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Noctis was the undisputed King of his domain.
His devoted human servant, Ignis, had chosen to dedicate his life to him at an early age and Noctis had been happy to accept him into his service. Ever since Ignis had sworn his fealty, all of Noctis’ needs were subsequently catered to by his faithful retainer. He had the finest gourmet food, which was painstakingly prepared fresh for him each day by Ignis. None of that junk that came in a can or a bag was suitable for a cat of his stature.
Noctis regularly received massages, scratches behind his ears, and gentle pets as an expression of Ignis’ joy in attending to him. His sleek black fur was well maintained. Noctis ensured he was immaculately groomed at all times. However, Ignis occasionally made use of a delightful tool referred to as a ‘brush’. This ‘brush’ felt exquisite whenever it ran gently through his coat, so Noctis permitted this occasional luxury and often settled down for a nap as he was catered to. As a reward for Ignis’ excellent service, Noctis made certain to knead and scent him regularly, to ensure that anyone who came across his servant would know that he was under Noctis’ protection.
After a scrumptious supper of meticulously prepared daggerquill and salmon, on which Noctis made certain to complement Ignis with extensive mews for its delightful flavor and texture, he set off to decide where he would settle down to rest. There were plenty of warm, snug places in his kingdom where Noctis could curl up for a nap whenever he pleased, and he was determined to make good use of every single one. He had a rotation of favorite spots but there were always uncharted corners to explore. Noctis was always delighted whenever his adventures allowed him to add a new fortress to his collection.
On this particular occasion, Noctis was exceedingly pleased to discover that a box had been placed in the living area. Upon climbing over the top, he found that there was a nest of soft cloth inside. Having decided that this new location would be ideal for his nap, Noctis claimed the box for his own. It was warm and snug inside, but the fabric smelled strange. Undeterred by this odd development, he kneaded and scented the fabric thoroughly, determined to drown the unfamiliar smell with his own scent. Finally satisfied that his new castle had been fortified, Noctis curled up and settled in to sleep.
Several hours later, Noctis was rudely awoken by a high pitched mew and he sprang to his feet, instantly alert. How dare another cat enter his territory uninvited!
Determined to locate the invading force, Noctis was shocked and appalled to discover that a door leading one of his favorite napping spots had been closed. Immediately, he began to paw at the door, mewing loudly for Ignis to come and correct this outrageous error at once. A smell was coming from the other side of the door, and he pressed his nose to the gap between the door and the floor to investigate.
With a start Noctis recognized it as the same smell that had been present inside the box before he acquired it.
“Hello,” a small, happy voice mewed from the other side of the door. “Have you come to play? There are lots of places to explore here.”
Play? That didn’t sound like an invading force, but Noctis still proceeded with caution as he answered sternly, “You’re trespassing in my kingdom. Who are you and how did you get here?”
“I’m Prompto!” came the cheerful reply. “My bringer of food put me in a box and when I came out, I was here. Can I stay? I like it here and I’ve never had a friend to play with before.”
Noctis considered for a moment. He had noticed another human spending increasing amounts of time with his retainer, but hadn’t thought much of it at the time. Was this human the ‘bringer of food’? Either way, Prompto appeared harmless enough. As long as he recognized Noctis’ authority, he supposed it would be alright to allow him to stay.
“Alright,” Noctis agreed. “If you swear your loyalty to me, you can stay.”
The happy sound of purring made its way through the door as Prompto responded, “Okay!”
The door remained closed for an eternity.
No matter how many times Noctis complained about the error, Ignis made no move to correct it. He was beginning to think a new training regimen for his retainer was in order. Still, for the moment it was only a minor inconvenience. Aside from being barred from one of his favorite napping spots, and seeing Prompto’s ‘bringer of food,’ who Ignis referred to as ‘Gladio’, with increasing frequency, not much changed for Noctis outside of being able to partake in an occasional conversation with Prompto through the door.
On the day that the door finally opened, chaos ensued.
Noctis quickly learned that Prompto was a sunny, fluffy, little bouncing ball of hyperactivity. With a light golden-orange colored coat, and sparkling blue-violet eyes, Prompto had zoomed out of the room he’d been confined in and had yet to stop moving since. Honestly, it was making Noctis dizzy just watching him.
There was something charming about the wide eyed wonder Prompto had about just about everything he discovered. Prompto was clumsy and was constantly falling off of things as he explored, but he was always so positive and cheerful about everything. Noctis had to admit that things he had taken for granted about his surroundings took on a shiny new perspective with his new subject around.
It was around the third time he’d been rudely awoken from a nap that Noctis began to wonder if he’d made a mistake in allowing Prompto to remain in his territory.
“Please, can we play?” Prompto mewed cheerfully.
He looked up into those bright, pleading eyes and grumpily stood up and stretched. Noctis wished Prompto wasn’t so earnest about his desire to be close to him. It would make it a lot easier to remain annoyed. As it was, he’d already endured the indignity of having to share his servant with Prompto. Ignis had taken one glance at the food Gladio had been serving and immediately removed the offending bag from the premises. This of course meant that Ignis was now responsible for providing Prompto’s meals as well.
Initially, Noctis had been upset by this turn of events, but Prompto was always so grateful for everything he was provided that it was difficult to remain irritated at him for long. It also turned out that Gladio was excellent at giving massages, so in the spirit of fairness, Noctis claimed Gladio as a new general servant of the household. Still, this habit Prompto had developed of awakening him when and as he pleased would need to be stopped. Nap time was sacred after all.
Without answering Prompto’s inquiry, Noctis jumped down from the sunny, padded windowsill and strolled lazily across the room to the couch. Gladio was sitting there, so Noctis spitefully made himself comfortable on his lap and watched idly, perched on his human throne, as Prompto zoomed about the room.
While Gladio began catering to his needs with gentle strokes of his sleek black fur, Noctis kept an eye on Prompto, who had begun to climb up the drapes. He was begrudgingly impressed with the height to which Prompto had ascended when Ignis came out of nowhere wielding a strange object. He watched in horror at the misty spray that escaped and as Prompto plummeted to the ground with a terrified mew of distress, Noctis sprang into action.
He leapt off Gladio’s lap and placed himself firmly between his servant and his crying subject. There was no way to avoid it now. Ignis would definitely need to undergo a retraining regiment. Noctis was utterly appalled that his retainer would dare to raise a weapon to Prompto and he hissed at him furiously. Minor annoyances aside, Prompto was his subject, and therefore under his protection.
Prompto’s mews were heartbreaking and he could not stand the sound for a moment longer. Confident that his displeasure was understood, Noctis turned his back to Ignis and quickly herded Prompto out of the room. He brought them to one of his favorite hiding spots, far from the prying eyes of their servants, and curled up with him tightly in the soft nest of blankets.
“Why?” Prompto sobbed as Noctis pulled him in closer. “Why did he do that?”
“I’m sorry,” Noctis apologized. “You swore your loyalty to me and you are under my protection. It will never happen again. I shall make sure of it.”
“Thank you, Noct,” Prompto breathed as he relaxed into Noctis’ embrace.
Noctis could feel Prompto’s heartbeat as they snuggled together and the cozy warmth lulled them both into sleepy contentment. “Of course,” he purred as they drifted off to sleep. “A king takes care of his subjects.”