AN: Posting my backlog of fics to this site for everyone to enjoy!
New year, new fandom! Final Fantasy XV and 2020 got me back to writing fanfiction! I'm so excited!
Also, don't fret, this fic is complete and edited! I plan on posting the other two chapters on the following Saturdays or Sundays depending on how the weekend goes. (Also gives me time to work on other stories while I'm posting this.)
Gladiolus stopped in the middle of his training routine that afternoon to stretch and to take in some of the calm atmosphere of the training hall. He was one of the few people currently using it to enjoy one of the few times he got some free time from his Shield duties. He made sure to take the most of the chance to work off any stress he had before getting wrapped up in the business of the Citadel. The calm broke when Cor walked into the room with a clipped pace and honed in on him immediately.
"Amicitia, there's a situation. Follow me," the Marshall ordered before pivoting on his heel and leaving the room.
The younger Crownsguard knew he couldn't disobey, so he began to follow the man quickly. "What's the situation?" He knew the other man wouldn't interrupt his known afternoon off without a very good reason. They all had such precious time to themselves when devoted to the Crown and Citadel like they were.
"Fallen Star. We're meeting the others now to get an idea of who is at play here."
The code word for Noctis being kidnapped. Gladiolus almost stopped walking in surprise. Why had he allowed his prince to go off alone to the arcade that afternoon. He felt like an idiot for not insisting more about going with him. Now he could get hurt with no Shield at his side. Even just a few extra Crownsguard wouldn't replace the role he played.
In no time Cor and Gladiolus arrived at the situation room where they joined Clarus, Regis, Titus, Ignis, and several other Crownsguard and Kingsglaive at a large table with the King sitting at the head. They were all looking at a screen full of information that had already been gathered.
"What do we know so far?" Regis asked from where he was seated at the head of the table.
Ignis pulled up a tablet and flicked a few bits of information to show on the screen. "It appears that several dark vehicles pulled up to the arcade His Highness was visiting that afternoon carrying various assailants. These individuals, currently unknown origins, quickly worked to take out the guards who were stationed outside of the arcade before going inside. Right now, they have taken the arcade hostage."
"How many people are inside the arcade currently?"
"We're working with estimates until we get more people on the ground. Still, we know the prince went with a friend to the arcade, and there were at least two Crownsguard inside the arcade. Status of those four are unknown. They drew the window coverings as soon as the building was taken to prevent us from getting a good view of the situation inside." Ignis explained, pulling up the CC camera. True to his word, the cameras showed darkened windows with only a few vague shadows moving inside the room.
Gladiolus balled his hands into fists at the clinical way Ignis was describing the situation regarding two of their friends. He knew they had to be calm and collected about these things, but he had just argued this morning about being at that same arcade with them. Then, he realized the friend inside the arcade with Noctis was Prompto.
Gladiolus began taking long runs through Insomnia during his first year of high school. He did this in the early morning as a good way to get a break from the Citadel, his home, and the pressures they all contained. He enjoyed being able to see people who had accepted their duties in life for the most part, and they served a way for him to get a bit of contrast from the frustration training had become.
During these runs, he would take a bit of time to greet the different people he would see along the way. Some of them would stand out more than others, which was how he noticed the young, overweight boy struggling with his own run day after day. Somehow, this boy kept standing out in his mind among the sea of people he saw everyday.
The future Shield did not need another person to train, not with an obstinate Prince being a thorn in his side. Still, something about this young blond kept him wanting to offering more than a simple greeting. He put it up to that glint of determination he saw in those blue eyes every time they exchanged their quick 'hello's every morning.
Finally, one day, Gladiolus allowed the impulsive action to win. He turned around to join the slow jogging stride with the kid. "How long have you been running?" He asked.
The younger teen nearly stumbled at the question before looking at him. "I- ah, two weeks?" Even with the slow pace, his words were breathless.
The brunet knew he could work with this. "Want some pointers? What else you doing?"
His question only got a few blinks in response before the job stumbled a few steps. "Oh, no, I don't- I'd be a bother to you."
"I wouldn't offer if I didn't mean it."
Those blue eyes blinked a few more times at him before narrowing some. "You're sure? I don't- I want to know how to- I'm trying to be better. I'm trying. I need to be better."
Gladiolus thought those words had a meaning he might not quite catch, but maybe he just read too many romance novels. "Okay, let's work on your form then. And what stretches are you doing?"
"Stretches?"
Clarus looked over his own tablet for a moment. "Have we looked over this place before? Is this a regular establishment for His Highness?"
Cor nodded. "Yes, the Prince has come to this location many times during high school and continues to come after graduation. We made sure to vet the owners and do checks on the staff working there regularly. This does not seem like an inside job for the assailants."
The people working at the arcade were good people, Gladiolus knew that. He and Ignis knew that. They had been the people who regularly vetted them due to following Noctis and Prompto to that arcade for years. They both knew this could not be an inside job; the staff adored the younger duo and their antics far too much when they ran around the arcade like children.
"We know there are at least three attendants working at this time of day. Hopefully, we can establish communication soon to get an estimate on how many other civilians were inside when the building was taken." Ignis added.
"What is our ETA on getting the Crownsguard there?" Regis asked though he did not pick up the offered tablet in front of him.
Cor did pick up one of the tablets, and Gladiolus saw him pulling up a GPS app to check location trackers for a good estimate. "Crownsguard should be on the scene within five minutes. The Guard is expected to take over controlling the scene on the ground from law enforcement in the area."
"Glaive should arrive within the same time frame as well. Estimates have them arriving a little before the Guard." Titus added from his seat. "The current plan is for the Warper focused Glaive to set up vantage points to assist in any pincer movements on the building."
"You're sure your parents don't mind us doing this in the house?" Gladiolus asked while moving the furniture to create a bigger space for them to use. He had yet to meet Prompto's parents, and while he hadn't been in the house very much, the place always felt too empty for hosting three people inside.
Prompto looked up from where he had finished shoving the table against the wall. His eyes were wide for just a second before he gave a quick shrug. "Oh, sure, yeah. It'll be fine. Just have to make sure to put everything back."
The Shield had learned during the few months they had been working together that the blond was a bit too good at deflecting questions about his parents. They never seemed to be home when he came to the house. The two managed to work longer hours than his Dad, which felt like a feat to be worse workaholics than the current Shield.
Not that he would ever mention that. He had yet to really explain who his Dad was, and what his future job would entail. These afternoons represented the same freedom their morning runs had. A chance to just be Gladiolus so he could be a better Shield when he was with Noctis.
"That sounds nice," he mused while stacking some chairs together to get a bit more space. "I hate trying to invite friends over. Dad is so protective of me and my sister."
"Your Dad sounds nice though. He obviously cares a lot."
"Yeah, he does care, but ever since Mom. . ." Gladiolus trailed off, missing such a strong force in his life. He looked up when he felt a hand on his arm to find blue eyes looking at him. Prompto gave him a little smile. "Yeah, ever since Mom, I suppose I don't blame him for wanting us to be extra careful."
"We'll just be extra careful, right? Give him no reason to worry, then one day, he'll be good about you having friends over." The blond argued with a firm nod. "I bet you have a bunch of friends you can invite over. Now, you said today was arm day, right? Why do I have a feeling I'm going to hate this?"
The Shield laughed and patted his shoulder. "Because you're learning. And, after this, we're going to try and make that recipe we've been messaging about. Since you mentioned your parents have been working late recently."
"Sure we should be attempting cooking? That seems. . . dangerous." Prompto asked with an eyebrow raised.
"We've got this. I'm sure about it." Gladiolus assured him with another pat on the back. The blond pulled out his phone and tapped a few times on his screen. "What are you doing?"
"I'm just making sure we've got the number of the fire department handy for this." Prompto laughed.
"Oh, now you're really going to hate arm day." Gladiolus growled while lunging forward to try and scoop his friend up from the ground.
"I want to know as soon as we get more eyes on the scene. Do we know what the assailants are wanting right now?" Regis asked as he looked them all over.
"That seems unclear. No one has made any demands, and it does seem like everyone who attacked the building has gone inside. Any who were injured in the first round of attacks were pulled inside as well." Ignis replied calmly. Gladiolus felt a bit envious about his friend's calm façade, as he knew if he were asked to speak, he couldn't manage as well.
Just to spite him, Cor looked over at him. "Gladiolus, you've been overseeing His Highness's training. How do you think His Highness is fairing inside the building?"
The future Shield took a few slow breaths he had taught Prompto to use while clenching his fists a little bit more. He took that time to formulate the answer and channel some of Ignis's calm façade. "I believe His Highness is well skilled to take on several opponents. If he were the target, however, they could have easily overwhelmed even him. We have only recently started working on countering large groups of opponents."
"Do you believe his friend would serve as a distraction while he was defending himself?" Clarus asked this time, not realizing the surge of annoyance which coursed through his son at that.
Gladiolus feared his nails might end up cutting into his palms if he wasn't careful. The question was valid; he knew that. No one except him and Cor knew Prompto had started any sort of offensive training, let alone knew the skill he had fighting. This wasn't his place to sing his praises, he just had to assure them his friend would not be a weak link here.
Gladiolus missed the first train out to the area of Insomnia where Prompto lived. He hated that he was now over thirty minutes late, with a dead phone in his pocket so he couldn't warn his friend he would be late. Especially after these afternoons were always the highlight of his week, and this delay would just eat into the time he got to spend there.
He finally made it to the familiar door and knocked on it quickly. The lack of rapid response didn't surprise him, but with a repeat knock, he was surprised when there was a continued silence. The pause stretched out for a long moment, and he worried even more. Finally, he knocked for a third time, calling Prompto's name.
Did Prompto think he had ditched him?
The awkward pause ended when the door opened to reveal his friend. Gladiolus managed to bite back a gasp when he saw his friend though.
Prompto's eyes were rimmed in red along with his nose. His eyelashes glittered a bit as he took a long blink when he took in Gladiolus standing there. "Gladio? I thought. . . I thought you weren't coming today." He said softly, his eyes flicking down to the ground.
"Prom, you okay?" Gladiolus asked, taking a step forward with a hand stretched out to take hold of his wrist. He could feel the quick flutter of his rapid pulse.
The touch startled Prompto enough to make him jerk back. "What? No, I'm fine. I'm just- I'm surprised to see you. Let's get the living set up, since you're here to workout."
He turned around to head back into the house with his head still hung low, only stopping to give a tug on the hand holding his wrist.
Gladiolus frowned at that and tugged him back closer toward him, wrapping his other arm around his shoulder in a loose hug. "I'm here to see you. The workout is just something we do together. Prom, what's bothering you?"
The blond sagged into his hold, resting his forehead on his chest. "I don't know why we're friends. I thought- I thought you realized that and decided to stop coming. Found better people to workout with." His words were a quick, soft babble of poison to him.
To Gladiolus, he wished he could shield him from that kind of poison forever. He had known from the first day they had met, something lurked in the corners of Prompto's mind, but he had waited over a year to start seeing what those were. Now, he wished he could find a way to extract all of them so he could prevent from plaguing him in the future.
"Prom, I don't- I can't describe every reason why I'm friends with you. You're funny, and sweet, and king. You're a great friend." He tightened his hold on the blond to be a bit firmer to act more as the Shield he was if just for a moment.
During the hug, he could feel more of the physical changes the year of hard work he served for Prompto. The long runs, the workouts, the new recipes had all started to shed the weight and reveal the muscle underneath them all. And now that body was pressed completely against him. With Prompto pressed against him, Gladiolus realized one more thing, about himself.
He really wanted to kiss his best friend.