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The Steaks Are High

I’ve tried several times to get this goddamn thing up, so if this doesn’t show up in the tags, that’s the last attempt. I’ll have to find another way to make it visible; I dunno how, but there has to be a way. I really don’t know what this site’s problem is, but I don’t like it one bit, harumph.

But, that aside, this was supposed to be up way earlier than it was. True, I wanted to wait a bit after I finished typing it up, but even then, earlier this week was supposed to be the upload day. Regardless, here it is. I combined two quests to make one almost super quest (I’m sure you can guess what ones used from the game were). It was a little hard putting the combat portion of it, but I had to cut it short so the story doesn’t go on for way too long and I can cut enough to the chase. Nonetheless, if this goes right, I hope you guys have fun reading it! I had lots of fun writing it, so here you go! 💘

Yet another afternoon came for the group of five on a mission to set up camp for the approaching evening. Since they were going to be outdoors for the remainder of the late day following a recent, particularly difficult task against the Empire in another part of Duscae, Ignis took the time to get started on cooking the upcoming meal while Gladio and Lightning helped set up the heavier parts of camp. As he was setting up and gathering ingredients for what he intended to cook, Ignis realized he couldn’t find it anywhere. After a bit more searching, the closest he came to any results was finding the container he normally kept it in, only to open it and see nothing inside visible to the naked eye.

“Fantastic…” Ignis sighed in disappointment, hanging his head slightly. “Now what am I to do?”

“How’s dinner coming along?” Lightning asked, walking over to Ignis after camp was done being set up. “Do you need a hand?”

“A little more than that. I’d be happy to accept the offer were it not for the fact that I’ve run short of a very important ingredient.”

“What was it?”

“I needed a small pinch of kettier ginger for tonight’s dish, but it seems it’s going to have to wait until I can acquire some more.” A thought came to Ignis’ brilliant mind, the possibility not one that had any dire consequences to really name. “Light, you wouldn’t mind going to retrieve some while I prepare the rest of the food in lieu of the main dish?”

“I don’t even know what kettier ginger is, nevermind where to find it. And you’re sure you didn’t just make it up?”

“Lightning, I assure you, the spice is as real as can be. I wouldn’t ask you to find something that’s pure make-believe, would I?”

“No… I guess not. Okay, even if it is an actual thing, where was the last place you bought this— kettle ginger, or whatever it was?”

“Kettier ginger, my friend. As for the recent whereabouts of it, there are two places that come to mind. The first is the Furloch Farms shop, but that’s all the way in Lestallum and would take far too long to acquire. And that’s without considering it possibly being closed by now.”

“What’s the second?”

“If memory serves, Takka might have some leftover at the Pit Stop. Maybe check with him?”

“Right, I see. And… who’s Takka?” Lightning scratched her head, the vague instructions not getting through to her in the slightest.

“Oh, sorry, you’ve never met. He’s an associate of Cindy’s grandfather and runs his own diner in Hammerhead. If I entrust you with the directions, there’s no way you could miss it.”

“That’s assuming he even has the ginger to begin with. Besides, maybe it’ll turn up just in time for dinner.”

“I highly doubt that last part, but there’s no harm in asking anyways. Especially considering what I could potentially use it for in the future were someone to procure it for me.”

“Like?”

“Oh, it wouldn’t be anything special. Perhaps a simple rib-eye from the finest of behemoth meat? Cooked medium-rare, even, to tickle the fancy of anyone interested in eating it?”

Lightning froze in her tracks at Ignis’ “casual” mention of the hinted behemoth steak. It’d been over hundreds of years since she’d last gotten to sink her teeth into her favorite dish; medium-rare and juicy, exactly the way she always made it to her liking. Swallowing the drool building up in her mouth didn’t seem to hide how considerably peckish she’d become by the mention alone, something that went easily detected by Ignis. His face couldn’t be seen where she was standing, but Lightning still had the feeling she was right.

“That’s right, now that I mention it…” Ignis brought up, his tone self-satisfactory and utterly baitful while turning his head slowly with a bit of a glint to his eyewear. The smirk now on his face all but solidified his intentions of striking a deal with the woman. “You haven’t yet gotten the chance to enjoy any behemoth steak recently. Have you, Light?”

“I didn’t say that,” Lightning fibbed, unconsciously licking the corner of her mouth. The growl of her stomach that proceeded gave her right away, her eyes glaring irritably at her treacherous gut for doing so.

“Actions speak louder than words, and so it seems your stomach does as well. So, what will it be? You find me more ginger in exchange for the biggest, most succulent behemoth steak of your lifetime? It would benefit both parties, and could be quite the opportunity. What’s say you?”

Damn this man in knowing how to get into one’s head through their hunger. Lightning did not consider herself somebody easy to bribe for any sort of reason. But, the task was relatively harmless, albeit just a little close to tedious in naming a flaw. And like Ignis pointed out; it’d be a win-win situation for both sides. He’d have his precious ingredient, and she one of those days would sink her teeth into the reward of a lifetime. After all, there wasn’t any harm in doing a new friend a favor…

“Where in Hammerhead is this ‘Takka’, did you say?” Lightning questioned, indirectly agreeing to Ignis’ task.

“It’s a diner by the name of ‘Takka’s Pit Stop’,” Ignis instructed, pleased to know a reasonable deal had been successfully made. “I’ll send you off with the directions, but use caution while you’re away.”

“Don’t worry about me, it’s just ginger. I’ll be back before you can say you’ve ‘come up with a new recipe’.” Lightning playfully mimicked Ignis accent and all in saying his infamous cooking phrase, earning a mildly amused expression from the team tactician.

“Cheeky. Now, come back as soon as you have it, and I’ll see you then.”

Promising to do just that on her quest, Lightning waited for Ignis to send her the directions to her new smartphone (not that anything was wrong with the old one she had still from centuries back in Palumpolum, in her opinion, but the “science-fiction film device” had to seriously go according to Ignis himself) so she knew where to go. After that was done, she tracked down Takka’s restaurant on foot, not yet trusting herself enough to drive the “backwards” Regalia they’d just gotten back from the enemy base. Ignis had a feeling the task wasn’t going to go as smoothly as he’d hoped at this rate, but his inadvertent solution quickly came in the form of who was (un?)fortunate enough to walk up next.

“Everything going okay, Specs?” Noctis wondered. “Any clue when dinner’s gonna be ready?”

“Not for a while; it seems I’ve run out of the kettier ginger, which I really needed for tonight’s main dish,” Ignis told him.

“That’s all? You want me to go get some? I think Takka might have some to spare if you’d like me driving back to Hammerhead to check.”

“Oh, no need to do that. I already sent—”

Ignis stopped himself when his brain hatched another idea. In the case that Lightning encountered any speed bumps in running the errand (not that he had a lack of faith in her; it was just him being reasonably concerned, regardless), sending another person to speed up getting the ginger would ensure it got done on time. And who better than Noctis? Of everyone within the group who still had yet to warm up to their new teammate as a friend, he was the only one remaining. He in a way also had to commend his beloved liege for being such a stickler to his own bullheadedness, but keeping his indifferent distance from a girl like Lightning realistically wouldn’t last forever anyways even for someone as timid as Noctis.

It seemed having dinner finished on time wasn’t the only thing Ignis decided to hasten. Why not see how the scenario goes down just once?

“On second thought,” Ignis corrected himself, “I wouldn’t mind if you did find some for me. Takka ought to have some in stock for me to borrow, I’m sure.”

“Consider it done, then,” Noctis agreed easily, wanting to help his glasses-wearing friend out. “How hard could it be to find a little kettier ginger?”

“Be sure not to dally and come back before sundown. And do stay safe, but wary while you’re out; I don’t want you trying to bite off far more than you can chew.”

“I’ll live, Ignis. I know what goes on after dark. Besides, the only thing you’ll have to worry about me ‘biting and chewing’ is your delicious cooking.”

“I assure you, you won’t see anything less. Now, run along, and hurry back in one piece.”

Noctis declared himself ready to set off to do the new miniature quest and got behind the Regalia’s wheel with the keys. He drove away from where it was parked, following the correct way to Hammerhead while the sun was still fairly high enough in the sky to guide him. Along the road, his rearview mirror picked up on something up ahead that certainly caught his attention for once. The black clothes with different modest color streaks and belts were one thing, but the wavy roseate hair on the same body made it click on who was choosing to walk off for reasons Noctis wasn’t aware of. Rolling his eyes rather amused, he pulled over and slowed his driving to match a proper walking speed.

“Need a ride, Miss?” Noctis snickered, getting a surprised head turn from Lightning when she’d heard him. She continued to walk stubbornly, but he wasn’t stopping the car anytime soon or turning to leave her behind. “It’s a ways away from where you’re going, I’d bet.”

“Gonna have to take a raincheck, I’m already making progress,” Lightning scoffed, not even looking at him. “If I don’t stop, I’ll be there within the hour.”

“How about being there within the half-hour or less by car? Where are you going and why didn’t you just ask me for the keys to the Regalia to make your life easier?”

“I’m shocked you’re even asking, but if you must know, Ignis asked me to fetch him something from Hammerhead. I’ve already started getting there, so buzz off and turn back.”

“Hammerhead? It wasn’t… kettier ginger he wants you to pick up, was it?”

“What’s it to ya? I get what Ignis asked me to, then I’ll head straight back to camp with it and myself intact.”

He took that as a yes, then. Noctis had severe doubts Ignis would carelessly send him to do something he’d asked another by accident, so that meant— to the prince’s reluctance— he’d be stuck working with Lightning of all people to retrieve the kettier ginger. Since there was no getting her to change her mind or anything of the sort, either, the piper was getting paid handsomely and Noctis was left with the regrettable debt of it. No matter, he’d just get it over and done with so quickly that both of them could easily forget it ever happened.

“Get in,” Noctis told her, pointing his thumb to the passenger’s seat. “I’ll give you a lift there since we’re both running the same errand.”

“Are you serious? Does Ignis not trust me or something?” Lightning bit.

“Trust me, it’s not that. Just let me drive us there to make it quicker, or do you wanna risk dinner getting spoiled because you took forever to so much as reach the diner?”

“I’m sure I won’t be that long on foot. Directions say it’s only a few miles down the road.”

“Miles that’d be reached faster by car. Or, if you want, I let you walk while I drive and get the ginger, then everyone’s gonna wonder where the Hell you wandered off to when I return. Which sounds like the better option?”

Scowling at her finest with her rosy lips pursed, Lightning huffily stormed over to the Regalia’s other door and climbed into the passenger’s seat before buckling up. Noctis seemed almost smug at having won the argument, laughing a little to himself at how pouty he noticed Lightning now looked sitting next to him. At least on the bright side for either party, the ginger would be theirs, and it was a hearty night of being off each other’s cases for as long as humanly possible.

They arrived at the destination spot in Hammerhead within minutes of silent driving, Noctis mentally rubbing it in Lightning’s face at having once again proved his own point. She ignored his aura without second thought, marching into “Takka’s Pit Stop”, memorable to her only by the obvious sign and windmill towering above it. Noctis followed her inside, a little taken aback by how hasty she’d made her way up to the counter in what felt like only half a heartbeat.

“Hey there!” the bald, dark-skinned man with the Southern accent Lightning could only assume was Takka greeted, waving to both her and Noctis. “Good to see y’all again. Mind if I ask about who the lady here is?”

The question was more directed towards Noctis, but Lightning stepped in first to introduce herself. “Lightning Farron. Temporarily accompanying His Highness until the assigned city. You’re ‘Takka’, I can assume?”

“That’s me, right here in my diner! Nice ta meet ya.” Takka gave Lightning a hand to shake, which she did so briefly and allowed him to turn back to Noctis. “Y’never told me ya added a fourth person to yer retinue. Ya close with ‘er?”

“Not really,” Noctis sighed, reluctant at being asked about his newest teammate. “But once we reach Altissia, that won’t even matter anymore.”

“Aww, buck up! You never know what’ll happen by then. So, what brings you two here, anyways?”

“Ginger,” Lightning answered. “Ignis said you have kettier ginger, and we need some to use.”

Takka frowned at her response, eyes shifting behind the counter solemnly. “Ooh, sorry, ma’am. Afraid my shipments of it won’t be comin’ in for at least another hour. If ya came a little later, then I might’ve been able ta spare some right away!”

“Seriously?” The disappointment was clear in Lightning’s voice, Noctis feeling the same way but not making it known. “How long’s it gonna take for them to arrive?”

“Should be a good hour or two, so it ain’t too bad! Though, since yer both here already, I was thinkin’ y’all could do me a small favor.”

“What’s the task this time?” Noctis questioned, humorous. “Hope it’s a challenge you have in mind.”

“Oh, it’s a doozy! Trust me. If neither of ya mind, I’ve been needin’ ta get my hands on a Catoblepas Brisket for somethin’ I’ve been meanin’ to try. Up for the test?”

Without giving Noctis the change to do anything past opening his mouth to speak, Lightning stepped in front of him with her own bold decision. “We’ll do it,” she agreed without hesitation.

“Eager now, ain’t we?” Takka laughed. “If ya think yer that ready, go on ahead off and find the biggest Catoblepas possible. Just be careful out there, ya hear?”

“We won’t let you down,” Noctis promised, running after Lightning when she’d left without saying much of anything else. He got behind the Regalia’s wheel again, honking the horn once when the girl started going off on foot. “Going somewhere?”

“To hunt down a Catoblepas,” Lightning answered, matter-of-factly.

“And do you know what a Catoblepas looks like or is?”

“Doesn’t matter. Target’s a target, and I’m taking it out.” She really didn’t have anywhere close to a clue on what the beast looked like nevermind where it was, but cared just as little for the love of her goal.

“You’re not the only one doing the hunt, Farron. Maybe try slowing down and actually waiting to find out more about it instead of agreeing to something you don’t know the full details of.”

“If you think you know so much, then how do you propose we find the beast?”

“I think I know where to find someone that might have a clue. But to ask him, you need to get in the car since I can’t drive off without you.”

“Fine.” Lightning reluctantly climbed into the passenger’s seat again, buckling up and pointing ahead. “Drive away.”

And Noctis got to doing just that. It wasn’t a far drive from Hammerhead to the station from whence Lightning came and joined, but the quest itself felt like more of an eternity than usual. Not that he felt any scorn towards her, really, but of all the people to deal with in Eos to be sent on a long errand with (thanks to Ignis; he was SO getting it later for this), it of course just had to be the girl he was trying not to pay any mind to when he nothing called for it. There wasn’t anything that could be done about it, so for the rest of the night, he was gonna man up and take it in as much stride as he thought possible.

But as far as he’d been concerned, that was far easier said than it was done.

“Well, look who it is!” the owner of the Crow’s Nest in Alstor beamed when Noctis and Lightning entered. “His Highness and the nice pink-haired girl from way back when! I didn’t know you two knew each other!”

“We didn’t at the time you’re thinking of,” Lightning corrected him. “Listen, we need to do a favor for someone, and it involves hunting down a… Cato—? Cat, what was it? Name escapes me.”

“A Catoblepas,” Noctis emphasized, leaning against the counter. “Would you happen to know where any are ‘round these parts?”

“I sure do!” The owner took out a wanted poster with a photo of the titanic beast and its death reward. “Big fella’s been causing nothing but habitat destruction, so if you two could take care of that, I’ll make it worth your whiles big time.”

“Not ‘if’. We will,” Lightning swore, taking the poster for its details. “Noctis, we’re out of here.”

“We’ll be… back after it’s dead,” Noctis told the owner as a farewell, running hurriedly after Lightning right after. “Wait up already!”

Noctis and Lightning ventured across the street according to their new lead, hopping over the road barricades and wandering out to the wilderness. From glancing at Lightning’s stone-hard focus on the poster and her surroundings, Noctis could easily tell something was motivating her. Was she really doing it from an apparent kindness of her icy heart? A favor for Ignis was thoughtful, sure, but even the things he asked Noctis to do weren’t taken as if it were a life-or-death situation. Whatever her reason was, she was more than free to do so, no matter how somewhat curious Noctis was of her militant-level focus.

“Any luck?” Noctis asked her, almost jokingly considering it was hard to miss a live Catoblepas.

“No,” Lightning answered seriously. “But I don’t want you slacking behind while we’re out here. I’ll have your back, but there’s no time to waste.”

“Hasty, aren’t we? What? You that scared of the road daemons? I figured ‘Sergeant Farron’ didn’t fear anything.”

“Even if overpowered monsters weren’t part of the reason, there’s a fine line between being afraid and being a coward. And I’m definitely not the latter.”

“Oh, excuse me, then.” Noctis had his hands up pseudo-defensively, pretending to be taken aback by Lightning’s expected curt tongue while using his own sarcastic one. “I wouldn’t dare call ‘the great, almighty Lightning’ a coward. Because she can just do anything.”

“Just like the ‘esteemed, nobility-bred Prince Noctis’ likes to judge people he’s too conceited to bother getting to know. Do me a favor for the next time you wanna make a smart comment without thinking first: don’t at all.”

Noctis rolled his eyes. As if Lightning was one to talk about judging people she didn’t even know. True, he admitted he was partially to blame for turning several blind eyes to her, but it was honestly to him the better option. If she was going to respond like that with nothing but verbal lashings, then getting to know her was the dead last thing he’d rather do. He followed her around the area in search of their shared target, having only business intentions in mind.

“Hold on,” Lightning spoke up, blocking Noctis from moving any further. They both saw an Imperial Airship descend most of the way before them, releasing a squadron of magitek soldiers from its chambers.

“As if I didn’t need anything else making this hunt a pain,” Noctis sighed, summoning his weapon at the same time Lightning did hers. “Get ready!”

“Already am.” Lightning deflected the strikedown of a Magitek Axeman’s weapon, keeping it from so much as touching her while glaring it dead in the eyes. “Guess we meet again. Decided to ditch the guns? Stupid choice.”

Lightning broke the deflection, slicing right across the chest of the MT before piercing her blade clean through its center. But, as it had with previous encounters against the Empire’s robotic minions, the MT fell and short circuited with red electrical sparks. Lightning blinked, still bewildered at such a reaction until her few seconds of being caught off-guard earned her a nasty slash to the back by the Magitek Swordsman that’d snuck up behind her.

“Gah! You dirty—!” Lightning snarled, slicing its head clean off its shoulders. The MT fell like its predecessor, but again did red sparks crackle with no sign of any flesh inside its armor. “What the Hell are these things exactly…?!”

“Dead, hopefully, once we get out of this mess!” Noctis exclaimed, slashing through a few MTs using the summoned Blade of the Mystic. “Don’t get too distracted over there!”

“Remember who you’re— TELLING! That.” Lightning cut through another bunch of magitek robots, firing a lethal bullet into the face of one that tried to go in for another attack. “As stubborn as ever, I see.”

A hoard of MTs restlessly struck at Noctis and Lightning, both of whom deflected a lot of the slashes when they weren’t unlucky enough to gain some of their own. Feeling low on energy not helped by using some of the Royal Arms, Noctis point-warped to the nearest high spot to regain enough strength. Sensing that even Lightning had her limits, Noctis first performed an impressive Warp Strike on an interfering MT before using a Potion to quickly heal enough of his teammate’s wounds.

“Thanks,” Lightning breathed, firing a lethal headshot at an MT trying to sneak behind them. “These guys still don’t quit, do they?”

“Yeah, that’s the Empire, for ya,” Noctis commented, seeing a ring of MTs surround the two fighting them and pointing ahead at the robots. “Lightning, take charge!”

“Try and dodge this!” Lightning used her well-ranged Blitz attack to cut across the surrounding magitek androids with a circular, almost windy swipe of her blade. Doing it again was what felled the enemies, the ex-soldier blowing across her gunblade as if it’d just gotten a little steamed. “Way too easy.”

Noctis had just finished taking down another MT using his selected Royal Arm, calling it back to where it came from to stop losing anymore steam. Just as he was prepared to leave and continue the hunt with Lightning, behind her parrying a Magitek Swordsman’s strikes was a rogue Magitek Assassin raising its blades from behind without her noticing right away. She’d only started to look away after stabbing the Swordsman dead, gasping and moving at the very last minute to defend as the Assassin moved to strike.

“Look out!” Noctis called out, summoning the Bow of the Clever and firing a headshot bolt past Lightning’s shoulder. The MT fell in deathly red short circuits before the former sergeant from Bodhum, never to move an inch again.

Lightning sneered down at the fallen MT, giving it a modest kick to its head and hearing an unusual CLUNK sound against her foot. “Just what’s PSICOM’s new deal here? Replacing their men with… robots?”

“Who the Hell is ‘PSICOM’? You said the same thing the last few times, and you act like you’ve never seen an MT before.”

“So that’s what they’re calling themselves now? It’s shorter, but what’s it even stand for?”

“It’s short for ‘magitek troopers’. What’s this PSICOM you keep bringing up?”

“Whatever the MTs used to call themselves, but probably switched sides now that the Sanctum’s been history. ‘PSICOM’ stands for the ‘Public Security and Intelligence Command’, which is a whole lot less vague than what they are working for the Empire now.”

Okay, he didn’t understand a damn word of that. Noctis had no clue what Lightning was prattling on about, but it wasn’t anywhere close to information on the cybernetic troops Niflheim dished out like disposable candy. Likewise, it was apparent she was on an entirely different chapter than he was, nevermind a simple little page. He’d never heard of any “public security” or whatever, and certainly not with the Empire of all things, so whoever fed Lightning all that wacky info was blatantly just as much off their nut.

“Okay, lady, who ARE you?” Noctis demanded to know, continuing before Lightning could think of a snarky response to an otherwise obvious question. “Or I should say, where the Hell did you even come from?”

“Like I’ve told you before, I’m not from around these parts,” Lightning answered vaguely, setting off from the field of dead MTs with the Catoblepas wanted poster with Noctis following behind. “That’s all you need to know about me.”

“Not if I asked for a clearer answer than that, I don’t. What do you mean by ‘not around here’? You can’t be secretly with the Empire because Cor would have kept tabs on that and not sent you out here with us, so…?” Noctis remembered something Lightning mentioned a while back, digging through his memory as best as he could. “Wait, you said your home was… Boat-something? Bode…”

“Bodhum. And good for you; I’m surprised you even bothered listening to something from out of my mouth.”

Noctis ignored the last part, at least relieved to know he was sort of right on the name. “‘Bodhum’, huh? Not any place I’ve heard of. Where is it?”

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t find it. That’s really all I can say.”

“Figures. Your business is your business, so no skin off my nose if you wanna keep being all secretive and ‘mysterious’. The less we have to see each other, the better.”

“Good. Because now I’m gonna clarify something.” Lightning whirled around and pointed a forceful finger at Noctis, who only blinked once but otherwise remained undaunted. “I finish what I have to whether I like it or not, so I couldn’t care less on how many times you complain about me being here. You hate my guts? Great! Suck it up, because that’s not my problem. I’d rather be anywhere in the world right now but with some whiny, arrogant, castle-bred, spoiled little ‘prince charmless’ who can barely cooperate with me for two measly seconds because he can’t act his age towards someone who was just asked to help him when he really doesn’t deserve it. You can curse my existence all you want, and I’m not gonna stop you. But in return, do not stop me, Prince Noctis. Because the mission aside? You’re nothing to me but a stranger with a crown.”

And with that, Lightning turned back ahead and marched in that direction, the traditional scowl on her face deeper than ever. Noctis froze in his tracks for a few seconds before irritably storming in the same direction as her. He couldn’t have cared less that she just talked smack towards royalty, no. It was more that she gave him a verbal beatdown as a person is what ground his gears something ugly. Who in Eos did she think she was?! Making all those assumptions about him when she didn’t know a single thing about the real him! She didn’t see him going and calling her names just because he could only make guesses about someone he didn’t bother really knowing!

...Or. Did she? Noctis’ internal disgusted outrage cooled itself enough to get him start thinking a little. Just earlier, his comment about her being ‘almighty’ and ‘fearless’ didn’t get any sort of agreement, rather a tongue lashing that he didn’t think before talking. And now, Lightning had just called him out on him “hating” her. And did he really? Well… no, he didn’t think so. A little more help than he truly believe he needs, sure. But he’s never called her any names or wished ill of her! Just that she’d go back home after the world’s longest mission was done.

But then again… there really was no way of her guessing that, was there? She just said it herself, too; they were teammates on the outside, but underneath everything, he was really just a stranger to Lightning with a crown. And the only one of the Lucian boys as of recent days who most certainly didn’t make the best of impressions on her, or bother to either. Noctis frowned the more he started to think about it; maybe there was something wrong with how he was going about this…

The sun started its first phase of dimming, but one still couldn’t call it anything like a true “sunset”. Regardless, it was only an aggravating reminder that Noctis and Lightning had been out longer than they should have or intended to. And the entire time since the surprise MT ambush, neither had said a word to each other for differing reasons now. In fact, Lightning didn’t bother to even look at Noctis because of their argument, while he strangely found himself constantly peeking in her direction hoping for something to bear fruit. He knew it wouldn’t coming from her, so when the timing was right, he’d for once attempt something more civil rather than blindly obstinate.

Trying to speak to her after that performance only made him feel like a cat was playing with his tongue every time. Noctis tried more subtle approaches to act as a substitute until the courage was near him. He walked close enough beside Lightning, but she only pretended like he’d turned invisible and searched more of Alstor Slough for their target’s habitat. Then, his next doomed-from-the-start idea was to warp ahead of her in hopes that she’d catch up and notice something, which he aborted after frequent misuse of his magical powers started severely draining him.

Finally, Noctis got what to him felt like the most brilliant idea a guy could have to get a girl’s attention. How it hadn’t dawned on him sooner was beyond him, but it was worth the most shots now!

“...Ahem,” Noctis coughed, pretending to clear his throat in Lightning’s field of sense. Nothing. Okay, if at first you don’t succeed. “Eh-hem. ...Ack-hem? ...Ahem—!”

Rolling her eyes after a few more fake coughs, Lightning took out the remains of a bag of cough drops from her pocket and tosses them right into Noctis’ hands, then turning and continuing her way. “If you have a cold, then you should have said something before you followed me. I’m sure Ignis would ‘love’ to hear that you went out here sick.”

That went about as well as he partially expected. He could practically hear Gladio’s voice laughing at him in his head (“Seriously, Noct? That’s how you try and get girls to talk to you after an argument? Boy, do you have a lot to learn about the opposite sex.”). Noctis stuffed the cough drops somewhere unimportant in the Armiger’s storage capabilities; he wasn’t really sick, but maybe someone could use them later if they were. He was fresh out of ideas on what to do with Lightning except for one, but he wasn’t even completely sure if it’d work in the first place. But then, he’d remembered the wise words of a new friend said to him before they parted ways for what well may be ever.

‘You really ought to be more honest about the way you feel Noct. If you don’t do it now, you might never get the chance.’

‘Yeah… I’ll keep that in mind.’

“...Lightning?” Noctis spoke up, sincerely. “Can I talk to you about something?”

“You? Talk to me for once? Shocking of you,” Lightning commented, arms folded. “Go ahead, but make it good.”

“It’s about what you said earlier, about us being ‘strangers’ and me hating your guts?”

“Uh-huh? What about it?”

“Well… I don’t hate you. I never did.”

Lightning’s glare didn’t soften up one bit at the revelation, in fact growing more skeptical if possible. “Really? You expect me to believe that after you’ve done nothing but ignore me and act like I’m the team load? Which, I may add, is the exact opposite of what I am, actually?”

“No, no, I don’t expect you to believe me. Not after the way I’ve been acting towards you either, you’re right. And, actually, if I had to admit it to myself, you really have been very helpful since you joined us. If you don’t wanna take my word for it, then the others would agree on the spot.”

“So? I know that. What are you trying to get at? It’s a little late to try and use flattery to get yourself out of everything from before.”

“Don’t call it flattery. Call it… a way for me to start saying sorry and maybe start over? We’re only ‘strangers’ because I got us off on the wrong foot, plus we are gonna be working together for a very long time. Might as well soften up the tension a little?”

The only sort of responding look Lightning gave him in response was a rather disgusted one, Noctis tensing up at knowing he was in for it. “And it only takes me yelling at you to realize you weren’t cooperating? Etro, what is wrong with you?! I think it’d have been better if you didn’t say anything in the first place. At least there, it’s a lot less trouble just having each other as teammates. So, just keep your offer to yourself and leave me alone—!”

All of a sudden, the ground beneath them shook with the sound of the mightest stomp they’d ever heard. Upon running closer, Noctis and Lightning stopped behind a rock large enough to conceal them from what towered before them. The wanted poster depicting the swine-snouted tusked creature of a sickly pale color didn’t do it nearly any justice. Creatures that big were abundant on lands traversed by Lightning during her long days spent branded a l’Cie fugitive against a place she once called home. But, getting quite the reminder that another beast could match— perhaps outmatch— the ones on Gran Pulse still blew her away.

“Guess we found our target,” Lightning commented, unsheathing her gunblade and slowly creeping out from the rock. “Be prepared.”

“Already am,” Noctis told her, conjuring the Sword of the Wise from his array of the Royal Arms and Warp Striking to attack first on his prey.

After making contact with the Catoblepas’ snout, the enormous beast trembled back on its hind legs in fearful defense. So started the defensive uproar bound to make the hunt challenging, but it just so happened to be a trial a certain two were willing to take on. While Noctis tackled several parts of the torso and hind using his warping abilities, Lightning used her sheer agility to strike at the legs and wherever her jumping skills could take her on the beast’s sides.

“Now, it’s on!” Noctis exclaimed, conjuring all the Royal Arms he had so far and using the Armiger’s overall power to attack different parts of his mark until its usage had run out. In spite of his efforts, the Catoblepas continued to stomp about defensively as it ever had. “Shoot. Not even a nick.”

“Then try a new strategy!” Lightning suggested, alternating between a few slashes to the creature’s legs and shooting anywhere in the same vicinity. “Otherwise, find a weak point and focus more on that!”

“Easier said than done from how much a big thing like this can move! I don’t even know if it’s got a weak point!”

“All things have a weak point, no matter how mighty!”

With that now in mind, Noctis switched his weapon out for the Swords of the Wanderer; the duality of having two blades attached into one ought to speed things up. Quick to move before the expected weariness of using any of the ancestral battle tools showed up, Noctis warped and struck closer to the Catoblepas’ front area where he figured the brisket to be. Even if they didn’t kill the thing right away, he might as well chip at the meat they actually needed first.

“How long does it take for this thing to die?!” Lightning wondered, charging at the frontal legs to slice at them. When her blade cut through, the Catoblepas tilted back on its other pair of limbs to prepare for a mighty stomp right above its pink-haired attacker.

“Look out!” Noctis called after, warping down to tackle Lightning and himself out of the way seconds before either of them could get squished. He was on her for a good second and a half up to getting up and giving her a hand to help her off the ground. “You alright?”

Lightning ignored the hand offer and pushed herself back onto her feet. “Just fine except for the fact that this thing feels unkillable. We’re getting absolutely nowhere at this rate!”

“That means a new strategy’s just what the doctor ordered. But, what, exactly?”

“It’d be easier with all five of us doing this. So, that means we’re gonna have to give it something that feels like more than two people attacking.”

“Guess we’re working together then.” Noctis still had a lingering bit of reluctance saying it, but was stopped from reconsidering it by his own earlier suggestion of starting over with Lightning. Even if this wouldn’t be what did it, giving it a shot was less likely to kill him than their target.

“Didn’t think that’d be coming from your mouth of all places. You sure?”

“It’s way better than doing nothing and getting flattened like pancakes. Lightning, dare I say it, but…” Noctis rode over the pause on his tongue like a wave, drifting to safe ground when he’d gathered his words back and offered a hand to Lightning. “I really need your help for this. I can’t do this without really teaming up with you. So, what do you say?”

Lightning stared at the hand being extended to her, very hesitant to agree, but took the wiser route of getting her the coveted brisket meat and taking ahold of Noctis’ hand to shake it once. “Let’s do this.”

Releasing the other’s hold, Noctis and Lightning ran forward weapons in hand, the prince deciding on using an upgraded version of his beloved Engine Blade to give himself a moment’s rest from the toll the royal arms took on him. They both leaped high up at where the Catoblepas appeared to take the most damage, provoking the creature in question to swing its head towards them as an offensive shield. Lightning moved faster and used a parry to block it from hitting Noctis behind her, cutting deeper into the creature’s face before falling to her feet below once gravity set in.

It did seem like the two were making more progress after a few combined hits in, a lot faster than earlier in having less enforcement. Seeing as the Catoblepas was starting to lose the energy to persevere, now had come the chance for the final few efforts to be made on ending its life. Noctis and Lightning looked at each other, silently forming a mutual plan and nodding once in agreement. To start it off, Lightning charged in and got a chain of powerful lacerations at the Catoblepas’ side, only for the creature to suddenly use its head to swat at her and knock her gunblade clean out of her hand, sticking out from the ground below. Lightning grimaced at being disarmed, but that only mad the plan get more progress with Noctis warping to claim it and toss it spinning back to her open catching hand.

“Ready, Light?” Noctis asked, standing by her with his own blade out.

“Let’s go,” Lightning answered after a tiny smile crossed her lips directed at him.

Leaping forth at the Catoblepas, Noctis and Lightning raised their weapons back in unison and performed a tag-teamed cross-strike at a weaker spot on their languishing mark. Unable to take much more, the Catoblepas felt the last bits of its energy leave its body and fell onto its side with a loud THUD reverberating through the land around it. Finally, the tough battle was over. Never again was the towering creature to move, Noctis and Lightning beyond relieved on a difficult mission accomplished.

“We did it…” Noctis breathed, leaning against the thing’s foot for a bit of clemency.

“A job well done,” Lightning told him, going right over to the brisket area. “But we still can’t go back empty-handed. Get over here and help me cut out the meat so I can get my own prize.”

That caught Noctis’ attention, now realizing her motive had been material. “Said prize being…?”

“It’s not important. Takka and Ignis are counting on us, that’s what you need to know.” Lightning’s stomach picked a bad time to growl as a reminder of how much hungrier she’d gotten since starting the hunt while hacking away at the Catoblepas’ flesh, her hand covering it to quiet it too late. “That was just from me not having eaten yet, don’t mind it. The sooner I get dinner and my behemoth steak, the better.”

“Behemoth steak? Why would—?” Then it hit him. Of the three people they needed to help at the moment, Ignis was the only one who didn’t ask a favor with both of them present. Before he knew it, Noctis found his body shaking with bouts of laughter taking over, unable to stop himself save for a hand covering his mouth. “Are you kidding me?! Of all the reasons?!”

Lightning turned to him with a raised eyebrow, having stopped for the time being at cutting out the brisket meat. “What’s so funny over there?”

“The fact that all this time, the reason you were so hawk-level focused on taking such a hard hunt was because Specs bribed you, of all things! And with steak, too! Oh, Six, I won’t lie; that’s kinda cute!”

“It’s cute to like steak and do a friend a favor in a win-win situation? I’m not following. What’s wrong with that?”

“No, nothing! To be honest, I’d have probably done the same thing for even a bite of Ignis’ amazing cooking.” Noctis coughed, getting the last bits of laugh out of him while wiping a small tear from his eye corner. “I just wasn’t expecting someone like you to go through all of that for the world’s most simple reason. Seeing ‘Sergeant Lightning Farron’ of anyone get so dead serious just to get some steak around here; I did not see that coming!”

Lightning just shrugged, letting Noctis have his moment for the time being. “What can I say? Girls like their steak. And to be fair, I didn’t see you pulling off such an impressive team attack to finally beat the Catoblepas coming either.”

“Not bad for ‘Prince Charmless’, huh? You’re not the only one highly trained to fight, you know. If you were, I’d have been toast ages ago.”

“Good point there. Speaking of which, I ought to know: the whole warping thing; where’d it come from?”

“Born with the power, but not the control. That itself took even more training so I don’t wind up killing myself overdoing it.”

“Can anyone else do it?”

“If I lend them the power. But again, lots of training to get it right.”

“I… see.” The growl of Lightning’s hungry stomach got her back to the other side of reality, going again to carve out the Catoblepas meat. “Mind lending me another hand?”

“Not at all. Lemme see what I can do.”

It didn’t take the two nearly as long to carve out a fine chunk of the brisket meat as it had hunting its origin, allowing them to report back to Alstor and get a handsome 6,560 Gil reward alongside a handy Blue Choker. Noctis and Lightning hopped back in the Regalia to drive back to Hammerhead and complete the second phase of their long quest, the slowly setting sun in the distance acting as their hourglass until powerful daemons were to flood the streets and doom them. The brisket was packed away safely and brought before Takka once they reached his diner, also pleased to see him bringing in some boxes from the expected stock delivery.

“So, y’all got what I asked for,” Takka commented, looking at the brisket with a smile. “Tell me, now. Any of you like steak?”

“You’d bet! Some more than others, of course,” Noctis snickered, directly glancing at Lightning and only laughing even more when she elbow nudged him in the arm to silence him.

“Good ta hear. Y’all went through so much to help a friend out, so I’m fixin’ a whole new recipe in your honors. A heartfelt token of my appreciation.”

“How flattering,” Lightning commented. “What’s the recipe?”

“Can’t tell ya. You’ll have ta order it next time you stop by here.”

“Guess it’s not on the house then,” Noctis sighed in slight disappointment.

“Anywho, a deal’s a deal. This is yer pay for the hunt. It’s good eatin’; take it from me.”

Takka handed over the promised kettier ginger packs, and a few allural shallots as a pleasant bonus. Having what they needed, Noctis and Lightning left the diner and hopped back in the Regalia to head back to camp. Ignis seemed relatively pleased upon their imminent return, both from having enough daylight back in the retiring day and from giving him plenty of kettier ginger for this time and the next. While Lightning got to helping set up for the resumed meal-to-be, Noctis helped out with preparing some of the key ingredients as Ignis handled the main parts of his dish.

“I take it it went well?” Ignis inquired, glancing over at his friend.

“What? The errand?” Noctis wondered back, turning back to the pestle and mortar to finish his fine paste. “Yeah, it went okay. Why do you ask?”

“Just pleasantly surprised is all considering Light was involved. Is a certain someone starting to reconsider his first impression?”

Noctis gave a brief shrug. “Maybe. We’ll just see where the rest goes.”

Dinner was ready to go in no time, the completed dish once again another masterpiece of Ignis’. While eating and conversing with Prompto about the blond’s insistent claims of having seen a cactuar near camp (and how he’d spent all evening griping about being unable to get a snapshot of it like an upset child), Noctis could hear Lightning a few feet away. His ears picked up on her and Ignis talking on their own about the latter’s “eventual end of the deal”, laughing to himself at Lightning’s subsequent reaction of hungered anticipation. When she did turn her head his way, he quickly regained composure and flashed the woman a noticeably soft glance.

In return wasn’t quite a smile, but compared to Lightning’s default sour expression, it seemed to be a sign of a warmer gratitude from earlier. Noctis saw it only for a few seconds, but it was definitely to be taken as a good sign. Though not exactly at first, today had gone well. Both of them could have their own opinions on whatever, but they could at least agree on that.

The retinue of five decided to pay Takka’s Pit Stop a visit for lunch the next day on their way back to Lestallum. Noctis and Lightning informed the others of a new dish that had been put on the menu for their valiant efforts, both rather curious to see what it was. Looking over the food choices, one in particular caught their eyes. Noctis willingly lent his attention at it, while Lightning had a ravenous glint in her own aqua-colored pair that widened them ever so slightly with her otherwise mild expression.

“So, what can I get y’all today?” Takka asked them before looking over at the two who’d gotten him his rare brisket. “Bettin’ y’all wanna try my new dish?”

“Yes, we do,” Lightning blurted out, pointing to the item in question as she simmered herself down. “It looks promising.”

“Yer in luck, ma’am. Tastes as much, too.” Takka wrote down the orders, checking to make sure they were right with the others. “Comin’ right up!”

Everyone waited patiently for Takka to whip up the new dish he’d mention, anticipating its texture and taste outside of just a preview photo of it. It’d taken quite a few minutes to make each helping, but in no time, served were pieces of what Takka called the “Sizzling Humongo-Steak”. And true to its name it was. The piping hot chunk of meat enticed those near with its delectable aroma, particularly a certain Cocoon-born former soldier who had her eyes and stomach glued to the seductive dish.

“It’s beautiful…” Lightning breathed softly, wiping away the bead of drool peeking from the corner of her mouth. “Well, time to dig in.”

“Way ahead of you,” Noctis agreed, already getting to work on his helping and ignoring the sweet potato sticks served on the side as if they weren’t there. “Mmm! Takka, this is amazing! Is this what you used the brisket for?”

“Can’t tell y’all that. It’s a secret,” Takka laughed, then gesturing to Lightning. “Heard yer just as much of a steak fan. Go on now, don’t be shy--”

Lightning hardly gave him enough time to encourage her before digging right in, the boys rather surprised by how quickly she’d started eating the steak. “It’s--! This is delicious. It may not be behemoth meat, but I’d have to say this almost beats it. Is all steak in Eos like this?”

“Boy, if only. Happy to see yer enjoyin’ my cookin’, though! It’s the least I could do to pay ya back for yesterday’s help.”

“The steak’s more of a huge bonus. It wasn’t that much trouble.” Well, aside from the Catoblepas being nigh-impossible to kill were it not for the help gained in doing so. In mid-chew of a sweet potato stick, Lightning saw Ignis writing in his little booklet, knowing it to mean only one thing. “Let me guess.”

“Correct,” Ignis confirmed already, finishing up scribing the details. “Once again, I’ve come up with a new recipe! And, I think it’s one you’ll most certainly enjoy, Light. It’s not quite behemoth steak, but it’s to be just as enjoyable.”

“Something similar, maybe?” The affirming nod Lightning got in response from Ignis only made her look forward to the result even further, enjoying more of Takka’s steak to soothe the desire for lunch.

Everyone finished up their meals and headed out, showing gratitude towards the chef and owner for yet more delicious food served. After three of the Lucians started to leave to get in the Regalia parked outside, Lightning set her cleaned plate on the counter ready to follow. She threw a dry look at Noctis’ plate, which had everything gone except for the sweet potato sticks, as expected. On the brighter side, at least she got the chance to indulge in some amazingly savory Eos cuisine.

“Lightning,” Noctis spoke up, stopping her from leaving the diner. “Before we get going, I wanna say something to you that I didn’t get to before.”

“What is it?” Lightning wondered.

“About yesterday. I never really got to thank you for it. If it weren’t for your help, I’d have been toast against that Catoblepas.”

“You’re just now figuring out the obvious?” Lightning’s tone was more of a laugh-like snort than a scoff, her leveled eyebrow just as amused.

“I know, I know. Better late in asking for a little help than never, huh?” Noctis’ eyes found their way at where the plates used to be, another curious question hatching in his head. “So, your love of steak. How long and where?”

“Huh? Oh, right. Since… ever, I guess. I’m pretty handy in making the stuff, not to toot my own horn.”

“You cook?”

“In a way. But, asking me to make anything besides behemoth steak is out of the question. That’s really all I can whip up without almost killing anyone one way or another.”

“Boy, don’t I know that feeling. I can make basic things so I don’t starve, but anything beyond that… well, let’s just say it’s a good thing I know someone like Ignis.” Noctis grew a little hangdog from saying that, admitting to himself of having burned more food on the stove than he’d prefer to. “Maybe I could try one of your ‘specialites’ sometime. Sounds like you make it mean.”

“And I do, but Serah’s way of making it was always something worth looking forward to when she could do it.”

“Who’s Serah? A friend back home?”

“More than that. She’s my younger sister, and the only one of us that can actually cook.”

“You have a sister.” Noctis stated the fact as a way of showing his surprise. The way she mentioned Serah so fondly let him know the two have a close enough relationship. “Guess growing up for you wasn’t so lonely then.”

Lightning hesitated to speak after that, but found enough words to avoid getting too deep for comfort. “Not exactly. Guardian Corps work took a lot of time from me, so I didn’t get to come home to see her that often. Trust me, there’s plenty I’d rather do over with Serah, but knowing she’s okay back home now makes it a little better, at least.”

“Still, it’s nice to have at least one person to look forward to seeing when possible. If you didn’t, well… it wouldn’t be fun.”

“Now where’s this coming from? You’re practically surrounded by people 24/7 as royalty. Unless it’s one empty palace you live in.”

Noctis frowned. Seemed he had quite a bit to clear up at a time. “First, the Citadel’s more like a skyscraper if anything. Second, being surrounded by staff and guards doesn’t just whisk away a kid’s loneliness. Don’t you know that?”

“Then… who were you around as a kid? Hard to think the esteemed prince of Lucis didn’t have that many friends growing up.”

“Believe me, it’s not that hard. Of course, I’ve had Ignis with me since we were little kids, plus Luna even if I wished we got some more time together. And obviously, Gladio, Iris and Prompto are a big part of the mix too, but they came along a little later.”

“Anyone else? I figured you’d have a bigger circle than that.”

“Nah. Aside from it being hard to be able to really... connect with too many others, I always thought most never really saw past the crown. The ones I did, though, I wouldn’t trade for anything anyone could offer me.”

Well, that wasn’t the story Lightning expected to hear from Noctis. She’d never met anyone coming remotely close to “royalty” before him, but the expectations that came with the word in her mind came with far less… gloomy tales, to pick a word. It certainly explained the guy’s beyond-honest cherishing of his three closest companions, no doubt. But for such a reason to be behind it, it nearly felt like Lightning was seeing a bit of a different person than before. Full judgement still reserved in spite of the new information, but for the very first time, something in her flickered with an unfamiliar intrigue about the Prince of Lucis.

“And you?” Noctis questioned. “Any… Guardian Corps buddies you can name?”

“No,” Lightning answered without hesitating. “Never was the ‘chummy’ type, and neither were anyone involved with the Sanctum. Even if they were, I had better things to foc— err, set my sights on. The friends I did wind up making later on are still waiting for me back home.”

“What changed your mind in playing the lone wolf, then?”

Lightning flashed him a playful smirk, her hands behind her head in doing so. “Being on the lam.”

Noctis’ eyes widened a bit at how casually she’d said it, and the answer he’d even gotten. “What were you all in for? I thought you were a soldier!”

“Past tense, remember? As for what we did, we scared people shitless into thinking we wanted to blow up the world. Can’t tell you much without sounding like a lunatic.”

‘A little too late for that one.’ Noctis was sure there was a much better context involved, but he figured later would be more appropriate to try and ask for it. “Sure sounds like you’ve all been through lots together, then.”

“Understatement of the century.” About five or a full millennium to be exact, but Lightning wasn’t giving that away anytime soon. “I consider myself lucky to have them after all of it. Can’t say where I’d be now if it weren’t for Serah and the others.”

“The people you least expect to have in your life can be a total game-changer. Strangers one day, friends the next. And it can only go up from there.”

“You can say that again, that’s for sure.”

The Regalia’s car horn honked a few times, Ignis’ voice ringing out from the same spot. “Noct! Light! Is everything alright in there? We must be going!”

“Coming!” Noctis and Lightning shouted back close to the same time, looking at each other surprised briefly.

“Ehh, you heard the man,” Noctis stated a little nervously. “Let’s hit the road, Light— ning. Lightning, my bad. Unless, you’re fine with the short version?”

“It’s up to you,” Lightning told him, going out the door with what looked like a rare, tiny smile on her smooth pink lips with hopes that he’d follow.

He was still far from understanding Lightning as a person, but what Noctis did learn of her had him wondering about the rest for once. Hurrying along and hopping in one of the side seats that sandwiched Prompto between him and Lightning, the car took off for the next town over again. Thinking back a little on what he’d just told her and how much she began contrasting the carelessly assumed version previously made in his head, Noctis indeed wondered if things would turn out differently in the future. He realistically didn’t know for sure, but whether expectations are met or betrayed, the outcome between him and Lightning was bound to be inevitable in every sense of its meaning.

#ff crossover

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#ff crossover