an allegiance sworn to the soon-to-be king —— the blood of protectors pumping through his veins; a duty thrust upon him, though hardly minded… treated with the utmost respect, with pride that he could not begin to form in words. though it all went so much deeper than that. the creation of a four person family… unspoken attachments, yet a brotherhood assembled without the need for speech. the duty of someone willing to die so someone else could live —— not only the royalty he swore by, but the others that had his back, no mater what.
silence had lingered between two eldest men of their tight knit band of troublemakers and the greater good combined… the ‘kids’, already asleep inside the caravan. the shield, however, would refuse to leave his side. the unbearable guilt enough to keep him awake —— so why bother, anyway ? ❝ iggy, ❞ voice uneven, unsure, completely out of character for the brawny, confident, and outgoing persona of the amicitia.
there’s a sigh, not at the situation, and no, never towards the other… but at himself, for being so unable to scan his mind for the proper words to acknowledge what had happened, and whose fault it was. his, always his. the heavy burden of failing to keep someone who meant so much to you, safe. cold feet, you could call it, as another sigh passes through parting lips… amber optics hidden by firmly closed eyelids. maybe later they could discuss it. ❝ —— can i get ya’ something ? ❞ / @austeros.
he could feel the heat from the remaining embers flickering across his face, the sounds of the two youngest of the brotherhood snoring away upon the mattress’ in the caravan - - the awkward shifts of the shield upon the camp chair next to him - sounds that he had never been attuned to before, though it hardly mattered anymore.
the darkness had consumed his sight entirely, and it was unlikely to ever return - though he ensured to maintain a fallacy of hope upon tight features, something to hold the group together, to silence the bickering that had come to par between the boys. the bickering that they entered when they assumed ignis wasn’t around, when they assumed he was out of earshot -.- he didn’t need to read their faces to pick up on their moods.
the sounds of the others uneven voice tugging him from the threshes of his mind, head flicking up to where the familiar voice had sounded from, almost an automatic reaction at this point. a pointed sigh escaped his lips, the self blame evident in the others voice, even though it had been ig to turn around and break from position - something that gladiolus had zero control over, something the shield could never had anticipated. his eyes close for a moment, but for nothing more, as his own screams from that day still haunt his nightly thoughts -.- oh he could remember everything. the searing pain upon his own features, his hands flying up to protect his face, his own screams of pain echoing off the altissa architecture, and the blackness that happened almost instantaneously, his hands reaching out for anyone and anything, brushing lightly against what he had assumed was the shield’s ankle “ i can’t - gladi - i can’t see! “
but that was all in the past now.
“ gladi. ” he began ever so slowly, his tone somber as always. “ i have everything i’ll ever need right here. “ he replied quickly, as his digits raised to push his glasses back up his nose, flinching automatically as they brushed gently along what he assumed to be magnificent scars. / @heroscar
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