Sure, it didn't stop the crying but Cloud didn't think that it really would. Maybe it would just shift the core emotion from where the tears came from. He wasn't here to judge the other young man at all. If anything, he felt bad that he wasn't expressing his emotions in such a crystal clear way. Even his thumb strokes the back of Prompto's neck, rubbing soothing circles there. Cloud... Well he actually received a lot of physical contact - whether he wanted it or not. His friends and the kids don't really respect his personal space so it wouldn't be the first time that someone just launched themselves at Cloud for a hug.
Hearing the response has him huffing, a humorless laugh. Good, don't apologize for being here and seemingly well. The rest of whatever they are feeling? They can address that in time, because they now have that. Time to deal with this new discovery and to learn about one another as well. It seemed like the planet itself was offering little blessings here and there. While the world would rebuild, they could do that too. The irony of it all doesn't escape Cloud at all.
"For the longest time I thought it was just Tifa and me," Cloud admitted. "I should have looked harder."
That was all he was going to say for the time being. He didn't know if there were other staff here or if anyone could overhear the conversations. Cloud didn't want to risk that since there were some things that would probably need to be explained. Those were not topics to be shared with anyone other than Prompto, if they even get to that point. He shifted the box in his arm still.
"Tifa got out too?" Prompto asks, eyes wide and relieved - there's still so many others lost, yes, but after so many years of dealing with the tragedy it's good to hear that even one more life was saved.
He shakes his head at the comment, though, because how would Cloud have even found him? He'd ended up in the middle of, even if Cloud had known to look it would have been difficult, and how would he have known?
"Right, yea," he laughs a little sheepishly on realising that they're just standing there and that he has a house right there where they can have this conversation much more comfortably.
"Let me take that," he says first, motioning to the package that must be getting heavy by now "and we can go talk in the house, it's just me living there now so we won't be disturbed."
"Yeah. She also saw the grocery store kid too a couple of years back," he replied. It would seem that more people than they realized had made it out of that situation. Maybe they would run into more in the future. Yet Prompto didn't know about what Shinra did after, did he? The cover up?
At the mention of the package, he looked down towards it. Cloud shook his head, glancing back up to his little brother. There were times when Cloud moved that the mako in his eyes stood out more than others. Mako that hadn't been there before when he had come home as part of the mission back then.
"I got it," Cloud answered instead. "Barely weighs anything, really."
Prompto smiles brightly at the news that there might be others out there, that maybe they didn't lose everyone, though in truth he's more pleased to have his brother back than anything else.
His breath catches momentarily when Cloud looks back up and he can see the difference in his brother's eyes, his own widening slightly in turn - confusion and curiosity plain. It vanishes as quickly as it appeared and he nods slightly, huffing a soft laugh.
"Suit yourself." he says with a shrug, turning with a wave of his hand to indicate Cloud should follow as he leads the way.
He goes to the stables first, motioning at the open door.
"Just drop it inside there, I'll take a look at it later." He says, waiting until Cloud has done just that before leading the rest of the way to the little farmhouse across the yard.
Inside, it's quite a nice space. A little cluttered but tidy, full of the various acoutrements of a life rearing chocobos. They enter into a hallway, a living room on one side visible with a stack of boxes against one wall, but Prompto turns the other way, into the homey little kitchen with a large dining table taking up the middle. He gathers up some of the paperwork spread across its surface and moves it to the side, motioning for Cloud to take a seat.
"Uh, can I get you a drink or anything? Something to eat?"
The questioning look was obvious, but Cloud tilted his head in return. It wasn't entirely obvious to him what the question in Prompto's gaze was for. In his mind, there were a lot of things that they would need to talk about. A lot of things to catch up on. Once more, talking outside wasn't really high on Cloud's priority list. Most, if not everything, were topics that were meant to be private. After all, the things on Cloud's plate were not common knowledge. People outside of Shinra or the WRO didn't generally know about Sephiroth's involvement or the various coverups done by the company.
Instead he huffed, amused, and followed his little brother to the stables. Cloud went ahead and set the box down, the package a bit heavier than what it appeared to be. He brushed off his hands and hummed an affirmative. Then it was the trip to the house - where he was able to get a good look at where Prompto had ended up. Where he was able to look at his little brother and see how he had changed over the years. Cloud would lament the time lost, but... No sense in it. It was something out of his control and Cloud finally made peace with that.
At first, Cloud is a little awkward moving down the hallway and entering the kitchen. It was an unknown space to him and this situation was... Well it was as if the weight of it all was starting to really hit him as he looked around at all of the belongings. The things that made a house a home. These were the things that would tell him a bit about how Prompto lived now.
He startled at the sound of the other's voice, torn from his thoughts. Oh right. Sitting. Cloud shook his head, not feeling like he could eat or drink anything as he sat down. "No, I'm fine."
Prompto feels the tension building as they head inside, suddenly self conscious about everything from the boxes in the living room to the papers on the table to the fact that Cloud apparently doesn't want anything to drink. His mind supplies him with increasingly wild theories about how much his brother is judging him and his life despite the lack of any evidence that Cloud is judging him at all.
He laughs a little awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. He realises he's just kind of hovering so slides into a seat across from Cloud before he answers.
"Yea.. uh... this is kinda where I ended up, when I ran. The old guy that owned this place let me stay the night, then he let me stay longer in return for helping out and..." he shrugs "I liked the work so I stuck around. He didn't have any other family, so when he died last year he, uh, he left the ranch to me...."
"I was just thinking that it sort of suits you," Cloud commented. "Everyone back in Edge likes to say I look like a chocobo, but maybe that's because they haven't met you."
Poor attempt at humor, but it was there. Cloud wasn't making fun of Prompto's lifestyle or where he was in life. If anything, something nice and quiet wouldn't be too bad at all. In all actuality, Cloud was glad that his little brother was able to have a life. A childhood and someone that was there for him when Cloud and their mother couldn't be.
"The bird I met out there seemed really attached," he said, thinking of what else to say. "I'm not really... Good at this sort of thing. Talking thing."
"Hey!" Prompto protests, but the offended look on his face is entirely feigned, and it's clear he's trying hard not to smile. It's stupid, but there's something about being teased by his big brother again, after all this time, that has warmth blossoming in his chest. It might have been a poor attempt, but it was enough.
"Hey, no, it's okay," he reassures quickly, smiling slightly "it's a pretty weird situation, it's not like either of us woke up this morning knowing we were going to see each other again, and 'catching up with the brother you thought was dead' isn't a totally common conversation topic to prepare for."
He'd always been the more talkative one anyway, and even he can be pretty awkward at times.
"You're right, though, Tiny is pretty attached. He'll be sitting outside the door sulking because I didn't let him in," he laughs slightly "I, um, well I kinda rescued him? I found him when he was just a chick and he was injured, that's actually how I ended up coming here in the first place, I was just trying to bring him back home..."
Cloud wanted to say that he probably would be better prepared than most for that conversation. With the crazy events that have brought him to this point in his life, really coming back from the dead was just another day that ended with 'y.' Yet it was also true that there was no good way to mentally prepare yourself for things like this. Thankfully, Prompto was taking it in stride. He was already relaxing more and that helped Cloud to feel more at ease.
"Rescued how?"
This was a better way to start a conversation. Ask about Prompto first. Getting into all of Cloud's nonsense was going to be a headache. He didn't know if he needed to explain or should explain. Would Prompto be able to understand? Accept it?
At least this was a lighter and safer topic. For now.
"Nothing that dramatic," Prompto admits with a sheepish laugh, blushing a little "I just kinda stumbled across him and wanted to help..."
He'd been scared and lost and alone himself, and he didn't know how to fix that problem for him, but he could try and find a way to help the poor little injured chocobo chick.
It had helped both of them, in the end.
"But what about you? The delivery thing? How'd you get into that?" He prompts, wanting to know everything but figuring that's as good a place as any to start.
"Must run in the family," Cloud murmured. He was thinking of the people that had become part of his little family. All of them have a pretty colorful past. Then Cloud thought of Denzel... Yeah. Stumbling across others and wanting to do what they can do to help them. Definitely must be a family trait.
Prompto then had to ask about Cloud. At least it was only the delivery business. It was a safer topic, he supposed, but it would likely lead into other topics. They'd handle those things one at a time, Cloud figured. For now, he would answer that much.
"After Meteorfall, it seemed like a better way to help the world rebuild than just being a merc," he answered. "Reeve keeps trying to rope me into the WRO, but I think I can do more good this way."
Prompto smiles a little - it's a nice thought, that he might still have something in common with Cloud after all these years, not least because he'd always looked up to his big brother. It makes him wonder, too, what events are on Cloud's mind when he says that - he wants to ask, but he has so many other questions he stops himself from blurting it out and instead just adds it to the list.
"Yea?" Prompto asks, interested "What kind of things do you deliver?"
If he's doing it to help people, to do good, Prompto figures he's delivering things like medicine or food or whatever else people needed to rebuild their lives, but he's still interested to hear it from Cloud.
"Today it's saddles," came the reply, throwing a small smirk Prompto's way. "Seriously, though, it sort of depends day to day. Reeve will hire me to deliver supplies to places but also I'll just take whatever people need me to."
In other words, Cloud wasn't particularly picky. He would pick up what jobs were available to him. Reeve, on the other hand, was a friend. The man was Shinra, but at least he was trying to do something good for the planet now. Now Cloud suspected that the funds weren't all from Reeve, but he didn't want to entertain the possibility of Rufus having any sort of hands in the WRO.
Prompto laughs at the comment - it's not that funny, but underneath all the complicated emotions that seeing Cloud again has triggered there is a simple, straightforward joy at having his beloved brother back when he never thought that was even possible. Despite everything, it makes his smiles - and his laughs - come a little easier than normal, and he's not exactly an unhappy person normally.
"Do you enjoy it?" He asks, because truthfully he thinks that's the most important part, seeing Cloud alive and well is one thing, but Prompto also wants to know that he's happy.
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no subject
Date: 2024-03-12 04:57 pm (UTC)Hearing the response has him huffing, a humorless laugh. Good, don't apologize for being here and seemingly well. The rest of whatever they are feeling? They can address that in time, because they now have that. Time to deal with this new discovery and to learn about one another as well. It seemed like the planet itself was offering little blessings here and there. While the world would rebuild, they could do that too. The irony of it all doesn't escape Cloud at all.
"For the longest time I thought it was just Tifa and me," Cloud admitted. "I should have looked harder."
That was all he was going to say for the time being. He didn't know if there were other staff here or if anyone could overhear the conversations. Cloud didn't want to risk that since there were some things that would probably need to be explained. Those were not topics to be shared with anyone other than Prompto, if they even get to that point. He shifted the box in his arm still.
"C'mon. Gotta be a place we can talk?"
no subject
Date: 2024-03-17 04:08 pm (UTC)"Tifa got out too?" Prompto asks, eyes wide and relieved - there's still so many others lost, yes, but after so many years of dealing with the tragedy it's good to hear that even one more life was saved.
He shakes his head at the comment, though, because how would Cloud have even found him? He'd ended up in the middle of, even if Cloud had known to look it would have been difficult, and how would he have known?
"Right, yea," he laughs a little sheepishly on realising that they're just standing there and that he has a house right there where they can have this conversation much more comfortably.
"Let me take that," he says first, motioning to the package that must be getting heavy by now "and we can go talk in the house, it's just me living there now so we won't be disturbed."
no subject
Date: 2024-03-17 06:16 pm (UTC)At the mention of the package, he looked down towards it. Cloud shook his head, glancing back up to his little brother. There were times when Cloud moved that the mako in his eyes stood out more than others. Mako that hadn't been there before when he had come home as part of the mission back then.
"I got it," Cloud answered instead. "Barely weighs anything, really."
Enchanced strength and all of that, mind.
sorry for the delay!
Date: 2024-03-30 02:32 pm (UTC)Prompto smiles brightly at the news that there might be others out there, that maybe they didn't lose everyone, though in truth he's more pleased to have his brother back than anything else.
His breath catches momentarily when Cloud looks back up and he can see the difference in his brother's eyes, his own widening slightly in turn - confusion and curiosity plain. It vanishes as quickly as it appeared and he nods slightly, huffing a soft laugh.
"Suit yourself." he says with a shrug, turning with a wave of his hand to indicate Cloud should follow as he leads the way.
He goes to the stables first, motioning at the open door.
"Just drop it inside there, I'll take a look at it later." He says, waiting until Cloud has done just that before leading the rest of the way to the little farmhouse across the yard.
Inside, it's quite a nice space. A little cluttered but tidy, full of the various acoutrements of a life rearing chocobos. They enter into a hallway, a living room on one side visible with a stack of boxes against one wall, but Prompto turns the other way, into the homey little kitchen with a large dining table taking up the middle. He gathers up some of the paperwork spread across its surface and moves it to the side, motioning for Cloud to take a seat.
"Uh, can I get you a drink or anything? Something to eat?"
all good!
Date: 2024-04-01 01:56 am (UTC)Instead he huffed, amused, and followed his little brother to the stables. Cloud went ahead and set the box down, the package a bit heavier than what it appeared to be. He brushed off his hands and hummed an affirmative. Then it was the trip to the house - where he was able to get a good look at where Prompto had ended up. Where he was able to look at his little brother and see how he had changed over the years. Cloud would lament the time lost, but... No sense in it. It was something out of his control and Cloud finally made peace with that.
At first, Cloud is a little awkward moving down the hallway and entering the kitchen. It was an unknown space to him and this situation was... Well it was as if the weight of it all was starting to really hit him as he looked around at all of the belongings. The things that made a house a home. These were the things that would tell him a bit about how Prompto lived now.
He startled at the sound of the other's voice, torn from his thoughts. Oh right. Sitting. Cloud shook his head, not feeling like he could eat or drink anything as he sat down. "No, I'm fine."
Augh. That sounded awkward even to him.
"So.... Chocobos?"
Re: all good!
Date: 2024-04-03 04:09 pm (UTC)Prompto feels the tension building as they head inside, suddenly self conscious about everything from the boxes in the living room to the papers on the table to the fact that Cloud apparently doesn't want anything to drink. His mind supplies him with increasingly wild theories about how much his brother is judging him and his life despite the lack of any evidence that Cloud is judging him at all.
He laughs a little awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. He realises he's just kind of hovering so slides into a seat across from Cloud before he answers.
"Yea.. uh... this is kinda where I ended up, when I ran. The old guy that owned this place let me stay the night, then he let me stay longer in return for helping out and..." he shrugs "I liked the work so I stuck around. He didn't have any other family, so when he died last year he, uh, he left the ranch to me...."
no subject
Date: 2024-04-03 07:18 pm (UTC)Poor attempt at humor, but it was there. Cloud wasn't making fun of Prompto's lifestyle or where he was in life. If anything, something nice and quiet wouldn't be too bad at all. In all actuality, Cloud was glad that his little brother was able to have a life. A childhood and someone that was there for him when Cloud and their mother couldn't be.
"The bird I met out there seemed really attached," he said, thinking of what else to say. "I'm not really... Good at this sort of thing. Talking thing."
no subject
Date: 2024-04-08 11:09 pm (UTC)"Hey!" Prompto protests, but the offended look on his face is entirely feigned, and it's clear he's trying hard not to smile. It's stupid, but there's something about being teased by his big brother again, after all this time, that has warmth blossoming in his chest. It might have been a poor attempt, but it was enough.
"Hey, no, it's okay," he reassures quickly, smiling slightly "it's a pretty weird situation, it's not like either of us woke up this morning knowing we were going to see each other again, and 'catching up with the brother you thought was dead' isn't a totally common conversation topic to prepare for."
He'd always been the more talkative one anyway, and even he can be pretty awkward at times.
"You're right, though, Tiny is pretty attached. He'll be sitting outside the door sulking because I didn't let him in," he laughs slightly "I, um, well I kinda rescued him? I found him when he was just a chick and he was injured, that's actually how I ended up coming here in the first place, I was just trying to bring him back home..."
no subject
Date: 2024-04-08 11:54 pm (UTC)"Rescued how?"
This was a better way to start a conversation. Ask about Prompto first. Getting into all of Cloud's nonsense was going to be a headache. He didn't know if he needed to explain or should explain. Would Prompto be able to understand? Accept it?
At least this was a lighter and safer topic. For now.
no subject
Date: 2024-04-11 04:20 pm (UTC)"Nothing that dramatic," Prompto admits with a sheepish laugh, blushing a little "I just kinda stumbled across him and wanted to help..."
He'd been scared and lost and alone himself, and he didn't know how to fix that problem for him, but he could try and find a way to help the poor little injured chocobo chick.
It had helped both of them, in the end.
"But what about you? The delivery thing? How'd you get into that?" He prompts, wanting to know everything but figuring that's as good a place as any to start.
no subject
Date: 2024-04-14 04:54 pm (UTC)Prompto then had to ask about Cloud. At least it was only the delivery business. It was a safer topic, he supposed, but it would likely lead into other topics. They'd handle those things one at a time, Cloud figured. For now, he would answer that much.
"After Meteorfall, it seemed like a better way to help the world rebuild than just being a merc," he answered. "Reeve keeps trying to rope me into the WRO, but I think I can do more good this way."
no subject
Date: 2024-04-24 09:59 am (UTC)Prompto smiles a little - it's a nice thought, that he might still have something in common with Cloud after all these years, not least because he'd always looked up to his big brother. It makes him wonder, too, what events are on Cloud's mind when he says that - he wants to ask, but he has so many other questions he stops himself from blurting it out and instead just adds it to the list.
"Yea?" Prompto asks, interested "What kind of things do you deliver?"
If he's doing it to help people, to do good, Prompto figures he's delivering things like medicine or food or whatever else people needed to rebuild their lives, but he's still interested to hear it from Cloud.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-27 04:35 am (UTC)In other words, Cloud wasn't particularly picky. He would pick up what jobs were available to him. Reeve, on the other hand, was a friend. The man was Shinra, but at least he was trying to do something good for the planet now. Now Cloud suspected that the funds weren't all from Reeve, but he didn't want to entertain the possibility of Rufus having any sort of hands in the WRO.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-28 11:02 pm (UTC)Prompto laughs at the comment - it's not that funny, but underneath all the complicated emotions that seeing Cloud again has triggered there is a simple, straightforward joy at having his beloved brother back when he never thought that was even possible. Despite everything, it makes his smiles - and his laughs - come a little easier than normal, and he's not exactly an unhappy person normally.
"Do you enjoy it?" He asks, because truthfully he thinks that's the most important part, seeing Cloud alive and well is one thing, but Prompto also wants to know that he's happy.