A/N: I'M SORRY FOR MAKING PROM-PROM CRY! Enjoy…
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story. Many thanks to MilayaMilenZeal for her help with this!
Love From The Heavens
Chapter 3
X*X(1 Month Later)X*X
Another month had passed by, and things between Prompto and Noctis had only marginally improved, to the angel. He still struggled to read the prince properly, so he wasn't sure what Noctis thought of him still. The demon still acted almost indifferent with the blonde, which was making things difficult for Prompto. He really wanted them to get along, especially since this guardianship was permanent. He couldn't leave, he was bound there. He had no choice but to stay since he had agreed to take on the job.
As for things with Niflheim, they had been eerily quiet since the fight the night of the meeting with Aldercapt. Prompto just knew they were planning something, but he didn't know what exactly that was. All he could do was stay close to Noctis, that way he could guarantee the prince's safety.
That day, the pair was hanging out at the Chocobo pen, Noctis sitting against Choco again, resting, while Prompto coddled and played with the Chocochicks. Out of nowhere, Prompto shot up in alarm when both he and Noctis heard an agonized screech, one that the blonde recognized all too well.
"Tsubasa…!" he gasped in horror, before looking to the sky and seeing his partner struggling to fly to him, descending too fast. The griffon crashed to the ground in the garden, and the angel immediately vaulted the pen's fence in a panic, running to the beast's side. "Tsubasa!"
Noctis frowned as he walked over, before he gently pressed his hand against the griffon, sending a surge of healing magic through the winged creature. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help much, only slowing the bleeding from the multiple cuts and lacerations until they clotted.
"He needs to be bandaged up, now," Prompto whimpered, looking at the prince in despair. "Magic has never done much to affect griffons, unfortunately…"
Frowning, Noctis turned his head and whistled suddenly. Barely a few moments later, Choco came running over. As he spotted the griffon, he balked for a moment, until Noctis stepped up to him and began to murmur to the Chocobo.
And then, after chirping once, the bird took off running. Meanwhile, Prompto was hugging Tsubasa's neck, trying desperately not to cry.
"It'll be okay, Tsubasa…" he whispered thickly. A few moments later, Choco came rushing back, carrying what looked like some sort of bag with him. Prompto looked up, the beginning of tears shimmering in his eyes, wondering what was in the bag. Suddenly, Ignis came running over, appearing to be about to scold Choco, before he noticed the wounded Tsubasa lying on the ground.
"What happened?" he questioned, before shaking his head. "Never mind, answer that later. Let me help you, Prompto."
"He won't let anyone touch him like this if he can help it," the blonde protested. He took the bag from Choco, whispering his thanks, before opening it and beginning to clean and bandage Tsubasa's wounds. Noctis and Ignis could only watch as the angel worked in silence, focusing solely on treating his partner's injuries. When he was done, he set the bag down and gently hugged Tsubasa's neck again, finally letting himself cry.
Choco tilted his head curiously, but when Noctis moved over and patted his neck, the bird chirped softly. Ignis watched, feeling sad for the angel and his partner. From what he'd learned of Prompto from reading his file Lady Lunafreya had provided, Tsubasa was his only family, one could say. He'd lost his parents at an early age, but he was old enough when it happened to remember them. Both were guardian angels, but both had died in the line of duty, protecting their humans with their lives. And he had no siblings, no other family, nor a significant other, so his partner was all he had.
The Advisor motioned Noctis over to him, wanting to tell the prince this, since Noctis hadn't read the file at all.
"Hm?" Noctis looked over briefly, before he solemnly walked over.
"Be gentle with him. Tsubasa may just be a griffon partner for Prompto to you, but for him, that griffon is all he has," Ignis murmured quietly. "He lost his parents when he was just old enough to remember them, and with no other family or a significant other, Tsubasa is all he has left."
"…I see…" Noctis mumbled softly. Ignis nodded slightly.
"I'm going to let His Majesty know what has transpired. Is it safe to assume this was Niflheim's doing?" the sandy blonde demon inquired.
"…Yes," Prompto choked out, making both demons look at him in surprise. "…I-I've studied their weaponry b-before, and the cuts match some of their shapes…"
"…" Noctis didn't say anything to confirm or deny the statement. He just moved his hand along Choco's neck.
"Understood. I will inform His Majesty, then," Ignis nodded, before heading off to do just that. Once he was gone, Prompto fell silent for several minutes, merely holding onto his partner and not wanting to let go. Tsubasa unfolded a wing as they stayed like that, curling it over the angel, and Prompto choked on a sob, holding the beast's feathered neck a bit tighter, but not too tight.
"I can't lose you, too, Tsubasa…" he whimpered.
Noctis regarded the blonde for several long moments, before he sighed and turned to Choco, whistling. The Chocobo looked at him with his head tilted, before he chirped, and then walked over with the prince. And then, Noctis grabbed onto Prompto's arm, tugging him up.
"Hey, c'mon, it's better to get him out of the open," he said, even as Choco moved over and wriggled under the griffon's wing to lightly push him up to his feet. Prompto nodded softly, watching Tsubasa worriedly as his partner was helped inside by Choco. He allowed Noctis to guide him along after the pair, his anxious, bright blue gaze fixated on the griffon the whole time.
After a little bit of stumbling, they reached a building that appeared to be the Chocobo stables. And as Choco continued to guide the griffon, Noctis went ahead and opened the door to let the others in. Tsubasa stumbled in, collapsing in one of the stables, and Prompto quickly went to his side, kneeling beside him and simply petting him soothingly.
"I'm here…" he murmured, biting his lip as he tried not to start crying again. Noctis didn't say anything as he and Choco moved over. Choco quietly settled a bit by the griffon's side, while Noctis sat a bit off to the side.
"…oy…"
"…hm?"
"…you should rest a bit… We're safe in here."
"…No promises, but I'll try…" the blonde whispered, lightly leaning against Tsubasa's side. The griffon wasn't bothered in the least by this, and in fact, he actually seemed happy with it, a pleased croon emitting from his chest. Noctis hummed, before he silently moved over to settle against Choco, who gave a soft trill as he curled around the prince.
Prompto closed his eyes as he rested against his partner, feeling emotionally drained now. He hadn't felt this way since he was just a kid, when his parents had died in the line of duty as guardians. It was a foreign feeling now, to feel this vulnerable, and he didn't like it. It made him feel weak, and he didn't want to look weak.
Eventually, the angel drifted off to sleep, his wings wrapped around him somewhat like a makeshift security blanket.
Noctis remained awake for a long time after that, watching the angel as he slumbered against the griffon. He'd never seen anyone lower their guard this much around him ever. He'd always been told from an early age that showing any kind of emotion was almost guaranteed to get you killed, especially against the Niffs. And while his father had tried telling him to at least learn to trust people, he'd never really managed to do that unless they were already close.
And angels had never been very high on that list of people he could easily trust.
'…may have to make an exception here…' he thought lazily as he settled back and shut his eyes as well.
X*X(3 Days Later)X*X
Prompto was finally starting to go back to his normal self, now that Tsubasa was healed enough to roam for short periods. He had insisted to the griffon to stay close to the Citadel, and it seemed that the gold-feathered beast was heeding his partner's advice, always coming back to the Chocobo stables to sleep. Funnily enough, he seemed to have taken a friendly liking to Choco, choosing to sleep in the stable next to the golden bird's.
Now that Tsubasa was healed, however, Prompto was angry. He wanted to make the Niffs pay for attacking his partner, but he knew he didn't stand a chance on his own. He was an excellent fighter, yes, but not good enough to take on an entire army alone. Regardless, they deserved to pay for what they had done.
He was lying in bed as he thought about what he could do, even though it was still only six in the morning. The blonde had always been an early riser when his mind wouldn't settle down, and this was no different. He was even already dressed for the day, his guns sitting in their holsters at his hips.
Sitting up in bed, Prompto sighed heavily; maybe he should just ask Ignis or King Regis about what to do…? He quickly shook the thought off, though, as he knew they would insist on him staying with Noctis.
'He probably wouldn't want me here, anyway,' Prompto thought bitterly. 'Noctis has already said how he doesn't need anyone's help…'
Just then, though, there was a knock on the door…specifically the one connecting his room to that of Noctis. Prompto blinked, surprised that Noctis was awake this early, but sat up in his bed a bit further before calling out, "Come on in, Noctis."
The prince did so after a moment of what was likely thought, but once the door was open, he leaned up against the doorpost quietly. "…yo."
"Hey," the blonde greeted. "Can't sleep?"
Noctis merely shrugged.
"Is something keeping your mind running?" Prompto inquired, curious as he leaned back against the headboard.
"…shouldn't that be my line?" Noctis asked simply.
The angel shrugged with a faint smile. "Fair enough," he chuckled. "I'll tell you what I'm thinking about if you tell me what's on your mind. Deal?"
"…sure."
"I was thinking about how to make Niflheim pay for what they did to Tsubasa. I don't want them getting away with it," Prompto admitted, folding his hands behind his head as he shifted a little to get more comfortable against the headboard, a few of his wings' feathers poking up from behind him as he did.
"…you do realize going out to face them head-on is playing right into their hands, right?"
"I know, I know…" the angel sighed. "Besides, I can't leave you, nor can I bring you along for the ride. I'd be responsible for your death, basically. So I'm just going to have to wait it out."
"Hmhmm…"
"What about you?"
"…wondering mostly the same, but knowing I can't do shit."
Prompto chuckled softly at that. "Seems we're in the same boat, then," he mused.
"I guess so…" Noctis admitted softly with a shrug. Suddenly, the blonde perked up, having heard something. He frowned, not completely recognizing the sound, but it seemed vaguely familiar… As soon as it registered, however, he bolted out of his bed, grabbing Noctis's arm and dragging him to the window without a word. From there, he spread his wings and leapt out, somehow managing to carry the prince bridal-style. He got several yards away, which was just enough distance to keep them safe from the explosion that destroyed their rooms roughly five seconds after he'd fled with Noctis.
"Oh are you kidding me!?" Noctis snarled in annoyance.
"Just be glad I heard the ticking when it was about to go off!" Prompto snapped, flying off to the gardens. Once there, he landed neatly, before setting Noctis back down. "We need to find King Regis, and quick."
"Yeah…" Noctis growled angrily, before he hurried ahead of Prompto. The angel was quick to follow, his gaze focused as they ran through the hallways. While Noctis wasn't looking around like Prompto was, he knew immediately where he had to get to, as he hurried down the hall toward where he knew his father would be at.
Out of nowhere, an axe was thrown at Noctis, aimed for his head, but Prompto swiftly lunged forward, ahead of the raven, catching it with minimum effort. He glared at the source, one of Niflheim's infamous MT's, but it wasn't alone, as there were four more with it. With a furious snarl, the angel kicked off the ground, launching himself at the group of five MT's, slashing through the metal of the first one with its own axe and destroying its circuits.
He then threw the axe at the next one with enough force that the blade embedded itself into the MT's chest, frying that one's circuits as well. And to finish off the remaining three, he whipped out one of his guns from its holster. At that moment, he was glad he'd already been dressed and ready for the day when Noctis came into his room. After shaking it off, he fired a shot into each one's head, leaving them to drop like bricks. Once they were defeated, the blonde returned to Noctis's side.
"…thanks… I guess…" Noctis mumbled, before he kept going. After all, they had to keep moving.
"Anytime," Prompto nodded as he followed. He kept up a constant guard, his typically bright blue gaze slightly dark and steely with his focus. Finally, they reached his father's study, where the King was already waiting.
"Are you two all right?" Regis asked when he saw them.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Prompto nodded. "We were ambushed by MT's on our way here, but I dealt with them."
"Father, what's going on?"
"It seems we had a few Niffs posing as staff recently hired on, and they planted the bomb in your room while cleaning," Regis growled, his tail snapping at the air in anger. Prompto's wings fluffed up a bit in alarm at the news, becoming furious at the thought that they had been in such imminent danger for who knows how long.
"…how did no one notice them?" Noctis murmured.
"That, I'm uncertain of," the older demon admitted with a sigh. "But they have already been sentenced to execution, and are being contained in the containment cells as of now."
"How are we to proceed with Niflheim, Your Majesty?" Prompto inquired.
"Unfortunately, it is still much too dangerous and risky to launch an attack on Niflheim, so we can only defend ourselves," Regis replied.
"Sometimes defense is the best offense, though," the blonde pointed out. Noctis hummed in thought, frowning softly. "We'll have to be more careful with hiring staff, and possibly just hold off on hiring anyone until this is over, for starters," Prompto suggested.
"That'd probably be smart, yes…"
"Agreed," the King nodded. "For now, however, I'll have Cor train the guards so they're fully prepared for come what may."
"Right…"
"As for your rooms…you'll have to stay in a guest room together for now," Regis said. "Until your bedrooms can be repaired fully, anyway." Prompto's eyes widened, and he glanced at Noctis hesitantly.
"…" Noctis remained silent for a long moment, before he nodded with a small hum.
"Understood," Prompto nodded as well, unsure of just what was going through Noctis's mind. He knew they'd be sharing a bed in that guest room, but hopefully the raven would be okay with it… For Prompto, he'd shared close quarters with fellow angels during training, so this would be similar, except it was with a demon he was protecting.
"Go and get some more rest for now. I'll send Ignis to your room with breakfast in a couple of hours, since it's still early," the older demon told them. Noctis merely hummed, nodding, before he turned and left. His guardian was quick to follow, remaining quiet. He wanted to ask what the prince was thinking, but he was hesitant to do so, as he didn't know how Noctis would react.
It took them a little bit to reach the room, but once they had, Noctis immediately headed for the bed and flopped down on it with a groan. Prompto, on the other hand, made his way to the sofa, sitting on it so Noctis wouldn't be upset with him sharing the bed.
For several long moments, silence filled the room, before Noctis mumbled, "This sucks…"
"Hm?"
"…pretty sure I lost some stuff in the explosion…"
"Sorry…" Prompto apologized. "I had nothing to lose in that one, to be honest… All I have is what's on me."
"Mmmm…"
"…I try not to keep personal belongings when I take on guardian jobs, actually, because I know I'll end up losing them," the angel murmured. "Anything special to me is back in heaven."
"…mmm…" As he hummed, though, it became clear that Noctis was starting to doze off gradually. Prompto decided to remain quiet after that, wanting to let Noctis sleep. He curled up on the sofa himself, grabbing the throw blanket on the back of it and covering himself with it. Even though he was sharing a room with Noctis now, he almost felt more alone than he had when their rooms were just connected, if he was being honest with himself. He soon drifted off, curled up in a ball.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X
It was a few hours later when Noctis woke up again, and he grunted a little as he pushed up from the bed. Noctis sat there for a few moments, rubbing at his eyes to try and get the dust out, before he moved to get up. When he did, he finally took notice of Prompto lying on the sofa.
"…"
Noctis sighed softly as he moved over, before he poked Prompto to his cheek with the tip of his tail. The blonde wrinkled his nose, groaning softly, before he opened his eyes blearily.
"Wh…what's going…on?" he mumbled, yawning before the last word.
"Rise and shine, lazybones," Noctis said simply. The smaller male yawned again, before sitting up and stretching his arms over his head, making his elbows pop.
"Gah…I shouldn't have gone back to sleep… I always wake up groggier than before when I do…" Prompto grumbled.
"…"
For a while, there was silence in the room…but then…
"…heh."
"Huh?"
"Never had that problem," Noctis said with a small smirk as he shrugged his shoulders. The angel pouted in response to the remark.
"Says the prince of sleeping," he retorted. And then Noctis did something he thus far hadn't done in front of Prompto; he laughed.
"Touché, I suppose."
However, the angel didn't say anything, he just stared at the demon, quite pleasantly surprised. Noctis had an amazing laugh, one that made Prompto feel a bit warm.
"Anyway, Ignis should be coming up soon…" Noctis mumbled, as he turned and headed off for the door.
"That's the first time you've laughed around me," Prompto murmured as he moved into a sitting position on the sofa.
"Mmm?" Noctis hummed, turning around curiously. "…was it?"
"Yeah," the blonde nodded, before smiling softly. "It's a nice laugh. You should laugh more often."
"…"
"What?"
Noctis merely shrugged—just as there was a knock on the door.
"Noct, Prompto, I've brought your breakfast. His Majesty said you two get today to rest," Ignis called through the door, before opening it. He set their breakfasts on the small table in the room, lifting the domes on them to reveal omelets for the pair, one for each of them. "I'll find you later for dinner."
"Thanks, Ignis," Prompto said, and the Advisor nodded before leaving.
"Hmm…" Noctis hummed, before he settled by the table to start on his breakfast. Prompto did the same, tucking into his breakfast quietly. He hoped he hadn't said the wrong thing before about Noctis's laugh, since he hadn't really gotten a good response when he said it. They ate in silence like that for a while. When Noctis finished, he leaned back in his seat, humming. The blonde finished his own breakfast shortly after, and lowered his gaze to his lap. He soon found his thoughts focusing on Noctis, though, despite not even looking directly at the prince.
Noctis was gradually seeming to warm up to him, but at a very slow pace. It was still hard to tell for sure, though. But despite that, Prompto was starting to find the raven…attractive, if he was being completely honest with himself. And that laugh earlier…it made the angel feel a bit warm inside, something no one else had ever done with him.
Noctis didn't say anything for a long time; he just sat there with his tail slightly swaying along his feet. Finally, the silence started to get to the smaller male.
"So…what do you want to do today?" he asked softly.
"…hmmm…not sure…"
"Mm…"
"…I'd offer to go head for the stables…" Noctis mumbled. "…but that might not be smart right now…"
"Why not?"
"…well, we don't know if they're still out…"
"True…" Prompto conceded, sighing. "Any other ideas?"
"…not really…"
"Hmm…"
"…actually…" Noctis murmured, before he got up and walked toward the back of the room.
"What's up?" the smaller male questioned, looking up.
"I think…ah-HA!" Noctis exclaimed as he pulled out what, initially, seemed to be some sort of block of metal.
"What's that?" Prompto inquired, looking at the box. It resembled some of the gaming systems he'd seen over the years as a guardian, but this one looked a bit different.
Noctis didn't reply immediately as he walked over to the TV on the other side of the room. "Game station. Should keep us busy for a while…" he said as he began to set it up.
"Oh, those things. Never played any, but I've seen them over the years," the blonde admitted, moving to sit on the sofa again.
"That so?" Noctis mumbled as he finished with the setup, before he tossed a controller toward Prompto. "Guess it's about time that changed, huh?"
Prompto caught the controller easily, but his eyes were wide with surprise. "You're gonna teach me?" he asked.
"What? You got something better to do?"
"No, just a bit surprised, is all," the angel mumbled. "I don't mean to sound rude, but…you're actually being nicer to me than you have been."
Noctis merely shrugged as he dropped down on the sofa and flicked the console on with a flick of his controller.
Prompto internally sighed at the lack of a verbal response, as usual. Deciding to return to the subject of what they were doing, he asked, "So, I didn't always pay attention over time with video games, but I gotta ask: what game are you gonna teach me to play?"
"That so…? Well, let's start off easy, then," Noctis said as he moved to one of the games in his library. "This is just a basic hack-'n'-slash game…and it's co-op, so we shouldn't get in each other's way too much."
"O-okay," the blonde nodded, hoping he wouldn't suck at it.
As the game started up, Noctis hummed as he moved to "free play". "Right…so the goal here is just to kill as many enemies as possible." As he said that, he moved over and gestured for the controller. "This button is your 'Regular' attack, and this is your 'Strong' attack. You can string them together in combos to deal more damage. This is your 'Dodge' and over here is your 'Special' attack. You can only use that when you've got enough energy, but you should be able to see when that is…"
"Um, okay," Prompto uttered, waiting until the game loaded to start trying out the controls. Once they came past the load screen, they were almost immediately thrust into battle…against what had to be a thousand enemy soldiers. "Holy shit!" the angel yelped, shocked by the number of enemies, but he began to start fighting anyway, moving his character and attacking the enemies.
Noctis merely chuckled as he pressed the buttons rapidly to slice his way through the endless hordes of enemies. "…ah right. If you kill one of the captains they'll get reinforcements," he said casually.
"What?!" Prompto exclaimed, his jaw dropping as he continued to kill enemies. "That's bullshit, and cowardly," he grumbled.
"Oy, we're supposed to get a high kill-count here," Noctis chuckled.
"…Fair enough," the smaller male conceded, adjusting quickly to the controls as he played. Soon enough, he was practically blowing through them.
As they continued mowing through the enemies, a message suddenly popped up at the bottom of the screen. "Heroes have arrived. Defeat them to spawn more enemy reinforcements."
"Oh cool," Noctis chuckled. "Let's see who's here."
"You sound like me when I'm in a real fight," Prompto snorted, guiding his character after Noctis's.
Noctis hummed, though he seemed a little too focused on the game. "…Ah, there they are," he mumbled as he approached what appeared to be a completely different type of enemy. "…Oh crap, the Emperor," he grumbled, right before he cursed as their characters were flung back because they'd stepped in a trap.
"The hell?!" the angel yelped, before growling as he moved his character forward again, preparing to attack.
"Careful! This guy likes to lay traps all around," Noctis warned, dodging out of the way to avoid the attack that had been aimed at his character.
"Apparently," Prompto grumbled.
"Listen, I'm used to dealing with this guy…so you just go ahead and take out some of the fodder to get our kill count up."
"All right," the blonde nodded, guiding his character away to resume mowing down the weaker enemies. As they continued to play, Prompto started to feel less lonely, and more like things were stating to change between them for the better.