Fandom Island and Town

Some of those frames and albums Liz had ordered came in that day, so, after setting aside one of the boxes of albums for his class to bring in next week (if he remembered!), Prompto made a quick dash up to the apartment so he could grab some of the squiggles and choas-clouds of color that were Noctra's latest artistic endevours and bring them down. A good way to pass the time between customers, really, to start getting them nicely put into some of those frames and albums for safe keeping and displaying.

He held up one splotch of green tangled around some yellow and what looked like a big swatch of black that almost looked like whatever it was was wearing a fancy top hat and smiled. Perfect, really. Anything to help foster her creativity and encourage it, because, man, he might be a little biased, but this kid was definitely going places.

(And all the AU futures really seemed to back that up, too!)

The Photo Hut is open!

A bunch of equipment had shown up that morning all busted up; Prompto wasn't sure if it was a shipping problem or what, but part of him was really torn between what he knew was probably the responsible thing, which was to contact the company and work out a return and refund situation, or...start shifting through the contents and seeing if there was anything he could just fix or modify. Sure, they wouldn't get the price of an unfixed camera back out of it, but he would have something really interesting to do and a lot of these parts could maybe be repurposed, too...

It was definitely a conundrum, one he kept flip-flopping back and forth on. As soon as he settled in at the computer to contact the company, there was a little tug in his brain that encouraged him to go have one more look, just to make sure there wasn't anything really good to sink his skills into, and then he'd start to feel bad, so he'd go back to the computer, and then he'd get that itch, because, really, he could do some really cool stuff...

He always looked forward to Liz and Noctra's lunchtime visit on Tuesdays, but especially so today, because maybe she could help him settle this debate once and for all...

The Photo Hut is open!

Prompto was feeling....pretty good after his discussion with Arden after class yesterday, feeling a little like a weight was lifted off both their shoulders with a new perspective going forward, and he was feeling pretty optimistic and hopeful about being able to keep up his end of the bargain. And it just really went to show how you never knew what someone was or had been going through, and what a difference it could make once you did.

Well, or maybe he was just being a little sentimental and reflective, but whatever. He felt good about it, he hoped she did, too, and instead of letting himself worry that maybe he was wrong and she didn't at all and was just humoring him the whole time, he was going to do a little work on their stock of photo albums to see if he could find some good ones to suggest if she did swing in to pick one up eventually. Or at least put them out more prominently if she decided to come in on a different day to snag one up, and then also starting to wonder if something like building a portfolio was a good class angle to try some day, because there was only so much you could do with photography before it all started to feel a little samesy, and new perspectives on his classes might help pump some more life into them.

Who knows? Either way, he felt thoughtful, productive, and reflective today, and all around pretty a-okay.

The Photo Hut is open!

It was always a dangerous thing when a shipment showed up specifically on Prompto's shift, because that meant that he was guaranteed to get distracted by whatever was inside, and this week? Was no exception. Because while they had plenty of great camera straps already in stock, they'd yet to stock anything quite like these extremely cool leather ones.

So guess who was spending most of his day (when not helping customers, of course) shifting through them all and trying to see which ones would fit his LOKTON.

"Come on," he murmured to himself as he dismissed yet another one. "You're gonna tell me we're getting Jetty's and Uncle Randell's and fish crackers from home now, and you can't even send me one leather case for my camera? Seriously, multiverse??"

The Photo Hut is open!

"Oh, hey, man! It's been a while!"

Prompto couldn't help but be a little bit pleased that the Broken Camera Guy had come in that morning, and, even better, he didn't even come in with a broken camera! That last one seemed to have lasted him a good long while; it seemed like he had taken Prompto's suggestions to heart and was determined to not have to bring this one in all in pieces!

But, unfortunately, he was here because he didn't have a camera to bring in at all! Apparently, he'd taken a trip with his family to Niagra Falls, and, slowly, he turned...to get a shot of them from the boat he was on, leaned forward a little too much, his hands were pretty slick with the water spray and...fwoop! The camera just slipped right from his hands into the water!

"Ohhhhhh, noooooooo."

Prompto felt that pain on a deep level, giving the man a sympathetic look and a pat on the shoulder, as he moved from behind the counter to guide him toward getting him a replacement camera.

And he'd throw in a camera strap for free.

The Photo Hut is open!

Even though there was a lot of really interesting crossover between things that existed here on Earth that were reminiscent if not exactly like things Prompto knew from home (more so now than ever, apparently!) and it had definitely been a hot topic for them recently, there were definitely some things that were way different. So when a box of interesting camera-like...binocular things? came in, he was initially pretty mystified but intrigued.

And, thankfully, it really only took a bit of googling to find out more, especially since he'd gotten pretty used to researching weird little tidbits about photography and film, and it didn't take him long to actually figure it out with a little relavatory "Oh!"

And then a chuckle before almost immediately setting out to give one a try for himself, which meant he'd have to pick out some pictures to put on it, and, well, that was definitely a task that would take all day....potentially the rest of the week! But it was definitely a fun way to save and view some photos, so he was really stoked about what he could do with these things now that he understood what they were all about.

These were definitely cool, and he was looking forward to displaying and promoting some, especially when it came around time for the gift-giving holidays!

The Photo Hut is open!

If he was entirely honest, yesterday's little clandestine driving lesson left Prompto feeling really out of sorts. Like, technically speaking, it went well, he probably did well and Liliana learned a lot. But then how come he didn't feel good about it? Kind of the opposite, actually, like he felt they'd gotten off on the wrong foot from the start, and, even though they got things going eventually, it still felt...off. He felt like he really didn't even help that much, more of a glorified textbook more than anything. Why had she even needed his help in the first place? But he guessed he did help? Maybe? He wasn't sure, but it definitely didn't feel as good as he thought it would to help her, so....he just didn't know.

He was generally trying not to think about it too much, because they did what they set out to do, and that was what matter, and he had other work to focus on, anyway, spending a good portion of his time at the store behind the computer touching up his photos from the con this weekend, and, really, it didn't take long for him to get fully sucked into that and he actually did start feeling the bad vibes from yesterday fading into the background of the noise of his head as he started to cull through the shots and set up a portfolio to send to his client....as well as brush up and set up something for his site for all the other pictures he took throughout the convention.

The Photo Hut is open!

Prompto was unexpectedly busy at the computer that day, a new box of camera straps that could go out on the shelf going a bit ignored as he started with checking his email to see if he'd gotten any hits for photography gigs for the weekend, only to find that he actually had, one that he was absolutely interested in taking, but it was so last notice that he had to do a lot of poking and figuring things out and emailing to do.

But, like, if a professional cosplayer reaches out to you and asks if you'd be interested in being hired to do a bunch of photo shoots at a convention that weekend, uhhhh....you definitely are going to take that job! Their usual photographer had to duck out, so they were putting out some feelers, and the last-minute nature of it was a little tricky to negotiate, but by the end of the day, he was determined to figure something out!

The Photo Hut is open!

[[ and totally inspired by the brilliance of the professional photographer at ACen last weekend cosplaying as Prompto, because, I mean, *chef's kiss*]]

Prompto was a little distracted at the shop that day, as he worked on setting out some new equipment that had come in and trying to rearrange a few shelves and think of a good, hopefully enticing display for the window. He felt like his class yesterday had gone well, but he also felt like he'd inadvertently discouraged one of his students from trying something new, which hadn't been his intention, although apparently he'd done it so bad that even when he offered to help, she still stepped back and he felt really, really terrible about that.

He told himself he'd just done what he could, but it was sticking with him in a not-fun way, and he was trying to figure out if he should just let it lie or do something about it. More than likely, if he pushed it, he'd just make it worse....but it was giving him an idea for a class for next session, so he was just going to focus on that as a potential solution, and try not to dwell on it any further.

Try being the operative word.

The Photo Hut is open!

Oh, you know Prompto was listening to the new Taylor Swift album while he was working today, singing along as he did some cleaning around the place, some rearranging of some of the displays and putting out some new stock. He just had that energy in him, you know? Where he actually couldn't just sit still behind a computer and work on his portfolio or photo editing or maybe snagging up some extra photography gigs during the break weeks. So better put that energy to some good use, right?

Something did, admittedly, feel a little off about it, but Prompto was trying hard not to worry too much about it. But this was exam week. If there was something weird about to happen on the island, it probably would be happening fairly soon, right? If not this week, then next...

Or, in fact, right now. As he was belting the words he already had memorized along to Florida!!!, right when his girl Florence came in (what was it about Florence Welch in particular that just got him, man? Every single time!)....the belting turning distinctly into.....barking?

Yup. Barking. Because Prompto...promptly....found himself in the shape of a puppy dog again.

He'd have complained or let out a curse or two, but it seemed that all he could do was let out the tiniest, most adorable little puppy howl of dismay, before just flopping down on the middle of the floor with a sigh, because, well....you know. Sometimes, these things just happened, he supposed.

The Photo Hut is open!

Considering what an absolutely chaotic and emotional whirlwind these weekends could sometimes be for Prompto, he was extremely relieved that the only kid he was dealing with directly this time around was the one he already had. There was a little bit of a twinge of remorse for the fact that there were no potential glimpses into the future of siblings for little Noctra this time around, but, well, he and Liz had been sort of talking about having another one eventually, and they were, ahem, actively trying, so maybe that had something to do with it? Like, the powers that be didn't want to muddy the waters of what might actually be?

Or it really wasn't all that deep, he was thinking way too much into it, and the powers that be just didn't have the time or energy to bother with a million Argentums this year.

Either way, he was totally fine with it, and he had been working on a sign that morning to put outside in the window:

Cherish the memories while they're here!
Specials on Cameras, Frames, Albums, and Photo Development!
Inquire Inside!

It did feel a little dirty, using something like this weekend to promote the shop like that, but, come on. In a world where everyone had a camera in their pocket, a photography store sort of had to take every opportunity it could!

The Photo Hut is open!

Oh, what's that? There was a big astrological event that was going to cause the moon to block out the sun later on today? What a fun time that was going to be for Prompto and his anxiety! Yay!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he researched it extensively and knew that it shouldn't even last more than a few minutes, and they weren't even in the path of totality (although they were still getting a lot!), but yeah, no, sorry! Ten years of a blocked-out sun was more than enough for Prompto, thanks! He'd rather not spend any minutes at all filled with dread and worry and fear about it just not going back.

And that anxiety would only get worse as the afternoon inched closer to the time of the eclipse and he was wondering if the clinic anything to help deal with those good old 'traumatized by a decade of no sun' nerves!

He was fine. Totally fine.

And the Photo Hut is open!

Would you look at that? Prompto was actually on time for work that day! Ha! Take that, squirrels!

He literally just lived upstairs, it shouldn't be that much of a victory, but apparently it was. And Prompto was going to take care of a few shipments that had come in that morning, and then get started on the very important task of shifting through the veritable hundreds of Easter pictures that he'd taken to pick out the best ones. But when those pictures mostly involved your adorable daughter in her cute bunny-themed Easter outfit, the best ones were clearly pretty much all of them.

Well, okay, he was still Prompto, so there were a few that were so random and out of focus that he didn't even know what he'd meant to take a picture of there, but they were rare and, look, he was just a little trigger happy sometimes, it happened.

The Photo Hut is open!

Prompto was late in opening the Photo Hut that Monday morning.

Very, very late. For, uh, reasons. For very yeah, it's no wonder they had a bajillion kids in that one potential future kinds of reasons.

Well, it wasn't like people were exactly beating down the doors in order to get their hands on a new Nikon or a ring light or some tripods and a whole rainbow of different colored camera straps! So what if he was a little (it was not a little) bit late? In fact, the more Prompto sat down there and failed to keep himself on task with the various boring things that awaited him there while his mind kept drifting back up to the apartment upstairs, the more he was thinking that they were probably actually wasting money even by being open that day, maybe they should just close early, if they really needed something they could just call or come back tomorrow...

And Prompto sure as shit wasn't getting any other work done that day, but...

The Photo Hut is open!

Prompto was not late coming downstairs to open the shop this week, how dare you!

Well, okay, maybe he was a little bit late, but, in his defense, Noctra had been in the middle of telling him a very riveting story about...well your guess was as good as his, she was mostly on 'repeating sounds rather than actual words' at the moment, but you'd better believe it involved an "Oboco" and, slightly distressingly, some "Up'oodle^TM" and it would have been rude to have just abandoned her mid-tale!

But he was here now and he was ready to work...

Well, okay, there wasn't much work to do that day, apparently, so he was mostly here to browse the internet and do some extra work on his lesson plans.

The Photo Hut is open!

Prompto had spent a good deal of the weekend working on some signs for the window and some flyers to go around town to advertise their big 50% OFF SELECTED STOCK sale for the week, just to clear out some of the older crap they had hanging around to make way or the newer crap that had come in, and he affixed them up proudly before getting started on the day. This also involved putting up some cool displays (and taking pictures of said displays! For posterity!) and trying very hard to not get distracted and wonder if he should just buy some of this stuff for himself, especially since it was such a good deal!

He wasn't sure the sale would be that helpful in moving some of the stuff, but, hey, even if they sold just a fraction of it, that was still a big help!

The Photo Hut is open!