hashtag_chocobro | Argentum Residence; Insomnia, Lucis, Eos. Saturday [05/14 FT].

Entry tags:

Argentum Residence; Insomnia, Lucis, Eos. Saturday [05/14 FT].

If he was honest with himself, Prompto would have to admit that it felt pretty good, being able to rush off to Fandom in able to whisk Liz away from an apparent bout of significant sleeplessness and save her from the fate of exhaustion by settling her and Rain here at his place in Insomnia, where they'd both been resting. Well, one more than the other. Rain was sort of getting a lay of the land more often than not, but Liz was catching up on her sleep for most of it, which was good. She needed sleep, and, as much as everyone on the island joked about giving the firefighters something to do, he really didn't think they'd want an exhausted pyrokinetic scorching half the place if it could be avoided.

With everything going on in the face of the announcement about the treaty and Noctis' engagement to the Oracle, though, he was even busier than normal, and he barely got to see her yesterday. Which was probably for the better, because then she could rest, but this morning, he was definitely going to make time, and he got up early for his run and was unsurprised and actually glad that Liz was still sleeping when he got back, so that he could get started on a nice breakfast for them so that it would be ready for her when she got up.

And so that she didn't have to witness him fumbling through a few of the recipes he'd gotten from Ignis. Look, Prompto wasn't a bad cook, he was actually kind of good, but he was not at all a smooth cook, and there were a few minor blunders along the way, and it might not look as good as what Ignis could do, but it would be edible.

He'd even gotten some nice fancy sardines for Rain, too, and it was extremely hard not to just grin to himself over how right this felt, how perfect, and how, as soon as all this wedding business was taken care of and out of the way and things could settle down a little, this might....actually be a thing, on the regular, and not just a little blip because Fandom was being weird.

And it was also pretty great, too, really, that the best way to escape sleeplessness, in Liz's case, turned out to actually be....Insomnia!

[[ for the shamelessly modded houseguest or else who might want to get in touch via phone calls or texts! and NFB for distance, obvs. ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

“You didn’t wake me,” Liz assured him, “it’s definitely a strange feeling getting used to being able to sleep properly again,” and that it wasn’t going to be like last time when it took her nearly three weeks to properly get some sleep and that was only after she had fainted and ended up in the clinic.

"I think I'll have some of that coffee though, it'll be nice to enjoy a cup of coffee again without needing to rely on it to get through the day," Liz recalled the amount of coffee that she had drank earlier that week.

"This is really nice though," she said with a smile, "thank you again for having me and Rain over,"

"Thank you," Prompto said, grinning back over at Liz again, "for coming."

And that admiring gaze might have lingered a lot longer if he hadn't, suddenly, a few second into it, remembered that he was cooking and, slightly startled and worried, pulled himself out of it to focus on the food again. He breathed out a sigh of relief to see that nothing had burned in his distraction and, now that Liz was up and awake, tried to throw a little flair into his seasoning to make it look more impressive.

"You know you guys are always welcome," he added. "Mi casa es su casa, right? Especially if it means not dealing with whatever crap Fandom is putting everyone through at any given moment."

He reminded himself, though, to text Sidon a little later to see how things were going back there.

And then, once he did, would realize that Sidon might not be the best source of information in that respect and maybe text Summer instead.

Liz let out a giggle at that, “it’s definitely nice to have a break from that, I wonder if people have been able to fall asleep yet or if it’s still going?” now that she was fully awake, she did find the irony rather funny that it took her going to a place called Insomnia to be able to fall asleep.

She looked over to see what Prompto was making, “this does looks great,” she told him with a smile, “so what’s for breakfast?”

"Is it bad," Prompto asked, his grin one a little lopsided with the slight bit of genuine guilt he did actually feel over what he was about to say, "that I kind of hope it is still going on so that you'll clearly have to stay here? At least a little longer?"

He was almost tempted to suggest that, hey, maybe she didn't have to go back at all, but, with everything going on right now and how busy he'd be and how he didn't even really know what would be expected of him, anyway, that seemed unfair to Liz. He just had to be patient, wait for things to settle down a little, and then he could give that the focus and attention it deserved.

"But," he said, more to the immediate point, "I've got eggs. I've got pancakes. I've got some ham and some potatoes, and some nice fancy fish for Rain. I'm sure all that catching up on sleep you're doing is really working up an appetite, right?"

Liz’s smile widened and a familiar faint blush started to spread across her cheeks, “well I wouldn’t mind having to stay here a bit longer if that was the case,” after the last few days she was definitely feeling confident about her decision to eventually move her and Rain to Insomnia when the time came and Prompto asked her to make the move.

She looked over the food, “I could definitely go for a big meal right now, I didn’t do much eating when I wasn’t sleeping, didn’t really have the energy for it,” which was probably a major contributing factor to how tired she had been really but that was clearly behind her now and she got to spend a few days with Prompto so it had all worked out, “all of this looks incredible, thank you,” she took a look over at Rain, “and Rain says thank you for the fancy fish,”

Rain was more interested in exploring the room than whether or not she thankful for said fish but Liz was sure Rain would eat the fish regardless.

Prompto would be both heartbroken and devastated if all that nice, fancy fish turned out to just be shunned!

But for now, he was just sort of frowning with disapproval over hearing that Liz hadn't been eating well in addition to not sleeping well either, but he wasn't going to say anything, he was just going to focus on the fact that she was doing much better now.

"Well," he said, "I say, you're welcome, Rain, and I'm glad you are hungry, because if I was left eating all this by myself, I'd be in trouble."

He chuckled a little as he finished it up, turning off the stove and reaching for a plate so he could fill one up for Liz. And, with the distraction of cooking now officially out of the way, he handed over the plate to her, and, with it, leaned in to give her a quick kiss.

Well, it was intended to be just a quick one, but they never wound up actually being those very often, did they? And he finished it with a big, pleased, contented sort of grin and the almost requisite by now, "Hi."

Sure, sure, they'd done greeting already, but now he could, you know, do it properly.

Liz laughed at that and accepted the plate and had no objection at all to the kiss, which she happily returned and enjoyed the fact that it was a longer kiss. She definitely missed those.

When they broke apart she smiled up at him, her blush now deepening, “Hi,” she said shyly.

Prompto's grin back came with a happy little sigh and another lingering kiss, because all of that was just too cute for him not to, and it would have been nice, sure, if the conditions were different, but he really could not complain about how things had turned out in the end.

And then he finally managed to peel himself away long enough to give himself some food, too, and set up a plate for Rain that he set down on the floor with some kissy noises to get her attention if the smell of it hadn't already brought her in, and then started to drift over to the table.

"Anything in particular you might want to do today?" he asked.

Liz took the moment to enjoy another lingering kiss, taking advantage of these moments that she was able to have with Prompto while she was here before she had to go back to Fandom.

She followed him over to the table and considered his question, “Honestly, just being able to spend as much time together would be amazing,” Liz told him with a smile, “unless you have something in particular you’d like for us to do,”

Prompto shook her head a little. "Not really," he admitted. "I'm honestly just kind of looking forward to having some free time and doing absolutely nothing as much as possible! Maybe we can head to Noct's or something later, maybe he can meet Rain! I'm sure he'd like to be able to think about something that's not his impending wedding for an evening."

“We could definitely do that,” Liz smiled brightly, “it might be a good idea for Rain to see more of Insomnia, help her start to get settled and see more of the place,” she added, “and it’d be nice to see Noctis again, I liked the day we all spent together,”

"I think it'll be good for him, too," Prompto said, around a big bite of food. "He's pretty much been in full brooding mode since the announcement."

"Oh is he not happy about the wedding? I meant to ask earlier how he's been handling the news," Liz admitted. She felt a bit guilty that she had only thought of it just then and not the other day when Prompto told her the news, even though she had been lucky to form coherent sentences at that point.

Yeah, Liz definitely got a pass on that one.

Prompto just shrugged, shifting around some eggs before taking another bite. "I think it's just a lot for him," he said. "It is a lot to process, but I think he'll warm up to it. I mean, it's the Oracle! They've know each other since they were kids..."

He grinned a little, something a bit softer, almost nostalgic. "I'm pretty stoked about it myself, if only just to finally get to meet her. You know she's the whole reason Noct and I are even friends! I..." His head ducked, suddenly seized by a bout of sheepishness, a little pink splashed across her cheeks, "I kinda owe her everything."

“Well I hope everything does work out with the wedding and that Noctis is happy,” Liz said as she took a bite of food, “it sounds like a lot of work went to make this wedding happen,” she added.

She paused, taking another mouthful of food as she considered that last bit and tilted her head, “how did she help you and Noctis meet?” she asked, curious about how that meeting happened.

Prompto's smile softened a little bit more, especially as he kind of figured Liz would ask, and now he just had to figure out how to explain it to her. He hadn't told his story to many people at all; not even Noctis knew about it. But he had a feeling Liz would really appreciate it, and it would be kind of nice to tell her, besides.

"Well," he started, "it happened a while ago, back when I was a kid, before high school, definitely before Fandom. I was out with my camera, taking some pictures, you know how it is," a big grin there because, duh, of course she did, "when I heard this small sound, this little gentle whimpering, from off the side of the road. I went to go investigate, and there was the smollest little precious puppy all curled up and crying out in pain because it had been injured."

He paused a moment for a bite, swallowed it down, and continued after a swig of coffee.

"Anyway," he continued, "you know me, I couldn't just leave the poor thing there, so I picked her up, took her home, cleaned her up and bandaged her wounds, and just kind of...adopted her, I guess. I named her Tiny, because she was so smol," he never had been very good at names, really, "and she was my entire world for a while. I almost didn't want to find out who she belonged to, because she was kind of all I had..."

Another softening of his smile, as if realizing that Lunafreya and Noctis' wedding meant probably getting to see this dog again, too.

"But, one day, Tiny just....disappeared. She just left, and I was devastated, but somehow I knew she was okay, that she left because she was strong enough and it was time to go find her real home. Well, it turned out that Tiny wasn't Tiny at all, but Pryna, one of Lady Lunafreya's dogs! I still don't know how she traced it back to me, but she sent me a letter thanking me for all I'd done to help her dog and that she'd be forever grateful."

Excuse a moment of blushing fiercely with pride at that.

"She also said, though, that she knew I went to the same school as the prince and had a special request for me: to befriend him, since she feared he didn't make a log of friends. And, I mean, that was a huuuuge ask! You...you remember, right, how I was, from that weekend? When we were younger? How, uh....different," sure! That was a way to put it, "I was from how I am now...I couldn't be friends with the prince! Not the way I was then!

"So I started eating better, and working out, and working pm being more social, because I didn't want to disappoint her, you know? And then, finally, a few years later, I finally did it. I finally went up to Noctis and I introduced myself, and do you know what he said? Liz, he said, 'I know who you are.' He recognized me. Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum knew who I was! I was stunned. And he and I have been best friends ever since..."

He chuckled a little, shaking his head and marveling at the wild journeys that got him to the presence. "All because of a tiny little puppy and the princess she belong to. It's almost like a fairy tale; it happened to me, and I still sometimes can't even believe it!"

Edited 2022-05-14 13:43 (UTC)

Liz listened intently to Prompto as he told her the story of how he and Noctis became friends, nodding along at different points as she did.

“Oh wow,” she said with a fond smile when he was finished, “That is definitely an incredible meeting” she told him, “thank you for telling me, I’ve never heard of anything like that before,”

"Yeah, well," said Prompto, with an awkward chuckle and the blush on his face rapidly deepening, because he was honestly still just a little embarrassed about the whole thing, especially the part where he still couldn't believe that he would ever deserve something like that happening to him, of all people, "'hey, let me tell you about how I saved a princess's dog and became besties with a prince' isn't exactly a story that can be wedged naturally into a whole lot of conversations..."

But he looked pleased, extremely pleased, by Liz's response, and maybe a little more proud of himself, too.

"Hey," he then said, slicing into a pancake with his fork, "do you think...maybe once Noct and Lunafreya are married, that when I see Pryna again....she might still remember me?"

But his laugh that followed seemed dismissive, like he'd already accepted that it was unlikely.

"Maybe they can make me royal dog wrangler, or something."

“I’m sure she would remember you,” Liz smiled softly, “especially if you took such good care of her, I’m sure she’ll never forget that,”

There was a pause and Liz took a few bites of food, “I do hope you get to see Pryna again though,” she told him.

Prompto smiled softly at the encouragement; it definitely felt good to have someone in his corner. It was a long time ago, though, but dogs were always pretty loyal, too, so he guessed he'd just have to wait and see, because he doubted that Lunafreya would just ditch her dogs just because she got hitched.

"I just hope," he said with a chuckle, "that when I do, Rain doesn't get too jealous."

“I’m sure Rain will understand,” Liz smiled at that, she glanced over to where Rain was enjoying eating her fish, “you’ll have to let me know how everything goes,”

"I mean," said Prompto, almost a little shyly, even after all this time, as he dug into his pancakes a little more, "hopefully I won't have to tell you too much, because you'll...you know...be around for some of it. You've got to at least come to the wedding, right? It's probably going to be one of the biggest events in Eos history!"

Which...he could understand if it didn't mean quite as much to her as it did to him, or anyone else on this planet, for that matter, but still!

“Oh, I’d love to come to the wedding,” Liz assured him, even though the idea of such a big event did intimidate her but she figured if she was going to be eventually moving in with Prompto that she should at least be there for such an important occasion, “I’ll …I’ll definitely be there …I mean, if you don’t mind me being there that is,” she added.

"As long as you don't mind," Prompto put out there, with a newly worried and already apologetic look across the table, "that I might be kind of...you know...working and not just there to party..."

There was a certain nervousness there, too, not just in the fact that he couldn't really spend as much time with Liz at events like this as he'd want to, but also the realization that, pretty much from here on in, he had the potential to be a part of history. He wasn't just some rando on the street, he was at the side of the future king of Lucis, who was joining forces with a province of Niflheim. This was big stuff, and it was...incredibly intimidating. A part of him almost couldn't even wrap his head around it.

“I don’t mind,” Liz told him softly, “I know how busy you’ve been and how busy you still will be with the preparations but I do still want to go, I know how important this is for you,”

"Another reason you're amazing," Prompto gave Liz a gentle, grateful grin. "Sticking by me even when I have to be some big important member of the future Kingsgla--"

But his words cut off at a sound down the hall by the front door that made him sit up, blinking in surprise. Jangling keys, muffled voices, a turning of a lock. Any remnants of color, blush or otherwise, seemed to drain from his face. He stared at Liz for a moment before pushing back his chair.

"Uhhh...." he offered awkwardly, "um, hold...hold on a sec, I, uh, I'll be right back."

With that, he moved out of the kitchen and dining area, toward the hallway to the front door, which was opening.

"Mom, Dad, what are you guys--"

"Oh!" A man's voice all but overrode his. "Prompto! You're home. What a nice surprise."

Liz waited, wondering who was at the door and then a few moments got her answer.

She had honestly never expected to meet Prompto’s parents and she sat as she heard the exchange at the front door and wondered if she should go out and introduce herself now or wait and give Prompto a moment.

So she sat there at the table and tried not to feel so anxious.

The conversation continued down the hall in much more hushed tones, a few bits and pieces managing to make it out more clearly. "No, Dad, Liz, I told you about..." "Yeah, the Photo..." "I wasn't expecting you." "Yeah, I know, obviously I know, but...." "Yeah."

The sigh, at least, was unmistakable.

"Hold on."

And then Prompto came around the corner, preemptively wincing as he looked at Liz.

"Soooooooo," he said, "my parents just showed up. I know you weren't expecting this, I wasn't expecting this," bevause, seriously, they were gone all the time, and now, all of a sudden..

"I can tell them you're nog feeling well or something if you want to duck out. I would not blame you. They're probably on their way to the Citadel soon, anyway...."

Liz tried not to feel nervous as Prompto gave her the chance to opt out of meeting his parents but she knew it was something she should do now, especially if she was going to make the move to Insomnia and live with Prompto full time.

“No that‘’s okay I can meet them, I mean …if you’re okay with me meeting them?” she asked softly.

"Yeah, well," Prompto rolled his eyes a little derisively, "not like they'll probably even it two seconds later, anyway."

But he stopped himself, sighed, and shook his head. "Okay, that's not fair, they have a lot on their plate, but..."

He drew in a deep breath. It was probably good to get this put of the way now. Who even knew when their paths would cross next? Probably not even until Noct's wedding....

"Come on, then," he offered out his hand and a deeply apologetic smile. "They're over in the living room."

“Okay,” Liz gave a small nod and a small smile in response, taking Prompto’s offered hand, “so anything I should be aware of before I meet them?”

As soon as he had Liz's hand in his, Prompto gave it a little squeeze, as he shrugged. "Not really," he said, "they're pretty normal. We just don't...really see each other a lot..."

And, with that, he lead her to the living room, where Prompto's parents were in the middle of a conversation, voices lowered, which stopped abruptly once they made their appearance, their attention shifting toward Liz. For the most part, 'pretty normal' seemed to cover it extremely well; the most remarkable thing about them, really, seemed to be that they really didn't look anything like Prompto himself, their features darker, their builds bulkier. Prompto let go of Liz's hand to fidget a little with the wrap covering his barcode apprehensively, reminded of how obvious it was that he was adopted, where he was adopted from, the newer knowledge of why...and then gestured.

"Mom, Dad," he said, "this is Liz. Liz...my parents."

Prompto's mother's smile was warm and pleasant and she offered out her own hand. "Hello, Liz, darling, it's so nice to meet you finally."

"We've been hearing so much," added his father, who ignored the faint scoff from Prompto, who was kind of wondering when a few texts and brief conversations became 'so much'.

“It’s nice to meet you as well Mrs. Argentum, Mr. Argentum,” Liz nodded a general greeting in his direction and then realised she didn’t know if that was the correct way to address someone you didn’t know in Insomnia.

She shook the offered hand, realising she didn’t know what to say . She heard Prompto’s faint snort and knew what same. Argentum was saying wasn’t quite true.

“I …er, you have a lovely home?” she tried instead, wishing she didn’t feel so awkward.

Edited 2022-05-17 00:03 (UTC)

Mr. and Mrs. would work just fine, especially since it wasn't like they ever even got names or anything.

But Prompto's mother seemed pleased enough with that response. "Thank you," she said indulgently. "Prompto has always done a good job of keeping the place up, even when he's spending even more time away than even we do."

"Speaking of which," his father cut in, "we really don't plan on staying, we were really just stopping in to drop off a thing or two. We're heading for the Citadel. Would you two need a ride?"

"No," Prompto shook his head, hands now shoved in his pockets. "We were going to go see Noct later, but we were in the middle of breakfast. We'll just take the subway."

His father seemed to consider this for a moment, before nodding. "Well, don't let us interrupt. It's the most important meal of the day, right? We'll get out of your hair."

With that, they started to move deeper into the house, though Prompto's mother lingered a little with a soft smile that did seem genuine, albeit mild.

"And it really is nice to finally meet you," she said.

Liz blinked, she wasn't expecting his parents to leave so quickly and she glanced quickly at Prompto before returning her attention back to Mrs. Argentun.

"Same here Mrs. Argentum," Liz said with a smile, "I hope we'll see each other again soon,"

Well she was starting to figure out that wouldn't be likely but she could at least be polite, even if still somewhat slightly awkward.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Argentum Residence; Insomnia, Lucis, Eos. Saturday [05/14 FT].

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject