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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"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."

"It was fate that put us together. And our bloodlines. And fate and bloodlines that will separate us."

And they will always be separate.

Ah, there it is again. Leo sobers up fast.

"That's... crap," he says finally.

He hates to think a similar thing might happen to his own family... But didn't it already, with Karai and her father, with his own dad and grandmother?

"We're going to beat the gods, if we can. To give him a life. Chances are he'll marry my sister and I'll give my life to protecting them. It's a better future than he would have otherwise."

But it would always keep them a bit more distant.

Gladio has brought up this whole "marrying his sister" thing before, but Leo is finally getting the sense that Gladio isn't too excited about that for more reasons than he first suspected.

"Well, there's gotta be other chances than that. If you beat up the gods and stuff."

"I mean, yeah. There's always other chances. But he'll still be King and I will still protect him, through everything," Gladio says with a shrug.

And maybe, just maybe, his fingers play with the ring he still wears on his left hand. A memento.

"Why will he still be king, though? The world ended, right? Does your country even still exist?"

Leo is never one to give up on a happy ending.

"It does, even if things have fallen. The King of Light, the True King, will guide us through the nightmare. But he will not do it by shedding his life to give us a new dawn. No, we'll see him walk into it, to guide us all."

Because that was what a king should do.

Now everything Gladio's saying sound a little too Prophecy-y for Leo. He grimaces.

"Uh, yeah, okay. I guess. Just still seems kinda like it sucks."

Hey, it's because there had been a prophecy they were denying. Can't help that's how his world works.

"It really does," Gladio says. "I don't think Noctis ever wanted the seat on the throne. But I don't think his line has in a while."

Leo sighs.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens with bloodline stuff. You don't want it, but it keeps coming after you anyway."

Yeah, it was. Gladio wilts a little to think about it.

Actually, he wilts a lot.

"Guess that's how fate works."

Leo nods sullenly.

"It got a lot of my family, too. Fate and bloodline curses and stuff."

Bloodline curses? Damn, that sucks.

"Same for him. Apparently a god screwed over his ancient ancestor. That is still alive and wants revenge. Which makes sense. We're hoping to convince him to help us fight the god rather than submitting to the fate that would kill Noctis."

And Gladio's so tired of trying to hide who Noctis was if Noctis wasn't here. What Noctis was.

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