AN: As usual, a huge thank you to my beta-sans Elillierose and Ellay-gee.
For this chapter, I have a suggested mood song. It's 'Rebirth' by Poets of the Fall - I've marked where to start listening. Optional, but I definitely recommend it for added feels.
This chapter kinda comes off as slight Promptis. It is very slight, though, and could still pass as neutral if you want to interpret it that way. But if Promptis is your thing and you'd like to read it that way, by all means, do. The shipping aspect wasn't my intention, it just sorta happened. Muse went that way, apparently. If you're not big into Promptis, know that it won't be going any further than this.
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The cold, piercing beeping of a heart rate monitor seemed to drown what little talking was muttered out around him. Noctis hardly paid attention to the paramedics running values and confirming procedures to each other. Leaning his elbows on his knees, the prince hung his head, looking at nothing. His own heart lurched a little at each beep, the hollow sound sending shivers down his spine.
The events of the past hour...five hours...hell, might as well have been all his life-! All of it, jumbled up in his mind, providing him with bitter memories of smoke, fear and pain. Red. All of it, always covered in red. He winced a little, hissing out at a phantom pain striking his old injury, long since healed but...but again so fresh and raw in his mind as the taste of tang rose to his tongue, as his head grew lighter-
Taking a deep breath, then another, to calm himself, Noctis clasped his hands tightly, biting his teeth to ground himself as he fought down the beginnings of a panic attack. 'Breathe,' he recalled Ignis's old advice. 'Just focus on breathing.' In time with the beeps, in, out, in, out… Forcibly finding a rhythm, the prince let himself slump farther as the crushing feeling in his chest began to ebb away. A shuddering exhale fizzled through his teeth as he straightened up again and pressed the back of his head against the cool metal, panting lightly. Cracking his eyes open just a sliver, Noctis peered over to his left.
Prompto looked so small under the heavy blanket splayed over him. The mask covering his nose and mouth fogged up a little with the slight rises and falls of the fabric. The prince sighed again.
At least they were still there.
Letting his eyes slide back closed, Noctis relaxed against the wall and focused on counting the beeps.
XV
He was politely shoved aside as they rushed Prompto to the ER. The staff's apologetic 'Your Highnesses' in his ears, he was left to gaze after them, the double-doors swinging wildly on their hinges in their wake. His body made a move to follow them before he could stop himself. Gulping, he averted his eyes, though. He would only get in the way. His shoulders dropped as he reluctantly turned his back to the now empty corridor and trailed towards the waiting lobby.
He slumped down into the nearest chair and dragged hands over his face, all the way through his hair. He let them linger on the back of his skull, tugging lightly as he leaned back.
Ignis, Gladio and Cor arrived less than a minute later.
"Did they say anything yet?" the marshall asked a bit breathlessly as his eyes scanned the otherwise empty lobby. Noctis simply shrugged and shook his head, sinking deeper into his seat. The man huffed out lowly, "I see."
Ignis sat down next to his ward, legs crossed, arms loosely on his lap as he ran a once-over on Noct. "I suppose there's little we can do but wait for the time being," he offered a consolation. However, it did little to alleviate the nervousness that manifested itself in fiddling fingers and drawn shoulders as Noctis hung his head.
"Yeah…"
"And from the way the kid was looking back there, I'd say this is gonna take a while," Gladio's chuckle rang a bit bitterly as the man turned to leave. "I'm gonna go get some coffee. Anyone else want anything?" A downhearted chorus of denials and 'I'm goods' sounded out. "Alright." With that, the shield headed off.
"I need to make my leave, for now," Cor nodded briefly, something regretful visiting his features. "But do not hesitate to call me as soon as we know something. I'll be meeting up with Captain Drautos, but I'll leave two Crownsguards here with you. They'll be at the door. Scientia."
"Sir?"
Without another word, the man handed him the car keys. Then, his expression softened as he turned back to Noctis and laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. The prince raised his head, only to all but drop it again at the look of hope and reassurance shining down upon him like a beacon. "He'll be alright, kid," Cor promised him. "Your friend is a fighter."
Another squeeze and a soft smirk before the usual stoic look returned to the man's face and he withdrew. "I must go," he turned to leave. "We'll be in touch." With one last nod toward the party of two, the marshall hurried out in wide strides. His steps echoed in the night-quiet lobby long after he was gone.
The heavy silence remained rather undisturbed until the shield got back. Once or twice Ignis tried to make small talk to lighten up the mood, but all he was met with were one-word answers and grunts, or nothing at all. He gave up shortly, succumbing to his own thoughts until Gladio came back.
Sipping from the simple brown paper cup, the young shield grimaced. "Ugh. Is this supposed to be coffee or just glorified motor oil?" he tried to chuckle, but that fell a bit short. The two others raised their eyes at him briefly, but no-one went with his poor attempt of a joke. In fact, Ignis shook his head ever so subtly, as if telling him not to bother.
Shrugging, the oldest let go of what humor he had tried to harbor. "Well, don't all of you choke up on it now…" he muttered as he sat down on the opposite side from the other two and took another sip of his drink. In the corner of his eye, Ignis just shook his head again before slender fingers rose to pinch the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up to his forehead.
XV
An hour passed by in relative silence, then another. Ignis yawned heartily and took a look at his watch: close to 5 a.m. already. He had asked multiple times if the prince wanted to return home to sleep as there was no telling how long it would be before they would receive any news, but Noct had refused. It hadn't stopped the recent lack of rest from catching up to him at some point, though. Slumped against Gladio, the prince was snoring softly, the shield equally asleep where he sat, although a lot more graceful in his posture than the other. Ignis sighed softly, fighting down another yawn.
It wasn't until almost two hours later that there was the soft dragging of a door opening. The sharp 'clacks' of heels on marble beelined toward the trio.
The sound is enough to arouse the shield from his light slumber; he blinked a little to assess his surroundings (even more so at finding the prince drooling over his arm). Cracking a soft smile, he nudged the younger man's shoulder. "Noct."
"Unngh?" Semi-delirious eyes swam around a little as Noctis gathered his bearings. More out of instinct than anything else he straightened up, rubbing the sleepy dust from his eyes. The clacks registered to him when they ceased, closeby.
The woman wearing the doctor's whites offered them all a formal greeting as she joined them, but waited until she had their full attention before starting:
"I understood that Your Highness arrived with mister Argentum?" she offered the young man a smile that conveyed nothing of what she had come to tell them.
The last of his sleep effectively extinguished, a metal band chilled his insides as it clenched around his chest. "How is he?" Noctis's tone bordered desolate.
Only then did her smile falter. "Well…"
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(Please have the mood music start here - Poets of the Fall: Rebirth )
He had grown so accustomed to that incessant beeping by now that he hardly even noticed it anymore. Although Noctis was sure he would bolt the instant if it were to come to a stop.
Raindrops speckled against the glass, streaking down in abrupt little rivers. More than once, Noctis found himself following a droplet as it slid down the glass, to join its kind as a part of a larger rivulet, trickling farther downwards. Then his eyes would catch another.
Grunting for the umpteenth time, the prince rested his forehead against the cool glass, hoping it would hamper down the rage that coursed through him in brisk bursts of magic like tiny explosions. His hand fisted against the glass, nails digging into his skin.
In the end, it had been over in seconds.
There had been a firefight. The Kingsglaive had aimed to ambush the group at the slums. But something had gone wrong, a failed sneak-up attempt. It had resulted in a short skirmish, during which the man assumed to be the leader was shot to death. One of the men -shaved sides and a dead look in his eyes- Nyx had brought down before he had time to reload. He was arrested and currently in solitary confinement, under hawkeye surveillance. The third man they didn't get to until when he was already trembling on the ground. He had had cyanide.
The nails almost broke the skin as bitter disappointment tore at him. The things these men had done...a simple death was too good for these bastards. A fair trial was too good for these bastards. They deserved to die screaming. Every single one of them. They deserved nothing more than every ounce of the pain they had put Prompto through! All of it and then some. Dark vehemence building in his core, the prince visioned the vengeance that had been denied of him. He wanted to see them suffer. He wanted to...he wanted… A held breath escaped him in a loud gasp as his eyes slid closed.
He just wanted Prompto back.
He sighed, this time the motion tearing at his throat. Biting his lip, the prince tore himself from the soothing chill of the window. It was almost automatic by now, the way he crossed his arms over his chest as he rested his back against the wall. His rage drained from him, replaced by a different emotion altogether as he again looked at what he already had for hours on end that day. His heart quaked a little at the motionlessness of the blond.
Prompto's head rested on a large pillow, turned to the side, his mouth slightly agape. His eyes were comfortably closed in deep sleep. Prompto looked so peaceful. And, under any other circumstance, Noctis would have mistaken him to be alright.
If it wasn't for the IV snaking its way into the back of his hand; or the gauzes covering up most of his forehead and his nose; or what still remained of the horrible bruising on his left cheek; or the nasal cannula...
Or the rash. The worst of it had calmed down, but his skin was still reddened and irritated, probably would be for another few days. He had sustained first degree burns.
The prince let out a strangled sound, his heart quivering. Medically induced coma. That's what he was told. That they were intentionally keeping Prompto out for now, to give his system time to recover. Before he could wake up.
They had told him that Prompto wouldn't be able to respond but that there was a possibility that he could remember voices or touch.
So Noctis had talked to him. Had ignored how stupid he probably sounded and talked to him about anything he could think of. About the new game that was coming out in two months. About his childhood in Tenebrae with Luna, he knew who Luna was, right? He'd had Ignis bring his textbooks from his apartment and had read Prompto the homework from the day he was taken. He wouldn't want Prompto to fall behind. He held his hand as he would in their secret handshake, gazed at it as if expecting the slender fingers to grip around his palm at any second.
Prompto's hand remained limp and unresponsive between his own.
Noctis died a little inside.
XV
He woke up, startled by the sudden jostling. The eben eyes snapping at the direction, it took a moment for the familiar features to make sense to him as Ignis withdrew his hand. The next to register was the straining in his lower body, his upper thighs making themselves known after being restrained in the difficult position the prince had fallen asleep on the chair that now doubled as his second home.
"It is about time for visiting hours to end, Noct," Ignis started, as if the matter would have made a difference to the Lucian prince. As expected, the raven simply scoffed, conveying his stance loud and clear.
"I'm staying."
The adviser wasn't having any of that, though. "Noct, you need to rest. Properly," he stressed before the prince had time to protest with a remark to his less than adequate sleeping arrangement on the chair. Then, his demeanor softened. "Prompto will be kept in his state until tomorrow morning at least. After that, he can wake up when he is ready. But until then, you should take care of yourself first." He let his words sink for a moment before delivering the calculated winning strike:
"Do you think he would like what he saw if he were to wake up now? With all due respect, Highness, you look like hell." Ignis only snorted softly at the screaming flabbergast dawning on Noctis's face at his crude choice of words; the adviser had already won. He was right, Noct knew he was right, and the sudden yawn of the prince was enough to dull what little doubt there might have remained.
"Okey, Specs," the raven agreed. But his gaze again found his friend before he made a move to go with the adviser. "Is he...gonna be alright, though?"
Ignis offered him a smile. "They have the best of the best working here, Noct. Prompto will be taken excellent care of. And hopefully, come tomorrow, he will have the strength to wake up."
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Prompto didn't wake up the next day.
Nor the one after that.
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Noctis grit his teeth, studying his own reflection in the window rather than the all too familiar view outside. For hours he had gazed at the cityscape already, thinking none of it would strike as a surprise to him anymore. So instead, he now focused on the features of himself reflecting on the glass: so very vague, fading out into the sunlight streaming into the pearl-colored room.
Still nothing.
They had discontinued the medication that kept Prompto sedated on the second day. He was still unresponsive and out cold.
He could wake up now.
It was almost as if he didn't want to.
The king had visited the second day, although that had been only briefly, seeing as there had been hardly any change in the blond's state. "We just have to wait," his father had told him. "Your friend has been through a lot."
As if he didn't know that.
Noctis sighed. It had been three days already. "C'mon, Prom..."
Prompto's parents had visited earlier that day. Noctis had been politely guided out of the room to allow the family members the privacy. The doctors had stayed in for a while, to give the Argentums a thorough recap of their son's condition; and Noctis swore that his world had slowed down as the door that excluded him had closed in front of him. He had peeked inside for as long as he could, had witnessed the devastation twisting Prompto's mother's face, and the hollow look in his father's eyes as he had laid a hand on his wife's shoulder. Then...then nothing. The nurse had pushed the door closed in his face, cutting him out. Somehow, it was as if a lifeline had been severed somewhere. His hand had twitched in the direction of the door. The thought of for once in his life abusing his status -of marching back in there and declaring that he was the prince of the whole damned country and that he wasn't going to be ordered around- it had crossed his mind; it had seemed so tempting…
He had backed away. They deserved to have this moment with him, they were his parents, for Six's sake. Noctis may have thought whatever he wanted of them but it didn't take away the fact that they were still his family. Noctis wasn't. It felt wrong, thinking of it like that, but he couldn't quite come to pinpoint the reason why. Maybe it was because they hadn't been there. 'Like they never were,' he recalled thinking, and had to bite his cheek from wandering into such thoughts. It wasn't his place to judge them. Prompto didn't talk about it; he shouldn't start now.
He never ventured far from the door, though. And to his immense surprise, as the Argentums eventually made their leave, both of them offered him their deepest gratitude for saving their son. And Noctis couldn't help but mutter, suddenly out of words, each harmful thought as if diminished as they thanked him from the bottom of their hearts for being there for their boy.
What else would he do?
This was Prompto!
Prompto, who was still out cold.
Prompto, who had been through so much Noctis feared he would never be the same again.
Closing his eyes, Noctis sent a silent prayer to the Six. It was carried up to the heavens on the wings of seemingly never-ending beeping.
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The little artifact's surface is smooth under his fingers; the digits run along the familiar shapes, dipping into each nook and cranny as they have a myriad of times before.
"Not sure if you remember," Noctis begins, his voice hesitant as if he didn't know where to start. "You might not, you would've been kinda young. I was young…" His voice trails away; fingers stop their practiced study of the tiny figurine. He huffs. Then, he starts over.
"You know...when I was a kid...uh, something happened. And, and I spent a long time asleep." He held a short pause to consider his next words. "I remember this dream place. Like a...a huge garden or something, it was gorgeous. But…also kinda scary." A soft smile rose to the prince's lips as his finger traced the long, slender ears of the token.
"There was this little creature. Kinda like a fox but...huge ears. It could talk. It knew me, and...I think I knew it, too. It wanted me to follow it." He let out a small breath as he rose from his chair by the bed. Prompto's restful features remained unchanging as the prince -before he could even properly comprehend the motion- brushed a few strands of blond hair to the side.
His eyes widened a fraction as he realized what he was doing, but he didn't pull away. Not right away. Letting himself treasure the soft contact for a moment longer -although the reason why it mattered drifted away from him, lingering just beyond his understanding like a frightening phantom- Noctis offered his friend a sorrowful smile.
His touch remained even when he finally placed the small wood carving to the nightstand. "He led me through a nightmare once," a solemn note crept into Noctis's voice. "Maybe he'll lead you through yours, too."
On the nightstand, the small, wooden sprite's unseeing eyes seemed to gaze upon the listless form on the bed.
It took a moment for him to grasp what it was that had roused his attention.
He had been about to fall under again when something startled him from the limbo of near dreamless sleep. Behind the window, the sun was setting already, marking another day of this waking nightmare coming to its end. Noctis blinked at it; had he truly dozed off for that long? He swore, it had only just been lunch time-! What was going on? Something...something was out of place...
Beep. Beep.
Noctis's heart missed a beat.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
He knew what it was that was amiss.
That perpetual, nerve-grinding beeping. It came faster.
A gasp slipped out as his eyes widened at the slight wiggling of fingers against the white cotton sheets.
Raspy. Soft. But at the moment, it was the dearest sound Noctis had ever heard:
"No-Noct?"