Bribing my friend to do her thesis work in exchange for working on this story also benefits you guys!
The night passed in brief episodes of fitful sleep. Jarred awake by hissing and screeching, with the sporadic echoing boom of an agitated bomb. The stone tomb obscured the sounds, the scratching sounding at times as if it were the ceiling or the floor beneath them. Noctis wished he could pull out his phone to watch a movie, staring up into the darkness, idly running his fingers through Lunafreya's hair, relieved that at least she sleep to fall into an undisturbed slumber. He grunted, shifting his weight to try and ease the ache down his left leg without disturbing her sleep. The scritching sounds were making his arms itchy, intensifying in his hands until he rubbed his hands against the stone.
He wanted to talk, to pass the dragging hours with anything but the vivid images dancing behind his eyes at every change in the nonstop noise outside. He closed his eyes as he felt an ache building up, and wished it would just knock him out. He tried to gaze around the room but it was pitch black. He cursed himself again for not having thought of gathering magic, making a mental note to stop at any visible nodes once they were in the car again. If the damned thing hadn't been enveloped by the daemon plants.
The ache in his eyes grew, spreading into a throb in his ears. He scratched at the back of his arm before rubbing his palms against the ground. He debated getting up and working out this agitation by stomping outside and slaying every damned daemon outside. Gladiolus had fallen asleep in front of the door. Or at least was doing a good impersonation of sleep. But in the pure blackness it was hard to tell. Maybe he would agree to go outside with him.
He shrugged off his jacket and managed to slide Lunafreya off his lap, tucking his jacket under her head. She barely moved, making a small sound before becoming still and he stared down at where she was for a few seconds more before getting to his feet. He rolled his shoulders and stretched, standing on his toes and felt his joints pop with an audible crack. He grunted, sagging his shoulders and mumbling about how good the pop in his knee had felt. He wished he could see and tried pacing the small area but felt a soft body that caused him to stumble.
"Ugh… what…?" Prompto's voice complained.
"Shhh…." Noctis hissed, not wanting to wake the others. Though it seemed it was pointless as there was an echo of half-mumbled complaints and an incoherent comment from one of the women.
"Floor sucks." Prompto whispered. Noctis felt for the edge of the stone carving and settled himself down next to where he thought his friend's head was.
"Yeah, can't sleep. All this noise is just making me itchy." Noctis complained.
"Yeah… I can't sleep either."
"Just wishing I could pass the time with a movie."
"Maybe Ignis can figure out a way to activate movies on our phones again without pissing off the cell towers?" Prompto suggested. Noctis heard him shift and felt Prompto next to him.
"We're gonna keep everyone up by talking." Noctis worried.
"None of us can sleep anyway. Pretty sure everyone is pretending." Prompto whispered back. "I think I fell asleep at one point but had a dream an octopus was building a model car and whispering my name while throwing chunks of bread at me." He explained. "That… that makes it sound more childish. But it was really creepy I swear."
"Worried about the shit my imagination will come up with to haunt me with if I managed to fall asleep." Noctis sighed. "At least Luna can sleep."
"Pretty sure she'd sleep through a meteor hitting the star at this point." Prompto chuckled, getting a moan from nearby Ignis causing him to wince and whisper sorry. "Hey after this shit is all said and done we need to hit up Insomnia Pictures with movie ideas after all this stuff we've seen." He joked.
"Traumatize a whole new generation."
"Oh man you gotta do it like a found footage film, like that weird alien one. Only edit out all the credits 'n stuff so it looks like a literal home video. Show it to your kids and tell 'em this will happen if they don't behave."
"Dude… remind you never to let you near any children. Ever." Noctis shook his head, but was hiding a broan grin and stifling a laugh.
"You and Luna want like twenty kids?" Prompto elbowed him, the Prince imagining the way his friend was wiggling his eyebrows at him.
"I think Luna would want a ton of kids. I think I'll panic after one." Noctis answered.
"I can totally see you panic dude. But then the moment the kid is born you become that angry wolf-dog that eats anything that gets too close to his puppies."
"Like photographers who try to traumatize kids with fake-edited horror movies?"
"Exactly!" Prompto laughed, slapping his knee.
"If you don't shut the hell up I'll rip my underwear to make gags for the two of you!" Gladiolus barked. "Worse than the damn daemons!" The pair snorted, apologizing again.
"Try to sleep dude." Prompto suggested, shifting to try and lie back down.
"Yeah." Nocitis agreed, rubbing his palms against the stone again. The rest of the night dragged. By morning the backs of Noctis's arms had been scratched deep pink managing to draw a few welts that were already scabbed over. His palms were still itchy and had managed an abrasion on the heel of his left hand. But the sting of the superficial wound was paradise compared to the maddening itching. But it began to fade as the agitating noise outside settled down into silence.
Small details started to become visible as the pure blackness of the night gave way to dim light. Gladiolus was the first to stir, grumbling about how shitty he slept. Prompto and Ignis were next, and the sounds of the guys grunting and stretching roused Aranea and Crowe. Lunafreya rose last, but her shifting movements over the last ten minutes had Noctis wondering if she had actually been the first awake.
"Time to see if the car got eaten?" Prompto asked with a stretch. "Wish he brought food with us… I'm starving."
"Once back to the car I shall make us breakfast." Ignis offered. This motivated the others enough to get up from their uncomfortable positions on the floor and agree to get the hell out of the tomb.
"Wait!"Noctis saw half his retinue flinch at his declaration and winced, gesturing at the stone carving of his ancestor. "I never actually got what we came here for. Would suck if we had to backtrack because I forgot."
"Forget an undearwear-gag, I'd shred it up cover it in sauce and make you eat it like pasta if you dragged my ass back here again." Gladiolus threated.
"Skid-mark spaghetti?" Prompto asked. Aranea and Ignis gagged at the suggestion, causing Crowe and Prompto to burst into laughter, infecting Lunafreya who tried to press the back of her fist to her mouth.
"I wash my ass!" Gladiolus defended, crossing his arms. "I can pull em off for you to see. Sure the ladies won't complain." He added, wiggling his brow. Crowe rolled her eyes, Aranea crossing her arms and cocking her head to the side.
"I dunno, I think sexy glasses here has a sexier butt."
"Hey now, you two up to stuff you haven't told me about?" Gladiolus asked, walking over to Ignis and thumping him on his arm.
"I assure you I have been a perfect gentleman. I merely know how to pick pants that are complementary to my physique." Ignis rebuked.
"Fancy speak for showing off your ass." Prompto teased. While his friends bantered Nocits held his hand over the tomb, wondering if he could feel and focus on that magnetic tug with that damned itching. But the sensation came, making his whole arm feel heavy. A flash of blue and the shield appeared above their heads, and flashed to him for that spark of intense agony. He staggered back as the immense weapon collided with him to join his armiger. Lunafreya flinched at the process, her brows tight together and her hands gripping her upper arms hard.
"Noctis… did you sleep last night?" she asked. He looked at her and shrugged, sure that his cat-naps counted as a poor night's sleep if you added it all together. "Perhaps outside you can show us your armiger with its newest addition?" she suggested. Her tone was low, and Noctis blinked trying to ascertain the intent to her words.
"Yeah." he agreed, though he wasn't looking forward to how damned itchy he would feel finally answering its call. They turned their attention to where Gladiolus had Prompto in a headlock ruffling his hair. Ignis merely watching with crossed arms while he pleaded for help. Crowe was laughing and muttering something to Aranea that he couldn't hear.
"Come on dude! Let me go! I don't need my head this close to your crotch!" Prompto complained.
"Don't like my sweaty ball scent wafting through my pants? I think it has a certain musky aroma that attracts the ladies to my pure testosterone" Gladiolus teased. He opened the door to his tomb, only letting go of his grip on Prompto once outside. The blond pushed hard against the Shield's chest and staggered away, fake-sneezing several times to clear the now vivid imaginary scent out of his nose and rolling his shoulders.
The Regalia was coated in fallen leaves, but otherwise unharmed. Ignis had pulled ingredients out of the trunk of the car and made a simple oatmeal, having found fresh produce in limited and unaffordable supply at Lestallum. He had purchased traveler's bacon, which had been cured more intensely to allow it to keep without refrigeration and cooked eggs in the grease to have something with flavor to accompany the oatmeal. None in the group had any complaints about the super simple meal, assuring Ignis everything was fine and the eggs were perfectly cooked making a perfectly savory oatmeal. With full stomachs they climbed into the car, agreeing that Hammerhead would be the next best place to go to get the car painted and decide on their next destination. And perhaps with luck coax Cid into renting them another vehicle.
Despite having five people in the backseat that could barely comfortably fit three, everyone in the car managed brief naps during the drive save for Ignis in his driver's seat. But freshly brewed Ebony in his favorite travel mug provided the energy the advisor needed to keep himself awake and alert, and he rather enjoyed the semi-solitude, tuning the radio to his favorite station.
The Regalia pulled up in front of one of the garage bays at Hammerhead Station; its occupants eager to get out of the car and stretch their cramped limbs. Cindy welcomed them back with a broad smile and her hands on her hips. She was wearing a mechanic's jumpsuit that was unzipped with the upper half of the suit tied around her waist leaving her in only her black sports bra, her wild curly hair tucked as best she could into a baseball cap.
"Well hey there y'all, here t'see the King?" she asked.
"Hi Cindy. Yeah, where is my dad?" Noctis asked. She thumbed over her shoulder and looked towards the door,
"Inside with Paw."
"Well I'm starved and hitting Takka's. Go have some father-son time. Luna come get food with me? You must be dying for something real after all that Nif grub and hospital food." Crowe stepped up beside her charge and pat her roughly on the shoulder, missing the way the Oracle winced before composing herself.
"I do recall enjoying Takka's food." Lunafreya admitted. She turned, placing her hand on Noctis's shoulder. "I assure you, I shall be all right a few feet from you to get some food." she smiled, noticing how he shifted the weight on his legs. She stood on her toes and planted a kiss on his cheek letting her lips linger for a moment longer than usual.
"Okay. I can meet up with you guys after." Noctis suggested.
"Oh no no, let her have some girl time for once." Crowe shooed, pushing on his chest. Lunafreya chuckled, heat touching her cheeks. Noctis reached to give her hand a squeeze, and as she stepped back to follow Crowe she held his hand as long as she could, letting her fingers slide slowly from his grip, brushing his fingertips before she allowed her hand to drop to her side.
"You wish to join us Aranea? Unless I'm mistaken some girl time usually requires all the girls of a given group, no?" she invited, glancing between Crowe and Aranea. Both women shrugged, but Lunafreya could still make out the smile on the latter's face. The rest of their retinue had a variety of tasks they wanted to attend to and parted from the trio who walked towards Takka's.
Inside they were greeted with the smell of cooking food and brewing coffee. Two men sat in the booth at the far end, and a young looking couple sat at the diner bar tucking in to a meal. The three women sat themselves in the middle of the row of booths, Lunafreya scooting in the booth where she could still see the doorway while Crowe sat across to be able to watch the four people behind her, Aranea sitting next to the Oracle.
"Welcome to Takka's!" A young woman they didn't recognize greeted them. She wore a white apron over a white tee-shirt to match Takka, a small pin with her name handwritten onto it Melinda. "What can I get you for?" She asked as she pulled out a small notepad and a pen from the pocket of the apron.
"You got beer?" Crowe asked.
"Sure do!" The woman's bright face fell for a moment and she cocked her head to the side, "Are… you the Oracle?" She asked with her eyes meeting Lunafreyas. The blonde folded her hands in her lap and bowed her head in a subtle nod,
"I am." She confirmed. She could make out the slight wince in Crowe's expression but kept her own impassive. Beside her Aranea sat back and crossed her legs.
"Pleasure to meet you." She replied as the false excitement of a server faded. "But may I ask… what happened to you?" Lines appeared between her brows and the sides of her nose as her expression soured.
"Car accident." Lunafreya answered, remembering the shape she appeared in and drawing her shoulders back in slightly, good arm wrapping over her sling as a light in the back of her mind suggested buying a tacky sweatshirt from the shop on the opposite side of the garage that could fit over her sling.
"May I get you anything?" Melinda asked after a hesitation, dragging her gaze away from the bruised woman.
"Beer?" Crowe asked again. "IPA?"
"Certainly. Umm… anything else?" she asked.
"Don't you go saying water Sparkles, after the shit you've put up with you've earned yourself a beer." Crowe pointed a finger at her. Lunafreya chuckled and shrugged, looking up at the server.
"Do you carry fish and chips?"
"Sure do! Anything for you ladies?"
"Giant basket of chili fries." Aranea answered.
"Sounds good, same here." Crowe agreed. Melinda nodded and tucked her notepad back into her pocket after ripping off her top page and walking to the counter to hand the small paper to Takka. "So… you gonna tell us what exactly Verstael did to you?" she asked Lunafreya.
"It wasn't Verstael." Lunafreya started, Aranea nodded as her lips thinned.
"Not the hands-on type. He'd need to shower in bleach if he did that himself, and probably spend the next month vomiting and scrubbing the skin off his hands." She rolled her eyes.
"Do you recall the base that…" her words trailed as her voice hiccuped. "That we attempted to take down?" she inquired. The others nodded, gesturing for her to continue. "That officer, Nettman. Well he was aboard Verstael's ship and he caught me in the act of attempting to escape." She explained.
"Fucker." Crowe snarled.
"We'll get him. We'll shoot that damn ship out of the sky drag that excuse for a man out of that ship and kick his ass!" Aranea agreed.
"Verstael was… displeased that Nettmann damaged his precious Oracle." Lunafreya shook her head. She leaned over the table, her eyes fixed on her clasped hands, thumbs rubbing deeping to her skin leaving brief circles of white. "Shoved him off the airship while it was still hovering."
"Gods…" Crowe whispered, shaking her head.
"Motherfucker got what was coming to him, just wish it was you that got to cave his skull in, not the ground." Aranea sighed.
"You really do need that beer." Crowe sighed, nodding her head with a high-browed expression. "So he did all this?" she asked, gesturing at her entire upper body. Lunafreya shook her head, a half-laugh huff of air coming out her nose.
"Merely my face. The rest I sort of did to myself." She offered in way of explanation.
"Wait wait. Before you tell us, I have an idea," Crowe wagged a hand at her seeing Melinda approach their booth with a tray carrying three frosted mugs and a pitcher of deep amber beer. They thanked her and nodded when she told them their food would be out shortly. "Why don't we try to guess how you escaped and managed to beat yourself up. If we're wrong we drink. One of us manages to get it you chug that entire mug and we pour you another."
"Ha! I like how this one thinks!" Aranea laughed, pointing to Crowe. "Game on." Lunafreya flushed and shrugged, bringing her hands back into her lap. "Okay your idea, you go first." She gestured at Crowe.
"Summoned a unicorn to fly away from the airship but pat it's ass a little too hard and got bucked off?" Crowe asked. Lunafreya snorted, shaking her head. Crowe took a large swig of her beer and gestured at Aranea.
"Pinned Verstael to the wall with your trident and charged out of his airship screaming yippee ki yay motherfucker! and keeping Magitek bullets away by giving them all the finger?" Lunafreya laughed, shaking her head and the woman took a large swig.
"New rule two bad guesses means Luna takes a drink. Can't have her sober now." Crowe suggested. Aranea nodded, both women egging Lunafreya until she picked up her mug in an attempted large swig coughing as the carbonation unexpectedly irritated her nose.
"This… this is really good." She remarked, clearing her throat. "I am being genuine." she added, not sure if she sounded sarcastic.
"Figured if you like that Ebony stuff Ignis is always drinking you'd like a bitter beer." Crowe shrugged. "Okay next guess. You climb out the air vents like some badass action movie star?" She asked.
"No. Actually… that is what I was attempting when Nettmann encountered me. Turns out air vents are not quite adequate methods of escape as media would leave one to believe."
"Oh shit…" Crowe's brows lifted and she took a long swig of her mug.
"Hmm… Well knowing creepy Verstael he probably had you in some lab right? Did you throw a vial in his face and run like a son of a bitch?" she asked, shaking her head at her own suggestion and was reaching for her beer before Lunafreya confirmed her wrong answer. Another guess about climbing through various parts of the airship, or running away from bases. The trio had finished their mugs and refilled them when their food arrived.
"Give us a hint?" Crowe asked after she made another incorrect guess of riding Verstael out of the airship mid-flight like a flying carpet.
"Okay. Umm…" Lunafreya hesitated for a moment, then focused her attention on a french fry that Crowe was about to fork and a small shield came around out, shimmering and blinking away when the fork poked it.
"A shield?" Crowe asked. "You… can you ride one like that witch in Oz?" she asked. Lunafreya shook her head.
"That counts as a guess. Drink." Aranea suggested. Crowe gave her a middle finger and drank, following it by a bite of chili fries not impeded by Lunafreya. "Trapped Verstael in a shield and ran away?" Another drink for the dragoon. After another pair of incorrect guesses had them shaking their heads.
"Okay I give up." Crowe caved. Lunafreya told them about the discovery she made about her shields and her self-punishing practice in her given chamber. Of memorizing the patterns of the walls and the code for the door that lucky for her memory was a mathematical constant. By the time she told them of how exactly she managed to break herself so completely leaping from a still hovering air ship had them both staring at her.
"Bullshit." Crowe declared confidently. "No way in hell you dove out of the fuckin' sky landing half a hundred times on shields! I was joking about jumping out of that thing!"
"How else could I have incurred these injuries?"
"You even skewered a Magitek?"
"Okay wait so let's recap," Aranea interrupted. "So you half-rode your magic bubbles like Glinda, you skewered a Magitek not Verstael, memorized fuckin' wall patterns which counts as something as clever as the air ducts in my opinion. I say we correctly guessed. Just in half-right pieces. You chug." She declared. Lunafreya, who was already feeling like her head was floating with a calm contentedness overcoming her previous anxiety, hesitated before grabbing her mug and finishing it. Only over several long gulps with a pause halfway through, but the other two seemed satisfied at her attempted chug. Crowe gave her a hard slap on the back and laughed,
"Damn. We'll make a civilized woman out of you yet!" Lunafreya smiled, popping one of the few remaining french fries left on her plate into her mouth.
"Well now. We should keep this game going." the Oracle suggested, tapping on the side of her own jaw, eyes partially shutting as she thought. "Oh! I have an idea. If I recall correctly you were once quite upset at another gentleman about an incident involving a cookie recipe?" She asked.
"Libertus." Crowe ground out through her teeth.
"Oh man. I pity the guy who pisses you off. With that fire ability of yours?"
"Gonna set his damn pants on fire." Crowe half-mumbled.
"By giving him gonorrhea?" Aranea asked. Crowe's cheeks flared red and her eyes went wide realizing what she walked herself into. She picked up a french fry and threw it at the dragoon, flipping her off with both hands, Lunafreya laughing a full-bellied laugh beside her.
"On the subject of pants. Is there a time that you are planning to finally find your way into Ignis's?" Lunafreya inquired, blinking rapidly and shoving the rim of her mug clumsily to her mouth bumping her teeth as she tried to cover her question with a long drink that only resulted in a lot of coughing.
"Don't need to take his pants off. Things are so damn tight they don't leave much to the imagination." Crowe quipped.
"I don't know my imagination has run a little wild more than one night. Wouldn't mind him assisting me in that though." Lunafreya felt her cheeks flush, Crowe barking out a laugh at Aranea's blunt response.
"I bet you twenty bucks you won't hit on Ignis by the end of the week. He's too damn proper, freak you out." Crowe pointed a finger.
"I counter. I bet you she will do something of a flirtatious nature." Lunafreya countered.
"Hey!" Aranea interjected, crossing her arms and leaning back against the seat. Lunafreya laughed, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder,
"Should I rectify my prior statement to say you'll simply do him by week's end?" she inquired.
"Hang on now you shy little prude. How about you actually kiss your Prince in the vicinity of other living things and I'll hit on sexy glasses." Aranea took her turn to pat the blonde roughly on the shoulder.
"Prude?" Lunafreya questioned. "Shy perhaps…"
"Have you even held hands with him?" She lifted a brow.
"I'll have you know I was the one to come onto him to get him into my bed for the first time." Heat bloomed in her cheeks, dyeing her ears red to match little pin-pricks appearing on her neck as well, and she shoved the mug to her mouth once more to drown down her own words, squinting and wishing she had thought of shutting herself up a moment earlier.
"Ha! Told you!" Aranea slapped her hand on the table, wiggling her fingers at Crowe, "pay up!"
"Wait a moment…!" Lunafreya asked, brows lifted as she looked between the pair.
"Yep. Had a bet on you." The Shield rolled her eyes. "Who got who first." Crowe leaned over to fish a bill from her pocket, slapping it down on the table a triumphant Aranea stuffing it into her own pocket. "Figured our prim-proper Oracle wouldn't be the instigator." she tried to offer in defence, giving the dragoon a middle finger.
"She's the older one out of them and have you seen Noct around her? No way in hell he had the balls to try and get her pants... dress? off first."
"He's a boy!" Crowe snapped, throwing her hands up.
"Girls get horny too!" Aranea declared. Crowe snorted causing Aranea to turn quickly around and see the glare she was receiving from the couple a few booths away, the mother of a young child pressing her hands over their ears while the father fished bills out of his pocket. Aranea winced and mouthed a sorry to them that only caused her companions to giggle, and the woman's face to scrunch even harder.
"And speaking of," Lunafreya slapped her palms on the table, nudging Aranea with her hip until the woman let her up. "I think I shall tend to that very phenomenon."
"What? Angry parents?" Crowe asked, "don't go apologize to eavesdropping strangers."
"A horny girl." Lunafreya clarified, leaning over the table and failing to suppress a giggle before righting herself. She reached across the table to finish off the few sips of beer in the bottom of her mug, patting at the seat of her pants for a wallet that didn't exist.
"You aren't paying for a damn thing!" Aranea interrupted her action, "Our treat. Go give that Prince the night of his life. And if you kiss him in front of someone I'll stand by my word and go hit on sexy glasses."
"Better yet let's follow her to make sure we're the ones to witness this rare event!" The angry couple shoving their confused child passed by their table, Aranea mumbling another sorry as they passed. Lunafreya swayed slightly when she stood, pressing the heel of her hand to her temple but managed to walk out of the diner without stumbling.
The sun was low in the sky, and she winced wondering how severe the daemons would be but then remembered her damned sexy Prince could hack them into tiny pieces. She wondered how powerful his armiger would look with the latest editions and tried to make a mental note to herself to have him give her a show so she could give him one. Maybe she could get them into the trailer alone again tonight. Too long since I had him to myself for an entire eve. She mused. Oh Gods why did I drink so much? followed immediately, her cheeks flaring as she thought about her words and her stated intentions. Then remembered her intentions with a warmth settling low in her belly. Immediately after her ribs throbbed and reminded her why her imagined night probably wasn't going to happen.
She couldn't see Noctis sitting outside in the chairs, but passed by Gladiolus and Ignis who were sitting in Cid and Regis's usual spot outside, waving back with her good arm as they waved to her, managing to contain her wince.
"Is Noctis inside?" she asked. Gladiolus nodded, thumbing at the door.
"Still talking to his old man." He grumbled.
"Oh. I don't wish to interrupt." She bit down on the corner of her lip.
"I have no such problem?' Gladiolus assured her, waving his hand when she tried to protest that she could wait. "You sat in an airship alone long enough he can shut up and come out to see you." He offered. She pressed her lips together in a thin smile, holding onto her sling with her good arm and nodded at him.
"A seat my Lady?" Ignis offered, standing up and gesturing at the lawn chair. Lunafreya smiled and shook her head. He looked about to insist but just nodded and sat back down. Gladiolus emerged and took his seat again, Noctis glancing from him up to Lunafreya, crossing the short distance between them.
"Enjoy your girls-night?" He asked, able to smell the beer on her, chuckling lightly. She nodded, biting down on her bottom lip and the corners of her lips quirking into a smile before she stood up on her toes, reaching with her good hand to help hold herself up on the back of his neck and pressed her lips against his. while her eyes snapped shut. The kiss was brief and she settled back onto her heels. Her face once again had flared deep pink, her hand still resting against his shoulder.
"What was that for?" Noctis asked, chuckling. Lunafreya just smiled, looking over her shoulder.
"Was this satisfactory?" She asked.
"Hey. Sexy glasses." Aranea greeted. Ignis looked up, head tilted slightly. "C'mere a second." She asked. He stood up and walked over to her.
"Something wrong?" He asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Aranea reached up, and pressed her lips against his. She sighed slowly out her nose, letting her mouth linger on his for a moment and could feel him sighing against her as well, a hand brushing against her waist as she settled back
"Damn. You taste even better than you smell." She nudged him with her shoulder, smiling up at his flushed cheeks. He cleared his throat, pushing at the rim of his glasses again.
"It seems Ebony and beer make quite the delightful combination. Perhaps you ladies should grab a beer together more often." He answered, his voice a half-pitch higher than usual for his first words before clearning his throat.
"I feel like I missed something." Gladiouls remarked then looked at Crowe, "Well, gonna leave a guy hanging?" he asked.
"Not gonna be the other girl when you cheat on your left hand." She shot back. She walked up to Lunafreya, slapping her hard on the back and jerked back when she saw the woman wince. "Sorry." She apologized, face scrunched. "Guess it's fair to say the kiss was satisfactory?"
"Yes." Ignis and Noctis answered simultaneously.
