Noct's Apartment; Insomnia, Lucis; Eos. Sunday Afternoon [12/27].

[hashtag_chocobro]

There had been a little bit of redecorating around the crown prince of Insomnia's apartment over the weekend, redecorating all around quite possibly the best painting in the entire multiverse, of Noctis hanging from his sword from the top of the Citadel while the world spun around him, and there was definitely a singing fish and a burrito blanket featured heavily, as any great piece of art should have.

And Prompto had seen it probably a million times since Nina installed it, but he still couldn't help pausing every once in a while as they were all hanging out, and just sort of...marveling.

"It's almost hard to think that I know the people who painted that," he commented, not for the first time, shaking his head a moment before popping a chip into his mouth and trying to go back to focus on the game he was currently kicking Noct's ass in.

"It is a bit of a masterpiece, isn't it?" Ignis commented from behind the counter in the kitchen, where he was diligently putting dinner together for the lot of them. "Shame that it's hidden up here where so few people will even be able to bask in its glory. Perhaps I should talk to someone about having it moved down to the Citadel? I'm thinking the main entrance hall..."

"Don't. You. Dare," growled Noctis, doing a poor job of sounding intimidating with it. "It's fine where it is."

"I don't know, Noct," Gladio said as he placidly flipped the page of his book. "Iggy's got a point, it would look great hanging in the dining hall, too, maybe."

"Haven't we already been over this?"

"Only about five times every day since you got it, buddy!"

But Prompto really hoped they were joking about that. Not for Noct's sake, though, but rather for his own, because that painting was huge and a pain to move, so he'd be perfectly fine if it stayed right where it was.

He was pretty sure Noctis would miss it if it was moved, too.

[[ open for chocobrothers, chocosisters, chococalls and chocotexts! ]]

Comments

[bookbeltof_love]

Oh, please, Prompto. You hadn't had anything to do with the initial installation!

That had all been on Nina and, like, she wasn't telling how she'd done it without security noticing. What was the point of being a menace if she didn't show it in some ways?

Still, like, even though she was back for the holiday, she was trying not to get in the guys' way too much. She still lived in fear of over-staying her welcome.

That... wasn't going to stop her from beaming her way through security this afternoon, after having left them alone all through training and some of their downtime.

(Sure, she could avoid it, but sometimes the sheer novelty of having authorization to freely bounce up to Noct's place needed to be reveled in. She was part of a very small group that had that, after all.)

And it wasn't going to stop her from knocking on his door either.

Sometimes the only way to stop being scared of something was to kick it in the teeth.

[chef_chocobro]

Four heads turned toward the door at the sound of a (mostly) unexpected knock at the door, and then those four heads turned toward each other.

"Nina?" Noctis asked.

"Nina," Prompto confirmed with a confident nod.

"Well, I hope it's not that one of you ordered pizza delivery," Ignis noted as he chopped away. "Otherwise what's the point in all this?"

"Not like we wouldn't eat all of it," Gladio pointed out.

"That is true," Ignis allowed reluctantly, and then, after he realized no one was actually moving to get the door, sent an expectant look toward Prompto that was completely lost on him as he was back in his video games, sighed, and then set down his knife to move toward the door himself.

"Nina," he greeted her before the door was even fully open, then stepped back to welcome her in. "Glad you could join us."

[bookbeltof_love]

"On a scale of one to ten, how much of that is polite fiction??????????" she asked, amused, as she grinned up at him. "And should I poll all of you to see what my welcome really is??????"

She was betting, like, maybe a six. Tops.

Some days that would be higher but, like, two days after Christmas where she and Prompto had given gifts like they had?

It was probably a six, if she was lucky.

[chef_chocobro]

"As far as polite fiction goes," Ignis said, with a grin that seemed as reluctance as his allowance to Gladio a moment ago, "I'd put it at maybe a two. As for the rest of it?" He adjusted his glasses and gave Nina a bit of a look before drifting back towards dinner. "I'll need to finish processing a few things before I decide on that."

His Christmas present was still something that he was not sure what to make of.

"I'd give your welcome a three, Nina," Prompto offered, to be a brat.

"Six," said Gladio.

There was a moment, probably longer than it should have been, before Noctis seemed to decide on his answer, which he gave without looking away from the game. "Seven."

A sound of grim death from the TV brought Prompto's attention back. "H-hey, no fair! I was distracted!"

Noctis grinned faintly at the victory and changed his answer. "Eight." He glanced over now that they weren't in the middle of a match. "You didn't bring more presents, did you?"

[bookbeltof_love]

"Just my glorious presence," Nina said sweetly, taking her shoes off and hanging up her jacket before she really bothered to look at any of them.

"As for you, Sir Two, I'm just going to point out that your glorious prince and Prompto were involved in your present as much as I was," and she was just going to smack Prompto's shoulder as she walked past him, for that three, "but, like, I'll accept Noct's eight and six is totally fair for that bedroom since, like, it clashes, I know!!!!!!!!!"

Yes, that was why it was a six.

[hashtag_chocobro]

It was a six because six felt fairly neutral and Gladio was generally trying to ignore anything at all regarding the changes made to his bedroom. Which meant diligently not responding to Nina's comments about it with another turn of the pages of his book.

Prompto, meanwhile, was holding up his controler. "You want in on a round? We're pretty much just waiting for Iggy to finish dinner and contemplating where the best place for the painting might really be."

"Here," Noctis responded, faintly grumbling, and without missing a beat. "The best place for it is here."

"But No~oooct!" Prompto put a little whine in there to go with his pout, then spoiled it almost immediatley with a chuckle. "No one else can see the gloriousness of it all if it stays here!"

"Except for us," said Ignis. "Aren't we lucky."

[bookbeltof_love]

"What are you playing?????????" Nina asked, since she was... not the best gamer. Better than she had started off as, but... well.

"And, like, I'm siding with Noctis," she said loftily. "After all, here's where it is meant to be!!!!!!!!!!!"

[i_hate_beans]

"You all heard the lady," said Noctis, with his own loftiness and a small nod of solidarity toward Nina. "It stays where it was intended to be."

"I don't know," Gladio ventured. "Just imagine it in the throne room..."

"Or a museum," suggested Ignis.

"Or on a billboard right over the gate to the city!" was Prompto's grinning contribution, then he shrugged. "And it's just a fighting game." Which he figured she wouldn't really be into, but he felt he should have at least asked. "I figured Noct might enjoy not getting his butt handed to him for a little while."

"Maybe I'm letting you win," said Noctis. "That's my Christmas present to you."

"Oh, yeah, sure, buddy. That is definitely it!"

[bookbeltof_love]

"I'm good, thanks," she said, smiling. It was nice to have been asked.

"If you can tolerate me in your kitchen, Ignis, I'll set the table????????"

[chef_chocobro]

"That would actually be very helpful, Nina," said Ignis, because it was certainly more help than he expected to get out of any of the others, "thank you. Perhaps when you're done, you can also help me with this sauce while I finish with the vegetables."

Since he was apparently going to be teaching this sort of thing now, he might as well get a head start...

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina looked deeply dubious at that.

She, ah, was not going to be the greatest of students, through no fault of her own.

"Maybe," she allowed, wandering over to get dishes out. "Though, like, you're going to have to explain why the sauce and the vegetables are being made separately..........."

[chef_chocobro]

"The sauce," Ignis explained as if the mun actually had any idea on the specifics of what he might be even making and wasnt' just being totally lazy right now, "is for the meat, and I plan to let the flavors of the vegetables on their own compliment it. We are thankfully well past the days when I had to hide all of the vegetables with sauces and smothering just to get Noctis to actually eat them."

"Well past seems a bit generous," chuckled Gladio from his chair.

Noctis made a face. "Just as long as it's not beeaans."

"Yes, we are all very aware of your particular disdain for legumes..."

[bookbeltof_love]

"Like, I'm not sure any of you would survive in my world," she said, amused. "No processed anything!!!!!!!!"

Not even coffee. Sorry, Ignis.

[chef_chocobro]

Ignis, who did not even think of coffee because he felt coffee would be an absolute given no matter what, passed a glance around the room at his three compatriots, before his gaze settled back on Nina.

"I like to think some of us might fare better than others in a situation like that. It might even be good for them. Reset their palates beyond Cup Noodle^TM and fast food burgers..."

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina grinned at him as began setting the table.

"The question is, would they survive the detox???????????"

[hashtag_chocobro]

Prompto lifted his hand high in the air before it returned to his controller.

"I survived a whole year on just salad," he pointed out. "I could totally handle it."

"So could I," Gladio said with confidence before he snorted a laugh, "but why would I want to?"

[bookbeltof_love]

"Noct??????????"

[i_hate_beans]

"Tsch."

Way to call him out on trying to slip out of this without answering, Nina!

"I guess I could," he shrugged. "...if I had to."

And there were no beans.

[bookbeltof_love]

She laughed, bright and happy.

"I have faith in you," she said, though it was more faith in the fact that Ignis wouldn't allow Noctis to starve himself to death due to the only options being healthier food. "Besides, healthy food tastes better!!!!!!!!"

[chef_chocobro]

"Maybe," said Ignis, with a faintly conspiratorial tone that made it clear he was mostly just saying this to Nina, "if they hear that coming from you, they might be willing to actually believe it."

"We'll believe it when we taste it, Igs," Prompto countered with a snicker. "What's that they always say? The proof is in the pudding? Maybe literally, in this case!"

[bookbeltof_love]

“He’s not even good at lying,” she said, with a sigh. “They’re going to believe me about as much as they believe you—-if I’m lucky!!!!!!!!!!”

So no.