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

[indeferent]

_{[ rich boy, as if he's not constantly broke like they all were outside of Insomnia's walls. Gladio laughs and lightly kicks Law's foot under the table, swirling the bottle around at the same time. A good, proper wiggle of it as if to say uh-huh? ]}

Name your price. Ten gald says I can afford whatever it is and if not? I'm sure we can settle on an I.O.U of some kind. Or... payment plans? I'm flexible.

<sub>[ it wouldn't be the first time he had to do something like that. he remembers the cost of repairs on the regalia outside Hammerhead and ouch, that was a bad day to be completely broke. upside at least he won't have to worry about hunting anything dangerous to actually pay whatever Law asks for - he knows he's got plenty of money, so... something material? or something he can do, and... huh, yeah, he's coming up with a few ideas already. are any of them good? it's questionable, but at least it's a start.

for now, he dutifully tops the glass up and lets the mouth of the bottle rest against the rim for a few moments. considering. ]</sub>

A kiss. Unless you'd rather save that?

[counterattack]

[ A devilish little grin spreads across Law's face the moment Gladio starts bartering. It's a fine time not to have an extreme amount of inner turmoil over his past, and so he doesn't. It's just, you know, it's reflex to know he's already won once somebody starts trying to bargain with him, and especially when they're stooping as low as saying dangerous things like name your price. At that point, you're pretty much as powerful as you can possibly get. Of course, he'd never use that to take advantage of Gladio the way it was done in Cysloden, but that doesn't mean he can't put a spin on it, have a little fun with it for once.

Like, uh. Like that. Alright, so the grin disappears right off his face. Damn. He wouldn't have asked, specifically because it would've made it cheap, but to just have it offered up like that? mother dahna please save him. The inner struggle is written all over him, from his face to how he sits upright just a little straighter, his lower lip caught under his front row of teeth. ]

It's... it's not that I want to save it, just...

[ Like why bother? Kiss now, kiss later, it's a kiss. Not that he's oblivious to the concept of it being special and things like that, but it's not a major concern to him at this time, that's all. Life's too sort to be so careful, and he'd rather explore. Indulge. Savor. All that. Y'know, uh, once he can work up the nerve. And he's got nerve, no matter how boyish and shy he might look for just a second there. Eventually, he wrests some kind of composure back. ]

That's really tempting, but... I dunno if that's gonna be enough. It'd have to be a really good kiss, and you've got some stiff competition already.

[indeferent]

I haven't had any complaints if that helps.

<sub>[ cocky? nah, just confidence which was always nice. he listens while taking the next shot, then sets the glass down and leans forward with his elbows on the table - something the upper class would no doubt have Feelings about - as he fixes Law with an eager, curious look. maybe offering it first wasn't the best plan but hey! he at least seems to be Considering It and Considering isn't a no. Six, he's definitely not hearing a no regarding one.

but what else? he's coming up with nothing or at least nothing that'd be suitable for something like a harmless answer. nah, Gladio's not going to break Law. ]</sub>

What would be enough? A kiss and... what else?

_{[ a moment of thought, and he pulls his chair in with a loud squeak from its legs scraping against the floor. closer, closer until he nearly risks hitting the table with the rest of his body, ears perked in attentiveness. ]}

C'mon... You can't just leave a guy hangin' like that!

[counterattack]

[ Hold on, he's experiencing a little bit of remorse for not just taking that offer. Law's eyes linger on Gladio's mouth for a long, mournful moment. This is something he's laid awake at night agonizing over and having absolutely crazy dreams about, and he just said "nah"?! Seriously???

But it's not a no, as in, no forever. If it wasn't clear to him already, it's starting to be clear to him now: he's gonna get a kiss. From Gladio. Like, a real one. It's gonna happen. He might even be the one to initiate it, himself, depending on how things go.

That puts the power back in his hands again. Recovering from his brief moment of deep regret, Law drags his gaze up to meet Gladio's. He pulls the refilled shot glass back over to himself and sips it real slow-like just to buy himself a little extra time. What is this, shot four? Shot five? Whatever it is, he can feel it in his limbs a little bit, in his head a little bit, and that warm feeling in the pit of his chest like he'd swallowed a partially-cooled hot coal. Always very aware of his body and his energy, that's part of how he manages to have such good alcohol tolerance: he can feel very keenly how it's affecting him and adjust accordingly. Which is great for things like not falling over and being a clumsy drunk, but unfortunately he doesn't have the same control over his mind, so he's just as liable to make the same stupid decisions as everyone else.

Eventually. ]

I want... to know a secret.

[ He sets the glass down and scoots his chair closer, too, leaning in conspiratorially. ]

Something nobody else knows, not even the guys. To your knowledge, anyway. As long as you think it's a big secret, it counts.

[ This is a long way off from weaponizing secrets to bust his fellow Dahnans. Like, a long, looong way off. If he ever bartered in secrets, it wasn't ever like this, so he doesn't feel weird about it. Besides, he's not going to do anything with it. All things considered, he's a great person to tell your secrets to. Even drunk. Probably. Smirking, he lifts his chin, satisfied with this play. It still feels intimate enough to him. ]

Fair's fair, since I'm gonna be telling you one, so... a kiss and a secret, that's my price. Take it or leave it.

[indeferent]

<sub>[ a... secret? Gladio's brow goes up for a moment, then he leans back in his chair with his arms folded over his chest as a thoughtful look crosses his face. a secret. one that no one but him knows. that's actually a hard one, but it's one that gets him thinking. there were some obvious ones of course but most of them were also ones he meant to take with him to his grave - none of the guys needed to know about an old, long crush he once had on the Marshal (and godfather, whoops), especially considering everything else. nor did he ever once tell them about the time he'd gotten sick and when speaking to Regis with his father, vomited over His Majesty's shoes at the tender age of six. thank the gods that had occurred in the privacy of the Amicitia home because if the tabloids had gotten their hands on that?

yikes.

but there was another one that wasn't so "dire" in his mind. one that he'd often thought about fessing up to a few times but often decided against it, and one he now regrets keeping purely because they were no longer around to hear the truth of it.

a kiss and a secret. he nods slowly at first, then laughs softly to himself and rubs at his cheek once the motion stirs a vague sense of vertigo in him. it's really starting to creep up on him and now he understands why his father rarely broke this particular bottle out and why it was always limited. ]</sub>

What kind of secret? Harmless? Some deep, dark, family secret that I probably don't know? Dirty?

_{[ it's always good to clarify and regardless of the answer, Gladio starts to ready another shot. will he need it? probably not, but it never hurts to prepare. ]}

[counterattack]

[ Law finishes the last of the shot in his hand with a gulp, watching Gladio ponder his terms. Frankly, he couldn't blame him if he decided to cut the deal and pass. Secrets about him that no one knows (other than this one, the one he's about to fess up to, he guesses) can also as good as go to the grave with him. He's a whole lot better at listening than telling, when it comes to things like this, although he's had a lot of time to work at it and now it isn't so bad, but—

His eyebrows jump at "dirty," but other than that, he wears the same grin on his face as he slides his glass over for the next refill. It's not at whew, really hitting me now stages, but it's getting there. He's starting to feel the liquid courage, that much is for sure. ]

Any kind, just as long as it's not some cop-out like, "I secretly love peanut butter sandwiches" or whatever. It's gotta mean something real, and it's gotta be something you haven't told anybody else before.

[indeferent]

Alright. Okay.

_{[ another nod and Gladio throws it back, lets it sit in his mouth for another three, and swallows. alright. alright. even if he can't spill to the people involved, he can at least say it now and get it off his shoulders. deep breaths, and- ]}

I spent about two months sabotaging the family kitchen so my dad would order a nicer stove and better countertops for Jared when I was eight or nine. After Iris was born my dad didn't... really come home from the Citadel and when he did it wasn't for very long so he was essentially raising the two of us. He got hurt that year and started havin' to use a cane while he was recovering but because of how things were set up he was having a hard time taking care of us and the house, so...

_{[ Gladio rubs at the back of his neck a little sheepishly and drops his eyes to the bottle, slowly rolling it this way and that across the table. wordlessly, he refills Law and clears his throat a little. ]}

It was never anything major, just enough to make it seem like it was natural. And never anything that Jared used a lot. The last thing I did that finally got my dad to cave was, uh... He came home one night and made himself something in the oven when he thought I was in bed and Jared was away visiting his kids. I kinda made it seem like he did it by sticking some of our old pans in and turning it on. They wound up melting and fusing to the racks and stank real bad. There wasn't any saving it after that so while he was still gone, dad got people to come in and renovate the entire room top to bottom.

_{[ dangerous? risky? absolutely. he knows now that he could've very easily started a fire and done so much worse but at the time? he was angry at his father. he was angry, struggling to grieve, and was trying his damndest to be the strong one in the face of everything. but was it worth it? yeah. yeah, it was. ]}

Everything was stuff that Jared would talk about in passing. The cabinets were lowered to make it easier for him to reach, the countertops were a lot easier to clean for the both of us... He could do a lot more on the stove too, which helped a lot when he started teaching me how to cook on my own. I think mom would've liked it too. She used to do a lot of baking and left a bunch of recipes in a book for us that we finally got to try. I wanted to tell him - both of them - that it was me after awhile but I didn't wanna have my dad pull the "I'm not mad I'm disappointed" look on me, 'specially since I was starting my Crownsguard training at the time and I definitely couldn't have handled it from Jared. No way.

_{[ now? six, he wishes he could've told them. should've told them despite his own worries. then he flashes a faint grin. ]}

By the way — I don't secretly love peanut butter sandwiches. I love 'em and I'm proud of it.

[counterattack]

[ Once his shot's refilled, Law takes it back and sips it down, letting the taste linger on his tongue until it's drained. He's reaching for something new to snack on, something he hasn't tried yet, and manages to get his hand on a bag of what look like little fruit-shaped kinda thingies that'll probably wind up being too sweet for him when Gladio really gets started in earnest. Naturally, anything that contains the words "my dad" is going to get his attention, but as the story goes on, Law finds himself sort of frozen in place, just listening. Too invested in it to remember to grab those fruit snacks.

It strikes a chord, one he hadn't expected to be struck at a time like this, on a day like today. Not here, in this company, anyway. He'll be seeing his dad later, and he's already sort of mentally prepared himself for feeling something, but now? Geez. While he can't completely over-relate to the story, he can relate to enough of it. A dad who never came home, who overlooked things when he did. Doing things to avoid getting on his bad side that'd technically get him in trouble and could've been totally dangerous, but it all came from a good place in his heart, really. He feels a pang, but he can't help but smile back, a little bit wry and then a little bit more earnest. Good thing he's a happy drunk. ]

Bet he wouldn't have been that upset, in the end. None of them would've. They would've seen it was coming from the right place.

[ Funny how he can say that confidently to someone else, but in his own version of events? Yeah, that's a lopsided double-standard. He's always been hard on himself. ]

You said... your dad was the Shield before you? That guarded the ruler where you come from. And you picked it up after him, for Noct. I guess it must've been a heavy mantle to take up. Was your mom away a lot, too?

[indeferent]

_{[ something in his chest blossoms into warmth at that. even though it's not from his father or Jared, hearing someone actually say it soothes the frazzled beast that spent years agonizing over it. they'd have understood. they wouldn't be upset. they... yeah. Gladio makes a soft sound in his throat and shakes his head with an even fonder smile, his ears slanting down and back while he thinks. ]}

For as long as I could remember she was always at home with me. The guys didn't know me very well at the time — Noct's three years younger than me and we didn't really start hanging out until I was around thirteen — so they never knew how big of a mama's boy I was.

_{[ it feels strange talking about his mother after all this time. strange, but. it's nice. he doesn't get to do such a thing very often even if it makes his heart ache. somehow he gets the feeling that Law's in a similar place — he only ever hears about his dad over in Coatepec, never his mother. he can only assume something more or less the same happened to her just like his own. ]}

For what it's worth she never tried to dissuade me from becoming a Shield. She knew what it meant when she met my dad and married him, and she knew that with me being the first-born I'd wind up going down the same road no matter what. Probably.

_{[ and if he didn't? the job might've gone to Iris which to a younger Gladio had been entirely unacceptable. it's still unacceptable - that's his baby sister and he'd sooner fight a flock of wild cockatrice than see her put herself in danger like that. ]}

I know she would've nailed me with the "not mad just disappointed" speech though, one-hundred percent.

[counterattack]

[ For a second, Law considers whether he should've asked, but just as soon as Gladio starts to answer, he feels better about going ahead with it anyway. Once again, he can relate all too well. It's actually kind of funny how similar they sound, even though, in reality, they're literal worlds apart. Of course, the circumstances and situations are undoubtedly very different, but this isn't the first time he's found it kind of jarring how much he's able to relate to someone he's met here. Meeting Alphen and Rinwell in particular, along with the rest of his friends, had given him the room to accept that his pain wasn't unique, but that had just introduced an insular sort of mindset that he'd come into Copalli a bit prejudiced with, in a way: no one else could ever possibly understand me or what I've been through but them.

Listening to Gladio now, watching his face and still thankfully having the functioning brain cells available to interpret his facial expressions, he doesn't have that walled-off feeling at all. It actually... feels really good. Liberating, you might say. (Ha ha.) ]

Heh... I know exactly what you mean. Moms are tough like that, though, huh? Knowing what's coming, probably worrying themselves sick half the time, but strong enough not to let you see that. And giving you a hell of a talking-to when you do something stupid.

[ He can almost hear the you come hear this instant, young man from his own mom if he thinks about it hard enough. But, uh, he'd rather not think about it that hard, so he just gets himself another shot lined up, one he's not going to knock back right away. Instead, he sets it off to the side for the time being and motions for Gladio to sit forward. ]

Wherever they are, I know they're proud of you.

[ He doesn't know, but like... he knows. It's just something you can feel, having that in common with somebody. It makes him feel guilty for having a chance no one else who's felt the same kind of pain has gotten to have, but it also makes him feel incredibly lucky, too. ]

Now c'mere before we both get all choked up so I can tell you my secret.

[indeferent]

<sub>[ four words. they aren't the four words Gladio ever expected to get him feeling a little choked up but there they are. they come out of Law's mouth and wind up wedged somewhere deep in Gladio's heart, twisting and stabbing almost painfully right in the center of it. Cor had once told him that he'd done Clarus proud once in the trials, but... in this moment Gladio can't think of anything else. his mother would always say how proud she was but for the first time in a long time he wishes he could hear it again.

his next words form into a lump that lodges itself in his throat leaving him unable to speak for a few moments so instead of embarrassing himself, he hits himself up with another shot and then another almost immediately after. if he focuses on the sharp burn of it he won't have to think about the sting in his eyes — ]</sub>

Yeah.

_{[ it's a little rougher than it should've been but that's something he can very, very easily pin on the booze. so, he does. he blames it on the alcohol, takes a breath, and leans forward with his ears up as if he expects Law to whisper it amidst the noise of the tavern. ]}

Go on. M'listening.

[counterattack]

[ Good thing for those batty ears, because that's exactly what's he's gonna do! Sort of. Law doesn't whisper so much as murmur, leaning his elbow on the table again as he sits forward as well. In the time it takes him to get closer, he's gone through an entire circle of nervousness, acceptance, and ultimately reckless disregard for the consequences of his actions, so that once he starts speaking, he doesn't have any inhibitions left to fall back on. Thanks for that, six shots of alcohol cushioned only by a little bit of junk food! ]

My secret is: I've been into you since we met. That's how long I've been carrying it around. Way too long.

[ in his head, he sounds super cool and confident. In reality, he... well, he sounds like he's been totally emboldened by the liquor, and whether that's "cool" or "confident" is up to personal interpretation. He sure isn't falling all over his words, and he isn't slurring them yet, either. It's just blurted out in a low timbre, completely regardless, right this second, of just how many people he could be saying this same thing to and hasn't in their case, either. Maybe this'll be his year? Who knows.

Either way, Six Shots Law is feeling himself, tilting his head just a little closer and dropping his voice just that much quieter. ]

I admire you for the sort of person you are—a good, honest one. And you've got a great body for someone who can't even manage a downward dog, so there's that, too. ...And I'm gonna kiss you now, so don't move your head and put my eye out with those horns.

[ An eyepatch would look super cool, though. Food for thought.

Also, announcing what he's about to do ahead of time probably loses him some cool points. Dammit! Why can't he just be effortless and suave!

Oh well. He reaches out, lays his hand on one side of Gladio's face to turn his head for him, and when he stretches forward to kiss him, at least he doesn't miss his mouth. Damn near falls out of his chair again trying to reach him, but in a totally unplanned and not at all eligible for regained cool points move, he manages to catch his knees against the side of Gladio's thigh so that he doesn't go anywhere but closer. ]

[indeferent]

<sub>[ The upside here is Law's in a better position than Gladio who probably should've grabbed lunch before heading to the dragon. The downside? Gladio's well on his way after... frankly he stopped counting after he started thinking about his family like he did. Whatever, it's fine. He's not throwing in the towel juuuuuust yet, not while Law has his complete, undivided attention. All those times people would joke about him looking like an obedient, loyal dog? They were right. He doesn't even have it in him to make some silly little quip when Law fesses up about how long. That's... Six, it's almost been a whole year, hasn't it?

He can't tease him about pining for that long. Not when Gladio's intimately familiar with such a thing.

All thought about any sort of teasing leaves his head the instant Law announces his intent. It leaves the second he feels warm, slim fingers on his cheek and he doesn't have it in him to stop himself from leaning into it like a touch-starved animal. Everything leaves him, except for one thing: ]</sub>

Wouldn't take your eye out. Might bust your nose if I bump you wrong, but...

<sub>[ The curve thankfully prevents any accidental eye-jabbings. He doesn't have a chance to specify that however because suddenly Law's there and Gladio surges forward to meet him the rest of the way, bumping the table with his knee and making a grab for an arm to keep him steady. It's not the same sort of devouring kiss he'd slapped Noct with - there's no way he's laying that sort of thing on Law, not for the first time - but it's purposeful. Confident, albeit a little clumsy.

Gladio... he loves this kid. Out of everyone in Copalli who could've come to the rescue of a couple stranded rich city-slickers, he's incredibly glad that it was Law. ]</sub>

[counterattack]

[ Tempting as it is, the last thing Law wants to do here is throw himself at Gladio like the pathetic, desperate teenager he is. It's really lucky this isn't his first kiss ever, or man, he'd really have no hope here. Prompto had been so gracious about his lack of experience, but the mood had been a lot different then, too. Notably, neither of them had been drinking, and there was a sort of mutual shyness that made the whole thing feel sort of like they were on even playing fields. He had worried himself half to death about being bad at kissing, but as he'd come to find, it's... not that hard. Maybe a little trickier when you're trying not to, like, spit in the other person's mouth as soon as you open yours, but somehow, mother Dahna had saw fit to bless him with not being a disgusting, mortifying mess.

Now? Eh, well. It's different. There's a pretty good buzz starting to hit him now, and that collides head-on with the hot surge of blood that rushes to his head as their mouths meet, so he's a little messier than he probably could be, too. Messy works here, though. Hot, impulsive, semi-drunken, just a bit impassioned... yeah, you can't really expect too much else. Law shudders when he's touched, lashes fluttering, head spinning. It's such a relief, such a release, that he almost can't stand the thought of it ending.

His lungs can, though. Eventually, they give, and that's when he draws back, breathless, and ends it right there. Not too far, too fast. He's still got enough sense left in his head for that, at least. Later? After a few more drinks? That could be trouble. But at least for right now he's not going to give Isabela something to yell take it outside, boys, about. Shaky, wobbly where his balance has come to rely almost entirely on Gladio's support, Law eases himself back into his own seat and tries to figure out what "act natural" is supposed to look like. ]

O-Okay. Now we're square. H...Hey, uh, what're these?

[ cool. casual. collected. losing his mind. It isn't just his heart that's pounding, it's his whole body. He grabs something at random from the table and waves it around, running his tongue again and again over the seam of his pursed lips, determined to savor the taste before it's washed away with that shot that's still waiting for him on the table. ]

[indeferent]

<sub>[ An Amicitia never whines which is precisely what Gladio wants to do when he feels Law pull away. Instead, he makes a low noise in his throat that intermingles with his more bestial changes and comes out as a low half-grumble, half-purr, half-something-else-he-hasn't-quite-figured-out-yet. He's so, so incredibly loathe to let him leave his personal space and that at least he isn't afraid to show, his hand tightening on a bicep before reluctantly loosening and sliding down the length of an arm. It keeps going and going until Gladio's fingers touch the inside of his wrist and finally, out of his hold entirely. Touchy, he'd said. He gets touchy when he's had too much and as Gladio begins to feel his mood dampen, he knows he's started to hit that point.

Better take another shot to soothe the disgruntled beast. ]</sub>

Uh...

_{[ No. Wait. Focus. His ear flicks and Gladio blinks once, twice, then looks at the package in Law's hand mid-pour. ]}

The fruit snacks? Or the bugels?

_{[ Down goes the shot. Down goes the glass, and Gladio reaches for the bag with the barest hints of his tongue peeking out. He can't help but want to do something incredibly stupid, lame and corny but for now he quashes the urge down. He'll behave, both for Law and Isabela. ]}

Here, lemme do it.

[counterattack]

[ God. It feels like his goosebumps have goosebumps. Law tries to find anywhere for his eyes to be but on Gladio, just for however long it's gonna take him to come down off that high, but as the seconds tick by, it just doesn't feel like it's happening, and he's forced to look him in the eye again. Big mistake. How is it that an attractive person can only look even more attractive after you've kissed them? Because he does. He really does. At least, he does to Law, even dorkily poking his tongue out and halfway to sloshed.

Clearing his throat tightly, Law offers the package out (it's the bugels, he's lost track of the fruit stuff), and if he maybe isn't so careful about whether his fingers brush against the palm of Gladio's hand when he hands it over? That's just an itsy bitsy oopsie-doopsie and not on purpose, nope, totally not on purpose. ]

These. They, uh... they look...

[ ...he literally hadn't looked at them. Not even so much as a glance, and now he's just realizing that whatever they are, they barely look like food. ]

...Edible.

[ Nice. Get it together, Law!!! Yeah, you know what, time for shot seven. It's been waiting faithfully for its time to shine, and that time is now. He knocks it back so hard he almost sloshes it onto his face, and you better believe he swishes that one around a second before he swallows it. Amazing how they think drinking more is gonna sober them up. They're so screwed. ]

Okay, yeah, I can't just sit here after that. Let's play a game or something. Or we keep sharing weird, personal stuff about our lives, doesn't matter. I'm gonna go crazy.

[ he's already gone crazy. ]

[indeferent]

<sub>[ Six, if he could grab his hand the way he wants to without making it weird he'd do it in a heartbeat. As it is, the little touch is fleeting and man if it isn't funny how something so small sends a pleasant warmth down his arm, he doesn't know what is. Fumbling the bag open takes a little more effort - not because he's losing coordination, rather the bag is just that difficult, but after a few seconds he rips it open and spills a few of the cone-looking chips onto the table.

Whoops. ]</sub>

They're good if you dip 'em in chocolate. S'a good contrast... <sub>Six, I'm sounding like Iggy.

[ But if it wasn't true then they wouldn't have made a chocolate variety, stupid. A small snort slips out when he catches Law's near self-bean-to-the-face, but he thankfully doesn't comment on it. He's somewhat occupied with sticking one of those "cones" on his pinky. Look, ma! Claws! ]</sub>

What about a two-for-one? Truth or dare. Mostly 'cause the other drinking games I can think of don't really work when, uh... Y'know, no TVs or real electricity.

[counterattack]

[ Law's nose wrinkles somewhere between a "gross" and a suppressed laugh; ultimately, the laugh wins out. He's, thankfully, too far gone to overthink stupid stuff the way he often does in the presence of people he li-iiikes like whether his laugh sounds dumb or whatever, so it comes pretty freely this time. He'd lean over and chomp that thing right off Gladio's finger, but he's afraid he'd take a chunk of actual finger along with it, and heavens know he's got a hell of a bite. Just ask, uh... most of his friends. He's bitten basically every single one of them by now. As a monster, sure, but you'd think it would've strengthened his jaw a bit by now.

He'll just settle for grabbing some of the ones that fell on the table and giving them a taste test. Salty and garbage-y, just the way he likes 'em. Yep, these'll do nicely. ]

Ah, man. That one I actually know. In Cyslodia, we played it to the death. Or to the almost-death, depending on who you were playing with, 'cause you, uh... couldn't kill... yeah. Anyway, I know how that one works. Yeah.

[ Yep, there it is. This liquor, whatever it is, sneaks up on you, man! He's still good, holding his own, not slurring, but it's got his mouth running in earnest now. For better or worse.

Also, he makes a grab for the bottle to refill his glass and almost misses it, so maybe the hand-eye coordination is starting to go a little bit, too. ]

Your idea, you first. Truth or dare? ...This is the not life or death version, just FYI.

[indeferent]

<sub>[ Law makes a grab and Gladio lightly bats at his hand. He doesn't move to stop him from refilling but once that bottle touches the table again he grabs it and takes a short pull from it... pauses... and promptly grimaces as he returns it to its place. Even goes as far as to nudge it away. Is he tapping out? Yeah, yeah he's tapping out. It's all yours, runt. Any more and Gladio knows he'll be at risk of spilling his guts in more ways than just one with the wrong move. On the plus side that means he's free to pick at the cones that fell on his side of the table without juggling two things at once.

And it's a chance to try and regain his everything. At some point or another they're gonna have to leave and he'd rather not leave Law trying to support all two-hundred plus pounds of him through the streets on top of his own balance. ]</sub>

S'treason if I die anyway, remember? And gimme truth. Only idiots jump into dare right out the gates.

_{[ Something nice and easy to start with. What could go wrong? It's f i n e. ]}

Make it a good one, too.

[counterattack]

[ He'd like to say he's not afraid of Noctis or his wrath, like what is he gonna do? Actually put that fat keister of his into gear and chase him? That's if he can rouse himself out of unconsciousness long enough to even notice he's short one friend he doesn't deserve to have in the first place. But alright, fine, even on the far side of plastered, he knows better than to go trash-talking Noctis. Gladio likes him, for whatever ungodly reason, and he wants to look good in Gladio's eyes, so he tolerates his existence.

And won't kill his Shield. Wait—what?

God. Stop thinking, start drinking. He gives Gladio a look as if to say wuss when the bottle goes down, then cuts that shot back and sets the glass down a little too hard on the table. Whoops. ]

Awright, you asked for it!

[ You really did. If anyone knows how to cut to the core with their truth questions— ]

What's your biggest fear?

[indeferent]

_{[ Oh boy he sure asked for it. They both did, didn't they? For a time Gladio stares at him as if he's trying to process it, mouth half open and a look of bewilderment etched on his face. He really came out swinging with that one and holy shit after he regains his composure his answer is immediate because— ]}

Failure.

_{[ He's felt it too many times already. Insomnia, Ravus, Jared... he felt pangs of it during the Trials, Altissia and Zegnautus... All of it. Whether he's aware of it or no, Gladio touches the scar cutting across his torso and frowns to himself. He should, uh. Probably elaborate on that, huh? "Failure" can mean a lot of different things after all. ]}

Failure as a Shield. 'Cause... Shields're supposed to protect their Kings. Outside of old age or sickness, I don't think we get to "retire".

_{[ Any Shield that outlasts their King had to have done something wrong beyond those circumstances. His frown deepens and he reaches in to steal a proper handful, brows knit together in thought. Was that too much? Probably, but it's Truth or Dare not Half-Truth or Dare. ]}

Outside of that? Uh... Being eaten by a Malboro. Alive.

[counterattack]

[ Yeah, he probably could've picked something a little less heavy to throw at him. There's "lowering the temperature when they're both way too keyed up" and then there's "bringing the mood back to a zero", but you know what, that's the game as he knows it and so that's how he played it. He's sure he'll be paying for it big-time when it's his turn. ]

I mean... it makes sense, though. That's a pretty rational fear. That's a lot of expectation on your shoulders, a'course you'd be worried about it.

[ This is him trying to save face, but also it's just the truth. He can't say he doesn't relate, albeit not to that particular specificity. Failure, making a mistake, letting people down, especially the ones who're counting on you... yeah. If it's not rational, like he said, then it's sure as hell relatable, at least. ]

Malboro, though... why does that sound familiar? Do we have those here? It sounds like some kinda zeugle.

[ he's fought so many of them at this point he can't even keep track. ]

[indeferent]

It's more than expectation, but uh... I'll get into it another time. Someplace where it's just us or something.

<sub>[ Because if he gets fired up about it he'd rather not have a building full of strangers gawking at him or Law. They're both hot-headed idiots at the end of the day and... it works? But he'd still rather spare the rest of the population any potential bickering over a difference in lifestyles and/or expectations of their own lives.

A year past or no, the train still sits pretty heavily on his mind and he still kicks himself over it. ]</sub>

But, uh. Yeah. We do. There was a big one hanging around here awhile back, actually. I think someone dealt with it 'cause I haven't smelled it since? They're not fun. Actually, this thing-

_{[ He grabs the crumpled bag with Li'l Malbuddy's face on it, smoothing it out— ]}

This is from a kids show on my world. Real popular in Galahd and Insomnia, but I think Kenny Crow beats 'em both in the rest of Lucis 'cause I never saw any merch for either of them when we were on our trip. He's probably the only Malboro I'd trust 'cause the real ones? They're nowhere near this cute.

[counterattack]

[ Law studies the bag, brow furrowed. That's one particular monster he hasn't faced, and if someone told him it was around during March, that'd explain why it's not familiar to him. Around the end of March, when someone would've been taking care of that thing, Law was busy getting half eaten by a wyvern. But hey, he got some super sick tats out of it, so who's laughing now? ]

They... put monsters in things for kids where you come from? You'd think that would just make them not afraid of 'em.

[ Then again, they don't have to be cute and all that to teach certain kinds of kids not to be afraid of them. Law saw the easy work his parents and the other fighters in Ulzebek made of the zeugles around the village and he learned not to waste his fears on something that simple, either.

Law pours himself yet another shot and retrieves a few more bugels to help keep it all down with. The likelihood that he'll get sick from drinking is pretty low, but the more he can do to mitigate those potential damages, the better. ]

Getting eaten does kinda suck, though, yeah. And this one's got all those... uh, tentacles. Yeah, nope, don't like that. —I'll take a truth question too, by the way. Don't trust myself on a dare right now. Actually, I dunno if I trust you with the dares, that's the real thing.

[indeferent]

_{[ Now he laughs, shrugging his shoulders and so very much wishing he had his phone in working order so he could actually show him the series. No matter how old someone gets, Li'l Malbuddy is there for everyone. He's a friend no matter what, unlike every other Malboro that exists in the world out there. Especially the babies, eugh. Those were the worst. ]}

Dude, I had a stuffed behemoth as a kid that I carried with me so much that one of the horns and an eye fell off. Iris found him buried in a box of my old stuff and fixed him, and you've seen one yourself. Maybe not the real, full-size deal but I come pretty damn close to what ours look like. Thing is, you can still respect something while introducing 'em to kids so they learn to respect 'em.

_{[ ...Man, he kind of misses that stuffed animal now that he's thinking about it. He was a real good cuddle buddy on the rare occasion he'd wind up having nightmares, and more often than not he'd wind up bitching and ranting to it about the real world. Who would've guessed that having an inanimate object to complain to would be so good? ]}

I'll keep that in mind when you wind up daring me, but alright lemme think... What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?