The once blue and bright sky was now very quickly taking on an orange hue as the sun began to take its leave. The wind changed from refreshing to more of a chill. A few hours had passed since they'd set on the road and the glow from the street lights showed themselves in the distance as the night time hustle began in Lestallum. Prompto sat up a little straighter in his seat when they were close enough to start making out individual lights. "Wow." He breathed out, completely in awe at the sight of it. "Almost forgot how beautiful this place was, especially at night."
Ignis smiled to himself when he saw the blond take out his camera out of the corner of his eye. "Quite breath-taking if I do say so myself." He glanced at Gladio through the rear-view mirror, "Iris does know about our visiting, doesn't she?"
Gladio perked up a bit at the question, "Um, I may have forgotten to fill her in on it, but I did tell her we would be dropping by sometime." He shrugged, "Eh, I'm sure she'll appreciate a surprise." He closed his book and set it aside as it quickly became too dim to make out the words. "Hey, wake your ass up." He nudged Noctis with his elbow, leaving out any gentleness.
With a grumble, the prince swatted his arm away, "Knock it off, I'm up." He pulled himself away from the door, rubbing at the imprint the leather left on the side of his face. "Oh, we're there?" He asked, surprised he actually slept the whole way.
"No, I woke you up for no reason," the shield replied sarcastically.
Noctis cut his eyes over, ignoring the obvious joke. He locked his fingers together and stretched his arms upwards, groaning against the stiffness of his muscles from having slept in such an awkward position for so long. "I'm ready to hurry up and get out." He relaxed back against the seat, shifting slightly to get himself comfortable.
"Well, good news then," Ignis said as he made another turn, finally reaching the city. He slowly pulled to a stop, parking the Regalia, "Alright, time to get everything taken care of. I'll go do that, you all can start grabbing what you need." He gave another glance over to Prompto before getting out and working his way over to their hotel.
He was about to get out as well, but let his hand rest on the door handle for a moment as a couple passed by. Once they were far enough away, he deemed it safe to exit. The whole thing seemed ridiculous to him, considering the roof was down already. Slapping himself mentally, he turned to Gladio who was out a few seconds before him. "Soooo, where exactly is I-"
"Gladdy!" Iris' voice broke through the normal bustle of the city easily. He turned his head in time to see the owner of the voice bound over as she latched onto the man.
"Heyyy!" Gladio returned the hug.
She gave him a smile as he released her hold, "I ran into Ignis and he said you guys were out here." She glanced back at the entrance, "So, where's Noct?" She peeked around, catching sight of him before her brother could answer. "There you are." She walked around to him in her bubbly manner before greeting him with the same hug, "It's been so long."
"Yeah," Noctis wheezed out. "I see inhuman strength runs in the family." He took in a dramatic breath when she finally let go.
"You better believe it does," Gladio laughed, "We're brought up knowing how to defend ourselves after all."
Iris gave Noctis another smile and glanced around, almost forgetting about the last member of the group. "And Prompto." Without hesitation, she skipped over, throwing her arms around him now without warning. As her arms wrapped around, something felt different to her. He felt so small to her, and she wasn't sure, but she could have sworn he tensed up for a fraction of a second.
"H-hey," he stammered out after a moment as he hugged back. "How have things been?" He asked casually, trying his best to sound as though he were actually interested.
She pushed herself away to answer, keeping her eyes up on his face. "They've been alright, I guess." She offered a warm smile, scanning up to his hair, which looked like a pure mess to her. "You, uh, you look different." She did what she could to not sound too offensive, she didn't mean it that way anyway.
"Oh, well, I uh..." He tripped over his own words, not sure what to say about it.
"We didn't give him enough time to pretty himself up," Gladio spoke up after cursing himself for not warning Iris about anything. "He had time to shower and that's it, so no fancy hairdo."
She nodded at that, "Yeah, didn't realize a bit of hair styling could make such a difference." She didn't buy it for a second, but rolled with it. "Let's get inside, it's freezing out here." Waving them over as she walked, they followed into the hotel lobby where they waited for Ignis to finish up. "How long do you guys plan on staying?" she asked Gladio.
"Hmm." He thought to himself. "I'm not sure, not too long though. Might just be for the night and tomorrow." He saw the slight fall of her expression, "Come on, it's not like we're never coming back."
"I know, but still. I don't get to see you guys very much anymore."
"You know, there is a thing called phone." Gladio lightly punched her upper arm playfully, "You should try it out sometime." He got quiet as Ignis walked over, key in hand.
"Things are taken care of, we can head to our room now." As the others began to follow, Gladio hung onto his sister's wrist, pulling her aside as everyone else left.
"Hey, there's something I didn't tell you." He kept his voice low, "It's about Prompto, and I really should have said something to you earlier, but I guess it slipped my mind. Anyway, these last couple of weeks have been pretty rough, so if he behaves a little strangely, don' think too much of it."
"What happened?" she asked, concern clear in her eyes now as she glanced in the direction the others had gone, who were now out of sight.
Gladio took a deep breath, "A lot happened, just know that things are still a little rocky." He patted her on the shoulder as he stepped by, "Come on, let's go before they get their panties in a twist wondering where we are." Iris nodded in understanding and jogged over to walk next to him.
Noctis already had himself sprawled out on one of the beds, stretching over it as if he owned the place. Just as he was getting comfortable, the door opened and Gladio and Iris strode in, pulling him out of his trance, and the larger of the two planted a solid look at the prince, "You know, Iris was just telling me of this little restaurant she found the other day." His words were lathered in suggestion.
"Really?" Noctis asked, getting the hint and begrudgingly sitting up now. "And where exactly would this be?"
He gestured to Iris, "Beats me, but she can take you there." He took a seat in one of the chairs next to Ignis, "Where's Prom?" he asked after not catching sight of him anywhere in the room.
After a sip from his cup, Ignis pointed towards the balcony door, "Said he wanted to get a view of the city." Gladio nodded as he looked through the window, seeing the blond himself standing there as he turned his head side to side, looking everything over. A quick look over to Noctis, and he was up and heading towards the door now, tapping his fingers against the glass to get the other's attention. With a small wave of his hand, Prompto nodded and stepped over to the door coming back inside.
"We're about to head out, you ready?" Noctis asked the moment the door was closed behind him.
Prompto swiftly nodded once, a lock of hair falling into his face and he suddenly remembered what Iris had said earlier. Now conscious of how he looked, he held up a finger to Noctis, "One moment," he called over his shoulder as he jogged over to the bathroom. As he closed the door behind him he gazed into the mirror, finally looking at himself after a week. And Iris was right, he did look a lot different. He was just looking at his face, but that was enough to see how much thinner he looked.
Noctis and Iris waited outside the hotel room, making small talk until Prompto was ready. It was mainly about what they've been up to, and he made sure to leave out the events of the mines. He was listening intently as she brushed over what life had been like for her lately, not going too much into detail about anything really. They both ceased their conversation when they heard the click of the door open.
"Ok, I think I'm ready now." Both sets of eyes landed on Prompto, both being drawn straight to his hair, which was styled back to how he usually had it. Maybe not as well kept as it normally looked, but hey, he put effort into it at the very least.
Iris clapped her hands together, "Alright then, let's go before it gets too crowded."
"Crowded?" Prompto asked, sounding a little nervous about it.
"It's a pretty popular place on the weekend, so we better get going." She grabbed both of them by the wrist and started tugging them along, not giving them a chance to protest. "Come on," she said joyfully.
"Hey." Noctis tried to say something, but she wasn't having any part of it. He was expecting Prompto to have some sort of reaction to this, but was surprised to see him going along with it. Not so much as a word was spoken against this. "So, how far is this place?"
"It's not too far, maybe a few minutes of walking to get there." She flashed a quick smile as they reached the lobby and walked out the front door back out into the streets of the city. The chill of the air hit her immediately and she couldn't stop the shiver that ran through her and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Oh." Prompto instantly noticed and removed his own vest, offering it to her, "Um, well, it may not help much," he realized, staring at the sleeveless garment.
"Don't worry about it," she assured, "I'll warm up once we start walking, so it's fine."
"Are you sure?" Noctis asked, "I mean I can go with or without mine, so it wouldn't be much trouble."
"Plus, if you catch a cold, Gladio will never let us live it down," Prompto added, shuddering from the thought of his wrath should anything happen to his precious sibling. "And you know how he can hold a grudge, I'm sure."
Iris gave a light sigh and held out a hand, "Alright, you guys win." She took the offered jacket and threw it on, ignoring the way it hung off her small frame. "Thank you, your highness," she bowed dramatically in her appreciation and turned on her heel, "Right this way." She gave a full handed point in the direction they would be heading.
They were now wandering down a few back streets, and Prompto wouldn't admit it, but he felt a little more at ease not having to wander by so many people. But, that didn't stop every noise and clatter make him a little nervous.
One particular noise pulled his focus and he stopped for a moment to gaze down another alley where it sounded from. It was probably nothing, but it was loud enough to cause some degree of curiosity. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard, choosing to leave it be and deciding not to check things out. The last time he decided to be nosy didn't go over well. Realizing he was most likely standing there far too long, he briskly walked to catch up to the others, keeping his eyes on the street just to be cautious.
The impact that occurred directly afterwards brought back flashes of when ran into Gladio, and for a split moment he felt confusion and fear. His first instinct was to run, but he tried to remind himself that he was out of that place. "Are you alright?" He snapped his eyes up and looked into the face of whoever he ran into.
"I-uh-yeah, yeah, I'm good." He paused as he looked over the other, he seemed somehow familiar. "Do I know you?" It came out before he could stop it.
"I don't believe I've ever met you," the man replied rather quickly. "Excuse me, but I really need to get going." He lowered his head as he moved around the blond, near jogging as he turned down another branch of backstreets.
"Hey Prom, you coming?" He snapped out of his trance and turned to look towards Noctis and Iris, both of them were at the end of the alley now, light from the street lights spilling in from behind them. Glancing back occasionally, he ran and caught up to them. "Who was that?" Noctis pointed off in the directing the other man had run.
"No idea," Prompto replied in a near whisper, giving another look behind him.
"We're almost there," Iris announced as she was the first to step out into the busy street, shielding her eyes from the blinding lights after traversing in near darkness for the last few minutes. "It's just around the corner."
The other two covered their eyes in the same manner as they rounded the corner, the sounds of conversations being carried out filled the air as people went on about their nights. Prompto unconsciously drifted closer to the other two, scanning over the various people. He absolutely despised how on edge he was, it was really starting to annoy him. He should be trying to enjoy himself, dammit, but instead he was questioning every movement and sound.
He stayed close to the others, forcing himself to walk normally without flinching away from every person that got too close for comfort. "And here we are." He stopped suddenly to prevent himself from toppling Iris over. He peeked around her to gaze upon this place that was supposedly so great. And it looked like a nice and cozy little place, though like she had said, there did seem to be quite a few people when taking into account how small the place was. "Don't worry," she began, before they could ask, "We can order to go and sit somewhere else if you'd like."
"Yeah, that might be ideal," Noctis agreed, scanning the area and noticing how every available seat was taken, some people even standing and talking as they enjoyed their meals.
After waiting in line for a bit longer than they expected, it was finally their turn to order, and with mutual agreement, and with the suggestion of Iris, they got three orders of mushroom kabobs. Food in hand, she led them to a few benches placed a few yards away from the commotion. It still wasn't completely isolated from everything, but it was a lot more peaceful.
Both Iris and Noctis were already eating theirs, Prompto on the other hand stared at it for a moment. "Go on, I promise you'll love it," Iris encouraged, taking another bit out of her own.
Not wanting to sour the mood, he finally took a small bite from the top mushroom, and found it to be surprisingly delicious. "Not bad," He said in the middle of chewing before swallowing. "Not bad at all."
"Don't tell Ignis that, he might get jealous," Noctis joked in between mouthfuls.
Prompto gave him a slight chuckle, "Yeah, better not tell him. I'll just say it was 'meh'." He twisted the skewer around between his fingers and willingly took another bite. "How did you find this place anyway?" he asked, trying to strike up a conversation.
Iris laughed to herself before answering, "Funny story actually. I kinda got lost the other day and stumbled upon it." She shrugged to herself, "But they say everything happens for a reason, so I guess getting lost was a good thing."
They all carried on, laughing here and there at the occasional joke or amusing story, and eventually they lost track of time. The dying-down of the noise behind them indicated to them how late it was getting. "How long have we been here?" Prompto asked, reaching for his phone, but coming up empty handed. "Wha-?" He looked around him, thinking that maybe he sat it down and forgot, but it was still nowhere to be seen. "That's weird."
"What is it?" Noctis asked, glancing over at his frantic search.
"I think I lost my phone," he said quietly, checking his pockets for the third time. "Don't tell me I dropped it somewhere."
"Maybe you just left it at the hotel," Noctis offered, "You can be pretty forgetful, you know."
"No, I remember grabbing it." Then he remembered when he had that earlier accident. "It must have fallen out then. With that guy," he clarified.
Iris got to her feet, "We can go back through there on the way back and check. I'm not in a hurry to get back, so it'll be no trouble." She saw him visibly unwind.
He nodded, "Yeah, that'll be alright." He leaned down to pick up his plate and half-eaten kabob, extending a hand to take the plates from the other two as well. "I'll go throw these away, be right back."
Upon coming back, they backtracked their way back the alley, Noctis using his own phone as a flashlight. Rounding the corner, the light reflected off something on the ground, and the blond sighed in relief recognizing it as his phone. "Thought for sure someone would have picked it up." He sounded genuinely amazed at the fact that it stayed there for as long as it did without getting stolen.
With that mystery solved, they managed to make it back to the hotel without further incidents. Iris bid them both a goodnight, turning down the offer to be walked back to her own room. They were both quiet entering their room on the chance the others were already asleep, which they were. They were on separate beds, so Noctis naturally took the one with Gladio, knowing that even though he was better about it, waking up to him after a nightmare may not be the most pleasant for Prompto.
Slipping under the covers unnoticed, Prompto easily relaxed into the coolness of the sheets, finally feeling completely at ease again. It didn't take long for sleep to begin tugging at him, but the abrupt vibration of his phone going off on the table next to him startled him out of his stupor. Even Ignis shifted next to him as it disturbed his sleep as well. "Sorry," the blond offered silently, pulling his phone under the covers to check it so the light wouldn't bother the others.
There was a notification from a number he didn't recognize. Opening it, he felt his blood run cold, and he couldn't control the slight tremor in his hand. Biting his own lip, he tried to keep himself from hyperventilating from the panic he felt. His heart felt like it was about to stop as he read the words, 'We know what you are.'