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Who: Mantis et (everyone

Broadcast: Yee

Action: Iskaulit, Planetside

When: Earlier in the afternoon

A. Planetside

Tedious as it is, a man needs clothes that aren't mass produced and cheap, and that means a lot of shopping. He has a fair number of bags hanging off his shoulders or his elbows, but he hardly seems to notice the weight of them at all. In fact, a couple may seem to bob a bit even as he stands still.

He takes a breather to look up at the many multi-colored windows that are scattered throughout the shopping area. It's such a simple and effective means of adding some personality and life to an otherwise ordinary building. Sweeping footsteps carry him in slow circles through the different colors shining onto the ground, and he can even be heard humming quietly to himself.

Passerby who happen to catch his attention will hear a surprised noise followed swiftly by a calm wave. He's in a better mood than usual.

B. Iskaulit

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's not completely graceful, but Mantis is gaining just the slightest bit of confidence on the ice. His arms hang more at his sides as he moves along the edges of the ice skating rink, but not so much that he can't quickly swing them about if his feet give out from under him. He's muttering to himself as he goes along, too, mostly about when to take the curves on either end.

His feet slide out experimentally as he turns to complete a lap, letting him glide more than he steps. Nothing one can win a gold medal on, but he laughs a little with each successful bit of gliding and lifts his head a little higher. Now if only he could figure out how not to completely wipe out when trying to go backwards...

Anyone passing by the rink will get a quick wave as he comes by. Practice will not be stalled much, no matter how much he likes the person on the other side of the panels separating actual floor and ice.

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Mantis may notice when another mind enters the room. Or rather, when three new minds enter. Two of which are animal. Both dogs.... and both eager to run around. Noct can't find a place off-planet to let them run so he hopes nobody is in the ice rink right now... but... oh... dear.

He sees Mantis skating around and Pryna is already making a beeline for the ice. She's zooming around, her nails making it easy to rush up to the new stranger, tongue waggling out the side of her mouth, tail wagging. Umbra is not far from her coming up behind. Noctis is at the rink's edge groaning.

"Umbra, Pryna! Urgh, come back you two. Stop, you're gonna trip him!"

He hears all three along the peripherals, but doesn't think much at first. On the swing around another curb he can't help the smile that tugs at his mouth. Two dogs! The Fleet may well be riddled with them before long.

He manages to coast to a slower glide as the dogs come close. A little tilt to his feet means he can do slow circles around the dogs. "Friend to all living things, are we? You'd make an coworker of mine a very happy woman with all that energy."

As he speaks, Mantis circles closer and closer to one of the walls. "Noctis! I thought you only had Umbra. Where did the twin come from?"

Three friendly doggos are not really enough doggos by any standard of measure. More puppies might actually make things nicer or more bearable.

Noct's mind is dark and full of grief. It's like an outline of forced merriment with a center of dark malignant depression trying to suck the joy into itself. Noctis forces a smile.

"Luna always had the two... I got Pryna as a gift last month... she was in the cargo hold waiting for me so... here we are." he doesn't know if Mantis knows that Luna left. He doesn't think he has it in him to say the words again.

There's a saying about potato chips and pets of various kinds... Mantis wouldn't mind more dogs himself.

What he does mind is Noctis, though. The miasma of negative thoughts is as notable as a broken limb. He coasts closer to the prince, noting as well the smile. There's nothing at all chipper in that expression.

"Ohh..." That name ought to drag up mental images of happiness in a young husband like Noctis. "My condolences. Being here, I've left behind people I would have rather not."

He hasn't heard that one but he has experienced chips and dogs and he could use more of both.

But He wishes he could be happy. He feels like he's swirling in a vortex of misery and forced platitudes. He tries not to cry or curl up on himself about it. He can't bring Luna back... he can't have her any longer than she was allowed to be here. He had her at all and now she's home... which means she's dead. That's what devastates him more than anything. He only got to give her a happy life for a matter of months and that was injustice no matter what she may have said about it. She'd have been grateful for that chance but he thinks it's cruel.

"Thanks... trying to move on." and trying to be more expressive with others since it helps his position more. "You lost people too?"

It's a cruelty Mantis is still trying to wrap his mind around. Were it not for Atroma, he'd be completely dead, but he's not where he needs to be. He should be on Shadow Moses trying to give a certain clone hell from beyond the grave. Here...he skates and tries to make peace with the failure of the mission.

"Several. My team was spiraling into a great deal of danger and defeat back home." He leans heavily on the wall of the rink. "We took heavy losses before I woke up here."

The Atroma give and the Atroma taketh away it seems... cruel as that is. He can find at least a little joy in it if people like Mantis can have a life too. He is still benefiting from a life free from death even if Luna went home.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" as Umbra and Pryna scamper around Mantis. They hop and jump around vying for his attention, then sit down and wag their tails madly. Do you have treats? They can shake your hand!

Mantis lived for causing suffering, but it's a shallow existence when that's all you define yourself by. Thus, he skates, he decorates his bunk on the Bishop, and he socializes. It's embarrassingly human of him and yet acceptable.

"What didn't happen? Our one informant died on us before we could gain the knowledge we needed. Our disguise master had what looked like a heart attack." He counts them off as he goes, but then his hands clench into fists. It takes a few deep breaths and he relaxes. "A lone assailant was sent after us. More trouble than we had thought."

Mantis is going to sit on the ice. He reaches out for Umbra and Pryna, very intent on scratching some fluffy dog ears.

Why can't Noct force himself to do that? To bring himself to just DO that? He can barely get out of bed each day. If it weren't for Prompto he'd stay with the dogs in bed indefinitely. Damn the crew's need for a cook. He was just winging it anyway...

Well, the dogs come to either side of Mantis, both sniffing and hoping for head scratches. Pleeeeeease? They're good kids.

"Sounds like a hard run you guys had... one guy came in and ruined it... along with the heart attack and the... what kind of mission were you guys running again?" he doesn't quite connect that Mantis was one of the bad guys.

It's pure stubbornness in Mantis. He refuses to wallow when he could be out doing something instead. Sitting still is as natural to him as reading bad romance novels. And if he talked to someone along the or picked a satisfying fight, good.

He oots for one hand per dog, aiming for all the nice spots that dogs seem to love. They're good creatures. More loyal and loving than any human.

"It was a...taking over the world kind of thing. Not that I had any expectation for success, but when your friend is an idiot, you go along with more than you should." He sighs, fleeting memories of Liquid ranting going through his mind. "It was a miracle more didn't go wrong right away."

Edited 2018-01-30 04:49 (UTC)

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Iskaulit

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