The pleasantly-warm temperatures of the day had cooled to a delicious, brisk chill by the time Prompto finally eased himself under his thin bedsheets in his underwear, sighing at the incomparable comfort of a clean, cool bed. The sky outside his newly polished window was purple-grey, about as dark as the night ever got with Insomnia's light pollution obliterating the stars somewhere beyond.

After Noctis had left, he had taken the time to tidy up the place, changed his bed, did some hoovering, and topped it all off with a jog round the block and some vegetarian pasta. Unlike his best friend, he was quite happy to exert himself without the actual threat of punishment to motivate him. Truth be told, he quite enjoyed housework (and knowing how many calories it could burn didn't hurt either).

Now leaning back against his two under-stuffed pillows, the blond thumbed distractedly through his phone, feeling inordinately pleased with himself, and happier than he had in a good while. His conversation with Ignis earlier couldn't have gone better, and right now, he was sure that nothing could top the slightly delirious bliss he currently felt.

On cue, Prompto's phone buzzed quietly in his hand, the tinny sound of the Regalia's engine notifying him of a princely text. He hadn't heard from Noctis since he had left, and a deep-seated worry he hadn't even been aware of fluttered away, knowing that his friend had indeed gotten home safely and was alright.

N: Hey dude this sweater is sooo comfy. Srsly. I want one. It makes me wanna (￣o￣) zzZZzzZZ

P: Like you need any more help with that… (ꐦ ´͈ ᗨ `͈ )

N: Guess you got a point there. Anyway, thanks for tonight. The park was nice.

P: Thought you'd like it. (⌐■_■)

A few minutes later, once Prompto was certain there was no way the Prince was still conscious, he stretched over to the nightstand and placed his phone on its charger for the night. Realizing his giddiness wouldn't allow sleep to come for some time, he picked up his camera to flip through the photos from the evening.

The camera's screen wasn't quite as glaring as his phone's in the gloom of his lightless room, and he snuggled back in comfort as he began scrolling through that day's images, something he did religiously every night if he had taken any photographs in the previous 24-hour period.

He appraised his own photos from the morning and afternoon, including some rather arty, high-saturation shots he'd gotten of his colourful bag of candy, immediately before he had demolished the entire lot and spent the next few hours regretting it. He zoomed in on one or two to ensure that the image wasn't hiding any blurriness, with others, he fiddled with rotation and monochrome filters.

He was scrolling through in his typical objective and rather distant fashion, when a bizarre image that he didn't recognise flashed onto the mini screen. He peered at it, briefly entertaining the idea of ghosts in the machine, when it belatedly clicked as to what the black fabric on the screen actually was, and he nearly choked on a sudden gasp.

"…Shit," he whispered.

Prompto stared, wide-eyed and mouth gaping, at the princely crotch while heat crept across freckled cheeks. It took him a few seconds to realise that this must be the picture that had transpired when Noctis had accidentally set the camera off in his own lap. The result was…ridiculously perfect.

Realizing it couldn't be normal to spend such an inordinate amount of time transfixed on his best friend's nether-regions, the blond swallowed hard and hovered his thumb over the delete button. Yet somehow, he just couldn't bring himself to erase the image that was tempting his curious imagination with ideas of what was concealed beneath. Instead, his thumb instinctively zoomed in on the parts of interest, adjusting the brightness to illuminate the ever-so-faint outline of what was hidden below the dark material. The new vantage point sent his blood rushing south in a hurry.

Prompto's fingers marched experimentally beneath the bedsheets to give his straining erection a few slow pumps overtop his purple, leopard-print briefs. Remembering how the Prince was standing in his bedroom almost completely naked just a couple of hours earlier didn't help his situation any. He could practically still smell Noctis, likely from the abandoned heap of damp clothing in the corner. Eyeing the not-so-distant apparel, the blond reached over and plucked Noctis' shirt from the pile, and resumed his position back on the bed. Burying his nose into the material, he shamefully relished the Prince's scent to the point of near intoxication.

Another few pumps moistened his fingers through the thin purple fabric. "Fuck…" Prompto shuddered. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, he slipped his fingers beneath his waistband and grasped his rock-hard length with a tight and blissful squeeze.

Swallowing an abrupt mouthful of saliva, Prompto licked his lips, teething gently at them as he began to rhythmically squeeze and drag, his fingertips skidding through slippery pre-come and pinching at the swollen veins on his blood-hot shaft. His other hand clenched at the soft fabric of Noctis' T-shirt, and the inspired fantasy that it was sweat that was soaking the dark material, not pond water, encouraged a sharp and urgent throb between his legs, and a silent, anticipatory ejection of clear liquid.

With closed eyes, he pumped his pulsating length slick with the wetness, enjoying the vulgar sound it produced, along with the radiating pleasure delivered by each quickening stroke. The room suddenly felt extremely hot, every inch of his flesh on fire from adolescent hormones. He slowed his hand, hanging dangerously close upon the edge of orgasm. "Mmm, Noct," he strangled a choked gasp into the shirt, his whole body tingling and shivering as he held onto the sensation.

Prompto distracted himself from his imminent, premature pleasure by twiddling his fingers shakily through the warm tendrils of pre-come that decorated them, and he listened to his own laboured breathing as he fought not to ponder what he was doing. It was times like these (and this was definitely not the first time) that paranoid fantasies about Noct's potential mind-reading abilities began to trouble him. Of course, Noctis couldn't possibly know what he was up to right now. But the fear that he would read it in his eyes and guilty expression the next time they met was a prevalent one.

Turning his mind to something else besides paranoia, the blond glanced back at the image on his camera. He wondered what Noctis looked like down there, underneath it all. Did Noct touch himself like this? If so, what sorts of things did the brunette think about while he was getting himself off? How exactly did the Prince like to be touched, and… how did he sound when he came? The very idea brought a surge of pressure to Prompto's twitching erection, sending it involuntarily pulsing forward with desire for friction. Returning his grip to its former position, the blond resumed his ministrations, the sheets beneath him now damp with sweat and the pre-come trickling between his legs. He slowly stroked his swollen shaft while imagining Noctis at home in his bed doing the same. Quickly finding himself teetering upon the cusp of release, his fingers tightened hard around his cock and then re-started their work over again once the immediate sensation had passed. He did this a number of times, prolonging and intensifying the pleasure until his entire body was trembling and aching to climax.

"Shit…ugh, Noct," Prompto muttered wheezily, gnawing on his bottom lip, wetting it repeatedly as he grunted under his breath. His inhales hitching stickily in his throat, he tingled with fearful anticipation of his powerful climax, preparing himself for the dizzying release. Closing his cobalt blue eyes, his forehead creased slightly in concentration, he pushed the fingers of his left hand up under his testicles, pressing against his prostate from the outside. It was about as far as he had been brave enough to experiment on himself, and it was always guaranteed to push him over the edge.

With a seething, agonised groan, the blond's orgasm finally ruptured, flooding him with painful pleasure, making his head swim. Overwhelmed, he writhed and bucked on his bed, hands shakily working himself through his drawn-out climax, blinking sweat from his hazy vision. As he slowly recovered over the next few minutes, chest heaving with little flashes of ribs under his freckled skin, he knuckled distractedly at the seed that had spurted up over his own throat.

The blond couldn't help but feel a slight pang of guilt as he cleaned up his mess, using his best friend's shirt none-the-less. He discreetly hid the disgraced article, making a mental note to do laundry after school tomorrow. Crawling back under the sheets, he hesitated briefly before deleting the evidence of his misgivings from the camera. As he laid back, waiting for sleep to take him, his mind wandered. He had a lot he needed to do over the coming couple of days to prepare for prom. He was taking a Prince after all. And it was going to be perfect.

Prompto was sitting alone at his desk the next morning, kicking his legs idly and staring out of the window as tutorial neared its conclusion. His bright eyes watered and winced at the glaring sunshine outside, reflecting off the myriad glass of the science block just across from their homeroom. When his phone vibrated, half-heartedly hidden under his chocobo-stickered folder (the stickers had been a joke present from Noct, albeit one that he had actually loved), he scooped it up and read the message intently.

N: Not coming in today. Dad's got some stuff he needs me 2 attend. I'll get ur work to catch up tomorrow. 2 bad I needed to look for another date haha (❁°͈▵°͈)

P: No prob dude. Got ya covered.

With a sigh, the blond packed up his books and stuffed them into his pack as the bell rang. Figuring this would at least allow him to meet up with Iggy after school and pick out a suit, he hopped up from his desk and made his way to history class. They were in the middle of an in-depth analysis of the mythology of the six gods believed to be standing watch over Eos since antiquity. Just as Prompto neared his usual desk, he felt a sharp tug on his backpack. "Woah!" he yelped, stopping in his tracks and almost losing his balance.

"Hold up a sec, sunshine," a male voice commanded from behind.

Cautiously, he eyed the interloper, a guy in the class called Kai who was definitely one of those 'outta your league' types, albeit one who actually seemed pretty cool with his dyed reddish-black hair and that funky King's Knight satchel that Prompto had been eyeing up for a while. It would have looked ridiculously childish on him, but of course, Kai made it look effortlessly retro and awesome. Life wasn't fair, Prompto mused silently.

"I've been meaning to ask you something, and I see His Highness isn't around today," the slightly taller student grinned, his voice a little husky and strangely mesmerizing.

"Uh, yeah. He, um, had stuff to do today," stuttered the blond nervously under the stare of almost-black eyes and even darker eyeliner. Kai had never spoken to him before, and Prompto couldn't comprehend how such a guy would ever even notice his meagre existence, let alone have something to ask him.

"Are you two an item?" asked Kai, playfully picking up the drawstring of Prompto's hoodie. "'Cause if you're not taken, you're going to prom with me," he stated as he narrowed the distance between them and gave the delicate string a suggestive, predatory tug.

"…An…item? What makes you think that?" Prompto mumbled, face flaming. He was quietly stunned that he hadn't stuttered as he stared down at Kai's long, metal-ringed fingers which twiddled with his hoodie string.

The blond didn't even know why he had bothered asking, except to try and avoid answering the other teen. He knew that there were the occasional sniggering remarks and short-lived rumours in school about he and the Prince, mostly because they spent all their time together and neither of them really had any other friends, but he didn't think anyone actually, seriously considered that they were a couple.

And another thing…how long had this guy been waiting for Noct to be absent so he could talk to him in the first place? Prompto goggled at the implication.

"So, is that a no then?" Kai pressed, getting right down to business and stepping even closer into Prompto's personal space.

"Ah, it's- I mean… We aren't, uh," stammered the blond, scratching nervously at the back of his head and thanking each of the six gods of Eos individually when the bell suddenly rang to signal the start of class.

"Saved by the bell, huh blondie?" Kai flashed him a charming smile. "This isn't over," advised the taller male as he sauntered nonchalantly back to his desk. While everyone moved to take their seats, Prompto released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding and skittered to his usual spot. As the teacher began the lecture, the blond sank into his chair and flicked on his phone.

P: Dude, you'll never believe who just asked me out. (✿ ｡ )

N: I have some ideas.

P: What?

N: I think I could guess.

P: Haha, very funny dude (￢ ￢)

N: Prob Freya. Ever since she started carrying that camera around to try and get ur attention (•ˋ _ ˊ•)

P: Who? 「(°ヘ°)

N: Or that creepy guy with the lazy eye who always gets a seat behind you so he can check out ur ass.

P: You mean Tsukki?

N: No, I'm talking about Shinji. And don't tell me u didn't notice…

Very cautiously, Prompto looked over his shoulder and sure enough, there was Shinji peering back at him with a goofy, lopsided smile. And was that drool in the corner of Shinji's mouth? Prompto, horrified that Noct might actually be right, spun back around in his seat.

P: Ok, that's just creepy.

N: Now Tsukki is the dude I caught tryin to slip a love letter into ur locker a couple weeks back.

P: Ummm, say what now? What love letter?

N: Exactly. I intercepted it, of course.

P: (´⊙ω⊙`)！!

N: Hey, what are friends for, right? You can thank me later… XD

P: You are making this up right? No way that many ppl have the hots for me

N: You'd b surprised

P: …you're coming across like a weird stalker …how the hell do you know these things and I don't? and don't make any blond jokes you know I totally aced you in that algebra test

N: Dude, come on. I have been fending these ppl off for the last 2 years… (－‸ლ)

P: (⊙_⊙)

N: What ya doin after school? Wanna meet up?

P: Sorry bro. Got plans today.

Prompto was reluctant to reject the invitation, partly because he knew that royal affair-type stuff tended to stress his best friend out, and he would probably be game for some cheering up afterwards. And partly, because it had been barely any time at all and he was already missing the doofus.

But he reasoned that in the long run, he was sure that Noctis would be more than happy. Today was already working out nicely, giving him ample time to meet a reluctantly-conspiring Ignis and set what he was calling 'Phase 1' of his plan into action. Today had already thrown an unexpected spanner in the works, what with the surprise date request from Kai (…he would have to figure out how he was going to turn him down, because he seemed pretty persistent…), and he was sure that if he pondered Noctis' odd text messages and their insinuations, he would probably go a little crazy. His phone vibrated once more.

N: ｡ﾟ･ (﹏) ･ﾟ｡K have a good one xx

N: I meant xD!

…Yep.

He would definitely go a little crazy.