The Mishaps of the Chocobros

Hotel Nights

"Hey that was cheating!" The burly shield protested as his character fell mid-battle, the offending party snickering at each other as they continued the battle against the NPC.

Noctis and Prompto challenged the Shield to their nightly game of King's Knight (if they were anywhere near a wireless signal that is) and he begrudgingly agreed to play against the both of them. He still didn't know how this was anywhere near fair, but if it meant that the King of Lucis was going to smile more then he didn't really mind all that much.

Ignis was preoccupied washing and cleaning up the remains of dinner in the kitchen of the hotel room, a slight curve of his lips as he listened to the men play around on their phones. He tried to get into King's Knight at his King's insistence, but with his duties he barely ever had time to actually sit and relax enough to even consider playing the game.

Besides, he always liked to be the one analyzing the situation rather than being in the fray. That aspect of him never really changed.

Gladio unceremoniously fell back against the soft bed in a huff as the two friends cheered and high-fived each other at a job well done.

"Alright, you lot. Get cleaned up for bed." Ignis insisted, wiping his glasses against the corner of his shirt. Prompto dashed to the bathroom first, taking advantage of the fact that Noctis and Gladiolus were too tired at the moment to bicker. Neither of them said anything.

Gladiolus watched as the strategist gracefully took a seat at the chair near the large glass doors that lead into the balcony. "Hey Iggy."

"Hm?"

"You okay?"

"Of course. It was an exhausting day is all." He replied, sage eyes meeting the amber ones of the shield. He grunted as he sat up on the bed, his phone long forgotten. The loading screen's music was still playing until the phone fell asleep. "You can say that again. At least we were able to snag this hotel room for the night. I don't know if I could sleep on cold hard ground after today."

Ignis shrugged, nursing the quickly chilling mug of coffee in his hands (it definitely wasn't Ebony but it had to do for now) and avoiding the burrowing eyes staring back at him.

Noctis sat up on the bed, a loud groan as he stretched his arms over his head as he quipped, "It's thanks to the gil we got from that hunt today, otherwise we would be camping tonight."

"Very true, although this hotel isn't the most quaint of the ones we've stayed in prior, it's good for the price."

Gladio hummed, not saying anything else.

Slowly everyone began to get ready for bed, Ignis being the last to use the bathroom as the rest of them had already fell asleep to their sleeping arrangements; Noctis in the bed furthest from the door, Prompto and Gladio sharing the other snoring away peacefully.

His gaze naturally shifted over to the Lucian prince, who slept peacefully inside his blanket cocoon. It hadn't been long since he had found out of Insomnia's fall and his father's untimely death. Noctis looked like he was handling it well in the eyes of most people.

But Ignis knew better. He always did.

He knew when Noctis would subtly curl in on himself, holding something close to his chest as he fell asleep. Some days Ignis would catch him quickly wipe away some stray tears from his eyes, then complaining about the heat or the walking or whatever else he could think of in order to deter from his moment of weakness.

Being a childhood friend of his, it was hard to hide things from each other. Ignis's intuitiveness was just another layer to their friendship.

Ignis knew the last thing the prince wanted was to be confronted about it. So he made little changes; whether it was to add less vegetables to their meals, go on more hunts, camp outside without the presence of a tent. As long as the prince could mourn in peace and at least enjoy the little things in his life the world could offer him.

Sometimes Gladio would push him too far, which bothered Ignis greatly but he knew he was doing his job just like him. In those times he could only comfort Noctis silently by supporting him when he needed it.

He knew Prompto was probably the only person who was keeping the four of them sane and together at the moment. The sharpshooter was forever the chipper and happy-go-lucky member of their team, although he was having a slightly difficult time dealing with the dynamic between Noctis and Gladiolus.

He laid himself down next to Noctis, who shifted slightly but otherwise didn't move, and hoped that sleep would overcome him before dawn broke over the horizon this time.