[ for anyone that knows Noctis, they may not be very surprised to see what he is spending his time doing when he and the rest of the team should be preparing for an inevitable counterattack. the Vulphyte are far too cute for their own cute, and though they are capable of speaking and showing their feelings in words, he simply can't resist trying to earn their affection. unfortunately, no one really knows Noctis here, so they will have to see this poor boy spending the better part of an hour desperately trying to overcome their skepticism.

to his dismay, he is hardly successful. far from it. they either snarl at him or hop away while saying not-too-nice things telepathically, leaving him to sigh and succumb to defeat. talk about a bummer. he didn't sign up for this.

only when he's preparing to drag his feet away from the group he's been hanging out with do things begin to look up. sort of. literally, anyway, because the Vulphyte are looking towards the sky at their invaders and pierce his eardrums with a collective sort of howls. they let him know the reasoning for it and he's forced to just stand there, awkwardly squinting at the machinery as he rubs the back of his neck. ]

Awoo. Awooo... oooo... Awoo—? Ugh.

[ he's really pumping up his Nikes for this battle, alright. ]

[ the battle's begun and things are going about as well as everybody could have expected considering the fight is going on in the middle of a forest. between laser beams being shot in every which direct and armored individuals that look eerily similar to MT's charging the field, Noctis doesn't even know where to start. he's used to the act of swinging his sword at a target and evading death by mere inches and is probably one of the reasons he has been recruited for this mess, but the scale of things was often... smaller.

so to say he wasn't prepared to navigate the area like he normally does is an understatement. where-as most people remain on foot or in a single area, Noctis has been on the move. he's focused on disabling groups of invaders in masse before moving on, leaving the clean-up for others more focused on one-on-one combat. this results in him using his warp magic to traverse, and for the most part? it goes smoothly. until it doesn't.

a poor, unfortunate soul (read: you) may have just noticed a sword flying right across your face. maybe it cuts a lock of hair, a piece of fabric or leaves a nice, thin scratch across your cheek. maybe it just scares the crap out of you. either way, Noctis was mid-warp when he realizes his Engine Blade is inches away from impaling someone, leaving him to cancel out at the last second. what does this mean, exactly? well. it sends him flying forward and into you until you are both now on the ground. at least you aren't dead or something. ]

[ Noctis is able to succeed going through the rest of the battle without stabbing someone on the same side on accident. that's as good of a victory celebration you can ask for. does that mean he's going to stop hitting people on accident? absolutely not. admittedly, the object hitting someone else (read again: you) is moss and therefore much softer and less likely to lower your life expectancy. it doesn't stop the Crown Prince from wincing and hunching over, hands on his knees. ]

Man, my aim is off. [ he gives a glance at the Vulphyte he had been playing with, making a face that read off as an apology for losing their moss. it's not the worst thing to sacrifice after the mission, but still. another look is given to the unsuspected target of said moss. ] Sorry. Hope I didn't get your clothes too dirty.

so... magitek. that's a thing.
anyone else have that back where they're from?
wasn't exactly known for powering my text messaging before here.

( you know the drill! hmu w/ something if none of the above prompts work, thank! )