ɢʟᴀᴅɪᴏʟᴜs ᴀᴍɪᴄɪᴛɪᴀ (ex_cupnoods206) wrote in valloic, @ 2021-01-07 10:54:00 |
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“Hold on, just…” He lifted a hand and gave a pathetic wave. His back hurt. His old injury loved to flare up to remind him that he was damaged goods. Wincing, he straightened up and closed his eyes for a second. Fight club was probably a terrible idea, but he stubbornly still wanted to do it. That didn’t mean he wanted to keep dying today.
“Let’s take a break.” Noct tried to sound bossy but it came out pleading. He didn’t bother taking the tape off his hands, just moved to the side of the training grounds sparring area to collect a bottle of water and squeeze some into his mouth. “Would you tell me if I’m a hopeless case?”
It was easy to get lost in sparring with Noctis. Comforting, even if it was one hell of a workout. An easy familiarity between them as they worked together that Gladio had only in the past bit realized how much he had taken for granted. Quick jabs of the verbal kind lobbed back and forth between their little bouts, the surge of pride he'd always feel when Noctis did get the better of him. All in all it was a better way to spend a morning.
But they were just human, with bodies that required rest. And when Noctis asked for a break, Gladio had been pretty close to the same himself. It'd do no good for either of them to push past a reasonable point. Especially, Noct, and Gladio's brow furrowed a little when he noticed the shift in Noctis' gait as he moved to where they'd left the water.
Gladio moved to the same spot and sat on the grass. He uncapped his own water and took a long drink. "You did good," was what he answered. He flashed Noctis a smile. "Got me a few times, you're still quick, Noct - even without the warping. You just gotta gain some more confidence in it." Which was just a matter of time really. Noctis had a good foundation - Gladio himself had made sure of that - now it was just getting used to not falling back on warping to get himself out of a bind. And while the end goal might be fight club, it was good in general. Who the hell knew what this place had in store for them after all.
"Take five and we can go through some stretches?" he suggested. As much as he pushed Noctis he never wanted to be cruel about it. They'd call it a day here, stretch out to hopefully keep the pain from Noct's injury flaring up even more.
Praise always did something stupid to Noctis brain. It was worse when it was Gladio. Well, “worse”. Better. He didn’t know what to call it. He only knew it made his face warm and his smile twist.
“Well. I’m glad you think so. I’d hate for you to think all your training goes to waste.” Kneeling on one knee, he dug through the bag he’d brought. He pulled out a towel and swiped it over his head and then left it dangling around his neck. “Don’t get too excited...but I could probably use more weight trai--”
The words died on his lips as his vision suddenly went dark. Everything around him suddenly felt louder. Stranger. The ground felt more solid than ever. He dropped his water bottle and it landed in the grass next to Gladio’s hip. His hand flailed out, hoping to land on his Shield.
“Gladio?”
If praise did something to Noctis it was the reaction to it that did something to Gladio. That little flush, the twisted smile. The knowing that he'd gotten under Noct's skin.
But all of those thoughts were gone the instant Noctis' whole demeanor shifted. Along with any earlier ease and lightness. Gladio was immediately on guard as the bottle dropped, the tone of Noctis' voice shifted from casual conversation to - something else. Gladio shifted in closer as Noct's hand hit his arm. He grabbed it with his own hand. "I'm here," he assured as he looked over Noctis.
Dread coiled in the pit of Gladio's stomach, but he didn't dare give into it. It would do neither of them, but Noctis especially, any good for him to freak out. But the unfocused look in Noctis' eyes, the way he didn't quite seem to look at anything… Gladio knew that look. Too well.
"Noctis..." he started, his voice even though despite all his efforts to stay calm the concern was well heard in that one word. "What's wrong?" he asked. Even though he knew. After everything with Ignis, how could he not know.
Ignis would tell Noctis not to panic. Assess the situation. Formulate a plan. The irony of that wasn’t lost on him. Gladio’s grip did ease back the initial wave of terror, but there was still an ocean of what the fuck beyond it.
Noct exhaled. “I can’t see.”
He wished he was saying literally anything else, but facts were facts. Suddenly realizing how vulnerable he was, he moved closer to Gladio on his knees. “I’m...I’m not in pain. I mean, my back hurts but like normally not...I don’t know what this is. Are we under attack?”
Gladio moved closer as Noctis did to sit fully in front of him, knees pressed into Noctis' for a touch point of sorts, a marker of where he was, not letting go of the hand he had in his own. His gaze darted around, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. No signs of anyone hiding somewhere and besides, it wasn't like anything had hit Noct. No weapon, no signs of magic being used. Just fine one moment and now - this. He knew though his view was fairly limited here, but he didn't want to leave Noctis to investigate further. It seemed Henruit picked up on it though and Gladio watched as the dog started sniffing around the line of trees around them.
"I think it's just us," he said. "Doesn't seem to be an attack." Which, well, maybe it would be easier if it were. Gladio could handle that. Take them out, make them reverse whatever had happened. The unknown was less easy to deal with.
He lifted his other hand, curled his fingers around Noct's chin and gently turned his head back and forth, looking for any sign of injury. His hand moved to run over Noct's head, feeling for any bumps or anything, fruitless since he knew Noctis hadn't hit his head but he still wanted to make sure. Other than the vague unfocused gaze nothing seemed amiss. His hand dropped to Noct's shoulder.
"You weren't dizzy or feeling faint or anything?" he asked.
Noctis startled a little, with the touch to his chin, because he couldn’t see it coming. After the surprise passed, he let himself be examined with only a frown burrowing between his eyebrows. If Gladio said they weren’t under attack, then they weren’t under attack. But that meant this was something much more out of their control.
“I...feel off? Like I’m somewhere quiet but not exactly--I don’t know how to explain it.” Frustration edged into his voice and he fisted one hand into the grass as the other clung still to Gladio’s wrist. The grass felt like more than just grass - the dirt beneath it too - which was a thought that made him feel stupid the second it formed. Worse though was the realization that he knew what else he felt like he was missing.
“I don’t think I have access to the arminger.” Gladio was too close for Noct to test this even if he’d had his sight. “Shit, Gladio. I think I’m cut off from the Crystal. Or however it even works here.”
As if it was reacting to his building anxiety, the ground beneath them rumbled, knocking him backwards onto his ass.
Gladio hated the frustrated edge to Noctis' words. Hated that something was happening to Noct that he could neither understand or fix. It was the kind of helpless feeling that Gladio loathed. Especially when it concerned Noct.
All of this was already - unexpected. The sudden rumble in the ground though, well, that was even more so. He held his balance a bit better than Noctis but still was thrown a bit off kilter. "Noct!" he exclaimed as he moved quickly to where Noctis had been knocked back. He helped Noctis to his feet and kept a hand lingering on Noct's elbow. "Don't move," he said gently and while still keeping that one hand on Noct he stepped away as much as he could and tried to summon a sword into his other hand.
Nothing.
Gladio let out a slow breath. "Yeah, you're cut off I think," he answered Noct's earlier concern. Which meant he was too. "So no armiger but you can - cause little earthquakes?" A pause. "And you can't see." All of which made zero sense. "Think this falls under that whole 'sometimes weird shit happens' thing people talk about?" Though it wasn't really a comforting thought either way.
“You think that was me?” Noct sat up and tried to get his bearings back. He was already starting to forget where everything was around him. Everything but Gladio, who took up even more space in the dark somehow. And yet, when the ground had shook, it had almost seemed like there were shapes in the nothing around him. But that couldn’t be right.
“Gods, I don’t know. I hope so because if it doesn’t and this is permanent…” Noctis swallowed, suddenly scared again. Trying to imagine his life cut off from everything that had always defined him, and losing his eyesight at the same time, made his hands tremble as he pushed himself to his feet. “Can we--can you help me get somewhere that isn’t so exposed?”
"It sure wasn't me," he replied. And it had happened in their immediate vicinity with nothing to indicate a larger quake. Not that Gladio was sure the how or the why but the who of it being Noctis? Well it kind of made sense. In that way where it didn't make any sense at all.
The tone in Noctis' voice though, made something awful twist in the pit of Gladio's stomach. He hated it. He dropped his hands on Noctis' shoulders. "Then we'll figure it out," he declared. If it was - permanent. A thought that made Gladio sick but he knew he couldn't completely write the possibility off. "Okay, Noct? I got you. I got you and whatever happens, we'll figure it out."
He paused briefly to let the words settle. He glanced around as he asked the question, looking for where they could head over to if the answer ended up being the latter. "Want to head back to the apartments? Or stay outside?"
It was very different, being on this side of the abruptly blinded scenario. Even though it felt like a lifetime ago, Noct could still hear Gladio’s exact tone when he’d said things like “haven’t you hurt Iggy enough?” He knew, of course, that what happened with Ignis was different and it was because of him. This, well, he liked to think this one wasn’t his fault. Gladio seemed to agree and he’d never been especially quiet about giving Noct the kick he needed to fix things that were in his power to fix.
“I know. I mean...that you’ve got me,” he mumbled, reaching blindly again until he had a hand back on Gladio’s forearm. “I think I’d appreciate a wall at my back right about now, if that’s okay with you.” He was trying for casual sass. To sound in control and unconcerned. Anxiety made him stupid and he couldn’t afford to be stupid while Gladio would be spending more attention watching out for him than ever.
Unfortunately, something snapped in the forest nearby and he jerked in surprise, ruining the effort. “Gods, how did Ignis even do this…”
"Sheer stubbornness and being the most scarily competent person no matter what the circumstances that any of us will ever know?" Gladio answered. But really, he had no idea. Ignis was - a phenomenon. Dealing with suddenly losing his eyesight, Noctis disappearing, a world suddenly plunged into chaos. It all would have been enough to make most people break. Somehow though Ignis had managed to navigate it all. Despite Gladio's own stubbornness not doing much to help.
He paused for a moment. Those days, weeks, played an endless loop sometimes in his head. The things he had said that he regretted so much now. The things he hadn't said that he should have. To Ignis, to Noct. But Gladio knew it would do Noctis no good for him to spiral into all that at the moment. So he shoved the thoughts aside.
"Apartments it is then," he said and spotted Henruit coming up. "Henruit on your left," he let Noctis know before the dog trotted up next to Noctis, bumping into his legs. "Henruit, stay," he said to the dog. "Just gonna grab our stuff real quick, be right back," he told Noctis and moved away to quickly stuff their things back into the bag. "Okay, towel… water bottles… phone..." he narrated as he packed up so Noctis would be able to hear he hadn't gotten far.
He shouldered the bag and moved back to Noctis. "Alright, let's get out of here," he said as he approached and put his hand on the back of Noct's shoulder again to lead him back to the waypoint.