*Not too much smut in this chapter. It's mostly for fun and you get a chance to see a touch of Prompto's role in an official sense.

SHED SOME LIGHT ON THINGS

CHAPTER 5

Noctis yawned. He hated meetings. They worked so hard and sacrificed so much to save this city and retake the throne…and yet. Listening to his advisors drone on about things like taxes, sanitation, uniform inspections, and the like made Noct want to warp out the nearest window. "Your Highness?"

"Hm?" Noct lifted his head. He must have zoned out. Cor Leonis shook his head from the other side of the table. He looked exasperated with the whole process as well, but somehow he managed to stay alert throughout. "What was that?" Noct asked Chancellor Lockhart.

Chancellor Lockard sighed. She didn't look like she wanted to be here either. "I said that Tenebrae has offered another opportunity for a union and request to know if you would be interested in taking their Regent's daughter as a bride."

Probably not, thought Noctis. It had been a week since their enlightening faux camping trip and Noct was pretty sure he was content with what he had going on at the moment. "I'm not sure I'm ready to be dealing with treaties just yet. The last one didn't pan out so well." The room was quiet. Many in the room knew and loved Lunafreya. "They are still our allies, though. I'm not saying no, but give them a firm 'not yet.'"

There was a shuffling sound outside the conference room before the double doors swung open. Prompto entered in his formal uniform, carrying a to-go tray of multicolored beverages. "Sorry I'm late, there was a line." He sauntered around the table and placed a large yellow drink in front of Noct. "Pineapple mango smoothie for the Chosen King, strawberry banana for me, and…" he slid Cor a pale green container across the mahogany table. "…mint chocolate chip for the Immortal." He sat down in his seat and took a sip, eliciting glares from most of the Chancellors. He raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, did you guys want one?"

Noctis tried to hide his smile by crossing his fingers in in front of his face. Gods, he loved this guy. If for no other reason that the rest of the council always got their knickers in a twist when he was around. They weren't used to having a former commoner in there midst.

"What did I miss?" asked Prompto.

"Most of the meeting," grumbled Chancellor Shinra. "Does the Refugee Liason have anything to share with the council?"

Prompto took a swig of his drink and put it aside. He put on his serious voice. "Yes, actually. Sixty seven women and children crossed the border into Cleigne from Galahd four days ago. They petitioned for refuge within the city."

"What are they fleeing from?" asked Chancellor Shinra.

"Apparently the Nifs left some altered Marlboro's in the area from the war. They reproduced and Galahd has a bit of an infestation on their hands."

Chancellor Shinra made a face. It was clear he wasn't a fan of letting more parasites (his words) within the walls of their freshly rebuilt city. "Well… We'll debate on it and have a vote on it next-"

"They've already been granted sanctuary." Prompto cut in, seriously. "I'm just now informing you that it happened."

Shinra's fat face began to turn red. "You little whelp. How dare you jump the judicial chain like that." Some of the other people around the table didn't seem too pleased either. "The only reason you're sitting at this table-"

"I gave the executive order to let them in." Noctis cut in. Out of all the council members, Shinra was his least favorite. He gestured to Prompto, "This man stood at my side, as my equal, for more than a decade. He knows more about the suffering of this world than all of you combined, which is why he is Refugee Liaison. So, please tell me Chancellor, for what reason are you here?"

Shinra's face turned from red to purple as he stood up and stormed out of the council chamber.

Chancellor Lockhart rubbed her temples. "I think that's enough for one day. Do we have your leave, Highness?"

Noct nodded.

There was a general shuffling of chairs as the council members filed out. Prompto remained behind. When Noct heard the last footfall echo down the hallway he took a sigh of relief. "Gods, I hate meetings. Can we go back to hunting monsters for Gil again and eating Cup Noodle? Please?"

"Are you sure? You seemed to do pretty well at this meeting." said Prompto taking a swig of his smoothie. He looked utterly ridiculous with that big pink cup combined with his formal dress blacks. Noct loved it. "You might want to double check that your dick didn't leave an imprint on the table."

Noctis laughed heartily. "You always had a way with words, Prom."

"Apparently so do you. It's been a while since I've seen you so assertive. Especially in a formal setting." He felt Prompto's eyes roam his body. "I liked it."

"Well he did almost insult my personal retainer," said Noct, returning the look. "I really dig the way you always manage to make Chancellor Shinra look like he's about to have an aneurism at any given moment."

Noct called Prompto a 'retainer', but they hadn't yet done more than they had in the tent. Once every few nights they would meet in one of their chambers (usually his) and end up making out and grinding against each other until they came. If he was being honest with himself he really had no idea what he was doing. Prompto was the first male he'd ever been with. Noct assumed the same with him.

Despite that, Prompto's cerulean eyes were currently giving him the hungry look he'd become familiar with over the past week. The blonde stood up and startled Noct in his leather chair, similar to the position of their first kiss. Their uniforms were constraining and this was hardly the place, but that all seemed to ramp up the intensity when he leaned in and kissed Prompto, noting that he still tasted like his fruity beverage. It was difficult to move in his formal jacket so Noctis couldn't really explore the man on his lap as much as he would have liked too. He knew this couldn't go any further than this while they were in the conference room, but it was nice.

Noct's eyes shot open when the door at the far end of the room opened and Cor stepped back in. Picking up the drink he'd forgotten on the table he looked their way. The two of them froze. They all stood still, looking at each other for what felt like forever before Prompto turned around and gave the Immortal a nervous wave.

Cor just backed out of the room, drink in hand. His face that of someone who'd seen worse.

When the door closed Prompto began to chuckle. "Dude, your hands are on my ass. He totally saw that."

"You think he will tell anyone?" asked Noctis.

Prompto shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not. I don't think he wants the next meeting to have this particular event in the bullets."

Noctis imagined the scene. "You're probably right. So," he pulled Prompto closer, "care to continue this later?"

"You know it."

X~X~X

Bit of a short chapter, but I'm exhausted and in desperate need of sleep.

I was kicking around ideas of Noct and Prompto reaching out to Ignis and Gladio for advice on 'the act'. But separately, so it's a surprise for the other, and in 'teaching' them what to do things get heavy. Thoughts? Thanks for the input.