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

At first it feels like something is wrong when Inigo suddenly finds himself appearing in Ylisse again, despite not meaning to go there. Again.

Something about being here, in a world that isn't his anymore, separated from the friends he promised to be present for - his friends back on the train, Taiki in his own world who needed so much help - threatens to make him feel sick to his stomach. It feels like a taunt, even moreso because it's not like he's actually there. He's just like a ghost, hanging out in a world that isn't his. It's like this is the way things are meant to be, if he'd ever go home. He's just secondary. The Inigo that isn't the real Inigo, not anymore.

Still, there's the message. It's the one good thing in all of this. And though Inigo also feels bad about that, wishes that there was something he could actively do to help, he can't think of a single thing to do.

Other than to just.. sit there. And wait. No matter how much he hates it.

By the time people reach out to find him, Inigo is sitting in a field of flowers - apparently somewhere in nature, because there's not a single building to be spotted anywhere around, nor a single other person. Overhead the sky is dyed in the colours of the sunset, though occasionally there's an odd colour mixed in, one that somehow doesn't seem to belong there, like an odd streak of light.

Inigo isn't watching that though. His legs are drawn up so his forehead rests against his knees, his hand uselessly pressing the evacuation button on his SCA, over and over.

The anchoring process is a rush, a rollercoaster with no fastening to protect him than the sense of Esteban holding onto some part of - maybe all - of him to keep him whole. And still if he loses focus, if he doesn't keep a hold on the thought and goal pulling him forward, he knows he'll slip.

And what does it mean, to slip in the void? Tidus won't find out. Inigo, Inigo, Inigo.

The thoughts that carry him aren't just privy to him and the void. It spills through to Esteban, a passenger to every thought, every feeling; the blue-haired man's smile, his touch, the sight of him in the mornings, laying in bed. The conversation held between them in the greenhouse before Inigo's flowers, crouched; Tidus holding his hand for comfort and wishing he could help let Inigo live the life of someone free. Fields of flowers conjured from memories of Inigo's own childhood, somewhere for him to dance freely.

('We promised to be there for each other,' Inigo had reminded him calmly, sure; and Tidus realised how much he'd come to rely on Inigo after all.)

And before he's even truly in Ylisse, there's a power, a call being made to try and get Inigo to hear him, to let him appear where he is. A permission, a plea, a feeling and Inigo repeating his name in his head.

Inigo, it's me, Inigo, hear me hear me hear me--

Because if he can reach him, the power he received from Diagad will let him find Inigo.

There's a short recoil, a startled thought, a split hesitation before Esteban's hold gets strengthened again, trying, trying to brush aside images he really should not be spectator to. He is not losing either of them-- not today, not ever, not on his watch. The grounding of his hoard helps him keep Tidus his own person, even as confusing as it is, remembers sunshine grins and mischievous laughter on both their parts.

But it's... harder than he thought. Weaving a hold onto him, while letting the thoughts flow over his head focusing entirely on Tidus, Tidus to call him home when they have Inigo, not allowing himself to fall into the memories tossed so carelessly down into the connection. They're not his, they don't belong to him, and he will not look, reaching for the faint, light scent of salt instead, something definitely associated with Tidus, but not Inigo-- beaches and water.

He still misses him though, and it's tempting to seek him out too-- to get distracted, to get the confirmation that he's there, he's near, they're going to find him. Esteban strikes those thoughts away, focusing, narrowing his entire being to the single hoard, the single item. He can't afford to let the rest exist right now, even if it's ripping him apart. Tidus must come home, as soon as he's found him, Tidus must come home, safe and sound, and Esteban will not allow himself to endanger them.

Inigo has no idea what's about to happen. The message he received didn't exactly go far into the details, only telling him to wait, and that people would be coming for him. He doesn't have enough of an idea about his situation to even realise that the most likely solution to this situation is anchoring, so he just sits there.

He just waits, every passing moment feeling like an eternity.

But then something does appear in his head. Something familiar. Inigo can't quite grasp yet that Tidus isn't the only one on this line, since even he is still so far away in this moment. He doesn't know yet that even Esteban is there for him, even further away, all the way back near the train.

The only thing Inigo knows is that the way Tidus suddenly appears inside of his head is familiar. Familiar enough to activate the same power as he has before, back during the mission. Inigo just accepts the voice calling out in his head, thinking of Tidus in turn, and knowing - or maybe hoping, since he feels so lonely out here, more than anything - that it should hopefully make the other appear right besides him as he raises his head.

(Please, just let someone come for him already..)

The invitation is all he needs, in this instance. A power still not entirely understood, emotions too loose and needy to be restrained. Tidus is accepted, and without any sense of balance or place in the world yet, it's as if his being is flung across to where it's being summoned -

Inigo raises his head, and the sun is blotted out - as Tidus appears. Without a brake to his acceleration, and so crashing right into the other guy, not even with an embrace to give to go along with it. A flash of Inigo in his eyes and shared with Esteban, until the world gets a bit topsy-turvy in the landing made.

'Landing', of two bodies crashing into each other. A dizzying moment following in Tidus's head, but even with a brain empty of thought, his body trying to right itself where it's landed (where? on top of Inigo? In the dirt?, he's searching for places to put his hands and to pick himself up), Tidus still says, somehow:

"Inigo-!"

His mind isn't completely empty, no. There's still someone in there.

There's a tug, Esteban holding steady on his side, feeling the thread stretch and stretch between himself and Tidus, breathing deeply-- and then the blond jolts forwards like a sprung rubber band-- golden threads stretched across the void, some near, some far-- and Esteban has to physically plant his feet on the ground to keep the entire lurch of his thoughts from having him jolt forwards as well.

Thanks for the warning, Tidus!

There's a blink-- colours and kaleidoscopes and amidst them Inigo-- Inigo!-- and the relief is just as bad as the alarm, and there isn't a second before the both of them collide and Esteban has to scramble-- again-- with the need to protect them, shield them, and the incredible itch to wrap his wings and arms and limbs around him-them-both to keep the rocks from jabbing at them.

Dead Guardians in a ditch, this is confusing. Tidus he reminds himself trying hard to focus on the glass, the sheltered sunlight in his hands, but there is tension unweaving as well, two promises that he's held onto all this time and he's managed, he's managed and it's not a fix, it's not over yet, but it's a step, and Esteban is so glad he's here, so glad he can help them both. He wants-needs to offer comfort, but they're still so far, and it's frustrating that he can't reach across the distance, can't hold them both close, not yet, but he tries to settle his thoughts again.

(Tidus might want to tell him off if he doesn't like hugs. Esteban is clearly the touchy-feely type, and not catching on that the blond might not be.)

Tidus. Warm sunlight and the scent of the sea; salt and grass and light-warmed sand. Playing and movement and eagerness and a smile, brilliant and shared, and a helping hand. Tidus. Warning him and cheering him with stories of purple creatures and water worlds and helping him-- trying to help him find the rope that he needs. Hoping to get to play games with him, hoping to show him the fire dancing he keeps on putting off.

They've got him back. Esteban helped fix this. It's going to be okay.

Maybe Inigo hoped just a little bit too hard for Tidus to actually appear, just like the other time when he had suddenly been in Inigo's thoughts like that. Because he sure was expecting Tidus to pop up in front of him, or next to him, but.. certainly not right on top of him.

Inigo feels himself being pressed against the flowers, into the dirt, a very familiar weight right on top of him. The upside is that it does make it very clear that this is a real thing, rather than him just hallucinating one of his best friends with him here out of sheer desperation - the downside is the fact that Inigo sure feels that pressure weighing down on him, his head pounding after it just got knocked against the ground like that.

He doesn't know how Tidus got here - did he just use his Diagad power, did he figure that was a solution? - nor does he know that Tidus isn't the only presence mingling into this reunion.

He might figure out the latter part when Tidus starts to move again, but it's Inigo who does first, acting even before Esteban's desire can play up through Tidus.

Because Inigo remembers something. Something important. He remembers being thrown out of the train, and worrying that it happened to all of them, and remembering what would happen with Tidus if his connection to the train was fully severed--

Which makes him move, even if the other is still half on top of him. His hand shooting out to latch onto the wrist that has Tidus's SCA on it, checking whether it's really here. Checking whether the other isn't turning transparent.

.. the SCA is there. And the wrist he's holding is very much solid, just like the rest of the body weighing down on him.

Tidus is alright. Inigo knows so very little about this current situation, but at least he knows Tidus is alright. Thank Naga.

Which, of course, leaves room for a few words that aren't very dignified, or perhaps not as emotionally appropriate for the situation, but they slip out of Inigo's throat before he thinks about it anyway.

"Ow, Tidus, your elbow is right in my ribs.."

Little does Inigo know what's about to come for him.

Little does he know.

There's so many emotions, even before Tidus can properly upright himself. Protect, shield, Inigo!, comfort -- it's such an increasing need, even with Tidus's own lurching heart trying to escape his chest. All the worrying about the blue-haired guy, all the worrying that they would leave him, desert him after the conversation of how they promised each other they never would.

Inigo has his arm, but Tidus has his and Esteban's, that hoard need so intimately woven into the half-elf's being. There's no longer elbows in any ribs, but arms grabbing around the body under him; one around Inigo's shoulders, the other around his head. Tidus brings him so close, so tightly against his body, more like a mother smothering a baby close to their shoulder and chest than something more natural for the two of them.

But what's natural about any of this? About this moment, this whole occasion. "'Dians," he lets out on a breath, and even repeats it in his mind, through the link. Dead Guardians in a ditch-- "We were tryin' for days, we were doin' everything to try 'n' get everyone."

There's a bit of an accent in his voice, making his words looser than they would be, usually. Familiar, but not from his throat.

Did Tidus just--

Oh, not on his watch. The tangle of where the blond ends and where Esteban begins is a smidge-- blurred-- and the half-elf has to breathe deeply again to drag all of his thoughts away, and back here while still keeping a watch over his friends. He did slip up, and though there's a wave of overwhelming concern for Tidus-- 'Are you okay?'-- there's also relief and gratitude.

It's-- he can't tell it in words. That understanding how much Esteban cares about everyone, something that he thinks is echoed in Tidus as well. He tries again to make sure he's not tangling too deeply, refocuses on their goals, on keeping his companions safe and properly anchored. When they get back, Esteban is going to drop all of his points into the voting system to try and get the pool that much quicker.

He's really looking forwards to play blitzball with him. He already had been but-- even more so now.

And then snickers as he mentions his common accent is horrible. Which he takes. From Esteban. 'There's a pattern to it, Sunshine!' But Esteban is not about to explain it now, gathering the bottle close again, like it might be the lighthouse to show them the way back.

Edited 2022-02-21 23:57 (UTC)

.. if there is any moment that would make Inigo feel even more like this might just be a hallucination after all, it's this one.

It can't be, because Tidus is so clearly physically present in this moment, but everything else about it is so odd. It's all so off, and after spending days stressed about his situation and other people's situations and unable to find a solution to all of it, Inigo's mind is already stretched thin enough that it's not sure what it's supposed to do with any of this. Sure, Tidus hugging him is nice, and Inigo definitely could use a hug after all of that, but it feels so.. unlike Tidus. Tidus never hugs him like this. Inigo can't even imagine it, it's completely unlike the other.

And then it's coupled with those words coming out of his mouth. That first proclamation, and then the accent, sounding so foreign on Tidus's tongue - yet familiar at the same time. Inigo doesn't even need more than a moment to recognize what it is. Even if the words are coming from Tidus's throat, Inigo would recognize the way they're being said anywhere.

It's Esteban. That's exactly what Esteban would've said right now, and even the way Tidus hugs him right now is much closer to the way Esteban hugs him, and--

It's all too much for Inigo's poor, confused mind. With his emotions all over the place, and his brain stretched out beyond capacity, he doesn't know how to process this. Why is Tidus here, but acting as if he's Esteban? Is he mistaking one for the other? Did something terrible happen to the two of them, mixing them up? What-- what did happen on the train while he was gone?

Panic overtakes Inigo's heart, and he moves, rolling the two of them across the ground until Tidus's back is on the ground instead of Inigo's. Then he wrestles himself out of the other guy's hold enough to be able to move, to put his hands down on the ground next to both sides of Tidus's head, fingers digging into the dirt.

He stares down at the other - Tidus? Esteban? Inigo doesn't know anymore - with wide, panicked eyes, an image that is strong enough to even be transmitted across Tidus and Esteban's connection towards the latter. It's like everything in this moment about Inigo is standing right on edge.

"What-- What's wrong? What happened?" By Naga, why has absolutely everything during the past few days been so confusing? What if he got thrown off the train, and everything just went straight to hell in a handbasket? If Tidus and Esteban aren't alright, and it's all because he wasn't there, then he'd never forgive himself, and.. and-- "Who.. are you..?"

Esteban asks him, Are you okay?, and Tidus is confused, not as caught up on what's happening as everyone else around him. Certainly not enough to find his own speech weird (why would it be weird? He's just speaking!), and he's confused about where the concern and relief is pointed in this line connecting the two of them.

Also, Esteban is thinking about blitzball a lot, which is just making him--

well, he's not allowed or being granted time to be confused over that. His body hit the ground with no resistance, easing his manic hold onto Inigo, and he's a wide-eyed sight to greet the one above his head. A fluster about Tidus,dazed, puzzled. Inigo? his mind thinks, and for a split second, with the shadow cast over him, a familiarity to this kind of position; there's a real fluster internally, a small excited panic that Inigo's going to kiss him, when--

'Who...are you?'

I can explain! There's relief, that second where he realises nothing embarrassing is going to happen (nevermind the transmission that he thought it could happen--ignore that, obviously), and he pats a hand on the outer side of Inio's arm, near his armpit, just finding some place to touch and reassure.

"I-It's me! It's Tidus!" His voice now what it should be, that hoard instinct not as strongly coming through. "Esteban and we-- we've come to get you! Uhh... maybe I was too full on?"

...his brain might be catching up now to the strength of the embrace he gave, tumbling backwards to recollect the last five or ten seconds. But, it's a little hard, too.

There's confusion signals being sent to Esteban (Did I miss something?), scattered as he's thinking about him, and then dealing with Inigo right in front of him.

"I promise it's me?"

The excitement, the panic the, everything that still gets transferred over is hard to ignore, and Esteban tries, tries his best to keep everything untangled, but 'Dians, he hadn't expected how much it would affect them. Still, he's backing away, trying to give them what privacy he can until Tidus is growing distant and Esteban huffs at him.

Tidus, standing in the greenhouse, unable to move because he misses Inigo, emotions barely leashed underneath his skin and Esteban remembers the way he'd been so tightly coiled, the tears gathered in his eyes. There's an echo, back behind his thoughts, of Esteban missing someone that deeply once, the need to fix it because he never managed to fix up the chasms that were left behind.

There's a roll of his eyes, and a shove.

'He's your boyfriend, why wouldn't you kiss him?' and the distinct impression that Esteban is closing his eyes and covering his ears, trying his best to let whatever happens next slide right over his head-- sail so high he won't even notice.

At least Tidus actually sounding Tidus-like calms him down a little bit, but something still feels off. Those Esteban-like actions from a moment ago, and now Tidus here saying that he and Esteban came to help Inigo.

It's not surprising that out of all people it'd be Esteban who would help bring him back alongside Tidus. That's not what's confusing about this situation. What's confusing is that even as Inigo quickly looks around them, he can't see a single other person, let alone someone who stands out as much as Esteban does, with his bright and bubbly personality.

That fact in combination with Tidus's odd behaviour from a moment ago does bring Inigo closer to the truth. But since he has no clue about how anchoring works, not having been one of the people to do it back on Diagad, he still can't reach the full truth here. Instead it feels like Esteban must be somehow.. inside Tidus? Are they sharing a body?

It's still concerning, and although Inigo is no longer audibly wondering about Tidus's identity, it makes his gaze worried in a slightly more sad way as he looks down at the other.

"O-- Okay. It's you." He at least acknowledges that much. "But then.. where is Esteban?"

Inigo raises one of his hands, pulling it up from the ground so he can instead gently put it on Tidus's face. His palm touching the other guy's cheek, the tips of his fingers moving into Tidus's hair near his temples.

In reality, he's just trying to see if he can feel if something is off in Tidus's head, or somehow within him. Whether he can feel Esteban's presence this way.

But somewhere between the tender touch and the way Inigo leans a little closer to see if he can see anything Esteban-like about Tidus, it sure does seem a lot like he's about to kiss the other guy.

Which might be a problem for Tidus, when coupled with that thought from Esteban's end that entered his head just now.

It's like giving up one disorientation for another, and Tidus doesn't know which he prefers. The blending of realities sweeping by and around him, or having one presence inside his head, and another right in front of him? He's glad anyway when Inigo goes along with him, asking a reasonable question. Starts to answer, as you do:

"It's a little complicated, but..."

But there's the shove, the eyeroll, and the judging remark from Esteban, just as the fingers touch at his skin, and-

And Tidus had managed to lift his head a few inches off the ground in his initial response, but then it slams back down - a knock that's dizzying, a sting for Esteban to suffer with him, as he's attacked from both sides. Inigo, no! Esteban, no!

"He's not-- kissing!"

Listen, to a beautiful and helpful reply that doesn't sound like the pained plea of a suffering youth. Tidus throws up his hands over his eyes, a frantic attempt to blot out his vision of Inigo -- and probably Esteban's too!!

'He's not my boyfriend!' Tidus takes the few seconds to say (brain say), nevermind that the closing in view of Inigo is still burned into his brain now, thanks to Esteban. Saying for real, in person: "Esteban's in my head! We're anchoring!"

And verbally, as well as on some inner level, there's a desperation in his words pleading, so please don't do anything because he knows it! Who speaking of, Tidus throws over to the half-elf following it: 'We're just friends - we just get toge-- we-- we're not a thing!'

So let Tidus just die here in his embarrassment. Why is this, what happened. Isn't he supposed to be doing something here?!

The pain smashes into him, not expecting it, and there's a tiny burst of colours across his eyes, trying just as much as Tidus is trying not to register anything on the blond's side because it's none of his business. They are not his memories to have and Esteban is so adamant about shoving them aside until Tidus adds his comments and the colours get replaced by the pure, rampant confusion, not his--

'I'm not doing anything!' The half-elf protests, indignant, because excuse him, he's back at the train and Tidus and Inigo are back-- Esteban doesn't even know where they are, just that there is a warm sunset and lots of colours lost underneath them. Yes, he knows there's a connection between the both of them, a transfer of actions, but that's why he'd been so adamant about shoving Tidus along, because clearly he hadn't been about to take his own hints, and Esteban figured he'd been worried about the presence in the back of his head.

Swallowed Gods and all four moons, he really shouldn't have-- it's not his place! He's going to behave now, promise! The panic, awkwardness is barely subsiding, but he's trying, and a deep, slow breath tries to push away the mountains of questions that he is not going to ask. He traces the wave on the bottle, remembering the first time he's met Tidus, the door that he couldn't open and the ticket that he'd been just kind of shoving at the wood without knowledge or concept of the technology the train used at all.

While only being privy to one side of this conversation, Tidus's behaviour is.. well, it's something. The way the other suddenly seems to fluster, including the accidental banging of his head against the floor. The weird parts of conversations Inigo is picking up on, only barely not enough to make out what exactly is going on here. He just stares down at Tidus, slowly pulling his hand off the other's face.

(Maybe that will help calm Tidus down a little?)

But the words are still puzzling, and they still buzz around in his head.

"Wait, did you two--" Who's kissing? Esteban?! Did they hook up the moment Inigo disappeared?! "Or did you tell him--"

Bro, he leaves the train for.. well, Inigo has no idea how long exactly it's been. A few days? Maybe a week or two at worst?! And what do you do while he's gone?!

At least Inigo makes an attempt to calm down. He doesn't want to freak out Tidus even further, even though Inigo himself is so confused right now. And if Esteban is watching all of this without being able to interact with Inigo, then he can imagine it getting kind of awkward for the other too.

So he shakes his head and stops hovering over Tidus, instead moving to sit. He glances around him, and then starts frowning before he continues.

"Let's.. Let's just go back first." It's better to sort out all of his thoughts later. To have a proper reunion back on the train, once they're sure that they're all safe. In the middle of all this chaos, Inigo hasn't even had the time to process the relief of seeing someone from the train again who didn't leave, nor the gratitude towards these two for helping him.

It'll have to wait a moment. This is more important, right? Stupid fluster aside or not.

".. Can you help me get back..?"

Tidus is a fluster in his own mind, wanting to grab at Esteban's attention, but pulling away before there's a touch. He focuses on the darkness of his eyelids, his palms beyond those. But Inigo is talking, and so he can't get lost; hears at least the noise of Inigo moving away, and confirming it when he brings down his hands. A pouting, suffering expression pulling on his face, his brow frowning along with his mouth.

He's a buzz of sulking embarrassment as he gets up, first on his butt. Gibbs, always present within Tidus's heart, just seems present. An extra link that can be noticed iside Tidus himself; seemingly oblivious, or indifferent, to all this huff and drama around him. It's a day ending in day, and instead, the higgledy calls for the higgledy in Inigo's own heart, brightening their lifelines.

"R-right." But back to the dumb boys side. Tidus picks himself onto his feet now, readying to take Inigo's hands. The closest to calm he's been for the last few seconds, if still far from it. Colour to his cheeks, to his mind. "I think I just... have you take you back now. Lead you back?" How, he isn't quite sure, and he thinks at Esteban. 'Is this your turn?'

Do you help us back? But from the touch, from the thinking of Esteban at the train, the world around himself and Inigo is starting to blot, to watercolour; to become slowly absorbed by a kaleidoscope of colouring as Tidus focuses on a return.

Esteban isn't too sure what is going on at first. It's not so much that the distance between them is shrinking, and more like Tidus is reaching across to just skip it back to him. His thoughts-- his being turns to set a solid path, hand reaching for the blond's and the need to make him safe, to make him come back paves the way into stones. The final yank is the hardest, Esteban recognizing that yes, he's helping, and suddenly he's pulling them both across the last of the void with a reckless, careless heave.

And if that makes them fly-stumble the last of the way, well. Esteban has arms and wings and a hug waiting to catch them both, his entire being stretched into getting them back, getting them both back safe and sound. It takes over everything else, anything else, the only one other thing is to keep the anchor to the train, no matter how impatient, no matter how much he wants to protect them.

Dead Guardians in a ditch it's only their first anchoring, and Esteban already just wants to fall asleep. There's been so many ups and downs and focus and stretches where he couldn't focus and all of it has left him so raw, feeling so in-tune with Tidus and yet so absolutely not that he feels a little dizzy with it, clutching at the glass for one moment more before they appear. It darts sunshine across his hands that Tidus is the only one to see, before the item is tucked away to better welcome them back.

Somewhere at Esteban's side, the flutter of gossamer fabric sways to wrap about them, completely invisible to the person concerned. It weaves and winds around them in movements so fluid, it might have been water, if it weren't so light. On each side of it, two oblong beads provide an easy anchor, a way to hold the fabric if one were to use it to dance. The stones are pale like the dawn, threaded through with a delicate golden wire, splayed out in thumbnail-small suns. Charms dangle from the beads on each side, captured by a short chain. A small dragon clutching a blade on the right. And the tiny sunflower on the left, with an itty-bitty leaf just like Jumblie's little collar to the left.

Edited 2022-02-22 23:09 (UTC)

Inigo has no idea what's going on here. All he can do is trust on Tidus, right there by his side, their hearts linked as they always have been through their bond, through their higglepals, and trust on Esteban too - somewhere out there. Inigo can't feel him, not quite yet, but even he can feel like there's some sort of faint pull from somewhere up ahead. He can't quite put the feeling into words, but there's something pulling them in another direction, away from the world that has already melted away around them, forcing them into some inbetween space. Something drawing in him, something familiar and warm, just like the presence at his side.

He can only hope that it leads him back to the train. That this works. That he'll be able to see Esteban again, and greet Tidus more properly once more, and--

Even though Inigo is drawn forwards by that desire, there's another force that suddenly starts. At first it's quiet, but then it swells, enough so that even Tidus and Esteban will see and hear all of it across their shared bond in this moment. Bits and pieces of memories, images and voices, none of them quite making sense out of context, and yet..

you're running through a field of flowers - an embrace from a woman with long, flowing, seemingly endless pink hair - "You are my darling boy." - a sullen dark-haired boy sits in front of you, passively accepting the flowers being placed in his hair - a dark dragon spreads its wings, terrifying and enormous, blotting out the sky - the tremble of a terrified heartbeat - "So ends the human race." - rubble everywhere, the pieces of a fallen castle - piercing red eyes - the fatigue of battle soaked right into your bones - a horde of monsters, rapidly approaching - a pile of dead people, a torch in your hand..

But there's one image that's stronger than anything. Something that threatens to take a hold of Inigo and Tidus, drawing them backwards. Something that tries to even pull Esteban in. A vision of a face so much like Inigo's, but with slight differences. The hair longer, the odd eye on the other side. Flards of an old conversation. The first female voice belonging to that face, foreign to the other two's ears, but the second one obviously belonging to Inigo himself, despite the boy in the void not speaking up at all.

"If you are, in fact, among Falchion's chosen, that is knowledge we need. There may come a time when it proves necessary for you to take it up."

"What, like if you're busy?"

"Like if I'm dead, Inigo. Having someone able to wield it even after I'm gone would be a considerable asset. We must use any means at our disposal to ensure the future is saved."

"NO! I'm not doing it! Don't make me... Don't make me practice for your death, Lucina!"

"... I understand how you feel, but we must be practical about this. We cannot afford to lose this war. No matter what happens or who dies."

"You think I don't know that?! But it's not... It's just not that simple for me, all right? What, are you planning to leave me, too? First my parents and now you?"

The memory twists, shifts in the void, turns into a siren call--

"Aren't you leaving me now, Inigo? Why are you going? Why are you abandoning your duty?"

Tidus holds onto what Esteban offers as a retreat, a return, a means of getting back where they need to; focusing on the one in front of him, the hand held, while acknowledging Esteban at his back. It's a stone path that should be walked, but Tidus can't quite force himself to take that way of travelling a space that reminds him too much of being led without physical decision (too much like being under Sin, dragged up and led elsewhere; the emotional bleed that clung to him, a loneliness bone deep, but not so unfamiliar).

But he has all the confidence - the belief - in returning, still. Clinging onto it as he does Inigo, even as-- as their surroundings change, or the images that swarm Tidus's mind. Both, it seems; as he becomes to the viewer to this history, all the emotions pushed down inside his throat, refusing to let them drown him, but their levels never dropping, never leaving.

Tidus grips the hand he knows he's holding tighter, a plea almost forming in his mind as Inigo's senses threaten to drag him in. He remembers who he is, a belief that doesn't waver, too certain to be reckoned with directly.

You're still fighting for everyone, even now. You have friends and family to still save - and yourself, too. We're going to save them-- together!

Images flitter, the woman seen in the memory - pink-haired, younger, kind-looking and shy; a redheaded man with a mask obscuring his face, quiet and distant; a waist-high white duck-person with a metal peg leg, a strong-willed mother; a young girl, a friend of a friend who needs to find her way back home.

You never give up. A belief directed, pressed without words. The task that Tidus knows Inigo won't give up on, the people he won't stop trying to save. The promise of a better future, and the people he'll have with him. Tidus, Esteban, everyone--

You're not alone.

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.

ayoooooooooo

awooooooooo

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*cackles in the background*

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this is so long, sob, i'm sorry

gobble gobble

*grabby hands* gimme all the words

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

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cackles in the background

grabby hands gimme all the words