warmsyourheart: (You're super spiffy!)

some...how...

[personal profile] warmsyourheart 2019-07-16 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ Brooding? That calls for a free Nice Cream intervention, and so this bunny-monster stops his cart beside Francel, reaches inside, and draws out a wrapped bar, proffering it with a smile. ]

Hi there, friend! You look like you could use some Nice Cream!

[ Or more than that, maybe a friendly ear? ]
haillenarte: (025)

magically...

[personal profile] haillenarte 2019-07-16 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
[it's.......... a bunny..........

to be more accurate, it's a blue... rabbit... man. francel would be surprised if he had any spirit to even do so, and besides, he's gotten used to the sight of monsters recently. somewhat bewildered, he accepts the bar of nice cream, blinking at it with a slightly dazed air.]


I, ah... thank you?

[surely this rabbit runs a business?]

I'm... sorry, but perhaps I should not. I would love to eat something sweet, but I haven't any coin.
warmsyourheart: (Have a wonderful day!)

[personal profile] warmsyourheart 2019-07-16 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nice Cream on its own, of course, won't dispel the gloom hanging over this pointy-eared fellow like a dark cloud, but the fact that the young man takes the bar at all prompts a wider, even brighter smile from the monster standing before Francel. With a shake of his head, a cheery wave of both paws, he quickly tries to reassure his not-quite-customer. ]

Oh, that's no problem — it's on me! Tell me what you think? I've been working on new flavours and wrappers, so your feedback is all the payment I need!

[ That smile turns expectant. His ears flick toward Francel, hopeful. ]
haillenarte: (066)

[personal profile] haillenarte 2019-07-16 02:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[francel supposes he cannot resist a pair of expectant ears and a friendly face. slowly, almost timidly, he opens the nice cream bar as neatly as he can manage. he’ll have to finish it before he notices anything on the wrapper, but he slowly takes a bite.

iced dairy was not too common in ishgard, not even before the calamity, but this is sweet, milky, and melts in the mouth. comforting. francel closes his eyes and lets the sweetness of it wash over him.

the wrapper asks is this as sweet as you?

smiling faintly, francel can’t find it in himself to throw the thing away, despite the fact that it’s stained with melted ice cream, he holds it loosely by a clean corner, fixing the nice cream guy with a sorrowful gaze.]


...It was delicious, thank you. A finer sweet I have never known. I cannot imagine that this would sell poorly anywhere in the world.
warmsyourheart: (Are those claws natural?)

[personal profile] warmsyourheart 2019-07-16 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Watching with undisguised interest from first bite to last, he can't help but notice that Francel's smile doesn't reach his eyes — it's just a small, sad curl of his lips. As a matter of fact, sitting here all by his lonesome makes Francel himself look small and sad, and his new acquaintance decides to take a seat next to him, his own smile a little more subdued, gentler. ]

No, thank you! Hearing that really means a lot to me! [ He glances back at his cart, only for a second, and chuckles. ] It wasn't always like that, you know. I tried all sorts of places, but it took a while before my first customer came along... Anyway, business has picked up, that's all that matters now!

[ Cocking his head, the rabbit-monster peers at Francel after scanning the wrapper's message. ]

I have to say, in a contest between you and my Nice Cream, I bet you're sweeter!

[ Obviously not to eat... ]
haillenarte: (044)

[personal profile] haillenarte 2019-07-17 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[francel laughs in return, shaking his head in polite denial; he isn't sweet, not at all, and (he thinks with a pang) cain might have said something like that once, too — but the sentiment itself is appreciated.]

And yet you must be the sweetest of all. Only a rare soul would get into the business of spreading cheer to others.

[wearily, he closes his eyes as if to fall asleep on the bench beside the nice cream monster's cart.]

...If I'd known more men like you, perhaps my life would have been different.
warmsyourheart: ((An illustration of a hug))

[personal profile] warmsyourheart 2019-07-17 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, it sure is kind of you to say that!

[ But he hasn't spread cheer to this little corner, not really. Here, the sorrow is like a thick, heavy layer of snow, like all of Snowdin's frost piled together in one spot, and one bar of Nice Cream can't melt it all away.

He rests one paw on Francel's shoulder, concerned. ]


If I'm a rare soul, wouldn't you call yourself another one? Why, even though you can't be in the mood to smile, you've gone out of your way to brighten my day!
haillenarte: (089)

[personal profile] haillenarte 2019-07-17 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Isn't that only natural?

[francel does not react outwardly to the paw upon his shoulder, but he tips his chin slightly inward, almost as if in a nod. his gaze falls into his lap, where his gloved hands still cradle the nice cream wrapper.]

...Being sad is no excuse to be cruel to others. My problems are mine and mine alone.
warmsyourheart: (Are those claws natural?)

[personal profile] warmsyourheart 2019-07-18 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ After a moment, he withdraws his paw, but his eyes are fixed on Francel, following each shift in his posture. He hums a thoughtful sound, and sits back. ]

You're right about the first part, but you shouldn't have to handle what's got you down alone!

[ That's the ideal scenario, he knows — if I'd known more men like you, perhaps my life would have been different tells him enough. ]

Say, why don't you share those problems with me? Consider it payment for a supply of Nice Cream whenever you want it!
haillenarte: (056)

[personal profile] haillenarte 2019-07-28 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
[his attention roused for a moment, francel smiles at the rabbit-man good-naturedly enough, but his expression soon falls as his mind is turned back toward his broken heart. it seems cruel, somehow, to push his problems on an innocent monster who is idealistic enough to go about selling sweets for a living. francel knows better. in wartime, sweets are one of the first things to go.

it was different opening up to cain. cain had been wiser, more familiar with the ways of the world, and francel had been all too eager to trust him. and he knows it was not so simple as being lied to — it was nothing so cruel as deception — but maybe, in the end, trusting cain had been his first mistake.

trusting aymeric had been his second.]


I... trusted someone I should not have, I suppose.

[he swallows on a hardness in his throat.]

He was... very kind to me, even in my worst, most selfish moments, and I... I tried to do all that I could in return for him. But it never... it never seemed to matter, and... in the end, he chose someone else.