open post - schrodinger's aetherial construct/dead body/brain ghost/real ghost

[beaffrayed]

1. heckling
[ The voice that echoes in your ear may or may not be familiar to you. It may or may not sound much like your own. ]

Off on another ill-advised journey, are we?

2. surprise! (dubious brain ghost edition)
[ A moment of boredom, inattention, injury, restless sleep...and the spectre on the edge of your thoughts is there. They perch on the nearest piece of furniture for what's probably show; the way they rest against it, they could fall right through without a single disturbance. ]

You? Idle? That's a surprise. I would have thought you'd be busy, as usual.

3. surprise! (yes, YES, THE TIGER IS OUT edition)
[ Perhaps you're simply passing time. Perhaps you're on another adventure. You could be doing one of half a dozen other things.

But one thing you know for certain is that Fray definitely should not be looking over your shoulder, or lounging at the bar, or sitting and reading, or simply Doing Anything in your vicinity away from you, manifested - made more than manifest, their existence has weight. Solid and real.

Should not - could not. But here they are anyway, in all their dubious glory. ]

3a. surprise! variant (for people who do not have fray attached to their brain)
[ It's strange to be separate, after so long...subsumed isn't the right word. They have plenty of space. But the tie that binds their existence to the person who had once picked up a job stone from a corpse, listened to his drifting words, is looser than usual.

So Fray wanders, enjoying the novelty. The touch of the wind, the sun. Hard to feel, but not impossible, if they try.

It's not so bad to have a day like this, every once in a while. Maybe they can drop in on all those friends their gracious host has, wouldn't that be funny...

Death, manifestation, all that they've been through, it's not made them any less curious. If there's a vice they share with the Warrior of Light, it's being a busybody. So they can show up simply...anywhere, far more silent than someone in full armor with a claymore has any right to be. To watch? To intervene? Simply to snoop? Fray can do all of that, it sure is fun having a physical separate form! ]

4. idk anything else i'm not your mom/dad/parent

[ This is kinda set up to be wol/xiv centric but seriously you can throw whoever the fuck at them, i'll roll with it ]

Comments

[beaffrayed]

[ Fray can't be touched, technically, but his tone does soften somewhat at the gesture. ]

If it stays that way, I'll like it. [ He huffs. ] But knowing you and knowing your companions, you'll inevitably be pushed forward for something. You can't help yourself.

[ That's why he's here, after all. You just couldn't help yourself, could you? ]

[waywardsong]

[it's true, he can't help himself. he smiles anyway, albeit self-deprecatingly]

... it'll keep you on your toes, at least. I like it when you talk with me. Even if it's usually just to scold me. Hey, do you think I should bring my mammets on the trip?

[beaffrayed]

They're your toes as well. I'd fret more about them, if I were you. [ Which, technically, he's doing now!

That gets a sound, somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. ] Who else would scold you, if not me? Ah, who would dare reprimand the Warrior of Light? [ Fray has Opinions on Ahrun'ya's colleagues and friends, the Scions; most of them are not at all flattering. ]

What would you need those little things for? Emotional support? [ Fray will occasionally look over Ahrun'ya's shoulder for such things, but generally, he gives as much space as he is given, which is quite a lot. He can certainly look at those memories if he wishes, but most of the time he doesn't.]

[waywardsong]

Clearly you weren't paying attention after my fight with Zenos. I got reprimanded by every single one of them, nearly.

[to be fair, fray was probably screaming at him in ahrun'ya's head at the time, and thus too preoccupied to pay any attention to what the scions were saying as they healed him from the brink of death]

... I don't want to think of myself as being so far away from them that they can't tell me when I make a mistake. Even if there's malms between us...

[he shakes his head, and picks up the mammet, looking it over and then setting it back down]

They're fun to work on. But you're right, I don't need to bring them halfway across the world. And anyroad, I have you for emotional support.

[grins, teasing]

[beaffrayed]

[ A dismissive grunt. ] It took you being on the verge of death to do that.

[ How many times has Ahrun'ya gotten into trouble for their sakes? Far, far more. But he'll not press. He lost that duel, after all. It's not for him to control what Ahrun'ya does; that had been the agreement they'd come to.

But still. But still.

You need only ask. ]

...That's not for me to say, whether they are or not. [ Fray can only offer his own opinions on the subject of Ahrun'ya's friends, acerbic though they might be. It's an inherently biased perspective. ] But consistent heroism earns you such things...as we've both learned.

Hah! [ That earns a laugh, genuine at least. ] I am with you all the time. That qualifies me to be your support, does it?

[waywardsong]

What would you call it, if not support, hmm?

[ahrun'ya squeezes his shoulder, before gathering his clothes and deciding to just shove them all into his pack and sort out the details later]

You're always there when I need you. Whether I like it or not.

[beaffrayed]

Yes, well... [ In your darkest hour, in the blackest night...think of me...and I will be with you.

They hadn't exactly been his words, but they were true ones all the same. He was bound to the same soul, was part of it.

(When Ahrun'ya had been thrust out of his own body, shackled into another, they'd been together in that too.) ]

Not as if there's much else to be done, is there? I hate to think of how you'd be doing without me.

[ Honestly, what am I to do with you? ]

...Are you really going to just put those in as is? What if you need to pack something else at the last moment and it doesn't fit? You'd be doing twice the work.

[waywardsong]

[he sighs, and goes to fold his clothes properly. it's a small thing, but fray has a point, and letting him have this one when ahrun'ya's not changing his mind about leaving for tural is the least he can do]

You worry too much.

[understatement of the year. but at least ahrun'ya's pack is in better shape now]

There, satisfied? I've got room for souvenirs now.

[beaffrayed]

Surely, you expect it. [ He sounds very amused. ]

Good enough. Mayhap you'll find some more mammets to add to your collection, so you don't miss your old ones. [ For all Fray knows (about as much as Ahrun'ya does) there could be a wealth of them in Tural. ]

[waywardsong]

[now that he has the space for it, ahrun'ya will flop onto his bed to relax]

Oh, I'm sure I will. Alisaie says I have too many already. But...

[he rolls onto his side, as though fray was next to him and he could speak directly to his face]

I never got to have many things that were "mine", as a kid. Didn't have the space for it, traveling around as we did. So being able to collect things--even things that are utterly useless--feels like something special.

[ahrun'ya loves his large family of nomadic miqo'te, loves them all dearly--but there are some things he wished he had as a child, and personal belongings were very few among the clan]

... maybe that's part of why I picked up your job stone. Maybe I just wanted something that was... "mine", in some way, you know? 'Course, there was plenty else that came out of that...

[beaffrayed]

[ It's passing strange, how Ahrun'ya interacts with him sometimes. As if he's wholly separate, and not simply giving voice to concerns he's left buried (though he knows it's more complicated than that, how much he leans into it fluctuates somewhat from day to day).

But then, he wasn't always here, was he? He listens to that scrap of personal history, something that came long before him.

He snorts at that comment. Alisaie says- ]

She'd say that. [ He says nothing more, until there's space to reply. ]

Aye, plenty's a word for it. [ His chuckle is sardonic. Plenty of trouble, certainly. ] But we've come to an accord, haven't we. Regardless of what's come before, you've chosen to make me yours, or I've made you mine, or...However you want to think of it.

[ Hold the crystal close that we may enjoy these moments together. Or put it away and pretend I was never a part of it. That I was never really here.

Time and time again in these moments, it's clear what the Miqo'te has chosen.]

[waywardsong]

[ahrun'ya reaches into his inventory pocket where he keeps his job stones, and takes out the familiar dark knight crystal, and holds it in his hand]

Mine or yours, yours or mine... let's be both. Like a proper partnership.

[is he asking for something from fray in particular? it's hard to say. maybe he's just asking for confirmation of what they both know, that they're inextricably linked to one another and won't ever truly separate. he won't give himself over wholly to fray--and neither will he consume him, try to shove him down into the abyss like he once did.]

[beaffrayed]

[ That startles a hissing laugh out of him, though Ahrun'ya has a habit of making that happen regardless, when they do talk to each other. ]

Careful, now. [ It's hard not to remember those precarious early days, after all. That push and pull as both of them struggled above the abyss.

There's a long pause. ]

...I wouldn't say no to it. 'Partner' isn't so bad a title for what we are.

[waywardsong]

I'm being careful, I promise.

[he's just holding the stone in his hand, running his thumb over the ridges]

Partners, then. I like that.