The Photo Hut - Thursday

[flamesburned]

Liz had not slept at all last night.

The last place Liz felt like being was work right now but she still had a bit of work to catch up from the other day and she was clinging to her phone in case Prompto called her. She also figured that work might at least help distract her while she tried to figure out what to do.

She had been worried when she had woken up yesterday and Prompto wasn’t there with no kind of note where he had gone, she had thought that maybe he had gone out for an early training session or maybe he had another job on the mainland and there wasn’t enough time to leave a note but as the day went on and there was no word from him, her worry had only increased … the reminder of that time that he had been gone with no way of getting through to him. She had tried calling him but she hadn’t been able to reach him and that only made things worse and then another fear had settled in, what if he had decided he didn’t want to marry her anymore and had just decided to leave?

By the time it had been evening, Liz knew that something was really wrong … she knew that Prompto wouldn’t have been out that late without telling her and after several repeated attempts at calling failed, all she could really do was try and wait to hear from him, she’d had plenty of practice at that .. waiting for him, what if he had ended up back on Eos and he was stuck there again?

It had taken a lot of effort to force herself to get ready that morning for work, to make sure she at least ate something because she had not had the stomach to eat dinner but she knew she couldn’t go back to how she had been before Prompto returned even though eating was the last thing she felt like doing.

When she got downstairs to work, she kept her phone as close to her as possible and every now and then she kept checking it as she tried to do some work but she was finding it extremely hard to concentrate on what she was doing.

[Prompto modded with permission! The Photo Hut is open!]

Comments

[chef_chocobro]

There had been discussions, recently, between Gladio and Ignis about giving the gym a little bit of a make-over, which was clearly all Ignis' doing since the aesthetics of the place were hardly much of a concern to Gladio. And, of course, Ignis had taken to the project with meticulous determination to ensure that it was perfect, which meant taking plenty of pictures for reference. He'd definitely dropped the film off at the Photo Hut earlier that week; surely they'd be ready by now?

So after the morning workout, he headed over to check in on their progress. "Good morning, Liz," he greeted her. "I hope you're doing--"

He stopped a little, as he actually looked at her.

"--well," he finished, skeptically, because she clearly did not look well in the slightest, and he frowned. "Should I come back at another time?"

[flamesburned]

It took Liz a few moments to process that someone had come into the store, she had been staring blankly at her computer screen trying to stop the panic that was rising in her the longer that she went without hearing from Prompto.

“…Ignis?” she tilted her head slightly as she looked at him in surprise, “you …um...your eyes...um”

It seemed rude to point out that he wasn’t blind anymore.

“I … sorry, no ... um ...” she moved closer to the counter, “um … you haven’t heard from Prompto have you? I haven’t heard from him since yesterday morning?”

Maybe Ignis knew what was happening?

[chef_chocobro]

Ignis' frown deepened; even though he didn't really know Liz very much at all, it was difficult to not find her disjointed and clear distress a little troubling. He looked her over carefully, but quickly, for a moment to determine a bit more about the state of her current condition.

"Prompto?" he asked, then lightly shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I don't..." He hesitated a little before admitting, "believe I even know who that is..."

The name absolutely didn't sound familiar, and he did try to keep up with radio, but he supposed a few people may have slipped through the cracks.

[flamesburned]

It took Liz a moment to remember how to breathe and then a little sob escaped, she tried so very hard to keep those tears from falling because she didn’t want to break down crying in front of another one of Prompto’s friends.

“You …you don’t know Prompto?” she said in a very tired and a very quiet voice.

It was taking all of her self control not to cry, she raised her hand that had her engagement ring on and placed it on her bump, “he’s …he’s…” she couldn’t form the words and another sob escaped.

[chef_chocobro]

In addition to be now more even more confused, it was clear that Liz was quite distressed, and Ignis hesitated for a moment, not entirely sure what to do. But he moved over to her, softening his voice in hopes that it might be a little bit more of a comfort, and offering out a gentle, consoling hand on her shoulder, if she seemed receptive to it.

"Is everything alright, Liz? You seem rather upset."

Understatement of the month award goes to...

[flamesburned]

Liz had been so tense with worry that when Ignis placed the comforting hand on her shoulder, her shoulders slumped and she lost

“Are …is …so …” she really wasn’t sure what to say, her thoughts were too jumbled, from what she did know about Ignis it didn’t seem likely that he would make a mistake like this not knowing who Prompto and he wouldn’t make a cruel joke like this, that much she was certain of, “I …I …no,” she finally said in a very quiet at his question and then she burst into tears.

Sorry Ignis.

[chef_chocobro]

On the one hand, being Shield of the King meant that this Ignis was even more stunted than the other one in terms of personal interactions, but, on the other hand, he also knew a lot about de-escalating a situation.

It usually was the more fight-y, punch-y kind of situation, but he figured, in this case, turning that hand on Liz's shoulder into a careful embrace would not be entirely remiss.

"There, there," he offered. Not exactly soothingly, but at least patiently. "It's alright. Just let it out and, when you're ready, try again."

[flamesburned]

It had been at least a few months since Liz had cried like this and she leaned a little into that comforting embrace as she let out those tears.

The last twenty four hours of all that build up catching up to her and she sobbed for a good several minutes before she was able to calm down.

She took several deep breaths, hiccuping as she did before she felt ready to try and speak.

“Prompto’s…he’s, your and Gladio’s friend, you …he’s my fiancé and … “ she let out another sob, “he’s the father of my child,” she indicated the baby bump with her ringed hand.

[chef_chocobro]

Eventually, Ignis gently began to rub Liz's back as sheworked through all her sobs and tears, almost as if to coax them out. And once she'd finished and said her hiccuping piece, it was certainly easy to see why she was so incredibly distraught.

Even if he was mystified as ever by her thinking he and Gladio would know this person. He was quite certain he'd never heard the name Prompto before in his life.

But that hardly mattered right now.

"Do you suppose he's missing?" he asked. "When was the last time you've heard from him?"

[flamesburned]

“I …I thought he might have been busy,” Liz hiccuped and the mun finally got to go on her break”with the baby coming he’s been doing ex-extra jobs, I …” she trembled as it all came out in a rush, “I thought maybe he ju-just forgot to let me know,” she sobbed, trying to calm herself down, which the back rubbing was helping with that.

“It - it was Tuesday night,” she managed to say, “I - that was the last time I heard from him when we went to bed,”

[chef_chocobro]

And now Ignis was trying to think back if there was anything unusual or strange about Tuesday, or even Wednesday morning.

"And he was not there on Wednesdays upon awakening?" he guessed.

[flamesburned]

Liz shook her head and sniffed, “mo-most mornings he’s out training with you and Gladio, I - I didn’t think it was that unusual but then he - he didn’t come home and …and he’s still not back …” the tears were threatening to fall again and she tried to wipe them away.

[chef_chocobro]

"Well," Ignis offered, still not sure what to do with the fact that Liz seemed convinced her fiancé was training with him and Gladio, when it was clearly just the two of them. Perhaps that was simply what this Prompto told her? What an odd lie to tell, but, at the same time, he was now wondering if those 'extra jobs' weren't just some sort of subterfuge as well...

"We'll certain keep an eye out and an ear to the ground. Hopefully, it will be nothing to be concerned about."

[flamesburned]

"Th-Thank you," Liz hiccuped as she tried to continue to calm down, "I ... I'm just worried th - that it will be like last time, that that he'll be gone for ten years,"

She let out another sob, "what if he's ended up back on Eos and he can't get through again?"

[chef_chocobro]

And here Ignis was all set to ask after the fact that this was not a first time occurrence, apparently, but that part swept everything else away, and he blinked at Liz in surprise.

"Eos?" he asked. "Did you say Eos?"

Perhaps he'd merely misheard her, amidst all the blubbering.

[flamesburned]

Liz could only nod miserably, “he’s from Eos, like you and Gladio are,” she said softly, she still had trouble believing that Ignis didn’t seem to know who Prompto was after everything that had happened, “he … he worked with you to protect … Prince N…Noctis,” she winced a little at mentioning the name, “he was…they were best friends,” she said quietly, biting her lip as she did.

[chef_chocobro]

Funny, that, because the mention of Noctis' name made Ignis wince a little, too.

And though he'd tried to dance around that particular part of the conversation, he supposed he had no choice now but to address it directly.

"Liz," he said, "I understand that you're reasonably quite distressed at the moment, but I knew Noctis his entire life, and I assure you, I have never known anyone by that name, let alone as his best friend."

It seemed like such an....odd claim to make, but he supposed it might not have been too farfetched for some random Eosian to have found themselves on this planet, just as he and Gladio have, and, assuming no one would know any better, completely fabricate an entire grand story about being friends with the prince and training with his elite future Kingsglaive, but for Liz to have to deal with her fiancé being missing and a liar in one fell swoop?

That was definitely what Gladio would have called 'a big oof.'

[flamesburned]

Liz didn’t know what else she could say, she didn’t know how else to convince Ignis that Prompto was real and that his story was real and she wasn’t making him up. Even though she knew right now that she sounded rather hysterical, she didn’t blame Ignis for doubting her.

“Wait I have a ph-photo I can show you?” she tried desperately, “will that help?” actually it was several photos but maybe seeing some of them would jog his memory?

What could go wrong with that?

[chef_chocobro]

"....I suppose," Ignis allowed, "it wouldn't hurt."

Perhaps, even though he might not know the name to go along with it, he actually had seen the face before, but if he was just some nobody from Eos with a penchant for tall tales, then he could also have just been an unremarkable face in the crowd, as well.

[flamesburned]

Liz frantically grabbed her phone and brought up her photos, she scrolled back to the ones that had been taken at Thanksgiving and their engagement.

“This is Prompto,” she said hopefully, holding out the phone that had the two of them together.

[chef_chocobro]

Frowning slightly, Ignis reached out to take the phone from Liz so that he could have a closer look, squinting a little as he tried to jog any spark of recognition.

Pity he couldn't show Gladio. In his line of work, he'd always been the one to remember faces and names better. Ignis was usually more focused on merely assessing threats, and this man looked wholly unthreatening on nearly every level.

And utterly, completely unfamiliar.

"I'm so sorry, Liz," he said, handing the phone back. "I'm afraid I do not know the man in that picture."

Although having seen that picture would be of unexpected note once he actually did leave the Photo Hut and stumble across a far more familiar face, indeed.

[flamesburned]

“Oh,” Liz’s shoulders slumped right then, she did t know what else she could do, Ignis didn’t know who Prompto was.

What if she was the only one who remembered him?

She let out another sob, “oh…I …um…”
her voice trailed off as she tried to make her way through her muddled thoughts and fell silent again.