[open] thanks for the memories

[flamberge]

Who: kratos and you!
Which: interactive dream, open
What: in turn with the festive spirit, kratos' dreams are filled with memories of a warm and cozy place, but also of a place that feels frozen despite it lacking in snow.
Warnings: will add as needed!



a. past memories.

[as your vision comes into focus, you find yourself seated at a table overlooking the beach. a distance away sits a small, if cozy wooden shack. a warm breeze blows while there's not a cloud in the sky. the sound of the waves crashing against the shore ends up making it feel like a very serene scene.

then, suddenly, you feel something, or rather, someone settle into your lap. upon looking down, a small child with brown hair and matching eyes stares up at you with the most curious expression on his face. he looks no older than 2 or maybe 3 years old. suddenly, the child reaches out and grabs at either your shirt or, if you have longer hair within reach, tugs on that instead. cue the boy laughing excitedly.

another, softer laugh comes from the opposite end of the table.]

He doesn't bite, you know.

[when you glance over, you see that the one seated at the other end is one kratos aurion. his attire consists of a very casual turtleneck and slacks. he's staring at you with the softest hint of amusement playing both in his eyes and on his lips.]

In fact, Lloyd seems rather fond of you, Yuan.

[as if to emphasize that, lloyd laughs again and tugs at you harder! he does seem to like you, or rather, like this yuan that kratos seems to believe you to be.]

b1. an empty city.

[the place you find yourself in is unsettling. there's a stillness --a quietness-- in the air that makes it feel uncomfortable. everywhere you look, various technology buzzes down futuristic looking corridors. windows allow you to glance a glimpse of the outside. all that greets you is endless starry heavens, an good indication that you're out in space.

perhaps you find yourself in one of these corridors. perhaps you find yourself in a room without gravity and end up floating around for a bit. perhaps you find yourself in a room lined with books, documents and the like that clearly belongs to someone who just so happened to leave their door open. whatever the case, wherever you go, you find yourself surrounded by angels floating around. if you try to speak to them, they reply to you in an almost robotic fashion. no emotion can be seen on their faces or heard in their voice.

'ah, it has been a while since a non-angelic form was seen in the holy city of welgaia. aside from our leaders, the last instance was 800 years ago when the previous vessel of martel arrived.'

'lord kratos has ordered all unauthorized personnel to leave this area immediately in order to prepare for the chosen's ritual.'

'do you have authorization to be here? provide that documentation or return back to your sector.'

regardless of what you say or do, you can't get more conversation out of them. they seem lifeless.

eventually, either your wandering will lead you to a path that winds through an empty void or the dream itself transports you there. upon reaching the end of this path, you find a warp that leads to a room surrounded by that more of that empty space. in the middle of this room sits a throne.

whether you approach it or not, you'll soon hear the sounds of footsteps approaching from behind.]

You don't belong here.

[upon turning around, you find kratos coolly staring at you with arms folded across his chest. there's an unspoken question of 'why are you here?' behind that comment.]

b2. a past failure.

[perhaps you manage to stumble across one of the many teleportation devices scattered around welgaia. they transport you to and fo, from place to place. everything looks identical. it's truly a confusing maze.

by chance, you finally step on a warp that leads you to a room you've never seen before. what immediately catches stands out most about this room is what sits in the middle of it: a giant, translucent flower inside of which sits a woman. the woman lays there unmoving. perhaps you recognize this person as martel. is she sleeping or dead? either is plausible.

one other person seems to be there in the room with you. kratos stands a distance away from this flower and stares up at it with an unreadable expression. he spares a brief glance at you before looing back up at martel once more. after a moment, he speaks.]

I hadn't expected anyone to enter my dream like this, but I supposed that happening is only to be expected in this world.

[his voice has a hint of irritation to it. why did someone have to enter a dream of his when he's here, of all places?]

Comments

[skyglider]

[Latent questions begin to bubble up beneath the surface of the dream. Link knows Kratos, of course -- they've met and talked on more than one occasion. Has he ever seen the man smile like this? (Or...at all?) His sleeping mind tries to work through them even as his waking self engages with the dream.]

Mhm, [he coos, partially at baby Lloyd, sticking his face closer so that the child shoves a hand on his nose.]

By sister is uhb-- habg ob-- [He sticks out his tongue and the child removes his now-wet hand, mystified by the phenomenon.] My sister is a children. [... wait,] --um, [ahem] a child.

[flamberge]

[the antics of the two get a laugh out of kratos. it's a genuine and soft laugh that he's found himself doing more and more of around his family. it feels nice to be able to laugh like this again after so long.]

Oh, is she now?

[nevermind that it makes no sense that yuan would have a kid sister at his age. dream logic makes it make sense in a way which leads to kratos not questioning a thing.]

And I take it you watch over her from time to time?

[skyglider]

[There's something so soft about that sound, so genuine... Link pauses a moment, watching the man with wide eyes, somewhat awestruck. Has he ever seen Kratos like this before...?

This line of thinking is interrupted when baby Lloyd smashes a hand back into his face.]

Mmf! [Now he gives the toddler a pointed frown, his expression going a bit, for lack of a better word, pouty.]

Uh huh. Sometimes when mama and papa are busy, I gotta. [Boy that is a big frown. If looks could kill.] S' not hard, but it's boring.

[flamberge]

[while that look of awe is missed, the follow-up expression at lloyd's antics is not. as cute as these antics can be, they can easily get out of hand and allowing them to go on without reprimand is not ok. kratos reaches over to gently nudge Lloyd's hands down as he regards the boy with a stern but gentle expression, his voice matching.]

Lloyd, what did daddy say about touching?

[lloyd, completely oblivious to link's oh so happy expression, blinks at his dad. he purses his lips a moment, 'pet people like we pet kitties n puppies!'

cue a proud smile of approval from kratos.]

Very good.

[and thus lloyd turns back to link with a big smile and pets his face more gently this time 'good kitty!'. it's... an improvement?

with the problem taken care of, kratos turns his attention back to link and jumps back to their previous conversation topic.]

How is it boring? Lloyd's been anything but boring, honestly.

[skyglider]

[Link looks at this child, who is now petting his face, with all the righteous indignance that only an eight-year-old can muster. His posture straightens and his frown is pointed, though a little haughtier now, rather than pouty. He's about to go on a mission of correction, because he is not a kitty! How dare this child!

... but Kratos's question makes him totally forget the whole thing.]

Well-- it just-- [He sticks out his tongue again when Lloyd gets too close, and Lloyd once again has a hand covered in child slobber.

... Anyway. Link has to try again, now.]

Papa says if I wanna be a Knight, I gotta train. An' I can't train when I'm babysitting! [... that last bit gets a little whiny.]

[flamberge]

[why would a knight want to become a knight? who knows. kratos finds nothing wrong with this logic whatsoever. he does chuckle at the whining, however.]

Ah, but have you ever considered that it is in fact training?

[let him explain.]

Consider it a moment. A knight needs to know how to command their troops and be able lead in dire situations. Children are far more difficult to control than your typical knights. If one becomes skilled with efficiently but kindly being able to handle children, they can surely translate that skill to leading others as a knight.

[swordplay isn't the only skill a knight needs, just saying.

kratos the shifts his gaze to regard lloyd, who is now attempting to touch link while avoiding the evil saliva and doing so with the determination one would expect of a child.]

Granted, some of my own men were far more a child than he could ever be.

[skyglider]

[Kratos has an excellent point, of course, and the adult part of Link's mind entirely agrees. But this is a dream, and in this dream, he also has the mind of a child, impatient, wanting, wishing for everything to happen right now, right now! And so, the sound he makes in response to Kratos's very wise words is a long

long

long

drawn-out

groooaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnn.]

But I don't waaaannnaaaaa handle children. I wanna fight with a sword and go on adventures and fight monsters!

[Lloyd is doing an admirable job with this whole touching thing; for a moment, he manages to pat Link's head in a way that seems almost sympathetic. It's less sympathetic when he starts patting Link's nose, and then squeezing it, giggling all the while.]

[flamberge]

[another warm round of laughter comes from kratos. maybe some part of him can tell that this isn't yuan at this point, but that part is heavily drowned out by how hilarious that whining ends up being. it's so childish that it ends up utterly comical.

lloyd, seeing daddy laugh, ends up laughing, too! he's not sure what's funny but something has to be!]

Then think of this as a monster you need to defeat.

[his smile shifts into a more playful smirk.]

Or are you saying this is too difficult a challenge for a future knight? Granted, I understand, not just any knights can handle tasks like this; only the best knights can.

[has he played similar logic games with lloyd to get the boy to do certain things? why yes, yes he has.]

[skyglider]

[Link pouts. There's no better way to describe it -- this is a full-on pout. It's not funny! Stop laughing at him!

The pout turns into more of a thoughtful frown as he thinks on those words, though. As Lloyd giggles in his lap. In all honesty, he can't think of it like that, like a monster; he's already defeated the Calamity, and there's still so much left to do...but there is something about all of this that he does quite love, sitting with the young child, reliving this age and this memory. It twists at his heart, too, though: the memory of his sister, long gone after a century...

...

He stiffens at the challenge put forth, his adult mind snapping back to the backseat where it had been before.]

I'm gonna be the best, the very best knight! I'm gonna find the Master Sword, and I'll use it to beat the Clam-- [nope--] the Calamity before it can hurt anyone! So...so...! [His cheeks puff up, full of determination.] So this'll be easy!

[flamberge]

[the little cheeks puffing out like that coupled with what link says ends up getting the warmest smile out of kratos. if there were ever a doubt that he’s just a dad, that dad smile should put those doubts well to rest.]

Spoken like a true knight. With this determination, I’ve little doubt that you’ll become someone who can face that Calamity head first.

[part of him is saying this as a dad talking to a child; part of him is saying this as kratos speaking to link even if kratos himself may not fully realize that. if link has even half this amount of determination, he can very well accomplish such a goal.]