Ardyn groans with exasperation as he once again has to stealthily nudge the drunken teen back into place as he begins to veer off the sidewalk, thinking it probably would have been way easier just to pick him up and carry him back, onlookers be damned. The brisk walk back to Gladio’s home did help sober him up a bit though, but with it, the stinging pain in his side begins to be felt now that it doesn’t have an inhibitor. He lays sprawled on his couch, clutching an ice pack to his side with a bucket set on the floor next to him. Ardyn sits across from him reading over his newest book while also glancing up any time the teen fidgets and whimpers, then averting his eyes when the boy vomits from the alcohol but also the stress he has endured. He really doesn’t know what else to do for the boy, especially since he refuses any drinks offered to him, even the ones not infused with magic. Maybe food?
“Child, why don’t you try and eat something. Like toast or crackers. I’m sure it’ll help your stomach.”
Gladio makes the most pitiful expression and shakes his head. “I’m fine.”
Ardyn frowns deeply and returns to his book as the teen shuffles about, groaning softly until he finds a position that is comfortable. It’s not much longer until Ardyn can hear soft steady breathing coming from the teen, looking up and seeing that he has finally fallen asleep. He quietly closes his book and gets up from the chair, walking over to the boy and gently pulling the throw blanket over the back of the couch around him. He tucks him in, allowing a brief smile escape him before he realizes what he is doing and cringes, remembering that this little brat trapped him here while trying to play summoner. But still, as he looks at this sad sack before him, he feels a twinge of woe for him and his miserable little life. Just a small bit. He decides to let the boy sleep and heads off to retrieve his other books, skimming through them and stopping on one spell that had intrigued him before. Ardyn stands before a large mirror that was covered in the basement, looking at his reflection as he chants from the book. He lets his mind go blank before an image comes to his mind and a white light engulfs him. Instead of his own form staring back at him, it is instead replaced by a person from his past.
“Hmm, it worked, this will be quite useful.” he says and cancels the spell after reading off that incantation, returning back to himself. Oh the dastardly things he can do with this particular spell.
But the sounds of little feet pattering against the floor above catches his attention, knowing they are way to soft to be the plodding teen’s. It’s then he hears the squeaky voice of a young girl and remembers the boy’s little sister was returning home. Ardyn once again makes himself invisible and travels upstairs, finding himself fighting off a soft smile as he watches the teen crouched down before the girl, her arms outstretched and a saddened look on her face as she limbs around his neck.
“Gladdy what happened!? Did those bullies beat you up again? Cause if they did I’m gonna go beat them up!”
“Iris you know you can’t do that, it’s not nice.”
“But them beating you up is not nice either. You need to defend yourself or else I will!” she says and puffs out her cheeks. But then she stops and stares directly where Ardyn is standing, eyes going wide and pointing. “Gladdy, who’s that?”
Ardyn flinches back in shock, he knows he made himself invisible, so how could this child see him? He watches as Gladio looks where his sister is pointing, furrowing his brows as he scans the area.
“I don’t see anything.”
“But there is someone!” she says and looks scared. “Gladdy is it a ghost?”
The teen looks unsure of how to respond to his sister, so Ardyn decides to reveal himself since it seems the girl can see him anyway. Both siblings yelp in surprise as he manifests, him grinning with amusement at their faces.
“See!? I told you someone was there!” the girl snaps at her brother, no longer looking scared before she looks at the man and smiles. “Hi, I’m Iris, what’s your name? Are you a ghost mister?”
Ardyn chuckles and quickly thinks up a lie. “My name is of no matter, my child. And yes, I am a ghost.” he says and brings a finger to his lips. “So I must ask for you and your brother to keep quiet about me or else I can’t do what I need to and move on.” he tells her and almost snorts at the sad face she makes.
“That’s terrible, I’ll keep you a secret so you can go into the afterlife.” Iris says and looks up at her brother incredulously. “You better listen to Gladdy.”
“Oh, huh sure, yeah.” he says and forces a smile and sets his sister down.
The little girl bounds over to Ardyn, looking up at him bright-eyed and with intrigue. “So why are you stuck here Mister Ghost?”
The auburn haired man takes a quick glance back at the teen, gleefully watching him squirm under his gaze before looking back down at the little cherubic faced girl. “I was summoned by a very naughty person who shouldn’t have been messing around with magic and until I can figure out a way to unbind myself, I can’t leave.”
“Okay! Me and Gladdy can help in any way you need Mister Ghost!”
“Thank you dear, but don’t worry yourself about me,” he says and looks back over to the red-faced teen. “I have most of what I need already. Just have to begin preparing.”
The girl smiles big, mirroring the dumb grin her brother has made before and making Ardyn chuckle softly. “So can you do anything cool? Like, fly or go through walls?”
“Iris.” Gladio says with a scolding tone and gets a bratty look from the girl. “Stop bugging him with questions, okay?
“Oh all right.” she says with a pout but then becomes cheery again. “I’m hungry Gladdy! Make me noodles, please!?”
“Sorry Iris, but dad said I have to make you something besides Cup Noodles.”
“But that’s what I want. You make them really good.” Iris whines.
“I can’t, I’m sorry.”
“No fair!” the little girl whines again and turns to Ardyn, giving him a sad face. “Mister Ghost, you’re an adult, tell Gladdy it’s okay for him to make me noodles.”
“I am sorry, child, but your brother is correct. Besides, do you want your father to be mad and spank you for not listening?”
“Papa doesn’t spank me, he just makes me sit for five minutes and then I have to apologize.”
Ardyn purses his lips and looks from the smiling girl to her brother, seeing his face fall slightly before it’s masked away behind a smile. “I see. Well no matter, you should listen to your brother. He is taking care of you at the moment and was given strict orders by your father from what I overheard.”
“Okay.” Iris sighs out before turning to her brother. “Can I help you make dinner then?”
“Yeah.” he says and crouches down in front of her. “You can help me measure the rice and beans, but first you need to put your bag away.”
“All right, and then I’ll help you make dinner Gladdy!” she cheers and runs off.
Gladio sighs but smiles before looking to Ardyn, only for his smile to slowly dissipate into a frown as he looks at him. “Sorry, I don’t know how she was able to see you.”
“Well it is said small children, like animals, can see or feel paranormal things.”
“Maybe.”
“Hmm. She’s quite spunky though and seems like a darling.”
The teen beams brightly at this. “She’s my precious baby sister.”
“A bit spoiled though, isn’t she?”
The teen looks up with anger at the man before sighing defeatedly and looking down. “Kind of, but it’s not her fault. Mom and Dad just want her to be happy and not think about them being divorced or the growing tension going on around the city and the outside world. You know, just be a kid.”
“And what of you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you ever to be allowed to be a kid anymore?”
Gladio bites his lip before looking down at his feet and fiddling with his fingers. “Well, I play games with Iris.”
“How often is that?”
“We have a game night on Fridays when she’s not at our Mom’s and I’m not late from training. So maybe once or twice every other month?”
Ardyn frowns at this and goes to ask the boy another question but stops when the little brunette girl bounds back into the room and grabs her brother’s arm, giving it a slight tug.
“Come on Gladdy, let's start making dinner!”
“Okay, okay, I’m coming.” he says and snickers at her enthusiasm.
Iris stops briefly and gives a smile to Ardyn. “Are you hungry Mr. Ghost? Do you want to help us make food and eat with us?”
“I am quite all right child, do not fret about me and just have fun with your brother.”
“Oh, okay then.” she says, slightly pouty but yanks on her brother’s arm and leads him over to the kitchen.
Ardyn watches the siblings silently, finding them greatly amusing when they bicker one moment but then giggle and fling bits of ingredients at each other. It makes him think back and how things could have been different between him and his sibling if they were to have gotten along instead of being pitted as rivals. But he is dragged from his thoughts and has to quickly hide when the front door opens, with their father walking in. The two stop in their tracks, with Gladio looking with slight fear before taking a rigid military stance while his sister titters and runs to him.
“Papa, you’re home!”
“Hello Iris.” he says taking a soft tone and patting her on her head despite looking with displeasure at her messy appearance. “Did you have fun at your mother’s.”
“Yup, but I’m happy to be back home with you and Gladdy.”
“That’s good.”
“We even started to get things ready for dinner too, we’re going to make you a nice meal.”
The elder looks incredulously at the mess. “Hmm, I see. But since you haven’t really started anything, why don’t you go get washed up and we go out to dinner instead. We haven’t done that in a while.”
“Yea! Okay papa!” the tiny girl cheers and dashes off.
The room goes tense once she’s out of sight, with the patriarch turning to his son and looking with dissatisfaction. “I expect this to be cleaned up by the time we return.”
“Yes sir.” the teen says almost robotically that it makes Ardyn grimace.
The teen immediately begins tidying up as his sister returns, but she stops and looks with a pout at her older brother before turning to her father.
“How come Gladdy’s not ready? Isn’t he going too?”
“He’s grounded and needs to clean up this mess you two made.”
Iris takes on a petulant look and folds her arms, turning away from her father. “I want him to come with, we never go out together as a family anymore, not since mama moved out to go live with her friend.”
Gladio winces and stops what he is doing as his father sighs with a head shake.
“Gladiolus, go get cleaned up, quickly.”
Iris cheers happily and gives her father a hug as the teen retreats to his room to get changed, letting a small smile slip out that only Ardyn notices.
Fill (6/?) Any/Ardyn, demon summoning gone wrong
“Child, why don’t you try and eat something. Like toast or crackers. I’m sure it’ll help your stomach.”
Gladio makes the most pitiful expression and shakes his head. “I’m fine.”
Ardyn frowns deeply and returns to his book as the teen shuffles about, groaning softly until he finds a position that is comfortable. It’s not much longer until Ardyn can hear soft steady breathing coming from the teen, looking up and seeing that he has finally fallen asleep. He quietly closes his book and gets up from the chair, walking over to the boy and gently pulling the throw blanket over the back of the couch around him. He tucks him in, allowing a brief smile escape him before he realizes what he is doing and cringes, remembering that this little brat trapped him here while trying to play summoner. But still, as he looks at this sad sack before him, he feels a twinge of woe for him and his miserable little life. Just a small bit. He decides to let the boy sleep and heads off to retrieve his other books, skimming through them and stopping on one spell that had intrigued him before. Ardyn stands before a large mirror that was covered in the basement, looking at his reflection as he chants from the book. He lets his mind go blank before an image comes to his mind and a white light engulfs him. Instead of his own form staring back at him, it is instead replaced by a person from his past.
“Hmm, it worked, this will be quite useful.” he says and cancels the spell after reading off that incantation, returning back to himself. Oh the dastardly things he can do with this particular spell.
But the sounds of little feet pattering against the floor above catches his attention, knowing they are way to soft to be the plodding teen’s. It’s then he hears the squeaky voice of a young girl and remembers the boy’s little sister was returning home. Ardyn once again makes himself invisible and travels upstairs, finding himself fighting off a soft smile as he watches the teen crouched down before the girl, her arms outstretched and a saddened look on her face as she limbs around his neck.
“Gladdy what happened!? Did those bullies beat you up again? Cause if they did I’m gonna go beat them up!”
“Iris you know you can’t do that, it’s not nice.”
“But them beating you up is not nice either. You need to defend yourself or else I will!” she says and puffs out her cheeks. But then she stops and stares directly where Ardyn is standing, eyes going wide and pointing. “Gladdy, who’s that?”
Ardyn flinches back in shock, he knows he made himself invisible, so how could this child see him? He watches as Gladio looks where his sister is pointing, furrowing his brows as he scans the area.
“I don’t see anything.”
“But there is someone!” she says and looks scared. “Gladdy is it a ghost?”
The teen looks unsure of how to respond to his sister, so Ardyn decides to reveal himself since it seems the girl can see him anyway. Both siblings yelp in surprise as he manifests, him grinning with amusement at their faces.
“See!? I told you someone was there!” the girl snaps at her brother, no longer looking scared before she looks at the man and smiles. “Hi, I’m Iris, what’s your name? Are you a ghost mister?”
Ardyn chuckles and quickly thinks up a lie. “My name is of no matter, my child. And yes, I am a ghost.” he says and brings a finger to his lips. “So I must ask for you and your brother to keep quiet about me or else I can’t do what I need to and move on.” he tells her and almost snorts at the sad face she makes.
“That’s terrible, I’ll keep you a secret so you can go into the afterlife.” Iris says and looks up at her brother incredulously. “You better listen to Gladdy.”
“Oh, huh sure, yeah.” he says and forces a smile and sets his sister down.
The little girl bounds over to Ardyn, looking up at him bright-eyed and with intrigue. “So why are you stuck here Mister Ghost?”
The auburn haired man takes a quick glance back at the teen, gleefully watching him squirm under his gaze before looking back down at the little cherubic faced girl. “I was summoned by a very naughty person who shouldn’t have been messing around with magic and until I can figure out a way to unbind myself, I can’t leave.”
“Okay! Me and Gladdy can help in any way you need Mister Ghost!”
“Thank you dear, but don’t worry yourself about me,” he says and looks back over to the red-faced teen. “I have most of what I need already. Just have to begin preparing.”
The girl smiles big, mirroring the dumb grin her brother has made before and making Ardyn chuckle softly. “So can you do anything cool? Like, fly or go through walls?”
“Iris.” Gladio says with a scolding tone and gets a bratty look from the girl. “Stop bugging him with questions, okay?
“Oh all right.” she says with a pout but then becomes cheery again. “I’m hungry Gladdy! Make me noodles, please!?”
“Sorry Iris, but dad said I have to make you something besides Cup Noodles.”
“But that’s what I want. You make them really good.” Iris whines.
“I can’t, I’m sorry.”
“No fair!” the little girl whines again and turns to Ardyn, giving him a sad face. “Mister Ghost, you’re an adult, tell Gladdy it’s okay for him to make me noodles.”
“I am sorry, child, but your brother is correct. Besides, do you want your father to be mad and spank you for not listening?”
“Papa doesn’t spank me, he just makes me sit for five minutes and then I have to apologize.”
Ardyn purses his lips and looks from the smiling girl to her brother, seeing his face fall slightly before it’s masked away behind a smile. “I see. Well no matter, you should listen to your brother. He is taking care of you at the moment and was given strict orders by your father from what I overheard.”
“Okay.” Iris sighs out before turning to her brother. “Can I help you make dinner then?”
“Yeah.” he says and crouches down in front of her. “You can help me measure the rice and beans, but first you need to put your bag away.”
“All right, and then I’ll help you make dinner Gladdy!” she cheers and runs off.
Gladio sighs but smiles before looking to Ardyn, only for his smile to slowly dissipate into a frown as he looks at him. “Sorry, I don’t know how she was able to see you.”
“Well it is said small children, like animals, can see or feel paranormal things.”
“Maybe.”
“Hmm. She’s quite spunky though and seems like a darling.”
The teen beams brightly at this. “She’s my precious baby sister.”
“A bit spoiled though, isn’t she?”
The teen looks up with anger at the man before sighing defeatedly and looking down. “Kind of, but it’s not her fault. Mom and Dad just want her to be happy and not think about them being divorced or the growing tension going on around the city and the outside world. You know, just be a kid.”
“And what of you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you ever to be allowed to be a kid anymore?”
Gladio bites his lip before looking down at his feet and fiddling with his fingers. “Well, I play games with Iris.”
“How often is that?”
“We have a game night on Fridays when she’s not at our Mom’s and I’m not late from training. So maybe once or twice every other month?”
Ardyn frowns at this and goes to ask the boy another question but stops when the little brunette girl bounds back into the room and grabs her brother’s arm, giving it a slight tug.
“Come on Gladdy, let's start making dinner!”
“Okay, okay, I’m coming.” he says and snickers at her enthusiasm.
Iris stops briefly and gives a smile to Ardyn. “Are you hungry Mr. Ghost? Do you want to help us make food and eat with us?”
“I am quite all right child, do not fret about me and just have fun with your brother.”
“Oh, okay then.” she says, slightly pouty but yanks on her brother’s arm and leads him over to the kitchen.
Ardyn watches the siblings silently, finding them greatly amusing when they bicker one moment but then giggle and fling bits of ingredients at each other. It makes him think back and how things could have been different between him and his sibling if they were to have gotten along instead of being pitted as rivals. But he is dragged from his thoughts and has to quickly hide when the front door opens, with their father walking in. The two stop in their tracks, with Gladio looking with slight fear before taking a rigid military stance while his sister titters and runs to him.
“Papa, you’re home!”
“Hello Iris.” he says taking a soft tone and patting her on her head despite looking with displeasure at her messy appearance. “Did you have fun at your mother’s.”
“Yup, but I’m happy to be back home with you and Gladdy.”
“That’s good.”
“We even started to get things ready for dinner too, we’re going to make you a nice meal.”
The elder looks incredulously at the mess. “Hmm, I see. But since you haven’t really started anything, why don’t you go get washed up and we go out to dinner instead. We haven’t done that in a while.”
“Yea! Okay papa!” the tiny girl cheers and dashes off.
The room goes tense once she’s out of sight, with the patriarch turning to his son and looking with dissatisfaction. “I expect this to be cleaned up by the time we return.”
“Yes sir.” the teen says almost robotically that it makes Ardyn grimace.
The teen immediately begins tidying up as his sister returns, but she stops and looks with a pout at her older brother before turning to her father.
“How come Gladdy’s not ready? Isn’t he going too?”
“He’s grounded and needs to clean up this mess you two made.”
Iris takes on a petulant look and folds her arms, turning away from her father. “I want him to come with, we never go out together as a family anymore, not since mama moved out to go live with her friend.”
Gladio winces and stops what he is doing as his father sighs with a head shake.
“Gladiolus, go get cleaned up, quickly.”
Iris cheers happily and gives her father a hug as the teen retreats to his room to get changed, letting a small smile slip out that only Ardyn notices.