Ignis Scientia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chef_chocobro) wrote2024-06-01 05:59 am
chef_chocobro) wrote2024-06-01 05:59 am
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Liberty Reservoir, west of Baltimore; Saturday Evening [06/01].
Gladio felt like he'd chosen well; Noct would have loved fishing in the spot. Granted, Noct would have loved fishing pretty much anywhere, but it was quiet and peaceful and nicely removed from everywhere else, so he would have approved. Most of the good fishing would probably be done tomorrow morning, but there might still be a few bites as evening settled around them, after they'd set up camp and gotten their poles. Hopefully at leas tenough for Iggy to fry up something good for their dinner. But it wasn't really about the fishing, anyway, a sentiment that Prompto offered up in due time.
"This is nice," he said, after taking in a moment to soak up the peaceful quiet of the lake, disturbed only by the shutter of his camera as he lifted his camera to take a shot of that slowly unfurling sunset across the sky. "Feels like we haven't had a chance to really just do something like this in a while, you know?"
"Yes, well," Ignis said, quiet and reflective as the lake spread out before them, "we've all got our various distractions and dispirate occupations these days..."
"That's kinda why I really wanted to do this," Gladio said, agreeing with a nod. "I dunno, Memorial Day got me thinking, and Noct's birthday's still a few months away, so I thought....before we all get wrapped up in other stuff again, we should take the opportunity. Plus..." There was a slight hesitation. "There's been something I've been wanting to talk to you guys about."
Well, that certainly got their attentions, a shift in their demeanor, and Gladio snorted. He could only imagine what sort of conclusions either of them leapt to at that statement.
"What's on your mind, Gladio?" Ignis promptoed, while Prompto ignised just sort of blinked at him, owlishing and expectant.
He jerked his chin toward the cooler. "Grab me a drink from there," he said, "will ya, Prompto?"
Prompto frowned for a moment, questions still hanging unanswered, but he nodded. "Yeah, sure. Here you--wait, hold on." Just as expected, Prompto frowned at the bottle he'd pulled out from their sturdy ColemanTM cooler, turning it over in his hands to immediately start looking at the back of the label. "Is this a Jetty's?"
And now Ignis was frowning, too, in Prompto's direction. Gladio nodded, grunted an agreement. "Sure is."
"From Eos?"
"Apparently."
"How--what? Where?"
"At the T&C," Gladio said. "I noticed it there on the shelves a couple of weeks ago."
"Prompto," Ignis was frowning a little deeper now, "have you not noticed this yourself while you've been working there?"
"I mean!" Prompto protested. "I haven't been in lately, I've been trying to figure out my schedule, and do you know how many products we have there? We sell everything! Except, like, duct tape, pretty much! To notice one thing....and you know my attention to detail isn't always the best!"
He shifted, uncomfortably, into a small, heavy sort of silence.
"Although...." he ventured, cautiously, into it, then hesitated. Gladio and Ignis patiently waited, and he sighed, finally handing Gladio the drinnk and then another for himself before settling into his chair again with a sigh. "You guys remember those Tesuru Fish Crackers? They came in that red box? Blue label?"
Gladio nodded with a grunt. Ignis nodded with an "Of course. They were terrible. Noct went through a whole phase when he was five where he thought if he ate enough of them, he'd turn into a fish."
There was a pause. "....really?" asked Prompto.
"Really," Ignis confirmed. "I told him they might actually turn him into a crab, he said then that I must be eating a lot of them already, and then pouted about it for nearly a week. But he did stop insisting on eating them, at least."
Gladio snorted a faint laugh, shaking his head, though it was just a brief blip of amusement as heavier thoughts started to weigh on his head. "Why didn't you say anything then?"
"I don't know," Prompto admitted, shrugging. "Why didn't you say anything about the Jetty's until now? It just didn't seem like it was anything worth thinking about, you know? I mean, we've got Cup NoodleTM and ColemanTM and Westwood here on Earth, too. And I didn't...." He gave Gladio in particular a worried glance. "...want to get anyone's hopes up, you know?"
Gladio grunted, nodding, and just sort of sat with that for a moment before offering, "I think....it might be kind of like what happened with us, you know? When we wound up back here again. Just a sort of...blip, or something, in the time-space fabric that sort of pulled us in. Makes sense, right? That it wouldn't just be people, but maybe things as well? I don't know, I was talking to Summer about it a little, and she says she supposes it's possible. The gnomes at Portalocity, of course, still can't get through, though. So who knows? But I figured I should tell you guys. Could be something. Could be nothing."
"Could be," said Ignis, with an offended little grunt of his own, "a personal insult to injury. This place is pulling things from Eos again, and it's bringing us fish crackers and mineral water, but no Ebony?"
Okay, despite everything, Prompto had to laugh at that. "I don't know, man," he said. "Maybe that's next. Guess you'll just have to keep an eye out for it."
Ignis might not be able to see you, Prompto, but that didn't mean he couldn't still give you one hell of a withering look.
"Don't joke about such things."
Prompto then flashed a grin to Gladio, and Gladio smiled back, but it was a bit tempered, a bit reserved, as evidence by how quickly it faded to be replaced with a thoughtful frown. "Anyway," he said, "it's probably something we should all sort of be aware of. Try to figure out if it's just a fluke, or..." He almost didn't want to say it outloud, as if doing so would somehow alter it, or ruin it, or whatever else, "...something more meaningful."
And they could all feel the meaning of that thickening the air around them.
"What do you think you guys would do?" asked Prompto. "If things opened back up again? If we could...get back again?"
He knew his answer. He had a family here now. He was locked in. And while they didn't exactly have a marriage and a kid to consider, he'd just like to see anyone try and deny that they hadn't also started laying down some pretty deep roots.
The question hung between them, as the sounds of frogs and nightbirds around the lake rushed in to fill the spaces.
"I don't really know," Gladio admitted, eventually. "Guess that's what I'm trying to figure out."
They might all have to figure out a few things, really, although there was always the chance that it didn't mean anything at all. It could also mean...everything, and there was no way of knowing. But, at the very least, at least they would momentarily be spared having to think on it too much just then, as Prompto felt a harsh tug at the end of his line, let out a surprised yelp, and quickly got up to brace himself in trying to reel the fish in. Swept up and occupied by the sudden excitement and the fine art of backseat fishing and bickering, they were able to pull up the impressive bass, which then passed Ignis' inspection, and a unilateral decision was made, one much easier to answer than the question that would now be worming its way through their brains: they were quickly losing light, and it was time to eat.
[[ mostly establishy, but absolutely open if anyone wants to get in touch with any bros via phone, or hell, even crash the campsite, if you wanted! ]]
"This is nice," he said, after taking in a moment to soak up the peaceful quiet of the lake, disturbed only by the shutter of his camera as he lifted his camera to take a shot of that slowly unfurling sunset across the sky. "Feels like we haven't had a chance to really just do something like this in a while, you know?"
"Yes, well," Ignis said, quiet and reflective as the lake spread out before them, "we've all got our various distractions and dispirate occupations these days..."
"That's kinda why I really wanted to do this," Gladio said, agreeing with a nod. "I dunno, Memorial Day got me thinking, and Noct's birthday's still a few months away, so I thought....before we all get wrapped up in other stuff again, we should take the opportunity. Plus..." There was a slight hesitation. "There's been something I've been wanting to talk to you guys about."
Well, that certainly got their attentions, a shift in their demeanor, and Gladio snorted. He could only imagine what sort of conclusions either of them leapt to at that statement.
"What's on your mind, Gladio?" Ignis prompt
He jerked his chin toward the cooler. "Grab me a drink from there," he said, "will ya, Prompto?"
Prompto frowned for a moment, questions still hanging unanswered, but he nodded. "Yeah, sure. Here you--wait, hold on." Just as expected, Prompto frowned at the bottle he'd pulled out from their sturdy ColemanTM cooler, turning it over in his hands to immediately start looking at the back of the label. "Is this a Jetty's?"
And now Ignis was frowning, too, in Prompto's direction. Gladio nodded, grunted an agreement. "Sure is."
"From Eos?"
"Apparently."
"How--what? Where?"
"At the T&C," Gladio said. "I noticed it there on the shelves a couple of weeks ago."
"Prompto," Ignis was frowning a little deeper now, "have you not noticed this yourself while you've been working there?"
"I mean!" Prompto protested. "I haven't been in lately, I've been trying to figure out my schedule, and do you know how many products we have there? We sell everything! Except, like, duct tape, pretty much! To notice one thing....and you know my attention to detail isn't always the best!"
He shifted, uncomfortably, into a small, heavy sort of silence.
"Although...." he ventured, cautiously, into it, then hesitated. Gladio and Ignis patiently waited, and he sighed, finally handing Gladio the drinnk and then another for himself before settling into his chair again with a sigh. "You guys remember those Tesuru Fish Crackers? They came in that red box? Blue label?"
Gladio nodded with a grunt. Ignis nodded with an "Of course. They were terrible. Noct went through a whole phase when he was five where he thought if he ate enough of them, he'd turn into a fish."
There was a pause. "....really?" asked Prompto.
"Really," Ignis confirmed. "I told him they might actually turn him into a crab, he said then that I must be eating a lot of them already, and then pouted about it for nearly a week. But he did stop insisting on eating them, at least."
Gladio snorted a faint laugh, shaking his head, though it was just a brief blip of amusement as heavier thoughts started to weigh on his head. "Why didn't you say anything then?"
"I don't know," Prompto admitted, shrugging. "Why didn't you say anything about the Jetty's until now? It just didn't seem like it was anything worth thinking about, you know? I mean, we've got Cup NoodleTM and ColemanTM and Westwood here on Earth, too. And I didn't...." He gave Gladio in particular a worried glance. "...want to get anyone's hopes up, you know?"
Gladio grunted, nodding, and just sort of sat with that for a moment before offering, "I think....it might be kind of like what happened with us, you know? When we wound up back here again. Just a sort of...blip, or something, in the time-space fabric that sort of pulled us in. Makes sense, right? That it wouldn't just be people, but maybe things as well? I don't know, I was talking to Summer about it a little, and she says she supposes it's possible. The gnomes at Portalocity, of course, still can't get through, though. So who knows? But I figured I should tell you guys. Could be something. Could be nothing."
"Could be," said Ignis, with an offended little grunt of his own, "a personal insult to injury. This place is pulling things from Eos again, and it's bringing us fish crackers and mineral water, but no Ebony?"
Okay, despite everything, Prompto had to laugh at that. "I don't know, man," he said. "Maybe that's next. Guess you'll just have to keep an eye out for it."
Ignis might not be able to see you, Prompto, but that didn't mean he couldn't still give you one hell of a withering look.
"Don't joke about such things."
Prompto then flashed a grin to Gladio, and Gladio smiled back, but it was a bit tempered, a bit reserved, as evidence by how quickly it faded to be replaced with a thoughtful frown. "Anyway," he said, "it's probably something we should all sort of be aware of. Try to figure out if it's just a fluke, or..." He almost didn't want to say it outloud, as if doing so would somehow alter it, or ruin it, or whatever else, "...something more meaningful."
And they could all feel the meaning of that thickening the air around them.
"What do you think you guys would do?" asked Prompto. "If things opened back up again? If we could...get back again?"
He knew his answer. He had a family here now. He was locked in. And while they didn't exactly have a marriage and a kid to consider, he'd just like to see anyone try and deny that they hadn't also started laying down some pretty deep roots.
The question hung between them, as the sounds of frogs and nightbirds around the lake rushed in to fill the spaces.
"I don't really know," Gladio admitted, eventually. "Guess that's what I'm trying to figure out."
They might all have to figure out a few things, really, although there was always the chance that it didn't mean anything at all. It could also mean...everything, and there was no way of knowing. But, at the very least, at least they would momentarily be spared having to think on it too much just then, as Prompto felt a harsh tug at the end of his line, let out a surprised yelp, and quickly got up to brace himself in trying to reel the fish in. Swept up and occupied by the sudden excitement and the fine art of backseat fishing and bickering, they were able to pull up the impressive bass, which then passed Ignis' inspection, and a unilateral decision was made, one much easier to answer than the question that would now be worming its way through their brains: they were quickly losing light, and it was time to eat.
[[ mostly establishy, but absolutely open if anyone wants to get in touch with any bros via phone, or hell, even crash the campsite, if you wanted! ]]