Skidding down the grassy mound, Prompto picked his way across the short, rocky beach, bridging deep troughs where the sea was trapped, foaming and bubbling. Glancing back, he noted that the older men were ostensibly not paying him attention, apparently deep in conversation.

With a nervous sigh that was interrupted like a chokehold by an explosion of distant thunder, he hurried to the rickety deck where Noctis stood shivering, facing out to the restless grey sea. His presence must have been obvious as he cleared his throat, and his boots caused the wood to creak tellingly behind the Prince.

"It's, uh…not exactly the best weather for it," he offered, laughing awkwardly. He had to raise his voice a little over the background whistle of strengthening sea breezes and turbulent wavelets.

"Hmm."

Prompto stepped a little closer, frowning at the stark goosebumps on Noct's pale arms, dampened with cold sea spray.

"You wanna…go somewhere warm?"

"I'm fine," came the flat reply.

Starting to shiver a little himself, Prompto folded his arms and cleared his throat again.

"I…kinda got you a present."

Noctis paused noticeably, before slowly reeling again, eyes distant. "…It's me who should apologise." His quiet voice was almost stolen away by a sudden strong gust of wind, buffeting them both and making them wince.

"I'm not apologising exactly…I guess I just kinda saw it and thought of you," the blond shrugged, reaching into his pocket for the small gift.

Intrigued, Noct reeled his line in completely and put his rod down on the splintery deck.

Eyes down, Prompto handed the little trinket over. Noctis held it up, stared, and then to Prompto's everlasting delight and relief, laughed warmly.

"Saw it and thought of yourself, more like," the Prince teased, poking his friend with the Poppeck yellow chocobo lure. "It's your twin."

"Man, you are just jealous of my hair's altitude. Yours is totally flat," Prompto countered, grinning.

Noct nodded, and put the lure away with his others, a small smile on his face.

"Not gonna try it out?" the blond asked.

"…There aren't any fish here," Noctis admitted. "I already knew that, though."

"Look-"

"I'm sorry," Noctis mumbled. "I was…out of order."

"It's okay, dude. But listen, you gotta let me explain to you or I'll just explode," Prompto chuckled.

Noctis laughed softly.

"If you-"

A vicious, deafening thunderclap caused them to instinctively duck down, and they stared as a neon vein of icy-blue lightning pierced the ocean in the distance. They could hear the faraway fuzzy hiss of rainclouds bursting over the sea, and Prompto took action.

"Come on, it'd be really uncool to die here," he told him. Grabbing Noct's hand, he dragged him back towards the relative shelter of the cliffs, at a slight tangent to where they had left Ignis and Gladio.

"I can walk, you know," Noct complained, pulling his hand from Prompto's and striding ahead. Less than two seconds later, he slipped on a slick rock and crashed quite impressively into a shallow rockpool, swearing extensively as he floundered in the cold water.

"Yeah, sure you can," Prompto was giggling, as he hauled him from the chilled seawater and gave him a brief hug, which was accepted, but with no small amount of grumbling. The blond led him, without complaint this time, up a staggered series of hillocks that ended in a flat rocky ledge decorated with long-dead, spindly trees. Noctis was unimpressed at their new open-air shelter, until Prompto squeezed behind one of the trees and into a recess in the cliff that he hadn't noticed.

"Wow…" Noct mumbled, as he followed the blond into the shallow cave, not deep enough to be very dark, but still fairly gloomy within. He sat beside Prompto, who had plonked down with a gratified sigh on the dry floor, his back against the rugged rock wall. Within moments of them getting as comfortable as they could, an apocalyptic hiss of rain indicated that the deluge had reached them, and they stared out at the staggering curtain of water that was crashing down on the beach. The dead trees outside began to drop branches and twigs broken by the punching, cold raindrops.

"Hope Iggy and Gladio are okay!" Prompto laughed, having to raise his voice considerably above the noise of the downpour.

Noctis nodded, his teeth chattering. He clenched his fists and his jaw, trying to ease the tremors of cold. Closing his eyes in brief thanks when he felt Prompto's arm around him, he nevertheless tensed up even further at the contact.

"…It's okay if I do this?" the blond asked, rubbing his back soothingly.

Nodding gratefully, the Prince nibbled his bottom lip, indigo eyes on the musty cave floor and his own soaked boots as he decided what to say first.

"…You don't need to explain anything. I know you're not into…that."

"Into what?"

"…Well…me," Noctis shrugged, his pale skin roaring into abrupt blushes. "I royally screwed up. I already told Iggy you'll probably want to leave the group now so…you know, I'll take the responsibility for that. It won't go against you at all."

Prompto gaped at him. "Leave? Why would I do that? You're my best friend."

"Yeah, exactly. I was. And now it's all gone to hell," Noctis muttered bitterly.

"…You have…no idea what an idiot you sound," Prompto replied, astounding the Prince by chuckling.

"I'm not an idiot," Noctis spat. "They both told me. Warned me. And they knew something was up when I booked the room yesterday. Gave me the 'we-told-you-so' talk this morning."

"…Iggy and Gladio warned you?"

"Yeah. Before we even left on this trip. Before you even joined the Guard," Noctis admitted, voice breaking. "That it was a ridiculous, selfish idea, and I was going to…"

"…What?" Prompto asked gently.

"...You know…lose you."

"Oh, Noct," the blonde sighed. "You doofus. You think I don't like you? That I'm gonna abandon you just because you like…uh…just so I'm clear, what do you like?"

"Well, I…I've never really…thought much about any of it. Until, you know…"

"You're gonna have to tell me, Your Highness, I'm not a mind-reader," Prom chuckled, giving him a playful nudge.

"…It was selfish," Noct muttered, deflecting slightly. "I just wanted to have you around."

"…And then I surprised you by being an awesome fighter," Prompto grinned.

Noctis huffed a small laugh, then his expression sobered again. "…I wasn't going to get you to...actually touch me last night," he mumbled, his dark hair an attractive contrast to the stark pink of his cheekbones.

"…It was a bit of a surprise," the blond confessed. They both flinched at another explosion of thunder outside, and the strengthening hiss of freezing rain upon rock, ocean and flattened grass.

"…And since you're always flirting with girls, I dunno…I was being dumb to even consider it."

"I flirt with everyone, Noct. Including you, or hadn't you noticed?" Prompto asked, smirking.

"That's why I don't take it seriously. Besides, you already told me that when you goof around, it's not how you really feel."

"Yeah, I did say that." Prompto nodded, his smile fading. "But all this…I wouldn't be here if I was just kidding around. I'm kinda putting my life on the line for you, Noct. I understand that I'm here to protect you, and I might get killed doing it. I know that. And I'm fine with it. Trust me, it doesn't much more serious than that," he laughed.

"…Yeah. Thanks, Prom." Noct nodded. "…I don't think I've thanked you properly before."

"My pleasure," the blond told him, giving him a one-armed hug. "…So…was it the magic massage?" he winked.

Noct abruptly flushed again, looking down and scratching his head distractedly. "It…had some effects," he said very quietly, barely audible above the rainstorm, which was now abruptly easing off as quickly as it had started. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I jerked off so hard afterwards I nearly passed out."

The Prince aspirated sharply and choked, coughing hard and his wide eyes watering, and Prompto laughed warmly as he pounded him on the back to help him breathe again.

"Yeah, you were moaning and squirming and sayin' my name…so hot, dude," the blond continued, pleased by the Prince's answering groan of embarrassment and undying blush. The brief but violent rainstorm finally spattered into quiescence, the rain ceasing and the winds dying down, though thunder still gurgled in the grey sky outside.

"Gods, Prom…"

"Yeah, it was a bit like that," Prompto chuckled, flashing a bright, smug grin.

"You're…actually serious?"

"Cross my heart and hope to cry."

"…No way."

"Way. Seriously, Noct…I'll just come out and say it. You know I'm not one for beating around the bush. You're gonna be King, and you could order me to die for you. But I love you, so I'd do it anyway."

The gobsmacked Prince was startled to feel a tear roll down his cheek, and he knuckled it away swiftly. If Prompto noticed it, he didn't say anything, but he did nuzzle affectionately into the side of his head, giving him another squeeze.

"…I…uh…I think…look, could I kiss you?" Noctis asked, voice hoarse as he swallowed thickly, turning to look at Prompto's bright, open face.

The blond flashed a grin like the sun, and pushed a confident hand into Noct's soft black hair, gently angling the Prince into a prime kissing position.

"There you two are!"

Ignis tutted as he crouched in the cave's entrance, peering inside, holding an umbrella aloft even though the rainstorm had now abated.

"It's safe to come out now. I think we've all had enough of swimming for one morning," the advisor quipped, as he eyed the chilly-looking pair huddled against the wall, with Prompto holding Noctis close.

"Uh, right!" Prompto nodded brightly, getting up with a small groan and leading the way from the cave, Noctis following silently behind him.

As they passed him, Ignis caught sight of the blush on his Prince's pale face, and allowed himself a small, indulgent smile.