flamesburned | The Apartment Above the Photo Hut

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The Apartment Above the Photo Hut - Friday Morning

The last twenty four hours had been such a whirlwind - an amazing, wonderful whirlwind and Liz was still afraid that this was a dream, that she would wake up back in her room at Dr. Lecter’s and Prompto would be gone, still unaware that he was going to be a father.

After a while they found that they couldn’t stay awake and as nice as it was on the couch, the bed was much more comfortable and so they retreated to the bedroom with Prompto stopping to have a shower on the way before they both ended up in the bed. Liz had thought that she would never get to experience anything like this with Prompto again, she didn’t want to get her hopes up in case this was all just a very cruel dream.

For a long while they had just stayed there, not willing to let the other go or fall asleep but eventually Liz found herself falling asleep. She knew that it wasn’t realistic or healthy for her to stay awake, especially after the last few weeks of not sleeping properly but she was so afraid that she was dreaming this, that she wanted it so badly that she had started to dream that Prompto had returned to Fandom.

When Liz woke the next morning, she was expecting to wake up alone but then she felt Prompto move beside her, snuggled up against her and she had to stop herself from crying.

Everything was real.

She was with Prompto again.

[for Prompto who is modded with permission!]

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Hearing that rumble made Prompto laugh a little, though his eyes didn't stray away from Liz's face for even a second.

"I'm actually a lot hungry," he admitted, and, here came yet another thing to marvel at, swirling out of the whirlwind of thoughts just constantly churning in his brain right now, "and I'm not even eating for two."

It felt...weird to say it, honestly, because he still felt he couldn't be sure what was real and what was made-up, what existed in some sort of delirious dream state. Had he even been gone at all, when it felt like things were right back to where they were? Maybe some parts of last night had been imagined, including everything Liz had said about being pregnant. He hoped it wasn't, even though his mind started reeling whenever he tried to think about it for more than a second.

To be fair, his mind was kind of reeling about everything right now.

He gave Liz a smile.

"I'm so torn," he said. "Food would probably be good. Food would be smart."

And it would be real food, too, not just rations and hunted meat and fish, there would be fresh vegetables here, even fruit. It was September, there would be pumpkin spice everything at the coffee shop....oh, gods, pumpkin spice!

And now Prompto's stomach was responding in kind and he laughed again, mouth now as watery as his eyes.

"But I don't want to even move from this," he admitted, pulling Liz in again and shifting underneath her to increase the comfort of it all. "I just want to stay right here, like this, forever."

“I know,” Liz agreed with a smile as she made no effort to leave the bed, “it’s so nice just being here, like this …even though I know I do need to eat,” a hand went to her stomach just then.

Then she heard Prompto’s own stomach and her smile widened at that, a giggle of her own escaping.

She looked a little guilty, “I don’t have any food though that would qualify as a proper healthy breakfast,”

"Believe me," Prompto snorted faintly into Liz's hair as he nuzzled into it a little, "it'll still probably be better than half the stuff I've been eating for..." He trailed off, just for a moment. "...a while now."

But he did remember her telling him yesterday that she'd been staying at Dr. Lecter's place, so what she had here probably was equivalent to the 'not much at all' his diet had consisted of lately.

"Nice thing about Fandom, though," he mused, "is that there's never been a shortage of places to order from, right? Unless that's changed in the last...er, since I left."

Liz gave a soft murmur of contentment as Prompto nuzzled into her hair and she smiled up at him. “There’s still plenty of delivery options,” she assured him.

“Then we should definitely order a massive breakfast,” she considered what Prompto was telling her, wishing that her phone wasn’t all the way over on her nightstand.

It really wasn’t that far but it would still require moving away from Prompto and she really didn’t want to do that.

“I’ll have to go shopping and stock up the fridge and cupboard though at some point,” she realised.

Oh, gods, Prompto was going to get so sick from having so much food available, wasn't he?

But...well, it wasn't like he didn't know how to rein it in when he had to, and all the stuff he was really craving? All the stuff he hadn't really had in nearly ten years? Fresh stuff, vegetables and fruits, the kinds that didn't really do well in a harsh, sunless environment...were overall mostly good for you, anyway. With maybe one major exception.

"Oh, man," he said. "Can we order pizza? I can't even remember the last time I had pizza."

Then he laughed, as another thought came to him.

"Or Cup Noodle^TM! I'm pretty sure Gladio ate every last remaining Cup Noodle^TM by, like, year three, unless he was holding out on us with a secret supply somewhere, but, believe me, we looked."

There was going to be so much food.

Liz smiled at that, “how about we order both?” she suggested and then listened to that last part, “you mean Gladio’s gone seven years without Cup NoodleTM?” she blinked a bit at that.

“actually maybe we could order quite a few different dishes,” she was getting pretty hungry, she realised and she was beginning to hear Summer’s voice in her head about not eating properly and she felt guilty.

"Well, you know," said Prompto, a little quietly, "we've all had to make our sacrifices. It..."

He trailed off a little, that mirth that had been there just a second ago drained away, and he bit his lip. His fingers started to trail idly on Liz's arm, already wishing he hadn't said anything. Bringing down the mood like that. The last thing she probably wanted to hear about...the last thing he wanted to talk about was...any of that.

"...hasn't really been easy," he finished. He was quiet for another moment, before he sort of smiled, softly. "We've got time, though," he said, "to work through all the options, I'm sure. Let's get whatever you want. What's good, lately?"

“I’m sorry,” Liz said quietly, “that you all had to go through that,”

She wished she had been able to help more, she should have done more.

“Pizza does sound good,” she nodded, “I heard there’s a new owner, I haven’t met him yet,” she added.

“Maybe some pastries from the bakery as well? I’ve been really enjoying soft pretzels as well,” she admitted, “it’s been one of the foods I’ve been craving these last couple of months,”

"So it's true, what they say about cravings?" Prompto asked, letting a little bit of his amusement back in, along with a small shake of his head, because it was still a lot to wrap his head around, that Liz was actually going to have a baby...their baby. "I could definitely do some soft pretzels. Maybe a few cupcakes while we're at it."

His grin grew more sincerely.

"Pizza, pretzels, and cupcakes," he noted. "A true breakfast of champions!"

The long, sustained grumble of his stomach clearly agreed.

“I haven’t had too many cravings but soft pretzels is one of them, I actually discovered it by accident,” Liz admitted, “and I’ve been craving it ever since, well that and s’more soda,” she tilted her head a bit as she looked up at him.

She wondered if it was possible to reach for her phone without moving too much and while still staring up at Prompto she reached back towards the nightstand and fumbled for a bit before she got her phone.

She realised she had messages from Steven and Marc as she went to her door dash app to place an order. She would eventually reply but for now food was definitely the focus because her stomach was rumbling as well.

“Cupcakes, pretzels and pizza,” she smiled as she began to make the order, “is there any type of specific pizza that you’d like me to order?”

"Mmmmm," Prompto hummed a little thoughtfully, tempted to just say 'everything,' but, with a soft grin, decided, "Something with just a lot of veggies? And....this is probably going to sound crazy, but I'd kind of kill for a salad right now, too..."

“How about a supreme vegetarian pizza?” Liz suggested, “there seems to be a lot of good vegetable toppings,”

She looked at the menu, “and a salad does sound like a good idea,” she agreed, “I think I might order one as well,”

She had another look through the pizza, “pepperoni also sounds good,” she admitted

Which wasn’t really healthy for breakfast.

"Let's get one of those, too, then," said Prompto. "Why not? Leftover pizza just means we won't have to go out for food again quite as soon..."

And he didn't know how Liz felt about it, but he knew that he had absolute no intention of going anywhere else if he could help it for as long as he could manage it.

“That is a nice thing about leftover pizza,” Liz agreed as she placed the order for the supreme vegetarian and the pepperoni and then the two salads.

Then she placed an order for the cupcakes and pretzels.

“Oh did you want me to order you a coffee as well?” she did have tea and coffee supplies but maybe Prompto would like a Perk coffee after all this time.

“I just want to stay here with you as long as I can,” Liz told him softly.

There was a brief, fleeting moment where that reminder that pumpkin spice was a thing was a thing again, but they were already getting kind of a lot, it probably wouldn't be good to overdo it, either. So he shook his head. "I'm good," he assured her. "I haven't really had coffee in a pretty long time, either. At least the Ebony outlasted the Cup Noodles^TM a little longer, but even that...." He snorted, faintly, grinning for a moment to press a kiss into the top of Liz's head. "We tried just handing Iggy a can with the regular stuff in it, once it did, but he could tell before even drinking it."

And then, that thought, that was slowly working its way to the forefront of his mind now that the fog of everything else was clearing, bubbling up.

If he was here, where were they? What happened after that bright light? How could any of this have even happened?

Liz nodded, finalising the order and managed to put her phone back down on the nightstand without turning away from Prompto.

She gave a small smile of contentment as Prompto kissed the top of her head, she had missed this so much and she moved in closer now that she wasn’t holding onto her phone.

“I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you, going through all of that,” she said softly, “I wish I had been able to help you,” she said again.

And Prompto was just going to help with that closeness by wrapping his arms tighter around Liz as he pulled her in.

"I'm glad you weren't," he said, much like he had yesterday. "Then you would have had to go through all of it, too, Liz. And I just couldn't..."

He shook his head.

"It's better, that you were here."

“I would have been with you though,” Liz said softly as her head found its way to Prompto’s chest and she rested it there while she snuggled in, “I - I missed you and all I wanted was for you to be with me and that - that’s so selfish of me when you’ve been through so much,”

She closed her eyes and a sob escaped, “I - I …”her thoughts were too jumbled up and a few tears began to roll down her cheeks again.

"Hey," Prompto said, softly, squeezing Liz reassuringly before his hand rubbed her shoulders, rubbed her back, trying to soothe out any more sobs. "It's okay, it alright. You're fine. It's not selfish. If only I'd just..."

Just what, though? Known that his best friend's wedding would turn into a nightmare where the entire fate of the world was hanging in the balance?

"...it's okay. I'm...I'm here now. I'm....sorry it couldn't have been sooner."

It was kind of a miracle it was even a thing at all...

A few more sobs and a couple of hiccups escaped before Liz did finally calm down, her breathing slowing down as Prompto’s gentle rubbing helped soothe her.

Liz moved in even closer, even though she was finding that she was beginning to run out of room as she tried to get in as close to Prompto as she was able to.

“I … I …you’re here, you’re with me … “ Liz took several deep breaths, “this is real,”

It still felt real, that she was curled up with Prompto but maybe it was still a dream … that her dream was still continuing and she was asleep back at Dr. Lecters, “I …it … “ she took another breath.

“I’m scared of losing you again,” it came out in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

Liz could be absorbed into Prompto entirely, and it still wouldn't be close enough.

And as his arms tightened around her again, he closed his eyes and leaned his head in toward hers, trying not to let the sound of her sobs seep into him enough that he'd start crying again, too. In a way, he meant it, when he joked earlier, about how they'd really be in for it if they were both crying.

But what did he say to thay? He wanted to promise that he wasn't going anywhere, but he couldn't promise that. He didn't even know how he got here now, or why, or if it was just a fluke, or....

"If anything," he tried, quietly, after a long, long moment of just letting her cry and ribbing her back, "they owe me at least ten years. You know, to balance it all out."

But the joke definitely feel even nearly enough, and he added, softer, more reflective, "I'm not going anywhere, Liz. Not if I can help it."

The problem was that it looked like he couldn't help it...

Liz did try to laugh at the joke but a few more hiccups escaped instead and she fell silent as she lay there, her head resting on his chest.

“I’m not going anywhere either,” Liz said softly, clinging as tightly as she could to Prompto, “I … I just want to stay here with you,”

She did remember that eventually she would have things like work, that she would have to let everyone know that she was okay and that all of her things were still at Dr. Lecter’s but she would focus on that later … she just wanted that reassurance and comfort from Prompto being here with her.

That he had come back to her and they were going to have a family.

She took several more deep breaths. “I love you,” she said again.

Edited 2022-09-17 02:23 (UTC)

And, much more immediate than all of that, they would eventually have to get up when the food got there.

But not for a while, so, for now, just the clinging, the gentle rubs, the lips pressed into her hair.

"I love you, too," he said, the words cracking in his throat a little, and his hold on tightened. "Gods, Liz, I missed you so much. I was...really starting to think I would never even see you again."

Edited 2022-09-17 02:32 (UTC)

Liz had not even factored in that they would have to get up for the food when it arrived.

“I missed you so much as well, I still … I still can’t believe it, that you’re here …that I’m here with you,” she said softly, as she tried to look up at him from where she still clinging to him.

“After all this time …I … was afraid that we would never be together again, especially after the reunion weekend … when your alternate self was here and than you were gone again,”

Another thought dawned on her and that was what if Fandom was playing a trick on her and it was like the reunion weekend all over again, she clung even more tightly to Prompto, if that was possible.

That poor NPC delivery person was going to be waiting at that door for so. long.

And it was a pretty long time before Prompto mustered up a response, the silence in between just filled with soaking in her hold on him and holding her back.

"Then I guess," he ventured quietly, "we have to make sure to make the most of it while we can."

Not very reassuring, maybe, but if this was temporary, he'd rather just focus on what time they would have.

"Just in case."

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