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The last thing Prompto wanted was a one-sided relationship.
Their relationship wasn't at all one-sided in the normal sense, though. It wasn't that the young photographer was pouring in pitchers of energy while his other half made absolutely no effort to liven things up. That was a billion and one miles away from the truth. He and Instructor Loire had been on Cloud Nine from the get-go, hand-in-hand as the hours merrily fell off the clock. While another one of Balamb's students may have had an issue with the age difference, Instructor Laguna Loire being quite a few steps ahead of Prompto, Squall's father put in every effort to erase that distance. To bridge the gap that would've frightened anyone else off-and not just with his looks. While he could have easily passed off as a twenty year old student himself, with vibrant, long black hair, radiant green eyes and a personality that stunned even the most laidback students, he provided his former student with the wisdom, strength and kindness he desperately needed.
Laguna's one-of-a-kind energy was even more so needed in the wake of his return. He barely endured an eternity in Hell, the seconds breaking every fiber of his being. It was during those hellish hours everything was brought to light, baring his soul raw under a mercilessly hot sun. Fortunately for a soul that couldn't take much more pain, every one of his friends passed their greatest test with flying colors. None of them left his side, not at all bothered by the truth that had been pried out of him. Their only concern was seeing him through the night, remaining by his side no matter what the day brought. And so, keeping that close to heart, the gunner drew even more strength from those around him. Fell in love with them all over again, including the man stupid enough to become his boyfriend.
Their difference in ages wasn't at all a problem, consensual, mature relationships between instructors and students agreed upon just a short while ago. Squall, who doubled as one of the photographer's close friends and his big brother's boyfriend, protested over his father dating who used to be his little brother at every turn, not at all a big Laguna Loire fan ("The guy's a moron. You sure this isn't because you think you can't do any better?" "Oh yeah, I'll say it's weird. It's weird you actually think my old man's good boyfriend material. The guy's an idiot.") On one occasion he turned to Noctis and moaned about how weird it all was: "I can't even think of Prompto as my little brother any more. That jack-in-a-box took that away from me." But in the end, it wasn't anything to worry about. As Quistis said: "The more Squall hates you, the more he loves you." Considering Noctis' boyfriend referred to a certain chocobo as 'annoying' on a regular basis, there really wasn't anything to worry about when it came to the chocobo's relationship with his father.
Except for Laguna putting too much work into the relationship, all by himself.
It wasn't that Prompto wasn't trying. It wasn't that the photographer didn't love him. Oh no, that was about a trillion miles away from the truth. "Sure, it's strange," a happy bird confided in Noctis one afternoon, while they studied for SEED exams in the Quad. "Probably even weirder than Seifer having a crush on Iggy. But I love him, and he's stupid enough to love me. Never thought I'd be saying this, because who in their right mind would love a loser like me? But here I am, with the greatest boyfriend in the world-and wow, does it feel good."
So that wasn't it at all. It was Laguna being remarkably like his brother Ignis, in how he carried far too many burdens alone-without confiding in anyone. Prompto was included in the vast circle of people he kept away from his burdens. It wasn't at all ridiculous to assume that Laguna, somewhere along the line, had become peas in a pod with Ignis, because his boyfriend had done a brilliantly beautiful job of bonding with his three brothers anyway. Ignis told the young photographer of how Laguna asked them for their blessing, before asking for his student's hand in dating. "Wouldn't have budged an inch if any of us had turned him down, even over the smallest reason," the instructor beamed. "Perfectly willing to listen to what we had to say, which wasn't much, as we were delighted to have him look after you."
Unfortunately, that's exactly what the problem was. Laguna did too much of looking after everyone but himself.
With that in mind, Prompto arrived at the Quad with a heart heavier than Shiva's armor. The last fifteen minutes had been spent running to the sanctuary of students and faculty members. His boyfriend had been distant as of late, leading the chocobo to believe that Laguna was either falling out of love with him or was simply finding him annoying-both of which had Prompto's heart smashed into a billion pieces because he didn't want to lose him, didn't want to lose that blinding, wonderful, healing light that had brightened up the place. But after getting a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers in Balamb on his doorstep, topped off with a stuffed chocobo carrying a card that read: "Sorry-I know I've been a jerk lately. Just have a lot on my mind. You haven't left my mind for a second, though. Still love you, forever and always", Prompto knew something much deeper than his insecurities had flown out of control. Putting one of the white blossoms into his chest pocket, and stuffing the chocobo into his knapsack, he bolted out of his dormitory with a determination to find out exactly what was going on.
He found out, all right, but wasn't the least bit relieved by the news..
"Instructor Loire's been assigned to the uprising in Dollet. Not looking very pretty over there right now-which is why you don't know about it. He doesn't want you to worry about him, kid."
Coach Amicitia's words were stakes through an already screaming, bleeding heart. Did Laguna ever want him to worry about him? When it came down to it, it was always the instructor comforting him. Holding him until his troubles slipped away. Very much like Instructor Scientia, not once did Laguna mention anything troubling him. Not even anything small, like 'I'm hungry' or 'I'm nervous'. So, hours before his former instructor was meant to take off into a battle where the fate of many would be decided, Prompto exhausted all options. "Can't I go with him?" the photographer pleaded with his brother Gladiolus, already knowing the answer, and having that answer slap him in the face with a bag of bricks.
"Sorry, sunshine. You know the rules. SEED policies state that members romantically involved with an instructor are not allowed to participate in their missions, under any circumstances."
While every inch of Prompto throbbed with the need to screw rules and regulations over, he knew doing so would cause even more trouble for Laguna-and with their relationship being one-sided, there wasn't any more damage he wanted to inflict. So he used the only option available to him: catch him before departure. Seeing him overlook the Quad's vast gardens, he raced towards the brunette with a rapidly beating heart, hoping Laguna wouldn't look straight through him as he had done several times that week.
Painted in the glow of the gardens, Laguna turned to him with a smile that carried affection so strong, it knocked the wind out of the approaching photographer like a punch to the stomach.
"Hey there, kitten. What's up?"
The smile stopped Prompto in his tracks for a moment, but as soon as the other greeted him, he took a flying leap. The brunette was soon knocked onto the ground by his former student's hug. "Someone's happy to see me," the instructor chuckled, ruffling the other's hair. Prompto wrenched out of that hug in a heartbeat, indignant and frustrated.
"Of course I am! Feels like I haven't seen you in forever!"
Laguna always looked at him as though he really was something special, something beautiful and sacred. It was one of the many things Prompto loved about their relationship-but, at that moment, that look on Laguna's face wasn't something to be proud of. "I've missed you too, peanut," he said, love and light uniting with sadness. His smile was very much like the calm expression on Ignis' face-ethereal, strong, seemingly unbreakable but in stark betrayal of the wounds that slept underneath.
"There's just been a lot on my plate lately. You know what they say-the life of an instructor never sleeps."
He then eyed the white lotus flower in Prompto's front pocket. The stuffed chocobo was eyed next. "Ah. I see the package arrived. Great-I'm glad. I was hoping you'd like the gifts."
"Why didn't you give me this stuff yourself?" Noctis' little brother asked, eyes and tone assuring him the gifts were very much loved, but it would've been much better if a certain brunette had ended up on the doorstep himself. But at that, Laguna frowned, hand on the back of his neck in a show of self-consciousness.
"Sorry, but I really didn't feel like bothering you. I've been a jackass all week, after all, and I honestly wasn't expecting to see you until I came back."
"Because you didn't want to see me, right?"
"No," Squall's father answered instantly, sheepishly, still scratching his neck, knowing he had been backed into a corner. Nowhere to turn. "It wasn't that I didn't 'want' to see you, it's just...well, I couldn't. I didn't want you to see how scared I am."
"Which is why I'm here, dude," Prompto snarled, using a little too much ice but not at all thrilled with his boyfriend's fondness of hiding, not after dealing with Ignis and how much he loved to hide every damn problem. "Gladio told me about what's about t' go down, and why you've been playing hide-and-seek with me all week. You're helping out with the revolution, right?"
"Yeah, guess I am," came the soft, sad answer. In the wake of that response came a sigh. Weeks of happy memories coursed through the marksman, pushing him to continue. "I know why you didn't wanna tell me about it," he went on, sadness and frustration running hand-in-hand. "It's because you think I need to be protected. I need to be kept safe like some puppy dog or whatever, and you wanna take care of everything yourself. But that's not the way I want this to work. Guess we should've talked about ground rules when we started all of this. I don't want you pulling the apple cart all by yourself. You gotta let me help too. I love you, but me loving you doesn't mean me letting you do all of the work."
...
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing much, it's just that I was right in picking lotus blossoms." Laguna continued upon seeing the confusion on Prompto's face. "Wasn't too hard of a choice to make. See, in choosing the right flower for you, I thought of everything that makes you special. Tried to focus on one thing, like your freckles or the way your face lights up when you take pictures, but then everything started crying out for my attention. The way you try your hardest at everything. The way you always smile while you're working on something, no matter how difficult the task is. The way you love your brothers. The way you light up a room even before you walk into it. You being here, right now, when you should be resting. I'm no expert, but lotus blossoms symbolize that special kind of beauty that can't be broken-so, I knew it was the right flower for you the moment I saw it."
...
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're maybe a teeny tiny bit angry."
"You THINK? Way to go, genius! It's because you're not being fair! I don't want or need you to protect me! I want you to tell me whenever something's bothering you, or when you're upset or scared or angry or anything! Yeah, I'm not the smartest guy on the block, I'm actually the dumbest guy around, but I'm here and I want you to trust me! I'll do my very best to help you, I swear, just let me help!"
"Hm. Maybe I should've picked a cactus."
Prompto groaned, frustration at its highest, thinking of the many times his friend the Leonhart pointed out just how annoying his father could be. "Laguna! Don't make me start agreeing with Squall!"
All traces of humor gone, Laguna spoke with every one of their memories on his lips. "Sorry, but it's not that I don't trust you or think you're too weak to handle anything. That's one of the reasons why I went for the Balamb lotus flowers-it's because of how strong you are. I'm the problem."
The photographer took a step back. "You?"
"Yeah. See, I didn't want to see you before I took off because...well, I may not act like it, but I'm pretty scared. Scared I won't be able to look after my squad, scared of screwing something up...but most of all, I'm scared of never being able to see you again. Not the kind of picture I want to paint for you, you being so strong and amazing and, well, nothing short of wonderful. Seriously, if you weren't as strong as I know you are, you wouldn't even be here. But here you are, and here I am, scared. A regular pussycat. Can't be proud of having a coward for a boyfriend, right?"
...
The brunette frowned, folding his arms. "You know, you make the cutest faces, but I don't really know what that one means. Are you still mad or-okay, you're laughing. As much as I love hearing you laugh, I'm still in the dark. Wanna help me out here?"
"Nothing, it's just that you and I are alike in more ways than one, babe," the laughing, tearful student replied, holding his sides. After spending a moment in the eye of laughter's storm, Prompto faced him with a smile. "But see, that's what I came here looking for. I just want you to be honest with me. You don't have to hold anything back, honest, and it's okay to be scared. You're human."
Laguna pawed at his chin. "So are you. Just a friendly reminder."
Deep-rooted affection erupted on the photographer's face. "And guess what? You don't have to worry about never seeing me again, because I'm going with you. Don't worried about getting fired or whatever. I'll take the heat."
"That's not really what I'm worried about. Now I'm worried about letting something happen to you."
Prompto sighed. "Look. Are we gonna grow old here worrying about each other, or are we gonna actually, you know, do something?"
"Bonus points for me. You said you'd like to grow old with me."
Frustration rose hand-in-hand with memories, love, light and sound. "Can't do that if I blow your head off," the gunner growled, half playful, half wanting to whip out his gun and pull the trigger because wow, was his boyfriend being completely and utterly annoying? It was definitely safe to say he was.
So guess who else won bonus points? Squall.