revivalproject | [Open] Time For Sports! I'll Be On Skins

WHO: Gladio, OTA
WHERE: Sports Days
WHAT: Doing The Sports, Being Shirtless
WHEN: Sports Days
WARNINGS: None ~~Gladio is allergic to shirts~~

I. The Great Tug Of War Battle Open
[OOC: See the first comment below for this thread for the team noted on the plotting. If not that team, see here.]

It's been a long day, and warm at that, and most people doing lots of exertion would probably be a bit worn out now. Perhaps they might even consider changing into slightly lighter clothes too. Most people aren't Gladio. Most people won't have been shirtless all day already. Gladio, smiling to himself, sits down just beyond the competition area of tug of war, smiling to himself, drying his brow with his discarded thank top. Appreciate the view if you want, he will clearly appreciate it.

"This is a lot more fun than I'd expected. Always thought it would be sort of a silly sport. It's just physics. But damn."

He grins widely and then flops back to lay there on the ground. "Once I get my breath, I'm going again. Wanna join?"

II. Have Flag, Will Capture? | Open

A man cannot prize on tug of war alone. Okay, so they can, but Gladio isn't trying to. A guy has to vary his life up. Okay, so he has a bit of friction burns on his hands and he needed a break from that. Gloves, he needed gloves, but there were such more important things to win, so he was taking a break.

Which had him outside of the area of the capture the flag.

"Any chance you're looking for a team?" he says to anyone who approaches. Truth is, he hasn't done capture the flag in a damn long time, and he could use the practice. It's all about tactics and he's down for that.

III. Sack Race Shenanigans | Open

Dawn of the second day. There's Gladio, once again shamelessly without his shirt, considering the games. This time he's standing near the booth for the sack race, holding his burlap tube.

"Are you even listening?" he's asking the projection, holding the tube up. "It's not a sack. This isn't a sack race. It's... It's a pencil skirt race! And this one doesn't even fit my hips. It keeps falling down!"

IV. Meditations On Pry Says | Open

And here, at last, the secret to why Gladio's been mostly shirtless (other than just having weird preferences). The man enters the Pry Says tent, reaches out, and his shirt appearing in his hand in a burst of blue crystals. It bulges with chits and the ringing sound implies their presence as well.

"Alright, time for some shopping," he says with a smile. Things for him, things for Noctis, and then things for their little home place. "What should I get?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Link hums softly. Honor is...a concept he thinks he was more familiar with, once. Before the Calamity, before he lost his memory. All he has left now is complicated, fragmented feelings. Honour, Link thinks, was something that came with heavy expectations. Something he doesn't think he'll be keen to embrace anytime soon.

But Gladio wants it. And even if Link doesn't want to seek honour for himself, he's happy to help Gladio find it. "Okay," he says.

Dustin rolls his eyes. It's not that he doesn't believe in the idea himself, it's just that his own definition includes different stipulations than Gladio's, apparently. Dustin follows his own sense of Honor (with a capital 'H') for things that he deems important - refusing to lie, keeping his word, generally doing his best not to squander the trust people put in him. Exploiting a system for personal gain does not fall within that umbrella.

But that same, personalized version of Honor keeps Dustin from dismissing Gladio's request outright. He asked for a fair round, Dustin said he would provide it, so--

"Sure, whatever," Dustin huffs, impatiently grabbing the rope in his robotic hands. "I can keep an eye on the clock so that we have time for it."

"Alright then. Let's go with your method. And if you two can find a way to make it more efficient, please do," GLadio says.

He does still want to spoil his boyfriend after all.

Link nods. Grabs the rope, and then waits for the game to begin once more.

Though he does start thinking...what's a way they could do this even faster...?

The game begins, and naturally, operation 'trip the opponents before they even have a chance to start pulling' is an incredible success. Waiting for Link and Gladio to collect their winnings has become the longest part of this process. Dustin's actually starting to get a little bored by the whole thing - that, and the suit's idle energy requirements are draining him, so he's getting awfully hungry and tired as the sports events start winding down around them.

That just makes Dustin all the more eager to get the 'real' game over with when it comes time for it. "Alright," he calls from the rope as Link and Gladio return. "Last one? I wanna make it to the prize counter before all this shit closes down."

Gladio is... Well, he's a little tired. It's been a long day, they've been doing good, and honestly, he had gotten a bit distracted. But he takes a drink of water and considers Dustin.

"You'd really do this for me?"

Link nods. Although the question perhaps wasn't really being asked of him. Really, there's probably was never any doubt that Link would do this for Gladio.

He takes up position in the middle once more, gripping the rope. For now, it's loosely held - but when they begin, he'll be ready.

Dustin barely even pauses to spare Gladio a glance. "Yeah, sure," he shrugs. It's no big deal to him, and he doesn't realize how significant it is to Gladio, focused as he is on strategizing for the match. "Said I would, don't make me repeat myself."

Yeah, he gets he shouldn't make them repeat themselves. This could be a longer struggle. So Gladio takes a deep breath and nods to them.

"Thank you both."

He doesn't know how to give them more than that.

Link, of course, puts everything into it once they begin.

Doesn't matter that they've been here half the day. Or that the projections are far stronger than they should be. Link pulls out all the stops - because he's stubborn, and he wants to beat them too.

Fortunately, Gladio and Dustin seem to feel the same way. Because after what feels like far too long, and a few hairy moments where they almost got pulled back...they finally drag the projections over the line.

Hopefully Gladio's boyfriend was watching.

At this point, Dustin doesn't have any excuse. He's tired and the projections are strong, yes, but he's had the whole afternoon to study and account for how their program behaves, calculate just how much strength they can output at once, and tune his suit and, by consequence, himself, to stand up to them. There's no reason why they should lose.

And they don't, thankfully. It's a surprisingly close match nonetheless, and Dustin's used up everything he has to win it. He drops the rope as soon as the projections disappear, wordlessly staggers over to the side to (finally) collect his chits, and then unceremoniously flops onto his back in the grass so he can catch his breath.

The weight of the day's earnings in his pocket is reassuring. Worth it.

Victory. Gladio collapses when the victory is won, and he just lays there. Lays there and laughs because they did it. They did it.

"Fuck. WE did it. We really did that."

Link doesn't collapse in the grass, not like Dustin and Gladio. Though he does still need a moment - he rests his palms on his needs, hunched over for a moment while he catches his breath.

And then, it's time to focus on a new goal.

He gathers his chits. Declares, "I want my paraglider," before heading off towards the rewards table.

Gladio and Dustin can come along too if they want - but Link, it seems, is too impatient to wait.

[Open] Time For Sports! I'll Be On Skins

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i'm realizing this could be tediously long? Handwave to victory?

Handwave to victory!

huzzah!!!

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