#last two were drawn on my phone so if they dont match the others exactly thats why

[sundial-bee-scribbles]

pinktober days 6-10

original prompt list here

[eblisbaculum]

In Defense Of

Inspired by this post

It wasn’t a very big leap to say that Prompto was Noctis’ only friend.

Sure, Ignis and Gladio were always around, and they cared about his wellbeing past what it meant to them as a job, but they’d only gotten to that level of friendliness because they were paid to be there.

That made Prompto special - he’d careened into his life with a slap on the back like they’d talked consistently for years. And if Prompto wanted to pretend that their first encounter in elementary didn’t happen, then so be it; all that mattered now was that they were as thick as thieves, and Prompto hadn’t had an incentive to be there.

Of course, there were perks to being best friends with the Prince of Lucis - Noctis would be lying to himself if he said it hadn’t been a worry that turned over in the late hours of the night since Prompto started making plans to hang out after school let out.

But he knew Prompto now - the guy didn’t have it in him to play anyone like that. He was all smiles and jokes and sometimes things went so far over his head they may as well have fired into the sun. He was a good person, and Noctis doubted there was a mean fibre in his body.

At least - that’s what he’d thought. Now he wasn’t so sure.

Noctis knew that for all his celebrity as the next in line for the throne, he wasn’t exactly the most popular person in school. Days where people crowded him and asked him what it was like being prince and how lavish the Citadel had to be were long gone. Instead, it was whispers behind his back of girls gossiping about how he and Prompto were “so obviously gay”, and that was why he’d never taken any interest, and the subsequent intense jealousy from the rest of the guys in his class because no one they ever fancied payed them any attention.

Noctis was used to their two faceted nature. Their backhanded compliments were just a given, because of course no one would outright attack the Prince of Lucis unless they wanted to have a meeting with the Kingsglaive.

Prompto, as it turned out, was not.

–

“Heeeey Noct!” Prompto chirped as his hands landed on Noctis’ shoulders, using them for support as he leaped over the back of the bench he was slouched against.

They’d been released from school a quarter of an hour ago. Noctis had had a particularly gruelling math test last period, but he was reluctantly relieved that Ignis had made him study. Hopefully his grades would reflect his efforts.

Prompto smellef like sweat beneath his deodorant, and when he dropped down next to Noctis and began runmaging through his bag he could see the sweat sticking his bangs to his forehead.

“Man, it’s so hot,” Prompto puffed, flopping backwards against the bench, tilting his head back to chug the leftover water in his bottle. His blazer was rolled into a ball and shoved into his bag - Ignis was gonna stop ironing it, one of these days.

“Yeah. Where were you today? Iggy made you a salad for lunch and it’s gone soggy.”

Prompto gave him a pointed look, even as he took the box Noctis offered him from his bag and set into the wilted greens.

“You thure you jutht di'n’t wanna eat your vege'th, Noct?” He swallowed. There was a splotch of dressing on the corner of his mouth that was driving him crazy. “What’re you, twelve?”

Noct hummed, leaning forward to swipe it away with his thumb like Ignis did when there was too much sauce in his burgers. Prompto munched on without care. How he could stand to eat so many vegetables was beyond him. “Only in spirit. So what took you so long? What happened at lunch, I didn’t get a text or anything, dude.

Prompto smiled guiltily. “Well. I uh, got to spend the day in the guidance counselor’s office…so that’s a thing. I didn’t want to risk getting my phone taken off of me - I just barely escaped a suspension as it is.” The guilty look got shyer Prompto laughed in the way he did when he was trying to avoid a conversation he didn’t want to have. “I…may or may not have accidentally broken Parvos’ nose with a dodgeball?”

Noctis lifted his brows. Prompto winced, putting the salad down and waving his hands dramatically like he was trying to gain the attention he already had.

“Hey! Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t mean to break his nose!” Prompto’s cheeks had lit red, sinking low in his seat. He was positively pouting, arms crossed defensively over his chest.

“Dude, you’re usually so onto that type of thing. What happened?”

“Well…my shoelace was untied, y'see…” he trailed off, eyes skirting sideways to watch a group of upperclassmen walking over to a waiting car. Noctis knew Ignis was probably just idling around the corner, waiting for his text.

Noctis snorted as he sent the text off, and less than a minute later Ignis’ sleek black car was pulling into a parking spot. He stood, shaking his head at him. “Say no more. Your clumsiness is gonna come back to bite you one day, Prom.”

“Hey, I take total offense to that!” He jumped up defiantly, and the remaining salad met the concrete in a splatter of leafy green and tomato red. Prompto turned to the car and smiled sheepishly. Noctis had to press his lips together to stop himself from laughing. Ignis’ head had dropped to press against the top of the steering wheel. 

“Okay, okay…only mild offense.“

–

Noctis didn’t really think on the incident much more. He offhandedly mentioned it to Ignis, who apparently thought his best friend nearly getting suspended was funny if the little smile he had on his face for the next ten minutes was anything to go by.

When he asked what the look was for, he only got a confusing “well, he is a Scorpio,” back.

Which made exactly zero sense.

It all came to a head one day when Noctis was late to school - his dad had made him sit in on some dumb council meeting on trade agreements, and he’d spent the whole time trying not to look like he was falling asleep.

It was already almost lunch, so Prompto was probably in their usual spot in the courtyard, so he began to make his way there when a voice stopped him just around the corner.

“Does King Regis even, like, do anything useful? Like, for real? My parents say the kingdom is gonna, like, fall to pieces or something before Niflheim even manages to get it’s gnarly fingers in here,” a high, mocking voice said.

Noctis rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like they even knew half the crap his dad had to deal with. He’d have loved nothing more than to lay into her for being ungrateful for everything his dad did for Insomnia, but a lot of it wasn’t general knowledge to the public, and he didn’t fancy having to fix the scandal it would cause, either.

He was just about to round the corner and at least make his presence known when Prompto’s voice came from down the hall, rapidly getting louder. In a cutthroat tone Noctis would have never associated with him he said, “Oh sweety, that is, like, so funny, because last time I, like, checked it was, like, your father’s, like, business, that’s like, ’falling to pieces’.”  He’d adopted a falsetto, high and snarky. Noctis was more than a little surprised by the way he mimicked her tone. He could almost imagine a cocked eyebrow and a hip jutt to match, like in the teen high school comedies Prompto liked to put on when he came to the apartment.

“Oh - oh look, it’s the Prince’s lap dog. Come on, Prompto, he’s like, not even here. What’s even the point in defending him?” Her voice didn’t sound as confident as before, the sounds of her other friends giggling around her. It reminded Noctis of the counsel members who’s vote got overturned.

For a minute, Prompto didn’t say anything, and Noctis felt real fear drill into his gut. But Prompto didn’t side with them, like he’d dreaded. Instead, there was the scuffle of footsteps, a surprised squeak as lockers crashed with a bodily impact. There was a chorus of “woah’s!“ and a "back off, Prompto! Gods!”

“He’s my friend, and he’s never done anything to you so quit mouthing off before I make you.”

Undetterred, but sounding far less confident, she missed, “You know as well as the rest of us that he’s got his head so far up his own ass that he’ll never see you as anything but his little bitch.”

Noctis sunk carefully against the wall. He was all at once furious on Prompto’s behalf, and also rooted to the spot.

In a voice Noctis had to strain to hear, Prompto laughed something bitter and sharp and said, “oh, you want this bitch to bite, huh? Because it’s worse than my bark, honey. Go ask Parvos’ nose.”

Noctis could almost hear her mouth opening and closing - he could feel his own doing the same. “Wait - Parvos?”

“You can say goodbye to that pretty little nose job if you keep talking shit.” His words were biting, and they sent a sharp zap of electricity up his spine.

Oh. Oh.

Well. That was - that stirred something in Noctis’ chest that he wasn’t sure he wanted to entertain the existence of.

“So why dont you and your friends back the fuck off before I smack you the fuck off? Okay?”

The other girls were quiet - Noctis could just make out their shuffling feet, like they didn’t want to be involved in the fight.

There was silence, and then the sound of the lockers being pushed against. With a last scoff that sounded weak to Noctis’ ears, She said, “w-well, why don’t you just go and fuck your boyfriend, Argentum? Gods!”

Her footsteps stomped away, several others scurrying after her. Noctis slipped out from around the corner, watching the gaggle of girls make their way out into the courtyard. Prompto was staring after them, cheeks flushed a vague pink and his brows drawn down with what Noctis thought looked oddly like contempt. It wasn’t an expression he’d ever seen on Prompto’s face, but the way he’d been speaking with the way he looked all hackles raised made Noctis feel queasy in a way that felt…really good.

Oh. Oh boy. Oh no.

This…this was gonna be a problem.