middleofsomewhere | No Place Like Home: The Return

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No Place Like Home: The Return

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: THE RETURN

a silence broken...

It's been a very difficult few days. Rocking and rolling into the void and out again. Watching their friends out of the window as they wander from world to world. Meanwhile those lost on worlds continue to wander unable to return to the train at all.

"All attempts at returning those who left have failed. This voidcraft cannot do it alone. It is lucky that unlike those that have left before them, I can still sense them.

But I cannot bring them back alone. This is perhaps too advanced for Voidtreckers, but you have done the improbable before. You say you wish to help. This is how you help."

Their SCA's light up with a message. Or rather, a series of instructions:

In the unlikely event a tether gets stranded on a liminal space platform or between their own world and the platform space, you should, in the first instance, contact the Void technicians who monitor their non-travelling self. However, in the case they cannot be reached or there is a mass displacement of tether, an anchoring procedure can be carried out.

Ideally, this will involve two fully tethered individuals to retrieve the lost tether. One should be a stationary anchor. They should be outside of their void craft, if possible, and in physical contact with it. The second should be a roaming anchor reaching to draw the tethers back. In situations of mass tether displacement the stationary anchor can hold mutiple roaming anchors but it is recommended to not exceed five. In this situation, it is recommended that anchors rotate between stationary and roaming.

To start an anchoring of this kind, those anchoring should activate their anchoring program. Those staying station should reach out to the tethers of those they plan to steady. This might cause some emotional upheaval, and they will need to stay steady, especially if connecting to more than one roaming tether. Roaming anchors then must hold the person they search for in their thoughts and move towards them. It is recommended that the lost tethers activate their emergency beacon to facilitate being found and returning but this is not a necessity.

Once the roaming anchor has found the lost tethers they must keep hold of them and guide them back towards their craft, the stationary tethers must draw them back, pulling them through.

There is an additional note at the end, in different font.

It is as Anan told you. Your minds should visualise it. Be strong Voidtreckers.

... a short-lived dream

The doors open and anyone who wishes to try this can leave onto the platform. It is empty, devoid of the figures they had seen before; and, beyond the fog, devoid of anything. But searching requires their SCAs, not a path, and as people get into teams, they can activate their anchors and begin.

For those who will roam, their minds become filled, visualising light, void, voices and chaos; their bodies feel less stable, like they might unravel if not careful. But for those who will stay, when they touch the Voidtrecker Express, they will feel more stable, grounded. The fog shifts, but the world moves around them without pulling them in.

Thinking of the person they wish to keep stable, a mental and emotional link will be established, and they will feel each other as the roaming anchor sets off to find their missing crew.

Outside the train...
For those that had left - either by choice or by strange happenings - they have found themselves back at their anchor point during Poi 26, regardless of where they were before. For those unfortunate enough not to have a world to return to, or those who were stuck between in the first place, they will find themselves alone, in a fog filled space where no matter how far they walk, nothing greets them.

All those in fog or back in their world receive the same message from their SCAs.

Hold fast. Press your evacuation button. Your friends come.

RETURNERS: FLEETING HAPPINESS

But it's likely before the message arrived, that something wrong has been noticed by those outside the void. More than the bizarre ability to travel between existences, an inability to move far from where they appear. Back at their anchor points, they may notice - in time - colours sometimes flash across the sky, streaking through clouds or making trails in a night sky. At first not much, something to be easily dismissed but it builds. People talk, wonder at what is happening.

For the colours aren't the only thing. Across worlds, in cities, kingdoms, villages, underworlds and space stations, people are dreaming. Bright colours, vivid dreams. Prophets spring from nowhere, people claim to know the future or to have seen the past. Some talk of places and worlds they could not have seen.

Perhaps at first it can be explained away, there are always such people. But more people talk, from urchin children to commanders, people dream and the colours dance.

ANCHORERS: A STEADY HAND

While the stationeries will feel grounded, they aren't blind to what's happening to their roamer. It's as if they're both linked, intimately, meshing together, and they will need to work to keep their feelings separate; hearing each other's thoughts, their feelings. Images of what the other thinks and memories shared between them.

And then there is the search for their teammates, amongst the multiple of realities. Existences move past the roamer, threatening to lose them in the mess, but they must persevere, keep their thoughts on the individual, their stationary anchor to help them. Until finally, they appear - in a world they perhaps know, don't, the kaleidoscope colours of the void faint above their heads.

Speak to each other, keep each other focused, certain, and find who you came to save.

BOTH: HOLDING ON

Searching for individuals, the anchorers will find themselves at a character's anchor point; if they haven't moved far from here or another world, it will be easy to locate them. Now is the time to convince them to come back, and then the eventual work of doing so.

It can be in agreement, or force. Taking a hold of the person, the anchorer can pull them into the mass of chaos. Just like when they helped the guests return to their worlds from the false Diagad, all parties become battered by images, voices. Voices like sirens; 'Just stay,' the voices encourage. 'Just let go and drift into the chaos. It will be easier.'

But they must be strong, move towards their anchor and towards the craft. The crossing doesn't take too long, perhaps ten minutes each way, and once they get to the craft the person they are rescuing glows gold and vanishes. The anchors will know instinctively that they are safe on the train.

And indeed, the rescued will find themselves within the luggage carriage - exhausted, but safe.

TRAIN: AN INEVITABLE RETURN

Exhaustion is something all parties will experience, once everyone is returned to the train and the adrenaline wears off. Those who anchored will be hit with a total exhaustion, leaving them unable to do much more than eat and sleep for a few days. Those rescued won't be as bad, but if they decide to join in with the efforts, they'll too face the soul-tiring experience that other anchorers are.

There's likely to be efforts, to help soothe people over this time. And as people return to their life on the train, they will see the marks of the last few days for those who stayed behind. Broken ceramics, books out of order in the library; the ICPs in the standard coach, storage, sports and games carriages broken, and some damage to furniture.

But for the scars brought on by this event, surely, they will heal - eventually.

OOC NOTES

OOC post. Ask questions here. New second part OOC post here.

First phase of the event took place during Poi 22 to 25; the second phase takes place during Poi 26 to 28 (20-25th February).

VISITING WORLDS: While during Poi 26, it will be possible to go back to wherever they were, or other spaces. However, they will have increasing difficulty doing this, and will feel themselves getting more lost if they try world hopping too much over the next 3 (void) days. It's like something is trying to pull them back, or pull them, but into nowhere.

SCAs: The SCA's comms will not be active at this time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There's too much that is spilling across them all, things Esteban does not know, cannot understand. Pieces, shards of them in their individuality, perhaps, but this is-- far greater. Too much. He's trying to keep his head out of the water, to keep his hold onto them both. And to keep his hold on the train because all Esteban wants to do is reach and hold and pull.

The odd sensation that Tidus does not like stone. He's grabbing on too hard, too greedy, and slowing them down instead. Fleeting faces of people he doesn't know, flashes memories of brief happiness overshadowed by horror. By grief. Trying to find the right words to say.

But Esteban can never say the right thing, not when it matters.

So he pushes everything that he can in between them all, colours and sunshines and clouds of silver outlines, bright in the dawn. It's so little, too little, but there's no words that he can convey that might matter at all, and yet he can't not try. He can't ever not try.

He doesn't know on who to focus, this tumble of emotions spinning out of his hands, wants to offer comfort and warmth, but feels the stretch between them grow quiet, grow still if he shifts his attentions too much from Tidus. There's sunshine in his hands, but it feels fragile, weaker, intangible and Esteban can't let it go out, won't let it go out.

Focuses less on the memories, more onto the person. The smiles and the casual talks. Kindness and caring and reaching for sweets he doesn't particularly like to give to Inigo. The mischief in his eyes, the effort he went through to pull Esteban back on his feet when he got just a bit worried.

'Come on, Sunshine.'

Inigo tries to focus. Even though it's all overwhelming, even though he feels a deep pit of a terrible emotion opening up in his stomach when he thinks about his sister and those words, he tries to focus. On Esteban, somewhere beyond the void they're in right now, a faint but warm sensation in the distance calling out to them. On Tidus next to him, the other's hand in his, the way he says those words that feel more important to him than anything.

Not alone. He is not alone. Even when he was kicked off the train, people came for him. Tidus and Esteban are trying to save him in this moment. And sure, they'll probably do this for tons of other people because that's the kind of sweet and brave guys they are, but they still came for him too. They specifically thought of him.

He's not alone, and that thought is enough to keep him going. To keep him moving towards where it feels like Esteban is, trying to pull them towards the train, rather than on the sensation of everythin Ylisse that threatens to draw him back.

Inigo isn't sure when he started to cry, but he can feel the hot tears rolling down his cheeks. Esteban starts to feel closer and closer by now, and it's like they can see the train through the kaleidoscope of colours around them, and Inigo turns towards Tidus, opening his mouth: "I--"

He doesn't say anything else.

Because Inigo fades away into a golden light before he can.

(At least it should feel to Tidus and Esteban that Inigo indeed made it to the train - though that still leaves the question of where exactly he is, since he sure isn't popping up right next to Esteban. Sorry, guys, he's too busy laying there in the luggage car.)

Trying, Esteban is trying; it comes across as well as his hold them the two of them, despite how it might shift between tangible and not. All their emotions, thoughts, themselves a task to hold onto. Tidus reaches out back to the other in reassurance, through thought and feeling. We're here. We're together. We're going to make it.

Tidus is nothing if not reassurance, a link, and the sunshine Esteban paints him as. And Esteban is the guy who's solid and real, who's been reaching out even before this; a friend to his grief when it's felt so heavy, his heart so hopeless. Tidus is sure to let Esteban know he feels him - he knows the road he's laying out, they're coming. They're reaching him.

But Tidus might regret not taking this anchoring business with a ground beneath his feet, the cobblestone path set out walked. For flying isn't any good, and when Inigo does disappear from his hand, his sight, it's startling - first for that reason, but then because his body flings out into the space where Esteban is, and at the poor half-elf.

A rude arrival, and it wasn't exactly planned. But now there's an Esteban under Tidus to tangle himself off, or just enough to raise his head, somewhere on Esteban's chest.

Worry on his face, looking down at the other.

"Inigo--he disappeared?"

He feels lightheaded, but he's not giving it the time of day when there's other worries to be concerned over.

Esteban was ready for this. He'd yanked at them hard enough, he'd been ready to receive them, them both in his arms, but even he gets surprised at the strength of the pull, the way Tidus is essentially catapulted at him. But he catches him, arms coming around to hold him steady, even as the force makes him stumble and fall, wings ripping through the inefficient shirt. They flare behind his back and twist to absorb the impact, wrapping around Tidus before he can think any better of it.

There's a feeling; a flicker-- safe, warm, back-- that barely manages to tamper the raw horror that Tidus' words sparked again, heart catching in his throat, before swooping back down.

"We got him," he denies quickly, letting a tired smile replace the crestfallen look of a split second. "C'mon, he's already inside!"

Untangling them both from wings and arms and limbs is a matter of seconds-- Esteban has clearly had a lot of practice with it-- and his hand comes to pull the blond up to his feet in a flash.

He's thankful the others are busy with their own anchoring, few of them looking their way as Esteban stumble-drags Tidus along, eager, restless and with a single aim-- they'd worked so hard for this; they needed to see Inigo, see him safe and sound and with them, see that they had managed, concretely managed something before tossing themselves back into the wolves' den. Just a few minutes. They could have that much, couldn't they?

He glances carelessly down into storage, looking for the tell-tale blue of his hair, searching for any sign of him amidst the narrow walkways, with the tied up suitcases and bags they had needed to move out of the way.

It's more than Esteban's belief that's carrying Tidus - it's his hold on him, swapped from wings to a hand, bringing him onto his feet, the gesture of sudden wings around him not even registering to Tidus. Not right now.

Just the need to go, get going, to see the friend they've been waiting to come back for days. Tidus nearly stumbles when on his feet and moving, led along by Esteban, but some sense of where they're going coming from a familiarity of his surroundings.

"Inigo!" He lets his voice echo into the carriage, at least the light of the room giving them visibility. Was he in here? He had to be in here.

Inigo would have loved to have had the same instincts as them. To want to seek them out, to want to hold and touch them, just to know that he's truly here. That they've really been reunited, after days of Inigo believing that they might just never be reunited again. That he might disappear out there in the void, having been left behind by the train.

But there are no such sophisticated thoughts going through Inigo's head. Not for a lack of caring, certainly. No, the problem is that Inigo is so tired that he can't even think about any of it. He probably hardly even realises what he is right now. All he knows is that there's something poking in his back, even though he's not sure what it is, and that his eyelids feel so heavy that he can't quite open his eyes just yet.

He notices something, though. The sound of hurried footsteps. His name being called. He wants to respond, but why is it suddenly so hard to move..?

It might be hard to find Inigo crumpled up in the middle of the pile of suitcases, but never fear - help is here. Because even if the guy himself can't appropriately respond to the way people are calling out for him, something within him instinctively reacts to the call all the same.

So a creature familiar to both Tidus and Esteban jumps right over at them. It's Jumblie, of course, happily 'hig hiiig!'ing away as she motions for the two to head in a certain direction in the carriage - which is the exact spot where the two will be able to find Inigo, looking exhausted as he's lying on top of a few suitcases.

(Don't mind Jumblie herself, as she starts to climb up Esteban to try and settle in on his shoulder.)

Esteban nearly drops Tidus the moment he spots him. His hold on the blond gets weaker through his hands, but stronger by way of a wing, half supporting him, and for one, swooping moment, there's a hurried forwards movement where Tidus doesn't have the time to follow, which finally, finally registers for the half-dragon. He stumbles back into holding him again, taking a deep breath to check their surroundings--

Oh, thank the Guardian he doesn't have that they haven't dismantled the corner near the ICP. It's nothing more than a small nook, but it'll serve their purpose, because Esteban isn't sure how many people are going to be trickling in, but the center of the storage is sure to get busy, fast. He stays rooted on the spot for one more moment, making sure that he's not hallucinating-- he's not, he knows he's not, but it's been stressful and Esteban doesn't like looking away, not right now-- before tugging at Tidus lightly.

"C'mon. We'll sit in the corner, 'cause once I crash, we're not movin' from there," Esteban promises-shares, even though he really doesn't want to leave Inigo, not for a second, but if they just flop in the middle of the carriage, they're going to be in the way, and then people are going to come by and there'll be a need to move again and Esteban just wants ten uninterrupted minutes where he's allowed to hug the absolute hell out of his two companions, thanks.

(and if that makes him sound like a greedy dragon curling protectively over his hoard, well, he can't really deny it)

"What about Inigo?"

There's Jumblie there, there's Inigo, somewhere - but Esteban is leading them to where they were previous during the train talk attempts. He isn't sure entirely about Esteban's plan when there's still an Inigo to find and grab. But his body doesn't entirely feel like his own, so there isn't much of a fight he'll give if Esteban encourages him to sit down. As long as Jumblie guides the other guy to where Inigo is, then he can trust their teamwork.

Go find them their boy, Jumblie. And don't leave Tidus for too looooong, guys...!!!

"I can't carry y' both. I saw him, but it'll just be a sec--" here, he helps his friend down, surprisingly delicate as he nudges and prods Tidus to sit in the corner, as comfortably as possible. He glances at him one more time, but the idea to stop by long enough to ask if he's okay is quickly discarded-- it's going to be useless anyways.

Three strides have Esteban loping back towards the suitcases again, the mass of them shifted just a bit-- warily, watchful-- so that none of them tumble down, and Esteban reaches down to Inigo's shoulder, shaking him ever so lightly.

"Inigo?" A brief check, hand hovering in front of his mouth, then tickling at his neck; but there's a breath, and a pulse, so he should be fine, and Esteban breathes a sigh of relief. He's careful as he gathers his friend up in his arms, finding him more boneless than even Tidus, and with a bit of shifting and shuffling, he manages to pull him up entirely, gently cradled in his arms for the few steps that bring him back to the blond.

"I gotcha," he reassures, even though he's not entirely sure Inigo might be hearing him as he loops along the few strides back.

"Here we go! Scoot over, Sunshine!" 'Dians, he's so relieved, reaching out to the blond to help him find a spot to settle their friend in. Esteban is personally voting for something akin to 'squished sitting', so he's keeping close, but Inigo and Tidus' comfort comes first and foremost, especially since they seem twice as dead on their feet as Esteban himself is.

Emotionally, he's not the best, and could use a hug (or grab one, to be fair), but physically, the lack of void travelling seems to have been much kinder on him than his two companions, having enough wind in his wings to keep going for a little longer, if there is a need. He'd rather not. He'd rather sit down with them, keep a watchful eye over them both as they recover. But he could if there's a need.

Edited (Better open-ended overtures.) 2022-02-27 19:16 (UTC)

There's absolutely no resistance at all as Inigo's body is being grabbed. He's faintly aware of the sensation, that there are hands on him, and that he is then being moved, but it's hard for him to do even as much as try to move his own body under the circumstances. It's not just that he feels boneless to other people, after all - Inigo himself also feels very boneless in this moment.

The only acknowledgement of him being moved or Esteban talking to him is that he lets out a low groan, which thankfully - at the same time - functions as a sign of life.

He releases a sigh when it seems like he's finally being put down again. He's not sure where, but he can partially feel the hard ground at first, but then something soft and warm too. Totally uncaring of what kind of position he's been into - probably spread out across the other two here, let's be real - Inigo just seems to settle in, like he's content with just moving a little bit closer to these warm and soft bits.

His eyes are even starting to flutter open, though it's going very slowly. The world on the other side of his eyelids is a total haze right now anyway, he finds. He can only make out some blobs of hair and skin.

"Este.."

.. Yeah, he can't even fully get the other's name out of his mouth yet. He's trying.

".. Tidus..?"

Are these the two blobs. Has he correctly identified them.

Jumblie, still on Esteban's shoulder, lets out a 'hiiig!' Please do not forget her, Inigo. She's important too!

Tidus is behaving, he's behaving! Staying put where he is, but watching Esteban as he continues to move with the little ball of light called Jumblie to guide him, or at least hitching a ride on the half-elf.

He's all nerves. Everything about him waiting to see their friend, to see Inigo, safe and alive. Here - after the days of worrying, panicking, believing the train would leave him and everyone else behind. The talks they'd shared before Inigo got locked out about how much Inigo didn't want to go -

This life on the train wasn't perfect, but for everything they suffered, the possibility of Inigo losing his choice that way was breaking Tidus apart more than if Inigo had left the platform any other way.

So, if this is going to turn into an Inigo sandwich, then he'll gladly take it; take any arm or other limb that drapes across him, and spread out one of his, a hand settling over on Esteban's side, resting on whatever patch of skin is there (which is more, thanks to the ruined shirt). He sucks in a breath, not looking as a small light appears at his chest, and a small being of hope pops out, coming to tackle Jumblie specifically.

(It's meant to be more of a hug than a tackle, but what are you going to do when you have a big body attached to widdle limbs.)

"Inigo." There's a wet note in that name, something close to tears, but not quite. "You're back. We got you."

And it's true. He's really here.

They are squished. Squished very tight and close to their missing companion, relief surging between them. Even Gibs and Jumblie join in, and Esteban spares enough time to the little sunshine higgledy to thank her softly, voice low so that he won't disturb anyone. Both wings swoop around them all, and it takes a tiny bit of nudging and prodding, but he manages to surround their little cuddle pile, blanketing them in warmth that thrums with his heartbeat and the scent of a campfire.

Thank-- thank the Guardian he doesn't even have.

It's not until that point that Esteban allows himself to think much more than 'nows', it's not until that point that he allows the 'what ifs' to surge. He didn't want to think about them, and the mixture of horror and pain and despair makes him cling to his companions all the more tightly. He wraps one of Inigo's hands in his own, and the other comes to cling to the back of Tidus' shirt, holding them both close.

Without him--

It's Tidus who had given him the drive to try, reminded him that he was allowed to want to cling to them. It feels dumb and stupid and tired, and maybe he is all three of these things, but he's-- 'Dians, Tidus, he doesn't have the words to remember how to thank him.

So he holds onto them now-- part of his hoard, part of his soul-- even though he knows that he's definitely going to have to work through things out later, later, later, later. He's going to be a mess for days, now, but they're here, all three of them, they're here. And for a few, blissful minutes, Esteban is going to sit here, and take comfort in holding onto them.

"Thank you," he manages to whisper regardless, because he may not have the words to express it-- not now, not yet-- but he does know he wants Tidus to know this much. He's thankful. He's so thankful, and maybe, just maybe, Inigo wasn't the only one who needed to hear what Tidus had told him. Maybe Esteban took comfort into hearing as well.

Everything around him still feels like a blur, but he at least registers some things here. Tidus's words, for one, confirming that he really is back on the train. That it's not just him dreaming, sitting there in Ylisse and wishing so hard for his friends to be there with him that they would somehow manifest right next to him like this. There's Esteban's words too, but they're a little more complicated. Who is he thanking, and for what..?

.. Inigo's brain is foggy, and he decides it's probably something between the other two. Something surely Tidus will understand.

In the meantime, Inigo just settles in. His head ends up buried in the crook of Tidus's neck, against his shoulder. He can feel the familiar wings wrapping around him too, and then there's Esteban pressing against his back.

Some people might find it uncomfortable, stuck between two other people like this, but Inigo finds it entirely comfortable. It's nice, and warm, and a reminder of everything he hasn't lost, though he got close.

(Don't mind Jumblie and Gibs as they're basically rolling across the floor together now with joy at their reunion.

It's just a higglething.)

"Really thought.. I lost you guys," he mumbles.

Sorry, his thoughts aren't coming out in the most coherent of ways right now, but he's trying. He really is.

"I'm so glad.. you're here.. Missed you.." Because even though Inigo hadn't been alone out there on the platform, of course he'd miss his friends who were on the train.

Even moreso because he never got to say goodbye. If he never would have been able to return to the train, he knows that's what would have broken him up the most. He never would have forgiven himself for not saying goodbye to two people who are so important to him. Who are bringing him so much comfort, even just in this moment.

Tidus isn't really sure what the Thanks is for either, but it could be for anything, some higher force that Esteban believes in or else. But he has them both here, he has Inigo here, and that's what he cares about. That this actually worked and they got someone back - after worrying for days that they wouldn't, that the train might try to leave.

(Less after the attempt with the train, but still. It hasn't been an easy few days.)

There's more people out there to save, more they have to find, but hopefully it's alright to relish in this comfort right now. His energy's recovering some too, or the weightlessness he'd been experiencing; or it could just be hiding, not making itself known with him sitting there, not having any reason to move.

"The bedroom's the same... I didn't get a new roommate while you were gone." Ah- "Esteban's been taking care of your flowers... he's been making sure the train didn't ruin them."

And everything else. He was doing more than Tidus could about them, when the sight of them, and thinking that Inigo might not be back to see them, was too much for his mind already rattled by the train's struggle to move.

He doesn't really consider what he's done as much, having just, just enough knowledge from his time with his father's plants to know when to spot the first signs of wilting, and tried to cover the flowerbeds up so that the soil wouldn't burst out from the boxes. He guesses Tidus is talking more to fill the air with words than truly expecting a response; especially when Inigo is still so sluggish.

He kinda gets it.

Esteban lets the warmth envelopping them all settle in his limbs, comforting him like a big blanket after a cold snowy day. There's still so much to see to, so much to get to, but later, he pushes back again, greedily hoarding onto the few minutes he's allowing himself, so that he can face the next hurdle with a calm and steady mind. As much as he ever gets calm or steady. He perks up at this, amused, and uses the brightness of his thoughts to try and share it a bit with his companions.

"Lost us? Inigo, I think Sunshine here's harder to lose than a grass stain," he teases, grin as audible into his words as it is visible on his face by then. He has a moment to ask himself if that makes any kind of sense in common or if he's just butchered his own joke, before figuring it doesn't really matter. Tidus is not the only one filling the air with the words he's found.

"We really missed you too." He... he'd been scared. It didn't make sense for Inigo to leave without even a goodbye, he hadn't believed it to be willingly, especially with Tidus' loud protests against the train. But Esteban had barely kept his head out of the water through the last few days, and he'd been so, so scared. Chasms and thoughts he shouldn't linger on. His wings squeeze them all a little tighter, and Esteban's tail sweeps across the ground until he finds the small higgledies, curving around them loosely as well.

Inigo lets out a deep, deep breath in the face of this all. Mostly in the face of all this sudden comfort, after days and days of uncertainty. At a certain point he got so much more convinced of his chance to get lost in the void than his chance to end up back on the train - and yet it's still the latter that prevailed, somehow. Inigo doesn't doubt that it's because of the spirits of everyone left on the train, especially the two guys holding him right now.

And there's so much he could say. There's so much he wants to say. And also a lot he doesn't want to say - like Inigo knowing exactly how easy it is to lose Tidus, but that it's something beyond the other's control. It's one of those things he won't just blab about to everyone, nor does he even like to think about it.

So instead he releases that breath, pauses for a moment to gather himself back together enough again to speak, and then does.

"Glad to hear.. you guys didn't replace me with each other." It's a joke. He swears. He swears! B-But still, guys, no becoming best buddies with him being totally out of the picture, o-okay? He'd cry! "Must have been real tempting.."

Yes, he's just joking in the most mumbly sort of way. Sue him.

It's his own way of basking in the fact that he's right back where he wants to be the most. In the middle of this warm, warm cuddlepile. Sorry, Ylisse, but you'll be fine without him anyway. He's more needed here right now, not wanting to saddle either of the two guys holding him right now up with the sudden loss of him.

Welcome to Tidus's favourite pastime, Esteban: filling dead air. An extra comfort, to make Inigo feel at home. The little bits and pieces that of home that Tidus will concede that the train's become - the friends within it. The people that others come to call family.

(He'll never give this credit to the train. It has nothing to do with it - it's just a side effect, a one good thing or five to come out of a terrible mess.)

"You sound tired." He could tease Inigo, but his concern comes out first; Tidus pulling back his hand on Esteban's arm to find Inigo's, giving it a rub. He lets out a small breath. "Everything's fine now, so we'll take you to bed in a sec, okay? You know what - when you're feeling better, you can do Esteban a favour." Amusement lifts into his tone. "The guy loves tearing his shirts. Think you can do something about them?"

What's better than normalcy? Like they hadn't nearly just lost Inigo - and everyone else - entirely, or that there's more people to go save.

"That w'ldn't happen," Esteban huffs from behind them both, not quite wanting to leave Inigo's words without a response. "'Not comparin' between people' also means not replacin' them." And seriously? He doubts Tidus would be of any differing opinion than his on that matter.

Inigo is important to them. He's just going to have to deal with it.

Tidus' words do get him to move a bit though, finally withdrawing the wings that had sheltered their little group so far. He's been... kind of overstaying his welcome, probably. And people are going to start appearing sometime soon, now that more voidtreckers were off finding their crewmates; the Storage area was bound to get crowded soon.

The fins at the tip of his tail easily scoop the little higgledies up and into Esteban's waiting hands as he asks his next question aloud for the blond.

"C'n you walk, Sunshine?" He's about to offer more when Tidus mentions the ripped up shirt and the surprise gets his ears to redden slightly, even as he snickers. "I do not," the half-dragon protests playfully, wingtips flaring and flattening behind his back as the tip of his tail curls near his ankles.

"Y' just scared the elf right outta me," he replies instead, amused at his own joke. What's the point of being a hybrid if he can't make fun of it after all?

There are other occasions where Inigo definitely would have reacted much more dramatic to Tidus's remark about Esteban's shirt-ripping habit. But right now he's way too tired to really think about it too hard. It's hard to do anything but to basically lie there between both of them, all energy completely having left his body. Going to bed sounds kind of nice, he thinks.

(Maybe later on he will fuss over having to help people, but right now-- right now his brain can't think of anything other than sleeping.)

"I can try to help mend them.." He mumbles instead, just going right along with it. Without complaint, without fluster. A sleepy Inigo is apparently a very docile Inigo.

Especially in comparison with the higgledies, who seem as lively as ever. Hopping on Esteban's hands, and then starting to use the boy like their own personal piece of playground equipment as they start to climb all over him.

Inigo breathes in, then out. ".. Are we going to move?"

It feels like people are moving.

Whether Inigo can find the energy to actually move himself though.. Well, that's a different matter entirely. He's not so sure.

Tidus just grunts about him apparently scaring anyone (pah, he didn't do anything unusual! He just came back from a void river, that's all), but he heeds the call for movement, and starts to move himself out of Inigo's space, leaning back.

"You wanna get back to work, Est? We can take Inigo to bed," which he says with a look at Inigo, speaking as much to him as he is the other guy, "--but if you two want five more minutes..."

Then he isn't going to rush them to get moving, even if they should probably get back to grabbing more people. That's in the back of his head, but he'll leave the choice to the other two - if Inigo's ready to be moved, and if Esteban's feeling itchy to get back to finding more people. They had plenty of more people to find - plenty of more people to save.

"Hang on--" The nickname gets Esteban's eyes to widen, startled at the sudden casual drop of it, wings entirely still even as the higgledies clamber all over with their tiny little arms. He has to snap himself out of the surprise-- really, he deserves that-- and grins at the blond even through a snicker.

"C'n you even walk, Sunshine?" he repeats, rolling his eyes a bit. "I c'ld try t' carry you both, but we're not gonna get far. B'sides. Y'should prob'bly rest for a few minutes yourself." And no, the hug doesn't count. The anchoring process definitely looks like it took a way stronger bite out of the roaming participant-- nevermind Inigo.

Despite his words, the half-elf does wait for Tidus to answer, willing to listen to him while the tip of his tail curls lightly from side to side like a cat's, always a tiny bit of motion in his limbs. He'd rather leave the two of them together, if he's honest. What he's seen-- what's been shared across them all is still a tangled net that Esteban can't quite make heads or tails off, but he's not sure leaving Inigo alone right now is the best idea.

Well, then again, that is definitely nosy-- those aren't his memories, and he shouldn't be digging deeper.

...

Okay, so, he shouldn't be digging deeper right now. Those are Inigo's, and if his friend allows it-- awake, aware and willing-- then he'll ask.

It feels like a bigger loss than it ought to be, Esteban and Tidus starting to move away from him like this. Maybe it's since they were right there from basically the first moment he became aware of things again here in the luggage car, but it feels weird without them right there. It makes Inigo groan and stir, only barely able to sit up by himself as-is, trying to prop himself up with his back against the wall of the carriage.

"It's.. 'kay," he mumbles, a hand slowly moving up to rub at his eyes, but it doesn't make him feel any less sleepy for some reason. It's like his body is still entirely made out of something that's way too heavy for him to carry.

And really, it's not okay. He so doesn't want to be alone right now, not after waiting all by himself in his own world as well. Not after these days of internal freaking out about their situation. But on the other hand - he knows he can't be selfish and demand they stay with him. Knowing Esteban and Tidus, they'll want to help out other people.

So what else is Inigo supposed to do, other than to man up and be okay with being alone again for a while?

"You guys can go.. I.." He breathes in. "I'll get myself.. to my room."

Which, you know, sounds very convincing when it's said by a guy who looks like he's having trouble even just sitting up. Clearly.

"I can walk, mom." Talk about being a nag!! But it's playfully answered this time around, understanding where the concern is coming from, even if he thinks himself it's overblown. Who doesn't get the entire wind and soul knocked out of them when attempting to save a pal? Eezy stuff.

He sounds better at responding than Inigo anyway, whose mumbling that comes beside them in an attempt at reassurance does nothing but the opposite. It sounds sad, but who doesn't sound down in the dumps when they're exhausted? There wasn't anything fun about going through the void.

(Which, geez -- there really was something in this whole anchoring business, wasn't there? Just the journey in-between the void and points; Inigo hadn't been anything like this back on his world, and now...

This was going to be an exhausting rescue, for everyone.)

"You're not going anywhere on your own." He puts a hand on Inigo's shoulder, gives it a confident grip. "Don't worry, we'll get you there - just give it five minutes. We'll come check on you later - I promise."

He looks over to where the higgledies have found perch.

"You two'll look after for him for us, won't you?"

The pair squeak, higgle!, ready for the job!

Okay, ouch.

He deserved that, but ouch; he's really not that bad! C'mon, Tidus, can't he fuss just a bit? Still, he only playfully bristles, wings stretching wider behind his back even as his eyes brighten. But he's not witty enough to come up with banter to reply to that anyways, so it's not like his half-threat holds much weight anyways.

Yes, he's fussing. It's-- it's his version of an apology right now, or maybe some form of hope; something between the two. But ultimately, Tidus knows Inigo better, so while he's still recovering from the void travels, Esteban trusts him to handle the situation better than his clumsy attempts. Wings and tail shift behind the half-elf, and they slip back underneath his skin as Esteban finally places some distance between himself and his companions.

He still doesn't think the blond is going to be of much help carrying his own ~~not~~ ~~boy~~friend back yet, though, so they might be sticking around for a bit more then. His toes automatically start to bounce, and Esteban tucks the foot at the crook of his opposite knee to keep it hidden, as he scrambles to find... anything to say, really.

"Hey, Inigo? Didja know that Tidus has eighteen lungs?" Is he helping, or should he let his companion rest instead? He's not entirely sure, but he'll take his response as indication enough, even as he teases the blond at the same time. He's still not over that conversation; worse, he almost believed the blitzball player, until he'd added a full ten to the number.

While Inigo is over here just torn between the idea of having to quickly go back to his room so the other two can go back to helping out other people and the idea of having to wait there all by himself - even with the higglepals for company, still! - Esteban is over there, just.. suddenly speaking up with something like that of all things.

There's not quite the comical reaction one might expect though. Inigo is way too tired to be able to react with any sort of proper speed. Instead he just blinks, before slowly - much too slowly - turning his head to actually look at Esteban.

".. what..?"

With his slow confusion, it's hard to tell what part of that is even confusing to Inigo. Maybe he just thinks he didn't quite parse that sentence, since his brain is so foggy. Maybe Esteban meant to say something else? Who knows, Inigo sure can't keep up right now.

The only thing he does slowly realise is that he must have missed so much, just by being kicked off the train for a few days. It feels a little lonely, though he - luckily enough - can't really process that emotion when he's this tired. No room for emotions, only exhaustion. (And confusion, in this case.)

*grabby hands* gimme all the words

you guys are too kind I'M TAGGING THIS AT WORK JUST FOR YOU

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Inigo sandwitch XD

that's exactly where he wants to be

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grabby hands gimme all the words