#so i think. stone on earth? might be a bit tiny. w no limbs

[upsidedowngrass]

do you think liam and stone would be friends if they ever met outside of The Plane again

HMM!!!

(put under a readmore cus i ended up talking a LOT lol :) )

i think they could be friends!!! i think stone liked the contestants. while im pretty sure stone picked liam to give the notes to 1) because he is a backpack. he can hold notes. and 2) he seems the MOST stubborn of all of the contestants, so think compared to the chance for things to end well (or at least, the best they COULD end), liam was the best bet to pick thru all possible courses of action

but even outside of that stone generally seems to like them all, helping bryce when he didnt need to, visibly looking guilty for having to sabotage amelia, etc. i think they showed liam one of the notes bc they WANTED him to understand that theyre trying to help, and i think there was a chance hed understand, but he just happened to Not. with everything we know abt stone (which unfortunately isnt much), he looks like he WANTS to help them because he cares, and i think they wouldve liked to be friends with them, and to have met all of them under better circumstances. (he obv knows about the concept of friends because he knows everything, but i think they dont really get many opportunities to meet New people given. being from a world of Just rocks) point is that i think stone would love to be friends w liam!!

whether or not LIAM would wanna b friends is a diff question tho. liam doesnt seem like the type of guy whod necessarily hold anything against stone, since he gradually seems to respect stone more and more as he follows the notes, but i think there Could be some discomfort there. if stone hadnt written the notes, he never wouldve gone to bryce, he never wouldve died a bunch more times, and he never wouldve gotten stuck in airys world. but then again, if they hadnt written them, if airy had still died, all of the contestants couldve been trapped on the plane literally forever, and julien wouldve been stuck in the waiting room forever

i think liam would still think about stone pretty fondly, and historically he hasnt really been concerned about 'people who could remind him of his time on the plane, but 'well this person reminds me of my time on the plane' given everything with bryce, but during all that he was still very much. not in the mentality of being at home. (after he got home, he seems to REALLY still feel stuck on the plane, esp if what he says to bryce is anything to go off of) it could be very different once hes home, and because? i think stone ended up kinda STILL being with him thru s2, just symbolically. so i think it could be complicated for liam

but all of this aside? i think any discomfort he may feel would maybe be set to the side. liams pretty passive by nature, and i think being able to be friends with stone would actually kinda end up giving him a sense of closure about some things!!! most of his interactions with stone WERE somewhat strained, but i think liam wouldnt rly even think abt that

i dunno!!! but i think theyd make good friends if they had the opportunity to meet again. liam makes conversation pretty easy when he wants to, even though its not smth he especially goes out of his way to do, but i think when he would like to he can be VERY annoying abt it. if he wanted some level of Knowing stone, because i think it could be Nice to have stone be less of this ominous figure whos motives werent super clear but did ultimately help (assuming in this hypothetical he and stone meet again on earth, but i think in airys world stone could be. actually pretty nice for him to meet again? dont know!) and instead this Person who helped him and his friends, he would be a bit stubborn about it, and maybe a bit awkward about it, but i think stone would be okay with it. stone seems very 'reluctantly WILL do things for the greater good but would like to do helpful things that DONT make people upset instead. wants to just get along with people but just ISNT in a situation where they can' and also generally patient (i think they have to be patient given the world theyre from) so i think itd work out!!!!

anyway this post is long and idrk how clear it is BUT its fun to think abt!!!! idk how liam would get the chance to meet stone again but i would LOVE if it did happen

[suuung]

third times a charm (loki x sigyn)

Plot: Loki awakes on a mystirous ship after the events of ‘Infinity War’  leading him to a shocking discovery. A woman.

Paring: Loki Odinson X Sigyn Notes: old oneshot/sceniaro I wrote last year for an english assignment

was pretty proud of my mark so have this <3

༺═──────────────═༻

I woke, feeling burned out but somewhat buzzed, probably because I have just realized I banged my head on something hard and solid above me. I groan at the sensitivity of not just my head, but my whole body throbbing in pain.

Soon my eyes widen as I recall of the previous events that what seemed 40 seconds ago. Ship, thanos, blast. My heart sank into my stomach, the Asgardians. My brother, Thor. did they survive? As for me, I was just being choked to death by that monster that thinks he could be a god, surely if I’m here, they must be here too.

I finally decide to open my groggy eyes, white light pulsed at me, before creating a blurry, then clear image in front of me. I was on a ship of somesort, very brighter than the one I was just previously on with the rest of Asgard. I scurried to my feet in panic, my limbs aching even more. My heart also slowing down a bit as I realize that this unknown ship I am on was not in fact moving, but was structured on the ground.  I yelp out in strain as I turn my neck, my hand reflexing to come up and hold it. I walk further into the ship limping slightly. I see light coming from the scattered windows, some having glass smashed.  

“Where am I .. ?” I whispered to myself.

It was eerily quiet as I examined the ships control panel, buttons, switches, and steering devices. I recognized the layout, this was indeed my home planets, asgardian technology.

“Seems.. You’ve awoken.” A female voice spoke behind me,  I think I had just gotten a taste of my own medicine after pranking Thor all those years, my whole body jolted, and I turned around instantly, seeing a woman at the ships entrance. She wore a velvet green traditional asgardian dress, it looked dirtied as well as having rips and holes around it.

“What happened..?” I asked slowly, gathering my bearings and rubbing my forehead.

“The ship blew up, Thanos is after the stones.” I could have sworn I saw judgement flash in her eyes momentarily, anger circulated throughout my body, how dare she disrespect her king of asgard like that.. She should have kneeled!

“I’ll have you know, I am your king and-”

“Asgard is gone. You are not my king, you should at least thank me for saving you. Me, your saviour..” She cut me off, retorting sharply as she smirked slightly at her last comment. That’s right, I am no longer king, but I am still Loki, God of Mischief. I was taken aback by her bravery, to stand up to someone of such a higher rank to a girl like her.  

“How did you manage to save me?” I said, eyeing her.  

“While I was blasted in space, almost perished. One of Asgards emergency ships was also falling in abyss from the blast. I climbed on then I noticed a figure not too far from the ship, once thanos left, I grabbed you and pulled you on .. Just my luck, It ran out of fuel and I landed here a day ago.” She said, walking around the ship taking a few odd looking blocks out of a rusty side panel and throwing them in a bag she had in the doorway.

I nodded, my eyes a little wide by what she managed to do. That’s clever and smart for just a asgardian, she’s lucky she didn’t even get damaged from the blowup.

“What is your name?” I realized I never asked, I should at least keep my manners.

“It’s Sigyn.” She said, hesitantly.

“Well then.” I paused, “Sigyn, I must stop thanos, I think around this time he’s roughly going for the soul stone on vomir. I must get there before him, I am losing time as we speak.”

She looked at me, her eyebrows furrowed in question, probably thinking my plan was a suicide mission. “Are you insane?! If you thought your evil sister was a hard match, Thanos is four times more powerful!”

“Yes .. Not as if you had magic that could help me, besides I am a god. Remember?¨ I said waving my arms around; I really did not have time for this. She looked at me even more angered. I shook my head and grunted in annoyance.

¨Healing powers, remember? How did you think I repaired your neck?!¨ She mimicked, anger piercing at me through her eyes.

I shook my head, rolling my eyes at her then holding my elbow out in annoyance. I suppose I cannot stop her pestering so I might as well bring her along on my journey.

I looked at her again waiting in annoyance for her to just hurry up.

“Oh for the love of odin, hold onto my arm.”  I said, raising my voice as I tapped my foot, glaring at the ceiling while I waited.  She’s almost as clueless as a midgardian as I teleported us both to Vomir.

The planet was foggy and dark, it had some sort of cheerless and heartsick downcast upon it that could make even the strongest man feel sick to the stomach about it. She let go of my arm, as we both cautiously took steps further onto the unfamiliar planet. Sigyn let out a yelp as a rat looking spider creature ran across in front of us. I rolled my eyes again, sneering at her.

“Hush! There are .. others” I said, listening closely to a large cliff towering over us, there were muffled voices, then a scream and a large thud. We both stopped our movements, I felt in my pockets for my daggers as a weapon, but they were no longer there. I’ll just have to use magic.

“L-Loki look!” Sigyn yell-whispered to me, pointing in the distance with fear in her dark blue eyes that shined brightly on the foggy and dark planet.

I knew in that exact moment, we have already lost this battle. Thanos had gotten the last stone that he needed; The soul stone. He was travelling somewhere now. I ran to a edge of a small hill, trying to catch a glimpse of where his own ship was headed, a spark of hope bubbled inside me. Maybe now I could at least track him from here. I squinted my eyes, then my stomach dropped when I realized where he was going.  Midgard.

“Sigyn! We must go, he’s on his way to the midgardians.” I panicked at her, she looked at me confused from the use of “Midgard”, then her eyes lit up. “Like .. Earth, the planet?!” I nodded thinking for a moment, we wouldn’t be able to teleport. Ah! My infamous route, we’d just have to jump into a certain space time hole and we’d be there.  grabbed sigyn with no time left to spare, she screamed as I jumped off the planet's edge “Hold on!”

I yelled as we fell further.  I close my eyes shut as go deeper into the abyss of space. I groan, holding my head for the second time today in pain. The moment I opened my eyes I knew where we were, New York. Just like the same battle in 2012, Thanos’s army covered the blue sky. I felt anger as I stood from the broken sidewalk and watched the mindless creatures destroy and kill the midgardians. I turn around, to find sigyn behind me healing a midgardian that collapsed on the ground bleeding onto the concrete. I looked at the sky again, trying to think of a plan. “Sigyn, you heal them, I’ll take care of these filthy creatures.”

I teleported onto a rooftop, using my magic to twist and turn the necks of the giant snake like creatures till they fell to their death. I continued this method till my magic was running low, and I was becoming tired. There were only three giant ones left in my eyesight, all of the midgardians had run off to safety and evacuated. I breathed shallowly, running towards all three with my daggers, I jumped, using some of the rest of the magic I had to levitate myself at the middle one, slitting its throat. While using my magic to copy and make the other daggers perform the same movement on the other two creatures till they all fell to their death. I floated back down, collapsing.  I hear footsteps behind me, I turn to look and see Sigyn standing above me, holding her hand to help me up.   “I think I’ve finished them off, but there had to been more earlier. Perhaps it was what my brother calls him the man of iron..” I spoke, pondering to myself, coming to the conclusion I confused Sigyn again so decided not to respond to my thoughts I spoke again to her, “The battle isn’t over though, something is happening in wakanda, I sense it..”  I wait a few moments, before becoming annoyed and turning to her. My mouth falls agape, my whole body froze as I see what was left of her legs and body becoming of tiny pieces of dust, floating away.

Disintegrating into thin air.

[filmfanatic82]

AO3 Link HERE

Chapter 17: All I Know Since Yesterday... is Everything Has Changed

“As you wish.”

In an instant, the invisible force releases their death grip on Max, causing the trembling boy to fall forward onto his hands and knees. 

Trini swoops in, pulling Max into her arms. She cradles him close to her chest in an attempt to shield him a bit from the relentless barrage of wind and rain. 

“Trini…,” Max says with a hiccup, trying to catch his breath from the steady stream of tears. 

“Hey, Kiddo. It’s all gonna be okay. Promise.” Trini ever so gently wipes the rain away from Max’s face and then forces herself to give him a reassuring smile. 

“But--”

“Max, I need you to listen to me.” Trini locks eyes with Max once again. “Think you can do that?”

Max sniffles and with all of the confidence he can muster, gives Trini a nod in response.

“Good.” Trini pops open a hidden compartment on the chest piece of her armor and produces a small, glowing device. “See this? It’s called a teleporter. All you need to do is push that blue button, and it’ll get you outta here.”

“To my Mommy?”

“Yup,” Trini replies as a lump of conflicted emotions starts to bubble up in her throat. She forces it back down with a hard swallow and then carefully places the device into Max’s tiny hands, curling his fingers around it. “Right to your mom.”

“But…” Max’s brow furrows with confusion as the sudden realization sets in. “But what about…”

“It’s okay.” Trini cuts him off before he can finish his thoughts. “Don’t worry about me. I’m a superhero, remember?”

Max’s face lights up with an ear to ear grin. “You’re a Power Ranger!”

“That’s right, Kiddo.” Trini matches Max’s smile, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m a Power Ranger.”

Trini helps Max up onto his feet and gives him a hug that lingers just enough to signify that it might be the last one. “Can you do one more favor?”

Max nods again, this time with a little more conviction than before.

“Tell her I’m sorry. Okay?” 

Before Max has a chance to answer, Trini goes ahead and pushes the button, causing him to de-materialize into thin air. It’s easier this way. No prolonged good-byes or unnecessary tears.

Trini exhales a heavy breath of air and then turns back towards the ominous abyss of thick, yellow fog with a sudden and fierce resolution.

“You ready?” The voice calls out from just beyond the fog.

“As I’ll ever be.” Trini flips her visor down once again and cockily cracks her neck. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Trini waits for a response, but only the steady roar of the all-encompassing storm can be heard. 

One minute passes… 

Then another… 

And another… 

Still nothing. 

In and out.

In and out.

In and out.

Breathe, Gomez. Breathe.

Trini swallows down the dry a lump of pure fear that has been growing within the back of her throat and continues to scan the edges of the yellow fog for any signs of movement whatsoever. Although she can’t see it, she knows it’s there. Silently lurking just beyond the dense veil. Watching her every move. 

“Fuck,” Trini mutters under her breath. She shakes away the sudden wave of goosebumps as she tries to keep her heart rate from skyrocketing out of control. 

Still nothing.

God, she would kill to have at least one of the guys by her side at this very moment. 

To feel them at her back, like a well-loved security blanket. 

Zack.

Jason.

Billy.

Tommi.

Or, most of all…  

Kimberly.

“Ah, there it is,” the mysterious voice says, grabbing hold of Trini’s attention. She whips around, frantically trying to pinpoint the source, but still is met with only a sea of never-ending yellow fog. “There... That last thought. She’s the one…”

“She’s what?” Trini says with gritted teeth. She continues to scan every last inch of her surroundings as the voice lingers in the depth of her consciousness. It’s oddly familiar… Too familiar for Trini’s liking. 

“The source of your wish. The one you wanted to suffer.” The voice cuts through Trini, sending a set of icy chills straight down her spine. She attempts to shake it off, but it’s no use. The voice has a strange effect on her. As if it’s somehow resonating both from within the fog itself and also from the deep, dark recesses of her very own mind.  

“I never said I wanted her to suffer,” Trini replies, even more on edge than ever before.

“Oh, but you did. You wished for her to experience the same exact heartache that she put you through. Isn’t that what heartache is? Suffering?”

That voice…

She knows that voice.

But from where?

“That’s not what I meant,” Trini fires back. 

“Yes, you did. It’s exactly what you meant. Don’t deny it… There’s no hiding the truth… Not from me. I know you inside and out, Yellow.”

“If you know me so well, then stop hiding and show yourself!” Trini’s voice quivers ever so slightly on her last word. She takes a gulp of air and attempts to steady her nerves. 

“As you wish…” 

Slowly, from amidst the sea of fog, a pair of haunting emerald eyes emerge.

“Tommy,” the name falls from Trini’s lips as her worst nightmare materializes right before her very eyes. 

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

It can’t be…

No.

Tommy died in the blast back in that cavern all those years ago.

She saw it with her own two eyes…

But there was never a body…

Fuck.

A sickly smile of recognition stretches across Tommy’s face as he moves out of the fog. He somehow hasn’t aged a single day since the last time Trini laid eyes on him, still possessing the same, slightly boyish looks of a young 18-year-old. But yet, unlike before, Tommy now is decked out in the Green Ranger armor. “Good to see you again, Yellow.”

“No… No, you’re supposed to be dead. I saw you… I…” Trini’s thoughts bleed into one another, causing her words to come out in jilted half-phrases. Her breath quickens as her anxiety takes the wheel once again. “No… You’re not real. You’re a Jinn.”

“Am I?” Tommy says as he takes another step forward, further encroaching on the space between them. “Or is that simply what you wanted me to be.”

Trini shakes her head, “No. I didn’t want any of… No. This doesn’t--”

CRACK.

Tommy’s fist collides with Trini’s helmet at an earth-shattering force, cutting her off mid-sentence. She’s instantly knocked off her feet and hits the ground with a sobering thud. 

“Fuck!” Trini yells. She rolls over to her side as wave after wave of pain radiates through the length of her jaw. Even though the helmet absorbed most of the blow, Trini’s face still feels as if she was hit full on with a metal baseball bat. 

BAM.

Before Trini even has a chance to register what is happening, Tommy follows up with a deep kick to the dead center of Trini’s spine. 

“Ahhhhhh!” Trini’s body spasms backward, limbs bending in unnatural positions as another harsher wave of pain crashes down upon her.

“What’s wrong? Don’t want to fight?” Tommy asks with a lingering hint of sarcasm. “But live to fight, Yellow. You crave it with every inch of your very being. You gladly play the martyr time and time again. Sacrificing yourself just so you won’t have to live with the pain…  Admit it. You secretly wished for this. All of it. The mysterious foe… The storm… The epic battle… A chance to play the hero once again… All while making her suffer… This is truly all your doing.”

Those words…

Her own doing.

It was her wish… 

Her desire…

No, don’t go there, Gomez. 

Don’t listen to him.

Trini scrambles up off of the ground, ignoring the mind-numbing pain pulsating through every inch of her body, and re-position herself into a defensive stance. She locks eyes with Tommy once again as her hands curl up into two clearly defined fists. “Fuck off.”

Without another moment wasted, Trini unleashes a ferocious onslaught of kicks and punches upon Tommy’s body. Collar bone… Then upper chest… then left hip… then right. And finally, with surgical like precision, she delivers a roundhouse kick, sweeping Tommy’s legs out from underneath him. 

THUD.

Tommy hits the ground with startling brute force, causing a strange shimmer-like effect to ripple across the length of his armor… Almost as if it isn’t really there at all. 

“What the…,” Trini whispers to herself, making a note of the pedicular illusion. She starts to move in again to attack, but then suddenly stops as her eyes catch hold of the--

Epithymía stone.

It lies amongst the mud and rubble, barely even noticeable, only a few yards away from Trini. She immediately makes a dive for it, momentarily forgetting altogether about Tommy, and snatches it up like a kid grabbing for fallen candy from a newly broken pinata.

“Yes,” Trini takes a moment to stare at the tiny yellow gem and-- 

BAM.

Another hit. This time to the back of her helmet. Trini holds onto the gem with a death grip as her body helplessly slides through the mud towards the edge of the cliff. She claws with her other free hand at a nearby boulder and manages to grab onto it just before her feet reach the point of no return.

“Give it back!” Tommy growls. 

“What?” Trini pushes herself up once again and holds out the yellow gem for Tommy to see. “This?”

“Yes.” The word comes out in a deeper growl than before. It’s inhuman in tone… Almost too animalistic to even be real.

“Come and get it.” Trini throws the Epithymía stone down onto the ground and then, without any ounce of hesitation whatsoever, slams her boot down on it, instantly crushing it to nothing more than a cloud of fine dust on impact. She holds her breath in anticipation, but--

Nothing.

What the fuck?

No.

No.

No.

That was supposed to be it.

The key.

The way to bring an end to this--

Trini stomps her foot down again… 

and again… 

and again.

“What’s wrong, Yellow?” Tommy asks cutting through the roar of the storm. “Were you expecting something to happen?”

“What did you do?” Trini spats out, now no longer able to hide her terror-driven rage as it courses through her body. 

“Me?” Tommy lets out a nightmarish laugh. “Oh, Yellow. You still don’t get it, do you? I’ve done nothing at all. I already told you. This is all of your design. Down to the last drop of rain… This is you… All your doing.”

There it is again.

Those words.

Why those words?

Think, Gomez. Think.

CRACK.

A blinding flash of lightning cut across the yellow sky, illuminating everything in sight… including Tommy’s metallic green armor. And suddenly--

The shimmer.

Trini catches it again. Only this time it’s more defined. Like… 

“A dream,” Trini says to herself. “This isn’t real… It’s all my wish.”

Another gut-churning smile slides across Tommy’s face, instantly confirming Trini’s suspicions.

“And then that means… You aren’t real either,” Trini follows up. She locks eyes with Tommy and then, with a newfound determination, delivers a lethal kick straight to his jaw.

SNAP.

The sound of Tommy’s neck breaking echoes over the raging chorus of wind and rain. Trini watches as his lifeless body crumples to the ground and then mysteriously vanishes into thin air as if it was never there, to begin with at all.

“Now what?” Trini mutters letting out a long sigh and taking a long, hard look around. There’s nothing there… Nothing but an endless sea of yellow fog.

If she’s right and this is all just a giant wish-induced dream, then how the hell is she supposed to end it?

Think, Gomez.

It’s a dream… 

And she needs to wake up.

But how?

Trini’s eyes slowly wander over to the edge of the cliff as the sudden realization sets in.

Fuck.

There’s the answer. 

Staring her down this entire time.

Fuck.

Trini gulps down another sobering breath of air, and for the briefest of moments, she closes eyes as another wish pops into her mind, temporarily blocking out all other invading thoughts and feelings. 

She wishes for nothing more than for Kimberly to be happy again…

“Here goes nothing…” 

And with those words, Trini sprints dead on towards the side of the cliff and swan-dives right over the edge.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Laughter.

Kimberly’s laughter.

God, does she love that sound. 

The thought drifts into Trini’s subconsciousness, pulling her out of the black void and into the light. Her eyes slowly blink open, attempting to adjust to the warm, morning sunlight as she stretches her aching limbs. 

Wait.

What the hell happened?!

One minute she was diving off the side of Angel’s Outlook and the next…

Trini immediately shoots up with a hard gasp of air as the sudden realization that she’s miraculously somehow back in Mamaji and Bapu’s living room crashes down upon her. She goes to run her hands through her hair, only to discover that--

It’s pulled back into a ponytail again. 

“What the fuck?” Trini says in stunned disbelief. She looks down at her clothes and notices that they are the same exact ones that she had been wearing the night at Tommi’s bar… The night when she made the wish.

Did it happen?

Any of it?

Shit.

If it didn’t happen, then that means--  

“Can you stop chewing with your mouth open? It’s disgusting.” the sound of Richard’s voice brings Trini’s thoughts to a screeching halt. There’s her answer. Plain and simple. 

Trini takes a moment to herself and just sits on the couch as a steady stream of breakfast chatter intermixed with laughter filters out from the kitchen and into the living room. It’s like a thousand bittersweet paper cuts to her soul. Invisible but painful nonetheless. 

None of it happened.

Not one single moment of it. 

It was just a dream.

No. Scratch that. More like a nightmare. One that lingers on well after it’s over. 

“Mommy? When’s Trini gonna get up?” A hint of a smile crawls across Trini’s lips at the reassuring sound of Max.

“Good question. I was just wondering the same exact thing. Maybe you should go wake Chuki,” Mamaji responds.

“Meredith…,” Bapu mutters, clearly not on board with the idea.

“What? Those that skip Thanksgiving dinner don’t get to sleep in.”

“Mommy, can I?” Max pipes up. 

“How about we wait just a little bit longer, okay? I’m sure Trini could use the extra sleep,” Kim responds only causing Trini’s heart to ache with a phantom feeling of something that in reality was never actually hers, to begin with. 

It never happened. 

Kimberly… at least her Kimberly… is nothing more than a tainted memory of a past life. 

A happier life… 

Trini lets out a sigh. She’s heard enough. Trini doesn’t have to venture into the kitchen to already know that there isn’t a place for her. At least not at that table.

Trini peels herself up off of the couch and then heads for the stairs.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Even after an excruciatingly long shower and much needed change into clothes that didn’t reek of stale smoke and whiskey, Trini still couldn’t quiet collect herself enough to face anyone… Not yet. 

Not when there’s so much emotional baggage left to unpack.

So instead, Trini retreated to the confines of her old bedroom where she took up residency in a beaten up bean bag chair and simply sat in silence, alone with nothing but an endless stream of weighted thoughts and feelings. 

“Trini?” Kim says as she timidly knocks on the bedroom door, making her presence known. 

Trini lets out a heavy sigh and slowly redirects her gaze away from the comforting blankness of the off-white ceiling and onto a set of vibrant chocolate brown eyes. 

Fuck.

That look.

That uniquely haunting look that only Kimberly, and Kimberly alone, can manage to produce.

A look that somehow says everything that Trini needs to know…

Kimberly doesn’t remember.

None of it. 

And why would she?

It didn’t happen… 

“Hey,” Trini responds. An uncomfortable stillness settles between the two of them as Kim cautiously makes her way into the room. Seconds painfully tick by one by one, as the silence only grows. And Trini craves nothing more than to pull her eyes away from the girl who will always hold a piece of her heart. To stop the cracks from deepening along her already fragile soul.

But can’t bring herself to do it.

Seconds turn into minutes as Trini tries with every ounce of her very being to maintain her composure. To keep up her nonchalant facade. The one that tells whoever is looking that “it doesn’t matter”. That she feels nothing at all. 

Breathe.

In and out.

In and out.

Kimberly… this Kimberly… She has a fiance and a son… She has a life.

“Trini, I--”

“It’s okay. I know what you’re gonna say and there’s no need to. I get it… Maybe not all of it, but… But it doesn’t matter. Not now. I should’ve stuck around for dinner last night, and I’m sorry. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to… I just…,” Trini says, cutting Kim off. She lets out another breath of air and runs her hands over her ponytail. The feeling is slightly foreign, but Trini tries not to let it show. “Anyway. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m glad you’re here.”

With those words, Kim suddenly closes the distances between them. She pulls Trini up off of the bean bag chair and plants a deep and passionate kiss upon her lips. 

Fuuuuuckkkk…  

And time comes to a crashing halt. Trini kisses Kim back, pouring into it every single last emotion from the last few days. No words are needed. Kim’s lips are more than enough for Trini to understand that there’s a possibility that she isn’t entirely alone in this journey as she thinks she is.

Kim pulls back from the kiss and takes a moment to rest her forehead against Trini’s. “Mi Vida…”

Trini chokes back a hint of a sob as two fine trails of tears start to fall from her eyes. “You remember?”

“Everything,” Kim responds. A bittersweet smile crawls across her lips as she reaches up and cups Trini’s face with the palms of her hands. 

“Everything?” Trini echoes Kim’s words, unable to fully believe it and Kim simply nods back. The tears fall faster, bringing with them a comforting sense of pure relief and for the first time in what seems like an eternity, Trini feels as if she can breathe again. 

“Every single moment.”

Trini melts into Kim’s welcoming arms, burying her head into the crook of Kim’s neck as the all too familiar scent of lavender mixed with jasmine washes over her. And Kim wraps her arms tighter around Trini’s body until every inch of space between them dissipates… Until there is absolutely nothing left but just the two of them. 

Trini knows that there’s still so much left to sort through. Years upon years of buried thoughts and emotions that need to be dealt with in one way or another. Let alone the lingering question of where do they go from here. But, at this very moment, none of those things matter to her. Not now.

Only one thing and one thing only matters for Trini… 

There isn’t anything in the world that she wouldn’t do for Kimberly Hart. 

Anything.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Six Months Later…

Trini pulls her beat-up black Jeep Wrangler into an empty parking spot, shifts the car into park, and then takes a moment to stretch her overly-stiff muscles. 

She did it. 

Fifteen hours, 32 minutes, and 12 seconds, including three pits, stops along the way for gas, snacks, and the occasional bathroom break...

A new personal record.

And hopefully, one that will never need to be broken because, unlike all the other LA to Portland treks that Trini has done over the past few months, this time there would be no return trip.

She’s there for good.

A smile crawls across Trini’s face as she takes a moment to let the reality of the situation to fully sink in. It hasn’t been the easiest of journeys, and there have been countless times where she swore that this moment would never come, and yet, here it is. So seemingly uneventful. Just another late Thursday evening in Portland. 

Trini gets out of her car and then slowly makes her way across the parking lot towards Kim’s shop. 

This wasn’t her first time up and surprising Kim here. No. The first time was a few short weeks after Kim had called her in the dead of night to let her know that she had officially ended things with Richard. It had been a bittersweet conversation at best. One that left Trini hopeful and yet at the same time, absolutely terrified that there was a strong chance that there were no real prospects for them in the near-- or even far-- future. Kim needed time. 

Time to be alone.

And that’s what Trini had given her, until one day she woke up to a simple text that said: “I wish you were here”.

The next thing Trini knew, she was hopping a flight to Portland and had shown up unannounced at Kim’s barbershop. It felt like a small gesture at the time. Nothing more than a simple gut reaction. But according to Kim, it had meant the world.

And it had been the start… The start to something where neither one of them truly knew what the end result would be. But they were more than willing to go along for the ride. Inch by inch. One visit after another. With each time becoming more and more difficult to say good-bye.

“Trini!” Max exclaims as Trini makes her way through the door. He hops down out of the barbershop chair that he was up until moments ago, spinning himself around in and bolts for Trini. Trini braces herself just in time as Max launches his body into Trini’s arm at full force and gives her a bone-crushing hug hello. 

“Hey, Kiddo.” Trini wraps her arms around the raven-haired boy and pulls him in close. 

“Mommy said you weren’t coming until tomorrow night. We were gonna pick you up at the airport after karate practice.” 

“Change of plans,” Trini responds as she motions towards her Jeep in the parking lot. 

Max glances through the front window and then back at Trini with a look of sheer joy upon his face. “You drove?”

“Yup.”

“Does that mean…” Max trails off almost too excited at the possible prospect of what it could mean to finish his question. 

Trini gives him a nod in confirmation with a hint of a smile. 

God, she loves this kid. 

No. Scratch that. She flat out adores him. And would move heaven and earth if needed just to be with him…

“Yes!!!!” Max shouts as he starts to bounce around the shop, unable to contain his sheer excitement. And Trini can’t help but give into laughter at the sight of it. 

“Max, what are you… Trini?” Kim emerges from the back room and comes to a crashing halt as she lays eyes on Trini.

“Mommy! Trini drove here… And look,” Max says as he jabs his finger at the window. “Look at all of the boxes and bags in her Jeep. It’s all her stuff. She’s staying for good.”

Kim slowly shifts her eyes away from Trini and towards the Jeep, taking a moment or two to thoroughly examine it, and then back at Trini.  

“Surprise,” Trini says as she shoves her hands deep into her jean pockets and gives a bit of a shrug. “I know we said maybe in a few months from now, but I found a way to get out of the lease early, and I just couldn’t wait any--”

But Trini doesn’t get the chance to finish her sentence. Kim swoops her up and plants a passionate kiss upon her lips, slightly spinning her around in the process. Trini gets lost in the moment, unable to do anything more than simply laugh as a tidal wave of pure warmth and happiness washes over her. 

“Ewwww gross.” Max makes an exaggerated face and covers his eyes, causing Trini and Kim to stop spinning and pull back out of their kiss. They share a smile as Trini finds herself getting lost within Kim’s chocolate brown eyes. 

And suddenly…

Trini’s finally found her home again.

In the arms of the one person who has always been it for her.

Her end game.

Kimberly Anne Hart. 

Kim reaches out and playfully runs her hand through Trini’s short, messy locks as a slightly disapproving look moves across her face. “Go take a seat.”

“Seriously?” Trini says raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, seriously. You’re way overdue,” Kim replies, giving Trini a nudge towards an empty chair.

“Fine.” Trini takes a seat in the chair and flashes Kim a cocky smile. “Just don’t fuck it up, Princess.” 

“Never. Mi Vida,” Kim leans in and places a gentle kiss on Trini’s cheek. “Never.”

[thefantasticalcoyote]

For @promptis-fanweek Day 4, the prompts “hurt/comfort” and “please don’t leave me” which, oh boy. I love pain and I’ve read all the Prompto whump fics but well....haven’t seen this specific injury done yet. I’m sorry. 

Title: Though Underexposed   Rating: M Warnings: Severe Hand Trauma, Blood/Gore Summary: Prompto gets badly injured after a mid-battle landslide, leaving Noctis to figure out how to fix things before it’s too late. 

 In hindsight, fighting a behemoth at the edge of the cliff was a bad idea. However, at the time ending the battle had seemed much more advantageous than trying to lure it away into less dicey territory. Noctis’ muscles had ached and they were nearly scraping the bottom in terms of curatives, so he’d focused on taking the creature down even as the battle forced his back closer and closer towards the precipitous cliff.

Just as Noctis felt he might give out from exhaustion, the rapid-fire combo of a greatsword and bullet to the behemoth’s skull finally cracked it wide open, sending the beast reeling into its death throes. Preemptive victory cries went up from his companions, and Noctis opened his mouth to join them when the behemoth crashed against the ground and sent violent shockwaves trembling through the earth that didn’t stop even when the creature’s death throes jerked to a halt.

Noctis stuck his arms out, balance suddenly thrown off at the vibrations roiling underneath his feet. His eyes widened, sweeping about the cracks suddenly forming in the stone below, one in particular zig-zagging sharply between his legs. He swore as the earth under one foot shifted, suddenly lower than the other.

He shouted out a warning and prepared himself to warp over away from the earth breaking apart beneath him, to where he thought the rest of his party stood, until he remembered Prompto was farther away from them, closer to the edge of the cliff that had started to tumble down towards the ground far below. Ignoring Ignis’ cries of warning, he sprinted towards his other friend, who seemed dazed—had he been hit by some kind of ailment during the battle none of them had noticed?—and grabbed the wrist still extended out in front on him, gun clasped in his fingers.

Noctis opened his mouth to shout Prompto into action when the ground beneath the both of them gave completely away.

The world up-ended around Noctis as he fell, hand squeezing tightly around Prompto’s wrist in a desperate attempt to secure himself though his friend was in the same predicament. He curled his arm over his head and tucked his chin towards his chest, hoping to protect his skull as he tumbled down the cliffside, body battered by stones and debris as the landslide carried him down, down, down—

Despite his vise grip around Prompto’s wrist, the force of collapsing rock slamming into his back and chest soon winded him, sending crushing pain wheezing through his lungs—enough to force him to loosen his hold. Before he could react he felt Prompto’s arm jerk out of his hold, his desperate cry of the blonde’s name drowned out by the deafening crumble of stone and earth and one awful, chilling scream.

He had no further breath himself when he finally impacted the ground below, his voice hollow at the sharp pain in his ribs as he rolled down the rocky, uneven incline. More stones bounced and clattered around him, one catching the top of his head with a sudden, stinging pain. He winced, curling in further on himself as he let his body tumble to a stop, hunched and still as he listened to the sounds around him, waiting for the thundering noise to stop.

Once Noctis was fairly sure the slide had ground to a halt, he opened up from his curled position, palms planted as flat as they could on the rough ground as he propped himself up on his hands and knees. He coughed and knit his eyebrows together, trying to force away the dizziness from his vision. Ugh.

After a couple moments of steady breathing, he managed to push himself up into a crouching position and took a look around, trying to find where he’d landed—and more importantly, where Prompto had gone.

He saw nothing, immediately, aside from broken rock and earth strewn about. The chaos of the landslide must have had tossed them apart from one another. He could no longer see Prompto, but the terrible scream he’d heard as they’d tumbled down the cliff turned his stomach to ice as he coughed more dust from his lungs, trying to squint through the haze.

“Prom?” He called, voice rough from exertion and dirt, too weak to carry far. He swallowed, getting more saliva into his throat before trying again. “Prom? You okay?”

He strained his ears, trying to hear a response and not think about the likelihood that Prompto had been knocked unconscious—or worse. He stilled even his breathing, though the blood pounding in his ears refused to quiet.

Thankfully, he could still hear the muffled sobbing despite it.

Noctis pushed him up to his feet so quickly he nearly lost his balance, boots slipping against the crumbled rock as he surged in the direction of the crying. It couldn’t possibly belong to anyone else, and as the noise grew louder and clearer Noctis’ stomach knotted tighter and tighter in fear of what he was about to find.

He carefully rounded a particularly large rock, shaking hands propped up against it as he scanned the ground, eyes falling on the dusty boot that abruptly came into view. He shoved against the rock, rushing over to his downed friend.

Prompto was splayed out flat against his back—or as flat as he could be lying with broken, scattered rocks stabbing into his spine. His body was splotched with dust and half covered in rocks, his face turned away from Noctis’, though he could hear his moans of pain all too clearly. Despite his friend’s battered state, relief washed over Noctis as he slid down to Prompto’s side, grasping the largest rock pinning him down. At least he was still alive.

But the moment Noctis tried to pry the rock off of Prompto’s limb, his body jerked like he’d been shocked by lightning. His head whipped around, eyes wide and wild with pain as he screeched. Noctis started and nearly dropped the rock, but managed to toss it to the side before his numb fingers lost their grip. He fell to one knee, trying to clear away the rest of the debris as Prompto curled on his side and clawed viciously at his trapped forearm.

“Prom, hey, what’s going on?”

Prompto could only shake his head, cries mindless from pain Noctis still didn’t understand. He felt ill with worry as he finally cleared off the last of the rubble, his vision suddenly going off-kilter as he tried to comprehend what was underneath.

It looked like some kind of disgusting red flower had bloomed from Prompto’s wrist, taking the place of his hand. Strips of flesh and bone were only barely visible thanks to the blood pouring from the horrible wound, running in streams down his arm and dripped onto the dirt below. Prompto got one brief glimpse of his hand before he choked and jerked his head to the side, eyes screwed shut. He managed to bite his lip for a couple seconds before he couldn’t help it and vomited, a dribble of fluid splattered out onto the ground.

Noctis’ sight churned, stomach tempted to follow suit.

Prompto’s gloved hand came to press up against his mouth, teeth biting into his knuckle as he fought to stay conscious. As Noctis watched, his mangled hand twitched with involuntary movement, as if wanting to join its sibling in smothering Prompto’s cries.

His face blanched, eyes moving away to stare at nothing for a moment, though the image of Prompto’s injured hand refused to leave. Noctis squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, but the pained little gasps and wheezes and muffled whimpers of gods no made it difficult.

It wasn’t like Noctis hadn’t dealt with severe injuries before, but somehow cuts and gashes and gunshot wounds to the torso or limbs seemed less bad than this. It disturbed him on a deeper, more visceral level than the usual wounds he’d witnessed. Prompto’s hand no longer looked like it even belonged to a person any more.

Noctis swallowed, feeling acid start to creep up into the back of his throat. Gods, disgusting as this was he wasn’t going to let it get the better of him, not when Prompto desperately needed his help to get through this. Any further hesitation on his part pushed Prompto further and further away from the help he needed to get his hand back to normal. If he suffered any kind of long-lasting damage after this, Noctis would never let himself off the hook.

He had a potion on hand, but if Prompto’s bones were crushed out of alignment—and there was no way they weren’t—it wouldn’t do much good. Curatives could fix fractures and cracks providing the bone had mostly kept together, but Prompto’s hand had been flattened beneath the rock, and Noctis knew all those tiny, pin-like bones were probably smashed out of place. Giving him a potion would probably do more harm than good at this point.

Noctis hissed under his breath, trying to weigh his options.

He couldn’t warp with Prompto—and probably shouldn’t, considering how bad the sudden movement would hurt his hand—but he could probably go to get help on his own and direct the others down to where they were. Sheer as the terrain was, Gladio and Ignis had access to the car and any supplies there they could use to help get Prompto up the incline to safety. He summoned his sword back into his hand, eyes flickering all over the broken rubble of the cliffside until they landed on a chunk of rock near the top that looked fairly stable. It was bit of a long shot, but if he made it he could swing his way up and get Prompto rescue all the quicker.

He strengthened his stance, rearing back to throw his sword to the point he’d fixed on, when—

“W-Wait!” Noctis froze at the voice, shuddery and raw like it’d been scraped up from the rugged terrain beneath them. Fingers—the undamaged set, his mind grimly provided—grasped at the leg of his jeans, twitching with lingering strength as they struggled to hang on.

“Please…don’t leave me…”

Noctis’ heart plunged into his gut.

Shit. Did Prompto really think he was gonna just abandon him? He opened his mouth, but found he didn’t know what to say. Prompto just kept going, like talking was the only thing he could manage to do, but then he started moving.

“Don’t…don’t leave me behind…I can…” To Noctis’ horror Prompto placed his mangled hand besides the other against the ground and, after a terse second, tried putting weight on it. He dropped to his knees, either on purpose of because the agonized cry Prompto let out sapped the rest of his strength.

“Hey, don’t—stop it, all right?” His voice came out a little harsher than he wanted, perhaps, but he hated seeing that mess of flesh and blood tremble and twitch and try to work like a normal hand would. He braced a palm against Prompto’s shoulder, pushing weight off the crushed hand as best as he could without touching any other injuries he might not be aware of. Noctis could already tell from the pain smarting through his own body that he’d have more than a few cuts and bruises to take care of later, once they were back safely with the rest of their party.

He lowered his head when Prompto failed to look at him. He squeezed his friend’s shoulder as firmly as he felt he could.

“I’m not going to leave you, all right? Just trying to figure out how to get you some help. Okay?”

After a moment, Prompto managed to nod, his eyes slipping up to meet Noctis’ for a scant moment before they returned to the ground beneath him, arms losing their last bit of foolish strength.

Noctis took a deep breath as he finally got Prompto to lay back down on his side, trying to reign in his train of thought once more now that his friend wasn’t actively trying to make his injury worse.

He knew the smarter course of action was still to leave Prompto and get help as quickly as possible, but the way his eyes screwed shut through the tears—like he was trying to hold back despite the fact that if there was ever a reason to cry, a mutilated hand would definitely be it in Noctis’ opinion—kept him from leaving Prompto’s side. Rationality begged him to leave, but the memory of Prompto grabbing onto him, whispering through his ravaged voice, begging he not leave kept him glued in that patch of blood-splattered rock, trying to think of a new plan.

At some point he’d started petting Prompto’s hair—as a means to keep his friend calm or ground himself, he wasn’t sure—fingers stroking through the locks matted with dirt and probably blood. Noctis was bleeding too, he could see the open abrasion on his arms and feel something wet trickle down the side of his temple, but his own injuries felt superficial, especially compared to Prompto’s grievous one. He was well enough to move, to walk, to help his friend along as he needed it.

And he desperately needed it.

Noctis wished he had something to properly splint Prompto’s hand before he started moving him, but they were surrounded by little more than rocks and half buried grass. The bandana from around his friend’s arm, loosened but thankfully not lost in the fall, helped to barely keep his hand together—as well as hide it from Prompto’s dazed eyes.

The cry of pain that came when Noctis slung his uninjured arm over his shoulder was inevitable. He set his expression tightly and tried to power through it as he forced Prompto to lean against him as he rose

“Y-Yeah, I know….sucks, right?” He voice lifted into a grim levity as he watched Prompto’s boots numbly scrape against the uneven earth. He half-expected Prompto to hang completely limp, but to Noctis’ surprise he managed to support at least part of his weight. The tips of his feet dragged against the ground as he tried to walk in time with Noctis, but at least he was lucid enough to try.

It was a good enough sign to convince Noctis to continue.

He glanced towards the fallen cliffside, realizing he hadn’t bothered to look up since they’d fallen down here. It was far—far enough that he marveled the fact that, as terribly injured as Prompto was, it hadn’t been worse—but not necessarily insurmountable. In fact, the cliffside’s collapse might even help him hike back up, considering the pile of debris near the bottom had created a slight, more manageable incline.

Despite that scrap of good luck, Noctis knew the cliffside was probably incredibly unstable thanks to the collapse, but going around would take too long and run the risk of getting lost further away from the rest of their party. He placed the sole of his boot firmly against a rock that looked fairly sturdy, testing it for a couple of seconds before leaning it weight on it and easing him and Prompto up atop it.

So far so good. Noctis allowed himself a sliver of optimism as he sought out his next foothold. It crumbled a bit underneath him, sending a couple of pebbles tumbling downwards, but otherwise held. He squeezed his forearm tightly about Prompto’s waist, supporting him close as they start climbing.

Noctis grew so used to the sound of his own haggard breathing and little more, that he started and nearly lost his balance when Prompto spoke up, voice so thin and worn he didn’t catch what was being said though it was right next to his ear.

“Prom? What’s that?”

His friend’s eyes were glassy even when he blinked to try to clear them. Prompto’s sigh sounded rough, like what he said had him too exhausted to try again.

“Guess….guess I won’t be taking any more pictures….huh?”

Noctis felt sick. He saw the bound hand had started to bleed through the bandana, staining the little white bone designs a deep red. He tore his eyes away, focusing back on the rocky path he’s trying to carve out.

“Dude, shut up. We’ll get you someplace where they can fix this kind of thing. It’ll be fine, all right?” Noctis tone, though wavering, offered no room for debate. Not that Prompto was up to fighting—he merely nodded weakly before hanging his head forward like it weighed more than the rest of his limp body. Their steps fell out of pace with each other as Prompto supported less and less of his own weight, but Noctis wasn’t about to let that stop them. Not yet.  

Before long, the sun started to crest over the damaged edge of the cliff up above. Noctis panted, old dust and new sweat crusting uncomfortably on his skin. There was so much more ahead.

He was starting to really feel his injuries now, as any remaining adrenaline started to ebb away, replaced by weariness. He longed for safety, for a warm bed, a tent, the backseat of the car, anything. He wanted to lay down besides his friends, besides Prompto, comforted in the knowledge that he was going to get the help he needed and come out of this as if nothing had ever happened. He wanted to wake up to Prompto laughing, camera nestled in its customary hand as he admired the pictures he’d snapped of Noctis drooling in his sleep.

A new wetness broke down his skin from the edge of his scalp. He took a deep breath, lungs tightening. The edge of the cliff finally eclipsed the sun, the rocks around him starting to shadow a deep, rusty brown.

Noctis finally stopped, legs wobbling as he rested the side not supporting Prompto against a particular large rock his mind couldn’t currently figure out how to tackle. He just needed to rest for a moment, though he knew it was a bad idea to stop. Prompto’s eyes were closed, skin paler than usual. The blood stained in his blond hair looked brighter. Fresher. That wasn’t good.

But Noctis’ legs weren’t listening to his commands. He winced, fingers curling, nails scraping against the rock. Damn it. Damn it.

He lifted his head, blinking against the fading sunlight above, and before he sagged against the rock and passed out, he thought he heard a voice—close, far, he couldn’t tell past the sudden ringing of heartbeat in his ears—call his name.

Noctis did, in fact, wake up drooling, but the sounds of Prompto’s muffled laughter and click of his camera was sadly absent.

But the sight of his friend laying in the bed besides him was just as good.

Noctis sat up quickly, but a throbbing in his head forced him back down with a wince. He rubbed his palm against his temple as he kept himself propped up on the elbow, blinking away the spots of color that’d started to pop in his vision.

He managed to identify the white walls and charts common to a clinic around them, sending a wave of relief through his body. Good. Prompto had been taken somewhere safe. From his own bed, Noctis could see that his right hand now sat resting against his chest, completely wrapped up in a thick white cast. Though the injury was hidden from view, Noctis’ breath hitched at the memory.

He hoped they’d been able to fix it.

Noctis stayed, watching, until Prompto finally started to stir. After a long moment his eyelids started to flutter, eventually opening up in slits of hazy blue that blearily focused on Noctis before taking in their surroundings.

“Oh…hey…” As raspy as Prompto’s voice sounded, it was a hell of a lot better than the agonized cries from before. Noctis managed a smile and a tiny wave.

“Hey yourself.” He shifted onto his side, mindful of the soreness of his own injuries. He could see the cuts and abrasion had been mostly healed—probably thanks to a potion or two—but the slight sting of regrown flesh remained. “You doing all right?”

Prompto’s right arm jerked as he tried to give a thumbs up. His brow furrowed, then relaxed when he glanced down to his chest.

“Oh….right.” He shook his head slightly, as if trying to clear away the same image that was permanently burned into Noctis’ own mind.

“Ugh….that was…really not fun…” Prompto moaned, his other hand coming to rest atop the cast.

“Does it hurt?” Noctis whispered, studying his friend’s face. “Like…not to rub it in but…that might’ve been the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Jeez…” Prompto laughed, though his voice stayed low and muted. “It was pretty nasty though. Least I can’t really see it anymore.”

A lump formed in Noctis’ throat as he watched Prompto caressed his injured hand. He tried to put the bloody image behind him and focus on the present.

“I’m…I just hope they fixed it up right. For like….your camera and all.”

Prompto tilted his head, looking away from his cast as he looked across to the other bed, expression now tinged with something that looked unfortunately like guilt.

“Y’know…when I woke up from surgery…Ignis told me that you’d passed out carrying me….had your head pretty bashed up from the fall…you didn’t have to do that just to save my camera hand.” Prompto wiggled his free fingers. “I could live with just one, probably,” he tried to joke, though Noctis wasn’t buying it.

“Dude, come on, sometimes your pictures are the only things that keep this trip bearable.” He folded he tucked his hands into his armpits in an attempt to look serious, wincing softly at the sting. “Wasn’t gonna let some stupid rock take that away from you.”

Thankfully, that guilty expression of Prompto’s soon devolved to one of gratitude. Now feeling better himself, Noctis shifted and extricated one arm from around his chest. His hand groped out as he cleared the small space between them. Prompto, thankfully, took the hint and met him halfway with a shy lock of fingers.

Their joined hands hung between the beds, a periodic, comforting squeeze passing from one to the other until neither knew who’d started it. Noctis watches Prompto start to slip back into sleep, and just when he’s about to follow suit and get more much needed rest, he hears something small and soft that has his waking up with warmth.

“Thanks for not leaving me behind.”