Note: I hope you like cute stuff and fluff with a side order of danger.


Chapter 2

The following morning was spent driving to the nearest outpost, so the group could stock up on curatives and food supplies. Prompto had just bought a new shirt to replace his torn one, and was now taking a light stroll while Noct and Ignis went to the shop. He knew the bodyguard's eyes were fixed on him from the way the back of his neck tingled. Prompto wanted to prove to himself that he could be more responsible, so he had no intention of straying from the others. He walked over to an old man who was standing by some chocobos in their pens,

'Hey Mister. Are these your chocobos?' Prompto asked,

'They sure are young man. The name's Wiz.' the man introduced himself,

'I don't suppose you've heard any rumours about there being magic chocobos have you Wiz?' Prompto enquired, lowering his voice conspiratorially. The man burst out laughing,

'Well that's a new one kid. Can't say I've heard that I have.' Wiz chuckled, 'Why do you ask?' Prompto decided the guy seemed friendly enough to tell him the truth,

'I met one yesterday. It healed my injuries.' the gunner smiled, 'I didn't think they could do that.' The older man just blinked at him for a moment,

'Well I'll be damned. You're serious… huh. What did you say your name was kid?' Prompto introduced himself, and explained about the events of the night before. Wiz's eyes popped when he told the part about the behemoth. He skimmed over most of that, and focused on the chocobo chick,

'It started glowing real bright, and then my injuries were gone. It was more powerful than a potion. Then… I heard a voice in my head. I think it was the chocobo's. It even called me 'yellow one' which was weird...' He finished. Wiz frowned, and crossed his arms,

'I'd say that nickname wasn't the weird part.' He laughed again, 'Well I'm stumped. More to the point, I'd better alert the local hunters about that behemoth. It's a danger to the local people as well as the chocobos. Thanks for telling me, Prompto.' Wiz smiled before walking away to make a call. The gunner saw his opportunity; he walked over to the nearest of the big yellow birds, and reached out to pet it's head.

'Hey buddy. I guess you'll be cooped up in this pen until someone gets rid of that behemoth, but I promise we'll race against Noct when you're safe again.' He leaned his body against the wooden posts, enjoying the feeling of soft feathers beneath his hands.

The light hairs on Prompto's arms stood up on end, so he knew the moment Gladio was standing beside him,

'Information gathering? I'm impressed.' the bodyguard smirked,

'Kinda. The old guy's name is Wiz. He owns this outdoor cafe and these chocobos. I told him about ol' Deadeye from yesterday. He's gone to warn the local hunters about him.'

'You gave that thing a nickname?' Gladio cocked an eyebrow,

'Yeah… well, you know. So they can identify him.'

'Oh yeah,' the bodyguard laughed, ''Cause they'll have a hard time telling which of the many behemoths you blinded.' His voice was laced with sarcasm, but his face lit up all the same. Prompto pouted,

'Anyway, get over here Gladdy,' He grabbed Gladio's wrist and tugged him over to the large bird. He placed the bodyguard's hand on the chocobo's head, before taking a step back. He had only meant to distract the other man, but he actually looked surprised. Slowly, Gladio started stroking the soft feathers. After a few moments however, the big guy's cheeks turned red, and he took a few steps back,

'They're uh, pretty tame huh?' he coughed. Why was Gladio getting flustered? Prompto wondered. Had he discovered good material to tease the guy about later? Now it was his turn to smirk,

'Never pet an animal before?' the gunner goaded, nudging the bodyguard with his elbow,

'Shut it blondie,' Gladio retorted, ''Course I have.' he reached around Prompto's neck and knuckle-rubbed his head, messing up the gunner's hair and making him curse,

'Oww, what was that for?' Prompto moaned, but he was laughing through the mild pain. When Gladio loosened his grip, the blonde became conscious of how close they were, making his heart beat faster. He guessed the guy was pretty intimidatingly large up close. He had noticed it a few times back when Gladio had trained him to fight, just how big his whole body was.

'Come on, we gotta make a move.' the bodyguard reminded him, changing subject. They met up with the others back at the Regalia. Now better stocked on supplies, they could head for Lestallum.

'Hold on a sec.' Noct piped up, just as they were about to get in the car, 'I know we have to keep moving, but we can't just leave while there's a behemoth on the loose.' Everyone paused,

'You have a point there, Noct.' Prompto agreed. He had hoped they could stay longer. He wanted more time to pet the chocobos and take selfies with them. If they worked together to take out the behemoth, maybe they could even race them afterwards.

'An important part of a King's duties is to protect his subjects.' Ignis nodded. Everyone turned to look at Gladiolus,

'Hey I'm down with it, so long as we stick together. We'll need to come up with a plan.' Gladio relented. And so that is how they ended up spending the next few days tracking down the behemoth and scouting it's lair in the woods.


Two days later, they were ready to confront the beast. Having found a shortcut to the place where the behemoth slept, they clambered through the narrow gap in the rocks, with Noctis in the lead. Noct pulled up short on the other side, the others nearly bumping into him. They were standing face to face with the monster. Prompto's breath catch in his throat. He knew the plan though. Ducking to the side, he ran around the beast, aiming for it's blindspot. Roaring in anger, it bounded after Noct, chasing him toward the barrels of explosives. One by one, they set off the explosives whenever the behemoth got near, until it could fight no longer. The beast howled in pain as it died, it's huge body falling.

Prompto was about to cheer in relief, until suddenly time slowed down for him. He felt his whole chest clench, as he spotted Gladio.

The bodyguard's sword was stuck in the beast's side, and he was trying to pull it out, but at this rate the large body was going to fall on top of him. Prompto found himself diving forwards, and tackling Gladio out of harm's way. He was breathing hard, his sides splitting from the effort of colliding with the larger man. Prompto scrambled over him to reach his face. He cupped his jaw in both hands, searching for signs of injury,

'Dude, are you okay?' he asked, more concerned than he let on. Gladio looked up at him at that moment. He was winded. Prompto had hit him pretty hard in the chest. He had been determined to ensure their legs wouldn't get crushed. They were only inches away from the behemoth's dead body.

'Prompto…' came Noct's voice from above them, 'Did you just save Gladio's life?' Prompto couldn't tell if he was being serious or teasing him,

'What? Me? Nah, Gladio would have moved anyway right?' He looked back down at the man beneath him, and realised he was straddling the man. He felt his cheeks burn, so he clambered off the bodyguard, 'You were gonna let the sword go eventually…' Prompto tried again. Gladio was just staring at him, as if he were seeing him for the first time,

'I didn't even realise the behemoth was dead until it nearly crushed me.' The bodyguard admitted. Crap. Prompto had saved his life. He could feel the insides of his brain melting. Had he just done something actually useful? Maybe not only useful, but possibly even, good? He felt his eyes sting, and looked away, 'Well damn,' Gladio remarked, 'Didn't see that coming.' He sat up, before slowly getting to his feet.

'Let's go hand in that bounty.' Noct piped up, lightening the mood,

'Yes, we'd better notify the local authorities that the beast is no longer a threat.' Ignis chimed in. Gladio leaned down toward Prompto, offering his hand. The gunner took it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. His mind wouldn't focus at all,

'I'll scavenge this guy's horns, then we can get me a new sword.' Gladio laughed, heading over to the behemoth's drooping head. 'Then we can see about getting blondie a reward.'

'A reward?' Prompto was confused. What on earth would he be getting a reward for? The others saved his ass in battle all the time, and nobody rewarded them,

'For being more observant than this guy.' Gladio gestured toward himself, 'I should'a been keeping an eye on my surroundings, instead I was distracted by a stupid sword. You did good kid.' Prompto just stood there for a moment, basking in the praise. Perhaps Gladio only had something small in mind,

'Can we get dessert?' The gunner put on his best puppy impression, with the droopy eyes, he let his hair flop forward a bit,

'Sure thing, but I have something better planned.' The bodyguard laughed. As Gladio finished hacking off the beast's horns with his hunting knife, Prompto's mind filled with images of ice cream and waffles. He could totally go for waffles… dripping in chocolate. Okay he needed to reign in the fantasies. When they got back to the outpost, Gladio traded the horns over for gil, while Ignis went to claim their bounty,

'What do you think Gladio has in store?' Noct teased Prompto, 'Maybe a free hit at his normally smug face?' They both laughed,

'I didn't save his ass just so I could punch his head in. Not that I could. I'd probably break my fist trying.' the gunner smiled, 'I wasn't expecting anything at all, so I'm cool with whatever. I just hope it's full of sugar…'

A few minutes later, they were all gathered again by the Regalia. They had earned over three thousand gil, which was plenty to keep them going when they got to Lestallum,

'Great, so we're ready to hit the road?' Prompto asked, hiding his disappointment that they were leaving the chocobos behind.

'Not just yet.' The bodyguard grinned, 'First you gotta see your reward.' Gladio started walking up the road a little way. The others followed behind him, probably all wondering the same thing.

Ignis seemed to cotton on to the scheme pretty quickly, as did Noct. Prompto remained oblivious, until they reached the little ticket hut,

'Four for one race, please.' The bodyguard said to the man at the till. Seemingly thrilled to have customers, the man beamed at them as he stepped out of his both, leading them over to the racecourse. Prompto could not believe this was happening. He was finally going to race the chocobos, and with his friends. Even Ignis was joining in. Normally he would say they were getting side-tracked, but he seemed content enough,

Prompto walked over to his mount, his hands going straight for the bird's fluffy head feathers,

'Hey bro. Let's show 'em what we got.' He said to the chocobo, hoping the bird was in the mood to run fast,

'Kweh!' came the reply as he climbed onto the large creature's back, getting comfy in the saddle.

'Ready?' The Ref asked. Prompto focused on the track in front of them, excitement beating in his chest, 'Okay then. Three, two, one,' The Ref blew a shrill whistle, and they were off.

The group sped along the track, Noct taking an early lead. Ignis wasn't far behind him, and Gladio was neck and neck with Prompto. The gunner was smart though: Noct and Ignis would wear out their chocobos too quickly if they went at full speed from the start. This was no sprint.

Prompto kept pace with the others, but as soon as they reached the halfway point, he urged his chocobo on,

'Come on! We're gonna win this!' He encouraged the bird. The chocobo sped up at his command, gradually changing to a sprint. Ignis and Noct had started to fall back a little, their chocobos tiring already. Prompto overtook them at the next turn in the race track, with Gladio hot on his tail,

'This may be your reward, but don't think that means I'm gonna let you win the race blondie,' Gladio called,

'Oh yeah? We'll see about that!' Prompto grinned, urging his chocobo to hightail it. They were closing in on the finishing line now, and the gunner was determined to win. He was having the most fun he could ever remember having, but he also wanted to look good in front of Gladio. Praise coming from the bodyguard somehow just felt more… meaningful. Gladio never exaggerated when it came to compliments. He was always blunt and honest.

Gladio overtook Prompto for a moment, but he fell back again as Prompto gave his chocobo a 'Yee haw!' Either the bodyguard was cringing so hard he got distracted, or Prompto's bird really liked cowboys, because he stormed into the lead again, crossing the line just seconds before Gladio. Ignis followed shortly after, and Noct came in last, his chocobo completely out of breath.

'Bro, you gotta think tactics when racing.' Prompto laughed. Ignis rolled his eyes, while Noct chuckled along with him,

'I better step up my game for next time then.' the prince smiled. Prompto could not stop grinning. He was just so happy in that moment. His head turned, and when his eyes landed on Gladio, he ran over to him and threw his arms around the bodyguard's neck,

'Thank you!' Prompto beamed, his face scrunching up as he thought of the gift he had been given. Gladio just stood there for a moment, before patting the gunner on the back,

'You earned it. And on top of that, you beat all our asses in the race.' The bodyguard smiled. When Prompto let go of him, it took him a moment to realise what he had just done: He had never been that bold with someone before. He had never even hugged his adoptive parents, or his best friend. Had he and Gladio been getting closer recently, or was it his imagination? He looked down at the ground, suddenly wanting to hide his face. Gladio was probably looking at him like he was an idiot now.

'Come along,' Ignis spoke up, 'If we leave now, we'll be in Lestalum by nightfall.' And with that, the group climbed into the Regalia and set off to meet up with Iris.


Prompto was keeping his eyes on the road, but caught a glimpse of Gladio in the rearview mirror. The bodyguard was looking right back at him, his heated amber eyes locking with the gunner's blue ones. Prompto felt his whole body quiver, as if electricity were coursing through his veins. The slight movement did not escape Gladio's attention. Prompto had to stifle a whimper. What on earth was going on with him? His heart beat faster as he tried to process what was happening. One look was all it had taken to make him lose control of himself.

Prompto gulped, tearing his eyes away from the mirror. His mind was racing, and he was not sure how to handle it. Images of Gladio kept popping up in his mind; strands of memories of them together, all knotting up, until suddenly everything clicked. Prompto groaned inwardly. Oh shit.