starless_sky | Locked to Real_life

Things had been going well in Noct's life ever since he got a boyfriend. It wasn't what most people thought of when that word was used. He was still a virgin and while that was a bitter pill, it was better than being a virgin with no prospects. He had Prompto and they had a promise. Now they waited his father out. Eventually his dad would hand over the throne to him and retire, or worse, pass away. He didn't want to think about that but... it was how his family had worked since the beginning of the nation. Regis was a stubborn old alpha to boot.

Noct had been working more in the citadel, attending more meetings, talking to more people, doing his own Working Royal stuff which he had previously shrugged off with the excuse that he was in school. It got Ignis' attention as well as his father's which hopefully would work in his favor in the future.

He had to get the public, the advisors, and the counsel on his side, or at the very least he had to get to where they couldn't oppose him when he took the throne. That meant he was building alliances now so years in the future, whenever he took the throne, he will have built a place for Prompto by his side. A nest of sorts. If that isn't the most omega way to think about it... a nest.

It's what brought him to work most days. Today he was at a public garden maintained by the royal family. He was meeting with some of his citizens, many of them social workers and outreach professionals for the poor and underprivileged. A perfectly banal sort of day.

It wouldn't stay that way. He was trusted enough to handle this on his own so he was attending with his civilians with minimal security. He was within a stone's throw of the citadel after all. It's what the Nifs were counting on.

Some time later there was a great boom and then a siren sounded in the training yard. A voice pinged each glaive and crownsgaurd with earpieces, delivering several codes, each referring to a scenario. This event had several codes; Active shooters, fire, multiple casualties, and a note that Rosebud was not secure. Rosebud was among hostiles.

Rosebud was Noctis' security code the crownsguard and glaives used. Not that he knew that.

Things went to shit real quick and to help it along, there had been a small camera crew playing Noct's talk with the social workers he was with. One channel was broadcasting it from the nearby jumbotron and the chaos unfolded. Noct was talking, suddenly there was an explosion, screaming, fire, gunfire could be heard. Nif soldiers appeared on screen. In seconds it was happening. Other screens around Insomnia began showing the footage.

One could hear the explosions and guns in real time, not from the screen but from the park itself a block over.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

starless_sky

Regis nodded, accepting the mini speech.

"I believe you will. But live for yourself as well... That is what I needed to discuss. Other than thanking you. I was unsure how to do it other than a knighthood and a medal but I think... Making you a prince ought to do it.

"Go to Noctis. I will not tell him what we discussed. It is up to you to ask him yourself. You have access to the resources of the citadel to have a ring made if you wish. You may also access the vault to choose one of our heirloom pieces. The choice is yours."

He smiled

"I'm glad it's you."

From:

real_life_rpg

Prince. It sounded even crazier out loud. Prompto had always known that if he married Noctis he would be marrying into royalty. But to hear the word 'prince' out loud and by the King ... wow, it just brought how real it all was home with terrifying clarity.

"I'm glad it's me too," Prom said with a hint of a smile.

He bowed then. "Thank you, your Majesty."

Prompto felt giddy as he left Regis' room. He had permission to marry Noctis! He could propose. They could officially be together. He wanted to propose right away. Oh. But he couldn't. He needed a ring first. He needed to do it right.

Six.

He made his way back to Noct's room so he could crawl back into bed with his guy. His.

Shiva's tits. He was going to marry that man!

From:

starless_sky

Noctis was starting to wake up. Prompto's scent was wearing off.

He snuggled close to him, eyes opening briefly.

"Did you get up?" he put an arm around him. "Don't leave..." he pouted.

"You think we can go home soon?"

From:

real_life_rpg

Prompto snuggled up to Noctis, nuzzling his cheek with his own. "Sorry baby. I just had to leave for a few minutes. But I'm back now. You've got me all to yourself."

He traced his thumb over Noct's bottom lip before leaning in to kiss him softly. "I wish I could say, Noct. I hope so. But the doctors will probably want to keep you here awhile longer yet, I'm afraid. You've been through a lot. And the doctors will know how to treat you best. But I promise that I will stay with you until they physically kick me out."

Prom slipped a hand under the sheet, to rest on Noct's hip, dipping under his bedclothes to rest on bare skin.

From:

starless_sky

"I'll hold you to that." and he did. He was a good patient so long as Prompto was around. He did well in the hospital. Well enough that they let him go home.

He was still supposed to stay home and rest. He was sent home with several medications he needed to take regularly. They both were.

Once they were there, Noct curled up with Prompto for days. He didn't want to go anywhere, didn't want to see anyone, he napped a lot. The medicine put him to sleep mostly.

Prompto was approached via text message about a ring. There's a royal jeweler who wants to get his idea for what he wants.

Noct has no idea of course. He's busy sleeping in Prompto's hoodie and sweatpants. A true sign he was sick. He wasn't even showing his ass off to be ogled.

It was nearly time for his next round of pills too. He wasn't going to wake up.

From:

real_life_rpg

Prompto was sure he had never slept as much as he had since being discharged from the hospital with Noctis. Sleeping seemed to be the main thing he and Noctis had done since they got home. But it was good. Both of them needed it. Their bodies needed time to heal.

He seemed to be healing well. Movement in his shoulder still wasn't back to the point it had been before he was shot, but it was better than it was, and at least the wounds had healed so they didn't crack open and bleed every time he moved. His superficial injuries were all but healed. All in all, Prom was making a good recovery.

Noct's recovery was slower, but that was to be expected with everything the poor omega had been through. Prom did what he could to nurse his man back to health. Fed him, bathed him, scented him, ensured he took his meds.

He nudged Noct's shoulder to try and rouse him from his sleep, as he set a glass of water and Noct's meds by the bed. "Baby. Time for your meds. Hey, listen. I gotta take a video call with the Marshal. Crwnsguard stuff," he lied, not wanting to tell Noctis about the jeweller. He pressed a kiss to Noct's temple before scenting him. "I'll only be in the next room. Meds, water, then back to sleep. Okay?"

Prom made his way into the lounge, settled on the couch and pulled out his phone so he could Facetime the jeweller. He knew such an important discussion should probably take place in person, but he wasn't ready to leave the apartment or Noctis yet, even with additional round-the-clock guards posted by the entrance of the apartment block.

"Thank you for reaching out to me. I know what I want. I just don't know if it's possible. Like, the emblem of Lucis is skulls, right? So. I want a skull ring with black gems. I've done some rough sketches of the kind of thing I'm after. But, please keep in mind I'm no artist."

From:

starless_sky

Noct was a good omega the whole time. So long as he had his alpha he was good and obedient. He was used to being woken up for medicine. He didn't think anything of it. He mumbled something like "come back when you finish." as he was drinking his water to swallow his pills. Good luck understanding that, Prom.

The kiss and the scent helped. Noct was healing much better with his alpha around. He slept and ate without a fuss and he was getting stronger every day. Noct would be out once he laid back down. Prom had no reason to worry he would get caught.

On the facetime call the jeweler grinned. He was an enthusiastic young man named Dino. "Show me what you drew and I can tell you if I have something like that already. I can come up with most anything you can dream up." and upon seeing the sketches he smiled. "Yep, I can do that. I have some other designs too if you want to look through them. You have access to the crown jewels at the citadel. The royal family has a lot of veeeery exceptional loose gemstones that are still waiting to be set. Like black diamonds, straight from the disc of Cauthus. Just keep in mind, true black diamonds aren't jet black, they're more a smokey grey but anyone who knows gems is gonna know it's real. If you are married to the idea of a darker than black stone, we could do obsidian."

"Maybe black titanium metal. or gold? Up to you. I can carve up some models and send them to you. If you like one I'll cast it. Shouldn't take a week."

From:

real_life_rpg

"So, here's what I'm thinking, Dino. I'm thinking either a silver or platinum band with either obsidian or even onyx stones set into it for the engagement. Then for the wedding I'm picturing something thinner, more sleek - still skull-themed, but in gold with a single black diamond - a big one." That's assuming that Noctis says yes when he proposes, of course.

Prompto still couldn't believe that the King had given his blessing, and he definitely couldn't believe he had been given access to the crown jewels in order to get a ring made - it was mindblowing to him. A pleb like him, allowed to just take whatever shiny stone took his fancy. It felt like it should be illegal. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with."

There was still an impatient part of Prompto that wanted to skip the whole ring thing and just ask Noct right now. But he had to do this properly. Noct deserved a proper proposal.

From:

starless_sky

Does Prompto really think Noct is going to say anything other than yes? Does he really truly think that is possible?

Dino took notes and he was nodded energetically. "Yeah yeah, I got it. I'll let you know what I got." and the guy worked fast. He had images sent to Prompto in a matter of hours. He had the loose stones photographed but he had 3d renders of the rings Prompto mentioned, several designs in all mocked up in 3d to look like the finished product with said loose stones in place.

If you like one tell me which and I will get started.

Noct wasn't in a position to be proposed to anyway. He was sleeping a lot and he'd be better once the weekend came around. That's when he would be finished with his medicine anyway.

From:

real_life_rpg

There was always a possibility Noctis could turn him down. Unlikely, but not impossible.

Prompto checked on Noct, took his own meds and tidied the apartment. He hadn't expected Dino to get back to him so soon. He looked through the 3D renders. Dino's work was top-notch. All of the designs looked absolutely incredible.

But eventually he responded to Dino, sending back two of the renders.

Dude! Those look awesome! I didn't expect to hear back from you so soon! Here are m picks

Prom also attached Noct's ring size.

Once he replied, he returned to bed and crawled in next to Noctis, cuddling up to him fully intending to take a nap.

From:

starless_sky

Less than unlikely. Impossible. Noct wanted to be bonded, he wanted to be married, he wanted Prompto. Epecially after being rescued, escpecially after their heats together. Who could possibly stand in Prompto's place?

I work fast when I'm inspired! I'll be done in no time!

Dino also stood to make a lot of money from this commission so he wanted to get it done right and quickly.

Noct, oblivious to all of this, slept in the comfort of his bed and his alpha.

Prompto might get a barage of texts from school friends asking if he was okay and congratulating him on his epic beatdown of the Nifs. Also what the fuck, he never said he was dating the prince????

Whenever he wakes up though, whenever Prompto wakes up, Noct is not in the bed. He is watching the news in the lounge. They were the top story. He was in Prompto's tshirt again, his bruises were fading, he was looking normal once more. Noct had his laptop out, he'd watched all the footage, all the hours of Prompto murdering Nifs and then his own part of it. He needed to see it.

The news was talking about how the empire was on its last leg, how Prompto was a hero, how he'd saved their prince and the nation from war. Noct looked openly proud.

From:

real_life_rpg

Ah yes. Money. A perfect motivator. Whatever reason Dino had, Prom was just glad the rings would be made quickly and he would be one step closer to forever with Noctis.

Prompto slept through all the text notifications - a sign of just how much he needed the sleep. Normally he would be woken by the first text - instinct and Crownsguard training - after all, any message could be a message to say the Prince or the King were in trouble. He was also usually a light sleeper. But right now his body needed the rest, so he slept through every notification.

When he eventually stirred he reached for Noctis only to be greeted by an empty space - a cold, empty space, suggesting that Noctis had left the bed some time ago. "Noct?" He murmured, forcing himself to wake up more.

Reaching for his phone to check on the time, Prom saw the influx of messages. Oh. He read through them and responded to some, momentarily distracted from his task of finding his omega. Once he had responded back to a handful, he resumed his quest.

He froze when he reached the lounge. He wasn't a hero. He had done what any alpha in love would have done. The things he did haunted him. "Noct? You... you didn't watch it, did you?"

From:

starless_sky

Well, it was more than that... he wanted to make a name for himself too. He wanted to be a jeweler and this was his hit piece, really. He'd be in serious business after this. Surely.

The texts could wait. Though his friends and professors were happy to hear back from him. The ones who got a reply would tell the others he was still alive just busy. They were supportive if a little shellshocked.

Noct was relaxed on the couch, legs crossed, arm over the back of the chair, other hand at his mouth. Just watching, taking in the news.

"It's every channel. It's all they talk about..." he had taken a few hours to accept that his story was out there and he didn't get to decide how it was told. In a way that was pressure off of him, it was done. In a way it sucked because he would rather keep that to himself.

"The newspapers..." he raised his phone up, newspapers that he read online were nothing but this incident. it made sense, it was the biggest political event in a hundred years.

"Didn't watch what, the news?" he finally looked to Prompto, followed where his eyes were. "Oh... yeah. Why, was I not suppoed to?" he sounded nonchalant as ever, like it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't a big deal, he just... hadn't seen an alpha rip someone's throat out before. Much less do it more than once.

"Was there something you didn't want me to see?"

From:

real_life_rpg

The life of an omega prince. Noct's whole life had been in the public eye. Every little detail was scrutinised by his people. He had no privacy and little autonomy and now his latest torture and attempted breeding had been blasted for the world to hear. It made Prom want to kill Caligo and Loqi all over again and get his hands on whoever leaked the footage.

It was easy to forget about real-world consequences when they were shut away in the apartment, but the news was just a reminder that the world knew, the world had seen, and the world was judging. Eventually, Prom and Noct would have to leave the sanctity of their apartment cocoon and face the real world once more.

Prompto moved closer to the couch, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth so much that he was splitting the skin. "It's not a side of me I ever wanted you to see." Prom knew Noct had seen some of the fallout back at the Keep as they made their escape, but seeing the aftermath wasn't the same as seeing the actual attack. Prom had been feral. No one in the Keep stood a chance.

From:

starless_sky

Noct looked at Prompto, such a stark contrast to who he was when they escaped. To who he was on the security footage. He tilted his head slightly.

"You feel ashamed of it... why?" he looked him up and down, reaching out to brush his fingers along Prompto's lip. Quit chewing it. He would have to make up a potion to heal that poor lip when this was over, when Prompto wasn't taking his anxiety out on it.

"...Why... did you know you had that side of you? Did you keep it from me?" he was genuinely curious. "What if I like this side of you? What if it makes me feel more secure?"

From:

real_life_rpg

"All alphas have a feral side. Some are just better at controlling it than others." Some alphas would lose their absolute shit over the most seemingly trivial of things and full-out alpha rage over nothing, whereas there were others - like Prompto - who for the most part were calm and docile to the point people would question whether they were even alphas - until something or someone threatened someone close to them.

"I'd never lost control of my inner alpha like that before." There had been times when he had gotten frustrated or felt his inner alpha bristle, even to the point that he would rumble or posture - usually when other alphas got in Noct's space. But what happened in Niflheim... he had never alpha raged like that before.

"Doesn't it scare you?"

From:

starless_sky

"Yeah. Like you." and Prompto had proven to the lesser alphas that he was just as alpha as them and in fact made an example of true alpha control. Those who knew him were remembering all the times they thought he was weak or even a beta, only to now respect just how controlled he was. A lot of alphas were learning from him and a lot of other alphas were being lectured about raging out when it wasn't appropriate.

Slowly, there was a narrative forming, that the idea that alphas couldn't help but rage out? Was a myth and Prompto proved it.

"I'd be surprised if you didn't lose control then." if he loved Noct at all he would have little choice but to lose it, right?

"Why should it scare me?" he approached Prompto, gently placing his hands on his man's chest. "I wasn't scared of you when you were still in your rage in the airship... why would I be scared now?" he swallowed.

"I don't know if you know how frightened I was then... I was jumping at shadows in my cell. But you came and I was safe, I felt like me again. I was never scared of you and I'm not now."

From:

real_life_rpg

Prompto had never intended to become the face of the perfect alpha, he much preferred to stay out of the spotlight - no easy feat when you're dating the Crown Prince. He was glad though, that alphas were being held more accountable for their actions. That a safer world was being created for omegas.

He wrapped his arms around Noctis and held him close, breathing in his scent. Noct's scent soothed and calmed him in a way nothing else could. "Aren't you scared that one day I might turn that rage on you or hurt you?" Prom wanted to believe that he would never do anything to harm Noct, but alpha rage was pretty good at clouding a mind.

"I love you, so much, Noct. When they took you the only thing I could focus on was getting you back. It was all my fault. If I had made the shot when it mattered then they never would have made it out of Insomnia." Nevermind the fact that Prompto had been shot and could barely lift his gun. "I had to get you back and make everything right."

From:

starless_sky

You have to lead by example sometimes. Prompto was going to be the prince of the nation, he ought to be a well-respected alpha and who else other than the guy who saved their kingdom from war and their prince from being kidnapped and bred?

Noct hummed softly, content in his man's arms. "You were in a prime position to do it before but you never did. You were gentle... why would I ever think you would hurt me?" such a silly man, his boyfriend.

"made the shot? What do you mean?" he had to think through it all. "When was this?"

From:

real_life_rpg

Noct had a point. Still, Prompto couldn't help but worry. He was a worrier by nature. That fear was still there that one day he would turn his alpha rage on Noctis and hurt him. He let out a sigh and rested his head against Noct's as he held him close.

"Back when the attack on the garden happened. I went to the top of the skyscraper nearby - you know that really tall one? I thought if I could take your attacker out with my sniper rifle then I'd be able to save you. But I couldn't make the shot. I had my chance and I blew it."

It wasn't really Prompto's fault. He got shot. It wasn't as though he just missed or froze with nerves. He was physically unable to make the shot. "I didn't know if I had gotten shot by Imperial troops or caught in friendly fire. But knowing what we know now about Drautos and the rat Glaives... I'm wondering if maybe I was shot on purpose..."

From:

starless_sky

Now that was interesting... He knew Prompto got shot and he knew he was part of the response team at the garden but he hadn't even considered...

"Are you saying..." his voice was stronger now, more serious. "...that it was friendly fire?" who else would know to target him? The Nifs didn't know him, they didn't recognize him when he was storming the place, they had no file on Prompto. Why would they think to look at the top of a nearby tower for a gunman when so few Lucian soldiers used them? It made more sense that someone who knew where Prompto was, who knew that Prompto needed to be neutralized was behind it.

"...It had to be..." he shuddered. "...I'll kill whoever it was, I swear it." he hugged his alpha tighter.

From:

real_life_rpg

Prompto hadn't thought about it too deeply before. There had been other things to focus on. But now... looking back... Prom was fairly certain that he was shot by a wayward Glaive. It made sense. The Glaives had access to the comms. They would have known Prompto's position and what he was planning to do. It made him sick to his stomach to think about.

He pressed a kiss to Noct's temple. "Let's hope whoever it was is already in custody for being a rat."

Another kiss to that same spot. "I'm sorry I didn't protect you better. I should've been able to make the shot, even with my injuries. A good Guard and a good alpha would have been able to."

From:

starless_sky

"A good captain of the glaives wouldn't have let the Nifs in to capture me in the first place." he sighed. "Drautos had to put his people on guard there... I wondered at the time why there weren't guards with me in the garden. I thought they'd somehow been killed but they were probably just turncoats." he sighed.

"I'll call dad and ask how it's going." he had been checked out from the investigation but he needed to know. He wanted to know that the one who shot Prompto was captured and he wanted to take him into a windowless room and end his life.

"You protected me just fine. I didn't die, I came home. I'm here... you did perfect."

From:

real_life_rpg

Prompto led Noct back to the sofa. He closed the laptop, shutting them away from the constant barrage of new reports circling the web. He sat, tugging Noct down with him. He wanted to make the remaining turncoats pay, wanted them to face the same end their dearest leader did. He would just have to hope that whatever punishment the crown deemed fit was severe enough.

He laid down, resting his head on Noct's lap. Usually, they were the other way around, his lap was usually a pillow for Noct's head. But right now he was taking full advantage of his very own Noct pillow. It left Noct free to use his phone to call the King if he wished. Prom kind of wanted Noct's hands in his hair, selfishly.

"Next time... Next time I'll protect you even better." Hopefully, the leaked footage would give any would-be attackers pause for thought, knowing what Noct's alpha could do when enraged. But, Noct was the Prince and thus would always be a target.

From:

starless_sky

Noct wasn't sure what Prompto wanted at first. He thought he might be about to be scolded for watching too much news and getting out of bed to do so but he was glad to have his man in his lap. Prompto just needed some comfort so he didn't take his phone out. He didn't do anything other than pet Prompto's hair and let him relax.

He wasn't much of a singer but he hummed an old song his nanny used to sing to him at naptime. It always made him feel better.

They'd have people after them always, they'd have people after Prom too but they'd always be able to come back together, just them.