"Look who's back to the world of the living" Gladio mocked when Prompto awoke from his slumber, his head spinning slightly. Then he remembered the events of the previous night and quickly grabbed his phone.
The clock read 9:15.
"Argh, I'm gonna be late!" he cried and jumped out of bed, leaving his three friends baffled.
He took a quick shower and put on his civilian clothes. He didn't even bother to fix his hair, as unruly as ever, and shot out of the bathroom to quickly grab his jacket.
"May we ask you where you're off to in such a hurry?" Ignis asked while quietly sipping his coffee.
"Wiz Chocobo Post. 10 AM. Late!" he panted while lacing his sneakers.
"Why the fancy clothes, then?" Gladio asked raising an eyebrow.
"Ehm, I'm going with someone" Prompto replied, for some reason unable to tell him who he was going with.
"Oooh, someone's got a date!" Noctis teased.
"Nothing of the sort!" Prompto said defensively, suddenly wishing his skin were darker to conceal his blush.
"Yeah, right!" Noctis kept mocking "Well, have fun out there, lovebird!"
Rolling his eyes, Prompto rushed out of the room and ran as fast as he could to the stone terrace, only to find it empty.
He stopped in his tracks. "Maybe she is still asleep. Or maybe she forgot. Or maybe she thought against it" he thought flatly.
"Prompto!"
The boy turned to the source of the sound and saw Iris sitting in a light grey van, waving at him with a large grin on her face.
He returned the smile and rushed over to her.
"You're taking the wheel, I'm not that good at driving" the girl said with an apologetic smile, before gesturing for him to take her seat. They swapped places and he started the engine.
"You… look really nice, Iris" Prompto said a bit awkwardly, but knew he had said the right thing when a blush crept up on her face.
"Thanks…" she mumbled shyly.
She was wearing white shorts, a light pink shirt and matching sneakers. It was simple, she thought, but she had picked her clothes based on the activities they had planned for the day. She couldn't ride a Chocobo wearing a skirt and high heels, that's for sure. But Prompto seemed to genuinely like her outfit, and she smiled contentedly. She then found herself wondering why she cared so much to look nice around him. She had known him for many years now, and never really cared to look particularly attractive around him. She guessed that every girl liked some attention from boys every once in a while.
Only then she noticed that Prompto was not wearing his Crownsguard outfit, but had changed into denim jeans and a light blue shirt which highlighted his eyes.
She had to admit he looked really cute, though she secretly hoped she was being accompanied by a certain dark-haired prince...When her mind began daydreaming more than necessary about Noctis, Iris shook her head and decided to concentrate solely on the blond boy beside her. She was going to enjoy the day with her friend, and would not allow Noctis to ruin her plans.
Prompto was a good driver, or maybe he was simply trying to get them safely from A to B in order not to face Gladio should anything happen to her, and he soon took a right to drive down a narrow pathway where they could see yellow feathers flying in all directions.
They were soon greeted by a jolly-looking man, who encouraged them to take a look around and meet his Chocobos.
Baby Chocobos were chirping happily and pecking at the food scattered around, while the adult Chocobos were standing proudly at their posts, waiting for visitors to feed them or even rent them for a short ride.
Prompto immediately reached for his camera and began to take countless pictures with one hand, and pushing Iris in his line of sight with the other so that he could take some shots of her with the feathery birds.
Iris smiled eagerly at the camera before turning to stroke the tall birds and feeding them with vegetables. The Chocobos twittered contentedly, and Prompto managed to take a picture of one eagerly munching on its lettuce.
"This one's so silly!" Iris chuckled while browsing Prompto's pictures since the start of his journey.
"Oh, that one!" Prompto leaned in toward her to take a better look at the photo. "Yeah, Specs looks like he's yawning there. In reality he was calling me and Noct to dinner".
They kept laughing until both their stomachs began rumbling with hunger.
Prompto took the menu lying on their table and shared it with Iris so that they could both take a look at the available dishes. "This looks good!" Iris said "The Chocosandwich".
Prompto smirked at her and then stood up to go and place their order. When he came back, he was carrying two large plates with sandwiches and fries.
"This is SO good! I haven't had such a good meal since I was a fat little kid!" Prompto confessed while eagerly attacking his food.
"Wait, fat kid?" Iris repeated surprised.
"Yeah. I was overweight when I was a kid. It was actually Noct that inspired me to lose weight and become slimmer" Prompto told her, blushing lightly "Couldn't even go up a flight of stairs without crushing to the floor".
"Can hardly believe that" Iris giggled. She just couldn't picture a chubby Prompto. Ever since they met, he had always been fit. But then again, they met when he was 16 and she 13, so she guessed he had already achieved his objective by then.
"It's true" he continued "And a lonesome one too. Never had any friends, really. You know, my parents have never been much at home, always somewhere working overtime to make sure we could pay the bills by the end of the month. We are not exactly… wealthy. So I spent most of my childhood alone, finding relief in photography and junk food. Until I met Noct. That changed everything".
Iris listened to his tale as if hypnotized, feeling genuinely sorry at the thought of a small Prompto living isolated from everyone, even his own family. She had only known the happy, easy-going side of his personality, and found it difficult to picture him as a lonely boy with no friends.
Only then she realized how hard it must have been for him to become a Crownsguard. Of course, she imagined that being Noctis's best friend might have helped, but he must have worked incredibly hard to prove he was worthy enough of the king's trust.
They kept chattering happily, before renting two Chocobos to ride around the post and challenge each other at races. Needless to say, Prompto was far too fast, and easily beat her every time. Regardless of this, Iris was having the time of her life: she couldn't remember the last time she had laughed like that and occasionally posed for the camera whenever Prompto extracted it to capture another memory. She hadn't even noticed the sun had begun setting until Prompto did. They were having so much fun that they had totally forgotten to keep an eye on their watches.
"Uh-oh, better get going" he said, lifting his head to look at the darkening sky.
They said goodbye to the Chocobos, promising to come visit again soon, and went back to their van, where Prompto immediately began driving.
Halfway to Lestallum, the sun had completely set and the sky was now a deep dark blue color and Iris couldn't deny she was getting slightly nervous, expecting an attack from a Daemon anytime.
As if her worries had conjured the menace, the dark road was suddenly blocked by a gigantic Daemon with several heads which resembled those of a sea monster.
Iris shrieked while Prompto instinctively braked, stopping the van in the middle of the road.
The Daemon roared ferociously at them, its yellow eyes glowing with malice.
Prompto widened his eyes in horror, but acted quickly. He immediately tried to drive back to the Chocobo Post in reverse, but the monster quickly slid into his line of sight, blocking the path.
"Guess you don't leave me much of a choice" Prompto muttered as he conjured his gun and opened the door.
Iris yelled at him to try and convince him to get back and not do anything stupid, but he was already gone.
He carefully aimed at one of the heads, shooting at it right between the eyes. At first, Iris thought he had easily managed to take the monster down, but her hopeful expression fell instantly when the monster summoned two more heads to replace the defeated one.
Prompto was taken off guard by this, which costed him: the Daemon, noticing he had let his defenses down, attacked fiercely with its long tail, hitting him square in the stomach and sending him flying several feet backwards.
He landed painfully on his back, groaning loudly as he tried to get back on his feet.
And then all he could hear was a piercing scream. As if it had been a catalyst, Prompto immediately jumped back up and looked around to locate the source of the scream. His blood froze in his veins when he saw the Daemon forcefully slamming the van with its strong tail, while Iris was trying to protect her head with her arms.
He ran as he had never run before and began shooting furiously at any body part of the monster he could hit.
The Daemon then turned its attention to him and slid forward.
Still sore for being hit so hard, Prompto began shooting once more at its heads. Every successful hit, however, resulted in the monster staring back at him with new pairs of murderous eyes.
He noticed it when it was too late for him to find shelter or run away: the Daemon's tail hit his right hip, causing him to spin several times mid-air before landing on the asphalt.
"Iris, get away from us, hide!" he managed to cry out, in a desperate attempt to save at least her life.
"You're the Crownsguard, Prompto! Don't you dare die on me!" he heard Iris shout back at him "Oh!"
The girl had exhaled in surprise as Prompto pressed one hand on the sore hip.
"Prompto, behind it! Look at its back!"
The boy managed to summon all his energies to heave himself up and did as Iris told him. His eyes widened in hope and excitement as he saw a tiny, pulsating spot on the back of the monster, which was now dangerously gliding toward Iris.
Before it could strike her, Prompto lifted his right arm and aimed at the weak spot, firing with precision. With immense relief, he saw the monster collapse to the ground inches away from the girl.
He sighed loudly and knelt down, the pain intensifying as the adrenaline in his system returned to its normal levels.
Iris got out of the van and rushed to him, put one of his arms around her shoulders and helped him back up on his feet. Prompto winced but didn't complain further as she carried him to the van and helped him lie down.
"I'll take the wheel from here" she said determinedly.
She made sure to accelerate and never stop until they were safely back in Lestallum. Never before had she been more grateful to see the city lights.
Hooray for brave and victorious Prompto! I actually wrote another version where Iris and Prompto manage to escape the monster (Prompto still gets injured, 'cause I'm mean :D) and find shelter in an abandoned shack in the woods, where they stay for the night as Iris attends to Prompto's wounds. But it just wouldn't go well with the rest of the story I had originally planned, so I eventually published this version :) Maybe I'll post the other one as a bonus, depending if anyone's interested. We'll see ^^"
Next Chapter: Prompto recovers as Iris and Jared take care of him. Gladio is angry at Prompto. Prompto reminisces his very first date.