Chapter Two: Change

Noctis wasn't sure what he'd been expecting. Not this. Maybe a small naïve part of him had hoped that things could be the same as before. Sure even then Prompto had had a tendency to think of himself as worthless but he'd been getting better, right? Noctis had seen it for himself. Even in the little things, like how Prompto had stopped hesitating before joining -what Gladio had so creatively dubbed- the 'Tent Cuddle Pile' when they'd camped at the Havens scattered about Lucis.

It was as though they were starting from square one all over again. Prompto would still eat with them around the campfire but he didn't contribute to the conversation. He'd just stare into the fire blankly, as if he was seeing something far beyond the flickering dance of the flames. When Noctis had given the blonde his phone back -they'd found it in his sleeping bag after he'd left- he'd accepted it with a murmured thanks and a small smile, but it hadn't reached his eyes. Noctis had always loved how Prompto always used to smiled with his eyes, the expression genuine and whole hearted. Now.. now he was withdrawn, distant. As though he wasn't really there at all. As if he'd left a part of himself behind, in Zegnautus Keep.

Whatever Noctis had been expecting, this wasn't it.

They woke with the sun. Noctis found that lying in didn't hold as much appeal to him since Prompto had gone missing, even if he was tired. He'd much rather wake when Prompto did, which was generally when the sun came up. He didn't like to be away from the blonde, not for anything more than a few minutes. He knew it was irrational but he found himself worrying that the mysterious 'Ardyn' would creep out of the shadows and just.. steal Prompto away. Or worse, the blonde might just get up and leave again, make his way back to Niflheim.

They hadn't talked properly about what had happened, not really. They'd been on the borders of Niflheim and a truck carrying an active Magiteck Generator had come thundering down the road. The red glow had swept over them for just a few seconds, and then.. Prompto had tried to shoot him.

Noctis didn't even know how to start bringing that up. He remembered he'd talked to Prompto, after the 'incident'. Gladio had been angry at the time, his words cutting deep into the self worth Noct had been diligently cultivating inside Prompto. Inside his friend. Gladiolus had accused him, called him a traitor, "just another MT". Even as Prompto had tried to defend himself, Noctis had still seen the broken look on his face.

The night Prompto had left they hadn't even noticed -not until morning- because Gladio had made the blonde sleep outside. Hadn't even trusted him to come inside the tent. Noct clenched his hands into frustrated fists by his sides as he recalled the last line of the letter Prompto had left them; "I love you Noct. I hope you can forgive me."

The words still made him angry enough to shake, body trembling with his own rage. He should have done more. Prompto had been relying on him to do more, even if the blonde hadn't realised that himself. He should have stepped in when Gladio had spoken harshly, he should've made his Shield see reason. He was the future King, but he couldn't even protect one runaway Niff. He'd made Prompto his responsibility. He should've done more to keep him safe.

Noct jumped where he was hunched in his camping chair as he felt fingers tapping on his shoulder, twisting his head up and back to look at Ignis. The man was giving his hand a pointed stare and Noct frowned, looking back down at his own clenched fist, carefully forcing it loose. He grit his teeth as he saw the droplets of blood where his nails had dug right into his skin, leaving four deep crescent moon marks. No wonder Ignis had been concerned.

Without another word Ignis walked back over to where he was attending to breakfast, and Noctis breathed out a tired sigh. He was glad Ignis hadn't drawn Gladio's attention to his behaviour. Ever since Prompto had left he'd been more prone to overthinking, and the change hadn't slipped past Ignis. Whenever he was too deep in his own thoughts Ignis would silently pull him back out with a small touch. It was welcome. He'd never been all that great at looking after himself, but he had Ignis to do it for him.

Who did Prompto have?

Noctis looked over at the blonde, who was once more sat in his camping chair and starting at the flames crackling away in the fire pit. It had been four days since they'd rescued Prompto. The first had been spent at a hospital, but the Potions and Phoenix Down they'd given to Prompto when they'd first found him had been enough to cure his physical injuries. The consultants at the hospital had ran tests, which told them that Prompto was starving, dehydrated and likely sleep deprived. They'd excepted that, but it had still hurt to hear.

Prompto had remained unconscious for the eight hours they were at the hospital. Initially his assigned doctor had said he'd like Prompto to stay until he woke up again, but then a group of twenty or so badly injured hunters had been rushed in. Their conditions were far more unstable than Prompto's and they needed the bed Prompto was occupying, so the trio had taken him to a nearby hotel instead.

It hadn't gone down all that well. The receptionist hadn't even recognised Noctis as the Prince, but she had recognised Prompto's blonde hair. The light hair colouring marked him as being from Niflheim, and they'd been told in no uncertain terms that they had to leave, even if Prompto was completely unconscious. The next hotel was more than a six hour drive away and night was already pulling in. They'd opted to drive to a haven instead, not wanting to risk a daemon attack trying to get to the hotel. It wasn't worth the risk.

They hadn't left the camp since. Prompto had slept for a solid two days, Ignis and Noctis taking it in turns to watch him. They didn't want him to wake up alone, but they'd all agreed that Prompto waking up to Gladio probably wasn't the best idea either.

Noctis rubbed at his face absently, looking up as Ignis announced "breakfasts ready!" He sat up straight in his chair as Ignis handed him his bowl, and then Prompto. He winced as he saw the surprised reaction flit across the blonde's face the moment before he thanked Ignis. Prompto seemed to be taken by surprise every time Ignis presented him with food. He could only guess why, and he found his free hand clenched into a fist again at the possibilities his mind stirred up.

Ardyn must have done.. something. Well, it was clear he'd done a lot of things. None of them nice, judging from the state they'd found Prompto in. Prom hadn't talked about it, and nobody particularly felt like trying to push him too. It was clear the blonde had ben through hell and back though.

Noctis found himself sighing again, staring down at his bowl of porridge, stirring it around with his spoon. He didn't like mushy foods. At least Ignis had added a large helping of honey. They had to eat plain foods for now, or at least Prompto did. The doctors had suggested Ignis cook for the blonde separately, but the man had politely refused. He didn't want to do anything that might make Prompto feel segregated. So they were all eating bland foods, and even Gladio didn't complain, although Noctis was pretty sure his Shield was eating Pot Noodles in his own time.

"Hey Prom Pom, how you feeling?"

Noctis flopped down on top of his own sleeping bag, rolling onto his side so he was looking at Prompto. The blonde was watching him intently, but looked away as soon as Noct made eye contact, staring at a point on the canvas wall instead. Noctis lips twitched into a frown at that but he said nothing, listening to Prompto talk instead.

"Y-yeah, um.. I'm fine? Tired, I guess. Um... yeah."

Noct found himself yawning before he could stop himself, before nodding slowly in agreement. He itched to ask Prompto why he sounded so nervous, on edge, but he knew that was an insensitive line of questioning. "Yeah, me too. Hey, so you might've realised already but your guns back in the ether, okay? You can summon it whenever."

Noctis' eyes narrowed as he saw that surprised look on the blonde's face again, how honestly shocked he seemed. Why? Why was this coming as some kind of surprise?

"It is? Uh.. thanks I guess?"

Prompto fidgeted for a moment inside of his own sleeping bag before he looked up at Noctis again, finally meeting his eyes. "Um.. is Gladio, does he.. does he know?" Noct raised an eyebrow at that but quickly nodded, a frown on his face.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course he does. Prom, look.. no one, no one thinks you're gonna kill me, okay? Even Gladio finally got it into his head that it was the Magitek Generator that made you try in the first place. Like.. if we thought you were a traitor, do you really think we would have come to rescue you?"

Prompto bit his lip but nodded slowly, face a little disbelieving. "I.. okay. Yeah, okay. That... makes sense." Noctis sighed, looking at Prom with a sad smile. "Yeah. Yeah, it does make sense, but you don't really believe me."

He shook his head again as Prompto opened his mouth to argue, reaching out and brushing a few strands of hair away from the blonde's face. He was relieved when he didn't flinch, only tensed a little. He'd been worried that.. whatever Ardyn had done to Prompto would make him adverse to physical contact. It was nice to know that wasn't the case.

"Don't worry about it Prom. We fucked up. Gladio didn't think properly, Ignis and I didn't do enough to stop him from mistreating you. We should've done better. Hey, don't say anything. Just.. consider it. Please?"

Prompto had opened his mouth to say something -Noct didn't want to know what- but after a moment he closed it again and silently nodded. Even if Gladio had been harsh with him, he'd still understood why. He was a threat. He'd always be a threat, wouldn't he? He was just a product of the Empire. Noctis would realise that, one day. Realise that and get rid of him. Kill him, give him back to Niflheim.. whatever, the specifics didn't matter.

Although, now that he thought about it... he'd rather it was Noct than someone like Ardyn. Noctis always made him feel like things weren't so bad. Maybe he'd give him one of those kind smiles before he killed him, to make him feel better?

Noctis was oblivious to Prompto's thoughts. He watched his friend for a few moments before rolling over onto his back with another loud yawn, worming his way into his sleeping bag. "Right, how about we get some sleep, yeah?"

Prompto nodded silently and rolled to his side, facing the tent wall, effectively ending their conversation as he did. Noctis made a quiet sound of disapproval and suddenly Prom felt arms grabbing him around the sleeping bag, pulling him back towards Noctis. "You'll get cold all the way over by the wall" came the Prince's explanation and Prompto just nodded again, eyes wide as he stared at the tent floor, feeling the heat of Noctis pressing up against his back.

No more words were exchanged. He could tell when Noctis fell asleep by the way his breathing slowed and the grip around him loosened. He couldn't sleep. He tensed up in his sleeping bag as he heard Ignis and Gladio enter the tent hours later, their hushed conversation falling silent. He was expecting yelling, for Gladiolus to pull him away from Noctis, but... nothing. They just lay down and continued to talk quietly, as if Noctis pressing himself into Prompto's back was a regular occurrence.

He felt a sharp pang of heartache as he remembered that this was a regular occurrence. Used to be, at least. They'd all slept curled up together before... before the incident. Now..

Prompto took a deep breath before forcing himself to relax, eyes finally sliding closed. "I'm safe" he told himself, even as he struggled to get his breathing to slow "I'm safe here. They won't hurt me." He tried to remind himself of that; he was safe now, even if everything was different.

Even if it'd never be the same again.

(A/n: I had to re-read the last ten chapters of Night Light to prep for this, and oh boy did I cry. All the feels came back and they came back hard.)