flamesburned | BPRD Headquarters - Newark, New Jersey

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BPRD Headquarters - Newark, New Jersey | Wednesday

Liz was extremely nervous.

She had never brought someone back with her to the BPRD before, not even when she had been a student and here she was bringing back a guy to meet … well the BPRD were still her family, it might not be the most normal of circumstances but then nothing about her was normal.

She led Prompto to a pretty ordinary and dull government building with a locked boom gate, the building definitely didn’t look like it would house a secret government agency tasked with fighting the paranormal and she approached an intercom that had a sign that said ‘waste management’ above it. She had her duffel bag slung over shoulder and she was carrying Rain’s cat carrier, Rain was meowing softly … like she could sense that she was somewhere familiar.

“Elizabeth Anne Sherman,” she spoke her full name into the intercom, “I’m with Prompto Argentum, we’re expected?”

She waited for the guard on the other end to confirm her identity, “you know the drill Ms. Sherman,” the voice on the end indicated and Liz stepped up to have her retinal scanned and her identity card came back on the screen to confirm that she was who she said she was. “Welcome back,” the voice added and the gate started to go up, indicating that they were right to approach the building.

She took a deep breath and turned to Prompto, “well here we are,” she said trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice, “you ready for this?”

[for Prompto and all the sp. NFB for distance!]

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Whatever Abe was about to say next soon got cut off by a - “Rain …hey girl, you excited to see your brothers and sisters?”

Liz wasn’t sure what was worse, Abe continuing to spill every single detail about Prompto’s life or the fact that Hellboy had now appeared and had gotten Rain out of her carrier and was showering her with as many cuddles and scritches as a 6’5 demon could.

It didn’t help that Hellboy was studying them intently for a moment and then looked at Prompto with his bright yellow eyes, “who’s the squirt?” even though he knew full well that Liz was bringing Prompto for Thanksgiving because well ... he could be a bit of a troll like that sometimes.

Sorry Prompto.

Aaaand of course it would be during a nice little exposé on Prompto's previous romantic entanglements with big giant red dudes that Hellboy would finally make his appearance.

Prompto found himself slipping almost helplessly into being flustered, even though a part of him definitely managed to note that Hellboy wasn't quite as massive as his mind had built him up to be (he was pretty much the same size as Gladio! Which, you know, pretty massive and intimidating, and also red and a daemon, but still!). He was mentally flailing, not knowing what to do, wanting to say something, but not trusting himself to get the words out in a way that didn't just end up emphasizing the whole squirt part. He desperately wanted Liz to just step in here, but also didn't want to come off as weak and having to depend on her to guide him through this most awkward of moments....

So he swallowed down the nervous lump in his throat and lifted a hand awkwardly. "Uh, hi," he said. "I'm, uh, I'm Prompto..."

The now self-admited squirt.

Great. That was gonna stick, wasn't it?

The room had suddenly gone quiet as everyone watched to see what happened.

“Uh uh,” Hellboy tucked Rain close to his chest as he looked Prompto up and down, “and what is it that you do Promp-to,” he drawled out his name.

Liz was ready to intervene if needed, she really didn’t want to have to explain to Prompto’s friends why he had had a nervous breakdown and her friends had been the cause. That would really go down well them, since she was pretty sure they hated her.

Prompto wasn't exactly sure what did it. Maybe it was just fact that trip wasn't even about him, it was about Liz and her reconnecting with her team, so maybe he should just play super nice and almost docile, but...maybe it was all the crap he was getting from Gladio since last week, maybe it was Liz talking about being bullied earlier that week, maybe it was just that, even though he was big and red and daemonic, Hellboy was giving off some real big hard-ass Gladio vibes right now, but he somehow found a kernel of self-affirmation and a kernel of defiance and sucked in a breath.

What was the worst that could happen? Pandemonium and anarchy and Liz losing her shit again and destroying everything?

Okay, that would actually be bad, but before he could stop himself, his mouth was already working.

"Kind of already covered that part," he said, hitching a low thumb toward Abe, a gesture that set his nervous fidgeting off, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and failed to make any sort of eye contact. "Bit late to the party..."

That might have been more effective if it was said with more confidence, but this next part went a little better:

"But...teaching. Helping out at the photo shop on the island." His eyes and a faint smile skittered over to Liz after that one, and, after that, they finally managed to actually go back to Hellboy for more than two seconds. "Defending a crown prince on a war-torn planet you've probably never even heard of."

There was another awkward silence and then Hellboy suddenly started roaring with laughter but it wasn’t unkind laughter …it was actually… friendly, “well what do you know squirt’s got a spine,” and there was a smirk as he appraised Prompto more closely, “you work for my pops then,” he nodded at the mention of the store.

“So an alien huh?” he remarked, “welcome to the freak show kid, you’ll fit right in here,”

Liz didn’t realise she was holding her breath and remembered to breath as she waited for Hellboy’s response …and whatever it was she had been expecting it wasn’t that.

Prompto also didn't know what he was expecting, and he was also pretty sure that that wasn't it, so he blinked a few times in surprise because he wasn't sure he wasn't just having some sort of disassociative episode or something where what he thought was going on wasn't really going on, but it...it...actually...worked?

And once that sort of clicked, his shoulders slumped with the kind of relief that he couldn't hold back, and the actual words that Hellboy had said managed to register, and he shook his head in disbelief as he muttered, "Man. You have no idea..."

With a little glance back toward Abe, letting his thoughts broadcast loud and clear that maybe they don't keep bringing up the clone business if it could at all been helped? Like, obviously, he was in understanding company and everything, but it was kind of like just holding out an open wound and asking everyonen to put salt in it by mentioning it...

“Yeah don’t pay attention to fish guy,” Hellboy grunted, who would never in a million years admit that Abe freaked him out. “I still think he does it to show off,”

“I’m right here you know,” Abe remarked.

“You were supposed to hear that,” Hellboy grunted, “and don’t think about getting psychic with me,” he didn’t know that Abe had already mentioned he’d been sad about Liz returning to Fandom.

Liz also relaxed a bit as well, okay … this was good right? Hellboy was actually making friendly conversation …this was good for him.

Prompto blinked a little at the banter, as there was an oddly familiar bent to it, then it hit him like a chocobo herd.

Gladio and Ignis. They were the Gladio and Ignis of the team, only one daemonic, one a psychic amphibian. And sometimes Ignis seemed pyschic...

Did that mean Liz was the Prompto? Or the Noctis? Probably the Noctis. No one would actually want to be stuck as the Prompto...

"To be fair," Prompto offered with a faint grin, "it is kind of impressive."

And super mega invasive, too, you know, buuut....

Liz would totally argue that there was nothing wrong with being the Prompto of the group.

“To be fair sometimes there’s nothing psychic about it, you just broadcast rather loud,” Abe remarked, was he talking about Prompto or Hellboy …or both … we’ll never know.

“Really invasive though,” Hellboy snorted, eerily agreeing with Prompto’s narrative.

Everything was wrong with being the Prompto, Liz! Be the Noctis! The Noctis was so cool!

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Prompto had to admit in his surprise, now wondering if he needed to worry about Hellboy being low-key psychic or something, too, or if it was just that they'd managed to find some sort of wavelength of agreement there, but the former seemed way more likely than the latter.

"I mean," he quickly added, with a concillatory gesture toward Abe, "no offense."

“None taken,” Abe assured him in an amused tone that suggested he had heard far worse over the years.

“As fascinating as this as all been,” Professor Broom remarked, “I’m afraid I do have a meeting to attend to, it’s unavoidable I’m afraid. Prompto it was very nice to meet you and I’ll see you at the dinner tomorrow, I trust you can finish the tour,” he glanced at his son, his eyes and tone both warning him to behave.

“Sure pops,” Hellboy said, Professor Broom nodded at them and left.

Once he was gone, Hellboy looked down at Prompto, “I like you kid,” he declared, did anyone have Hellboy and Prompto being BFFs in the bingo card? “I think this little girl wants to see her brothers and sisters,” he indicated Rain, who he was still cuddling, “I heard you liked cats?” it was a bit of an understatement but Liz had definitely explained beforehand that Prompto wanted to meet the cats.

Edited 2021-11-26 17:45 (UTC)

Well, considering that Prompto, still sort of recovering from some sort of whiplash over how this all seemed to be going almost suspiciously well, was about to blurt out that he would also like to see Rain's brothers and sisters even before Hellboy fielded that last comment...understatement was an understatement all its own! And he couldn't help grinning at the prospect of moving to a more cat-intensive location.

"I do like cats!" he confirmed.

Not as much as dogs or chocobos, true, but third place wasn't half bad, right?

"I...." He dragged the word out a little, as if still deciding whether anything he'd say in addition to that would only immediately cause this well-cultivated high opinion of him to tank, "hear you also like cats. And that you have...." Tempted to go with hyperbole and claim a million, he instead reined it in a little with the opposite, since understatement seemed to be a hot trend in this conversation thus far, "a few."

Hellboy chuckled, “more than a few,” he said proudly, “one of Rain’s sisters gave birth not too long ago,” he told him, “I have twenty cats,” he was definitely a proud cat father there. It was actually kind of adorable, you know for a 6’5 red demon.

Liz was hardly daring to believe this actually seemed to be going well, maybe they could get through the next couple of days without any nervous breakdowns.

She hoped.

Edited 2021-11-26 18:16 (UTC)

Prompto's eyes went wide, as no amount of self-control and wanting to be cool in front of Liz's friends could exist to hold back the excited realization that Hellboy's words created.

"You mean there's kittens?!"

Sorry, Liz! Looks like Prompto was going to try to spend this whole time sprawled out on the floor, hopefulyl covered in kittens after all! Just not for the reasons he originally worried about, just for the sheer kittenness of it!

You were becoming Hellboy’s favourite person right now Prompto.

“There are kittens, they’re six weeks old,” he grinned, “come in, we’ll meet the rest of Rain’s brothers and sisters,”

Tour? What Tour? Clearly the cats was the most important part of this visit.

“Bye Abe,” Liz smiled back at him “we’ll see you later,”

Hellboy guided them towards a silver grey corridor that was where the main living quarters were.

Six. Weeks.

Six weeks!

Prompto flashed an excited grin at Liz, then turned his attention back long enough to call out, "Bye, Abe! It was nice meeting you!" before all but bouncing after Hellboy down the corridor.

Because, okay, his job here was done, right? He managed to get Liz home so she could reconnect with her team, they could do their thing, he'd just stay out of the way and babysit the kittens, everybody won!

Liz returned the grin, pleased that Prompto was looking so excited about the cats. At least this way it could hopefully keep him distracted from stressing out about being at the BPRD for the time being.

Hellboy led them down the corridor to the far end, where it led to Hellboy’s quarters. There was a big double bolted door that was currently open and a middle aged white male with a receding hairline stood on guard duty.

“Welcome back Liz,” the agent greeted them standing outside the open door,

“Thank you Clay,” she smiled, “keeping him out of trouble?”

Clay laughed nervously, looking up at Hellboy, “well he’s not grounded this week so that’s progress for him, when was the last time you got out, a month ago? You nearly created a PR disaster when those photos started circulating,”

“That’s why we keep Manning around,” Hellboy shrugged, “Pops got over it,” he remarked, “eventually,”

Rain was meowed excitedly and purring so Hellboy put her down and she immediately entered the room, only to be greeted by a bunch of excited cats.

“Well here we are, ready to meet the rest of the cat family?” Hellboy grinned at them.

Edited 2021-11-27 00:40 (UTC)

Even with the promise of cats...and kittens!...ahead of him, Prompto couldn't help being mildly intrigued by the exchange; it was especially hard not to be curious about some of the finer, more clandestine details of the organization when you were right in the middle of it.

Of course, all that went right out the window the moment Rain started meowing her excitement, and the second he saw the other cats, it was over. All over! Naturally, his eyes passed over the small herd for the kittens in particular, immediately gushing the moment he spotted them.

"Oh my goooooods, they're so smol."

Smol. Not a typo. He most definitely actually said smol, and then crouched down to hold out a hand to see if any of them might bother paying attention to him when there was a returning cats amongst their midsts, but it was fine if Rain got all the attention first, he could wait all day for this, honestly.

“Yeah they are aren’t they,” Hellboy grinned as a couple of the cats started to approach him, meowing and purring.

Rain was definitely getting most of the attention as she spent time meowing and purring and seeing her brothers and sisters again after being gone for so long.

Eventually a few of the kittens did realise that there were new people and they started to wander over to Prompto and started to sniff his hand to see who this new person was and if they could get scritches and cuddles from him.

“They were only babies when I last saw them,” Liz remarked fondly as one of the older cats walked over to her and went in and around her legs to say hello, after a while of contended purring she picked up the cat and started giving her scritches. “They’ve grown so much,” yes she had seen the photos that Hellboy had sent but it wasn’t the same as seeing them in person.

Edited 2021-11-27 01:07 (UTC)

"Hey, there, little buddies!" Prompto cooed as some of the cats came over to say hello, grinning from ear to ear and wiggling his fingers a little before thanking them by using those fingers to dole out pets and scritches in gratitude. "My name's Prompto, what's yours? Awww, look at you, such a pretty kitty, yes, you are, all of you are!"

He really just couldn't help himself, but, before long, he'd managed to claim one of the kittens, picking it up and snuggling against it on his shoulder, going through the logistics that might be required to actually sneak one away with him. You know, no big deal, just stealing adorable kittens from super secret paranormal agencies. Piece of cake, really!

He grinned over at Liz again with her comment, scratching away behind the lucky kitten's ears. "They must have been small enough to fit in your hand back then," he realized, which also meant realizing that...wow, had it really only been a month? And he was here, and that was kind of crazy, wasn't it? It felt like so much longer than that!

Edited 2021-11-27 01:51 (UTC)

“They were so tiny,” Liz grinned, staring at the kittens fondly, “I’ve got some photos I can show you when we get back,” because yes of course she did have photos, actually she had a lot of them not just some.

Hellboy watched Prompto with the kitten, studying him rather carefully and watching his interactions, “his name's Leo,” he said, “you know, I bet Rain would like to have one of her brother’s close by at Fandom, if you wanted to, I’m sure you’d be able to take him home with you,”

Liz was pretty sure she hadn’t predicted Hellboy offering to give Prompto one of his cats as a way this trip home could have gone. This was ... going rather well all things considered.

Edited 2021-11-27 02:41 (UTC)

"Oh..." Prompto blinked over at Hellboy with surprise, then shifted his attention to little Leo, who started making adorable little biscuits against his shoulder, and he almost, almost took him up on it on the spot.

But his shoulders sagged a little with disappointment. Sure, he might like to fantasize about cat smuggling, but he knew being a literal cst burglar potentially wanted by a secret government agency with a psychic, a daemon, and a pyrokinetic wasn't the only reason he wouldn't.

"Man," he said, "I'd honestly love to, but...well, uh, a pet's not really a good idea right now. I'm back and forth between all my jobs a lot, and the one....well, I kinda need to be ready for anything...and I mean anything...at a moment's notice, and it can get kind of intense...

"Besides," he added with a grin, "I'm pretty sure my roommate's cat would murder me in my sleep for even thinking about it."

His attention was all back on Leo again. "Hate to take any of these little dudes from what's obviously a good home where they're being well taken care of, anyway."

“Well the offer’s there ” Hellboy told him, he could respect that and also how hard it would have been to saying no to taking home Leo, “plus,” he added with a grin at both of them, “that just means you can come round and visit to see the cats, Rain clearly missed seeing her brothers and sisters,” he said as he looked at Rain clearly having the time of her life with her family.

Even if Hellboy had to make arrangements to make Prompto an honorary BPRD Agent, so that he could visit regularly to see the cats, he would totally do that.

Edited 2021-11-27 03:06 (UTC)

Official BPRD Cat Wrangler? He'd take it!

"Sounds like a pretty good plan, if you ask me!" Prompto decided, grinning over the cat on his shoulder at Liz.

Hellboy would totally make being an official cat wrangler a position, it would be the most important job in the BPRD.

Liz grinned back, “well I guess that means we have to come back more often, it’s hard to argue with that, ” she said, well this visit was going better than she could have hoped, since future visits were now being planned, hopefully this would carry over to the dinner tomorrow. That was totally a good sign that things were going to be okay.

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BPRD Headquarters - Newark, New Jersey | Wednesday

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