[ 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.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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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.
no subject
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. ]