Hello! Here's the chapter I promised when I last updated. As I said I'd already written it quite a while ago, let it sit for a bit and came back to it today to proofread and edit. And I somehow really love it, I think it's one of my favourites so far! It is, however, not a very happy one, so there's that. Hope you enjoy!
Slight content warning for, well. Pulling splinters out of a wound, but it's not super graphic or anything. Just so you know!
The sound of something shattering followed by a string of colourful curses startled Prompto awake. He shot upright, flailed, and nearly fell off the bed but managed to catch himself just in time.
Concerned, he looked at Ignis' still form next to him, but he was still out cold. Ignis had developed a fever earlier in the evening, but when Prompto carefully felt his forehead to check his temperature, he was relieved to find that the fever at least hadn't gotten any worse. He also seemed to be at peace for now, unlike a few hours ago when he'd been tossing and turning and muttering incomprehensible things to the point of Prompto worrying he'd somehow roll off the bed in the middle of the night.
He had yet to properly wake up, though. He'd spent most of the first day post-injury unconscious. Then, he'd woken for a few minutes, disoriented and unresponsive, before slipping into something more sleep-like. Ever since, he'd been mostly sleeping, and now he was running a fever. Overall, his condition was pretty worrying, and they hadn't even had the chance yet to tell him about the extent of his injuries.
Still, right now, Prompto was satisfied with his state and decided it was safe to leave him alone for a moment. Quietly he slipped out from under the covers and out the door, to the room next to theirs where Noct was also unconscious and Gladio was keeping watch. In theory. Whatever just happened in that room wasn't supposed to happen, though, so Prompto summoned his gun before he entered. Just to be safe.
A quick scan of the dark room provided only Noct, lying on the bed just as terrifyingly still as he had ever since they brought him and Iggy back to the Leville.
There was light in the bathroom. And Gladio. And a broken mirror.
"Hey, big guy? You okay?" Prompto asked, dismissing his gun in favour of hurrying over to Gladio's side. He didn't look okay, so the question was kind of pointless. People didn't just break mirrors because they were having a great time.
"Fine," Gladio said curtly, convincing exactly no one.
"No offense, but I don't believe you." Prompto's eyes fell on the blood on what was left of the mirror, and then on Gladio's hand. "Shit, did you break that mirror with your fist?"
He tried to reach out, but Gladio pulled his hand away and took a step back. It reminded Prompto of an injured animal; an awful way for Gladio to behave.
"It's fine," Gladio repeated. A potion appeared in his good hand. "I'll just take a-"
"No!" Prompto snapped, quickly snatching the potion away from Gladio and sending it back into the Armiger. "Are you insane? There's still little pieces of mirror stuck in your hand!"
Gladio's jaw tightened, but he didn't say anything.
Prompto tried to reach for him again. This time, Gladio let him.
"You left your post. You should be with Ignis."
It was an accusation, clearly intended to either hurt or intimidate him, but Prompto refused to play along. Everything had already gone to shit, he wasn't going to start a fight with Gladio on top of it all when each other was all they had left. Instead, he gingerly took Gladio's hand to inspect it closely, because he wasn't about to let his friend walk around with glass in his hand.
There were definitely splinters of the mirror glass stuck inside, so he pulled their rarely used first aid kit from the Armiger, found a pair of tweezers, and got to work.
"Iggy's fine, his fever hasn't gotten worse. And the doctor said he's not likely to wake up anytime soon, anyway."
Gladio gritted his teeth as Prompto had to dig a little deeper to get one particularly deeply lodged shard out, but he didn't try to pull away.
"The doctor also said he might get his eyesight back," he said darkly.
Prompto paused, allowing Gladio to take back his hand and cradle it protectively against his chest. "You think he won't."
"Have you seen him? He went and got half his face burn off! We already fucking bathed him in potions and they barely did anything. These wounds aren't normal, and he's not gonna get his fucking eyesight back," Gladio exploded. To an outsider, he would probably sound insensitive and, well, like a massive jerk. But Prompto heard the pain masked by anger, saw the flash of grief in his eyes.
"Yeah…" he said simply, helplessly, because he'd been thinking about that too. Iggy's injuries were bad, really bad, and if they hadn't reacted to the potions by now, there was no sense in continuing. The potions had fixed up his bruises, broken ribs, the cut on his head yet hadn't even touched the burns on his face and his left arm. Prompto wasn't stupid; he knew what such an injury so close to a person's eyes did to them.
Still, to have Gladio state it so blatantly made it feel much more real all of a sudden. Like there was no going back from now, a harsh reminder that nothing was ever going to be the same again. Gladio wasn't one to sugar-coat things, and most of the time, Prompto appreciated his honesty. But somehow he had still hoped he'd get to pretend, just a little longer.
Shit.
Taking a deep breath, he gestured for Gladio to give him his hand again so he could remove the remaining shards.
Aside from Gladio's occasional sharp intake of breath, the room was silent as Prompto worked. Finally, he pulled out the last fragment and immediately applied a potion to it.
Gladio sighed in relief, flexing his fingers to test his ability to move them. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any lingering damage- Prompto didn't even want to think about the possibility of yet another member of their group dealing with a permanent injury.
"Let's get on the balcony for a bit, yeah?" Prompto suggested when Gladio fell silent and stared at the floor, or more like right through it. He didn't stick around for an answer, opting to wait on the balcony instead. If Gladio wanted to join him, he would. And if he didn't. Well. Prompto wasn't gonna force him.
Altissia had taken a good beating during Noct's fight with Leviathan. There were ruins everywhere, buildings were flooded, others were missing their roof or had collapsed. Prompto couldn't imagine anyone was happy about them still being here, but First Secretary Claustra must've felt some kind of gratitude for them trying to keep Leviathan safe from the imperials. Or maybe she just had more empathy than they gave her credit for, but no matter what motives she had, Prompto was grateful. He didn't want to imagine having to travel with both Noct and Ignis out of commission.
The people of Altissia were already working on rebuilding the city, but it would probably take a long time to restore it to its former glory.
To think that just a few days ago, being here had felt like a holiday. Prompto had been happier than ever, and now…
There were footsteps approaching, and he hastily scrubbed at his eyes as hot tears threatened to spill. He wouldn't cry now, not in front of Gladio.
"Hand feeling okay?" he asked, taking extra care to make his voice sound cheerful. He had a feeling to be cheerful would be his job for the time being, even though he wasn't yet sure how he'd manage.
"Yeah. Thanks for fixing it. I owe you," Gladio said.
"No, dude, you don't owe me anything. It's what friends do, right?"
Gladio paused. "…Yeah. Did I, uh. Did I wake you? Earlier, I mean."
"Nah, it's okay. I couldn't sleep anyway," Prompto lied.
"Okay. Okay. Sorry, I don't- it's just-" Gladio cut himself off, hissing in frustration. "This is… bad, Prompto. Worse than… well, not worse than Insomnia falling, but it's definitely up there."
"Yeah," Prompto said. "I get it. It's wrong, I don't know how we fucked up so bad."
Gladio made a strangled noise. "Not we. I did. I fucked up. I should've- It shouldn't've been Iggy, it should've been me."
Because he was the Shield, not Ignis. It was his position, his one purpose, and now Ignis was going to serve as a permanent reminder that he hadn't done his job. Prompto understood, and his heart ached for his friend.
Back in Insomnia, he'd looked at the three of them with admiration and, even though he was ashamed of it, envy. He used to feel insignificant, with all these people having their positions and serving important purposes and Prompto himself was only there because Noct kept him around, for as long as he felt like keeping him around.
But now, witnessing first-hand how far their sense of duty went, how Gladio's and Iggy's lives barely mattered to themselves in comparison to Noct's, and the crushing feelings of guilt that came with the knowledge of having failed… Prompto was suddenly very, very glad he hadn't had to live his entire life with that sort of pressure.
"Iggy and I…" Gladio continued, making Prompto snap out of his thoughts, "We've always been partners. I had his back, and I knew he had mine. My weaknesses were his strengths. And now… I don't… I don't know how to deal with this alone, Prompto."
Prompto's eyes burned, and he had to swallow a few times to keep himself from choking on his words. "You're not alone. I promise. I'm not Iggy, I know I'm the weakest out of all of us, and I'm not very valuable in battle. I can't take Iggy's place, I know that, but I'm gonna do my best to help. Promise."
Gladio sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. "I know. Thanks, kid."
There wasn't much to say, no words to make any of this better. Prompto knew his words hadn't done anything to help Gladio, and he couldn't even take it to heart. Somehow, he doubted there were any words that had the power to make Gladio feel better. Hell, Prompto couldn't think of any words to make himself feel better.
"I think I should…" Prompto gestured at the balcony door awkwardly. "Y'know. Check on Iggy."
Gladio nodded wordlessly.
Prompto went back inside but paused halfway through the door, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. "Try to get some sleep?"
"Yeah. You too," Gladio said. He didn't follow Prompto inside.
Prompto didn't think Gladio would actually attempt to sleep, not if it meant taking his eyes off Noct. But there wasn't much he could do; Gladio was way too fucking stubborn, and Prompto didn't have the physical strength to wrestle him into bed and keep him there.
He stalled for a few more moments before giving up, softly closing the door behind himself as he returned to Ignis' room.
Ignis was still exactly where he'd left him, although the covers had somehow slipped down to his hip as he'd moved in his sleep.
Carefully, Prompto tucked him back in before he climbed into bed with him again. After a few seconds of contemplation, he decided that nothing mattered anymore and gently rested his head against Ignis' shoulder.
"Goodnight, Iggy," he whispered and closed his eyes. This time, he didn't try to stop the tears.
Sometimes, even people who love each other can't do anything to make each other feel better. I find the whole post-Altissia thing really interesting from a writer's perspective because it's such a harsh difference from the nice roadtrip vibe the game gives off before this point. Sure, they're at war and their homeland is being invaded, their loved ones dead, but the game doesn't really make you feel that all that much. It's really easy to forget about that and just have a fun roadtrip with your bros. But as soon as you get to Altissia, everything is just terrible and you feel it in everything they say or do, and that's just really, really interesting to explore. In this moment, there's really nothing Prompto (or either of them) can do or say to make things suck any less, and I guess that's life. That was... a lot of rambling, but I just had an inexplicable amount of fun/pleasure writing (and re-reading) this one so I guess I have a lot of thoughts about it, haha.
Prompto is an absolute darling btw and is trying his best. He deserves a hug or seven. They all do, honestly.
Thanks to all of you who follow this series, who tell me over and over that they like reading it, and to the silent readers too. Y'all are the fuel that keeps me going, and I hope I can continue to bring you joy (or sometimes just emotions) with this project!
Also, reminder that I'm always happy to chat and you can get a hold of me via Twitter where I basically live ( butterfly_onice), Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad) or Discord (thisfairytalegonebad#2939).
Stay safe and healthy, everyone!
