A LAWFUL WASTELAND

[counterattack]

[ it's December 8. Law turns 18 today. at this point, he's been living in Copalli for over a year. during the final relic fiasco, he achieved trance within about five seconds (because it's basically overlimit) and faced Tiamat in her castle because he had a score to settle with dragons (dragons, wyverns, same shit) and had enough taking shit from these mother fucking guardians in this mother fucking jungle. it was epic.

anyway, it's a few months later and Law lives in Tikal again, down at the bottom of the crater. they've built bridges and pulleys aboveground, as well as created a system to keep the crater from filling with water when it rains. although most of his farm was lost during Tikal's fall, he's rebuilt it bigger and better than ever and repopulated it with even more chickens, hogs, cows and even a few semi-domesticated mist monsters. there's also proper crops, probably due in part to at least one friend or another planting on the huge expanse of land he's set up there. he also rebuilt the inn that collapsed on top of him back then, and this time it's actually finished. he got a local business manager to help run the place and they export animal products and crops all over Copalli. the inn is booming. it's great.

all is well.

except now it's his birthday and Law is just trying to go about his business like he doesn't know that, strapping on his fancy wolf gauntlets and shouldering a big pack of supplies to go make some delivery trips to the other cities. nothin' to see here, not ya lil dude all growed up, a solid 5'9" (and a half) with some cool tribal tats done over his wyvern scars and something of a more mature countenance, buuuuuttt still the dweebo dorkus doofus meathead he's always been.

ANYWAY, THIS IS #LATERGRAM INCENSEDVERSE. medallion him, meet him at any of the cities, fight monsters together on the road, pretend there was a party planned that he's trying to sneak out of showing up to, WHATEVER WORKS. ]

Comments

[counterattack]

Whoa.

[ Law forgets to be all worked up about what day it is and is immediately impressed by the sheer volume of garbage food. there's a lot of it, yeah, but it's also just really exciting to his caveman eyes, who have never seen basic things like shiny plastic bags with neat colors and designs and stuff that contain chips. it's just plain exciting to look at, like each is a wrapped gift all on its own. he can't read anything that's on any of them, but some of that is taken care of for him by having, like, cartoon dancing potatoes or pictures of what's in it right on the packaging, not that that does the complete job of telling him what a lot of it is. even the bottle is kind of a mystery to him.

at the end of the day, no matter how much things change and how long he's lived here in Copalli, he's not sure he's ever going to get used to seeing a whole shitton of food in front of him like this. you don't spend your life starving and basically willing to kill someone for the crumbs under their fingernails and not get blown away by a pile of free junk food. ]

Wh...what even is all this? I didn't even give you that much!

[ on an even trade basis, he considers it incomparable. disbelieving, he looks from the mountain of snacks to Gladio's face, all of that grown-up-tough-guy-been-through-some-shit countenance gone, so that he's nothing but an impressionable kid again. ]

I can't take all of this, that's crazy.

[indeferent]

_{[ stifling his snort of laughter is pretty much impossible so he lets it rip out right along with a wolfish grin to match. he can't say he's been in Law's position before—no, actually, that's a lie because there had been that noodles exhibition that Nyx had dragged him to as a joke and he's pretty sure he wore the exact same look on his own face. the memory of it makes his ears warm, and Gladio nudges a few of the bags across the table in a silent go ahead. ]}

Then grab whatever looks interesting. Or try everything, and I'll bring the rest back to Kiichpan. They won't last long enough to risk going bad either way between all of us.

_{[ he knows Noct would descend upon it like a ravenous sabertusk and that's not even taking the others into account. after some thought he reaches into the pile and retrieves a little package of some sort of cake with stripes on it, then tosses it towards his chest. ]}

You want my advice? Try the Garula cakes. I know it sounds a little unappetizing but they're addictive, I swear. Iris used to make me buy 'em all the time when I'd go to the convenience store a couple blocks away my place. And these—

_{[ a tap to a black bag with a funky looking malboro holding a... pizza of some sort above its head in its little tentacles. nobody better diss Li'l Malbuddy, okay? it does its best and that's all anyone can ever ask for. ]}

You only turn eighteen once, right? Treat yourself and go wild.

[counterattack]

[ And there it is. Law's expression flattens out a little, but it's not like he's actually all that upset about it. And he knew it was coming. He totally knew. ]

Ugh... I didn't tell you when it was, did I? Actually—maybe I did, I dunno. Or somebody ratted. Anyways... I guess, yeah. Thanks.

[ It's a good thing Gladio gives him a suggestion, otherwise he wouldn't even know where to start. In theory, he's perfectly happy to rip open every bag and pop every top to taste a little of everything, but even then—where to start?! He catches the packet and turns it over in his hands a few times, studying it. Looks like something Rinwell would probably lose her mind over, and it's a cake? Yeah, he's gonna have to save one of these for her. Once he picks apart the flimsy plastic and peels it away, he takes a bite.

Oh, Astrals. His eyes squint. Is this baby's first encounter with high fructose corn syrup and artificial sugars? It might be. Just talking with his mouth full, nbd: ]

Auuuugghhhh... it's so sweet...

[ yeeeep, Rinwell would claw his eyes out for a taste of this. Just gonna save the rest of this for her. ]

On the upside, Rinwell would kill for this, but on the other hand, it's so sugary she'll probably go into withdrawals when there isn't any more of it. Maybe it's a chick thing?

[ as if dudes can't like sweets. anyway, Malbuddy looks badass, he's going for that next. ]

[indeferent]

I asked around. I, er... I wanted to do something for it and I wasn't sure if I'd missed it while everything was fucked up, but I didn't see anything written in the journals so I figured I still had time. It was just a matter of finding out when, you know?

<sub>[ and it wasn't as if he could just go ask - except he really actually could've - lest Law think he was planning something big and over the top. maybe if Gladio could've gotten him back on Eos, sure, but here? he had to improvise a little, and... sometimes huge parties aren't all that. he always preferred smaller, more intimate ones with the people he cared about versus the Big Fancy Ones that came with nobility, and given Law's own upbringing he figured that he might be the same.

when Law makes for the bag of chips, Gladio reaches across to catch his chin for a split second. just long enough to swipe away a couple crumbs and the tiniest spattering of frosting left behind, but he still does it. ]</sub>

I dunno if it's strictly a chick thing, though. My dad had a sweet tooth and so does my, uh... guess you'd call him my godfather? He's got one too even if he won't admit it.

_{[ if his hand lingers a little longer than it ought to have, Gladio doesn't draw any attention to it. he withdraws and instead reaches for Law's empty glass next to pull it over to his side of the table along with his own, and slides them next to the bottle. the best for last, as always. no point in drinking on an empty stomach, right? even if it's junk food. ]}

Maybe I should've asked for the ones they sold during solstice if it's that sweet, huh? Those ones were always more mild.

[counterattack]

It's not like it's a secret, I just—

[ He Just. Whatever he just is summarily forgotten the moment Gladio reaches for his face. Law's not so jumpy that his first inclination is to flinch or pull back, which turns out to be his downfall. Color rushes to his cheeks before Gladio's thumb has even finished its pass across the corner of his mouth, and as much as he wants to be indignant and pull a stoooop maneuver, he just can't seem to work his way up to it. Instead, he makes a choked sound in the back of his throat and sits there looking like a dork even after his face has been released. ]

...Uh.

[ what was he saying ]

...I just, uh... uhh... [ FUCK ] Y'know what, never mind, doesn't matter. I-It's not a big deal. The— the sweets, I mean. I don't mind them, they're just not my favorite. Never had anything that sweet before, though. Hey, you said you got that bottle from your dad, right?

[ One has to assume it's liquor, or something, and Law has to assume he'll be able to put it away just like the straight gasoline they call drinks here, too. Evidently, he inherited some "tastebuds are basically rocks, just like the brains" gene from one or both parents, but maybe if he drinks something with actual, y'know, flavor? Guess we'll find out. In the meantime, he has such a time opening the chip bag that he ends up ripping it in half and exploding chips all over the table. His eyes widen, briefly jarred, but... yeah, he sure is eighteen. That shit is funny. ]

Hehe... whoops.

[indeferent]

_{[ both of Gladio's furry ears sit at attention the entire time Law tries to explain it. it's almost comical when he winds up tilting his head in the process, both brows slightly raised as he tries to fully comprehend what he means. or maybe it's his own way of teasing with a silent way of saying "yeah? and? go on" for a few moments. whatever the reason, he's focused. he's attentive. he's listening, even when he goes a little too hard on the bag and sends the orange-dusted chips flying onto the table and in their faces. he even manages to catch one or two before they fall into his lap and those go right into his mouth with a quiet laugh. ]}

There's a first time for everything, huh? But, uh... Y-Yeah, sort of.

_{[ his eyes drop back to the bottle and if he really tries he can imagine parts of the label worn down by his father's thumb tracing the letters on it. the yellow tint. if a bottle could speak... six, the stories it could tell. ]}

Technically I only got a shot from this back home. S'really old and dad kept it for special occasions but I guess it just decided to drop the whole bottle in since delivering one might've been a stretch.

[counterattack]

[ Law goes in on those chips as he listens, and these absolutely hit home. You know how fast those things are gonna disappear into the bottomless, gaping pit of his stomach? Lightning fast. He doesn't even realize he's doing it, going full cookie monster mode while he nods and looks attentive. that MSG is like crack, man. ]

Geez... you sure it's okay to have something like that? This isn't really a "special occasion. " I mean—like, a major one.

[ Sure, birthdays are great and all, and yeah, after everything he's been through it's basically nothing short of a miracle that he's made it to an actually sort of adult age (never saw that coming, tbh), but "bust out your dad's fancy liquor" levels of momentous? Eh. That's probably just his bias talking, though. And he doesn't even know about Gladio and his dad! If he did, maybe he wouldn't be unceremoniously stuffing his hamster cheeks, he'd take it more seriously. Over a year in this place and frankly, the Dad Angst has only gotten more complicated. Then you add to that all the things he's seen his friends go through, the times they've been a lot less fortunate than him, things like that... yeah, he doesn't have any business not being solemn about that kind of thing. ]

[indeferent]

What's he gonna do? Ground me?

<sub>[ get it?? because Calaglia? no? yeah, that one was pretty bad, but there's a realization that turns his wolfish grin a little more sober for all of three seconds. even if he did know that Gladio had gotten into the Good Booze stash he... couldn't ground him. not because he was an adult, but because he was dead. funny how he still hasn't taken the time to actually grieve it in the near-year he's been here in Copalli.

nearly a year.

the thought gets Gladio to reach up and rake a hand through his own hair — grown out and tied into a sloppy half-pony much like what he'd sport ten years down the line — and huffs a quiet laugh. ]</sub>

I don't think he'd mind in the longrun. One? You're eighteen. That's a milestone, and that's when I first got a taste of this. Two? The bullshit we've all been through? The shit you've been through? That's worthy of at least a couple, and I'm pretty sure he'd think the same. You got the heart of an Amicitia. Three?

_{[ a breath, and Gladio brings the grin back. ]}

Since I'm supposed to be the next head of the family one of these days, I say it's okay. Just don't tell your old man 'cuz I don't wanna get turned into a behemoth-skin rug.

[counterattack]

Can't argue with that.

[ Law's expression sobers for just a moment, but then he smiles. At the very least, he can appreciate the idea of found family, seeing as it's all he's really had most of his life. Even when his parents were alive, their little community in Ulzebek and the Crows were as much his extended family as anything else. He's never said anything about it (doesn't have the nerve to, for one thing), but he's already felt like Gladio and his friends are as good as honorary family, too, so this isn't a stretch. ]

Oh, my dad won't mind. There's, uh, no drinking age where I come from or anything, and we've already been here putting away the stuff they serve here before, so...

[ just normal things to do with your dead/estranged dad, play drinking games with engine degreaser. Law crams another few chips in his mouth, thoughtful, and then talks with his mouth full, because he's a dignified and well-raised individual with manners who cares how he comes across around rich people. ]

Just as long as I don't get completely trashed, I guess. Probably goes without saying, but I don't got such good judgment when that happens. Like, at all.

[ what an understatement. ]

—These're really good, by the way. What are they?

[indeferent]

Hey, better than me. I get...

<sub>[ it's Gladio's turn to falter and do his cheeks actually darken? maybe it's just the lighting of Viento's. it's gotta be, right? there's no way that such a little admission could be getting Gladio of all people flustered. for all his bravado and candor with all of that, it's almost funny.

...okay, it's just funny. especially in the way his ears droop a little in his own embarrassment. ]</sub>

It's not bad, just... Y'know.

_{[ an awkward clearing of his throat and Gladio forces his attention to the bag. is it way better to focus on that than admitting that he gets Affectionate™? y e p. ]}

They're potato chips. They don't have 'em where you're from?

[counterattack]

You... what?

[ Yeah, he sees that, and he's flabbergasted. And intrigued. When has Gladio ever looked embarrassed about anything, since he met him? Literally never, as far as he can recall. The guy's pretty much always confident, maybe even downright shameless. It's been a source of inspiration for Law to try and emulate, not that he's done all that great of a job at it so far. He's getting there, but it's never really going to be all that similar to Gladio. Or to Alphen, his dad, or anyone else he looks up to, for that matter. Thing is, he's always had an independent streak about him, and he walks his own path. Can't be anybody but himself, y'know? So he'll learn how to be a horse's ass all on his own time.

In the interim, he'll just be here, fascinated. ]

No, I don't know! You get what? Sloppy? Dumb? I'm pretty sure that's kinda standard... no need to get all embarrassed about it, dude.

[ And here he is, talking with his mouth full again, and then practically spitting them out when he chokes: ]

These are potatoes?! No freakin' way! No—wait, never mind that, don't change the subject! There's a story here, and I wanna hear it.

[indeferent]

<sub>[ for the first time in a long while he's suddenly thankful that the fur covering his ears is too dark to show just how pink he knows they are. they're burning, and when Gladio reaches up to touch his forehead the backs of his knuckles thunk against the curve of his horns and earns a small grimace. he'll pretend he's more embarrassed over that than reality which he's not getting out of anytime soon. no, he knows the kind of determination Law has, and it very nearly reminds him of his own sister — as soon as she sets her sights on something it's damn near impossible to shake her and/or change her mind, and in the months he's known Law? he's come to find that he's eerily similar in that aspect.

six, strike him down right now and save him. ]</sub>

Sloppy? Who do I look like? Blondie?

_{[ sorry not sorry prom, but it's true!! ]}

I don't get dumb, either. I...

_{[ Gladio's face twists up in another half-grimace, half-scowl (which winds up looking more like a pout than anything), and to buy time he grabs the second garula cake that Law had abandoned. time to shove that thing right into his mouth and "manners and upbringing" be damned, he's talking with his own mouth full. ]}

I get... Touchy. Happy?

[counterattack]

[ Law snorts, but still makes a face at that little comment. Excuse you, Prompto is a gentleman and a saint?? But then again, he hasn't ever seen him under the influence of alcohol, either. What secrets is he not privy to here?! Things to find out someday, maybe... but in the meantime, the gossip is all on Gladio today, and wow, he's... really twisted up about this! He doesn't know whether to laugh or just gape at him, so in the end he settles for something kind of in the middle. It's a very "haha, oh man" kind of chuckle. ]

Ohhhhhh. ...O-Oh.

[ Oh.

Touchy.

No, okay, yeah, he's laughing. Laughing is a lot easier than overthinking that and getting all twisted up about it, too, and then potentially running his idiot mouth and saying something really embarrassing. ]

Geez, even I'm not that bad. I just, like, get... competitive, or something? I dunno, I just turn into a daredevil and forget stuff hurts. More than usual, I mean. But you, there's no taking you anywhere.

[ Sure would love to see that, though. Happy, touchy Gladio... astrals, save him. He's too weak for this. He finishes off the last of the chips that'd gotten exploded across the table and then reaches over to nudge Gladio in the arm with his knuckles. ]

Better pace yourself, then, big guy. We're in public.

[ ha ha ha HELP HELP HELP ]

[indeferent]

_{[ this would be the part where his hair would stand on end if he had the mane he often sported while he was out of his gourd, but all he does is stare down at Law's hand against his arm. he can't tell if the touch lingered or not - ultimately it doesn't matter in the end because it gets a reaction either way. a flick of an ear, a hard swallow to go with the barely-there rumble in his chest, and Gladio nudges his hand back with an elbow before Law can properly begin to retreat. Har-dee-har-har. ]}

Yeah, well, I don't have a problem with a little PDA if that's what you're tryin' to get at.

_{[ spoiler alert: Gladio lives for it. little touches to the back, arms slung over shoulders, or even an entire body draped over the other person's back while they're doing something else? great. stealing little touches of affection right in broad daylight? perfection. ]}

'least people don't gotta worry 'bout me running off to one-v-one a Catoblepas just because someone bet me a hundred gold that I couldn't. Am I gonna have to babysit you too?

_{[ another joke because he knows Law can handle himself, and just for added measure he reaches out to grab one chip that Law had missed and... yep, flicks it right at his face. ]}

By the way? You can take me wherever you damn well please.

[counterattack]

What's a Catoblepas, some kinda big zeugle? I bet I could take it one-on-one.

[ he's kidding.......... but also, yeah, that is the exact kind of thing he would do. Hell, he doesn't have to be drunk to do something like that; he'd throw out a "bet I can take that thing" any time, any day, no alcohol required. Maybe a little less often after the events of the last few months—almost dying, actually dying, beating up a god wolf, Copalli almost being completely destroyed, trance, hatching a lot of chicken eggs and somehow surviving The Cluckening—he has at least a modicum of caution when it comes to taking risks that might gamble with his life, but for the most part? Nah, yeah, he's still reckless.

He just probably won't run out half-cocked and try to kill anything on his own today. Like, on his birthday. That'd be pretty messed up. But also fitting? Hmm.

Anyways, check these reflexes: he moves his head and catches that chip in his mouth right out of the air. CRONCH ]

I'm kidding. Nah, I'll be good.

[ He... might have been getting at PDA, yeah, maybe, if not in quite so many words. Instantaneously, Law's lizard brain immediately leaps to exactly all of the places he would be more than happy to take Gladio, drunk or otherwise, and he busies himself with pawing through the pile of junk food to find something new and interesting to snack on to distract himself from that bucket of fish. Listen, how is he supposed to rein it in when the opportunities to flirt are handed to him on a silver platter? The only thing stopping him is his own lack of experience, but that budding seed of confidence along with really growing into his looks is helping to overcome that real damn quick. He's half "high school heartthrob" and half "battle-hardened badass" and he wears it pretty well, if he does say so himself. (He doesn't. He doesn't say that himself. It would kill him to hear himself described that way.) ]

Heh... if we get kicked outta here for being too weird, we'll have to crash at the coterie, y'know. Not sure how much I'd trust a cab to get us anywhere in one piece at that point.

[indeferent]

It might step on you before you get the chance. One of those could keep a Behemoth fed, fat and happy for a week.

<sub>[ a Gladio-sized behemoth or an Actual Size Shown behemoth? the world may never know. what he does know is just how filling the meat is and he has a few moments where he's totally thinking about that brisket and what he'd have to do to find something like that here. ask the statue? go hunting for one? except surely they'd have seen one by now if they were here just like the Adamantoise lurking in the mountains. that's... one animal he's not going to fuck around and find out with. once was enough.

unless???

with Law distracted above the table, Gladio sticks his leg out and knocks his boot against an ankle. a distraction tactic? perhaps, because he's tearing off a little corner of his cake and lobbing it right at his mouth. ]</sub>

Too weird? You've got a tail as long as my arm and I've got two racks. I don't think we can get any weirder than we already are, touchy-feely or not. Buuuuut... If you really wanna sit around with my head in your lap in the lodge, by all means I ain't gonna stop you. Birthday boys make the rules and get all their wishes granted, after all.

_{[ after a few moments of watching Law rummage, he reaches in and lightly tosses another bag his way. Coeurls, Infernian style. were these the ones he warned him about? maybe, maybe not! he'll just have to find out on his own, wont he? it's a good distraction for Gladio too, because for as long as he's known Law he doesn't actually think he ever— ]}

Hn. Come to think of it what do you guys do for birthdays like this back home? Not just regular ones, but the big milestones. Sixteen, eighteen, thirty... anything special?

[counterattack]

[ Law's chin lifts quickly when Gladio nudges him, not immediately recognizing the gesture and thinking he's trying to get his attention, which works out great when there's a little piece of cake flying at his face. Just like the chip, he catches that in his mouth, too, but looks fully like Slow Motion Treat Photography Dog as he does it. Whatever dude, still counts if he catches it. ]

Ah—no, come on! You know what I meant! Besides, from the sound of it, you'd be the one putting your head in my lap, Mr. "Touchy".

[ by all fucking means. actually wait no don't, he can't even think about having to sit still and act normal with Gladio's head in his lap. That is a test of his strength that he will categorically fail, he's sure of it.

The question takes a little of the spice out of his rampantly hormonal thoughts, though to say it causes him any feelings of melancholy is stretching things a bit. Law catches the package, studying it for only as long as it takes to decide, yeah, he has no idea what to assume what the hell this is, then pops the bag open (without exploding it everywhere this time). ]

Well, uh... not that, I can tell you that much. Birthdays and celebrations in general are kinda weird where I come from, so we don't have that many traditions. You're just... lucky to make it to those ages at all, is the thing.

[ no. no downers. Law plucks out one of those skinny red looking snack things but doesn't pop it in his mouth just yet. ]

Where I was born, in Calaglia, we'd do something really special for people who turned sixteen, since that's when you could officially start being considered an adult. I wasn't around for that myself, but I celebrated some other people's birthdays like that. The whole village would save up all their food and we'd get together to eat and sing songs around the fire at night, so long as there weren't any guards around.

[ That's it. That's the "really special", just... save up all your food, eat, sing around a fire. It's stupidly simple, but he's gotten used to feeling that way when he talks to people from other worlds since arriving to this one. Despite living here for over a year now, he's said very little about his home to very few people just because of how keenly aware he is of the difference between how he grew up and how most of them did. In this case, though, it's a happy memory. He can't help feeling a little squeeze in his chest, thinking about his parents dancing with each other beside the fire during some of the other Crows' birthdays. Stupidly simple, but it was one of the happiest times of his life. ]

And in Cyslodia, where I was living when I turned sixteen, uh... haha...

[ okay, yeah, "no downers" isn't going to fly here if he keeps going. Law clenches the teeth at the back of his jaw when he smiles, forced and awkward.]

Let's just say... they do stuff there, but I didn't celebrate any of those birthdays myself, so I wouldn't really know. We're... kinda hard-up for fun on Dahna, sorry. What about in Eos? What's it like?

[ and there goes the hot coeurl. countdown until he loses his shit from the spice. ]

[indeferent]

_{[ of all the times to be in a world where his phone has been reduced to a fancy paperweight — pictures like that would surely score a few points with winning over the favor of Law's weirdly intimidating father. hell, were it not for the whole, uh... wolfman aspect this place has turned him into, he might've been able to see Clarus if he squinted really, really hard. what can he say? sometimes it pays to be in good with the parents of a friend. especially after letting said friend run himself ragged so soon after being mauled by wyverns. despite his own internal "turmoil", Gladio snorts and knocks his ankle again. ]}

You get my head in your lap and you better rub my damn ears.

<sub>[ is he serious? possibly. he's never quite worked up the nerve to actually ask for such a thing from anyone else beyond Noctis (mostly because one: how do you ask for that, and two: it always sort of happened naturally) so he isn't exactly sure himself. for the time being he files it away in the back of his mind and leans forward to prop his chin up on his hand while Law speaks, head tilted just ever so slightly. if it were possible, Gladio thinks he'd like to see Dahna for himself one of these days even in its current condition. not every realm sounds awful, and the ones that weren't might actually be... nice, he thinks.

but as Law speaks, Gladio starts to put it all together. Calaglians... saving everything up and breaking it all out for a sweet sixteen. his eyes drift to the heap of junk food for a moment and try as he might he just can't contain the quiet, knowing huff of laughter that slips through his nose. it damn near sounds like this with less people and more garbage that was actually Bad For You But Oh So Good. it sounds simple. easy. intimate, even with the entire village involved.

like one big family celebrating instead of a dozen and a half separate ones. ]</sub>

If I'm honest? It depends. Typically you'd have friends and maybe family involved with a party, cake, presents, things like that. Typically. Me, Noct 'n Iggy? We, uh... never really had much of that. Noct's royalty so those were always cranked up past eleven and my own family is pretty high up there too, but mine were never that overdone. I always preferred the ones I'd get to have with the guys or even back at my house with Jared and my sister over the dog-and-chocobo shows. Junk food just like this, pizza, and as much trashy TV or video games we could stomach.

_{[ give him a small, cozy party with the people he loves over having to dress up to the nines and pretend to be interested in people he didn't even know. his ear flicks again and Gladio tilts his head down to rub at the base of it for a few moments. ]}

Bunch of the guys I worked with kidnapped me for most of the day on my 18th and surprised me with all of this and a trip to the restaurant their friend owned.

_{[ glaives. not even once. okay. maybe two times. three. dozen. ]}

[counterattack]

[ If not for his party last year, Law wouldn't even be able to really imagine any of this. He hadn't had a cake, but he did get gifts and there was a party, like a real party with people and food and shenanigans. Even that had been humble, all of them crammed into his tiny Tikal house and the itty-bitty backyard. It's crazy to think how much things have changed, and yet they're still a million miles away from what Gladio and his friends are used to. He can't even be bitter about it; it's just wild.

You know what else is wild? The look in his eyes when that spicy cheetoh kicks in. Law sits up arrow-straight in his chair, hissing through his teeth in that ahhhohmygodsohothelpme way that does absolutely nothing to help the suffering he's enduring. ]

—Aaaahh!! Crap! Not this again!!

[ IT'S ALPHEN'S COOKING BUT CRUNCHIER. fuck you, he bolts up from his seat and runs to the bar yowling for some water. Poor Isabela is Highly Concerned, but she gets him a cup anyway, and Law skulks back trying to wash the taste out of his mouth, his face all red. ]

Why would you do that? You're as bad as Alphen, man... there's spicy, and then there's "eating actual fire."

[indeferent]

_{[ he can't help it, not really — the ugly snort and bark of laughter that slips out is mostly involuntary and when Law abandons the table to plead Isabela for help, Gladio reaches over to take a handful of the offending cheetos for himself. enough of them might get him sweating but a little bit like this? he'll be fine. he may not have Prompto's love for hot, spicy things but he can still appreciate a good kick when he feels one. ]}

You don't know "eating actual fire" until you've had legit Galahdian food, kid.

_{[ a beat, and he taps at the glass of water— ]}

Try milk next time, too. It's supposed to work better.

_{[ n-not that he'd know or anything. shut up. ]}

[counterattack]

I know about eating fire, believe me.

[ I mean....... haha, yeah, about that. He Alphen when he was a fire monster and scorched his mouth right before he got his jaws wrenched open and his neck broken and Alphen died from his wounds, so... like, yeah, he has eaten actual fire. But he means the spicy food. The "I can't feel anything so everyone else has to suffer" dinners that he trusted with his whole heart and was betrayed by.

Coughing, eyes water, Law chugs down that water and then searches for another bag of those harmless potato chips to wolf down, his tail whipping back and forth, more like an agitated cat than a canine. ]

I like spicy food, but there's such a thing as too much, y'know? That's screwed up, man. I'm gonna get you back so bad for this.

[indeferent]

You know you're not supposed to actually drink the fire when they light the shot up, right?

_{[ he's teasing, he's teasing. Gladio makes it known with a double boot knock against an ankle (and the chair) and a half-hearted "swat" to Law's hair, his lips pulled back in a full, partially-fangy grin. it's probably a good thing he hasn't wound up with a tail that lasted longer than a week, but if he had one? it would definitely be a hazard to the table behind him. at least his ears convey the message pretty well — alert, both perked slightly upwards and forward, but ultimately relaxed. ]}

It can't be seriously be that bad, can it?

[counterattack]

Huh? Wait, what? They light drinks on fire where you come from, too?

[ Well, that's a surprise. But the things that his world and other people's have in common often are, so by now he should probably have gotten used to it. Dahna and Rena are so different, with the only consistency between the two being whatever Renan bullshit they'd brought along with them when they took over and got cozy, so he'd always just assumed it would be the same for everywhere else. Funny little details like to pop up and catch him off guard, though.

As for whether it can be that bad, Law answers by capturing Gladio's calf where it keeps nudging him under the table, curling his leg around and hooking their ankles together. He might not understand how this particular type of flirting works, sorry. ]

In Cysloden, the guys always used to do "ice bombs." Super cold shot glasses full of white liquor that they'd light on fire. You'd just drop the whole thing in your mouth. You could always tell who was green by if they were dumb enough to try and drink the fire.

[ he tried to drink the fire.

To be fair, though, he never wanted to play those games in the first place. Even in the Snake Eyes, picking on the Dahnan tagalongs was a favorite pastime, and tormenting each other, backstabbing, and generally being kind of psychotic was, too. It was like a hazing that just never ended. ]

[indeferent]

<sub>[ he KICK Gladio? he kick his leg like football? oh! oh! jail for Law! jail for Law for One Thousand Years!!! only instead of jail Gladio simply cocks an eyebrow, huffs another quiet laugh, and leans into the hook. even without the flirtatious undertones this was... nice. really, really nice. how long has it been since he's actually had the chance to goof off with a friend?

too damn long, he thinks to himself. too. damn. long. ]</sub>

Yeah. We had a bunch of 'em but the ones I remember were called "Kiss of the Infernian" and things like that, but I don't think I knew anyone who tried to actually drink it. Definitely saw a couple people get their eyebrows singed off 'cause they stuck their faces too close to 'em when they were lit, though.

_{[ he was one of them. in his defense he was already pretty sloshed that night but still. that had been fun explaining to the others the next morning. ]}

They never did any of that in Calaglia? Just Cysloden?

[counterattack]

[ Just normal things to do with your homies: sit there with your ankles tangled, shoving chips and cheetohs in your face. Frankly, Law can't think of a better way to spend time on his birthday, all things considered. He never wanted much—he doesn't have it in him to know how to want very much, if he's being honest with himself. Just, y'know, to be happy. And not alone. Especially that last one.

Law shakes his head, ready to give the simple, uninformative answer. He can carry on a conversation about his life and life in general on Dahna without saying very much, a special skill you pick up when you spend a good chunk of your formative years having to watch every single syllable you utter. After he got here, it was just that self-consciousness, feeling like he needed to protect himself and his friends. Not having to answer for the circumstances of his life and choices was kind of liberating, in a... "feeling totally shut down" kind of way. ]

...I dunno. I ran away from home when I was ten, going on eleven. Back then, it wasn't possible to travel between realms, but I found a way to get out, and then... couldn't get back. I mean, I had myself totally convinced I didn't wanna go back, but... yeah. I was kinda too young to see that stuff. My dad might know, but we... haven't talked about it all that much. The stuff we both missed.

[ There, was that so hard? Look, it's not about it being "hard." It's just—it's complicated, alright? Still, Law doesn't have any issue meeting Gladio's eye, at least not once he gets a sentence or two in. ]

I haven't really had the chance to think about stuff like parties and birthdays until I got here, so it kinda all feels brand-new to me. I think I'm more like you, though. It's just good to spend it with people I care about. [ fuck ] As friends. With junk food. [ saved ]