Me, posting the last chapter: Haha hope it won't be 8 months until I next post this time!
Also me, posting this chapter: So yeah it's been like almost 14 months-
I haven't really written in almost a year so I feel quite rusty, but I still feel like this came out alright, and I just wanted to send a sign of life and show everyone who may still be interested in this project that it's not abandoned, it's incredibly important to me and I hold a lot of love in my heart for it, and I want to work on it for as long as I can manage.
Please enjoy 3
"Are you sure you got this?" Gladio asked, eyebrow raised as he watched Prompto struggle to pull their camping gear from the car. "It's not gonna rain tonight, we can just sleep under the stars."
"I got it!" Prompto snapped, grinding his teeth in a rare display of annoyance - a testament to how long a day they'd all had. "It's not heavy. I'm stronger than I look! It's just stuck."
As if Gladio didn't know exactly how heavy their stuff was, given that he was usually the one lugging it around.
"Alright, I'm sorry," Gladio said, figuring he didn't need to rile Prompto up any more. "Here, let me see where it's stuck."
Prompto grumbled a little under his breath but moved to let Gladio peer into the trunk.
"Should come free now if you give it a good tug", Gladio said, pushing down on the gear with his uninjured arm while Prompto pulled so it didn't get caught again.
Indeed, this time, Prompto pulled it free with ease, lifted it out of the trunk with a little less ease, and carried it towards the haven with - well, actually, he wasn't struggling nearly as much as Gladio had expected. Huh. All the training and now real-life combat seemed to pay off after all.
Gladio shut the trunk and followed, deciding not to mention the way Prompto swayed a little under the weight. They'd had a long day, and Prompto, though uninjured, had to be exhausted like the rest of them. This wasn't the time for jokes at his expense.
Back at the haven, Gladio checked in with the other two. Noct, spread out on the ground and already asleep, was doing alright but had no intention of moving anytime soon, as half-coherently managed to inform Gladio when prodded awake. At least he wasn't injured, but having pushed himself to the point of stasis, chances were Noct was going to spend the next 24 hours reenacting Sleeping Beauty.
Ignis sat next to Noct, head no longer bleeding thanks to the bandages they'd wrapped him up with, but he was definitely still dazed and was slow to react when Gladio nudged him gently. He did, however, answer any typical post-head-injury question Gladio threw at him, which had to be enough. Not good, definitely worrying that he wasn't up and about and trying to cook at all, but all things considered, this was probably as good as he was going to be until they got a potion into him.
Once he was neither of his friends was on the brink of death just yet, Gladio unfolded two camping chairs for him and Prompto and deposited them by the fireplace.
…the fireplace, which was distinctly lacking a fire, would continue to lack a fire if he didn't think of a way to start one that didn't require the use of two hands like his trusty flintstone did.
Gladio sighed, making a mental note to finally teach the others how to start a fire once everyone was back on their feet.
They'd told him the story of how they'd nearly burnt down their tent trying to start a fire by tossing a firaga flask at the firewood when he had been away challenging Gilgamesh. He had laughed at them back then, mental image too funny to not grill them about every chance he got. Prompto and/or Noctis respectively, or maybe collectively, coming up with an idea like that was funny enough but not very surprising, but what made it truly hilarious was that Ignis had actually let them do it.
…though it looked like Gladio was forced to admit that maybe the idea wasn't terrible, it was just the execution that sucked big time.
Mind made up, he wandered off the rock and to one of the elemental deposits just below the haven.
He had never been the most gifted at using magic and later had mostly given up on it as both Noct and Ignis were more than proficient in its usage. Still, he had undergone the basic training and retained enough from it to know what he was doing as he pulled an empty flask from the armiger and focused on the Crystal's pulsing magic.
The result was a laughably weak fire spell, one that would've barely singed the hairs off a voretooth's back if applied in battle, but that, at the very least, meant that he wasn't very likely to burn their tent down tonight.
Gladio climbed back up the haven, made sure Prompto was properly busy with the tent and tossed the flask into the firewood as carefully as possible.
The flask exploded with more force than planned, but the wood was on fire and his eyebrows were still intact, and he didn't think anyone had witnessed him using the very same trick he'd given the others shit for.
Content with himself, he wandered over to Prompto, who was struggling to put up the tent by himself but handled himself pretty impressively once Gladio held the poles for him.
Once the tent was standing, Prompto threw himself down next to the fire, groaning dramatically as he spread out like a starfish.
"That's it, I'm done for today."
Gladio grinned. "Guess dinner's up to me, then?"
"Yep. About time you pulled your weight, big guy," Prompto said, rolling over to go poke at Noct.
Noct, no more coherent than the last time they'd managed to wake him up, declined the offer of dinner with a mumble neither of them could quite make out, but the fact that he fell right back asleep two seconds later spoke for itself.
Ignis, who was awake but still dazed, turned fairly green at the very idea of having to eat anything, so Gladio just made him drink some water before helping him lie down inside the tent.
After a moment of consideration, Gladio resorted to just dragging Noct into the tent by his ankle, earning himself a weak scolding from Ignis and zero reaction from the Prince himself.
"Guess it's just us for dinner," Gladio said, nudging Prompto with his boot. "How do you feel about Cup Noodles?"
"Not quite my idea of a romantic dinner for two, but alright," Prompto sighed, finally hauling himself into a sitting position. "How's your arm?"
Gladio moved the arm experimentally, range of motion restricted by both the bandages and the sling it was resting in. "Definitely felt better. Think the wrist is broken and the rest is bruised to hell and back, but at least it doesn't seem like anything's out of place. Really can't wait to get my hands on a potion, though."
The problem with relying on potions was that you kind of forgot how to deal with pain and, more importantly, the restrictions that came with being injured. More than once since they'd made camp, Gladio had instinctively attempted to use his arm and immediately regretted it as his body informed him just why that was a terrible idea. They definitely had to be more careful in the future; today had been a close call Gladio'd rather not repeat anytime soon.
That said, Prompto had handled himself and his incapacitated friends remarkably, and Gladio was determined to let him know as much.
"You did good today," he said, pouring the water over the noodles and handing one cup to Prompto.
Prompto immediately got that deer-in-the-headlight look on his face, the one that appeared every time he was complimented. Maybe they should compliment him more, Gladio thought. Get him used to it.
"You mean that?!"
"Sure. Fighting, but also picking up the slack when the rest of us was out of commission." Prompto had, after all, jumped into the driver's seat without hesitation and absolutely floored it to get as much distance between them and the Red Giant that had materialized out of nowhere, and then continued to drive them to the nearest haven, dodging daemons and imperial troopers alike.
"Think we should let you drive more often."
"That's what I'm saying!" Prompto exclaimed. "I'm a great driver, you guys are just mean!"
"Eh, I wouldn't say you're a great driver… but you're not entirely terrible. Tell you what, I'll put in a word for you next time."
Prompto toasted at Gladio with his noodles. "I'll hold you to that!"
To those of you that are still here and clicked on this update and read the chapter, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much, I appreciate it more than I can express.
It's. Rough. I guess. I know I'm far from the only one, a lot of people are struggling, so I hope all of you who are reading this are doing alright, doing things for yourself, finding joy in all sorts of things, and I wish you all the strength you may need, and even if you don't need it, I still wish you good and happy things, for the new year, but also just in general.
Thank you for reading 3
