These days I've been taking that heavy so lightly [Group text; action for Arcrion]

[photoshooter]

[The good news first: Prompto has a job!

The not-so-great news: They're still trapped in another world with no idea where they are, why they're there, or how to get back--or whether there will be anything left of the world if they do. Every time he thinks about his talk with Stella, dread churns uncomfortably in Prompto's stomach, and he can't let go of his worry for Noct, for Ignis, for Eos. For himself. What's happening back home, if Noct's springing Ardyn's trap only to find Prompto not there? Will he be okay? Will Prompto be okay, out here, with no idea how to support this other Noctis by himself?

There's also the fact that Noct appears to be turning into some kind of lion cat, and Prompto doesn't know where to even begin wrestling with that. He's choosing to pretend it isn't happening, as much as he can. As long as it isn't bothering Noct, he can deal.

So Prompto's trying to focus on the positive, for now, and he really does love his new part-time work walking dogs in the city. They're really great dogs, different kinds, big ones and little curly ones and all of them his new best friends. Dogs are so good. Mankind doesn't deserve them. And they leave him plenty of time to take photos and explore his surroundings, though he hasn't had much luck finding out more about those weird cultists who brought them to Eludalsia.

Part of the problem is he's been tired. Taking care of the city's cute puppies isn't really strenuous, but it's like the sun itself boils the life out of him; but then at night, when he could rest, he feels fine. So it's not like he's sick or anything. Reasonably, it must be stress, but he's got to keep it together. He's one of the grown-ups. And he's tired of not pulling his weight.

That said, most of his research has been limited to trawling the weirdly official-like information he can find online on his retooled phone (thanks, Yuusei!), and he hasn't found much.

Today, when the light of the noontime sun is just too much, he retreats to his favorite off-leash dog park, lies down on a bench in the shade, and sends a group text to everyone who took a phone and gave him their number:]

anybody find out anything about some group called the joyous???
when i described the people who summoned us, that's the answer i got. "that sounds like the joyous order." but the coffee guy didn't know much more than that. just that they're a cult and he doesn't think they're ""dangerous.""
if you've got any other intel pls share with the class! thnx!
- prompto a.

[Anyone visiting the park in Arcrion this fine day may come across a familiar blond supine on a bench, one freckled arm thrown over his face, looking a little washed out as a Maltese, a Dalmatian, and a big, fluffy mutt frolic nearby.]

Comments

[photoshooter]

No, I got--I fell off the train. From the roof.

[It's a little more complicated than that, but close enough.]

I'm tougher than I look, but I don't think even Gladio'd survive getting hit by one. Let alone me. Gladio's our meat tank, basically. Like if you gave a bear a haircut and some bitchin' tattoos.

[missleadingquestions]

Oh-- like Gumshoe!

[Perfect mental image. That works.]

Well, I'm glad you're not hurt anymore. You should take better care of yourself! You're gonna wind up living like a NEET like Nick.

[photoshooter]

I'm not a NEET!

[...]

I could always go pro as a photog. I've gotten way better at action shots since I first started out, believe me.

[missleadingquestions]

--Oh. So, you're not a pro?

Why not?

[come on neet]

[photoshooter]

Because...

[BECAUSE HE'S A NEET okay no]

Because--well, because it's not really a great time back home? What with all the running from the Empire, and helping Noct, and trying to forge deals with the gods and everything. You know. Normal guy stuff.

[missleadingquestions]

Oh! So you have another job.

[She isn't super surprised. Everyone's world is in some level of disarray, it would seem, even her own! Though they enter the Dark Age of the Law without her knowing at first...]

Being Noct's loyal sidekick?

[photoshooter]

Wellllllll...

[Sidekick? Really? But on the other hand, among the four of them, if anyone's the heroes, obviously it ain't Prompto.]

Yeah, pretty much, I guess. [He nods decisively.] His friend, anyway. Someone's gotta do it.

[missleadingquestions]

What, you can't be both?

[Maya asks.]

I'm both. I'm the sidekick to one of the best lawyers where I come from.

[photoshooter]

Nick, right?

[See, he can pay attention.]

I'm just saying, if I had to pick one--I think Noct needs a friend more than he needs a squire. You know what I mean?

[missleadingquestions]

[And, for once in the conversation so far, Maya hesitates.]

Yeah. I do.

[photoshooter]

[Prompto looks up. He's not sure how to interpret that pause.]

...Same for you?

[missleadingquestions]

[Maya puts her bottle down so she can put her hands on the bench and kick her legs gently. She shakes her hair over her shoulder and moves side to side.]

I lived on a mountain with my family until I was sixteen,

[she tells him, unsure why she's feeling so quick to tell him something like this. In some ways Prompto is similar to Nick-- so maybe that just makes him feel more trustworthy.]

And there weren't a lot of cousins my age. [And they all kind of resented her a little for the whole Misty Fey thing.]

[photoshooter]

[It's the first time Prompto's been able to focus all day. The tired scatter of his mind settles into a pattern as he watches her move side to side, like a metronome. For once, he feels still and steady.

Maya lived on a mountain, and there's a mountain of things unsaid behind her words. For once, Prompto feels like the outline in the fog is a familiar one.]

...So maybe it's the other way. That you needed a friend more than you needed a liege lord.

[Noct was his first friend.]

[missleadingquestions]

...Yeah.

All I had was my sister back then, so... the first person I met, Nick? Phoenix Wright. He became my best friend.

[She shrugs, looking over at Prompto again.]

[photoshooter]

[Prompto chuckles a little to himself and looks ahead, watching the dogs play.]

...Noct was my first friend. Like, ever. We actually went to the same elementary school.

[He ducks his head, embarrassed.]

But I didn't work up the nerve to talk to him until the beginning of high school. 'Cause he was the prince, you know? Scary. [His gaze travels back up to the sky.] Ever since then, though... I mean. We're basically inseparable. I--I was gonna be best man at his wedding.

[missleadingquestions]

You? Scared? Who'da guessed?

[Smirks Maya, crossing her arms and leaning back against the bench, sticking her legs out and crossing them at the ankle.]

...Sounds like you turned out to be just right for 'im. [Ambiguously.]

[photoshooter]

Hehe. Thanks. I like to think so. I mean, if I only ever get to do one thing right, I hope it's that. He deserves it.

[He nods, turning to her again.]

Not to knock sidekicking! Just, I dunno. He's got Ignis and Gladio for that, too. ...Don't tell them I called them sidekicks. [With feeling:] They'll destroy me.

[missleadingquestions]

[A snicker.]

Well, you don't seem bad at talking to royalty, so you're probably doing fine.

Is Ignis big and buff too?

[Too bad they're not around, she'd totally love to see them kick his butt]

[photoshooter]

Nah. I mean, all right, he's bigger than me. They're all bigger than me.

[It's not like he's short. Why are they enormous.]

But Ignis is, like, intense. He's really formal all the time, and he wears glasses even though he doesn't really need them because he "likes things to be perfectly clear," and also he's smarter than probably everyone in the universe combined.

[...ah.]

Oh, but... there was an accident pretty recently, and. He's got some problems seeing right now. But, still--pretty sure he'd still kick my ass.

[There is no doubt about this, actually. Don't fuckle with Iggy.]

What about you? You and Nick got any other fried-kicks?

[missleadingquestions]

[Okay, you score another laugh for 'fried-kicks', Prompto.]

Let's see... There's his rival, the demon prosecutor Miles Edgeworth! And his companion, the city's head detective-- Dick Gumshoe!

And me, Nick, and my baby cousin Pearly play defense.

We meet a lot of people on cases, buuut that's pretty much the team! Oh-- and my sister's old plant, Charlie.

[photoshooter]

Hahaha. What does the plant do?

[missleadingquestions]

[Without missing a beat--]

Office security.

[photoshooter]

Hahaha! [It's a light, honest laugh.] Let me guess. When you have uninvited guests, it asks them to leaf.

[missleadingquestions]

[That gets a grin out of her and she sits up suddenly, shoving Prompto in the arm--- which might leave water on his skin. From the water bottle's sweat, maybe?

But hey, she's laughing now, which means he's amused her enough that she can't come up with a better pun.]

[photoshooter]

[And her laughter sets off his laughter, for real, even as he rocks away from the push and rubs at the wet spot and then flicks some of the moisture back at her, into her hair.]

I hope it's got a really commanding bark, too!