Title: Mutual benefits
Genre: Humor, hurt/comfort, friendship
Summary: Takes place after Sleep.

Chapter 10: Mutual benefits

"Everyone alright?" Ignis pried his knives off a destroyed magitek troop's shoulder before turning to face his companions.

"Not dead", Gladiolus called back gruffly as he wiped machine oil from his greatsword.

"Still alive", Prompto shouted to Ignis before turning to face Noctis. "You okay there, buddy?"

"Yup", he dismissed his Avenger and sat down panting heavily. "Think they upgraded 'em?"

"Maybe they're getting annoyed with the amount of scrap metal we leave behind", Gladiolus kicked a severed MT's head. It landed with a loud clang on the hard asphalt.

"Wonder if they get recycled", Noctis picked up a mechanical arm which had been grabbing him only moments before. He was still waiting for the chest pain and tingling aftereffect of being electrocuted to fade. "Where would one put the recycle stamp on these things, anyway?" The arm was casually tossed aside.

Prompto skipped to Noctis' side with a wide grin that threatened to split his face. It was a sure sign for an incoming joke. "Can you imagine? 'Get your very own table lamp made from a real MT's head. Now available with removable metal face mask!' Could be a hit!" Noctis shook his head, a smile tugging the corners of his bloodied lips. It was their way of coping with terrifying situations like that; to joke and make light of the fact that one of them might have died.

Luna watched their interactions in fascination. She hadn't survived the ambush unscratched, either. A bullet from an MT's arm had grazed her side. She learnt that day the banner wielding MTs weren't there to inspire patriotism in its fellow machines or to pose for tourist cameras; her bruised abdomen could testify to that. The robots moved in such a strange unpredictable way. At first they seemed to be moving in synchronization, but when the fighting began everything got chaotic.

Said bannerman, robot, thing had whirled its upper body rapidly, the Empire's flag obscuring her vision and momentarily blinding her from the incoming attack. The inhumanly strong kick had sent her flying across the road. She had landed painfully on her already wounded side. And to add insult to injury the damn thing had made her empty her previous meal on the road. Her travelling coat had protected her vulnerable flesh from the most damage, but she would have to do a lot of mending if she ever wanted to wear it again. Blood slowly seeped through her shirt from the bullet wound. The bannerman had turned its attention back to the ongoing battle, kicking and flinging its arms at Prompto. Once her head had stopped pounding and her vision cleared, she got up and charged at her unaware opponent so fast the thing never knew what hit it. Even now she took savage pleasure in the memory of stabbing its blank metal face and slashing its core with her rapier. She had cast a miniature fire spell on the flag, mostly for symbolic purposes.

She swore she would do the same to the Empire itself in a much grander scale.

"Best we do not dilly dally, they know our current position", she told the men as she pulled what remained of her destroyed coat around her wounded side. They were all wounded and in need of medical attention, but all that would have to wait till they were in the clear. Silently grateful that her wounded side was the side facing Gladiolus instead of Noctis when sitting in the car, she followed the quartet as they picked their belongings and hurried to Regalia. Last thing she needed was him fussing over her when he was in just as bad condition.

The ride was filled with usual banter between the men. Noctis was chugging down cold coffee – that he had been enjoying hot and fresh before the MTs had rudely interrupted him – now mixed with hi-potion. The potions tasted as bad as one could expect from medicine. Luna found Noctis' picky eating habits rather strange. He was an adult yet still in some ways he acted like such a child.

A spoiled prince, no less.

Etro knows how the young man managed to get all the nourishment his body needed with a diet like his. She could just imagine it in her head; married, living together and her nagging to him like an old crow about eating his greens. She really, really hoped he'd outgrow it by then. The last thing she wanted to be was his substitute mother.

"There's a gas station within less than five minutes", Prompto informed the back row. "Wanna take a break?"

"Still need to lick our wounds", Noctis finished his potion and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"We might have to send the least disheveled of us to resupply our medical kit. Five of us in this state is likely to draw attention", Ignis surmised. Prompto turned around in his seat to take a good look at his companions. Ignis had burn marks from dislodging the electrocuting MT's arm from Noctis. His left lens had cracked from getting swiped by another nearby MT. Gladiolus' uncovered chest was full of gashes and his leather jacket had few bullet holes that made it very clear how closely the bodyguard had been dancing with death. Noctis was still occasionally clutching to his chest, but seemed to fare better after drinking the coffee-potion. Luna's coat was a mess and–

"Are you bleeding?"

Luna jolted. She hadn't taken care of hiding her side after settling down in the car.

"It's nothing, just a scrape from hitting the asphalt", she hastily explained.

Prompto tilted his head and rubbed his chin in thought. "Guess that means I'll be your med man! All I got was a bruised knee from tripping over an MT."

"Very well, I will make you a list. And try not to stray away from the list or attract attention", Ignis said as he pulled the car over.

"Hey, no problem!" Prompto jumped off and dashed to the shop before Ignis had even taken a pen out to write his list. The royal advisor sighed and took off his ruined spectacles to rub his tired eyes.

"Give me the list, I can go make sure he gets everything", Luna offered. Ignis looked like he was about to protest. "I need to go to the ladies' room, anyway." His jaw snapped shut. He hastily wrote in elegant script all the supplies they needed and handed it to her.

Noctis watched as Luna removed her coat and went to the trunk to retrieve a hoodie from her backpack. If anyone should've gone to follow Prompto, it should've been him. He was the least injured, outwardly, anyway. He had a sneaking suspicion Luna had left them for other reasons. Excusing himself, he left the car and ignored Ignis shaking his head in exasperation.

True to her word Luna had went to the ladies' room, according to Prompto. But she'd been there for awfully long while. Noctis paced in front of the restroom door, occasionally receiving a strange look as civilians passed him. Ten minutes later he had enough. He saw a young girl exit the ladies' room and stopped her. "Excuse me, miss. Did you see a pretty blonde woman with dirty clothes in there?"

"I didn't see anybody, mister", she said, but paused and looked thoughtful. "But I heard there was someone in one of the stalls and she was using awful lot of toilet paper." Noctis' brows furrowed further, but he thanked the girl and entered the ladies' room.

"H-hey! Mister! You can't go there! Mom says it's for girls only!" she called after him, but did not follow and ran back to her parents.

He stood in front of the sinks and listened. Sure enough he could hear the whirling of toilet paper roll – far more than the amount of paper one would need to do their business – and the sound of ripping and wiping accompanied by uneven loud breathing.

"Luna?" The sounds immediately stopped. "I know you're in there. Tell me what's wrong."

"I'm fine", her voice wavered. "Just give me few minutes."

"I've given you more than few minutes. You've been there for half an hour."

"You shouldn't be here", she was running out of excuses and he was running out of patience.

"Open the door or I swear I'll bring it down."

Slowly a door creaked open. Luna was sitting on top of the toilet seat, blood soaked toilet paper at her feet and another lump held against her bleeding side. Soon even that had bled through and she hurried to pull more paper.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Luna remained silent as she worked to staunch the bloodflow.

"Luna", she stubbornly ignored him. "You're gonna waste a lot of paper with that." Sighing, he took off his coat and pulled his t-shirt over his head. Having nothing better at hand, he wrapped his shirt tightly against her midriff. "Hold that while I get you some ice", he said as he pulled on his coat and marched out of the ladies' room.

"Did you find her?" Prompto asked. He was just finishing purchasing the items from the list Luna had given him on her way to the restroom.

"Yeah", he didn't elaborate.

"Excuse me", he called for the shopkeep who was cleaning the counters.

"How can I help you, sir?" the man was probably in his early fifties. He had laugh lines around his eyes and seemed overall like a jolly person.

"Friend of mine needs ice. Dropped a cup of coffee on her lap", he lied smoothly.

"Comin' right up." Noctis thanked and took the icepack from the man. He snatched a package of bandages from Prompto and tossed him a wrinkled note. "Buy us some fresh coffee. That outta keep Iggy and Gladio busy for a while. Oh, and make sure to buy two takeaway Ebonies, will you", he dashed to the restrooms.

Luna was where he had left her. A woman was washing her hands as he entered the room and stared at him pointedly.

"Sorry, emergency", he explained as he entered Luna's stall and closed the door behind him.

"Okay, I got you some proper bandages. Lift your shirt and I'll wrap it for you." His command was met with an icy glare.

"You're making this more difficult." He stared at her in disbelief.

"I'm making this difficult? It was you who refused to mention that you were bleeding all over the place!" He was positively boiling. "On top of that you decide it's a good idea to keep it a secret. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Luna seethed as she snatched the bandages and ice from his hands. "I can manage on my own. I did not wish to worry you with minor battle wounds."

"Minor–", his voice rose, but he stopped himself as he remembered they most likely had nosy audience just outside the stall. He fumed as Luna turned away from him – as well as one could in such a cramped space – on her toilet seat and lifted her shirt. She struggled to place the bandage correctly around herself, but the last thing she would do was ask for his help. Noctis exhaled slowly, releasing the built tension and gently took the bandage from her trembling fingers.

"I don't doubt you can, but we're a team now. It doesn't hurt to have someone looking after you", he wrapped the bandage around her wound and wrapped the icepack on top with another. Once he was satisfied with his work, he stood up and backed as far away from her as he could to give her some privacy.

"Perhaps so", she said quietly as she pulled her bloodied shirt over the bandages.

"No-one will think less of you if you admit to being human and accepting that you too can suffer injury", his voice was barely louder than a whisper. He gathered the mound of soiled toilet paper and stuffed them in a tiny bin beside the toilet seat.

"It is not a matter of being afraid of my pride getting hurt", she corrected. "I am merely used to relying on no other than myself when there's never been another person to rely on." She fidgeted her hands restlessly as she struggled to open up. "I am still… Adjusting to the idea of having comrades."

Noctis had hard time understanding his betrothed. He had been surrounded by people all his life, people who loved him and shared his joy and pain. But Luna… She had been alone most of her life. He had no way of relating or grasping her perspective.

"You're not alone anymore. You watch my back, I watch yours", he kneeled in front of her and looked up in her apprehensive eyes. "You can rely on us, you know."

Luna grimaced and placed her hand on her stinging wound. Noctis shot up and immediately hovered over her like a worried mother hen, trying to offer some kind of solace. She dropped her hand and let him fuss. As she watched him check her wound she realized that she actually liked the attention. She liked that he was concerned for her.

"I think", she hesitantly began. Noctis paused to look at her expectantly. "In time I will learn to accept your generous help." She had made up her mind. "I will not take it for granted."

The raven haired prince flashed her a lopsided grin.

"Good. Because someone needs to appreciate those three."

A/N: I want a MT table lamp and have its eyes as two torches that you can remove from the head. *nod*

to Yuto: Don't worry, I won't stop updating this story. I merely meant that I probably won't use the new information we've been given in my story, since I began writing this back when we didn't know Luna was an Oracle etc. I still have at least two chapters that I mean to finish and post. There might be even more if I get inspired! :)