paladorable | acatalepsy ☀ inbox

you got it in one!
but you see, a lot of things that would normally make you smile will be happening
there lies the challenge
if you're up for it, that is ;)

[ Even if he couches it in teasing, Prompto means that. He won't force his company on anyone right now, when they're all hurting and recovering from the loss of Akvos. ]

I dunno if I’m up for a challenge, but I wouldn’t mind some company if that’s what you’re offering.

hey i can offer that too!
we can work up to trying not to smile :)
you at your room?
i'm not interrupting anything am i?

[ He doesn't want to be That Guy. ]

You’re not. I was just about to step out for a stroll. You’re welcome to join me, if you like.

i'd love to man! i can meet you in the court yard in just a jiff?

[ It's posed as a question, because he has to give Arenvald one last chance to back out, if he isn't feeling Prompto's company right now. He would...get it, if he wasn't. ]

Sure! See you there. ☺

[ In record time (thanks, super speed), Prompto is outside in the courtyard, waiting for Arenvald to appear, though perhaps he should have taken more time to get there, because as it stands now, he paces around so fervently that he runs a real risk of burning a hole in the grass.

While he waits, he considers what he should even do here. Would it be better to try and distract Arenvald, to try to cheer him up by focusing on anything but Akvos? Or...should they talk about it? Prompto is not especially good at talking-about-it in general, but he is a good listener and he is trying to do better. He doesn't have his best friend here with him anymore. He has to find other people to open up to, or he knows he'll crack. He's come too close too many times.

But this is about Arenvald, first and foremost, so before deciding anything, he'll see how his friend fares when he arrives. ]

[ Arenvald isn’t far from the courtyard, so Prompto doesn’t have to wait long. He can guess what this is about – Prompto is checking up on him, and he does appreciate that. The events in Akvos hit them all in different ways, some of them are better at coping than others. Arenvald personally has tried not to dwell on it – it was awful, to be sure, but this is not the first large-scale loss he has ever seen or experienced. Perhaps he just compartmentalizes better than some. ]

Careful you don’t wear a hole in the grass.

[ He says it lightly as he approaches. Over-all, he looks fine. Most of his frustrations were vented at the training dummies in the Circle’s sparring grounds, and he sports a welt or two and a bruise or three on his hands and arms as a result. Still, he’s smiling, so that’s something, right? ]

I didn’t keep you waiting long, I hope.

[ A smile is certainly something, and seeing Arenvald wear one bolsters Prompto's courage a bit. His own widens at his friend's approach, his keen, amiable light still apparent in his eyes even if he looks a little frayed at the edges. It's going to be okay. That's just — he has to keep hoping for that. ]

Me? Nah, I was probably a little too early-bird. But I didn't want to hang around too long and miss out on hangin' out with my pal Arenvald!

[ There's a lot in his smile that he doesn't say, then. The warmth, the concern — the understanding. ]

How you been holdin' up, anyway?

[ He finally asks it. ]

[ It’s a simple question, but Arenvald knows better than to take it at face value. Prompto had a front row seat to the darkest day of Arenvald’s life and there had been something like commiseration there. Even as Arenvald doubted himself, questioned whether or not his own life was worth the lives of the people he loved, Prompto was there, assurances upon his lips.

Arenvald is more grateful for that than he knew, at the moment. ]

Ah, I’m alright, I suppose. There’s been a lot of things to deal with on all fronts, but all we can do is press forward, yeah? I figured out long ago that that’s what A’aba and Aulie would want me to do.

[ Right. A'aba and Aulie. They've now come full circle from that time that Prompto had caught Arenvald wandering off after a vision of A'aba when they were sick. He didn't know then just how important Arenvald's friend was to him, but it's hardly surprising, is it? Arenvald is the sort of person who cares deeply about his friends, just like Prompto does.

He just didn't know before...how he'd lost them.

His eyes crinkle with his smile. ]

Yeah. Yeah, they would. Heh...I bet they'd be real happy to hear you say that.

[ It’s almost a relief, in its way, to have someone who knows what it was like for him in that moment. A selfish line of thought, because he wouldn’t wish that sort of pain and gruesome horror upon his worst enemy, let alone someone he considered a friend, but he also realizes that it was the magic of the rift that made that choice for him. Now Prompto knows, and he doesn’t feel quite so alone. ]

They would.

So, are you checking up on me, Prompto?

[ Because if their positions were reversed, he’d do the same. ]

[ For as horrible as it was to witness, if there's any good that came of it, it is that he does understand now. Nothing has really changed about how he views his friend, but that shared knowledge has solidified something between them. A deep trust, and Prompto just return the favor, but —

Well, that's neither here nor there, right now.

A slanted grin cracks his face at the question, his fingers scratching through the hair at the nape of his neck. ]

Heh, got it in one. Guess I kinda gave it away with the "try not to smile" game, huh?

[ That, and...well, a lot of them are all checking in with each other right now. ]

It's just...Akvos. [ That's really all that needs to be said. ] I-I wanted to make sure...you weren't feelin' too low, man.

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