Awash IC Inbox

[photoshooter]

Text | Video | Voice | [Action]

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#AA3333

[whichcraft]

Yes.

HEY QUICKSILVER LOOK ALIVE, IT'S ME, PRINCE FLORA

[photoshooter]

LOL WHAT'S UP YOUR HOMIENESS?? have fun fighting the good fight out there???

claims this inbox in the name of me

[whichcraft]

Do you use hair gel?

Plant your flag on these virgin lands, Summer

[photoshooter]

ya can you tell? lol

why did you find some???

[nascere]

[ guess who's coming in and is super pleased with himself! he's hiding the camera behind his back -- ]

Hey, Prompto.

[photoshooter]

[Prompto is happily playing with his chocobo, now that his week-long penalty is finally over. At Noct's greeting, the two of them both perk up.]

Hey, dude! What's up?

[bittybat]

[It took some time--way more than Damian wanted, and way more talking to people than he wanted--but Prompto specifically gets a gift returning home.

This linen sack is bigger than the others he's gotten, about the size of a small dog, but for good reason: opening it up reveals four heads of Sylkis Greens. There's also a note, written in neat, tight handwriting:]

To: Prompto

Don't eat them yourself.

#00CCFF

Text, #FFF59D to #00CCFF

[photoshooter]

omg hello thank you!!!!! who is this??? how did you know we needed these?????

DEX'S DEATH - backdated

[nascere]

hey man
you free to hang?

[photoshooter]

for you bro?? always. where you at?

[unfatalist]

This is something of a rhetorical question, but do you recall the advice you gave me, regarding Noct and the business of keeping secrets from him?

[photoshooter]

um. yeah of course. why do u ask?

[nascere]

[ So Prompto knows, and Noctis essentially just fucked things up with Ignis, which is saying something when he usually does that kind of thing all the time.

He puts as much space between himself and everyone at the same time, withdrawing to brood -- unfortunately, he is as predictable as they come, and Sparky's sitting on his lap as he stares out moodily over the quiet sea by the harbor, as if he could see into the horizon somehow.

Come find him and your son, Prompto. ]

[photoshooter]

[Noct what the fuck why did you birdnap his baby--oh. There they are.

Prompto draws up short, blinking, and then draws his brows down in an immediate frown. Whatever mood he was in, whatever he had to say, it all flies out the window as five years of best friendship kick in and he knows, Noct needs him. It's no one thing that tips him off. He just sees him and feels it all through his bones.]

Noct!

[He trots the rest of the way over but skips the friendly slap, opting just to sit next to him and lean forward, looking up at him like he can read what happened off his face.]

Hey, what's wrong?

#A5001B (i'm... sorry for him, prompto...)

[retrobeats]

u been spotted by.........the $ MONEY GOO$E $
send the $ MONEY GOO$E $ to 3 people or u get scorched


btw you don't actually have to send this on or anything dude this is just the most i've laughed about anything in like 2 weeks so i HAD to share

[photoshooter]

omG ARE YOU KIDDING?? brb sending this IMMEDIATELY

→ aftermath

[whichcraft]

[Immediately following their heroic adventures in Castle Goblingoo, and sometime after presumably parting ways with Minato, Summer briskly sheds her crappy disguise and sort of gravitates against Prompto's side, bumping shoulders with him as a feint so that she can surreptitiously reach and pick up his hand again.]

Hey, so.

[...]

Got any big plans for after the big adventure?

[photoshooter]

[Oh. Hand.

They're not in danger, nothing bad is happening, no one's trauma was reignited with the suddenness of blazing pitch from a catapult, and it's actually very, very difficult for Prompto not to notice there might be other meanings than 'friendship' to the gesture. He clears his throat into his other hand, turning rosily warm.

But his fingers curl a little to keep hers there.]

Uhhh, no? No. Not really. I usually like to wind down after something like that by stuffing my face with some enormous diner platter, but, uh...

[His tongue trips over itself and careens right over the edge of Not Knowing Where That Sentence Is Going. He's babbling. He plays at thinking about it some more, umm-ing and hmm-ing, but then turns his face to her.]

Well, you doing anything special?

BACKDATED TO A FEW DAYS AGO BC I'M A LOSER

[nascere]

prompto
are you ok

NM I FIGURED IT OUT

[photoshooter]

nah dude i think i'm dying.
what's up?

[whichcraft]

I made you a present.

[photoshooter]

????????? (//∇//) whaaat why you didn't have to!!





but what is it?

[unfatalist]

Prompto,

Thirty-two days ago, I wrote Noctis a note similar to this one, because I had been calculating the length of daylight from sunrise to sunset over the course of a few weeks, and it happens that I'm familiar with how many hours, minutes, and seconds of daylight there is on an average day at the end of the month of August — at least on Eos.

Since then, I've come to discover that my calculations may have been somewhat off. I'd thought that I'd managed to pin things down fairly accurately, and sometimes the length of a day does follow my predictions, but other times it doesn't for no particular reason I can ascertain. I can't say for certain, therefore, that I was right about what day it was on the Eos calendar, thirty-two days ago.

What I can say is that it's been thirty-two days since the day we believed to be Noctis's birthday. That means, by my best estimation as of the writing of this letter, there should be twenty-five days left until yours.

Again, I can't promise that any of this is accurate as far as our calendar on Eos was concerned, objectively — but it does seem fitting, somehow, to make do by simply using Noctis as our standard, and our true north.

Rest assured I'll be counting; I just thought you might enjoy doing the same.

|||| |||| |||| |||| ||||

- I.

[photoshooter]

[It's not like nobody's recognized his birthday before. Every year since he buddied up with Noct, there's been some kind of celebration. Cake, video games, good-natured ribbing and laughter, at the very least a nice text or a phone call from the people who are now his best friends in the world. His birthday's not something he tries to put out of mind anymore, knowing it'd be a night like any other night at home, dimly lit and empty. It hasn't been that in ages.

But Ignis has gone out of his way--calculated the length of daylight, what the hell, and memorized how many days between Noct's birthday and his, kept track, done the math--to keep it in mind. Ignis let him know. Ignis says he'll still be counting, too, and while Prompto's maybe finally on the cusp of comfortably taking his friends' affection for granted, the truth is that no one, not even Noct, has ever put this much effort into remembering him.

So he blinks quickly, something at least medium-sized stuck in his throat, but continues grinning like a doofus as he reads the note again.

Struck suddenly with nostalgia, even though he knows it's stupid, Prompto brings the paper up to his nose and sniffs it. Then he folds it carefully and tucks it into an inside pocket in his jacket, where it'll always be close to his chest, and jumps down to the kitchen so he can put up a chart on one of the cabinet doors.

25 DAYS UNTIL PROMPTO'S BIRTHDAY!! it says, in bold, excited writing, and then there are four rows of seven squares each (because a week is a week, even if they don't know what weekday they're on) with the twenty-fifth square circled in energetic yellow.

Prompto stands back on his heels when he's done, hands on his hips and a big, happy swell in his chest. The season might be waning, but he's sure he's never felt so warm.]

[whichcraft]

Important Question: do you have Halloween where you're from, back home?

Important Follow-Up #1 (if yes): What are you going to be for Halloween?

Important Follow-Up #2 (if no): Has someone explained why that is an important question to begin with?

[photoshooter]

no x2, i think maybe you mentioned it to me once? but i don't remember if you explained it or not. something about candy?

birthday

[nascere]

[ So it's pretty damn early and Noctis has woken up at the asscrack of dawn specially for today, much to Ignis' apparent surprise and the query of whether he's feeling poorly before it sets in what day it is.

Ignis is making something in the kitchen, probably something to do with delicious birthday treats and hopefully the tuna Noctis had proudly presented to him earlier, and it's time to creep back to where Prompto is sleeping. Birthday boys shouldn't be in bed at this hour; there'll be less hours in the day to celebrate when he's sleeping this long, so he's sneaking in to wake him up. ]

Prompto. Prompto, buddy.

[photoshooter]

Mnnnnnnnnnnnnnnh.

[With that attractive, not-quite-awake grunt, Prompto snuggles away from Noct's voice deeper into whatever nice, soft thing it is he's holding. Buddy, why. Why this betrayal. What has he ever done to ykdslrlpfldsfklsd okay haha never mind that question, we know so many stupid things Prompto's shaken Noct awake for at dawn.]

post-recoloring

[unfatalist]

I suppose I should preface this by noting that we're literally sitting across the room from each other and I could simply open my mouth to speak to you, but this seemed slightly more appropriate a means of opening conversation somehow. Quieter.

How are you feeling today? Any better?

[photoshooter]

[Across the room, Prompto starts, turns, shrinks in guiltily, swallows, and nods. He begins to open his mouth, but changes his mind and returns to his laptop to type his answer. Quieter. Quiet's okay.]

ya i'm fine now! last freckle's here and accounted for and everything, as far as i can tell. tho who knows really?

shouldn't i be the one asking you that, igs? are you still feeling sick? (｡ŏ﹏ŏ)

action | early december

[passio]

[ for all that they live together, dextera tends to keep to himself except when noctis seeks him out or the house gathers for some kind of delicious concoction. which is why it feels so strange, so foreign, for him to come to prompto’s door like this, but… he has a mission. leliel trails behind him.

he knocks. ]

[photoshooter]

[Also, who knows when the residents of this particular corner of the house might be... flying kites? Better safe than sorry. Avert thine eyes, weird heart-devouring angel guy.]

Yeah?

[Prompto hops on over to the door right after he calls through it, opening it so Dextera doesn't have to. He blinks, Sparky down at his heels, then smiles.]

Dex! Hi, what's up? Aw, hey there!

[The last is to Leliel. He crouches down, grinning wider. Sparky tugs at the flap of his jacket, warking a jealous wark.]

after ardyn.

[nascere]

[ Noctis is coming after him! He's seen the exchange with fury, with dread and worry, but Prompto... Prompto is riled up and angry and Noctis is sure he's horrified, too, and maybe it's Ignis' influence but Noctis forces himself to be the calmer one.

After all that he's heard of what Ardyn will do, they have to be careful -- and what is to stop Ardyn from hurting others if Noctis comes for him?

He climbs up to the roof, working to quell his own frantic, angry thoughts. Prompto needs him, his best friend needs him right now, and he has to come through for him. ]

Prompto?

[photoshooter]

[Prompto flinches when he hears someone come up, and the only reason he relaxes at all is because he forces himself to, sighing a long breath out over the edge of the roof where he sits. He doesn't raise his head. Actually, he lets it hang a little lower.]

Hey, Noct.

[Hatred isn't something that goes away, but the clenched-jaw fury of it has eroded to queasy, baleful dread. He rests one hand in the cup of the other and picks slowly at his wristband.]

Uh, don't know if you saw, but Ardyn's pulling the same, friendly "man of no consequence" crap he tried with us. So we're gonna have a hard time convincing people to steer clear of him.

[Pick, pick.]