Beta read by: SinikkavonWolperting and istoleyourcheesecake
So, this is the chapter before things really start to get into it; only downhill from here. Also, I wanna point out, that if at any moment, Prompto seems out of character, it is 100% intentional.
Minutes had passed and the medication had yet to take even a sliver of edge off the ache that continued to assault his neck and shoulders. But, like always, he ignored his discomfort for the time being, pushed aside his ailments for the sake of another who was in a much more dire need of support and affection. He glanced over to Noctis in between tentative bites, noticing how he had barely touched anything on his own plate, not that he didn't understand, but it didn't lessen the sting by any means. The other two carried themselves in almost identical fashion, both hardly picking at their food; the mood souring ever so slightly with each passing second. Sighing, he placed his fork across his plate and reached into his pocket, locating the bottle instantly. With a glance towards Gladio, he pulled it out and wasted no time in dumping a couple more tablets into his hand.
The shield cut his eyes over the table at the sound of the rattling and his brows furrowed at the familiar sight of the container, "Didn't you already take some?" he asked, voice laced with accusation, "I said only two." His eyes remained locked on, watching closely until he either put the pills down or continued with what he was doing.
"Well, I, yeah, I did, but..." he trailed off, left hand reaching back to rub at a particularly tense part of his neck, "They haven't exactly done anything." Ignoring the other's prying gaze, he tossed them into his mouth and quickly washed them down with a sip of his water, "Don't worry, I know how many I can have."
The larger man huffed out and turned back to his meal, "As long as you don't overdo it with those things, then do what you have to." The blond's own heart weighed down at the tone, the man sounded utterly defeated and he knew it had nothing to do with him, or the drugs, but it still hurt somewhat. Sheepishly, Prompto stuffed the bottle back into his pocket, holding his eyes on the table's surface as he did so; his hand absentmindedly hovered of the handle of his utensil, fingers glancing over the cool metal. He couldn't explain it but he felt tired, exhausted almost, but he knew full well that he got a decent amount of sleep, there wasn't any recollections of waking up a single time.
"That's it," Noctis declared, pushing his chair back with a resounding 'scrape'. "I can't take it anymore, I have to know." He pulled out his phone, fingers swiftly running over the keypad while he typed in the number he knew all too well, "I'll be back." No one said a word, not an inkling of an attempt to stop him; there were only watching eyes while he made his way out the door, phone already pressed firmly against his ear.
The gunner let out a steady and gradual breath, letting his hands slide and fall into his lap where they interlocked nervously. "He'll be alright, won't he?" he asked, mostly to himself, though answers were greatly welcomed. Instead, they stayed silent, both pondering the same question themselves. "Right?" he repeated, now basically begging for one of them to say something, anything really would be better than nothing. "Ignis?" he turned his head towards the brunette, towards the man that always knew the right answer to everything.
The adviser got to his feet, hand gracefully scooping up his coffee cup. "That, we'll just have to wait and see," he closed his eyes while he turned away to stroll towards the coffee pot and prepared himself another cup. "It's a difficult situation, so the answer is not yet a clear one, but I'm sure he will be fine." He presented the other with a warm, but obviously forced, sideways smile; its intended purpose being that of comfort, but the result showing nothing more than the man's own doubt and concern.
"Yeah," Prompto replied, trying his best to mirror the mask the other wore, "You're right, he'll be fine." He leaned back, bending over the back of his chair and gasping in both unexpected pain and relief as the movement stretched his taut muscles, helping him to relax them by a small amount. As he went to lean back forward, another gasp sounded out, this time it was one of surprise as he felt two heavy hands grasp each side. "What are you doing?" he asked, glancing back to find the shield towering over him.
The other replied by giving a firm squeeze, causing the younger to squirm slightly and whimper quietly under the grasp, "Just relax, this should help a bit." He gave a few more strong squeezes, tossing all gentleness out the window, "Damn, kid, what'd you do? No wonder you're sore, you're riddled with knots."
"I'd like to know myself," Prompto muttered between clenched teeth. "Came outta nowhere though." His voice tightened at the end as Gladio once more closed his grip around his aching muscles, "Hey, hey, hey, I'm fragile, ease it up there bro."
"This isn't a spa day," the larger growled, emphasizing his words with one more extra firm squeeze. Once the blond was finished wriggling under his hands, he patted lightly and friendly on the side of his arm, "A hot bath should help, try that tonight." He received a thumbs-up as his reply, the other hand already working to pacify his burning shoulders. Gladio glanced back at the door, getting the feeling that it may have been quite some time before the new king would return, if the look on his face and tone was anything to go by, "Actually, you might as well go ahead and do that, you have plenty of time after all."
Prompto nodded. "Yeah, I guess so," he shrugged, flinching as he stood up. The other kept his curious gaze on the younger's back while he turned, the rattling from the bottle sounding out with each step he took towards the bathroom. And he could feel his worry rise with the noise. It's not that he didn't trust him not to take too many of those things, but that sort of stuff was a slippery slope, especially for those vulnerable enough and innocent enough to not notice their own decline.
Folding his arms over his chest, he swiveled around to face Ignis. "Enough left for another cup?" he asked tilting his head in the direction of the coffee maker.
"Indeed, there is plenty," the other responded, stepping to the side to allow the other access. He took a tentative sip from his own glass, drinking from it as if on autopilot as the action was working from sheer muscle memory. "Take all you need."
The brute grunted in understanding, "So, you're just gonna let him run off again?" he asked, cocking his head towards the door, "I mean, I understand the whole space thing, but don't you think storming off twice since yesterday is a bit excessive?"
"As I've mentioned before, he needs space," he mumbled between sips, feeling almost like a broken record by now. The sounds of the bath running soon filtered from the bathroom, finally filling the silence with some much-needed background noise, "But, if he doesn't show any signs of emotional improvement, then yes, I will step in and say something about it."
Gladio opened his mouth to reply, but was awkwardly and effectively stumped by the abrupt crashing of the bathroom door swinging open; a dripping and uncovered Prompto skittering out and leaving a sodden trail behind him. "Prom- what the hell man?" he asked, slightly shocked, and more than a bit caught off guard by his sudden outburst. "Why are you running around he-?" he paused, really focusing in on the blond for the first time; his breathing was erratic, being taken in in quick and short pants. And his eyes, they held an essence of wild survival instinct, locked onto the bathroom door as he never noticed the shield talking to him. Or, if he did, he didn't show any signs of it. "Prom?" he asked, taking a step forward while also keeping a watchful eye in the direction he flew from, "Everything alright?"
Still, the younger stood there, arms wrapped protectively around his torso protectively, eyes darting frenziedly around, expecting something to come out after him any moment, but nothing ever did. "I-I... I thought..." he trailed off, gaze finally ripping away long enough to locate the source of the voice talking to him, "I thought I saw... something." He slumped onto the bed, not caring that he was absolutely soaking wet, saturating the spot where he sat. Placing his head into his hands, he glanced down, and upon seeing himself, turned an impressive shade of pink. "Oh, OH!" with a panicked trembling hand, he clutched the covers next to him and swiftly yanked them over to cover himself, "I'm sorry, I, uh, I kinda forgot to grab a towel." He bit his lip, overwhelmed with embarrassment now that he was aware of what this must have looked like to the others.
Choosing not to comment on the obvious, Ignis stepped over, curiosity being his main drive now, "Care to explain then?" he asked, showing no hints of annoyance, but rather concern for the other's odd behavior. One eyebrow remained arched as he kept a lookout for any strange movements or any off-putting body language Prompto put out as he talked.
He appeared to think on it for a moment, weighing his options until he eventually hefted a heavy breath out, "It, it was nothing. Just my imagination, I guess." The blond let out a shuddering breath, lifting his gaze to meet amber ones and then emerald ones, "I'm good now."
A gentle, yet firm hand landed on his still slick shoulder, preventing him from getting up, "Prompto, I know that's not the truth. I don't care how vivid your imagination is, it would not result in that strong of a reaction; what I saw was genuine terror, not some overreaction to an overactive mind."
A lump formed in the younger's throat and his breath hitched as they got caught on his unspoken words. But, those inquiring eyes demanded for a real answer, "I thought I saw someone... but it was only a glimpse, so I didn't get a good look." He cringed at the way that sounded; it sounded utterly insane and there was no way that would have sounded feasible to them. That, and given their current situation, made it sound like a menial predicament. "But there's nothing there, so it's fine now," he tried to assure the other, going to stand again, this time the hand was lifted. "Um, you guys mind, I dunno, turning away so I can get back in?" he sheepishly asked, gaze scanning down to the sheet covering him.
"We've already seen everything now, so why's it matter?" Gladio joked at the gunner's expense, but humored him by turning away anyway. He didn't see it, but he felt the small and playful smack to the back of his head which dragged a grin onto his features, "Yeah, yeah, I get it."
Prompto took quick and soggy steps back towards his bath, hesitating momentarily at the threshold before finally crossing it. "You know, if it helps, you can leave the door open," the brute called after him, suppressing a chuckle.
"No thanks," the blond blurted back and less than gently swung the door shut, the sound it produced bouncing off the tiles around him in an eerie way. His feet refused to carry him from the spot to begin with, his entire body warning him about this room, screaming at him the dangers that awaited all around it, just waiting for him to let his guard down. Balling his fists up until his arms shook from the strain, he took one step forward, and stopped to assess the room, glancing to every corner. He felt paranoid, like a criminal up to no good as he scouted the perimeter, but it felt necessary. "Anyone here?" he asked near inaudibly as he focused on the corner he thought he previously saw what he did.
'No one,' he thought to himself, keeping his gaze glued to the spot as he stepped back over to the tub, dipping one foot in at a time, eyes never leaving the spot. "Ok, you got this," he mouthed, breathy exhales leaking out with each word, "Just don't think about it."
Once in, he carefully lowered himself back under the considerably warm water, doing so with a new sense of caution and ease, afraid that sudden movements or sounds would invite whatever it was he saw to come back, and that was something he really did not care for. As time passed, it was difficult to say whether the bath was helping or not, everything still ached, but then again, he wasn't exactly relaxed. That was something that didn't want to come to him easily recently, well, not since that 'encounter' anyway. Constantly on edge, and never trusting anything that went on around him was beginning to grate on his being. Forcing himself now, he shut his eyes and focused on nothing but the water enveloping him, covering him with the sensation of floating until he could persuade the stiffness to evacuate his muscles; and, for a time that seemed to have some sort of an effect.
However, the thoughts that huddled together in the back of his mind prohibited him from enjoying the moment for very long, their constant nagging keeping a solid lock on his enjoyment. He was getting nowhere with this, just with the simple motion of turning his neck, he could tell the bath was doing little to nothing to alleviate his pain; a small groan of irritation slipped out at the thought of nothing working, and maybe he did pull something back there. He was so high on adrenaline yesterday, anything could have happened without him realizing it. Sighing out with discontent, as well as distasteful acceptance, he lifted himself out of the tub, and this time, grabbed a towel on his way out.
"Done already?" Gladio asked, glancing in the blond's direction as he stepped over to his bag to retrieve some dry clothing, seeing as he had forgotten to grab those earlier as well.
He nodded solemnly. "Yeah, wasn't really cutting it for me, so I didn't see the point in staying in there any longer," he shrugged, dragging his feet back into the other room to get dressed. Prompto cut his eyes over to the larger in time to see him flash somewhat of a sympathetic smile in his direction, which he replied to with a shrug, flinching with the action, "I'm sure it'll just go away on its own." The shield hummed, now beginning to grow slightly worried with this. He's had his fair share of aches and pains from the constant swings he made with his behemoth of a blade, but it was never anything either a couple pills or some hot water couldn't remedy.
Back inside, he gently shut the door this time, craning his neck to either side in another fruitless attempt at comfort and stepped over to the mirror in order to lean against the sink. His eyes slinked up to take in his disheveled appearance, dark circles marring the underside of his eyes, which in turn were crawling with reddened tendrils. "Gods, I look terrible," he mumbled under his breath, like he hadn't slept in days. He blinked a few times as he stared into his own blue orbs. The third blink, he kept them closed for a second longer, giving them a chance to rest for a bit before prying them back open.
A strangled gasp sounded out between slightly parted lips and the image before him had flashed so suddenly and it was so subtle, he was starting to question whether he really saw anything at all. But, he could have sworn his eyes had shifted color, fading off into a dull and shadowed hue of what they were. Maybe it was his imagination acting up again; stress was probably building up causing all these unexplainable things. It made sense to him, and it was the only reasoning he could come up with that didn't involve him going insane.
Leaning down, he turned the cold water on and cupped it in his hand, hesitating to splash it on his face. The rush that resulted from it helped to clear his mind a bit, rid it from these unsolicited speculations. "Come on man, pull yourself together," he chastised himself, running a hand through golden locks, shaking it to fling water droplets everywhere like a human sprinkler.
He plucked his clothes from the floor and swiftly threw them on, even standing there alone, he was getting the sensation of unpleasant exposure, the lack of clothes giving a feeling of vulnerability; like he was being watched. He couldn't quite explain it, but there was that perpetual tickling on the back of his neck, continuously trailing its hovering nails along his spine in a teasing manner that pleaded for his attention. Instinctively, he ran his own fingers over the spot, not really feeling anything, not that he expected to, aside from the noticeable tension across the spot.
With a thumb, he pressed down on the spot and almost cried out from the jolt it sent through him. Ok, so maybe that wasn't such a great idea, possibly something that should be avoided from now on. He waited until the throbs ebbed away to straighten himself back up and head back out to the others, the recollection that Noctis still wasn't back shoving its way back to the front of his concerns. He was both worried about his friend, and selfishly thankful for the distraction, however horrible that may have made him look.
"Any word from Noct?" he asked as soon as the door was open wide enough for the others to hear. "Has he been gone this whole time?"
Ignis shook his head pensively, mouth pressed into a solid line, coffee cup pressed between two rigid hands, tight with his own multiplying apprehension, "That would be correct," he muttered, "Either everything is fine and they're having a dandy time chatting away, or what I fear to be the case, everything is not alright and he needs even more time to deal with his findings." He took a long and drawn out sip from his cup, honestly considering adding a little something to the brew to loosen his form. But, in the end, he thought against it, deciding that a hazy and clouded mind would not be the best thing in these circumstances.
"Should we be worried about that?" Prompto questioned, taking a seat next to his previous spot, soaked through and sodden with moisture. He already had his phone out ready to dial the king's number in a heartbeat.
A slender hand reached forward to shove the device down. "Leave it be," Ignis flatly advised, "Like I told Gladio yesterday, he'll come back on his own, so it's best to leave him to himself for the time being." Prompto didn't protest, nor did he complain, but the look on his face gave way to his obvious disapproval, his eyes shining with his need and urgency to go to his friend. Though, looking into the other's gaze, he nodded, and placed his phone next to him.
"You're right," he uttered, leaning back and using his hands to support himself, "Guess I just don't like leaving him to deal with it alone." The blond sighed and fell backwards onto his back, "He shouldn't be by himself right now."
"And he's not," the brunette reassured, "He may be out there by himself right now, but he is by no means alone in this," he took a seat next to the gunslinger, on the opposite side where it was still dry, "So, when, not if, he's ready, we'll be here to comfort him and support him. But, before that happens, he needs to deal with his pain and emotions in a way that he can handle."
The younger sat motionless and mutely for a time, pondering the other's words, "I know, you're right," he finally replied. "I can't help it, but yeah, I guess that's how this has to work out." He rotated his head to face Gladio, seeing if he had any input, but his still and staring form told otherwise, "Just hope he doesn't get into trouble out there. I know how letting your feelings run a muck can cause some issues."
He swiveled back to face forward, face scrunching with the fire it sent through his neck, and without thinking, he reached for the bottle that sat on the side table and wasted not a second to shake one more into his hand. The kid gazed at it, debating whether this was the right way to handle this, but the next throb decided for him and he tilted his head back to toss the capsule in. "You've already taken four of those in the last few hours alone," Gladio's gruff voice lectured, hand gripping his wrist. Prompto jumped with the gesture, never realizing the man had moved from his spot. "I think you've had enough of those," he roughly snatched the bottle form his hand and pried the pill from the other, stuffing both into his own pockets.
The smaller shrunk shamefully under the man's towering body, avoiding eye contact, "I-I did?" he asked, feigning ignorance, knowing full well exactly how many he had and how close together they were taken. "I guess, I must have forgotten." Falling backwards, he stared up at the ceiling, eyes tracing over the subtle patterns created from the paint ridges, and he felt a small pang as he drifted off, a very minuscule yet assertive flash of... anger? But why? He had no reason to be, nothing happened that should elicit such a strong emotion. Yet, his teeth still clenched tightly and his hands still balled up into condensed fists as a quick swear was whispered under his breath.
"What was that?" Gladio asked, curiosity pure, and honestly not hearing what was spoken.
Prompto swallowed his rage, stifling it long enough to answer. "N-nothing," he stammered, rolling over to his side to face away so as to hide his expression from being seen; he was afraid his sour mood would still show through despite his efforts to smother the glowing embers of anger from existence. "Just thinking out loud," he quickly fabricated an excuse.
"Mmmhmm," the shield didn't buy it, whatever it was sounded a bit more aggressive than simply 'thinking out loud.' He glanced down to his pocket containing the drugs; maybe it would be best if he didn't have any more of those things, clearly they weren't the best thing for his mood. Switching his gaze from that to Ignis, he shook his head, and the other instantly picked up on the unspoken warning and gave a small nod.
As he lied there, marinating in his own bitter atmosphere, his mind was literally buzzing with various thoughts, all of them jumbling and mixing together into one incongruous and abstract mess; each thought fought and battled it out as they tried to take priority. Most were about his urge to go to Noct, some about his loitering unease on being in this city, but there were two that stuck out from the rest, two that honest to God frightened him to know end. One of them was begging and pleading with him to run away, to get out while he still had the chance; this irrational need to flee confusing him as the thought seemed to come out of nowhere. And the other, the other was the one that truly disturbed him. It screamed at him, demanded and commanded that he get away by any means necessary, even if it meant harming those around him, even if it meant taking this to the extreme and becoming a hazard to their well-being and the very lives.
These thoughts and voices weren't his own, they couldn't have been; he would never think that way, ever. They put off the vibe of hostility, a feeling that was so unlike him and so foreign to him, and they really felt like injected ideas, ideas that had been planted there to feed off his current uncertainties. "Stop," he muttered, eyes stinging with burning and fresh tears, "Please, just go away," he pleaded, curling up on his side. He flinched at the touch on his upper arm, "Leave me alone!" he all but shouted, flinging a hand at the contact, slapping it away.
The others exchanged an anxious glance at one another, neither knowing how to handle this, it came out of the blue. On a whim, Gladio pulled his phone out and quickly tapped out a short message and handed it over to Ignis who read it silently to himself, 'Did he take anything else other than those pills?'
The bespectacled man's eyes widened at the insinuated accusation; did he truly suspect of another substance being used? Shaking his head to clear it and get his bearings, he backspaced the message and typed out his own, 'Not that I am aware of, but if so, where do you suppose he would have gotten them from?' Then he remembered the moment he was alone and in search of Noctis the previous day; that was the only time he had really been alone and plenty of time for him to come across something of the sorts. 'Do you suggest we do a quick search once he's asleep?'
The larger quickly scanned over the message, and with a grim expression, nodded at the recommendation with a swift glance in Prompto's direction, fresh trails streamed down his now expressionless face. Something was clearly off with him, and it no longer became a question of whether it was just being shaken from recent events, there was obviously something much deeper disrupting him.