photoshooter | Awash IC Inbox

photoshooter

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From:

photoshooter

[That bright, pleasant anxiety of his softens. Prompto squeezes her hand gently and nods, hair bobbing with the motion.]

Sure. Sounds good.

[He knows about family. He knows about family and not feeling like you belong. Somehow, though, he isn't in a hurry even to get back to the cottage with her; there's something sweet about this, just walking along after pulling off a victory together, that even reaching the house would end. Like they're on an adventure, still, the end part of it, turning towards the sunset. That kind of satisfied, magic quiet before everything goes back to normal.

So Prompto takes his time strolling along with his hand in hers.]

Hey, ummm. Do you like ice cream?

From:

whichcraft

Tell me honestly, have you ever asked somebody that question and had them not say they like ice cream?

[It's kind of a cute sentiment, though. Like going out to celebrate after a Little League game, sort of — whether you won or lost, the sun's still going to set orange-rose in the sky, and everybody still gets ice cream just for showing up and trying.

It's nostalgic enough, soft enough, distant enough in her memory that she almost forgets the fact that she's never going to see a Little League game again.

That's the paradox of Prompto Argentum, isn't it? Everything seems better when he's close by and worse when he's gone, and never the anhedonic equilibrium from before he was ever a part of things to begin with.]

I used to love it. You know, like...before. We — every day, lunch and dinner, I'd get an ice cream cone for dessert.

From:

photoshooter

Every day for lunch and dinner?

[Prompto goggles at her, but then laughs and shakes his head at himself.]

Ah, I guess I can't say anything. I used to get a burger from the same place every night for dinner. It was on my way home after school.

[As if those thoughts bring youth back with all of its gestures, he swings their hands a little bit, looking thoughtfully ahead. Eventually, he bobs his head from side to side and says:]

Well, I can't do every day for lunch and dinner. But how does right now sound?

From:

whichcraft

Just for dessert! Don't make it sound like it's all I ate!

[You know what else holding hands is good for? Setting her up to elbow him in the side. That's a pretty good trick, too.]

...Wait, what are you saying? They don't have grocery store freezers here. Where the hell are you going to get ice cream?

From:

photoshooter

Hey!

[But he grins as he half-dodges, and his grin only broadens.]

I told you Iggy's a genius, right? And he knows everything there is to know about food?

From:

whichcraft

Oh, yes, I have been well and truly introduced to the Food Cult of Ignis. Still doesn't mean he can up and pull a freezer out of his ass.

[...]

...I hope.

From:

photoshooter

Snrrkkk--! No, of course not!

[There's a joke here to be made about pulling something stiff and cold out of Ignis's ass, but right now Prompto adores Ignis far too much to make it. He leans in, conspiratorial.]

But he is the best of us at magic. I mean, besides Noct, obviously, since it's technically all his magic. But Ignis uses it the smartest.

[Prompto taps his temple in a move ripped wholesale from Gladio and continues breezing merrily along, more bounce to his step the longer he keeps from directly answering her question.]

From:

whichcraft

Ohhh. So it's magical ice cream.

[...Because that...makes even less sense, hmm.]

So how exactly are you turning magic into food?

From:

photoshooter

[He snickers.]

Oh, I guess you've never really seen our magic. Mostly, it's kind of just elemental stuff. [Counting off on his fingers:] Fire, lightning, and...

[Grin grin grin.]

Ice. So with that, a lot of salt, and all the other stuff that usually goes in ice cream--um, Ignis mostly did that part--and a little creative thinking, we managed to make something that actually tastes okay! ...The color's kind of weird, but what can you do around here, you know?

From:

whichcraft

I've seen your weapons trick! Which is pretty neat, by the way. Cooler than mine.

[But at long last, he explains just enough, and the realization slowly dawns at a gradual enough pace that he can probably take all the time he likes to savor it.]

...You're freezing it with magic instead of a cooler. You just make it all, and then hit it with ice? That's...

[...]

You made ice cream. Who cares what color it is, you made ice cream.

From:

photoshooter

[This is the most rewarding moment of Prompto's young life, and his smile's fit to split his face. If it did, summer sunshine would burst through, that's how warm and bright he feels.]

I know, right?

[He hops in place on the balls of his feet.]

I didn't even know people could make ice cream! I thought it was, like... a machine thing! But it's actually not that hard, just takes a lot of work.

From:

whichcraft

It seems like a lot of food is like that, sometimes. Like it doesn't exist outside of walking up to a counter and asking somebody to hand it to you. Like milk in a bottle. You know how great milk in a bottle is? So good.

[She bites the corner of her lip, hiding a smile of her own, and then casts him a sideways look, sliding her eyes over to the corners without moving her head to look at him.]

So...does that mean you're sharing? The ice cream...and maybe while you're at it, the way you got away with eating a burger for dinner every night?

From:

photoshooter

[He snorts and returns the previous elbow with a nudge of his own.]

Duh. What was I gonna do, ask you if you like ice cream and then eat it in front of you by myself?

[THEY'VE BOTH BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH TORTURE TO SKIP THAT.]

And what do you mean, how did I get away with it? How'd you get away with eating ice cream twice and day and still looking great?

From:

whichcraft

Great metabolism and a whole lot of walking uphill both ways.

[She sticks her tongue out at him, carefully filing away the mention about how she looks for later. She doesn't, obviously, look great — but it's a nice thought anyway, however easy it is for her to subconsciously dismiss it.]

I mean someone didn't ride your ass to eat something other than cow once in a while?

From:

photoshooter

Oh. ...No, not really.

[He shrugs and refuses to let too much energy drop out of his voice or his gait.]

My parents were out of town a lot. Otherwise I wouldn't have been getting takeout all the time, anyway. And I couldn't cook, so I didn't have a lot of options.

From:

whichcraft

Oh.

[Funny, how there can be so much gravity in a single word. Funny how two letters can so easily frame an obvious elephant in the room.

Luckily, there's an easy way to divert the subject; a little verbal sleight of hand, and there was never a pachyderm at all.]

I mean, I'm not one to talk. I wasn't cooking for myself, either. It was all caf food.

[...]

That's actually. That's where we were going, the last time I was, um. We were all going to the caf, when the old man snatched us.

From:

photoshooter

[He lifts his gaze from the ground, looking at her once more, then nods and squeezes her hand.]

Hey. Then this ice cream's really overdue, huh? [Hm.] What other foods do you like to eat? Besides potato.

From:

whichcraft

[Did he just conversationally sidestep her conversational sidestep — oh my god what a champion.]

I like noodles. If it's made with a noodle, I probably like it. Dumplings, too. You know, the kind with the filling and you fry them a little so they get crispy? Burgers, pizza...tacos, shit, I haven't had a taco in ages.

From:

photoshooter

[Prompto's nodding along until he laughs, suddenly.]

You know, I've still got a couple Cup Noodles left. Why don't we make a whole dinner out of it?

[I T ' S A D A T E Y O U D U M B A S S]

From:

whichcraft

Cup Noodles and ice cream? Now that's a feast for kings.

[And actually...]

...I've still got some soda left. You know, from earlier this month. Since we're going all junk food all the time.

From:

photoshooter

Yeah! If we're gonna do this, we should go all out!

[He swings their arms wide this time, like a little kid.]

We gotta let loose once in a while, right?

From:

whichcraft

Oh, fuck yeah! I mean, hell, we just escaped from Castle Goblin unscathed, we just robbed a bunch of monsters, we've earned this.

[His enthusiasm is so infectious, it's hard not to let it catch on. And why would she ever want to resist it, in the first place?]

We should go eat and drink and...stay up all night, be as loud as we want, tell dumb stories about stupid shit...all of it, let's do it.

From:

photoshooter

Is this a slumber party?

[Holy shit, he sounds so excited.]

Aw, man, I wish we had some video games! We'll have to make up our own. We'll have to get our toothbrushes and pajamas and stuff, this is gonna be so much fun!

[Time to make up for all the friends he didn't have in fifth grade.]

We can play truth or dare! Or would you rather! Or all of it!

From:

whichcraft

Not as much as I wish we had video games. I used to be great at tower defense games. ...And Mario Kart.

[One of these things is more conducive to slumber parties than the other.]

So yeah, I guess we'll just have to play a bunch of bullshit party games to make up for it. Never Have I Ever, too, that one's always a barrel of laughs.