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The sky was dark, and the stars were shining brightly. This far away from the Crown City and Lestallum, the heavens were easily visible, even over the bright anti-daemon lights of Old Lestallum.
Prompto was sitting on the roof of the hotel when Noct joined him, a few hours after the sun had set. It had been a long day, and both were exhausted yet not yet ready to sleep. Instead, Noct sat himself beside his best friend and joined him in his armature star gazing.
“Last time we sat like this,” Noct spoke, forgoing a greeting in favour of just speaking. “You told me some pretty heavy stuff.”
“Yeah.” Prompto responded, turning his head to flash Noct a smile before returning his gaze upwards. “I'm glad I did. It was kinda... freeing.”
“Hmm.”
Noct allowed them to fall into a comfortable silence. Up here, it felt like it was just the two of them, alone under the stars. Comfortable. Homely. “I thought about what you said.” Noct continued after a while, keeping his gaze skyward. “Sometimes, I feel that way too.”
“Huh?” Prompto's voice held curiosity and Noct shrugged in response to it.
“Feeling like you're out of place. I feel like that sometimes too.” He took a moment to gather his thoughts, thankful that Prompto let him without interruption. “I'm a prince, royalty. I'm supposed to be above everyone else, but I'm just a guy, you know. I didn't do anything to deserve that kind of respect. I was just born lucky. Sometimes, I wonder what I'm supposed to be like, all regal and stuff, and I just don't know how to do that.
“My dad, Iggy, a whole bunch of tutors – they tried to teach me but... I just don't feel it. Sometimes I feel like I'm just pretending to be a prince, that I'm just a kid with no idea what I'm doing.”
“Pretty sure that's normal dude.” Prompto reassured him, leaning sideways to bump their shoulders together. “But it's good to know you're just as human as the rest of us.” The blond joked.
“Yeah.” Noct agreed, and quiet fell over them again. It wasn't strained, or tense, but rather a comfortable silence that wrapped its way around the two of them like a cosy blanket. Up here, with just the two of them, Noct could let go of those feelings, at least for a little while. The world below them just didn't matter at that moment.
“Sometimes, when I'm with you, I can forget.” He admitted. “Forget that I'm supposed to rule a kingdom, forget that I'm supposed to fulfil some sort of prophecy. When I'm with you, I can just be me. Nobody else makes me feel like that. You said that you didn't feel like you were good enough for me but... you're probably the only one who is.
“When I'm with you, I don't have to worry about protocol, or politics or status. I don't have to worry about the fate of the world. I can just... relax.”
His monologue trailed off as he realized that Prompto had gone unnaturally quiet beside him. This wasn't the kind of quiet that usually happened when Prompto was letting him speak, but rather a tense silence that spoke of true discomfort. With a small frown, Noct looked down from the sky to regard his friend.
Prompto was sitting still, shoulders hunched forward and hands gripping at the concrete below tightly enough to make his knuckles white. The blond wasn't looking up at the sky, or at Noct, but rather down at his feet. He almost looked ready to jump off the roof, and Noct felt his heart begin to race.
Here he was, pouring his heart out to Prompto, without any regard for how that made him feel. That was one of the things that he found himself doing around Prompto more and more, but this time he seemed to have said or done something wrong. Prompto looked like he would rather be anywhere else, and Noct had no idea why.
Maybe he'd said too much?
“Sorry.” He apologised quickly, “I shouldn't've said anything...”
“What?” Prompto finally looked up at Noct with a confused frown. “Dude, you can say anything to me. You know that.”
“You look like you want to jump off the roof to get away from this conversation.” Noct pointed out, nodding down to where Prompto's white knuckled hands.
Those hands quickly let go of the building to nervously wrap around each other on Prompto's lap, moving around each other in direct contrast with just how still the rest of Prompto was. It didn't help alleviate any of Noct's nervousness.
“Nah.” Prompto let out a shaky chuckle and shook his head. “Sorry.” He added. “I'm not uncomfortable because you're opening up to me, man. I'm actually really happy that you are.”
“But you are uncomfortable...”
Prompto hesitated before answering. “A little.” He admitted honestly.
“Is it your self-esteem? Because I was saying nice things about you? It's all true-”
“No.” Prompto chuckled, face slowly turning a shade of pink. “No. I mean. It's kinda embarrassing, but nice to hear, you know?” He shook his head again, “Nah. I'm just... trying not to do something stupid.”
“Something like jumping off the roof of a motel because your best friend is telling you that he appreciates you?” Noct questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Again, Prompto chuckled, sounding somewhat strained. “Nope. Something like...” He shook his head and made a point to look away from Noct, eyes training on the scenery around them.
“What?” Noct questioned, mind spinning with confusion and a hint of worry.
“Dude. I totally have this urge to kiss you like right now, and I'm pretty sure that's inappropriate on like every level. And usually if I just don't look at you for a little bit, it goes away. But with everything you've just said the urge is real.”
Noct's brain short-circuited. He stared at his friend for a moment, speechless. Prompto was throwing words like 'kiss' and 'urge' and 'usually' around casually and Noct was having trouble fitting those words together in this context.
Prompto wanted to kiss him? It usually went away? Did that mean he wanted to kiss him often? Was this why Prompto would sometimes make excuses to disappear for a few minutes? Was that a normal thing that friends felt for each other?
Noct had felt that way about Prompto a few times, but he'd always pushed it away. He had a duty to his kingdom – he had to marry an appropriate woman and produce at least one heir. He didn't have the time or freedom to think of Prompto in that way. So he'd always avoided those thoughts when they came to him, and it seemed like Prompto had done the same.
But now he had no kingdom. Insomnia was in ruins, Lucis was under the control of the Empire. His arranged marriage to Luna was no longer a term for peace. For the first time in his life, Noct was actually free to think about Prompto in that way.
Sure, he had a responsibility, both personal and royal to restore Lucis. He had to save his kingdom and reclaim his throne, but that was all in the future. One day, he would be king again, but for now...
For now, Noct wasn't a prince. He wasn't royalty or nobility. He was essentially “Noct Gar”, a hunter and sometimes fisherman on a road trip with his closest friends. He could push away his princely duties for now.
He would have to address them again in the future, but wasn't this the best time to re-evaluate his kingdom’s policies? Wouldn't he be basically rebuilding Lucis anyway? So why not build it in the way he wanted to? With the person he wanted to do it with?
His mind was still spinning, and Prompto was still babbling, and the real world seemed so very far away. He didn't know what to say, what to think, so instead he just did.
He followed every instinct he had in that moment, every urge that was pulling the strings of his puppet-like body and leaned forward. He didn't think before he acted, he just moved and let his body do the rest.
Prompto's lips were soft. They had been open to let out a slew of words that Noct never heard, and they fit perfectly with Noct's. They both seemed frozen for an age, before slowly they started to move. Noct couldn't tell you who leaned closer first, only that in a matter of moments, they were all over each other. Hands were buried in hair or grasping at clothing, chests pushing themselves flush together at an awkward angle so they didn't fall off the roof. Their mouths were moving in sync, both almost trying to devour the essence of the other.
Noct's heart was racing for an entirely different reason now, and his chest was burning from lack of oxygen. He slowed the kiss, needing to pull away to breathe but loathing the idea of doing so. He knew that the moment he pulled back, whatever spell he'd been under would break and he would be forced to figure out how to say what he was feeling. Even though he wasn't entirely sure how that was.
It was Prompto who actually pulled back first, far enough to stare at Noct, eyes wide. Noct watched as the blond swallowed, licked his lips, then swallowed again, looking fidgety and nervous. “Noct?” Prompto's voice was hoarse, almost as if he'd used it far too much, rather than having it all but stolen by Noct's impulsive actions.
“Prom...” Noct's voice didn't sound much better. He was breathless in a way that had nothing to do with the slowly decreasing oxygen deprivation he was experiencing. “I-” He didn't know what to say. His mind which had previously been spinning with far too many thoughts was now completely silent and empty. No help.
“You just...” Prompto stuttered a little, eyes still wide and staring at Noct. “I mean... I know I just said I wanted to- but I didn't expect you to actually- why did-? What-? Was that-?”
Prompto's confused babbling was oddly endearing and Noct pushed back the urge to kiss him again, realising that they really did need to figure this out. If they didn't talk about it now, they risked never talking about it, and never doing anything about it. If he didn't speak up now, he risked losing this before he'd even had it.
So he cleared his throat, trying to make sure that his voice would work when he used it. “Prom...I...” This was hard to do while looking into Prompto's wide, slightly afraid eyes. So he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against that of his best friend. He closed his eyes and let the words come out, bypassing his useless brain all together. “I wanted to kiss you too.” He admitted. “For years. And never more than when we were on that roof in Longwythe...” He paused to swallow, his mouth suddenly feeling dry.
“So why now?” Prompto's quiet, timid, question was a very valid and reasonable one.
“Because right now, I'm not a king, or a prince. I'm just Noct. And I'm here with you, and the world doesn't matter.” It would, he knew, matter again. And soon. But he really hoped that they could figure something out, that he would be able to do this again with Prompto. Possibly even more.
“Oh Noct...”
With his eyes closed, Noct didn't see the expression on Prompto's face, but he could tell by his tone that it would be fond and tender. There was the brush of skin on his cheek, and he found himself leaning in to Prompto's hand.
“I don't know how,” Noct spoke again, eyes still closed. “But... I want to find a way. So that we can.. So that even when the world matters again- so we can...”
He didn't know how to express what he wanted, but Prompto seemed to understand. There was the soft brush of lips against his own, a brief touch, before Prompto pulled back enough to force Noct to open his eyes.
“I don't want... I don't want to be a fling.” Prompto said to him, looking directly into his eyes. “If you want... If you want me, then it's gotta be something serious. I can't- I'm already in too deep to just...”
Noct took Prompto's hand in his own, astonished at how deep Prompto's feelings apparently ran for him. “Prompto.” He spoke, “You are my most important person.” He told him, without reservation. It wasn't a lie. Gladio and Ignis were important to him, but Prompto... Prompto was on his own level. “Being... Being together has risks. To our friendship. It's not worth the risk if it isn't for real.”
“I'm in love with you.” Prompto blurted out, hands shaking and eyes wide. It was obvious to Noct that Prompto hadn't meant to say it, but he had, and he wasn't trying to take it back.
The admission should've been more surprising, really. Considering how shocked Noct had been just moments ago when Prompto had admitted to wanting to kiss him – Noct was surprised at how unsurprised he was. Instead, he offered Prompto a smile and lifted the hand he was holding, placing a gentle kiss against his knuckles.
“Then it's real.” He said quietly. “Because when two people feel like that for each other... it can't not be real.”
It was a half confession. While Noct was sure of the strength of his feelings for Prompto, and was rather convinced that he was, in fact, in love with his best friend, he wasn't quite ready to say it. At least, not in those words. Not yet. But he was ready to admit his feelings.
Prompto was still staring at him with wide eyes, and Noct tried to offer him a smile. “I- Prompto would you...” He wasn't sure how to ask this. Why did it look so easy in the movies, when in reality it was anything but? “Can I... Be yours?” Not exactly what he was going for, but close enough.
“Noct... you don't belong to anyone.” Prompto said quietly, “But we can share each other with... each other.”
Noct was around ninety-nine percent sure that was an awkward yes to his equally awkward asking out, and smiled hesitantly at Prompto. He had no idea what to do next, and it seemed that Prompto didn't either. They looked at each other for a moment before the ridiculousness of the situation hit them and they both burst into giggles.
It took them a few moments to calm down, but when they did, Noct felt more at ease than he could ever remember feeling before. Once again, he pressed his forehead against Prompto's, but this time he kept his eyes open.
“So what now?” Prompto asked, voice still bubbling from their earlier laughter.
“I have no idea.” Noct admitted. “Kinda been making this up as I went along.”
“Seems like a plan.” Prompto decided, “Lets just keep making things up.”