Prompto Argentum (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hashtag_chocobro) wrote2022-06-10 01:59 pm
hashtag_chocobro) wrote2022-06-10 01:59 pm
Entry tags:
The Leville; Altissia; Accordo; Eos; Friday Evening [06/10 FT].
Twilight fell over the city of Altissia, and it was one of the most beautiful things Prompto thought he had ever seen…and also one of the most lonely. The last two few days hadn't been easy, though, of course, he did all he could to make sure it didn't show. But all that idle time waiting for the boat, and then the long journey across the ocean to Altissia itself…a communicator that didn't work…a phone that still wouldn't connect…the only known portals off this world either under Niflheim control or just simply destroyed…all that was left for him to do was just…think.
And his thoughts, right now, were anything but comforting, as he leaned against the railing of the balcony of the Altissian branch of the Leville, looking out over the Walls of Water, the star-streaked night sky, the canals and the incredible architecture, the bursts of flowers and colors everywhere, and the music still filling the streets.
"It's a photographer's dream," he'd marveled, once they finally made it past customs and into the city proper, with a tug in his heart for the fact that the one photographer he'd want to share that dream with couldn't even be there with him.
There were flowers, too, right outside the customs office, a stand bursting with bright blooms, and the shopkeeper was nice enough to let him snap a few shots, but really, all he wanted to do was pick out the prettiest of them and hand them over to Liz with a dramatic bow that would make her laugh, and then pluck one out, maybe, and tuck it behind her ear….
It didn't help, either, now that they'd finally made it, knowing that Noctis and Lady Lunafreya were finally going to be reunited, too. Sure, the wedding might be off, for…obvious reasons, but there was no denying how much Noct's disposition had changed now that they were almost together again. All on the boatride there, as they talked and strategized and theorized on their next steps once they made landfall again, Noctis had made it clear that his top priority was Luna, Luna, Luna. And Prompto was happy for him. Obviously he was. But there was that undeniable twist in his stomach of jealousy, of the unfairness of it all….
But it just made his resolve stronger. Harder. More determined to get through this. They would. They had to. Not going back was not an option…
But then there was the dress.
The dress that Lady Lunafreya was going to wear on her wedding day. The one that had, briefly, served as a memorial in her presumed death, but now stood as a celebration of her survival. Of course they were going to go see it. It was designed by the Vivienne Westwood, one of Prompto's absolute favorites, and it was the talk of the entire town. But when he finally saw it…and he saw that look on Noctis' face…and that hopefulness there….as Gladio joked around about how maybe it wasn't too late, that once they got through this, she could still wear it, and Ignis made some remark about it being bad luck to see the dress before the wedding….
Something inside of Prompto broke.
He didn't show it, of course, though maybe it slipped out of him a little now, while he was alone, the others inside the room, settling down or already sleeping, in Noctis' case…after all, he had to meet with the First Secretary of Altissia in the morning to discuss and negotiate the terms of Lady Lunafreya being in Accordo's care right now. But all he could think of, staring at that dress through the window, amongst a crowd of gawkers and gossipers, was that he might never get to see Liz in a dress like that.
He was going to, too.
After everything with Noctis' wedding had settled, he was going to make it official. He was going to propose. Maybe even right here in Altissia. It would have been perfect, the city was so romantic, he'd find the most picturesque spot ever, he'd pick out a ring while he was here, get down on one knee and everything. They'd even talked about it. She was going to move to the Crown City with him, maybe they'd even get their own place instead of him just leeching off his parents' house, start a family, and maybe all that darkness that seemed to cloud all his futures wouldn't even come, they'd found the one way to chase it off…
But now….?
Prompto heard soft footsteps behind him; he sniffled a little, knowing it wouldn't do much good, rubbed the back of his hand against his eyes, the buckles of his gloves scraping his cheek faintly. Ignis didn't say anything, he just leaned on the railing of the balcony with Prompto and looked out over the city as well.
"It's so beautiful," Prompto offered, knowing it sounded a little weak, but he felt he needed to excuse the tears somehow. "Look at it, it's practically making me cry…."
If there was anyone who could make a silence sound that unmistakably skeptical, it was definitely Ignis Scientia.
"Plus, you know," Prompto added, a little desperately, "I'm just really happy. For...Noct, you know?"
"It is a marvelous city," Ignis agreed softly, "and Noctis' reunion with his betrothed will be a joyous occasion, indeed. It's uplifting, isn't it? To finally have some good news?"
Prompto wasn't really sure what to say to that, so he almost didn't say anything at all. But he did manage out a quiet, uncertain, "I guess."
"And how long," Ignis proposed, still looking up at the twilight sky over the city, pausing as if letting the constant sounds of rushing water and chattering people down in the streets and the sweet sound of ever-present violins wash over them, "we had to wait for it, as well. Two weeks? Two and a half? We'd have gladly waited even longer, if we had to, and the wait would have been well worth it."
And there was definitely a shift there, as Prompto realized there wasn't much point in trying to hide it, especially since he knew exactly what Ignis was talking about. If it had been anyone else, maybe he'd have kept the facade up, but Ignis….Ignis, he knew, understood.
"Do you think we'll really ever be able to get back?" he asked, feeling a new swell of tears fighting their way up to his eyes from the very bottom of his gut.
"I believe," said Ignis, clearly choosing his words carefully, as always, "where there's a will...there's a way."
And in that moment, Prompto just wished he could have Ignis' confidence, his certainty, his absolute unflappable steadiness of will. He breathed in slowly, then let it out as a shaky breath, and he nodded.
And couldn't help also thinking of Yang, and wondering if, maybe, this was anything like what she had felt….
"Do you think," he slowly, carefully ventured, almost afraid of what Ignis might answer, "it'll take long?"
"However long it takes," said Ignis, "it's been far too long already."
Despite his best efforts to keep it down, Prompto felt his lower lip trembling, and his face was wet again and passing his fingers over his cheeks did nothing but make it worse. But as he closed his eyes with his hands still pressed there against his cheeks, he felt Ignis' hand on his shoulder.
They didn't say anything more, almost as if there were really no more words that could do what that hand was communicating even a fraction as well, and the moment lingered on. For how long? Prompto really couldn't tell, but, eventually, Ignis move his hand and slip away back toward the room, leaving Prompto alone for a moment, looking up at the bright moon shimmering over the reflection of the water all around them.
And Prompto pulled out his phone, and began to type:
So we finally made it to Altissia! It's even more beautiful than I could have even imagined. You'd absolutely love it. Gods, I wish you were here….
Several minutes and probably hundreds of words later, he drew in a breath as his thumb hovered over the send button and finally pressed it. Was met with the same blinking dots that still sat tauntingly after every other message he'd tried to send so far. He breathed out a sigh and looked up to the sky again, before finally turning to join the others in the room, the laugh bubbling out of him almost as soon as he crossed the threshold.
"Oh, man." Bright, bubbly, never-let-'em-get-you down Prompto Argentum, back in full force, firing off positivity like he fired off bullets. "You guys have got to see this shot of Gladio in the gondola….instant classic!"
[[ OH BOY, Altissia hits a little different these days, let me tell ya!! NFB, NFI, OOC is love because this is almost all original content, baybeeeee, save for various snippets of events and dialogue from Final Fantasy XV Chapter 9 "Callings." ]]
And his thoughts, right now, were anything but comforting, as he leaned against the railing of the balcony of the Altissian branch of the Leville, looking out over the Walls of Water, the star-streaked night sky, the canals and the incredible architecture, the bursts of flowers and colors everywhere, and the music still filling the streets.
"It's a photographer's dream," he'd marveled, once they finally made it past customs and into the city proper, with a tug in his heart for the fact that the one photographer he'd want to share that dream with couldn't even be there with him.
There were flowers, too, right outside the customs office, a stand bursting with bright blooms, and the shopkeeper was nice enough to let him snap a few shots, but really, all he wanted to do was pick out the prettiest of them and hand them over to Liz with a dramatic bow that would make her laugh, and then pluck one out, maybe, and tuck it behind her ear….
It didn't help, either, now that they'd finally made it, knowing that Noctis and Lady Lunafreya were finally going to be reunited, too. Sure, the wedding might be off, for…obvious reasons, but there was no denying how much Noct's disposition had changed now that they were almost together again. All on the boatride there, as they talked and strategized and theorized on their next steps once they made landfall again, Noctis had made it clear that his top priority was Luna, Luna, Luna. And Prompto was happy for him. Obviously he was. But there was that undeniable twist in his stomach of jealousy, of the unfairness of it all….
But it just made his resolve stronger. Harder. More determined to get through this. They would. They had to. Not going back was not an option…
But then there was the dress.
The dress that Lady Lunafreya was going to wear on her wedding day. The one that had, briefly, served as a memorial in her presumed death, but now stood as a celebration of her survival. Of course they were going to go see it. It was designed by the Vivienne Westwood, one of Prompto's absolute favorites, and it was the talk of the entire town. But when he finally saw it…and he saw that look on Noctis' face…and that hopefulness there….as Gladio joked around about how maybe it wasn't too late, that once they got through this, she could still wear it, and Ignis made some remark about it being bad luck to see the dress before the wedding….
Something inside of Prompto broke.
He didn't show it, of course, though maybe it slipped out of him a little now, while he was alone, the others inside the room, settling down or already sleeping, in Noctis' case…after all, he had to meet with the First Secretary of Altissia in the morning to discuss and negotiate the terms of Lady Lunafreya being in Accordo's care right now. But all he could think of, staring at that dress through the window, amongst a crowd of gawkers and gossipers, was that he might never get to see Liz in a dress like that.
He was going to, too.
After everything with Noctis' wedding had settled, he was going to make it official. He was going to propose. Maybe even right here in Altissia. It would have been perfect, the city was so romantic, he'd find the most picturesque spot ever, he'd pick out a ring while he was here, get down on one knee and everything. They'd even talked about it. She was going to move to the Crown City with him, maybe they'd even get their own place instead of him just leeching off his parents' house, start a family, and maybe all that darkness that seemed to cloud all his futures wouldn't even come, they'd found the one way to chase it off…
But now….?
Prompto heard soft footsteps behind him; he sniffled a little, knowing it wouldn't do much good, rubbed the back of his hand against his eyes, the buckles of his gloves scraping his cheek faintly. Ignis didn't say anything, he just leaned on the railing of the balcony with Prompto and looked out over the city as well.
"It's so beautiful," Prompto offered, knowing it sounded a little weak, but he felt he needed to excuse the tears somehow. "Look at it, it's practically making me cry…."
If there was anyone who could make a silence sound that unmistakably skeptical, it was definitely Ignis Scientia.
"Plus, you know," Prompto added, a little desperately, "I'm just really happy. For...Noct, you know?"
"It is a marvelous city," Ignis agreed softly, "and Noctis' reunion with his betrothed will be a joyous occasion, indeed. It's uplifting, isn't it? To finally have some good news?"
Prompto wasn't really sure what to say to that, so he almost didn't say anything at all. But he did manage out a quiet, uncertain, "I guess."
"And how long," Ignis proposed, still looking up at the twilight sky over the city, pausing as if letting the constant sounds of rushing water and chattering people down in the streets and the sweet sound of ever-present violins wash over them, "we had to wait for it, as well. Two weeks? Two and a half? We'd have gladly waited even longer, if we had to, and the wait would have been well worth it."
And there was definitely a shift there, as Prompto realized there wasn't much point in trying to hide it, especially since he knew exactly what Ignis was talking about. If it had been anyone else, maybe he'd have kept the facade up, but Ignis….Ignis, he knew, understood.
"Do you think we'll really ever be able to get back?" he asked, feeling a new swell of tears fighting their way up to his eyes from the very bottom of his gut.
"I believe," said Ignis, clearly choosing his words carefully, as always, "where there's a will...there's a way."
And in that moment, Prompto just wished he could have Ignis' confidence, his certainty, his absolute unflappable steadiness of will. He breathed in slowly, then let it out as a shaky breath, and he nodded.
And couldn't help also thinking of Yang, and wondering if, maybe, this was anything like what she had felt….
"Do you think," he slowly, carefully ventured, almost afraid of what Ignis might answer, "it'll take long?"
"However long it takes," said Ignis, "it's been far too long already."
Despite his best efforts to keep it down, Prompto felt his lower lip trembling, and his face was wet again and passing his fingers over his cheeks did nothing but make it worse. But as he closed his eyes with his hands still pressed there against his cheeks, he felt Ignis' hand on his shoulder.
They didn't say anything more, almost as if there were really no more words that could do what that hand was communicating even a fraction as well, and the moment lingered on. For how long? Prompto really couldn't tell, but, eventually, Ignis move his hand and slip away back toward the room, leaving Prompto alone for a moment, looking up at the bright moon shimmering over the reflection of the water all around them.
And Prompto pulled out his phone, and began to type:
So we finally made it to Altissia! It's even more beautiful than I could have even imagined. You'd absolutely love it. Gods, I wish you were here….
Several minutes and probably hundreds of words later, he drew in a breath as his thumb hovered over the send button and finally pressed it. Was met with the same blinking dots that still sat tauntingly after every other message he'd tried to send so far. He breathed out a sigh and looked up to the sky again, before finally turning to join the others in the room, the laugh bubbling out of him almost as soon as he crossed the threshold.
"Oh, man." Bright, bubbly, never-let-'em-get-you down Prompto Argentum, back in full force, firing off positivity like he fired off bullets. "You guys have got to see this shot of Gladio in the gondola….instant classic!"
[[ OH BOY, Altissia hits a little different these days, let me tell ya!! NFB, NFI, OOC is love because this is almost all original content, baybeeeee, save for various snippets of events and dialogue from Final Fantasy XV Chapter 9 "Callings." ]]