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razzmatash · 7 years

Text

Hammerhead (ffxv)

Pairing: Gladio x f!oc, Cindy x f!oc (suggested)

Word Count: 3655

Ao3 Link

The Misadventures of Eerie: Insomnia — Outlands

Summary: Leaving the Crown City had seemed like a good idea at the time but was it really? It had better be because there was no going back now. (Set a month before the fall of Insomnia)

Note: This is more an intro into Eerie being outside of Insomnia than anything else. Dusty as always belongs to @artsybizaar

Parking the car, Eyra leaned forward and stared up at the sign beside the garage. This was definitely the right place, not that she could have missed it honestly. It was the first pit stop outside of Insomnia after all so you had to be pretty blind to miss it. She hadn’t talked to Dusty since last night and even though they’d decided on a time, she sure hoped her friend was here. Or that she remembered right. She’d been distracted last night, what with saying bye to her family and Gladio. Dusty had told her to write it down and she hadn’t. If she was wrong, Dusty wouldn’t let it go.

“You remembered right,” she told herself, turning the car off. “She’ll be here.”

She glanced over at the passenger seat when she heard a soft huff and smiled faintly. Her puppy was still passed out on the blanket she’d spread out for her. But if she wanted the pup to stay that way, she needed to stop talking.

Grabbing her purse and making sure the window was cracked for the still unnamed puppy, Eyra slipped out of the car and stuffed her keys in a pocket of the purse. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she glanced between the main buildings. There was a garage and a restaurant, along with a few smaller buildings that were probably homes for the people that worked here. Where would Dusty be?

“Hey, there, darlin’. Need some help?”

Turning toward the voice, she forced herself not to react even though she had been startled. Then it was a matter of not reacting to the person on the other side of her car. Oh. Oh, okay, she had pretty good idea who this was. Dusty had talked about her enough she was damn sure she knew who this was. “I’m supposed to be meeting my friend here,” she admitted.

“From the city?”

“No, she works out here.”

“Oh, ya mean Dusty? She got in earlier, sugar. Prolly waitin’ at Takka’s for ya.”

Yes, she did mean Dusty and this was definitely who she thought it was. “Thanks.”

The other woman smiled at her. “No problem. Your puppy’s cute. Gonna let them run ‘round a bit?”

“When she wakes up, probably,” Eyra agreed, glancing in the car to make sure the puppy was still asleep. “She had an eventful morning but I’m sure she’ll be up soon enough.”

Somehow the smile got brighter. “Ya let me know when ya do. If ya don’t mind, course.”

“I don’t mind. I’ll let you know,” Eyra assured her.

“Well, ya better get goin’. Dusty ain’t always the most patient of waiters.”

No, she wasn’t but how did Cindy know that? How much time was Dusty spending here? “Thanks again,” Eyra said as she started toward the diner on the other side of the shop.

“Don’t mention it, sugar.”

Oh, she was going to mention it. Just not to her.

Crossing the lot to the diner, a strange sense of nostalgia washed over her. Kal's diner in the city had elements of an Outlands diner but this felt more like her mother's. Even though it had been fifteen years since she'd lived in Galahd, this felt more like home than anything in Insomnia ever had.

And she wasn’t too sure how she actually felt about that.

She let the thought go as she swung into the diner and glanced around. Wasn’t hard to find her friend since it wasn’t too busy inside. She threw a smile at the man behind the counter as she walked towards where Dusty was sitting. Her friend had her head down, going over a leather journal that was stuffed full of hand written notes.

“Writing an epic ode to the love of your life?” Eyra asked, slipping into the booth across from her.

Dusty jumped and snatched the book off of the table. “What the hell?!” she said immediately before her expression shifted. “Eerie!”

Eyra grinned at her. “Hey, sorry I’m a little late. Apparently getting out of the city is just as hard as getting in,” she sighed.

“Aw, fuck still?” Dusty demanded. “They asked me a million questions, mostly just different versions of why I’d want to leave the Crown City. I swear those gate guards are fucking mental when it comes to the people living in the Outlands.”

She’d noticed. The guard she’d gotten stuck with had not been willing to understand why a medic would go outside the wall. Even though they were all Lucian, the people of Insomnia really didn’t seem to like the rest of the country. Which had grated on her nerves since it didn’t matter that she’d lived in the capital for the last fifteen years; she hadn’t been born there and it wasn’t hard to feel personally insulted when the guard had been badmouthing the rest of the country.

“But you made it!” she said, grinning at her. “Better late than never.”

“Right.”

“Oh, don’t do that already!” Dusty groaned. “Not on your first day!”

“Hey, leave me alone. I just left the city. You’ve had two years to get used to it!”

“Uh huh, you missing the big city or the big guy?”

Eyra levelled a look at her. “Don’t start that.”

“Hey, it’s perfectly natural to miss the big slab of beef.”

“Oh, my god, Dusty, you’ve never even met him!”

“I’ve seen pictures and you’ve told me enough. He’s a beef slab.”

“Why am I friends with you?” Eyra muttered.

“You love me and you know it. Don’t act like you don’t.”

“Uh huh, speaking of, I met Cindy on the way in.”

That had an interesting effect on Dusty and it amused the hell out of Eyra. Colour splashed across her cheeks and she looked away almost immediately. If she had to pick a word for it, Dusty looked flustered and all she’d done was say Cindy’s name.

Oh, she was going to enjoy this.

Leaning forward, Eyra grinned at her again. “I know you said she was the cutest girl you’d ever seen but you did a piss poor job of describing her, Destra,” she said, tapping the table. “Like that accent?”

“Don’t even start!” Dusty snapped.

“Oh, no, Dusty! You aren’t getting out of this that easily. You spend all your free time here, yeah? You asked her out yet?”

“You can’t just ask someone out like that, Eerie.”

“Sure you can.”

“Yeah well not all of us get drunk and seduce someone.”

Eyra pulled back at that. “That didn’t work, remember? He told me no when I was drunk.”

“It worked the next morning though.”

“Okay, we’re not talking about me and Gladio because we’re actually dating,” Eyra stressed. “You’ve been dancing around for two years, Dusty. You really haven’t made some kind of move?”

“Not for lack of trying. And I do work a lot. I’m not here as often as you think.”

Eyra didn’t believe her. She knew her friend and she knew how much Dusty actually liked Cindy. That first phone call when Dusty had gone to the Outlands to work had told her more than enough about where Dusty stood on the mechanic. But it really didn’t make sense for her to have not at least asked her out for dinner or something. “Okay, so what’s up?” she asked. “Why are you stalling out?”

Dusty shrugged. “She’s kind of married to her work.”

“So are you but you’re still here.”

She made a face and shook her head. “Can we talk about you and the big guy instead?”

“No,” Eyra said but she frowned when her phone went off. “Shit.”

“Who’s that?” Dusty asked as she fished the phone out of her pocket. “And what the hell is that?”

“A proper phone,” Eyra said dryly, flicking the screen open. “Not like that beat up piece of shit you think is a phone.”

“That looks like a damn computer. How much did you pay for that?” she demanded.

Eyra shrugged. She hadn’t really cared about the cost of it, mostly because she’d wanted a good phone to bring out here and maybe a little bit because someone else had helped her pay for the phone. Peace of mind on everyone’s accounts, Gladio had said. They’d all worry less if it was easy to get a hold of her. It hadn't helped that her brother was on the same mind so it meant a new phone for her. She was nearly positive it was just so they could keep track of her better. Speaking of….

“Please tell me he’s not checking up on you already,” Dusty groaned as she started texting.

Her gaze flicked up for half a second, fingers still moving on the screen. “He was actually asking if I’d met up with you yet or not,” she said dryly, sending her answer and putting the phone away.

“Uh huh, sounds like checking up.”

“You mean like I did when you first left,” Eyra threw at her. “Because you’re my best friend and I care about you?”

“Not the same,” Dusty said stubbornly, but Eyra could see her fighting a smile.

“I thought we weren’t talking about my relationship, but your lack of one.”

“Could we not? Especially when she’s like right over there?” Dusty said, waving a hand toward the garage.

“Isn’t that why you’re here though? Because she’s ‘right over there’?”

“I haven’t seen you in months and this is how you greet me?”

“Uhm, excuse me, you’d think I was sick if I wasn’t like this.”

“I think you’re sick anyways,” Dusty said, grinning at her.

Eyra rolled her eyes, but she was grinning as well. “You eat yet?”

“Nah, waiting on you.”

“Well, Miss I don’t spend all my time here, what are we gonna get?”

Leaning back in the lawn chair with a deep sigh, Eyra stared up at the sky. The setting sun was painting beautiful colours across it and she was still surprised that it was nearly night already. It felt like she had just gotten to Hammerhead. But that was more the company. Time always flew when she and Dusty were together. Always had and always would.

Of course, that meant that they’d had to find lodgings for the night. Eyra had nearly killed herself with how hard she had laughed at Dusty’s face when she’d suggested asking Cindy if they could bunk at her place. The bruise on her arm from where Dusty had slugged her was worth it for that face alone. But she and her puppy had been ushered toward the caravan parked near the restaurant.

Her gaze flicked down to the puppy that was asleep again, her leash latched onto the stairs leading into the caravan. She’d woken up unimpressed that she’d been alone in the car and Eyra had been able to hear her crying from the restaurant. Shame had filled her at the sight of those huge eyes and she hadn't wanted to admit to anyone she’d forgotten about the pup for a while. But a walk, some food and water, and she’d been right back to the happy, wriggling mass she’d been before the drive had started.

But then Eyra had had to deal with Dusty grilling her for not naming the puppy.

“Want one?”

“Sure,” she said, seeing the beer bottle in Dusty’s hands.

“I’m only giving you one,” she warned.

“I haven't gotten that drunk in years,” Eyra growled, taking the bottle.

“Well, we don’t need a repeat of the last time.”

Eyra rolled her eyes and sunk a little lower in her seat. “Worked out alright in the end,” she muttered, looking out at the area again.

This area wasn't anything like what she remembered her home being like. She knew it was a different region but all of the desert was throwing her off. She remembered trees, mountains, the swamp, the god damn meteor; not sand as far as she could see.

“You regret coming out here?”

Looking at her friend, she saw that Dusty was watching her with an odd look. “No,” she said slowly. “Why?”

“It’s different out here, Eerie, and a lot of people turn back when they make it here. I’ve had several new partners that bail after they get here. It’s not like the city and everyone thinks they’re ready for it but few of them actually are.”

“It’s not that,” Eyra said after she thought about it. “I want to be out here.”

Dusty tipped her head to the side. “Why now?” she asked. “You chose to stay in the city after we graduated. I know you came out here with your uncle to visit his family but that's different. Why did you decide to come out here now when you had a good job at the hospital and a long-term relationship?”

How to explain that she hadn’t been ready before? “I don’t know,” she said softly. “It was just time.”

A quiet noise left her friend but she didn’t say anything else for a long moment. “Well, I’m glad you’re out here,” Dusty said. “Even if you’re not working with me, I’m glad I don’t have to go through the border control in the city to see you.”

That made her feel worse. She could have come out to see Dusty when she’d been in Hammerhead, but like everything else she’d just stayed locked in the city. Even the camping trips she’d gone on with Gladio had still been within the wall. “I’m kind of a shit friend.”

“Well, you’re my shit friend.”

“Thanks,” Eyra said dryly, taking a swig of the beer and staring out at the sky again. She hadn’t really stopped to think about why she’d decided to come out here now. Because Dusty was right. She had a good thing in the city. She’d been with Gladio for two years now, had been offered a promotion at work, and yet here she was, in the Outlands.

“Hey, you’re going to be fine out here,” Dusty said when the silence started to drag on. “You’ve got your fancy phone that you’ll be able to call your uncle, your brother, and the beef whenever you want if you get lonely.”

“I can’t call you?” Eyra teased.

“You can try,” she laughed. “Last time I used that thing it shocked me something good.”

She should have bought a second phone to give to Dusty but if she thought about it for long enough she didn’t think her friend would have actually used it. “What’s that?” she asked, drinking more of her beer and staring at the book Dusty had just put on the table. It looked similar to the one Dusty had been writing in when she’d first found her.

“It’s for you. A little welcome to the Outlands gift.”

“You didn’t have to do that, Dusty,” Eyra said softly, taking the book.

“I know. I mean, it isn’t something overly special but it’ll come in handy. I know you’ve got your phone and you’re attached to it, but try to put some things in the journal too. Doesn’t have to be much, doesn’t even need to be a journal, but it’s nice to have a hard copy to look back on at the end of the day or week or whatever. You forget things, like little, good things that you want to remember or tips that people give you. Write them down, Eyra. They’ll all come in handy at some point.”

The leather cover was smooth under her thumbs, the pages crisp and unused. “I’ve never been good at keeping a journal,” she warned.

“Fill it with bullet points. Do whatever. But write things down. Good, bad, whatever. Just write it all down because sometimes it’s just you and that journal out here and that can get fucking lonely. You’ll need pick me ups and there’s only so much your phone is going to do for you.”

Eyra glanced at her. She was oddly serious about this so she was going to take that to heart. “Alright, I’ll try my best to fill it,” she promised, pausing for a minute. “Are we going to compare notes at some point?”

“Fuck no!” Dusty grimaced and then glared at her. “I was being serious, Eerie! Why’d you ruin it?”

“Because we don’t do serious for long,” she reminded, picking up her beer again. “And if that’s how you lead when you meet people in the Outlands the first time I can see why your partners leave.”

“Oh, fuck you too,” Dusty muttered, drinking as well.

Eyra grinned into her bottle but she was still thinking about what Dusty had said. It was a good idea because it wasn’t like she had her usual support network out here. She had a dog and a piece of paper with her uncle’s old contacts on it. That was it. She was going to need something to keep her head above water on the long nights. Puppy cuddles, as good as they were, only went so far after all.

“You’re independent enough you should be okay out here though,” Dusty said quietly.

“You mean bitchy.”

Dusty snorted. “It’s not the same thing but it’ll help you too,” she conceded.

Eyra smiled faintly and rolled her bottle between her hands. She’d had to do a lot of classes and training before coming out here but none of them had mentioned anything Dusty had just brought up. Made sense since they were all run by people that had probably never even left Insomnia once in their lives. “Why am I not surprised that none of that is in any of the books?” she sighed, finishing her beer.

“Why would it be? I’ll tell you what I’ve figured out since I’ve been back on the other side of the wall. The people in the city, they know the rest of Lucis exists but they don’t really care. They don’t prepare anyone properly before they come out here because they want them to come back…or die. Because that’s what usually happens. The list is short of the people that actually adapt and make it out here. Those of us that do realise that the city isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be so the Crown folk are probably happy to see us go. But you find your place out here and you’ll never want to go back inside that wall.”

“Says you. You’re more at home out here with all the backwards and non-functioning tech.”

Dusty shrugged. “What I have works well enough for me. Everything’s thirty years behind out here, Eerie. You have to make do with what you’ve got because there’s nothing else.” She studied her for a moment. “You took the self-defence courses, yeah?”

Her muscles still ached from that week long shit show. “Yes.”

“Where?”

“What?”

“Where’d you get them done?” Dusty elaborated. “Some places are way better than others and let me tell you I went to a shit place so I want to know if I have to teach you-”

“You don’t,” Eyra cut in, sighing. “Pro tip, don’t date someone in the Crownsguard. They’ll insist you do their program and you’ll want to die after the first day.”

Dusty stared at her for a long minute and the longer she stared the more she pressed her lips together. “Your boyfriend taught you self-defence?”

“No, he wasn’t involved in the classes. He just signed me the fuck up for them.” And as much as she hated to think it, she'd probably gotten off easy. Her brother had wanted her to do the ones modeled by the Kingsglaive. No way in hell would she have survived that shit show.

“Yeah, well, you don’t look like you’re hurting because of it,” Dusty said, throwing a glance at Eyra’s legs.

“I jog,” Eyra said defensively.

“You sure look like you could run fucking laps around me.”

She probably could but that wasn’t the point right now. “Jogging and self-defence classes with the god damn protects of the Citadel are not the same thing.”

Dusty snorted. “Uh huh. Should I start calling you princess?”

“I will hit you with this fucking bottle.”

Dusty laughed at her, her eyes dancing and not believing the threat at all.

“Fine,” Eyra said, pushing out of the chair, “I’ll go talk to Cindy instead.”

“Don’t you fucking dare!” she yelled, leaping up from her chair and practically tackling Eyra.

“God dammit, Dusty, seriously?!”

“Don’t even joke about that,” she hissed. “Don’t ruin what I’ve got going here!”

Eyra twisted enough to glare at her friend. “You don’t have anything going here,” she hissed back.

“Don’t you-” They both looked over at the sharp bark to see that Eyra’s puppy had woken up and was looking right at them. “Well, isn’t she protective.”

“Just a little,” Eyra said, pushing Dusty off her to get up. Which was surprising since she’d had her for such a short time. “It’s all good, Pup,” she said, crouching beside the puppy to unhook her leash and scoop her up. “I’m fine.”

“You should call her Spooky.”

“What?” Eyra asked, looking at her friend and rolling her eyes when she saw Dusty was still on the ground. “Oh my god, get up!”

“I like it down here.”

“It’s dirty, get up.”

“Yes, Mother,” she muttered, pushing up and into a chair. “But seriously. Call her Spooky.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re Eerie and she can be Spooky. You’re into that horror shit anyways so it would fit.”

“She’s not very spooky,” Eyra countered, rubbing the puppy’s ears.

“Anyone that looks at you doesn’t think you’re eerie either. But they don’t know you.”

Looking down at the puppy, Eyra pursed her lips. She hadn’t thought of any names on the drive out here or in the couple weeks that she’d had the puppy. Hadn’t thought about it much honestly. “What do you think?” she asked, shifting the puppy. “You want to be Spooky?”

The dog barked at her, tail wagging and trying to get closer to her to lick her face.

“I think that’s a yes,” Dusty said, grinning at her. “You should put a title in your journal about the adventures of Eerie and Spooky.”

Eyra rolled her eyes, cuddling Spooky again. “No, that’s dumb.”

“Shut up!”

#dusty #the misadventures of eerie #ffxv fanfiction #ffxv #cindy aurum #gladio amicitia #gladio x oc #gladio x f!oc #my writing #fanfiction #gladio's not really there but tagging him anyways because #part two outlands #eyra ulric

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