#chocoboyo

More like Take Aim and Fire

Icy eyes stared down at the Niflheim soldiers that she’d finished cutting down whilst the Magitek ones vanished in their corrupt smoke. Weiss’ expression barely budged from the flat look, one that she’s worn since.. Lady Luna... She clenched her jaw and turned away from the carnage, heels clicking sharply against the floor as she decided to continue on her hunt for Ardyn and his lot of like minded corrupted--

Running steps made her pause in both steps and thoughts as she turned to face the other end of the large storage room. There was no point in hiding, it was probably more soldiers or Magitek infantry. They would be put down all the same. The air in the room became colder than it already was as frost began to creep along the floor and metal. When the door slid open and a shock of blond mostly covered by a black beanie entered, Weiss blinked in surprise while lowering her blade.

he sits there in silence, on a step leading to the citadel. hair now longer and eyes tired... how many hours of sleep had he lost just replaying the last moments over and over in his head? watching noctis walk up those steps, alone. without a shield to protect him.

he can’t forget those final words spoken to them -- walk tall. had he walked tall? there were moments that if he could take back, he would. prompto -- bless him -- had told gladio several times that they had done what they were supposed to do. that they saw noctis to his destiny when lunafreya could no longer do so.

while it took some of the sting away, most of it still remained. he was the sworn shield. he was supposed to protect noctis, no matter what. it’s what he was born to do. it’s what he was raised to do. it’s what he wanted to do -- after seeing who noctis was. he watched him grow -- he watched him grieve.

and there were so many things he wish he could redo. there were so many things he wish he had said... so many things he could’ve done better.

but that was the past. what had already happened couldn’t be changed now. prompto told him that they could only move forward. and there were. they were doing their best right now to connect with niflheim -- trying to break down the barriers -- as noctis had wanted. they took care of umbra and made sure the people that were able to return to the city were well.

a shield he had been... but what was he now? he was just an amicitia. he didn’t have a king to protect anymore. there’s an emptiness -- one he wonders if he’ll ever be able to fill.

he and prompto had settled down as well as they could. they had gotten an apartment and had company over sometimes. iris would stop by for visits and sometimes ignis would come over for conversation. things were better, but they weren’t the same.

often, he found himself setting the table for four when it was just him, prompto, and ignis eating. other times, he had caught himself asking what noctis wanted to eat only to be met with silence -- the truthful silence.

noctis was no more.

he’s pulled from his thoughts when he feels a hand on his shoulder. he glances beside of him to see prompto and he smiles softly. he knows prompto missed noctis just as much as he did. after all, they were, for the most part, inseparable.

“i thought i’d find you here.” prompto hums with a smile of his own. “i didn’t hear you leave this morning though.”

“i guess i’m just getting better at sneaking around.” gladio can’t help but smirk before leaning over to press a quick kiss to the blonde’s cheek. “nah... i just didn’t want to wake you. you were sleeping well.”

there’s a long moment of silence shared between them before prompto leans to bump his face against gladio’s. “you’re being too hard on yourself, gladdy.”

gladio’s eyes flutter shut and he gives a soft sigh. maybe he was. he couldn’t tell anymore. “mm... i guess i am.”

another brief moment of silence before prompto wraps his arms around gladio and pets his hair with one hand. it’s a moment of peace -- something that gladio hasn’t been able to have in a while. he starts to drift, breathing mellowing out and he almost gives in to sleep...

“you’re falling asleep on me here.” prompto whispers with a soft giggle before sitting up a bit, patting gladio’s head. “let’s get you home, big guy. we’ll snuggle up then, alright? this just... isn’t the most comfortable place to cuddle.”

there’s a soft groan from gladio but he sits up and stretches before standing up. “well... i guess i could sleep in today.” he offers his hand to prompto and pulls him to his feet when his hand is taken. but he doesn’t let go...

gladio’s smile becomes a bit more genuine as they start walking back to their apartment in the crisp air of morning.

                                    STAND BY ME !

They had spotted the man on his usual delivery route, one he strayed off of from time to time, but almost always fell back to. It had taken careful planning and several staged events- convenient meetings, roadblocks, and a handful of harmless 'accidents, to herd him down the right alley where he would find himself effectively surrounded, but so far, everything had played out smoothly.

Hopefully it remained that way.

"We jus' want the bag, lad," Blackthorne stated neutrally, taking a careful step forward, one hand extended, the other on the ax at her side.

From the other side of the alley, her second in command - an absolute bear of a woman, readied herself to grab him if he should try to run.

           monsters were always so annoying.

            for kanda, it wasn’t about anything other than some gil and away to pass time. picking up odd jobs from the locals in lestallum. most of this odd jobs required the swordsman to travel along the vast land of eos, finding certain plants, killing off groups of monsters, or even just delivering a message. the current job he’d picked up involved taking care of a few megaloclaw off by cleigne. at first, it had gone smoothly, using mugen to slice down each monster without much effort.

         however, in what seemed like seconds, what had been five beats turned to ten, then fifteen. kanda hadn’t prepared himself for such a herd. Irritation flashed through his features as he cut down another monster, only to jump and roll out of the way of another. where had they all come from?