A short story for wingedskyes on twitter
Happy Valentine's day! Hope you enjoyed the FFXValentines gift exchange!
Prompto held up his pistol and took aim. The Sabertusk jumped at Noctis. He shot. It went down.
"Nice shot Prompto!" Noctis said before turning his attention towards the next attacker. Prompto grinned and shot down another.
"Hole in one!" He said with a laugh. He picked off one more as the others finished off the rest.
Prompto holstered his gun and stepped over the dead creatures to get to his friends.
"Well, that's a few less Sabertusks for the people to worry about." He said, throwing his arm over Noctis' shoulder.
"I believe that means our work here is done." Ignis said. He pulled out a notebook, different from the one he used for his recipes, and made note of what they'd done.
"Aaand you know what that means!" He released his friend and gave his hands a quick, enthusiastic clap. "Time to go tell Cindy the good news!" He turned and dashed off, bellowing dramatically, "To Hammerhead!" He was already a hundred feet away by the time Noctis had time to shout at him.
"Hey, loverboy! Hammerhead's the other way!"
Prompto skidded to a stop and twisted back to face his friends, who were dashing after him to catch up.
"What are you talking about, Noct? We came this way."
"I know that," Said Noctis, patting his friend on the shoulder with a smirk, "just wanted you to wait for us." Prompto groaned as he moped behind them.
"But this is Cindy we're talking about! The beautiful, amazing, grease-monkey goddess in a trucker hat!" He said with a whimsical sigh.
"Too bad she's only interested in the car." Gladio said.
Prompto crossed his arms and frowned.
"Well, then maybe all I need to do is be more... Car-like." He said. Noctis let a snort of laughter, but recovered quickly.
"Car-like, huh?" Gladio asked, "You mean you're high maintenance and the ride leave you bored out of your mind?"
This time, Noctis could barely breath. He was laughing so hard he had to lean on a nearby rock for support. Even Ignis could barely conceal a chuckle. Prompto, on the other hand, was not amused.
"Oh lighten up, Prom." said Noctis once he'd recovered, "You gotta admit, you walked right into that." Prompto's scowled harder at his friends and stomped past his them.
"Oh, you make fun of me now. But once I figure out what the car as that I don't, her heart will go from zero to sixty!" Prompto made a "zoom" motion with his hand and a "pichoo" noise with his mouth, which only served to make them laugh at him again.
They were not laughing, however, when he wouldn't get off the hood of the Regalia the next morning.
"Come on, Prompto." Noctis groaned, "We need to get going."
"Not until I learn the way of the car." He said. He was laying face down on the Regalia, is arms splayed like e was trying to give it a hug. He was staring at the paint like it held the answer to the meaning of life. Gladio crossed his arms with a grunt.
"You think scratching the car up is the right way to win her over?"
Prompto pushed himself up to look at his friends.
"You guys just don't get it." He said with a dramatic sigh, draping his arm over his forehead.
"Whatever." Noctis said with an eye roll and dismissive wave before turning to walk away. "Come on guys, let's leave Romeo to it and get something to eat."
Prompto watched them leave, then let out a sigh before flopping back down.
He stared, and stared, and stared until he felt himself going cross eyed. The guys started to get worried when he hadn't moved all day.
"Dude, you even still alive?" Asked Noctis, poking his arm. Prompto held out a finger to shush him.
"Shhh! You're interrupting." He said quietly, before his arm fell down in the same place it had been all morning. The sun was shining hot on Prompto's back, but he stuck to it with stubborn determination. Not out of some delusion that the car would start speaking to him and give him advice on is love life, but determination to continue until the guys felt bad enough to apologize. Him and Cindy wasn't totally outside the realm of possibility, he assured himself. The guys just didn't know when to stop harassing him. All he needed was the right moment to impress her, show her his good side, and then he'd finally be on her radar.
"Whatchya doin' out here, darlin?"
Prompto snapped back from the edge of dream land and turned his head. Cindy was standing there, the storm lights that lit up the garage at night made her hair glow like a halo. Prompto felt his face go pink and tried to arrange himself in a cooler pose.
"Oh, hey there Cindy! Didn't hear you walk up."
Cindy chuckled and put a hand on the hood on the Regalia, leaning her weight on it and jutting out her hip.
"What's the matter? The boys kick y'out or somethin'?"
Prompto sighed."No, no. Not exactly..." He stared down at the sleek paint of the Regalia, and decided to take a chance. "Hey, Cindy?"
"Hm?"
"Why do you like cars?"
She smiled and said. "What's not to like? They're complicated, but simple all at once. The more ya work, the more they shine." She took her eyes off Prompto to look down at the car.
"And they're plum gorgeous too." She ran her hand down the hood. "Almost takes yer breath away." She said quietly.
"Yeah..." Agreed Prompto, not looking at the car.
"Hey, ya think you could do me a teeny lill' favor?" She asked, turning back to Prompto.
"Anything." He said instantly.
"Do ya think we could sit inside 'er fer a bit?" Her eyes were lit up like the stars overhead.
"Uh, sure I guess." He said. He pushed himself off the hood and walked over to try the doors. Not locked. Ignis must have assumed that if someone tired to get in it, he'd have sounded the alarm. Not that a locked door would have stopped anyone wit the top still down. He opened the door wide with a bow.
"Ladies first." He said with a smile. Cindy chuckled.
"My, aren't you a charmer."
She slid in and sank into the seat.
"Mmmmmn. Feels as nice as it looks."
"Don't you sit in here, like, all the time? When you're fixing it I mean." He said as he sat next to her, pulling the door closed behind him so he had something to lean on. She shook her head.
"Usually under the hood, and ya just don't get in a car with grease on yer hands. Y'think I'd risk getting that junk on the interior?"
"Huh, I guess not..."
Things went quiet after that. Cindy had her eyes closed and seemed to be sinking into the seats, while Prompto just sat there and watched her for a bit. Eventually he decided that she'd probably think it was creepy if she caught him, so he leaned his head back to look at the sky instead. Ignis had told him about the constellations around here before. What their names were, their history, and the names of some of the major stars in them. But the lights around the garage made it hard to see them, with only the brightest stars shining through.
Prompto decided to turn it into a big game of connect-the-dots to pass the time. He pointed one finger to the sky and used it to draw invisible lines to connect the stars, trying to make a recognizable shape. He was so absorbed in racking his brain on how to make it work, he didn't realize that Cindy had moved until he felt a weight on his chest.
"Whatchya up to now?" She said, a lot closer than before.
Prompto jerked his head down and hit his chin on the top of Cindy's head. Both of them jolted up and let out a shout of discomfort. Prompto rubbed his chin to try to sooth it as he said,
"I'm sorry, Cindy. I was so distracted I didn't even notice you there."
Cindy laughed as she took off her hat to massage her sore scalp. She twisted her torso so she could face Prompto and said,
"Don't worry yer'self none. I didn't mean to scare yah."
To Prompto's surprise, she turned right back around and started leaning back again. A moment of panic swept over him and he tried to comfortably adjust himself to suport her. Luckly, he found himself a comfortable position just before her head came to rest on him again. Now free of the cap, her hair tickled his jawline and neck, causing a steady pink blush to rise up his cheeks.
"Now," she said, "what were yah pointin' at?" She mimicked him, pointing her finger finger at the sky and waving it around.
"Oh, yeah. Uh, that." He said. "I was, uh, trying to make up some constellations. You can't see all the stars right now, so you don't have much to work with. But the challenge makes it kinda fun."
He was gesturing the whole time with his hands. He was afraid that, if he let his arms fall, they'd end up draped over her exposed midriff. Which was something he was not ready for.
"Oh really?" She asked, amusement coloring her voice. "Well what've you come up with?"
Prompto sighed in frustration,
"Nothing." He said. "It's really giving me a hard time."
He traced out the patterns he'd found for her as he continued. "I the just don't make sense together."
"What about those right there?" Cindy said, tracing a pair of Vs in the sky. Prompto sqwinted, but he could't see any stars where she was pointing.
"Ta me," she said, shifting against Prompto, "they look like lips," she turned herself around so she was facing him, "about ta kiss."
Prompto's mind was running a mile a minute. She was looking at him through her lashes. She was close enough he could feel her breath. He was panicking.
But he panicked even more when her face changed to one of disappointment and she started to push herself off him. It was understandable that'd she take his deer-in-the-headlights look and inaction as a rejection, but he hadn't meant it that way. Before he could stop himself, he went for it. He wrapped his arms around her, puller her back to him, and pressed his over puckered lips against hers.
It was a quick kiss. Prompto pulled away quickly, his face tomato red as he tried to avoid looking at Cindy. She stayed quiet for a minute. Prompto was sure he'd messed things up. He was in the middle of putting together an apology when he heard her start to laugh. She laughed and laughed until she was out of breath, which was music to Prompto's ears.
"Well now," she said once she'd finally recovered, "didn't think it'd go quite like that."
She gave him a peck on the cheek and added, "But i'm glad I won't be goin' ta bed disappointed."
Prompto laughed and scratched the back of his head.
"Same here."
She smiled, and laid her head down on Prompto's chest. He smiled down at her and patted down her frizzy hair, is other hand running up and down her back. Shortly after, Prompto noticed that Cindy's breathing had changed. Realizing that she'd fallen asleep, and that he wasn't getting up any time soon, he wrapped both arms around her and closed his eyes to get some rest too.
"Well I'll be..." Ignis said the next morning, seeing his blonde companion cuddling with the object of his affection in the backseat of the Regalia. Gladio walked up next to him and leaned on his shoulder.
"Think he could teach me that?" Gladio said with a smirk. Ignis rolled his eyes and shrugged him off.
"Come now, let's give them some peace." He turned and walked back towards the camper they'd stayed in overnight. Gladio took one last look at the happy couple, smiling peacefully as they held each other close in their sleep, and followed after him.
"Might as well." He thought, watching the sun rise slowly into the sky. "Noctis won't let him hear the end of it once he finds out anyway."