Renovating the Heart (FFXV)

XXXIV) Insomnia

"Thanks for the ride, Cid."

"Any time, Highness," the old mechanic croaked out, waving Iris's hands away when she reached out to help him down from the ship. "Just don't go makin' any more enemies, ya hear?"

"I'll try."

Rue could hardly concentrate as they lugged their things down from the lighthouse to the SUV that was still parked in the driveway. Iris teased her brother relentlessly, demanding to see Rayne's ring, and hugged him tightly. Rayne waved to her brother and he raised an eyebrow, arms crossed. Squeezing past Prompto and Ignis as they joined the conversation between the Amicitias, Rue tossed her bag of ingredients in the back and grabbed an Ebony for Ignis, reminding herself to quit shoving them in his face so often. Giving the guy coffee was a nervous tick at this point.

Finally, they loaded up into the vehicle, determined to make it back to Insomnia before it got too late. They'd been forced to spend the night in Altissia after Noctis was able to earn Camelia's favor, waiting for Cid to bring the boat back, and then they'd risen early and hurried to the harbor only to be forced to wait for a rather large sailboat to move. It took longer than anyone would care to acknowledge. The sun had reached its highest point in the sky by the time they left Cape Caem and the people that stood waving (or simply sulking in Signum's case) in the driveway. Prompto immediately whipped out his camera and Rue braced herself for listening to his incessant chatter about the photo's he'd taken.

"Dude, I took a lot more of you than I thought," he laughed after going through a streak of six pictures of Rue, either alone or with him.

There was one of she and Ignis frowning at a paper Anna handed over before they entered Camelia's office—that one made her laugh. They looked pissed at the teeny print and excessive redundancies about secrecy. Their own people didn't know they were gone, for heaven's sake. They could hold a secret without swearing themselves to the barracks otherwise. There were a few others that either made her smile or struck a chord in her heart, from a photo of Noctis pouting after he lost a game to Prompto to a snap of Rayne giving the camera the finger to Ignis grinning in front of a shop where he found an ingredient that was apparently very rare—as in, tens of thousands of gil rare. She sighed when the slideshow was over, combing her fingers through her hair and offering Prompto a small smile.

"Those were really good. Do you ever do anything with them?"

"I usually just print them out and put them together in books," he shrugged, scooting back into his own seat. "I don't think it's very professional to have photos of us hanging out on the internet."

"Maybe not," Rue muttered.

"Anyway, enough about me. What do you like to do in your free time?"

"Me?" Rue scoffed, trying to think of any hobbies she had. "I dunno, I kinda just lay in bed and watch stupid videos."

"Sounds about right," Rayne grumbled.

"So, you like to laugh!" Prompto concluded, practically crawling back to her side. "Got any good jokes?"

"Not that I can think of on the spot," she shrugged. "How about you?"

"Hm, let me think..." He frowned at the dashboard for a few moments before his eyes lit up and he turned back to her. "When I was a kid, I used to lay in my twin-sized bed and wonder where my brother was." For a moment, no one reacted. Then Rue rolled her eyes, grinning.

"Wow." She snickered to herself, turning to face him. "Okay, I got one. My aunt liked to tell this stupid jokes when she visited." She laughed before she even spoke. "If life keeps giving you melons, you might be dyslexic."