Housemates, a Final Fantasy XV fanfic by Raberba girl

Missing scene - Dinner with the Amicitias (rough draft)

Prompto couldn't decide how he felt about being invited to dinner with Gladio's family.

When he was first asked (if "Yo, Prompto, you're having dinner with my family tomorrow night" counted as 'asking'), he'd accepted on autopilot, since there way no way he'd say 'No' to any of his intimidating roommates without a really good reason for it.

However, after Gladio had smiled and clapped him on the back and wandered off, Prompto had quietly panicked. Why had he invited Prompto? Was it a trick? Did he have something nasty planned? Prompto was pretty sure by now that Gladio wasn't the type of person to play cruel pranks, but...what other reason would he have to ask Prompto to dinner?

Oh God, Gladio was rich, wasn't he. Prompto Argentum was going to a mansion to eat with rich Lucian people. What had Gladio been thinking?!

Prompto's panicking brain latched onto Ignis, who was Lucian and used to be rich and already ironed Prompto's clothes and would probably be ironing whatever Prompto wore to eat dinner with rich Lucians. Ignis had very good taste. Prompto could ask him.

Prompto hurried upstairs, trying not to be loud, then spent two minutes trying to work up the courage to knock. He'd never dreamed of interrupting Ignis in his room before.

"What is it?" Ignis called through the door.

"Um, Ignis, can I...can I talk to you...?"

"I can't hear you Prompto. Come in."

Prompto cracked the door open and peeked through it. Ignis, looking impatient, was sitting at his desk, which was covered with papers and a laptop. "I'm busy, Prompto. What do you need?"

Prompto was mortified. "Oh, it's okay, it can wait, I'll ask later!" Prompto quickly shut the door and hurried back downstairs, mentally kicking himself and planning to escape via a walk around the neighborhood.

Before he finished putting his shoes on, however, Ignis was coming after him, calling, "Prompto, get back here."

Skin crawling with dread, Prompto slowly toed his shoes back off and followed Ignis up to his room. Ignis pointed at the bed and ordered, "Sit."

Prompto sat. Ignis also sat, in the chair by the desk. "Now, what is the issue?"

Prompto swallowed. "Um...Gladio invited me to dinner, and...I don't know what to wear."

Ignis stared. "...Prompto, while I objectively support your romantic aspirations, I am not inclined to facilitate a relationship that will almost certainly inconvenience me even further." Then he tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Unless you two move out into a place of your own. If that's the case, then I would certainly be happy to assist you, but during the transitional period, I beg of you to be discreet. There's enough noise around here without two of the occupants of this house carrying on in that little broom closet of-"

"Oh, no!" Prompto exclaimed, feeling his face blaze at the misunderstanding. "He asked me to dinner with his family, not a date!"

"Ah."

"I just... Um, I know that Gladio's family is...fancy, you know? And I'm not, I'm really not, and I...was just wondering, um, if you could maybe help me...you know figure out what to wear and how to act so I don't embarrass him anymore than I can help..."

Ignis's expression went weirdly soft. "There's no need to worry, Prompto. You certainly have more manners than Gladiolus, and it is your hosts' responsibility to be gracious. If they are not, the fault is theirs, not yours. That being said, I suppose I could look through your wardrobe and help you make an ideal selection."

Prompto's face colored again. "You've already seen my best clothes."

Ignis stared. "Pardon?"

Prompto went to fetch his suitcase and spread his entire collection of clothing around Ignis's room, trying not to squirm with shame. Ignis stared at the sad display. "Prompto, you- That is... This is the entirety of it?"

"I didn't have much room in my bags when I left home," Prompto mumbled. "I didn't think I'd need more than one or two nice outfits for college."

"What day is the dinner? Is there time to have your family send you a more suitable outfit?"

"This is all we've got to work with," Prompto said softly.

Ignis gave him a searching look, then straightened up. "Very well," he said in a brisk tone. "Let's see what we can do."

In the end, they went to a thrift store, and Ignis somehow managed to hunt down a very nice shirt, formal jacket, slacks, and shoes for only about 20 crowns total, which even Prompto could afford. Ignis also made small alterations to the clothes so they'd fit Prompto better (even though they'd already fit decently well before), and ironed them.

The evening of the dinner, he even lent Prompto a tie, a set of cufflinks, a watch (that looked pretty fancy even if Ignis admitted apologetically that it was, if Prompto understood correctly, a knockoff), and also his wonderful hair products. Then he fussed over his handiwork in the entryway, making Prompto feel like he was being sent off to prom by a sternly doting parent. He felt weird, simultaneously embarrassed and loved.

"Come on, let's go," Gladio said impatiently. "It's just dinner with the family, we're not meeting royalty or anything."

"Shut up and let him have this, Gladiolus," Ignis snapped, even though Prompto wasn't particularly looking forward to anything about this.

Noct was sitting on the stairs, looking slightly bemused and idly petting the cat in his lap (not Carbuncle; it was a black, half-grown kitten Prompto didn't know the name of) as he watched. "You look nice, Prom," he spoke up.

Prompto blushed. There was no way he actually looked nice, but he did probably look less like a slob than usual. It was kind of Noct to remark on it, though Prompto wished his fair skin didn't react so visibly to everything these guys said. "Thanks," he managed.

"You're beautiful; let's go," Gladio said, brushing Ignis aside, taking hold of Prompto, and propelling him out of the house.

As they got into the rideshare, Prompto said nervously, "I know you said not to bring anything, but we could maybe stop for flowers or something on the way-?" After the splurge at the thrift store, he'd have to skip a couple of meals in order to afford it, but the sacrifice was worthwhile.

"You're fine, Prom," Gladio said decisively. "I already told Jared I told you not to bring anything. Not like you could-" He abruptly cut himself off, then muttered, "Don't worry about it."

"Okay," Prompto whispered, turning away to look out the window, his face hot for a different reason.

The ride was awkward until Gladio finally spoke up about some football game he'd recently watched. Prompto had no interest in football, but asked enough questions to keep the conversation going until Gladio was happily rambling, which made Prompto relax. He didn't tense up again until the car finally came to a stop in front of a giant fancy house and Gladio said, "Oh, we're here."

Prompto followed his roommate into the house and watched shyly as a teenage girl came running up to fling her arms around Gladio. "Gladdy~!" Then she turned to Prompto, her eyes sparkling. "And Prompto! Hi!"

"Hi," Prompto said, unable to help smiling wide at her exuberance, but still nervous as heck as he fumbled to shake her hand. He wasn't used to girls of any age paying attention to him at all, much less so enthusiastically.

A young boy came padding up and greeted Prompto with a courteous smile. "Hello, sir. Welcome to Amicitia Manor."

"It's good to be here," Prompto managed.

"Prompto," Gladio said, "this is my sister, Iris, and this is Talcott, Jared's grandson. Come on in, I'll get Dad."

o.o.o

Gladio fetched Clarus from his study, made introductions, then went to check on Jared. "How's it going?"

"Everything is progressing on schedule," the butler said in satisfaction, stirring something in a pot. "I'll be ready to serve in about twenty minutes. How is our young guest?"

"He's okay. Maybe kind of nervous. I think Iris had a good idea, eating outside rather than in the formal dining room."

"Hmm," Jared hummed. He'd been unhappy with the idea but hadn't complained once he saw that everyone else seemed in favor of it. "I suppose it's a good opportunity to show off your mother's lovely garden."

"Yours, now, really," Gladio murmured. His mother might have been the one to expand the flower garden into a thing of glory, but Jared had been the one to keep up with its maintenance after her death. "We appreciate all your hard work, Jared."

"Thank you, Master Gladio. It is an honor to serve your family."

While they waited for dinner to be announced, the Amicitias tried to entertain their guest in the living room, but Prompto seemed tense and tongue-tied, painfully shy with Iris and kind of terrified of Clarus. The longer he was the center of attention, the worse he seemed to get. The only person he relaxed marginally around was Talcott, so after a while, Gladio, trying to make communicative faces at his biological family whenever Prompto couldn't see, drew his sister and father into a conversation that wouldn't mean much to outsiders. Iris seemed to catch on quickly and chattered about various goings-on at her dance studio; Clarus seemed disapproving and a little baffled, but had given up on trying to engage Prompto in conversation.

Meanwhile, Talcott was his usual friendly, curious, adorable self, and Prompto seemed to be quickly warming up to him. Gladio, in between bits of his own conversation, could hear Prompto and Talcott enthusiastically discussing and even sometimes laughing about what sounded like an animated show, then a popular line of collectibles.

Eventually, Jared came to announce dinner, and everyone filed after him onto the terrace, Clarus escorting Iris and Gladio trying to be subtle about escorting Prompto (it was the sort of thing he'd grown up with and never thought twice about, but in this context, he realized it was probably a little weird to formally escort someone from your living room to the dinner table, particularly if it wasn't even someone you were dating).

Once they were all seated, Prompto looked around and said, sounding a bit alarmed, "Talcott's not eating with us?" The little boy had already vanished into the house, and all the places at the table were occupied by himself and the Amicitias.

The family exchanged a look. "Typically," Clarus started, "those in household employ don't share formal meals with-"

"But, hey, it's the 21st century," Gladio interrupted, "and we're not actually classist snobs. Hey, Talcott! You up for a second dinner?"

Talcott eagerly popped his head around the doorframe as his grandfather made mildly scandalized noises. "Oh, yes, sir, I am!"

"Well, come on over, then!" Iris laughed, getting up and pulling out her chair invitingly. Talcott happily scampered over to take her place. "Jared, could you please get a couple of more place settings for you and me?"

Jared looked a little pleadingly at Clarus, but the patriarch simply looked tired and waved his hand between his children. Jared bowed and went inside.

"Do you...really not usually eat with them?" Prompto asked Talcott in a near-whisper.

"Oh, we do, most of the time," Talcott said cheerfully. "It's only for the real important meals that Grandfather and I have to be proper servants."

Gladio was cringing. Why in the world did he take this sort of thing for granted? Hearing it spelled out in front Prompto, who'd probably grown up with normal parents and a normal household with no servants or rituals of wealth, it sounded ridiculous and painfully arrogant. Prompto probably thought they were all total jerks. "It's not like- They really are part of the family, it's just, there's a long history, the Hesters have been with us for generations," Gladio fumbled.

He was not used to feeling like this, embarrassed and awkward about his family. It wasn't like there was anything to be ashamed of: the Hesters weren't slaves, Jared received competitive pay and benefits and could seek different employment at any time. Gladio knew that his whole family genuinely loved Jared and Talcott, and would continue to do so even if they ever ditched the manor for normal lives. Prompto didn't even look judgmental, just nervous and confused. Gladio just...had never thought too hard about this sort of thing before.

Jared came back with two more place settings, and everyone waited a little awkwardly for him to get everything arranged. Then, when he apologized for the delay (as if it had been his fault...) and indicated he was going back to fetch the food, Prompto jumped up and offered to help. Jared looked to Clarus again, Clarus looked at Gladio, and Gladio, wanting to sink into the floor, scrunched his face and gestured in a way he hoped conveyed that Jared should just do whatever Prompto wanted. (This was a disaster already. Why had Gladio ever thought this would be a good idea?)

Talcott immediately joined them, and Iris went to help, too, so Gladio dithered about whether to do so as well until his father caught hold of his arm. "They've got it handled, son."

"Yeah," Gladio admitted. He fidgeted as they waited, the two of them now temporarily alone on the terrace. "We probably should have taken him to a restaurant or something, huh."

Clarus frowned. "Why is it so important for you to impress this boy?"

"It's not that I'm trying to impress him - kind of the opposite, actually? I just... I never realized- I kind of feel like a classist jerk. Prompto's, you know, not from the same social circle, and I just...this whole thing was supposed to be about us getting to know each other better or something, help him relax around me, but it just seems to be doing the opposite."

"Don't be ashamed of who you are or where you come from," Clarus said. "I know you've already been raised to treat others with courtesy and respect. What else matters?"

"Nothing, I guess," Gladio muttered, trying to resist the impulse to pick at his fingernails.

Jared and his entourage returned with two carts full of food, which Jared started serving. Talcott started serving as well, unprompted, and Jared, with a slightly resigned air, appeared to take it as an opportunity for a lesson, giving the boy gentle instructions and corrections.

"Like this, Grandfather?" Talcott asked, adjusting his hold on a pitcher to look more elegant.

"Yes, child, very good."

"Thank you, Talcott," Iris said warmly, and Talcott beamed at her as he poured.

When they eventually started eating, Prompto complimented the food, and Talcott offered a conversation starter about the animated show he and Prompto had been discussing earlier. Jared looked pained at the childish conversation topic, but he held his tongue when Iris joined in. Clarus occasionally made efforts to steer the conversation into something more suitable for adults, but every time he did, Prompto got all tense and tongue-tied again. Gladio mentioned chocobos at the first opportunity, Talcott ran with it, and that was the point at which Clarus and Jared visibly gave up on this meal being a formal Event in any way, shape, or form. Both of them did seem to relax and regard all the youngsters with warm affection, though, so Gladio figured it wasn't a failure.

After dinner, Prompto started to help clean up in such a matter-of-fact way that no one had the heart to correct him, and all the Amicitias, even Clarus, started helping as well, to Jared's obvious surprise. It felt weird to Gladio, but it was also kind of fun, working as a team to haul stuff to the kitchen and get everything washed and dried. Iris, Talcott, and even Prompto kept up their chatter the whole time, and with so many helping hands, the clean-up was soon finished. Gladio mused on the idea of maybe helping Jared after meals as a regular thing. Sure, cleaning up was part of Jared's job and he got well paid to do that sort of thing, but if Jared really was family, then wouldn't it also make sense to hang out with him and give him a hand?

In the car on the way back to the rent house, Prompto said, "That was nice, Gladio. Thank you for inviting me."

"You're welcome. I hope it wasn't too weird."

"Oh, no! Your family is very nice."

"They're the best."

TBC