Raise a Glass [OPEN]

[lordshield]

Who: The XV Cast and You!
When: June 6th
Where: Curti Center, Jiminy's Juicery (bar)
What: After saving innocents from the Dream Width, some people just need a drink.
Warnings/Notes: Alcohol consumption, possible violence, whatever people do in bars.

Their first foray into the search and rescue business in the Dream Width had been intense, to say the least. Stressful, heartbreaking, exhausting, and enlightening were other words some might use to describe the experience. After a night of rest and a day to somewhat sort things and people out, the next evening brings about a mighty need to head to the local tavern. Some drink to forget, some drink to remember, some drink to relax. There are even representatives of the Bard's Guild providing live music. You can try to make a request, but chances are they don't know your foreign songs.

Maybe you were invited by one of the excitable young men from Lucis, or maybe you came on your own. There's enough room in the bar for quite a few people, so long as they're of age. Sit right at the bar, or pull up chairs around a table, the choice is yours.

[OoC: Make your own toplevel or tag around. Please put content warnings as necessary. Have fun!]

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[lordshield]

To Clarus' credit he didn't pause or double-take at Regis' proclamation. Instead he just nodded and stood, leading the way (with a bit of a sway in his step) out of the bar and into the fresh night air. The stars shone brightly, and the drunk man took a moment to peer up at them as his eyes adjusted to the darkness once they were out of the immediate vicinity of the bar's bright lights.

"The stars are all different here," he commented, though it was hardly the first time he'd looked up at them. "I wonder if some are the same, and we're seeing them from the other side or something."

[regisrex]

It was probably a good thing, though Regis would have stood by his words.

He did breathe out slightly easier once they were outside, however. There were still eyes on him, just not... Not eyes that knew him and didn't know him at the same time. Eyes that needed to look up to him, for their sake, not his.

"They're different. But, if I remember my lessons sufficiently, even if our stars, our Star is out there, it may still be too far to ever see.

"And we could be... somewhere else entirely." Regis was not unused to that thought, considering where Bahamut rested. "Would it be easier for you if our stars are visible?"

[lordshield]

"I don't know." Beyond navigating by the stars, Clarus knew little of astronomy. Back home he knew the pattern of the sky as a survival tactic, but the in-depth whys and hows of it weren't anything he'd been taught. And why would he? Humans didn't travel the stars and nothing traveled from them. Clarus was far from an uneducated man, but his education lay elsewhere in more practical and political things.

"I suppose it doesn't matter," he shrugged, glancing over his shoulder at Regis before resuming their forward movement at a slow pace. They needed more distance from the noise of the tavern. "I'll never see those stars again."

[regisrex]

Ah. That.

Regis had his breath knocked out of his lungs. He had been almost sure that it was the case - if not Clarus's time, should they be different, then by Noctis's. But hearing it from Clarus... That was different.

(It was because of him. Clarus had practically said it, only minutes earlier. Even if it somehow wasn't his failure - and he doubted that - Clarus Amicitia was dead because Regis Lucis Caelum was dead. And that was...)

"I'm sorry, Clar." Through and through. "At least I... Didn't do it stupid and young?"

Was that better? He had let down his people and he had let down those he loved. When he should have been experienced and wise...

Regis took a sharp breath. That drink was definitely not helping. Instead, he just lengthened his stride a bit and shoved his shoulder against Clarus's.

[lordshield]

The old knight hesitated, trying to muddle through his mind how to word his reassurance to Regis. "I don't regret anything. Well... much." He regretted leaving his children behind. He regretted that, despite his efforts, he hadn't been able to fight hard enough to save Regis. But they'd both known it was coming. "We made our choices, and we made our peace with them."

No need to tell him the details. And actually once the words were out of his mouth Clarus regretted all of them. He hadn't really meant to bring their deaths up at all. Damned alcohol. But that too was his choice.

He stopped, the tavern distant and the voices and sounds from within faint, and turned to face his prince. He held him by the shoulders and studied him a moment, searching for... he didn't know what. The edges of the mask, he supposed.

"What we did... that night, we did with pride and heads held high," he said softly, then drew the younger man into his arms and held him close to his chest. "Never think even once in your life that you forced me to do anything, or that my fate and misfortunes were somehow your fault. I followed you because you were my king, my truest friend, and..." That he didn't finish, letting it trail off into the night.

[regisrex]

"And your love. Still." Regis's words were calm, soft, and he was not surprised by the revelation - he had had it earlier, at the bar. The words that Clarus said, they had helped, a little, though the green eyes were definitely still troubled.

Slowly, he reached up to place a hand over Clarus's as it rested on his shoulder.

"Had I thought I had found a way to force you, I would have hated my future self beyond measure. But... no. It's more that..." Decades. They were all decades later than him, and Regis knew that there had to be so much more than the pure facts. But...

"I ... " No, there was no way that would sound right. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath. "I never wanted to let anyone down. Even though I knew what I can do is limited, I wanted... I wanted to make it right."

He wanted to not let people down.

But... with Insomnia fallen, he knew that he had failed in that. Will fail.

[lordshield]

A deep breath in was released slowly, and the hands that were on the prince's shoulders slid up to cup his cheeks tenderly. The tips of his fingers teased at Regis' scalp just behind his ears, gently, soothingly. "There was so much more at play than I could say, dearest. Just know, our sacrifice was for our children. And for the whole world." Not only their lives, but Noctis' life was a sacrifice both men had been forced to come to terms with long ago, though neither truly every accepted it.

"I have never been disappointed in you," he continued softly, leaning in to rest their foreheads together. "You've shown... will show yourself to be a wise and just king. Fate won't kind to your rule, but you will do everything in your power to keep your people safe and happy."

[regisrex]

"I..." Regis leaned into this. The familiar touch, the familiar warmth of Clarus. He took a shaky breath. Then slumped.

"Thank you." So, so quiet. It was all that he could say.

After a few moments, he sighed. "I am missing decades of knowledge to be what they expect of me." Clarus had known Regis at this age. Cor had, too. For everyone else... "What they need me to be." That was not all of the problem. But it was a significant part of it. Regis never was ignorant on purpose.

[lordshield]

Regis was once again pulled in close, Clarus wrapping his arms warmly around his companion and resting his chin on the top of his head.

"No one needs you to be anything but what you are, Reg," he murmured softly. "They may miss their king, but that isn't a role you need to fill. It isn't a role you should be expected to fill."

He sighed, soothing a hand up and down the smaller man's back and closing his eyes. "We came to this world with nothing, expecting nothing. I never thought I would see you or anyone else from home again. But here you are, and I'm grateful for what I have. Missing years or no."

[regisrex]

Regis did not hesitate before he tucked himself in, his own arms coming around the bulk of the Shield's body and fingers fisting lightly into the fabric of his clothes. How often had Clarus held him like this?

How often was he going to hold him like this in the future?

"They do need me, though. Not consciously. Not demandingly. But if I disappoint them, each of them will lose something that can't be recovered. And they already lost their home."

He squeezed his eyes and forced himself to breathe. To think. To stop focusing on himself. Even if it was difficult to forget. Ignis's change of attitude. Noct's grief. Gladio's... reaction.

"'m grateful, too, you know. Whatever this place is, it's giving you more time. It's giving you some of the people you love most." It was giving Noctis time without the weight of the Ring and all it meant. Giving them all...

"Safe. This place, at least this far, seems safe."

For many people, Insomnia had felt safe, always. But Regis and Clarus knew different. They knew the price of it, or at least Regis thought he did. But this, here. It felt different entirely, and it was only in Clarus's reassurance that Regis finally saw it.

More food for thought. But at least a realization that calmed him a little, so he finally relaxed, slightly, in Clarus's arms.

[lordshield]

Given how unkind fate had been to them, specifically to Regis, a comforting position was one they found themselves in quite often. More often than Clarus would like. If he could only hold Regis like this in times of trouble, he would have accepted never holding him again. Just so long as his king was happy.

"They're grown men. They don't need anything more than you can give them, Dearest." Clarus unconsciously placed his lips to the top of the prince's head, pressing a gentle kiss there briefly. "They know you're different. They know you've yet to experience the events that shape you into the man they know. They'll be fine."

Safe. Yes, in a manner of speaking. There were still monsters, still mysteries to be solved that made Clarus uneasy. The political climate was generally easy, but there was a tension whenever anyone spoke of the gated Empire, and the military might of the Republic made Clarus eye them warily. These weren't his lands, and he wished no part in any wars they might wage, but he'd prefer to avoid being a casualty as well.

"I believe it may be," he finally agreed with a soft sigh. A place for Regis to grow old in safety, maybe. And for Noctis.

[regisrex]

"Mm." Regis didn't point out that, no matter how adult they were, if King Mors were to show up and act like he had no care or responsibility in the world, it would break them. He either didn't need to, for Clarus was merely soothing him, or there was no use. In either case, he took the comfort.

The rest...

Regis sighed, and straightened a touch, only enough to look at Clarus and try to gauge just how different a few months longer stay turned perceptions.

"Talk to me." Not pleading, and certainly not a command. But a request all the same, green eyes clear and calm. "If not about whatever you are avoiding about Eos, then about this place."