Chapter Text
Prompto waited patiently outside the gallery, doing his best to keep his camera equipment dry in the late autumn rain.
He was hired to take some shots of a new exhibit during a gallery’s ‘members only’ soft opening. It wasn’t Prompto’s favourite sort of crowd, but who was he to judge?
He checked his watch again, a little irked that they had made him wait outside for 15 minutes already.
He searched the outside of the building for a doorbell or intercom but was out of luck. Part of him considered turning around and going home, but he knew he couldn’t afford it. Insomnia was beautiful, and also very, very expensive.
He looked into the lobby again, cupping his hands and peering into the tall glass panes checking to see if anyone was there. Still dead as ever. Prompto tugged at the fabric of his fingerless gloves and did his best to cover his knuckles before rapping gently on the glass, wincing at the sound as it reverberated. He hated knocking on glass doors, the rattling made him nervous.
Almost immediately, a mop of black hair appeared through one of the entryways.
Noticing Prompto, the man rushed to unlock the door, opening it quickly and ushering Prompto inside.
“Sorry, have you been out here long?” The man asked. He sounded stressed.
“Eh, like 15 minutes… Are you Noctis?” Prompto did his best not to let his irritation show, but usually for gallery jobs it’s a bit more… professional.
“Yeah, that’s me, the one with all the stupid emails. Dude, I’m so sorry I made you wait. I’ve been freaking out trying to get everything ready and didn’t keep an eye on the clock… The head curator’s been busting my ass.” The man laughed, but it sounded empty. He politely reached for Prompto’s coat and scarf as he peeled out of them, and disappeared through a door behind the lobby desk. Prompto supposed it was the coat room.
“It’s all good, no harm done. I’m Prompto.” Prompto smiled at Noctis as he returned, shaking off his irritation and putting himself back into work mode.
“Nice to meet you. Okay, the main gallery is where the key exhibition work is displayed, and then we’ve set up refreshments and a bar or whatever in the lobby. In the smaller gallery we’re showcasing work by a local artists collective.” Noctis gestured towards two sets of doors on either side of the room.
“Okay, great. Anything specific you want me to focus on or make sure to document?” Prompto asked, opening the door and stepping into the smaller gallery, taking note of the low lighting. He’d have to test his exposure times to account for the media installation.
“Yeah, about an hour after the show opens we’re going to have a short discussion segment with the feature artist. We’ll film it ourselves but d’you think you could grab some beauty shots?” Noctis asked, arms crossed over his chest as he waited patiently for Prompto to follow him.
“Of course, no problem. Could you show me your setup?” Prompto adjusted his camera straps, clipping some additional lenses onto the left side.
Cindy had scored him a leather camera harness as a grad gift, and he’s used it for every job since. It made him feel like a video game character… like Nathan Drake or something.
“Yeah, I just finished putting up the chairs and stuff… You can go pretty much anywhere that isn’t totally blocking the view for the guests or disrupting or whatever.” Noctis made a vague gesture with his hand and walked towards the main gallery doors with Prompto close on his heels.
The gallery itself was pretty standard, white walls and cold cement flooring. What Prompto wasn’t expecting was the 12 foot painting that assaulted him front and center.
Prompto stopped, a cold chill running up his spine as he felt his gut clench.
“What… uh, who did you say the um.. Artist was?” Prompto tried to play it cool, but he could already feel his hands beginning to sweat. He looked down and fiddled with his camera, pretending to be relaxed, but failing astronomically.
“Ravus Nox Fleuret. Why? Do you know his stuff?”
Prompto felt like he was just doused with ice water.
“Uh, yeah I guess you could say that..” Prompto laughed, but even to his own ears it sounded panicked.
Noctis didn’t say anything, and for a second Prompto prayed he was going to drop the subject, but suddenly he felt a firm grip on his shoulder and Noctis was staring at him, hard. Prompto swallowed.
“Listen, dude, I know Ravus has the reputation of being a total dick but I really need tonight to go well, so if you have any like… stuff I should know, tell me.” Noctis’ intensity made Prompto want to shrink away.
Prompto stared at him, dumbfounded.
“He’s um.. I’m he’s… We dated? Old news, it's fine.” Prompto immediately regretted folding so quickly, but it was obvious Noctis was not here to fuck around.
Noctis didn’t say anything, and Prompto was ready to crumble into dust.
Now who was being unprofessional?
Noctis took a deep breath, turned away from Prompto and assessed Ravus’ painting quietly for a moment. Finally he looked back.
“I’m on your side. I should have explained the full outline when I hired you, and that’s on me, but we can’t do anything about it now.” Noctis spoke with unexpected confidence, and Prompto just stared back and nodded his head.
“If you need anything, flash me a peace sign from wherever you’re standing, okay? We’ll figure it out. Do you think you can do this?” Noctis waited patiently for Prompto to reply.
“Y-Yeah, Absolutely,” Prompto had never believed someone so much in his life, but for some reason he totally trusted Noctis “Thanks.”
He is not going to be the reason for anything happening tonight. No fuck ups, no weird encounters. Just a fly on the wall at a party he doesn’t belong at. easy.
“Am I blowing this out of proportion?” Noctis asked, an awkward laugh bubbling up as he ran a hand through his hair.
“No, I… honestly needed that. Thanks.” Prompto was surprised by how much that helped, and let out a chuckle to echo Noctis’.
“No problem dude, and no more thanks. I know what it’s like to run into assholes on the job.” Noctis smiled, holding his hand out casually for a fist bump.
“Yeah.. th-.” Prompto shut his mouth, and instead tapped his knuckles to Noctis’. He made a mental note to stop saying thank you.
“You need anything? Set up help or…?” Noctis took a step back, returning to his regular professional demeanor.
“No, I’ll just do some test shots. Will you be kicking around?” Prompto had everything he needed, and could tell Noctis wanted to go.
“Yeah, if you need me just do the peace sign thing. It’ll be like practice.” Noctis smiled, making a peace sign with his hand. Prompto nodded, returning the smile before turning away. He took a moment to compose himself after that embarrassing display of vulnerability, and looked out into the gallery.
“Alright.” Prompto muttered to himself, and lifted his camera towards the rows of arranged chairs.
“Noctis. Here, now. ”
A voice echoed through the empty gallery, and the cold tone made Prompto stand stock still, afraid to turn around and see who it was. He would never, ever want a voice like that directed at him.
Must be the curator.
“Fuck.” Noctis whispered, moving from a brisk walk to a jog towards the gallery entrance, disappearing behind the doors.
Prompto felt bad for Noctis, and couldn’t help the sympathetic cringe that crept up thinking about getting chewed out by your boss. His voice sounded familiar too, but he couldn’t quite place it. Besides, he was too busy being thankful he was self-employed. The only person yelling at Prompto was… himself. Which if he was being honest was probably bad enough.
Prompto shook off his rocky start and began focusing on his camera, adjusting the aperture. He mapped out a few possible locations to stand and get a good image of the interview, noting that the lighting was pretty even. That was one big plus to shooting in a gallery.
Everything was set up for this to be an easy job.
Mostly.
Prompto patted his pocket for his cell phone to check the time, but came up empty handed.
With a sigh he headed back towards the entrance. His cell was probably still in his coat.
He silently prayed it didn’t get too wet wedged inside the heavy wool pocket.
Heading quickly towards the large lobby, Prompto noted a few people lingering outside smoking and chatting, most likely waiting for the event to begin.
He approached the sleek lobby desk and looked around for Noctis, but he was nowhere to be found.
Hopefully Prompto wouldn’t get into too much shit if he just walked back there himself.
With one last look over his shoulder, Prompto headed to the inconspicuous door he had watched Noctis enter previously. It opened into a simple back room filled with empty clothes hangers and a few miscellaneous boxes on shelves.
His jacket was the only one hung up, and he rummaged through his pockets to fish out his prize.
His phone was a little damp but didn’t appear to have taken any damage. He thanked the Gods that he wouldn’t have to drop the gil for a new one, still hoping to get a couple more years out of his old model.
He turned, intending to head back into the lobby before he was stopped by voices right outside the door.
“Where are the pamphlets? Did you forget to order them as I had specifically requested?”
Prompto felt his stomach do a nauseating flip.
It couldn’t be… He swore the curator was an old man…
“Relax! They’re in the coat room, the boxes didn’t fit anywhere else.”
“ Blast … My apologies, Noctis. These events just..”
Fuck … not here, not today…
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry, okay? We just gotta get through tonight.”
“I will fetch the pamphlets. I need you to find the photographer, I have a few questions to ask him.”
“Yeah, no problem.”
Prompto was frozen in place and watched as the door handle turned.
“Oh! My apologies, I was-”
Prompto was met with a pair of familiar green eyes, and felt his hand grip his phone tightly.
“Prompto.” Ignis murmured, his hand still on the doorknob. The two men stood and stared at one another, completely still.
“I had no idea you were…” Ignis spoke again, barely above a low whisper. It was almost as if he was worried that speaking any louder would make Prompto sprint out of the room.
Prompto couldn’t do anything but blink. He felt like his head was swimming in his own thoughts and all he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears.
He took a deep breath.
“Sorry, I forgot my phone and just came to get it from my… coat…” Prompto’s sentence teetered off, he knew that's not what he was supposed to say. That’s not what he wanted to say.
“Anyways! I um… You have questions for me?” Prompto asked, putting on his charming work smile as he pushed down the crushing wave of emotions he felt coming up his throat.
He will not fuck up again.
“... Right. May I meet you outside in a moment? I need to gather some materials.” Ignis spoke plainly and professionally, a perfect poker face schooling his features away from anything Prompto might be able to understand.
“Yeah, sure.” Prompto looked towards the door, breaking his eye contact with Ignis. He knew if he let himself stare too long his already weak barriers would crumble. He exited quickly, pausing to wait in front of the reception desk.
Prompto took several deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth. He tried to force his heartbeat to slow down and wiped his sweaty palms on his dress pants.
Picking up his camera, he scrolled through his test images to try and distract himself. He needed to think about something, anything , besides Ignis.
If he considered for even a second how this evening was panning out he would totally lose it.
He just had to focus on getting the job done, and Noctis was relying on him now.
The thought eased some of Prompto’s worries, and he shook his head a bit, as if to shake out all the thoughts that were causing him stress. Tonight isn’t about him.
He’s just here to do a job.
“Are you alright?”
Prompto jumped, whipping his head towards the voice.
“Yes! Sorry, yes. You uh, took a while in there.” Prompto nodded to the door behind reception and gave a hollow laugh.
“I was having a difficult time locating some marketing brochures. Shall we do a quick walkthrough of the exhibitions?” Ignis asked stiffly, pushing up his glasses. Prompto glanced at Ignis’ hands. He wasn’t holding anything.
“Oh, uh, don’t worry, Noctis um… Took care of it!” Prompto replied, clearing his throat.
His mouth felt dry.
“Right, of course. Then I’m sure he-”
“There you are! I guess Ignis found you first.” Noctis acknowledged, entering the lobby from the smaller gallery.
“Noctis, have you informed … the photographer… of what we require for the website?” Ignis asked, shifting all of his attention onto the black haired man.
“... Yeah, I told Prompto to take beauty shots of the Q and A...” Noctis replied, sounding perplexed. He approached the duo cautiously, looking from one to the other.
“Good. From there we just need general images of the event. If you finish early, please feel free to have some refreshments and enjoy the exhibitions at your leisure. I must get going, it is almost opening.” Ignis stated before turning quickly on his heel and heading towards another doorway off of reception. He never looked back at Prompto.
“What the hell’s up with him?” Noctis stared after Ignis, a look of disbelief on his face.
“...He was being a prick all week, finally returned to normal and now he’s back to asshole mode…” Noctis muttered, shaking his head and turning to Prompto. “I’m sorry dude. You ready? I’m about to open up.” Noctis motioned with his thumb towards the door, where more people had accumulated.
“Yep! Let’s uh… get this over with.” Prompto laughed, but he could feel his throat coil with anxiety. Thankfully he didn’t have to do any talking.
“Right.” Noctis smiled back at him, appearing almost concerned. He turned his attention to the entryway, taking a second to adjust his shirt before walking towards the tall doors.
Prompto exhaled and looked at both galleries, mapping out his plan of action.
If he played his cards right, he could get in and out with minimal contact with Ravus or Ignis, send some incredible photos to Noctis, and wash his hands of this night forever.
Gods, Cindy was gonna get a kick out of this.