FFXV: After the Fall

Chapter 18

   "So what's the plan?" Noctis asked Nyx as they all strode up to the castle again at about six in the evening.
   "Standard divert and conquer." He said with a smile. "I've been waitin' to see the look on his face. I'll catch ya later." He then warped completely out of sight, causing Prompto to stop walking and look around the nearby area for a few seconds.
   "...where's he gone?" He asked. "And how can he do that?"
   "Beats me." Noctis smiled.
   "He seems a little rough around the edges." Ignis said.
Gladiolus chuckled. "That's him all over. I can't say that you'll all agree with some of the stuff he says, but there's a heart of gold lurkin' underneath it. Give it some time."
   "I'd say he quite likes you." Prompto said to Helena.
She huffed. "Hardly. Took an awful lot of effort to get him to even look remotely interested in helping. Rubs me the wrong way."
   "He's harmless." Gladiolus smiled. "Mostly."
   "Get your camera ready, Prom." Noctis then added. "Ya might regret it if you don't."

Roc had been informed of their arrival as soon as they made it into the entrance hall, and met the five friends within a minute.
He hurried down the stairs, and walked over rapidly to them.
   "This is a surprise." He said. "Thought you were keen to get the ball rolling and all that."
   "Couldn't keep away." Noctis told him. "Any more spies?"
   "None so far." He then became slightly tense-looking. "I...take it that something has happened?"
   "Uh...yeah. Sure did."
   "Did he refuse the invitation?"
After that, Nyx appeared out of nowhere silently, standing right behind the unaware Steward.
He leaned over to his left ear. "...miss me?" He said.
Roc instantly spun around, finally catching sight of Nyx, then shoved him away roughly while Nyx grinned at him.
   "Don't do that, you idiot!" Roc spat. "You have any idea how much I hate it when you do that?"
   "That's why I did it." Nyx' grin grew even wider. "So the way I hear this shit, is that you actually need me? Little old me?"
   "I'm beginning to think it was a mistake." Roc grumbled.
   "You ain't changed a bit, you cranky old bastard."
He started walking forwards, and Roc strode out to meet him and pull him into a rough hug of comradeship as more than a few of the others stared at the bizarre spectacle.
   "They're...friends, right?" Prompto whispered.
Noctis smiled. "You wouldn't think it, but yeah. Go way back. Nyx just always liked windin' the guy up half the time."
   "Ohh, okay, I get it now." He started smiling too.
Roc looked at the young man stood in front of him as if he couldn't believe his eyes. "...it's really you." He said.
   "Don't start that sappy shit." Nyx told him. "Although it's nice to see that you're as immortal as you always were." He then smiled. "We got any food around here? Not eatin' for over a year doesn't do well for my disposition."
Roc beamed at that. "Typical." He then turned around to face the others. "Please stay. We have much to discuss. And Helena...I give you my most sincerest thanks."
She nodded with a smile. "My pleasure."
   "No it wasn't." Roc grinned. "You were gonna leave me there."
Her eyes then fell on him. "Still might."
Nyx sucked in a quick breath. "Ooh, sub-zero, huh? Go sit on my bro's face for a couple of hours, that'll fix you up."
Noctis just about managed to clamp a hand over Prompto's mouth to muffle the laughter.
   "Let's...go to the dining room." Roc suggested. "The kitchen staff can soon whip something up."
   "Lead the way." Nyx indicated with one of his hands.
Roc started to walk, and Nyx gave Helena a cheeky wink before turning back round to follow the Steward.

Once there, Nyx trotted over to the kitchen area and looked at what the summoned Chef was up to.
He then went back to the others. "You wanna know what that old dame's just pulled out of the oven?"
   "What?" Prompto asked him.
   "A ham. And what do we do with a smoked ham roll? Sandwiches, that's what."
   "Uh...you do? I thought that you just carve it up and-"
   "Nononono." Nyx shook his head. "Nope. Ever been to Galahd? You oughta see what they do with one of these babies. In fact... He then looked at Roc. "Can I borrow some Gil off you?"
   "What for?" Roc asked as he fished a couple of notes out of his pocket and handed them over.
   "I'm a decent man. I ain't steppin' on the Chef's toes." He then walked straight into the kitchen and they heard a short cry of shock from the portly, middle-aged woman who was in there.
   "The fuck is he doing?" Prompto whispered.
A minute later, the Chef was seen walking out of the kitchen with a red-faced smile as she looked at the money in her hands.
Nyx briefly stuck his head around the door. "I'll just get the Chef's toes to move, instead." He grinned. He then snapped his fingers at Helena. "Hey Princess, come and watch this."
She sighed, but she still walked through the door and leant on a nearby counter while he looked at the steaming ham joint that was in front of them. He then grabbed a carving knife and started removing the one centimetre outer rind from the item.
   "Can gimme a hand, if you're so inclined." He asked her without looking. "We're gonna need bread, butter and strong cheese."
   "Alright." She went to locate all of the items, putting them onto the counter. She then decided to start chopping up some of the cheese, guessing he'd have asked for that next.
He briefly looked sideways to see her doing it, then smiled.
   "Ain't got around to thankin' you yet." He told her. "They all have, Roc as well. Figured this was a good time, don't wanna appear rude or ungrateful."
   "It's okay." She replied with a little more warmth than before.
   "You're not that fond of me, are you?" He turned towards her, putting down his knife as he said it.
She paused, then carried on chopping, refusing to look at him.
   "Your people skills aren't the best I've ever come across. But the rest of you seems decent enough." She said truthfully.
   "People skills? Lady, my people skills are fuckin' fantastic. How many other people do you know who woulda told that Chef she'd been workin' too hard and deserved a bonus, huh? And a night off? There's your people skills right there, Princess."
   "Will you..." She paused. "Please don't call me that." She said in a calmer voice. "I'm far from one, I can assure you."
   "Figured that out when I heard you were with my bro." He smiled slightly. "It's just a joke, y'know? You're a little too uptight. So if you've got somethin' you wanna get off of that amazin' chest of yours, knock yourself out."
   "You're just...you're not what I expected."
He looked at her. "...that's it? Nah. There's more to it than that. Diplomacy only gets you so far, babe, so if you've got a problem then you need to tell me to my face. You owe me that."
She spun towards him and levelled the point of her knife at his nose as the last of her patience snapped.
   "A problem?" She said in a steely voice as he raised his hands in the air. "I'll tell you what the fuckin' problem is."
   "Please do."
   "You're just...you're fuckin' arrogant, for a start! You're arrogant, and you're over-confident, and you're pig-headed. You go walking into just about anywhere like you fucking own the place, and you've got the mouth and manners of a gutter rat. You didn't even give a shit back there, did you? You only came back out cos' he was involved, admit it!"
   "That...was quite a large part of it, yeah."
   "Exactly." She stabbed at the air in front of him. "Like you're gonna pretend that you care about anything else."
   "Did you leave your sense of humour back there when you came for me? Or is it just for special occasions?"
   "I've got a sense of humour. But so far? Joke's on me."