theairlock | week one

[ She's breathing heavily. They... They have to, she has to get them to listen to her. Or else-

She breathes heavily, but she doesn't let go of her weapon. There's something to her like a caged animal, like she's still going to lash out, despite having registered Prompto as safe.

But... She turns away, teeth grit and free fist clenched. ]

Fuck...!

Come on. Me and you, maybe we can come up with a plan to make them come out. Just not here, okay?

[With her eyes off the door, Prompto tries to gently usher her back out into the hall. Not really pushing, barely touching, even. They've approached injured, wild chocobos this way, gotten close enough to powerful talons and quick beaks to crack a potion open over their wounds.]

You can tell me what's going on if you want and I'll see what I can do.

[ Chloe wants to break that chair against the door. She wants to break something. She wants to smash every single camera in this place, to break everything. Max is waiting for her. Rachel is waiting for her. She has to get out of--

Glances back at the door, as if one last look will make them appear and she can...

...she doesn't know. Scream? And she follows his motions, not...elaborating yet. She's already made enough of a scene. ]

[Where to go, where to go--not the media room, Max is setting up in there. The game room sees a lot of activity. Maybe... the library. He steers her that way, still an anxious mess, but an anxious mess who knows when kindness is needed.]

There're those study rooms in the library, right? Let's use one of those, they're pretty private.

[And, not that he knows this, but also soundproofed, if Chloe decides she does want to scream some more.]

[ Mmmm, yeah, screaming more sounds pretty good just about now. This sucks, basically, and she's got a very clear awareness that everyone could see her breaking down, and a hand covers her eyes. She squeezes at her temples, like it'd make it all go away and kind of more follows Prompto from what she can see of his feet than anything else.

She nods; that's enough of a response, right. If he needs a verbal one- ] Sure. Fine.

[ Ohhh what a shaky voice, she doesn't like that. This vulnerability. ]

Cool.

[He feels ya, Chloe. He doesn't try to make her talk anymore on the way to the back of the library, and once they're safely ensconced in one of the study rooms, he sighs and leans back against the wall, basically sitting on his hands behind his back.]

So, um. What do you need to talk with them about so bad?

[Since, you know, that seems to be the root of the problem.]

[ Away from prying eyes, the anger crops up again, boiling in her stomach, like lava. One of her hands rests in a half-fist on the table, her knuckles so very white. ]

I just- [ Stop shaking, stop that- ] I couldn't sit doing nothing, just waiting anymore. Even if it- I didn't have a plan, all I wanted was...for those fucking cowards to show their faces.

Get them out of their- fucked up bubble when some of us are- are on deadlines. Real ones. Not their bullshit.

[Deadlines. He stops looking at his feet and starts looking at her, taking in that anger and--and fear.

Prompto doesn't know a lot, but he does know fear.]

...Is something happening back home?

[ Oh. Now her shoulders are shaking too. ]

A fucking storm, a- a Chaos Theory-induced nightmare, and my best friend has to stop it, but she- she's a neurotic mess, and she needs- she can't do this alone! She can't save a whole- fucked up town of fucked up people by herself, and she can't find a missing girl and solve a- a drugging and abduction case, but that's what she'll have to do, 'cause I'm stuck here!

[ She spins around and- and she dropped the easel leg, on their way, is there anything she can throw, there- ...a dry erase board eraser. Alright. She grabs it and chucks it at the wall. It bounces off, harmlessly. ]

[Even Prompto, Champion of Being Afraid of Everything, isn't startled enough by a dry erase board eraser to flinch. No, what makes his chest tighten is my best friend and she can't do this alone.

He leaves the wall and touches her shoulder.]

Hey. Hey, we'll get you back to her, okay? If it's gotta be fast, then... then we'll do it fast.

[He doesn't know how, but he knows people here are smarter than him. He doesn't know what he can do, but he knows people here are stronger than him. They're not just going to let these people keep them here, not when all of them have someone who can't do something alone.]

My name isn't Prompto for nothing. You know?

[ What the...heck...

Chloe realizes now, there's tears in her eyes. She's failed to push them back, and they're spilling out as she lets out an involuntary laugh. What a stupid joke, it's like...

It's like one Max would make.

Honestly, she's not sure if that makes this better or worse, and she squeezes her eyes shut so tight it pushes a wave of tears down her cheeks. Her teeth grit so tight she can barely stand it, and her throat's too tight for her to comfortably talk. But avoiding discomfort isn't quite the Chloe way, at least not right now. ]

It's already too late. [ She hasn't sounded like this in what feels like so long. Hasn't had a good cry like this with someone else since...coping with Rachel. ] If- if time's moving how it was, then- today's it.

[Oh no.

Nope, doesn't matter that she's angry, doesn't matter he's only known her for a couple days, doesn't even matter that she's taller than him and probably weighs more than two grapes. Chloe's visibly, audibly crying, right now, holding up alone under all this terrible knowledge.

So Prompto steps in and hugs her. No it's okay. He has to swallow around the lump in his own throat.]

I'm sorry.

[He knows what too late looks like.]

What--what's gonna happen to her?

[ A hug.

Yeah, she...can't hold back. Though she tries so much to keep herself together and not break down like a total sissy, she returns the hug...partly so she can reach up with one arm and grip her own head. ]

I- I don't know, we barely know anything about what she can do, but- fuck, she's gonna burn herself out looking f- for Rachel, and m-me, and-

[ ...Probably literally. That nosebleed she got... And Chloe was making her play around with her rewind, why is she so stupid?! ]

And the storm'll- w-wipe out my shithole town and- everyone in it, Max, mom.

[ If she sounded upset before, now she's devastated. ]

Shit...

[There's nothing he can do. Prompto's as trapped as she is, and all he can offer is to rub her back, let her lean on him for a while. He's little, but he's not weak.]

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Chloe. Your home--

[His own voice threatens to break, so he cuts himself off before it can, forces the knot back down his throat.

His arms are strong enough to hold those heavy-ass Niflheim machine guns. They're strong enough to hold Chloe.]

I-it's the worst. I won't... There's nothing okay about this.

I hate that fuckin' place.

[ She says it easily enough, all things considered. She's still crying, but it's something she's expressed while doing so before, so that's fine. Still-- ]

It's taken everything from me, a-and I just wanted out, but- that doesn't mean I wanted it gone.

[ In trying to compose herself, she just ends up crying harder, and what that looks like is a breathy voice and a catch every few words. ]

Not like this- not at this price.

[ Price. It'd be funny, if she wasn't completely losing it.

Arcadia Bay doesn't matter. Not really. But what she'd lose if it was lost... Yeah. That's a bit too much for her, she's coming to realize. It's enough to reduce her to a crying child. ]

...I think I understand.

[He doesn't elaborate. He loved Insomnia--loves Insomnia still. But most of what he loved about it isn't there anymore. It's waiting for him in a hotel in Altissia. What's left of it.]

It's the people. Right? Even if there were only one person, that'd... that'd change a whole city. Even if otherwise, there's nothing else.

[He swallows and blinks quickly, clears his throat.]

I think I get that.

[ A nod is all she can offer for clarification. No, words seem...too hard right now. She can just imagine Max, her mom, both trying to save as many people as possible. Staying in town. Not...leaving...

Any chance to find Rachel washed away.

It's too much for her. She pulls away from Prompto, though all she does is collapse into a chair, head in her hands, crying those frustrated tears. It's not that she doesn't appreciate it, she just needs to have some space, for a moment. ]

Fuck... [ She manages to get that out, and: ] How can I- be her Champion if I'm not even there?

[Prompto doesn't have an answer right away. Now that the hug is over, he feels awkward and clumsy. He turns towards the window into the library, swinging his arms uselessly, full of hurt that isn't even his.]

Maybe...

[He says it softly, so softly even he doesn't realize he's talking until he hears it, surprising himself. He stills, glancing back at her to see if she even heard him, then turns her way once more, twisting his hands together.]

Maybe just--do what you think she'd want you to do, here. If you can't be there.

[What would Noct do? What would he want him to do?]

It's the only thing I can think to do on my own like this.

[ It doesn't seem Chloe has much of a response to that either. Instead, she sits there, rubbing at her face and trying to get her breathing at least a little even.

What now? What would it matter, if her mom, Max, Rachel-- all of them could very well be dead? It's not something to fix with a single conversation. Not something she can brush away just like that. With every heartbeat, it's going to ache at her and eat away. She knows that from experience; her dad, the months of Rachel missing-- loss and uncertainty, mixed into one this time, curling into her and jabbing like a knife, or...a hot bullet. She can only imagine how that second one feels. Who does she have to thank for that...?

...

After a time that's only a few minutes but probably feels much longer, she speaks up. ]

You almost remind me of her, you know. That's...just the kind of thing she'd say.

Really?

[That gets him to look up from his hands, finally. After a moment, he takes a seat at the table, across instead of right next to her.]

What's she like? Uh, if you want to talk about her. It's okay if you don't.

She's...

[ What to say? ]

...she's a superhero. I hadn't seen her in years, but...first time she saw me, she hella saved my life. Without even realizing it was me. And she just...keeps doing it.

[ Kind of a far cry from a "neurotic mess" but it appears Max can be both. ]

She...is so out of touch with slang. And if she has to make a decision too fast, she might cry. But even after all these years... She's still Max Caulfield.

[ And she says that like it's the highest compliment in the world. ]

...Heh. Okay, yeah. Some of that's pretty relatable... minus the superhero thing.

[This is why Prompto's happy not to make decisions. Noct, Gladio, and Iggy have never had a problem with making them for him, so why should he ruin a good thing? They have strong opinions, his strong opinion is that they know best, everyone gets what they want.]

So you've known each other for a long time? Probably since you were kids, right, if it's been years?

[Man, the parallels just don't stop from increasing, do they?]

That part's new. The...superhero-biz. I'm her sidekick. Her...partner-in-time.

[ She's been thinking about saying that to her. Something silly, almost sweet. Max... ]

We've been friends...forever, it feels like. We- ...she moved, and...we fell out of touch. But...now that she's back, it's like we're just...back in sync, Max and Chloe taking on the world. ...It's...been so fucking weird. So shitty, everything going on, but- it was also the start of...what felt like the best week of my life.

...Yeah. Yeah. I know the feeling.

['That was one hell of a day, huh?'

'Yeah, but it was fun. Every day's fun. Even when we almost get ourselves killed.'

He swallows whatever it is that's making his voice sound so small and nods.]

She sounds really great. You two sound really great, together.

She is. And...we are.

[ Days ago, she stammered and clarified, so no one got the wrong idea. Now... She doesn't seem to think it's worth it to. ]

I...really don't want to lose her again.

week one

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