lifeaftr | The Saddening

Entry tags:

The Saddening

Who: Prompto, Chocobros, OTA
What: Event catchall for Prompto stuff
When: Over the duration of the event
Where: Mostly around the chocobro house
Warnings: Angst, pain, sad saps, sickness, potentially very poorly done confessions to girls. Dates may vary depending on what happens over the event.

August 6~7 - Running off - Chocobros
Prompto messily scrawled the words on a piece of wood using chalk from the noticeboard.

"Going to help unbury people. I'm fine."

The piece of wood was left at their house when no one was there and he snuck off. As soon as he started showing symptoms he knew he had to do something. He couldn't get Ignis or Gladio sick, but he didn't want them to worry about him. He couldn't live with himself if something happened to the guys because of him.

At first his intentions were true. He figured he might as well go help with the new people. That changed quickly as his symptons worsened. It felt like he was getting hit by a fever, and he decided to take a detour instead, looking for some small bit of cover that he could hide under and curl up. He'd really rather be snuggled up in a bed. His mind wandered off, thinking of all the cozy hotel rooms they used to stay in, all curled up in blankets. The best he had for now was his winter coat, which was at least warm if nothing else.

August 10~11 - Confessions - Chocobros
After being dragged back home and spending much of the time trying to become one with the few scrappy blankets they had, they had eventually learned that honesty was a cure. How did that even work? He half wondered if it was a bad joke. He didn't really think of himself as dishonest. He might put up a front or hide, but he was just trying to help his friends. He wasn't trying to be bad.

There was a lot he hid, of course, and he didn't even know where to begin. What would he have to say to make the sickness go away? Rather than sit up, he stayed curled up on the ground of their 'living room' of sorts, using one of the pillows they had from the tent as a headrest. He wasn't the big tough guy. He handled illness like a big baby - but at least a mostly quiet one. If he had a plush he would have happily been hugging it.

His eyes lazily followed the going-on's while he remained mostly silent, until he finally confessed quietly, "'m glad I'm home."

August 12~15 - Confessions - Girls
Sitting out by the water, Prompto half wondered if it would be easier to stay quiet and die rather than be open and honest to everyone. On the best of days he had trouble talking to girls, and they tended to travel in packs which was scary and intimidating. In his mind it was so easy - just tell the girls that he thought were pretty that he thought they were pretty. In practice he might have an easier time trying to digest a pile of dirt. Rejection was a lot more tolerable when he didn't take it seriously.

It didn't help that he found most girls his age attractive. It wasn't as if he even stuck that strictly to his own age - Iris had been 16, and Aranea had been 30. It wasn't his fault all girls were so damn pretty. It was unfair! The odds were stacked against him from the start.

He noticably tensed whenever a girl neared him, fearing confessing to them more than death itself. Moreso than usual. If he was rejected this time, it was really him they'd be rejecting. He couldn't dare to actually approach, so he sat by the water, choking back the symptoms of the illness while he skipped some rocks.

August 12~15 - Confessions - OTA
Prompto tended to keep negative feelings to himself. He didn't like to insult people, didn't like confrontation and didn't like to hurt anyone. Even when he was in pain he resisted. He wasn't the type to lash out.

Which made the whole honesty thing that much harder. He might end up burning a few bridges. Because of hurty limbs and overall aching, he stayed near the house with his back pressed up to a wall. He stayed mostly reserved, but he wouldn't ignore anyone who approached.

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When Prompto leans over him, Ignis gives his arm a gentle squeeze of encouragement. A small smile breaks up his stern expression, but there is a strange distance to it even as he softly speaks, "See now. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

It sounds like one of his normal jokes, but much like the smile, there is something just slightly off about it. No one really catches on, though. No one aside from one well-trained--perhaps too well-trained in Ignis' opinion--tigerlily. He relaxes the hand that Leo's licking, stretching sore fingers to brush over the fur on his snout. When that doesn't seem like enough, he slides back a little from Prompto and Gladio, preemptively gathering Leo's head into his lap before someone picks up on the signals.

If it gives him an excuse to add physical distance to mental, well no one needs to know that. No one besides he and Leo.

"Rather a cute ending, isn't it?" Ignis whispers the words into Leo's ears as he ruffles them and attempts to ignore the sudden empty drop in his stomach. No one else will be able to hear the comment, but Leo makes it clear he's not entirely pleased with how sardonic and sad the words are by rumbling lowly before setting his tongue to work on Ignis' face.

Ignis bites back on the soft, startled sound caused by the sudden onslaught. He pushes Leo's head away for a moment, only to sigh and settle back against the tigerlily a few seconds later.

"Hush, lets not bother them. They have a lot to work out."

Curling up wasn't going well for him at the moment. Instead, he fell backwards with a thud, lying facing the ceiling. A soft huff escaped his lips. The less he tried to work his limbs the better. Maybe he was feeling a little bit better, but it still hurt. His eyes closed lightly when Gladio dipped in for a kiss to the forehead. A little weird. His parents hadn't even really done that, but he wasn't complaining.

"You don't have to worry about me so much. I'm not, like, mad at people."

He usually wasn't. Even if he was upset it didn't tend to go outwards. When he was mad at someone, it usually meant something extremely serious had happened. He had good reason to be wary of Ardyn. He had good reason to be mad at Laurent before. None of it had been petty.

Using Gladio's arm as a pillow, he pulled his arms up to rest on his stomach, trying to get comfortable.

"I guess it's been a little weird. Iggy and I have been out here so long together... We've been waiting to have everyone back together again, but I don't think we ever thought it would happen like this. Everyone from totally different times..." he frowned a second. "Maybe different worlds? ...But, even if we are, I still wanna be friends."

He hesitates for a moment, looking down towards the foot of the bed, Leo's behavior, even with Iggy murmuring at him, was unusual and it made him worried. And then Prompto is flopped over on his arm and Gladio just... wraps himself around the blond. His own hand rests on Prom's belly, just below his arms, lazy casual touches, just having the reassuring contact of Prompto against him eases so much of his worry.

"That's like telling me not to worry about Noct." He sighs softly, lets his hands drift to the side to poke playfully at Prompto's side. "I wanna keep you safe just as much as I do Noct and Igs... maybe more cause you weren't born into this shit, you chose to be here. And if anything being from different times, being from... so far back in the story just... makes that urge stronger."

His arm curls around Prompto, tugging him a little closer, squeezing him lightly. "Things go so bad... I can't stop that... but I dunno maybe here I can make sure neither one of you have to go through the same shit."

He didn't fight, letting himself be enveloped by a mountain. His stomach twitched slightly in response - he wasn't used to being touched there - but he otherwise mostly stayed in place and seemed to be trying to relax now that things were finally calming down.

"...We wanna stop shit from happening, too. 'm not sure how. I still had toget get back to you guys, back home, but once I do that, we could always change what we do."

It took him back to those days. Around a year ago now. Ready to drive through the snow to get back to them, and get away from that godforsaken facility. Unconsciously he rubbed at his wrist to double check for the bracelet he'd been missing while he was there.

"Don't worry." His hand settles over Prompto's on his wrist, stilling the nervous habit, idly wondering if he shouldn't ask Leo to start doing that to. "We'll always find you, Prom. I swear it. We'll always come back for you."

He's not sure if he should tell Prompto what happens, how messed up things get. He doesn't even know the full details of how he got to the Keep. But telling him that now would only make it worse wouldn't it?

"Just remember that, okay?" And he leans in again to nuzzle Prompto's hair. Probably crossing so many lines into uncomfortable territory but he also can't stop himself from being affectionate with him while he has this opportunity.

It was the most intimate he'd ever been with Gladio - or anyone, for that matter. Maybe Iggy and Noct were pretty close, but there hadn't been a lot of nuzzling into his hair. He pushed aside wondering if it was strange and let himself melt into it a bit. He was already feeling bad enough without getting panicky over everything, he just wanted to relax a while.

"...Thanks." It was a relief to know that he wouldn't be abandoned. He stilled his nervous hand and just let it be. "Did... Did I show you guys? When I got back?"

He was no Light Yagami. He couldn't predict what his actions would be for weeks to come. He hardly even planned five minutes ahead. Though he planned on telling them the truth, he had no idea whether or not he'd have shown that off.

He had a duty to Noctis and part of that was pushing him, not letting him laze around and put off what he needed to be doing. That meant not coddling him. Ignis was loathe to let anyone see him be weak and that was as much true now as it had been when they were kids, when he'd been a shoulder to lean on when the job threatened to be too much. He'd never had time to really be able to just look after Prompto, not when there was so much else going on.

When there'd finally been time... they'd all been so angry and hurt and he'd been in no condition to look after himself let alone anyone else.

"You did... helped us sneak in to take down the emperor." He keeps his hand over Prom's, rubs his thumb gently over the wristband he wears. "Of course he was a full blown daemon by then." He flinches, looks away...

"And Ravus."

"He was?"

Of course he didn't know the full story of what was coming. The Emperor had always been this big bad, leader of the Empire that they had to face. Somehow he had faded in the background on their journey. Hardly worth even talking about. Pursing his lips, he glanced over his shoulder a bit. "Ravus was executed, wasn't he?"

He didn't have the same connection to Ravus as the others would, but he still at least knew of him. Had seen him. And had heard the reports on the radio.

"That's... complicated." And this time when Gladio nuzzles into Prom's shoulder it's because he doesn't want to think about the thing that had been Ravus. "He was but he was also infected."

"You know... you don't have to cover it up." Still just running his thumb over where he knows the barcode is, fighting down the urge to press a soothing kiss to that spot. That's a whole different bundle of issues. Which means they should still probably talk about it but not right this moment.

He got the feeling it was better not to ask. Thinking about how many people they had met who were gone was difficult. He was just supposed to be going to his friend's wedding and meeting a hot girl. Why did all hell have to break loose?

His eyes turned down to his thankfully covered up barcode.

"...Iggy got some tattoo stuff. So we could cover it up, maybe. But I don't know anyone who knows how to do tattoos here, and I don't want anyone to know about it unless I'm sure." Taking in a short breath, he tried to laugh it off a bit. "I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to let Iggy do it."

That has his brows lifting, gaze flickering down to the end of the bed where Ignis was distracting himself with Leo.

"I didn't know that." A soft sigh. "I know I'm not the most graceful or anything but... I could do it if you wanted. I did Iggy's glowy designs?" He tries to shrug, one shouldered and awkward.

"I mean I get it if you don't want me to do it. And I wouldn't do something stupid like draw a dick on your arm, okay. I promise. Maybe with marker but not-" He shakes his head, grumbling under his breath.

"Not trying to think the worst of you or whatever just acknowledging how I am. Was... I like to think it's was now, anyway."

"You know how to do it?"

Gladio had tattoos, but getting them was different from doing them.

"I didn't think you'd do something like that. That'd be kinda beyond dickish... I'll pretend I meant that pun." Gladio picked on him with noogies, and Prompto sometimes earned them by antagonizing him, but leaving permanent marks, especially somewhere that was already sensitive for Prompto? That was far beyond what Gladio had ever done to him. That would just be being an asshole.

"I know enough theory, depending on what kind of equipment Igs got. I mean... I was so geeked out for my eagle. I spent months before my birthday psyching myself up for it, watching videos and shit." His hand finally drifts from Prompto's wrist to trace over his own, the dark inked feathers arching over his forearm.

"As long as there's enough supplies I'll test it on myself first, make sure I'm not going to screw something up but... I'm pretty sure I could manage it." Then he brings his hand back up to Prompto's wrist, fingering the leather band that always lived there, slowly, carefully touching the clasp.

"Can I?"

"I think we were pretty limited on supplies. We'll have to check how much ink there is."

Because if he could do something, he wanted to. If he couldn't burn the damn thing off, maybe he could at least hide it. Permanently.

Despite already being stiff because of the illness, his body noticably tensed when Gladio touched the clasp. Atrals knew that Prompto safeguarded it more than his virginity.

But, Gladio should have already seen it by now. Still nervous, as if someone might break into their home and see it somehow, he cautiously answered, "Yeah. I mean... Yeah, you can."

Gladio nods. He'll probably just do something tiny and simple on his ankle or something to test it before he puts a needle to Prompto's skin. Just enough to get a feel for it so he can do it without hurting him any more than is necessary.

The fact that Gladio can feel him tense up, even with how much he hurts and how safe they are here, is a huge testament to how much trust Prompto is giving him. This is him at his most vulnerable... but he's willing to let Gladio see it and that eases every fear and uncertainty that's plagued him for years in a single moment. His fingers fumble on the clasp, trying to do it one handed, before he finally manages to get it to let go, unwinding the leather.

He wears it so much that even Prompto's pale, pale skin is a notable shade or two darker than the ghostly white band around his wrist. So impossibly pale against Gladio's deep bronze. "This?" A soft, gentle rumble as he turns the blond's wrist in his hand, drawing it up slowly, thumb resting lightly beside that awful bit of ink until Gladio finally throws caution and restraint out the window, pressing the softest kiss against delicate skin. He doesn't care that the mark is there, what's important is that it's Prompto.

"Doesn't change this." And he lets his hand slide away to settle on Prom's chest, over his heart. "You're still you, Prom. You always will be."

Just the feel of air on his skin there left a strange sensation behind. He wore the band 24/7, even as a child, so he felt naked without it on. It also left the skin a bit soft since it was always protected. His natural instincts screamed at him to hide it, just as much as most would want to hide their privates, suppressing his nerves as Gladio inspected his wrist and then pulled it up to his mouth.

"Y-Yeah..." he answered as if he wanted to be self-assured, but he wasn't, and gently pulled his wrist back down to rub lightly at it. "Feel a bit like I'm going commando here. Heh."

Gladio doesn't resist in the slightest when Prompto takes his wrist back. That's not going to do anything to make him feel better about the situation. Prompto doesn't quite manage the 'self-assured' tone he was going for but the words make Gladio laugh, anyway, a muffled snort and he flashes a grin down at him.

"If you can manage it, leaving the bracelet off now and then would probably be a good idea. I'm sure it's really sensitive and... well tattoos hurt, it'll be worse if you're hyper sensitive there." He's not really expecting it to happen but the suggestion is there nonetheless.

Leave it off? That was a tall order.

"I... don't know. Just. Sometimes people walk in and stuff? If it was just you 'n Iggy 'n Noct I probably could, but someone could pop in at any time..."

Even if they had no idea what it meant, anyone from a world with barcodes could probably make some pretty good guesses.

"Don't worry about it. I can take the pain. I've already tried to get rid of it, umm... other ways."

Gladio is nodding along at first. It's fine if Prompto feels too vulnerable to leave it off. That's okay. They'll work around it.

Other ways

That thought, those two hesitatant words make his heart climb up into his throat and fear, cold and sobering, wash over him. He reaches for Prompto's wrist again, insistent and determined. Examining it closer now, looking for scars on or around the area. Anything Prompto might have done to himself that Gladio might not have noticed at first.

"Prompto..." soft and worried and Gladio kisses his wrist again and again, peppering a few light kisses over the mark as if somehow the affection might protect him from harm. "We'll hide it and you will never have to look at it again, okay. We'll do something cool, as soon as you feel better. Whatever you want."

His voice is tight and strained like he might cry if he doesn't reel in his emotions. "Please don't hurt yourself."

Knitting his brows, he glanced up at Gladio smothering his wrist in kisses. This was officially the closest he'd ever gotten to second base.
"S'okay. It's old news, and it didn't work anyway, so it's not like I'm gonna do it again."

Not even he was desperate enough to keep doing something useless. An immediate potion had left him cured, physically. It was just a matter of going back to his old coping mechanism and hiding it.

He pulled it back again to look at it. A stern, quiet look.

"Not sure what I could get, exactly... It'd have to be wide enough to cover the whole thing." He was good with photos, but not necessarily drawing. "Even a big black blob would be better, though."

"Maybe if we do a solid band here-" Where the barcode is. "-and here..." Then Gladio loops his fingers around Prompto's wrist closer to his hand, where a watch would naturally sit, squeezes just a little and tilts his arm so Gladio can appraise the space he's marked out for particularly dense freckles, scars, or anything else that might change the layout.

"We could do stripes of some sort of geometric patterning in the middle?" That was one option, definitely. "Or we could start the black here-" Again where the existing mark is. "And fade it up your arm, maybe do a silhouette or a skyline kind of thing?"

"You're too damn pretty to just slap a blob of ink on you and call it good."

"Dude, I'm too manly to be pretty." Even if he wasn't sold on 'manly' either, he wasn't sure 'pretty' was the right word for him. That was more for cute girls.

"'m not sure what kind of art could be done. It's have to work with what's already there, so it's probably gonna need filled in one way or another. I guess it might have to be kinda big for it to be art? I never thought that much about it beyond figuring maybe I could black it all out or something. Or tattoo the bracelet on instead of wearing it."

"I'll snag some paper from Shion, do some sketches, kay?" Even as he's speaking though he shifts a little, stretching out one leg, searching with his toes until he bumps into Ignis' shoulder and then nudges a little more firmly.

"There's nothing wrong with being pretty, dude. Iggy's pretty, doesn't make him any less manly." Gladio tilts himself a little, shifts back so he is propped up on one elbow, looking down on Prompto instead of just holding onto him. There's a moment where he worries it's just going to make things worse and then he shrugs a little to himself.

They're being honest, right?

So he leans down, the hand that's been demonstrating ideas on the blond's wrist coming up to cup his cheek, and brushes a light kiss to Prompto's lips. "And I wasn't drunk, dude."

Like a chocobo caught in the headlights. Prompto was fairly malleable and then suddenly lips were touching lips and he stopped. Staring up, wide-eyed, he froze in place, and this time it had nothing to do with the flowers. There wasn't any particular thought that went along with it because his brain shut down, too.

After a long minute of realizing he wasn't even breathing, he let out the most pathetic squeak and his gaze turned worriedly towards Ignis. He knew about how well to respond to this as he did to Cindy - and he didn't have Noct here to tell him what to say.

Finally attempting to stutter something out, he spoke about an octave higher than usual, "Ch... I, uh... Uh... S-Sketches would be good."

"Oh no you don't." His tone is gentle, though, as is his thumb stroking lightly along one freckled cheek.

"We're talking, right? Being honest. You can't just pretend that didn't happen." Besides Prom you've gotta give him something to go on here. He doesn't want to admit that he's nervous but he is, worried that he's just messed everything up because of that. "Please?"

The Saddening

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I'm sorry he's such a sap

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dragging Igs back into this oops

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