High City of Thraben, Gavony, Innistrad (Even Laaaaater Tuesday, Fandom Time)

[deathsmajesty]

(Personal journal of Thalia, Thraben Guard; 48th of Hunters Moon, Ava. 716)

Thraben is a carcass and the buzzards have descended upon us. To the heavens, the undead army must look like a swarm of ants, devouring all that is good and leaving a black stain in its wake. The ground shakes beneath my feet. I hear the outer wall crumbling under the assault. Without Avacyn, stones that have stood a thousand years will crumble into dust.

I have a plan, but Lothar is nowhere to be found. I must make him hear me before the outer wall is breached. But it's as if devils have plugged his ears and reason can no longer sway him.

Thalia, newly appointed Guardian of the City after her predecessor had been found dead, looked over the outer walls of the city and tried to remain impassive, the way Lothar would have if he'd been here. 'Never let the people under your command see how nervous you are. It will destroy their morale.' But does it matter what Lothar would have done? she thought bitterly. How much worse can their morale get, finding the body of the last Guardian of the City on the rocks surrounding the outside wall? Her friend and mentor was gone and here she was, staring over the walls at an army made up of the living dead, wailing and snarling and slamming their hands against the gates.

A roar from behind their ranks sent grown men flinching behind their shields. Grimgrin was there, as well as hundreds of skaabs, pieces together bit by bit from who knows how many people. Was there anyone left alive on the Moorlands at all? Or had they all been sacrificed to these insane twins and brought back as ghouls?

Lieutenant Traken	"Guardian." Traken didn't bother hiding his dubiousness at her claim to the title, even though she'd assured him that she had been appointed by the Conclave just yesterday, with a writ from the lunarch's own hand. "There's a man asking to see whoever's in charge." He didn't say, I guess that's technically you, but they both knew he was thinking it.
Guardian Thalia	"A cathar?" Thalia asked.
Lieutenant Traken	"Did I say a cathar?" Traken growled. "No. Some weirdly-dressed civilian."
Guardian Thalia	"So then why are you bringing this to me?" Thalia demanded. She was already exhausted, she didn't need one of Thraben's entitled elite coming up to demand she silence the alarm bells or whatnot so they could get some sleep.
Lieutenant Traken	"Because," Traken said, allowing himself a smile. "He said the angel Kelse vouches for him."
Guardian Thalia	Thalia rocked back on her heels at that, then looked thoughtful. There was an army of ghouls trying to tear down the outer gates with their bare hands and, worse, they were succeeding. They needed all the help they could get and, well, if this fellow was vouched for by one of the few remaining angels in the city... She nodded once. "Bring him up."

***
Ignis' mind was a whirlwind, in a way that almost made him grateful that he didn't have the added distraction of witnessing the mounting trouble with his own eyes, though that was exactly the crux of one of his concerns in that moment. This was an unfamiliar city, filled with people he couldn't trust, and he was at a significant disadvantage. A part of him felt the pull toward just finding Liliana, hoping she finally got what she needed to out of Volpaig, and leaving, but it barely managed to tug at him before it was immediately dismissed. He couldn't just do that. He couldn't just abandon something where he could do some good, especially on a plane where there was still no doubt more work to be done. But he also couldn't do it alone, and his eyes here might still be quite entrenched in matters far more important to her, and he knew Liliana well enough by now to suspect that her singular focus would be unshakeable.

And if he handled things out here, then that would grant her that lack of distraction.

There was, however, some hesitation. It would be late, back in Fandom, just as it was late here, but he reminded himself, of pacts made years ago, when they started drifting apart in Noctis' absence, that they would always come when the others called. He thought of battles and raids in the past, liberating conclaves beset by the threats of daemons, shepherding people to safety, even all the way back to the evacuation of Altissia, where the determined efforts of Gladio and Prompto had helped usher in a near miracle of limited casualties, though the city itself had not fared nearly as well.

When one had resources, it was wise for one to use them, and so drawing in a breath, Ignis pulled out his phone to make a call.

Gods, he was never going to hear the end of this one...

Gladio	Yeah, this was definitely going to be good fodder to hang over Ignis' head for a while now, which meant, ultimately, maybe Gladio shouldn't complain too much, but of course he would. Thankfully, just one year and change wasn't quite enough to kill the habits of an entire decade, so when Gladio's phone began to buzz and vibrate on the nightstand where it was charging while he slept, it had almost immediately pulled him out of his slumber with a reluctant groan. And then, remembering that Nell was asleep beside him, he tried to slip out of bed as quickly and quietly as he could so as not to disturb her, taking his phone with him and stalking out of the bedroom before answering, considering going either downstairs or up to the roof for added buffer against this late night call disturbing anyone else in the house. "This better be good, Specs, do you have any idea what time it is?"
Ignis	"Not exactly to the minute, no," Ignis responded dryly, "but I do have a general idea. So you should know that if I'm calling you at this hour, it means that I need your help. Things have taken an....unfortunate turn here on Innistrad. I need you to grab Prompto and make haste here; I'll voicetext you the proper coordinates for Portalocity. We have a city to try evacuate and an undead army to then take care of."
Gladio	Gladio grunted. "Isn't that supposed to be your girlfriend's specialty?" he asked, but it should be noted, he was already going to get his broadsword, and then considering if he should pick out clothes from the dirty laundry to wear so he didn't disturb Nell while poking through the closet. He was going to be waking her up regardless, though, so might as well save himself the trouble of getting nagged at for showing up to a party in dirty clothes.
Ignis	And Ignis had known Gladio long enough to know that the complaining was mostly performative; it was practically a requirement, for these sorts of things. "The undead hordes, yes," he allowed, especially since now was hardly the time to quibble over some semantics, when there were other, more important ones to address first, "but no offense to her, and I think you will agree, I wouldn't exactly put Liliana at the top of my list of people to most effectively usher innocent people to safety, even if she wasn't currently preoccupied with other matters. You and Prompto, however..."
Gladio	"...were also currently preoccupied with sleep," Gladio grumbled, and then he sighed, rubbing his face with that hand as if to rub away whatever vestiges of that sleep were still clinging to him. "But alright. Lemme call him up, we'll be there as soon as we can."
Ignis	There was a brief moment of quiet appreciation from Ignis, which would have to serve as a substitute for his firm, grateful nod. "Thank you, Gladio," he said. "I really do appreciate it."
Gladio	There was a soft sigh on Gladio's end, but it came with an equally soft smile, and a shake of his head. That Ignis couldn't see even if they weren't on the phone, but he still had the feeling the other man would know it was there all the same. "Hey, man," he said. "We've said it before, and we'll say it again. No matter what happens or where it is or even what time of the fucking middle of the night it is...we're here for each other. Always. Got it? Now, you go need to do what you need to do with your big tiddy goth girlfriend, and we'll be there soon." He didn't bother waiting for Ignis to respond before hanging up the phone, and, as soon as he did, he was right back on it to call Prompto.

Prompto	Luckily for Gladio and Ignis but not at all for Prompto (or probably Liz), he was used to pretty much sleeping with one ear open and trained toward a baby monitor, so when his phone started to ring (why why why did he set Gladio's ringtone to that???), he had no choice but to hear it and acknowledge it, rolling away from Liz and whispering out an annoyed, "Come on, Gladio, what is it? This is early, even for y--" But he stopped, abruptly, mid-word, blinking, as if the implications of Gladio calling in the middle of the night had just hit him like a ten ton brick and he sat up sharply in his bed. "What is it?" he asked, still whispered, still hurriedly, as he pulled back the covers and slipped out of bed and stalked out of the bedroom so he didn't further disturb Liz. "Is everything okay?" And, a second later, wondering if that impulse had been a bit...well, dramatic, he followed it up with, "I swear to god, man, if this is a prank or you say one word about going to go work out..."
Gladio	"Oh," Gladio snorted faintly, "you're gettin' a workout, alright. Come on. Grab your guns. Iggy needs some help. I'm gonna finish getting dressed and then I'm heading over to pick you up. He's over where Liliana's from and they're dealing with a zombie attack or something, so he's calling us in to help get people safe."
Prompto	Unable to help himself, Prompto let out a groan, winced at the loudness of it with a spike of worry for waking up Liz or Noctra, and then tried again, this time with his groan being much, much softer. "Are you kidding me?" he asked. "Now?" But even as he felt the whining complaints leave him, he was already sighing in resignation, shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Okay. Fine. It's fine. Just, you know, give me a second to go tell my wife that I'm being dragged out to deal with zombies in another universe in the middle of the night, I'm sure she's gonna love that!"
Gladio	"Just tell her you've got to go be the hero," Gladio suggested, "protecting a bunch of innocent people from zombies. Then she'll be too busy swooning over how brave you are to care. S'all about how you frame it, you know?"
Prompto	And, well....Prompto had to admit (even if only to himself), if he was taking advice on what to say to women from anyone, Gladio was a good choice to go with. "Right," he said. "Heroes. Be nice if being a hero could at least wait until morning." He sighed, already drifting over toward the safe with all his weapons, and, if he did need any last push to feel a little bit better about this late-night summons for aid, well...It just took looking at those emblems engraved in the metal to remind him why he ever even picked up a gun in the first place, and the source of the reminder didn't go without acknowledgment, either. "Alright," he said, "give a few moments; I'll meet you outside."

***
Liliana stalked around Volpaig's living room like an angry tiger. She wanted to leave immediately, to strike out for the Cathedral and shake down Mikaeus for Griselbrand's location, but she was waiting for Ignis to return. Even as impatient as she was, she knew that leaving him behind with no word where she'd gone in the middle of some city-wide emergency was a cruelty. It wasn't as if she could leave a note, and with Volpaig a pile of ash and his soul locked away in some demonic prison, she could no more bind his soul to act as a messenger than she could force it to reveal its secrets.

"The least you could have done was remain a body," Liliana huffed to Volpaig's fled spirit. "Just so I have something to kick when I think of all the ways you have inconvenienced me."

A rattling at the door drew her attention - "Finally!" - and she flew to it, throwing open the latch and wrenching the door open without much care of who was on the other side; either it was Ignis or it was someone about to have a truly bad night. To her relief, however, it was her paramour, and she realized, belatedly, that some of of the discontent she'd been feeling had been worry, genuine concern for him, outside of how it would affect her. "'Nys," she said, tugging him inside the door and into her arms. "What's in the Abyss is going on out there?" Her embrace was tight, hands checking him over for injury.

Ignis	Ignis had barely managed to start saying Liliana's name when she opened the door, when she pulled him into an embrace and, for a moment, the chaos of everything behind him seemed to melt away. Of course, he knew that he couldn't take refuge in that comfort for long, but for that brief moment, he reveled in it as deeply as he could. "I'm fine," he assured her, once he realized what those shifting hands were seeking other than comfort, "though the city may not be, soon. An army is on the way, an undead horde, or so I'm told, and Thraben now prepares itself for the oncoming onslaught. I've called in reinforcements; they're woefully unprepared, but Gladio and Prompto's vast experience with this sort of thing will hopefully translate into safety for the citizens, as well as two more extremely capable fighters in our arsenal..." And only after he managed to get the report out of him did he understand his own rush of relief to have her there in his arms again. "And what about here? Were you able to make any progress with Volpaig?"
Liliana	At his mention of an undead army, Liliana paused, using her magic to do a sweep around the city and came back with information Ignis definitely would not like. "Oh no, my darling. They're not on their way, they're here," she said, expanding the spell. Purple light began shining from her skin. "Not a hundred, probably closer to fifty? Below, most of them. An advance force...?" She overlaid her mental map of the city, comparing it to where she felt the unmistakable flares of necromantic magic. "They're near the Cathedral. I wonder if they're going after the Blessed Grafs. That's what I'd do, certainly. Thousands of graves, their protections in tatters, ripe for harvesting, behind enemy lines, and in perfect position to besiege the Cathedral of Avacyn itself." For a moment, Liliana was almost jealous. It wasn't fair that someone else was going to claim all those lovely bodies and use them for such fun and that person was not going to be her. Vessel of destruction... harbinger... The whispers of the Chain Veil at her hip were an annoyance, but they reminded her that she was here on her own mission. Now was not the time to get distracted. "Volpaig's dead," she said, frustrated beyond measure at the audacity. "And he was prepared for some kind of supernatural interference. His body turned to ash and his soul was caught by a spell, leaving me nothing to work with." A vampire or werewolf would have been left similarly preyless; a cunning spell meant to deny his body to whatever had killed him.
Ignis	The news regarding this added layer of complication to this assault was not pleasant, no, but Ignis found Liliana's other news far more upsetting. After all, at least with knowing where to expect the enemy to be congregating (or, in this case, rising) was useful. His mind was already starting to put together the best places to send his cavalry, once they arrived, which hopefully, won't be too much longer. There were paths, there. Avenues to take. Directions to choose. Volpaig, however, sounded like he'd been just another dead end. "Nothing at all?" he asked, failing to keep the disappointment out of his voice entirely.
Liliana	"Not nothing," Liliana conceded. "There's one other person who knows." She gave him a crooked grin, the kind that would be rejected by any governing committee in charge of trade. "The lunarch. Volpaig found that little tidbit positively hilarious. So it looks like I also have a rendezvous at the Cathedral." Because she was going to find the lunarch and shake the information out of him if she had to.
Ignis	"Good," breathed out Ignis, unable to really help that wash of relief, either, with a bit of a nod, and a quick amendment. "That is, that it wasn't entirely a dead end, anyway." It didn't necessarily take a deep knowledge of all the messy politics of this place to know that Liliana's task was likely not substantially more pleasant than the ones before him. And there was a long stretch of a pause, a hesitation, in understanding that these tasks would be drawing them apart again. A large part of him, too, was tempted to ask Liliana to put that task aside. Surely, there were much bigger stakes at hand here, and to send off the singularly most powerful necromancer in the wake of an army of the undead seemed like a categorically foolish move. But, at the same time, there was no denying the heavy personal stakes in letting even the slightest step closer to finding Griselbrand go to waste. Ignis' hands found Liliana's, holding them tightly. "I should go meet with Gladio and Prompto. Barring an complications, they shouldn't be too much longer. We can put together our strategy, and begin to execute it quickly." The smile that ghosted onto his face might need to be up for review by the board; there was probably still too much tightness there, and a too much sadness and concern. "They're very good at this sort of thing," he said, not entirely sure which of them he was trying to reassure. "And, at this point, Thraben might just need every advantage it can get."
Liliana	Wise decision, Ignis. Because Liliana was immovable on this. Thraben meant almost nothing to her and, right now, Mikaeus everything. He was her last link to winning back her part of her soul and she'd be damned - literally - if she let that go. "And you're the best at it," she said, reaching for his hands. "I trust your tactics far more than I would anything put together by these complacent idiots. They had advanced warning of this army, that's what the Conclave was for this afternoon." And whatever else Volpaig had been hinting at, but hadn't had a chance to say. "I'm sure they had an excellent time grandstanding and pontificating, but without doing anything useful, like 'formulating even a single strategy,' or 'warning the public.'" She laughed, the laugh he recognized as 'performative lightness.' "Any messages you'd like me to pass along to the lunarch, my darling? I assure you, I'll have his absolute attention." Did Liliana know how she was going to get to him yet? No. But she wasn't going to let that stop her.
Ignis	No matter how performative that laugh may have been, Ignis felt a deep well of gratitude for the dry sarcasm of Liliana's critique, as the soft smile on his face may have indicated. "I might be compelled to suggest a direct and simple 'Do better,'" he said, with his own wry drawl, "but if this hasn't made that message loud and clear already, then you'd best not waste your breath. Speaking of advanced warning, though..." The tone shifted, back to the serious, determined man of focused action that had been kicked into overdrive the moment those alarm bells went off. "If you're headed to the Cathedral, you should know, too, that it's speculated that one of the necromancers involved in this attack is also headed that way. You're very likely to have some extra company."
Liliana	"There's more than one necromancer?" Liliana asked, blinking in surprise. "Hmm, that makes things significantly more dangerous for you. I was assuming that there was one with the advanced scouting party, leaving the ones at the Outer Wall feral, but if there are two, there's someone out there that can give them strategy." Just like Ignis to say It's speculated like it wasn't him doing the speculating, considering she had just mentioned the advanced scouting group. Her surprise melted into a fond headshake; stop trying to share credit, darling, nobody else deserved it. "Well, if the other necromancer is heading for the Cathedral - or the Blessed Grafs around them - then it's a good thing I'm heading that way myself. Getting in my way is the worst thing they could do." But, on the plus side, she might have a whole host of zombies to take with her to meet the lunarch! There. Problem solved. She raised a cool hand to his face. "I promise," she said quietly, "I won't let them raise another whole army within the walls of Thraben." That would be highly inconvenient for her, among other things.
Ignis	And here Ignis was thinking it was just like Liliana to say she won't let them raise another army, a very important distinction indeed. "That would be deeply appreciated," he said, with another one of those soft smiles, "thank you. But..." The hesitation here was there, but miniscule, as he realized his words were a faint echo of ones spoken to him not too long ago, so she could hardly resent him for returning the sentiment. "Be careful. The two behind it, apparently, are exiles of the city, a ghoulcaller and a stitcher, and if what I was told is to be believed, then sanity seems to have been exiled from them for quite some time. They've likely culled substantially from the Nearheath, giving them up to thousands to work with..." And laying it all out like that for her as he tried to think of any other information he had that could be useful to Liliana, that could aid in her own success, Ignis felt a nearly overwhelming swell of the reality of what they were facing, that it had been a while since he'd engaged in something like this, and while it was dreadful and he'd give anything to not be in this situation right now, there was an odd thrill to it, too, a strange familiarity that boosted his confidence and made him feel certain everything would be fine. A feeling that he knew would only increase once Gladio and Prompto arrived, and a feeling that he was going to bolster by pulling Liliana in and kissing her. The kind of kiss that steadfastly worked as a promise for another just like it when this was all over, no matter how much it tried to make the most out of it in case it was the last one. "They should be arriving soon," he said as he drew away, breathless and wishing he didn't have to, "I should get going."
Liliana	Listen, that was the next Battle of Thraben. She wasn't going to raise a whole undead army this time. Just maybe take a small invading force over and possibly raise a minor battalion. That barely counted. Either way, she'd still be taking care of the second necromancer and that was the important part. For, like, the defense of the city or whatever and not just because she didn't want some idiot interfering with her mission. Honest. "Remember everything I've told you about dealing with zombies," Liliana said, forcing herself to let go of his shirt. "Go." She disliked how often she was saying that tonight, for reasons that absolutely did not need to be investigated further, thank you. "You keep them off my back, I'll keep them off yours."

[Again, NFI, NFB, and OOC very welcome! Stay tuned for some liveplay in the comments. Preplayed with the magnificent chef_chocobro pulling triple fucking duty like a champ. Follows this post and this post, with the next post here.]

Comments

Atop The Wall

[mtg_npcs]

The man Ignis had spoken to before returned from off the wall and grunted. "This way," he said. "Hope you're not scared of heights."

Re: Atop The Wall

[chef_chocobro]

Despite himself, Ignis couldn't help a faint, ironic huff at the statement. "I assure you," he drawled lightly, taking a moment to sort of get a sense of his surrounding before following, "that won't be a problem. And, even if it were, I'm sure we have much bigger ones to concern ourselves with at the moment."

Re: Atop The Wall

[mtg_npcs]

"Yeah, you can say that again," the man said. "I'm Lieutenant Traken, Elgaud Inquisitor." He paused, seeming to wait for Ignis to have some of kind of response to that, and then kept going. "I'm bringing you up to see Thalia, Guardian of the City." He snorted, a seemingly unconscious reaction. "I'm a soldier, so I'm not going to beat around the bush. You're only getting up here because you dropped Kelse's name and when an angel speaks, the Church listens. But if you're not here to be useful, save yourself a trip and go home. Find somewhere else to gawk."

Re: Atop The Wall

[chef_chocobro]

Oh, but Ignis did appreciate that ironic statements kept coming, and he absolutely did not feel any desire to inform the man why some of his concerns were decidedly not going to be an issue with him. There was also a fair amount of smugness, of pride, that his bid to make an appeal to the angel had, indeed, paid off handsomely.

He did not expect this to hold up in an appeal to Liliana regarding her diplomacy skills, once this was all over, alas.

"It's an honor to meet you, Lieutenant," he said, certainly recognizing that pause for what it had been. "I only wish it could be under much better circumstances, and I really do appreciate this. Your directness is appreciated. I'm here to hopefully find out how best I can be useful, or at the very least understand what's going on. The whole situation seems....well...quite alarming, really."

Re: Atop The Wall

[mtg_npcs]

The angel had started it. Liliana had been perfectly pleasant and then the angel had started name-calling. Take up your bid for diplomacy with the oversized pigeon.

Traken grunted again as they climbed the stairs - handy, that Ignis had so many years of translating Gladio's. This one had a decided We'll see air to it.

"Yeah, we got thousands of zombies banging on the walls and trying to pull down the gates, led by two of the craziest necromancers I've ever heard of, and a city full of panicking civilians, a good chunk currently sandwiched between the Outer Wall and the next. Alarming's hardly the word for it."

Re: Atop The Wall

[mtg_npcs]

"Which is why we're happy to take all the help we can get," a cool, feminine voice called down to him, sounding another ten or so feet above them. From his climbing, Ignis felt comfortable guessing the wall was a good nine, possibly even ten meters high. "So long as it's real help," she added.

"Guardian," Traken said, in case Ignis couldn't guess who he was talking to.

"Lieutenant," she returned. "And you are, sir...?"

Re: Atop The Wall

[chef_chocobro]

It helped, too, that one of Ignis' hands had reached out to the wall to help guide him better, especially since his focus was making the jump from his surrounding to the information being given to him and what that could all mean with regards to a next step.

"Scientia," he called back. "Ignis Scientia. And I'm here to help in any way I can. What reinforcements do you have, to either meet them at the gate, or ensure the people can reach safety within?"

Re: Atop The Wall

[mtg_npcs]

"Not as many as I'd like," Thalia admitted. "About a thousand all told, maybe as many as twelve hundred if we empty the city of guards, and get the injured back out and fighting. But that's all cathars, soldiers, and guards. The Archmages are all but powerless without Avacyn, and the angels--"

"Hey!" Traken snapped.

Thalia rolled her eyes at him. "Avacyn hasn't been seen in almost a decade," she said, "and that's an open secret, Traken. Even the most pious are feeling the lack."

"The lack of faith perhaps," Traken insisted.

"And the lack of angels," Thalia said, seriously.

Re: Atop The Wall

[chef_chocobro]

"The lack of both, no doubt," Ignis mused, almost idly, as his mind was busy working through other things, other ideas, some already dismissed, but a few....that could be developed into something, but he was feeling like he needed just a little more time and perhaps a bit more information, remembering, too, that he was mostly here to have something to report back to Liliana with, "being a great detriment all around...What do we know of these two necromancers? Their motivations? What do they want?"

Re: Atop The Wall

[mtg_npcs]

"As far as we can tell, they want the destruction of the city," Thalia said. "They're insane. Gisa and Geralf Cecani, a ghoulcaller and a skaaberen, who have been terrorizing Nearheath for years now. I don't think they want anything beyond conquering Thraben. They were exiled from the city and...wish to come home I guess."

And at the Ingram/Amicitia Residence...

[deathsmajesty]

In case Nell has anything to say about the late night wakeup call...

Re: And at the Ingram/Amicitia Residence...

[sword_chocobro]

Getting his sword was the easy part; sure, it took Gladio a moment to decide before he settled on the greatsword over the Genji blade for tonight, but he'd talked himself down from bringing both after he'd gotten off the phone with Prompto. And clothes wouldn't be an issue, either, easy enough. It was the part that came with going back into the bedroom for his clothes that he was honestly a little worried about.

So the sword was left by the door for a moment as he crawled back into bed and gently put a hand on Nell's shoulder to wake her up, if she hadn't already been disturbed by all his moving around and the low rumble of his voice as he tried to keep quiet on the phone.

"Hey. Nell...."

Re: And at the Ingram/Amicitia Residence...

[mylandmyrules]

Nell was awake if not up, having woken when he first got up. When he touched her shoulder she sat up, ready to get out of bed. "What's wrong?"

Re: And at the Ingram/Amicitia Residence...

[sword_chocobro]

"It's fine," Gladio said, holding that hand that had been on her shoulder as if to settle her. "You don't need to get up. It's just that Iggy and Liliana got into some trouble on her world, and he needs a few helping hands. So he called up me and Prompto to come help."

Re: And at the Ingram/Amicitia Residence...

[mylandmyrules]

So many thoughts ran through Nell's head. How dangerous was it? Would Gladio be okay? WHat was happening? Should she come?

But what could she do? Nothing probably. Part of her wanted to ask him not to go, but that was a ridiculous thought to have. Of course he needed to go and she'd never try to stop him. Especially not to stop him from helping the men who were basically his brothers. Or Liliana, of course.

All those thoughts probably played across her face, but all she said was, "Be careful." And she hugged him tight.

Re: And at the Ingram/Amicitia Residence...

[sword_chocobro]

And when all that played across Nell's face to just end in a tight hug, Gladio wrapped his arms around her to tightly hug her back. His head dipped against her hair, just holding her for a moment before turning to give her a kiss.

"I will," he promised. "I'll keep you updated, too, on how things go. He needs us to help with evacuation, shouldn't be too difficult."

Re: And at the Ingram/Amicitia Residence...

[mylandmyrules]

"Okay," Nell said. "I'll be here if there's anything I can do."

She slid out of bed to follow him as he went. The very least she could do would be to see him off.

Re: And at the Ingram/Amicitia Residence...

[sword_chocobro]

The movement earned her another kiss against her forehead, and Gladio went to go find a shirt and some pants not of the sleeping sweats variety, just in time for the phone still in his hand to buzz with quick message from Iggy, telling him that he forgot to mention to remember to dress warmly, too, and Gladio snorted.

"Great," he said, tugging on a tank top, "middle of the night and it's cold, too."

He sighed a little, thinking about Nell's words. "I'd like to say that what you can do is not worry," he said, giving her a faint smile, "but I feel like that's gonna be a pretty big ask. Still, though...don't worry, okay? Maybe be ready to warm me up again when I get back as an icicle, apparently."

Re: And at the Ingram/Amicitia Residence...

[mylandmyrules]

"I'll do my best," Nell said. "And I will definitely be ready to warm you up when you get back. Let you put your cold feet all over me. Drag you off to the Onsen even."

She'd gotten his jacket and some gloves in case he wanted them and watched as he got ready. "When you go, look back up at the window and I'll be there smiling so you can take a warm memory with you."

...And The Argentum Household, Too

[deathsmajesty]

Hopefully Noctra stayed asleep, even if Liz didn't...

Re: ...And The Argentum Household, Too

[hashtag_chocobro]

Prompto did pause a moment at Noctra's door on his way back to the bedroom to listen in for signs that the call and his prep had disturbed her, but all was quiet on the Noctra front. He breathed out a sigh of relief, and then made his way to his and Liz's room, and there, he hesitated. A part of him almost thought maybe he could just slip out and be back before she noticed, but it didn't take long at all to dismiss that as a terrible idea. The last thing he ever wanted to do was have Liz wake up to yet another situation where he wasn't there and she didn't know where he was or if he was even coming back this time...

So he leaned over and kissed her forehead and whispered, "Babe? I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I gotta go out for a bit...."

Yeah, that definitely explained it, Prompto, good job.

Re: ...And The Argentum Household, Too

[flamesburned]

It took Liz a couple of moments to stir, blinking up at Prompto as she woke and then she registered what he was saying, “What’s wrong?” she asked softly.

Re: ...And The Argentum Household, Too

[hashtag_chocobro]

And then came the next big question, about how much of what Prompto did know, he should tell her. Because he didn't want to make Liz worry too much, but he also felt bad mit being entirely truthful.

So he just smiled softly, maybe a little sadly, hopefully not too worried, either.

"I'm not really sure exactly," he admitted, "Gladio just called, sounds like there's some trouble on Liliana's homeworld or something. Iggy needs us to come help him evacuate a city ahead of an attack on it."

Re: ...And The Argentum Household, Too

[flamesburned]

“Is Liliana okay?” Liz asked softly, trying to process the news, she didn’t like the idea of Prompto going but she knew that he would want to help Ignis and Gladio, “do you know how long you’ll be gone?” she asked worriedly.

Re: ...And The Argentum Household, Too

[hashtag_chocobro]

Prompto shook his head, his smile now gone apologetic. "No idea," he said, "but hopefully not too long. And I think she's fine, Iggy, too, I think maybe they're just getting ready for a big fight, you know? But, hey, we're old hats at this, we've been clearing out settlements ahead of daemon attacks for years now, and I mean, no matter how bad things are out there, it can't possibly be nearly as bad as the attack on Altissia, and me and Gladio did a bang-up job making sure everyone there was safe. That had dozens of Empire dreadnaughts and two gods duking it out. If we could get a city cleared under conditions like that, this should be a walk in the park."

He tried to make his smile more encouraging, lifting a hand lightly to Liz's chin.

"I mean, we might be a little out of practice at this point, but it's gotta be like riding a chocobo, you know? Once you're in that saddle, it all comes right back to you."

Re: ...And The Argentum Household, Too

[flamesburned]

Liz tried to feel reassured by that but she still couldn’t help but worry as she sat up further in bed and wrapped her arms around Prompto in a tight hug.

“Be careful please,” Liz said softly, “all of you,”

OOC

[deathsmajesty]

I didn't nearly forget the most important part of the OCD!