aterat | Signal Interference

Entry tags:

Signal Interference

Who; Mono and whoever happens to be around
What; Log
Where; Harbor district sewer entrance to start
When; Mid September
Warnings; I will update if specific warnings are necessary. To start I would say: Mentions of solitary confinement/isolation, and abandonment
Note;Mono is now canon-updated to the end of game, and he is not going to be particularly rational atm, so it'll probably take a while for him to calm down and get both himself and his abilities under control depending on the way your character approaches. For more information, see his canon update here.

A young boy stumbled out of the sewers in the harbor district, looking disorientated and somewhat skeptical of the world around him. He shouldn’t be there, really. Not in the ‘children should not be in dangerous places in the dead of night’ kind of way, so much as the… he shouldn’t be in this world, kind of way.

This couldn’t be real, after all. He’d spent months in that room. Months feeling eyes on him despite the presence of the walls he’d built up around him with his powers. Months alone to ponder and let the hurt and anger gnaw at him after his friend… After Six dropped him. After she abandoned him to make her escape from the tower alone, letting go of his hand in the last moment. Just as he had thought that they were going to be free and could resume their joint escape from the city in search of a better place.

This had to be a wishful delusion of a place far better than the Pale City. A place he would much rather be, with people who cared about him (or could they betray him as easily as she had?).

But it wasn’t real, it couldn’t be real. The more the thoughts spun in his head, the more anxious and angry he got at whatever had changed the appearance of the space around him to look like something he couldn’t have. “It’s not real.” He mumbled, the light static that flickered in his sclera more pronounced as he frowned at the sight of the harbor district around him. “It’s not fair. It’s not. Stop trying to trick me.” He balled up his hands into fists. Seeing a place like this, it was too upsetting. He didn’t want to see something he couldn’t have. Mono needed to change it back, to stop being taunted by it. “CHANGE BACK!” He yelled in a desperate and unsteady tone. Energy rolling off of him in waves that seemed to thicken the air unchecked as the already small, rundown harbor buildings around him shuddered almost as though they might really change back.

If he had been more clear minded, he might have remembered that if he’d been in his world… he wouldn’t know or remember this place at all. That fact didn’t even begin to edge its way into the child’s mind as a few windows nearby exploded in shards of glass from the strain. The illusion wasn’t changing, the surrounding images weren’t changing like they should be… It was more like when he’d been outside the tower still and trying to get the hang of his abilities to get to the tower faster before everything had gone south.

Why…? This couldn’t be that place. This couldn’t be real, right? So why…? Was that thing behind this? Was it taunting him out of boredom? Could it even do that?

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It wasn't often that Ignis came down here since there wasn't much that he needed. But he'd tried to stretch his chocobo's legs out and Nida was still at work. The house seemed rather empty now and Ignis would steal moments in Mono's unoccupied room while Nida was out. He had no wish to upset or burden his already grieving husband at how much he too missed the boy and so hid his own grief at the boy's departure.

Sighing, he dismounted the chocobo and stared out at the water after tethering the bird to a safe post. He didn't want to go far since he wasn't really up for fighting off thieves or anyone that might want to steal or harm his chocobo, but he would if he needed to of course.

Half of him thought he then heard Mono's voice stating something about something not being fair and so Ignis turned his head to the sight of nothing and no one. He sighed and figured maybe he needed to work less hours and he was hearing things. But still, he walked down the steps at the entrance of the sewers and thought he heard Mono's voice again, this time a command to change back?

"Mono?" Ignis called, before crouching and noticing the energy engulf the buildings. He himself had to duck into one of the sewers to avoid the onslaught.

Mono was decidedly… not himself. Or at least not the ‘himself’ that everyone was used to him being. Having been trapped in the bottom of the Signal Tower for several months alone without company, save perhaps for the many eyes of that amalgamation that resided there as well (blocked by the walls he’d built around him) had unfortunately changed him somewhat. He was stretched out a little more, limbs a bit more spindly than they had been, and the static in his eyes was more pronounced than it had been. The changes were at least not as bad as they could be, but more time in the tower would probably have left him entirely unlike what anyone remembered.

On top of that… Mono was actually more powerful than he’d ever really realized. He’d had ideas, of course, but he had only ever used his ability to teleport through televisions before. When asked if he could do other things, the boy had only ever shrugged and expressed uncertainty. Now… well, he’d been through enough to have a better idea of what he could do. Unfortunately, while the powers could be good and helpful given the chance, some of them were also quite destructive as well.

At the very least, not being attached to the Signal Tower here was sparing the city from something much worse. A few broken windows and creaking buildings trembling under the weight of his emotional outburst were better than the kid bringing them down entirely, after all. If this were the Pale City, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see them practically bend in half. But this was Aterat, and so there was only the sound of windows breaking and a certain thickness in the air as the signal he gave off ran a bit wild. The air smelling like ozone around him, and a constant, practically begging tone coming from the boy asking for whatever was trying to trick him to stop.

Vaguely the boy thinks he hears a familiar voice, but that seems like another layer to whatever was trying to fool him into some kind of false hope. “Stop trying to trick me. I’m not stupid!” He Another window exploded nearby, scattering across the cobblestone audibly.

Ignis braced himself by flattening himself as much as he could while the place continued to be torn. This was the power the boy hadn't quite showed, but the whole static thing made sense now that this devastation was going on. He didn't have any means to protect himself but he was determined to get to the boy he'd began to see as son he would never have. He hinted around at the idea of Nida feeling that way too, but always stopped short of his husband giving him some speech or another as to why that would never work and that it would never happen.

The advisor heard windows breaking and placed a hand up over his glasses to try and see whatever was going on. "No one's trying to trick you and no you're not stupid!" Ignis called almost desperately. "We've been looking for you, Nida and I! We've been worried when you disappeared from the house and we couldn't find any trace of you!"

There had been so many things Ignis hoped to do such as reading to Mono, and going on more grocery trips. It was always fun to have the boy help around the house and in the kitchen. Ebony loved Mono and was often found trying to creep into Mono's room in an attempt to sleep next to him. The advisor also wanted to teach the boy how to ride a chocobo and help around in the garden and maybe even cook. But all of those hopes had been dashed when the boy had gone missing.

Mono was trembling slightly, the emotions rushing through him were overwhelming. The anger, the hurt, the loneliness and the fear of a hope being dashed upon rocks again. He didn’t want to hurt again, didn’t want to get his hopes up and have that thrown in his face. It had been months of solitude in that room, so very long since he heard a voice other than his own or the distant sounds of whatever shows were being broadcast on the televisions around the city. The televisions connected to the signal tower, to the signal he was the source of.

But there was a voice on the edge of his awareness, the voice of someone he’d gotten so close to in his time here. Someone he looked up to, who always seemed to try to take care of him… Who probably shouldn’t have, all things considered. Mono knew what he was now, after all, knew what he was going to do… Knew that part of him was going to be glad, was going to like it… That wasn’t a good person, by any means.

The boy finally looked up, though, at the voice, despite his certainty that he couldn’t be hearing it. The gray cloud of static in his eyes picking up as they widened in shock at the sight of the man trying to reach him despite the broken glass sometimes bursting around him. A certain recognition there, a realization just creeping in on what this was. “Mr. Ignis…?”

They had been looking for him, worried about him… Ignis and Nida shouldn’t have, and the boy edged a few steps further back. His form starting to stutter and blur a bit as his ability for ‘skipping’ started to kick in as the need to put some distance between them struck him. Not for him, but for the safety of those he cared about. He didn’t want to do to them what he’d been doing to the people of his world. “You shouldn’t, you should go!” He finally yelled back, before he seemed to blur and then reappear a few more feet further away.

Ignis wasn't sure if he was getting through to the boy or not, but he hoped that somewhere he had. He had no idea what Mono had been through and had he known, he would've torn everywhere down to keep him safe. There had been so many times that Mono had brought him happiness and had restrained himself from using that 'l' word. It was too soon, he and Nida differed on how to best approach this, but the advisor did see Mono as a son of sorts. And telling the boy he loved him was always shelved because it wasn't appropriate nor would it be welcome.

After Mono left, that regret seared through him repeatedly.

A relieved slight smile hit his face as Ignis took cover again against the wall as more debris passed him. "Yes, it's Mister Ignis." At least that much had been established. And he took a few breaths just to readjust and refocus. This was so very important.

But at hearing he should go, kicked in the royal advisor's stubborn button so to speak. "No, I am not leaving you. You left us, and that wasn't your fault. But I am not letting you go again. You are very important to me, and I am going nowhere. I will wait as long as I have to for you to come home where you belong."

Mono knew Ignis didn’t understand, couldn’t understand what he was suggesting. If he did, maybe he wouldn’t be so stubborn to convince someone as dangerous as Mono to come home… right? “I’m tellin’ you that you should!” He’s not what everyone thought he was, not at all. He knows that now, and knows what he’s going to become one day… What he kind of is already, even if he hadn’t quite grown into it yet. “I don’t wanna hurt anyone, so just go!”

The boy took another few steps back, not sure where to go… But he at least realized that staying where he was now wasn’t a good option. Not if he didn’t want to break more windows or hurt anyone who might be near them. “I just break stuff, I’ll break the house and I’ll break people!” He added, trying to get through the man so he could just leave and save them both the hurt that the boy wasn’t sure he could handle facing again. Not after Six… Not after she left him.

Maybe he could get outside the city. That might be better for everyone… right? If he couldn’t go back, then maybe it would at least be better if he wasn’t anywhere that people could get drawn in and changed.

Ignis shook his head. "No, I am not leaving without you." He put his back to the wall and looked up at the ceiling, trying to keep words suppressed because that had always proven to be safer when he was back home. Others could have emotions and display them by all means, but that privilege had been denied him so many times. Emotions were messy and not logical or rational at all, but he'd be damned if he didn't feel them.

Nida had been the first to truly open him up and accept those long denied feelings. And then Mono had too but in a different sort of way of course.

"You speak of hurting someone, but it.." Why was this so hard? And why were there tears coming down underneath his spectacles? Quickly he wiped them away and continued. "It hurt to not see you or know if you were safe. "You also speak of breaking people. Nida and I were broken when we realized you'd left. You are.."

Again his voice failed him. "You're family Mono. You're like.." Now Ignis wasn't sure if he was annoyed at his voice failing or these damned tears he was wiping. "You're like a son to me. One I never thought I would have the honour of knowing."

And he let himself slump against the wall with a sigh even as debris flew right past him.

Those words struck rather hard, because family was an odd concept to the boy. He liked the idea of family, and both Ignis and Nida had always made him feel like he belonged when he moved in with them… He sometimes wondered if that was really what family was, just a bunch of people living together and supporting each other, since he really didn’t have much of an idea himself given he’d never had one before.

Which was part of why this was all so terribly frightening for him. Ignis was talking about how it hurt them when he was missing from this place, but the man couldn’t possibly understand what Mono meant by ‘broken’ considering he had only just come to understand things better himself… Which was why the boy did his best to ignore the desire to just go home with Ignis and pretend this never happened, no matter how much he wanted to. Tears stung his eyes as he shook his head. He needed to make the man understand, needed to make him go back to where it was safe and give up before Mono got too attached again. “You don’t understand! This isn’t even the baddest thing I could do! People aren’t even people in my world anymore and that’s ‘cause of me!” And it hurt to admit that, hurt to acknowledge that he was the problem.

"It takes time to harness one's powers." Ignis replied. "But it depends on how you decide to utilize your powers is that is the measure of the person." He leaned down to avoid an oncoming piece of wood that could've most certainly knocked him unconscious. But he did listen to the boy go on. Whatever Mono had been through had to be devastating but he knew how things went.

He pushed his glasses up over his nose and could feel the anger and the heartbreak as he explained. "My king has had many people sacrifice themselves to save him. His own father made a shady sort of deal regarding his very own people in order to save his son, who will bring back the light of our world." His head lowered. "The people he ruled over dealt with the consequences of a false treaty and the kingdom was destroyed."

He sighed. "There are hard choices to be certain. But your heart is a good one and even if you've made mistakes, I know you will do all that you can to make them right if and when you can."

The energy around the boy was at least fizzling down a bit, still present but less destructive as his focus was drawn into the man’s story. It wasn’t the same, not by a long shot… The eldritch horror that used him wasn’t something you could make deals with, and while Mono needed to learn to use his abilities… He was stuck in a cycle that would probably never be broken. At some point, the innocence in him that wanted to do good, the part of him that Ignis and Nida had met all that time ago… Would break away from the bitter old man he was to grow into, and try again, but he always ended up back in the signal tower. Back in that chair… Mono didn’t even know how many times Six had let go of his hand, had abandoned him to such a fate, but he didn’t know how to fix it.

Everything was terribly broken, and he knew it was because he couldn’t turn off the power that radiated around him. That drew the ‘viewer’s’ attention to him… The signal the tower amplified so that thing could feed.

“I dunno… I really don’t… I always go back. Doesn’t matter what I do different.” He mumbled, tears escaping the static in his eyes. “And I don’t wanna hurt anyone here, but I dunno how my powers work completely. I dunno how to stop it. I could do the same thing here that I did there! People would be better if I stayed away.”

Ignis could hear the break in the boy's voice and he sighed with some relief. Some how he had gotten through, even if just a little. His heart broke to hear the tone too and the story along with it.

"I presume you believe Nida and I would be better off if you stayed away. And while I don't often speak for him, I don't believe Nida would agree with that statement as I don't."

This was his way of politely disagreeing without an argument because Ignis knew the boy had to learn to think for himself and draw his own conclusions. But there was the part where Ignis was one to challenge fate.

"If you don't know how to control it, then you can learn. Nida and I will stand by you as long as it takes,and help you. You are not alone here, and you are safe from whatever fate is in store while you remain in this place. And I do not believe for one moment that if it was either of us going through an ordeal such as you are now, that you would simply give up on us. So neither of us will turn our back and abandon you or have you face this alone."

He took a deep breath. "If in time you decide you don't wish the fate in store, Nida and I have been looking into returning to my home together. And you are more than welcome to come along if we can indeed accomplish that very goal."

Edited 2022-10-05 08:25 (UTC)

“Of course you would be!” the boy responded to the question, shaking his head slightly. “It’d be safer! I don’t want the stuff that happened to the adults in my world to happen to you guys.” He responded, the idea of them becoming like the viewers was horrifying. Whether they agreed or not, didn’t really change his mind on that much. They hadn’t seen it so they couldn’t know how bad it was.

But if he could make sure it wouldn’t happen here… If he could make sure the people he cared about were safe? That was a different story. He wasn’t sure if it was possible. There were certain aspects to his abilities that just… didn’t seem to turn off. But if he could at least learn while he was here before something did have a chance to happen in this world… Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad… He didn’t know what was going to happen in his world, presumably, before the cycle started. But there wasn’t a pattern formed here yet. That thing wasn’t here… It might have been too late there, but maybe it wasn’t too late here. “I dunno if I can learn. I dunno if some of it can be turned off.” A weird way to put it, but it wasn’t exactly magic or anything like what he saw in this world. It was something strange… “But I wanna try. If… If I can try and make sure stuff doesn’t happen, maybe I could stay.”

And he thinks he knows who can help him, if anyone could. He just needs to find her and ask her… But that didn’t change to him that Ignis and Nida needed to realize he could be dangerous.

Though the suggestion- no, the offer gets a surprised look from the boy. Startled out of his rather spiraling line of thought. “What…? You would want me to go too?” They wanted him around that much that they’d maybe take him when they left this world…? That was… A lot. But it also meant he needed to make sure he could stop himself from becoming a problem before such a thing could occur.

"I appreciate your kindness in looking out for us. That is rather heartwarming and touching at the same time." Nida and Ignis were hardened warriors, tested in so many battles physically and mentally. But he was really happy to hear that the boy was trying his best to look out for the men he cared about in his own way. That got Ignis to smile.

"If you don't try, you'll never know." Ignis replied in what he hoped was a soothing tone. And here he thought he might be gaining some ground with the boy here as well because now he was considering Ignis' words instead of automatically swiping them away. "And as I've said, Nida and I will stand ready to assist you in every way that we can. For that is what family does."

It made him think of the lads back home, how they were a family and all they had left pretty much. But he could choke and sob about that later. Right now Mono was most important.

Hearing the surprise in the tone had Ignis smile. "Of course we want you to go with us. There I would be able to introduce you to my king Noctis along with our two friends, Prompto and Gladio."

And for a moment he pictured the lads meeting Mono, and Nida. How downright shocked they would all be to learn that he had a family in another world. Noctis and Prompto would be the bad influences and Ignis was certain of that. Gladio might seem formidable to Mono at first, but the boy would undoubtedly soon learn there was a giant teddy bear type of an uncle beneath the surface although he would be a protective uncle as would the other two.

Nida and Ignis’s being capable warriors was a good point, but… Mono had seen what people were up against in his world. They were up against him, older and without much sanity left, thanks to the betrayal and isolation along with the towers corruption. What he would one day become… And the eldritch amalgamation that was bigger than anything that could be seen, filling so much space and ever hungry. Always feeding on the population that was drawn in by his signal. It was daunting to think about, and he never wanted to see the people of Aterat deal with it.

“I tried lots in my world. It just… it starts again. I always end up back where I started.” Which was confusing, but the city and time itself were more than a little broken. “But I wanna try here… Just to make sure it doesn’t happen here.” He added with a small nod. “Just… I’m sorry if I break stuff. I break a lot of stuff in my world, and… especially if I get angry.” he admitted, though that much was obvious given the state of the surrounding buildings.

But the fact that they really wanted him around that much, that they’d be willing to take him with them? When Six had ended up deciding he wasn’t worth keeping around, or only saw what a danger he was... That meant a lot to the boy. “Yeah…? I… I think I’d like that…” he responded quietly, even if he wasn’t sure it was possible or a good idea. “But… I gotta figure out everything else before I decided. If you guys were going and I still didn’t know how to control stuff or was dangerous, I wouldn’t wanna go somewhere else that I might ruin like my world.” Which was a sad thing for a ten-year-old to have to think about and decide, but the ship of ‘being a normal kid’ had sailed a long time ago.

Ignis' shoulders slumped as he felt himself relax just a little when Mono mentioned that he wanted to try here." He couldn't go back empty handed and there was no way that he couldn't tell Nida what had transpired.

The angry comment had him smile and he pushed his glasses back up over his nose. "Well I will have you know that when I am angry I tend to turn that towards sparring or training on my own. Anger is a normal and healthy thing. And it sounds as if you already know that it can be quite destructive if left unchecked or unchanneled."

And even if Mono was a danger, it still had Ignis breathing a sigh of relief. "The invitation is open and I daresay you'll have time to see how you can harness your powers before we go anywhere. But I accept your terms."

Mono reminded the royal advisor of Noctis, a twenty something year old king who felt responsible for an entire kingdom toppling down because of the power he would eventually possess. The weight of guilt could be terribly crushing and Ignis saw it daily on the young king's face. He took all of the blame for something that was beyond his control, as it sounded as if this boy was doing.

Mono had a hard time imagining Ignis as ever being particularly angry, at least not the kind of angry that he knew he was capable of… And quite destructive might have been a slight understatement, but the boy had already said as much about what his powers could do as he was comfortable with. Going any further with an explanation… That was a little scary… So he decided to save it for if it become an actual problem. If he couldn’t learn to control things, or if that thing showed up here, and he found himself being used for its beacon… Then he would explain, if only to make sure they knew what the biggest problem was.

He was glad that the man at least seemed to accept the terms, a little afraid that he might be stubborn about it… Because then he might have to say more, and he wasn’t ready for that. They had, for lack of a better way of describing it, a deal. “Yeah… I hope we got a lot of time. I dunno how long it could take if it’s even a thing I can do.” He responded, but finally his small form sagged a bit as he gave up the last of the fight in him. It was exhausting, to say the least, to have gotten that upset and let his abilities get that out of hand. There was still a noticeable static in his sclera as he looked to Ignis again, but that would likely never go away completely now. “Can we… Can we go home?” He finally asked, voice terribly quiet and small.

He hoped there would be some semblance of peace now, at least between them since the unexpected negotiations were solved. Ignis hadn't planned on letting the boy know how he truly felt about him until a longer amount of time had passed. But then the world forced him to be without the boy and without the bond he'd treasured.

And he'd been nothing but angry. There had been so very many nights that he asked whoever was listening to return the boy and he'd confess. Of course this hadn't been the way Ignis had thought it would go at all, but the words were out and the feelings were known.

"I hope so too." There was a smile after he said those words and he sighed, feeling the burden of worry tumbling off of his shoulders. And after looking at Mono once he heard the question, that smile got bigger. "Yes, by all means let's go home." And after a moment he looked at him a little better. "Are you hungry? When was the last time that you ate?"

“Um…” He paused a little awkwardly at the question. He was ready to go home, of course, but Mono couldn’t really say the last time he had eaten. He didn’t remember. “You don’t really gotta eat when you're stuck in the tower, and… I think I was there for a few months?” Time was a bit broken in the Pale City, so that was the best that Mono could guess on the subject. So it had at least that long, give or take… “But something you made sounds good?” He added, not wanting to dwell on it too much. Going home and getting to have something Ignis had made sounded really good, after all. Made it feel a little more like he was really back.

"Months?" Ignis asked, unable to keep the surprise out of his tone. That answer had him running through the things he could cook in a hurry in order to get some food into Mono. But at hearing that reply, Ignis felt relief. "You know I always keep plenty of food in the house and it won't take any time at all to get you fed."

He sighed. "If you're ready to go, we'll head on home and perhaps we can throw something of a small party for your safe return."

“Yeah, I got kinda stuck there.” He responded with a small, awkward shrug. It was where he always ended up. They were honestly just lucky he wasn’t there for longer, because Mono might not have come back even remotely himself at all after a certain point. “Never got hungry while I was there, though, so I guess you just don’t gotta eat.” He wasn’t sure about Six’s experience beyond what the tower had done before he saved her, and he never got to ask because she’d left him behind… He nodded, though, at the comment. “Yeah, you always got really good stuff.” And Mono really did enjoy Ignis’s cooking. Chances were, now that he was here again, it wouldn’t be long before he really was hungry again.

The boy was more than ready to go home. “Yeah, I think I want to go home now.” And not look at what he’d done to this part of the harbor district, hopefully no one would be mad about the broken windows… It was mostly abandoned or in ruin anyway, so it was probably okay as long as he didn’t do it again somewhere nicer. He wasn’t sure about a party, though. Parties seemed a bit festive and like an award for doing good things, and while being back was definitely preferable to being there, he wasn’t sure he deserved anything like that at the moment.

"So you were somewhere for months with no appetite." This has Ignis definitely concerned. A boy not eating for that long could be fatal. Of course fortunately that wasn't the case here, but it did rankle him. How in the world could the boy go without eating? Ignis wasn't sure he should ask and let Mono explain that somehow another day. What was most important was getting the boy home to Nida and where he was safe.

A small smile appeared at Mono's compliment and he nodded at hearing the other was ready to go home.

"Alright, I'm sure Nida will be wondering where we've been, and I'm sure Ebony, Julia and the chocobos have missed you as we have."

The advisor wasn't going to bother to hide it, because when he'd said those earlier words to Mono he'd meant them. And he wasn't about to go back on them not ow try and pretend that it was otherwise.

“Uh-huh, yeah. It was a kinda weird place… Stuffs not normal in the signal tower. It’s not the same as when you're outside in the Pale City.” The boy responded with a tiny shrug of his shoulders. He couldn’t really say how it worked, exactly. But the eldritch entity that called it home probably had something to do with it, but time was often wrong there… Physics also weren’t what you would call average either. Then the fact that no one (aside from the entity) really needed to eat was just one of the many oddities. “Still kinda started growing, so I guess not eating didn’t stop that.” He added with a little awkward gesture to his slightly more gangly and spindly self, having shot up a couple of inches in the time he was there already. Even that was weird, since… Six had gotten really big while she was trapped there, and she hadn’t been trapped as long as he was. He fixed that, though. Saved her… For all the good it did.

The boy scuffed his foot against the ground lightly as he looked down. He didn’t really want to focus on that topic for long, so he focused on what Ignis was saying. “Yeah, I miss them… Now that I remember them, I guess.” He added, still feeling a bit bad that he hadn’t remembered anyone when he was back in his world. In some ways that might not have been a bad thing, since it would be frustrating to know there was somewhere better than he could be than there… But in other ways, it might have been a comfort.

The only thought that kept crossing his mind when Mono mentioned this signal tower was the boy somehow strapped down and forced to sit and do terrible things. But that was a mental picture that he wasn't about to share with the other. So he sighed and looked back over when Mono mentioned still growing. There were a few inches that hadn't been there before but that didn't make him any less him. And Ignis didn't love him any less because of it. Nida wouldn't either, and of that he was certain.

"So when you went back you forgot everyone." Ignis hesitantly placed a hand on Mono's shoulder. "It's alright. You're safe here, but I daresay we may have to remodel your room to accommodate your height."

And as they walked on, he smiled. "So that means another shopping trip to see if your tastes have changed."

Mono’s height hadn’t been that exaggerated by the tower yet, but he had gained a few inches. It was more that he was a bit awkward and spindly looking than anything, much longer, and it might have been a different story. For the moment, new clothes would definitely be necessary for most. The boy’s favoured trench coat that had been oversized now fit him slightly more naturally than it had when he was last here.

The other’s words were a comfort, though. The reminder that he was safe here was a welcome reminder that he wasn’t in that other world anymore. The Pale City and the tower were far away, and that entity wasn’t here… And Mono hoped it couldn’t get here.

“I dunno if I like different stuff or not, but I like going out with you and Nida.” He added with a little tilt of his head. It was fun to go shopping with them, even if it was just to help with getting stuff. Though Mono would likely have a few… odd changes in his preferences for things. His favourite colour would have changed again, or at least gotten a bit conflicted considering the person it had been tied to. Hard to like something if it now reminded you of the person who betrayed you.

Ignis only smiled as Mono mentioned that he liked going out with them. And of course the married pair would clear their schedules for him along with anything else it took to get Mono settled back in. "Well that's good to hear, because we rather enjoy our outings with you as well."

He knew that it might take some time to adjust and Ignis wasn't about to ask Nida to take time off of work. So the advisor would do so after arranging it with the staff there. There was more than one person that owed him some work shifts and he always took the extra shifts, knowing one day they would need repaid. Well now that time was here and that was comforting that he could be gone. And if needed he'd wait until Nida got home and ride to work.

Whatever it took.

"So we'll get home, get you fed and tucked in for the night if you're tired. And you can let me know when you're ready for a shopping trip."

Signal Interference

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