ɢʟᴀᴅɪᴏʟᴜs ᴀᴍɪᴄɪᴛɪᴀ (ex_cupnoods206) wrote in valloic, @ 2022-03-22 11:47:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: gladio amicitia, ₴ inactive: prompto argentum (2) |
LOG: GLADIO / PROMPTO
They were on vacation. No one got up early on vacation.
Except of course that meant running smack dab into a very familiar muscular chest that was harder than a brick wall. Because that was the kind of luck Prompto had. “Six!” It was almost comical the way he bounced off Gladio. Thankfully, he felt firm hands grab him before he could crash onto the ground.
Gladio had gotten better at not getting up at the crack of dawn, much to do with Noct's insistence on being a human octopus and that it was much nicer to give into that than starting the day. But there were still mornings when it happened. And when Noct had come back to the bed late and mumbled quickly something about Prompto and needing to talk in the morning it had been enough to have him stirring early. It was a careful touch required to extract himself from the mess of limbs, Noctis dead to the world but Ignis one who would wake up easily and Gladio preferred to let the pair sleep a bit longer. It was a vacation after all.
Like Prompto he grabbed one of the robes, left open though and figuring he'd be the only one awake at this hour he didn't bother putting pants on over his boxer briefs.
So of course he would run right into Prompto. But there was a soft laugh as Prompto reacted and Gladio was quick to wrap his hands around Prompto's arms to steady him. "Easy now," he said lightly, voice low in the quiet of the morning, and made sure Prompto was steady before dropping his hands. "Want some coffee?" he asked as he moved to the little coffee bar set up in the living space and started getting it going.
Whether it was the lack of sleep or good conversation with Noctis the night before about all three of his friends wanting him, his ability to act like a reasonable person was gone. Prompto was full on wide eyed staring at Gladio in his stupid boxer briefs that left nothing to the imagination, like he had never seen the man naked before. It was different now though, with what he knew.
Feeling the heat in his face, he knew he was probably giving away more than he liked, as he toddled after the other man to the living area. "Uh, y-yeah. Sure." He hoped Gladio didn't pick up on his voice cracking, as he rubbed the back of his neck and tried to pull himself together. "Surprised you're up though."
Gladio couldn't help but wonder what exactly had gone down the night before that had Prompto more twitchy than usual, but he figured it could also just be the early hour. He set about getting the little coffee machine going and pulled out the milk from the mini fridge. He'd call down and order some better stuff to the room and breakfast once the others were up, but the coffee left in the room would do for a quick morning cup.
He shrugged a little at Prompto's statement. "Old habits still die hard," he offered with a grin and set about fixing up their coffee cups. Black for his, easy, and milk and way too much sugar in the cup he offered Prompto.
"Come on, let's go see who's up out there," he said with a nod toward the little balcony of their suite. He opened the door for them and then leaned against the railing with his cup as he looked out over the animal habitat.
"Not a bad vacation," he mused with a smile to Prompto. Something they'd all been sorely lacking back home.
Happy that Gladio wasn’t calling him out on his weird behaviour, Prompto relaxed a bit. And the remaining tension drained out of his shoulders when he handed him his coffee, preferences remembered. Okay, so maybe Noctis hadn’t said anything because Gladio wasn’t acting any different. And that bought Prompto a little bit more time to figure out how to approach all of this. So he put it aside for the moment, as he followed Gladio out to the balcony, squinting a bit as the sunlight hit them. He shaded his eyes with his hand as he followed Gladio up to the railing, coming to stand besides the taller man.
Though he was putting aside his thoughts on the whole ‘my friends might want to date me?’ thing for later, the butterflies in his stomach started up with a vengeance when Gladio looked at him with that smile. Oh no, he thought, as he smiled stupidly back at him. I’m going to do something dumb again.
Clearing his throat and putting cheer into his voice, he tried for casualness as he said, “Uh yup. Don’t remember the last time things were this peaceful and nice for us.” Could be nicer, a little voice in his head that sounded an awful lot like Noctis said. You could kiss him and see if this is what you really want. So much for putting it aside. “Did Noct get back to your room okay last night? I know it was late when he left.” It was an attempt to confirm whether or not their favorite royal brat had spilled about what had happened last night.
The voice in Prompto's head matched the voice in Gladio's - could be nicer. The park had been fun but it'd also been getting harder and harder to keep that distance, to convince himself it was even needed in the first place. Especially moments like this. Prompto next to him, the quiet of the morning, the way he wanted nothing more than to just wrap Prompto up and kiss him senseless.
And as Prompto brought up the night before, Gladio couldn't help but wonder if maybe Noctis had caved, if the lines were about to be redrawn. Gods he hoped so.
He nodded and took a sip of his coffee. "That he did," he answered, amused and fond. There was nothing accusatory about it, why would there be. Hell maybe it was even hopeful sounding. But while there were details still being waited for, Gladio gave Prompto a sly grin nonetheless. "You two have a good night?" Alright, he was very curious.
That gave away nothing. Prompto cursed himself, wondering if he should play it coy and try to dig deeper or just ask straight up what Gladio might know. Hiding his indecision about that behind a hummed, “Mm,” as he took a sip from his coffee, his brain rapid answers he could potentially give before settling on, “Yeah, it was nice. We talked. About some stuff.” And kissed.
Kissed a lot.
His face flushed pink at the reminder of last night and blood rushed south because he was still kicking himself for not going with Noct. Prompto shifted so he was leaning forward against the railing, hoping that the robe covered him well enough not to give away the reaction he was having to the memory of Noct’s lips on his.
Prompto's reaction however gave away more and Gladio grinned a little at the blush that creeped over his face. And from that he was pretty sure that if nothing else at least the conversation had gone down a path of being more honest about everything. How far that might have gotten was still a question mark, but it definitely fanned that little spark of hope that maybe they could be getting somewhere.
Gladio bumped his shoulder against Prompto's lightly. "What kind of stuff?" he asked.
Gladio couldn’t have had mercy on him, could he? Prompto squeezed his eyes closed and breathed in deeply, wondering if throwing himself over the balcony’s railing would be too extra. It probably was, but he was awful at having the spotlight on him and, at the moment, it felt like Gladio was shining an interrogation light in his face and demanding he describe every detail of last night to him.
It wasn’t a bad feeling, but by the Six his tendency to get shy about deeper things was coming out.
But he fought past that, squaring his shoulders as he opened his eyes and took another sip of his coffee. “Um,” he said, working up his nerve. “We talked about the future. And maybe what my place in it could be?” Nodding to himself, he said more surely, “That if I wanted a place in that particular future, all I had to do was ask.” That was vague enough that it could mean anything to someone listening in, but if Gladio was looking for some kind of confirmation on what Prompto had been told, that was pretty much it.
There was a soft little smile at Prompto's words. Gladio knew it didn't mean things would be how he hoped they would, that maybe Prompto wouldn't even want to be with all of them. But it felt still like a weight was lifted, having this out in the open.
He took a moment to set their cups on the little table behind them before he turned to look at Prompto again. It had felt so delicate the two times Gladio had found himself here. The pull between wanting to just act but wanting it to be clear that he loved them regardless. That even if nothing happened it wouldn't damage the friendship they'd built over the years.
Gladio let his hand settle lightly in the crook of Prompto's elbow. "You don't have to know right now," he assured Prompto. "I know it's - a lot?" the idea of shifting a relationship when three other people were involved was daunting. Even if they all fit together more seamlessly than anything else Gladio had ever known.
"But if we're talking about the future - when I think of mine, it's not just Noct and Ignis, Prom. It's you too."
The idea of the future had always been on the side of insurmountable - back home, they knew what Noctis had been in for, how likely that none of them would make it out alive. But here, the potential for an actual future where they could live together happily? Romantic or not, Prompto so desperately wanted it.
Letting his sugar masquerading as coffee be taken away, Prom felt a little fidgety with nothing in his hands while under Gladio’s look. He could fill in the blanks here, about what Gladio was trying to say. It was reaffirming what Noctis had said last night, that it just wasn’t Noctis with feelings.
Prompto had never given much thought to the idea of romance when it came to Iggy and Gladio. He had been half in love with Noctis for as long as he had known him, but it was a given. Who wasn’t? But he never thought to do anything about it, never let it be anything but something that simmered under the surface, with Lunafreya being Noctis’ future. Then when Gladio and Ignis came into the picture as they got older, they had all fallen into an easy friendship after their first road trip. Sure he had eyes, but he never thought that they would give him a second look so he had simply not wandered down that path.
All the while taking a generous amount of pictures of their butts when he thought that they weren’t looking. What? He had eyes.
So he flirted with anyone with a pretty smile and kept it light. Even when it came to Cindy, who he didn’t think would really give him the time of day, he never took it too seriously. He figured he’d be one of those lifelong bachelors and that would be that. And he was okay with that because he had the love of his friends, reaffirmed after the events after the train, and he was happy with that.
But now…now those thoughts he had never really paid much mind about Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis were all coming to the front. Especially as he spoke more about this with them. He only had Ignis left to speak to, but here, with Gladio? There was an itch in his hands to reach out and grab this future that was waiting for him here. To reach out and see if Gladio’s lips felt as soft as they looked. But there was still uncertainty…what if this was all lust on his end? What if he tried and ended up ruining things between him and them? His friendship with the three was the most important thing to him. What if rushing into this was a mistake? And for the first time, he voiced his doubts about the whole thing. “I want a future with you guys. Friendship or more, I want that. But what if I mess this up? What if I ruin your vision of it?” He asked softly, meeting Gladio’s eyes with no small amount of uncertainty and fear.
Gladio brought a hand to gently cradle the side of Prompto's face. "I don't really see how you could," he assured Prompto.
Still though… "I get it though," he added. Because he did. It was a terrifying thing. Standing at the edge of something new, the idea of redrawing and reframing their relationship. He himself had spent so long compartmentalizing it all away. To make peace with it being enough to just be with the others in whatever way he could. And it had been. Enough. But he hadn't even been able to imagine how much more it could have been until he took that leap.
"I worry sometimes still too, Prom," he added. "I never really had a relationship with one person before let alone more than that at the same time. And you, Iggy, Noct - you're the most important people in the world to me, it was pretty damn terrifying to take that jump when so much was at stake." He paused and moved his hand from Prompto's elbow to lace their fingers together, eyes on their joined hands. "But I thought maybe the something more that always seemed to run just under everything with us, even though I tried so hard not to let it, deserved a chance, you know?"
He looked back up at Prompto. "I'm in no rush, Prom. However slow you want to take things, if you need time to even wrap your head around it, if you realize this isn't for you… I'll still be here."
Slow. Going slow seemed so dumb now that they were getting these feelings out. But Prompto appreciated it because he hadn't had the chance to think this all out, to view his friendships with all three of these men with more than just friendly eyes. What if he didn't feel the same? He wasn't going to risk ruination just because he wanted to think with his dick now.
"I want to talk to Iggy too. It's only right," Prompto said, closing his eyes and leaning into the hand cupping his face. He had always felt so safe with Gladio nearby, now was no exception. "I want to take this leap with you all, but I don't want to do it without being sure. You guys are too important to me." They were his family and there was no way he was messing this family up now.
He didn't, and would never, hold it against Prompto to want to take some time with it. There was a lot to think about, and if Prompto was anything like the three of them - a lot of years to look back on and reexamine. They'd all spent so long holding feelings at bay, it had been a weird adjustment to realize they no longer had to. Gladio had had over a year now to figure that out, but Prompto? It was new.
"Of course," he said easily. Ignis was a big part of the whole equation and Gladio of course didn't mind the need to check in there.
He wrapped his arms around Prompto, chin resting lightly on the top of Prompto's head. "You're important to us too, Prom. To me." A beat. "Whatever you decide, that won't change."
Gladio took a moment to just enjoy the little hug before dropping a quick kiss to the top of Prompto's head and pulling back. "Should we go in and get a breakfast order going?" Chances are Ignis was either already up or would be in a few minutes, and from there they could coax Noct out of bed with the food.
Prompto sighed happily, wrapping his arms around Gladio's body in turn and turning his face a bit so he wouldn't do something dumb like lick Gladio's abs while he was pressed up against them. He reluctantly let Gladio pull away, before changing his mind and reaching out to catch the lapel of his robe to pull him back insistently.
"Wait just one second, I want to…" A bit of shyness crept into Prompto's expression before he steeled his nerves and stood on his tiptoes to press a kiss to Gladio's lips.
Yep, just as soft as they looked. The breakfast order could wait a few more minutes.