ic contact.

[blyat]

TEXT / AUDIO / VIDEO / ACTION
un: reliant

Comments

un: darknight, ah a fresh inbox all for ME

[fessus]

Hey

😳

[blyat]

[Oh, it's you.]

hey yourself
what?

[fessus]

[ To no one's surprise, that immediate aggression prompts his own. ]

You get back to the med bay yet?

[blyat]

[someone help them]

are you asking cause you actually care if i did or not?

[fessus]

Why else would I be asking? To rub your face in it?

I don't need a rematch

[blyat]

[...... yes, obviously?]

didn't go
it wasn't that bad
you didn't hit hard

un: ward, post-nudes debacle

[coherer]

It's a good thing you're pretty
bc you are so dumb dude
I hope you're in there naked and have to think about how dumb you are

[blyat]

yeah
i get it

[coherer]

( Chewing on his lip for a minute, reading the dismissive message, he wonders if he's the one who fucked things up.

And way before Cain posted in the group chat. )

Hey, sorry, that was dick thing to say
It was an accident, it'll blow over super quick

[blyat]

[He's not mad at Jonas. He sees the attempt at levity for what it is. He's just —]

you two talking?

[coherer]

In a manner of speaking lol
He's annoying me, fr
He's acting all pissed and being like oh I'm not pissed bye
Like yeah you are?

You look super hot so idc whatever lol

[blyat]

[It'd be easy to give in and agree with Jonas, especially since he's not the one having the conversation with Noctis. But his sense of responsibility only grows, knowing that the two are having an argument.]

thanks for the compliment

[He does mean it.]

do you think he's pissed cause he likes you?

[not here]

[fessus]

[ On the evening of December 24th, Cain will return to his tent to find a small innocuous package sitting on his cot. It's wrapped badly in what appears to be the plastic covering for a bulk pack of freeze-dried foods, with a simple note in elegant handwriting taped to its front: Open Dec. 25th.

Inside is a classic glass ship-in-a-bottle, complete with blue-dyed liquid sloshing around its body. There's an adhesive device at the base of the bottle itself, making it easy to mount wherever is most convenient for it to be viewed. The next note on the inside carries a suggestion of where: Ship for your ship. PS, that's what ocean looks like.

The present and both notes are suspiciously absent the name of any gift-giver. ]

action, morning of the 25th

[coherer]

( A small box is sitting on Cain's cot in his tent. It's unassuming, affixed with a dangling label marked up by chicken scratch handwriting. The message is as follows: )

To: K

To the "best shot on this whole damn ship." Thanks for keeping me (relatively) sane these past few weeks. It means more than you know.

Have a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays.

From: J

P.S., I know your name starts with a C, but it actually makes a K noise, and C would be a stupid nickname.

P.P.S., you're a babe. :P

( Inside the box is a gold lighter. One of the metal ones that opens at the top. One you can flick in a super cool way when you're deep in thought or something, and look super mysterious. Beside it is a pint of whiskey, which looks surprisingly expensive.

Both are references to their first conversation; something fun, simple, and stress-free. )

guess who it is

[fessus]

Hey

kyaaaaa~

[blyat]

[blissfully unaware of impending doom.]

yo

dun dun dun

[fessus]

I need you to be straight with me about smth

[blyat]

[why does this give him the "can we talk?" anxiety]

uh
ok?

[fessus]

I'm serious

ik that isn't our thing, but just do me this as a favor. I'll pay you back or you can hold it over my head or w/e

un: ward

[coherer]

( Doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened last night, even if details are floating in and out of dreamland. He's hungover, therefore he drank too much, and there's an unread notification from Noctis in his communicator's inbox written in a tone he can only read as fretful.

Scrolling up, Cain's message is there, too. Awkward. Concerned. Though Cain doesn't like to show it, they're emotionally connected. Friends, partners, whatever—it doesn't need a name, not when they like what it is so far. That's a problem now. He doesn't want to make this serious again Cain's will, and his stomach roils considering the weight of the story he knows he has to tell him, and not for his own sake; Cain deserves to know. Because what if this gets deeper? What if their bond becomes a friction-locked rivet too strong to break without excess force and heat?

Jonas doesn't know much about Cain. Not verbally. Not with words when prolonged looks, gentle strokes, and fervent kisses have given the foundation for what he can build the rest of their relationship on. But he knows enough to extrapolate more information using common sense and his own psychology.

Cain comes from a hard place from hard circumstances, from a frozen rock devoid of entertainment. Cain is also a soldier, run so ragged he has scars to show for all the abuse he's been through. Mentally and physically, he's become steeled, and while part of that is his own nature, the majority of it, Jonas knows, is lottery. Cain's been exposed to things no one should be exposed to, forced to use his body as both a weapon and a simple mechanism for self-satisfaction. Cain's had to watch others do the same, learning almost by example, enough that he can silence the alarms that would be, to Jonas, deafening. And while Cain is abrasive, blunt, and occasionally brutal, he is also misunderstood. Like him.

When he was assumed to be bad by appearance or by reputation, first impressions didn't matter. He hated that, even though he believed it was people's right to discard him. This means that Jonas strives, though reluctantly and not without complaint, to give others in his situation opportunities to show themselves. He wasn't given the same graces, and now it's too late for him to prove to anyone he's worth more than he was given. What Cain has given him through constant company, sharing it with his whole body, is this impression: Cain is kind. He is gentle. He is protective. He is thoughtful. He is enthusiastic. He is passionate. He is hurting.

Cain is a dog on a chain forced to fight while his tail is still wagging. Beyond the snarls of bared teeth, the squared up intent to win, and sharp claws that never retract is a mutt in a box left alone in the rain.

He wants to bring him inside. )

Hey, can we talk?

[blyat]

[Jonas reaches out to him first. Of course he does. It's only as he's demonstrated himself to be all along — a kindness and warmth in the open span of his arms, not held back by pride or worse impulses of cruelty. Cain doesn't know what this conversation is going to entail, but it would take a lot for him to ever shut Jonas out. At least, a lot more self-restraint and discipline than he possesses.

He likes talking to him too much. Being around him.]

yeah
you still feeling sick?

[coherer]

( When Cain responds, Jonas' stomach tightens. He feels nauseous, and he knows it's anxiety joining hands with his hangover to make him feel worse.

God, he can't keep doing this. He has to just say it. )

Yeah but it's fine
I deserve it from drinking almost that whole bottle

I told you I was gonna say something to you eventually
You remember that right?
That's ig this conversation
And it's not you, it's nothing bad about you, but I want you to know that like
However you respond to what I'm gonna say is okay
Okay?
I'm sorry it took me this long

[blyat]

[There's some kind of sick feeling in his own gut, too, even if it isn't for the same reasons. Even if he doesn't have a hangover to blame.]

don't apologize
it's all right

you don't need to tell me anything you don't want to, j
but i'll listen
and won't judge.

[How could he possibly?]

1/2

[coherer]

Yeah okay
Thanks and if you need time afterward just do whatever
I promise I won't take that hard
Let me get my thoughts together

( What a fucking doozy. Should he try to meet with him in person instead, or immortalize this in writing?

One would be fairer to Cain, who takes his time with emotion. Naturally, he selects it. He can't fool himself into believing he's doing this entirely for his friend's sake, though; he doesn't want to see anyone right now. He wants to sit alone on his ship, blast music, and try not to think. )

2/2

[coherer]

( He crying before he begins to type the second half. It's mostly stress, and some of it's mourning, but he doesn't try to halt it or wipe it away. It's going to come regardless.

He's tired, sick, and sad: A combination his mother considered worthy of attention and affection. If only she were here now. For him, but also for Cain. And for Noctis.

Everyone needs her kind of gentle love. )

Before I got pulled through the wormhole, I was nowhere
I died when I was 18 and I don't know how much time has passed since then
I seem alive now, I don't know how that's possible bc my body was taken and the rest of me was trapped
But I'm not entirely sure like
What's going to happen later if that makes sense?
How far I can go and how long it'll take before reality realizes I'm actually not supposed to be here
Or if I've been given a second chance with everything yk?

I know it's a lot
I had to tell you Cain because I don't want to like force you to stay with me when I could just fucking disappear
idk
Hopefully I'm me again and I'm alive and not some dream or ghost like Reze thinks we are
You just deserve to know like Noctis knows
You get the choice and I think that's super important
We've spent a lot of time together and I've really come to care about you Cain
It wouldn't be fair to just assume you're good with it
Like to continue on normally