tick tock, tick tock

[treno_nobleman]

Who: Kuja and whoever is interested!
Where: The
When: Now-ish
What: An adventure surrounding the big clock at City Hall!
Warnings: None so far


Time in this world seemed to pass at a leisurely pace, permitting its inhabitants to do what was necessary when it was needed or when one wanted to take advantage of such thing. The arc of the sun curving over the sky marked the hour well enough, but where classes and punctuality were concerned, precision became mandatory.

Thus, without much else to remind him of the exact hour and minute of the day, time pieces had become a necessity for those who could and would pick up a pen and take it to paper with the intent to write letters or take notes for classes and the like. That the clock at City Hall had been frozen in time, it seemed, for longer than he had been Sundered, and it bothered him.

City Hall was the centerpiece of the township, was it not? The structure had been kept clean and otherwise in excellent condition, clock included, one would have thought. So then why did the hands not show the correct hour? It hadn't been left that way on purpose. That, he could have understood. Kuja stood, hand on one hip, staring up at the towering face as if he might simply will himself there, to its inner workings, to see if he could find what others in this world had not.

Not that he expected he would - he was certainly no expert in these matters - but a look wouldn't hurt. He shook his head, turning his gaze to the grand front entrance. First things first. "May as well begin."

Comments

[fatedsacrifice]

Walking up to the building, Noctis reached a hand out to try the door. Hearing a creaking loud enough to wake the local dead, his blue eyes winced at the sound. He took his father's sword out and looked around and finally up to see if there were any threats that he needed to be dealing with before they proceeded.

There was the sound of birds taking flight from high above but other than that it seemed almost kind of eerie and abandoned on the inside. Stone lined the floor the two men were standing on and after the danger (or lack thereof) was assessed, Noctis looked to his companion with a nod. And then the king started looking around for an elevator.

[treno_nobleman]

He wouldn't say the sight of the king's blade didn't bring out a hint of jealousy in him. To have his own powers back as easily as that blade would have done him wonders on any day, and while he did have Trance returned, it could only enhance the magic that he could wield in this world. All of that paled in comparison to his favored Flare and Holy spells, but he would take what he could get.

That and having to rely on a wand for said magic just seemed embarrassing. What good would a wand do him for something that had been taken away from his very core? He had groused over that time and time again, but now was not the time.

Letting Noctis take the lead, Kuja followed the king into the building, amused that he'd taken point. Was that what kings did in Noctis's world? Kuja had no idea. Royalty in his experience carried swords and cast spells, but from the safety of the back of the army standing in front of them. Part of him had expected Noctis to let him take the first steps in. Not that he hadn't wanted to do just that, but now he was curious.

Since the place seemed more or less abandoned, he thought to ask, voice quieted as he did. "Do you always step in front of the soldiers with blade drawn, your majesty?"

[fatedsacrifice]

The king was concentrating on finding an elevator, not sure this place even had one. He'd found some stairs and his boots echoed almost hollowly as he looked around. His hands touched the walls, trying to get a general idea as to how this place was set up and how it ran. So he was mainly quiet, searching around to learn what he could in case he needed it for later.

When it came to plans, this man wasn't good with them. Warp striking anything and having his men come up behind him to back home up was more his style. Noctis would normally stay in the back and let the other three go ahead of him. But they weren't here and he'd made a point to say to Kuja that he would protect him. And this one was notorious for keeping promise.

So hearing the majesty startled the dark haired man out of his focused search and his blue eyes turned to the silver haired man. It took a moment to process a response, hoping that wasn't going to come in between them being friends.

With a smirk, Noct nodded. "Yup, especially if I promised I'd protect them."

[treno_nobleman]

While Noctis worked his way around one side of the room, Kuja went to the other, looking not for an elevator and a faster way up, but stairs, something he could feel beneath his boots and trust more than he trusted the workings of a structure that couldn't maintain its own clock. He had his own magic to boost, should they need, but he hadn't yet mastered the fine art of teleportation without Terran technology behind it or portals that appeared at random to direct him between lands.

No, the stairs would do just fine. And anyway, they led in the direction he and his companion eventually wanted to go. He had one foot on the first of many steps, prepared to start the climb, when Noctis's response caught him, and he turned to look at the man.

His first thought, response there on the tip of his tongue, was that he did not need protecting, but it wasn't the words that kept him in hesitance. It was the tone behind them that he realized he was going to use before he ever said it. Something like this might have offended him once upon a time, but now... it almost had him charmed.

He would have to muse on that later, once this clock business was dealt with well and truly.

"I do not need protecting, but you are welcome to try."

[fatedsacrifice]

Noctis kept his ears open for danger though he doubted they'd get much trouble from anything they couldn't handle. For some reason he had the distinct feeling that he was being stared at and so he turned to look at Kuja.

Ok what was with the look that he was getting? It almost felt as if he was being sized up or analyzed or something. Seriously, what was going on? Feeling a little weirded out, the king was about to ask but then he got an answer.

Seeing that the silver haired man was on the stairs, Noct headed over. He could warp strike his way to a point, but that wouldn't work the entire way as he doubted there would be much to go on the further up he got.

The dark head shook and he sighed. "Never said you needed it."

[treno_nobleman]

The lack of warp striking around was appreciated more than he could say; Kuja rather liked not having sharp weapons flung in his direction whether or not he himself was the intended target. The way up looked clear enough, and certainly too quiet for his liking, but he hadn't a want to stay silent as they had a better look.

"You didn't, but you take it upon yourself anyway. Why the interest in keeping me safe, I wonder?"

And he did. In another world, they had been enemies before they were even strangers. The time passed in Noctis's world cleared that palette to allow them the chance to start over again, but the change of mind had his interest. He couldn't help it.