Added in some more nice fluff moments in here. C: And there is actual progress made on them getting out, so no worries. Not much, but some hope at least.

Over time the hold on Gladio's arm became lighter and lighter until the hands that gripped it were hardly noticeable. That's when he became conscious of how much their overall pace had slowed and he listened to the shuffling of feet next to him, practically dragging along. Placing an arm around Prompto's waist, hoping to provide some additional support, wanted or not, and felt a shiver run through the other's body. He was obviously drained as it was, yet he still pushed on without complaint. Gladio both hated and admired that willpower, but this wasn't the place to show it.

He tightened his arm around him when another stumble almost ended with him falling to the ground, "Whoa there." Gladio said, hefting him back up, "Are you alright?"

Prompto was leaning into his arm now, struggling to keep his breathing under control, "Uh huh." He swallowed hard and grabbed Gladio's arm to right himself and get his bearings. "Don't worry about me."

"Don't overdo it Prompto." Ignis called from ahead. Making your condition worse in a predicament such as this would not be wise."

"I told you already," Prompto released his hold on Gladio, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." He took another step and faltered immediately, luckily there was someone there to catch him again. He blushed in embarrassment, staring down at the ground. "I-I'm not fine. I'm not, am I?" He mumbled mostly to himself. Whatever he said after that was too low for Gladio to make out the words.

Gladio leaned in closer, "What was that? Didn't quite catch it."

Prompto quickly looked back up, looking slightly confused, "Wha?" He leaned farther into Gladio, not realizing that he was wavering on the spot. "Did I say something?" He glanced around and saw three pairs of eyes on him, staring and filled with worry.

Gladio's hand was on his forehead at once, "Tch, dammit, you're burning up."

Prompto gazed at him through glazed eyes, "It's not that bad." He forced out as another shudder ran through him. Gladio crouched down and went to lift his ailing friend, only to have him uselessly try to push away. "Wh-what are you doing, Gladdy?"

Gladio didn't give in, and scooped him up with ease, "What does it look like?"

"Stop, put me down." He tried to push away once again, but the other man's hold was too strong and wouldn't so much as budge. "Come on, I'll just get you sick too." His voice took on an almost begging sound.

He ignore his struggles of freedom and stood back up, "Do you really think I care? I'm not going to push you away becasue of a few germs."

"Besides, with us being within such close quarters, not to mention sleeping so close to one another, we would all have it right now if it were contagious." Ignis said, more to calm the blonde than anything, "You are worrying for nothing, none of us have shown any symptoms, so we're safe from it."

Prompto seemed to relax a bit at hearing that, "A-Are you sure?" He closed his eyes halfway and layed his head against the means shoulder, his vision blurring a small amount. He felt his world spinning ever so slowly as he reached out to grab something. "Gladdy?" He whispered as his hand finally made contact with something. "I feel." He dragged in a laboring breath as his head pounded in his ears. "I feel...kinda." He couldn't hear his own voice over the thumping and the ringing.

"Prompto?" It was Ignis' voice that responded. He had one hand on his forehead now, and the other cupping his cheek, making him look at up. "Can you hear me? I need to you let me know if you can"

Things were going in and out of focus, and he was only catching words here and there, but not enough for his hazy mind to piece together to form a cognitive response.

"What's happening to him, what the hell's going on?" Noctis asked walking over, feeling panic gripping at his heart.

Ignis turned his head to look at him thoughtfully, "His fever has risen drastically, he can't think straight." He retracted his hands and reached under the jack the untie the bandanna from Prompto's arm. "Noct, can you hand me the water?" Noctis did as he was asked and handed it over, no questions asked. Pouring enough over the material to dampen it, he placed it over Prompto's forehead. "Don't worry, it's not high enough to be life threatening, but it's still getting worse."

"And what are we supposed to do when it does become life threatening?" Gladio asked cynically. Looking down at the blondes eyes he could see the delirium plainly. He didn't know a thing that was going on around him, yet he was still staring off above him. His eyes drifted to look at the larger man now.

"Wh-what's happening?" Prompto asked, seemingly staring straight through Gladio, almost as if he couldn't see him. "It's so...so hot." A few weak coughs tore out of his throat as he tried to curl up in Gladio's arms, finding it rather difficult with the angle he was at. Colors danced before his vision as his body was jostled from the action.

"Easy there, buddy." Gladio spoke softly. His coughs eased away and he carefully began to calm down again, letting his eyes completely close this time and his breathing evened out. But the uncomfortable expression on his face told he wasn't resting easy. "We should keep going." He said as he pulled Prompto in closer and stepped past Ignis. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."

Ignis handed the water back to Noctis and joined Gladio's side. Noctis stood where he was for a moment, everything repeating in his mind as different scenarios played out before him. "Are you coming, Noct?" Ignis asked, snapping him out of his stupor.

"Y-yeah, I'm coming." He tucked the water back in his pocket and gazed in the direction they came from for a few more moments before turning and following the others.

As the three of them turned a corner, Ignis held up a hand to stop them, and kept it up signaling for the to remain silent. He stood there, tilting his head, listening to something the others didn't know of. "Do you hear that?" He asked, leaning towards the sound more.

"Hear what?" Noctis asked, "I think you're the only one that can."

Ignis turned to face them, hope now evident in his eyes. "It sounds to me like running water, and where there's running water there has to be a source." He began forward again, "If we fin it all we have to do is follow it upstream, and our chance of getting out of here are pretty high."

"Lead the way, specs." Noctis replied, gesturing with his hand fro him to pick up the pace.

Gladio still had the blonde held close to him, his breath coming out in heated puffs against his neck, and he could feel drops of sweat dripping off Prompto and onto his chest. "We'll get you out of here soon enough." He whispered down to the young man in his arms. He may not have been able to hear him at the moment, but it still gave hims some comfort saying it.

"How is he holding up?" Ignis asked, trying to start conversation.

Gladio looked down and sighed, "Hard to tell, he's out like a light. Hasn't so much as twitched since he knocked out." He was so pale now, which contrasted greatly with the dark shadows that encased his eyes. To put it lightly, he looked like shit. "I'm not used to him being this quiet, that's for certain."

Noctis gave a small laugh, "Yeah, it's kind of peaceful for once." His amusement quickly did a one-eighty straight into apprehension when he thought about it. "About how far do you suppose this water is anyway?"

"With the twists and turns that are so common amidst these places, it's hard to say really. It's even possible that we are completely cut off from that part of the cave."

"We'll find it." Gladio spoke up with determination. "Either we'll find a path to it, or I'll make one." By now he was letting his fears chase away his logical thinking. He was very aware of this, he just didn't seem to really care so much anymore.

"I doubt that will be necessary." Ignis replied, understanding where the other man was coming from. "More than likely there will be at least a small passage somewhere we can cross through." He stopped when he came across a dead end, and signed in frustration. "Looks like we'll have a back track a little first."

Noctis looked around the area, freezing when his eyes landed on Prompto again. "We've been going for a while now, think we should rest for the night?" He watched his chest rise and fall with each breath, thankful that it was steady for now at least.

Ignis saw what he was getting at and reluctantly agreed. "It might be a good idea. Gladio, you can lay him down now."

Gladio ignored his words and left Ptompto where he was. "I think we should keep going. We've been here long enough as it is."

Ignis went ahead and took a seat on the ground, "And we will, but it will none of us any good if we wear ourselves out. Not to mention Prompto needs proper rest, which he won't get by being carried around and jostled." He took a deep breath. "I know exactly how you feel, but I believe this to be our best course of action."

Gladio took a second to ponder, "I'll take your word for it, but I still don't like it." Even though he gave in, he still didn't place Prompto down and instead sat with him in his lap and his head leaning against him. He caught the look the other two were giving him. "It's better them him sleeping on the cold rocks, I'm sure you guys can agree with that."

"I'm not saying anything." Ignis said, lying down on his side and close his eyes to try and get some sleep. Noctis said nothing as he did the same next to Gladio. Knowing that they were in a relatively safe area, he was able to eventually drift off himself.