@swordofthreekings - Tumblr Blog

Nyx openly gaped at that until he was able to collect himself. "That's – what?" he pinched himself again and nope, still not dreaming. Okay, that was... something.

Sure, Nyx considered himself an attractive guy and he was pretty confident when it came to pursuing people, but nothing could ever have prepared him for this.

"The both of you? But that's – huh," he would've assumed that they had agreed on some kind of open relationship, but if Drautos intended on asking him out too then it was probably planned, which meant that they were actually, genuinely, interested in him.

"I'm still not convinced I'm not dreaming, but I'd be an absolute idiot if I said no, so yes – I'd love to go on a date with you. The both of you, I guess?"

He had to admit, he did find watching Nyx struggle to get his head around what was going on pretty amusing. It really wasn't that hard when one thought about it. He and Drautos both liked Nyx, it was only natural to bring him in to their relationship, if he wanted. To include him.

"Both of us if you want. Or one at a time. I don't think either of us would say no to individual dates."

He did smirk a little at Nyx. He was just so confused, it was kind of funny.

chosenbythecrystal-archived

Noctis couldn't care less about his reputation, nor what anyone might think about his soulmate. That said, he didn't want word to spread just yet – not until they figured out what they wanted their relationship to be. He didn't want public opinion to get in the way of what they might have together.

"You can cook?" Noctis couldn't help the surprise that crept into his voice as he spoke. Cor didn't seem like the type, he supposed. Or rather, Noctis had never imagined him doing anything but fighting. Then again, Cor had to feed himself somehow and the man didn't seem the type to live off takeout. "Sorry. I'd like that. I'd offer to help but...you know how bad I am when it comes to cooking."

He was a complete and utter disaster.

"Anyway. When did you want to come over? If you're free now, we can head back."

Noctis would need a ride back to his apartment anyway, and nobody would think anything of the Marshal ensuring he got home safely.

He snorted softly. "Not everyone is as bad at cooking as you," he said with a faint chuckle. He knew Noctis had a hard time with cooking. The prince could probably burn water, and he wasn't above poking a little fun at him for it.

"We can go now if you wish," he said. "I don't have much work here."

And no one would think twice about the Marshal taking the prince home. While Noctis may not be worried about his reputation, Cor was, and would try to protect it as much as he could.

"We'll stop by the grocery on our way," he said, heading toward the car.

#chosenbythecrystal

Nyx met Cor's eyes with his own, searching them for answers. He took a moment to progress what Cor said to him, before nodding his head.

"You're right. I won't give up now. No matter how long it takes, they won't get away with it," he'd get his homeland back, he's fight until his dying breath. He wouldn't let all those deaths and sacrifices be in vain.

Stepping out after Cor, he grabbed his bag as well, taking a moment to appreciate the sight of the ocean. He hadn't been to Galdin Quay that many times, but the ocean was a comfort to him. It made him want to go for a swim, but they didn't have time for that.

"Is the boat already waiting for us?"

Cor shook his head as he led the way toward the pier. "The ferry won't leave until the morning, so we'll spend the night here. Hotel or camping, your choice, I don't care either way," he said.

But he did care about food, which was why he was heading for the restaurant.

If Nyx wanted to relax some before they had to leave in the morning, he was more than welcome to. It was likely the last time they'd get to relax in a long time.

sylleblosscm

「Likewise.」

Luna is smiling, unbidden, too content to try to remember the last time she felt so much weight lift from her shoulders.

Soon, her duty begins proper. There are rumours of peace talks with Lucis, in which Lunafreya will undoubtedly play her part. It has consumed her every waking thought until this: that they have truly made something beautiful together, ephemeral though it may be.

He hates to be the one to have to ruin this moment of reprieve between them, but he needs to, if only to warn her of one thing.

He finds a space on the underside of his arm, where their drawings haven't spread to write. [I may not be able to write for a while.]

#sylleblosscm

"I don't know – maybe? I thought most people in Insomnia were too busy to bother with cooking," and not everyone was good at it, of course, but Cor definitely seemed confident.

Perking up with interest, he slowly shook his head: "I don't think so. I've had raw fish before, but I don't think that counts. Sushi has... rice and stuff, right?" he didn't actually know, it wasn't something they did a lot of in Galahd, but he had definitely heard of it. He found it funny that people didn't mind eating raw fish but had a problem with raw meat – maybe their bodies could handle the fish better?

"I'd love to try it though," he was interested in trying out most kinds of new food, though if this meant that he could eat raw fish without having to come up with an excuse for it then it might become a new favourite.

He chuckled. "Some are, sure. But a lot of people cook. A lot of people like to."

He'd need to stop by a store quickly before they got back to his apartment. It had been a long time since he'd made sushi, and he didn't have everything onhand for it. "Rice, seaweed, vegetables. Sometimes it has crab or eel instead of fish. Or other things." He shrugged. "There are a lot of different kinds."

He nodded toward a small corner market. "I need to stop here. You can stay out here if you want."

chosenbythecrystal-archived

Noctis wasn't stupid enough to try taking Cor on in an actual fight. Not with the door locked and not without a weapon. Cor might be unarmed himself, but out of the two of them, Cor was the stronger one. As soon as the man released him, Noctis moved to sit on his bed, eyes glued to Cor as if he expected some form of retaliation.

He'd talked big. Cor wouldn't kill him, but he could still hurt him, no matter what he said. People always hurt him, no matter what he did. Cor was no different. Regis was no different.

He'd let his guard down and then they'd hurt him.

At least in Niflheim, Noctis knew the rules in expectations. He didn't have people pretending to care about him.

"Isn't that beneath your pay grade? Or are they all so afraid of me that they have to send in the muscle?"

Noctis had immediately moved to sit on the bed, eyeing him warily. Like he expected Cor to attack him at any moment. Though he couldn't really blame him, given what Niflheim had doubtlessly done and said, it still bothered him to see that look.

He kept some distance from him instead of moving closer, letting him have space. Like he might for a frightened animal.

"No one asked me to come here, I wanted to see you myself," he answered. "And to apologize."

#chosenbythecrystal

Nyx was glad that Cor seemed comfortable with opening up to him. It was slow going, but it wasn't like they were in a hurry. "Yeah, I can imagine. It would probably still be like that if it wasn't for the war," more and more people moved to Insomnia because it was safer or because they wanted nothing to do with Niflheim. He couldn't blame them. He had come to fight, of course, but he here all the same.

"There's still dirt and trash and shitty people, we just try to find the beauty in the things we can actually control, like this place," he motioned around him. "We try to make the best of a shitty situation, because nobody else is going to do it for us," a lot of people in Insomnia didn't want them there. That was fine, they didn't necessarily want to be here either, in the slums of the city – but they made do. They kept to their traditions, they let their community flourish and with it, gave those upper class snobs the middle finger.

"Sounds like a plan. We have a place reserved for herbs as well that you are free to take from, if you want," he led them over to the place, where there was a wide variety of herbs growing. "We've made small signs to show what's good for cooking and what should be avoided," some things did well in food, others in medicine. Others definitely shouldn't be digested, but could be used for other things. Like bug repellants or the like.

He couldn't understand what the people from Galahd and other regions had been through, being forced to come to Insomnia after losing their homes to way. He wasn't even going to pretend he could. But he'd seen battle, he'd seen what happened to places Niflheim's war machien rolled through. It wasn't pleasant. It was good they could come to Insomnia and try to keep some of their culture alive there. Nyx led him over to a portion of the garden designated for herbs. He recognized some, but there were more he didn't recognize and the little signs with them were rather helpful. He reached out and touched the leaves of a beebalm plant lightly.

"It must have taken you all a long time to get all of this to grow here," he said after a minute, turning to look around the garden once again. It was actually pretty impressive.

Nyx's expression fell, for some reason having not expected to be rejected. He supposed he was moving a bit fast, but –

His thoughts were cut off as Cor leaned in, pressing their lips together. Eyes closing, Nyx leaned into the kiss, enjoying it immensely. He followed Cor when he pulled away without realising what he was doing, face flushing lightly as he instead moved to rest his head against the other's chest.

"That was so underhanded," he accused, though there was no heat to his words. It had also been very smooth, so he wasn't complaining. Part of him had definitely wanted to swoon in that moment though.

"We should do it again sometime."

When they parted, Nyx laid his head down against Cor's chest, and he wrapped his arms around the younger man without thinking. He chuckled, low enough to be nearly silent, though Nyx likely could feel the slight rumble of it in his chest.

"It was," he admitted, absolutely unrepentant. He ran a hand over Nyx's hair, looking toward the sunset. He didn't even have a name for half the colors he could see now. It was beautiful, and he was glad he was there with Nyx.

"We will. We'll have plenty of time to do that whenever you want."

Nyx tried to think, but his head hurt so fucking badly. Every time he tried to make sense of his thoughts it would throb. It was making him feel very light headed. Part of him wished the Marshal hadn't said anything, so he wouldn't be feeling like this, but he also knew that this was important. He just – he just had to remember why.

"Selena..." that was the name he had remembered before, out on the battlefield. It felt so familiar, so why didn't he know anyone by that name? He tried to push through the pain, but it all seemed so fragmented. "Lib... Libertus? No, ugh," letting out a low noise of pain, he attempted to clutch at his head, but it was no use. It kept hurting and before he knew what was happening, darkness had dragged him to unconsciousness – body slumping forward in a dead faint.

Cor watched, silently, as the man tried to think. Selena was the name he had said on the battlefield, as well, when he had been distracted by a woman's scream. A family member of some kind? A lover or sister? He had no idea. Neither did the man, it seemed.

Nyx groaned and slumped forward, fainting. Cor reached out, grabbing him before he could fall face-first to the floor of the truck, shifting to lean Nyx against his shoulder instead. The Empire had done a number on him, it seemed. Brainwashing, at the very least. Theyd both be lucky if there wasn't some kind of insane 'self destruct', he thought grimly.

But he could do little other than wait for the rest of the drive, keeping Nyx steady, and trying to decide just how to procede with all of this.

Nyx nodded his head in agreement. He liked the sound of that – because swords were kind of awkward for him. He could probably get used to them, but he'd like to try some other options out first. So he followed after Cor, curious to see what he'd pick out.

"You think so?" He wanted to believe the older male, but what if he was wrong? What if they didn't like him using knives? Nyx couldn't always figure out exactly what they wanted from him; though they seemed to care the most his magitek use.

Brows furrowing, he took the daggers offered to him, a bit surprised at the other's confidence. "You're that important?" that was pretty impressive. Nyx supposed he should be glad he was being trained by him, then.

He weighted the daggers in his grip, a bit surprised about how natural it felt. He twirled one of the daggers around, the movement coming naturally. How odd. "I think I like these," he offered, a bit mesmerised by how good it felt.

Cor hummed an affirmative to Nyx's first question. The Empire wanted results. They wanted to see the fruits of their magitek experiment, and they wanted Nyx to bring them closer to their goal. How he did that was less important than the fact that he did at all. He snorted softly, but shrugged. "Important is subjective. Do I have a high rank? No. I don't hold any rank at all." There were people who would say that made him unimportant. Those people would be idiots.

Nyx took the daggers, holding them as if he'd been holding knives his whole life, and even twirled one around easily. He held them naturally. Cor suspected that whoever or whatever he had been before Besithia had gotten ahold of him, he had used knives often in his life. "Good." He nodded toward a training dummy made of synthetic, flesh-like gel. "Show me what you can do."

altrxisme

The fox's eyes narrowed at the other, head tilted slightly, the corner of his mouth twitched a bit which revealed a toothy grin. He leaned into Cor's space, watching him. His tail slowly flicked back and forth on full display since he didn't have his coat on him.

"Somethin' you're tryin' ta get at here? I thought this was just another late night call." It wasn't the first time he's come over at such an hour, but it's definitely a first where the air is as charged like so.

As a doctor, the other's injury was something he kept in mind first. As himself, however...

Jackson leaned in closer to him, grinning and for the first time, Cor returned it, flashing him a sharp smirk. "Finally catching on?" he drawled.

He *had* asked Jackson there because he'd pulled soem stitches in his arm. But that wasn't something he was so concerned with. It was a mild injury anyway, and Jackson's reaction was far more interesting.

"Clever little fox."

#altrxisme #>:3c

strengthhonorcompassion

@swordofthreekings continued from here

“You don’t have to be a kid to get a hug from a friend, Cor. You just look like you need one.” She laughs a bit and hugs him tight, “I can guess how exhausting parenting can be from watching Clarus. How is Prompto doing? Are you taking care of yourself too? I can’t exactly offer any cooking tips beyond don’t put a pot of water on to boil then go take a shower- no one is willing to let me live that down yet.”

Cor chuckled softly at her, letting her hug him. He couldn't deny that being a parent was more tiring than he'd expected it to be, though he was finding it rather enjoyable, too.

"He's doing well. Finally started daycare. He's making friends there, even." He didn't answer the second part. She was probably quite aware by now how infamously horrible he was at taking care of himself. He was better at it now, though, if only because of Prompto.

"And they shouldn't. That was dumb," he said bluntly, but there was a good natured tone to his voice.

#strengthhonorcompassion

monarchborn

Regis noticed the flush on Cor's cheeks and oh, how fond it made him feel. So he only chuckled when Cor glared at him, not saying anything to make the younger male believe that he hadn't noticed.

"Very well," he put on his own jacket and led them out to where his car was waiting, guiding the driver to his apartment so they could eat there. He said apartment, but he truly owned the whole complex – many of the other apartments offered to their workers.

"What do you feel like eating?" he questioned, already looking up places. He could always ask his personal chef to make the food, but it wasn't the same.

It was a little strange not driving Regis, he had to admit. One of Cor's earliest and most lasting positions had been as the man's guard and driver, before Regis had needed him to branch out into other areas. He had to admit, he kind of missed those days. Things were simpler then.

He glanced over to where his boss was already beginning to scroll through potential food places. He hummed, considering it for a second. "Pizza," he said after a moment. He didn't have it often at all, but it sounded good.

#monarchborn

altrxisme

Jackson slowly nodded at Cor's words, brows furrowed in thought. He had no doubts that the King and Shield would be more than accepting of the other's decision to father the child. Unfortunately, there were certain council members and other important figures in the Citadel that might find the idea of the Marshal raising who they might view as 'Imperial property' as inappropriate at best.

Bright blues watched the baby boy in the other's arms, calm now that he had his toy and milk. He was the cutest little thing he's seen since the birth of his younger siblings.

Six, it would've been one thing if Cor had brought in a toddler or a pre-teen but a baby?

"If ya want, I can cover your duties for the time bein'. You'll just have ta notify whoever needs ta know." The matter of Cor not being present the past few days still needed to be addressed, as much as Jackson didn't want to focus on that now. While he didn't have the same martial prowess as the other, he could at least cover the paperwork and overseeing portion of his duties on top of his own.