fandomtownies | The Causeway; Friday Afternoon, 10/28.

Entry tags:

The Causeway; Friday Afternoon, 10/28.

There had been nothing particular odd about the way Ignis' day had started, which made it all the more surprising, the way Ignis' day ended up going. Things had fallen into a certain...pattern, for him, which was both a relief, that things should be consistent, but also a frustration, that things felt a bit...stagnant, which was not something one wanted when one was making the efforts to rebuilt an entire world while also dealing with the mystery of a missing person....possibly two. Because while the absence of Prompto after the battle with Ardyn could be explained by him simply having perished, there was no accounting for his missing body, and the subsequent disappearance of Gladio was far more bewildering. Naturally, Aranea was immediately brought to the task, but when even she turned up empty-handed, he couldn't help being concerned.

But there was hardly time to focus on any of that too much; there was so much still to do with rebuilding Eos, rebuilding Lucis, even just rebuilding Insomnia. His day had started out much like all the others one: waking up, having some breakfast, sighing over the fact that it would be a while before things were back enough to supply the world with Ebony again, and listened to the radio before heading out to go meet with Iris and Talcott about their order of business for the day.

He only got a few steps out his door, however, before he stopped, feeling an absolutely undeniable and distinct shift his surroundings. The ground beneath his feet felt different; the sounds had changed entirely. Insomnia was far from the bustling metropolis it had once been, but this was an entirely different kind of ambient noise, far less city, much more....well, he hated to say it, but quaint seaside village. And if that wasn't enough, there was the clear taste and scent of the ocean around him, and, after taking a few moments to test around himself with his cane, and a few cautious steps, he found the edge of the causeway, and he just knew.

"Fandom," he murmured to himself. "Why am I actually not surprised?"

And, if he needed anything else to really drive his suspicions home, there was the fact of the cape. The sudden weight on his shoulders was an instant distraction, and a moment to touch it, feel it, told him it was some sort of cloak or, based on the high collar, opera cape. One that was instantly replaced with another a moment later. And that, really, was all the proof he needed.

"I just hope," he noted with a sigh, shaking his head and then taking a moment to orient himself to ensure that when he made his cautious steps forward, it was toward the town and not the ocean, "it cuts a good figure..."

It was Fandom, though, so it probably looked quite ridiculous.

[[ oh, hey, it's open! ]]

[[and just a side note, in addition to the loss of sight, Ignis also has very significant scarring, especially on the left side of his face now, with glossy milky eyes, although the glasses do what they can to hide some of it ]]

[[ edit: and he now also has a goose ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Goose had found himself wearing a long black cape, which he found he was rather enjoying wearing so he didn’t mind too much as he walked by the causeway that afternoon as he had taken to doing on the small chance that he might spot Ignis.

He waited for a while, mostly expecting this to be like all the other days and then just when he was ready to head back to his apartment, he noticed someone appear , “Ignis…?” he was trying not to get his hopes up as he walked closer.

Ignis' attention had been honed in and focused on adjusting to his surroundings and in figuring out exactly what his next steps should be once he actually reached the island proper and had to orient himself. Unfamiliar terrain was something he hadn't had to deal with for quite some time, and even if mapping out the entire island in his brain hadn't been a top priority when he was last here, there was no telling how much it had changed throughout the years, either.

Well. Apparently it hadn't changed enough to stave off whimsical nonsense like capes one couldn't effectively remove, so, in a way, he supposed it was...oddly reassuring, that the place certainly hadn't lost its particular charm.

And it was through this focus that the sound of his name shift his attention, brow furrowing in a frown at the....familiarity of it, but that was...impossible to tell, really, after all this time. So he stopped, halting to wait for more information before he reacted with his attention now honed in on the direction of the voice.

Edited 2022-10-28 10:41 (UTC)

It was Ignis … Goose took a few hesitant steps forward, frowning a little as he noticed that his eyes seemed different … “Ignis … Ignis it’s me, Go…uh Shane,” he corrected, remembering that Ignis preferred to call him by his actual name.

“I’m … you’re in Fandom,” he added, just in case Ignis hadn’t worked that part out yet.

So it hadn't been just some sort of odd, deeply rooted wishful thinking that the voice calling his name had been his. The assumption seemed ridiculous, fanciful; how long had it been since he even heard it? But there was relief there, for the familiarity, as well as a certain pride in still being able to identify it after all these years.

"Shane," he said, so much softer than he would have expected, marveling at it a little, because what were the odds. And it wasn't often, anymore, that he truly disparaged his loss of sight, but he found himself longing to be able to just see him again, and how the years may have treated him.

Hopefully a lot better than they'd treated Ignis.

"Yes," he then said, "Fandom. I gathered as much. And it seems I have arrived just in time for some sort of..." His free hand drifted toward the drape of his unexpected new fashion accessory, "...cape event?"

Goose tilted his head a bit at the cape Ignis was wearing, finding himself unsure now how to proceed … should he hug Ignis but he knew how much time had passed between them, maybe Ignis didn’t want that …that he didn’t want to pick up where they left off. He shifted slightly as he tried to process his thoughts that seemed to be going in a million different directions.

Ignis is back. Focus on that.

“I think it’s some kind of halloween thing?” Goose offered, “halloween is on Monday … oh it’s Friday now, Friday the 28th,” he added, “we’ve been having different events since Tuesday, yesterday the food kept changing into halloween party food,”

Because that was definitely what Ignis wanted to hear right then.

Edited 2022-10-28 11:21 (UTC)

Ignis' face was instantly disapproving, yes.

"Well, thank the gods I missed that one, then," he noted. He didn't remember much about Halloween, but any day stuck with nothing but party foods did not exactly fit his idea of preferred diet.

But levity aside, his frown was still deeply concerned about why he was even here at all, although he supposed he could work toward it. Perhaps just focus, for now, on one thing at a time, especially when one of those things was Shane.

"But how...are things here?" he asked, and, much more importantly, on a personal level, at least: "And how are you...Shane?"

It felt so odd, having that name on his lips again, but it felt...nice, too, even if he dreaded what might be in store for him if he was being dragged back here for some reason after all this time.

Goose hadn’t realised just how much he had missed Ignis saying his name right then and he smiled softly at hearing it.

“I … I’m … I’m good … I … I’ve … I’ve missed you,” he managed to stammer, moving a bit closer towards him, “I’ve missed you so much, I’m, I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help … to get through to you … it’s ..”

His voice trailed off awkwardly at the sudden outpouring of emotion, it took a moment for him to compose himself, “I mean … “ he took a deep breath, “I’ve been trying to stay busy, went to help fight a galactic empire, lost another interceptor in the process, my dad wasn’t happy about that,”

He paused, “oh Commander Walsh knows that I know about him being my dad,” he added, “I ended up telling him the truth,”

At first, Ignis' brows lifted a little at Shane's answer, a bit...unprepared for a response quite like that...and for the stirring tug it seemed to arouse in his chest. And a faint, distantly pleased smile, easily missed if you didn't think to look for it.

It took a moment to sense it just right; a step forward, a hypervigilent awareness of space and what was filling it and what was not, and then general memory of Shane's particular height and form. But he lifted his hand and, after it hovered a moment with uncertainty, settled it down where he approximated Shane's shoulder to be.

"There wasn't really anything more that could be done to help," he assured him. "But I'm glad to hear that. About your father. Did he take the news well?"

Edited 2022-10-28 11:54 (UTC)

Goose had forgotten what that touch had felt like and smiled when Ignis’ hand touched his shoulder, “he did … I thought … I thought he was going to reject me but he took the news well,” he paused, “I mean … he can’t acknowledge me at home as his son, it would be far too dangerous for both him and me to be able to do that but he knows now and we can be open here in Fandom,”

There was pause and a moment’s hesitation, “I also told him about you … about us …” he shifted awkwardly.

Ignis gave a soft, thoughtful hum at Shane's explanation, knowing far too well the intricacies that such secrets within politics created, despite not having had to worry about that particular topic himself for quite some time. Survival tended to make petty political feuds and even ancient, long-drawn out was seem rather pointless and unimportant.

And as Shane spoke, Ignis' hand lingered long enough on his shoulder for the pretense of some errant fuzz or other detritus on Shane's own cloak, almost instinctually picking at it, brushing it off, smoothing and tidying the fabric back up before his hand retreated.

Settling at his side by the time Shane got to that last part, and the wide chasm of time and space that existed between now and when they could have even been considered an us.

And that he'd rather suspected that there would never be an us again.

"Ah," he said, and realized this would certainly be a good time to fish around a little for context, on all of...that, and their absence, and...whatever else there might be to root out before he could even begin to consider his own feelings on the matter. "...what did you tell him?"

“That we … we were together, that we had been since the beginning of the year and that you had gone home and I couldn’t reach you,” Goose shifted awkwardly, finding himself paying more attention to Ignis’ hand on his shoulder and fully aware that there was now such a huge time gap between them … and that this wasn’t going to be like Prompto and Liz, well it was definitely different because unlike Liz he wasn’t pregnant, “I think he was more surprised by the fact that I was also interested in men …let alone with someone,”

If Shane had been pregnant, Ignis would have so, so many more questions.

(Although he wouldn't be surprised if the answers to all those questions simply boiled down to a neat and succinct: because Fandom).

But there was definitely one thing that stuck out to Ignis in all of that like a loose thread on an otherwise neatly pressed (albeit emotionally complicated) sweater...

"Beginning of the year?" he asked, positive he hadn't misheard it, because he heard everything now.

Goose paused at the question, "it's still 2022," he explained, "it's October 2022 ... you've only been gone since May," he paused, "at least in Fandom," he added.

Even though it had felt like an eternity for him, he couldn't imagine what it had felt like for Ignis.

Well. Now. That was...

...potentially on par for Fandom, really, although Ignis still was struggling to wrap his mind around this revelation.

"Two thousand," he repeated, "...twenty-two?"

Maybe he had misheard. Perhaps his hearing was starting to fail him after all, which meant he would have bigger concerns than a random unexpected return to Fandom Island. If his hearing went, even without the constant threat of daemon spawn at every turn, he would be, quite frankly, screwed.

"It's October 28 2022," Goose said, hoping that helped with confirming that it was 2022.

"I ... " he hesitated, wondering if he should mention that he knew how much time had passed for Ignis, "Prompto and Gladio are here," he finally said, "I ... I know about the time difference that, that ten years passed for all of you,"

Well, now you certainly had his attention, Shane.

You did before, of course, but now there was a sudden spark of urgency to it, a fierce pressing need for more information, because once those names passed through his lips, there was nothing else that could be more important.

"Prompto? So he is alive! And Gladio, too! They're here? Right now?"

In a way, he was kicking himself for not having thought of it, but, at the same time, how could he? He supposed, after the incident where Prompto and Gladio had changed into a puppy and a plant respectively, he should have known this place could still be a factor, but even that had been...years ago, practically ancient history. So much time had passed...

Ignis' hand found Shane's shoulder again, but this time, it was no comforting gesture, but instead, a tight grip, as much for support as it was for emphasis.

"Where are they?" he insisted. "You have to take me to them, Shane."

Edited 2022-10-28 13:13 (UTC)

“Well I think Prompto works at T&C on Fridays now?” Goose considered, “I’m not sure where Gladio is, I think he’s been staying out in the preserve …” he tilted his head, “oh … then you wouldn’t know about Prompto and Liz … they’re…”

Only that was when Fandom decided to intervene and whatever Goose had been about to say next came out in a series of honks.

It had only been a matter of time really before Goose turned into a literal goose.

He ruffled his feathers and looked up at Ignis rather sheepishly, which was rather impressive for an actual Goose ... not that Ignis could see Goose!Goose’s expression.

Edited 2022-10-28 13:19 (UTC)

Ignis was so latched onto whatever information Shane was able to give him in that moment that it actually took a second longer than it may have to make him realize that his hand was gripping nothing but a cape with no person actually wearing it. As soon as that realization hit him, his mind went reeling just a little bit further, perhaps slightly to the edge of madness, or at the very least, wondering if this was another dream or some sort of return of his visions. It was all in his head, of course. Why would he have returned to Fandom? Where else would it align so perfectly that the first person he should encounter when he did be Shane? And that barely any time had even passed--

It was only a second, where all those thoughts flooded into his brain, between when Shane's words stopped and the honking began, and Ignis stood there, frozen as he made another jolt in logic, to put the pieces together.

Not a dream.

A dream would actually make sense.

But this was Fandom, so we couldn't have any of that, now, could we? And he drew in a deep breath, hand now shifting the cape to his other hand so that one could be free to find his temple and just massage it for a bit.

Slowly, he let that breath out.

"Right," he said. "And now you're a goose. Of course you're a goose. Why wouldn't you be a goose, right now, when it's imperative that you are anything but a goose? I suppose it's good to know some things really don't change..."

You were giving him quite the welcoming back, weren't you, Fandom? But at the very least, Shane had managed to get something useful out before he transformed, and he wondered if he should pick goose!Shane up and carry him with him, or just assume he would follow as he started forward.

"Well, then," he stated, "at least we have a destination. Turtle & Canary shouldn't be....too difficult to find again...."

Although he did remember it was quite a bit aways from the causeway. Find the way was certainly going to be an adventure, but, well, he was back here now, should he expect anything less?

So Gladio (shirtless that day, but with his new cape, because, come on, that was funny, right?) knew that he was stuck here for probably a while, especially now that he was unexpectedly gainfully employed, and even he would admit that camping out in the preserve for an indeterminate amount of time, especially with winter around the corner, was...untenable. So he caved and ~~oh so handwavily~~ talked to Jon about a place at MHA and tried not to feel uncomfortable about how perminent something like having a name on a mailbox in a lobby felt.

He didn't have much stuff, and the apartment came furnished, so he packed up his swords and his camping gear and what little creature comforts he'd acquired in the past few weeks and headed on over to officially move in.

Only to see a familiar figure tentatively making his way down the causeway. With his own striking black cape....and a goose?

Well, now he was just going to set down his stuff for a moment, fold his arms in front of him, and wait for Ignis to get a little closer before saying anything, while he tried not to think about how much this pretty much sealed the deal for them now, didn't it?

Well it looked like they were on the way to T&C, Goose started honking to start leading the way and began waddling towards the end of the causeway.

This was taking some getting used to, he was used to taking up a lot of space and moving quickly and now he was normal sized and a goose so he was going very slowly.

Then he spotted Gladio, turned his head back to Ignis and honked again and then stared at Gladio as he waited for Ignis to catch up.

If being a goose was slowing Shane down, then Ignis could only be grateful for it, because he was relying solely on the sound of those honks to guide him, and he preferred to take his time and start getting a feel for the place as they moved. And he could also start to think about all this, to make sense of it (as best as one could, anyway) until they reached Prompto and he could hopefully tell him more without also turning into some animal at the most inopportune time.

And then he was a little thrown, as the sound of Shane's honking seemed to shift, leading him in a different way than he was expecting, which sent any hope of orientating himself, but he followed, patiently and obediently, trusting that even as a goose, Shane wouldn't just lead him astray.

And Gladio, for his part, was just going to shake his head a little bit as Ignis and the goose started heading his way, arms folded in front of him. He stared back down at the goose for a moment, before quirking his chin up as if in greeting, while Ignis caught up, and, once he did, his attention shifted back up to what would honestly be a sight for sore eyes if it was anywhere else but here.

"Looks like it finally got you, too, huh, Specs?"

Well, there was no mistaking that voice, and Ignis stopped, took a moment to just sense and feel, before lifting his hand to Gladio's shoulder, much in the way he had with Shane's earlier, for confirmation and to keep himself steady.

"Gladio," he sighed with relief, that he didn't have to go tearing through the town on a all-too-literal wild goose chase to Turtle & Canary. "What's going on? Why are we here? Is this where you've been these past few weeks? Iris has been positively beside herself with concern!"

Gladio grunted a little at that. He doesn't see the guy for several week, and, right out the gate, he was already nagging at him, huh? He grinned, faintly, shaking his head.

"Believe me," he drawled, "I've been trying to get through to her, but it's the same thing this way as it was back home. No way to get through. Except, apparently, just enough to drag us here and get us stuck. Prompto, too. Apparently, he did survive after that final battle, he just got sucked over here. And then me, and now you, I guess. And get this. Apparently, it's only been about five, six months since we left. Like...fucking time travel, or something."

"Yes, I'm aware," Ignis said, his frown deepening yet again as he now had Gladio's perspective on the matter to consider. But even if the words he spoke were rather troubling, he had to admit, it was an incredible comfort just to hear them, to finally know what had happened to him, and to Prompto, and to know that they were both safe...

...if incredibly inconvenienced.

"Shane was just catching me up to speed," he explained further. "At least until..." He gestured toward the general direction of where Shane was at their feet. "He turned into a goose."

Gladio's brows went up a little bit, and, despite himself, or maybe just out of his own relief to see Ignis again, finally, even if this was not how it would have preferred for it to have happened, he laughed. "That's Goose?" he asked, now looking down at the goose in question. "I mean, that actually makes more sense than everything else about this situation, if you get right down to it."

And it was nice that he wasn't the only one whose transformations went more...literal.

His next snort was much more wry, and his own hand went to clasp down on Ignis' shoulder. "Welcome back, buddy. And now it almost makes sense that I got stuck with a two-bedroom apartment, too, actually...Come on."

Sighing a little, he bent down to pick his packs back up, with another fleeting glance down at Goose², and then back at Ignis.

"I was just heading up there now. I'll make some coffee and catch you up to speed. Just wait until you hear about what's going on with Prompto...!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Causeway; Friday Afternoon, 10/28.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject