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"Wait, you're telling me that you got the prince to go running voluntarily?"
"Yep, I didn't even bribe him," Prompto replied, his grin stretching across the entirety of his face as the pair walked through the variety of food trucks which parked near the citadel, the delicious smells of cooking food wafting in the air.
"I think I'm gonna kiss you," Gladio said, his voice low and even.
Prompto gave Gladio an incredulous look as they passed a truck that boasted two for five Gil pork buns. "It's not that big of a deal!" He squeaked when he had determined from the look on his friend’s face that the behemoth was not kidding. The pair moved out of the bustle of the lunch crowd to stand beneath a shade tree.
Gladio tilted his head and asked, "What if I just want to kiss you?"
"Did someone hit you over the head big guy?"
"No. I want to kiss you. Wanted to for a very long time if we're being honest."
Gladio took a step closer to the smaller blonde, which Prompto didn’t find nearly as menacing as he once would have. Despite that, Prompto couldn't bring himself to look up at the goliath towering over him. If they were, as Gladio had said, being honest, Prompto would have to admit how utterly and completely he had fallen in love with the brunette who apparently desired him in return.
It had happened slowly. Prompto had always been a big believer in love at first sight, he was a hopeless romantic after all, but the emotion he had felt when he first met Gladiolus had been quite the opposite. Gladio's size alone had him shaking in his boots. Not to mention that he was Noct's sworn Shield, giving him the authority to send Prompto away from the prince if he deemed the blonde a threat. Prompto had been, in short, terrified. But he was determined to remain friends with Noctis and that meant being in the presence of his Shield, at least part of the time.
~~~~~
Prompto’s fear had started to ease the first time Gladio accompanied him and Noctis to the arcade. The bigger man's presence initially put a damper on Prompto’s bubbly personality. Yet, once Gladio had challenged him to a pinball tournament he perked back up to almost normal levels of pep. It was nice to know that the Shield was capable of having fun too.
“I think you cheated,” Gladio had accused after Prompto had won best two out of three games five times in a row on the pinball machine, earning him a free dinner courtesy of the Shield.
“I did no such thing, you’re just bad a pinball,” Prompto had stated without thinking, earning him a raised eyebrow from Noct. For a moment, Prompto had forgotten that the man he had just told off was roughly three times his size. But instead of snapping him in half, Gladiolus had let out a loud raucous laugh and clapped the blonde on the shoulder. That was when Prompto noticed just how nice the bigger man’s voice sounded, the baritone range soothing. Prompto really should have known then that he was falling, but instead he carried on blissfully ignorant.
The second thing Prompto noticed about the shield, was his kindness. He had expected Gladio to be rough around the edges, but Prompto quickly learned that stereotype was nothing more than that, a stereotype.
Prompto’s parents had not always been there, but they tried their best to provide for him. However, towards the end of the month, things were always tight and Prompto had to make do with less for the last few days. That meant skipping meals in favor of paying bills. So when he showed up for training with Gladio right after lunch, his traitorous stomach had given his situation away with an audible grumble. The larger man had said nothing, but after their session was over, insisted on buying the blonde some meat skewers from a cart vendor just outside of the citadel. Prompto had protested, but one stern look from the Shield had shut him up.
After that, whenever Prompto had showed up to a session around the end of the month, Gladio either had some food for him or insisted on taking him out to one of the copious vendors near the citadel. The first time the blonde had been to the park filled with food vendors that they were currently walking in, was with Gladio on one such occasion. Prompto always protested, but he was always overruled with that same stern expression on the shield’s face.
But the nail in the coffin (heart?) was when Gladio had protected him from an asshole that wouldn’t take a hint. He was at the arcade, waiting for Noct who had texted that he got held up in a meeting. Since he was already at the arcade by the time Noct texted, Prompto decided to waste time by playing a racing game.
“You look good twisting that wheel, I wonder what else you can do with your hands?” a voice had sounded behind him, startling the blonde. Prompto had been so focused he hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings. He abandoned his game and turned his attention to see who was addressing him.
“Umm, thanks?” he said to the man looming over him. He seemed several years older than Prompto, his dark hair cut close to his head and his mouth twisted upwards in a menacing smile.
Prompto, not wanting to be near the strange man any longer, stood up and said, “The game’s all yours.”
Instead of sitting down in the seat that Prompto had vacated, the man placed his hand on Prompto’s forearm. “I am far more interested in you than the game. What’s your name cutie?”
Prompto tried to pull his arm away, but the hand grasping it tightened. “Please don’t touch me.”
“But you’re just so touchable. What do ya say we get out of here?”
“The man said to let go,” a booming voice demanded, coming up to wrap a protective arm around Prompto’s shoulders. Prompto immediately relaxed into Gladio’s touch and the man released his arm and walked away quickly, stammering apologies as he went. Gladio removed his arm and Prompto missed its warmth immediately, but the feeling consuming his heart was more than enough to make up for it.
“That guy was a jerk, are you okay?” Gladio asked a still shell-shocked Prompto.
“Yeah… Yeah. Thank you.” He was still shaking a little, but it was less from the recent encounter and more from the sudden realization of how attractive, both physically and romantically, Gladio actually was, and that somewhere along the line Prompto had fallen for him on both fronts. Sure, he had an overwhelming desire to run his hands over each of the behemoth’s protruding muscles, but he also just wanted to be in his presence. To be his and have him be Prompto’s in return. Prompto was quiet the rest of the evening and he hoped that the Shield and Noct blamed it on the earlier traumatic experience.
~~~~~
"Prom, please say something," Gladio pleaded. Prompto could hear the fear in his voice and it broke him. The man he loved was scared and it was within his power to stop it.
Prompto took a deep breath and looked up. The fear and adoration he found in Gladio’s eyes was more than enough to strengthen his resolve. "Kiss me."
"What?"
Prompto let the warmth he felt in his heart spread to his face and hoped that the look and his request were enough to convey his emotions on the subject to Gladio. Words could come later. For now, Prompto needed to feel Gladio’s comforting warmth engulf him.
"I said kiss me."
And Gladio did. He leaned down underneath the shade tree, in full view of everyone hurrying to get lunch from the trucks, and brought their lips together in an achingly tender kiss. Their lips melted softly together, as Prompto strained upward, realizing exactly how tall Gladio was. He reached up and wrapped his hands around the shield’s neck to pull him closer.
Prompto’s heart felt full, almost bursting with emotion, and his skin pulsed with heat. The very air around them felt like a warm blanket. Prompto had never been more at peace in his entire life, despite the crowded market around them.
“You can kiss me anytime, you don’t need to ask,” Prompto whispered once they broke apart, foreheads still touching.
“How long?” Gladio asked breathlessly.
“I’m not sure, but a while.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t think it was possible that you would like me back. I mean, what could you see in me,” Prompto answered quietly, letting his eyes drop to Gladio’s chest.
“Everything,” Gladio breathed, pulling the blonde back in for a kiss. The way their lips slotted together effortlessly made Prompto believe him.