photoshooter | Awash IC Inbox

The shooty-slicey thing doesn't work, Gladio and I tried.

[Prompto thinks about it, then holds up a finger.]

As long as that quest is up, we could switch bodies with him and, I dunno, run it right into the harbor? ...Wait, no, then he'd have one of our bodies, that's no good. That's no good at all. I officially ban me from ideas, no more ideas from Prompto.

[ Noctis snorts softly and bumps his shoulder lightly. That was a terrible idea, buddy. He loves you, but no. ]

No, we shouldn't be giving him anything that he doesn't already have. And the whole network thing -- we have to be careful.

Yeah, I know.

[He sighs again and finally returns the contact with a little bump of his own.]

I--I'm trying to be careful, but. I did tell him when I came from. It was the only way I could get him to tell me when he's from. [He shakes his head, looking at his hands.] He's ahead of all of us, Noct. I'm pretty sure, at least.

[ So he's ahead of all of them -- Noctis has more or less come to terms with the fact that this place seems to ignore the linear nature of timelines, but what's troubling is this: what does Ardyn want? What's his plan? And is Prompto putting himself in his crosshairs just by speaking out like that?

His gaze flickers down to Prompto's wrist then, and he's quiet for a few moments. ]

Whatever his game is, we need to find out so we know how to deal with him.

Edited 2019-03-26 15:24 (UTC)

[Prompto swallows. Looks down again. After a while, he manages a tiny nod.]

I know you won't, buddy.

[But that isn't the problem. He drops his hands into his lap, then picks them up to start picking at the edges of his wristband again.]

I can take care of myself if it comes to it, you know. But I need you to keep yourself safe, too, okay? I'm not... It's...

[Chewing his lip, struggling to find the right words, Prompto squints off into the distance and then lets his head hang.]

If he takes you away again, if he hurts you, I.

[That's it, right there. In that reality, with Noct lost, Noct in pain--how can Prompto even contemplate living like that? He knots his hands together and pushes them between his knees, shakes his head, and rocks a little.]

You can't know what it was like. Fighting so hard to get back to you, and then. And then. Knowing I was the trap, and... he got you. And you weren't there anymore. I can't. Not again, Noct. I can't.

Hey. Hey --

[ They're veering into dangerous territory, territory that Noctis had always tried to shy away from, the very real shadow of his future, the fact that he would be asked to give his life, and maybe that would be the prelude to... whatever it is.

He doesn't know, aside from what he's been told, and he's been struggling with it. He remembers Prompto in his heartscape, how he'd said that he had to accept all of him too, even the one that would fight to keep him safe.

He swallows hard, and feels guilty that maybe it's a good thing Prompto isn't looking at him -- the last thing Noctis wants to do is make this even more difficult than it already is. ]

I went... in the crystal, right?

Uh-huh.

[Now his eyes are squeezed tightly shut.]

He made you. He separated us on purpose. Told you you needed the Crystal to save us. There were a lot of daemons, man, they were, like... endless.

[ Endless daemons. Needing the crystal to save them -- in light of that the choice is clear, right? He says nothing for a long moment, only drapes his arm around him. Ardyn's logic baffles, but Prompto is miserable and here and he can't help but pull him into a half-hug. ]

Okay.

[ So that will be what he's walking towards, then, and he gives his shoulder a squeeze. The notion of endless daemons makes him sick to his stomach; when the moment comes, he has to be ready -- and right now he feels anything but. ]

Did he... hurt you after that? Any of you?

No. He didn't even fight back when Gladio and I attacked him. Just put his hat back on and... sauntered away.

[Didn't even have the decency to walk like a normal goddamned asshole.]

The daemons only fought us long enough we couldn't reach you in time. After that, they just. Didn't care.

[ So he... controls the daemons? Noctis is baffled, but takes it anyway -- and it seems the crystal is everything, isn't it? Walked away after creating that mess, using Prompto as bait. ]

Why would he do that?

[Prompto forces a breath out through his nose, looks up, and makes the universal wordless "IUNNO???" noise.]

For shits and giggles, dude? It wasn't for the Empire, I can tell you that! The Emperor was dead, whole towns turned into daemons because of their experiments, I dee even kay.

Awash IC Inbox

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject