Hello, friends! :)
New installment for this series! It's shorter than the other works for sure, but this is in response to AyaKagami's prompt: "Just something along the lines of what he would do if his kids had nightmares and or suffered from being afraid of the dark or monsters in the closet."
Weeeeeeelllllll, I intended for this fic to be a little more fluffy what with the girls being so adorable, but since it's almost Halloween and I almost never write horror (which...I still wouldn't classify this as horror), this came about at literally 1:30 in the morning. Darn you, brain!
Prompts are still and always welcome :) you're more than welcome to drop the prompt in a comment here/PM me!
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XV. Diana and Dawn are original characters.
Noctis Lucis Caelum sniffed, stifling a yawn the best he could. Next to him, Lunafreya was busy pouring over a few old books and cross-referencing the information she found, occasionally making notes in the notebook next to her. He didn't want to dissuade her or slow her down; it was late, and she had that important meeting tomorrow. If he yawned outright, he knew, from all the years that Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis had complained, that she would yawn too because yawning was a social mirroring tactic he found himself using all too often these days in court or in public appearances he didn't want to make. And if she yawned, she would come to terms with how tired she was, but she wasn't done with her research. It would completely defeat the purpose of him staying up with her for moral support.
Back to square one.
He knew he wouldn't last for very long, but his stubbornness in helping his wife any way he could ensured that he at least tried his best to stay awake even though he was very obviously nodding off. In fact, Noctis was almost all the way gone when their chamber door almost slammed open to reveal their older daughter, black hair askew, stuffed Pryna in one hand. She was no more than five, clutching her doll and her sister's hand in her free hand. Little Dawn was rubbing her eyes sleepily standing next to Diana, her three-year-old frame swaying just slightly.
Seeing the distressed look on her face, Noctis was immediately awake. "Is something wrong, sweetheart?"
Diana looked up at the worried gazes of both her parents, her blue eyes widening a little. She shuffled forward into the room, sister in tow. "Daddy, I don't wanna go sleep."
"Why not?" Noctis asked, brushing back the hair from her face and picking Dawn up off the floor. The little girl was out like a light.
His oldest hesitated for a moment. "There's a funny man with a hat inside our closet."
Oh. The parenting books had covered this. He knew how to solve this problem.
Wordlessly, Noctis and Luna exchanged a look- while they had been prepared for this, Diana had never presented this as an issue. She had never been afraid of the dark, never complained about monsters under her bed. Holding out his hand, Noctis gave his daughter a soft smile.
"Come on, I'll tuck you in."
Diana walked over to Luna, who gave her a hug and dropped a kiss on her forehead, before she followed her father out into the hallway, doing her best to match her steps with his deliberately small strides, holding tightly onto his hand. Her and Dawn's room were just across the hall from their parents', and Noctis had to push open the door with his side while trying not to jostle Dawn awake. Astrals knew that while Diana was the calm child, Dawn could be fussy and temperamental if she was woken up. To his relief, she stayed asleep, and he tucked her in with no difficulty at all as Diana climbed into her own bed, her little hands pulling her comforter around herself and her stuffed Pryna.
"Still afraid?" Noctis asked gently, sitting down at the edge of her bed and brushing her bangs back. Diana cast a fearful look in the direction of her and Dawn's closet, nodding. Her father just smiled. "Can you tell me about this funny man in a hat?"
There was a frown on her lips, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to comprehend why her father would ever ask such a question. "He's got…a hat," the girl started slowly. "And funny hair. His eyes look funny too. He has a weird jacket. Sometimes he just stays in the closet. I think there was one time he was talking."
Noctis looked warily back at the closet door, but was reassured when he could see that there was absolutely nothing there. His magic wasn't tingling or warning him. Diana and Dawn were safe. Giving her a small smile, he gently pressed her shoulders back until his daughter was lying down, and he pulled the comforter up to her chin.
"There's no funny man in the closet," he told her soothingly, gently combing his fingers through her hair. "Daddy's here."
"Is Daddy gonna kill all the monsters in the closet?" Diana asked, yawning.
"And the ones under the bed," Noctis joked. He immediately regretted it when her eyes flew open.
"There are monsters under the bed?" she squeaked, almost sitting up straight if it wasn't for her father pushing her back down.
"No, honey." Noctis put his hand on her forehead, dropping a kiss there. "As long as I'm here, I'll protect you, okay?"
Diana relaxed after that. "Will you stay until I'm sleeping, Daddy?"
A smile. "Of course."
"I love you," she murmured sleepily.
Another smile. He gently kissed her cheek, looking fondly at his firstborn daughter. "I love you too."
Her eyes drifted shut, and it took her a while, but Noctis counted the seconds it took for her to actually fall asleep, until her breathing evened out, and she stopped stirring. His eyebrows furrowed then, and he let out a low whistle, one he knew would be heard. Umbra and Pryna trotted into the room just a moment later, the door having not been shut entirely when he had walked in. The two dogs sat down as his feet, and he gave them both quick pats and scratches behind the ears.
"Watch over them," Noctis whispered.
Both Pryna and Umbra let out short, high-pitched whines of understanding and lay in the space between the two Princesses' beds. Noctis looked back at both his daughters and made sure their comforters were tucked under their chins before he turned off the light on the nightstand that was in between both their beds. Satisfied, he stood up to leave when he heard the dogs suddenly growling. And it wasn't just Pryna, it was Umbra too- but they were growling at nothing, save for the empty room and the closet door.
He stilled, a cold dread suddenly washing over him before it faded, logic and rationale kicking in. There was no one in their closet, he was sure of it.
But was he really? Taking a deep breath, Noctis walked over, hearing Pryna and Umbra's growls grow louder the closer he got until their furs were practically bristling just as he got to the door.
Deep breath.
He wrenched the door open to see- nothing. There was nothing there, and he let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Despite the fact that he had now verified there was nothing there, the dogs refused to back down, instead walking over and placing themselves in between the closet and Dawn and Diana before they let their growls die down. Noctis slowly closed the closet door, letting his heartbeat slow from its involuntary marathon. He thought he felt for one moment his magic picked up on something, a tiny ripple, but there was nothing there. Everything was still. As far as he was concerned, it was going to stay that way. Nothing was going to happen to his daughters.
He turned back to face Umbra and Pryna, gave them both last pats, both dogs letting out another whine, and then walked out the door, closing it gently behind him.