Prompto Argentum (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hashtag_chocobro) wrote2019-06-28 06:27 am
hashtag_chocobro) wrote2019-06-28 06:27 am
Noctis' Apartment; Insomnia, Lucis. Friday Evening [06/28].
It had been...a very long day. Prompto whose mun figured that plot breakages was pretty much inevitable at this point had decided to tell the others...everything. About the worlds of darkness, about the crystals, about Noctis' sacrifice, about...about the clones, about the monsters, about all the terrible possible futures and what they could potential mean for them all. About how he kind of didn't want to go back, about how much more he could take.
Eventually, surprisingly, after what seemed like cases of Cup Noodle and take-out and dozens of cans of Ebony, he finally ran out of things to say, the room grown dark with the passage of day into night, despite all the bright lights outside in the city that never slept. The quiet was almost unbearable, but, eventually, the conversation got started, tentatively at first, starting with reassurances from Noctis that, no matter what happened, no matter where he came from, he was still Prompto, he was still their friend, and that was all that mattered. Echoes of things he'd heard before, from Vette, from Nina, so you'd think by now it'd be easier to believe it...it was almost a relief when the discussion turned more...tactical, more technical, Ignis and Gladio falling into the familiar cadence of what this could all mean, of what could be learned from all this.
"If anything, Prompto," said Ignis, with a faint wave of his hand, a shrug of his shoulder before folding one arm across his chest to hold up the other that stroked his chin...after pushing up his glasses, "I daresay that you returning to Insomnia for your final year of school is completely out of the question. Within the last year alone, the information you've been able to gather because of the peculiar nature of the place has been...well, quite frankly, it's rather astounding."
Prompto blinked at him a few times, uncertain whether what he felt was more some sort of grateful relief....or some sort of overwhelming dread. "W-what?"
"He's right, you know," Gladio put in with a stern rumble. "Don't get me wrong, the whole thing sounds ludicris, but if there is any merit to any of the weird futures you've seen because of that place, we've got to know about it."
"And hopefully," Ignis continued, with a side-long glance at Noctis, who had been the quietest out of all of them through most of it, and who could blame him? It was his life supposedly on the line here, "prevent it. Far-fetched as some of it may seem, it may still prove useful. We can be on the look-out for anything that may sway these events from ever happening. We can know what to watch out for. By the sound of it, these experiences may yet save not only Noctis' life...but the whole fate of Insomnia as we know it."
There was the heavy silence again, seeming to fall completely on Prompto's slim shoulders. Not knowing what else to do, he scoffed a little, shaking his head. "Great," he said. "I can save the world, all it takes is a half-dozen or so horrific, terrible living nightmares."
"You didn't think saving the world would be easy," Gladio grunted with dry humor right back at him, "did you?"
"I'm so glad I get to be the guinea pig for this one," Prompto murmured, then regretted it, because of the unspoken feeling that they all sort of wanted to say that, well, he was designed for that, wasn't he? But there was a line, and they all knew that would cross it, especially since they all felt it, and none of them liked it, but it...was so necessary.
At least it would make him useful. At least...he might actually make a difference. At least he was finally bringing something to the team that literally none of them could. They actualy...needed him now. And if they really could set things on the path to a better future, then it would be worth it, right? It would be worth every second of the worst thing Fandom could throw at him, times a million.
"Besides," said Ignis, his cool, calm voice slipping in to ease away another uncomfortable silence, "we've already gone and picked your classes for you, Prompto."
Prompto blinked again, because it just seemed something so light and normal, and it actually made him laugh a little, his grin going a little crooked. "Y-yeah?" he asked. "What's on the menu this time, boys? Anything good and fighty? Another cooking class with Dr. Lecter?"
"Perhaps," Ignis may have actually grinned a little bit there. "You'll just have to wait and see."
"Oh, come on! Tell me!"
"Don't worry about it," said Gladio. "You're going to love them."
"I do not like that chuckle, Gladiolus Amicitia!" Prompto protested. "That is not an encouraging chuckle! C'mon, Noct! I'm letting myself be exposed to unfathomable tortures and unimaginable pain for you! You're not going to leave me hanging, bro, are you?"
Noctis' chuckle was much lighter, much more subdued that Gladio's, and he shook his head, lifting his hands. "I'm not even touching this one," he vowed.
"Hey," Gladio broke in, grin broadening, "you know, even if you didn't have all these great classes Iggy and I picked out for you to go back to, you'd still have to go back. No way we're dealing with Nina if you tried to stay here. We'd never hear the end of it!"
Groaning, rolling his eyes, Prompto slumped in his chair, considering the slew of text and pictures he'd gotten from her at the beginning of the week, during her party on Wednesay, and mostly expecting something else if not tonight then tomorrow, and for every other day until he actually did get back. And even if he did groan and roll his eyes for show in front of the boys, he couldn't really deny the little thrill of appreciation in there, too. He tilted his head, so he could look at Gladio warningly when he said, "I'd watch what you say about Nina outloud, dude. She probably has this place bugged to high heaven..."
Then he realized what he'd said.
Then he realized how it was probably true.
And the others were realizing it, too, he noticed, as they were all now giving him a mutual, expectant look.
"Right," he said, rolling out of the chair and hopping to his feet to go rig up a nice debug pulse through the apartment, "on it!"
[[ NFB for distance, of course, but post is open! ]]
Eventually, surprisingly, after what seemed like cases of Cup Noodle and take-out and dozens of cans of Ebony, he finally ran out of things to say, the room grown dark with the passage of day into night, despite all the bright lights outside in the city that never slept. The quiet was almost unbearable, but, eventually, the conversation got started, tentatively at first, starting with reassurances from Noctis that, no matter what happened, no matter where he came from, he was still Prompto, he was still their friend, and that was all that mattered. Echoes of things he'd heard before, from Vette, from Nina, so you'd think by now it'd be easier to believe it...it was almost a relief when the discussion turned more...tactical, more technical, Ignis and Gladio falling into the familiar cadence of what this could all mean, of what could be learned from all this.
"If anything, Prompto," said Ignis, with a faint wave of his hand, a shrug of his shoulder before folding one arm across his chest to hold up the other that stroked his chin...after pushing up his glasses, "I daresay that you returning to Insomnia for your final year of school is completely out of the question. Within the last year alone, the information you've been able to gather because of the peculiar nature of the place has been...well, quite frankly, it's rather astounding."
Prompto blinked at him a few times, uncertain whether what he felt was more some sort of grateful relief....or some sort of overwhelming dread. "W-what?"
"He's right, you know," Gladio put in with a stern rumble. "Don't get me wrong, the whole thing sounds ludicris, but if there is any merit to any of the weird futures you've seen because of that place, we've got to know about it."
"And hopefully," Ignis continued, with a side-long glance at Noctis, who had been the quietest out of all of them through most of it, and who could blame him? It was his life supposedly on the line here, "prevent it. Far-fetched as some of it may seem, it may still prove useful. We can be on the look-out for anything that may sway these events from ever happening. We can know what to watch out for. By the sound of it, these experiences may yet save not only Noctis' life...but the whole fate of Insomnia as we know it."
There was the heavy silence again, seeming to fall completely on Prompto's slim shoulders. Not knowing what else to do, he scoffed a little, shaking his head. "Great," he said. "I can save the world, all it takes is a half-dozen or so horrific, terrible living nightmares."
"You didn't think saving the world would be easy," Gladio grunted with dry humor right back at him, "did you?"
"I'm so glad I get to be the guinea pig for this one," Prompto murmured, then regretted it, because of the unspoken feeling that they all sort of wanted to say that, well, he was designed for that, wasn't he? But there was a line, and they all knew that would cross it, especially since they all felt it, and none of them liked it, but it...was so necessary.
At least it would make him useful. At least...he might actually make a difference. At least he was finally bringing something to the team that literally none of them could. They actualy...needed him now. And if they really could set things on the path to a better future, then it would be worth it, right? It would be worth every second of the worst thing Fandom could throw at him, times a million.
"Besides," said Ignis, his cool, calm voice slipping in to ease away another uncomfortable silence, "we've already gone and picked your classes for you, Prompto."
Prompto blinked again, because it just seemed something so light and normal, and it actually made him laugh a little, his grin going a little crooked. "Y-yeah?" he asked. "What's on the menu this time, boys? Anything good and fighty? Another cooking class with Dr. Lecter?"
"Perhaps," Ignis may have actually grinned a little bit there. "You'll just have to wait and see."
"Oh, come on! Tell me!"
"Don't worry about it," said Gladio. "You're going to love them."
"I do not like that chuckle, Gladiolus Amicitia!" Prompto protested. "That is not an encouraging chuckle! C'mon, Noct! I'm letting myself be exposed to unfathomable tortures and unimaginable pain for you! You're not going to leave me hanging, bro, are you?"
Noctis' chuckle was much lighter, much more subdued that Gladio's, and he shook his head, lifting his hands. "I'm not even touching this one," he vowed.
"Hey," Gladio broke in, grin broadening, "you know, even if you didn't have all these great classes Iggy and I picked out for you to go back to, you'd still have to go back. No way we're dealing with Nina if you tried to stay here. We'd never hear the end of it!"
Groaning, rolling his eyes, Prompto slumped in his chair, considering the slew of text and pictures he'd gotten from her at the beginning of the week, during her party on Wednesay, and mostly expecting something else if not tonight then tomorrow, and for every other day until he actually did get back. And even if he did groan and roll his eyes for show in front of the boys, he couldn't really deny the little thrill of appreciation in there, too. He tilted his head, so he could look at Gladio warningly when he said, "I'd watch what you say about Nina outloud, dude. She probably has this place bugged to high heaven..."
Then he realized what he'd said.
Then he realized how it was probably true.
And the others were realizing it, too, he noticed, as they were all now giving him a mutual, expectant look.
"Right," he said, rolling out of the chair and hopping to his feet to go rig up a nice debug pulse through the apartment, "on it!"
[[ NFB for distance, of course, but post is open! ]]
no subject
......... . .... ........................
Nina was... was squinting at that text suspiciously.
Are you drunk??????????
She was following that up with a text to the rest of the boys too:
Is Prompto drunk????????? ARE YOU ALL DRUNK?????????????
no subject
And, from the kitchen, came Noctis' voice, "Prompto, are you drunk?"
"I'm not drunk!"
And then Nina was getting He's not drunk from Noctis.
"Why would she think you were drunk?"
"Don't expect me to be able to explain Nina, dude."
Why would you think I was drunk? we have TRAINING tomorrow, NINA.
no subject
Obviously, Prompto. Keep up!
Nina, what?
I miss you, she added, and then, because that was sort of embarrassing, you idiot.
no subject
Ah, crap. And this is why just texting with Nina for a long period of time, it always seemed to hit a point where there was a miscommunication or a misstep and things got all weird all of a sudden and he was too much of a spaz with no social skills to know what it was.
Fine, I take it back, you could never be that cute puppy???
And he....didn't know what to do with that last part, really, so he figured, since he'd already screwed up, it would probably be better to just not even touch it.
But then he felt bad, because she'd feel bad if he didn't say it back, right?
And I miss you, too, he added, you...
He tried 'weirdo' first, thought better of it, typed out 'spaz', thought better of that...thought for a moment, and just went for confusing girl and sent it.
Because it was undeniably true right now.
no subject
It keeps you on your toes, Nina said, adding a bunch of flowers to that for the sake of it. She made sense to her, which was the most important thing.
Or possibly the worst thing?
Do you know what else will keep you on your toes???????????
no subject
Which was a very honest answer right now, Nina.
no subject
Nina hummed a little as she sent the next bit.
I have a proooooooooooooffessionaaaaaaaaaaal hacker teaching me now. NO ONE AND NOTHING WILL STOP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You were so, so doomed Prompto. You'd already been doomed. Now you were, like, eleventy billion times more doomed.
no subject
Prompto noted that he might have to up his own game; granted, he didn't think he could go up against Nina once she'd decided to take something on, especially since he really just did little middling stuff like screwing with game files. Meanwhile, Nina was the type to make up fake names and get library cards in completely different universes, just on a whim.
That was definitely a fight he figured he was better off not even thinking of joining.
He chewed his lower lip as he considered just how to respond, figured he'd already made his misteps and had already been called rude, so...
I hereby refuse to be held responsible for anything you might unearth in this exciting new venture of yours, Nina. Some stones are probably best left unturned
He knew what sort of things might turn up on his computer or his phone. Things he knew that a proper lady would likely not appreciate.
Assuming, of course, she hadn't already figured that out herself.
no subject
(She was still sort of crushing on him, but more in the yeeeeeees, I have the hottest, best teacher around sort of way than true love forever sort of way.)
Oh, please, she said, sticking her tongue out at her phone and following with some emojis that did the same thing. If I wanted to know something about you, I'd ask.
After she'd snooped through his computer anyway. Nina was, uh, like that. Boundaries were suggestions when it came to knowledge.
Though I've been looking after your cute little garden thing for you.
So. Yeah.
But the stones I'm after are going to be harder to turn!!!!!!!!!!! So I needed, like, back up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There was a pretty big difference between annoying Noct, Iggy, and Gladio and stealing secrets from Niflheim.
no subject
But he chewed on his lower lip a little, considering that last bit. And also considering what Gladio said a little bit ago when he headed out. It was getting late; they did have training tomorrow, but...well, he'd barely talked to her at all this week...
What kind of stones we talking about? Is it safe to speak of on an unsecured line? Do you need to send me the answer in code?
no subject
He was so weird about his kitty garden. From kitty gardens to murder games, Nina did not really get video games.
The rest of that, though...
I can't make rock soup from here yet?????????
So, no, it wasn't safe to speak on an unsecured line.
Also I need you to go shopping for me tomorrow.
Yes, she'd heard him say he had training, but Insomnia was a city that never slept! She'd seen the hours of some of the stores! He'd be fine!
no subject
There were video games for that, too! Video games were the best.
ooooh. Whatchu need, girl? I'll totally hook you up!
no subject
They were still pretty weird to her.
Though a shopping video game... had... appeal...
There's a wedding on Sunday and I get to go and there's NO COLOUR HERE!!!!!!!!!! You've got to help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She'd have a heart attack if she just showed up in, like, whatever.
no subject
Prompto didn't realize until after he'd sent it that it might have come off as a little incredulous, but the text was nothing but pure, unabashed excitement right there.
But, like, you know it's probably just going to turn grey or something once it gets to Fandom, right? I mean, it might. It might not! Why did no one test this?? But, I mean, I got color back once I got here, so it's deifnitely the island sapping all the color, probably
If Nina seriously was asking HIM to pick out a dress for her for this wedding...oh, man. Pressure! But also he knew he could deliver, and how many other times would he have good excuse to actually go PRETTY DRESS SHOPPING??
no subject
For good measure she was going to snap a selfie of herself, with beseeching girl eyes, and send that to him too.
Pleaaaaaaaase??????????
no subject
Of course, he was planning on being back before the wedding, but he didn't want them knowing he'd be back. He could drop it off in the morning and make it just look like it was an amazingly timely delivery...
OH, don't u worry. I have SO got you covered. BUT.....
Dramatic paaaaaaause.
You have to wear it, even if you hate it. And that does mean you have to send me your measurements, too, so it, you know, FITS
no subject
Is that all??????????? she asked, amused and sending a bunch of rainbows his way. If I hate it, I'll wear it, and blame you!!!!!!!!!!!!! As for my measurements, hang on-------------
And now he was getting a snap of her measurements, neatly written out, because of course Nina had those at hand. All clothes made at home, after all, were hand-sewn. She had to know her measurements!
no subject
And Prompto...really wished he could have been that confident about it, because, well, it was Nina, and she was all about looking cute, and he was really wishing he didn't have training tomorrow, because he wasn't about to explain to Gladio that the reason why he was distracted was because he was thinking about dresses, but he was, and he even got up early to get a jog in through the fashion district so that he could do a little window shopping and then, afterwards, went to search in earnest and was stuck between about fifty different possibilities before deciding on one that he figured would have looked sharp and adorable and very Nina even without the very Nina color.
Conveniently delivered early Sunday morning through nothing but the magic of portals and amazing mail systems, really, you could tell because it was all packaged up for mail delivery, DEFINITELY not hand delivery because he DEFINITELY WAS NOT BACK IN FANDOM by Sunday morning, really!
no subject
IT'S PERFECT, I LOVE IT, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And all the hearts. All of them.