You Say It Best, When You Say Nothing at All - Chapter 8
A/N: 10 chapter commission for @blustersquall of her OC, Isla Octavia and Gladiolus Amicitia~. The entire thing will be NSFW but each chapter will be rated accordingly~. Thanks so much for your commission and patience~
Pairing: OC x Canon / Isla Octavia x Gladiolus Amicitia
Words: 5,309
Rated: SFW
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As Isla was hoping, the bar blossomed to life in no time at all. A bulletin board was found in the cellar as predicted by Libertus and hung in its rightful spot yet again to tag hunts or daemon parts of need and worth for those brave enough to try. While it was mostly daemon hunters and the like that filtered in through the coming years, there were the occasional regular customers that merely ran shops in the town or helped keep Lestallum up and running in general.
Five years, and the sun had completely retreated from Eos…leaving many for the last four to wonder what it was truly like to feel such rays upon them as it was becoming but a memory now.
As she and Gladiolus spoke at the far corner of the bar in private, her attention was broken by the sound of an infant crying in the crowd of people. It wasn’t alarming to anybody, really—just a newborn possibly hungry or uncomfortable with the noise. Her eyes finding the source with Gladiolus, she couldn’t help but be curious of one so young coming into a world that had no more sunlight.
“I wonder what that must be like,” she spoke in a quiet hum of a whisper to her partner. Her forearms rested on the countertop, fingers intertwined together. “It must be so strange to come into a world that is always constantly dark and you must grow to learn to protect yourself.”
The Shield’s hand wiped across his mouth in thought of it. “Can’t say babies come into this world knowing there is such a thing as a sun and moon, so I guess they will be a bit surprised should our sun ever return.”
The thought was pleasant. The prophecy couldn’t be wrong in regards to their King returning to bring light back to the world, but people were beginning to lose hope in these long, dreary years.
“Your beard is growing out of control again,” Isla lightly teased as she was usually the one to help him shave it lately whenever he didn’t bother to. “Did you need me to take a blade to it again?”
Out of instinct, Gladiolus touched the area about his chin and cheeks. “Winter will be here soon, and I’d rather leave it as it is for now so a part of me doesn’t get cold. You can trim it a little if you want.”
“Just a little,” Isla assured him with a playful wink at the thought. She knew that the winters were the worst with it constantly being nightfall. There were even moments of snow when there was hardly ever a sight of such in Lucis; especially around Lestallum.
“There are talks of a behemoth rampaging out and about near that chocobo farm that finally got up and running with Wiz’s help,” Gladiolus commented almost randomly, stirring the ice a bit in his drink to kick up the flavor. “Was wondering if you wanted to go with me to see to the problem.”
Isla leaned forward, intrigued. “Will we be going alone?”
“Nah, a few other hunters will be joining us given the talks of this one,” Gladiolus confirmed. “I’d rather we go with a full party than none at all.”
“Who are the hunters?”
The Shield shrugged. “Not sure, really. Just heard from Dave and even the marshal that there are two others fit for the job, and we’ll probably meet up with them when we arrive. One has been scouting a bit near Insomnia and the other has been keeping an eye on the coast, helping refugees from Niflheim and Accordo that have been finding peace here on Lucis. One of them was even said to have helped Talcott a few times to my understanding in locating information about Ardyn.” He reclined back just a bit, trying to find excitement in the idea of working with these new faces. “I would ask Iris along but she’s been into making clothes for the nearly homeless people in these parts of Lucis.”
Isla smiled warmly at the thought, nodding in understanding. “I guess if we get lucky we should bring home a pelt or two for her to help with that. I know she was running out of materials to use.”
“Well…” Gladiolus’ voice lowered into a bit more of a somber sound. “…along the way we might encounter clothes from the Vanished, so if that is the case, we can take those as well.”
It was an upsetting thought but the rate in which people were turning was incredible as it was frightening. Isla was beginning to wonder if there would be a single person left alive on Eos when the light was said to return to the world…if it would at all. She hated to admit it, but even she was beginning to lose hope in that thought. “When do we plan on heading out?”
“Whenever you’re ready to,” Gladiolus answered, changing the topic as he finished the rest of his drink. “We don’t have to go right away but I know they are expecting us at least by Friday.”
Grabbing up the empty glass across from her, Isla dumped the ice out in the nearby sink before quickly washing the container. “I’ll be ready by early tomorrow. Libertus offered to watch the bar for me with the other employees I have, so I’ll be free to join you whenever you want to.”
Hearing the man’s name, Gladiolus did his best to not express his distaste in it. “Mm given the location of the farm, we better head out early.” Pushing himself to his feet, he excused himself with a simple gesture and a wink to Isla. “I’ll be training a bit before bed.”
Isla motioned her index and middle fingers towards Gladiolus in a sort of simple salute as a gestured response in return. “I’ll see you upstairs in just a few hours after that then.”
Everyone was training hard in regards to the apocalyptic world they all found themselves within, but given Gladiolus’ hope that his King and friends would return, he was the one training the most out of anybody. It seemed to become apart of his daily routine to the point Isla kind of wished he would find it within him to take a breather. As everyone else, she hated to think about it but what if all of this was for nothing? What if Noctis never would return? What if he was dead…? Were they all truly just waiting and hoping for a miracle that would never be?
With the bar closing down soon enough in the later hours after midnight, Isla made sure everything was prepared for tomorrow as Libertus saw the last few people out before closing and locking the door behind them.
Litertus had been weirdly quiet all night; especially after Isla had confessed to him that she needed to leave the bar in his hands while she ventured off with Gladiolus on this particular hunt. “You really heading off on this hunter quest with him, hu?”
The sound of his tone made Isla feel there was more to it than simply needing affirmation on that. In the past few years, Libertus had been at odds with Gladiolus for different reasons and the same could be said about the King’s Shield to the Glaive. It got to a point she tried to keep the two separate but she really didn’t want to lose Libertus as a friend and Gladiolus as someone she loved.
“It will give me and Gladio some time together, Libertus,” Isla confessed, moving out from behind the bar counter. She had gotten better at fighting on the field with Gladiolus using her body and spell daggers, causing the Shield to lower his guard a bit in having to worry about Isla when it came to their time out about fighting daemons. “If I have to live in this world the way it is now…I want it to be beside him.” She heard a disgruntled and annoyed sigh escape the Glaive in the process. “I know that angers you, but that has always been my choice.”
“And when will come the time that he up and decides to never return again when he goes off on one of his adventures without you?” Libertus asked a bit coldly, not liking the fact Isla was willing to shackle herself to a man he personally felt treated her with so little respect.
“Libertus,” she moaned in annoyance. “Gladio is doing everything he can to make sure he keeps himself sane as well as focusing on those he cares for. He’s not exactly a god that can do everything at once.”
“Oh yeah? And when was there ever a time he took a moment to think about you and what you needed?” the Glaive continued without restraint, hating to know that Isla was inwardly suffering in some ways with how their relationship changed since the fall of Insomnia and even Altissia but wasn’t too forward about it. “When was there ever a time the two of you just enjoyed one another’s company for a single damn day?”
Isla lowered her head, mouth agape as she wasn’t even sure what to say. Her throat was so dry it stung for a moment when she swallowed. “The world is different, Libertus,” she confessed forlornly. “It is rare to even find happiness anymore or have just a second to spend with the one you love without there being some tragedy that tears you both apart…”
Men and women had both become warriors in their own right, straining how many of them actually got married or become romantic partners given how some things had to regress back to a very primitive state. Families were being torn apart as some women had to revert to being just simple housewives who cared for any children about or took care of the home for the men while they were off hunting and slaying daemons. Gil was becoming almost useless and bartering was a better alternative in some cases. Trying to find happiness in a world that had death all around it was almost as impossible to find as the light itself.
“He should still do more than just leave whenever he gets the chance to,” Libertus insisted, witnessing as Isla kept her eyes from him and not wishing to buckle from his comments. Honestly, she didn’t want to raise her voice with all things considered—Gladiolus being merely upstairs at the moment in the room they sometimes shared. “I still think you should find someone else—anybody else, but not a man who does anything but be there for the woman he claims to love.”
“Enough!” Isla accidentally shouted. Her fingers curled inward, resting painfully against her palms as she did everything in her power to control herself and prevent her temper from flaring further. “He has done everything he can for me, Libertus—everything!” Her words were hissed in anger but kept quiet so as not to disturb or alert Gladiolus to the argument ensuing. “He is and continues to be the Shield of the King, and I knew from the moment I fell in love with him what that meant for me.” Her blue eyes darted in Libertus’ direction, unflinching. “This is my problem, if you so choose to see it as such…let me handle it and live my life the way I wish without your interference.”
The Glaive sighed in annoyance, motioning away from her. “Do whatever you want, but don’t say I didn’t warn you about him.”
Isla stood firm, letting Libertus willingly leave the bar shortly after the heated conversation. Breathing inward was painful—like a bunch of knives stabbing at her chest and raking down her throat just trying to let all the anger in and then out with another hurtful breath. Her steps were heavy as she ventured forward, locking the door behind Libertus as he had taken his leave and allowing her to stew in the aftermath he had brought upon her.
The bar had never felt so empty before even if she knew Gladiolus was very much upstairs waiting for her in their bedroom. What was she doing with her life…? She had fallen in love with a man who was devoted even now to what could be a myth never to return. In the past five years she had seen Gladiolus heal ever slightly but he was never as he used to be.
He was quieter…calmer in an odd sense. At times it made her worry he was merely depressed and not wishing to talk about it as he wanted to be there to shoulder her burdens over her doing anything of the sort for him. He was locked into his duties, chained down by his burdens and thoughts, and now Isla was wondering how to make him open up once more. She knew she couldn’t make him but apart of her wanted to try again after the last successful attempt back when he undertook the Trials of Gilgamesh.
Isla hadn’t even realized she had just walked up the steps and headed down the hallway towards the bedroom door she knew Gladiolus was probably asleep behind until she found herself standing just before it to look upon its decorative, wooden design. If they were to be up early, she had a feeling he wasn’t even waiting for her to come in bed beside him. Opening the door, she was far than less surprised to find it to be truthful. The Shield was very much lying there under the covers fast asleep judging by the sound of things.
She kept her sigh quiet, turning to the nearby dresser drawers to pull out the evening attire she would wear to sleep while throwing her top up and over her head before tossing it nearby on a chair that wasn’t far from reach.
There was an awkward, long breath that surfaced from Gladiolus on the bed. “Do I truly make you miserable at times, sunshine?”
Isla froze in putting the nightshirt over her head, the words like a dagger to the heart. “No,” she spoke without restraint, turning to where Gladiolus’ tattooed back was facing her as he hadn’t bothered to turn over to look upon her (perhaps out of shame and worry). Isla fixed the shirt into place as she hurried over to him to place her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “I am not sure what you heard but…trust me when I tell you that I understand your duties will always come first.”
“And yet that’s not how it’s supposed to be,” Gladiolus insisted with an annoyed grunt as he turned over onto his back at least to gaze up at Isla. His hand moved to her cheek as he let the strands of her black hair tease the back of his touch. “I understand my duties will always come first but you are just as important as that.”
She tried to be understanding in the matter even if her heart hurt still from a combination of Libertus’ words and the comforting scene laid out before her. “It’s okay,” she whispered to reassure him. “I’m here—we’re here—and even if we’re not married, I’ll always be here waiting for you to return should you ever need to leave to be elsewhere.”
His amber eyes shifted at the words, sitting upright with a frown that seemed to hold some form of determination behind it. Knees a bit towards his chest, Gladiolus relaxed his arms upon them with a hum in thought. “Would you…even want to marry me…I wonder.”
Isla’s eyes widened slightly at the thought, blinking away her confusion at the sudden question shortly after as she sat on the bedside near Gladiolus where her cheek found rest upon his bare shoulder. “We’ve been together through so many years and so much crap that I am sure we would be just fine together as a married couple.” She stifled a laugh in her throat. “Could upgrade our bickering to newlywed spats.”
The hum she heard sounded like his own version of quiet laughter in response. “I’ll remember that.” Gladiolus turned, kissing her on the head before escorting Isla into an embrace that he himself needed as he found her presence the most welcoming and temperate with life in the long, evening hours. “There is hardly any warmth left in this world,” he mused aloud. “At times I wonder when my own heart will turn to ice and just shatter in my chest but…” The Shield paused, moving his fingers through Isla’s hair once more to watch as the raven colored strands fell away through his grasp. “…with you, I always feel myself fill with life again. I don’t know why I always find myself running away from that.” Gladiolus looked away. “No…perhaps I do know. I am worried of what I could lose again if I keep it too close.”
She shook her head at his fears and concerns, her palm cradling the back of his hold in support as her fingers curled over the bend in his hand. “You’re not going to lose someone as stubborn as me, Gladio. You can be a hardheaded mule at times, but I understand why you’ve been so and why you’ve been distant during these hard few years.”
“You can give excuses to my actions but they hardly qualify as being right,” he seemed to growl as a response. “For weeks—months—hell, even the past few years I’ve cursed Noct for being immature and childish, never growing up to accept his duties and here I am being no better at times.” He sorely laughed at the idea, wishing he could have apologized to his friend for that. “Iggy always got onto me for looking too forward at times and never appreciating what was around me, and now I know what he meant.”
“I cannot imagine the training you all went through but again, I get it,” Isla confessed, embracing Gladiolus’ nearest arm as she nuzzled against his skin.
“It’s time I grew up just as Noct did in those brave moments he had in trying to save us all,” the Shield nearly whispered. “There’s no point lying in waste in a world of ruin when I have someone like you beside me—the one person I haven’t chased off yet.” Gladiolus hadn’t seen or heard from Ignis and Prompto in years, leaving a vast emptiness inside of him that Isla had managed to fill and protect for the time being. At times he wanted to call them or text them but he always worried he was only going be a burden to them somehow or they would reject his advances to try and reunite again...if they were even still alive. By now, he didn’t really know.
“So, no more running away and hiding in your own world, hu?” Isla questioned with a curious tilt of her head, a raise of a single brow.
“No more,” Gladiolus affirmed, moving to covet her lips with his own as he kissed her for the first time in what felt like an eternity. His arms brought her in closer, letting the quiet yet rushed beating of her heart lay to rest upon his chest while his fingers sprawled against her upper back to take in every minor muscle movement and lingering piece of warmth that her skin retained in the cold hours of twilight. “Besides, I am ready for what’s to come ahead. Right now, I should enjoy myself in what remains in this world,” he confessed, moving a mere few inches from her lips to express himself.
Isla smiled brightly, her fingers curling upon the side of his cheek to let them wander as they so pleased from his skin to the beard that had grown a bit more in the coming days. “I was wondering when something was going to knock you to your senses.” Her body inched forward upon the bed to which Isla found herself cuddling against him in time. The Shield was the most comforting and protective place in all of Eos she could hope to be as of that moment; especially after her painful confrontation with Libertus.
She too felt like she was losing everything all at once, but she could hardly handle the thought of losing her friend as well as the man she loved in one sitting. Maybe…just maybe…in time even Libertus would see that Gladiolus was more than he chose to view him but for now she was quite eager to depart on her adventure with the Shield and escape the suffocating waters of the bar for just a bit longer.
--
It was frightening how normal a constant night was becoming. Waking up to nothing but darkness it felt like the world just didn’t move and everybody was stuck in a one continuous day. It drove some mad and to some rather dire and bitter ends with their lives but some had chosen to accept it and wait it out no matter how weary their souls were becoming.
Cars were still working and since they were a much better alternative than a chocobo, Gladiolus took to one he had found off the streets and worked tirelessly in the past year to get back to working condition with Cindy’s help. It was hardly one of the fancier models you’d see from Insomnia but it was big enough to at least fit four to five people within it. The headlights kept the daemons away from the vehicle even if some dared to try and come up close to it. They were so used to the darkness that any amount of light made them flinch it seemed.
On the way, Isla couldn’t help but be curious who it was they would be teamed up against. She’d met many hunters that she and Gladiolus worked with side by side but it always felt like they came and went—some leaving never to return and some merely expressing interest in seeing how the other parts of Eos faired and remaining decently in touch with them in case Isla and Gladiolus wanted to team up again.
“I’m still surprised Dave didn’t say anything about these hunters we were to meet,” Isla commented, keeping her eyes out on the dreary and dead look of the world around them. It was so upsetting to see what was once full of life rotting around them ever so slowly. To her understanding, most of the fish had died lately and it was becoming harder to find any of them. The price of fish in general increased and if you wanted to trade for any, you better have a good number of things for it.
“Eh,” Gladiolus moaned with a shrug, keeping his eyes on the road ahead, “I am far from concerned about it. I balance better with you anyways, so I am not too worried about my synergy being gone to shit if these hunters are bad at their jobs.” He noticed that Isla was still a bit quiet, keeping her eyes out the window and not saying much in the past thirty minutes they had been on the road. He knew she wasn’t nervous. She got over that fear forever ago. “How, uh…was Libertus this morning?”
Isla moved ever so, the leather of her attire stretching just a bit as she tried to get comfortable in the car seat. “I don’t know,” she answered simply as if wanting to dismiss it. “I…kind of went out of my way to avoid him.” The hunter could hardly say she was in the mood to put up with another confrontation if Libertus was feeling like giving it to her.
Gladiolus sighed to himself, shaking his head as he ran his fingers through his hair that had been growing out in the past few weeks as well (honestly, he was being too lazy in thinking of asking Isla to cut it for him). “I am sorry I wasn’t there for that,” he murmured in regret, the bumpiness of the ride making the car shake and groan over the terrain that was nearly overgrown in some areas.
“You were there to help,” Isla corrected, glancing over to the driver’s seat to note that he was keeping his eyes ahead on the darkness surrounding them. “You were upstairs—.”
“—Yeah, doing nothing,” he reminded her. “I was listening to the fight just vaguely through the vibrations of the bed, and I could have done something to step in and tell him to shut it…”
Isla’s gloved fist curled, the leather very audible in the moment. “I would…have preferred you stayed out of it either way.”
Gladiolus humphed at the thought. “Why?”
“Because it’s my problem, not yours.” She reached across and playfully slapped his nearest arm to make him drop it. “Now, let it go…I’ll be fine.”
With the farm coming into view finally, Gladiolus found a decent place to park within safety of the daemons that continued to patrol the night. As he moved out of the vehicle he noted one other nearby—it had the Hammerhead logo imprinted on the side, was a forest like green in base color with off-white seating. “Hu…guess whoever is here works for Cindy,” he commented aloud, finding that odd as he didn’t note that many hunters near Hammerhead but he understood there was a base there to keep sights in on the city. “Must be the Insomnia guy I heard about—the one who camps out near the ruins of the Crown City to get a good look of what comes and goes.”
Isla embraced herself as she found the chill in the air a bit harsher than normal given the early hour. She saw no other car but the one they arrived in and the other with the Hammerhead logo. “And the other? Do you think they’re both here?”
“There y’all are,” spoke Wiz with relief, gaining the hunters’ attention. “I was wondering when you’d arrive.”
“Sorry if you were waiting for too long,” Gladiolus answered, extending his hand to offer as a greeting to the man he hadn’t seen in quite some time. “It was a bit late when I got in last night, so I couldn’t give the news to Isla till I had the time.”
“Ah, not a problem at all,” Wiz insisted, greeting Isla next before waving them to follow behind him as he headed towards the old ranch that had seen better days. “I sent the others out early on another huntin’ quest that I know wouldn’t be a problem for them. They agreed to go at it together, saying it would help them connect a bit better.”
Isla could hear the birds being restless inside of their stalls that were just beside the old race track that had become overgrown from lack of use. “So the other hunter is here?”
“Yeah, he was picked up in Galdin by the other lad,” said Wiz, stopping just short of where a map was hanging on the store wall. “The terrain out in these parts have changed since you last been here, Gladio. I think you might want to take this here updated map before trying to head outward. The guys are waitin’ for ya—just here.” He motioned to a spot not far away that he knew as a camping ground. “They set up there as a base for now, and I am sure they’re dying to see ya again.”
“‘Again’?” Gladiolus quoted, raising a thin brow at the comment. “Do I…know them?”
Wiz merely chuckled to himself. “You’d be surprised. They’ll fill ya in when you arrive. Don’t keep ‘em waitin’ now. We need that behemoth and its group taken down as quickly as possible. Can’t go transporting birds about Lucis if there are problems as this in the way.”
Isla herself was a bit confused but hopeful as she followed behind Gladiolus to the location marked on the map. “Wonder why they went on ahead. Are the areas that bad…? I know behemoths are powerful but…wonder what else is out here?”
“Not too sure, but keep your head up,” the Shield insisted, his voice heavy with thought as he was hopeful as to who was waiting for him just over the ridge and off into the nearby woods where the haven was lying in wait for them.
Upon arriving, the fire was very much alive but nobody was there right away to greet them. There were two chairs positioned about the raging embers that glittered in the night, showing that the group was probably not far away. “They’re still around somewhere,” Isla commented as she noted the nearby coffee that appeared to be very much fresh as it was sitting on the table folded out and in a mug with a chocobo logo on it.
Gladiolus’ amber eyes darted about in hope, trying to give claims to the truth that his friends could just very well be the hunters sent with him. “Hu…we’ll just—.”
“Gladio?” came a very distinctive and recognizable voice that the Shield hadn’t heard in years.
Pivoting on his heels, Gladiolus turned and noted in the faint light of the haven that Prompto was standing just ahead with an uncertain look of how to react. Last they encountered one another, it was hardly on good or happy terms but the quivering way the cameraman stood, it showed he more than ever wanted to say ‘hi’ and put everything in the past.
“Prompto,” Gladiolus breathed in surprise and equal relief. Out of anybody, he thought for sure the cheery blond would have died given how he felt the gunman always needed to be protected and yet, here he was—older, a goatee very much aging him slightly as were the obvious bags under his eyes as it appeared he got very little sleep for who knew what reason.
“Wow,” he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s, uh…it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”
“Indeed,” spoke Ignis from the opposite end of the camp as he began to casually walk up the side as though he knew exactly where to put his footing. The dark visor hid his damaged sight but the way the advisor held himself now nobody would be the wiser as to the very idea he was blind. The decorative cane was gone and his hair having grown more up top had been slicked back, making him appear to not have changed much in physical comparison. “It is always good to hear your voice again, Gladio.”
“I thought I’d never see you guys again,” Gladiolus confessed, his words shaking in worry of that fear as he knew he was partly to blame for causing the separation of everyone and even nearly destroying his relationship with Isla in the process of trying to take on too many things at once with preparing for their King and friend to return.
Prompto hurried towards the Shield as Ignis moved more inward to the location of Gladiolus’ voice. His arms opened and the hunter embraced his friends tightly with his teeth biting at his lower lip to prevent it from quivering. He had lost a majority of his family in this war and he nearly lost the other half in the ruins of Eos and fires of his temper. He wasn’t going to let that happen again.
