synflux inbox;

[fessus]

— NOCTIS LUCIS CAELUM

CODENAME
SAMUEL NIGHT
@xXdarkwarriorXx

TEAM REVELATION
HOUSING 016

Comments

[fessus]

Good thing I did ask or I would've missed out on learning you were just as lame back then

I could've taught you how to take hits for a while at least, that's what I remember learning most. But first thing though would be letting you pick your weapon

[ First... and most important. ]

My old man was busy a lot and I was a kid so I didn't always get it

I was just acting out to get his attention but I grew out of it pretty quick

1/2

[gyve]

I was playing one of the ten fools back then wanting to become a soldier
I would've really enjoyed taking hits from you

And as a child you never realize why things are
Just that you want them to be different
That must've been hard for you Noctis

( Not wanting to ruin the mood they've cultivated when so many of their other conversations become heavy, Kaladin clears his throat and prepares another text. )

2/2

[gyve]

I don't know though
Seems to me like you still do some of that now
Trying to get my attention by bullying me
I think I do the same to you

Maybe it's okay to never grow out of it if it helps a couple of awkward idiots like us talk to one another

[fessus]

[ There it is, another quiet smile. Kaladin's aim is clear and he wants to tell him that it's okay, that he learned the hard truth of his own reality and doesn't begrudge his father, but that would downplay the other man's efforts. He doesn't want to do that. ]

Speak for yourself, you're the one that's actually awkward

[ Contentedly buys into his role and BULLIES HIM IMMEDIATELY ]

Who actually bugs the other one for attention 🤔🙄

Noctis everyone's annoying what do I do
Noctis my text to speech sounds weird
Noctis what's this slang

Are you sure you aren't playing all 10 of the fools

[gyve]

Ha

Okay
Hearing it all laid out like that I guess I am

😮‍💨
That glyph is me sighing at you exasperatedly

[fessus]

Lol I really put up with way too much from you, idk how I do it

[ perhaps more fond than it should be........ ]

That makes it your turn yk

[gyve]

Not nearly as much as I put up with from you

Let's see
I don't like having facial hair

1/3

[fessus]

[ oh ]

2/3

[fessus]

[ This is a silly, unproductive conversation in the way that so many of their others have been. Even when he's joked with Prompto he's never quite had the luxury of something so simple as time, bound to a short arcade session here or a chat between classes there. Even now, when light moods are harder to come by in Eos in spite of his friend's renewed desperation to seek them out, there's always an undercurrent of seriousness and awareness that sleep is more vital than play.

That makes staying up to speak to Kaladin such a precious oddity, and also makes it feel... different.

Recently he's filled in the gaps of their conversations trying to picture his friend's life back on Roshar, a task made easier and easier the more details Kaladin chooses to provide. Most of them rely on events and express themselves in emotions, like the warmth that accompanies imagining Kaladin as a child, or how he interacted with his parents or younger brother once upon a time. Maybe anger, when envisioning how he was treated by a society that should've been organized to protect him.

This, however, is silly trivia that he's given to likely use as ammo in another back and forth verbal sparring match, but something about it stops him.

The picture is formed in his mind like it has been for all his other facts, and in the absence of any emotion to color a mental image his mind finds its own. A reference point. Kaladin's hair is thick and full just like Gladio's, but his shield has long-since sported the beard his new friend is apparently so desperate to avoid. Maybe it would look similar on him. Grow in the same way, have the same texture. Stubble would likely brush against his knuckles in the same hair-raising way it always had when he'd sparred with Gladio and a lucky punch had struck his taller opponent, though it would be that much more satisfying a win against Kaladin.

The warmth in his cheeks startles him as he becomes suddenly aware of the time between Kaladin's response and his own, sitting up straighter like that might drag him away from confusing thoughts and the new oddly pleasant knot in his stomach. ]

3/3

[fessus]

Yeah me neither

[ But Kaladin would look handsome with it, that he's already decided. As handsome as he looks now. And while there's no newfound awareness of that fact there's definitely a newfound appreciation for it, and he doesn't know what to do with that odd feeling. ]

You keep your hair pretty long though

[gyve]

( As he lies there, picking at a strand of hair, he decides he's no longer interested in sleeping. )

I suppose I do
It's been this way for a long time
I don't really think about it

( He pushes it back out of his face, his fingers snagging on small snarls.

It's not as groomed as Noctis', nor is it as styled. It's not as suitably layered for his face, nor is it as feathery in appearance. It's not as shiny, nor is it—as Kaladin imagines—soft to touch.

His hand stops at the base of his skull and squeezes. )

So do you
It's longer in the back
Down your neck

[fessus]

So yours is long bc you don't think about it and mine is long bc I do

[ It's normal that Kaladin noticed something as obvious as his hair and its varying lengths. That's normal and not really worthy of any special reaction... right... ]

Guess this is your chance

Think about it

[gyve]

Thanks for your permission to think about my own hair

I guess I could cut it all off

[fessus]

[ Another image to picture... one that is also striking, but that loses some of his friend's identity. ]

I didn't say that

[ please wait ]

Jw if you actually picked smth you wanted instead of smth easy what that would look like

1/2

[gyve]

( . . . )

I don't know
There's nothing I particularly want to do with it

2/2

[gyve]

You can feel the wind in it better
Long hair

[fessus]

[ okay gaylord ]

Sounds like you particularly want to keep it long

I'm not bad at styling yk, I could show you what to do with it

[gyve]

( PARENT UP IN THIS THREAD AND SAY THAT AGAIN )

I'm trying to come up with reasons because you told me to
Don't make me regret it

What do you mean

[fessus]

You can't scare me fyi

And what I mean is there's way you could take care of it where it would look better

And different ways you could cut parts of it or comb it or w/e

[gyve]

It sounds like there are a lot of steps to this

( In fact, it sounds like a lighteyes thing. Baths, skin products, hair products... Some comforts he's grown accustomed to at Urithiru and here on Earth, but others...

Storms, those are just excuses.

Why is he suddenly so nervous? It's just Noctis. )

I haven't done any of that before

[fessus]

I said two things

Does it feel like a lot of steps if you have to learn two new fight stances?

[ Yeah that's right we're going there. ]

All that matters is that you want to or don't

[gyve]

It's a lot of work to learn two new fight stances
You practice daily by incorporating them full-time into your training regime

I'll do it but I can't say I'll keep up with it
I don't really want to but that could be because I've never done it before

[fessus]

I won't make you sign a contract

[ Low investment, potentially high reward. After all, if Kaladin already has hair that naturally full and healthy, why not do something with it?

It's a simple positive distraction from everything else weighing them down right now... isn't it? ]

You always wear it loose or what

[gyve]

Not always
On the job I tie it back

( Paramedics and surgeons can't go around with hair in their eyes, Kaladin thinks.

Noctis' hairstyle, however, suits the arcade. )

Yours suits you
You look like one of the people who play at the arcade
But polished I guess

[fessus]

Wow I'll try not to take that as an insult

[ Did you just say I look like a grubby gamer but less grubby...... ]

Ik you tie it up at work, I've seen it

I'm talking about braids or smth. Plaits?