"Jeez." Noel groaned as he lowered himself to the mat and closed his eyes. While not broken in any places he was deeply bruised from his fall and had to endure more healing potions and spells then he'd ever wanted to. Enough to get him back up to snuff but healing required time to fully work. He needed a good night's rest or two to give his body time to move through the accelerated healing process. At least the ugly purple and yellow marks were gone. He closed his eyes and took as deep a breath as he could.
"Hey." Hope called as he entered the tent and sat down next to Noel. It was late now, without sunlight really filtering in but the clocks said that it was around 11 at night. Noel grumbled and Hope laughed softly as he moved past his own sleeping bag to approach the hunter. He kicked off his boots and slid under the bed roll and squeezed into the small space.
"Hey! You have your own." The hunter grouched as he was tugged close, half onto the mage.
"You say this to the person who's going to make you feel better." Hope let out a teasingly long suffering sigh. "Relax." Hands massaged Noel's shoulders and the other sighed softly at the gentle touch.
Hope smiled at the way the hunter relaxed into him, his head lying on the pillow and his shoulder resting over the smaller man. He kept his arms around the hunter working his way gently down his back before he shifted them gently so that the taller man was on his back with Hope on top. He laid his hands gently across the younger man's chest and down across muscled abs. Noel opened his eyes and looked up at Hope as a cool breeze settled between them as Hope sat up.
Hope gave a reassuring smile as he slowly untied the string on his pants and slowly eased them down. He smiled fondly at the sight of skin revealed watching as Noel blushed and looked away. They had yet to be fully naked before each other. Seeing the other's nervousness, Hope paused and grasped thin fingers under his own shirt and took off the tank top before returning to his exploration. Noel's hands came up immediately to touch the silver haired man's strong arms.
"You do realize that we're not exactly alone." Noel whispered and Hope laughed softly as he pulled the younger man's pants down around his hips before settling down beside Noel and curled up against the other.
"Then I guess you have to be quiet." Hope's smile was almost devious as he slid his hand back down Noel's body to rest his hand on erect flesh before he paused as Noel tensed up. "You okay? I just wanted to take your mind off the pain a bit."
"Fine." Noel breathed slowly through his nose. "Just... Never had someone else... there you know?" Noel grabbed for Hope's sleeping bag and pulled it over them. Hope laughed and allowed the other to hide them almost fully under the sleeping bag shuffling around until Noel's bag was laid out and Hope's was over them like a blanket. Hope then pulled Noel back to him and took him back in hand.
"Is that better?" He asked quietly into the other's ear. "It's just you and me... Relax."
Noel tried to take a deep breath but Hope's hand was moving and he couldn't help the groan that left his lips. The silver haired man made some sort of soft noise in response and Noel moved closer, hissing in pain. Hope pushed him back down and moved over him more. Careful not to press to hard as he shifted his position. He licked the corner of Noel's mouth and murmured softly into his ear.
"Shhh. I'm right here. I've got you." Hope teasingly licked Noel's ear hearing the hunter gasp and tremble. Even though he couldn't see it, he knew that a red blush was spreading across his cheeks. The hunter both embarrassed and intrigued. "Just relax."
Noel's hands groped at the smaller man as he bit his own lips. Still somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware that they were not alone. Just beyond the little blanket cocoon that they had made were the thin 'walls' of the tent and the rest of the base camp. He pressed his face into silver hair as he let out a shaky moan in orgasm.
"That's it... relax." Hope murmured gently and kissed Noel's mouth slowly. As the other came down from his high, Hope threw back the covers a bit and grabbed a towel and wiped his hands off. He cleaned Noel up a bit and pulled his pants back up as the hunter stared at him drowsily. "I was hoping that would take your mind off the pain. Seems like it did more then that." He teased.
"Com'ere." Noel mumbled sleepily.
Hope chuckled before he moved and slid up against his lover and slowly pulled the blankets back up. Noel fumbled against him weakly, barely awake between the medicines he'd taken and his orgasm. The smaller man moved his lover's hands around his waist and laid his head on his chest. Noel mustered up to make some kind of protest. He could feel Hope half hard against his thigh but the other pressed down on his arm.
"Not right now." Hope murmured against his chest. "Just rest now."
While not having set a morning routine of any sort in the one or two days that they'd been in the camp. Hope was not expecting the morning he got. He was still curled up into the hunter. Who was an early riser. The arms wound around him and had pushed his clothes mostly off. The younger man kissed his forehead and then pulled his head up. Hope stared up at him and then a kiss was pressed to his lips.
"Can I?" Noel mumbled against his lips hands sliding up and down Hope's sides. Hope trembled at the thought but pushed back to look at the clock. It was ungodly early. Noel was always up at dawn regardless. And Hope really didn't want to explore the physical parts of their relationship now. He was about to say 'no' but Noel was looking at him with eyes fulling of pleading and promise. His right hand moving closer towards the goal.
"I should say no." He whispered against Noel's mouth. "We'll have plenty of time for this when we get back."
The pout that Noel gave him was impressive to say the least. The other carefully rolled them over, he must have still been sore. After a moment of confusion and tangled legs as they attempted to fit together, Hope made the mistake of opening his legs and allowing the other to settle there, hardness against hardness. Hope wrapped his arms around Noel and after a moment of movement clutched the younger's shoulders.
"Take control Noel." He whispered as he attacked the other for another kiss. "It's your turn."
The other made an affirmative noise, and Hope had to quell down the urge to take control of the situation. It was in his nature now, to lead or at the very least subtly lead. But the other part of him knew that learning was best done via self exploration. And the thought of Noel exploring his body sent a wide range of shivers down down the silver haired man's body. It took a second or two for Noel to start to move.
Hands splayed on Hope's shoulders before they moved down his body brushing over different spots. Finding the smaller man's nipples he stroked them gently. And then leaned down to kiss them as well. Hope moaned lowly and clutched at Noel's shoulders. It was a sensitive spot for him and there were many more for the other to find. It increased Hope's excitement, he wanted to do the same for Noel but he would have to wait until Noel wasn't in pain anymore.
And then the thoughts flew out of his head when Noel decided to suck on one of his small nipples. He moaned quietly and pressed on the taller man's head. Hands slid down and grabbed his hips and moved him roughly against the firm body above him and Hope threw his head back gasping. He didn't want to make too much noise.
It didn't take Noel long to get the rest of their clothes off and skin on skin contact was threatening to be Hope's undoing. If Noel didn't start to do something soon he would take control and get things moving in the direction he wanted it to. The hunter smiled at his obvious discomfort and crash their hips together again. Hope groaned and grasped ahold of Noel's hips. He couldn't help himself anymore. He guided the hunter into a stead rhythm, letting out a satisfied groan as the hunter got the hang of it and took over again.
"Not... not enough." Hope gasped as he moved against the other and Noel grinned at him again before a devious look crossed his face. Slightly afraid, Hope wasn't prepared for the hunter to shift, resting on his forearm by the silver haired man's head and worming his free hand between their bodies. It wasn't easy for the hunter to get a grasp on both of them, let alone develop a rhythm. But it was more then enough considering how close they both were.
When orgasm did hit, Hope couldn't keep the soft whine as quiet as he would have liked it, the flush of arousal quickly turning to embarrassment even as Noel's strong arms cradled him as the younger man fell into his own orgasm pushing against him roughly. The groan against his shoulder was rough and sent warmth through his lower belly even though it was impossible to get another erection so fast. He pulled Noel down against his chest, unmindful of the mess between them. At least for now. Even though nothing bad had happened Hope felt that he needed the reassurance that being held by Noel could give him.
Hope stretched his arms up above his head as he sat tiredly in the central tent that served as the command center. The morning exploration team had come back with no real trouble. Managing to find the pen where the Shield Lizards were and blocked off the eroded part that allowed them to escape into the hallways. It was more then he'd thought they'd get as well as the data that they'd filled the decoder with. The silver haired man pressed his hands to his forehead and closed his eyes. Most of the data that had been collected were maintenance codes, map alignments and notes of the design. Nothing on the city core.
In the 5th Ark they hadn't gone to the city core at all. So it wasn't like he really knew what he was looking for. But there had to be something. Some kind of blueprint on how the Fal'cie made it. If it all was built through sheer imagination and even Cocoon had had plans and details that he'd been able to capture to help build the new one. He was screwed. He need something, anything that would allow him to help Noel.
The mage searched deep inside his thoughts. What was it that he wanted to do. Make the new ark-like cocoon to store all of humanity for when the crystal pillar shattered. A plan that was going along fine and seemed to be set up to work perfectly as long as they kept Caius from interfering. A project that would still take a least another 100 years to finish. And then stop Caius, which involved somehow stopping him, trapping him and/or removing his heart.
Two things that would pain Noel.
And then there was why he'd wanted to come to the 13th Ark. He had made his proposal based on finding out more information about the Arks to help with building the new cocoon's outer shell. But what he really wanted, why he was here had more to do with Noel then anything else. The enclosure technology of an Ark was meant the withstand the end of the world. Probably even meant to travel to new worlds. It was the perfect thing to seal away Caius. But the mysteries within the Ark would also hold more information about l'cie. About why this cataclysm was so important that everything seemed to be working for it. The Fal'cie of Cocoon, Caius and even Noel who Caius was trying to get to unleash chaos on the world.
He knew that this wasn't Noel's endgame. But he also knew the more that changed in the past, the more the other forgot. Even now, as Serah and Snow worked their way through the timeline, trying to undo the paradox that made Serah a Time Maiden was still affecting his memory. But his memory of the future. Not now. The 18 years that he'd lived in the future were slowly eroding. And he could tell even if the other was afraid to admit it or talk about. He could tell as Noel's mannerisms changed.
His quiet pauses in morning and sometimes at other times during the day that Hope had once thought was just the hunter listening to the world. He wondered if the other was also gathering himself. Struggling to remembered things that were important to him. There was a wealth of knowledge in Noel. History lessons that spanned nearly all of history as well as fighting and whatnot. All to replace Caius. And considering how powerful Caius' magic was. Hope feared that it was only Noel's personal memories being affected.
All the better to make him forget his reasonings for not trying to kill Caius. To become what Caius wanted him to be. So focused on his goal, Caius had probably forgotten his own personal past, a time before he'd been the undying guardian. Or at least a time before he'd lost his sense of sanity. At least that's what Hope thought. And he didn't want to watch Noel go down that path.
Although there was another direction that things could take. While not a worst case scenario it was also unpleasant to Hope. After all, who knows exactly what Noel had forgotten about his tribe, his home, and the relationships therein. Hope had a hunch that what Noel felt for Yeul was more then platonic even if still a rather childish type of love. And the mage found that he didn't want to test that bond. Losing Yeul had been what had sent Noel traveling through time, but was it because he lost his last friend and family? Or was it because of love in a way that Hope wouldn't be able to touch?
And that was a test Hope didn't want. He didn't know if he had the strength to let Noel go now that he had him. Especially if it was to someone who didn't exist yet. Although when he thought about what Noel was going through to reunite with the other, he knew he had no chance even if it was just friendship. Part of his goal was to change time to what they thought it should be. And if the logical side of him won, it meant that Noel would go to 700AF to be with Yeul and Hope...
He would be alone again. As much as he'd come to rely on Nabaat, Arcane, Yurg and a whole host of other people in this timeline. They were acquaintances, friends at best. He couldn't lose Noel if he didn't gain back Light and the others. And even then he didn't know if his heart had room for two such big holes. The one from his mother was already large and at times horribly painful, even now. The one from his friends had been healing at the thought of being reunited... that was what had led much of his research.
And the motivations that he'd left behind. Those he'd rather not think of, but he found himself pressing his hand against that door and he knew that opening it would put him down a destructive path that only few had seen before. Most of them dead and gone. He had an inkling that Snow knew, but Snow knew a lot more about him then most. And with that big dumb hero gone he wouldn't have to worry about confrontation. Noel would only figure out after it was too late. And no one else would ever-
"Director?" He jerked up and looked at Arcane with wide eyes, he'd been so deep in his own head that he hadn't heard her enter. "Thought we'd lost you there for a second. Go take a walk, clear your head."
He nodded at the order and thinly veiled mothering. He headed for the door and then looked back at Arcane and a few more of the camps leaders as they laid out maps for a meeting that was more about strategics and not really the part he was involved in. Nothing was simple in his life anymore and part of him missed that dearly. Outside Noel was walking the perimeter and checking the specs with the map from what he could see. Hope paused and though to walk to him but changed his mind and headed for the quiet space. No one was there luckily as he knew that many others used the space to catch time alone as well.
He sat down on the ground, pulled his knees up to his chest and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and thought back. He went so far back in his memory that he thought of his mother. Conjured the image of her standing before him, brave and beautiful. She would have been a good l'cie he thought. But, losing him would probably have wounded her too much he decided. He remembered when Sazh had spoken about what life would be like if he'd lost Dajh. His own wife already gone. Hope swallowed hard. What did he have left?
He had Noel, he knew that, but he also knew that keeping Noel was a tight wire act. The other could go back to his own time, disappear from existence, leave him for Yeul... All good possibilities. The problem with loving Noel, was that the hunter had ruined him. Before he was doing everything for the sake of bring back Lightning, Fang and Vanille and then Sazh and Dajh when they disappeared. Until everyone was gone and he was the only one left. And that's really the way it stood now. He was all that was left.
He sighed softly and stood up. He needed to continue his research. The only way to stop Caius was to figure out how to seal him or at least the heart. And then he would go from there.
Noel stood on the perimeter of the camp feeling rather useless. After the events yesterday he and Hope both had been taken off of today's exploration team. And he hated it. He wanted to be out there, working to achieve their goal. Downtime was really Noel's enemy. He couldn't keep himself occupied like Hope who had data to analyze and organize. Even sending communications back and forth with those working on the cocoon project was more useful then what he was doing now.
All Noel had was the time to think about the past... or the future considering the time period and feel the growing gaps in his memories. It wasn't an organic thing like when they changed Hope's memory the first time and everything was merely forgotten and changed. And it wasn't a fluttering, slow sensation like the mage's memory of Alyssa. No it was stark black spaces in his memories. Time never regained in other ways. He had forgotten quiet a few of the people in his village. And events that were important to Noel Kriess of the Farseer Tribe. He couldn't remember his first hunt, his father's name.
And more painful then most he could feel the darkness beginning to edge around his precious memories of his grandmother and the things she had taught him. The pain of the impending loss hurt him. He had wanted to talk with Hope about it, but couldn't find the words. He didn't want to see the look of worry that might cross Hope's face. After all, if he forgot about the future what was preventing him from forgetting about now? What was he really worth to the missions without the knowledge and experiences that made him who he was?
It made him antsy to complete the goal. Without his memories he wasn't sure what type of person that he would be. He knew that Caius habitually rejected memories... A mind, even one of an immortal wasn't vast enough to hold all the he knew that the other had seen and experienced. He wondered if that was the point. To make him like Caius and he vowed that he would never become like that. For the sake of Yeul.
"Tomorow we are going to set about for sector 5A." Hope spoke as he looked over the hologram map. "While it is not the city core. It will be an important space for us to reach. The city core is just beyond sector 9C which means we need to get closer. Our goal from there will be to try to find a place in 9C that we can use as our second base. Hopefully we can also find a means of leaving from there as well."
"What do you mean by leaving that way? Wouldn't retracing our steps be safer?"
"Probably not." Arcane spoke up as she stared at the map. "This place is a death trap for those of us without l'cie powers. The longer we spend the worse. Sector 9B is close to the surface. We can probably set up a ground charge... Blast our way out if need be. It would be easy to install a lift."
"That sounds dangerous." Noel cut in anxiously. He wasn't one for explosions and his face fully showed his distaste.
"What I'm worrying about." Hope interjected smoothly and mostly with caution in his voice. "Is that we will find things that don't want to be found in the City Core. Like I said, in the 5th Ark we exited over it. A giant crumbled ruin. But Arks are mostly unknown. Anything could be in there. A quick exit will be our best bet."
"And if it's a Fal'cie?" Lune asked a tall women with a childish face she looked around at the others. After all, it was on everyone's lips but no one wanted to say it.
"There should be no Fal'cie within here. Fal'cie usually stay away from the Arks just like everyone else. Until the time of battle comes. If one is here, we will not engage. Since it will be a Pulsian one, they probably will want nothing to do with us." Hope replied solemnly. There was no one here today that was more familiar with the creatures then him.
"Sounds about right." Boak replied calmly. He was a solider yes, but also knowledgable about research, useful for scientists working out in the field for long stretches of time.
Arcane glared Hope down, she knew that he was anxious. He wanted to sneak into the core, access the main computer and leave. She watched him as he continued to talk about their current plans that she'd already discussed with the heads of the camp before she interrupted him quite bluntly. "If a Fal'cie is here... Wouldn't that be the computer that controls it. Like with Orphan?"
Whatever Hope was going to say was lost in a gasp of astonishment. He knew that very few people knew that. In fact most people outside of the top brass of the Academia that had existed in the first few decades after the fall were the only people who knew or cared. He swallowed hard as he thought back to that wretched, awful creature. He's hands shaking slightly.
"If a Fal'cie were controlling the power here. This place wouldn't be a wreak Arcane. Fal'cie even the ones on Pulse are meticulous about the places they maintain if that is their purpose. Also, we would have encountered lesser Fal'cie by now that would be in control of minor functions. I know that in your history books it only alludes to the 'great' Fal'cie such as Eden, Orphan, Phoenix , Leviathan and Kujata... But they were the 'heads' of their units if you want to look at it that way. Especially Leviathan controlled hundreds if not thousands of Fal'cie that helped to provide clean water to Cocoon."
"That really does sound like a paradise until you realize that it was to create a mass sacrifice." Boak commented with a dower look.
"Unfortunately." Noel replied without thinking, his face grim. "Most gods require a sacrifice of some sort. From their 'maker' to Etro and even Pulse..."