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“He packed me a salad again,” Noctis said wrinkling his nose at his lunchbox. It was Tuesday and that meant salad for lunch in the world according to Iggy. “What did you bring?”
“Uhhhhh,” Prompto said trying not to look at the salad longingly. “I’ve got a peanut butter sandwich made with the bread ends, apple slices, and some chips.”
“Oh good,” Noctis said reaching out with his salad. “Keep the apple slices and give me the rest?”
“Noctis no,” Prompto said, knowing he would fold if pressed. Ignis’s lunches were delicious and the salad looked like it was no exception. “You’re going to get us both in trouble with Mama Iggy.”
“He’ll never know,” Noctis argued shaking the salad. “Plllllleaaassse?”
“Fine, fine,” Prompto agreed holding out his lunchbox and taking the salad. “But don’t throw away the containers this time.”
“One time,” Noctis complained taking a bit of the sandwich. “And I apologized. How was I supposed to know you would keep that butter container?”
“Because it was a perfectly good tupperware?” Prompto said opening the salad. He was right it looked like a thing of beauty with different colors of lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, perfectly grilled chicken, and what smelled like a balsamic vinaigrette. Using the fork Prompto cut the apple into bite-sized pieces and mixed it into the salad. “I am definitely the winner in this trade.”
“No,” Noctis said mouth full of sandwich. “This is much better than that. I can’t believe you added the apples. So gross.”
Prompto shook his head at Noctis's antics. He hoped his best friend would never change.
“What do you have for lunch today?” Noctis asked wrinkling his nose at his own lunchbox.
“Leftover spaghetti, orange slices, and chips,” Prompto said already knowing where this was going. “You?”
“A rice bowl,” Noctis said wrinkling his nose again. “With fried rice so the carrots are everywhere. Switch with me? Keep the orange slices though.”
“Don’t throw away my containers,” Prompto said making the switch as requested. “Oh man, this looks amazing. How is it still warm?”
“Iggy magic,” Noctis said shrugging and slurping up the spaghetti. “It’s nice to know there are no hidden vegetables in this.”
“Other than the sauce you mean?” Prompto asked taking a bite and moaning. “You are missing out dude.”
“Tomatoes are a fruit and they are acceptable in sauce form,” Noctis argued flushing lightly at the moan. “We’ve been over this. It’s like ketchup”
“Spaghetti sauce isn’t ketchup dude,” Prompto said giggling at his best friend’s logic. “They’re totally different textures and recipes.”
“Not really,” Noctis argued. “Look it up. The recipes are similar!”
“No man,” Prompto said shaking his head. “We are not having this argument again. They are not similar end of story. Do you want to hang out tonight?”
“They are similar and you are being a hater,” Noctis said before shaking his head. “I can’t. It’s Wednesday so I have warp training with Nyx after school and then dinner with my dad. Do you want to come over for dinner and to take pics of training?”
“Pics of training yes, dinner with your dad no,” Prompto said. “I am not ready to meet the fucking King of Lucis. What if he hates me?”
“What if he loves you?” Noctis asked knowing that his dad would love Prompto. “Then you have no more excuses when it comes to letting me take you on a date.”
“Nocccccctis,” Prompto whined blushing. “We talked about this. Your dad might be cool with you being gay and asking out a random pleb but the Council most certainly would not be okay with that.”
“Yeah well ask if Dad and I care what the council thinks,” Noctis said stabbing at the spaghetti. “Besides it can’t be any worse than when Luna threatened to abdicate if they made her breakup with Nyx.”
“Yeah that was kinda ballsy of her,” Prompto agreed remembering the blow-up between the Oracle Queen and her Council. “Plus it saved you from maybe having to marry her.”
“Yeah,” Noctis agreed wrinkling his nose. “She’s like my sister so that would be gross. Point is my dad wants to meet you and you know once that happens you won’t have any more excuses against going out with me.”
Prompto finished the rice bowl and sighed leaning against the tree they had claimed as their own. Looking up Prompto was once again taken aback by how the sky looked without the barrier. It had been up for as long as he could remember but with the end of the war, it wasn’t needed anymore. Prompto wondered what it must be like to be free from all barriers like the sky was. Unfortunately, he would never know seeing as it seemed like it was up to him to make sure Noctis didn’t ruin his life over some Niff kid.
But….
Sometimes it was nice to dream.
The next day found Prompto and Noctis back at their tree getting ready for lunch again. The night before had been a trying one and Prompto was still pouting over how things had gone with his so-called best friend. Meeting Nyx had been fine. The man was too hot to be legal but something about knowing he was dating the Oracle killed any feelings Prompto might have gotten. Meeting the King on the other hand was much, much worse.
“I hate you,” Prompto said once again even as he passed Noctis his lunch, a ham sandwich, and chips, and took the offered bento. “I hate you so much.”
“It’s not my fault,” Noctis said picking the lettuce from Prompto’s sandwich and throwing it at him. “I was practicing warping with Nyx. It’s not my fault my dad stopped by to see how I was doing.”
“You could have warned me!” Prompto said stabbing at the stirfry in front of him. “But no, you did not warn me that your dad might stop by and so he startled me.”
“I did tell him you are easily startled,” Noctis said with a shrug. “Besides he loved you. Dad was actually sad you didn’t stay for dinner.”
“I couldn’t have dinner with the King!” Prompto exclaimed horrified at the thought. “I was wearing gym clothes! I didn’t bring sit down with the King clothes.”
“You could have borrowed something from me,” Noctis shrugged. “Besides it's not sitting down with the King it’s meeting my dad. I don’t understand how you are so cool around me and Luna and such a basketcase around my dad. ”
“I hate you,” Prompto whined again. Last night he had been taking pictures as Nyx and Noctis practiced warping when suddenly he heard a voice complement the photo he had just taken behind him. To say Prompto was startled would be a serious understatement. “So much.”
“You hang out with me every day, you text Luna at least once a week, and you weren’t phased by meeting actual War Hero Nyx Ulric. Who we both agree is way too hot to be legal,” Noctis said munching on his chips. “But by Dad freaks you out. He’s a total loser!”
“That loser could sentence me to death!” Prompto said waving the hand that was holding his fork. “Then I would die never even having my first kiss!”
“You’re being dramatic,” Noctis said rolling his eyes. “But I guess I can kiss you if you’re really worried about that.”
“What?” Prompto said mouth hanging open. “Noctis! You can’t just say stuff like that!”
“I mean it though,” Noctis said looking at Propmto with a longing look. “I have never meant anything as much as I mean that.”
Prompto’s only response was to blush and look down at his food. Whenever Noctis said things like that Prompto never knew how to respond. Out of everyone in the entire world, Noctis had picked him to fall in love with and Prompto couldn’t let that ruin his life. As much as Prompto wanted to let himself fall he knew that Noctis deserved better. The two continued their lunches in silence until Noctis finally spoke up.
“My Dad really does want to buy some of the pictures,” Noctis said munching on the chips. “He said the one he saw looked really good.”
“He can just have them,” Prompto said with a shrug. “It feels weird charging him for pictures I took in his home of his son.”
“Yeah well good luck getting him to take them without paying,” Noctis said knowing his dad. “Just pick a charity and have him make a donation in your name if you don’t want the money.”
“Yeah okay,” Prompto agreed. “Just tell him to donate whatever he thinks is fair to Wiz Chocobo Rescue. And I can hand you the SD card after class. It’s in my locker.”
“When I said to have him make a donation I meant like 15 crowns, not one million crowns,” Prompto said. They were under their tree again and Prompto was laying on his back with an arm over his head. “What the fuck dude?”
“I’m taking your lunch,” Noctis said switching their lunches, nonpulsed by this turn of events. “Also my Dad wants to know if you’ll meet him for lunch since Clarus told him that lunch is less formal and therefore might be less scary for you.”
“Why does your dad want to meet me so badly?” Prompto asked. “And why is Lord Shield Amacitia involved?!”
“Because I think he’s dating my dad now,” Noctis said wrinkling his nose. “But he wants to meet you because you are the only person in my life that is important to me that he hasn’t met yet. He’s known Iggy and Luna since they were kids and he held Gladio after his birth.”
“If I agree will you not push me anymore if it goes badly,” Prompto asked deciding that this was happening one way or another and he might as well give in.
“Yeah,” Noctis agreed eating the sandwich. “Meet me tomorrow at my place? Or do you want to have a sleepover? Then we can head to lunch from there.”
“Why so fast?” Prompto asked sitting up and looking at Noctis.
“To make sure that you can’t psych yourself up about it,” Noctis said with a shrug. “Also because my dad really, really wants to meet you. It’ll be fun! Just the four of us.”
“Four?” Prompto asked with a raised eyebrow. “Sleepover sounds fine.”
“I told you I think my dad and Clarus are dating,” Noctis said with a scowl. “They’ve always been close but since the end of the war it now seems they’re even closer.”
“Well good for him?” Prompto asked opening the bento and looking confused when he saw it was chicken katsu, rice, and vegetables. “You know the vegetables are easy to pick around in this right?”
“That just means they are more and they’re hidden,” Noctis said untrustingly. “And I guess, yeah good for him. I’m happy he’s happy at least.”
“You are so untrusting,” Prompto said shaking his head. “But I love you anyway.”
“I love you too,” Noctis said making a happy sound. “Does this mean you’ll let me take you on a date?”
“This means let’s see how lunch goes and go from there,” Prompto said smiling when he saw a hidden vegetable.
The next day came entirely too early for Prompto’s liking. Spending the night with Noctis had helped as the other teenager kept Prompto distracted for most of the night with video games and terrible movies. It was exactly the kind of night that Prompto had wanted and he knew Noctis needed it too.
“I still can’t believe you talked me into this,” Prompto said as the two of them were heading up to the family dining room. “What if he hates me?”
“He’s not going to hate you,” Noctis said waving at the Crownsguard that was at the elevator. “Everyone loves you and my dad already thinks that you’re amazing.”
“Not everyone loves me,” Prompto said shaking his head. “In fact, there are some people who really, really hate me.”
“Yeah but they’re stupid so they don’t count,” Noctis said waving a hand and opening the door to the dining room. “Hey, Dad! Hey, Clarus.”
Noctis waved his hand at the two men who were seated and Prompto froze panicking.
“Hi,” Prompto squeaked waving and causing Noctis to roll his eyes.
“This is Prompto,” Noctis said grabbing the other boy’s hand and tugging him to the two empty chairs. “He normally can’t shut up but today he’s decided to be quiet.”
“Noctis!” Prompto said smacking his best friend. Maybe boyfriend? “Why are you like this?”
Noctis’s answer was to shrug and pull out Prompto’s chair before slouching into his own. Before Regis could correct his son’s posture Prompto spoke up.
“Hey,” Prompto said poking the other teenager. “Sit up straight or your back will start to hurt and then you’ll be cranky and snap at me and I’ll have to give you my wounded chocobo look.”
“Now you speak up,” Noctis said sitting up and sticking his tongue out at Prompto.
“It’s lovely to meet you,” Regis interrupted finding the banter between his son and his son’s best friend humorous. “I loved the photos that you took. I’m getting a few printed.”
“Oh,” Prompto said blushing. “Thank you. It was really nothing. Just a hobby.”
“Well they’re great photos,” Clarus said thinking about what Gladio had told him about Prompto. “I was thinking about contacting your agent to hire you to do some action shots for the Crownguard’s next promotion.”
“Oh I don’t have a-,” Prompto started getting overwhelmed at the idea of such a big contract.
“He would love to,” interrupted Noctis. “As his agent, I think that would be a great idea. We’ll have to run it by legal though.”
“I’ll send Ignis an email,” Clarus said smirking at Noctis. “Might as well see about getting more action shots of the Glaive too. I know they aren't actively recruiting right now but it would still be good to have the materials ready.”
“Oh,” Prompto said overwhelmed. “Okay. That would be awesome. Luna liked the pictures of Nyx at least.”
“Then it is settled,” Regis said with a nod. “And we will work on getting you a real agent because from what I have seen of your work so far I have a feeling you are going to need it.”
That last part was said with a wink that made Prompto blush. Luckily the food was served at that moment so he was saved from having to answer. From then on lunch was a calm affair with conversation, and teasing, flowing from all sides. It was not nearly as scary as Prompto had thought it would be.
“But,” he thought as Noctis grabbed his hand on the table. “ Maybe I can do anything as long as I have him.”
“Sooooooo,” Noctis asked as he flopped onto his bed after lunch. “Was that as scary as you thought it would be?”
“No,” Prompto agreed lying next to Noctis. “It was a little intimidating at first but they seem like normal people.”
“So that means I can take you on a date now right?” Noctis asked eyes narrowed like he was trying to fight sleeping until he got an answer.
“Yeah I guess,” Prompto agreed with a smile. “But I don’t know how that’ll be any different from what we normally do.”
“I can be romantic,” Noctis said cutting off with a yawn. “I’m gonna romance the hell out of you.”
“I guess I will see,” Prompto agreed smiling when Noctis’s light snore was the only answer he got.
‘Maybe this is what it felt like to be the sky without the barrier,’ Prompto thought snuggling closer to Noctis. He felt free and hopeful that maybe the future would hold more then he ever dreamed. It was terrifying and exciting all at once but, as long as Noctis was by his side Prompto knew it would all be okay.