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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] Yuna was a saint. Prompto could almost see the light of the Astrals shining upon her as she reassured him that all was forgiven. As she understood an honest mistake that would have had him nursing a black eye with anyone else. She was good. She was kind. And yes, she was still dripping wet with nothing but a towel on but he tried not to look at that because she didn’t deserve anything but the best. Cindy was a goddess, untouchable, inspiring awe upon all who witnessed her, but Yuna? Yuna was a saint.
Always giving. Always sacrificing. She was approachable and sweet and funny and-!
Okay this was really not the time for that!
Prompto felt tears in his eyes as he clasped his hands together and slammed his eyes closed. ”Thank you!” The words practically fell out of his mouth, wavering with relief and adrenaline and all of his nerves. ”Right! Yeah! Go uh. Go do that!” he added before he squeaked, ”Sorry!” and fled. Not…far exactly. Just down the hallway to wait so she felt like she had space.
The bathroom door closed. The second he was alone, Prompto felt heat rise up in his cheeks until it felt like he was on fire and his eyes grew heavy with all those unshed tears and he shoved his face in his hands and stifled a scream of embarrassment.
Why was he like this? Why did these things always happen to him? Was it him? Was he the problem? But anyone could have walked in on that, right? He’d just been trying to help! And-!
And…
His throat was tight and he forced himself to swallow. He was tired. Really tired. And all the danger and gunshots and fearing for his life still hadn’t quite left him. It never really did, but he always felt like something could be over his shoulder, watching him, after a real bad fight. Some Crownsguard he was. Spooked and worried and seeing Ignis hurt and dirty and starved everytime he closed his eyes.
Gladio would’ve been strong right about now. He never cracked. Prompto did. One of these days, he might just shatter.
Prompto jumped as the door opened again, and he lowered his hands, taking one last chance to wipe his eyes, disguising it as he used the same motion to push back his gelled hair. Yuna was clothed again. That was good. He hoped she was doing better than he was.
”Oh man. Lots of tea, huh? I dunno. How about both!” He tried to keep his voice chipper and upbeat, but it wavered in a way that betrayed him. Ugh. At least she’d know he was trying.
Prompto slid into a chair in the kitchen and watched her by the flickering candlelight. Here she was, a saint comforting him after everything that had happened. Making him tea. He felt something turn in his chest, and he wondered if it was love or just desperation for somebody to tell him it would all be okay.
It would feel great, he thought, to fall into her arms and let it all out without fear of judgment. He couldn’t do that with the guys. But maybe with Yuna…
He shook his head hard. No daydreaming. He was here. In the kitchen. Having a conversation.
”What’re you doing up so late?” he asked, trying to sound casual. ”Sorry. I mean, sorry again. About. You know.”
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto didn’t know what to make of Ignis’ expression. He scoured his face anyway, leaning forward in his worry. It was hard enough to tell how somebody was feeling when the friend you’d known so well for so long suddenly couldn’t look at you anymore, but it was even harder when that guy was starved and hurt and maybe a little over half conscious. Was he afraid of where he was? Was he disappointed that Noct wasn’t here? Was he sad after everything that had happened to him?
Prompto didn’t know, not until Ignis spoke, so quiet and weak that he was glad he was already so close to him. ”Thank goodness,” Ignis said, and Prompto’s heart twisted with something even stronger than worry.
That twist turned into a full on cartwheel as a trembling hand reached towards him, and Prompto didn’t even hesitate before he snatched that hand and held it securely in both of his own. He’d been told he was too touchy-feely. And too feely-feely for that matter, but he didn’t think now was the time to hold himself back and he didn’t think he could have if he’d wanted to. Ignis was hurt. He’d reached towards him, and even if Prompto couldn’t be the guy he most wanted to see (figuratively, that was), he wasn’t about to let Ignis down.
A single tear streamed down Ignis’ cheek. Prompto had to swallow hard before he could speak again.
”I’m here, Iggy,” he said, hoping that his voice wasn’t shaking too much. ”You’re safe. We’re all safe.”
Not all of us. They still hadn’t found Gladio. But he wasn’t about to say that.
Prompto took a long breath and talked because talking was what he did best. ”It’s been hard without you. I’ve managed to keep Noct out of trouble, but it hasn’t been easy. Why didn’t you tell me he has so many bad ideas?”
Shit, now Prompto was crying. He wanted to wipe the tears from his eyes, but like hell was he letting go of Ignis’ hand.
”I’ve kept his spirits up which I guess I’m pretty good at, but then somebody had to make plans and talk sense into him and get in people’s faces when they tried to use him for something. I about got punched in the face once. I guess it’s a lot harder to intimidate somebody when you’re five eight.”
He laughed weakly. There wasn’t really anything funny about that night with Alex in the bar, but it was more the thought of Prompto even thinking about filling Gladio’s shoes. Ignis could’ve done it. He had that cold, assassin kind of edge to him where you were pretty sure he’d killed a man and would do it again in a heartbeat if you even dreamed of hurting Noctis, but Prompto? Prompto looked like the biggest thing he could kill was a girl’s interest.
Okay, so he could technically take down a behemoth with some help, but Prompto knew damn well he didn’t look it.
”It’s hard, but…whenever I didn’t know what to do, I’d think, ‘What would Ignis say?’ Turns out, my Head Ignis gives pretty good advice.”
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] ”Ah!”
Time slowed to a flicker of images like the projections of an old film reel. There was the door, open just a crack. There he was, edging around the door, peering in. Then he saw a sink. A bathtub. A human figure and-
Oh. Oh no.
No, no, no, no, no. Not like this!
Horror. Sheer, unbridled horror. He’d never felt anything like it. Shame, embarrassment, fear, all of it balled together in a way that made the words seem meaningless. He stumbled back, staring as though he were faced with a looming behemoth, drooling at the mouth. Except this was worse. So, so much worse.
’Stop staring!’ a voice said, the last remaining ounce of his reason, but it went entirely unheard. It was like being told to look away from a house fire. A beautiful, sexy, dripping wet-
Prompto made a noise somewhere between a groan and a squeak as he shoved a hand over his eyes and recoiled, looking down so that he couldn’t look even if some horrible, treacherous instinct cracked his resolve.
No, no, no, no, no, no!
”I wasn’t peeking!” he blurted out and then the dam was broken and his words tumbled out like a flash flood. ”I was all worked up so I couldn’t sleep and I tried and tried and tried cause I’m real tired, you know? But I couldn’t cause Iggy’s all messed up and we’ve been through so much and that jail place was real bad and reminded me of some things that don’t really matter right now so I got up and I was gonna go get some water but then I saw a light over here and I didn’t know it was the bathroom – I swear! – I just thought maybe somebody was up or maybe there was a candle somebody hadn’t put out and I don’t want the place to burn to the ground so I wanted to check and then you were here and nobody’s hurt, I’m just stupid, and I know I look like some sorta creep, but I’m not I just wanted to help, don’t hurt me!”
He only stopped cause his mouth was dry from talking too much. Or maybe from the nerves. Or maybe cause some parts of his brain were occupied with things they really shouldn’t be because Yuna was nice and selfless and caring and deserved better than whatever his mind was concocting up like some sort of sick video you’d find on the internet.
This was a dream. Just a dream. He didn’t have insomnia! He must have been sleeping right now and he was having a terrible nightmare! That had to be it because this couldn’t be happening, not in a just world. Not in a world with any mercy at all.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] ”Iggy!”
Prompto was by his side in an instant, scrambling over so fast he might as well have teleported. He hadn’t heard him move or seen his eyes open – not that it would matter if they were open or not with his sight how it was – but he heard him and even though he still hadn’t processed exactly what it was that Ignis had said, that didn’t stop his own words from tumbling out.
”Iggy! You’re awake! You’re okay! How are you feeling? Wait, that’s stupid to ask, isn’t it? Do you need anything? Can I help? You’re safe now! Promise!”
Ignis_Spoken_Words.txt 98% processed…99%...100%.
”Breathe. Right. Sorry. I hope I didn’t wake you up. I mean, I’m glad I woke you up, but…”
Thoughts and feelings spun around his head like a tornado and he was stuck in the middle of it, ragdolling around like he might glitch out of reality.
’Breathe, Prompto.’
Prompto took one long, deep, unnatural breath and slumped into the chair at Ignis’ bedside. It was about as good as he could manage right now.
”Noctis is here,” he said because he knew that that was the first thing that Ignis would want to know. ”Not here here, but…here. He’s out right now doing…something. I think he’s getting lunch. He said he was hungry at the end of his last shift…”
Why wasn’t Noct sitting beside Ignis instead of him? That’s who Ignis would really want to see (or hear) right now. He deserved better, but Prompto could try his best.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto wished he had his phone.
That wasn’t his biggest concern. It wasn’t even in the top hundred, but still. He’d never been good at waiting, his phone helped pass the time so his legs weren’t bouncing around until his ankles were sore. Or he’d start pacing. That was a problem too when he was so tired and hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in weeks at least. He wished he could snap a few pictures, but he’d turned off his camera to conserve the battery life, and there wasn’t much in that simple little medical room to take a photo of anyway.
Ever since they’d escaped Sonora and found their way to Yuna’s clinic (she was an angel, really, a cute little angel who had the best heart he’d ever seen!), him and Noct had taken turns on Ignis Duty. It wasn’t that Prompto didn’t want to be there. Of course he did! Ignis was his friend. They’d gone through all that trouble and danger and more trouble to save him, and now he was here – right here! – in front of him. It was just…
Well, Prompto’s legs were getting sore with nothing much to do. There were books around the clinic, but Prompto had never been much of a reader unless it was about something that interested him, and the tech around here was pretty limited at best.
And then there was Ignis.
He’d been conscious when they’d rescued him. Injured, starved, and all scarred up, but conscious. Then Yuna had worked her magic (literally!) and he hadn’t woken up for a while. She said that Ignis was real tired, and the curative spells would work better if he slept for a while, but it had been a while. He’d only been about half awake whenever they’d tried to feed him, and then he’d go right back to sleep again.
Hence, Ignis Duty. Once Iggy finally woke up for good, they didn’t want him to be alone. Particularly with his eyes all, well…
Messed up.
Prompto tried not to look at the scars on his face too much even while he was sleeping. His usual glasses had been lost somewhere along the way, probably in that dump of a prison, and Prompto wondered if his face looked even worse or if it had always been that bad and Iggy had just done his best to hide it. That sounded like Ignis alright. He was the type to keep going and not say a word of complaint for himself. He’d always tutted over Noctis like a mother hen, but now that Prompto thought back on it, Ignis must’ve been pretty young himself back then.
That was selfless, responsible, genius Iggy alright. And now he was hurt. Hurt real bad and as Prompto waited for Noctis to come back from exploring the town for jobs and supplies, he couldn’t even really pay attention to him because all he could do was pace, pace, pace, pace.
The floorboards creaked under his boots. It came extra loud from the third board from the window. Creak, step, step, creak, step, creaaaaaaak. He wondered if that board was old and needed replacing. He wondered if he’d fall right through it if he kept pacing like this. He kept pacing anyway.
He waited for Ignis to wake up. He waited for Noctis to come back because he’d be better at this, and really, Ignis would want to hear Noctis’ voice instead of his if he really did wake up soon. Still, someone had to do it so here he was. Woefully inadequate. Easily distracted. Easily bored. Riled up, anxious, sleep-deprived Prompto doing his best to the repetitive motion of his footsteps and the rhythm of the floorboards.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto couldn’t sleep.
He couldn’t sleep and that was a problem because he was exhausted and he hadn’t had a chance to sleep for more than a few scattered hours in the back of a van in days. He should have been out like a light now that he was safe and warm. Noctis was. He could hear his friend’s slow, deep breaths from across the room and knew that nothing short of an earthquake would wake him up. Prompto wanted to sleep. He should have slept but…
It was like something in his head wouldn’t let him. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he felt like he might die if he didn’t, something rattling around up there kept him tossing and turning and tossing again. His hands felt twitchy and he was breathing too fast and every time he noticed he was breathing too fast, he’d try to slow it down but then be way too aware that he was breathing at all.
Eventually, he’d had enough trying. He sat up from where he’d made a little nest on the floor of Iggy’s medical room. Ignis had been in and out of consciousness since they’d half-carried him into their getaway car, and now it seemed like he was definitely out. Prompto crept towards the bed and watched his friend until he was certain he’d seen Ignis’ chest rising and falling. Noctis was curled up on the couch, visible in a beam of moonlight from the window. He was dead asleep, alright, but had lost his blanket sometime in the night and looked a little cold. Prompto found it crumpled in a heap on the floor and drew it up to Noct’s shoulders. He gave Noct a tired smile before he sighed.
Everything was alright. Their plan had worked. Ignis was alive. No one was hurt, but…
But it all felt wrong for a reason Prompto didn’t even know. He ran a hand through his hair and crept carefully into the hallway.
He’d get some water. That’s what he needed. Or maybe he’d clean his guns. Or find something in the clinic that needed repairing or…
Or…
His tired eyes landed on the dim light of a candle flickering from a slightly open door. He forgot all his plans, and his curiosity took over as he approached it instead. He couldn’t just leave a fire burning if someone had fallen asleep without extinguishing it. Or maybe there was someone else who couldn’t sleep and could use the company. Like Caius. Or one of the two other guys who were staying at the clinic. He didn’t want to bother anyone, really, but…
He was already peeking inside the room before he could think better of it. When he couldn’t see anything through the crack in the door, he shifted to get a better angle and-
The floorboard creaked. It creaked loud. Prompto froze to the spot, suddenly realizing that he looked like some kind of creep, standing out here like this at whatever midnight hour it was. He hoped, prayed that whoever was inside was asleep and wouldn’t find him.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] ”Dude…”
Prompto probably should have had something better to say when somebody shared all his worst fears and traumas like that. He probably should have, but he didn’t. Cause when Caius got to talking, he really got to talking, and what did somebody say to all that? It felt weird listening to it all.
It felt real weird.
Prompto took another swig of the whiskey in front of him and winced, coughing just as Caius told them he’d have to kill the love of his life if things didn’t change. ’Smooth, Prompto. Real smooth.’
When he finished, Prompto just kinda sat there, glancing uncertainly at Noctis like he might have some better response than he did. Noctis did have a better response, thankfully. Or maybe not thankfully when Noctis put two and two together and realized the literal, actual Starscourge might have followed them here.
”No way…” Prompto bit his lip, eyes downcast. ”But there aren’t any daemons here! I thought it was supposed to be different…”
He’d thought. But it didn’t really matter what he’d thought, did it? If one woman had the Starscourge then that meant it could spread and she’d had to have gotten it from somewhere, didn’t she? It was so obvious that Prompto could have kicked himself for not putting the pieces together sooner and needing someone else to spell it out for him.
Oh well. Everybody needed a group idiot, right?
Then it came back to Noctis’ worries. The one that Caius had put on his shoulders the last time they’d all talked, and Prompto just watched Noctis warily, really hoping he didn’t have to drag him off like last time or start making a scene.
He couldn’t have ever guessed what was actually on Noctis’ mind.
”Ardyn?” he asked warily. Something turned in his stomach. Maybe it was the whiskey, but it was a bit more like dread. Whiskey dread.
”He wanted you to…?” Prompto repeated as the pieces slowly, hesitantly fit together. ”But…”
No. No way was Noctis suggesting what he thought he was suggesting.
But the pieces finally fit together a bit like the trigger of a detonating bomb. Noctis had been quiet ever since Caius had last talked to them. He’d been hiding something. And this was it. The something that he’d keep even from Prompto, and as it finally came out, Prompto threw himself to his feet, slamming his knee into the table with a muffled, ”Ow!” as he gracelessly turned on Noctis, hands clenched into fists, feeling strangely cold and woozy and probably even paler than usual.
”You want to go after him? Ardyn? He can’t die! He’d just-!”
’Hurt you. Hurt me to hurt you.’ Prompto bit his lip. Hard.
”Look, I want to help Caius too, but that’s not the way to do it! We don’t have a way to do it! If you really did get rid of all the Starscourge or whatever, then however you did it came out of the crystal and we don’t have that anymore! You don’t always have to solve everyone’s problems!”
Prompto was almost in tears now. He furiously wiped his eyes on his coat sleeve.
”I knew we shouldn’t have come here,” he said. ”I’m just trying to look out for you…”
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto laughed a little as Noctis mentioned the train. Yeah. Yeah, that had been a real shit show, but he didn’t mind laughing now. About that part, at least. Even if it was a weak laugh. A laugh half-drowned in unshed tears.
It was still a laugh. And that was something.
”Together,” he repeated then breathed in slowly. Out slowly. Through the nose like Ignis taught him. It would help him get himself together. Or it was supposed to, anyway.
”I want to be there for you. No matter what. No matter where you go or what you do. I guess that’s why I joined the crownsguard. I knew you couldn’t keep hanging with me forever and…I didn’t want to lose you.” He bit his lip. This was too real for him. This was too real for any of them. Gladio hid his feelings behind all his yelling and workouts. Ignis showed that he cared by helping in every way that didn’t involve feelings at all. And Prompto…
He laughed the pain away. He joked and he didn’t mind being made fun of and he was the silly guy that maybe, hopefully, you just wanted to keep around and he worked hard to keep it that way because if someone lost interest, they’d leave him and then he’d be all alone again. Alone and worthless.
Compared to that, dying at the hands of some monster didn’t sound so bad.
“I know we don’t talk like this. I know it’s stupid. I know it’s girly or whatever…” Prompto wiped his eye with the back of his hand. He didn’t feel like crying so much anymore, but the evidence still remained. Had to catch it before it fell and gave him away. ”But you’re…really cool. You’re good at everything and you’re funny and you don’t let the world tear you down. And I’m just…some nobody. I wanted so bad just to be your friend. And then we were friends and it was like, ‘This can’t be happening,’ you know? But it was. And then I made more friends that came with you and…”
Where was he going with this? There had to be a point in there somewhere. ”And…You don’t gotta ever worry about what you gotta do, being a prince and all. If things had gone different, I wouldn’t mind being stuck in the Citadel as long as it was with you.”
Prompto felt something hot in his face. Not tears this time. Ah shit, he’d gone red, hadn’t he? That’s what he got for having such a pale complexion.
”S-sorry,” he choked out. ”We don’t gotta talk about it. In fact, just forget I ever said anything. What did Prompto say? Nothing. He just sat here quiet. Nothing to see here.”
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Caius definitely got to the point. That point wasn’t exactly what Prompto had been expecting, but he got to it. Oh boy did he get to it.
Prompto couldn’t help but stare as Caius twisted himself in his seat and tried for a prim and proper bow right there at the table of a sleazy bar on the wrong end of Sonora. The bow couldn’t go very far down though. Not with the table in the way. And suddenly Prompto felt very, very awkward.
”Hey, it’s fine! You don’t gotta-!” But he didn’t get into what Caius didn’t have to do because Noctis was already on it which was a real good thing because Prompto wasn’t exactly sure how he’d handle the situation if he was alone. It was good that Caius was apologizing, and he seemed to mean it too which was even better. Really, Prompto didn’t hold much against Caius personally. He just…
Worried. That’s what he was best at, wasn’t it?
What if Caius planted some idea in Noctis’ head?
What if Caius accidentally made Noctis feel worse?
What if that combination made Noctis run off and…
And…
Prompto didn’t know what, but he was on guard for it all the same. Just in case. Hadn’t Ignis once told him to try to predict all possible outcomes?
Ignis probably wasn’t talking about the racing thoughts of generalized anxiety, but hey! It was something.
Prompto glanced at Noctis worriedly as he talked about a prophecy and taking out the starscourge. Prompto had never heard about a prophecy before – not that he could remember, anyway, and he was sure he’d remember something like a prophecy about his best friend. That whole starscourge thing was what Caius had yelled at them before. Noctis repeated it uneasily.
’I get it,’ Noctis seemed to say, ’I’m not the king you know that did all those great things. But I SHOULD be.’
The thought made Prompto shiver.
He pretended it was from the cold.
Noctis intuited that Caius would be coming back to Sonora because of that girl he wanted to save, and…Yeah. That made sense. Prompto had never known anyone who’d gotten the starscourge himself, but he knew people that had, and it sounded like pure torture. The sick one, knowing they were gonna die, watching the infection spread in dark patches across their skin and knowing there wasn’t a thing they could do about it. Their loved ones, forced to watch and pray even though their prayers didn’t do a thing.
Prompto wasn’t much of a religious person. He knew all about the Astrals from classes in school. He believed in them, obviously, and even if he hadn’t before he sure did now that he’d seen a lot of them in the flesh. Titan was mad and stupid. Leviathan was a bitch to fight. Ramuh was okay except that every time he showed up, they all had to duck for cover or risk getting fried where they stood.
But maybe even he’d start praying if someone he knew got those telltale dark patches. Maybe…
Prompto blinked hard to force his attention back to the conversation at hand. It wasn’t really his conversation as much as it was one between Caius and Noctis, but he was there and he needed to actually listen.
Even if he didn’t have much to add except a muttered, ”Sorry…” and he wasn’t even entirely sure what he was sorry for.
[attr=class,lyric1]gonna keep on keeping on the only
[attr=class,lyric2]way i know how
[attr=class,bulk] Once it had been made clear that Prompto was there to stay, Ignis had taken him aside to give him some advice on mindfulness. Whenever he felt that familiar sense of anxiety welling up, he was supposed to ground himself. What were five things he could see? Well, right now he could see the dark gray snow melting in the gutter, mixed with car exhaust. He could see cars too, going every which way that the foreign street rules allowed. Then there were buildings, some of them tall as skyscrapers, and he saw a scrappy little dog peeking out of a dark alley and then in front of him there was Noctis.
What could he touch? Snow. Cold snow. And he felt the familiar rough leather of his gloves. The wind was kicking up, whipping his face until it turned red. His boots clomped in the wet slushy puddles on the sidewalk. If he reached forward, he could have touched Noctis.
What could he hear? Cars mostly. The background drone of a thousand people in the city, all clomping about like he was and some of them in conversation. He could hear Noct’s silence.
He could smell the choking, suffocating cloud of exhaust that a car sputtered into his face. Once that passed, the wind carried back the distinctive scent of Noctis’ hair gel.
He tasted blood from the sore he’d chewed into his cheek the night before. Worrying.
Noct hadn’t been the same since they’d come back from Seventh Heaven the night they were supposed to be talking about Gladio and Ignis and the whole “we might die in a prison escape” thing. Prompto hadn’t really been in his right mind either, what with getting yelled at and pinned against a table and then running off to a bathroom to cry and all. But he’d been chipper as ever the next day. Noctis…wasn’t.
Not that Noctis was ever really chipper, but he’d been sullen. More sullen than usual. Sullen in the way that something was on his mind. But when Prompto asked, he’d said it was fine even though it was so obviously not fine. Prompto hadn’t asked again, but now he knew it was something that Noctis couldn’t even tell him. Which made it serious. Noctis got like this when he was planning something really stupid. Not like Prompto-level stupid, but even stupider. And more dangerous. Which made Prompto worry.
And worry. And worry. And worry. And worry until there was a sore on his inner cheek and he tasted blood as he walked through the snow on their way back to Seventh Heaven.
What was the other thing that Ignis had said about mindfulness? He should imagine the worst likely scenario. Not the worst he could think up with his mind spinning, but what was the worst that would actually happen. Well, right now, the worst that could happen is that Caius could send Noctis’ crisis nose-diving until it crashed into a cliff and he disappeared into the night to do that mysterious, stupid, dangerous something.
Yeah. That didn’t help.
”Brrr! It’s cold out here, huh?” Prompto called ahead of him just so he could hear his own voice out loud instead of the tailspinning voice in his head. They’d reached that fateful bar already and he saw the sign that still looked kind of like the place was more scandalous than it actually was and Noctis opened the door and the bell rang out and he felt warm air at last except the smell of it reminded him of the disaster of a night they’d had before and it made him feel nauseous.
Gone was the smell of car exhaust and Noct’s hair gel. Now there was only the suffocating scent of old liquor on older wooden floors. That was the smell of Alex leering over him and Caius yelling from a vinyl upholstered booth. Yeah, no thanks.
But he followed Noct anyway. He always followed Noct. That was his job if he wanted to get literal about it, but he’d have done it anyway. He wasn’t about to let Noct go in alone, not here and not anywhere.
Noctis saw Caius before he did. Prompto mirrored Noctis’ wave, albeit less enthusiastically and with an even weaker smile. Noctis unzipped his coat, but Prompto kept his zipped right up. You know, just in case.
In case he needed to drag Noctis back out into the snow again, on the double.
Caius had apologized for his outburst, but it didn’t escape him that Noctis’ mood had turned right after. Prompto might have been stupid, but he was smart enough to notice something like that. He was also smart enough to put two and two together about why Caius wanted to talk to them again in the first place. This wasn’t about Gladio and Ignis. This was about Caius’ Starscourge problem.
Which they couldn’t help with. They’d already told Caius they couldn’t help with it. Yet still, he’d put all that weight on Noctis’ shoulders. Now, Caius was going to double that weight. Prompto hated when that happened.
Sometimes, it felt like Prompto was the only guy in the whole world that saw Noctis as just Noctis. Not the prince. Not the future king of Lucis. Not superpowered and the bearer of some great destiny in a long line of warrior kings that made myths and legends and history books that kids were forced to read in class. He was Noctis. Just Noctis. And Noctis hated whenever anyone reminded him of all the rest.
Noct greeted Caius casually and scooted into the booth until he hit the wall. Prompto slid in after him. There were drinks already sat out in front of them that looked like straight liquor. Caius was already holding his. Noctis picked up a glass and sipped it. Prompto didn’t touch the one meant for him. He had to stay sharp – as sharp as he could be anyway – when there was so much on the line.
Also, he hated liquor shots. Didn’t matter what it was, it always left him sputtering. So there was that.
”Er, hey,” he greeted Caius. ”So uh. Why’d you call us here, anyway? Cause if it’s for the reason I’m thinking then the whiskey makes sense. Heh.” He glanced at Noctis. Noctis didn’t seem as worried as Prompto was. Maybe Prompto was overreacting. Or maybe Noct was just that cool.
Either way, Prompto was here right beside him. Ready to help carry some of that weight on his shoulders. So long as Noct let him, that was.