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[Fishing...? There's a look of confusion on his face for a long moment as he processes this, trying to remember where one can even fish in this place. It clicks, finally, and... ah.]

I forgot... that game, right?

[ She nods. ]

Mm.

....So? [ She looks at him, hopeful but not too overbearing. ]

[Oh. Right, that was not really an answer, was it. He offers up a little smile, tentative and sheepish like he's still trying to figure out how smiles work, and finally pushes himself off the couch.]

Sure, I can teach you. It's not as good as the real thing, but it's not a bad substitute either.

[ She helps pull him to his feet, adjusting her hand in hers so that they might be better able to walk with him. Pyra answers his smile with one of her own. She appreciates his effort, she knows it takes energy he doesn’t otherwise have right now. ] I’m looking forward to it.

[ They arrive at the cafe, taking two adjacent seats for the Big Bass Fishing experience. With their helmets secure, Pyra, of course, reaches for his hand to take as if they might otherwise be separated when they’re spirited away to the electronic realm. Engaging the simulator, she closes her eyes to allow the VR to take effect.

When she next opens her eyes, she’s sitting with him within the VR still holding his hand, even as the boat they’ve been put in rocks gently from their virtual presence. Looking down at their hands clasped between them, she smiles and then turns her attention to the scene around them, taking in the blue-green lake, the forest beyond, the rocky shores. It seems this game is built to play alongside someone: there are exactly two poles within the boat. ]

Oh, it’s lovely.... I hadn’t thought to play this game before. [ She seems thoughtful; perhaps this location is based on any real lake within the world. No doubt it’s all but a crater in a barren wasteland by now. Dismissing this thought, her attention returns to him. She’s ready for her fishing lesson. ]

[There's a weird uncertainty that comes from plugging into the VR machinery- that hypertension is back, and the idea of becoming completely unaware of his physical surroundings is frightening in a way it hadn't been before. He almost turns back, almost tells her he can't. But she's here with him, and he'd agreed to it, and... this isn't Niflheim. He'll try.

It's easier once they're inside the game. She's right, it is beautiful, and even in virtual reality once the darkness and sensory deprivation of the helmet becomes a lush living world, the tension in his body eases again, bit by bit. He's relieved, as he hadn't wanted to lose this outlet for his stress, especially after working so hard on King's Knight.]

I've played a bunch. It can be kind of glitchy, but they've fixed most of the problems since that first time.

[He'd played with Somnus back then, actually. Just the first of many awkward encounters as they attempted to learn how to navigate around one another. It feels so long ago, now. Months here, months there. Attempting to shake both off, he checks the game inventory to pull out a good rod for her, offering it out.]

First step is to get a feel for the rod. Same as a sword- you can't use it unless you have a solid swing. And then there's the lures... let's see what we've got.

[He flips open the tacklebox to display the options, an arrangement of multicoloured, decorated hooks and spinners.]

[ His hand had been tight in hers when they had entered the VR. For a moment she had worried-- doubted-- if this would be the right thing to do. For another moment she had wondered why being whisked to a simulation would cause it, if it had been the VR itself or something else. But when the environment rendered around them, he had quieted. Steady, steady...

She nods, bringing the rod into her hand, testing its weight as if she would a sword. Then, she looks to the tacklebox. It's okay to smile for him, and she does. He likes helping people. She needs help with this. Let him focus upon her, she hopes, to distract him. See, see, she's terrible at this already. ] Oh... How about this lure?

[ She selects one of the more colorful ones. ] Or.. would a bigger lure mean a bigger fish?

Not necessarily. [He reaches out to take the lure and line, showing her how to attach the two together securely enough that it'll endure plenty of casts.] Sometimes you want a lure that'll catch a fish much smaller than the one you're after. Once you hook a little guy, it can become live bait for the big haul.

[He picks a rod and lure for himself, getting it set up as well. It's easy to fall back into the motions, even in a virtual world; it's second nature to him after so many years, weighing the lures and testing the line, feeling out how the rod moves through the air and in his hand. It's been months since he had a chance to fish, and now that he's here he realizes how much he'd missed this.]

Either way, it's good to take it easy while you're still learning the ropes. We can work you up to the bigger fish.

[ To Pyra, all the different and colorful lures appear as if they could be eccentric jewelry. She watches him as he assesses the quality and weight of the equipment, his handling expert. Picking up her own to mimic his movements with the rod, her motions are no where near as practiced. She preps the fishing rod just as he does. ]

Like... this?

[ When she’s done, she holds it within her hands, ready. ] Okay, then we cast the line?

[He nods, shuffling closer, pointing out the relevant parts of the rod, how to hold and swing it effectively, when to unspool the line.]

Yeah, just like- just like this. Give it a good, solid swing, but not too hard. It's nowhere near as heavy as a sword so you don't need much momentum behind it. And just before it centers out, you hit that button and-

[He gives his own rod a steady, practiced swing, followed by the click and the spin of his fishing line as the lure goes sailing out across the water, landing with a satisfying plunk some distance away.]

After that it depends on the lure. Give it a try and we'll go from there.

[ ...Alright. She can do this.

Just a little graceful swing, just as he's done, letting the spool loose and whirl as the line extends with her toss, and-- ]

[ Plop.

It only manages to get a quarter of the length that Noctis has thrown his line. She cringes. ] Oh, um... [ That didn't go as far as she thought it would. This is definitely not as easy as it looks. It takes a (virtual) muscle memory that she simply does not have. ]

....Let me try that again.

[ Round two! ]

[...Well. That sure was an attempt.]

...no big deal. Fish could be anywhere in the lake, there's no guarantee that the big one's gonna be further out. [Though in real life that would normally be the case, as they need more depth to swim properly.] Anyway, my first few casts were garbage too. [When he was like, ten.

He reaches over show her a decent speed for reeling the lure in, not too slow, but not too fast either.]

Slow and steady to bring it back, turn the rod a bit like this- you wanna bait the fish in, but if you move too fast it'll give up for an easier meal. Keep your grip firm and your hand steady, you don't want a fish yanking you right off the boat.

[ Letting his hands guide hers, she takes note of what force is needed and what is not to bring the line in at the pace he suggests. There's a balance to this, she realizes. In order to capture the fish, one must be patient and mimic bait itself. ] Mm, I think I understand now.

[ She casts out again, and this time it's much more successful. Pleased with herself, she lets out a soft hm and smile. ]

It's... like making the bait an extension of yourself-- as if... becoming the bait.

I don't know about that. You don't have to overcomplicate it.

[He smiles faintly, retrieving his own rod now that he's showed her the basics, drawing his line in and spinning it back out. No matter what's going on in his life, chaos or stress or misery, fishing always makes him feel better, at least a little bit. It's really been too long.]

Fishing is just... fishing. The whole point is to let it clear your head, to stop thinking about anything for a while. It's just you and a rod and whatever's down there.

[ She stares out into the expanse of the lake as he casts his line. She follows suit, after reeling back in her own a second time

Inhaling, she can begin to see what he means. It's peaceful, even if it's a VR, and there's a calming mindlessness to the repetitive motions of reeling and casting as the boat gently rocks beneath them. It is nice... if only because he seems a little bit more relaxed, and she wants nothing more than to facilitate that for him, whatever it takes. She's grateful that he agreed to this at all. ]

Quiet... then. [ She nods, softening her voice. ] ...I like it.

...Yeah. Me too.

[His voice is quiet as well, a hushed and half-distracted calm that's been absent from his tone for some time. It only lasts a moment before he shifts back to normal, but the effect this place is having on him is fairly obvious.]

Usually I've got an audience of backseat fishers. Kinda nice to have someone over here for a change.

[ Of course she's here with him. For him, really. Asking him for "help" to learn fish hadn't been about her in the first place. It had been a pretense for him. After a momentary's pause, she brushes her elbow against his side, nudging him gently as if to remind him that, yes, she's there. ]

Backseat fishers... with commentary, perhaps?

[ And who were the backseat fishers, she ponders. His brothers, or veteran fisherman gathered on the dock to see some prince incognito cast out his line? ]

[Less about forgetting she's there and more about forgetting everything else, but he appreciates the gesture nonetheless, glancing sidelong at her for a moment before returning his eyes to the lake.]

Plenty of it. They loved to let me know how they thought I was doing, like I couldn't mop the floor with 'em if it was a contest.

[The words are a complaint, but there's something in his tone that belies a deeper feeling behind them: familiar if subtle affection, a longing for simpler days when the most harsh of exchanged words were about how to reel in a pike. Most of his relationships involve a fair share of teasing, so.]

Hm... They really weren't easy on you, were they? [ She adjusts slightly how she sits, straightening her back in a lazy stretch as she watches the line bob within the water. ]

But they helped you. Like Gladio? With that one memory that we saw within the other VR. [ The one where he was carrying the giant fish Noctis caught back for him! ]

[Noctis pauses then, slowing the spin of his reel as he thinks back. Memory... the one on the mountain. Was that the last time he'd gone on a proper outing with Gladio? It, too, feels much further back than it actually is. They'd been so excited that whole day- from the moment at dawn when they ventured out, to the fated catch, to an incredible dinner at Meldacio alongside their fellow hunters, courtesy of Ignis and the borrowed base kitchen. It was... fun. A lot of fun.

Been a long time since Gladio smiled at him like that.]

...Yeah. That whole trip was his idea. He was the one who got me into fishing, back in the day.

[ ...She definitely brought up the wrong thing, there. Best to not inquire, or shy away from asking too much about any memories. She can understand how good memories may be clouded, changed to something bittersweet or stained with pain, after something heartbreaking has happened more recently.

So. ]

...Let's try to catch a bigger fish, today.

[Some memories are easier than others, it seems. Still, his issues with certain Shields aside, none of that can ruin their camping trips or his love of fishing, so he's content to jump back on the safer subject.]

Bigger than that guy? Bold ambitions. You need to get something biting, first.

[He gives her arm a light nudge and points to the left side of their boat.]

I've got a good feeling about that spot over there.

Fisherman's instinct? [ She jokes softly. ] Or is this another Eos-specific magic clairvoyance you have?

[ Looking over to where he indicates,she nods, reeling back in her line. All it takes is a little adjustment, and she's on the other side of their little boat, her back now against his. He'll hear her casting her line out again, the bait hitting the calm surface of the water before it sinks beneath. She's not exactly sure what she's waiting for here, or how hard a fish might tug upon the line, but she's ready. Or so, she tells herself that she is. ]

[He hums, leaning back against her.]

Neither. It's the words of a pro.

[A pro fisher, normally, but in this specific case a pro gamer. Sometimes fish in this GAme happen to favour a particular spot on the map, and he's noticed a pattern.

Very soon she ought to feel a sudden light tug on her line a couple of times, before suddenly it pulls- and the game comes to life. FISH ON!]

Whoa, finally got one.

[ Feeling the tug at her line, she nearly drops her rod in surprise. She leans back a bit against him, planting her feet against the bottom of the boat securely. ] Oh--!

[ What did he say before-- turn the rod a bit, slow and steady reel it back in, be patient, and...! ]

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