This trip had been totally overdue. They’ve been talking about it since last year before Luna went off to college, plotting the logistics of it all. They could have borrowed a tent from Gladiolus, but none of them much liked the thought of lying on the hard, cold ground.

Prompto had come up with the perfect solution after seeing it from one of the aesthetic bloggers he follows on Pix — she had shared a shot of her camping trip with her boyfriend, which they had spent parked out by a lake, nestled within the confines of the back of her parents’ borrowed truck. The makeshift tent had looked so warm and pretty that Prompto had rushed to the others with the idea.

They had doubted him, when the weather had started to turn to shit halfway along the road out of Insomnia.

‘Have a little faith,’ he had said.

He knows they’re still not convinced.

With a yawn, he stretches out like a cat, extending his legs so that his toes touch the door at the end of their little bed for three. The metal is cold and he pouts, withdrawing his feet back into the safety of his blanket.

He can’t get comfortable after that. He wriggles around, moving this way and that to try to restore his earlier cosiness, but it’s just not the same. In the end he settles himself onto his side, pillow wedged under his arm, and leans against Noct’s shoulder so that he can watch what they’re watching.

It’s some stupid teen horror movie — and normally he’d totally go for that, but he’s not feeling it tonight. He gives a whine, bumping his forehead against Noct’s arm.

‘I’m bored,’ he protests.

Noct snorts and twists to give him a look of disdain.

‘This was your idea, dude,’ he retorts.

The cider makes its way back to Prompto. He sits up just enough to take a sip of it before shooting upright suddenly, almost spilling it in the process.

‘I’ve got an idea!’ he announces.

Noct rolls his eyes, but Luna looks intrigued as she pushes her blonde bangs out of her face to look at him.

‘Well?’ she says. ‘Don’t hold us in suspense.’

Prompto grins. He’s always keeping them in suspense when it comes to his bright ideas. It’s part of what makes them so good.

‘Truth or dare,’ he says.

Noct gives him a look.

‘You know there’s not a whole lot of dares we can do stuck out here in the middle of nowhere,’ Noct says.

Luna, at least, seems to have warmed to the idea; she gently swats Noct on the arm.

‘Where’s your imagination?’ she teases. ‘There’s plenty we can do.’

Prompto’s grin only broadens. When he gets Luna on board, it generally isn’t long before Noct caves.

After a pause, Noct gives a long, slow, weary sigh.

‘Fine,’ he says. ‘But I’m not going easy on you two.’

Luna shuts off the movie; while the others assemble themselves into position, she opens up her music app and scrolls through to find a playlist to listen to.

‘Who starts first?’ Noct says.

He’s taken up a spot in the far corner of the truck, taking some of the blankets with him, which means they can each see each other from where they sit. His legs lean against Prompto’s, comfortably warm.

‘I vote me,’ Prompto says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. ‘I’m the youngest.’

Across from him, Luna laughs.

‘Shouldn’t it be the oldest first?’ she says, giving him a knowing look.

‘How ‘bout neither of you go first,’ Noct says, ‘and let the master start?’

Prompto looks over at Luna and finds her looking back with a raised eyebrow. Noct has a habit of escalating things — his going first would spell disaster.

‘You go first, Prompto,’ Luna says. ‘Then we’ll take it clockwise. Agreed?’

Noct is pouting, but it’s good natured.

‘That means I go last,’ he whines.

‘Okay, okay,’ Prompto says, waving his hands. He grabs the cider from its careful perch in the middle of all the blankets and takes a gulp before handing it to Luna. ‘Luna. Truth or dare?’

Luna grabs the bottle and cradles it awhile, tapping a manicured nail against her bottom lip. Eyes turned skyward, she thinks for a long moment.

‘Truth,’ she says.

Internally, Prompto groans. She always picks the safe choice.

‘All right,’ he says, sitting up a little. ‘Have you ever kissed a girl?’

In the far corner, Noct splutters, but Luna only laughs.

‘Really?’ she counters. ‘That’s easy. Of course I have.’

‘Luna,’ Noct protests, at the exact moment that Prompto blurts, ‘Who?’

Luna only shakes her head, waggling a finger.

‘You only get one question,’ she says. ‘Those are the rules.’

‘Fiiiine,’ Prompto says. At least he knows what to ask her next time she inevitably picks truth again.

‘My turn,’ Luna says gleefully, after she hands the cider over to Noct. ‘Prompto! Truth or dare?’

He grimaces. He knows what’s coming next if he picks truth — but he knows he can’t trust her, either, if he picks dare. He had been so convinced he had to worry about Noct, but there’s a glint in Luna’s eye now that tells him he has to watch out for her, too.

‘Ugh,’ he says, tipping his head back against the wall of the truck behind him. ‘Fine. Truth.’

Luna is flippant as she speaks, inspecting her nails.

‘Have you ever kissed a boy?’

Yep. Prompto was right to trust his gut.

He tries to avoid looking over at Noct, but out of the corner of his eye he can see his friend’s glance is trained steadily on him.

‘Yes,’ he says, quietly.

Luna claps her hands together excitedly.

‘I know what I’m asking next,’ she says, with a delicate giggle. ‘Okay, Noct. Your turn.’

Noct is quiet for a moment, and when Prompto glances over he’s still watching him. Noct busies himself with the cider for a moment before passing it over.

‘Prompto,’ he says. ‘Truth or dare?’

Prompto gives a groan, throwing his free hand up.

‘No fair!’ he protests. ‘I just went!’

‘New rule,’ Luna says, ever the diplomat. ‘No asking the same person twice in a row. After Prompto’s turn, of course.’

Prompto drums his fingers against the cider bottle while he thinks. Maybe his friend will go easy on him — they’re in this together, after all.

‘Dare.’

Noct thinks for a long while; the more time he takes, the more Prompto starts to regret his choice. His friend must be coming up with something good — or, in Prompto’s case, bad.

‘I dare you…’ Noct says slowly, glancing around the interior of the truck while he thinks. ‘I dare you to go to Gladio’s Pix profile and comment on one of his photos that he looks hot.’

Over a mouthful of cider, Prompto splutters and chokes, almost spitting it all out over himself.

That’s low. Noct knows he used to have a thing for Gladio.

‘Fine,’ he says stubbornly, setting the bottle down with a thud on a bare spot on the floor of the van. ‘But I’m getting you back, bro. Just wait.’

He digs around in the bundle of blankets for his phone. It doesn’t take long for him to find Gladio’s profile — it’s in his list of most-visited, as embarrassing as that is. It’s even easier for him to track down a selfie to comment on, when most of his profile is health and fitness shots.

He picks the most recent, a shot of their friend from the neck-down, flexing his biceps while he takes a shot in the mirror.

‘Any requests?’ he says.

Noct shrugs.

‘Surprise me,’ he replies, with a casual sniff.

Prompto takes in a deep breath and blows it out slowly. He looks over the other comments for inspiration, but they’re mostly compliments on Gladiolus’s form, or questions about his protein intake. Boring.

Yowza, he types. Who gave you the right to look that good?

‘There,’ he says, dropping his phone back into the heap of blankets. ‘But I’m totally ratting you out when he freaks out at me tomorrow.’

As if synchronised by clockwork, both Luna and Noct grab their phones and, presumably, hunt out Gladio’s profile. Luna’s the first to find it, and she gives a burst of laughter.

Prompto’s phone rings out with a soft kweh! as Luna likes his comment; a moment later the sound comes again as Noct does the same.

‘My turn now,’ Prompto says. ‘Luna — truth or dare?’

‘Truth,’ she says, immediately, with a sweet smile.

Noct’s rolling his eyes; he obviously knows what Prompto’s going to ask.

Prompto crawls a little closer, looking up at her playfully.

‘Who did you kiss?’

‘Crowe,’ she says, without missing a beat.

‘Crowe?’ Prompto blurts.

‘Like, Crowe-Crowe?’ Noct says, and he sounds almost impressed. ‘Damn.’

Luna shrugs and reaches out to grab the cider. She’s elusively silent, draining the bottle and leaning over the back of the seat into the front of the truck while she grabs another. When she returns, she has a bottle and a bag of chips in her hand, which she pops open and takes a handful from.

‘Prompto,’ she says, with all the menace capable of a young woman of her stature.

‘No,’ Prompto says, shaking his head. ‘Nuh-uh. You guys are just picking on me now.’

‘Fine,’ she says, with a smirk. ‘Noct. Truth or dare?’

Noct’s eyes are narrowed shrewdly — Prompto figures he’s probably trying to imagine all manner of terrible dares she could lay on him.

‘Truth,’ he says.

‘Who did Prompto kiss?’ Luna says, before the w ord is even fully out of his mouth.

Prompto watches as colour creeps up Noct’s neck and onto his cheeks. He’s not just flushing a delicate pink, he’s bright red, and Prompto can feel his own skin prickling with heat.

‘Nope,’ Prompto interjects. ‘No truths that make you spill other people’s secrets. Calling it now.’

Luna rounds on him, and he can feel Noct’s eyes boring into the side of his neck.

‘All right,’ Luna says, slowly.

Prompto can tell she’s not through with him just yet.

She turns to Noct again, a little more coy this time as she passes over the new bottle of cider.

‘What’s the last thing on your phone’s search history?’

Noct snorts.

‘Really?’ he says. ‘You think that’s gonna embarrass me? Weather forecast. Last one before that was Do dogs get periods.’

Luna bursts out laughing, but Prompto’s interest is piqued; he sits up, leaning toward his friend.

‘Do they?’

In the other corner, Luna groans in disbelief.

‘Sorta,’ Noct says, with a shrug. ‘Look it up.’

Prompto manages to fight his curiosity enough to leave his phone on the pile of blankets. Next, it’s Noct’s turn.

‘Prompto,’ Noct says. ‘Truth or dare?’

Prompto chews his lip while he thinks.

‘Dare. And no repeats! I’m already waiting for Gladio to kick my ass for that last one.’

Infuriatingly, Noct only smirks.

‘I dare you to get shirtless for the rest of the game,’ he says.

Prompto wrinkles his nose. Nearby, Luna has perked up a little — and yeah, maybe he’s proud of his physique since he worked so hard to get it, but there are stretch marks on his belly from when he was overweight, and it’s kind of chilly outside of the blankets.

With a sigh, he sits up and yanks his shirt off, setting it aside.

‘No hiding under the blanket!’ Luna orders, with a grin.

It’s Prompto’s turn next, and he already knows that he’s going to pay Luna back. Whichever option she chooses, she’s going down.

‘Truth or dare, Miss Fleuret?’ he says, grandly.

She seems to have realised the corner she’s painted herself into as she looks him over, weighing up her options. Her mouth makes a shape as if she’s about to say Truth, but she seems to think better of it.

‘Dare,’ she says eventually.

‘I dare you to kiss Noct,’ he says. ‘With tongue.’

Luna only rolls her eyes; a moment later she’s crawling across the bed of the van toward Noct, pausing beside him.

‘You can say no if you want to,’ she says. ‘But I’m fine with it.’

Prompto knows they’ve been friends for years — since they were little. He can see Noct thinking it over, like he’s not sure what to make of it, and Prompto wonders if he’s ever thought of Luna like that.

‘Nah,’ Noct says, shrugging. ‘Go for it.’

Luna is sultry as she closes the gap between them; she lifts her hand to Noct’s jaw, her fingers brushing along the underside of it as she tilts his chin upwards. Delicately, she leans forward and presses her mouth to his.

Prompto has to edge closer to make sure there’s tongue in the equation and — yep, it’s there. He can see something close to restrained ecstasy on Noct’s face as he reciprocates, as if he’s trying particularly hard not to enjoy it.

But then Prompto sees Noct’s hand move, rising to sit in the curve of Luna’s waist, and the kiss endures a little longer than it has to.

As the pair break apart, breathless, Prompto feels like he’s intruded on something he shouldn’t have seen. There’s something else — something insidious and a little painful, but he swallows it down.

He clears his throat, turning to Luna.

‘Okay,’ he says, his voice cracking a little. ‘Your turn.’

Luna, for her part, is apparently unruffled as she turns straight back to Prompto.

‘Truth or dare?’

He knows that if he picks truth, she’ll ask who he’s kissed — and he can see Noct squirming uncomfortably, trying to catch his eye. He could lie and say someone else, of course, but lies have a tendency to make their way back to the person in question.

‘Dare,’ he says.

Luna takes a moment to blot delicately at her lips; she makes them wait as she hunts for the bag of chips again and munches her way through another handful. It’s only once she’s eaten the last bite that she speaks up.

‘I dare you,’ she pronounces, ‘to kiss Noct. With tongue, of course.’

It feels like Prompto’s stomach has flipped upside down. He looks first at Noct, who’s doing a good job of trying to act natural, and then at Luna, who wears an innocent smile.

‘I’ve gotta be okay with it first,’ Noct reminds her.

‘Y— Yeah,’ Prompto stammers. He’s blushing again; he can feel it leaching across his skin.

‘And why would you say no?’ Luna says, turning to Noct sweetly. ‘We’re just having a bit of fun.’

This is either payback for making her kiss Noct, or she’s getting some enjoyment out of the thought of it. Prompto would protest, but they’re all adults here — newly-minted, but adults nonetheless. He’ll be starting college in a few months; isn’t the whole point of college to experiment?

Across from him, Noct seems to be having the same mental dilemma. He gives a terse shrug, looking down at his hands on his lap.

‘Okay,’ he mutters.

Prompto takes his time untangling the blankets from around himself and getting up. He crawls across the space; Noct moves his legs out of the way to make room for him.

Luna is cheering, somewhere in the background, but Prompto can barely hear it over the gush of his heart in his ears.

He’s just a couple feet away now; he has to wedge himself in beside Noct in order to get any closer. He lowers himself onto his haunches, and with a hand on Noct’s knee, seeks permission with his glance.

Silently, Noct nods.

Prompto leans across him, resting his weight on his hand by Noct’s hip. He’s close enough now that Noct’s hair brushes his cheek, and it’s an exercise in self-restraint not to gasp at that mere touch.

He’s almost scared to move — it feels like time has slowed down, and the whole world waits for their kiss. He keeps his glance on Noct’s lips, then lifts it to meet Noct’s eye.

Noct is watching him, silently. His blue eyes are dark.

Just when Prompto thinks he might chicken out, Noct slips a hand up into his hair and pulls him close.

Noct’s kiss is tentative, at first. This isn’t what happened between them months ago, which they still haven’t talked about; this is what their first kiss should have been.

Prompto feels like he should be self-conscious with Luna watching, but she’s gone silent, and all he can think of is Noct’s lips on his own.

He doesn’t have to pretend — doesn’t have to make a show of things for Luna’s benefit. When Prompto opens his mouth and Noct snakes his tongue within, it’s as if it’s by instinct; when Noct’s other hand ghosts down his side, leaving a trail of goosebumps across his bare flesh, it feels right.

Prompto realises, dizzily, that he doesn’t want it to end.

When Noct pulls away, he lets his hand brush Prompto’s cheek. It’s the toughest thing in the world for Prompto not to seek out his fingers as they retreat, not to beg for Noct to come back.

‘Oh my gods,’ Luna says.

Her voice is muffled; she must have been watching the whole thing with her hands clapped over her mouth.

Prompto pulls silently back and settles himself into his spot before he can bring himself to look at her again. He knows his flesh is all in bumps, and he can try to act like it’s because of the cold, but he’s not kidding himself.

‘It was Noct!’ Luna says suddenly, removing her hands to clap them together. ‘The boy you kissed! Go on, admit it!’

‘My turn now,’ Noct says, cutting across her. There’s just a hint of pink on his cheeks. ‘Luna, truth or dare?’

She’s pouting, and there’s a knowing look in her eyes. Prompto tries his best to avoid her glance, looking pointedly out the window.

‘Truth.’

‘Who’s hotter,’ he says, smugly. ‘Gladio or Iggy?’

‘You know,’ Luna says, thoughtfully. ‘I honestly don’t think I could choose.’

‘Come on,’ Noct protests. ‘You can’t do that. You gotta pick one.’

‘Okay,’ she says. She shrugs as if it doesn’t matter to her in the least. 'If I have to choose, it’s Ignis.’

'Iggy?’ Prompto blurts.

He thinks she’s messing with them at first, but when he looks at her, her normally pale cheeks are heated.

‘He’s… sophisticated,’ Luna says thoughtfully. ‘Don’t underestimate him, just because of the glasses.’

There’s a look on Noct’s face when Prompto glances over. He can’t quite tell if it’s surprise, or jealousy.

‘Anyway,’ Luna says hurriedly. ‘It’s your go, Prompto.’

He can’t pick her, since she’s already gone — but he can tell she’s embarrassed enough as it is. She can wait.

‘Noct,’ Prompto says. ‘You’re up.’

Noct scrunches his face up in thought. After a little while, he says — hesitant — ‘Dare.’

Prompto doesn’t have to think for long. He still has to pay his friend back for the thing with Gladio, after all.

‘Dare you to take a shirtless selfie and make it your profile picture.’

‘Which one?’ Noct asks, suspicious.

Prompto tries to keep a straight face, but he splits into a grin before long.

‘All of ‘em.’

Noct sighs, but to his credit he doesn’t wuss out. He scrambles out of his shirt and grabs his phone, taking a little time to artfully muss up his hair before he snaps a shot. He’s quick to yank his shirt on again, all but diving back under his blanket.

Prompto grabs his phone to make sure that Noct holds up his dare; sure enough, he sees the new photo pop up on Noct’s timeline on each of the profiles he checks.

Noct might not have as much muscle as him, but Prompto can’t help noticing — with more than a little self-consciousness — that he looks good. He leaves a like on the one on Noct’s Pix profile and tells himself it’s just for moral support.

‘My go!’ Luna announces.

She barely waits before she rounds on Prompto, her lips curled in a wicked smile.

‘Truth or dare, Argentum?’

‘Truth,’ he says.

She’s still wearing that wicked smile as she edges closer to him, leaning in toward his ear.

‘Do you have a thing for Noct?’ she whispers.

He’s probably radiating heat — there’s no way he’s not beet red as he sits there, avoiding Noct’s glance, with Luna’s sweet scent surrounding him.

‘I’m not answering that,’ he says quietly.

‘It’s either yes or no,’ Luna says. ‘Unless you’re too embarrassed.’

He looks at Noct, where he sits sipping his drink with affected indifference. He can’t hear their whispered conversation, but he probably knows it’s something about him.

It’s not that Prompto’s embarrassed… Well, okay, he is — but he’s been avoiding that particular can of worms, and he’s not about to open it for the sake of a silly game of truth or dare.

‘Dare,’ Prompto says, shaking his head. ‘I changed my mind, I pick dare.’

‘Guys,’ Noct interrupts. He’s sitting up, apparently aware of what’s going on. ‘How ‘bout we call it quits?’

Luna’s blue eyes are apologetic as she pulls away from Prompto and gives him some space.

‘You’re right,’ she says. ‘It’s getting late.’

There’s a silence, and it’s definitely bordering on awkward as they each clear up the assorted bottles and food left from their evening. Once Noct has settled back into his spot in the middle, Prompto tugs his shirt on, budges up toward the end of the truck and reaches for the handle.

‘You’re not really going out there, man?’ Noct says.

‘Gotta pee,’ Prompto says, with a shrug.

The weather’s still miserable out, but at least some space from the others will give him a little time to think.

Noct puts out a hand to motion him to wait; he hangs over the seats into the front and returns with a bundle of material in his hands.

It’s Noct’s Insomnia Griffons sweatshirt, Prompto realises, as he opens the bundle out. He’d feel weird about borrowing his friend’s clothes after everything, but at least it has a hood.

‘Thanks,’ he mutters, pulling it on.

He grabs his shoes from the heap in the corner, yanks them on and lets himself out.

He regrets his decision when the first spray of water hits his forehead and drips down his nose. It’s not torrential any more, at least, but there’s enough wind up here in their little clearing that it whips the water right into his face.

He ducks his head down, pulling his hood low to cover his face, and hurries for the nearest tree.

It’s probably the quickest pee he’s ever taken, but he’s drenched in rain by the time he gets back and they won’t let him in under the blankets until he discards his soggy clothes. Luna pulls him into the middle and practically smothers him with a towel to get him dry.

Somewhere in the process of it all, Noct’s hand skirts down his bare spine and he shivers in spite of himself.

The cold, he tells himself. It’s just the cold.

They settle back down together, with Prompto in the middle in a bid to get some warmth into his ice-cold limbs; lazily, Luna reaches out to the battery pack for the twinkle lights and shuts them off.