[That—was definitely not the opening she expected. Her neural implant tells her that the song is in Dutch, so she knows what it is, what it means, but because of conventions around music, it still maintains what it is in spirit, so to speak. Her jaw is slack, and she only recovers long enough to loosely wrap an arm around Prompto in return—if there's a brief touch of skin, her only emotion right now is awe and surprise, both things that are uncommon for Clarke in any given moment.
[the last bit is said in a sing-song tone, jazz hands and all. he grins excitedly, settling himself down on one of the chairs and one of the servers bringing over the doughnut mountain for their viewing pleasure.]
[he's halfway leaning onto the table, elbow on the surface, attention on her.]
Nineteen. Give or take some months. I might've technically turned it already, but I think it's easier this way. [Trying to line up the calendar back home with the calendar here would be a nightmare. She barely knows what date it was when the fires hit, or how long it might have taken for her to come to. She only knows the number of days afterward, counted purely on her trying to reach a lost friend.
Her arms cross loosely over her stomach.]
Admittedly, I don't advertise it. If I can make people wonder, it might mean that I can avoid some people thinking I'm not adequately prepared for what we're doing. [A very serious answer from the birthday girl.]
[he says, grinning, pushing that elbow a little towards her in a friendly gesture.]
Guess I'm your senior by two years, but anyone would think you're technically the smarter and more adept one of the two. Age shouldn't be a reason why you can or can't be trusted into doing something.
[prompto really thinks that. at twenty, there have been plenty of time that he's felt out of place and out of his depth. having a high school diploma doesn't immediately mean that you'll be good at every situation.]
--but, okay.
[the doughnut mountain actually has a candle, which one of the maids light up when prompto gestures for it.]
One of the birthday traditions is to make a wish and blow at the candles. You don't say it outloud, just think it, and when you're done, blow on the candle! Y'wanna try it?
[Look, she isn't going to answer a question halfway. Her maturity is in part because of the world where she grew up, and the words just kind of came out. Serious as it is, she's actually willing to talk to Prompto, to say the full extent of her thoughts. It's a show of trust.
But she smiles, taking it in stride. She definitely doesn't feel admonished.]
I've made a wish before. [Her brow furrows.] Well, I learned about it from a friend not too long ago. [Back home. He's dead now. But Clarke can say that about many people, and she can remove herself emotionally from it at the moment, at least for the occasion. Prompto has a good idea of how doom and gloom her life was before.]
But I get it. So—now? [She looks to him for affirmation.]
[After everything, after her talk with Markus, there's only one thing that she can think of: that she can see her friends and family again. Even just one of them. Her mom. Bellamy. Raven. Any of them. She doesn't think beyond the living, or who she knows to be living. Her life here feels as if it's set for a path away from them, and Clarke isn't certain that it's what she wants.
She blows out the candle, a smile spreading over her lips.]
Do you know of the success rate with these?
[Her question is a joke, but Clarke is so earnest that it might be hard to tell.]
[he picks out at the candle, tossing it on a plate and passing on another to clarke, so she can grab at any donut she would like to have.]
[he's already grabbing at a donut monstrosity with chocolate sprinkles on top of melted chocolate and a stroke of white chocolate and a strawberry plopped right in the mess of it all.]
So, you'll have to report back. [and he bites into it, sprinkles falling down onto his plate. he's got chocolate around his mouth but he doesn't mind as he chews.] Y'might ge' lu-cky.
[That is ... messy, Prompto. She laughs, and offers him a cloth napkin off the table so he can wipe his mouth before long. Yes, it's a pointed gesture, and yes, she's amused. Just the same, she takes a bit of donut for herself, but she's more delicate about it. The amount of sugar can be hard for her to consume, so she needs to be careful about it.]
[he takes the napkin, quickly wipes around his mouth and trying to be covert about the gesture as to not show that he is embarrassed because of how totally not subtle his being messy is.]
And if nothing comes of it? At least you got donuts out of it. These are to go, by the way! If we can't decimate it here. The girls will box it up for ya.
I'm not going to be able to decimate them. [Confident? No. Counting herself out? Not at all. Clarke knows that her appetite has never been one of someone who devours a lot of food. She's not used to having it in the first place.]
Though I could use something for the ... [She motions toward her mouth.] It's sticky.
[clothed napkin? --no, they already got those. but it takes him a moment to...]
Oh!
You mean a drink? [he's immediately sweeping his finger onto the tablet screen on the counter, looking through the options] They've got tea and some sort of nut-based milk [--don't laugh, godsdamn it] that might work out. [he looks up] I dunno what you're into?
[Proof that Clarke is an abnormal nineteen year old girl: she doesn't laugh at the nut joke. In fact, she's simply thoughtful about the whole thing, which is phenomenal. Even a little boring!]
Milk sounds good ... isn't that how they normally have baked goods? [A beat.] With the milk. Like, chocolate and milk? There were commercials with mustaches. We saw them on old files.
[Literally boring. Nut milk. It's not even cluelessness, she's just ... too pragmatic to think of the joke.]
[prompto is so sad at the missed opportunity, but he cannot fault clarke for it and instead just keeps on (because having to explain it would be kind of really embarrassing for him, right?).]
[he has to pause at the idea of clarke and her friends watching how things were on earth from old files.]
--yeah, just milk will do that to you.
[raising his hand, he orders a round of milk for the both of them. it does go best with baked goods, after all.]
Hey, you mind if I took a picture of today? With my actual camera.
Can I get the file when you're done? [It's weirdly straightforward. It's hard for Clarke to explain it, and she knows that trying to say why she has the photo will be a mood killer.
(Too bad she doesn't know that she was already a bit of a mood killer by not thinking dirty thoughts about nut jokes. So sad, so sad.)]
[prompto pulls out his camera from his backpack, bringing it up to try some test shots on the donuts and the place. he even manages to get some of the girls in a shot, smiling and excited (because physical cameras are so expensive and very rare--peace signs and wide smiles the order of the day.]
[Clarke opens her mouth to point something out about "cheese" and then catches herself. Not important. It may never be important. Instead, she smiles. Congrats, Prompto. You actually caught Clarke Griffin in a smile.
Though he probably also caught her, "Well, actually ..." face right before.
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And then they're heading back to the table.
(Prompto really is a friendship ambassador.)]
I—a ten? I didn't expect this.
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[the last bit is said in a sing-song tone, jazz hands and all. he grins excitedly, settling himself down on one of the chairs and one of the servers bringing over the doughnut mountain for their viewing pleasure.]
[he's halfway leaning onto the table, elbow on the surface, attention on her.]
How old are you now? I don't think I ever asked.
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Her arms cross loosely over her stomach.]
Admittedly, I don't advertise it. If I can make people wonder, it might mean that I can avoid some people thinking I'm not adequately prepared for what we're doing. [A very serious answer from the birthday girl.]
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[he says, grinning, pushing that elbow a little towards her in a friendly gesture.]
Guess I'm your senior by two years, but anyone would think you're technically the smarter and more adept one of the two. Age shouldn't be a reason why you can or can't be trusted into doing something.
[prompto really thinks that. at twenty, there have been plenty of time that he's felt out of place and out of his depth. having a high school diploma doesn't immediately mean that you'll be good at every situation.]
--but, okay.
[the doughnut mountain actually has a candle, which one of the maids light up when prompto gestures for it.]
One of the birthday traditions is to make a wish and blow at the candles. You don't say it outloud, just think it, and when you're done, blow on the candle! Y'wanna try it?
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But she smiles, taking it in stride. She definitely doesn't feel admonished.]
I've made a wish before. [Her brow furrows.] Well, I learned about it from a friend not too long ago. [Back home. He's dead now. But Clarke can say that about many people, and she can remove herself emotionally from it at the moment, at least for the occasion. Prompto has a good idea of how doom and gloom her life was before.]
But I get it. So—now? [She looks to him for affirmation.]
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[he nods, humming]
Mhm. Before the candle goes out!
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She blows out the candle, a smile spreading over her lips.]
Do you know of the success rate with these?
[Her question is a joke, but Clarke is so earnest that it might be hard to tell.]
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[he picks out at the candle, tossing it on a plate and passing on another to clarke, so she can grab at any donut she would like to have.]
[he's already grabbing at a donut monstrosity with chocolate sprinkles on top of melted chocolate and a stroke of white chocolate and a strawberry plopped right in the mess of it all.]
So, you'll have to report back. [and he bites into it, sprinkles falling down onto his plate. he's got chocolate around his mouth but he doesn't mind as he chews.] Y'might ge' lu-cky.
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You're right. All I need to do is wait and see.
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And if nothing comes of it? At least you got donuts out of it. These are to go, by the way! If we can't decimate it here. The girls will box it up for ya.
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Though I could use something for the ... [She motions toward her mouth.] It's sticky.
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[clothed napkin? --no, they already got those. but it takes him a moment to...]
Oh!
You mean a drink? [he's immediately sweeping his finger onto the tablet screen on the counter, looking through the options] They've got tea and some sort of nut-based milk [--don't laugh, godsdamn it] that might work out. [he looks up] I dunno what you're into?
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Milk sounds good ... isn't that how they normally have baked goods? [A beat.] With the milk. Like, chocolate and milk? There were commercials with mustaches. We saw them on old files.
[Literally boring. Nut milk. It's not even cluelessness, she's just ... too pragmatic to think of the joke.]
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[he has to pause at the idea of clarke and her friends watching how things were on earth from old files.]
--yeah, just milk will do that to you.
[raising his hand, he orders a round of milk for the both of them. it does go best with baked goods, after all.]
Hey, you mind if I took a picture of today? With my actual camera.
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(Too bad she doesn't know that she was already a bit of a mood killer by not thinking dirty thoughts about nut jokes. So sad, so sad.)]
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[prompto pulls out his camera from his backpack, bringing it up to try some test shots on the donuts and the place. he even manages to get some of the girls in a shot, smiling and excited (because physical cameras are so expensive and very rare--peace signs and wide smiles the order of the day.]
[then, he turns to clarke] Say cheese!
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Though he probably also caught her, "Well, actually ..." face right before.
Because that was on its way.]