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“Woah~ We’re crazy high up. I feel like you can see the whole city from here!” Prompto leaned over the stone banister of the Citadel, taking in the sights below. He and Noct weren’t at the very top, but close to it, out in an empty courtyard. Noctis sat on the stone wall as the blond leaned on it, both of them looking out over the city as the sun started to sink in the horizon. They were high enough up that people looked like little moving dots that faded into the grey of the streets below.
“Does your dad know I’m here with you?”
“No. He would say it wasn’t allowed.” Noctis answered with a huff, kicking his legs. Looking down the world seemed to stretch out before them, forever. Like if you fell off the edge you would be falling for an eternity.
“I wanted to talk to you about something.” The prince continued as he patted the stone next to him and Prompto jumped up to join him. He sat down with his legs over the edge as well, slowly kicking them back and forth. There was nothing holding them back from falling over the edge other than their own balance. At least the wall they were sitting on was thick, sturdy enough for a seat. Noctis held out his hand shyly and Prompto took it and, for a time, they sat in silence. Just two high school boys holding hands, kicking their legs, watching the languid sunset.
“My dad won’t...because I have to be king and…he said that…” Noctis started and stopped a few times, blue eyes boring holes in his sneakers. His friend squeezed his hand, offering support.
“You asked him if we could date, right? And he said no.” As a commoner, he basically expected that answer. Noctis was supposed to be a king, the king. He was just a nobody. The blond scooted a little closer until their thighs were touching, never letting go of their intertwined fingers.
“It’s okay. No matter what happens or who you have to marry or even if we never see each other again, I’ll always love you, Noct~” Prompto smiled, his expression soft. Noctis expected him to cry or look like he was in pain. But instead, it seemed like he expected this from the start. His smile, however, held enough sadness that the prince felt his own heart starting to overflow. They had been unofficially dating for a few weeks now. It was just small stuff at first, spending more time together, trying to be alone. But then Noctis wanted more.
They could probably still go back to hanging out like they did before but he was sure that his father would pass down an order for Ignis not to leave them alone. He was actually impressed that he’d managed to ditch his advisor/lifelong babysitter tonight. Maybe Ignis knew they wanted some privacy.
“I’m going to ask you something crazy, okay Prom? But I want you to answer completely honestly. It’s okay, no matter what you say.” Their eyes met for a long, silent moment. Noctis knew that the words that would come out of his mouth would change something. He didn’t know if it would be good or bad, but he knew that they couldn’t go back to the life they were leaving behind, just on the other side of the ledge.
“I don’t want to live without you. I don’t want to marry a woman I don’t love just so that we can have children. Then they’ll have to live this sucky life I already hate. I want to just be a normal guy. So...would you die with me? Here? While we still can?” Noctis squeezed their hands as he watched a few different emotions flitter across Prompto’s face. He recognized confusion followed by shock and then something altogether different. The sunset was making his blond hair look like a shimmering gold and his freckles were stars across his face. The prince just wanted to stare at them all day, drawing lines to make constellations known only to the two of them.
His friend opened his mouth to respond and then closed it again as if searching for the perfect words. Noctis wanted to take it all back but it was too late. The words, the implications, settled between them like an invisible noose.
“Ya. I mean, yes, yes I will. It won’t be scary because we’ll be together.” Somehow even in the fading sunset and agreeing toa mutual suicide, Prompto was sunshine in human form. His blue eyes were crinkled as he smiled, kicking his legs like a lovesick child. They sat together for a little bit longer, enjoying the chill of the evening wind and watching the lights of Insomnia blink on one by one.
And then, without words or plans, Noctis stood up. Prompto quickly followed, squeezing the hand in his. A feeling settled between them, a contentment. The blond swung their held hands, his smile finally fading into a soft, contemplative expression.
“No matter what, I love you, Noct.”
“I love you too, Prom.” They nodded, each in turn, slowly letting their combined hands fall. Once both of them had gotten ready, heels on the edge of the wall, holding hands once again, Noctis counted down. On one both of them leaned back into gravity, closing their eyes as they fell.
Both boys focused only on the hand they were holding, letting the wind whip past them. It was supposed to be fast, a quiet, sudden drop, and then nothing. Prompto expected to feel nothing, or maybe pain followed by nothing. Instead, he felt the hard smack of tree branches as his friend’s hand was wrenched from his grasp.
“Noct!” Prompto had half landed in a tree that was winding out from a balcony and up the side of the Citadel, chasing the sun. The branches broke from his sudden weight but they dropped him on the balcony instead of letting him crash all the way to the ground.
“Noct!” He was in pain and disoriented, and his arm felt very distinctly broken, but he ran to the edge of the balcony. Far below he could see his friend, his boyfriend, his lover. Noct had hit the bottom alone. They had intended to land on the pavement but their impromptu swan dive of death had been nothing but failure. Prompto was very much alive and Noct had landed on a car instead of the ground. The car had crumpled from his body but at least it looked like he died in peace. Even if he died alone.
Prompto ran as fast as he could downstairs, hoping to arrive at Noct’s body before anyone else. But he was too late, having gotten lost in the maze of Citadel corridors. Ambulances had already arrived and there were red and blue lights everywhere. People were crying from outside the line of police officers and other emergency vehicles. They were mourning their prince. When he pushed into the crowd, one of the EMTs saw his broken arm and pulled him aside, sitting him in the back of one of the ambulances. His blue eyes watched his boyfriend be taken away on a gurney. Apparently, he was still alive but completely unresponsive. The blond felt nothing but guilt, everything had gone so wrong. The king was here, climbing in behind his son. He didn’t spare a glance back for the blond sitting alone in the second ambulance. There was no reason for him too.
Prompto watched the scene, letting the blue and red lights bounce across his eyes. The car that Noct had landed on looked absolutely crushed, the windshield was shattered and the top was bent in and twisted. But apparently, the ‘give’ had saved his life. Ignis was talking to a police officer, he looked rattled. Anyone would be, no one would understand why a prince with everything to live for would throw himself off a building. Not unless they knew.
Noctis was in surgery for hours. Even though he hadn’t died he was apparently a mess. Crowds flocked to the emergency room for a hint of news. The rumors had already started. Was it suicide? Why had he done it? Was he pushed? Would he be okay? No one noticed the blond who had been admitted only a few minutes later. His arm had been sprinted for now and then he was released, there was no reason to keep him here. If anyone realized that they’d jumped together they hadn’t said it.
Prompto waited in the hallway until he heard the news. Noctis was out of surgery but he was still in a coma. The general public had been cleared out of the whole floor, it was just the king and his retainers as well as Ignis and Gladio. Prompto wasn’t sure if he slipped in because no one was paying attention or if he was allowed to be here, but no one made him leave. Everything was talking, hushed, as if a loud noise would break the tension. There were so many questions, so many worries. Everyone wanted to know why, what happened. Would he be okay?
Prompto watched everyone from his rather uncomfortable waiting room chair. Ignis was stoic as always but he looked pale. He didn’t know the guy that well but considering his job seemed to be to babysit Noctis at all hours of the day he probably blamed himself. The blond wanted to tell him it wasn’t, that they chose to jump, but he also felt like an outsider, looking in through a pane of glass. Gladio was pacing back and forth, his face angry. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy that would understand. He was too forward, too blunt. He never let other people tell him how he had to live. The king, he just looked completely lost.
It took another few hours for the chaos to calm down. Regis had sent Ignis and Gladio home a while ago, the fact that he was the king probably being the only reason they relented. As time wore on others left as well until the hallway outside the room was just Regis, Gladio’s dad, and Prompto. The boy was sitting far enough down the hallway from the others that he was sure he had just been forgotten. But he waited. He had too. As they had all been talking about ‘what now’, an idea had formed in Prompto’s head. Noctis didn’t want to live like this, to live as a chosen prince. He’d wanted to die with the boy he loved and Prompto was going to make that dream a reality.
Eventually, the king seemed to fall asleep, the stress and worry eating him up. Prompto felt a little guilty for that but he needed to push those thoughts aside. No one was watching him, nor Noctis’s room. They were supposed to leave him alone for right now but the blond was good at getting in places he wasn’t supposed to. Once he was in the hospital room his stomach flipped and knotted in his chest. Noctis looked horrible. Nearly his entire body was in some sort of cast and there were monitors everywhere. His skin was so pale that he blended in with the white sheets over his body.
“Noct…? It’s me, it’s Prom. I’m sorry I...I messed it up. But I’ll make it up to you. Look what I snagged.” Slowly he approached the bed, speaking softly as if he would wake the sleeping prince. He held two small vials and a syringe in his hand, having pilfered them from nurses quite a few hours ago. He felt sick looking over his lover. It was as if every bone in his body had been shattered, nothing left of his beautiful prince.
“I’m not an expert at this but this is supposed to be painless, right? You’ll be a real sleeping beauty.” Eventually, he reached the bed and he sat down, setting the syringe by his side. “These are real strong painkillers. So...ya. I guess this is it.” He pulled the clear cap off of the syringe before climbing into the bed. There wasn’t much room around the prince’s body, held still with metal rods and machines. But he got as close as he could and filled the syringe with the clear liquid.
“Goodnight, Noct. I love you.” Since there was already an IV going to the other’s arm, he pushed the needle into the plastic tube and then depressed the plunger. He knew that people would panic and run once the machines started to beep so he was on a timeline. Prompto took the second bottle and filled the syringe again. He had always hated needles but now wasn’t the time to be squeamish. Holding the syringe in his right hand he turned his left arm over so he could see his veins.
“Goodnight…my prince” The blond pressed a small kiss on his lover’s face before plunging the needle under his skin and pressing down. He let his body go limp against the prince, a smile ghosting his lips.