drabble prompts ! ft. @ilsomnias !
INSOMNIA, WINTER. CONTEMPLATIVE & INTROSPECTIVE. maybe looking at the old wall together ?
BEFORE DUTY WEIGHS HIS SHOULDERS HEAVY . ( ♪ )
he is not the only 'glaive to spend his time staring at the Old Wall , but he thinks he is the only one ( or at least one of scant few ) who know of its true meaning . some remain vessels to kings from even before his own time , but many ( more than he would like to admit ) reflect crowns he knows well .
how long has he been standing here ? what bleak sun has parsed through the clouds that day has grown bleaker still , a fraction of flare out of the corner of his eye . the clouds grow greyer , snow threatening to flake as the cold bites sharply at his fingertips . he feels it all , like a distant sensation , but his mind is ultimately elsewhere .
in a corner of it , he acknowledges the car driving up the nearby street , the crunch of the tires against concrete , chipped stones & thawing ice from the night before -- he would know that car anywhere , that driver , those footsteps as they approach him from the curb . he acknowledges them with a side - eye glance , a minute but dutiful nod , before his eyes , seaglass speckles hiding gifted Lucian magic , turn back to the statues towering the city .
disrespectful , perhaps , to not acknowledge a prince with something more verbal -- but noctis' own gaze looks contemplative as he stares up at the statues , as if he's truly seeing them for the first time ; maybe he is .
' what brings you all the way out here ? '
not an unusual question , particularly not for the little prince still studying his way through the academy - to study is to learn , & adolescence is all about asking questions , getting answers to the queries that plague you .
riku cannot fault him for it - though he takes some time to respond .
' i am paying my respects . to those who came before . '
santorinian hues stare a hole into his temple , but in that moment , the little prince says no more .
& WE SHALL HELP YOU BEAR YOUR BURDEN , FUTURE KING . ( ♪ )
perhaps it is that the cold makes him introspective , nostalgic , bittersweet , that he finds himself at this spot every year since the first King he knew became imbued , or perhaps it is something else he is yet unable to identify -- but either way , he finds himself back at this place , this part of the city which is close enough to the current king to be at a moment's call , yet far enough from sight that the citizens do not notice him , or at least do not tense at his presence .
this time , unlike years before , snow does fall - it is soft & gentle , slow & silent , though his stillness has made the layers underneath his boots soundless . flakes sparkle in his hair against the dimming sunlight , clouds whiter than years past , though the darkness falls faster , now , than it did before .
déjà vu flashes behind his eyelids as footsteps crunch up the path , heavier than they were years past - & the night sky comes to a standstill beside him , wordless in his own contemplation .
silence passes , for a time , between them , neither wanting ( or perhaps needing ) to speak ; then , a question passes through the silence , its weight making it as loud as a gunshot ;
' what brings you all the way out here ? '
& with that , riku Knows - Knows that the prince has been told of him & his existence , his purpose , his eternity to their service as gratitude for his life .
perhaps there have been other things he has been told , in his preparation for becoming King ( riku is no prince , even he is not privy to everything in the royal family's trove of secrets ) , but this must be playing on his mind , if he has come all the way out here to query it .
( riku can only imagine the impact it is having on his recollection of their previous interactions ; weighing down every action , every conversation , every moment like this needing to be looked at through a new , long - lived lens , monitored for second , under - layer meanings . )
he says nothing , for a time , staring up at the snow - sunned statue -- he may not have known any of the kings for more than the few years they had trained with him & their short time thereafter , but he remembered each of them vividly , would never let them fade from his mind's eye ;
' i am paying my respects . to the first king i gave my service . to the kings who gave me a second chance . to the kings & comrades who came after , even if their time was short . '
once again , the night sky prince is silent , though the silence feels heavier & more mature than the one before . riku does not prompt him , does not rush him , allows him to take his time in digesting all he has been told , even the things between the lines - & the silence , thereafter , feels a little bit more companionable .
