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.......

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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.

Noctis visibly flinches at that sound, biting down on the inside of his cheek and staring down at the ground for a moment while he listens and tries to put it into words. "I-" He shakes his head, sighing. "...Never said you did."

But he saw that look in his eyes, when Gladio got to see his scars. He takes a couple steps to his walk-in closet, but stops at the door, resting a hand on the frame as he peeks behind him over his shoulder. "I do like you. Just... wish you'd stop being so quiet all the time." Because, other than Iggy... he's basically alone all the time, thanks to his royal blood. Noctis ducks his head, disappearing into the closet for a few minutes. Today is going to suck.

He wouldn't lie on that - they looked like scars that hurt. The kind of wounds that should have ended someone's life. Instead, Noctis had managed to live through them, something that Gladio was only just coming to terms with as he sat here and replayed the image of them across in his mind. They hadn't gotten along terribly well so far in their lives, but Gladio had only seen the later pieces of some of it in Noct. The sullenness, the stubbornness, the disinterest in nearly everything.

But last night, he'd seen something more. A child with something more in him than just being a brat. He'd done everything right, even fought for himself as much as he could against the assassin, but more... hadn't been afraid of him. Something that could have, if Fate had been less with him, torn him apart long before anyone could have stopped him.

"Maybe I'm just a quiet guy," Gladio points out, but lets out a breath. Fine. "...Meaning you want me around more?" which is very different than their mostly separate existence.

Barely, though only a handful of people know just how close it had been. Himself included. Which is why he's so listless and bored all the time; he has no idea how else to respond unless it's something that peaks his interest, especially with how tired he is half the time.

Something that, he knows, has put a lot of strain on the few friendships he does have. Iggy and Gladio included, even though he- really isn't friends with him. Not yet, even though he desperately wants to be. And not only that, but to be stronger— so he can keep up and not hold anyone back. Like he knows he probably did last night. It was a wake-up call he desperately needed.

"...Yeah," he answers from the closet, finding the outfit that'd been prepared for him and started changing already. Just out of view. "I do." Is it really that surprising, after what happened last night?

Yes. Yes it is.

Gladio rubs the side of his neck, thinking on it. He had his friends among the guard, those who saw an impossibly strong kid and helped train him, but he doesn't exactly have friends his own age. Of noble blood, training to be the future King's Shield, privately schooled... but he gets along well with those who he trains with. That's enough, for him. He has a job to do, even this young.

Could he figure out this? Hanging out with Noctis. They're already around each other quite a lot, given his position, so shouldn't it be natural?

"...yeah, okay." Not the tone of being forced, but someone coming to a conclusion, some real thought, and agreeing. Not that he's exactly sure what to do with the beginning of this change, but he'll figure it out, right? "So, uh, breakfast and school, first. Then... we'll see how much of me is left after Dad and I talk."

Well, Gladio has a while to get used to it. He frowns, forcing himself to bend down to put on his shoes. Today was already promising to be a rough one, and that didn't even count the whole werewolf thing and likelihood that he'll get scolded again for his actions last night over breakfast the moment his dad's sure he's feeling alright. Well, aside from the pain flare up.

He exits the closet, fully clothed by the time Gladio's done soul searching for the moment. Kind of glad for the tone, because the last thing he wants to do is force someone to do anything they don't want to. (Rest in pieces whoever has to wash his clothes from last night, though.) "And how much is left of me after breakfast," Noct mutters, rubbing the back of his neck gingerly. "Pretty sure I remember getting grounded last night..."

"I think you do." He vaguely remembers something like that, though- "It's... not easy to remember everything." It's strange, talking about this to someone who isn't his father, who just knows by nature. How do you even explain something you yourself barely understand? "The wolf doesn't see things like a person. Doesn't care about the same things. Sometimes memories are really weird or just not there because it didn't care enough to even make a note of it."

It sounds stupider said aloud and Gladio's face shows his distaste on what can be perceived as a weakness. "Your dad's just worried about you, even if you're gonna get grounded for sneaking around." Not for playing tug-of-war with a giant dangerous werewolf or anything.

Noctis nods, but the next part makes him pause. It's hard? Oh. That explains a few things, then. "...Makes sense." He hums thoughtfully, as if debating something. "Well,if we're gonna be spending the full moons together... I could help fill in the blanks?" Provided he remembers as well, because his sleeping habits man.

There is no judgment, though. Only a curious desire to help. It's likely not something Gladio's used to, the prince's instinct to go 'Okay, how can I help?' but considering they will be spending a lot of time together... he'll be seeing it a lot.

"I know," he says, lightly kicking at the floor with the toe of his shoe. "You'd think it'd be for more than just breaking the gardens rule..." Because, you know. Giant werewolf. It doesn't even register that Regis doing so would be hypocritical.

The offer gets Noctis a look of surprise that turns almost into suspicision, not sure what to do with that kind of offer. Since when is Noct the kind of person to help? However, to match, there was a warmth in his chest at it, something he doesn't quite know what to do with, either, but his suspicion turns into a small smile.

Gladio slowly stands up, wiggling a foot and realizing his leg feels completely fine, before giving a grunt. "Come here. Lay on the bed, on your stomach." He has an idea. For the help for his leg... there's something, maybe, he can do in return for Noct. If he doesn't manage to somehow hurt the prince more because he's never done this before.

It'll be a bit of a matter of trust, for both of them.

With Fang and Claw (Private to iwillshieldhim)

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