rekindleme | 005 - The best laid plans...

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005 - The best laid plans...

Who: Lloyd Irving and anyone
Where: Arrival Point in District Two
When: Morning of the 16th
Summary: Lloyd and buckets of sand, and what he thinks is a well-thought-out plan.

It was almost that time of the month. Every month since Lloyd had arrived, right around this time (or a day or two from now), people showed up in this plaza. Every time it had happened, Lloyd had somehow missed the key point when the new arrivals started appearing. This time he was determined not to miss out. This time he had a plan. Even if he wasn't here to see it himself, he'd make sure there were still clues for him to find to help him find the Otherworldly Gate. To that end, he'd brought bucket after bucket of sand up from the beach.

Sand. Yes, sand.

And all morning long he'd been carefully spreading the stuff out, covering the plaza in a thin layer of grit. Better watch your step if you're passing through.

Not really thinking about the hazard, or the oddity of what he was doing, Lloyd went to pick up another bucket that he'd already filled with sand.

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Yuan was walking the city, as he often did in his efforts to keep from becoming a total shut-in. The thought had occurred to him that there should be a batch of new arrivals soon, and so today his path was taking him to the square where they showed up every month, with some vague notion that perhaps in the days before the event, something might be somehow different. A buildup of mana, a watchfulness in the air...anything that might give him a clue as to how it was accomplished, and therefore how the process might be reversed.

Something was indeed different about the square, immediately noticeable as a gritty texture beneath his boots, and he frowned quizzically at the thin layer of sand spread over the ground. There didn't seem much inherent purpose to it, and he had to wonder why anyone would go to this effort. Unless sand was indeed somehow vital to the transportation process? It seemed unlikely at best.

And then he caught sight of a familiar figure hauling buckets across the square. Smirking slightly as he raised a quizzical eyebrow, he sauntered casually over to Lloyd.

"And just what, exactly, are you up to today?"

Caught up in what he was doing, Lloyd hadn't noticed Yuan approaching until he was maybe fifteen feet away. Fortunately, he was saved from being completely surprised by the sandy scuff of Yuan's footsteps. Still, he was caught in the middle of pouring out the sand in the bucket he held, his movements jerking with a hint of startlement. He turned and looked up, and that smirk immediately made him defensive. Dammit, it looked like Yuan was coming over to mock him. That was last thing he needed.

"I'm trying to find the Otherworldly Gate," he said, straightening up. "What, what did you think I was doing?"

That sounded like Lloyd might actually be doing something useful. Still, Yuan couldn't resist the chance to get in a jibe. He looked around them at the sand on the ground in a deliberate gesture. "Well, at a guess, I'd suggest you never outgrew playing in the sand."

But the smirk faded away into curiosity as he switched gears. "I hope you remember that the Otherworldly Gate was caused by the overlap of the two worlds' poles. Unless this world also has a phase-shifted neighbor, I don't think it's the same thing, and if it was it certainly couldn't be bringing us here. ...Anyway, how would sand help you find it?"

If Yuan was aiming to get a rise out of Lloyd, he definitely more than succeeded. The teen bristled at the implied insult and gritted his teeth. "How old do you think I am?!"

Still glaring, he drew himself up as though to muster every bit of dignity he could. It never occurred to him that he was being baited. "I don't know what phase-shifting is, but of course I know it's not the same!" He didn't pause, didn't think about the incongruity of that statement, just plowed on. "But there's a Gate here and it's in the same place every single time. I'm using the sand to figure out where people show up. That way I can find the center!"

That was...actually fairly well-thought-out. Yuan ignored Lloyd's indignant glaring as he studied the ground pensively. Of course, even if they found the center, they were a long way from knowing what to do with it...but it was better to have something to go on than nothing at all, wasn't it?

"I'm actually impressed. Somehow, you've stumbled onto a halfway decent line of inquiry." Yuan crossed his arms. "I guess that means I'd better keep an eye on this mess with you. To make sure you don't miss anything."

"You don't have to act so surprised." Lloyd scowled at the backhanded compliment. "It's not like I'm an idiot. I can see a pattern just like anyone else." And six times out of the six arrival times he'd been here for was definitely a pattern.

What did surprise him, though, was Yuan's offer. He eyed the man warily, still not sure what to make of him overall. Not an enemy, but not exactly a friend. "I'm just watching the plaza. It's not like it's that hard."

Well. Except that he was notoriously short of attention span, but that was something he'd never acknowledged about himself.

"Two pairs of eyes are still better than one," Yuan declared firmly, and then, just in case, "...Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this to help you. It's for my own peace of mind." He was sick and tired of sitting around worrying, getting nowhere with his own questions and feeling helpless about it. Even if it was someone else's plan he was helping with, even if he had no idea whether it would really turn out to be useful, at least Lloyd was doing something.

Two was better than one. Lloyd had used that argument too many times himself to think up a good argument against it. Still, he eyed Yuan doubtfully. "Peace of mind, huh?" He finished pouring his bucket of sand, spreading it across the ground with his foot. "You really don't mind sticking around with me and watching for a couple of days?"

If he was honest, though, he wouldn't mind some help. With two people watching, one of them could take a break from time to time for food or other necessary things. It was just... Yuan? Of all the people he might have thought of to team up with...

Then again, he didn't have any many choices in this world as he would have if he was back in Sylvarant or Tethe'alla.

"I mind it a lot less than I would mind doing nothing at all," Yuan replied firmly. "Besides...no, never mind."

He'd almost mentioned that it wasn't the first time he'd babysat Lloyd...but Lloyd couldn't know about that yet. Not only would it disrupt the timeline - although Yuan was no longer sure how much that mattered, since they clearly weren't going to be getting home anytime soon regardless - but in the absence of a reason to blackmail anyone with it, it really wasn't his secret to tell. If anyone was going to tell Lloyd about that, it should be Kratos.

"Besides what?" No, Yuan wasn't going to drop comments like that without it catching Lloyd's attention. In fact, something was bothering Lloyd, something he couldn't quite pin down, something that seemed to niggle in the back of his mind whenever he saw the half-elf from the corner of his eye. Like something he'd forgotten, only... more vague. More a feeling. He frowned, scratching the back of his neck.

Maybe it was just the irritation he usually felt whenever he was around Yuan.

Of course he wasn't going to let it go. Lloyd wouldn't be Lloyd if he wasn't so stubborn. Yuan thought quickly. He smirked as if he was deliberately mocking Lloyd again. "...I was just going to say, it isn't the first time I've been a babysitter."

Edited 2014-01-20 01:42 (UTC)

Lloyd's mouth dropped open, caught somewhere between an indignant splutter at Yuan implying he'd be babysitting him, and plain and simple shock at the idea of Yuan babysitting at all. "Someone let you watch their kid?" He didn't bother to hide his incredulity. "And you actually did it?" He couldn't picture it. He just couldn't. Yuan playing with a baby, changing its diapers, letting it grab his hair-

-except for a surreal moment he could picture that. Right down to the feeling of blue hair in his fingers and Yuan's wince when he tugged too hard and-

Why was he picturing himself doing that? It wasn't like that baby was him!

"Hey! I'll have you know the house was hardly torn up at all when y- when the kid's parents got back!" Dammit, he needed to change the subject. Playing the clown wasn't going to be enough to distract Lloyd for long, and he kept almost slipping. "Anyway, the point is, I'm willing to help you, and you could use the help, so what's the big deal?"

"It... what?" Lloyd stared. Yuan had stopped what he'd been about to say, but not soon enough, not before that last aborted word, before that one sound made something fall into place.

Mithos Yggdrasill, his older sister Martel, and their companions, Yuan and Kratos. The four angels changed the nature of the world...

He'd known Yuan and Kratos were both thousands of years old, knew they'd been Mithos the Hero's companions, but he hadn't ever thought about what that meant. Yuan and Kratos weren't just both old, weren't just angels of Cruxis, they also had been friends.

Hmm. I see the resemblance.

Lloyd hadn't known what Yuan had been talking about when he said that, but now-

The last piece fell into place. "You knew!" His eyes were wide with realization, disbelief. "You knew who I was from the beginning!"

Edited 2014-01-20 20:52 (UTC)

Wait. Wait, wait. This wasn't going the way he'd expected this conversation to go at all.

"You already knew?!" Yuan asked in return, equally disbelieving. "Why am I the last one to find out about this?" He couldn't believe Kratos had told Lloyd the truth without consulting him first. Not that he was exactly angry about it - it just wasn't at all like Kratos to take that much initiative without first drawing on some kind of moral support.

"When did he tell you? I can't believe I'm the only one here still trying to keep our timeline intact."

"He didn't tell me. I figured it out when somebody gave me his locket." Granted, he'd had to confront Kratos because his mind wouldn't, couldn't wrap around what that picture had revealed, but that didn't change the fact that Kratos hadn't told him first.

And neither had Yuan. The implications of that were only just now starting to sink in. "Why didn't you tell me? And don't tell me it's because of the timeline. You could have told me that back in our world!" They might not have exactly been friends (okay, sometimes almost the opposite), but they'd been occasional allies. He could have said something then!

"Why would I have told you? In case you've forgotten, we weren't exactly friends, and I had better things to do than deal with a teenager having an identity crisis while I was trying to save the world. Anyway, it hasn't happened yet for you, but I was the one who eventually told you, at home." Not that those circumstances had been any more friendly.

"If you were friends enough to babysit me-" Just uttering those words made his world rock a bit. The idea of grouchy Yuan, the leader of the Renegades, who'd tried to kidnap him before they'd ever worked together, the idea of him tending a toddling Lloyd? Just felt completely wrong. What had his parents been thinking? "You could have said something sooner!"

Yuan scowled at Lloyd unhappily. How could he explain the mindset he'd been in at the time, the desperation for survival that had outweighed all his better nature? He'd been willing to sacrifice Kratos himself for the cause; why would Kratos' son have gotten better treatment?

He couldn't say that aloud. This foolish child who insisted on sacrificing no one at all - who had against all reason proved to be right in the end - would never forgive him.

Not that he really ever expected Lloyd to forgive the things he'd done, anyway.

"I could have," he said instead. "I chose not to. I'm not going to apologize now - at the time, I had more important things on my mind. Like saving the world."

Edited 2014-01-27 13:51 (UTC)

Probably just as well that Yuan didn't explain. Lloyd was scowling enough as it was.

Even so, it was hard to find a good argument against saving the world being a good reason to be distracted. Lloyd let out a huff, still annoyed, but backing down. At least on that account.

"You didn't really babysit me, did you?" That still felt completely out of left field. "Not for more than a couple of minutes." Yuan couldn't have put up with that.

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005 - The best laid plans...

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