ChapterTwo: Living with the Monsters

Noctis woke up the next morning feeling rejuvenated and for once in a long time, without breaking out in cold sweat. Never a good start to a morning when you still felt drained and your clothes melded with your body. He raised his hand towards the ceiling and lowered it down to run his fingers through his dark tresses, feeling giddy with the newfound freedom he has found. He was free. Free to restart his life and live it however he wished. It'll be a permanent solution.

Can't judge a book by its cover. Ignis' home was quaint and had an accommodating feel to it which apparently was satisfactory to his basic requirements between the time he advanced further into his studies and provided a location where he could commute swiftly between work and home. While Noctis wonders what his friend's salary was to own what he considered to be a cramped nest, it was perfect for a doctor to catch a couple winks and study immensely his research journals, and just around the corner are blocks of cafés for a quick dose of caffeine. The home consists of a shared bathroom, two bedrooms (Ignis insisted against Noctis' reluctance that former prince were to take his bedroom and the doctor could go back and forth to the bedroom to the study), a kitchen adjacent to a cozy, but hardly spacious living space. It would appear to be a sterile and lonely home if you only factor in the few luxury items in furnishings, but Ignis' scattered documents, books, folders, electric devices, and such makes up to show that Ignis spends a considerate amount of time here.

"Whoa, whoa, sleeping on the table again, man? If you're going to sleep, at least take the couch!"

Noctis overhead an unfamiliar male's voice as he entered the adjoining kitchen and living space to find a blonde young and slender man in a white shirt and gray boxers hovering over a slumbering Ignis with a mug full of coffee long gone cold by his head. He was still dressed in the clothes from yesterday. Just what he was doing last night to be absentminded of his needs? Did he need more convincing to retire to bed after the prince did? Noctis swore he heard his friend grumble in his sleep about how he was only closing his eyes for just a moment. The circumstances he puts himself through at times.

Ignis jerked awake, adjusting his crooked pair of glasses and automatically rubbing at the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand. "It can't be helped, my sleeping prince kept me up all night long…" He yawned and stretched, his head turning towards Noctis' direction, the blonde followed his gaze.

"So I assume this is the 'sleeping prince' you always dedicate your sleepless nights to?"

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met," Noctis gave an uneasy grimace of a smile, taking in the moment to examine closely at the blonde stranger's appearance: his blue eyes, his light freckles, short and unruly hair assuming he just got up from bed. No recognition as far as he knew and it felt just a little awkward to be speaking to another guy in his underwear. He was certain he confirmed that there wasn't anyone home aside from Ignis and himself so the blonde could have possibly been out at night. "Have we met before or…?"

"Hah!" The blonde laughed, "Sorry, man, I've heard so much about you from Ignis that it feels like I've known you for years and Ignis talks about you all the time. Don't worry, this is the first time we've met." He held out his hand. "Name's Prompto. Prompto Argentum. Nice to meet you."

Noctis clasped his hand around his new acquaintance's and shook it. The first person he met in this country that probably knows his history and living in proximity of him. "Likewise." Releasing it, he felt he heard that surname before. "About your last name… I've heard it before."

Ignis waved his hand in the air casually. "That's because that the new surname I passed down for you when I forged your identifications and proof of citizenship in Cocoon. I figured I didn't have to be too creative in using my assistant's name." It sounded frivolous and irrelevant to ask if that new persona means 'Noctis Argentum' is related to Prompto Argentum. Not there's nothing wrong with that, perhaps he's a swell guy to know and such.

"He's your assistant? Since when?"

"Around the time I first arrived to Cocoon. I couldn't be at two places at once given demands of my presence at the hospital and research conducted at home so I needed someone to run errands and he needed a place to stay so we made the arrangement."

Prompto threw his arms behind his head and grinned, "Small price to pay when the landlord is away most of the time. He claims to be on a breakthrough with his research and can get really excitable when he can't stop talking about you. Have to say this has been the happiest than he's been in a long time."

"Don't you have work to do than waste time on idle chatting?" Ignis gave him an apprehending glare, tapping his lithe fingers on the table. "Have you done what I asked?" To which Prompto nodded his head for reason for his midnight runs. (In Prompto's defense, he stayed up to ungodly hours with now aching muscles because he pulled something.) "Then how about you get breakfast ready?"

"Can't," Prompto called out while scouring through the kitchen for food. "There's nothing in the fridge or cupboards. Been empty for a week. We ate takeout, remember?"

Ignis groaned under his breath as he searched for a round cylinder in a cabinet, "Fine, go to the nearest diner and pick something up. And don't go outside dressed like that." He stood up to fill a glass of water and pressed both in Noctis' hands. "Here, take this."


After some time after Prompto returned with bags of takeout boxes and savoring well-needed cuisine in comfortable silence aside from the blonde inquiring about their relationship until he departed on his own, Noctis found himself staring at the clutter and mess in the kitchen. While the living room and the bathroom, shared by three people now, are the cleanest rooms, the bedroom's slight disorganized state was nothing to the kitchen. The dirty dishes were either a horrifying sight to behold (smell too but Ignis and Prompto so haven't wrinkled a nose at it), stacked every plate, glass, pans, utensil upon each other or an ingenious artistry of how the stacks are yet to collapse. You would think that there weren't any more clean dishes in that room, and it makes Noctis wonder if they just went out to buy more dishes when there aren't any clean ones available.

Ignis used to be a total clean-freak… What happened over the years?

"I apologize for the living conditions I put you through, Noctis," Ignis coughed into his fist uncomfortably. "I had told Prompto to do the dishes and at least prepare your room better before your arrival and when he couldn't do it, I haven't found the time myself."

"Beggers can't be choosers." Noctis smiled to assure Ignis that it was all right. He believably lived under worse conditions in the past, from tents in rain or snow to shady inns on his journeys. Ignis' home was snug and imitate in its own charming way, he couldn't possibly complain. Changing the subject, he sipped at his drink, "What were you doing last night?"

Noctis could have sworn he saw Ignis' eyes flash suggestively before answering, but that could be his own imagination. "You."

That raised Noctis' alarm. "Did anything happen? What did—"

Ignis laughed, absorbed in the now empty coffee mug that he just raised to his lips and placed down to fill it with milk before drinking, seemingly unaware that there was no more coffee in there. "No, nothing that you're assuming, my prince. I was just taking precautions, nothing to be bereft lest your safety here would be compromised."

Then what about when I made you promise me that you'll go to bed? Aren't you compromising your safety as well? Noctis wanted to ask, noticing how drained Ignis looked as he was eating breakfast and chugging cups of black coffee with a scowl. Instead, he felt guilty. While considering the fact that this was his first day waking up here, he hasn't contributed in any way to help. Ignis Stupeo Scientia was always the one who took Noctis' did and risked everything to bring him here. How could he possibly repay him when he has nothing, but his own life?

"Hey, how about I try finding a job?" To this offer, Ignis raised an eyebrow, but Noctis continued. "This is where I'm going to live for now on so I should earn my keep."

"I'm sure you will find a way to do so," Ignis propped his chin on his arm, joking with a rueful smile. It was entirely up to Noctis to leave whenever he wished after time to recuperate, but it pleased Ignis that he still requested to live here. "You have an exceptionally long debt to me that shows no sign of shrinking after all…" He frowned, massaging the bridge of his nose, "In all honesty, that wouldn't be necessary. You could draw attention to yourself. My career sustains the rent and bills demands, and it's imperative to discipline Prompto to attend to his household duties I assign. He's slacking off." With a weary sigh, he added, "And I've been so... distracted." He paused, taking note of Noctis' determined expression that tells him that something about him certainly didn't change: once Noctis puts his mind to something there's nothing stopping him from taking action. "I suggest not searching for a job for now. Utilize this time to rest from your trip, it's been a stressful transition for you and you get more familiar with the city that way." Biting the inside of his cheek, he surrendered, Noctis usually had things his way – it was in his stubborn nature. "But if you really want to assist us… I suppose you can go to the grocery store and fill up the fridge."

"Just what I was about to suggest," Noctis mentally gave himself a congratulatory pat on the back. The fridge and cabinets would be filled and they can never go hungry. "And not only that, I'll cook dinner tonight." While he's not a chef, he did learn how to cook during his travels and was told that he was decent at it. Now that he's thinking about, he could chip in with the chores, Prompto could get a break and improve his relationship with Ignis better.

"Excellent," Ignis mused, nodding to Noctis' offer. "I'll just get Prompt—" He stopped himself just as he was about to summon his assistant but released that he was out. Getting up from his chair he spoke quietly, "I'll just compile a list for you and give you some directions myself." Over Noctis' laughter at his blunder, he didn't hear Ignis' say that he was going to take a nap until Noctis gets back.


It didn't take him long to find the grocery store's location but he took the opportunity for a little sightseeing and the later he gets back, the more rest Ignis receives.

Noctis marveled at how charming and surreal Luxerion was compared to Lucis. Ignis had told him briefly about the country and the cities that he had visited. There was even a seaside town close by and a floating capital above. Cocoon contrasts greatly with the bleak wasteland and endless skyscrapers that the Lucis' sovereignty took pride in. Luxerion takes more pride to its gothic architecture and devotion to sacred deities. Here, he felt like a tourist who will be able to cope with his thoughts whereas in his homeland, he would be scrutinized and hated even.

Enough of that. I'm burning daylight just standing around.