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They have a saying about that, you know. Something something true test of a person's character is who they are after one really bad day.

[If by "they" you mean DC Comics but you know what, no one is going to ask her to cite her sources.]

I just figured I'd pissed off a guy and he'd chucked me here. Putting me in time-out or something.

...

[Carefully:]

Does that happen a lot, or was it kind of a special occasion?

[Something comes over her expression, then — a half-smile that never reaches her eyes, and a gaze that fixes itself somewhere in the middle distance — but the most defining part of it all is the way that there's nothing about it that suggests a lie. It's not the kind of smile that pretends to be something it's not; it's too automatic, too fixed, like the facial equivalent of tension seizing up someone's shoulders in a moment of impending apprehension.

It's the kind of expression born of resilience, stubbornness, and perhaps even spite. It's the sort of expression that looks carefully controlled, so as not to allow itself to shift into a different one.]

He likes to remind me that he's better than me. Usually something like this happens when it starts to seem like I'm forgetting.

[That's not an expression Prompto's seen before, no. He's accustomed to hobnobbing with people with all the power and influence in the world, shackled by no one above them but duty.

But he does know a thing or two about automatically tensing up. About the consequences of forgetting what he's not.

His hand comes up, but hers isn't an expression he can touch, so he puts it down again, fiddles with his belt.]

If he's listening, he won't get mad at you if I say rude things about him, will he?

[Her gaze snaps right to his hand when he moves it, abruptly alert, but when he lowers it again she relaxes a little — and his remark manages to get a laugh out of her, fracturing the mask she'd instinctively thrown up just a bit.]

You're a really sweet guy, you know that?

[He laughs a little, ducking into his shoulders and kicking idly at the cobblestones.]

I mean, nah. I'm just saying what anyone else would think.

[Like he's shy or embarrassed, he looks away, rubbing the back of his neck, then holds up a finger.]

Well, should we go hunt us down a deer, Your Floral Highness?

Oh, definitely. Thorg hungry. Thorg want meat.

[A pause.]

Slight addendum. You can call me whatever you want, except Thorg.

[And she grins a little, more of the mask cracking apart.]

Red's okay. Witchy's fine. "Hey you" always works in a pinch. Flora, Sabrina, Elfie, Kitty — I'm not that picky.

"Kitty"? Heheh.

[He's reminded all at once of naming Tiny--Pryna--who he'd known already had an owner, a name.]

I mean, if you don't mind Flora... I should at least change it to Princess Flora, though, now that you've revealed your true identity to me. Don't you think?

Only way I'll ever be a princess is if I marry a prince, wise guy.

[She rolls her eyes, good-naturedly.]

I'm a witch. No more, no less.

What, witches can't be princesses? Comic books wouldn't lie to me, Flora!

[There's probably several seasons of PreCure about this.]

Dude, there are like three strict criteria that you gotta have to be a princess and I am none of those things.

[ASK HER WHAT THEY ARE. THIS IS CLEARLY BAIT.]

[Prompto tilts his head at her and then starts counting on his fingers.]

Nice hair, a magical animal companion, aaannnddd a quest for someone to fulfill?

[He grins and waggles his three fingers at her.]

...

[OR he could just render the chatterbox speechless, as whatever it was she was going to say immediately goes out the window in favor of just kind of gawking at him for a minute, halfway between startled and wanting to laugh.]

...Okay, that's cheating, and also, fuck.

[Even if she won't laugh at him, he does, bringing his hand back to his chest.]

You forget, Your Highness, I've hung out with royalty for years. I know how this stuff works, trust me.

"Nice hair" was cheating, you cheater. Besides, yours is nicer than mine.

[Well, well, someone's flustered.]

Well, now I'm not even going to tell you what they really are.

[He snickers and brushes his hair out of his eyes, self-conscious.]

Whaaaat? Come on, I wanna know!

Hell no, I'm not telling, not ever, you jerk.

[Which lasts about all of three seconds, before: ]

No, the actual answer is you've got to be good, you've got to be beautiful, and you've got to have ties to a kingdom, and I'm zero for three on those.

Hmmm. Well, I guess that checks out. Though you're nice enough! Helped a stranger out of the well, didn't you?

Nice is different than good. You can definitely be one without being the other.

[She shrugs a little, sticking her hands in her pockets.]

I wouldn't say I'm very good. Decent, maybe, but not good.

[Prompto has to think about that.]

What's the difference? I mean, okay, I know what the difference is between good and decent is generally, but where would you draw the line?

Mm. I think a good person is someone who does the right thing because it's the right thing to do. A decent person's just someone who doesn't go out of their way to be an asshole to people.

[She tips her head back, looking up at the sky overhead.]

I think the baseline standard for good is a lot higher than the baseline standard for decent.

...Maybe.

[He scratches his head.]

What about people who do the right thing because... everyone else is doing it?

Decent. Good's the kind of thing you do regardless of who's around you. Like...I don't know, stopping for a red light at an intersection in the middle of the night, when you know there's no one around anyway. Good would still stop. You know?

Huh. So then, most people are decent at best, right? Aaand I'm not sure my friend would stop at an intersection like that. I mean, who's gonna ticket him, the Crownsguard? Yeah, right.

Well, yeah, but most people also aren't princesses either. Like, I'm not saying it's a criticism, "so and so's not a good person", it's just...more about how rare "good" people are than anything else.

[She shoots him a sideways look.]

Your friend doesn't seem like the type to pull rank on the law, though. I just, just from what you've said about him.

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