flamesburned | BPRD Headquarters - Newark, New Jersey

It was a real testament to Prompto's training in the last few weeks that, while they went through their security clearance, he couldn't help postulating on how easy or difficult it might be to try and sneak somehting like contraband or a bomb through inside a cat carrier...

And Prompto would be willing to do anything with Liz, really, especially now, and the newborn kittens (who did not look like aliens or drowned rats or gremlins, Ignis, how dare...) and millions of other cats (but one in particular) were just sort of an added bonus. But since she said it....

He just met that with a grin and a little playful nudge with his shoulder. "You know what," he said, "yeah, now that you mention it and I've already traveled all the way here and went through security and everything, you might be right, I'm gonna just bounce..."

Liz let out a nervous laugh at that, “well I mean I wouldn’t blame you if you did want to leave,” she admitted, swapping Rain’s carrier to her other hand, “especially once Abe realises what’s been happening,” she added, “he’s going to mention everything that happened last week,”

Including, she realised belatedly, the fact she had been Summer’s girlfriend as well and Prompto didn’t know about that detail yet.

Oops.

"Well," Prompto said, with a little bit of a sigh, as if resigned to his fate, and his grin went a little more encouraging than anything else, "if he does, maybe he'll just get it out there right away, so we can just move past it and put it behind us, you know? Besides..."

He paused, thoughtfully, dramatically, as the grin went crooked again.

"It could be a good distraction for my kidnappin---I mean, liberating," he threw in a wink, but there was something nervous in his own chuckle, too, as if he had no idea all this posturing to cover his dread was even working, "Leo in the meantime."

Don't you think for a second that new kittens would make him forget about Leo!

Leo would very pleased to know that he hadn’t been forgotten in the chaos of the new kittens being born.

"I think that would be best, even though with everything that happened last weekend it would probably be like reading a book for Abe," Liz said with a grin, she paused, “I’m sure Leo would enjoy being liberated, I mean HB would probably even help you freeing him from the building,"

"Ugh," said Prompto, laughing a little with a dramatic roll of his eyes, "don't tempt me!"

Seriously, he was going to have to remind himself repeatedly that he really had no business having a cat right now, with how much was being demanded of him back home, which actually could work to his benefit to help keep everything from last weekend a little distant from the forefront of his mind around Abe.

Honestly, if he didn't hold the absolutely absurd hope that maybe, just maybe they could get away with it not coming up, he'd suggest just telling everyone themselves and avoiding it coming up more awkwardly through Abe. But that faint glimmer of a possibility held his tongue on that one.

"But no," he assured her, "it's fine. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

...you'd think he'd know better than to say those words, but, hey, his last visit here had gone surprisingly better than expected, so who knew?

Liz smiled nervously as she finally opened the door to the front lobby so they could enter, “well I guess we’re going to find out,” she said as she held the door for Prompto, “you remember where you have to stand from last time?”

And something about passing through that door made Prompto's nervousness come back to him in full swing, as if it had just simply opened up all the possibilities to the different ways in which he could wind up royally screwing things up, for himself or for Liz.

Maybe even for Rain!

But he nodded. "Right over here," he said, drifting over toward where he thought was the spot from last time, "right?"

"That’s right,” Liz smiled as she followed him to the spot where he was standing. “I mean assuming it hasn’t changed in the last few months since I was last here,” she looked over to the security guard who was standing watch.

“It’s still in the same spot,” he told them, it was the same security from Prompto’s last visit, “and you still need to watch your hands and elbows,” he added helpfully to Prompto.

"Oh."

And Prompto, whose elbows were actually now sticking out after his hands had nervously brushed against his thighs without him realizing it, blinked and straightened his posture while pulling them back in close.

"Right. ....sorry."

It had been advice, Prompto, not a critique.

“Thank you,” Liz smiled at the guard and the elevator began the descent down and soon the sprawling headquarters of the BPRD greeted them.

“Well here we are,” she said, stepping off the elevator once it had come to a stop and looking around to see if anyone was around yet.

Also probably helpful in deflecting Abe off of any thoughts about last weekend: trying not to think of the possible scenarios involved if Prompto somehow didn't manage to keep his hands and elbows safely tucked in. But he supposed if anything did happen to one of his limbs, there was plenty enough technology out there to just get a sweet robotic replacement arm like Ya--

--oh, noooooo.

So help him, if they stepped off the elevator and weren't just immediately hit with a swarm of cats, he was doooomed.

What if that person ... or demon rather was holding one particular cat and had been hovering near the elevator for the last half hour waiting for their arrival?

"Liz, Prompto," he grinned, "glad you guys could make it, Leo was too impatient to wait with the others," he told Prompto, holding the cat out for him.

It was totally Leo who had been the impatient one, yes.

Edited 2022-05-07 10:35 (UTC)

....that worked!

Prompto's excited gasp was immediate, as was his reach out to take that very impatient little cat off of Hellboy's hands. "Leo! Hey, buuuuuuddy! Hi! Ohmygosh, you've gotten so big! Yes, you have, awwww, look at youuuuu!"

Melty babbly cat snuggle distraction mode....activiated!

And, eventually, after a few kissy sounds and overdue earsritches, he seemed to remember that someone else was there and gave a sheepish smile over the kitten. "Uhhh, hey, HB. How've you been?"

“Can’t complain,” Hellboy shrugged as he watched Prompto and Leo interact, “the kittens have been keeping me pretty busy,” he added with a proud smile, “I took some new photos for the competition as well,” he added.

“HB,” Liz smiled once she had turned her attention from watching Prompto and Leo, she let Rain out of her carrier and then went over to give him a hug, trying very hard to not think about the fact that last weekend she had been heavily pregnant with his twins .

Edited 2022-05-07 10:51 (UTC)

Yeah, cat distractions could only go so far once hugging was in the picture, even as Prompto wince a little with a soft "ow" as an errant claw dug a little too deep, and he shifted his hold on Leo.

It was dumb, how trying to not think about something only wound up making you think about it more.

"Yeah, well," he said, trying to put his attention onto Leo and his cute face instead, "I think we may have to concede to you on that one, big guy. We just don't have nearly the same resources..."

He looked down toward Rain.

"No offense, sweetie."

He figured she'd understand. If she wasn't too mad at him for not being around much any more and now melting over another cat.

Rain purred to show she didn’t mind, even though she had been missing Prompto quite a bit. She did walk over to Prompto though, purring and meowing but she was good with waiting.

She was also good with sharing her humans with other cats, she didn’t mind.

“Fandom is such a fascinating place,” a familiar voice spoke, Liz winced as she turned from where she had been hugging Hellboy to the direction of where Abe was in the huge tank, “especially that it can make you pregnant or think you were somebody else’s girlfriend,”

It had really only been a matter of time.

"Hi Abe," Liz said, trying to not sound so nervous but not succeeding very well.

Oh. Like Prompto couldn't hand two cats at once; he was an expert cat wrangler, thank you, and also, he had two arms and two shoulders, so as Rain came up to him and nuzzled against his shin, he was swooping in to pick her up, too.

Which meant he'd had at least a minute of fully appreciating his armful of cats before Abe's inevitable observations made him wince a little, as well. But they knew this was coming, right? So he chuckled a little nervously and desperately latched onto one aspect of what he'd said that might put his rambling brain to good use.

"Boy," he laughed, oh-so-naturally, "you can say that again. One time, it turned my friend into a plant!"

And now he was hoping the memory of the Gladio gladiolus and the fact that Prompto had also been a flying singing blue boy that weekend as well was a good distraction from Liz being fake pregnant with Hellboy's twins.

And, in case it wasn't, he added, "And, oh, yeah, Abe, I brought something for you. I'd show you, but..."

He lifted the armful of cats to emphasize that his hands were kind of full.

And also the fact that he didn't need to really show him when he coild just think about the underwater page-turner device he'd managed to rig up in the last few weeks.

For the first in a long while Abe didn’t know where to even focus first and while he did get lost in the images of that weekend in particular with the plant and Prompto’s own change, Prompto’s comment about having something to show Abe actually got his attention and for the time being forgot all about Liz having been pregnant with fake twins and having a girlfriend.

“For me?” he swam up right to the glass, putting his webbed hands on it as he peered curiously at Prompto … picking up the images of what Prompto intended to show him, “you … I …”

Abe was actually speechless as he stared blinking at Prompto.

“Well the day finally happened,” Hellboy snorted, “you actually shut him up,”

Prompto's eyes went a little wide as that managed to actually succeed; who would have thought the secret all along would be tactical ADHD?

But then he preened a little, between the cats.

"Does that mean," he had to ask, "I get some kind of medal or something?"

Edited 2022-05-07 12:01 (UTC)

“Well now that you mentioned it,” Hellboy said with a grin as he looked over at the still speechless Abe who was still trying to process everything. “I do have a couple of kittens that still need naming, a boy and a girl,”

He turned his attention back to Prompto, “how do you feel about naming them?”

"Well, it's not exactly a medal," Prompto pointed out, the glow of victory making his chuckle far more relieved than nervous now, "but I could probably think of a few names."

Noctra and Lucius, of course, immediately popped into his head, along with wondering if that would be weird, and then maybe he probably shouldn't be thinking of his own fake twins if he wanted to keep things far away from other fake twins...

“I mean I could get you a medal as well if you’d like,” Hellboy said with a grin, “along with the naming rights,” he added, “if you think you can come up with some names, it's not every day fish guy is actually stunned into silence”

Liz tilted her head at Prompto, smiling as she wondered if he was also thinking about the twins and then mentally cursed as she realised that thinking about the twins might make Abe remember that she had been pregnant with Hellboy's twins.

Edited 2022-05-07 12:27 (UTC)

"I might have a few ideas," Prompto said, softly, catching Liz's smile, and, in at least that moment, all those bouncing, jangling thoughts managed to hone in with a single, adoring focus on her and her alone, even as he returned Leo's nuzzle against his cheek.

"I'll have to meet 'em first, of course," he added, "just to be sure, but I'm sure I can think of something."

“Well, in that case, I think it’s time we should go and meet the new additions to the family,” Hellboy declared with a grin and he looked over at Leo and Rain fondly, “how about we go and meet Rain and Leo’s new brothers and sisters?”

There was a pause and Hellboy turned his attention over to a still very distracted Abe, "especially if we go before he starts being annoying again,"

Prompto grinned a little at that, and not only because there was more to that statement that Hellboy probably realized. "I think that," he decided, already moving and then setting the cats down because cat juggling while walking required a bit more coordination than he was feeling at the moment, "is a good plan.

"I'll hook up the thing for you later, okay, Abe?"

They'd have plenty of time, after all, right? And hopefully later there wouldn't be as many people to be embarrassed around based on what he managed to pick up on.

“Then let’s go,” Hellboy wasted no time in getting as far away from Abe as he could manage.

“We’ll see you later, bye Abe!” Liz called behind her as she waved to him

Abe nodded and didn’t end up saying anything else do Liz was taking that as a good sign to quickly follow Hellboy towards his quarters.

She glanced back at Prompto, giving him a nervous smile.

“Well that wasn’t too bad,” she said softly.

Prompto grinned back.

"A lot of visit left to go still," he said, whispering back, and not at all using the clandestine nature of the conversation to lean in closer, how dare you. "But I'll make sure to remain vigilant and scatterbrained."

Liz smiled, enjoying how close Prompto was getting, “that’s true,” she whispered back as Hellboy led them down the corridor to his quarters, “I’ve never seen Abe that quiet before though,” she added.

"You don't....you don't think that's a bad thing, though," Prompto realized, still keeping his voice down and himself close, this perspective on what may have thrown Abe off suddenly coming crashing in with worry, "...do you?"

Maybe he actually hated the idea or was so offended that he didn't even know where to begin, or something else, much, much worse!

“No …I mean I’m pretty sure it’s not,” Liz assured him, “I don’t think Abe is used to other people doing things for him, I think he’s just …well overwhelmed,”

"Oh," Prompto whispered out with relief, and a nod, and a slight hesitation, because it felt kind of weird, saying 'good' to something like Abe being overwhelmed, but.... "...good..."

That felt kind of sad, though, didn't it? It wasn't even that big of a project, he easily got it done in his spare time, but hearing this definitely made Prompto glad that he'd managed to do it for Abe. And maybe already had him wondering if there was anything else he could do for him.

Which lead to a small snort of amusement.

"I was going to say," he explained, still whispering, "that maybe we should invite Sidon next time so they could hang out or something, but if Abe's overwhelmed by that....Sidon might make him explode."

Liz tilted her head, “you know I’d be very interested to see what Abe makes of Sidon,” she admitted as Hellboy came to a stop outside his quarters where there were a group of cats meowing and waiting excitedly for him “maybe if we get through this visit and see how Abe handles the rest of it?”

And the sound of kittens inside? Was definitely a pretty big distraction, and Prompto's grin got increasingly excited as the prospect.

"For sure," Prompto agreed. "But I think, first, before any of that....let's meet these kittens!"

Sorry, Sidon, the plans for your prospective ~~romance~~ friendship with a psychic amphibious creature was going to have to wait!

“Well here we are,” Hellboy said, bringing them over to a basket where five tiny kittens were and Clay, who was guarding the basket. “Three boys and two girls. I've named two of the boys Vulcan and Orion,” he pointed out the two kittens , “and I named one of the girls Brooke,” he said proudly.

It seemed Clay had been relegated to cat sitting duties instead of Hellboy sitting duties but he didn’t seem to mind and only looked up to say hello to Prompto and Liz when they entered the room.

"Ohmygooooooooooooods," Prompto gushed, and he would have been unable to hold that back even if he tried, so he didn't even bother. His knees weakened a little, sinking him down just a little bit with a swoon. "Look at how tiiiiiny they arrrreeeee. Oh, the pictures do not even do them justice! Hi, there, little buuuuddies!"

The kittens meowed softly in response and Brooke lifted her head up slightly to look at the new people who had come into the room.

Liz smiled fondly as she watched Prompto interact with the kittens, “they’re adorable,” she said as she sat down next to the basket, Rain had wandered covered to her and sat in her lap, “what do you think of your new brothers and sisters Rain?” she carefully moved Rain closer to the basket, Rain sniffed it and let out a contended purr before she settled back in Liz’s lap.

"Oh," said Prompto, almost immediately, with a look toward Liz, "that's definitely going to be little Noctra and Lucius."

Especially since that ~~shamelessly modded~~ darker one almost had a cranky look on its face that could only be a Noct-name.

"Noctra and Lucius,," Hellboy mused as he looked at the little kittens, "I like those names, has a nice ring to them" he declared. "Vulcan, Orion, Brooke, Noctra and Lucius,"

Liz smiled up at Prompto when he said the name of the twins, "that's perfect," she grinned, patting Rain who was almost asleep on her lap now, while Liz was patting Rain an older black cat came up to Liz and started purring so Liz was using her free hand to give the other cat scritches.

Prompto grinned back at Liz, pleased and mostly relieved that she didn't seem to mind him pulling out those particular name for the kittens, or that she didn't think it was a weird choice, and also just for the fact that it was now she who was dealing with some double cat duty. Leo had started twining around his feet a little, too, so he picked him back up, lest he be completely cat-free for too long.

"They're great, though," he told Hellboy, as if he needed to be told that. "I bet you're stoked to have even more to add to the family."

“Absolutely, it’s always great when the family expands,” Hellboy smiled fondly as he looked around his growing cat family, “I’m nearly at 30 cats now,” he added, “I think I could get there in the next year,”

“Manning would love that,” Clay said, a little bit nervously as if he half expected the agent to walk in right there, “if these guys are anything like the rest of the family they’ll be trying to break into his quarters,”

Prompto snorted a little at that. Break into. Suuuuuuure, that's definitely what it was and not at all encouraged to slip in there by other parties, definitely.

"Just so you know," Prompto stated, for the record, "I'm not picturing a bunch of cats dropping in on his room, like, all wired up and stealthy like ~~meta for~~ Mission Impossible, and how's that a photoshoot for these guys?"

Was Prompto going to try and pull off a super-spy cat heist photoshoot by the end of the weekend now?

Oh, Prompto was definitely going to try and pull off a super-spy cat heist photoshoot by the end of the weekend now.

Maybe the next time he was in Fandom, he could swing by the shelter and convince Sidon to let him do a counterpoint with the puppies as the bad guys the cats were heisting against!

Edited 2022-05-08 12:52 (UTC)

Hellboy was definitely trying to look completely innocent …he totally had nothing to do with how the cats kept breaking into Manning’s quarters.

Really.

“…you know I’d really like to see that played out,” Hellboy considered, “that would be a pretty impressive photoshoot,”

Even better if it was in Manning’s quarters.

BPRD Headquarters - Newark, New Jersey | Saturday

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