daysofthunder | lost all memory of the time before you, home is a foreign land [ffxv au]

Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum was a moody teenager at best.

Everyone knew that.

Of course the tabloids enjoyed spinning it with such phrases as "stoically aloof" or whatever nonsense they were feeding to the public at large, but really he was just. A teenager. One that had actually dealt with more hardships than most realized, as well, which certainly didn't help his outward demeanor, but he was still mostly a child trying to navigate his way through a difficult world that refused to slow down for anyone, least of all him, and the unique burdens of being the next in line for the throne.

But there was a difference between his usual quiet, reserved moods and whatever he had been in the last few days. Any time he got to spend with his father outside of mind numbingly boring meetings and other royal responsibilities was usually a cause for at least a few light, corner-of-the-lips smiles and bright eyes that betrayed how much he actually enjoyed it, but the last dinner they'd managed to squeeze in had him distant at best.

It took a good week to finally hear from Clarus who had overheard from Gladio that there had actually been someone in Noctis' life that wasn't his skinny, overly excited blonde best friend. The way it was told, as these games of telephone tended to do, was that he had befriended the adopted family of a former Kingsglaive, specifically the woman's two teenaged daughters, and while everyone around them could see that Noctis was absolutely smitten with the eldest daughter and she clearly had feelings for him in return, neither of them had acted on it.

And when Gladio had tried to give him (and Prompto, in regards to the youngest daughter) a push in his gruff and probably less than tactful way, he'd gotten a strange reaction from Noctis. A mix of upset and anger that he didn't usually display before stomping off. That very night had also been dinner with his father, and the entire time he was absolutely dour, barely responsive, dodging questions about school and worryingly distant.

The pieces were somewhat there to understand what may have been going on in his son's head, but something was still missing. Namely the 'why'.

Regis wasn't the best with emotions, either (Noctis had to get it from somewhere, after all) but this was something he actually felt couldn't just be regulated to letting Ignis try and pry it out of him. He wanted to address it directly, or as direct as he could, and see if maybe he could offer some legitimate fatherly advice.

Or if he would somehow make things worse.

Either way he felt for his son, truly wanted him to live his best life, and it worried him that he wasn't going for something so easily within his grasp.

Hence why he had asked Noctis to his office during a rare bit of down time in between meetings that afternoon, sitting comfortably in one of the plush chairs off to the side of his large heavy wooden table. Once Noctis entered quietly he motioned with his hand to the other empty chair.

"Thank you for coming, Noctis."

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"That, I will happily provide." He replies with a smirk, leaning over and having to stop himself from kissing her again. They would never make it back inside at this rate.

Noctis clears his throat and decides to just go in first, before he can't help but drag her back around to the side of the house again.

However, once inside, he leads her back to the living room and flops down on the couch, pulling her with him and onto his lap. Noctis then flashes her an impish grin. Now he has free reign to flirt as much as he wants.

If he's willing to pay the consequences, that is. Which he's feeling too floaty right now to consider. It's only a matter of time until the others come downstairs though.

Rox came out from the kitchen, arms crossed and looked at the couch just in time to see the prince tug her daughter onto his lap. While she was extremely happy for both of them, especially her baby, that boy was a little handsy there.

"Excuse me, your highness," Rox said, "you best treat my girl with respect." She walked over to the pair, a smile on her face for her daughter. She kissed the top of Rinka's head. "If he doesn't do right by you, you have my permission to stab him."

Aurene was sending off a text to Prompto, but she came out shortly after.

"Finally," she said to the both of them.

"I mean, I know there was a good reason for why it took so long but watching you two flirt relentlessly but not do anything about it was painful."

Rinka squeaked as she was tugged over, but relaxed quickly in his arms, relief melting her into his embrace. Yeah. This was real. And it felt so damn right.

Of course her family had to come in and make noise about it. She rolled her eyes at Rox first.

"Mom, I'm not stabbing him."

"I'unno, a little stab'll keep him in line. Or maybe more than one. He takes a few tries to learn the lesson," Nyx grinned at the two of them as he came out with Rox, knowing he was going to get daggers glared at him again by Noctis but obviously not caring.

"This isn't warp training, Nyx."

A shrug. He stood by his statement.

And then there was Aurene.

"Puh-leeze. Like you and Prom were any better! We had an excuse, you two were just oblivious!"

Noctis just about jumps at that, his eyes going wide briefly.

"R... right. S... sorry." He stammers rubbing at the back of his neck.

It's not like he wasn't going to let her go if she wished it, he was being playful!

"No, no. She's got a point, if I do anything you don't like, you can stab me." Nyx on the other hand gets a 'tch' as he's not wrong on that and it's a bit of a sore spot. Since the Marlilith attack, Noctis has struggled a little, still not having gained full mastery of his powers.

Thankfully, as much as Aurene is also picking on them, it's a change of subject nonetheless.

"Gee, thanks." He replies flatly, but still can't keep from smiling at Rinka.

"Personally, I'm glad that my girl isn't suffering anymore," Rox said as she leaned against Nyx. After all, she'd known what it was like, and it had made her heart ache to see her girl suffering the same way she had, except maybe even worse. At least it hadn't lingered the amount of time Rox's had.

"And I'm glad you got good news, Noct," she added. "Good enough that you can and Rinka can finally act on your feelings. Aurene is right. It hurt to watch."

Aurene merely shrugged at the comment about her and Prom being just as bad. They got there in the end, right? And boy did they start their relationship with a bang.

A bit unconventional, they knew. But hey, it worked.

"Prom's sad that he missed this. I've been keeping him updated."

"Noct already had a hard enough time with an audience. I doubt he would have gotten through it if he had Prompto bouncing off the walls in the background."

Damn ADHD gremlin. (Affectionate)

"And I wasn't suffering. You make it sound like I was some forlorn waif draped over a chaise lounge lamenting my lost love or something," she rolled her eyes. Suffering. Gods.

She was quietly and stoically getting through her days.

And crying.

Inside.

Sometimes outside.

Noctis didn't need to know that, though!

"So what's the plan?" Nyx asked curiously, since he didn't expect it would just be the two of them cuddling on the couch for the next however long.

"I'm uh. Gonna have dinner with him. Tomorrow." She paused, then looked at Noctis. "At the Citadel."

Nyx let out a low whistle.

"Fancy."

Rox nodded with approval. "Fancy and appropriate. Good call, Noctis," she said and smiled at him. She turned to her daughter with some concern and her smile turned rueful. "I didn't mean it that way. You learned from me." She didn't add anymore, because her meaning was clear and she didn't want to embarrass Rinka, but she shot her daughter a look that said, I know you, child, don't act like I didn't raise you.

Rinka had learned to grin and bear it, just like her mother. She trudged through heartache determined to not let her defeat her. Rox might as well have given birth to Rinka. They were so alike in so many ways. Rox was glad she'd given her daughter the strength to survive hardships, emotional and physical, but that didn't mean she had to like it or approve of it.

She would rather her daughter not suffer at all. She wanted Rinka and Aurene happy. She wanted them to have full, beautiful futures, and she would fight to the death to give them that.

"What's the plan for today? Noct, you staying for dinner? Nyx mentioned looked like you ran all the way here from the Citadel."

Noctis runs his free hand through his hair, the other still occupied holding Rinka's

"Uh, well, my dad called me to his office, and yeah... I guess I got a little overenthusiastic."

There's a slight pink tinge to his cheeks, but he quickly zeroes in on the rest of it.

"I could go for some grub. Especially if it's Rinka's cooking!"

The blush deepens just a little.

Hush, Mom. He doesn't need to know that!

Keeping it inside had been the one thing that kept her from driving herself crazy while being around him.

"A little, but it was cute, once you got it out," she grinned at him with her own blushing, squeezing his hand gently.

"I could get something going. I'm pretty hungry after all that."

Surprisingly so. She would have thought her stomach would be rebelling after experiencing warping for the first time. Twice. But she felt more hungry than anything now.

lost all memory of the time before you, home is a foreign land [ffxv au]

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