The Photo Hut; Monday [12/29].

[hashtag_chocobro]

As much as he really did love them, the holidays were pretty hectic and chaotic even before adding a newborn to the mix, so Prompto had been really looking forward to a chance to steal some peace and quiet down in the store that day. He might be just jinxing himself with that sigh of relief at the calm that awaited him when he opened up, but, hey, man, he was going to take it where he could get it!

He was also looking forward to taking the opportunity to start going through the...literal hundreds (if not thousands!!) of pictures he'd taken in the last month and a half or so.

Forget feeling cramped and running oit of space for the kids! If anything, thry mostly just needed more for all the photo albums.

The Photo Hut is open!

Comments

[deathsmajesty]

You're in luck, Prompto! Liliana had had enough time to think, consider, and even ponder and lo, you were getting a call!

Ring ring!

[hashtag_chocobro]

"Hello!" Prompto answered the phone brightly. "Thank you for calling the Photo Hut! This is Prompto! How can I help--wait. This is my personal phone."

He took a second to check who the call was coming from.

"Oh, hey, Liliana. What's up?"

A brief pause.

"Is everything okay?"

[deathsmajesty]

"I mean, it's possible that when I return home, Ignis and my steward will be engaged in a ferocious battle against dust bunnies, but if that's true, they haven't reached out to me," she said, voice warm and rich with amusement. "I was just thinking, however, that it's high time Noctra started learning to ride, darling."

Horses, obviously, not chocobos. Well, not even horses. Ponies.

And, honestly, it was past time Noctra learned, but flies and honey and all that.

"Is there a time that would be convenient for me to take her out? It will be a nice opportunity for her to get some time away from the baby." She laughed. "I remember when my sister Allegra was born. Getting away from the baby was a necessity."

[hashtag_chocobro]

There was a slight drop in his stomach, and a brief moment where Prompto considered being honestly kind of a brat because he just knew Liliana didn't mean chocobos, but even without everything about it being good for Noctra to get some brother-free space, he knew it was pretty unavoidable anyway.

"Pretty sure," he offered a bit wryly, as he worked around what his actual response would be, "that's a battle Iggy's always going to be fighting. But yeah! That would be...really great, actually."

And he meant that sincerely. His worries that horses would turn Noctra away from chocobos had been assuaged, after all; she was clearly an equal opportunity animal lover, and that was a pretty strong point of pride for him, too.

"She'd love that. And, I mean, whenever should work! She does have a pretty strict schedule, but i'm sure we can find some wiggle room in there somewhere."

[deathsmajesty]

Hey, getting some brother-free time was an additional benefit. Learning to ride was the main draw, of course. It was an important part of a young lady's upbringing, dammit, and that held true whether or not it was necessary on this plane.

Liliana had Opinions^TM, news at 11.

"Ah, yes, the ever-stringent schedule of the toddler, I have a similar one," she said, laughing again as she remembered the 'full schedule' she'd cited the night she and Ignis had met. "You are, of course, more than welcome to join us. The first few lessons will be very boring, since they will focus on teaching her how to behave around and care for horses and ponies since she's not growing up around them."

The Vess children had been raised with the adage 'you cannot learn to ride the horse until you have learned to respect the horse' and Liliana intended to pass that along.

[hashtag_chocobro]

And now Prompto felt a little tug of temptation himself, because, well, it wasn't like Noctra's love for animals came from no where, ans he was pretty curious about what horses that weren't complete nightmare fuel were actually like.

And there was, of course, the urge to be present in case anything happened, to keep an eye on things, because if something did happen, and he wasn't even there, could he ever even forgive himself?

Now the tug came in the form of a slightly sentimental smile.

"I'll ask her and see what she thinks," he offered. "I'm sure she'd love to have some one-on-one time with her Aunt Liliana without her dad hanging around and worrying."

He chuckled lightly.

"She can have Uncle Iggy doing that for her instead."

Which was, of course, totally different.

[deathsmajesty]

For some people with as complicated a history as Liliana had with family, particularly siblings, the phrase 'Aunt Liliana' might cause an odd pang in their heart. Of course, Liliana was above and beyond such sentimental things, the narrative is just noting that it might happen for other people.

"Of course," she said, light and airy, as was befitting someone who experienced neither pangs nor feelings. "We can figure out an appropriate space in her schedule to pencil me in when you've had a chance to talk to her. Don't worry about tack or gear, darling, it's handled."

[hashtag_chocobro]

"Oh, phew," said Prompto, chuckling again as he wiped pretend sweat off his brow, and was also not struggling with a few things the narrative could mention, complicated and tied to family in entitely different ways than what other people clearly not either of them would be dealing with. "Good, I was just starting to worry about exactly that, so I'm glad you said something! I can at least sleep easily tonight without being all plagued by tack and gear!"

A somewhat...awkward pause followed.

"But, yeah," he said, "we can hash out some deets and figure out what works best. And, hey, thanks, Lils. She's gonna love it."

But there was another pause, this one more of a delayed realization, and a faint grunting groan.

"...this is totally opening the door to a pony for her birthday, now, isn't it?"

The timing, Lilana! The timing!

[deathsmajesty]

Ugh, those poor other people and their emotions. Thank Gaea neither of them had to deal with any such things.

"What?" Liliana gave a completely unbelievable gasp of surprise. "How could you accuse me of such duplicity! Although, you know, now that you mention it...I suppose that would work out well, wouldn't it? What a lovely idea, Prompto, thank you."

This was what you got after all that 'you looooooove him' teasing she'd had to endure, Prompto. This right here.

[hashtag_chocobro]

Worth it. Soooooo totally worth it! Because she diii~iid, and now ~everyone~ knew it, too, neener neener!

"Uh-huh," Prompto said, rolling his eyes hard enough for Liliana to hear it over the phone. "Yeah. Right. You're welcome. Although, really, at least this'll stop her for asking me for one all year for next Christmas."

Silly Prompto. That just meant for Christmas, she'll simply ask for a second one!

[deathsmajesty]

Don't worry, Prompto! Eventually she would give up asking for a second one in favor of asking for a proper horse instead of a 'baby's pony.'

"It's adorable you think that, darling," she said with another laugh. "But excellent, it's settled. Let me know when you've found a good day, won't you? Until then, darling, byyyyyyye."

Yes, those extra y's had been necessary! Today had been a lovely day for getting her way.

[hashtag_chocobro]

The y's on Prompto's own goodbye were likely cut off, then, and he spent a few moments just sort of making pouting faces at his phone once the call was over. Then he sighed and set the phone aside.

"Boy, I really hope I don't end up regretting this," he murmured to himself, as he turned his attention back to hos picture-sorting.

And maybe starting to plan for another trip to the chocobo ranch while he was at it, too.