No long rambling notes this time. Hope you guys enjoy the first part of the coda. And once again thanks for all the faves, follows, and reviews! They make me happy! (≧▽≦)

Uncomplicated and Good
Coda
Part One

"Ah... fuck, Ignis..." Noctis panted, letting out a quiet moan as Ignis rubbed his thumb over Noct's right nipple with just the right amount of pressure. He'd never thought being touched there could feel so good, but the resulting sensations were shooting straight to his groin, leaving him hard and aching, arching his hips up on instinct, seeking friction that was aggravatingly absent.

Ignis said nothing, only leaned down to kiss him again, his lips warm and soft against Noct's as they explored each other. Noctis reached up, fisting a hand in Ignis' hair, wishing Ignis would move closer to him, wanting to feel Ignis' whole body pressed against his. Ignis' thumb never let up as they kissed, and he couldn't keep himself from moaning wantonly into the other man's mouth, every nerve in his body feeling as if it was on fire.

Eventually Ignis pulled back, looking down at him, eyes half-lidded. Noct stared back up at him in daze, wide-eyed and flushed with arousal, lips still swollen with the bruising kisses Ignis had given him earlier. This was the furthest they'd gone so far, and he knew it was barely anything at all, but it still was so amazing. They got very little time alone together that Noct was happy with just about anything they did.

"I would like to try something, if I may," Ignis murmured.

Noctis took a moment to gather himself before responding, excitement and nervousness thrumming through him. "What?"

Ignis hesitated, which made him even more nervous. Of course, being a virgin still, everything new they did made him nervous, though he did his best not to let it show when they were together. It was embarrassing that he was twenty and had never gone beyond kissing with anyone, even if his status as the prince made it understandable. And though the other man hadn't said, Noctis was pretty sure Ignis wasn't a virgin.

"It would involve taking your shirt off," Ignis finally said. He sounded so unsure of himself, which was very unusual.

Yet Noct couldn't help but immediately tense at the request, shaking his head hard. He felt sick at the thought, and light-headed. He couldn't believe Ignis was even asking. Ignis knew he didn't... "No."

"You would be on your back."

He turned his head away from the other man, squeezing his eyes shut. The heat he'd felt coiling in his groin was gone now, all the arousal and excitement having completely left him in a rush. "I... I can't, Ignis."

"Very well," Ignis said softly. "We do not have to. It was just a thought."

He rolled onto his side, his back to Ignis, and curled up into a foetal position, saying nothing, feeling bad now. After a moment's quiet uncertainty, he felt the bed shaking as Ignis lay down next to him, and then Ignis' fingers were running slowly through his hair, soft and gentle.

"I would never make you do anything you're not comfortable with."

"I know," he said. And he did. He trusted Ignis completely. He knew how much Ignis cared for him, and he knew that the other man hadn't meant to upset him. Most of Noct even wanted to do what Ignis asked. But right now, he just couldn't.

x x x

That evening, after Gladio and Prompto had returned from the shop and Ignis had started on dinner, Noctis locked himself in the bathroom. He slid his shirt over his head, and then stared at himself in the small mirror over the sink. It was such an easy, simple thing, to just remove his shirt. He could do it when he was alone, so why couldn't he do it with Ignis? He sighed, remembering when they'd first started this relationship. He'd told Ignis he just wanted something in his life that was uncomplicated and good. He should have known nothing could ever be so simple, not when it came to him.

"Nooooct!" That was Prompto's voice, coming impatiently through the door. "Hurry up! Some of us out here have to pee!"

"Be right out," he called back, though he didn't make a move to put his shirt on. Instead, he pulled out his phone, flipping through the pictures on it until he found the one he wanted. He stared down at it, his chest tightening with unpleasant remembrance.

It was the picture Prompto had taken of his back, that first day he'd awoken after the sahagin fight. He'd stolen his best friend's camera while he slept one night, and transferred the picture to his phone. When Prompto had asked about it later, he'd just casually remarked that he'd deleted it. Prompto had given him a strange look, but nothing more had been said.

It had taken Noctis three weeks before his back had been well enough for him to move without pain. After the danger of infection had passed, Ignis had simply checked once a day to see how well the wounds were healing. It had made Noct increasingly uncomfortable, but he'd said nothing, knowing the necessity. He hadn't liked it though, knowing how bad his back must have been looking as it healed, and hating the thought of Ignis seeing it. Ignis never gave any indication that he was disgusted by what he was looking at, but Noct knew he must have been, even if he was too in control of himself to let on.

After Ignis had taken the stitches out, roughly a month after he'd been injured, Noct had pulled his shirt back on and then never taken it off in front of his friends again. Even then, he still often worried that they could somehow see through it, see the ugliness that lay hidden beneath it. At those times, he really found himself missing his jacket, missing the extra layer it provided that he could hide behind. Ignis had told him it had been destroyed, though, and that he'd had to cut it off and throw it away. Noct had actually felt a pang of sorrow at that—it had been a gift from the Crownsguard, commissioned by his father for the trip.

"Noooooct! Do I have to get Gladio to break the door down?"

Noctis sighed, rolling his eyes as he quickly hit the 'home' button on his phone and then pulled his shirt back on. Yanking the door open, he childishly stuck his tongue out at Prompto before going over to one of the beds and collapsing backwards onto it. He didn't like to lay on his stomach, these days.

"Finally!" Prompto quickly darted inside the now vacant room, slamming the door shut.

Noctis stared up at the ceiling, ignoring the concern he could feel radiating out from both Ignis and Gladio. He wouldn't be surprised if Ignis had already told Gladio what happened this afternoon. He hated the thought of them talking about him, but he knew Ignis was only worried. And if Ignis had needed to talk about it, Noct couldn't really blame him—it was no different than the times he'd go to Prompto.

He'd been mortified at first, when he'd asked Ignis if they could keep their new relationship a secret for the time being, and Ignis had confessed that Gladio already knew about it. But then he'd realised that Gladio hadn't made fun of him for it, or made any pointed remarks about it, and it would be nice to be able to act the way he really wanted around Ignis and not have to hide it. Of course, that also meant he'd had to tell Prompto—he knew how insecure his best friend still was, and if he didn't tell Prompto and Prompto found out on his own, he'd think they had all deliberately hidden it from him, and that he wasn't good enough to know, and that he wasn't good enough to be Noctis' best friend, and... well, Noctis knew how Prompto's insecurity spirals worked, and so he had made a point to tell him as soon as they had a moment alone.

"Man, you and Iggy?" Prompto had laughed, causing Noct to scowl.

"Is that so bad?" he'd asked, looking uncertainly at his best friend.

"No, no!" Prompto had waved his hands around frantically, the freckles on his face standing out as he blushed. "It's great, buddy, really! If that's what you want, I'm happy for you. I just never thought Ignis swung that way."

"Yeah." Noctis had laughed softly himself, then. "To be honest, I think he might swing both ways. I know he's dated a girl before, even though he tried to hide it from me."

"Oh yeah, back when were in our second year of high school, right? Dude, you were so obsessed with how 'weird' he was being before you saw him with that girl, I can't believe I never caught on!"

"Shut up." Noct had shoved at him playfully. "I didn't like him then."

"You didn't realise you liked him then," Prompto had corrected, and Noct hadn't refuted him.

"Dinner's ready," Ignis announced then, breaking into his thoughts. Noct listened to the others getting up and going into the kitchenette, but made no move to get up himself.

"Noct? Are you eating?" Ignis asked.

Noct rolled over, looking at the three of them briefly. "Not hungry," he muttered, and then felt bad when Ignis looked down at his own food, clearly upset. Being around Ignis right then was stressful, but he hadn't meant to upset him.

Noct sighed, sitting up. He couldn't stand to be in the room any longer. "I'm going to get some fresh air."

x x x

Prompto found him on the roof of the motel later, legs dangling over the edge as he sat and stared out into the darkness.

"Hey," Prompto greeted him softly, sitting down next to him.

"Hey."

They were quiet for awhile, listening to the sounds of the night. There was a faint buzz from the lights of the motel, and the clink of moths flying into the bright bulbs could be heard every so often. The roar of a daemon far off in the distance made them both shiver, but Noct knew the lights would keep them safe.

"Ignis told us what happened," Prompto finally said quietly.

Noct sighed, and leaned into his best friend's side, taking comfort in Prompto's presence. "Yeah?" he asked, just to keep Prompto talking.

"Well... not, you know, details—" Noct knew if he looked up that Prompto's face would be bright red "—but he said he'd upset you by asking you to take your shirt off. Gladio and I could fill in the blanks."

"Mmm." Noctis simply hummed, not sure what he could say to that. He knew that out of anyone, Prompto would have the most understanding of how he was feeling, but Noct really hadn't even begun to sort it out in his own head enough, to be able to put it in to words for anyone else.

"Do you remember Lily?" Prompto asked suddenly, after another moment of silence. "From our class, last year of high school?"

"That snooty girl who sat two seats behind you?"

"Yeah."

"What about her?"

"She... um... she almost was my first," Prompto admitted, turning his head away, his cheeks blazing.

Noct straightened back up quickly, looking in surprise at his best friend. "Wait, really? I thought Amy was your first."

"She was," Prompto said. "But Lily would have been, if I hadn't blew it."

"What happened?" Noct asked quietly.

Prompto shrugged, finally looking back towards him. "We made out for awhile. She gave me a blowjob. I somehow worked up the courage to finger her. Then she wanted to do it. I found that I couldn't bring myself to take my clothes off in front of her."

Noctis frowned. "Because you were afraid to have sex?"

"Because I was ashamed at the thought of her seeing how ugly I believed my body to be."

At that, Noct tensed. It was his turn to look away now. He realised what Prompto was getting at, but he didn't want to admit it. He stared out over the parking lot instead. He still found himself amazed by how still the small towns were at night, sometimes. Insomnia had never been so quiet. "I don't think my body is ugly." It was a deflection, but he hoped it would be enough.

"No, just your back."

Noct sighed, and slumped against Prompto again, quiet for a bit. His best friend wasn't going to leave it alone. Noct knew that he wouldn't have, either, if the situation were reversed. "I don't want him to see it," he said eventually. "I don't want any of you guys to see it. I know it's stupid, but..." he trailed off, not sure how to explain what he was feeling.

"Look, I get it. Really," Prompto assured him immediately. "You think I don't feel self-conscious still when you guys occasionally see my stretch marks? I look at them every day and think about how awful they are, and how much I hate them. But I have to remind myself that you guys aren't judging me for them, or being disgusted by them the way I am. You're just seeing them as another part of me, no matter how ugly they make me feel."

"I mean this in the most platonic, bro way possible, but you're gorgeous, Prompto, stretch marks or not."

Prompto chuckled lightly. "Exactly my point. And don't you think Ignis would feel the same way about seeing you, scars or no? Except maybe with an 'I wanna pound you into the mattress' way instead of as a platonic bro."

Noct groaned, his face flushing. "Prompto..."

"I've seen the way he looks at you." Noct could hear the grin in Prompto's voice, even if he wasn't looking at him. "That man can't wait to rip all your clothes off and fuck you so hard you can't walk the next day."

"Prompto!" Noct buried his head in Prompto's shoulder, his whole face flaming now. "You're talking to an innocent virgin here," he said, the words muffled but still understandable.

His best friend laughed outright, then. "I never figured you for a prude."

Noctis sat up at that, sniffing haughtily. "I'm royalty, it's expected for us all to be prudes."

"Yeah right!" Prompto was still laughing, and Noctis couldn't help but feeling a little better, the exchange bringing a smile to his face. "Look," Prompto said, calming down some. "I know it's scary, letting Iggy see your scars for the first time. But I promise you, if he thinks anything about them at all, it'll only be amazement that you were strong enough to survive, and relief that you didn't die, and how glad he is to still have you in his life."

"How do you know, though?" Noct asked, hearing the vulnerability in his tone and hating it.

"Because... Because that's what I feel about them, even without seeing them. And I'm not even in love with you."

"Prompto..." Noctis was touched, and found he didn't know what to say. They fell silent for awhile, and eventually Noct pulled out his phone, fiddling with it but not actually turning it on.

"I know you didn't delete that picture, you know." Prompto paused. "The camera has a recycle bin."

"Oh." Noct hadn't known that, and felt a little embarrassed, realising that Prompto had known he'd lied from the start. "It's... on my phone."

"Yeah. I kinda guessed."

"To tell you the truth..." Noct started slowly, before hesitating. He could feel his heart start to beat faster in anxiety. He still didn't really want to talk about this. But he wanted to be able to do things with Ignis, and he wanted to be able to do a simple thing like pull his shirt off without feeling like he was going to be sick. "I haven't even seen the scars," he finally admitted lowly.

Prompto frowned. "You haven't? Not with your phone camera in the mirror?"

Noctis shook his head. "Whenever I think about it, I look at that picture you took, at all the stitches and how the wounds still weren't even completely closed with them, and all the other scratches around them, a-and my old scars all messed up..." He stopped for a moment, swallowing hard. His stomach was twisted up in knots, feeling sick and scared at what he was saying. But it was Prompto, his best friend in the whole world, the one person he'd always been able to talk to. And Prompto understood in this, more than anything else about him. So he went on. "I look at that picture, and I imagine how bad the new scars must be, and then I get too scared to actually look. It... it looked bad, before, right? From the daemon attack when I was little. I know it has to be even worse now. And then I think, if I can't even bear to look at it, how could Ignis...?"

"Noct..." Prompto's voice was pained, and sad, but also full of understanding. It was enough to give him the courage to keep talking still.

"But... I don't want it to be between us, getting in the way, and really, I think that you're probably right—"

"Aren't I always?" Prompto gently nudged him, teasing him, though there was still a hint of sorrow in his voice.

"—about Ignis," Noct continued, as if his friend hadn't spoken. "So do you think... you could take another picture?"

"Of... of your back?" Prompto squeaked, sounding startled by the request. "M-me? You'd let me see?"

Noctis took a deep breath. "Yeah." He wasn't sure, really, that he could go through with it. But Prompto seeing seemed easier somehow, and Noct figured it could be like a trial run before Ignis. Only without all the making out.

"I'm happy to help, buddy, you know that." Prompto bumped shoulders with him again, giving him a smile. "But where did you want to do this? The lighting's not good out here, and the motel room won't work, for obvious reasons."

"Hmm... the bathroom?"

"Oh that's definitely gonna get us some strange looks," Prompto sighed.

Noctis simply shrugged.

x x x

Prompto was right, of course. Gladio's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline when they came in some time later and Prompto grabbed his camera out of his bag, starting into the bathroom after Noct, and the curious look on Ignis' face wasn't much better. They ignored the reactions, however, and Noct firmly shut the door once they were both in.

"You sure about this?" Prompto asked softly, taking a seat on the lid of the closed toilet and staring up at Noct.

"No," Noctis admitted. "But I've spent the past month worrying about it, and... I don't want it to mess things up with me and Iggy."

"Do you want me to try and do it quick? I won't look much."

"...You can look," Noct said, his mouth suddenly dry. He felt like he might throw up.

"Okay." Prompto fiddled with his camera for a minute, and then held it up, nodding at Noctis. "Whenever you're ready."

Noctis toyed with the hem of his shirt, and glanced at the mirror. His face stared back at him, pale and fearful. He didn't like the look on himself. If he ever managed to take Insomnia back, there'd be a lot more scary things he'd likely have to face. He didn't want something as small as this to conquer him.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled his shirt off in one fluid moment, and then turned his back to face Prompto, squeezing his eyes shut tight as if that would somehow help. At his side, his hands were clenched into fists, his nails digging slightly into the soft skin of his palms. His heart was pounding so fast and loud that he was sure Ignis and Gladio could hear it from outside.

Behind him, Prompto was quiet. Noct wondered with a dizzy sort of terror what his best friend was thinking. Maybe his back really was that hideous, and Prompto was regretting helping him... Then he heard the quiet snick of the camera button, and let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. "It really is amazing that you survived," Prompto said in a hush as he took a second picture. "I wasn't sure we'd helped you in time."

"Ignis told me you shot the one who clawed me."

"Yeah," Prompto said distractedly as he took a third shot. Noct wondered why he needed that many. "Okay, I'm done."

At those words, Noct yanked his shirt back on so fast he almost fell over. He turned around once he was finished, forcing himself to look at Prompto, afraid of what he might see on his best friend's face. Prompto met his eyes easily, smiling at him, no trace of revulsion anywhere. "I don't think it's nearly as bad as you've probably been imagining," Prompto told him, holding out the camera.

Noctis took it hesitantly, looking down at the screen with trepidation. The first picture was a shot of his whole back. There were three long scars raked down the length of it, each somewhat wide and shiny-looking in the middle with the ends tapering off slightly, and still red around the edges where they hadn't completely finished healing. He found himself surprised by how... not terrible the sight really was, though looking at them still made him upset. But the scars were smooth and flat all the way down, something he hadn't expected. The remnants of his old raised scars were still there, woven in between the new ones at an angle, giving his back a strange sort of criss-cross pattern.

"I think it's kind of neat, actually," Prompto commented, gesturing to the camera. "The way they overlap, it looks cool."

Noct glanced up at him, thinking Prompto was just trying to be nice. But there was only sincerity in his best friend's blue eyes. It helped.

He flipped to the next picture, which turned out to be merely a zoomed-in shot on the upper half of his back, letting him see a little more clearly, and making him realise that the new scars were actually sunken in somewhat, as if the new tissue had formed a layer below the rest of his skin. The third was a similarly zoomed-in shot of his lower back, and after studying it a moment he handed the camera back to Prompto. "Thanks."

"No problem!" Prompto flashed a grin at him. "So?"

"So... they're not as bad as I thought..." Noct said slowly, as the knots in his stomach gradually loosened. "But... I still don't like them. And... I'm still afraid of Ignis seeing."

Prompto's smile turned sympathetic. "I think that's normal, bro. But even if you're afraid, do you think you could show him now, if he asked?"

"Maybe?" He lifted a shoulder helplessly, let it drop back down. "It would still be hard."

"Noct. When you have ever let that stop you?" Prompto laughed.

Noct smiled, some of the tension draining out of him. "Yeah," he said. "You're right."

"Told you, dude, I always am."

I didn't really know what kind of scars Noct would end up with, and trying to google was... a mistake. Agh. So I wound up basing them on a scar of my own, because even though mine was just one gash on my arm on a much smaller scale, it was still deep enough to see layers. And once again, I'm not a doctor, so I just made shit up about Noct's healing time. Sorry!

I'll try to have the final part up either Monday evening or Tuesday whenever I wake up (and it IS the final part for real this time, really!).