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Prompto has barely opened his bag before he’s slamming it shut with a dismayed groan. Noct looks up as he struggles with the zipper, blinking sleepily as he hears a distinct mechanical ‘boop’ noise. It sounds weirdly sad.
“Are you okay?” Noct asks Prompto, not really bothering to keep his voice quiet. Even if class had begun, nobody ever yells at him. They’re too afraid of getting in trouble with the king, even though they’ve all been told to treat Noct like any other student.
“Fine.” Prompto’s teeth are gritted, and he shoves his hand into his bag before finally managing to get the zipper closed. “Do you have a pencil I can borrow? And, like, some paper?”
Noct stares at him, but Prompto doesn’t explain what he needs it for. Sighing, he just hands over the notebook and pencil he won’t be using to take notes anyway, and leans his head on the desk. Nobody yells at him if he naps, either, which is actually awesome. He loves sleeping in class.
Not that he manages to sleep today. His curiosity has been piqued, and he keeps one eye open to stare at the bag Prompto puts on the floor. He’s careful with it, which is nothing new, but Noct had always assumed that it was because Prompto wouldn’t be able to get ahold of his parents to get a new one if this one broke. Now he watches the bag wriggle and fall over and thinks the explanation must be a lot weirder.
So when they hide themselves away for lunch, he snatches Prompto’s bag and opens it before Prompto can grab it back. He’s expecting a puppy or something, but instead a tiny six-legged…thing rises from the depths.
“Aaah, Rover!” Prompto gasps, diving forward and barely catching it before it tumbles to the ground. “Noct, give me my bag!”
“What? No!” Noct drops the bag behind him and leans forward to inspect the machine held protectively in Prompto’s hands. “Is that a robot? Where did you get it?”
“I built it, okay?” Prompto whispers, shifting on his feet. “And it’s not supposed to be here so can I please put it away?”
Noct looks up at Prompto. “Prom, you failed algebra.”
Prompto frowns, confused. He pulls the robot in a little closer to his chest, and the thing sort of rubs against him. Nuzzles him. Prompto has built a robot and it’s nuzzling him. “What’s your point?” Prompto asks.
“Never mind,” Noct says, grinning and reaching for the robot. Prompto reluctantly hands it over. “This is awesome. I wish I could do things like this.”
“R-really?” Prompto doesn’t look like he believes Noct, so Noct nods enthusiastically. He cups the robot like Prompto had, holding it up to eye level so he can look at it. The robot reaches out one unsteady leg to poke his nose a few times, then just lays down in his palms. Noct feels honored. This is the best day of his entire life.
“I want one,” he whispers to himself.
And Prompto must have heard him, because a few months later he’s presented with an even smaller robot of his own, this one with only four legs. He absolutely adores it…right up to the next morning, when a pre-programmed alarm clock rickrolls him and he can’t figure out how to turn the damned thing off.