Take a look in the mirror

[piercetheheart]

Who: Gladio & the people he needs to Talk to
What: The storm was rough but some conversations need to be had out of earshot of the others.
Where: Around the entrance areas
When: 5/21&22 directly after the storm.
Warnings: These are likely to be some pretty intense Talks but will warn in subject lines if anything gets into CW territory.


Immediately following the storm anyone that wants to talk to Gladio can find him in the locker room, the room he and the other chocobros share, fighting with thread made from unwound strips of muslin bandages and a suture needle from one of the first aid kits making another couple pairs of the same wrap shorts he'd been using for months on the islands. As little sewing as possible while still being light weight and effective. It's actually easier with the cut down sheets than it was with muslin, the tighter weave allowing him to sew closer to the edge than the loose muslin had.

Comments

[piercetheheart]

"We're lucky to have you too, Liam. It's-" He sighs, leans a little more. Then just huffs out a half strangled laugh and uses the arm around Liam's shoulders to tug the older man down to sit on the hard pan beside him. It's hot and sticky but all the stress of the last few days and Ignis falling apart on him this morning is just too much and Liam is one of the few people outside the situation that he feels he can lean on without adding to their burden.

"It's easy, when you've been through something enough times, to become kind of numb to it. Dying, people leaving, like it's just part of how things work now." He frowns, clearly troubled by this and the look he gives Liam is grave. "I think the worst part is that... I didn't even realize. Not till you started looking for Chiaki and I just couldn't be that upset. I barely knew her, y'know. It..."

He scrubs a hand over his face, lets his head thunk back against the wall behind them and stares up at that pale sky. "Back home, even before all this. We had to leave people behind a lot. The Scourge, the same disease Ardyn has. It kills most people turns them into dust and brings them back as daemons. The number of friends, comrades, I've personally had to put down. It's easier, here. At least like this they vanish and you can tell yourself maybe they just went home."

"And I don't blame you for not wanting to be around Ardyn. He's an ass a lot of the time but it's sort of a form of self preservation. So like... I trust him to try. He's been trying in his own way but there's a fuck ton of damage up here." He taps his temple, offers Liam a weak, apologetic smile. "I mean... we've gotta learn to be civil a couple days outta the month at least but no one's gonna fault you for wanting to punch his lights out."

[endoftheuniverse]

Once more Liam gratefully allows Gladio to pull him in, taking his seat close to him like they had done when Gladio was injured. It takes a moment for him to realize that Gladio might not be so open around Noctis or Prompto, and for an instant, Liam freezes- it was risky to become the confidant of a man he only thinks he knows- before forcing himself to relax. Enough. He had promised to trust him.

Liam could laugh - here they were, two men with the opposite problems, yet they had both seen people carried like ash into the wind and had hardened their hearts to it. Only, the blame did not lie with one of them. And Liam had called Gladio the callous one... "You told me about that future. I should have remembered." This might be the closest anyone has gotten to an apology from Liam. For all Gladio had lived through, his actions that day made perfect sense. "No one has the energy to care that much for that long. Not even someone like you." There was considerable admiration behind those words. Liam knew that well - for a person who cared so deeply for the humans around him, there was only so much empathy he could afford outside of them, after enough time. One day, it was like a switch had been flipped, and Liam could no longer bring himself to care what happened to the human race. (He wonders what Ardyn would do if he learned about the Medusea virus; deciding Ardyn he doesn't need another reason to kill him, Liam resolves to keep that card close to his chest.)

"...I meant one thing I said to you," Liam tells him, "I want to help you. Even if there's nothing that can be done." In other words, Liam was prepared to hear what he knew the others could not, any time Gladio needed. He only wished he had the strength to let that trust go both ways, but while the loyal facet of his personality had emerged from the war intact, his trusting one had not. It was much easier to dole out support than to take it.

[piercetheheart]

"You were upset, remembering wasn't something you were capable of at that moment. I get it. Trust me I've been there." Gladio huffs a breath, tilts his head to nudge Liam in something that's half playful nudge and half nuzzle because they're already leaning into each other enough that he can't really nudge without ending up half in Liam's lap.

"It's really hard... accepting that you've gotten to the point where you can't let yourself care anymore." The nudge turns into resting his head on Liam's shoulder and just... being so grateful to have him here, to have someone that can give him an objective opinion, someone who is willing to support even the bad things without it being something that feels like laying more guilt on them. He hates talking to Ignis about the Night, knows that every conversation is held with a part of his lover's mind chastising himself for allowing distance to come between them even when he hadn't even lived it yet.

"I appreciate that, Liam. More than you can know... I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough to stop Ardyn from hurting you." There's guilt there but also no small measure of weariness.