#Uncle Iggy really rocks

[rayrayor]

Ok Getting back into Drabbles.

This week, I had the beach boys on my mind. The song, Do You Wanna Dance, got stuck in my head, hence the title as our prompt this week. Also writing a new Galladad fic so that pair is on my mind.

@galladrabbles , thank you all for hosting a place for us to stretch the brain and set up great reads. ❤😘

The car was quiet. Mickey watched Ian drive; the chin jutted " I mean she didn't hurt him badly and only knocked out one tooth, baby tooth at that. Plus, I told you this playgroup was too soft man. And she used a total Gallagher move." Ian looked back at their six-year-old. "Tell Papa what you said to Ryan before you punched him." Lily was unrepentant. " He said you were Queers and that's mean. So, I asked him if he wanted to dance, then told him don't fear the reaper." Mickey looked at Ian. " Ok you win, Iggy should not babysit."

[idkwhatshappeningbutok]

So, I'm writing a fic bc I read a fic and now I'm having THOUGHTS.

So. We fuck with the time table. Instead of Noctis being 10yo, Ignis being 12, Luna 14, and Ravus 17 (how old I normally hc them to be for the attack), they're about 2 years younger (Ravus is 16 but only has been for like 3 weeks). Noctis and Regis went to Tenebrea with Claruas, Ignis' uncle, and Ignis because they thought it would be a good idea for Noctis and Luna to get to know each other. Obviously this falls to shit and the Empire attacks. However, the kids make it out and Queen Sylva doesn't die. I have an oc (her name is Kendra and ill explain her more at the end) who ends up going with the kids because she's friends with Ravus. The kids end up going to Galahd to hide, and of course change their names.

So now Ravus is 'Ralin' but not really because they chose that sense it shortens to Rae, and that's Luna's nickname for him. Kendra just shortens it to Ken. Luna's now Lily. Ignis is Edward because Eddy sounds like Iggy. Noctis is Nathin because Nat sounds like Noct.

So they end up in Galahd, which is mostly open to the Tenebrain refugees, so long as they contribute in some way. They don't really need to worry about money because due to the war the government has all the money, and people just use trade. The kids end up on the largest island (will use map we see in ep. Ardyn and put screenshots at end), and they wander around for a few days before Ravus finds somewhere for them to stay. This is a slightly rundown inn with 5 floors and a basement, each floor has two apartments.

They are on the second room on the second floor. This inn is run by a woman, Miss Erica, and rather than paying rent they just kinda work for her. So she'll send Ravus out of run errands and teaches Kendra to cook. Because she is teaching them how to cook and clean. She also has a school on the top floor.

Their version of school is set up different and I will explain that in another post, but they all have to go to school at different times of day.

Nyx and his family also live here. Nyx ends up becoming friends with Ravus. Nyx's mom helps watch Luna, Ignis, and Noctis. And everything is good for about 2 years, then the Empire attacks again. Ravus protects Nyx's sister and motjer, and losses his left hand and about half of his left forearm. Kendra was hiding in the inn's basement like she was meant to be doing. Ignis and Noctis were out in a field not to far away and get attacked by a Maralith (giant 6armed sword welding snake lady). Ignis dies, but Noct doesn't know that so he accidentally brings him back to life. Iggy is now blind. Noctis has about the same ingury that would have sent him to Tenebrae in canon. Luna panics and ACCIDENTALLY SUMMONS A GODDESS.

She's also an oc, Ifrit's younger twin, goddess of molten rock. Her name is Agyua. She puts everyone in a pocket dimention of sorts, and kicks the Empire the fuck out of there. She did not send Luna away, and sort of goes through Luna's head to figure out where to put people when she puts them back. Like putting Ravus, Ignis, and Noctis in the hospital. Luna passes out, ends up in a coma to regain her strength. Same with Noct. Kendra has to help with cleanup, and Ravus and Ignis help each other relearn how to walk. (Ravus doesn't get a prosthetic for a few more years because unlike most healthcare in Galahd those aren't free.)

Now Agyua gives Galahd's solders and medics her blessing, and now you have the Glaive only not loyal to Lucis. These abilities do change a bit based on where you're from, like Tenebrain's are very good healers.

About now Sylva makes a deal with another oc, Miyako, goddess of the dead, and also Ardyn. Miyako was imprisoned by Bahumut and whipped from history, and is pissed at him. Cor also adopts Prompto around now. Kendra joins the hunters.

Another four years Regis still hasn't been able to track down Noct, and make Cor the heir. Regis keeps a group to secretly look for Noct (Gladio, Aranea, Cor, eventually Iris) Prompto has been online buddies with Noct for a while now, figures out who and where he is, and tells Cor. Cor sends him with Gladio, Aranea, and Iris to go get him. He's not home when they get there but Luna is, and she thinks them sus so she stalls until Noct does get home. Noct knows Prom, nobody else. And trusts Prom, but nobody else. Hence more stalling until Ravus can get beck, because he's been in charge from day one, Ignis isn't n town today and neither is Kendra.

Ravus has Prompto call Cor to better explain the situation, basically goes 'I'm not dragging us over that hell hole of a war zone to get to Insomnia' and now Gladio is mad at Ravus because Cor put Ravus in charge and Glado was supposed to be. Another year, and Miyako uses an army of dragon ghosts to drive the Empire out of Tenebrae. Miyako and Agyua are dating and have Tenenbrae and Galahd make an allince. Somewhere in there Ravus and Ignis get together. Also almost all of them end up fighting on the front lines at least once. Luna and Ravus (bc he also can heal screw u) fix up Noct and Iggy so Iggy can see in one eye and Noct's only issue is he now accidently shares him magic with Ignis in ways he's not supposed to be able to. Libertus and Crowe move in down the street, become friends with them.

Ardyn kidnaps Sol, kills her dad who was the heir the nif throne, and gives her to Sylva because that man doesn't know how babies work. Now the Empire is starting to self destruct.

Two years later, and our group gets to go to Insomnia. (Also Noct and Luna are a thing now.) They tell a few people about who they actually were, and Nyx is flabbergasted lol. After a bit Luna and Ravus have to go home, which isn't fun because by now they all have some level of seperation angxity and codependency issues (pls ignore bad spelling).

They figure out the whole Prophcey, go f*ck Bahumut, fight him with Agyua and Miyako, win, and Ardyn ends up ruling Lucis with Area after Miyako brings her back form the dead, while Noct and Luna get married and run Tenebrae. happy ending but Nyx dies only to come back during fighting god. so. just don't always trust that the dead are really dead.

Anyways! Kendra! She's 15 at the start, has long brown hair she likes to dye random colors, is pretty smart, and strong, basically the dad friend while Ravus is the mom friend. Also sarcasm.

Map screenshots! 1. what gods rule where, 2. map of Galahd as best i could, 3. Altissia, 4. Insomina in the light and the rest of Lucis, 5. the weird cost above nif is tenebrae, 6. full world map, 7. the other islands above tenebrae are where demons first popped up & are uninhabited, 8. nifelheim.

[elsandifer]

The Monkey Island videogame series?

When my sister was born—so when I was ten—my uncle bought me a lizard for Christmas. The idea was that I was presumably going to be feeling jealous after ten years of being an only child, and so I could use a pet. This was, however, not an especially popular move with… anyone really. I thought the lizard was vaguely neat (I named him Iggy), but he wasn’t exactly the most social pet—about all you could do with him is poke him and make it dart around his tank. Also, he ate live crickets, which had a certain gory fun to it but was a bit much. My mother, meanwhile—who had not been consulted on this gift plan at any point—found him terrifying and was constantly afraid he’d gotten out whenever she was out of bed in the night, which was a lot what with the newborn daughter and all.

A couple of months later, I wake up one morning and Iggy is dead. Distinctly the wrong color, laid out over his little heated rock unmoving, no matter how much I poked him or how many crickets I threw in. Blatantly dead. So I do what anyone would do and burst into tears. My father was out of town for some reason, and I tore into my mother’s room sobbing that Iggy died. (I distinctly remember this sounding vaguely like an accusation, as if I were tattling on him.)

My mother, a sensible woman who correctly assessed the lack of shits I actually gave about this lizard, went into the Rainy Day Closet and gave me a copy of The Secret of Monkey Island, which I quickly installed and got myself lost in until the afternoon, at which point Iggy awoke from his torpor and I burst into tears a second time, even more upset that my lizard had resurrected himself than I had been that he’d died.

We ended up donating Iggy to the pet store shortly thereafter, and I happily played through the rest of The Secret of Monkey Island. The insult swordfighting was a highlight I remember to this day, along with the hilarious sequence in which you sneak into the governor’s mansion (or something similar) and watch as the game auto-inputs various increasingly ludicrous commands and various things happen unseen behind the wall you’re sneaking through.

Never played another one though.

[dbstaches]

MATERIAL WORLD: THE GRID Grid your loins, it's Dave Ball (left) and Richard Norris Picture: Roger Sargent

NME magazine, 30 October 1993 — full article text bellow

WHERE ARE YOU NOW AND HOW DO YOU FEEL? RICHARD: In the Village Inn as usual, unshaven, post-remixing lag DAVE: The Village Inn, tired and emotional

FIRST RECORD YOU EVER BOUGHT? R: ‘Blockbuster’, The Sweet D: ‘Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes’, Edison Lighthouse

WHO WOULD DIRECT THE ‘TEXAS COWBOYS’ MOVIE? R: Andy Warhol, if he was alive, Lonesome Cowboys 2 D: Sam Peckinpah – lots of fake blood

WHICH CHARACTER WOULD YOU HAVE PLAYED IN THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY? R: Clint – for the stubble and cheroots D: Lee Van Cleef. He wears black clothes, smokes cigars – my kind of guy

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW MARC ALMOND AND WHAT WAS HE DOING? D: On TV, doing a costume-change at Royal Albert Hall

DESCRIBE EACH OTHER IN THREE WORDS? R: Jolly Uncle Jack D: Griff Rhys Jones

WAS VIC REEVES AS SURREAL IN REAL LIFE? R: Haddock

FONDEST MEMORY OF YOUR NME DAYS? R: Jack Barron ranting, Fred Dellar (gawd bless ’im) and two weeks in Ibiza on expenses

MOST EMBARRASSING RECORD IN YOUR COLLECTION? R: A double LP of Barbara Woodhouse teaching dogs to sit. Walkies! D: ‘In The Night’ by Tony Blackburn

HOW DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF SPAGHETTI DISCO? R: Take That doing ‘Rawhide’

BEST THING ABOUT PERFORMING LIVE? R: Watching the wide-eyed and legless

WHAT INSPIRES YOU? R: Punk rock, disco D: Everything

WORST FLYING EXPERIENCE? R: Being in economy class D: Flying from LA to London on acid; flying from London to the South of France with Depeche Mode, dropping 1,000 feet when we hit an air pocket

WHO WOULD BE YOUR DREAM COLLABORATION? R: Iggy Pop D: A film score with John Barry/Angelo Badalamenti

IF YOU HAD A LABEL WHICH TWO ROCK ACTS WOULD YOU SIGN? R: AC/DC, Nine Inch Nails D: Zodiac Mindwarp, The Ramones

WHAT DID YOU THINK WHEN THEY DESCRIBED YOUR MUSIC AS “JUNGLE” ON CORONATION STREET? R: Smashing, chuck D: I liked it so much I sampled it

FIRST BANDS? R: The Innocent Vicars, The Fruitbats, The Wild Kitchen, East Of Eden D: Soft Cell

HOW MANY TELEVISIONS DO YOU OWN R: About 20. I got a fine for not having a license

DESCRIBE YOUR TOTP EXPERIENCE? D: Tedium-tastic

THREE GREAT THINGS ABOUT THAILAND AT CHRISTMAS? R: The sky at night, bats, blue-capped evenings with neon fish

HOW WOULD YOU SPEND AN IDEAL SUNDAY AFTERNOON? R: Horizontally, after a bad game of golf D: Lunch with friends and good wine

WHAT'S THE WEIRDEST SITUATION YOU'VE EVER BEEN IN? R: Being surrounded by Hackney constabulary with Genesis and Paula P Orridge at 5am after imitating a Sunday People reporter D: Running naked down a Madrid hotel corridor with Stevo, wielding two replica Flintlock pistols, chasing two Spanish girls

FAVOURITE PEOPLE? D: Richard & Judy, Paul Merton, Dennis The Barman

CAN YOU RETIRE ON THE MONEY ‘TAINTED LOVE’ MADE IN AMERICA? D: No, but I'm, sure our American lawyers and A&R men could!

WHAT DID MADONNA DO WHEN YOU UPSTAGED HER IN NEW YORK? D: She forgave me the next morning

CHOOSE A RECORD TO WAKE UP TO/SLEEP TO/HAVE SEX TO R: Wake up: ‘Cobalt Blue’, Michael Brook. Sleep: ‘Music For Airports’, Brian Eno. Sex: ‘There's A Riot Goin' On’, Sly And The Family Stone D: Wake up: ‘Rise And Shine’, The Flintstones. Sleep: ‘Very/Relentless’, Pet Shop Boys. Sex: ‘Neroli’, Brian Eno

WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO? R: Write a mean paragraph. I could be an A&R man if I was really desperate D: Top oarsman and not a bad cook

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO? R: Like Aldous Huxley

[thevioletjones]

Congrats on the kudos, u deserve it! I did not undestand if I'm supposed to choose one of the lines for the prompt or if I have to combine two or more lines lol. But if it is to choose only one: number 5. If more than one: 5 and 45. *---*

Thank you! I used both. Great inspiration, actually. It spun out of control! 😀

Prompt 2: “How much of that did you hear?” + “Why are you helping me?”

Interloper

“Jesus, Iggy, I’m gonna fuckin’ murder you myself one of these days,” Mickey threatened in exasperation.

They were both leaning over, hands on knees, gasping for air, just having run full-speed for at least twelve blocks. The pillars beneath the L tracks were now providing the mild seclusion they needed to wait out a cursory police search of the area.

“Ain’t my fault!” Iggy exclaimed defensively.

Mickey’s face scrunched up to a degree that only his dumbest family members could make it reach. “Yes it fuckin’ was! Who else’s fault would it be?”

He’d always kind of wondered how he was the only one in his crap-ass family to be gifted with at least half a brain. Well, him and his younger sister, Mandy. She was alright. Skanky and crazy, but not a total idiot. He couldn’t say the same for his brothers, male cousins, father, uncle, etcetera. Mickey couldn’t even get his begrudgingly favorite brother to follow a simple goddamn plan that would’ve kept them out of trouble when they were out committing crimes. He was just gonna have to start doing everything himself. Safety in numbers didn’t apply when the other member of your team seemed to have been lobotomized when no one was paying attention. It was probably all the meth. Mickey was smart enough to stay away from that particular bullshit. Didn’t want to become a scabby, denture-wearing, toothpick skinny, low-life with no mind left to lose. He was content to stick to coke and weed like a normal person.

“That old bitch came outta nowhere! Self-defense!”

“It ain’t self-defense if you’re robbin’ the joint, numbnuts! We’re lucky you fuckin’ missed!”

If he had it his way, Mickey wouldn’t be doing these petty robberies anymore. He much preferred bigger jobs, like gun and drug running. But times were tough, and he had to do what he had to do. He’d even considered getting a legit job for once in his life, but the skills he possessed weren’t exactly easily adaptable to the straight and narrow path. Being a criminal was how he was raised, and all he knew. It brought heat, but it was still a comfortable fit. Living without the constant presence of major risk would probably feel so foreign as to drive him crazier than a meth addiction in the long run.

The job Mickey’d lined up involved hitting up a few different borderline upmarket stores that’d opened up in their neck of the woods since the gentrifiers had set upon The Yards, then selling the goods to a guy he knew in the online black market trade. Not as lucrative as heavy metal and funny powder, but a decent payday nonetheless. Except fuckface over here who had to ruin everything by getting trigger-happy on Main while they were attempting to heist merchandise from location number two of three. If the pigs nabbed either one of them, they’d be going down for at least five to ten. Years. Mickey was done donating years to the prison industrial complex. The most he could afford was months at best.

“When’d you turn into such a giant asshole?” asked Iggy. “Oh, nevermind, probly when you started gettin’ it railed on the reg.”

A giant smile stretched across his perpetually dirty face, causing Mickey’s eyebrows to lift dangerously high on his forehead. Occasionally, his dumber-than-rocks older brother managed to think up some admittedly clever asides. Mickey didn’t know whether to punch him or give him daps.

Before he could decide, however, he heard a distinct little snicker from the other side of the large concrete column they were leaning on, raising his hackles to invisibly join his eyebrows in their heightened incredulity.

Mickey hastily rounded the pillar and grabbed the giggler by the shirt collar, hauling him to their side and pinning him next to Iggy with his forearm. He looked into the guy’s eyes, and finally registered who it was. He kinda sorta knew him from around town. Used to hang out with his sister back in high school. He was a lot scrawnier then. This version of the dude could probably hold his own with Mickey in a fight. He’d built some definite muscle.

“How much of that did you hear, asshole?” Mickey demanded, seeing Iggy flash the gun in his waistband in his periphery.

This idiot didn’t look as rattled as he should be, though. He just shrugged his shoulders.

“Considering I was here first, I guess… all of it?”

He was wearing an annoying little smirk, his green-blue eyes shining bright, and his red hair distracting Mickey as much as the light dusting of freckles across his nose and cheeks. He had a stupidly ultra-defined chin, and Mickey immediately hated it. His chin hadn’t looked like that when he was a 15-year-old pipsqueak.

“Wipe that smile off your face, bitch,” ordered Mickey, pressing his arm harder against the guy’s pale throat. “You think this is fuckin’ funny? You know who we are?”

The guy shrugged again, like this was all a casual conversation on the corner. “Mickey.” He glanced at his dumb, blonde, curlicue brother. “And Iggy, right? I used to hang out with Mandy all the time. Have a good memory.”

“Yeah? Well I remember your goofy ass too, Gallagher. I know where you live and I know who your family is, so if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your big mouth shut or I’ll pick ‘em off one by one and save you for last. Got it?”

The dude snorted, and Mickey wondered if he was some kind of crazy tweaker with no sense of propriety or self-preservation.

“You outta your goddamn mind or somethin’?” Mickey added. “I ain’t jokin’.”

“Look, Gallaghers don’t snitch, alright?” He held his hands up placatingly. “I promise not to say shit to anyone. It’s none of my business, and I really don’t care. That good enough for you?”

Mickey loosened his hold, but sized him up all the while. “Maybe. But it’s possible you need a little lesson to remember it good. Wouldn't want you to forget about the consequences of you breakin’ your word.”

The dude winced and shoved Mickey off. “I don’t need a fucking beatdown, Mickey. I get it.”

“Ohhhh,” Mickey singsonged derisively, meeting Iggy’s gaze. “He gets it.” He thumbed his eyebrow. “Guess I’m just s’posed to believe you, huh?”

“That would be ideal, yeah.”

Mickey had to give it to him; he almost cracked a smile. The kid had balls. Most people around their neighborhood cowered before a Milkovich like spring lambs. Still, he lived by a code, and letting some rando walk away unscathed when he had dirt on him just didn’t fit the rules.

He cocked his fist back to knock it into tall, pale, and red’s pearly white teeth, just as the stunted siren of a cop car rang out very close by. Their collective heads all snapped toward the sound, and after sharing a meaningful look between brothers, Iggy took off running once again, without a word.

Normally, Mickey would’ve followed hot on his heels, but some unknown force was keeping his useless feet stuck to the dirty ground, eyes watching as Gingerballs glanced around the column at the flashing lights, taking a very long look that wasn’t suspicious at all.

Before he could react outwardly, Mickey was pulled against a hard body, Gallagher’s warm breath sending a shiver down his spine as he whispered, “Be cool. I got you.”

Suddenly, big hands were caressing Mickey’s back, and despite a part of him not minding in the least, the rest of him stiffened considerably.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he rasped out, hearing the telltale slam of a car door, and attempting to pull away. But a strong grip held him close, spinning him around so that he was the one up against the concrete now.

“Saving your thug ass. I know this guy, okay? Just chill and follow my lead.”

Okay, what the hell was this surreal turn of events? Gallagher was bold as shit, cradling Mickey all gay like. Sure, Iggy had made a fag joke earlier, kicking off this whole… whatever it was, but still. This guy had no way of knowing it was based in reality. Did he?

And had Gallagher really been gay this whole time? How had Mickey never sniffed this scorching information out?

“What’s going on here, boys?”

The copper rounded the corner, genuinely swinging his nightstick like a cartoon character, and Mickey had to suppress a deep roll of his eyes.

“Milkovich?” Mr. CPD continued, extreme disbelief coloring his voice.

Mickey was abruptly reminded that he was currently stuck between a rock and a hard body, and nothing about their entanglement screamed anything other than gay, gay, super-fucking-gay. Not that Mickey hadn’t come to accept who he was and what he liked, but he didn’t go around spreading the truth all over town either. This could seriously damage his carefully crafted reputation.

“Tony!” Ian interjected, sparing him from having to invent some lame excuse, and the cop’s eyes snapped to him instead.

“Ian?” His tone was still dripping with astonishment.

“Yeah! What's up? How you been?”

Mickey shot him an ‘are you goddamn serious right now?’ look, and Ian just squeezed his hip in tacit reply.

“Uhhh… gooood? Care to explain whatever…” he waved his stick between them, “this is?”

Ian laughed and he figured the dude truly was a nutcase. Mickey was going to jail for sure.

“Um, well,” answered Ian, suddenly playing it very meek and demure, “Mickey and I were just… you know…”

“You and… Mickey?”

“Not fucking or anything! Just... hanging out?”

“Hanging out.”

“Yeah, you know how it is. I’m tryin’ to convince Mick here to come home with me, but he’s being squirrelly.” He shook his head and shrugged. “South Side guys.”

“What the fuck?” Mickey whispered harshly, completely taken aback.

Ian just squeezed him tightly again, which was not helping his whole brain scramble situation.

“Huh,” said Tony, a tone of acceptance seeping in. “Mickey Milkovich, eh? Wow.”

“Come on, Tony. I don’t have to tell you this is all a big secret, do I?” replied Ian.

“And blondie who ran away like there was a damn fire? Did he flee a threesome?”

Mickey frowned and fake-wretched, finally speaking up. “Fuck no, man. That was my dumbass brother. He don’t like cops.”

“Uh huh. And you and your brother didn’t happen to be getting into trouble about 15 minutes ago, did you?”

“No sir,” Mickey said with a mock salute.

Ian kicked at his foot in warning.

“He’s been with me since like 3 o’clock, Tone. Scout’s honor.”

Officer Tony eyed them both with a look of skepticism, but didn’t contradict Ian’s word. The CB sounded from the open window of the black and white, with some cop-speak crackling over the airwaves.

“Stay put,” said Tony, eyes lingering longer on Mickey’s than Ian’s. “Both of you.”

He retreated to answer the radio call, and Mickey let out a deep whoosh of air.

“Goddamn, Gallagher. You’re spinnin’ quite a yarn here.”

“Yep,” Ian agreed. “A big gay yarn.”

“How the fuck did you know—”

“That you’re gay? Well, I heard Iggy make that joke, obviously. Pretty specific bottom joke to make if you weren’t actually into it. Plus, I always had my suspicions.”

Mickey scoffed. “Yeah fuckin’ right!”

“I did!”

“Whatever. Why are you helping me?”

“Out of the kindness of my heart?”

“Try again.”

“I don’t know. Why not? Makes us even or something. Now you know I won’t rat you out. About any of it. I wouldn’t out someone like that, and I don’t give a shit about the illegal crap you’re wrapped up in. Tony Markovich is like turbo gay too. Used to bang my sister, I think, but he came out a couple years ago. He won’t let it slip about you. He’s not a total bastard just cuz he’s a cop, ya know?”

Mickey bit his lip in contemplation. Gallagher seemed pretty genuine. Still didn’t much make sense in his brain, but whatever.

“Fine. But you know what’s gonna happen if—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, kick my ass, kill my family, got it.”

“You’re a cocky little shit, ain’t you?”

Ian smirked again, and it was pretty sexy, actually. “Maybe.”

He had the gall to push against Mickey more fully, pressing the bottom halves of their bodies closer together.

Mickey gasped. “Gonna have to ask you again… what the hell do you think you’re doin’?”

“You wanna go out sometime?”

Mickey cackled in his face. “You’re off your fuckin’ rocker for sure.”

“Am not! I can tell you want me.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ. Cocky little shit doesn’t even begin to cover it, does it?”

“Come onnnn,” Ian prodded.

“Do I look like I date, Gallagher?”

“A date can be whatever we want it to be, Milkovich. I’m easy.”

“Yeah, I bet you are.”

“Okay,” Tony interrupted, coming back into view. “Get the hell outta here. You wanna bang, do it indoors somewhere, or I’ll have to arrest you for public indecency or worse. And Milkovich… if I find any evidence of what I’m sure you know I’m talking about, I’ll be paying your ass a visit real soon.”

Mickey let the eyeroll loose then, withholding a flip of his middle finger, and deadpanning instead, “Don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, officer.”

Tony sighed loudly. “Whatever.”

“Thanks, Tony!” Ian cried at his retreating back.

“You always kiss cop ass like that? Cuz that’s not the way to get into my pants, Red.”

Ian just grinned, finally pulling his body away as he looked around. “You gonna follow me home or what?”

Mickey wanted to tell him to go fuck himself and swagger away like a badass. But was he not a thirsty man being propositioned by a hot guy who just randomly saved his ass from a trip to the slammer?

He at least feigned protest, huffing and puffing as he kicked at the dirt. “Goddamn it, Gallagher, you drive a hard bargain.”

Ian’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, as Mickey added, “Lead the way, weirdo.”

[archonssun]

Bad Timing

Aaaaand here’s that second story I was talking about. This one will also be a little fluffier than the other story. And this might be a weird story; I’m running on minimal sleep rn, but I wanted to get this idea out before it got lost in the void.

And a note: takes place four years after Noct disappears.

Bad Timing

WC: 1760

You loved to surprise Prompto. In the past few years, it had become a religious practice to surprise him with something every morning. Whether it be a kiss, or hug, or something more, you never failed.

Well, until today.

You hadn’t been feeling too hot for the past few weeks, and you had an inkling as to why. Your gut feeling was confirmed early last week when you were late. You had been floored when you found out and were excited, but that didn’t mean you weren’t scared out of your mind at the same time.

It wasn’t the fact that you were pregnant with Prompto’s child that had you worried. No, you always knew you wanted to start a family with the blond. It was the fact that your child would be born into a dangerous world, and who knows if they would ever see the sun.

***

“(N/n)?” Prompto’s voice reached your ears and you panicked, hiding the test in your boot. “You okay, babe?”

“Yeah,” you exhaled, giving him a smile. “I’m okay, Prom.”

Prompto’s forehead furrowed just slightly with a frown before it was wiped off by one of the other Hunters that had taken up residence in Hammerhead.

“Oh, yeah, we’ve got another hunt,” Prompto said suddenly, straightening from where he was leaning against the doorframe. “You coming along?”

Against your better judgement, you nodded, taking his hand in yours and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Yeah, I’ll meet you guys out there in a minute, ‘kay?” The blond nodded and gave you a kiss in return before leaving the caravan, leaving you alone with a pregnancy test stuffed into your shoe.

***

This was a mistake, you cursed yourself, already feeling a bit queasy from the amount of movement you had down in an effort to down the daemon. Everytime you would roll or flip out of the way, you had to fight back the urge to throw up.

You thought you had done a pretty good job at disguising your discomfort, but your blond lover knew you hadn’t been feeling well. He had snapped at the other hunters when they had asked him to grab you for this hunt, but had wound up doing it anyway. Despite how much he wanted you to be far from the battlefield when you were ill.

Prompto watched you like a hawk, rarely letting you leave his sight. It was around the time that the daemon had been defeated that he looked over and saw your brows furrowed and your bottom lips between your teeth.

“(Y/n),” he whispered, cupping your face as he turned your eyes up to meet his. “What’s wrong? Please, tell me.”

At first you refused to speak, eyes cast down as you thought up a way to get out of answering the question. After a few moments, Prompto sighed, pulling you against his chest.

“It’s fine if you don’t wanna tell me everything,” he began, stroking your hair. “I promise, I’ll help in any way I can.”

“I just miss Iggy and Gladio,” you wrapped your arms around his back as you hummed, pouting when Prompto let out a quiet laugh.

“You wanna go see ‘em?” he questioned. He placed a kiss to your forehead when you nodded. “‘Kay. Let’s go.”

***

“Iggy,” you muttered, the blind man turning in the direction of your voice. The royal advisor wore a small frown, and that was when you knew: Iggy knew about the baby. Instead of saying anything more, you walked up and hugged the man, thankful that Prompto was off training with Gladio somewhere else at that moment.

“Iggy, I’m scared.” His hands came to rest on your upper back, rubbing in circles.

“Have you told Prompto?”

“... no …”

“You need to tell him, (Y/n). He has a right to know.”

“I know,” you grimaced, hands fisting in his shirts as you buried your head into his chest. “But I’m scared he won’t--”

“(Y/n), I have known Prompto for many years, so trust me when I say he will be happy,” Ignis said, a scolding tone in his voice for a split second. You heaved a sigh before backing away from the man and looking him in the eyes.

“Okay, I’ll tell him, soon…”

***

Sorry, Iggy. You grimaced. It had been two weeks since you had talked to the man, and you still hadn’t told Prompto. There wasn’t a good time to bring it up, because you two would be out hunting daemons basically all day, every day. Thankfully, though, you had gotten over your morning sickness, so the blond probably just thought you had a bug or something. Now, you were pretty good when it came to fast movements and battle, but you preferred to stay on the backlines with Prompto.

You lifted the rifle in your arms, lining up the shot with the daemon before pulling the trigger. The shot rang out in the endless dark, and you watched from downrange as the daemon collapsed. It was quickly swarmed by the rest of the hunters and finished off, ending your little foray into the landscape outside Hammerhead.

“You good?” Prompto’s hand came to clasp your shoulder, and you nodded, standing and popping your back. You hummed in response and took his hand, rubbing at your eyes. You needed sleep -- real sleep.

Maybe that’s why you didn’t hear it, the sound of an Iron Giant spawning right behind you. Your sleep-deprived brain couldn’t understand what was happening as your body was suddenly flung to the side. Your back hit a rock, stopping you dead and giving a view that made your blood run cold.

“Prompto!” Your screech had the rest of the hunters racing to where you two were, but the damage had already been done. Prompto had taken the hit that had been meant for you, his side now having a fairly large hole in it. You held your breath, waiting for his chest to rise and fall, and when it didn’t, you swore you heard your heart crack.

You couldn’t focus, couldn’t wrap your mind around the fact that Prompto wasn’t breathing, that he wasn’t fighting. You barely remember running to his side, pulling his head into your lap as you slouched over him. Tears fell to his face, cutting through the grime and blood caked on his skin. You couldn’t remember using a Phoenix Down, either; could only remember the rush of relief when the blond began breathing again.

“You can’t die here,” you sobbed, pressing your forehead to his and squeezing your eyes shut. “You can’t leave me, you can’t leave us. Please, wake up.”

“Thank the Six you’re okay.” Prompto’s voice was hoarse, and just the sound of it made the tears fall faster when you met his eyes.

“You can’t die, Prom.” Biting your lip, you decided he needed to know. “I’m pregnant, Prom. Please, don’t leave us behind. Please, stay…”

You always did have the worst timing.

***

Not once did you leave Prompto’s side. Not when he was transported to Lestallum, not when he was brought to the one hospital that could help, not even when he lay motionless on a bed.

It had been three days since he had been injured, and your tears had dried up on the second day. So you sat next to the bed, gripping his hand tightly and resting your head on your arm.

“(Y/n),” Ignis broke the silence as he walked into the room, carrying a small container in his hands. “You need to eat something. This isn’t good for the child.”

You lifted your head from the bed, turning blank eyes to the advisor. You mumbled out an ‘okay’ and Ignis walked up to your side and handed you the container. You were slow to begin eating, but once you had begun you realized how hungry you were and the food was gone all too soon. Once you were finished, you put the empty container on the table beside the bed, then went back to watching over Prompto.

“I can’t lose him, Ignis,” you choked out, grabbing Prompto’s hand again. “I’ve lost too much already. If I were to lose him, too--”

A groan fell from Prompto’s lips, cutting you off as you shot to your feet. Forgetting what you had been saying to Ignis, you cupped the blond’s face, tears threatening to fall. Your face hovered over his, waiting.

“Prom? Please, wake up,” you whispered, thumb grazing against his cheekbone. His face scrunched up, and a few seconds later his blue eyes met your (e/c). A smile split your face and you pressed one kiss after another to his face. You heard the door close behind you and Prompto sat up, his hands resting at your waist. His eyes were downcast, staring at your stomach.

“(Y/n), were you serious? Are you really--”

“I’m sorry,” you cut him off. “I should have told you earlier. Fuck, even Iggy told me that. But I … I was scared of what you’d think.” Silence followed your admission and you felt your hope wither.

“It’s alright,” Prompto muttered as he pulled you into a hug and placed a kiss to the crown of your head. “Fuck, you’re pregnant. We’re gonna be parents; we’re gonna have a family of our own.” He pulled away from you and you were blinded by the smile on his face. “You’ve no idea how happy that makes me. I’d die a happy man.”

***

“Legatum!” Your voice echoed throughout Hammerhead, chasing after your son as his father watched. “You get back here, you little brat!”

“(Y/n)?” a voice you hadn’t heard in a decade caused you to freeze, your head turning towards Talcott’s truck to see a familiar face.

“Noct?” Prompto was the first to voice his surprise, rushing to his best friend with wide eyes. “Is that really you?”

But Noct was preoccupied with the child that was a miniature version of Prompto. The boy -- Legatum, he had heard you call him -- was the spitting image of his friend, down to the barely visible freckles on the boy’s face. Legatum had inherited Prompto’s blond hair and blue eyes, and Noct knew that this was Prompto’s son.

“‘Noct’?” Legatum asked, a puzzled expression on his face as he looked the man up and down. “You’re Uncle Noct? I thought you would be … smaller-- ow!”

You had whacked Legatum over the head, your eyes never leaving Noct.

“It really is you, Noct,” you smiled. “Welcome home, My King.”

[autumn-maple13]

Lost to Time - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: The Cape

It was late afternoon the next day when the group finally made it back to the Regalia and Amara's motorcycle, having decided to spend another night at the Haven in the Thicket for the woman to recover a bit more of her energy, as well as for them to come up with a plan. There were still a few too many loose ends for Ignis to be comfortable with by the time they eventually recovered, but even he had been unable to account for much outside the realm of the current knowledge now that Amara's secret had been revealed and left the already wildcard that was Ardyn Izunia an even more unpredictable piece.

As everyone returned their previous spots, Amara spared her cousin one more look before she turned over the engine of her bike and pulled away from the gravelly parking spot. The Regalia pulled out close behind her, and Noctis was actually attempting to keep up this time. A sharp right off the dirt road and back onto the freeway had them soon to be speeding around mountain curves until the sea came into view off to their right. She could hear a car horn behind her, so after a quick glance revealed Noctis to be signaling her, Amara pulled off into a parking spot she saw ahead.

"Noctis, what's up? We've hardly been on the road long enough-"

Prompto had run up and slung an arm around his former schoolmate before she could finish and leaned in close so he could whisper to her. "Iris is feeling a little iffy about jumping ship so soon. Noct thought a little more time for her to hang with all of us would help her feel a bit better about it."

"Ah, got it. In that case," the woman pulled out her map to glance over, soon finding where she thought they might be on a long winding road near the coast. "There's a Haven up ahead. I know we only just left the other one, but maybe we can camp out again, and do a little fishing?"

Ignis didn't seem upset at the idea. "It would be nice to restock some of our supplies."

"Alright, I'll go let Noct know!" Prompto grinned and ran back to the car, and after a quick glance back at them Amara stowed her map away and pulled her motorcycle back onto the road. It wasn't too long of a drive, with the ocean stretching out to their right providing a welcome distraction, right up until they started to cross a massive bridge, heading for one of the region's many tunnels. Amara could sense the Haven's power not far away and pulled to a stop close to a concrete staircase that led down to a sloping hill below. Noctis was careful to pull the Regalia up behind her.

"Where's this Haven at?"

"That way." Gladiolus didn't seem impressed but motioned for her to lead the way. With a nod, the redhead started down the steps, taking a moment at the bottom to look out to the mouth of the river that was feeding into the ocean whose salt was stinging her nose. The sea breeze wasn't very strong where they were, sheltered by a rocky outcrop, but she could see the trees rustling overhead. It was a fair slope downward toward the river, with rocks and boulders sticking up everywhere though it did start to clear up as they got closer to the riverbank. As they stepped out onto the open stone bank, she looked over at the cliff framed view of gentle waves, feeling the breeze pick up around them.

"Wow. I've never seen the ocean like this before."

"Really? You would have loved Galdin Quay then!" Prompto laughed, pulling out his camera to take a few photos. "Hey, maybe you should ask Iggy to take you back sometime."

"Sounds romantic," Gladiolus snickered, patting Amara's shoulder as he walked past her. "If you do go, try not to have too much fun."

The woman huffed, giving his sister a look. "I think he's jealous."

"Well he did have a crush on you way back when so-"

"Iris!"

"Wait what?!"

"Duude!"

Ignis, despite the quick adjustment of his glasses, didn't seem fazed by the implication, instead crossing his arms with a rather knowing look. "Come now Gladio, don't blame Iris for telling us something that quite frankly I'm surprised no one else noticed. However, you might want to work on that timing. I believe you're late? And by quite a few years, might I add."

Amara grimaced, turning her look on the elder Amicitia, who looked ready to die (though of what she couldn't tell). "Gladio, how about we agree to forget this happened and get back to what we actually came here to do?"

"Agreed." He nodded, glaring daggers at his smirking sister as she followed the Glaive across the grass covered rocks that lined the bottom of the cliff. It was fairly hazardous to walk across the area without paying attention to where you were stepping, so as Amara tried to focus on making sure she and the younger girl made it to what would be their camp for the night, she just hoped Noctis didn't stick his foot in a half-covered hole and hurt himself. Hearing the guys start to complain behind her as the wind picked up offered a bit of reassurance that they were at least marginally aware of the terrain around them.

"Damn, this wind's strong!" Noctis was struggling to keep his overshirt from whipping up and hitting him in the face, finally reaching down and fastening a few of the buttons to keep it from lifting up too far.

Prompto had other problems though, wearing a heart broken look as he whined. "No! My perfectly groomed hair!"

"You think you got it bad? Check out Ignis!"

"Whoa, you're right!"

The advisor scoffed, trying to ignore the wind that was ruining what might have otherwise been a perfectly put away hairstyle. "It's rude to stare."

Honestly, when she looked back at the guys, none of them looked like they were well "groomed" anyway, but after sleeping at a camp for two nights she didn't know what else to expect. The complaining, though, seemed a bit overkill in light of that.

"You all look like hell anyway, why complain about the wind messing up your hair now?"

"Hey, you're one to talk!"

"Yeah your hair looks just as bad!"

Iris looked between the younger men and their friend before shrugging. "Actually, this whole wind-swept look looks pretty good on her, I'm a little jealous."

"I know, dammit," Prompto looked defeated, running his fingers through his hair. "It's not fair."

"Neither are a lot of things Prom." The woman rolled her eyes, leading everyone around a bend. "Hey, looks like the Haven's over there, but it's got a lot of tide pools around it."

"Wait, is that a dock I see?"

"Well we know where Noctis will be spending his time until we leave."

"In that case, why not try and catch us something for dinner while we set up camp? Like I said before, we should take a chance to replenish our supplies while we can."

"On it!"

His cousin laughed as the King warped ahead of everybody, obviously eager to get to the dock and cast a line. Iris and her brother followed as closely as they could, with a few shouts to mind the erosion on the rocks around them, while the other three split off to start setting up camp. Thankfully Noctis had started storing everything in the armiger and summoned it all out for them before he summoned his fishing rod. So, while the boys set up the chairs and camp kitchen, Amara got to work pitching the tent for them, hammering the anchors into the rock with a fair amount of effort before she set about getting the sleeping bags all set out and ready for the inevitable crash that would come after whatever dinner her boyfriend would whip up with Noct's 'catch of the day'. Once her part of the work was done, she decided to walk over to the edge of the Haven and take a seat to watch Noctis fish for a bit, wondering for a moment how he would have any luck fishing in such a small area beside the literal ocean, before another thought crossed her mind. Looking back at her friends, she was a little hesitant to ask.

"Did King Regis like to fish too?"

"As I recall his majesty did enjoy a few magazines on the topic from time to time, so possibly." Ignis looked at her from where he was preparing a kettle of some sort by the camp stove. "Unfortunately, we'll never know for sure."

The woman took a slow, deep breath, turning her attention back to her friends below.

"Yeah… even though I saw it happen, I keep finding myself forgetting he's really… gone. I saw the Fall, saw nearly everything that happened, and I still don't always think it was real."

"But being a long-lost member of the royal line sunk right in?" Prompto plopped down next to her. "C'mon Ams, with everything that's happened recently, I think your whole revelation the other night was the only thing I could 'forget' was real."

"Yeah, you have a point."

"Let us not forget that her family tree bears two branches of nobility." Ignis came to join them with cups of coffee for them. Taking a place on Amara's free side, he took a moment to sip his drink before looking down to where his king, and friend, was arguing with Gladiolus about being a "backseat fisher". "What light may Lady Lunafreya yet shine on the situation? If she really did convene with your mother, the first Oracle, for so many years until Noctis led her to you, what might have been told, one Oracle to another, that the Kings of Yore couldn't possibly tell you?"

"A great deal, honestly." For a brief moment, she felt her mother's presence, flowing freely in the magic of the Haven. "For all we know, Luna could have a whole other side of the story to tell me. And honestly, I'm kind of afraid of knowing if I'm right about that."

"Ams?"

"Amara, what on Eos could possibly be left to tell that could frighten you?"

"I don't know. That's the scary part. With the Kings, it was all related to my powers as a Lucis Caelum, my place in the family tree - my Lucian lineage and all the attachments, good and bad." Amara looked down at her cup, watching the liquid give off a little bit of steam that was being carried away by the now dying wind. "I don't really know anything about the Fleuret side of myself. Even when I've talked to mother in the dreamscape, she hasn't told me anything about it. Uncle Somnus has been trying to keep the focus of the Caelum side."

"Y'know, it's a little unnerving to hear you talk about them like that," Prompto looked a little nervous. "I mean, yeah, you and Noct have always been a little weird when it came to stuff like that, but he never talked about dead relatives like this."

The woman paused, biting her lip for a moment. "It's like… They're not fully dead to me, and I think that's due to the Fleuret side. They can enter my dreams, appear as visions, all kinds of things. I know from Pip, Noct's guardian messenger, that he is building connections to the past kings from the Arms like I am, but I don't think they can speak to him the way they do with me." Ignis looked thoughtful for a moment, but before he could speak, the trio found themselves distracted by a commotion from the dock below. Noctis had reeled in a massive fish and had apparently spotted another judging by his quick recast. The advisor sighed softly, getting up from the edge.

"I best begin preparing for supper."

[grimelords]

My March playlist is finished! This one is slightly more diverse than usual, swinging all the way from vibraphone jazz to Bhad Bhabie to black metal so I’ve taken the liberty of actually sequencing it properly for you. So if you’ve got 3 hours you can listen to this straight through and be taken for a hell of a ride. No matter what you like I’m sure you’ll find something in here that you love.

Tahiti - Milt Jackson: For an unknown reason I had a big jazz vibraphone phase this month and when you're talking jazz vibraphone you're talking the Wizard Of The Vibes himself, Milt Jackson. I feel insane even having an opinion on this but it's a shame that some of the best vibraphone performances were made at a time when the actual recording technology wasn't really there, they all have this very thin quality that I think misses a lot of the great character of the instrument.

Detour - Bill Le Sage: Like compare this from 1971 to Wizard Of The Vibes from 1952, the sounds is miles warmer and gives so much more of the full range and detail of the instrument. I also listened to this song five times in a row when I first heard it, the central refrain is just so fuckin good. Like I said, big vibes vibe and who knows why.

Blowin' The Blues Away - Buddy Rich And His Sextet: Superhuman playing aside, it's unbelievable how good these drums sound. The whole first minute just feels like a tour of each specific drum and I absolutely revel in it. I feel like flute and vibes is a relatively rare combo so it's extremely nice to hear Sam Most and Mike Manieri go ham in tandem.

Yama Yama - Yamasuki Singers: A friend sent me this song that he's had stuck in his head for ten years ever since it was in a beer ad from the days when beer ads were incredible strange for complicated legal reasons about not showing people enjoying the product or something https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORfkh0OojxY and this incredible song is apparently from a 1971 French concept album where a couple of guys wrote a bunch of psychedelic songs in Japanese for an unknown reason that later became a massive drum and bass breaks album, and one of the guys was Thomas Bangalter from Daft Punk's dad! Music is crazy.

Alfonso Muskedunder - Todd Terje: I'm starting a petition to get Todd Terje to write the soundtrack for the next Mario Kart. I absolutely love this song and this whole album because it's so joyful and strange and it just sounds like nothing else I've ever heard. He seem to truly operate in a world entirely of his own.

Pala - Roland Tings: I love this song. It's like he wrote it with normal sounds and then went back and replaced every instrument with the party version. This song hands you a coconut and says welcome to the island where bad vibes are punishable by firing squad.

Keygen 13 - Haze Edit - Dubmood: There's a fucking album of keygen music on spotify and it's absolutely great and so good that someone's doing the work to recognize the value of the music this extremely weird scene produced and preserve it. If you don't know, back in the day when you pirated photoshop or whatever, you would download a license key generator which was a program made by extreme nerds who had cracked the license key algorithm to give you a fake one, and for unknown reasons they would make the keygen program play original chiptune music that someone in their nerd crew would compose. Who knows why but god bless them.

My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Remix) - Feist: The very concept of a Boys Noize remix of My Moon My Man is hilarious and it turns out it sounds absolutely amazing as well. Two great tastes that taste great together.

Low Blows - Meg Mac: I had a big Meg Mac phase this month too, listened to her album a lot and it's extremely solid. Great timing too cause her new one comes out in a month or so too. I really am excited to hear her next album because she's so good but I've always got this feeling that she hasn't reached her full potential yet, she's only going to get a million times better in an album or two.

Patience - Tame Impala: I love that the cover of this single is a pic of congas because it feels like that's the central thesis here. Kevin Parker bought some congas and is making disco Tame Impala now and I really couldn't be happier about it.

Unconditional (feat. Kitten) - Touch Sensitive: I love a 90s throwback done with love. There's nothing cynical or ironic about this it's just fun as hell!

Last Hurrah - Bebe Rexha: Get a fucking load of this Bebe Rexha song that interpolates Buy U A Drank by T-Pain for the chorus! It's a testament to how good that song is that she's using the verse melody as the chorus. T-Pain will quite literally never get the respect he deserves. Also this song goes for 2.5 minutes. There's something happening where pop songwriting is getting more and more compact, completely trimming the fat and ornamentation and it's very interesting.

Hi Bich - Bad Bhabie: Also I'm fully six months late on Hi Bich but I'm of the opinion that it's extremely fucking good. A perfect little reaction gif of a song and it only goes for 1m45!

Friends - Flume: I'm doubling down on my thesis about emo rap from last month but this song literally sounds like a Flume remix of a Hawthorne Heights song. The whole melody of it, the overlapping yelled/clean vocals. The lyrics obviously. I don't know it's just very odd how close it is. A sort of emo trojan horse to trick people into thinking The Used are cool again. 

How To Build A Relationship (feat. JPEGMAFIA) - Flume: I've been meaning to check out JPEGMAFIA (AKA Buttermilk Jesus AKA DJ Half-Court Violation AKA Lil' World Cup) for a while but this is the song that convinced me. There's just so much to digest in this. Every line is gold and delivered with massive conviction even when he realises it's total nonsense like 'dont call me unless I gave you my number'.

Bells & Circles (feat. Iggy Pop) - Underworld: Underworld alive 2019?? I love this song becuase Iggy Pop has been riding a fine line between punk provocateur and old man yells at cloud for a while now and this song is the perfect mix of both. You can't hijack airplanes and redirect them to cuba anymore and as a result it's over for liberal democracies. Just yelling about air travel for six minutes and it's good.

Guns Blazing (Drums Of Death Pt. 1) - UNKLE: This beat is some of my favourite DJ Shadow work I think. The menacing organ bass throughout, and especially the distorted drum freakout near the end. It's just great all the way through.

Homo Deus IV - Deantoni Parks: Another Deantoni Parks track like I was raving about last month. This whole album is great and flows together as a single piece of work amazingly. I love the purposefully limited sample palette of each track forcing an evolving groove throughout. He absolutely wrings every bit of variation he can get out of every single sound he uses and once you get into the groove of it it's absolutely mind blowing.

Boredom - The Drones: I love that The Drones can write a song about joining ISIS that's also a lot of fun. Spelling out radicalization in a way anyone can understand and sympathise with and then switching it in the second verse to spell out how we got into this situation anyway. 

Loinclothing - Hunters And Collectors: I love how much this song sounds like a voodoo celebration in christian hell.

The Fun Machine Took A Shit And Died - Queens Of The Stone Age: There's a good bit on the live dvd they put out after Lullabies To Paralyze where they play this song and they say it was supposed to be on the album but somebody stole the master recordings from the studio, which is an incredible and brazen crime. Then when they put it out on Era Vulgaris as a bonus track Josh Homme said in an interview "The tapes got lost. Actually, they were just at another studio, but we falsely accused everyone in the world of theft" which is extremely funny. This is really one of their best songs and I sort of really with it had been on Lullabies because it fits perfectly between The Blood Is Love and Someone's In The Wolf type of vibes, I love how it just kind of keeps shifting ideas and riffs throughout. An absolute jam overflowing with ideas.

10AM Automatic - The Black Keys: This song is an all time great in my opinion. It's so straightforward and so effective. I wonder if we'll get a blues rock revival ever or if Jack White still being alive and bad is souring everyone on that idea. This song also has one of my favourite guitar sounds in history I think - the outrageously huge sounding solo that comes out of nowhere and swallows up the rest of the mix like a swirling black hole near the end.

Gamma Knife - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: I've never gotten much into King Gizzard and because of their one million albums already it's hard to know where to start but I've been listening to Nonagon Infinity a bit and it's great, it's just good old fashioned 70s prog jams front to back.

Gina Works At Hearts - DZ Deathrays: I absolutely love this song and I absolutely love the second guitar sound in the chorus of this song that sounds like it's made out of thin steel.

Black Brick - Deafheaven: When I saw Deafheaven the other month I was right up the front and it was a life changingly great experience AND they played this new song live for the first time before it went up everywhere like three hours later which was very exciting to be given a sclusie like that. After they finished a guy behind me whispered to his friend "Slayer..." which was very funny to me.

Gemini - Elder: I found this band because one of my Spotify Daily Mixes was all stoner metal for a while, which is a good genre to see all lined up because it'll have Weedeater, Bongripper AND Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats right there in a row for you. Anyway this album is extremely good, the very best kind of stoner metal where it's groovy and fun and has big meaty riffs and ripping big solos and it's extremely easy to listen to three times in a row.

The Paradise Gallows - Inter Arma: My big obsession the past little while has been Inter Arma ever since Stereogum posted The Atavist's Meridian from their new album. It is just so fucking good and I can't believe I've never heard of them before. You know when you find out about an amazing band and then you find out they've been around for nearly ten years and you can't believe everyone in your life has been selfishly hiding them from you?

The Atavist's Meridian - Inter Arma: I think a big part of my enjoyment of this band has also been that I discovered them at the same time as I'm listening to an audiobook of the complete Conan The Barbarian omnibus so I'm very much in the brain space for music that sounds like it would be nice to swing an axe to.

Untoward Evocation - Impetuous Ritual: I love how halfway through this kind of just turns into a big swirling mist of dark sounds. It feels so formless and dark that it could just shake apart and dissipate at any moment and you'd look down to realise your skin is gone.

Eagle On A Pole - Conor Oberst: from Genius: 'In an interview with MTV news, Oberst stated “We were on the bus one day and a friend of ours that travels with us and works for the band kind of came out from the back of the bus and said that first line: ‘Saw an eagle on a pole… I think it was an eagle.’ And then this guy Simon Joyner, who is a great songwriter from Omaha and one of my great friends, he was on tour with us and sitting there and he was like, ‘You know, that’s a great name for a song.’ We kind of had a contest where he wrote a song with that first line, and [then] I did, and a couple of our other friends. We kind of all played them for each other. Simon’s is better than mine, but it is a good line to start a song.” Another version–Mystic Valley Band drummer Jason Boesel’s interpretation–is on the next album, Outer South.' The idea that such a good song has such a braindead origin only makes me love it more.

Lake Marie - John Prine: When I saw John Prine the other month he played this song that I had never heard before and I had to look it up after and now I'm completely obsessed with it. It feels like falling asleep during a movie and missing a critical plot point so the rest doesn't make sense when you wake up but is thrilling nonetheless. Also he absolutely screamed "SHADOWS!!!" when he played it which was a fucking cool thing to see a 72 year old man do.

Little White Dove - Jenny Lewis: The drums on this whole album are absolutely huge for some reason and I love it. My favourite recent sound is in the first chorus where there's a funny little pitch correction noise as she sings 'dove'. It's very strange and very very good.

Locked Up - The Ocean Party: I only found out The Ocean Party existed as they announced their farewell show this month which is a real shame but I'm glad I got to hear of them at all because they're very good. A very good song about that feeling we all know and love: driving for a long long time.

Plain & Sane & Simple Melody - Ted Lucas: I found out about this song from Emma Ruth Rundle's Amoeba Records video and she makes a good point about this whole album sounding like something's gone wrong and it got accidentally pitched down slightly in the recording process. It's unclear if that's what happened or that's just how he sounds but it adds a very softly spooky undercurrent to a very nice song.​ 

listen here

[sephirotha]

House Arrest Part Five

Inspired by a roleplay with @rosiesuzuya

Ardyn could see Stella in the far-off distance. She was drenched from falling in the river, and with no sun to dry her, she looked exhausted.  He could faintly hear the squelch in her boots and he saw her heavy movements.

As soon as he was confident she was close enough to see him, he tapped his cane on the road.  A group of goblins appeared around him and he summoned a dagger, much like Ignis’s.  The goblins began attacking him and he retaliated.  

He closed his eyes and mimicked Ignis’s blind fighting.

“Ignis!”

Ardyn held back a smirk as Stella came rushing to his aid, axe out and cleaving off heads.  

By the end, she was catching her breath, arms limp and shivering with the weight of her axe.  As she dismissed it, she turned to him and reached for his hands.

“Ignis, are you OK?” she asked with worried eyes.

“Stella?”

Ardyn squeezed Stella’s hands, relishing in their warmth.  They were so tiny and soft compared to his.

“Stella is that you?” he asked, and Stella sniffed. “Is it truly you?”

“Yes, yes, it is,” Stella sobbed.  “Ignis!”

Ardyn stepped back as she flung her arms around him. He felt a warmth growing in his chest as he brought his arms around the crying princess.  He cradled the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her dark hair.

He sighed.

“It’s alright, Stella,” he whispered.  “It’s all gone now.  Everything is going to be alright…”

He pressed his lips to her forehead.

Stella’s warmth left him as she backed away.  Her eyes were wide with fear now as she covered her mouth.  Her body trembled.

“Iggy?” she whispered.

“Stells?”

Stella gasped and backed away more.  She extended her arm, but her hand was too shaky to summon anything.  She dropped it and raised her other arm defensively.

“Ardyn,” she spat.

Ardyn tilted his head and sighed, approaching her slowly.

“Oh, my sweet Stells,” he said.  “Couldn’t you have let this last a little bit longer?”

Stella let out a tearful scream as she pushed herself away from Ardyn once he revealed himself.  He watched as she tripped over something, probably a rock or her own feet, and crawled back, tears brimming in her blue eyes.

It made something stir in his dead heart.

“Why do you keep running from me, Stells?” he asked as he followed her slowly.

He pressed his foot on her ankle before she could move away further.  He offered her a crooked smile, holding his hands out for her.

“It’s OK, my star,” he cooed.  “Your lovely uncle is here to make everything better…”

Tears ran down his princess’s cheeks and he only smiled wider.

“Ssh, ssh…”

He crouched to her level, hands resting on the bruises of her neck.  Stella flinched as he focused on his white magic, something he hadn’t used for millennia, and healed her neck.  She looked up at him confused.

He smiled at her, hands resting on her cheeks. His thumbs brushed the tears away.

“Why?” the princess whispered.

He sighed again.

“Because I promised to not harm you, my star,” he said. “What I did was an impulsive reaction. Please, accept my apology.”

Stella crawled back, turning her head so she was out of reach from his grip.

“Do I really have to go back?” she asked.

Ardyn swallowed the ache in his throat.

“Oh, Stella.  You talk as if it’s your execution.  Do I truly repulse you?  Even though I’ve done nothing but follow the prophecy?”

He grabbed her by the front of her hoodie and pulled her to her feet.  Stella squeezed her eyes tightly shut as he leaned over her.

“All the death of your loved ones,” he whispered, “all the sorrow and pain coursing through you is because of your beloved Astrals!”

He grabbed her chin and turned her face towards him.

“They’re taking your brother away from you,” he whispered.  “Not me, them.  They made me who I am.”

Stella clenched her fists and glared at him.

“Sure,” she spat.  “You had no choice.”

“Oh, I didn’t, my star.”

Stella flinched as he tightened his grip on her wet hoodie.

“Do you know what can happen to a mind in solitary confinement?” he asked.  “Do you know what can happen to a mind in solitary confinement with daemons running rampant through your body?”

He pulled her closer.

“Do you know what could happen to a mind, wracked with daemons, confined to a dark room where no-one can find you, for two thousand years?”

Stella’s eyes widened, and he smirked.

“Yes, my beloved.  For that was my reward.  All those months spent travelling and saving the people from the scourge, only to be slaughtered like a beast by my own flesh and blood.”

Stella looked away, nibbling her lip.

“Somnus d-”

“Don’t you dare speak his name!” Ardyn roared and Stella gasped, grabbing his wrists to try and pry herself from his grip.

How dare she?!  How can she say his brother’s name so sweetly?  Yet whenever she spoke his name, it was dripped in venom.

“He was a jealous, bitter usurper!” he barked. “Oh, how he jumped at the opportunity to be rid of me!  How he smirked when he ran his accursed blade through me!”

He could feel her terrified pants on his skin. The anger ebbed away as he let his hand reach up to her pale cheek.

“I just wanted to help my people, Stella,” he said.  “You understand that, surely?  They lived their lives freely whilst I walked on with their illnesses.”

He turned Stella’s face back towards him. She was silent now, pressing her lips together and squeezing her eyes shut, as if she were afraid to say anything more.

The more he scrutinised her face, the more reality seemed to fade away.  

The headstrong, stubborn princess was no longer in his grip.  Instead, there stood a woman with kind, blue eyes and hair as golden as the sun.

His grip began shaking.

Aileen?

Ardyn pulled the woman forward and kissed her lips tenderly.  He sighed, wrapping an arm around her waist and cradling the back of her head, gripping her hair.  

Tiny hands grabbed the front of his coat and the sweet lips remained tightly sealed as he tried to deepen the kiss.  He pushed against the resistance, gripping the woman tighter.

Finally, he was pushed back, the kiss severed, and a resounding gasp broke the silence.

Stella was clutching his coat with one hand, the other covering her mouth as she looked away.  She looked mortified.

His eyes lit up with realisation.

“Oh, my princess,” he whispered into her ear. “Did I steal your first kiss?”

He expected anger.  But her fear was all the more delicious.

Stella’s blue eyes were as wide as saucers, brimming with more tears as her mouth tried to utter words.  But her body failed her.

She collapsed into his arms and he scooped her up to carry her.  He rested her head on his shoulder and pressed his lips to her forehead.

She was coming down with a fever.  Such a delicate body to go through such stress in the span of a few hours, of course it was going to give in sooner or later.

Ardyn looked at the Hammerhead sign in the distance and rolled his shoulders.  A few seconds later, onlookers could see the royal shield carrying the princess towards the shelter.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fic: Nocturne (25/30) - Ao3 Link

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Pairings: Mostly Gen

Summary: In which Cor Leonis loses his temper, accidentally acquires a kid, and tries to single-handedly dismantle the Lucian immigration system – and that’s before he and his lawyers find out about this Prophecy business. If the Astrals think Cor’s going to let his kid’s best friend die without a fight, they’ve gotten the wrong cheetah ‘taur.

(a young adult novel set in @kickingshoes’ ‘taur AU)

—————————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————————

It's not like Noctis is an expert at this whole hero business, except maybe in video games (where he kicks hindquarter like nobody's business), but he's pretty sure accepting the bad guy's invitation to a party is, like, a bad idea? Or something?

"We've thought of that," Dad tells Noctis when he brings it up. "But we don't see how we can avoid a full-fledged siege of the Rock otherwise – and a siege we will more than likely lose, and lose badly, since Niflheim is both closer and has greater forces than we. So, in lieu of any better options, we go to have fritters, roast meat, and fruitcake with the enemy."

"Fruitcake with a fruitcake," Noctis says.

“Be nice, Noctis,” his mother says, drifting through the room. "Regis, do you think Noctis can wear his traveling clothes, or are those not formal enough? I want something sturdy, in the event of disaster, but good enough to pass as appropriately formal..."

"Perhaps the dark blue travel outfit, instead of the black?" Dad suggests. "It's a little less used, but still thoroughly broken in..."

Noctis throws his hands up into the air. "What do we care? The only person we'll be impressing is Creepy McCreepytaur!"

Noctis' parents look at him with injured "you're not getting it" expressions that quickly shift into "well maybe he’ll understand when he's older" ones that are even more annoying.

Cor, who's sitting on the floor near the fire with Prompto, snorts, though, because he's cool. He gets it.

"Don't worry, Noctis," he says, running a brush through Prompto's silky fur. Prompto likes it when Cor does it for him, rather than just doing it himself; Noctis isn't sure if that's a canidaetaur thing, a laziness thing, or a Prompto thing. Either way, he's totally going to go over to demand some brushing as well, even though he'll probably get bored of it after two minutes. "No matter what you wear, we'll be there to back you up. With an army."

"Quite literally, in fact," Uncle Clarus puts in. "We're fully expecting an ambush, and we're bringing all the forces we can spare from Insomnia's defense. We'll all be there, hanging back in the event you need us."

"Even Gladio and Iggy and Prom, right?" Noctis says eagerly.

That gets frowns from the adults. "Noctis," Dad starts, "I don't think that that's –"

"They helped me with all the other Covenants!" Noctis argues. "Maybe they're necessary!"

"We are fulfilling the Prophecy in a non-traditional manner," Iggy volunteers from where he and Gladio are playing checkers. Luna, Iggy's usual opponent, isn't there, since she's off packing in her quarters (picking her clothing, more likely), so Gladio has volunteered himself and is losing amiably. "Our presence may be necessary. You don’t know for sure, and why take the risk of not bringing us?"

"You're children," Aunt Cyrella points out, but she sounds thoughtful. "And it will undoubtedly be quite dangerous. Though you've been in dangerous situations before..."

That's a good sign!

"I'm fairly sure I don't like the idea of sending children – any children – up against the Accursed," Uncle Clarus says, frowning. "Much less ones he already has reason to know of."

Less good.

"You know, while we're at it, I don't like that we have to kill this Accursed Izunia fellow," Scientia says from where she's nose-deep in some book. "We're a nation of law, by Bahamut's scales; we ought to try him by jury, just like anyone else."

"Oh, come now, Scientia, really," Aunt Cyrella objects. "Please remember that we're talking about a person who is, as far as we can tell, quite literally the incarnation of the Starscourge."

"Doesn't matter," Ms. Scientia says firmly. "The Lucian charter doesn't qualify between individuals, no matter their crimes or, er, composition: all sentient beings get a trial by twelve of their peers. And you can't say he's not sentient, not with all the trouble he's caused."

"But really, under the circumstances, Scientia..."

"Oh, I'm not saying we can do it," she concedes. "Just that it would be nice if we could do it legally."

"I don't know where we could even hold him for long enough for a proper trial," Cor says thoughtfully.

"I've given in already, Leonis; there’s no need to rub it in further."

"Hey, no, I'm agreeing with you," he protests. "It would be preferable if we could, but I don't think we can. Besides, the battlefield has its own laws."

"Hmmm. True enough, I suppose."

"Well, I still think the very idea is absolutely ridiculous," Aunt Cyrella huffs. "The fact that you're both still concerned with the rights of –"

"I think the blue will do quite well," Noctis' mom decides before Cor and Scientia's hackles can go up any further. Her voice is calm and gentle and also somehow manages to interrupt everyone's conversations with no effort whatsoever, pulling everyone's attention to her instead of to their tiff. "What do you think, Noctis?"

Noctis groans.

"I don't think he cares," Gladio translates. "Did we ever make a decision on whether we're coming or not? Because if we're not allowed to come, we're just gonna try to stow away. Cor will help."

"He will not," Dad says, giving Cor a hard look.

Cor shrugs noncommittally.

He totally will.

"Cor!"

"I didn't say anything."

"Oh, yes, but you 'didn't say anything' in a way that speaks volumes. Don't think I don't know -"

"This entire discussion is irrelevant," Mom says with a sigh. "We've seen that the Accursed has his ways to get into the city regardless, and if he launches another attack on Insomnia while we're abroad there won't be anything we can do. So we may as well bring the children – it's the Inferniad holiday, after all, which is meant to be celebrated by bringing families together. Not to mention that we aren't exactly leaving anyone at home to watch them, except perhaps for Cyrella's mother..."

"She's watching Iris," Aunt Cyrella says. "That's all she agreed to do. You try to push three boys on her, she'll lead a palace revolt."

"Successfully, too," Uncle Clarus mutters, his fur going flat. He's always been a bit afraid of his mother-in-law, which has constantly been a source of hilarity to Noctis and Gladio because Grandma Romulea happens to be very sweet and so near-sighted as to be half blind even with her frankly enormous glasses.

"So we're going?" Iggy asks eagerly.

"Not to the party itself," Mom says. "You're not invited."

"But otherwise yes," Scientia says. "Consider it a contract."

Iggy breaks out into a momentary grin, then gets control of himself again. "Thank you for this opportunity," he says politely.

"You may assist by wrestling Noctis into his traveling clothing," Dad says wryly. "He needs to try it on before we go."

"Nooooooo -"

"You have to."

"I can do it myself! Don't sic my friends on me!"

And that, as far as Noctis can tell, is that, and next thing he knows they're on their way to the Rock of Ravatogh for the world's most screwed up Inferniad party ever.

They go in an airship, at least – a small one, with Aranea driving and being more awkward than he might've believed possible after having known her for a few weeks as a Crownsguard. Apparently she has a totally different approach to Noctis' Dad and Luna's Mom than she has to regular people - far, far more respectful and awestricken.

Like, Noctis can't blame her, but it's super annoying.

Luna grabbed Noctis to sit by her, and made sure her other side was right next to the wall, which probably means that she and Ravus still haven't made up. Luna's mom looks all pinched up about it, too.

Ugh, Noctis is glad he doesn't have siblings. They sound like way more trouble than they're worth.

When they get close to the Rock of Ravatogh – bare of snow and unseasonably warm as always, no matter the weather - Noctis looks out the window and abruptly realizes exactly why his parents and all the other adults agreed to this whole ridiculous thing.

There's an army already there.

MTs, all of them, standing in rows and rows, unmoving tin soldiers with glowing red eyes – just deadly.

There's a lot of them.

A lot of them.

Noctis thought the Crownsguard and Kingsglaive force that's following behind them at a far distance was impressive, but it's not anywhere near as impressive as this.

All the MTs are just standing there, out in the open, unmoving, and their army is encircling, as far as Noctis can tell, the only pathway up the mountain. Trying to get past them...

Yeah, okay. That would be impossible.

It'd definitely be impossible to do it before Niflheim called for backup from its massive airship fleet.

Its slightly-smaller-than-previously airship fleet, thanks to Aranea.

Aranea lands their airship without any of the MTs taking a step in their direction, although their heads all creepily rotate to focus on them.

All together, all at once.

Creepy.

"Good luck," Aranea says, and she sounds pretty doubtful about their chances. "I'll wait here until I see you safely up."

"They might fire on you once we disembark," Luna's mom says.

"I have shields for a reason, your Ladyship," Aranea says. "I don't think they'll let me stay more than a few minutes, but those minutes I can, I'll be here."

Luna's mom smiles at her and puts a hand on Aranea's lower back, just lightly. "You're a good one, Commodore," she says, and when she lifts her hand away, it's glowing a little.

Aranea looks dumbfounded for a second, and then extremely honored. "Yes, my Lady," she says, looking even more awestruck than before.

That must be the Oracle's Blessing.

(Big deal. Luna can do it too.)

They get off the ship.

Once the MTs see that all six of them are there – Dad and Mom and Noctis and Luna and Ravus and their mom – they abruptly move, choppy uneven movements like the creepy quasi-robots they are. The ones of them in the front turn to the side in a single uniform movement, opening up a narrow path between them, just large enough for one or two ‘taurs to pass through, just barely, and the back rows march in a turning style to stand side-by-side to continue the walls of that path all the way up the side of the mountain.

Up and up and up the mountain.

It's like watching dominos, except instead of falling they're rearranging themselves into a different pattern with perfect precision.

So, so, so creepy.

"I'm glad I brought my cane," Dad sighs. He has an old wound in one of his forelegs – he has a knee brace that he wears for it, more and more often, and he's been using his cane to get around. It's a nice cane – it goes up to his chest in height so that he can lean against it, like a staff, and it's very pretty – but Noctis worries. He knows that the Ring drains the King's health, but surely it shouldn't be doing it so fast..?

If his Dad's ill health is part of the Prophecy, Noctis is going to be super mad at someone.

Probably Bahamut.

"We'll go slowly," Mom says firmly. "There's nothing wrong with being fashionably late. Sylvia, if you would..?"

Luna's mom takes Dad's arm – her hands glowing again, this time focused more on healing him so as to make the climb easier – and they all start going up the mountain.

Per Mom's instructions, Luna goes next, and then Noctis, and then Ravus, and finally Mom, covering their tails.

It's pretty slow going. Worse, with MTs on both sides watching them go, it's hard to even really enjoy it – they're basically stuck in single file, twisting and twining their way up the mountain path, and they can't even really talk to each other or anything to make it less boring.

Ugh, Noctis really hopes this isn't actually a trap. Or, if it is, that Cor and Uncle Clarus have some really awesome plan to get them all out of it.

The MT path ends up diverging from the actual pathway and going up some sheer rock, forcing them to follow that path instead, and that's even harder on Noctis' dad, making his breath come faster and his limp worse. If Noctis didn't hate this Accursed guy on principle already, he definitely does now.

And then they finally get to a cave, and inside that cave is –

Oooooh shit.

"Is that a Lucian tomb?" Luna's mom murmurs. "It resembles the one in Succarpe."

"It is," Regis confirms. "The Tomb of the Fierce – the last of the Royal Arms that Noctis requires."

"Indeed it is!" an extremely obnoxious voice purrs from the side. There's a leopard 'taur there, half in shadow, half out, his eyes hidden by the shade of his hat but the whiteness of his teeth entirely evident as he smiles. "Please, come inside – I insist! You should feel entirely free to collect your little...trinket."

"Chancellor Izunia," Dad says icily.

"A pleasure," Mom says. "As ever."

She sounds amused and a little fond.

Noctis' Mom has the weirdest sense of humor.

The Chancellor pulls off his hat and holds it to his upper torso, still grinning. "Your Majesties do me great honor in accepting my little invitation. I've set us up a nice picnic further in – please, do follow me."

He waves casually at the MTs, causing them to start marching back down the mountain, and then the Chancellor turns his back on them – he's got to be immortal or something, because literally any of the adults could probably get him right between the shoulder-blades without even trying, and he seems utterly indifferent to the idea – and saunters in.

Literally saunters.

The rest of them all follow slowly, the adults looking suspicious (well, except Mom, who mostly looks interested in the cave walls and not unlike she's on one of her visits to the general populace, calm and collected as always), but nothing happens when they walk in. The Chancellor even walks right by the tomb as if it's unimportant.

Noctis hesitates when they get close, looking up at his parents.

"Go ahead, Noctis," Dad says, his eyes still fixed firmly on the Chancellor.

Noctis tries to absorb the Mace as quickly and quietly as possible. Well, as quickly and quietly as is possible when the weapon turns all glowy, rises up into the air, and stabs him in the upper chest.

At least it's not accompanied by an orchestral score or anything. That would be weird.

Even if Noctis has played enough video games that he can very vividly imagine how it would go.

Still, it's kind of a relief to have it. He has all thirteen of them, now – Luna's mom gave him the Trident earlier (he gave the real one back at once, of course), and he's had a copy of Dad's sword since forever. He kind of expected it to be a bit more of a moment, some sort of gold star "here! you've done it! you've got them all!" but honestly that might just be the gamer in him. This is real life, not a game.

He shakes his head and quickly catches up to the others. The Chancellor is leading them deeper inside, to a big cavern where there is, in fact, a series of blankets and picnic baskets laid out in a circular fashion, surrounding the nine-pronged candlabras traditional to the Inferniad.

"How nice it is for us to all be together, on this of all days," the Chancellor says cheerily. His voice feels slimy. "Now, first things first – who among us will light the candles?"

"Chancellor Izunia –" Luna's mom starts, sounding very stiff.

"Please, please! Call me Ardyn," the Chancellor – Ardyn – says. "We're all friends here, are we not?"

"It's very easy to be friends when you have an army outside the door," Mom says, her cheerful and sincere good mood making even Ardyn's intimidating creepiness seem a little less scary. "Wouldn't you say?"

"I do find that it helps," Ardyn agrees, smirking conspiratorially with her. The smirk is noticeably less fake than all the other expressions he's had on so far, less rehearsed and fake, but that's probably because he likes Noctis' Mom. Everyone that Mom likes likes her back, it's like her superpower or something. "But then, that's why I expect that you brought your own, wouldn't you say?"

Dad and Luna's mom stiffen - Noctis is pretty sure Ardyn wasn't supposed to know about their army - but Noctis' mom is entirely unperturbed. "It would be rude not to meet courtesy with courtesy," she says cheerfully. "And we do so try not to be rude. Etiquette is so easily forgotten these days."

"Well said, well said," Ardyn says, looking vastly amused.

"Is there any chance we can get to the point of these discussions?" Ravus growls. He growls very well for an ungulaetaur.

Ardyn tsks.

"So impatient," he says. "The follies of youth! But youth, of course, represents the future. And on that note, why shouldn't we have our dashing prince and lovely princess light the candles, as the youngest of our little company? I believe that's the tradition."

"Very well," Dad says slowly after a few moments. "Luna, Noctis, go ahead."

Noctis looks at Luna. She doesn't look particularly happy about it, but she's straightening her back in a way that suggests that she's going to do it.

And, well, if Luna's going to do it, then obviously Noctis will as well.

So they head into the center of the circle to the candles, while the adults all settle down in a loose semi-circle around them, and they light the candles together, reciting the traditional Inferniad blessings.

"How lovely it is," Ardyn says when they finish. "Ah, youth and beauty – and they make such a lovely couple indeed."

Noctis, who'd taken Luna's hand in his for the candle lighting, immediately drops it. "Couple?!"

Ardyn chuckles. "I see the prince is not yet old enough to properly appreciate the bounty that has been placed before him."

"It's not that," Noctis says, wrinkling his nose at the thought of Luna being called a 'bounty', whatever that meant. He's pretty sure Ardyn doesn't mean like a bounty hunter. "We wouldn't be a couple anyway. Luna likes girls!"

(Pity, too - Noctis would totally have married her and Prompto both if he could.)

Still, Noctis' announcement gets the smug, self-satisfied look off of Ardyn's face, if only for a moment while he blinks at them.

"And has a girlfriend already," Luna adds, her voice a little waspish. She reaches out to take Noctis' hand again in order to guide him over to the blankets to sit down. "Assuming my input is at all relevant here, of course."

"Hardly the fairytale match you thought it would be, Ardyn?" Mom says wryly. "But then – we haven't really done any of this the way you thought it would be, have we?"

"Indeed," Ardyn says, but the smug look is back on his face. "I must say, it's positively heartwarming, really, to see all of you working together on the duties of the Chosen King – the Prophecy of Bahamut is so cruel, wouldn't you say, your Majesty? After all, if it all goes the way the Astrals intend, you'll be giving up both husband and son to their destines as Kings of Lucis."

"We have no intention of giving up anything," Luna's mom says. "There is always light, even in the midst of darkness, and where there is light, there is hope."

"Such charming philosophy," Ardyn says, then settles back, looking them over. "Charming, yes – quite charming. Six of you here, six Astrals above and below, and yet between the two groups, it is we mere mortals who are chosen to pay the price for the Astrals's folly."

"That is still better than encouraging it," Dad says. He inclines his head to the cave entrance. "Or do you deny that you invited the Starscourge to Niflheim, so that it might grow stronger?"

"You misunderstand me entirely," Ardyn says, hand over his upper heart, clearly insincere. "I wish for nothing more than to see your lines united so as to see the Prophecy properly fulfilled – Chosen King and Oracle, come together at last to defeat the darkness!"

"I suppose that would be important to you, wouldn't it?" Mom says musingly. "After all, you yourself sprang from such a union."

Ardyn's face goes utterly flat, all humor disappearing. He clearly wasn't expecting that.

Mom pours herself a cup of tea from a thermos she pulled the picnic basket, all casual and awesome.

"The line of the Oracle and the line of Lucis do not often unite," she says, still causal as if she's commenting on the weather. "And almost never through arranged marriages, the way you implied would be appropriate for Noctis and Lunafreya – almost never, that is, except for once, centuries ago, a handful of generations after the world was turned and the fight against the Starscourge began in earnest. A near cousin of the Oracle was a lion 'taur, through some well-placed marriages, and so able to meet the already established Lucian standard of only marrying lions. And so they married, and had two sons."

She studies a silent Ardyn.

"Isn't that right?" she asks.

"It is," he says. His voice has lost that nauseatingly intimate tone he'd been using up until now; it's very flat. "Tell me, what exactly is it that you think you've found?"

"Izunia," she says instead. "What a strange surname for you to take – that of the younger brother that took the throne of Lucis instead of you."

"The throne of –" Dad says sharply, even as Luna's mom stiffens.

Noctis looks around. He's not sure he understands.

If Ardyn is centuries old, and he was once in line for the throne of Lucis – a line that has been unbroken from the very beginning, when Bahamut blessed them with the Ring and the Crystal – then that means...

"You're a Lucis Caelum," Luna's mother says blankly.

"And a Nox Fleuret," Ardyn says, his eyes glittering. "If one believes my ancestry to be true."

"It is true," Mom says quietly. "Genetic drift was always a possibility, even if no one knew about it back then. Two lions could have a leopard for a son – even an eldest son."

"And yet the throne went to the second son," Ardyn says. "A second son, with a different mother, as leonine as the first, but he was born a lion. And thereafter the line of the Lucii and the Nox Fleurets diverged thereafter forevermore."

"But –" Noctis says, still unsure. "But that means you're..."

"Oh yes, my young Chosen King," Ardyn says, and smiles. It's not a nice smile. "That makes you and I family. But then, isn't the Inferniad traditionally celebrated by families coming together?"

"What happened?" Luna asks, her eyes wide. "If you were Lucis Caelum and Nox Fleuret both...? How did you – why did you..?"

Ardyn laughs. "Let me tell you a story," he says. "It is about a young King-to-be – a young healer, by virtue of his mother's side – who traveled throughout the land to fight the Starscourge, using his abilities to pull the plague from the bodies of his subjects into his own so as to free them from their burden. And yet, when he returned home, his family and his subjects all declared that he was too corrupted to take the throne that was rightfully his – they declared, further, that he had no right to the throne, his true heritage made questionable by simple virtue of the spots on his back – the spots of a leopard, rather than the clean lines of the lion - and because of this, they had him executed. But the Starscourge he had absorbed – the countless daemons he took into himself, rather than let them afflict his land and his people – oh, it would not permit him to die so easily. He did not die. Instead they chased him out, and wiped his name from history."

He turns his eyes to Mom, arching his eyebrows. "Or at least, so I'd thought. It appears a whisper of that story survived, deep within the archives of Lucis."

"The Starscourge corrupts," Luna's mom says with a frown. "To take the daemons into yourself, rather than to purge them – your judgment would have been tainted, your reason unbalanced. That would be why you were denied the throne, not your heritage or your spots."

"They would never have turned on me if not for that," Ardyn hisses, suddenly fierce. "The line of the Lucii, so obsessed with remaining pure – it could not tolerate something different. Anything different!"

"You're mad," Mom observes, her voice neutral – all amusement gone. If anything, she sounds regretful. "Perhaps you were only angry, once, but now you have become consumed – by the Starscourge, and by your hatred."

"Perhaps," he says. "Perhaps. But really, who can blame me?"

He rises to his paws, and so do the rest of them. Noctis doesn't like the way Ardyn's face has gone twisted with anger and the remnants of condescending humor. It makes him seem much more dangerous than the condescending asshole he was just moments before.

He steps back as Ardyn steps forward.

"But now, this time, this time it will be different," Ardyn says, his voice low and his eyes fixed on Noctis. "Now I will face the Chosen King himself – younger than I'd thought, perhaps, but no matter. I will face the Chosen of the Astrals, the Chosen of Prophecy, in the full bloom of his power and might, he who received all the inheritance that should have been mine, and I will show the Astrals who condemned me to my fate the ruinous folly of their ways, of their cruelty –"

There's a muted sound of an explosion, and the room shakes, causing them all to stagger.

"What's happening?" Dad shouts.

Noctis looks at Ardyn, assuming it's his fault, but no – he looks as surprised as any of them.

Another explosion – not in the room, Noctis realizes, but on the mountaintop above them. And then another, and another

"It's a Niflheim bombing run!" Luna's mom exclaims. She’s more familiar with them than most, being from Tenebrae.

"Well, those certainly aren't our people doing it," Mom says, grabbing onto Dad to help him keep his balance as the cavern quakes and ominous cracks begin to run up the walls. "They know we're here - and anyway, we wouldn't use up the bombs like that."

"They've turned on me," Ardyn says poisonously, realizing. "Niflheim – they've turned on me - they're trying to take out two birds with one stone –"

He turns his face back to where Noctis is standing, towards the back of the cavern with Luna.

"It's too soon," Ardyn says, and his voice has gone horribly raspy. "You have not fulfilled your quest yet. You cannot die, Chosen King, not yet, not until your mission is done – I will have my revenge done properly –"

His face is different all of a sudden, his eyes yellow lights in a pit of blackness, with filth the color of tar spilling down his cheeks and out of his mouth, his skin gone grey like a corpse – the corruption inside revealed –

A giant rock falls from the ceiling right next to Luna, making her scream, making Noctis look up and realize just how much the ceiling of the cavern is fragmenting.

"Luna!" Ravus shouts. He charges forward, knocking both Luna and Noctis back just as the ceiling begins to collapse, and the three of them tumble down together, falling backwards – backwards through where the wall of the cavern used to be – backwards and down, going down through some newly-revealed fissure in the wall, tumbling onto some slippery slide where their paws and hooves can get no grip.

Sliding down and down and away, into the center of the volcano.

"Noctis!" someone shouts after them, frantic, and through the echoes Noctis can't tell if it was one of his parents – or if it was Ardyn, seeing his revenge slip away from him.

[multi-fandomfanfics]

The Next Queen Of Lucis CH4

It took me a lot to write this I don't know why I had practically all the chapter!! :'v

Afita is a side character I made too with her own story too, history which will be included here.

Ch1  Ch2  Ch3 

______________

Chapter 4: Kings, Queens, and Kingslaives

Even though I heard it from Cor, I didn't want to believe it... My father was dead... The King of Insomnia Perished and as his daughter, I had become Queen without asking for it. It was planned for me to marry Ravus Nox Fleuret and making Insomnia and Niflheim an only country... And yet... They lied and killed my father and so many people from Insomnia... How can they?... HOW COULD THEY? They wanted to fight... And fight they will get. "Aria" I look up to see Ignis Worried... Or kind of worried, he had his serious face. He put his hand on my shoulder to calm me "everything will be alright, you understand? you can't lose concentration now" and he was right... This cave contains a sword used for one of the thirteen Kings of Yore my ancestors to have it on my weaponry always we have to get them from their tombs. I need to concentrate... And at least... He's with mom now... But it hurts me, our families hurt or dead... If my dad is dead then Gladio's too, and ignis's uncle too probably... Prompto's adoptive parents... My friends

The only good thing about all this is...

"Hey Cor... Realizing now that Niflheim attacks us... Does that mean the wedding is called off?" he looked at me with a frown "you really don't want to marry him" "is that so obvious?" "I'll say yes the wedding is called off, but take in consideration that he helped Insomnia for you and not Niflheim, he saved some Glaives, and he must have the ring of Lucii, that's the last time I heard of him"

"Well, shit..." "close but not enough" Prompto laughed "shut up" then something hard fall to the floor and all of us stop "... Did you hear that?"

"I think we all heard that Prompto the question is what it was?" We all looked around and Cor got his katana To then block a leg... A spider leg, instantly we all got our weapons and another bigger spider tried to attack me so I jumped back then run fastly at it to slash it, it screamed in pain, while Prompto and Noctis Helped Cor, Ignis, Gladio and me killed the other one. "huf... I knew I didn't like this cave!" Noctis says angrily "at least they're dead now..." Prompto said worried less.

"let's go" Cor says while walking to a white door with some symbols on them, then gets a key out and show it to me "this opens all of the doors containing the swords of the other kings of Lucis"  then put it on the keyhole and move it so the doors open when he get it out, inside was a Body of stone with a Sword on it, he then gives me the key so I keep it in a pocket. And we get closer to it another tomb another sword and another soul... I touched the sword and it became white to then shiny and get through me with the other swords. Now two swords... Only eleven more...

"time to get back," Cor said while going to the door. We all followed him, at the end we got out of the cave. Cor came with us and led us to a Caem little base where some Kingslaves where, and I Could see Monica on the distance, we stopped and got out of the car.

"Monica! Is good to see you alright"

"is good to see you alright too princess" then looked at the guys "you too prince Noctis, guys"

"P-PRINCEEEEEEESS!!!!"

I looked around and got hugged strongly and fastly. Almost without air.

"oof"

"Princess I'm so glad you're okay I was worried sick! , withtheattackat thecitadeltherewasnocommunicationthereforewecouldn'tcontactyounorprinceNoctisandwedidn'tknowwetheryouwereokayornotand I WAS SO WORRIED"

"let her breath Afita" Cor say sternly.

She let me go with tears on her eyes.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I got emotional..." I smiled, she always worried about me so much, from all the people who protect me she's the only one who expresses her worry so strongly. Even though she's my maid she learned how to fight for my sake, that's what Cor told me at least. And she has been with me since I can remember.

"it's okay don't worry about it"

"P-Princess..."   "I'm also glad you're okay" she cried again Ignis took out a Napkin and gave it to her, she took it gladly and clean on it. "when Cor told me he was going for you I got so happy! Niflheim attacked Insomnia and the news were telling you and Prince Noctis died and you didn't answer your phone and and and..." she keep crying while I smiled and put a hand over her shoulder. "we're all here now, so don't cry anymore please" she sniffed and cleaned one last time "O-okay..." I turned around to see Cor. "something else you have to tell me?" "there's a Nif base close from here, we got some map and found a back entrance we could go and turn it off" a way to attack them "that sounds good we should start tomorrow" I look at the Dawn "it's late and we should rest" Cor nods "then we'll prepare for everything" i look at the guys "we'll do too"

.

..

...

"you know when you said an Adventure outside of Insomnia I thought we'll meet new people, live adventures, fight monsters... And we have just fight some Wolf like things... And spiders"  "I told you I was going with Aria to Protect her in her travel from Insomnia to Altissia" Noctis leaned at Gladio and Prompto's talk "and besides I did tell you they were escorting her to Altissia" Prompto sighed or at least that was what I heard out of the Tent. "So this Nyx Ulric was the one to save Luna and Ravus?" I asked at Cor we both seat on different rocks.

"he did, he risked his life and helped Ravus to get the ring" "I see" maybe he knows if my father... "is he here?" "he's with the kingsglaive who's leg is broken" "mhm. I'll pay a visit to him, I believe I have to thank him..." I got up and clean my jeans "Thanks Cor" "is nothing Aria" I smile at him and start walking, from the few places where kingsglaives where sleeping I remembered the one of that man with a broken leg, he fight in that state and that's very honored from him. I got close to the half-destroyed house. "did you see the Princess? She was talking with the marshall" I heard a man talk surprised "Queen you asshat she's the Queen now" and a woman got offended. "I saw her before her departure remember? I took her together with Mr. Scientia and the Prince to her apartment" "how is she?" the woman asked "very Humble, she thanked me for using my time to take her at her apartment"

I think I better knock now... They all stay on silence and a chair move. Then the door opened revealing a Woman with black hair. "yes? Oh... Your majesty!" she bows at me, still so strange... "hi, I'm searching for a man his name is Nyx Ulric" she looked inside then move "Nyx!" he gets up and goes to the door

"Your Majesty" he bows at me, that must be him "you're Nyx Ulric aren't you?" he got up "I am, it's an honor that you know my name" damn... So many formalities...

"ah...it's okay you can leave the formality I feel strange being called your majesty I know I'm the queen but I don't feel ready yet to have that surname so by meantime call me Aria or Princess if you want that's what I'm accustomed" "if you say so. Princess" the Woman got inside next to her friend the man with a broken leg. "that's more like it, now changing the subject" I got outside and motion him to come, "Cor told me you saved Lunafreya and...um...my betrothed... Prince Ravus" he follow me and closed the door "well I'll say it was more the other way around, Prince Ravus saved me from the death a few times out there in Insomnia" "that's good, but Cor said that you fight with General Glauca which was the one who killed my father" "that's... Correct" "I see... Did... Did my father suffer?" they keep on silence while he looked away and then back " I would say that the only thing he did suffer about was not being with his family at the moment, General Glauca got a sword through him... It wasn't a little sword...." "I see..." he must have felt so much pain... Yet he stands up like any king... Dad... "Thank you Nyx for all you have done" "is nothing Princess..." he hesitates he wanted to say something... "can I say something else?" I nod "of course no need to ask" "is something without importance but... Had we known in the time it would have been very valuable" "what was it?" ".... General Glauca he... He was Titus Drautos" what?! "What?!" "while we fought his helmet got destroyed and I could see his face" "he..." He killed dad...

~

"take care of my father for me"

he bowed "will do your highness"

~

I... I trust him... And he fooled me... Dad... Dad and all of us who trusted him...

"Princess?" I finally look back "i... Thank you for your honesty... I... I'll go now... It was a pleasure to meet you Nyx Ulric" "me too princess" I go around and go to the Regalia, it wasn't too far away but...

"Aria?" I look behind me, Iggy was there with a bag of supplies probably for tomorrow's breakfast, but he leaves it on the floor and goes to me. "what happened, why are you crying?" when he gets in front of me I let more tears go off and hug him. "Aria?" he finally hugs me back "... I want him back Ignis..." I feel him move his head and give a kiss to my hair "we all lose someone who we want back..." "that... Doesn't make me feel better" "if I were to lose you I would give everything to avoid so"..... Iggy... "don't, you should do that with the person you love, or your child, not your... Queen" he keeps silent while I got away. "but thanks for the intention Ignis" I go and kiss his cheek. "always so helpful" he smiles "what can I say?"

That's what friends are for...

To be continued...

[emeraldwaves]

Title:  Undercover Emotions Chapter 2 Pairing:  Promptio, Highspecs Rating: E Word Count:  4,204 Read on Ao3 Summary: Rookie cop Prompto Argentum gets sent undercover with veteran Aranea Highwind in hopes of taking down the Caelums, longtime leaders of organized crime in Insomnia. After being assigned to assist Gladiolus Amicitia and Ignis Scientia, the pair dive deeper into the criminal underworld and find themselves caught up in a variety of shady dealings. However, when Prompto starts to learn who Gladiolus really is, his loyalties begin to shift in a direction he never expected.

In this chapter, Prompto and Aranea start their new jobs.

Full fic under the cut! thanks to @its-love-u-asshole for betaing this!

Glancing around the office, Ignis pressed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose. He'd done a nice job tidying up the place for now. He had no idea what this Nea dame would be like, but he sure as hell didn't want to make a poor impression on her.

He was in desperate need of an assistant, and if she was good, losing her would be extremely detrimental. With his uncle in the hospital, most of the Winter Gala duties had fallen upon him, on top of his normal work, and Ignis already felt overwhelmed. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't rely on Gladio as much as he wanted, and since this was to be Noctis' first year running the Gala, he didn't wish to leave any room for mistakes.

So, needless to say, he'd made sure to keep his office completely spotless. Nea was a young, classy looking woman, and the last thing Ignis wanted to do was greet her with a mess.

Hopefully, she would repay his preemptive cleaning by being on time.

There was a gentle rap on the door, and Ignis immediately stood up, smoothing out his suit with his hands. Admittedly, this was the first time he'd had an assistant, though his uncle had offered the option to him many times. Unlike Gladio, Ignis had never thought he needed one until now.

Opening the door, he wasn't surprised to find Nea Biggs standing on the other side. Her long gray hair framed her sharp face, her features highlighted by the angle of her bangs, though currently part of her face was covered by the black hat she had draped over her head. She had defined cheekbones and a pointed nose. Her black dress was high collared, but draped around her hips nicely. It was impossible to ignore how beautiful she was. Thank goodness Ignis had chosen to have her as his assistant instead of Gladio.

"Good morning, you must be Ms. Biggs?" Ignis said, bowing his head to her. "Do come in, I would hate to leave you out in the cold." He turned away from the door, allowing her to step inside.

"Well, well, well," she smirked, "I didn't expect Ignis Scientia to be such a gentleman."

"Really?" He blinked, stepping behind her to help her remove her coat and take her hat which she held out to him. "Is it because of the nature of my job?" he chuckled, hanging her coat off to the side.

"It's not everyday a girl gets asked to be an assistant to a mafia executive," she said, walking towards his desk as she took a seat in the chair directly across from it.

"So you are aware of what this job could entail?" Ignis asked, slipping into his own chair.

"I did my research," she grinned, leaning towards him.

"There's no need for you to worry at all," Ignis began. "I will ensure your safety, plus I will not be having you involved with anything... risky. Mostly I'll be needing you to help me with the Winter Gala event. Are you familiar with this at all? I'm not sure what your hiring agent told you."

"He gave me your name, and I looked you up. It took a little digging but I figured out who the Scientia family was and once I knew that, I could make my assumptions," she said. Crossing one leg over the other, she smirked at him once more. Her smile was incredibly alluring, and Ignis wondered how many men she'd captured with such a devilish grin. "But you know, I can handle myself pretty well," she said.

"Oh I'm certain you can. The man we speak to about hiring always gives me the best people. Usually."

"Usually?" An eyebrow raised, looking for more information.

"Well, let's just say it's for the best you are my assistant instead of Gladiolus'," he explained.

A soft laugh left her lips. "Alright then." There was no need to elaborate any further. She cleared her throat, her deep eyes darting around his office. "Anyway," she began. "I don't know anything about this Winter Gala, care to elaborate?"

Ignis narrowed his eyes for a moment. He trusted the people who found him the hires he needed usually, but that didn't mean he should jump into trusting this woman. "There's no need to. I'll have you ordering supplies, decorations, etc. Very straightforward work; a woman with as much secretarial experience as you will need no help."

"'Course not." Her voice was dripping with confidence, and relief washed over Ignis.

He sighed, sitting back in his chair, adjusting his glasses again. "Forgive me," he said. "It has been a rather stressful week, and I'm happy you seem to be as competent as your resume made you out to be."

Confusion crossed her eyes for a moment, but her features softened. "I'm your assistant," she said. "I'm here to help."

"Thank goodness. This is going to be a year of firsts and for my plan to work, I need everything to go smoothly," he explained, but didn't go into further detail. Standing, he crossed to the other side of the room where he'd set up a small desk and placed a large stack of folders on it. "Here. This will be your center of operations," he chuckled.

"Wow," she smirked, walking over to the small area. "I get my own desk."

"Indeed. Here you can focus on sorting through the various tasks. I've organized everything into folders and placed them in the order of how urgent each task is. If you have any questions you are always welcome to ask," he explained, pulling the chair out for a her.

She blinked, and took a seat, looking a little shocked, and Ignis wondered if perhaps he was coming on too strong.

"I apologize," he continued, "I hope this isn't too much. I didn't wish to overwhelm you on the first day."

"No," she shook her head quickly. "Admittedly, I didn't expect you to be so organized."

Ignis chuckled. "Again, you should be thankful you're my assistant and not Gladio's."

"I guess so," she smirked. "I should meet this Gladio sometime, though my opinion is pretty low right now."

"I promise Gladio is a wonderful person, just... we are very different people."

"I'm sure," she hummed skeptically. "I guess I should get to work then," she said, gesturing to the tall pile of folders.

"Ah yes," he nodded, moving back to his own space. "Don't hesitate if you have questions you would like to ask." He rubbed his hands together awkwardly. He felt his cheeks heat up a bit when he glanced over at her working, she really was a beautiful woman, but neither of them had time to focus on that. She was surprisingly efficient, and didn't ask too many questions; she was ideal, and Ignis wouldn't do anything to ruin that.

~~

Prompto pursed his lips standing outside of the office door of Gladiolus Amicitia. The building had been in a darker part of town, over by old warehouses near the harbor. Prompto could only assume they owned the warehouses and used them for shipping... well, whatever sort of supplies the mafia needed.

The doors in the building were marked only by numbers, smart, since he doubted they'd want any ties to the place if they were ever caught. But the number on the door matched the number he'd been given so presumably Gladiolus Amicitia would be on the other side of this door.

Prompto swallowed and rocked back and forth on his feet. The moment he knocked, he would be taking on the grand role of 'Prom', mafia assistant extraordinaire! Reaching his hand up, he tapped on the door, and his eyes widened when he saw the large shadow appear on the other side. He'd heard Gladiolus was a larger man, but he hadn't expected his shadow to loom so greatly.

And when he yanked the door open, Prompto's eyes widened even more, if it was even possible. The man in front of him was broad shouldered, muscular, and tall; the exact opposite of Prompto.

"Heh," he said, scoffing a bit. "You're even tinier in person!" he laughed heartily, and Prompto could only bring himself to laugh along with him, though he couldn't mask the hint of nerves which trembled in his voice. "Come in, come in," he said, waving his arm as he stepped back into the office.

"Uh, you're Gladiolus Amicitia, right?" Prompto asked, stepping in as he shut the door behind him. This was it; he was undercover.

"Yup! But look, only my father calls me Gladiolus. It's Gladio."

"Gladio," he nodded. "Okay." He was oddly chipper for a mafia exec... or well, a mafia exec-in-training. Maybe that was why. Prompto could assume he wasn't in charge of anything all that serious yet.

"And you're Prom Argent, my new assistant," Gladio said, folding his arms as he leaned against his desk. "Hm..." he mumbled, glancing around the room. Books were piled high on various surfaces, bookshelves lining the office. A coat rack leaned against one of the only bare walls, and papers were strewn about over Gladio's desk. "I guess we can move some of these books," he said, hoisting a stack off of a small desk in the corner. "You know, Iggy hired you, and I'm not really sure what I can even have ya' do yet," he snorted.

Panic coursed through Prompto's veins. If Gladio didn't have a use for him, maybe he'd toss Prompto immediately. If Prompto got fired right away, he'd be off the case and that would be the end of his police career.

Swallowing, Prompto glanced around the office, trying to think. He was no stranger to disorganization but Gladio certainly took things to brand new heights. "What if I... started organizing your office!" Prompto suggested cheerily. It was perfect! It would keep him busy, and if Gladio wasn't paying attention, he could snoop through various files and papers he found.

"Hm," Gladio hummed. "S'not a bad idea. Iggy would love ya' for it. He's constantly yellin' at me to clean this place up."

Prompto gave him a thumbs up. "Never fear, I'll clean up this mess!"

"Great," Gladio smiled, taking a seat back down at his desk. "Iggy's all worried ya' know. It's his and Noctis' first time bein' in charge of something as big as the Winter Gala and Iggy is takin' all the stress on himself." Gladio sighed, rubbing his forehead. The man looked genuinely worried, much to Prompto's surprise.

He supposed it was stupid to assume Gladio wasn't a regular human being, but Prompto had imagined him as a... monster. The picture he had seen had showed him as a large, looming man with a muscular build, scars littering his face and who knew where else... he wasn't exactly the portrait of 'friendly'.

"S'why he wanted to hire you and his dame Nea, I think. He really needs the support, and I hope we can give it to him. We're gonna be a team in this," he nodded. "Sorry," he shrugged. "You don't know these people... you're new so... shouldn't even be tellin' ya this stuff."

And yet, Gladio seemed so caring... worried about his friend... Plus, he was far more handsome than the picture had let on as well. Even with his intense eyes, Prompto found himself blushing looking at the man. Though, sitting behind his desk, Gladio looked a little stressed.

"Hey, uh, I'm your assistant, right?" Prompto chuckled, picking up a stack of books on the floor to carry them to a shelf. "I can do whatever you want me to, even if you wanna vent or whatever!"

"Heh," he smirked. "Thanks Prom. You're good, even if you are scrawny as shit," he teased.

"H-Hey!" Prompto snapped. Okay, he wasn't super muscular or tall like Gladio, but he could hold his own in a fight. Hell, he'd survived the training at the police academy! He couldn't just blurt out that information though. "I'm strong!"

"'Kay," Gladio snorted. "I'll take you on my next job and see how well you can handle it."

"R-Really?" Prompto asked, trying not to sound too eager. That had certainly been a lot easier than he had anticipated.

"Why the hell not?" Gladio shrugged, watching as Prompto began to re-adjust the books on the shelves. "You're my assistant, you're supposed to help me with shit, right?"

Prompto was starting to have the distinct feeling Gladio wasn't actually in charge of much. It was probably this 'Iggy' guy who held everything together. "True," he nodded, tilting the books upright. "You... read a lot?" he asked, pointing to the books.

"Try to. When I have free time," he shrugged. "I've read about half of these, probably."

"Half?!" Prompto exclaimed.

"Yeah," Gladio chuckled. "I guess a guy like me doesn't look like he'd read much. But I dunno, it's somethin' I've always liked."

"Hey man, no judgment from me," Prompto shrugged. Though it was odd, but only because so far, Gladio hadn't been anything like what Prompto had expected. He wasn't sure how this was going to go, but he oddly found himself looking at Gladio with softer eyes than expected.

~~

"Iggy! C'mon Iggy, I'm starvin'!" Gladio called, pounding on the door. It was later than Gladio had wanted to leave for the day, but Ignis had absolutely insisted upon needing more time. Gladio had rolled his eyes and agreed, if only to alleviate his friend of some of the stress.

Opening the door, Ignis looked more than perturbed. "You do realize there is a lady in my office now," he growled.

"And you realize you've kept my stomach waiting for an extra hour, right?" he said, and peered into Ignis' office. The woman sitting at the desk, Nea Biggs, was absolutely stunning, just as Gladio had suspected she would be. "Hello ma'am," he grinned and took her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "I'm Gladiolus Amicitia, and please let me know if you need anything. Iggy here can be a little uptight, so if you-"

"Gladiolus," Ignis hissed. "Ms. Biggs is my assistant for a reason." He rolled his eyes. "And speaking of, you are free to go," he nodded, pulling her jacket from the coat hanger.

"Wow already putting her to work, Iggy, damn."

Pulling her hand from Gladio's, the woman stood up and took her jacket from Ignis, wrapping it around her shoulders. "Thanks Specs," she winked. "See ya' tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Ms. Biggs," Ignis bowed, watching her leave.

Slamming his hand onto Ignis' back, Gladio began to laugh once she was out of earshot. "Damn Iggy! Keeping all the goods to yourself. Please tell me you're at least gonna kiss that broad."

"Gladiolus!" he scoffed, grabbing his own hat and jacket. "She is my assistant and I want her to focus on her job, not me," he sighed.

"Your loss. Ya' know Iggy, stress relief is good for ya'," he chuckled, stepping out the door. He really was starving, and he'd promised Ignis he wouldn't go out to eat without him. According to him they had much to discuss.

"Gladio, Nea is very efficient. She does her job and that is all I need from her. The same should go for you and your assistant. That is their job."

"I dunno," Gladio shrugged. "This little blond you sent me is pretty cute," he smirked, pulling a cigarette from his pocket.

Ignis sighed. "I do hope you're making a gag."

"Not really," Gladio chuckled, lighting the cigarette as he puffed a long breath of smoke into the air. "He's real, uh, eager... it's pretty cute. Though he's a little too innocent," he snorted. "I'll just go for yours."

"No you will not. Please let Nea do her job," Ignis sighed, "and you really should let Prom do his as well."

"Iggy, calm down," Gladio said. "I'm just tryin' to have fun with ya'." He took another long drag on his cigarette. "Now pick somewhere to eat so I can actually get some grub, okay?"

Ignis sighed. "I apologize Gladio... there is much on my mind."

"Look," Gladio began, gently touching Ignis' shoulder. "I get it, okay? That's why I was tryin' to loosen ya' up. You've been on edge cause of your uncle and these new assistants... I get it. But it seems like they're gonna do a good job, and you've got everything under control. So stop making me lecture ya' and pick a restaurant. My treat."

"Gladio you don't-"

"I want to. You're driving me crazy, and you deserve a little somethin'."

"Alright, alright, let's go to Kenny's," Ignis said.

"Kenny's? Really?" Gladio blinked. "But that's my favorite place..."

"Yes, and I kept you waiting so it's only fair you eat what I know you love."

"Fine, fine," Gladio sighed, chuckling. "You know I'm not going to argue with Kenny's."

"Of course not," he said, buttoning up his jacket as he placed his hat atop his head. "Gladio, do you really... think you might have relations with your assistant?" he asked. "I never realized you were interested in men."

"Eh, never really cared one way or the other. I just kept getting surrounded by beautiful women," he chuckled. "But uh, that Prom kid is pretty adorable. I wasn't expecting to like him so much, ya' know," Gladio shrugged. "It's only day one Ig, I was mostly kidding, but we sure do get along better than I thought."

"That is certainly a good thing," he nods.

"But Iggy, are you really thinking you would never... with your assistant?" he asked. "Nea is... gorgeous." Ignis' face immediately turned bright red and Gladio elbowed him in the side gently. "Eh... eh! See! You do think she's somethin'!"

"Gladio," he scoffed, adjusting his glasses. "I'm not blind. I can see the woman is quite stunning yes, but that does not mean I wish to tarnish the working relationship we have just started to build. It is only the first day."

"Exactly!" Gladio teased. "You never know what might happen."

"It's... it's not proper..."

"Look Iggy, I just want you to have a nice time for once. I mean... don't you eventually... wanna do all that?" Gladio asked, snuffing out his cigarette against the pavement.

"Do all what?"

"Fall in love, have a family? I mean.. someone has got to continue the Scientia line, right?"

"You're not wrong. I just... have so many other things I need to focus on right now, Gladio," he explained. "You know our plan... what lengths we'll have to go to if we wish to succeed. Love... isn't really something I have time to think about."

"Alright, alright I get it. I just think a little somethin' somethin' could loosen you up. Might make the Winter Gala more bearable," he smirked.

"You're going to have let this one go, I won't change my stance on it. For now, I must focus on changing things and pushing forward without my uncle."

"I know, I know," he said, shrugging. "It was worth a shot. Now let's walk faster. I'm dyin'." Gladio knew Ignis would respond the way he did, by now his attitude was to be expected. Gladio couldn't blame him, not when they had so many things they needed to fix about the way their families were. At least for now, they only had to worry about focusing on delicious food.

~~

Aranea was pacing, an unusual activity for her. When she started cases she had no problem finishing them, completing the task as she was told to do, but now... something about this case felt... off.

Ignis Scientia, the man she was supposed to be keeping a close eye on was... strange to say the least. He was kind, considerate, organized... a little stressed, but overall, he'd spent the majority of their time together making certain she was comfortable.

However, it was only the first day.

She could tell he was a bit wary of her, as he certainly had withheld some information, but again, they'd spent very little time together.

And yet...

Aranea couldn't shake the feeling something wasn't quite right. There had to be more to Ignis than what he was showing. He was far too nice for the world she had been painted. Even Gladiolus had given off a friendly aura... and Aranea was beginning to wonder if they had somehow stumbled into the wrong mafia. Had Cor gotten something wrong? So far, Ignis had seemed very preoccupied with the Winter Gala, whatever that was...

She needed more information.

"Aranea!" Prompto's hushed voice echoed through the small room and she immediately stopped moving. "I'm surprised you called me so fast, is everything okay?"

She'd contacted Prompto immediately upon arriving home using the code system they'd set up between them. The two rings on the telephone meant they had to meet, and Aranea had thankfully found a secure location in a small mailroom of the apartment complex a few blocks down the street.

"Yeah... I mean... I guess?" she muttered, rubbing her forehead. "Everything is too okay with Ignis Scientia."

"Too okay?" Prompto asked, cocking his head to the side.

"He's… incredibly kind. Considerate of what I'm doing... It makes no sense."

"Well... they're just people, Aranea," Prompto shrugged.

She raised her eyebrow. "Just people? What the hell you tryin' to say, kid?"

"I mean... they probably do a lot of bad things but... even bad people have their nice days, right? Unless they were super villains... everyone has got someone they care about, and the mafia is all about family and what not... so... I dunno..." Prompto tried to explain, trailing off.

"You're not wrong," she muttered, rubbing her arm with a sigh.

"I-I mean, I get it! I was really thrown off by Gladio too! He was really... nice. Real worried about Ignis... and he reads. A lot. He's... so normal, despite how he looks and I... was really surprised."

"That's what I was worried about," Aranea muttered.

"Worried?" Prompto asked, once again questioning her.

"Look kid, I've done a lot of these undercover missions, and usually the baddies are a lot more obvious about their motives. Ignis and Gladio may seem like good guys, but we can't fall for any of their tricks, got it? Deep down inside they're mafia executives and that family you mentioned? They won't hesitate to protect each other, especially Noctis," she explained. "I don't want you putting your guard down just because they seem like nice people. The same goes for me too."

"I wasn't gonna..." Prompto mumbled, twisting his lips up. He folded his arms over his chest. "It... did throw me off though."

"It threw me too. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it..." she sighed.

Prompto couldn't help but laugh. "Admittedly, I'm a little happy you're confused too," he said. "I thought I was going crazy with how nice Gladio was. I tried to just act normal, but I think he saw I was a little nervous."

"S'fine," Aranea shrugged. "It was your first day, so being nervous is normal. Just try and stay calm from here on out." She paused, and bit down on her lip. "Did Gladio give you any information on the Winter Gala?"

"Not really, just that Ignis was stressed about it."

"He certainly is..." she muttered, tapping her chin. "Our first goal should be to find out what it entails. Ignis was having me order decorations, but that didn't give me much information. Find out all you can about this event. Once we have a lead we can report back here."

"You got it!" Prompto said, saluting her.

"We can't meet here every night, but after the first day I wanted it to be clear; we can't let these men fool us," she said, her eyes glancing up and down at Prompto.

"Right," he said softly, slowly lowering his hand.

He was still a rookie, so new at these sort of missions. Ignis had thrown her off, so she wasn't surprised Gladio had done the same to Prompto. She had to keep them both on track. "Promise me Prompto, you won't let anything deter you from our mission..."

"I won't!" he frowned, looking even more determined. Good. She wanted to light a fire under his tiny little ass. "Being a cop is the most important thing to me," he explained, his bright blue eyes burning. "I love my job, and I don't want to let you, or Cor, or anyone down ever again," he said. "Besides, if I do, I'm pretty sure this is going to be my last case," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Don't worry kid," she smirked, nudging him. "I won't be letting you or me get kicked off or hurt..."

"Yeah... I know."

Stepping back from him, she pointed her finger towards his nose. "Stay on your toes, and don't screw up. 'Til next time," she smirked, waving one more time as she unlocked the door to head back to her small apartment. She only could hope Prompto would listen to her.

[pjbehindthesun]

Hi! The new chapter is still coming sometime this week, but in the meantime, I got tagged by @iariotact to do the music questionnaire, or more precisely, to ask Lucy and Jeff about it. Then, @igotmemories-igotshit wanted me to ask Stone. Thank you both, you know I love you  ❤️ I figured I’d do them all in one post, but I’ll put a break in so as not to fuck up everyone’s timelines…

Here’s Lucy:  ***

List 10 artists you like before answering the questions below.

1. The Beatles   2. The Clash   3. Fleetwood Mac    4. Joan Baez   5. Buffy Sainte-Marie    6. Joni Mitchell   7. Bob Dylan    8. Simon and Garfunkel    9. The Mamas and the Papas   10. Iggy Pop

What was the first song you ever heard by 6? All I Want

What is your favorite song of 8? America

What kind of impact has 1 left on your life? They’re really the gateway band, aren’t they? And Yellow Submarine is really the gateway song. Between pop and art, between music that is easy to consume and music that makes you think. They inspired a lot of pacifism before I even understood what that meant and made me want to find my own ways to be creative.

What are your favorite lyrics of 5? 

Tall trees in Georgia, they grow so high, they shade me so And sadly walking through the thicket I go

How many times have you seen 4 live? Never! I’d love to, though.

What is your favorite song by 7? Girl From The North Country

Is there any song by 3 that makes you sad? Landslide

What is your favorite song by 9? Dream A Little Dream Of Me

When did you first get into 2? That would be Jeff’s influence but I have to admit they’re awesome

How did you get into 10? I blame Cora for this one!

***

And here’s Jeff: ***

1. The Ramones   2. The Beatles   3. Neil Young    4. Black Flag    5. Led Zeppelin     6. AC/DC    7. The Clash    8. Sex Pistols    9. The U-Men   10. Santana

What was the first song you ever heard by 6? Let There Be Rock

What is your favorite song of 8? Pretty Vacant

What kind of impact has 1 left on your life? I’m not even sure how to answer this. Ramones records taught me how to play, they gave me an outlet when I didn’t have one growing up, provided some of the first anti-heroes I wanted to emulate when I was first starting out… 

What are your favorite lyrics of 5?

We are eagles of one nest The nest is in our soul

How many times have you seen 4 live? A bunch, both as a fan and an opener. There was that one time I saved Mark’s ass in a fight… 

What is your favorite song by 7? It’s hard to beat London Calling

Is there any song by 3 that makes you sad? Cortez the Killer

What is your favorite song by 9? Shoot ‘Em Down

When did you first get into 2? I honestly don’t even remember, it just feels so pervasive, but it was definitely as a very small child. They’re one of those bands that evolve and grow with you over a lifetime. 

How did you get into 10? Uncle Pat, of course

***

And here’s Stone:  ***

1. Led Zeppelin    2. Black Sabbath    3. Elton John    4. Van Halen    5. Ice Cube    6. Hendrix   7. Grateful Dead    8. The Commodores     9. Motorhead   10. Woody Guthrie

What was the first song you ever heard by 6? Purple Haze

What is your favorite song of 8? Brick House

What kind of impact has 1 left on your life? Well, obviously, Jimmy Page has been really influential for me in terms of songwriting and wanting to learn how to play – the way he stitches strange notes together and pushes back against the beat have both just always felt very natural to me even though from a music theory standpoint they’re probably totally wrong. And lately, I’ve been listening to some albums more than others, finding stuff I hadn’t heard before. 

What are your favorite lyrics of 5?

But you know, I’m a menace to society But girls in biker shorts are so fly to me … And after the date, I'ma want to do the wild thing You want lobster huh? I’m thinking Burger King 

How many times have you seen 4 live? I snuck in to see them when I was like 12, it blew me away

What is your favorite song by 7? Going Down The Road Feeling Bad, which is actually a Woody Guthrie cover so I guess I gotta add him on here too, let me go back and put him on the list…

Is there any song by 3 that makes you sad? Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word. Come on, that vibraphone! if it doesn’t make you weep, you’re a stronger person than I am.

What is your favorite song by 9? Ace of Spaces, obviously

When did you first get into 2? Very early on as a kid, but it’s been my mission in life to be an evangelist ever since

How did you get into 10? My hippie parents didn’t give me much say in that one, it’s one of the things that stuck.

[seladorie]

Dragon!Prompto follows Ignis to the Citadel, because protecting Hoard is important.

lol i cannot write short fills to save my life. so this is cross posted to AO3 here

“So,” Noctis says, as he gets out of the car. “What’s that thing that’s been following us?”

Ignis turns to look at the rock formation, quite some distance away, but the figure on it still well visible. “That appears to be a dragon.”

“Oh, dragon. That’s cool,” Noctis says, “Why’s it following us?”

“I don't know,” Iggy says, frowning at the distant dragon. It's distinctly human shaped, but he can see its horns from here. “Dragons typically don't leave their hoard.”

“It's not attacking us,” Gladio says. “So I doubt we picked something up that belonged to it,” he scratches his neck in thought. “We could attack it, if we really want it to leave, but…”

“Dragons are dangerous. We're not risking our lives over something that's not actively trying to kill us,” Iggy states firmly. “Certainly there's plenty of creatures out there trying to do us harm already.”

“Yeah. It is making me nervous, though,” Gladio says, “it's not acting right. Usually you walk right by a dragon and they don't do anything if you don't touch their shit, but this one… it shouldn't be following us.”

“Maybe it lost its hoard? We could throw some gil at it,” Noctis says.

“Yes, I did always so wish to die by evisceration,” Ignis says dryly.

“Well, it could burn us to death. Or ice us to death. It's pretty pale looking, might be an ice dragon,” Gladio muses.

Ignis glares at him. “Yes, because that's so much better.”

…

They don't do anything else about it until the next day when they get stuck on the road at night when the daemons come out. They're fighting, of course, and it's not going badly, but it goes way better when the ronin the Noctis’ left suddenly is encased in ice.

Noctis still flings himself away from it, but the consuming, bitter, and inescapable cold never strikes him.

He sees the dragon though, in its full form. It's bright in the darkness, scales shimmer with white and gold. Noctis sees it open its mouth and he moves away, but a burst of ice blasts the red giant behind him.

Much quicker than normal, the battle is over, and the dragon shrinks until he's about Noctis’ size.

“Okay,” Noctis says, “hi there.”

The dragon squints at him, taking a step back, blue eyes suspicious, which Noct doesn't get at all. It's following them, what the hell.

“Hello,” Ignis says, stepping forward. “What's your name?”

At first, Noctis thinks, It can't speak, but then it opens its mouth and proves him wrong. “Prompto.”

“Well, Prompto,” Ignis says. “Thank you for your help.”

The dragon, who they now know has a name, takes a cautious step forward. “Yes.”

That’s--none of them quite know what to do with that. “Cool,” Noctis says. “So, what's your deal? You've been following us for a while and we appreciate the help, but do you want something from us?”

The dragon is staring at Ignis. Which. Okay. Ignis, for his part is staring back, brows furrowed and expression concerned.

Gladio takes a step forward, moving to stand in front of Iggy, and the dragon full body flinches.

And takes off.

“Wait!” Noctis yells, but it's too late.

“Huh,” Iggy huffs.

“He's got a thing for Iggy,” Gladio says.

“That doesn't make sense, though,” Ignis says. “What kind of ‘thing’ could he have for me? Dragons care for little but their hoard.”

“Maybe it wants to add you to his hoard,” Noctis jokes, “you'd look great on top of a pile of gold.”

No one else laughs. “You can't be serious,” Noctis says. “Dragons don't include people in their hoard.” Gladio bites his lip. “Do they?”

“I've no idea,” Iggy says.

Gladio snorts. “Don't worry, Iggy. I'll protect you from the dragon.”

…

Iggy doesn't really need protecting because the dragon keeps his distance. And they worry, a bit, because havens don't repel dragons, but he doesn't come closer.

At one point, a bit fed up of being watched all the time, Gladio walks over to Prompto to try to coax him closer. The dragon literally flees him.

“Good going,” Noctis says. “You scared a dragon. Told you that your face sucks.”

“I'll show you whose face sucks,” Gladio mutters.

Noctis wags his eyebrows. “Making promises, big guy?”

“For Shiva’s sake,” Ignis says.

“Ignis could probably coax the dragon out,” Gladio says, switching tracks. “I don't totally want to have to save him if he steals him away though.”

“I don't particularly want to be stolen away by a dragon, either,” Ignis comments lightly.

…

The dragon comes back and keeps its distance. And by now, they're pretty used to it.

“I'll be right back,” Ignis says. “And if I'm not, I’ve been kidnapped by a dragon.”

“Cool,” Noctis says, not pausing his game.

Ignis picks up a plate, and heads off the haven to walk over to where the dragon is sitting.

The dragon doesn't stand up as Ignis approaches him, but seems to be making himself smaller, curling in a bit. Making himself less threatening? Ignis wonders.

“Hello, Prompto,” Ignis says. “Since you've been our rather constant and helpful companion, I wondered if you would like some dinner.”

Blue eyes peer at him, and the dragon uncurls from his position and stands up. He's about the same height as Noctis, Ignis thinks, while he's in human form, though the horns add some height.

“You're giving me food?” the dragon asks.

“Yes,” Ignis says. He's not smiling--he's fairly certain that would be perceived as an act of aggression, and he is very aware of the dragons sharp claws. “You're also welcome to join us at the haven, if you'd like.”

“Haven?” Prompto asks. “You mean the runes?”

“I--yes,” Ignis says, “would you like to join us?”

The dragon nods, a bit hesitantly, and Ignis slowly walks back to the haven with a dragon in tow.

“Look who's joining us,” Ignis announces, as code for there's a dragon right here.

Noctis looks up from his game and says, “Hey, cool. About time.”

Gladio looks up, and says, “Awesome. He doesn't eat humans right? ‘Cause to be clear,” Gladio says, “we are not dinner.”

“I don't eat humans!” Prompto says, the loudest they've heard him. It's also the most he's spoken since he started following them weeks ago. “I don't do anything to humans.”

“You sure have been following us a lot,” Noctis mentions idly, “though is it supposed to be all of us? Or,” Noctis says, “just Iggy?”

“Iggy?” Prompto repeats, looking at the man himself.

Gladio gets up and walks forward until he's standing right in front of the dragon and leans down to make eye contact, and Ignis feels a moment of panic watching Gladio try to face off with a literal dragon. “Let's get something straight. You hurt Iggy--or either one of these assholes--we’re gonna have a problem.”

The dragon hunches in, a bit, and Ignis says, “Gladio, that’s enough. I think we’ve determined fairly well that Prompto here doesn’t mean us any harm.”

“Just sayin’,” Gladio says, backing off.

“Don’t worry about him,” Ignis says to Prompto, and walks away over to his portable stove.

Prompto follows.

Noctis looks up from his game, and Gladio eyes him from across the haven.

“Iggy, do you have like… dragon catnip?” Noctis asks, and with a smile, “Dragon nip?”

“I don’t believe so,” Ignis says, and mentally organizes the various ingredients and objects they’ve collected recently, and tries to recall if anyone of them are supposed to be particularly attractive to dragons.

“I’m not here for a plant,” Prompto says, nose scrunching up, insulted. “Why would I care about a plant?”

“Then you are here for a reason,” Gladio says, “what would that be?”

“I--” the dragon says, glances towards Ignis, blushes as much as an ice dragon can, and looks away.

“Iggy?” Noctis says. “You’re here for Iggy?”

The dragon is blushing harder and looks ready to flee again.

“Noctis,” Ignis says reflexively, before the implications can set in.

“Okay, see?” Gladio says, and in a few quick, long strides, he’s standing between Ignis and Prompto. “Listen,” he says to the dragon, who’s now near the edge of the haven, “you seem nice and all, for a dragon, but I’m not going to let you take away one of my friends for your hoard, okay? And if you try, we’re gonna have problems.”

“I’m not trying to take him away to my hoard,” Prompto says, and Ignis is just about to tell Noctis and Gladio that they were absolutely ridiculous for suggesting that he’s the reason that the dragon has been following them, when he continues, “You can’t put living things into a hoard, they don’t stay in one place. You have to follow them and keep them safe that way!”

Silence. Ignis realizes that his mouth is hanging open, remembers his uncle scolding him for acting like a simpleton, and promptly closes it.

Gladio, for his part, looks back at Iggy. He doesn’t need to mouth I told you so but does anyway.

“So, you’re just… following us. Because you want to protect Iggy,” Noctis says. “Because you consider him part of your hoard?”

Prompto nods. Like that makes perfect sense. Ignis supposes it does, for a dragon.

“But why?” Ignis asks.

The dragon blushes again but says, loud and clear, “You’re really pretty.”

Gladio snorts.

Noctis smiles. “Sounds like solid reasoning to me.”

“Your Highness,” Ignis hisses.

“What? He has good taste,” Noctis says with a smirk, and Iggy tells himself he can’t commit regicide. Too much trouble.

Prompto beams. “Thank you!”

“Iggy here is definitely one of the fairest in the land,” Gladio adds on, because Ignis’ friends do not fear death. “You’ve got a good eye.”

The dragon is preening, and coming back closer away from the edge of the haven. “I hoard only the best,” he says, pride obvious in his every word.

“Iggy is the best,” Noct adds. “Well, if you’re not going to try to steal him away, but you want to protect him, why not travel with us? Help us keep Iggy safe.”

Prompto nods with great enthusiasm. “Yeah! That would make it a lot easier. Especially when you travel in that thing you humans have. The shiny thing.”

“The car?” Iggy asks.

“Yeah, that thing. It’s pretty! But it’s annoying to keep up with it.”

“Well, you’re in luck,” Noctis says, “you can ride in it with us.”

…

Having a dragon join them is interesting, to say the least. After some rather intense discussions with His Majesty and Gladio’s father, they got probationary approval for it. And Prompto certainly made their travels far safer, as good as he is at getting rid of daemons.

And all he wants in return is an opportunity to stare at Ignis.

“Do dragons really just admire their hoard?” Ignis asks mildly, as Prompto watches him cook.

“Oh. Well, we protect our hoard and admire it and keep it clsoe, but I mean, I don’t want to bother you,” Prompto says. “I don’t want to be in the way.”

“But you do want something?” Ignis says. “What do dragons do when their hoard includes humans? Or even just other living things?”

The dragon blushes. He does that around Ignis a lot. “We, uh, I mean,” he stammers. “Protect them.”

“Yes, you’ve said that often,” Ignis says. “But what does that entail?”

The ice dragon ducks his head, still blushing. “You’re so pretty,” he says, “and wonderful. Can I touch you?”

Two, really loud, really poorly disguised snorts, one of which becomes unabashedly loud laughter, sound from the other side of the haven. “Touch how?” Ignis asks, absolving to feed both Gladio and Noctis their least favorite foods for a week.

“Can I hold you?” Propmto asks. “Like--during the night,” and the laughter behinds him quiets a little bit. “Or lean by you by the fire?”

He looks so earnest, and sweet, that Ignis finds himself saying, “Yes, of course.”

So when they go to their chairs, Prompto followers Ignis to his. Ignis, a bit unsure, settles into his seat as normal, and Prompto sits down on the ground and leans against his knee, mindful of his horns, until his head is practically in his lap. Giving into temptation, Ignis reaches out to Prompto’s hair, and strokes lightly.

Gladio and Noctis, despite being terrible, don’t laugh, but they’re both smiling. Gladio mouths, so cute.Forget least favorite foods. They could feed themselves for a while, then.Prompto sighs and relaxes, and Ignis finds it difficult to really be upset.

[amidalogicdive]

Stars

Title: Stars

Rating: General Audiences Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Relationship: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Nyx Ulric Characters: Nyx UlricNoctis Lucis CaelumSelena Lucis Caelum Ulric Additional Tags: other characters mentioned in passing, Fluff, Established Relationship, Dorks in Love, Idiots in Love, royal couple, Cuddling & Snuggling, ALL THE FLUFF, Loving Marriage, Looking to the future, domestic Fluff

Ao3 link for chapter: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12565364 This is now complete and if you wish to read it all in order, the series can be found here: http://archiveofourown.org/series/837276

-

OCT. 30 - Light / Dark: Midday / Midnight

-

“Which one is that?”

The young girl giggled, “Papa, that Carbuncle!”

“You sure?” She nodded, dark curls bouncing in the firelight and faint blue glow of the haven. “Hm, and that one right there?”

“That's Shiva!”

“Wow, really?” She laughed again as Nyx pulled her close to cuddle her. “How did you get so smart, Selena?”

“Uncle Iggy!”

Nyx pouted. “I've been betrayed, I thought you were gonna say me!”

“Papa!” Squealing as he attacked her with little kisses to her face, she snuggled closer to his chest and Nyx held her.

“What are you two doing?”

Pale eyes looked up, smiling at his husband. “Oh, Selena is teaching her Papa about the stars.”

“I see, then I guess she doesn't want dessert?” Wiggling out of his lap, she jumped up and made a whimpering noise. “Well go on, Uncle Iggy and Uncle Prompto have chocolate and marshmallow. Your brothers going to eat it all!”

Gasping, Selena ran across the haven. “I want some too, Helion!”

Nyx shook his head, chuckling as his husband sat beside him. “They don't need any more sugar.”

“We are camping, it's supposed to be fun. Let them be kids while they can.” They both fell silent, legs hanging over the side of the large circular rock as they looked up at the sky.

“Dusha?”

“Hm?”

Leaning closer, Nyx pointed at a cluster of stars. “Is that really Shiva?”

Noctis gave him a look of disbelief. “Do you doubt your own daughter?” The scowl that followed made the prince laugh. “Yes, my love, that is Shiva.”

“Fuck, We maybe she does know the stars better than I do. I can see Helion is taking after you. He cares about the people around him and likes all that political stuff Ignis teaches him.”

"Thought you were going to point out that he loves to sleep as much as I do." Noctis laid his head on the glaives shoulder, fingers playing with the end of his shirt.

"That too. He's going to be a good King one day and so will you.”

Noctis said nothing in response, cuddling against his husband for several minutes before he finally spoke. “I want you to step down from being a glaive, Nyx.” That caught his attention, leaning back so he could meet the deep eyes of his lover properly. “Before we left, dad called me to his office.”

“I remember…” What was unclear, why did he want him to step down?

“He will be relinquishing the crown, the throne on my birthday next month. I will be King, Nyx.” A smile pulled at his lips as he spoke the next words, though there was a nervousness lingering beyond it. “I want you to be my consort. To sit beside me, rule with me as a King in your own right.”

“Little Prince,”

Noctis regard his husband's reaction to his words with a greater patience than he'd had in his youth. He could see the hesitation and considered that, perhaps, this time he'd asked too much of the man that he’d loved for so long. Needing to break the silence, he finally spoke. “Or you can stay a glaive. I'm not forcing anything on you, I've already asked you for so much.”

That snapped Nyx out of his own thoughts, taking Noct's hand as he laced their fingers together. “I've never done anything I didn't want to do. I don't regret anything I've done for your sake, for my own."

“Years ago you asked me to marry you." Pale eyes fell to the braids that Noctis wore, a sign of their devotion to one another. "Now, I'm asking you to be my equal. Stay by my side? Help rule Lucis? Dad has already approved the request, he thinks it's a wonderful idea.”

“He would, seems your dad loves springing things on me." Leaning forward a bit, Nyx looked up at the stars and smirked. “I can't go against my father-in-law or my husband.” He sat there a moment, the sound of the group by the fire breaking the silence. Their children laughing as Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio watched over them. While it had been expected of the adviser and shield, Nyx hadn't expected the little Chocobo to join the Crownsguard. He'd stepped out of his comfort zone to stand by his friend, maybe it was time for Nyx to do the same. After all, a comfortable life was quite boring at times. "Well, if I'm King, I can keep a better eye on you."

"As if you let me out of your sight now." He shot back, tugging on their joined hands. "So... is that a yes?"

"Yeah, why not. This could be fun and I guess I should lead by example. Don't want your heir running off to be a glaive, just like his Papa is."

"You think far too much of yourself, Hero." Both men looked at one another, grinning. “But you mean it? You really want this?"

“Yeah, baby.” He didn't expect the arms that were thrown around his neck, both falling to the hard rock below as Noctis kissed him. When they pulled apart, Nyx had a huge grin on his face. “Loved that reaction, my love. I should say yes to things more often.”

“Ass.”

They both laid on the ground laughing, their children and little makeshift family feet away from the two. Neither knew if Lucis would always be so peaceful, or if they would always be this happy. But, they would make the most of the time they had together. For their family, friends, and kingdom, they both loved.

[kuciradio]

The Lemon Twigs at the Teragram Ballroom, 10/20/17

On a moody Friday night, Los Angeles’s beloved Teragram Ballroom (a venue that has hosted the likes of punk legends such as Patti Smith and Iggy Pop) awaited a new set of rock idols. New York wunderkinds The Lemon Twigs, led by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario (only 20 and 18 years old, respectively), had arrived in town, and they do not come quietly.

As a crowd peopled by clusters of teens in billowing polyester pants and other such 1970s garb awaited the beloved Twigs, who released their critically-acclaimed debut album Do Hollywood a year ago and just rolled out their Brothers of Destruction EP, new-wave glam-rock inspired group Fatal Jamz took the stage. Frontman Marion Belle stunned with shoulder-length raven curls, big gold hoop earrings, giant cateye sunglasses, and chunky patent leather heels; the kind of mysterious person you’d be captivate by at the discotheque. He danced and wailed dreamily vapid yet sensual lyrics to dreamy guitars—glam-rock confidence with sensitivity. All that was missing was a slow-rotating disco ball and gauzy tapestries blown by a fan.

Following the dream state of Fatal Jamz, Max Clarke, founding father of New York group Cut Worms, introduced his group with “Like Going Down Sideways,” a song that feels like a teenaged romance in the summer sun. Clarke looks and sounds like the lovechild of George Harrison and Keith Partridge from ‘70s sitcom The Partridge Family. Cut Worms’ performance was pure feel-good bliss, the tracks from their new EP Alien Sunset reminiscent of ‘60s pop outfits like Herman & the Hermits.

With an introduction that made the room hum with energy, the Twigs bounded onto the stage in tight-fitting bellbottoms and black eyeliner. The D’Addario brothers write all the band’s songs, and they kicked off the night with Brian’s part of the set, which consisted of him on vocals and guitar while Michael drummed away; both brothers are incredibly adept musicians and songwriters who craft pop gems. Brian has a knack for writing existential ballads as well, his versatility apparent as the band opened with the upbeat-yet-lovelorn hit “I Wanna Prove to You” and later followed with “Beautiful,” in which he comes to embrace the relative insignificance of human existence on his own sentimentally nihilistic terms. He also led the band in a cover of Jonathan Richman’s “You Can’t Talk to the Dude,” scooting around the stage and jamming on guitar as Michael drummed with the charm of a skillful Muppet while effortlessly twirling his sticks, keyboardist Danny Ayala aka “Dr. Danny” sang his heart out as a backup vocalist, and bassist Megan Zeankowski coolly bounced side-to-side. 

The Twigs continued to flaunt their technical skills as well as theatricality as Michael stepped up to the mic and picked up his guitar. From his animated facial expressions to his cheeky quips with the audience (Audience member: “I like your sweater!”, Michael: “I do too, that’s why I wore it”) to his iconic high kicks and jumps (which sometimes end with him in the splits), he embodies a sort of rock showmanship that many ruefully label as nonexistent in this day and age. He strutted around and shook his assets during “Night Song,” and showed off a dynamic softness with “As Long As We’re Together” and “Baby, Baby.” Him and his brother perform with their entire bodies, their faces animating into various expressions as they alternate between loud and soft dynamics on a dime. Michael traipsed around performing a more edgy tune from the upcoming album (produced by Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado), an exciting hint to where the Twigs will go next in their evolution.

For the encore, Brian appeared alone, behind the keys to mourn the recent loss of the brothers’ uncle with something new and lovely that he had just written. This heartfelt piece put a somber mood on the night, but the band ended the night on an electrifying note with “Queen Of My School,” a song they often perform live and have revealed is going to be on their next album. The Lemon Twigs are appallingly good and wonderfully ambitious, as the grand production that was their gig proved evident. They’re the kind of group that you don’t just go to see, they’re a group that you witness. The D’Addario brothers are budding musical icons, and when they get going, all you can really think is “this is rock & roll.”

- Sophie Prettyman-Beauchamp, Beach Daze (Sundays 10am-12pm PST)