☆˚⋆✴︎˚｡⋆Sᴛᴇʟʟᴀ Nᴏx Fʟᴇᴜʀᴇᴛ

commission of Prompto and Stella ( @xcrystella.bsky.social ) done by the amazing raza (@rxzarx) on Twitter!

she said the only words that came to mind in that moment, words that felt like a promise she would keep forever.

❝ There you are, Prompto Argentum. I see you and I find myself utterly enamoured by all that you are.~ ❞

And for once, she was glad to be one part of the punchline.

He told her he was glad that she was here, and despite her worries that he'd be disappointed in the reality of her, she was glad of it too, and so, with her hand extended and a smile upon her lips, the kind that reached her eyes,

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She liked him for exactly who and what he was, no more and no less.

A laugh escaped her at his observation, the sound soft and melodic as it followed the line of her agreement with him. The Gods, be it Etro herself or something else entirely, did indeed seem to have a sense of humour.

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❝ I was worried you might think me conceited, or that I perhaps thought of myself more worldly than I really am. ❞

Yet she had meant it all the same with complete sincerity, that a name was just a name and she didn't care if it came with rank or status.

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She saw it in the way his eyes caught the light, a glimmer of a memory coming to the forefront of his mind, and oh, how she smiled when he confirmed it, told her how he'd felt seen through her words carved in ink upon extravagant paper.

Her head lowered, bashful.

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☆ Time seemed to slow in the moments leading up to his recollection, yet she offered him the same patience she had given when waiting on his letters.

He deserved to have space to breathe, to think and take it all in; after all, they would only have a first meeting once, wouldn't they?

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And so she stood there, smiling at him as he told her that he was glad he met her, hoping against hope that he'd recognise the girl he'd written to as the woman that stood before him, a woman who had travelled so very far just to meet him, if only just for this night.

❝ Your name doesn't need to be noble, nor do I think it sounds weird. It is yours, and given to you so that you can make that name mean anything you wish it to. ❞

Would he remember her words? Would he remember that she had written that exact sentiment to him all those years ago? Stella hoped so.

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his name on paper, desperately trying to picture the boy who had penned it for her.

He wasn't a boy now. He was a young man with a radiant smile, and a voice that carried music to the very core of her soul. He was real, and she was here with him, his eyes on her, his smile for her.

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something else entirely, a feeling she hadn't anticipated at all -she was nervous, perhaps even anxious. Prompto continued to speak, repeating something he had said word for word in one of his early letters. Suddenly she was back in her room, alone and drinking in every curve and flick of

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Her lips had begun to part, to make a quip on how the Gods must have found humour in their paths crossing, that she couldn't believe she'd met someone that shared his name.

And then he followed up, those few seconds in which her entire being had been sparked to life now raced towards

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that it could be nothing more than coincidence, that Insomnia was a large city with a citizenry to match, and that by some twist of fate she had met someone that shared a name with a boy whose face she had never seen and didn't know.

It seemed even eternity had an end.

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☆ 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘰.

It was mere seconds in between him saying his first name and following up with his family name, yet those few seconds seemed to stretch out into eternity for her.

Her stomach twisted and her heart thrummed in her chest with anticipation, until her mind chirped in and whispered

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❝ That is no trick, is it... his eyes are blue! Oh my, has this happened before? What could it mean? ❞

her to inspect. It took her a moment longer than she'd care to admit -for she had been enamoured by the look on Ardyn's face, so light and relaxed in a way she'd never seen- but she did eventually notice it.

❝ Blue... his eyes are blue... is it a trick of the light? Or... ❞ A pause.

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with whom he shared his time and his space with. The photos were a mere snippet of it, of that Stella knew, but that snippet spoke volumes and Prompto hadn't let it slip past him either.

❝ His eyes? ❞ Brows were furrowed in confusion laced with curiosity as he leaned closer, phone held up for

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It was the kind of loneliness that made her feel childish for ever saying she had felt the same, for what was a decade and some change compared to the seemingly endless void Ardyn had endured.

Yet it wasn't endless, was it? It had found an end in this woman. This woman with whom he listened to,

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Besides, if anyone deserved to have happiness, to have someone to share all the things that life had to offer, Ardyn was certainly the most deserving of it.

There was a loneliness to him, not the kind that came from being alone, no, his was something deeper, something more acute.

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☆ For a brief moment she wondered if it was right that they... meddle. Though was it really meddling if their intentions were good and sincere? Prompto certainly seemed to think this was the right thing to do and it was his confidence that soothed her own doubts.

After all, who knew him better?

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Only when he was ready to share whatever it was he had hidden between padded lenses and memory cards.

❝ Okay, okay... if I sit here any longer I'm likely to fall asleep. So, shall we get ourselves wrapped up and take this walk? ❞

The only thing that stopped her laughter, was those four words she very much loved hearing from him. Joy was still in her voice as she returned the sentiment, snuggling into his side and listening to the beat of his heart, thrumming with what she would learn was anticipation.

But not now.

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She was already laughing. ❝ His name was, Lord Baron Von Pugglehorn! ❞ Peals of laughter left her unfettered, spilling from her lips like a waterfall. She could picture the dog so clearly, and the woman who had owned him.

They looked very much alike!

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His remark concerning a dog with a silly name earned him a laugh, not that he needed to earn anything from her, though this had the added bonus of sparking a long forgotten memory.

❝ There was a lady in court when I was a child that had this little dog, all wrinkle-faced and chubby— ❞

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If he had something planned, she didn't know about it, didn't suspect anything beyond the fact that she'd picked up that something was floating around the back of his mind.

It could be the day itself, or wondering when she'd be unceremoniously recalled to Tenebrae again. Or maybe it was nothing.

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☆ She couldn't have asked for a better day, or for a better way to spend any given day than with him. He made everything better simply by being there, in silence, in idle chatter, in the space between breaths and heart beats.

He made the world brighter simply by being.

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Names. Neither of them had given the other their name and now it seemed the time had come that he wanted her to know him beyond the veil of mystery and anonymity.

There is power in knowing a name, or so she thought.

❝ You didn't. ❞ She said, soft and sweet. ❝ Will you give it to me? ❞

were here, that he'd want to preserve the image, the moment itself, so that he could share it with her in a letter and once again invite her into his world that was uniquely his.

A shake of her head, hair that caught starlight shimmering with the movement, eyes fluttering shut briefly.

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They'd walked to a garden, the buzzing neon and low roar of people and vehicles no longer filling the space between them, as though the sound had been swallowed by an unseen force. She watched as he snapped photos of flowers, noting to herself that her dearest sunshine would do the same if he

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At least nothing that would do his sentiment justice, she'd stumble over herself like a fawn learning how to walk on legs that felt too long, earth that felt too soft.

And so she smiled at him, even though he wasn't looking at her, she smiled the kind of smile that would make the stars envious.

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