#i was so happy thinking noct my beloved i can finally see you again

[noxtivagus]

NOOOO ffxv finished but. i still need to free 20 more gb to update n finish downloading completely T_T

[shianhygge-imagines]

Middlemarch: Alternate Universe [Ravus/Reader] Finale

AN: This final chapter of Middlemarch was a long time coming. I’m so sorry for how long it took! 

There are purposely some stuff left unanswered and open ended, though if asked, I will elaborate on it :3

|Masterlist Link|

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After the Trial of the Archean

It was immensely awkward, you decided in that moment. Why? Because after that moment of affection and intimacy from the High Commander, it seemed as if the both of you had taken five enormous steps backwards in terms of your relationship. Despite your past together as playmates, and despite the fact that he had saved you, Ravus still seemed to resent you immensely. The morning after you recovered your memories of your connection to Ravus, you’d been greeted with the old stoic and borderline antagonistic attitude you’d seen briefly. When confronted, Ravus had simply huffed, stated that nothing good could come of any relationship with a Lucian, he’d taken his paperwork and all but stomped out of the room. Occasionally, you’d see Ravus come check on your recovery progress, but it had been the last that you had personally spoken with him.

His eyes are not the same. You observed during one of his visits to check on your health. A metal arm, and a different colored eye. Probably from the aftermath of trying to wear the Ring of the Lucii. There were so many questions that you wanted to ask him. Why did you stop writing to me?

Had I done something wrong?

Why are you so cold to me now?

It’s been three days since you’d last spoken with the broody man, and the bitterness was starting to build up again. Just like it did when Noctis abandoned you in favor of his love, Lunafreya, you felt the loneliness build. Except, unlike the last times, where you had Ravus and then Cor, this time you had no one. With Ravus seemingly abandoning you as well, you’d been left as prey for the one person you knew who liked to mess with people the most.

Yes, as of right now, you were being dragged around from location to location by the Chancellor of Niflheim himself, Ardyn Izunia. You’d protested heavily when the auburn headed man practically stormed your room and swept you off your feet, carrying you like a sack of potatoes as he seemed to teleport in the same manner of those blessed by the Crystal.

Once Ardyn seemed to touch back down onto solid ground, he let you squirm out of his hold, aiming a rather mischievous look at you. “So? How was my driving?”

What in the- Driving? You groaned as your stomach turned unpleasantly, “I think I’m gonna puke.” You’d used the King’s power to phase and teleport before, but never through such a long distance. At least, you gathered this from the sudden fact that you were outside the airship, in a military base. Though appreciating the fact that Ardyn had given you some time to regain your footing, you still gave him a stern glare. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Aww. You don’t want to see your beloved friends? I thought I told you that your beloved Prince was waiting.” Ardyn pouted heavily, and while you admitted that the look worked for him, it still didn’t seem right that a man his age would pout. 

The twitching in your cheek came out of nowhere as you opened your mouth to shoot out a snarky reply. You were interrupted by a loud thud when you tried to snark back, bringing a halt to your statement as Ardyn tsked, waving his hand for you to follow. “Come hither. Wouldn’t want anyone getting killed now.”

Ardyn walked off before you could answer, leaving you following behind at a slow pace. What the hell is wrong with this guy?

“I’d say that’s far enough.” you suddenly heard Ardyn chide, like an adult scolding children, though you snickered at the irony. “A hand, Highness?” Your eyes narrowed, Highness?

“Not from you.”

“Oh, but I’m here to help.”

“And how is that?”

The familiar voices had you sprinting at full speed, catching Ravus’s eye as you practically slid around the corner to see your friends.

“By first bringing back something you lost.” you heard Ardyn answer.

“What do you mean by-”

“NOCT!” You practically screeched, sprinting past Ravus and Ardyn to glomp your friend.

All around you, there were gasps of surprise. The man in your arms froze, unable to move in his disbelief, afraid that everything was a dream. That you weren’t really in his arms. “Y-Y/N?”

“I’m so glad you’re all okay!” You cried in relief at seeing your childhood friends and brother.

“We thought you died!” Gladio looked on the verge of tears as he ran to engulf you and Noctis in a great hug. Prompto and Ignis followed soon after, and you allowed yourself to grin in happiness at being reunited with those you had considered your family.

“Y/N… You shouldn’t be running around so soon.” Ravus protested, extending a hand, something resembling worry passing over his face for just the briefest of moments. When you only ignored the older man, his face hardened, schooled into another stoic mask as he turned his attention to Ardyn. “I told you not to bother them.”

“I could let dear Y/N die of boredom, now could I?” Ardyn argued with a tone that suggested a lack of seriousness. “To torture your Little Light by abandoning them in that cold metal prison… how cruel.” The Chancellor tsked, a knowing glint to his eyes as he started to walk away. “Come now, Commander. Make haste.” His sly gaze spoke volumes as he stared at Noctis, “When next we meet, it’ll be across the seas. Just so happens we have business of our own with the tutelary deity, don’t we?” 

Ravus refused to acknowledge Ardyn, his gaze set upon your form, still surrounded by your friends. There was an almost pleading sadness to his eyes when he stared after you, but you stubbornly refused to acknowledge him in return. Something about Ardyn was hauntingly familiar as he bid the group farewell and walked away with Ravus. You shook your head in confusion, forcing your mind away from the matter, simply happy to have been reunited with Noctis and Gladio.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During the Trial of Leviathan

You missed being able to throw your weapon and teleport, especially now that the entirety of Altissia was under siege by the Hydraean and Niflheim forces. Noctis, Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis had all begged for you to stay with the evacuated civilians, but you couldn’t sit back and let your friends do all the fighting. The minute that the Hydraean appeared to answer Noctis’ call, you’d sprinted back into the city just before the waves rose to form a barrier. When the Niflheim airships encroached upon the city, seeming to head towards the Alter of the Tidemother, you sprinted faster, slipping the communications earpiece that Ignis had given you into your left ear. The floor rumbled as the waves shook the water bound city, and still you didn’t stumble. “Ignis? What’s going on?” “Y/N! Whatever you do, stay far away from the city!” It’s your brother’s voice that advises you from the earpiece, sounding like he was running somewhere.

“Uh…” You paused your sprint to look around for a higher vantage point, “Maybe too late for that.” There’s an exasperated groan from the other end of the comm link from your older brother. “Fine… just… play it safe, okay? I can’t lose you.”

You’re about to respond when an angry roar shakes the area. Stand on top of a building after having scaled the walkways and side tiles, you could see the Hydraean screech in anger from afar before attacking a flying speck… who you assumed to be Noctis. Remembering that you should have responded to Gladio, you spoke in a winded voice. “I’ll stay away from anything overwhelming, but it’s still my job to protect Noctis.” The tired sigh from Gladiolus brings a regretful frown to your face, knowing that your big brother only wanted you to be safe from harm. “I guess that’s all I can really ask for, huh… Love you, sis.” “Love you, too, big bro.” Was the response you gave before jumping towards another rooftop, making your way towards the Altar of the Tidemother.

You’re just about halfway to the altar when a bright beam lights up the sky, the ground shaking violently following. The Archenn rises from the water to challenge the Hydraean, and your comms piece crackles to life, Ignis’ voice filtering through. “Noct! Do you read me?” You could hear Ignis call over the comms unit before Titan slammed a fist into the water, creating a shockwave that knocked the approaching airships out of the sky and into the city. 

Too focused on keeping your balance on top of one of the Altissian buildings, you failed to notice that one of the airships had crashed into a towering piece of architecture, sending debris plummeting down around you.

“Ah! Damn!” You cursed, eyes darting around for a building that was still stable. When you didn’t see any to climb up towards, you sprinted over to the edge of the building, deciding that down into the water was better than getting crushed by pieces of building. “Let’s hope the water isn’t too turbulent.” You muttered before jumping off in a pencil dive.

Not even 15 minutes later

You coughed and sputtered as you tread water, once more having been knocked under the Altissian waters from the violent waves that crashed around the once beautiful city. The communication device fizzled in your ear, emitting only a few words from your brother, Prompto, and Ignis before dying from all the water damage.

“Great. Just great.” You muttered as you swam towards the closest ledge and pulled yourself out of the tepid water. Yanking the device out of your ear before it shocked you, you took a minute to rest your muscles, sea water dripping off your body as an exhausted groan left your lips. “Okay… Altar… that’s where I need to go.”

Climbing to your feet, you glanced around the street for any sign of enemies before allowing your gaze to drift upwards, wanting to get on top of another rooftop. Even among the rubble that littered the street, there wasn’t any easy way to climb up to the rooftops. “Okay then… I guess we’re doing this the old fashion way.” The sigh that escaped your lips was cut short by the distinct sound of a screeching Magitek soldier. “Astrals preserve me.” You cursed with a roll of your eyes, turning in place to summon your greatsword in a flash of crystalline light just as a large group of Niflheim puppet soldiers rounded the corner of the building towards you, surrounding you on all sides.

You’d seen the inhuman soldiers fight before, but had never personally fought one until now. As such, you remained a cautious distance away from the Niflheim puppets as they attacked with random patterns and seemingly zero team coordination. There was no technique for you to be weary of, no pattern for you to exploit. Just the overwhelming number of them. They were just mindless toys of the Niflheim Empire, but that was fine. You’d faced greater odds before. It took a little bit of time on your part, as well as the use of some thunder elemancy, but all the Magitek soldiers eventually fell at your feet.

“Waste of my time!” You growled, moving to scale the nearest wall in order to get a better vantage point of the city. Explosions and gunfire could be heard all around you, though you barely paid attention to anything besides the beam of light from the Altar. “Gotta get to Noct and Luna.” You muttered before sprint forward once more, doing your best to dodge the magitek armors that patrolled the ruins near the Altar.

The closer you came to the Altar, you began to notice the skies darken, rain falling as the Archaean and Hydraean departed. The beam of bright light that was once your waypoint dimmed and disappeared just as you rounded the corner and onto the path towards the altar. “No, no, no, no!” You pleaded under your breath, “Please don’t be too late to save them.”

For all the resentment you held towards Lunafreya, you didn’t hate the older woman. She had supported and protected Noctis during the darkest times of his childhood, and you swore to protect those that your King cared for.

But now, as your eyes took in the scene before you… of two tall familiar figures standing over the fallen lovers, you realized that you’d failed. The radiant glow from Lady Lunafreya dimmed until it was extinguished, though you still forced your tired feet to stumble forward, stopping to stand beside Ravus and Ignis, an expression of horror on your face.

“No…” the grief in Ravus’ voice gave you pause as he stumbled disbelieving towards Luna’s body. You could understand part of the grief, having lost your father only days before, but you couldn’t imagine losing your entire family. 

“Ravus…” you lifted a hand to reach out to him, but the Prince of Tenebrae continued forward, a growl to his tone.

“First, the Lucians stole from me my mother…” Your breathing paused as you scrambled through your memory for what little you remembered of the old reports on the attack. We didn’t… But we weren’t the ones that killed the Queen. Eyes darting to rest on Ravus’ back, your body tensed as he continued to speak, drawing his sword to strike down the unconscious Noctis. “And now they make a sacrifice of my sister!”

Ignis reacts just a split second faster than you do, stopping Ravus’ downward strike. Bewildered and still shocked from the lack of life in both Lunafreya and Noctis, you missed the two protectors’ exchange until Ignis roughly shoved Ravus back, taking the enraged and grief-stricken Prince on and pleading for him to return to his senses.

Trusting Ignis to handle calming Ravus down, you dashed forward and fell to your knees, checking both Oracle and King for heartbeats. “If I can do one thing right this day, please let it be to save them.” You pray, utilizing what little first aid you learned. As was expected of a King’s Sworn Shield, you confirmed that Noctis was okay first before moving onto Lady Lunafreya. The rain had long since washed away most of the evidence, but from the trail of blood from the altar proper to where the two lovers lay, you knew that Luna had lost too much blood for your meager first aid to be able to do anything about. Still, you worked to staunch the bleeding, using as much Curative Magic as your body could produce, hoping that you could at least prolong her life enough for proper aid to arrive.

Don’t die, You begged, pulling at all your magical reserves as you forced yourself to use the unnatural magic. Don’t die, Lunafreya. Don’t leave Noctis. Don’t leave Ravus. Please! Healing magic was never supposed to be used by a Lucian, only the Oracles of Tenebrae, and despite using everything you had in your body, the spell did nothing. Exhausted and without energy, you slouched forward with a miserable sob. “No! What good am I if I can’t even save one life?”

Before you knew it, a body sank heavily to the floor beside you, reaching out towards Luna’s body. “But… part of me always hoped… that I might see you happy one day. Your burdens lifted, free to live and love as you please.” Your eyes darted away from such a private moment between brother and sister, though it didn’t stop you from hearing, “You would have made a beautiful bride.”

Your eyes darted to stare at Noctis, silently agreeing that Luna would indeed have made a beautiful bride for Noctis. The Fates are cruel. You lamented as the darkness was briefly illuminated by Luna’s passing, her spirit appearing above the water… beautiful, benevolent, and lively as she smiled towards her brother, who begged for her not to go. And as you watched Ravus sob, something within you mourned with him.

Once upon a time, Ravus had been the light to coax you away from the darkness. As you shifted weakly to sit beside him, you knew that it was time you acted as his light.

Hesitantly, you extended a trembling hand to rest on his Magitek arm, drawing mournful heterochromatic eyes to your own. Nothing was said between the two of you, though Ravus raised his right hand to grasp your own. 

Please stay with me. His eyes plead, tears trailing downwards with the rain.

A squeeze of your hand was all the answer that the Prince needed, I won’t leave you.

After a small lot of time, the group of you could hear thudding footsteps approach. “Gladio!” You raised your head from where it rested on Ravus’ shoulder to stare at your older brother, only to furrow when he ignored Ignis’ follow up questions in favor of staring at the man beside you.

“Well, well.” Your brother muttered a little too elegantly as he approached. “What have we here?”

You rose, your greatsword summoned with the intention to block your brother’s attack upon Ravus, but even summoning your weapon proved too exhausting, and you slipped, slumping into Ravus’ firm back, which remained steady even as he blocked Gladio’s strike, “You… “ Ravus growled, staring up at your brother’s towering form. “Ardyn.”

“Ardyn?” Blinking in confusion, you watched in horror as the illusion dropped, and Ardyn Izunia stood before the lot of you, Niflheim soldiers surging forward to detain all of you.

Watching as they manhandled Ignis and Ravus ignited a fury within you. And despite how exhausted you already were, you called upon the power bestowed to you by the late King Regis. A powerful surge of electricity discharged from your body, shocking the troops around you and Ravus enough for the Prince to distract Ardyn. Weakened from reaching far over your limit, you reacted too late to block the descent of Ardyn’s arm to your neck, hearing only the cry of your name from Ignis and Ravus before your vision went black and you slumped forward into the Chancellor.

The next you woke, Noctis had sealed himself into the Crystal and eternal night had fallen over the world.

Y/N

I know if you were awake, you would have yelled at me for doing this. But I have a destiny to fulfill. I wanted to be there for you when you woke up, but the world couldn’t wait. While I take care of what I need to, I’m leaving everything to you, Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto. And do me a favor? Live for yourself. I know you spent your entire life training to protect me, but I don’t want your life to go to waste. Ravus promised me that you’d be safe in Tenebrae, and I hope that when I do return, you’ll have your own story to tell me.

With Love,

Noctis

You sighed as you read the letter in your hand for probably the fiftieth time since you woke up. The pristine room seemed to taunt you as you sat in the soft bed, mulling over Noctis’ request. “Live for myself, huh?” An anxious laugh escaped your lips, “How to even begin…”

“You could start by trying to leave the bed.” A voice suggested dryly from the room entrance.

The smile that rose to your lips didn’t go unnoticed as Ravus stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him as he balanced a tray of food you. “Good morning, Ravus.” You greeted your host… though caretaker seemed a more appropriate title for the Prince of Tenebrae at that point.

Setting the tray of food down onto the small tea table, Ravus strolled forward to extend a hand, urging you to your feet gently as he stood by you for support. “It is actually closer to the afternoon, but that is of no consequence.” With one arm supporting your waist, the ex-Commander extended his left arm to pull out a plush chair before guiding you to the seat. “You should eat to recover your strength.” The last of the Nox Fleurets suggested, buttering a slice of bread for you before handing it over.

Muttering a soft ‘thank you,’ you took the buttered croissant, noting with affection that Ravus had remembered your love of spreading a copious amount of butter onto your bread. “You remembered how I like my butter.”

The ex-High Commander allowed his lips to curl at the edges, “I don’t think I could ever forget your bad habits.”

“Hmph.” You stuck your nose up and pouted haughtily as you bit into the bread, chewing and swallowing before answering Ravus. “Butter makes everything better, Rae.” Ravus merely continued to smile, his only answer being a soft chuckle as he set about fixing you a cup of tea. 

Now that he wasn’t looking at you so closely, you could see the well hidden exhaustion on the twenty-eight year old. Having been trained to read people, you could tell that recent events had truly taken a toll on your childhood friend. “I can practically feel your stare burning a hole into me, Y/N.” Ravus’ blue and purple eyes suddenly meet yours, “I suspect you have some questions.” Unfortunately, you were never that subtle with your observations…

Licking your lips to get rid of the butter and crumbs, but also as a nervous habit, you set the croissant down. “I understand all that Ignis told me… about the Starscourge… about Ardyn’s true identity… and about Noctis’ role in all this. But what I don’t understand is why I’m here in Tenebrae. I appreciate what you’ve done for my friends and I… and I’m more grateful that you’ve allowed me to stay here but… Surely your contempt of Lucians has not magically disappeared.”

“You needed a safe place to rest and recover.”

“I could have done that in Lucis. My brother and sister would have looked after me.” You quickly refuted Ravus’ reasoning. “Ravus… I know you promised to protect me when we were children… but… in light of what happened… I don’t think you should feel obligated to protect me.”

Blue and purple eyes gazed upon you with hurt and outrage, “You think that I allowed your stay here out of some misplaced sense of obligation?”

Not letting his tone affect you, you merely stared back at the Tenebraen Prince calmly, “Ravus… What else am I supposed to think of this situation? You cut off all connection with me for over ten years, and when I see you again, you make it no mystery that you abhor Lucians. And now, for whatever reason, you’ve suddenly taken an interest in my well-being.” Ravus almost looked ashamed for a moment, “So, I’m asking you now, Ravus. Why am I here?”

The silence that descended upon the room was tense and awkward. And when Ravus wouldn’t meet your eyes, you just wanted to kick yourself. And why can’t I keep my fat mouth shut. He was being nice, Y/N. Nice after ten years of ignoring your existence. And now he’s lost his little sister, and you’re being ungrateful. Sighing heavily, you took a breath before speaking, an apology on the tip of your tongue.

“Ravus, I-”

“... Is it too much to not wish to be alone?” 

The heartbroken and stressed edge to Ravus’ voice brought a wince to your face. And there you go, Y/N. Congratulations on being the most insensitive a-hole on this side of the planet. “Rae…”

“My sister is dead, Y/N. The last of my family has been taken from me and I…” His voice caught as his head turned to look in your direction, tearful eyes meeting yours. “She was all I had left. And now I have nothing.” You weren’t entirely sure if Ravus had even allowed himself to mourn. “Would you fault me for wanting a friend?”

You were on your feet before your brain had time to think about it. It’s not too much to ask. You want to say, but what leaves your lips is, “I’m here.” Your legs fail the moment that you put weight on them, and while you don’t scream or emote, you cry on the inside when Ravus catches you. WHAT IS THIS HORRIBLE CLICHE. 

Hoping that the moment hadn’t been ruined as you’re gently guided to the floor, you continue to speak, sinking to your knees alongside Ravus. “I’ll be here for you, Ravus. Until you no longer need me.”

Something in Ravus’ expression cracks and he pulls you close, embracing you as his body trembles, “Oh, Little Light. I don’t think there will be a time where I won’t need you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[naptis-lucis-caelum]

Could you please write a drabble for the chocobros where they knew their s/o haven't shed a single tear in their life until they broke down where they reveals that tears make them look weak and vulnerable. Hence why, they didn't cry.

FEED ME ALL UR ANGST!!!! apologies if the requests take a while, I spend most of my time at work and I do my best not to give half-assed outputs. enjoy!

“Welcome home!” Prompto greeted you cheerily.

Exhausted, you dropped your bag on the floor and went straight for the couch. Your sunshine boy cuddled up to you, feeling the fatigue radiating off you. His loving embrace was comforting, but the piled up stress of school was starting to get to you. You let out a deep sigh, and when Prompto realized his hug wasn’t taken your stress away, he planted a long kiss on your forehead.

“What’s wrong, chocobabe?” he asked, worry filling his baby blue eyes.

“I’m just–” your voice vanished into thin air. You finished off, “Stressed.”

Noticing the withdrawal of your voice, he knelt on the floor right across you. One of his hands held yours tightly while the other gently brushed your cheek. Prompto bit his tongue; he knew you well enough to know that if you were prepared to tell him what was bugging you, he wouldn’t have to pry. 

You knew him well enough to know that he knew that. 

You trust him. You love him.

After a long period of silence and much deliberation, you opened your floodgates for the first time in years.

Your sudden change in emotion took him by surprise. “Six–” He sat back down and held your face. “You’re crying. Okay, you’re crying,” he said, although it sounded more like a reminder to himself.

“I’m sorry!” you whined, unable to stop your tears. 

“No, no!” Prompto exclaimed in a panic as he began to kiss every open spot his marksman-trained eyes could see. “Please don’t be sorry, just…”

He took a deep breath, wrapping you in his arms protectively.

“It’s okay. You can cry.”

You eventually ran out of tears to cry, but you were unsure how long you’d been crying. It didn’t matter to your boyfriend, though. He held you firmly and never let go throughout your unanticipated ordeal.

“So…” he trailed off when you pulled away. “Are we going to talk about what happened or…?”

You laughed dryly, “I’m really sorry, Prompto. I… don’t cry a lot.”

“You don’t say?” he retorted, slightly amused with his sally. 

“I just can’t afford to look weak and vulnerable, that’s all,” you shrugged nonchalantly.

“Hey.” He leaned your backs against the couch and placed his arm around you. You looked up at him, getting distracted by his the sight of his freckles up close. “You’re not weak. You’re not vulnerable.”

You nodded, half-heartedly agreeing with him, but it was obvious to him that you weren’t buying it.

“It isn’t easy to get in touch with your feelings all at once, and I promise I won’t force you,” he said. “But whenever you want to–whenever you’re ready–I’m here.”

If you hadn’t just outcried your tear ducts, you were fairly certain you would be tearing up again.

“I’ll always be here.”

You sat on the wooden chair, staring at the unconscious body of Noctis dressed in hospital garments and never-ending wraps of bandages. It’s been almost 48 hours and your beloved hasn’t moved an inch. His vitals read steady, but being this deep asleep after an unfortunate daemon encounter didn’t ease your troubles.

Exhaling, you rested your forehead on his stationary arm. Your right hand crept up and softly held on to his, simply to reassure yourself of his pulse. 

But of course, you couldn’t help but let your anxieties get the best of you.

Nightmarish thoughts of the Prince sleeping into a perpetual coma and even worse flooded your mind. The thought of living your life without him forced its way into your imagination; how you would go home to an empty apartment, or how’d you never get to fish with him in Galdin Quay, or how the Lucian people would never see his coronation–

This was all too much.

Your brain began to pick up the signals of your heartache, prompting your vision to blur with heavy tears. You leaned over and pressed your forehead against his, letting the teardrops hit the edges of his ear. 

“Please wake up, please wake up,” you whispered. “Don’t leave me.”

The walls reflected nothing but your tempestuous sobbing and the cyclic pattern of his breathing.

You sat back down and resumed to your previous position. “Come on, Noct,” you murmured between loud snivels. With your eyes closed, you kept your fingers sandwiched his index and thumb and repeated to yourself,

“Wake up… wake up… wake up…”

Snapping out of what seemed like a half-asleep dream, your head shot up at the hospital bed’s abrupt weight shift. It took you a moment to decide whether or not you were in a dream, but the moment his ocean eyes met yours, you were convinced.

“Noct!” you exclaimed softly, carefully positioning your forehead against his once again. 

His thumbs slowly moved across your face, taken aback by the tears attacking your soft skin. “Hey, princess,” he said weakly. “Why are you crying?”

“I’m…” 

You closed your eyes for a second and allowed yourself to feel the happiness, relief, and solace in his awakening. 

“You’ve been out for almost 2 days and I just–” You shook your head, “I’m just really glad you’re awake.”

“That makes two of us,” he agreed.

“Look, I know I’m not super invested in my emotions,” you began, a part of you silently cursing yourself for admitting your frailty. You continued, “But that’s only because I always thought crying made me weak and vulnerable.”

He chuckled lightly, “And you hate being weak and vulnerable, I know.”

“I love you, Noct.”

The corner of his lips quirked up to a small smile, and you could’ve sworn his cheeks had flushed the darkest shade of red imaginable. 

“I love you too. And I’m sorry for getting you so worked up.”

He mustered all his strength and caught you in the middle for a tender kiss. You pulled away quickly, helping his head land back on his pillow. You propped yourself close enough without hurting his wounds as his thumb affectionately rubbed over your knuckles.

“But I mean,” he shrugged. “If this is what it takes to make you cry, I’d be more than happy to receive additional stab wounds.”

You rolled your eyes at his comment and flicked him mercifully as a warning. “That was so not funny!”

“I know babe,” he snickered. “But you loooooove me. You want some of that special Prince Noctis lovin’, huh?” he teased, moving his eyebrows up and down in faux seduction.

You shook your head in an attempt to stifle your laugh, “Keep that up and the only lovin’ Prince Noctis is gonna get is from his hand.”

One of the things that made Gladio fall for you was your emotional strength. Coming from a family sworn to protect the royal family made it easier for him to follow his head over his heart. However, he didn’t think he would ever find someone even more rigid than he was.

And that was starting to become a problem.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” he fumed, sitting on the other side of your dining table.

You shook your head and shrugged, “Because it’s not important?” You couldn’t wrap your head around why he was blowing his lid off. 

“Not important?” he scoffed. He leaned his upper body towards you, fists planted on the wooden surface. “This guy’s been trying to get with you for months and you hid it from me! How could you not call this important?”

“Because it’s not important to me!” you loudly retorted, feeling your own anger rising. “I didn’t accept any of his advances, I always left him on read and never replied to his messages, and I don’t even talk to him at work so frankly, I don’t get why you’re whining about this.”

“Oh, so telling you how I feel is counted as whining now?” he sneered at you. “You’re unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath as he walked away.

You quickly followed him into the living room. “Why the hell are you so bothered over some dude I don’t even give my time of day to?”

“It’s not him I’m bothered about,” he answered, keeping his eyes glued to the black screen of the television. “It’s you.”

“Me.” you reiterated. You added, “I’m bothering you for not reacting to the situation.” 

“You’re bothering me because nothing matters unless it matters to you!”

This is the first time Gladio’s ever raised his voice at you.

“You can be really selfish, you know that?” he pointed out. “You seem to forget that there are two of us in this relationship. Not one, two.”

You balled your hands into tight fists, “That is such bullshit.”

He scoffed once again, rolling his eyes at your refusal of the truth. “Of course it’s bullshit, because you don’t care how the people around you feel,” he spat out. “As long as you’re drifting on your cloud of casualty, you couldn’t give less of a shit about how anyone else feels!”

Your apparent stone cold heart immediately thawed upon hearing his words. Did your own boyfriend really think that badly of you? Is that seriously how you make him feel?

You looked down and closed your eyes in shame.

“Gladio…” your eyes moved up and rested on him.

“I get that it sucks to feel,” he stood up. “But if you hate feeling so much, then I shouldn’t be here,” he finished quietly, looking over at you.

Your softened heart quickly dissolved into nothingness. He waited in silence for a minute, maybe two, but no sound came out of you. As much as you wanted to move your lips and tell him how much he meant to you, your body was immobile. You were screaming his name in your head over and over again but vocalizing it was a different story.

He sighed in defeat, shaking his head and looking up at the ceiling. Gladio knew that if this wouldn’t get through to you, nothing would.

“I have to go.”

He walked past you without hesitation. The creak of the front door snapped you out of your petrification, causing you to finally move before he closed the entrance completely.

“Gladio please, wait,” you squeaked as you turned around. “I’m… I’m sorry.”

He cocked a brow and stared at you. Were you… crying?

You released a silent sigh of relief as he leaned his beefy physique against the door frame. “You’re right,” you nodded. “I am selfish. I wasn’t–I wasn’t thinking about how it might affect you, and… and…”

Oh, now you were crying.

Watching the tears form by the corner of your eyes and stream down the sides of your face was a first for Gladio. He stood frozen for a split second, only rushing towards you after hearing a loud (and mucus-filled) sniffle. He enveloped you in an embrace, softly holding the back of your head with his mighty hand.

“I’m sorry for being such an ass!” you sobbed. “I’m sorry for being so insensitive! I’m sorry for c-crying!”

“Calm down, babe. Don’t be sorry.”

You shook your head, “I swear I’m not weak!”

He pulled away with his hands on your shoulders. He bent down to meet you at eye level, “I don’t think you’re weak. I never thought you were.”

He wiped your tears and pulled you back in. Your tear-stained face dampened his black tank top, but neither one of you could care right now.

“Contrary to your belief, crying doesn’t make you weak,” he reminded you. “I’ve had my fair share of tears, but I can still kick Noct, Prompto, and Iggy’s asses with one hand and a blindfold.”

You chuckled, “But not mine in Mario Kart, apparently.”

“Mmph… Ignis?” you groaned drowsily.

The bed’s shift in weight indicated that he was finally home. It also indicated that he missed date night… for the fourth time in a row.

He whispered, “Go back to sleep, my love,” but even the affection in his voice couldn’t stop your emotions from festering.

You nodded, trying to ignore the mixture of disappointment and sadness building in the pit of your stomach. You turned the other way and allowed him to spoon you from behind. As soon as his shoulders began to move in time with his breathing, you cautiously removed yourself from his grasps and slipped into the bathroom. 

The moment you turned the light on, the first thing you saw was your worn out reflection in the mirror: dark circles, pale skin, and misty eyes. 

If Ignis Scientia ever caught you crying, you would drop dead. 

Thankfully, he was deep asleep on the other side of the door.

You fell to your knees, tightly clasping your mouth shut as sobs began to vibrate the palm of your hands. Your pathetic facade at acting indifferent towards his recent shortcomings slowly came undone tear by tear. 

Suddenly, a half-asleep Iggy opened the bathroom door. Hand still rubbing his eyes, he initially failed to notice what you were doing.

“Is everything–”

Seeing your figure on the floor was enough to jolt him awake and into a panic. “Six!” he exclaimed as he quickly knelt down beside you. He grabbed a hold of you, checking every part of your body. “Are you alright? Are you in pain?”

You remained silent. Once he examined every inch of your exposed skin, his head moved up to see the horror of tears on your face. 

“Darling…” he murmured, slowly reaching for your cheek.

“No!” you swatted his hand away. You held up your fingers, “Four nights straight, Ignis. Four!”

He was dumbfounded at two things: one, you referred to him as Ignis rather than Iggy or one of your mushy nicknames, and two, seeing you cry. You barely teared up over any situation, and being the reason behind your current predicament broke his heart in half.

“I always swore I would harm the catalyst of your tears,” he remarked in a low voice. “But I never thought I’d be that person.”

His hand reached out to your face once more, warily this time in case you were to swat it away again. You flinched at the touch of his thumb caressing your cheek. His emerald green eyes shone apologetically, hiding behind groups of dirty blonde hair resting against his forehead. You leaned your head to the left, caressing your soft face on his coarse hands.

“I’m well aware that I’ve been… lax with my promises recently, and for that I apologize, my love.”

He moved closer and moved his other hand on your empty cheek.

“You are worth everything and more,” he reassured you, kissing your forehead and cradling your upper half. “Nothing and no one in this world will ever take me away from you.”

“I’m sorry, Iggy,” you sniffled.

He placed a gentle kiss on your lips then proceeded to get rid of the last reminders of your tears. “You’ve been staying awake for me the past four nights–you have nothing to apologize for.” 

“No, for… for crying,” you corrected him. “I know that I must look like such a wimp right now and honestly, I’m ashamed for letting you see this side of me.”

Well, Ignis could add that to the list of things he was dumbfounded at.

“As much as Noct and the others like to poke fun at me for being robotic,” he said. “I’ve never seen crying as a sign of fragility. If anything, it’s quite a bold act, don’t you think?”

You shook your head, “Not really. This was how I was raised, and… It stuck.”

“Your ability to be vulnerable and honest with your feelings signifies your humanity,” he explained. “It’s perfectly acceptable to cry, my dear. We all go through it, and it will never affect how I see you nor the never-ending extent of my feelings for you.”

“And what exactly are those feelings?” you asked with a playful grin.

“It all depends on the mood, kitten,” he answered with the same zest. “It’s always stemming from my heart, of course, but there are moments when it’s… bulging from the seams.”

You bit your lower lip, “Shall we go back to b–Iggy!”

Before you could even finish your sentence, your body was already being bridal carried back in to the bedroom. With the lights off, the breeze cool, and the city asleep, you were back in your own world with the man you loved.

[thepandapopo]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IGGY ❤️

Here's a happier drabble for dear Iggy's birthday.

Pairing: reader x Ignis

Warnings: none

----

The low hum of your phone vibrating roused you from your slumber. Outside the sheer white curtains of your shared room with Ignis, the sky was still dark and the horizon just barely warming up with the glow of sunrise. Sparing a quick glance to the clock on your phone, you blearily turned off the alarm.

Come on. Get up. You can sleep in every other day, but you cannot do that today.

Mentally, you let out a long groan of agony. The urge to stuff your face into your warm pillow was overwhelming, but you did not dare move in fear of waking up your slumbering boyfriend asleep beside you.

On a regular day, you wouldn't even be awake until 8am earliest. The fact that you had specifically set an alarm to wake you up at 5am was a testament to how much you loved the man snoring quietly with his arm draped loosely around your waist.

You had everything planned out today; it was after all, Ignis' birthday. A day, in your opinion, should have been classified as a goddamn holiday because of how much the advisor did to keep the city running smoothly.

Gingerly removing Ignis' arm from your body, you slowly inched your way off the bed, praying to Shiva that he wouldn't wake up. Years on the road fighting daemons had made Ignis an incredibly light sleeper, and when you two had first moved in together, he would often wake up multiple times throughout the night from your restless tossing and turning. Thankfully, you two had decided shortly after to buy a new mattress that boasted minimal movement transfer so as to reduce the shifting your poor boyfriend had to endure everytime you rolled over.

You let out a quiet huff of triumph as you felt your toes touch the floor, only for it to turn into a hiss when you realized how cold it was.

Suck it up, buttercup. You chided yourself, tip toeing to the door to grab your fluffy robe.

With practiced ease, you made your way down the hallway into the kitchen, avoiding all the squeaky spots on the floor.

It always amazed you how spotless Ignis managed to keep the kitchen area, the white marble countertops polished to a shine, the appliances neatly tucked away in their spots underneath the cabinets, the only item out in the open permanently was the coffee maker that Noct had gifted you for your housewarming.

Fishing out the limit edition chocolate hazelnut Ebony that you had hidden behind the cup ramen ( you knew Iggy would never look there because he didn't care for the stuff and you were the only one who kept that cabinet stocked), you dumped some into the machine, poured some water in, and pushed the magic button.

Honestly, you thought to yourself as you grabbed ingredients out of the fridge for the elaborate breakfast you were preparing for Ignis, you hadn't ever had that flavor of Ebony before, but you had heard Ignis speaking about it one day when you were having a date at a local coffee shop and he saw a sign for it.

That was years ago, back when you had first started 'officially' seeing the man, and it wasn't until now that you managed to get a hold of a bag.

You had found it when you took a hunt assignment all the way out in Lestallum - there was a ferocious pack of coeurls that had been terrorizing the local hunters who were unable to deal with them. Thus, as one of the top ranked hunters of Eos, and a frequent visitor of the city, they had sent in a personal request for you to come help them.

To say Ignis had been reluctant to have you travel alone, much less perform the hunt alone, was an understatement. You two had always hunted together and watched each other's backs. Without him out there with you, there was no telling what terrible fate could befall you. Of course, you had merely laughed and gently reminded Ignis that there was a time before him that you hunted alone. Heck, when you had first landed in this universe with no idea where you were or what kind of monsters there were, you still managed to survive on your own until Cor found you and brought you to Lunafreya (whom you later learned was the one who summoned you there to begin with).

And so you went on this week long journey with nothing more than your age worn travel bag and a kiss goodbye from a pouting tactician. As much as you would have liked it to be like the good old days with Ignis driving you and the boys around in the regalia, this time you had to commandeer the wheel yourself; hence, you had decided to take your motorcycle as it allowed for quick travel and was great on fuel.

When you finally arrived, you were quite pleased when the job took you only a single afternoon, leaving you with three more days of paid accomodation. It wasn't often that you found yourself with free time, so you took it eagerly and set about getting some shopping done. By some stroke of luck, you were passing by a simple street stand when you paused to browse the goods when an unassuming black and silver package caught your attention. You did a double take when you read the label and promptly had a mini internal freak out. Ignis would totally flip if he saw this limited edition chocolate hazelnut Ebony flavor!

When you asked the shopkeep how much it was, you balked at the price - it was basically all the money you had earned from the hunt and a little more; but just the thought of how happy it would make Ignis was enough for you to bite your tongue and hand over the Gil. Thus, leaving you with the best birthday present ever.

The coffee machine let out a single beep signalling that the delicious elixir of life was ready. Quickly wiping your hands on a nearby tea towel, you stepped away from the stove where a pan was sizzling with a breakfast omelette, and pulled out two matching cups from a nearby rack.

Golden sunlight began filtering in through the windows as the sun slowly climbed up the horizon. You paused and put the coffee pot down after you finished pouring the two cups and just let yourself absorb the beautiful silence of the morning.

So absorbed in your thoughts, you didn't notice the soft padding of larger feet coming down the hall. You jumped when strong, lean arms wound themselves around your waist before relaxing again when Ignis buried his nose in your hair, letting out a sleepy hum of content.

"Darling, what are you doing up so early?" Iggy's warm, husky breath danced along the left side of your neck and you felt electric tingles of pleasure dance on your skin.

Twisting around and tangling your hands into dirty blonde hair, you tugged until you felt soft, pliant lips against your own. Never one to turn down a kiss from his beloved, Ignis pulled your body closer to his until you couldn't tell where you began and he ended.

"Mmmm... Just making some breakfast for the birthday boy." You grinned when you pulled away from the kiss for some well needed air (it was seriously not fair how even after all these years, Iggy could still take your breath away with one simple kiss). Waddling back over to the stove with Ignis still attached to you, you quickly turned off the burner and dished up the vegetable omelette with some sausage on the side.

"You didn't have to do all this for me, my love."

"Yes, but I want to." Handing him his cup of Ebony, you brought the plates to the modest glass dining table and waited for Ignis to sit down.

Shuffling slowly over to the opposite side, you couldn't help but smile inwardly at how adorable Ignis was in the mornings.

Disheveled hair and glasses hanging askew on his nose, the ever prim and proper Ignis Scientia was a sight to behold in the mornings when he allowed himself to simply be. Rumpled dark blue pajamas hung loosely on his frame, yet still accentuating his toned figure. The tiny peek of chiseled abs above his waistband when Ignis gave a long overhead stretch was enough to have you licking your lips and wondering if you could have an alternative meal.

Still though, you worked hard on this breakfast and you wanted to see Iggy's reaction when he finally realized that he wasn't holding his regular Ebony.

Both of you took your coffee black so there was nothing stopping you from bringing your cup up to your lips, hoping that your boyfriend would mimic you.

Already, you could smell the distinct notes of sweetness that distinguished this flavor from the regular bean. Your eyes glued on the man sitting across from you, you watched him eagerly as he raised the porcelain cup to his lips, only to freeze as soon as his bottom lip touched the rim.

"What...?" You almost giggled at the perplexed look adorning his usually stern features.

Brilliant green eyes darted up to yours which were crinkled with mirth, then back down to the black steaming liquid, putting two and two together.

You always loved watching Ignis think. You likened it to watching all the gears in a watch, only after all this time, you learned that Iggy's told a lot more than just time. The small quirk of the lips indicated amusement, while the furrowing of eyebrows often indicated deep thought.

Right now, however, the slack jawed blank expression practically screamed disbelief.

You laughed and flashed the handsome bastard a smug grin when you saw him finally come to the answer.

"Yup."

"No."

"I assure you, sweetheart, it definitely is what you think it is."

Ignis gaped at you, "but how? This limited edition flavor was sold out months ago. The probability of actually finding a bag after this long is virtually impossible, not to mention incredibly tediuous."

"Clearly not, seeing as I have a bag just over there that I opened and used to brew a pot."

Ignis continued to stare at you like you had just sprouted a second head, when suddenly, he stood up and made his way around the table faster than you could blink.

"Iggy, what -!"

Your question was muffled by an insistent lips on your own.

Allowing yourself to melt into his embrace, you wrapped your arms around his neck and hummed happily.

"Have I told you lately," Ignis panted as he withdrew slightly, his lips still ghosting over your own, "how much I love you?"

Hoisting you up effortlessly into his arms, you let out a undignified squeak at the rapid change in position. Regaining your composure, you nipped his ear playfully and chuckled when the chest below you rumbled with a low growl.

"You could stand to say it a bit more..." Your laughter cut off with a shriek when you felt a hand connect with your posterior.

"Naughty kitten. I suppose I shall just have to show you for now then."

Without any fanfare, Ignis began marching back to your room with you in tow.

"Wait! What about breakfast?" You gasped as he trailed open mouth kisses down your neck.

Against your sensitive skin, you felt his lips curl up into a smirk.

"I believe that I'll be having something else on the menu this morning."

----

Eep! Hope you all liked it! Finished with just one minute to spare in the day :P

[randomfandomimagine]

Invisible (Prompto x Reader)

Character: Prompto Argentum

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV

Categories: Reader Insert, Female!Reader, Songfic

Title: Invisible

  Requested by anon:

something like "I hate you I love you" by Gnash for maybe some kind of Reader x Prompto where Prompto seems to like Cindy but the reader has liked Prompto for years? Maybe she's listening to it and he takes one of her earbuds and is really happy and like "Whatcha listening to?" but as he listens he realizes what's going on and it ends up fairly fluffy? can the reader be female and when she realizes that Prompto knows her feelings she's slightly embarrassed and will avoid him for a couple days but eventually he corners her and then it's pretty much fluff. So basically angst converted to fluff I guess

Cindy, Cindy, Cindy. Ever since we left Hammerhead a while back, all I heard from Prompto was her name.

Yes, I was jealous! And Ignis noticed. Gladio noticed. Even Noctis noticed. They all did, but not who I actually wanted to. Prompto didn’t notice.

I was also grumpy, which was quite obvious because of the change from my usual cheerful and friendly demeanor. Surely, he had to notice at least that. Even if he had no idea why the reason behind my mood was.

So when Ignis stopped the car so we could stretch our legs a little, I decided to take a stand. Make Prompto notice me once and for all.

I walked over to him before he could pull out his camera and immerse himself in his beloved art of photography and sweetly smiled at him as I linked my arm with his, cuddling to his side.

“Hi” He greeted me with a cute grin.

That cute adorable grin, so wide that his eyes squinted a bit. So cute that it sent butterflies to my stomach, specially when I thought it was directed at me.

“Hey, Prom” I innocently said, trying to add a subtle flirtatious hint to my voice. “Do you think I could ask something of you?”

“Uh-huh” The blond nodded energetically. “Anything!”

“I just… need a hug” I cutely shrugged, batting my eyelashes at him. “You wouldn’t mind giving me one, right?”

I cringed slightly at the poorly managed flirting, but knew that otherwise I wouldn’t get his attention. Prompto was pretty oblivious, and I needed to make him see that I saw him as more than a friend.

“Sure thing, buddy!” He opened his arms wide, welcoming me.

I scowled as I accepted the hug, trying to focus on the actual warm embrace instead of on his response.

I hated it when he called me ‘buddy’. The worst thing was that he didn’t even realize what he was doing to me, or that I was annoyed about it. If he did he would feel terrible.

But I just couldn’t blatantly confess that I had a crush on him and I wanted him to notice! He would freak out and it would be so awkward! Not to mention if I told him how much it bothered me that he was so close and affectionate with me, still without realizing that I wanted our relationship to go to the next level.

“You actually seem a bit grumpy ever since we left Hammerhead…” Prompto muttered as he kindly squeezed me against his chest.

“Yeah…” Wow, he had actually noticed a change in my mood! Yes, I was a bit salty still.

“Well… you know I’m always here if you need to talk!”

“I know…”

“Anyway I can help?” I bit hard on my bottom lip in frustration, trying not to shout at him to just kiss me and end my suffering.

“Just…” I hid my face on his shoulder, at least rejoicing in his closeness and touch. “Just hug me?”

“No problem, bud!” His lean arms brought me even closer to him. “If there’s something I’m good at, is giving hugs!”

I chuckled and looked up to him, locking eyes with him. Those beautiful, gorgeous, blue eyes of his. So bright, warm, soft and friendly.

I wondered if he didn’t realize the way I looked at him, so lovingly and admiringly. Did he really think a friend would look at another friend like that?

When another wide grin appeared on his pink lips, I mimicked the gesture to reciprocate. That was until I realized something and my expression fell.

Prompto actually seemed tired, exhausted. He was a bit pale and had bags under his eyes. That boy always seemed so energetic, spry and lively that I didn’t take notice until I got that close to him.

“W-What?” Noticing the change, Prompto’s smile turned into a frown as well.

“You don’t look so well” Reaching out, I brushed a tuft of blond hair away from his face. When my hand came in contact with his skin, it felt slightly warm. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Oh, yeah! Heh” He chuckled awkwardly, dropping his arms a bit and absently resting his hands on the small of my back as we slightly distanced ourselves from one another. “I’m just a bit tired and… got a headache... I didn’t sleep too well last night”

I sighed and shook my head at him, upset. That boy, always caring and worrying for his friends and never for himself. He didn’t even think about mentioning his unwell to us because he surelly didn’t want to worry us or make a big deal out of it. Even thought, knowing him like I did, I could tell he had a nightmare last night that explained his tiredness and headache. 

Well, if he didn’t take care of himself, I would for him.

“You need to take care of yourself, Prom!” I scolded him, breaking the loose hug and taking his hand instead.

“I’m fine! Don’t worry about me, I just…” I tugged at his hand as he spoke, which seemed to fluster him as he followed me. “What… where we going?”

“You should lie down for a bit” I looked over my shoulder to him, laughing a bit when I realized he was blushing because of all that attention focused on him. “Let’s go, while the other three are wandering around”

“I… uh…” He mumbled, not really saying anything.

We arrived back to the car and dragged him with me to the back seat of the Regalia, where we both sat down.

His eyes were focused on me, as though he was expecting me to say or do something. I got butterflies in my stomach just of thinking it, especially since we were seating so close that our sides touched, but I opened my mouth to say something.

“C’mon, lie down” I patted my lap happily, trying to hide how flustered it made me to be actually offering it. “You can rest your head in my lap”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, go ‘head!”

“Okay” Prompto obliged, lying his body across the back seat and resting his head over my lap.

“Is that better?” Hesitant, and glad that he didn’t notice, I rested one hand over his hair.

“Much better” He tiredly sighed, closing his eyes and resting there.

“I shouldn’t need to tell you to look after yourself, silly” I caressed his hair softly, hopefully helping him relax and alleviating his headache.

“Heh, guess you’re right” I noticed a tiny smile forming on his lips as he let out a soft happy moan, like a kitty purring at the affections. I grinned at the adorable sight. “Thanks, Y/N, you’re always looking after me. You’re such a good friend”

“Of course…” I frowned again, suddenly becoming sad and feeling a painful emptiness inside my chest. “That’s what friends are for, Prom”

It was like I was right there but he couldn’t see me. Or at least, not in the way I wanted him to.

*

After finding us there, with Prompto’s head in my lap while I fondly played with his hair and he had almost fallen asleep, the boys wouldn’t let me hear the end of it. Especially Gladio and Noct, who teased me about my crush on Prompto. Even if I tried to remind them that I was just trying to help him relax and rest so his headache would go away.

It all became even worse when I found out we had to go back to Hammerhead. It was bad enough to put up with Prompto prattling about Cindy those couple of days without her actually being there.

Prompto and I had been friends since high school, the two of us used to hang out with Noctis all the time. People used to say that the blond and I were inseparable, we spent so much time together.

Could someone please explain to me why I was invisible for him all of a sudden? One thing was that the innocent boy was too oblivious to notice I had been crushing on him for years and another different thing was that he forgot I existed!

I was tired of being invisible for him, especially when girls like Cindy showed up.

Sulky and resigned, I put my earbuds on and pretended like he was invisible. I wasn’t bothered by how happy he seemed to be while chatting with her. Not at all.

I just crossed my arms over my chest and closed my eyes, patiently waiting until we were finished doing business in Hammerhead. Just leaning against a wall, sunbathing and listening to music.

A few songs later, someone nudged me. My heart raced when I thought it could be Prompto, but when I opened my eyes I saw Noctis.

By the look he was giving me, I understood he knew what was going through my head. I refused to give him the satisfaction to tease me and be all smug, so I didn’t even bother to take my earbuds off.

Noct obviously knew about my crush on Prompto. He had always known, and he had always teased me about it, of course. Couldn’t expect less.

Amused by my sulkiness, my friend smirked at me and ‘subtly’ turned around to look over to Prompto and Cindy, still talking. When Noctis turned to me, his smug smirk widened. Who needed words?

With silent communication as well, I rolled my eyes at him and sighed in exasperation. I then noticed his lips were moving, so I resigned myself to stop playing music to listen to him.

“What was that, Noct?”

“I said you should say something!” He was frustrated as well, tired of telling me the same thing over and over again. “Talk to him! Tell him how you feel!”

“He’s too busy with Cindy right now…” I eyed her jealously, wondering what she had that I didn’t.

“I give up” Holding his hands up in resigned defeat, Noct walked away.

I felt relieved that he had stopped trying so hard. I was not going to confess to Prompto, it would be of no help. It would only make things awkward between us, distance our friendship. What was the point?

Much to my dismay, however, Noct had deceived me. He was directly walking to Prompto and catching his attention, finally making him drag his eyes away from Cindy. But what was worse, they were talking and Noctis was pointing at me.

“I’m so gonna kill Noct” I mumbled to myself, feeling my heart speeding up seeing as the blond headed my way for real this time.

I pretended like I didn’t notice and feigned interest in my phone. I resumed playing the song I was listening to before I was so rudely interrupted.

I Hate I Love You by Gnash, which felt extremely relatable and relieving to hear. As though I wasn’t alone in my suffering caused by love. The lyrics definitely resonated with my current situation.

All alone I watch you watch her Like she's the only girl you've ever seen You don't care, you never did You don't give a damn about me Yeah all alone I watch you watch her She's the only thing you've ever seen How is it you'll never notice That you are slowly killing me

Just wanna feel your kiss Against my lips And now all this time Is passing by But I still can't seem to tell you why It hurts me every time I see you Realize how much I need you

I noticed I had closed my eyes in fear when someone tapped my in the shoulder, making me open them.

“Hey, what are you doing alone over here?”

“Huh?” I replied, taking one of my earbuds off pretending like I didn’t hear him. Just so I could buy some time to think of a response, of a nonchalant excuse.

To pretend like watching him adoringly stare at Cindy, follow her around and do his best to make some conversation with her wasn’t breaking my heart.

“You okay?” He must have noticed something was wrong with me, because he frowned. His warm blue eyes were laced with concern.

“Yeah, I’m just listening to some music”

“Whatcha listening to?”

Taking the liberty that a close long term friend like Prompto would take, he took one of my earbuds and casually put it on to hear it himself.

I tensed up, cringing and fearing that he found out why I was listening to that song. It didn’t have to mean anything, especially if he had no idea what was going through my mind. But I had the feeling that Noct tattled to him.

I held my breath as the both of us listened to the song in silence, paying close attention to the lyrics.

I hate you, I love you I hate that I love you Don't want to but I can't put nobody else above you I hate you, I love you I hate that I want you You want her, you need her And I'll never be her

Grimacing in anticipation, I turned to look at him and noticed a panicked expression in his face. At first he turned pale, but then his cheeks acquired a pinkish tone that brought out his freckles.

“Prompto?” I dared to ask, staring at him cautiously.

He was grimacing as well, in an awkward and embarrassed expression I had seen many times before.

“I-I gotta go! I, uh… think Noct is calling me, heh” He chuckled awkwardly, seeming nervous and flustered. “Gotta talk to him now, bye!”

Confused, I observed him as he literally ran off to meet with our friend. When my eyes fell upon Noctis, I noticed the nerd was giving me a thumbs up.

Why, though? It had gone horribly!

*

I resigned to wait patiently –or rather, impatiently –until we were done with our business in Hammerhead and I could pretend like nothing happened there. Like my jealousy over Prompto liking Cindy didn’t get out of hand and developed in Prompto realizing once and for all.

I was right, he freaked out and it was extremely awkward. Our close friendship would never recover from that hard blow, it would be too strange to be all close and affectionate like we always were knowing that I was resigning to be his friend when I wanted more.

Noticing the boy’s glances, I refused to look into anyone’s eyes. Grumpy, sad and sulky, I just sheltered in my own thoughts. Even if they all diverged into worried ones about how I had messed everything up.

It was all my fault because I couldn’t keep my childish jealousy at bay. But Prompto was so sweet, caring, funny and adorable! I just wanted him so much!

And talking about Prompto…

“Hey, Y/N!” He awkwardly walked over to me, with his hands behind his back and swinging around a bit as he grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes, knowing I had embarrassed him and forced him to tell me something he dreaded. That he only saw me as a friend, that he hated to make me sad but he didn’t feel the way I did. That he wanted us to remain friends. Just friends.

“Prompto, I know I made things weird, but you don’t have to-“

“Just… let me talk first, okay? Please?”

“Fine…”

His grin widened, becoming more genuine and much brighter. Wait, was he… blushing? 

He then discovered his hands to me, offering me something.

“I, uh… saw this and it reminded me of you” Prompto was offering me a small chocobo plushie that he should have seen somewhere in the Hammerhead shops.

“You…” I finally made eye contact with him, astonished. “You bought this for me?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s… so sweet”

Still a little surprised, I reached out to take the plushie from him. Our hands brushed and, although they had many times before, it felt different this time. More intimate, more important. So much so that we were both extremely flustered by it.

“I just… love chocobos so much and…” He chuckled shyly, averting his eyes just as his blush intensified. “It reminded me of you because I love you a lot too”

“P-Prompto?” Was it me or did the conversation not go how I expected it to? I expected him to change the course of his words, beginning with a ‘but’, yet somehow I felt like that wasn’t going to happen.

“What I’m trying to say is… and this is Noct’s idea so please don’t be mad at me…” He never finished his sentence.

Instead, his lips gently rested against mine in a kiss that took my breath away. At last, after longing for it for so long, I was finally kissing Prompto.

We were so nervous and embarrassed about it that we didn’t move at first, leaving our lips still as they rested against each other. I couldn’t tell if it was because his lips were extremely soft and warm, but he passed that warmth over to me until it spread all over my body.

When he broke away, he was observing me cautiously. Prompto grimaced, and I could tell by that familiar expression I knew so well that he was about to freak out again.

“I’m sorry! I should have asked first, shouldn’t I?” The blond groaned in exasperation, hanging his head low and shaking it in shame. “I knew it! Noct told me that I should just go for it and kiss you but-“

I didn’t notice I had leaned forward until my lips were over his again. It felt right, like it was where they were supposed to be on the first place. Like they felt lonely without him, empty almost.

Prompto froze, but I placed my arms on his shoulders -still holding the lovely chocobo plushie he got me -and softly shook him to earn a reaction from him. His lips finally moved with mine as his hands timidly rested in the small of my back.

Again, like they had done many times. We were hugging in one of our many hugs. But it was different this time, and not only because we were kissing. It was different because our relationship was now too.

[amidalogicdive]

Misadventures of a Prince and His Glaive

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Relationship: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Nyx Ulric Characters: Noctis Lucis Caelum, Nyx Ulric Additional Tags: Microfic, Prompt Fic, NyxNoct Monthly Challenge, Stupidity, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Lovers, Established Relationship, Misadventures, Bad Luck, Betrayal, Halloween, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Hung Over, Drinking, Hangover, Road Trips

A03 Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11766387/chapters/30813717

Chapter 7: Gas Pump

Summary: The Star needs gas... Noctis is just confused and Nyx can't help but be amused.

-

Nyx loved Noctis more than life itself, the Astrals knew he did. He’d do anything for the young heir and hadn't been happier since the man had come into his life. But, being in love with a prince wasn't easy, and over time he'd come to know that certain things were expected from such a relationship. The first being, misunderstandings.

Noctis didn't see things the way he did, wasn't raised to see the world the way Nyx perceived it. He'd been raised in a rough and tumble world. His people were hunters, and the forests and rivers were his entire world. Noctis, he was raised with the weight of an entire kingdom on his shoulders. His first instinct was to protect, and Nyx had learned that early on when the two had met. The first time the prince has seen the refugee district, his only question had been how he could help. It was honestly sweet, and things had been improving for them since then. After all, who had the ear of the King better than his own son.

So, Nyx had slowly learned to see the world the way his lover saw it. Saw how easily Noctis could slip into the role of Prince like it was a second skin. How he saw the people of Lucis and knew he had to instill a sense of respect and trust in them. They expected it, but it wasn't always easy and the path wasn't a clear one. He was lucky that his father, King Regis, was one of the most beloved Kings in generations. The way Noctis was shaping up, it was obvious he took after him. But, Regis had raised his son to see the larger picture. That when it came to the Kingdom, his people would always come first - and he, last.

It was a lot for one young man to take in. So, at times when they were alone together, it was easy for Nyx to forget that as well as Noctis knew the big picture; it was the small things that eluded him. Simple day to day activities that were deemed unimportant, especially when you had servants to take care of your needs day and night.

Nyx admitted it was amusing the first time he taught the prince to make coffee, usually something Ignis prepared for him each morning. He'd found it cute when he'd dragged Noctis to the park so they could go ice skating, and yes he laughed when the man had fallen on his ass. The day Crowe dragged them both off to go shopping, claiming Noct's civilian clothes sucked, Nyx has teased him mercilessly. But this, he was just dumbfounded... and didn't know if he should laugh or just throw his hands up in defeat.

"You don't know how to pump gas?" The glare was worth it. Watching the prince's nose scrunch up in irritation, adorable. The glaive laughed, his voice bouncing off the metal roof of the Hammerhead gas station as he leaned back against the Star.

Noctis had called him up the day before, there was a lull in his princely duties, so the two had made quick plans to run for the Wall. Their destination, Lestallum. Seemed there was a festival there that Noctis has been excited about, and Nyx was more than happy to go along with anything that made his lover happy. By the time they had hit Leide, the tank of Noctis precious car was over half empty and Hammerhead seemed like an ideal stop. After eating a quick meal, he'd pointed out to Noctis they would need gas which at this point had turned into a ten-minute struggle. Noctis versus his gas tank.

Thank the Six above, Nyx had learned to find amusement in such situations.

Grumbling and having refused any help, Noctis tried fiddling with the cover of the tank once again. "Shut up, Nyx!" He was obviously frustrated, but the glaive knew not to offer any help until asked. Especially when a princes pride was at stake. "Why won't this open?"

There it was, that look. It was a plea for pity without having to actually ask for assistance. "Probably a button inside the car, babe."

A look of confusion crossed his features. Walking back to the driver's side, he mumbled about stupid setups, and why would the gas tank open from inside a car.

Nyx knew better than to tease him any further, so kept his peace. Poking his head in through the passenger door, he watched as Noctis checked the panel, letting out a sound of annoyance. "Try by the seat, or check under the steering wheel." Nyx received a glare for his help, hiding his amusement by burying his face in the crook of his arm.

"This is stupid!" Leaning back into the seat, dark eyes glared at the dash. "Look, I drive it and when I wanted to drive it again, its full! Why didn't anyone tell me about a fucking gas tank!"

"Love, I'm trying..."

Another glare and Noctis aimed an accusing finger his way. "No, you're laughing! You think this is funny!

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not." Closing his eyes, he let out a breath to calm himself. "Will you, please, show me how to open the gas tank."

He could have made a remark but held back as he slid back into the car. Leaning over the center console, icy orbs took in the controls on the dash and after a moment he noted a very nondescript grey button. It was partially hidden by the slope of the console, dipping inwards to make room for the pedals. "Try that one, love."

Looked down where the glaive was pointing, Noct reached under and pressed it - and then heard an audible click from outside the car. "Was that it?" Watching as Nyx glanced out the passenger door, a nod confirmed it had opened. Slipping back out of his car, Noctis made his way around the back and over to the small hatch that was now slightly ajar. "Thank the Six." Grabbing it, he pulled it open and instantly frowned. "Why is there another cover?!"

Oh, this was just too fucking good, and it was taking everything Nyx had in him not to laugh outright. He knew if he did Noctis would be in a bad mood. Nyx didn't want to spend their impromptu vacation with his lover acting like a wet cat. "It should just twist off."

"Oh," grabbing the cap, he twisted and then twisted again. "It's stuck."

"Push it in and twist at the same time, babe. Seriously, I need to talk to your father about what they teach you. If you have a car, you need to..." He cut off his words as the prince gave him the nastiest look he'd seen of late.

"Don't you dare breath a word of this to anyone. So help me if you do, I swear by Etro, you will suffer Nyx Ulric." His hands instantly rose in surrender, watching as Noctis finally got the cap off. His attention switched from the car to the gas pump, gazing at it like it was just another enemy to take down.

"Noct,"

Once again he was cut off as his lover held up a hand. Reaching out, Noctis picked up the nozzle and looked at it for a moment. He then slid it into the open gas tank, seeming pleased. "Ok, I got this. I can pump fucking gas. I am not stupid..."

Watching the prince stare at the pump, Nyx maintained his peace for roughly two minutes and then he just couldn't take it anymore. "Babe, are you ok?"

"It's not pumping." Looking at the glaive, Noct pointed a finger at the pump. "Why isn't this thing pumping?"

"You need to turn it on, love." This time he couldn't stop his mouth from turning up with an amused smirk. Of course, that only seemed to frustrate the prince even more. "The metal handle you took the nozzle from, flip it up." Watching as Noctis gave the pump an accusing glare, he did as Nyx instructed him. "Ok, now you see the grip on the nozzle?" Noctis nodded. "Squeeze that."

He did as he was told, watching as the pump instantly came to life and gas flowed into the tank. "I... thank you, Nyx."

"You're welcome, my love."

They were silent for a moment until they heard the pump click off; which Nyx let him know that meant it was full. Reversing the instructions, Noctis placed the nozzle back on the pump and resecured the gas tank. Soon both men were back in the car, as Noctis pressed the engine button and the car came to life.

When they didn't move, Nyx looked over at his lover. "Noct, are you ok?"

"Yeah," Popping the car into drive, Noctis grabbed the wheel and shook his head slightly in amusement. "Hey, Nyx?"

“Hm?”

Their eyes met, and Noctis graced him with the most charming smile he'd seen all day. "I meant what I said. If you tell a soul about this, I will make you suffer."

Swallowing, Nyx nodded.“Noted, love.”

[ardynoctweek-blog]

Ardynoct Week Master Post

Thank you to everyone who took time out of your busy schedules to make content for Ardynoct Week. It was so great seeing how everyone interpreted the prompts. And also, thank you to my co-mod @ivorydice​, who helped reblog entries while I was at work.

I’d like to encourage everyone to take a look through this list and try to leave a comment on as many fics as you can, or to reblog as many artworks as you can. We are a tiny community compared to some of the other ships, so let’s all support each other!  😊

Day 1: Mythology | Touch-Starved | Body Worship | Noct purges the daemons from Ardyn

FICS

The sea that we saw was a desert of snowfall - by ADyingFlower - Noct as Shiva and Ardyn as Ifrit. 

The Wings of Fate - by larkawolfgirl - Soul-bond/soul mark AU. Noct purges Ardyn of the daemons... via sex.

Magna Somnus - by jlavisant - In the end, Noct and Ardyn come to an understanding.

This Is the End - by invisibledeity and Verdin - Noctis purges the daemons from Ardyn…. via bloodletting

Sentire - by floatingbuildings - Post-game, Noct is back with the dawn and brings a daemon-free Ardyn with him.

Hurricane - by kimmimaru - Non-con blowjob, featuring broken!Noct.

a pocketful of sugar - Chapter 1 & 2 - by nickofhearts - Noct and Ardyn are betrothed… and also cursed to be in either wolf or crow form respectively during night and day so they can never be together (cw: for beastiality in chapter 2)

shut up and touch me - by lhugy_for_short - Ardyn pays Noct a visit inside the crystal (cw: dub-con)

advanced country - by banditess - Ardyn is a hunter and catches himself a black chocobo (selkie au, but Noct is a chocobo instead of a selkie).

ART

Black & white digital art of Noctis purging the daemons from Ardyn

Ardyn as Hades, Noctis as Persephone

A drawing of Ardyn stroking Noct’s face

Photo manip; Noct & Ardyn are destined to suffer

Noct & Ardyn holding hands as Noct purges him of the scourge 

Noct & Ardyn as Appolo and Hyacinth

Noct feels a little frisky after spending 10 years in a crystal (nsfw)

Black & white digital art of Noct holding Ardyn and providing him comfort

Ardyn’s touch + the scourge are addictive (nsfw, cw: dub-con)

Day 2: Kings | Protectiveness | Throne sex | Marriage AU

FICS

crumbling manor - by ADyingFlower - Noct is married off to Ardyn when he’s still a child, and Noct yearns for companionship in Ardyn’s lonely house in Nifleheim (nothing sexual or inappropriate happens between them in the fic)

Kings - by Kircheis - After everything, Noct gets a second chance. He thinks Ardyn deserves one too.

the two kings - by kimmimaru - Ardyn was raised to be a king. Noct proposes there’s room enough for two kings to rule Lucis.

pocketful of sugar - by nickofhearts - Chapter 3 - Noct wakes up in an alternate universe where he’s happily married to Ardyn. | Chapter 4 - Noct is a sex addict who cheats on his husband with Ardyn.

king of darkness, king of light - by lhugy_for_short - Ardyn forces Noct to marry him in exchange for his friends lives, then brainwashes Noct into forgetting about them altogether (cw: dubcon, mind alteration).

In the Beyond - by jeejaschocolate - Canon divergence for the scene where Noct gets pulled into the crystal. Ardyn won’t play the gods’ games anymore.

ART

Noct is forced to endure an unwanted kiss, to keep up appearances of a happy engagement

Ink drawing of two kings, bound by fate

Noct protects Ardyn from a whipping

Noct wearing an amazing half-tuxedo/half-dress for his wedding

Very cute slice-of-life scenes from a mutually-beneficial fake marriage au

Noct and Ardyn wake up and discovered that they got married (nsfw, partial nudity)

Lovely digital art showing the progression of comforting embraces between these two through the years

Ardyn photo-bombs Noct’s selfie

Day 3: Illusion | Enemies to Lovers | Age Difference | Ardyn’s voice is sexy and he knows it

FICS

your best sleep yet - by windycockslap -  Noctis is a rich kid/trust funder/college student, Ardyn makes sleep hypnosis videos.

To tame a fennec fox - by ADyingFlower - Little noct discovers a prisoner locked in the citadel, who turns out to be his ‘uncle.’

Untitled - by theplagueofstars - Noct is busy and not paying attention to Ardyn, so Ardyn does it best to get Noct’s attention.

Ardyn’s voice is sexy and he knows it - by Kircheis - Noct gets turned on by ardyn’s singing voice during karaoke

shatter - by kimmimaru - Ardyn torments noct with never-ending visions of finding his friends dead in zegnautus keep, until it breaks him.

Acting Strange - by lhugy_for_short - Ardyn wants to have sex with Noct, but Noct says never again. So Ardyn takes the forms of his best friends to try and trick him into a tryst, but Noct sees through him every time. (humorous)

a pocketful of sugar - chapter 5 - by nickofhearts - Noct starts fucking an older man…. who happens to be the Chancellor of Niflheim. Oops.

the devil’s children - by banditess - Ardyn is a hypnotist and hypnotizes noct into stripping on stage.

ART

Noct calls ardyn’s phone so ardyn can sooth him to sleep with his voice

Noct and Ardyn comparing the size of their hands

A bit of sexual tension during the final battle (sfw)

Ardyn arranges a meeting with the little chosen king when Noct is 5

‘I feel i’ve earned the right to call you Noct’

Day 4: Tease | Fuck or Die | Overstimulated sex | Alpha/Beta/Omega AU

FICS

Strange Company - by trashbinofdestiny - abo/warewolf au, Ardyn returns to the pack that cast him out over twenty years before, with the goal to replace Regis as pack leader. However, his plans change when he sees Regis' son.

Bury Me Tightly Now - by ADyingFlower - abo au, twincest, very dark.

Begging for more - by ardynizuniatrashlord - abo au, Noct goes into heat and Ardyn ‘helps’ him through it (cw: dub-con)

work for it - by lhugbereth - drabble + mood board, Noct makes Ardyn suck his dick (cw: non-con)

Owned - by kimmimaru -  abo au,Noct goes into heat in lestallum and ends up being claimed by Ardyn (cw: non-con)

Utile - by floatingbuildings - abo au, Ardyn helps Noct through his first heat.

a pocketful of sugar - chapter 6 - by nickofhearts - Noct turns the tables on Ardyn and chooses the “little death” option over accepting Ardyn’s “help” after being exposed to sex pollen.

ART

Ardyn teases kittyboy!Noct with a fish toy

Ardyn gettin a little handsy with Noct (and Noct loves it) 

Ardyn feeling noct up while threatening him with prompto’s gun (nsfw)

Day 5: Scars | Held hostage | Chained/In Chains |  Kneeling before the King

An Audience - by trashbinofdestiny - Noct is crowned king and earns himself an audience with the accursed daemon king of old. Lucky him.

the cost of doing business - by marmolita - model au, Where Ardyn blackmails Noct into sleeping with him because he’s holding Prompto’s career hostage (cw: dub-con)

a pocketful of sugar - by nickofhearts Chapter 8: Noct and Ardyn engage in some consensual rape/kidnapping roleplay that ends badly for Ardyn. Chapter 9: Ardyn corrupts a younger Noct and Noct becomes an evil overlord. 

dead poem’s still alive - by banditess - In an au where Lucian royalty is born with wings, Ardyn shows Noct the scars from where his were torn away.

world of ruin - by sweaterpawnoctis - Instead of being held captive by the crystal, ardyn keeps noct as his pet instead (cw: non-con, torture)

cradled in love - by eowynsmusings - (established relationship, happily ever after) Noct has never been repulsed by Ardyn’s scars.

Fallen - by kimmimaru - Some delicious throne sex where Ardyn goes down on his fallen king.

kneel before your king - by larkawolfgirl - Noct “punishes” Ardyn by making him give him a blowjob on the throne

the accursed’s one true fucktoy - by larkawolfgirl - Ardyn has The Chosen all to himself and he works diligently to train Noct to suit his needs. (cw: non-con)

ART

Scars

Noct chained to the throne 

Noct in chains, laying on the floor at Ardyn’s feet

Noct chained to the crystal above Ardyn’s throne

Noct, chained collarred and gagged

Older noct, chained by the neck and kneeling at Ardyn’s feet

Companion piece to Cradled In Love - Noct wants to prove to his husband that he doesn’t find his scars off-putting

“I warned you not to spill a drop” (nsfw: Noct licking come off Ardyn’s boots)

Day 6: Afterlife | Meeting in dreams | Blindfolded | Oracle!Noct & King!Ardyn AU

FICS

and i meet you here, in the land of dreams - by totentanz - Noctis is eight and dreaming when he meets Ardyn for the first time.

the path between the stars - by banditess - Noct makes a deal with a faerie king.

peace in the beyond - by lhugy_for_short - Though the past can never be altered, the 'beyond' offers both Noctis and Ardyn a chance to come to terms with the lives they've left behind.

a pocketful of sugar - chapters 9 & 10 - by nickofhearts - Noct can read tarot cards, and his predictions can come true. He casts a love spell on Ardyn, which prevents Ardyn from harming him. 

the time we spent together - by ADyingFlower - abo au, oracle!Noct & king!Ardyn - Crown Prince Ardyn Lucis Caelum meets Oracle Noctis Sanctus at a cerebration of their beloved patron goddess. It wasn’t love at first sight, or second, or even third. But it was a tale of beginnings all the same, a tale of love and lost in equal measure.

The Oracle of Ramuh - eowynsmusings - When Ardyn over-exerts himself while healing the afflicted, Noctis is there to heal him. But was their meeting just happenstance or is a higher power involved?

ART

Noct and Ardyn meet again in the afterlife

oracle!Noct and King!Ardyn

Day 7: Free Day | “Good Boy.”

FICS

Amor Finalis Litterae - by PoeticShadows - Ardyn sends a love letter to Noct

Homecoming - by kimmimaru - Ardyn makes Noct kill his friends

“Good Boy” - lhugy_for_short - Ardyn threatens Noct with Prompto’s gun on the train (cw: non-con)

Melit - floatingbuildings - Noct and Ardyn are on their honeymoon in galdin quay after a polotically arranged marriage, and it takes a little while for noct to warm up to him. Then he finds out marriage to a hot older guy has its advantages.

a pocketful of sugar - by nickofhearts chapter 13: role reversal  chapter 14: cat-whisperer Noct befriends catman!Ardyn  chapter 15: noct and catman!Ardyn fuck (cw: beastiality?) 

ART

daemon-final-form!Ardyn attacking Noct

Adorable pictures of catboy!Noct and catman!Ardyn

Pokemon AU

If I’ve missed your entry, or you have a late entry, please feel free to respond to this post with the link. 

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

[sarabis3]

Episode Ignis, definitely worth the wait.

Episode Ignis. Wow just wow, it was everything I wanted it to be and more. So emotional, awesome gameplay, the characters, the music all of it.

Doing bullet points because it will take 100 years to type out all I'm feeling four days later, I’m still reeling

Spoilers underneath, you have been warned

-The emotions in the VA, just fantastic I just adore how this game really makes you feel what's happening after I'd finished I couldn't work out if I was happy or sad or what it was it was just so overwhelming and I loved every second of it. (It took me ages to not only stop shaking but also get my heart to stop beating so fast).

- Playing as Ignis was just so awesome the man is the definition of a badass, especially during the extra verse I personally went straight to 'Sacrifice my life' and doing x60 damage just felt so powerful especially knowing it was all for Noct.

- Loved seeing Ravus getting some time to shine, despite the episode being rather short he still managed to get some decent character development. I've admittedly always had a soft spot for him and this DLC just made me love him even more, seeing his struggle against the whims of fate was just so human and heart breaking.

-Ravus and Iggy fighting together, what can I say it was awesome. The banter between them, the way they fight together. Not to mention how sad Ravus looks in the first route, if anyone knows the pain Ignis is going through as he lies there asking after Noct its Ravus.

-Seeing Iggy's usually calm demenour shattering was wonderful. The constant whispering "Be safe, Noct", his  unbreakable insistence on keeping his promise despite being surrounded by people telling him to get to safety. (I live for loyalty and Ignis has it in spades). But also seeing how much Ignis means to Noct, the whole mutual love (romantic or platonic) however you see it is just wonderful and I love it. Personally this kind of devotion just doesn’t seem to fit into either category, it’s just awesome.

-Gladio and Prompto trying their best to keep him calm, I mean they know better than anyone else just how much Noct means to Ignis don't get me wrong he's important to ALL of them and  vice versa but these two have been friends the longest they grew up together. I often think about the two of them before they met, we know that Noct was pretty isolated and didn't have any friends but think of Ignis 2 years older most likely surrounded by adults drilling duty into his young mind also isolated but in a different way. Both seen as their resepctive roles and titles rather than just two young boys, but in sweeps Regis and gives the two of them exactly what they need: a friend.

-Ardyn, what an awesome villain; manipulative, condescending, doesn't give a damn, will do anything just to mess with our beloved heroes. He's awful I hate him and that makes him a great villain, he's so genuinly creepy and so sure of himself if I'm honest he reminds me of Sephiroth; the classic villain and someone I was truly scared of as a child. Then as if it could get any better the utter fear that betrays his face when Ignis reveals he has the ring in the extra verse is for me defnitely one of the many highlights of this episode because he never thought for a second that this plan could go wrong yet here we have Ignis surprising everyone yet again.

                  -And what makes it even better is that the whole reason Ardyn took                        Ignis was to push Noctis into his destiny knowing how important his friends and especially his advisor are to him, knowing he'll chase after them desperate to save his friend. Knowing that Ignis is completely devoted to Noct and then it all goes wrong because now, now Ignis has a serious means to fight back. But then he remembers himself, the Old Kings won't accept Ignis as the weilder of the ring right? Wrong, at the cost of his life Ignis is granted the full power of the ring and now he's got to go all out just to survive the power of Ignis amplified by the Kings of Old. I just love how this route completely strips Ardyn of all the control he usually has over events.

- Gladio and Prompto getting some time was also a nice touch and really added to the story as oppossed to them just being mentioned. Also the alternat ending, Gladio breaking just shows how well he knows Ignis he knows that Ignis will do anything for Noctis and so here he finds his friend succumbing to the power of the ring most likely having expected to find Ignis having gone to such extreme lengths one way or another and now his fears have been realized. Prompto "how could we let this happen?" just the pain in his voice alone we know from his own episode how paranoid he is about being useful and here Ignis is and he can't do anything, he's finally found his place and now even that isn't safe.

 - which side note about his episode, I believe that character development still took place just not in the way we know it does. An alternate timeline episode Prompto if you will, I believe Ignis is kept in the keep for longer than one would initially assume meaning Ardyn would most likely have taken the time to screw with the boys even further, imagine it they're without Ignis whom Ardyn having observed enough will know is the voice of reason now he takes Prompto just to push Noct even further. "Look how useless you are, two of your friends are gone" I can just see him saying that so clearly not to mention Noct also says "you guys have stayed with me, it's caused you so much pain" to me it just solidifies that more happened during that break honestly I think it'd be really cool to see a Noct POV of that time, how they reacted to Ravus, how they behaved without Ignis around i think it would be really cool.

-Then we have Noct, immediately blaming himself and fully expressing how he feels is another piece of strong character development. We know he cares deeply for those around him but seeing Ignis like that and actually hearing him say how he feels was just a beautiful moment. Particularly as he's one to close in on himself, keeping his feelings inside.-That beautiful scene where Noct is about to go into the crystal and then he looks back at Ignis for that final push. Please stop this episode has broken my heart!

-In regards to the endings honestly I love both and think both are viable outcomes after all thats what alternate timelines are about right? A point I might expand on another time.

These are just my thoughts and feelings, I just hope we can all continue to have fun with FFXV I know i intend to! And bless you for reading the whole things.

Again I'm sorry I don't even know if I've got all my points across or if I even make sense.  This DLC was just fantastic, honestly worth the wait. Basically Ignis you are a fantastic character.

Also expect A LOT of fanart most likely after Christmas now but its going to happen

[tales-of-a-fallen-star]

Starlit Waltz (Ignis Scientia/Reader)

Genre: Fluff/Romance Words: 2215 

A/N: Okay, so I’ve had this idea floating around in my head for 3 hours straight now and I’m afraid if I don’t write it down IMMEDIATELY it just ends up on my pile of ideas that rot on my hard drive (which look accusingly at me on a regular basis). So here I am, trying to put this into words as best as I can. I hope there aren’t too many mistakes (but feel free to correct them), I always try to proofread but commas and prepositions are my arch enemies. I hope you enjoy it!

A sigh left your lips when you finally closed the front door of your apartment behind you. You closed your eyes for a few moments, the back of your head resting against the cool material of the door. It was early evening and through your eyelids you felt the last rays of the setting sun, which fell through the window across the hallway and sheathed your apartment in an orange-golden hue, their warmth easing your stressed and tense muscles.

Your day at work has been beyond stressful and busy and you looked forward to getting home before you even arrived at your work place this morning. You only had 20 minutes of your shift left when your boss came to you and practically pleaded on his knees for you to stay for an extra two hours to finish up all the statistics and paperwork and you didn’t have the heart to decline his plea and stayed longer, though now your body punished you for that decision. You felt how a flood of tiredness seeped into every muscle of your body and you just wanted to collapse right there on the floor of your hallway. But you knew you had to pull yourself together because there were still some chores waiting for you, especially the laundry.  When you opened your eyes again, you stretched a bit and let out a small yawn before taking off your shoes and putting them back in the neat row below the coat-hangers on the left side of the hallway. You slowly walked down into the open living room, the couch looked all too inviting but you had to resist. You couldn’t rest just yet, or else you weren’t going to get anything done today, so instead you continued your walk to the open breakfast bar and placed your key chain in a small bowl placed atop of it, your purse finding its place on the back of a chair in front of the breakfast bar.

It was only now that you realised that Ignis wasn’t home yet. Instinctively you looked at the clock to your right. It was almost 8 pm. That was odd, he should’ve been home by now, but maybe the two of you share the same fate today. He was probably held up in the Citadel as well and had to work longer than usual, although his working schedule was almost inhumane in your opinion.

Before you did anything else you walked around the breakfast bar towards the coffee machine. You knew that, if you didn’t want to fall asleep within the next 10 minutes, you needed some well-deserved coffee to keep you awake and breathe some life back into your tired body. You prepared an entire pot, not just a cup for yourself, so Ignis could enjoy one cup of his beloved Ebony when he got home as well. You poured yourself a cup, the warm and familiar smell of coffee climbing slowly up your nose, sending calm and relaxing waves down your spine and through your entire body. Taking a few careful sips, you savoured every moment and every drop before, ultimately, your cup was empty and you knew it was time to do the pesky chores now, and so you made your way to the bathroom.

Another sigh escaped your lips when you walked into the bathroom and saw the washing machine, looking accusingly at you, and you had to collect every bit of composure to start to get to work. You rolled up your sleeves, took the basket beside the washing machine and put all the washed pieces of clothing into the basket. When the scent of the laundry detergent danced around your nostrils you started to relax a bit more, inhaling the scent as much as you could before you put in the next load of clothing into the washing machine, this time for dark clothing, and started the correct programme. Then, with the basket in your hands, you made your way to the dressing room to hang the wet laundry on the drying rack. 

Before you really started to get to work though, you walked back into the living room towards the big stereo and inserted your favourite CD with lots of classical pieces on it. Listening to them relaxed you and made you feel good. It also made doing chores a lot more pleasant.

When the cheerful tunes of the Valse di Fantastica finally started chiming through your apartment a smile settled across your face and you immediately felt a lot more motivated. You walked back to the dressing room and got to work, paying special attention to flatten out all the small wrinkles in your clothing with precise motions. After a while you remembered how relaxing this could be and enjoyed yourself even more, your feet started moving along to the rhythms and tunes coming from the living room. When the next song, the Starlit Waltz, started to play you picked up the next piece of clothing, one of your favourite dresses, and held it in front of you, now actually dancing to the music instead of hanging the dress on the drying rack. 

You tried to remember the last time you actually danced around like this and you were flooded by memories of a ball at the Citadel you attended a few years ago. You remembered all the bright lights, the decoration and the orchestra playing the most beautiful tunes you ever heard, one of them the Starlit Waltz. You also remembered how that evening a specific pair of green eyes met yours for the first time and how you were immediately enchanted by them. Enamoured in your memories and the music you closed your eyes and just kept dancing through the room, all the stress of the day forgotten, completely missing the pair of green eyes looking at you as you did so.

Ignis just stood there in the frame of the door, admiring your every move. He couldn’t help but smile seeing you like this, just as cheerful and happy as you were on the night of the ball, where he met you for the first time. 

It was the night of the ball held in celebration for King Regis’s 45th birthday. Ignis wasn’t necessarily on duty that evening, but as adviser to the Crown Prince himself, he basically was on duty all the time, this evening was no exception. Noctis wasn’t really the type for parties and balls, thus he attended the ball only with reluctance and stood most of the time near the buffet, eating and trying to avoid other members of the court as best as he could. Ignis watched Noctis from a corner of the room, a sigh escaping him as Noctis spilled some Ulwaat berry juice on his dress robes, purple stains spreading on the white material very quickly. Ignis approached his charge with a slight frown on his face.

“Noct, perhaps it’s best if you went back to your quarters and got changed. It wouldn’t seem appropriate for the Crown Prince to walk around in stained dress robes, let alone on an occasion such as this one.”

“Um- yeah. You’re right, I guess.” Noctis agreed, though he seemed to be almost relieved to leave the room and Ignis couldn’t help but think that he spilled the juice on purpose. Noctis went towards the door, not looking back and avoiding as many looks as he possibly could. Ignis crossed his arms and looked after him, scanning the crowd. When Noctis left through the open doors Ignis let his gaze wander towards the other side of the room, scanning all the people who danced to the music played by the orchestra, one person standing out the most to him.

Ignis’s gaze lingered on you for what seemed like an eternity. You danced so gracefully with every one of your dance partners and with so much passion and joy, you made it look so effortless. He couldn’t help himself but to stare, the sudden need to have a dance with you just once growing with every second he watched you. When the current song came to an end, he collected himself and approached you with elegant strides, his eyes never leaving your figure. Just in time you turned around to see him approaching, looking directly in your eyes. When he finally stood right in front of you he gave you a brief but elegant bow before holding his hand out to you.

“May I have the honour of your next dance?” he asked smoothly, a small smile on his lips.

“Of- of course.” you stammered, feeling slightly flustered by his sudden approach, a small pool of excitement building up in your stomach. You put your hand into his and walked over to the dance floor with him where a few other couples already collected themselves in anticipation of the next song. You shyly looked up at Ignis and placed your right hand on his left shoulder while he put his left hand around your waist. You felt a blush creeping up your cheeks and looked down at your feet.

When the song, a waltz, finally started the two of you set into motion, the nervousness you felt before faded away when your heart took over, losing yourself completely in the music and the rhythm. You looked into Ignis’s eyes, those beautiful, beautiful eyes and started to smile. He looked back at you, admiration radiating from his gaze.

“A beautiful song, isn’t it?” you said after he twirled you around and caught you again in his arms.

“Indeed. This piece is called ‘The Starlit Waltz’ if I do remember correctly.” he responded and all you could do was smile.

While the song went on and the two of you danced together as if you never did anything else in your lives, you took in his features. His light-brown hair, which was elegantly styled back and framing his face, his jawline and his cheekbones, which seemed to be sculptured by the Astrals themselves, his full lips, which made you wonder how they would feel on your own, and his eyes, his beautiful and wonderful green eyes, which radiated a certain warmth and ingenuity that you weren’t likely to ever forget.

When the song slowly faded to its end, the two of you came to a halt and each of you made a courtly bow with the last note of the Starlit Waltz chiming through the hall. Afterwards you looked into each others’ eyes for a long time, forgetting the world around you, until a tall and muscular man with dark brown hair approached the two of you.

“Hey, Ignis, his royal highness needs your help with something. Apparently, the problem is ‘tying’ him up quite a bit, if you get what I’m saying.” the man said while pointing with his thumb somewhere behind him. Ignis gave the man a curt nod, immediately understanding what he meant but never breaking eye contact with you.

“My apologies, it seems I am needed elsewhere, but I’m certain it will not take too long before I return. Will I have the honour of another dance with you then?”

“It will be my honour.” you said with as much composure as you could muster and he gave you a warm smile in return. He took your hand into his and gently placed a chaste kiss above your knuckles, before disappearing with the other man in the crowd.

Now, while looking at you, he felt that same urge to dance with you again. When you twirled around once more he decided to step in. With one smooth and elegant motion, he took the dress out of your hands, throwing it back in the basket and getting in the right posture for the dance, taking your left hand and placing his left hand on your waist.

You immediately opened your eyes in surprise and looked into his eyes, a smile broadening on your lips as the two of you danced the same way as you did years ago.

“Good evening, darling, I hope you don’t mind me stealing you away from your previous… partner.” he let out a small chuckle as he looked back at the dress in the basket, before placing a small kiss on your cheek. You rolled your eyes at him and let out a small chuckle yourself.

“No, I think the dress doesn’t seem to mind, neither do I, as you are a far superior dance partner, anyway.” you retorted with a smug grin on your face. He then twirled you around, always in perfect rhythm with the song, and caught you back in his arms. When the song ended the two of you just stood there before melting into each others’ arms, embracing one another. You heard him letting out a small sigh.

“Long day, huh?” you asked.

“Yes.” he said while turning his head to face you. He took every of your features in, admiring every little detail, before losing himself in your eyes. He cupped your cheek with his right hand before placing a gentle kiss on your lips. When your lips parted he rested his forehead against yours and you wrapped your arms around his neck.

“But I do believe the best part of it is about to start.” he smiled before kissing you again.

[chocobostrinket]

And if it was Gladio's s/o that proposed to him instead of the contrary?~ sweet and fluffy, please?~

The day had started like any other. Both got up at different times, got ready, and went to work. They were normally the first awake, due to working with the marshal. He was known to keep odd hours, which meant up before the sun and working through out the day on most things. Being his lead intelligence officer required them to keep the same hours. Which wasn’t all bad. They were always on top of their work, got a longer lunch hour, and were near their beloved at all times.

Gladio on the other hand could take his time getting to the citadel. Noctis never woke up early if he could help it, despite Ignis’ best attempts. Which gave him enough time to sleep in a bit, go for a run, and then get ready for the day. He didn’t have a schedule like his dearest did. More like he was on call in case Noct wanted to go somewhere. But while he was in the citadel? Noctis was as safe as could be which gave him time to wander about and maybe even catch a few moments with his other. 

It was a simple life. There was no push or pull from either of them for things to change. (Though a small part of him hoped that one day, maybe they’d honor him by taking his last name.)

While he was walking by one of the training rooms, he could hear a voice he recognized. Quietly, so not to distract the combatants, he slipped into the room. He wasn’t the only one here too, and he could see why. His dearest was amazing, flowing through blocks and attacks effortlessly. Cor wasn’t so bad either.

He watched them move forward, refusing to step backwards no matter how hard Cor pushed them. Their breath was heaving as they moved, and their collar and tie slightly undone so their movement wasn’t as restricted. And though they would say that they didn’t look their best, he found them dazzling…

Right until Cor managed to slip past their defense and knock them across the room with the back of his blade.

With a loud thud and a grunt from them, they hit the wall and slid to the floor. He frowned but didn’t rush to them. Though he really really wanted to. (As in every fiber of his being was yelling at him to check if they were hurt.) But if he did, he knew they wouldn’t appreciate it. He could practically hear them scolding him in their head.

They huffed and lightly hit their head against the wall at their back. “This round goes to you, Marshal.”

“Alright. I trust you’ll follow through? “He raised an eyebrow, and if Gladio didn’t know better he looked…pleased. 

They got to their feet, having caught their breath and straightened out their clothes before replying. “Of course.”

“Good.” With that, the gathered crowd cleared the way to the door as the Marshal walked toward it. He caught Gladio’s eye and nodded in acknowledgement, “Gladio.” 

He nodded back to him, and then the Marshal was gone. He had to be imagining things, Gladio thought to himself. But he could have sworn that Cor’s eyes had lit up a little upon seeing him. (Should he be worried? He felt like something was going on and just couldn’t put his finger on it.)

It was only after he had put it out of mind and over heard some of the guard talking about an agreement that his sweetheart had made with the marshal. For the sparring match he assumed. He finally walked over to them as they tried to stretch their shoulder muscles and the knots that must have been forming after their bout.

“Hey.” He smiled and when they heard him they turned and beamed at him.

“Hey there.” But then the smile slipped into a frown, “Oh…did you see all that?” 

“I saw only the last few moments. You looked good babe.” He guided them to face away from him and carefully began to massage the part of their shoulders they had been trying to relax.

They sighed with relief and closed their eyes, leaning into his touch. “I don’t agree, but thank you. …Damn, I’m going to be feeling this all week.”

Gladio laughed. “I’ll bet you will. Sparing with the marshal’s no joke. Can I ask how you got him to? He rarely does these days.”

They smiled, and he felt his heart flutter. (Which he’d deny to the end of his days that their smile still did that to him.) 

“It was just my luck honestly. I caught him in a good mood.” They turned around, and before he could ask any more questions, reached up their hands to his neck to guide him down into a kiss. That made him forget his curiosity, and softly relax into the kiss. 

When they pulled away he opened his eyes and couldn’t get over that they had kissed him. In public. They were never one for public displays, and he wondered if this meant they would be okay if he kissed them in public. All the time. Because he had always wanted to. 

“So, it’s my lunch hour now. Care to join me?” 

“Y-yeah. I mean yes.” He huffed with laughter and really hoped that no one could see how stupidly happy they made him. 

They led the way out of the room, ignoring some of the hoots and whistles from the few trainees that were left. While they opened the door, Gladio turned around and glared at those who were making the noises. Like hell he was going to let them make his sweetheart nervous over that kiss. Especially since her really wanted them to be comfortable in public with him. 

But then they left the room and walked toward their office, presumable to pick up their belongings to go home for lunch. However, they surprised him when they entered their office and then gestured to the couch they had inside. 

“Sit. I packed lunch today because I figured we could just hide out in here for awhile instead of taking the time to go to a restaurant.” 

“I’m fine with that. Just gives us more time to eat.” Gladio flopped into the couch cushions and watched them as they went over to the small kitchen area and began to dig around. upon seeing what they brought out, he snorted.

“Cup noodles? I thought you hated those things.” 

“I don’t hate them, I just think they’re not very healthy.” They threw a frown over their shoulder as they set water onto boil, “And after that fight I deserve to be a bit unhealthy. I got all my training in for the week.”

“I hope you don’t mean that,” He smirked from his place on the couch, “We have a training session together later.” 

They froze for a moment and then groaned. “Shit.”

He laughed quietly and then his expression softened. “But if you really don’t feel up to it, we can skip for this week.”

They sighed and then gave him a smile over their shoulder again. “Like I would miss it.”

After that they both fell into silence. They were so focused on the task at hand, not wanting to burn themselves with the water, that they didn’t notice Gladio watching them. He enjoyed seeming them lost in their head. Which clearly they were. Cup noodles, though good, didn’t require much thought or that much hovering. So the fact that they were standing there meant they had something on their mind. And he could wait to see if they would share. If they didn’t? That was fine too.

Eventually, they wandered back to the couch to let the noodles soak up the water. They flopped down beside Gladio and rested their head against his shoulder. He in turn shifted to put his arm around the back of them. They closed their eyes, just enjoying the closeness, and Gladio couldn’t help but press a kiss to their forehead. A small smile crept across their face and they gave a hum of appreciation. 

But then they broke the silence, “And to think in a few hours we’ll be kicking each other’s asses.”

“Babe, we were having a moment.” He couldn’t help the small laugh that followed.

“Our noodles will get soggy if I let the moment go on too long.” They snickered as they stood. They then strode over to where they had left the noodles and carried one in each hand back to the couch. the pair then got to eating and passed the time by comparing their days and letting the other know where they’d be before their training session. 

Before long, they heard a knock at the door.

They straightened themself up as best they could and then called, “Come in.”

The door swung open and there, once again, was Cor. “Officer.”

“Marshal.” They stood and walked over, “Trouble?”

“Yeah. Of the outer agents kind.” Cor pointedly looked past them at Gladio.

“Ah. A moment then.” They looked over their shoulder. “Glads?”

“Go ahead, I’ll clean up in here before I leave.” He smiled at them and waved.

They flashed a thankful smile at him and then followed the Marshal out the door.

~

He didn’t get to see them again until later in the afternoon. He was already in the training room, considering that Noctis was before his dearest. He’d already sent Noctis on his way, though he had a feeling that him an Prompto were lurking nearby, and maybe even Ignis if he had the time. The three of them could not believe that he was in a relationship, especially with them.

Speaking of them…

“Glads, sorry I’m a little late.” They were smiling, but it didn’t quite reach their eyes. Instead there was a nervousness there. Why? Heck if he knew. 

“It’s fine, I figured whatever had the Marshal pulling you off our break was pretty serious.” He smiled as they reached him and pushed part of their bangs out of their eyes. 

Their smile was a little more genuine after that, and they relaxed. But then they smiled, undoing their tie and collar once more. “Ready to begin?”

“You know it. Should we run through some drills, or would you rather just spar?” Gladio asked, likewise removing his coat. He took their tie and bundled it in his jacket before sliding it across the floor to the wall. 

“Just sparring today. I’m out of practice the Marshal said.” They grimace and shrugged.

“Alright. Get ready then.” 

Unlike most training sessions, the pair used live steel. So any injuries would be real. They both had talked it over when they had started training together, and chose this method purely for the lessons it would teach. They’d also had set guidelines and rules that they followed to keep each other as safe as possible with this. Gladio, though it hurt him to harm them, made peace with the idea by remembering that they would learn from it. 

They stepped back from one another and brought out their weapons. Somewhere off to the side, they both heard a startled squeak.

“They’re going to KILL each other.” The voice was soon silenced by a stern, “SSSHH.” 

They blinked at each other, and had to both keep themselves from laughing. The Prince and his friend. But then they refocused, and dropped into the fight. Both were sizing one another up, as usual. Gladio always attacked first, but this time they didn’t give him a chance to fully take them in. They stepped forward and swung at his right side with their left. It was their weaker side, but it would also take him off guard.

His eyes widened and he blocked with his sword before trying to step forward and into their space to use the pommel to strike their ribs. But they quickly stepped out of reach to his left, and thrust forward. He blocked once more, and started to pick up that they were trying to get him on the defensive. Which caused them to lower their defense a bit more than normal.

With that knowledge, he grinned and began to push back. 

They clashed over and over, moving through out the room. Gladio knew that if he could get one good hit on them it’d be over. But their speed made that extremely difficult. But not impossible. However, both parties had already collected a number of scratches and bruises to the cheers and yells of the two watching. (And if they concentrated on the conversation, they would have caught some rather hilarious commentary from Ignis about their match.) It had been an hour almost since they started, and they both were breathing hard. And so they decided they had to end it. 

Then they surprised him by locking their swords together, and using them as leverage to headbutt him. He blindly retaliated, using the pain to fuel a kick to their stomach and send them flying into the wall. But this time, they managed to land with their feet on the wall and push off back toward him. 

They were moving too fast and his eyes were still teary from the headbutt. It would have been a killing strike, had they not reversed their grip and used the haft of their sword. The blow was enough to knock the wind out of him, as it hit the center of his chest. From there, their momentum threw him off balance and he tipped backwards. The back of his head hit the ground and he was dazed…

right until he felt the blade pressing against his neck.

“…Well damn. I submit.” He huffed in amusement, but then groaned in pain. 

They flopped forward on top of him, just trying to catch their breath. “…You certainly…know….how to keep someone on guard.”

“Sort of my job.” He mumbled. They lay their wallowing in the pain that came after such an intense session, but then both got back to their feet.

“…Infirmary?” They asked, eyeing his swelling nose and they way he held his chest.

“Only if you’re going too dear.” He laughed and they shook their head. 

“I didn’t get my ass handed to me just now.” They replied with a raised eyebrow.

“Hey now, I gave as good as I got.”

“I’m not the one who looked like they got jumped.” 

“You’re in denial dear.”

“Call me dear one more time, DOLL.”

“Owch babe.”

From the direction of the door they heard one of the boys call out, “Just get married already!” 

To Gladio’s shock, they called back, “Fine!”

“What?”

“Gladio, will you marry me?”

“Uh….” He couldn’t think of a more eloquent response. But then he figured they were joking and grinned. “Sure why not? And you two punks aren’t invited!”

“GLADIO NOOOO.” They heard a whine.

“Prom, lets get out of here now.” The prince was laughing, and they heard THREE sets of footsteps leave.

They both chuckled and went to retrieve their things. But there, they fell into a loaded silence. He wanted to ask them what that was about, but didn’t dare. If they had only been joking, he’d be crushed, but they’d still be dating and maybe it would be a reality one day. But if he brought it up would that seem like he was taking things too fast? Would they be? He’d like to think that they would be married one day…

“Eos to Gladio?” They called, and snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Oh, yeah?” He turned toward them and froze when they took his hands in theirs slowly.

“I was actually serious.” 

He blinked. And then he blinked again. Then heat rushed to his face as he looked them in the eye. “Uh…w-what do you mean.”

“I’d been trying to ask you ever since this morning with Cor… Which, by the way, we should thank him somewhere down the line.”

“Why?” His voice was soft, but he didn’t break eye contact. 

“Well…we sort of got to speaking, because he’d heard about our relationship I guess. And wanted to know how long we’d been going out.” They squeezed his hands. 

Honestly, he wasn’t really sure this was happening. Maybe he had read WAY too many romances lately and this was a dream. But he really really hoped it wasn’t. “And?”

“He brought up if I wanted to marry you.” They brought up one of his hands to their mouth to kiss his knuckles, and lowered it once more.

“What did you say?” His heart was beating in his ears, making everything seem distant.

“That I do.” 

He surged forward and kissed them, trying press into them just how much he loved them. And when they needed to pull apart to breath, he started peppering kisses all over their face. They in turn just held him close. 

“I love you, you know.” He said, his lips still pressed to their forehead. 

“I love you too.” They said. They they pulled away, a small smile on their face. “So will you? You never gave an actual answer.”

They’d hardly finished speaking before he almost shouted, “Yes.”

[lady-asuka]

finally - Nyx x Fem!OC (Anima) SFW fluff

previous part: click here

word count: 1683

including: Noctis, Prompto, Chocobo and Glaives :D

tagging: @themissimmortal @blindbae @zacklover24 @nykamito @fieryfantasy @crybabyporcelain @valkyrieofardyn @chocobropuffs @itshaejinju

2 weeks passed by since Anima’s and Cor’s ‘father-daughter-day’ and she hadn’t heard a word from Nyx yet. She got used to the feeling and tried to avoid thinking too much about her beloved hero. Gladio did his best to cheer her up and she even approached the prince and his strange blonde chocobo-friend a bit. Today she wanted to go to the royal garden because her sweet self-hatched chocobo lived there since they had come to Insomnia. Anima tried to meet him every day and she felt bad not doing so. As she went into the gardens she met some familiar faces from the Crownsguard – they all greeted her and she walked directly into the gardens.

“KWEH!”, she heard as she walked in and her big fluffy chocobo ran towards her – well almost jumping upon her and snuggled his head to Anima’s. Since Ani had found his egg and hatched him, she was like a mother for the big bird. He even bit people who got too close to her – she was his mom and he protect her.

“Hello my big boy. How are you?”, Anima said, almost squashed by her chocobo. Her big company just ‘kweh'ed at her and enjoyed how she ran her hands through his yellow feathers. She was happy that her chocobo could stay there – he had enough food and water around here; even enough room for running a bit. As both laid down and cuddled a bit, the chocobo heard something and looked in the direction of the garden door.

“OMG. Do you see this, Noct? A REAL CHOCOBO!”, they heard from the distance. Anima recognized this voice – it sounded like that weird chocobo-friend of the prince. The blonde guy was very strange. He seemed to be extremely shy and didn’t even utter a word in near her – but he seemed to freak out because of the huge yellow bird. A few seconds later prince Noctis and his friend Prompto made their way to them.

“OMG NOCT. A REAL CHOCOBO!”, the blonde one freaked out again and clung to the arm of his best friend.

“Jeez calm down Prompto.”, the prince said and looked at the young woman. “Hey Anima. How have you been?”, he added and tried to get rid of his friend who still clung to his arm.

“I’m fine. What about you?”, she asked and looked at Prompto. “Is he okay?”, Ani wanted to know and she was a bit amused how the boy seemed to be a fangirl of chocobos.

“Yeah ignore him. It’s normal”, Noctis explained and bowed a bit down to the chocobo. “May I?” he asked slowly and wanted to pet the big bird. These chocobos were very rare in Insomnia and they never got to see one of them up close.

“Sure. But be careful. He bites.”, she explained and smiled a bit – in this second she heard a clicking sound as Prompto took a photo of her and her chocobo with his camera. Anima looked a bit grumpily at him but she took a deep breath and just let him do before she got up. “Be careful too okay?”, she said to Prompto and watched the 2 boys who approached her chocobo.

“Kweh!”, he screamed and looked skeptically at Noctis’ hand. He sniffed a bit at his hand before he pushed his head to it and allowed the prince to touch him. Noct smiled happily and caressed the soft feathers of the big bird who enjoyed that totally. Prompto freaked out and took a lot of photos of that moment. Anima watched everything and smiled amused – she even was impressed that her chocobo allowed Noctis to touch him. As Prompto tried to touch the yellow bird – he wanted to bite his hand.

“Sorry Prompto. He doesn’t seem to like you. Maybe next time. But I’m impressed Noctis – my big friend normally doesn’t like strangers.”, Anima explained and walked towards them – stroking the feathers of her bird.

“I love animals and they love me. But it’s a pleasure to meet a real chocobo. Thank you for this experience Ani.”, the prince said. He really called Anima with her nickname – actually just close friends did that and she didn’t know Noctis that well.

“No problem. If you want to have a real exciting experience you can ride him someday. It’s much better than driving a car – just ask me, okay?”, Anima suggested and saw the gleam in the eyes of both boys. They looked like little kids whose dreams would come true soon.

“Sure! Thank you, Ani.”, Noctis said totally excited while Prompto took a lot of photos of the chocobo who even tried to snap at his precious camera. As the prince wanted to stroke the bird again he heard a familiar voice. It sounded like a stressed Ignis Scientia who was looking out for the young Prince to do his studies for his final exams.

“Damn he is looking for us Prompto. Let’s get out of here before specs finds us. Thank you, Ani, – see you later”, Noctis said and rushed out with Prompto – usneen from Ignis’ eyes. Anima waved at them and giggled as she saw this show. Poor specs – he was almost a babysitter for the two 18 years old boys. She cuddled her chocobo a last time before she made her way out again – she decided to visit him more often and to go out with him for a nice ride again. As she walked outside she took a deep breath in.

Anima slightly enjoyed that day. The weather was wonderful and she was in a good mood – but she kinda missed fighting and using her magic. She had been raised for such things and now – she lived here in the peaceful Crowncity. Anima had to admit, it was a bit boring. She walked through the city as she was near the Kingsglaive HQ and saw how some black trucks headed towards it. Her heart raced as she saw it and she took a sharp breath in.

“Could this be?!”, Anima said to herself and walked a bit closer to observe what was going on. Some Glaives leaved the cars – all looking very tired and exhausted. She breathed relieved as she saw Crowe and Pelna – even Libertus seemed to be okay. As she finally saw who she wanted to – she couldn’t suppress shedding some tears of joy.

“Nyx…”, she murmured, her heart raced and she smiled happily. He was finally back – safe and sound how it seemed. Anima was so overwhelmed that she wasn’t able to move for almost a minute. She watched how he helped to unload the trucks until Crowe stretched herself and looked around and saw Ani standing in the distance. The Glaive smiled and nudged Nyx’ elbow; who looked at her confused. Crowe seemed to giggle and guided the hero’s view to his still staring girlfriend. As their looks finally met, Ani’s heart seemed to do some jumps – especially as he smiled at her. Oh, how much she had missed his lovely smile.

“Nyx!”, she said, didn’t waste any time and ran towards him. Nyx walked towards her with open arms and held her so close to himself as she jumped right into them. Anima couldn’t suppress tears of joy now – she was finally back in the arms of her beloved hero. She clung to him and buried her face at his chest.

“I’m back, babe.”, he said lovely and placed a kiss on her head. He wiped Anima’s tears away as she looked up at him. His face showed some blood and dirt – his beard had grown a bit longer now, just like his hair. Nyx looked tired – he really needed some rest now.

“I’m so glad… I was so worried…”, Anima confessed and slowly caressed his left cheek. Nyx leaned his cheek against her hand and smiled at her. Ani giggled, wrapped her arms around his neck and finally kissed her beloved one again – after all these weeks. Nyx gladly returned her kiss and held her close the whole time. This was what he needed after all the shit he did and saw the past 6 weeks – he felt relieved again. Some Glaives let out some whistles again - while Libertus just watched this and said nothing.

“Why are you standing around here?! Unload the trucks already. You can leave afterwards!”, the stern voice of Drautos growled to his Glaives – he seemed to be tired too. Nyx and Anima snapped out of their kiss.

“Sorry babe… I love you and I’m all yours after my duty is done. Don’t run away, okay?”, he said happily and kissed her again – all wanting and full of love.

“Of course, my beloved hero.”, she said happily and smiled at him as he turned around to help the other Glaives to finish their work and walked into the Kingslgaive HQ to unload everything. Anima’s eyes just followed Nyx the whole time. She was so happy right now – she didn’t even notice that Drautos watched her a bit.

“Is something wrong?”, Ani asked as she finally realized that he was watching her. Her voice sounded annoyed. Nothing had changed for her the past weeks concerning him.

“No. Everything is alright.”, the Captain said and passed her by to walk into the HQ too. Anima looked at him, sighing and bit her underlip.

“Titus?”, she asked him and took a step towards him. As he heard how she called him by his name he turned around slightly. He remembered his dream as they had left Insomnia and he wanted to give all this a new chance.

“Yes, Anima?”, he wanted to know and looked down at the young woman – something seemed to bother her.

“Well… uhm… I’m glad you’re back too.”, she muttered and looked directly into his eyes. Drautos expression turned into a slightly confused one – but he smirked a little bit.

“Thank you, Ani”, he just said and turned around again to finish his work for the day. It was a small step for both and Anima wanted to give him another chance.

[chocobroing]

A New World Chapter 5~Gladio/OFC, Ignis/OFC SFW

Chapter 5: A Christmas Surprise Tagging: @ridingchocobros, @rubyphilomela, @dirtyffxvconfession, @louisvuittontrashbags, @lady-asuka, @themissimmortal, @ignis-scientia-estrogen-brigade, @itshaejinju, @diabolik-trash-heap, @hypaalicious, @cupnoodle-queen, @blindbae, @nifwrites Christmas was in a few days and Gladio was freaking out. In a box that was wrapped under a tree, was an engagement ring that he intended to give to Ella. He knew how she felt about marriage and that it scared her but he was ready to take that next step in their relationship. Maybe that was why he was having a hard time sleeping those past few days. He was so worried on how Ella would respond. Would she say no? Would she turn away from him? He didn’t know how she would react and it scared the hell out of him. He finally got some sleep on Christmas Eve, ironically. Most people were too excited to sleep on Christmas Eve because they couldn’t wait to see what gifts they got. He slept so soundly in those warm sheets with Ella tangled up in him. They were both naked from having Christmas Eve sex and they both felt warm and comfortable. Everyone was sleeping in heavenly peace, until it was six o’clock in the morning. Gladio and Ella were shaken awake by a certain excitable blond guy. Ella hung on to Gladio, groaning and making whining noises as she snuggled into him. Gladio wrapped his arms around her and tried to fall back asleep, but there was no chance they were getting sleep. “Come on!” yelled Prompto, his mouth right next to Gladio’s ear. “Wake up! Wake up! It’s Christmas!” “Come back in the spring,” mumbled Ella, hiding her face in a pillow. Prompto unceremoniously threw the covers back and got an eyeful of something he never wanted to see. He’d seen Gladio in the nude before back when they were traveling and never thought about it, but right now, he was seeing his good buddy and his girl naked from a night of sex. The mere thought of Gladio and Ella having sex made him want to heave. “Ew!” cried Prompto immaturely, covering them back up. “Why aren’t you wearing jammies?” Gladio opened his eyes to glare at the blond man. “Gee, I don’t know, Prompto,” he replied mockingly, very close to snapping and beating the hell out of the blonde annoyance. “Maybe because we get tired after sex and have no energy to put our pajamas on. Ever think of that?” Normally, any person would run from the look Gladio was giving but Prompto was used to his aura. “Well, whatever,” he said, brushing it off. “Hurry up and get dressed. Ignis is making breakfast.” “You probably woke that poor bastard up too,” guessed Gladio, arching an eyebrow. “Yup.” Prompto looked proud of himself. “But Freya threatened to grab that shotgun that was in the closet and shoot me.” “Not that I blame her,” snorted Gladio, shaking his head. “Prompto, just give us a few minutes. We’ll be out in a sec.” “Okay,” he replied, sounding very enthusiastic and full of energy. Gladio envied that boundless energy Prompto seemed to have. He could use half of it right now. “I’m gonna go wake up Noct and Luna. See you two later.” With that, Prompto was out the door, leaving the couple be. Ella was still half-asleep when she sat up and mumbled incoherent things under her breath. When Gladio looked at her, he took in her beauty. Even though her hair was tangled like crazy and her skin was sticky with sweat, he still thought she was beautiful. He was just captivated by her. In that cute, half-asleep state, Gladio wanted to take her and give her a nice wake up call, but he knew Prompto wasn’t patient. Speaking of which, Gladio wondered how Prompto was doing in waking up Noctis, the heaviest sleeper out of everyone. The poor king was probably even more tired because Luna had pregnancy cravings that interfered with Noct’s sleep. Gladio smiled and got up, putting on a pair of fuzzy sleep pants and a loose short-sleeved shirt. When he looked over, he noticed that Ella had fallen back asleep. She looked so adorable all bundled up in the covers. She looked like a butterfly in its cocoon. However, he knew that she had to get up or Prompto would drag her out of bed. Bending down, Gladio placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and shook her slightly. “Ella,” he said softly, smiling at her. “It’s time to get up.” “I don’t hafta work today,” she mumbled, her brain still not awake. “My store’s closed on holidays.” It took all of Gladio’s will power to not laugh at her. “It’s Christmas, Ella,” he told her, barely able to keep the laughter out of his tone. Ella let out a long, drawn-out groan and her eyes opened slightly. She looked around, as if remembering where she was, and slowly started to wake up. She blinked a few times and opened her eyes fully. She gazed at Gladio, who gave her a soft smile, and mumbled things under her breath. He seemed highly amused at how cranky Ella seemed. She was usually okay with waking up early but right now, all she wanted to do was sleep. “Baby,” purred Gladio, knowing that there was one way to get her up. “If you get up, I’ll take a bath with you and then we can have some fun in bed.” “I’m up,” she said, perking up. “Let’s just unwrap the presents and get this over with. I wanna get in the tub with you.” Gladio took her hand and helped her up, getting her out of bed. Ella pulled on a pair of panties, a nightgown, and a robe to keep her warm. She brushed her tangled hair with her fingers and stumbled out of the room with Gladio, feeling the soreness from the exertion last night. He took her so many times that she lost count how many times they did it. “You okay?” he asked quietly so no one could hear him. “You look a little sore.” Ella let out a growling moan. “Damn you and your marathon penis with its superhuman capabilities,” she whimpered, subtly touching her crotch, feeling it scream in protest every time she walked. “Sorry,” said Gladio, not looking sorry one bit. “You seemed to enjoy it last night. You kept screaming and crying for more. I’m sorry that I hurt you.” “Whatever,” she groused, walking down the hall with him. “You’re not sorry. Don’t even say it.” Gladio smirked and looked a little too proud of himself, wrapping his arm around Ella’s waist. They both walked into the family room where the green fir tree was and sat in front of it, where the presents were. Noct and Luna were sitting on the couch and the king was still half-asleep with Luna resting her head on his shoulder, her hand in front of her growing stomach. Prompto was bouncing like a Golden Retriever puppy and Cindy was resting in his arms wearing a sexy slip of a robe. Freya was still half-asleep on Ignis and the bespectacled man looked a little weary from being disturbed from his rest. “Before we start anything,” said Luna, placing a hand on her large belly, “there is something I need to do for Ignis, something I wasn’t sure I could do in this world until now.” “What’s that, Your Highness?” asked Ignis, moving his head in her direction. With a gentle smile, Luna placed both her hands on either side of Ignis’s face and rested her forehead against his. “I can’t heal the one eye because it was surgically removed, but I may be able to help with the other one.” “Lady Lunafreya…” Ignis trailed off, unable to say any more. Suddenly, Luna’s forehead and hands lit up with an ethereal glow and she began speaking words that sounded memorized. “Blessed Stars of life and light, deliver us from darkness’ blight.” When she spoke again, these words sounded more natural. “Please, give my friend back his sight, so he may see the blessed daylight.” The light traveled to Ignis and he let out a sound of pain, grimacing slightly. Freya looked like she wanted to speak but Noctis interrupted her. “Luna is a healer,” he explained kindly, placing a gentle hand on Freya’s to calm her. “She was the Oracle of our world and when she passed, the darkness grew unabated. Had she lived when Ignis went blind, he would have been healed by her.” “I wasn’t aware I still had my powers until my baby entered the eighth month,” elaborated Luna, removing her hands from Ignis’s face and backed off from him. “In the third trimester, I noticed that I was able to do little things like cuts and burns, but in the past few months, my powers have gotten stronger.” Ignis’s closed eye opened and he was immediately assaulted by colors and people. The very little vision he had in that eye was restored. He could see everything—his friends, Ella, his beloved Freya—and the emotion that overcame him was immense. He looked over his shoulder and saw a redheaded angel with concerned brown eyes staring at him. He could see the emotions on her delicate face. She was more beautiful than any woman he ever laid eyes on. “Freya,” he spoke to her, and her face lit up with joy and recognition. “Yes,” she said in a trembling voice, and she took his hand and placed it on her cheek. “It’s me.” “My beautiful woman,” he murmured, pulling her in to press a kiss to her lips. Freya wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, tears running down her cheeks. Ignis held her in his arms and ran his hands up and down her back, feeling her shudder under his touch. She was more beautiful than Ella described and he never wanted to let her go. When Ignis loathingly pulled back, he was attacked by hugs from everyone. He could barely breathe when he was squeezed by Noctis, Prompto, and Gladio. All the women were crying happy tears and ambushed Ignis in hugs too. As Luna wiped her eyes, she spoke in a shaky tone. “I know that it’s a bit disorienting, Ignis, but in a few days, it will feel natural again.” “Thank you…” The words were simple but laced with so much emotion and genuineness. Luna gave him a nod and bowed slightly, straining with her big belly. “You are very welcome, Ignis,” she said kindly. Everyone hugged Ignis and he looked at all of his friends, noting that while they looked different, they hadn’t changed a bit. Noctis was still a sleepyhead but he looked more regal even with his weariness, Prompto was still his bouncing sunshine, and Gladio was still the devoted Shield that loved every one of his friends. It was about thirty minutes before everyone situated on the couch again and waited for presents to be passed around. “Let’s open presents,” said Prompto, glowing, now very enthusiastic. “Gladio has one for Ella. Give it to her, Gladio!” Gladio knew what he was referring to and he scrambled to shut Prompto up. “Shut up, blondie!” he hissed, clapping a hand over Prompto’s mouth. “What present?” asked Ella, looking a bit confused. “Gladio, I don’t need any presents from you. You being with me is enough. I know work has been hard on you, so you don’t need to get me anything.” In this small town, Gladio was a police officer. With his past training and experience, he was offered the job on the spot. It made Ella proud that her lover was doing something he genuinely enjoyed. Prompto was working at tech store that had the newest phones and computers and he was enthusiastic in helping others, especially the elderly. Cindy, of course, was working in the garage. Luna was a volunteer nurse at the hospital. She loved doing volunteer work, whether it was the hospital or the church. Ignis was a cook at a fancy restaurant and he loved that job. Noctis was working with Freya, who was now a vet, at the pet clinic because he loved working with animals. Gladio sighed in exasperation and shook his head. “Well, secret’s out,” he grumbled. “I was hoping to do this a little more romantic, but here it is.” He reached under the tree and pulled out a small box wrapped in dark red paper. Ella’s face was priceless. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped in an almost comical way. Prompto pulled his camera out and took a picture of her shocked face. With shaking fingers, Ella unwrapped the gift and saw the box was made of rosewood. She opened it up and saw a sparkling engagement ring with a beautiful diamond in the middle. “Oh, my God,” she gasped, clapping a hand to her mouth. “Gladiolus, is this what I think it is?” She only said his full name when she was serious or mad. “Yeah,” he replied, nodding. “It is. Eleanor Stevens, you are my light. You are the one that makes everything better and I love you with all that I am and all that I will ever be. You are the one that keeps me going. My heart, body, and soul are yours. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with them. I know how you feel about marriages and serious commitments, but I’m ready for this. I won’t hurt you. I would never break your heart. I will love you even when we have arguments and even when we hate each other.” He smiled at her with tears in his amber eyes. “Ella, will you marry me?” Tears poured down Ella’s cheeks and her face fell into her hands. Everyone looked alarmed, especially Gladio, who looked ready to shit bricks. He wrapped his arms around Ella’s trembling body and kissed her head. He whispered soothing words into her ear and rocked her like a baby. She was so small that it was like he was holding a child. “I’m sorry, baby,” he said gently, feeling absolutely awful. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” “No,” wept Ella, shaking her head. “No. Gladio…” She looked up at him and smiled shakily. “I would love to marry you. I love you, Gladio.” She squeezed him in a tight hug, weeping into his shirtfront. Gladio smiled widely and tightened his embrace around her, kissing her hair and face. He could taste the salt of her tears and could feel wetness on his own cheeks. He wiped his face and realized he was also crying. The last time he cried this hard was when Noctis announced that he was going to sacrifice himself to save Eos. Of course, these were happy tears and Gladio couldn’t hold the joy back. He had never been so happy before in his life. The woman he loved more than air said yes! Eleanor Amicitia had a good ring to it. “I love you, baby,” he told her in a voice choked with emotion. “I love you too,” she replied in a voice equally emotional, burying her face into his shoulder. Everyone smiled and whooped in joy, celebrating that Gladio and Ella were going to be wed. This was what everyone waited for. Noctis was smiling ear to ear, ecstatic that his friend was going to be married. Gladio had always wanted a wife and family and now he was doing it. Prompto pulled out his camera and took many shots of the couple embracing and kissing. This was going into a memory book. Ignis smiled and tears came from his one healthy eye. Freya wiped a tear from her cheek and her smile was wavering. “It truly is a Christmas miracle,” said Freya, snuggling up against Ignis. “What is, dearest?” asked Ignis, gazing down at her lovingly. “You can see again and Ella is finally an engaged woman,” she replied, her smile now content. “I love you, Ignis. Blind or not, you are my one true love.” Ignis caressed her face with a gentle hand and kissed her softly. “I love you too,” he said in a loving tone. “My Freya…” He bent and tenderly kissed her again. “My Ignis,” she sighed into the kiss, holding him tightly. Everyone was truly happy and it seemed that this wasn’t a happy ending, but a joyful beginning. This was the start of something new and wondrous and they couldn’t wait to be a part of it. Gifts were opened and everyone was smiling and joyful. Ignis got some more cookbooks; Gladio got some new books; Noctis got a new pillow that would guarantee a good night’s sleep and he got some baby books that would help him cope when the baby came; Luna got some baby clothes and new lingerie for after the baby was born; Prompto got a new camera; and Cindy got a new tool kit. This Christmas was the most memorable one they would have and they would never forget it. This truly was the Christmas they would never forget. It was one of love, peace, and joy, just as the season intended.

[backseat-imagines]

How would the Chocobros react to their shy and short beloved, S/O, being a Shiva-like fairy (as well as Shiva's baby sister)?

I got an order of frosty apostles coming right up!

Noctis wasn’t quite sure what Gentiana meant when she had once told him that he’d have a fragment of herself to always watch over him. Maybe if she said she was watching over him in spirit but… that’s not entirely what she meant.

It was only until much later that he figured it out; a friend, who only very recently went steady with him, had to disappear for just a short while- Only to return and appear out of nowhere, by Gentiana’s side. And only to appear just to freeze a whole squadron of MTs and daemons and without the use of having to toss out a bottle of elements like any of them had to he had to.

Noctis is a smart boy, it doesn’t exactly take him long (not even a whole 2 seconds) to realize what this means.

The gig is up and they show themselves for who they really are, and Noct has so many questions. Mostly of why they never seemed to be there to help when it counted most- like the incident surrounding Leviathan. “I can not interfere with the plans and wishes of the other Astrals.” Okay, fine. But what about the train then?

Maybe it’s a little unfair to be unloading all of those pent up feelings though, even if they do have a relation to the almighty Glacian and that happens to grant them power beyond most anything.

But above all else he’s mostly unsure about them just due to this newfound knowledge. Knowing that the Astral’s are tied to his family and his destiny; there is a difference of them being involved in his life and fate, and actually being involved with him. Surely they know what lies in store for him? But if that’s what they want then might as well let them enjoy he ride while it even lasts.

The time of darkness came to pass, and it didn’t take too long for Ignis to start getting back to feeling like he had his old life back- as least as far as fighting and cooking went. All that was mostly thanks to Cor and his love for trying to help him get back on that track.

But once he had gotten back and was trying to fight on his own again, that was when they started to disappear on him. Even though he was sure they were more than capable of taking care of themselves, this was a world filled with daemons. It was had to not worry. Especially since anymore he hardly got to see them- it seemed like they were out fighting almost 24/7. While that was noble of them… Ignis was ready to plead with them to sit back and take a moment to take care of themselves before they worn down and got themselves hurt- or worse.

In fact that’s what he had set out to do when he had Talcott drive him to the destination they were last in. It’ll be the first time in a couple of weeks that he even got to hear their voice in person…

Lo and behold, when he found them they were in the middle of a fight. Ronin, Arachne- that’s all the monsters he could hear. But as soon as he stepped up to aid them, throwing his daggers into the spine of Arachne, more trouble came to try and stamp on them. Just from listening he could hear it was a terrifyingly large hoard, and they were closing in around him. But then the air around him turned cold, the sounds of the monsters stilled and quieted, and all of the sudden all he could hear was shattering. What… just went on?

“My dear, would you mind filling me in on what exactly just happened? Spare me no exclusion of detail…”

First Leviathan was the plot-twist in his life and now… One of the pieces to Shiva? Did the Astrals have it in for him or what?

Ignis reserves his belief for a second until a cold palm touches him and icy breath blankets over his jaw and he can feel the shards of ice forming on him already. He pulls back away from their touch.

Ignis is skeptic about them now. For what business does an Astral have with him? Any business they have with a human, outside of the kings or the oracles, likely can’t bode well. And if they were here just because they wanted to be with him- what a silly notion; a lifelong relationship to him will seem like a brief summer fling in their life. They’ll outlive him for a good long time, so what were they coming to gain from something that will be so short lived?

Gladio thought there was something a little different about them. They always seemed to be up at all times of the day and they never seem to get exhausted. They had knowledge of times that had long since passed that was never in the history book that he knew and it was almost like they were a scholar. Extreme heat didn’t seem to bug them, come to think of it he never caught them really sweating, and holding their hand through the hot and humid streets of Lestallum they still felt relatively cool.

All of it he brushed off. Some people needed less rest. Maybe their body was really good at regulating it’s own temperature. And it’s not impossible for people to have read or heard a different (sometimes more correct) spin of history. The only part that started to make him think something was a little different was every now and then their eyes seem to flash another color.

What finally gave it away was after Gladio had went through Gilgamesh’s trial and emerged victorious. Wanting to test his newfound strength, they offered to spar with him. They had greatly underestimated him to begin with, so lord only knows how unprepared they were when Gladio hauled off after them and put all of his power into it.

Before they knew it they had to hold off his greatsword with their own hands. As soon as cold steel made contact everything in a short radius was covered in snow and ice- and through the cloud of frost that puffed out he could see the glowing of their eyes- they were an entirely different color again- and patches of their skin changed too.“The hell?”“Far better than I was expecting. O’ shield of the one true king, the true trial of your merit is nigh.”

Gladio certainly didn’t expect for them to have transformed on him like they had. But one thing was for sure, it actually explained a whole lot.

I don’t imagine Gladio gets himself too excited for it. He’ll prod them over their past, after all who wouldn’t be curious? But he doesn’t make too big of a deal. (Though he is proud of himself for getting a chance to be smashin’ what’s essentially a deity by Eos standards. Who else has that kind of bragging right?)

“I have a secret to show you.” They coo playfully into Prompto’s ear. Prompto loves secrets. He likes to poke his nose in where he can, like with how he tried to peek in Noct and Luna’s book or when he was trying to listen in on more of the scoop about the Nifs from Aranea. He often eaves dropped as well, both accidental and purposeful, and it was something he just couldn’t help but to do! Now that they have a secret for him? He was all too happy to let them lead him by the hand just to learn something juicy about them.

“Uhh, babe? Why are we outside?” For some odd reason they lead him outside, drawing him deeper into some woods and stopping by the lake. They gave no verbal answer, they only told him to “stay there, and watch” while they stepped closer to the body of water.

A polar wind started to blow and a sudden frost started twirling in the air. The clothes on their body had begun to disappear and suddenly their hair and skin started to turn into the colors of an iceberg.Were they? No- can’t be? But they are?

The lake had gone frozen, and they were standing on top of it’s ice. “Apostle of Shiva” they call themselves and beckoned him over why extended out their hand for him to take. He does- skin felt colder than the dead.

Prompto gets struck by wonder and awe first- who would have ever thought someone as cute and as meek a them would have been- “Oh. Em. Gee. I need to get a couple shots of this!” He says excitedly as he reaches for the camera. Prompto is a curious one; non-stop clicks of the camera, trying to capture every angle, and as he does so he’s full of nothing but questions. What’s it like? Have you ever shattered anything- a person? Do you cool your own glass before taking a drink? Let’s say if I licked your hand… would my tongue get stuck? What are the others like? What the Shiva herself?

But the sense of wonder eventually fades and a sense of unease rests in his belly. Being in the presence of someone who was god-like was awfully daunting, even more so than being around royalty- he feels lowly. And all of the sudden he feels so small.

Don’t get him wrong, it’s cool and all, but out of all the people in Eos, why did they choose him of all people? A lingering thought keeps coming back to haunt him of what if this was some kind of even the Gods of Eos were just wanting to use him as some kind of amusement.

[kaoru-takaida]

FFXV Comrades Fanfiction

*SPOILER ALERT*

If you have played Final Fantasy XV and/or watched the Kingsglaive movie that accompanies it, and completed the Prompto DLC, read at your own risk. There are major spoilers in here... So don't say I didn't warn you...

Chapter Six

"'Partake in the hidden well, and gain the power of man.' The god had told the proud goddess. But with a single drop of said well, the goddess became weak, fragile, frail, ugly, and powerless. For the power of man is the ugly truth: they've no power at all."

From The Fall of Gods, Chapter 17

Lumine swears she hears her name and a familiar voice. "Lumine! Hey!" She opens her eyes, but winces in pain at her throbbing head.

"Ah!" Lumine yelps. She goes to grab her head, but is surprised to find herself restrained. Her arms are spread and pinned, crucifixion style to metal behind her. Her legs and ankles are pinned as well and a cold metal bar holds her hips in place. "What?!" She tries pulling her arms free, making the metal clatter. She yanks repeatedly before grunting in pain.

"Hey! Hey!" Prompto tells her. She turns to see him on the other side of the empty room, strung up the same way. "Don't do that, you'll only hurt yourself."

"Prompto..." Lumine bites her lip, trying not to panic. She closes her eyes, looking away. "This can't be happening..."

Prompto takes a second before looking up at her. "All I remember was an explosion. Do you have any idea what's going on?"

Lumine slowly lifts her head. "The Empire..." She begins. "They somehow disabled our summon capabilities. I was only out for a little bit. And when I woke up..." She scowls. "I could no longer summon my weapons."

Prompto gasps. "Does that mean Noct is-?"

Lumine gives him a halfhearted smile. "No. His Magesty is still out there. Us Glaives and you Royal Retainers are able to summon weapons despite King Noctis's absence because Lady Lunafreya awoke the powers of the Old Kings. When Lady Lunafreya woke Leviathan, she also released the past kings' magical energy that was sealed in their royal tombs." Lumine explains. "This woke the past rulers of old and restored the Kingsglaive's powers... The Empire must have found a way to cut our connections to the Old Kings. I'm sure King Noctis is still out there somewhere."

Prompto laughs nervously. "Good. That's," he tugs a bit at the restraints," great..." Prompto drops his head down. "Where do you think we are?"

Lumine sighs. "A research facility, perhaps? Or a warehouse of some type." Lumine looks up at the lights. "They've got electricity which means they're using a source to power the building."

Prompto scoffs. "Fantastic..." He sighs. A buzzing hum piques his interest. "Wait..." Lumine blinks. "That... That sound..." As if on que, the door swings open. And the sounds of boots thumping is heard. Ardyn walks in with two men behind him. They're both wearing lab coats. Lumine feels her heart skip several beats.

"Ah, yes. The sound must kick up some nostalgia for you." Ardyn looks over to Prompto.

"Ardyn?!" Prompto hisses. He scowls. "What are you up to?!" Lumine is taken by surprise. She'd never seen Prompto so angry. It makes Lumine nervous. But not as nervous as the other two men in the room. Ardyn turns to her.

Lumine swallows. "You know him?"

Prompto keeps a glare on Ardyn as he closes the door behind him and the men. Prompto scoffs. "Yeah... I know him alright. He's the bastard who made everything turn out like this."

Ardyn chuckles to himself. "Things with me and Prompto here are... complicated." He looks at Lumine. "You, however." Lumine glares and scowls immediately. Ardyn slinks over to her. "Tell me: Do you remember your time in a laboratory like this one?" She clenches her fists. Now its Prompto who looks surprised. "I mean, you did spend almost half your life in one..."

"Shut up!!" Lumine snaps, jerking at the restraints.

Ardyn shushes Lumine, placing a finger to her lips. She pulls away. "Come, come. Why don't you tell your beloved friend just who you really are?" Lumine purses her eyebrows before hanging her head. Ardyn wraps his arm around her. "Avail him with all the nitty gritty details of your creation." He says, gesturing to Prompto. When she says nothing, he cocks an eyebrow, tilting his head. He looks back at her. "No?" He steps away from her. "Well, then, if you won't, allow me." Ardyn puts a hand out to one of the men wearing a labcoat. He hands him a scanner. Ardyn walks over to Lumine and unlocks the cuff on her right hand.

Lumine realizes what's happening. She pulls away. "Wait..." She pleas. Ardyn yanks her arm forward before removing her glove and silver bangle, dropping them to the linoleum floor. "No... Stop..." He presses the scanner button and it beeps before it lights up scanning her wrist. A green codeprint hidden behind her tattoos lights up. (No way...) Prompto thinks to himself. (She has a code print...)

"Scanning production code." The device announces. Prompto feels his eyes widen. "Unit 0756-059572210 confirmed." Lumine bows her head, feeling her throat get tight. "Warning: this unit has been compromised. Retrieval and disposal is highly recommended."

Prompto is speechless. (All this time... Lumi was...) Ardyn redoes the fasten on the cuff restraints. Lumine gives Prompto a hesitant look. A mix of fear, nervousness, and panic. "Aaaaw." Ardyn says. Lumine scowls now. "What a surprise!" He turns to Prompto. The look on Prompto's face makes Ardyn fake a gasp. "Oh? My dear Prompto..." Now Prompto is the one who looks flustered, realizing what Ardyn had figured out. "Have you chosen not to tell her?"

Prompto scowls now. "Shut the hell up!"

Lumine blinks in confusion. "T-Tell... Tell me what?"

"Lumine, it's not-." Prompto stammers.

Ardyn takes Lumine's chin. "How was it you never realized?" He asks, shaking her face a bit. She pulls her face from his grip with a scowl. Ardyn laughs. "Oh, trust me, my dear..." He walks over to Prompto before undoing his right wrist. Prompto tries to pull his arm from Ardyn's reach. But Ardyn succeeds to grab his wrist and slide his glove and leather wristband from his hand. "You will love this." Much to Lumine's dismay and surprise, a codeprint is there on Prompto's right wrist.

Ardyn scans Prompto's code print. "Scanning production code." The device announces. Prompto chokes a bit. "Unit 0755-05953234 confirmed." Prompto gives Lumine a pained look. "Warning: this unit has been compromised. Retrieval and disposal is highly recommended."

The room grows deathly silent. Lumine feels her throat get tight again. She's not sure what to say. Or feel for that matter. Mad at him for not telling her? Happy that she's not alone? Curious about it? She's not given time to think before Prompto pulls away from Ardyn, punching him across the face. Ardyn's fedora falls to the floor. The two men in lab coats run over and hold Prompto back, restraining his arm again. Ardyn recovers, standing straight and wiping blood from the side of his lips. "Temper, temper, my boy..." Ardyn chides. Prompto gives up struggling as the men leave the room. "Anyway..." He says, gesturing to the two of them. "Discuss if needed. It hardly matters to me. You'll both be separated soon enough. So you may as well have words." He picks up his hat from the floor and slides it back on before tipping it to them. The door closes as he leaves.

Prompto and Lumine don't say a word. Both of them process just what they've discovered about one another. When a few moments of heavy silence passes, Prompto looks up at Lumine's codeprint. Skillfully hidden behind her tattoos, he has to admit. But she can't look him in the eyes. "So..." He gives a weak and awkward, halfhearted smile. "We're more alike than we knew..." He gives a weak chuckle. "Who'da thunk?" Lumine remains silent. He sighs a bit. "Hey... Talk to me..."

Lumine hesitantly looks up at him, feeling her words catch in her throat. "I'm..." she tries to say. But she shakes her head, looking away again.

"Hey. Are you okay?" He asks, a look of concern taking over his face. Lumine purses her eyebrows, looking up at him and setting her jaw. He was genuinely concerned about her? They're in this position and HE'S worried about HER?

She bites her lip. "I'm sorry..." Lumine says finally.

Prompto laughs lightly. "What are you apologizing for?" He asks.

She chokes a bit. "I..." Lumine closes her eyes, tightly. "I don't know... I just am sorry." Prompto isnt sure what to say. What should he say? "I've..." Lumine begins. "I've been running from my past for as long as I can remember. I..." She chokes again on her words. "I was a science experiment for the Empire... for 10 years since I was created. I remember nothing but pain, and despair. They... They kept me in a glass box, with hardly any room to sit up, stretch out, or move around." Lumine looks at Prompto, tears welling in her eyes. "At one point, I remember there being more of others like me... But they never survived long enough for me to know who they were. And I..." She sobs, finally letting the tears roll down her cheeks and to her chin. "I was left all alone." Prompto gasps to himself, feeling his chest get heavy. Lumine sniffles, unable to stop crying now. "I've... always been alone... In the lab, where I was created. In Lucis, where people hated me for being a Niff. Even in the Kingsglaive, where I had to be the best and bravest just to be placed in lower ranks. And even then, I couldn't change who I was. WHAT I was. Monsters don't deserve company. They deserve to be alone." Lumine hangs her head, her bangs shadowing her face. "I'm... always alone."

Prompto takes a moment of silence, thinking of what to say before he inhales and a determined look is placed on his face. "But you're not alone, anymore." Lumine looks up at him quickly, gasping with a shocked look on her face. Prompto gives her a sad, hesitant look. "I... was created in a lab, just like you were. When I found out... I thought I was a monster too. I couldn't bear the thought of me being the one responsible of somehow being a burden for Noct and the guys." He chuckles. "I was... pretty torn and a lot of things were happening that made it seem like my life was over." Prompto smiles a sad smile to her. "But despite all of that, I pushed on knowing that I wanted to be with Noct and them. And they told me that where I come from and what I am doesn't matter. It's what I do with myself and who I am that matters." He looks down at his boots, pinned behind the metal restraints. "I am sorry that you weren't as lucky as I was and had to go through the first 10 years of your life in pain. And that you suffered so much when you finally got out." He smiles now, a warm reassuring smile despite their depressing situation. "But you're not alone anymore. You have Cindy, and Monica, and the Glaives." He gives her a little nod. "And me."

Lumine gives herself a moment before smiling to herself. She closes her eyes. She feels calmer hearing that. And knows now that she'd been wrong. She wasn't alone after all...

Lumine hears Prompto scoff. Some MTs were sent to the room and they handcuffed them and slipped blindfolds on them before leading them out of the room. "They REALLY don't want us to see whatever they're doing here, huh?"

"Stay on your guard... Whatever they're up to, we have no choice but to stop it ourselves." Lumine tells him. They continue walking, MTs keeping firm grips on each of their arms. The only things that can be heard is the clatter of their armor, the steps of their feet, and the slow and vibrating hum they noticed before.

"That machine we keep hearing." Prompto starts. "I'm sure it was the same sound from the machine that was used on Noct to stop his abilities." Lumine cocks an eyebrow. "Do you think it's why we can't summon our weapons?"

"I think you're right." Lumine tells him, more thinking aloud than actually answering. "It must be the same thing. They must be using it to block out connections to the Royal Family's power." She scoffs. "And that explosion must have been an advancement. Some kind of temporary and portable device rendering our ability to summon useless." Lumine sighs. "If we want to escape we'll have to find our weapons and or destroy that machine to shut it down."

"Okay." Prompto says. "We're gonna get outta here. No matter what."

Lumine knows this. Except... she doesn't care if she doesn't make it out. She'll do whatever she can to get him to saftey. Her life would be worth losing if it meant he was safe. After a bit of walking, they are forced to stop. The blindfolds are removed and Ardyn is there. The room is circular with nothing but what looks like mirrors around it, but she's sure that it's bulletproof and one way glass. She knows there's someone, some people, watching. Lumine pulls away from the MTs holding her.

"What are you up to, Ardyn?" She hisses. He only smiles and looks over at Prompto.

"Did you ever wonder why your Kingsglaive friend here was so powerful at warping?" Ardyn asks him. Prompto scoffs.

"She's a talented person. There's nothing to wonder." He snaps. Lumine can feel herself blush a bit, despite the scowl that she has locked on her face. He complimented her so effortlessly and so quickly.

Ardyn reaches forward and gives Prompto's head a small pat. "Oh, how quaint." He says. Prompto moves his head away. "But no. That's wrong." He steps forward a bit. "She was created with a special ability. To be able to store her energy and power in her body overtime and then release it in a burst of light." He turns to Lumine. "You will be giving us a demonstration." With that he removes a familiar silver pistol and cocks pulls the hammer back, cocking it. He then trains it right at Prompto.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HIATUS NOTICE

This fanfiction will be on hiatus for a bit. But the next chapter will be released just before the new year. Thanks guys! 🦊

[towine]

[prompto/noctis] come and get your love

~6k / self-indulgent valentine’s day fic ao3 link: [x]

summary: Prompto really, really liked Noctis. And he really wanted Noctis to know.

hello! i love these boys!!!! so much so that they pulled me out of my year-long writing drought and made me want to try my hand at ffxv fic, so, here is my humble attempt. thanks for reading! - The first person Prompto asked for advice from was Ignis.

The few times they’d met were only whenever Ignis was at Noctis’ apartment, but Prompto had figured that was enough for him to consider Ignis a friend. Ignis seemed pretty cool and smart, like he must know about so many more things than Prompto did. He seemed like a good place to start. And most importantly, he was the person who saw Noctis the most besides Prompto himself.

Ignis had given Prompto his number when they first met, explaining that he could contact him anytime, especially if something ever happened to Noctis or the both of them. Prompto didn’t ever think he’d talk to Ignis about something like this, but. He did say anytime.

Prompto spent approximately an hour lying in his bed as he agonized over the text. He wondered how much detail he should say, how direct he should be. He typed something only to quickly backtrack, thinking hard about every word.

In the end, he settled on: hey ignis!!!

The reply was prompt: Hello, Prompto.

Prompto chewed on his lip, wondering how to say this.

so bond day is coming up and there’s something i want to ask you

This time, Ignis’ reply was belated: … I am listening tentatively.

Prompto internally screamed. IT’S NOT LIKE THAT

Oh. Well in that case, how can I help?

Prompto took a deep breath, then typed the words he had planned carefully in his head.

so i was thinking of getting noctis something but i’m kind of out of ideas. what do you think he would like?

Prompto pressed his burning face against his pillow. This was a terrible idea, but the text was sent and he couldn’t do anything about it now. Maybe Ignis would think Prompto meant it platonically; friends exchanged gifts on Bond Day just as often as lovers did. But it would be nice to give Noctis something that showed Prompto really was… interested. In that way. Gods, this was embarrassing. Prompto pressed his face harder into his pillow. Maybe he could just suffocate here instead and end his suffering.

He waited for his phone to buzz. And waited. And waited. Ignis seemed to be really thinking about it.

Then, finally: Make something. The crown prince can get almost anything in the city that can be bought, but something you made would be—well, priceless.

Prompto blinked. wow you should write slogans for bond day cards

Good night, Prompto.

Prompto grinned. Make something. He could probably do that. He’d start brainstorming tomorrow.

thanks though ignis!!! for real

Anytime.

A moment, and then: Flowers are especially nice to bring to confessions, as well.

To which Prompto said: GOOD NIGHT.

-

On the way to class that morning, Prompto thought hard about what Ignis said. Making something was easier said than done. Prompto couldn’t cook like Ignis—any meal he attempted for Noctis would end in smoke and flames and embarrassment. And Noctis probably ate the best foods in the world, there was no way Prompto could make anything nearly adequate enough.

On Bond Day, most people gave tokens—something they wore to display that they were bonded to someone else. Prompto had seen people give necklaces, earrings, pins, clothing… But what would Noctis want? What did Noctis like? Prompto thought: video games, sweets, comic books… Augh, none of this was helpful. Prompto ran his hands through his hair in frustration, not caring if he messed it up. His head hurt. He just wanted to get Noctis something nice.

He dragged himself to his classroom, slumping into his seat in front of Noctis.

Noctis asked, mildly concerned, “Hey, you okay?”

“’M Fine,” Prompto mumbled. Noctis raised his brows. Prompto just crossed his arms on Noctis’ desk, burying his face. “Bond Day stuff, that’s all,” he explained.

“Oh.” Noctis’ voice sounded a little awkward. “Do you… want to talk about it?”

Prompto sighed, looking up. “Nah, it’s—I’ll figure it out. I was just wondering, um.” He considered how much he wanted to say. He already regretted bringing up Bond Day at all, but maybe this could be his chance to probe into what Noctis liked. “Well, I was just wondering what a good gift would be.”

Noctis was quiet for a moment. “Oh,” he said, again. “Do you—do you have someone in mind?”

“Um.” Prompto tried really, really hard to stop his face from getting hot. “U-um, maybe. Well, just like, in general, I guess—um, what do you think would be a good gift? Just like, you know, hypothetically.”

Well, that came out smoothly. Prompto had never before wanted to kick himself as much as he did now.

Noctis seemed surprised at the question. “Me?”

Prompto just nodded, not trusting himself with words at the moment.

Noctis considered, idly fiddling with a pencil on his desk. Prompto looked at him, with his messy hair and blue eyes, his lips pursed just slightly as he thought. And as embarrassing as it was, Prompto could feel his chest squeeze; he really, really liked Noctis. And he really wanted Noctis to know.

“I guess,” Noctis began, his expression thoughtful, “I don’t really have anything specific in mind, but… The important thing is showing that you care, right? And… I guess the best gifts are one where—where you can tell the people are, um. Bonded.”

He looked down, drumming the pencil against his desk. Prompto could see red in the rounded tips of Noctis’ ears, and it was all—damn it, it was all so cute Prompto kind of felt like exploding.

Noctis continued, “The only Bond Day gifts I’ve given were like, for Gladio and Ignis and my dad. It wasn’t—you know.”

Prompto nodded. “But what would you like?”

“Huh?”

“What would make you happy to get? From anyone.”

Noctis grimaced, which was surprising. “I feel like I’ve gotten every possible kind of Bond Day gift.”

“Really?” Then Prompto realized: he was the prince, Noctis had no shortage of admirers. This was the first Bond Day they would experience together since becoming friends, so Prompto had never seen but could certainly imagine the piles of gifts Noctis would find on his desk, at the front door of his apartment building, probably on the steps of the Citadel, too.

That just made the stakes of his own gift that much higher. What could Prompto possibly give him that he hadn’t received already?

“Yeah,” Noctis sighed, propping his elbow on his desk and leaning his cheek against his hand. “But all of those people are just… strangers. None of them really know me besides my title. I guess I’m flattered, but…”

“But…” Prompto licked his lips. “They weren’t… personal to you?”

Noctis looked at him, then. His eyes were bright, and a stray lock of dark hair tickled against his cheek. Prompto wanted to touch it, to use his fingers to gently tuck it behind Noctis’ ear.

The classroom door opened and their teacher strode into the room; all chatter died as she greeted the class, and began writing the day’s lesson plan on the board.

Prompto turned around in his seat, thoughts swirling in his head.

-

Something personal. Something that showed Prompto really knew Noctis, in a way that no one else really did.

Prompto strolled through the crowded streets of the shopping district, looking through storefront windows as he passed, trying to get some inspiration. Normally, he and Noctis walked this way to get to the arcade after school, but Noctis had a meeting with his father today, and apologetically told Prompto he couldn’t. He was a busy guy, Prompto understood. Besides, it gave him a chance to think of gift ideas without Noctis being suspicious.

There was a tremendous amount of people shopping. Bond Day always brought out the crowds, and everywhere he looked, Prompto saw signs advertising matching gifts for you and your beloved. They were all shiny and expensive and completely outside of Noctis’ interests, as well as Prompto’s price range.

He stopped in front of one store. Inside the window, there was a display of new fishing rods, gleaming and impressive. Noct liked fishing, Prompto remembered. Maybe something in here—

“Prompto!”

Prompto turned, and saw Gladio and Iris emerge from the bustling crowd. Gladio carried a number of shopping bags in his arms while Iris waved enthusiastically at Prompto.

“Hey!” Prompto said, grinning.

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Gladio said, bumping Prompto’s shoulder. “Don’t want to come train with me and Noct, is that it?”

“Er,” Prompto stammered, remembering the last time he went with Noctis on training day and he was somehow persuaded into a crash course in sword training. Prompto’s arms were sore for a week. “I-I’m very busy with school, you know that.”

“Sure,” Gladio said. “Must be hard to do homework between trips to the arcade.” Iris giggled at that.

“Listen,” Prompto said, “I’ll have you know I’m not on my way to the arcade right now.”

“Oh, are you shopping for Bond Day, too?” Iris asked. “Gladio just helped me buy a bunch of presents for my friends!”

“Is that so? What did you get?”

Iris dug through one of the bags in Gladio’s hands. She pulled out bundles of string, in all sorts of colors: blue, red, pink, orange. Prompto tilted his head, confused.

“I’m making bracelets!” Iris explained excitedly. “We went to the craft store and found a bunch of colors, and beads, too, look!” She pulled out a small bag of beads in different shapes and colors.

“Wow, you know how to make bracelets?” Prompto said, genuinely impressed.

Iris nodded. “I practiced a lot and I’m pretty good at it now.”

“Huh.” The cogs in Prompto’s head were turning. Maybe something like this… It’d be kind of childish, maybe, and he probably wouldn’t make it very well, but it would be something unique. He could make one for him, and one for Noctis—the thought made Prompto’s heart beat a little faster in his chest.

“Hey, Iris,” he said, “do you think you could show me how to make one?”

Iris gasped, “Really?”

Prompto nodded. “I think that’s a really good idea for a Bond Day gift.”

Iris beamed. “Then of course I can show you! Do you want to go back to the craft store, look at some colors? Oh, and some beads? There are so many cute beads!”

“Why don’t we stop to eat first?” Gladio suggested, patting her head. “We just spent two hours there, I think we should take a break.” He said to Prompto, “You should come with.”

“If you’re finished shopping, that is,” Iris added.

“Thanks to you, I think I’ve found what I’m looking for,” Prompto said, and smiled. He started considering what colors Noctis would like.

As they started walking towards the nearest restaurant, Gladio said, “So. Fishing store, huh? Any reason you were looking there?”

“Uh, that was—! I mean, it was just there and, and my eyes were just. Also there. And—and no other reason really.”

Gladio gave Prompto a long stare. “… Okay.”

“Doesn’t Noctis like fishing?” Iris chimed in.

“Wow, I am starving, let’s eat already,” Prompto said, loudly, pushing ahead of them and ignoring the smirk on Gladio’s face.

-

Learning to weave bracelets wasn’t as hard as Prompto expected—it was simple enough for Iris to teach him during lunch, but he definitely needed to practice. His first attempt was uneven and sad, and too small to fit on anyone’s wrist besides maybe a child’s. Prompto wondered if he could somehow subtly measure the width of Noctis’ wrist, wrap his hand around the fine bones there and feel his pulse against his skin.

Prompto fumbled with the weaving as he thought about it. Focus, he needed to focus.

He settled on the colors blue, silver, and a shining gold he found at the craft store, which Iris was enthusiastic about when he picked it. He thought it would make the bracelet look nicer, give it a shine that a string bracelet wouldn’t normally have. A small part of him wanted the gold to remind Noctis of Prompto.

His phone buzzed from over on his bed, and Prompto looked up from his desk to see who it was.

It was Noct. Hey prom

Prompto reached over for his phone and texted: sup

Noctis didn’t answer immediately. Prompto went back to weaving. His phone buzzed again, and he read: Are you home right now?

Prompto raised an eyebrow. He replied: yeah. why?

Noctis took a moment, the little dots on Prompto’s screen telling him he was typing. Then Noctis said: Is it alright if I come over? It’s ok if you’re busy

Prompto blinked. He looked at the time—it was late, the city was dark and quiet. Noctis had been to Prompto’s place before, but never at this time of night. Worry gnawed at Prompto’s stomach, but he didn’t think Noctis would ask if it wasn’t important. He said, of course that’s fine noct

Ok cool because I’m at your door

“What?” Prompto shoved his bracelet and string into one of his desk drawers before quickly making his way to the front door. He peered through the peephole and sure enough, there was Noctis, shuffling awkwardly on his feet. Prompto pulled the door open.

“Noct,” he said, “What are you doing here so late?”

Noctis opened his mouth, then stopped. “Um,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “That meeting with my dad… It, uh…It was…” He squeezed his eyes shut, as if he had a headache.

“Hey.” Prompto reached out, grasping Noctis’ arm. “It’s okay.”

Noctis exhaled, then opened his eyes. “I’m really sorry to intrude. I can—I can go now.”

“No,” Prompto said. Noctis looked tired, fragile, like he was barely holding the pieces of himself together. “Come in, dude, I get the feeling you don’t really want to be alone right now.”

Noctis didn’t say anything, but his expression softened and his shoulders relaxed, just a little. Prompto stepped away from the door as Noctis toed off his shoes and came in.

The house was quiet and empty—it always was. Prompto never realized this was something they were both used to. Maybe this was why Noctis didn’t mind him coming over so much, and why Prompto didn’t mind Noctis being here now. That, and the simple fact that Prompto would do anything for Noctis, if he asked.

“Do you want anything?” Prompto gestured to the kitchen. Noctis shook his head. “Okay. Wanna just chill in my room?” Noctis shrugged. Prompto took that as a yes and led the way upstairs.

When they first started hanging out, he was always self-conscious about showing Noct his place. He figured Noctis was used to his own room at his condo, which was much nicer and more spacious than Prompto’s own small, plain bedroom. Prompto’s room had none of the expensive furnishings and fine bedsheets that Noctis’ room did, but the first time Noctis came over, he didn’t blink twice. Only flopped down onto Prompto’s bed like it was his own, and asked if he had any video games.

Noctis did much the same now when Prompto opened the door to his bedroom, heading immediately for the bed and lying down on it heavily. Prompto turned on his desk lamp and sat in his chair, swiveling it to face Noctis. Noctis didn’t say anything. He grabbed a pillow, pressed it against his face.

They stayed like that for a minute, silent. Prompto waited. If Noctis wanted to talk, he would talk.

Finally, Noctis sighed, then said, “I started magic training with my dad.” It was a little muffled by the pillow.

“Oh,” Prompto said. He wasn’t sure what else to say, but clearly something about it was bothering Noctis. “How did it go?”

“It was... fine, I guess.” Noctis lifted the pillow off his face and hugged it with his arms, instead. He stared at the ceiling as he spoke. “Just tiring. I hadn’t seen my dad in a while, and he looked—different. Older.” Noctis’ brows furrowed, troubled.

Prompto said, softly, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s—it’s what it is.” Noctis turned on his side to face Prompto, still hugging the pillow. He looked very young. Prompto couldn’t imagine what it felt like, having the burden of kingship looming over his shoulder, being reminded of it every time he saw his father, his hair a little grayer and eyes a little more tired each day. Prompto wished he could do something. The helplessness he felt was agonizing.

“Tell me about your pictures,” Noctis said suddenly.

“What?”

“Your pictures.” Noctis pointed to the collage of photos Prompto kept taped on the wall in front of his desk. They were pretty random—a sunset Prompto caught on his way home one day, a bird sitting on a window sill, their school building on a rainy day. Prompto didn’t consider himself an expert by any means, but sometimes he got lucky and captured something nice. Still, showing them off to Noctis was a little embarrassing, but if that was what he wanted—Prompto would always oblige.

“Ah…” Prompto ran a hand through his hair, sheepish. “You know me, I always like to take pictures. Sometimes I keep the good ones.”

“Which one is your favorite?”

“My favorite? Hmm…” Prompto studied the photos; there were kind of a lot. “Maybe this one.” He pointed to one of Gladio swinging his practice broadsword during training, the weapon raised high in the air by Gladio’s strong arms. It was pretty cool, but Prompto recalled specifically why he liked this one. “Remember this? Gladio was gonna show you a new technique and he started doing it, but I guess he was trying a little too hard, and—”

“And he tore his pants,” Noctis finished, grinning.

Prompto laughed aloud. “Yeah, he was so embarrassed. I felt so bad but gods, that was so funny. At least I got a picture before disaster struck.” Prompto laughed hard again, his cheeks aching with the force of it.

Noctis muffled a laugh into the pillow. It made Prompto smile even bigger.

When Noctis finished, he pointed and said, “Is that you?”

Prompto looked: it was one of the first selfies he took, back when he was rounder in the cheeks and stomach and was determined to lose it all before he befriended Noctis. Prompto sputtered, “O-Okay, we’re not looking at that one!”

“I remember back then,” Noctis said. He was smiling a little. “What’s wrong? You were cute.”

That made Prompto blush hard. “I was not!”

“Sure you were.” Noctis looked nostalgic, thinking back on it. “You were a lot shyer back then.”

“Y-Yeah, well.” Prompto shrugged a little, looking back at his younger self. “I had some growing up to do, I guess.”

“It would have been nice,” Noctis started, then stopped. He looked like he hadn’t meant to say that. At Prompto’s confused look, he continued, “It would have been nice… to know you better back then, too.”

Prompto's heart fluttered, just a little. He ducked his head, plucking at a loose string on his sweater. Maybe all the shyness hadn't quite left yet. “Yeah,” he said quietly. He looked up and smiled. “Well, I’m here now.”

Noctis hid half his face behind the pillow, and mumbled, “Yeah.” They were quiet, again.

Then Noctis seemed to notice something—he propped himself up on one elbow and said, “Is that… me?”

Prompto knew what picture it was: the one of Noctis’ profile, laughing at something Prompto had said, his smile half hidden by his hand. It was a little blurry, but Prompto remembered liking it so much, his heart warming when he looked at it. Noctis had never noticed it before on the previous times he visited, and Prompto had never really thought about it.

Prompto said, “Yeah. I don’t know if you remember me taking that.”

“You take so many pictures, there’s no way I could remember every time.” Noctis looked flustered. “Didn’t think you’d keep the ones of me, though.”

“Why not?” Prompto blurted. He couldn’t fathom it. “You’re my best friend, of course you belong here.”

Noctis was silent. He stared, as if stunned by Prompto’s words. He hid behind the pillow again, and said so softly Prompto almost missed it: “Thanks.”

Prompto blinked. “For what?”

“For letting me be here.” Noctis gestured vaguely. “For—for being a good best friend.”

Prompto reached over and patted Noctis’ knee. “Of course, Noct.” He smiled. “Now, as per proper best friend behavior, I think it’s time for some video games.”

Noctis looked up at that, and moved to sit up on the bed. “Can we play that one we played last time? The fighting one?”

“Sure,” Prompto said, getting up to turn on his TV and get out his controllers. “If you’re ready to get your ass kicked again.”

“That was once—”

“Twice!”

“Fine, twice. But I’ve grown since then, as a person.”

“Shut up,” Prompto laughed, lightly shoving Noctis over to make room on the bed. Their knees bumped as they sat next to each other, warm and familiar.

-

It was around midnight when Noctis finally said he should probably call someone to pick him up. Both of them were tired and yawning, but Prompto felt good. Happy. It was always nice hanging out with Noctis like this.

They played one more round before Noctis’ driver arrived and knocked at Prompto’s door. As Noctis stepped outside into the cold, late night air, he said a sleepy, “See you tomorrow, Prom,” before sliding into the backseat.

The car pulled away. Prompto closed the front door, leaned his forehead against it. His heart was racing. He made his way back up to his room. It was late, but he wanted to weave just a little before he slept. He took the bracelet out of his desk drawer, ran his fingers lightly over what he’d made so far. It looked nice, he thought, and he really hoped Noctis would like it.

As he sat there, fiddling with the bracelet, Prompto looked up at the photo of Noctis again and felt his heart swell. It felt like longing. Maybe even love.

-

School was buzzing when Prompto got there. It was Bond Day, after all. Everywhere he looked he saw people exchanging gifts, flowers, candies. He saw pins on people’s uniforms and bright new necklaces around people’s necks. And flowers. So many flowers. Prompto didn’t mind, exactly, but it made the weight of the box in his pocket feel even heavier, made the nervousness in his stomach flutter just that much more.

Every step to homeroom was a trial, but Prompto persevered. He was ready. He pulled open the door.

Everyone turned to look at him.

There were giggles, whispers. Did he have something on his face? Was his uniform on backwards? Prompto looked down at himself and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. What the hell was everyone’s problem, then?

Prompto ignored them, walking past them all to his desk. That was when he realized what they were all giggling at him for.

His desk was covered in flowers. Flowers Prompto had never seen before, of every color, shape, and size. There was a large vase of them on top of his desk, and more bouquets around it. They were in his chair, too, unbelievably. Prompto gaped.

Of all the flowers, he noticed one in particular: it was blue, with many wispy, delicate petals. It was nestled amongst all the flowers in the large vase, dream-like and pretty.

“Seems like someone has an admirer.”

That was when Prompto realized their teacher had entered the room. He also realized how hot his face had become, how red he must be right now.

“Mr. Argentum, if you are able, please take a seat. Class has begun,” she said, the amused curve of her lips betraying her stern tone.

“U-Uh, yes.” Prompto took the vase off his desk and set it on the floor, along with the flowers in his chair. He could still hear giggles, and he wanted to melt into the floor right there.

As the teacher began the lesson, Prompto realized another thing, something that cut through all the embarrassment and made his stomach sink with disappointment:

Noctis wasn’t here.

His desk was empty. Prompto thought maybe he was running late, some sort of emergency princely duties keeping him. But after five, twenty, forty minutes into the lesson, Prompto accepted that Noctis wasn’t showing up today.

He dug his hand into his pocket, felt the corners of the box he put the bracelet inside digging into his palm, and tried to focus on the lesson.

-

Prompto had no idea what he was going to do with the flowers. There was no way he could carry them all by himself, but he couldn’t just leave them here. He needed his desk, dammit. He couldn’t do anything with it covered in flowers.

Everyone else had left the classroom already, the day-ending bell having rung a while ago. Prompto could hear the bustle of people in the hallway dying down as people left school to go celebrate their Bond Day properly. Meanwhile, Prompto was here, figuring out what to do with his life. He didn’t even get to confess like he meant to. The thought made Prompto sigh and slump his shoulders.

At least the flowers were nice, whoever they were from. Prompto lifted up the large vase. The flowers smelled sweet and light. Prompto couldn’t help but like them. He set the vase back on his desk and looked at the blue flower again. He pulled it out of the bouquet, twirling the stem in his fingers. The petals swayed gently with the movement.

“Do you need help with those?”

Prompto spun around.

Noctis stood at the door of the classroom. He was blushing and had his arms crossed in what Prompto knew was an attempt to be casual. He kept his gaze locked with Prompto’s, something like determination burning in his eyes despite the nervous line of his lips.

“Noctis,” Prompto breathed. “You—You weren’t here today.”

Noctis shook his head. He took a halting step forward, then another, approaching Prompto. “I was… a little scared, honestly.”

“Scared? Why?”

Noctis looked at him with wide, blue eyes. He gestured at the flowers. “I was scared of what you’d say, I guess.”

Prompto looked at the flowers, then at Noctis, then at the flowers again. He may have stopped breathing. “These are from you?”

Noctis smiled a little, then nodded. He gently took the blue flower from Prompto’s hands, studying it. “I had some help from Luna. The flowers in Tenebrae are really nice. She even took care of these ones herself.” He held it out for Prompto. Prompto reached up for it, felt their fingers brush as he took it. Noctis said, “I just—um. I wanted the best for you.”

Prompto stared. Here was Noctis, blushing and sweet and vulnerable. Here was this boy he had admired for so long, and loved for months, baring his heart out for Prompto when Prompto had always believed it to be the other way around. He must have missed something, along the way. He couldn’t possibly have been this blind.

“Prompto?” Noctis said, sounding uncertain.

“I, um!” Prompto stammered, shoving his hand into his pocket and digging out the box he had prepared. “I got something for you, too.” He finally, finally handed it over to Noct.

Noctis looked surprised. “You—”

“Yep,” Prompto said, mouth running faster than his thoughts. “I spent hours on it, actually. I just, I really wanted it to be nice for you, because you’re—you’re. Well, you’re Noct. And you’re important to me.” Prompto swallowed. “And I like you. Like, really like you. And I wanted to tell you that today but you weren’t… You weren’t here.”

Noctis gave Prompto a small, apologetic smile. He stepped closer and said, “I’m sorry.”

Prompto shrugged, and smiled back. “It’s okay. You’re here now.” He cradled Noctis’ hands, pushed the box closer to him. “You’re here now, and you can open it.”

Noctis carefully lifted the lid from the box. Inside was the bracelet Prompto spent so long on. The blue, silver, and gold were carefully interwoven, much more neatly than the first time he tried. Dangling from it was a tiny, blue crystal.

Beside it was a matching bracelet, same in color and design except for a pale yellow crystal hanging from it instead.

“This one’s for me, actually,” Prompto said, pointing to the one with a yellow crystal. “But that one’s for you. I thought we could, you know, match.” He lifted the blue crystal bracelet out of the box, shyly offering it to Noctis. Noctis just stared at him, his eyes very bright.

“Sorry it’s not super fancy,” Prompto continued, “I know you probably get really nice gifts from everyone in the city, and this is probably far from the best one, but—but I thought you’d maybe like something I made for you. I also thought you’d like these colors and I—I kind of hoped that the gold would make you think of me b-but—”

Noctis kissed him.

Noctis was kissing Prompto’s mouth with his mouth. Their mouths were touching. They were kissing. They were kissing.

Prompto quickly forgot all the thoughts in his head and focused instead on Noctis. His lips were very soft and his breath was hot against Prompto’s skin. Prompto didn’t really know what he was doing; he’d never kissed anyone before, and never did he expect to kiss Noct someday, no matter how much he imagined it. But he was here now, solid and warm and Prompto wanted to get closer, wanted to feel every inch of him.

He slid his hand into Noctis’ dark hair, angled his head just so, so their lips could meet more comfortably and, oh. That was really nice.

“Prompto,” Noctis breathed between their mouths. And again, “Prom.”

Prompto sighed, pressing his lips to Noctis’ one more time before pulling away, just enough to press their foreheads together. Noctis’ eyes were closed, dark eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks. Prompto’s heart felt so full and happy he could burst into tiny, little stars.

Noctis’ eyes slowly opened, pupils darker than Prompto had ever seen them.

“Hey,” Prompto said, his voice a little hoarse. He cleared it before continuing, “Do you want to try it on?” He still had the bracelet in his hand.

Noctis grinned and exhaled a laugh. “Yeah. I do.”

He offered Prompto his wrist. Prompto held it in his hand, curled his fingers and felt Noctis’ quick-beating pulse under his thumb. Then he slid the bracelet over Noctis’ hand, pulling the loose ends to tighten it. It looked nice on him. Prompto couldn’t stop smiling.

“Put yours on,” Noctis said, pulling the matching one out of the box. This time Prompto held his hand out while Noctis slid the bracelet over it, his fingers lingering against the skin of his wrist, briefly, before letting go.

Prompto looked at it, dangling on his left arm. He hated looking at his right, knowing what secret hid under the wristband he kept there. But this, this didn’t make him feel a hard seed of anxiety in his stomach. This made him feel like he belonged here, like where he was from wasn’t so wrong anymore. Being bonded to someone, to Noctis, felt like finding home.

“It looks good,” Noctis told him. He shyly curled his fingers between Prompto’s, gazed at their identical bracelets, crystals blinking in the light. “You did a good job.”

Prompto rubbed the back of his neck, laughed, “Really? You should have seen the first ones I made. They were pretty bad. But Iris was a good teacher.”

“Iris? Gladio’s sister?”

Prompto nodded. “I had some help. I even asked Ignis for advice.”

“Ignis?”

“I didn’t know who else to ask!”

“… I asked Ignis for help too, actually.”

“WHAT.”

“He was the one who suggested flowers.”

“He told me the same thing! I can’t believe he knew both sides the whole time!” Prompto said despairingly, covering his face with both hands while Noctis laughed at him. He reached up to grasp Prompto’s wrists and pull his hands away.

“Come on, he was just trying to push us in the right direction.”

“I guess…” Prompto pouted, adjusting their hands so he could twine his fingers with Noct’s. “Did he help you set this up, too?”

“Your desk? Y-Yeah.” Noctis ducked his head. “And then I left because—because I was too afraid to face you when it happened I guess. And I didn’t want to make a scene in front of all our classmates.”

“Ah, yes,” Prompto said, smiling, “covering my desk in flowers didn’t make a scene at all.”

Noctis just bent his head down further and hid his face in Prompto’s chest. “I came back because I realized you’d be stuck with all of them, and it'd be my fault.” He looked up. “Did you… like it though?” he asked.

“Of course I did!” Prompto said. “I mean, at first I wanted to be swallowed into a void, but not because I didn’t like the flowers. They’re really nice. No one’s ever—” Prompto swallowed, his cheeks warming up. “No one’s ever gotten me flowers before.”

Noctis smiled. It was soft and fond and, Prompto realized, not unfamiliar. Had Noctis always smiled at him this way? The world felt like it had shifted, a little, and Prompto could see clearer than he ever could. Like everything was a little brighter and more vivid.

“Hey,” Prompto said, “let’s get out of here.”

They were still at school, after all. Thankfully no one had walked in on their little moment, but Prompto had had enough of school for the day. He just wanted to spend time with Noctis.

Noctis nodded in agreement, squeezing Prompto’s hand. “I guess I can send someone to collect the flowers,” he offered.

“That would be really nice, thanks.” Prompto grinned.

“Maybe Ignis. It was his idea to begin with.”

“Payback for stringing us along?”

“Something like that.”

Noctis leaned in, his nose nudging against Prompto’s as he sought a kiss. Prompto couldn’t imagine getting used to this. Maybe it would take a few more kisses.

He reached up to touch Noctis’ jaw, his thumb brushing against his cheek. Noctis hummed a soft, pleased sound.

Okay, maybe a lot more kisses. Prompto was more than willing to oblige.

[backseat-imagines]

The chocobros fell hard for someone and it seemed they reciprocate the feelings until the bro confessed he liked them, then they seemed cold about it. They are confronted about their behavior and it turns out they're dying of an illness and didn't want them to get too attached to them. How would the guy react and would he still pursue them?

I hope you all are ready for a little bit of a pain train again because it’ll be ready to board soon! It’s a long one and it’ll be a little bit scenario and a little HCs towards the end for each character.

Of course this does contain content about incurable diseases and such and mention of the inevitable/likely outcomes so read on at your own leisure.

Noctis; 

“Noctis, I want to but… I don’t think that’s a good idea.” They mutter. They slowly back away from him, taking their hand from his.  Taken by complete surprise, they didn’t expect their friend, the prince of all people, to have taken any such interest in them. But here they are.  “What? The idea of being married to a king of Lucis isn’t spooking you, isn’t it?” Noctis playfully asks them.  Truthfully, in a way it did. Just garnering this kind of attention from him alone was nerve-wracking already, and Six know the kind of attention they’d get nationwide if they were tempted into taking his hand.  But that kind of ending for them is only something they could read in the fairy-tales.  If only if life could be one of those. Maybe then all they’d have to do was fight a dragon just to be in the arms of a beloved prince. But what happens when the proverbial dragon can’t be beaten? They had their own fight to worry about and it was unlike any that all those stories told, “As daunting as the idea may be, I’m still not so much worried about that.”  “Then what are you worried about? You said you wanted to… right?”  “Yes but-”  “What’s with the ‘buts’?” Noct flouted, “If you really don’t you could just tell me you know? I might be royalty but you don’t have to spare my feelings, I can take a no.”  “It’s still not about that Noct…” Susurrating, they shook their head at the prince.  Not another word about it was spoken and Noctis let it go. Although a little disappointed, it wasn’t too big of a deal for him, and he was more than happy leaving this behind. After all, he got his feelings off his chest. It was nice having that weight lifted back off his chest.  The two of them did well to not let that moment affect anything. Everything rolled back as smoothly as how it did before, or it had.  Just a handful of days later they came back around.  “Noct, I want to talk to you. About the other day.”  “Hm? Oh…” Noctis swallowed hard and an audible gulp was let out. “You can forget about that.”  Just by looking at him, they could tell he wasn’t so happy to bring this back up. He almost seemed nervous just by expression alone and the way he started to rub and scratch over at his own wrist.  But some things had to be said,“Ah, I wanted to have an important talk about it actually…”  “What about it did you want to talk about then?”  “Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about that talk. And I kind of wanted to tell you something.”  Noctis snickers, “Oh? Don’t tell me you have a love confession now.” He teases.  If only. But even Noctis knew that he wasn’t going to be that lucky.  “Not quite…”  The both of them find some place quiet to sit, where no one is likely to disturb them.  Lucis’s prince was caught a little off guard when rejection came a second time, this time in the form of how ‘a king should have someone that he can rely on to rule by his side for a lifetime to come instead” and he didn’t understand what the hell that was supposed to mean at first.  However he come to understand when they told him a serious issue going on. He’s forgot the name of whatever condition it is they have (hell, half the time they can’t even remember it’s name either), but apparently it’s coating the insides of their blood vessels in proteins. And that’s the vessels throughout their entire body.  Eventually, the blockages that come will cause things to burst. Slowly bit by bit will go on them, and it’ll be painful too. Along with that, they’ll be at a higher risk of strokes and likely to have early onset dementia- if they make it far enough into life for that to kick in.  Nothing with much alleviate the effects for them, and it’s incurable.  Noctis doesn’t take too well to that news. Outwardly he doesn’t seem to be too busted up. If anything he looks surprised. But he’s gone silent and they can’t so much as earn a sound or a gesture…

Noctis tries his hardest to back off of them. As in he tries to distance himself by way of avoiding being around them for too long or going silent on them (as if they were a stranger again).  It’s wrong, he knows. He’s had enough loss in his life and doesn’t want to keep having to through it. But the temporary selfishness is that only hurts in the long run. He feels guilty.

Eventually he skulks back around and apologizes for the way he’s been acting.

They still have some time left, right? Well, he’d like to help make sure they get the most out of that too. So his offer still stands if they want to know what it’s like to date a prince. (unless one of those treaties pop up)

Ignis;

 Perhaps Ignis miscalculated the whole situation and mistook their kindness for something more than what it maybe was.  He feels almost a little foolish now. The two of them had been good friends. Though only for a short while, but time didn’t much matter with as quickly as things seemed to move, and at this point it was hard to imagine a life where they wouldn’t be around for him and the others.  Close; with them things felt like home. Anymore the two of them might as well have been attached at the hips (whether in town, camp, field and fight), they shared a lot of similar interests and even for the ones they didn’t share it was simply nice seeing one another get passionate about their own unshared interest, and often Ignis started to find himself staying up at ungodly hours, without even realizing how much time had passed, being engaged in conversation.  At this point they had been someone that Ignis could proudly say was his best friend. But things changed and something started to feel a little more cozy in the friendship- or it did to him at least- and this was where his heart wanted to lie with.  Here he and they were sitting out, talking like they always had. About the small things, about the news, stories of the past, and where they might see the future going and what they wanted to do.  And then…  “About our futures… Do you mind if I admit something?” He asks, awaiting for their responses and continues when they give him a ‘sure thing’. “I’m afraid I must confess something to you-”  Ignis finally opens up to them, and suddenly everything changes. The smile that was on their face is now replaced with a frown. No more hearty laughter, or even so much the sound of their voice since now they’ve gone quiet. Just quiet, and their gaze goes to the floor.  This might have been a mistake, he thinks.  No, they weren’t obligated to accept him or his confession. But part of the reason why he confessed in the first place was because he was sure the feeling was already mutual. Maybe that was a projection on his part after all,  “Ah, I’ve said something I shouldn’t have, haven’t I?” “No Ignis, you’re fine it’s just… I can’t.”  “Can’t?”  “It’s not that I don’t want to but…” They finally crack open and start to explain to him what’s going on. They’re dying. There’s something in their body that’s eating away at them from the inside and it’s literally killing them. And they know they don’t have too much longer left in their life in the grand scheme of things.  Ignis listens with a sympathetic ear. The shock’s caught him so off guard that the good majority of the time he’s worriedly covering his mouth with his hand. The whole time their voice kept cracking, lip sometimes quivering, eyes watering but not a single tear was dropping. Admirable; they were trying to keep standing tall to the best of their ability, it takes a lot to be able to keep composure like that and it makes his heart bleed.  “And I didn’t really want to tell anyone because I didn’t want to cause that kind of worry. But I fucked up here, I really did.”  “No you haven’t. This isn’t something that you could have helped.”  “But I did. I shouldn’t have let this happen. I should have backed off a long time ago, I shouldn’t have let you get so attached like this and I’m so sorry.”

 Ignis doesn’t go on to pursuing them. At least not in a romantic sense, not if that’s not what they want. To try to would be selfish of him. Instead he chooses to be there for them as a friend and nothing more.

 The odds are against them, he knows, and it’ll be painful to watch as everything goes on. But they are his friend and he’s not one to make a habit of abandoning his friends… They need a support system, and he’s going to try being just that.

 Iggy is the one who ends up doing a lot of research in his own time. If there is no cure for what’s going on, then surely there’s at least something he can find that would help sooth them through this.

Gladiolus;

 How long have they and Gladio been friends for? Nearly a decade now?  Over the course of that time they’ve been decent friends. Maybe not the best of friends, not with the kind of squabbles they’ve had, but they’ve always came around and made up for it. Gladio never really gave much thought in dating them (he’s thought about a fling or two, but he’s had that thought about many of the people around him), until now.  He’s been kicking around the idea of dating, and they say some of the best relationships were founded on old friendships right? So why not try them? Gladio approaches them while they’re in their own space, working with and sorting through their files. It smells like old papers and ebony coffee, and all he’s hearing is the sound of papers being rustled and flipped, “Hey.” He greets, and earning a ‘heya’ in return. He goes on to making small conversation before getting on to his point. “So I was wondering if maybe you’d want to go out for dinner some time?”  “Sure thing!” They say enthusiastically, beaming a smile at him. “My friend, you know I would never pass up a chance to hang out with you.”  “Yeah about that…” Gladio, crossing his arms, moves to lean his back against the nearest wall, “I was thinking that it could be a date this time?”  “A date?” The papers they held in their hands slid out of their grip. They set their gaze onto Gladio; they look worried. “I… don’t think we should do that…”  “Why not?”  “Do I really have to give a reason?”  “Not really I guess?” Gladio shrugs. “But being your friend I’d kind of like to know.”  “Gladiolus…” They almost never used the full of his name. The only time it passed through their lips was whenever they were angry.  “Just saying, you know?”  “You’re not going to just bully me around into this.”  “Bully?” He scoffs, “I’m not bullying you, what kind of asshole do you take me fo-?”  “But you are!”  An argument ensues. And one that got more heated than it ought to have- to the point of raised voices. Maybe not outright yelling, but it wasn’t far either.  “Fine you really want to know? Then here!” They began to peel away their thick top, and another top, and underneath was bandages. All over was bandages, and some of them were already seeping through, and he figured the undershirt was likely to help hide the bandages outline and prevent it from seeping through the shirt worn over.  Bandages started to be unwrapped and dropped to the floor, and underneath Gladio could see some of the horrid marring of their body. Some of the wounds looked familiar to ones he saw them get none too long ago- almost exactly the same- but they should have healed from that by now. So what the hell did they do to get this done all over again?  Not only that but everything looked angry with infection. Some of the skin at the edges were turning a deep, sickly color of rot. And it reeked. From the moment they uncovered it he could no longer smell the scent they and the room were doused it, instead the stench of their wounds overtook everything.  “Damn…” Gladio steps up and starts to walk circles around them, inspecting over the wounds. He winces- he can almost feel those on his own body just by looking at it. “What the hell happened to you? And what’s this got to do with anything?”  “Everything.” They said. “I’m sure you remember some of these. You have to.” When he stands back in front of them, they point towards one of the nastier ones on their chest. Long and deep gashes… “This one? This was the one I got from that fight with Deadeye, when it had struck me, remember?”  “That was months ago.”  “Exactly.”  “But how?”  Taking a sharp inhale of air, they spoke, “I can’t heal Gladio.”  “What do you mean ‘can’t heal’? Last I knew you used to be just fine on that.”  “Yeah, used to is the key words here. Gladio this has been going on for a bit. We’re not even sure why, but my body can’t heal most anything anymore. I’m stuck with a lot of cuts, big and gaping wounds- they’re all nasty. They keep getting infected, and my body and it’s health is starting to deteriorate badly because of this.” “Can’t anything be done?”  “Can’t cure what you don’t know or understand- Doctors aren’t sure why this happened, what it is, or even how to help. I’m-” They felt the hotness at their eyes as the tears began to well up. Unable to even try to hold it back, the tears cut free just as soon as the salty liquid had rose. Their voice began to crack, “I’m screwed Gladio. I’m absolutely screwed, I’m going to fucking die!” “Hey now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here-” “It’s reality Gladdy! It’s legitimately my shitty reality… We know that I can’t make it like this. Not for too long.” Gladio merely nodded along. He wanted to try and say something that would have ended up making things out to be a lot more hopeful, but who was he kidding? He knows he spoke out of turn, and they know more about their own situation than he did. The hell is he supposed to say now? He doesn’t say a word, not for a little while. Instead he tries to comfort them and quell how hurt they are in the moment. He’s a little apprehensive to get too close- Gladio doesn’t want to hurt them physically by accident- but as soon as they move in for a hug he casts that aside, not even caring if they bleed or ooze on him, and he holds them there until they finally calm back down and pull away. “So that’s why you stopped going with us… Why didn’t you say anything before?” Gladio finally asks them the question that was digging at him. “It’s hard… How was I supposed to break the news? Just go up to you all and go ‘hey guys, I’m a rotting mess and I’m going to fucking die, but that’s okay because it’ll be over soon!’ like… I’m sorry but I just couldn’t. There was no good time. There was no good way.” “Should have broke it in the bad way then…” Now that Gladio was told and got to thinking about it, they had been really withdrawn for awhile now. And now he was wondering if maybe this was why, “So the last little while you’ve gone mostly quiet on us. This wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would it?” They nod. Their lip stats to quiver and here comes the tears again. “Yeah. To be honest I was hoping maybe if I isolate myself, then people would stop caring. And maybe then no one would have to be sad when I go.” “Don’t be stupid…” Gladio mutters, pulling them back in for a hug, “People have always cared and always will. That’s just how it is.”

Gladio drops the idea of seeing them. There’s just something about chasing after them while they’re down that doesn’t feel right.

The fact they’d be hurting in so many ways would make it feel like he was taking advantage of them more than anything. He doesn’t stand for that. Hell he’d have to question himself as to the whys of it all if he did.

Not only that but something like this would be much too short-lived for him even. He’s not afraid of the attachment; under a different circumstance, or if he had a guarantee of more time then, he would have at least kept the offer open.

Honestly he doesn’t really try to treat them too differently after this. They’re still his friend, but he’s not going to be dropping by much more often or anything. Frankly he doesn’t want his own presence feeling overbearing.

Prompto;

  “I’m sorry Prompto. It’s not you, it’s me.”  There it was, the dreaded phrase. Admittedly he’s heard it more often than he’d like to- every time he tried to pour his heart out to someone back in highschool he’d hear it. Granted, back then they were all silly school kids, and maybe he jumped the gun on way too quickly back then too (professing his undying love after only a handful of dates, or asking out ones he just barely met), but this time he really thought this was going to be different!  They might as well be already dating! There was already some flirting, the two of them running off for nice lunches and dinners (at this point the two of them . Hell the two of them already were sneaking away from the others for romantic walks through towns and safe trails while holding hands- sometimes they danced, from goofy and wild to slow dancing with them resting their head on his shoulder, and sometimes they just snuggled in together or held each other closely, giggling like a couple of young fools. So why then?  It’s not like they were just leading him on, they weren’t that kind- wait… the last couple of weeks it’s like they’ve been dropping off the face of Eos, so maybe they were? Granted he knows they said they haven’t been feeling well and have been sick, but maybe-  Never mind- it didn’t matter.  “Look, forget it. I know that whole spiel already, so you don’t have to go over it.” Prompto says in a low, sad tone. He crosses his arms and averts his gaze, he turns his head to the side and gazes into the distance.  “Prompto please, I’m not trying to get you off my tail.” They stated quickly. They realized now how that line must have sounded- they didn’t even think about the fact it’s used as an indirect way of saying someone doesn’t have a pitiful shot in hell before they even said that. Hell, that’s something they heard a time or two in their own life and that’s not what they were aiming for when they told it to him.   Now they were just wanting to plead their case and not chase him off either. “I mean it when I said it’s all on me. I’m trying to spare you of any extra grief.  “But maybe it was already too late for that,” they mumble.  His attention turns back towards them, “Spare me? Spare me from what?” Prompto asks. “If you’re thinking somehow you’re not good enough…” If that was it, then he could feel his heart sinking already. He knows what’s that like and he hopes that’s not it, “then let me tell you right now that you are.”  “Again, it’s not that… Prompto I…” They reached for their head, fingers intertwining with the locks of their hair and lifted. Sliding it off and dropping it to the ground, he could see where the hair had been shaven; some was already growing back but other patches… wasn’t. “I have cancer Prompto.”  “Cancer?” Prompto croaks. His eyebrows knit up together and his expression goes soft.  “Yeah. Colon cancer, stage three. Chemo’s… not been very helpful-”  “That’s why you’re getting sick…”  “Mm…” They nodded. “It’s done that and so much more. But I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on that yet… We only just caught this, I haven’t had too long to even do any kind of treatment. I just… hadn’t planned on telling anyone yet.”  Gods, how could they be so calm and collected about this? Here they were, talking about something that was threatening their lives, and yet they were standing here with an unmoving expression, and their tone not even faltering.  Prompto looks towards the ground, his eyes darting around as he tries to figure out what to say. His thoughts are many and his thoughts are fast, all of them too loud for even him to properly hear until he finally settles on one, “I’m sorry…”  “For what?” They inquire.  “Pushing you towards telling me.”  “You didn’t.” They reach up their hand up and ruffle his hair reassuringly. “I had to tell at some point, before I started withering off too badly. But… I didn’t want to let you down in a way that left you feeling bad when it’s literally all on me because I might not make it. But you had a right to know what you were trying to get into.”  He only nods in response.  “But you’re getting treated for that now. So there’s still hope right?”  “I’d like to think so, but… Stage three is already pretty late in the game, and I don’t know of too many people who’s kept going for too long with that.” Their lips start to quiver. Pulling their hand up to their face, the tip of their nose connecting to the knuckle of their pointer, it’s like they were trying to hide behind their own flesh. Shaky breaths washing over the skin, warming it. But their breath wasn’t as warm feeling as the tears that started to come down. “They might be able to extend my life but…”  Quickly, Prompto takes them into his arms and rubs at their back soothingly. “It’ll be okay. It’ll be alright.”  But will it?

 Prompto doesn’t care about the condition- wait no, he does. He fully acknowledges it, it’s always looming over so he cares very much. But that doesn’t stop him from still wanting to be with them.

 It’s still up to them if they’d have him, he’d still be over the moon if they did want him.

 Whether they do or don’t, it doesn’t matter. Prompto is there right beside them. He’ll be there to hold their hand when they need it and act as a pillar when they need to lean. He’ll be there to the very bitter end.