revivalproject | Our Home Out In Space

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ffxv: gladiolus amicitia (au)

Our Home Out In Space

WHO: Gladiolus Amicitia, Open
WHERE: The Glitter Food
WHAT: Just lingering on the ship on security and orbit duty
WHEN: February
WARNINGS: N/A

I. Watchman In The Night

They say it's lonely out in space. Not that Gladio thinks he can confirm it one way or the other. The Agrii at least seem to be a little too not lonely for their own sakes at the moment, and the space station they had been to was like that too. But now, well, he supposes he gets the vibe. Mostly the feeling had come from video games Noctis used to play in the old days. Now... Now it's something he can understand.

Here he sits, alone on the bridge of the Glitter Food, switching his attention between his communication pad and the large display screens before him looking into the star filled void, and gets it. With a sigh he sets the pad aside, no security flare ups needing intervention lately, and shakes his head.

"Would you hate how still it is here, Noct, or revel in it?"

His question goes unanswered, of course, save by the chiming announcing someone requesting entrance to the bridge. Which, of course, he confirms with an unthinking push of a button.

II. Camping King

There's nothing that quite compares to camping in Gladio's opinion. It's peaceful. It's restful. It reminds him of his father and his best friends and of Noctis of course. Maybe that's why he had abandoned the room assigned to him on the ship. Instead Gladio had hauled out his camping gear and moved to the big central area. It was simple to set the thing up on the edge of the sandy shore, a tent and a fire ring and a seat. His weapon lays beside the seat, a thing of habit. No fire was in the ring, but for now this was enough. He could rest here, staring up at the starry sky through the massive overhead dome.

In a way, he can almost fool himself into thinking it's home.

Of course, it's not. And in the minute of annoyance over remembering that he does something foolish. He grabs the hilt of his sword and with a twist and fling he throws the thing far from him. There's of course no satisfying thunk to it hitting anything. It explodes into crystals once it reaches a certain distance from him and he can feel it settling back into that waiting space in the bond to... To emptiness.

"Fuck this place. Fuck it so much."

III. Keeping Fit

If there is one thing he knows how to do, that he does without hesitation, it's keeping fit. Without the youths to manage for the school, without the drive to protect them being so strong, he does what he always does. Which is why anyone on the Glitter Food, visiting and crew member alike, might see him in the mornings. He runs the length of the ship, which is no small thing. He finds a tree with an ideally placed limb to do chin ups and other strength training. He moves supplies around in the cargo hold for some degree of muscle training. And, for hours every day, he goes through practice routines with his sword and with his shield.

None of it is done with single minded focus of course. That isn't his style. So when someone approaches he comes to a stop to nod, or tilts his head in a quiet invitation to join him.

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His assault ends, and Leo is pushed back. He quickly backs out of retaliation range, resuming his previous course toward the beach.

He can’t help but grin at the compliment.

“I’m just getting warmed up, Big Guy!” he taunts. “But you’re looking like you could use a nap.”

"Not even remotely," he laughs. And then he's spinning around on the spot. The heavy blade in his hand moves with him, and when he's picked up enough speed, he lets go.

It sends the blade flinging toward the kid. He's already certain he won't get a hit on the turtle.

"Whoa!"

Leo has to admit, even with Gladio's obvious muscles, he wasn't expecting the man to be able to hurl a sword that big. He could never throw his odachi around the way he does his katana, after all.

Leo does dodge it, but it puts him on the back foot. And just because Gladio's thrown his main weapon doesn't mean he doesn't have other options. Leo's seen what he can do now.

And while the kid is off balance, Gladio shifts his shield forward and charges right at the kid, clearly intending to bowl him over. But hey, it's possible to see him smirking behind the shield.

Yeah, he's having fun too.

Oh boy, here he comes!

Leo doesn't have much time to react, getting his foot back under him just as Gladio is coming close. So he does the only thing he can think of in that moment.

He drops to the ground and pops all his limbs and his head into his shell. He's not sure if Gladio will trip over him or just stop and whack him with the shield. He thinks he can take either of those.

His katana is still sticking out of the shell, through one of the arm holes. Like a roomba with knives taped to it.

See, even this Gladio's sort of dealt with. Not fully, but there were creatures back home that did something similar. Mostly crab like, in Leo's defense. But it took little to swap shield for sword, which just appears in his hand. He twists the blade so the flat of it will be his too, and he lines it up, preparing to punt Leo toward the water like a golf ball.

He probably can't get enough weight into it of course, but damn if he's not going to try.

"Hope you can swim, kid."

Wait, how'd he already get his sword back OH NO-

Gladio does put enough weight into the swing to at least send Leo flying across the beach, landing in the shallows of the water with a spray of sand and water. He comes up spitting and dirty, looking annoyed at his sudden dunk in the salt water.

"Of course I can swim!" he protests even as he shakes the water off. "I'm a turtle!"

"Could be a tortoise," Gladio points out with a laugh as he moves into a more relaxed position.

At least he can do the kid the credit of explaining the trick he'd used.

"The weapons. They're linked to a magic crystal through my bond to my king. When I don't want them, they return to that space. Easier when it's in hand, so it takes a bit more to dismiss if I'm actively unarmed."

The explanation of the weapons is cool and all, but Leo doesn't stick around long after. As though to prove Gladio's mistaken assumption about his species, he turns and dives back into the water, disappearing a bit further out, under the surface.

Or, maybe proving a point isn't his only goal...

Because a second later, another portal opens above Gladio - and this time what comes through is water.

It's quite a torrent! He might want to move quick!

Now there was something Gladio had never even considered. Once the water starts coming down he throws himself to the side, utterly soaked. And bursts out laughing as the soil dampens.

"Point proven! Don't drain the whole thing!"

Leo falls through the portal, closing it behind himself and shutting off the water with a final splash. He grins as he stands up, salty and sandy.

“Told you!”

Gladio's still stretched out, laughing. Yeah, he can appreciate being beat.

"You're good, kid. You're gonna get better with age and a lot more practice."

The praise makes Leo light up, and he grins bigger, flicking water off his katana before sliding them back in their sheaths. He comes over to Gladio, settling down in the sand next to him.

"Heh, thanks! You're not bad yourself. Guess that's why you get to be the Shield."

"I get to be the Shield by birth," Gladio says with his eyes closed.

He relaxes just a bit and just tries to rest.

"But I've been training since I was a kid to live up to it. Enough practice will definitely get you to high levels."

“Born into it, huh…”

Leo gets that. He was also born into something like that - for certain definitions of “born”, anyway.

“Did you ever worry that you wouldn’t? Live up to it.”

"Yes," Gladio says without hesitation, his tone growing serious. "Very worried. Left my charge behind to test myself against the ghost of my greatest ancestor."

He reaches up to touch first one of the scars across his brow, and then another across his chest.

"I paid for it, but I proved to myself that I could handle it. And then I still lost him."

“Oh.”

Well, that’s a depressing outcome. Leo draws his legs up to his chest, resting his chin on his knees. Maybe there’s no way to get strong enough to live up to that pressure - not even fighting a…

“Wait, did you just say you fought a ghost?”

"Maybe? Sort of? It's centuries old, acts ghostlike, has killed a lot of people. I think it's resting at last, now that I proved myself as the Shield of the True King."

But that didn't help when his King still had to do what he had to do. The guy was going to be so disappointed when Gladio kicks Bahamut's ass when he gets home.

Leo scowls.

“Ghosts aren’t supposed to be real. Now I’ve lost a bet with my little brother.”

It’s soooooo annoying.

“But I guess your world has all kinds of magic stuff going on. Even more than mine.”

"Have you?" Gladio asks with a smile. "Ghosts are real in my universe. That doesn't mean they are in yours. There are clear differences. Could be you're both winning the bet."

But yes, his world has a good bit of magic. Though... less than the guy thinks.

"Only those bounded to the service of the King, and through him the crystal, can use magic. Though it is possible to infuse weapons with elemental energy."

Oh yeah, Leo supposes it's possible they're from entirely different universes and not just different planets...

Though the answer makes him smirk a little.

"Most humans on my planet can't use magic, either. That doesn't meant there isn't a lot of magic." He shrugs. "Just sounds like a lot, with the gods and the prophecies and the killer ancestor ghosts."

Really? That's interesting.

"I mean, it's part of what my world is made of. But we have empires and kingdoms and free republics too. Or we did, before the Long Night."

Leo's mask quirks up.

"You think there can't be magic and governments? Like all the wizards will try to kill the president or something?" Leo chews on that. "Oh no, wait, you have a king, and he's the one with the magic... Whiiich I guess is why he's king."

"The magic and his bloodline do go hand in hand, yes."

As did a few other bloodlines, but that was pretty rare.

"Huh. Guess that makes sense."

He shrugs.

"He's probably lucky to have you looking out for him. When you're together, I mean."

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