"Hey! There you all are. I thought you left me!" Iris shouts at them, hands on her hips, frown on her face. All three men turn away from the two blondes and towards the slightly angry brunette. "When are we going shopping for Astrum?" she wonders.
"Prompto is talking to Luna at the moment so we will have to wait." Ignis tells her. Iris frown disappears.
"Prom and Luna are talking?" Iris asks, curious and surprised at the same time.
"They've been talking for almost an hour, my arms are getting tired." Noct complains. How much can two women talk? Ignis sighs, taking Astrum from the princes arms. The prince shakes his arms out, trying to shake out the tingling in his arms.
"Well how much longer would it take? I wanted to help Prompto get some clothes for Astrum." Iris tells them, getting closer.
"Prompto has the list she made of things she needs to get." Ignis tells them.
"Hopefully it doesn't take too long, I want to take her shopping for herself. I know it's not her birthday yet but we missed it last year so I think it would be okay." Iris says smiling at Astrum. They stare at the girl, that's right, they missed it and now they all know she was kicked out of her home she must have been alone during her birthday. Maybe not fully alone, she must have been pregnant with Astrum. Did she know? Either way she didn't have anyone by her side on her birthday.
"We should spoil her." Noct says.
"If we can get her to accept." Gladio says. Right, that's going to be an obstacle.
"This is a party." Prompto says surprising the group. She gives them a grin.
"What about Luna?" Iris asks as she steps towards the blonde.
"She has to leave, to catch her train." Prompto smiles.
"Then shall we go?" Ignis says, Astrum snug in his arms. They all nod, and start walking. Prompto stares as Gladio and Noct walk with them.
"Is... everyone going?"
"Yeah."
"Of course."
"I promised didn't I."
"You said I could."
They all say collectively. Prompto lets out a chuckle, her smile bright but Noct can still see the evidence of her crying earlier. She seems to be in a better mood now at least.
"I don't mind but we can't all fit in the car." Prom tells them. She continues to walk as they all pause in place. The regalia only has room for five people. Of course Astrum and Prompto will take their seats so three seats are left. Who would take the last three? One driver and two more passengers. They give each other looks, who is going to stay? The blonde stops and turns to look at her friends. Is it that important? Do they all want to go? "Someone can drive behind us." she suggest.
"I'll drive with Gladio." Noct says.
"Then we can go in the regalia." Iris says with a smile.
Alright. With that solved they move forward. Gladio and Noctis go a different direction to his parked Jeep. As they get in the car Gladio opens his mouth. "Why'd you want to go with me?" the large man asks. He knows the prince wants to romance the resident sunflower, so why is he with him and not Prom? Noct blushes, rubbing his hands together nervously.
"Well," Noct clears his throat, moving in his seat, to sit straighter, looking away from Gladio who isn't even looking at him because he's driving, "I wanted to ask for help. What do you think Prompto would like as a late/very early birthday gift?" the prince asks. Gladio smiles.
"You want to get Prompto a special gift to romance her." he states. Embarrassed, the prince rubs the back of his neck, looking out the window.
"Yeah, I figured this is a good way to start." he says. Gladio smiles wider. It's funny to see Noct trying so hard, but it's sweet at the same. Having never seen the prince try to court their fellow blonde, it's nice to see this new side of him. "How did you and Iggy get together?" Noct asks curious for both the ideas and to know how the two got together. Gladio's smile turns to a fond and loving grin.
"I didn't do anything but it seems to have been enough because one day Ignis walk up to me nervous and tells me he likes me. Has for a while. Then walk away before I can say anything. Next thing I know he's avoiding me as best he can. I talk to him to get answers, and he didn't wait for my answers because he thought he already knew it." Noct stares at Gladio, invested in the story. He didn't think Ignis would have confessed first.
"But did you like him back?" Noct wonders.
"Of course. But Ignis didn't believe me. So I had to convince him. Then we started dating." Gladio turns quickly to give his friend a smile, then focus back on the road.
"How did you convince Iggy?" Noct asks.
Gladio humms, "it was hard because the small things Iggy did I soon realized were for me. Checking on you during your training with two water bottles. Or even snacks. If he's out he'd just buy something he thinks I would like and usually he's right. I had to step up and happily accept them, then do the same for him. Show him that I like him back. After a while I stepped up and confessed to him." Gladio lets out a chuckle. "He was shocked, but he finally got it. So for our first date I had to go all out."
Noct sits back and looks at the road. He forgot about that. Once he and Prompto agree to date he's got to think about dates.
Romance is hard.
Gladio and Noct sit in silence until they get to the mall. Gladio parks and they get out to wait at the front of the mall. Noct knows as soon as he walks in the media will hear about it. They won't bother him but they will take pictures and start gossip or whatever to get views and clicks, that are completely wrong.
Before he wouldn't care but now he's worried about Prompto and Astrum. Will the media start bashing Prom and the baby. Would they be able to tell Astrum is their baby? Or Prompto, would they tell their relationship? Whatever it is at the moment?
"Where are they?" Noct looks around, not seeing a hint of Prompto or Ignis.
"Iris says they are still on their way." Gladio answers, looking down at his phone.
"How far are they?" Noct asks looking at Gladio.
"A minute or two." Gladio answers, still texting. Noct nods. He still needs to think about what he should get the blonde. What would she like? Should he get something that she needs instead? What does she need?
