MHA #4; Tuesday Afternoon [02/02].

[hashtag_chocobro]

Well, if Prompto was going to be on the island to substitute for a class (so weird!), then it would be ridiculous of him to not take advantage of that fact to pester hang out with his little sister for a bit. The only problem was that he found out that his little sister just so happened to be in the middle of a very complicated spell that had her a little preoccupied. But Prompto wasn't going to let something like that stop him.

Even if he got one look at all the chalk covering Summer's apartment and immediately fixed Nina with a look of disapproval.

"You're taking a break," he announced. "I'm going to be back in five minutes with some food, and you're going to take a break and rest, and then I'm going to help you with some of this."

And sure, he said that, but after that break and they had full stomaches, there was a cat and Prompto was...maybe a little distracted.

"~Pancakes, Pancakes~," he sang, as he pet and snuggled and danced the poor cat's limbs around, "~Oh, if only you could talk! Bet you'd saa~ay, it's a miracle I'm not covered in chalk!~"

He thought it was pretty good for having just made it up on the spot. With a muffled little merow, though, it seemed Pancakes was less impressed.

"Honestly, though," he added, dropping the song for another look around from where he was sitting on a yet-to-be-chalked spot on the floor, "this is so much work, Nina..."

[[ apartment, cat, and sister all modded with permission! definitely open if anyone wants to swing by lol ]]

[[ edit: that Nina's working on something in the apartment is a-okay, but if the specifics could be NFB, that'd be baller ]]

Comments

[firstofitskind]

So Liam had been intending to stop by Summer's apartment and make sure Nina took a break for lunch, but a little mouse told him that had already been covered by a certain someone.

Instead, he waited until later in the afternoon and then headed downstairs to Summer's apartment with a selection of chopped and sliced fruits and some cookies he'd picked up from Gingerbread Pudding, and knocked on the door.

[hashtag_chocobro]

Prompto and Pancakes both looked up from the knock at the door, where they were engaged in playing with a feather on a stick (man, but this cat had a stupid amount of toys), and he glanced over for a moment to where Nina was working and figured he'd take on door duty so she didn't need to be more interrupted than she already was by him even being there in the first place, tossed the toy for Pancakes to go chasing after it, then hopped up to his feet to answer it.

"Summer's not he--" he started, as he opened the door, which was an interesitng greeting if you thought about it, because it definitely opened up a lot of questions on what he was doing in her apartment when she wasn't even there, but then he saw who it was and the words halted right there. "Oh. Uh, hey, Liam. You're, uh, probably here for Nina, right?"

So he stepped back, opening the door and gesturing an invitation with his arm as if this was his own apartment or something.

Look, it's not like Summer didn't know, or something!

[firstofitskind]

“Mmhm,” he nodded. “Though I brought enough to share,” he said, holding up the containers of fruit and cookies. “For all of us, I mean.” Lest Prompto think he wasn’t to be included here.

[hashtag_chocobro]

It's almost like Liam knew that Prompto would definitely think he wasn't to be included, or something! Which, you know, was generally his thing with about everything. He still seemed surprised when he got included in official Crownsguard stuff, soooooo....

Don't be surprised that he definitely already had an escape plan in mind even in those brief seconds that had passed.

"Well, I mean," he said, "I definitely wouldn't want to get in the way. I was thinking I might pop by the shelter real quick before I left for home, anyway, see how all the pups are doing. It'd be really good to see them all again..."

[firstofitskind]

“Prompto,” Liam said firmly. “You’re not in the way.” Maybe if he repeated it enough times it would start to sink in?

[hashtag_chocobro]

Hahaha, oh, Liam. Adorable.

Red and freckles immediately splashed across Prompto's face and he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean," he said, "if you're sure. I definitely don't mind just chilling with some puppers for a bit. I don't think I'd trust anyone who would mind that, actually."

[firstofitskind]

“I’m sure,” Liam said. He’d brought the good cookies, Prompto!

Which, mindful of the way Nina had danced around his food issues (who didn’t have food issues, considering Liam himself was on a trauma-induced vegetarian diet), Liam wasn’t going to say that part, lest it seem like he was trying to bribe him with unhealthy stuff.

“I mean, you should definitely check in on the puppies, because puppies, but later.”

[hashtag_chocobro]

Prompto was definitely not above being bribed by unhealthy stuff.

Which was part of the problem, but...

The red and freckles stayed, but the crooked grin softened a little. "Later," he allowed, and then turned his attention to something else, that being the most obvious thing to bring his attention to, other than Pancakes having brought rolled over a little jingling ball against Prompto's boot and meowing up at him until he gave it a little kick so she could go running after it.

He was just glad she hadn't brought over one of her toy mice, because...would that be, like, super awkward? It was a question he was glad he didn't have to find the answer to yet, anyway.

"Can you believe all the work Nina's done on this place?" he asked. "You can hardly even see the apartment underneath all the chalk anymore!"

Honestly, like, he knew how it would all disappear when the spell was done, but it was almost more unbelievable that Summer was totally cool with letting this happen, if you asked him.

[firstofitskind]

Well. Liam’s mice were vicious little things that hunted in packs, and it was entirely possible that one or more of them was lurking nearby, so yes. A toy mouse would have been... awkward.

“I’m looking forward to the finished project,” Liam agreed with a nod. “Even if I’m sure my head would explode if I tried to think too much about how this is all possible.”

[hashtag_chocobro]

"Yeaaaah," Prompto chuckled a little, grinning a little more and stopping himself as his hand now reached to rub his wrists a little. "Best not to think about it too much, really But, hey, you're gonna come, huh? That's really good, Iggy needs to meet more people, and this party sounds like a great way to do it. It sounds like all he does besides his class while he's here so far is sit in his office or cook..."

It was said with a snicker, though.

[firstofitskind]

"Of course," Liam nodded. "He seems like a good guy, and maybe I can bug him for a few recipe ideas."

He wasn't quite at Ignis' level, but like... he'd kind of discovered how much he enjoyed cooking, especially when he could make other people happy through it.

[bookbeltof_love]

It was like everyone thought she'd starve or wither away if they didn't fuss and, like, while it was really strange to have this obvious and unable to be ignored outpouring of affection…

She also really loved it too? It was just complicated, in her head.

Nina finished the swirl she was working on, an intricate curlicue of lines and dots before she beamed at him. It was handy, using the work she was doing to have a quick wrestling session with herself about--

"Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she greeted.

Like, she honestly didn't know how Prompto would take that? She didn't want to hurt Liam by not calling him dad, when he was, but she didn't want Prompto to…

Just, like, to think… things?

The more she thought about it, the more anxious she got about both her families being in the same room.

[firstofitskind]

“Hey kiddo,” he beamed at her. “I thought you guys could use a break.”

Yes, the use of ‘you guys’ was deliberate; he knew Nina was the one doing the actual work with all the magic. But Prompto was keeping her company (and keeping the cat occupied!) and that was important too.

[bookbeltof_love]

And the fact that he just casually included Prompto helped her feel a little less anxious about it.

Nina laughed.

"Between you and Prompto, like, half the day is going to be a break," she said, both amused and exasperated. "But I'll never turn down visits!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[firstofitskind]

“We’re not that bad,” Liam protested. “We’re hardly here going ‘Pfft, Nina, forget about all this setup stuff, let’s go, I don’t know, bowling.”

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina giggled, making grabby hands at the cookies and fruit.

"Did you know, I've never been bowling???????"

[firstofitskind]

"Would you like to?" Liam asked, handing them over. "Not," he clarified, "right this minute. But sometime? There is a bowling alley right here on the island."

He'd only been the once himself, with Beau. But it had been fun.

He glanced over to where Prompto was playing with the cat, suggesting Prompto come along on the tip of his tongue. Except Nina hadn't actually said whether she wanted to, yet...

[bookbeltof_love]

The nice thing about spellwork like this was that she burned so much energy that all food was good food and she usually wanted seconds.

Not that Nina usually worried about that sort of thing anyway but—-she did eat more when working like this.

They’d had lunch not long ago but that wasn’t stopping Nina from snagging a few cookies with a gasp of delight as she put the tray on the coffee table.

“Gingerbread Pudding!!!!!!!!!!!!!” she enthused. “Ohmygosh, thanks, Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Only after she took her first bite, sighed happily, and had swallowed did she answer the actual question.

“And, like, yeah!!!!!!!! I’d love to, some time that’s not this week!!!!!!!!”

[firstofitskind]

Liam grinned back at her. Jeff’s was great, sure, but Madhura-made baked goods just had that extra special something about them.

“D’you think Prompto would like to come?” he asked, curiously.

[bookbeltof_love]

She thought about it, with a glance over at him.

“Probably,” she decided. “And, like, I’m not actually sure if he’s ever bowled either????????”

[firstofitskind]

“And despite it being something from my world, I’ve only been once myself,” Liam said. “So I wouldn’t even have a terribly unfair advantage over the two of you.”

[bookbeltof_love]

They had bowling in Insomnia but, like... Prompto hadn’t had friends before high school, really, and she wasn’t sure if the guys had ever bowled since they’d introduced Noctis to an arcade last year for his birthday but...

Well.

She wasn’t going to say that to her dad!

“I’ll see what he says,” she promised. “And when he’d be free since, like, his schedule is probably the least flexible right now????????”

[firstofitskind]

"Makes sense," he nodded. "I certainly don't have a lot going on these days. Crime on the island isn't exactly an issue."

Which wasn't a problem, per se, but it was definitely one of the reasons he'd jumped at the chance to go help Rey out over the weekend.

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina smiled.

"It's good but, like, it's boring too, right?????????"

[firstofitskind]

Liam nodded. "Don't get me wrong, I'm never going to complain about waking up and not having to worry how someone's going to try and kill me today, but at the same time, it's nice to-" he almost said 'feel useful' and then thought better of it, even though this was in the context of work. "- Feel like what I do makes a difference."