Work Text:
“Hi.”
Prompto literally had a heart attack. Sure, he had encountered Gladiolus, also known as Prince Noctis's sworn shield, who was a big, intimidating guy, definitely around Noctis’ side plenty of times.
Maybe more, but Prompto couldn’t remember well due to the errors occurring in his brain whenever he’d see the older guy. He couldn’t quite figure it out, but decided to conclude he was just intimidating, strict and serious. That had to be it.
So of course, visiting Noctis and having the big guy stand before him instead of his best friend, yes, Prompto was rather shocked.
“H-h-hi I was just--” Prompto squeaked guiltily. Yes he was guilty, both he and Noctis were guilty since they had obviously planned to hang out to play video games instead of…
Prompto sighed when Gladio guided him into Noctis’ apartment where Noctis sat obediently at the table, doing his homework. Yeah, instead of homework, they’d hoped.
“You were just joining Noct to study, I know,” Gladiolus said sarcastically. Noctis made a face but shrugged. Prompto bowed his head and sat down at the table as well, unpacking his school bag and taking out his study books. So far their gaming afternoon.
“Tea, Prom~?” Gladio asked casually, and Prompto muttered a squeaky yes. Noctis leaned over the table while Gladiolus prepared some tea, whispering: “Damn guy confiscated my game. Wants me to study. Man he’s like Ignis sometimes, I hate when he does this.”
“What was that?” Gladio asked, standing behind Noctis. Prompto swallowed. So serious.
“Nothing,” Noctis grumbled, even when it was obvious Gladio had heard his grumpy complaints. So for at least thirty long and boring minutes, Prompto and Noctis sat there, forced to study.
Gladiolus just drank his tea and pranced through the room as if he was some college teacher, sometimes standing by Noct’s side and explaining something, or quizzing him about the things they needed to study. He also offered his help to Prompto, who squeakily refused, blushing like mad.
Then at last, Gladiolus strode into Noct’s bedroom, excusing himself for a quick nap.
“Lazy bum, can’t believe him,” Noctis growled under his breath, shaking his head and rolling his eyes when the door to his bedroom was closed at last, granting Prompto some time alone with his friend.
“So he just took your game?” Prompto wondered while he read the same sentence like five times in a row, distracted.
“Uhuh. When he appeared at the door I thought it was you at first so I was dumb and excited I guess. I was like yay Prompto I got the game, let’s play~!” Noctis imitated his merry self in a hilarious way, and Prompto snickered.
“Of course it was Gladio who came to check on me, and surely he disapproved of our gaming session idea while we got a test coming up.” Noctis rolled his eyes again.
“So there he went, taking my game just like that and sticking it into his pocket.” Noctis then gulped and smirked.
“....Into his pocket,” he repeated, smirking. Prompto frowned when he caught the look on Noctis’ face.
“What’re you thinking?” he asked the smug prince, and Noctis dropped his pen and leaned back, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Wanna know something about Gladio? He’s a deep sleeper,” Noctis said, wiggling his eyebrows. Prompto’s mouth formed an ‘o’ in surprise and he shook his head slowly.
“No way,” he said, now understanding what Noct was getting at.
“Yes way,” Noctis said jokingly, nodding his head excitedly. He leaned forward and whispered in excitement: “Know why he’s taking that nap? Iris was ill the past few days, he barely got any sleep. Probably exhausted. My guess is he’ll be in there for a while,” Noctis said. He crossed his arms.
“So… I say we sneak in there, grab the game, and play after all. Moment he comes in, we can still quit. Right?” Noctis said. Prompto didn’t share the excitement.
“I think it’s too risky,” he sighed, shaking his head in disagreement. Noctis shrugged.
“No it isn’t. If he catches us, he’ll send us back to our books is all. We could try at least! Prompto we’ve both been looking forward to this game for weeks. Are we really letting Gladio ruin this? Come on, let’s at least try to install it.” Noctis was convincing alright. Prompto sighed and dropped his pen as well, smiling in defeat.
“Alright then. But if he ends up waking up and throwing a tantrum, I’m outta here,” Prompto laughed nervously. Noctis nodded.
“Haha, deal. But he won’t, trust me. Let’s go,” he said, signaling they should head for the bedroom, so there they went. A stealth mission: a prince and his buddy, aiming to steal a video game from the sleeping Shield’s pocket. How hard could it be?
Prompto sighed in relief when they could open the door soundlessly. On Noct’s bed, on top of the blankets lay Gladio, his sporty cap covering his face, his chest heaving peacefully. On Noctis’ mark, they quietly approached the bed on hands and knees, very quietly, holding their breaths and making sure not to make a single sound.
Noctis pointed at the pocket on the right side of Gladio’s baggy pants. “Over there,” he whispered very softly, and he signaled he needed Prompto’s help with it.
“Hold,” Noctis whispered, requesting Prompto should very carefully hold the edges of the pocket so Noctis could slip out the video game with ease. It was quite a work. One pocket, one game, four hands, but they managed. Prompto held the pocket open as best as he could, and he smiled in excitement when the game appeared as Noctis took it out slowly.
“Almost..” Noctis whispered, his tongue sticking out in concentration. Almost… Two-third of the game cover could be seen, and Prompto could already feel his insides boil in excitment at the sight of it. This gaaame! At last!
“Got it,” Noctis said when he finally took it all out. But a mistake was then made, with Prompto being the guilty one. He pulled his hands back too quickly and excitedly and ended up bumping against Gladio’s elbow. A low growl could be heard, and both Noctis’ and Prompto’s eyes widened.
“Run,” Noct said, standing up with the game in his hand and bolting out as fast as he could. Prompto went after him, or that was the plan, but it all changed when he felt a big hand grab his wrist.
Before he knew it, Gladio yanked his arm and he toppled on top of the bed. There was barely a struggle or wrestle before Prompto found himself pinned down on top of the bed sheets, face down, Gladio leaning against him from behind with all of his weight.
“Look what we have here. Noct’s rubbing off on you hm?” Gladio said, to which Noctis at the door snickered.
“Or he’s rubbing off on me, no?” he joked, but Prompto wasn’t sure if he was in a position to joke around. Gladio shared the sentiment as he spat at Noctis: “Imma teach your bud a lesson, but know that you are next.” Oh. Prompto shuddered. A lesson?
“Eeeeeh,” Noctis said, backing away. Prompto squirmed under Gladio’s weight, baffled at how he could hardly move.
“Hard pass. Prompto, hang in there alright? Imma install this game,” Noctis said, waving with the game in his hand, and Prompto’s jaw dropped when Noct spun around and the door closed behind him, leaving him alone with a vengeful Gladio.
Somehow Prompto thought the Shield would chase after the disobedient prince and his video game, but he did not. He pressed Prompto tighter against the mattress and leaned closer to warn him: “Heh, nothing personal Prom, but I thought you might wanna find out how naughty princes and his friends usually get punished.”
Prompto’s eyes widened when he felt one of Gladio’s big hands move from his shoulder down his torso where it rested against his ribs. Gladio leaned even closer, so close Prompto could feel his breath: “You ticklish?” Gladio muttered teasingly. Prompto blushed.
“N--AHh!” he gasped, his entire body jerking heavily when Gladio’s hand on his ribs dug its fingers in slightly, clawing ruthlessly at Prompto’s hypersensitive body. Oh no.
“AGAhah! Glaha- ohnohoho! I’m sohohorry!” Prompto squeaked, his mouth opening wide as loud laughter poured from him. His legs kicked backwards and he struggled helplessly, but Gladio kept him pinned to the bed firmly. Prompto could barely move, and that while the most ticklish sensations he had ever felt invaded his body like what the fuck.
“I see that you are. Well, that’s good,” Gladiolus said calmly, pressing Prompto down even firmer while his hand grabbed effortlessly at various places of Prompto’s torso; his ribs, sides, even sliding between Prompto and the bed and attacking his stomach. It all tickled like hell.
“EHEHehe! Nohoho!” Prompto cried, squirming weakly. The thought that Noctis could suffer from similar punishments was hilarious, but right now he was laughing for other reasons. Gladiolus proved to be both the strong bodyguard and the typical big brother by showing Prompto how good he was at tickling someone to death.
“You’re even worse than Noct and Iris huh,” Gladio hummed as if that was a compliment, and Prompto shrieked for his life when Gladio lowered his hand and squeezed his sides mercilessly.
“AHAHAAH! NOhahahaha! Glaha-AAHah!” Prompto roared, his arms reaching behind to fight off Gladio’s hands, only to get caught by one of Gladio’s huge hands. There held in place behind his back, they could offer zero protection as Gladio lowered his free hand and pinched his lower side repeatedly.
“NAHAAAHAA!” He couldn’t believe Noctis didn’t come for his rescue, but then again, Prompto did hope he’d install the game at least to save them the hassle for next time. Such a huge game was going to take a while.
Ah, all this for a game, he thought, shaking from the ticklish shocks that alarmed all of his body while loud laughter continued to errupt from him.
“Noct~? Ain’t helping your friend here?” Gladiolus called out casually as if he could read Prompto’s chaotic mind. No answer came, so Gladio merely hovered over Prompto again and chuckled.
“Guess that’s a no,” he sang, and Prompto gasped when he was flipped over halfway so Gladio could attack his tummy with merciless tickles using both hands.
“ANAHAH! Not thehehere! Glahahadiohoho!” Prompto cackled, shy, flustered and nervous all at once to learn of Gladio’s rather playful side in this way. In this new position, he could see the smirk on the Shield’s face and fuck was it enough to make Prompto blush even worse.
“Not where~? Heeere? Let me tell you one thing, little thieves get their tummies tickled,” Gladio teased childishly as if Prompto was his little sister, and he used his knee to pin Prompto in place while he spidered his thick fingers all over Prompto’s sensitive tummy.
“EEehehehehe! P-plehehehease!” Prompto giggled like crazy, blushing and squirming endlessly. His hands that continued to chase after Gladio’s tickly fingers were forced to stake their defense when Gladio caught them and pinned them up above his head. This gave him free access to Prompto’s exposed underarms; something the touchy Shield gladly made use of.
“HOhohoh! No pleeeehehease waahahaa!” Prompto squealed, his eyes squeezed shut and forcing the first few tears from laughter to roll down his cheeks. He shook his head and kicked his legs helplessly.
“I’m rheheeally sahahahaaarry!” Prompto cried. He was relieved when the tickling ceased, but it didn’t stop entirely. After the good round of merciless armpit tickling, Gladio loosened the grip on Prompto’s arms and lazily brushed his fingers against his ribs, making him giggle and shudder. He leaned closer for a lecture.
“Alright. You understand Noct has to study, right? It’s for his own good. As his Shield, there are more things than just ‘danger’ I need to shield him from.” Gladio chuckled. “Like his recklessness and foolishness,” he said fondly, shaking his head. Prompto snorted, and he nodded frantically.
“So here’s the deal. You and I are gonna punish Noct. You will assist me,” Gladio said, and Prompto definitely understood the tickles he got on his stomach right now worked as a warning, and he nodded again, giggling and squirming hysterically.
“You both will then study until our stubborn prince can answer everything right. You then are free to play your game for as long as you want today, or well, until midnight at least. Good?”
Prompto nodded again, blushing in embarrassment as his squeaky giggles just wouldn’t come to an end.
“Yehehehes! Y-you hahahave my wohohord!” he giggled. Gladio chuckled and ruffled Prompto’s hair after finally stopping the tickly punishment.
“Alright. Let’s get him,” he said, grabbing Prompto’s arm and helping him off the bed. Prompto was still dizzy and flustered, finding it hard to believe Gladiolus of all people just tickled him to death, and he tried to ignore his racing heartbeat.
Luckily the distraction that came right after was priceless. They barged into the living room to find Noctis and the game’s installation progress at 40%. Before Noctis could do or say anything, before Prompto could give him a piece of his mind about leaving him in the tickle monster’s clutches, said tickle monster pounced on Noctis and started tickling him ruthlessly.
“Help me out here!” Gladio called out to Prompto as if he needed any help, and Prompto laughed and gladly joined in, feeling a little vengeful as he sat by Noctis’ arms and pinned them down so Gladio could attack the squealing prince with tickles.
And that was actually how Prompto really got acquainted with the Prince’s Shield. Not those few brief encounters outside, the quick and in Prompto’s case shy words they exchanged. The nervous stares, and modest peeks at Gladio’s attractive figure.
No, it was this fateful day, when Prompto got tickled to death by Gladio for the first time as if the two had been particularly close for years, and heck, Prompto couldn’t help but NOT mind.
In fact, it was his pleasure if he could develop a special bond with the Shield as well, with or without these remarkable punishments from a certain tickle monster. Whether Prompto had a crush on this tickle monster? Hm.. Maybe he did.