Insanity (Prompto x Reader)

Prompto x Female Reader

"Oh gods, what am I going to do!?" Prompto yelled frantically, pacing back and forth in front of the campfire. "____ is so different from all the other girls I've ever met. She's just so... regal." Prompto sighed dreamily in his signature love-struck manner.

"Are you saying that just because she's a noble?" Noctis could understand if Prompto was gushing over Cindy or Aranea... but their traveling companion, ____? She wasn't for the faint of heart, namely Prompto. Seriously, Noct felt the need to snap him out of his infatuation with her... and fast.

While Ignis was making dinner, Gladio was on a short hike, and ____ herself was cleaning off the grime of the last unfortunate creature to cross her path, Prompto took the opportunity to praise the unpredictable woman traveling alongside them. She may have been small, but it worked to her advantage quite well. Most wouldn't think that a sweet-looking (if not, darkly dressed) girl would be capable of the strong, commanding abilities of a necromancer, and an intimidating behavioral pattern to match.

"You do realize you're talking about ____, right? You know... our ____. The same one who swung around a great sword in an alleyway to scare away a pervert in Lestallum. The same one that tried descaling a midgardsormr mid-battle. Our friend who, by the way, is absolutely insane!" Noctis tried emphasizing with rapid hand movements.

Prompto didn't show it on his face, but he took second-hand offence to those statements. "Hey, she totally had the right to swing that sword around! The guy had it coming. And she was just thinking ahead with the midgardsormr. Made it a lot easier to take the meat after the fight."

"Do you even hear yourself right now, Prompto? I really don't think you understand what i'm getting at. She's crazy, and you know what they say about the crazy ones." Noctis scolded, a light frown marring his face.

"They live half as long, and they'll drive you crazy too..." Prompto mocked in a silly tone, ignoring the growing scowl his friend wore. "I don't sound like that, and that's not what they say!" Noctis huffed. "Seriously Prompto, I like ____ too, but if you get involved in her personal life, bad things are going to happen to you as a result."

"It's not like my emotions are connected to a switch that can be flicked on and off. I can't stop liking her just because you don't want me to!" "What are you two going on about?" Gladiolus stepped into the circle of dialog.

"Gladio, tell Prompto that having feelings for ____ is a gigantic mistake, I think he'll live longer that way." Noctis added the last of the sentence in as a way to get a reaction out of him, but no dice. Prompto did have more to say in her defense though...

"Look, ____ might do things that don't make sense half the time, but it just doesn't seem fair to write her off as 'insane', sometimes her logic is better than ours, she's used it to save our backsides plenty of times! She obviously cares about us, so I don't think she'd ever hurt us, and her singing won us that prize money back at Lestallum! Not to mention she can be so careful and gentle when she's tending to our injuries... She can't really be as bad as Noct says, right?" Prompto stared back at Gladio, waiting for his opinion.

"I think Prince Charmless here is just jumping at shadows again. If you really feel that way about her, then tell her already. Maybe you'll get to see what kind of person she really is." And the scowl on Noct's face intensifies from Gladio's sage-like assessment on the matter, but only from the 'Prince Charmless' bit.

"Yeah, fine... but if he becomes a coeurl-skin rug, then I'm blaming you." Noct pointed a finger at Gladio, who only rolled his eyes at the prince's accusatory glare. A part of Noct couldn't get over this feeling of unease whenever he was in ____'s proximity, as if her presence carried a looming disruption that only he could ever easily pick up on. "Something just feels off about her... Ever since the treaty, she just hasn't been herself. She's not the same ____ we knew."

She heard them. She heard, and it only added to the growing paranoia she felt from Noctis' array of assumptions. 'One day, Noct is going to force me to leave... isn't he? He could've just said what he really thought.' Ever since the Lucian/Niflheim peace treaty had been agreed upon, there was a rift between the two of them, and it didn't seem like it was going to change anytime soon. Noctis saw her as a warmonger. Someone who only welcomed destruction. ____ thought agreeing to the terms of the treaty was just opening the door for the Nifs to do something awful.(Which they did.) But Noctis didn't feel like openly inviting a war with them by denying their conditions.

In the end it left the two friends at odds. Both of them became uncomfortable in each others' presence, and it felt like far too deep of a problem to fix at that point.

But he hadn't swayed Prompto... He still treated her kindly, and his loyalty towards his two bickering friends hadn't wavered, for which ____ was grateful for. The last thing ____ wanted was to hurt their relationship. 

In a way, ____ acknowledged her own changed demeanor. A mournful look towards what was left of their home. A soft smile as she mended their wounds. Most importantly though, the moments of clarity she'd share with them. Like a silent plea trying to remind them that buried beneath the anger she displayed to the rest of the world, she was still there, and she would never go against them, even if she disagreed with the circumstances that were set. The only one who seemed to pick up on those signals however was...

"Prompto? Are you still there?" ____ asked solemnly in the dead of night to the blonde sitting to her right in the glow of the campfire's embers. His head perked up slightly at the pleasing voice beckoning him into conversation.

"Still kickin'. Is... something on your mind?" Prompto had hoped that Noctis would drop his suspicions about ___, just wanting their trio to get along again. With the added bonus of ____ becoming his girlfriend, of course. It was for that reason he stayed up late at night, thinking of what real reason Noct would have to distrust ____. Was there something he wasn't getting? Were there secrets getting kept from him? Either way, he just plain didn't like it.

"Do you know why Noct doesn't trust me like he used to?" ____'s eyes bore a hole through Prompto's soul, or so it felt to the fair-haired male.

He visibly flinched at the question. 'How much did she hear?! Does she know I like her? Wait... does she have a crush on Noct instead?! No... please don't let that be the reason she's asking me this. PLEASE!' He spent too much time in his head before she started speaking again, and ____ knew that if she didn't continue, the conversation wouldn't move forward til he gathered his thoughts.

She sighed, not having the patience to wait for him any longer. "It's because he thinks my hatred for the Nifs will influence my decisions when it comes time for the treaty to be enacted. He thinks i'll snap, that i'll do something to stop it from happening." She looked to the ground, uneasy about this whole mess, but she needed to let him know why. If there was someone who didn't deserve to be left in the dark, it was Prompto. Unfortunately, Prompto was stuck in his own head, eyes widened in fear.

'If he's suspicious of her, what would he think if he knew what I was? And if she really does hate Niflheim THAT much... would she hate me too?' His thoughts and his tears eventually blurred him, leaving him sniveling silently. ____ took stock in what exactly she was seeing. Sure, ____ knew that Prompto had a major attraction to her, but shouldn't she be the one crying? It's her place on the team that's in danger, not his. "Prompto, I don't get it. What's the matter?" This was starting to get to her.

"I-I can't tell you, ____. Just leave me alone... please." He pleaded weakly, getting up, and turning his back to the worried female.

____ couldn't believe what she was hearing, it's like he knew something else, something important, and he was keeping it from her. Well that wouldn't do.

"What is it?! Spit it out! What aren't you telling me?!" She yelled cruelly, her tone betrayed by the tears flowing faintly down her cheeks.

"_-____, I-!" Prompto could hardly get a word out without completely breaking down. 'N-no. This can't be how it ends... I SHOULD'VE KNOWN SHE'D BE PISSED AT ME!!! Someone! Something, please... help.'

"Am I getting replaced?! IS NOCT FINALLY GETTING RID OF ME?! HUH, IS THAT IT?! ANSWER ME!!!" ____'s harsh roar erupted into sobs before her sentence could fully conclude, shaking Prompto to his core in a way he wasn't expecting.

He was brought back to Eos by it. And he understood her concern, cause he, in a very similar fashion, had the same one.

Abandonment.

"No... no, you're not getting replaced ____. No one could ever replace you." Prompto held the hysterical female in his arms, hoping for a way to dance around, or even avoid the topic entirely. However, a part of him felt the need to confront it. That the longer he kept hiding his secret, the worse it was going to hurt when forced to finally tell it. "But you aren't you only one who feels like they might." 'Here goes... everything.'

"____, why do you think Noct would do that to you?" His heartbeat was unsteady, but he tried to remain as calm as could be. If he was smart, he'd know how it approach this delicately.

"Because he knows how much I hate Niflheim for everything they've done to us! Everything they do!" She jumped away from Prompto's arms. "They invade our homeland like they already fucking own it! They turned our home into a smoking ruin! They send Magitek soldiers after us! They daemonize their own as virtual cannon fodder for their offence! Who do you really think fights their battles for them? It's people in those suits of armor! People who are created solely to fight that never get to touch the light of day."

"..." He couldn't respond to her, he felt helpless to her words. They sounded like they expressed... pity for those who were forced to become monsters. Even though those people were from the other side of the war. Monsters that only existed to make life hell for the Lucian people. Monsters that he thought didn't deserve that point of view from her. Yet, that's what they had. How could she feel remorse for something she hated? Perhaps she hated Niflheim for different reasons than Prompto thought she might have. It was enough to renew his slipping resolve.

It was now or never.

"I know... I'm one of them." Prompto looked to the floor, half in inherent shame, the other half... in fear. He prayed that ____'s pity would find its' way to her in the form of mercy, but he wasn't too confident it would, leaving doubts in his mind. 'Why would ____ be okay with this? You aren't special. You aren't worthy, and she'll push you away despite the compassion behind what she told you. And so will they.' At this, Prompto's eyes clinched shut in torment.

The voice inside was ripping his morale to shreds, and for as long as he could imagine... he genuinely believed it. It was taunting him with the fear he'd always felt in his heart. As far as Prompto could gather... his days of being ____'s potential... anything, were over. And so with that, he showed her the proof through terrified, watery eyes, holding up his uncovered wrist.

____'s eyes locked on to the barcode imprinted on his skin, but she didn't react in any sort of way. She didn't look terrified or betrayed. Not even confused. It just made her movements even more haunting to him. He doesn't know what she's thinking, he doesn't know how to react, and when she walks towards him, it ends up frightening him even more.

"Let me see." ____ held out her hand for Prompto to give, and he did ever so slowly, still worried that she was going to lull him into a false sense of security before doing something cruel to him.

"You've tried removing it before? There are lots of marks here." She noted quietly, more to herself than to the trembling mess in front of her. "It goes in deeper layers of your skin than just the surface." She looked up at his distraught face, noting the exasperated sigh that followed. "Yeah, I figured as much..." He stared forlornly at the imperfection marring him from where he couldn't reach it, layers and layers beneath the surface.

He was caught off guard by ____'s laughter. "What part of this is funny to you?" His disdainful stare softened at the sight before him. It wasn't really mocking, it was gentle, caring... understanding.

"I doubt you could burn it off with sheer hatred alone, Prompto. If this is apart of you, then I don't want you hurting yourself over it, okay? Doctor's orders." She smiled brightly, leaving him dumbfounded. "So you're okay with this, with me being... this?" Prompto's galaxy blue eyes awaited some sign of disapproval, but didn't find any.

"All this time, that's what I've been making you feel like? You've been suffering in silence... this whole time?" Her gaze melted him on the spot with the sincerity of its' concern. "I guess you could say that... I've gone through it my whole life, feeling like I never belonged. Like I was never meant to." He covered his barcode up with a leather wristband before something came to bug him again. "You're not going to tell them, are you?" His eyes were wide in horror, not wanting to go through this ordeal with the rest of the crew.

"I don't see the necessity to. So relax, no need to worry. Your secret is safe with me. Don't you trust me?" ____ awaited confirmation from him, turning her attention back to his wrist, placing a delicate kiss on the leather strap that hid the part of him he wish would just one day disappear. "Don't worry about them. They wouldn't turn against you so easily. If I didn't, then you have nothing to fear, but I see why you'd think that. Insomnia was full of pissy, stuck-up, anti-immigration Lucians who treated others like dirt. It was a valid fear..."

Prompto grimaced at the past insecurities that followed him to the present day, until two hands grabbed his face, forcing him to stare at the adoring female before him. "But that doesn't mean it needs to be now. It's your secret, sure, but it doesn't need to be a trepidation that follows you for the rest of your life. You should never be afraid. I won't let them turn you away, and I won't let anyone treat you like shit over something you can't change. I promise Prompto. No one'll ever get away with that."

His eyes got misty for what seemed like the millionth time that night, but it didn't bother him this time. For the first time in his life, he felt genuinely cared for. And it was ____ who made him feel that. He was on to something with her. She may be insane being okay with him being an MT, of promising to protect him from those who would try harming him if they knew, of even keeping him around, but he couldn't ask for anything more. Not without feeling demanding, that is.

"I love you, ____..." His expression went from enamored to mortified in 1.25 seconds. "I-I-I MEAN-!" But he never got the chance to explain himself. His lips were too preoccupied locking with ____'s in the sweetest kiss he'd ever experienced. But once it ended he just had to ask... "So I guess that means you like me too?" He dizzily asked in a sort of trance.

"Mmmhmm..." ____ teased, carding her hands through his golden strands. "You didn't have anything to worry about you know. I've always sorta had a soft spot for you, Prom." She winked before turning on her heel, heading to the tent for sleep.

"Oh no you don't! Get back here, I need more kisses!" Prompto yelled after her, hoping to at least snuggle up next to her.

The last thing Prompto could think as he held her close... 'Crazy isn't a bad thing. And so long as I have ____...' He grasped her hand, clasping it gently.

'I'll never take it for granted.'