From the Streets of Insomnia to the Streets of Fandom (et al); Late Thursday Afternoon, 09/15.

[hashtag_chocobro]

The light that filled the sky was blinding, impossibly bright and burning through the darkness that had surrounded them for so long. So bright that Prompto found himself cringing away from it, a gasp of pain seering through his eyes as he lifted arm to cover them and curled away from it. For a brief moment, he wondered....was this what it had been like? For Ignis? When he slipped the Ring of the Lucii onto his finger? Was this...was this what would happen to them all now, in light of Noctis' fight, his sacrifice? Then, a moment later, he felt himself transported, entirely, into somewhere not of this world, somewhere in the ether between worlds, his body suspended in a vast ocean of nothingness. Ignis and Gladio and Noctis there with him, Ardyn before them; the two Kings lifting their arms and reaching forward, and then, suddenly, Lunafreya was there, reaching for Ardyn's hand. The moment they touched, another burst of golden light, this one warm and embracing, but just as blinding, as he winced again and closed his eyes....

...before he opened them, the weightlessness was gone, he stood once more on solid ground. The light...the light was still so...so bright, but, groaning at the pain, Prompto fought through it to open his eyes again. Had it worked? Was this...sunlight, already? So soon? It had been so long since he'd seen sunlight, it would take a while for his eyes to adjust, and while he struggled to see, there was a rumble at his side, in his pocket. His phone, going absolutely crazy, vibrating and chiming with notications, puzzling enough to distract him slightly from the burning light. But, squinting, he realized the scene was becoming clearer, shaped presenting themselves, but it wasn't the Citadel he saw before him, it was...

"What?" he breathed out, staring with disbelief. "Fandom?"

His mind was reeling. What was....what was going on? Was he dreaming? Was he dead? Why would he be...after all this time....what had happened....with Noctis...with Ardyn....with Insomnia, with Eos? He held out his hands before him, turning them over, shaking his head as if he couldn't quite believe they were real, and then looking up, down the causeway, that familiar skyline, the castle on the island, of his youth....

And his phone, his persistent phone, still vibrating, enough that he dug it out of his pocket frantically just to get it to shut off, only to stare at it in marveled fascination at the absolute slew of notifications that it was being hit with, sent nearly a decade ago, finally making it through. Voicemails, texts from Liz, from Summer, even one from Yang...He shook his head, unable to process the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions racing through him as he lifted his eyes back toward the island.

"I..." he managed to stammer out, barely able to believe it himself, "I'm....back?"

Liz	At first Liz didn’t realise what was happening when she had started getting messages from Prompto, she tried to read through them as fast as they were coming in but there were so many. In the end she waited for what felt like an eternity as her phone finally stopped with the notifications. She realised with a sinking feeling that there seemed to be ten years worth of messages, including happy birthday posts. She let out a sob, tears beginning to build as she stood there trembling, reading through as many of those messages as she could. She didn’t understand … why was she getting all these messages now? Oh … she had to remember to breathe, her thoughts were going to fast, she had to slow them down … breathe … calm down … She let out another sob, confused, trying to contain her tears and then with trembling fingers she called Prompto … wondering if he was back … if he was there and she could talk to him … She so desperately wanted to talk to him.
Prompto	As if all this wasn't surreal enough, while Prompto was standing there on the causeway just gawking at the scenery, his phone in his hand began ringing. It was actually ringing, and, for a brief moment, he thought he was about to be dragged out of sleep, out of yet another dream of being back in Fandom, or another dream where he'd never actually left, by a call from Cindy or Aranea or Ignis, to drag him off on another mission, another hunt, another endless day of fighting daemons and the crushing weight of hopelessness... He was definitely not expecting to see the name that was flashing at him from the screen, and his felt his throat go dry, just about the same time his heart wedged itself up into it. A dream. This was...definitely another dream. But when had it started? Was everything with Noctis a dream, too? When he woke up again, would he just be back where he started, the world in ruin, surrounded by darkness? Uncertain and trying to keep that flitting butterfly of hopefulness in his chest from getting too overwhelming, he drew in a deep breath and swiped his finger across the screen, and brought the phone up to his ear. "...Liz?" It came out so strangled and confused and almost desperate that he almost worried she wouldn't have even heard it.
Liz	It took Liz a moment to register that Prompto had answered … Prompto had picked up the phone. At least she assumed it was Prompto, doubt begin to fill her mind that maybe someone had Prompto’s phone and had answered instead. Her heart was beating so fast she almost didn’t hear Prompto saying her name, she let out a sob, “Prompto?” she said just as softy, not daring to believe that she was talking to him … She was also scared this was a dream, that she was going to be waking up any moment and then she would be alone …
Prompto	After a fleeting, annoyed glance to the side at some porg making a squabble somewhere near the shore (a porg, he realized, that was definitely a porg, he hadn't heard one of those in ages!), Prompto realized he was gripping his phone so tight the knuckles under his gloves were probably white, and he was holding his breath as if worried that his breathing would drown out the sound on the other end. He half expected to hear just...static, or something, or nothing at all, but then, there it was, so soft he'd almost missed it, but it was there, he was sure of it, his name, in her voice... (Speaking of things he hadn't heard in ages...) "Ohmygod," he breathed out, feeling his entire body weaken with the rush of relief and so....so many other things washing over him right then. "It's you. It's really you, isn't it?"
Liz	For a moment Liz just stood there, shaking as she heard Prompto’s voice … it was him… “I …” she opened her mouth and then closed it, she had imagined this moment for the last few months, since their last call and now she couldn’t think of what she wanted to say to him. Another few moments past, as her thoughts threatened to overwhelm her, she took several deep breaths and remembered she hadn’t actually properly answered his question. “I’m … I … it’s me,” and then she burst into tears.
Prompto	Even after all this time, the sound of Liz crying filled his chest with a sharp pain, especially thinking that he had been the one to have caused it, and all he wanted to do was just somehow reach through the phone and wrap his arms around her and tell her it was fine, it was okay, it was... The tangled knot that came along with that sense of longing was incomprehensible, was what it was, and he shook his head lightly, brow furrowed as he tried to make sense out of any of this. "Where are you?" he asked. "Are you here? I mean, Fandom. Are you on the island?" Would she really have stuck around, for almost ten years? He figured she would have moved on a long time ago. Maybe she was over in New Jersey, at the BPRD, with Hellboy and all the others? Or somewhere entirely different all together, that he couldn't even imagine, because of all the different ways a life could go in a decade... And furthermore... "Because....I am." And if his voice sounded a little mystified and confused and startled by that fact, well... "I'm...I'm here. I'm...back." It didn't feel real. At all. He was standing there, on the causeway, the porgs and seagulls crying out, staring at the school, the causeway, MHA looming over it to the left (huh, was it...taller than he remembered?), wincing in the incredible sunlight, because it was so bright, it burned his eyes, but it was sunlight, actual sunlight, from the sky...
Liz	Liz took several deep, gulping breaths as she listened to the sound of his voice .. and then latched on to a particular part of what he was saying .. are you here Prompto was back? He was really back? “I’m ..” she took a deep breath, “I’m here in Fandom, I’m … I mean I’m - I’m at Dr. Lecter’s house, I - I've been living here for the last few months,” she found it difficult to form words ... to try and process her thoughts. Liz let out several choked sobs, “you’re …you’re really back? You’re here … in Fandom?” She could hardly dare to believe it.
Prompto	If it made her feel any better, Prompto could scarcely believe it himself. He let out a breath you could almost call a laugh. "Y-yeah" he stammered out, feeling an odd sort of relief settling over him as he looked over the bright blur that was the island right now. "I'm in Fandom. I'm on the causeway...I was...back at the Citadel, in Insomnia, Noct was just going to...there was a battle...and this bright light---you know what? Never mind. It's...it's a lot, for over the phone. You said Dr. Lecter's? Is he still in the same place? It might take me a moment, but I think I remember where that was..."
Liz	“It’s …Its still at the same address,” Liz told him, trembling as for the first time it began to really sink in that it had been ten years since Prompto was last in Fandom. “Um…22 Phoenix Place,” she gave him the address. Then he mentioned there being a battle…”are …are you alright? Do you want me to come find you?” She glanced down nervously at her stomach, at the little bump that had now started to form, “I - I also have something to tell you but i - I can’t tell on the phone."
Prompto	Prompto nodded a little, and then remembered that he was on the phone. "I...I'm fine," he assured her. "I...I mean, all things...all things considered." As fine as one could be when the climatic battle to decide the fate of your entire world was suddenly cut off so you could be whisked away to the place you couldn't get to for nearly a decade, despite your best efforts. And now as he started meandering closer to the island, the light bouncing off the streets and the water in a way that left him feeling nearly blinded, he realized it might take him longer to acclimate himself to daylight and the island again than he first thought. "Meet me halfway?" he offered, because he was remembering now that it wasn't a long way to Dr. Lecter's from here, he had that big house just a little bit up the way to the school, but, if they both set out towards each other, he could see her sooner. "I'm on my way now."
Liz	Liz took several deep breaths, telling herself it was going to be okay that soon she would be seeing Prompto again and then he would know… “Okay, halfway …halfway definitely works,” she told him as she grabbed her keys and left her room, making her way downstairs and out of the house, “I’ve left the house, I’m heading down the street,” she said, nervousness and excitement surging through her. She was going to see Prompto again!
Prompto	"Same," Prompto said, grinning a little despite himself, with the wild thrill sparking inside of him, especially as he moved off the causeway onto the island proper and started to feel the solidity of it all, the reality of it, that this wasn't a dream, he was actually here, after all this time, there was Caritas, and then there'd be the bowling alley...he thought, it was still so bright, but it was all coming back to him, it was honestly kind of remarkable how little seemed to have actually changed around here, but that seemed to be somehow all wrapped up in the comfort of Fandom. Not exactly his home, but the next best thing to it, and he lifted his hand to shield his eyes against that persistent glare and brightness of the sun, looking for the first figure to show up heading southbound, it was still pretty easy to spot her with all her dark clothing (he'd probably be pretty easy to spot, too, in his Crownsguard formals), and he felt his heart trying to surge straight out of his chest once he spotted her, and he started running forward before he even realized his feet had picked up the pace. "Liz!" He quickly ended their call on the phone, tucking his phone away to free up his hands, because he was absolutely going to want both his hands free as he rushed forward, and he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from going to sweep her up in a tight embrace even if he tried. "It's you." He probably couldn't have stopped that small, strangled sob of a sound that wrangled out of him as he wrapped his arms around her, either. "Gods, it's really you..."
Liz	Liz put her phone in her pocket as she headed towards him as quickly as she could. It didn’t take long for her to start sobbing again, she couldn’t really run but she was walking very quickly as she made her way towards him. Then she was being swept up into his arms, she had dreamed of this for so long and she clung tightly to him, fearful that he was going to go away again. That at any second she could wake up. “It’s me,” she sobbed into his chest. “I - I missed you so much!”
Prompto	"I...I missed you, too," Prompto said, his voice quiet as he closed his eyes and just sort of held onto Liz, held onto this moment, while he still could. Before things inevitably went sideways, before he woke up or before something Fandom-y happened, or before Liz remember that he'd been gone for ten years and the novelty of him returning all of a sudden, out of completely nowhere, wore off and she realized that she was mad or angry or hated his guts. "So much," he then gushed out, because words really didn't do it justice, and he squeezed her a little tighter, before his hand rested on her back. "I tried, Liz. I really tried, all the time, but nothing worked...."
Liz	“I - I know,” Liz sobbed, remembering some details of the reunion weekend …not all of them but she remembered how desperately Prompto had tried to get back to her, “we - we tried to get to you, to help. Summer tried all these different experiments but she couldn’t get through to your dimension.” She kept clinging tightly to Prompto, scared of letting go, “I’m sorry - I …I should have done more, I -I should have gotten to you as soon as I stopped hearing from you, before the portals stopped working.” Liz wasn’t thinking clearly, she didn’t realise just how bad that could have been for her, landing in the middle of a war zone with no guarantee of making it to Prompto either.
Prompto	Prompto shook his head lightly, before leaning it in toward Liz, squeezing her tighter, closer. "I'm glad you didn't," he said, softly, the words feeling heavy and dry in his mouth. "It's been hell, Liz. Absolute hell. I would never have wanted you to go through any of that. It was better that you were here, where you could be safe..." Where she could be happy, he hoped, but....he wasn't quite ready to address that just yet, that this moment, if it wasn't already a dream, was probably still going to be very fleeting.
Liz	“I - “ Liz trembled at that, taking several deep breaths, “I - “ she lapsed into silence, taking comfort in leaning against him. She knew she should just tell him, before she lost her nerve but she just wanted to stay with him …in his embrace, terrified of his reaction. “I love you,” she said softly instead not quite willing to tell him, “I’m …I don’t want to let you go.” She was quite scared to, in case this wasn’t real.
Prompto	Eventually, Prompto was going to have to worry about tightening his hold on Liz enough to hurt her, because it definitely tightened more, a little desperately, at that. "I'm right here," he assured her. "I'm not going anywhere..." He hoped. Oh gods, please don't make him a liar about that. But at least he could know for sure the next part wasn't a lie. "I love you, too." Even if saying it now was confusing him and making him almost positive that it was all a dream. It was obviously too much to hope for, after all these years, that she'd still feel... ...boy. This one was really going to hurt when he woke up. But for now, he was there, and he wasn't going to let go.
Liz	Liz didn’t mind the tight embrace, she had been so lonely and afraid and she had missed just being this close to Prompto again. She closed her eyes, the sobs starting up again and it was a while before she calmed herself down. “I - I tried to keep busy, to stay distracted … “ she said softly, once her sobs had quietened back down again, “I started up knitting … and Nell’s teaching me how to garden,” her voice trailed off, realising that she hadn’t finished Prompto’s scarf that she had started to make for him, “I started making a scarf for you, it’s not finished yet.” She closed her eyes, the tears starting to build again, “I … I tried to be happy, to be focused, I just missed you so much,” and the sobbing started up again.
Prompto	For the briefest of moments, Prompto almost laughed. That must have been one hell of a scarf, to take almost a decade to finish! But then those words...and the sobbing...and the guilt that descended upon Prompto in that moment was so absolute and heart-rending that he had to force down his own sob. He couldn't help the tears, though, stinging his already burning eyes as he closed them tight. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry, Liz, you should have never...if I'd have known, if I'd have had any idea what was going to happen, I...I wouldn't..." But he did have an idea, didn't he? All those futures that tried to warn him, that he just blatantly ignored thanks go his own foolish optimism... "I'm so, so sorry."
Liz	Liz sobbed quietly, she hadn’t yet remembered the detail that for Prompto ten years had passed, all that mattered was that he was here with her, she hadn’t even factored in some of those details from that weekend. “I …” she took a deep breath, “I don’t want to lose you again,” she paused, “these last few months … I’ve … I’m you- you’d be so ashamed of me, if you saw how …how I was ...” She looked up at him but didn’t move from where she leaning up close to him, blinking back tears, “it’s why I’ve been living with Dr. Lecter,” she said guiltily, “he’s been helping to take care of me."
Prompto	Feeling Liz shifting a little to look at him, Prompto pulled away ever so slightly, just enough that he could look back at her, and maybe move one of his hands so that his thumb could gently wipe away some of those tears from her cheek. "I'm sorry," he said again, and he'd probably say it a million more times, and he just hoped that, now that she could see the look on his face, she could begin to understand just how deeply he meant that, "that I couldn't....I couldn't be there. I should have been, I..." Even in the brightness of everything still, and in the outpouring of guilt and his own shame, he still couldn't help noticing how little she'd changed after all this time. Well, except for the hair, really, and, in that moment, he found his hand drifting from her cheek to touch the end of the shortened cut, almost as if to marvel and reassure himself that it was all actually real. In that moment, anyway. "I'm glad you've had someone, though," he said quietly. "To help. Especially since I..." His sigh was ragged and miserable. "Couldn't."
Liz	The tears were flowing freely now, “it wasn’t your fault,” she told him, “I - I just wish I could have helped, been there for you - like we’d planned all those months ago,” then he touched the end of her hair and she wondered if now would be a good time to tell him just how much she had changed. “There’s … there’s been a few changes since you’ve been gone,” she said quietly, biting her lip as she considered what to say, “not just with me living with Dr. Lecter …”
Prompto	Months. She kept saying months, Prompto had noticed it a few times now, but this was the first time he felt compelled to correct her. But it hardly seemed important, in the grand scheme of things... Especially when... He swallowed down the lump in his throat, the one that felt about the size of the other shoe about to drop. "That's...I mean, of course there would be," he said quietly. It would be weirder if nothing had changed (months, she kept saying months, as if time had stood still while he was gone...) And he was almost afraid to ask, but it would be worse not knowing, right? "What...what kind of changes?"
Liz	“I … I …” Liz had spent so much time imagining just what she was going to say when she could finally tell Prompto the news that now she didn’t know what to say. She had to tell him, let him know the truth that he was going to be a father. She took several deep breaths, trying to steady herself, “I’m … I’m…pregnant,” she said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. She also hadn’t factored in that there was now a time difference between them and so didn’t feel the need to clarify that her child was indeed Prompto’s.
Prompto	"...oh." Prompto's hold on Liz loosened, almost instinctually, just a little, as his mind went reeling over what to do with that information. He was expecting something like maybe she'd been seeing someone else now, but this definitely made it a little more complicated for her, having her ex just drop in out of nowhere when she had a kid on the way... He reminded himself that he should probably say something, and not just gawk at her. "I...uh...uhm...congratulations?" He winced at how it came out more of a question than anything else. "Who, uh, who's the lucky guy? Anyone I know?" Was it Hellboy? There had been a precident for that! Was it....Dr. Lecter? Was that why she was living with him now??
Liz	Liz blinked, noticing Prompto’s loosening his grip on her and it took her a few moments before she even registered what he was asking. She had just assumed that he would know it was his child … their child … She took a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm … it would be okay … she just had to clarify “She’s yours…” she said softly, “I found out on my birthday.” It was a good thing Liz didn’t know exactly what Prompto was thinking or she’d be worried that there was now additional gossip about why she had moved in with Dr. Lecter.
Prompto	Well, it was a small island with very nosy squirrels. She was probably pretty safe from any speculation that salacious. "Mine?" So much for not gawking, but Prompto shook his head, certain he's misheard. Or that this was a dream. It had to be a dream now, that was the only way.. "Liz. That's impossible. It's been ten years!" And she kept saying months. "Wait," he said, pulling himself away, though his hands stayed on Liz's shoulders, as he looked at her, forcing himself past the pain of the brightness of the day as he looked at her. "Liz. How long have I been gone?"
Liz	“Ten … ten years?” Liz tried to keep her voice steady but it broke at that … she looked up at Prompto with wide eyes, overwhelmed by the idea that so much time had passed between them. “You’ve only been gone since May,” she whispered, trembling, “it’s now September.” There was another pause, “it’s still 2022,” she told him. Now there was doubt and fear and guilt and she didn’t know how to process any of the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm her, “she ... she is yours,” she repeated, trembling … “I’m due in February.”
Prompto	May. September. 2022. February. The details marched through Prompto's mind, trying to make frantic sense of them, all the while, the brightness of everything around him after almost ten years of nothing but darkness and floodlights was starting to intrude in on him. A dream. His next thought was to think that this had to be some sort of dream, but this was Fandom, they always got timelines a little screwy, didn't they? Sidon had been gone thirty years in his world, what was a measly ten? And, on top of everything else, he still didn't know what had happened to Noctis... Prompto loosened his grip on Liz's shoulders a little, realizing that he'd started to hold on pretty hard as he tried to process all of this. "Then," he finally said, his voice an awed, confused whisper, "that means....before I left....I...we..." Made a baby. They made a baby, and then he went off for ten years while the world ended, and now that the world was (probably) saved, he was back, but it had only been a few months. But what if it had been ten years? And then he'd have missed... He wasn't sure if it was just the brightness, anymore, making his head hurt like this, but he winced and gasped out, "Can we....can we go somewhere? It's just....it's so...bright out here and I think....I think I just....I think I need to sit down."
Liz	Liz watched Prompto’s reaction nervously, waiting for how he was going to respond to the news and at first she was hopeful he had realised what had happened and then her expression immediately went to concern when he winced and the mention about it too bright… What had happened during those ten years? She bit her lip and nodded. “Oh, of course,” she said quickly, “sorry, I … I know this is a lot, I … um … where did you want to go?”
Prompto	"Just...inside," Prompto said. "Somewhere we can...talk. I just..." But as he tried to get the words out, and he looked a Liz and saw her face and thought about everything he'd gone through, and how, despite all that, she was here, and now he was here, too, plus one more...a strangled sound like a sob escaped him and he just threw his arms around Liz again, holding her closely, as tight as he dared, which wasn't very, all things considered. "I just want to go home," he wrangled out, closing his eyes, but it only pushed the tears out instead of stopping them. "With you."
Liz	Liz nodded and very quickly returned the tight embrace, to assure him that she wasn’t going anywhere and to give him as much support as he needed “do you want to go back to the apartment? I … I have some things there still, I can … I can make you a coffee or tea if you’d like Nell made me some homemade tea, I keep some there so I can have some of it when I work,” she said gently. Some doubt filled her mind then, maybe he wasn't talking about the apartment? maybe he meant Insomnia but Liz was trying to be as gentle as she could be.
Prompto	"I don't care," Prompto breathed out, with a sniffle, as he realized niw he was crying as he buried his face into Liz's hair. Great. Just great. There he was, just openly sobbing in the middle of the street while desperately trying to cling to his pregnant girlfriend who he hadn't seen in ten tears without crushing her. What a homecoming... But he seemed to control it, to rein it in a little, enough that, with this next part, he pulled away enough to look at Liz, squinting through the brightness for some kind of visual confirmation. "As long as it's with you."
Liz	Liz let him cry for as long as he needed … which she had plenty of experience crying on other people, including earlier today when she had been crying on Prompto, now it was her turn to return the favour and she kept her arms around him for support. “I’ll be here, I’m not going anyway,” she assured him, “okay, we’ll go back to my apartment,” she said gently, she thought that was the best option, since it might be something that was more familiar to him.
Prompto	Our apartment; Prompto wanted to correct her, that they'd go back to their apartment, but he realized that, no, that wasn't really correct, it hadn't been his for a while now, and it felt like a particularly painful reminder that he couldn't just swoop in here after all that like nothing had happened and everything would be fine. He had a lot to make up for, and he had to earn his way back. And he would. Especially now that he was back, he was here, and he hadn't even missed all that much, thank the gods... Assuming this wasn't all just another dream that he'd wake up from at any given moment. He nodded, firmly but contritely, with a faint but deeply apologetic smile. "Let's go," he agreed. "And, hey, it's just around the corner, anyway, isn't it?"
Liz	A few moments later Liz realised her mistake, that she hadn’t referred the apartment as Prompto’s and she winced, “oh … I’m sorry,” she said softly, “ I … I don’t know what I was thinking …I … the apartment is still yours,” she said gently, “I … mean if you want it to be …” She knew that just because Prompto was back, it didn’t mean that everything would suddenly be fine. “It is, we don’t have very far to go,” she nodded with a small smile, “it didn’t take to long to move most of my things over, I think Rain had more things to move than I did,” she told him.
Prompto	Oof, his thoughts must have been written all over his face for Liz to have responded like that, and now he felt a little embarrassed and awkward and... lot of things, really, confusion and relief and an odd sort of helplessness, like even though everything around him was familiar and known, it suddenly no longer had a place for him to fit into.... But the mention of Rain and the realization that he might get to see her again, too, managed to sweep all that away, and bring a genuine smile out of him, even a small laugh. " "I don't really know where else I could stay, anyway," he pointed out reasonably. "Unless Dr. L. wanted to put me up, too..." But he didn't want that. He just wanted to wrap himself up in a little bubble, a comfortable cocoon of just the two of them, the way things used to be. So much so that his feet already started moving, as if by their own accord, down toward Black Swan Drive. "How is Rain?" he asked. "She doing good?"
Liz	“I mean I’m sure Dr. Lecter would let you stay over as well, it can be an option if you’d like it to be,” Liz considered with a tilt of her head as she followed him in the direction of their apartment, staying as close to him as she possibly could. “Rain is good, she misses you,” she told him, “it’s a good thing she’s used to a lot of cats, Joni has been keeping her on her toes,” and another thought came to her, “oh HB sent new photos of the cats a few weeks ago, there’s new ones of Leo,” she told him, “they’re at the store,” She smiled hopefully at that last part, if he still wanted to share the apartment … even if he didn’t have anywhere else to go, she had missed him so much, she was still afraid of letting him out of her sight in case this was a dream and she was just imagining that he was back in Fandom and she had told him she was pregnant …
Prompto	"Awwww. Leo." Prompto chuckled a little bit at that, but it was odd sort of chuckle, a distant, marveling one, especially as he realized, walking down this familiar street again, just how little had changed here. The immutability seemed even more pronounced with him in the sharp formalness of his Crownsguard uniform, far more suited for battle than strolling down a street. It felt like he was the only thing that had changed... ...well, and Liz, obviously, with the baby. He was mostly quiet as they walked, stopping as they reached the Photo Hut with that thought there on the edge of his mind, turning to look at her, only to realize it was still too bright to really see her, the way he really wanted to see her right then. "Let's go inside," he said, almost a little desperately, and even though he knew it was safe here, things always were safer when you were inside, within four walls.
Liz	Liz stayed as close to him as she could as they walked, she noticed how quiet he had become but she understood if he didn't want to talk right then, she knew that everything would be a lot for him right now but she was there if he wanted to talk. Then they got to the store and Liz noticed his tone when he said he wanted them to inside, "of course," she said gently and quickly got out her keys and opened the door for him.
Prompto	And with the light inside dimmer from the only source being whatever filtered through the window, Prompto relaxed a little more, fighting the urge to then flip on the overhead lights immediately to burn away any lingering shadows. Still, he breathed out his relief with a little sigh of, "Oh, that's much better..." Enjoy the relief while it lasted, there, Prompto, because in a few second, you were probably going to be hit with an overwhelming wave of nostalgia and memories.
Liz	Liz followed him inside, closing the door behind them, she watched him closely and saw how much better he seemed to be doing. “Is … do you want to stay down here for a while?” she asked him gently, “before we head upstairs, I can show you what's new in the store, the new photos of Leo,” she paused, “we don’t have to head up right away."
Prompto	And there it was, there was that rush, as Prompto started to look around at all the familiar displays, the rainbow-colored camera straps hanging from the wall, the counter where he could almost see himself draped over it in ways that couldn't possibly actually be comfortable for anyone else, just so that he could plant a kiss on Liz at the computer, and this was all just passive, from just existing in this space again, he couldn't imagine how overwhelmed he'd feel if she started showing him new pictures, new merch, even though it seemed like nothing had even changed... He shook his head, eyes going toward the door to the apartment instead. "Is it..." he started. "How much did you move? Everything? Or is there still...?" Stuff. Furniture. Familiar things. Maybe even some of his old stuff, although maybe Liz had just gotten rid of all that, when she started to realize that he might not ever come back after all...But he couldn't really get the words out, the feelings running through him right now were to complex and confusion that he couldn't really make heads or tails of most of them at the moment.
Liz	“Everything’s still the same,” Liz said softly, “I … except for my things and Rain’s when we moved to Dr. Lecter’s,” she bit her lip, “I didn’t want to change anything.” There was a moment's hesitation, "I wanted it to be the same when you came back," she said softly.
Prompto	"Good," Prompto said, softly. Now that he was out of the burning sunlight, now that he felt the safety of familiar walls, he was starting to understand what it was he wanted (maybe what he needed) right now, and it was simple and maybe kind of silly and stupid, but he didn't care. This could all just be a dream, anyway, so why shouldn't he just let himself enjoy it in the only way he knew how right now? He reached out to take Liz's hand softly before heading over to the door and lead her with him up the stairs.
Liz	It felt so surreal to think that she was here in the store with Prompto and Liz smiled when he reached out to take her hand. She gladly took it, just as softly and she followed him up the stairs to their apartment. She didn’t say anything, she just enjoyed being able to have this moment with him, the familiarity after it being months of loneliness and uncertainty and then she felt guilty, it had only been months for her .. she couldn’t even begin to imagine what those ten years must have been like for Prompto.
Prompto	Liz might have had some idea, of how those years had been, if she could see the distant, haunted look in those stormy blue eyes, but Prompto led her forward with a determination through those still familiar rooms, until they reached the living room. And there it was, the couch, exactly as he'd remembered it, as if it'd been waiting for him. The same couch where they'd spent countless nights snuggled up together watching movies. Where he'd nearly rage-quit hundreds of video games. Where he'd fall asleep with Rain curled up on his chest, purring away like the world's most adorable furry motor... Prompto let go of Liz's hand just long enough to remove his jacket, with all its stiffness and heavy decoration. The patterned armored vest soon followed, his guns, his camera, his phone, slowly and methodically, until all the hardness was removed, except for that new inherent hardness now within him that couldn't just be stripped away. He took her hands again lightly once he'd draped the jacket and vest on the chair, and then slowly lowered himself down onto the couch to lie down, pulling her softly with him, into him. Where he could just wrap his arms around her and hold her and hold onto this moment, of a much simpler time, a time before everything went to shit and everything was terrible and he thought he would never have a moment like this again. No matter how fleeting and ephemeral it may be, he had it now, and he was going to just hold onto it for as long as he still could.
Liz	It took all of Liz’s resolve to not start crying when Prompto led them over to the couch, especially once Prompto had laid down and drew her in next to him. She was scared to ruin the moment, that she would just wake up and find that this was just all just a very cruel dream … she just leaned against him from where they were lying down, seeking that comfort from his embrace, not saying anything as she sat there curled up on the couch with him. She had missed this so much, she was scared she would never get to experience it again. She didn’t even know what she could say in a moment like this, she wanted it to go on as long as it possibly could, enjoying just being with Prompto again. She didn’t want it to end.

[[ preplayed with the ever lovely flamesburned; NFI and to be continue in another post shortly. Mild CW for some poorly dealt with surface-level trauma, and the OG Chocobro has officially returned! *internalized high-pitched squealing* ]]