fearlessly | THE PSL!!!!!!

THE PSL!!!!!!

[ this time, returning had not been easy.

it's certainly not the first time. from the temple and lunatia both, alisaie had returned to her home only to bounce back to both places, but each time had been a reset, a return to her "real life," to what she left behind, as if she had never left. she had no recollection of her time spent outside of this world, no memory of the events, or emotions, or people she had been leaving behind, and so ignorance had been bliss. she had remembered, of course, every time she returned, but it had hardly mattered then, once she was back.

this time, she remembers, and because of it there is a sense of.. finality. alisaie does not know how or why, but somehow, deep in her gut, she knows that she will not be returning to lunatia. it might be her natural cynicism, her realism that one day it would come to pass that she would arrive home and not return, and she may very well be wrong, but still she cannot help the feeling that it is over, that just as she had expected she is left to remember it all, to keenly feel the ache of her breaking heart.

prompto would have said that it would be worth it. he had said as much, in the past. he would say that having experienced love would be enough, that their time together, even if less than they both would want, would be better than nothing. she wants to agree, but in her heart she cannot convince herself, and instead there is only a quiet, private bitterness that she nurses in the deep hours of the night when she sleeps to the sound of the chilly wind over the dry sands of amh araeng. the desert suits her, arid and inhospitable and imbued with an old and powerful sense of longing and loss; mayhaps it was one of the many reasons she had been drawn here to begin with, when she first arrived on the shard. this wasteland at the ends of the earth, its very sands and stones infused with the ache of countless grieving hearts and angry ends, is a reflection of her soul. it always has been.

but still she works. that much is easy. there is always work to be done, and alisaie is more than happy to see to it, to bury herself in it, to distract herself from her anger and heartbreak because it has been several moons now, and she was right. it has all ended, and rather than prompto being erased from her heart and mind, she is left with the lingering memory of him in her mind's eye, on her skin, in her heart. he had promised, and where is he now? where is she? alone with her thoughts in this desolate wasteland.

would that he were here, if only so she could sock him right in the gut. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ sometimes no words can help. often, no words can help, at least, in alisaie's case. she simply needs to feel her emotions, to let them roll over her and pass on their own, and mayhaps that is also what prompto needs right now, to release it all, to be rid of it. so she stays steadfast, her arms around him loose and comforting, but firm, unyielding, one hand to his face, her knuckles and thumb gently stroking the line of his jaw.

she definitely feels that stubble, and will get back around to that later.. ]

I know.

[ she says, with a kiss pressed to his temple, another into his dirty, sandy hair. ]

[ It's exactly what he needs — her steadfast presence, her touch and smell and warmth and voice, and the time to just exhume everything that has been steadily building in his heart ever since he woke up in this world. Now, he can let go of it all, the fear, the loneliness, the worry — there will still be so much they need to figure out, but now that they're together...

Together, they can face anything.

Sniffling as his breathing evens out, he draws back just enough to peer up into her face, to kiss her mouth, soft but needful, before he breaks away with a shuddering sigh. ]

...Not tryin' to set a new record of the number of times I've cried on you in one day, promise...

[ alisaie laughs against his mouth, soft and light, and at last begins to lighten her hold, pulling away - but only enough to continue her work. ]

That is a hard pressed record to break.

[ she teases, while gently drawing the warm washcloth over his shoulders again, scrubbing away dirt and sweat from his hairline and collar, rubbing it behind his ears, against his nape, into his hair, down into all those nooks and crannies she knows he'll itch about later. her boy sure likes to be clean.. i can understand that.

only when she is done does she continue, rinsing the cloth with more warm soap and water before she's washing his arms one at a time, scrubbing gently from shoulder to his dirty fingertips. really, he needs two baths, but this will already be worlds better. ]

I'd nearly begun to miss your teary outbursts.

[ It isn't easy for him to sit there and let her tend to him without trying to make himself immediately helpful, but it's far easier when he's this tired. Though he tries to not make himself entirely boneless when she lifts his arms to watch them, he still doesn't do much more than watch her though half-lidded eyes, a soft, calm smile on his lips. Already, all the dirt she's washed from his skin feels amazing, renewing him.

He missed feeling clean almost as much as he missed her. Almost... ]

Heh, bet you did...you missed moppin' me up, huh? And goin' all octopus around you in bed, and wakin' you up early in the morning, and me ticklin' you when you least expect it...

[ She gets to experience all of that over again!! ]

[ it isn't long at all before alisaie has scrubbed and soaped and rinsed all of him that she can feasibly reach, which is mostly from the nipples up, but already he is beginning to smell much better. he'll probably need to dip under to properly rinse his hair, but he can do that on his own time. ]

Ahh.. are you certain you would not prefer it if I abandon you in the desert again?

[ she's missed him so much and here he is reminding her of all of his most annoying habits!! but she leans her weight onto the back of his shoulders anyway, nipping at his ear like an angry little squirrel. ]

But I suppose I might have missed it. Well, not the tickling.

[ Her little nip at his ear elicits a light chuckle from him as he tips his head away — but not too far. Only far enough that he can nuzzle against her cheek, which he feels much better about now that he's a little cleaner. The hair is still a problem though...

But pulling away from her is just so godsdamned hard right now. ]

Not the tickling? I thought you loved it when I tickle you! You always bust up laughin'...

[ He says, trying (and failing) to repress his smile. ]

[ he's laughing, but she's leveling a sharp glare at the side of his face - tread carefully, promptoot!! she missed you, but that doesn't mean she will not punish you.. ]

Give it a try, then, and see how quickly I boot you right into the sands.

[ she threatens, sweetly, then plants a hand atop his head to begin pushing him downward. ]

Rinse off, stinky.

[ Ah, how he's missed her punishment...well, the sexy kind, anyway. He doesn't so much miss the way she once turned into a yarzon to scare him off a wall...

But thanks to his exhausted instincts, he doesn't really have the wherewithal to fight back against her dunkening, instead squawking softly before his head goes under. He does need it, and he would have gotten around to rinsing out his hair sooner or later, but he didn't mean for it to be like this!!!

He whips back upright a moment later, shaking out his hair like a pup. ]

Hey! I was gettin' around to it!

[ wow he was only under for like one second!! alisaie frowns, ducking away from as much of the spray as possible, before she's snagging a handful of soap flakes and plopping them right onto his drowned-rat lookin' head. ]

That was hardly a good scrub.

[ she says, SASSILY, before she's working the soap into his hair, scratching at his scalp, lathering it in deep. he probably has a few lice in there tbh. they're screaming in pain. she'd make him wash his own hair, but she knows how much he loves to have his scalp scratched and massaged, and this had once been such an.. intimate part of their ritual. bathing each other was so often a way for them to connect, to be close to one another. ]

[ If she meant to placate him after her unceremonious dunking, well, then — this is certainly the way to do it. They used to shower and bathe together so often, the feeling of her fingers in his hair commonplace and familiar, and yet after these long months apart, it feels both old and new again, like returning home to a dear friend he hasn't seen in so very long. In an instant, his eyes flutter shut, a soft, tired groan easing up from his chest. ]

Oh...

[ He had almost forgotten how nice it was to have someone tend to him. To touch him where he is so sensitive, especially when he needs it most. ]

A-alright, maybe I won't...tickle you anymore...

[ ...Today. ]

[ and there he goes, positively melting into her touch, just as she expected he might. but she likes it, too - touching him this way, being near to someone.. alisaie has never particularly needed physical comfort from anyone before, but after being with him for so long she had grown used to it.. to being able to touch someone, to sleep beside someone, lean on someone. until going without it, alisaie had not realized just how much she had grown to need it, so these nights have been long, and lonely.

humming softly, alisaie smiles, rubbing circles behind his ears both for comfort, and also to clean out all the dirt and grease she hadn't been able to reach properly with the cloth. ]

You had better not, if you know what is good for you.

[ and if he values good head rubs!! ]

[ Like a pup, those nice head scratchies have him melting right into her fingertips, his head tipping into her touch, expression gentle and content. After months of looking out for himself, it's nice to let someone else do it for a change, and Prompto has never been one to do well on his own for too long. Thank the gods he had Pea with him, and the dream of reuniting with Alisaie to keep him going. ]

Mmm...that's the spot, right there...

[ He might not be Moonblessed anymore, but he was always part puppy, anyway. His leg is liable to start kicking at any moment. ]

I missed this...

[ Not just the head scratchies. The closeness with another person, the intimacy, the reassurance and stability. He at last feels as though he has his feet underneath him again, like he is no longer caught in a free fall that might break him in the end. ]

[ he has always melted easily enough beneath her touch, but in this moment it is exquisite, as if she can feel each and every one of his muscles beginning to ease beneath her fingertips. alisaie never thought she would care for the touch of another person, that she would miss it so very much, that she could ever care for a person so much - and be cared for in return - that she would ache for the touch of their hands and skin.

what a long way she has come. ]

So have I.

[ she murmurs, close beside his ear, but soon enough she is pulling back to begin pushing on his head and shoulders again. they're entering feelings territory, time to retreat!! ]

Now, rinse again.

[ Ah yes, back to the status quo, he enjoyed the schmoopy exchange while he could. This time he moves more easily with her guidance, ducking his head into the water to run his fingers through his hair to wash out the suds and dirt. The water itself is pretty filthy by now, but it is still so, so much better than the layer of dirt that has been caked onto his skin for weeks.

Only once he has made sure his hair is free of suds does he pop back up again, heaving a sigh and leaning back again. ]

What would you do if I did fall asleep in here, huh? Just throw a blanket over me and call it a day?

[ The water is nice and warm now, but soon enough it will be cold, falling asleep doesn't sound so appealing when he thinks of it like that. ]

[ don't worry there are warm coals beneath the basin to keep the water warm, but it would probably like, congeal with all of his sweat and dirt and he'd wake up in a little miniature swamp of his own making.. which is even worse tbh. think of all the bacteria brewing.

but alisaie chuckles in response. ]

Probably. You would be a giant prune come morning.

[ he smells much better now when she leans in to rest her chin on his shoulder, the washcloth in her hand coming to rest against his chest. ]

Are you going to scrub your lower half yourself, or shall I?

[ tbh she probably can't reach his balls from here anyway, and they're probably real gross, but it's fun to point out. ]

[ As nice as the thought of her scrubbing his lower half is, heheh, it's...probably best if handles that for now. They may as close as two people can get, but that doesn't mean he's just going to put his gross ding dong in her hand!! He has standards, and she deserves better than that... ]

Hm...nah, I got it.

[ Taking the washcloth from her, he turns a quick peck against her cheek before he leans forward to, you know, scrub at his crusty balls. ]

Trust me, you don't wanna now how gross I am down here.

[ she loves him, but he can have the privilege of cleaning his crusty balls all to himself. he missed him, but not that much.

but while he finishes up, she can tend to his clothing. they've been soaking in hot, soapy water this entire time, but they could use a good washing, so she leans in to lather and scrub them with her hands while he lathers and scrubs.. elsewhere. ]

Oh, I have a vague idea.

[ she's done a lot of roughing it in the past herself, and the facilities here are, you know, kind of primitive.. but she's an elf so she never smells ]

No doubt you could grow mushrooms in the crack of your arse right about now.

[ he chose this.. ]

[ Uhuh, he's smelled her morning breath, he knows that "elves never smell" is just a myth!! But she isn't wrong about his ass crack, and he doesn't think to try and stop himself before he snorts out a laugh. ]

Hey, it's not that bad! And y'know, this is a desert, so it's not like the dirt stuck up there is all fertile...

[ Enjoy that visual. It sure feels nice though, to get all cleaned off in his cruddiest places, all his nooks and crannies, right down to between his toes. It's bliss... ]

We seriously got work on the indoor plumbing out here, babe.

[ He's kidding...probably. ]

[ that was just his own stinky breath blowing back in his face!! she's an elf AND a girl, double no smell. she definitely doesn't fart either. especially not for dutch ovening him. ]

Well, you go on and work on that yourself, then.

[ she has no interest in laying pipes.... theres only one pipe she wants to lay, wink wonk. anyway, she soon begins to wring out his clothes. they're not perfect, but far cleaner than they were. ]

[ The lengths Prompto is willing to go to for a shower...well, hopefully they'll have plenty of time to figure out the plumbing situation later. For now, he's about as well scrubbed as he's going to get, and the water is starting to get pretty nasty itself. To think all that was on his body...there's probably some dead bugs in there. He's going to do his best not to think about that.

Even so, getting up is another matter entirely. Rolling onto his side to look at her, Prompto props up his head with one hand and exhales a long sound of utter relief. ]

Hm...think you could roll me up in a towel and put me to bed?

[ i mean if he's going to be intensely needy over showers, mord souq isn't terribly far, and the crystarium has all the amenities he could ever hope for. they won't be here forever. for now he'll have to take what he can get!!

arching a brow, alisaie's mouth twists into a light smirk. ]

I doubt it, but I could leave you here if you like.

[ she's strong, but she's not sure she could life his deadweight body out of a tub of water. leaning down, alisaie pulls the cork plug out of both tubs so they can begin to drain into the sand. his minutes are numbered now!! ]

[ No!!! He travels the world to find her, and she betrays him like this...as soon as the water begins to recede, goosebumps prickle up on his skin, and he snatches the nearby towel. Apparently, he's not so tired that he would rather be cold...

Jumping up and stepping out of the tub, he starts to dry himself off. ]

Alright, but I don't 'spose you've got a nice, warm pair of jimmy-jams I could wear, do you?

[ His clothes, though cleaner now, don't sound all that appealing when they're wet, and everything else he has in his pack is equally dirty... ]

[ just 1 hint of cold and he sure is moving fast isn't he!! it doesn't help that the desert nights are notoriously frigid.. ]

No, I expect you to sleep in these sopping wet clothes.

[ she says, flatly, one brow arched high, before she rolls her eyes and shakes out his damp clothing to hang it on a line behind her. ]

Yes, of course I have clean things for you to wear.

[ Look, he just got here, he didn't want to assume that she just has jimjams for him at the drop of a hat! Hopefully she has them nearby, however, because even as he towels himself dry, the cool night air starts to prick at his skin, and he is still very naked... ]

Great! 'Cause I'm ready to sleep and snuggle you into next week...as long as you don't have any objections, anyway.

[ He says with a light chuckle, while rubbing the towel through his hair, turning it into a damp, wild disaster. A far cry from his usually perfectly manicured hair. ]

[ i mean she doesn't have prompto specific clothing with his name embroidered into the undies or anything.. but people travel here often, and they are usually as filthy and tired as he is, so they must have a decent stock of clothing to draw from. prompto isn't particularly big, it shouldn't be difficult to find something to fit him. ]

.. I'm sure you are.

[ she says, gently, around a soft, almost private smile. it's been so long since they have been intimate, able to even hold one another.. ]

Dry yourself off, I shall fetch something for you.

[ and it isn't long before she's returning with a bundle of comfy clothes for him to wear. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject