Chapter ??: Winding Roads

[nocts]

In these endless days of pain and haunting nights, Noctis wondered how he was so lucky to have Ignis by his side.

Usually, when Noctis complains about getting up early in the morning, it doesn't have a very specific reason except- it's too early for anyone to be up and his soul is still sleeping. His mind is awake but his body sluggish and still craving a nap. Which is why Ignis drives most of the time. Noct likes to fill in the sleeping gap with naps in the car.

Today, however, it is not because he's sleepy that he didn't want to get up. In fact, he was awake for hours now but kept his eyes closed and back turned to the rest of the guys in the tent.

The damn headaches are getting worse and he has no clue what to do about them. There is another painful throb when he hears soft shuffling in the corner of the tent- someone trying to be considerate and let him sleep for another few minutes- and Noctis bit his lip. He needs to put these under control before they interfere with the hunts and battles. The moment he made a complaint about them, it instantly turned Gladio's mood into annoyingly grumpy and Ignis became increasingly worried.

Comments

[nocts]

"I'm fine Specs," he tries to sound annoyed at all this examination but that' just so he can fight the urge to lean into the touch like the cat he denies to be. Ignis' hand is so soft and warm... feels so nice.

"I always ask when I can't, don't I?" he says a bit quieter, only for Ignis to hear. Like this morning, when he really was in a horrible state and head pounding like a war drum.

"I promise not to kiss the lamppost." Cheeky grin.

[coeurdefeu]

Ignis gives him a flat, unimpressed look, complete with a raised right eyebrow.

"If you do, I won't be held responsible for any response you provoke. From Gladio."

And that right there is the direst threat of all. Ignis can lecture, but Gladio gets aggressive. Noct was cruising for a bruising, to put it mildly, if he drove recklessly.

"Come, then. Let's find this poor injured bird. Gladio! Prompto! We're ready!"

[nocts]

"Gladio can--" he wants to add a colorful word here but he catches a look from Gladio and shuts up. With a small smile that's too cheeky.

Noct only jokes like this- there is no chance that he would ever get Regalia crashed beyond repair. The car means a lot to him.

But he just likes to poke fun with Ignis like this.

He nods at his friends as they all pile up in the car, Noct at the wheel this time. He starts the engine and drives out of the gas station and heads toward where Wiz told them the bird might be.

[coeurdefeu]

It's a hot, dusty sort of day as they wind their way around to the parking spot. The shack where they'd rescued Dave Auburnbrie is across the way, and behind it is a hulking mass of rusted metal that used to be a combine harvester. Ignis knew that Liede used to be a thriving farming cooperative....until the war.

"Proceed with caution," he says, as Noctis cuts the engine. "I suspect we may find more than an injured chocobo."

"Yeah, and if we do, we'll be ready for 'em," growled Gladio. Already itching for a fight.

[nocts]

Noctis turns off the car with a click of his tongue, eyeing the surroundings carefully. His head gave a throb as a warning but nothing like this morning so he just ignored it. Right now he's more concerned about Imperial magitek that might drop on their heads from the sky.

"Let's hurry," he says, jumping out of the car. If he were an injured chocobo, where would he be?

"We need to check deeper," he tells Ignis when the advisor gets out of the car. "Animals usually try to hide when they are hurting, right?"

[coeurdefeu]

"Indeed."

He pulled his daggers into his hands, a flash of sparkling blue accompanying the gesture, and saw Prompto and Gladio follow suit out of the corner of his eye. He let Noct take point, his three Crownsguard fanning out behind him.

Around behind the outbuilding, tucked in between a rock face and the remains of the harvester, there was a small, pathetic bundle of yellow feathers. It was chirping piteously, tiny and weak 'kweh!'s that sounded breathy and hollow.

"Ooh, jeez," says Prompto, lowering his gun. "Poor thing! Noct, ya gotta help it!"

[nocts]

Poor thing indeed. Noct feels a bad feeling settle in his stomach when he sees the chocobo curled up like that and hurting. He instantly sprints over to it and crouches, pulling a potion out of the armiger.

"Here you go, buddy."

After using the potion, the bird already looked ten times better and Noctis smiled. He stood up and stepped aside, not wanting to frighten the bird even further.

"Looking better."

The pics, Prom!