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When Noctis first brought up the idea of inviting Prompto to his 20th birthday celebration, Prompto had been ecstatic. Of course, Prompto wanted to attend. Noctis is his best friend and would do quite literally anything for him. However, when Ignis presented Prompto with a 10-page and double-sided document on what needed to be done before he could even think about attending he had some second thoughts on just how far he’d go for Noctis. Noctis had even given him a tl;dr of the whole pamphlet, and in turn, some of the tasks were easily crossed out or were in the process of being crossed out.
- Formal Wear
Easy! Noctis and him are roughly the same clothing size, and if the fit needed to be changed at all it was always easier to take things in than to add to them.
- Etiquette
He had borrowed a book from the library on how to improve one’s etiquette, and Noctis lent him old notebooks he had from when he took lessons in his youth.
- Background Check
This was by far the easiest, all he had to do was give Gladio his biggest puppy-dog eyes and he passed the test.
- Dance Lessons
This one stumped him the most. Noctis had put on a record of “Today’s Pop Hits” or something like that and made a halfway decent attempt at trying to teach him how to ballroom dance to a song quite literally about having sex. They ended up falling to the floor in laughter halfway through the song, no progress was made. Noctis had begged Prompto to ask Ignis for help but he refused, excusing it on being “weird” and not because Ignis was just too intimidating to ask him for help. Yet here he stands, in the ballroom of the Citadel. Noctis is on his right and Ignis is in front of them, scrolling his phone for the right song to practice.
“Noctis, you’re quite fond of ‘Nocturne’, yes?” Ignis peers up from his glasses though his face is still trained on his phone.
“Yeah,” Noctis crosses his arms in front of his chest and taps the toe of his shoe on the floor. “It’ll be an easy starting point--I think.”
“I’m starting to feel a little out of my comfort zone here,” Prompto adds on an uneasy laugh, trying to lighten the effect of the statement as much as he can.
“No worries, you’ll be fine, Prompto.” Ignis sets his phone down on the chair they’d brought over from a supply closet. “Noctis most likely needs more practice than you do.”
Noctis scoffs but makes no move to correct him. “It’s a waltz, yeah?”
“Yes, Noctis you will be taking the lead as you are likely more familiar with the dance than Prompto is.” Ignis dusts himself off as he approaches.
Noctis falls into his position with practiced comfort. Turning to face Prompto and gently placing his right hand onto Prompto’s back near his waist, Ignis grabs his hand gently and slides it up so it rests on his shoulder blade. The movement on his side tickles Prompto and he stifles a laugh. Prompto has seen enough movies with ballroom dance scenes to get a vague hint on where he should be placing his hands, left hand resting on Noctis’s shoulder. They hold each other's opposite hands, and Prompto holds back his natural response to squirm away when his right wrist is this exposed to the world(no matter if his bracelet is still firmly on his wrist). Ignis readies himself by his phone.
“Prompto, as the follow your job is very simple: to follow. When Noct moves his foot forward, you move your corresponding foot backward and so on and so forth.” Ignis presses play and the song echoes around the room unpleasantly.
Poor acoustics - at least for music played via smartphone speakers and not a damn orchestra - and the awkward sound of their dress shoes on the floor has both Noctis and Prompto choking back a laugh. They carry on slowly, yet easy enough. Both of them are still hesitating their steps, Noctis keeping his eyes closed tightly and his face scrunched up as he tries to will his brain into a better sense of coordination in his feet. Prompto’s gaze is firmly focused on the floor, trying to match every move Noctis makes. A minute into the song they’re still going at a snail's pace but they haven't stepped on either of the other's feet yet, so they opt to count it as a win. Ignis however, takes issue.
“Try bringing up the speed a touch?” He asks as if both of them weren’t well aware of how painfully slow they were dancing.
“So uh,” Prompto asks in a hushed whisper a few seconds later, eyes still trained on their feet. “Do you like this song just because it’s got “Noct” in the name?”
Noctis stiffens in Prompto’s grasp and his chest convulses in laughter. His face is all scrunched up, a strained choking noise manages to escape his throat, and his feet falter underneath him, stepping right onto the toe of Prompto’s shoe. Prompto gasps and takes his hand off of Noctis’s shoulder to grab at his foot. Noctis doesn’t bother to hold his laughter back anymore. Ignis looks more tired than usual.
“Sorry--” Noctis manages to squeak out around his laughter, more so directed at Ignis than Prompto. “Sorry we’re just--”
“It’s quite alright,” Ignis takes a deep calming breath through his nose. “We will start again.”
“It was my fault,” Prompto shakes out his foot and returns it to the floor. “I told a joke, all my bad.”
Ignis lets the corners of his mouth twitch upwards, Prompto gleans he’s trying to give Prompto his approval for making Noctis laugh and not messing up their dance. “Once more, from the top.”
This time they begin their dance with a faster tempo, still not quite what Ignis would like but they make it more than halfway through the song before toes get stepped on once more. Ignis starts the song over from the top again, eventually making it through with no injuries. Ignis gives a dainty clap through his gloves and this time actually smiles.
“Nice work.” He says to Prompto. Turning to Noctis he adds: “Perfectly adequate.”
“Hey…” Noctis lets a vicious pout overtake his face.
“I think for the basics you will both survive the gala, albeit with practice on your own time,” Ignis adds that last bit in like he really does believe they will actually practice on their own time.
“Awesome,” Prompto smile beams at Ignis and he turns to Noctis and whispers, “Let's get the fuck outta here.”