driftfleet | Tragedy ensues or how a married man came to be a roomate

Who: Noctis and Prompto

Broadcast: N/A

Action: First Breath

When: After Lunafreya disappears

It was sudden... he didn't understand it at first waking up in his own bed. Alone. In a smaller cabin, a single cabin. Just the way it was before... before her. Before they married. He jerked awake, called for Umbra. The dog was with him, it must be a mistake. Luna was in another room, why was he seperate from her? What happened to their cabin?

He knew already but didn't want to admit it. He thought if he ran into her old cabin she'd just be sitting there with that joking smile like this was some clever wifely prank. He could laugh it off and they'd go back to normal. She wasn't gone... she couldn't be gone... they had everything, they had a second chance here, it's too soon, it was cut too short. He needs her here. Doesn't she know he needs her here? But her cabin is bare. Unoccupied. Luna has been wiped from the ship as if she never lived here at all. She's gone from the ship crew, he can't call her communicator... he can't find a single memento of her...

So he appears at Prompto's door, rigid and silent. He knocks quickly and Umbra whines.

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Prompto's awake already. Normally, he'd be on his way to the Iskaulit for a run by now, so it's fortunate that he's running a bit late today. His camera is charging, and he's got his shirt halfway on when he hears a knock at his door.

"Oh, hey, dude. 'Sup?"

Well, Noctis was never an early riser despite Luna's efforts. He always woke up deplorably late but he made up for it by staying up late too. He ran the night kitchen as he called it, whipping up midnight snacks for the crew.

But the sudden absence of his wife caught him off guard. He is sure that startled him awake.

When Prompto opens the door he doesn't even wait, he just pushes past him and flops on the bed. Then he curls up in the fetal position. Umbra steps in quietly and sits on the floor at the foot of Prompto's bed. He has imploring puppy dog eyes.

That's not good.

Prompto watches all of this with growing concern, slowly securing the door before approaching the bed. He gives Umbra a scratch behind the ears before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Something bad happen?"

Umbra smiles and leans into the scratch before Prompto moves past him. Come ooooon human, please? More?

Noctis just stays silent, curled up like he wants to lash out or... throw up.

"Luna..." he grits out. Literally grits, he hisses after that, trying not to cry.

Normally, Prompto would invite Umbra closer with a tap on his leg and give the dog all the attention he craved. But his friend is suffering, and he can't focus on anything else at the moment.

"Luna?" His brows furrow. It doesn't sink in right away, and he looks over his shoulder, at the door, as if saying her name might have summoned her.

He knows how things work here. He knows people can just up and vanish. They just lost Furiosa. No warning, no chance for good-bye. Just gone. And what is Luna going back to? She has no future on their world.

His breath leaves him and he feel a tightness in his chest as he bends to embrace Noctis. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Noctis curls up in the embrace and he can't help it... he needs a warm body and a sympathetic heart. He needs someone who cares about him and Prompto is it. He is always it. The damn breaks and Noctis sobs into his chest.

It's not fair. They were so happy, they had everything, they had friends and fun and life...

"She was alive..." and it's soul-crushing to think she's gone now to her death. He only had her for such a short time... he thought she'd be here for years. Maybe he is doomed to disappear soon as well.

"I know. I'm sorry."

He doesn't know what else to say. Words are inadequate. So he holds his friend close and lets him cry. And Prompto cries himself, because she was his friend. Not as close - not nearly as close - but he cared. There's something terribly cruel about bringing her back only to take her away again.

After a bit, he comes around enough to fumble over Noctis' head for a box of tissue and wipe his nose before pressing a clean square into his friend's hand.

He doesn't want the tissues or to feel better. He wants to just disappear in a pit of despair. But he can hear Gladio already nagging him to get over it. He knows he needs to be better. Luna wouldn't want him to feel sorry for himself but... but damn this cut like a knife.

And Prompto must feel ignored here too, he spent so much time with Luna and now he's only here to feel sorry for himself in his room. He reaches over to him.

"Thanks.... it's... I just thought... doesn't matter what I thought. I wanted longer. But... we had what we had together..." and he knows he'll see her again at home. When he's dead.

"I'm glad... for you though..."

Prompto doesn't expect Noctis will feel better any time soon, but he won't let his friend sink into despair. They've faced loss before. They'll weather through this.

It was okay, that Noctis wasn't around. Well, maybe he felt a little ignored. But he understood. Noctis had Luna. He deserved that time with her. Prompto was happy to step aside. He'd always figured, once Noct and Luna married, he'd take a back seat, even before Altissia.

"'Course it matters." He sighs softly. Noct is talking. That's good? "Glad for me why?"

He's a wreck, he was a wreck before... he never properly mourned his father other than the time he fell to his knees crying after they defeated the Marilith. He still thinks about him... and Clarus... and his nanny and Drautos. He has no clue about Drautos, poor kid.

And Noctis shouldn't have ignored him. But he was ignoring everybody who wasn't Luna. He... he admits that. He was just so caught up in everything. She was dead at home and he hadn't seen her in twelve years and he loved her and wanted to maximize his time with her and... and... that wasn't an excuse.

If Luna had just become his wife and not been murdered Noct wouldn't have turtled up so much. He'd have taken time away from her, he needed to, Prompto is his best friend. He needs to spend time with him but losing Luna... it made him want to hoard every second with her because he had no idea how long they had together.

"Glad you're here... Glad you stuck with me through all the awfulness... through Niflheim and... me and Luna hiding in our room. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to ignore you."

The only thing Prompto wanted for Noct - and Iggy and Gladio, too - was to be happy. And if not happy, at least a little less burdened. It couldn't have been easy, losing everything like they had. Of course he had to do what he could to keep spirits up. He's ... not sure that he succeeded half the time.

He was happy for Noct. And Luna. It was the way things were supposed to be, before Ardyn took it all away. If the price for his friend's happiness was being ignored for a while, Prompto was totally okay with that.

"Where else would I be, dude? You're my best friend." And unless the Atroma vanished one of them away, he was going to continue to stick by his friend. "I understand. It's okay. You needed to be with her."

They can be happy together, that's what they were doing before this. Right? They didn't lose everything. They still had each other. And cup noodles... cup noodles would never let them down. Prompto did an amazing job and he doesn't give himself enough credit. Noct wouldn't have made it without Prompto. Not through Gladio's tough love and not through Iggy's campaign for vegetables.

Noct had to apologize though, it wasn't fair to Prompto who was just as lost and out of place in the fleet as he was. He latched on to Luna and he had his reasons but it wasn't right.

"I wanted to spend all the time I could with her because we won't get another chance... and I did that. But I need to focus on the other people in my life too. You've always stuck with me, even when I was too busy to see you in school. You're my best friend... and staying with me has brought you nothing but pain." he sighed.

Nothing but pain... Prompto shakes his head. "Noct... That's not true. Maybe things got bad... No, things definitely got bad. But I wanted to be there. With you. For you. That's what friends do. That's not ever gonna change."

And, that sounded really cheesy. Way too real. He scrubs a hand over his face with another sigh. These conversations were always so hard.

"You crashing with me for a while, bud?" It hasn't occurred to him that this might be more than temporary.

Tragedy ensues or how a married man came to be a roomate

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