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“--- Prompto?”
Noctis approaches him carefully. Too carefully.
Prompto stares resolutely down at his camera, shoulders rising and falling in a shrug he hopes speaks volumes of insouciance and not of false bravado. His hands are shaking, however. The image on the screen seems blurry because he’s fighting to hold back the tears that have misted over his vision.
“It’s no big deal, dude,” he says. “I mean it. No biggie.”
Noctis sits down next to him on the bench, close enough to be a warm weight leaning against Prompto’s side. “Prompto,” he says again, never one easily fooled in matters pertaining to his best friend. “You know…” he gave a sigh, soft and wistful. “You don’t have to pretend with me.”
“I’m not. Not really. I--- It’s just... I kinda expected this, y’know?”
Noctis frowns but says nothing, waiting instead for the other to elucidate.
Prompto lifts his gaze, worrying at his lip as he tries to find the words to explain his reasoning. “When we went public, I knew it was gonna be A Thing. People would start looking at me, start wondering…”
“Wondering?”
“Come on, Noct. You’re you! You could have anyone you want---”
“You are what I want.” His tone is final, almost angry. “They shouldn’t have published those pictures, Prom. Ignis is already on it, of course. He’ll get them taken down and it’ll be old news by tomorrow, believe me.”
Prompto releases his lip, somewhat relieved. “But still… it’s not like any of it’s untrue. That’s who I was, Noct. Even when I look at these photos, see how much I’ve changed... I don’t always feel different. Sometimes I still feel like that kid who wasn’t good enough to approach you. The fat kid that I tried so hard to get away from.”
“You’re right,” says Noctis after a long moment, earning a wide-eyed look from the blond. “You are that same kid. Kind, loyal, determined… a total loser through and through, obviously.” His lips formed a small, private smile that coaxed a hopeful smile from Prompto too. “--- But – no matter what - you’re always still you. Ever at my side.”
“I just don’t get it, man,” Prompto complains after a long silence, though he certainly sounds much happier with Noctis’s words, knocking his shoulder into Noctis’s and staring up at the sky. “Maybe I won’t ever understand.”
Noctis is the one who shrugs this time. “That’s okay,” he decides. “No big deal.”