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[mercurio]

prompto argentum

hey hey hey! can't get to you right now but i will soon as i get the chance! 📸

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Comments

i can't believe ros is snatching ardyn's student from him

[mercurio]

aw... thanks doctor means a lot
even if you helped noct prank me about the whole tail thing
seriously though would i even be in time to enroll?
what class would i even take...

step up your game ardyn

[originallutece]

Quantum physics. And it's only too late if the professor isn't inclined to make space in her class.

[She thinks about apologizing for the tail thing, but . . . no, he's probably fine.]

[mercurio]

isn't quantum physics super hard
um.. i guess i could give it a shot though?
i don't really hate the idea of it

[originallutece]

That's the spirit.

And yes. It is. But the undergraduate courses are a great deal easier than the graduate ones. And quite frankly, half the students I end up getting are idiots, so the bar isn't high.

[mercurio]

not gonna lie
still kind of scared at the idea of /quantum/ physics
besides it's been a while since i've looked at physics properly
maybe you got some problems i could use to review?

...
also lemme send you my classes schedule because i don't wanna die this semester you know

[originallutece]

I can do that. Give me half a day to gather some sample problems. But yes, in the meantime, send your schedule over.

[A beat. She pauses, then adds:]

I'm hardly trying to dissuade you from what you truly want to do. But if you're clever enough to do better than some of your teachers in high school, it seems a great waste not to further that education. You never know when it might come in handy.

[mercurio]

thanks
and i know! i don't think you're purposely trying to stop me from doing photography
i'm not used to having adults believe in me though
so um.. i'm really flattered!
i hope i won't disappoint you

[originallutece]

[There's a long pause, then, and finally:]

Your parents don't?

[mercurio]

never met my father and haven't seen my mother since i left home after high school

[originallutece]

I see.

You live on your own, or with Noctis?

[mercurio]

it's kind of a mix? i have my own place
but i hang out at noct's quite a bit
it's a really big place i think he doesn't mind the company

[originallutece]

No, I should imagine not.

[Another pause, then.]

The next meal you're scheduled to bring me is dinner, yes? At the university?

[It most certainly is, and she knows it. But she asks anyway.]

[mercurio]

yeah, dinner! raviolis i think... i got a copy of the menu in my bag

[originallutece]

Bring something for yourself. I'll show you a sample of the coursework then.

[mercurio]

[this sounds like one of those offers that mean more than what it's... meant to, at first glance.]

yeah sure i can do that
are the raviolis you order any good?

[originallutece]

[Listen, she's eaten enough meals alone to know it's a pretty lonely thing, okay, except of course she's not going to admit that. So he's coming over to learn about quantum physics, that's it, that's all.]

I'm very fond of them. And they're a great deal better than something you get out of a can, so yes, I'd say they're fairly good.

1/2

[mercurio]

then i'll give them a try! they must be really good
i'm sure it'll be delicious

[mercurio]

[prompto arrives in time for his daily dinner drop-in at the university, bearing a slightly heavier bag with food from the ridiculously fancy italian place. well, fancy for prompto, anyway.]

[he knocks on doctor lutece's door despite it being already slightly open, and he pokes his head in with a smile. it's not that she intimidates him anymore, and it's not like prompto trusts her without question--but there's something about seeing a person on a near-daily basis to deliver them their favoured meals that really does something to the gained perception of things.]

Dinner delivery.

[in he goes, as he usually does, and waits for rosalind to make space on her table before setting down the bag. prompto points over at his backpack with his thumb in a motion of a person who just remembered something.]

I brought some peach flavored ice tea. Thought you might enjoy it.

[originallutece]

[Oddly enough, the narrator is drinking that right now, so well chosen, Prompto, what an excellent suggestion.]

I'll certainly try it. I typically stick to hot tea-- although that's something of a lost cause around here.

[Do you know how many times she's endured bagged tea, Prompto? Too many times. Rosalind reaches for the food, pulling containers out of bags and setting it up between them. She's two paper plates, and even two sets of plastic utensils, dragged out from her secret stash (supplied by Fawkes, who gets bullied into stealing from the student cafeteria).]

No problems getting here?

[mercurio]

--same as always. It's never too bad in the evenings, and going on a scooter means I avoid most traffic.

[he sits himself down and pulls his backpack over, pulling out the carton of ice tea, and setting it on the table. he's never quite witnessed the ritual for dinner eating, so it's a bit fascinating to see the secret stash.]

[but whether he saw it or has an opinion on it, prompto says naught.]

Figure hot tea's kind of hard during the summer. I'm a bigger fan of sports drinks.

[setting his backpack down, he looks through the plastic containers and picks out the one with tomato sauce for himself. rosalind gets her creamy sauce with truffles.]

Do you usually stay in longer after dinner?

[originallutece]

Sometimes. It depends on if I'm in the middle of researching something or if all I'm doing is grading things. I should say--

[She waves a plastic fork carelessly, shrugging as she does.]

I'm better about it here than I was when I worked in the field. I used to have a cot in my lab back then, because I'd usually end up wanting to stay the night when I worked on a problem. But Ardyn's had to force me into heading home more than once before.

[mercurio]

[he transfers his food onto the plastic plate, and setting the container aside, starts by biting in a ravioli. it's definitely meat... and delicious. like it was just freshly made. no wonder there's so much hype over this place.]

[at the mention of ardyn, prompto smiles, then lowers his eyes, trying to coat another ravioli with sauce entirely]

Ardyn's an unexpected voice of reason.

Being so passionate about something is really cool, though. I'd have a lot of fun staying up til crazy hours just developing pictures and falling asleep on a corner of the room. --then I saw Shutter and I said, no heckin' way, not doing that again!

[he's jovial, looking up at the wall with the doctor's merits.]

Teachers really work hard. It's admirable.

[originallutece]

To be perfectly candid, I put in the most work utilizing the lab for my own purposes.

. . . but I appreciate it. It's a far different job than I expected it to be, but it has its own rewards.

[Moments like these, for starters. Rosalind glances behind her, noting where he's looking. If he does the math very quickly, he might just figure out she earned her doctorate by twenty-three.]

Dare I ask after the plot of Shutter?

[mercurio]

[he doesn't do the math, but he does realise that many of her degrees are close to one another. it's impressive, nonetheless, since he doesn't think she's all that much older than him--maybe by a decade or so.]

[eyes blowing up dramatically, prompto kicks his feet on the floor]

No way! You totally got to watch it! But just know that there's a lot of ghost scares while in the darkroom. Nightmares for weeks.

[wheeze]

I love creepy shi--- things, but that was a little too close to home for me...

[originallutece]

[Her mouth twitches, and Rosalind presses her fingers to her lips, hiding a smile.]

You can curse, Prompto.

Is that the one where they've . . . isn't it something about they have a week's time to pass on the photograph or some little girl comes to kill them?

[Listen, she's not so good at the pop culture.]