sparkstrikes | empatheias IC contact. (archive)

[ Her delivery, however flat, is absolutely perfect, and a laugh bubbles out of Prompto in response. ]

You nailed it! Ker-powzah! [ Then, a bit more sheepishly: ] I know it's a little...large, but you know what they say! Go big or go home!

[ Sometimes, that means literally. ]

A little large, yeah...

[That's an oxymoron if she's ever heard one...

Lightning tries her best to wrap her arms around the bear to relieve Prompto of it for a while, and the thing is surprisingly heavy for a giant stuffed animal. Once she's got a good enough hold on it, after having to catch her balance a couple of times before finally finding it, she peers around its arms at Prompto while she wiggles backwards away from the entrance and towards the living room.]

... You didn't have to, y'know.

[ Prompto is careful with the handover, not wanting to accidentally topple either of them over, or drop the bear onto Daisy and risk suffocating her. This thing is probably more a hazard than anything else, but hey, it's at least cute, right?

(He really hopes she thinks it's cute.)

Once Lightning begins to...waddle, more or less, back to the living room, Prompto follows, hot on her heels. ]

What, get you a giant stuffed bear? 'Course I did! It's your special day!

[ Though he did refrain from bringing any confetti or noisemakers, you're welcome. ]

[It's definitely a hazard, but it's a cute hazard, so she'll forgive him. However, Lightning isn't one to say as much, even when her smile betrays her silence.

She takes him to the living room and sets him down on one side of the couch, or rather... an entire half. She has to pause to adjust him so that he's sitting like a proper bear, with his (nonexistent) knees together and his hands folded neatly on his lap before Lightning slumps down to take a seat next to him.]

Is it? Just seemed like any other Sunday to me. Except Serah's made breakfast and I hear there'll be cake later... too bad every Sunday's not like this, huh...

[ As Lightning poses the bear, Prompto tucks a hand beneath his chin and nods thoughtfully at her progress. Yes, that will do. Stuffles is a proper gent, it's only appropriate that he should sit like one! ]

Yeah, well...that'd only happen if every Sunday was your birthday!

[ Yeah, she might be coy about it, but he isn't!! He drops into the nearest armchair, sitting forward to lean on his knees. ]

So, how does it feel? What wisdom can you bestow upon us, O Wizened Lightning Farron?

[ By "us", he means himself and the bear, of course. Oh, and Daisy. ]

[Quietly:] Whose birthday is it?

[She jests, and leans over until her side is resting against Stuffles'. He makes a good pillow, she'll give it that much! It makes his arm slide from his lap, though, but Lightning adjusts it soon enough.

Prompto's gesture is not lost on her, and although she may not have thanked him yet, her smile is brimming with gratitude and appreciation. Honestly, the best birthday present he could give her is being here, but the bear does add to its charm.]

Wisdom? [She lets her smile fade and feigns offense at his question.] Why? How old do you think I am?

[Answer carefully!]

[ Wow, she can't ask that question! Except for on her birthday, Lightning can ask any question that she wants. But how is Prompto supposed to answer that? He knows better than to try and guess a lady's age!

He drums his fingers on his knees as he looks her over, as if gather important intel that will lead him to the truth. ]

You're...twenty-two. Twenty-three? You can't be much older than me. I don't think.

[ If it turns out Lightning is actually younger than him, it's going to rock his world. ]

Hm.

[Lightning stares at him for a while, silent and neutral-faced, with her lips pressed together. Then, she stands upright and walks out of the room without a single word, leaving Prompto alone with Stuffles staring right at him through his large beady eyes. 'Sup. Her movement to get up tilts his head sideways and forces his hand to drop back to his side.

It's not long before she returns with a plate of bacon in one hand, and a glass of orange juice in the other, both of which are placed on the coffee table between them. The drink is slid closer to Prompto, indicating that it's for him.]

Close. Try five hundred and twenty-three.

[Was that disappearing act even necessary!?!? Probably not, but she wanted to leave a bit of suspense!!]

[ It absolutely is suspenseful, and from the moment Lightning stands up, giving him that stony look, he's sure he's said something wrong. Was his guess that far off?! He should've known better than to try and guess her age! For those few long seconds, he can only sit there and sputter, trying to form a cohesive apology or explanation or anything, but she's gone into the kitchen before he musters anything up.

And on her birthday, of all days...he exchanges a knowing look with Stuffles, who seems to have disappointment in his big, black eyes.

But then she's returning a moment later with food and an answer. Close, she says, and he fumbles the piece of bacon he just picked up as she gives her answer, his eyebrows flying into his hair. ]

F-five hundred and— c'mon, you're pullin' my leg!

[ ...Isn't she? She must be. ]

[Her standing up and leaving like that was probably a lot meaner than it needed to be, but the walk to the kitchen and back for some food and a drink for him was worth every single second of his reaction she managed to catch. Her arm wraps around Stuffles as soon as she gets comfortable with her own piece of bacon, and Lightning pauses to munch on a bite before waving it at him.]

If you wanna lie about your age, why go for five hundred?

[Not that she's ashamed at all about being twenty-three (and then some), but if she's going to make anything up, she doubts she'd go for that.]

What... You don't believe me?

I-I wouldn't say that, I just...wasn't expecting...

[ There's really no good way to put it, but he crams his piece of bacon into his mouth anyway, to give himself a moment to chew and think. However, even once he's swallowed, he's no closer to an explanation. Or, at least, one that doesn't sound bad. ]

You just...wear five-hundred and twenty-three really well! Not a wrinkle on you! [ He chuckles, sheepish but warm. ] Sorry. I believe you. Unless you're just pulling an extra-special birthday bluff on me.

[ Which he doesn't really suspect, but how could she actually be that old? ]

[It's fine, really. It does admittedly sound very farfetched when she says it out loud like that, but there couldn't be anything closer to the truth. Though, she'll continue to go with twenty-three when (if) she tells others since it's a prettier number anyway.

As for the wisdom he's asked her to impart on him?

Lightning pauses to take one more bite of her bacon and stretches before she bestows it.]

Wanna know the trick?

[She leans forward and lowers her voice, like she's really about to tell him her ancient, long-kept secret.]

[ His eyes flicker between the bacon and Lightning, anticipation drumming up inside him, absolutely certain he's about to hear something very cool. After all, even if Lightning weren't as old as she says, she would still doubtless have plenty of mind-blowing things to tell him. Though considering the circumstances, he's halfway convinced it has something to with bacon. ]

You bet I do. Lay it on me, girl.

[ He is hanging on her every word. ]

[Thinking about it now, Lightning realizes that she knows quite a bit about Prompto but he knows very little about her. There are some things she doesn't share so openly with others, like what she's about to disclose, but if done in the right way she doesn't mind talking about it so much. Besides, it's not as if he's difficult to open up to. In fact, she thinks she needs to learn to do so more often...

No better time to start than now, right?

Despite the very real heaviness of her admission, she makes an effort to keep the tone light.]

Plenty of sleep – five centuries of it. You'll wake up without a wrinkle, and your skin'll glow.

[Lightning motions to the juice on the table.]

Or just drink a lot of fluids.

[SO PROFOUND... ~~And not as clever as it was supposed to be!!!~~]

[ So, it doesn't have to do with bacon after all.

But what she does tell him is far more important than anything that could have to do with bacon—or even sleep habits, even if that is what she couches her response in. It's a technique he knows well, buffing the edges of something sharp an unexpected with humor to lessen the blow, but the impact of it is still not lost on him. She's telling him about herself, about her past, and this unexpected part of it that can't be easy to explain. After all, they've just been over it. She doesn't look like she's over five-hundred years old, and there must be quite the story to go along with that if she was sleeping for five centuries.

Yet this doesn't seem like the right time to ask about it, even if she did bring it up herself. There's still so much he doesn't know about the life she led back on her home world, and perhaps he should have been asking about it sooner. Yet Prompto has never been one to pry, well-acquainted with the fact that some people—many people—have secrets they want to keep, and he would never want Lightning to feel obligated to tell him anything, even if she does know his own secret. Besides, that kind of thing isn't always easy to talk about, and that's not usually the kind of mood he tries to set.

Still, she's just told him something pretty major about her past, and he's not going to brush it off with a laugh, even if it takes a similar approach to her, lifting his glass of orange juice in his hand. ]

Hey, good advice. Just don't tell Noct that first part. If sleeping for five centuries is an option, he'd do it.

[ Little does he know... ]

But—hey, I think that calls for a toast, don't you? Not every day you get to celebrate the big five-two-three!

[ An orange juice toast, yes. ]

[She's appreciative of the fact that he draws no further attention to it. There's a time and a place for that talk, and now is definitely not the time – they have company and she's not sure how Stuffles would feel about them dampening the mood on her birthday... probably not very good! One day, the opportunity to tell him all about it will present itself, she's sure of that, and when it does she'll know.

For now, she'll settle for a toast. There's only one problem!]

I don't have anything to toast with.

[Whoops, in the middle of her attempts at being cheeky, she forgot to grab a glass of something to drink for herself. That's fine, there's probably a "when life gives you lemons" saying for situations like this, so she'll go by that mantra. Lightning picks up a piece of bacon and raises it at Prompto, and the corner of her lip twitches upward.]

To the big five-two-three, I guess.

[She probably looks really dumb right now, but whatever. She's in good company.]

[ He can't help a snort of laughter when she lifts the piece of bacon to toast with. He might've overlooked the fact that she didn't have a drink of her own, but this improvisation is even better. Chuckling warmly, he tips the lip of his glass to her piece of bacon, meeting her gaze with genuine joy at the corner of his eyes. ]

To the big five-two-three! May you have many happy returns.

[ And then he kicks back the glass of O.J., takes a few heart mouthfuls — before he swallows down the wrong tube and has to cough into the glass to avoid dying. He doesn't, however, avoid sounding and looking like an idiot, snorting orange juice inelegantly through his nose and turning his head to sputter into his shoulder.

What a toast... ]

[What a toast, indeed... but there'll be many more toasts to come in the future that he can master the art in no time! She's sure of it. Whether it's birthdays or other, bigger celebrations, Lightning is hopeful that they'll be sharing more memories like this one, as simple as it is. There's something special about how regular this is (minus the fact that they just toasted to five hundred and twenty-three years!), and there had been a time when she'd forgotten what living was like. She could help save the world over and over again, but when it boils down to it, eating a slice of bacon next to a giant stuffed bear is truly living.

Lightning waits for him to finish his choking (why isn't she helping him!?!?), and after leaning forward to check if he's alright, she finishes off her slice of bacon as if it were her own glass of orange juice.

And as her smile warms, so does the room as the sun peeks through the window and basks them in its glow.]

Thank you, Prompto... for this.

[For everything.]

empatheias IC contact. (archive)

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so i totally forgot what it was i actually wanted her to say.....

i've done that so many times...

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wrapping :)