I want to ride my chocobo all day!

There were definitely a lot things about tonight that had Prompto feeling nervous and anxious, but one thing he wasn't not worried about was that dinner at the Caelum Via would not be impressive enough. As one of the premier lux locations in the whole city, it towered over most of the already substantial metropolis, with a clear view of the looming Citadel nearby.

After a walk through the aquarium with its feature around painting of the goddess Etro, they were escorted to the dining hall just below the Via's legendary rooftop recreation area. Soft music was playing, matching the soft din of conversation and the sounds of utensils over plates. The place wasn't very busy at all; after all, there was no Valentine's Day in Eos, so, for most people, this was just another Monday, and there weren't a whole lot of people looking to live it up on a random Monday at the Caelum Via. This meant they could get a particularly good table by the windows, looking out over the glittering lights of the city of Insomnia as it stretched nearly to the horizon, and they were high enough up that you could almost see faint stars in the sky overhead, through the subtle filter of the protective dome stretched over the city, which, occasionally, would ripple with a magical shimmer.

He'd kept it simple with a black suit, but was already starting to wonder if he'd gone too simple. He would have felt out of place in anything fancier, sure, but he felt pretty out-of-place as it was already. This was definitely the kind of place he would have never dreamed of being able to get into before, but, uh, hey, being a part of the future Crownsguard had it its perks, huh? If it weren't for that fact, he'd half-expect someone to approach them and ask why they were doing there and try to kick them out or something. But now? Who knew? There might even be something in one of the papers tomorrow, a small little corner of the gossip pages, speculating on one of Prince Noctis' retiune having a night out on the town with a mysterious woman, speculating on who she might be...

But that was him getting ahead of himself; he should probably just focus on having dinner first, and then...and then afterwards, they'd take a nice cab ride out to his place, and...well...sure, they lived together, but this would be different, this was here, in Insomnnia, his home....

Okay, okay, okay. Now he really was getting ahead of himself, and they'd reached the table anyway, and so Prompto moved to awkwardly pull out a chair for Liz and gave her a smile that he hoped wouldn't show how nervous he was feeling as he gestured toward it with a, "My lady."

Because of course he would.

[[ for the date, of course! And NFB for distance, natch! ]]

There had been a little bit of redecorating around the crown prince of Insomnia's apartment over the weekend, redecorating all around quite possibly the best painting in the entire multiverse, of Noctis hanging from his sword from the top of the Citadel while the world spun around him, and there was definitely a singing fish and a burrito blanket featured heavily, as any great piece of art should have.

And Prompto had seen it probably a million times since Nina installed it, but he still couldn't help pausing every once in a while as they were all hanging out, and just sort of...marveling.

"It's almost hard to think that I know the people who painted that," he commented, not for the first time, shaking his head a moment before popping a chip into his mouth and trying to go back to focus on the game he was currently kicking Noct's ass in.

"It is a bit of a masterpiece, isn't it?" Ignis commented from behind the counter in the kitchen, where he was diligently putting dinner together for the lot of them. "Shame that it's hidden up here where so few people will even be able to bask in its glory. Perhaps I should talk to someone about having it moved down to the Citadel? I'm thinking the main entrance hall..."

"Don't. You. Dare," growled Noctis, doing a poor job of sounding intimidating with it. "It's fine where it is."

"I don't know, Noct," Gladio said as he placidly flipped the page of his book. "Iggy's got a point, it would look great hanging in the dining hall, too, maybe."

"Haven't we already been over this?"

"Only about five times every day since you got it, buddy!"

But Prompto really hoped they were joking about that. Not for Noct's sake, though, but rather for his own, because that painting was huge and a pain to move, so he'd be perfectly fine if it stayed right where it was.

He was pretty sure Noctis would miss it if it was moved, too.

[[ open for chocobrothers, chocosisters, chococalls and chocotexts! ]]

Prompto hadn't just gone back to the island for the Wednesday shenanigans, no matter how much he made it seem like he was only there for the fun of it. He had some business to attend to, some arrangements to make, some squirrels to ply with lots of rum for secrecy sake, before heading back to his world, and once he was back and took care of, you know, stuff he needed to do and his training and whatever, he finally had a chance to send out a very important email.

( Cut for Email to ANYONE on the Fandom mailing list, EXCEPT NINA! No Ninas allowed! )

And, yes, there was a mass text sent out, as well, though that one was a little more straight forward: SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR NINA ON THE BEACH SATURDAY NIGHT! IT'S A SURPRISE SO DON'T TELL HER! SEE YOU THERE! DESTROY THIS MESSAGE UPON RECEIPT!

And then he leaned back in his chair, grinned proudly to himself, and booted up some games to pass the time with until he probably passed out for the night, even though he should, you know, get some rest because he had, ugh, training in the AM.

[[ email and texts to whoever and whatever might want to have received one (and even those who might NOT have wanted to!), wooo! Also most definitely open for any responses, calls, emails, texts, carrier pigeons, you name it!! ]]

So, today was the birthday of Noctis Lucis Caelum, crown prince of Lucis, and King Regis decided, for some reason, to make a big deal out of it. There was an elaborate parade planned through the major streets of the city center, to be followed by a formal ball held in the prince's honor, though, considering the amount of representative delegates from various points around Eos, it was becoming a bit clearer that perhaps this wasn't entirely all about Noct's birthday. Which was an odd relief for Noctis, who hated being the center of attention, but only to an extent as Ignis sort of broke it down for them: there must have been some shift in the way things were going in the war with Niflheim. The parade and the celebration were clearly tactics used to inspire the people of Insomnia, spark in them a sort of national pride for their beloved monarchy. And the ball to follow was likely to involve a lot of official delegates huddled in small groups, speaking very carefully with each other over their goblets of wine and delicate little finger foods.

Which was kind of a bummer, really. This whole political intrigue, potential turning point in the war stuff really put a damper on the party mood of the whole thing, if you asked Prompto. But he supposed he should have expected as much.

( Cut like a birthday cake, yo. )

"You know," he said, partially because he felt he should at least say something, but he hardly knew what to say, afraid that the wrong thing would just end up breaking the weird, wild enchantment of the evening, "one of the first things that really blew my mind about Fandom was getting to see the night sky for the first time. I still think about that a lot, actually. I started to think it was kind of lame, you know? Sort of a dumb thing to be so impressed by, but then I come home like this, and I look up...and it makes sense. I get it, and I miss it. I mean, can you imagine seeing stars for the first time after a lifetime of looking up and seeing...that?"

As soon as he said it, he regretted it. What a stupid thing to say. But he'd said it, and he lowered his eyes again and glanced toward Yang. "Are you cold?" he asked, as if to just push all that star talk away. "Do you want my jacket?"

Prompto, your girlfriend was practically a walking combustible and you ask are you cold.

It was a miracle any of this had even survived this long.

[[ hey, thanks for reading my 4 am FF XV fanfic, everyone! For that lovely lady who was shamelessly modded alllllll over the Citadel! ]]

Although it was a little bit tempting, Prompto decided that, if he was going to pick up and leave for home and not bothering returning to Fandom Island, he wasn't going to just do it without a word. There had been a massive influx of messages sent out, albeit belatedly at the zero hour before he left. Yang, of course, obviously, and Nina, too, espsecially since he figured he wouldn't have been able to just slip away without a word with her around, anyway. And then Sidon, the normalcy of asking the Zora to cover for him at the shelter this week feeling odd in one way yet comforting in another. And, finally, one to Zack, which felt the strangest out of all of them, because when had he ever called Zack to let him know when he wouldn't make it in? Or that he and Sidon were switching shifts or covering the other? He'd always been cool about that sort of thing, he and Sidon just sort of did what they needed and he didn't care, not even when they missed because they were incapacitated or sick or turned into horrible frightening monsters that would eat all the animals, anyway...

...and it felt, in a way, that there was a certain sort of...finality in that call to Zack. Like tying off loose ends. Closing a chapter of a book....

Either way, he'd arrived in Insomnia that morning, inexplicably the next day, portal logic!, fumbling with his keys a little as he approached the quiet little house he'd grown up in. He pushed the door open, calling out into the stillness, though he knew there was no point. "Mom? Dad?"

Silence. Of course. Of course they weren't home, and he felt another terrible swell of sadness taking over him. You'd think, after pretty much his whole life of this, he'd get used to the feeling of coming home to an empty house, that he'd eventually stop feeling disappointed that his parents weren't there, but it never really faded, and, right now, when he felt like he sort of needed them the most, it seemed to hit especially hard. When he had so many questions he wanted to ask them. When all he wanted was answers and the only people in the world he could think of that might have them were...no where to be found. He just wanted them to hug him, and smooth back his hair, and tell him everything was okay. He wanted to hear that they knew about it, they knew everything, but they still loved him anyway, but did they even know? How could they not? Who just dumped some random Niflheim MT clone in an orphanage, and who then just picked up that random Niflheim MT clone to adopt...especially when they clearly had no interest in actually doing much parenting? He wanted answers, he wanted comfort, he actually wanted to talk about it, but all there was was empty rooms, walls scattered with photographs, old video games, and a cupboard full of Cup Noodles, cheap and easy because there was no time for them to make him any leftovers, but there's some money on the table if he wanted to eat out...

Absently, Prompto went to the mailbox to collect the usual stack of letters that had been stacking up while his parents were gone. Mostly junk mail, really, no one really sent anything important to the house, because everyone knew that the Mr. and Mrs. Argentum weren't likely home to receive it. But the stack seemed unusually thick this time around...he scoffed a little, derisively. Probably because he wasn't around to clean it up! And he idly glanced over them, sorting through it to make sure there weren't any bills or anything mixed in with the coupons and savings offers.

...wait a second.

Prompto blinked, staring down at the envelopes as he shifted through them, not even sure he was seeing what he thought he was, because that seemed...that was...how in the hell?

We got library cards! Ignis helped us!

Prompto was staring down at a handful of junk mail boldly addressed not to any Argentums who might be living at this address, but, instead, to the supposed Nina Libris and Vette Libris that did!

"What the hell?"

Honestly, he wasn't sure if that question into the ether was more for Nina and Vette...or for the clearly out-of-hand state of Insomnia's junk mail.


[[ junk mail modded with permission? lol. Anyway, it's open if anyone wants to get in touch! ]]