( The presence settling beside him is something he’s both used to but at the same time entirely not. In the way that there’s still moments he glances up, catches eyes on him and feels the same skip of a heartbeat that he had a decade ago. But there’s a deep seated comfort now there too, the way the world just clicks into place a little bit more when Gladio is next to him. Something past love and want, something Prompto would be hard pressed to explain but that just exists. Something forged in an endless night, and Prompto knows that every inch of the man he’s become in the space between being the kid who’d watched his best friend get sucked into some magical crystal was completely and fully entwined with every inch of the man Gladio had become. And it’s a thought that’s filtered through his brain more than once, that he honestly doesn’t even know what he’d do without the other now. That he wouldn't even know where to begin to try.
His head falls lightly against Gladio’s shoulder. Drawing strength as he so often did from these quiet moments. In the knowing that even if the world was bound and determined to fall at their feet they still had this , they still had each other.
Another little shrug as he lifts his head, rubs a hand across the back of his neck. ) Just — I don’t know, needed a minute to process it I guess? ( Although really, was there any processing this. Where they had all started, where they were now. Sometimes it felt like a completely different life to him. That dumb kid who had been in way over his head, tagging along for the ride at the insistence of his best friend and dealing with things so much bigger than himself. And had he even the smallest inkling back then of just how things would end up? Well — he would have still done it.
Still though — he longs for something else, something more, for Noct, for all of them. Some cheesy happy ending that if he’s truly honest with himself he’s always known was never coming. Those little doubts during long, sleepless nights where he kind of knew deep down this was how it was always going to end. That Noctis’ destiny was always heading towards this conclusion — something bigger than any of them could have ever wrapped their head around, filled with prophecies and words that seemed so unlike the kid they’d all loved so much back then who slept too much and played to many video games. Maybe that’s what hurts the most, that they’d all only been fooling themselves to have faith in anything but the end they were now staring down. That every moment he had spent cataloguing their lives in the interim, carefully keeping photographs and other memories of the past ten years so that when Noct finally came back to them he would have their lives on record to show was all in vain in the end.
It wasn't fair. A thought he's had countless of times now since the inkling in the back of his mind during his less optimistic moments had become a nightmare of a reality. Noctis deserved so much more. Ignis and Gladio who had given their lives from a young age to their prince deserved more than being told there were things they simply couldn’t protect him from.
He slides a hand down Gladio’s arm, along his hand and then brings his other up, holding the larger hand in both of his. Fingers ghost over his knuckles as he talks. ) I just — I don’t know, wish there was another way you know? It’s not fair, he already gave up ten years, it’s not fair he has to give up — everything
( He pauses, swallows and then shakes his head as he lets it drop. ) And then there’s the whole part of me being a selfish asshole because there’s all that but there’s also that I just — ( Another little pause, his fingers lacing through Gladio’s ) Fuck, Gladio, I just really wanted to marry you. ( And it was so dumb, because Prompto knew it wasn’t something that needed to happen — they were together, he knew they were together and nothing was changing that, he didn't need some ring on his finger to prove that (it was just the idea, the thought of being able to say I belong to him and he belongs to me in every way possible that Prompto has clung to, has let himself get attached to) — and there were clearly more important things to worry about than what he wanted. But it would never feel right, it would never be right, with anything less than the four of them there when it happened. And he felt so selfish to be hung up on it, but maybe, maybe it was just culmination of all of it, wrapped up in one tangible idea. Noct was not back, it was just a short layover to the inevitable and he was going to miss not only his own life, but theirs too. )
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His head falls lightly against Gladio’s shoulder. Drawing strength as he so often did from these quiet moments. In the knowing that even if the world was bound and determined to fall at their feet they still had this , they still had each other.
Another little shrug as he lifts his head, rubs a hand across the back of his neck. ) Just — I don’t know, needed a minute to process it I guess? ( Although really, was there any processing this. Where they had all started, where they were now. Sometimes it felt like a completely different life to him. That dumb kid who had been in way over his head, tagging along for the ride at the insistence of his best friend and dealing with things so much bigger than himself. And had he even the smallest inkling back then of just how things would end up? Well — he would have still done it.
Still though — he longs for something else, something more, for Noct, for all of them. Some cheesy happy ending that if he’s truly honest with himself he’s always known was never coming. Those little doubts during long, sleepless nights where he kind of knew deep down this was how it was always going to end. That Noctis’ destiny was always heading towards this conclusion — something bigger than any of them could have ever wrapped their head around, filled with prophecies and words that seemed so unlike the kid they’d all loved so much back then who slept too much and played to many video games. Maybe that’s what hurts the most, that they’d all only been fooling themselves to have faith in anything but the end they were now staring down. That every moment he had spent cataloguing their lives in the interim, carefully keeping photographs and other memories of the past ten years so that when Noct finally came back to them he would have their lives on record to show was all in vain in the end.
It wasn't fair. A thought he's had countless of times now since the inkling in the back of his mind during his less optimistic moments had become a nightmare of a reality. Noctis deserved so much more. Ignis and Gladio who had given their lives from a young age to their prince deserved more than being told there were things they simply couldn’t protect him from.
He slides a hand down Gladio’s arm, along his hand and then brings his other up, holding the larger hand in both of his. Fingers ghost over his knuckles as he talks. ) I just — I don’t know, wish there was another way you know? It’s not fair, he already gave up ten years, it’s not fair he has to give up — everything
( He pauses, swallows and then shakes his head as he lets it drop. ) And then there’s the whole part of me being a selfish asshole because there’s all that but there’s also that I just — ( Another little pause, his fingers lacing through Gladio’s ) Fuck, Gladio, I just really wanted to marry you. ( And it was so dumb, because Prompto knew it wasn’t something that needed to happen — they were together, he knew they were together and nothing was changing that, he didn't need some ring on his finger to prove that (it was just the idea, the thought of being able to say I belong to him and he belongs to me in every way possible that Prompto has clung to, has let himself get attached to) — and there were clearly more important things to worry about than what he wanted. But it would never feel right, it would never be right, with anything less than the four of them there when it happened. And he felt so selfish to be hung up on it, but maybe, maybe it was just culmination of all of it, wrapped up in one tangible idea. Noct was not back, it was just a short layover to the inevitable and he was going to miss not only his own life, but theirs too. )