[ OPEN ] ❝ and i don't want to talk about the world ❞

[punshots]

Who: Prompto (punshots) & YOU
What: October catchall, with open prompts for part 1 of the event!
When: Right the heck now!
Where: Around Olympia
Warning(s): sad boy...but none probably?!


I. MARKET DISTRICT.

[ He's there when the bomb goes off.

Not within range to be affected by it, but as a member of the royal guard, Prompto's very assignment is to patrol the market district. Facing down Victarion after he'd killed a man there the week previous had been harrowing enough, given him too much to think about, too many questions to ask about himself and what he was even doing in the guard in the first place. This latest attack is nothing short of a slap across the face.

Not that he lingers on how it makes him feel - he hardly dwells on it. As always, he's feelings are shuffled neatly aside, even when reaching out to his friends - his brothers - to make sure they're okay in the aftermath, only to find his messages rebounding. Noctis, Ingis, and Gladio - all three, in stasis once more.

He's not equipped to deal with this devastation right now, so he doesn't. He bottles it up, sets his jaw, and goes to work. This bomb went off on his watch, so...he has to find the people responsible, right? Of course he does. It's what...Noct would have done.

So he'll be doing the following:

A. Assisting with clean-up. The bomb has made a terrible mess of things, and these merchants in the market district are people he knows well by now. He knows their names, their families, their hopes and dreams, and something like this is nothing short of devastating for many of them. He can't replace what was infected, but he can at least help clear away what's no longer fit to sell.

He approaches with a hefty (just the adjective, not the brand, Hefty TM Reynolds Consumer Products, Inc.) trash bag that's already pretty swollen with infected goods, wearing gloves and a respirator provided by the Institute. For acting as a literal garbage man, he looks pretty chipper. ]

What's the word? [ He gestures to whatever goods they're sorting through. ] Think they'll pass biohazard infection?

[ Isn't this fun? He's having the time of his life. He's fine!

B. Investigating the area. The crime scene itself is the obvious place to start looking for clues to track down the persons responsible for the attack. Word spreads quickly through the guard that they're looking for individuals tattooed with an "M" on their wrists, so he'll address anyone still lingering nearby, looking over his shoulder and hiding his mouth with his hand - he's very...stealthy... ]

Hey...sorry to bug, but - did you happen to see anyone leaving this area around bomb o'clock today?

[ Yep. Still fine! ]

II. CHASING CRIMINALS.

[ Evidently, his investigating does turn up some promising leads, and Prompto is hot on the heels of one of those suspected associates, which he tipped off with his presence far too early and gave the woman a generous headstart. He's pursuing on foot, leaping between vehicles and over stalls - sometimes more gracefully than others - and if he weren't caught up in this, if this weren't so personal for him, he'd probably take a moment to appreciate the fact that he might kind of look like a badass right now.

But he doesn't allow himself that much, and he pursues the suspect to a tall, threadbare building that looks like it might collapse with a single gust of wind. The woman starts to scale it, and, okay, that looks pretty cool, too, but he's come this far. He's not about to lose her trail now.

So he grabs the closest person, frantic as he turns them to face him: ] How good are you at climbing?

[ And then adds, a moment later after glancing between the building and whoever he's grabbed: ] I'm super sorry about this!

III. TENDING THE ILL.

[ If you didn't know any better, you might think Prompto some sort of crazed, overly-enthusiastic delivery man the way he carts around the city on a bike with a basket filled with soup containers. Where did he get a bike? He probably let a kid hold his gun so he could borrow it for the day. It's not important.

Anyway, that's just what he's doing, zipping across Olympia and ferrying the ambrosia of all illnesses, chicken noodle soup, to his friends - and hell, even one-time acquaintances - in need. He'd been quick to contact just about everyone he knows as the news of the sickness spread, to make sure they were okay, and depending on their response, he tabulated them for future reference. That future reference is now, and he's ringing doorbells, dropping off soup, and by and large wearing a much more genuine smile than he has for days.

It's...hard not to, when he's helping people, even if they might not really need his help.

He can also be caught in between stops, catching a breather on lesser-traveled corners, pulling out his camera to flip back through his photos. He has to go back a considerable way before he reaches his pictures from Eos now, a fact which is so bittersweet it has his eyes glassy, but he grins reflexively at the smiling faces that greet him on the little screen.

With a quiet sigh, he murmurs: ] Hang in there, guys...

IV. WILDCARD.

[ Have something else in mind? Hit me up! I can also be reached on Plurk at retroscape for plotting! ]

Comments

[punshots]

[ When she finds him, Prompto looks more frazzled than exhausted, like his nerves are pulling him in every which way and he can't decide which trail to follow. The aftermath of the bomb has cause complete chaos in the market, people spilling every which way to get home to safety, to spread the word, and to find their loved ones.

Prompto can't blame them. If it wasn't his duty to be here he'd be doing just that, and he's been texting like mad to make up the difference.

Fortunately, one of the people he's going to check in on finds him first, and when Lena blinks right in front of him, his face blossoms into an instant grin - even if he has to take a step back in surprise. ]

Whoa - Lena, hey! So glad to see you in once piece! [ ...Even if it wasn't that kind of bomb, the sentiment is the same. ]

Yeah - yeah, I'm fine.

[ You know. Physically. ]

You...weren't around when it went off, were you?

[quevalry]

That's a relief. [ Resting a hand on her chest, she lets out a heavy breath. Going through this is hard for her because, well, the last time an explosion happened, she lost a lot of people.

Or, she thought she did. She actually doesn't know what happened back then now, but now isn't the time to worry about the past. ]

No, I wasn't. I had been working in the Theatre district until I heard a loud noise. I knew I had to come over as soon as I heard it.

Everything okay? Do you need a hand with anything?

[punshots]

[ "Everything okay" is such a loaded question that he decides to not even touch it. It's not - she doesn't need to worry about him right now, when there's so many other people who need their attention and assistance more.

So he focuses on her second question, glancing around at the disastrous market around them. ]

Tryin' to get some leads on what might've happened here. Or...why it happened. You wanna track down some criminals with me?

[ There's so much that needs to be done, he wouldn't blame her if she went to do something else. But this is important, too. ]

[quevalry]

[ tracking down the bad guys is her specialty!

sometimes. okay, not exactly, but she has gotten quite good at it at least. ]

Let's bring them to justice. [ there's no way she is going to let them get away with this, not if she can do anything about it and there is. she can make an attempt to find them and drag their ass back. ]

[punshots]

[ He nods resolutely, glad to have her on the same page as him. He's a follower by nature, and if she'd chosen to take a different course of action, he probably would have gone along with that, too. But short of working on a cure itself, which he knows he'd be no help at, this is the best thing they can do right now for the afflicted. ]

Alright! Let's cut right to the action, then. Word going around is the people involved might have the letter "M" tattooed on their wrists.

[ So...they know who they need to look for. ]

[quevalry]

Letter M... we're going to need to check people who are wearing long sleeves in that case. You okay with that? Might get a little messy.

[ Because the bad guys aren't going to give themselves up without a fight and wearing a sleeve that covers their tattoo is a smart way to move around without people noticing. ]

[punshots]

[ There's a visible moment of hesitation on his end. It's...unfairly invasive, and if someone were to check him like that -

But he'd understand why. They have to understand why, too. This is so important. Critical. ]

Yeah. You know what they say. Gotta roll sleeves up to - catch a criminal?

[ If that wasn't a saying, it is one now. ]

[quevalry]

[ She cracks a smile and that is quickly changed into a laugh. ]

They don't say that, but, I get what you mean. [ She ends up rolling her own sleeves up. ] Time to catch the bad guys though! I just hope we don't have to use any of our weapons.

[punshots]

[ He's quick to nod in agreement. ]

Yeah. Nothing - lethal. [ Which goes without saying, but it's especially true now. These people weren't just criminals - they were paths to the truth. And...they wouldn't be able to tell them anything if they're dead. ]

Where d'you think we should start?

[quevalry]

[ Injuring them isn't part of her plan either.

Or, at least, it will be a last-ditch effort to do so that asking them questions will go more smoothly. ]

They won't be close to the blast area, not anymore, so I reckon start with... whatever direction would be going to the gates.

[punshots]

[ That's as good a plan as any, so she nods, starting down the dusty road in that direction. ]

We should check the side roads going that way, too. They won't just be hangin' around in the middle of the street, waiting for us to arrest them.

[quevalry]

Good point. If we see anyone looking dodgy, just let the other person know too.

[ Her eyes are already doing their job as she's looking around for people that might be a little out of place or fidgety -- which might be hard seeing that, well, everything is on their toes right now. ] Back alleys, here we come.

[punshots]

Awww yeah, we're on the case!

[ And despite the gravity of the situation, he can't help a little kick up in his spirits as he considers how cool something like this actually is. They're like...self appointed detectives. Which have the city seems to be right now, but still! ]

Think we oughtta use code names?

[ He's joking. Mostly. ]

[quevalry]

Code names? Dunno if they're any use here, but I do have one.

[ A super cool one too. Actually, it's been months since she even thought about them and being called by hers. There's a somewhat sad expression that overcomes her face when she thinks about it because, well, she used to love it.

She still does, but it has a lot of memories with it. ]

Whatcha wanna be called?

[punshots]

Me? Well, uh -

[ Even if he was the one who brought this up, he doesn't have an immediate answer ready, actually. He's too busy wondering what her codename might be, and if he's going to pick out one of his own, it's got to be good! Not the sort of thing that he'll regret picking in ten minutes.

So as they start down the alley, with a pensive look on his face: ]

Ha...how about...Quicksilver? Pretty badass, yeah?

[ stares directly into the camera ]

[quevalry]

Quick... silver?

[ She raises an eyebrow and thinks about it for a moment. Prompto, pls. ] I suppose it works, because of how you use that gun of yours. The only real problem is it's long, but that's no biggie. [ It shouldn't matter much when they're in the heat of a fight.

If they get into a fight. ]

[punshots]

[ Hey, it's pretty cool, right? It has a nice ring to it, even if it's a bit of a mouthful. Given the way things usually go when he tries to come up with names, it could have been much worse. ]

Great! Uh - but what about you? You said you've...already got one?

[ Not gonna lie, he's really curious about what hers could be now! ]

[quevalry]

[ here it is!

grinning, Lena strikes one of her famous poses and gives him a two-finger salute. ]

Names Tracer, love! Here to serve, [ the words spill out with a rather loud laugh. it feels good to call herself tracer again after all. ]

[punshots]

[ He's grinning in an instant as she strikes a pose, and he wishes he had his camera ready to snap a picture of her doing it. Now that's a codename! ]

Tracer, huh? That sounds so badass! But I bet you don't need me to tell you that. [ He laughs along with her, mirth spilling out of him. ] Did you get that from your blinking thing?

[quevalry]

[ Prompto, pls bring your camera next time -- ]

Haha, thanks! And yeah, that's right. One of my friends went by Mercy as well because she was a doctor ... or is. Yeah. [ She nods her head a couple of times. She isn't here anymore, she's back in stasis, but that still means she's a doctor. ]

[punshots]

So, uh...can I ask what you had a codename for? I mean - are you a superhero? Because if so, you seriously buried the lead, there.

[ This exact thing happened with Kate, after all. Why aren't people more forthcoming about their superhero status? It's so cool... ]

[quevalry]

Uh, some people think of us as superheroes... but we were just part of an organization that's a global peacekeeping force. We just went to places and helped people out, protect them and all that jazz.

[ She puts her hands behind her head as she walks, a somewhat sad smile spreading out on her lips. ]

[punshots]

Just a part of an organization that's a global peacekeeping force? [ Lena, please. ]

Sounds a lot like a superhero if you ask me! That is so cool. I can't believe there're worlds out there where teams of heroes working together to save the world are actually real! It's like something straight out of a comic book.

[ Which means meeting people like her is, like, his childhood dream come true. ]

[quevalry]

Doesn't a superhero have super powers though? ... Though, I mean, I guess I sort of do have one. [ Her cheeks flush red as she scratches it. Yeah, it does sound like she's a superhero.

It actually makes her heart skip a beat to be thought about like that. A hero, someone that people can look up to and rely on. There's a jump in her step and she looks to the side before her face falls slightly and Lena nudges Prompto with her elbow. ]

Over there. [ She nods her head to a group that looks like they're trying to sneak into an alleyway without being seen. ]

[punshots]

Yeah, you totally -

[ But before he can really get the thought off, Lena is nudging him, and he follows the direction of her nod. The group doesn't look like they've spotted them yet, but Prompto doesn't want to risk that, so he presses himself flat against the nearest wall.

He can do stealth mode when he needs to!! ]

Okay, those guys are definitely up to something.