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Who: Alisaie Leveilleur (

adelphoi) & you nerds
What: October general shenans
When: All month
Where: Everywhere potentially but probably just at her house mostly
Warning(s): Sick.. stuff?? idk probably nothing but will update if necessary.

PART 1;

a; aftermath

[ alisaie is not present in the marketplace when the attack occurs, but the resounding boom cannot be missed, even from her home flat. it's a hectic hour or so while she rushes to figure out what has happened, and when riza returns home sick she feels a heavy misgiving sink deep into her stomach. disease is not an enemy she can fight with her rapier, it's something insidious, something sneaky and unpredictable - gods help them find a remedy soon.

immediately, she's dashing right to work. with riza ill they'll need supplies - healthy foods, spare blankets, medicinal herbs, ice, a great deal of ice. once she's set with her list she's off to the institute and markets to gather what useful things she can, stuffing them into a canvas shoulder bag, but you can certainly bet that she'll stop to assist in any way she can, whether it's righting an overturned cart or leading those who were injured in the panic to the sanctuary.

of course, it's not long before she's feeling rather warm and dizzy herself and, of course, chalking it up to the rush and mayhem. maybe she'll just.. sit down a moment. ]

b; sickbed;

[ alisaie is an awful patient.

keeping her in bed is no easy task, and there's an itch under her skin that urges her to move, to work - there's so much she could be doing, ways she could be helping. this disease is a godsdamned prison.

she's responsible enough to at least not mingle with the public, lest she spread this horrible mystery illness further, but she cannot remain strictly indoors in bed for so long, not without losing her mind. so when she can, when the weather is tepid, alisaie sits on the second floor deck of her flat, wrapped up in a blanket, usually with a book (or stack of books), enjoying the fresh air on her too-hot face. ]

c; reaching out

[ what else can you do when you're more or less bedbound? catch up on the internet, of course. mostly, alisaie keeps an eye on the network for any updates, and takes the time to reach out to those she knows, to doublecheck that they're safe. if you've met her even once or twice, chances are she will toss a line out and test the waters. incoming message from RedMage: ]

This is Alisaie; how are you faring?

PART 2;

a; wandering

[ it's late evening the first time she sees him.

though first she hears him, the familiar voice of her grandfather calling her out of her dreams, warm and welcoming. she wakes in her bed, slick with fever sweat and surrounded by silence - mayhaps she had misheard it? it must have been a dream, her head is spinning. but then it comes again, distinct and clear; it has been years since she last heard his voice but it is not a sound that she would ever forget. ]

Grandfather..?

[ dizzy and disoriented, she climbs out of bed and stumbles toward the open window, squinting into the slanting light of sunset just in time to see the shape of him, louisoix leveilleur's all too familiar form disappearing around the corner. immediately her heart kicks up into her throat and alisaie gasps and turns, stumbling back through her bedroom and out of the house, down the stairs and onto the street barefoot, in her nightdress, to follow a ghost. ]

No, please wait.. don't leave me again..

[ how long she wanders in this delirium she cannot say, but her feet are sore and scratched and muddy, her hair down and wild from sleep and the tugging winds. she may run right into you, or trip over a flagstone, but short of forceful intervention nothing will keep her from her goal. ]

b; friendly fire

[ for those of you unlucky enough to visit her (or stop by her home for some other purpose) while the symptoms continue to worsen, you will find that her delirium has not abated. between bouts of lucidity and sleep she tries still to wander, to follow the voices and phantoms of her family and friends to whatever oblivion they might call her to, but it is not only friends she sees. sometimes it is enemies or horrible, twisted monsters. it's hardly a problem if she wanders outside, weaponless, but any creak of sound within her home would easily alert her.

blinking blearily, alisaie tumbles out of bed at the noise, her heart thudding and her mind cloudy, and she does not think twice before taking up her rapier and focus which lie across a chair in her room and stumbling into the dimly lit common area. her voice is rough from coughing. ]

Who.. who goes there?

[ catchall for october! alisaie will spent much of it being sick, apparently, so feel free to crash her place and visit.. make sure she stays in bed. get her texts or send her one, or meet up in the market!! if none of these prompts work for you i'm more than happy to work something out and write up a starter. ♥ plotting comment is here, or i can be reached on plurk for planning. i'm game! ]

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[ A breathy laugh rolls off his tongue, welcome and comfortable. ]

Heh, guess so. What can I say? They're pawsitiviely irresistible.

[ But before she can defy all odds and sock him in the gut for that, he goes on in his tale, eyes clouding slightly as he looks far back into his memory, at another life, another person. ]

Her name was Pryna. Not that...I knew that at the time, but I just found her one day when I was walking home from school. Her leg was hurt, so I brought her home with me. Needless to say, I didn't realize I'd stumbled upon a famous pooch like that at the time.

[ So often he's looked back on that day and wondered if his finding Pryna had been an act of fate, if the fates were at all concerned with someone as inconsequential as him. But it had set everything in motion. If not for that, he would have never befriended Noctis. He never would be the man he is today.

It's - a strange feeling, the little prickle of pride that comes with that realization. ]

My parents - they weren't...around a whole lot. So I had no problem keeping Pryna with me. I called her "Tiny" - real original, I know. But I...

[ Well. To fully appreciate this story, it must get at least a little bit sad. ]

I...didn't really have friends growing up. Every day was just kind of the same old thing, and I really only had my pictures to keep me company. But taking care of Pryna gave me a real purpose. Something that only I could do.

[ prompto begins his story and alisaie closes her eyes to listen, the sound of his voice comforting and sweet. she could listen to him four hours, fall asleep to his stories and tales from eos. soon enough, she might.

but for now she's determined to stay awake, to listen to him and hear about his youth. in her mind's eye she's picturing it, little freckled prompto, probably cute as a button, lonely and shy. that he had no friends is a little bit surprising, considering his sunny, gregarious disposition, but it goes a long way to explain the state of his self-esteem as well. being born the way he was, knowing his origin.. she can only conclude that he was unsure of himself, insecure. ]

Why was she famous?

[ It's an unusual sort of phenomenon for him, telling a story like this. He's not really accustomed to talking about himself, to say nothing of his past, which he so often kept tucked away behind his laughter and smiles. But he wants to share this with her. Wants her to know who he was, where he came from. ]

Her owner - the Oracle - she was...her name was Lunafreya. She was the bridge between the Astrals and the rest of us. I mean, sure - she could commune with the gods, but she was...like a hero to the people, too. A shining light when everything else was going dark.

[ And so literally, too. Once Luna had died, the Starscourge had such an easy time taking the world, and Prompto's gaze turns a touch morose. ]

The next day when I woke up, Pryna was gone. I tried looking for her, but I figured...she'd just felt better and found her way home. Anyway, I guess the cloth I used to tie her leg up had my name on it, because I got a letter from Lady Lunafreya herself a few weeks later.

[ A soft chuckle. ]

She thought because I went to the same school as Noct, we probably knew each other, and so she...asked me to be his friend. See, uh - Noct and Luna...they went waaaaaay back. So she wanted me to look out for him, I guess. Since I looked out for Pryna.

[ the story unfolds bit by bit, and alisaie finds that she is not surprised by any of it. from the first, even when she chastised him for misusing his time, he has always been sweet and friendly. that someone else would have seen that in him - even through such a small mundane act as helping an injured dog - seems to fit with everything she knows about him. everything she's experienced with him.

alisaie smiles, and chuckles quietly. ]

Is that how you met him, then? And your other friends?

[ alisaie does not believe entirely in fate or destiny - the idea that her life could be predetermined or decided for her does not sit well with a girl so headstrong as herself. but sometimes, in some ways, she thinks that there are things that must happen for a reason, that destiny, though not omnipotent, might sometimes be able to give a gentle nudge in the right direction. ]

[ Softly, but so warmly: ]

Yeah. It...took me awhile to work up the courage to talk to him, though. [ Like...a few years. It seems impossible now that he was ever so nervous to talk to Noctis, his best friend after all these years, but how could he not be nervous? Noctis was the crown prince - and Prompto...well. He was just Prompto. His origins aside, he still would have been anxious about such a task.

But Luna had been counting on him, and he wasn't about to let the Oracle down. ]

I tried once to talk to him after school and it was sooo embarrassing I thought I would die. I mean, big surprise, I was pretty self-conscious then, too, but...

[ His mouth quirks. ]

See, I used to be kind of... [ He bobs his head, trying to find the right word. ] Uh. Fluffy. Horizontally tall. Rotund, if you will.

[ Chubby. He was a chubby kid. ]

[ fluffy.

it takes alisaie a half a moment to understand what he means, and when she does she laughs, soft and gentle and fond, one arm unwinding from around his to slip around his middle, patting his stomach.

it's hard to imagine prompto as anything but the noodle he is, one would think his boundless energy would burn up every spare calorie. ]

I am certain you were terribly cute.

[ cute little awkward tubby freckled bab.. precious young plumpto ]

[ A laugh shakes out of him as her hand pats his stomach. ONLY MUSCLES LIVE THERE NOW. ]

Y-yeah? You sure? I wore glasses, too. [ Which means Prompto probably wears contact lenses or some such, a realization which I have not had before this moment? But yes, even if he's always been pale, blonde and freckled, he changed a lot before that first year of high school. ]

Before I was gonna try anything as crazy as being friends with the prince, though, I wanted to...be a better me. So I started running, eating better, all those things that sound like a good idea buuuut are actually a lot of work to really pull off. It wasn't easy, but when I felt better about how I looked, it was easier to work up the courage to go talk to him.

[ He exhales as he shrugs a shoulder. ]

And the rest is history. I talked to him, and...we were pretty much friends after that. And to think it all started with a lost puppy.

[ He reaches down to ruffle Peo's head. After all, Peo had helped him get closer to Alisaie, so he's getting something out of these arrangements, too. ]

[ yes good job mister muscle tum.. you did a good job. even if alisaie is still very much enjoying the mental image of an awkward tubby little prompto, lonely and sweet and shy. ]

Dogs have a way of bringing people together, I suppose.

[ she says, smiling fondly down at peo. sure they had met and got to know one another before he trotted into prompto's life, tail wagging, but there's no doubt that he certainly gave them plenty more excuses to spend time together. ]

Glasses though, that's a surprise.

[ how do you see now, prompto?? asking the real questions now, several months after establishing the character. ]

You should wear them again, sometime.

[ he'd look so handsome //// ]

[ so alisaie has a glasses kink, ok ]

You think so? [ THAT'LL BE THE DAY...but no, if she really wants to see him in them, maybe...

Maybe. ]

I'd need a new pair, but... [ And then he tucks both hands up, forming something like spectacles with his hands around his eyes. ]

Here's a sneak peek.

[ He grins, and can't help a snort of laughter. It's so blissfully normal, and for the moment, the reason she asked him to tell her a story, that they both needed a distraction, have pushed those reasons to the back of his mind. ]

[ dont kinkshame her?? she's a born and bred nerd ok... glasses are hot. ]

Hmm..

[ she has to sit back a little bit to survey his attempt on glasses, and you know, she's not very impressed. she gives him a smile though, so as not to hurt his feelings too much. ]

I think I'll reserve judgment for when you try on a proper pair.

[ and now that she's moved, she can feel a warm trickle at her ear, a droplet of bleed ready to fall. soooo she's reaching back for the towel on her nightstand. ]

Anyroad, I'm sure there must be more to the story.

[ His gaze flickers, following her hand as it snatches up the towel, and there's a plunging feeling in his stomach. Right. Even when he's trying to distract her, they can't get too far away from it. ]

You'd be right. I...tried talking to Noct once before, when I was still...you know. [ Plumpto. ] Tried and failed miserably, but it turns out he actually remembered me from that day, when we became friends.

[ He closes his eyes a moment, lost in memory, of sunny days walking the streets of Insomnia with Noctis, when the worst things they had to worry about were tests and girls and homework, and he feels a bit of a nostalgic ache for those halcyon days. But as for the journey life had taken him on, to get him to the point he is now...

It's all so very different, still a transplant in a foreign world, lying next to the girl he loves as she's wracked with a plague, and Noct is gone, for now. He'd had more than enough to keep him busy since his friends went back into stasis, and so he hasn't quite...fully wrestled with that beast yet. But even if it was some time before he got to talk to his beloved friend again, telling this story has helped him remember something.

That Noct isn't gone, so long as Prompto carries these memories in his heart. ]

I didn't find that out until waaaay later, though, when we were taking Noct to get hitched to Luna. [ A wistful smile. ] Pretty crazy how we all got tangled up like that, huh?

[ i'm so glad plumpto is sticking. i also considered promptubs.

it's only a small trickle of blood, but it's enough that she needs the towel, and certainly enough to make her head spin a little, so rather than leaning against him again she settles down in the bed again, towel spread on the pillow beneath her.

but she'll still reach for him, finding one of his hands to hold it loosely between her own, still unwilling to sacrifice physical contact for now. ]

Mm. I do not tend to put much stock in fate, but mayhaps it was simply.. meant to be.

[ and given what she knows of his life, and how it played out, what role his friends had played - perhaps she is not too far off the mark. ]

Tell me about it. Your journey. Your friends.

[ she's not ready to surrender to sleep yet, to give up this comfortable moment, and his voice is warm and soothing. it's been a long time since they have talked of home, and while she's learned much about him it has all been piecemeal, little bits here and there, there are still many pieces left of the puzzle. ]

[ She moves back to her pillow, and he's not quite ready to relinquish their close proximity just yet, so he scoots just close enough that he can lay his head next to hers on her pillow. His nose just brushes her cheek as he turns his head. ]

I dunno. I never really thought fate would worry about a guy like me, but...

[ What else could it have been? Surely not just coincidence. He was the only child rescued from Niflheim's magitek research facility, and that seemed impossible enough. But that he'd go on to befriend the prince of Lucis...

It's kinda nice to call it fate, you know? ]

Gladio and Iggy both knew Noct waaay longer than I have. Gladio's familiy - the Amicitias - have always kinda been the sworn protectors of the royalty of Lucis. The King's Shield, they'd call him. [ And for what a musclebound giant Gladio is, that should hardly be surprising. ] Meanwhile, Iggy was kiiind of his babysitter. Not in a bad way, though. [ MOST OF THE TIME. ] Noct really needed someone like him around to keep him in line. I definitely wasn't the man for that job.

[ If anything, he only encouraged Noct's bad habits. Sorry, Iggy... ]

[ prompto's company is one of the few creature comforts she has now that she's ill, so when he settles close to her it's all the better. alisaie shuts her eyes, listening to his voice so close and soft, painting a picture in her mind of eos, of lucis, and his friends. she hadn't known them well by any stretch, but she's at least seen them, has faces to put to the names now to make it fit all the easier. ]

I cannot imagine you capable of keeping anyone in line.

[ he can't even keep peo in line, let alone an actual human being. good luck iggy.. our hearts are with you. ]

How is it that the four of you began your.. excursion?

[ give her your plot, prompto. ]

[ Time for some good, old-fashioned exposition.

It's nice, though, to look back, to remember where the journey really began. For although he and Noctis had been friends for years by the time they left Lucis, that was what really started it all. The excursion, as she calls it. ]

So...Noct was engaged to Luna. You know that part already. The original idea behind us leaving Insomnia was to escort him to Altissia where they would get married. Things were...kinda tense, then, between Lucis and the Empire. Real shocker, but the Empire had been steamrolling over kingdoms left and right and had Lucis in its sights. I'm not totally clear on all the, you know...political biz [ considering he calls it "political biz" ] but the general idea is that they wanted the Crystal, but the Emperor came to Insomnia pretending to be all friendly. Negotiate peace terms, or whatever.

[ He sighs gently next to her. ]

I think...the King knew that wasn't really what they came for, and that's why he sent us when he did. He wanted Noct out of the city if the Empire attacked, and...they did.

[ Of course they did. ]

We were just about to take the boat to Altissia when we got the news.

[ prompto might not fancy himself a gifted storyteller, but he's doing well enough to keep her entertained, to write the story of his life in the way that only he could. and as he goes on a part of her feels as if she's.. trespassing somehow, becoming privy to things she has not earned the right to know, the narrative of other peoples' lives.

but she's intrigued nonetheless. learning all of this helps to give her perspective, to better shape the image of prompto that she holds in her mind and in her heart, to describe the edges that had been hazy. ]

That must have been.. difficult.

[ she can't help but think of how she would feel, were she to hear that sharlayan had been attacked while she was away. alisaie has seen firsthand the ravages of war, the skeletons it leaves behind, and her grasp on prompto's hand tightens in sympathy. ]

Did you return?

[ It's fortunate there was a natural break in the story there, because it's not easy to tell, even after all this time. Even if the people they'd been when that news broke were far distant, even if Eos no longer existed. It had been nothing short of devastating, and his hand gently squeezes hers back. For all he'd never been close to his parents, he'd...never found out what happened to them after that day. It had been a brutal attack, and there was no telling...

But it's nearly ancient history now. ]

...Yeah. [ He nuzzles softly against her cheek, sighing. ] Or...we tried to, anyway. They killed King Regis and took the Crystal. We had to...see it for ourselves.

[ To quash that bit of denial they'd all clung to, but Noctis most of all. ]

When we got back to the outskirts of the city, though, the Empire'd already blockaded it all off. We only really got a glimpse of what our home used to be.

That's when we all kind of realized...this trip wasn't going to be what we planned it to be. At all.

[ prompto is, of course, easy to read at the best and worst of times, so his quiet distress comes through easily enough. it's no surprise. losing your home is traumatic, and prompto is a softhearted boy, there's no doubt that even now, after all of this time, it's still not an easy subject to broach.

but he's getting through it, and just to offer that much more support alisaie slips her free arm around his shoulders to keep him close, lifting her chin enough to tuck his head comfortably against her shoulder. ]

I can only imagine.

[ her voice is soft, sober. she's certainly done enough traveling under duress to understand how the tides can turn so quickly, how complicated things can become. war is a horrible thing to navigate. ]

What did they want with the Crystal?

[ He rests his cheek against her shoulder, her touch, as always, so stabilizing. Where he might get caught up in the shadows of his past, she's there to keep him facing the light. While she's sick, too...and for the nth time, he wonders what he did to deserve her.

Whatever it is, he'll never stop being grateful. ]

It's like a battery. [ She might not know what batteries all. This is a bad metaphor. Moving on. ] Like a super powerful energy source. The King had been using it to keep a barrier up around the whole city. But it's only half of a pair. The Crystal's only as powerful as it is when it's used by someone of the royal line, wearing the Ring of the Lucii. Luckily, Luna was keeping that safe, but even if the Emperor had both...I doubt he could've really done anything with them. But that didn't stop him from trying.

[ And...well.

They'd been to Gralea to see how well that worked out for Niflheim. ]

After we found out what happened...[ Well, what else were they going to do? ] We started figuring out how to fight back.

[ he settles, and alisaie threads her fingers gently through his hair, drawing the pads of her fingers in slow circles against his scalp, shutting her eyes to listen to him speak.

it's all finally beginning to come into focus. she had known that he had been traveling with his friends, adventuring to a certain degree but she had never known the why. slowly the puzzle pieces are coming together and she's more clearly able to see the picture of his life. ]

Naturally.

[ it only makes sense. with no home to return to and a vengeance to exact, what else could they do but fight back? nevermind the fact that the crown prince himself traveled with them, surely eager to restore his homeland. ]

Did you succeed?

Not...not quite.

[ He'd mentioned it once before, how they'd failed to stop the Starscourge, but that...evidently wasn't the end of the journey, even after Noctis had disappeared into the Crystal. Even if those were the last memories of his life on Eos, that hadn't been the case for Gladio. And there had been something Ardyn had said to him, the first night they'd landed on the surface. You're not as you should be. Like he remembered a different Prompto. Older, maybe.

But that's still a life he'd never known - and one he wouldn't, now. ]

We were basically fugitives at that point, but Noct had some things he had to do to level up. Find ancient weapons, make pacts with gods...you know, really normal, everyday things. [ His tone, a bit teasing, sobers again. ] We eventually did make it to Altissia so Noct could meet up with Luna and get Leviathan on his side, but...

The Empire was already there. Noct was able to make his pact, but Luna, she...

[ His eyes flutter shut a moment. ]

She didn't survive the battle. [ Because of him. Ardyn. And here he was, walking among the rest of them like he hadn't tried to destroy their entire lives. ] Noct was...a mess. Ignis was injured, and he...lost his eyesight. But we couldn't stop then, even when everything around us was falling apart.

[ oh, prompto...

alisaie is silent for a moment, long enough to let the words sink in, to give prompto a reprieve. death is never easy, and losing someone you are close with is a terrible thing to go through - it's a terrible thing to watch people go through. prompto has only ever spoken fondly of lunafreya, her loss feels like a tragedy and alisaie had not even known her.

turning her head, she presses a kiss into his fluffy hair, still dragging her fingers through it. ]

I'm.. so sorry, my love.

[ because what else is there to say? ]

You need not tell me more, if you don't like.

[ His eyes remain shut a moment longer, both to appreciate his grief, and to savor her kiss to his hair, her fingers running through it. It's been awhile since he's thought about the details of that day so intimately, but it still hurts. Those wounds would probably never heal fully - the suffering he'd seen, as Noctis mourned the loss of his love while they kept moving by necessity. They shouldn't heal, really. He should never forget why it was so important that they keep fighting. ]

No, I...I'm okay.

[ He's the only person here who knows this story in its fullness now. It deserved to be shared, for the sake of the memory of his friends.

But it can't be the easiest thing to listen to, either, so he turns his head to kiss the inside of her wrist before he finally opens his eyes again, ready to go on. ]

...Things were pretty tense after that. [ He'd tried to keep the peace, but...it hadn't gone so well. ] We were headed to Gralea, the capital of the Empire after that, so Noct could get the rest of his arsenal and find Shiva, but...

[ This is where things get complicated, for him. ]

I sorta...dropped out of the picture for awhile. We...didn't meet back up until we all made it to the capital.

[ If he asks, he'll tell her what happened to him. But - gods, it's so much a story in itself. He's not worried about what she'll think of him - still a pleasantly thrilling realization - but...

He'll wait for her to start him down that path. ]

[ he says he's okay, and she believes him, but.. still, maybe they should stop for the night. she wants to learn about him, to know everything about him and all the people and events that shaped him into the wonderful man he is, but not at the cost of his comfort or happiness.

but he goes on nonetheless, and that's fine too, if he feels he is up for it.

.. though what he says next has her hesitating. frowning thoughtfully, she opens her eyes again to look down into his face, her hand stilling in his hair. ]

Do you want to talk about it?

[ she finally asks, low and soft. he might be waiting for her to lead him, but she doesn't know that, and certainly doesn't want to push him for information he isn't willing to give. he's told her so many things in confidence, and of course she knows that he trusts her fully, but trust does not make difficult things easier to talk about. ]

[ It's so sweet, so impossibly thoughtful that she asks that question, though it's hardly surprising, with how carefully she's always handled his fragile heart. So he gives it due consideration, mulling it over in his mind. ]

...I don't know.

[ It's the most honest answer he can give right now, and a moment later, he pulls back just enough so he can meet her eyes again. They're both so tired...and talking about such distressing things isn't going to help that, even if it's keeping the both of them distracted from other matters. Did he want to talk about it? Part of him shies away from it, because he'd dealt with what he needed to from that icy hellscape, and the rest should be left to his past. But another part of him wants to tell her the fullness of it, to share every last detail, to open up that darkest chapter of his life to her completely. That he could tell her and know it wouldn't change how she sees him makes the offer so tantalizing. ]

I learned a lot about myself while I was separated from everyone else. A lot about where I came from. [ Idly, one of his hands trails to the locket around her neck, grasping it loosely between his fingers, lost in thought, lost in memory. ] We were fighting, on the train - the Nifs came, like they always did. Ardyn, he...tricked Noct. I didn't even know what was happening, until...

Until Noct pushed me off the train.

[ He doesn't even realize he's called up Ardyn's name without explaining who he is. He's too swept up in the blur of emotion that is this particular memory, of Noctis threatening to kill him, telling him it was all his fault. It had all seemed like a bad dream, and Prompto had been prepared to write it off as much in the heat of the battle that had beset them. At least, until Noctis had so deliberately pushed him from that train.

He knows that scene for what it truly was now, a deceit, but he still remembers how it felt to have his best friend rush at him with that intense, feverish hate in his eyes. ]

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