ffxv_kinkmeme | Prompt Post

Welcome to Round Two of the FFXV Kink Meme!

CLOSED for prompts | OPEN for fills

Please have a look at the extended rules here.

The important rules in short:

Post anonymously.
Negative comments on other people's prompts (kink-shaming, pairing-bashing etc.) and personal attacks of any kind will not be tolerated.
Don't be an asshole.
One prompt per comment. Warnings for common triggers and squicks are encouraged, but not required.
Prompts should follow the format: Character/character, prompt.
Keep prompts to a reasonable length; prompts should not be detailed story outlines.
Fills should have the word "Fill:" at the start of the subject line.
Otherwise please avoid changing the subject line.

Please direct any questions or report any problems to the Ask a mod post.

Prompt, write, draw, comment, and most importantly have fun!

(You can also check out our Pinboard for Filled or Unfilled prompts)

UPDATE 3/2/2017: Per the Rules thread: Do not hijack prompts. If someone posts a prompt for one pairing, don't comment to say "I want to see this for [other kink]" - post your own prompt for the other kink). To that end, if you are unclear on a prompter's kinks/DNWs, please feel free to ask about them. If you ask about kinks/DNWs or to clarify a prompt, you are in no way obligated to fill it.

Additionally: Do not repost prompts from the previous round in their entirety. By this we mean copying and pasting prompts without any changes. If you see a similar prompt to a prior prompt, that is not a repost. Obviously prompts that are reposted per the above rule do not count either. (After all, they will be similar but not the same.)

ROUND TWO IS NOW CLOSED FOR PROMPTS!

Go ahead and keep on filling away, we will open up round three for prompts at 0000 EST, Saturday April 22, 2017.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From: (Anonymous)

“I see you’ve been utilizing my notes.”

Noct looked up from the curry he was attempting to inhale just in time to see Ardyn saunter over to his worktable. The man had waited three days before checking in on him, which surprised Noct a little—He’d seemed so interested in his abilities before, back at the fountain. He supposed it had something to do with the sewer incident. No one wanted to hang out with a guy who walked home through tunnels full of sludge, especially someone like Ardyn, whose clothes always looked spotless. Just when he’d resigned himself to the thought that Ardyn wouldn’t return, there he was, standing at the entrance to the alcove, watching Noct heal the last of his afternoon patients.

Now, the professor sifted through the papers Noct had splayed out on the tabletop, which were covered in the healer’s own unruly scribbles. Normally, Noct wasn’t a fan of letting anyone near the table, but since Ardyn had written the notes in the first place, he supposed he had a right.

“What’s this?” Ardyn said, squinting at a page. “Left hand only?”

“Oh, yeah,” Noct said, through a mouthful of rice. “That trick you wrote about cupping magic in one hand and threading it through a wound in the other? Only works if the magic is in your left hand.”

Ardyn’s brow furrowed. “Ah, yes. I’d forgotten.”

Noct set down his bowl at the edge of the alcove—Neighborhood kids were paid to run down the walkways to return bowls and cups to food vendors, and the next runner was due soon. He closed the metal gate to the alcove and dropped a curtain down behind it, leaving him and Ardyn in relative privacy.

“Trapping me, are we?” Ardyn asked. Noct rolled his eyes.

“I figured you weren’t just here to watch me work,” he said. “Tea?” He pulled out a paper box and shook it slightly. Ardyn pulled a horrified face.

“If it’s that instant mess, I’d rather not.”

“Should’ve known you were a snob.” Noct pulled out a bag for himself. “So why are you here?”

It turned out that Ardyn had brought yet another book for Noct, this one full of details on the effects of the Scourge on the nervous system. Noct was taken aback by that—He knew there were scientific studies on the Scourge, but books and journals on the subject were supposedly kept under lock and key. He flipped through the book slowly while the kettle boiled.

“You know,” he said, “reading that anatomy book helped. It’s like… if I know what it is I’m treating, what it looks like… it doesn’t take up as much magic.” Ardyn pushed a chair behind Noct, and he sat absently, still skimming. “How do you know so much?”

“It’s all part of my life’s work,” Ardyn said, with a smile. He placed a hand on Noct’s, and Noct found to his surprise that he didn’t want to move away.

Over the course of the next few weeks, a curious change swept through the Citadel. Chancellor Ardyn Izunia, the man meant to sit in on talks between Niflheim and Lucis in the Emperor’s stead, was rumored to have quietly risen from his seat one day, slipped out the door, and disappeared for the remainder of the afternoon. And the next. And the next, until it became clear to both the king of Lucis and the remaining ambassadors of the Empire that the chancellor had vanished. A search party was formed, guards briefed and deployed through the city, but all signs pointed to the possibility that the man had simply… left Insomnia.

The talks, understandably, fell through. Lost without the chancellor’s guidance, the rest of the envoy hemmed and hawed their way through allowing Lucis to take back the occupied province of Galahd. The press began to whisper of an end to the war, and talk of chaos in the ranks of the Niflheim army trickled down into the street gossip of Insomnia.

None of this bothered Noctis too terribly. He spent most of his afternoons healing his neighbors as always, though his clients did note that there seemed to be a companion with him, most days, sitting in the corner of the alcove. Sometimes, he could be seen speaking softly into the healer’s ear, or reading aloud from a book on medicine. Now and then, he would pass him ethers and elixirs, or press the back of a hand to the young man’s brow and smile.

Those who saw the man at the alcove could never agree on what he looked like. It was as though their memory of him faded the further they were from the clinic, until the man’s presence was little more than an itch at the back of their minds.

“Hey, Professor,” Noct said one night, as he and Ardyn were sitting on Noctis’ new (used) couch, drinking tea that wasn’t stored in a bag.

“Oh, dear,” Ardyn murmured. “You only call me that when I’m in trouble.” They were on opposite sides of the couch itself, their legs tangled companionably in the middle. Ardyn’s knees knocked into the healer’s lightly, a friendly tap.

“Not this time,” Noct said. “Mostly. But… what are we, Ardyn?”

Ardyn raised his eyebrows. “Well, my dear boy, you are what we would call a human, or homo-sapien, part of the—“

“No lie, I will pour tea down your pants if you continue that, Professor.”

“How much you love me,” Ardyn crooned, and Noct frowned. The younger man set down his cup of tea and sat on his knees, leaning between Ardyn’s legs. He saw with some amusement that for once, Ardyn looked almost alarmed.

“That’s the thing,” he said. “You’re always calling me dear and dove and ocean of eternal fucking bliss or whatever,”

“Not my exact words—“ Noct placed a hand over his lips.

“And we… It’s been nice. I have friends in the Glaives, people I know here, but you’re the only guy I can talk to who seems to know what it’s like.” He sighed. “Sorry, I’m probably fucking this up.”

Ardyn gently lifted his hand away, and Noct suppressed a shiver at the touch. “I believe I understand your meaning, dear one.”

“See? There you go again,” Noct said. “But do you mean it, or are you just being a—a weird fucking creep who—“

Ardyn tightened his grip on Noct’s wrist and yanked it back. Noct fell over the older man’s chest, and large hands moved to his waist while Ardyn pressed warm lips to Noct’s own. Noct didn’t hesitate—He dug his fingers into Ardyn’s mauve hair and kissed back, open-mouthed and a little sloppy but earnest. He savored the taste of him before he broke free and started kissing down the side of his neck, and grinned at the sound of pleasant surprise that Ardyn made in response.

“Easy,” Ardyn said, petting the back of Noct’s hair. “You don’t want to bite.”

“Do I?” Noct asked, emboldened by Ardyn’s shortened breath. He found a spot just on the side of Ardyn’s neck and bit down. Just a nip, to see what Ardyn would do.

Ardyn hissed and clutched Noct’s shoulders to push him away, but Noct could already taste something in Ardyn’s skin, something strange and bitter and foul. He placed a hand on the older man’s neck and probed with his magic, sending feelers out into Ardyn’s bloodstream.

Ardyn pushed him heavily to the floor, and Noct had to warp in order to avoid the worktable. He rolled on the dusty rug, wincing at the impact of his shoulder on stone, and craned his neck to look up at Ardyn. The professor was scrambling to his feet, looking more undignified than Noct had ever seen him, but it was too late.

“Ardyn,” he said, in a voice that cracked and broke. “You have the Scourge.”

From: (Anonymous)

Oh shit. This is so good! <3

From: (Anonymous)

Oh man. Oh man. I can't wait to read what comes next.

From: (Anonymous)

The healer of Lucis lay on the floor of his clinic, the skin of his knuckles cracking as he pushed himself to his knees. His long, dark red hair fell from its messy bun and pooled about his shoulders, and his lips were parted in breathless shock.

"How..." He fumbled for the edge of his worktable. "How are you still alive?"

It was like watching a door close behind Ardyn's eyes. The man's expression went blank, and there was a finality in the way he straightened, in the line of his shoulders and the shift of his feet. Yet now that Noct knew what to look for, he could feel the Scourge in Ardyn's flesh, thick and heavy in his veins, his sinew, in the very cells of his skin. It pushed outward, and for a terrifying moment Noct felt it seeking him, like a creature from the dark questing for prey. He held tight to the tabletop, not quite daring to rise.

"Such a shame," Ardyn said, and his voice took on that sing-song tone he'd used when he first met Noctis months ago: Impersonal, mocking, and faintly cold. Noct levered himself to his feet and took a step forward.

"Ardyn," he said, pressing down panic with every word. "We don't have much time. Please." He called magic to his palms, letting it pool in his fingers, and the glow it cast made the blood behind Ardyn's skin go shadowy and grey.

"Time," Ardyn said, backing away from Noct's approach, "is the one thing I have always been guaranteed." He tipped his hat to Noct, and the smile he gave him was wolfish and grim. "Your highness."

Noct tensed.

Then there was a great suctioning of air, a crack loud enough to rattle the metal grille at the entrance of the alcove, and Ardyn was gone.

Voices called out overhead, muffled and faint.

Noct stayed where he was, rocking slightly on his feet, hands bright with his healing magic. The sudden absence of the Scourge that burned through Ardyn left Noct reeling and unsettled, like someone who just ran a marathon only to find himself thrown into the open air. His breath sounded too loud and grating in his ears, louder even than the clack of the grille being opened and the rustle of curtains being drawn aside. Then there were hands on his shoulders, a voice in his ear, and Noct dropped to his knees and retched onto his only nice rug.

"Shit, Noct. Nox, sorry." He knew that voice. Nyx, a member of the Kingsglaive and owner of the only clean shower on the block. Noct leaned into the warmth of the older man's hand on his forehead, and let the magic sink back into his skin.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't talk like that," Nyx said. "What happened, kid? You never get sick. Bad for business and all."

"It's Ardyn," Noct said. "Did you see--" He looked up. "How did he..."

"There's no one here but you," Nyx said. "Hey, Lib, we might need a code green on this one!"

Noct shook his head, struggling to stand. He knew what code green meant: Ignis, Noct's former advisor and current interfering, all-seeing guardian, had a rule that if Noct got in over his head, he or Gladio were to be contacted immediately. It always led to awkwardness, reminders of a duty long abandoned but not forgotten, the weight of a crown that still pressed upon his brow like a phantom pain.

"Don't bother," he told Nyx. "I know what I need to do. Just. There might be a situation."

Nyx frowned. "I don't like the sound of that. What kind of situation?"

"The Scourge." Noct pushed out of the Glaive's hold and tottered for the exit. "When he dies, if his body is exposed..." He closed his eyes. He didn't want to think of Ardyn dead, slowly disappearing in the way of Scourge victims in Insomnia, his bones shifting and changing even as they melted into the street under the city's reinforced daemon lights. "There might be an epidemic."

The silence that followed this was leaden indeed.

"Fuck code green," Nyx said. "This needs to go to the King."

"Not yet," Noct told him. "I can stop it. I just need to find him. But if I can't... I'll find him anyways. We'll need to set up a quarantine, raid stores for ethers so I can start healing the infected." He lifted the grille at the entrance and looked back. "Can you make sure the Glaives are ready, just in case?"

Nyx inclined his head. Noct hoped this meant that he wouldn't go running to his father, but at this point, he wasn't so sure that involving the king was such a bad idea. Noct already felt overwhelmed, his chest tight with fear, stomach rocking as he moved.

He couldn't dwell on how or why Ardyn managed to disappear on the spot: Did he have magic? A pre-made spell flask? But Noct would have seen the fragments, and only the line of Lucis or the Oracle possessed magic.

He remembered something Ardyn had said, in the beginning. He'd spoken of the line of Lucis, the possibility that the line had branched off, carrying that healing magic with it...

And Ardyn had called Noct highness.

Noct placed a hand on the wall outside his alcove and took a breath. He wasn't sure if this would work: It had done its job when he tried it in the fountain. He just had to think of this as... a bigger fountain. A much bigger one.

"Right," he said, and called his magic forth once again.

It spread out from his fingertips, a great, invisible aura, searching for spots of sickness and disease. He found it: A whooping cough a few blocks down. A rash, a cold, the constant ache of chronic pain. Not the Scourge, not yet.

He pushed farther. Bits of the Scourge appeared in his awareness, seeds of it blooming in unknowing hosts, but none of them strong as what moved in Ardyn. He took a few shaking steps, trying to drag his magic with him, and fell into the side of the wall as he felt the faintest sinking hooks of Ardyn's corrupted flesh.

He could sense my magic, he thought, and rapidly drew the pool of his awareness back into his hands. It left him dizzy for a minute, and he had to rest his forehead against the wall, but when he finally pushed away, he knew.

He knew where Ardyn had gone.

From: (Anonymous)

Oooh this part was so good. I can't wait to see what happens next!

From: (Anonymous)

Enjoyed this. Poor Noct though! He has no idea what he's gotten into.

From: (Anonymous)

Ardyn was familiar with the bitter sting of his own mistakes. He could still feel the ache of the first: Lying in a cold sweat in his rooms at the palace, hand gripped hard round the icy fingers of Shiva, begging for an ending.

Please, He'd wept, speaking through the inhuman snarls of the daemons threatening to consume him. I've done all you asked of me. Please, gods, let me rest.

And Shiva had looked upon him with her white, clear eyes, and said nothing.

Then, wretched and broken with the pain of being denied even the hope of death, Ardyn had run to his closest friend, his brother, the man who had watched him heal over the years with an awe that verged on hunger, and found him seated on the throne.

He should never have listened to the gods in the first place. He should have done what Noctis tried to do--run off, duty be damned, and let the world fall to the Scourge if it so wanted. It was what the Astrals deserved.

And so Ardyn had taken an interest in this second fallen son of Lucis, the man with the delicate touch and a bashful inelegance hidden beneath a mask of surly indifference. It had been so long since he'd felt the effects of uncorrupted healing magic that it almost quelled the daemons that lay within his blood. He could think clearly in the light of Noctis' magic, could draw back, back through the endless years to the man who had once bowed to the Astrals and thought himself blessed.

Again, it had been a mistake. Noctis' power was growing too strong: He should have seen it coming. The Scourge in his veins was too potent to remain undetected, and Noctis, for all his strengths, had too soft a heart.

The trunk of Ardyn's car held little more than a travel bag--Ardyn was not one who ever found himself wanting, when he could pinch the fabric of time and bend susceptible minds to his will. He locked the trunk securely and made his way to the front of the car. It would be easy to convince the Emperor that he was still loyal to the Empire (such as it was--a weak, trembling echo of the glory that had been the world before the Scourge). Their plans to overthrow Insomnia could go forward, and Ardyn would find a way to push the errant prince towards his duty as the chosen king. Noctis would become the sword that gave Ardyn what the Astrals had denied him, and Ardyn would not think of the warmth of his touch, or thehis self-deprecating wit, the careless way he drained his magic time after time for a pittance.

He would not make the same mistake again.

Beside him, the passenger's side door creaked open.

"Ardyn."

---------

Noctis clung to the door frame of Ardyn's hideous car, trying to hold in the nausea that had rocked him ever since he came within two blocks of the man.

If he is a man, he thought. He turned to Ardyn, who was gripping the steering wheel as though it were liable to fly loose, and tried to pull in his magical awareness.

"You can't," Ardyn growled. Noct winced as the car wheeled down a dirt road. "It's too late, dear prince. You unplugged the dam of your magic, now you live with the consequences."

"How do you..." Noct groaned and doubled over. Talking was not an option right now.

He wasn't sure how much longer he'd be alive to talk.

Noct had barely managed to get a word in to Ardyn before the man had, almost instinctively, slammed a foot on the gas and threw Noctis back into the leather seat. Noct had to close the car door on the road, and was dismayed to find that as they approached the unused exit from the city, Ardyn showed no sign of stopping.

"The wall," Noct shouted, to the silent, grim-faced madman at the wheel. "We'll hit the wall!"

Except... They hadn't. When Ardyn's car swerved through the gates, the wall opened for them, an empty space spreading out like fire on parchment, and they emerged into an oppressive heat and a cloud of dust that Noct was still scraping from his eyes.

Finally, after what felt like an hour of breathless, terrifying rattling, Ardyn brought the car to a sudden, screeching halt.

"Get out," he said, turning to Noctis.

Noct quavered against the door. "Wh-what?"

"Get out." Noctis curled his fingers around the edge of the seat, and Ardyn made a noise somewhere between a tch and a growl. "You want to be a selfless hero, your highness?" Ardyn's voice was thick with disgust. "Then start walking. The Disc of Cauthess is twenty miles north of here: I'm sure your ancestors' dear friend the Archaean will have plenty to tell. And when a dualhorn or an Iron Giant, or gods, even a hunter, takes the last breath from your body on the way, you'll know where useless sentimentality gets you."

"I just want to..." Noct held onto the door with one hand, the seat with another, as though Ardyn were about to eject him bodily from the nightmare car. "You're sick, Ardyn. You're going to throw me into the desert because I don't want you to die? And how the hell do you know I'm the--"

"Please," Ardyn said. "It was hardly a secret."

Noct had to concede that point, at least.

Ardyn set the car to park and turned off the ignition. "Noctis," he said. "Dear, foolish Noctis. You and I have two vastly different goals in mind."

"Whatever. Just let me try." Noct released the door and leaned forward. Ardyn grimaced and pulled away. "You don't think I can do it?"

"My dove," Ardyn said, with none of the fondness he'd infused in the words only hours before. "I know you can't."

"Then let me find out for myself," Noct said. He crawled across the seat, almost into Ardyn's lap. "If I fuck up, you can leave me here. Just..." He placed a hand on Ardyn's cheek, cupping his face in his palm. "Let me--"

Ardyn bared his teeth in a pained grin, and the hollows of his eyes grew dark with the viscous ooze of the Scourge. It crawled down his cheeks, dripping between Noctis' fingers, staining his nails black.

"Very well," Ardyn said, and Noct felt a cold hand at his neck, pressing painfully down on his throat. "You are certainly welcome to try."

From: (Anonymous)

Not op, but I wanted to say thank you for this update! This au is amazing, and I look forward to every new installment! After this last one, I'm so worrieeddddddd...

From: (Anonymous)

Not OP - this is amazing, can't wait to see what happens <3 Your Ardyn is spot on!

From: (Anonymous)

lol I am OP. This is so amazing and I can feel the tension I can't wait to see what happens next.

From: (Anonymous)

not OP but I love you for this, it's great, and the chemistry between them is everything

I'm enjoying this so much I just T__T

From: (Anonymous)

Thank you!

(And I lost the bookmark for this fic and haven't been able to find it until you commented! It'll be updated soon now that I have it again)

From: (Anonymous)

Sweat dripped down Noctis' face, falling onto the Scourge-stained cheeks of the man beneath him. Ardyn lay back in his seat and breathed hard through his nose. His eyes were squinted shut against what harsh sunlight slipped around Noct's slender form, and the pain of the attempted healing poured like fire through his skin. The ooze of the astral plague ran with salt, with tears, with the hot breath of the chosen prince. Noct's hands were thick with the stuff, and his fingers slipped as he tried to gain purchase on Ardyn's skin.

With his luck, the poor man would find himself infected, and then the Astrals truly would be lost, wouldn't they? Ardyn almost longed for it. Two failed chosen ones in a row? What on Eos would those dear gods do, then?

"It's ok," Noct whispered. His left knee buckled, and he landed heavily on Ardyn's waist, straddling him. "It's ok, you'll be fine."

Bless, the fool thought he was the one in need of comfort? Ardyn risked opening his eyes and shifted his hand from the base of Noct's throat to the back of his head. Noct was trembling, and his skin was clammy and too cool for the desert air. He was, Ardyn realized with disgust, drawing from his own life-force to continue. Ardyn squeezed, hard, and Noct lost concentration. The glow of his hands faded, and his arms began to shake.

"Give me another chance," he whispered, half delirious with stasis-exhaustion and what looked like dehydration. "I felt it change. Please, Ardyn, please don't..." His arms gave way, and Ardyn held him as Noct collapsed, utterly spent.

"Please," he said. "Let me try again."

Ardyn ran a hand through Noct's hair, giving himself time to think. It's true, he felt... marginally changed. Emptier. Less whole. The rage that boiled under the surface of his cheerful facade was sated, if only temporarily, despite the waves of pain that racked his limbs. If Noctis could do this, then he would be defying all Ardyn had set in place over the past two thousand years. He'd be defying prophecy. The gods.

Ardyn found he rather liked that concept.

"Very well," he said, and Noct nearly wept with relief. Ardyn raised the cloth hood of his beloved car and maneuvered the both of them so that Noct lay on the front seat instead. Ardyn climbed over him and reached into his armiger for a canteen--It was six hundred years old, but provisions never went stale when Lucian magic was involved.

"Open, my sweet," Ardyn murmured, and pressed a thumb to Noct's lower lip. Noct took some time meeting his gaze, and his lips parted slowly.

"I was never... your sweet anything," he said, and Ardyn sighed. He uncapped the canteen and held it to Noct's lips, urging him to swallow. Water ran down the prince's chin and soaked the front of his shirt.

"You could have been," Ardyn conceded. "In a different time. You know, water tastes better when you drink it. A highly unorthodox hypothesis, true, but it's worth testing."

"Asshole," Noct gasped, but there wasn't any vitriol behind it. When Ardyn held the canteen for him again, Noct dutifully swallowed. After a moment, he started to choke and shudder, and Ardyn withdrew.

Some of the fog was out of Noct's vision, but his magic was still fully drained. He lifted a hand towards Ardyn. Ardyn took it, running his mouth along Noct's blackened nails, and the healer-prince shivered.

"I was like you, once," Ardyn said, speaking around Noct's fingertips. "Young. Naïve. I believed I could heal the ills of this star with a bit of luck and a dash of Astral intervention."

"Don't need the Astrals," Noct whispered. "Just time."

"Ah, a starry-eyed blasphemer. How rare." Ardyn lowered Noct's hand, but didn't let go. "I should have discovered you years ago, dear Noctis."

"Yeah," Noct said. "Kiss me?"

Ardyn obliged--might as well, if the man insisted on killing himself just to lessen the weight of the Scourge by an ounce--and Noct deepened the kiss. As he did, Ardyn felt a spark of healing magic leap between them, and he drew back with a hiss.

Noct laughed weakly, and the only thing that stopped Ardyn from throttling him then and there was the damage he would do to the upholstery.

"One more time," Noct said. "And I'll get it right."

Ardyn patted his cheek idly, then heaved the young man onto the passenger's seat. It took some work, but Noct was eventually settled, fast asleep, with his head lolling over the armrest.

"Well," Ardyn said, swallowing down the bitter taste of Noctis' magic. "If we are to suffer, I at least shall suffer in style."

And so Ardyn turned on the ignition, spun the car carefully round the wide, dusty road, and set his sights toward the sea, and the soft, warm beds of Galdin Quay.

From: (Anonymous)

Not op, but this anon is so happy to see this fic continuing! I've been checking back every little while, and here it is! Thanks for making this anon's day :)

From: (Anonymous)

Let's try again," Noct said, when Ardyn was left keening with pain in one of the plush seats of their hotel room at Galdin Quay. The ocean beyond their balcony was speckled with light from the daemon wards of the venue outside, and two musicians on the beach were strumming guitars for a small crowd of restaurant patrons. Ardyn and Noct's breaths were harsh in their room, setting an erratic rhythm against the simple tune. Ardyn grabbed Noct by the hair, and Noct could feel sharp nails lengthening, digging into his skin.

"Again," he said, as he was shoved into a bookcase a few hours later, landing with a crash that shook travel guides onto the floor. Ardyn had collapsed against a chair, hands shaking, tears running black.

"Again," he said, taking Ardyn's hand in a too-tight grip when they emerged into the dining area for a breakfast that Ardyn didn't need and Noct couldn't stomach.

"Again," he said, when Ardyn lay gasping and clear-headed for the first time in nearly two thousand years. Noct had eradicated the Scourge from his central nervous system first, making the slow effort of strengthening tissue and marrow as his magic blazed through Ardyn like a searing fire. Ardyn looked up at him, pale and thin, red hair darkened with sweat, and found he could finally feel the distinct shape of himself amid the maelstrom of the Scourge.

It was the worst pain he'd felt in nearly a millennia.

Noct crawled to the shower and lay under the cool spray for an hour. Ardyn dragged him out in the end, dried him with hands that no longer felt as sure and steady as he knew them to be, and guided him to his feet.

"Who did this to you?" Noct breathed, as Ardyn lay him down in the bed that wasn't sour with sweat. His gaze was feverish and wild, and he shivered under layers of cotton and fleece. Unthinking, Ardyn ran a hand over his forehead, and something tugged loose in his mind. His fingers shone for the span of a breath, bright with the light of a magic denied to him with the consumption of the Scourge, the fulfillment of his destiny.

"That wasn't me," Noct said. His eyes were clear again, focused, and his body no longer shook with an unseasonable chill. "Ardyn, that wasn't--"

"Perhaps," Ardyn said, in a voice that shook in a way it had no right to, "We should... take a short reprieve."

By the time the sun set, Noctis was pacing the room like a disgruntled cat. It was almost adorable, really, watching a young face try to take on centuries of hurt in the space of a few hours. Noct didn't seem to know whether to be furious, mournful, or disbelieving, and was swinging wildly between each one as Ardyn looked on.

"They wouldn't let you die?" he asked, after a moment of wearing a hole into the carpet. Ardyn shrugged a shoulder. "But the Astrals told you to do it, right? Why couldn't they... Why didn't they have a plan?"

"They aren't true gods, you know," Ardyn said, taking pity on the man. "No one said they knew what they were doing."

"They used you," Noct said.

"Granted." Ardyn crossed his legs. It was remarkable how, the angrier Noct became on his behalf, the more nonchalant he felt. A side effect of the healings, perhaps? Or was it simply the pleasure of watching years of pro-Astral conditioning be stripped away at once?

"No one mentioned this at the Citadel," Noct said. "They think being a healer is a curse, a, a bad omen. Is that 'cause of you, or...?"

Ardyn smiled.

"Oh my gods," Noct said. "I don't think I can deal with this, Professor." He grimaced. "Ardyn. Shit, this is weird."

"Go to bed, Noctis," Ardyn drawled. "It will all look much worse in the morning."

"Thanks for that," Noct said. He paused. "Wait. I can heal. Was that why I'm the chosen one? Why I was picked by the crystal? To end up like--"

"Me?" Ardyn asked, cheerily. "No. You were meant for another fate. Go to bed, your highness."

"That a direct order, your majesty?"

"Oh, I haven't been called that in a very long time indeed." Ardyn leaned back in his chair. "I could stand to hear it again."

It took some time for Noct to calm down enough to sleep, but when he did, he pulled Ardyn down with him. Ardyn insisted that he did not, as such, require sleep, but as Noct tugged him down into the soft mattresses, a new, strange sort of fog crept over Ardyn's mind. He panicked, struggling to claw his way out of the haze. But Noct's arm was over his chest, bony fingers at his neck, and Ardyn fell, helplessly, into the first real, dreamless sleep since the collapse of his mortal life.

From: (Anonymous)

not OP,, but OMG THANK YOU for update part 7 and 8 almost in the same day,,
*cry in happiness*
now since Ardyn already told Noct about who he was, i wonder if Ardyn will also tell him about you-are-the-one-who-will-kill-me fate,,,

From: (Anonymous)

A!A Ohhhh we'll see! >:3 And I'm glad you like it so far!

From: (Anonymous)

Not the OP either but I just read all 8 parts in one sitting! This is so well written I love it and just the whole dynamic that Ardyn knows exactly how Noctis must feel being a healer.

From: (Anonymous)

Oh gosh! That's a lot all at once! Thank you for reading through it.

From: (Anonymous)

This has been amazing oh my god I will give you 10 goats for the next chapter alone ♥♥♥
(Seriously I read this in one sitting, effectively forgetting I was brewing coffee which managed to burn up but idgaf because it was totally worth it)
beyond words how good it is just ♥♥♥

From: (Anonymous)

Ten whole goats? Sign me up!

Oh man, thank you, and I'm sorry it led to your coffee burning! This next chapter is a bit of an interlude, but the plot will return soon after!

From: (Anonymous)

This part is a bit of a small interlude before we get down to the real fun. :)

----------

Ardyn woke to pain.

This was such an unusual experience in and of itself--Beyond Noct's ever so delightful attempts at healing, Ardyn hadn't felt so much as a chill since the age of thirty-five--that he took a minute simply to examine it, to pick apart each twinge and shiver of flesh. There was a tightening at his skin--warmth? Surely not. Then there was an ache in his hips and lower back, and a gnawing, twisting fire in his abdomen that moved through him as though alive, tearing at his insides with a pain just short of exquisite.

His stomach growled. Oh.

"Toast in the fridge," Noct mumbled. He had an arm slung over Ardyn's chest, and his fingers ran through the tips of his hair. Ardyn felt another pain, a tension just over his lungs, and rolled the young man off.

Then he tried the toast. It was cold, covered in syrup and no longer as crisp as it had been the day before, but Ardyn was used to forcing down elaborate dinners at Niflheim state affairs that felt of ash and paper against a tongue no longer suited for taste.

His senses were still dulled, but the sweetness was almost overwhelming. Ardyn had to take his time, and when he was done, Noct had risen in a tangle of sheets and disheveled hair to watch him.

"You look dreadful," Ardyn said, and Noct grinned.

"Yeah. I'll order more. It's gonna be a long day."

Ardyn felt a shiver run up his arms, and nodded. "Oh, I expect it will."

The tickling over his skin started to bother him by midday, when Noct was finally ready to start another round of healing. He shed his jacket and rolled back his sleeves, and when Noct touched him, he could feel the pressure of his fingers.

He wondered if, as he was now, he would be able to tell what Noct tasted like.

By evening, most of Ardyn's bloodstream had been cleansed, and Noct could barely stand. Again, Ardyn touched him, careful and light, and felt the well of power straining through the weakened sludge of the Scourge, bringing light to his hands.

"You're getting better at this," Noct said. He smirked. "For a dinosaur."

"Excuse me?" Ardyn's hand slid down to the side of the younger man's neck.

"Sorry. Old man? Great-great to the hundredth--" Noct cackled as he was shoved back, and hooked his fingers in the lapels of Ardyn's shirt, dragging him along for half a step. Ardyn felt warmth on his palm when he held Noct's hip, and that tension in his chest spiked again.

When Noct surged up to kiss him, Ardyn was disappointed to find he didn't taste much of anything. Well. Maybe next time. He opened his mouth to him, pressed Noct down on the bed, shifted his knee to push his legs open.

He knew how this went, but he'd never felt it so keenly before. Every touch was new, every shift of skin and pulse of blood a heady sensation that threatened to topple Ardyn over the edge of reason. Noct was smiling through it, teasing and too gentle, and when Ardyn pulled at the roots of his hair the cry of pleasure he made was enough. Ardyn gave himself over to it, to him, and forgot, just for a while, the inevitable pain of living.

From: (Anonymous)

Whoops, forgot to add that it was part 9. My bad!

From: (Anonymous)

just woke up and yesss, part 9

From: (Anonymous)

Ahhh I love the idea of Ardyn rediscovering himself from the smalledt things, remembering how touch and taste feels...
Got me even more exited to see where this goes ;) *gives goats over full of gratitude*

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

Page Summary

(Anonymous) - Fill: 4/? Re: Noctis is the Healer of Lucis (Ardyn/Noctis)

Style Credit

Style: Neutral Good for Practicality by timeasmymeasure

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Jun. 26th, 2025 04:14 am