adelphoi | (no subject)

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[ being in insomnia again is.. strange. the city is the same as she had remembered, and yet so different, so strange after so many long years in tenebrae. this city seems so enormous and sprawling, sharp and stark in comparison, bright and chrome and full of people. though she remembers her time here, her earliest years, she was still quite young when her parents swept she and her brother back to the motherland, and those tender years of growth had been spent in a city very different, a home that she had grown used to, settled into.

and now they are here again, political tensions spurring her father to emigrate here, to lucis again. the empire has been still and quiet, and there have even been talks of treatise, but alisaie trusts her father's judgment, for all his political involvement. more than national pride, he hopes for his family to be safe and secure, and short of living in the bush, insomnia had seemed to him the ideal location. with the wall so strong, such a city must be impenetrable, yes?

alisaie does not know the details of it all, her father would disclose only so much - she and her brother were to focus solely on their studies, bettering themselves, and not to worry about such things outside of their control. lucis might not be a large nation, but insomnia is safe, and secure. it suits their needs just fine.

still, settling in, for alisaie, is not necessarily easy. unlike the rest of her family, smooth-talkers with political savvy, she has a hard enough time simply getting along with her own peers. her friends in tenebrae had been few and distant, their relationships thin and civil but little more. to have to start over again is.. a nightmare. but she is not here to make friends, she is here to finish her schooling, to graduate and prepare for university and beyond. there's nothing to be afraid of.

yet her knuckles are white around the books clutched to her chest as she climbs the stairs that first day, eyes forward, chin high, and it takes less than a week's time for her to earn a reputation as a haughty, conceited little snob, the little rich girl sort who is far too good to waste her time with those she deems beneath her - everyone, apparently. this is not entirely the case of course, but it suits alisaie's needs just fine. let them think what they want, so long as it affords her a wide berth and quiet time to herself, without the terrifying distraction of working her way into, and maintaining her place within, a social circle.

the weekend seems to take an eon to arrive, but friday is here at last. alisaie sits outside at a table on campus, alone, peeling the crusts distractedly from her sandwich, her advanced chemistry textbook open in front of her. three afternoon classes, and this horrible week will be over.. ]

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Y-yes. So you.. you..

[ a trembling breath, and alisaie bends to touch her brow to his, her thumbs sliding tenderly over his cheeks, tears running down her nose, splashing onto his skin.

she was wrong. she hadn't listened. she'd allowed herself to believe in her anger and bitterness, and while she still can't even begin to guess why he broke her heart so long ago, she knows now that he must have regretted it. why else would he have done this? why would he have taken a blow that would have laid her low? that would have killed her? no ploy is worth that much. there are so many questions still left unanswered, but she must now believe in her heart, not in her mind. she must trust the warmth in her gut that still aches for him, reaches for him, and drive the shadows of doubt to the back of her mind. ]

S-so you must.. hang on, for them..

[ she'll need him. they will both need him. a sob catches behind her teeth, barely restrained. ]

I'm - I'm so sorry, please.. p-please don't leave us.

[ It would be so easy to let go...but Alisaie is so near, her thumbs gentle on his cool skin, pulling him down and away from that abyss with her touch and her voice. It hurts so much, and he's so very tired.the years of loneliness have taken their toll on him. She'd told him goodbye...

But...no. She's here with him now, cradling h close, telling him to hang on, for her, and for their child. Something powerful rebels in his heart, an absolute refusal to give in, and one of his hands lift to find one of hers, grasping it tight. ]

I-I'm with you.

[ He always has been. And he will be now, now matter how much it hurts. He won't abandon her now.

He has to meet his child. ]

[ the touch of his hand alone is enough to reassure her. he's still badly hurt, her healing spells might have helped to take the edge off, pulled him back from the brink, but they were not enough. he needs attention that is out of her ability to give, but she knows by the steel in his voice that he will stay. that he will fight.

it's the best she can ask for. he's bleeding out because of her. he's alone because of her. because she wouldn't listen. she owes him so much. ]

A-all right. All right. I've - I've got you.

[ she's got a few potions in her pack, chobi is uninjured, and strong, she'll.. she'll get him help. she'll fix this.

and since i'm not rude enough to make you write a starter at work, we'll just timeskip!! it takes a lot of effort and care to get the both of them back to lestallum, but she managed somehow, on a wing and a prayer, and many more curative spells she managed to muster through her fatigue. determination and adrenaline go a long way.

they make it. he makes it. his injuries are seen to, and hers as well, most importantly, the baby is unharmed. though they urge her to rest she does not leave his side, she cannot - what if he does not pull through? he promised, he assured her, but his injuries had been severe, and sometimes no amount of tenacity can overcome a mortal wound. she stays steadfastly beside him, her hands both wrapped around one of his, talking to him while he sleeps, when she can, when she's not slumped over onto his bedside like she is now, her face buried to the crook of one arm. ]

[ It is, to say the least, a devastating injury. He lost a lot of blood before reaching Lestallum, and consciousness well before that, and medical supplies are not what they once were. The medics do everything they can for him, and remark on the fact that it's a miracle he's alive at all. He's a fighter, they tell her in passing, when checking his vitals. Many would have succumbed already.

But he made a promise, even if most of the time, he is only subconsciously aware of the fact. He promised with was with her, that he would continue to be with her. It was an easy promise to make. Of course he is with her, whether she loves him or hates him. His heart has always belonged to her, and he would have done whatever she told him to that night.

...A good thing, then, that she told him to hold on, rather than drop dead.

Still, it is a fight, and there are moments where he nearly slips away, quiet and peaceful in his sleep. But something within holds on, steadfast, striking back against the possibility of leaving this world. There's pain and suffering on the horizon...but even distantly, he knows he must remain here. He must fend off the darkness. She asked him not to leave her...

So he doesn't.

It's some days before he reawakens, his head cottony and empty as he draws out of those disorienting depths that only come with having been unconscious for several days. He is warm, layered with blankets, and...there is a numb ache in his side and a delirium in his head that tells him he's probably...pretty doped up on painkillers right about now. And there are...hands? Around his hand. That's...wait.

Who would be holding his hand?

Carefully, he cracks an eye open, blinking at the light as his eyes adjust, and finding...

Alisaie?

Alisaie, holding his hand, sleeping at his bedside...carrying his child. She'd told him that, hadn't she? Just before he'd blacked out. Gods...

A faint smile finds his lips. Surely, he must be dreaming. There's...there's no way any of this is real, that it can actually be happening. Alisaie...had made her feelings on him clear enough. She wanted nothing to do with him. He wasn't welcome in her life anymore. She...wouldn't be at his side, even if he had saved her. There must be...another reason.

Still...still.

Watching her through sad, fond eyes, his hand slips from hers to gently cup her cheek, allowing his fingers to glide over her skin, mindful of the cuts that are mending. He...shouldn't do this. If she wakes up and catches him in the act, she'll be furious, and that'd be fair enough. But he just wants to touch her one more time, while he has the chance, before this beautiful illusion shatters, and he is alone once again. ]

[ lightly as she is sleeping, the simple touch of his hand is more than enough to rouse her. alisaie's eyes snap open with a soft gasp, and she blinks blearily for several seconds, shaking off the disorientation of a sudden sleep.

it's prompto. he's awake. ]

Thank the Gods..

[ her voice is like a breath, relieved and weary, and without thinking her hand lifts to his, holding it against her face. it's so warm.. ]

It took you long enough.

[ She stirs, and reflexively, he starts to pull his hand away when she takes it up instead, pressing it to her cheek. His heart tenses in his chest, a soft, vulnerable noise sounding from his chest. What...what is this? Is it a dream? If it is, then why does it hurt so much?

His mouth works soundlessly for a few moments as he tries to make sense of the fog in his head. ]

I don't...understand...

[ Why is she here? Why is she with him? Why does she touch him so gently, so... tenderly? She'd made herself clear...

And yet he cannot bring himself to pull away. ]

.. hush. You needn't worry about it right now.

[ he doesn't need to hurt himself thinking too hard on top of everything else!! hehehh

truly though, he has little enough energy to be wasting it with worry and chatter; for now, she's simply glad that he is alive, well enough to be conscious, even if just for these moments. it gives her the confidence she needs to believe that he will make it through this somehow, that he will survive.

gods, she has no idea how she might have coped otherwise. the guilt that eats her now would have been unbearable. ]

You need quiet, and rest. Answers will come in time.

[ That's hardly a satisfactory answer, but even in his current state he recognizes he couldn't handle much more than this. It hurts just to think, let alone piece together how he got here, what happened, why he is in this state..or why Alisaie is at his side, pressing his hand to her cheek.

Maybe it really is just a dream...and he should go back to sleep now. Staying here will only hurt more when he awakes to the cold loneliness that waits for him.

He hums quietly, his eyes fluttering as he leans back into his pillows again -

Wait.

His eyes snap open abruptly, searching for hers with concern. ]

The baby?

[ Is the baby... alright? ]

[ he remembered. though it partly makes her gut clench up with uncertainty, in equal measure it brings relief - relief that she does not need to tell him again, that maybe it was this knowledge alone that helped him to continue to fight when all seemed lost.

alisaie's painful smile broadens, fat tears rolling soundlessly down her cheeks when she closes her eyes to turn her face against his palm. she has so much to make up for, so much time lost, and so very many questions, but.. right now this is all that matters. this is the only thing that is important. ]

The baby is fine.

[ she murmurs, a tension in her shoulders ebbing. ]

We're both fine.

[ They're both fine.

Though he still wonders at her tears, and the way she turns her face against his hand, there is nothing that can surpass his relief in that moment. They had been in very serious danger, hadn't they? That's why he's in this condition. He'd almost died. But he knew there was a reason he needed to persist, and now, hearing her tell him that she and the baby are both okay makes any degree of pain absolutely worth it.

His smile deepens, and Prompto's weight sinks back against his pillow once more as he relaxes, eyes fluttering shut. ]

I'm so glad... [ He murmurs quietly. ] So glad...

[ With that vital question answered, he can rest easy. ]

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