Ignis was almost always the first one to wake up every morning, a habit created out of necessity, but Gladio was never far behind him. As Ignis opened his eyes in the low light of morning, he couldn't help but smile when the first thing he saw was Prompto's sleeping face, smiling contently pressed against Ignis' chest. The man carefully moved the blond until he could safely leave the bed without waking him up, reaching to get his glasses and his phone from their resting place.
A quick look to its screen gave Ignis the time, 5:55 am, and he quickly disables the alarm before it could start vibrating. A movement on the other side of the caravan told him that Gladio was waking up and Ignis greet the Shield with a smile and a whisper, ''Good morning Gladio. What would you like for breakfast?' Gladio yawned, stretching his arms overhead before he returns the greeting, ''Morning Iggy, I'm good with anything.'' He shifts Noctis over roughly, smirking when his prince groaned and curled up among the blankets still asleep. Both men chuckle at the cute sight before they separate to go through their morning routine.
Gladio smirked as he left the caravan, taking the time to carefully stretch before he goes running around the edge of the small town for the next half hour. Gladio enjoys the peaceful morning, the sights of the rising sun over the garage and finally the sight of Cindy walking out with a cute yawn and waving at him every time he passed in front of the garage. By the time he had worked up a decent sweat, Cindy had moved the Regalia and parked it outside of the garage.
''She's all ready for ya boys whenev'r ya want her!'' Shouted Cindy the next time Gladio passed by, it was enough to make the large man turn back and jog to her, slowing down until he stopped in front of her with a grin. ''She looks great, thanks Cindy. How much do we owe you?'' Gladio asked, patting the hood of the Regalia as he did. Cindy replied, ''10 000 gils. That's what Paw-Paw said.''
Gladio winced at the price mentioned but nodded, ''Got it. I'll let the others know. See you later Cindy.'' He waved at the mechanic as he headed back towards the caravan. The costs of the repairs were much higher then he or Ignis had estimated when they had gone over how much gils to bring during their trip, it would mean re-budgeting everything unless they took on some hunts to replenish what they had to use.
Ignis was sitting by the caravan, reading and drinking a cup of coffee when Gladio dropped by in front of him, the adviser flicking his eyes up briefly before returning to the morning newspaper in his hands. Gladio didn't wait to break the news, ''Cindy's done with the Regalia. She said it's 10 000 gils for the repairs.''
Ignis stilled before carefully putting his cup down on the table, folding the newspaper and only then did he raise his eyes to meet Gladio's. ''10 000 gils? Are you certain?'' Gladio nodded once and Ignis sighed, ''Of course you are. This will leave us with very little for the rest of our trip…'' Ignis drums his fingers on the table thoughtfully.
Gladio leaned back on his chair, watching as Ignis planned, the adviser's eyes narrowing in a way that sent shivers down Gladio's spine though he would never admit to it willingly. Gladio reached out and grabbed the newspaper to read, knowing that Ignis would let him know when he had decided on their course of action. Until then Gladio was going to take it easy and enjoy the morning.
It wasn't it Prompto and then Noctis had joined them at the table that Ignis seemed to make up his mind. As the adviser served them all breakfast pancakes (with fresh whip cream and fruits), he told Noctis about their financial troubles, ''We seem to have expanded the last of our funds on the repairs, I would suggest we confer with Cindy.''
Noctis nodded, still half asleep, ''Sure Ignis, if that what you think is best.'' He yawned before taking another bite from his plate, ignoring the flash of Prompto's camera as his friend took some pictures. Ignis seemed satisfied with his answer, giving him another pancake before he joined them for breakfast. Once they were done, Noctis got up, stretched and told his friends, ''Guess I'll go see what Cindy has to say. You want to come Prompto?'' Prompto grinned and nodded, quickly handing Ignis his empty plate before following Noctis towards the open garage.
Cindy was standing at the entrance of her garage, looking into the darkened building with a frown of worry as Noctis approached. When she saw the two boys coming towards her, she moved towards them, giving them a quick smile, ''Morning boys! What can I do ya for?''
Noctis smiled back at the mechanic, ''Heard the Regalia is ready but it's a bit steep for a simple tune up don't you think?'' shifting a bit uneasily as he talked. Cinndy looked a bit surprised then grinned with amusement, ''Oh, now I get it! This must be what Paw-Paw meant when he said he was going to 'teach them boys a lesson'. Told me he ought to have y'all take care of some ornery varmins that've been causing a ruckus round here.'' The mechanic crossed her arms and added, ''I'd be happy to pay y'all for your services if you're up for the challenge. How 'bout it?''
Prompto shook his head from beside Noctis, ''So much for finding an easy way out… Thanks a lot Paw-Paw.'' Cindy grinned, evidently she was amused by the situation, and added, ''Don't ya forget to be careful, no running 'round after dark! The daemons're liable to rip y'all to shreds.'' Noctis frowned and nodded, taking the piece of paper with all the information they needed to find their target Cindy was extending. ''We'll do that, thanks Cindy. By the way, are you all right? You looked worried when we got here.'' Said Noctis as he pocketed the paper.
Cindy was a bit surprised by the prince's question, her smile fading into surprise. Prompto had also noticed the way Cindy had been acting on their arrival and added, ''You know you can always talk to us if you need help right?'' The blond gunner shifted a bit, his eyes flicking between the ground, Noctis and Cindy until at last the mechanic sighed and replied, '' Its Paw-Paw. He's been out of sorts since he opened that box last night. Just staring at his hammer and mumbling to himself.''
Prompto and Noctis shared a look, ''A box?'' Prompto prompted gently. Cindy nodded, ''Yup, came back with it right after you boys arrived. Didn't open it till last night and he's been out of it since. Don't think he slept either.'' Cindy looked back at the garage with a sigh before turning back to look at the boys, ''Thank ya for offering but there aint much to do about it. You boys go and do what ya need, I'll be here with Paw-Paw when ya're finished.'' With that, Cindy waved them off.
Reluctantly Noct and Prompto made their way back to the others, uneasy about leaving Cindy with her grandfather in such a strange state but neither could think of a way to help. Ignis and Gladio had finished cleaning up the dishes and were finishing packing everyone's bags within the caravan when Noct and Prompto climbed in to join them. Ignis and Gladio were quick to pick up on the forlorn atmosphere surrounding their younger boyfriends.
Gladio stopped what he was doing, ''Everything alright? Noct? Prompto?'' He looked between both of them with worry. Prompto sighed, sitting down on the nearest bed, ''Cindy's worried about Cid. She said that he's been acting strange last night ever since he opened the gift from Uncle Cor and the others.'' Noctis move up to rest his head on Ignis' shoulder and nodded, adding quietly, ''It just feels odd. Dad was talking like we might not see each other again when we left and now Cid's acting weird because of something Dad sent him… Maybe we should go back?''
Ignis finished putting away the shirt he had in hand before he reached out to cup the back of Noctis' head gently, looking over to see Gladio sitting beside Prompto with an arm around the blond's shoulders. ''We can't do that Noct, as much as I wish we could. Whatever is happening between your father and his friends may not have any bearing with the Treaty. Now, what about the Regalia? Were you able to talk with Cindy about the repairs?''
Noctis nodded, leaning into Ignis' touch like a cat, ''Ya, she said that she would be willing to give us a discount and pay us if we went on a hunt for her and Cid.'' Noct reached into his pocket, taking out the slightly crumpled piece of paper with the hunt's information and handing it over wordlessly to Ignis. Gladio looked up from Prompto, '' A hunt? I guess we'll find out soon enough how you two handle the beasts out here.'' With a grin, he leant over and pressed a kiss to Prompto's sun warm hair.
Ignis took the paper from Noctis, raising it to his eyes and read it out loud, ''Hunt for Reapertails: Three groups of Reapertails have been spotted around Hammerhead; kill all three groups for reward. Reward offered by Cindy Aurum and Cid Sophiar.'' Gladio grinned, gently pushing Prompto as the man stood back up, ''Reapertails? We shouldn't have any trouble with them then.'' Ignis grinned, giving Noctis a kiss on his forehead, ''Indeed, this should prove to be an adequate trial for us. Now, we must finish cleaning up if we are to leave and finish this hunt before nightfall.''
With a groan, Noctis pushed himself off his boyfriend but went ahead and started stuffing the few things he had taken out of his bag last night back into it. Prompto chuckled at the sight but did the same, ''So… What exactly are reapertails?'' he asked as he picked up his stuff from the bedside table. Gladio chuckled and answered, ''Reapertails are small and quick beasts with pincers and a curved tail that ends with a stinger. They tend to stick in packs that range from 5 to 10.''
Prompto nodded, a little worried at the prospect of having to fight something he had never seen before despite all the years of training with Gladio and his Uncle, or the few experiences he's had dealing with assassins while around his friends. Gladio picked up on his hesitation, the Shield finishing to pack his bag before moving over to help Prompto, ''You'll be fine Prompto. We'll be there with you.'' Prompto smiled gratefully at Gladio before zipping his bag up.
The four were quickly done packing, bringing their bags over to the trunk of the Regalia and only bringing their weapons and some provisions before heading out with a final wave to Cindy. Ignis lead their small group, keeping a careful eye for anything that might have mistaken them for easy prey, with Noctis and Prompto following easily behind him. Gladio was last, his eyes were never still, moving around to keep track of everything and everyone, the group stopping every once in a while to allow Prompto to take pictures until at last Ignis signaled that he had found the first group of reapertails.
''Looks like we found our first targets, ready Noct? Prompto?'' Asked Ignis as he dropped into a crouch, extending a hand in warning behind him. Noctis, Prompto and Gladio quickly followed his lead, all of them dropping into crouches and making their way silently and quietly to Ignis. A glance from Ignis had Noctis and Prompto nodding their head as answer to his question before the strategist returned his attention to the reapertails wandering in a small group in front of them.
Gladio moved up to stand beside Ignis, ''What's the plan Ignis?'' His own glance showed 5 reapertails, moving together around the sandy area. Ignis shifted his gaze away from the beasts and unto his lovers, ''The plan is rather simple. Noct pick a target and on my mark warp strike it, Prompto back him up until me and Gladio can get there then try to pick your shots. Shout if either of you get into trouble, understood?''
All of them nodded and waited for Ignis' signal. Noctis looked through the 5 reapertails gathered, trying to figure out which one he should pick as a target. He felt all tense and slightly nervous, his right hand opening and closing, ready to summon any of his weapons at a moment's notice. In the end, Noctis choose the reapertail on the opposite side of the group, just in time too as Ignis suddenly said, ''Now!'' and Noctis warped.
Noctis' choice of weapon was his favorite daggers, a gift from Ignis and Gladio on his 18th birthday, and his warp-strike was aimed perfectly for the reapertail's head. As Noct appeared in a flurry of blue crystal shards, he gripped his daggers firmly and slashed at his target with both arms, the blades cutting easily through the thick shell and into the beast's brain. Noctis heard the sound of gunshots and turned, the daggers disappearing as he brought his hands together to grip his engine sword and swinging down at the reapertail who had moved towards him the moment Noct had appeared in their midst.
Prompto rose to his feet the moment Noct had thrown his daggers at Ignis' signal, his gun appearing in hand and he followed the path of the thrown dagger until Noct reappeared and killed his target in one go. ''One shot!'' Prompto shouted, excited at his boyfriend's fighting skill, before he found his own target, a reapertail who had been facing Noctis' target. Prompto saw the beast raise its claws, clearly aiming at Noctis, and squeezed the trigger in rapid succession. The gunshots were loud in his ears but his aim was perfect and the bullets found their mark in the thin layers of flesh between the joints of the claws.
Ignis and Gladio moved at the same instant, not needing to think before acting in concert as they both ran towards the reapertails. Ignis drawing a lance from the Armiger and jumping to increase the force of his strike, directed at the closest beast to himself. Gladio had grabbed his own sword from within Noctis' magic, bringing to bear the tremendous force of his body into a horizontal movement aimed at the two remaining beasts.
Ignis' blow shatters the protective shell of the reapertail, and gives Prompto the perfect shot to kill it before it could retaliate against Ignis, who was hand sprinting away with grace. The sight was worthy of a picture and Prompto grinned as he did just that. Gladio's strike killed one of the reapertails with ease and cut off the claws of the second one, Noctis warping in to drive his own lance into its brain without hesitation.
''Woot! That was great!'' Shouted Prompto victoriously. He jogged over to join the rest of their small group, grinning widely as he high fived Noctis. Ignis dusted his hands with a satisfied smile, ''That went well, wouldn't you say Gladio?'' He looked over to see the behemoth of a boyfriend kneeling beside the last reapertail killed, a dagger in hand and shifting through its remains. Gladio grunted in reply, mind focused on carving away at part of the beast until he ended up with a cleanly cut scorpion stinger.
Ignis looked away, he never enjoyed dealing with large amounts of blood, it tended to reminded him of some rather unpleasant memories. Instead he concentrated on Prompto and Noctis, who were still giddy over their victory and were currently playfully teasing each other. ''Are you two unharmed?'' The adviser asked as he carefully swept over both young men, looking for any signs of injury or discomfort.
Prompto swung his arm around Noct's shoulder as he twirled around to face Ignis, ''We're good Iggy! Don't worry!'' The gunner grinned happily as he extended his free hand for Ignis to take. Noctis smiled at Prompto, ''He's right Specs, we're fine. Let's leave Gladio to taking the proof for the hunt and start looking for the rest of the reapertails.'' Ignis returned the smiles, taking Prompto's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze as he considered his prince's words.
Ignis turned over to look at Gladio, still working on the corpses, before he hesitantly nodded, ''That seems like a good idea. Gladio?'' Gladio raised a hand and waved at them, ''As long as you stay close by, shouldn't be a problem.'' The Shield told them before returning to his work.
''Don't take too long Big Guy! Otherwise you'll miss out on seeing us kick ass!'' Prompto shouted with a giggle, he had his camera out once more, fiddling with it before taking a picture of Gladio. Noctis peeked over his shoulder, ''That's a good one, you should save it.'' The prince clasping Prompto's shoulder and pushing him forward to follow after Ignis, the adviser a few meters ahead and waiting for them.
The rest of the hunt took a lot longer than any of the group expected, the last of the reapertails hidden from sight for the longest time until finally, just as night started to fall Prompto spotted them retreating into a pile of boulders. ''Guys! I think I found them but they're hiding for the night.'' He pointed them out to Ignis who had come to stand right beside him.
Ignis sighed, readjusting his glasses with a thoughtful hum before nodding, his mind made up. ''It would appear so and I believe they have the right idea. Night is falling and we do not wish to be at the mercy of any wandering daemon. Gladio, do you know if there is a haven nearby?'' The adviser turning to Gladio as he spoke.
Gladio responded with a nod, taking the time to look around and get his bearing before starting in a specific direction, ''There should be one this way, Lady Lunafreya has been letting me know which haven's she's reset whenever she leaves the city.'' He could only barely see the curling blue smoke that indicated the haven's position to anyone who knew about it.
Noctis groaned, ''Camping? Seriously?'' as he followed after his Shield with tired and slightly sore legs. Prompto smirked, ''Come on Noct! It's going to be fun, we'll even get to eat Iggy's food tonight.'' His camera flashed twice, once towards the grumpy prince and the second time towards Gladio's back, his figure surrounded by the sunset and slowly appearing stars.
Ignis chuckled as he followed their guide, ''Is there any specific request for supper then darlings?'' Ignis going through his mental list of ingredients he had on hand within the ever useful Armiger. Noct mumbled, ''No veggies.'' Even as Prompto suggested, ''Can we eat some curry? Please Iggy?'' and Gladio spoke up from in front, ''I say cup noodles.''
Ignis glared at Gladio's broad back with a huff of indignation, ''Certainly not Gladio! Cup noodles are not a proper meal, curry on the other hand sounds like a good idea.'' He ignored the amused glance that passed between Noctis and Gladio as he found himself buried in a hug from Prompto. ''Have I told you you're the best Iggy? Because you are and I love you.'' Ignis smiled and returned the hug, allowing Prompto to keep a grasp on his hand as the finally arrived at the haven and started making camp.
As the four friends and lovers enjoyed each other's presence among the cold and brisk night, a phone rang with a familiar tune and Noctis was quick to answer, ''Luna?'' The prince grinned as he heard a reply, ''Hello Noctis, how are you faring outside of Insomnia?'' Noctis scurried back into his seat, leaning into the warmth that was Gladio beside him, ''Fine and you? I hope the Nifs aren't giving you anymore trouble.'' He heard Luna laugh from the other end of the call, ''Not anymore Noctis, Nyx and Crowe have done a wonderful job at keeping them away from me these last few days.''
Prompto perked up, leaning over on Noct's other side, ''Hey Lulu! How is the healing tour going?'' he practically shouted into the phone in his excitement. Luna laughed again, ''I see Prompto is with you, could you tell him I'm fine? Actually you might as well give my regards to everyone as well.'' Noct winced slightly as Prompto shouted right beside his ear but did as Luna asked, ''Luna says hi and that she's doing fine.''
Ignis smiled from across the fireplace, ''I'm glad to hear she is doing well, please convey my regards to her and her guards as well.'' The man smiled at Noctis. Gladio grinned, ''She should be, she's got Ulric, Altiuss and Khara with her. Someone would have to be pretty stupid to try anything with them around.'' He took another bite of his supper.
Noctis rolled his eyes at everyone replies before going back to talking with Luna, ''They say hi. We're staying at a haven for the night, the Regalia needed some repairs and now we need more funds. What a way to start a trip right?'' Luna hummed in reply, ''I'm glad you are safe within a haven at least, the nights are fraught with dangerous daemons. Though Nyx and Crowe seem bent on proving me wrong on that account, they seem to have an ongoing bet on who can take down daemons the fastest. I've won quite a few times so far.''
Noctis laughed as he heard the familiar voices of Nyx and Crowe shouting in the background of Luna's voice, he could barely make out 'cheating' and 'not fair' before Luna spoke once more, ''I must go Noctis, our Niflheim host seem determined to get me to meet and possibly marry his son. Do be careful out there and the same goes for the others.'' Noctis wasn't able to reply before Luna hung up.
Noct lowered his phone, starring at it for a little while in silence before he lifted his gaze back with a hesitant smile. ''She seems to be ok.'' He huffed as he remembered the few words he had heard from his glaive friends, '' She is certainly winning a lot of money from bets against Crowe and Nyx, something about who can beat daemons faster.'' Gladio chuckled, ''Figures, she always does manage to find some prank or game to play. '' He glanced over at Prompto, '' I swear your mom is such a bad influence.'' Prompto shot back, ''Hey!'' before they both fell into an ongoing playful teasing to the adoring and affectionate looks of both Noctis and Ignis.
A/N: Quick question, do you guys prefer this chapter's style of shorter paragraphs or the previous chapter's of longer ones?
Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing this fic!