This follows directly after What Lies Below, so I recommend reading that first! I wasn't going to expand any more on this particular headcanon, but the response over at AO3 was so positive, I wound up doing so anyways. I really love this headcanon, honestly. I don't know where I'm going with any of this, though, so I'll probably just write random fics about it as they come to me. If you're on AO3, it's in a series over there, so it'll be a little easier to keep up with. My username on AO3 is zanarkand, and I'm using the pseud Caelum to post my FFXV fics there.
The First Day
Instead of his alarm, Cor's woken at five in the morning by the shrill sound of a baby's cries. He takes a groggy moment to wonder when his neighbours had a kid, before he realises the sound is way too close to be coming from the next door apartment. He sits up, and stares blankly down at the small child in his bed next to him, sobbing his little heart out. It doesn't take long for it to come back to him. The knock, Sophia, his promise.
Prompto.
He sighs, scrubbing a hand over tired eyes, and wonders what the hell he's supposed to do with a baby. He's not good with children, doesn't know how to act around them, or take care of them. He's never planned to have children of his own, despite his mother's constant nagging for him to settle down soon and give her grandchildren. She can't understand that he's married to his job, and he likes it that way. He enjoys the company of both men and women from time to time, but a relationship is an entanglement he has no interest in.
Prompto's wails get louder, and Cor groans, getting out of bed and picking the child up. He thinks back to the times he'd seen Regis with baby Noctis over the past year, and after a moment awkwardly begins to rock Prompto. "It's okay," he tells the child, trying to ignore how stupid he currently feels. "Don't cry."
Gods, but he is terrible at this. Still, after a bit Prompto's cries do taper off, and eventually he's nestled quietly in Cor's arms, looking up at him with watery eyes. The child's eyes are a brilliant blue. Yet another way he looks just like his mother. He feels a stab of sorrow for his old childhood friend.
Prompto shifts in Cor's arms, and resolutely he shoves all thoughts of Sophia away. There will be time to mourn later. Right now he has a one year old to take care of.
He deals with work first, bypassing the usual order of things to call Regis directly. The king will know he's lying, but that's precisely why Cor calls him. He never lies, and for him to be doing so to the king directly means Regis will know it's something serious, and hopefully not question him too deeply.
"Food poisoning," Regis says, and Cor can just imagine the raised eyebrows that go along with the sense of befuddlement in his tone.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Cor tells him. "It's bad. I may be out for a few days."
There's a silence, long enough that Cor begins to sweat, wondering if he'd miscalculated, but finally, finally Regis responds. "Very well," he says. "I'll let the Crownsguard know. Keep me updated."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," he says, and waits for Regis to end the call on his end before he lowers the phone. He breaths out in relief, and looks at the child now sitting on his sofa. "Well, Prompto, that's one issue dealt with," he says, and the boy gives him a wide grin, letting Cor catch sight of the single tooth he has in the upper right side of his mouth. The sight tugs at Cor's heartstrings, and he thinks again of raising the child for himself.
He knows he can't, however. He doesn't have the time, and though he trusts Regis enough to tell him at least some of the truth, he doesn't trust anyone else, and even Regis would be hard-pressed to deal with the cry for blood that would emerge if it got out that Niflheim turned babies into MTs, and there was one in Insomnia's midst.
He sinks down into the sofa, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on, and tries to figure out what to do next. Prompto crawls over to him, climbing in his lap, reaching out chubby arms to pat at Cor's chest, babbling happily. He doesn't seem to be able to talk yet, and Cor's not sure if that's concerning. Prince Noctis had said his first word at nine months, a fact that Regis made sure everyone in the Citadel knew.
He wishes he could ask for Regis' help now. Regis has taken to parenthood with amazing ease, knowing instinctively how to handle Noct's every cry and mood change. He'd probably know just how to deal with Prompto. Unfortunately, Cor knows he can't risk it, not right now. He'll have to figure this out alone.
He's not even sure what babies need. Food, obviously, and probably diapers, maybe a bottle still...? Definitely clothes, given that he's dressed in ones that are little more than rags. Probably some kind of toy to keep him occupied. A trip to a department store is definitely going to be needed, but he's uncertain how to manage that. He can't leave the kid alone in his apartment while he goes out, but he risks being spotted by people he knows if he goes to the store with the kid in tow.
Although... Insomnia's a big city. If he goes to a store in an area he doesn't frequent, he'll probably be fine. "How about it, Prompto?" he asks, suddenly decided. "You wanna take a trip with me?" He reaches out, placing a gentle hand on top of the baby's head, briefly stroking his fingers through the soft, fine hair. Prompto giggles and looks up at Cor's face, his eyes shining. Cor firmly tells himself he can't get attached. He can't keep this kid.
x x x
The first obstacle he runs into is that he doesn't have a car seat. He stands there for a long moment of indecision, Prompto wriggling restlessly in his arms. The car's a Crownsguard issue, one of the latest, and it's pretty sturdy, made to withstand a lot of damage and protect its passengers, but he's pretty sure the makers never factored in one-year olds without car seats.
Finally, realising he has little choice, he straps Prompto into the back seat as tightly as possible, adjacent to him so he can glance back and keep an eye on the kid from time to time. He'll just drive slow.
The second obstacle he runs into is at the store—he has no idea what to get. He and Prompto had managed to make it across town without any mishaps, and Cor had spotted a store that seemed geared towards selling just baby things, but now that they're both in it and surrounded by everything a baby could possibly need, he feels at a loss. He stands uncertainly in the middle of the aisles, constantly looking around in indecision and absently rocking Prompto from time to time, until finally an employee takes pity.
"Can I help you with anything, sir?" she asks politely as she approaches him.
"Ah—" he looks at her. She's young, probably about his age, and has a warm, friendly smile on her face. It puts him at ease, and makes him feel a little less embarrassed to admit he's totally clueless. "Yes," he decides, nodding at her. "This boy came into my care last night, and I'm not sure what to get him."
She looks at Prompto, who gives her a toothy grin, and smiles. "How adorable!" she says. "How old is he?"
"One. His name is Prompto," he adds.
"Well, what kinds of things are you looking to get Prompto?" she asks him.
"Everything. He was given to me with only the clothes he's wearing now."
She arches her eyebrows in surprise. "Well," she says, looking towards the front of the store. "The first thing you're going to need is a shopping cart."
Three hours later, he staggers towards the row of registers, feeling a little shell-shocked, the young woman who had helped him following behind him, pushing his cart. He had no idea babies needed that many things. Prompto's fallen asleep in his arms, and Cor's just glad he seems to be a quiet baby—Prince Noctis is a fussy thing, and Cor doesn't know if he could handle it if Prompto turned out to be the same way.
When the total comes, it makes him wince, but he pays it without a second thought. Prompto needs these things, and Cor thinks it'll give the boy a better chance of being adopted if the family doesn't have to immediately spend a ton of money on him. At the car, he straps Prompto into the new car seat he's just bought, and then settles in for the thirty minute drive back to his apartment.
x x x
Prompto's wailing—screaming, really—at the top of his lungs, and Cor has no idea what to do. He's fed the kid, bathed him, gotten him in clean clothes and a new diaper, given him toys to play with, rocked him... none of it's working. Prompto's been crying and screaming for the past twenty minutes, and if he weren't feeling so frazzled he'd be impressed by the set of lungs the child has on him. He's sure that if he doesn't get the boy settled down soon, some of his neighbours are going to be over here complaining.
A knock sounds at the door just then, and Cor sighs. Speak of daemons, and they show up. Leaving Prompto to his sobs, he goes over to get the door, hoping he can placate the neighbours enough to leave. Or possibly intimidate them with his position in the Crownsguard until they flee in terror, whichever works.
But when he pulls open the door, it's not a disgruntled neighbour standing there. It's the king himself, craning his neck curiously to look past Cor at the playpen that's now in the middle of Cor's small living room.
"Y-your Majesty," Cor says, flustered. "What are you doing here?" He winces at how accusing that sounds, but it's unusual for the king to leave the Citadel outside of official business, much less show up on Cor's doorstep.
"Food poisoning, Cor?" Regis asks, mild amusement lacing his tone.
"Ah, perhaps not—" Belatedly, he realises he's leaving the king to stand outside in the chill November air, and hastily steps aside, sweeping an arm to invite Regis in.
Regis takes the invitation, stepping in and heading straight for the playpen, where Prompto's still crying noisily. Cor shuts the door behind the king and watches him, making no move to step in. Regis spends a few minutes soothing the boy, and though Prompto's sobs don't stop altogether, they do lessen into something quieter and less desperate sounding, easing the ache in Cor's head a little.
"He's teething," Regis says, looking up at Cor. "You need to get him a teething ring."
"I have one, somewhere..." He digs through the bags of stuff he'd dumped on the sofa to deal with later, finally finding the small plastic ring the young lady had placed in his cart. He stares at it blankly for a moment, then hands it over to Regis, clueless.
Regis extracts it from the packaging, and then gives it to Prompto, who immediately sticks it between his lips, mouthing at it, his sobs at last tapering off. Cor sighs in relief, shifting the bags to the floor so he can sink down into the cushions. "How did you know?" he asks curiously.
Regis smiles at him, coming over to take a seat next to Cor, settling Prompto in his lap. "The tooth's beginning to poke through."
"Oh." Cor closes his eyes, feeling weary. He hadn't noticed at all. It reminds him how bad he is at this parenting thing, reinforcing why he absolutely can't keep the boy. He feels a warm weight in his lap then, and opens his eyes again to see Prompto's crawled onto him, still gnawing away at the soft ring in his mouth. He sighs, loosely wrapping his arms around the boy to keep him from falling or moving around too much.
"I came to see what was so important it would keep you from work for a few days," Regis says quietly, his voice serious now. "This is certainly not something I expected to find."
"I can explain."
"By all means."
Yet now that he's offered, Cor's not sure how to. He absolutely can't explain about the barcode, and what he suspects it means, but even telling Regis that Prompto is from Niflheim is risky. And if he mentions Sophia at all, Regis is sure to figure that much out—he's never spoke of it, but Cor knows he's always been aware of her flight to Niflheim, and how much it hurt Cor to lose his childhood friend. "His name's Prompto," he finally says. That much is probably safe.
Regis waits patiently, but when it's clear that no more is forthcoming, he speaks. "He's not yours," he says, with just a touch of uncertainty.
Cor shakes his head, looking down at the small child in his lap. He has no idea who the boy's father is. Sophia had said so little, and he'd been too shocked by the events to really try and question her on anything before she'd left. "I don't know who the father is," he says honestly.
"And the mother?"
Cor looks back up at the king, hesitating. "I can't say."
The king's silent a moment, studying the boy. Prompto's cuddled up comfortably against Cor's stomach, a bit of drool trailing down his chin as he chews on the teething ring. His blue eyes are bright with wonderment as he stares back at the king, and the freckles across his nose stand out starkly in contrast to his pale skin. "He reminds me of a young Sophia," Regis muses quietly. Cor says nothing, though he knows his silence says just as much as words could. "How old is he?"
"One. And a month, give or take." There'd been a scrap of paper wrapped up in the cloths with him, that Cor had found last night. Sophia's handwriting had filled it. Prompto, had been written. M.E. 735. October 25. Gralea, Niflheim. He can only assume the date is Prompto's birthday.
"What do you plan to do with him?"
"I..." Unconsciously, he reaches out, running gentle fingers through Prompto's soft hair. He's not really aware of the movement, too focused on his conversation with Regis. "I'm hoping to find a family to adopt him," he says reluctantly. It's so tempting, to say he'll keep the boy and raise him. Cor doesn't even know why, really. He could blame it on the child being Sophia's, but he doesn't think that's it. There's just something about Prompto—looking at him raises all kinds of protective emotions and paternal instincts Cor's never before had, and it's confusing, and terrifying, but he's so drawn to this small boy that the thought of giving him up is even more terrifying than keeping him.
Regis watches him for a bit, his green eyes taking everything in. "You wish to keep him."
"I cannot," he replies immediately. "It wouldn't be fair to him."
"You would hardly be the first member of the Crownsguard to be a parent," Regis points out, but Cor shakes his head.
"He deserves a family that would have time for him, and would take good care of him."
The king sighs at his words, but doesn't try to convince him otherwise. "Am I to assume you wish the time off to find him a family, then?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," he says, slipping back into formality at the business-like tone suddenly present in the king's words.
Regis waves it away. "No need for that," he says absently. "How soon do you think you can find him one?"
"I'm not sure," Cor admits slowly. He thinks about it. "I have some idea of where to start, but I'll need to be discreet, and go through some people... A week, perhaps? I know that's asking for a lot, but—"
He's interrupted by Regis holding up a hand. "The Crownsguard can survive without you for a week," he says, his eyes sparkling with amusement. A hint of a grin tugs at his mouth. "Clarus can find someone to cover for you, if necessary. They won't fall apart in your absence, Cor, I assure you."
Cor gives him a disgruntled look, choosing not to dignify that with a response.
Regis laughs outright, then, and stands. He reaches out to tousle Prompto's hair, smiling at the baby. "I shall take my leave then," he says. "Find him a good family, Cor."
"I'll do my best," Cor tells him quietly, and stands as well, cradling Prompto in his arms as he sees the king to the door.
"Call me if you need any help. With any of it," Regis says as he stands on Cor's doorstep, giving him a firm look.
"I will," Cor murmurs, shifting Prompto to one arm as he raises the other in a farewell. He shuts the door behind Regis, and hopes he won't come to regret the king finding out.
I have no idea if there will be more to this particular fic. I make no promises.