vatheon | 18th Combo

Entry tags:

18th Combo

Who: Lloyd Irving and friends/visitors
Where: Zelda's house
When: Please specify the time of day! Any time of day from roughly 11:00 PM the night before and on is fair game.
Style: Whichever!
Status: Open to people with any sort of reason to visit Zelda's house

[Kratos hadn't given Lloyd much say in the matter, and frankly Lloyd hadn't been up to arguing at the time. Still bloody and traumatized from being kidnapped and tortured, he hadn't resisted when his father had brought him to the safest place he could think of, the house shared by Zelda, Zelos, and Dhaos, where he'd been cleaned up and settled into a bed.

But no matter how he closed his eyes, no matter how he tried bury himself under every blanket he had, he couldn't sleep. He couldn't sleep. Every time he tried, his mind snapped back to knives and needles and pain and a smile as Kvar laughed and ripped his Exsphere out and gray-green hands reached out to slaughter all his friends.

He wouldn't get any sleep that night, and anyone who came into his room before morning would find him sobbing brokenly. Later in the day, it would be easier to talk, but it would still be rough. Nightmares have a way of lurking in shadows even when you're awake.]

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[There's a moment before Lloyd responds, not because he'd been asleep, but because he wants to make sure his voice is under control when he tries to speak. It's hard to dismiss the terror of the waking-dream from the night before.]

You can... come in.

[He's sitting in bed, legs curled up and clutched to his chest.]

Edited 2012-09-25 04:13 (UTC)

[Peering inside, Link gives him a tentative smile. Yeah, Lloyd is... not looking great.] I was going to get some breakfast. Do you want any?

['Are you okay?' is probably a stupid question.]

[Lloyd looks down at his feet, and it takes him a moment to respond. He knows he should probably say yes and go get something to it. He hasn't eaten anything for more than a day. But his stomach is too knotted up, the thought of food almost sickening. He shakes his head.]

Thanks, but... I'm not really hungry right now.

[He's reluctant to just leave it at that, though. A small shiver runs through his body at the thought of being left alone.]

You could... go get breakfast and come back, though. If you want.

[He's about to say that he'll get something later, but nope, his stomach just has to chime in... flushing slightly, he nods.]

Okay. I'll be really quick! [And he is - pour a bowl of cereal, add milk, grab a spoon, remember to put the milk back in the fridge, and he's back, giving Lloyd a tentative smile and handing out a glass of Lon Lon milk from the Nostalgia Nook.]

Here - I know you're not hungry, but this milk is from Hyrule, and it helps people feel better.

[The milk doesn't look any more appealing than the thought of it before had been, but Lloyd accepts the glass with a wan smile anyway, even if the smile doesn't last.]

Thanks.

[He takes a sip, more because he knows he should than anything else. He's not sure what he was expecting, but it's a little bit tasteless.]

So, um... How have you been?

[It's a lame attempt at striking up a conversation, but it's hard to muster up even that much effort.]

[It does a body good?]

Okay. I was Dhaos for a week, it was weird being so tall. [From 5'4" to 6'7". And that's without the heels...] You didn't swap with anyone, did you?

You were Dhaos?

[Lloyd's interest actually stirs a little bit at that piece of information. He shakes his head.]

No, I just stayed myself. That... that's probably a good thing, I guess. If I'd been in someone else's body...

[Then someone else would have gotten hurt.]

Uh huh. I could fly and everything. [Along with some other side effects that were a little weirder to him.]

[And at that, Link winces, realising the implications of the question.] Oh. Um... [Yeah, there's no easy way around this, is there.] I guess the curse only affected some people.

[Yes, Link, we know this. Talking to people who've been captured and tortured is awkward, okay.]

[Lloyd knows his heart was in the right place. It's not Link's fault that Lloyd is having a hard time not connecting everything with what happened to him.]

Yeah...

[A small shudder ripples through him before he forces his mind away from the thought. He doesn't want to think about that right now. He wants to think about something else.]

What was it like to fly?

[Ah, a much safer topic. Link smiles briefly.] It was pretty nice. Even though it wasn't my body, it was nice flying as a person this time - last time, I was a Pokemon.

I wouldn't mind flying...

[Lloyd's voice is soft, and there's an odd quality to it. Rather than sounding wishful, he almost sounds like someone trying to look on the bright side of something bad that had happened to them.]

Maybe... maybe when I learn, I can take you sometime. If you want.

[He tries another sip of the milk, but he still can't really seem to taste anything and his stomach still insists he's not hungry. Still holding it, he wraps his arms around his legs and rests his chin on his knees.]

What's a Pokemon?

They're these creatures that people can train, and they fight with them and they're friends. Some of the people here have them, they're pretty neat. [He smiles briefly, although he's still looking thoughtful - Dhaos could fly, and he was an angel, and Zelda had become one, and she had gained the ability, too.]

[Hmm.]

Are you an angel too?

[The picture Link paints makes Lloyd think of Noishe, only a Noishe who isn't too scared to fight monsters. The thought of his dog makes him smile, just a little.]

They do sound like they're pretty neat.

[He goes quiet again for a moment, not sure how to respond. It seems like such an obvious answer. Of course he is. Even before this happened, he could have been thought of as being half-angel because his father was an angel, too. But it still seems so surreal. How can he just say it, when it's hard to believe it himself?

Instead, he tries to focus on the feeling of his mana, tries to gather it like he does when he's preparing for a technique. He doesn't know what he's doing, has no idea if this is even the way it's supposed to work. Colette had made it look so easy when she'd first gotten wings, but she'd never said what it was she did to make them come and go.

He must have been doing something right, though, because after a few moments, there's a soft glow of blue-green light behind his back before a pair of translucent, feathery wings extends and lights up the room.]

[Link remains quiet as Lloyd focuses, barely daring to breathe. But then the wings emerge, and he lets out a soft sound of fascination, reaching up to brush the tips of his fingers against them before withdrawing his hand.]

I like your wings.

[Lloyd twitches one shoulder when Link brushes the tip of his wing. He could feel that, but it's not exactly the same as when someone touches his hand or his arm. It feels a little bit weird.]

Thanks.

[He stretches his wings out, then... no, wait. They're not going away like he wants them to. Distracted and frustrated, he tries it again, trying to release the mana he gathered.

His wings flare instead, then flap once, stirring the air in the room straight toward Link.]

Augh, dammit, I don't get this!

Edited 2012-10-01 02:28 (UTC)

[He frowns a little at that - getting used to using wings took a fair while, but why wouldn't Lloyd know how to do it already?]

How come you don't know? Have you just learnt to do it?

[Link didn't know. It hits Lloyd then that his friend didn't know that he wasn't supposed to be an angel. He doesn't know how angels are made, or that they're even made at all. And he won't know, unless Lloyd explains. Lloyd stills, feeling cold. Even his wings stop moving, except for the occasional tremor. Explaining means telling Link what happened. His throat closes up at the thought, and he swallows, trying to get rid of the lump.]

...I didn't have wings before last night, Link. I'm not... I wasn't...

[He swallows again. He can't finish the sentence. But Link will probably be able to connect the dots.]

[Link stills a little, expression falling solemn.]

Something happened to you. [He says it softly - from his reaction, it's not the same as Zelda, temporarily transformed, or himself, temporarily body-swapped.] And now you're an angel... are you okay?

[Something happened to you. Lloyd's breath hitches, and it's almost like he wants to laugh, but of course Link wouldn't know about that either. Kratos had only found him last night. Instead he offers a jerky nod.]

I... Kratos healed me.

[Which didn't really address his emotional state, but how could he articulate that mess?]

In my world, angels aren't... They aren't like humans or elves or half-elves. It doesn't matter what race you are. If you have a Cruxis Crystal, or... or an Exsphere like mine, it... makes you change. I don't know how long it would take if nothing happened to speed it up. Maybe... maybe years or decades or... I don't know. But mana and suffering make it happen faster.

[Suffering...]

[Whatever had happened to Lloyd out there at the hands of the same evil person that had killed Bianca - that had caused it. That had made him into an angel.]

[He... probably shouldn't have brought it up, then.] ...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to - [Link shrugs uncomfortably - does that mean that other angels had the same things happen to them? He had shared a body with Dhaos, what had given him his wings?]

[Lloyd doesn't know that there are angels who are simply born that way. Even if Link had voiced that concern, Lloyd wouldn't have been able to reassure him. All he can do is shake his head at Link's apology.]

It's okay. You didn't know.

But... yeah. [He'll just shift the subject back.] I'm pretty new at this, and I don't think I was ready.

[He doesn't know if he ever would have been ready, but that's beside the point.]

I guess I'll just have to figure it out.

[Link gives him a weak smile, dropping his gaze a little.] I bet you will. There's others here, right? They could help you.

Yeah...

[There's at least four people he knows who could possibly help him with this, although Colette's in a sleep coma right now. Maybe when he's feeling a little better, he'll go to one of them. For now, though...

For now, he's still having a hard time even getting out of bed. It's hard to even think about trying to fly.]

Thanks, Link. For... for stopping by. And the milk.

[Link gives him a quick smile, sitting back a little.] It's fine. Uh, I can get you some breakfast, if you're hungry...

[...Pausing there. Zelda had said that angels couldn't taste anything...]

[Can't taste and don't really get hungry, especially without a Rune Crest, but Lloyd hasn't connected himself to these things just yet.]

Thanks, but... I'm not really hungry right now.

[His wings abruptly disappear, and he starts in surprise.]

Huh. I don't know what I did.

Re: Morning, roughly 8 AM

Morning, roughly 8 AM

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