[ Prompto accepts the hug readily, as if he's been waiting for it without even realizing. He's always been the affectionate sort, but he's so lonesome ever since Alisaie last fell asleep, and it shows in how easily he leans into X'rhun's embrace. It's...a strange feeling. He's never really...had an actual adult role model to look up to in his life, instead leaning on his photography and then his friends as he'd grown up. It's unfamiliar, but it's nice, too, To have someone to support him like this. Someone to help him feel, if even for a moment, that everything will be okay. That he's safe. ]
I-I'm sorry I couldn't do more.
[ He'd tried so hard, and even then, it still hadn't been enough to keep her well. He should have listened to her and taken her to the sanctuary back when they were in Olympia. But he'd been selfish, and now...
[ If nothing else, he's seen the way that Alisaie smiles when she speaks of Prompto, even in the grip of this illness. That is a gift he won't soon forget. ]
This is a situation none of us can control, as much as I hate to say it. You've done all you can.
[ X'rhun is absolutely right, and hadn't Alisaie once told him as much? About something entirely different, but the sentiment had been the same. That Prompto could try his best and do everything he can, but even then...sometimes people get hurt. It's beyond his control.
Sometimes they die.
His breath shudders out of him as he pulls back, giving X'rhun a watery smile. ]
...It's all up to the healers now. [ He squeezes his eyes shut a moment. ] They'll figure out the cure. I know they will.
[ Now there’s a confidence he does not quite feel. Alisaie’s condition has him shaken and doubtful, but he’d be damned if he lets that show now, and to Prompto of all people. ]
But what of you? Is there anything you need? Have you eaten?
[ It would be remiss of him to allow Alisaie’s stalwart guardian to starve himself at her bedside. ]
[ X'rhun's question is met with a puzzled look at first, as if Prompto's own needs are not something he has given much consideration to for several weeks. And to be fair, he hasn't, and it has only gotten worse since Alisaie was admitted to the sanctuary. Truth be told...he...can't really remember the last time he ate - really ate a full meal. It's been quite some time. ]
I... [ His brow furrows. He knows how he wants to answer that, but it's not an honest answer, either. ]
[ Any further excuses he may have tried to make die on his tongue, his gaze turning invariably to Alisaie, just as he so often does these days. If he's doing all this for her...how could he spend time worrying about himself? What he's going through is inconsequential when compared to her.
But she had reprimanded him too, before the sickness had taken her under, for not sleeping and eating regularly, even then. It'd just...fallen by the wayside, as so many other things had.
Weakly: ]
I-I'll find something to eat. You don't need to worry.
[ He follows Prompto's gaze to Alisaie's still form in the bed, her pale face and the slow rise and fall of her chest. The only indication that she's still with them at all. ]
She is like family to me, which means so are you. Stay here for a bit, and I'll bring a meal for the two of us, all right?
[ Congrats on your adoption, Prompto. But it’s true. X’rhun never had much of a use for lasting ties back home— he was a drifter by choice. Sure, he made friends, took on students, but once it was time for him to continue his journey, he was content to leave them behind and keep his memories for company. Now, though, most everyone he has ever known lie sleeping in the Natha’s pods, the earth he used to roam is no more, and the few ties he has have become more precious to him than gold.
Alisaie has given her heart to this boy. That makes him family.
He gives Prompto’s shoulder a brief squeeze. ] I’ll be back.
[ He’s gone a little longer than he would like to be, but eventually he finds a small stand that sells some sort of grilled meat and vegetable mixture in a sweet-smelling sauce, wrapped in warm, soft flatbread. A good portable meal if there ever was one. He’s able to get one for each of them and heads back to the sanctuary quickly. ]
[ It's...funny. When X'rhun leaves, Prompto is on his own again, with only Alisaie's feverish hand in his to keep him company. But now he finds he doesn't feel so lonesome. Maybe it's just the promise that X'rhun will return, but - no, it's more than that. Since Alisaie had fallen ill, he'd been the one who had to be the rock, to be steadfast and immovable in the face of all this. To finally feel like he can rely on someone else, to watch out for him the way he hasn't been able to watch out for himself...
It makes the ache in his heart easier to bear.
So by the time X'rhun returns, Prompto doesn't look quite as grim as he first found him. He looks far more awake, attentive, despite the fact that he hasn't eaten anything yet.
And when the scent of the flatbread wafts near, he realizes his hunger all too quickly. ]
[ The two meals are wrapped carefully in waxed paper, and still warm when he hands one over. X’rhun drags another chair over to Alisaie’s bedside, plopping himself down next to Prompto. ]
Would you mind humoring me? I’d like to know how you and Alisaie came to meet.
[ A soft smile breaks out over Prompto's features. Whether that's from the food warming his hands or the question X'rhun has put forth is anyone's guess, but let's be frank: it's probably both.
Hopefully X'rhun won't mind Prompto's manners, because he's taking a sizable bite out of the flatbread before he answers, sighing the moment it touches his tongue. Man, that's good... ]
We...actually texted on the network before we ever met in person. But even then, from the moment she knew what a chocobo was, I knew she was something special...
[ He has seen worse table manners, to be perfectly honest, and he had a feeling that Prompto was hungrier than he was letting on. It’s easy to be consumed by worry and forsake even the most basic of needs.
But whether it’s the food or the question or both, he’s glad to see a smile on the young man’s face, no matter how small. ]
I would not have expected a tale of such grand romance to begin with chocobos.
[ At that, Prompto will do him one better, and actually laugh, a warm genuine chuckle that sounds rusty with disuse. ]
Welllll, if you wanna get technical, it began with her yelling at me. [ Ah, those were the days. ] But, y'know...when you're fresh in a new world and all your friends are asleep, finding someone who knows the same fluffy, giant birds that you do counts for something.
[ Good. The both of them need whatever small pieces of joy they can find in the face of what seems like that worst, and that laugh is a small miracle that brings a smile to X’rhun’s own face. ]
Of course she did.
[ There’s no denying the fondness in his tone. He is quite familiar with Alisaie’s temperament, and that she yelled at Prompto to start comes as no surprise. ]
Aye, common ground is a rare thing here. In fact, so far, I’ve found that only those of you from Eos have a passing familiarity with some of the things from Hydaelyn, and even then our worlds differ a lot.
[ Something inscrutable passes over Prompto's features at the mention of "those" of them from Eos, and it begs the question of who else X'rhun knew from home. There are only two candidates, one far preferable to the other - but he doesn't ask after it. Not now. Not...when there's so much else clouding up in his heart. He doesn't need one more thing to worry about, though he will bear it in mind.
This is about Alisaie, about reflecting on better times. Not dwelling on worse ones. ]
That's...a lot of how we got to know each other at first. Just - comparing our worlds. I loved listening to her talk about Hydaelyn, and...I think it helped both of us to talk about where we were from.
[ It'd gotten easier to talk about Eos in recent times, but during those first months...it had been tough. They'd lost so much, and sharing a whole world that only they seemed privvy to was a matchless treasure. ]
[ Sorry Prompto, X’rhun has been palling around with everyone’s favorite fashion disaster. But it’s just as well that they stay on topic, anyway. The atmosphere is heavy enough as it is, and it would be a shame to weigh it down even more. ]
I have no doubt that it did. On the whole, you’ve been good for her, I think.
[ Alisaie had...told him as much, how he'd been a light to her, and how he didn't understand what he brought to others. It's true - he doesn't, but somehow X'rhun saying as much makes Prompto believe it just a little bit more. Could he really...have been good for Alisaie? ]
It all just...kind of happened. Most of the time, it still feels like a total dream, even when...things are...you know.
[ He gestures vaguely to everything around them, and then falls silent for a few moments, contemplating his food. When he speaks again, his voice is barely more than a whisper. ]
I-I...I love her.
[ And he doesn't know what he will do if she doesn't make it through this. ]
[ He wouldn’t say it if he didn’t mean it, after all. Even for all that he likes to tease, he’s honest to a fault most of the time. ]
Alisaie said the same, and I’ll say to you what I said to her: no one expects to fall in love. It’s just happens. But I am glad that the two of you have each other in this place, especially given what we’ve all gone through to get here, and what we’re going through now.
[ Those three little words should not come out so meek, so frightened, and X’rhun reaches over to again rest his hand on Prompto’s shoulder. ]
You must know by now as well as I how much of a fighter Alisaie is. She’ll return to us.
[ X'rhun voices what Prompto has been telling himself over and over again, words that were more important to him than anything else right now. Alisaie is a fighter, one of the strongest people Prompto has ever met in his life. That flame of hope is all that has kept him going since she last slipped from consciousness, and hearing someone else talk about it makes it feel less like a lost hope. She would return to them. She had to. That's the only outcome Prompto can let himself entertain, as long as there is still hope for the cure.
After all, she'd made him a promise. ]
She will. I know she will. [ In return, he lifts his own hand to X'rhun's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. ] We just gotta...wait it out.
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I-I'm sorry I couldn't do more.
[ He'd tried so hard, and even then, it still hadn't been enough to keep her well. He should have listened to her and taken her to the sanctuary back when they were in Olympia. But he'd been selfish, and now...
Now she's like this. ]
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[ If nothing else, he's seen the way that Alisaie smiles when she speaks of Prompto, even in the grip of this illness. That is a gift he won't soon forget. ]
This is a situation none of us can control, as much as I hate to say it. You've done all you can.
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Sometimes they die.
His breath shudders out of him as he pulls back, giving X'rhun a watery smile. ]
...It's all up to the healers now. [ He squeezes his eyes shut a moment. ] They'll figure out the cure. I know they will.
[ They have to. ]
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[ Now there’s a confidence he does not quite feel. Alisaie’s condition has him shaken and doubtful, but he’d be damned if he lets that show now, and to Prompto of all people. ]
But what of you? Is there anything you need? Have you eaten?
[ It would be remiss of him to allow Alisaie’s stalwart guardian to starve himself at her bedside. ]
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I... [ His brow furrows. He knows how he wants to answer that, but it's not an honest answer, either. ]
I'm not really...hungry.
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[ But it's still pretty telling in and of itself. ]
You've got to take care of yourself if you're to take care of her.
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But she had reprimanded him too, before the sickness had taken her under, for not sleeping and eating regularly, even then. It'd just...fallen by the wayside, as so many other things had.
Weakly: ]
I-I'll find something to eat. You don't need to worry.
[ (He really does.) ]
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[ He follows Prompto's gaze to Alisaie's still form in the bed, her pale face and the slow rise and fall of her chest. The only indication that she's still with them at all. ]
She is like family to me, which means so are you. Stay here for a bit, and I'll bring a meal for the two of us, all right?
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Prompto glances up quickly, meeting the other's eyes with obvious surprise. Did he...he just said...
Like family?
It takes him a moment to numbly nod, even if he hasn't quite registered anything else that X'rhun said beyond that first part. ]
A-alright.
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Alisaie has given her heart to this boy. That makes him family.
He gives Prompto’s shoulder a brief squeeze. ] I’ll be back.
[ He’s gone a little longer than he would like to be, but eventually he finds a small stand that sells some sort of grilled meat and vegetable mixture in a sweet-smelling sauce, wrapped in warm, soft flatbread. A good portable meal if there ever was one. He’s able to get one for each of them and heads back to the sanctuary quickly. ]
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It makes the ache in his heart easier to bear.
So by the time X'rhun returns, Prompto doesn't look quite as grim as he first found him. He looks far more awake, attentive, despite the fact that he hasn't eaten anything yet.
And when the scent of the flatbread wafts near, he realizes his hunger all too quickly. ]
That smells heavenly.
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[ The two meals are wrapped carefully in waxed paper, and still warm when he hands one over. X’rhun drags another chair over to Alisaie’s bedside, plopping himself down next to Prompto. ]
Would you mind humoring me? I’d like to know how you and Alisaie came to meet.
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Hopefully X'rhun won't mind Prompto's manners, because he's taking a sizable bite out of the flatbread before he answers, sighing the moment it touches his tongue. Man, that's good... ]
We...actually texted on the network before we ever met in person. But even then, from the moment she knew what a chocobo was, I knew she was something special...
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But whether it’s the food or the question or both, he’s glad to see a smile on the young man’s face, no matter how small. ]
I would not have expected a tale of such grand romance to begin with chocobos.
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Welllll, if you wanna get technical, it began with her yelling at me. [ Ah, those were the days. ] But, y'know...when you're fresh in a new world and all your friends are asleep, finding someone who knows the same fluffy, giant birds that you do counts for something.
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Of course she did.
[ There’s no denying the fondness in his tone. He is quite familiar with Alisaie’s temperament, and that she yelled at Prompto to start comes as no surprise. ]
Aye, common ground is a rare thing here. In fact, so far, I’ve found that only those of you from Eos have a passing familiarity with some of the things from Hydaelyn, and even then our worlds differ a lot.
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This is about Alisaie, about reflecting on better times. Not dwelling on worse ones. ]
That's...a lot of how we got to know each other at first. Just - comparing our worlds. I loved listening to her talk about Hydaelyn, and...I think it helped both of us to talk about where we were from.
[ It'd gotten easier to talk about Eos in recent times, but during those first months...it had been tough. They'd lost so much, and sharing a whole world that only they seemed privvy to was a matchless treasure. ]
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I have no doubt that it did. On the whole, you’ve been good for her, I think.
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[ Alisaie had...told him as much, how he'd been a light to her, and how he didn't understand what he brought to others. It's true - he doesn't, but somehow X'rhun saying as much makes Prompto believe it just a little bit more. Could he really...have been good for Alisaie? ]
It all just...kind of happened. Most of the time, it still feels like a total dream, even when...things are...you know.
[ He gestures vaguely to everything around them, and then falls silent for a few moments, contemplating his food. When he speaks again, his voice is barely more than a whisper. ]
I-I...I love her.
[ And he doesn't know what he will do if she doesn't make it through this. ]
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[ He wouldn’t say it if he didn’t mean it, after all. Even for all that he likes to tease, he’s honest to a fault most of the time. ]
Alisaie said the same, and I’ll say to you what I said to her: no one expects to fall in love. It’s just happens. But I am glad that the two of you have each other in this place, especially given what we’ve all gone through to get here, and what we’re going through now.
[ Those three little words should not come out so meek, so frightened, and X’rhun reaches over to again rest his hand on Prompto’s shoulder. ]
You must know by now as well as I how much of a fighter Alisaie is. She’ll return to us.
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After all, she'd made him a promise. ]
She will. I know she will. [ In return, he lifts his own hand to X'rhun's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. ] We just gotta...wait it out.
[ As impossible as that sounds. ]