Housemates, a Final Fantasy XV fanfic by Raberba girl
Part 6 (rough draft)
A/N: I warned about it way back on chapter 1, but again, Prompto is not kind to himself about his weight.
o.o.o
Gladio went to meet up with Iris early so that he could watch some of her practice. He sat by one of the non-mirrored walls, smiling as Iris and the others went over their dance routine, practicing and refining and occasionally calling out ideas to improve it. The final run-through of the evening was wonderful to watch, the dance an upbeat, almost aggressive one that let Iris show off both her grace and her athleticism.
When it was over, the dancers cheered together and then broke up, heading toward their personal belongings.
"Gladdy~!" Iris grinned as she plopped down beside him and accepted the water bottle he offered her.
"You were great, kiddo."
"I think it's really coming together! You'll be at our show, right?"
"Wouldn't miss it."
"I dunno," she teased, elbowing him, "you've been running late a lot lately."
"That's not my fault," he protested. "My roommates are all idiots who keep messing up my schedule. If Ignis would stop micromanaging us and Noctis moved just a little faster than a decrepit slug, maybe I could actually get out the door on time."
"Things still aren't going well?" she remarked sympathetically.
Gladio sighed and ran a hand over his face. "They're so frustrating. This wasn't a problem with the places I lived before, you know? I mean, I get along with everyone, pretty much, except assholes. Just my luck to get stuck with the king of assholes this semester, plus Prince Lazy and-" He exhaled forcefully. "I mean, for all I know, maybe Argentum's had a rough background and I look like his abuser or something, I don't know. I try, but now matter how nice I am, he- he still flinches, you know? Or looks at me like me giving him a sports drink instead of a punch in the face is some kinda miracle." It was an awful feeling, seeing an innocent person frightened of him, and Gladio had to put up with it all the time, since he lived with the guy.
"Don't worry, Gladdy, I know you're a gentleman. Maybe you can invite Prompto over for dinner sometime? Talcott and I can charm him for ya."
Gladio smiled a little. "Maybe. I'll ask him." He clapped his knees and stood up. "So, ready to head home?"
"I'm all sweaty, Gladdy, let me change first!" Iris snatched up her duffel and bounded over to the dressing room, and Gladio leaned comfortably back against the wall to wait.
o.o.o
Prompto blinked in the early morning light and frowned, trying to figure out where he was. When he realized he was still in Noct's bed - and also freaking spooning him - he sat up with a gasp. What...?
The TV was still on and the game was still running. Noct's character was idling in the middle of a maze Prompto didn't remember him having reached last night. He must have... Prompto must have fallen asleep while waiting for his turn to play, and...and Noct hadn't kicked him out. Must have just fallen asleep, too, without bothering to evict Prompto from his bed first.
Prompto felt his face heat up. He had absolutely not intended to invade anyone's bed without permission, and he especially hadn't meant to physically wrap himself around Noct like a perv. Hopefully Noct had already been fast asleep before Prompto had glommed onto him.
Thank God Noct was a heavy sleeper; he hadn't stirred all this time, though Carbuncle, resting in loaf position on Noct's other side, was gazing at Prompto through half-lidded eyes.
As quietly as he could, Prompto extricated himself and went downstairs, shivering a little. Bad Prompto. Invitations to play video games did not extend to sleepovers. Noctis had his bed, and Prompto had his (sort of). He could not let this happen again (even if Noct's fancy expensive mattress topper on the floor was more comfortable than a proper bed, and definitely way more comfortable than a lumpy couch. Prompto felt physically better than usual after the sleep he'd gotten last night).
Prompto used the bathroom, using his shirt to wipe up the sink since it was the one he'd worn to bed last night and he was going to change into a different one for the day. When he came out, he greeted Ignis and finished getting ready for school, doublechecking the flyer he'd picked up yesterday advertising a church-sponsored event on campus. The 'free coffee and doughnuts' part at the bottom was what had caught his eye - he often tried to attend events that offered free food. Not that his fat ass needed anymore junk food, but doughnuts were a better breakfast than nothing, and he figured he'd offset the damage a bit by walking to campus instead of taking the bus.
He almost missed the event because he left the house a little later than planned. Ignis and Gladio got into a fight over taking out the trash that ended with Ignis dumping the trash bag on Gladio's bed as soon as Gladio left. Prompto had to wait until Ignis left, too, before retrieving the bag, taking it to the bin, and wheeling it out to the street just in time for the garbage truck to roll up and collect it.
Prompto went back to lock the door. "Bye, house," he murmured, since Noct was asleep and the others were gone. "Have a good day. I'll see you later."
o.o.o
Ignis woke up to the sound of what he thought was a child crying. As his skin prickled with goosebumps, he looked around wildly for a moment before determining that the sound was coming from under his bed. He scrambled down to look.
In an instant, his confusion and dismay turned to rage. He had no idea how one of Noctis's bloody cats had gotten into his bedroom with both the door and window closed, but the stupid thing had managed it somehow and was now wailing in displeasure. "Out!" Ignis shouted, wrenching open his door and then fetching the broom to poke around under his bed until the cat finally came dashing out.
Ignis thoroughly checked over his room for more intruders, shut the door firmly, then marched back downstairs and set about methodically expelling the three feline specimens he found lurking about. He'd given up on keeping the cats out entirely - Gladio and even Prompto were no help, seeming to have no problem with the issue - but it still drove him mad that the creatures kept getting in. If this nonsense led to eviction, Ignis would demand that Noctis fully fund his housing for the rest of the semester.
For now, Ignis heaved a sigh and swept the whole first floor clean, then started breakfast. "Gladiolus, put some clothes on," he barked as soon as the other man emerged. It was ludicrous how Gladiolus acted like he was living in some sort of nudist community. "And why didn't you take out the rubbish like I asked you to yester-?"
The bathroom door slammed shut pointedly. Ignis spent a few minutes absolutely fuming before he could get on with his work. When Gladiolus finally came back out again, this time dressed in workout clothes, Ignis called, "Do not leave the house before taking out the rubbish like you PROMISED TO-"
"Quit your damn yapping, man! I was going to do it right now, since I'm heading out for my run anyway-"
"It needs to be out before the truck gets here!"
"The truck hasn't gotten here yet," Gladiolus stormed, tying off the rubbish sack so violently that it tore.
"Useless fool," Ignis hissed, grabbing a rubber band and shoving Gladiolus out of the way to resecure the sack.
"Fine, take it out yourself," Gladiolus snapped, and stomped out of the house.
"Gladiolus, GET BACK HERE!" Ignis shouted, but was ignored.
"I can take it, Ignis," Prompto started to offer, but Ignis wasn't about to let his only half-competent flatmate enable the others' laziness.
"NO," he snarled. He stormed over to Gladiolus's room and dumped the rubbish sack on the bed before going back to the kitchen to resume his breakfast preparations. He couldn't stand the thought of staying in this awful, awful house a second longer than he had to, so he packed up the meal to eat on campus, gathered his things, and left as soon as he could.
o.o.o
Noct kind of wished that there was a medicine version of Prompto. He was still plagued with insomnia, but it didn't seem to be as bad when Prompto was around. When Prompto had fallen asleep in his bed last night, Noct had thought about it for a minute, then carefully crawled under the blankets with him.
It was...weird, sleeping with another person, which Noct had never done before, but it was also kind of nice. Prompto was even bigger and warmer than a cat. Noct, moving slowly so as not to wake him, had nestled closer and closer until Prompto, in his sleep, put an arm around Noct's waist and nuzzled his face into Noct's hair. Prompto didn't smell as good as a cat, but the scent and warmth proved that he was - there. Real, and close. Noct had closed his eyes and just basked in it until he fell asleep, easily, without any restlessness or frustration. So refreshing.
It probably wasn't right of Noct to take advantage of another human being like this, but if Prompto complained about it or acted uncomfortable, he'd stop. Noct was pretty sure it was weird for guys to sleep together unless they were...sleeping together, which he and Prompto were definitely not, but it just...felt so nice, literally sleeping with another human being. It felt safe.
He knew he was being selfish, though, especially if Prompto liked guys. (Noct wasn't sure, since they hadn't really talked about that sort of thing yet. All he knew was that Prompto was single and vaguely wished he wasn't.) Noct himself didn't, since he was ace, so what felt perfectly natural and not sexual at all to him might have had a very different effect on Prompto. He'd play off this first time as an accident, see how Prompto reacted, and go from there.
He woke up alone, though, with no clue how Prompto had reacted. Noct lay there for a while, petting Carbuncle, then finally got up and went downstairs to see if Ignis had left him anything for lunch.
o.o.o
"Okay, so," Prompto said. He drew in a deep breath, then said in Niflersk (or at least, his best approximation of Niflersk), "You please give the spicy good food I."
Tara laughed, which wasn't a good sign, but Viktor, though unsmiling, patiently rumbled a correction, and Prompto tried again. "You please give the good spicy food to me."
Ellie, Tiny, and Tara cheered in unison, and Viktor indicated that Prompto had successfully passed his impromptu language quiz by handing over the box of food.
Prompto nearly bounced as he accepted it, feeling a happy glow at getting the sentence right. "Very thank you!"
"You're welcome, chocobo," Tara said.
Prompto blushed at the nickname, not sure how he felt about it. "So the Niflersk word for chocobo is 'chocobo'?" he asked in Lucian, trying to change the subject.
Viktor went back to cooking, saying something in Niflersk about knowing a chocobo when he saw one (obviously a dig at Prompto's hair).
"It's a loan word," Tiny explained.
"Cool. Well, I'm off; see you guys tomorrow~!"
o.o.o
That night, Noct finally managed to bring an armful of old fast food bags downstairs to dump in the trash. The accomplishment felt good, so he went upstairs and brought down the rest. When he straightened up from the trash can, the front door opened and Prompto came in. "Hey," Noct called, a little nervous but trying to sound casual.
Prompto smiled - one of his real smiles, like a revelation of sunshine. "Hi, Noct."
Noct relaxed. Prompto didn't seem upset. "Just came back from work?" he asked, even though it was obvious, since Prompto was holding a Styrofoam box that smelled like extra-spicy Nifler food.
"Yeah," Prompto said. He went over to the bathroom, so Noct messed around on his phone until he came out again. Then he didn't want to seem like he'd been waiting like a creep to talk to Prompto as soon as he got out of the bathroom, so he lingered some more. When Prompto sat down to start eating the leftovers from work, Noct got a fork out of the drawer, knew from experience to pour himself a glass of milk, too, and sat down to join him.
They ate for a while in companionable silence, forks dipping in and out of the takeout box. Noct endured the stinging on his tongue for as long as he could before gasping, "So hot," and gulping down some milk.
"You hate spicy stuff, don't you?" Prompto laughed. "Why do you keep eating it?"
"Ignis keeps sneaking vegetables into the food he makes me," Noct grumbled, scooping another heap of half-mashed potatoes onto his fork. "He tries to grind them up and hide them in cheese, but I can tell. What am I paying him for, huh? What a rip-off." It belatedly occurred to Noct that maybe he shouldn't be eating out of the same food container as Prompto when the whole point was to clear the air about sleeping in the same bed as him. "You, um...wanna come up?" he asked awkwardly.
"Sure," Prompto said, taking a bite of fried vegetables with playful relish. "King's Knight?"
"Yeah," Noct said, even though he hadn't had any particular game in mind. His resolve was shrinking. Maybe he'd wait until later, when they'd both been playing for a while and were getting sleepy. The subject would probably come up more naturally then.
They finished their dinner, brushed their teeth (since they knew from experience that if their teeth didn't get brushed beforehand, they would never get brushed at all), and went up to Noct's room. Instead of sitting on the mattress topper like usual, Prompto sat on the floor.
Noct's heart sank. "Sorry, I don't have a cushion or anything. Except my pillows, but you can't sit on those."
"It's fine," Prompto said, eyes on the TV as he clicked through the menu.
"You can sit on the mattress if you want, I've got my chair."
Prompto's face colored a bit. "Nah, I'm good. Don't wanna fall asleep on your bed or anything."
"It's fine if you do," Noct said carefully. "I know your not-bed sucks."
Prompto fidgeted. "Sorry for... I think I, um, might have fallen asleep on you last night."
"It's fine," Noct said.
Prompto eyed him.
"I'm ace," Noct blurted, unable to think of a natural way to say it. "I don't...like...either. You know. Just, uh, the sleeping, it's fine. Last night-" He could feel himself blushing now, and wanted nothing more than to end this conversation immediately. "It's all good," he managed, then focused on customizing his character.
"Oh," Prompto said, sounding equally uncomfortable, "good." He rapidly made selections for his own character as well.
A few hours later, long after things had become relaxed and normal between them, Noct felt tired enough to try going to sleep. He set down his controller and crawled onto the mattress. For the first time, he glanced up at Prompto after lying down.
There was a long pause. Then Prompto gingerly lay down as well. They looked at each other for a minute, Noct on his stomach, Prompto on his side. "It's not right that you don't have a bed," Noct finally murmured. "I never gave it any thought beforehand. Two of us would have had to share, anyway. I don't mind if it's me and you. Now that I know you."
"Thanks," Prompto whispered. Then he suddenly blurted out, "Sometimes I get, uh, morning wood."
Noct snorted. "Me, too." Being ace didn't make him immune.
"I just, uh... You said you don't like guys, and I don't want you to think I'm gonna-"
"I know, Prom. It's fine."
"Oh. Thanks."
After a moment, Noct closed his eyes and cuddled closer. After another moment, Prompto's arm hesitantly slipped over his waist. "Is this okay?" Prompto whispered.
"Mm," Noct muttered, too sleepy to make a proper reply. A minute later, he was out like a light.
TBC