7: Hope

Noctis was leaning against the railings of his balcony, staring out at the early morning shoppers and citizens starting their daily commute. He'd never been one to wake up early in the past, but ever since they'd brought Prompto to Insomnia it seemed as though there was more that was worth being awake for.

It had been six months. So much had changed, yet so little at the same time. About a month after Prompto had arrived they'd discussed the matter of where he'd like to stay. First they'd considered moving him into one of the houses in the citadel, but Prompto had taken one look at the residences closer to the palace and had immediately said no. Apparently big houses reminded him of the time he'd been living with Ardyn. "What's worse" Prompto had said, "I wouldn't know what to do with all the space." Noctis had laughed at that but agreed, understanding - if a house was too big, it stopped feeling so much like a home. That's why he'd moved into his own apartment years ago.

Gladio had briefly suggested moving Prompto out of Insomnia entirely and into one of the larger outposts, but none of them had really liked that idea. Then they'd considered one of the smaller apartments on the outskirts of the City but Ignis had insisted that those areas were too rough and wouldn't be safe enough for Prompto to live in them.

Then Prompto had suggested that perhaps he could just move permanently into one of the palace rooms and -after clearing it with King Regis- that's exactly what he'd done.

Prompto had settled in well. As soon as he'd felt comfortable venturing out into the lively City Noctis and Ignis had been quick to drag Prompto clothes shopping. They'd come back to the palace with possibly more clothes than was strictly necessary, but Noctis had been insistent on buying everything that caught Prompto's eyes. Even the particularly outlandish garments that Ignis had tried to discreetly hang back on the racks when Prompto wasn't looking.

That hadn't stopped Noctis. He'd warped every piece of clothing Ignis had silently protested against into the Ether, then warping them directly into Prompto's room. It wasn't theft because... well, because he said so.

Sometimes being the future King had its perks.

Prompto opting to stay in the Palace hadn't been that much of a surprise to anyone. The only protest had come from one of the counsellors in an official meeting. The counselor had apparently made a comment about "Letting a dirty Niff stay in the Palace". Noctis hadn't been present at the meeting but according to Ignis, King Regis had utterly destroyed the man, who proceeded to 'step down' from his position only three days later.

What had come as more of a surprise to the people was when Noctis announced that he was moving back into his old rooms in the Palace. He wanted to be there for Prompto, to help him adapt to life in the City and the complete freedom that came with it. And -although Noctis wouldn't admit it to anyone but Prompto- he was enjoying the opportunity to spend more time with his Father. They picked up their old tradition of eating dinners together again. Prompto was at every meal, smiling and laughing and finally returning to a healthy weight with three meals a day and snacks here and there. Ignis often joined in with their dinners and Gladio occasionally dropping in when he wasn't cooking for Iris. Regis tried to let Clarus go home for the evenings whenever he could, but they were still at war. Duty called. Clarus didn't seem to mind too much, because when he didn't have time to go home he ate with the rest of them at the table.

-

"So uh.. I've got something I've been meaning to ask you, Prom."

Prompto looked up from where he'd been looking through photos on his camera. Noctis had bought him the LOKTON LX-X1R three months ago and Prompto had immediately taken to photography. He took photos of everything- the city, the palace, himself. Noctis had often found himself the unwitting subject of some of Prompto's shots, which he didn't mind in the slightest. Ignis said that Prompto picking up on hobbies was a great sign that his recovery was going well. Prompto had even started some combat training with Gladio, having requested to learn some non-murdery forms of self defence. Gladio had been eager to take him up on the offer and they'd started with a casual sparring match to evaluate Prompto's skills.

Noctis and Ignis had both been there to watch and oh boy, they had not expected to watch Gladio get his ass kicked. But it had happened, and the Glaives who'd been training nearby had looked just as shocked as Gladio, Noctis and Ignis had felt.

In hindsight, they probably should have kept in mind that Prompto had been trained in combat extensively since birth.

Noctis smiled fondly at the memory, before Prompto laughed at him, grinning. "Noct, you're staring into space with a goofy smile again. Wanna tell me what's up or what?"

"Hm..? Oh yeah, sure. I was, well.. as the Prince I'm meant to rule all of Lucis, yeah? But I haven't seen all that much outside of Insomnia, especially at the outskirts of our land and stuff. So I want to do this thing where I travel around and explore everywhere, meet my people."

Prompto looked thoughtful for a moment before he frowned, setting his camera down. "So.. You're leaving? Is that what you're saying?"

Noctis quickly realised Prompto was taking this the wrong way and shook his head ""No- Well yeah. Gladio is coming as my Shield so I can blame him if I get killed and Ignis is coming because he cooks good and also I guess because he's my advisor. And I was wondering if uh - I mean you don't have to but... would you like to come too?"

Prompto seemed caught off guard by that, mouth forming a little 'o' of surprise. And then he was grinning, nodding enthusiastically, and Noctis found himself returning the smile with one of his own. "Of course I want to come! It'll be like the best road-trip ever! And uh, I've missed Iggy's cooking."

Ignis ruffled Prompto's hair affectionately at that, offering the blonde a fond smile "Well I'm glad to hear someone appreciates my cooking. Honestly Noct, I cannot believe you chose to order delivery last night rather than let me cook."

Noctis laughed at that, shaking his head "Your cooking is better Specs. I just wanted you to have a break."

Ignis scoffed, shooting Noct a halfhearted glare "That is complete and utter bullshit and you know it. Now come on, we must inform His Majesty of our plans to leave soon. You know Noct, he's really proud of you for going on this journey."

"Yeah." Noctis smiled, gazing out the window, thinking the sky looked remarkably blue today. "Yeah. I know."

-

It felt just like old times.

Prompto and Gladio were both sat close to the campfire, playing Kings Knight together and working to take down a particularly pesky event boss. Ignis and Noctis were cooking together, Noctis halving volunteered to help out. That had been two hours ago - whatever they were cooking either took a long time or Noctis' inexperience was slowing the whole process down.

(It was the latter)

"Dinner is served!" Prompto looked up from his phone as Noct walked over carrying two plates full of food, Ignis close behind him with another two. Prompto carefully accepted his plate as Noctis handed it to him, careful not to drop any of it. He settled it in his lap, looking up at Noctis in surprise as he realised what he'd been served.

"Is this..?"

"Yep, spicy long-bone rib steak! Just like the one you liked at home except better 'cos Iggy cooked it."

Suddenly their nine hour long search for Leiden Peppers three days ago made a lot more sense. Prompto felt the hot prickle of tears threatening to build, but he didn't want to ruin this moment by crying. So instead he smiled, overwhelmed with gratitude that Noctis had remembered the food he'd liked from months ago.

"Thanks Noct. You too, Iggy. This is.. this is amazing."

Ignis took his own seat as gracefully as always, returning Prompto's smile with a smaller yet just as genuine one of his own. "Well, I wouldn't quite say all that when you haven't even tried it yet. Dig in, Prompto. It'll get cold."

Prompto couldn't remember a time he'd ever been quite this happy.

They were all laying together, staring up at the stars. Out here in the middle of nowhere the air was clear enough that lights filled the sky without a cloud in sight. Noctis and Prompto were lying on rocks that still held on to the heat they'd absorbed that day. Ignis and Gladio were right next to them on the grass, shoulders and hips and hands touching and they laid side by side.

"Guys?"

Prompto's voice was quiet, almost lost in the breeze that blew over them. It was warm but not humid, a pleasant respite after the more intense heat of the day. It was Gladio who answered Prompto's call, although he didn't move from his spot in the grass. "What's up Prom Pom?"

Quiet for a moment, because sometimes Prompto needed a little time to get his words together, to shape them into the right kind of sentence. And then; "I've been uh, talking to Joanna about it and she agrees, um…"

Noctis turned his head so he was facing Prompto as the blonde trailed off, offering him a reassuring smile "Joanna's your therapist, yeah?"

Prompto nodded in confirmation, starting to talk again "Yeah. Loqi, he.. he told me that there's this feeling where you really really like someone and you want to be with them a lot. And that ah, that I'll know when I feel it. And it's.. Joanna agrees and.. I think, I think I love you guys."

Noctis didn't miss a beat. He pulled Prompto into a tight hug almost immediately, holding him close. "I- we love you too, Prom. So much."

Gladiolus was quick to join, the two boys laughing and shrieking as without warning Gladio pulled them off of the rock, hugging them both. He reached out with his free arm and pulled Ignis in, the man sighing but otherwise joining the group hug with minimal complaint.

"We all love you, Prom Pom. Don't ever forget it." Prompto could only smile from within the mass of bodies. He was surrounded and it felt wonderful. He felt safe. He thought back to what Loqi had told him all those years ago; "you'll know when someone loves you, Prompto."

This was it, he realised. This warmth, this feeling of safety. All of it, all of it was love. He smiled to himself, and was still smiling when hours later they all moved to the tent, Prompto excited for whatever adventures tomorrow would bring. And the next day. And the next.

Loqi.. Loqi would have been proud.

After well over a year of writing, editing and tears, this fic is finally complete! A huge huge thank you to anyone who's ever commented or dropped into my tumblr ("epidepi") or my spam Instagram ("animudealer") to say something nice, it always means the world.

Will there be more FFXV fics in the future? Probably. I have a couple fully planned and over twenty ideas for fics, although how many of those will get written is a good question.

Now that Exsomnis is finished I'm going to fully focus on "Expanse", which is a fanfic of a series called "Fae Tales", except I'm inserting an OC and taking the main cast to space because… yay, aliens?

(I seriously recommend Fae Tales by "not_poignant" it's genuinely the best thing i've ever read, and its an original work posted here on AO3! It's got many explicit scenes and dark themes though so if that's not for you, maybe hold off on that. And if you're a brave soul that'd be willing to read my work without reading the original material then mine will be mature, not explicit)

Thank you so much for reading! And look out for the next "bonus chapter", where I'm posting the full initial plot of Night Light AND Exomnis