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

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

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.

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"Probably not," he just mumbles at Prompto's talk about Romeo. He knows the other is right. After all, that was around the age he was when things first started to go bad before they only got worse and worse. And while he knows it's unreasonable to expect a kid to be able to solve all of that, he still illogically feels like he somehow should have. Inigo sucks at not blaming himself for things, even when they're far out of his own control.

But before he can say more, Prompto is already speaking on, and Inigo just quietly listens while leaning against the other. It's rough to hear Prompto came from similar circumstances too, even if he must have lived through them for a shorter while than Inigo himself if it has only been a few months. But even a few months by themselves must have been rough - and yet Prompto always seems so cheery. How does he do it?

(Well, maybe much in the same way you do it, Inigo.)

It's something in those last few words that finally make him speak up.

"Crownsguard?" He repeats the word like he's hearing it for the first time. "What's that?"

Not all princes get assigned handsome boyfriends when they're young, okay!! (If only.)

Prompto knew when he was being humored. He may act like a clueless goofball at times, but he was much better at reading people than some would expect. He didn't really think he'd convince Inigo in one try that he shouldn't put so much pressure on himself. It hadn't worked on Noct and he'd been trying for years.

He wasn't sure what else to say or do to convince him, but it was nice there was a chance to distract him for a while at least with talking about the royal guard.

"Um.. the Crownsguard are part of the royal guard, but we get special gifts from our king. He shares his magic with us. You know how I can make my camera and my guns vanish when I want them to? That's the magic we get from our king. He selects which weapon we share with him and then that's what we train with til we're experts at it." He thought he was explaining this right. "It's the king's job to protect the kingdom and our job to protect him. So.. I guess the question is, who was there to help you when you needed it?"

That's a rather nice set-up they've got there. Inigo isn't sure if he'd like it for himself - after all, he really does never like it too much when his whole being a prince thing is being emphasized - but it makes them sound close. Connected. That is something he kind of likes the sound of.

He thinks on it for a moment before being pulled straight out of his thoughts by Prompto's question, making him glance sideways at the other.

"I.. Well. I travel around with my friends to try and set things right."

But it's different. Sure, he laughs with them, and fools around with them, but he's never asked Brady to heal his wounds even when they were pretty deep. He never called for help even when he really needed it in battle if it seemed like it'd inconvenience any of the others.

He knows they would have helped if he asked. That it's all on him. But he just-- he just couldn't. He couldn't add himself onto their load of burdens.

"But I don't think it's quite like how you do it."

He smiled a little, understanding perfectly the need to go set things right. His friends were valiant like that. He didn't view himself as particularly heroic by any measure but he knew and helped people who were! That counted, right?

He stopped nodding and smiling along with what Inigo was saying when he saw all those shadows of doubt cross his face. "Hey.. sometimes.. um, sometimes it's hard knowing how to support a friend if they won't trust you enough to tell you how. Maybe it could've been like how we did it if you realized how great you were- are! Because you are! You're like.. Inigo! You're so cool and friendly and fun to be around. You're passionate and you get so cute and flustered at times.." He shook his head with a small laugh. "I'm not from your world and I don't have any obligation to be here with you, but you're my friend and I want to. That's just because you're you. No other reason."

He really doesn't think most of that description is right. Or any of it, actually. But it feels too pessimistic and just.. generally not right to deny all of those compliments when Prompto is going out of his way to give them to him. Inigo isn't sure at all though how he managed to give the other that impression of him.

".. Thanks, Prompto."

He's looking away at first, but then forces himself to actually look at the other. He smiles, but it's tiny and awkward.

"It's really sweet of you to say that." Sweet is an understatement, but how else is he supposed to put it? Getting this much positive reinforcement from a friend is new to him, and he doesn't quite know how to deal with it.

He smiled, though it was still a bit watery from his own emotional upheaval. "You're welcome, dude. I'm here whenever you need me. Anytime, anywhere. That's what friends do and maybe I'll be your Crownsguard for a while just to show you how it feels."

Noct wouldn't mind, would he? Nah, Prompto was sure his friend would understand what he was doing. Besides, he wasn't really swearing his allegiance to Inigo or anything. He was just showing him what it meant to have a loyal friend.

"You wanna cry some more or want me to come play a game with me or something?" He was genuinely offering to sit there and continue crying with Inigo if that's what the other boy wanted to do. It should totally be an option when someone was feeling bad. He sort of felt like crying some more too.

Honestly, he kind of wants to cry more. He's not sure if he'll ever be able to stop at this rate.

But Prompto is just.. trying so hard to help him. Inigo can try. He's a little unsure of how to accept that amount of effort being poured into him like that, but he's really trying. Especially Prompto saying he'll be his Crownsguard is really sweet, considering his explanation on what it means.

So he ought to put in a bit of effort here as well.

"We can go play a game." He raises his hand, wiping at his eyes. "You go ahead, alright? Pick something for us to do in the games carriage, and I will be right over. Just.. as soon as I.. you know."

He kind of gestures towards himself. He probably means something along the lines of 'make myself presentable enough after being a crying wreck', but saying that out loud is too embarrassing.

He was being so stupid and he knew it. He was the one who had suggested it, after all. He was trying so hard to make Inigo feel better and now.. now he seemed to have done it and he didn't want to go.

"Right.. I'll uh.. I'll give you a moment." He nodded like he should and moved his arm off Inigo's shoulders. He looked away and tried to get up but.. he just couldn't. There was something so heavy on his heart about Iggy leaving, but he was supposed to be here helping Inigo. He was failing at keeping anything hidden though as a few more tears spilled down his cheeks and a telltale sniffle gave him away.

.. well, that sure didn't go as expected.

Inigo really thought Prompto would just get up and go off to the games carriage, but apparently that isn't happening. It's so surprising that it takes a moment or two for his brain to even fully register that Prompto now is crying. But in a sense.. maybe it's for the better. If Inigo is focusing on making sure someone else isn't crying, he has much less time to focus on his own thought spiral that makes him cry.

So he sucks up any and all remaining feelings the best he can, tucking them away in a corner of his mind where he can pull them out from later. It wouldn't be productive for them both to cry.

Instead Inigo moves, starting to climb off the suitcase.

"Alright, just.. wait here for a moment? I will be right back. I swear." He knows it probably seems weird to do this right after Prompto started crying, but he swears he has a good reason! "Don't move."

And while he feels dumb running through the train with his eyes still clearly red and puffy from all the crying he's done, Inigo is willing to take that risk for Prompto's sake right now. All he's doing anyway is just running to his cabin and then right back to the carriage Prompto is in - but as Inigo runs in, he's carrying his blanket in his arms. He climbs back onto the suitcases with it, moving right up to where he was sitting next to Prompto, and then drapes the blanket over the two of them.

"I mean.. We obviously aren't going anywhere anytime soon." Because they're both just messes, apparently.

Inigo scoots closer, until his side is just pressed against Prompto's. To show he doesn't mind the contact this time.

"So let's just stay like this for a while instead."

It'd totally be productive if they both cried! Didn't Inigo ever want a cry buddy? That wasn't a real thing, but Prompto wished it was. He didn't want to burden Gladio and Noct with this, especially when he knew what they'd say. It wasn't the same being reassured something was true versus actually getting the kind of acceptance he needed from the other person.

As he was wiping his face with the back of his hand, embarrassed beyond words, he realized Inigo was moving away from him. What? Oh god, no! He'd failed so miserably at helping cheer Inigo up he was running away from him! Their friendship was over and he'd tell everyone on the train what a total freak Prompto was and the world might explode and he'd never see chocobos again.

"What?" He stammered, the words not what he'd expected. The promise though has the desire effect of making Prompto attempt some calm while he was left behind. He stared at the door where his friend went and curled his knees up tighter under his chin. Just like a faithful dog, obedient and believing Inigo would come back, he waited. Despite his tears, the purple haired boy immediately got a smile when he returned. He doesn't know why that made him cry harder too, but it did. When his friend was seated next to him, he quickly got dragged right into a hug.

"Oof--"

The hug is not totally unexpected with how emotional Prompto seems right now - he does kind of seem like an oversized dog with his current attitude - but Inigo can't help but let out that slight sound anyway as he's suddenly dragged into the hug.

But it's just slight surprise and him attempting to deal with the sudden force. The hug itself.. isn't bad at all. Inigo doesn't mind. He loves hugs, after all, and it's obvious Prompto needs one right now. And hell, he'll take any distraction to keep him from having to think too much about Yuki right now.

"What?" He laughs, and he manages to sound it really genuine. It's almost as if Prompto never walked in on Inigo crying to begin with, every trace of that seems to have vanished into thin air. "You weren't seriously worried I wouldn't come back, right? I thought you had a little more faith in me than that!"

But even as he jokingly says that, he puts an arm around Prompto too, drawing the other even closer.

Prompto drew back just a little at Inigo's laugh. His bottom lip was sticking out and big tears rolling down his cheeks. His eyes were wide as he was totally being called out here! "No! N- no! I wasn't! I believed you!" He was a horrible person! How had he doubted Inigo for a second? Although he was looking pretty chill about it even if Prompto had doubted him for a moment. Maybe it wasn't such an awful thing to do? Like just normal and he still was a good friend despite it? "I will, I promise!"

He curled against Inigo's side and tried to compose himself for a minute or two. "I didn't get a chance to tell Iggy something I learned about myself um.. later than when he's from. Does that make any sense? Like after the time he's pulled from. I hadn't figured out how to tell him. I told Noct and Glads, but.." He shook his head. He wasn't too sure of what kind of reaction he'd get from Iggy. He lowered his voice and put his head against Inigo's shoulder. "I'm.. um.. I'm kind of a traitor."

Honestly, sometimes looking at Prompto is like looking into a mirror. A weird, weird blonde mirror. Inigo is pretty sure he looks the exact same way when he cries. Like he's some sort of dumb oversized baby. At least it means he's not going to judge Prompto for this at all - it'd be hypocritical of him.

And he's here to comfort Prompto, after all. Not make him feel worse. So Inigo doesn't poke fun at him for Prompto's obvious lie - instead he just quietly lets the other curl against him, hoping it might relax Prompto some.

Thankfully Inigo's thoughts are dragged right back to Prompto's circumstances before the quiet can let them wander too far off back to his own. Although what Prompto is saying.. is unexpected. Is he seriously about to tell him something he hasn't even told one of his friends from back home? Is he really worthy of that level of trust? Or is it maybe just because it's easier to tell it to someone uninvolved?

Either way, Inigo listens. And then frowns a little, though not angrily. More just thoughtfully.

"What do you mean, a traitor?" Inigo knows what traitors are, of course! It's just such an odd word to use in combination with Prompto of all people. "Prompto, I'm pretty sure you couldn't betray a single gullible puppy, let alone actual people."

Prompto was quiet a couple moments as he tried to find the right words. It was so difficult when Inigo didn't know so much of the background that was needed to understand just how bad Prompto's origin was.

"The kingdom of Lucis is where Noct, Gladio, and Iggy are from. It was the only remaining nation not under the empire of Niflheim's control. There was a big mess with attempting a treaty but that turned out to be a trick and well.. the kingdom fell. We've been on the run. The thing is, the empire has these soldiers.. they're called Magitek. They're not, uh, like 'real' people? They're clones and like they were made in lab and not, you know, born like a regular person. They're just mindless drones. A- And really ugly.."

He had to take a second to keep from breaking down again. He peeled back his glove to reveal a series of black numbers. "I found out I was one of them." He lifted his head and looked at Inigo. "I'm not.. I'm not from Lucis and I'm not 'real'. All the clones have these on their wrist. I'm the same thing that is trying to kill us."

The story isn't too hard to follow. The fall of kingdoms is a topic that's pretty familiar to Inigo, and while his world obviously doesn't have anything like lab clones, the description makes him think slightly of the Risen. Except the things Prompto is describing clearly weren't human from the very start.

But then Prompto continues. And there's the numbers. Inigo meets Prompto's gaze for another moment when the other looks at him before his gaze drops towards the numbers, staring at them. At least it explains why Prompto seems to be wearing a glove all the time, rather than it just being a unique fashion choice.

Though he's quiet for a moment, he speaks up again as he looks back up at the other's face. "Well, hold on a moment there. You say those things are ugly, but you're a pretty handsome guy! Not as handsome as me, obviously, but you're up there." He smiles, obviously trying to bring some levity into this conversation. Especially with how tense and worried Prompto seems. "And you may say some slightly dumb things at times, but calling yourself mindless would be calling you a disservice."

It kind of sounds like he's making light of it, but really, Inigo means well. After all, what he's just trying to say here is..

"I may not know much about your world, but.. I don't think a few numbers on your arm are going to determine who you are, Prompto. You are the one who's choosing what you are. You haven't betrayed anyone, right? You don't act like a mindless drone. You seem just like anyone else. Then who cares what you were at the start? What matters is who you are now."

Prompto had to laugh. It was a watery almost pitiful kind of laugh, but it was there. "Well no one but Gladio is as handsome as you," he joked back. The gentle teasing that he says dumb things also brought a small giggle to the surface.

He wrapped his arms around Inigo and pressed his face against his shoulder. It felt amazing to be accepted so easily by a friend. Sometimes Gladio and Noct didn't really count since they were so biased. Someone else? It was special. "I'm so glad you're my friend. I know it sucks here sometimes, but I'm really lucky I got to meet you."

Prompto isn't the only one who can use this hug.

Even though Inigo has already forced down his sadness and tears for the moment, of course the whole Yuki situation still hurts. It still feels so, so raw. But there's little Inigo enjoys more in life than hugs, and it feels so nice and comforting to have Prompto's arms around him right now.

So don't mind him is he just leans into it, his weight resting against Prompto. Just trying to enjoy the comfort the hug brings.

"Thank you for saying that." After all, Inigo doesn't believe anyone is ever very lucky to meet him..

But he'll try his best to accept his friend's words right now.

"I'm glad to have gotten to know you too. Let's see if we can stick around for a while more, huh..?"

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

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