Dork

Prompto nibbled absently on his pencil, neither enjoying nor regretting the wood and metallic taste that it left in his mouth. It was a nervous habit of his he adopted in high school after some girl asked him why he always played with the band on his wrist. It wasn't in and of itself a weird habit, but due to the unique purpose that the then green band served, he thought it best to avoid drawing attention to it.

Instead, he chewed on his pencil as their chemistry teacher doled out their lab partners for the semester. Partners always scared him in a primal way that he couldn't understand, perhaps because he had never really had a friend before.

He heard the crunch of cracking wood as the surface of the pencil broke in his mouth. He had gotten used to being alone, but some days, it really ate him up inside. His eyes crossed over to Prince Noctis who sat two tables down, recalling the time that they had almost become friends.

Years back, he had found a puppy and taken care of it, only to find out that the animal somehow belonged to Lunafreya Nox Floret, a childhood friend of the prince. She had requested that he befriend that boy, more or less the same age as he, and Prompto had considered it. He pushed aside all of his fears of his past and origin and approached the prince, only to fall flat on his face and to be mocked for his weight. The thought haunted him for years, but also motivated him to be better for the prince – to be worthy of being his friend. It motivated him to lose the weight and conquer the last vestige of his childhood in Nifleheim, to shed himself of his need to devour all food in sight to fight the cold, dark eternity of starvation that haunted his early memories. He couldn't remember how he ended up in Lucis, but the memory of his empty stomach was always as vivid as his lonely heart.

And after all of that, a happier, more fit Prompto who discovered a love for photography and could walk tall with the best of them, if he so chose, saw his chance to befriend Noctis on the first day of freshmen year of high school – and walked away. He was hardly fit to walk tall with his prince.

"Prompto Argentum," the teacher announced.

His thoughts stopped and he heard the pencil crack again, and he knew that when he looked at the pencil later he would see two deep gashes into the wood with multiple more shallow breaks spreading out from where it was split. He grabbed the pencil at the eraser and loosened his jaw, letting the pencil fall into his waiting palm.

"Let's see. You are with Noctis."

Prompto felt his face heat, the teacher's words indicative of his plight in a way that she would never care to know. Noctis. Just Noctis. Not Prince Noctis, or his full name of Noctis Lucis Caelum. Just Noctis. Everyone knew who Noctis was. The Prince. The Jock. The popular boy. The one-day-king that had little interest in the affairs of high school and his fellow juniors.

Prompto looked over to Noctis, aloof and impassive as usual in his chair, ignoring the drooling girls that inevitably found their way within seven feet of him. His black hair covered his eyes, and he looked half asleep. Not a surprise, as he was often one to sleep in class. Though that wasn't to say he was a bad student. Most found it amusing – Prompto sure did - and some made little jokes about Noctis, prince of the night who fought off the daemons that sought to sneak their way into Insomnia.

The teacher continued listing off lab partners, Prompto absently processing the information as nonessential to him. He wasn't close friends with anyone, much less in a way that the knowledge of the lab partners of his classmates would ever be of value to him. The teacher ended her assignments with a dismissal.

"I took care to end class approximately five minutes early – lucky for you all, you have seven – so make sure to meet with your lab partners before you go. A reminder, you first assignment is to get to know each other. No grade, though I assure you, the better you do this assignment will affect your future grades."

Soon enough, the room was filled with the ruckus of a thousand and one chattering voices somehow from the thirty odd students.

Prompto gulped as he stood up, ready to make the first move and talk to Noctis. His heart beat in his chest knowing that the last two times he had tried this, he had failed miserably. He told himself that he had every reason to do it this time, a legitimate one that would determine their grade in this class… but Noctis was the prince. His grades didn't matter, not really. At worst, his father or an advisor would scold him. Prompto sighed, his doubts eating him up inside like they always did.

His shoulder blades shot up and dug almost painfully into his neck as he felt a slight clap on his back. A giggle rose in his throat and escaped his mouth as he saw the person who had approached him – Prince Noctis. He was taller than Prompto by an inch, if he had to guess, and had a kind face beneath the dark strands of hair that tried to hide him from the world. Prompto licked his lips as he prepared to speak, happy at least that he didn't have to be the one to approach prince. If he made a fool of himself, it would be one less thing to beat himself up over.

"Noctis," the prince said.

Prompto nodded. "I… yeah. Oh, um, I'm Prompto."

"I assumed." Noctis paused for a moment and looked him over. "Have we ever spoken before? Like, I know I recognize you from middle school, though I can't say for certain if we have spoken."

"No, no," Prompto chuckled nervous. "Maybe we bumped into each other in the hall and stuff?"

Noctis grunted. "Probably. So, you want to hang out after school?"

Prompto felt his lungs deflate like a balloon. "Umm…"

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I understand, hanging out with the Crown Prince can be scary…"

"No, no, not that," Prompto said earnestly. Noctis's eyes had grown dark and sad, making Prompto feel regret and guilt that he wanted to go away. He hadn't intended to hurt Noctis's feelings. That was true, at least, amongst the torrent of emotions he was feeling. "It's just…"

Noctis nibbled at his lips, and Prompto forced his thoughts to race to find something to say to make this better.

"I'm not really used to being offered to hang out…" He wanted to slap himself for that. No need to sound like a loser. "I'm kind of a loner, you know? Just me and my camera."

"I understand," Noctis said. "I prefer to be alone too. I just thought it would be good for our grade to get to know each other. Plus, my bodyguard makes me combat train after school. Not even sports gets me out of it anymore, so I thought something for class would work."

Noctis turned to leave, but Prompto grabbed his arm. Prompto felt his eyes grow to saucers and fear filled his heart at what he just did. Placing a hand on the prince without permission, a hand to restrict his infinite superior no less. He was dead.

Noctis didn't lash out. Instead, the other boy just hummed pleasantly. "Change your mind?"

"I never said I didn't want to hang out," Prompto said, forcing confidence in to his voice. Not a lie in the least. "I was just nervous." A truth as well.

Noctis smiled. "Don't be. I would like for us to be friends, at least enough for this semester. Uh, I mean, not that I only want to be friends for the semester. You seem cool."

Prompto nodded, a weird feeling in his chest that he just couldn't place. It was light and warm, and felt like warm dancing feathers. Lady Lunafreya's wish was coming through after all of these years. Or maybe it was the fact that Noctis – Prince Noctis – had called him cool.

"Yeah, you too," Prompto blubbered. He felt a rush of heat in his face.

Noctis chuckled. "At least you don't worship the ground I walk on."

"He-he, no worries of that," Prompto said, knowing that he sounded like a fool, but accepting it. From the way Noctis's smile lit his face, he could tell that the other boy enjoyed it.

"Meet me at my car after school?" Noctis asked.

"S-sure."

"My driver picks me up on the east side – little traffic. No rush, if you have to go to your locker or talk to a teacher or something."

"I won't be late!" Prompto exclaimed, giving a mock salute.

"Dork," Noctis muttered as he turned away, but Prompto knew from his tone that Noctis meant it affectionately.

Three more classes until the end of the day. A small part of Prompto couldn't wait.

A/N: Primary posting is on A03.