Dissidia Didn't Want Them
by Meimi

Prompt filled for Ruaki.

"We'll be right back!" Yuri called out, waving back towards Flynn and Hope before heading off after Noel.

Smiling wryly, Hope could only shake his head in fond exasperation. "Like clockwork."

"Without fail," Flynn spread his hands out and sighed heavily at the entire situation. "Just can't ever stay put, can they? I swear, one of these days I'm going to put a leash on Yuri and never take it off."

"It's not a bad idea," Hope said smoothly, his expression taking on a knowing light as he glanced over at Flynn out of the corner of his eye. "Assuming we ever find our way out of this strange, seemingly pointless land, and assuming we make it back to my world somehow, which is highly improbable with our current odds, I suppose I could let you borrow one of mine to try out on him."

Flynn very nearly tripped, but managed to right himself a few seconds later without too much trouble. "Very funny," he grumbled, but there was little heat to it. He was used to far worse teasing from other areas.

"So sure I'm joking?" Hope's smile quirked up in amusement. "You've already seen just how enthusiastic Noel can be when he feels like it. With that knowledge in hand, such a conclusion isn't too difficult to arrive at."

Flynn stayed silent for the next half-mile of their meandering journey, likely mulling over the possibilities in his mind, before finally speaking up. "No, you're right. I have no way of knowing for sure. And frankly, you never can tell with people. No matter how well you might know somebody, they can still surprise you at the oddest times."

Hope chuckled. "Well, to be fair, I've always taken the saying "It's always the quiet ones." a little too literally. It makes things interesting though."

Flynn couldn't help but snort in response. "It does at that." He was smiling now though, his steps a little lighter and his shoulders a little less droopy thanks to a joke that may not even be a joke. There really was no telling with Hope. When they'd first met up, Hope had come across as quite serious and well put together, so it had been easy enough for Flynn to decide to go along with them. The fact that Hope and Noel were the first - and only - people they'd run across in this... place had helped as well. And really, that first impression hadn't actually changed much, it had just... grown. Hope was a natural born leader, but he was also a nice person. But also a devious one, especially when he was paying Noel back for something inconsequential. So no, leashes didn't seem like they'd be too far out of the ordinary for someone like Hope Estheim. He probably had one for every day of the week. Designer ones at that. Hmmm.

"You don't have one in purple, do you?"

The beast was quite big, with tufts of hair haphazardly sticking out of the rocky protuberances dotting the creature's body. They weren't part of a shell either, that was the damn thing's skin. Not exactly what Yuri would call a good prospect for dinner, much less getting back in one piece after a fight with it. The fact that it smelled like a sewer from downwind wasn't helping its case one little bit. If Noel thought that he was going to help at all with anything involving that thing, well, he had another thing coming. Such a happy lunatic...

"So what do you think?" Noel asked conspiratorially, an almost infectious grin plastered across his face.

"It's ugly," Yuri deadpanned. No way, no how, was he going to help Noel take that beast down. He preferred to stay in one piece, thank you very much.

"Well yeah," Noel shot back sarcastically, "That seems to be the theme of this stupid world, but that's beside the point. The point is what you think it will taste like."

"I don't know and I don't care," Yuri said blandly as he shifted around and started heading in the opposite direction from that hideous creature.

"Oh, come on," Noel practically whined after him, "Where's your sense of adventure?"

Yuri resisted the urge to snort in disbelief. "Not in my stomach." Sometimes he wondered about Noel's sanity, then he remembered Hope and didn't wonder anymore. Some things were truly meant to be, and not because of romantic ideals. No, sometimes it just took a lunatic to look after and care for another lunatic. "And don't even think about taking it down on your own. You might be able to," Yuri said conversationally as he continued to crawl away from that thing, "But then you'd have no way to cart it back to camp, because I sure as shit am not going to help you with that."

"You're no fun," Noel grumbled from behind him. Good, at least he was being smart and coming with instead of staying back. Hope wouldn't hold it against him if Noel really did do something that monumentally stupid, but Yuri preferred for his friends to stay in one piece, regardless of their state of sanity.

"I suggest we find something to hunt that won't end up having the texture of rocks," Yuri suggested as he arched an eyebrow and cast a look back at Noel. "Because I don't think our better halves will be amused if we bring back crap again."

Noel grimaced at the reminder. "Yeah... yeah, you're right. There is that. He'd probably freeze my butt again if I brought that thing back." Noel heaved out a dramatic sigh as they headed further into the brush. "Pity though, I bet it would've been real interesting."

It wasn't that Hope was spoiled or anything. Certainly, he'd spent his formative years as a "little rich boy", but circumstances had changed his outlook rather permanently. And really, there was no point dredging up those ancient memories again, especially not over something this stupid. So no, it wasn't that he was spoiled, and he was always prepared to rough it if the situation called for it (which it had several times throughout his life). But seriously, did everything in this godforsaken world have to taste so terrible? Animals and plants, it didn't matter which, there was always something off about the taste. At best, the wildlife came off as bland when cooked. Unfortunately, it rarely was at its best. The rabbit type creatures - that were ever so common - were outright rancid and impossible for even Noel to stomach. All the tuber roots they'd dug up so far had an odd sour note to them, but at least they were somewhat palatable. The birds were a crapshoot, literally. Hard to hunt and even harder to tell whether they'd end up edible or not. Honestly, Hope was beginning to suspect that their mysterious kidnapping and subsequent relocation to this terrible world was just an experiment to see how quickly they'd turn cannibal from the horrible food. They still had so little information to go on, so it was a feasible enough conclusion to arrive at.

"You feeling okay, Hope?"

Glancing over at Flynn, Hope managed to muster up a reassuring smile before turning his attention back to his distasteful meal. "I'm fine, just the usual problems with enjoying our typical dinner."

"Oh? Hmmm." Flynn hummed in curiosity, took a bite, chewed it thoroughly, then swallowed it down. "I don't know, it seems pretty decent tonight to me."

Hope shot him a disbelieving look before understanding dawned upon him. "Oh right, I keep forgetting that you have no sense of taste. This junk probably does taste just fine to you. Too bad that isn't a shareable trait."

"I have a sense of taste," Flynn grumbled defensively. Hope gave him another look, this one even more disbelieving, and Flynn deflated slightly. "Okay, so it's not the best, but I can taste things. You guys didn't have to ban me from cooking, you know. It's not like I could ruin this stuff that badly."

Hope snorted. "Never rule out the possibility of things getting worse, because the instant you get complacent it will get worse. Without fail." Flynn scowled irritably, but didn't argue the point. Hope gave him an apologetic smile, then took another small, measured bite out of his food. It wasn't the worst they'd had up until now, but it wasn't anywhere near being the best either. Ugh. What he wouldn't give for a little taste of civilization right about now.

Noel wasn't entirely sure how they'd gotten to chatting about their latest subject. Well, no, that wasn't quite true, he knew why. He just didn't know why why. Or something. Whatever. Despite having known their traveling companions for only a few weeks, he felt comfortable around Yuri, like they'd known each other for a really long time and were just catching back up on their recent goings-on. They didn't, of course, had only just recently met for the first time, but it didn't change that base feeling. Instincts maybe? Did it even matter in the end what the why really was? Probably not.

They'd come across another stream, this one a bit more promising, and had set up for another attempt at fishing. The last one had been disastrous with vicious, spiny fish that had ended on an extremely low note of bloody hands and empty bellies. Here's hoping there wouldn't be a repeat of that this time around. And so far it had been peaceful, though granted, they still hadn't gotten a bite yet. It could still go either way. Hope and Flynn were off foraging for veggies that hopefully wouldn't taste like ass again. It wasn't that he cared either way, but after awhile, it was pretty hard to ignore the fact that this planet was a smorgasbord of shitty tasting plant life and even shittier tasting meat critters. The sooner they found a way back home the better, to be honest. Noel wasn't sure he'd survive Hope's growing irritation with the local diet if it went on for much longer.

"You really shouldn't feel guilty about it," Yuri said finally after several long moments spent shared in silence. "But I'm sure you do anyway. It's hard not to when it involves a friend."

Noel swallowed heavily and nodded. He should have been able to do something, anything. But nothing had worked in the end, nothing had gotten through. Caius had stopped being rational a long time ago, probably even before he'd been born. All that had been left in the end was an end.

"But that's just the way things work out sometimes," Yuri continued, his tone deadly serious as he cast his line back out again. "There's really no right answer to something like that. Every choice is wrong, no matter which way you look at it. But you can't just sit idly by and let shit happen either, you have to do something regardless of it being wrong."

Noel nodded in reluctant agreement. There really hadn't been a choice in the end. Caius had been a friend, regardless of whether the man had still considered him one or not. To ignore his suffering, to let him compound it with countless sins, that would've been so very, very wrong. No, it hadn't been the "right" choice in the end, but it had been the only one that had afforded either of them any sort of peace. He could shoulder that burden, at least.

"It just boils down to what you can live with," Yuri said somberly as he gazed out over the water, a sad smile quirking at his lips. "It will always haunt you, of course; but some choices, no matter how horrible they seem, are so much easier to bear than others."

Letting out a heavy breath, Noel nodded once again. "I know. I just... wish it really were easier."

"Me too."