fandomtownies | Chilly Boulder; Sunday Afternoon [04/11].

Prompto knew that picking an ice cream place on a weekend like this wasn't going to be the most private spot for a conversation, but he also knew that this conversation? Was definitely going to necessitate some freaking ice cream. If anything, he figured anyone treating their kids to a nice treat that afternoon (or any kids treating themselves, let's be real here) would be too preoccupied with their own shit to really notice to two adults....well, mostly adults...having a presumably boring conversation in the corner.

So he shot Nina a text to let her know to meet him there that pretty much just said they needed to talk with a sad face emoji to accompany it, then he stood there awkwardly trying to focus on the menu and decide what he wanted to get while he waited, unable to stand stand still while rehearsing his side of the conversation over and over again, despite knowing that once they actually sat down and talked, it would probably come out entirely different.

[[ sure, he's expecting a certain sister, but it's an ice cream shop during kidlet weekend! It's definitely open! ]]

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A frowny face during a weekend with kids?

Yeah, like, Nina got that. Some of what Spero had said to her was... not painting a picture of a rosy future so, like, she wasn't really surprised to get a text like that.

Nina wandered in shortly after she got the text.

"Decided what to get yet??????????" she asked.

Prompto's fingers were dancing an erratic cadence against themselves when Nina walked in; he couldn't quite get them to stop so he moved that energy into a bouncing foot instead and trying to make it seem like his smile wasn't actually, like, really super forced.

Which was a pretty useless thing to try with Nina, anyway, but there they were, he was going to do it anyway.

"Probably everything?" he said with a totally natural little chuckle. "Don't they have a special that's, like, pretty much the size of a toddler? Maybe that..."

"I believe that's the Skywalker," she said, and it was probably no surprise that Nina sounded much more believably casual. "If you eat all that yourself, you'll be sick----how about we share it??????????"

He was still going to eat way more of it than she was, let's be real.

Actually, there was a good chance he'd get maybe two bites into it and be sick before they even got to the conversation; he was already feeling a little nauseous, so it was going to end up being more ice cream soup than actually consumed, but...

"Yeah," he said. "That sounds good. Let's do that."

Maybe they'd be able to foist it off on some random kids if they came in...

"Sounds good," she said, nudging him gently with her shoulder. "Go pick a seat!!!!!!! I've got this!!!!!!!!!!!"

Wouldn't that be perfect if some of those random kids just happened to be unaccompanied by an adult, as well.

After all, what was an Argentum meeting without at least a little bit of chaos being sewn into the fabric of the island by their influence, right?

Prompto looked like he was about to object, even opened his mouth a little bit and made possibly the first sound of that objection, but it faltered and he sighed, and he just nodded.

"Y-yeah," he said again. "Okay."

He was hoping that, if anything, sitting down might help him be less twitchy about all of this, but, no, once he got there, all sitting down seemed to do was give him somehting he could drum his fingers on while he waited, in a melody that seemed pretty random at first but definitely slowly involved into the distinct notes of the chocobo song. Which he increased in tempo each time he cycled through it and oddly enough actually did make him feel a little bit better.

A little bit.

Gods, he hated these weekends sometimes.

Honestly, Nina didn't take too long at the counter, since the staff was going to have to bring their order out to them.

(She kind of wondered what happened if someone ordered one to go...)

She took a seat, managing to be both prim and casual at the same time, and looked at her brother seriously.

"Do you, like, need a hug before we start talking?"

There was, at least, something much more genuine in the soft laugh Prompto gave to that, a sort of relieved breath and a small blush for the fact that he was probably being a little dramatic right now. "Naw," he said, giving his head a small shake and his sister a gentle smile. "I'm good."

If she gave him a hug now, he'd probably be a mess before he even started.

Then he hesitated a little, picking at a hangnail on his thumb as he wondered if he should wait until their ice cream was ready before getting into it. He could try to ease into it, too, although he was pretty sure they didn't need a lot of preamble for Nina to know what they were here for.

"So."

Alright, that was a start, just a little more there, Prompto...

"Spero sure is something, huh?"

Edited 2021-04-11 16:01 (UTC)

"He's a real sweetie," she said, with a gentle sort of smile. "But I'd guess that's not what you're getting at........"

There was a statement right there on the edge of his tongue, that he'd rehearsed in his head about a million times over, and he should just get it out, but maybe he should just wait until the ice cream got here before he got into that, and his brow furrowed, and maybe he wouldn't even have to say, Nina was so smart, she'd probably figure it out, and then he wouldn't have to say it. But maybe he probably should say it, saying it would acknowledge it, accept it, or...or...something.

He swallowed hard; his knee began bouncing underneath the table, dancing along with the way he was dancing around the subject.

"Looks a lot like me, too."

Those eyes. Like looking into a mirror...

“He really does,” she agreed, eyes on him because it didn’t really matter what she thought, what she made of it, here and now.

What mattered was what Prompto thought and wanted to say.

“It was one of the first things I noticed at dinner last night.”

Prompto was looking down at a spot on the table, without really seeing it very much, but he did look up, head still down, over at Nina when he asked, "Did you notice anything else?"

Probably not. Ignis was clearly the person in charge of dressing the kid, with those neat button-down shirts, the sweaters, long sleeves that were well-tailored and fit to perfection. But Nina was a spy. She was observant. Maybe she did notice, despite that, and she already knew, and this whole conversation was pointless and they didn't even need to have it at all...

“Ignis dresses him,” she observed, but lightly.

It wasn’t that Nina knew, exactly, but she was smart and in Eos magic was limited. Two men weren’t likely to have a bio-kid related to both of them and surrogacy wouldn’t have would up with...

Well. Spero, as he was.

“I didn’t see what you’re asking if I saw,” she said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised.”

There was something like relief in the weak smile Prompto gave her at that answer, a smile as watery as his eyes suddenly felt, but he still felt oddly that her being able to figure it out without him saying it somehow felt...cowardly. Like it was right fucking there and he was still running away from it.

He nodded a little bit, which was the most confirmation he seemed capable of giving her right now, his hands now in his lap right now, under the table, so she wouldn't see him rubbing his wrists where the leather straps of his gloves covered them, and his shoulders slumped forward a little while he tried to force himself to get the words out...or even find them...even though he'd rehearsed it, like, a million times in his head.

"Yeah," he finally managed quietly, back on the spot on the table. "He's....he's got 'em.

Just fucking say it. Yeah, she knew what he was talking about, but it was important for him to say it.

"The barcodes."

Aaaaaand there it was.

Nina hesitated for a long time--long enough that two of the staff came over, lugging their ridiculous ice cream order.

She blinked at Prompto over a truly outrageous amount of sugar.

"Isn't it better, then, that he's got you to raise him???????"

Chilly Boulder; Sunday Afternoon [04/11].

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