#before the fall of insomnia

[princesssalmavegeta]

A Day Off

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XV.

OC: Lillian Nox Fleuret is the third princess of Tenebrae and the youngest sister of Ravus and Lunafreya. She is an Oracle. Following the attack on the Fenestala Manor, King Regis rescues Noctis and Lillian and takes them back to Insomnia. She and Noctis grew up together in the Citadel before moving to the apartment in their first year of high school. Their friendship blossomed into love over the years, and after realizing their feelings for each other, they began dating.

This takes place two years before the game. Both Lillian and Noctis are 18.

***************

M.E. July, 754.

"Noct... Noct! Get up. We need to clean your room before Ignis comes." Lillian announced after knocking on the still-sleeping prince's door and inviting herself.

Noctis groaned and snuggled deeper in his blanket. He mumbled a few incoherent words then the room fell into silence again. Lillian sighed and refrained from jumping on him and dragging him out of bed, "Wake up It's afternoon, Your Highness." she tried not to trip on the piles of clothes thrown on the ground and went to open the window.

A hand got out of the covers and patted blindly around it. Once he found his phone, he switched it on. Lillian sat on the bed and looked around her. The prince opened one eye, read "13:56," and then put his phone next to his pillow. He sat up after removing the blanket from his face, "'morning, sleepy-head." Lillian chuckled at his bed hair. She let her fingers tangle in his messy locks and started fixing them. He grunted a greeting and leaned closer to her as she gently combed his hair. It was a habit that he loved. Moments like these made him forget all about his responsibilities and bask in her calming scent.

"I told you to sleep early... Have you completed watching season two yet?" He had told her that he had started the second season, and they made a bet whether he could finish it in a single day.

Eight episodes. Each episode is an hour long. It was safe to say that he had won the bet.

With his eyes still closed, Noctis grinned. "Yup. All of it. Slept at four am... I feel like shit, but it's worth it," he finished with a yawn. His voice is still deep with sleep.

The Oracle shook her head at the prince. He can be silly sometimes. "Don't do that again, please. You look lifeless," she removed her hand from his hair, and he pouted in protest, "Now get your ass up. Ignis is coming at five, and we still need to clean your room."

"Right," he sighed, then smiled, "can I get a 'good morning' kiss?" He tugged at her sleeve, his other hand reaching for her face, cupping her cheek.

Lillian chuckled, then planted a soft kiss on his forehead, making his heart flutter. He sighed happily. Truly, nothing made him happier than these peaceful moments with his princess. He watched silently as she gave him a small smile before getting up from his bed.

"Your breakfast is on the dining table. I'll go get the cleaning supplies that we need." She tied her hair up so it wouldn't bother her during the cleaning. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Noctis finally getting up, running his hand through his hair, and stretching. She left Noctis' room and went to the kitchen when she realized her first mission of the day, waking him up, was complete.

Looking through the cabinets, she gathered several plastic bags for all the trash lying on his bedroom floor. Just as she pulled out a cleaning detergent, Noctis entered the kitchen, rubbing his eyes as he sat on the dining table's chair. "Thanks for the food, Lilly," he said with a smile, before eating the pancakes.

"Hm? Oh! No problem, Noct," She said dismissively, waving her hand. With the supplies in her hold, she went to start the cleaning.

"I'll be right there once I'm finished," he called over his shoulder.

"Okay!" Was her reply.

He sat there, chewing on the chocolate-covered pancakes, then his thoughts drifted to Lillian. Ever since Ignis reprimanded and threatened to take him back to the citadel, Lillian volunteered to help him. Well, in this case, help Ignis since he was the one who would usually clean up after him.

"Ignis already has enough on his plate," Lillian said one time, "You shouldn't make his life miserable with your mess!"

Noctis promised her to try to keep his room as clean as he could because he felt guilty and didn't want to be separated from Lillian — who would stay in the apartment while he went back to the citadel. Emphasis on Try... He just couldn't help it! He tried but failed. All the royal training and political reports made him neglect to tidy his bedroom.

Once he finished, he got up and downed the strawberry smoothie. Ignis had asked Lillian to keep an eye on Noctis' dietary habits. He hated vegetables, but he hated upsetting Lillian even more. And so he ate every meal she prepared for him. He also noticed how she tried to make the greens delicious for him. She was constantly coming up with new recipes that included vegetables to make eating them more fun for him.

He adored her so much for doing this.

He cleaned his cup and plate, then hurried off to his room. He was greeted with the sight of a full laundry basket containing all the clothes he had tossed around.

When Lillian noticed his arrival, she handed him a garbage bag and said, "I'm gonna put these clothes in the washing machine," she then hoisted the hamper by its handles and added, "This is the last time you bring food here, understand?" She spoke with a stern tone that caused Noctis to avert his eyes sheepishly.

He nodded, "Understood."

Soon after that, she left, leaving him to his task. The young man looked around his room, empty packages of several snacks and bottles of juices scattered all over the floor and the desk. He glanced at the digital clock next to his laptop, "2: 13 PM," less than three hours remained until Ignis arrived. Thankfully, his room was not as wild as it used to be.

He nodded, ready to prove his independence to Ignis and Lillian. With this mindset, he began, starting with the floor, "Let's do this."

***************

Noctis proudly smiled as he admired his now sparkling clean room.

Lillian cleaned everything thoroughly, from the floors to the walls to the windows, and Noctis assisted her.

He turned to Lillian, her keen eyes looking for any spot they might have missed. Noctis draped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close, side-hugging her, "Relax love," he chuckled, "The room is spotless. Even Iggy would be taken aback by how it looks."

Lillian returned the side hug by wrapping her arm around his back and nodded, "Yeah," she smiled when he kissed her temple and muttered a sweet 'thank you.'

"I promise to keep it as clean as possible. I won't let your work go to waste."

"That's right! Plus, we did it together, Noct," she looked up at him and smiled. She turned to the digital watch, "We still have thirty minutes before Iggy comes... Until then, I'm going to take a shower."

Earlier that day, she had cleaned her room and their living room, not that there was much to clean; she always kept things organized. And now, after cleaning Noctis' room, she was worn out. She figured a nice, hot shower would relax her muscles and clear her thoughts.

The prince smiled mischievously and said, "Mind if I join you?"

He faced her, hands moving to her hips as he pulled her flush against him. She blushed, and he smirked; He loved teasing her.

"No, I don't mind," she said, smirking at his surprised expression. Pushing away from him, she made her way to the bathroom. "You'd better hurry, though. We don't have much time."

Noctis looked at the doorway. He chuckled; she had caught him off guard. He didn't expect her to agree. With a cheeky smile on his face, he rushed after her.

***************

Ignis raised an eyebrow at the flushed face of the young princess and the prince's satisfied smile and decided not to ask about whatever had happened. Something told him that he was better off not knowing.

He nodded in approval after touring the apartment and then placed a folder on the coffee table.

"This is a report on the current situation between Insomnia and Niflheim, have a look at it later," Ignis then turned to Lillian, "Nyx asked me to let you know that he'll drop by tomorrow."

She smiled in excitement, "Alright!" It had been two weeks since she had seen the Kingsglaive, and she had missed him. Helping the Glaives around Insomnia's borders was a job she loved; she always looked forward to it. According to Libertus, she had made their life much easier by taking care of the Daemons and them fighting off the imperial army.

Ignis smiled at her enthusiasm and glanced at Noctis who was looking curiously at a bag he had set down on their kitchen counter.

"I had time earlier and decided to bake some desserts," the advisor adjusted his glasses, "I'll take my leave now-"

He was cut off by Lillian, a frown on her face, "What?! You can't leave just yet! I'm going to make us some coffee and eat the dessert together, so please take a seat," and with that, she went to prepare their drinks.

Noctis looked at the princess, a look of admiration on his face. The sun was setting, and the apartment was bathed in orange rays giving it a cozy atmosphere. A gentle smile on his face as he watched her prepare cups and a plate to display the pastries. The comforting smell of the coffee filled the air, and Noctis exhaled a contented sigh. He wanted to hold on to these moments when nothing mattered and the whole world seemed tranquil.

Ignis cleared his throat, snapping Noctis out of his reverie. They both took a seat at the dining table, and Lillian joined them after bringing them the food.

"This tastes amazing!" Noctis exclaimed as he took a bite, "But something is missing...right, Lilly?"

She nodded, "Yeah, it almost tastes like the one we had in Tenebrae," she hummed in delight and added, "This tastes so good! This is what happiness tastes like," she giggled, and Noctis nodded his head in agreement.

Ignis sighed slightly in disappointment before taking a bite. At least he was close this time. He watched silently as Lillian and Noctis chatted about some series he had stayed up late to watch. He listened to them and made a few comments here and there. The trio kept talking about random topics until Ignis checked his watch and told them that he had to leave.

After wearing his shoes, he turned them, "I'm glad to see that you're doing well. I'll return in two days to go over the report with you."

"Right," the prince said as he leaned against the wall, "Thanks for the dessert, Iggy," he said with a small smile.

Ignis nodded and then addressed the princess, "Be careful tomorrow, alright?"

"I will. Don't worry," Lillian assured him.

"Good. Have a good night, then," and with that, Ignis left.

Noctis locked the front door and followed Lillian into the kitchen.

"Maybe we should leave these to Prompto..." She muttered as she placed the pastries in a paper bag before putting them in the fridge.

He took their empty cups to the sink and washed them. "I'll invite him over for some gaming tomorrow."

The young Oracle sat on the sofa and sighed. She watched Noctis dry his hands with a paper towel before sitting beside her. He opened his arm, and she rested her head on his chest, his arm hugging her frame as he placed his head on top of hers. His other hand sought hers and intertwined them.

"Are you all right?" Noctis spoke softly after a moment of silence.

"Mmhmm," she closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat. "Just thinking."

He had an idea about what she was thinking and sighed, "... Another vision?"

The Oracle took a deep breath and started, "Yeah, and as you already know, I can't talk about it."

"I know, I know... Is it that bad?" Noctis inquired.

Lillian nodded, and he sighed heavily. He didn't want to think about the future but from how somber Lillian looked every time she had a vision it just made him nervous. But he knew that as the future king, he had to be strong for everyone's sake. To avoid ruining the mood, Noctis changed the subject, asking, "So, when do you think Nyx is coming?" He will worry about their future later; for now, he will enjoy every moment.

When he mentioned her best friend's name, her smile returned, "Certainly around noon. I intend to heal as many Daemons as I can," she stated with a determined tone.

"I know you will," he chuckled, lovingly caressing her hair.

Lillian glanced at the report Ignis had left on the coffee table; they could review it tomorrow. "Do you wanna watch a movie?" It was still too early to go to bed.

"Sure. Any suggestions?"

"I heard 'Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki' is pretty good!"

"If you say so," with that, Noctis and Lillian moved to her room. After turning on her laptop and getting comfortable on her bed, the couple started the movie.

***************

A/N: And there you have it! It took me a while to write this one, and I'm happy with it.

The series Noctis was watching was "Alice in Borderland." I was watching the 2nd season- which was a masterpiece by the way, then thought to myself to include it here.

'Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki' is one of my favorite films, and I figured that it was the perfect movie for them to watch.

I'm planning on writing more one-shots of Lilly and Noct's life together before their journey.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and have a fantastic day/night!

[electoons]

god please let me sleep a full uninterrupted night tonight or I will do something about it. amen

[carbodiusmaximus]

instead of do school i was diagnosed with draw sad gladnis art instead

[ante--meridiem]

Okay but genuinely, if anyone has advice for falling asleep better I would really appreciate it because I am not going to be able to get through the semester like this.

(Someone in the notes of my other post suggested breathing exercises, I have noted it and am keeping it in mind.)

[gorillaxyz]

im so... shmeepy...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[kittlyns]

I keep jolting awake and every time I do there is so much fear in my heart and I honestly don't know why

[magentagalaxies]

going to a comedy open mic tomorrow mostly to watch my friends (it's at a cool venue that my improv troupe performs at once a month and a few improv troupe friends are doing standup there) but when these friends were asking if i'd be interested in coming they were like "btw there's usually a ton of open spots on show days if YOU want to do something... and they're not strict about it only being standup either, people have done character pieces and sketches etc like they embrace the weirdness... and they're not strict about time limits you could probably do anything between three and eight minutes... sometimes if there's not enough people signed up they'll even let you go twice..." and i'm like god damn it i thought i was gonna take a break from aubrey but this setup is like tailor made for an aubrey appearance lmao

[bluejaybytes]

Okay last OC post I've already indulged myself enough today with my many many OC essays. Anyways Maggie can't dream </3 Part of her weirdass soul is that like... the reconnection of both halves (It wasn't equal halves, about 2/3rds of her soul went into Margaret, the other third was the ghost-of-a-ghost left behind) didn't really... work... properly. That's the cause of her worsening issues, both portions of her soul are constantly freaking out (Not to mention that souls grow over time when alive, the piece that made up Margaret is bigger than it was when Maggie died). Part of that is in her ability to dream, or lack thereof. She's only able to dream in memories, typically getting either the memory of her murder (Horrifying, violent, and extremely traumatic), or random memories of Margaret's life (While not violent, this is still really horrifying to Maggie, because this essentially proves that Margaret was her own person, and therefore she feels like someone died to bring her back to life)

[july-19th-club]

cant get over the situation i was in this morning where i was chitchatting with a pair of regular patrons (the husband used to be on the board so like. we have to play nice with them always now) and mentioned having had some wicked insomnia last night . and the two of them repeatedly said "oh, you're too young for that stuff" like. carl. joan. do you think insomnia is exclusively decided by age?

[coloursofaparadox]

im still not over the sleep thing one sec i gotta rant about this shit

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

Did nothing related to Yule except opening gifts. The pain in my left hand got worse because I got bored and played a video game. Operating the control after three days of quilting was a bad idea. Soooo now it's almost midnight, I took a strong THC edible with my bedtime CBD edible and an Aleve (doctor said it's safe so long as I take these after 8PM). My pain is sitting at a level eight. Tomorrow will consist of me being grumpy, bored, but possibly in less pain.

Pain is extremely distracting. Especially with moving my fingers makes it worse. This makes it extremely difficult to get sort of ritual stuff done.

The edibles are kicking in now, so off to sleep for me. Goodnight.

[that-one-dark-smiley]

Me at 11pm: I have SO MUCH ENERGY I need to do my arts and crafts RIGHT NOW and throughout THE ENTIRE NIGHT. Sleep is for the weak, why should I bother sleeping when I have THIS MUCH ENERGY. No one can stop me, not even myself

Me at 3am: where is all my energy I thought I wanted to stay up all night

Repeat every single day

[savage-rhi]

 “Hey.  You know I love you, right?” prompto and noct you choose if it's platonic or romantic

You got it! 💙

Noctis sighed through his nose while he observed Prompto from afar. The latter was photographing on his lonesome, wanting to get a couple shots of Leide that wasn't just endless desert and rock. Noctis wouldn't have thought anything different, had he not seen the sadness in Prompto's eyes while he snapped away.

Noctis glanced over his right, seeing Ignis and Gladio were still bickering about car repairs and decided they didn't need his two cents. He ventured over to Prompto, waving toward him after the latter did a double take.

"I thought it was my job to be the melancholy one." Noctis laughed while he approached Prompto's space.

"I guess I suck at hiding it, don't I?" Prompto mused with a sad laugh. He offered a shrug to the prince, and waved off the concern. "It's nothing too bad, really. I've just been thinking a lot."

"About?" Noctis pressed.

"Well," Prompto made a face. He rubbed the side of his neck while his left hand fiddled with the camera. "When this is over, you're gonna be married. More royal duties are going to pile on, and--I sound so selfish for saying this, but you won't have time ever again for road trips or hanging with the guys. It's all king duty from there on out."

Noctis blinked a few times, taken back by Prompto's concerns. Nonetheless he laughed and gave Prompto a playful slap upside the head. Prompto yelped after slugging Noctis in return.

"C'mon," Noctis shook his head. "We're only two days into this road trip and you're already thinking of the end? What happened to the wise kid in high school that always told me to stay in the present?"

"Now you're just mocking me!" Prompto accused in jest while pointing at Noctis. "You can't say my worries aren't valid!"

"True," Noctis sighed and nodded. "But let's not dwell on the future. Besides, once I'm married, you guys will be my official retainers. It's not like Luna's gonna tell me to ditch you all."

"I know," Prompto furrowed his brows. He averted his gaze, not having the will to look Noctis in the eye especially when it dawned on Prompto how ridiculous his concerns truly were when he put it more into context.

"Hey," Noctis softly spoke while gently nudging Prompto's shoulder. "You know I love you, right?"

"Platonically, or romantically?" Prompto countered with a laugh while watching Noctis's cheeks turn red. "I can't say I'm not flattered, but I don't think this would go well with your wife having a male concubine!"

"You son of a--!" Noctis was interrupted when Prompto kicked up dirt at him. The two playfully began to rough house, chasing each other around for a time until Prompto had Noctis in a head lock. The latter desperately trying to get out of the blonde's grasp while Prompto cackled.

"Hey kids!" Gladio sarcastically yelled from afar. "Mom wants us to get going! The car's fine for now!"

Once the antics died down, Prompto and Noctis separated. They began their trek back to the Regalia in silence. After reaching the car, Noctis pat Prompto's shoulder and smiled.

"We're gonna be okay, right?"

Prompto made a face while he looked at Noctis's eyes. Though the prince had played it off earlier, his gaze held a deep concern. In them, Prompto could see all the worries Noctis had. The responsibility on his shoulders. The fear of it all. As his friend--as his future retainer--Prompto knew he couldn't let the king fall. Not even to his own daemons.

"No, it's gonna be even better! We're gonna have a blast!" Prompto winked and grinned. Seeing Noctis smile sincerely took the edge off for the time being.

Once in the Regalia, Prompto looked out to the Leide region. He felt somewhere in his heart that change was coming. Something mighty that none of the guys were ready for. Prompto prayed to whatever was listening, that it wouldn't hurt them too bad.

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[fruityfinch]

Somnologist taking a medical history: “…and is there any history of being pwned in your family?”

[sarcasmic-skies]

literally what the FUCK!!!! is going on w my insomnia recently. like it’s always been bad but it hasn’t been this bad this often in a long time. as of this moment, saturday, 4:24 am cst, i’ve been awake for 44.5 hours straight & counting. the week before last i was up for 71 consecutive hours. when i finally fell asleep after running on 90 min of sleep for those 3 fuckin days, i woke up three hrs later!! what the FUCK!!!! chronic insomnia can suck my dick and balls and thank me for it i am so over it. and YES i see the fucking irony that it rears its ugly head after i read/annotated fight club over n over for 10 hrs straight on thurs. it’ll be very haha laugh funny once my body knocks this shit off. fuckin hell. (i will update)

[hobgirl]

can i stop waking up at 5 am please please please can i stop