Prompt: #5 Delusional

Summary: The delusion was what they hoped was the end.

A/N: The Undead Series.

Frustro is Latin for, "to deceive, dupe, trick".

Frustro

"I could not have born it had they gotten a chance to do to you what they had done to me."

"What have they done to you?" she asks, eager and anxious to hear any part of his experiences in the labs. He never discusses it with her and she, not only wants to, she needs to know what heinous things they had done to him while he had been captured. It hurt her deeply that he never seemed to want to share it with her.

"I would rather shield you from that," he says quietly. "It would needlessly give you cause for nightmares. I have no doubt that they would have subjected you to far worse than they had me had I not gotten there when I had. They were becoming desperate in their endeavors."

When she had been captured, he had recklessly lunged headlong into coming after her. The place that they had dragged her to had been a veritable fortress. Which seemed a non issue when there had been nothing, no matter how much had been laid between them, would have stopped him. He had not even waited for Ignis to form a coordinated plan of attack before coming to break her free. He had not waited at all. As soon as he had heard of her capture, he had come running, without thought to anything but saving her. He had never done anything so impulsively dangerous before and the display of power that he had unleashed when he had arrived had been unlike anything she had ever seen him do either. There had been a raw edge of desperation there that had awed her. It had frightened her to think that he had come so quickly but it had awed her too. Never though, had she been afraid that he would hurt her. It was a sight that she would always remember and always relish when it had been for her sake that he had done it.

"After all that we have been through, you cannot shield me from this," she tells him earnestly. "We cannot take the next step with secrets between us. I will not revert back to us bantering back and forth as we first started."

He chuckles at her accusatory tone, not the least bit repentant for intentionally playing the arrogant jerk before.

"But we had so much fun when we did that," he argues lightly.

"Maybe you had fun," she says with a mock sniff. "But I was sorely tempted to strange you on occasion."

"With these gentle hands?" he teases, taking hold of each of them and kissing them in turn.

"Well maybe not strangle," she amends sheepishly. "My favorite fantasy was to flatten your hair."

He barks out a loud laugh, pressing her hands on each side of his face.

"You do know just where I am weakest."

"Of course," she says feigns haughtiness. "I studied you as much as you studied me."

He gives her another of his rare smiles before he turns to stare out at the city skyline in front of them.

Somehow this place, so high above the streets of Nihilsomno, had become their little sanctuary. In sight of all but too high up to actually see. It offered them a clear view of the skies above and the wondrous galaxy of lights below. It had been the place where they had first met and was now where they came to be completely alone. Where they could only exist with each other and forget the world outside for a few brief moments. She stops to appreciate the view when she notices the shadow that has settled over his face. Unable to bear watching him sink into that endless abyss of distortion, she presses her hands against his face to gain his attention again. When he reluctantly turns his head to look at her, she shakes her head at him.

"Please, do not draw away from me," she pleads. "Not now. I need you to speak to me. Tell me what they did."

He manages to smirk at her which means he is about to say something mischievous in order to distract her.

"There was a time not so long ago that you said I was tolerable until I opened my mouth."

"You still are only tolerable then sometimes," she says teasingly, rubbing her nose against his. "But that was only when you spoke to try and get a rise out of me."

"You always look so stunning when your hackles are raised," he compliments with both sincerity and teasing. "I love to see the fire flash in your violet eyes."

She harumphs in response, removing her hands from his face to turn her nose at him.

"Do you mean my 'strange' eyes?"

"Have I apologized properly yet for behaving so badly?" he asks softly, reaching for her hand again.

"No, but you can show me how sorry you are by answering my question."

"There was a question?"

"Jerk."

"But I am your jerk," he reassures, drawing her closer to himself. "You will remember that, won't you?"

"Why do you sound unsure whether I will remember?" she asks, leaning against his shoulder on a sigh.

"I would not want you to find someone more suitable for you when you leave me tomorrow."

"Who would be more suited to me than you?"

"Stella," he says in warning. "We both know that... things will be difficult. This separation will be long."

"Are you saying you want to be free to find someone else?" she asks, suddenly unsure herself. She jerks away so she can read his face.

His grip tightens possessively around her and pulls her back against him before he growls into her ear. "Never!" he vows vehemently.

"Then what are you saying?"

"That the world may be forced to tolerate the Undead and listen to our authority but I have still not found the body of that monster."

"He was mortally wounded though. You were the one that inflicted it."

"I did, but I still feel so ill at ease. There are still people missing."

"We will find out what happened to them," she says confidently. "You need not worry. This is a fresh start now and it was you who accomplished it. Everything else will sort itself out."

"The whispers have been silent," he says flatly.

"Have they ever been silent before?"

"Not usually for this long," he replies uncomfortably. "It feels as if they are being blocked by something else. I do not feel as if this is all over yet."

"Noctis," she says in worry. "Should I stay?"

"No," he says with a firm shake of his head. "No need to stay when you have to go."

"If you think it unsafe, I would stay."

"Maybe it is safe and I am merely making up excuses so that I can keep you here," he suggests with a smirk firmly in place.

"What happened to the guy that wanted me to run from him?" she chides.

"He decided he wanted to run right after you," he replies with a cheeky grin and she has to laugh at how goofy he looks.

"It really is over isn't it?" she asks, but she starts to doubt that. He looks too resolute, though he tries to cover it over with a smirk. "We never did figure out what their ultimate plan was besides to poison us and we know that would not have been successful."

It had also seemed mundane considering how many facilities and man power had been devoted to it. There had to have been something much bigger that they had not figured out.

"It does not matter. There are none left to finish it anyway," he shrugs, but she can see that it bothers him too. "But at least we know that the Crystals are not really all gone afterall."

"Noctis..."

"It is all, all right, Stella," he reassures her, pressing her against his chest again to keep her from saying anything else. "But are you sure you are all right?"

"Why would I not be?"

"You know what I mean."

"You gave me the antidote and I am fine," she says, a touch curious that he would bring it up now. "That was ages ago. Stop trying to distract me."

"I am trying to pretend that we are normal."

"Why would you want to be normal?"

"You like being known as an Undead?"

"Why not? You are one to talk when it is you who likes the goddess of the dead. You said she was beautiful, in fact."

"Are you jealous?"

"No, but it is further reason for me not to want to be normal."

"I am more than just abnormal."

"And I would not love you so much if you were not."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"Women like you do not belong with men like me."

"How would you know that?"

"They just… do not."

"Well then I will gladly prove you wrong," she says stubbornly.

"I am... not in my right mind you know," he says to try and dissuade her. "Some would say that I was actually insane."

"Do you love me?"

"Of course I do," he says with such quickness that there is not doubt of his sincerity.

"Then trust me," she says. "Trust that no matter what, I will always return to you."

"But why would you return to one that was as delusional as me?"

"Because I love you."

"That is not very rational."

"Well, nobody ever said love was rational," she reasons, pulling one of his spikes to show her irritation at him. "There is one thing I would like though."

"What is that?"

"If you're determined to be 'normal' can we be a normal couple and enjoy our last night together by pretending we do not carry the burden of the world on our shoulders?"

He struggles within himself visibly before he releases a very long sigh.

"I can give you that," he promises with a low whisper.

"Good," she says, giving him an assessing look. "Because I really would rather not start our long separation from each other thinking you are a jerk."

The laugh that he issues in response swells like a flower within her chest. She is so full of optimism and hope in this moment. Her biggest hope is that their separation is not as long as they both feared.