hardbargain | (no subject)

When Nyx arrives at Carbuncle's location, he'll find Noctis lying on his back in a clover patch asleep, and his DTF curled up on top of him, also asleep. Finding Noct napping somewhere random is pretty normal, but this time Nyx may be alarmed when he notices the rope marks on his wrists, arms, and neck.

Nyx may also notice a distinct feeling of lighthearted fun once he steps into the clover for himself.

Y'know? Rope marks are fairly tame considering some of the messes this place gets up to. It's the fact that those marks are also on Noctis' neck that has him tensing, worried and abruptly moving with more urgency than he had been. The surge of casual playfulness that comes with the clover is... startling. He frowns, steps back, away from the soft clover into plain grass, worry growing sharp once more.

"Fucking plants." Snarled under his breath. He bites his own lip, hard enough to let the pain keep him focused and grounded as he crosses quickly to where Noctis rests. Instead of attempting to wake him Nyx simply scoops him up into his arms and tries to get back to the safety of the grass. If Noct wakes up, fine, if not? Well it hardly matters as long as they're out of the influence of the clover.

Noctis doesn't wake up immediately, but he was apparently not napping for long enough to be as deeply asleep as he usually is, because he does wake up by the time Nyx gets him out of the clover. He doesn't stir much, though, just blinks his eyes open and takes a moment to orient himself.

"Nyx?" he says in somewhat bleary confusion, his voice hoarse. In the meantime, Carbuncle wakes much faster and leaps down from its perch on Noctis to grab his jacket, which was lying on the grass beside him, in its teeth and follow them.

"You're alright, princess." Nyx' voice is light, teasing, more casual than he feels in order to keep Noctis calm. The hoarseness of his voice is worrisome but if he can speak then the damage can't be too bad. If the fact that he calls his king princess while bridal carrying him registers with Noct he'll be surprised. He can't help it though. Damsel in distress~~

He does have to wonder who the fuck would have done this to Noct and then left him alone, outside, exposed to whatever else this place might cook up. Jerk.

"C'mon... let's get you home." It'll take a fair bit longer to get back than it did for Nyx to get there but he'll do his best to simply let Noctis rest against his chest.

"...yeah," Noctis agrees. Nyx is here, so yes, he is alright. The 'princess' sure doesn't register right now. He might remember later.

"Mm-hm." He has zero objections to Nyx carrying him; he doesn't feel like he slept for very long, and he doubts he could walk there himself. Or much of anywhere. He's not sure why the sun's going down, though...it was nowhere near that late before.

"Hey...what time is it?"

"Probably after seven by now." Nyx offers, holding the younger man protectively against his chest. "Was wondering if you were gonna make it back for dinner before carbuncle texted me."

"After seven? That can't be right...wasn't asleep that long." Noctis pauses to swallow a couple of times; he probably shouldn't be talking this much right now. "Wait, Carbuncle texted you?"

"Shhh" Nyx urges him, shaking his head. He shifts his grip for a moment so he can duck his head enough to press a gentle kiss to Noctis' damaged throat. "Wait until we get back. I'll see about getting you something for that, painkillers, tea... I dunno what the hell happened but whoever did this to you is in for an ass-kicking."

Noctis sighs and goes quiet, resting his head against Nyx's chest. He'll have to explain...shit, he really doesn't want to explain any of this. Especially to Nyx, of all people. He'll either be furious with Ardyn, which in this one particular instance isn't really fair, or...he'll be furious with Noctis.

Either way, he can't just leave Nyx in the dark. Not when he came all this way to find him. But for now, he can just rest.

It's a decent walk and it's going to be awfully late when they get back... He sends a message ahead to Squall, asking him to throw together some dinner for Noctis and he'll take it down to the prince's apartment once he has him settled in. Conveniently they'd made a seafood stew tonight so it shouldn't be too hard for Noctis to eat even in his current state.

It's relatively quiet as dusk begins to deepen around the city and before long Nyx finds himself humming quietly as they walk, keeping it low and soft so as to not bother Noctis.

Noctis honestly wouldn't mind if Nyx just warped with him - not like he's going to get sick or anything. But Nyx's steady pace and quiet humming and the warmth of his body lull him into a light doze, and at some point Carbuncle scampers up to Nyx's shoulder and drops Noctis' jacket into his lap before dissipating into light that vanishes back into Noctis' pendant.

Nyx flashes the little creature a smile and a nod, keeping a couple fingers on his jacket just in case it slides out of his lap. But he's content to let Noctis doze, even once they get back to the apartments and he's able to set his prince down on the couch. It's not until he's obtained stew and tea that he returns to the couch, gently lifting Noctis back into his lap and running his fingers through dark hair. It's less an attempt to rouse him as it is affection that, if it does, would be just fine.

He's not about to leave the younger man until he has some answers, though, so if that means being napped on for w bit Nyx isn't about to argue.

Noctis does nap for a little bit in Nyx's lap, but not too long - twenty minutes, maybe, until the delicious smell of the stew and the fingers in his hair slowly rouse him again.

"...mm? That smells good."

"Squall's a good cook." Murmured lowly, fingers never pausing in his hair. Nyx's other hand comes up to brush his fingers as lightly as possible over the marks on his neck, trying to feel for how swollen and tender they may be. But Noct is awake, breathing steadily, and if he can speak those are all good signs.

"Think you can sit up for me, vaydran?"

Noctis nods in agreement - Squall is a good cook. He winces when Nyx's fingers touch his throat, but he doesn't flinch away. It hurts, but it's a duller pain now, and the skin doesn't seem too swollen.

"Uh...maybe." His body still feels heavy and sluggish, but with some help he manages to sit upright, even if he does still lean against Nyx. "Vaydran? What does that mean?"

He snorts a little, shaking his head dismissively. "Forget it. Here-" Nyx keeps an arm around him, still cradling Noctis against him. "Drink this for me okay? Nice and easy."

It's different than Noctis' potions, the few that Squall and Sora keep around from their world are very different than what the line of kings can do but there's still a familiarity to it regardless.

Under other circumstances, Noctis would have tried to insist on an answer, but right now he follows instructions and lets himself forget about it for now. He follows the next instruction, too, sipping at the potion Nyx holds for him without bothering to try to take it and do it himself.

Once he's finished it, he lets his head fall back against Nyx with a sigh. "Feels much better. Thanks." His voice is still a little bit rough around the edges, but nothing like what it was.

"Shhhh" He murmurs softly into those dark locks, kissing Noct's temple, rubbing a hand up and down his arm. For a good while he simply lets them sit like that, curled into each other, fingers still combing gently through Noct's hair. Letting the potion take full effect before he finally speaks, words muffled into his hair a little.

"You okay, princeling?" Nyx has asked after his well-being enough times to know that right now, especially with this level of gentleness and care..... may well be the first time he's been genuinely scared for him.

Noctis sighs softly. This kind of gentle affection is pretty foreign to him. The last time he can remember anyone treating him like this was when he was a child, when his father still had the luxury of doting on him. It feels so...nice. So sweet. He thinks he might love it.

He hates the idea that he's worried Nyx this much, though, so he sits up a bit more. "Yeah, I'm...I'm good."

"You're not good, Noct." There's a certainty to his voice and when Noct tries to sit up Nyx keeps an arm around him so he is pressed firmly against his shoulder. Fingers stroke gently over his throat again, testing the efficacy of a potion he's personally not familiar with. "You could have died, playing around with something like that."

Noctis shoves down the instinct to protest, instead just letting himself relax in Nyx's grasp again. This time, he doesn't wince at all when Nyx's fingers touch his neck; the marks are still there but fainter, and at worst the skin is a bit sore.

"Yeah...I know." He does now, at least. "But those clover fields were...weird. Everything stopped mattering. It just...didn't occur to me."

Nyx's hand lingers at his neck, petting through his hair and, admittedly, hovering worriedly. He's not used to being scared about something and not having anything he can actually do about it. Nyx is a very physical person, he tackles things in a very hands on way. Just fussing over Noctis (which he's going to do for days now) really doesn't make him feel like he's fixing anything.

"Yeah that's... incredibly dangerous, holy fuck. And whoever you were with just fucking dumped you there." There's a hint of that angry growl in his tone, the irresponsibility of the whole thing is infuriating. It can take hours, days even, for strangulation injuries to fully develop. If Carbuncle hadn't messaged him Noctis could easily have had a belated collapse and just........ stopped breathing.

The thought alone has him pulling Noct close once more, pressing another kiss to his hair. His free hand comes up to tap on the pendant he wears, words muffled and still angry but... clearly the kind of anger that comes from the depth of caring. "You, little shit, shoulda called me the second someone put something around his neck."

Nyx may not feel like he's fixing anything, but his care and his concern matter to Noctis. He knows what it sounds like when someone is angry because they're frightened and worried - every time he and Gladio had a serious fight, it was usually over something exactly like that. And knowing Nyx cares about him this much makes Noctis feel just as safe with Nyx as he did with his Shield.

...where is Gladio now? Is he alive? Is he still out there, waiting for Noctis to return from a Crystal he's already left behind, or is he...no, Noctis refuses to entertain anything else. Of course the guys are all still alive and waiting for him. Nothing else could be true.

"No, it...it wasn't like that." It feels wrong to be defending Ardyn, but he can't deny what happened. How is he going to explain it to Nyx, though? "He, uh...something was trying to take control of him. He knew he would have hurt me if he'd stuck around so...he held it off long enough to get out of there." The very short version, he supposes, but he doubts including any of the detail would really help anyway.

Oh, but all this affection feels so good. So calming and warm. He glances down at the pendant when Nyx taps on it, but instead of materializing, Carbuncle just texts them both.

I'm sorry, Nyx. :( The fairies wanted everyone to play a game that would inspire peaceful interactions, so I thought it would be okay. It was the rope that decided on how to play...

"Don't tell me the fucking fairies are trying to possess people now." Snarled lowly but there's a helpless kind of tension in Nyx's hold on Noctis, enough so that now, talking about it and having the confirmation that Noctis is okay the anger and frustration have him nearly shaking with the need to do something about it.

At least picking his phone up off the coffee table is an action. Something to do with his hands. Then he's rolling his eyes and glancing back towards Noct's necklace. "Yeah, bud, anytime the fairies are involved nothing is okay."

"Can't really say he would have hurt you. He did hurt you. You might've been too out of it to care but you don't fucking do that to someone." He scoffs, squeezing Noct again and trading his phone for the tea. "Not unless you want them dead. It'll help your throat." He holds it in his hand to warm it slightly before pressing it into Noctis' hands.

Noctis wishes he could do something to soothe Nyx's frustration, but he can't think of a thing. Telling him who it was would only make it ten times worse, he's sure.

Carbuncle is too chagrined to reply, so no further texts arrive.

"Yeah...he was affected by the clover, too, though, so I can't really hold a grudge." For this, anyway. He takes the teacup in both hands and sips at the tea. "...oh, that feels really good. Thanks."




	"It's Ulric. Make it good." UN: CuriousCoeurl