Hadriel IC Inbox

[claritatis]

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

Comments

[dedikated]

( It catches her off guard, the request, and Kate pauses for a long moment, staring at Ignis and trying to think of something she doesn't think he knows.

The mind does like to whisk away everything you know the second you're asked, it seems. )

Got detention once for trying to eat my dinner on the roof.

( That... is probably the most harmless reason she got detention. )

[claritatis]

[He isn't sure what he expected to hear but that makes him laugh, and he's bold enough to put one arm entirely around her and lightly pull her down against his side. The laugh fades off but the smile it brought remains, and he shakes his head minutely.]

Just wanting a good view with your meal, I imagine.

[Ignis can see that as something Kate would have done, but he also doubts it's the worst she ever did...]

[dedikated]

( She doesn't object, taking a moment to get comfortable against him before she replies. )

Guessing you never had detention?

( She can't picture it, and while he's entirely right to have those doubts, she very much doubts that he wants to hear about the time she punched some douche in the throat, the skipped classes or myriad other things that happened. )

[claritatis]

Not as such.

[He shifts a little to get comfortable with his arm still around her, and as the peace and warmth of the room soaks in he relaxes against the bed and brings up his free hand to tuck it under his head.]

But I was in trouble fairly often, taking the blame for Noctis' adventurous nature.

[dedikated]

( ... Of course. As if she expected anything else. (And should she ever meet the esteemed Prince of pain Lucis, that is going to be a Time. Sorry, Noct.)

A moment of silence before Kate lifts her head to look at Ignis, regarding him with the same curiosity he showed her a moment ago. )

...Tell me something about you, then.

( No Noct involved. Aka Hard Mode. )

[claritatis]

About me? Hm.

[Something about him. That's only fair.

He shifts the arm around her so that he can run his fingers up and down the dip of her spine, and he looks back at her with a small smile.]

My vision is more than reasonably passable without corrective lenses.

[dedikated]

( Now that surprises her enough to cast a glance over to where the glasses lie on the bedside table. Most people she know who need glasses tended to wait until it was all but unavoidable, as far as she ever knew. )

Why'd you get 'em?

( They do suit him but that's an expensive accessory to go for. And there are cheaper ways to get the look anyway. )

[claritatis]

[It's a fact that few people know, and half of the people who once knew are dead. Ignis finds himself chuckling at her surprise and follows her gaze to the glasses beside the bed.]

Because I have never settled for anything less than perfection. Particularly in matters pertaining to myself.

[But at least now she knows that stealing his glasses is never going to do any harm at all.]

[dedikated]

( Then you're in the wrong relationship, Ignis. Her eyes settle on his, the mesmerising hues sharp as ever and that ghost of a smile, the soft curl of her lips which is becoming all too common around him, washes over her features. )

Shame we didn't meet when I were a few years younger. Could have enchanted them.

( Probably would have, here, to give him that extra boost of information when fighting the monsters that come through the door. But she moved her powers on from that, away from hours of tapping at random objects until they responded to supernatural powers. )

[claritatis]

[He's noticed the way she looks at him, particularly when they're this close to one another. She looks into his eyes like she's enchanted by them, and he smiles faintly as he notices her doing it again.]

You could have done that? [Ignis hums softly, moving his hand from the dip of her spine to settle it at her waist instead.]

How do your powers work?

[dedikated]

( That was either the wrong question, or the best question you could have asked, Ignis. It really depends on your view.

As if the question's a cue, Kate pushes herself up and shifts, placing legs either side of his hips and comfortably settling down onto his lap. )

Guess th' best way to explain it is-

( By straddling your boyfriend?

Okay no, not that. Her lips purse together for a moment, and a finger quickly finds the pulse at his neck, trailing along the skin there, following the vessel for a moment. )

Superhumans have somethin' like a second circulatory system. Goes through our body and contains the energy we need to make everything happen. ( Her eyes trail down his throat, across his chest, just for a moment. This is not the worst view to have while explaining this. ) Y'wanna run faster, you use some of it to do that. Same for becoming stronger or using your power.

( That's the very basics of it, and Kate pauses a moment to shift her braid back over her shoulder, shifting a bit in his lap. )

Mine work by reacting to others'. Used to have to use another item to make it work. Would make people's powers stronger or drain 'em and store 'em in the item. ( Which is what they called enchanting back home. Manipulating items with power. Carl could do something similar, though it was restricted to improving the physical attributes of whatever item he wanted to enchant. ) Usually just make things that'd react to other powers. Glasses that can see powers. Shit that lights up if something with powers were near.

( It was always a fiddly one, back when it worked like that. )

Now it works direct.

( And it's here her fingers find his throat again, slightly to one side of his pulse, her fingertips growing warm for a second. ) The Formost Veins are here- ( The next touch comes to the inside of his elbow, brief and warm; ) Here-

( And finally, one that trails across the dip of his hip, near a fading bruise; ) And here, for starters. They're the easiest places to access if you want to manipulate power.

[claritatis]

[Alright, so he doesn't think that this position is entirely needed for the explanation she's about to give him, but he doesn't complain about it, merely places his hands on her thighs and looks up at her with the small, wry smile she's no doubt become used to seeing on his face.

Her gaze trails after the path of his fingers and he feels goosebumps rise up in the wake of one or the other, he can't be sure. When her fingertips grow warm against his pulse he closes his eyes and breathes in softly, then glances down to the touch to his elbow.]

I see.

[He shifts under her carefully, sitting up and resting his weight back on his hands.]

Do you sense anything from me?

[dedikated]

You don't have powers.

( It's automatic, not because she can't sense anything right now, but because she's looked before and seen nothing. Well, it's that or she can't see anything. Which is also possible, because- )

Things work different when you're dealing with other worlds. ( That she learned quickly. None of the people whose powers she has seen look or work anything like the powers she's used to seeing. ) S'pose I should say y'don't have powers far as I've seen.

( Shrug. Accuracy is as important as finding the correct position to deliver your lecture on powers, of course. )

[claritatis]

You are not incorrect. I have no powers or magic of my own.

[The ability to immediately assess a situation to the point of the uncanny is not a power, as such, though some people might be baffled enough by it to call it one.

She wouldn't have seen anything in him before Noctis arrived, but now...

He keeps his hand clear of her, held out to one side as he clenches his fingers around thin air and pulls a spectral dagger from nowhere. It appears solid enough the moment his hand closes around it, and he looks from it to her with a subtly raised eyebrow.

Surprise.]

[dedikated]

( ... Okay.

She wasn't expecting that. And for once, the usually controlled expressions of her face seem to melt away into genuine, unbridled curiosity. This city, despite all the routine of godly events and now an ongoing war, never ceases to surprise her. Always bringing in something that goes against everything she knew.

Kate's eyes glaze over with a sheen of white, not at full strength but still visible enough to be obvious. How-

... Ah. )

Looks like... a bond of some kind.

( Not quite the same as the ghosts of primrose yellow she would see in Marc, and now in Faith, representing how her telepathy had attached to them, but a shadow that she can't really explain any other way. )

Guessing this isn't new.

( He hasn't looked like this before, but it's done with too much familiarity to be a recent development. So all that comes to mind is the appearance of his friends. )

[claritatis]

No.

[The dagger is dismissed as easily as it was summoned, in a quickly-fading shower of blue lights, and he hopes he's not going to have to explain that to a certain someone when he sees than later.

He shifts Kate's position slightly and taps his fingers against her thighs lightly, before sliding them up to her hips. He can't recall that he's seen her use her ability like that before, and he watches her until it fades.]

It's Noctis. [Because everything always comes back to him.] More specifically, the power of the royal line of Lucis, lent to those sworn to protect it.

[dedikated]

( She has to admit, since coming back, it's largely just been a convenient torch when everything goes dark. It's not necessarily a bad thing, though. So many people here have powers that make Faith's seem dull in comparison. The kind of things that can induce headaches if stared at for too long.

And while Kate's noticing this theme of everything coming back to Noctis, Ignis' hands against her hips are more than enough motivation for her to lean in and brush her lips against his, brief and gentle, and she lingers, hovers above him when she speaks: )

Interestin'. ( Which it is. She's never really heard of lending your power in that way. Using your power to affect others, sure. That's how healing works. How teleporting people does. Even how her own works. But lending sounds more conscious than bonding, than finding out your emotions burn so strongly for a person that you link to their mind. ) How's that work?

[claritatis]

[So, now it's his turn to give some exposition. First, though, he responds to the kiss with a soft one of his own, chasing after the initial touch for a moment.]

There are two schools of magic used by humans in Eos, both linked to the kings of Lucis. Their bloodline is blessed by the Astrals, grantng them abilities linked to a powerful crystalline artifact. [While he speaks, his hands slide higher up her thighs, his thumbs pressing gently into the dips of her pelvis.]

That artifact, along with The Ring of the Lucii, were bestowed upon the royals of Lucis in ages past by the Astrals themselves. The Ring holds the spirits of the past monarchs of Lucis and allows the bearer to channel the power of the Crystal, though at no small cost. The manner in which the former kings are bound to the Ring is similar to the way that those of the royal line can bestow their power upon others. A... very particular bonding of souls. [It's a lot to take in, but he thinks she can follow it. This is probably more information than she intended to get.]

Using this bond, the king grants power to the Kingsglaive, an elite group of soldiers who protect Lucis and are sworn to him. Prompto, Gladiolus and myself are sworn to Noctis. Gladiolus as his shield, myself as his advisor, and Prompto... [A small smile.] Prompto was sworn in only days before the Empire's attack.

[He pauses here, to take a breath. It's actually been some time since he explained all of this to somebody.] Noctis commands the Crystal's power to warp - a form of teleportation - and to summon weapons. He also uses a school of magic known as Elemancy - the control of fire, ice and lightning. Through him, we are granted similar abilities, though not the entirety of them. With his absence, I was entirely cut off from those abilities.

[dedikated]

( Far more, but she's spent her life with an understanding of powers most don't get to have. Spent years training and working with it until she can help people back home. So many of the words are entirely unfamiliar, but she can grasp the processes behind it. )

The Astrals? ( It's asked as she dips her head to press a kiss to his throat, casual as can be. A sort of thank you for explaining all of that, and having to explain more. Magical artifact, sure. Ring which helps channel magical artifact, okay. That's easy enough to accept. The concept of the past monarchs being held in that ring is a little more farfetched, but then there's still - and always will be - a part of Kate which likes to believe her mother's fairy stories about there being some sort of afterlife where her family can watch over her and have a peaceful life.

The Astrals, though. That stumps her. It almost makes Noctis sound like some religious leader. Aren't they usually blessed by God according to the people who believe in that? )

[claritatis]

Mm-- hm. The Hexatheon.

[Then, with an amused smile, he gently pushes her back from his neck.] ... That's very distracting. [He admonishes lightly, while his hands move from her thighs and up to her hips.]

The Astrals are thought to be manifestations of our planet. They have always been with us, worshipped as deities but maintaining their own capricious agendas. Tales of the Six fighting alongside Lucian kings date back thousands of years.

[dedikated]

Thought you could handle distractions.

( Katherine pls.

That... is nothing like what she's heard before. Manifestations of the planet? She'll just... settle for they're gods. That works. )

So, they actually exist? Not just stories?

( Which is kind of how it feels back home. People talk about there must be a god but... it seems all too weird to say that when there's nothing that suggests any god wants anything to do with the world it created. )

[claritatis]

[A soft, huffing laugh. Katherine, please.]

They exist.

[He slips his hands around her, and shifts himself in a quick movement to roll her onto her back on the bed. The stunt comes with a warm smile, and the backs of his fingers brush across her stomach, lingering above her navel. He rests his weight on one elbow, briefly running his gaze up and down her body before coming back to her eyes.]

Titan, Ramuh, Shiva, Leviathan, Bahamut, and Ifrit. All of them, very real.

[dedikated]

( It isn't what she expected. But then, he's good at that. Not being what she expected, that is. The reaction is a slightly stunned widening of the eyes, a pause before a smile tugs at the ends of her mouth. And in all honesty, Kate doesn't care that much about the identities of the gods in Ignis' world, only the curiosity about the sudden show of supernatural power.

And that has been sated. Which is more than enough reason to lift herself up enough to kiss him, one hand wrapping around the back of his neck and pulling him down towards her. )

[claritatis]

[He finds he thinks less when he's around her. Not in a way that feels like anything bad, but the need for planning ahead is far less pressing, leaving things more open to impulse and sudden decision.

A breath is caught in the half-moment before she draws him in, and it's that distraction again, this time not brought to a halt. The elbow holding him up shifts just enough so that his fingers can brush into her hair, his other hand running up her thigh, fingernails dragging lightly across the skin, catching under her knee to pull it up against his hip.]

[dedikated]

( That's a good thing. Because she finds herself far more prone to feeling calm around him, less inclined to keep up appearances and closer to the person she might have been had life not taken the turns it did.

And that person is the one who doesn't object to her leg being pulled into position, the one who is audible in her reaction to a hand running through her hair. Kate's teeth catch Ignis' lower lips, pinching and tugging as her nails dig into the pale skin across his shoulders.

Less thinking, less talking. More of this while they still have time this morning. )