Audra was a simple girl with a simple job at a shoe store. It wasn't much, stocking shelves of shoes day in a day out, but it was enough to pay her rent while she took classes at the local university.
Audra expected the day to unfold like any other: morning classes, followed by a quick stop at one of the many fast food joints for her lunch before her afternoon shift, and then a late night studying for her thesis.
She certainly did not expect to walk in Crown Burger, her chosen poison for that day, to find the grill on fire.
Not the typical sort of sputter of flame when the grease from a burger patty ignited for a second. No, it was two feet of hellfire engulfing the entirety of the grill. She half expected the fire alarm to be blaring, because that's what they existed for, but then Crown Burger wasn't exactly known for its up-to-date and functional systems.
"Um," she said, frozen in the glass door way. As was the way with fast food buildings, the door was heavy and closed fast on her ass, painfully shoving her further into the shop. "Um. Should I call the fire department?"
An obvious question, but then the two guys standing before the grill- holding a fire extinguisher between the two of them- weren't in that process, so she felt the need to ask.
Chocobo (not his real name, obviously, but she could never remember his real name and, let's honest, his hair was chocobo fluff) and the other guy, black haired and vaguely familiar, turned toward her.
Chocobo's face lit up in a beam that rivaled the fire beside him. "Hey, Audra!" (Okay, she felt a bit guilty that he remembered her name.) "Be with you in a sec!"
She severely doubted that, given the state of the grill, but she still nodded and the movement must have jogged her brain because it finally clicked as to why the black haired guy was so familiar.
The flames on the grill suddenly lost their fear inducing awe in the presence of the Crown Fucking Prince of Lucis(™). And with her, a customer, properly greeted, he and Chocobo went back to what had clearly been an argument over the fire extinguisher.
"Come on, Noct, it can't be that hard," Chocobo said to the crown prince, who apparently went by Noct. Cool. "Ignis must have taught you how to use one of these with all the other Keeping Noct Alive shit he does."
"Okay, Prompto, I'll tell him you think he's slacking," Noctis said, rolling his eyes. "He'll love that."
"Dude," Prompto (good, a name at last) said, dropping his side of the extinguisher, eyes now filled with the terror the fire did not incite. "Do not do that."
Prince Noctis didn't seem to appreciate being saddled with the entire weight of the extinguisher, nor did he look thrilled at his flippant idea either.
Audra made a mental note not to cross this Ignis person, especially now that the prince worked(?) at Crown Burger...she squinted. Yes, Prince Noctis was definitely wearing a gray Crown Burger apron with a silver name tag with Noctis scribbled in black.
"Maybe you should call Ignis now," Audra helpfully suggested and they looked back at her. "Since he keeps you alive the rest of the time." They blinked at her and she made a vague gesture at the flames behind them.
"Audra," Prompto said, looking pained, "that's a worse idea than your cinnatwists with ketchup dessert combo."
"Excuse me," Audra flushed because who wanted their bad tastes revealed to the Crown Prince, and also because Prompto remembered that as well, "that's a guilty pleasure for a reason."
"Can you work this thing," Noctis deigned to ask her and she flushed again, shaking her head as her mouth snapped closed. She wasn't sure what it said about the prince for the fact that he couldn't operate a fire extinguisher but then, neither could she, so the thought was moot.
"Where's Gladio?" Prompto craned his neck to look past Noctis. "Isn't he your shield? This is go time for him."
Noctis cast a dismissive look behind Audra. "Dunno. Probably across the street laughing his ass off. Waiting for the flames to reach the ceiling or something."
"Dude, we can't wait that long, pretty sure corporate will notice."
"Maybe you should turn off the grill," Audra suggested, not that that would help her. She had, checking her watch quickly, about twenty minutes to get her lunch, eat, and get to work.
Prompto and Noctis suddenly looked sheepish. "Er," Prompto began. "We did. It's, uh, a magic fire. So, you know."
Audra, being a simple shoe saleswoman, did not know and so she raised both brows and waited for the rest of the story but apparently she was destined to be left ignorant.
She probably should have left as soon as she walked through the door but, well, this was the kind of situation that begged to be seen through. She was also only sixty percent sure that walking out would be considered treason considering it was the Crown Prince standing in front of a magical grill fire. She was committed now.
"Well," she said as the flames now licked the metal range hood. "Your lunch rush is starting soon and I have a shift in, uh, fifteen minutes. So could you maybe, I dunno, magic it again?"
Noctis lowered the extinguisher with a thoughtful look while Prompto snapped his fingers. "Audra, you're a genius."
Prince Noctis nodded in recognition of this fact, though it was followed by a sigh. "Dad is going to kill me when he finds out."
Audra's brain had the decency to register that the 'Dad' in this context referred to King Fucking Regis(™) but somehow it did not short circuit on that, nor when Noctis produced a little flask of shimmering ice from nowhere and doused it on the fire. Weirdly enough, though, it paled in comparison to what the past five minutes had been, which was probably why she asked her next question.
"Do you think you could put in a good word for me? You know, since I basically saved your life? Student loans and all."
It was an effort to reign in her calm when Noctis actually looked like he was considering it.
The downside of her solution was that the grill, and the charred remains of what had been cooking on it, were now frozen. So when Prompto manned the register she ordered some Crown Nuggets, even though they were her least favorite thing on the menu, and some fries, because she was starving and she needed something.
Audra told herself it was a privilege that Noctis, with some instruction from Prompto made her food ("don't use a fucking fire spell this time, dumbass"), but she was mostly just happy to make it to her shift on time.
And as she left, she turned to thank the two guys, though they were now ignoring her. It seemed completely mundane, after what she had walked in on, to see Prompto direct heart filled eyes to the Crown Prince-the same prince he had actually, really, called a dumbass five minutes prior-and sigh, calling him his hero for saving the day.
Notes:
- I basically picture these two as a more articulate Bevis and Butthead. Crown Burger beware.
- "I can totally heat up this grill faster," Noct probably said before releasing a fire spell like an idiot.
- Noctis totally did have Regis pay her student loans.
- Crown Burger now has mandatory fire extinguisher training because of these two idiots (who apparently can't read picture instructions).