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Noctis smirked and tapped harshly on his phone, ignoring the shocked cry from his best friend beside him.
“Hey!” Prompto exclaimed.
“Gotta be quicker than that to beat me at King’s Knight!” Noctis told him, watching with fascinated glee as his character absolutely destroyed Prompto’s on the screen in front of him. The words “Victor!” in large, red letters appeared on the screen and his character did a small dance.
Prompto groaned and slumped in his chair, rubbing absently at his eyes. “No fair,” he pouted. From his angle, Noctis could see his phone’s huge red “Defeated” message and his character’s death prominently. “Unfair advantage.”
“How do you figure that?”
The blonde shrugged and blinked hugely. “Magical help. I demand a rematch.”
“Hey, don’t blame me just ‘cause the gods graced me with awesome video game powers,” Noctis grinned, slipping his phone into one of his pockets and stretching languidly in his chair.
Prompto huffed. “Gods, my eyes are killing me,” he sighed, pocketing his phone with one hand and rubbing harder at his eyes with the other.
Noctis chuckled. “No need to be that upset, Prom.”
With a scowl, Prompto dropped his hand, turning to face Noctis. Noctis could see how red and irritated his eyes were. “Shut up.”
Leaning back in his chair, Noctis smirked. “You can try again tomorrow,” he said, putting his hands behind his head.
“No way, dude!” Prompto exclaimed. Noctis saw him knead his eyes again. “You and me, after dinner.”
“If you can see through your tears,” Noctis teased.
When Prompto only grunted and scrubbed even harder, Noctis sat up. “Seriously, dude. You gonna be okay?” He was beginning to get worried. He had been beaten by Noctis plenty of times and it had never bothered him like this. Maybe there was something else going on with him.
Noctis thought back on the day. Nothing had been out of place with his friend, but Prompto was an expert at hiding things. But there had been no hunts, no fights, no way he could have gotten hurt. They had hung around the beach at Galdin Quay, and Prompto had caught a few photos while Noctis had fished. He had gone on a run with Gladio (which had erupted into a wrestling match when the two of them had tried to get Noctis to join them) and helped Ignis prepare the fish Noctis had caught for dinner.
All in all, a pretty good day, Noctis reflected. No way Prompto could have gotten injured in any way, shape, or form.
Which meant something else was bothering him.
“I’m not upset!” Prompto cried. But when he pulled his hand away from his face, Noctis could see tears forming, some already clinging to his long eyelashes.
“Prom…” Noctis breathed, worry settling in his stomach.
“I’m fine ,” Prompto insisted.
“Aw, don’t cry just ‘cause you lost to His Royal Cheater,” Gladio chuckled from behind Prompto as he came into the camp light, arms ladened with wood that he had gone out to collect. “No need to be a baby about it.” He set the pile on the sand by the fire and pat Prompto’s shoulder with a large hand.
“I’m not crying!” Prompto insisting, twisting around to glare at him. The effect was diminished when he began rubbing his eyes again. “There’s just something in my eye.”
“Heard that one before,” Gladio teased, coming around to sit in his own chair and stretching his legs out in front of him.
“No, really, there’s something in my eye!” Prompto defended.
Noctis rolled his eyes, but the sliver of worry still remained. “If that’s the case, I think Iggy’s got some eye wash stuff you can use.”
“It’s in the bag next to my chair,” Ignis replied, back to the three of them, as he stirred something in a huge pot on their small, portable stove. “Feel free to help yourself.”
“Ugh,” Prompto groaned, and reached up. Noctis was surprised when, instead of rubbing his eyes, he took a pale finger and promptly poked his eyeball.
Noctis was stunned, but it was Gladio who voiced his displeasure.
“Ew,” the large man said. “Did you just touch your eyeball?”
Prompto froze for a moment, and Noctis could see the small smirk that began to form on his friend’s face as he processed Gladio’s tone. He snickered to himself.
“Aw, does that bother you?” Prompto asked.
Noctis could see the exact second Gladio realized his mistake. “Uh… yes?”
With a shit-eating grin, Prompto turned to fully face Gladio and used the pad of his pointer finger to touch his eye.
Gladio made a choking sound from the back of his throat, and Noctis laughed. Prompto followed, then sat back in his chair, still fiddling with his eyes.
“ ‘s not natural,” Gladio murmured, crossing his arms over his chest like a petulant child. “Hey, Ignis? How much longer until dinner?”
“Five minutes,” Ignis responded. “Please try to compose yourself before then. I’d rather not ruin my delicious food by having salty teardrops fall into it.”
Noctis smirked as Gladio laughed and Prompto huffed. Irked, he rose to his feet, scrubbing harshly at his face, and headed to the tent, muttering to himself. Noctis watched as Prompto ripped open the front flap and crawled inside, ignoring the rest of them completely.
Gladio frowned and turned to look at Noctis, who was staring worriedly after his best friend. “We were only teasing, he knows that, right?”
Noctis nodded, but he wasn’t so sure. He knew that his best friend had an inferiority complex, but this was hardly the worst thing that they all had given Prompto over. Those other times, Prompto had whined, but gone along with the teasing good-naturedly.
Perhaps he should go after the blond, check to see if he was okay? Noctis wrestled with himself for a moment and was about to get up and go after Prompto when the other man emerged from the confines of the tent. Noctis breathed a small sigh of relief, and he felt Gladio relax a little next to him as Prompto came strolling back towards the group, just as Ignis was handing out dinner. He took his bowl from the advisor, and Noctis saw Ignis do a subtle double take before sitting in his own seat.
And then Noctis blinked, staring as Prompto sat back down.
“I demand a rematch,” he said, bringing his spoon to his mouth and taking a sip. “Mm, good as always, Ignis.” Noctis still stared. Gladio matched his expression, mouth agape.
“What the fuck is on your face?” Gladio asked, eyebrows furrowed.
Prompto stopped chewing, and Noctis gave an internal chuckle at the expression on his face. Still, he was curious too.
Apparently, though, Prompto didn’t realize what they were gaping at and a hand flew to his cheek. He wiped it, and then checked his hand, frowning when it came away clean. He did the same with the other cheek, and when that proved to yield the same results, moved to his forehead. Noctis gave a small giggle as Prompto swallowed the food in his mouth and frowned at Gladio.
“What? Where?” he asked, patting his hair carefully.
As Ignis took his seat, Noctis saw his eyebrows raise, the only sign that he was just as curious as the rest of them of this new development.
“I believe he is talking about your spectacles,” he said, tapping the frames of his own glasses with a long, manicured finger.
Noctis watched as realization dawned on Prompto’s face, and the blond reached up to touch gently at the large, thick frames that sat on his nose. “What, these?”
“Since when do you wear glasses?” Gladio asked.
Noctis had to admit that he was curious as well. He’d known Prompto for over five years now, and not once had he ever seen the other man in glasses. Sunglasses, of course; but never regular glasses.
“Since, like, forever, dude,” Prompto responded.
“Bullshit,” Gladio said. He pointed his spoon at Prompto, who looked slightly stunned. “I’ve never seen you in ‘em before.”
“I don’t like to wear them,” Prompto murmured. “I usually wear my contacts.”
Noctis had a brief memory of a small, pudgy boy, blond hair cut in a ring around his head and thin, wire glasses sitting atop his nose. That had been over a decade ago, and Noctis was surprised that he had completely forgotten about it. Prompto had changed so much since that brief encounter and since then, Noctis’ memories were filled of the bright-eyed man before him.
“But your eyes were bothering you, so you took them out,” Ignis concluded, mixing his dinner a little before placing a spoonful in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
Prompto raised a hand and rubbed at his left eye under the glasses. He nodded. “I think I got some sand in them when we were fooling around on the beach earlier. They should be fine tomorrow; I put them in the cleaning solution.” He scowled when he pulled his hand away, pushing the glasses back up his nose with a gentle finger. “God, I hate these things.” He flinched after a second, turning an embarrassed face to Ignis. Noctis could see the tips of his ears turning pink. “Sorry, Iggy…”
“No offense taken,” Ignis told him. Indeed, he didn’t seem the least bit upset. “Glasses are not for everyone.”
Gladio had leaned back in his chair, eating thoughtfully. “I like ‘em on ya, Prom.”
That had Prompto whipping his head to the older man, eyes huge behind the frames. “What?”
Noctis watched as Gladio shrugged, spooning some soup into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully, eyes raking over the blond’s face. He shrugged as he swallowed. “I dunno. Makes you seem more…mature.”
As Prompto promptly blushed at the compliment, Noctis had to agree. He absently pushed a carrot around in his bowl, staring at Prompto. Truthfully, he liked the look on the blond. He agreed with Gladio; it did make Prompto look more mature. But it also made him look more stylish. Noctis could imagine Prompto with a beanie, and a neck scarf with chocobos printed all over it.
He could imagine Prompto sitting in a cafe somewhere, headphones in his ears as he edited a portfolio for a new photography job interview. Could see him sipping some vegan drink and carrying around one of those shoulder bags, chocobo pins of every color dotting it.
With a pang of regret that if that were the case, Noctis realized that that was the life that Prompto could have. He could have that experience, could do whatever he wanted to, but instead here he was, sitting on a beach, hundreds of miles from home, with a prince who might not make it back.
Gods, he was an awful friend.
“Noct?”
Noctis was pulled from his thoughts and saw Prompto staring at him, eyes wide and worried behind the glasses. Pushing those unpleasant thoughts from his mind, Noctis grinned.
“Just thinking,” he said, attempting to ease his friends’ fears. He could feel Gladio and Ignis watching him with concern. He smiled and took another bite of stew, swallowing before he responded. “I agree with Gladio. “Ya look good, Prom.”
Prompto gaped at Noctis, slack jawed, and even through the darkness, Noctis could see the dark red blush that covered his cheeks. Noctis grinned, separating a pea from his meat and continuing to eat.
Gladio snickered next to him, and Ignis ducked his head. Noctis knew he was hiding a grin.
“Uh… thanks…” Prompto muttered, turning his head down and staring at his lap, hands clasped around his bowl. Noctis smiled softly when he sighed, pushing his glasses back up his nose.
Noctis felt butterflies in his stomach, and he caught Ignis and Gladio sneaking glances at Prompto the rest of the night.
And if, despite his grumbling and complaints, Noctis noticed Prompto wearing the spectacles more often after that night, well…
Who was he to complain?