[ After glancing at her thoughtfully for a moment, he decides to follow suit, unlacing his boots so he can pluck them off his feet. ]
...You think so? [ They hadn't run into each other while fighting while they were in El Minha, but he had shown Alisaie those pictures from their travels across Eos. Maybe she just assumed they he must be able to fight, given his familiarity with monsters. ] Heh. Maybe. Still! Doesn't mean I wanna run into 'em, if I can avoid it.
[ with her boots tossed aside, alisaie stretches her legs to dip both feet into the nice, cool water. gods, when was the last time she actually got to enjoy a nice, good swim? too long. el minha had hardly offered an opportunity. she leans back on her hands, and exhales softly.
and yeah i mean he was shooting guns in a lot of those photos, and talking selfies mid-battle so i mean.. ]
Well, that is no reason to avoid something that might be interesting or fun. You could run into a flesh-eating slug anywhere.
[ Not a few moments after Alisaie dips her toes into the water Prompto does as well, though he reflexively pulls back and gasps when he feels just how cold the water is. Yikes, it's freezing! But a moment later he eases his feet back in, now more prepared for the oncoming cold. ]
Not back on Eos. Can't believe I'm gonna say it, but I think I'd prefer most of our monsters to a flesh-eating slug.
[ Most, but not all. Still, he sounds almost...nostalgic as he says it. He's grown rather homesick for those bygone days of hunting monsters across the world. Even when they return to their world, it won't be the same. It already hasn't been, for some time. ]
[ even the morbols?? i mean to be fair most monsters could be categorized as flesh-eating anyway.. prompto is just a prissy boy who doesn't like slime. also a priss who doesn't like cold water - she absolutely grins and snickers when he jerks away. what a soft, sensitive boy!!
but aw man that probably means she can't convince him to swim.. not unless she just shoves him in i guess. ]
What, is there something wrong with good hygiene? I just like a hot shower and a comfy bed, that's all!
[ And a lack of bugs, for another thing. He does...miss it, though. Those nights spent camping out under the stars, even if he doesn't own up to it yet. ]
[ Not that she should want to sound like him!! In fact, no, they have nothing in common at all, they definitely...should not...hang out more... ]
Guess you've got a point, though. Gotta say, those hot showers and comfy beds wouldn't have felt as good if we weren't crawling out of holes in the ground and tackling baddies.
Oh, you know...monster hunting, world saving, that sorta thing. We had some pretty crazy adventures back home, before...
[ He shrugs, but there's a heaviness in it. Prompto hasn't talked a lot about home, with anyone, not even his friends, because he...isn't sure what he can or cannot talk about. He has no reason to keep it a secret from Alisaie, besides just...
Not wanting to be a burden.
But he lets a wistful sigh pass, leaning into his knees. ]
[ and there he goes again, sinking back into his morose little puddle, far too emotionally generous to even begin to cover it up. prompto is an open book.
but twice now she has offered him a shoulder, an ear, and twice he has deflected it. sorry as she feels for him - one so kind and warm should never need suffer - she expects it is perhaps high time to bring down the hammer of some tough love. alisaie sighs hard, in a way that does not sound especially patient. ]
If you want to talk, Prompto, you should talk. Why are you dancing around it?
[ He glances quickly over at her then, like she's caught him off guard, because, well - she has. Alisaie is obviously a no-nonsense kind of girl, in the sense that she wouldn't put up with his self-destructive behavior back when they were on El Minha, either. This is different kind of self-destructive, though no less damaging, and...perhaps he shouldn't be surprised that she picked up on it. In a way, it makes things far easier on him, because now he doesn't have to deal with the decision to speak up or not. Sure, he could still deflect, but...that would feel so dishonest, when she clearly knows something is up.
Still, it isn't easy, to take that jump, and before he can stop himself, the words tumble out, unbidden: ]
...Because I don't want you to look at me differently.
[ He doesn't want this to damage their friendship. So he keeps it locked down and smiles instead. ]
[ for all she is being hard on him, it breaks her heart to hear those words, to hear his tone of voice, and the way he smiles in a way that is clearly so hollow and weak. they may not be the best of friends, but surely whatever he has to say cannot be as bad as all that? bad enough that it would change her opinion of him in any substantial way?
alisaie's expression eases, her exhale soft, and she regards his profile for several long moments. ]
Do you think so little of me?
[ she chides, but her voice is gentle, tender. ]
I would not dream of forcing you to speak, but know that my opinions are not so easily influenced.
[ His breath catches audibly—of course he doesn't think little of her. Quite the opposite, in fact, which is why this is so difficult. She makes it sound so simple, that whatever he has to say can't sway her opinion of him, but...can that really be true? It had proven to be so with his friends from home, but that's—different.
Should it really be that different, though? Hadn't he told himself he would stop getting so caught up in thinking about what others want from him?
But it's not so much what he has to say, than that he's saying it at all. That he can't just...figure this out on his own. That he's too weak and vulnerable and soft to just deal with it. That it's getting in the way of him being the fun, supportive friend he's trying to be for her.
Gods, he's a mess. He'd thought he was figuring things out back on Eos, but one step forward, two steps back, as they say.
He's quiet a long moment, looking at her beneath a tense brow, as if trying to scrutinize some reluctance out of her expression. But no, she...really seems to mean that. His chest still feels tight and uncomfortable, like there's a tight hand pressing down on his heart, but...
He exhales sharply, glancing back at the trees across from them. ]
I-I don't even know what I'd say, I just...
[ Then, more quietly: ]
Do you...ever just feel like you need to scream? Because something is terrible, and you can't do anything about it?
[ for several long moments she thinks perhaps she has not gotten through to him, that her attempts will see him withdrawing further from her, which, admittedly.. stings, a little. they are not the closest of confidantes, but she had hoped at least that he might trust her enough by now to know she would not be so easily swayed.
but she chides herself, too, for being so harsh, so forward. prompto is a gentle soul, and alisaie is anything but, and she does so easily tend to bruise things in her recklessness. he soon relents, however, which gives her some relief; it is not healthy to press down painful feelings too hard, they come up in terrible ways, and prompto has ever seemed the sort to need to spill his heart. the answer he gives is not comprehensive, and really only raises more questions, but still, it's enough. ]
.. all too well.
[ she says, after a quiet, ponderous moment. alisaie feels things so intensely, and it is all too easy for that to translate into hot frustration and helpless anger. sometimes all she ever wants to do at all is scream. ]
Mayhaps you should.
[ gesturing to the nearby trees. ]
We are far from where you might disturb anyone, and no doubt it might bring you some relief.
But still, the instinct doesn't come to him naturally, to express himself in such a way. He has such an easy time laughing and smiling, but displaying such outward negative emotion is...a bit foreign. Is it really just that simple? Would getting up and screaming his guts out really make him feel better?
...He doesn't know, honestly. ]
...Yeah, maybe.
[ But he makes no move to do so just yet. But he does keep talking, as if to explain himself, as if she needs to know more so she doesn't think he's crazy for wanting to just scream. ]
Astoria's magic...it's pretty funny, isn't it? It's like she...almost doesn't quite understand how it works all the time, either.
[ He doesn't elaborate just yet, but it's clear he's leading somewhere with this. ]
[ i mean, given that she's the one who suggested it, she definitely wouldn't think he's crazy - and honestly, screaming his lungs out is probably exactly what this pent-up boy needs.
but he's still dancing around the subject, asking leading questions rather than just spitting out what is on his mind. it's frustrating, but it's still better than nothing, so alisaie finds her patience. ]
Funny is a word for it.
[ though she tries, it is of course impossible for her to keep the sharpness from her voice entirely, but moreover she looks concerned, a crease in her brow. ]
[ He's quick to shake his head, to dispel this particular worry. ]
N-no, nothing like that. I just...asked her a few questions. See, with my friends, I started noticing...little things. Things that didn't add up, and I—
[ It's frustrating for him, too, to feel the need to approach it in this way, at a distance. Why does he bother with so much set-up? Why can't he just be direct and say what's in his thoughts?
(Because he's still afraid of what she'll see of him when he does. When she sees just how afraid, how broken he can be.)
His gaze drops down to the flowing water at their feet. ]
Back home...the last things I remember were...terrible. Awful things were happening, the world had gone dark, and Noct, he... [ A little shake of his head. That's not the point of all this. ] I don't think...my friends remember what I do.
[ They don't have the same weight to their actions. Noct is still hopeful of returning to Lunafreya. They don't even carry themselves the same. After everything they went through, every victory and defeat and the hell the last few weeks had been, they don't remember it. ]
At first I thought maybe there was something wrong with me. That I was the one remembering wrong. But Astoria told me that sometimes, it happens like that. She can't pull people from the same point in time. I-I still don't really get it, but...I believe her.
[ for all he loves to sing astoria's praises, he's hardly doing her any favors when it comes to coloring alisaie's opinion of her - but this is not about astoria, and alisaie's opinions. it is about prompto, and she is careful to keep it that way.
it takes her a few moments to parse what he is saying, both for the strangeness of it and the patchwork nature of his explanation, but it settles on her surprisingly easily. alisaie had not had her suspicions confirmed, but she has experienced a few things here and there that have given her the impression that things are not entirely sound, so far as timelines go. it is unsettling, to say the least, and disturbing at the most.
alisaie does not know the details, or what it is that he is experiencing, but it is clear enough that this discrepancy between himself and his friends is incredibly difficult for him. how couldn't it be? were alphinaud to remember less than she, or even vice versa.. gods, that would be terrible. ]
That is.. quite the dilemma.
[ she says, softly, the hardness in her voice gone soft and gentle. it is no wonder that he is talking to her about this - he certainly cannot talk to his friends, not without giving it away entirely. what would she do in a situation like that? she likes to think that she would be honest, but it might not be so easy, most especially should the secrets be painful to tell, and bring undue stress. ]
'Tis no wonder you feel the need to scream. Do you know what you will do?
[ surely he does not, but talking through things, sometimes, even to yourself, can sometimes help you to find the answers that otherwise eluded you. ]
[ He chuckles quietly, but there's no mirth in the sound of it. It's a dry, hollow sound, borne up by a sense of futility. Whatever he ends up doing, it will turn out poorly. There's no good way to handle this, and so he shakes his head. ]
Heh...I have no idea. If I tell them, it'd...break their hearts. If I don't tell them, I feel like I'm lying to them.
[ And after everything he'd gone through, after Prompto had at last managed to tell his friends the truth about himself and they accepted him without question, keeping secrets like this from them feels like a betrayal, no matter how necessary it may be. Will they even be able to look at him, when they find out the truth and that he kept it from them?
A hiccuping sound rubs in his throat, but he schools a smile onto his lips, squeezing his eyes shut. ]
...Sorry, I...I shouldn't be putting this on you. Everyone's dealing with so much here, I...
[ His troubled heart is nothing special, nothing worth noting, when they all have been taken from their homes. ]
[ she cuts in sharply, her gaze turning to him, hard and unyielding. he's clearly in such pain, from what she knows, his friends mean the world to him, and a decision like this cannot be easy to make, yet somehow he makes light of it. ]
Why should your struggles be any less worthwhile than anyone else's? I am not so fragile as to feel burdened by your hurts. You are putting nothing on me at all.
[ it takes some effort, and courage, but she soon lifts a hand to rest it on his shoulder, squeezing gently, both to offer compassion and to ground him. ]
[ This isn't how he wanted this to go at all. But perhaps, soon after this meeting is done, he will realize this is exactly how it needed to go. That he needed to break, like a dam, and let something out. Even something this small in comparison with everything that weighs on his heart. It's not much, but it's still something, and Alisaie offers him uncompromising support and encouragement in a way he isn't used to. Not for the first time, her hard line approach reminds him fondly of Aranea, and how much she'd be kicking his ass if she could see him right now. But it's not Aranea. It's Alisaie. Alisaie, who for her sharpness and fire, has been inestimably kind to him since their arrival in this world. He's known her as long as he's known anyone here. Maybe it's about time he really let himself see her as a friend, as someone he can lean on, just as he does with his friends from Eos.
He doesn't entirely agree with her, of course. His struggles are certainly worth less than someone else's, someone who wasn't forged in factory to be weaponized for war. But he believes her when she says she isn't fragile. That he can talk to her about this. She has only ever been honest with him.
He turns at her touch, eyes falling on her hand on his shoulder as a light pink tinges his cheeks. Her fingers are so warm... ]
...S-sorry. Guess I'm a bit more of a mess than I lead on, huh? [ He palms at the corner of his eyes, sniffling. ] Gods, I...what am I going to do? What would you do?
[ She seems so wise. Surely, she must have some idea he can go off of. ]
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...You think so? [ They hadn't run into each other while fighting while they were in El Minha, but he had shown Alisaie those pictures from their travels across Eos. Maybe she just assumed they he must be able to fight, given his familiarity with monsters. ] Heh. Maybe. Still! Doesn't mean I wanna run into 'em, if I can avoid it.
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and yeah i mean he was shooting guns in a lot of those photos, and talking selfies mid-battle so i mean.. ]
Well, that is no reason to avoid something that might be interesting or fun. You could run into a flesh-eating slug anywhere.
[ i mean.. probably not. but still. ]
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Not back on Eos. Can't believe I'm gonna say it, but I think I'd prefer most of our monsters to a flesh-eating slug.
[ Most, but not all. Still, he sounds almost...nostalgic as he says it. He's grown rather homesick for those bygone days of hunting monsters across the world. Even when they return to their world, it won't be the same. It already hasn't been, for some time. ]
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but aw man that probably means she can't convince him to swim.. not unless she just shoves him in i guess. ]
Come now, have you no sense of adventure?
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(No, he's soft. Good luck getting him in the water, Alisaie.) ]
'Course I do! I just prefer when my adventuring involves a nearby hotel.
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A.. hotel?
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[ Oh, right, she's ye oldey. He's played enough RPGs to give it a name she might know instead. ]
Like, an inn, where you go heal up and restore your stats and stuff!
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??? ]
Oh, yes, an inn. I have never heard it called by that name. Are you truly so afraid of a little bit of dirt?
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[ And a lack of bugs, for another thing. He does...miss it, though. Those nights spent camping out under the stars, even if he doesn't own up to it yet. ]
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[ she says, gently nudging his arm. ]
Besides, a little muck and grime is good for the soul, sometimes.
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[ Not that she should want to sound like him!! In fact, no, they have nothing in common at all, they definitely...should not...hang out more... ]
Guess you've got a point, though. Gotta say, those hot showers and comfy beds wouldn't have felt as good if we weren't crawling out of holes in the ground and tackling baddies.
[ ...But they'd still feel pretty nice. ]
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There, you see? Without shadow there is no light, and all that nonsense.
[ without filth, nice hot showers and baths would not feel nearly so gratifying! ]
Crawling out of holes, though? Just what did you get up to, on Eos?
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[ He shrugs, but there's a heaviness in it. Prompto hasn't talked a lot about home, with anyone, not even his friends, because he...isn't sure what he can or cannot talk about. He has no reason to keep it a secret from Alisaie, besides just...
Not wanting to be a burden.
But he lets a wistful sigh pass, leaning into his knees. ]
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but twice now she has offered him a shoulder, an ear, and twice he has deflected it. sorry as she feels for him - one so kind and warm should never need suffer - she expects it is perhaps high time to bring down the hammer of some tough love. alisaie sighs hard, in a way that does not sound especially patient. ]
If you want to talk, Prompto, you should talk. Why are you dancing around it?
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Still, it isn't easy, to take that jump, and before he can stop himself, the words tumble out, unbidden: ]
...Because I don't want you to look at me differently.
[ He doesn't want this to damage their friendship. So he keeps it locked down and smiles instead. ]
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alisaie's expression eases, her exhale soft, and she regards his profile for several long moments. ]
Do you think so little of me?
[ she chides, but her voice is gentle, tender. ]
I would not dream of forcing you to speak, but know that my opinions are not so easily influenced.
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Should it really be that different, though? Hadn't he told himself he would stop getting so caught up in thinking about what others want from him?
But it's not so much what he has to say, than that he's saying it at all. That he can't just...figure this out on his own. That he's too weak and vulnerable and soft to just deal with it. That it's getting in the way of him being the fun, supportive friend he's trying to be for her.
Gods, he's a mess. He'd thought he was figuring things out back on Eos, but one step forward, two steps back, as they say.
He's quiet a long moment, looking at her beneath a tense brow, as if trying to scrutinize some reluctance out of her expression. But no, she...really seems to mean that. His chest still feels tight and uncomfortable, like there's a tight hand pressing down on his heart, but...
He exhales sharply, glancing back at the trees across from them. ]
I-I don't even know what I'd say, I just...
[ Then, more quietly: ]
Do you...ever just feel like you need to scream? Because something is terrible, and you can't do anything about it?
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but she chides herself, too, for being so harsh, so forward. prompto is a gentle soul, and alisaie is anything but, and she does so easily tend to bruise things in her recklessness. he soon relents, however, which gives her some relief; it is not healthy to press down painful feelings too hard, they come up in terrible ways, and prompto has ever seemed the sort to need to spill his heart. the answer he gives is not comprehensive, and really only raises more questions, but still, it's enough. ]
.. all too well.
[ she says, after a quiet, ponderous moment. alisaie feels things so intensely, and it is all too easy for that to translate into hot frustration and helpless anger. sometimes all she ever wants to do at all is scream. ]
Mayhaps you should.
[ gesturing to the nearby trees. ]
We are far from where you might disturb anyone, and no doubt it might bring you some relief.
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But still, the instinct doesn't come to him naturally, to express himself in such a way. He has such an easy time laughing and smiling, but displaying such outward negative emotion is...a bit foreign. Is it really just that simple? Would getting up and screaming his guts out really make him feel better?
...He doesn't know, honestly. ]
...Yeah, maybe.
[ But he makes no move to do so just yet. But he does keep talking, as if to explain himself, as if she needs to know more so she doesn't think he's crazy for wanting to just scream. ]
Astoria's magic...it's pretty funny, isn't it? It's like she...almost doesn't quite understand how it works all the time, either.
[ He doesn't elaborate just yet, but it's clear he's leading somewhere with this. ]
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but he's still dancing around the subject, asking leading questions rather than just spitting out what is on his mind. it's frustrating, but it's still better than nothing, so alisaie finds her patience. ]
Funny is a word for it.
[ though she tries, it is of course impossible for her to keep the sharpness from her voice entirely, but moreover she looks concerned, a crease in her brow. ]
Did she do something to you?
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N-no, nothing like that. I just...asked her a few questions. See, with my friends, I started noticing...little things. Things that didn't add up, and I—
[ It's frustrating for him, too, to feel the need to approach it in this way, at a distance. Why does he bother with so much set-up? Why can't he just be direct and say what's in his thoughts?
(Because he's still afraid of what she'll see of him when he does. When she sees just how afraid, how broken he can be.)
His gaze drops down to the flowing water at their feet. ]
Back home...the last things I remember were...terrible. Awful things were happening, the world had gone dark, and Noct, he... [ A little shake of his head. That's not the point of all this. ] I don't think...my friends remember what I do.
[ They don't have the same weight to their actions. Noct is still hopeful of returning to Lunafreya. They don't even carry themselves the same. After everything they went through, every victory and defeat and the hell the last few weeks had been, they don't remember it. ]
At first I thought maybe there was something wrong with me. That I was the one remembering wrong. But Astoria told me that sometimes, it happens like that. She can't pull people from the same point in time. I-I still don't really get it, but...I believe her.
[ But he believed it before she told him. ]
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it takes her a few moments to parse what he is saying, both for the strangeness of it and the patchwork nature of his explanation, but it settles on her surprisingly easily. alisaie had not had her suspicions confirmed, but she has experienced a few things here and there that have given her the impression that things are not entirely sound, so far as timelines go. it is unsettling, to say the least, and disturbing at the most.
alisaie does not know the details, or what it is that he is experiencing, but it is clear enough that this discrepancy between himself and his friends is incredibly difficult for him. how couldn't it be? were alphinaud to remember less than she, or even vice versa.. gods, that would be terrible. ]
That is.. quite the dilemma.
[ she says, softly, the hardness in her voice gone soft and gentle. it is no wonder that he is talking to her about this - he certainly cannot talk to his friends, not without giving it away entirely. what would she do in a situation like that? she likes to think that she would be honest, but it might not be so easy, most especially should the secrets be painful to tell, and bring undue stress. ]
'Tis no wonder you feel the need to scream. Do you know what you will do?
[ surely he does not, but talking through things, sometimes, even to yourself, can sometimes help you to find the answers that otherwise eluded you. ]
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Heh...I have no idea. If I tell them, it'd...break their hearts. If I don't tell them, I feel like I'm lying to them.
[ And after everything he'd gone through, after Prompto had at last managed to tell his friends the truth about himself and they accepted him without question, keeping secrets like this from them feels like a betrayal, no matter how necessary it may be. Will they even be able to look at him, when they find out the truth and that he kept it from them?
A hiccuping sound rubs in his throat, but he schools a smile onto his lips, squeezing his eyes shut. ]
...Sorry, I...I shouldn't be putting this on you. Everyone's dealing with so much here, I...
[ His troubled heart is nothing special, nothing worth noting, when they all have been taken from their homes. ]
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[ she cuts in sharply, her gaze turning to him, hard and unyielding. he's clearly in such pain, from what she knows, his friends mean the world to him, and a decision like this cannot be easy to make, yet somehow he makes light of it. ]
Why should your struggles be any less worthwhile than anyone else's? I am not so fragile as to feel burdened by your hurts. You are putting nothing on me at all.
[ it takes some effort, and courage, but she soon lifts a hand to rest it on his shoulder, squeezing gently, both to offer compassion and to ground him. ]
Never apologize for this.
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He doesn't entirely agree with her, of course. His struggles are certainly worth less than someone else's, someone who wasn't forged in factory to be weaponized for war. But he believes her when she says she isn't fragile. That he can talk to her about this. She has only ever been honest with him.
He turns at her touch, eyes falling on her hand on his shoulder as a light pink tinges his cheeks. Her fingers are so warm... ]
...S-sorry. Guess I'm a bit more of a mess than I lead on, huh? [ He palms at the corner of his eyes, sniffling. ] Gods, I...what am I going to do? What would you do?
[ She seems so wise. Surely, she must have some idea he can go off of. ]
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my browser tried to eat this :T
prompto cant escape vengeance that easily..
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