It has been a long time since King Noctis Lucis Caelum has been frustrated.
The last time he could think of was when he first met his wife. Fierce and uncaring of who he was, she right out punched him upon their first meeting. And while he still debates whether that punch was deserved, it damn well hurt. And who she was as a person was just frustrating to deal with. Even he still found it miraculous that they fell in love, most frustrations with each other long passed.
But now he faced a new a challenge.
A new frustration.
For the little light of his life, his dear little princess and daughter Lumina, has asked for a treehouse.
Now as king, Noctis was very happy to say he can get almost everything his children wanted (minus riding Odin as his wife did once before, or a real pet red dragon named Zaltys). But a pet frog named Rana, easy and for sure. A chocobo ride, peace of cake. Bounce house in the gala, pushing it but yet, possible. And though it did end with the bounce house popping and scattering little plastic balls all over the place, it was worth it to see her laughing and happy.
A treehouse was easily in his power. He even had the very tree in mind to host it for his children. A tree he, Gladiolus, and Ignis all used to play around when they were very little. They climbed high into those branches, they ate snacks and napped upon the roots, and Ignis adored reading there. And now, about two decades later, it was still healthy and strong.
It would be a perfect place for their children.
But, as easily as he could just hire some people to build it, Noctis decided not to. There were few things a king could actually give that isn't through money and power. He wanted this to be one of the few gifts that he worked for, and to hear their pride and awe to see just what their father made for them.
Even a king has a right to this as any other father.
He would build the treehouse for them himself, like any other father could.
Only the king was quick to learn that it wasn't as easy as he thought.
Which lead to his current predicament.
For the damn tools won't work with him!
Gritting his teeth, Noctis tries for the fifth time to get the nail screwed in with the weighted screw driver in hand. The tool hummed and the nail jiggled under it before zooming out from under it, letting the tool that was resting on it dive down and dig into the wood, scratching what was once a fresh clean peice. Now covered in a total of five scratches.
Noctis glared at the board, trembling slightly as his temper and impatience started to flare. For almost thirty minutes he's been struggling with trying to get these two boards nailed together. An Etro long thirty minutes.
It should not be taking this long!
And be this difficult!
"Want help yet?" Lightning called from where she was lounging on the steps, slowly flipping through a book. Beside her were their children, playing with the toys they got for them.
Lumina, currently seven, clutched her favorite toy, a red wingless stuffed dragon named Zaltys that Noctis got for her when she was having nightmares. With his mouth, she had the dragon toss little toy soldiers and barbies away, laughing evilly when she had him rip the heads off both. Upon her pink hair sat the royal pet Rana, blinking her dark eyes at the show before her. Occasionally she tried to eat a few plastic soldiers before spitting them back out.
Beside her was their only son, young Saevio, clapping as he watched the toys go flying. Words flew past his bubbly lips. "Hiyar! Hiyar!" the pink haired prince encouraged, his teal eyes alight with the dragon's antics.
It was like the three year old was having a time of his life.
The youngest and newest addition to their family, Averia, the only one to inherit Noctis' hair color, giggled beside her older brother, her similar teal bright as they followed each toy. The infant moved to crawl towards the smaller soldiers, only to be drawn away by Lightning. "Not for you," she told her, setting her in her lap, not minding as the dark haired toddler started to suck on her pink hair, her eyes still locked on the flying toys.
Lumina, noting her father's silence, paused Zaltys' destruction to call out, "Need help daddy?"
Rana echoed her with a croak, making Saevio and Averia squeal.
"I'm fine!" Noctis insisted curtly, earning a giggle from the two pinkettes, and smirk from the queen. To her children she whispered he's not, making Lumina smirk. Saevio only blinked, not old enough to understand quite yet.
Lightning sat back to watch the show, readjusting Averia so she wouldn't pull at her hair. Honestly, if only her husband accepted her help, the tree house would have been done ages ago. Maybe even before noon.
But he was set to do this himself…
But she's sure he'd crack soon.
All she had to do was wait.
Setting the drill away and completely done with using that wiggly tool, he settled with the next best tool to nail with: the classic hammer. This will get the job done!
Grasping that pesky nail, and shooting his queen a confident smirk, the king was sure he had it this time. Sometimes it was best just to go old school after all. Holding the nail securely, he brought the hammer down, swift and sure.
"Yow!" went out his call, making children jump while Lightning shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Hit the top of the nail, not your thumb," she called.
"I didn't hit my thumb!" he snapped back, turning away to suck on his throbbing thumb, making sure he wasn't seen. He wondered if it was possibly broken…
"You ok daddy?" Lumina calls.
"Ok?" Saevio echoed.
"Aaaoooh?" Averia cooed.
"Fine! Fine," Noctis reassured, happy to have such sweet children. Be even sweeter if Light showed some concern, but from where she sat playing with Averia, she wasn't even paying that much attention to him. But he knew better.
She was waiting for him to admit defeat.
Which wasn't going to happen.
Or shouldn't, anyway.
He was the King of Lucis. The Master of the Crystal, Champion of Etro, Savior of Lucis, Avenger, and Godslayer; he could build a tree house. Without his' wife's help.
Glaring at the hammer, he tossed it away.
He was done with these boards.
"Are you done?" Lumina asked, tilting her head as she eyed the tossed away hammer. Rana jumped off her head, hopping towards the king. Lightning looked up, raising a brow at him.
"No sweetie," he reassured with a wave, "Daddy's going to try something else."
Lightning scoffed, "This I have to see."
Shooting her a look, he scoffed back and turned to the tree. He was probably working on the boards too quickly. Measurements. He should do measurements first. Get a feel where to put the wood, how it would fit into the tree. And get a break for his fingers and temper.
The last thing he needs is for his kids to see him snap.
"Wish me luck Rana," he cooed down to the little frog. She turned her dark eyes up at him, before hopping by and towards the pond.
Walking up to the tree, remembering how he used to practically race up and leap into those branches, Noctis planned to follow his youth's steps. But has he grasped the branches and pulled himself up, he stiffened when he heard one groan.
Right under his feet…
Snap!
Two loud gasps rang out in the garden as Noctis gripped a branch hard, dangling half a foot above the ground, a broken branch hanging uselessly beside him.
"Da broke the tweeeee!" Saevio bemoaned in horror, while Lumina gaped. Averia giggled in Lightning's lap.
"You ok Noctis?" Lightning called while he just hung there stiffly.
"Fine," he managed out, trying to pull himself up, and froze when this branch started to creak.
Don't you dare—snap.
Lightning winced as the king fell back on his rear. Beside her, the kids gaped once more, Saevio worried, uttered, "He bwoke de twee again!" What if it could not host a house?
Setting Averia beside Lumina, with a strict order to keep an eye on her, Lightning walked up to her husband, still sitting on his rear, gazing into ground. "It can hold a tree house," she told him, bending over to eye his expression. "You just grabbed weaker branches—"
"I know," he cuts in.
"You know we can probably get this—"
"Honey, I got this," he huffed, "I got this."
"Alright," she huffed back, "let me know if you want any help though… I've done plenty of this stuff before—"
"I know you have," he cuts in, "but I want to give them something from… me. You got them each a necklace, made them yourself. Can't I make them something?"
Eyeing him for a minute, she shrugged. "You can, though you're not going to get very far on your own—"
"I'll get help," he states, getting up and dusting off his clothes. "From experts."
"Experts," she repeated. "You really think you're friends know how to build a tree house better than me?"
"Ignis can get exact measurements done, Gladiolus can do most of the heavy lifting, I can climb—"
"Oh yes you're a real monkey."
"And Prompto, being a commoner and needing to do stuff himself, probably knows how to use these tools better than anyone. Maybe he's just as good as you."
Lightning raised a high brow.
Noctis smirked. "I think we'll make it."
"I gotta record this," Lightning decided as Noctis turned to reassure his kids that they're tree house was on the way, their uncles were dropping by to help, much to their excitement.
Together they stood, staring at the tree of their childhood (minus Prompto). They were going to build a house in a tree. A place for all their children to hang and overlook one of the gardens of the Caelum's manor. It was going to be a project worth doing.
Holding up a rolled up parchment, Ignis stated the first order of business. "We'll need to make sure it's safe." His daughter Ilythia was not going near an unstable house a few feet above the ground. The accidents that could happen were cringing.
"And big," Gladiolus adds, thinking of his daughter and three sons. They needed lots of room to move around and climb.
"And maybe add a few secret doors or something," Prompto piped, knowing how much Niel and Laraine love hide and seek, and sniping. "And some locks." His kids liked practicing with locks.
"And make sure it's perfect," the king declared, wanting the best for his heirs.
And to show his queen that he could totally handle this.
"Alright lets do this thing!" Prompto hooted, grabbing a drill, nails, and getting ready to make the frame.
Ignis stopped him. "First we need to plan it out," the adviser insisted.
Prompto rolled his eyes, "Aw come on Ig. Just going to make the outline base."
"How big?"
"Dunno, seven foot by six. It doesn't need to be big.
"We want bigger," the king insisted.
Prompto raised a blonde brow. "Believe me, they're not going to play on this when they're in their teens."
"Grandchildren," Gladiolus points out.
"And we have a lot of kids to put up there," Noctis points out. "We'll need a lot of room."
"And offer ways of escape," Ignis adds.
"Yeah, a ladder."
"Just one ladder? With all the kids we have? Come on Prompto... I was thinking we could make a bridge," Noctis pipes.
Gladious beamed, narrowing his eyes playfully. "How about a bungee jump?" His kids would love that.
"That tree isn't big enough to install a bungee jump. Plus it would be exceedingly dangerous!"
"Yeah," Prompto said, "you don't want to make it complicated too. A few ladders and a slide would be just fine."
"But that seems so... simple."
"We could add stuff," Noctus hummed. His eyes widened at a thought. "How about an Odin swing right here?" he asked, tapping on the drawing Ignis had down. Now his oldest could ride Odin as much as she wanted. "Also we'll need a spot where Rana can hang out-"
"No offense Highness, but I highly doubt they would bring a frog up there."
"I would! Rana is a lovely and charming royal frog. She doesn't need to be restricted to her cage all the time. And if Lumi wants her up there, she can be up there."
"We'll need extensions cords," Ignis sighs, "and something to keep from getting wet in the rain, and..."
"So," Fang mused, leaning back in her seat, rubbing her swell belly, "how long do you think it'll take for them to get this tree house done?"
"If they keep it simple, a few days."
"You know they're not going to keep it simple."
Lightning hummed in agreement, watching the boys plan and offer all they want to include on that tree house. No doubt they were over complicating a simple plan, when a small house in a tree would be enough to amuse the children as they added their own touches over time, evidently it wasn't meant to be. They all, the nobles at least, had their own idea and inclusion to the tree house.
It was probably only Prompto who knew to keep it simple...
Though the queen was sure that the thief couldn't resist adding something for his kids.
Still, his ideas were probably going to be the simplest.
Maybe even the easiest add on for the house.
"I wonder if they'll end up hiring someone," Light muses, glancing over at the children to check on them. Lumina was playing with the twins, Saevio watching while Averia sucked on his shirt, also pretty attentive. Era stood as far away from them as possible, wishfully scrolling down her iPad, peering at pictures of the wilderness, of Oerba.
Someone was excited for a trip back.
"They might," Fang snickered, "I can't see how they'll get anything done. Not in a few days anyway." She cackled when her husband decided to finally start working, accidentally hitting Ignis in the back of his head with a board. "I think this is going to be a fun day," Fang purred, rubbing her belly once more. Perking when she felt a kick. "Oooh? Looks like someone agrees with me."
Lightning shared her chuckle as the adviser exploded on the sheepish commander. "Almost time isn't?" the queen asked.
"It is," Fang purred, "this month for sure. I feel like it'll be this week or the next- Val! Share your toys!"
"But it's mine!" the six year old snapped, trying to tug his bear out of young Averia's grip. The young princess held strong, growling at him as she was dragged along. She was not letting go of that bear. Not without a fight. Even as the boy started to lift her off the ground. As an act of revenge, she started to suck on the bear's foot, making it soggy and gross.
Valen's face went red. "Mooooom!"
Sighing, Light got up and scooped her dark haired toddler up, easily separating her from the bear. Before the child could wail, Light cooed, "Come on Avii, probably your nap town now."
The green eyed child squirmed and grimaced, making a face at the mention of nap, not sharing her father's fondness of sleep, and that she lost the toy bear. Valen was equally upset, staring at the dripping foot in disgust. He stuck his tongue at the retreating princess, infuriating her wail and kick as the queen whisked her away.
Unsatisfied that she was only getting a nap, the boy turned to his mom, holding up his ruined bear and grumbling, "She ruined it!"
Fang arced a brow at the boy, stating, "You should have shared."
"She was going to suck on the foot anyway!"
"And you still need to learn to share." She sighed at his pout, and eased, "We'll wash it when we get home, k?" Satisfied that his bear would be saved from the drooly stain the princess left, he turned back to his friends just in time to hear Lumina's plan of being the hero, Arco the prince to be saved, Saevio the dragon, and him the knight who always fails.
AND ARCO WAS AGREEING WITH HER!
"Hey I don't want my butt kicked!" Valen whined, cutting into the princess' plans.
Fang rolled her eyes and leant back, shaking her head as she watched the children squabble and plan, well, most of them. Ever quiet Saevio just observed. Looking past them, she saw Era still flipping through pictures. She called to her oldest, "Era! Come and sit with me!"
The ten year old paused, turning her green eyes to her mom, considering. Fang persisted, patting the seat next to her.
With a sigh, Era took the queen's seat, watching her dad trying to work with the others in setting the tree house up. She wrinkled her nose when she heard the kids squeal, too loud for her mood. Fang probed her shoulder, smirking. "Exciting huh?" Fang offered, watching as they tried to drill the wood into the wood. Era raised a brow, turning her green eyes up to her mom. "Couldn't you and Aunt Light get this done in a day?"
"We could," Fang admits.
"Then why aren't you working on this?"
"Its a gift fathers wanted to give to their children. It's not exactly something to butt into. Not until we're asked."
The ten year old huffed, lounging back and grimacing as she watched them try and figure it out. "You can ask to help them," Fang voiced. "You're dad would be delighted to work on the project with you."
"I'm a little old for a tree house."
"And you're a little young for an attitude," Fang returned.
"I rather go back to Oerba."
"We will," Fang promised, "in a few months for sure, after Naerys is born."
"Dad probably wouldn't be coming with us," Era notes, watching them try and figure out how to get the base on the tree. Uncle Prompto had suggestions, but Uncle Ignis heard ways of wasting wood.
Dad and Uncle Noctis were just ready to move onto the next step.
"If you reeeeaaally wanted too, you could enjoy the tree house too," Fang said, leaning over and waggling her brows at her only daughter. Era made a face, and frowned as she considered it, eyeing the tree that the house was going to be built around. "Maybe," Era admits, "depends on how big it is... and cool looking. I'm not going on something that looks flimsy."
Fang chuckled, "I highly doubt they would leave if looking flimsy." Even if they did wind up building it like it was, they would have it quickly corrected. All of them, even stick in the mud Ignis and the devil may care thief, greatly cared about appearances, looking cool and appealing.
Make sense that a tree house for their kids should too.
Else it just wouldn't fit.
Another loud squeal caught their attention, making Era scoffed to see Arco now keeping a toy away from Valen. "Arc, Val, I am getting tired of this, when are you going to learn to share!" Era seethed, stomping over to settle the dispute.
"Hey Fang," the queen piped, coming up behind the two, "you want a drink? I think the guys are just about ready to strip."
Fang turned and smirked.
Yes, they were just about to strip. It was now in the high afternoon, Prompto and Ignis were busy trying to plan and measure, while Noctis and Gladiolus were working in the hot afternoon sun, wearing black...
"Don't mind if I do," Fang bid, her grin widening as her husband never failed to please. He was the first to toss his dark shirt away.
Fang was really liking this project.
After all day, they only got the base frame up.
Noctis was... disappointed to say in the least with this progress.
And they weren't even sure if they were satisfied with the size! Prompto and Ignis both had different ideas on how big the house should be, how far out the floor should go, how it'll be supported, how they'll get in and out...
It was a much more complicated mess than the king expected.
And it costs his children another day without a tree house.
"Wine?" his wife asked, offering him a glass of dark red liquid. She stared up at what they had so far while he accepted it, sipping it slowly. "If it helps, you did better than I thought you would," she offered.
Noctis choked a little, shooting her a slight glare before grumbling something under his breathe.
"Are you going to keep this size?" she asked.
"Maybe."
"You don't really have a set plan do you."
"Ignis and Prompto have it covered."
"And you have no idea what to add?"
"They know what I want. Believe me Light, we got this covered. It'll... be done by the end of week."
His queen raised a brow at this, eyeing up the house's base.
"Alright," she said, not offering tips he wouldn't want to hear. "Let me know if you want any help."
"Believe me, you'll be pleasantly surprised with what we accomplished."
"I'll hold you to that," Lightning warned.
Noctis smirked. "And I wouldn't have any other way." Not only would she be baffled by their success, his kids would be proud and excited to see what he made for them. And it would last them a long time, be a perfect hang out, and... it'll just be perfect.
But his wife was right, they will need a more set plan.
"I think that's a good size base for it," Lightning offered.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I think everyone will fit. Just got to make sure that floor is well supported. Big enough to maybe have a balcony."
They could? Yeah... it looks like they could...
"I'll be right back," Noctis excused, pulling out his cell and dialing up Ignis. Lightning stayed behind, eyeing the starting tree house. The base really did come out better than she expected. So far well supported, they could stand on top the boards without it giving from under their feet.
Maybe they could pull it off.
Like Noctis had insisted, it took a week.
After much research, debates, bruises, experiments, and many, many arguments. It was done. And big enough for even an adult to stand and lounge in it. There were three entry ways, two slides, a swing, and steps that went higher and higher up to the tree so the kids could clamor up as high as they wanted.
Noctis beamed in pride at the silent awe of his family before him, his wife surprised, his kids awed.
The king was delighted.
And it was worth each and every bandaid that covered his cheek, and knuckles, and fingers, and foot...
It was all worth it.
And there was even a place where sweet little Rana could hang!
"I'm going up first!" Lumina exclaimed, dashing away towards the new house, eager to explore everything her father and uncles included. She had to be fast in her exploration as her friends would be arriving soon.
The pink haired prince slowly came up the tree house, observing it in curious wonder before trailing after his sister to see the inside.
"You did it," Lightning uttered finally, holding Averia steady.
"I did," he echoed, giddy with pride.
She laughed, "Well, I, I'm impressed Noct. With how much cursing I was hearing, and shouting... I was starting to think you guys were going to ask for help, but you didn't. You, you actually did it."
"I should record this," the king teased, "Queen Lightning Farron shocked and wrong."
"Shut up," she grumbled, rolling her eyes while he laughed. "So, what's the next big project?"
"Now? Well, the plan is to never touch another nail for as long as I live. So, would my lady like to be the first to come upon this hard worked masterpiece?"
"I would," she bid, taking his hand and following their two oldest towards the tree house.