hardbargain | (no subject)

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."

Noctis can do something to soothe Nyx. He is doing something. Letting Nyx fuss and hold him and kiss his hair, his cheek, nuzzle into his shoulder almost like a big cat aggressively scent marking their mate. It as much soothing as he can get. The fact that Noctis hasn't said who it was yet makes Nyx thing he doesn't even know the guy either. Not too surprising with how new Noctis is to the simulation.

"There's stew too but make sure you can swallow that alright before you try something heavier."

Noctis would be glad to know that just being here with Nyx and letting him take care of him was helping, although it's helping Noctis too, enough that he wouldn't want Nyx to stop anyway.

...except maybe this part. "What, come on, I can eat stew. I'm hungry and it smells so good."

"Shoulda thought about that before you gave me a godsdamned heart attack." A huffy complaint that's not really genuine, just griping about something that wasn't really Noct's fault because he doesn't like being scared, dammit.

"You don't... have any clue who this guy was, do you?" He's resigned himself to it but he can't help asking. Maybe with a decent description, Nyx can figure it out? "And what'd it mean by the rope that decided on how to play?"

"Maybe then you can have some stew." Okay now he's just being an ass.

"Pfff," is Noctis' only response to that griping.

Ah, yeah, that's the question Noctis was hoping Nyx wouldn't ask. Because he can't just lie. Even if he were any good at it, which he isn't, it wouldn't be right. Nyx deserves so much more than that. But at least he can answer the second question first.

"The rope had fairy magic, it was enchanted to do things on its own. So when I didn't answer a question straightforwardly enough, it..." He gestures slightly toward his throat.

"As for who it was..." He sighs. "It...was Ardyn. I know, I know, but the clover had us both acting weird and...for once, it wasn't his fault. Like I said, he actually protected me."

Okay. Okay that's... not better but means he doesn't have to hunt down some asshole to murder them for damn near strangling his king. Fucking fairies, troublesome little shits.

And what's worse? He knows the clover was weird. He noticed it immediately. That's why he was so quick to grab Noctis and run. Not that it matters because he hardly hears anything Noctis says past that name.

Nyx tenses instantly, the hand on Noct's hair pulling him in harder, what had been soft kisses to his temple abruptly shifting as Nyx bares his teeth. His other arm curls tighter around Noctis, fingers sliding up under his shirt a little so he can dig his fingers into warm flesh as though he needs to feel him to reassure himself that he's still here and okay.

"What?" It's low and soft, disbelieving and horrified and there's a shaky hint of desperation in that one word as though he's genuinely hoping he's somehow misunderstood. That Noctis will say he misheard or it's a stupid joke or-

anything but that monster putting his hands on Noctis and this fucking place and the godsforsaken fairies forcing his king into allowing him to-

"Protected you?" He finally echoes back, volume gradually rising from horror-stricken to outrage. "Protected you?!?! From what? From himself? What he didn't fucking kill you so that makes it okay!? HE COULD HAVE!"

Noctis knew Nyx wouldn't take it well. Obviously. Still, the intensity of his reaction is a little overwhelming. The only thing that keeps Noct from flashing back too hard to Gladio on the train is the fact that Nyx is holding him closer, not pushing him away.

"I KNOW!" Oh, he shouldn't have yelled. A brief coughing fit interrupts him, and he stops to drink several long sips from the teacup. Better.

"...I know," he says, much more quietly but with no less force behind it. "You really think I don't know that? ...just...let me start from the beginning, okay?"

Noctis snaps and Nyx just pulls him more fully into his lap, the hand in his hair starts smoothing over those soft raven dark locks. He wants to soothe him more, especially with how much that coughing fit must hurt but he can't imagine how hard this must be for Noctis. He wants to know. Needs to know what happened and what he needs to punish Ardyn for but he doesn't want to force Noctis to relive something so horrific either.

"Shhhh.... I'm sorry." Murmured weakly into his hair. What sort of glaive is he if he's allowed something like this to happen when he's the only defense Noctis has here? He should never have left Noct alone. Which is impractical and he knows that but how can he not blame himself after this?

If Noctis weren't so tired and drained, he'd probably have pushed himself away from Nyx by now just to clear his head. He's really not used to this. Sure, Ignis fussed over him a lot, but it wasn't like this, soft and affectionate and...loving.

As it is, he stays right here in Nyx's arms and lets those soothing gestures calm him down a bit, taking a breath and letting it out. "I didn't even know fairies existed until I wandered into that field. Thought they were moogles or something at first. You must've felt it, right? Everything felt distant and unimportant except staying there and having fun. So they gave me a weird hat and I played with them for a while, just dumb shit like dancing and running around. Got tired, took a nap under a tree. ...Ardyn woke me up. He had the magic rope the fairies gave him, and I guess that and the hat were enchanted so I'd want him to chase me around and he'd want to catch me."

He pauses for a sip or two of tea, realizing how incredibly stupid this story sounds. "Turns out he can warp, too, and...honestly, it really was fun, warping around the forest just for its own sake. But uh, doing it tires me out faster than it does him, so he caught me. All he did was toss the rope like a lasso and it...did its thing by itself, but that was just wrapping around me normally."

His brow furrows as he remembers the next part - the first unexpected behavior out of the chancellor. "We were mid-warp when he did it, so I fell, and he...used some kind of shadow power to land first and catch me. He was...weirdly gentle about it. That was twice already that he easily had the opportunity to hurt me and didn't. Uh...that's where it starts getting..." Man, what word can he use here that doesn't sound either worse than it is or totally juvenile?

"...sexy. But it wasn't anything I didn't agree to." He pauses there with that preface, just to see if Nyx has anything to say yet.

Cat and mouse. As though that fucker hadn't already been playing that game for a long time. He has to check himself immediately there, breathing in Noct's scent, letting his steady voice and the proof that he is safe now at least. That's not fair. Noctis had told him that much. No matter how easy it would be to lay everything at the feet of the ~Imperial Chancellor~ it's so so so much more complicated than that. Millennia worth of complications.

honestly, it really was fun, warping around the forest

The worst part is, Nyx knows that. How many times did he and Pel slip away from camp when they were out in the field to just chase each other through the rocky terrain, crashing into each other and skittering away again. Predator and prey. Sometimes Crowe or Libertus would come with them, sometimes others. Almost every time it would end up with him and Pelna pressed in against some rocky cliff face, adrenaline pumping as they devoured each other. One particularly memorable time Pel caught Libs first and by the time he found them Libertus was already snarling impatiently, fingers twisted in Pelna's dark curls.

It's so easy to see how things escalated from something cute and fun and stupid into something charged. The stupid faeries influence only making it that much easier to have rational thought drift away. "You weren't in any position to be consenting to shit." He murmurs but there's a grudging huff in his voice. How different is that from carting Noct off to blow him as soon as he found him? The cake wasn't that strong an influence, he could have put him somewhere safe and denied him until he came to his senses.

It is only a protest, though. Not a demand to stop or a denial of the validity of anything Noct's said so far. He doesn't follow up on it just lets the boy carry on while he pets him and keeps him close and tries to tell himself Noctis is okay.

"Maybe, but if that's the case, then neither was he." Noctis shrugs, not sure how else to address that question. "He was so...different. Playful, even kind of silly. And...he never really took charge. He asked me what I wanted to do, and I didn't know, so he suggested...uh, y'know, more rope stuff. The - the fun kind." His face flushes slightly.

"But the rope had this other enchantment, where if I wasn't totally honest answering a question, it would get more, uh...restrictive. All he asked me was if I was interested. He did that the whole time, kept...putting the decisions in my hands. Like he was going out of his way not to--well, be himself about it." Noctis thinks back to the way Ardyn had seemed almost awkward when he asked. He has no idea what to make of it.

"I probably should've just said yes, because I was. It might be selfish and crazy, but it felt...really good to just do what I wanted without constantly worrying about the consequences for the whole damn world for once. And...I did want to do it. It was pretty hot." He sighs. "Anyway, instead of just answering the question I stalled for time so I could escape with my dagger and...I dunno, get chased again maybe, and the rope took that as 'dishonesty' and made itself pretty inescapable." He's not sure how much detail exactly Nyx wants, here. "In a...pleasurable but precarious way."

He takes another sip of tea. "That's when he told me if I wanted to stop, he'd let me go right then. Phrased it that way so it wouldn't be a question, I think. But I didn't want to stop. He asked permission to use my dagger to, uh, undress me, and since little stuff like that fixes itself, I went for it. And he said he wouldn't use it on me unless I wanted him to, and I said no, and he stuck to that. He even - the position wasn't great for my back, and he noticed and adjusted it to be easier. It's kind of insane, how...considerate he was."

Everything thus far has been embarrassing enough to talk about, but the rest is only more so. But he has to explain everything to Nyx, so he keeps going. "Mostly after that it was just...y'know, touching and teasing and getting me all riled up. Himself, too." He doesn't think he needs to mention that he found out about a few things he apparently really likes in bed.

"When it was close to the end, he asked me how I wanted to end it, but uh...I couldn't really think of anything," or at all, really, "so I left it to him, and he actually made it...pretty nice."

"Then, uh...he finished first, and apparently letting go like that makes it a lot easier for the Scourge to take him over. But he fought it so he could help me finish, too, and he...he was kissing me when it started to win, and he practically threw himself away from me and used some kind of power to force himself unconscious. So he wouldn't hurt me. His DTF and Carbuncle got me out of there, and then I just...put as much distance between us as I could before I passed out, too."

Oh but it grates against him to hear Noctis talking about Ardyn like this. Like he's just some normal guy, or at least has the capacity to be. It's one thing to know, distantly, intellectually, that he was a victim once too, that all of this is fucked up destiny decided by one twisted deity. But to talk about him like he's less than the face of everything that has weighed on them all over the years... Is it fair? probably not. But it doesn't make it any easier to let go of how much hatred he has.

As much as so many of the others had laid everything at Regis' feet, Drautos especially, Nyx has spent his life getting by doing the opposite. The Empire was responsible for all of it and in the end, though the orders had certainly come from the Emperor himself the man was old and frail and weak. It was his highest commanders that carried out those orders and enforced them. Chancellor Izunia had so often been seen as his right hand, long before he'd come to deliver the demands of the peace treaty even if he hadn't had a face to put to the name.

He didn't want to feel any sympathy for him, to see him as human as others. As the Captain. It was hard enough knowing so many people that had done horrific things so well... and that's without realizing what they were capable of. To offer that kind of understanding and sympathy knowing full well what the man is? What he's done? Laying themselves out on a silver platter to be stabbed in the back again?

Noctis keeps talking and it all sounds so normal. Fucking reasonable, even, given the shit that happens here and he can't stand it. He wants to argue that Ardyn was just manipulating him into letting his guard down but Nyx felt how that field impacted him with only half a step into it. Amani doesn't let people have that sort of autonomy when it starts pulling its tricks.

He's honestly not sure exactly how much of Noctis' recounting he really parses right now, much of it simply filed away to think about later when he doesn't have a delicate young man in his arms. By the time he's finished Nyx is hunched over, his forehead resting on Noctis' shoulder, his mind reeling with more information than he wants, too many uncomfortable things to think about. Noctis genuinely thinking the bastard is attractive foremost among them.

He lets out a slow, shuddering breath, sifting through all of it to find something he can latch onto that isn't.... more humanizing when it's so much easier to just hate.

"What do you mean take him over? It's... a disease." Gods he's seen so many people suffer it, seen more than a few Glaives fall to it even. "He's just... a carrier for it instead of dying to it. Isn't that what you said?"

A practical concern. Information he can justify as safety precautions. Something separate from the more pressing and horrible personal implications of it all.




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