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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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[daemonized]

[There are importnat things to be said right now. Questions to be asked, more memories to talk about.

But instead:]

You...

[A pause.]

Did you get needles in your butt, Prompto?

[ARDYN SAID BUTT]

[mercurio]

[...a pause, to let that sink in]

Heh.

[this is getting ridiculous very quickly. he's grinning despite himself, especially because he's imitating someone's knack for dramatics]

I don't wanna brag... but I was a bit of a hero on that day.

[daemonized]

[Despite knowing what memories he'll have to divulge later, and how those will make him feel uncomfortable without the luxury of being able to show it, Ardyn still smiles, lost in the silliness of it all.]

So that's a yes, then.

Were they difficult to kill? I remember them being annoyingly quick creatures.

[mercurio]

[prompto dismisses having to confirm any of it by waving his hand around]

Kinda. They did move pretty fast.

Like I said, blew them up. Easiest solution.

[daemonized]

Right. With your... rocket launcher, I assume?

[Mph. He exhales.]

Do you still have possession of that?

[mercurio]

With a hot dog stand, actually.

[he leans forward on the table, taking his glass of water for a sip. he glances down, watching the ice cubes dance about as they float on the water...]

It's somewhere safe.

[cloud's broom closet. cloud probably doesn't know yet. it's wrapped up, in any case.]

Not gonna randomly use it. Noct hasn't bought me rockets, either.

[daemonized]

I suppose I'll take what comfort in that I can.

[He's still going to worry. He's always going to worry.]

In any case, I'm glad you're safe and relatively needle-free for the time being.

[A silence lingers between them just for a moment before Ardyn chases it away.]

In any case... [Another pause. He gestures at their surroundings.] I was wondering... Does this place remind you of anything?

[mercurio]

[when ardyn gestures around, prompto sits up and looks curiously at the scenery; the quaint but lavish seaside restaurant, the ocean waves lapping the shore, the salty breeze and the echoes of water-run distance.]

...

Should it?

[it doesn't really ring at any bells.]

[daemonized]

If Retrospec were kind enough to you, then yes. Or is that really a kindness, I wonder?

[A breezy admittance, before he decides to get to the heart of the matter.]

I remembered a place called Galdin Quay, and you were in it. So was Noctis. [He sets his jaw before continuing.] It was a place much like this, and I had wondered, perhaps, if you remembered anything similar.

[mercurio]

Galdin Quay...

How would you even spell that?

[for his notes, you see.]

[he makes an attempt on his notes, writing the name down several times.]

--have you told Noct? Maybe he'd remember. I haven't really remembered much from the world we come from. Were from. Whatever.

[daemonized]

[Ardyn takes the time to help Prompto spell out Galdin Quay, patiently enough. Strange, that he would remember such details, but he supposes it makes sense.

At the question, he nods.]

I have. He ended up remembering it as well.

[mercurio]

Oh.

[does he feel slightly--bad about not remembering? yes, he does. if noctis remembered, too, then...]

Tell me more about it. Maybe I'll remember if you describe the place more.

[daemonized]

[He can tell that Prompto feels bad about it, though that's certainly not his intent. But at the same time he'll not ignore the boy's request, and so-]

What about the words I uttered to your group? Maybe that'll spark something.

[This, he remembers with clarity. He even speaks it with that same lilt he remembers, in the exact same manner.]

"I'm afraid you're out of luck. The boats bring you here." And then you said, "What about them?"

[Prompto, with his apprehension... how could he forget?]

"Well, they'll not take you forth." Another man asked what my purpose there was, and I replied with, "I'm an impatient traveler, ready to turn ship."

[He pauses, wondering if that'll trigger anything for him.]

[mercurio]

[prompto tilts his head, especially interested at what, apparently, he himself asked ardyn during the exchange.]

Boats? Where were we going?

[but something else clicks into place, even if nothing does... come forth. not yet, anyway.]

I guess you weren't traveling with us guys, if your introduction is anythin' to go by. Don't think we knew each other, huh.

[daemonized]

[He shakes his head.]

That I don't recall. [because this is dated before noctis told him]

But I know you had a purpose across the sea. Something you were... trying to get to, for whatever reason it would've been. Something important, surely. But no, we didn't know each other. It was our first time meeting.

[mercurio]

So it's before that memory from the caravan. Maybe if we were traveling to the same place you joined us after we met?

[a tilt of his head, and then the server is back with their food orders. prompto's quick to bite into french fries]

[he seems pensive, contemplating something in silence, before--]

Did you throw something at Noct?

[daemonized]

[A look of surprise. A moment of hesitation. And then:]

I did. It was a coin of some sort. How do you know?

[mercurio]

I... guess it just came to mind?

Sure did hide behind real tall, buff guy. [frowns] Don't think I can make out his face.

Galdin Quay, huh.

[daemonized]

Why did you hide?

[Oh, that slips out almost automatically before he can stop it. He curses to himself, mentally, before continuing.]

...Were you scared?

[mercurio]

[if he were to dig for the reason why, prompto is sure that the answer would infinitely upset ardyn. a stranger, an unknown variable, not necessarily traveling in secrecy but there was some caution to be taken for it. was it because of the monsters? or something else entirely?]

[he manages a quick answer regardless]

I guess he just had that imposing big guy thing going for him, so maybe it was just a habit I picked up.

[prompto sits up properly, picking up one of the triangle-shaped cuts of the sandwich, and bites down. it's a few chews in when he speaks again.]

I wonder if the coin meant anything. It didn't seem like currency. [chew, chew, swallow] Nothin' comes to mind?

[daemonized]

[He's right. It would've upset Ardyn, because he already has his own self-doubts on the matter. For Prompto to have underlined them even more would only make him think of himself as a worse person, this past self of his.

But the young man sidesteps it, for all the good it does. Ardyn feels... doubtful, but maybe he's eager to believe it, as well. He doesn't pry further.]

No. I don't even remember what the coin looked like. Only that I threw it, and one of the other men caught it instead of Noctis.

[mercurio]

Did you know Noctis was related to you at the time? It didn't seem like he recognized you at all...

[that's weird, in any case]

[daemonized]

I... I don't know.

[Another part of his memory that remains fuzzy. A detail that he can't quite grasp at.

He can at least logic it to death.]

I knew my name was Ardyn Lucis Caelum. And I feel as if I recognized Noctis, so I must've known of him in some capacity. But we did not act like family.

[mercurio]

...what exactly are you?

[this question would have a different weight in a different situation--]

To Noctis, I mean.

[daemonized]

[Hell yeah it would.

Good thing he interprets it as only he can, with the memories he currently has.]

Who's to say? A long lost uncle?