Chapter Text
The rain pittered softly against his window pane, gentle rumbles of thunder echoing in the distance as the slow moving storm rolled over the city. Sliding open his window, he took a moment to mess with the camera settings before snapping a picture of the brightly lit skyline against the stormy backdrop. Satisfied with the shot, he closed his window and flopped on his bed to flip through the day’s pictures.
A capture of colorful leaves twirling perfectly in the air around the gate of his school building. Students excitedly chatting to each other as they reunited for their first day of high school. The sunlight dappling the fancy cobblestones leading up to the main entrance. A club poster featuring a chocobo chick.
And a candid shot of Prince Noctis, walking the school grounds with a far off, somewhat melancholic expression, despite the casual air of his loose tie and the hands in his pockets.
“Hey there, Prince Noctis!”
Noctis had blinked at him, looking him up and down.
“I’m Prompto. Nice to meet you,” he grinned not easily, but well practiced. Again and again, and again in his mirror.
The corner of the prince’s mouth slid up in a half smile, “Don’t I know you?”
It took everything in him to keep from freezing up in shock. Instead, he rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously. Noctis merely gave him a friendly slap on the back and continued walking with him.
The prince remembered him.
Prompto scratched under the rim of his glasses, worn nowadays only while resting his eyes from his contacts. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Elation and wariness warred in his stomach, both leaving him slightly queasy.
His phone buzzed in his hand, startling him into almost dropping it.
______________________________
8:00pm
~~King’s Knight~~
◘Noctis_Official has sent a friend request to ♫Silver_Chocobro
_______________________________
“No way~!”
His voice rang loudly in the empty apartment. Quickly tapping the notification, he jiggled his leg as he waited for the game to load.
“How long you been playing?”
“Huh?” he gawked around a mouthful of his salad, not having noticed when the prince stayed behind in their classroom with him after the lunch bell rang.
Noctis gestured towards the little charm dangling from his bag, a chocobo dressed in the King’s Knight thief garb.
Prompto let his fork hang from his mouth a moment, glancing around the classroom. No one else had elected to eat at their desks. It was just the two of them. Swallowing his mouthful too soon transitioned into a coughing fit that had his face turning red and his eyes watering.
“Dude, do I need to do the Heimlich or something?” Noctis’ hand was warm against his back as it patted him.
“Nope, s’ok--” he coughed out, “Think I deserve to choke if salad is defeating me.”
The prince huffed a laugh, stepping away as Prompto chugged down some water finally.
Noctis sat on the desk beside his, taking a bite of an outrageously delicious looking deli style sandwich. His salad felt very green and very bland by comparison. Prompto crunched on it with extra vigor out of spite.
“Um, since it came out.”
“What?” Noctis asked around a mouthful. Quite unprincely...
“ King’s Knight ,” Prom clarified, “Since it was released. I’m at chapter 24... more like, stuck on chapter 24. Don’t wanna move on ‘till I beat the secret side quest boss, but I can’t seem to win that battle.”
“Yea, that was a bitch. Took out our whole party more than a couple times before we beat it.”
“Say what-- What chap are you on?”
“Forty-nine.”
“ WHAT !” Prompto eyed him suspiciously, “Dude, you only got that far because you’re in a party .”
“Won’t deny that,” Noctis shrugged, then tilted his head, “You saying you got to twenty four playing solo ?”
“Yeah, I guess...”
The prince’s eyebrows raised a fraction, “What’s your username? I’ll add you next time I play.”
“You for real? Yeah, okay-- Silver chocobro,” Prompto shoved his mouthful of salad into his cheek so he wouldn’t choke again, “With a, you know, underscore between.”
Nocits glanced once more at his chocobo charm, and Prompto thought he glimpsed another smile but it disappeared into the prince’s sandwich.
The start screen music finally chimed in, and he impatiently tapped through all the ads to get to the request menu. There was the prince’s request with a glowing ‘new’ flashing by the level and progress markers.
Prompto stared for a minute, eyes narrowing.
______________________________
~~Pending Requests~~
◘Noctis_Official has sent a friend request to ♫Silver_Chocobro
- CLASS//Warrior Knight
- LVL//Chapter ~9~
_____________________________
He pulled his glasses off his face and folded them neatly on the nightstand. His screen was not much different without them, as he only needed them to see far, but he rubbed at his eyes anyway.
The letters on the screen did not change. Nor did the feeling of being duped. He ought to know better by now...
With a long sigh, Prompto flopped back into his bed, and turned off the screen. Rain still pelted his window, lulling him into a state of drowsiness as he studied the ceiling. Turning his head eventually, his eyes fell to his dresser in the corner. Freckles shifted across his skin as his brow furrowed.
Getting up from his bed, Prompto approached his dresser and pulled open the top drawer to reveal a plain box in the corner. He sifted through the letters within it, pulling out an envelope with a blue seal and unfolding the pages carefully to read them as he had so many times before. Violet eyes shifted to the phone haphazardly abandoned on his bed, before returning back to the beautiful script.
He folded the pages, placing them back in their fragrant envelope with meticulous care and pressing it to his nose. The scent of sylleblossom permeated his senses.
Prompto returned the letter to its storage box with a quiet murmur, “I won’t let you down Lady Lunafreya...promise.”
Slipping back into his bed, he grabbed his phone once more. The screen came to life on the same game menu. Prompto exited the request list and just focused on playing a few more solo rounds against the stubborn boss until sleep weighed down his eyelids.
The next morning the din of his classmates voices did little to stir away Prompto's attention from the glowing notification still on his phone screen. He studied it, thinking over in his head what he planned to say when he found a moment to speak to the Prince. It was only their second day, so surely at some point he could--
“Good morning, Prince Noctis.”
“How are you this morning, Your Highness?”
A chorus of similar greetings echoed around their home room. Prompto’s eyes finally peeled away from his phone screen as a dark haired figure ambled into the room, bag over one shoulder, eyes distant, mouth a flat line across his face.
“Morning,” The coldly polite response garnered more than a few disappointed faces, as Noctis continued past the first few rows of desks towards the window seats.
He passed the seat he’d chosen for himself the day prior to the conspicuous dismay of the girls who had sat around him yesterday. At the front of Prompto’s row, an auburn haired young man patted the back of chair beside his own desk.
“Prince Noctis, good morning! If you’re looking for a new seat, we saved a one for you here--”
“Thanks, but no,” Noctis' drawl left little room for argument.
He walked past the group of noble-born students without even sparing a glance. Violet eyes watched, slightly wide, as the prince made his way closer, until his bag clunked down on the desk just behind Prompto.
With the prince no longer blocking his line of sight, the heat of the glares from the group at the front of his row burned straight into Prompto. He offered a slightly awkward smile, hoping to ease the sudden tension, but mostly relieved for the retaliation of their turned backs instead. He'd much rather suffer their neglect than attention anyway.
“Hey,” a tap followed on his own shoulder. The coldness was gone from the prince’s voice, in its place something akin to eagerness.
Prompto turned, his smile melting into something much more natural, even if his teeth shyly found the corner of his lips.
“Morning, Noctis!”
A half smile tugged one side of the prince’s mouth as he slouched back in his chair.
“You get my add request?”
“Oh, yeah... But, um...”
Nerves made him chuckle a little, and Prompto internally cringed at how stupid he sounded. His hand absently ran through his hair, biding time as he forgot everything he had planned to say. Noctis watched, but offered no words. Biting the bullet, he plowed forward with the simple truth, voice low so as not to attract too much attention.
“I, uh, wasn’t really sure if this was you? You mentioned getting past the secret boss in chapter twenty four, but this account is still only on chapter nine. So I thought that was a little weird....” His lips pursed into a pout that was mostly petulant, despite his attempts to portray annoyance, “You making fun of me or something?”
The prince eyed Prompto as he gestured to his phone screen and the pending request. Noctis glanced at the device, then shifted to glare at a girl who was obviously trying to eavesdrop. She turned abruptly in her chair, flipping aimlessly through her book. Prompto couldn’t help but notice that his eyes were the deep blue of water reflecting a starless sky. When the prince’s attention returned to him, the other corner of his mouth slowly formed symmetry with the first.
“Actually, just checking to see if you were paying attention,” Noctis pulled his phone out and thumbed across the screen for a few seconds, “Sycophants bore me.”
“Dude, I don’t even know what that means...” Prompto startled when the phone buzzed in his hand, a second notification flashing on his screen, “Huh...”
______________________________
7:23am
~~King’s Knight~~
♠SomnusRex has sent a friend request to ♫Silver_Chocobro
_______________________________
Prompto stared at it. Around their classroom, he could feel dozens of eyes on them, and he thought of Lady Lunafreya’s words.
“But, I think I get it...” Prompto said slowly as he accepted the second request, flashing a grin at Noctis, “Does this mean I passed some sort of test?”
Noctis raised his brows, “Who said it’s over?”
“Whatever, dude!” Prompto stuck out his tongue, puffing up, “I’m not afraid of a challenge! Hey-- wanna play a round on lunch break?”
Noctis still hadn’t stopped looking at him, and it made Prompto feel a little warm in his cheeks.
“Depends,” Noctis smirked, “Are you a sore loser?”
An unguarded laugh bubbled out of Prompto, “We’ll see who’s sore when I’m through with you!”
“Oh, it’s on .”
“Alright everyone, to your seats please,” their instructor finally walked in, prompting everyone to return to their proper places as their lesson started.
Prompto glanced at his phone one more time. The original notification still lighting up the menu. Smiling to himself, he held his finger on the note until the little trash icon appeared, taking the fake request with it.
“Argentum, put it away or I’ll take it away.”
“Y-Yes, M’am!”
The classroom filled with snickering aimed in his direction, but it was hard to care when he was riding high on this sudden feeling. Like the feeling of getting just the right lighting for a shot, or beating a boss in King’s Knight , or acing a test.
Or just, keeping a promise.