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They told themselves they’d be studying. There was an exam coming up, that they really should study for. It was an important exam. But, if the bag of snacks each of them carried was any indication, their night was going to be filled with nothing more than video games. It was inevitable. Even Ignis – Mr You-Have-To-Eat-Your-Vegetables himself – had conceded and agreed to bring pizzas to Noctis’s apartment later on. “If he wasn't so busy today it may not have worked.” Noctis admitted with a grin. “We picked a good night to ask.” And Prompto couldn’t argue, even though Ignis’s cooking was to die for. He didn’t often get to sleep at Noctis’s place, and he made a habit of saying his house was messy or something to prevent Noctis inviting himself over, so he was a little excited at the prospect of getting time alone with his best friend. Noctis came alive when he was in a familiar place, his true personality leaking through where his social anxiety concealed.
He was about to make suggestions on what game they should play first when a quiet wail caught his attention.
“Wait a sec.” Prompto muttered, walking ahead, trying to find the source of the sound. He’d heard many like it before, usually late at night, strays crying out to the darkness, sounds he never expected to hear so close to Noctis’s apartment, which was in the heart of the Insomnia CBD. But then he supposed that strays could be found in any part of the city, just that the upper class nature of the surroundings simply caused him to assume otherwise.
A few meters ahead, Prompto followed the sounds, more and more distinct now that he was close, to a large dumpster concealed behind a nicely painted wooden fence. He heard Noctis calling his name, but he was determined to help, after all, the last time he’d saved an animal the greatest thing had come out of it.
Noctis appeared beside him and Prompto held out the grocery bag he was carrying. “Noct, hold this for me.” He said, glad that Noctis didn’t argue with him and took the bag, nor did he argue as he climbed into the dumpster. The moment he hoisted himself up, looking into the half full dumpster, there was a long, pitiful cry.
Tangled in some wire, legs and belly wrapped almost too tight, was a kitten. It had to be a few months old at the least and fur a deep grey colour, eyes blue as it stared at him. Slowly and carefully, Prompto climbed in, not wanting to scare the kitten any more than it already was. He cooed softly, clicking his tongue to try and seem nonthreatening. The kitten, terrified and defiant despite its position, hissed at him, though it was more like a squeak, too weak to act tough.
“It’s okay little guy.” Prompto whispered, offering the back of his fingers to the kitten to sniff. “I’m just gonna help you out, you’re okay.” He whispered, the kitten struggling to get away from him even though it sniffed him out of curiosity. Prompto quickly grabbed the kitten around it’s body, scared that the kitten might hurt itself if it pulled on the wires any more than it already had. “How in the world did you even get stuck in this?” Prompto muttered, holding the kitten gingerly in his lap with one hand and began to unwind the wires with the other.
“What’s wrong with it?” Noctis asked, barely able to see over the side of the dumpster.
Prompto sighed, realising it was more than just one wire, but at least a few more. “It’s tangled in a heap of wires.” He replied, starting on the next wire. “Noct… I think it’s gonna need more than just being set free.”
His reply was a nod and Prompto wasn’t sure exactly what that meant but for now he could only focus on the kitten and getting her – he took a moment to check – released.
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The kitten fell asleep in the cradle of his arm, too exhausted to fight it any longer and so relaxed after being trapped for who knows how long. Miraculously, the kitten had no major injuries, just one almost healed cut where the end of one wire had punctured the skin, so they both agreed to take it back to Noctis’s place. They’d clean it up, feed it and then take it to a vet if need be.
They made a detour to a pet shop on the way back, taking advice on what they’d need from the clerk working there. Noctis pulled out his credit card to pay for everything despite Prompto’s protests. In the end they walked away with food, a few toys, shampoo and litter, along with the insistence that they definitely visit a vet as soon as possible to ensure the kitten was in good health.
“He wasn’t wrong. An animal can contract all kinds of diseases and parasites as strays.” Prompto muttered, the kitten awake but still in his arm, Noctis gently scratching under her chin from beside Prompto. Purrs rumbled from her chest and Prompto smiled warmly as Noctis lavished attention on her.
Noctis nodded. “It’s too late for it now, but I’m sure she can wait until tomorrow.”
The Prince led the way into his apartment, holding the door for Prompto so he could follow unhindered. While Prompto took the kitten into the bathroom, Noctis put their drinks in the fridge and their snacks by the lounge before he joined Prompto at the side of the bath. Mewls echoed off the walls as the drenched kitten could only complain while Prompto scrubbed shampoo – which had a surprisingly nice scent to it – into her fur. Shoulder to shoulder with Noctis, Prompto felt his heart stutter a little and he bit his lip a little as Noctis’s hands joined his on the kitten. There wasn’t a whole lot of space on the kitten’s body after all so their skin kept touching, sending jolts through the blond.
“Hey Prom, you should name her.” Noctis suggested, cupping some water in the bath with one hand so he could help rinse her fur. Prompto raised his eyebrows at Noctis, though the expression of confusion wasn’t seen until the Prince finally looked up. He chuckled. “Well, you found her, so I think you should name her.” Noctis reasoned as he reached for a towel under the bathroom sink.
Prompto watched as Noctis began to towel off the kitten, his hands gentle on the small creature. And then he watched the kitten, deep blue eyes wide as she let Noctis dry her off, though she still mewled pathetically at being wet. Her fur was still rather dark but Prompto could tell that her coat wasn’t as light as he first thought, her coat cleaning up to a shiny black.
Yet despite all the times he’d thought of what he’d name a pet if he got one, he couldn’t come up with one that would suit this kitten.
Noctis chuckled again, handing Prompto the kitten – now wrapped up like a purr-ito – and patting Prompto’s hair. And then he slid his thumb and forefinger around the hair that lay down the right side of Prompto’s face, grazing his cheek. “Don’t stress, Prom. Think about it a bit ‘n see what you come up with.” He told him and left, saying something about being hungry.
Left with ruffled hair and a complaining kitten in his hands, Prompto sat on the bathroom floor, dumbfounded. Noctis had touched his hair before, but never so tenderly, and never down his face like that.
Prompto’s cheeks had to have been burning red hot.
Tiny teeth gnawing on his hand broke his trance and Prompto laughed good-naturedly at the kitten as he pulled his hand out of her jaws.
It was only then that Prompto looked down at himself, realising that his uniform was filthy thanks to his dumpster diving heroics and the fact that he’d cradled the kitten inside his jacket the whole way back. “Hey Noct, you have a washing machine or something here, right?” He asked, walking into the living room with the wrapped kitten in his arms.
The Prince turned, a frown over his eyes as he spoke. “What do you need one for?” He asked, struggling with the foil seal on a tube of Pringles.
“My uniform, dude. It’s gross as heck." Prompto explained. “I could wait ‘til I get home tomorrow but – ”
“Nah, you’re right. Just put it in the bathroom and Iggy will take care of it.” Noctis told him, finally getting the chips open. He popped one in his mouth and chewed a moment before insisting, noticing that Prompto was unsure of what he’d said. “Just do it, Prom. Iggy won’t mind.”
Prompto pouted, but returned to the bathroom and placed the kitten down in the sink, mewling and trying to escape the towel immediately. Deciding she couldn’t get that far, Prompto stripped out of his uniform and put it as neatly as possible on the pile of other clothes Noctis had left haphazardly in the clothes basket. And then groaned. “Okay, kitty, whatever your name will be: stay.” He stated, knowing full well that a cat would do whatever it wanted, especially if it got out of the towel. Without even thinking about it, Prompto took strides into the living room, in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs, picked up his backpack and turned on his heel to get dressed in the bathroom.
He didn’t notice that Noctis had frozen half way through a Pringle, eyes wide, cheeks pink.
Noctis hadn’t thought anything of telling Prompto to leave his clothes in the bathroom – as far as he was concerned, Prompto shouldn’t have to do any work after he’d so selflessly rescued the kitten – until his blond friend walked out of the bathroom, dressed in a pair of bright yellow underwear. He may have stared too shamelessly, Pringle touching his lip as his hand froze in place, unable to help raking his eyes up and down his friend’s slim form. And then fixed on the beady black eyes and orange beak printed in the cotton covering Prompto’s firm ass. His face felt hot, he placed the Pringle back into the container and stood, itching to distract himself because that image was too much for his mind to ignore.
Prompto had always been a person he’d noticed, had looked out for, ever since they’d briefly met in primary school, had been his best friend since high school, at his side through his tantrums and his silences. Prompto’s devotion hadn’t wavered, a devotion he didn’t have to give, but did anyway. It was hard not to admire someone like that. What hadn't occurred to him though, until now at least, was that Prompto was actually really hot and it set his face a blaze when he thought about how good his ass looked in the thin layer of cotton.
But, he reminded himself, Prompto was his best friend. And his only true friend, one not bound by a duty to the crown. To risk scaring that away by letting his feelings interfere? He couldn’t bear to think of it.
“Hey, you alright, buddy?”
Noctis was barely able to keep from jumping, through his eyes snapped up with a startled expression, Prompto’s hair wet, wearing striped blue pyjama pants and a plain white t-shirt. “You showered?” He asked as the blond plopped the kitten on the lounge. That was really fast.
“Just a rinse to get rid of the stink.” Prompto replied, waving off the subject. “So, we should set up this baby’s litter and stuff, huh?” He said, kneeling by the bag of pet store goodies. “It should go in the bathroom huh? Easier to clean any mess if she makes one.”
“Uh, sure.” Noctis said with a nod.
Prompto was already nodding to himself as he pulled out the shallow, green litter tray and the bag of litter. “At least there’s plenty of room in your bathroom for this stuff.” He commented. “Come on, kitty.” He cooed, the kitten well and truly free from the confines of the towel now, and playing with her own tail until Prompto spoke to her. Clicking his tongue at her, she rushed to the edge of the lounge but skidded to a halt, looked down and then up, mewling loudly in complaint.
Both teenagers ‘aww’ed at her and Noctis scooped her up. “Still too small to jump off a lounge, huh?”
He carried the kitten into the bathroom and watched as Prompto put the litter up for the kitten and then gently took her from Noctis’s hands to put her down in front of it. “This is where you pee.” He stated.
“Won’t it have to be in sight for her to find it?” Noctis asked.
“Nah.” Prompto explained, leading the way back to the living room, Noctis following with the bounding kitten at his heels. “With cats you’ve just gotta show them where it is and they’ll find it.”
Playing games was impossible with the kitten around, not that it was a bad thing, just that the feline was so adorable she was distracting and in the end the console remained paused while the pair sat on the living room rug to play with their new pet. She chased after the dangling toys, gnawed at fingers, toes and hair, managed to slice a thin cut into the side of Prompto’s nose – an injury Noctis gently brushed with his thumb. It bled a little but it was just like a papercut.
When Ignis walked into the apartment, he took one look at them and frowned, taking in the sight of the kitten, but said nothing about it as he placed two pizzas on the counter. “I hope you two have been thinking of doing some homework tonight.” He stated firmly.
“Yeah, yeah.” Noctis muttered in reply, holding the kitten above his head and then brought her down to kiss her nose. “Prom’s uniform’s in my basket, can you get it cleaned for him?” Noctis didn’t have to look to know he was being silently scolded, sighing as he spoke again. “Look, the kitten was in a dumpster and Prompto jumped in to save it. So yes, she’s staying. Also, can you make a vet appointment tomorrow? We’ve gotta get her checked over.”
Ignis sighed, but didn’t argue as he walked to the bathroom. “Very well.”
Teeth gnawing his bottom lip, Prompto leaned closer to Noctis to whisper. “Noct, is this really okay to – ”
“It’s fine.” Noctis assured him. “I’ve had weirder requests before.”
Prompto raised his eyebrows at that but Noctis didn’t choose to elaborate so he didn’t question and instead swooped the kitten out of Noctis’s hands and snuggled her to his chest, careful of her small frame. “I still don’t know what to name her.” He confessed.
Reaching out to scratch the tiny kitten chin, Noctis smiled warmly at the kitten, and then let the smile stay when he met Prompto’s gaze. “You’ll think of something.”
Prompto’s heart leapt in his chest and he swallowed. “O-Okay.”
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The kitten was fast asleep in Prompto’s arms, the blond opting to watch Noctis play a game, rather than play himself. After all, to disturb a sleeping animal would feel like an act of cruelty. He unconsciously leaned his temple against Noctis’s shoulder, yawning softly as the night drew on, shaking his head when Noctis suggested he go to sleep. It was warm and comfortable there; he didn’t want it to end.
Prompto pulled out his camera and began flicking through the photos he'd taken that afternoon. Several were pretty blurry even with the settings adjusted, seeing as the kitten barely stopped, but there were a bunch that brought a smile to his lips. It was eating him up that he hadn’t thought of a name yet. He’d thought of countless names for any possible pet he dreamed of having, but now that he had one in his arms he couldn’t remember any. Not to mention several came up that just didn’t match the kitten’s mischievous, adorable personality. Not to mention, she was a gorgeous kitten, her deep blue eyes catching any speck of light and creating a solar system within. Then he came upon a photo of Noctis holding the kitten, her lower body dangling as he held her up around the chest, her little paws on his hands as he beamed at the camera. The blue of their eyes, rich and deep enough to be lost in, and then their stark black hair, shiny and almost blue under the moon’s glow, highlighted with silver. Noctis and this kitten, they were both like the night sky.
Smiling, Prompto put his camera down and shifted to be closer to Noctis who adjusted his arm to make it more comfortable. “I’ve decided what to name her now.” He announced.
“Finally?” Noctis asked, glancing at Prompto briefly before his eyes fell back to the television screen.
“Yeah.” Prompto replied as he held the drowsy kitten at arm’s length, her little blue eyes opening, and then after an adorable sniff, she opened her mouth wide in a yawn. “Noctis, meet Night.”