The day was coming to an end. The sky was tinged with pastel yellows and oranges as the sun made its descent creating a beautiful sunset just visible through the trees that hugged each other above Noctis' head.
"Lovely evening," Ignis called from behind where he sat atop of his chocobo walking side by side with Gladiolus and his own feathered friend. Prompto was just ahead, reaching the spot where they would settle down for the night and wait for the daemons to come and go.
"I win!" Prompto leapt off his golden bird and started to jump up and down, dancing like he'd just won a gold medal in the Olympics.
"It's not a race, it's a journey." Ignis quoted, ever the wise owl.
Once they alighted, Gladio dumped the camping equipment on the ground with a loud thud and sighed, stretching his arms whilst Prompto dumped himself onto the ground with a much quieter thud (that boy was as light as a feather), crossing his legs and looking up at the others.
"What d'ya think you're doing? The tent needs putting up," Gladio huffed.
Noctis took one of the folded chairs and opened it up before sitting down in it opposite Prompto and yawning, stretching out his whole body. Gladio could do nothing but shake his head and turn to Ignis.
"Boys, come now, this is a group effort. I will be cooking as always tonight and Gladio has put the tent up for the past three nights whilst you two have sat on your rear ends."
"Fiiiine," Prompto groaned.
"Jeez, mom. Calm down." Noctis added.
"If you want to act like children, then you will be treated as such." Ignis reprimanded. "We're running low on supplies and it's almost dark. I suggest Gladio and I go and stock up whilst you put the tent up."
"Why can't we just stock up in the morning?" Prompto chided.
"I need a couple of ingredients for tonight's dinner. Is that a problem?"
Prompto held up his hands in defense. "Noooo, sir."
"It's settled then." Ignis started to head in the direction of the nearest store as Gladio chuckled to himself before jogging to catch up to Ignis. Once they were out of earshot, Noctis tilted his head.
"Y'know," he slid out his chair and onto the ground, getting on all fours. "I can think of something much more fun than setting up a tent," he continued whilst he crawled his way over to Prompto on his hands and knees.
Prompto giggled and a flush of red rose up in his cheeks. "They'll kill us if the tent isn't set up when they get back."
"I'll take the blame. They can't kill royalty." Noctis smirked as he reached Prompto. A spark ignited in Prompto's eyes as he lifted his head up to meet Noctis', all worries of what Ignis and Gladio would say gone. Noctis lowered himself, his forehead touching Prompto's, so close he could feel his breath on his face. His lips connected with Prompto's and he felt a rush of adrenaline, of passion, coarsing through his body until suddenly the sensation left as quickly as it came. His lips were no longer on Prompto's. He opened his eyes to find Prompto's were looking elsewhere.
"Uh.. Noct." Noctis moved his gaze over to where Prompto's lay. To the side of them stood Prompto's chocobo staring directly at them. "I think she's jealous," Prompto whispered.
"Neeeh, she's just admiring the love we have for one another," Noctis replied with a chuckle, using his index finger to turn Prompto's head so he could kiss him once more. His eyes closed and puckered his lips against Prompto's but he couldn't quite feel any reciprocation of the kiss. He opened his eyes to see Prompto's looking toward the chocobo again, this time his head unmoved.
"Prompto!" Noctis snapped.
"I'm sorry! I just, I can't hav in front of a chocobo. It's wrong!"
"Yes, you can have SEX in front of a chocobo."
"Shhh! She'll hear you!"
Noctis exhaled, resting his head in his hands. "Right then," Noctis stood up and walked over to the bird, wafting his hands to make a shooing gesture. "Look, all the other birds are minding their own business, go join them!" He looked down at the ground shaking his head at the pointlessness of it all, as if a chocobo could understand what he was saying.
"Kweh!" The chocobo jumped in its spot, flapping its wings a little. Noctis could hear a giggle come from behind him.
"You try it then," Noctis sighed, giving up and swapping places with Prompto. Noctis watched but couldn't seem to hear what Prompto was saying, he appeared to be whispering something to his chocobo and stroking its head. It didn't work, it only elicited the same response that Noctis got.
"Kweh!"
"See, not so easy is it?" Noctis wore a smug expression. A crease formed between Prompto's eyebrows, his mouth set in a hard line.
"I've lost my power, I used to be like the bird whisperer," Prompto whined. He walked back to Noctis feeling defeated. "We could just go back to the car."
"Ugh, we just walked from there and it's another twenty minute walk back and then another twenty minute walk back here after all my energy's used up. I don't think so." Noctis was never the type up for a good hike, even if it meant sacrificing the pleasure that would come as a result of it. The air was quiet and the sky had turned dark. Dusk had fallen upon them. Noctis looked up to see a clear night sky filled with twinkling stars. It was so peaceful until a shriek came from Prompto making Noctis jump.
"Wh- what was that?!"
"What was what? You almost gave me a heart attack."
"Over there, there's something in the bushes." Prompto was now hiding behind Noctis, his hands clinging to his jacket. A rustling noise was coming from the direction Prompto had pointed at before scrambling over to Noctis. "I don't like daemons," Prompto whimpered. The bushes shook with movement.
"It's just the wind Prompto," Noctis said, wriggling free of Prompto's hold. "If it's worrying you that much, I'll go take a look." Noctis walked over to the greenery, engine blade in hand as a precaution. He moved the branches and leaves as quietly as he could to peek through. He had expected a voretooth or some other creature to jump out at him but nothing greeted him. "Prompto," Noctis called over, "there's nothing here. Come take a look." Prompto jogged over and looked through the bushes to find nothing just as Noctis had said. Prompto raised his eyebrows and looked at Noctis. "Hey… There's nothing here," he said followed by a huge grin that spread from ear to ear.
…
"The tent still isn't up!" Gladio growled.
"Where on Eos are they?" Ignis pondered, his finger and thumb stroking his chin as he looked around. "Ah! There!" Ignis caught a glimpse in the corner of his eye of two scrawny looking pale men running towards them.
"Daemons?" Gladio hesitated before summoning his greatsword. Noctis and Prompto reached them, putting their hands on their knees and panting heavily. "Where are the monsters?" Gladio asked.
"N-n-no monsters," Prompto stuttered, gasping for breath.
"Wait a minute…" Gladio took in the sight before him. Noctis and Prompto were both red in the face, glancing at each other and trying but completely failing to stop themselves from smiling and giggling. Ignis walked over to Prompto and plucked a leaf from his hair. The pair looked up at Ignis. "What in Six have you been doing? The tent equipment hasn't even moved an inch." Ignis' brow furrowed. "Uh… foraging." It was the first thing that came to Noctis' head.
"Foraging?" Ignis looked as though he'd been hit with a confusion spell.
Gladio chuckled, "Is that so? Noct. You might wanna sort your pants out."
Noctis looked down to find his button undone and his zip still down. His face was only just returning to its normal colour when it flushed bright red again in an instant.
"You know, if the tent were up, it would have been of much more comfort to you both," Ignis observed, finally catching on. Gladio grabbed his stomach, bending over laughing so loud it bellowed out into the night.
Noctis turned to Prompto, his cheeks still as red as a Lucian tomato.
"Maybe we should put the tent up next time."
Notes: this is my first fanfic! Please feel free to give me feedback and thank you to anyone who reads! Enjoy~