Prompto Argentum (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hashtag_chocobro) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomtownies2024-12-02 05:38 am
hashtag_chocobro) wrote in fandomtownies2024-12-02 05:38 am
The Park; Monday Morning [12/02].
Prompto was about to go stomping off for the Infinite Consortium that morning to demand answers from Liliana when he woke up to find his daughter playing with a pony in the living room that morning, but it didn't take him long after bundling his daughter up and stepping outside to realize that there were ponies (in adorable sweaters, trying to eat anything they possibly could get their mouths close enough to) everywhere.
And he had possibly lost his hearing from the excited shriek in his ear when Noctra realized this, too, and so now there they were, at the park, where his daughter was losing her mind over adorable ponies in sweaters trying to eat her hair and her jacket, and he saw everything he'd been fighting with Liliana ever since she made a comment about getting Noctra a pony of her own come crashing down before his very eyes, and he shook his head.
"I don't care if we get stuck there," he murmured to himself, "we have got to get this girl to a chocobo farm ASAP..."
Which wasn't true, of course. He'd never forgive himself it he wound up being the reason Liz missed out on Christmas with her people. But, so help him, after today, he was going to be holding his breath until New Year's.
[[ open park is open! ]]
And he had possibly lost his hearing from the excited shriek in his ear when Noctra realized this, too, and so now there they were, at the park, where his daughter was losing her mind over adorable ponies in sweaters trying to eat her hair and her jacket, and he saw everything he'd been fighting with Liliana ever since she made a comment about getting Noctra a pony of her own come crashing down before his very eyes, and he shook his head.
"I don't care if we get stuck there," he murmured to himself, "we have got to get this girl to a chocobo farm ASAP..."
Which wasn't true, of course. He'd never forgive himself it he wound up being the reason Liz missed out on Christmas with her people. But, so help him, after today, he was going to be holding his breath until New Year's.
[[ open park is open! ]]
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The phone was in his pocket for about three minutes before he said, "Oh, shit!" and hastily pulled it back out again in realizing that Liliana probably would not be terribly texting Ignis.
i took noctra out to the park to play. y??
The extra question mark was definitely a demarcation of extra suspicion.
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Oh good that means you're already out and about.
Was that her ignoring the extra-suspicious question? Indeed it was.
Hopefully they would still be present at the park when Liliana arrived in a rickshaw, carrying several bags. And looking entirely pleased with herself.
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Prompto sighed at his phone.
not 4 2 long tho, don't want her to catch a cold or anything u know??
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Of course. I also don't enjoy the cold enough to linger long.
She waved as she spotted them, and directed the rickshaw to drop her and her bags off next to them. "Ah, good, you're still here," she said gaily, giving Noctra a little finger waggle in hello. "I wasn't sure if she'd be able to convince you to allow her to sit upon or R-I-D-E one of these, since they're so small and adorable, and, if so, thought it would be best to be here myself, since no one should be R-I-D-Eing without supervision from an experienced horseperson."
She pulled out an apple from the bag and a sharp knife from somewhere on her person and began to quarter it. "I don't intend to suggest doing so, in case that sourpuss expression is somehow for me."
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And there went his grand scheme to call up Ignis to run interference and distraction before she got any big ideas. Furtively, he tucked his phone away again, while a small stampede of ponies and Noctra came rushing toward them, especially once that apple was out.
Prompto snorted faintly. "She'd definitely been trying," he admitted, "but no such luck yet, thank gods."
Mostly because Prompto kept plucking her up whenever she even started trying, but still!
Noctra, meanwhile, unphased by thr stumble she took on her rush over, breathlessly bounced up and down when she reached them.
"Aunt Liliana! Aunt Liliana! Looooook! Pooooooniiiiieessss!"
And with a shrieking giggle, she was throwing her arms around the neck of the closest pony and blowing and enthusiastic raspberry into its mane.
"Aren't you usually working at the shop on Mondays?" Prompto asked, as well, apropos of nothing.
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The 'Aunt' startled her a bit (yes again), but Liliana recovered with remarkable aplomb. "Yes," she said. "Though you should know, darling, my work ethic hardly exists." You know, in case Prompto was going to try strongly suggesting she should get back to it.
And then she was smiling down at the little dark-haired girl. "Indeed," she said. "However, these are naughty little ponies. Very cute, but not well-behaved at all." She held out an apple slice to the pony Noctra was hugging. "Would you like to learn how to carefully feed them? I will only teach you if you promise to do it exactly how I show you." She hunkered down in front of Noctra, looking directly into those big blue eyes that gave her father such pangs, and spoke to the girl with genuine gravity. "Because these are naughty ponies, you have to be extra well-behaved to make up for them--I can't trust them to behave, so I need to be able to trust you to be good and responsible. Can I trust you to listen and mind me?"
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--oh, never mind.
But Prompto knew he'd already lost this one the moment Noctra locked in on Liliana, and she pulled in her hands to her chest to curl them in the way she always did when she was in rapt attention, and her head started bobbing, face as serious as she could manage while also clearly vibrating with the excitement of what was going on.
"Yeth," she promised. "I'll be good. An a'sponsible. I feed aminals a lot! At the shelter. Daddy says it's oh-kay!"
Her eyes shifted to Prompto for a confirmation, and he nodded. "Yeah, nugget," he assured her. "It's okay, but like Aunt Liliana said, you gotta be extra good and listen carefully, got it?"
"I got it! I got it!" she insisted, with a wave of her hand that she definitely picked up elsewhere.
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Nobody - especially not Liliana - had ever called her a good role model. Though Noctra did do that wave very nicely.
"First, we're only going to feed one pony," Liliana said. "You notice how all these ponies like to push and shove to get to food? We don't want them to do that when you're feeding a pony. That could end up with you, me, or one of the ponies hurt. So, rule number one: only hand-feed a pony when it's by itself."
Some flung apple chunks and a few well-placed spells dispersed the rest of the herd - no pony liked the feeling of biting flies. Once they were alone with Noctra's preferred pony, Liliana kept up her lecture, telling Noctra how to slowly and carefully approach, how they were only going to feed the pony if it was staying calm and still, how to hold pieces on the flat of her palm, and what to do if the pony did something that scared her. "For right now, I'm going to keep my hand under yours, Noctra," Liliana said, letting the back of Noctra's hand rest on her palm, "so I know you're keeping your hand nice and flat."
She'd cut an apple in half during her lecture, and placed it on the girl's open palm. "Okay, offer it to the pony, nice and slow...It'll feel weird and maybe ticklish when the pony is snuffling for it, but you must stay still. Okay? Good girl."
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"Ownwee hand-fweed a powny when it's..." Noctra repeated, her words turning into a nearly unintelligible babble at the end because her focus was on doing this correctly and not her precise speech like Uncle Iggy was always telling her. Because she was listening to Liliana very carefully, going so far as sucking in a breath and holding it in an attempt to be extra still.
She did slip a little, squirming as she failed to suppress a giggle once the pony started to sniff at her hand (just like Liliana had said it might tickle her!), but her hand? Her hand stayed still, especially with Liliana's right under it.
Prompto was watching carefully, too, the tilt of his head curious and a little fascinated, but also prepared, to step in, remembering all too well the last curious, fascinating thing between Noctra and Liliana that had occurred at her party.
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...Also, they weren't talking about what happened at the party. A momentary aberration. Brief confusion. Not worth thinking about further.
"You're doing wonderfully," Liliana said, petting Noctra's hair. "Take a moment to pet his muzzle, let him know he's doing good, too, and then you can feed him the other half of the apple, hmm? And I brought a mane comb so you can brush his mane, too. And when you're done with that, we can move onto the next pony. Yes?"