disclaimer: Final Fantasy XV (c) Square Enix
A/N: I have a headcanon that at Lucis', workweek is from Monday to Saturday.
HERE TO STAY
Noctis was exited. Of course, to the outsider, he was gloomy as always, but Prompto spent enough time with the prince to pick up nuances - to know something was up. From twirls and swirls of the pen, sideways glances at the clock to restless right leg, Noctis was a ball of nerves.
The question was why?
Maybe king Regis finally gave in and promised to help him with his driving skills? Or Ignis got sick, so there would be few days of freedom, at last? Or maybe Gladio finally broke a bone or two, which meant that the prince would finally had an chance in winning a match against the mountain of a man that was Noctis' sworn shield?
The high-pitched ring of a school bell pierced the monotone lecture of the chemistry teacher. Scraping of chairs, shuffling of bags, white noise of elevated voices announced the end of a school day. Sweet, sweet, Saturday afternoon! They were all free till Monday morning.
"you wanna hit the arcades?" Prompto asked, trying to postponed the inevitable parting with his best friend.
He hated to be alone – each day, every day – but today was special. Today the empty house hurt like heck.
Noctis looked surprised.
"I thought-" he begun, gipping the strap of his bag tightly "we're going to your place"
Prompto knitted his brows, confused.
"I wanted to… you know, wish you happy birthday and stuff."
"what?"
"don't tell me you're one of those special people who forget their own birthdays!" Noctis sounded offended, as if the sheer idea of forgetting such occasion was a blasphemy.
"nah! I remember! I just didn't expect you knew! That's all" Prompto didn't plan anything for today really.
For him, the celebration was the same every year. He would treat himself with his favourite take out, marathon animes and play games as he waited for text messages from his parents. That was all.
"I'm your friend" Noctis stated sternly – sounding eerily similar to his grandfather when he'd delivered his war speeches that Prompto always listened to before every exam to psych himself up.
"I don't even have a cake" the blond admitted.
Noctis was having none of that, his heritage became even more prominent. Prompto once saw a similar scowl – at a photo of teenage king Regis that was part of an exhibition held by Insomnia Royal Gallery as a part of an anniversary of his coronation.
"buuuut… we can drop by the bakery and buy those tiny, mini-cakes" the blond suggested.
Noctis looked pleased with the idea.
The cakes were delicious, especially accompanied with a steaming mug of Ebony and few rounds of King's Knight.
Noctis was still anticipating, as if finally everything fell into place and they were approaching the grand finale of his scheme. Prompto let the story unfold.
He thanked and nodded when his friend sang him happy birthday song and said the wishes, awkwardly shaking his hand.
The blond didn't hold back on his excitement when he unwrapped a gift from his friend. Even though the camera wasn't anything overblown, it was still infinitely better than the one he had before it met it's demise under the Glaive's weight.
But the true surprise came with the second gift. Not only that he got the second gift but that the mysterious brick (by the weight of it) wrapped in a fancy, black wrapping paper, turned out to be a… book. Children's book as indicated by animals on the cover.
"it's awesome!" Prompto flicked through the pages, stopping from time to time to marvel upon rich, vivid colours and elegant drawings of grand social events depicted on each page. The various animals were at the theater watching a play, at museum looking at sculptures, dining at restaurants, shaking hands, dancing (Prompto especially liked a pair of chocobos dancing a folk dance) and having small talks while drinking wine.
"after the fiasco with flowers-" Noctis begun "my dad thought you needed a helping hand, so he commissioned a photocopy of that book. He apologizes for gifting you a copy but the original is, ah…an heirloom. He hopes you'd understand"
Heirloom? Prompto opened the book on the first page.
Seeing the editorial column the blond commoner almost choked on his own tongue.
The original book was almost two hundred years old! Not only that! It was, quite literally, one of the kind. Written and drawn just for the future heirs of the Caelum's family line.
It was a savior-vivre manual for royal children.
Then it all clicked.
"It's oh my gods!" Prompto held the reprint as it was the ring of Lucis "I can't take it" he showed the book back to Noctis' hands.
"why?" Noctis looked hurt "I know it's just a-"
"do you know how much it's worth!?" Prompto piped out
"I told you it's just a re-print"
"you don't understand! At one photography forum there was a guy, SkIrTcHaSeR69, who three years ago took a photo of a cover of that book. It was out of focus, weirdly framed, oddly cropped, awfully blurred- no matter!" The blond took a deep breath "tl;dr, he got filthy rich for that one really bad pic a-and you're standing here, handing me a high quality photocopy, no! A re-print and you have a nerve to apologize for not giving me the original?"
"it was dad's idea" the prince was panicking "you have to take it! Page one hundred twenty seven of that book explains why it's rude to turn down gifts like that" raven haired teen showed the book back to the commoner's hands "and my dad even wrote you a dedication! See?"
The blond had no choice but to look and read. It was more of a footnote really.
But, damn, his majesty was a pro in a game of cursive.
I hope you're here to stay.
-RLC CXIII.
Prompto almost fainted.