#salvaging from Keycatrich

[ferairia]

Tune up

Day and Prompt(s): Day 6, Prompto & Loqi as brothers Rating: General Word count: 1580 Warnings: Nearly Stealth Kill Loqi by accident. Attempts at sibling fluff. 

AO3 link : Tune up

Summary : Cid called Noct to get to Hammerhead. When they reached there, they saw Magitek Armours at the garage. Don’t worry, it ends with two Bros getting yelled by Big Sis for playing around with Magitek Armour at night.

Whilst the Prince and his retinue were at Wiz’s Chocobo Post, Noctis received a phone call from Cid asking him to drop by as soon as he could. Never before he had heard the old grump being excited but this time even Prompto was surprised.

“Pops rarely gets excited for anything.” Prompto said on the way to the car. “I mean, he does but…” He drifted off thoughtfully. His adoptive father was a hard man to please.

“Being a master mechanic, I surmised it would be machine related.” Ignis said as he strapped himself into the car. “No doubt he would automatically enthused.”

“If it’s weapons, I’ll be ‘automatically enthused” too. He’s always talking about more firepower anyway.” Came Gladio thoughtful quip.

“Come on, guys. Just get there. I kinda want to see what’s up, too.” Noctis whined from the passenger’s seat.

“Very well, Highness.” Ignis responded, starting the car. “Seatbelts, everyone.” He reminded one last time as he started to move.

Hammerhead is considered a safe haven. Cid would never betray them and would probably die before he spilt the beans on them. Like Jared did in Lestallum. As matter of fact, he would probably raise hell before he died and leave a crater where Hammerhead was.

Now that there was several Magitek Armour in the vicinity of the garage area, the four were cautious. They drove by Hammerhead and parked somewhere further from it as they scout the area.

Needless to say, Prompto had paled at the thought of Cid and the rest of Hammerhead cooperating with the Niffs but he had to see this through as a Crownsguard, family or not.

The crowds of civilians haven’t change but the presence of the Magitek Armour and parts, some of them charred, didn’t allay their suspicions.

The was a MAX- Cuirass unit with an opened cockpit. Someone in a black coveralls were tinkering on the cockpit’s side. The garage next to them was busy with the noise of a tool cranking and the laser cutter turning off and on.

Grabbing everyone’s attention with a wave, Noctis gestured at the man. He was going to go for a stealth kill, signaling by materializing one of his swords.

Suddenly, there were footsteps and the sound of heels hitting the concrete floor.

“Hey Loqi!” Cindy voice came from a blindside, from somewhere in the garage.

“What is it, Cindy?” The person answered, facing their way, squinting under the sun. His eyes laid on them and he froze at the sight of them, curious.

“The Prince is coming. Paw-paw wants yer down ‘ere.” Cindy answered. When he didn’t answer back, Cindy went closer to the Magitek Armour.

“What’s got into ya?” She asked in concern before turning towards the equally frozen four. “Oh, you’re here!?” She exclaimed in surprise.

That had led into a meal and explanation at Takka’s place. Which was pretty simple. After getting the boat to function and gotten back from Altissia, Cid mentioned to Cor about getting more firepower for the customizable weapons Noct had brought in. Cor suggested salvaging material from Keycatrich.

“So, you guys found those?” Noctis asked, disbelief was apparent.

“Indeed, we did.” Loqi answered back. “I am also quite sure that some of them bear the marks of your work.”

Noctis looked as if he had swallowed something sour. “Ugh, I still can’t get use to your accent.” He said, more to himself than not.

Loqi simply rolled his eyes as Cindy giggled. “If you think this is bad, wait ‘til ya see him with a bunch of schematics.”

At this Prompto snorted his drink by mistake and was coughing, hiding under the table as he did. Loqi took a few napkins to pass to him under the table.

“Noct, you seem to be perfectly fine with myself when I speak.” Ignis commented drearily.

Noctis took a moment to contemplate on that as Gladio tried to hide his laugh with a cough.

Prompto returned. “You can blame boarding school for that.” He told them.

“I suppose.” Loqi answered back with a shrug.

“Anyways, paw-paw is still tinkering with the machine he found at Keycatrich’s Trench. Gonna need all the Sophiars if it’s gonna finish before tomorrow.” Cindy quickly intervened after seeing the time.

“Wait, wait. What’s the thing he’s all excited about? Is it that thing?” Noctis asked before they got up from their seat. The three siblings looked at each other before Cindy answered.

“Paw-paw thought he could finish her up before y’all came here.” Cindy told him. “Was gonna get Loqi here ta help but you guys appeared.”

“Ah, I see. Pardon us for holding him.” Ignis apologized as the other two nodded.

The Sophiar trio left.

“Phew, that was close.” Cindy said when they were far from hearing range.

“Ok, spill.” Prompto asked excitedly, watching the other two. He knew there was something else on the agenda. Most probably not Prince related.

Loqi cleared his throat loudly. “Dear brother of mine.” He began dramatically. “I recall a wish made a long, long time ago.”

Cindy was laughing before giving Loqi a light slap while Prompto was looking at him like he had stars in his eyes. “Stop teasing him.”

“Come on, man.” Prompto groaned pathetically.

“Oh, alright.” Loqi gave up. “There’s a few Magitek Armour ready to be piloted.” He said with a small smile.

Prompto let’s out a muffled scream of before he hugged the both of them. “This is like, the best present in my life!” He said happily.

“Oh talking about presents, paw-paw did have something for Prince. “Cindy said, as if she just remembered while struggling to handle Prompto’s weight. “Need to give ‘im a hand with it.” She added as Prompto freed them from his hug.

“Ok!” He said with thumbs up.

The weapon was cleaned up and upgraded accordingly. It was almost dark when they were finished. Cindy went to get the Regalia for a check up while Cid retired for the day with a satisfied smile on his chair outside.

“C’mon Loqi, we could still make a round of it.” Prompto tried to coax, looking at the large MAX Cuirass.

“No, that’s not ready yet. Still figuring out the system.” Loqi explained. “Follow me. The ones that ready is at the back.” Loqi said as he gestured towards the garage.

True enough, there was two smaller Magitek Armour.

“Testing, testing. One, two, three.” Loqi said through his mic.

“Whoa!” Prompto exclaimed through his loudly.

“Shhhhh!” Loqi hissed through his. “If Cindy finds out-“

“LOQI TUMMELT!” Came Cindy’s shout. “PROMPTO ARGENTUM!”

“QUIT YOUR ARMOUR SYSTEMS AND GET OUT OF ‘EM NOW!” Cindy voice cut through, shrill and definitely pissed. “WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT PLAYING IN THE DARK.”

The two brothers ended up getting an earful from their worried sister. As someone that had witness people being killed by demons alive it was a valid worry.

Afterwards Loqi decided to continue to run diagnostics on the MAX Cuirass.

“Mind if I join ya?” Prompto asked as he heads towards the Armour.

“Be my guest.” He answered as he climbed up.

“Hey, Loqi?” Prompto asked as he settled in the cockpit. There were wires everywhere with a few free monitor panels.

Loqi had settled at the side of the Armour like before. “Yes?” He answered back with a raised eyebrow. The programmes were booting up.

“You remembered the promise?” He asked again, almost hopeful.

Loqi gave a small smile at that. “I do.” He answered. “To be honest, I didn’t remember about this until I saw it.” He confessed. “Those days in the refugee slums aren’t the best but…” Loqi trailed. “There were things worth remembering.”

Prompto sniffled before he coughed. “Yeah. Man, I feel old.” He added, voice had a slight crack in it.

Loqi chuckled at that as he gave Prompto a reassuring pat. “To think that Cor is now a Marshall.” He said with a shake of his head. “Can’t believe we tried to fight him when he came for patrol.”

“He was scary as heck!” Prompto said in defense. “Plus he looked like a gangster.”

“Now, now.” Loqi placated as the codes on the screen started to form into a line.”If it wasn’t for him, we would still be in the slums. And Cid would have never known us.”

Prompto whimpered. “You won’t be saying that if you went training under him.” He whined as he tapped the screen.

He laughed at that. “He is Cor the Immortal, after all.” He said. “Let’s just focus on the Armour, alright. This one is a bit tricky compared to the smaller ones. We need to disarm the weapons.”

“Yeah, ok.” Prompto said as he tapped the screen to input a few codes.

When midnight came, the two brothers gave up and went to sleep.

The next day, Noctis had a new machinery, the Bioblaster. Apparently, it was near the entrance to the trenches.

“That was an oversight.” Ignis commented.

“The fact that it was over the arch of the entrance, I would certainly say the same as well.” Loqi quipped.

“Well, guys.” The Prince began as he kept the weapon into the Armiger. “We gotta get to the next Tomb.” He said. “Thanks for the weapon.”

“Sure. If ya find something good, let me go tinker on it.” Cid said.

“Sure do.” He answered back as they all clambered into the Regalia.

Prompto waved at the the trio there as they left Hammerhead.

[littledraga]

Prompto and His Machines

An old grease stained sheet lay spread over part of the haven, near the fire for what little light he could get. Spread out on the cloth was what was once Prompto’s Gravity Well, pieces covering nearly every inch, overlapping in some places to keep everything on the sheet. Prompto sat at one edge of the fabric, both legs bent feet laying to the left, occasionally rolling his hips to move to his knees, leaning over his work and examining a piece. Next to him was a beat up cardboard box, full of metal pieces. A few different kinds of oil and a cleaning cloth on the other. His tools seemed to be spread nearly as far as his weapon, pieces floating haphazardly around his work space.

The other three sat and watched from their chairs around the fire. Prompto had gotten the new weapon a few days ago, and had been favoring it. With all the pieces laid bare, none of them expected him to be using it anytime soon. Exchanging glances, Gladiolus shook his head. Clearing his throat, Prompto took no notice, changing out a piece on the sheet for one in his box.

“Didn’t take you long to break your new toy did it?” He felt two sets of eyes try to burn holes into him on either side. Prompto spared him a moments glance through his blond bangs, before his eyes went back to his hands, carefully rolling a spring around between them. Satisfied, he gave his pieces one last look over before he spoke to Gladiolus.

“It’s not too bad. Too many recoils, and a few pieces started to warp. I noticed earlier today, when we were fighting the MTs,” he paused a moment, gently popping two pieces together, “My aim was off, and they weren’t pulling as tight as I wanted. Should have done this sooner, I clean my gun nightly, I should take care of my machines too. Not just little fixes when I notice.” Prompto moved slowly, careful with each piece he picked, seeming to work from a memory.

It started with the Bio Blaster. Prompto saw something on a ledge along the entrance to the Keycatrich Trench and climbed up after it. Lifting it off the ground, Prompto did the best he could to look it over, bubbling with excitement at a new discovery.

“Guys, check this out. What do you think it is?” Jumping down from his perch to show his friends, he found the trigger, unleashing a powerful vibration, con caving part of the stone across from him. All four boys jumped in surprise, and Prompto nearly dropped the machine.

“Watch what you’re doing! You could have hurt somebody.” Gladiolus growled, before properly looking at the mass of black metal in the blond’s arms.

“Surprised you can even hold the thing.” Prompto glared at Gladiolus a second before turning to the other two, mumbling an apology, but he was quickly over come with excitement, holding the weapon up proudly.

“This is so cool! I mean look what it did to the wall!” Prompto bounced on his heels, releasing one hand for a moment to point at the damage he had done. Turning it over in his hands he added, “Just think what this could do to a deamon. Ba ba da da ba ba ba BOOM!" Laughing, Prompto held up the machine, careful not to aim it at anything, pretending to fire as he sang the fan fare.

“Fine," murmured Noctis, waving a dismissive hand, “Have your toy. Let’s just get this over with, I’m tired.”

“You’re always tired!” Laughed Prompto, letting his weapon disperse into a blue light before following his best friend. The other two followed after, quietly shaking their heads. Making their way through the maze filled with locked doors and imps a plenty, the new weapon had been more than useful. With Prompto’s careful aim, the blasts helped keep the daemons at a distance.

Confused, each of the three watched Prompto piece together the machine. Some pieces needed to be screwed to others, some slip together like they had never been apart. Occasionally his hands would pause, half out stretched over the sheet, his brow knitted together a moment as he looked over the pieces laying in front of him. Suddenly, his face would relax and his body lurched forward, grabbing a piece and falling back into a more comfortable sitting position. One that Ignis had a hard time seeing as comfortable, legs bent in uneven angles.

The sun had left the sky and the flickering fire light was casting shadows on Prompto’s work, slowing him down. Prompto dug through the pieces around him, lifting them closer to the fire for a better look, before placing them back on the blanket, searching for the correct piece. Standing from the comfort of his camping chair, Ignis walked around the fire to kneel, near the blond, turning on the flashlight on his suspenders, angling it down to the pieces.

“Maybe I can be of assistance?” Prompto jumped at the sound of the advisor’s voice, looking up at him. After the start, he grinned, turning on his own light, why hadn’t he thought about that, nodding to Ignis.

“Thanks! I’m looking for a piece that connects these,” he held up two pieces, that looked far too misshappen for Ignis to understand, “It’s a gear, but some of the teeth are longer.” Ignis nodded as he too started looking for the piece, two search lights gliding over the sheet.

They had found the Auto Crossbow before they found the Axe of the Conqueror. In the back of a room, after they had defeated giant spiders, that Prompto only screamed about once, he was proud of himself for that. Arachne were not a problem for long, though they had still proved a challenge, their lightening abilities taking a toll on the boys, leaving them disoriented and in some places, numb.

The new machine looked similar to the one Prompto had found on the ledge. At first he was excited to have something to use for parts, but as the blond held his arms up to brace himself for using the wall to stop his run, he saw that it was not the same of the one that poisoned his enemies. Crouching down, Prompto looked it over, lifting it up and resting it on his thighs.

“Great, Prompto found another hunk of junk,” Gladiolus groaned, ignoring said boy’s glare.

“Thy’re not junk. As I recall my Bio Blaster saved you more than once already, Gladio.” As he spoke, Prompto had opened up part of it’s side, exposing what looked like metal spikes.

“Are these, bullets?” Taking one out, Prompto gently turned it over in his hand, he had never seen a bullet like it before. Ignis leaned down, taking it from the blond. Adjusting his glasses he looked it over, running gloved fingers over the shaft.

“It appears to be a bolt. The ammunition for a crossbow.” Ignis furrowed his brows, crossbows were out dated, but than again, the machine looked nothing like any crossbow he had read about. Handing the piece back to Prompto, he watched expert fingers place it back with the rest, as natural as he treated his guns. The youngest member appeared to take to the new weapon with as much ease as he had taken to the guns back in Insomnia.

With Ignis’ help, the machine was starting to come together. Prompto would describe what piece he needed, or what it’s use was, and slowly Ignis started to understand a little more what to look for. Most of the pieces were still sprawled out in front of them but they were making obvious progress now. Eyes on his own pieces, Ignis tilted his head a fraction, asking Prompto, “Where did you find the schematics for your machines?” The blond shrugged and shook his head.

“Didn’t, just putting it together the same way I took it apart.” Prompto’s nonchalant comment had the other three stop and stare at him, awestruck. Until then, none of them had noticed that there was nothing near Prompto to guide him. Feeling eyes on him, Prompto felt the heat crawl up his neck, settling in his cheeks as he looked to the other three.

“What? Did you think they just had instructions laying around for these things? Besides,” he looked pointedly to Noctis, “have you ever seen me read directions when I got any new tech?” Noctis took a moment to search his memory of Prompto building computers, he had never looked anything up then either. At the time the prince had assumed he just had enough practice to know what he was doing. Shaking his head, Noctis leaned farther back into his chair.

“Guess not, figured you already knew what you were doing. Wouldn’t have guessed that you were just able to figure it by doing it.” Replied Noctis with a shrug. Prompto laughed and shook his head, taking an offered piece from Ignis, screwing it in place.

“I’m a hands on kind of guy.” Beamed Prompto, moving to examine a new piece.

It was some time before Prompto got the Circular Saw. Really it had only been a couple days, but only because they needed to prepare to helping Cor and Monica. The boys had taken a few hunts to stock up on supplies before meeting Monica and dealing with the outpost of MTs.

The mission had been a raging success, until Loqi appeared. He had spouted off to Cor, the boys had later agreed he was arrogant to think he could have killed Cor the Immortal, even without them there to help. Though maybe they felt a little bad he had such a sort lived military career, but that was the way of things Ignis had told them over dinner.

Since he had found his first machine, Prompto had taken to searching for pieces he could salvage for them. A base, no matter how small, was the perfect place to look. He had found copies of his own, and quickly tore them open looking for pieces that were still intact. There was only a few good pieces, but it was something.

What he caught him off guard was a new machine, like the others it sent out a wave, stronger than the others. It also had a large saw, instead of the projectile the others bore. Cautious of the blade, he lifted it, testing it out as he had the others. Turning his head over he shoulder, he looked for the others, shouting, “Hey guys, I found another one! This one has a giant saw!” Cor looked up with the others, walking over to see what the young man was talking about.

Turning around to show everyone, Prompto tensed when he saw it was only Cor who had come, and was staring down at the weapon. Nervous, he lifted the weapon a fraction, Cor took the weapon in both hands, turning it over.

“Circular Saw, it’s a strong Niflheim weapon.” Cor spoke matter of fact, and Prompto’s heart sunk. He had known they probably were not Lucian weapons as he had never seen them, but he had thought little of it until then. Unconsciously, Prompto laid a hand over his bar code, if Cor saw he chose to stay silent. Instead he chose to hand the saw back to Prompto, nodding with almost a smile.

“Good thinking, using what you have at your disposal, Prompto. With the empire pushing harder, there wont be a shortage of replacement parts. You’re getting better.” Prompto felt heat blooming on his face, but he also felt the heat in his chest, comforting. He took to the weapons because they were machines, he was using his skill sets to the best of his ability. Not because he was an outsider.

The Gravity Well was coming together, there were some stray pieces still waiting to be put together, but most of them had come together into larger pieces, ready to connect to each other. Gladiolus and Noctis had long since gone to bed, wishing the two luck.

“Iggy, I’ll finish it up, go on to bed. You need your sleep,” Prompto worried over his friend. He was more than grateful for the help, but he worried about being a burden on Ignis. Adjusting his glasses, Ignis tried to hide a yawn, but knew he was less than convincing. Regardless, he had no intentions of leaving Prompto now.

“It’s nearly done. We can finish faster together than we can both get some sleep.” Was his response, fiddling with a couple pieces, satisfied with how they clicked together. Prompto hummed, a worried noise, trying to move faster. Trying to pop a spring into place as quickly as he could, it bounced out of place and away from him. Arms flailing, Prompto tried to catch it in the air. Only managing to knock it into the ash of the now dead fire. Picking it up, Prompto puffed out his cheeks, glaring at the piece.

Watching the blond, Ignis was unable to hold back his laughter at Prompto’s pouting face. Leaning over, he gently took the spring from Prompto. Using the cloth near by, he wiped of the spring and offered it back to Prompto.

“Just relax Prompto, it’s not that late yet. It’s better to take time to do it right, than hurry and make mistakes.” Ignis’ voice was soft as he spoke, holding the machine up, so Prompto could work easily. Giving a nervous laugh, Prompto took a deep breath. Ignis was right, he always was. Gently, Prompto placed the spring in it’s place, and this time it stayed.

The Gravity Wall had been the hardest to get, but in the end it had been worth it. After forming the covenant with the Titan, the boys had been left stranded in the storm without the Regalia and forced to swallow bitter news. Rumah had been far easier to join with than the Titan had, but had been that much more time consuming. All of the MT drops had made everything take even longer.

Once Rumah was satisfied and the rain had stopped, they discovered where the Regalia had been taken. Deep inside the base, the boys had made a terrible discovery, they were terrible at being sneaky. Most of the enemies had been simple enough, and were mostly dispatched, but there was still a lot of ground to cover.

Exploring the hangers, Prompto ducked into a small room, making sure no one was there waiting. Instead, a new weapon sat shiny and new. Resisting the urge to yell in excitement, he jumped to the machine, looking it over. It looked like an upgraded Auto Crossbow, Prompto grinned, running out of the small room, excited to see how much stronger it was.

Almost immediately he found a group of MTs trying to sneak up on Ignis. Aiming the machine, his jaw dropped as he fired. Instead of metal bolts, a black sphere formed a purple light emitting from it. As it grew, the MTs were drawn in, Gladiolus saw his chance crushing them under his great sword. Once all the enemies had fallen, he turned to Prompto, anger building in his chest. Prompto was still in shock, watching where the enemies had been. Before Gladiolus had a chance to yell, Prompto had dropped the machine and ran to Ignis, grabbing his arms, trying to look him over in a panic.

“I’m sorry, Ignis! I thought it was another crossbow. Are you hurt?” Shuffling in his pockets, Prompto dug for an elixir, handing it to Ignis, hands visibly shaking. Ignis wrapped his own hand around Prompto’s, his other resting on his upper arm, trying to ground the other.

“I’m alright, Prompto. I hardly felt the pull of it.” Ignis gently pushed the bottle back to Prompto, and he put it away, still looking guilty. Taking a deep breath, Prompto nodded, and Ignis released him. The rest of the hanger was empty so they had  begun back tracking, there had been another way not much farther back.

“Prompto, don’t forget that new machine. I think it’s ability will be quite useful.” Ignis said, turning and gesturing to the machine still laying on the ground with an open hand. Looking it over, Prompto hesitated a moment before slowly walking back to it.

“Come on, Prom. It was an accident, we’ve all had them. Grab it and let’s go.” Noctis spoke, turning away from them and making his way back. The sooner they got the Regalia back, the sooner he could nap in the back.

With a final screw, Prompto leaned back, listening to varies pops from the movement. Looking over to the advisor, he grinned. Throwing a fist into the air Prompto spoke, “And finished!” Ignis nodded, removing his glasses to rub his eyes.

With a tap, the machine dispersed in a light, both boys found too bright, covering their eyes. Tossing everything back into the box, Prompto used the sheet as a cover, tucking it away under his chair. Adjusting his feet, Prompto stood, dusting off his pants before turning to Ignis, extending a hand.

“Bed time! Next time I’ll start that right when we get to the haven.” Ignis laughed, and nodded in agreement. Taking the outstretched hand, Ignis stood with Prompto’s help. Taking the first step to the tent, Ignis felt his legs go out from under him, asleep from lack of use. With a yelp, Prompto slid to catch Ignis, arms wrapping around his middle, Ignis grabbing Prompto’s shoulders for support.

Looking at each other, both let out a laugh, leaning on the other. Carefully the two made their way to the tent, Prompto keeping a protective arm hovering near Ignis’ waist. Opening the flap, he waited for Ignis before following suit, zipping the tent behind him.