Hey there! This chapter is set... after Brotherhood I guess, but pre-game, basically Noct and Gladio are already buddies. So. Here's some Gladio and Noct, because we haven't had that yet in this collection. Enjoy!


There were few things Noct hated more than fancy events he had to attend. Maybe vegetables. Vegetables and fancy events were probably about the same level of horrible. Right now, he ranked fancy events even above the vegetables, mainly because he was currently headed to one of these events with only Gladio for company.

Cor was driving them to some tiny little kingdom that held its annual festivities and insisted on the King of Lucis attending. Noct didn't even know whose idea it had been to drag him along, which was fortunate for them because he might have tried to have it count as treason. It should definitely count as treason, it was basically Torture of the Crown Prince after all.

Alright, so maybe he was being a bit dramatic. But he knew from experience that these events were usually horrible. Boring, exhausting, and full of shallow, stuck-up nobility and politicians and whatnot. They all tried to have conversations with him because it was good for their prestige if they were seen talking to him, and he had to act like he didn't hate every second of it.

Sometimes, when it was his dad hosting an event, he got to drag Prompto along, and Ignis would be there too, which made it at least a bit more bearable. But this time, it was in a foreign country and didn't call for either a civilian or his advisor to attend, which was why he only got Gladio to share his misery.

Except, Gladio didn't even look all that miserable about it. If anything, he enjoyed making fun of Noct for having to attend and didn't seem to mind having to go himself all that much. Then again, he wasn't required to talk to anyone like Noct was. Gladio's only job was to stand beside him and look intimidating. That wasn't half as horrible as having to play nice all evening.

So, yes, this whole thing was deeply unfair. Noct shot a glare at Gladio who was sitting next to him in the backseat, but it went unnoticed as Gladio was too engrossed in his stupid book.

Noct sighed and pulled out his phone, alternating between texting Prompto and playing King's Knight for the rest of the ride.


"Don't even think about it," Gladio said as Noct longingly eyed the flutes of champagne across the room.

"Why not?" Noct argued, even though he knew exactly why.

Gladio rolled his eyes. "Try again when you're legal."

Ugh.

At least Gladio wasn't drinking either. Gladio never drank on the job, which was… technically always. So basically Gladio never drank, period. Either way, it meant Noct wasn't the only one who had to endure this whilst sober.

His dad, on the other hand, was happily drinking the champagne that was offered to him. He still looked and acted more regal than Noct could ever hope to be, but there was the tiniest blush on his cheeks that definitely came from the alcohol. Seemed like he didn't really want to be here, either. Ha. Served him right for dragging his poor son along.

Trying very hard not to look like he hated everyone and everything, Noct made his way over to the buffet. There would be cake, and that would just make this night a bit more bearable.

Gladio followed suit, looming behind him like a shadow.

He was almost at the buffet - and had discovered an amazing looking cake with fruit and stuff and he really, really wanted it - when he saw someone rapidly approach him.

"Shit," he muttered and tried to escape, but Gladio grabbed the back of his jacket and said, "Oh no, you don't."

"Traitor," he hissed at Gladio, just before the guy came to stand right in front of him, way too close - seriously, what about personal space - and reeking of way too much cologne.

"Prince Noctis!" he exclaimed and immediately launched into an introduction followed by some nonsense Noct was pretty good at tuning out. It was enough to smile, nod politely, and occasionally giving a noise of agreement. He knew that from experience; most of these nobles loved to hear themselves talk and didn't actually care what he had to say.

The guy - Noct had already forgotten his name or what he did - talked and talked and didn't appear like he was going to stop soon. Every time he shut up for a moment and Noct thought he was finally free, it turned out the dude was just taking a breath to dive right back into his tale. Or the next tale. Or the tale after the next tale.

Noct was going to die.

He tried to shuffle away a few times, closer to the buffet because he still wanted that cake, but the man just followed and got back into Noct's personal space right away.

If only Ignis were here, Noct thought wistfully. Ignis would take mercy on him and come up with a smooth way to get him out of this conversation. But Gladio enjoyed seeing him suffer, the sadistic asshole. There was no way he was helping him escape; he was probably enjoying himself way too much right now.

By the time the man finally, finally shut up and left, Noct thought his face was going to fall off from all the fake smiling. He watched as the man walked away, half-expecting him to turn around and come back to ramble at him once more. But as it turned out, the reason why he was leaving was that he'd discovered Noct's dad nearby. Of course. The only thing worth more than being seen talking to a prince was being seen talking to a king.

Noct caught his father's eye and gave him a shit-eating grin, to which his dad responded with an eyebrow raised in confusion right before the man reached him. By the time understanding and dread dawned on his face, it was already too late to leave.

Laughing to himself, Noct turned around to finally get himself some of that cake- only to find that the platter was empty.

"What. The fuck," he said.

"Language, your Highness."

Gladio sounded way too fucking gleeful, and Noct spun around, ready to give him a piece of his mind. That prick from before had really talked at him long enough for everyone else to eat all the cake, the only thing that would've made this evening a bit better, and Gladio had the nerve to laugh at him after leaving him at that guy's mercy for fuck knew how long.

He opened his mouth. And closed it again when a plate was shoved into his hands. A plate with a slice of fruity cake.

The way he stared at it was probably pretty dumb. At least Gladio seemed to think so, judging from the way he was laughing at him again. But this time, Noct couldn't even be mad at him.

"I saved a piece for you. Saw how you were ogling that cake. I'm not a monster," Gladio said, and after watching Noct with a grin for a while, "You could say thanks, you know."

Noct would have said thanks, but, well. His mouth was full of cake.


Sometimes I wonder why everyone views Ignis as the stuck-up one, when he's actually canonically the one who snuck out with Noct when they were kids and who lets Noct get away with so many things, whilst Gladio insists on him taking responsibility and all... this is NOT anything against Gladio, I love and would die for Gladio, but I just think it's funny ^^

Anyway! I have this headcanon that Gladio doesn't drink alcohol, because what if Noct gets attacked and Gladio's reflexes are off because he's tipsy? Absolutely cannot happen, therefore Gladio doesn't drink, because he's Noct's Shield at all times, no exceptions.

Hope you enjoyed!

I'm also on Twitter ( Butterfly_OnIce) and Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad), and even on Discord too (thisfairytalegonebad#2939) and I'm always happy to chat, about my fics or your fics or these boys or literally anything!