revivalproject | [Closed] A Gift Of My Love

The fishing went okay. But Noctis was more concerned about the fish themselves than actually catching them. Sure he went and gave the whole attitude of being an awesome fisherman, but at the same time, his heart wasn't in it.

Too much damage had been done to them and fishing was more of an excuse to see what he could do to help feed the fish that he was supposed to be catching. His heart broke to see fins missing, and their misshapen forms still fought to stay alive as they glided through the waters.

Not too long ago he would've been working on taking them out and giving them over to the diner. Now he just did what he could and was happy to see them come towards him with hope, or so the king fancied they did.

With a sigh, he looked at the setting of the sun, giving the last crumbs to the survivors. "Alright guys, gotta go. But I'll see you tomorrow." Of course he figured they didn't understand him, but it made him feel better all the same.

With a somber face, he walked to the apartment, putting his invisible mask in place - the one that wasn't so upset with all that had happened. So he opened the door, and half of him registered the candles, but more importantly that he was on time just like he'd promised.

His blue eyes darted around seeing Gladio and he nodded, hoping that mask was still in place as he spoke softly.

"Hey."

Gladio smiles, adjusting his shirt. Dude, he wore a shirt just for Noctis.

"Hey. I got us food. Thought we could have a nice dinner together tonight. Something just for us."

Oh he noticed the shirt and it looked good on the Shield. But of course he would think that.

And at the mention of food, the king's eyes lit right up. "What's the special occasion?"

"You are," Gladio says without hesitation. There was never a moment when he didn't want to celebrate his love for this man.

"Come and sit with me?"

"I am?" Noctis asked with a laugh in his tone. Gladio was so sweet when he turned on that charm of his.

At the invitation to sit, he shook his head. "Give me about ten minutes to wash up and I'll be more than happy to."

"Alright then. But if you take too long I might have to blow out these candles and come after you."

Noctis smiled. "Promise you won't have to do that."

And as he started to walk away, the king risked a look back at his shield.

"Candles, that's kinda romantic."

"I want to be romantic with you tonight. Don't judge. Shower and come back to me," Gladio says, smiling fondly. He wants this man back so they can spend their time together.

There was a smile on the king's face. "No judging here, and I'll be right back."

Of course he wasn't going to take his time but he was going to make sure he was clean because that was important.

Yeah, it was important. Time for them together would always be important.

Still, with Noctis occupied and actually around, Gladio takes the time to properly dish up some food. All the better for them to get fed, right?

Getting dressed into clean clothes, Noct wondered what the reason was for all of this, or if there really was no reason. Either way it was fine with him and he came back to a full plate of food and he was thrilled as he looked at Gladio.

"Best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, right?"

"And yet Ignis isn't married yet," Gladio grins as he offers out the plate. "Come sit with me."

There aren't chairs or a table set for this. Just blankets and pillows on the floor. A place clearly meant for cuddling and fondness. And perhaps intimacy later.

"I think the way to your heart has probably just been by being myself though."

Gladio's comment had Noctis laugh. "I can do that."

So he sat down next to the Shield and just marveled at everything. "You went all out for this looks like."

But then his eyes shot to the man himself. "Can't argue that."

"You're worth going all out for. For every day and in any way I can imagine," Gladio promises.

He smiles and lean in just enough to kiss Noctis's brow.

"And some nights you deserve something special. We deserve something special with this time we've been given."

"Flatterer." Noctis replied with a smile, holding back on the rest of the comment that he'd wanted to say. Really all of this sweetness just shut him down and got him nervous.

The kiss on the brow made him nervous too, along with those words.

"So..I was talking to Radley recently. He said he wanted to go home." Serious blue eyes then looked over at Gladio. "You do too, right?"

Well now that was a change of mood Gladio didn't welcome at all. Because going home is complicated. He loves Noctis, whether this version or his own. He has a duty too. Back home he would live the life expected of an Amicitia, after they save the world. He will see his King on his throne. He will guard him through all things. He will always long for what he could never have and keep doing his duty.

He as an Amicitia, and that was what they did.

Meanwhile if he didn't go home he was failing his king and friends.

And all of that before he considered this Noctis.

"We both know that's a complicated question to answer."

And his answer was a bit of a plea to now answer it.

"Would you like something to drink? I liberated some red-fruit alcohol from the Deep End."

Noctis waited for an answer, all the while mentally cursing himself for asking it. He knew this answer and any other stupid romantic notion he might ever consider for the long term was bottled as soon as he got the reply he knew he'd receive. Besides, he had nothing to offer the shield, either his or the other his anyway.

So he nodded, and let Gladio escape so to speak.

"Sure, sounds good."

Of course he has something to offer the Shield. He has himself. Hadn't Gladio been clear in his love before?

For now Gladio reaches over for the bottle and the glasses. Did he replicate wine glasses just for the night? Yep. He did. He had gone all out. Once the glasses are poured he offers one out to Noctis.

"I'd like to suggest a toast. Not great at them but let's see if I can stick the landing. To the man who, for reasons surpassing understanding, wakes up and chooses me each day. Even if I am a furnace to sleep next to."

The king took the offered drink and looked at it a moment before returning his gaze to Gladio when he was suggesting a toast. Inwardly he groaned because this was rubbing salt in the wound so to speak, but he wouldn't breathe a word about it.

A smile appeared instead and he attempted a laugh. "You keep me warm, so no worries about being a furnace."

Well that is something Gladio can get behind then. If warmth is appreciated he'll keep giving it.

"Good. I can't help wrapping around you when you fit so perfectly in my arms."

He smiles and moves to uncover the plates for dinner. Nothing fancy, just a slightly more dressed up version of what was being served at the diner. Though he'd made sure to get a fish dish.

"Fish, caught by the best fisherman around. Seemed like a good fit. Wish I could say I made it myself but we both know I fail in that department. Can do the other chores but there alone I am no house wife."

Edited 2023-10-31 06:48 (UTC)

Noctis took a drink of the stuff in his glass. It wasn't bad at all. He just smiled at the shield's pronouncement of fitting perfectly in his arms and let the comment go.

Curious blue eyes looked at the dish and had to shake his head with a smile at the best fisherman comment. The last part just had him pause and stare at Gladio for a minute.

He lightly started coughing because Gladio was really killing him here. First the toast and now he mentioned house..wife. Moving the glass away from his mouth, he leaned down and lightly coughed into his sleeve.

So he tried taking a page out of Iggy's book and set the glass down before something happened to it. And as he risked the briefest glance at Gladio with a smile before turning to look at the interesting food.

"Well if you don't get married, you don't have to worry about any role, right?"

Well now that was a thing to say. As if Gladio had any intention of living his life alone. Was Noctis crazy?

"I'll always have roles to fulfill, Noctis. Maybe I won't live up to them perfectly, but lately I've had cause to think about it."

Astrals, he's accidentally basically adopted a teenaged boy which... continued to shock him. And Tony was talking him into managing a school.

"You ever think about it? Since... losing Lunafreya? If you might ever be willing to commit to someone else? Back in my timeline I don't think you got the chance. Ignis's stunt meant there was no time for any of us to think."

Only when Gladio mentioned lately he'd had cause to think about marriage lately did Noctis almost freeze and stare up at the shield.

Wait, what?

His mind started spinning about a hundred miles a minute. What the hell? And then he shook his head and sighed, looking at the food. Might as well start somewhere.

"I have thought about it. I've thought about it a lot. But you yourself said it was complicated about going home. You're eventually going to return to your own..version of me or whatever." Another sigh came out and the dark head shook again, still not looking up. "I don't have a kingdom to fight for or anything like that here. Plus in my timeline..I had to bring back the light to our world so my life in exchange was part of that deal as well as dealing with Ardyn."

Eventually could be a very long time away. Which is why Gladio didn't want to think about going home. It could be in ten minutes. It could be in ten years.

Did that mean he should stop living now?

"I'm not asking about a kingdom to fight for. Or about home at all."

Oh fuck it. This was supposed to wait until far later tonight but dammit now that they are talking perhaps he should just be a bit more frank.

"We aren't there. We're here, Noctis. And in this moment I would rather think of here and now. This is our life. These moments are the ones we get. So I'm asking you about us, and I'm asking you about here."

He shifts a bit, twisting himself around so he's on his knees next to his boyfriend, his friend, his king, his Noctis. Takes Noctis's hands into his and looks him right in the eyes.

"Because I think the greatest gift the universe could have given me is this. This place here with you. Moments outside of time where the future is uncertain but we can choose to face it together in a way we choose. Not in a way that someone else chooses for us, be they ancestors or tradition or a glowing rock or some bitchy dragon."

He frees one hand from where it covers Noctis's and reaches into his shirt pocket. Gladio takes a deep breath and pulls out a single gold band. No stone, just metal, still warm from being in his shirt pocket all night so he couldn't lose it. Warm from his skin and his racing heart.

"And I would share that gift with you for as long as we have it. Noctis Lucis Caelum, I would ask you, my king, my friend, my truest love, to share with me all the days we have left to us, as my husband. You deserve far better than me, but I would ask you for your hand regardless, so I can have these remaining days in the warmth of your love."

Noctis finally raised his head as Gladio talked about home. Yes everything Gladio was saying was true, that they were here now, which is why the king had thought about marriage. Had fate not twisted, he would've been married and probably had kids by now with Luna.

He took a deep breath at hearing about how the shield was asking about them. Noct had similar thoughts about if they'd just be eternal boyfriends here or something, but didn't want to ruin things, knowing they both had a duty so his heart warred with his head about it plenty.

The bitchy dragon comment got him to laugh which was good. Bahamut..ya that was a lot to unpack there. And then Noct felt like he couldn't breathe. When had Gladio gone and picked out a ring of all things? What?

It felt like an eternity with his breath and brain stuck in permanent neutral. Words wouldn't come, his mind blanked and he more than likely was staring just stupidly at the shield as he fought to catch all of the words being said.

Finally, thoughts seemed to drift back into his brain and he nodded. "Yes, but isn't that supposed to be the other way around? I'm supposed to ask you, aren't I?" He tried to shake his head and looked somewhat pleadingly at Gladio. "That's still okay that you asked me, right?"

That period of silence is probably the longest minutes of Gladio's life. An eternity where the answer was yes and it was No and it was also no answer. Where anything could happen.

But when Noctis says yes he's beaming. And he immediately brings the ring down, clearly intending to slip it onto Noctis's finger.

Only to be caught laughing. Because what a point to be hung up on.

"Noct, that the question was asked at all is the important detail here. Now are you willing to wear this ring that I almost burned myself making, or should I just wait for you to get around to popping the question? Because I worked hard to get this right."

Of course if Noctis insisted, well, Gladio had the mate to this ring also in his pocket. So Noct could just take it and pop the question himself. Hell, there was no government here, no paperwork, no officiants. If they damn well wanted to they could just wear the rings and offer each other vows and not waste a damn minute. He didn't care so long as the answer was yes.

"Ya I can wear it." Noct replied, feeling nervous even if Gladio was talking about putting the ring on. He appreciated the gold considering it was one of the colours of the royal family. That and black, but this was gold and he was very happy with it.

They didn't do engagement rings back home, he'd had a black ring made for Luna for when they were to get married, but the betrothal was a spoken and written contract. All the nonromantic everything there, very unlike this.

"Um..I've gotta get you a ring though too, if not now, then.."

He couldn't quite bring himself to say the words.

Just because the royal family didn't use rings like this didn't mean others hadn't. Gladio should have proposed to a woman with on of several heirloom bands kept in the family safe. As it was this...

This one was better. He takes Noctis's hand and slides the band onto the proper finger. Then, with a smile, he reaches again into his pocket and pulls out a matching gold band. One sized to a larger hand.

"I wanted them to be a pair. Made together. Matched. Equal. Like we can be here."

Like they could never be on Eos.

"Matched and simple, like we can be here. I don't want King and Shield to sit between us here. Never again. Just Noctis and Gladio, two parts of one equal whole. Hopefully that's okay. I've never made anything meant to last with my own hands. Learned more about metals and heat tolerances and molds than I ever expected. But it was all worth it for these."

The metal was cool on his finger and there was a weight on his left hand that he'd never had before. Blue eyes stared at the gold ring delightedly because this was a symbol that at no time he would've ever thought he'd have a chance to have after what happened back home.

But then he noticed the second ring that Gladio pulled out of his pocket. There was a joy in his eyes that he wouldn't have tried to hide anyway, and plainly showed on his face. At hearing the other speak, the look got a little brighter.

"Equals, I really like that idea." He knew well that even if they got married back home, they'd never be seen as equals no matter what they said or did.

So his unringed hand started playing with the gold band, just to reassure himself of its presence as he listened. At the end, he shook his head. "I'll still look at you as my shield, but that's only because I like the idea of you being my protector. But I love the idea of being two parts of a whole."

Noct smiled because he had questions, but one was more important than the others right now. "So do I get to put the ring on your finger now?"

So, of course did Gladio. But he does nod his agreement at being a protector. For that, well, he would give that to Noctis no questions asked. Just like he hands over the other ring.

"Of course you do. I'm yours. Whatever you want to call us, so long as you call me yours."

The king found that he was shaking now and nervous. His hand had slightly shaken when Gladio put the ring on, but now it was his turn. He let out a breath and smiled up at the other. "I didn't expect this, so I..uh don't have a speech planned." The proposal was a complete surprise, considering he hadn't ever expected to be anything beyond 'boyfriends' here, knowing what they still had yet to do back in their respective worlds.

This pair up wasn't a political match or contract. This was definitely on it's own level entirely and Noct feared he might stumble over his words. "We're engaged Gladio. You're my fiancee' now just like I'm yours."

Letting out another breath, he took the ring and held Gladio's left hand. Positioning the ring at the front of the shield's ring finger, Noct paused and his words were shy. "Whenever I look at my ring, it'll be a reminder to always stand by you and that I have your promise to stand by me."

Sliding the ring on Gladio's finger, he let out another breath and smiled, hoping he did well. He always was a sucker for his shield's approval ever since they were kids.

Stand by each other? Yeah, he likes that. Gladio smiles at the ring on his finger and then pulls Noctis in to kiss him. To just show his affection, how full his heart is in that moment.

Because there is nothing else in this moment that feels quite so important as this kiss. Not in this moment.

Promises made, the king found himself wrapped up in his Shield's arms, right where he wanted to be. He closed his eyes and surrendered himself to this man, their kiss and their promises.

It felt like he was home.

It was home. THey were each others' home now. The rings only underlined that.

"I could kiss you forever. I will kiss you forever."

[Closed] A Gift Of My Love

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this might be ready to ftb