Spring Quay

Prompto opened his bleary eyes to the strange sun lit bedroom and reached out for his glasses before he remembered that he didn't need them anymore. He hadn't for a few months, but old habits die hard. Especially when you were still half asleep.

Reaching down on the floor he found his pants and fished through his pockets for his phone. The first pocket had his wallet and a few empty condom wrappers. He flipped his pants over and his phone clattered loudly to the ground.

There was a groan and the form behind him on the bed shifted and rolled over before draping an arm around his middle.

Prompto picked up his phone and rubbed his eyes as he turned it on and checked the time. His eyes went wide and he blinked hard again to focus his vision. "FUCK!" He launched himself out of the bed and threw his pants on before looking around for his shoes. He shoved them on his feet without bothering to find his socks as the man still in the bed sat up in alarm.

"What's the matter?"

Prompto turned quickly to the raven haired man his age and pulled his shirt over his head. "Overslept, gotta run! Sorry."

The blonde was already out the door and a few steps when the man still in the bed yelled, "Hey, wait! I never got your name."

In truth Prompto did feel bad leaving so quickly, but this was one of the worst days for his alarm to not go off. The bus for Galdin Quay was leaving in an hour and there was no way he was going to miss it.

Thank the gods that he was a fast runner. His parents house was maybe a mile away and he managed to make it in six minutes flat. He burst into his house and yelled out "I'm home," without expecting any sort of response. There rarely was.

He sprinted upstairs and brushed his teeth while he let the water in the shower warm up. He kicked his sneakers off and stripped himself of the clothes that still smelled like the alcohol and cigarettes of the night before. He tossed his wet toothbrush in his prepacked bag (thank you for the suggestion Ignis). He hopped in the shower, scrubbing off the sweat, sex, and the film of shame he always had after another random club hookup.

He really hadn't intended to go home with anyone, but this guy from last night…what was his name? He'd had shoulder length raven hair, pale skin, and a build similar to his own. His voice was deeper than he normally went for, so when they were in bed Prompto had tried his best to either keep something in his mouth or his face mashed into the pillows. It had worked for the most part and Prompto could let his mind wander to who he wished were really in bed with him.

Prompto shook his head to bring himself back to reality and killed the water. He didn't have time for fantasies at the moment.

Drying and brushing his hair without bothering with styling products (those were already in his bag anyway) he quickly threw on a band t-shirt and a snug pair of jeans before finding where he'd kicked his sneakers. He did a final sweep of his room to make sure he had everything before grabbing his backpack, a breakfast bar, and dashing out the door.

Running was a little slower with the backpack, but the bus station wasn't too far from his home. He arrived a few minutes later to find the bus idling at the curb and two annoyed Glaives in civilian wear looking at him. "H-Hey guys," Prompto said, a little winded. He probably should have drank some water while he was at the house.

Libertus crossed his arms. "And here I thought we'd only have to babysit one kid this trip."

Prompto chuckled nervously. "No such luck. Where's Noct?"

"On the bus already. Hop on, it's about to leave."

"Thanks." Prompto gave his bad to the driver to stow and climbed on. The bus was packed with people. Most of which per Prompto and Noct's age, some he remembered from school but fortunately most of them were new faces. There was one woman with her brunette hair tied up in a lazy bun that Prompto recognized as another Glaive. She had one food sprawled out over the two seats next to her, presumably to save the seat for the others. When she saw Prompto board she silently thumbed toward the back of the bus.

Prompto looked and sure enough there was Noctis, tucked away half way down the bus against a window. He looked up briefly and waved his friend over before returning to his game. "Hey, Buddy. Sorry I'm late."

"S'okay. You made it before we left at least. I called you a few times."

"You did?" Prompto looked at his phone and indeed there were a few missed calls. "Guess I was in the shower. Sorry man I overslept."

Noctis' blue eyes glanced up. "That explains the hair. It's been a while since you've let it hang."

Prompto rubbed the back of his head nervously. He was sure his hair looked a mess from running and the sweat from in between his house and the bus stop. "Y-yeah. Well my gel was in the bag, so I figured I'd just do it when we got there."

The prince shrugged. "You might as well leave it down for now. I don't know about you, but I plan on taking a dive in the water the moment we get there."

Prompto noticed that Noctis was already clad in his swim trunks and upon looking around the bus he noticed that most of the patrons were clad similarly. He felt oddly overdressed in his jeans and sneakers.

There was the telltale clicks and clangs of the stowage below being shut and locked as Libertus and the third Glaive came on board followed by the bus driver. The Glaives were clad in civilian attire, but in all honesty they couldn't have stood out more. The three of them were at least five years older than most of the bus riders and not born crown citizens. If that wasn't enough they kept scanning the crowd with their eyes intermittently. The only one that didn't look like a straight up body guard was the woman with the messy bun. She had her nose buried in the paperback she'd brought.

Noctis sighed next to Prompto and mumbled under his breath, "If they didn't know someone famous was on the bus yet, the do now." He pouted and clicked away at his mobile game.

Prompto whispered back. "Oh, don't worry Noct. Most of these guys are too excited to notice anything." He elbowed his best friend. "Seriously man, our first real spring break away from home. Aren't you even a little bit excited?" He tilted his head so he was nearly between Noct's phone and his face.

When the prince could ignore him no more he cracked a smile. "Okay, fine. I am excited."

"Yeaaahh. Thought so." Prompto made a fist and playfully shoved Noct's shoulder as the bus pulled away from the station and out toward the gates of Insomnia.

The bus ride was a few hours long and inevitably Prompto had dozed off at some point along with most of the bus. At some point the road took a hairpin turn, causing the blonde to stir awake and rub the back of his stiff neck. He was immediately greeted with a pleasant weight on his shoulder.

Noctis was leaning on him as he dozed. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but Prompto counted his blessings every time it did. There were times after school when Ignis was driving him around that Noctis would doze off in the short space of time in between school and training with Gladio. He liked to grab his cat naps when he could and more often than not he ended up slumping over to the only other body in the back seat, him.

Prompto leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes as he enjoyed the moment before some of the other riders started to stir and make noise. A few palm trees zipped by the windows and soon the entered a tunnel before emerging to a view that was worthy of a post card. The waters of Galdin Quay were lapis lazuli blue and surrounded by a ring of sand the color of raw sugar. Everyone got up and started looking out the south facing windows. Prompto would have loved to get a photo, but they were moving too fast so he just enjoyed the view while he could. Maybe he'd trek up the hill for a photo later.

The bus made another hairpin turn and Noctis flopped off Prompto's shoulder towards the window, waking him. He reached his arms up and yawned. "Are we there yet?"

"Gettin' there. Just a few more minutes."

The bus slowed and then crept to a stop in the parking lot before the doors opened and a veritable flood of people exited. A few minutes later they had their bags and they, along with the Glaives, hurried toward the western edge of the beach to try and claim the haven for themselves. Thankfully they seemed to be early to the festivities as most of the patrons were too busy harassing the Quay staff for rooms or caravan rentals to even consider the haven.

It was the first one Prompto had seen in real life and honestly it seemed a little intimidating to step up on to with its glowing runes and already smoldering fire. There was a faint tingle to the air around it and he figured it had something to do with its daemon warding properties. It made his skin itch for some reason at first, but he quickly got used to it. Noctis didn't seem as affected by it. Odd.

"Hey," Noct said, "hurry up and get your swimsuit on. I want to get in the water before everyone else does."

Prompto smiled at his friend and poked through his bag before finding his trunks. He hopped down to the other side of the haven facing away from the crowd and quickly shed his jeans and slid his swimsuit on. Climbing back up to put his pants and shirt away he grabbed his towel and sunblock.

Noctis had already kicked off his shoes and dropped his shirt on top of them. Prompto tried his best to keep his eyes on his friends face, though Noct didn't seem to notice when he failed a few times. The prince was filling out nicely due to his training with Gladio and the handful of jog's Prompto had talked him into. "Ready?" Noct asked.

Prompto was brought back to reality and smiled. "Hell yeah I am. Let's go."

X~X~X

Alright, I'm gonna pull what I did with "Shed Some Light On Things" and ask you guys what you want to read as I go. I've got a vague idea what I want to happen and its gonna cause a lot of frustration and misunderstandings. But I'm writing this for you guys after all, so comment and let me know what YOU want. Lay it on me!