PEACE WEEKEND

[airlockedmods]

[It's your first week here, and you've been offered a fantastic prize for killing someone: an all-expense paid vacation! It's a pretty standard prize as far as reality game shows go.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), this isn't exactly a game show.

It seems that no one has died this weekend, and the deadline for the prize is now expired. There's no announcement from the Overseers to that effect; in fact, none of you have seen either of them since Tuesday. Maybe they'll make a reappearance soon, but for now, it seems that you've got a moment of peace.

Hopefully nothing happens to it.]

Comments

[photoshooter]

Oh, ehheh.

[Caught him. Sheepish, Prompto rubs under his nose.]

Yeah, uh... Noct's royalty. Once we get the Crystal back from Niflheim, he's gonna be King of Lucis. So I guess you could say he's a pretty big deal, yeah.

[hellahighwater]

Duuuude. Best friends with royalty! Why're you acting like it's some secret?

[photoshooter]

Habit, I guess? It is kind of a secret. We've been on the run for a while, now, back on Eos, so it's not really safe for him to get recognized.

[hellahighwater]

Ohhh. So even though no one'd really care here who doesn't know, you just...hella default.

[photoshooter]

Pretty much. That and Noct never acts like a prince or a king or anything, not unless he has to. If he could, I bet he'd put all that royalty stuff aside to fish and sleep and play video games all day and be way happier.

[...

...]

But... he can't. So... as much as I can, I try to make things normal for him. Gladio and Iggy, they can't, so it's up to me.

[hellahighwater]

...That's really sweet, Prompto. He can't have the normal, so you bring the normal to him.

Gladio and Iggy, they your other friends?

[photoshooter]

Uh-huh. Gladio's Noct's bodyguard, and Ignis is his...

[Advisor? Secretary? Assistant?]

...Babysitter.

[hellahighwater]

[ A light chuckle. ]

Lemme guess, there's a more...official title, that's just the fitting one?

[photoshooter]

Yeah, he's his advisor or something, but he also does all the cooking and cleaning and sews buttons back on Noct's shirts and usually insists on being the one to drive. He's been there for him forever. Since Noct was, like. Three.

[hellahighwater]

Youuu weren't kidding, shit. Actual babysitter.

[ As an aside: ] I hope you realize while they might be totally normal for you, all your names are like...so fucking cool for me. They sound like fantasy names from some kind of book or video game or Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

[photoshooter]

[He laughs.]

What, really? Well, I guess the guys do have pretty impressive names. I think it's a Citadel thing, they all come from families with courtly ties and stuff. But we have names like yours, too! There's Cindy and Monica and Dave...

[But Prompto, why is your name ridiculous, who are your parents, why are they like this.]

[hellahighwater]

But yours is Prompto, how is that normal?

[ She's teasing. She's enjoying and teasing, this is a nice stake-out. A much better one than hers from two days ago. ]

[photoshooter]

Hey! I'm normal! You want ridiculous, you should hear Noct's full name.

[He leans in, conspiratorial.]

It's even longer than Lady Lunafreya's.

[hellahighwater]

[ And she leans in too! ]

You can't just fuckin' leave a girl hangin', bro, what is it?

[photoshooter]

My best friend...

[Pause for dramatic effect.]

Is His Majesty, Noctis Lucis Caelum the One Hundred and Fourteenth, King of Lucis. ...Which is where we're from.

[Final FUCKIN' Fantasy, girl.]

[hellahighwater]

Holy shit, it's like a fuckin' Tolkein knock-off.

[ THANK YOU THIS WAS WORTH GETTING OUT OF BED TODAY??? ]

[photoshooter]

I don't know what that means, but yeah, even for us, it's a mouthful. [He's grinning. God, talking about the guys makes him feel so less lost.] He only gets 'Noctis' when he's in trouble.

[hellahighwater]

[ She'll have to tell him about Lord of the Rings later. ]

Lame! Ugh, if I haven't heard [ here comes a light Southern accent ] 'Chloe Elizabeth Price' enough in my life... I'm telling you, dude, you should just call him it. Just you.

[photoshooter]

You want me to call Noct 'Chloe Elizabeth Price'?

[He's kidding. Or is he.]

[hellahighwater]

No! [ there's a granola bar around i decree it now and she throws it at his head ] Idiot.

[photoshooter]

[He cackles and ducks, throwing up his hands as a shield.]

Okay, okay, I won't! What about the accent, should I do the accent?

[hellahighwater]

[ Shit, she's laughing. Prompto really does make it hard to stay in a bad mood, even when everything's crumbling around her. ]

Don't make fun of my mom's accent, only I'm allowed to do that! [ Mom... Mom, who she may never-- nope, don't think about it! ]

Besides, who're you to talk, your name's just... You know it just means quick silver, right?

[photoshooter]

[Even as he laughs, he groans and puts his face in both hands.]

I know. Man, it's... my parents are scientists, all right? Scientists aren't known for being good at names.

[hellahighwater]

You got it fucking bad, dude. It's a pretty funny one if- are you fast? Do you shoot silver bullets?

[photoshooter]

I am fast, but I shoot regular bullets. Usually.