holy crap i haven't written anything in FOREVER. much less abyss.
Title: Coats in Grand Chokmah
Fandom: Tales of the Abyss
Characters: Guy and cameos from the party. About Luke. Uhhh Guy/Luke if you want it to be.
Genre: EMOOOOOOOOO
Rating: G D|
Summary: The day after it all ended.
Natalia had gone with him, of course; dear, noble Natalia, with more chivalry than half the men in Kimlasca and more honor than the other half. She'd insisted on going with him to tell the Fabres and he'd easily obliged, not that she'd have listened if he hadn't.
Together, they walked into Fabre manor and told a mother and father that their sons were gone.
Guy had made himself absolutely clear that he believed Luke was still alive and would be returning; he and Natalia had almost had a fight then and there, simply because she was doing her best to let them down gently and Guy was stubbornly refusing to admit what she called the truth. She had asked him politely -firmly- to leave the room, and as he wasn't family Guy found himself unable to disobey. He wanted to leave anyhow; they'd been staring at him. Whether or not they were truly accusatory was up for debate, but Guy felt that with each moment their eyes lingered they were asking, "why didn't you protect them? Why are you here instead of Luke and Asch?"
Guy didn't know.
...no, that was a lie. He knew. It just...wasn't fair.
It wasn't fair at all.
Natalia had left the room with red eyes and rumpled clothes; Guy refrained from comment and escorted her to the castle. When they reached the steps leading to the hall, he bowed and told her that he needed to head back to Grand Chokmah with Jade and report to Emperor Peony. Natalia nodded, then smiled and grasped his hand and thanked him before heading inside.
Guy realized halfway to the docks that he hadn't flinched away.
The Albiore was in surprisingly good shape, though the same couldn't be said for the pilot. Noelle was tired, depressed and painfully quiet. The trip to the capital of Malkuth was a lonely one, and Guy let his forehead fall against the glass window pane as they raced the clouds across the sky.
Luke, Luke, Luke.
Guy hadn't cried in over ten years, and he wasn't about to start now.
Jade was quiet as well, though whether or not that was due to his own musing, a mercy on behalf of Guy's feelings -since he knew that Guy would indulge in his efforts to converse whether he wanted to or not- or simply because that was who he was, Guy didn't know. In the end, it didn't really matter; conversation wasn't needed or wanted on his behalf, and as awkward as the silence was, it was preferable to forced cheer.
The walk to the palace was very much the same. Even the report to Emperor Peony was very much the same; Jade did most of the talking and Guy found his mind wandering as the topic left matters directly related to him. He was so distracted that it took a nudge and a prompt from Jade for him to realize that they had been dismissed. Peony told him to get some rest. Jade walked him to his manor.
At the gate, Jade hesitated before saying -abruptly, with that same flat, matter-of-fact tone- "Perhaps you should take the time to visit General Cecille. She's your family, yes?" In other words, Jade didn't think Guy should be alone. It was...heartwarming. And weird.
Guy just offered Jade a tight smile, one of those "I know what you mean but I don't agree" expressions, and waved goodbye as he crossed his front walk into the mansion. The maids greeted him and he nodded their way before making a beeline for his sleeping quarters. His bed was waiting for him, and he fell atop it without removing his shoes.
At some point he fell asleep; his dreams involved children with red hair, smiling and teaching a ten-year-old how to walk. He woke with a stiff neck and an upset stomach; a bath cured the neck, a breakfast cured the stomach ache. Neither cured the restlessness.
Guy came across one of Luke's coats; there had been a night when they'd stayed in Grand Chokmah, and instead of sleeping at an inn Guy had invited them all to his manor. They'd marveled at the new House Gardios and Guy proudly gave them a tour, pointed out his favorite rooms. Showed them his workshop with a great deal of pride, even as Luke sighed and rolled his eyes and loudly proclaimed it as "boring." Guy had acted affronted, but he really wasn't.
The coat was clean. One of the maids had washed it.
Guy took it to the door. Despite the fact that giant manors with several maids and butlers in employ did not have coat racks beside the door, Guy's did. He insisted that it made it feel more like home, and the maids had agreed. It was rarely used, but Guy kept it anyway.
So he kept his coat by the door.
And one day, Luke would pass through the door to get it back.
Fandom: Tales of the Abyss
Characters: Guy and cameos from the party. About Luke. Uhhh Guy/Luke if you want it to be.
Genre: EMOOOOOOOOO
Rating: G D|
Summary: The day after it all ended.
Natalia had gone with him, of course; dear, noble Natalia, with more chivalry than half the men in Kimlasca and more honor than the other half. She'd insisted on going with him to tell the Fabres and he'd easily obliged, not that she'd have listened if he hadn't.
Together, they walked into Fabre manor and told a mother and father that their sons were gone.
Guy had made himself absolutely clear that he believed Luke was still alive and would be returning; he and Natalia had almost had a fight then and there, simply because she was doing her best to let them down gently and Guy was stubbornly refusing to admit what she called the truth. She had asked him politely -firmly- to leave the room, and as he wasn't family Guy found himself unable to disobey. He wanted to leave anyhow; they'd been staring at him. Whether or not they were truly accusatory was up for debate, but Guy felt that with each moment their eyes lingered they were asking, "why didn't you protect them? Why are you here instead of Luke and Asch?"
Guy didn't know.
...no, that was a lie. He knew. It just...wasn't fair.
It wasn't fair at all.
Natalia had left the room with red eyes and rumpled clothes; Guy refrained from comment and escorted her to the castle. When they reached the steps leading to the hall, he bowed and told her that he needed to head back to Grand Chokmah with Jade and report to Emperor Peony. Natalia nodded, then smiled and grasped his hand and thanked him before heading inside.
Guy realized halfway to the docks that he hadn't flinched away.
The Albiore was in surprisingly good shape, though the same couldn't be said for the pilot. Noelle was tired, depressed and painfully quiet. The trip to the capital of Malkuth was a lonely one, and Guy let his forehead fall against the glass window pane as they raced the clouds across the sky.
Luke, Luke, Luke.
Guy hadn't cried in over ten years, and he wasn't about to start now.
Jade was quiet as well, though whether or not that was due to his own musing, a mercy on behalf of Guy's feelings -since he knew that Guy would indulge in his efforts to converse whether he wanted to or not- or simply because that was who he was, Guy didn't know. In the end, it didn't really matter; conversation wasn't needed or wanted on his behalf, and as awkward as the silence was, it was preferable to forced cheer.
The walk to the palace was very much the same. Even the report to Emperor Peony was very much the same; Jade did most of the talking and Guy found his mind wandering as the topic left matters directly related to him. He was so distracted that it took a nudge and a prompt from Jade for him to realize that they had been dismissed. Peony told him to get some rest. Jade walked him to his manor.
At the gate, Jade hesitated before saying -abruptly, with that same flat, matter-of-fact tone- "Perhaps you should take the time to visit General Cecille. She's your family, yes?" In other words, Jade didn't think Guy should be alone. It was...heartwarming. And weird.
Guy just offered Jade a tight smile, one of those "I know what you mean but I don't agree" expressions, and waved goodbye as he crossed his front walk into the mansion. The maids greeted him and he nodded their way before making a beeline for his sleeping quarters. His bed was waiting for him, and he fell atop it without removing his shoes.
At some point he fell asleep; his dreams involved children with red hair, smiling and teaching a ten-year-old how to walk. He woke with a stiff neck and an upset stomach; a bath cured the neck, a breakfast cured the stomach ache. Neither cured the restlessness.
Guy came across one of Luke's coats; there had been a night when they'd stayed in Grand Chokmah, and instead of sleeping at an inn Guy had invited them all to his manor. They'd marveled at the new House Gardios and Guy proudly gave them a tour, pointed out his favorite rooms. Showed them his workshop with a great deal of pride, even as Luke sighed and rolled his eyes and loudly proclaimed it as "boring." Guy had acted affronted, but he really wasn't.
The coat was clean. One of the maids had washed it.
Guy took it to the door. Despite the fact that giant manors with several maids and butlers in employ did not have coat racks beside the door, Guy's did. He insisted that it made it feel more like home, and the maids had agreed. It was rarely used, but Guy kept it anyway.
So he kept his coat by the door.
And one day, Luke would pass through the door to get it back.