. Why does someone have to be here the moment he decides to go cry here? He thought not a whole lot of people came into the luggage carriage to begin with because it stinks so much in there!

But he immediately knows whose voice that is when he hears it. Inigo has heard it often enough to know. And Rapunzel is always so sweet and cheery, he definitely doesn't want to drag her own with his own sadness.

So Inigo places his hands over his eyes. Because he's crying too much to get rid of the tears in time to ensure she won't notice.

(He looks ridiculous, and he's very, very obviously hiding something.)

"Ah.. R-Rapunzel!" His voice sounds a little thick, like there's something stuck in his throat. "No, erm.. E.. Everything is fine, you know? Just the usual!"

Usually Inigo can at least mostly convincingly lie about these things. But not today. He is very obviously not okay.

[adropofsunlight]

Rapunzel paused for a moment, she was pretty sure everything was not okay. She might have been sheltered and lacked knowledge in certain areas but understanding when someone seems to be upset is at least something she knew.

Press X to Doubt.

"It's not fine. The way you are reminds me of when Peter got upset because those he cared about left." So experience with this is perfectly normal for her and she thought she was at least getting a little better at this.

So taking a few steps forward she went to kneel down in front of him. "You know it's okay to be sad sometimes, right?"

A

[enthunder]

She might have the emotional capacity of your average hedge frog, but Lightning has at least noticed the slowly declining mood Inigo has been in recently. A confrontation is going to be uncomfortable, sure, but she feels that she owes it to them both to step up and see what's going on. She started small, a, "Hey, is something--"

Which, in this case, led to him walking away from her, stammering excuses. She pursued, not buying them for a moment, and then he slams himself into his door. Hm.

He reaches the ground, but not completely - she at least manages to dive to catch him before he hits his head against the opposite wall. Frustrated, she just kneels down, and keeps a hand on his shoulder so he can't run off again.

"You gonna just tell me everything's fine?"

[flatteries]

Even though his fear of Lightning has (mostly) faded, this is still so much not the discussion he wants to have with her. He's embarrassed himself in front of her enough times already, he doesn't want to add his incredibly dumb emotional problems on top of that pile of embarassing things.

.. Except of course he's already putting himself to shame again a moment after. Inigo isn't even sure whether or not he should feel better that she caught him - somehow it just makes this whole ordeal feel even worse than if he had smacked straight onto the ground or against a wall.

"I.."

He glances around, as if looking for an escape route. But that's kind of hard when they're on the floor and she's holding him in place like this.

".. yes..?" He just tries, as if he isn't very obviously being not okay here. He looks so nervous, and oddly enough it seems different from the nerves he seemed to have around her before, back when he was angry. "W.. Why wouldn't I be fine?"

As if he hasn't been obviously moping for days already now!

[enthunder]

She looks, slowly, from him to his door, and then back again. A moment later, she just sighs, and pulls him up with her as she stands.

Doesn't let him go, though. She saw that panicked glance.

"Right. You've been fine all week."

b

[longforgottenpromise]

Taiki had noticed that Inigo had seemed off. The couple of times he had seen him he had been distracted and quick to leave the conversation. It had made him worried and his fears that something was wrong were quickly confirmed when he looked at the passenger roster to see Yuki's name in gold.

He goes looking for his friend. It takes a while, the train might be one straight line but he doesn't know anywhere Inigo would flee to if he were upset. He's not in any of the obvious carriages. There's the possibility he has holed himself up in his room, but there is also the dressing carriage and beyond it the luggage.

Taiki avoids the dressing carriage for many reasons but Inigo is worth feeling a little sick and a lot of terror. He draws his courage around him and marches through, eyes scanning the room only once, to ascertain that Inigo is not there before he makes it to the next door.

It doesn't take him more than a few moments to learn that it was worth it. Because Inigo is here and he is crying.

The sound of his sobs brings pain to Taiki's heart and he approaches slowly, carefully. As if Inigo was a wounded animal. He clambered up the suitcases to his side and wordlessly put his arms around him.

He can't make anything better, but he can try and give comfort.

[flatteries]

His heart feels like it's breaking a little more when he suddenly feels those arms around him. Because it means there's someone here with him right now, and there shouldn't be. No one should be seeing him like this. This isn't who he's meant to be - someone in pain, someone sobbing. He's supposed to be the goofy idiot who makes others smile. The person who can be strong when others can't be. This situation goes against everything he stands for.

But at the same time.. He can't help it. Everything hurts so much right now, and there's no way he could even attempt to try and hide his tears at this point. So when he looks up slightly to see it's Taiki who's holding him (not too much of a surprise, this kind of quiet, yet gentle approach is so much like him) Inigo knows he has no choice but to give in. The pain weighs too heavy for him to try and hide it behind a smile like usually.

So instead he leans into the hold, his face burying itself into Taiki's shoulder as his own shoulders shake with sobs. Inigo's hands move to cling onto the other as if Taiki is his last lifeline.

[longforgottenpromise]

His own heart felt like it was breaking. He knows, of course he knows that Inigo's bubbling happiness, his fooling around. He knew it held greater pain.

He doesn't even need to be a kirin to know that. No one who could stand holding his hand as they faced down hoards of demons... The look in Inigo's eye sometimes. Inigo was not as care free as he showed himself to be.

Taiki knows about hiding yourself from the world. He understands not being able to show pain.

He also knows how it is to be feel safe enough to show that pain at last. He is aware of the trust Inigo is putting in him right now.

He lets him cry, lets him cling and just strokes his hair softly, not saying anything for the moment. Just being there as if he could absorb some of Inigo's pain, take it away so it hurt his friend no longer.

A

[goingthroughaphase]

In all honesty, Kitty hadn't been sure if something was wrong with Inigo. She hadn't seen him much since the day she arrived, and while she had wondered if something was wrong the few times she happened to see him, she didn't know him well enough to really know if anything was off.

As it was, she just happened to catch sight of him as she was passing through, and she had finally asked. The slight worry turned into more concern when he ran into his door and fell to the ground.

"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked, holding out a hand to help him up.

[flatteries]

"H.. Hahaha!"

That might just be the most awkward laughter ever. But then again, who would be able to summon up some genuine laughter literally right after running straight into a door? There's always the chance that just scrambled up Inigo's brains big time..

But at least he doesn't seem totally concussed, since he does grab her hand and get back up to his feet. He rubs idly at his forehead - partially because of the stinging pain, sure, but also since it gives him a few more moments to think of how to even answer that before he makes an attempt.

"Of course I am! What, do you think I don't look alright?"

Says the guy who literally just ran into a door.

[goingthroughaphase]

If the fact that he'd just run into the door didn't tip her off, then seeing him up close as she helped him to his feet definitely would have.

"You don't look like you've been sleeping well," she said with a worried frown. "Did something happen?"

A

[callmegladio]

Gladio hadn't been looking for him, but he'd found him. Inigo was a good guy, but he was weird and acting weirder than usual. He frowned at him as he approached and called out to him, only to get that odd response...

And then the kid pulled a Prompto.

Cursing softly under his breath, Gladio took off at a run to catch Inigo before his ass actually hit the ground. He ended up on his knees with Inigo half sat in his lap and an arm around him securely.

"... You know there's a door there, right?" He tried to keep his gruff tone light, but there was concern in his eyes as he looked the kid over for any obvious injuries. He lifted his free hand to bring gentle fingers to bear on the guys head, checking for bumps. "You're lucky you've a hard head."

[flatteries]

Whatever Inigo may have expected to happen after him bumping his head into the door like an idiot, it sure wasn't falling quite literally straight into Gladio's lap. Or with Gladio's arm around him, and then suddenly the hand on his head-- Inigo may be too upset to be properly flustered by this whole situation, but the amount of unexpected care still makes him look rather surprised for a moment, his mouth hanging open as he just stares.

"Well, uh.." The fact that Inigo doesn't have a joking or reassuring response at the ready in a snap is enough to say about how bad he's doing, no matter how much he's been trying (and partially failing) to hide it. "I-- It's fine, I just.. I don't know, I must've had a weird forgetful moment! I've been having a lot of those lately.."

Yeah, because you keep spacing out due to your sad thoughts, Inigo!

[callmegladio]

"Keep running into doors like that you'll have more." He teased him as he let his hand drop. There was a small bump, nothing too serious. Nothing a little ice wouldn't fix he was sure. "The thought'll just keep falling out of your head if you're not careful."

"Think you can stand?" His tone gentled some here, losing some of the teasing tone to become concerned. If Inigo looked like he was having trouble keeping on his feet, it was straight to the medical wing for him. He'd sling him over his shoulder if he had to.

b

[so_dark_a_road]

The luggage carriage is a place Curufin comes to regularly. He always wants to know if anybody who has disappeared has returned via a suitcase or a trunk, and lately, a lot of people's names have appeared in gold on the passenger roster. And so he enters the carriage, intending to make the rounds of the luggage, when he sees Inigo sitting on top of a couple of suitcases. He hears him crying, though he can't see his face.

Curufin hurries over. "Inigo, what's the matter? What's happened?"

[flatteries]

That's a familiar voice. Curufin. If there's anyone at all on the train Inigo knows wouldn't judge him for sitting here and crying, it's him. And yet he feels bad all the same. This isn't a sight he wants to show anyone, not even people who might be okay with it.

And so he desperately tries to stop crying - despite it already being too late, Curufin already noticed - only to find himself completely unable to do so. Now he's actually allowed himself to cry, his tears refuse to stop so easily. So they still roll down his cheeks, even as the other ends up next to him.

"I.. N-Nothing is wrong," he attempts. It's the weakest lie possible. Why would he be crying if nothing is up? And the way he practically chokes up while talking sure isn't doing him any favours. "Why, does it.. does it look like something happened?"

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin sets a gentle hand on Inigo's shoulder. It's true, he won't judge him for his tears, and he cares enough to want to know.

"Most of us don't shed tears for nothing," he answers, softly. "Yes, it does look like something happened. You can talk to me, Inigo. If you want to. And I promise I won't tell anyone, if you want it kept confidential."

B

[bethereprompto]

Prompto didn't usually go back to the luggage carriage. He didn't see the point. All the fun stuff were in other cars and that included people. Unfortunately today, all the other cars were missing the one person he was looking for. He was feeling shaken and sad by his own loss but that had been shoved aside when he spotted the other person who's name was now gold- Yuki.

He scrunches his nose as he walks into the room. Why does it always have to stink back here? Ick. However, his ears catch the soft sounds he'd been afraid of hearing. Turning he saw Inigo on the suitcases looking devastated and small. He climbed up onto the suitcase pile and plopped down next to him.

He doesn't ask, but just puts an arm around his shoulders.

[flatteries]

For a moment Inigo is so caught up in his own tears that he misses all the telltale sounds. The door to the carriage opening, the footsteps, the sounds of the suitcases being moved slightly as Prompto climbs over them. It's only when there's that sudden touch of the arm on his shoulders that Inigo realises he's no longer alone.

His head snaps up in surprise, the tearstreaks on his cheeks now clearly visible - and they're not fully dry yet either, considering tears are still rolling down there even as he stares at Prompto in surprise.

For a moment he almost looks horrified. This isn't the kind of face he wants to show to anyone. Especially not to Prompto, who seems so cheerful and fun all the time. The least Inigo should do is match that, not look like the miserable wreck he feels like right now.

But he can't stop. Now he's started crying and the tear dam is broken, the tears just keep on coming, no matter what he does. He can't hide this right now.

The realisation has him quickly shoving his hands in front of his face, sobbing into them instead. His voice sounds choked up when he manages to speak.

"Why are you here..?"

[bethereprompto]

Prompto wasn't looking cheerful and fun right now. There was a frown on his face and a hurt look in his eyes. When Inigo turned his head to finally see him, Prompto's eyes were starting to get misty. It wasn't completely sympathy tears, even though some of it was. How couldn't he cry seeing so much hurt and pain in such a sweet man? Some of it though, was his own hurt.

So with a sniffle and rubbing his eyes with the back of his free hand, he tried for a small smile. "Because I'm your friend, dude. We're friends." His gaze dropped to his knees where they were dangling over the side of the suitcase. His bottom lip quivered and he cleared his throat. "Iggy's gone too." He knew it wasn't the same as if Gladio or Noct or, the Six forbid!, both. But pain was pain and he was feeling it and Inigo was his friend so he was allowed to share it. That was part of the job of being a bro.