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Noct’s life has never been his own. From the very start, everyone around him made sure to remind him of that.
“Prince Noctis, how do you expect to leave a good impression with Accordian diplomats if you can’t even speak their language?” his tutor said when he struggled with the conjugation of irregular Accordian verbs.
“Noctis, as King, you must do what is best for your people even if it is not what is best for you,” his father said when Noct watched him wither away from the strain of keeping the Wall up.
“Noct, you must leave a good impression tonight,” Ignis said when Noct was about to give an interview and he made sure Noct’s hair looked presentable and his tie was straight.
“C’mon, Noct, you don’t get to just give up,” Gladio said when Noct lost to him in combat training yet again and threw his sword to the ground in frustration.
No, every aspect of Noct’s life has been ruled by other people, for other people, so he’s not really sure why he thought he would at least get this particular part of his life to himself, why this especially hits him like a punch to the gut.
PRINCE NOCTIS OF LUCIS TO MARRY LADY LUNAFREYA OF TENEBRAE
His father only just called him into his study yesterday to tell him about the betrothal, and by today morning, the headline was already printed on the front page of every newspaper in the country.
It’s a little like a nightmare he can’t wake up from, except he knows exactly that he’s not dreaming.
Did Luna know about this? Did they spring it onto her at the last possible second too? How does she feel about having to marry him?
The problem’s not the fact that it’s Luna. Objectively, Luna’s probably the best option he can get, and he can only hope that she feels similarly. The problem is that he doesn’t want to get married, at least not yet, no matter to whom. The problem is that he wants to choose who he marries instead of being paired off with someone purely for the politics of it. The problem is that no one even bothered including him in the process that went into making that decision even though it’s his life.
And now he’s sitting here in front of a blank paper, tasked with writing his own wedding vows.
Abruptly, he stands. His chair topples over from the force of it, but he can’t bring himself to care.
His collar feels too tight around his neck - he’s already in a dress shirt for the interviews he’s supposed to give later today, but now his fingers scramble to open the buttons, he needs to get it off and get out, he can’t breathe and he needs to be anywhere but here.
A button rips off the shirt when he finally wrestles it open, hitting the floor with a soft plink. He tosses the shirt aside and makes for his bedroom, grabbing his most normal-looking t-shirt and a hat, and then he remembers the non-prescription glasses he still has from a photoshoot and grabs those too.
Hastily, he scrawls a note for Ignis and/or Gladio, whoever gets to his apartment faster when they get the alert.
Not kidnapped, just needed to get out. I’ll be back. I’m sorry.
As an afterthought, he scribbles his signature and a string of letters and words that are code for “I Am Saying This Of My Own Accord And Without Anyone Holding A Gun To My Head”, and then he sends a text to Prompto, asking, no, practically begging him to meet him in front of the arcade.
Then, without waiting for an answer, he turns off his phone, puts it on the table next to the note, and warps out of the window.
The moment he turned his phone off, an alert was sent to Gladio, Ignis, Dad, and just about every high-ranking security official in the Citadel, so he doesn’t have much time until they send the Glaives after him.
For a brief moment he considers sticking to the rooftops, but that’s something that only really works in movies and video games, even with warping. Besides, the Glaives are sure to spot the blue flashes, so it’s safer to blend in with a crowd.
Social stealth, his mind supplies, and the game reference tears a hysterical laugh from his throat.
The laugh almost turns into a sob and he quickly presses his hand over his mouth to stifle it.
Shit, he’s a mess - how did anyone think it would be a good idea to have him marry Luna?!
When he gets to the arcade, Prompto is already there, fidgeting nervously with his phone. As soon as he spots Noct, he runs over to him.
“Dude, what’s going on, you didn’t answer my text, are you okay?” Prompto says all in one breath and stares at him with wide-eyed concern, and somehow that’s almost enough to make Noct tear up.
“Just needed to get out, I’m fine,” he says even though he’s decidedly not, but Prompto immediately understands it to be I’m fine in the sense of I’m not bleeding and no one’s after me and not I’m fine in the sense of I’m actually fine.
“I guess you didn't tell anyone you left?” he asks instead of prying because he’s seen the headline, of course he knows what’s going on.
Noct rubs the back of his hand across his eyes. It comes away wet. “I left a note.”
“Okay. Okay. So, you don’t wanna be found too quickly, yeah? So we can’t go back to my house, and, no offense but the arcade’s a shitty hiding spot because that’s like the second place they’ll look,” Prompto points out.
“So where would you go?”
“Dunno. The park?” Prompto shrugs. He looks mildly terrified, and, right, Noct’s getting him into a ton of trouble here, but Prompto isn’t asking questions, isn’t telling him what a bad idea this is even though it is, and Noct loves him for it.
Neither of them has any better ideas, so they go to the park. It’s a weekday, so there aren’t too many people about, and when they find a near-empty playground, Prompto tugs him towards the swings.
Noct can’t remember the last time he’s used a swing, isn’t even sure if he’s ever actually used a swing. He’s a bit too tall for it, he has to bend his legs awkwardly, and the chains the swing is hanging from bite uncomfortably into his palm.
But Prompto starts swinging a little, so Noct does too, and for a while, they just sit and idly swing back and forth without talking.
A few times, Noct opens his mouth, tries to say something, but then he changes his mind and closes it again. He’s… he’s not ready to have a conversation, not about the wedding, not about Luna, and not about anything mundane, not when it feels like his life is being torn from his hands and he’s expected to smile through the whole thing.
Eventually, a little girl runs up to them and asks to use the swing, and a little embarrassed, they get up.
Noct pulls his hat down so it hides a bit more of his face and gives the kid a small smile. “Yeah, sorry, it’s all yours.”
The girl’s mother is staring at him a little too intently, and Noct doesn’t want to push his luck, so he grabs Prompto by the arm and pulls him away before she can blow his cover.
Prompto quickly falls into pace with him and points towards the other end of the park. “There’s a duck pond there. Wanna go check it out?”
All the benches are full, most of them taken by elderly people who are feeding the ducks with rice and bird seeds, but Prompto simply sits down on the grass by the pond.
Noct does the same, carefully lowering himself down onto the ground. His back is going to complain about it later, but right now he’s got bigger things to worry about.
“I want you to be there,” he says abruptly.
“Hm?”
“The wedding. In Altissia. I want you there. I don’t care who I’ll need to fight to make it happen.”
His own father can’t attend his wedding. Noct’s been informed of that pretty much in the same breath as he’s been told about the engagement. Gladio and Ignis will be there, and Noct is more grateful for that than he can ever express. But Prompto is someone he chose, someone who has chosen him, and Noct is going to fight tooth and nail to have at least this: his best friend at his wedding.
“Wouldn’t miss it for anything, buddy,” Prompto says quietly.
There’s so much sincerity in his voice that tears well up in Noct’s eyes and he quickly lies down on the grass so Prompto doesn’t see them.
Soon, the Glaives are going to lock down the park, search every nook and cranny until they’ve found him, and then they’re going to return him to his apartment where he’s going to get chewed out by Ignis and Gladio, and his dad is going to give him a disappointed look, and he's probably even going to make it to the interview in time.
But right now, he lies in the grass with his best friend, watching the clouds pass by, and wishes that this moment could last forever.