Chapter Text
"Sooo you gonna tell me where we're going?"
"You'll see," Noct said knowingly. The insidious smile he wore did little to assuage Prompto's apprehension.
The pair waited in the parking lot of Noct's apartment complex, who was nervously checking his phone. He had called Prompto up without warning, told him to meet at his place in an hour, and abruptly hung up without any explanation. Prompto had absolutely no idea what he was up to, but Noct seemed evilly excited and ever so slightly nervous.
"Man, it's not like Iggy to be so late," Prompto sighed, leaning onto the stone lawn décor that covered the grassy areas of the complex.
"That's the thing," Noct said. "He isn't."
Before Prompto could ask what he meant, a black sedan - (not the regalia,) Prompto noted - pulled into the lot. It rolled up to the boys, the window rolled down, and -
"Get in losers, we're going shopping!" Gladio grinned mischievously, beckoning the boys into the back seat.
"Where have you been?" Noct complained, sliding into the seat. "You're ten minutes late."
"Hey, not usually my job to be the chauffeur to royalty. Dost thou require an extra diaper, or have you matured to the level of a fully-grown bitch?"
"You know I could convict you off treason right now."
"Yeah. You fuckin won't tho."
"Fair." Noct defeatedly slouched into his seat. "Start driving."
Prompto had never driven with Gladio before. Unlike Ignis, he actually talked to his passengers without using exorbitant amounts of sass.
Prompto inquired whether they were actually going shopping. Gladio insisted that he only said that for the meme credit.
Noct scoffed. "Of course you have to have the 'meme' credit. Or 'cred' I should say. Gotta be hip with the youngun's."
"Ah, but Noctis," Prompto said, adopting a poor parody of Regis' voice. "Becoming close and understanding with one's subjects is the mark of a great king."
"Listen to him, Noct. Go on a spiritual journey to the lowest parts of Insomnia to gain a true understanding of your people."
"No, thanks. I already did four years of high school."
The entire car roared with laughter. While Prompto never actually found out where they were going, he did come to understand one thing: Ignis was not here because Ignis was NEVER going to find out about what happened tonight under penalty of death.
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"We have arrived," Gladio said, poorly imitating Ignis' accent. They had pulled up in front of a neon sign that said "Loveless." Noct and Prompto climbed out of the car. They could both hear the throbbing bass from outside.
"Not coming?" Prompto asked, turning back to Gladiolus.
"Someone's got to be sober enough to get you two home, or Iggy's gonna have my ass."
Prompto shrugged. Fair enough. He gave an awkward wave as Gladio drove off and turned to face the club.
"Soooo...you do know we kinda...just graduated, right?"
"It's cool," Noct said coolly, as a gust of cool night air came to cool the pair off. "I'm kinda the prince and all."
"Oh..right." Prompto often had trouble grasping just how useful Noct's position was. He started to head in when Noctis stopped him, grabbing his hand.
"Let me rephrase, I'M kinda the prince and all."
"I'm sorry you don't believe my natural charm is enough for the both of us."
Noct grinned. Prompto loved it when he grinned like that. They both headed to the door, had an awkward I.D. conflagration with the doorman, and stepped inside.
Unsurprisingly, Prompto had never been in a club before. Fake I.D.s weren't exactly easy to come by in Insomnia, and having no friends makes going out a terrible option.
All his apprehension, however, didn't make him miss the fact that Noct still seemed awkwardly nervous.
"You okay, dude?" Prompto asked. Because directly confronting Noctis always worked and never resulted in him edgily deflecting the question.
"Um-yeah. No problem."
Huh.
After approximately 20 minutes, Prompto finally noticed that there was something...off about this place. While he wasn't exactly a connoisseur of Insomnian nightlife, the way the patrons were acting was more than a little unusual. It seemed like the guys actually wanted to dance more than the girls, and the girls were buying each other drinks. Not to mention the fact that he'd had his ass slapped by three separate guys.
...
........
"Wait a second, is this a gay bar?"
Noct flinched. "Oh. I suppose it is."
"What an awkward occurrence."
"I suppose so."
The music had switched to a slower, more emotional song about calling your ex after being alone for years. Drunk patrons began finding the cute partner they had been pursuing all night, or simply crying into their glasses while typing messages they were going to regret come tomorrow.
Prompto suddenly had an idea. Probably a terrible idea, but he wasn't about to let Noct be more socially inept than himself.
"Sooo... you wanna dance?"
Noct choked on his drink. "Wha- I mean- if you-"
Prompto smirked. He had conquered the kingdom. "I'll take that as a yes," he said, grabbing Noct's hand and making for the dance floor before the prince could protest. The two awkwardly positioned themselves, then began rocking back and forth.
Noctis glanced around the room, trying to see if anyone he knew would recognize him. Remembering that literally everyone knew his face, he gave up and looked down into Prompto's eyes. Honestly, he was a little absolutely terrified. He'd been friends with Prompto for so long, but...he wanted more.
Meanwhile, Prompto had no words to describe how he felt at that moment. He felt like right now had been a long time coming; as if his entire relationship with Noctis was leading up to this moment. He had no more apprehension about how he felt, because it just felt...right.
So he didn't stop himself from putting his head on Noct's chest. And Noct didn't protest either. He didn't stop it when Noct leaned in for a kiss. Because it just felt right.