[ 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. ]
[ for all that alisaie might seem to him strong and capable, she's no less a mess than he. she's reckless and thoughtless, has no brain to mouth filter, and struggles to keep her emotions in check. beneath the surface, she is willing to bet that most people have no idea what they're doing, most of the time.
it breaks her heart to see him in such pain. prompto has only ever been kind to her, warm and inviting and helpful. people like him should never have to struggle with burdens like this. but when he turns the question on her, she has.. no idea what to say. what would she do? it feels dangerous to answer a question like this, as if his heart and fate both are in her hands, and the last thing she would ever want to do is guide him toward more heartache.
but she can only be honest. that is what she asked of him, after all, and so she must be prepared to give it, herself. ]
I would.. trust in my friends. I do not know them as you do, and so I cannot say for sure, but you know their hearts, you must think of what is best for them. I have had to keep an enormous secret from the world before, and from my comrades as well, for the greater good. Still I carry that secret, to this day.
[ and she is not ashamed of it, judging by her tone. ]
There are some things better left quiet. But there are still other things that bear telling. Only you can decide which would be better for them, but neither choice is wrong.
[ another squeeze, and she exhales a hollow chuckle. ]
[ It is but it isn't. While it might've been nice if Alisaie could have deftly handed him some advice that gave him all the answers, cleared his skin and watered his crops, it's also nice to know that even someone like her doesn't have the best solution right away. It's not something that can be decided upon in a day, and so that at least gives him some comfort for how long he's kept things to himself so far. He's needed to think, to put things in order and suss them out, and El Minha hadn't given him much time to do that. It's only since returning her that Prompto has really had a chance to consider addressing the issue. And he was unwilling to say anything until Astoria could give him some kind of confirmation. ]
No, I...think that's exactly what I needed to hear, actually.
[ Only he can decide. He may tell her, may let her in on the details eventually so she can weigh an opinion, but only he can decide. It's a terribly responsibility, but his nonetheless. ]
...Think I'm ready for the screaming part now.
[ He pulls his feet out of the water so he can stand, offering her a hand up. ]
Anything you wanna scream about, while we're goin' crazy in the woods, here?
[ a small knot of tightness in her chest releases at those words, to know she hasn't guided him right off of an emotional cliff, at least. prompto is stronger than he things. she's confident that he will make the right decision, when the time comes.
for now he is offering his hand, which she takes freely, to haul herself to her feet. ]
Oh, I always have things to scream about, but you.. I feel you may need a head start.
[ she'll give him something to scream about!! channeling nysasaie's vengeance, alisaie's grin sharpens wickedly, which is more or less the only indication he will have of his impending doom before she's shoving him hard, right into the drink. ]
Squawking inelegantly, Prompto windmills his arms in some vain attempt to keep his balance, but it's to no avail. Alisaie gives him a shove hard enough that he can't recover from it, and so down he goes, unceremoniously sinking into the water.
Of course, he's up again almost as quickly as he falls in, because the water is very cold, and it's a shock to his system. He jumps onto his feet again, winding his arms around his chest and wailing: ]
Coldcoldcoldcoldcold!! Th-th-that's C-COLD!
[ Yep, it's cold! So much so that he hasn't yet fully processed her betrayal... ]
[ she almost.. almost feels sorry for him when he shrieks like that, but she's too sadistic to be all that remorseful. look at him wail! he's like a spooked chocobo, and he certainly looks the part.
she can't help it - alisaie breaks into peals of laughter, clutching at her stomach. ]
Oh - oh - that sound -
[ he wailed like a babe!! but okay, she won't make him go it alone. still cackling, alisaie strips off her heavy jacket and drops it over her boots, then leaps boldly in after him. ]
[ Ah, here she comes, before he can even revenge properly and pull her in. Instead, she jumps in next to him, splashing him with more cold water, and he shrieks again. This is torture!!! He spills to her, and this is his reward!!!
Goosebumps line his arms and his teeth continue to chatter, and for a moment, Prompto considers just...wading out and moving far away from the bank so she can't pull another fast one on him. But slowly he starts to get used to the temperature of the water, and...then there's Alisaie, who is very cute and also a menace, but also wet in her dress that no clings to her skin in a way that makes him feel like he is going to pass out from a lack of oxygen at any moment.
He does turn away, busying himself with pulling his soaked shirt off and over his head and tossing it onto the grass. If this is going to be an impromptu pool party then he doesn't want to do it in his heavy, wet clothes, though he...doesn't hurry to pull his pants off, either.
He doesn't want to give her the wrong idea!!! He's never gone swimming with a girl before, especially not a girl he likes. ]
[ she's just helping him to scream, okay!! listen to how loudly he's shrieking. this is the catharsis that he needed!! she's so good to him..
goodness though, it is cold, but hardly anything she isn't used to. the depths of the ruby sea were quite chilly as well. all she needs is a little movement! when he peels off his shirt, though, she follows suit - she.. probably should have taken it off to begin with. snagging the skirt of her dress, alisaie tugs it up over her hips and abdomen, but it's wet and heavy so she gets.. sort of stuck around the shoulders.
For a moment, he's too distracted by the fact that she is taking off her dress and she is looking very wet indeed, and it's fortunate that Prompto has the cold water and his adrenaline to thank for his red face, even if it manages, somehow, to get even redder. He's ripe as a tomato. And it's only going to get worse.
Check out those scars... ]
U-um—
[ HE VERY MUCH DOES MIND.
But refusing will only make things more awkward, so. This is fine.
Shaking, he reaches out to gingerly snag the rucked up sides of her dress to pull it up and over her head. Hopefully she won't notice how much his hands are trembling- or at the very least, she can attribute it to how cold he is. Even if he may be feeling rather warm at the moment...
He can't quite meet her eyes while taking off her dress so he glances off into some undefined corner of the world. However, this means he uses his hands more for guidance than he otherwise should, his fingers slipping over her shoulders and arms until she's free of the dress.
And now he's just...holding her dress between his hands, realizing he just kind of touched her a lot, and his eyes snap back to her as he freezes in place. ]
[ given she can't really see through the folds of her dress pulled 'round her face, she's not sure what's taking him so long?? she's just about to ask him what the holdup is when she feels the tug as he pulls it away, and his hands are.. definitely skimming her skin a lot and..
um..
her face flushes scarlet, though thankfully he can't see it yet?? but oh my gods what had she been thinking?? i mean, her smallclothes are really no different from a swimming suit, but this is.. prompto, and for some reason it's much more alarming and embarrassing with him. don't ask her why, she has no explanation for it, normally something like this would hardly faze her..
so once the dress is off and prompto is standing there just holding it, alisaie meets his eyes, her throat tightening, the tips of her ears burning hot. ]
A-ah.. thank you.
[ to think she was laughing and yelling just a moment ago!! ]
Like, okay, granted, it was because she asked him too, and because they're going swimming, apparently, but...still. It's like he can still feel her skin on his hands, warm and soft despite the cold water, and just thinking about it has him burning up all over again and now she's just standing on front of him in her underwear—
Gods. ]
D-don't mention it. U-um — here.
[ He holds out her dress to her. Please take it!!! ]
[ he hands the wet bundle of her dress to her and alisaie snaps it up, for a moment just.. staring at him over the dark fabric, her face blazing red.
but then she tosses it up onto the ledge where they'd been sitting, then arcs her arm across the surface of the water to send up a great wave at him. we can't talk about this awkwardness if they're having a water fight instead!! ]
[ For his part, Prompto is still too busy being awkward to prepare for the wave of water she throws at him, and it catches him fully be surprise. Stumbling backwards in the water—some of us are still wearing wet, tight pants, thanks!!—he sputters and flails. Gross, his mouth was open!!!
But she's thrown down the guantlet now, and Prompto returns the favor a moment later, using the advantage of his height (and guns) to throw both arms forward to slam her with two waves of water!! ]
well i mean, at least it definitely broke the mood, for sure, which was absolutely necessary. alisaie shrieks at the deluge and only gets her arms up in enough time to shield maybe half of the water, if that. ]
Oh, you -
[ he's gonna get it!! alisaie charges toward him, grinning, and dives beneath the surface to dart right toward him, quick as a fish - but then, something.. goes wrong. she struggles for a moment, her lungs flooding with water, a sensation she'd not expected to feel again - it burns and fills her with an intense panic that makes it difficult to kick to the surface. she makes a wild attempt, digging her toes into the mud floor of the creek but it's not enough. her fingertips brush his shin, the light at her periphery beginning to fade, her limbs heavy, until she is still. ]
[ It becomes apparent all too quickly that something is very, very wrong.
With the murky water surrounding them, Prompto can't see Alisaie as she swims beneath the surface, and where there had been a delighted dread a moment before, there is only a cold, deep-seeded fear. Is she...waiting to strike? Will she drag him down and they'll laugh and play-fight and everything will be fine? Maybe this is just part of her plan, but something doesn't feel right, and then he feels it—the brush of her fingertips against his leg, fleeting and weak.
Oh, gods. ]
A-Alisaie?
[ He doesn't hesitate a moment longer, diving beneath the surface of the water as his heart rails in his chest. He's never been a practiced swimmer, but he's at least strong and slim and can cut into the depths quickly. It's nearly impossible to see down here, scant light only cutting through the drifting water, but he catches sight of it—a cloud of mud kicked up into the water, from where Alisaie has sunk, and then there's the flash of a white braid.
Immediately he moves, propelling himself down with hard, strong kicks until he can reach out and wind his arms around her. Oh, gods, she isn't moving—but he can't think about that right now. All he can think about is getting her out of the water, and with a powerful spring aided by his ability, he pushes the both of them to the surface, where he pulls her up onto the bank. ]
No, no, no, no—Alisaie, p-please, wake up—
[ Panic spikes cold in his blood as his hands frame her face, ear bent low to her mouth—she isn't breathing. Were this anything but a life or death situation, his nerves might've gotten the better of him, but the weight of this situation isn't lost on him. She isn't breathing, and if he doesn't do something, she might die. If she already hasn't—
No, he can't think like that.
It's been years, and one of those things they learned in high school that he never thought he'd actually have to use. He prays to the Six that he remembers what he's supposed to do, pressing a rapid sequence of compressions against her chest, before dipping his mouth against hers to blow his breath into her lungs.
[ for all the near-death situations she's gotten herself into, alisaie has never quite experienced that whole.. life-flashing-before-your-eyes thing. if she thinks anything at all before the darkness surrounds her it's disbelief, because this is absolutely not the way she would ever have chosen to go. it's far too humiliating, not nearly as spectacular a death for her to ever accept.
mostly, she's only thinking that she cannot breathe.
distantly, she feels movement, grasping, the rush of water around her ears, but it's all like a dream, a thick blackness all around her, heavy and weighing her down, pulling. the pressure all around her is so strong, like the veil of sleep that clings and insists that she stay where is is warm and comfortable and easy..
but his voice cuts through, it calls to her, faint at first and then stronger, until -
with a great heave, alisaie's body jerks, water spilling from her mouth in a heavy, racking, rasping cough. her hands snap up, snagging at his shoulders as she struggles to breathe through waterlogged lungs, her vision blurry, dizzy - gods, what's.. what's happened..? ]
[ It happens quickly, and violently—Alisaie's body jerking beneath him, water spurt from her mouth and, unavoidably, into his. But he hardly notices it, as relief bowls him over in an instant, and no sooner have her arms closed around him has he wound his around her, holding her close and gentle, though his entire body trembles from pure adrenaline and emotion.
She's alive. She's alive.
He inhales a shuddering sob, hot tears spilling from his eyes as he buries his face against the crook of her neck, one of his hands filtering into the hair on the back of her head, cradling her near. ]
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no subject
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?
no subject
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.
no subject
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. ]
no subject
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?
no subject
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. ]
no subject
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. ]
no subject
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. ]
no subject
[ 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.
no subject
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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[ for all that alisaie might seem to him strong and capable, she's no less a mess than he. she's reckless and thoughtless, has no brain to mouth filter, and struggles to keep her emotions in check. beneath the surface, she is willing to bet that most people have no idea what they're doing, most of the time.
it breaks her heart to see him in such pain. prompto has only ever been kind to her, warm and inviting and helpful. people like him should never have to struggle with burdens like this. but when he turns the question on her, she has.. no idea what to say. what would she do? it feels dangerous to answer a question like this, as if his heart and fate both are in her hands, and the last thing she would ever want to do is guide him toward more heartache.
but she can only be honest. that is what she asked of him, after all, and so she must be prepared to give it, herself. ]
I would.. trust in my friends. I do not know them as you do, and so I cannot say for sure, but you know their hearts, you must think of what is best for them. I have had to keep an enormous secret from the world before, and from my comrades as well, for the greater good. Still I carry that secret, to this day.
[ and she is not ashamed of it, judging by her tone. ]
There are some things better left quiet. But there are still other things that bear telling. Only you can decide which would be better for them, but neither choice is wrong.
[ another squeeze, and she exhales a hollow chuckle. ]
.. not the answer you were hoping for, I am sure.
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No, I...think that's exactly what I needed to hear, actually.
[ Only he can decide. He may tell her, may let her in on the details eventually so she can weigh an opinion, but only he can decide. It's a terribly responsibility, but his nonetheless. ]
...Think I'm ready for the screaming part now.
[ He pulls his feet out of the water so he can stand, offering her a hand up. ]
Anything you wanna scream about, while we're goin' crazy in the woods, here?
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for now he is offering his hand, which she takes freely, to haul herself to her feet. ]
Oh, I always have things to scream about, but you.. I feel you may need a head start.
[ she'll give him something to scream about!! channeling nysasaie's vengeance, alisaie's grin sharpens wickedly, which is more or less the only indication he will have of his impending doom before she's shoving him hard, right into the drink. ]
my browser tried to eat this :T
Squawking inelegantly, Prompto windmills his arms in some vain attempt to keep his balance, but it's to no avail. Alisaie gives him a shove hard enough that he can't recover from it, and so down he goes, unceremoniously sinking into the water.
Of course, he's up again almost as quickly as he falls in, because the water is very cold, and it's a shock to his system. He jumps onto his feet again, winding his arms around his chest and wailing: ]
Coldcoldcoldcoldcold!! Th-th-that's C-COLD!
[ Yep, it's cold! So much so that he hasn't yet fully processed her betrayal... ]
prompto cant escape vengeance that easily..
she can't help it - alisaie breaks into peals of laughter, clutching at her stomach. ]
Oh - oh - that sound -
[ he wailed like a babe!! but okay, she won't make him go it alone. still cackling, alisaie strips off her heavy jacket and drops it over her boots, then leaps boldly in after him. ]
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Goosebumps line his arms and his teeth continue to chatter, and for a moment, Prompto considers just...wading out and moving far away from the bank so she can't pull another fast one on him. But slowly he starts to get used to the temperature of the water, and...then there's Alisaie, who is very cute and also a menace, but also wet in her dress that no clings to her skin in a way that makes him feel like he is going to pass out from a lack of oxygen at any moment.
He does turn away, busying himself with pulling his soaked shirt off and over his head and tossing it onto the grass. If this is going to be an impromptu pool party then he doesn't want to do it in his heavy, wet clothes, though he...doesn't hurry to pull his pants off, either.
He doesn't want to give her the wrong idea!!! He's never gone swimming with a girl before, especially not a girl he likes. ]
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goodness though, it is cold, but hardly anything she isn't used to. the depths of the ruby sea were quite chilly as well. all she needs is a little movement! when he peels off his shirt, though, she follows suit - she.. probably should have taken it off to begin with. snagging the skirt of her dress, alisaie tugs it up over her hips and abdomen, but it's wet and heavy so she gets.. sort of stuck around the shoulders.
lord. ]
A.. hand, if you don't mind?
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For a moment, he's too distracted by the fact that she is taking off her dress and she is looking very wet indeed, and it's fortunate that Prompto has the cold water and his adrenaline to thank for his red face, even if it manages, somehow, to get even redder. He's ripe as a tomato. And it's only going to get worse.
Check out those scars... ]
U-um—
[ HE VERY MUCH DOES MIND.
But refusing will only make things more awkward, so. This is fine.
Shaking, he reaches out to gingerly snag the rucked up sides of her dress to pull it up and over her head. Hopefully she won't notice how much his hands are trembling- or at the very least, she can attribute it to how cold he is. Even if he may be feeling rather warm at the moment...
He can't quite meet her eyes while taking off her dress so he glances off into some undefined corner of the world. However, this means he uses his hands more for guidance than he otherwise should, his fingers slipping over her shoulders and arms until she's free of the dress.
And now he's just...holding her dress between his hands, realizing he just kind of touched her a lot, and his eyes snap back to her as he freezes in place. ]
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um..
her face flushes scarlet, though thankfully he can't see it yet?? but oh my gods what had she been thinking?? i mean, her smallclothes are really no different from a swimming suit, but this is.. prompto, and for some reason it's much more alarming and embarrassing with him. don't ask her why, she has no explanation for it, normally something like this would hardly faze her..
so once the dress is off and prompto is standing there just holding it, alisaie meets his eyes, her throat tightening, the tips of her ears burning hot. ]
A-ah.. thank you.
[ to think she was laughing and yelling just a moment ago!! ]
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Like, okay, granted, it was because she asked him too, and because they're going swimming, apparently, but...still. It's like he can still feel her skin on his hands, warm and soft despite the cold water, and just thinking about it has him burning up all over again and now she's just standing on front of him in her underwear—
Gods. ]
D-don't mention it. U-um — here.
[ He holds out her dress to her. Please take it!!! ]
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but then she tosses it up onto the ledge where they'd been sitting, then arcs her arm across the surface of the water to send up a great wave at him. we can't talk about this awkwardness if they're having a water fight instead!! ]
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But she's thrown down the guantlet now, and Prompto returns the favor a moment later, using the advantage of his height (and guns) to throw both arms forward to slam her with two waves of water!! ]
Yeah, how you like me now?! Get wrecked!
[ EAT SHIT ALISAIE ]
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well i mean, at least it definitely broke the mood, for sure, which was absolutely necessary. alisaie shrieks at the deluge and only gets her arms up in enough time to shield maybe half of the water, if that. ]
Oh, you -
[ he's gonna get it!! alisaie charges toward him, grinning, and dives beneath the surface to dart right toward him, quick as a fish - but then, something.. goes wrong. she struggles for a moment, her lungs flooding with water, a sensation she'd not expected to feel again - it burns and fills her with an intense panic that makes it difficult to kick to the surface. she makes a wild attempt, digging her toes into the mud floor of the creek but it's not enough. her fingertips brush his shin, the light at her periphery beginning to fade, her limbs heavy, until she is still. ]
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With the murky water surrounding them, Prompto can't see Alisaie as she swims beneath the surface, and where there had been a delighted dread a moment before, there is only a cold, deep-seeded fear. Is she...waiting to strike? Will she drag him down and they'll laugh and play-fight and everything will be fine? Maybe this is just part of her plan, but something doesn't feel right, and then he feels it—the brush of her fingertips against his leg, fleeting and weak.
Oh, gods. ]
A-Alisaie?
[ He doesn't hesitate a moment longer, diving beneath the surface of the water as his heart rails in his chest. He's never been a practiced swimmer, but he's at least strong and slim and can cut into the depths quickly. It's nearly impossible to see down here, scant light only cutting through the drifting water, but he catches sight of it—a cloud of mud kicked up into the water, from where Alisaie has sunk, and then there's the flash of a white braid.
Immediately he moves, propelling himself down with hard, strong kicks until he can reach out and wind his arms around her. Oh, gods, she isn't moving—but he can't think about that right now. All he can think about is getting her out of the water, and with a powerful spring aided by his ability, he pushes the both of them to the surface, where he pulls her up onto the bank. ]
No, no, no, no—Alisaie, p-please, wake up—
[ Panic spikes cold in his blood as his hands frame her face, ear bent low to her mouth—she isn't breathing. Were this anything but a life or death situation, his nerves might've gotten the better of him, but the weight of this situation isn't lost on him. She isn't breathing, and if he doesn't do something, she might die. If she already hasn't—
No, he can't think like that.
It's been years, and one of those things they learned in high school that he never thought he'd actually have to use. He prays to the Six that he remembers what he's supposed to do, pressing a rapid sequence of compressions against her chest, before dipping his mouth against hers to blow his breath into her lungs.
Please, gods... ]
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mostly, she's only thinking that she cannot breathe.
distantly, she feels movement, grasping, the rush of water around her ears, but it's all like a dream, a thick blackness all around her, heavy and weighing her down, pulling. the pressure all around her is so strong, like the veil of sleep that clings and insists that she stay where is is warm and comfortable and easy..
but his voice cuts through, it calls to her, faint at first and then stronger, until -
with a great heave, alisaie's body jerks, water spilling from her mouth in a heavy, racking, rasping cough. her hands snap up, snagging at his shoulders as she struggles to breathe through waterlogged lungs, her vision blurry, dizzy - gods, what's.. what's happened..? ]
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She's alive. She's alive.
He inhales a shuddering sob, hot tears spilling from his eyes as he buries his face against the crook of her neck, one of his hands filtering into the hair on the back of her head, cradling her near. ]
Y-you're okay, I-I've got you—breathe.
[ It's a reminder for himself, too. ]
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