chef_chocobro | Wiz Chocobo Post; Duscae, Eos; Friday [08/29 FT].

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Wiz Chocobo Post; Duscae, Eos; Friday [08/29 FT].

Wiz Forlane might have been long gone by now, but Wiz Chocobo Post, post-war, post-Long Night, post New Dawn, was thriving. Settled on the edge of the misty Nebulawood of the Duscae region just outside of New Insomnia, with the Disc of Cauthess looming nearby, far colder than it used to be, what had used to be just a small outpost dedicated to renting (and sometimes racing!) chocobos to travelers had become a bit of an institution. Without the worries of war and the plight of Starscourge making travel safe at any time of day or night, the place had thrived under Camilla's new ownership in the past two years, building a more comfortable inn for visitors and expanding the legacy that Wiz had left behind. And this weekend, where all across Eos, people were celebrating the birthday of the Last King of Lucis, it was also incredibly busy.

Something that Ignis had not expected, although, in retrospect, he supposed he should have.

Either way, he had been proactive in assuring that they'd all had rooms at the hotel, and as they found their way to the Post from their portal, he had to admit, there was something incredibly reassuring about it. The last time they'd been here, the place had been all but abandoned, and now there were families and couples, individual travelers and chocobo enthusiasts; down by the Neeglyss Pond, their main fishing spot for this trip, he could already hear the Catoblepas trudging through the water, and it filled him with a sort of...pride. His relationship with Eos as of late may have been a difficult, complicated thing, and as much as he was coming to terms with the fact that it had given him so little compared to how much he'd given up for her, it felt good to know that it was healing. That all that he had given wasn't completely for naught.

Especially on this weekend.

"Well, then," he announced to his assembled group of companions, "and now we've arrived."

And now he just waited for the inevitable squeal from Noctra the moment she spotted one of the actual chocobos.

....or Prompto, too, for that matter.

[[ for thems that are there with him! And NFB for distance, of course! ]]

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Liliana gazed around with some interest; this was her third trip to Eos, but the first one that involved tourism in populated places. Even the little bistro they'd visited before the long drive to Cleigne had been mostly empty, and the real point of their visit had been exploring Steyliff and the Vesperpool.

"Charming," she decided as her cool, purple gaze swept over their environs, noting, cataloguing, and weighing everything she saw on some unknowable scale. "Tell me, my darling. What are the odds you three will be recognized, hmm?"

Considering that he could already hear a few whispers and questions floating up from around the general sounds one might expect from an active chocobo post?

"Oh," Ignis said, "very high, I imagine. We already make for quite the striking entourage already, and we do rather have our fair share of...distinctive telling qualities, though I suspect our plainsclothes will help with that."

Imagine the commotion if they'd somehow decided to arrive in full Crownsguard regalia...

"Still," he said, grinning faintly as he now could hear some of the farmland trying to divert the attention of some of the patrons with one thing or another, "the proprietor has assured me she'd do her best to grant us some modicum of privacy."

A small beat, and that grin faded into a somewhat concerned frown.

"It sounds as though the chocobo market is doing quite well these days, at least."

Neeglyss might not be a good option for their fishing tomorrow, after all. Perhaps thry might need to make the small trek up toward Costlemark, and the much more secluded fishing spots there, instead.

Imagine being recognized because you were famous, rather than being notorious. On the other hand, people who recognized Liliana Vess were much less likely to think about clustering around her and demanding attention. If anything, they usually sought to avoid her gaze.

On the other, other hand, this crowd was far less likely to grab for pitchforks and torches, so...call it a draw?

Liliana laughed softly, sliding her hand through the crook of his elbow and resting it against his forearm, nails pressing ever-so-slightly into the skin of his wrist. "I see. So the plan is to hide in the wilderness all day tomorrow, leaving the three of us to field the curious questions of onlookers. Just remember this was your choice, when all is said and done."

"You could always take a nice chocobo tour of the area," Ignis suggested coolly, fingers curling slightly toward hers on his wrist as he leaned his shoulder slightly into hers, "I've arranged for Camilla to take you all out on the finest mounts, should you so please, although I've warned her that the interest might be....low. I can't imagine a chocobo would be comfortable at Liz's stage of pregnancy, and I do imagine Nell might prefer to keep her feet on the ground. Which leaves just you, darling, who is best not left unsupervised."

The drawl in his tone suggested that he did not expect any sort of supervision to be actually upheld.

"But, yes. I am well aware that there may be consequences to these particular actions."

"Best left not unsupervised?" Liliana repeated with a terribly convincing shocked gasp. "Why, what could I possibly get up to around here?" You know, like she hadn't just warned him ten seconds ago just one of the ways she might end up bedeviling people.

"Besides, I'm certain I will be far too busy for mischief," she declared. "I do need to try out these chocobos, if only to be better prepared for my campaign of pony superiority--" Yes that had been said loudly enough for Prompto to hear, "--and I can already feel some lovely mana all around, and I know for a fact you've mentioned there are tombs scattered around Duscae." She grinned at him. "Perhaps I shall hire a guide so they can introduce me to all the most delightful places. There must be someone around knowledgeable of all the local flora and fauna..."

"We do still have a hood portion of today, as well," Ignis pointed out. "I would suggest tomorrow morning, as well, but we all know how you'll feel about that. But before you say anything about pony superiority, I should check to see if there's been any mesmenir or spirahorn herds in the area lately, so you might be able to understand a bit of Prompto's reluctance in that regard."

Even without the Starscourge to make them rabid and feral, the closest thing to a horse Eos had to offer were still the things of nightmares.

He had no doubt Liliana would love them.

"Thank you, though," he added, much more softly, "for accompanying us this weekend."

Even if it weren't for the fact that having her here did a lot for himself personally, Liliana's ability to Planeswalk if this fell down the way of Prompto's Worst Case Scenario had been tantamount in getting this to happen. And they had all been overdue for something like this.

Liliana was going to adore the spiracorns and mesmenir, and the hardest part of the weekend would be convincing her she wasn't allowed to bring one home.

"Of course, my darling," she said, leaning in and brushing her lips across his cheek. In no small part because she knew Ignis wouldn't be content with such a brief kiss as all that. "You assured me I wouldn't have to go fishing, what additional convincing would I require?"

Well, and the assurance they'd be staying in an innocent with amenities and conveniences. Camping in a tent would have been a much harder sell.

"Well, once we drop our belongings off in the room, what would you suggest we do first?" Liliana, contrary to what most people had likely expected, also tended to pack lightly. Being a Planeswalker meant she rarely had baggage with her at all and was used to fending for herself when she arrived at her destination.

...Had they been staying in Insomnia or perhaps Altissia, she likely would have had a great deal of luggage coming home. But she doubted she would have that issue here.

"Mmm." Ignis gave his usual, considering hum, but Liliana would know by the smirk tgat went with it that he barely needed to think about his response at all. "Well. Clearly, there will need to be a thorough inspection of the room to ensure it meets expectations, of course."

Wouldn't be content with such a brief kiss as all that, indeed.

"Better to get that inspection done early, so that if we discover anything that doesn't meet our standards for satisfaction, we can get it taken care of as soon as possible," Liliana agreed, her dimples deep. "My only thought..." She leaned in to whisper in his ear, nails a little sharper against his wrist. "...Be sure to set your glasses down somewhere safer if you don't want to run the risk of having to find a new pair out here in the wilderness."

"And what a terrible shame that would be," Ignis agreed, and those nails could only compel him to lean in a little more toward her ear, and a delayed return of her brush of lips against his cheek, "to lose them all the way out here in the middle of nowhere."

You know. In the burgeoning transportation hub not even half a day's drive from the man city.

If there was a sunglasses rack in the gift shop of the post, Ignis certainly wasn't going to see it!

Yeah, a whole half-day's drive! The wilderness.

The susurrus of whispers that had followed them hadn't quieted any and who was Liliana to deny an audience? "You keep me safe," she murmured to him. "I'll keep you wild."

To be fair, during the War, anything outside the city wall was wilderness, and during the Long Night...well...

But those city tabloid would be popping off by tomorrow; the two women who had been hawking after Gladio earlier were already frantically typing excited news into their phones.

And Ignis heard absolutely none of it, in that moment. His smile grew, reveling in the fact that, as good as reading those words had felt on his fingertips, it was nothing compared to how it sounded in his ears in her voice.

"Show me your thorns," he murmured back, "and I'll show you my hands," a hand that was now seeking to take hers, kn fact, "ready to bleed."

And no matter which side they were standing on, those women would be able to see an adorned left hand, either his or hers.

Liliana's free hand hooked into his collar, tugging him - very unnecessarily - to eliminate what little space there hand been between them, bringing his mouth to hers for a long, lingering kiss. Certainly long enough for the nosy to get several pictures if they were so inclined.

"Looks like my plans to lure you into a hayloft are unfortunately stymied," she said in Spanish. "As much as I I wouldn't mind pictures of us tangled together, Lucis might not be able to handle seeing that much of one of their beloved Heroes."

"Mi corazón," Ignis said, returning the language to her with a grin of appreciation for tactic, "that is why we have our room. With a much lower probably of discovering straw in uncomfortable places later. Although..."

Another kiss, before he continued, which meant a very long pause.

"...we may find our moment still, when the distraction shifts as they discover that one of us now has a child. With what I can imagine is just enough to spark speculation on a second..."

"Sounds like someone who never tumbled in a hayloft before," Liliana teased.

He was right, of course. Straw didn't make for the most comfortable of beds. But it brought back that old-fashioned, sneaking out, trying not to get caught reminiscences.

"How terrible, should we feed the rumor mill." With a wicked grin, she reached for his other hand. Would she rest it against her abdomen just to mess with people if she wasn't stopped?

Obviously.

Bold of Ignis to assume that Prompto's nerves could be conquered even by chocobos right now. But, sure enough, as soon as she did catch sight of those fabled birds of all her father's stories, Noctra let out a little squeal, right into Prompto's ear, squirming in his arms for release...which didn't make the fact that Prompto was laden with all sorts of bags and other things to make sure they were all set for the weekend any easier.

"'Ocobo!"

And he winced a little at the proximity to his ear and then chuckled a little, a nervous chuckle, but some of those frayed nerves seemed to be settling a little with with Noctra's excitement. And he remembered, briefly, his own excitement, when they were traveling out of Insomnia and he just got word of a chocobo post nearby and all but begged Ignis and Noct to let them detour on their way to Lestallum to see them for himself...

"Hold on a second, nugget," he said. "We'll get to them soon, okay? Let's just get settled at the hotel so I can set down all of our stuff and then we'll go see them, yeah?"

A little whining protest followed, but the way she settled her head on his shoulder with pouting impatience sort of made his chest do that surging thing where he actually could believe that, even if things did go all haywire with them all here again, maybe it wouldn't be all that bad, because they were all here together, at the very least.

Liz smiled as she heard Noctra squeal about the chocobos, she looked around both a little nervous and excited about the trip.

“Would you like me to take any more bags?” she offered, adjusting the few that she was carrying, when she saw Noctra squirm a little.

"No," Prompto said, without hesitation, "but you can take her."

Perhaps a dangerous risk, to do a hand-off when there were chocobos around, bur it was a risk Prompto was willing to take.

"And then I can take all thr bags up to the counter for now until we get the rooms, maybe? Man, though! This place has changed a lot since I was last here."

Well, yeah, there were also daemons crawling all over the whole planet when he was last here, too, so....

Liz smiled as she reached her hands out so that she could take Noctra, “it looks really nice,” she said, “even though I think I know what Noctra’s favourite place is going to be,” she said fondly.

"Hmmm, I don't know," Prompto drawled, overexaggersting it extra for Noctra as he squinted and rubbed his chin. "That's a tough call. It's probably not a pool, this place has really upgraded, but not that much. And it can't be the beds, because she hates naps....I just can't think of anythi--"

"Okobos!" Noctra squealed in protesting interruption.

"Yeah, no," he grinned and shifted enough to....well, he tried to reach over to rub Noctra's hair, but he was too laden down with bags to actually do it and gave up. "Can't think of anything!"

Liz grinned at that as she tried to settle Noctra, who had started squirming again and repeating 'Okobos'.

"I have a feeling she's probably not going to get too much sleep while she's here," she considered, "we might have a hard time keeping her away from the chocobos," she smiled as Noctra squealed 'Okobos' again.

In addition to his own and Nell's stuff, Gladio had taken up a few of Prompto's bags, too, considering the guy had apparently decided to history drag his whole apartment here with him for the weekend. But it was looking pretty unnecessary, with how much the old chocobo post had grown. Enough to make him lift his eyebrows a little and whistle.

"Sure have spruced up the place in the last couple of years," he said, noting especially the expanded new lodgings and the new, larger stable for the chocobos. Not to mention the small, excited crowd, especially once they arrived on the scene. Despite himself, he had to grin, nodding at a whispering pair of women and flashing them a grin that set their speculations off eith a round of incredulous giggles. Gladio just shook his head a little and looked around, already feeling that itch for the great outdoors around them outside the post.

Nell had managed to keep hold of her purse at least. She was perfectly capable of carrying her own bag - unlike Prompto, everything she needed for a long weekend fit well into a small carry-on - which Gladio also knew. However, he enjoyed doing the heavy lifting and she was busy enough trying not to gawk at everything, so she didn't object.

Unlike Liliana, this was her first trip to Eos and she was determined to enjoy everything she could. Including a chocobo tour, thank you very much, Ignis. Obviously there was a non-zero chance that she'd find some quiet spot to dig her feet into the earth and just commune, but surely a tour of this amazing place would still leave her plenty of time for that!

She noticed the giggling women and gave them a look and a nod, which somehow seemed to encompass, 'certainly, look your fill and enjoy, but any more than that and you will not be pleased with the results'. It was Gladio after all. People, especially women were going to stare - even if he hasn't been one of their heros. Who was she to deny them that?

Edited 2025-08-29 14:38 (UTC)

And Gladio had never been one to discourage anyone from staring, either. In that moment, though, Nell would also see that familiar change come over him that she'd see whenever they went somewhere with a close proximity to the great outdoors, although now, it was even more potent, with how familiar it was despite himself not having been here for a while. But even with everything Eos had been through, it was still deeply familiar, and, most of all, now? It was also free of the plague that had infected it for millenia.

He breathed in the fresh forest air and stretched out, and when his arms settled back down, one may have landed around Nell's shoulder.

"Just wait," he said, "until I tell you some of the stories about this place, and show you the Catoblepas and the place we took down Deadeye and saved all the chocobos."

Nell loved that moment, loved how she could see a little reflection of herself in that love for the great outdoors and the wilderness. She also felt the excitement of new wilderness to explore - an entire new vibrant land to commune with - and she was eager to see and learn everything she could about it.

She snuggled into his embrace, not even sparing a glance now for the wide eyed women, "I can't wait," she said, "I want to hear all the stories and see all the places!"

Nell smiled up at him. "Obviously around the requisite boy's fishing trip."

"Obviously," Gladio agreed, with an amused snort and a grin right back down at her. "Not all the places, though, we might have enough time for that but there's some pretty good ones we can get to. And at least one pop into the city. I'm pretty sure if Iris found out I was here and didn't even say hi, she'd follow me back just to yell at me for it."

Nell wrinkled her nose at him. "Not to mention that the honey and jams and teas and lotions I prepared as gifts for her would go to waste," she pointed out.

"Well, I wouldn't say they'd go entirely to waste," Gladio countered, with thr very clear indication that they'd at least be put to use by an Amicitia, even if not the one they had been originally intended for.

Nell raised an eyebrow. "Shall I hold some of the lotions back to slather you with?"

The honey and jams would certainly disappear quickly enough if he was given half a chance, she knew, which was why there were text as many at least waiting for them back home

"She won't even notice they're missing," Gladio said, winking at Nell with his grin crooked before he cocked his head toward the hotel and easily shifted his direction that way. "But come on, let's get things settled with rooms and then figure out what we wanna go do first. There's also a pretty big farm down the road a little ways, if you wanted to go and chat them up about maybe getting some nice Lucien seeds..."

She could probably have a fascinating discussion with them, too, about how they managed to grow things during the Long Night.

"Oh yes," Nell said. "That would be wonderful! I have all sorts of questions. And I brought a few seeds and seedlings of my own to share. Though I won't do that until I've had a chance to look deeper into the earth and make sure they won't damage anything here."

She followed along towards the hotel. "It's funny, in all the books, after a long trip, people need to rest and refresh themselves in their runs, but with near instantaneous travel through the portals we miss all that "

"Which just means even more time to enjoy things when we get there!" Gladio snorted with approval. "And my legs end up a lot less cramped!"

By now, they'd made it through the tables under their yellow umbrellas between the café and the chocobo pens, a few more heads turned and whispering at their passage. He even nodded at a pair of rough-looking men at one table that he instantly recognized as fellow Hunters, lifting his hand and grunting a greeting as they climbed the steps up to the wrap-around porch and the hotel's reception counter.

Sure, Iggy planned the trip, but Gladio figured he could take the lead on this part. Much easier for him to find it, and Prompto had a lot going on right now.

"Hey, there," he said to the kid behind the counter as he leaned forward onto it. He looked like he couldn't be a day over fifteen, which probably meant he was likely much older, and Gladio felt a pang of sympathy in his chest. Couldn't have been easy, being just a kid through the long night, but he managed to pull through. Meaning Gladio had an instant respect for him, even if he did sort of go a bit wide once he took in Gladio's height and scars and realized who he was.

"We're here with the Scientia party?" he said, then gestured back toward where Ignis was with Liliana, already seeming to be in a world all their own, and to where Prompto and Liz had abandoned their bags for a moment to let Noctra loose on the chocobos. "Should be three rooms, I think?"

The kid looked like he'd forgotten how to work his mouth, but then he spurned into action. "Y-yes! Yes. Of course! Mr. AMicitia, right? Gladiolus? You look just like the stat--right! Your room keys! S-sorry, we hot them right here, Miss Camilla gave you the nice suites in the new building! I mean, of course, right? Only the best, for the Heroes of the New Dawn!"

He then gave an awkward, blushing nod toward Nell, as well, and a polite, "Ma'am."

"Just Nell's fine," she said, smiling at the boy. "And thank you so much. I'm sure the suites will be lovely. What's your name?"

Hey, she was with one of the Heros of the New Dawn, she didn't want to do anything to make them look bad.

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Wiz Chocobo Post; Duscae, Eos; Friday [08/29 FT].

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