voidtreckerexpress

Entry tags:

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Who: Inigo, Tidus (aka the two shared braincells duo) and you!
Where: The standard coach
When: Horseshoe 17
What: Inigo and Tidus are handing out free stuff because Tidus is the train's official sugar daddy.
Warnings: Probably nothing, will edit if necessary.

---

Hey guys, forget about that public breakdown the other day. Today Inigo is on the ICP with a big smile, seeming as cheerful as ever. It's fine. It's cool.

"Good day, everyone! Tidus and I brought some things back with us from Irivar to share with everyone. So why not come over to the standard coach and see if there's anything you'd like to take with you, hm? We have quite the selection! Oh, and.. erm, Taiki, Roland, Bryn and Della.. If you could make sure to come see us, we'd appreciate it! Otherwise I might have to send Ti--"

Before Inigo can even finish the sentence, there's an offscreen obviously very Tidus-y voice calling out, "Inigo! Ask for Sakura too!"

Inigo huffs, turning his gaze to the off screen source. "I was getting to that!" (No he wasn't.) Apparently he accidentally pulled his ticket off the ICP as he starts moving away from it too, because the feed just cuts out. Just come get some sweet stuff.

---

Their set-up in the standard car is a simple, if messy, one. They have a few of their offered freebies on the same table they occupy, each guy facing the other, sat by the wall. From the immediate front, fragrant bags sit no bigger than a palm, a variety of scents better to tell when held to the nose. Whetstones sit stacked mostly on top of one another, and then a cluster of hair ribbons and circular hair ties behind them. Behind the bags are a few scent oils--basically, perfumes, if not very big. There's a few to choose from, but...

...not as many as there are the soaps, which take up a half of the table in their choice. It's like a lush shop here of choice, different colours and sizes.

And Inigo and Tidus? Sit there, either playing cards or fiddling through the paper craft book available from the art supplies where the old library used to be.

A chalkboard sits balanced, with the words 'FREE 2 TAKE' written in big letters. In case you missed the public announcement.

1:
Come up, and have a look. Ask about what they've got.

2:
Or while you're here, maybe you can help Tidus, who pipes up to ask-

"Hey, quick question. How long 'til you're comfortable hugging someone?"

(ooc: as a note, all threads on this will be threeways! please enjoy trying to handle both teens at once. you can't seperate them.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Roland hears their ICP announcement by his usual little spot at the Library with open books and papers surrounding his desk. It's an informal claim, but he sits there and works on ideas on most days until he remembers the time - which isn't too often. But his mind is wandering uncharacteristically distracted today, and it's the perfect opportunity for Inigo and Tidus to come through, a mix of voices and noises from the designated terminal upstairs. A call for him to come see them - where exactly, he could only guess, but he answers the request instantly after packing up with a smile. He's always happy to oblige the two.

Eventually he wanders to the standard car, and is visibly surprised to see wares spread out, a pleasant scent wafting around the nearby space. It's...really nice!

"You know," he starts off casually, playfully. Some of his hands begin to drift towards the perfumed oils, soaps, and the hair ties with a gleam in his eye. "If you two wanted to tell me I should be cleaning up more often, you could have just told me to my face. But I don't mind taking some of these off your hands. Heh."

Of course, his understanding is simply to come partake of their collection. Did they manage to get all of this in Irivar? Roland shoots Tidus a knowing look. I'm glad the troll clubs saw you through.

"Hey now, we've got something special for you first. Don't get hasty."

'Remembering the time'? What a laugh, Roland. But Tidus is giving him his own look at Roland gets comfortable with looking at the freebies, a chiding thing that's far from serious.

But Tidus will need to slip out of the seat for this, since their current table is currently pre-occupied with all the bits already on it. He goes to the opposite table, throwing over his shoulder without looking back: "Why don't you two hug and get all cosy?"

It's sarcasm, but Tidus is 50/50 on what he'll see once he looks. For now, he's bringing out a collection of blankets neatly folded into squares, and setting them out; all with their own pattern, but coloured and patterned, all handcrafted. There's more to be given, but they can start here first.

Edited 2020-10-06 11:40 (UTC)

Inigo is rather glad to see Roland so taken with even just the freebies. Even though they got him some more special stuff, it's not like Inigo didn't already think the other guy would like these too. Despite all the chaos in the hot springs, and even back in the luggage car when the first signs of it showed, Inigo did notice Roland has.. a thing.. with his hair. He sure seems to care a lot more for it than either of the teens do, anyway. So of course he'd enjoy stuff like this.

But that glad mood is easily ruined by Tidus's sarcastic remark. Inigo pouts the moment he realises he's being made fun of, and while he actually might have hugged Roland otherwise, right now he doesn't want to. Just because Tidus said it. He's ruining the mood!

"I'm going to throw him straight out into the void," he grumbles, but doesn't otherwise interject once Tidus starts pulling out the blankets. Instead Inigo's just going to remain seated where he was a moment ago, pouting like a toddler as he watches on.

"Hm? Something special?"

Roland puts down a bottle of scent-oil that reminds him of lavender, though there may be some reluctance at first. He's mused on the thought before, but he's attracted to grooming items only because his work has always depended on making an impactful first impression. It seems he's carried the habit even in the void.

Roland turns his head to watch Tidus move to the other table, though is attention is somewhat shared by Inigo's grumbling under his breath. Another debate on the appropriate times to hug it seems, and Roland can only guess this is because Tidus probably didn't want to hug Inigo again. And so the cycle of life continues; all is well with the universe. He shakes his head, amused, and makes a motion to join Tidus over on the opposite table; but he doesn't ignore that little jab Inigo makes, to which Roland answers with a quick, one-armed hug over his shoulders and a smirk on his lips.

"Resist the urge, pup. You'll wear him down yet."

Roland lets go and upon seeing the new spread set about by Tidus, his smile falls and surprise colors his expression. "Wow. These look gorgeous." Fingertips begin to touch the blankets, soft and thick, all embroidered and obviously crafted with expertise. He looks mighty impressed, as he lingers on a particular square, thread the same shade as his favorite color.

"All of this is from Irivar?" He says to Tidus, but his voice is thrown far enough that Inigo too, would be able to hear it.

Edited 2020-10-06 14:03 (UTC)

Why don't you have a huuuug party back there.

Tidus isn't paying any particular attention, slipping into the seating once the blankets are set out: his feet where his butt should be, and his butt on the top of the cushioned bench. So he can see all three of them easy-- that is, Roland, Inigo, and the table of blankets.

"Yup." He finds a place to settle his arms, hands on either side of him. "We had a bunch of money left over, but we didn't have enough to buy them for the whole train." So. Here they were, playing favourites. "Plus Spider can make blankets if people really want more."

So spending all the money just on blankets when they had access to them otherwise seemed a waste, especially when they weren't sure of what else to buy. They didn't have much of any plans that day, really.

Inigo's patience isn't enough to outlast Tidus's stubbornness about this issue, okay. He's going to yeet! Just watch him!

.. or well, maybe not, since it's not like Inigo's soft heart would ever genuinely make him want to do something like that. Even now he's already starting to feel a little weird, a little bad - like he's dragging down the mood here, and so he moves over to at least sit on the very edge of the table (making sure to not squish any soap under his butt) so he's closer to Roland and Tidus looking at the blanket spread.

"He's saying we, but it was actually Tidus's money," Inigo adds. It's a lot less grumbly, and why yes, that's actually him giving Tidus proper credit where he deserves it, even though he was complaining about the other only a moment ago. Teens. "I helped to pick those out though."

It may not look like he's happy about receiving such a thoughtful gift, but looking at his face that's usually stern and lost in his own thoughts, there's a lightness to it now. A crinkle of the nose, a slight, upwards twitch of the corner of his mouth. The fact that he listens to both of them speak while he continues to run his fingers against the fabric of that particular blanket, which he eventually takes with a gentle grip, as if afraid to break it.

They didn't have enough to buy everyone one, but they chose him to receive it as gift anyway? Roland feels a flutter in his chest that he doesn't vocalize.

"It's a Twin Teen team effort." He says, a pleased lilt in his voice. He's obviously made his choice of what blanket to take from the folded pile, which is now cradled nicely against the crook of one arm. He grasps Tidus's nearest shoulder, meeting his eye for a moment. "Thanks. I really like it." He lets go after a second longer to linger, and turns back to Inigo to ruffle his hair slightly, before briefly squeezing the side of his neck in affection. "You both have good taste."

Happy with his blanket gift, Roland will eventually move back to their pile of scents and soaps, returning to the bottle he had set down. This would be really nice on the blanket, actually...I could mix it in the wash.

Like Tidus is about to let Roland browse the freebies in peace.

"Slow down there, starfish." Or at all, by the tug on the back of Roland's shirt as he grabs him in his turn. Really, Roland is too impatient. "We're not done! How 'bout you make like a turtle and take it easy?"

Tidus huffs audibly, releases Roland, and stacks the blankets up as quickly as he can to disappear them in a poof of gold glitter. Table cleared, he has to do this next performance one at a time: a handful of 300ml glass bottles, larger than the smaller 100mls on the other table, make their appearance. A few hairties next, in a rather basic black, but also ribbons, with a few standard blacks included--in dark reds, and a few blues too. Kept together by one of the ribbons done up to bunch them, a singular purple.

And then finally, a small circular tub -- of skin lotion, rose-scented -- is deposited last, as Tidus lists them off.

"Hair oils, skin care, and a musk. 'Cause we figured you'd be the kind of guy to be into them."

Inigo at least agreed with the haircare when it came up (they both remember the luggage incident and the hot springs), but Tidus knew more about skin care than the other guy. Look, he was more modern and had the time to think about those things when getting in front of the cameras so often. He's not here to make a dig (maybe) despite his already dulcet punk tones.

Inigo is more than happy to let Tidus do the introductions for these. At least the hair care Inigo kind of understands, but the skin care? Lotion? All these terms are wasted on a guy with medieval standards of hygiene. It's only by sheer virtue of having been longer on this train than Tidus and Roland that they didn't have to witness his journey towards learning about showers and soap. Tidus clearly understands it better than he does.

And hey, it's fun just to watch this. Tidus's oh so typical way of speaking. Roland's oh so typical reactions. Despite how utterly wild and upsetting the past few weeks have been, it almost makes things feel normal again. Just enough for Inigo to slowly start to smile as he watches the two of them go at it.

Although he does seem to realise something. Before Roland thinks this can finally be it, Inigo hops off the table, instead rummaging through the pile of things they got for various friends. The boy ends up pulling out a small box, shoving it into whatever available hand Roland currently has.

"Here, this too. We thought this really was something for you." Inigo leans slightly closer to Roland, just enough so he's audible when he lowers his voice and whispers-- "You'll have to forgive me, I really don't know enough sea creatures to be as witty about it as Tidus." Then he takes a step or two back, ending up next to said marine biologist.

If Roland opens the box, he'll find a matching set of flower-shaped cufflinks and a similar lapel pin.

He doesn't get much time to react to being held by the scruff of his neck like a kitten, or to the silly names he's being called, all new though somewhat endearing still. If only because of who seems to be calling him that, who is witness to the affair. Roland shakes his head, a retort ready to fling in Tidus's direction, when he stops and stares. Listens.

Gifts. More gifts. The blanket feels oddly weighted on the crook of his elbow as Tidus enumerates one by one, each gift and what it's for. The hair ties catch his attention, of course. But in the line of hair, the thought that's behind giving him specific haircare products, oils in small bottles that leave him oddly speechless. His hands drift to each item with such slow, gentle movements it seems like he's afraid to touch them; might break them or lose them before he can even process there's more than the first. To distract himself, he opens the cork of each bottle to waft the scent closer to his nose, sampling each fragrance. It shocks him that it smells exactly like what he might have chosen himself. Subtle undertones, nothing too strong but it's enough to leave an impression. The tub of lotion is also studied closely, but at this point, they're nothing but things to busy himself with. An excuse to look down and keep his gaze low. There is a slow creep of red starting from the base of his neck moving up to his ears, his cheeks. His mood shifts, and now the president won't even make eye contact with either of them, moving to sit on the opposite side where Tidus has parked himself.

Inigo beats him to the punch, just as he readies to send another wave of thank-you's to both of them. Another one. Another gift. His fingers feel shaky as he opens it, glancing up at the two who watch him with sharp eyes for but a split second. Of course, it's beautiful. Wholly unexpected. Something he would wear on special events in the White House where he could afford to be himself and not the bold decision-maker everyone needs him to be. Welcoming families in during the holidays, building chocolate cakes with kids on Valentine's Day. Jewel colored, flower cufflinks, and another pin for his collar. Easily a choice that both of them could have made for him but it's a lot, overwhelming, and he can't feel his face for some reason. Had a mirror been held up to him now, Roland would have recoiled, his usually olive-toned skin currently tinged in deep blush.

He can't even remember the last time someone gave him a gift that was sincere. Not a bribery effort to butter him up to sign something, or negotiate a deal. Grimm gifted him his Chief Consul garb, but that was an effort from the people; a reminder that he owed the citizens his life. But these? Hair ties, oils, skincare and accessories to a suit he doesn't even have on the train - these were deliberated on and given without expectation. A real gift, freely granted without condition. From the heart.

Roland barely hears Inigo's jab. He inhales shakily, quietly though, and a hand drifts to cover his mouth and nose looking very much akin to thinking...but he's not. In fact, no thoughts come to mind at all. He's feeling a lot, though. Heart beating, palpitating almost. It's sweet. This is too sweet that he doesn't know what to tell them. His face is hot against his palm.

"...I-Irivar has cufflinks?" Is all he can manage to stammer out with as much grace as his condition can afford. Hands resuming to touch whatever it can on the table, arranging each gift with precision that wasn't necessary. He follows it up with a quick, equally shaky, "I..I don't know what to say." Before covering his mouth again.

Through Roland's shell-shock, Tidus keeps his silence. Watching him, unabashedly, though not being too forceful in his presence. He wants the complete experience of the man's shock after seeing the bits and pieces of it with the blanket, as he set the larger jars onto the table on display.

The way he fiddles with each of them, fussing, lost as to what to do before he even admits it. A moment where it can be read as good or bad with how frozen Roland's features sit; but there's a creeping there on his neck, visible to the boys on either side of him. For Tidus, propped on the upper section of the booth to give him all the visibility he needs.

His smile, slowly growing, blooms with life at the speechless admission. A warmth blossoming with it, and Tidus shifts where he sits - swaying his body some in his own fussing of needing to move, a chuckle escaping behind his lips. He leans himself on his knees, folded arms to take his weight.

"Well! I think your face says it all. Don't you think, Inigo?" And then, with a more impish tone: "A guy's gotta care how he looks for the public. That means the right accessories too!"

Heh. "Looks like you weren't the only one with surprises ready."

Roland's reaction is so odd. Inigo expected the other to be happy with the gifts, really, but it's the fact that he's so speechless about it. That he seems surprised, flustered. It makes no sense. Surely Roland must have gotten so many gifts in his life. He's the president, after all! And it's not like they got him anything that special, really, just things they thought he might like..

But regardless of the reason for the surprise, it is obvious Roland does like the gifts. A whole lot. And it's better for him to like them more than expected than less, right?

Inigo's gaze shifts from the older man over to Tidus when he hears him speak up and mention his name, and something about the smile on Tidus's face and the usual cheekiness blossoming once more makes it really hard for Inigo's smile to not extend from ear to ear as well.

He waits for Tidus to finish speaking, but then he decides to respond with what's typical for him, just like how the happy joking is very much like Tidus. So Inigo steps over, scooting right onto the side where Roland is sitting as well, wrapping his arms around Roland from the side and clinging to the guy in a warm hug.

"Yes, Tidus is right! And.. you know, if you don't know what to say, you can always start with 'thanks' or 'I really like it'?" That may be just a tad of cheekiness on Inigo's end too, though not as heavily sprinkled into his words. He's mostly just being genuine. And happy, smiling brightly at Roland. Brighter than he has in a while.

"It's just our way of showing we love you."

Look, Inigo figures he might as well be the one to say it, because if those words have to leave Tidus's mouth, they will still be rooted to this exact same spot for three thousand years.

"Looking good for the public, huh? Right. Yeah...And what a heck of a first impression I'll make now, with all of these..."

He tries to shake off the jitters, ridiculous as it is to feel it as his age, after all he's been through...

But the more they speak, the more he can't ignore it. That this was all a way to show him that they loved him? The affection that takes over him, the desire to share just a little bit more of himself, is easier now than ever before. He keeps recluse, his story kept locked up at the deepest place he can find. These two didn't deserve his solitude, though. What is charisma in the face of the true; the authentic? It warranted the same, Roland thinks. Whatever stopped him before no longer exists. Should they ask him of anything, he rather thinks it would take only the slightest efforts on either of their part to make him concede. Such is the strength of this sentiment - and more, built up through time however short it has been for all of them. And as Inigo wraps his arms around Roland tightly, he leans to the side for a brief moment in reciprocation, eyes still glazed and staring at the pile of gifts before him. In particular, his free hand drifts to the cufflinks, then to the ribbons.

He takes it back. He does remember. So he shares it to them, freely given from his own pool of love.

"My wife was the last person who gave me a gift." Roland goes, no trace of sadness in his voice. Just fond nostalgia. "That was a long time ago, too. She gave me something similar, something I could use at work. And when I asked her why, she said 'Just because.'" He chuckles, now switching his attention to the oils, in varying shades of opaque. "That was before she...And now I...With you two, and these..." An implication, though Inigo knew already. That the last person who cared about him just because, who remembered him just because, has long gone. Yet here he is, remnants of a time past coming back to remind him that no matter what, he will never fall far. That perhaps, in every world he is fated to visit, the love will follow him there too.

He flashes them both a wide, toothy grin that makes him look the way his body presents itself: young, vibrant. Full of life. He glances at Inigo first by proximity, then Tidus. "Thanks." He says, thick with emotion. "I really like it."

Roland continues to smile as excitement grows, blossoms innocently. He takes the blue ribbon out of its tie and hands it carefully to Inigo. "Can you help me tie it on?" Should he agree to help, Roland will then move on to Tidus next, twisting the lid of the rose-scented lotion and offering that to him with a careful nudge, making sure nothing spilled over. "Teach me how to use it?"

Edited 2020-10-09 20:24 (UTC)

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