Hadriel IC Inbox

[claritatis]

"You've reached Ignis Scientia. Leave a message and I will endeavour to get back to you post-haste."

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[dedikated]

( Egregious? Or true? He might think differently if he could see what she can. A wash of gratefulness for Emily's all-too-brief return passes over Kate, and probably tinges the edges of Ignis' consciousness, as she considers the coffee offerings for the morning. The stuff she managed to talk the gods into providing is a whole world better than the coffee provided by default in the shops. )

( Cart's coming by soon. )

( Let's see— )

( Clothes... Ah. This'll do. )

( Thanks for the shirt, Ignis. It's nice and comfy, and in need of the sleeves rolling up. )

[claritatis]

[He catches the sensation of something on the edge of his mind - an emotion that doesn't belong to him - and immediately bolts half-upright in bed.]

What--..?

[Ah, but his ribs still hurt. He winces, curling an arm around himself as he eases himself into a more comfortable position. In a moment, he'll be able to appreciate the vision of her standing there in his shirt, but right now he needs to catch his breath.]

Ouch...

[dedikated]

( There's something so natural about this method of communication for her — an entire childhood of talking this way with Marc, and recent years allowing herself and Faith to have this familiar link — that, even after Ignis shoots up out of bed and winces, Kate's lips don't start moving in order for her to talk. )

( Shit. You alright? )

( She slides back onto the bed, leaning over and brushing a hand across his forearm. )

( ...Ice pack? )

( An ice pack would probably be good. )

[claritatis]

[For Ignis, who has only experienced this once and not with Kate, the experience is altogether unpleasantly jarring as he comes to the swift realisation that he's been talking without... talking.]

No, it's just... [A few cracked ribs. Nothing to be done about it, really. He frowns, carefully trying to make sense of the situation.]

Something strange is going on.

[dedikated]

( It may just get stranger before it gets more normal, as a brief flicker of confusion which isn't his fades into the lightbulb moment of realisation.

Just because it isn't strange for her (and, if she thinks about it, even when it comes to having this bond with him, she wouldn't be entirely surprised), doesn't mean it's not the same for him.

And she probably should have said something sooner, but with the bond firmly in place with Faith, she didn't expect it to come up. )

( This? ... Think this event's messing with my powers. )

( And, just to check... Yeah, his name's there, inked on her body like some sort of bad, lovesick idea. )

[claritatis]

[He doesn't think he's ever going to get used to things like that. Feeling things, having emotions that aren't really his. When it so obviously comes from another person it's different to knowing that the gods are causing it, but still unsettling in another way.

His uncertainty at the situation feeds back to her, and he quickly spots her name written on his skin, too.]

... Curious. [Not really the way he'd ever intended to have a loved one's name inked onto himself.]

What do you suppose this is all about...

[dedikated]

( Her expression flickers as the emotion feeds back to her, brows knitting in concern

Had he ever intended to have a loved one's name inked onto himself, really? )

( No idea. Nothing feels different... )

( Well, except for this. And a soft, lingering compulsion to just curl up in bed again and pull him close to her, to say fuck it to their lives outside and relax here. )

( You doing anything today? )

( Please say no, please say it's not that important. Now that she's noticed the compulsion it's gone from a soft pulse to the only idea in her mind, and without bothering to restrain the bond, it's probably touching the fringes of his brain as well. )

[claritatis]

[Nothing feels different, says the woman speaking directly into his mind, and Ignis doesn't have enough experience with this to be able to shield his emotional responses in any way. It's amusement, mixed with disbelief and faint, fading surprise.

Doing anything? Well, he'd thought he might...]

No.

[It wouldn't be the first time they'd decided to spend a little extra time together in the morning, but Ignis usually finds something to do with his day even if he doesn't have a patrol.]

No, nothing. Come here?

[dedikated]

( It's convenient. But that flash of emotion is hint enough, and as Kate crawls over, she finds his hands and sits cross-legged in the centre of the bed. )

( Up. Show you how to control it. )

( She's had a lifetime of learning how to keep this under control, a majority of it permanently linked to her brother. Control is something they needed for the sake of both their sanity. )

[claritatis]

... Very well.

[There are very few people he would trust to do this kind of thing with. Very, very few that he would trust with his unfettered innermost thoughts.

Given that Kate tends to be a person he simply speaks his feelings aloud to without too much restraint, he finds it easy enough to squeeze her hands with a brief thrum of affection across the link between them, and sit up as she requests.]

[dedikated]

( Show is kind of... not the most accurate way of putting it, perhaps. If only because she can't really open up a skull and explain all of this (and she's incredibly grateful that isn't the case). But either way...

The first thing he'll notice is the way it quiets down in his head, how foreign flutters of happiness and calm vanish, all the ambient noise of her thoughts and feelings quickly brought under control once more, leaving nothing but the fuzz of white noise quietly vibrating at the base of his skull. This isn't like Confusion's revival, where her powers spiraled entirely out of her grasp. It all works as it's supposed to, but the shift of this event has made the bond jump to the person currently here in Hadriel, rather than remain tied to Faith back home. )

Feel that? ( It sounds weird, speaking aloud after slipping back into wordless communication, but it's easier to not confuse her words with the location of the bond if she does. Kate leans in and presses a spot along his hairline, where the skull meets the back of the neck, the place where the white noise originates. ) Concentrate on it.

( It's not easy to detect at first, but the more he concentrates, the more obvious the way it seems to be its own small ball of power, veins spreading through his mind and lighting it up in a whole new way. )

Try to control it. Same way you'd control your breathing.

[claritatis]

['Feel that', she asks, as if it should be easy for him to identify what she's talking about. Ignis only makes a soft sound in reply - not confirmation, not disagreement, but slightly frustrated regardless. The tap of her fingers centres his attention and he finally grasps it, closing his eyes and huffing a soft breath out through his nose.

He can feel it, and it feels like it isn't supposed to be there.]

This is normal for you..?

[It's just another new experience, but an unsettling one when it takes place directly inside his skull. His breathing pulls evenly as he concentrates on the sensation, drawing it carefully under control.]

[dedikated]

( It's another type of strange for Kate, like coming back home after months stranded alone at sea. Everything works as she's always known it to, even if the person it's attached to is new.

Like the first time it activated with Faith, after years of deafening silence and questions about whether anyone could re-awaken this power again. But this time? This time her stomach doesn't knot in subtle guilt, she doesn't wonder if it's disrespectful to have her power attach to someone new.

After all, how long could it last? )

Got used to it, but the quiet's stranger. ( She grew to expect it, grew used to it, that's true, but in the same way one grows used to Hadriel. It isn't normal, isn't right, but there's nothing to be done about it. )

[claritatis]

Hmm.

[Right now, Ignis thinks he would far prefer the quiet. Even under control this subtle white noise is intrusive, pulling his attention towards it as something that is not supposed to be present. In time, he could probably get used to it, but right now that lapping wave of discomfort attached to this experience does not go away, only quiets.]

We may have to settle to disagree on that count. [He tells her, frowning briefly but trying to sweep the consternation from his expression.]

I do wonder what's happening... [Ignis glances to the window, as if it might hold some answer.] Another game, no doubt.

[dedikated]

( She imagines it must be different if you've never heard it before, shrugging at his answer. People never do understand it, really. )

( ...This only works if there's an emotional bond. ) ( Her voice is distant, neutral, explaining it the way she'd explain it to her mentor back home. It makes sense that, of everyone here, it would happen with him, but there's the name on her hand and the way her usual feelings are so much more intense, where wants become needs and Kate can only conclude that this is something more than just the natural progression of falling in love. )

[claritatis]

[He's never liked the way that Hope and his family toy with their emotions. He has never liked, also, that creeping 'what if' of knowing that the effects of the city had had the tendency to push he and Kate together.

What they have now is very real, he's sure of that, but did it really begin that way? Sometimes he wonders.

This is uncomfortable in a way he couldn't have anticipated. Not that he can speak to her telepathically, but the passing back and forth of emotions. Controlling it is not easy, and no doubt she can sense the conflict in him over their current situation.

He squeezes her hand.]

I'll admit, this isn't how I would have... wanted this to happen.

[dedikated]

( Kate tries not to think about that, lest the uncomfortable implications of falling in love with someone of whom the city tried to designate her childhood babysitter rise back to the surface. But her emotions are easy enough to clamp down once more now that she's brought her end of this bond under control and the silence returns.

It was easiest with Marc, when they were both kids, and both trying to figure out how to control this. Easier still once they'd grown up, having lived through an entire adolescence of powers wanting to flare and grow wild. This sort of control became second nature, only lost in the worst of moments. )

... You would have wanted this?

( The words are light enough, but the tilt of her head, the way her eyes search his face... not so much. )

[claritatis]

[He holds on to her hands, rubbing his thumbs very gently across her knuckles. Still, more than a year on, he's often thrown into quiet wonderment that he's been able to have this kind of closeness with another person.

When she asks that question it isn't difficult to sense the weight behind it, but the way his eyes hold hers doesn't falter even for a moment.]

I hadn't ruled it out.

[A light kiss gets pressed to her knuckles, quick and soft.]

Stranger things have happened.

[dedikated]

( Oh, there are plenty of stranger things. She's just not entirely sure he would see those things the same way she does. This thing between them, so unquestioning and comfortable, is certainly one in Kate's mind. That, after everything, she might manage to have this kind of normal thing in a place so entirely far from the concept of normal as Hadriel is.

Her fingers tighten around his in response, and thoughts about whether she deserves this are pushed away and out of her mind before they can grow, replaced by a flash of warmth and amusement which Kate allows Ignis to feel, the one warning sign before she tries to pull him back down into the bed. )

( Got some ways to practice control. )

( Like the task of trying to keep ones emotions to oneself while being drawn into a warm embrace and a warmer kiss. )