The day had even begun with such promise- Naia had let him ride her! He’d been ecstatic, clamoring carefully onto the Chocobo. She was, after all, the perfect fishing tool. And he’d intended to make the day of it. He had let her lead him out onto the open water- it held no horror for him, so long as he had Naia, so long as he had his reel and a lure. They had spent the day like that: lounging out atop the surf, idly reeling and chattering.
Though Naia didn’t respond, she listened very well, even letting out little trills and chirps of emotional support. Was it… was it bad to take emotional solace and support from an animal that could not communicate? Perhaps… but it sure was comforting. There was, after all, so much he could talk about. And out here on the water, Naia heard everything: his hopes, his fears, his passing observations and fancies. She heard about his affinity for cats, his growing fears about the coming events. She heard about his adoration for his friends, his social concerns when approaching them with significant matters, how he worried for their involvement and wellbeing amid all of this chaos… She heard everything.
And in the best way possible, she never said a word. It wasn’t, after all, comforting words or well-intended lies ( it’s what they were, whether they realized it or not ); he just wanted someone who would hear him– no, hear him in everything he said. Someone that would not insist he would be okay, demand he acclimate and accept his duty, nor gingerly remind him of the stalwart and unwavering support they supplied. He wanted to just talk. And with Naia… that was possible.
At present, he was strewn over her back, eyes drooping closed as he lounged on her. She was clopping back toward the shore, the sun dipping low over the horizon and dusting the shore in the distance with a symphony of pinks and pastels. And he was smiling. He was going to get scolded all to be damned- vanishing at the break of dawn ( when did you even get up? How? You never wake up like that! Where did you even go!? Alert us at once next time! In fact- no next time! ), not returning until dusk had settled. But he was content, like he’d been decompressed - the relief after an intense building of pressure.
And in his sleepy state, Noctis leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to the long neck of the chocobo that carried him. “Thanks, Naia.” he whispered, snuggling his face into the soft feathers.
