Neko Writes Some Stuff

NekoAbi's Writing Blog. I'll be posting my fics here eventually, once I finish my current project. Keeps them in an easy to find place and I don't have to annoy people with the chaos of my main. Click Here For Masterlist!

[nekoabi]

Fic Masterlist!

I finally made a post version of my masterlist, which allows it to be viewed on mobile! Everything is also available on my AO3, which is also NekoAbi. 

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[nekoabiwrites]

Hi, I finished another Mary Poppins fic.

I posted it all on AO3 right here

I'm p proud of it, so if you could give it a read, that'd be cool

Thanks :)

[nekoabiwrites]

My Soul, Your Canvas

Hey Sides fans, I'm baaaack~ You can blame @not-so-innocent-bi-sander for this btw And a big thanks to the best title idea person for the title, @cloverlyanxious I've also been gone so long that I legit have forgotten ship titles...

AU: Soulmate AU (Your soulmark is art made by your soulmate that resonates with you) Words: 5008 Pairings: Remus/Virgil (Dukexiety) Warnings: A few descriptions of gore, nothing too strong. Anything else, please let me know!

Summary: Virgil loves his soulart, his family does not. After meeting a very different artist, his life shifts dramatically.

--

Virgil stared at his dual mirrors with a conflicted expression.

He loved his soulmark, it was absolutely gorgeous… 

To him. His family hated it.

The bloody wings felt so... real to him. The plucked feathers mid fall from the red, irritated flesh were evocative of recent intense pain as well as the inability to get away from whatever was currently trying to hurt him. The cracked and out of place bones jutting from beneath the broken, bloody skin were jarring at first, but Virgil felt a sense of kinship with the implication it gave.

The lack of freedom.

That’s what he felt when he saw the art piece covering his back; he felt trapped with a desire to keep trying to be free. The wings were still stretched out as if attempting to lift their host into the sky, yet being so bare and broken, they were incapable of doing so.

Virgil understood that feeling all too well. 

His family - The Eldridges - owned the largest museum in the city and were very well respected art collectors, as well as artists in their own right. All of his siblings, both older and younger, had been forced into painting as soon as they were able to hold a brush. His parents required them all to follow their great grandparents example; still life with the dullest colour palette in the world. If he had to stare at another heavily beige-toned canvas with a realistic yet dull piece of fruit in the centre of it, Virgil might just end someone. Sometimes, they would be allowed to branch out into a landscape piece if they were lucky but everything still had to work together when looked at alongside the rest of their work. Virgil knew that his parents were riding off of the reputation they gained from having the largest family collection of cohesive artwork in the world - one of the talking points they always brought up when pitching their museum to prospective artists. 

Virgil partook in the family ‘tradition’ but he utterly despised every second of it.

He hated looking at the dull tones he was forced to use in his paintings, he hated having to so closely replicate something that already existed before him, he hated the inspection process and the constant critiques from his family. He just wanted out.

He found solace in his nightly walks outside of their estate. Virgil had never been allowed outside of their gated community as a child, so when he was finally old enough to be set free (after he’d completed his daily mundane painting hours), Virgil loved to wander past the iron gates and see the world outside of his little bubble.

It was colourful, vibrant. The people were so different, so unique. He saw all sorts; mothers in eye-wateringly bright outfits pushing decorated prams, children dressed in all shades of the rainbow with splodges of more colours after a painting session, people wearing all kinds of outfits from the monochrome to the rainbow puke; from the flashy to the understated. It was exactly what Virgil yearned for.

It was during one of these nightly walks that he had stumbled across a spray paint can left out by an alleyway. Virgil had been startled by the sudden noise when he’d kicked it over, the metal can rolling down into the alley and slipping into the darkness, almost calling to him like a siren. He feet followed before his brain had even made the decision.

The next thing he knew, the can was in his hand and he was pressing down the nozzle. A spritz of vibrant purple flew out of the small hole. Virgil released the nozzle, thought for a moment, then glanced to the wall.

In no time, a hastily scrawled… something… was painted on the wall. Virgil had no idea what it was that he’d just put onto said wall, it was simply whatever his arm had decided to do in the few seconds he’d given it control.

It was pretty much just a splodge of purple, but it triggered something within Virgil. A sense of joy filled his being. It didn’t matter that it looked like nothing comprehensible. Virgil had just done.. whatever he had felt in the moment. It was freeing, like nothing had ever been before.

Now that he’d had a taste, Virgil craved it. After that night, he began to frequent the craft stores deep in the city centre, picking out a new colour each week until he had a rather sizeable collection of spray paint. 

They sat hidden in a large bag in the back of his closet, the intent being that no one but him would ever know they were there. Every few days or whenever he was feeling particularly stressed, he’d dig out the bag and slip out of the estate as carefully and quietly as possible. At first, he’d returned to the alley and started experimenting with how to actually use the spray paint effectively. He picked it up rather quickly, writing words and drawing whatever his heart desired within a few sessions. Virgil filled up those walls rather fast and began to search for other spots where he could paint. He avoided anything that was likely to disrupt people’s daily lives, he wasn’t a monster. Instead, Virgil focused on the secluded, more deserted areas of the city.

It was one of these scouting sessions where he came across a largely abandoned area of town. Tall, empty walls loomed over the desolate square of concrete. Not a window in sight, a couple of exits should he need to make a getaway, and a perfect little hidden alcove for him to stash his cans. 

That area was now famous for the intricate and weaving mural Virgil had been working on for a few years now. He had no plan, just added whatever he felt like whenever he dropped by. It hadn’t even occurred to Virgil that people in his upper class circle would even know about it. That was until he met the Raes, more specifically Remus Rae.

The man was chaos incarnate. 

Virgil was, at first, put off by the eccentric family. 

They were also a family of artists, yet they were far more encouraging than Virgil’s increasingly strict family. All of them had their own distinct styles, their favourite muses or inspirations. Not one of their pieces looked alike.

Virgil met the family at one of the incredibly boring gatherings where they networked with artists from all over the world. Such functions were dull and Virgil had to wear a suit that matched his father’s, as did the rest of his brothers while his sisters matched his mother. It was unbearable every single time. Until the Raes entered their sight.

The family was bright, standing out amongst the stark white walls and the pale imitations of other artists that littered the exhibition hall. They greeted his parents and them all in kind - something that was unfortunately refreshing as Virgil was usually ignored by the artists in these kinds of interactions. The section they had taken over was covered in a wide variety of styles, but the ones Virgil immediately gravitated towards were hidden towards the back. 

The lights had been dimmed over these pieces; they were gruesome, macabre, dark. Blood, guts and gore seemed to be the thread linking them all together. Some parts seemed to glow in the dark, but Virgil couldn’t be sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him or not. They were nothing like any art piece Virgil had seen before. They were captivating. He almost wanted to reach out and brush his fingers over them, see if they were really as textured as they looked.

“So… do you like them?”

Virgil jumped at the sudden voice that whispered loudly next to his ear. He swallowed the yelp that rose in his throat, whirling around with wide eyes.

Unbeknownst to Virgil, the young man standing behind him with a proud yet mildly unhinged grin was Remus Rae, the artist of this particular collection. 

“Um, yeah?” Virgil answered uncertainly, still confused by the sudden appearance of this man.

Remus’ grin only widened, “Finally, someone with taste!” He cackled.

They awkwardly chatted for a while, mostly Remus prattling on while Virgil glanced his way with an unenthused response. Remus Rae overpowered him with his presence alone, it was… unnerving.

“Virgil. Come here.” His mother’s even tone called from the edge of the partition the pair were standing behind, “We’re moving on.”

“Coming.” Virgil said an awkward goodbye before walking off to rejoin the rest of his family. Maybe it was because the rest of the day was so dull, but Virgil couldn’t stop thinking about the Rae kid that had ambushed him for days after.

A few weeks later, he was dragged to yet another event - this time an unveiling of a new collection in the family’s museum. He stood in yet another copycat suit, trying to stifle his yawns as he listened to bland speeches about nothing, the usual empty platitudes and all that. He turned on instinct when the rest of his family did, looking towards the curtain that was being pulled aside to reveal the collection. 

Virgil immediately paid attention when that first pop of colour hit his retinas.

He knew these pieces.

This was the Rae collection.

At the formal gathering after, Remus once again accosted Virgil. Virgil was cordial - he didn’t want to know what would happen if he dared speak out of turn with a valued contributing artist - but did excuse himself from the interaction fairly soon after, pretending to have some other duty to do. 

He, instead, hid somewhere in the corner of the exhibit that was pretty much empty. This was his usual MO at these unveiling events. Virgil wandered about, letting his feet take him wherever they wanted. He occupied himself with thoughts of what he could add to his mural that night to take his mind off of this stuffy, overbearing event. He didn’t notice that he’d wandered right back to those very same gore-filled art pieces he’d admired in the exhibition hall until he was already in the middle of the darkened area.

Once again, Virgil got lost in the art when he looked at it all. They were still as evocative as he remembered. The one he’d stopped in front of was a large canvas, almost taking up the entire wall. It was once again textured in such an interesting way, likely from all the overlapping paint layers - some of it had been scraped away revealing the compact, colourful layers. It was pretty indistinguishable as to what it was trying to be as an object, but Virgil could feel the emotion. It was a confusing mixture of pain and joy; almost like how Virgil could imagine betraying someone may feel. He stared hard, trying to commit it to memory.

“What’s a little place like you doing in a boy like this?”

Virgil quickly chastised himself for giving the exact same reaction to Remus as the first time they’d met. 

“Can you stop doing that?” Virgil tried to sound tired, but he couldn’t quite keep the frustration out of his voice.

Remus continued to grin at him, as if the expression was stuck permanently on his face, “Doing what?”

“Sneaking up on me.”

“Nope!” 

Virgil was thrown off by the happy tone of voice that Remus continued to use, almost as if he were an oblivious child that had no idea what was being asked of him.

“It’s too fun.” Remus answered Virgil’s next question before he’d even asked.

Virgil scowled. He wished he’d been allowed to wear one of his hoodies as his instinct was to shove his hands in his pockets and lower his head. Instead, he simply turned and walked away. Virgil was not any sort of mood to be toyed with.

The next morning, his mural had copious amounts of red streaks running through it.

Weeks and months passed by and Virgil continued his frequent night time excursions out to his mural. However, nothing that he added caught his eye as much as those streaks of vibrant red that he barely even remembered adding. It frustrated him like nothing else.

—

Remus Rae was having a hard time with his outfit for the upcoming gala.

As usual, his entire family were going and they all had their outfits ready weeks ahead, but Remus was never one to do things the simple way.

He’d decided to make his own out of all his favourite thrifted t-shirts he had been able to find over the last few months. Now, here he was, a couple of days away from the event with only half a skirt completed.

As he ripped another shirt apart, Remus’ bedroom door opened, spewing sunlight into the room - he’d been working in the dark with his lamp on. Instinctively, he hissed like a vampire. 

His twin brother scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Sunlight can’t actually hurt you.”

“It’s burning me alive! I’m dying! You’re murdering me!” Remus cried, pretending to melt off of his sofa.

“Whatever. Mom just wanted me to ask if you’re done yet, or if she needs to get something for you to wear.”

Remus held up his work in progress, “I’m getting there! You can’t rush a masterpiece!”

After a couple more snipes back and forth, Remus was left alone again with his work. He’d managed to convince his sibling that he would have this outfit done and to tell their mother not to worry about getting him anything. If his twin was actually going to do that or not, Remus didn’t particularly care. He had faith in himself.

He had been inspired.

Remus had been out on a walk a week ago and stumbled into a random back alleyway in town. The same one that had the ever-so-famous mural. Remus had never seen it before, only heard about it in gossip. But now, he’d seen it and was absolutely smitten.

Especially as it was exactly the same as his soulart.

He’d always been curious where his soulart was, how he was ever going to see it. But now, Remus just wanted to know the artist behind it! He wanted his soulmate right now!

Before he could really focus on his hunt - he had several traps already in mind to catch the elusive graffiti artist - Remus needed to get this outfit finished. He pulled his still-threaded needle from the arm of the sofa and got back to work, humming incoherently.

The day of the gala arrived faster than anyone expected.

That’s how Virgil had found himself looking at his soulart. He had his new shirt in hand, but was distracted by the wings on his back.

A knock at his door broke him from his thoughts and Virgil quickly threw the shirt on over his arms, “One second.” He buttoned it in record time as he stepped towards his bedroom door. He opened it to find his dad standing there, already completely, pristinely dressed.

“5 minutes.” He simply said before turning on his heel and walking away to the next door down the hall.

“Nice to see you too.” Virgil muttered under his breath as he shut the door again. With a sigh, he rushed through dressing himself up in the suit. He checked himself in the mirror at least three times to make sure that all the details were perfect before leaving his room and heading downstairs.

Four of his other siblings were already there, speaking quietly. 

Almost as soon as Virgil leant against the arm of the chair his eldest sister was perched on, heavy footsteps started to descend the stairs.

All of them jumped up and got into their line, leaving the usual spaces for the missing siblings. Their father now stood in front of them, waiting for the stragglers that had followed him down the stairs to get into line as well. He gave them all a thorough once over, ensuring every single crease and button were perfectly as he wanted.

When they were all cleared to leave, they left in an orderly fashion - eldest first, youngest last, all in a straight line.

Virgil was pretty sure that everyone else probably thought they were a family of robots or something.

They all piled into the comfortable limousine waiting outside. It was practically silent inside, voices kept to a whisper at most as they drove to the location.

‘First to arrive, as usual…’ Virgil thought as they all entered the ballroom. Other than the waitstaff who were putting the finishing touches on the tables, it was completely empty. His footsteps echoed off the polished floor, triggering his self-consciousness. 

It would be another hour until the next guest arrived, and another two until enough people appeared for Virgil to begin to fade into the crowd. Thankfully, that time did arrive and Virgil slipped away into a corner he’d scouted earlier. He stayed there, watching as boring outfit after boring outfit entered the gala. Eventually, people watching got old and Virgil zoned out, staring into space as he thought of more interesting places he’d rather be.

He stayed there until it was time for his parents’ usual boring speech. Virgil pushed himself away from the wall with a grunt of effort and took his spot in the line of his mini-me siblings. He was in the middle of stifling a yawn when the doors opened again.

It was as if the sun itself had come into the room when the Rae family entered.

Each of them were so unique, wearing all different silhouettes and clashing colours. It was a vibrant mess.

It was honestly hard to look at after so long of seeing pastel gowns and monochrome suits.

Only one of them really pulled Virgil’s attention however.

Remus Rae was standing there in what seemed like pure rags. He had on a long skirt with an extremely high slit cut into it on his left side. It wasn’t until he stepped forward along with the rest of his family that Virgil was able to make out that the scraps Remus had sewn together were pieces of old graphic tshirts. Some of the words were cut apart and pieced back together to make new ones, some artworks were painted over or scribbled on with markers or sewn straight through. It was utterly chaotic, yet Virgil couldn’t stop staring. It was almost addicting trying to pull out all the details in his outfit. The man wore these rags as if they were straight from the most expensive fashion brand, and he wore them far too well. His shirt was just as tattered; a dark forest green dress shirt with the sleeves removed, the sides pinned and tucked in odd ways, even a few rips and tears in strategic places. His high-heeled boots that clicked with each step were also clearly hand-painted, the one Virgil could see was paint splattered and scribbled on. The added accents of simple silver jewelery tied the entire look together, and the messy eyeliner and dark lipstain were the cherry on top.

To put it simply, Remus was stunning.

Besides his interesting hand-made style, Virgil noticed him for another reason. 

That was the left leg that was shown off by the high slit. 

As the Rae family walked forward, Virgil caught sight of the full size art that covered Remus’ leg. It was familiar. Far too familiar.

Virgil stood still as he descended into panic, practically deer in headlights. Remus Rae, the creep that had been accosting Virgil at all those art shows, was his soulmate?! And to top it off, had his graffiti mural as his soulart?!

In hindsight, Virgil should’ve put the pieces together all the way back when they'd first met. His back-covering soulart was very much in line with the rest of Remus’ art. Virgil, mid panic, tried hard to recall if he’d already seen that particular piece in the collection or not.

An elbow jammed into his side, pulling Virgil back into the present. He glanced to his right, at his older brother, with a mild questioning look. Virgil hadn’t even realised that his father was beginning his usual opening speech and that Virgil had definitely been staring at Remus for far too long. He flushed pink and tried to ignore the thoughts running in circles around his brain about all this. That was something for near-future-Virgil, not currently-standing-in-perfect-sync-with-his-perfect-family-Virgil.

The near-future Virgil really wasn’t that far behind, however.

During the speech, Virgil was hyped focused on all the movement he could see out of the corner of his eye - a side effect of his hypervigilance. That meant that he noticed when Remus stepped away from his family and began to circle towards his side of the room. 

Virgil had prepared himself for the moment his father finished his speech and the party resumed. Remus’ voice from behind didn’t startle him this time.

“I saw you staring.” He teased, with a sing-song tone.

Virgil shrugged, “You stand out. So?”

Remus laughed heartily, attracting even more attention to himself, “I do!”

Virgil wrinkled his nose. He started to head back towards his safe corner, but Remus stood in his way.

“So, do you like it?”

Remus took a couple of steps backwards, spinning to show off the entire ensemble he’d put together.

“It’s pretty cool, I guess.” Virgil mumbled, “You make it?”

Remus’ eyes lit up. He started a long spiel of how he’d put it all together, where he’d found all the shirts, which shirt he’d put with what, what all the words and phrases he’d made meant, all of it. He explained his entire skirt, down to the smallest, most minute details that Virgil wouldn’t have even thought to ask about. 

The pair had ended up in Virgil’s corner as they chatted - well, Remus chatted and Virgil listened.

“Oh! And I made sure the slit was here to show off this!” Remus stuck his leg out, resting his boot on the wall beside Virgil, who was now feeling like he was being very purposefully boxed in. 

Remus went on, now pointing out his favourite details in his soulart. As he rambled, Virgil felt his face heating up more and more - not just because this was an uncomfortable situation. 

He’d never heard someone be so complimentary about his art. At home, his art was subject to all sorts of critiques. It was never good enough, never perfect enough. Even his anonymous mural had been appraised by his father, though Virgil had quickly tuned that out once he realised that was what the random person had asked him about. This wasn't to say he'd not heard of any praise for his mural. He'd seem talk online about it, people seemed to like it well enough there. But that was completely different than someone standing directly in front of him, saying all these things to his face.

Emotion welled up inside Virgil and he blurted out, “I made that.”

For the first time, Remus fell completely silent.

Virgil covered his mouth and muttered a few broken words in the wake of his sudden admission.

Then Remus yanked Virgil’s arm away from his face. He tugged the quiet artist closer, grabbed tight around his waist and spun them both around.

“I knew there was something about you!” Remus grinned once again, only this time it felt more… genuine? Less unhinged? Less deranged?

“Uh, thank you? But uh, no one else knows. Please don’t be so loud about it.” Virgil pleaded in a whisper, glancing about to the guests that were now staring at them.

Remus scoffed, “Fuck that.” Without hesitating for even a moment, he grabbed a hold of Virgil’s wrist and dragged him into the centre of the room - not even trying to avoid anyone in front of him, instead just shoving them aside. All the commotion brought that part of the room’s attention to the pair, which delighted Remus and terrified Virgil.

Virgil attempted to slip out of Remus’ hold, but the man’s grip was impressively tight. He had no way to escape before the foundations of his world were splintered.

“I found my soulmate!” Remus said as plainly as he could when his entire thing was being just on the edge of unstable, holding Virgil’s arm up high. 

Murmurs quickly passed through the crowd.

Eyes flicked between Remus, Virgil and Remus' partially exposed leg.

Virgil couldn’t help scanning all their faces, even as he wanted to shut his eyes as tight as possible and never see the light of day again. He might not be able to after this anyway. His father would probably kill him.

“And look at this!”

Despite knowing exactly what Remus was going to do, Virgil still felt the shock of horror that punched his gut as Remus’ leg was now very obviously presented to the somehow enraptured crowd of onlookers. Yeah, that sealed it. Virgil’s life was now on a very short timeline to utter destruction.

“Excuse me. What is the disturbance?” The low, even voice of his father cut through the chatter, silencing everything in an instant.

Virgil didn’t even want to look. His eyes immediately shot down to the floor. 

He could still imagine the smile on Remus’ face as he spoke (lopsided and just a little too wide, yet somehow charming), “Virgil’s my soulmate and did this!” 

Virgil could vividly see his father’s expression too. He knew that right this instant, where his gaze burned into the top of Virgil’s head as he continued to look directly at the minuscule grout lines of the tiled flooring beneath his feet, his father’s practiced neutrality was being tested.

There was a moment where nothing happened. No one moved. No one spoke. Virgil didn’t even breathe.

His father spoke first, “You must be mistaken.”

“I’m not.”

Remus’ instantaneous response stopped his father mid step, the click of his polished shoes only sounding once.

“And how can you be so sure?” 

Remus laughed, “Because…” He started.

“I told him.” Virgil finally spoke up.

Another round of silence followed, causing Virgil to lift his gaze from the floor - a choice he almost immediately regretted as the venom pouring from his father’s gaze was almost too much to bear. 

“Why would you tell him that?” His father’s rage was barely contained, even the other party goers could notice it now.

“Because it’s true. I don’t lie.” Virgil went to curl both his hands tightly into fists subconsciously, but found the one attached to the arm Remus had grabbed a hold of was now held within the other man’s. In a shockingly subtle sign of support, Remus gripped his hand tight in return. 

If it were physically possible, Virgil was pretty sure smoke would be coming out of every hole in his father’s head - a slightly disturbing thought that he was sure someone influenced him into. “We’ll discuss this at home.”

“Um, no, I don’t think you will. Virgil’s coming with me tonight!” Remus piped up, before shouting across the room, “Mom! Can I bring my soulmate home?!”

“Of course, sweetheart.” His mother responded cheerily, almost as if she were responding to a mundane request for dinner, not about housing another full human being.

“I think you’ll find that he will, in fact, be returning home with his family.” Virgil’s father practically spat the last word out as if it were acid that had been burning his gums. “Now, come along, Virgil.”

His father turned and began to walk back through the crowd, fully expecting his son to follow, but Virgil remained still. He squeezed Remus’ hand tight once more before saying, firmly and resolutely, “No.”

Slowly, almost glacially, the head of the Eldridge family stopped and turned back towards his son. The facade had been fully discarded and his rage was fully on display, red-face and all. “What did you just say?” He said, quiet and threatening.

“I said, no. I won’t be coming back with you. It’s a stretch to call it home anyway.” Virgil said, fighting the urge to hide behind his soulmate.

Virgil refused to acknowledge whatever else came out of his so-called father’s mouth. Instead, he pulled Remus away from the centre of the crowd and over to where Mrs Rae’s voice had come from. It only took a couple of steps for Remus to start dragging Virgil behind him instead. He also just started chatting Virgil’s ear off yet again - an obvious attempt to pull his focus back to him instead of whatever was going on behind the two of them.

It was pretty much a blur from that moment on. The next thing Virgil really registered was being in an unfamiliar fancy car, sitting next to Remus. Just in front was his soulmate’s twin brother - that was something Virgil had managed to retain from whatever had just happened at the end of that gathering.

Apparently, said twin was not too pleased about Remus having found his soulmate.

“I’m just saying, it’s unfair! How could he find his soulmate before me?! And why is he coming back with us already?!” The apparently-elder twin (the two had been bickering about it a moment ago) pouted.

“Come now, Roman. At least, it’s not another one of the feral cats with kittens coming home with us.” Mrs Rae said from the front passenger seat.

“He’s not far off…” Roman muttered under his breath, before exclaiming as Remus poked him from behind, starting yet another back and forth between the Rae siblings.

It was a lot to take in on Virgil’s end, but somehow, it was so much better. The chatter, the playfulness, the joy. It was entirely opposite to everything Virgil had ever known.

Eventually, the twins settled down and Remus turned his full attention back to Virgil, “So…”

“So?”

“When can I see yours?”

Virgil almost immediately turned red. A long-suffering sigh came from the driver’s seat while the voice just in front of them squealed in disgust.

[kikyozoldyck]

fan fic authors be like yes i know this will flop however i simply have too much love for this character and my very niche headcanons for them. and i think that is so fuckin sexy of us

[tedsprestonesq]

new game: how many hits/reads/whatever does your least popular fic have? mine has 16

[nekoabiwrites]

I'd Know That Silhouette Anywhere

So... I've been working on the theatre show of Mary Poppins for a couple weeks... and it has really affected me. These two are just too good for angsty soulmate shenanigans!

AU: Soulmate AU (Your shadow is the outline of your soulmate) Words: 261 Pairings: One-sided Bert/Mary Warnings: None. Let me know if there’s anything!

Summary: 

Bert always looked down at his shadow to see her. When he sees its duplicate, he can't help but hurt.

--

Every day at 3pm sharp, Bert would stand in the sunlight and look directly down at his shadow.

Even when she wasn’t around, he could see her.

A bittersweet feeling swelled in his chest every single time.

He thought back to the first time he’d seen that exact same shadow fall beside him.

It was confusing. It was heartbreaking.

As he raised his head up to see the beautiful woman standing beside him, Bert felt himself fall in love.

He didn’t know what they felt like until then.

But he knew now.

The lack of his own shadow in her wake punched him in the gut, yet he found he didn’t mind.

Bert Alfred was fine just being in Mary Poppins’ practically perfect presence.

When his Mary shaped shadow was joined by its twin, Bert stopped momentarily.

“Don't move a muscle. Stay right where you are.” He said, steadying his complex emotions.

He allowed the genuine happiness to fill his entire body and allow the wide grin to take over his features.

“I’d know that silhouette anywhere.” Bert chuckled. He turned to look up at the woman who’d joined him.

His grin somehow widened even more, “Mary Poppins.”

“It’s nice to see you, Bert.” Mary’s voice rang as clear as ever, imprinting it’s sound into his brain along with anything else she’d ever said to him.

She may not have a soulmate, she may have been his still, yet Bert was never happier than when he got the chance to see the face behind the shadow he loved to stare at.

[nekoabiwrites]

You Look Ridiculous In That Shirt

I finally have the writing bug again!

AU: None Words: 2092 Pairings: Gladio/Noctis, with background Chocobros Warnings: None. Let me know if there’s anything!

Summary: Gladio hadn't expected this trip to go on this long. He really should've packed better.

--

Had Gladio known that this trip was going to last as long as it was, he really would’ve packed better.

After countless weeks of running around in the wild, camping at havens most nights and a lot of cave exploring and daemon fighting, a lot of his clothes were looking worse for wear. Each time they’d stopped somewhere with a laundromat or somewhere with a washing machine, he’d beelined for it, his entire bag under his arm. But now, even Ignis’ seemingly innate magic with a needle and thread couldn’t help with how threadbare everything had become. 

Gladio waved off the concern for as long as he could, but the moment he pulled out a shirt from the latest wash in Lestallum and it fell apart in his hands, he knew he really couldn’t deny it anymore. It was time to get some new clothes.

Now, while Lestallum was a large town and well stocked with a variety of stores and stalls that seemed to sell everything they could ever need, clothing didn’t seem to exactly be that large of a priority for the town. Gladio would have to deal with whatever he could find, especially in his particular size. He knew it was going to be a difficult task.

If he were honest with himself, Gladio hadn’t really paid attention to how the residents of the town had dressed before besides the distractingly half-naked powerplant workers. Now that he was browsing the stores, Gladio was very aware that none of this really seemed to suit his sense of style. He spent hours searching through every single store he could find, from the main streets to the back alleys, yet everything really, truly did not suit him in the slightest. Begrudgingly, however, he ended up purchasing a couple of new outfits purely out of necessity. He added ‘find something more fitting next time they stopped by a hunter’s outpost’ to his mental checklist as he exited the final store with his regrettable purchases stuffed deep into the bag.

Gladio was thankful that he could stick to his fatigues for a couple of days. However, after yet another full day of hunts, the leather was beginning to stick to his skin and was becoming incredibly uncomfortable. Gladio knew he’d have to dip into his unfortunate stash of Lestallum clothing very soon.

The very next day, Ignis had been coerced agreed to a lazy recovery day around the current haven since they’d earned a nice sum from all their hunts the day before. Noctis had somehow gotten up early and immediately walked the short distance to the nearby fishing spot with Prompto and his camera on his tail, while Ignis remained just outside of the tent, working on weapon maintenance while still keeping an eye on the younger two down the hill.

Gladio chose to linger in the tent under the pretence of sleeping in. He sat with the sleeping bag pooled around his waist, trying to avoid looking in the direction of his clothing bag. He knew that he had to get up sometime today, or else he’d never hear the end of it from his royal brattiness. With a weary sigh, Gladio forced himself to get dressed.

He grimaced as the soft fabric slid over his skin, the shirt being far thinner than anything he would ever usually go for. It was also, most definitely too small for him as the pattern stretched awkwardly around his large biceps. Gladio considered leaving the shirt unbuttoned, but he felt a little bile threaten to breach past his throat at the thought of what he would look like with this shirt in that way, so he quickly did the best he could to button it up. 

Gladio was taking so long to get himself fully clothed that somewhere, in the back of his brain, a small voice that sounded suspiciously like Iris was chastising him for all the times he criticized her for taking so long in the mornings. After taking a little over ten minutes to completely retie his boots twice over, Gladio had run out of tasks that he could waste time with inside the tent. He steeled himself, hand hovering over the tent’s zip. Before Gladio could double guess himself, he tugged on the zip and pushed his way out of the cramped, warm tent.

There was no reaction for a moment. Gladio savored that moment.

Ignis was engrossed in sharpening his daggers, Prompto and Noctis were at the base of the haven’s rockface. It was as if it were just a normal day with normal chatter and normal clothes. Yet Gladio knew it wouldn’t last long, waiting for the inevitable comments, but he indulged himself in the brief window of time where everything was just… normal.

It only lasted until the prince and his best friend’s gazes managed to reach over the top of the haven.

The first to go was Prompto. The gunslinger was never that good at hiding his thoughts or emotions, so Gladio expected it. He heard that unmistakable laugh, the slap of Prompto’s palm over his mouth to stifle the uncontrollable giggles. Then he heard Noctis’ signature quiet breath of laughter, Gladio could feel the prince’s amused gaze taking in his entire look. Gladio sighed. He could see Ignis raise his head out of the corner of his eye. The strategist glanced back towards the prince and the gunslinger before following their gaze back to where Gladio still stood. 

Ignis seemingly couldn’t help the laugh that slipped out of him, but he composed himself within a second, “New outfit, Gladio?”

The man in question only gave an affirmative grunt in response as he pretended to not care. He would’ve stretched had he not been in the mood to find out what response ripping this shirt to shreds would get him.

Ignis’ tone was full of repressed laughter, “It’s quite a style, I must say.” 

Behind the strategist, Gladio clearly heard the increasingly muffled laughter of their younger companions.

He had expected this. When the only shirts he could find that were even close to his size were absolutely covered in the brightest multicoloured flowers he had ever seen, Gladio just knew that none of them were going to be able to hold back their laughter. Heck, Gladio knew that he himself would have teased and laughed had one of the others had to wear such a gaudy look. But he couldn’t help the deep feeling of unease that settled in his gut.

While the Shield stewed in his annoyance, he could hear a small muffled comment about how the button that was holding the shirt just about closed over his pecs was holding on for dear life followed by snorts of laughter.

That was the last straw.

Gladio turned sharply and returned to the tent. He wasn’t in the mood for this today. He already did not want to be wearing this ridiculous shirt. The comments and laughter at his expense were making the experience even worse.

The Shield busied himself with rearranging all their sleeping bags and pillows, lining up their personal bags and dirty laundry bags off to the side to make more room. He set himself up a nice nest of soft cushioning to protect himself from the hard rock of the haven beneath the tent floor, placing his currently half-read book next to the camping lamp that he’d moved closer to give himself a little more light. Gladio pulled his greatsword from the armiger and was about to settle down in place to work on his own maintenance when the tent flap opened. Internally, Gladio sighed. He shut his eyes and prepared himself for the comment that was about to come from those particular footsteps.

“You look ridiculous in that shirt.” Noctis’ voice was shockingly soft and quiet. If Gladio had more time to think, he likely would have described it as fond.

Gladio looked over his shoulder, “Don’t you start.” He responded quietly himself, almost vulnerable.

Noctis brought his hands up to Gladio’s shoulders. Very gently, he pushed against Gladio, attempting to guide his Shield to turn around. Gladio could have stood resolutely still and refused the prince’s non-verbal request, but he just couldn’t. He hated to admit it, but he really couldn’t deny his prince anything. Very slowly, he turned until they were face to face. Or, considering how much shorter Noctis was, face to chest.

The prince gave him a lazy half smile, the one only shown in their most private moments. The walls of this tent were incredibly lucky to have seen it so often, Gladio thought briefly before his mind stalled when Noctis began to run his hands down the front of the gaudy shirt.

He was almost reverent in his touch. Fingertips lightly traced Gladio’s chest through the incredibly thin material, sometimes diverting to follow the weaving stems and leaves of the almost neon flowers. Gladio couldn’t help but hold his breath as Noctis traced over his heart directly.

“Sorry.” Noctis mumbled distractedly, eyes raising to meet Gladio’s even as his hands came to the straining buttons in the centre.

Gladio shrugged. He didn’t know what to say. It was rare for the prince to be so open, so forward. 

So, they just continued.

Noctis continued to explore. Gladio continued to stand there.

It wasn’t until the prince reached the hem of the shirt and began to instead trace the waistband of Gladio’s trousers that the Shield finally found his words once more.

With an amused glint to his eye, Gladio tipped Noctis’ head up once more to look him directly in the eye, “Something you’re not telling me, princess?”

Noctis flushed as he scowled, pulling his hands away as if he’d been burned, “No.” He said shortly, sounding more like a pouting child than the runaway prince.

Gladio wouldn’t have had him any other way. 

“Wanna sit with me for a bit?” He gestured behind him to the nest he’d created. Gladio watched as Noctis’ expression slipped into one of longing. Then, without warning, Noctis grabbed a hold of Gladio’s wrist and attempted to pull his heavily muscled companion into the space on the ground. 

It took a bit of shuffling and light arguing, but they did eventually find a comfortable position. Gladio reclined against the mountain of pillows that Noctis had added to with his stash from the armiger while the prince rested against Gladio’s chest, hand returning to tracing indistinct patterns against the fabric as the Shield read in the comfortable silence.

Hours later, Prompto stuck his head into the tent, smile as wide as ever, “Dinner’s ready! You two-” He cut himself off. Instead of finishing his sentence, Prompto quickly darted away and back towards where he’d left his camera. 

Just as he picked it back up, Ignis called out to him. “What are you doing, Prompto?”

“One sec, Iggy. Just really need this shot.” Prompto stage whispered - he never really had gotten the hang of an indoor voice. He ducked back into the tent and tiptoed around, camera pressed up against his face as he looked for the perfect angle. 

Back out at the camping stove, Ignis heard the telltale snapping sound that came with Prompto’s impromptu photoshoot a few times before the rustle of the waterproof fabric sounded again as the sharpshooter returned back to his side. The strategist angled his head slightly, ready to see what Prompto had been so intent on enshrining in his camera’s memory.

His gaze softened and a fond smile crossed his features as Prompto proudly showed off the most recent image.

Noctis and Gladio were fast asleep, curled up in each other’s embrace. A book was left forgotten to Gladio’s right and that awful shirt he’d suddenly appeared in today was hanging open. From the position of Noctis’ hands, Ignis jumped to the conclusion that it was the prince’s doing. Prompto quickly proved him wrong, however, as he held up a loose button. Both of them couldn’t help but laugh softly before they returned to staring at their other two companions. 

“Perhaps dinner could wait a little longer…” Ignis thought aloud.

Prompto’s grin couldn’t have been wider, “I was just thinking the same thing.”

Ignis turned the heat off on the stove and the pair carefully wandered back into the tent and joined the incredibly comfortable cuddle pile. As his eyes slid closed, Ignis resolved to make sure Gladio had more fitting clothes soon. He knew there was a hunter outpost not too far away…

[nekoabiwrites]

So... I'm currently in the process of editing On the Verge of a Heartbreak over on AO3

(Shameless Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16887834/chapters/39665025)

If anyone ever wanted to read it again, all these years on and see it be a little bit better

[nekoabiwrites]

Pretty Face, Perfect Smile, But What's Underneath? - Chapter 10

AU: None Words: 1872 Pairings: None - just mary sue shenanigans Warnings: None. Let me know if there’s anything!

Summary: Noctis wakes up, alone and confused. He can’t remember how he got here.

Flashback to a few months ago, here she comes…

-

Groaning, Noctis pulled himself off of the uncomfortable bed in the thankfully safe barracks room he’d been able to find. He’d made his way through several floors of daemons, bloodthirsty hunting MTs and stupid jumpscaring MTs playing dead on the ground, all the while that smarmy and punchable voice rang from over the speakers. He’d been hunted, stalked, beaten and taunted relentlessly, but Noctis was not giving up.

He’d ran through the events of the past few months in his head, yet nothing was helping. There were blurs, things that his brain just didn’t want to remember - or somehow couldn’t. It was almost as infuriating as this stupid fortress, but Noctis was sure if he found Prompto or Ignis or Gladio, they could fill in the gaps for him.

Noctis felt like he was getting close. He had to be.  This place couldn’t go on much further. Gripping his father’s sword and saying a silent prayer for Ravus, as he’d done each time he even glanced at the weapon, Noctis steeled his nerves and ventured back out into the cramped hallways.

By some crazy divine Astral intervention, Noctis had been right. His friends were not far away at all. Prompto was not in great condition, having been kidnapped and seemingly tortured, but he was alive. And apparently an MT, like that mattered at all. The important thing now was getting them all rested up and finally getting that damn crystal back.

A particularly nasty fight broke out after shutting down the power suppressor that the Niffs had created, but that stalking daemon was no match for the four of them. The body of Aldercapt, or what was left of his daemon version, faded away and Noctis felt he could finally catch his breath.

Footsteps from just outside the room had him immediately back on high alert however. The ring on his finger also started to warm, almost imperceptively.

“Wow, look at you. Made it all the way here. Impressive!” The voice that called out to them sounded oddly familiar.

“Who’s there?” Gladio called out, his greatsword slung over his shoulder and ready to cleave whoever or whatever was out there.

A sinister laugh that was trying so hard to be sweet sent shivers down Noctis’ spine, “It’s just me, silly. Don’t you remember, Gladdy?”

Gladio practically growled, “That’s not an answer.”

More footsteps, the throne room was seemingly being circled by whatever this was, “Oh, c’mon. After all that time, you still don’t trust me?”

Ignis scoffed and replied this time, “I knew something was off. Back on the train.”

The steps paused. The voice somehow darkened, “And I knew I shouldn’t have let you in.” Noctis hissed as the ring began to feel like it was burning his skin.

“Far too late for that.”

“Oh, I’m well aware.” The voice took on an edge of anger, the footsteps resumed, faster and louder. “Now, what to do with you all?”

“Iggy, you know who that is?” Noctis whispered, hoping to not be heard by whatever presence was around them. His question was met with a baffled look from his advisor.

“Noctis. Now is not the time for games.” Ignis chastised, though his voice wavered.

“No, I’m serious. Who is that?”

The footsteps stopped again. “What did you just say?” The voice was steady.

Noctis glanced around the cage-like room, trying to catch even a glimpse of whatever was stalking them. He flinched harshly when a scream-like roar pierced his ears. It echoed off the walls, as did the voice as it spoke again.

“All that time and you forgot me? That’s impossible!” The being seemed to be stamping about now, close to running almost.

“You can’t forget me! That’s not how this is supposed to go!” The voice was growing angrier, deeper, more daemonic. 

“You can’t forget me! I’ll make you not forget me!” 

A figure appeared finally in the doorway. It was human-shaped, if Noctis had to give it a shape, though it definitely couldn’t pass for one. Its arms were gangly, its neck too long, its face almost bare - only the barest indication of eye sockets and a nose were visible. What seemed to be silver white hair fell sporadically from the top of its head in chunks, showing off the taut skin beneath. It almost melded with the colour of the torn, shapeless cloth that wrapped around its body. If Noctis had to relate it to anything else he’d seen, he could only relate it to a blank doll, like someone stopped partway through and just gave up. Oh, and that super fake and creepy banshee ‘photo’ that was shown on that monster hunting program he used to watch with Prom on days off.

Off to Noctis’ side, he heard Prompto gag, “Oh, that’s gross. That’s really gross. I feel so totally gross right now.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Prompto.” Ignis said, ever the voice of reason.

“Okay, I don’t wanna be insensitive, Iggy, but you can’t see what I see. And if that’s who I think it is, I definitely don’t feel very good about it.” Prompto squirmed, eyes still trained on the figure before them, his trigger finger tensing.

Gladio grimaced himself, sparing a glance over to the marksman, “I feel ya. Can’t believe it, if I’m honest.”

Noctis huffed, “Is anyone gonna explain this to me?” He shot looks between his three friends, frustration boiling as they seemed on the exact same page on this.

“Noctis, do you truly not remember Alice?” Ignis asked plainly.

He thought for a moment, “Uh, the name seems familiar, but I can’t place it.”

The creature in the doorway bristled with anger and went to lunge for the group, but Prompto fired a shot at her feet. “Nope, I don’t think so.” It turned its eyeless gaze towards him as it stopped dead, its neck lolling to the side and leaving its head at an awkward angle. 

“Iggy, you knew something was up with her? Since when?” Gladio shot a sideways look towards the advisor for a split second, before returning his ever watchful gaze to the figure before them.

“Since she appeared on the train.”

“She what?”

Ignis briefly explained the encounter and how she just seemed different, as well as how Prompto had not seen her at all. Throughout, both Gladio and Ignis did not take their eyes off of the figure before them, especially as it began to seemingly shudder at Ignis’ continued speech.

“It seems her disguise falters if you cannot perceive it visually.” Ignis concluded. The creature growled quietly and shuffled a touch away, bringing a wry smile to the advisor’s face, “Ah, seems I was right. Though it doesn’t explain the erasure of her from Noctis’ mind.”

“Can we figure it out later? I don’t wanna look at this anymore. It’s ugly.” Noctis wrinkled his nose as he brought his gaze back to this weird thing in front of him, apparently named Alice.

His comment appeared to be the last straw for the creature as it let out its piercing scream once more and lept towards the group. While the fight was nowhere near as difficult as Foras had been, Alice was almost just as determined not to die. She seemed to dodge each of their attacks perfectly, besides the odd swipe from Noctis and Ignis’ blades. Her continuous dodges made it hard for her to truly attack them, yet she managed a good few cuts of her own to them all.

Prompto huffed, frustrated as he reloaded once more, “Why can’t we hit her?!”

“Beats me! Keep trying!” Gladio yelled, grunting through the effort of swinging his large sword once more towards her position, only to end with a hiss as she clawed at his arm in response.

“Ignis! A little help?” Noctis called behind him.

Ignis pushed himself to the side and up against the wall, thinking hard and fast. She could keep them here forever, if they continued like this. She had to have something, some weakness they could exploit somewhere.

“Should we just let Noct take this? It looks like he’s the only one getting any hits in!” Prompto called out, firing a few more shots.

Something clicked in Ignis’ head. If only he and Noctis were landing any sort of hit on her, their perception of her was the only difference. That was it. “Prompto, Gladio, provide support for Noctis. He’s the only one who has no perception of her! Noct, you focus on her!”

“Already on that, Iggy!” Noctis’ voice changed volume instantly as he warped towards Alice. Gladio and Prompto began to herd her towards the prince for attacks, but she was still evading them all.

She laughed, icy and merciless, “You shout your tactics for all to hear and expect me to just fall in line?” Alice slipped under Noctis’ blade once more, only her leg grazing the sharp edge.

“It is so creepy how she speaks without a mouth, dude.” Prompto muttered, as his evasive manoeuvre took him close to Ignis’ position. 

“I’m sure it is.” Ignis replied, listening carefully to the fight going on before him. “Noct. On your left.”

Noctis stopped short of another swing, confused, “Huh?” He turned, just in time to see a knife fly on his left side, towards the frustratingly nimble enemy. Who also managed to avoid that.

“Ha! Is that the best you have?” Alice gloated, slipping backwards in order to smoothly pick the knife up from where it had landed. “What did I say about yelling your-” Her posturing was cut off by a swift stab in her back. She fell silent. 

Noctis slid the blade from the body, throwing the sword back into the armiger without thought, “Maybe smack-talking isn’t the best tactic either.” He snarkily said to the now lifeless body.

“Pretty good, Noct.” Gladio clapped the prince’s shoulder roughly, steering him towards the centre of the room.

“Couldn’t have done it without Ignis’ smart brain over here.” Noctis joked, noting how Ignis’ cheeks flushed under the praise.

“It was nothing special. I’m just glad you retained something from our training sessions.” 

“Hey! I’ve retained a whole lot, thanks.” Noctis pouted.

“Hello? Guys? Remember, there’s a crystal to go and get? A world to save?” Prompto called out from the doorway, “Are we doing this or what?”

“Give us a second, Blondie.” Gladio walked over and pulled Prompto towards the others, settling him down on the floor beside a now sat Noctis and Ignis, “Gotta be ready for whatever’s past this point.”

“Fair enough.” Prompro stretched, “Guess a break would be nice.”

“Okay, so can you guys actually tell me what happened?” The prince’s voice sounded distorted by the speakers in the surveillance room. The man watching disregarded whatever conversation followed, it was of no use to him. Though he had to admit, whatever that ‘Alice’ thing was had been useful. 

“Such a shame she didn’t work with me. We could’ve done wonders together.” Ardyn Izunia sat back in his chair, yawning performatively, “Oh well, all in the past. I must focus on more important, more present things.” He stood from the chair and stepped out, walking towards the crystal’s holding room. Yes, not long now.

--

Previous

[nekoabiwrites]

Pretty Face, Perfect Smile, But What's Underneath? - Chapter 9

AU: None Words: 1893 Pairings: None - just mary sue shenanigans Warnings: None. Let me know if there’s anything!

Summary: Noctis wakes up, alone and confused. He can’t remember how he got here.

Flashback to a few months ago, here she comes…

-

Noctis had nothing to say anymore. He simply stared out the window, watching the landscape rush by. The Ring of the Lucii felt far heavier in his hand than it had any right to. Gladiolus had already stormed off after yet another frustrating lecture, thankfully. Noctis was so close to doing something he’s pretty sure no King had done to their Shield - maybe he should’ve paid more attention in his history classes, but Ignis was just such a good note taker for him.

His thoughts ground to a halt and his face fell into a grimace at the simple thought of his most loyal retainer. Noctis glanced Ignis’ way, a faint hope that everything had been a dream, but reality smacked him in the face.

Ignis’ face was still heavily scarred. No longer could Noctis be caught staring and so easily flustered by that almost ever present glint in Ignis’ eyes. Noctis could no longer see Ignis’ eyes. It stung deeply. The ring somehow grew heavier.

He needed to get out of here. Noctis rose from his seat, ignoring Prompto who tried to call out to him, only giving his best friend a noncommittal wave of his hand and began to walk towards the sleeping cabins. Naps always made Noctis feel better. He’ll deal with that after a good nap.

Sliding open the door, a familiar face greeted him, but it was one he absolutely did not expect to see here.

“Alice?”

The almost ethereal presence of the white-clad woman brought back a memory of Altissia that Noctis almost grasped a hold of, but it dissipated and was replaced with the thought of the night outside the Leville. 

“Hey stranger. You left without saying bye again.” Alice smiled, warmth radiating despite the cold cabin.

Noctis searched for the words, but just couldn’t find them. Too many questions swirled, but the longer he stared, the less they mattered. Strangely, the ring - now deep within his pocket - felt warm. 

“You gonna just stand in the doorway?” Alice laughed, the air around her almost shimmering as she did. 

Noctis stepped in and slowly slid the door shut before taking a seat directly next to Alice. Immediately, he rested his head on her shoulder and her ever-so-delicate hand came up to comb through his hair. Noctis felt himself relax, the tension draining from his body. He was close to falling asleep right there.

“You’re almost there, aren’t you? So close to finishing this all, huh?” Alice’s voice was barely above a whisper. “They’re all waiting for you to step up. Must be hard, being the prince.”

Noctis’ brow furrowed for a moment. How did she know? Something felt vaguely off, but his senses were muffled and clouded with exhaustion that he had to really try and grasp the question he was considering to ask. Then a sharp knock at the door sounded.

“Noct. Are you alright? Prompto seemed very concerned for you and so I came to check on you, for all our sakes.” Ignis asked. “May I come in?”

Noctis felt as though he were coming back to reality as he lifted his head slightly before responding, “Yeah,” he cleared his throat that was feeling strangely lax, “Yeah, Iggy. Come in.”

The door slid open and Ignis carefully stepped over the awkward lip into the room, having tripped over it practically every other time he’d entered one of the cabins. Noctis felt his heart sink as he took in Ignis once again; battered, bruised, scarred. Altissia hadn’t been kind to him.

“Oh Ignis…” Alice reminded Noctis of her presence, sounding utterly devastated at the sight. Noctis had to put genuine effort into holding himself up as she stood from the bed.

Ignis had stopped dead at the sound of her voice. He seemed to almost flinch when Alice gently touched his arm. He cleared his throat, regaining his usual composure, “Apologies, I did not expect to find you here on this train, Alice.”

“And I didn’t expect to find you all in such a terrible state.” She reached out with her other hand, seemingly to brush against the scarring on Ignis’ face, but hesitated and thought better of it at the last moment. “I won’t ask.” Alice said suddenly, before stepping away and returning to her previous spot on the bed beside Noctis. Without thinking, Noctis leaned back towards her, pressing their shoulders together.

Ignis’ brow was still a touch furrowed, but he returned to his initial reason for following Noctis to the cabins, “Are you alright, Noct?”

Noctis shrugged, “Can I get back to you on that?” Even through the sunglasses and scarring, Noctis knew the look Ignis would be giving him right now. “I just… I wanna take a nap and sort things out for a bit, alone. Is that alright?” He asked, exhaustion lacing his voice.

A moment passed where Ignis seemed to consider Noctis’ words. “Alright, but I need you and Gladio to at least sort things out before too long. We’ll be arriving in Gralea sooner than you think and we’ll need to work together.”

“I know. I’ll… I’ll try.” Noctis said, his head dropping onto Alice’s warm shoulder again, the hand returning to his scalp. It almost lulled him to sleep right there. He was so close.

“I suppose that’s all I can ask of you. Now Alice, I think we had better leave the prince to his nap, don’t you?” It wasn’t really a question, Noctis knew that Ignis tone better than probably anyone.

The hand retreated from Noctis’ hair and the warm body beside him moved slowly, giving him time to prop himself up on his own, “If he wants to be alone, then I suppose we’d better.” Noctis’ brain could almost swear that Alice’s voice had an icy edge to it, but he was so exhausted and drowsy that it didn’t really register

“See you in a bit. Sleep well.” Ignis said, his voice low as Noctis laid himself down to sleep. 

The door to the cabin very gently slid shut. Ignis turned towards where he assumed Alice would’ve been after leaving the room. He went to speak but was interrupted by footsteps… approaching him? “Alice?”

“Huh? Alice? Why would she be on the train?” Prompto asked, coming to stop right in front of Ignis. His compulsion to place a hand on Ignis’ arm was welcome, but somehow disconcerting in this moment. 

“She was most definitely here. Her and Noctis were speaking before I stepped in to check on him.” Ignis reached to the side, brushing his hand against the door as if Prompto needed a visual indicator.

“Iggy… I think you need some rest. Maybe all this stress is getting to you. There’s no way she could be here.” Prompto gently tried to guide Ignis to the second cabin room they had. It was a little patronising, if Ignis were to be completely honest.

For a moment, Ignis considered fighting his point. The logical parts of him were warring. She had to have been here. She had physically touched his arm, right where Prompto’s hand was this very moment. Though he could have sworn her hands were smaller before, perhaps that was just his sense of proportion being distorted from his lack of vision. At the same time, Prompto had come from the direction he’d heard her step towards. So she would’ve had to have crossed paths with him in order to leave. He hadn’t simply just missed her footsteps as she left in the opposite direction, had he? It was all utterly confusing.

In the end, Ignis sighed. He did feel incredibly tired. He wished someone would have told him that having to seemingly relearn everything once again would truly take everything out of him and then some. Perhaps both him and Noctis were hallucinating. “I think I’ll try Noctis’ method for once. A nap may do me some good.”

“Oh, I am so telling Noct you said that.” Prompto laughed, a sound that Ignis had not heard since before Lady Lunafreya’s speech back in Altissa.

“Please don’t. He’ll never let me forget it.”

“Uh, yeah. That’s the point.”

-

Previous ---- Next

[nekoabiwrites]

Pretty Face, Perfect Smile, But What's Underneath? - Chapter 8

AU: None Words: 1893 Pairings: None - just mary sue shenanigans Warnings: None. Let me know if there’s anything!

Summary: Noctis wakes up, alone and confused. He can’t remember how he got here.

Flashback to a few months ago, here she comes…

-

Alice left them before they descended below the Vesperpool. She said she had other things to do and didn’t want to get in their way. They watched as she wandered back up the road towards Meldacio before heading off to Steyliff Grove.

After a long, gruelling trip down to the depths and a long fight with the Quetzalcoatl guarding the mythril - thank the Astrals above for Aranea accompanying them, the group returned to Caem. Only for Cindy to send them all back off to Lestallum while she and Cid worked on repairing the boat. They met with Holly, the person Cindy told them to find, and Noctis entered the powerplant alongside a somewhat familiar yet nameless hunter. Once the daemons had been cleared out, Gladiolus and Noctis returned to their waiting group members.

“I knew it was you.”

“Shut it, Princess.” Gladio grumbled as they wandered back across the bridge to Lestallum. “Can’t wait to be out of this damn suit…” He shifted about inside the thermal suit, clearly uncomfortable.

“It is definitely weird that you’re not practically half naked…” Noctis snarked. He almost toppled over as Gladio shoved him in response, “Hey!”

Gladio simply laughed as he closed in on the metal gates, while Noctis lightly jogged to catch up. He shut the gate behind him as Gladio took the head off and breathed in deep.

“Finally…”

Noctis immediately noticed the new scar across Gladio’s forehead, but he didn’t get a chance to comment as Holly called them both from a little further down the fence.

“I can’t thank you enough for helping me out. You’re both lifesavers.” She said, taking the helmets from them both. “You can go change back over there. Just leave the suits on the bench, I’ll sort ‘em later.”

When they returned in their usual outfits, Holly was still by the gate chatting with some familiar faces.

Prompto grinned upon seeing them both walking over, quickly striking up conversation with Gladio over where he’d appeared from while Ignis continued chatting with Holly briefly. The silvery giggle from the other side of the woman took Noctis’ attention, however.

“Told you they were reliable.” Alice nudged Holly with her elbow.

Holly rolled her eyes, “And I believed you. Especially as Cindy also gave them as a glowing recommendation too.”

Alice simply giggled once more in response to Holly. Her eyes, however, were fixated on Gladio’s face. He quickly noticed and raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. Just… something seems… different?”

Noctis gestured to the new scar on Gladio’s head, “That’s new.”

Both Prompto and Ignis’ attention were brought to it now. But not one of them could beat the speed of Alice as she stepped forward to get a better look.

“Damn… what happened to you?”

Gladio shrugged, “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“We will do no such thing.” Ignis interjected. He also got closer, standing behind Alice in order to see the wound, “At least it seems like a simple surface wound.”

“Really. It’s fine. Look.” Gladio ran his hand across his forehead, even poking it a few times for emphasis, “It’s all healed, doesn’t hurt a bit.”

No one truly wanted to drop the subject, but Gladio’s insistence was forcing their hand. Ignis gave him a stern look that screamed ‘this discussion isn’t over’.

Alice, meanwhile, steered the conversation a little, “I guess it does add to your whole look.”

“My… look?”

“Yeah, y’know. That whole…” Alice searched for the right words, “like, hot, rugged, tough guy protector thing.” Before anyone could say another word, Alice’s phone began blaring from her pocket, “Oh shoot! I gotta go! See ya guys!” And then she was gone.

A few seconds of silence followed before Holly let out a long-suffering sigh, “Sorry about her. Seems you’re used to her brand of weird by now. Anyway, thanks again.” Holly then also walked off towards where they’d changed, leaving the four of them alone.

“I can’t believe she called you hot.” Prompto broke the silence.

Gladio immediately laughed hard, “Is that really what you got from all that?”

Prompto simply pouted.

“Do you think she’s wrong?”

Prompto turned his head childishly, still refusing to speak in response.

“Taking that as a no.”

“Who cares. I’m tired. Gonna head back to the room.” Noctis’ mood had dropped significantly, most obvious in how he trudged away towards the hotel without waiting for anyone.

Ignis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment to stave off what might be a new headache, "Noctis is right. It's been a long day and we have much to discuss. Better to do it back in the privacy of the Leville.” He herded them all away from the power plant, desperately hoping that a good night’s rest would get rid of the thin layer of jealousy that was clearly apparent on the two youngest.

---

Being out in the open seas was such a refreshing feeling. Sure, they’d been able to drive pretty much wherever they wanted, but the Regalia - as beautiful as she was - was restricted by roads. While being out on foot felt freeing in its own way, out here, Noctis truly believed he felt true freedom for the first time.

And it helped that the sea fishing was fantastic.

Ignis called for the prince, letting him know they couldn’t waste anymore time. As he reeled in his fishing line and began to pack up the supplies, Noctis knew a part of him really didn’t want to return to land. He knew he’d have to come back to Eos to face reality yet again. When he stepped foot on the Altissian dock, Noctis tried to not think about the pit in his stomach.

The group saw Cid off after stepping through the border control and got themselves a room at the nearby Leville before spending the rest of their first day sightseeing and getting familiar with the new surroundings. They’d all agreed they could go and find Weskham first thing tomorrow - though from what Cid had told them about the man, Noctis was fairly certain Ignis would hunt him out before the rest, just to see what his restaurant was like.

Altissia was like nothing Noctis had ever seen before. It was cramped and full of twists, turns, steps and alleyways, yet somehow it still felt so open and relaxing. It was honestly beautiful. And while it could never compare to sea fishing, his favourite hobby seemed to not be so bad here either. If only he could get away to try it out.

It was late evening when Noctis finally got the chance to take a seat on the dock outside the Leville and set up his equipment. The sun had long since gone down and the stars were reflected in the dark waters, making it almost look as though the sea was full of glitter. While Ignis had promised that Noctis would be able to fish after a full tour of the city and a good meal, the prince hadn’t been able to get the idea from his mind. Thankfully, when everyone had split up to explore more on their own, Noctis had been given full permission to fish until Gladio came to fetch him. What the others were up to, Noctis honestly didn’t care. Here, he could dip his feet into the water, cast his line and just relax.

He finally had time to just think. There was so much they’d already done and so much more to come. Lunafreya was here. The Empire was here. They needed to get an audience with Secretary Whats-her-name. They somehow needed to get permission to meet with Leviathan, and it was well known she wasn’t exactly the most welcoming of Astrals. Who knows what would come after that, how they’d find a way to Gralea. Noctis sighed heavily. 

“Wow… you look terrible.”

Noctis barely turned his head to see who was behind him. He was ready to give his signature “fuck off and leave me alone” look, but the expression dropped off of his face when he saw the white ribbon sandals behind him. “How-”

Alice ignored him, sitting down in the empty space beside the prince, “What’s on your mind?”

The question died on his lips. He had Alice’s full attention and it was… intimidating, intoxicating. Ignoring the warmth he felt rising in his cheeks, Noctis turned back to the water, “Stuff.”

“Okaaay, that’s vague. What kind of stuff?” Alice bumped his shoulder, slipping her feet into the water alongside his.

Noctis simply watched his bobber instead of responding. As much as he wanted to vent, he knew he shouldn’t. It was highly sensitive information - Ignis had drilled that particular phrase into his brain for years. But… she had been around them for a while and knew who he was, right? Maybe… maybe it would be alright?

As he contemplated telling her everything, Alice laid her head on his shoulder and spoke low, “Hey, don’t worry. You don’t have to tell me anything. It’s probably super secret royal stuff. I bet Ignis told you not to tell me that kind of stuff. Don’t trust strangers and all that, y’know? He’s smart like that…” She trailed off.

Something about the way she sounded hit Noctis deep in his heart. It was almost like she had reached into his chest and cut the strings keeping his control together. He began to spill out all his feelings, his frustrations, his worries. In the low light of the Altissian street lamps, on the edge of the dock, the crown prince of Lucis spilled everything to this stranger he’d picked up off the side of the road only a few short months ago. 

Noctis had to take a moment to catch his breath once he finished. While it did feel good to get it all off his chest, he truly hadn’t realised how much he’d been carrying alone and that was despite having his companions the whole way through this insane journey. The realisation hit him with the same force as that time he’d warped into that cave wall. Every breath felt sharp, his hands began to shake.

Then a pair of soft hands delicately covered his own, reinforcing his grip on the fishing rod still between his palms. “That really is too much for one guy. I’m sorry you have all that on you. I can’t do much to help, just be someone to listen.” Alice smiled warmly, squeezing his hands between her own, “And who knows? Maybe it’ll all turn out oka- Woah!”

Both of them were suddenly pulled forwards by a strong force, almost falling face-first into the water. Immediately, Noctis focused and gripped the fishing rod tight, leaning back and dragging Alice along with him. A fierce duel happened between the prince and whatever was caught on the end of his line but eventually, a Coral Allural Sea Bass shot out of the water and into his hands.

Once again, Noctis found himself short of breath. However, this time, he felt exhilarated and ready to cast his line out one more time. Alice’s cheers next to him urged him on as the bobber landed a few meters away. Having a chance to come down from his fishing high, Noctis turned to the woman beside him, “Thanks.”

She said nothing, simply giving him a bright grin.

---

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[nekoabiwrites]

Pretty Face, Perfect Smile, But What's Underneath? - Chapter 6

Uhhh I accidentally posted the wrong chapter text yesterday, soooo... Chapter 6 is here, Chapter 7 was yesterday :)

AU: None Words: 1266 Pairings: None - just mary sue shenanigans Warnings: None. Let me know if there’s anything!

Summary: Noctis wakes up, alone and confused. He can’t remember how he got here.

Flashback to a few months ago, here she comes…

-

There was still the looming spectre of Jared’s death hanging over the Regalia as Ignis sped them away from the imperial base. After their restless stay in Old Lestallum was rudely interrupted by the imperial ship flying overhead, not one of them could think of a single reason to leave the nearby base alone. Now it was time for them to get back on track.

Iris tried to keep the mood light by messing with Gladio or chatting with Noctis and Prompto. She genuinely wanted to do all she could – since she wasn’t allowed to help with any combat they found themselves in due to Gladio’s orders. However, her mood soured quickly as the Regalia began to slow to a crawl when they all spotted a familiar blonde.

“We keep managing to run into each other in the strangest of places, don’t we?” Alice laughed, continuing to trot alongside the Regalia leisurely on her chocobo.

“Did you not have something you needed to do at home?” Ignis questioned. Iris noticed that his eyes drifted for an uncharacteristically long moment.

Alice blew a strand of her hair out of her face as she shrugged, “I did. I was asked then to come grab some supplies from a friend out here, so I guess, in a way, I still do?” She giggled while her chocobo squawked in what seemed like agreement, though it also could have been in protest at Prompto snapping a photo of the pair.

“You guys seem to have something going on. A full car today, huh?” Alice grinned, slowly drifting her gaze over each of them. Iris repressed a shudder when she made eye contact. Something just felt off about this woman.

Prompto went to speak, “We’re just taking Iris t-”

“They’re taking me to see outside of Lestallum!” Iris cut him off sharply, gripping Prompto’s shoulder hard. When he reacted in pain, Iris pretended that she’d meant to grip the seat instead. “I haven’t had the chance to get out too much, y’know?” Iris turned her attention back to the woman outside the car.

In the blink of an eye, Alice’s smile dropped from her eyes and there seemed to be an aura of annoyance emanating from her. “Oh. I see. Hope you enjoy yourself.” Her tone was even, and a chill ran down Iris’ spine when their eyes locked once more. No one else seemed to notice. Then, as if a switch had flipped, warmth returned to her eyes as she looked back to the front seats, “Guess I’ll see you guys around sometime. Try and catch me if you come back around to Lestallum.” With a nudge of her foot to its side, her snow-white chocobo turned on its heel and raced off down the road back towards Lestallum.

Iris attempted to relax as Ignis put his foot down and the wilderness started to pass them by but she just couldn’t. The look in Alice’s eyes before she left haunted her.

No one even mentioned anything about the encounter until well after darkness had fallen.

They’d set up camp atop a haven just a little outside the Malmalam Thicket, somewhere Cor had found there to be rumour of a royal arm. The fire was crackling away, illuminating them all in its orange light. Iris was pushing around the remaining food on her plate, mind somewhere else entirely. The others were chatting away as if nothing had happened. She couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Don’t you guys think it’s just a bit weird?”

All of them turned towards Iris, who still remained staring down at the plate in her hand.

“What’s weird?”

“How she’s everywhere?”

“Who?”

“Alice!” Iris recoiled a little in surprise at her own outburst.

A beat of silence passed. Each of them shared glances with each other. “I mean, I guess?”

“She means no harm.” Ignis swiftly cut in as Iris went to speak again, “In fact, Alice has been nothing but helpful. She assisted with retrieving the previous royal arm.” The advisor took the plate from her hand and headed towards where Prompto was washing the rest of the dishes, “Is there any particular reason you have for distrusting her, Iris?” Ignis turned to look back at her.

The younger Amicitia shuffled awkwardly under Ignis’ sharp gaze, “I mean, not really? She just… she’s just not right…”

“Awww. I think someone’s jealous!” Prompto sing-songed.

Iris stuttered and blushed deeply while Gladio reached over and ruffled her hair, “You’ve gone all red.”

The conversation was swiftly forgotten as they teased Iris. The rest of the night passed uneventfully after they all settled down in the tent for the night. After all, it was to be a tough one tomorrow.

---

“Wow…”

Prompto stood slowly from his seat, camera already in hand and viewfinder to his eye as the Regalia smoothly followed the curve of the cliffside road. The blue expanse of sea and sky stretched on forever and he was not about to miss this shot. They’d been driving for a few hours after retrieving the arm from the thicket and the tunnel they’d just been in felt like it had gone on forever. Finally being back in the sunlight felt so good and this beautiful view was just the cherry on top. It was enough to stop him from giving into the pulling on his arm from Ignis, who attempted to get him back into his seat.

It was only when Ignis started putting real effort into his attempts that Prompto did finally relent and sit back down. He turned with a pout to the drivers’ side, “C’mon Iggy. Why’ve you gotta ruin my vibe?”

“You can continue to take photos from your seat.” Ignis replied simply, his eyes firmly fixed on the road.

Prompto’s pout became more pronounced at that. His sulking face was redirected to the backseat as he heard a snort of laughter from behind.

“Too bad, Blondie. At least he’s gone easy on you this time.” Gladio said with a smirk that widened into a full grin accompanied by a laugh as Prompto scowled exaggeratedly.

Iris couldn’t contain her laughter at his overacting either. As both Amicitia siblings continued to laugh, Prompto turned his camera on them and snapped a wide shot of the back seat. The sound of the shutter roused the dozing prince in the last remaining seat.

“Dude…” Noctis mumbled, “Why’re you taking a picture?” A loud yawn punctuated his sentence.

“Sorry bud!”

The mood in the car was light, yet Iris felt herself tense as the lighthouse signifying Caem appeared on the horizon. She didn’t want their little trip to be over. She was having such a good time with them all and who knew when she’d be allowed to come along again. Iris was also experiencing a growing dread of seeing a flash of white blonde waiting for them right outside of their destination. Dread soon turned to nausea as they entered another tunnel that would ultimately lead them to their final stop. Iris tried to keep herself calm. There was the sunlight. End of the tunnel. There was no way she could be here. Right? Gods, Iris hoped.

They passed through the tunnel’s exit. It took a moment for Iris to adjust to the brightness. The spot in front of Caem was practically deserted.

Noctis turned his head to his right at hearing a heavy sigh. He caught Iris relaxing back into the soft leather of the Regalia’s interior. “You good, Iris?”

For the first time in a while, Iris felt like her smile was genuine, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

-

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[nekoabiwrites]

Pretty Face, Perfect Smile, But What's Underneath - Chapter 7

AU: None Words: 2001 Pairings: None - just mary sue shenanigans Warnings: None. Let me know if there’s anything!

Summary: Noctis wakes up, alone and confused. He can’t remember how he got here.

Flashback to a few months ago, here she comes…

-

The sun was dipping just below the horizon when Ignis pulled off the road and brought the Regalia to a slow stop. Everything was coated in a warm orange hue. The beauty of the moment wasn’t enough to dispel the odd haze of discomfort hovering over them.

Prompto quickly hopped out of the car, saying he was going to go see if the shop had anything they needed to restock. Ignis stepped out only a moment later, pressing the keys into Noctis’ hand before following after the sharpshooter. Noctis leant against the shimmering black of the Regalia’s doors for a moment, trying to sort his thoughts before he went to haggle with the nearby caravan’s owner.

The drive had been so odd without Gladio hogging so much space in the backseat beside him. It’d been way too empty and, even though the Shield tended to the quieter side, eerily silent. Even Prompto hadn’t been as chatty. It was… uncomfortable.

Noctis tried to shove his thoughts aside as he paid for a single night’s stay at the caravan, but with nothing else to do, he couldn’t help but return to them as he settled himself down in one of the plastic chairs outside. His last resort was pulling his phone out and booting up King’s Knight.

It worked, but it also narrowed Noctis’ focus to his phone screen. He just about caught the sound of footsteps before-

“Isn’t this convenient? The prince of Lucis left all alone, easy for the taking.”

Noctis swore his neck cracked with how fast he whipped his head round.

“Just kidding!”

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Noctis relaxed again, “What the hell, Alice? Don’t say stuff like that…”

“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.” She did seem genuinely sorry as she watched Noctis relax back into the well-worn chair. “Mind if I join you?” Alice was already pulling another one of the flimsy chairs closer before Noctis even said a word.

“What are you even doing here? Kinda far from Lestallum, isn’t it?” Noctis asked, picking his phone up from the floor where he’d dropped it in his panic.

“I’d heard a rumour that they were gonna be taking out the imperial blockade out here. I wanted to see if I could get back into the Vesperpool again.”

Noctis couldn’t hold back the amused huff of breath, “Why do you wanna go to the Vesperpool so bad?”

Alice narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, “I don’t like your tone… but if you really wanna know, I just haven’t been able to go in a long while. Nowhere else compares in terms of fishing spots.”

That had Noctis perking up, “You fish?”

“No way…” Alice stared at him in disbelief, “There’s no way the godsdamn prince of Lucis likes not just King’s Knight, but also fishing…” The fact Noctis only looked back at her with a smug smile told her everything she needed to know. “…You any good?”

“Yeah.”

“No way. I don’t believe it. In fact, I won’t believe it until I see proof!”

Noctis smiled, “I’m always ready for some fishing. I’ll prove it easy.”

“Just what are you going to prove?”

Just as they were interrupted, two bags of supplies dropped onto the table between Alice and Noctis. The two remaining chairs around the plastic table were quickly occupied as Ignis and Prompto joined the conversation. Alice repeated that she did not believe that Noctis, firstly, liked fishing in the first place and that, secondly, there was no way he was actually as good as he was implying he was. Ignis simply smiled knowingly as he organised the supplies, while Prompto groaned loudly and leant back in the chair, flopping his head back against his shoulders.

“Not another one… Don’t tell me we gotta sit and watch this competition…”

Ignis reached out and patted Prompto’s arm sympathetically, “Now, Prompto. They will keep each other amused. You’re now free enough to do other things with the time you’ll have.”

That gained a roll of Prompto’s eyes before he tilted his head towards Ignis, “We both know you won’t let me go far enough away to not still be bored out of my mind.”

A beat of silence.

“Touché.”

They settled into a comfortable flow of conversation for a short while before it tapered off into a quiet calm. The sun had fully set now, yet the lingering low light was still enough for them to see by. Alice glanced around for the fourth time in a short while before Ignis asked her what she was searching for.

“Well, I was just thinking that you guys are down someone. I was looking to see if I could spot him anywhere.”

A sudden chill fell over the table. It couldn’t be said if it was the mood dropping considerably or if the night had finally set in.

Alice shrunk into her chair, “Oh… sorry if it’s a sore subject. I just… sorry.”

“It’s alright. Gladio has simply decided he had something he needed to do alone.” Ignis’ tone was short and professional, as if he’d slipped into his official role in order to separate himself from the situation of a missing comrade.

“Oh, well… uh, what are you guys doing out this way anyway?” Alice quickly attempted to change the subject.

Prompto explained what had happened since their parting back in Lestallum while Ignis excused himself from the table in order to start on dinner. The smell of a freshly cooked meal wafted from the caravan as Prompto wrapped up his story, “So, yeah. Now, we’ve gotta find the Mythril. Cindy said it was somewhere around the Vesperpool. Wanna come tag along?”

Alice reeled back a touch in surprise at the sudden invite, “Am… am I allowed to?”

“I’d like it if you were. But I guess it’s really up to Ignis.”

“Don’t I get a say?” Noctis piped up, not removing his gaze from his phone screen.

“Ignis makes all your decisions already though.” Prompto laughed as Noctis responded with a middle finger before turning back to Alice, “I’m sure he’d be cool with it though.”

“We are down a member currently and you are fairly capable. You’ve also proven yourself trustworthy and a good fit amongst us all. I suppose it wouldn’t be an awful idea to have you join us for a while.” Ignis reasoned, now leaning against the doorframe of the caravan and wiping his hands with a small towel.

The grin that appeared on Alice’s face was blinding, “Then I would love to!” Her excitement clear in her voice.

---

“Alright then. Time for you to prove yourself!”

Noctis summoned his fishing supplies from the armiger with a little more flair than he would usually. Alice playfully scoffed and leant against the rickety dock’s raised pole while the prince finished baiting up the rod and cast his line out. Behind them, Prompto dropped himself into the grass nearby with a sigh, laying down and shutting his eyes.

“You guys lemme know when you’re done. Just gonna get some extra shut eye over here.” Prompto faked yawned. He couldn’t help the small yelp as Alice snuck up and gently kicked the sole of his boot, “Hey, rude.”

Alice simply smiled before heading back over to the pole by Noct to watch him.

Instead of actually napping, Prompto pulled his camera out and tried his best to get some vaguely interesting shots of anything nearby. Unfortunately for him, there really wasn’t that much. It only took around 20 minutes of random snapping for Prompto’s attention span to be completely shot. Even pulling out his phone didn’t help as he’d done a lot of his actually interesting King’s Knight content earlier in the Regalia with Alice and Noct. Prompto fell back into the grass, arms spread as he stared up through the trees above.

Some noise came from the end of the dock, which Prompto glanced over to in order to see Noct beginning to reel in a fish. As he’d seen the sight far too many times over the duration of this trip, Prompto turned his gaze skyward again, waiting for the inevitable moment the fish breached the water and ended up in Noct’s hand. He’d show it off with a small amount of pride that he’d attempt to conceal, Prompto’d take a quick photo and then the fish’d be thrown into the armiger with the rest of them – somehow they did end up being in a cooler whenever Ignis pulled that out, Prompto never quite figured out exactly how that worked but who cares?

Fishing was just… so boring.

Eventually, Prompto actually did start to drift off. The sound of the water and wind was calming. He couldn’t think of a time recently where he’d been able to just relax properly like this. It was kinda nice.

He was brought immediately out of his haze by his phone buzzing against his chest.

Prompto sat up, brushing the grass off of his back. After unlocking his phone, Prompto could see the text from Ignis.

I require assistance back at the haven. Noctis is likely too far gone. Would you mind?

Prompto spared a quick glance to the water’s edge, watching as Alice was passed the fishing rod. He hastily typed his response.

omw

The short jog to the haven was uneventful, but a nice way to stretch out his legs. Upon climbing up the rocky side of the haven, Prompto was greeted with a spread of weapons, their metallic surfaces reflecting the blue glow of the runes. Ignis sat in a camp chair nearby, a pair of daggers in his hand alongside a rag.

“Whatcha doing, Iggy?”

“Ah, Prompto. Just some weapon maintenance. I quickly realised upon pulling everything out of the armiger that I wouldn’t be able to finish it all in a timely manner on my own, so I sought out your help as his highness is wholly preoccupied.”

Prompto sat down on the haven ground near the chair, grabbing a particularly messy-looking sword along the way, “I’ll do anything if it means I don’t have to lay down there and die of boredom.”

Ignis chuckled lightly, “Come now, it's not quite that bad.”

“Iggy.” Prompto’s face was serious, “You’ve never been more wrong.”

With a teasing hum of agreement, the pair began their work. They chatted easily, sometimes falling into an extremely comfortable silence. They were halfway through a debate over Prompto’s use of text speech when Noctis and Alice joined them, the prince far more excited then Prompto could ever remember him being.

“Guys. You’ll never guess the size of the fish Alice caught just now! It was huge!” Noctis held his hands apart to roughly show them just how big the catch was.

Alice sighed, “It wasn’t all that big. He’s exaggerating…”

“No way! It was the biggest fish I’ve ever seen! And-!” Noctis continued as Alice attempted to interrupt, “She threw. It. Back! She’s insane!”

Alice opened and closed her mouth a few times, short noises spilling from her lips as she attempted to come up with anything in response, but nothing came.

Ignis returned the polearm he’d been working with back to the armiger, “A shame you put it back. It sounds rather fascinating…”

“I said you’d be interested! I’ve never seen that kind of fish before too!”

Prompto whistled low, “I’ve never seen Noct with this kind of energy before. Must’ve been pretty special…”

Noctis continued to recount the fishing tales as Ignis rose from his chair. Both Alice and Noctis took up one of the remaining weapons each to help out while Ignis cooked – perhaps it was more accurate to say that they’d been coerced into helping with the promise of a slightly-less-vegetable-influenced meal than Ignis was initially planning. Prompto filled in the role Gladio likely would have taken, telling Noctis that he was probably just screwing with them in order to rile him up.

It was pretty fun for a fishing day, Prompto had to concede.

---

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[nekoabiwrites]

Pretty Face, Perfect Smile, But What's Underneath - Chapter 5

AU: None Words: 1012 Pairings: None - just mary sue shenanigans Warnings: None. Let me know if there’s anything!

Summary: Noctis wakes up, alone and confused. He can’t remember how he got here.

Flashback to a few months ago, here she comes…

-

It wasn’t exactly the most restful of nights. Gladio spent the evening attempting to quell Iris’ fears, as she’d been on her way down to meet with them when Noctis’ headache hit. Prompto had been speaking with Talcott for a while, mostly bonding with the young boy as well as seeing if he had any more stories of legend to share with them. Ignis and Noctis, meanwhile, looked into the Disc as much as they could from the hotel room – though Noctis went to sleep early as he was especially drained.

The morning had brought another headache and more visions.

They all decided they needed to look at it for themselves, in person. So towards the lookout they went.

There, looking over the edge, was a bedraggled man in far too many layers for the Lestallum heat. His aura was off-putting and set them all on edge. However, when he offered to escort them to the Disc, they couldn’t exactly turn down his offer.

Just as they were about to set off, the man – Ardyn – spoke from his own car, “I do hope you’re not forgetting anyone.” Without waiting for a response, he started the engine and slowly pulled away. All Noctis could do was scowl and follow.

What transpired was an uncomfortable night stopping over at a rest stop with the far-too-touchy-with-Prompto Ardyn and a gruelling trial against one of the Astrals themselves – Titan. And, to top it all off, a surprise drop in by the Empire as well.

After the exhausting battle against the monstrously sized Astral, that same Ardyn appeared in an Imperial dropship. Only to let them know he was their only way out and that he was the imperial chancellor too. All around? Not a fantastic day.

The downpour began soon after. And without the Regalia, as she’d fallen into Imperial hands back at Cauthess, they had to track down Ramuh on foot. In the pouring rain.

Noctis was positively dead to the world when they set up camp outside the base where Cindy had told them the Regalia was being held. He’d gone straight into the tent as soon as it had been put up and fallen immediately asleep, even with it being practically midday still. Ignis couldn’t say much about it, however. They all knew they had an operation that night where they could absolutely not fail.

Thankfully, the Regalia returned to their hands in perfect condition, even after Gladio had been flung into her side.

They settled in as the morning sun just peaked above the horizon, finally able to get a slightly more restful sleep.

--

It was early afternoon when Prompto finally emerged from the tent, careful to not make too much noise as Noctis was still sleeping. He was greeted with the usual sight of Ignis at their portable camp stove and Gladio training down on the grass nearby.

He was about to say something to Ignis when something else caught his eye.

Prompto turned towards where they’d parked the Regalia that morning.

A white chocobo was grazing just beside it.

Someone was perched on the hood.

They waved.

--

Alice’s eyes were wide with awe as Prompto continued to tell her of all they’d done. She was the perfect captive audience.

“That’s… crazy! I can’t believe you guys did that!” Alice practically squeaked as the story wound down to a close.

Prompto grinned, “Which part?”

“Uh, all of it, duh.” Alice stuck her tongue out at him, “You really went up against Titan? And snuck into an Imperial base?! And took it down from the inside?!”

All of them nodded.

Alice fell back against the plush leather of the Regalia’s interior, “You guys are so cool…”

“Now that we’ve finished catching you up on our exploits,” Ignis started after a lull in the conversation, “What exactly were you doing out around that area?” He glanced briefly into the rear-view mirror to catch her gaze.

“I was just out with Merrow. I hadn’t had much of a chance to get her out and about, so I thought why not go on a ride with her. I just happened to come across a very familiar looking car as she needed a break, so I waited around there as she grazed.” Alice explained, “I was about to start back towards Wiz’s place when I noticed you guys start to appear out of the tent. Thought why not see how long it took for you to see me. Is that weird?”

Alice’s awkward laughter and smile provoked a round of assurances that it wasn’t weird at all and that they were happy to see her once again. They were heading back to Lestallum anyway, so giving her a ride back after they made a stop at Wiz’s wasn’t a hassle or anything.

“Good. The last thing I wanted was for you guys to think I’m stalking you or something.”

Something about the joking statement lingered in the back of Noctis’ mind as the conversation continued around him. He stared out at the passing scenery, trying to figure out what was making him feel off with her clearly joking statement but it was quickly forced out when Alice knocked his shoulder playfully, bringing him out of his mind. It probably wasn’t all that important anyway.

--

Once again, Alice dashed off back towards her home once they reached Lestallum. She thanked them several times and promised to pay back their kindness some day as she ran off towards the stone steps.They followed only moments later, Gladio leading them off towards the Leville at a brisk pace. He’d been on edge since he’d been unable to get a hold of Iris since they’d been down at Cauthess and was fairly desperate to check in on her. Somehow, not one of them noticed the appearance of Imperial flags that draped down the sides of the buildings all around Lestallum.

Everything past the moment they stepped into the Leville’s lobby was a blur.

Iris told them everything.

Jared was dead.

They needed to get to Caem as soon as possible.

---

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[nekoabiwrites]

Pretty Face, Perfect Smile, But What's Underneath? - Chapter 4

AU: None Words: 2256 Pairings: None - just mary sue shenanigans Warnings: None. Let me know if there’s anything!

Summary: Noctis wakes up, alone and confused. He can’t remember how he got here.

Flashback to a few months ago, here she comes…

--

Prompto was exceedingly jealous upon hearing that Noctis had been able to spend practically an entire day getting a guided tour of Lestallum from Alice. To the point, in fact, that he still continued to bring it up as they wandered back down to the car park after spending the night.

“Why didn’t you text me, dude? C’mon…” He whined.

Noctis shrugged, “It’s not like I planned it or anything. We just happened to bump into each other, that’s all.”

“I know… but still!”

A sharp clearing of the throat from Ignis had the two immediately looking towards him. Ignis indicated where their attention should be going.

A familiar figure stood leaning on the wall of the overlook.

They turned around, as if knowing they had a captive audience.

The smile blinded them.

--

“Are you sure about this?” Ignis asked, giving a thankful nod to the cashier as Gladio picked up their bags.

“Honestly? I dunno. But she seemed pretty insistent on coming with us.” Gladio shrugged.

Ignis sighed, “We shouldn’t have let her come with us…”

“Too late for that.”

“I’m well aware, Gladio.”

Gladio grinned at Ignis’ disapproving glare. They packed away all the supplies, storing half the curatives in the Armiger for easy access and leaving the rest in the boot of the Regalia – to keep the reserves, Ignis had said.

Over by the campervan they were likely to have to rent out if their expedition went on too long, Noctis and Prompto were keeping Alice company. She was testing out one of their spare weapons, finding herself drawn to a well-used one Noctis had pulled out of the stash he kept.

“She does seem to have some natural talent, though…” Gladio said thoughtfully, following Ignis’ watchful gaze.

“I suppose. It still doesn’t make me feel much better about letting her come along.” Ignis snapped the boot shut to punctuate his sentence.

Gladio huffed, amused, “Yeah, I getcha. But I get this feeling she ain’t gonna stay away now. She’d probably just tail us if we tried to leave her.”

“I hate that you’re right.”

“Can we finally get going?” Noctis called out, “We’re burning daylight here!”

With a stretch of his shoulders and a roll of his neck, Gladio stood up from leaning against the Regalia’s side, “Well, his highness has spoken. Time to get moving.” He clapped a hand on Ignis’ shoulder and began to lead the way to the stone stairs nearby.

They had noticed the Midgardsormr as they’d driven over the bridge, but its immense size wasn’t fully realised until they were at ground level. With cautious steps, they all made their way through the brush a little ways up the path from the giant serpent. Gladio remained crouched at the base of the stone slope, keeping a careful eye on the beast as the rest of them clambered down behind him.

Alice was trailing at the back of the group, meaning she was the last to come down the rocks. She was clearly far less used to traversing rough, slippery terrain as she easily lost her footing and began to slide down. The shock of the slip had her letting out a surprised noise that alerted the Midgardsormr to a presence nearby.

Gladio was quick to grab a hold of her and pull her to safety. All of them stilled for a moment until the serpent resumed its usual pattern of slithering around its nest. Only then did Gladio let go of Alice.

In his haste, Gladio hadn’t really put thought into it, but now he realised he’d practically curled around her in order to make both of them as small as possible. The thought had heat pooling in his cheeks, but there wasn’t time to dwell on it.

They made their way through the pack of Shieldshears before taking a short rest in front of the grotto’s opening.

“This the right place?” Noctis asked, watching the waterfall with a vague interest.

“As far as our information says, yes, I believe we are in the right location. A royal arm should be located somewhere in there. Likely in the depths…” Ignis trailed off as he peered into the darkness, seemingly trying to get even the smallest of glimpses of what they were about to traverse through.

Their conversation was unimportant to Gladio. He was focused on the figure of Alice, looking down into the rushing waters below the rocks. He cleared his throat as he approached, announcing his presence so she wasn’t spooked suddenly. Gladio stood a few paces to her side,  “Sorry about that back there. Hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable or anything.”

Alice turned to him with a gentle smile, hands waving in front of her, “Oh, no! You didn’t! I’m the one that should be apologising. I am the one that almost got us caught after all.” She laughed weakly, turning her gaze back towards the river as the edges of her smile drooped slightly.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. All that matters is we’re all safe here, all right?” Gladio reassured her, “Besides, you handled that pretty well. Prompto’s done way worse than you.”

“I heard that!” Prompto called from behind them, making Alice giggle. Gladio was relieved to see her in good spirits.

“Well, alright. If you say so.”

“What was that about me doing worse?!”

Prompto practically jumped between the two to accost Gladio for answers, putting an end to that conversation. However, Gladio’s mind couldn’t fully push the event aside.

---

“Really?! Spider daemons?! Can this place get any worse?!” Prompto shouted as he retreated towards the cave wall, firing several shots towards the newly formed daemons.

“Just shut up and kill ‘em if you hate ‘em so much!” Gladio roared in response, his words strained only slightly as he swung his greatsword in a horizontal arc, slicing through the nearby imps that were trying to surround him.

“I’m doing my best here!”

“Will you guys- cut it out?” Noctis’ voice teleported across the cave with him, the prince sparing his companions a brief disgruntled glance before returning his focus to the battle at hand. He was already frustrated with the enemies they’d encountered; he really didn’t need them to start bickering over stupid stuff right now.

Ignis ignored their ridiculous back and forth as Gladio retorted. He was busy keeping an eye on them all, as well as their extra member, who was keeping a safe distance as she’d been instructed. There was a glint of light as she readjusted her grip on the sword that she held as a precaution.  His attention sharply snapped back to the daemons as one of them jumped towards him; Ignis easily dispatching of it in a few rapid strikes from his daggers.

The battle was dying down, only one more daemon remained before them. Both Gladio and Noctis had already run a little ahead after a few daemons that were attempting to flee, while Prompto reloaded in preparation . Ignis started to close the gap between them when he noticed a movement in the shadows.

“Alice!” He called out.

Prompto spun on his heel, attempting to pick out the daemon in the darkness. All he could see, though, was the tell-tale haze of black smoke that lingered after its defeat. In the middle of it, Alice was standing back up to full height, waving away the smoke with a few coughs.

She jogged the few steps between herself and the pair nearby, “Thanks. That was a close one.” Alice gave Ignis a bright smile before heading off in the direction of Gladio’s voice. He and Noctis had apparently found the door to the tomb, but they were pretty sure a daemon ambush was waiting for them.

“Hurry up so we can get out of here already!” Noctis called out impatiently.

As they started off in the direction of the tomb, Prompto turned to Ignis with a smug smile, “Told ya she was gonna be fine.”

Ignis gave him a withering look.

---

Both Prompto and Gladio had, in fact, been correct. Alice seemed to be a natural with a weapon, despite her constant assurances she’d not been formally trained. During the (expected) ambush before being able to retrieve the royal arm, she’d still been keeping a fair distance from the majority of the fighting as instructed. Instead, she picked off the daemons that either came specifically for her or the ones who were seemingly trying to get the jump on one of the rest of them from a blind spot.

As they exited and fought a few stragglers on the way out, Alice continued to be an asset to them in combat. It got to the point where Gladio was practically grilling her as they ascended the steps back towards the Burbost outpost.

“I mean, sure, I played with toy swords with the local kids when I was younger and all, but that’s it. Honest!” Alice placed her hand over her heart.

“I don’t think I can believe that. Not with how you handled that thing back there.” Gladio said as he opened the door to the campervan.

Alice pouted beside him as Noctis and Prompto tiredly stepped up into the vehicle, “What can I do to make you believe me?”

Ignis, already lighting the small stove just inside, spoke up, “I doubt you could do a thing to change his mind.”

“Iggy’s right.”

“He’s quite stubborn like that.”

“Unnecessary, but probably true…”

Noctis piped up from deep inside, likely from the bed, “Definitely true!”

“Shut it, Princess. You wanna do a whole day’s training tomorrow? You were getting sloppy in there.”

“Was not! You were just in my way!”

Gladio entered the campervan to continue a back and forth with the sleepy prince for what felt like the fiftieth time that day. Alice followed in behind, perching on the edge of the fixed table as she watched Ignis work.

“So, they’re always like that, huh?” She giggled, eyes drifting to Gladio’s attempt at wrestling Noctis into a headlock before he could warp out of it.

Ignis sighed good-naturedly, “Unfortunately, yes. It does leave me with all of the more important duties, but I suppose they should have their fun.”

“You’re so responsible, Ignis. It’s pretty amazing all the things you can do.” Alice said offhandedly, attention more on the commotion in the back. “The guys sure are lucky to have you, y’know? I don’t think they really know just how good they have it. I would love to have you around all the time. If they don’t act, I might try and snap you up for myself! If you’d have me, of course.”

Alice had hopped up off of the table and was now leaning on the small side between the door and the stove, fluttering her eyelashes bashfully and flashing her coyest smile. Her comments had a bright flush blooming across Ignis’ face once more, which he ignored as best he could. “That’s very kind of you to say. I am, sadly, devoted already.”

Alice stood back up with an exaggerated sigh and shrug, “Yeah, I get it. I mean, you’re basically betrothed to Noct, right?”

That had Ignis choking on his breath and dropping the knife in his hand.

“Iggy?”

“You okay there, Specs?”

“What happened?”

A chorus of voices came from the bedroom end. Prompto came out almost immediately to check on Ignis, who attempted to wave his concern away through his wheezing breaths.

“Sorry, that was my fault. Just said something kinda stupid, caught him off guard.” Alice smiled apologetically.

Prompto’s face screwed up in thought, “Iggy should be used to stupid stuff though. Me and Noct say dumb stuff all the time-”

“Hey!”

“-so whatever you said must have been crazy to shock him this much.” Prompto ignored the indignant sound of Noctis behind him.

Ignis was incredibly thankful that Prompto’s next question died in his throat as the pillow thrown by Noctis hit the back of his head, starting an all-out pillow war in the back of the campervan. It gave him the chance to regain his composure. He gave a quick glance to his left as Alice slipped behind him in order to ‘provide backup’ upon Prompto’s request. The heat remained in Ignis’ cheeks as he attempted to bring his focus back upon the meal at hand.

--

After a chaotic couple of days, it was no surprise that the drive back to Lestallum was peaceful.

However, as soon as they stepped foot inside the Leville, Noctis fell to his knees as a searing pain came upon his head.

“Noct! You okay?!”

He could vaguely hear someone calling out his name, but he couldn’t focus on it. Instead, his mind was filled with images flashing by one after another. On the edge of it all, he could hear the hum of his companions talking, but he could barely make out a word as the image of the burning meteor was forced into his brain.

“I’ll go!”

Noctis began to come to, the headache slowly subsiding. He felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced to his side, seeing the concerned look on Prompto’s face as his vision came back to him. In the back of his mind, he was loosely aware of the fading sound of pounding footsteps.

“You alright, Noct?” Prompto asked, fear lacing his words.

Noctis relayed what he’d seen, even though he wasn’t entirely sure himself. Almost immediately, Ignis realised what it had been.

Looks like they needed to look into the Disc of Cauthess.

---

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[nekoabiwrites]

Pretty Face, Perfect Smile, But What's Underneath? - Chapter 3

AU: None Words: 2754 Pairings: None - just mary sue shenanigans Warnings: None. Let me know if there’s anything!

Summary: Noctis wakes up, alone and confused. He can’t remember how he got here.

Flashback to a few months ago, here she comes…

--

The rest of the drive to Lestallum was loud. Prompto had turned the radio to a popular station that was playing the latest music which was, apparently, an open invitation for both him and Alice to start belting out the songs. Noctis was doing his best to hide that he was quietly singing along with them, while Gladio was nodding along with the music whilst still deeply invested in the book in his hand. Ignis was trying his absolute best to keep his focus on the road.

That was until Prompto turned to kneel in his seat and threw his arms out wide. That was when  Ignis saw fit to intervene.

“Prompto. I have told you a thousand times. Sit properly.” Ignis chastised him, reaching out briefly to tug at the sharpshooter’s jacket. He turned down the radio as his hand passed back towards the wheel.

“C’mon Iggy. You should be honoured to have the free concert!” Prompto joked as he flopped back into his seat. His cheeky smile morphed into a wide grin as Ignis snorted in amusement.

“I think I’d be extremely disappointed in myself had I paid for that display.”

Prompto gaped at Ignis’ words while Alice leant forward, resting her hand on Ignis’ shoulder, “Aw, we weren’t that bad, were we?”

Ignis glanced in the rear-view mirror to see Alice giving him a sad puppy dog look. He then looked towards Prompto briefly, only to catch a matching expression. He sighed, “I suppose that was, perhaps, a tad harsh.”

The pouting duo cheered and – despite Ignis’ protests – Prompto turned the radio back up. They continued to sing until the Regalia pulled swiftly into the end spot in the Lestallum car park. The song was just finishing as the engine was turned off. Prompto quietened down with a laugh, but Alice continued for the last few notes.

Her voice was magical. There was no other way to describe it. Everyone who was passing turned to watch as she sang. She held the last note for longer than necessary, but she received applause from the loosely gathered crowd once she finished.

“Oops sorry, didn’t realise we were here already!” Alice blushed, waving off her surrounding audience in order to speak to her companions.

“Ugh, too hot…” Noctis complained as he clambered out of the backseat.

“Lose the jacket.” Gladio countered, stretching out his arms.

Noctis glared back in response.

“Well, thanks for the ride home, you guys!” Alice said, “I had such a good time hanging out.”

A sinking feeling hit Noctis’ stomach as he remembered that Alice was only trying to get back to Lestallum. He pouted and averted his gaze, choosing to lean against the Regalia’s side and play with a really interesting looking pebble on the ground instead of doing… literally anything else.

It fell to Ignis, as usual, to be courteous, “I’m glad we were able to get you here safely.”

“Happy to be of service!” Prompto joked, though his usual sunny smile didn’t reach all the way up to his eyes.

“Probably see you around.” Gladio said simply.

Alice smiled warmly, “If you guys are gonna hang around here for a while, then yeah, probably will! I should get back. Got stuff to do. See ya!” Alice waved as she jogged off towards the stone steps up to the main thoroughfare. They all watched her go in silence.

Only once she was out of sight did Noctis speak up, “Let’s go.” He was already walking towards the steps himself, his gaze still lowered to the ground.

“Yeah, we gotta go find Iris.” Gladio added, following behind Noctis.

“She’s staying at the Leville, correct?” Ignis was looking down at his phone as he fell into step alongside Gladio.

“Hey guys! Wait for me!” Prompto ran to catch up.

None of them were in particularly high spirits. Something felt like it was missing…

---

Catching up with Iris at the Leville really seemed to brighten them all back up, Gladio especially. While she did tell them about the horrific things she’d witnessed in the capital during the attack, Iris was able to lighten the mood by simply being a symbol of hope. She had escaped. Not everything was utterly destroyed.

Noctis, especially, seemed to loosen up around her. So, when she invited him on a tour of Lestallum, who was he to say no?

Iris was browsing the market stalls with Noctis waiting just a few steps behind her when a voice called out to him.

“Noctis?”

Both Iris and Noctis turned sharply to see who had said his name, their guards up. Noctis relaxed quickly as he saw a familiar face, “Hey Alice.” He gave her an easy smile.

Alice effortlessly weaved her way through the crowded market, almost as if the throngs of people were parting just for her. She was utterly unmissable, that’s for sure. Her bright blonde hair shimmered in the sunlight, the long, white sheer jacket flowed like water as she walked towards them, the low sleeves of the ruffled pink dress showed off her shoulders and collarbones perfectly, the short skirt and high straps of the white heeled sandals framed her lean legs gorgeously. She looked like she’d just stepped out of one of Insomnia’s premier young-girl magazines.

“I thought it was you!” Alice pulled Noctis into a brief hug, which he easily reciprocated, “Didn’t think I’d see you so soon!”

Noctis smiled, “Lucky for you, I guess.” Alice laughed and punched his shoulder lightly.

“So, who’s this with you?”

Suddenly, Noctis remembered Iris was giving him a tour of Lestallum. “Oh, right. This is Iris.” He gestured to her, not even turning to see the shock on Iris’ face, “Gladio’s little sister.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Iris.” Alice gave her usual warm smile.

Iris was still clearly put on the back foot, “Uh, yeah, you too Alice.” She seemed uncertain and unsure of how to react, her gaze flicking between Noctis and this gorgeous woman. Iris waited for an explanation.

Noctis either didn’t notice her hesitation or ignored it, “Iris is staying at the Leville. She’s showing me around.”

“Oh? Mind if I come along as well? Surely two guides are better than one?” Alice grinned, fluttering her eyelashes playfully.

“Sure. That alright with you?” Noctis turned to Iris for the first time since Alice had interrupted them.

Iris gave her best practiced smile, “I don’t mind.” The last thing she wanted to do was push Noctis away on one of the only days she knew she’d get to see him. What Iris hadn’t known to consider was this stranger’s almost magnetic influence she had upon the young prince, you would have thought the woman had him literally on a leash.

“Down there is this reclusive weaponsmith. He pretty much ignores everyone, until some really good hunters come into town, then he’s all over them. His stuff is really high quality though. One time, this hunter showed me this incredible looking sword that the guy had made.” Alice said as they passed by a particular alleyway in the depths of Lestallum’s backstreets. Noctis made an interested noise, gaze glancing up there for a moment before returning to Alice. Iris trudged on behind them both, utterly displeased at her day being absolutely ruined.

Iris did have to admit that Alice knew more about Lestallum than she did, but it was only because she actually lived there. It was incredibly frustrating. Every time Iris would point out an interesting place that she’d found, Alice would intrude and take over the conversation while Noctis hung off her every word. After several attempts, Iris decided to just save her breath and follow along.

As they found themselves at the outlook, staring out over towards Duscae, Iris was trying to not get consumed by her frustration and jealousy. It was only her upbringing as a member of the Amicitia household that allowed her to not let it show. She’d gotten good at that.

Noctis, meanwhile, hadn’t noticed the change in Iris’ demeanour. He had been far too focused on learning all he could about Lestallum from his impromptu guide. Alice was incredibly knowledgeable and well connected across the whole town. It was almost unbelievable.  Everywhere they went, she was either able to point out a useful place for them to know or introduce him to someone who could help them out. 

Alice had left them a moment ago to go grab them some food from a nearby vendor. Iris leant on the stone wall, breathing slow and deep as she tried not to snap. Noctis was still paying her very little attention even now that the other woman had left. She realised that now was likely the only time she’d get alone with him for ages. “Hey Noct.”

Noctis made a noise of acknowledgement, turning his gaze onto Iris. “Yeah?”

“So, I’ve been picking up some stuff from the market while I’ve been here. And… I… Well…” Iris hesitated, suddenly self-conscious, “This is for you.” Iris held out the large, handmade-looking Moogle plush, practically hiding her face behind it. There was a beat of silence where Noctis didn’t say a word. Then she felt the plush being pulled from her grasp.

“What… is it?”

“It’s, uh, it’s like a lucky charm. For you. And the others too. Something to… have as, insurance, I guess. It’ll look after you…” Iris fumbled around her words, shifting her weight around nervously. She watched as Noctis inspected the plush.

A warm smile crossed his face, and he turned a fond gaze onto Iris, “Thanks. I’ll be sure to take good care of it, Iris.”

That look from Noctis practically melted Iris Amicitia into a puddle. She held strong, however, as the two settled into a comfortable conversation as they continued to stare out over the Duscae wilds. For a brief moment, Iris forgot why she’d been so frustrated.

Only for a moment.

“Oh wow! That’s so adorable! Where’d he come from?”

Iris had to force the scowl away from her face as Alice’s voice sounded from beside them. The woman was peering over Noctis’ shoulder at the plush, far too comfortable in the prince’s personal space. Something that made Iris’ blood boil.

“Iris made it.” Noctis responded easily, lifting it up higher for Alice to see.

Her eyes lit up as she turned to look at Iris with a winning smile, “That is amazing! You’re super talented, Iris!”

“Thanks.” Iris said shortly, a strained smile stuck on her face.

“You could totally sell these. They are so cute! I’d buy one in a heartbeat!” Alice gushed, reaching out to play with the pompom attached to the moogle’s head. Iris wanted desperately to snatch the thing away from her, tell her it was a gift for Noctis and only Noctis – but she didn’t. Instead, she watched silently. She remained so until they parted ways at the Leville’s entrance way.

Iris was going to watch her drift off out of sight, but her focus was torn away as Noctis fell to his knees beside her, gripping his head.

---

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[nekoabiwrites]

Pretty Face, Perfect Smile, But What's Underneath? Masterlist

Chapter fics get Masterlists :)

---

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

AO3 Link

[nekoabiwrites]

Pretty Face, Perfect Smile, But What's Underneath? - Chapter 2

AU: None Words: 2754 Pairings: None - just mary sue shenanigans Warnings: None. Let me know if there's anything!

Summary: Noctis wakes up, alone and confused. He can't remember how he got here.

Flashback to a few months ago, here she comes...

-

She’d ended up in the backseat again, squished between Gladiolus and Noctis. She didn’t complain.

The wind whipped through her short blonde hair as they drove with the top down on the long road to Lestallum.

Apparently the Imperials were shutting down several routes to try and catch the rogue prince and his retinue and she was having a hard time getting back to Lestallum. They couldn’t, in good conscience, let her go back out there on her own.

“I was visiting a friend over in Leide,” was her response upon being asked what she was doing so far from home, “You probably met her if you have this beauty.” She gestured to the Regalia, “She’s mad for cars.”

“You know Cindy?!” Prompto turned around his seat, despite Ignis’ long-suffering sigh to his side.

“Mhm! She’s one of my best friends.”

“Woah… that’s-! That’s really cool…” Prompto fell into deep thought and sank back into his seat, a content smile on his face.

Noctis rolled his eyes, “Bet you don’t get to see her much. Cid doesn’t seem like the type to want visitors too often.”

Alice’s brow furrowed, “Cid’s always said I’m welcome to stay with them whenever I’m close by. Saves me from staying at a motel or something.”

“No way.”

“Yes way! He’s like another grandfather to me! You’re just mean!” Alice bumped against Noctis’ shoulder playfully, causing him to blush and turn away from her.

The thread of conversation ran dry, and a comfortable silence fell upon the car. Gladio took the lull as his cue to pull his latest book out of the door’s pocket and shift to a more comfortable position for the long drive ahead. He thumbed through the early chapters, speed reading some short passages prior to his bookmark before continuing from where he’d left off. He’d only gotten through a few pages before Gladio felt something – or someone – leaning closer, their weight pressing against his arm. He glanced away from the book in his hand to see Alice peering around him. “You want something?” He asked.

“Just wondering what you were reading, that’s all.” She squinted, trying to make out the words on the page.

Gladio tilted the book slightly towards her, “It’s not amazing or nothing. Just something I picked up to keep me busy.”

Alice shuffled closer, leaning her whole body weight against Gladio’s side, “I dunno, seems pretty good to me from what I managed to sneak a peek at. I like cheesy romance stuff like this.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, just loud enough to be made out over the smooth rumble of the Regalia’s engine.

Gladio lifted his arm in a silent offer for her to get in closer, “If you say so. Lemme know when you’re done with the page?”

Alice’s face lit up as she slid easily under and leant against Gladio’s side to read, his arm lowering to circle her. Time crept by. Each time Alice was done with the page, she’d tap Gladio’s arm, and he’d turn the page slowly – almost as though he worried that sharply turning it would break the bubble surrounding them. It was eventually punctured by a snapping sound in front of them. Gladio dropped the book to his lap to see what the noise was.

From the front seat, Prompto was looking down at his camera, admiring the candid shot he’d just taken. Upon being caught, he laughed awkwardly, “You guys just looked so good, I couldn’t help it.”

Both of them shrugged, “I don’t mind.” They spoke in unison, looking at each other in surprise before laughing quietly. They settled back into their previous positions, Alice’s hand coming to rest upon his chest as she cuddled up closer.

No one said a word.

---

Night was falling fast before they’d even reached Lestallum.

“It seems we’ll have to stop and camp for the night. We’re nowhere close enough to a motel, unfortunately.” Ignis informed them as dusk started to set in.

Prompto stretched his arms skyward, “Yay camping!” He sarcastically whooped.

Noctis leant forward and tapped Ignis’ shoulder, “Uh Specs, what about her?”

Immediately, all eyes turned to Alice, who was happily dozing up against Gladiolus. She’d fallen asleep at some point during the drive, and no one had had the heart to wake her, especially as she was ‘just so darn cute!’ as Prompto had put it.

“Ah. That may pose a slight problem…” Ignis said, glancing up into the rear-view mirror once more. He carefully brought the Regalia into a parking spot on the side of the road and killed the engine. “It is far too dangerous for us to continue on. We’ll need to figure something out as we go.”

As if on cue, Alice started to wake. “Hm? Are we there already?” She rubbed her eyes and stretched, making a soft noise in the process.

“Not quite, I’m afraid. We’ve had to stop a ways out as night is fast approaching.” Ignis turned in his seat to address her, “Our only option is to make camp, unfortunately.”

“Oh, it is getting pretty dark, huh? Well, I don’t mind sleeping in here if you guys wanted privacy…” Alice glanced up at the sky, “I’m sure the street light would keep the daemons away.”

Something twinged within each of them at the mere mention of daemons possibly attacking in the middle of the night. Prompto would’ve sworn to all Astrals that Ignis’ eye visibly twitched.

“I don’t mind if you share the tent with us. We have spare sleeping bags, don’t we, Specs?” Noctis spoke up, doing his best to sound as casual as possible.

Ignis thought for a moment, “Yes, I suppose that would be the best idea. I’m not sure exactly how I feel about leaving you out in the Regalia on your own for the night. Are you alright with this?”

Alice nodded and they all set about clambering out of the Regalia. Their camping gear was neatly tucked away in the Regalia’s boot, and they all shared in the task of carrying it up to the nearby haven. It was a bit of a trek with no light other than the torches on their jackets and the rapidly decreasing sunlight, but the pathway was clear and straight towards the glowing runes. The group were sure they’d get it done before any of the daemons rose from the ground.

They were wrong.

Prompto fumbled the camp chairs he was hauling up from the car. He huffed and put the other down in order to get a better grip on them both. He was completely distracted. He didn’t hear the hissing of the smoke that signalled the arrival of a daemon. It clawed its way out of the ground, hideous features twisted into a perpetual horrific grin. It skittered about and surveyed the area. Its gaze landed on Prompto, shifting the chairs around in his grip. It began to approach, sharp talons ready to strike.

“Prompto! Behind you!”

“Huh?”

As Prompto turned, he saw a flash of white pass by. He didn’t even get a good look at what kind of daemon it was before it disappeared into purple smoke. Instead, Alice stood with her back to him, sword loosely held in her hand.

“A-Alice? What, did you just..?”

Alice sighed and turned, her free hand over her heart, “That was really close! Are you alright? It didn’t hurt you or anything?”

“Uh, no, no, I’m good. But, um… where’d you get the sword?”

“Hm? Oh!” Alice looked down into her hand and seemed surprised by the weapon she held. “I think I saw it by the tree over there. I guess I grabbed it without thinking. Kinda silly, huh?” She giggled as if she were embarrassed.

Prompto gaped, “Really? You just… picked it up? Just like that?”

“Umm, yes?”

“What’s taking so long?” Gladio called out, coming down the path towards them. “The daemons’ll be out any minute. C’mon!”

Prompto and Alice quickly hurried up to Gladio, who waited for them to pass. Suddenly, he grabbed Alice’s arm.

“What’re you doing with a sword?”

Alice swallowed as she met the Shield’s intense, unreadable stare and explained what had happened. “I just, I didn’t know what else to do! I had to help, before it got him!”

Slowly, Gladio let go and instead grabbed a hold of Alice’s shoulder, taking the weapon from her loose grip, “You alright yourself? Shouldn’t be running off into fights alone like that…”

“I’m fine! Just kinda surprised.” She laughed as they resumed walking up to the top of the haven, “Never really used a sword before. Guess I got pretty lucky, huh?”

Gladio watched in a stunned silence, his mouth agape as Alice clambered up the side of the haven. He didn’t even flinch when Prompto elbowed his side playfully.

“Told ya she was pretty amazing.”

“No kidding…”

Up at the campsite, the tent was halfway set up – clearly signs that it was Gladio’s task as both Noctis and Ignis were occupied with other tasks – and the camp chairs that had already made their way up to the haven’s top were still laying on the ground in a pile. Noctis was tending to the fire, watching it carefully to make sure it was staying lit while Ignis was already deep in preparation for the dinner he’d already decided on. Alice approached the portable cooking station.

“What’cha making?” Ignis opened his mouth to respond, but Alice cut him off sharply, “Wait no! I wanna guess!” She carefully scrutinised the ingredients on the bench before her, looking at them from all angles. “Is it… Oyakodon?”

Ignis was momentarily stunned, “Uh, yes. I noticed a version that was specific to Lestallum last time I happened to be there and took note of the recipe. I thought, since it is a fairly simple dish and as you come from Lestallum, it would be a relatively safe option for food.”

Alice’s eyes lit up at the mention of the Lestallum version, “No way! That’s so cool, Ignis! I had no idea that you could just do that! Especially since most people just don’t make it right.” She flippantly added.

“How so?”

“Well, most people think that all that’s added is just some leiden pepper to make it just that little bit different, but the vendors specifically work with some of the shops to grow some lucian tomatoes up on some of the rooftops to add to it too. It makes it so good. Though, I add just a small bit of funguar when I make it, just for that added… stuff, y’know? Gets you nice and cosy and ready for a nap.” Alice explained with a laugh.

Ignis fell into thought for a moment before responding to the woman before him, “I wasn’t aware you were knowledgeable about cooking.”

Alice blushed lightly, “Well, I’m not really. I just try things and find what I like. I dunno if it’s actually all that good, but I’ve had friends say some of the stuff I put together is pretty nice.”

“It’s a start, at least.” Ignis turned to check their supplies, trying to keep as casual as possible.

“I guess, yeah. Well, I’ll leave you to it. Don’t wanna get in your way!” Alice said with a warm smile before retreating back towards the fire.

During her conversation by the cooking station, both Gladio and Prompto had joined them at the haven’s top. The tent had been fully erected, and Prompto was in the middle of spreading the camp chairs evenly around the now-well established fire. Alice wandered over to one of the chairs besides Noctis, watching as he tapped away at his phone.

She attempted to look at his phone screen, “You playing a game?”

Noctis moved his phone, so it wasn’t able to be seen. “Maybe.” He mumbled, attention now split between the screen and the intruding presence beside him.

He hadn’t been able to move it fast enough, however, as Alice pulled her phone out quickly, “No way that the crown prince plays King’s Knight!”

Immediately, Noctis tensed, “What? Prince? Who said anything about princes?” He stuttered, trying to cover for himself.

Alice simply tapped her feet as she waited for her own game to load, “I wasn’t born yesterday. I do know what the crown prince of Lucis looks like. I’m also pretty sure the car with multiple insignias of the royal family wouldn’t be in the possession of some random hunters.” She grinned up at Noctis, “Don’t worry though, I’m not gonna rat you out or anything, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

That didn’t exactly put Noctis’ fears aside, but he did his best to not let her words get to him.

“So, what level are you?” Alice changed the topic back to their original conversation.

“94.”

“Shut. Up.”

Noctis raised his gaze from the phone to see Alice staring at him, her mouth slightly agape. He stifled a laugh at her expression, “What?”

“You’re fucking with me.”

“Ask Prompto.”

“Ask Prompto what?”

As if summoned by the call of his name, Prompto sat himself down in the chair to the other side of Noctis.

“There is no way Noctis is actually at level 94 on King’s Knight.”

Prompto laughed openly, pulling his own phone out, “Nah, he’s actually probably at 95 by now. Leaving me at my lowly 86.”

Alice flopped back into the camp chair, staring out at the trees surrounding them, “I thought I was good. My whole life is a lie. My level 67 is nothing. My existence is meaningless now.”

Both Noctis and Prompto couldn’t help but smile at her dramatics. They spent the rest of the evening prior to dinner chatting about their King’s Knight experiences, with Prompto delighting in talking about their guild and Noctis recalling a particularly amusing memory of him sneaking Ignis’ phone during a Citadel meeting to grind his character up so Ignis wouldn’t be left behind too much.

“Because that was a good use of your time, Noct.” Ignis deadpanned as he handed out the bowls.

“I wash jus lookin’ ouh fur you.” Noctis said with a shrug and a mouthful of food.

Ignis grimaced at the display while Alice simply laughed. “And here I thought you might be a good influence on him. You may be just as bad if your earlier nap comment was anything to go by.” He said as he settled down in the final chair with his own bowl.

“You totally like it though, don’t lie to me.” Alice winked playfully before taking her first bite. She was so preoccupied with reeling from the taste that Ignis’ sudden choke on his own mouthful was missed, “This is… so amazing! It’s like, a million times better than anything I’ve ever had, ever!”

A light pink flush began to grow high on Ignis’ cheekbones, but he resolutely ignored it in favour of turning down the compliment, “Come now, it’s nothing special.”

“But it totally is! This is insanely good!” Alice persisted.

“I appreciate the praise.” Ignis said in an attempt to cut the subject short before he became even more flustered. Alice didn’t seem to quite get the memo. Instead, she continued to heap praise upon Ignis for his cooking. The others joined in as they all noticed Ignis’ face turning redder and redder. By the time dinner was over and the bowls had been collected, his face truly resembled one of the tomatoes he’d added to the dish.

Being full of good food quietened them all down significantly. Once both Noctis and Alice began to yawn frequently enough that it was interrupting their regular speech, they all decided to retire to the tent for the night.

It took a bit of fussing around and shifting, but they did find a compromise in getting Alice into a space in the tent alongside the rest of them. She took a spot right by the tent flaps, laying at their feet. If Noctis had any ill feelings about being shifted from his usual spot, he didn’t show it. Instead, he laid himself down quickly with his back to his retainers and fell asleep almost immediately. Alice followed suit, falling easily into a deep sleep upon laying her head down upon the borrowed pillow. Gladio was the last to sleep, waiting until both Ignis and Prompto’s breathing had evened out alongside the other two. His gaze drifted across them all, lingering just slightly longer on Alice’s peaceful sleeping face.

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