adelphoi | IC INBOX @ ACATALEPSY;

An apology is hardly warranted.

[ a wave of her hand. ]

I think that is perfectly understandable. And normal.

[ thinking about it now, the idea of sailing back to sharlayan to live as she was expected to live, to read and study and record.. well. she's always loved her home, and always shall, but since she was very young it had never felt like a complete fit. she'd known she would need more. ]

We grow, and change. Things happen to us. Like outgrowing our clothes, we cannot go back to the same ones we wore when we were young, I suppose.

[ He hums, a low thoughtful sound as he pulls his marshmallow out of the flames, testing it with the pad of his finger. It's soft, but not quite soft enough, so back in it goes! ]

With Insomnia gone, I...wouldn't have anywhere to go back to now, anyway. I guess the open road is as much my home as any place is. And, y'know...the temple.

[ Even if he doesn't really see it as a home. But it has been their home base of operations for the past few months. ]

[ the temple. alisaie stiffens at the implication. no. this will never be her home. beautiful though it may be and the work gratifying, she will not forget that she was taken here against her will, and that hydaelyn needs her as much if not more than the worlds they have been taken to. but she's learned her lesson when it comes to discussing that with prompto. ]

Home is no specific place, really. It is wherever you are happy, wherever you feel safe and comfortable. It is something you carry within you. At least, that is what it is to me.

[ He nods in affirmation, his smile softening. ]

You know what they say. Home is where the heart is! Sooo, your real home is in your chest.

[ Taking that...super literally. ]

But seriously, I think you're right about that. I know I wouldn't be anywhere near as comfortable here without my friends from home, or people like you to keep me company.

[ what does he mean by that!! far less than she is assuming, most likely. alisaie fixes her gaze on her marshmallow again, pulling it back from the fire. it's well and toasty, now. ]

You would make more friends, I am sure. People are drawn to you.

[ It's a compliment, Alisaie, don't think about it too hard!! ]

I-I dunno if I'd go that far...I'm kind of a mess around people when I first meet 'em. Remember when we first met?

[ How could she forget??? As she does, Prompto withdraws his marshmallow from the fire. That will do...

He reaches for the graham crackers now. ]

[ look we already discussed the compliment thing!! ]

Well yes, but look where we are now. It hardly took long for you to endear yourself to me. You must trust me when I say that it is truly something special.

[ many people are good at making friends, certainly. people are social creatures. alphinaud could strike up a conversation with a brick wall. but what promoto has is.. different. he carries with him a gentle warmth that touches everyone he meets, and that is no small thing. ]

[ He turns a scarlet red at her insistence, but he smiles along with it. She's so kind to tell him such things...and she does believe them, doesn't she? That he's special, worthwhile. ]

Y'know, you keep tellin' a guy he's special and he might just start believin' it. [ And just might start falling in love, but, you know, he doesn't say that part.

With the graham crackers in hand, Prompto holds out a few for Alisaie to take. ]

A-anyway. On to the next step! You're gonna need a couple of these.

[ that's a good enough admission for her, and alisaie smiles broadly, near impishly, but for now she allows the matter to drop. incredibly, she seems to have gotten through to him a little bit, and that's more than enough to satisfy her.

so she takes the crackers from him, turning them over in her hand curiously. the roasting marshmallow part she'd been familiar with, but all the rest is new territory!! ]

What shall I do with them?

It's elementary, my dear Alisaie.

[ He says, gently leaning on the fourth wall as he pulls out a few chocolate squares as well. ]

You take one of these, put it between two graham crackers with the roasted 'mallow, and bam! You've got yourself a s'more.

[ He demonstrates, deftly assembling his components into a perfect little s'more. ]

[ she watches studiously, like the scholar she is, and when he's finished she looks to her own ingredients, piling them together in the way that he had. it's a little messy, but.. ]

Like this?

[ Look, when it comes to s'mores, a little messy is perfectly acceptable. He nods. ]

That's it exactly! And now, you eat it, to enjoy a true culinary masterpiece that anyone can make.

[ oh, it's all done?? well that's simple. the jury is still out on taste..

.. so she takes a big bite, which is kind of disastrous. graham crackers don't have a great constitution, so they kind of shatter beneath her bite, and hot marshmallow and melted chocolate squirt out everywhere, all over her hands and face. it's fine. this is fine. it's a good thing alisaie isn't a girl who hates a mess. ]

Mmm..

[ He can't help a snort of laughter when her s'more more or less explodes, though he'd only doing a little better himself. S'mores are not a food for the faint of heart...but even he can stand to be messy for something this tasty. ]

Good, right? Simple, yet delicious. Oh, you've got a little —

[ He reaches over to dab a little chocolate from her cheek, only thinking better of it at the last moment before he licks it off his finger.

Uh. ]

I suspect I have quite more than a little..

[ her hands are a mess of chocolate and marshmallow, her cheeks and chin too. nevermind that her ears have flushed pink. she's sort of grown used to it, being around prompto.. it seems almost an inevitability, these days.

still chewing, she laughs around a mouthful. ]

It is very good.

[ She's blushing, he's blushing, they're just a bunch of blushing morons. Maybe someday that'll go away...but it his case, nah, probably not. ]

I thought you might like it. They seriously don't have s'mores on Hydaelyn?

[ They're clearly missing out! What a privilege it is that Prompto got to share this crucial bit of information with her. Truly. ]

[ just a general sidenote that they will always be blushing, tbh. ]

Mm-mm. [ she shakes her head. ] At least, not that I have encountered. They may very well be popular somewhere.

[ it's a very big planet, and she's traveled a lot, but she has yet to eat everything. someday... ]

I hope, for your sake, they are. Or you can at least take the knowledge back with you. Start a new thing!

[ Though he sounds a little wistful, at the thought of her leaving this world and going home. It will happen to all of them eventually, but still...

Hopefully it's not anytime soon. ]

I cartainly will.

[ she's still smiling, but the weight of meaning behind his words is not lost on her. not a day passes when alisaie is not eager to be home again, to chase after her fool of a brother, and yet it's easy, sometimes, to forget. to remember that this is fleeting. temporary.

it's something she must always keep in mind, most especially when she is.. around him. the time will come, eventually, when they will part - mayhaps in a year, mayhaps in a week, but it will happen. she cannot allow herself to get too close. she already is too close.

but these thoughts are for another time. for now, she banishes them to the back of her mind. ]

Have you any other culinary surprises for me?

[ For his part, he doesn't think of it as a reason to keep his distance, but to...try to be as close to her as he can be, whatever...that winds up meaning. Who knows how much time they'll have here, so he should make the most of it, shouldn't he?

Not that he's about to...do anything crazy. Like...you know. Kiss her. But knowing they could part at any time only makes him want to learn more about her, as much as he can about her, with whatever time they have here. She's already someone so dear to him...he doesn't want to have any regrets. ]

Nah, not right now...unless you wanna dip back to the temple for some sick fruit salad. [ Again with the fruit salad... ] We can make as many of these as you like, though.

[ He offers her another marshmallow. Give in!!! ]

[ why fruit salad though prompto.. ]

I would like many more, thank you.

[ she plucks up that offered marshmallow, and also leans over him to snag two more marshmallows as well, which she spears on two more sticks, then holds them all over the fire. go big or go home.. ]

[ He made one literally once and now he is an expert in fruit salads, that's all!!

His eyebrows snap up as she goes for those two extra 'mallows, though a moment later he nods sagely. Yes, that is the way to do it...they learn so fast. ]

That's the spirit! Wonder how many 'mallows you could get on a single s'more...

[ There is only one way to find out! So he spears four on his own stick. This is going to end in disaster. ]

[ try a pbj next time prompto, that's probably more your speed. ]

I suppose we must needs find out, now..

[ wow, he just had to one-up her with using four marshmallows, didn't he?? what a jerk. ]

[ Yeah, he sure did. He's the s'more sensei here! Of course he's going to try and make the biggest and best one. Though it will take some extra vigilance to keep his marshmallows from falling into the fire with so many of them... ]

Y'know, now that I think about it...what's stopping you from making, like, a triple-decker s'more? Man! That'd be sooo good...

[ And hella messy, but details. ]

[ he's going to fly too close to the sun and his marshmallow wings will melt.. ]

Oh.. now that is an idea. I can stack it as tall as Heaven-on-High!

[ she's gonna need more marshmallows.. so she just reaches for his bag to plop it between them, where they can both access it. ]

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