#gladio said kill it harder

[missregality]

Formulating battle plans can sometimes land you in a timeout bush.

[echoes-of-the-clockwork]

Book Two: Sapphire (Ignis x Reader) Chapter VIII

Deeper into the Nebulawood, the royal retinue was greeted by more fallen trees. They littered the sides of the somewhat narrow path while some proved to be obstacles blocking their way. They crawled over a few trees to proceed forward and eventually enter a clearing. A pack of voretooths who were nearby ran past them as they fled from the other direction.

"Whoa! Look at 'em go!" Prompto chanted as he watched the creatures flee without noticing them. He was amazed at seeing such dangerous beasts flee without fighting. "So, exactly how big are behemoths?"

"Roughly around 70 feet in size and typically weigh around 174 ton," (Y/n) answered.

"Oh, uh...that's a lot bigger than I thought. Maybe we should rethink this..."

"What, you chickening out?" Gladio inquired. "Don't understand why. You've fought big daemons before."

"Yeah, but none of them are able to shove me in their mouth!" Prompto wandered over towards the spirit amongst them. "Maybe you could scare it away, (Y/n)?"

"My spiritual form is small and fragile. How do you expect me to scare away a beast that's twenty times bigger than me?" She retorted.

"Aren't there some beasts out there that are frightened by smaller ones?"

"And you think a behemoth is one of them?"

"We could always test that theory."

She combed her (h/c) locks over her shoulders. "I'll think about it."

Continuing to make their way through the Nebulawood, the area becomes blanketed with mist. They soon make their way to an abandoned stone structure with an opening and passage through which they can crouch. Noctis begins to lead the way the moment they hear growling again.

"Noct!" Gladio grabs the prince and gently pulls him back before stepping forward. He turned back and held out his hand to indicate that he would take point himself instead of Noctis. The brute crouched down and entered the passage. He slowly and quietly makes his way forward a few feet, then turns back to motion for the others to follow. Noctis was the next to enter the passage followed by Ignis, (Y/n), and Prompto. As they crept forward, they could hear the occasional growl from the beast they were hunting.

They didn't make it halfway through the passage before Gladio stopped and turned to face them. "Hold up!" He ceased moving, eyes drifting upward towards one of the many holes in the metal structure that roofed the passageway.

With a growl, Deadeye comes into view through holes in the structure. Its right horn was missing and right eye was foggy. The skin around the eye was mauled and only a horrendous scar was left behind. Although it was blind on its right side, its nose wriggled as it sniffed the air. (Y/n) winced when realizing the beast smelt them, but couldn't see them due to its blindness in its right eye. Her heart was beginning to race due to her anxiety rising. She feared the behemoth would find them in the small crawlspace and crush them with its large form. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until she exhaled the moment the beast seemed to overlook their hiding spot and walk away.

With Deadeye gone for the moment, Gladio looks at his friends, holds up a finger, closes his right eye, and taps it with his finger. ""Deadeye"-the name says it all."

At the sudden sensation of feeling a hand over hers, (Y/n) looked down and saw she had unconsciously latched onto the sleeve of Ignis' suit jacket. He had placed his hand on hers when her grip tightened. Mumbling a small apology, she released his jacket. She then peered past the advisor to meet Gladio's gaze. "The beast knows something's amiss. We best make haste before it finds us here."

The shield nodded in agreement and motioned for them to follow. "Let's move."

A few seconds later, Deadeye wandered back into view. It was still sniffing the air and searching the area for them. (Y/n) kept the beast in her sights as they crawled forward. She tried to even her breathing and calm her racing heart, but it was difficult since the threat was only a few feet away.

It was only mere seconds later when Deadeye suddenly detected their presence. (Y/n) saw the beast heading straight for their hiding spot and lowered her body closer to the ground. The boys did the same just as the behemoth shoved its snout into the narrow passageway through one of the larger holes in the metal structure. It releases a thunderous roar, earning a shriek from Prompto.

(Y/n) prayed to the Astrals the behemoth would give up, but she gasped when it started to claw at the passageway. Noctis held out his hand to summon his sword so he could pierce the beast's snout, but he lowered his hand when hearing a familiar squeak from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw (Y/n) had transformed and was crawling past Ignis. He wasn't sure what she was planning until she hopped on his back and flew out of one of the holes in the structure.

Deadeye took notice of her small form and ceased clawing at the passageway. It chased after her and they both disappeared into the fog. None of the boys could believe what she just did. They quickly exited the passageway and searched for any signs of the behemoth or the skvader.

"I-I can't believe (Y/n) just saved our skins," Prompto muttered in shock. "I hope she's okay."

"Her minute form will prove to be an advantage against a behemoth. So too will her flying ability. The beast can only jump to a certain height," Ignis stated. Although appearing calm on the surface, he was worried about her. She was a strong fighter, but even she had her limits just like the rest of them.

"We can't let her have all the fun," Noctis said. "Let's find this thing and kill it."

"It's weak on the right-no eye, no horn," Gladio responded.

"We'll stay in range until we can exploit its blind spot," the tactician added. "Let's do hope (Y/n) wears our target down before we have to engage."

Meanwhile in another part of the Nebulawood, the skvader was flying through the fog in an attempt to escape Deadeye. She was able to dodge its claws left and right before darting off deeper into the dense mist. The guardian was becoming exhausted from the persistent behemoth and took shelter in one of the trees it had yet to destroy. She curled her small form atop a branch to hide her presence. Her sapphire eyes radiated through the fog, but they weren't visible to the beast as it prowled the foggy area below.

From her perch, (Y/n) had a perfect view of Deadeye. She watched it search the fog for her, scraping its claws against some of the rock formations in the misty clearing. Its nose wriggled like earlier and she knew it was trying to sniff her out. However, it wasn't able to locate her. During their previous chase, she had spread her scent around the area to make herself harder to detect.

The behemoth roared in frustration before giving up the search. (Y/n) lifted her head and stood up, watching the beast closely as it seemed to head in a certain direction. Soaring from tree to tree, she followed Deadeye from a safe distance. When it hopped over a large rock formation and left the area, she continued her pursuit.

Exiting the foggy area, the skvader was more than joyous to see the sun again. The warm rays heated her white and black fur as she soared through the sky.

Coming across the skeletal ruins of what looked to be once a building, she watched Deadeye hop onto a cliff and lay down. It closed its eyes and seemed to fall asleep. Perching on top of the ruins, she stared at the behemoth as it slept. She figured this was its den and looked around the area. Oil drums lied around the ruins and a tattered windmill loomed across the way. Crawling through the ruins, she peered across the way and saw the boys on a cliffside. She didn't hesitate to fly over to them. Landing in front of them near the cliff, she reverted back to being human. "Deadeye's asleep. I suggest we attack."

"Nice to see you, too," Noctis sarcastically replied.

"At least you didn't become a snack and leave us to be the main course," Gladio added.

"Guess we can mark off behemoth from our list, huh?" Prompto smiled innocently at the girl.

She crossed her arms with a wry smile. "Your question from earlier is why I did what I did. Even though behemoths aren't scared of smaller creatures, they sure enjoy chasing them."

"We do appreciate what you did, (Y/n)," Ignis said. "Your quick wit prevented us from being mangled."

"I wouldn't have let any of us become chew toys."

Gladio rolled his shoulder, popping it in the process. "All right, time to take this thing down. Any ideas?"

"I do have one." (Y/n) turned her back to the boys and gestures to the oil drums scattered about below. "We could lure Deadeye to the oil drums and ignite them. That should do some heavy damage and there's more than one we can utilize."

"Lemme guess: you want me to trigger them," Noctis said.

"You've the elements at your disposal. Use those magic flasks you filled up a couple days ago."

"So do you."

"My specialty is ice. That won't help ignite oil."

Noctis looked away, slightly embarrassed that he forgot she didn't know any fire spells. Although guardians had direct connections to the mana of the world and could wield all the elements, they usually only mastered one type. "Right..." He scratched the back of his head.

"The rest of us will do our best to draw Deadeye to the oil drums. You just focus on igniting them."

"And what if we run out of oil drums before we've killed it?"

"Then we do it the old-fashion way: attack the beast head-on."

"Can't argue with that plan," Gladio commented.

"And it's the only one we have," Prompto added.

"I do believe it will suffice," Ignis spoke up.

"Then let's get this over with," Noctis sighed tiredly.

Entering Deadeye's lair, the royal retinue set the guardian's plan into motion. Noctis readied the magic flasks while the other boys summoned their weapons. (Y/n) held up her hand and conjured a large, sharp icicle. She flung it at the behemoth's head and rudely awoke it from its nap. Smirking, she watched as the beast roared and hopped down from its perch. Taking a few steps back, she put some distance between her and Deadeye in order for Noctis to ignite the first oil drum right underneath its belly. He aimed the flask at the oil drum and threw it the moment the beast charged forward.

The oil drum exploded and set Deadeye ablaze. The beast roared, jumping around wildly. It rammed into the second oil drum and the flames from its body ignited it, resulting in its body to be engulfed in fire.

"Aw, yeah! Two-for-one special!" Prompto cheered.

The group repeated the process over and over again until there were no more oil drums. Deadeye's skin was severely burned and large blisters were scattered across its body. Its other eyes was bloodied and the beast could no longer see anything. Its movements were slow and labored as it clung to the small life it had left in it. It tried to fight, but it was useless. It could only weakly swing its claws and tail a few more times before its body tipped over. It slammed into the ruins, knocking a few stone loose.

Seeing no point in dragging out Deadeye's suffering any longer, (Y/n) raised her hand and conjured a bow and a single arrow made from nothing but ice. She aimed the sharp, icy tip of the arrow at the space between the behemoth's eyes. Steadying her aim, she fired the arrow. It hit its mark and killed the beast. Its body slid down the side of the ruins before slamming against the ground, completely lifeless.

"Whoa!" Prompto ran over to the girl. His eyes examined the bow. "I knew you could make a sword from ice, but a bow too? That's pretty cool! Can you make anything else?"

(Y/n) glances at the boy's pistol before morphing the bow into an exact copy. "I can do guns, too."

Prompto, with her permission, took the ice pistol. He compared it to his and noticed the details were all there. He raised it into the air and pulled the trigger. He blinked in surprise when a bullet exited the barrel. "It even shoots bullets?!"

"That is what a gun does."

"But it's made of ice!"

"And so are the bullets."

Prompto dispelled his real pistol and pretended to aim with the ice handgun. He cackled as he continued to be in awe at her creation. Gladio, who still had his greatsword in hand, looked toward her. "You a magician?"

"It's a simple ice spell I like to call mimicry. With just enough concentration, I can fabricate an exact copy of a weapon using only ice," she explained. "Some functions are limited, but I mainly only use swords and bows. I can make guns, daggers, javelins, halberds... Pretty much any weapon as long as I have memorized a schematic."

Noctis watched the exuberant Prompto wave the ice pistol around. "I don't think you're getting that back."

"No need. It'll melt soon enough."

"Now then, shall we return to Wiz and inform him of Deadeye's vanquishing?" Ignis asked.

"Yes, please!" Prompto shouted. "Then we can ride the chocobos!"

Leaving the Nebulawood, the group returned to Wiz Chocobo Post. They spoke to the man himself and told him of Deadeye's defeat. Now, they could rent chocobos whenever they wanted. The moment Wiz told them the birds were at their disposal, Prompto grabbed Noctis and dragged him over to the pens. At the blonde's bubbly command, he rented five chocobos.

At Prompto's begging, they headed to the racetrack. Gladio, Ignis, and (Y/n) remained on the sidelines and watched Prompto and Noctis race. The two boys standing on either side of the spirit were making bets on who would win. The shield betted on the marksman while the advisor placed his gil on the prince.

When Noctis was the victor, Gladio forked over a small amount of gil to Ignis. (Y/n) glances between the two in confusion. "What's the point of betting when all our funds are combined?"

"Don't ruin the fun for us, munchkin," Gladio remarked. She shook her head with an eye roll.

"Hey, (Y/n)!" Noctis shouted, grabbing her attention. "You're next!"

She blinked owlishly. "Excuse me?"

"I wanna race you next!"

She really didn't want to race, but decided to indulge the prince. "All right." Her chocobo, which had (f/c) feathers, trotted over to the starting line as she joined Noctis. Prompto left with a defeated pout plastered on his face and stood with Gladio and Ignis.

As the girl was mounting her chocobo, the brute elbowed Ignis. "A thousand gil says Prince Charmless wins again."

"Truly a thoughtless bet," Ignis replied. "(Y/n) will be the victor."

"You just sayin' that because you're head-over-heels for her?"

"I place 3,000 gil on her due to her handling of a chocobo to be more precise than that of Noct."

The shield arched a brow. "And how do you know that?"

"By simply examining them," the advisor coolly replied. "(Y/n) has a sturdier grip and straight posture, allowing her to control her chocobo more effectively. On the other hand, Noct is slouched over and handles the rein of his bird loosely, which will result in less control."

"You're on, Iggy. We'll see who the victor will be and tell if your observation really is true. Who's got your bet, blondie?"

Prompto hummed in curiosity as he thought about Ignis' words. "I wanna bet on Noct, but maybe I should put some money down on (Y/n) instead. Iggy sounds really confident she'll win. I think I'll put 1,500 gil on (Y/n)."

Ignis slightly smirked. "Then the wager is set."

The three boys watched as the race between Noctis and (Y/n) began. The prince immediately took the lead and was ahead during the entire first lap, but he lost his lead in the middle of the second one. He tried to overtake the girl, but he couldn't. In the end, she was victorious.

Gladio was shocked at the outcome while Prompto cheered. Ignis' smirk festered as he adjusted his glasses. "I do believe Prompto and I are the victors of this wager, Gladio."

"Damn..." The brute mumbled, handing over a thousand gil. "Girl's got skill, I'll give her that."

After a couple more races and bets, they left the racetrack. Seeing as it was becoming nighttime, they decided to use some of the funds they earned from the hunt to rent the caravan. Noctis and Prompto were inside the trailer playing King's Knight on their phones. Gladio was sitting at one of the many tables located around the outpost reading his book. Ignis and (Y/n) were sitting at the table located outside the caravan, chatting away.

When they both fell silent after talking for nearly an hour straight, she asked him a question. "Iggy, are you familiar with a place called Costlemark?"

"If memory serves me, there is an ancient structure in the Duscae region known as the Costlemark Tower. It is rumored to be remnants of the ancient civilization known as Solheim," he answered. "What spurred such a question, (Y/n)?"

"On our way to Deadeye's den, I heard the voice again. Only a few words were clear and one of them was Costlemark."

"Is this something you wish to pursue?"

She nodded her head. "Yes. I know it's careless, but something tells me I need to listen."

"If you believe it so, then I shan't question it. I will discuss matters with the others on the morrow."

She smiled gently at him. "Thank you, Iggy."

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter || Masterlist

[lilacsolanum]

snippet sunday

I was tagged by @halwardpavushatersclub, who is great and everyone should follow for gay Dragon Age art, and I thank him very much. It made me feel special and loved even if I’m a disaster who didn’t see it until now, a Monday. I’m going to post snippets from the three fandoms I’m in because I am unsupervised.

Dragon Age, an untitled fic merging Dorian and Bull’s romances. I cut these scenes form But There’s A Twist and will make them into their own fic eventually:

“Yeah? What’s he want me you do?”

“Kill a man, naturally. It is Orlais, after all.”

Dorian says it flippantly. Bull stares him down.

“How do you feel about that?”

Dorian waves a hand, a gesture of practiced disinterest. “I have killed before. More than most, I’d say. My hands are utterly filthy with the blood of venatori, bandits, slavers. What’s one noble?”

“You know anything about him?”

“He’s a player of that nonsensical Game. I doubt the purity of his soul.”

Bull studies him. Dorian knows he is seeing all the things Dorian tries not to think about, and he resents him for it. He grows prickly.

“Taking a life feels pretty different when it’s not your choice.”

Final Fantasy XV, Libra, a fic exploring FF15′s time travelling and the Crystal’s magic:

Ignis knew what he was eating by the sound of his knife scraping against the surface, the consistency he senses with a fork spearing, and with simple logic based on common plating practices. Describing what and where his food is as if his food is a clock—rice at seven, chicatrice at three, so forth and so on—is something he has not needed for over a decade. Yet Gladio forgets how much Ignis hates this at least once a month.

“The hell you doing?” asks Gladio.

Ignis is surprised at his tone, but if Gladio wants to get a headstart on this fight, Ignis will oblige. “I can only assume I’m cutting into the salmon I ordered,” he says, putting a slight amount of stress on the words ‘I ordered.’  “Is it not on the center of the plate, where it has been every other time I’ve had it?”

“Yeah, great, but—hey,” says Gladio. His voice is growing softer, more concerned. “You’re creeping me out.”

“Hmm?”

The realization of where—when—when he was slams into him all at once like a speeding truck. He had been staring at a dirty diner wall this entire time, painted an unpleasant off-white like yellowing teeth, aggressively illuminated by angry fluorescents. He’d been focused on two matching holes where some piece of art had once hung, holes that whoever owned this particular franchise location had been too lazy to patch. 

Animorphs, 27, a Marco POV fic about...being 27?

“Sort of,” I said, shrugging. “There’s a mini-series. It’s, uh, a six hour play.”

Rehearsals were killer. I usually pride myself on line memorization, but this? This was a lot. But I’d come out two years ago, and that meant that two out of every three role offers were for something gay, and I happened to grab on to this one.

It was a challenge. It was unlike anything I’ve ever done before. I wanted to smash the public’s perception of me as the funny man best friend of some blonde actress. Plus, I was bored to fucking tears of the whole L.A. thing. Why not give the New York thing a try!

It was hard. It was way harder than I expected. I should have eased myself in, done something like, I don’t know. Sesame Street Live. Not some bloated exploration of religion. Six fucking hours. I didn’t even read the script before I agreed to it. Here we are! At least it wasn’t another shitty fish in some cartoon movie. At least it meant something.

I thought it would mean something.

I tag @acavatica and @c-rowlesdraws and then I’m out of friends.

[ffxvficrec]

FATHERLY LOVE WEEK - ROUND UP 1

A couple of call outs -

- We have listed relationships [platonic and romantic], ratings, and Archive Warnings 

- With that in mind, please tread mindfully! Remember to look at the tags before reading.

You can also check out the AO3 collection here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/FathersWeekFFXV2021/works

Day 1: Missing you | I love you more than Eos itself | Baby’s first words 

Kids Say The Darndest Things by WhoStarLocked

No Archive Warnings Apply

Clarus Amicitia/Original Female Character(s)

Clarus Amicitia & Cor Leonis

Clarus Amicitia/Gladiolus & Iris Amicitia's Mother

Clarus Amicitia & Gladiolus Amicitia

General Rating

Or, how Gladio almost wrecked his parents' marriage and nearly got Cor killed in the process.

Grandad, Not Dada! by TheDarkestDandelion 

No Archive Warnings Apply

Regis Lucis Caelum & Somnus Lucis Caelum

Mors Lucis Caelum & Regis Lucis Caelum

Ardyn Izunia & Cor Leonis & Regis Lucis Caelum

Ardyn Izunia/Cor Leonis

Teen Rating

Ardyn, being the kind and affectionate uncle he is, decides to inform Regis about the time the king said his first word.

His first word being 'dada.'

However, Regis did not gift his own father with that title... instead, that honour went to Somnus. From that one word, it set off a whole chain of events that neither Ardyn or Somnus would ever forget.

Necktie Assistance by SimpleLoon

No Archive Warnings Apply

Noctis Lucis Caelum & Regis Lucis Caelum

General Rating

Noctis struggles with preparing for the evening's gala. Regis arrives with the proper assistance. 

Prompt: Father's advice (from Day 6)

Manila Isn’t Home Yet by seaofolives

No Archive Warnings Apply

Clarus Amicitia & Gladiolus Amicitia

Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia

General Rating

“Oh yeah, Ninong won’t be joining us?”

“He’s got his own date tonight,” Clarus chuckled, thinking about his friend’s second shot at romance. He supposed no one really was too old, too late for that. Gladiolus’ phone gave a cheerful beep, like a quick violin note, to herald the message sliding down from the top of the screen.

Ok, it read, from a sender named, Sungit 🥰.

“Sungit?” Clarus spoke the name out loud. Now, he may not be fluent in Tagalog but he still knew, from all the cumulative years he’s lived in the Philippines, that… “Doesn’t that mean ‘grouch’?” A negative word, not quite equitable to a smiling face with three hearts.

The way Gladiolus glanced at his phone, one would have thought that Clarus had just pointed him to a dog he’d been about to run over, assuming that that was still possible at all in Manila’s crawling traffic. He’s, “Uh,” tripped somewhere between his throat and his mouth before he nodded, rapid ups-and-downs of his head. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right, Dad. You’re right.” He took that turn to the right.

Where It Matters Less by fayth (zanarkand)

No Archive Warnings Apply

Cor Leonis & Noctis Lucis Caelum

Noctis Lucis Caelum & Regis Lucis Caelum

General Rating

After defending Insomnia from an attack, Regis falls into a coma, and is unable to have visitors. Noct does his best to cope, but it's getting harder and harder to pretend to everyone that he's okay. When it finally becomes too much for him, Cor is there to help him through it.

Lessons in Parenting by Lady_Kaie

No Archive Warnings Apply

Noctis Lucis Caelum & Regis Lucis Caelum

Father and Son - Relationship

Teen Rating

Regis needs to raise his baby son on his own without his Queen. He could put the task to one of his many servants, but he is determined to be a hands on father and be there for his son. Here are some of his escapades... and some of those lessons that every parent must figure out sooner or later.

Calling Home by thetealord

No Archive Warnings Apply

Ardyn Izunia/Cor Leonis

Clarus Amicitia/Regis Lucis Caelum

Prompto Argentum & Ardyn Izunia & Cor Leonis

General Rating

"Hey kid," Cor said quietly, "how are you doing? Having fun?"

children will listen by jonphaedrus

No Archive Warnings Apply

Prompto Argentum & Ardyn Izunia & Cor Leonis

Prompto Argentum & Ardyn Izunia

Ardyn Izunia/Cor Leonis

General Rating

The substitute teacher—whose name he didn’t remember except that he thought it was Mx. J—hauled him back and away from recess and then plonked Prompto in the No-Good Time Out Chair Of Bad Behavior. She scowled at him, shook her finger, and then said, “I don’t know who taught you that, but I’m calling your mother.”

[miss-tc-nova]

Stars - Noctis Lucis Caelum x Fem!Reader

Mmm, angst. Loves it. I’ve had this one brewing for a while. 

~~~~~

               As sure as I don’t want it to, the morning dawns on us. My whole body resists waking up at the begging of my mind. Fingers clench in fists against bare skin and arms pull me closer in response. The quiver in my heart travels to my mouth; I bury my face in his chest to hide the tears—he already knows. Not exactly great with words, he simply holds me while I fall apart.

               At the sound of a knock, I attempt to stifle my crying. The door still cracks and a voice comes through: “Noctis, it’s time to get ready.”

               The man sighs. “Thanks Ignis.”

               We’re left alone in our miserable silence. A daemon’s claws physically tearing my heart in two would be less painful than this. Neither of us wants to move but life must go on and the King must fulfill his duties.

               “Come on. We gotta get up.” His voice wavers and another sob bubbles up my throat. A hand pushes back my mess of hair, showing me those watery eyes. “You need to go. Cid’s gonna be waiting for you.” Noctis cups my face. “Please. I need you to get far away from here.”

               There’s not really much I can do to argue with him; even if I protested and threw a fit, I’m sure he’d just get Gladio to carry me down to the docks and throw me on the boat. So I get dressed, failing to keep my sorrow in check as I go. Breakfast is rejected and the King himself escorts me the port. People stare but people don’t understand—I’m going to lose the person I care about most. I’m being sent away to avoid the destruction that summoning the Leviathan will cause, but once that’s over, Noctis will marry the Oracle and will no longer be mine.

               I didn’t intend to fall in love with him when I joined the group of ruffians. It wasn’t like we went around flirting with each other or vying for attention. One morning, I woke up in the tent wrapped in his arms, realized I didn’t want to be anywhere else, and from there it’s history. I was a fool for dreaming about happily-ever-after with him; I knew the entire time that I would have to give him up for the sake of a nation in pieces. Still, I let myself hope—now here I am crying in front of the boat that’s going to take me away.

               “Hey.” Clearing my eyes for the millionth time, I peer up at him.

               Noctis pulls me closer, granting me one last tender kiss. I kiss back, praying that everything he means to me gets through and that he never forgets it. All too soon, it ends and that sad smile marred by tears drives a knife into my chest. “I love you.”

               The words are shaky, but they come. “I love you too.”

               Each step towards the boat twists that knife. Sitting at the back, I watch him stand there, getting farther and farther away until we turn a corner. Poor Cid has to hear me bawl all the way back to Cape Caem.

               But that kiss was not the only parting gift he left me.

~~~~~

               In my hustle and bustle, I nearly drop the supplies in my arms. Today many of the Glaives returned from a mission that proved more than they bargained for so now I’ve got to patch them up and save some lives.

               Ten years ago, when the boys told me what happened after I left Altissia, I broke—my world was gone. They took me to Insomnia at my request, though it took plenty of persuading to do so seeing as I’m not a fighter. Still, my knowledge of medicine and first aid would be invaluable to the Glaives and I needed something to cling to. Turns out I would get far more motivation to keep on living a few months down the line. That didn’t stop me from my new-found duty with the Glaives though. It may not have been the best choice of life but nothing was going to get better without a fight. However, the work is hard on the mind and spirit and I’ve become perpetually exhausted over the years—it’s particularly grueling today.

               My patients fixed up, I dig around through my supply closet. “Gods, where did all my bandages go? Ugh. I can’t have run out already. There aren’t enough Glaives to look for more.”

               As I’m sifting around, Cor approaches. “Hey, I got four more for you.”

               I heave a sigh. “Okay. Put them in Room 3. I’ve got to take a look at Roderick first before-”

               “Hey.”

               My body freezes. I briefly consider that I may have finally cracked—maybe the strain and depression have finally done my head in. Frantically trying to rationalize my insanity, I turn around.

               My brain must be incredible at producing hallucinations; I’m almost convinced he’s actually here. He appears not to have lost any time but that old exhaustion has grown with him. “I-I must be working too hard,” I mumble, taking in his image. “I’m seeing things.”

               The illusion reaches for me. In taking my hand, I feel like he’s gripping my heart. That smile blurs instantly through tears. “I’m really here.”

               It takes little effort for the King to pull me into his arms. The barrier I’d been maintaining to keep all my disasters inside crumbles. Immediately, I begin to sob into his suit jacket while he holds onto me so tightly.

               Cor volunteers to check on Roderick, reminding me that I have a job. I usher the retinue into another room and it’s like nothing’s changed. Even though Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio don’t come by as often as they used to, we still get along except they all tend to worry over me. With Noctis finally back, it feels like everything is right again. We share jokes and smiles and of course I get made fun of for crying.

               Then Prompto brings up a new subject. “Hey, where’s Astrus?”

               In all honesty, I’d forgotten about him in my reunion. It’s been a few hours and I’m really slacking in my responsibilities. “He should almost be done studying,” I answer, leaving the men behind to search the bunkers. My stomach clenches at the sight of the empty room. A million thoughts begin racing through my head while I rush through the compound. “Astrus? Has anyone seen Astrus?!” Nobody had.

               Legs shaking, my breakdown gets interrupted by Noctis. He ensures I don’t collapse by putting me in a chair. “Hey, calm down. He’ll show up. We’ll keep an eye out for him, okay?”

               “You’re leaving?” I whisper. I absolutely do not like that look on his face—it’s the same one he gave me before putting me on the boat leaving Altissia. “But you just got back.”

               Calloused hands brush away the tears. “I know but I have some things to take care of.”

               “But then you’ll come back again?” His silence is a disturbing answer. His work in clearing my face is for nothing when I throw my arms around his neck. “Why you? Why did it have to be you?”

               “I’m sorry.” He slides a hand in my hair. “If it makes you feel any better, I still love you.”

               His jacket is probably wrinkling in my grip. “I never stopped.”

~~~~~ 

Noctis POV

               It takes all the willpower I can muster to leave the Glaive HQ—or more accurately, to leave her. I was so broken up when I left her the first time but knowing for absolute certain that this will be the last time I ever see her, it’s so much harder.

               “You gonna be okay, dude?” Prompto asks as we amble along the road.

               “I don’t really have a choice,” I reply bluntly.

               Gladio’s attempt to console me is a double-edged sword, as always. “You’ll be giving them a better world to live in.”

               A shout interrupts the conversation: ahead of us is a boy and behind him are a couple of deamons. Instantly, my retinue kicks into action. I throw my weapon, scooping up the kid and pulling him away from the battle in the next second. The guys seem to have the monsters under control, so I turn my attention back to the child who absolutely should not be here in Insomnia.

               When released, he dropped the armful of wrappers and is currently in a hurry to pick them all up. Kneeling down to help, I ask, “Are you okay?”

               Barely pausing in his scrambling, the boy glances to me. The world stops spinning. Those midnight eyes show a maturity in place of the innocence I wish I still had. Dirt and grime across his skin contrast the pristine life I had lead. There’s so much difference between my past and his present but there’s no arguing that this kid is the spitting image of me.

               When time resumes, I’m torn between anger that I hadn’t been told and heartache that she had gone through it alone.

               “Yeah. I’m good.” He diligently recollects his treasure.

               I hand over the one I picked up. “You must be Astrus,” I say, hoping my voice remains steady. He hums an affirmative. “Your mother is worried sick about you. What are you doing out here?”

               He shows me what he’s collected. “My mom said we were running low on bandages, so I went to find some.”

               “I see. I admire your bravery and initiative but you really should’ve talked to her about it before going out alone.”

               “There was no time. She’s too busy taking care of everyone else and I knew where to get some,” he insists. There’s determination in his gaze; he’s doing his best to support his single mother.

               “Even so, leaving without telling anyone can get you in serious trouble. You could’ve been eaten alive if we didn’t find you.”

               At least he understands he’s causing trouble. “Sorry…”

               I can’t truly be angry with him, not just because he’s honestly trying to be helpful but also because of who he is to me—mostly, I just feel sad. “Do you need me to escort you back to the Glaives?”

               His head shakes. “No. I can make it.”

               A large part of me is disappointed that I can’t take him back to confront his mother but that would just give me a chance to convince myself out of my destiny. I have to remember that they’ll continue living in this hell-hole world as long as Ardyn is still running rampant.

               “Alright, but you’d better head straight there and apologize for scaring your mother.”

               “Yes sir,” he sighs guiltily.

               I put a hand on his shoulder. “I know that life is really hard right now, but I promise it’s going to get better soon. And I want you to know that I’m proud of you for supporting your mother all this time—you’re a good kid.”

               That’s my same smile he’s giving me. I’ve only known Astrus five minutes, but I can already see he’s going to grow up to be a good person: strong, reliable, compassionate. Gods, it’s killing me that I won’t be able see that future—that I can’t be there for him. He and his mother deserve so much more than I can offer them and I can’t even make up for it.

               “Do me a favor,” I mutter, standing up to hide the welling tears from him. “Take care of her for me, okay?”

               His ebony brows scrunch together in determination and he nods. “Okay.”

               “Now go on. Don’t keep her waiting.”

               Clutching his findings tightly, Astrus takes off past me towards the Glaive hideout. The retreating footsteps echoing off the buildings rattle my heart. It takes everything I have not to give up the gods’ omen and run after him. My knees threaten to give while a shaking fist clutches at my chest.

               My father’s final words to me come to mind. “Walk tall, my son.”

[sakesays]

Love-sick

Gladio / Reader part 2

Reader suffers from Hanahaki disease.

Angst/ pain. Part 2

After you had gathered yourself from crying, Noct decided to think of a plan. On this day you had a list of quests to finish, and throughout the day he would help you get alone time with Gladio. You both agreed it would be much better to just have the two of you know.

It’s been a couple hours since your breakdown with Noct, on some part, you felt embarrassed, I mean if you thought about it, Noct was the only person other than Gladio to have seen you in an emotional state, this wasn’t even just an “oh just a small cry that’s all” this was a basically, life or death situation for you, and Noct knew. “So Iggy, where we off to?” Gladio leaned forward, towards Ignis’ seat, of course you being in the middle seat this caused him to be closer to you. You’ve always been good with dealing with how close he gets to you but, ever since the whole ‘coughing up flower’ thing, you hadn’t been able to control your emotions.

Your breath hitched, causing you to cough, Noctis quickly turned to look at you, patting your back as he asked you if you were okay, “You alright Y/N?” Asked Ignis, looking at you through the mirror, with a smile you nodded, clearly not wanting to alert anyone else you just brushed it off. Gladio handed you a container with water, smiling at you before turning to Ignis once again, “so?” He continued, “Right, well Noctis and I, thought of a plan, since there are two set of Daemons we need to get, Prompto, Noctis, and I, will go after three of them, and Y/N and you, will go after the last one.”

Gladio nodded, but soon opened his mouth once again “why just the two of us?” Gladio looked at you, placing his hand on your head “not that I’m whining you know, but why go after one?” Ignis nodded, of course this was already planned out even before any of you could have any thoughts about it, or course besides Noctis. “Well, as we’ve noticed before, this type of Daemon you and Y/N are going after requires, hand to hand combat, as to say, meaning you need to be closer for it, the other two, not so much, plus, we can’t leave Noctis alone with Prompto, they’ll get themselves killed.” You turned to look at prompto, trying to see if he maybe had any protests, but just like everyone else in the car, he was nodding, agreeing to the points Ignis made.

You looked at Noct, of course you could already tell this was part of his plan to get both Gladio and you together — or atleast closer. Was there any more to get closer though? You did share moments where you flirted, and moments were you two were too close to comfort. But knowing his playful demeanor — oh yeah, and his Fuck boi thing he has going on, it was probably just him messing with you. But, who could truly be sure, in the mind of Gladio Amicitias.

The Regalia came to a slow stop, parking on the side of the road, “Guess we’re walking.” Prompto said, with a whine, starting to open the car door and getting out, before your departure you stocked up on potions and anything you could basically need, although with your whole cough situation, you weren’t sure if what you had even worked. You turned to look towards Gladios side, waiting for him to get out, once he did you slid, but as a surprise he extended his arms to you, a small smile on his lips as he signaled for you to take it “c’mon, don’t got all day now” and with a small cough you took his hand, for just a moment, he squeezed it, you noticed how warm it was and how rough his slightly calloused hands were, but that didn’t bother you. On your part you thought both of your hands fit perfectly together, your small hands on his, his on yours. You loved it, but the moment came to an end, and he let go of your hand to pat you on the back, harder than intended, it even took out a cough from you. And with a glare you turned to him before hitting him on the back as hard as you could, “Stupid, what the hell was that for?” Gladio smirked as he crossed his arms, looking down at you “You looked like an idiot with that grin on your face,” pretending to be shocked, you lightly pat his cheek “yeah says the one that literally has a stupid grin on his face at all times.”

Sure your comeback wasn’t as good, but Gladios face was absolutely priceless, he really didn’t expect you to bite back in all honesty, is face made both Noct and Prompto to burst out laughing, Ignis could barely even suppress a chuckle at best. By this point your lungs were absolutely burning, you tried to suppress many coughs during that whole ordeal, you let out a small cough, noticing that it was just one of many’s, you quickly ran away, mumbling that you had to go to pee as you quickly scurried off to where they couldn’t hear you. To your surprise tho, Noctis noticed and was able to slip off from the rest.

By instinct at this point you tried to breathe in as much as you could before the coughing fit began, the lump on your throat forming once more, oddly you began to gag, your body convulsed and knees buckled, Noctis showed up right on time, his hands holding you up before you could hit the ground. Gagging loudly you tried turning away from him, wanting to not get him dirty.

His hands grabbed at your hair, holding it back so that it wouldn’t get in your way, you’re more than thankful for him really, but each time you tried to say thank you, you coughed and gagged, tears spilling from your face, the painful feeling on your lungs never ending.

With each passing minute the lump would move further up your mouth, until finally you spit it out. To your surprise two fell out. Two large like flowers. There was nothing else you could do, so you just simply left them on the ground. Noctis rubbed your back, trying to comfort you as you wiped the tears. You stood up, patting yourself and brushing away the dirt that had accumulated on your pants. Lightly slapped your cheeks and smiled.

Once you made you way back, everyone quickly started the quest, you went with Gladio, everything was fine, of course until you butt heads with the daemon you were supposed to be killing. To be honest, everything was going fine, that was until his health regenerated, you were short of breath by this point, getting agitated by each passing moment you had to keep fighting it.

Almost 30 minutes in and Gladio was able to deliver the final blow, finally killing it and letting you rest. You know you didn’t do well, but Atleast you did something right? Gladio came up to you, stabbing his sword through the floor, clearly he was upset at you, but you didn’t need this right now. Too much to worry about.

“The fuck was that all about?” The wording was much to cruel, you were sure he didn’t mean it to come out that way. But it still struck a nerve, “What?” You said to him, turning your head to look at him in anger, “Don’t look at me like that, you were absolutely horrible today, you could’ve died!” You scoffed turning away as you mumbled something under your breath, “would’ve been sooner that’s for sure” — “What?!” You could hear the anger on his voice at this point, the absolute rage oozing from it. “NOTHING” you turned from him, going to stand up to walk away from him.

You were much too tired for this, “nothing? You clearly had something to mumble about earlier. The fuck is wrong with you? Running around with Noct and all.” This made you snap, why was he accusing you, when he literally knew nothing? “Shut up. Shut up, you know absolutely nothing.” Maybe it was just the toll on the hunt, maybe it was just past angers coming undone. You honestly didn’t know why you were arguing or how it started in the first place, but everything was just bad, it was horrible.

“Don’t know nothing? Don’t make me laugh, if I don’t know anything, then why don’t you tell me? Huh?” Normally you’d tell him anything, you’d sit and smile and tell him all about your day and everything that happened. He knew most of your secrets, but for some reason he didn’t know this one, and it pissed him off. “No.” You spat out, glaring at him by this point. The thoughts in your head raising alarms, and the heart in your chest beating loudly, you were heated, much too heated, it was too hot, too loud, it was all too much.

“What why not? You can go and tell everyone but not me?! Even Noct?!” You knew this wasn’t the way it was supposed to go, this wasn’t how you wanted it to be.

No no no no no no don’t do it. Stop.

“Because I fucking love you, okay?” Silent, everything went silent. His mouth fell agape, a thousand thoughts going through his brain, surely he heard wrong, right? I mean he only thought of you as a sister, that’s all. Nothing more. “I realized some time ago, and-“ — “I’m sorry.” He cut you short, his response making your eyes widened, I mean you had prepared a whole speech, you had, thought of everything, and he just, cut you short? Didn’t even let you finish? You breath hitched, you could absolutely feel it, this was it.

You smiled, tears spilling, “of course.” He wanted to say more, explain, tell you. But all he could say was that he’s sorry. You knew this, you knew he didn’t feel the same, but you went and got your hopes up. Fucking dumbass. You turned on your heel quickly, running away “Hey tumble what was that-“ pushing through Prompto and Noctis as you tripped through the tree roots, but you had to get away, you had to leave.

You ran for as much as you could, thankful your lungs held out as much as they could, you sat down, leaning on a big rock, you sobbed, what a dumb way to die huh? Literally heart broken, you pulled out a picture from your pocket, a picture of you and Gladio, you always had it with you. You thumb caressed it, and you couldn’t help but smile. Oh how much you loved his smile, his eyes, his hair, his nose, absolutely everything, but more than all, you loved him in general, how hot headed he is and how driven, how all he wants to do Is protect Noct.

Your breath started coming by short, you found yourself gasping for air, this was much more painful, how come no one told you it would hurt this bad? You felt, as if your chest was being ripped, flowers bloomed into your lungs, cutting your airflow. You cried scratching at your throat to Atleast try something, something anything would help, absolutely anything would do, but with tears in your eyes and flowers in your lungs, this was impossible,

“Y/N!- Y/N!” You heard your name being called, as much as you wanted to answer you couldn’t, you knew it was Gladio, but there was nothing you could do right? You were much too tired, you had to lay down, and so you did. You tear stained face, being held by someone. Big calloused hands holding you is so tenderly, “Y/N! Fuck! Do something!!” You looked at him, gasping trying to get as much air as you could. Each minute passing, earning a flower inside of you. “Shh..” you whispered, you were sleepy, your eyes threatening to close, how painful. He was crying at this point all you could see was him, how he looked at you and how worried he looked, how you hated to see him like this.

You couldn’t hear Prompto cursing under his breath trying anything he can, or Noctis trying potions on you, or Ignis checking at your pulse and frantically trying to get anything he can. You loved them, with all your heart, but you were one to fight death. “It’s.. okay..” with each word, a heavy breath, you coughed, your weak hand reaching towards him. He caught it, placing it on his cheek, “don’t go.” He looked so pained, his eyes, oh how this broke your heart. “Love...” you smiled, what a horrible thing. “Love... you” even in your last moments you loved him, you tried to look for Noct, your eyes trying to destinguish them, “love... you.. all too” you coughed, you couldn’t notice the tears on everyone else’s, but Noct was crying the most.

Maybe he felt guilty, he should’ve told someone, Ignis maybe, if he had told them, you wouldn’t be in this position, you let out a short laugh, a pained smile on your face, you turned to look a Gladio, “I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you!” How sweet, but he didn’t mean it. You could tell. You were starting to see black dots by now, and of course, you started to cough, that familiar lump on your throat once more, you didn’t even have the strength to sit up and puke it out, so instead you just coughed it out, each time taking more and more from you. As the flower made it to your lips, you closed your eyes, you were going to sleep now. You were going to rest.

Gladio shook your body, trying to get you to wake up, “I... I love you! Wake up! Wake up” he hoped even if it was stupid he hoped for you to wake up, to sit up and hug him. He felt horrible, he felt absolutely horrible, he cursed, who knows how many at this point. He hugged your body, your limp body, your.. lifeless body on his hands. And it was all his fault.. He did this to you.. if only, he had loved you. If only he truly loved you. Maybe that’s why he felt the worst, because he knew, he didn’t love you as you loved him.

The guilt ate at him, started convincing the rest to take more quests, killing more, pushing himself. It was all his fault. You died because he didn’t live you, his childhood friend, his little sister, gone and it’s all his fault, who else to blame but himself?

Taglist:

@gladiosamicitas

[bgn846]

One Giant Warp - FFXV Promtis

         Summary:            

Noct wants to show Prompto how he warps, how hard could it be? Very hard, like the wall he just threw himself into attempting to demonstrate.  However, the one nice side effect of his miscalculation is Prompto fawning over him.  Maybe he should throw himself into walls more often. a.k.a. Noct likes Prompto and doesn't know how to tell him.

--

It turns out the old adage of keeping your eye on the ball wasn’t just meant for sports. The same reasoning applied to warping. This fact made itself known when Noct decided to risk a quick glance over at Prompto. The prince had wanted to ensure his friend could see the feat he was about to perform.  Sure, his best friend was paying attention, and subsequently got to watch as Noct slammed himself into the wall of the training room.  One small note of comfort being, no one else had been there.  

The feeling of pain was first and foremost in his brain as he writhed on the floor.  Thank the six, the walls were covered in mats. Though he was pretty sure they weren’t meant for warping into. Noct was dimly aware of the floor vibrating as Prompto ran over.  His frantic shouts also helped clue Noct into his approach.

“Noct! Buddy! Oh em gee please tell me you’re alright?!” Prompto yelped in a panic.

Only able to manage some sort of guttural sound in acknowledgment, Noct reached out his hand to grab Prompto’s arm. Squeezing firmly he held on in hopes the gesture would calm his friend. Typical to Prompto, it didn’t work.

“Dude, shit, are you dying or something? Why are you holding me like that? Say something I don’t know what t--.”

“M’fine!” Noct blurted. “Hurts, give me a minute.”

“Did you break anything? If you did then you shouldn’t move. How’s your neck feel? What about your back?” Prompto rapidly fired as his blue eyes darted to and fro. “When you said you wanted to show me how you warped, I didn’t think you’d do it so forcefully!” he finished with a wince.

The shock of literally throwing his body at an immovable object was wearing off, and Noct attempted to roll on his side, albeit slowly. Thankfully, nothing twinged and the only part of his body that was starting to throb was his head. A headache he could handle.  Having to explain why a potion was missing later due to a broken bone wasn’t something he’d been looking forward to.

He knew he’d never be able to say the real reason why due to certain people like Ignis being able to see through him in a heartbeat. That was the only issue with practically growing up with someone, they knew all your tells.  Fibbing to Prompto, on the other hand, was easy.  Not that admitting he’d merely been trying to show off for his secret crush would work well either.

Noct simply had to survive this moment and move on, or rather move up. The floor was very comfortable right now, and the idea of even attempting to walk wasn’t sounding promising.  Fighting gravity combined with relearning how to balance was the least of his worries. He already knew he’d need Prompto’s help getting back home. The prospect of having to hang onto the blond was proving to be a worrying thought.

He didn’t mind being close to Prompto, quite the opposite, he wanted nothing more than to stay close. Having a crush on your best friend was fun and torturous all at the same time. Resigned to keeping his fantasies in dreamland Noct focused on trying to sit up.  No need in delaying this process any longer.  He needed to rest and forget this ever happened.  However, when Noct did sit up the room spun.  Guess he’d hit his head harder than he thought. Muttering a curse under his breath Noct clamped his eyes shut and reached out for the nearest thing to steady his movements. Prompto’s warm and slightly clammy hand enveloped his a second later.  Right, he forgot, Prompto was the nearest thing.

Laughing nervously to detract from his now equally sweaty hands, Noct began rambling. “I’m fine, really, it’s all good,” he lied opening his eyes once more.  Big mistake. Prompto’s blue eyes were right there, brilliant and bright, staring straight at him.

“You don’t look so fine, buddy. You sorta look ill.”

“You try throwing yourself at a wall and see how you fair.”

“Not funny, you didn’t see it from my perspective, or hear the noise either.”

“What noise?” Noct asked bewildered. “Did I yell?”

Prompto huffed out a breath and rolled his eyes. “No, dude, the noise I’m talking about is when your body hit the wall. It sounded like a sack of potatoes dropping.”

“Oh, yeah it wasn’t supposed to go like that.”

“We should get you to the clinic or something, just in case.”

“Huh? Clinic? Six, no, I’m not going to the doctor.  I’m fine,” Noct defended while attempting to stand and promptly grabbing his friend for support.  Stupid head, spinning around and making the simple act of standing an issue.

“Whoa, I gotcha,” Prompto supplied as he slung Noct’s arm over his shoulder.  “I know I just started crownsguard training but I’ve already learned about first aid,” he beamed proudly.   “Which means we need to go to the clinic.”

“Seriously Prompto, I’m good, I’m not gonna go,” Noct tried again as they hobbled along to the door.

“I’m not going to be responsible for killing the crown prince of Lucis because I let him bully me.”

Noct scoffed, “I’m not dying, my head hurts I need to sleep it off.” This statement got Prompto even more animated.

“Your head hurts? Shit, dude, that’s worse. You shouldn’t go to sleep.”

Noct was about to tell Prompto that he was perfectly capable of reading his own injuries when an idea struck. If he needed to stay awake then this was a perfect excuse for them to spend the rest of the afternoon and night together. Prompto slept over all the time but always used the guest room if he hadn’t already fallen asleep on the couch.  This time Noct had a valid reason for him to share his bed.

Impressed by his own cleverness Noct voiced his brilliant idea without pause. “Why don’t you keep an eye on me then, make sure I don’t pass out or something worse.”

“I’m already doing that dummy, and I’m going the extra mile by taking you to the doctor.”

Thinking fast Noct remembered that Cor might still be around. “What if Cor clears me? Would you accept that instead of the doctor? He’s got a medic certification too, remember?”

Prompto pouted but eventually nodded. “I trust his judgment, but I still think you’re being a baby.”

Noct waved Prompto off with his free hand motioned for them to go in the direction of Cor’s office. Needless to say, Cor was not amused by his appearance five minutes later.  The man took one look at the pair of them and scowled. “Noctis, why do you have a rather painful looking bump developing on your forehead?”

“I hit the wall with my head, but that’s not what’s important right now. Can you make sure I’m not going to die so Prompto won’t make me go to the clinic?”

Taking a deep breath Cor stood from his desk and sauntered over. “I warned you not to take your eye off the ball.”

This time Noct scowled and gave Cor a look that he hoped would stop the older man from pressing further. “You can’t even warp,” he grumbled.

Cor hummed in agreement, “I still saw your father do plenty of stupid shit, so I know the principle behind the magic.”

“Yeah, yeah, am I okay? You’ve seen real dead people before so you’ll know what to look for.”

“Noct, shut up,” Prompto whispered. “He’s the immortal for six sake.”

“Yes, I know,” Noct hissed. “That’s why we are here.”

Cor took all their comments in stride and if Noct was being honest he would swear Cor had a slight smile on his face. After some cursory questions about how he was feeling and Cor examining his head, he was given the clear to go home. A stern warning to call if anything changed was given out as Prompto steered them out of office once more.

The next challenge on the long, terrible journey home was transportation. Noct knew he shouldn’t drive, and he was not going to call Ignis for a lift. If he could keep this little accident a secret it’d be even better. Ignis wasn’t even scheduled to visit later. If Noct played his cards right he’d have Prompto all to himself for the whole night.

Convincing Prompto to drive the car back to his condo was tricky.  Noct laid out how terrible it would be if Ignis showed up, and how degrading it would be if Gladio found out.  They were best friends this was a moment between them, and them alone.  Noct was babbling and he knew it, but it worked.  Prompto finally took the driver’s seat and slowly navigated them to his place. Noting to never ask Prompto to drive again Noct focused on staying upright on the walk to the elevator.  Having someone to lean on was immensely helpful; otherwise, he was sure he’d have fallen over in the parking garage.

Curse living on the ninth floor, the elevator made his head throb painfully and he wasn’t about to take the stairs. Prompto noticed immediately when he sucked in a labored breath once the elevator began moving.

“You’re still feeling awful aren’t you?”

“I’m not in pain if that makes you feel better.  My head still hurts, but not anything unbearable,” he added quickly.  Prompto might take this admission as a sign of weakness and decide to call Ignis or something worse.

“Cor said to make sure you ate and to take it easy, let’s focus on that for now.”

“We can order pizza!” Noct exclaimed making them list sideways. This using his crush as a crutch was great.  Maybe he would stay ‘dizzy’ for a little longer. He was starting to enjoy this moment for all the wrong reasons.  Noct wasn’t even sure if Prompto liked him back that way. Asking that question of his friend though was another matter entirely. Noct didn’t want to risk losing one of the best things that had happened to him.  Prompto’s friendship had been a relief from the mounting daily pressures he faced.

Ignis and Gladio always had his back but this was different, Prompto didn’t come from their world. He wasn’t familiar with all the pomp and circumstance of being a royal. They were friends because they got along and had fun together, nothing more and nothing less. Noct was loath to ruin such a great thing by offering up his true feelings. Something about ‘hey I like, like you’ felt like a good way to seriously rock the boat.  Things were smoothly humming along; there was no need to destroy a perfectly good friendship.    

Lost in his own thoughts about how nice Prompto’s body felt Noct didn’t notice they’d reached his front door. It wasn’t until a hand began patting his pockets did he realize the issue. Prompto wanted his keys to get in.   “Huh, sorry, they are in my other pocket,” he offered sheepishly.

“Well then, we gotta switch sides for me to reach them,” Prompto announced right before ducking out from under his arm and moving. The sound of jingling keys erupted soon after.  

Noct was about to whine at being jostled until Prompto’s body pressed up against him once more. Smiling like an idiot he leaned further into his friend.  Unfortunately, his timing was terrible, and Noct merely made them both fall forward. The newly unlocked door swung open forcefully, and Prompto barely had the strength to keep them both upright.

“Dude, warn me when you’re gonna do that!”

“Sorry, you feel really good,” Noct murmured sleepily.  It wasn’t until a healthy blush developed on Prompto’s cheeks did Noct pick up on what he’d said.  Shit. This was bad. “Ya know like ah, um--,” he trailed off completely at a loss for words.  There wasn’t really a good way to explain away what he’d just said.

“You should sit down, I’ll order food,” Prompto quickly cut in as he looked everywhere but Noct’s face.

The walk to the sofa was deathly quiet as Noct desperately tried to think of something to say. Nothing came to mind. Prompto eased him down gently a minute later and then disappeared like his butt was on fire. Groaning at his own inability to function like a normal human Noct leaned back and stared at the ceiling, resigned to drown in his own insecurities.    

--

Prompto’s hands were shaking by the time he made it into the bathroom.  Noct’s apartment was open in the main living area so he couldn’t seek refuge in the kitchen.  He also knew he couldn’t stay in here forever. He needed to keep an eye on Noct and hiding in here wasn’t the way to do it.  His mind was still reeling from the simple comment his friend had made.

‘You feel really good’ was a benign statement in of itself, but combined with all the soft smiles and other things Prompto had noticed recently, it took on a whole new life. Maybe he hadn’t been imagining all of it before.  Maybe Noct liked him as more than a friend.

Pulling his phone out he called the one person who might be able to give him some advice. Prompto had wanted to let someone else know what had happened, just in case they needed help later, despite Noct’s protests.  He wasn’t about to put his friend in harm’s way.  Suddenly worried he opened the bathroom door and looked down the hallway.  Noct’s fluffy head of hair was still visible over the couch.

He was about to wander closer to really check when Noct’s hand came up and touched his fresh bruise.   Thank the six, he was still okay. Going back to his little haven, Prompto hit the call button and waited.

Gladio picked up on the third ring. “Hey Prompto, what’s up?” he asked jovially. “We didn’t have a training session today, did we? I thought it was on Monday.”

“No, no, you’re good I uh just need to tell you something real quick.”

The shield must have picked up on the stress in his voice due to his next reaction. “What’s wrong? Are you alright? Where’s Noct? Is he hurt? Are you hurt?”

“Whoa big guy, calm down, I’m fine.  Noct’s mostly fine. Cor checked him out if it makes you feel better.”

“What do you mean Cor checked him out?”

Prompto had to cover the speaker on his phone for fear Noct might heard Gladio hysterically laughing. The tale of Noct’s great warp strike to the training room wall was very funny to him. After Gladio had quieted down again he continued. “So yeah, I wanted you and Ignis to know, so you could like be prepared if something else happens. I felt like it was the wise thing to do considering the circumstances, and the fact that he refuses to go to the doctor.”

“Okay blondie, I’ll alert Ignis and make sure he promises to keep his mouth shut.  I appreciate you callin’ You’re a good friend to Noct, he needs more people like you in his life.”

Gladio’s comment made Prompto remember the other reason he’d called.  “Uh, so you were also right about the other thing.”

“Huh, what other thing?”

“The thing you relentlessly tease me about when I miss a move in training. The thing about Noct like, liking me and being to chocobo to admit it.”

“Seriously?! What’d he say?”

“Nothing much but I think hitting his head has made him a little loopy.  He’s super relaxed and saying things and hanging on me.”

“You gonna tell you like him back?” Gladio asked.

“Should I? I don’t want to ruin things.”

“You’re not gonna ruin anything. Noct likes you, just tell him and see how it goes.  I’d suggest you not try to ya know do anything tonight, he’s injured after all but talking about stuff is fine.”

“Oh em gee too much info Gladio, I’m not gonna jump him tonight, he needs to rest.”

Gladio laughed again but there was no malice behind it. “Go back and sit with him. You’re hiding in the bathroom, aren’t you? I can tell by the echo.”

“Yes!” Prompto hissed. “I got nervous, shit, I still need to order pizza.”

“Hey, calm down. Go sit with him and I’ll order for you. I can use his account to pay and then you can focus on making sure he’s alright.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Sure kiddo, you’re my friend too.  Besides, I know what you two like to eat.  Go check on him; make sure he’s not passed out or somethin’.”

“Okay thanks, Gladio.”

“No problem, call me straight away if anything changes. It sounds like he needs to rest and take it easy for the weekend.  I’ll let Ignis know so don’t worry about that either.”

“Alright, I’ll keep you posted. Thanks big guy.”

Pocketing his phone once more Prompto opened the door to check on Noct. His friend was still in the same spot and moving his arms around like he was having a conversation. Expect no one was there.  Wondering if he’d gone temporarily insane Prompto slipped out into the hallway and listened.   Sure enough, Noct was talking, but after a second Prompto figured out he was simply talking to himself.

The dialog was all over the place. Noct was berating himself for being stupid and messing everything up. What in the hell was his friend going on about? Not wanting to see Noct act so self-deprecating Prompto ran back into the room. “Hey you didn’t mess anything up,” he chided while coming to a stop next to the sofa.

“You’re still here?” Noct exclaimed with a pained look. “I thought maybe I’d messed up so bad you’d snuck out.”

“You’re such a dork, I’m not gonna leave. I told you I’d take care of you and I meant it.”

“Oh, you’re not mad at me?”

“Dude, how hard did you hit your head? No, I’m not mad at you.”

‘Sorry,” Noct mumbled as he looked away and stared at the floor.

“Sorry for what? Pizza is on its way and we get to hang out for the rest of the night and watch movies and like uh, you know be idiots together.” Prompto offered with a smile.

“What kind of pizza did you get?” Noct asked with a pout. “I’m hungry.”

Unable to stop the burst of nervous laughter from escaping his mouth, Prompto blurted the first thing that came to mind, “It’s a surprise buddy. You’ll love it don’t worry.”  

“Okay, I trust you.”

“So ah, how’s your head feel now? Is it still pounding?”

“It’s getting better, but I think I’ll be glued to the sofa for the rest of the night.”

Sitting down next to Noct, Prompto gathered his thoughts. He wanted to talk to Noct about how he felt, but he wasn’t sure right now was the best time. Gladio’s words flashed through his mind at that moment. Prompto should try and talk about stuff. He didn’t think he was reading the signs wrong, Noct sure seemed like he was interested in him.

“Um, what did you think you’d messed up?” he asked finally.

“Huh?” Noct whispered as he settled down into the cushions further.

“You were saying something earlier about messing up, what did you mean?” Prompto was sure Noct’s face was turning pink. That had to be a good sign. No one would blush if they didn’t have feelings to admit. Noct looked stricken; he clearly wanted to speak but couldn’t seem to find the energy.  Time dragged on as Noct stalled.  Gladio has been right, Noct was never going to say anything first. Prompto couldn’t believe he was about to do this but his friend needed him, now more than ever.   Taking a deep breath he voiced his own feelings in hopes it would prompt Noct into revealing his own.

“You--you felt good too,” he managed through the lump in his throat. Noct didn’t immediately react. Prompto watched as various emotions played across his friend's face. Noct was confused at first; it was an odd statement to make when they weren’t actually touching. It was understandable that he’d be wondering about the context. Then, in a flash Noct turned his head and looked at him with wide eyes. He’d figured it out, hopefully.

“Say it again,” he demanded, but not in a condescending way.

Licking his lips Prompto gathered what little bravery he had left and repeated his comment, “you felt good too.”

“You mean it?” Noct checked as he leaned forward and gripped Prompto’s arm. “I didn’t destroy our friendship?”

“Is that what you thought would happen?” Prompto exclaimed. “I’m always gonna be your friend. I don’t know what life would be like without you buddy.”

Noct instantly relaxed and flopped back into the sofa, “I was so worried I messed everything up.”

“What? By telling me how you really feel about me?” Prompto asking hoping this might bait Noct into saying more.

“I’ve had a crush on you for soooo long, I just didn’t know how to tell you,” Noct admitted with a relieved look.

“Were you trying to impress me with your warping abilities?” Prompto queried with a smirk.

“Maybe, but don’t tell anyone else that! I don’t wanna get yelled at for abusing my magic just to impress someone I like.”

“You’d already won me over the moment we met.” Smiling at how that made Noct blush even harder Prompto continued on. “I’m flattered that you were willing to risk life and limb to impress me, but next time, tell me how you feel.”

Noct laughed and winced immediately afterward, “Shit, oh man I gotta take it easy tonight.  That sucks.”

“Sounds kinda nice actually.”

“We could be trying out so many different things tonight, but I can’t even stand up without the room spinning.”

The true meaning behind what Noct had said, sunk in a second later. Oh, damn he was referring to those kinds of other things.  One idea did come to mind that they could do. “So, we can always cuddle until you feel better,” Prompto suggested slyly.  “Ya know, and then later we can do some other uh, stuff.”

Prompto didn’t have much warning before Noct slumped to the side and tackled him in a hug. “Thanks, buddy, falling asleep against you sounds really good.”

“Hey, no sleeping yet, you need to eat.” The sound that came as a response didn’t sound like the English language. Had Noct already zonked out? “Dude, no come on wake up!”

“Sleeeeep nowwwwww, pizza laterrrr.” Noct mumbled as he began to rearrange them on the sofa.

Prompto patiently waited until Noct was fully sprawled across his chest before he pulled out his phone again.  He needed to send a text to Gladio but he was waiting for the inevitable. Noct falling asleep.

However, once Noct had stilled he took a breath to speak. “Why is your heart racing?”

That was an easy one to answer. “We just confessed that we like each other more than friends and now you’re lying on top of me.  Why do you think my heart is racing?” He questioned jokingly. “I’m excited and nervous, and happy all at the same time.”

“Sorry, my macho display delayed our fun.”

“Honestly, I’m okay taking things a little slow. I like what we are doing right now and maybe later after dinner, we can uh, you know, try kissing?”

Noct giggled like a freaking two-year-old once he’d finished talking. “We can kiss now if you want.”

“Nope, gonna make you wait since you laughed at me.”

“Hey, I can’t help it, you sounded really cute.”

“I’m not cute bro, I’m manly just like you.”

Noct laughed again even moved his arm to hit him in the shoulder. “Fine, you sounded really handsome and strong. How chivalrous of you to wait on my account, so as not to spoil my virgin body.”

“If you weren’t injured right now I’d have shoved you off on the floor already. You should thank me for being so nice to you.”

Snorting and groaning in pain Noct stilled again. “Stop making me laugh. I gotta take it easy remember?”

“Sure, buddy,” Prompto drawled out. “You’re taking it easy, and picking on me at the same time. I don’t think that should be allowed.”

“Okay, truce, I’ll stop until I feel better.”

“Deal, but I’m gonna fight back once you get better too, don’t forget.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  Noct asked indignantly.

“If you pick on me I’ll retaliate.”

“How? You can’t hurt me I’m the crown prince.” He offered haughtily but Prompto could tell Noct was teasing.

“I have my ways. I know someone who’d be more than willing to tell me where you’re ticklish.”

“Iggy wouldn’t betray me like that.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“Shhh, enough talk about that, lets enjoy this moment before the food gets here.”  Noct went so far as to cover Prompto’s mouth with his hand to silence him. One well-placed lick of his tongue had Noct crying out in disgust. “Not fair, no licking.”

“Ever?” Prompto asked coolly.

“Never!” Noct replied but he seemed to realize what that might imply and quickly changed his tune. “Licking s’okay,” he nearly whispered a second later.

“I thought so, but that’s for later remember.”

“M’sleep nowww.” Noct hummed.

Prompto let Noct rest this time.  Once his friend's breath had evened out, he texted Gladio to get an ETA on the food. For once the Friday night rush meant the hour-long time was actually welcomed, considering his current situation.  Gladio had of course asked how it went and Prompto was happy to reply that they’d confessed their feeling to each other.  He was graced with a thumbs-up emoticon and a smiley face.

Putting his phone down Prompto hugged Noct closer and rubbed his back. He was going to make sure they had the best weekend ever! Happy to simply be with Noct and hold him Prompto drifted off until the door buzzed.  The night was just beginning as was their new relationship.  Prompto couldn’t wait to have more adventures with Noct.  So long as he didn’t throw himself into a wall again!

AO3 Link

[mandakatt]

FE3H/FFXV Crossover - Balthus x Gladio x Fem!Reader - More to love

A/N: Written for @thecoffeeaddictedshortcake​ during one of my writing streams. 

She’d asked for how Gladio and Bathus would act to a Plus Size Reader that got picked on for her weight during training, and honestly, this one hit home a lot. So... Here. Have two very handsome, very ‘in shape’ men, loving on one curvy/plus sized fem!reader

Characters: Balthus x Gladio x Plus Size Fem!Reader Warnings: Low Self-Esteem, Self-Confidence Issues, Bullying  Word Count: 1581 Summary: You've called yourself 'fluffy' for years. While others that don't know you and want to make you feel like shit call you fat.

Normally you can ignore it, and simply put your head down and train harder to prove them wrong. Today...it got under your skin cause someone happened to mention the two very handsome, very 'in shape' men you were dating.

...and those two handsome men want to remind you that you are worth it.

“Hey, Pal!”

Balthus called out to you when he walked into the apartment, catching you heading from the living room toward the bedroom. He smiled as you came to a stop but there was something off about you. Something about the way you were holding yourself didn't seem right and his brows dipped into a slight scowl. At first he thought you might have injured yourself so he quickly jogged up to your side, but when you didn't look at him, yeah. He knew something was up.

Leaning over, just enough to get into your line of sight he gave you a soft smile. “Hey you doin’ alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you said softly as you took a deep breath to calm yourself down. And slowly you turned your head to look at him. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”

Balthus studied your face for a moment, then frowned further. "Well the red rimmed eyes are a good place to start," he gently crossed his arms over his chest. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"No…"

"No?" Balthus' brows then dipped into a scowl. "Did someone make you cry? If someone made you cry then they're going to have a nice long talk with the King of Grap--”

“Balthus--” you huffed at him and frowned a little. "It's fine, I'm fine…"

“Love, if you’re going to lie to me…at least make it convincing will ya?”

You blinked up at him for a moment before sighing again and looking away. “It’s not anything I haven’t heard before…I just don’t know why it got to me so much this time..”

“This time?" Balthus frowned. "You uh, wanna elaborate on that?”

“Not really.”

“Why not?”

“...because I’m stupid for letting them get to me about something like this.”

“Them?" Bathus' brows shot upwards as he growled softly. “So they’re ganging up on you now? Just tell me who’s brains I have to bash in--”

“Balthus, you don’t have to smash anyone’s brains in.”

“You sure about that?”

“I mean, it might make you and me feel momentarily better, but I don’t think it will solve the problem.”

“And what problem is that?” came Gladio’s voice from behind Balthus, his arms crossing over his chest as he came into view. He shot a bit of a teasing smirk at Balthus before looking back to you. “Did this big idiot upset you again?”

“What?” Balthus blinked once, huffed softly before giving him a smirk of his own. “Look who’s talking, muscle head!”

“Talking about yourself again, huh?” Gladio grinned at him as he made his way over to you, before placing his hand gently on your shoulder. “All kidding aside, Babe, what’s going on?”

With a deep sigh you gently shrugged Gladio’s hand off your shoulder, and you felt something in your chest tighten as he blinked at you in surprise.

“Nothing. I just have to train harder that’s all.”

“Train harder?” Gladio blinked at you again. “Babe, you have been putting in long days already. You’re up before me most of the time, which with you being a night owl is a feat in itself. Do you wanna tell me why you think you need to train harder?”

You mumbled something softly under your breath as you looked down to the floor.

Gladio and Balthus looked to each other, then back to you.

“What was that?”

“I said I’m fat, and apparently my size is what makes others think I can’t do what they do!” you snapped then sighed taking a deep breath. “Sorry...I didn’t mean to--Ugh, okay this is something I’ve heard from others, many times. I just...today it got to me, and I don’t know why.”

“Fat.” Gladio repeated softly. “They think you’re fat?”

“Gladio, you cannot tell me that someone my size isn’t--”

“You’re not.” Gladio snarled softly back at you and frowned further. “You are not fat, Babe.”

You blinked at him in surprise then snorted a little. “Yes I am.”

“If you’re fat, then I’m the future king of Fodlan.” Balthus huffed.

“I love you both, and I get what you’re trying to do, and what you're trying to convince me of, but it’s not me that needs convincing. There’s times sure, where I am not okay with how much I weigh because that’s just how my self-confidence works. But today, apparently, it bothers those that I train with because they believe because of my size that I can’t do what they do.”

“Do they even--? Wait…tell me something. Have they felt you hit them with a punch?” Balthus blinked at you before huffing out a soft laugh. “I mean it, you have knocked me on my ass a few times with just one swing.”

“I mean, I guess? But--”

“No,” Gladio cut you off gently. “There is no you guess. You have. I’ve seen you do it so many times. I’ve seen these people, that I know are saying this shit to you, not make it to the top of the rock wall in the training room where you can. I’ve also seen you run absolute laps around most of them.”

“Only because I have to. I have to prove that I can do better than they can...”

“Babe, no you don’t,” Gladio huffed again and moved to gently cup your face with both hands as he watched tears form in your eyes. “Listen to me. The only one you have things to prove to is yourself. Not me. Not this idiot next to me--” and he smirked when Balthus huffed out a loud ‘Hey!’ “--the only one that matters on what you want to accomplish or do, is you.”

Balthus moved up beside you and gently wrapped his arm gently around your waist, chuckling softly when you tensed. “I’ll admit, he makes a hell of a point and besides, I'm pretty damned sure you know who we wanna have sandwiched between us at night don'tcha? Sure as hell ain’t some shit head that treats their comrades like garbage just because of their body type."

"For once, I agree with you."

"'Bout time you did. Oh, and another thing, if you think that your curves affect how we feel about you, you'd be right." Bathus smirked at you. "Cause let me remind you of just how much Gladio and I like holding onto those curves of yours for certain...activities?”

Gladio chuckled as your face warmed under his hands then leaned forward to gently press a kiss to your forehead before moving back to look at you again.

“Babe, your size has nothing to do with who you are. I’m pretty sure I’m safe in saying that we love you for you. Simple as that.”

“The two of you are going to make me cry again you know, it’s not fair...”

“Sure it is.” Gladio said softly and pressed a kiss to your nose.

“Hey, quit hoggin’ her will ya?” Balthus huffed and moved close enough to kiss your face between Gladio’s fingers, causing both Gladio and you to laugh softly. “Listen, like I said, if you wanted me to, I’d gladly bash in a few skulls till they got the point.”

“While I appreciate that,” you finally said softly as you gently pulled away from Gladio’s hands, gently taking one into your own, as you grasped Balthus’ hand with the other. “I don’t think it’ll help. I just have to somehow prove it to myself that I’m...that I’m worthy of this.”

“Hey. You don’t mean us, do ya?”

“...yeah.”

“Babe,” Gladio sighed softly and gently squeezed your hand. “You do know that if I didn’t think you--”

“Don’t.” you gently cut him off, a soft smile on your features. “I know what you’re going to say, but right now, I wouldn't believe you, but I promise that I will figure out a way to prove it to myself that I do. In the meantime--” you took a deep breath, and your smile grew. “--is there any chance that we can do that thing where you guys like having me sandwiched in the middle of you two for a while?”

Gladio grinned down at you. “Definitely.”

Balthus then huffed and gently picked you up, slinging you over his shoulder like one would a sack of potatoes. “I got this!”

“HEY! Put me DOWN?!”

“Nope! Not till I get you to a bed anyway.” he started heading off in the direction of your bedroom, pausing once to look over his shoulder. “You coming?”

“Yeah, I’m right behind you,” Gladio said with a smirk as he yanked his tank top over his head.

“Oh ho! You’re getting started early!”

You shrieked softly as Balthus tossed you down on the bed, then laughed when he flopped into it next to you, followed by Gladio a moment later. The two of them wrapped you up in their wonderfully strong arms and snuggled themselves close to you.

“Hey, you do know that the two of us are going to be here to tell you pretty much every day that you're worth it, right? That we love you...yeah? I mean, if you can get the two of us to work together without killing each other that says something right there.” Balthus hummed as he gently nuzzled his nose against your cheek.

“Yep,” Gladio agreed as he pressed a kiss to your ear, then your jaw, then growled softly into your ear.

“And I promise you, we’ll be all too glad to remind you in more ways than one.”

[secret-engima]

Oh my god feathers and fangs makes me CRY and LAUGH at the same time. Poor Gladio. POOT TSUNA. Can we get some angsty/fluff of the peoples mentioned reactions to Tsuna/Noctis being hurt??? Especially gladio/regis/clarus. Poor, poor gladio

Sure!

-Regis is frantic when he’s called down by the medical floor because his son apparently was slowly DROWNING from a nicked lung. He is ready to rage and kill something because WHO DARED TO HURT HIS SON AND HOW DID THEY GET IN (also how did they get past Crowe, because insane the girl may be, but she is loyal and devoted to Noctis like nothing else).

-He comes in to see Noctis in the hospital bed looking very small and ashamed. The doctors promise that he’s alright now, they caught it in time to administer elixirs, but he refuses to say what happened.

-Clarus, Cor, Ignis, and Gladiolus are all there as well and as he asks his son what happened, Regis sees Crowe snarl silently and Gladiolus flinch in the corner of his eye and feels a swoop of dread.

-Noctis doesn’t want to say. He’s trying to protect someone and Regis’s sinking feeling gets so much worse. He insists and his son admits it was Gladiolus. His twelve year old boy is trying to protect the teenager that broke his rib and puncture his lung from training too hard.

-When Noctis admits that he didn’t ask to stop or tell Gladiolus he was hurt because he “didn’t want to be a wimpy brat”, Regis has to breathe deeply to keep the blue static from his vision. He knows Gladiolus would never intentionally hurt Noctis like this, for all the boys don’t get along, but that doesn’t stop him from being FURIOUS. He hears Crowe, snarl, dark and feral as Gladiolus is led away by Clarus and something in him sympathizes with the unstable Galahdian woman.

-He thinks it will be a long time before Gladiolus is allowed to handle Noctis’s training again. He just hopes this doesn’t herald the destruction of whatever positive relationship Noctis and Gladiolus might have had.

-For now though, he apparently needs to tell his twelve year old son about how it is okay to STOP when things like “broken bones” and “suddenly harder to breathe” happen.

...

-Clarus is already dreading what he’s going to hear when they go to see Noctis in the medical wing. He knows the prince’s schedule, he knows Noctis just finished training with Gladiolus and that Gladiolus has ... low opinions of his prince. But surely Gladiolus wouldn’t HURT Noctis right?

-Not intentionally no.

-Clarus listens to the doctors and then Noctis, sees Gladiolus go pale and knows a hard lesson is already being learned. But Clarus is furious that is has to be learned this way in the first place and leads Gladiolus away before Clarus can lose his temper and humiliate the boy in front of everyone.

-He yells for a long time. About how being a Shield is more than a duty, it isa brotherhood. About how Noctis is a CHILD and children are not warriors to be held to a king’s standard. About how Gladiolus nearly KILLED Noctis because Noctis was too afraid of HIS OWN SHIELD to ask to stop when he got hurt.

-Clarus stares into his son’s white face and quietly tells him that from for the foreseeable future, someone else will oversee Noctis’s training.

-And that Gladiolus will no longer be allowed in the room with Noctis alone.

-Gladiolus jerks like he’s been slapped, “I didn’t mean to hurt him!”

-Clarus just stares at him, stony and angry, “To puncture his lung? I know. But there are far more ways that that to hurt a child, Gladiolus. And it takes a lot more than one mistake to make a child more afraid of being seen as weak than of being unable to breathe.” Gladiolus looks sick and Clarus thinks Gladiolus is finally understanding how badly he crossed a line.

-Clarus relents and touches Gladiolus’s shoulder, “You’re going to work hard to fix this.” Not a question, or an encouragement, it is a command, if a gentle one.

-”Y-yeah. Yeah I will.”

-Clarus just hopes Noctis is willing to let Gladiolus try.

...

-Gladiolus is annoyed when he gets a ping on his phone that he needs to come down to medical because of Noctis. Its protocol since he’s the future Shield, but really, it’s not his problem if he started sobbing over a few bruises from training like a wimp. Gladiolus had lots of bruises when he trained at that age.

-Only he gets there and the doctors aren’t talking about bruises.

-They’re talking about a broken rib and a punctured lung and how Noctis almost drowned on his own couch, could have drowned in his own blood very slowly if Crowe hadn’t realized what was wrong and had Ignis call medical and something in Gladiolus’s stomach flips. No way. No way. He didn’t do that. He didn’t hit that hard. Something else must have happened when Noctis left training (Gladiolus tries to ignore the memory of Noctis looking paler than usual, breathing much harder than normal and moving gingerly as he left. He fails).

-King Regis demands to know what happened because Noctis won’t tell the doctors and Gladiolus SWEARS he sees Noctis glance his way before looking down at the sheets he’s picking at and mumbling something.

-King Regis insists he speaks up.

-Noctis whispers, “It happened in training.” And Gladiolus world rocks.

-So does the room before King Regis gets his magic under control and Crowe is glaring murder at Gladiolus. Gladiolus stays silent only because he has no words to speak with. Why didn’t the kid tell him to stop? He’s a brat anyway who hates training and touching swords, pain, especially serious pain, would have been the perfect excuse. The one VALID excuse why hadn’t he-.

-Noctis is firmly not looking at anyone in the room as King Regis drags the reason out of him.

-“I didn't want to be a wimpy brat,” the boy whispers and suddenly Gladiolus is the one who can’t breathe.

-He heard me. He’d heard Gladiolus complaining about him. He’d heard and it had made him afraid to speak up.

-Oh Astrals how many times had Noctis overheard?

-Enough times to pick drowning in his own blood over trusting you, sneers a little voice in his head and Gladiolus knows he’s never, ever going to forgive himself for this.

-He doesn’t resist as his dad drags him out of the room, vibrating fury the whole way. He thinks Noctis glances at him as they go, but he can’t be sure.

-His dad yells at him for a long time. About responsibility, about brotherhood, about CARING for CHILDREN rather than holding them to impossible standards. About restraint and how Shield wasn’t a job it was a commitment and a family bond and how Gladiolus had not only trampled all over that and spat on its corpse, he’d nearly KILLED HIS PRINCE.

-Astrals. Astrals Gladiolus almost killed someone.

-He almost killed NOCTIS.

-He wants to throw up, but his dad isn’t done yet, so Gladiolus stands there and listens with a twisting heart as his dad winds down from his fury and then lays the final blow.

-Gladiolus is no longer going to train Noctis. And until further notice, he’s not even allowed in the same room as the prince without a chaperone.

-It feels like someone’s just hit him, the implication that he’s not trusted anymore to NOT hurt the prince again and he shouts, “I didn’t mean to hurt him!” Before he can stop himself because he DIDN’T. He might not have liked the prince (and oh Astrals does he feel like scum for it, he can think of a hundred thousand things he’s said that Noctis must have overheard and nothing feels dirtier).

-His father’s expression doesn’t budge as he bluntly points out that no, Gladiolus would never have punctured Noctis’s lung intentionally, but there were lots of ways to hurt someone.

-And it took a lot of hurting for a child to pick pain over being seen as weak.

-His dad only softens after Gladiolus has curled in on himself with burning eyes. Touches a hand to Gladiolus’s shoulder and says Gladiolus WILL work hard to fix this.

-Gladiolus promises, and means it. He just prays Noctis will even LET him.

-He doesn’t dare say that Noctis would have every right to insist Gladiolus be removed as his Shield. He prays no one else thinks of it. He doesn’t know what he’ll do if he’s the first Amicitia to be banned from being a Shield because of what he did to his prince.

-No. No he’s going to fix this.

-He just ... doesn’t know how.

[archonssun]

Really?! Now?! - deuxieme partie

You have asked, and I have delivered. I had a lot of fun writing the first part, and this part was equally fun to write. This will get smutty. Also the smut portion fucking sucks, i blame it on not writing smut in years🙈

Really?! Now?! - Deuxième Partie

WC: 2328

It was weird. Prompto had been avoiding you pretty hard for the past few days, and it had begun to eat at you. Had you said something to upset him? Had you done something wrong? Every time you walked up to him to try and ask, he would high-tail it away from you.

“So this is what he felt when I avoided him,” you mumbled into your arm, head resting on the counter in Takka’s. You felt terrible, more for having avoided him for so long rather than him avoiding you. “Guess I kinda deserve this…”

“What’s wrong, kid?” A large hand plopped onto your head, ruffling your hair. With a scowl, you glared at the person who had assaulted you, (e/c) eyes meeting amber.

“What do you want, Gladio?” you grumbled, swatting at his hand. A small frown replaced the man’s smirk as he watched you. You didn’t feel like trying to keep up with him today, and he could probably tell.

“Why’re you so moody?” he grimaced as he took the seat next to you.

“It’s nothing…”

“Bullshit, (Y/n).” Your head lifted from where it rested when the Shield said your name. Rarely did Gladio call you by your given name, and when he did it usually meant he was cross with you. “You know you can tell me, right? I mean, c’mon, we’ve been through so much already that we’re basically like brother and sister at this point.”

You mulled over his words, trying to figure out if it was worth it to tell him what was going on. But as it turns out, you didn’t need to.

“Is it about Prompto?” You flinched at the blond’s name, looking anywhere but Gladio’s eyes. He had been the first person you had told about your crush. Now you were regretting letting him get involved in the first place. “What did he do?”

“It’s nothing, Gladiolus. Just drop up,” you snarled and shot a glare to the man. Your eyes clashed for a few moments before he sighed, looking away.

“Whatever.”

***

It was barely a week later that Prompto had started speaking to you again. But he was still very uncomfortable, which led you to believe that Gladio had said something to him.

“H-Hey, (Y/n)? Can we talk?” Prompto’s voice was small as he approached you, his eyes cast to the ground. You released an inaudible sigh and turned to him.

“What is it, Prom?” you smiled, the gesture not quite reaching your eyes.

“Are-are we okay?” He lifted his sapphire hues to meet yours, and you were quick to nod.

“Of course, we’re good. Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Well, I thought… since I had avoided you, you wouldn’t want to--”

“Look, Prom. It’s fine. Besides, I kind of deserved that, after what I did to you,” you chuckled.You weren’t able to catch the look on his face.

***

You and Prompto were on a hunt. It had been said to be a relatively easy one, but it still took you two almost four hours to finish it. By the time the daemons had been dealt with, you were exhausted. Despite being a hunter for most of your life, you’d never get used to the constant run-and-gun lifestyle. It sucked, and as more time passed, the harder it got to keep your energy up.

“Shit,” you hissed, stumbling over a rock and falling to a knee.

“(N/n)? You okay?” Prompto was at your side at once, a hand resting on your shoulder. You were panting hard, and even in the low light he could see you were a bit pale. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m okay,” you croaked. “I’m just tired, Prom.”

“C’mon,” he whispered, hoisting you into his arms. “There’s a haven nearby. We can rest there for a bit.”

You nodded your head, arms coming to settle on his shoulders and the world became fuzzy.

***

His fingers traced your sides, his lips attached to your throat. You moaned his name, tugging lightly at his hair. His tongue stroked yours, and your legs widened.

“Prom, please,” you ground against him. “Please…”

You felt his erection against your thigh as he pulled you closer to him. His hands gripped your thigh as he lifted your leg, bringing it to wrap around his waist. His tip teased your entrance and made you moan breathily.

When you woke, there was a pressure in your core. You whimpered and rubbed your legs together, seeking any form of relief you could get.

“(Y/n)?” Your (e/c) met blue, causing you to whimper again. Prompto came to sit next to you, frown on his face. “What is it, (N/n)?”

You didn’t respond. Instead, Prompto just watched with wide eyes as you pushed him onto his back, straddling him. Your tongue peeked out to wet your lips, and he was fast to look you in the eyes. He was surprised to see your iris had been nearly overtaken by your pupil, giving you a hungry, carnal expression.

“Prom,” you whined, rocking your hips against his. A moan ripped from his throat, emboldening you to grind against him harder. His fingers dug into your hips, pulling you against him with enough force that you could feel his cock through both your pants.

“F-Fuck.” Your voice came out in a needy cry and Prompto growled below you. The blond gunman sat up rapidly, his arms winding around your back and attacking your neck with his lips and teeth. He teased your skin, marking you at the same time he pushed you to the floor of the haven. Your hands went up to his shoulders, pushing his jacket off so that it pooled at his elbows. Your fingers tangled themselves in his hair at the base of his neck, and he groaned against your skin.

Suddenly, Prompto was on the opposite side of the Haven, blue eyes wide as he stared at you.

“We-We should get back…”

***

It wasn’t all that long after that you and Prompto fell out again. The fact that it was happening again was almost enough to kill you, but you couldn’t afford to die. You still had a job to do, after all. And you managed to survive six months without one of your closest friends, although it had been hard.

As you walked through Hammerhead after your hunt, your mind couldn’t help but wander to that night. You and Prompto had been a hair's breadth away from sleeping together, and you wished -- more than anything -- that it had happened.

A commotion at the front of the outpost had you turning to see Talcott’s truck. Out of the passenger door climbed an unfamiliar dark-haired man, but it was the reactions of Prompto and Gladio that had you realizing who had just arrived.

You didn’t realize when your feet carried you over to the four, keeping enough space between you and them. That is, until the dark-furred dog turned to you and barked before charging you.

“Umbra?”

You knelt to the ground, going to stroke the dog’s fur with no hesitation. It had been a long time since you had seen a canine, and you hoped that this wouldn’t be the last time you did see one.

“Who’re you?” the dark-haired male asked, and you lifted your face to meet his eyes.

“No one of importance,” you said shortly, glancing at Prompto. “Not anymore.”

You saw the blond flinch. Noct saw it, too, and he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened between his best friend and this woman. However, instead of pressing the subject, the king only shook his head, and you took that opportunity to speak.

“It’s wonderful to see you back, Your Highness.”

***

You sat on the bed, knees to your chest as silent tears fell from your eyes. You knew, this would probably be the last night you saw Prompto. You didn’t have to be the Oracle to know that. As soon as Noctis had arrived, the group of four had immediately started preparations to leave for Insomnia.

“(Y/n)? Are you in there?” Prompto’s voice made your breath hitch and you began to cough. Prompto threw open the trailer door, his eyes wide with fear that only seemed to subside when he saw you were relatively okay. “(Y/n), could you look at me? Please?”

You didn’t want to. It would only make you cry harder. Prompto’s fingers grazed your cheek as he cupped your face.

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m gonna lose you!” you muttered. “And I can’t do anything!”

“You’re not gonna lose me,” Prompto frowned. “I’m not going--”

“Stop lying! You and I both know that you’re leaving for Insomnia as soon as you can! And there’s no guarantee you won’t die!” You sprang to your feet, eyes filled with fire and tears. You went to hit his shoulder, only for him to grab your wrist.

“(Y/n), listen to me,” he pleaded. “I’m--”

“Enough Prompto!” you cut him off with a glare. “I’m done! First, you ignore me for a reason I don’t even know, then you ignore me because of what happened between us at that haven! Why?! Do you enjoy breaking my heart?!

You were left panting after your outburst, and Prompto’s grip loosened. You took back your wrist and made a move to go past him but were stopped by strong arms wrapping themselves around your middle.

“I never meant to hurt you,” Prompto whimpered. In spite of yourself, you shuddered at the feel of his breath on the shell of your ear. “But I was scared. Scared you’d hate me for what happened. I hate myself for hurting you, but at the time I thought--”

“You thought what?” you hissed. “Prompto, I was the one that started it, not you. I knew what I was doing. If anything, you should hate me for lying to you.”

Instead of responding, Prompto nuzzles his nose against your shoulder. He feels you shudder against him, making him smirk at the same time he drags his tongue across your skin. A whimper fell from your lips at his action, your fingers coming to curl against his forearms.

“P-Prompto…”

“Would you let me make it up to you, (N/n)?” he whispers in your ear before blowing a breath against it. You inhale shakily as you nod. In seconds, Prompto had you sitting on the lone bed in the caravan, shucking off his jacket. With one hand, he pushes you onto your back and hovers over you, eyes blown wide in lust. He brings your hands to his shoulders before capturing your lips in a searing kiss.

In no time at all, you were moaning against the blond, your hips grinding against his unconsciously. With the ferocity of a rabid coeurl, Prompto had stripped the both of you down. It was only when you stood bared before him that he seemed to pause. His eyes roamed over your figure before settling on your face. His touch was gentle as he cupped your face, back hunched as he brought his face to yours.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. Your breath caught in your throat when his lips covered yours, hands coming to grasp his shoulders. Once again, Prompto pushed you onto your back, climbing onto the bed and hovering over you. “Fuck, you’re beautiful. How did I get this lucky? I must’ve been a saint in my last life.”

“Prom…” you pleaded. “P-Please, Prom…”

The blond didn’t have to be urged any more as one hand cradled your face and the other trailed low between your bodies.

“Tell me if it hurts, (N/n).” He waited for your nod before guiding himself to your entrance. A breath hissed past his lips as he pushed in until he was fully seated. Your body shuddered against his, your fingers digging into the flesh of his shoulders. A shaky breath fell from your lips as you willed your body to relax.

“Prom,” you muttered, fingers going to twine themselves in his hair. Taking that as his sign, Prompto began moving. It was slow, at first, but quickly turned frantic as Prompto’s calloused hands grasped at your waist and his lips attacked your exposed skin. The feeling of him against you -- his lips at your throat, his hair tickling your skin, his hands holding you close -- almost made you think this was just another dream, something your brain had conjured up. But the feel of his cock as he filled you let you know just how real this was. That this was happening.

Prompto’s breath came in harsh pants as he watched you. To him, you didn’t seem to be enjoying yourself, which caused him to frown. Without warning you, he cradled your face and kissed you, licking at the seam of your lips. Your moans filled his ears, and a particularly hard thrust from him had you mewling.

You felt Prompto smile into the kiss and you tugged at his hair. His moan was quite possibly the hottest thing that had fallen from his tongue, and you were about to give another tug when he slammed into you. You cried his name as the pressure in your core built. Nails dug into his back and you wrapped your legs around his waist, making him hit deeper as your ankles locked at his back.

“Prompto!” Your release came suddenly, taking you over before you had the chance to warn the man. You heard him grunt as his hips stuttered before his load covered your walls. Prompto’s body went slack as he panted above you, pulling you into his chest. He buried his nose in your hair, heaving a sigh.

“I had to do this, at least once,” Prompto whispered in your ear. All you could do was nod, arms wrapping around the blond.

“Make sure to come back, Prompto,” you said when your voice finally returned. Your grip on him tightened. “I can’t lose you, too.”

[reddeaddamnation]

"Frienemies” - Noctis Lucis Caelum x Reader

“Have you two been bickering again?“ Ignis asked in a tired-of-all-your-shit voice, adjusting his glasses on his nose. You have been traveling with the king and his entourage of guardians since you met them at Hammerfell one day and got along with all of them perfectly, but in all your fantasies, you never would have known you and Noctis wouldn’t say two sentences to each other without fighting. You didn’t regard his title for anything, therefore didn’t hold anything back to hurt him with your words and he did the same. Of course, there were times when you would talk normally and surprisingly, you two had a lot in common. But there was always something to fight over - his recklessness, his moping which drove you crazy, a plan which could get you all killed, a training session or (mainly) whenever he drives, instead of Ignis... It was all rather amusing to Gladio whenever you snapped at each other and sent various stinging comebacks back and forth, Prompto usually distanced himself from it, but Ignis could only tolerate so much... 

A couple of weeks ago, he decided to put an end to it once and for all and all hell would break loose if he caught you two at each other’s throats. He didn’t yell or say anything in particular, no, but the icy glare he sent your way, the stoic expression that hinted him not tolerating you saying another word and the seemingly calm stance, which as if dared you to continue in front of him instantly made you and Noct back away and even hug, laughing and exclaiming how you’re the best of best friends through awkward smiles and frightened looks if this could convince the royal adviser not to kill you.

“No!“ you instantly exclaimed “We were just...“ then Noctis cut you off from your lack of words and stuttering and continued instead of you “Ah...Discussing...“ he smiled awkwardly at Ignis. “And what, pray tell, were you discussing?“ Ignis raised an eyebrow expectantly. The truth was, of course, that you weren’t discussing anything. You were currently at the Galdin Quay and while you were eating at the restaurant, talking about the iron giant you defeated earlier, Noctis just had to say that you are predictable in battle and from there he stated that you’re predictable overall. You would have snapped, called him an idiot, a buffoon and anything really, but then you looked at Ignis, who was calmly cutting up the fish in his plate. Noctis kept prodding at his patience by giving various examples to rest his case of how predictable you are. How you always bite your lip when you’re nervous, how your eye twitches when you’re mad, how you always take two steps back before attacking, how you always order the same thing when you go to a restaurant and how you always taunt the enemy to make them more mad. 

Then, mid sentence, Ignis kicked the boy under the table to make him shut up, and thankfully he got the hint quickly. “I was just...giving advice!” Noctis smiled awkwardly, forcing himself to chuckle “It’s good to have your enemies not know your next move.” You grinned evilly and spoke in a silky voice “My, my, king. Very clairvoyant of you. If I didn’t know, I’d say you were stalking me.” From there, Noct blushed furiously and practically jumped in his chair, yelling out “I would never! You’re just so obviously easy to predict!” And only caused you, Gladio and Prom to laugh out loud. You stood up from your chair and walked over to him “Predict this then.” Then, you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and kissed his cheek, making him gasp and blush even more if that was possible. Gladio whistled loudly and soon, the boys erupted into a new fit of laughter.

Even after dinner, when the mood seemingly returned to normal, the king didn’t leave things the way they were. Your smug smirk and cocky behavior were something he didn’t intend to let go soon and when the boys went to bed, he found you at the pier, leaning against the fence and staring into the water. “I knew I’d find you here.” Noct stated. “Well if it isn’t the psychic himself.” you turned to look at him with a smirk, ready to lash out now that Ignis wasn’t around. “I can’t believe you embarrassed me in front of the whole place!” he raised his voice, waving his hands around angrily, but you merely laughed “Now I rest my case that you’re stalking me.”

The argument went on for awhile, until Ignis himself suddenly appeared and looked like he knew everything which was going on. And that was how you got yourself in this situation. “We were discussing...” the king stuttered, wondering what to say “Training!” you finished “Yeah, training” Noctis put his arm around your shoulder and let out a pretend cheerful laugh, making you cringe “We want to train together and were discussing the various weapons.” Ignis wasn’t buying it. His raised eyebrow and unimpressed face gave it away. “That was a rather loud discussion, don’t you think?” he asked sarcastically. “Okay, it was more of a debate really.” You played along, bringing your hand up and with a friendly laugh, slapped Noctis on the back, just like friends would do. Only, you did it harder and almost knocked the boy king over “What do you think, Ignis? Daggers are quicker but aren’t as powerful, while swords deal more damage, but are slower to swing.” Again, Ignis wasn’t impressed and saw right through the nervous smile.

“Hm.“ The adviser adjusted his glasses again “You are right. Although with a dagger you can deal devastating damage if used correctly.“ You and Noctis sighed out in relief quietly. Success, you thought. You averted his attention! “Alright then.“ Ignis clapped his hands, cracking a small smile “Gladio insisted we do some training before continuing our journey. You two will join us.” his piercing gaze was back, as he suspiciously looked you over, as if daring you to object “Provided, of course, you don’t kill each other.“ You and Noct laughed awkwardly again “What?“ you said in unison “Of course not!“ And with those words, you started wobbling back towards the hotel, arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders “We’re the best of friends, aren’t we, [Y/N]?“ Noct asked you, voice almost cheerful “Oh, yeah! Couldn’t imagine a better friend even if I tried.“ you lied through your teeth.

Just as promised, at the crack of dawn, you exited your room, tired out of your mind, to go training with the man you couldn’t stand. But for your own sake, you knew better than to make Ignis mad. He was just the kind of person, who you don’t want to make mad or disappoint, even if he doesn’t exactly do anything to arouse fear at first glance. Of course, you loved your friend, but just a warning glance could send you running for your life and freeze the blood in your veins. You met Noctis just outside the hotel, looking just as tired as you felt. “Hm...what was the name of that one daemon...” you wondered out loud, tapping your chin “It walks around at night and doesn’t let you sleep, eats all your fries, along with the nerves in your body and is widely known for being obnoxious and making the people around it hear only ‘blah, blah’ whenever it starts talking.” you grinned at him challengingly, reminding him of how he always woke you up with his loud steps and fidgeting and when he ate all your fries when you were out camping. That was awhile ago, but you weren’t going to forget it “Hint: It appears during the day as well and is called Noctis.”

He simply glared at you, lips in a tight line and was about to answer, until the all too familiar voice of Ignis caused him to change his behavior entirely. “Good morning!” he exclaimed cheerfully, as if it wasn’t four in the morning. You and Noct immediately donned on your own smiles and greeted him and Gladio, who followed behind. “Glad to see you two are finally getting along.” Gladio winked at you. “Well, of course!” You exclaimed and as if automatically you and Noctis hugged like you did last night in front of Ignis, arms around each other’s shoulders “Best friends, am I right?” You shared a small, uncomfortable laugh. Gladio had to hold in his own chuckles, while Ignis simply raised an eyebrow. “Alright...” he said slowly “Well, on with the training, then.”

It took you some time to respire, because you were just so tired and at first, the training session was a bit sloppy and the sand on the beach made your movements worse because it was so slippery. But Noctis’ constant remarks made your blood boil and soon you gained enough strength to duck under his sword and violently kick at his legs, sweeping him from the ground and making him fall. Noctis groaned and stood up slowly, eyes fixed on you in a piercing glare. “Oh, I wonder what that one daemon’s name is.” he smirked devilishly “It sucks the life out of you and has the ability to piss you off instantly, always has something to say. Special ability: being such a massive bi...” Again, he was cut off by Ignis, who quickly caught up to where this was going, even though he and Gladio were several meters away from you, sharing a cup of coffee and observing what was going on. “Ah, ah!” he scolded. “But Specs!” Noctis whined “I didn’t start it!”

Gladio groaned, bringing his hand up to rub his temples “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” he suddenly exclaimed “Just confess your crushes on each other already!” You and Noct froze in your places, staring at Gladio, mouths agape. “You think we don’t notice?” Gladio continued “How Noct is always noticing everything [Y/N] does and of all things, he exposed himself last night? If you hate each other so much, why do you always stare whenever the other one isn’t looking?” A heavy silence stepped in, during which neither you or Noct looked anywhere else but the ground. “Noct calls you predictable, but I call it him having a huge crush and memorizing every little thing you do because he doesn’t want to look anywhere else.” Gladio told you, smug about his estimation and proudly took a sip of his coffee. 

Noctis nervously stepped around in the sand, biting his lip. “Yeah, I...I guess you’re right, Gladio.” he finally said, before turning his attention to you “Listen, [Y/N]...I never meant to be so hostile...I guess I was just in denial of my own feelings.” he shrugged his shoulders awkwardly. “Mhm.” you nodded “I actually...” you began, but then remembered the two other people, listening to your conversation. Of course, you respected the boys and could tell them anything, but this was a conversation for you and Noct alone and having an audience was a bit weird. “Guys...do you mind?” you looked at Gladio and Iggy and the second quickly got the hint, before motioning for his companion to leave you alone.

“I guess I actually thought you’re out of my league.“ you turned to Noctis again when the others were far away enough “I mean...You’re a king and I...“you bit your lip, fidgeting with your hands. “That was the case with me too.“ Noct rubbed the back of his neck “I mean, I always thought you hated me and that I could never have a chance with you.“ Silence stepped in again. “I guess all this could have been avoided if we said something earlier.“ you giggled quietly. Noctis smiled and stepped closer, gathering you in his arms. “That doesn’t matter now. The important thing is that we can have something better now.“ he smiled and kissed your lips gently.

You and your new boyfriend took your time before going back to meet with the others back at the restaurant. Ignis smiled when he noticed your intertwined hands “Well, I’m glad this issue is finally resolved.” he spoke “And you have Gladio to thank, as he was the one to knock some sense into your oblivious heads.” Gladio put on a smug smile and shrugged his shoulders “Just doing my job.” You all shared a laugh, before you and Noct noticed the missing fifth member of the company. “Where’s Prompto?” Noctis asked, looking around. “Still asleep I recon.” Gladio answered.

Then, as if on cue, the blonde in question walked up to the table you were sat at. His hair was still a mess from sleeping. “Sup.” he greeted through a yawn “Did I miss anything?” Ignis smirked allknowingly and him and Gladio silently agreed to let him catch on himself. Prom was quick to notice the change in atmosphere and especially you and Noct sitting next to each other... without fighting... hands intertwined. “Woah!” he exclaimed happily with a grin “How long was I out? Does this mean I don’t have to be scared for my life now?” Everyone shared a cheerful laugh and Noctis looked at you in the eyes “Yeah. It’s safe to say that time is in the past now.” he squeezed your hand reassuringly.

[thesilencebeforeastorm]

A Fight For My Friends - FFXV fic

A/N: I am SO SORRY that I took forever to write this but it’s finally done!!! Omg I haven’t written for the ffxv boys since 2018, I hope I did this fic justice. This is for @sylleblossomstar and even though you requested a AU, the fic is HALF canon. It’s just a few things tweeked here and there. I hope you enjoy!! Request are NOT open btw!

~

It had been a few days since the battle with Leviathan and things went terribly wrong. I was knocked out after I had gotten the hydrean’s power so I barely remember much but what I know now is that Luna is dead… We didn’t even get a chance to speak before I had found out from Ignis that she was gone. The pain I felt in my chest was unbearable as I cried alone, looking through the book Luna and I used to talk through. I wish that I was strong enough, that I could have her with me. All I wanted to do was save her… yet I failed at that. I failed my friends also. Ignis is blind now. I don’t know how that happened since I didn’t ask and he didn’t tell me. “It’s just a flesh wound” was all that I was told though it looked like he put up one hell of a fight. Dammit… why can’t I protect the ones I love? First it was Dad… and now Luna is gone too? I must become stronger. Not only will I get the power from the other gods and the rest of the royal arms but I will train harder and work harder. I will make sure that my friends don’t even lift a finger. That’s not how we usually do things but I’m sick and tired of always being protected yet the ones I love keep dying. What kind of Prince can’t even protect his people? Pft…Some kind of King I’ll be someday.

We had to board the train in a few days to head to Cartanica, though we had no money. We were all still pretty worn out from Leviathan and even though Gladio wanted to keep moving forward, Ignis insisted that we have some cash first and at least some rest afterwards. Altissia was a wreck so there would be no way we could find hunts to take up there. With nowhere to stay either, we got on Dad’s boat and headed back to Cape Caem. We wouldn’t go too far into Lucis considering that we had to leave again after a few days. Iris was happy to see us again, though she said we looked a mess and that she should’ve been there to protect us. Of course Gladio didn’t even want to consider the thought of his sister being there and having the possibility of something happening to her but they are Amicitia’s after all. It was their job to protect the Royal family. 

We drove up to a nearby town and found a post about some hunts that needed to be taken care of. With the amount of gil being offered for one of them, we would be set to go. This was my chance to prove myself.. To prove that I can protect my friends. Ignis was in no shape to fight. He can’t even see! He’s using a stick to walk around but without the help of Gladio or Prompto, he keeps knocking into things. All I can keep thinking of is Luna and Dad… Part of me knew I had to get stronger but if I didn’t have to keep fighting anymore, I would just get in bed and sleep for a week. Apparently, Gladio noticed my moping and we got into a huge fight.

“The hell is your problem?” 

I was caught off guard.

“What?”

“All you do is sit around your ass moping. You need to deal with what happened and move on”.

The hell??

“Move on?? I’m here aren’t I? If I wasn’t moving on then I wouldn’t even be trying to do any of this!”

“Yet you wish you didn’t even have to deal with any of this. You carry that ring around with you yet you don’t wear it. Luna didn’t give her life for nothing. Ignis took one for you too and for what!?”

“Enough Gladio!” I heard Ignis yell out.

“You think you’re a king but you’re a coward.”

I couldn’t even believe what I was hearing right now. Me? A coward? After everything we've been through?? The hell with him.

“Shut up!” 

“Don’t do this!”

I saw out of the corner of my eye that Prompto tried to get involved but Gladio shoved him in the face. Part of me didn’t even care that he was my bodyguard, I was ready to fight him like he was some regular on the street. I decided against it though and just walked away. I didn’t want to deal with any of them right now.

It was night time now and the hunt we got were for the daemons at this time. It was raining too which was just my luck. Anyways, now was my chance to show Gladio that I wasn’t a coward. I didn’t believe in myself as King but I didn’t have any other choice. I was going to do this whether I liked it or not. I was so conflicted in my head, deciding on what I would do. I just had to go through with it. 

It was an Iron Giant for a start. We knew what we were up against but seeing it actually in front of you was a completely different thing. Whatever. I decided to charge head on into the thing. 

“Noct! The hell are you doing!?” I heard Gladio yell out. I didn’t care. As much as he deserved to get punched in the face, I wasn’t going to let anything happen to him. I hit the Iron Giant several times before I was almost hit.

“Hey buddy, you aren’t alone in this! Take it easy and let us help!”. Prompto yelled out as he shot his gun. I ignored him.

All I wanted to do was fight. If I had to take out my frustration in some way, it would be on this Iron Giant. I completely blocked everyone out, distracting the giant from them. 

“I won’t let you hurt my friends!” I yelled out before activating the royal arms that I had for more strength. I knew in the back of my mind that using the royal arms would take a toll on my health if I over did it but with the Giant almost down and so I had to give it the best I had. I slashed through it from every angle. The guys were trying their best to fight and I could hear the constant yelling. I was so lost in the moment that I didn’t realize I ran out of stamina already and felt light headed. The rain made me slip from the Iron Giant’s sword as I fell to the ground, though it wasn’t a high fall. Man, I really wasn’t feeling good at all. I was so out of breath and couldn’t even get to my feet before the thing smacked me out of the way with its sword. The pain was unbearable as I cried out.

“Was that Noct?? Is he alright??” Ignis yelled out in the distance.

“Nocttttt!” Prompto yelled out.

“This thing is on its last legs, just take it down already!” Gladio yelled out before him and Prompto gave the final blow... or so I thought. I was so dizzy and hurt that I passed out.

~

I awoke in the tent at camp, not knowing what the hell happened. I knew I was fighting the Iron Giant but did I kill it? I tried to sit up but the pain shot up though my body as I hissed at it. I then noticed that I didn’t have a shirt on. I had bandages around my waist covered in some blood and my head. Shit… did I really get hurt that bad? I looked around to see if I could find my shirt which I did and put it on. Knowing the guys were outside, I tried my best to get up. Wincing at the pain, I made it out before I had two eyes staring at me. Ignis heard me leave the tent.

“Noct is that you?” he asked me.

“Yeah” I said as I found a seat by the campfire. There wasn’t any food considering that Ignis couldn’t cook anymore. I would go for anything right now.

“Hey buddy, you’re awake!” Prompto said to me. “This is for you.” Cup noodles. Oh well, it was better than nothing. “Thanks” I told him.

“How are you feeling Noct?” Ignis asked me. I wish I could say I felt great but I was in a lot of pain still.

“Still in pain but I’ll live” I told him.

“The hell were you thinking fighting on your own like that?” Gladio snapped at me. “You could have been killed.”

I sighed as I looked down. That was a little dangerous for me to go all out on my own to the point that I got sick and hurt. But it was for them.

“I know that I acted I reckless like that but… I had to protect you guys. After all that we’ve been through and all that happened so far, I didn’t want to lose you guys too.”

“Yeah well we would have lost you instead for charging into that thing like that. What good would Lucis be without a King?” he said back to me.

King… was I even fit to be King after all of this? I didn’t want to let them in on my doubts and risk being in another fight with Gladio but I would never be the King my Dad was. I stood quiet. 

“We understand that you want to protect us, Noct but our duty is to protect you. True strength does not come from facing danger alone but working together to defeat our enemy” Ignis said. I looked at him as he looked down, holding his empty cup of noodles. I sighed again. He was fight. We were stronger together, we were meant to protect one another. 

“We care for you bud. Can’t have you not being in top shape for what’s to come” Prompto told me. You’re not alone in your fight. We all have people that we lost”.

Lost… I was so caught up in my own act that I didn’t even think of their losses. We all had a home back in Insomnia; a place that we couldn’t return to. I knew Gladio’s Dad was the shield of my father. Did he die too? What about Prompto’s family… or Ignis?

“I didn’t want to let you guys down” I finally said. It was the honest truth.

“Me calling you a coward didn’t mean you had to head on straight to your death. You may be a royal pain in my ass but you’re still my brother. 

I looked up at Gladio when he said that. Sure he was tough about things and the way he spoke sometimes can come off as harsh but he only meant the best for me. He always knew how to get me to pull my head out of my ass and keep fighting no matter what, no matter if I liked how he said it or not. 

“I’m sorry” I said.

Gladio sighed. “Don’t be sorry, just let us do our part next time. We have Ignis to take care of now. We work together as one.” 

I agreed. I don’t regret what I did because the intention of wanting to do better and get stronger was there but I do admit that I had to fight with them and not alone. These guys were my brothers and even though I never said it to them, I loved them. 

“I love you guys” I said. I was never pretty vocal about my emotions but it had to be said. 

“We love you too buddy” Prompto said. Gladio and Ignis agreed.

“When are we heading out to take the train?” I asked.

“Oh we won’t be leaving any time soon” Gladio said. “You aren’t in the shape for it”.

“Gladio is right”, Ignis said. “Judging by what Gladio said about your wounds, you must heal up first before we go.”

Right.. I had forgotten all about the pain, being wrapped up in conversation.

“Aww look at that. A royal prince being taken care of by us. All three of us. Who better yet to take care of you than us?” Prompto cooed out. 

I laughed and shoved his arm before wincing again. They were a pain in my ass as well but what could I do without them...

~

Tagging: @humanitys-hottestsoldier @paopufruittt @final-fantasy-xv-nut

Masterlist

[echoes-of-the-clockwork]

Book One: Gold (Prompto x Reader) Chapter XV

Their trek into the ruins began. The heels of their shoes clacked against the stone as they descended down a long stairwell. Noctis, as per usual, was in the lead. He kept from running headfirst into the ruins and possibly running into a horde of daemons. With careful footsteps, he and the others took their time descending the stairwell. Halfway down, Prompto glanced over at Aranea. "Those guys your friends or something?" He asked, referring to the two men who were by her side earlier.

"You appeared to be on good terms," Ignis commented.

"Who-Biggs and Wedge?" Aranea questioned. "They're more "subordinates" than they are "friends," but I trust 'em all the same."

"At least you have someone you trust within the ranks of the imperial army," (Y/n) stated.

"It's hard to trust anyone within the empire, even if you are on their payroll."

After a lengthy trek down the stone staircase, they finally reached the bottom. Prompto was more than ecstatic to finally step off the stairwell. "Finally... I thought it'd never end. The people here, they must have been fit." Looking around the room, he noticed the faint glow of the crystal shards hanging on the walls. "Huh? Er...who left the lights on? Maybe the owners are still home?"

"No," Noctis answered.

"We never get warm welcomes," (Y/n) added.

"I doubt we can expect one here," Aranea said.

"Indeed. Stay sharp," Ignis advised.

Checking the area, they headed to the small hallway to their right. At the end, they only found a dead end. Returning back to the previous room, they headed down the left hallway. In the adjacent room, more smaller hallways branched off in different directions. Noctis checked one of the rooms and was nearly crushed by the ceiling caving in. Luckily, (Y/n) had grabbed his jacket and yanked him backwards just before he could be buried alive under the rubble. He thanked her and the two left the room.

Next, they headed down the hallway located across the way from the room with the collapsed ceiling. "Man, all these rooms," Prompto said as he walked ahead of them and towards the next hallway.

"Hey, don't wander off," Noctis scolded the sharpshooter.

"You might end up walking into a horde of daemons or being crushed by debris almost like Noctis was," (Y/n) stated as she sprinted after him.

She tackled him out of harm's way when a small portion of the ceiling collapsed and skeleton daemons fell through the hole. They landed near the couple and were ready to pounce, but the spirit manifested fiery throwing knives and tossed them with precision. Each one hit their mark and caused the skeletons to stumble backwards. Noctis, Ignis, and Aranea disposed of the weakened daemons while (Y/n) helped Prompto off the ground. She flicked him on the forehead once he was back on his feet. "Ow!" He whined.

"Try to think before wandering off," she sighed.

Prompto rubbed his forehead with a pout. "Yes, ma'am..."

Aranea noticed their interaction with a curious glint in her eyes. "Are those two...?"

"Yeah," Noctis replied.

"Firefly and blondie. Who would've thought."

Because of the pile of debris, the group could only proceed left down the hallway. Entering another open room, they were ambushed by skeletons and a reaper. Aranea was the first to act. She swung her lance, targeting the reaper as it stalked towards them. While she dealt with the scythe-wielding daemon, the others focused on the skeletons.

Noctis performed a warp-strike on the last remaining skeleton, killing it. With all the daemons dead, they moved forward and entered the large, open central area of Steyliff Grove. The sight that greeted them caused their jaws to drop.

"Beautiful beyond words..." Ignis gaped in awe.

"That is pretty neat," Aranea said just above a whisper.

Prompto's eyes drifted towards the ceiling of the central chamber when he spotted a strange shimmering. He gasped in shock at the sight of what seemed to be a lake suspended in the air. "Look up!"

Everyone did as the blonde shouted and looked up. Their eyes widen in shock and astonishment at the shimmering water above. (Y/n) took a step closer to the railing and leaned over it to get a better view. "Is that...a lake?"

Aranea also expressed her surprise. "Whoa-If that's the water's surface..."

Prompto, who'd taken his camera out to take a few pictures, blinked in bewilderment. "Wait, what? Does this mean we're underwater?" Taking a closer look, he saw fish swimming through the water. "Whoa. There's even fish."

"The hell is this place?" Noctis muttered.

"Can we truly be submerged?" Ignis mumbled.

"It does seem harder to breathe," Prompto gasped, lowering his camera.

"I don't think that has to do with the lake," (Y/n) stated.

Noctis' azure gaze remained locked on the suspended body of water. "Like seeing a dream."

"Gladio is seriously missing out," the marksman retorted.

"Probably not his thing."

"Now, now, you can never tell," Ignis said.

"As much as I would love to admire the view for hours upon hours, we've got mythril to find," the spirit chimed in.

Aranea nodded in agreement. "Firefly's right. Let's get moving."

Walking a little ways down, they came across a balcony that overlooked the central area. When they went to check it out to see if it could help them gain their bearings, a pack of skeletons and crème brûl��es ambushed them. Like the previous battles, the daemons proved to be nothing but an annoyance than a challenge. The group was able to annihilate them all without any issues.

Moving away from the balcony, they arrived at a portion of the pathway that had crumbled. As they stood at the edge and searched for a way across, Prompto couldn't help but express a strange feeling that overcame him. "Huh. Something bothers me about this spot."

"What is it?" Noctis asked, curious as to what the blonde was bothered about.

"Have we been this way?"

"I don't think so," (Y/n) answered.

"Something overlooked?" Ignis asked.

"Not a hundred percent sure..." Prompto mumbled, peering down at the level below.

After looking around, Noctis saw a narrow ledge they could cross to reach the other side. He offered to go first and didn't hesitate to cross. Prompto nervously watched the prince as memories from greyshire glacial grotto filled his mind. He swallowed nervously and tried to ask, "Can I just-?"

"It'll hold you," Noctis interrupted, already knowing what he was going to ask.

"Famous last words," Ignis remarked.

Once Noctis, Aranea, and Ignis crossed, (Y/n) nudged her boyfriend towards the ledge. "C'mon, Prom. It's your turn."

"Right..." Prompto hesitantly approached the narrow ledge. He crossed with slightly shaky legs, but made it safely across nonetheless.

(Y/n) was right behind him and also had no issues crossing. She patted the photographer's back with a minuscule smirk. "Good job, Prom." Said boy pouted with a groan before following after Noctis.

When the path abruptly ended, they backtracked a little ways and entered the stairwell. As they made their way down the steps, Aranea groaned, "Daemons. 'Til death do us part."

"Practicing your vows?" Ignis asked.

"The army swore their oaths a long time ago."

"What does the empire seek here?"

"Specimens-and we're stuck harvesting them," the ex-mercenary answered.

"Specimens?" Prompto parroted.

"Daemons."

Emerging from the stairwell, they walked to the opposite end of the current level they were on. While crossing another extended part of the pathway, more skeletons and crème brûlées manifested.

"These things are getting annoying," (Y/n) huffed, burning a single crème brûlée and exterminating it.

"Couldn't agree more, firefly," Aranea responded, slicing through a skeleton.

Following the successful battle with the daemons, they headed down the path and found another stairwell. Prompto, remembering what the ex-mercenary said earlier, asked her a question. "So what's all this about the army and daemons?"

"What do you think it is?" Aranea scoffed.

"Nice! I love guessing games!" He sarcastically remarked.

"You never were good at them," (Y/n) chimed in.

"I'll say," Noctis commented.

Aranea was slightly amused at the party's banter, but she decided to explain why the empire needs daemons as they exited the stairwell and made their way across the next level. "Turns out the empire makes weapons out of them."

""Weapons"?" The marksman reiterated.

"Yeah. I'm sure you've seen your share by now. Something not quite right with the empire lately."

"It's not just lately," Noctis remarked.

"True. Maybe it's time I left."

"Really?" Prompto inquired. "What would you do if you left the army?"

"Whatever I want. I was a mercenary once. Maybe I'll round up my men and hunt daemons for cash?" She pondered.

"That's a...heck of a plan."

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by another horde of daemons. (Y/n) clicked her tongue in annoyance, creating a large fire vortex and sending it towards the enemies before the others could summon their weapons. Her powerful spell burnt some daemons to a crisp while others were tossed over the railing and fell to their death. She lowered her hand as the flames consuming it extinguished.

Aranea was impressed by the girl's powerful spell and huffed out a chuckle. "You spirits really are a force to be reckoned with."

"Sorry, I'm still a little mad from my short chat with Callyx earlier," she confessed.

"You were being too generous with his eye. Next time, take one of the bastard's arms off."

The guardian smirked in merriment. "Maybe I will."

Continuing their trek, Ignis asked the one question that was brewing inside his head as they located a strange door. "What about the empire strikes you as "not quite right"?"

"The emperor and new high commander, for starters. Then there's that charmer of a chancellor and that asshole of a guardian he has. I really can't stand those guys," Aranea replied.

Entering the room located in the other side of the engraved door, they were greeted by a large room with branching paths. There were bridges spanning across the vast room with a lower level beneath. Noctis approached one of the bridges with caution, but was stopped when hearing Prompto ask, "Is it safe?"

"Not everything's gonna-" Noctis' voice trailed off when he took a single step forward to cross one of the bridges, but a section of it collapses. "Whoa..."

Prompto had been looking at another bridge when he heard the crumbling noise. "What?! Did something collapse?!"

"Calm down, Prom." (Y/n) approached the edge of the collapsed bridge and glanced down at the floor below. She noticed an entrance to another hallway. "Falling to the lower floor might not be a bad idea."

"Guess it couldn't hurt," Noctis replied.

Carefully, the group hopped down to the lower level. They walked through the doorway the guardian had located from the upper floor and down the lengthy hallway. As they cautiously proceeded, Prompto shattered the silence hanging over them. "You smell that?"

"Smell what?" The prince inquired.

"Treasure. The nose knows, dude."

"Now that you mention it..."

"Let's not forget our purpose here," Ignis chimed in.

"Well, aren't we technically here for a specific treasure?" (Y/n) questioned, glancing over at the tactician.

The bespectacled man thought for a few seconds and adjusted his glasses before replying. "I stand corrected."

After traveling through another room, defeating another horde of daemons, and locating a stairwell, they were back on the upper level. They gained access to the adjoining room that had almost the same convoluted layout as the previous. Now they were presented even more paths to choose from. They could either remain on the current floor or venture to the two below.

Everyone left the decision up to Noctis. He decided to test the left path. Just as they were about to cross the bridge, an iron giant suddenly manifests.

"Saw that comin'!" Prompto shrieked.

"To arms!" Aranea shouted, summoning her lance.

Before any of them could attack, the iron giant smashes its fist into the bridge. It crumbled and sent Noctis and the others to the level below. Everyone stumbles slightly from the fall but quickly recovers as the iron giant from above jumps down and more daemons spawn.

"Here comes the big one!" Prompto bellowed.

"Right on cue," Ignis remarked as his daggers were consumed by flames.

"And it's got friends!" The blonde yelled as he shot one of the crème brûlées.

"Livelier by the second. C'mon then!" Aranea leapt into action and targeted the iron giant. Noctis disappeared and reappeared randomly, performing warp-strike after warp-strike on any daemon that crossed his path. (Y/n) favored her fiery throwing knives and helped Aranea fight the iron giant. Ignis and Prompto focused on the crème brûlées.

Once defeating the pack of daemons, the stonework of the shattered bridge floats into the air and seemingly begins putting itself back together. Noctis gaped in shock at the sight. "Huh? What the-?"

"Did that bridge just repair itself?" (Y/n) asked.

"It sure looks that way," Prompto said.

Looking for a way back up, they found a stairwell leading up to the upper floor. The marksman, after traveling up and down stairs for hours now, was becoming slightly loopy. "Never too many stairs! I got a bad feeling about this." He then begins signing to himself. "Stairs they go on, forever they go on, on and on and on..."

"He's gone," Noctis muttered, listening to his best friend sink into a shallow pit of insanity.

"I think we lost him a while ago," the guardian stated.

Back in the upper level, they cross the bridge that repaired itself. From there, they traversed through a hallway and wound up in a room with reapers and crème brûlées. (Y/n), who'd been focusing on one reaper, failed to detect the second one stalking towards her from behind. She disposed of the reaper just in time to turn around and be batted away by the scythe of the other reaper. She grunted when her body slammed against the ground, her eyes narrowing as she glared at the daemon. In the blink of an eye, she transformed and pounced on the enemy.

Using her sharp fangs, she tore it from limb to limb. Her tails flared outwards as she killed the reaper. When its remains vanished, the anger from her body vanished and she relaxed. Her tails that once protruded into the air were now limply laying against the floor.

Being the only one comfortable enough to approach the fox, Prompto strolled over and placed a hand on the side of her neck. He stroked the black fur and noted how her ears twitched. "You kinda went overboard there. Everything good, (Y/n)?"

The spirit turned her head, gold-slitted eyes boring into Prompto's. She reverted back to her human form once his hand fell from her neck. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Still thinking about Callyx, huh?" Aranea asked. "Bastard must've really gotten under your skin."

The (h/c)-haired girl stared down at the floor. "You've no idea..."

Walking down another flight of stairs, the group was back in the central chamber of Steyliff Grove. They found a bridge spanning across the way, leading to the other side. As they were crossing, a pack of daemons manifested in the middle of the bridge. They blocked the group's path and they had no choice but to fight.

The quintet wasn't overwhelmed by the daemons and easily pushed them back before defeating them. Safely on the other side, they follow the walkway until they enter a circular room. From there, they proceeded down a windy hallway with small rooms attached to it. The many rooms and smaller hallways were slightly confusing to the group.

"It's a crossroads," Prompto said, glancing down the hallway before looking into the small room down another hallway.

"Which way?" Aranea asked.

"Whichever way leads to the treasure," Noctis stated, trying to decide which way to go.

"If only we knew that..." Ignis mumbled.

"Welp, guess we bumble on," the marksman responded.

"Keep the bumbling to a minimum."

"How about we stick to the main hallway then?" (Y/n) suggested.

"May as well," the prince replied.

Deciding not to venture into the small rooms, Noctis followed the girl's suggestion and stuck to the main hallway. They were forced to fight against daemons as the hallway would be blocked by metal bars whenever they walked into an ambush.

Another hour passed before the group reached the end of the prolonged corridor. They were finally at the bottom level of the central chamber. Seeing how vast and open the area was, Prompto spoke up. "Ooh, spacious. There's sooo gonna be a big nasty here."

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Aranea said.

Walking into the large chamber, they only made it a few feet forward before a quetzalcoatl noticed them. It stood on a bridge above and analyzed them for a few seconds. Once deeming them a threat, it swoops down and begins attacking. Noctis, Prompto, Ignis, and Aranea conjured their weapons while (Y/n) transformed.

The guardian acted quickly and dodged the quetzalcoatl's lighting attack. She leapt up into the air and landed a little ways from the beast. Using her tails, she manifested a large fireball. Tossing it, she nailed the quetzalcoatl in the side. Her attack did some damage, but not much.

The quetzalcoatl targeted the fox. It ignored the others completely as they attacked it. The beast flew up into the air and shot another lightning spell towards (Y/n). She dodged it and jumped as high as she could and sunk her fangs into its left hind leg. Using her weight, she dragged it down to the ground. The quetzalcoatl tried to shake her off, but she didn't budge. Next, it tried another lightning spell. She was unable to dodge in time and took the brunt of the attack. This forced her to unlatch her jaw from around the creature's leg and stumble backwards with a painful cry.

As she went to back away further, its tail slammed into her side and sent her flying. Her body collided against the wall before falling to the ground, causing her even more pain. She could feel the internal wounds and the external ones. Her body laid limp on the ground, the sound of her blood rushing filling her ears.

Prompto had watched the entire thing with a horrified expression. He shouted her name and lowered his pistol, running to her side with a potion in hand. Noctis, Ignis, and Aranea kept the quetzalcoatl busy while the marksman assisted the injured fox. He fell to his knees beside her, shattering the curative over her. He gently placed a hand on her side as he watched her wounds heal. When her breathing went from shallow to deep, he knew she was okay. Sighing in relief, he got to his feet just as she did. His cerulean eyes remained glued to her, his hand bunching up in her velvety fur.

(Y/n) turned her head and nudged her nose against Prompto's cheek to reassure him before reentering the battle. The boy watched her join the others, gripping his pistol tightly. He also rejoined the fray and shot a few rounds at the quetzalcoatl.

In the midst of the battle, Noctis and Ignis were struck down by the beast. Aranea, (Y/n), and Prompto covered the two while they both used phoenix downs to recover.

Aranea leapt into the air with her lance and dove towards the quetzalcoatl with the sharp tip pointed at its spine. When her attack landed, she dealt some heavy damage and caused the beast to stumble over. It fell on its side and became vulnerable.

With a combined attack from everyone, they were able to defeat the quetzalcoatl. Its body fell limp as everyone stepped away from its corpse. (Y/n) returned back to being human as Noctis wandered deeper into the central chamber. He located the mythril they'd been searching for and put it in his pocket.

Seeing the prince had claimed the mythril, Ignis adjusted his glasses. "That concludes our business here."

Prompto glanced over at the ex-mercenary. "Say, Commodore."

"Aranea," the older woman corrected him.

"You said the empire uses daemons to make "weapons"?"

"Listen-you've seen magitek troopers, right?"

"MTs..." Noctis muttered.

"They're born from daemons, in a lab," Aranea explained.

The marksman rubbed at his barcoded wrist. ""Born from daemons"..."

(Y/n) looked towards the blonde and noticed his strange behavior. Her expression remained stoic, hiding her true emotions. She wondered if he had managed to learn the truth about his existence or was simply just scratching his wrist. Her fists clenched and unclenched, worried about him. Her attention was drawn back to Aranea when she spoke, her jade eyes focused on Noctis. "Darkness is coming. If I were you, I'd watch my princely ass. Uh-"kingly" ass."

"Will do," Noctis replied.

With that, the group left Steyliff Grove.

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter || Masterlist

[kumeko]

A/N: For the @promptochocobozine zine! I wanted to focus on Prompto and Iris in the World of Ruin. It is criminal how she didn’t get any screen time there.

Summary: It had been a few years, but Prompto couldn't believe that he was daemon slaying with Iris of all people.

…

…

…

…

“You’re staring.”

 Prompto jerked his head to the right. His eyes darted wildly, taking in the scenery outside the jeep window. Well, what little he could make out. Ever since the night had come, the only things visible were the fiery swords of daemons. “I’m not.”

 “Riiiight,” Iris laughed, her voice deeper than he remembered. Everything about her was different. Prompto peeked at her from the corner of his eye. Gone was the sunlit girl of his youth, the spunky teen who teased Gladiolus with one breath and adored Noctis with the next. Instead, there was a heavily scarred woman driving, resembling her brother more than Gladiolus would have liked. “And Ignis can see.”

Prompt sighed, crossed his arms, and shot her a baleful glare. “Can you blame me? You’re…” He gestured at her, lost for words. Honestly, if she hadn’t said she was Iris when he’d hopped into the car, he wouldn’t have guessed.

 “I’m…?” Iris trailed off, raising her eyebrow at him. When he didn’t say anything, her lips quirked in amusement. “Oh, come on, you can’t be that surprised. Didn’t you hear the rumours?”

 “Well, yeah, but they’re rumours.” Prompto snorted dismissively. “I mean, people say Gladio’s a one-man army and that Ignis has eyes behind his head. Sure, both of those are kinda true, but still…Cor taking on an apprentice? Iris the freaking demon slayer?”

 Iris covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking with laughter. “Gladdy had the exact same reaction. Then he tried to beat up Cor.”

 “And got his ass handed to him?” he asked.

 “And got his ass handed to him,” Iris confirmed, smirking.

 “Oh man, wish I could have seen that!” Prompto crossed his arms behind his head. “Last time I saw him lose…” He fell silent. It had been at an imperial base, Ravus beating the tar out of all of them. That day felt like it belonged to a different lifetime, a different Prompto.

 Noticing his reticence, Iris pressed, “You know, I can’t remember the last time the three of you were at the base at the same time.” Her fingers tapped on the wheel as she considered it. “Actually…I can’t remember the last time any of you met.”

 There was a beat of awkward silence.

 “We’ve been busy,” Prompto lied with a shrug. He leaned against the window, watching the bright flames of daemon after daemon blur as they sped towards their quarry. “There’s a lot of daemons. And it’s hard to slack off around those two.”

 Iris looked at him in disbelief. “I’ve seen your kill list.”

 “Hey, I barely made it through those fights,” Prompto protested, pouting. “Besides, daemons aren’t going to kill themselves—it made sense to split up.”

 “No, they’re not.” Iris stared into to the darkness again. Her fingers curled on the steering wheel and the silence sat heavy for a bit.

 He was trying, really, but it was hard not to stare. Her profile looked like Gladiolus’ when he was brooding. It wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to imagine Ignis in the back, worrying his lip as he waited for trouble. Noctis…well, he wouldn’t be sleeping in the backseat anymore, looking less like a prince and more like the high school boy Prompto had tried hard to befriend. It had been almost natural when they’d drifted apart, the memories too real, too sharp when they were together. “How much further to the hunt?”

 “Twenty minutes.” Iris kept her eyes on the road. A wide swath of light spilled in front of them, courtesy of Cindy’s headlights. Her hand tightened around the wheel. “Do you…” She trailed off, then spit out, “Do you think Noctis will actually come back?”

 Prompto’s breath caught in his throat. Instinctively, he glanced in the direction of Angelgard. It was too far to even glimpse of crystal’s soft light. “I…”

 “So you doubt too.” Iris laughed bitterly. “Sorry, that was unfair.”

 “No…I…” Prompto stared down at his hands fisted on his thighs. His knuckles had bled eight years ago, as he’d banged on the crystal, begging for Noct to come back. Now there were only scars and a memory of fear, loss, and utter hopelessness. “Gentiana—you’ve seen her.”

 “And heard her.” Her lips formed a line, tone harsh. “And despite it all, the night grows darker, the daemons grow stronger, and more people die.”

 “That’s true.” Prompto closed his eyes, remembering the messenger who kept appearing in his pictures like a ghost. “But she isn’t wrong.”

 “No, she isn’t,” Iris admitted, her frown deepening. “But she also doesn’t know when. Noctis could come back today. Tomorrow. Next year. Ten years from now. We could be dead.”

 Despair bled into her words and Prompto bit his lip. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with. Despite what he’d seen, what he’d experienced, it was easy to doubt. By now, sunlight felt like a fairy-tale, like a forgotten dream. The gods were wrong with Adryn. The gods could be wrong again with Noctis.

 Despite that, Prompto smiled softly, lowering his eyes. “Still. I think he’ll be back.”

 “Why?” Iris asked, observing him, and for a moment, she looked like the teenager she used to be.

 “Because…he’s Noctis.” Prompto shrugged again, struggling to find the words . “He’ll come back for us. I know he will.”

 “Yeah, that is Noctis.” Iris smiled softly. “You know, when I got lost once, he found me. Somehow, against all odds, he found me.”

 “Me too.” Prompto could still feel the restraints on his wrists, hear Ardyn’s laugh on the intercom. “He found me too.”

 “But.” The spell broke and Iris’s voice took a harder edge. “Even if he comes now, it’s too late for some. We’re going to have to survive, without him.”

 Before Prompto could respond, the jeep squealed to a halt. Two swirling pools formed in front of their headlights, a giant sword slowly emerging from each one. Daemons. Strong ones. Iris scowled and honked the horn. “Oh, come on! This is so annoying!”

 “Annoying?” Prompto shot her a dry look. Maybe she and Gladio were starting to resemble each other beyond appearances. “You do know they’re trying to kill us, right?”

 “Yeah, and I know you can kill them easily.” Iris rolled her eyes as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “Guys like these are more annoying than anything. And we still have our real hunt after.” She jumped out of the car, drawing her sword. “Now, come on, slowpoke.”

 “Slowpoke!” Prompto stared as she charged at the daemons. “YOU DON’T HAVE TO TAKE GLADIO’S MANNERS TOO!” He scowled as he yanked off his seatbelt. Just because he didn’t get off on fighting didn’t mean he was slow! Didn’t they ever hear that slow and steady won the race?!

 Still, he was glad the conversation got cut off. He couldn’t refute her words. Noctis wasn’t here and sometimes it felt like he never would be. The night grew darker, the daemons stronger, and with only two functioning cities left, it sometimes felt like they were just one bad night away from annihilation. Climbing out of the car, Prompto stared towards the crystal. Noctis would come, he was certain. Just…not when.

 Or how long they could survive.

[kaelinaloveslomaris]

Whumptober 4: Human Shield

FFXV again! How could I not write Gladio and Noctis for this one?

—

Gladio had been trained all his life to be Noctis’s Shield. He had known ever since he was barely old enough to understand the concept that he was destined to protect the prince at all costs, even with his life if necessary. He had surrendered to this duty with reluctance but determination as a teenager, when he still viewed Noctis as a spoiled brat undeserving of his loyalty or protection. He had thrown himself into the training for the love of the fight, the thrill of physical exertion and his dad’s praise, and his sense of honor even as he despised the child under his guard.

After Noctis had protected and taken the fall for Gladio’s sister at the cost of the king’s ire, he had earned Gladio’s grudging respect. And once Gladio had given him a chance and looked past the entitled, aloof exterior, he had seen a boy desperate to feel good enough, to appear worthy — and completely terrified of failing. He held himself apart so there were less people he cared about who he could let down.

Oh, there was no mistaking that he was still absolutely a brat, still acted selfishly, or thoughtlessly, more often than not, but when it was something that really mattered, the prince would step up. He had earned Gladio’s loyalty and become someone that Gladio would willingly die for and not regret it, not as part of his duty to the throne and the Lucian bloodline, but as a friend, as a brother. Noctis was someone he could admit, to himself if not to others, that he loved.

His training had prepared him to give his life, to serve as he was needed, to take the hits in Noctis’s place. The scar across his face was testament to his dedication to his destiny. He was prepared to be Noctis’s Shield. What he was not prepared for was for Noctis to be used as a shield against him.

As far as he could tell, it was a simple case of “wrong place, wrong time,” though how anyone could be stupid enough to rob a convenience store while the prince and his Shield were on site was beyond him. But nothing about the hostage situation seemed planned, so Gladio could rule out assassination attempt. It didn’t make the gun lodged under Noctis’s chin any less lethal.

“If anyone so much as twitches, I’m gonna blow his jaw off.” The man behind Noctis was much smaller than Gladio, short enough that Noct made a decent shield, but still strong enough that Noctis couldn’t easily break free of the arm wrapped tightly around his waist and pinning his arms to his sides. Smart, really, as that kept Noctis from being able to do much of anything even if he managed to manifest a weapon without provoking the man, though the sight made Gladio’s blood boil. If his fingers left bruises on Noctis’s arm, Gladio was going to hunt him down and kill him.

“Let him go,” Gladio growled. His hands itched for his sword, and he felt the stirring of borrowed magic as Noctis’s Armiger prepared to fulfill that desire, but he forced it down. Drawing a sword on the man would certainly count as “twitching,” and he wasn’t about to risk his prince’s life that way. He wished he had the words to convince the man to release Noctis, but diplomacy and negotiation were not things Gladio was trained for. That was all Ignis, but he had elected to stay behind at Noct’s apartment to finish up some paperwork. Of course, it was part of Noctis’s education as well, but tact was not a word often found in his vocabulary even in the best of times, and the stress of this situation would do his minimal diplomatic skills no favors.

Gladio thanked the Six that Prompto had forgotten his wallet in the car and had gone back for it just before everything went down. Neither Gladio nor Noctis needed the extra distraction right now, and he wasn’t sure that the kid wouldn’t do something stupid to try and save his friend.

“Not until I’m far enough away from here that I won’t be caught.” He tugged Noctis closer against himself, and Gladio snarled in response to the fear in Noctis’s eyes.

“Please, I can give you twice as much as you just stole from this store if you let me go,” Noctis pleaded, speaking through clenched teeth to avoid pressing his jaw any harder against the barrel of the gun.

The man laughed sharply. “I’m not falling for that.” He took a step backwards, jerking Noctis back with him. Noctis stumbled, and Gladio instinctively stepped towards him. He froze as the man’s finger tightened on the trigger.

“Call off your guard dog or I’ll shoot you right now.”

Noctis closed his eyes, breaking eye contact with Gladio for the first time since the man had grabbed him. “Stand down, Gladdy,” he whispered.

Gladio had to clamp his teeth together to prevent himself from protesting. He was sworn to protect Noctis, but he was also sworn to obey him. Of course no one would call treason if he disobeyed in order to save the prince’s life, but in this situation, backing down would probably be the safest course of action for his charge.

He nodded his assent and watched in helpless fury as the man dragged Noctis out the door with him. He tried to hold Noctis’s eyes, to communicate the need to stay calm even though Gladio couldn’t, to assure him that no matter what, he would come for him. And he would, as soon as they were out of sight. He would track them down and take the man out before he could hurt Noctis. For now, he held himself perfectly still, not wanting to give the man any reason to pull the trigger. There were phoenix downs in the Armiger, but they wouldn’t do much good for a bullet to the head, and if Noctis was dead, Gladio wouldn’t be able to access the Armiger anyways. He should get into the habit of carrying at least one physically on his person, as annoying as it would be. Ignis probably already did.

They were barely one step out the door when Noctis tensed. Gladio flexed his hands in preparation to pull his sword out of the Armiger if necessary. He knew he couldn’t move fast enough, but Astrals take him if he would allow someone to survive killing Noctis for more than a few moments.

The gunshot and the spray of blood across Noct’s face was enough to stop Gladio’s heart for the second it took him to realize that the blood wasn’t Noctis’s.

He was moving before the man even started to fall, out the door before the gasp left Noctis’s lips. He rushed forward and caught Noctis as he stumbled under the dead weight of the man’s body still clinging to him. Gladio shoved it away as he pulled Noctis into his arms, pretending he missed the prince’s flinch at the sound of the body hitting the pavement.

Gladio met Prompto’s eyes from where he stood on the other side of the car, gun still held tightly in his hands. Gladio gave him a short nod of approval before turning his attention back to Noctis.

He was shaking, leaning heavily into Gladio, and as much as he wanted to let him sit down and rest, he knew he needed to get him somewhere safe first. Gladio clutched him tighter, running a hand through his hair, heedless of the blood he was smearing through it.

“Hey, you’re okay. I’ve got you. Are you hurt?”

Noctis shook his head against Gladio’s shoulder, and he forced himself to relax as much as he could, though he knew he wouldn’t be completely calm until he had removed Noctis from the scene and he and Ignis had checked him over. He would have to contact his dad and Cor, have them look into the man to make sure this whole thing hadn’t been a well-masked assassination attempt. King Regis would probably increase security around Noctis for a while and restrict his movements outside of the Citadel, which would aggravate Noctis and make life difficult for himself and Ignis as they dealt with a grumpy prince, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment.

Deeming Noctis steady enough to walk, Gladio gently guided him towards the car. Prompto rushed to open the front passenger door for him. He hated to let go of him, Gladio liked having Noctis safely tucked under his arm where he could protect him, but Prompto still hadn’t passed his driver’s test.

As soon as he had him settled in the car, he turned to Prompto, catching his arm before he could get into the backseat. Prompto tensed.

“I didn’t know you had completed your Crownsguard training,” Gladio said.

“I haven’t.” Prompto’s face was hard, more serious than Gladio thought he had ever seen it, and entirely unapologetic. Technically what he had done was illegal, discharging a firearm within the Crown City without qualifications was a punishable offence, but Gladio was about ready to recommend him for a royal commendation and he doubted anyone would disagree with him under the circumstances. Gladio released his arm.

“Good man. I’ll put in a word with Cor for you.”

The relief was plain on Prompto’s face. “Thanks, Gladio.”

Gladio nodded in response. It was as close to gratitude he was going to get. It stung, admitting to himself that Prompto had done some of Gladio’s job today. Things might have turned out quite differently had Prompto not been with them. It was not something he was prepared to say out loud, and openly thanking Prompto would require just that.

“You, uh, gonna put that away?” Gladio changed the subject, nodding at the gun Prompto was still clutching. The kid looked down at it in surprise.

“Oh! Yeah, sorry.” He flushed as he dismissed it back to the Armiger with the sound of shattering crystal. “I forgot I was still holding it.”

Noctis must have felt Prompto remove the gun from the Armiger the moment he had been dragged outside. That was most likely the cause of the tension Gladio had reacted to. Noctis’s sensitivity to people drawing on his magic was improving. Gladio made a mental note to test it during their next training session.

“Alright, we should get out of here before the press shows up. I don’t want pictures of Noct shaking and bloody all over the internet. Call Ignis on the way and have him contact the Crownsguard to get a squad down here for damage control.”

The drive back to the apartment was quiet. Gladio kept an eye on Noctis the whole way back, only half listening to Prompto explaining the basics of the situation to Ignis; Gladio would have to fill him in on the details later. Noctis still looked shaken, slumped down in the seat, but his eyes were clear and focused, even if he was just staring intently at the dashboard. True to his word, he didn’t appear to be injured aside from the darkening marks on his arm, and the sight of those made Gladio almost envy Prompto his kill.

He knew it hadn’t hit Prompto yet, that he had killed a man. It was part of Gladio and Ignis’s jobs. They had both killed in defense of Noctis before and they would again, but this was a first for Prompto, and it shouldn’t have happened until after he was an official member of the Crownsguard. Gladio remembered the first time he had killed and the numbness that had followed. The shock and horror hadn’t come until hours later. His dad had been waiting for it, watching him carefully the entire evening, ready to talk him through it once it hit. It was not something he would have wanted to deal with alone.

Gladio thought it might be a good idea to have them all stay the night in Noctis’s apartment.

[fallintosanity]

not so stealth edit: i got so excited to post this i forgot to include the previous part links, whoops

anyway here u go

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14

Prompto woke up to the scent of Noct’s fancy shampoo and the brush of Noct’s breath against his neck. If he kept his eyes closed, he could almost pretend they were sprawled on the floor of Noct’s apartment, that they’d fallen asleep there after a long night of gaming. But past the shampoo was the scent of old smoke and stale sweat, and other unknown, unpleasant things. It wasn’t plush carpet beneath him, but a worn sleeping bag over hard stone. The fabric draped over him wasn’t one of Noct’s soft blankets, but the heavy wool mantle of a royal suit. The air wasn’t the comfortable temperature of the climate-controlled apartment, but hot and dry and uncomfortably close. 

He wasn’t in Noct’s apartment. He wasn’t in Insomnia at all. 

He kept his eyes closed for a minute longer, breathing in the scent of Noctis’s hair as he tried not to have a full-on panic attack. Last night’s events played through his head: the initial fear of burglars when he’d heard his front door crash open, the abject terror when a gang of monsters - daemons - had smashed into his bedroom and snatched him up. The pain of bouncing in their grip like a sack of potatoes, their flailing fists slamming into him, his feet dragging on concrete. The icy cold of the daemon-man’s - Ardyn Izunia’s - hands on his throat, his wrist, the press of the man’s body against Prompto’s back. The contempt in his voice when he’d said such an empty little thing.

Prompto shuddered. He wanted it to have been a dream, a nightmare, something he could wake up from, but he’d woken up and he wasn’t in his own bed. He was in a tent somewhere in the Lucian countryside, with his best friend and his best friend’s bodyguards and their freaking future selves, because being kidnapped out of his own bed by daemons wasn’t horrifying enough. 

If it couldn’t be a nightmare, then he wanted to stay where he was forever, with Noct wrapped around him in his sleepy-clingy way, with at least the illusion of safety inside the tent. Hiding his face like a kid, like if he couldn’t see the scary thing it couldn’t see him. But he couldn’t stay there, not forever. Even if the oppressive heat hadn’t made breathing difficult, even if his whole body didn’t ache from the bruises from where he’d been grabbed and carried... he had too many questions roiling around in his mind. 

Ardyn Izunia, and such an empty little thing. There’s so many more where it came from. Their future selves. The future Noctis, terrifying and powerful and apparently fully aware of the barcode tattooed on Prompto’s wrist. 

He’d said it was nothing to worry about - did he know what it was? What it meant? Prompto himself didn’t know anything more than what his parents told him, which was that it meant he was a war orphan. They hadn’t said from where, what country would stamp orphaned children like products in a grocery store, though it wasn’t that hard to guess. But Prompto had never actually asked them, because if he was from Niflheim, the country everyone hated, the country hell-bent on destroying his home, he didn’t want to know. 

But apparently Future Noctis knew. Did the others, Future Ignis and Future Gladio, know? Prompto’s own future self was with them, so maybe not. Or maybe… 

Prompto bit his lip, sharp enough that he tasted blood, and pressed his face harder into Noctis’s hair. He had to go out there. He had to find out. He just… needed a second. 

But the air in the tent wasn’t getting any cooler, and his bones ached from the hard ground. He reluctantly disentangled himself from Noctis and sat up. 

Dim green sunlight filtered through the tent walls, illuminating a small mountain with an eagle tattoo and the silver-black vest of the Kingsglaive: Future Gladio, sprawled in the middle of the tent, sound asleep. Past him, Future Noctis mirrored Noct, sleeping with his head on his arm and his mouth hanging slightly open. He looked a lot less scary like that. Prompto swallowed a hysterical giggle - it was probably illegal or something to think that a king of Lucis looked doofy.

The tent flap was unzipped but hanging closed, soft voices drifting through as the edges of the flap swayed with a breeze that didn’t quite make it inside the tent. Prompto did a quick mental tally: both Ignises must be outside, along with Young Gladio and Prompto’s future self. He really wished one of the Noctises was awake - even the scary future version - and that maybe there was one fewer Ignis, but he could deal with it. It was his own future self he needed to talk to, anyway. 

Crawling on his bruised knees hurt, but standing on his scraped-up feet as he climbed out of the tent wasn’t any better. He tugged the black mantle tighter around his shoulders, its heavy heat preferable to both the sharp bite of the sun overhead on his bare skin, and walking around with nothing on but his pajama pants. The sun was blinding bright and he squinted, one hand rising to shield his eyes. Was the sun ever this bright in Insomnia? It was weird, looking up at the sky and not seeing the familiar shimmer of the Wall. 

“Good morning,” Future Ignis called. 

Prompto blinked, willing his eyes to adjust until he could make out Ignis and Future Ignis standing side by side at a small fold-out table to one side of the big haven rock. They had apparently been sorting through a small pile of something that might have been vegetables, but washed-out and sickly pale. Future Ignis had his head tilted slightly toward Prompto, his visored gaze focused somewhere on the middle distance, and, right. Noct had said he was blind in the future. Young Ignis, though, met Prompto’s eyes and smiled. “Good morning,” he repeated. “Noct is still asleep, I take it?”

Prompto nodded. 

“‘Course he is,” Gladio said. He was sitting in a canvas chair beside the low-burning coals that were all that was left of the fire, the hoodie he’d been wearing last night shucked to reveal a black muscle shirt with the Lucian crest embroidered over the heart. “I guess he ain’t any better about sleeping in the future, either.” 

“Some things never change,” Future Ignis agreed. 

“That’s Noct for ya,” a new voice added. Prompto made himself look over at his future self, sprawled in another chair on Gladio’s far side, booted feet kicked out and face tilted back into the sun. He stretched, lazy as a cat, then sat up, his eyes finding Prompto’s for a moment before looking over at Future Ignis. “Iggy, any plans for breakfast?” 

“We’ve nowhere near enough in the armory for eight,” Future Ignis said, tapping the table beside the little pile. “If we want to eat, we’ll have to hunt for it.” 

“Hunt what?” Young Ignis asked, frowning. 

“There’s a herd of dualhorn roughly three-quarters of a mile that way.” Future Ignis pointed off to one side of the haven, though he didn’t turn his head; the effect was more than a little unnerving. “Perhaps you and Gladio could retrieve one.” 

The poleaxed expression on Ignis’s face was almost enough to offset the creepy thought of going out and killing something for breakfast. Intellectually, Prompto knew meat came from animals, but he’d always gotten meat from the grocery store, already well dead and packaged into neat cuts that made it easy to forget it had once been a living, breathing creature. 

From the look on Ignis’s face, he felt the same way, but after a couple of seconds he recovered enough to squint in the direction his future self was pointing. “I don’t see anything. Are you sure?” 

“When one loses the use of one sense,” Future Ignis said, his voice neutral, “one learns to pay more attention to those which remain.” 

Future Prompto snorted. “He can probably hear Takka cooking breakfast back at Hammerhead. If he says they’re there, they’re there.” 

Ignis shot a sideways look at his future self, his expression unreadable. Prompto couldn’t blame him; seeing his own future self was weird enough without knowing that he’d be blind, too. 

Gladio, apparently unfazed by both Future Ignis’s ability to hear and the idea of killing breakfast, said, “What about Noct? I’m not just leaving him here alone.” 

“He’s hardly alone,” Future Ignis said mildly. “I daresay the other Gladio and I can protect him for the short time such a hunt will take.” 

“What about him?” Gladio asked, jerking a thumb at Future Prompto.

“I’m taking Mini-Me to the watershed,” Future Prompto said. “I wanna fill up our water, and he probably wants a shower.” 

Prompto blinked, caught off-guard as both Gladio and Ignis looked at him. “I’m fine,” he managed. 

“No, he has a point,” Ignis admitted. “We need the water, for one thing, and you need some real clothes, as well.” 

Prompto looked down at his pajama pants and winced. “Yeah, I, uh, I’d like that.” 

His future self stood up; blue magic shimmered around his hands and suddenly he held a pair of battered black boots. He tossed them to Prompto; caught off-guard again, Prompto fumbled them and they clattered to the ground. “They should fit,” Future Prompto said. “My feet haven’t changed size since I started high school.” 

Prompto eyed the boots uncertainly - they were scuffed and stained, the laces knotted and frayed - but he did want to talk to his future self in private, and Future Gladio’s comment last night about scorpions and bugs and sand rang through his mind. He stuffed his feet into the boots, trying not to think too hard about it. If they belonged to his future self, it was like they belonged to him, right? And they did fit like they belonged to him, so maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. 

“C’mon,” Future Prompto said over his shoulder as he sauntered toward the ramp down the side of the haven. “It’s a twenty-minute walk out to the water tower and if we take too long we’re gonna get sunburned.” 

“Right,” Prompto said, and scrambled after him.