Title: Drinks and high heels
Genre: Humor, romance
Summary: The quintet take a break in Lestallium to enjoy the festivities.

Chapter 14: Drinks and high heels

Noctis twirled a curled straw idly in his half-empty glass of gin and tonic. Prompto's untouched glass of piña colada stood next to his. The blonde in question was busy chatting up a tanned beauty at the bar counter. Half-heartedly the dark haired man took a small gulp of his drink and grimaced. Had he known that Prompto's attention would be elsewhere Noctis might have actually ordered something less bitter and more befitting his sweet-tooth. Alas, his masculine pride often took the better of him.

The ice had long since melted in Prompto's drink and the liquid threatened to overflow. Deeming it his civic duty Noctis put his straw into his friend's drink and emptied a third of it.

Much better.

Ten minutes later and Prompto still didn't seem to remember his best friend's existence. Not that Noctis really blamed him – they didn't get many chances to chat with the opposite sex (excluding his betrothed, of course) when they were always on the move. And it's not like the two friends didn't see each other from dawn to dusk each and every day. Noctis sighed.

Screw it.

Noctis switched their drinks, all the while keeping a wary eye on the blonde. He finished the drink as slowly as he possibly could. Both to get rid of the horrible aftertaste of gin as well as to stall as much as he could. Nothing quite as pathetic as a lone man with an empty glass staring daggers at his best friend's back.

Gladio had run off to the beach. Noctis turned in his seat. He could just about see him among other shirtless men clad in swimming trunks playing volleyball. Next to them stood a group of females in bikinis, ohh'ing and ahh'ing whenever appropriate.

Noctis leaned on his fist, his mouth and cheek stretching unattractively as he did.

Even Ignis and Luna had left him. The two of them seemed to get along together well. So well, in fact, that Luna had somehow managed to talk Ignis into helping her find a suitable dress for the Night of Art -festival later that evening. Prompto had been very vocal about extending their stay by at least one day to be able to enjoy authentic Lestallumian festivities. To his surprise Luna had been the first person to back him up. It didn't take long for Gladio to cave in as well.

"Careful, your face might turn that way permanently."

"Didn't work on me when I was eight. Certainly won't work on me now", Noctis smirked and made no move to fix his slouched posture.

Lunafreya sat on Prompto's vacant seat. She took the unfinished glass of gin and tonic and sniffed it.

"Couldn't finish it?" she smiled crookedly as she twirled the glass.

"That's Prompto's", he pushed his empty piña colada glass forward for emphasis.

"Liar."

Noctis raised his other brow in challenge. "Oh yeah?"

"I've been around you four long enough to know that Prompto's not into gin. He's more of a cuba libre type of person."

Huffing, Noctis straightened up and crossed his arms defiantly.

"So what?"

"So you won't mind if I finish this for you?"

Mutely he shook his head and watched in fascination as his fiancée emptied the glass in one swig.

"Much appreciated", Luna set down the glass and wiped the corners of her mouth daintily.

Noctis offered a small smile in return. Seeing as Luna wasn't about to comment on his 'sissy' drink, he removed the slice of pineapple from Prompto's glass and popped it to his mouth before casually turning around in his seat to check the two men's statuses. Prompto had disappeared from the bar counter. After few seconds of searching, his sharp eyes found the blonde at the beach with the tanned woman. The woman was lying down on her stomach on a towel while Prompto was smearing sunscreen on her back. He looked like he was on cloud nine.

Gladio had left the volleyball game and had picked up a surfboard. He was paddling towards the waves. Luna followed the prince's gaze to the sea.

"That man is a daredevil", she shook her head in astonishment as Gladio lost his balance and fell. The pair didn't have time to even begin feeling worried as the tattooed man emerged, took hold of his board and made it for the waves again. "But he never gives up, I'll give him that much." Noctis grunted in agreement and turned back to face his companion.

"So, where did you leave Ignis?"

"He insisted on taking the bags to the hotel room", Luna shrugged. "I suspect he's not a fan of the heat."

"Bags?" Noctis' stared at his betrothed as if he was seeing an alien. Maybe he was. He was slightly clueless when it came to women – at least according to his three friends, anyway. Then again he had barely had any females in his life so there was a small possibility that they were correct. "How much shopping did you two do, exactly?"

"We didn't just get me festival garments", she eyed him amusedly. "We had to get groceries, too. How else are we to survive the next few days if we don't have our coffee stock sorted?"

Noctis slouched over again, his palm muffling his grumbling. "You two are made for each other."

"I heard that."

Later that evening the quintet had gathered together and made their way to the plaza. Prompto was nearly skipping with excitement. His underprivileged commoner background left him little chance to see the world outside Insomnia, even less to experience foreign celebrations.

"Prompto, I saw you fawning over that hottie at the beach. Didn't get her to come?" Gladio nudged the shorter man's side as they walked.

"Her flight back home leaves within an hour", the blonde didn't skip a beat. "But I got her number! And guess what; she lives at the Leide border. Not impossibly far from Insomnia." He grinned proudly.

"Ah, so a long distance relationship where the distance is manageable." None of them dared to mention the sorry state of Insomnia and how none of them would be returning home before the imperials were dealt with.

"Yup!" Prompto's grin took a sly turn. "And if you ever manage to get Cindy's attention we could go on a double date. Hammerhead's a stone's throw away from where she lives."

Noctis hid his smirk by pretending to cough while Luna took a sudden fascination in the evening lights as Gladio sputtered. Ignis had mastered his poker face far beyond the capabilities of mortal men long time ago.

"I don't know about you, but I'm dying for some street food", Gladio hurried to the end of a line trailing towards a tent.

Noctis was about to shout something shrewd to embarrass his bodyguard further, but was yanked by the sleeve.

"Noct, check this out!" Noctis didn't miss the displeased crease on his advisor's forehead as Prompto unceremoniously pulled him to a street vendor's stand. The merchant's table was covered in wooden figures made to the likeness of local fauna. While they were masterfully carved and painted, none of the regular animals and monsters really caught his interest. The prince's eyes settled on a nasty looking creature that was standing away from the more popular figures. He recognized the nocturnal monster from his geography classes. He could barely contain his grin.

"One of those, please", he fished gil out of his coat's pocket.

Prompto set down two wooden chocobos he had been admiring to check what his friend had purchased.

"Really? An imp?"

Noctis quickly hid his souvenir in his back pocket.

"What of it?"

"You're gonna put that next to Ignis while he sleeps or something?" Prompto's face lit up in mischievous glee.

"Nah. It just reminds me of someone." He backed away from the stand and left Prompto to ponder over his cryptic words.

Noctis joined Gladio who was stuffing his face with a dish he introduced as hash. Chopped pieces of potato and sausage disappeared from the plate whenever Gladio's gaze wandered away from his food. The two continued to walk past the different stands until they saw the familiar figures of Ignis and Luna by an outdoor bar.

"Find anything to your liking?" the corners of Luna's down-turned eyes crinkled in amusement as she noticed the grease stain on her fiancé's jaw.

"Uh-huh."

Gladio finished his plate and cast a forlorn look back towards the street food tent. "A full plate and still I feel hungry. These foreign culinarians don't know how to make filling food."

"Must be the lack of proper home-bred garula. Foreigners and their diet meats", Luna's face was carefully neutral as it always was when she delivered a joke. Only the slight twitch at the corner of her lips and the delight in her cerulean eyes betrayed her humour. Noctis fingered the wooden figure hidden in his pocket.

Yup. Definitely reminds of her.

"Might be a scam. Tastes good and isn't filling. Clearly a market plot to have people buy second rounds", Noctis couldn't help adding.

Ignis had clearly caught on what had really happened, but acted ignorant to let the couple have their private joke. "Why don't you go get a second plate? In fact, bring two while you're at it. I believe Lady Lunafreya mentioned she had a craving for it." He cast a knowing look towards Noctis who discreetly wiped the oily evidence off his chin.

"Might as well. I'll round up Prompto, too. Can't have him get lost in the crowd."

They watched as the tall man disappeared into the masses.

"Since we're here, we might as well settle down and order ourselves something to quench thirst", Ignis proposed.

"Excellent idea", Luna agreed and pulled few more chairs to a small table for Gladio and Prompto.

"What would you like to have, Highness?"

Noctis weighed his options for a moment, but decided he wasn't ready to drop his cool act. "Mojito."

Luna's slender brow rose, but she didn't comment. Instead she turned to Ignis and casually ordered a daiquiri.

Ignis walked to the bar counter to place his order. By the time he returned with their drinks Prompto and Gladio had returned with two additional plates of hash. Luna had yet to touch hers.

"Noct, look what I got us!" The prince recognized the two wooden chocobos the blonde had been fingering earlier.

"Us?"

"Yeah, this black one is clearly you and this yellow one is me."

A small smile tugged the prince's lips as he took the offered figure from his best friend.

"Wait a minute", he turned the figure over and inspected it. "This one's female."

"Suits you perfectly then", Gladio grinned.

"I hate you two", Noctis huffed and raised his glass of mojito to his lips. He mentally braced himself, but was pleasantly surprised when the sweet blend of rum, honey and lemon invaded his taste buds.

His gaze darted to Luna who nonchalantly sipped on his stolen mojito. She had even taken the slice of lime from her daiquiri and placed it on his mojito glass to make it seem like their drinks hadn't been switched.

She pushed her plate of hash Gladio had gotten for her towards him. "Noct, there's so much food on this plate, why don't we share?" She offered her fork to him. He gratefully accepted it.

Noctis felt like he was an open book that she was reading effortlessly. He wondered if this was what it was like to have a matrimonial partner to rely on; someone who knew him inside out and would save his dignity even when in company of friends. The idea of having Luna as his wife wasn't nearly as intimidating as he had initially thought.

He had always liked her. He even had a crush on her for the longest time that seemed to only swell each day he spent in her company. But at the same time he had always been a little intimidated by her. She was older and more mature. Sometimes she seemed to be beyond his reach; too far above him in both experience and station. She was the figurehead that her people looked up to. She had spent every day fighting Niflheim without weapons or words ever since the invasion. It was silent unspoken warfare and it had hardened her. Yet she shouldered the burden without complaints and with dignity. He wasn't sure if he could do the same if their roles were reversed.

But she had finally begun to relax and have fun with the four men without putting up a cool polite front. He really liked it. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like the imp figure in his pocket was appropriate for her. She was still the same mischievous little girl he had become attached with underneath that hardened – sometimes even scary – mask of hers.

"Hey-hey! Easy there, Prince Charmless. I didn't get that for you", Gladio pulled the plate from him and pushed it back to its original place in front of Luna.

Luna smiled apologetically and took the fork from the dazed prince to take few bites before discreetly pushing the plate back towards him while Gladio's attention was occupied.

Etro, he loved her.

Lively music was coming from a nearby stage. Luna was absently rocking to it, the hem of her knee-length dress swaying gently around her toned legs. Prompto and Gladio had gone to try their hand at nearby carnival games while Ignis was looking through a local art gallery set up next to the vendors. Noctis had been itching to follow the two men and make sure they didn't break his high score, but as he watched his betrothed tap her heeled foot to the beat of the song he felt a tug at his heart to remain where he was.

He recalled from their childhood letter exchanges that she liked to dance. Apparently her mother had allowed Lunafreya to take fencing classes as long as she attended to dancing classes. At first she wasn't very happy with this arrangement, but her father had encouraged her and told her to think of dancing as a form of fencing. If she was to master all forms of fencing, she should master dancing as well. With that in mind Luna begun to enjoy music and dancing and think of it as more than just steps of one-two-three one-two-three.

She had even once expressed in one of her letters that she was hoping he would dance with her once they were both old enough to stand on equal footing. He had been a good head shorter than her when she was visiting Insomnia with her parents. A fact that didn't bother him in the slightest at the time, but as time passed and he developed a crush on the Tenebraean he became very conscious about the obvious age difference between the two of them. He had been very envious of Ignis' and Gladiolus' heights, but had momentarily forgotten about it when he befriended Prompto who was roughly the same height as him. They were now both adults. He wouldn't have to worry about her outgrowing him.

She had been doting on him indirectly all night. He owed her at least one dance.

As he walked next to her and prepared to ask her for a dance, he noted something was very off. Something he should've noticed earlier.

She was taller than him.

Not by much, only 4cm at most.

But still.

Luna turned to him. Her content smile slowly faded as she noticed he was glaring at the top of her head.

"Noct? What is it?"

He snapped back to attention and wiped the dissatisfied frown from his face in a blink of an eye.

"Nothing, nothing!" He held his hands up defensively. Realizing he was acting even more suspicious he quickly dropped his hands and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Just trying to think how to ask you for a dance."

"I believe you just did", her smile was contagious. She offered her small hand and allowed him to pull her to the dance floor.

As much as he tried to ignore her obvious superior height he couldn't keep the frown from emerging on his face. He was so used to being on eye level with her and not having to look up or down at her. The last thing he wanted was to feel unworthy and inferior to her.

"You're supposed to be having fun."

"I am having fun", he insisted.

"Your face is doing a good job not showing it." He forcefully stretched his lips to a fake smile. It didn't take long for it to grow into a genuine smile as he couldn't help but mirror Luna's joy. She was positively glowing.

When I'll be King I'll make a decree to ban all heels. No, wait. That's too harsh. I'll only ban the Queen from wearing any heels.

"There you go again."

"What?"

"Frowning."

His frown deepened. "Am not."

They stopped dancing. She pulled her hand from his and studied him in silence. His gaze was pulled to her shoes as if by a magnet. His lips stretched into a thin unhappy line.

"You know what. These heels are killing my feet", she unstrapped her shoes and kicked them to the side. "Hope you don't mind."

The frown instantly disappeared. All was back to the way it was supposed to be. "Not at all." He kneeled over and took off his boots and threw them next to her shoes. He wasn't about to risk stepping on her bare feet.

He felt the familiar weight of her hand settle on his shoulder. If her movement was slightly shy and hesitant, he didn't comment on it.

His hand in turn circled her waist. If his hand trembled slightly from the excitement of touching her so intimately, she didn't comment on it.

Their free hands interlaced. Even if both of them knew they were supposed to hold hands instead, neither of them commented on it.

If anyone in the crowd noticed that Luna was leading instead of Noctis, they didn't comment on it.

His gaze was glued on her flushed face. Tiny beads of sweat were beginning to form on her forehead, but her cerulean eyes twinkled in merriment and her uncensored smile warmed his heart.

Ignis watched as the young couple ended their dance and applauded the band before moving to fetch their discarded shoes. He had been discreetly guarding them in case any youngsters got foolish ideas to steal them. He expected the couple to return to the main street with the vendors to find the rest of their group and was surprised when Noctis grabbed his fiancée's hand and walked away from the crowd.

What was he up to this time?

Sighing, Ignis took his phone and sent a brief text to Gladiolus to let him know he'd be trailing after the prince. He almost lost the couple in the sea of colourfully clothed people, but managed to catch the sight of Lunafreya's high ponytail before they disappeared from his sight. He hurried to the last known position and saw them further away step on an escalator. To his amusement Lunafreya made Noctis step on first so she could take the step behind him and make him appear to be taller than her. He seemed mighty pleased with her courtesy and rewarded her with a chaste kiss on her forehead that was suitably next to his chin.

Ignis' brows rose and he adjusted his glasses to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

His Highness was actually daring to do more than 'accidently' brush fingers or lightly touch her shoulder or back. If Prompto was here he would have recorded the whole thing.

Ignis liked to think he was better than that.

He deleted the video and pocketed his phone before continuing to trail after them from a distance.

"Where are you taking me?"

"It's getting dark. They're releasing the paper lanterns soon", Noctis continued to gently pull her along. "Thought this would be a good spot to look at them."

They were far from the hustle and bustle of the plaza. The only lights were few dim lamps on the ground level lighting the garden patches. They found a bench and sat down to wait.

"Had fun tonight?" His voice was low and husky, shyness threatening to overcome his recently found confidence.

"I haven't had this much fun since I visited you in Insomnia", Luna admitted. Noctis let out a contented hum as he scouted the black skies for lanterns. Not finding any, he leaned back and was reminded of the wooden imp figure in his back pocket as it pressed uncomfortably against him.

"Oh, hey, Luna. I got you something." She turned to face him curiously as he pulled the figure from his pocket and placed it in her hand. "It reminded me of you."

She stared at the imp's skeletal figure, yellow glowy eyes and razor sharp teeth. "This is the most hideous thing I've ever seen."

"You like it?"

"Love it", she grinned and turned it around in her hand. She peered at a small text at bottom of the figure. "'Made in Accordo?'"

Noctis hurriedly pulled the black chocobo Prompto had given him and sure enough found the same text on his. "Should've known", he grumbled.

Luna giggled. Noctis perked and couldn't help grinning in return.

A faint light illuminated their faces. They turned to face it and saw a green paper lantern slowly rise.

"I once had a Lestallumian handmaiden. She used to tell me of these lanterns and how they are powered by synthesized wind and fire spells. That is how they rise above the clouds and how the flame stays lit", the Tenebraean murmured.

Soon the sky was filled with dozens of lanterns in different shades of green with yellow designs.

"Should we call the others over? Wouldn't want them to miss this."

Noctis tentatively put his arm around her shoulder. "Not yet", he swallowed heavily. "I'd like it to be just us. For now."

Luna held the wooden imp in her other hand and placed her other arm around the prince's waist.

"I'd like that", she laid her head on his shoulder.

Noctis rested his cheek against the blonde crown of her head, not bothering to cover the happy sigh that escaped him.

Together they watched the lanterns soar.

"500gil they'll kiss", Prompto whispered to his companions.

"No way they will", Gladio shook his head. "Noct requires several pep talks before he can muster courage to get his groove on any ladies."

"She's not any lady, though. They're engaged."

"Even so. I'm with Gladio on this one. His Highness is too timid to make such bold moves on Lady Lunafreya. Give it few weeks", Ignis turned his attention to the floating lanterns.

Prompto took out his camera and made sure to take off the flash before taking pictures of the scene before him. If Noctis found out he'd be mad, but he was sure that in few years he'd be grateful that he had recorded such a sweet scene of the couple leaning against each other and the starry sky with last few lanterns floating above them.

A/N: Hey, guess what! I don't know anything about drinks, either. Had to do some thorough Googling and Skype galluping on this one, haha!

Sorry if there's million mistakes and typos. All of my unwilling English helpers are hiding.