sunset_horizons | With Fang and Claw (Private to iwillshieldhim)

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With Fang and Claw (Private to iwillshieldhim)

Who: Noctis Lucis Caelum, Gladiolus Amicitia
Where: The Royal Gardens, the Citadel, Insomnia
What: Lycanthropy AU! The crown prince meets his Shield in the most adorable(?) way.
Warnings: None yet!

Noctis had a little problem that most of his line did: sneaking out and away when everyone else thought they were asleep. Usually it wasn't very far, still inside the Citadel. Hey, even Iggy would join half the time and they'd climb up the tower steps and just gaze up at the stars! Tonight though was one of those nights when Iggy couldn't 'cuz he'd already fallen asleep, and Noct had already gotten him in trouble so he felt bad about even thinking of waking his friend.

Climbing up the tower just wasn't nearly as fun without the other's quiet amusement. So instead, he decided to head for the gardens. Heck, maybe Mr. Cat would be there! It always liked sneaking in at night before.

He made his way quietly, once in a while checking around a corner to make sure there were no guards or attendants to notice him make his way through the citadel's hallways. He'd gotten lucky by missing their patrols so far. So by the time he made it, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew. Made it," the little prince muttered under his breath, rubbing his eyes with a tiny fist. No, now wasn't the time to be sleepy! He wanted to see if his furry friend was here! Though he'd forgotten one tiny little thing.

Mr. Cat never visited the royal gardens on any night with a full moon.......

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ooc: sjdkhskajh <3 -- If you want to keep going, we can! Otherwise, we can end here. Or we can go to another wolf-time.]

Gladio easily tucks his head around Noctis, huffing quietly as he 'holds' Noctis close, eyes watching towards the door. He is a solid, warm presence there, the scent of blood (mostly) gone from his fur and some of the scent of soap transferring. It doesn't even connect in his mind that he hasn't known this man-child until tonight (or so he believes) or that there should be an oddity in wanting to protect something he just came into contact with, but it doesn't matter.

He'll fall asleep there only when Noctis does, the tiny boy almost hidden curled into his protector.

It will be a very awkward morning, though, when there's a nude Gladio.

[ooc: I'm cool either way <3]

It doesn't take long for Noctis to drift off, tired as he was from the ordeal. It also helps that Gladio is warm. That's all it really takes for this crown prince to doze off soundly.

Fortunately for Gladio, Noctis is a heavy sleeper. Has been ever since the attack. So when he transforms back into a human, he doesn't notice - still in dream land. What he should notice is the change of clothes by the foot of the prince's bed and a handwritten note from the King stating he's free to use his son's bathroom should he wish, and that there would be no repercussions for the awkwardness that was this little scenario. Though Noctis is grounded for the rest of the week.

Not to mention the fact that Clarus would have to speak with him later. That went without saying. First thing's first: Get cleaned and dressed, while being thankful the young prince doesn't so much as stir unless a certain someone makes a huge fuss over it.

With cheeks ever so slightly pinked from waking up in this situation, Gladio thanked the Six in the back of his mind as he gathered up his clothing and ducked into the bathroom. To wash off the night, to give himself time to remember what he could of what happened, was a welcome necessity to keep him from being unsettled for the rest of the day. The wolf didn't remember things like the human and it took time to process, but by the time he was drying himself off, he remembered enough of it to piece it together.

The talk with his father is not going to be so easy, he thinks, lips thin as he pulled on clothing and stretched out into a human's skin. All of his changes up until now had either been had home, when he was a pup, or here in later years where they is more safety for him and everyone else around. Or... so they thought. The fact that Noctis had come into the garden...

But he hadn't hurt Noctis. He'd protected him. There's something that settles well into his chest, the place that was promised since birth to become the prince's Shield.

There's a small noise in the other room as Gladio finishes dressing. The prince's sleepy brain likely beginning to recognize the extra warmth had left finally as he rolled over onto his back. A small noise that's followed by a short note of pain that made him sit up far too quickly. Blearily looking around before gently lying back down.

"Nngh..." Today wasn't going to be a good one for the prince, he could feel it already. His back aching from both old wounds and that attack. It shouldn't take long for his nanny to come in, considering what time it was. So he just... curled up into a ball on his side. Wiping some sleep from his eyes until then. That's when he noticed the door to his bathroom was closed, which is more than enough to peak his curiosity. "Mornin'." He greeted, not really sure if the young Amicitia heard him.

Sensitive ears, regardless of form, pick up the greeting and he looked towards the door. There was a certain level of uncertainty as he hid in the empty bathroom, wondering what exactly he was supposed to do on the heels of the previous night. Already he felt like he was in trouble with his father, or at least 'a talk' which had questionable connotation towards either good or bad, but more, what was the brat going to do about it all?

He remembered most of Noctis' actions last night, including curling up to him after all was said and done, something that was drastically different than the quiet, almost emotionless child that had come back from Tenebrae. A slow breath out, thinking on the laughter that had come from the Prince the night before, and he stepped out of the bathroom with the towel around his shoulders, catching the last drops of water from his short hair.

"...Morning." Keeping his uncertainty to himself, his back straight, he tried to be the guard he was supposed to become instead of the ridiculous wolf pup he had been last night.

To be fair, he didn't really have much to smile about. Not after both the attack and what happened in Tenebrae. Last night was one of the exceptions, making a new friend despite already knowing his human form. He kind of hoped it wasn't some sort of trend. Making a new friend or two and suddenly, boom, attacked. It's two for three, now. Ignis being the only one nothing bad happened after.

He hugs his legs closer to himself under the blanket, a tiny hint of a smile pulling at his lips before he ducked his chin to his chest. His future Shield didn't need to see him like this.

"Thanks- for last night." Whether he meant protecting him, or just being a friend. Most likely it was both, but it was hard to say. Especially since he didn't feel like specifying.

"...You're welcome." He isn't sure what to say. Is he supposed to act... more professional? 'It's my job' or 'my privilege'? He's trying to imagine what his father would say, but his father has been the King's right hand for so long that there is a natural, unspoken bond between them that allows for the most simple communications to always seem like something more.

Then again, he believes that his father has a Bond with the King. A capital B type bond. He doesn't know a lot about it, but he's heard little bits and pieces, snippets. It'll be years before he even has the chance for that, he thinks.

"Why did you come to the gardens, anyway?" He knows for sure that Noctis - and everyone - has been banned from the gardens during the full moon, ever since he got big enough to jump the wall of the garden at home.

Gladio, they just had one of the most strange and impromptu sleepovers he's ever heard of. Granted, he doesn't really have much in the way of experience with sleepovers considering Ignis lives inside the citadel too, but... the prince doesn't seem to mind the lack of professionalism. In fact, he almost seems grateful for it as he peeked out from under the covers briefly.

"I..." Noctis pauses, before gingerly sitting up and attempting to ignore the way his back protests the action. "-forgot the moon cycle, and couldn't sleep."

It was stupid and he knows it; he frowns as he pulls his knees back up to his chest and he hugs them. "But- Dad taught me how not to get attacked when I was younger, in case I ever needed him during a full moon." And since Clarus stayed with the King in his chambers at night, it had been necessary for the young prince to know from an even earlier age than Regis had. Considering his grandmother had slept in another chamber those nights. "Normally I'd just go to the top of one of the towers and stargaze, but..."

He hasn't really had the energy for the trip on his own. Not since he started being able to walk again of his own power.

His eyes narrow ever so slightly as he sees Noctis moving oddly. Stiffly? Had the other been hurt? That settles like a lump in his stomach, trying to run through what he can remember of the previous night but without the better recall of a human, it leaves him unsettled that there is something he's missing. Still, he listens silently through the explanation, trying to puzzle it out in his mind when things suddenly clicked into place.

There's the barely resisted urge to facepalm at his own stupidity. Right.

"My father's... got better control than I do." Not exactly easy to admit, but he feels in the face of this, it might be allowed. A little. For a werewolf, he is young (truth for a man he is as well) and the fool of a pup he can be will improve as the man trains. "You didn't get attacked," by me, "so you did it right."

Well done, really.

Gladio slowly walks over and after a moment's hesitation, sits on the side of the bed near Noctis. "Why couldn't you sleep?" Is there something he can do to help with the pain? Not exactly something he's done before, more of an Ignis thing, but if that pencil pusher can do it, so can he.

Noctis is quick to shake his head at the implication that Gladio might have done something other than play with and protect him. It....was actually nice for a change. Still, he doesn't really say much else on it.

"You're still a pup," he mutters, a thin smile crossing his lips. "I liked playing with you." It helped him forget the pain, and the haunted look in his attendant's eyes, for that brief period of time. Until that stranger attacked, that is. At the question, though... he can't voice it, so instead he lifts his shirt up slightly. Specifically, the back of it, where it looks like some sort of blade did a real number on it. Months ago.

"'Comes and goes." The pain, sometimes the flashbacks like what happened last night after being pinned.Technically his meds are on his nightstand, but he doesn't trust himself to not overdo it. He is still a kid.

Gladio's face sure does fall at that 'you're a pup', given that he's older than Noctis but more so because it's actually true. Why, as a wolf, he tends to act more immature he has no idea when real wolves grow more mature more quickly than a human, but it's frustratingly true. His lips thin in his displeasure, but he tries to soothe himself with the idea that if he hadn't been there last night, who knows what might have happened. Also, he wants to know what that man had in mind. Who he was after.

However, his whole series of thoughts gets derailed when Noctis suddenly lifts his shirt and turns to display the massive scar running across it.

He knows... a little. The information about what happened that night has been very hush-hush, not even Ignis willing to talk more about it. He knows there was a daemon attack and many had been killed, nearly Noctis as well. He knows Noctis had been hurt, badly, and had spent a great deal of time away getting healed.

But seeing it, the scar still pinked as it would take years to fade to white, is a very different reality than hearing about the terrible news some months back.

"...Noctis..." Quiet, not even sure what to say in the face of that reality.

Gladio and Noctis both. Though it's low on the list of high priorities right now. Especially with the scolding he's likely going to get even more this morning, and how he's currently grounded.

"You asked," he mutters, pulling his shirt back down again. While he's pained by it, there's some sort of determination in his eyes. "I know, I shouldn't have been there last night. Just like I shouldn't have gone outside the Wall without my dad."

Noctis frowns, already accepting the blame for his actions. But then he remembers what his dad told him last night. "You were limping last night. You alright?"

Gladio looks down at his leg, shifting his weight ever so slightly. "Just landed badly when I leaped." It's strange to talk about this with someone who isn't his father because this is the first time he's ever done so. He rubs the back of his neck, stretching out his leg a little. "I'll be fine." It's sore, and he'll be trying to hide that limp all day, but he knows it would heal pretty quickly and he wouldn't trade it for the world.

Noctis is safe, and that's important. Something in him, deep as can be, tells him that it's important. It doesn't matter so much what his father says (okay, that's a lie, it matters immensely) as much as that something. There is a connection building there that's nestling deeper into him with every passing year, the same kind of connection his father has with the King.

"...you should lay back down if your back hurts."

Noctis purses his lips, glancing over at the nightstand. It doesn't take much, even in his still-sleepy and pained state to tell there are two glasses of what was likely either water or ginger ale. Knowing his magic lessons though, it's probably the latter.

"Hm..." Noctis scoots closer to said nightstand, carefully, so he'd be able to reach the two glasses without threat of spilling them in the process. Trying to ignore how the movement hurts and focus more on one particular lesson that's been drilled into him from the first day his dad started teaching him elemancy. If it had just been because his dad told him to, he likely wouldn't have in this state, but he genuinely wishes to help speed up the natural healing process.

So, he takes one of the cups, and lets his free hand hover over the liquid within. It glows, briefly, and he sighs with relief when it does. Good. He- can still do this, after all.

"I will, but... Here," he holds out the cup to Gladio for him to take. He'll bless the other one for himself after Gladio takes his.

One thing that tends to be pretty rare outside of some created specifically for the Kingsglaive and the Crownsguard are potions, rare enough that Gladio actually doesn't catch on immediately what he's being handed. Instead, he stares down at the glowing liquid with a what on Eos...?

Then, feeling immensely stupid, it clicks in his mind. He'd seen his father with them before, on rare occasion. Noctis turned it into a potion! Right. Just drink it, stop looking like an idiot.

So he lifts it to his lips, then pauses. A gesture with his index finger on the glass. "You, too." He needs to make sure that Noctis will be okay before he goes about helping himself.

Noctis is already scooting his small frame closer to the nightstand to grab a small pill from a box, having just remembered what his doctor told him. Take one pill from the box, then a potion.

Because he can't quite make an elixir, yet. His recent attempts have always turned into an antidote...

So, he does what he's told. He takes a pill, ppping it into his mouth before blessing the second glass's contents and taking a sip. Now Gladio better drink up, because he is drinking his own potion.

Yes, yes, he's drinking, he's drinking. Gladio swigs back the drink in a few long gulps, surprised slightly at the feeling of energy passing over his tongue. It's not so much a flavor as a.. texture, almost? Difficult to pinpoint but it leaves him licking his lips, smacking his tongue trying to figure it out before deciding to just accept it as is.

"Not bad." Another lick of his lips before he puts the the glass off to the side, but a second later he blinks down at his leg and flexes his foot, testing it out. "Huh." The stiffness is completely gone. In fact, he doesn't even feel the lingering side-effects of the change.

Welcome to the world of drinking potions instead of crushing the usual crystalline glass bottles they're usually stored in and letting the resulting mist from it heal the wounds from the outside, in. Though he's fairly certain that the attendants would be mad if they tried that with these cups in particular.

He's finished with his before Gladio speaks up again, a slightly proud look in his eyes that both work as intended. Not that he doubted he'd be able to do it, but-

"Dad said- he wants me to join you, in the gardens the next full moon. Something about a bond, 's too tired to catch all of it." He informs, admitting just how drained he was at the end of it. But, no harm beyond what that trespasser did. Physically, at any rate. "He's probably talking to your dad about it, too."

~~The day in the future when they're crushing energy drink cans because that's what the in game description says they are...~~

Those glass bottles are meant to be crushed though and dissolve away - these would leave a mess and potentially hands that would need to be healed on top of it. When Noctis keeps speaking, Gladio shifts his attention back to his charge and his brows lift at that first sentence, then climb practically into his short-shorn hair on the second. He's heard a little about a bond, though he doesn't fully understand it. It's something his father has with the King, he knows that much for certain, and it has something to do with being able to protect him.

Already he foresees what part of this upcoming conversation with his father will be if the King had brought it up with his son. There's an interest to find out what it means, though it feels like some kind of big next step. "He probably is."

Though... "Do you want to? Actually come back into the gardens?" Which means, specifically, to stay with him. To see him be a stupid pup again where he acts like a child but... Noctis had been happy to play in return.

~~I still can't get over that lmfao...~~

Eeexactly. Noctis catches that raised eyebrow, raising his own as he tilts his head. What? Is he really that surprised? Granted, so's he, but... the prince sighs.

"Yes," he replies. "Though- maybe after making sure all the windows are shut tight." He hates giving away one of the ways he knew to exit the citadel undetected, especially since he loves playing in the field nearby, but after last night... "There's this one that gets stuck when it's fully opened in the back. It's big enough for a grown person to crawl through."

And it's likely where the intruder came from, though not many know about it and it's concerning. Yet he smiles faintly. "Besides, I know I'm safe with you. And it was nice seeing you not so serious all the time." You know, acting a bit like a person (er, and wolf) their age instead of an angry meatshield.

Edited 2018-04-14 13:16 (UTC)

~~It's so ridiculous but I love it as a game detail so very much.~~

Gladio's eyes widen briefly at the information that even a child knows about a weakness in the Citadel's defenses. Already he's making it in his mind to tell his father, though thinking on it, it seems so oddly specific of a place that he wonders how anyone outside of those who work in the Citadel could know about it. Spies, he thinks to himself. Could there be a spy within these very walls?

A brief surge of protectiveness rushes through him, then dies away, unable to quite get a grasp in him just yet. It would come and hold, with time.

Then Noctis says that and Gladio frowns at him. "I'm supposed to be your Shield," he mutters with a grunt. "I'm not serious all the time, only when I need to be." Which, in his young teenage mind, is basically any time anyone of importance is around. Or could be around. He needs to be taken seriously, even if he's young! "Of course you're safe with me."

Of course he knew that weakness in the Citadel's defenses. It was his favorite one, even though he will never admit that part. Though he will offer this one excuse for knowing it, considering it's how he actually found it. "Hide and Seek with Iggy. Accidentally stumbled on it."

When he did, he isn't about to say. Though he returns that frown with his own and a slight glare. Tiny hands forming into fists as they clench the sheets beneath him.

"Not when we're alone, you don't." He wants to make sure that much is clear. Especially considering, thanks to their respective roles and what's expected of them (even if the finer details are still lost on his preteen self), their lives are already bound by duty. He already respects Gladio, even if he doesn't show it, but with so few people in his life around their age...

He needs more than just a bodyguard, but a friend. And both their dads likely realize this, considering that, despite how he goes to school outside the Citadel, he's yet to make even a single one on his own.

[Sorry I'm a little slow!! SO MUCH crazy (GOOD) going on! ^_^]

...Why is it oddly difficult to imagine that pencil neck acting young enough to play hide and seek? His relationship with Ignis is an odd one as he doesn't have a lot in common with the other, but they do have one very big thing in common - Noctis - and everything that comes with it. The idea of responsibility at a young age, giving your life to another, needing to put someone's care above your own. It's gotten better, the uncertainty that lies between them, but it's got its way to go.

"What exactly are you expecting of me?" Gladio scowls a little in return to that glare, his arms crossing over his chest. "Look, I am who I am and I need to be--" The look into Noctis' eyes, though. It strikes him, the hurt he sees behind the little tough guy, making him think all too easily of Iris when he's needed to be tough with her. It's like his secret weakness.

A sigh, rubbing his hand over his face. "I'm your Shield." As if that explains everything. In his mind, it does.

[No worries; I was out of town for most of the last week.]

It's almost as unbelievable as the excited puppy he'd seen last night, and the fact they're even having this conversation. Especially since he has never been good with expressing himself, even before the attack. Now, it's only gotten worse as bit by bit, the frustration he feels at half of his abilities being cut off... Not having anyone he can vent to, even if he could without anyone judging him for not being the prince they expect him to be, only adds to it.

Which is why, at that simple question, he inwardly withdraws. Obviously trying, but getting the words out is like pulling nails out of set concrete. Until, at last, he snaps like a coiled snake that finally sprung to bite.

"I expect you to be yourself," he admits through gritted teeth, gaze falling as he gently swings his legs over the edge of the bed, lightly kicking the air a few times to make sure he won't fall flat on his face if he stands. "I've had enough people at school and attendants treating me like I'm some fragile thing to be placed on a pedestal." He says it as though that, too, explains everything. And, as he finally puts weight on his feet to stand, even if the pain still lingers, that wall goes back up.

"...Need to get ready," he mutters, meaning school. As much as he wants to stay in bed during these bad flare up days, it's- something else to focus on. Even though he hates being alone in the crowd even more.

A quiet sound, almost like a growl, follows Noctis to his feet before Gladio protests, "what the heck? I didn't say you were some fragile thing on a pedestal. Don't go putting words in my mouth!" A phrase he learned not that long ago from his father and one he rather likes using; he sounds like an adult with it.

He points at Noctis, firm. "I am myself. What if this is who I am? Are you saying you don't like who I am?" A little bit defensive, perhaps, but he doesn't think entirely that it's fully him when he's acting like this. It's... a part of him, though. Just like there's a part of him when he's around Iris and part of him when he's a wolf.

With Fang and Claw (Private to iwillshieldhim)

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