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Prompto was really starting to annoy him a little.
His rather sarcastic and bland, “Wow. Again.”, when he took the Leap of Faith into a haycart had started the round of annoyances. It wasn’t Noctis’ fault that he had to perform the manoeuvre for the fourth time. The stupid Imperials showing up had made it necessary and then that dumb treasure hunt – he’d gotten lost after finding the green arrow and Ignis’ advice had sent him right back up to the top of the Leap of Faith attraction.
The fact that it had been pointless had irritated him even more. But as they were walking through the crowd, the annoyance at Prompto became annoyance because of Prompto. The two guys that were pointing at the oblivious blond taking a photograph for Vyv and talking about how cute he was had driven Noctis to grab the blond’s arm and yank him away with a pointed glare at the two guys.
He was just getting to the point where he was calming down somewhat over that when he came up short and Prompto ran straight into his back. A Magitek Assassin – one of the ones that Noctis had failed to remove after Loqi was sent packing – was moving straight for them down the alley. He cursed under his breath and did so again when Prompto shoved him into the haycart they were near.
The blond casually leaned against the other wall and made as if he were studying his camera as the Magitek Assassin approached. The Imperial weapon stopped in front of the blond and stared down at him but seemed to realize that the man was not who he was programed to find and made to move on. Noctis was quick to send his blade through the things chest and yank it into the haycart with him, shuddering at the unearthly screeching noise it made as it exploded.
It was too much like screaming for his comfort.
“Have fun in there?” Prompto asked – slightly sarcastically – as soon as Noctis slipped out of the hay and, if his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, the prince said nothing about it.
“Yeah…?” Noctis shook the hay from his costume and followed the other man down the alleyway. The annoyance from earlier was starting to make its way back – actually it was more the memory of his annoyance now and not any real irritation – and he narrowed his eyes at the blond as Prompto began leading the way down the alley.
But he was distracted, staring at Prompto’s back and the way the robes of the costume moved with the sway of his hips. An idea popped into his head and Noctis smiled to himself, spotting one of the Assassin platforms on the side of the building. Oh, perfect.
Prompto yelped in surprise when Noctis’ Engine Blade flew past him and the prince warped up to a platform but, this time, he had not taken Prompto with him. “What the hell, Noct!?”
Laughter was the only answer he got and Prompto started to run to the end of the alleyway in hopes of catching up with the other man on the other side of the building he had warped to. They were supposed to stay together while Imperials were still in the city, damn-it.
Noctis sprinted across the rooftop to the other side and looked down into the alleyway beneath him. A haycart was pushed against the opposite wall a bit to his left and that was perfect. He threw his sword into the wall slightly above the haycart and warped over to dangle above it for only a second before letting himself fall into the hay. He had just scrambled into position when Prompto came skidding around the building corner.
“Noct!” The blond was gazing up at the rooftop that Noctis would have been on if he was still there. “Noct? Come on, buddy. You know Ignis told us to stay together!”
He walked past the haycart, still looking up, and Noctis made his move, wrapping one arm around Prompto’s shoulders and the other around his waist and yanking him backwards into the haycart. The blond gave a very unmanly squeal as he disappeared into the hay.
“Noct! What the hell!? You scar…Ummmphr!”
And it was a very good thing that the haycart was in a rather isolated area.
0-o-0-o-0
Ignis sighed irritably when Noctis’ mobile phone went to voicemail for the third time. Where in the world were those two? They were supposed to meet him and Gladiolus for supper nearly fifteen minutes ago. The shield looked up from the menu at the other man and snorted.
“Still can’t get Noct?”
“No.” Ignis said. “And it makes me nervous, what with Imperials being here.”
“Try Prompto’s phone then. He should be with Noct. We did tell them to stick together.”
“Right.” Ignis nodded and immediately selected Prompto’s contact listing. The phone rang and just as it was sure to go to voicemail it was picked up.
“Ye…yes?” Prompto’s voice was breathless and seemed to jump in pitch right in the middle of the word.
“Prompto. Is everything alright?” Ignis asked, his brow furrowing with concern.
“Yes.” This came out as a squeak and Ignis was even more perplexed. He thought he heard Noctis’ voice very muffled in the background and Prompto’s breath hitched sharply.
“Well, where are you and Noct? We said meet up at the café at seven and it’s a quarter after.”
“Oh…ooh…Yeah…Be…be right there. Soon…uhh…yeah…soon.” And Prompto unceremoniously hung up on the advisor, leaving Ignis reeling in confusion both at the noises from the other line and the blond’s abruptness.
“Well.” He said. Gladiolus looked up curiously.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.” Ignis replied, sliding his mobile into a pocket. “But Prompto said they’d be here soon and maybe we can find out what was going on.”
It was another twenty minutes before either Prompto or Noctis showed up and Ignis was on the verge of going to look for them in mild panic.
“Where are they?” The advisor asked, pacing just in front of their table. The proprietor of the café gave him a weary look but didn’t say anything. “What on Eos are those two doing that would make them so late?”
Gladiolus set back in his chair, his arms folded across his broad chest as he watched the other man. The way the two younger men had been running around and geeking out over everything, he had no doubt that they had found a bunch of interesting stuff and got side-tracked.
The shield smiled. He couldn’t blame them. If this had been a Cup Noodle festival…well, he’d be doing the same thing. Ignis was worrying over nothing, Noctis and Prompto were not stupid. He glanced around the square in hopes of seeing the missing members of their band and raised an eyebrow at the sight that greeted him.
“Well…” He drawled, catching Ignis’ attention. “I could tell you what they were doing but I think you can very easily guess.”
Ignis looked confused and Gladiolus simply raised his hand to point, the advisor following his finger to the two young men walking towards them.
Both were utterly dishevelled. Their costumes were twisted in awkward ways and their hair looked like someone had been pulling at it, bits of hay sticking out everywhere. Prompto was red faced and there was a very telling line of marks up his throat. Noctis looked far too relaxed and far too proud of himself to be any kind of innocent.
“Uh, hi guys.” Prompto grinned, a hand unconsciously moving up to cover his neck. “Sorry we’re late.”
Ignis stared at them both, nonplussed, and immediately decided that he was not going to bring it up. He tried for something innocuous. “Yes. I’m sure you were having too much fun to come on time.”
The advisor instantly blanched at his words. He had not thought that one through. Prompto flushed so hard that his freckles disappeared under the red and – Astrals – Noctis was smirking! Gladiolus snickered into his menu and said nothing.
“Yeah, the festival’s great.” Prompto muttered, sitting down in one of the chairs. An awkward silence fell over the table as they studied the menus until Gladiolus put his down on the table top and looked at the two younger men across from him.
“You know, I always thought a roll in the hay would be uncomfortable.”
Without missing a beat and without looking up from his menu, Noctis responded: “Actually you’d be amazed at what sensations it adds.”
Prompto lit up like a traffic signal and choked on air while Ignis merely stared aghast. Gladiolus threw his head back with a roar of laughter.
“That’s my prince!”
And if Gladiolus decided to try out the same manoeuvre the very next day on one, slightly less than unwilling, Ignis Scientia…well, that was something that both men would take to their graves.