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

[chef_chocobro]

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! ]]

Comments

[mylandmyrules]

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?

[sword_chocobro]

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."

[mylandmyrules]

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."

[sword_chocobro]

"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."

[mylandmyrules]

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.

[sword_chocobro]

"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.

[mylandmyrules]

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

[sword_chocobro]

"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.

[mylandmyrules]

"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 "

[sword_chocobro]

"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."

[mylandmyrules]

"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.