Man, it's been way too long since I updated this. Didn't help that I've been stuck at this prompt simply because I couldn't come up with anything I thought was original enough. It still isn't, this is just pure silly. Hope you enjoy!
Noct shivered. Pulled his jacket around himself more tightly and snuck a glance at Prompto. Returned his attention to his phone and narrowly avoided getting his avatar killed. Shivered again.
Why was it so damn cold, anyway?
They'd rented the caravan at the outpost right by the waterfall Talcott had told them about. It was already pretty late and with the sun, all warmth had completely disappeared. At first, it had been a welcome change from the heat back in Lestallum, but now it was just annoying. It wouldn't have been so bad if they could've just sat inside the caravan until the food was ready, but they'd kind of pissed Ignis off earlier that day and he'd all but kicked them out so he could cook in peace.
Gladio was off buying supplies from the gas station, having wisely fled the scene as soon as they'd arrived. Noct supposed years of working together with Ignis had resulted in some sort of sixth sense for when it was better to leave. Not that it was very hard right now to figure out Ignis should be avoided for the time being even without a sixth sense. Point was, Gladio had volunteered to do the shopping and fucked off before anyone else had the chance, so Noct and Prompto had nothing better to do than to play King's Knight in the freezing cold.
Even worse, Noct was the only one freezing his ass off, because today, all his friends seemed to be smarter than him. Prompto, right before Specs kicked them out, had snatched a blanket from one of the beds and dragged it outside just in time to avoid getting it trapped in the caravan door when Ignis slammed it shut.
And now, the bastard was snugly wrapped in his blanket without a care in the world, while Noct was about to become a royal popsicle. How was that fair?
The answer was, it was not fair. It was not fair at all, and Noct wondered if it could be considered treason to let your king freeze to death. Maybe even regicide. He'd have to look into it later.
"It's cold," he voiced his complaints.
Prompto didn't even look up, the traitor. "Yeah, I mean. There's an ice cave like, right below us. Wouldn't expect it to be warm."
"Yeah, well, I don't like it."
Prompto shrugged. "You don't have to like it, buddy. But that won't make it any warmer."
Noct groaned, loud and dramatic because of course Prompto had to try and use reason on him, but Prompto seemed utterly unimpressed. And he especially didn't even seem to consider giving up the blanket for Noct, either, which was even worse.
With an unhappy frown, Noct looked at his phone again, but his fingers were reaching a point where they were almost too clammy to properly play. Also, his battery was almost empty, no doubt draining faster due to the cold, so he reluctantly turned it off and clumsily shoved it into his pocket.
Heaving a sigh, he lifted his gaze to eye Prompto and his blanket again, only to find Prompto staring at him and trying very hard not to grin. It wasn't really working; the left corner of his mouth was twitching comically.
"What," Noct snapped.
"Bet you're real envious of my blanket just about now, aren't you?"
Noct gritted his teeth, mainly to stop them from chattering embarrassingly. "Shut up."
The bell at the shop door across the street dinged as Gladio shouldered it open and marched over to the caravan, looking in a way too good mood considering Ignis was pissed and an ice age was about to begin.
"Watch this," he grinned, waving an entire case of Ebony at them. He opened the caravan door and called, louder than necessary so Prompto and Noct were bound to hear it too, "Hey, Iggy, I got you something!"
"He doesn't really think it's that easy, right?" Prompto laughed, leaning forward in anticipation of getting to watch Gladio getting physically thrown out of the caravan. Or stabbed in the face. Or maybe even both, depending on how bad Iggy's mood still was.
The door was closed again. With Gladio still inside. And no sounds of any face-stabbing coming from inside. Instead, there was normal, civil conversation, too quiet to understand from outside but definitely not at all murderous.
Incredulously, Prompto turned towards Noct. "Ignis can be bribed?!"
Defeated, Noct shrugged. It probably looked pretty weird, because he was shivering quite a bit at this point. Good. He hoped it made Prompto feel guilty. "I think Ignis will do anything for you if you help him reach his goal of replacing his blood with caffeine."
"Shouldn't you be kind of worried about that? One of your most trusted men is corrupt, how can you be sure he's not gonna sell you to the Nifs for a case of Ebony?"
"Ignis is not gonna sell me for a case of Ebony." Noct paused. "Maybe two cases."
"Okay, yeah, that's fair."
Prompto pocketed his phone and threw Noct a long look. Finally, he sighed in mock defeat and lifted the corner of his blanket just a tiny bit in order to keep the warmth from escaping. "Fiiine, you can have half. But no hogging or I'll send you right back out into the cold."
As fast as possible with his stiff, frozen limbs, Noct scrambled out of his chair and dragged it towards Prompto, plopping down and huddling as close to Prompto and the precious blanket as the arm rests allowed. "Oh, thank the gods!"
"Don't thank the gods, thank me! The gods would've left you for dead. You owe me your life," Prompto told him, poking him in the side like a fucking nuisance.
"I could've made you. Make it a royal order," Noct mumbled. The warmth was already surrounding him, and it felt absolutely wonderful. His hands were still cold, though, so he shoved them between Prompto's back and the chair to warm them up, digging his fingers into his spine when Prompto started to complain. That, of course, didn't stop the complaining, but it still felt good to have revenge.
Slowly, Noct was starting to warm up. When the caravan door opened again, he was already dangerously close to being warm enough to doze off despite Prompto talking at him the entire time.
"Dinner is ready," Ignis said. He shivered and rubbed up and down his arms, looking surprised. "Oh dear, it's become rather chilly. We'd best eat inside, then."
He vanished, leaving Noct to gape at the open door in utter betrayal.
"Is he serious?"
Next to him, Prompto was cackling so hard nearly fell off his chair.
"He left me out here, and now he realizes it's cold?! Oh dear, it's chilly- my ass!" Noct ranted, mocking Ignis' accent and only succeeding in making Prompto laugh more. "I should have him thrown into a dungeon!"
"Noct, buddy," Prompto wheezed, "You don't have a dungeon right now. I don't even think the citadel has one."
"I'll build one, just for him!"
Still laughing, Prompto got up, wrapped the blanket tightly around Noct's shoulder and grabbed his hand to pull him up. "C'mon, let's go inside. Y'know, before the food gets… cold."
Thanks for sticking with this collection! I still very much intend to continue it, I love this little project way too much to just abandon anytime soon. Hope you liked!
