Ch.4

Prompto continued to sit on Noctis's bed while he waited for Noctis to finish with his shower. Ignis already had left once he gathered up the clothes to be washed. Now all Prompto could do was continue to keep on waiting.

Noctis came out soon enough, now also dressed in new, fresh clothes. He walked over and flopped down next to Prompto. "So wanna play some video games?"

"Oh you bet!"

Setting up the controllers they sat on the floor in front of Noctis's TV. Though as the game was booting up he couldn't help but notice Noctis was staring at him with an odd glance. Finally he gave in. "What is it? Is there something on my face? Is it the clothes? See I knew it wasn't good for me to wear your stuff!"

Noctis laughed slightly. "No it's not that. I was just going to ask when you got contacts. It slipped my mind earlier to ask."

"Contacts? I... oh…"

Prompto nearly had forgotten about that. Since his spider bite enhances his senses, that included his eyes as well. He no longer needed glasses to help his vision. He had perfect eyesight now, probably even more so than the average person considering everything else that he had that was enhanced.

He had to lie again sadly, but it was to protect Noctis. "Oh yeah! I guess I forgot to tell you either way. I got them over the summer. Parents were actually around enough to listen to me so I could convince them and stuff."

"Nice! You look good without them. You could look good whether you wore them or not. I'd still like ah um… you just would still be cool either way."

Prompto thought it was awfully cute when Noctis fumbled over his words. Noctis never had been one at expressing any kind of positive emotion usually. Due to Noctis's upbringing as a prince, Prompto knew before he met him his life was just as lonely as his own. Maybe a different type of lonely but it was a reason why Noctis always had a hard time expressing the right words. Prompto knew what Noctis meant was a compliment, but the struggle to get there was what made it all the more sweet.

"Aw thanks buddy," he replied as nonchalant as he could about it. "Now are you ready to be destroyed in video games again?"

"I think you mean are you ready to lose?"

"Destroy you, ready to lose, it's all the same for you. Prepare to meet your fate!"

The two laughed before starting into the game. They had a good few rounds, but by the time evening came it had resulted in a tie between the two of them. The hours really had passed faster than either of them had expected, but now that it was getting later.

"I guess I gotta get home," Prompto said as he picked up his bag. "Uh um what about my clothes? Are they done yet or…?"

"I'll give them to you tomorrow. You can borrow my clothes for the night."

"What? Really? A-Are you sure?"

"Prom. You are not going to burn up, or be struck by lighting or anything else by wearing my clothes. You are going to be fine, trust me."

"Hey! A guy can worry!" Prompto retorted. "But like is there anything special I need to do to wash then or take care of them or-"

"They are just clothes, Prompto, it doesn't really matter. Just bring them back whenever, I got plenty of others after all."

"Right yeah… I got it. Thanks again."

"No problem," Noctis replied as he gave a small nudge to Prompto's shoulder. "Text you later for the event in King's Knight?"

Prompto grinned. "Oh I'll be ready!"

With that Prompto headed home. There had been times where Noctis said he could ask Ignis to drive him home, but Prompto always declined. He never wanted to burden anyone with having to take him home. But that was only if he really wanted to do that. He knew that still came with risks because he never knew who might just be watching him. He thought about swinging home for the night, but after the big event during the afternoon he opted out of it. All he needed was some good rest and relaxation.

By the time he got off the bus and walked down to his house the sun was just about set. He made his way down to his house and unlocked the door, entering into the empty house that he always expected nowadays.

He sighed as he placed his bag by the door and switched on the lights. He was thankful that his parents weren't home like ever, that way they never had to see him coming home after fighting crime. There was no one to scold him for staying out late or actually leaving in the middle of the night to fight crime. As much as he wished his parents could actually be home this was the better option.

It didn't make it any less lonely.

As he went to heat up a cup of cup noodles the doorbell rang. He made his way over to it and unlocked the door. Suddenly there was a smile on his face when he saw a familiar woman with long silver hair pulled back into a ponytail. "Aranea!"

"Hey kid, mind if I drop by?"

"Sure! Come on in!"

He was more than thrilled to see Aranea and he let her walk in right away. Though he did consider Noctis is one and only friend, Aranea was actually pretty much a friend too. But honestly she was more like a really cool big sister. She was the only one that actually knew that he was Spider-Man and she helped to keep it secret.

It also helped that she herself was a fairly well known mercenary for hire. She didn't care if people knew her face or not, though her armor only partly covered her face. People knew not to try and challenge her as she was a force to be trifled with. Underneath all of that tough exterior though was a kind and caring person.

She helped Prompto become a better fighter after he told her about his new powers. She gave him the tips and skills that he would need to take on any criminal that he could go up against. Prompto couldn't thank her enough for all that she had done, but he knew that she wouldn't expect anything of the sorts. It was just how she was, trying to keep up that tough side to herself. Prompto didn't mind that though, he was just glad to have her there regardless.

"So, how'd the first day of school go?" Aranea asked as she headed into the kitchen.

"Oh you know the usual, just school and they already are preparing us for all the big tests and I just wanna ahhhh… I hope I can handle it."

"You've gotten this far," Aranea commented as she opened the fridge. "Mind if I have a drink?"

"Sure help yourself."

Aranea pulled out a can of soda and took her seat at the kitchen table. "So besides school, how's the whole Spider-Man thing going? Heard there was a big crime today."

"Yeah, kind of weird though what happened. The thugs Nightwing and I were fighting just vanished. He things that-"

"Wait hold on there kiddo, back up a few steps. Did you say Nightwing?"

"Oh! I totally forgot to tell you!" Prompto gasped as he took his seat across from her. "But I actually got to meet him! Not there for the first time, but the night before school. I was just out looking at the city getting some great shots and he showed up to talk. It was awesome and just then today with the crime fighting, I couldn't believe it."

"So was he all what the people say he is?"

"No, well not really. He does seem to have a bit of an ego about being the big protector of Insomnia, but he actually seems like a decent guy. He was willing to team up with me and everything. Plus he's um well he is uh…"

Aranea smirked as she leaned forward on the table. "He's some dreamboat that you're head over heels for?"

Prompto's cheeks started burning right away as the memories of starting at Nightwing's abs came back. "N-Nea! It's not like that! I-I don't… I'm not… I have a secret crush on Noct remember?"

Aranea kept on smirking as she rested her chin onto the back of her hands. "Nobody says you can't have a crush on more than one guy. But it seems you have a type for bad boys who like to like to wear black."

Prompto snorted, trying to suppress any thoughts that were trying to form in his mind. "Noct is not like that! Sure he wears black, but that's the colors of the city or the royal family and stuff."

"Okay, so you have more than one type; dark and mysterious superheroes and dorky princes."

Running a hand through his hair, Prompto tried his best to let out a sigh and calm down from his earlier moment of flusters. "What do I do though?"

"What do you mean? You just keep on doing what you do. You are still young, you got time to figure out who you like."

Prompto seriously did not think he would be having this conversation with Aranea. Sure he actually felt better talking about his feelings on who he liked over his parents. They didn't even know he was gay. They were gone so much and never asked about his life that he had never seen any reason to bring it up to them. Aranea was the one he trusted with this information since she always seemed to have the right amount of wisdom.

"But I know that I like Noct. I just… I can't tell him."

"And why not?"

"Cause," Prompto answered half-heartedly. "He is a prince. He can't just be in love with his best friend."

"You neer know until you give it a try, but on the other hand you got Nightwing to get to know how. If you got his interest, maybe something more can come with it."

Prompto blushed again. "N-No, I can't just do that. I gotta focus on actually fighting crime. I… I can't just deal with that now."

Aranea smiled, laughing a little at Prompto's obviously nervousness. "Sure thing kid, just take it easy, aside from all the crime fighting and school life. I know you'll be able to manage it. Now how about we order some pizza? To celebrate your first day back at school and getting to team up with Nightwing."

"Sweet! Pizza sounds great!" Prompto cheered as he got up to get the phone. "Perfect way to end the day!"

"Of course, and I'll be paying for it."

Prompto shook his head. "No Nea, you don't have to do that. I can pay for it this time."

Aranea stood up from the table and took the phone from Prompto. "Nah kid, I pay for it and all you have to do to repay me is do some training with me. How's that sound? If you are working with Nightwing you'll have to step up your game a bit."

"Right, sure thing! Plus I can totally show you my brand new skills. I've done some good leveling up since you were here last."

Raising an eyebrow Aranea looked at him, clearly not impressed yet. "Oh did you now? Well we will just have to put that to the test."

Once the pizza was ordered, it would still take a little while before it was delivered, making it the perfect time to practice a little. The two of them headed down into the basement where Prompto had some workout equipment setup along the walls. The space in the center was cleared out currently and Aranea walked right into it.

She cracked her knuckles before turning to face Prompto. "Okay kid, let's see what you got."

The two began their small training session with Prompto trying to properly land a hit on Aranea. He had tried many times before in all of their prior sessions, but she was still miles ahead of him. Still he was learning as he went and she always offered him tips how to better attack the enemy.

Though he knew that she wouldn't be able to teach him everything. He had his spider powers and that didn't really equal the same to her enhancements. She could jump absurdly high and land without hurting herself, but that didn't really help when trying to learn how to wall climb. There was always a bit of trial and error, but Aranea still helped him regardless.

Soon enough the doorbell rang and the two of them stopped their session, heading back up to get their reward. "Not bad," Aranea commented as she went to grab her wallet. "You've really been improving a lot."

"See? I told you I had gotten better! Soon everyone is going to know just how cool I am."

Aranea laughed, rolling her eyes slightly. She opened the door and took the pizza and paid what was owned. After she closed the door and placed the pizza down in the kitchen she finally spoke back up. "It's not all about being cool or popular. It takes-"

"I know, I knooooow. It takes a lot of responsibility to be a superhero. You've told me that before, I haven't just up and forgotten it. But like barely anyone knows who I am yet! There are people online calling me Spider-Boy and I'm not!"

There was a snort. "Yeah, you are totally already a man."

"Nea…" Prompto whined. "That's not the point. People don't treat me seriously when they see that name. I've read the forums online.

"I know what the point is, but still it would be nice for just a little bit of respect y'know? Nightwing gets it all the time."

"He has experience," Aranea answered in between her bites of pizza. "You are still a newbie starting out, but just give it some time. Focus on the responsibility first before you think of wanting recognition. Sure it's fun to have attention but you let it go to your head and then you stop caring about the real important things like safety and the consideration of others."

"Are you going to tell me the story about Loqi again?"

"Do you not want to hear the story again?"

"No you can tell me about it! I just figured that's where you were going with it," Prompto replied as he leaned back in his chair.

"So Loqi, once a famous hero back in Gralea, well known for his mecha suits and all of that technical jazz," Aranea said as she waved her hand dismissively. "He was once looked at as a famous hero and people loved him for it, but he let the fame get to his head. He soon only did his 'hero job' to garner attention and only would take on things that would warrant enough praise. He turned on his other friends and started just working solo, pushing the rest away…"

Aranea sighed, her eyes growing distant. "He fell from the high pedestal he placed himself on and became corrupted. Now… well now he is…"

"Now he is a villain," Prompto finished softly, knowing how hard the subject matter was for her.

She had worked with Loqi many times in the past and they had been good friends through the years. Not only that but she was one of the first to finally take a stand against him when he started becoming more of a villain than a hero. "I'm sorry Nea, I didn't mean to bring down the mood. But I promise I won't become like him."

"Good, cause you know I will not be afraid to beat your ass if you do."

Prompto laughed a little at that. "Thanks Aranea, terrifyingly caring as always. I'm glad I got you here to talk about this."

"Sure thing, kid. Now let's finish up this pizza, okay?"

"Yeah, you got it."