In Aeternum

(for eternity)

a Brotherhood - Final Fantasy XV inspired fanfiction

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XV and the characters therein are copyright and owned by Square Enix. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. This work is the intellectual property of the author, is available and intended solely for the enjoyment of mature readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.

Genre: slash, romance, fluff and humor
Pairings: Noctis/Prompto
Warnings: yaoi (Rating M, as in m/m sex)

Summary: Noctis POV of the events depicted in the second episode of the Brotherhood anime, and beyond. ;)

Comment by author: Hey everyone!

Wow, so now that E3 is over, it's time to get down to business with all the new information director Tabata has given us! And finally! Finally we have the official ages of the protagonists! For everyone who doesn't know it yet:
Noctis is 20.
Prompto is 20.
Ignis is 22.
Gladio is 23.

Gosh I feel so old now ;_;, haha! It doesn't really matter to me, because in my mind Noctis is 23, Prompto is 22, Ignis is 26 and Gladio is 27 ;).
And Noctis is Virgo! Ha, I knew it! In real-life he would be the perfect match for me, lol. No wonder I feel attracted towards him (not only because of his obvious gorgeous looks). ;)))

Back to the matter at hand *clears throat*. This story follows the second episode of Brotherhood, only with an added romantic twist later on (well, my old readers know me and my preferences by now). After watching the second Brotherhood episode, I now love Prompto even more than before! His quirky behavior makes so much sense now. He's so endearing to watch as he gives his all to change himself for the better for Noctis' sake. This just screams for a nice Noctis POV, right? I just had to take the wheel to write more about those cannon events. And by the way, in my story, Luna is quite the meddling girl ;). I like cannon Luna more and more as well. I really liked her sneaky way, of telling Prompto to become Noctis' friend in pretending as if he already was Noctis' friend.
This was such a great episode!

Well then, have fun reading everyone! Please don't forget to drop a comment or two, let me know what you think! :)
Kamuel

P.S.:

to all new readers, English is my third language, so I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors that I made! This story is not proof-readed yet.

Chapter One

...

"Noct?"

"Hm...?" I answer absentmindedly, staring at nothing in particular as I allow myself for the umpteenth time to indulge in heartfelt reminiscences.

Prom chuckles, shifting closer to cuddle up to me. "You are lost in thoughts again, aren't you? And I can't help but notice that you are doing this a lot lately."

"Hn..." I confirm casually, my mind still far away.

Prom teases my chest with feather light caresses, inching further up to me, a playful tone in his voice when he murmurs inside my ear, "My King, should I get worried?"

His warm exhales of breath are tickling my skin and I turn my head towards him with a tender smile, hoping that my expression is able to convey how much I treasure and adore him. I continue to gaze into his gorgeous bright blue eyes as my arms pull him up to meet my lips in a gentle, soft kiss.

Prom is a loyal friend to me, a confidant, a protector, and heaven... he has that unique, uncanny ability to lift me up whenever I feel down.

He's my all.

"What's on your mind? Come on, tell me..."

I'm squirming under him, erupting in soft laughter as his cheeky hands search out my ticklish, weak spots. His bright smile when he sees my reaction is so damn infectious!

Even after all these years that we spent together, I'm still speechless and full of admiration at Prom's fierce dedication towards me. I definitely won't ever take his honest devotion for granted. What he and I share is very special and rare. And so I promised to myself to not only cherish him with my whole being, but to be open with my feelings in return to his own. But... talking about my feelings is always an odd ordeal for me. My emotions are oftentimes a complicated mess. There is this fear inside of me, that my brain cells would melt down to the top of my toes if I allow my thoughts to linger too much on them.

So I proceed to pull Prom into a loving embrace, distracting him from further torturing me with his wicked pokes on my sensitive sides, hoping that the hug can calm my rapid beating heart.

He nuzzles the side of my face tenderly, placing soft kisses on each one of my closed eyelids, which makes me smile fondly against his skin.

Only after a great deal of coaxing do I relent. "I have to tell you something." I admit to him finally. "I've been lost in my thoughts lately, especially tonight, probably staring like a complete idiot at the wall the entire time because I was asking myself again and again if I truly am worth all the trouble you've gone through for my sake in the past."

His wide eyes suddenly search mine out, sending me a scolding stare. "Not this again. Noct, how many times do I need to repeat to you that you're my entire world? You know there is nothing that I wouldn't do for you-"

Instantly my hand comes up to stop him from speaking any further, my forefinger touches his soft lips slightly, saying, "I know. I am aware."

Heaven... he's so damn sweet, my heart almost can't take it all in.

He tilts his head in confusion. "Then, what is this really about?"

Clearing my throat, I avoid his eyes bashfully as I say, "Prom, I know we have never spoken about this, but I think it's time for me to tell you something important that's been on my mind for the past few weeks. It involves our past, of how we have met."

Prom shifts in my arms to get into a comfortable position and I shyly glance at him right when a playful grin appears on his lips. "It's about time we talk about it."

I send him a fond smile in answer, stroking the side of his lovely face in tender motions before I let my hand rest against the warm skin. And then I begin my tale.

Memories of a far past reach the forefront of my mind. Of a time, when Prom and I were only thirteen years young, when he and I were nothing more than mere acquaintances...

(10 years earlier)

...

"Kyaaah! Look, it's Prince Noctis!"

"Prince Noctis!"

I can only stay there, rooted to the spot as my body freezes up, when several giggling girls manage to ambush right into what would be my only safe haven around this place.

"Finally, there you are!"

"Your Highness, we still have so many questions!"

My eyebrow is twitching nervously. Can somebody kindly remind me of the reason I'm here again?

Oh, right. I'm hiding. At least I was, until they found me.

One would think that I would be safe here, hiding from those hysterical girls, in the boys lavatory no less. What joke is this? Honest to Eos, this school is full of lunatics. I wish this could be a proper nightmare, so that Carbuncle, my dear friend from my lucid dreams would come out to swipe this madness away with his fluffy tail once and for all.

I start to shuffle my feet on the ground, getting nervous for no reason when the girls come closer to where I stand. Can you imagine, they were following me all the way to the bathroom. How crazy is that? I'm sending all kinds of grateful prayers up to the Goddess Eos, for she obviously saved me from completely embarrassing myself in front of the entire female population of my school. Just imagine the terror if my dedicated fan-club members stumbled into the bathroom right when I still had small-Noctis outside my pants to take a pee. The horror! Girls these days have absolutely no reservations, nor any proper manners. It's utterly appalling.

"You didn't tell us the last time we met about your servants, nor about all the riches at your place. How many are there? We are sooo curious!"

"Gosh, don't start. My nose starts bleeding! His private rooms must look beautiful!"

"Right? They must be!"

"Yeah, just imagine all the luxury inside the entire palace... kyaaah! I want to seeeee!"

"Pssst, imagine all the luxury inside of his bedroom... ohmygosh!"

The girls start to giggle among each other, blushing, and I have to roll my eyes in exasperation.

Rest assured girls, none of you will ever get a glimpse of my bedroom anytime soon.

I can't stop a shudder from running up my spine. How in the world of Eos did they find their way down here? Did they spy on me? There are so many bathrooms inside this blasted school, how come there was no teacher around to stop them? I'm quite appalled that girls can enter this place so easily.

Maybe I should just wash my hands? Maybe they become bored with me and they will walk away on their own. Hopefully.

"Whuaaah, look, he washes his hands!"

"Kyaah! Our Prince is behaving so proper, so admirably and he's soooo, so cool! Quick, take a picture!"

Are they serious?!

Girls!

I try my best not to stare them down. Be polite, Noctis, be polite.

I'll never understand girls. They will forever stay a mystery to me.

"See? He's a proper, well-mannered Prince after all, not like all those other guys around here. They all behave like swines. Not washing their hands, spitting on the floor, picking their noses and smearing the snot all over their clothes, ugh, it's so gross to watch."

All girls agree mutually, nodding their heads in unison.

I imagine right now how good it would feel to hit my head against that flat surface of the mirror in front of me. Will it hurt as much as I hope to? Will I get back to reality? Because I'm sure by now that this is a nightmare.

"Prince Noctis is a hundred, no, a thousand levels above them," they continue, "nobody can come close to his commendable upbringing. His father is King Caelum of Lucis after all."

"Noctis is a dream come true."

They all giggle.

"Psssst, a wet dream come true."

More giggling.

Oh man. This gets worse and worse.

Never underestimate girls growing into their puberty, their minds are dirtier than their underwear.

I'm barely aware of leaning towards the mirror now. I think I could really use a good hit on my head right now.

I can hear each and every word they say about me. And I can't stop a shudder from making my intestines cringe awkwardly into knots. Only in passing do I manage to catch a slight glimpse, concealed by my fringe, of that damn closed door behind my shepherd of a fan-club. The gears in my head already, carefully, desperately planning my smart escape. I wonder how many steps I'm going to need to take, to have a good start ahead when I find myself in the middle of running away? Twenty? Fifty? Too bad I can't show off my warping abilities to anyone.

My fan-club continues to whisper conspiratorially to another, proceeding to worship whatever fake image they have of me in their naive and shallow minds. Of course, they would be curious about my 'cool' and 'rich' lifestyle. Who isn't these days? The tabloid papers are full of rotten things about my family. These people do not care about me as a person at all. No matter which school I go to, it's always the same drama around me. I still don't understand why my father insists that I go to a public school.

My past showed me enough times already that here I'll never meet any honest friends...

And just when I finish that last line of my disheartening thoughts, to my luck and to the girls own misfortune, another boy suddenly appears into the bathroom.

"W-what are you all doing? Girls have no business in here, g-get out or I'll report you to the teachers." He finishes his stuttering and reprimanding speech as he sends a glare at them to make himself much more threatening.

It seems to work and I'm hiding my snort behind my hand.

"Kyaaaaah! Let's run!"

The girls start screaming at being caught, their faces red as ripe tomatoes, and I allow myself to sigh out in relief when they finally get out of this place.

The boy who just rescued me stands now at the door, unmoving, looking down and fiddling with his camera. He gives off the vibe of being very shy and uncertain in my presence, as if not knowing if he should come in or go out of the bathroom.

I have to hide a fond smile. Wasn't his name Prompto? He always seems so nice.

Actually, it's not the first time we have stumbled upon each other. I still wait for him to speak to me again. All he has done until now is to sneak around me and to run away whenever he became aware of me watching him. This curious behavior did start a few days ago, after we've met for the first time at my previous hiding place, which was in the dark shadows behind the abandoned sports hall no one uses anymore since yesteryear.

I mean, Prompto made me understand that he wants us to become friends, right? Then why is he avoiding me everytime?

Maybe he waits for me to say something first? Of course, oh I'm so stupid! How did I not think about this possibility before? I'm so used to other people approaching me all the time.

I scratch the back of my head.

Well then. How do I start? What do I say to him?

For one, I'm really curious about those pictures he seems to take all the time. I want to take a look at them. I guess this is a good opening to get him to talk to me.

All right. You can do this Noctis!

So I take a few, careful steps forward, as if I'm about to approach a frightened deer. But just when I'm about to make my flowery introductory speech (which I have yet to compose in my head), the school bell rings and he turns around to walk away, muttering something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like 'not yet" before he goes around the corner and I lose sight of him.

I can only stand there in the silence of the bathroom, unblinking.

Drops of water can be heard echoing as they fall mercilessly into the dirty drain of the sink.

Uhm, yeah.

What just happened?

He left just like that.

Well, nobody can say that I didn't at least try. I should congratulate myself for being courageous enough to approach him, yes.

Maybe I get to talk to him next time we meet, hopefully?

I can't help but feel a little bit disappointed. I just don't like to let things unfinished.

Just... what is it about Prompto that makes me so curious to get to know him?

...

"Umbra!"

I'm finally home from a long day at school and I hurry into my bedroom, crouching down to lift Luna's cute puppy up into my arms, asking him, "What are you doing here? Where is Pryna? Is everything okay?"

Umbra's small, wiggling tail continues to hit my chest with vigor, seemingly overwhelmed with joy to see me again.

I chuckle softly as I take off Luna's letter, which is bound around his leg. The puppy catches me by surprise when he starts to lick all over my face and I fall backwards on the floor in laughter, holding him up so that he can't reach my face again. "Haha, wait Umbra! I need to read Luna's message first. We can play afterward, okay? I promise!"

Umbra woofs louder, his small paws trying to reach for me, whining and being obviously very eager to play with me, but for the time being I place him down next to my leg to stroke gently over his dark and soft fur before I unfold the letter.

"Good boy." I praise the puppy with a wide smile when he places his chin on my thigh, watching me with big eyes and waiting patiently. This is not the first time where I get the strange feeling that Luna's dogs can understand human language... but I'm sure this is only my wild imagination.

I turn my attention back to the letter in my hand. I'm eager and worried at the same time to know what has taken so long for Luna's reply to reach me. I hope everything is all right.

'Dear Noctis,

I hope Umbra reaches you in good health. I apologize about Pryna's long absence. On her way to Insomnia, she got caught up into a little accident and along the way she strayed from her path. But please do not worry. It seems it was the will of Eos that Pryna was found and looked after by a very kindhearted friend of mine. After a little research, Gentiana found out that he goes the same school as yours. His name is Prompto Argentum. As you know, my dear Noctis, because of my position and because of the current state of political affairs in Tenebrae, I am unable to express my heartfelt gratitude towards Prompto in person. That's why, as your friend, I'd like to request kindly your assistance. Please search out Prompto and make sure that he is doing well. Be a good friend, in the same way you are to me. Protect him. Noctis, do you think you can do this for me?'

I stop reading Luna's letter for a moment to stare absentmindedly at Umbra. My fingers fondle his fluffy ears as I get lost in my erratic thoughts.

Prompto saved Pryna and he looked after her? Why didn't I know of this before?

And Luna wishes for me to become his friend? To protect him?

Images of Prompto trying to talk to me all week suddenly come up in my head, images of him standing shyly at the bathroom door at school and muttering 'not yet' before he dashes away.

With renewed resolve I straighten myself up.

All right. Luna depends on me to make sure that Prompto is doing well. She has done so much for me, and she's always so kind to me. How could I ever refuse her request? Not that I would ever want to. Something about Prompto speaks out to me. I wished to be his friend even before Luna mentioned her request in her letter. This coincidence is kinda funny when I think about it.

"Nee, Umbra? What do you think? Isn't Prompto a nice fellow? He looked after your injured sister. Amazing, right?"

Umbra woofs at me as if in confirmation, licking the back of my hand when I caress the dark fur on his small head fondly.

So, Prompto loves photography, right? He carries his camera around every time I see him.

Now, let's see... where are Ignis' books about photography? He must have placed them somewhere in my bookshelf the last time he visited. I need to be prepared before I go and make a fool out of myself.

Hopefully I can meet Prompto tomorrow again.

I can't wait.

...

To be continued. :)