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“ Mack I … And I’ll step forward and brush some of the dirt and blood off of his face. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. When you ran in like that… ” Prompto’s eyes filled with tears as he looked at the square containing Noctis’s face on his screen. “You can't just put yourself in danger like that. Some of us care about you. I care about you.”
Noctis's voice came through Prompto's headphones. “I'll place my hand over Mercury’s and look him in the eyes. Hey. I love you.”
I love you.
Noctis’s voice played on repeat in Prompto’s mind, long after the session was over and everyone had gone offline. His face flushed and he covered it with his hands, groaning. If he couldn’t get his crush under control, there was no way that he was going to be able to handle meeting Noctis in person.
“How you doing, shortcake?” His sister, Aranea, rapped her knuckles on the door frame as she appeared from the other room. She was one of his fellow players in Gladio’s D&D stream, and looked at him knowingly.
“I - Fine!” Prompto squeaked out, but his blush just made her smirk more.
“Oh please, we all know you have a thing for him. Well, except maybe Noctis.”
“Don’t tease me, ‘Nea. I’ll never be able to look him in the eyes when we meet if I think everyone knows.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You’ll be fine. Hope you’re packed though. We leave for the Live Show at Kweh Con tomorrow. And boy, will the fans be excited after we left them on that confession.”
Prompto glanced over at his packed suitcase. He’d packed and repacked it about a dozen times. “Yeah, I’m ready to go. I’m really glad that you’re coming with me too.”
“Wouldn’t miss watching you and Noctis meet in person for the world.”
Prompto blushed violently again and Aranea left his doorway laughing.
*
Prompto was nervous about the Live Show. Playing online was one thing, but playing in front of a large audience, with the group that he’d never met in person yet? He was incredibly anxious about it. Add onto that the fact that none of the other players knew that he was an omega? Just a panic attack waiting to happen. When they arrived, the Convention grounds were already packed. There were people everywhere, in a variety of cosplays and colours. The mixture of scents was immediately overwhelming and Prompto felt dizzy while he tried to get used to it.
Aranea clapped him on the shoulder and led him through the crowds to where they were meeting up with the rest of the party before tomorrow’s live session. As they walked, knots began to twist in Prompto’s stomach and all too soon familiar faces were within his vision: Gladio, Iris, Ignis, Luna, and Noctis. All of them there in the flesh. Prompto felt like he was about to cry when they waved to him and Aranea. As they approached, it took Prompto a moment to single out each person’s scent from the others. Alpha, Omega, and Beta. The group was a mix of designations, and Prompto was surprised that they all smelled a little bit like home, considering this was their first meeting in person. And then there was Noctis. Prompto’s heart fluttered as he realized that his crush was an Alpha with a scent like the moonlit ocean. He wanted to be enveloped in it, but Noctis was looking at him with such a standoffish expression that he took a step back, recoiling.
The others welcomed him with warm exuberance, but he couldn’t help stealing glances at Noctis, who seemed to be avoiding him. It hurt more than he felt it should have. Online, Noctis had always been so kind to him. He thought they were friends. He didn’t understand what was happening. His scent must have betrayed his sadness, because Iris clapped him on the shoulder and smiled brightly. “Don’t worry about it. Noctis is just nervous around new people.” It was meant to be comforting, but it just made Prompto remember that the others had been friends offline their whole lives and he felt a bit left out at the thought. Even Aranea seemed to be fitting in better than he was, flirting shamelessly with Luna. He nodded in response to Iris, but his mind wandered and didn’t fully come back to focus on his friends.
*
The group had promised to meet up in the dealer’s hall together and then go get dinner, but when Prompto arrived, only Noctis was waiting. He was scrolling through his phone.
“Uh, hey.” Prompto walked up to Noctis with a short wave.
Noctis looked up from his phone screen and then tucked it into his pocket. “Hey.”
“I thought everyone else was coming? It’s just us?” Prompto kept a little distance between them, but couldn’t help but shuffle closer when Noctis's scent hit his nose.
“Looks that way. They said they’d catch up later.”
“Are you… I mean… Is that okay? Should we wait for them?” Prompto suddenly felt nervous. He wanted nothing more than to be alone with Noctis but at the same time, he was worried that Noctis wouldn’t like him in person.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Noctis looked at him with a curious expression that was so different than the one that he’d sported earlier when they met.
“I just thought… never mind.” Prompto looked around at the bustling convention crowd. “Did you have something you wanted to do?”
Noctis smiled and Prompto felt all his worries melt away. “Yeah, there’s a King’s Knight panel. I thought I’d miss it, but since it’s just us, do you want to go?”
Excitement that was both his own and Noctis’s flooded through Prompto’s system all at once. “Yeah of course I want to go!”
Prompto hadn’t known what to expect from his first panel, but he ended up having a lot of fun listening to the various fan theories and lore, as well as some sneak peeks from the developers. And on top of it all, the look on Noctis’s face and the brightness in his scent from his happiness, made Prompto feel like he was right where he belonged. When the panel came to a close, they sat quietly together until the room had mostly filed out before making their way back into the dealer’s hall.
The vendor’s tables felt like they sprawled on for miles and the crowd was so tight that Prompto instinctively reached out for Noctis’s sleeve so that they wouldn’t get separated. To his surprise, Noctis slid his hand up so that their fingers intertwined. Prompto was sure that Noctis could feel his blush through his fingertips. He was doubly sure that Noctis could tell from his scent. They wandered together, buying things here and there. It was like something out of a dream for Prompto. They’d been friends for a long time online, so to have these moments being so close, he could hardly believe he wasn’t imagining it all.
They stopped at a table that Noctis wanted to look at and Prompto wandered a little ways away to look at something else. When he turned back, he couldn’t see Noctis in the crowd any more. Ice hit his veins. He smelled the air, but instead of finding Noctis, his senses were barraged by far too many scents all at once. It was suddenly hard to breathe. There were too many feelings, too many different designations, too much everything. Prompto was suddenly aware of how much noise was in the hall and his head was pounding as the roar of voices filled his ears. He closed his eyes and clapped his hands over his ears but that didn’t help the feeling that was clawing through his chest or help him to get a breath. Everything was wrong.
Warm arms suddenly enveloped him, and the scent of sea spray on the wind became the strongest scent; then the only scent. He opened his eyes, but he was being wrapped in the hoodie that his saviour was wearing, blocking out all the light and pulling him close into his chest. He was vaguely aware of being picked up and moved, and then suddenly, everything was quiet. The only thing that remained was the scent of the sea and warmth.
“Are you okay?” Noctis’s voice eventually broke the silence between them and Prompto finally opened his eyes.
Something about the concern in Noctis’s voice broke Prompto’s walls down and he reached forward, fisting the front of Noct’s shirt and began to cry.
“Hey,” Noctis gently stroked Prompto’s back. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
It took a while but Prompto eventually calmed down. “I’m sorry. I… That was stupid.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I’m just glad that you’re okay. What happened?”
“It’s dumb… I just lost track of you and then I panicked. There’s so many people and scents and I got overwhelmed. It doesn’t matter”
“Of course it matters.”
Prompto frowned and looked at Noctis for a while. “I thought, this morning I mean, that you didn’t like me or something…”
“Didn’t like you?” Noctis looked so surprised that Prompto would have laughed under different circumstances. “I was holding myself back. I’ve always liked you Prom. Always. And so when you walked over and you smelled so good… I know we never talked about it, but I had always hoped we’d be compatible. I, well, it took everything in me to not pull you close and keep you at my side. This afternoon was everything I’ve wanted for years.”
Prompto stared at him, trying to detect any semblance of falsehood within his words. When he didn’t find any he couldn’t help but tear up. “Dude! I’ve had the biggest crush on you forever and,” he didn’t get to finish his sentence because Noctis was pulling him close and burying his face into the side of his neck. Prompto immediately felt like this was where he was born to be - in the arms of his Alpha, safe and loved. “Noct.”
“Can I scent you?” Noctis murmured the words softly against his skin.
“Please,” Prompto found himself whispering back.
Noctis’s scent flooded his senses, like softly drifting into the ocean. If this was drowning, Prompto didn’t ever want another breath of air.
*
The audience for the Live Show was more massive than Prompto had imagined, and it felt so strange for him to be up on a stage like he was important. But Noctis and his friends were at his side and with them he could do anything. The session began and the audience fell away and when it came time for Mack and Mercury to have their anticipated conversation after their confessions, Noctis took Prompto’s face in his hands and leaned in close.
“I love you.” He kissed him and the audience went wild.