Prompto slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the blinding sunlight. He covered his eyes with one arm and immediately wished he hadn't done it.
A sharp pain shot all over his body as the events of the previous night came rushing to him. He didn't know how he had ended up in a comfortable bed, but assumed he must have passed out at a certain point the night before.
Trying to move his body as little as possible, he scanned the room. He didn't recognize it, but it was small yet welcoming and beautifully decorated.
He deduced that Iris must have taken him back to Lestallum, for he could see the majestic shape of the power plant from his window, and that she had probably asked for someone's help, most likely Jared.
He then widened his eyes in horror as his head immediately shot to his right, to check that no one had removed his wristband when they were lying him down. With a sigh of relief, he could tell no one had invaded his privacy more than necessary, but someone had surely removed his shirt, for his chest was bare excluding the bandages wrapped around it.
He blushed furiously when he noticed someone had also taken the freedom to remove his jeans and replace them with more comfortable pajama pants. Whoever had taken care of his injuries thought it best not to apply any more pressure on the sore spot.
His deductions were interrupted when someone knocked on the door, before stepping in. It was Iris, carrying a tray of food and giving him a large smile, though he could tell she was very worried.
"How're you feeling?" she asked, placing the tray on the bedside table.
"Been better" he groaned, trying to sit up. Iris smiled sympathetically and sat on the bed beside him.
"What's the time?" he asked, grabbing a piece of toast from the tray and eagerly biting on it.
Iris checked her watch. "Quarter to twelve".
"What?!" Prompto shouted, almost choking on his toast "I gotta go! The boys must be worried!"
"You're not going anywhere, Prompto! You can barely sit in bed. Besides, I have already informed the others about what happened" Iris replied firmly.
"Oh… What did they say?" Prompto asked, suddenly feeling very stupid as he could imagine his companions' faces upon hearing the news, and what they must have said.
"Ignis…" she started, looking at her feet "Ignis said it was utterly irresponsible of us to stay out until after dusk, but he hopes you will get better soon. The most understanding, though, was Noctis. He was just very worried and only asked about how you were doing. Tried to rush over here to see you, but I told him you were still unconscious, and to wait until you were awake".
"Ugh- there's still one more…" Prompto doubted Gladio would be as understanding as the others, and waited for her to answer. Upon hearing her brother's name, she gave him a sad look, as if unsure of whether to tell him or not.
"Well, you know Gladdy… he- he is very impulsive and-"
"Just tell me" Prompto said in a low voice.
"…he- he was furious. Said we were two idiots and that- that you…" Iris stopped, tears in her eyes.
"Iris..?" Prompto reached out to comfort her, but she shook her head to fight back the tears and continued.
"He said you deserved it for being so irresponsible, and he hopes you learned the lesson. Gladio… he can be so harsh and mean when he is angry… I am sure he didn't really mean it, though".
Prompto swallowed the lump forming in his throat: he knew what Iris meant, that Gladio easily lost it when the sake of the people he cared for was at stake, but his words hurt nonetheless.
"I- I'm sorry…" he whispered, lowering his head "I didn't mean to put you in danger. It was foolish of me".
"It was not your fault, Prompto! You saved me!" Iris retorted "You must not mull over what he said!"
Just as Prompto was about to open his mouth to speak, another figure entered the door.
"I see you are awake, young man. You got us seriously worried there" Jared said, clutching his fists behind his back as he approached the couple.
"I am sorry, really…" Prompto said apologetically.
"Now, don't be silly m'boy. You fought valiantly to save our Iris's life, and for that we are all very grateful. And, by the way, I took the liberty to clean your wounds and lend you some of my clothes" the man explained kindly, and Prompto smiled gratefully at him.
"Words can't describe how grateful I am, sir" the boy started, but Jared chuckled.
"We are the ones that should be thanking you, Prompto. Even though it was very unwise of you two to stay out so late, I am positively impressed. You took a Daemon down all by yourself, according to Iris's tale" Jared continued.
"Oh no, sir! Iris was of great help! She showed me how to defeat that Daemon. If it hadn't been for her, I'd probably be dead meat by now" Prompto wanted to make sure he didn't get a glory he didn't wholly deserve. He generally didn't like being at the center of attention, but he also meant what he had just said.
"Then you make a really good team" Jared smiled paternally at both of them "Now young man, make sure you eat your food as the prince will soon be needing you again".
"R-right! Thank you, sir".
Iris watched the blond boy eat in silence for a while. "Thank you, Prompto".
The boy lifted his head to return her gaze and grinned widely, winked at her and continued to devour the rest of the food.
"At this rate I'll get fat again!" he said satisfied when he was done, pushing the tray back on the table and, without thinking, slammed his hands on his stomach to point out how full he was. He widened his eyes as tears stung them and screamed in pain. Iris laughed so hard at his clumsiness that she almost fell out of bed.
"Oh, you really are one of a kind, Prompto" she chuckled, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Yeah" he agreed, massaging the back of his head with one hand in embarrassment but grinning proudly for making her laugh so hard.
They were interrupted by the sound of chattering coming from downstairs, followed shortly after by footsteps approaching their room.
"I think you've got visitors" Iris grinned, standing up.
Needless to say, Noctis, Ignis and, to Prompto's surprise, Gladio stepped in.
"How're you doing, troublemaker?" asked Noctis with a faint smile.
"Not too shabby, not too shabby" Prompto grinned back "Good to see you, guys".
Gladio grunted loudly and crossed his arms. "Now listen up, kiddo. We're all happy you made it through, but involve my sister in one of your stupid ideas once more, and I will personally make sure you won't be so lucky next time".
"Gladio, you should be grateful he saved her life" Ignis tried to reason with the tall man, but the latter snorted. "This wouldn't have happened had he waited just a little bit longer to go and see those bloody birds".
"Gladio!" everyone turned to him and gave him a hard look.
"No it's fine. He's right" Prompto intervened without looking up.
"Don't be ridiculous, Prompto. Anyone can lose track of time when they're having fun" Noct reassured.
"Not when my sister is involved" Gladio retorted.
"Gladiolus, stop it immediately!"
Everyone's attention was now focus on the slim girl, who had stridden toward her brother with a menacing expression on her normally sweet face.
"Now you listen to me, big brother. In case you haven't noticed, I am a grown up girl now. And yet, it doesn't seem to me that you ever considered the thought that maybe, just maybe, I was having so much fun that I too lost track of time! You're accusing Prompto as if he has dragged me with him forcefully!"
Gladio blinked several time in disbelief, at a loss for words.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, treating your partner and your friend like that! He risked his life to save mine, and for that you should be eternally grateful to him" she continued mercilessly.
Gladio could no longer keep his eyes on her sister, or anyone else for that matter, as Iris's words started to sink in.
"You're right" he muttered embarrassed "I-I guess I should apologize, kiddo".
"Hey, no big deal" Prompto said "If you promise to stop calling me kiddo, though. You're only five years older, dude".
"Mmm, I'll think about that" Gladio allowed a tiny smirk cross his face, and everyone relaxed again.
Jared came shortly after carrying a tray with mugs filled with coffee, and everyone scattered around Prompto's bed to discuss about his encounter with the Daemon.
Prompto felt blood rushing to his cheeks as everyone praised his heroic achievement, which didn't happen often. Unlike his companions, he had never received any fighting training, but a simple self-defense course consisting of a couple of books and some brief sessions with the other Crownsguards to practice. He was basically self-educated, and was impressed enough when he actually passed his exam at the Citadel.
He had always feared of being a burden for his three friends during the journey, seeing that he lacked the abilities and skills of the others, and so it felt odd to be at the center of the attention now.
The sky had turned a beautiful orange color as the sun was starting to set when his friends left him to rest. They had decided they would be staying in town until his full recovery, "enjoying themselves, the local girls and some good ice cream" quoting Gladio.
Iris frowned slightly at the "local girls" part, but didn't say anything. Prompto imagined she couldn't stand the thought of Noctis looking at other women and not her. He could understand her feelings, or sort of. He had fallen for some girls in high school and had to cope with the fact that, no matter how hard he tried to get their attention, they would always follow or stalk Noctis wherever he went. The prince was a handsome young man, but he suspected that most of the girls were actually interested in him because of his royal status.
He remembered that one time when, inspired by a sudden burst of courage-or maybe out of pure stupidity-, he had asked one of the prettiest girls of his school out. To his surprise, she had accepted.
At first he thought he had actually made it, and had even managed to take her hand in his. When it was time for her to be taken back home, however, he instantly realized what an utter failure the day was actually turning out to be.
Confident that the attraction was mutual, he leaned in toward her just outside her flat to claim his first kiss, but she had suddenly taken a step back and held a hand up to his face.
"Sorry, Prompto. You're cute and sweet, but I-ehm, see you as a friend, really. And friends are supposed to help each other, right?"
Prompto stood lamely in the hallway, his back still slightly curved from when he had tried to kiss her, listening dumbly at her words. What came after proved to be even worse.
"So, since we are friends" she underlined the word with a sly smirk "when you see Noctis, could you be so kind as to put in a good word for me?"
She flapped her long eyelashes at him and Prompto, feeling extremely dumb and shamelessly used, replied with a "Butofcourse!" a bit too enthusiastically.
Since then, he had avoided asking any girl out on a proper date.
Next Chapter: Prompto is still recovering from the fight, which allows him to open up more to Iris. Iris says something that will leave both of them quite bewildered.