NyxNoct Week - Day 3: Rescue
@nyxnoctweek2020 Day 3: Rescue!
There’s a Jaeger headed to the Shatterdome - only, it looks a lot like the one that was supposed to be destroyed in the closing of the Breach.
Omen-ish Noctis & Pacific Rim AU. Contains 2 versions!
AO3
“Marshal,” Ignis’ voice broke through the quiet. “We are getting readings of something approaching.”
Marshal Leonis’ face was dark as he came to the console, eyes scanning the multitude of readings on the computer. “What is it?”
The familiar ache of a headache came over Nyx. It had been days since the Breach had closed, and the headache had been a near constant companion. It tugged and pulled at the inside of his skull. Never painful, but insistent on its annoyance. He screwed his eyes shut as he tried to listen.
Ignis was quiet for a moment, painfully so. “It seems to be a Jaeger sir.”
“A Jaeger ? Shit, I thought we recovered all our remaining Jaegers. Who the hell —”
Nyx felt himself go cold at Ignis’ next words. “It’s the Regalia, sir. She’s headed to the Shatterdome.”
“How the hell can the Regalia even still be standing? Noct — The Breach —” Nyx’s throat was a desert. “He didn’t make it.”’
The glare of the lights hid Ignis’ eyes as he collected himself. Nothing was said for a tense, horrible moment. Everyone in the room was at a loss. Nyx looked around, collecting all their expressions. Prompto looked around nervously; Gladio was tense and cloudy-eyed; Cor and Ignis were the picture of stone-faced, though Nyx had long since come to know better. Only Luna finally was able to break the silence.
“ Is it Noctis in there?” Lunafreya asked.
Ignis adjusted his glasses. “According to our readings: yes. It’s him. He’s operating the Regalia solo.”
Prompto came up to Ignis’ side, eyes roving over the information. He frowned, looking a little sick. “He’s right. But, Iggy. His biometrics, it’s…”
“I know.”
Gladio made a pained noise. Nyx couldn’t blame them. They’d grown up with Noctis. Had seen him from a young boy, struggling on his crutches, to a man worthy of his father’s title. They’d loved him.
Nyx had been lucky. It was a thought that swirled in his head a lot these days. He’d become a part of Noctis through the Drift. He’d grown to like him, and perhaps inevitably, love him.
Days had gone by where Nyx would lie in his bed, trying to will his mind to keep a steady memory of how Noctis’ hands and fingers felt. The weight of his body against him. The smell and tickle of his hair. It felt selfish, too. That he could keep these parts of Noctis locked away with him under his skin, when they didn’t even have a body to bury.
His friends and his family had sent them off together, and Noctis — damn stubborn, heroic Noctis — had to go and eject Nyx from the Regalia and take the weight of the world on his own.
Gladio had taken the news of Noct’s sacrifice particularly hard. He’d all but crumpled against Ignis who only just looked like he was holding it together.
Nyx didn’t think he could get over the image of Gladio pressing his face into Ignis’ neck and weeping himself ragged. Ignis, barely a monument of strength, fraying at the foundations, cradling his friend’s back and comforting him under the emptying glaze of his eyes.
If he could have, Ignis would have yanked Noctis straight from the Breach himself, Nyx was sure of that. He was only holding it together, barely at that, for Gladio’s sake; for the sake of face while they still were running through the work day. The walls of their rooms at the Shatterdome were thick, but even Nyx could feel Ignis’ mourning like a thick cloud down the hallway.
Prompto looked on the verge of a panic. Nyx didn’t forget the other man’s own affections. Prompto had disappeared shortly after the news, and so had the Marshal after announcing that the clock be stopped. He’d been absent around the daily proceedings for a month. Despite his usual demeanor, Marshal Leonis tentatively touched his son’s arm.
“So what do we do?” Gladio hoarsely cut in. “Do we welcome him? Stop him? Most of our tech’s shot now. Regalia was the very last one. We’re sitting empty right now.”
“The comms got destroyed when Nyx and Noct entered the Breach. Their electric interference also means the AI can’t reconnect back with Regalia. Noct could be hurt. What if he made it and he’s just trying to get some help?” Prompto added in.
Marshal Leonis shook his head. “Or, it’s a trick by the Kaiju. We know they’ve constantly evolved to mess with our tech the more we’ve adapted to them. It could be one last trap aimed at us.”
Prompto bit his lip. “We also used most of the Crystal to destroy the breach. What little we have isn’t going to be much use if we - if we have to…”
The Crystal had been a thing long fished out of the ocean. It was too foreign in origin to be considered Earth-made. It had been theorized that it had probably been spit out of the Breach, probably from whatever world the Kaiju had also hailed from. While the power it radiated was immense, it was far too finicky and unknowing. Manipulating it farther than it seemed to allow, often led to drawbacks.
It was how Caelum Industries had come to use it to power their tiny nation-state. It was Regis Lucis Caelum’s wish that he could properly harvest it to power all countries some day. Then the Kaiju had risen from the seas, taking half of Galahd with it in the first wave of attacks.
In the end, it did what they needed it to. It powered the Jaegers. Gave them new, better weapons to fight the Kaiju. Gave humanity a chance.
Most of the Crystal had been sacrificed to close the Breach. And Noct along with it.
A rapid beeping came up on screen. Every head in the room turned, eyeing the information rapidly running across the screen. Ignis gave a shuddering exhale that ached in Nyx’s ears.
“She’s — disappeared. Just like that.”
The Marshal shoved against him, eyes running over all the information. “That’s impossible. How the hell?”
Nyx felt his mouth go dry. They hadn’t imagined it had they? A daydream borne of pure grief made real and whole and terrible. The Regalia — Noctis — risen again from the mouth of death, clawing through the oceans. Faintly, he could still feel their Drift between them. He could feel Noct’s after-image clouding along his edges, bidding him to come close.
“Could it be mimicking that Cat 5? The one with the cloaking abilities?” Prompto quickly deduced. “Our sensors could only briefly capture it when Nyx and Noct fought it.”
The Regalia blipped into focus again. Closer now. The Shatterdome in clear line of focus. Everyone grew tense. Moments later, all signs had gone quiet again.
“It’s like,” Luna began. “It’s... teleporting?”
Prompto grew alarmed. “What? How the hell can it be doing that? Jaegers can’t teleport!”
“But maybe one fueled by a weird ass Crystal could ,” Nyx cut in. They’d shoved it straight into the Regalia’s core and made her nuclear.
A sharing of grave looks passed around, unwelcome like an unhappy Sunday dinner. Marshal Leonis took the head of the table. “Prepare any and all defenses we have left. We won dammit. We’re not going back.”
He hurried off, yelling commands left and right as Ignis shakily made the announcement on the PA. Prompto and Gladio went off not long after. When the announcement had finished, Ignis braced himself against the back of his chair and hung his head. Nyx opened his mouth, only to shut it when Lunafreya laid a gentle hand to his shoulder. He let her shuffle him out.
“Do you feel him?” She asked softly. They walked slowly, even as alarms and lights flashed in panic around them as people hurried double time.
“Yeah. I do. It’s,” Nyx sucked his teeth in annoyance. “We’re not even in the Drift and it’s like he’s calling me. But something’s... blocking it. Me? Him? I don’t know.”
Luna nodded. “He’s reaching out.”
“So, what? He’s coming back? For me?”
Luna didn’t respond. They stopped. The flashing red of the sirens cast a glum light over Luna’s face. She was tired. She’d always amazed him by being so put together despite everything. On point, poised, and ready. Here, she looked all of her twenty-four years. Dulled and exhausted, and wanting to unravel.
“Oh,” Nyx said. “You really…?”
Luna looked away. “I know the Drift. My mother headed development of the technology. When you’re connected, that never truly goes away. When we lose someone while we’re still Drifting, a thin thread still holds up together, pumping through the bond. We’re haunted, at best. That’s all I can say.”
“Ravus. Right?”
“Right.” Luna held his shoulder. “You two —”
A loud crashing echoed through the Shatterdome. Nyx and Luna were thrown to the ground, as chaos began to descend around them. Nyx’s heart pulsed loudly in his ears. Beside him, Luna roughly gripped his sleeve.
The Regalia has breached the Shatterdome! I repeat, The Regalia has breached the Shatterdome! Main Deck C has been compromised!
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit.” Nyx headed straight into the fray, cursing his own idiocy.
Nyx fought against the swarm of people rushing farther into the dome. He was flung once, trapped against the wall, before he was roughly elbowing himself forwards. A grating, metallic scream stopped Nyx cold, clutching at his head as it pulsed unbearably. He crumpled, fighting to catch his breath. A million and one voices sledgehammered their way through his head. Voices and thoughts incomplete and wrong; sounds he didn’t recognize; memories he did. Against the slow clearing of his vision, Nyx willed himself up and dashed towards the Regalia.
“Noctis! Noct!” Nyx called, voice fighting against the noise. “NOCT!”
A massive shadow passed overhead. Almost in slow motion, Nyx watched as one of Regalia's enormous hands came over him. The fingers began to curl as it descended. A ringing pinned through Nyx’s ears until he was a soundless bubble, frozen in time by the hand reaching out to him. The Shatterdome shook and Nyx knew darkness.
When the Regalia opened her palm, the unfamiliar purple haze of her visor greeted him. Electricity crackled across the face plate. Nyx could recognize the honing system flitting across the surface until it blipped, having zeroed in on him. At her core, the remains of the crystal had dug into the chest plate, clutching at it like creeping ivy; it pulsed, like breaths.
Nyx breathed loudly, sitting up on his knees. “Hey, kid — You in there?” No answer but the beeping. “C’mon, don’t fuck around like that. Answer me!”
Nothing. “Noctis —”
Nyx felt fear bolt straight through him. A jagged line ran across Regalia's head. It creaked, grating like massive rusty doors, until the conn-pod was split open like a terrible, yawning mouth. Regalia’s palm tilted, and Nyx with it. He scrambled for purchase on her palm, digging his blunted nails into the metal without avail, until he was falling between Regalia’s jaws.
Nyx hit the deck of the conn-pod soundly, rolling painfully onto his side. He groaned, pulling himself to sit up.
“ Ny-x .” Nyx’s eyes traveled up. “ N-yx .”
Seated like a Prince amongst the ruined wires and debris, was Noctis. He was still in what was left of his drive suit. The familiar skull logo of the Regalia’s previous duo barely intact across Noctis’ chest plate. In the dark light of the conn-pod, his eyes glowed a deep, unsettling purple. One ankle rested against the opposite leg’s knee, while Noctis cradled his cheek against his knuckles.
He’d always sat like that, kind of haughty and bored. Crowe had started it first. She’d teased him about looking like a scolded prince when Ignis had nagged him to eat his vegetables, and Nyx had run away with it. Any chance he could, he needled him about it. Poked and prodded until Noctis had accidentally begun answering to Your Highness and Prince.
The unnatural glow of Noctis’ eyes cast a shadow along his face. He blinked, and the light flickered. Under his skin, the faint glow of thin, purple veins were pumping. For the first time, Nyx didn’t want to be around Noctis.
“ You’re here, ” Noctis said. “ You’re here.”
Nyx nodded, unable to find his voice. Noctis smiled, hollow and wrong. “ Stay, Ny-x. Stay. ”
“No, kid. No, no, no. You. What are you doing?”
“ Find. You. Stay. With you. Ny-x. ”
“Noct…”
Something struck the Regalia, forcing it to stagger and grip into the concrete of the deck. Noctis made a pained noise, hanging onto the wires to steady himself. The visor of the conn-pod pulled up the image of another missile headed their way. Noctis swinging his arm around, late in batting aside the projectile. Nyx slammed against the side, head ringing. Something rolled next to him and bounced against his leg. It was Nyx’s cracked helmet. It was the one he’d lost when Noctis had ejected him to the surface. The oxygen had been leaking out. Noctis had swapped them while he’d been too weak to fight him off.
“ Ny-x!”
Noctis opened his palm. Nyx watched as Noctis activated the Engine Blade, and struggled towards him. He slid, hitting the other end of the conn-pod as Noctis sliced into the main deck. Noctis wound up again, poised to bring the blade down. Nyx leapt, grabbing his wrist.
“Noctis, stop!”
“ Protect, You . Ugh. Ny-x!” Noctis fought to break from Nyx’s grip, using his other hand to try and push him away. Nyx shook his head, grabbing Noctis’ other wrist in his grip. He pulled it flush against his chest, head bowing towards his partner.
“We’re partners, aren’t we?” Nyx shook his head. “This isn’t how it goes, dumbass.”
Purple eyes narrowed as Noctis frowned. Nyx motioned to the helmet lying on the ground.
“Let me Drift with you. We’ll protect each other.”
Noctis dropped his forehead against Nyx’s chest. He murmured his name and nodded. Nyx picked up his helmet and went to his spot. Noctis didn’t seem to need to be hooked up like they used to, but at least the helmet would give Nyx part of it. He pulled it on. The wires crept down from the conn-pod, plugging into the back of his helmet and drawing over him like waiting hands.
He looked across the way at Noct who looked back. He grinned, finding his face still familiar with the easy smile he’d only gifted to his partner. He felt the pull of the Drift tickling at his mind and let it wash over him.
The feel of the wind from the open windows as Regis drove through the country roads of outback Insomnia. Nyx’s mother’s fixing the jeweled headband across the crown of Selena’s hair. The ocean, rearing up, swallowing Galahd. The feel of the bo staffs striking in the quiet room. The warm palm resting at the middle of his back. The weight against his shoulder. The hand holding his as they dove down into the depths. The fear, the quiet hiss of Nyx’s helmet. The cold hands of the Crystal. The pull of sleep, cold, yearning sleep, for a dream, for —
Nyx felt a thread in his palm. It’s thin body slithered over the lines, trying to slip through his fingers. He yanked. Everything seemed to stop. He tugged again, pulling at it until he could loop it around his wrist and didn’t let go.
When he walked, it was through flowing images. Each like a gate of water reflecting a memory. He let it flow over him, one after the other, without dwelling too long on it. He followed the thread, feeling it slacken less and less and he came closer.
It hovered at one memory. Nyx recognized his own face, partially hidden by standard PPDC pillows, and blanketed with the rare warm light of a calm morning. He watched his fingers trace along a cheek, Noct’s cheek, and the tips of Noctis’ fingers twisting a braid around it.
“Not chasing the RABIT is rule number one, kid,” Nyx said, with a put upon sigh. He entered the memory. Inside, to his amusement, lay Noctis, sleeping in an imitation of their bed. Nyx shook his head and sat at the edge. He flicked Noctis in the forehead. The reaction was instant. Up jolted his partner, indignant and upset at being woken. Nyx shot him a shit-eating grin.
The annoyance quickly bled away until Noctis was throwing his arms around Nyx’s shoulders and burying his face against his neck. “You’re here,” He murmured almost inaudibly. Nyx kissed just under his ear. He snickered not long after.
“Why am I not surprised? Sleeping, again ?”
“Shove off.” There was a smile in Noct’s voice. “What’dya gonna do? Snitch?”
Nyx pulled back and crossed his arms over his chest with a smirk. Noct choked; “You’re serious? Nyx, come on!”
Nyx held out his hand. “Like I’m gonna let you shoulder everything alone.”
Noct took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. They locked eyes once and took off running. When Nyx blinked awake again, he was in his body. The hand in his squeezed their fingers together. Nyx peered over. Tired cobalt blue gazed back, lightened by that lazy smile he loved. Together, they pulled the Regalia off the deck and into the bay. Nyx pressed against the comms link of his helmet. Ignis picked up on the first ring.
“Hey, guys, guess what…”
-
Version 2
-
The room was spinning when Nyx awoke. A ringing pitched in his ears, making him hiss as he tried to open his eyes. His body felt heavy; a million invisible hands holding against him, but not down. He could move if he wanted, but he was so tired, too tired. Beside him, a cool hand smoothed over his forehead and into his hair. Nyx felt almost instantly soothed. When he could creak his bleary eyes opn, it was to a familiar smile.
Nyx closed his eyes again, leaning into the other man’s touch as the ache pounding behind his eyes petered away. A smell kind of like ozone and rust met his nose. It was an unfamiliar scent he didn’t normally associate with Noct. Noct was cheap body spray and the faint scent of fried fish. He only smelt like a storm when -
“Noct,” Nyx breathed out. “Noct.”
“Hey, Hero. Finally up?”
Nyx laughed. “I should be asking you that. W’time is it? Did I sleep in that long?”
Noctis hummed, still petting his hair. “Dunno, actually. Just woke up, too.”
Nyx reached blindly for Noctis’ other hand, bringing it up to kiss his palm. Noctis’ fingers tickled against his stubbled cheek, pushed his thumb against Nyx’s nose with a chuckle. Nyx grinned, lazy and easy. It wasn’t often they got to sleep in. Rare was a kind word for it. Nonexistent at that. A few minutes to wake up together, kissing in false calm was as close to a peaceful morning as they could have. Nyx felt distantly uncomfortable the slow way they’d been waking up.
“Missed you, Hero,” Noctis murmured. “Didn’t want to let you go.”
Nyx snorted. “Where am I going? You and me gotta stick together.”
The hairs on Nyx’s body started to raise. He furrowed his brows sleepily. A cousin of panic itched under his skin. He couldn’t understand why as Noctis brushed a faint kiss against his temple.
“I only want to be with you, too. I’d do anything.” Noctis’ voice took on a weird waver. Nyx willed his eyes open, blinking until he could make out his surroundings.
It was bright. Bright enough to hurt. Within it all, was Noct’s familiar form. His usual dark clothes, hugging a form Nyx would know from memory, all leading up to the umbral hue of his hair, lying flat without the usual hair gel. Noct looked paler than usual, darkened shadows under his eyes. Nyx thumbed away his bangs, meeting his partner’s eyes. Where ocean blue should lay, pulsing violet eyes stared back.
The lights overhead flickered. Something like a rumble passed behind the walls, soft but apparent.
When Noctis breathed, a flicker of purple light matched it. Nyx glanced down, watching a black-purple crystal breathing with him flash. A smoky echo followed Noctis’ voice. “Nyx. Nyx, stay with me.”
Nyx swallowed. He struggled to sit up. “Noct, baby. You okay?”
Noctis sat up with him, tilting his head in thought. He slid his eyes over to him, slow and glowing. “M’fine. Better now that you’re up.”
He laid a hand to Nyx’s chest. “Much better. I was afraid of losing you, you know. I nearly lost you down there, but the Crystal saved us. Saved you.”
Nyx’s head drummed. Down there…? Down where , Nyx thought. Had they been somewhere? They had to be. Sleeping in wasn’t normal. By now they’d have to be up and about. What was normal? Nyx’s head was whirling. Noctis was still looking at him. The violet of his eyes eating up his irises. He leaned towards Nyx, propping his chin to his chest. His hair smelled like a storm.
“What do you mean?” Nyx asked.
Noct rolled his eyes with amusement. “Just what I said. They sent us to die. It saved us.”
“They,” Nyx repeated. They? Nyx felt light-headed for a moment. Noctis’ hand played along his ribs from under his shirt. Nyx let it calm him. It was a thing Noct had actually liked. It had a way of turning Noct into putty when Nyx could get his hands on him in the quiet of their room. Noct nipped him on the chin.
“Still there, Hero?”
Nyx wasn’t sure. He hummed an affirmative just the same. He puthis arms around Noctis. He pulled him flush against his left side. Noctis felt unnaturally cold. The Noct he knew was a constant furnace. It made sleeping next to him kind of uncomfy at times, especially when Noct attached to him under the sheets. Nyx rubbed at the inside of Noctis’ wrist. He felt empty inside for some reason; alone. Even next to Noct he couldn’t understand why he felt like he was lonely.
“Hey, are we planning on just sitting here all day?” Nyx joked. “You’ve got to be getting hungry.”
He pecked under Noctis’ eye. “Maybe Specs can whip up something? I don’t know how he can make cafeteria slop taste good.”
Nyx didn’t know why he felt alarmed when Noctis’ expression grew dark. A dangerous frown painted across his face.
Nyx pushed on, even as his body grew taut with distress. “...Bet Gladio will be there, trying to get him to make gourmet cup noodles. And Prompto’ll get nagged for forgetting to watch the oil off his hands.”
Noctis’ lip curled, teeth peeping out. “Don’t worry. I’ll deal with them.”
“Babe -”
“You wouldn’t have gotten hurt if not for them,” Noctis spat. The crystal in his chest crackled. “They sent you down there. I nearly lost you because of it.”
Down there. Nyx was getting tired of not knowing what that meant, of not knowing why Noct was behaving so hostile to the three people that he’d loved most of all. Most of all, why he felt like he was floating alone with the ocean at his back. He had Noctis in his arms and still couldn’t feel him no matter how close he pulled him.
The rumbling got louder. Noctis didn’t seem to notice as the lights overhead swung.
“They’ll regret ever hurting my co-pilot.”
Nyx blinked too slow. Behind his eyes were pounding again. It pulled at his brain, phantom fingers drawing against all the creases in his head and drawing at his thoughts. His gaze wavered. All around them felt like water. Sluggish and muted, even as they seemed to remain the same, floating in a nothingness. Noctis’ hair was ethereal, haloing around him as he leaned towards him.
“Nyx. I’m going to protect you.” Noct’s voice was shadowy. “I’m meant to be at your side. I’ll never let them hurt you again.”
Nyx felt his shoulder ache. His whole left arm erupting in what felt like fire. He hissed, unable to reconcile while his arm was threatening to fall off, while Noct blinked at him, unnatural.
Nyx felt like a fish in an aquarium. Everything too loud, pounding against his glass, against him. The ripples of water around him echoing like an earthquake. Lightning flashed inside his blood, crackling along his veins and skin.
One thing kept sticking out to Nyx their whole exchange. Something that kept nagging at him. Noct hadn’t mentioned them as a unit. It was I or me , and rarely we .
“When did your vocab change, kid?” Nyx started. A geyser of emotion rising up in him. “Thought we were a team.”
Noctis’ furrowed his brow. “Of course. It’s you and me. Like always. Like how it should be.”
“No, Noct. No - babe, you...you don’t even see do you? Oh, Noct.”
He laid a hand to Noctis’ chest. He felt around the crackling crystal laying there. Noctis’ eyes grew wide. They glowed back at him, confused and boyish despite the strange light of his eyes. Piece by piece, Nyx could feel everything coming back. It made no sense in bits, but he could feel himself understanding just the same.
The Crystal they’d hooked up to the Regalia, their Jaeger. The Breach the Crystal itself had come from, and where all the Kaiju had clawed out from. The two of them diving deep into the abyss, slipping in between the fissure between worlds to close it. But that wasn’t completely right either. They’d made it, Nyx knew they did. But why couldn’t he remember what happened next? What happened to Noct?
He pressed his forehead to Noctis’. “C’mon, Kid. We’re in this together. Show me.”
He felt Noct’s lashes flutter close. For a moment, their breaths were wrong and uneven, and then Nyx had hit it. The cadence of a synced breath. They inhaled at the same time, deep and filling. Then the memories sloshed into the fish bowl.
Flashing red. Everywhere, everything. The air in the conn-pod was evaporating fast. Noctis was looking at him, watching him struggle to stay awake. His helmet was cracked. Noctis’ eyes was moving frantically around them. Something. Anything. His heart in his ears, reverberating around the speakers of the conn-podd.
He couldn’t lose him. He couldn’t lose Nyx. He’d lost his father, his home already. They both had. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t, he couldn’t. Not without Nyx. He’d promised to stay with him, to stand by him. Everything was loud, so loud. Too loud. His hands were shaking and numb. Nyx wasn’t waking up. Nyx wasn’t breathing. Why did they have to be born into such a world? Dropping down with what effectively was a bomb to close a gods-damned hell tear between worlds.
The Crystal crackled. It grew big and terrible. Slicing up along Regalia’s form. It fractured the breach. It’s pieces flying far as a light sped along, hitting each tiny crystal, exploding in a shower of blue. Regalia rocked, shaking the two of them in their restraints. Noct struggled to breathe. He pulled at his bonds, reaching, reaching, and took Nyx by the hand. He held on, as his tears dripped along the faceplate of his helmet.
In his mind’s eye, he could see Nyx laying beside him. His smile was gentle, and only for Noct. He was touching his cheek, promising to stay by his side, come hell or high water.
“Please,” Noctis cried. “I want to stay with him.”
With a deceivingly gentle jingle, the crystal sliced through the Regalia, and took them into its core. With a final explosion, before the breach closed, the two of them were flung to the ocean floor. Then nothing.
Nyx opened his eyes.
Oh, he thought. Oh.
In bits, in pieces. He saw more. Who knows how much time had passed, but the piece of the Regalia the crystal had kept, had regrown the Jaeger’s limbs. They were still hooked up to it. Their bond, their Drift, still fueling along her pathways. Noct’s fear, his plea, everything, it had risen their Jaeger. The Regalia had risen out of the Pacific and gone stalking to the Shatterdome.
Nyx felt a lump in his throat. The shaking. The Regalia was destroying the Shatterdome. Noctis was destroying the Shatterdome.
“Noct, this isn’t right. You know that. We both do.” Nyx brushed his thumbs at the corner of Noctis’ eyes. “We can’t stay like this.”
“But I want to be with you.”
“And you will. We will. But not like this, Noct. Please.”
Noctis roughly grabbed Nyx’s shirt collar. A look of panic fell over his face. “Nyx…”
Nyx smiled at him. He kissed under each of his co-pilot’s eyes. Noct had always had trouble not following the RABIT. It was one major reason Marshal Leonis had been so adamant about not letting Noctis into a Jaeger. Noct had gotten caught in the mother of all RABITs.
Nyx could feel his fear like a familiar blanket. Fear of being by himself again, like when the kaiju had ripped into his home in Insomnia. The tense moments before his father could find him, the walls of his room nearly crushing his legs. The hope under it all. Gladio’s steady surety. Ignis’ soothing voice. Prompto’s infectious laughter. Nyx - Nyx’s unwavering loyalty. More and more and more; names and faces and people passing by and rushing over them.
Nyx could feel Noctis’ grip loosening. He reached out to him through their bond. He held his hands out for Noct, took him by the tips of his fingers and then pressed their palms together. A million memories swirling past them. The two of them at the center of a hurricane.
The rumbling outside stopped.
When Nyx blinked again, he was met with a view of the ocean meeting the sky. The blue of his co-pilot’s eyes, like the beaches back home. Warmth swelled inside of him, fit to burst. There he is, Nyx thought. Like a hum, he could feel Noct in his mind again. Their Drift was buzzing bright. One for the records, Nyx might say. He could feel Noctis' awe at feeling like himself, feeling Nyx’s feelings flooding between them.
“We’ve got somewhere to be, Your Highness,” Nyx teased. “You ready?”
Noctis’ eyes sparkled with mirth. He kissed him again for the road.
“Always. Let’s go.”
Hand in hand, they fell. Falling, Nyx had said, was easy. When they came to, they were blinking through the eyes of their Jaeger. She pulled back from the ruined deck of the Shatterdome, sliding to stand in the bay. Inside the conn-pod, her two pilots were hand in hand, looking at each other from across the way. They held fast and hailed LOCCENT.
“Hey guys, did you miss us?”
-
AN: This is different than I usually write because I wanted to try a new-ish style. I’m not confident it’s that good but its good to try anyway. I had a vision of like, crystal corrupted noct in a jaeger still chasing his drift with nyx and feeling like he’s missing part of himself. I’ve never seen NGE just gifs, so just image all those funky open mouth units. I’m p sure nge is one of the inspos for pacrim so hey i hope it worked.
day 4 is also a pacrim au, but that one and this one aren’t related.
as for verse 2: i randomly got the thought about it the day before and here we are. verse 2!
also, sometimes i just think a lot about how much ignis truly cared and loved noctis and get so emotional.