originallutece | (no subject)

[She goes quiet as he does, her gaze focused on him. Something's on his mind, clearly, and though she's quite fine with asking questions, perhaps it's better to just let it come out naturally.]

[ The silence is helpful, mostly because Noctis never really knows where to start when it comes to conversations. Or even just being honest. It's right that he has a lot on his mind; he's pretty certain it's the same for her. What Rosalind has over others here is that she knows Noctis better than most. They have a history, a foundation of trust. Talking is always beneficial to get one's head cleared, but his options in who he's comfortable doing that with are few.

His finger bends along the rim of his mug, sliding it front and back idly as a fidget. ]

Do you...

Remember anything about what I did here before my coma?

[She frowns slightly.]

A few things. We went out a few times, you showed me what you were working on. We spoke of your father, of what you'd been up to and what I was doing . . . is there something in particular you were looking for?

[ He keeps his gaze hidden and private, somewhat shrinking in on himself in the soft silence that he maintains. At her question, he shrugs his shoulder. ]

Just... Wondering if I'd had any specific relationships or behavior that might have stuck.

I don't know.

I feel like I don't recognize myself sometimes, thinking about how I can't remember anything before the whole ordeal.

. . . you haven't changed, if that's what you're after. I'm not speaking to someone wildly and radically different than the boy I knew before the coma.

But for relationships . . . I've stuck. Prompto has.

[ Noctis purses his lips. There's relief in his personality having not changed; that had been a fear mostly in knowing how much time he'd lost. At least that's consistent.

The subject of Prompto makes him a bit awkward. Rosalind is a comfortable constant, because he's known her since childhood. He'd recognized her immediately after catching her on Retrospec. Prompto, he had to re-acquaint himself with entirely from scratch.

And a lot of what he's felt has sparked around him. Making him wonder how close they were beforehand.]

I run into old texts, pictures...

I don't know, I've just been feeling really off lately. About myself.

Is there something you want to know?

[That isn't quite the right question, though. Rosalind pauses, then adds:]

. . . what is it that those pictures and texts make you feel? Disconnected, I assume, but . . . is he doing or saying things you don't recognize yourself saying or doing?

[ He has no idea how to verbalize it. About what he sees in his own words and actions depicted by the past. It's nothing Prompto is doing, and so he can't be sure how much influence he has.

And when that thought starts going, he remembers that weird feeling he'd gotten in his stomach at the gym. ]

Not disconnected.

I don't know. It was something I looked at, couldn't stop looking at, and it made no sense at all.

Tell me what it was.

[It's a command, because she thinks he needs a command, but it's a gentle one.]

[ At least he responds to that form of communication well...ish. Anxious as Noctis is, her request has him opening his mouth. ]

Him.

[. . . ah. A few thoughts line up, but she isn't going to say it, not yet.]

What about him?

[ This is when he starts to feel embarrassed. For reasons he doesn't quite get. Prompto's his friend, he doesn't exactly see him as more than that. Which is why he still can't quite put his finger on the issue. Or reason.

But his face colors a bit, enough for him to feel the need to put a hand at his face while the other just gestures around his body and clearing his throat. To suggest that he was staring at everything. ]

[Aha.]

Caught a sight of him, did we?

[ SIGH ]

Guess so.

You guess so. Pasty legs for days and freckles, were you not certain about it?

[ Noctis jolts, eyes widening as he stares off to the distance and presses his lips to a fine line.

Talk about pasty: Noctis' face is light enough for that red flush to look deadly. He says nothing to that. ]

Ah.

[She hides her smile behind her cocoa, at least for a few moments.]

So you saw him, and you're feeling something, and you don't know what to do with that feeling--

[A beat, and then she realizes:]

--because you're not certain if it's something you felt before. Is that about right?

[ His stomach is in knots. Noctis rubs the back of his neck and starts to, meekly, let his gaze flit towards Rosalind. ]

That about covers it.

[All right. That's an issue, certainly, but it isn't an unusual one. Rosalind's smile turns a little nicer.]

Well. Let's start with you telling me what you feel, hm?

[ Noctis rests his hands at his lap, just after leaning forward to set his mug down again. ]

Cliche as it might sound? Confused.

Confused because you've never felt that way about a boy before, or confused because you feel that about a friend?

I... Guess both.

[ Noctis tilts his head to the side, looking up in thought. ]

But Prompto's just a friend. I don't think I feel that kind of way about him.

[Hmm. To her credit, she isn't smiling anymore; she's taking this quite seriously.]

Have you tried, ah, thinking about other men in such a way?

[ He thinks on that. ]

No. I've actually been trying to avoid it up until now.

I'd recommend it. That's what I did when this sort of thing happened to me-- it helped me understand if what I felt was for women in general or this girl specifically.