voidtreckerexpress

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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

It's probably better to not delve into the topic of Yuna too much, huh. Because Inigo agrees - he did get to talk to her a bit every now and then, but for someone who was that important to Tidus, he really wishes he could've gotten to know her more. But if he talks about that out loud, he's too worried he'll hit upon something painful. Something that might drag bad feelings back up for Tidus, and that's the last thing he wants to do right now.

So he just quietly listens instead, and when Tidus drags in a new - and seemingly less dangerous - topic, Inigo smiles at their friend.

"You managed to change into that form?" Inigo does know about Taiki's other form, after all, but he's pretty sure that back then he told him he couldn't shift into it. It kind of makes him wonder what happened on the mission, but maybe it's better to not ask. To instead just give Taiki an encouraging look.

"That's great! You must have been so glad." He even manages to push all hurt in his heart aside enough to laugh warmly. "I knew you could do it though, of course!"

The smile is even aimed at Tidus a little, like gratitude for him bringing it up. It seems like a good topic to make Taiki feel better with. "You really hadn't seen a horse before?" Judging by that description...

"Nope!" Tidus is a hundred percent sure now. "Unless Ixion's a horse... actually, it turns out one of Yuna's aeons is a dragon too. But they're just... aeons to me, you know? I never thought about what they are beyond that. Maybe we used to have them long ago!"

Look, a creature for each of them. But he doesn't want to really stick to his unfamiliarity with the creatures the two of them knew, and more what brought up horses in the first place. Since there's a lot more to say about Taiki, even if it might embarrass him as first.

"But Taiki's more impressive here. He changed shape to save Saku's life after he fell off the bridge we were walking! The both of them nearly gave me a heart attack," he laughs, more of a joke than a real possibility. Then again...!

"Have you tried shifting to and back since?" A question and look to Taiki, since Tidus is sure the guy won't know what to say about the praise.

He nodded at Inigo. He really had meant to tell him but then so much had happened and there had been no time to tell him. It would have been wrong to tell him something so... amazing when he had been in such pain.

He looked down when Tidus continued talking, he still felt bad about scaring him so and the praise was... awkward.

"Not yet... I'm sure I can though. I guess... I'm healed now so it shouldn't be hard for me to change forms."

His eyes flickered at Inigo, looking even more embarrassed. "Do you want to see?"

Oh, geez. Tidus may be bringing it up pretty casually, almost joking, but Inigo can only imagine how that situation must have played out in reality. Gyousou in danger, Taiki desperate to save him, Tidus startled about the whole thing..

And Inigo had no idea that any of it had even been going on. It makes him feel a little guilty, though he thoroughly pushes the feeling down. This is about Taiki right now - don't think he doesn't notice Tidus making sure to shift the topic back to Taiki as well.

"If you want to show us," is the natural answer to that question. Of course he'll look at Taiki giving a form shifting demonstration. It's only the other's embarrassed reaction that makes him be a little gentle about it, rather than going full out enthusiastic right now. "But if it's too much, then don't worry about it! Really, Tidus has already seen it, and I can wait."

"Taiki wouldn't offer if he didn't mean it." At least, Tidus is sure of that, confident of the offer - wanting to back Taiki up. But he looks along the aisle they're in, rather....well, maybe big enough just for a transformation, but...

"How about we go in the gym for it? You'll have more room that way." And the his expression brightens, as if it wasn't already clear: "He flies, you know! Taiki should stretch his wings once in a while!"

A look from Inigo to Taiki. "Don't you think so?"

He has wings. Ergo, they need to exercised! Even if he's in his human body more often than not, that's got to be a consideration!

"It's not too much... I want to show you."

It is true that he feels more himself in his human form. He has been this shape for most of his life, even if he looked very different than the taika shell he wore on earth.

"The gym might be a good idea..."

The aisle was probably big enough, but he doesn't want to block it off, if anyone tries to get through.

"Sure, let's head over there then."

They were giving away all of this stuff in the first place, so it's not like it matters if they leave it unattended for a few moments. People can just grab something themselves if they want it! Besides, Taiki is much more important than a few silly bars of soap.

Perhaps encouraged by Tidus's enthusiasm - it's so nice to see it again, despite all the hard times they've had recently - Inigo quickly gets up, smiling at the other two.

"Come on, no time to waste, right?"

"Yeah!"

Standing on his own two feet, Tidus doesn't delay in starting for the gym, taking whatever place in their line out to the connecting doors. His shoes squeak on the floor solution that coats the inner court, and he's already making sure not to step too far in. Like they need to give Taiki absolutely all the room possible.

But he'll be over by Inigo, knocking elbows.

"Check this out!" Heheh.

Taiki followed them both quietly, entering the gym behind Tidus and Inigo but stepping past them to step into the gym properly. Despite Tidus' worry he doesn't need that much room.

He turned to them and looked around at them with a shy smile, before closing his eyes. His body twisted, hands and feet morphing into hooves, body and neck elongating. Clothes fell to the ground and before them was a black horse, steel mane looking almost too short, a horn pointed from his forehead.

He moved his head slightly, watching them both carefully.

Hey, Inigo will gladly follow Tidus's lead here, especially with how eager the other is for this little demonstration. And Inigo can't deny that he's kind of excited either. Even if he already knows what to expect due to talking about kirin transformations with Taiki before, this is still special! It's Taiki's big moment.

So of course he smiles right back when Tidus speaks up, shaking his head with that smile and turning it to look in Taiki's direction.

The animal transformation is definitely nothing new to Inigo. He's seen Yarne and Nah do it so often that he's used to it. But that form at the end.. wow! Slightly different from the pegasus he imagined, but not in a bad way.

"Taiki, you're looking great!" He immediately says, his smile growing into a grin that stretches from ear to ear. "You've got to be the most majestic kirin around!"

Oh, Taiki's clothes.

...

ohhhhh yeah. There's a realisation, slow as it is as Taiki switches forms, the clothes beneath his hooves; the flicker up and down that's discreet next to how Inigo animated is beside him. And Tidus isn't without a smile, pleased for the other guy, proud of him too. Is that why he stayed a kirin that entire team on Blue Team... he did transform over the top of that icy lake...

...he'll bring up about the clothes later! For now-

"Hey Taiki! You feeling good? 'Cause you're looking it!"

He raises a fist. It's a bro fist, of confidence. Yeah buddy!

He nodded his head, "Yes." He does feel good. He had figured he would be able to do it, after all it seemed his horn was healed now and since it was, he had no trouble changing forms.

Hopefully he can be more useful this way, on missions, to help Lord Gyousou and also his friends here. "I think Inigo is a bit biased, after all I am the only kirin here."

Other kirin were probably more majestic after all.

Guess who is absolutely, completely, 100% oblivious to the whole clothes issue?

This guy over here. Inigo hasn't even noticed it - he only has eyes for Taiki right now, fully caught up in the glad feeling of his friend managing to have achieved this. (Otherwise he may have been a lot more embarrassed about it.)

"I am definitely not biased. Lord Gyousou would agree with me!" Which he knows. For a fact. Even if it would somehow be hard to tell from Gyousou in general - it isn't - then Inigo has literally felt it in the other's memories. "And Tidus agrees with me too, right, Tidus?"

"I don't see the problem here," Tidus agrees. Clothes pile below or not, Tidus walks over to where Taiki is, gives the side of him at the base of his now elongated neck a hearty pat. "You're the kirin we care about! No offence to your other kirin buddies."

But there's other kirins, and then there's Taiki. There's no competition.

"What can kirins do anyway? I know you serve Lord Saku, and you can fly. What else can you do like this?"

Lord Gyousou was definitely biased. Kings may not feel the same about their kirin as their kirin felt about them but they tended to favour their own.

"Our main task is to find the king and bestow the will of heaven on them." He explained, "Then serve that king and keep them on the correct path, to stick to the way. If the king loses the way the gods show their displeasure through us."

He bent down to nudge both their hands fondly. "We are really fast as kirin, either on ground or in the air there isn't a creature in my world that could catch a kirin. I can... do some other things but not always. Like when I broke through your grip Tidus. Things like that. If Lord Gyousou needs me."

Wait.

They can touch Taiki? They can touch cute horse Taiki?!

Listen, this may seem like an odd thing for Inigo to be hesitant on, but he remembers Taiki being awkward about his forehead being touched even just as a human, okay. So there's no way Inigo is going to put his hands on any part of this new kirin form until he's absolutely sure it's okay.

Hence why he looks kind of startled when his hands are suddenly nudged like that.

Leaving the discussion about abilities to those two - especially with the breaking through grip part?! ~~What kind of intimate moments did you two have without him?!~~ - and instead just says, baffled: "W-We can touch you?" He's even staring back and forth between Taiki and Tidus as he says it, unsure of who he's even asking it to.

Pictured here is Tidus already with his hand on kirin Taiki, baffled when Inigo just bursts into -- one of his Inigo moments, apparently. Or is it? Taiki just touched the pair of them with his nose, but Tidus looks between the pair, from Inigo to Taiki,... and slowly moves his hand up, hovering it.

"Is that a rule?"

??? "Wait-- but we touch Taiki all the time?"

He's slowly starting to get confused here...! Why would Inigo think he can't touch someone unless he knows he can't touch someone?!

"You can touch me, it's alright." The first was mostly to reassure Tidus who had moved his hand and Taiki nudged him again with his nose, it was fine.

Luckily he at least has the context of his and Inigo's awkward moment to know why Inigo is so unsure.

"I don't mind being touched like this." He focuses on Inigo now. "I... I'd prefer that you don't touch my horn, but apart from that it is alright."

There definitely is a moment going over Tidus's head here. Inigo is aware of it the moment Tidus moves his hand up like that, before the other even speaks up. And maybe he ought to clarify, but.. it feels so dumb. That whole moment felt so dumb. He feels dumb thinking about it even now, just one of those dumb social mistakes he's made that will haunt him for years to come, feeling like it's kicking him in the gut each time.

And he definitely feels that awful gut feeling all over again. But he knows-- he can't. Not right now, not in front of Taiki and Tidus, not when they're busy celebrating Taiki having been able to achieve something this amazing. This isn't about his dumb feelings and mistakes and ugh.

So Inigo quickly smiles, forces himself to as he shakes his head at Tidus, mouthing a quick "it's nothing" before turning to Taiki, stretching out his hand to gently pet him.

"It's kind of odd, touching you like this! Not in a bad way though." La la la. Nothing going on here. It's cool. Definitely not kicking himself all over for his dumb mistake back then, only drawn back more into the light by Taiki mentioning his horn explicitly again now.

'It's nothing'? So Inigo mouths, but Tidus is blinking, wondering for the few seconds after about where it even came from or was about--an incident between Taiki and Inigo? And he wants to ask... but Tidus knows that now isn't the time - not as Inigo speaks on, leaving no room for the subject to be broached.

Well. "Do you know how far you can fly?" If they're moving on, with Inigo stroking their friend, that's a curiosity Tidus has. "I wonder if we can do anything cool next mission with you like this!"

Tidus doesn't know what, but- something cool! It'd be cool!

Inigo can't fool him, he knows he is feeling bad again. Even though it was Taiki's fault that he had felt bad in the first place and it is Taiki's fault again for bringing it up. He nuzzles at Inigo, a silent apology.

"Um... I'm not sure. I have never flown a long way before, I don't know how far I could go before I got too tired."

The suggestion is very like Tidus and Taiki doesn't mind, he will happily be Tidus' experimental kirin for a while.

Thank Naga that his attempt at shifting the conversation back to Taiki worked. That's at least a slight relief, and Inigo pushes his wallowing down far enough that he can save it for later, when he isn't in the company of the other two.

"Well, pushing yourself would be no good.. But it probably can't hurt to try out at least some flying once we've got the space for it, right?"

Maybe it'd feel nice for Taiki to be able to stretch his wings.

"If the next place we show up at is any where it's safe enough to fly, anyway."

"Sure," he waves a hand, dismissing the fussier details of his cool ideas, "Then let's hope we get a mission with a sky! And maybe we can get you suited up with warmer clothing, when you need it."

Ohhh. He raises a forefinger, his mind ticking. "Hey, d'you want your own arms band, Taiki? Then you'll have a place to put your clothes, and a kirin coat. If you need one again. We can ask Webs to measure you out."

They gotta keep their friend warm!

Hopefully a mission with a sky, since some of their missions had taken them underground that wasn't always guaranteed.

"Um... I don't know, if I transform suddenly like I did... It will just fall off and I wouldn't want to lose it... Sorry..."

They were relatively expensive and he wouldn't want to lose something that was so useful. "Though... my SCA didn't fall off... It stayed on."

He shook one of his front hooves, to show the small device.

Inigo gives the SCA a curious look.

"Is that the train doing that?" Because why else wouldn't it suddenly fall off if anything else would? If it is some sort of.. odd, odd train magic, then he guesses there's not much they can do to ensure an Arms Band would be staying on him.

But even so.. they haven't even tried yet!

"Maybe we can just find some sort of way to make the Arms Band stay on too. It can't be impossible, right? There's a solution to anything!" And Taiki deserves to have some convenience in his life for once, alright. He's had enough to deal with.

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