There’s a standard arrangement in hotels: Gladio and Prompto in one bed, Ignis and Noctis in the other.
If anyone asked, Gladio would cite standard bodyguard procedure; he sleeps closest to the door, and Noctis furthest. The rest falls into line from there, since Ignis and Gladio are too big to comfortably share a hotel bed, and Noctis and Prompto giggle and shove and whisper incessantly when left together.
The full truth, though, is a little more selfish than that.
Prompto mumbles in his sleep, sometimes snores, and more often than not winds up cuddled up to Gladio by morning. Gladio actually likes it; it’s easier for him to relax and fall asleep when Prompto relaxes so completely, it makes him feel safe in a way that has nothing to do with his weapon being within reach.
Noctis is too deep a sleeper for Ignis’s late night phone habits to bother him. More importantly though, Ignis sleeps lightly enough to cut Noctis’s nightmares off before they get into full swing. Several times, Gladio has blinked awake in the middle of the night to find Ignis whispering reassurances, holding Noctis close to his chest.
(Sometimes it’s the standard: “I’m here, Noct. Shh, I’m right here.” Sometimes it’s murmured lists of stars, names straight out of an astronomy book, constellations sketched out as wards against dark dreams. Never “it’s alright,” though. Ignis probably couldn’t lie like that if he wanted to.)
Nobody ever talks about it in the morning.
Hell, maybe Noctis doesn’t even know.
Those stories the guards used to tell about the young prince and advisor sneaking out at night, the extra clothes Ignis kept in Noctis’s teenage apartment… There’d been some jokes among the palace staff at Ignis’s expense, mostly from people jealous of his position: “sleeping his way to the top” and whatever. Gladio almost wishes it was that simple. He’d like to drag everybody who ever smirked here to see this, to listen to the sounds Noctis makes while Ignis desperately tries to hold him together in the dark.
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