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Noctis groaned in frustration as he took a stupid hit and his character died dramatically, leaving Prompto to fend off the fresh wave of enemies alone. He fumbled for another token and hurriedly put it into the machine.
“Don’t worry, Noct. I got this until you can get back in!” Prompto said confidently as he systematically took down the approaching horde of enemies one by one with a single shot to the head, without taking any damage himself.
Noctis sighed and readied his game pistol as he waited for his character to re-spawn into the game and caught a movement out of the corner of his eye.
“They’re here again,” Noctis murmured softly as his newly revived character spawned into the game just in time for the last round.
Prompto grinned and winked at him as he continued his flawless streak of gunning down every enemy in his path. “We got this Noct!”
Noctis grinned too. The paparazzi had been utterly relentless as of late, following him and Prompto everywhere they went in the hopes of catching them in a compromising position together. It was annoying as all hell, trying to go out on dates with his boyfriend without constantly having to dodge them. Noctis honestly wouldn’t have blamed Prompto if the constant media attention they’d received once they made their relationship public knowledge had scared him off, but blessedly Prompto had taken the whole thing in stride. Now, messing with the photographers that continuously dogged their steps had turned into a game of sorts all of its own.
“I’ve got a clear shot to the exit,” Noctis murmured quietly as they beat the game.
Prompto had a twinkle of mischief in his eyes and he shouted, “Yes!” for the benefit of their audience as he rapidly filled in the details for their high score.
Noctis took Prompto’s hand and leaned in as if about to give Prompto a kiss in order to tempt the photographer into nabbing a shot. Simultaneously, he threw a game token at the exit and warped after it, taking Prompto with him and ensuring that the money shot the paparazzi took would be completely and utterly ruined by the motion blur.
Prompto laughed as they appeared in the doorway, and pulled out his own camera to take a picture of the startled and swearing tabloid photographer. Then in the blink of another eye, they were gone, as Noctis warped away again before the photographer could react.
Two more warps later, they ducked into the busy crowd, dodging and weaving through the foot traffic and laughing their heads off at their success.
“That was awesome!” Prompto cheered. “Did you see the look on his face? Priceless!”
Noctis smiled fondly at his boyfriend and asked, “Want to grab a bite and check out that photo?”
Prompto rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically, “Do chocobos have wings?”
“Come on,” Noctis said as he pulled Prompto with their still joined hands toward a small, unassuming diner. “I could murder a plate of fries!”
Prompto laughed and allowed himself to be tugged into a small booth sitting next to Noctis where they promptly ordered burgers and an extra large plate of fries to share.
Noctis happily leaned his head on Prompto’s shoulder as they waited for their food to arrive. Prompto took a couple of selfies while they both made funny faces at the camera, before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on the top of Noctis’ head, capturing the moment and the small quirk of a smile the action had provoked in all its digital glory.
They scrolled through the pictures together, laughing at the funny ones, and at the look on the foiled photographer’s face until their food arrived. Noctis immediately went to work, removing all of the lettuce, tomato, and onions from his burger and transferring it all to Prompto’s plate.
Prompto laughed and took a picture of the pile of greens now lying beside his own burger. “Thanks for the salad, buddy!”
“Don’t mention it,” Noctis replied with a grin.
“Oh I won’t,” Prompto said with a mischievous smile of his own. “But when today’s events go up on Mooglegram, you know that Iggy’s going to figure out where it came from.”
“Specs can groan about my vegetable intake, or lack thereof all he wants.” Noctis said as he rolled his eyes. “It hasn’t stopped me before, and it won’t stop me now. Besides, I have ketchup on my fries. That counts as a vegetable.”
Prompto burst out laughing. “In your dreams, maybe, Noct! I look forward to seeing the look on Ignis’ face when you try to argue that position with him.”
Noctis rolled his eyes, “Nah, it wouldn’t be worth it. I mean, I’m right, but I wouldn’t want to give poor Specs an aneurysm.”
“Keep telling yourself that, Noct,” Prompto teased as he ate his salad . “Maybe one day, you’ll actually believe your own bullshit. In the meantime, feel free to keep tossing any and all orphaned veggies my way.”
“Thanks, Prom.”
They made short work of their meal. Noctis was actually pretty famished. Taking Prompto along for the ride when he warped, while fun, drained a considerable amount of his magical energy, so it was important to refuel.
When the waitress arrived with the check, she said quietly, “You boys might want to head out back through the kitchen. There are some folks from the press waiting to ambush you boys once you get outside.”
“Thank you,” Noctis said quietly as he pulled out enough crowns to pay for their meal five times over and handed it to her. “Your assistance is appreciated.”
Flustered, the waitress pointed out, “That is far too much, your Highness.”
“Please, keep the change,” Noctis insisted. “Your service and this establishment are highly valued, and I personally appreciate your consideration and kindness.”
“Very well,” the waitress said with an embarrassed smile. “You boys can head straight through the kitchen and out back. With any luck they won’t notice you’ve left until after you’re long gone.”
Noctis took Prompto’s hand in his own and so as not to make a scene with the other patrons of the diner, walked slowly and calmly toward the kitchen. It was a small space, but organized and extremely clean. They were greeted warmly by the cook, who pointed out the back door with a smile, and continued about her business fulfilling customer orders.
They got outside without incident, the press obviously not expecting them to exit through the back door, and the street was free and clear. Noctis started to walk away, but stopped when Prompto resisted the tug of his hand.
“What’s up?” Noctis asked, as he turned back and took in what had caught Prompto’s attention.
There was a fire escape leading up to the roof of the diner and Prompto winked mischievously at Noctis as he asked, “Are you up for pissing off our stalkers again?”
Affection tugged at Noctis’ heart. How on Eos did he manage to get so lucky? “You bet!” he answered enthusiastically.
Prompto’s smile was radiant, even brighter than the sun in the sky, and Noctis swooned a little despite himself as they quietly ascended the stairs up to the roof. Sure enough, as they peeked over the top of the building, a full on press mob had gathered outside the diner, eager to try to bully a statement out of the Crown Prince or his boyfriend. Little did they know that the joke was about to be on them.
Noctis kissed Prompto on his cheek, and held the position while Prompto carefully lined up the angle of the shot so that the press mob could still be seen in the background below them.
“This is gonna be gold ,” Prompto whispered excitedly as he got several more shots of the oblivious crowd below them.
They were up there goofing off and taking photos for quite a while before someone inevitably glanced up and shouted, “There’s the Prince!”
Noctis sighed. It was nice while it lasted, “Time to go.”
Prompto shrugged good naturedly and Noctis smiled as he gathered Prompto closely in his arms, pulled out a dagger, and warped them away across the rooftops, leaving only a blue trail of magical light behind in their wake.
Several blocks, and about a dozen roofs later, Noctis and Prompto scrambled down the stairs of yet another fire escape and headed into the park. It was quiet and peaceful in the open green space. Despite the beautiful day, there weren’t very many people milling around aside from a handful of dog walkers.
Prompto’s eyes lit up when he saw the ice cream cart and said excitedly, “Come on, Noct! Let me buy you an ice cream!”
This time, it was Prompto who grabbed Noctis’ hand and practically dragged him over to the ice cream cart. Noctis couldn’t help but smile as Prompto talked animatedly with the ice cream vendor and paid for two large cones of Chocoberry Blast.
“Thanks, Prom,” Noctis said as he accepted his ice cream.
Prompto had that little half smile on his face that he always had when he was flustered, but pleased. “Awe...Noct. It's nothing special, just an ice cream.”
“It’s an ice cream from you,” Noctis insisted. “Of course it's special.”
Prompto blushed, embarrassed, but still smiling that pleased little half smile, and accused, “Dork.”
Noctis beamed, and retorted, “Your dork.”
Prompto’s eyes were practically glowing, and his smile softened into an affectionate one as he confirmed, “Yep. You’re the dorkiest dork to ever dork, but you’re my dork.”
“Yeah,” Noctis agreed. “All yours.”
They strolled hand in hand together through the park until they came to a quiet bench and sat down to enjoy their ice cream.
“Seriously, though Prom, thanks,” Noctis said quietly as he took the last bite of his ice cream. “For sticking with me, I mean. I know this whole thing isn’t easy. It sucks that I can’t even take you out on a date without getting interrupted a million times.”
Prompto raised his eyebrow at him before lifting their joined hands up to his lips and kissing Noctis’ knuckles. “Come on, Noct. That’s not something you have to thank me for. Ever at your side, remember?”
“Yeah,” Noctis said. “It was just a lot to deal with today, you know. The paparazzi were more persistent than usual, and I know it's going to get a lot worse. I’m half expecting for a few of them to jump out of the bushes any second now.”
Prompto chuckled, ‘While I’ll admit that sometimes our stalkers can be a little annoying, it's just part of the package. You’re royalty, Noct. Like it or not, it is a part of who you are, and I knew what I was getting into when we decided to go public. Besides, it keeps us on our toes, we get to foil our stalker’s attempts to make money off of our happiness, and our dates, while spontaneous, are always a ton of fun.”
“I know,” Noctis said. “I just wish we didn’t have to jump around so much. I miss being able to go places with you without there being a camera in our faces all the time.”
“Awe,” Prompto fake pouted at him. “I thought you liked my camera?”
“Not your camera,” Noctis reassured. “Your camera is different. I love your camera and I love your pictures.”
“And I love you, dork,” Prompto teased before leaning in to give Noctis a short but sweet kiss on the lips. “Come on, let’s head back to your place so I can watermark all these photos and post them.”
“Sure, and Prom, would you mind setting up your tripod when we get back to the apartment? I’m hoping that maybe if I release a couple of official pictures of us actually kissing, maybe the going rate for a paparazzi shot might go down. Besides, if anyone is going to benefit monetarily from photos of our relationship, it should be you.”
Prompto’s laughter was like music to Noctis’ ears as they got up off the park bench. Prompto gave a mocking half bow and with mischief twinkling in his eyes he said, “As you wish, your Highness. ”
Noctis rolled his eyes and promptly smacked Prompto in the ass in retaliation as he retorted, “Quit it.”
Prompto offered his hand to Noctis, still grinning like a loon and said, “Anything for you, Noct.”
“Come on, Prom. Let’s go home and make fun of some paparazzi who wouldn’t know how to take a decent picture of us to save their careers.”
Noctis took Prompto’s offered hand and laced their fingers together before leaning in for another soft, sweet kiss. Then with a smile on both their faces, they headed home, hand in hand.
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@noctisluciscaelum_official
From the Office of Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum:
The following photographs are the joint property of the Crown and Argentum Photography. Versions of these official photographs are available to be licensed for use in official media publications with a smaller watermark through Argentum Photography. Any unauthorized alterations to the photographs and or removal of the official watermarks is prohibited and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Please contact @citadel_press_relations for more details about licensing information.
(All three photos are watermarked with Argentum Photography in large block letters and underlined with a small image of a crown in the center of the line)
Photo 1: Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum and Prompto Argentum sit on a sofa, facing each other with soft smiles and gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes. They are casually but smartly dressed in jeans and matching black button down shirts.
Photo 2: Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum and Prompto Argentum stand on a balcony overlooking the city of Insomnia with the Citadel prominently visible in the distance. The sun is setting, casting a warm, rosy glow. They are facing each other and Prince Noctis is resting his forehead against Prompto’s. His Royal Highness’ eyes are closed and he has a serene expression on his face.
Photo 3: A close up photograph of Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum and Prompto Argentum kissing tastefully against the backdrop of a star filled night sky.
#official citadel press release , # noctisluciscaelum , # prompto argentum , # argentum_photography
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@quicksilver_knight (argentum_photography)
The following photos are the property of Argentum Photography. Any unauthorized alterations to the photos and or removal of the official watermarks is prohibited and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
(All three photos are watermarked with Argentum Photography in large block letters and underlined with a small image of a crown in the center of the line)
Photo 1: An unknown man is standing in an arcade and looking down at the camera he is holding. The man has a comically exaggerated and angry expression on his face.
Photo 2: Noctis and Prompto are sitting next to each other in an old, worn, red restaurant booth. Noctis is leaning his head against Prompto’s shoulder and they are both making funny faces at the camera.
Photo 3: Noctis and Prompto stand on a rooftop. Noctis is kissing Prompto on the cheek, while Prompto smiles brightly. The camera is angled downward where a large group of photographers and journalists are gathered on the ground below and can be seen in the corner of the frame.
#paparazzi-fails, #adventures-in-dating-royalty, #sorrynotsorry, #argentum_photography