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Prompto’s phone battery hits 43% and he decides that yeah, maybe it’s best to stop playing King’s Knight if he wants his phone to last the evening. He sighs, sulking against a wall, slowly sipping at some random drink he picked up. He should probably go ask what it is, but he can’t bring himself to walk back into the party and socialize, who does that kind of thing?
Certainly not him. Hell, he wouldn’t have been here tonight if it weren’t for Noct. Prompto shuts his eyes and dreams of his house. Warm, cozy. He could curl up in front of the TV with some instant noodles and watch shitty movies or play Assassin’s Creed. Or he could jump into bed and doze right off. But no. Noct just had to beg.
He opens his phone again and clicks on Noct’s name, pulling up their texts. He’s almost tempted to text him again but it’s only been two minutes since his last one and he doesn’t wanna seem desperate. So he just scrolls through their chat like some lovestruck dumbass with a crush.
nocto [11:43]: promptooooo
nocto [11:43]: u up?
nocto [11:45]: answer meee
its 12am noct [11:52]
nocto [11:52]: not yet
nocto [11:53]: but hey can i ask a favour of u
nocto [11:54]: u can say no if u want
shoot [11:54]
nocto [11:55]: so theres this big party at the citadel
nocto [11:55]: and im being forced to go and do shit there
nocto [11:56]: but i dont wanna suffer alone u feel
you want me to come?? [11:56]
is that even allowed??? [11:56]
nocto [11:57]: why wouldn’t it be
nocto [11:57]: ye pls can u come
nocto [11:58]: i’ll do all ur homework for a week
noct [11:58]
nocto [11:58] TWO WEEKS
Prompto squints at the screen. He really has to ask Noct how he can do the whole puppy eyes thing through text. Either that or he’s just really wrapped around Noct’s finger. The solid ten minutes of pleading probably had something to do with it though.
fiiiine ill come [12:11]
nocto [12:11]: YES OMG
nocto [12:11]: I LOVE YOU
nocto [12:12]: UR A LIFESAVER
mmhm? [12:12]
so whens the party anyway? [12:13]
nocto [12:13]: tomorrow
Prompto drags his fingers down the screen, past his thousands of text bubbles filled with keysmashes to “NOCT IM GONNA BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU YOU CANT JUST ASK ME THE NIGHT BEFORE—” until he reaches the bottom of their conversation.
nooooct [9:06]
u’ve been gone for like 4 hours [9:07]
where are u? [9:16]
is ur dad rlly keeping u tht busy? [9:30]
noooooooooooct [9:35]
im gonna leave without u [9:40]
okay no but seriously where are u?? Did u die?? [9:50]
Nothing. Not even his messages left on read. Prompto looks around the room again. Just a buncha nobles that are way out of his league, Crownsguard he doesn’t recognize and a lot of fancy clothes and strong perfume. He tugs at the hem of his borrowed shirt. It smells like Noct.
Prompto wonders if he should bother Ignis and Gladio again. He caught them a little while ago (Gladio was the one to encourage him to get a drink) but they vanished. No. That’s too annoying. So Prompto resigns himself to just sulk until Noct gets back.
“Just wait right here Prompto,” he mumbles under his breath, a bad imitation of Noct’s voice. “I’ve gotta go talk to my dad for a sec. I’ll be right back, ‘kay? And by that I mean I’ll completely forget about you for the next thirty minutes and counting!” Of course Noct would drag him to a party last-minute, ditch him barely ten minutes in and proceed to be gone way longer than ten minutes.
Astrals. He’s going mad. Maybe it’d be better if he went home to sleep. He’s already said hi to the people that know him. Maybe he’d send a couple memes in the groupchat to prove that he was alive before passing out at home. Nobody would notice him leave.
So he makes to drain the rest of his glass on one gulp when a loud, flustered, “Hey! Sorry I’m late!” resounds right next to his ear. Prompto jumps only about ten or so miles in the air and chokes, coughing out his drink. He covers his mouth with his hands and somebody’s massaging his back.
“Oh shit! Prompto, you alright?”
Prompto raises his head and sees Noct. His hair’s all mussed and he looks outta breath. And he still manages to look good. Fuck. Prompto proceeds to flip Noct off. “Does—” cough. “ —it sound like— like I’m alright?”
“Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that,” Noct says. His hand still hasn’t left Prompto’s back and briefly, he wonders if he should keep up this act so Noct’s hand never leaves. But he straightens up anyway.
“Nah. I was only kidding. I’m good. Mostly.”
Noct nods. “Good enough for me. Uh, sorry for ditching you. I just had to talk with my dad for a sec but then I had to ‘entertain’ a few nobles.” He pulls a disgusted face that Ignis would certainly kill him for if anybody else saw that. It’s only Prompto that sees it, though (and he’s just a liiitle bit triumphant over that).
“It’s no biggie.” Prompto grabs Noct’s arm. “Princely-stuff always comes first. I don’t envy you, though. Those nobles look like they could bite my head off.”
“They probably would. Which is why we’re getting out of here.”
“Huh?” Prompto’s standing still one second and the next, Noct has him by the hand and he’s dragging him through the floor. “Wha?”
“I can’t stand it here. It’s too stuffy,” Noct says in a low voice. “I need a break before I have to come back. Just for a few minutes. You with me?”
Prompto grins. “Do you even need to ask?”
Together, and hand-in-hand, they escape into the Citadel’s gardens, like they’re some star crossed lovers sneaking away from their uptight families. Or something like that. Yup, Prompto’s gotta be hammered if he’s thinking weird shit like this.
But they’re sitting on the edge of a fountain with new drinks in hand, it’s nice, it’s quiet and it’s peaceful. They occasionally talk but for the most part, they’re just sitting there beside each other, sharing the night sky.
There’s a particularly loud sound coming from the Citadel— cheers. Prompto raises an eyebrow at Noct, but he only shrugs. “The hell’s going on back there?” Prompto says. “Wouldn’t expect that from a party full of important people. ...Uh, Noct? I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s the party for anyway?”
Noct shrugs again. “Nothing important. Just the usual.”
Prompto doesn’t point out that he’s just a commoner and thus has no idea what “the usual” entails.
“Same old shit,” Noct mumbles. “I have to put on a show for all these people who’re looking to eviscerate me over every tiny mistake, talk to all these rich assholes, and I can’t slouch or sulk and I’ve gotta wear my hair in this stupid style.”
“It’s not stupid!” Prompto says too loudly. “I mean— it looks nice. You look good in it.” His voice lilts at the end of his sentence like it’s a question and oh god was that too much he went too far oh fuck he just made things awkward holy shit could this be classified as flirting noct please don’t get the wrong idea but also please notice my flirting shit shit —
“Thanks.” Noct sounds a bit taken aback, but normal. Prompto clears his throat and chases those thoughts to the back of his head where they belong. He’ll just go over them when he’s laying at home in bed and regret them then. “But I’d still rather be at home playing video games.”
“Tell me about it. You finished playing Kingdom Hearts 3 yet?”
“Nope. Still got a couple more worlds to go. There’s just so much to do. How the hell did you finish it in a week?”
“Red Bull,” Prompto says. He winks and fires finger-guns at Noct, who only rolls his eyes.
“Sometimes I wonder how you’re still standing,” Noct says. His phone buzzes and he briefly glances down at it. “Y’know, Iggy would kill you if he knew that.”
“It’s our secret.” The phone buzzes again. Prompto eyes it uneasily. “Uh, dude? You thinking about answering that?”
“Does it matter?” Noct barely glances at the screen for a second before trying to tuck it away into his pocket. Prompto stops him.
“Duude! What if it’s important?”
“It’s just Specs,” Noct groans. “Ugh, it’s not even time for the speech yet.” He fires off a quick response that’s probably filled with a shitton of typos and shuts his phone off, sliding it into his pocket. “Whatever. We still have time. What were you saying?”
“I was just talking about how I’d spoil the story of Kingdom Hearts 3 if you don’t hurry up and finish it already?”
“You wouldn’t dare.” Noct grins and all of Prompto’s guilt for keeping the prince busy vanishes.
Gladio decides that the party could be worse. As far as he’s concerned, things have been pretty normal. Flirted with a noble or two, chatted with the ‘glaives and the ‘guard for a bit and nobody’s come forward to assassinate Noct or the king. The food’s decent too, but according to Ignis, it could be much better. Probably, if he’d be the one to cook it.
The food doesn’t seem to be the only thing bothering Ignis, though. Gladio’s been keeping an eye on him throughout the night and he’s been getting a lot more fidgety as time wore on. Can’t be the drink, Ignis doesn’t get tipsy easily. Somebody’s gotten on his nerves?
Gladio peers closer. Ignis is hanging by a wall at the edge of the crowd, typing furiously on his phone and surreptitiously looking around. Yep. Someone’s gotten on his nerves.
So Gladio takes a sip from his wineglass, savouring the taste as he saddles over to Ignis, lightly bumping his shoulder with his own as a greeting. “Hey. How’s it going?”
Ignis sniffs. “Positively terrible. As one can expect.”
“Really? Things have been pretty chill, s’far as I’m concerned. Look, nobody’s even forced you to dance with them unlike the last party.”
“I believed we agreed that never happened.”
“Whoops,” Gladio smirks and his tone is anything but apologetic. Ignis glares at him over the rim of his glasses.
“Gladio, what brings you to me tonight?”
“What, I can’t just wanna say hi to a friend? It’s a party. People socialize.” Gladio says, but he wilts a moment later when Ignis purses his lips. “Yeah, okay, fine. I wanted to see what’s gotten you so ticked off on a night like this.”
Ignis pinches the bridge of his nose, taking in a deep breath. “It’s that obvious?”
“Kinda? Spill. I’m here to listen. Maybe I can help out?”
“Perhaps you can,” Ignis says dryly. He takes a sip of his own drink before continuing. “It’s Noct.” Of fucking course it is. “He’s due for a speech at the end of this party. We agreed to meet up thirty minutes beforehand to rehearse it. He was never confident about it coming into the party so this isn’t something he can skip out on.”
“If it’s that important, you really think he’d skip out on it?”
“He’s been missing for quite some time now.”
“He’s with Prompto right now. You don’t have to worry,” Gladio says. Ignis raises an eyebrow. “Hey, I’m the brat’s Shield, aren’t I? If he did actually vanish into thin air, I’d know.”
“I suppose. That still doesn’t excuse his lateness.” Ignis squints at his wristwatch. “He should be here by now. Can you see him anywhere?”
They’re not back, Gladio knows that much, but he still decides to take a look around. Nothing but nobles and royalty in fancy outfits loitering about. King Regis is speaking to somebody who looks important— their jewelry could buy out an entire department store— and his father stands diligently by his side. Cor’s standing at the edge of the crowd, his own wineglass in hand, looking as bored as ever.
“Nope. No Prince in sight. Or Prompto for that matter.”
“Where could those two be?” Ignis looks to be on the verge of tears at this point. Or like he wants to strangle somebody. Maybe both? “Gladio, please tell me you know.”
“Maybe. But why not give him another minute or so?”
Ignis wrings his hands. He huffs, “Fine,” and leans onto the wall, his gaze hawk-like as he scans the room. He’s practically sweating at this point. Gladio grunts and mirrors Ignis, draining the rest of his wine in one, long gulp.
He’s got to give Ignis credit though. He lasts a whole ten seconds longer than Gladio expected him to before he pulls his phone out of his pocket and fires off a text, fingers dancing over the screen.
“Something tells me he’s gonna ignore your message,” Gladio points out and in the next second, Ignis’ phone pings with a new notification and he sees a new text bubble appear on-screen. Ignis shoots him a smug look that’s quickly replaced by horror as he reads the messages.
“What’s up, Iggy?”
“They’re… Noctis and Prompto… they’re—” Ignis can hardly get the words out. He’s gone red and is absolutely shaking with anger. “I can’t believe it..! Of all the times— how could they..? And to be so… so brash about it..!”
“What is it?” Gladio asks. Ignis opens his mouth, but no sounds come out so he snaps it shut and simply turns his phone’s screen towards Gladio. It’s open to their groupchat and Ignis’ texts are mildly uncharacteristic of him. All caps and no chill.
WHERE ARE YOU TWO [10:35]
Then Gladio’s gaze runs down the screen to Noct’s response. And he’s immediately sent into a coughing fit as he tries to hold back his laughter. Holy shit, when he told Noct and Prompto that they needed to finally “get it together,” he didn’t know they’d go this far.
Noct [10:35]: WERE
Noct [10:35]: FUCKING
“Gladio, how can you be laughing at this?” Ignis has gone full Mother Hen mode. He starts pacing from side to side, running his hands through his hair, messing up his carefully styled look. “How can they be so irresponsible? To be doing… this while knowing that Noctis is due for a very important role..!”
“Give— give ‘em a break.” Gladio’s nearly doubled over by now. “Knowing them, they’ll be done in a min— augh!”
Ignis yanks at Gladio’s ear, pulls him down until they’re face-to-face. Ignis is all hard lines and fury. “ Honestly. Must you speak of Noct in that way?”
“Yep,” Gladio says. He rolls back his shoulders, claps Ignis on the back. “C’mon, Iggy. Did you see the way that they were looking at each other when they slipped out? Looked a hell of a lot like they were going on their first date. We’ve been waitin’ for them to make a move for ages, let ‘em have their chance.”
“Yes, I know,” Ignis sighs, like he’s annoyed by this, like he hasn’t been making bets with Gladio on who’d confess first. “But I simply cannot allow Noct to miss his speech. I’d prefer it if they did this on their own. Without having to tell us the details.” Ignis shudders. “Come, Gladio, let us go find them. Where did they go?” He’s already started walking away.
Gladio chuckles. “I dunno about that. You sure you wanna go breakin’ up the happy lovebirds?”
Ignis stops dead in his tracks and snaps his gaze at Gladio’s. His lips are nearly pulled into a snarl and his eyes, sharper than any of his daggers, pierce holes into Gladio. Oh shit. It’s the same stare he’s seen Ignis give to particularly bitchy nobles who complain about Noct being too lazy or to those bullies Prompto had to deal with once. It’s the look that says “you have two seconds to shut the fuck up before I introduce you to the sharp end of my spear.”
And Gladio’s on the receiving end. He gulps. “They’re in the gardens,” he says hoarsely.
Ignis doesn’t say anything. He simply adjusts his glasses and sweeps past Gladio, shoes clicking against the marble flooring as he carries himself towards the Citadel’s gardens with murderous intent.
Gladio lets out a breath. And makes a mental note to never, ever challenge Ignis Scientia’s patience again.
Prompto’s glass is nearly empty and there’s a slight buzz to his cheeks. Noct’s pretty much the same, his cheeks tinged a rosy pink as he gestures madly with his hands talking about something or another. Prompto’s tuned him out for the most part, not because Noct’s conversation isn’t interesting, but it’s really late and he didn’t plan on drinking this much and it’s like, really nice outside.
It’s a little chilly, so honestly, it’s not a surprise when Prompto and Noct end up touching shoulders. Prompto’s tempted to lean his head onto Noct’s shoulder but he’s not that drunk. Or brave. Never mind the fact that he’s practically fallen asleep on Noct countless times over at his apartment. Whatever. He’s just content with listening to whatever the hell Noct’s been rambling about for the past… how long?
Time’s just a concept at this point. Prompto did try to remind Noct that he had something important to go to, but Noct just brushed it aside and said, “It’s okay. We still have plenty of time.” Then he changed the conversation and Prompto followed.
“—I know he’s got speed, but it doesn’t matter how fast you are when you’re being chased by darkness,” Noct says. Right. They’re talking and Prompto’s supposed to say something.
“Why would they fight?” he mumbles. “Riku and Sora are friends.”
“Yeah, I know,” Noct’s exasperated. Probably not the answer he wants but hey, Prompto’s having fun. “I’m just saying, hypothetically, if Riku and Sora were to get into a fight, my money’s on Riku.”
“My money’s on neither, ‘cause friends wouldn’t fight each other.”
Noct fixes Prompto with a malicious look in his eyes. “Prompto, if you don’t give me a straight answer on who’d win, I’ll push you into the fountain.”
Prompto claps a hand over his chest, his mouth dropping wide open. “Noct!” he gasps. “I thought we were friends!”
“Yeah! We are. ...We’re friends,” Noct’s voice trails off. The casual atmosphere dissipates in an instant, leaving Prompto feeling wrung-out. Noct’s lost his smile. Shit. That was the wrong thing to say.
“...Um, Noct? You alright there?” Prompto tries to lean forward to face Noct, but he’s staring at what must be a veery interesting spot on the ground ‘cause he won’t meet Prompto’s eyes. “I was just— I was only kidding around. I know I’m still your best friend.” and nothing more, that nasty voice in the back of his head says.
“...Yeah. Yeah, you are. I was just joking too. Sorry about that. It’s just… y’know.” Noct waves his hand around uselessly as if trying to explain. It doesn’t work. Prompto cocks his head, furrows his brows.
“Know… what?”
Noct falls silent. Prompto sits back to give him some space and waits. Looks around at the gardens. They’re really beautiful. The lights from the Citadel’s party are falling onto the plants, painted them a warm yellow. He can hear the rumble of the crowd inside, but it all sounds so far away, like he and Noct are in some other world, tucked away from it all.
It’s nice. It’s also creepy, with the way that Noct won’t say anything. Prompto’s just about to prod him, maybe change the subject, apologize (for what, he doesn’t know), but Noct finally says something, his voice just only a little quiet.
“Prompto,” Noct starts. Prompto’s always loved the sound of his name on Noct’s tongue. It sounds so familiar, it’s always felt like home but now? Right now? His name sounds more like an accusation, if he has to admit. “Listen, I just— I’ve been meaning to tell you something and it’s… I… look, it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. I’m— you can tell me to stop if you want. If you feel uncomfortable about what I’m saying. I’ve been thinking about it for a bit and y’know, I… well… I wanna tell you before I lose my nerve, but—”
“Noct,” Prompto cuts him off. “Noct. Buddy. Chum. Pal. My dude. Spit it out. It’s alright, you can say whatever you want. No judgements from here.” He spreads his arms out and tries to give Noct an easy smile that goes unseen. Okay, so maybe this is actually serious. Prompto’s heart is beating a war-beat in his chest. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. He wonders if Noct can hear it, or if he knows that it’s about to burst right outta his chest if Noct doesn’t say anything.
Noct takes a deep breath. Then another. He clenches his fingers into fists and frowns, like that funny face he makes when he’s trying to swallow down some veggies. The words tumble out of his mouth, one after another. “Ilikeyouasmorethanafriend.”
Prompto’s heart stops, leaving him dizzy. “Um,” he eloquently says. “Could you run that by me… one more time?” He discreetly pinches himself. He’s gotta be mishearing things. There’s no way he just heard what Noct said, not in that jumble of words. Nuh-uh. It can’t be true. There’s no way that Noct—
“I… really like you, Prompto. More than just a friend, I mean.” Noct hasn’t stopped staring at the ground.
Prompto, on the other hand, can do nothing but stare at Noct with a stupid expression. “You mean that… you’re in love… with me?” he all but squeaks.
“I… guess I am.” Noct finally lifts his head to meet Prompto’s gaze dead-on.
Nope, nope, nope nope nope. This isn’t real. It’s gotta be a dream. It has to be a dream. It’s too good and too cliche to be true. One of Gladio’s really shitty and cheesy romance novels level of cliche. He and Noct are sitting on a fountain together, alone, in the middle of the night, and Noct just admitted that he’s in love with Prompto. Noct, Prince Noctis Lucis fucking Caelum is in love with Prompto Argentum. The same guy whose hair is glowing silver in the moonlight, whose dark eyes are staring at Prompto’s and only Prompto’s, whose lips Prompto’s dreamt about kissing maybe once or twice are pulled into a tight line.
“Prompto?” Noct’s voice snaps him out of his reverie. “Sorry. I know it’s a lot to take in. I didn’t mean to ruin your night like this. I just… had to say it, y’know? Get it off my chest. Even if you don’t like me back.”
There’s a lump in Prompto’s throat, Noct’s words running on replay in his head. How could Noct admit that he’s in love with him and thinks that he doesn’t like him back? Prompto, who’s been crushing on Noct since the day he first saw him. Prompto, who’s been dreaming of dating Noct since ever.
So because Prompto’s a complete romantic, he swallows and blurts out, “You’re stupid.”
“I… wha?” Noct blinks.
“Of course I like you back,” Prompto says. Noct was right. He’s never admitted his crush out loud before and now that he has, it’s like a weight’s been lifted off his shoulders. “Noct. I like you as more than just a friend, too.”
“You…” Noct breathes. “You really mean it? You’re… not just saying that, are you?”
Prompto shrugs, the perfect picture of nonchalance outside while inside, his veins are made of ice. “I’d been trying to find the courage to ask you out for the longest time now. Whenever I’d try, we’d get interrupted or I’d lost my nerve. I didn’t… I didn’t expect you to actually… like me, though.”
“Heh, and here I was thinking that you’d never like me.”
“You kidding?”
“Why would I be?”
“You’re—” Prompto points to Noctis. “You’re you. Y’know, a prince, a really important guy? You’ve got all these people working for you, everybody knows your name and you know all these rich, pretty nobles you can marry? And I’m just… me.”
“So what? That’s what I like about you, Prompto.” Noct inches forward, until their knees knock together. The tips of their fingers are just barely touching and if Prompto would inch his hand a little bit forward, he could hold Noct’s hand. “You’re you. You’ve never cared about any of that stuff. You see me for who I am, not just some title. And you’re… you’re funny, you’re nice, you’re selfless and you’re cute… honestly, there’s no reason why anybody wouldn’t like you.”
“Noct,” Prompto all but whispers. “You… actually really think that?”
“Why don’t I prove it to you?” Noct says. He’s the one who makes the first move, grabbing Prompto’s hand with one hand, raising the other to brush along Prompto’s cheek. His touch is electric, sending shivers down Prompto’s skin. Noct’s eyes stare Prompto down, deep and intense, as he leans forward.
Prompto’s own eyes flutter shut as he leans into Noct’s touch and moves to meet his lips—
“What are you two doing?!”
A voice, shrill, pierces the air. Prompto yelps and he and Noct jump apart like they’ve been electrocuted. He stares at the direction of the entrance to the garden and sees Ignis stomping towards them, Gladio in tow. Noct curses under his breath and works to straighten his hair. Once Ignis is close enough, Prompto can see the man’s furious expression. He’s on top of Noct in seconds.
“Noctis.” Oh shit, Iggy’s skipped the nickname. He must be really pissed. “What is the meaning of this? I had asked you to be ready to prepare your speech thirty minutes past ten.”
Noct shoots Gladio a deathglare. Gladio simply raises his hands in surrender. “He made me tell him where you were. I didn’t have a choice.”
“Noctis. Do not ignore me,” Ignis says. Noct doesn’t bother trying to glare at Ignis because there’s no way he can compete with Ignis’ own glare, all the previous heat between Prompto and Noct gone under that icy look. “I understand that you may be nervous and were rather unwilling to do this in the first place—”
“I’m not nervous!”
“—but could you please try to be a bit more responsible about it? This is a very important event. Heaven knows what disastrous consequences there would have been if you were to not show. Honestly, after that text you two sent… have you any idea how concerning that was?”
“What text?” Noct says at the same time Prompto says, “Noct, what did you text them?!”
Gladio coughs into his sleeve. “You told Iggy that you were fucking each other.”
The weight of Gladio’s words take a moment to sink in.
“Wait, what?” If this had been Prompto’s dream all along, then it’s officially devolved into a nightmare. “We fucked?” Prompto casts a wild look at Noct. “When? Wait, we didn’t fuck! When did we—”
“Specs, why the hell would I tell you if we were fucking or not?” Noct says, as equally abashed.
“Why would you?” Ignis thrusts his phone in Noct’s face. Prompto cranes his neck to peer at the screen. It’s their groupchat. He squints to read the texts on the screen, his eyes growing wider as they move downward.
WHERE ARE YOU TWO [10:35]
Noctis [10:36]: WERE
Noctis [10:36]: FUCKING
Prompto looks over at Noct, who immediately backs off.
“No, I didn’t— I didn’t mean to send that! That’s not what I meant to send! I told you that we were just gonna— here, look.” Noct pulls out his phone and swipes at the screen. It takes him immediately to their same groupchat, with a different story this time.
specs [10:35]: WHERE ARE YOU TWO
WERE [10:35]
FUCKING [10:35]
(x) GETTING [10:35]
(x) DRINKS [10:36]
The last two messages have a little red ‘x’ beside them. Message failed to send. Prompto’s jaw drops and he and Noct share a horrified look as Gladio’s coughs turn into full-blown laughter. Ignis pushes his glasses higher on his nose.
“I see. Forgive me for misunderstanding the situation. However, that does not excuse your lateness, Noct.”
“No problem,” Noct says, like Ignis hadn’t just given the two of them mini heart attacks. Prompto’s sure he’s tomato-red by now. All over his body. Just a giant tomato sitting right next to Noct, his… boyfriend?
He’s not sure where they are at this point and he has no time to ask because Ignis has hauled Noct upwards, fussing over the state of his jacket and his hair. “Come along now, we’ve wasted enough time. We’ve less than ten minutes until you need to make your speech.” He turns his gaze towards Prompto, who instinctively raises a hand to protect his hair. “Prompto, I apologize for interrupting your night. I hope you have a pleasant evening. Did you need a ride home?”
“N-Nah, I’m good, Iggy. Thanks.” Prompto laughs nervously.
“Yup. He’s riding with me tonight,” Gladio says.
“I… am?” Prompto says. Gladio grimaces and Prompto backpedals. “I am! Yeah. Gladio’s being nice for once.”
“If he were a bit nicer, he wouldn’t have told Specs where we were,” Noctis mumbles under his breath. “Sorry, Prompto, I’ve… gotta go. I’ll text you later?”
Prompto nods. “Yeah. Text you later, after the party.”
Noct opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. He waves and turns around, lets Ignis lead him back towards the Citadel, leaving Prompto and Gladio alone in the garden. Gladio doesn’t even have a chance to speak before Prompto’s up and nearly running back towards the Citadel.
“Can’t go missing Noct’s speech, huh, big guy? C’mon, let’s go!”
(Noct's touch lingers on his skin for the rest of the party. Prompto tries to pay attention to Noct's speech, he really does, but he can't stop staring at his lips and marveling at the fact that he was this close to kissing them).
The party ends quickly. For Prompto, at least. Once Noct was done his speech, there was a closing ceremony or something? He's still in a daze from the memories of whatever happened in the gardens. It's like everything happened in two seconds. One moment he was about to kiss Noct and the next, Gladio's dragging him into his car and throwing him inside before he can say goodbye to Noct.
He leans his head against the window as Gladio starts to drive and closes his eyes.
“Iggy’s giving Noct a ride home,” Gladio says as a way of explanation. At first, there’s only the quiet thrum of the car, but then Gladio pulls up to a stoplight and takes a deep breath. “So,” he begins, slow and casual and oh, so deliberate. “I’m guessing you two didn’t confess?”
Prompto opens his eyes, stares at Gladio out of the corner of his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“Please. You’re leaning on the window and staring outside all morosely like you’re in some kinda sad music video,” Gladio snorts. “I was thinking you’d be a lot more hyper when Noct would finally confess to you.”
“I’m not sad!” Prompto says. Then the rest of Gladio’s sentence catches up to him. “Wait, what? Confess?”
“The fact that he’s in love with you?”
“You… you knew?”
“It wasn’t obvious?” Gladio sounds almost bored, like they’re discussing the weather and not the subject of Prompto’s thoughts for the past years. “You two were practically drooling over each other.”
“Oh,” is all Prompto manages to say. “Well. It actually went… good? I mean, we both admitted that we liked each other.”
“‘Bout damn time.”
“But does he really like me, Gladio? You think he was telling the truth?”
Gladio sighs. He turns his head to give Prompto a deadpan look. If Iggy were here, he’d be yelling at Gladio to keep two eyes on the road. “Prompto. I like you and all, but you’re a complete dumbass. Noct just told you that he does. Believe me when I say that the kid’s madly in love with you. Just… text him tomorrow or something. Talk about it. I’m sure it’ll go just fine. Now get the hell out of my car.”
Prompto looks out the window. Oh. The car’s stopped. It’s on his driveway. Prompto inhales, and gets out of the car. “Uh. Okay. I’ll… do that. Thanks for the ride.” He slams the door shut and starts making his way to the front door when Gladio rolls down the window of his car.
“Prompto!” Gladio shouts. Prompto stops, cringing. It’s nearly past midnight. His neighbours are gonna hate him, if they didn’t already. “Hey. Listen. I’m glad you two managed to sort out your feelings with each other. Really happy for you guys. You deserve it.”
The corners of Prompto’s lip curl into a grin. “Yeah, yeah. Thanks, big guy.” He watches Gladio nod and peel out of the driveway and back onto the roads, until his car vanishes around a corner. He goes inside his house.
There’s nobody home but him, as usual, but somehow, his house feels less empty tonight.
hey. u awake? [9:04]
prolly not huh [9:04]
listen. about last night? did u really mean wht u said? [9:10]
we were both kinda drinking so [9:12]
just wanna make sure were on the same page here [9:15]
if thats ok [9:21]
Prompto’s phone stares at him, silent. The little delivered! right under his texts mocks him. ‘Course Noct’s not ignoring you, he tells himself. Noct never gets up earlier than eleven unless it’s for princely-stuff. Still. Prompto’s left jittery as he opens and closes his chat with Noct over and over again, waiting for a text.
He manages to shove some food in his mouth, toast and a glass of water, but he’s too scared to eat anything more. Might puke if he does. Yeah. Noct’s gonna see that and take back everything he said yesterday.
Prompto groans and collapses onto his couch on his stomach, his face buried in the pillow like he’s some kinda pre-teen girl dealing with a crush for the first time. He was drinking last night, sure, but his feelings have always been there. Noct, though? What if last night was just a fever dream or Noct just really out of it?
No. He wouldn’t be drunk when he had an important speech to say. And Prompto’s seen Noct when he’s drunk before. (They were young, they were in Noct’s apartment, it was their first time and Prompto’s still apologizing to Ignis for what he walked into in the morning. Long story short, Noct’s not pretty when he’s drunk). He definitely was not drunk last night.
So he meant it, right?
Prompto screams into the pillow. And lays there. Until his phone buzzes and Prompto certainly does not immediately leap over the couch to grab at his phone to check the text.
nocto [11:34]: can u come over? specs isnt home rn
coming right up! [11:34]
Prompto only has to knock twice on Noct’s door before it’s thrown open and Prompto’s greeted by Noct in wrinkled PJs and bedhead.
“Hey,” Noct says. “You, uh, came quicker than I expected.”
“Yeah.” They stare at each other for a moment and Prompto has to wonder when things got so awkward between them. It’s a habit of Prompto to just show up at Noct’s apartment unexpectedly or to burst right in with a cheer of “I get to be player one!” regardless of whether or Noct said he could come in. Noct even gave him a spare key.
“Can I… come in?” Prompto asks. Noct clears his throat and moves aside.
“Huh? Yeah. Um. Make yourself at home. I’m just gonna take a second to change, okay?” Noct says, and he’s gone in the next second, vanishing into his bedroom. Prompto makes his way into Noct’s apartment and jumps onto his couch, laying on his back.
It feels like home.
He hears Noct shuffling around and closes his eyes. When he opens them, Noct’s face is hovering above his, his clothes a lot less wrinkly and a lot more casual.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Noct teases. He prods as Prompto’s head and proceeds to fall onto the couch besides Prompto. They’re a mess of limbs unless Prompto pushes Noct away, scooching over to the opposite end of the sofa.
“Hey! The party ended late and I got up early, okay? Not my fault you get to sleep in until 11:30.”
Noct shrugs. “You didn’t have to wake up so early.”
“Yeah. But I did. So there.”
Noct makes a non committal hum and Prompto bites at his lip, curling his toes. He’s tried rehearsing what he wanted to say to Noct but it’s like he lost all his brain cells the second he walked into Noct’s apartment. Noct looks just as uncomfortable as him, but that thought doesn’t bring Prompto any comfort, so he grits his teeth. May as well bite the bullet and say something now before the silence suffocates him any further. Noct seems to have the same idea.
“So—”
“Look—”
They both stop.
“You first,” Prompto says. “You’re royalty and all that. You get first priority.”
“Nuh-uh. I’m royalty so you have to do what I say and I say you go first.”
Prompto throws a pillow at Noct. “You never responded to my texts from this morning. So you go first and answer them.”
“Which text? You sent me like, a hundred of— dammit!” Noct narrowly dodges the second pillow Prompto throws at him. He glares, but with his bedhead, he looks more like a kitten. “Stop it! Alright, alright, I’ll go first. Um. ..Yeah.” Noct clutches at a pillow like it’s a lifeline. “We did drink last night.”
“And…?” Prompto’s heart is beating like a hummingbird.
“...It didn’t change how I felt. Or feel. I don’t take back what I said, Prompto.” Noct’s facing Prompto now and maybe Prompto’s wishing he and Noct kept stalling ‘cause the conversation’s going a liittle too fast right now. “I like you. Romantically. I have for a while now.”
“How… how long?” Prompto hesitantly asks.
Noct toys with the hem of his shirt. “Dunno. Over a year ago? It wasn’t like I just woke up one day and suddenly realized. It was more like I just felt that the feelings were always there? I don’t know how to explain it.”
“No, that’s cool. I think I’m the same way. ‘Cept for the year part. I think my crush on you has been around for a lot longer.” Prompto tries to chuckle, but it comes out feeling empty.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Same reason why you didn’t, I guess. Thought you were too good for me and you’d reject me.”
“Prompto,” Noct says, breathless. “I’ve never thought of you as less than me or anything. I’d never do that.”
Prompto pulls his knees to his chest. “Insecurities are a bitch sometimes.”
"Yeah. Tell me about it. Sorry you have to deal with that shit.” Noct thinks for a moment. “...Prompto? Can I give you a hug right now?”
“A hug?” Prompto laughs again. “Dude, you were about to kiss me last night. I think you have permanent hugging privileges.”
Noct freezes and Prompto’s eyes go wide. Oh fuck. Oh, fuck. Prompto’s said it. The K word. Oh fuckfuckfuckfucukfuck. He fucked up. He fucked up big time. Is he the one moving things along a little too quickly now? Fuck fuck fuck.
“You— you were going to do that, right?” Prompto asks in a small voice.
“Y-Yeah,” Noct says and Prompto lets out a sigh of relief. His heart leaps with joy a second later because holy hell it’s confirmed that the actual prince of freakin’ Lucis himself wanted to kiss Prompto. “Was going to. I mean… y’know. If Ignis hadn’t interrupted us, then…”
“Well,” Prompto makes a big show of surveying the room, Noct’s admission giving him some sort of newfound confidence. “Ignis doesn’t seem to be here right now. Whaddaya say we continue things where we picked off?” He wiggles his eyebrows.
Noct buries his face in his hands. “When did you become such a flirt?” he mumbles.
“Since we started dating? We’re dating, aren’t we?”
“I mean, yeah? But we haven’t even kissed yet.” Noct peers at Prompto through his fingers, eyes bright and inquisitive.
“Yet.”
“Yet,” Noct agrees. “How ‘bout I change that?”
And Noct’s tossing aside his pillow and leaning towards Prompto. It’s just like last night, but this time, Prompto’s determined to not let anything stop it and he pitches forward, crashing his lips into Noct’s. Noct falls backwards and Prompto lands not-so-gracefully on his chest.
As far as first kisses go, it’s pretty terrible. It’s messy and their teeth knock too many times for Prompto to count and their noses keep bumping. But Noct’s breathless with laughter, and there’s a sparkle in his eyes as he continues peppering Prompto with kisses so maybe Prompto decides that there’s nothing that could be more perfect than this.
Prompto traces the line of Noct’s jaw with one hand and with the other, he buries it in his hair, while Noct’s hands wander his body until they come to a rest over his chest, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him closer, closer.
There’s warmth in Prompto’s cheeks and a different type of buzz running through his head now. Prompto groans, his thoughts filled with nothing but Noct— the warmth of his skin, how soft his hair is, the sounds he’s making.
But there’s a cough. And it certainly didn’t come from Noct. It came from somewhere else in the apartment.
Prompto’s eyes snap open and he tries to pull back, but Noct chases his lips with his own.
“Noct. Noct, wait,” Prompto stammers. He places a hand on Noct’s chest to steady him and sits up. He almost feels bad; Noct’s expression is akin to that of a kicked puppy’s now.
“Prompto? What’s the matter?” he asks. Prompto doesn’t have time to respond. He simply turns his gaze slowly, oh, so slowly towards the door to Noct’s apartment and stops breathing. Noct follows suit shortly after and inhales sharply.
There, standing in the doorway with what looks to be take-out in hand, is Ignis, wearing an expression somewhere between disbelief, horror and apprehension. He’s got only one shoe on, the other tossed unceremoniously to the side.
“O-Oh.” Prompto glues a smile onto his face and waves. “Uhm. Heya, Iggy. Fancy seeing you here.”
From beneath him, Noct facepalms.