Welcome to Adventu, your final fantasy rp haven. adventu focuses on both canon and original characters from different worlds and timelines that have all been pulled to the world of zephon: a familiar final fantasy-styled land where all adventurers will fight, explore, and make new personal connections.
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year 5, quarter 3
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[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] ”Right???” Prompto asked with maybe a little too much enthusiasm when they were still technically hiding from the law. But Noctis had mentioned Caius and how weird it was talking to him, and boy did that get a reaction out of him. Besides, hiding from the law was like…totally old hat to them by now. Sure, the guys below them were human and not MTs, but…
Same old, same old basically.
”Caius kept trying to say something weird about duplicate people or something, but I was like nah man. You’re totally from the future. He said maybe the me that’s here is a projection since obviously there’s a different me still there in the past if he’s from the future and I’m here, not there but I didn’t think that’s how that works. I mean, there are tons of theories about time travel. There’s the idea that everything’s fixed no matter what so maybe in his future we got sent back to exactly where we left off and just forgot or something. Then there’s multiverse theory which is wild. Did I ever tell you about multiverse theory? I read some books on it and watched this really cool documentary once and uh…”
What was he talking about again?
”Anyway, I’m me. I’m here. I’d definitely know if I was a projection of the real Prompto, right? And I’m not…a duplicate…” He glanced away. He really didn’t like using that word. Not about him. Not when there was a whole army that shared his face. It wasn’t at all what Caius had meant, but he still didn’t like the word anyway.
”You think I’m the real me, right?” He looked up at Noctis hopefully. If there was anyone that’d know him even better than himself, it was Noct.
He could trust him.
Noctis told him more about Tifa and this bar he knew about somehow. That “somehow” was apparently taking her fishing. And she was into it? Prompto stared at him in awe. ”She liked fishing?” he asked. That settled it. Noctis was so cool that he could get any girl into him no matter what he did. Noctis was over here batting a thousand, and Prompto still had zero points in the game. He was jealous at just how cool and attractive Noctis was without even trying, but he got it. He was Noctis. What girl wouldn’t want to be with him?
Even if he took them out fishing as his idea of a date.
”Yeah, we can catch up when we get to the bar. Definitely better than catching up here. Where it’s cold. And we could get shot.” Prompto tried for a smile. It was too cold to smile. ”Should I change too? I don’t want to take off my coat. It’s like. Really, really cold.” But Noctis was already taking off his coat and putting on his normal clothes. Prompto groaned.
”Okay, okay. I’ll do it.” He didn’t want to. He really didn’t want to. But slowly, reluctantly, he took off his hat. As if on cue, an icy wind blew past, numbing his ears and he shivered. He thought long and hard about what he’d wear instead. Why hadn’t he brought any other clothes with sleeves?
It had been to show off all the work he’d done at the gym on his shoulder muscles. Yeah, that sure hadn’t paid off in the long run.
In the end, he chose the outfit with the most layers. Baggy gray pants, big brown boots, a red tank-top and a vest that actually zipped up most of the way and shielded his neck with a stiff collar. His arms were still cold. His head was freezing without his hat. He kept his gloves on the way he always did, but they were fingerless which was great for using a touch screen if you desperately wanted to keep a glove over specifically your right hand at all times to hide the weird tattoo there, but not so great when you just wanted to keep warm in the middle of a snowy city.
Prompto shivered. ”Okay, I’m r-r-ready,” he said. ”I hope this place is close.”
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto had apparently gotten the same spiel from Caius as Noctis had, and he had a lot of thoughts about it. Like a lot. The prince mostly just let him get it off his chest, lips twitching in a faint smile when he went off topic about a documentary he’d seen on multiverse theory. Yeah, Noct had definitely missed Prompto.
“No, I agree. I’d say it’s more likely that we go back and forget all about this place. Especially if I’m supposed to be missing for ten years anyway.” He didn’t like to think about that. Caius hadn’t mentioned the other three ever not being on Eos, so did that mean they’d all return home and then he’d still be trapped here without them? Great, now that possibility was going to keep him up at night.
Eh, who was he kidding? Absolutely nothing could keep him up at night. The prince slept like the dead.
Noctis had said he wanted to know exactly what point Prompto had come to Zephon from, but he could guess with the way that his best friend stumbled over calling himself a duplicate. “Prompto…” He had told the blond man back in Gralea that it didn’t matter if he was a clone or a failed MT or whatever, and he still meant that. So when his friend asked if he thought it was the real him, Noctis clapped him on the shoulder. “Trust me, no one but you would tell me about multiverse theory while we’re stuck on a roof,” he said with a slight grin. “To be honest, I’m not convinced that this whole thing isn’t a fever dream brought about by the crystal, but you know if you’re real or not, yeah? So trust yourself.” Self-confidence had never been Prompto’s strong suit, but Noctis tried his best to build him up. Especially when Cindy was around.
Prompto seemed dubious that Tifa would have liked going fishing with him, which made Noctis defensive. “What? Everyone likes fishing.” It was the superior sport after all. No points on a scoreboard, no human interaction, no kingdoms. Just peace and quiet and nature. Plus you got food out of it. Fishing was awesome.
His friend wasn’t thrilled when Noctis started changing out of his winter clothes to something that would be less recognizable, but he joined in and switched to his outfit with the red shirt. His teeth were chattering a little afterward, and Noct couldn’t blame him. Astrals, but Sonora was cold. The sooner they got to the bar the better.
“Here we go then,” he said, glancing off the edge of the roof into the alley behind the building. All clear since everyone was out on the main road. They were on the third or fourth story though, so he’d have to give Prompto another lift down. “Sorry buddy,” he warned him, taking Prompto’s arm and grabbing a handful of snow off the roof. Chucking it down towards the alley, he warped them both down to the ground below.
Noctis landed lightly on his feet, but he was used to this whole thing, so he decided to check on Prompto before they slipped into the crowd and moved on. “You good, man? She said her bar was pretty close to the gates, so it can’t be too far.”
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] ”Prompto…” Noctis said his name and that was all it took to get Prompto’s head back on straight and his thoughts back on track. He looked at him as Noctis clapped a hand on his shoulder. ”Trust me, no one but you would tell me about multiverse theory while we’re stuck on a roof.”
Prompto laughed then. It felt good to laugh. ”Yeah, okay. Point taken.” Noctis had a way of cutting straight through Prompto’s insecurities. Even when he didn’t mean to, even when he didn’t even know about them, he had a way of doing it one way or the other.
For not the first time, Prompto couldn’t help but marvel at just how lucky he was to have Noctis as a friend. Him, Prompto, a nobody, friends with someone like Noctis. A prince though that didn’t really matter much except that it made him more cool. He was lucky they’d found each other in this frozen hellscape of a city. Even if they were about to be shot at by the police, he was lucky.
What was unlucky was that Noctis was right about the need for a costume change. The weather was also unlucky though that seemed to just be how it was around here. No use complaining about it. Except that he couldn’t help but complain. As he wrapped his bare arms around himself and shivered, he couldn’t help but whimper, ”So cold…”
Noctis had that look like he had a plan. He was looking down over the side of the roof into the alley below. Prompto wasn’t so sure that he liked this plan.
He was way more sure when Noctis grabbed his arm and gave him a sympathetic, ”Sorry, buddy,” that he really, really did not like this plan.
”Hey, wait a sec-!” was all Prompto got out before Noctis threw a snowball down into the alley and there went the very concept of space and time again. There was so much light around them that Prompto couldn’t keep his eyes open. Or that would have been the case if he’d had eyes. Instead he was more the concept of light itself, hurtling along like the sun’s solar rays through space. It didn’t take long. A millionth of a second at most and then he’d slammed into another snow pile and his head was spinning and it took him a second to realize that he was on his back again, staring up at the swirling gray sky.
”Uggggh.” Prompto swallowed back the bile in his throat as Noctis came into view and asked if he was good. He didn’t trust himself to speak so he just gave him a shaky thumbs up. How did Noctis do that? Like all the time? And it didn’t bother him?
Gods, but he was cool.
It was the shock of the cold that snapped him out of his nausea first. His bare arms hurt like they were being stabbed by a thousand needles, and it took him a second to realize it was because he was still laying in that snow pile without any jacket or coat or hat to protect him. He sat up as quickly as his spinning head would allow and brushed off all the snow he could. Thankfully, most of it was packed in with ice so it wasn’t sticking so much as it could’ve.
He hated this city. He really, really did.
”O-okay. R-ready when you are!” Prompto stumbled to his feet, steadied himself with a hand on a wall of the alley, and took a deep, cold breath until he felt like he could stand on his own. Then he pushed off the wall and boom! Standing! Upright! And he hadn’t hurled even once! It was the little things that were really worth celebrating.
”I hope this place has hot drinks,” he said, ”Like cocoa. I could r-really go for some cocoa right now…”
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto gave him a thumbs up after they’d landed in the alley, which probably meant that he didn’t trust himself to speak. It wasn’t the best sign, but Noctis would take it. Either way, he gave his friend a minute until Prompto was back up on his feet and claiming that he was ready to head out and get a hot drink. “Don’t tempt me with cocoa right now,” Noctis joked as he rubbed his own frigid arms. “Why do I only wear one glove, Prompto? And I wish my jacket had long slee-...Oh my god I’m an idiot.” His favorite jacket had strips of fabric that buttoned and held the sleeves up higher than they would naturally fall. He’d possibly never undone those buttons in his life, but he didn’t hesitate now, and the fabric fell a merciful extra few inches lower on his arms. He couldn’t say that he loved the look, but he was very slightly warmer, and that was something.
Making sure Prompto was ready to go, Noctis casually stepped out onto the sidewalk and immediately took a turn away from the gates when he saw there was still a crowd milling around there. “This way it is,” he murmured, doing his best to blend in with the dispersing crowd. He also tried to recall everything that Tifa had told him about her bar.
“Okay, we’re looking for a place called Seventh Heaven. It’s kind of a hole in the wall and there’s some living space upstairs on the second floor. She said it’s close to the city entrance on the south side of town and right off the main street. So we should be pretty close. Just need to check the buildings on every cross street we come across.”
And then because talking was distracting him from the cold, he glanced over at Prompto a little curiously. “How did you get here by the way? I mean, were you guys still in Gralea?” Noctis supposed that no one really knew how they got to Zephon, but he could at least easily blame the crystal on his end. He was itching to hear what had happened back home after he was gone though. He’d been so worried for the three of them after Ardyn’s parting words to him.
I shall keep your friends company until you return.
Yeah, that was nightmare fuel. Hearing Caius’ story that they all survived and rebuilt after ten years of darkness had helped a little, but it still felt like a hypothetical future when he hadn’t lived it yet. So he wanted to hear Prompto’s turn of events too.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Noctis was okay. That was good. He was cold though just like Prompto – two birds of a feather! A very cold bird with a lot of cold feathers. Noctis lamented only wearing one glove, and Prompto wanted to argue back that at least it was a long glove before Noctis suddenly realized something that changed the game altogether.
He unbuttoned his sleeves and let the extra fabric fall down his arms.
Prompto gasped.
”You can do that?” he asked in shock. Yeah, okay, it made sense that he could do that. How many times had Prompto seen that leather jacket? He’d, like, half noticed the little button there and the strip of fabric keeping the sleeves suavely above the elbow, but he’d never really given any thought to undoing them before. It was almost blasphemous. That was Noctis’ look! And now he’d given it up just for a little more protection from the cold and the wind.
”M-man, I’m so jealous!” Prompto rubbed his arms feverishly again. Now Noctis’ sleeves went a little past his elbow. What Prompto wouldn’t give for sleeves past his elbows!
But that wasn’t important right now. Or was it? His head was still spinning from the fall.
Good thing he only needed to follow close behind Noctis and nod at all the right times. Noctis chose to walk away from the big crowd they’d left behind which was a good choice if you asked him, but their change in outfits drew some eyes for a completely different reason. They didn’t look like the guys the guards were after anymore, but they did look completely out of place in this weather. Most people were wearing coats, gloves, maybe some scarves drawn up to their noses. That kind of thing. Then there was Noctis and Prompto, traipsing along like they were just asking for frostbite. Best not to think about it.
”Seventh Heaven?” Prompto asked, glancing at Noctis with his head cocked to the side. ”That kinda sounds like…You know…” He didn’t want to say it outloud. He’d already had enough of women wearing corsets and fishnet stockings dragging him around by the easily dominated ear this trip to Sonora.
Thanks, Cissnei.
”Uh, sure! I’ll keep my eyes open! As long as they don’t freeze shut. Heheh.” Jokes. Jokes were good. He liked jokes.
He was so cold.
They stopped at a crosswalk. Prompto was busy peering down the street looking for a sign that looked like a strip club when Noctis dropped the question on him. The big one.
”How did you get here by the way? I mean, were you guys still in Gralea?”
The crosswalk lit up green. People were walking again.
Oh.
”I, uh. Yeah! I guess that’s important! Good to figure out that stuff. While we’re walking.” Prompto was not, in fact, walking yet. He fixed that right away, going along with the crowd and trying his best to keep his head down. ”Gralea. Yeah. That’s the last thing I remember before, well, you know…”
Everyone around here had the same kind of story if you went looking for it. First one place then poof! Somehow they ended up around here. Noctis must have been the same. His heart hurt thinking about it.
But Noctis had asked. He couldn’t not think about it if Noctis asked him to.
”We looked for you. Once we caught up at the Crystal. Me, Gladio, and Ignis. We looked and looked, but…” That was the most painful memory of all. Ardyn had done something. That bastard had done something with Noctis, and after days of searching the place up and down, it hurt to remember Ignis’ tired, defeated words.
Maybe it was time to stop looking.
”We were about to try heading back to Lucis, but then I ended up here. On the side of the road. Couldn’t even catch a bus. Man, was I in for a shock when I saw the sun! Told me right away something wasn’t right!” He could only keep the act up for so long. He tried for a laugh, but it quickly faded into a groan like a balloon that had run out of air. He glanced at Noctis, biting his tongue.
”Did that make sense? I hope that made sense. I mean, Caius is from the future so I guess there’s no way of knowing what to expect. So uh…” He rubbed his neck, swallowing hard. ”What about you?”
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto agreed to help him look for the bar, though Noctis nearly choked on the cold winter air when he expressed doubt about the name. “I don’t think it’s that kind of place. Tifa just said she’s a bartender. Plus back in her world she used to host secret meetings in the basement to try to overthrow some evil corporation. So I don’t think she’s got time for anything else.” Both of those definitely sounded like enough to keep someone busy. She didn’t need a third job on top of that.
Prompto didn’t seem happy to talk about what had happened back in Gralea, but it was a better time than any as far as Noctis was concerned. Maybe it would distract them from the cold, and maybe the cold would distract them from getting too emotional. Those were both wins as far as the prince was concerned.
Rubbing his arms, Noctis walked down the sidewalk, doing his best to read the name of every business that came up while simultaneously listening to his friend’s story. He didn’t like to hear that the guys had searched for him for so long, but he was honestly just relieved that they had come from the same time period. Caius had made him worried that people could be pulled to Zephon from any point at all, so he half expected Prompto to still think they were on a road trip to his wedding or something.
“Yeah, that’s about when I showed up too,” he said quickly, not wanting to leave Prompto hanging. “I’m glad you guys were okay. I had…been wondering since I left you back with all those daemons.”
Abandoning your friends? Ah, truly the mark of a monarch.
Noctis paused for a long moment before clearing his throat. “Anyway, I made it up to the crystal. Ardyn showed up when it was pulling me in though.”
Ardyn Lucis Caelum. In all of his history classes, Noctis had never heard the name before on his family tree. Did that mean it had been scrubbed from the citadel archives? How old was he really? Was the immortal man ancient, or did his dad just have a long-lost brother he’d never told him about? It all made his head hurt, and even though Noctis had been the one to bring up the topic, he suddenly wasn’t sure that he wanted to tell Prompto that he wasn’t the last of his line after all. At least not while they were on the street.
“Er. But yeah, I thought the crystal might take me to Bahamut, but instead I woke up next to a highway in Sonora. I would have been really screwed, but this guy named Alex helped me out and took me back to Provo. You know him too, right? He talked about you.” Alex had asked for help on making friends with Prompto actually, but sharing that probably wouldn’t do the blond man any favors. Noct also kept quiet on their car chase cliff-side adventure since he’d promised Alex not to mention it to anyone in his retinue. He trusted Prompto not to flip out about it, but he didn’t trust him to not accidentally bring it up in front of Ignis someday. That was a whole lecture waiting to happen.
They were approaching a crosswalk again, and Noctis glanced at all the adjacent buildings without much hope when he suddenly stopped in his tracks at the sight of a large blocky sign over a plain brown building with some string lights strung up. Seventh Heaven.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Noctis knew what he meant. That was a relief though it also wasn’t a relief because it meant Noctis had been through everything that Prompto had more or less. He remembered running off to get to the crystal while the others handled the daemons Ardyn kept throwing at them. Funny. They seemed to stop coming after Noctis went off on his own. Which was exactly what Ardyn must have wanted – Noctis on his own. It was enough to make his blood boil, but for the life of him, Prompto couldn’t understand why someone – or something – like Ardyn would care if the rest of them were around or not. It wasn’t like he couldn’t take them all in a fight with one hand behind his back. Cause he was a daemon. Or…something like it. Prompto still couldn’t forget those gleaming yellow eyes, dripping with black ichor that replaced the white sclera.
But now…now wasn’t the time to think about that. It was a really hard time not to think about that, but it wasn’t the time. Because Noctis was still talking. Prompto was supposed to listen when Noctis was talking.
”The crystal…pulled you in?” Prompto asked with only a slight tremble to his voice. Get it together, Prompto. He swallowed, following after Noctis mechanically without really looking around. Some part of his brain told him he was supposed to be looking for something, but the rest of his brain was running at a hundred and twenty percent trying not to think about the thing they were talking about. Plus there was the cold. His ears were starting to hurt real bad like they’d been dunked in scalding water. Except the cold version. Point was, they hurt something terrible and his nose hurt and his eyes were watering and the tips of his fingers were going numb because his gloves didn’t cover his fingers – just his hands and his barcode tattoo.
He’d tried to burn off the barcode tattoo once. Aranea had to stop him. He hated looking at it. He hated other people looking at it more.
Shit, Noctis was talking again. Time to pay attention. It was just like in school when he’d be doodling along on his notebook and then the teacher asked him a question. He had to keep at least half his brain on listening. Even if that was the best he could do right now.
”So uh. After all that, the crystal just took you…here?” That’s what Noctis was getting at, yeah. Which was really weird in its own right except Noctis kept talking and-
”Wait, you met Alex?” For the first time since they’d started talking about all this, Prompto was really and truly jarred out of his own thoughts. He felt his mouth open in surprise. ”Er…Yeah. Totally know him. He helped me out of a tight spot too. And brought me back to Provo. Wanted me to join his guild or whatever which sounds a lot cooler than it is.” That was one way to describe what happened. But how had Alex found Noctis? And right when he was in trouble too? Did he just roam around Sonora looking for that kind of thing or…?
Yeah, no. That was real suspicious alright. Alex liked to save people. Alex was also a real jackass once you got to know him. Prompto still owed him big time, especially if he helped Noctis out of a tight spot, but…
But he couldn’t get past his yellow eyes. Eyes like Ardyn’s. Like a daemon’s. And the way he could lift you up one second and then tear you down the next until you couldn’t help but cry at the worst of times…
Prompto would’ve said more about Alex, but Noctis stopped so fast that Prompto had to stumble to a stop behind him so they didn’t just crash into the snow again. He looked up at Noctis in alarm, but saw his friend was practically beaming. ”Dude! It exists!”
”Huh?” Honestly, with everything they’d been talking about, Prompto had totally forgotten what they were doing here. But then he followed Noctis’ eyes to a place that, just like Noctis had said, was a bit of a hole in the wall, but the sign at the top said “Seventh Heaven” which was exactly what they’d been looking for. ”Oh. Oh yeah! Good call, Noct!”
Moment of truth. What kind of place was “Seventh Heaven?” It didn’t look like the same kind of place where he’d found Cissnei. It was all plain and kinda small, but there were those lights up around the sign that could’ve meant anything.
For a moment, Prompto couldn’t decide between his nerves and the cold. But then the cold won out in a landslide and he rubbed his arms, shivering full force with his teeth chattering and everything. ”Well, let’s get going then! I hope they have hot cocoa. Or hot tea. Or hot…anything!”
Heat. Warmth. Even just being inside would be better than this. Prompto could already feel himself melting.
”You first. Since you know this Tifa girl and all…”
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Even without all the additional details, Prompto seemed a bit horrified that the crystal had pulled him in. Honestly, his friend seemed a bit stuck in his own head right now, so Noctis decided to shelve the rest of the Ardyn conversation until later. He didn’t blame Prompto at all for not wanting to go there—he still wasn’t entirely sure what had happened to him after Noctis had been tricked into throwing him off the train, but his friend didn’t seem keen on talking about it, and the prince definitely wouldn’t force him.
He could tell him a little later about the backstory that Ardyn had fed him while the crystal held him captive.
“...Yeah,” he said instead when Prompto seemed confused that the crystal had just led him here. “Weird, huh? At first I thought it was just Bahamut’s trial or something. I guess I’m still not entirely convinced that it isn’t.” Of course, there were people showing up here that had nothing to do with Eos, so that was looking less likely over time. It was about the only thing that made sense to Noctis at this point though. Especially when Caius had dropped that he was supposed to be gone for ten years. He didn’t want a decade of his life to just be a random bump in the road.
Noctis had to blink a bit when Prompto outlined how he had met Alex. It sounded familiar. Real familiar. “Seriously? Yeah, he helped me back to Provo and I joined up too. Then I’ve been staying at the Rising Stones for a couple weeks hoping you’d come around. Catching fish for the cats and stuff. But then I found Caius, and he let me know that you were in Sonora. And…he let me know what was going on with Ignis and Gladio too.” That dropped a somber mood over everything, so Noctis was grateful that they found the bar. Mentioning the other two crownsguard was probably a good transition point to talk about what Prompto had been doing.
Crossing the street towards Seventh Heaven, Noctis hesitated for just a second before pushing the door open. Mostly because he hoped this wouldn’t bother Tifa too much, but as soon as the warm air hit him, he forgot about that and just walked straight in. “Heating is the best invention,” Noctis said with a groan, rubbing his fingers together to try to get some feeling back. He took a quick glance behind the bar, but unfortunately the blonde woman currently serving up drinks was decidedly not Tifa.
“Damn. She might not be working today,” Noctis said, ushering Prompto over to a corner booth. For one thing, it had more privacy. For another, he could see that it was directly under a vent. “At least it’s somewhere to kill some time until the guards disperse though.” There were some drink menus already laid out, and praise the astrals, some of them looked like they were served hot.
“Never in my life have I wanted mulled wine more,” Noctis said with a weak grin, looking across the table at his friend before he slowly felt himself get more serious. “...Have you heard anything about them?” He didn’t think it would be anything good from what Caius had told him of Sonora, but he wanted to hear it straight from Prompto’s mouth.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] As soon as Prompto was inside, heck, as soon as the doors were open and some of that glorious heat leaked out, Prompto was groaning as though this were his greatest pleasure in life. He quickly stepped inside right behind Noctis and let the doors click shut behind to preserve some of that wonderful, life-giving heat. It didn’t matter that it made his ears and his nose and his fingers stung worse because every part of his body was screaming to stay here and only here forever. Outside was nothing but white death. Inside though? Inside was good. Inside meant life.
Prompto didn’t even look around until Noctis started talking about the place. His eyes were closed in bliss, he realized, and he opened them to see a snow-struck Noctis in front of him, peering around before directing Prompto over to an out of the way booth with a wave of his hand. Prompto followed obediently behind him, not really taking in much of anything. His boots stuck to the floor as he walked, giving a little ’squick squick’ sound as he peeled them away from whatever film of liquid had dried there over the years. The place smelled like old whiskey so maybe it was that? Anyway, it didn’t matter much, because as he slid into the leather booth, a gust of hot air rustled through his frozen hair and he melted into it.
”Oh man…” Prompto leaned forward so he could get right in the heat’s path. ”Have I told you how much I hate the cold? Cause I really, really hate it.”
He was so cold and so relieved by the simple pleasures of a heater that he didn’t think about how ironic it was – him, a Nif, hating the cold where they all lived. He didn’t think about it at all. Not one bit.
”Sorry your friend’s not here,” he said without looking up. He kept his elbows folded on the table, head down. His hair was starting to drip with cold water. Must’ve been the frozen snow stuck in it. He wondered if his hair was frozen solid.
”You think they’ve got cocoa? I don’t even care if it’s got alcohol in it or nothing. But a cup of cocoa…that sounds heavenly.”
Especially dark chocolate cocoa. With whipped cream on top. And some sprinkles. They probably didn’t have sprinkles at a place like this though.
At first, Prompto was so caught up in his own bliss to even know what Noctis was talking about – just that his tone had changed and it was all…serious now. Prompto slowly raised his head and looked at him, frowning for a moment in confusion, before it suddenly hit him exactly what they were doing here. Not just in this bar, but in this whole city. Or the country for that matter. Prompto wouldn’t have touched it with a ten foot pole if it had been up to him.
But it wasn’t. And while he was complaining about the cold, Gladio and Ignis were being forced to live in it.
”Oh. Uh…yeah. One sec.” Prompto sat up straighter, reluctantly pulling himself out of the heater’s path. He ran a hand through his hair and shook the matted snow out of it. Then he did the same for the rest of him, brushing off whatever snow and ice he could before it melted into his clothes and left him wet and shivering.
”I don’t know how much you know. I guess Caius must’ve told you everything I told him. But I met with his contact. Cissnei.” He felt the blood rush to his cheeks at the mention of her. Just the thought of that night got his blood pumping with shame and confusion and other things he didn’t want to mention. But he didn’t think that Noctis would notice. His face was already plenty red as it was, probably. The cold wind tended to do that to somebody with a complexion like his.
He took a deep breath and tried to get his thoughts in order. Getting his thoughts in order was hard.”She said she’d been looking into it already, actually. She knows Ignis, I guess. So…she’s got leads. And she’s got somebody looking into it. She didn’t want to share much right away. She said she’d show me what she came up with when she got it.”
He hoped it was soon. Not only was he impatient to help his friends, but he was impatient to get out of this place. He’d never been good at waiting.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto might have been enjoying the warmth of the bar even more than Noctis was judging from how vocal he was being about it. Then again, he wasn’t sure that there was a single thought that had ever crossed his best friend’s head that he didn’t speak out loud. At least when he was in a good mood. When Prompto had something too dark on his mind, he tended to clam right up. Noctis never liked to see it when it happened. He did his best to keep the blond man’s spirits up, but there hadn’t been much reason to be happy lately. There had been some bright spots on their road trip, but it had mostly been a lot of darkness ever since Insomnia had fallen. Hopefully their luck would turn around now that they were here together again.
Prompto said he was sorry that Tifa wasn’t here, but Noctis just shook his head. “It’s okay. Figured she might hide us if she was around, but it’s still a good place to lay low for a little bit. At least until the guards disperse.” The prince glanced down at the menu, his eyes lingering a bit longingly on the mulled wine as Prompto wondered out loud about cocoa. “Probably. Spiked hot chocolate is pretty common, so I’m sure you can just order it…unspiked.” Knowing the blond man, he’d probably ask for some whipped cream too, which seemed pretty funny in a bar like this.
After Noctis asked about Ignis and Gladio, Prompto finally got more serious as he sat up in the booth and brushed some dripping snow out of his hair. He’d apparently already met with Cissnei, and Noctis nodded slowly at the revelation. “Caius didn’t seem to trust her much. You uh…you make it out okay?” Honestly, she had sounded dangerous particularly to Prompto from what the kingsglaive had said. He was about 90% sure that Cissnei probably knew all of their secrets now, but he was just waiting for Prompto to confirm.
All the blond man could really offer was that the situation in the gulag was bad and that turned Noctis’ stomach more than anything. “...Yeah,” he said a little quietly. “Caius explained that Sonora is pretty similar to Niflheim, so I can imagine.” Right down to the weather apparently. The similarities were uncanny. Not that Noctis had ever been inside of Gralea while it was still populated. Maybe it had been a bit like this once. Before Ardyn had stepped in.
“Sounds like we just…wait for now then? Until Cissnei has more info for you. I guess we could at least start gathering some help here.” A waitress finally made her way over, so Noctis quickly cut off that train of conversation. He might not have minded around Tifa, but planning a jail break around strangers was different. Noctis ordered some mulled wine for himself and then glanced over at Prompto to see what he’d decided on.
