Prompto Argentum (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hashtag_chocobro) wrote2022-06-04 04:35 am
hashtag_chocobro) wrote2022-06-04 04:35 am
Cape Caem; Cleigne; Eos. Saturday [06/04 FT].
It had been a long journey still down along the coast of the Cygillan Ocean before they reached Cape Caem, finally, with a few pitstops for Gladio to stretch his legs, cramped as they were in the back seat with the addition of Iris, and to better take in some of the views. Prompto hadn't stopped taking pictures of the journey so far, pretty much from the moment they set out, two weeks ago (had it really only been that long? How it had been so long already?), but there was something about the shot he managed to snag of that vast ocean and their destination spotted far up ahead along the cliffs that made him pause for a moment. And when they got back to the car, he transferred the picture from his camera to his phone and, even though he was pretty sure it was just going to disappear into the ether between them, he sent it off to Liz.
Almost there!!! he typed out the text. But I really wish I could just be with you.
"Pretty impressive lighthouse," Gladio noted as they finally pulled into a spot to park the Regalia, and began to climb up the hill toward their sleek and towering destination.
"I bet the view is amazing," gushed Prompto, following after him, perhaps not quite as enthusiastic as it might have been otherwise.
"And speaking of amazing views…" The comment was perhaps just a touch more colorful than usual for Ignis, but he couldn't really help himself as they were approached by none other than Cindy Aurum, bouncing down the hill with her crooked smile and short shorts to greet them.
"Knew that was y'all!" she said with delight. "Recognize the purr of that engine anywhere!"
"Whew," Prompto laughed a little despite himself…or perhaps because of himself, trying to shake off the mauldin mood that the drive had set him in.. "You sure know your stuff."
"Thanks for the ride," Iris said, glancing a little tentatively between Cindy and the others, and giving a faint smile. "It was fun. I'll meet you guys up by the house, okay?"
Gladio gave her a grunt and a nod, and she went rushing off to leave them to their business with Cindy. And, more importantly….
"So," Noctis said, "how's the boat?"
"Paw-paw's tinkering away," Cindy assured him, before cocking her head back and gesturing for them to follow her along the path. Walk and talk! "Reckon he'll be tinkering for some time, though."
"Trouble at sea?" asked Ignis with concern on his brow.
"Seen her share, by the looks of her," Cindy confirmed. "Some parts we can fix, others need replacin'."
"Huh," Gladio grunted. "An overhaul."
"Don't y'all worry," Cindy insisted. "Paw-paw ain't goin' nowhere 'til the job's done. Parts won't fetch 'emselves, though. Was kind hopin' y'all wouldn't mind helpin' out with that?"
"We're at your disposal," Ignis promised. "It's not like we'll be going anywhere without that boat, anyway."
"To tell the truth," said Cindy, with a small grin for that, "we already got a couple hands on deck: Dustin an' Monica. Those two have been real swell. Managed to gather just about everything we need."
"You can always depend on the Crownsguard," Ignis noted proudly.
"Trouble is," Cindy continued, her particular twang going a bit apologetic, "they ain't had much luck findin' a certain somethin' by the name of mythril. Apparently, the stuff's hard to come by around these parts, least accordion' to the little fella from the city."
"Talcott?" Prompto guessed, with a little renewed burst of excitement, glad to hear he'd made it to the Cape safely.
"You betcha," Cindy confirmed, flashing a grin over her shoulder at him. A grin that seemed to hit in such a way that he couldn't help grinning right back…and almost immediately turning red for it. He quickly ducked his head away, trying not to think of curly haired boys tinkering away at smashed cameras.
If Cindy noticed anything, though, she certainly didn't show it, moving on with her story as they moved up the hill. "Sharp as a tack, that one. Could tell y'all more about the stuf'n I could."
"We'll be sure to ask," said Noctis.
"Paw-paw's down on the dock," she said, as they finally reached the base of the lighthouse, and she gestured toward it. "Right over there. Now, if ya'll'd excuse me, I'm gonna grab my tools and skedaddle"
"You're not sticking around?" asked Prompto, surprised by the sudden rush of disappointment he felt at that. That burst was quickly replaced, though, with the realization that, actually? It was probably for the best, all things considered. He already started to feel a little grateful.
"Fraid not," she said. "I've got a garage to look after. But good luck to y'all. Hope you won't need it."
Prompto shrunk a little under Ignis' calculating glance as Cindy strode off, but there wasn't much time to dwell on it before another voice demanded their attention.
"Prince Noctis!" Talcott shouted his greeting from the base of the lighthouse, waving his hands at them excitedly. "Hey! Our house is over here!" And then, folding his hands in front of him in a very proper fashion, he bowed, and turned toward a bulking makeshift structure just a little bit down the hill. "Right this way."
Despite his attempts to embody the proper steward his grandfather had been, there was a bounce to Talcott's steps as he led them to the house. "I think Miss Cindy might have told you already," he said, "but she needs a very special kind of ore called mythril to fix the boat. Remember the waterfall? I read in Grandpa's notebook there's some ruins near a lake just north of there. It said you'll find mythril inside! And my granda's never wrong. There's gotta be mythril in there--I just know it!"
"About that lake," Iris joined in, smiling fondly at Talcott a moment while she leaned on the railing of the house's porch, "I'm preeeetty sure he was talking about the Vesperpool. I asked Monica to look into it and she told me the road leading there's under Imperial lockdown. You'll want to be prepared for anything."
"Always are," Ignis insisted with a faint smile.
"Don't really have a choice in the matter," Noctis pointed out.
"So," said Prompto, eager to get his thoughts out of his own head and focus on something else instead,, "we meet with Dustin and Monica, find out more about this mithryl stuff, and then we go get it?"
"Precisely," Ignis confirmed. "After we rest up and get some food in our stomachs."
"Good!" Noctis breathed out in relief. "I'm starving."
"And I'm dying of thirst!" Prompto added.
"And yet we're all," Ignis mewled, "very much alive."
As they all headed up the stairs to the house, with Talcott bouncing with excitement to show them around the humble lodgings, Gladio hesitated, hanging back. He'd had his own thoughts on the ride up here, that were divorced from his aching, cramped legs in the tight space of the Regalia's back seat, and he realized that if he didn't do it now, he might not have the chance later.
And if he didn't do it now…
"Noct," he called out, lifting his chin, as they all stopped and turned toward him. "Got a moment?"
Noctis looked to Ignis almost with a bit of uncertainty, but Ignis, looking at Gladio, nodded to Noctis and turned his attention to Prompto, to guide him along to continue into the house and give the two of them some privacy. Gladio nodded his thanks to Ignis while Noctis stepped down the stairs to stand before him.
"Yeah?" he asked. "What's up?"
"So," Gladio started, letting out a slow, bolstering breath, to convince himself not to back down, not to tell him it was nothing, to just ignore it and tell him never mind, and keep on the way they'd been going. "Yeah. Gonna have to ask you to handle this boat business without me."
Noctis' brow furrowed with confusion. Perhaps even a little hurt, but maybe Gladio was just imagining that. "What do you mean?" he asked.
And even though he'd been going over this exchange in his head more than a few times in the last few days, Gladio struggled to actually get the words out. Or to know exactly which words to say.
"Got some business of my own to deal with," he finally explained, quietly.
Apologetically.
Noctis shifted a little uncomfortably where he stood, but, slowly, he nodded.
"....gonna be long?" he asked.
Gladio grinned, just a bit, and gave a confident, cocksure roll of his shoulders. "Not long enough for you to miss me. Take care of Iris while I'm gone, alright? Make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble."
"I thought I was the trouble," Noctis countered, and Gladio, grunting in amusement, just set one his meaty hands on Noct's shoulder, squeezed it a little, and then flicked it against the back of his head before turning to go, heading down the way they came with his long, determined strides.
And Noctis forced himself not to linger there watching him, as he turned toward the house, the smells of Ignis' cooking and the cheerful banter between Talcott and Prompto as the kid told him about their adventures in coming here from Lestallum hitting him before he even made it back up the stairs.
[[ and thus the end of Final Fantasy XV Chapter Six - A Way Forward, with just the slightest tidbit of the start of Chapter Seven - Party of Three. NFB, NFI, OOC welcome, yadda yadda yadda ]]
Almost there!!! he typed out the text. But I really wish I could just be with you.
"Pretty impressive lighthouse," Gladio noted as they finally pulled into a spot to park the Regalia, and began to climb up the hill toward their sleek and towering destination.
"I bet the view is amazing," gushed Prompto, following after him, perhaps not quite as enthusiastic as it might have been otherwise.
"And speaking of amazing views…" The comment was perhaps just a touch more colorful than usual for Ignis, but he couldn't really help himself as they were approached by none other than Cindy Aurum, bouncing down the hill with her crooked smile and short shorts to greet them.
"Knew that was y'all!" she said with delight. "Recognize the purr of that engine anywhere!"
"Whew," Prompto laughed a little despite himself…or perhaps because of himself, trying to shake off the mauldin mood that the drive had set him in.. "You sure know your stuff."
"Thanks for the ride," Iris said, glancing a little tentatively between Cindy and the others, and giving a faint smile. "It was fun. I'll meet you guys up by the house, okay?"
Gladio gave her a grunt and a nod, and she went rushing off to leave them to their business with Cindy. And, more importantly….
"So," Noctis said, "how's the boat?"
"Paw-paw's tinkering away," Cindy assured him, before cocking her head back and gesturing for them to follow her along the path. Walk and talk! "Reckon he'll be tinkering for some time, though."
"Trouble at sea?" asked Ignis with concern on his brow.
"Seen her share, by the looks of her," Cindy confirmed. "Some parts we can fix, others need replacin'."
"Huh," Gladio grunted. "An overhaul."
"Don't y'all worry," Cindy insisted. "Paw-paw ain't goin' nowhere 'til the job's done. Parts won't fetch 'emselves, though. Was kind hopin' y'all wouldn't mind helpin' out with that?"
"We're at your disposal," Ignis promised. "It's not like we'll be going anywhere without that boat, anyway."
"To tell the truth," said Cindy, with a small grin for that, "we already got a couple hands on deck: Dustin an' Monica. Those two have been real swell. Managed to gather just about everything we need."
"You can always depend on the Crownsguard," Ignis noted proudly.
"Trouble is," Cindy continued, her particular twang going a bit apologetic, "they ain't had much luck findin' a certain somethin' by the name of mythril. Apparently, the stuff's hard to come by around these parts, least accordion' to the little fella from the city."
"Talcott?" Prompto guessed, with a little renewed burst of excitement, glad to hear he'd made it to the Cape safely.
"You betcha," Cindy confirmed, flashing a grin over her shoulder at him. A grin that seemed to hit in such a way that he couldn't help grinning right back…and almost immediately turning red for it. He quickly ducked his head away, trying not to think of curly haired boys tinkering away at smashed cameras.
If Cindy noticed anything, though, she certainly didn't show it, moving on with her story as they moved up the hill. "Sharp as a tack, that one. Could tell y'all more about the stuf'n I could."
"We'll be sure to ask," said Noctis.
"Paw-paw's down on the dock," she said, as they finally reached the base of the lighthouse, and she gestured toward it. "Right over there. Now, if ya'll'd excuse me, I'm gonna grab my tools and skedaddle"
"You're not sticking around?" asked Prompto, surprised by the sudden rush of disappointment he felt at that. That burst was quickly replaced, though, with the realization that, actually? It was probably for the best, all things considered. He already started to feel a little grateful.
"Fraid not," she said. "I've got a garage to look after. But good luck to y'all. Hope you won't need it."
Prompto shrunk a little under Ignis' calculating glance as Cindy strode off, but there wasn't much time to dwell on it before another voice demanded their attention.
"Prince Noctis!" Talcott shouted his greeting from the base of the lighthouse, waving his hands at them excitedly. "Hey! Our house is over here!" And then, folding his hands in front of him in a very proper fashion, he bowed, and turned toward a bulking makeshift structure just a little bit down the hill. "Right this way."
Despite his attempts to embody the proper steward his grandfather had been, there was a bounce to Talcott's steps as he led them to the house. "I think Miss Cindy might have told you already," he said, "but she needs a very special kind of ore called mythril to fix the boat. Remember the waterfall? I read in Grandpa's notebook there's some ruins near a lake just north of there. It said you'll find mythril inside! And my granda's never wrong. There's gotta be mythril in there--I just know it!"
"About that lake," Iris joined in, smiling fondly at Talcott a moment while she leaned on the railing of the house's porch, "I'm preeeetty sure he was talking about the Vesperpool. I asked Monica to look into it and she told me the road leading there's under Imperial lockdown. You'll want to be prepared for anything."
"Always are," Ignis insisted with a faint smile.
"Don't really have a choice in the matter," Noctis pointed out.
"So," said Prompto, eager to get his thoughts out of his own head and focus on something else instead,, "we meet with Dustin and Monica, find out more about this mithryl stuff, and then we go get it?"
"Precisely," Ignis confirmed. "After we rest up and get some food in our stomachs."
"Good!" Noctis breathed out in relief. "I'm starving."
"And I'm dying of thirst!" Prompto added.
"And yet we're all," Ignis mewled, "very much alive."
As they all headed up the stairs to the house, with Talcott bouncing with excitement to show them around the humble lodgings, Gladio hesitated, hanging back. He'd had his own thoughts on the ride up here, that were divorced from his aching, cramped legs in the tight space of the Regalia's back seat, and he realized that if he didn't do it now, he might not have the chance later.
And if he didn't do it now…
"Noct," he called out, lifting his chin, as they all stopped and turned toward him. "Got a moment?"
Noctis looked to Ignis almost with a bit of uncertainty, but Ignis, looking at Gladio, nodded to Noctis and turned his attention to Prompto, to guide him along to continue into the house and give the two of them some privacy. Gladio nodded his thanks to Ignis while Noctis stepped down the stairs to stand before him.
"Yeah?" he asked. "What's up?"
"So," Gladio started, letting out a slow, bolstering breath, to convince himself not to back down, not to tell him it was nothing, to just ignore it and tell him never mind, and keep on the way they'd been going. "Yeah. Gonna have to ask you to handle this boat business without me."
Noctis' brow furrowed with confusion. Perhaps even a little hurt, but maybe Gladio was just imagining that. "What do you mean?" he asked.
And even though he'd been going over this exchange in his head more than a few times in the last few days, Gladio struggled to actually get the words out. Or to know exactly which words to say.
"Got some business of my own to deal with," he finally explained, quietly.
Apologetically.
Noctis shifted a little uncomfortably where he stood, but, slowly, he nodded.
"....gonna be long?" he asked.
Gladio grinned, just a bit, and gave a confident, cocksure roll of his shoulders. "Not long enough for you to miss me. Take care of Iris while I'm gone, alright? Make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble."
"I thought I was the trouble," Noctis countered, and Gladio, grunting in amusement, just set one his meaty hands on Noct's shoulder, squeezed it a little, and then flicked it against the back of his head before turning to go, heading down the way they came with his long, determined strides.
And Noctis forced himself not to linger there watching him, as he turned toward the house, the smells of Ignis' cooking and the cheerful banter between Talcott and Prompto as the kid told him about their adventures in coming here from Lestallum hitting him before he even made it back up the stairs.
[[ and thus the end of Final Fantasy XV Chapter Six - A Way Forward, with just the slightest tidbit of the start of Chapter Seven - Party of Three. NFB, NFI, OOC welcome, yadda yadda yadda ]]