~*FAIR WARNING; THIS ONE IS A LITTLE ROUGH*~
We rejoin the present back in the car with Prompto an Ignis, the latter of which has vacated his spot in the front in favor of getting in the back and holding the younger boy while he muttered brokenly. Prompto has calmed and is now silent, however he continues to remain curled in the adviser's arms, head tucked into the older boy's shoulder. For his part, Ignis has not asked him to speak further, and has been simply comforting him. They separated only when the back of the ambulance opened, letting Gladiolus hop out and head their way.
Prompto eyed the older teen as he approached the car. The left side of the big warrior's face was freshly bandaged, and he held a potion in his hand. The blonde gulped nervously as Cor Leonis quickly sidled up next to the shield and they seemed to have a heated discussion as they approached the car.
They separated again upon reaching the vehicle, Gladiolus standing next to the car until Cor walked back towards the ambulance. Once the older man was far enough away, the shield knocked on the window and Ignis unlocked the door.
There wasn't room for the three of them in the back seat, so Ignis and Prompto joined the warrior outside the vehicle, the adviser making sure to keep Prompto out of sight as much as possible. When Gladiolus turned to face him, Prompto reached up and traced a shaking finger along the hastily taped-down bandage covering the left side of his face, which was already spotting with blood.
"Oh Astrals, Gladio, I'm so sorry! I'm so so so sorry!" Prompto clenched his eyes shut against the tears that were threatening to spill, withdrawing back into himself.
But Gladiolus only laughed, and gently patted his arm. "Don't worry about it, Kid. The eye's fine, and the scar is gonna look great. I'm even thinking of holding off on the first potion dose just to make sure it stays nice and deep." He shook the glowing bottle at them for emphasis.
Ignis huffed out an indignant breath. "You absolutely will not."
The warrior shrugged at the sandy haired teen. "S'my face. I don't see why I can't let it have a big gnarly scar if I want one."
Ignis puffed out an indignant breath. "Gladio, you can't possibly think this is a good idea. Take the damn potion."
"Fine, fine. Oh, wait, hold on," Gladiolus shoved the potion at Prompto, grunting out a 'hold this' while he went to kneel on the ground, muttering about an untied shoe. When he stood back up and the younger teen tried to hand him back the glowing bottle, the warrior wrapped both his large hands around the small pale one and crushed the potion in Prompto's grip. He quickly withdrew, watching with concern as only a small portion of the visible bruises and cuts faded away.
"G-Gladio!" Prompto shouted, half in indignation, half in awe. He turned his confused expression to the shield. "That was supposed to be for your face."
Gladiolus smiled mischievously down at him. "Well, your face needed it more." When his jest did not get the desired reaction, he reached out and gripped Prompto by the arm lightly. "I'll be fine, ok? You really need to get yourself checked out."
Prompto shrunk into himself even further, staring down at his feet. "Is Noct…?" He trailed off, not quite sure how to finish the sentence.
The big warrior rolled his eyes. "Noct's going to be fine. The paramedics are just being super insanely fucking thorough because he's the prince."
When Prompto still hesitated, Gladiolus wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulder and began ushering him towards the vehicle. "He's waiting for you. C'mon."
The freckled youth nodded and allowed the big warrior to escort him past all the roaming officials, who Cor was keeping at a respectable distance.
Gladiolus stopped a few yards shy of the double back doors of the ambulance. "You know you have to give your statement after you get checked over, right? Cor can't keep them off you forever."
"I know." Prompto stared at the ground, unmoving.
Gladiolus maneuvered to stand in front of the smaller boy, waiting till he met his gaze before speaking. "Kid, you've been through a lot, so I'm not going to lecture you, yet. But believe it when I say that we are having a long discussion once this is all said and done, ok?"
Prompto's lip wobbled and he looked away from the shield's burning amber eyes. "I know." It was a broken little statement pushed from between dry, swollen lips.
The big warrior's expression immediately softened, mentally chastising himself for his lack of tact. "You're not in trouble, Prom. We just need to talk about why you felt the need to keep all of this a secret from us for so long. We could have helped."
Prompto merely nodded, stepping past the warrior and reaching out to tentatively knock on the back door of the ambulance. It swung open to reveal a harried looking EMT, who quickly helped him aboard, shutting the doors behind him with a resounding bang.
A little over one year ago, we find Gladiolus enjoying a rare day off at Insomnia Falls, a large protected forest with campgrounds and hiking trails and other family-friendly amenities. One of the most grueling attractions is the Trail of Perdition-aptly and ominously named, as it consisted of approximately four hundred stairs chiseled into a cliff side. The prize for completing this rigorous trek is a breathtaking view of the city. Gladiolus has opted to spend his day conquering the climb, and is surprised when he comes across none other than Prompto Argentum, vaguely annoying friend to the prince.
Gladiolus groaned to himself. It wasn't as if he didn't like the little pipsqueak, but he'd been hoping to have the lookout to himself, or at least not share it with anyone he was forced to see on a daily basis. The kid was dressed much too warmly for the day in a long sleeved shirt two sizes too big and jeans. He was huddled on a bench in a small rest area along the path, engrossed in his camera. He hadn't noticed the older teen standing there, yet, and Gladiolus contemplated leaving.
But, he ultimately chose to be friendly. Since they'd gone on summer break from school, Noctis had more princely duties to attend to, and thus Prompto wasn't able to hang around as much (though the two kept up quite the ongoing text conversation, much to Ignis' aggravation).
"Hey, Kid, what brings you all the way up here?" He smiled down at the boy as his shadow covered Prompto's small frame. The blonde glanced up, a spark of confusion lighting his eyes for a moment before he offered a small smile.
"Just wanted to get out of the house, I guess. Y'know, take some pictures." Prompto waved the little digital camera he kept with him at all times up at Gladiolus. "What about you?"
Gladiolus chuckled lightly, comically flexing his muscles. "Oh, you know, gotta keep the body in tune."
When he didn't get the desired reaction, he sat down next to the boy and leaned back to bask in the mid-morning sun for a few long moments. He glanced back over at the freckled youth, who'd made no further movement.
"Thought you were afraid of heights." Gladiolus said by way of conversation.
Prompto shrugged. "Yeah."
Gladiolus laughed at his nonchalance and roughly ruffled his hair, quickly drawing back when the boy let out a pained hiss.
Prompto edged away from him, hands hovering around his head, but not quite touching it. "Don't do that." His tone was going for 'humored admonishment', but came out 'wetly sad'.
"Woah, hey, are you ok? I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
Prompto was quick to deflect the shield's apology however, waving his free hand a little wildly. "N-no! It's ok, I wasn't paying attention this morning and slipped in the shower and bumped my head. It's just tender."
Concern knitted Gladiolus' eyebrows together, and he leaned forward to get a better look. "If you hit your head, you shouldn't be climbing up all these stairs. Those aren't the kind of injuries you just 'walk off', Prompto."
"It's not that bad, I promise. Just …tender." Prompto squirmed to the end of the bench, putting as much space between himself and Gladiolus as possible. "I, uh, I guess I'll get going. The path isn't going to climb itself!" He scrambled up and headed back to the trail, movements stiff and strained. The shield was not far behind, face a mask of near-anger.
Gladiolus was many things; patient was not one of them. He also didn't do well with bullshit. Or boundaries.
He stomped up behind Prompto, who had mounted the bottom step of the next flight of stairs. He grabbed Prompto by both arms and held on tight, getting himself a good look at the back of the blonde's head.
The boy went still in his grip, letting out a breathy whimper. There was definitely some bruising hiding under the golden tresses, bleeding down from the crown and spreading to behind his left ear. But there were no lacerations or abrasions, nothing to indicate that the bruise should even be there. If he didn't know better, the warrior would have chalked the large purple splotch up to a birthmark. It was weird, to say the least.
His grip unconsciously tightened as his eyes trailed down to where the collar of Prompto's oversized shirt gaped open and he found some abrasions and scratches there. "…the fuck?"
"Please let me go." The request was whispered, followed by several shallow breaths and a gentle tug in Gladiolus' grip.
His fingers loosened involuntarily at the request, and Prompto shot up several steps before turning to face him. "J-just let it go, ok? I told you I'm clumsy."
"I'm not arguing that point, Kid. But I also think you're not telling me everything."
Prompto stared down at one of the steps between them, biting his lower lip. "I, uhhhmm…" he trailed off, looking ready to cry.
Gladiolus cleared his throat, reaching out to the younger boy, but thinking better of the action and dropping his hand back to his side. "Is it bullies? I know you don't live in the best of areas, and being a Niff—"
"Y-yeah!" Prompto immediately jumped onto his train of thought. "Bullies. But it's ok! I can mostly avoid them."
Gladiolus shook his head. "Yeah, I see how well that's working for you. You've literally gone to the edge of Insomnia to avoid them, and you shouldn't have to do that." He smiled then, and winked up at Prompto who cocked his head to the side curiously. "I can always teach you some self defense moves, you know. There's no reason to take a beating, Prompto. I can give you the tools to fight back."
Prompto swallowed hard, but nodded along. "Uhm, yeah, ok. That could be cool."
"Good, we'll set something up for next week. And you can always call me if you need me. Having a big scary friend can be a great deterrent to bullies." Gladiolus mounted the stairs and started climbing up, quickly passing Prompto. "C'mon. If you insist on getting up there, at least take my company just in case you're more injured than you think. No point of dying up here all by yourself, you know."
A shadow flitted across the younger boy's face, but Gladiolus' back was turned to him and it was not seen. Taking a deep breath, Prompto began following the shield up the side of the cliff.
Three nights before Gladiolus' generous offer to help Prompto learn to fend off his 'bullies' found the freckled youth in a heap of trouble. School ending for the year had happened to coincide with a long stint at home for his parents, and though they were at work most weekdays, tensions were still riding high in the house. They'd already come to a head hours before we join the scene, and currently our young friend is kneeling on the living room floor, doing his best to be as unobtrusive as possible. His infraction? Defending himself from a rare violent onslaught at the hands of his mother.
Mr. Argentum eyed Prompto from his spot in a blue recliner directly in front of the television. His wife was in her rocking chair, nursing a glass of wine and working on a needlepoint project. The house had been blissfully quiet since their little altercation earlier, the only sounds were the clattering of his beer cans as he downed one after another, and the droning of the nightly news anchor.
Even Prompto's occasional sniffles and moans had petered off over the last hour or so.
"See?" He said, glaring back at his son when the boy made eye contact with him. "See how much better things are when we all get along?"
He was vindicated as the boy nodded and went back to looking at the floor.
"Have you learned your lesson?" He asked, a little condescension creeping into his tone.
Prompto nodded emphatically, but continued his staring contest with the carpet. "Y-yes, sir. I'm sorry sir."
The man regarded his son for an uncomfortable stretch of time before finally nodding. "You can go to bed, then."
Prompto struggled to his feet, doing his best to keep his expression neutral as every movement tugged on the slowly swelling welts laid across his backside. "Yes, sir. Uhm, can we…? Is it ok if…?" He gestured vaguely with his head to where his hands were tied in front of him, shrugging his shoulders spastically.
Earlier that day, his mother had been berating Prompto about the lawn, and she had gotten rather loud and pushy. Literally. And after about the fifth time she shoved him into the counter, he shoved her back. Just a little. Just enough to make her back up and stop screaming directly in his face.
But it was too much. He was so stupid, he should have seen it coming, really. She'd called his father in and told him that Prompto had attacked her. The large man had become instantly enraged, and closed the distance between himself and his son in two short strides, already screaming obscenities.
Mr. Argentum lifted the boy by the shirt front and shook him fiercely, the toes of his worn sneakers scraping against the tiles. He then threw Prompto against the counter ledge hard enough to knock the breath from the blonde's lungs. Prompto crumpled to the ground, gasping almost comically in an attempt to expand lungs that refused to budge.
Mr. Argentum leaned down and gripped Prompto by his over-long hair and drug him to the living room, dropping him in front of an old brown ottoman.
"Strip." The man barked at his son, and rolled his eyes when the boy was slow to react. He growled in frustration as Prompto's hands shook while he still shuddered and gasped for breath. He snatched at the boy's collar, pulling the shirt up and over his head before gripping him by the hair again and forcing him face down on the ottoman. He quickly pulled off the boy's shoes, jeans, and boxers, throwing them to the side.
"You don't want to be civil in my household? You don't want to follow our rules? Isn't it bad enough that we have to live with the shame of harboring a Niff in our home? With all the atrocities your kind has committed against good Lucians, you're lucky we don't put you in the street! Your mother's brother was killed by one of your kind, for Astral's sake!" While he rained down his vitriol, Mr. Argentum set to work removing his belt and wrapping the tongue of it around his hand, letting the buckle end dangle down.
Prompto was up on his elbows, finally taking in oxygen when the first strike was laid across his shoulders. The beating that ensued was nothing short of relentless, his father concentrating the bulk of the abuse across his lower back, ass, and thighs.
When he was done and Prompto was dry-sobbing and too weak to put up even a semblance of a fight, the older man grabbed him by that same shock of hair and pulled him over to kneel a few feet away from the recliner, muttering about how this was supposed to teach Prompto to keep his hands to himself. He bound the boy's arms in front of him, wrapping the belt from wrist to elbow and securing it impossibly tight.
The man had never heard of irony, apparently.
As expected, Prompto's request for release was denied, and he slowly picked his way upstairs and did his best to take care of his nightly ablutions with his limited mobility. This was a messy and demeaning experience, but not one uncommon to the teen.
He'd wiggled his way under his blankets and got as comfortable as he could and was just drifting off when a weight dragged him sputtering to full consciousness. His mother has slipped in the room and was now leaning into his lower back with one knee, digging in over the top of fresh welts and old bruises and then she twisted her hand into his hair and yanked his head up and back, holding it in such a position that his breaths came out in high pitched wheezes. He tried desperately to balance himself on his elbows to take some of the pressure off, but it was not use with the way his arms were bound.
"Don't you ever dare cross me again, you little shit." She dug in sharply with her knee for emphasis on her last words, hissing at him to shut up when he whimpered in pain. She was quiet, and the scent of smoke curled around Prompto as she took a drag from her cigarette, making it even more difficult to breathe.
She began again, keeping up her hissing whisper. "Your kind are nothing more than a blight on our world. Every shitty thing comes from Niflheim; the Star Scourge, the daemons, the godsdamned war. Even King Regis can count his failing health among the things that the Niffs have done to the rest of us." She dug in deeper, pulled back on his head harder as hot tears slid down her face and splashed against his bare back. "How long do you think it will take before your precious Prince Noctis sees you for what you really are, you fucking monster?"
She dropped his head, then, but before she lifted her weight off of him, she pressed the burning cherry of her cigarette into the middle of his back, effectively putting it out as he gasped wetly. She dropped it in the bed next to him as she finally fully rose from the bed and made her way out of the room.
Prompto curled up as best he could, burrowing into himself. "I'm not a monster…not a montster…" his whispered mantra was broken and full of lies and lulled him into a dark, nightmarish sleep.