vatheon | 19th Combo - [Video/Action]

Entry tags:

19th Combo - [Video/Action]

Who: Lloyd Irving and Vatheon
Where: Video/Yutopil Apartments
Style: [brackets]
Status: Open

[Today's the day, Lloyd's decided. He turns his SFC on.]

I guess things got a little crazy for a while there. I even missed my own birthday last month. It looks like everything's back to normal now, though.

[Or close enough.]

So...

It's not too late to throw a birthday party, is it? I mean, you only turn eighteen once. I'm going to have it at my place this evening, if anyone wants to come.

[Yes, his place. He'll be moving back out of the Ordo house where he'd been staying with his friends. He's feeling ready now, and there's no need to make a mess of their house when he's got a place of his own.]

I'm at the Yutopil Apartments, in room six.

[With that he turns his starfish off. He's got a party to get ready for. Hmm. After a moment, he turns it back on and dials for Link's and Angelo's SFCs.]

[Private to Link and Angelo.]

Hey, Link, did you still want to help? And Angelo? You don't have to, if you don't want to. Just thought I'd ask.

[One way or another, though, come this evening, the apartment will be decorated and there will be food and drinks. Nonalcoholic drinks, Angelo.]

[ooc: Feel free to respond with either SFC or action!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[And then Kratos's other words catch up to him, making him feel like something just got yanked out from underneath his feet.]

Wait, what?

Your birthday is in the spring, in April. You were born on April 11th.

[He can remember it with perfect clarity. In that moment he'd sworn to himself to never return to Cruxis, feeling like he'd truly learned what a life with emotions was worth.

He can remember when he thought he lost them both, too. How weak he'd been, how immediately he'd abandoned that vow in favor of not having to feel anything at all.]

[He'd never known his real birthday. He and Dirk had just picked one. He'd accepted a long time ago that he probably would never know when his real birthday was. He'd decided that that was fine with him, that the feelings were more important than the day itself. He'd stopped thinking to question when his birthday was.

It hadn't even occurred to him that the fact that Kratos was his father meant that he could ask. The realization floors him. His birthday. His real birthday.]

So you mean... I've been eighteen all this time?

[The earlier question of what Kratos had been has completely flown from his mind.]

[So Lloyd had even forgotten his own birthday. He'd remembered his name, but it seems he didn't hold on to anything else.]

No. You are not yet eighteen. You didn't miss it.

[It's something he can say with confidence, knowing exactly what point in time Lloyd was pulled from. He was still seventeen years old. Still a child, in more ways than one.]

[He'd only been three at the time. Birthdays were such nebulous things. He could barely keep track of the days of the week, if that, let alone the days of the year.]

I'm... not?

[For the second time in this conversation, Lloyd feels like he just lost his footing. For a whole month he'd been thinking he was eighteen now. Now he's not.

He opens his mouth, then closes it. How does he even feel about this?]

...so I shouldn't have this party?

[That feeling there, that one he knows. That's sinking disappointment settling into, making a twisting mess with the rest.]

I did not say that.

[He thought Lloyd would be relieved to know that he hadn't missed his birthday, not disappointed. Why is it he always manages to say the wrong thing?]

There's no reason you should not have a party, I simply wanted you to know that you did not miss your birthday.

I guess I could look at it that way, but...

[It's not that Kratos did anything wrong. Lloyd had just mentally geared himself up for one thing, for the idea that he was eighteen. He hadn't prepared for the idea that he wasn't.]

But... I can't tell people I'm eighteen if I'm not. Now that I know I'm not.

[Because it had been one thing when he didn't know when his birthday was. Now it's a different matter.]

[He'll feel badly if he ruins Lloyd's chance for a party!]

Perhaps you could make it a party for moving back in, then? Others have expressed an interest at this point, there is no reason to cancel it.

Yeah, but what do I say when they wish me happy birthday? And what if they give me a present? Zelos already got me something. Do I just tell them not to get me something when my real birthday's actually here?

Why not call them back and inform them now? Surely there's still a few hours before they'd be arriving.

[As for getting gifts... does it really matter? Everything is free in Vatheon, if people want to get something for someone else, they certainly won't be putting themselves out to do so!]

[Gifts can be free, but they still take thought and time. It'd still feel like he'd been given something he shouldn't have asked for yet.]

Yeah, I guess that's what I'll have to do. I just...

[It's awkward, telling people he jumped the gun, even if he hadn't realized it at the time. It's never easy, owning up to your mistakes. There's also the very real possibility that he won't be able to tell everyone before they've already gotten a present.]

Dammit, I wish I'd known before.

I apologize. It did not occur to me that you may have forgotten.

[He clears his throat awkwardly.]

It... is not your birthday, but Amaterasu finished that painting if you would like it.

[Kratos is the one apologizing, but it still feels like this is somehow Lloyd's fault. His hand goes up to rub the back of his neck, though Kratos can't see that.]

I was three. There's not much I remember from before...

[Admitting that only makes him feel worse. His birthday, his memories of his mom and his dad... He has a few of those memories back now, but it's hardly enough to make up for everything he's lost.

With those thoughts on his mind, the offer of the portrait strikes a chord close to home. Lloyd swallows, a sudden lump in his throat.]

I... Yes. I still want it. Are you... coming over, then?

[Of course he'll come. He'll want to try and escape if Lloyd decides to still hold the party, but he'll come.]

I will come. Would you like me to find a frame for it, or do you want to make one?

[Yes, Kratos has noticed that Lloyd enjoys woodworking.]

[The fact that Kratos knows him well enough to know that Lloyd could and might want to make a frame for it himself is... It says something, and it means something that Lloyd can't put a name to just yet, but it makes something inside him swell just a little.]

I've never framed a picture before, but... yeah, I want to try it. I want to frame it myself.

[For a picture of his family, that feels appropriate.]

I will be over shortly, then.

[If that's what he wants? Kratos would prefer to get in and out before the party starts, if Lloyd is going to still hold one.]

All right. I'll see you soon, then.

[And maybe there's a hint of a smile in his voice before he turns the SFC off.

Lloyd is still going to hold a party, and he's getting ready for it now. Angelo tried to keep the apartment clean, but it needs to be cleaner if he's going to have a lot of people come visit. That's what he'll be doing when Kratos comes by.]

[After about twenty minutes, Kratos shows up at the door. It's more than a little awkward since the last time he saw Lloyd the boy had been burying his face in Kratos's... fur, but Lloyd doesn't know that. He just won't mention it. Painting in hand, he knocks.]

[Lloyd's been given no reason to suspect that the "dog" he thought he'd been curled up with for a week was anything (or anyone) besides his dog. And really, why would he ever think that Noishe might have been Kratos? That was silly.

At the knock on his door, Lloyd stops what he's doing, setting a dirty dish back down before heading to the door. Awkward? Yes, it is a little bit awkward. The last time he recalls seeing Kratos face to face was right after the man had been arrested and Lloyd had chewed him out, when Kratos had made a promise he (apparently) hadn't kept - though he might have had a good reason for that.

Lloyd fidgets for a moment, but now doesn't feel like a good time to bring that up. In fact, he's not sure what to do right now. Should he invite Kratos inside?]

Um, hey.

[Kratos nods to Lloyd, awkwardly holding out the painting. He's covered it in a plastic bag so that it won't get damaged, but it's still visible. It's hard for him to look at a picture of himself smiling so earnestly, especially one that's so large.

It might be terrible, but he hopes Lloyd doesn't invite him inside. He doesn't want to have to attend a party.]

Here. She does good work, it's very much like the original.

[Lloyd can't even envision Kratos attending a party. Maybe he should ask, but it doesn't occur to him that Kratos would even want to.

He accepts the painting, smoothing the plastic a little bit so he can see the picture beneath. He didn't get a very good look at it before when Kratos had first given it to him. He'd been too upset, to intent on shoving it back and demanding that it be fixed, to memorize the details of the faces it holds. That... That's his mom, and that's his father smiling at him.

His fingers curl around the edges of the canvas.]

...thanks... dad. [It feels a little awkward calling Kratos that, but it doesn't feel right to call him anything else. Not right now, not for this.] This... this means a lot to me.

[Saying "you're welcome" feels strange somehow. Lacking words, he places a hand on Lloyd's head momentarily before drawing his hand back, standing stiffly.]

You should know what your mother looks like. If you ever wish to speak about her, I do not mind.

[Well then.]

I will let you finish preparations. Call me when you would like to practice flying.

[He didn't forget, he was just unable to speak with Lloyd when he was "Noishe", that's all.]

[The movement startles Lloyd, the feeling of Kratos's hand on his head familiar and foreign and unexpected, and the words in Lloyd's mouth stall out. Something wells up, getting stuck in his throat. He can only manage a nod.]

I'll... I'll see you later, then?

[He can't help but ask for another promise even though the last one from Kratos fell through.]

Yes. Just call me when you have time.

[He nods again, taking a step back. There. Now he'd given the invitation, Lloyd could get ahold of him again on his own terms. Hopefully he'd forgive Kratos for having been transformed into something the last week.]

All right. I will.

[The words come out a little awkwardly, but awkward or not, it's still a promise. He hovers for a moment, then takes a step back himself, not closing the door in case Kratos wants to come in, but trying to let him know it's all right if he goes. They've really said all they can say right now. He thinks. Maybe. He's not sure.]

So, um... Thanks. Again.

action

strength_of_tomorrow - 2012-11-01 18:38 (UTC) - Expand

action

redcladidealist - 2012-11-01 21:57 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

19th Combo - [Video/Action]

Voice 2/2

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice -> Action?

Action

Action

Action

Action

Action

Action

Action

Action

action

action