adelphoi | (no subject)

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[ never before has alisaie so deeply, keenly known what it is to feel bittersweet.

arriving on hydaelyn again, surrounded by the familiar walls of the rising stones, eorzea's peoples and lands safe, restored, full - is it not what she had dreamt of since first she awoke in that icy pod? since she looked out over a wide vista of stars and attempted to process the fact that her home was gone? mourning an entire world had been a monumental effort, and when the news had come that their homes could yet be salvaged she had never been more relieved.

that relief, of course, had been soon followed by a sweeping despair. they were to return home, and only home, the natha had a duty to fulfill, to see to it that everything was restored exactly as it was, no exception, no compromise. for the greater good, they had insisted, and alisaie's heart had broken clean in two. she had made so many connections, so many close friends, she had carved a life out for herself on el nysa and -

- and prompto. to lose him forever was an ache she could not bear. she had already lost so much, so many, and to lose him.. of course she fought. she railed and shouted herself hoarse, she petitioned the natha again and again, begged, but they would not be moved. and so she was home again, surrounded by familiar walls and familiar friends, but on her clothing she could still smell prompto's skin, the sensation of his last kiss clinging to her mouth like a ghost.

a week of stunned grieving was all she allowed herself, but alisaie would not be defeated. traveling to other worlds.. it is possible, she has seen it done. the ascians, the warriors of the first - all had traveled between the planes, and alisaie was entirely certain, with all of her heart, that his eos was one of the many echoes, the worlds connected to her own by the sundering of the mothercrystal. prompto was gone and yet he still somehow felt so very close, just out of reach of her touch, her voice, her heart.

the pregnancy, of course, had been.. entirely unexpected. the natha had rendered them sterile, but she can only assume that they had reversed it some time before their restoration of their homes, long enough for him to quicken within her womb and leave her with a soul to remember him by, a sweet child with her own dark eyes and prompto's fair hair, and smile, and laugh that breaks her heart to hear. but gods she loves him, this little sunshine boy who thrives on touch and love, who sleeps well and smiles often and gives her the extra drive she needs to work, to finish, to find the way to drive open the doorway between their worlds. it is unstable, and unable to linger for long, it is entirely possible that this is a one-way trip, that she will never be able to find her way back, and that is all that stalls her. prompto is her heart, her husband, the mother of her child - but hydaelyn is her home, her family is here, and the thought of leaving her brother behind forever, leaving urianger, and the scions..

gods, it is nearly enough to unmake her, to convince her to abandon her work.

but they remind her, all of them, that prompto too is her family, that their child deserves to know his father, that if she does not make this step she will never see him again. she will.. simply have to do it again, to find a way to keep the doorway open. and if she has not, at least she has said her goodbyes, she has made her peace, and decided what it is that she needs.

and so that is what brings her here at last, to eos, where the air is thick with darkness, where the aether is in upheaval. gods, this is the home he had returned to? this is where he has been? the atmosphere is heady and oppressive, the roads swarmed with terrible daemons. she had made the right decision.

finding him, however, was much more difficult. finding her way to a well lit station had been difficult enough in a foreign world, and she had learned quickly to arrange her hair to cover her ears, avoiding questions she does not have the time to answer. but soon enough she had learned of him, where he was, and how to arrive there - to a city called lestallum, the last great bastion against the doom hovering on the horizon.

alisaie's heart is pounding when she arrives before the worn wooden door, in a narrow staircase with yellow walls, the paint peeling and the light harsh. she's ruffled and dusty with travel, exhausted and anxious, smelling of sweat and chocobo but once she had arrived in the city she could not bring herself to wait another second before searching him out, finding him. hefting the sleeping child higher on her hip, alisaie presses a kiss to his pale blonde head, taking a deep, stilling breath.

and she knocks. ]

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Well, Louie will need his lessons first, of course..

[ she says, casting the boy a sideglance, who frowns in response, but she reaches to ruffle his hair with the palm of her hand nonetheless. no getting out of it, sir!! there's no real education system to speak of here in eos, not anymore, but that does not mean she is going to let her children grow up illiterate. alisaie is quite passionate about learning.

and so every day it's flash cards, and reading, and mathematics, and aetherology. no getting out of it!! ]

Buuut.. after that, I suppose I could be persuaded into something fun.

[ and now she's shoveling a whole bunch of pancake into her mouth like a snake swallowing a rat. ]

[ Ah yes, of course, Prompto wouldn't dream of letting Louie skip his lessons. Mostly as to not incur Alisaie's wrath, but he wants his kids to grow up as sharp as his wife, too. At this rate, it won't be much longer until Louie is smarter than he is! ]

After that, then! We could play some games, go for a picnic, go into town, see some sights...

[ Their options are, of course, limited, given the state of the world, but...someday he hopes that they can go take a hike without fear of running into horrible daemons, or travel the world. There's so many places he'd love to take his kids to see someday, but it's just too dangerous right now.

But, someday.

With the babies' bottles suitably warmed up, Prompto removes them from the water and plops one into the chubby little hands of each of the girls. ]

There's my sweet girls...eat up!

[ both girls are more than ready for their bottles, they're nearing dangerous fussiness by the time prompto delivers them, and they shout baba!! with their chubby little hands raised. ]

Hmm..

[ a picnic could be nice, though without any sun, it is less idyllic than she once would have thought. going into town with three younglings is a bit of a challenge (at best), but.. ]

.. I suppose we should restock.

[ it's been some time, and their cupboards are looking a little thin. louie perks up immediately - he sure does love going into town!! ]

[ With the children (and wife) all eating happily now, Prompto at last takes a pile of pancakes for himself and plops down into the seat next to Alisaie, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek as he does so. Even after all these years, he still finds ways to pepper in little affectionate actions wherever he can. ]

Great! It's settled then. I'm not sure if Lou is very excited about going, though...

[ Louie pulls a face in reaction to such an audacious claim, before setting the record straight. "No daddy, I want to go! I want to go right now!!!" ]

Are you sure? We might see a lot of chocobos there...

[ As if Louie needed any more reason to be excited. ]

Oh yes, that would be terrible for him.

[ not that prompto isn't also super excited to see chocobos!! nevermind that they always have chobi and freshley here as well, and also probably whatever baby came from that EG in el nysa.. but those are DIFFERENT chocobos. and also a whole lot of chocobos. very exciting.

alisaie tucks more into her pancakes, stuffing in a great, shoveled mouthful. gods, chocolate chip pancakes are just decadently delicious.. they inhale them as a family. ]

[ They sure do! Someday the twins will also know the joys of pancakes, but alas, their time has not yet come.

Louie protests again that he would be over the moon to see some chocobos, don't his parents know how much he loves chocobos?! Prompto is just close enough to reach out and muss his hair, making it clear that they're just teasing. ]

I guess I wouldn't mind seein' some 'bos myself...wouldn't want to make Mrs. Freshley jealous, though.

I think she will understand.

[ so long as prompto is sure to ply her with lots of delicious greens..

washing down her pancakes with a deep drink of ice cold milk, alisaie sits back and reaches to gently tickle louie's ribs with one hand. ]

But first, go get yourself cleaned up and brush your teeth, young man. No chocobos before your lessons are complete.

[ louie whines immediately, but alisaie levels him with the hard mom stare.. there is no escaping it. ]

[ Prompto can't help but snicker at Louie's protests. It's admirable how he keeps at them even though they have pretty much never worked before...he definitely has Alisaie's stubbornness in him.

But there's no helping it, so Louie relents and goes to brush his teeth, while Prompto finishes packing away his pancakes so he can check on the girls again. Their bottles are about finished, so he picks up Luna first to give her a good burping. ]

Okay, remember we talked about this. No spit-up before noon.

[ It's slightly less gross than regular barf...but still pretty gross!! ]

[ it is definitely way less gross than regular barf, but it is still pretty nasto, especially for her sweet, tender husband man who can barely stand one grain of dirt on his body at any given time. (i understand, prompto!!) but to his credit, prompto always takes to it with great bravery, loving his children enough to deal with their barfs and poops and boogers without (too much) complaint. he's even potty trained louie, which seems like an absolute nightmare tbh, because boys need to aim..

alisaie chuckles, stopping briefly to nuzzle prompto's jaw and plant a kiss to his cheek, before she's moving into the warm open space of the common room, and toward the table where all of louie's lesson work is neatly stacked. thanks to their nice open floor plan, she can still see prompto even while she sits and begins to sift through the pile for the animal flash cards. ]

That is quite a lot to ask of Luna especially..

[ she is definitely the barfier of the two, probably because she's so much more active and energetic. ]

[ Truly, teaching his son to aim his pee into the toilet is one of Prompto's crowning achievements in life...

As he continues to burp Luna and pray to not be spat-up on, he watches Alisaie and Louie in the living room, a warm fondness in his eyes. These are the moments that he lives for, so beautiful in their mundanity. How in the world had he gotten so lucky to have what he does in a world like this? His heart had once felt so hollowed out and dark here without them, but now they have filled up his life with so much light that he hardly needs to miss the sun.

Prompto makes it through the burping unscathed, before setting Luna down again so Luci can have her turn. Let's hope he's two for two! ]

[ wow luna didn't barf titty milk all over him, color alisaie surprised.. but hey, there's still luci to go. a girl can hope.

at any rate, alisaie must focus on their son!! the lessons take about two hours overall, a bit longer perhaps for how wiggly louie is being, excited for their excursion as he is, but she's good at being a stern mom. they go through the flash cards - animals, simple mathematics, and short sentences, and after that it's eosian geography, and reading. one chapter of history, and two short stories.

after dinner they will work on writing and biology, but there's only so long you can keep a young boy's attention, especially when he is promised a fun afternoon, so she releases him to clean himself up and get dressed some time before noon. with a sigh, alisaie stretches, cracking her back. time to give the twins some baths before they go, probably.. ]

[ For his part, Prompto nearly makes it through the burpening unscathed, but just when Luci is almost done, she chooses betray and spits up. Fortunately, he is at least prepare with a burp rag, but that still doesn't mean that he likes it!! ]

Awww, c'mon, you were savin' that just for the last moment, weren't you? Did your mom put you up to this?

[ SUS!!! At her father's consternation, Luci only giggles in return, and it's not like he can stay mad at her when she does that.

Mussing her very soft, fine hair, Prompto crosses over to Alisaie, just as she's finishing up with Louie, pushing the baby into her hands. ]

I believe this one is yours...

[ eyyy there we go, alisaie knew luci had it in her!! and now it's out of her, and on prompto's shirt. his favorite. alisaie loves him deeply but also she thinks it's great when he is in pain, especially when it's over a mess - watching him develop into a father, balancing his abject love for his babies with his deep hatred of grossness, has been a true joy and privilege. he would die for his children, but also she's waiting for the moment that he bursts into tears after one too many nasty baby poops getting on his lily white hands.

anyroad, alisaie isn't at all worried about mess, so she is happy to accept the chubby baby when it is offered to her, especially since she has already spit up all over prompto so she doesn't need to worry about it as much. ]

She most certainly is.

[ alisaie says, blowing a raspberry against luci's fat cheek, earning a squealing giggle. standing, she hefts the baby between her arms, rocking her back and forth. ]

Now little man, go and get changed!

[ Is she talking to him or Louie...probably both of them, tbh. Prompto makes a face, poking Alisaie in the nose with his finger like the mature adult he is. ]

Yeah, yeah...you married this little man!

[ Never mind that SHE was the little one back then! ]

Anyway, if you didn't notice, I already got dressed, and none of the spit-up got on me, no thanks to this little rascal!

[ It's only then that maybe she wasn't talking to him...Louie did run off to get dressed, after all. ]

[ yes she definitely was talking to louie, prompto.... which becomes more apparent once louie is nodding and running off to his room, and alisaie squints up at prompto, puzzled. ah yes.. prompto is her little man also. ]

We can certainly remedy that, if you like.

[ grinning, alisaie turns luci in her arms, facing him toward prompto. ]

If I shake her hard enough she'll gladly make a milkshake for you.

[ she wouldn't really do that though!!

... or would she!! ]

[ Prompto gives her a look of pure mortification — whether at the idea of her shaking their baby for fun and profit or because of the threat of spit-up is anyone's guess.

Putting up both of his hands, he backs away slowly towards the play pen so he can pick Luna back up again. ]

Nope, noooo thank you, none of that! Once a day is more than enough for me!

[ Because even if none of it got on his clothes, he still doesn't have to like it! ]

[ both are pretty terrible options really, and it's a good thing that prompto is not testing whether or not she would shake the shit out of their baby just to torment him. he backs away slowly, easing her predatory instincts, and alisaie lowers the giggling, gurgling baby into her lap again. it was all good fun for luci, apparently!! ]

You speak as if they won't need to eat a hundred more times today.

[ babies sure are ravenous, and the twins are no exception, they sure love their baba and tiddy time, which means there are plenty more spit-up opportunities to come as the day wears on. honestly she's surprised that prompto doesn't just wear a hazmat suit all day.

anyway, with her free hand alisaie stacks the flash cards again and places louie's scholastic materials in a haphazard pile onto the table before she's hauling both herself and the baby to her feet, propping luci against her hip. ]

I'll get them dressed if you want to get their bag together.

[ prompto always looks so handsome with his diapie bag on his shoulder, like a real man!! ]

[ Oh, he does love to get the diapie bag together, even if he also loves dressing them. That said, he hogs dressing them most every opportunity he can, he will magnanimously let Alisaie have the chance to do so today. ]

Sounds like a deal to me!

[ With that, he starts up the stairs towards the twins' room so he can start piling things into their diaper bag, but also so he can be there to witness the dressing of the babies. Even if he isn't doing it himself, he can still enjoy watching his dear wife putting cute little clothes on their cute little babies!!!

He plops Luna down into the crib to await her turn of the changing. Baby jail is sure useful when you have twins. ]

[ suddenly, alisaie is giant!!

anyway, prompto goes flying off in the direction of the nursery, and alisaie follows along at a leisurely pace, plopping luci down on the changing station, before tapping her chin thoughtfully. ]

Hmm, what color today? Yellow? Blue?

[ because she knows prompto has an opinion!! ]

[ Oh my god, what was in those pancakes?!

Anyway, he sure does have an opinion!!! He always does, but they look cute in literally everything, so it can be hard to choose...

As he stuffs some diapers into the diapie bag: ]

Hm...yellow, maybe? We might not have a sun, but those girls can be our little beams of sunshine today!

[ elezen growth hormone!! ]

Hmm..

[ the yellow is cute.. but so is the blue!! in the end, alisaie tugs luna into a yellow dress, and luci into a blue one, because she also knows the torment of being dressed the same as her own twin for far too many years of her life. still, now that she has a set of her own, she can understand the appeal somewhat..

somewhat..

luci giggles when alisaie pulls her little frilly socks on; her feet have always been so ticklish. ]

Both colors will do, I think.

[ At least they're young enough that they don't care what they're dressed in...and you can bet Prompto has dressed them up in matching clothes for some cute baby photo shoots. When they're older, he'll stop...probably. ]

Fair enough! Like a sun in the bright blue sky, heh...

[ Next into the diaper bag goes some extra clothes because you know, babies be babies, and then some baby food and snacks. They love those weird soft apples that dissolve when you put them in your mouth. Baby food is weird.

Right on cue, Prompto coos when Luci laughs, distracting him from his task. ]

Aww, what a great laugh, Luci-boo!

[ LUCI-BOO, WEH!!!!

anyway, the girls are now dressed and ready to go, and alisaie heaves up one in each arm, balancing them on her hips like the supermom she is. they're all set in their little dresses and baby socks and tiny baby shoes, and prompto seems to have the diapey bag in order, and she can hear louie bounding down the steps in the distance, all ready to go as well.

time for a good old-fashioned family outing!! in the dark. alisaie smiles. ]

Well. It's time we are off, then.

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