meadowlarklogs | the miles are way too long

[His eyes had trailed to the outside view of the city, the jagged tops of skyscrapers and the way the sun reflects radiantly off of contoured edges, when the door swings open. Markus greets X'rhun with a smile, though even he cannot hide the curiosity and confounding surprise at standing in this hallway, leading to what's obviously a penthouse apartment.]

X'rhun. Thanks for inviting me over.

[Past the threshold of the tall entryway he goes, and the interior matches the walk here, as if it were all leading up to some sort of grand reveal. Markus is no stranger to easy living; Carl was well-off and well-to-do financially, even if his own house displayed it in eccentricity rather than flat-out luxury. But this is a different tier, all sleek and modern and cool tones rather than warm ones, a great display of windows along the far wall (another impressive view -- he's almost jealous), and so much space. A true rarity for the often cramped living that the city provides.

He wants to wander and look around, but Markus remains rooted near X'rhun out of politeness.]

This is a nice place. [A beat.] Really nice.

[ He allows Markus his moments of distraction, it’s a lot to take in and there are moments where even X’rhun walks in the doors and goes “I can’t believe I actually live here”. He’s never had so much space in all his life, not counting his years on the open road where the whole wide world was his home. ]

Ostentatious, isn’t it? [ Sleek and modern and muted, perhaps, but the location alone speaks volumes. ] I can practically hear you asking how I came by it, already. I shall explain soon enough.

Please do make yourself at home. Can I get you anything?

[He read his mind. The question is obvious and practically begging to be asked, but Markus is patient.]

I wouldn't call it ostentatious. [Some would, but again, Markus lived in Carl's house. Some would call that ostentatious, in a too-much-weird-art-on-the-walls way. This is just... really nice.

Markus moves over to the couch and sits. His eyes wander to take in the decor.]

Just water, please. [A beat. Sitting here, he feels small in all the space.] Pretty big place for just one person. Five more of you could live in here.

[ The jaunt to the kitchen is a quick one, seeing X’rhun in the living room soon enough with a pitcher and glasses for the both of them upon a tray. This, he sets down on the table in front of the couch, taking a seat for himself next to his friend. ]

‘Tis not just me here. I’ve a roommate – one of our fellow Displaced who, on the train to New Tokyo, fell asleep a bartender and awoke a politician. Technically, this is his home, and I am just fortunate enough to get to live here.

[Markus might be the guest, but his response is automatic; a lean forward, filling up the glasses with the faint clinking of glass. A domestic android is a domestic android, especially if he's in polite, friendly company; revolutionary tendencies, anti-establishment sentiments, notwithstanding.]

That's a jarring promotion. Is he qualified for the job?

[That would be Markus' first concern, were he in those shoes. He wouldn't know where to even begin, and the very idea is enough to evoke second-hand apprehension.

He takes his glass, and offers X'rhun his own.]

[ Well, so much for being a good host! X’rhun takes the offered glass with a nod of thanks, making a mental note to be sure to get the next one before his guest does – if he even can. ]

Better than most, probably. He was a chancellor in his own world. I know not if you’ve spoken, he tends to keep to himself or else only appear on the network when he means to be difficult, but his name is Ardyn.

[What's telling is the way his hand stills, just for a second, as he's bringing the glass up to his mouth. The faintest crease between his brows, reflecting recognition -- but only at the name.

But then he takes a sip, holds the glass steady between both hands, and asks his question with little affectation.]

Have you known this Ardyn for very long?

[How well do you know Ardyn? is the real query, a layer hidden beneath what he's actually asked. Memories flash back to Noctis breaking down in his apartment, sporting a broken wrist. Emotionally wrung out, unsure of what to do, too young and too scared to bear the burdens of whatever he had been told.

And Prompto, who said the man was bad news, a person to be wary of. A person who would hurt others out of spite. He had called him a chancellor, too. They must be the same.]

[ If X'rhun notices that pause, if he chooses to read anything into it, it is only evidenced in the slight and curious tilt of one ear, as one might curiously arch an eyebrow.

But he makes no remark on it, for he figures if Markus has reservations, they'll become apparent soon enough. They may already be, with that question. ]

Over a year now. I do not recall if I've mentioned this before, but ere I came to be here, I was on a world other than my home - a place much like this city where many different people from many different worlds were being kept. 'Twas there I met Ardyn.

[The reservations creeping up to the forefront of this conversation. Slowly but surely, Markus is framing his way around it.]

Another world... no, I didn't know that.

[An interesting topic of its own accord, but the android's focus is unshaken for now.]

So, then, you'd say you have a good handle on his character? The kind of person that he is?

[The kind of person that would hurt someone who didn't deserve it? He is, honestly, for moment, very confused; X'rhun is a good man with his heart and head in the right place. Ardyn, from all that he's heard, is not.

Something's not aligning, there are pieces here he's not seeing.]

Better than most, I’d say.

[ Yes, he’s beginning to get the sense that this conversation is going to go the way that most go when it comes to himself and Ardyn. Prompto and Noctis both had their questions, and though he can appreciate Markus trying to tread carefully, there is no need.

X’rhun’s weapon of choice is a rapier, after all, so he drives right to the heart of the matter. ]

If you’ve a question to ask, Markus, you need just ask it.

[Straight to it, then. Markus' subtle, preemptive dance around the subject is therefore severed, leaving him nothing but the issue at hand to address.]

All right.

[He only pauses to reach out and set the glass down on the table, then straightens to give X'rhun an even and assessing look.]

There was another member of the Displaced here, but he's gone now. Disappeared. His name was Noctis. [He searches X'rhun's face for signs of recognition.] And from what I understand, Ardyn hurt him. Said things to him that made him break down in the middle of my apartment, one day, and that's not accounting for the physical injury at the time.

You're telling me that this is the same Ardyn that you live with. That you know of his character, and you choose to stay here with him? Why?

[ The instant that Markus starts in earnest, X'rhun knows this is going to lead back to Noctis or one of his friends. There's no way it couldn't with the way Ardyn tormented the boy, with how long Noctis had been here before the both of them, ample time to forge many friendships with the other Displaced. That he and Markus were friends – friends enough that the young prince had broken down in the middle of his home, even – does not entirely surprise him.

A slow nod. ]

I knew Noctis. So, too, do I know the nature of his relationship – if one could call it that – with Ardyn, perhaps even better than he himself did.

But the answer to your question is not a simple one to give. As you say, I know of his character. Far more than you do, I'd wager, though don't mistake my statement for an accusation. 'Tis a simple fact. That is not to say I endorse or even excuse his cruelty, but that I... well, I know that he is more than that.

Is he?

[Markus has no reason to doubt X'rhun's own character. The man had helped him when he was injured and wandering about a crowded safehouse with drugs in his system. They had trudged throw the merciless snow together in New Tokyo, exchanging conversation to keep themselves distracted from the cold, and then throwing their efforts into helping those who needed it. And now he was offering to help fund the safehouse and bar, and therefore the Displaced -- it was an act of generosity, and that the source comes from the pocket of a man like Ardyn is a strange disconnect that he's not sure he feels comfortable with. Not yet.]

Then explain to me, please, why you believe he's more than that. Because I've had two people tell me otherwise; that he's dangerous. And I've seen the consequences of his actions, all thrown onto the shoulders of a young man, barely out of his teens, to bear.

[He can't just... forget that happened. The look on Noctis' face.]

Have you thought that he could just be playing you, X'rhun? I don't know the nature of your relationship with him, but... you're a good man. People like that manipulate good men.

Valid questions all, but allow me to backtrack a moment ere I answer. What do you know about Noctis’ situation? What all did he tell you?

[ He wonders if it is perhaps overstepping his bounds to explain the full story as he knows it, but if Markus was truly that close to Noctis, there are some things he deserves to know. It might make dealing with Ardyn’s presence better or worse, but either way X’rhun hopes that it will shed some light on why he chooses to keep company with such a person. ]

[Unfortunately, Noctis was not keen on oversharing the details. Whether or not it was for Markus' protection, or the simple discomfort of a truth weighing down on his shoulders and not wanting to share the load, he couldn't ever be sure.

And now, he can't ask him.]

It was less what he told me, and more that I saw the consequences of his interactions with Ardyn in person.

[That is to say, not very much, then.]

He was hesitant to give all the details. Only that Ardyn was dangerous, had it out for him, and that I should stay away and let him deal with it on his own. Prompto said something similar, too.

I’ll not refute that he is dangerous. I have seen that much with mine own two eyes, in a place where our innate abilities were not sealed away as they are now. Neither will I refute that he is cruel.

[ But they are rather starting from scratch here, and X’rhun ponders over the best place to start. Idly, he circles a thumb over the surface of his glass, where the cool water has started condensation to form. ]

They are from the same world, though I suspect you likely put that much together even if Noctis did not say as much. ‘Tis a rather long and complicated story that I do not know if I am fully qualified to tell, but suffice it to say that Ardyn is a force of darkness, and Noctis is to be the light that banishes him. It probably sounds a bit fantastical, light and dark, the will of the gods, and the fate of an entire world hanging in the balance, but I assure you it is very much true.

Part of the reason I tell you this is so you understand when I tell you that on El Nysa – the world we were on previously – we were made to believe that our home worlds had been destroyed. What use does an evil man, even one who is darkness incarnate, have for deception and pawns when there is naught left for him?

Edited 2019-06-26 18:33 (UTC)

[He had known, of course, that they hailed from similar worlds. That they were at odds, and deeply so. But this talk of him being a literal fore of darkness, and Noctis the light to banish it? Fantastical indeed, but the subject is too serious (and he trusts in X'rhun's words) to question it.

That just makes it all the more difficult to swallow.

It takes a moment for Markus to reply, the look of consternation on his face not having dissipated.]

Being without a goal isn't enough to erase the... pillars of someone's personality. Unless you're telling me that he's turned over a new leaf in the time he was in that other world.

[Which wouldn't make sense, since... Noctis.]

the miles are way too long

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