Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XV or any of its characters.
Title:the world at your fingertips, you just need to seize it
Summary: As far as the six year old Noctis was concerned, his entire world consisted of four walls and Father always told him it's safer to stay inside than going outside. It's when those walls come down that Noctis's entire world changes.
Rating: T
Warnings: Potentially disturbing imagery, emotional abuse
Author's Notes: This section ended up being longer than I thought and I had to split it into two chapters. Besides, I couldn't resist writing more about Noctis and Prompto.
Prompto was already dressed in a bright yellow jumper that illuminated his hair all the more by the time Noctis had finished his bath.
" You're with me tonight," Prompto cheerily announced.
Noctis didn't mind. After all, Prompto was always quick to share the thousands of photos he had taken, of animals he had seen, of places he'd been to, of sights he had visited, and he would describe every single one in loving detail and care, sending Noctis to sweet dreams where he was travelling alongside Prompto to see all those things.
Ignis had finished cleaning the rest of the washroom, leaving it spotless and without any hint of wetness on the tiles despite the splashes Noctis was fond of making, politely declining Noctis's attempt to help. " My gratitude for your eagerness, but there is no need," he had said, to Noctis's bemusement. Ignis always insisted on doing all the cleaning and washing like it was his job or something.
Gladio was inspecting the books on the shelves with a critical eye. " Better speak to the head librarian about this tomorrow. There are some books that should be here," he was muttering to himself.
Dressed in a fancy dark blue silky material that would be his night clothes, Noctis felt almost like a lord or a prince of some rich country. He felt comparatively contrasting to Prompto who was currently resembling a fluffy duck.
" Well it is getting late and it is time for bed," Gladio declared, having apparently finished his scrutiny of the book shelves.
Noctis suddenly started feeling a little forlorn. It would be the first time Ignis wouldn't be tucking him into bed and the first time without listening to Gladio's snores. He felt as if he was losing something important.
Seeing his expression, Ignis knelt next to him. " Our rooms are just down the hall. See?" He pointed past the doors and down the hallway where Noctis thought he could see at least three more closed doors. " Please do not hesitate to call upon us if you need anything."
" And the door won't be shut?" Noctis eyed the door as if it would permanently separate him from his friends.
" The door won't be shut," Ignis reassured.
" Promise?"
Prompto's pinkie finger promises must be viral because Ignis held out a finger to let Noctis curl his own around it. " Of course," Ignis solemnly said.
Gladio had one arm scuffed around Prompto's shoulders. " Think you can handle a kid for one night?" he grinned.
" Why wouldn't I?" Prompto looked indignant.
" 'Cuz you're a kid yourself."
Ignis was thoroughly unimpressed with Prompto's struggles to escape Gladio's headlock while Noctis hid a grin. " We'll be fine," Prompto said, having managed to finally push Gladio off him. He made a playful shooing motion with his hands. " Good night!"
Gladio affectionately ruffled Noctis's head. " Have a good night you two."
" We will see you in the morning," Ignis kindly said.
Noctis watched with apprehension as Ignis and Gladio became smaller as they walked down the hallway, even if the bedroom door was only half-closed, like Ignis had promised. " They are still there, right?" he asked.
" Of course they are. They are just going to their own rooms."
" But their doors are closed," Noctis logically pointed out.
Prompto blinked in confusion. " Their doors are unlocked though ... Oh! You don't have to worry," he said, finally understanding Noctis. " Just because a door is closed doesn't mean it won't open ever – or that we can't visit other people."
" Really?"
" Yep. But with Gladio, you gotta knock first because he becomes a grumpy bear in the morning if we disturb his beauty rest."
Noctis giggled.
" Aaaaand it's time for bed!"
Noctis squealed as Prompto scooped him up, lifting him high (though not as high as Gladio) and spinning him around once and twice before they fell over in a heap onto the bed.
After a mock-scuffle to hoard and steal the blankets and pillows – Noctis narrowly won by tickle torture – ("I surrender! I surrender!" Prompto comically collapsed at the foot of the bed, still wheezing and shaking with laughter as much as Noctis), Prompto leaned over to reach the light switch. " Ready to turn off the lights?"
Noctis grabbed Carbuncle from the small table not too far from the bed, cradling it close. At his nod, Prompto flicked off the light, leaving the window and the outside as the only source of light, albeit a dim one.
" Sweet dreams, Noctis," Prompto yawned as he flopped back onto the bed. It almost seemed within seconds after Prompto snuggled with his pillow he was already drifting to sleep.
Noctis tried to do the same with his own pillow but it was too lumpy to his taste. " Night, Prompto."
He tried rolling over like Prompto but he found the bed was too soft, so soft that Noctis felt like he could fall right through the mattress. Having spent the last few days either sleeping in the Reglia or in the tent, he preferred the sturdier Reglia seat or the ground than the bed at the moment. His new pyjamas itched and rubbed uncomfortably at his skin, tugging at every seam, unused to the foreign material.
The clock hanging somewhere in the room ticked and clicked in a disturbingly deafening rhythm. The washroom made an incoherent gurgle and the sink merrily tapped away. The wind howled and pressed against the window, rattling the glass. Outside, cars could be heard rumbling by and honking at each other. Lights from below glimmered in a myriad of colors in the distance. How there could be people still up this late at night was baffling to Noctis.
There was a creak from beyond the opened door. He tensed, thinking it might be a monster or the black king trying to sneak in while Gladio wasn't here. The floors beyond the door was whispering and clacking again. Soft voices, too quiet and faraway to be deciphered, could be heard down the hallway. Noctis thought two of them sounded like Ignis and Cor but he wasn't certain.
Everything in the room and beyond it was shifting, moving and shuffling, constantly in motion, never ending, like it was a circus.
It set everything inside Noctis on edge.
" What's wrong?"
Prompto's voice interrupted the loud silence. Noctis was surprised to find that he was still awake. Prompto rolled over, facing him, eyes bright with concern.
He fiddled with a loose button on his shirt, focusing on staring at it rather than Prompto. He didn't want to seem ungrateful after everything Prompto and the other two had done for him.
" Hey." Prompto's voice grew soft. " You know you can tell me anything, right?"
" It's stupid," Noctis finally muttered.
" Nothing's stupid if it's bothering you."
Noctis wasn't used to telling others about things that bothered him. Any concerns or anxieties he brought up to Father was mostly laughed away. " You're acting silly," Father would always tell him, casually waving aside his fears. " As long as you stay inside, you are safe. Don't think about such things."
But he wasn't inside the room anymore. Nor was Father nearby. Noctis was outside and that made everything a little more scarier, a little more stranger, a little more not safe.
Prompto was still looking at him, patiently waiting.
" It's loud in here," he admitted in a small voice.
Noctis's eyes darted to the clock, to the window, to the washroom, to the floor, to the main door. Everything was making sound, creaks, groans and rattles.
" Like everything in the room is ... alive," he whispered.
The words even sounded ludicrous once said out loud. Noctis ducked his head, feeling embarrassed.
To his surprise, Prompto didn't ridicule him for it. Instead, he leaned forward. " Like everything is watching you?" he softly asked.
His eyes widened. " Yeah, like that."
Prompto smiled a little. " I felt like that too when my parents weren't at home and it was just me in the house. It was like I was waiting for something to jump at me. I swear the bathroom sink from the downstairs kitchen was dripping so loud there was an earthquake."
" Earthquake?"
" Um, I'll tell you about that later. But the point is, I know what you mean. And you know what I do to make it better?"
" What?"
" Build a pillow fort!" Prompto said with all the enthusiasm in the world.
He stared.
" You never built a pillow fort before?"
Noctis never even heard of a fort made of pillows, so he just shrugged.
" Then there's no time to waste. I'll get to work right away. Just stay right here!"
Noctis didn't get a chance to reply before Prompto leaped off the bed and dashed off to collect the pillows and chairs near the window, setting them on the floor. Noctis watched with curiosity as Prompto heaved the blanket from the bed and draped it over the chairs and over the bed.
Grunting while he crouched, Prompto tugged over the knitted rug to the foot of the bed. As he did, he began scattering the various pillows, stuffed animals and cushions on the floor.
When his work was completed and Prompto was satisfied, he beckoned Noctis to join him on the floor. " Come down here, Noct."
He blinked. " That isn't my name," he slowly said.
Prompto looked flustered for a moment. " It's – ahh, just a nickname. I mean, if you don't like it, I can go back to calling you Noctis."
Father had given him many nicknames and other terms of endearment. But Father had never called him 'Noct' before.
It sounded nice.
" I don't mind," Noctis shyly said.
Prompto beamed. " You can call me Prom if you'd like. You can even call Ignis and Gladio 'Iggy' and 'Gladdy' too. Friends sometimes give each other names like that," he added at Noctis's blank look.
" Okay ... Prom." Noctis tested the word carefully, feeling it on his tongue. It sounded safe and warm.
The smile on Prompto's face could have outshone the sun. " All right then, Noct. Come on down here."
Making sure to include Carbuncle with them, Noctis couldn't stop the smile on his face as he crawled under the blanket and was almost immediately enveloped in a canopy of warmth. " It's like our tent," he exclaimed.
" Totally. Except we have it inside a building." Prompto looked a little flushed from all the activity but he was grinning from ear to ear as he flopped on the floor, stretching lazily on the cushions. " Better?"
The sounds were more muted, less distracting. The cushions and pillows weren't as soft but Noctis liked it better that way. Under the blanket, it was almost like being back in his old room where everything wasn't too spacious and he wasn't as exposed.
He settled next to Prompto, sighing contentedly. " Yeah," he said.
That was how Ignis found them in the morning, curled up on the floor and nestled close together with Prompto's arm flung around Noctis's chest and Noctis tucked snugly underneath Prompto's chin and Carbuncle watching them from the side.
" It seems you two had a productive night," he wryly said as he opened the window drapes wider and sunlight flooded the room.
" Ignis!" Prompto dramatically cried out, casting his arms out to deflect against the incoming rays. Noctis instead burrowed into Prompto's shirt with a whine. " Have some mercy!"
" Nine o'clock is pushing it. How late did you two stay up?" He delicately nudged Prompto's side with a polished shoe tip to get him to move.
" Not that late?" Prompto innocently said as he not so discreetly tried to hide his phone that still had the King's Knight main title screen flashing and trilling its theme song.
Ignis looked disapproving through his glasses. " Playing games in the middle of the night is hardly beneficial for Noctis's eyesight."
" But I wore my glasses like you told me though," Noctis piped up, his voice muffled because he was still hiding his face in Prompto's shirt from the sun. He fumbled over near Carbuncle because that was where the glasses were and Ignis told him many times he needed to wear it for protection.
Prompto snorted while Ignis's expression didn't change even if the corners of his mouth twitched. " Come along then," Ignis finally said. " Unfortunately the day does not wait for sluggards, idlers and dawdlers."
Prompto grinned as he poked the yawning Noctis. " Was it just me or were there some words in there that didn't make sense?"
Noctis giggled.
" Gladio is bringing breakfast up soon so I suggest getting washed up."
The promise of breakfast was finally enough to get Noctis to regretfully crawl out of the blanket fort. Prompto was just tossing the blanket and some of the pillows back on the bed when Noctis tugged on his sleeve.
" Thanks Prom," he shyly murmured. " For last night. It was fun."
Prompto's smile was just as bright as the sun. " Anytime, Noct."