melodiesofeternity | Crystalline Chill

Entry tags:

Crystalline Chill

Who: Residents of house C-01 and friends!
When: All throughout May, see prompts and individual threads
Where: House C-01
What: Monthly catchall for the XV House shenanigans
Warnings/Notes: There's likely going to be spoilers for Kingsglaive and the main game up to Chapter 13 somewhere in the comments.

A. Sometimes you just want to ride...
Late in the morning of the 1st, there is a low purring sound of an engine going down the street. One that wasn't accustomed to travel aside by foot or chocobo claw. Yet, somehow, a certain man manages not to clip a single thing. And it sits there, in front of House C-01, black, shiny, and very much a wonder to a few moogles. Especially since the convertible's roof is airship-grade plexiglass.

B. [Insert "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" joke here]
There was one upside to living with the once-deceased leader of the Crownsguard, and that was one didn't have to go far for a training enthusiast. There was also one downside to this: not having to go far for a training enthusiast. It's the crack of dawn when the nice little symphony of insects and kwehs get interrupted by the sounds of wooden weapons clashing and spells being practiced.

Rest in pieces, light sleepers. They apologize in advance.

C. That's it!
Of course, no one can train or go through the day on no fuel. And one person in particular has taken upon himself to at least ensure a few others can eventually cook eggs without burning them. The real question is: Will Ignis come up with a new recipeh involving that jar of kupo nut butter?

D. I want to ride my chocobo all day~
If anyone is surprised at the fact that there are two or three (depending on the date because Chocobo Eater event) lovely birds, then they clearly don't understand at least 50% of the household's love for the magnificent creatures. The black one in particular seems to be particularly happy with their nice little stack of shiny objects...

There may or may not be a pair of glasses on the top of that pile. Sorry, Specs.

E. Hold my Ebony
(Feel free to come up with your own prompts, guys; these aren't the limits to our zaniness.)

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If the trick worked, then it was good enough. Noctis waited patiently, but was prepared to help his friend up one more time. Yet when he spoke up, a small amount of relief flickered in tired eyes. Good. That was... good. There was a small bit of direction they could follow.

Yet when Prompto offered a hand up, Noctis couldn't help but blink. Huh. Talk about a role reversal.

"Shouldn't I be the one offering you a hand?" He teased, and, despite the fact his eyes are redder than usual, he smiled. Taking that hand and pulling himself up, too.

"Maybe, but I've got this." He offered a tired, weary smile and clasped his hand tightly as he pulled him to his feet.

Prompto couldn't resist, he wrapped his free arm around Noctis. Apparently he wasn't done hugging him, unless he slipped out of his grasp, in which case he'd find a back up plan for showing his affection.

"So uh, sorry I knocked you over?"

There's a slight bristling of the shoulders, but... Noct doesn't pull away. Maybe he was just too tired to.

"Nah, it's cool." He waved it off, shaking his head. "My fault for not paying attention." Like Gladio kept telling him to. Whoops. One day.

Prompto sighed and let go finally, because he couldn't go through life holding onto Noct, it would be impractical, even if their time together was short.

Any time less than sixty years was far too short, in his opinion. He would want to be with him at his side, every day.

"Yeah, well...you went down like a ton of bricks."

It was all he could do to discuss something other than the topic looming over their heads.

Good, because it was going to be a pain walking like that. He chuckled a little. "Yeah. Maybe I should train with my ninja asterisk sometime." It was a little sturdier. Slightly.

He bent down to pick up his slate from the floor, before someone stepped on it. Thank the stars it hadn't accidentally started recording. That... Oh, sweet Shiva, that would have been mortifying.

"Tea? Or coffee?" He offered, because he knew he could use something to drink after... that. His voice was still hoarse and all. Though, he also asked: "Oh, and did you see that giant mech in the B housing section?"

Back to ignoring the elephant in the room, for now.

"Y-Yeah, okay." He stammered, still feeling a little off-kilter and he moved to sit at the table and he blinked at the question.

"Giant mech?" He tilted his head. "I uh, haven't noticed it."

He'd had better things to focus on, the cycle of the sun, mainly.

Prompto rested his chin on the palm of his hand, still feeling the dampness in the leather.

Considering Prompto didn't actually answer the question, he just... went to grab the tea kettle. Less likely to burn the water if he can hear it whistle, and thus less likely that Ignis will kick his ass later.

"Wow, really?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he filled the kettle with water. "And here I thought it was obvious." Because even from the kitchen table, it was kind of hard not to notice the large red wings jutting up higher than the roofs of the other houses behind theirs.

It's kind of hard to miss, along with the cycle of the sun.

"Yeah?" Prompto hadn't given it much thought but he bent down and looked out the window trying to get a glimpse of it.

"Whoa." He gushed slightly. "That's...that's amazing! Can we get one of those? Think it would work?"

It wasn't that much unlike magitek, maybe he could operate it!

"You should see it. It's lower jaw is taller than Gladio." That's saying something. And, yes, he is admitting to having seen it up close.

"I don't know... Apparently they're very particular and have a mind of their own."

"Taller than Gladio? Whoa." That was amazing in its own way because Gladio was built like a behemoth.

"Oh, huh, okay. Too bad." He sighed softly, of course if they wanted something like that the Empire had mechs.

He finally squashed on that train of thought. He didn't belong to the Empire and even if he could use things like that, he wouldn't want to.

It would make him seem more like a monster.

"So...tea..."

Becauase Prompto didn't want to voice his thoughts aloud.

"Right?" Huh. That was a quick letting go of the topic at hand. Noct blinked, but nodded. Now that it was on the stove, time to wait for it to make that awful screeching noise.

"Pick which one, then." Because there was a small selection, he pointed out as he got down mugs.

It was a shame the Lion was still powered down. Otherwise he'd text Shiro and ask if- Wait, powered down.

He looked down at the ring on his finger, contemplating it. He wasn't entirely sure it would work, but maybe if he could... bring it up with Ignis, they could throw some ideas at one another.

There was just one problem: Telling Ignis what the future had in store.

"Okay, um..." Prompto stared at it for a moment, he was having a hard time making decisions, mainly because he was beginning to feel foggy headed and his anxiety was through the roof.

Honestly, he figured it was understandable at this point, considering the news they'd gotten and it was a preview of how he'd be when the inevitable happened.

Noctis would miss that though.

He fidgeted. "Yeah, so, uh, okay pick the...green one." Whatever it was, it wouldn't be too terrible.

Nooo shit. Though, would he? At this point, he wasn't so sure. Especially considering-

Well, at least the green packaged tea wasn't Marlboro flavored or something. Just some kind of mint. Thank goodness. That would have just been weird and he'd want to take it into the back yard and burn it.

Instead, he placed the tea packet in a mug, and picked the yellow one- chamomile. He wanted to be able to sleep off this lingering pit in his stomach.

It's a few more minutes before the water's hot enough, and when the kettle whistles, he turned off the the stove and poured the water into the mugs. Setting Prompto's aside.

Mint would be good and soothing, and that was what he needed at the moment, feeling rather jittery himself, hence the fidgeting.

Prompto just watched him and dragged his hands down his face, no, he didn't want to do that, Noctis was not gone yet. There was no point in mourning someone who was standing right in front of him, making tea.

Would this be their last memory together? Would the next?

The thought made him shudder terribly and he groaned, he needed a new train of thought or something. Anything to take his mind off of things. How long did Noctis really have?

At least, he figured, they said all they needed to. He promised to stand beside him and he would, every step until the end. At least, he hoped, but it was hard to tell when Noct was already gone at home.

He swallowed another lump in his throat. Noct didn't need this, he didn't need his feelings and he didn't need Prompto freaking out. He was being an imposition on his best friend. He curled his arms on the table and hid inside them, only his chocobo fluffy hair sticking up from the blockade he'd built.

Noctis leaned against the counter as the tea steeped, looking up to the ceiling for a moment as though trying to contemplate where to even begin to say something. Prompto had found out, somehow, but who-?

He wanted to know, and at the same time... was almost afraid to. In fact, he was almost about to ask when he looked down to see how Prompto was resting his head on the table, hiding his face from view with his arms.

Somehow, that tore him up more than knowing he had to die.

Noctis picked up both mugs before quietly walking to the table. Placing Prompto's in front of the little blockade, he pulled out a chair and sat down beside him. Resting a hand on Prompto's back, gently. Before removing it and leaning back in his chair.

He was never imposing on him. His king was just an idiot who didn't know how else to express how much he cared.

He heard the clink of the mug and when his hand was on his back he sighed heavily and sat up slightly, enough for Noct to see his eyes. He rested his chin on his arms instead and swallowed.

Prompto should say something, now that he wasn't crying, but he didn't know how to start with that.

Another soft sigh and he stared at him.

"Hey." He began softly. "You know you're the most important person to me, right? No one will ever top you."

Noctis blinked a couple times, setting down the mug. He heard that correctly, right?

"And here I thought you'd say that about Cindy, considering." You know, waking him up at the crack of dawn to try and get a picture of her. Without her knowledge. And talking about her all the time.

Yet regardless of the tease, he almost seemed... flattered? Despite not really knowing what to do with that confession. "You're important to me too, Prompto."

They all were, which is what made knowing what's to come all the more painful.

He groaned and turned bright red. "Noct!" Why does he have to call him out like that?

"Look, I like Cindy." He did like her. She was attractive, and strong-willed, outgoing and brave. He also knew she didn't seem all that interested in him, which he understood because honestly he was a nervous wreck. He couldn't talk to her, because his anxiety jumped through the roof.

"We...ugh, I can't talk to her." That was a very big barrier to getting to know her. Then again, he had at one point, had a difficult time talking to Noctis too. It took someone willing to let him work through his anxiety to get to a point he was comfortable.

"It's not the same, I think." He rubbed the back of his neck. "...Thanks."

It was nice that someone out there thought he was important at least.

Because the dark clouds over their heads were threatening to pour down again? You tell him, man.

Still, seeing him flailing (some internally, some externally) about more like his usual self was a small relief. Enough that he smirked in amusement.

"Nervous, huh." It's okay, Prompto. He knew, but that didn't mean that he was exempt from Best Friend Teasing™. He'd always do that. Just like he'd always have his back and vice versa.

He leaned forward slightly, hands clasped before him on the table. "Hey. I mean it. I don't just make time for anyone." Or hug them. Or anything beyond a handshake. Really, it should be pretty obvious.

It was true that darkness was looming above them and he didn't want to be so sad either, so it was better to joke around.

"I-shut up!" His cheeks were pink, and even his ears. "I, yeah, but I don't know how to just..I've never managed that. You remember me my whole teenage life." He was mildly frustrated with himself, but honestly, he understood the problem, but it didn't mean he could fix it.

"I know you don't. I'm really..honoured." He was flattered, and honoured and he felt so warm when Noctis looked at him. He adored him with all of his heart. There was no one else he liked like Noctis. "I'm so glad to have you."

If he expected Noctis to shut up at that, he was sorely mistaken. Instead, he chuckled a little bit. Prompto was far too easy to tease about this sort of thing. Especially having known him their whole teenage lives.

Noctis nudged him gently, a genuine smile crossing his lips. "Hey. That's my line." Because he genuinely was glad to have Prompto at his side. Of all their former classmates, he'd have no one else.

Prompto knew better than to expect him to acquiesce to his request. His best friend was a jerk like that. He was pretty easy to tease sometimes, and Noct was good at finding the topics that riled him up.

He didn't particularly mind, after all, they'd been friends for five years yet.

"Yeah, well, too bad I'm keeping it." He stuck his tongue out playfully at Noct.

Excellent. Because as much of a jerk move it is, it... was good. To see him cheer up a little bit. And that tongue stuck out at him earned Prompto a roll of the eyes. Really, Prom? Really?

Yet he was glad for it, despite how immature it was.

Silly and immature and beneath them definitely, but it helped ease some of the tension in the room, some of the sadness that was hovering over them like a shroud. Prompto was used to casting those kinds of feelings aside, to push the light through the clouds and this was too much for him, at least, until he'd processed it.

"I can't wrap my head around this Noct. It's just...sorry, I know it should be you and I'm terrible for being so.." Affected, at least, in front of Noct who had his own problem.

"Sorry. I should be focused on you and not-" He shook his head. He had find some of that light, that inner burst of sunshine he seemed to carry around with him.

Noctis listened quietly. Listened, as one of his closest friends tried to form the words but trailed off both times. His gaze fell briefly, glancing at the bracelets for but a few seconds. Of course it affected him. Why wouldn't it? After all, they...

"Prompto." He said at last, calm and measured. At least, as calm as he could get. "I know. It's a lot to take in at once." Or at all, really. Yet he smiled faintly, trying when Prompto could not. "And I'm glad- that you're being honest with me on this."

And so many other things. Noctis sighed, gaze attempting to meet Prompto's again. "It's hard to ask about someone else's pain, but so much harder to talk about your own." Which, is why he never said anything in the first place. "So, don't worry if you can't right away. It's been a month and I still can't..."

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