kittycaterer | Ic inbox

Hello potential relative. I hope you're doing well today.

May I ask you something? And be honest with me.

hey gramps
or uncle
yeah what's up

Please don't call me "gramps". You'll make me feel prematurely old.

But anyway... do you have feelings for Prompto? Romantic feelings?

so do you prefer pops or

[ The next message comes in and the joke stops. There goes the grin on Noctis' face. ]

damn it
not you too

[ You're like the billionth person to ask or accuse!!!!!! ]

[Oh?]

Am I not the first to ask this?

more like the fourth or fifth
ive lost count
no
we're just friends

Don't you think that's telling, if more than one person is asking you the same thing?

wth
i dont even understand where people are getting this idea
so we hang out all the time
up until recently he's been my only friend
not that weird to be close

[ Someone is a little defensive. ]

Edited 2017-09-13 17:14 (UTC)

[He can see that.]

I never said it was. And if you truly believe that you're just friends, I hardly know your relationship well enough to say otherwise.

I only wished to clarify. For if you /were/ interested in him that way, I thought I'd give you a little shove in the right direction, considering you'd have competition to worry about.

[ It's very easy to just deflect. Noctis doesn't realize this is what he's been doing the whole time, but the desire to change the subject or joke about it is very much there.

He can't really do that with Ardyn. And while he doesn't remember it fully, he couldn't do that with Rosalind either.

Noctis is about to elaborate, to defend, but there's a significant part of Ardyn's text that has him responding without thinking.

Competition? ]

wait
what?

[Ah, a question. Somehow, Ardyn isn't as surprised as he should be.]

From what I gather, there are a few that are already interested in him. He showed me a text the other day; a clear flirtation, hinting at something a little more than that.

[ Noctis has absolutely no idea why this is suddenly stressing him out. While he isn't surprised that people are pursuing Prompto (he's a great guy), he doesn't understand why that's even going through his head in the first place.

This is uncomfortable.

This is very uncomfortable. ]

i mean
if youre talking about pitou
that happens all the time
and the date didnt work out far as i know

Edited 2017-09-13 18:13 (UTC)

[He isn't trying to cause discomfort, but if Ardyn wrings out a realization or an admittance from Noctis... well, in the end, maybe that's for the best.]

No, it wasn't Pitou. It was a young man I've never spoken to before. Something about stealing Prompto away, to visit him at his home. He mentioned an indoor pool.

It was very flirtatious.

Does this bother you?

[ He stares at his phone for what feels like hours. The fact that he's feeling discomfort at all is horrifying and really strange to him, especially since he's never experienced anything like this before.

"You may want to put some thought into it before someone gets hurt".

Dante had expressed something along those lines. And Noctis had ignored the two times it was suggested. Who would get hurt? Prompto is just his best friend. That's it, plain and simple.

But the further this goes, the more it bothers him. Ardyn is curious, and he's absolutely right to be. But Noctis isn't about to touch on that when he continues to crawl through this rabbit hole he knows he should stay away from.

Young man? ]

hes not gay

[ He's not answering the question. ]

You're deflecting.

[How easily he calls him out on it. He's a law professor, he knows when someone is trying to circle away from the matter at hand.

Honestly, this is more telling than anything else.]

And for the record, that's not true. I had this discussion with him not that long ago. He has an interest in the same sex; all the texts he showed me of others flirting with him... they were also all from young men.

[ Noctis starts to feel sick and cornered. While he isn't trying to circle away from the matter at hand on purpose, he knows that Ardyn isn't a fool. Nor is he, honestly, but this is uncharted territory for him.

And it just seems like every single text makes him feel worse. Knowing that this has apparently been going on for a while with other guys? It essentially gives him whiplash.

Prompto hasn't told him any of this. Not the interest in the same sex, and certainly not the fact that so many men have hit on him. He can't be upset; it's a strange kind of thing to deal with, and even Noctis just settled with the fact that he's gay. But they're best friends. Would Prompto have been scared to tell him or something? ]

thats news to me

[ Which weirdly hurts to say. ]

so
what
is he interested in this guy?

[He wonders for all of half a second if he should really be spilling all the details of their conversation, but maybe Prompto can forgive him for it in the future.]

I'm not sure if "interested" is the right word. I think he's not against the idea, but he's not going to jump at the idea of dating someone just on a whim. Which I think is fair enough. But would he at least give him a chance? I think so.

Noctis, I'm going to reiterate what I said about you being honest with me. This does bother you, doesn't it?

[ At this point, he feels small enough that he might as well be microscopic. None of this makes sense to him, and perhaps it's because the denial is strong enough to make him blissfully unaware. But this is the furthest a conversation about Prompto in this light has gone. Ardyn isn't exactly easy to deflect; such is the way of a lawyer.

It was a lot easier with Dante. And pretty easy with Rosalind, though he only remembers simply telling her "no" when it came to the question of Prompto and their relationship.

Being this uncomfortable is really starting to get to him, and it just seems like this question is going to constantly come up for him. Where he'd once settled with simply joking around to deflect, that won't work here.

Still, that doesn't stop him from getting upset. ]

and what if i told you it did?
youd encourage me to go for it
lets go ahead and reiterate that we're talking about /prompto argentum/

[ He's an easily flustered guy, okay? He can't fuck this up. ]

You're still not directly answering the question.

[To Ardyn, this is progress regardless. If there's something lingering there, the worst thing that could happen is to let it lay stagnant and die. Two friends, as close as they were? Someone would get hurt -- that much is a certainty.

He cares about Prompto too much to let that happen. And he honestly is starting to feel that same kind of protectiveness when it comes to Noctis, slowly but surely. (What this means for how he felt in his own memories, he pushes aside for now. Now's not the time to think on it.)]

I would encourage you, of course. You don't give Prompto enough credit. Or are you afraid he'll reject you?

[ Noctis was previously at his desk in his apartment, toiling away at homework. Now? He's stormed off to his bedroom to hide under the covers, because being outside of bed seems just as uncomfortable as this conversation.

But he keeps his phone with him, texting under the covers. The dogs and the cat have surely followed, piling on top of and around him. They're pretty clued in to Noctis' condition and feelings nearly 100% of the time.

It's not that he doesn't give Prompto any credit, it's just... ]

i dont know, ardyn
hes my best friend

[The texts come a little slower now. A bit more thought put into his words, because they're treading into territory that he was aiming for in the first place. There's far more honesty and consideration that this deserves from him.]

I understand your trepidation. And it's fine to be afraid. It's a normal human reaction, and even I've experienced the doubt you may feel right now.

But you can't pretend it isn't there. This isn't something so easily swept under the rug, as close as the two of you already are. It won't disappear. It'll only fester.

[ He truly just wants to curl up in a ball and disappear. It's truly not Prompto's fault, or anyone's fault for that matter. He just doesn't really get how relationships work, and he's just barely gotten his own footing here with getting out there and being a normal fucking person for once.

Noctis tries to mull over his own thoughts and feelings here, and he's suddenly remembering a pretty crucial part of a conversation he had with Rosalind the night of the house party.

Oh shit, I'm screwed.

Ardyn makes a solid point that pretending the feelings aren't there won't work, but he hasn't ignored the feelings. He genuinely had no idea they were there, and some strange block in his brain wasn't letting him reflect on it. But in this context? In the reminder of who Prompto really is and what they've been through? ]

guess it...
would explain a few things

[ It's the first step. Noctis isn't being extremely forward about it, but he's not deflecting. ]

[Again, progress. Ardyn knows this is not something that he can forcibly reel out of Noctis, this admittance of whatever feelings he may have. He can only offer someone willing to listen and to give advice, coaxing him out to speak of it in that way.]

You know, Prompto showed me a few of your texts, too.

[Another text, seconds later.]

Take that as encouragement, maybe, given the context of the conversation we had?

[ Noctis reads the text, and him jolting out from beneath the bedsheets is purely a reflex.

Scares the crap out of the animals. ]

he did?

[ He's freaking out about that???? ]

hold on
he said i was flirting with him or mused some sort of interest?

[ Ardyn, you take this to your grave. ]

Ic inbox | Recolle

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1/2

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ardyn. outwardly.

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