Work Text:
"You sure you got everything you need?" Noctis asked as he looked at the bags around Prompto's feet.
"You know it!" Prompto said cheerfully. "Clothes, food, camera equipment. What more do I need?"
"Uh, camping?"
"Oh right! I think Y'jhimei has those bags. Everything else is here with me."
Noctis nodded slightly before giving a stern look. "And you're sure you want to go through with this?"
It had been a thought that had gone on for months now. The teleporter had been restored, but Y'jhimei had decided to stay back with Prompto. Their relationship was too close and special to end it by her returning home. So she had stayed with him, helping rebuild the world after 10 years of darkness.
But the teleporter was still there, and it still worked. While Y'jhimei had no intentions of just going home permanently, there was still the curious thought of if a little visit wouldn't hurt. After studying the teleporter more, Y'jhimei had determined that the other side should still work making back and forth transportation an easy feat.
All they had to do now was give it a test and see what happened.
"I'm sure," Prompto said with a nod. "And I know we'll come back. I can't just leave my king forever, but I am totally allowed some vacation time. I worked hard for 10 years saving up those hours."
Noctis snorted. "Of course you did. But hey, enjoy yourself okay? Just you and Y'jhimei for some alone time."
Prompto tried to elbow him. "Dude! Quit it!"
Noctis only laughed. "Well you are going on a vacation with your girlfriend. Just don't go proposing to her over there. I wanna be ready with the camera when you try and attempt it."
Prompto blushed. "Not so loud dude. Don't want her to overhear it. You know she has amazing hearing!"
"Well maybe you shouldn't shout it then," Noctis smirked.
Prompto bite his lip. "Okay fine. Fair point. But no more talk about that. It's just a little trip that's all. No big deal."
"If that's what you say," Noctis said. "Just have fun with it. Take all the pictures you can."
"Oh totally. You know me. I got it all covered!"
"Then let's head over there," Noctis said as he started to walk towards the teleporter.
Ignis and Gladio were already over there, talking with Y'jhimei, no doubt going over the plans that they had made a hundred times over. It was still a risk to try and go back through the teleporter with no knowledge of what had happened on the other side, but Y'jhimei still was sure it was safe and still sound on both ends.
When the two came closer she turned and smiled, walking over to Prompto and held on to his hand. "You ready, Prompto?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Prompto answered as he squeezed her hand lightly.
The two picked up their bags and moved closer to the teleporter. Prompto turned around to face the guys and waved to them. "Okay! Here we go! See you guys whenever we get back. Hopefully we should be about a week!
"Stay safe," Gladio said.
"And if you can, please try to find a book of recipes," Ignis said with a smile. "I'd love to hear more of the dishes that they offer. "
"I made sure to make note of that!" Y'jhimei stated cheerfully. "I created an entire outline of what Prompto and I are going to do. We'll have plenty of time to do some shopping, and with our worlds sharing the same currency we've got more than enough to buy so much!"
"Oh yeah, totally gotta do some shopping," Prompto agreed softly. He had thought right away to check out the shops, not only because he wanted to see what the world had to offer, but also for another reason. It was a very backburner thought and he wasn't even sure how it would work, but he was going to give it a go.
WIth one final goodbye to the guys, they stepped up to the teleporter and Y'jhimei did what she did the first time she activated it back in her own world. Light flashed around the two of them as the teleporter glowed brightly. It was so much so that Prompto had to shield his eyes, trying not to let the light sting his eyes.
Prompto could practically feel the ground changing behind him, shifting from concrete to some other type of stone. When the world felt like it was done spinning, Prompto opened his eyes to find himself in some old ruins, just like Y'jhimei had talked about.
"It worked!" Y'jihimei said in a hushed voice as she looked behind herself. "And the teleporter behind us still looks like it's ready to work for our way back. But we need to be careful, while I did run here to avoid the Ixali beastmen, there are plenty of other creatures that could be out here."
"Plus 10 years have passed, right? A lot has changed since then, yeah?" Prompto asked.
"Yes, we should keep notice of that, who knows what-" Y'jhimei stopped herself as she stared at Prompto, her eyes widening.
"W-What? What's wrong?"
"I didn't expect something like this. I didn't even consider the possibility of it. I was sure that you would still remain as you were since humans most closely resemble Hyurs. But this…" Y'jhimei covered her mouth trying to cover up a laugh. "Oh my this is quite something."
"Quite what? I still don't know what it is?"
"Prompto, I'll show you," Y'jhimei said as she took out her phone. She snapped a picture and turned it around for him. "You're a Miqo'te."
Prompto gasped as he stared at the picture, seeing that he now had ears like Y'jhimei, though golden like his own hair. Even his eyes and face were different, looking all similar to how Y'jhimei was, only with some slight differences like with the facial markings. It was probably due to the fact that he was male, considering what he remembered he had been told about the Miqo'te race in the past.
He reached up to touch the ears, trying to see if they truly were real. He flinched slightly when his fingers brushed up against them, his body actually feeling the sensation. They twitched slightly and he touched them again. They were real. He had real Miqo'te ears!
And if he had Miqo'te ears… that meant…
Prompto reached behind him, feeling the back of his pants. His face warmed up quickly as he looked away from Y'jhimei. "U-Uh. Y'jhimei… I am going to need a minute. Gotta uh… well you can probably figure it out."
His girlfriend laughed softly. "Oh alright. Do you think you will be okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I got my utility knife with me, that should be enough. I'll just go behind this wall and uh… do the thing. And these were my favorite pants too… maybe I'll use the other pair."
Y'jhimei nodded and let him walk over there on his own. As she waited she continued to talk to him, getting out what was on her mind. "It looks like we have to go shopping for some new clothes."
"Yeah the last thing I want is to ruin my best pants," Prompto muttered.
A moment later he came back out, dressed in one of his extra pair pants, the grey sweatpants with the number 17 on it. Now behind him, a hold had been cut and a blond tail was out there swinging slightly back and forth. The feeling was just as weird as the ears to Prompto. He could feel every turn and swing that the tail was doing, and he knew that he was making the tail do it. He had the thought to stop it, but the sensation of movement felt so new and strange he subconsciously wanted it to continue.
"There's something else too," Y'jhimei said as Prompto came back.
"What is it now?" he asked.
"Don't you notice? The way that we look? I didn't notice right away, but we're younger too! Back to how we looked 10 years ago."
"What!" Prompto said. This time he pulled out his own phone and opened the camera to look at himself. He was in fact physically 20 years old, and the longer he looked at his girlfriend, the more he came to realize they both were younger.
"How did this happen? Both me being like this and the young stuff" he asked.
"I'm not sure. I was so sure you would remain as you were, but perhaps it was my influence that changed you. Us coming here together, holding hands, something could have changed with that! But oh! I think it's wonderful, Prompto! You make a good Miqo'te!" Y'jihimei said as she clapped her hands together.
Prompto felt his ears twitch along with his blush. Just something else to get used to.
"And the younger part?"
"That… I had a possibility to consider this, but I brushed it aside. I didn't think it would be possible in the end."
"What would?"
"That the teleporter would return us from not only where I entered but also when I entered."
"You mean that we're technically 10 years in the past? In your world?"
She nodded. "That is what I gather, give or take a few minutes most likely. We can find out more once we get to a city though."
"So when we go back home, it'll be like we never left?" Prompto asked.
"It seems like that is the case. I can't see why it wouldn't work both ways."
"Well, I guess it's not the worst thing. Just makes it more exciting, right?" Prompto offered.
"Most definitely! I'll have to write these occurrences down though. It could be a little bit of something to investigate for later. Now come on, we should head to Gridania!"
The two picked their bags and Y'jhimei lead as they exited the ruins. Prompto kept looking around the entire time, trying to take in every little thing that he saw. He soon pulled out his phone and started to snap some pictures of the landscape around them.
Eventually they came into a vibrant woods, much larger than anything Prompto had ever seen. Once again he was in awe at just how everything looked, right down to the grass they walked on. Everything was new and different and he couldn't help but gawk. Y'jhimei seemed to be just as surprised, though her reactions were filled with much more nostalgia than Prompto could ever understand.
"So, let's go over it again! Remind me what I taught you," Y'jhimei said.
"Okay, so Hyur are like humans. Would have been that but I ended up as a Miqo'te, which is y'know cat-like but not like cats. Then the tall elf people are the Elezen and the little ones who are not elves are Lalafell," Prompto explained.
Y'jhimei clapped her hands together. "Right! And the rest?"
"Right the rest. The Au Ra are like the lizard or dragon people, Viera are like rabbits, Hrothgar are burly felines far different than Miqo'te, and then the muscular beefy guys are Rogdyn."
"Roegadyn," Y'jhimei corrected.
"Yeah, geeze so much to keep track of," Prompto sighed. "Especially since I'm not actually a Hyur here. Changes up everything I was preparing for."
"Oh! That reminds me," Y'jhimei said. "Since you are a Miqo'te here, and are a Seeker of the Sun like me, we should try and pronounce your name like how it would be here."
"Huh?"
"Remember what I told you about the Seekers of the Sun? The first letter of our name correlates to our tribe. Mine is Y and that's why I am part of the Jaguar tribe. ," Y'jihimei said as she began to ramble. "Now your name starts with P so that would be the Basilisk tribe and it makes a 'peh' sound. So… it should be said like Pehrompto?"
Prompto placed a hand to his forehead. "Aw man… can we just say my parents wanted to be different?"
"It doesn't work like that, you silly," Y'jhimei said as she poked shoulder.
Prompto pouted at her childishly, and as a result he felt both ears and tail react accordingly. His tail stopped swapping and his ears were dipping down.
Y'jhimei giggled again, causing Prompto to pout even more. "Y'jhimei… don't laugh at me."
"Sorry," she said as she tried to contain herself. "You are just quite adorable like that."
Prompto blushed slightly, giving a small chuckle. "I guess there's going to be a lot of teasing while we're here."
"Of course! And maybe it'll even remain once we go back home!"
"No way! If I am stuck like this, the guys will never let me live it down!" Prompto whined.
"Aw," Y'jhimei sighed. "I guess I will have to make the most of my time with you here then! I will for sure get a chance to pet those ears later!"
"Not if you can't catch me!" Prompto teased as he began to run ahead.
"Prompto! No fair! You don't even know where you're going! You need to be careful!" she said as she began to chase after him.
"Ah, I'll find my way!" Prompto shouted back.
The two laughed as they ran deeper through the woods, running around until Prompto finally had to stop to catch his breath. He just didn't account for Y'jhimei to run an tackle him to the ground before he could even react.
"Y'jhimei! You okay?" he asked as he stared up at her.
"Of course I am. But now I am in the perfect spot," she purred softly as she reached forward to pet Prompto's new Mioq'te ears.
Without even realizing it, he had started purring as a reaction. The sensation of being petted was so gentle and relaxing he didn't even know what to say. He did start to understand at least how Y'jhimei felt when he had pet her ears in past times. She would always completely relax and snuggle up close to him as he did it, and he had always thought it was a rather cute thing.
Now it was his turn, and he couldn't deny that it was rather nice. Maybe his time here as a Miqo'te wouldn't be the worst, and maybe… just maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world if he did end up being stuck like when they returned home. Either way, he knew that Y'jhimei would love him either way. Miqo'te or human she would love him for who he was, and he loved her the same.