LOVELESS - A Final Fantasy OneShot Collection

RavNoct - Stars (InsomnianMyth)

STARS
I

t wasn't the same sky, he thought. Pollution drowned out the stars, constellations he'd known and seen all his life, the twinkling points in the otherwise dark night after which his mother had named him. Her little night, she'd called him, her little Noctis. The fond memories he associated with his mother were the only ones not drowned in his guilt for having run from his fate. His chosen role as king of light which he'd not been able to fulfil as he'd been unable to kill the accursed cold blooded like the Astrals demanded.
The world still reeked of the scourge, of daemon infestation and it was his burden, him to blame for not being able to sacrifice himself, to end another man's life, in the name of the Astrals.
They'd condemned him, like they had the healer king, in the end.
"I see the thunder cloud literally hovering over your head." A dry voiced remark got him out of his brooding thoughts and he blinked, caught.
The heavy sigh was more for show, and as Ravus stepped onto the balcony of Fenestala Manor, his arms wrapped themselves securely around Noct's waist, their presence a comfort in the slight drizzle that had his body growing cold. He hadn't noticed, so deep in thought. Now, he let fingers numb with cold reach for warm skin. The tenebraean prince welcomed his touch and nuzzled his hair, inhaling the other's scent. They both wouldn't have allowed this kind of intimacy a year ago. Now it was second nature to be this close, to distribute this kind of affection freely.
"Come back inside."
The words were mumbled against his throat, more felt than heard, the calm around them creating an intimate atmosphere. A sanctuary inside this beginning storm as they were both drenched in rain water now.
He hadn't meant to wake Ravus with his restlessness, but sleep had eluded him tonight. The sight of sylleblossoms had calmed him the first time he'd take a stroll through the garden, months earlier. The oracle had shown it to him after finding him strolling around after midnight.
"You can't even see the stars anymore." He remarked, quietly. Saddened by this fact; a stark reminder of being in another time, another era. He wasn't really sure why he let himself show his vulnerability so open during the late hour. May it be, that he desperately hoped for Ravus to understand, he was grieving a home that hadn't existed for over a millennia, for a world only remembered in history books now and old pottery dug up in Cleigne. His only tie to his home were the stars, he was bereft of their sight though by the smog of the modern cities.
It was Ravus who hesitated for a moment, not sure how to deal with Noct's sudden melancholy mood. He knew of his husband's bouts of homesickness, his feeling lost in the modern world often times, and he hoped, like he did every time, that this was enough, this bond they had now.
"We can go camping, if you want. The pollution isn't as bad, and you can see them out there once you're far enough from the big cities."
The most Ravus had ever camped, was with Luna in their childhood. They'd pitched a tent in the manor's garden and played adventurers, the childish imaginations making the garden a great field out in the wilds, their tent a bastion holding a knight and his princess. (Luna wanted to be a knight too. He'd never argued with her, so they'd both played knights in the end.) These days were long gone, and Ravus knew how innocent, how childish they'd been. He'd watched the stars on his own, outside in the wilds of Eos, thinking about his life after acquiring a sudden soulmate, before Luna had rightfully beaten some sense into him to return to Noctis.
Noctis had grown up seeing this spectacle every night, how out of place must he have felt during their stay in Insomnia? In Fenestala Manor?
"You're shivering." He noted belatedly, worry creeping into his voice. Noct was indeed shivering. The slight drizzle came down on them in heavy rain drops, the weather intent on getting worse. The spring season was always heavy with the promise of rain in the early months and Ravus feared the Lucian prince would catch a cold should they remain outside any longer.
Still, the raven took to the balcony in the middle of night during a storm, like a curious chocobo chick that hadn't yet realized that it could harm itself this way.
He sighed, this time a fond affectionate way to let his slight frustration be known. Noctis shoulders sagged, as he felt him give in to his reasoning, the affectionate smile not only in his imagination as he heard it in the way the raven answered him.
"Let's go back." Noct agreed.
They got back inside, Ravus making the other strip of his completely drenched pyjama bottoms and changing into a fresh set. The bed was cold from their absence, but this was simply solved by Ravus pressing his chest up against Noct's back, his arms holding onto the smaller male, not wanting him to escape into the night again. The prince turned around, though, to give him a soft peck on the libs and on his cheeks and finally on the palm of his hands. The sound of water droplets hitting the windows was soothing as Ravus drifted into a restful sleep, the comforting warmth of Noctis back at his side.