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Soft, warm sand greeted his feet as he stepped off the pier and onto the beach. Noctis breathed in the sea salty breeze with a relaxed sigh and smiled. No one paid him any mind as he maneuvered around tourists and locals, taking care not to upset anyone’s area as he walked, and made his way to the fishing dock.
Noctis was a man on a mission. He probably had only a few hours before his departure from the Crown City became prevalent to the Citadel, and he’d be dragged back to Insomnia by the Glaives dispatched to bring him home, so he wanted to make those precious hours count. What better way than to fish until he couldn’t anymore?
He purchased a few lures from the bait shop and set to fixing his rod with a new line and lure. From the shop, the owner called out, “Be careful, yeah? Some people might be snorkeling!”
“Will do,” Noctis replied as he finished replenishing his fishing line. Before he cast the line, he took a quick minute to peer into the clear bay. Finding no one around, he cast it and settled in to wait for a fish to take the bait.
Few fish were interested in the lure for the first ten minutes, but that’s a normal thing in the fishing world. Noctis might not have patience for a room filled with passive-aggressive Council members, but fishing? Noctis could fish from dawn to dusk without obtaining a single catch, and he’d still have all the patience in the entire world.
A fish tugged at his line in curiosity, and Noctis reeled it in for a few inches to make it appear more appetizing and interesting. After that song and dance for a few moments, the fish latched onto the lure and Noctis smiled.
When he reeled it halfway to the dock, it seemed to bump into something—possibly another fish—and bumped into it hard enough for the line to snap. Noctis pouted as he reeled back what remained of his line but sat back on his heels to replenish the line. If Gladio were there, he’d snark about Noctis’ piss-poor fishing skills. Ignis would make some witty pun that’d undoubtedly make Noctis groan.
As he opened his bait box for a new lure, he almost got a heart attack when a snorkeler emerged beside him, drenched palms slapping against the dock. Noctis clutched the front of his shirt and thought, distantly, what a headline—crown prince suffers snorkeling-induced heart attack.
“Dude,” said the snorkeling mask, but they were laughing so Noctis assumed that was a good sign. “Your fish smacked me in the face!”
Noctis cracked a smile but eyed him in concern. “While I’m sorry you got slapped by a fish, are you, like, okay? Nothing broken or—?”
Noctis cut himself off and stared. Nestled near their collarbone, the words he’d just said unfurled like some sort of budding rose. The snorkeler—his soulmate, holy shit, Ignis was going to flip his shit that he missed this—attempted to look at where Noctis stared at, and did a double-take at the black script on his skin that definitely wasn’t there before.
A slightly shrill, anxious laugh slipped out of his mouth. “I’m kinda blind right now—because no glasses, hello—but, uh, does that, uh, say—?”
“Yes,” Noctis whispered. He didn’t need to say anything else.
The snorkeler pouted a little. “No fair . . . I wanna see my words on you, too!”
Noctis laughed. “I’m afraid I’d get in trouble for public indecency if I started stripping at the fishing docks.”
The snorkeler snorted and then stuck out his hand. “I’m Prompto!”
Noctis shook his hand. “It’s really nice to meet you, Prompto.”
Prompto wiggled onto the dock and pulled off his snorkeling gear. Noctis’ breath caught in his throat—his soulmate was way, way too pretty. The sunlight framed his silhouette in a way that made Prompto look angelic; like a dream manifesting in the middle of Galdin Quay.
“So,” Prompto smiled. “What’s my soulmate’s name, hmm? Can’t just keep calling you Pretty Boy in my head, you know?”
Noctis turned lobster-red, and Prompto made a soft noise in the back of his throat that absolutely did not ease Noctis’ blush. “I’m . . . um . . . Noctis.”
“Noctis?” Prompto said, tilting his head to the side, before his eyes widened. Noctis could practically see Prompto’s inner lightbulb turn on. “As in . . . the, the . . . prince?”
“Surprise.” Noctis gave a nervous laugh, an awkward smile curling at the edges of his lips. His plans for fishing were nonexistent at this point. “Guess your soulmate is . . . a prince.”
Prompto gave him a look of amusement and, for a beat, they simply stared at one another. Then, almost at once, they burst into laughter. The odd tension and awkward air between them dispersed between their laughs.
“You know,” Prompto wiped his eyes, “this really wasn’t how I imagined meeting my soulmate.”
Noctis snorted. “Same here.”
“Hey—how about I go back to my hotel room and change, and, uh, we could grab lunch?” Prompto looked nervous as he hesitantly suggested a change of plans in Noctis’ day, and, honestly, he looked so pretty that Noctis wouldn’t dare refuse.
“Sounds like a plan,” said Noctis, and when Prompto beamed, he sent a small prayer to the Gods because thank you for blessing me with this angel.
“Sweet! I’ll be here in, like, ten minutes tops, okay?”
Noctis chuckled. “Take your time.”
The world seemed dimmer as Noctis watched Prompto headed toward the hotel that floated beside the Mother of Pearl. Noctis chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before he smiled—by the gods, he doesn’t think he’s ever smiled so much before, and it wasn’t an official photoshoot. He packed up his fishing materials, because, really, his attention was gone, and he’d rather not accidentally hook his skin with his fishing line.
True to form, Prompto reappeared ten minutes later, freshly showered and dressed, and slightly out of breath in a way that told Noctis he’d booked it from the pier.
“So, what’re you in the mood for?” Prompto said, casually, as if they weren’t surrounded by a culture that thrived on seafood.
“I wouldn’t mind a fish taco,” said Noctis.
Prompto pressed a hand against his chest. “You’re after my own heart, Noct.”
Noctis felt a soft warmth at the nickname that just naturally slipped off Prompto’s tongue. “Come on—let’s eat before I get snatched by some Glaives.”
Prompto sputtered in confusion. “What do you mean ‘snatched’?”
“Okay . . . so I’m technically not supposed to be here.”
“Noct!”
Noctis laughed.
He doesn’t think he’s ever felt so bright.