Chapter Text
Cor isn't surprised when his phone rings - it is the day of a rough training session for the Crownsguard and he has been anticipating a call that one member or another (or multiple) has gotten injured.
'Leonis.'
'Cor, Argentum took a nasty blow to the head and had to be sent to the hospital,' Roswell reports. They know that Cor now prefers to be the one to handle hospital visits for guard members, so the file is on their desk as Cor strides past on his way to check on Argentum. Roswell is nothing if not efficient - they already have a quick summary of the incident included. Cor continues to be forever glad that Monica convinced him to hire them.
Looks like Grimaldis got into a situation they couldn't handle and Argentum saved them from getting really badly injured but got hit himself in the process. It's not the worst thing that's happened to the kid - he was shot a few months ago, after all - but it's the next of kin section that has Cor pulling up short just outside of the hospital room he's directed to.
His own phone number is there, no name or anything attached. Just a phone number of who to call in case of emergency.
Cor can only blink at the file for a moment before the door is opening and Argentum almost collides with him. 'Marshal! Sorry, sir, didn't see you there.'
Cor levels a look at Argentum - the kid has a nasty bruise on the side of his face and looks paler than usual. 'Argentum, what brings you here?'
Argentum must not be as bad off as Cor feared, for he answers readily enough. 'Just got knocked around a bit in today's training - had to pop up here for a potion. Already took that.'
He's not slurring his words, so clearly the potion has taken care of any head injury that might have happened. Cor still steers Argentum back into the room. 'Looks like one potion won't cut it this time, not unless I want to lose my head for sending you back to His Highness looking like that.'
Argentum frowns, but then Cor directs his attention to a mirror and he winces. 'Ah, yeah, guess I should take another one so Noct doesn't worry.' Not so that he is fully healed for his own sake, Cor notes.
As they're waiting for a nurse to return, silence falls between them and Cor debates how to ask the question that's burning in his mind. 'Argentum, why is my phone number your emergency contact?' he asks bluntly and apropos of nothing. Well, he's never been one for social niceties or small talk
Argentum shrugs. 'It makes the most sense.'
'How do you figure that?'
'Well, it shouldn't be Noct - he's too important to be an emergency contact. Plus he never actually answers his phone unless it's Ignis. Ignis is too busy - I don't want to add yet another thing for him to deal with. If I'm hurt on duty then Gladio's probably going to have bigger things to worry about - like making sure Noct's ok. It just makes the most sense to have you be the emergency contact - you'll probably know what's wrong or what happened anyway so no need to contact anyone after all.'
Cor can only stare blankly at Argentum in the face of that logic - flawed as he thinks it might be. He doesn't have time to argue against it, however, before the nurse returns and Argentum's attention is diverted to getting another potion to clear up any lingering side effects.
~
In the grand scheme of things, it could have been worse. The prince is alive. Barely hurt, even. No civilians are badly injured. The building didn't suffer any lasting structural damage, so it won't fall.
That doesn't change the fact that Cor is sitting vigil in Prompto's hospital room, waiting for the kid to wake up.
Scientia is there too, pale and fidgeting. He doesn't ask why Cor is still there, which Cor takes as a sign of the kid's agitation - Scientia isn't one to let an abnormality like this slide. Cor doesn't sit at the bedside of every Guard that goes down in the field, never leaving. Cor doesn't particularly want to think about how much he cares for Prompto right now though, not when Prompto is pale as a ghost in a hospital bed. Again.
Cor watches Scientia as the prince's advisor starts moving about the room and can tell that he is itching for something to do, something that will help him regain any semblance of control over the situation. 'May I see his file?' he asks, pausing in front of Cor's seat as he paces. 'I'd like to provide an update to his emergency contact. No one remembered to do so last year.'
Cor flinches slightly at the memory of last year but doesn't think he'll be able to find the words to explain things to the kid, so he simply hands Scientia the file. Back to pacing, a phone is pulled out and number dialed.
Cor feels his own phone vibrate moments before the ringtone - whatever stupid song Nyx found to set it as this week - sounds loudly in the little room and Scientia's pacing stops abruptly.
'Oh,' he whispers, hanging up and slowly sitting next to Cor. Cor simply nods, and they both resume watching over Prompto and praying that he wakes soon.
~
Nyx will admit that when he first offered to spar with Prompto that he hadn't really expected the kid to follow through. Sure it would be neat to get to know him, he'd helped bring the kid here from Niflheim after all, but Prompto is a popular guy around the Citadel and has a ton of friends so Nyx expects to be forgotten in time.
He is pleasantly surprised when Prompto shows up a week later during his downtime and shyly asks if Nyx wants to spar. Nyx grins widely and leads him to the Kingsglaive training room.
This meeting becomes weekly, then semi-weekly, then they're getting together every other day. It's not always sparring, sometimes they do individual workouts together, sometimes they both have grueling training sessions with their respective captains and just want to lie down and groan in pain together. They have some good conversations in the quiet moments.
It's nice, in a way that Nyx hasn't really experienced with anyone outside the Kingsglaive and Cor.
Prompto asks about his family tattoo, and Nyx offers up his crest to the kid - he's the last of his family, so his family can be whoever he chooses. It's not like Prompto will remember.
~
Nyx really needs to stop assuming things about Prompto Argentum.
‘My new tattoo is itchy,’ Prompto complains, shaking his arm in a way that Nyx recognizes as trying to ward off an itch without scratching.
‘New tattoo?’ Nyx asks. ‘Can I see it?’ He remembers Prompto asking about his family crest a few months ago and wonders what kind of crest the kid came up with. He's sure that it's going to look great - kid's got an artistic eye. Maybe he just claimed the Lucis Caelum crest, since Nyx can tell that it's only a matter of time before Prompto and Prince Noctis get engaged.
‘Sure!’ Prompto proudly twists his arm to show off the fresh tattoo. ‘I used your star as a base and added other things on to make it my own!’
‘That looks really great, Prompto,’ Nyx compliments, hoping that Prompto doesn't comment on how short Nyx's words become. Prompto beams, and thankfully doesn't seem to notice the abrupt manner Nyx ends the session a little early and leaves. He doesn't go back to his own quarters, instead beelining to Cor's apartment and collapsing on the couch.
The tears that he'd held back in front of Prompto come out. He'd been alone for so long, then it was just him and Cor. And Cor isn't even Galahdian - Nyx hasn't had a proper Galahdian family in years. For Prompto to accept Nyx as family and go as far as to tattoo his family crest on his own arm has Nyx feeling things he hasn't let himself feel since his sister was alive.
Cor finds him there. 'Kid got to you too, huh?'
Nyx just nods and lets his boyfriend comfort him.
~
Prompto had a father, once. Edward Argentum had acted like a father for a few years and Prompto appreciates that in hindsight, but he doesn't miss the man.
Prompto is engaging in a session of lying and groaning with Nyx - they'd both been subjected to intense training sessions today and therefore are commiserating with one another and bashing their respective captains. Prompto is glad that he'd finished his rant against Cor before the door opens and the man himself walks in, looking like he hasn't broken a sweat ever in his life much less been torturing Crownsguard members an hour ago.
Nyx greets Cor with a groan and Cor shakes his head. 'You're fine, I will not carry you upstairs. I'm here to request that you join the planning meeting this evening - Drautos claims that he's otherwise engaged.'
Nyx groans again. 'Yeah, engaged in thinking up more shitty exercises to put us through like you do to poor Prompto. If I hadn't recently changed your ringtone I'd find something terrible to set it to.'
'You manage to set it to something terrible every time you change it.'
Nyx gasps in horror. 'How dare you imply such a thing! Prompto, have you heard Cor's phone go off?'
Prompto, thoroughly entertained by the exchange, simply shakes his head. As he does, the sounds of The Bettys's newest single start coming from Cor. With a put-upon sigh aimed at Nyx, Cor answers, promising whoever's on the other end that he has informed Nyx of the evening's meeting.
Nyx slowly stands up as Cor talks, and once the short call is over he snatches the phone out of his hands. 'I've for an idea for something else, give me a moment.'
An even more resigned sigh is Cor's only response and Prompto snorts. Cor narrows his eyes at Prompto, who only grins - completely unrepentant.
Nyx hands Cor's phone back and gives Cor a quick kiss on the lips, surprising Prompto. Are they…
Cor doesn't seem displeased or surprised in the slightest. 'I assume you'll be wanting to come over after the meeting?'
'Yeah,' Nyx agrees, flopping back down next to Prompto. 'As long as you order from Third Street this time - the last Galahdian place you got take away from was trash.'
Prompto's eyes are wide as he stares between the two. They are!
'Duly noted. See you there,' Cor replies, smirking at Prompto's surprise and walking away. Cor is such a bastard - he knows the bomb he is dropping on Prompto's brain!
~
Prompto thought that not missing Edward Argentum means that he doesn't miss having a father. He hasn't had a father in so long that now he's perfectly indifferent to the idea of having one.
Prompto is with Nyx in Cor's office. Nyx is lying across Cor's desk and swatting at Cor every now and then. Prompto can't figure out why - maybe it's just that Nyx is a tactile person and likes his boyfriend? Seems odd, but Prompto doesn't question things about their relationship - they fit well and Prompto's happy for them.
It isn't until Nyx mentions not scratching and messing 'it' up that something clicks in Prompto's brain. 'Wait, you got a tattoo?'
Cor just nods, moving a file out from behind Nyx's head and putting it on top of his stomach to begin reading. Nyx nods too, which makes Prompto hop up from his chair.
'Lemme see!'
Cor doesn't make a move, so Nyx reaches over to roll up his sleeve - forcing Cor to rearrange his folder of papers to keep reading (now one-handed) on Nyx's chest. Prompto has no idea what Cor might have gotten tattooed on himself, so he's really surprised to see Nyx's family crest with lightning stretching across the top as well as the same chocobo feather Prompto has on his own.
Prompto can only stare. Cor has a tattoo. With the same symbolism that Prompto used for himself in his own family tattoo. Maybe it's a coincidence?
Nyx rolls up his own sleeve and Prompto sees that his family crest tattoo has been updated since Prompto last saw it. There's now a rather distinctive katana there - the same one that's sitting behind Cor's chair right now. And a very familiar chocobo feather.
What's more, Nyx's tattoo additions aren't brand new like Cor's tattoo is - they are long since healed.
'I wanted to add you to my family like you added me to yours, Prompto,' Nyx says softly.
Prompto looks to Cor, whose face is his soft caring face and suddenly Prompto can't see through the tears in his eyes.
It turns out that he isn't indifferent to having a father after all, Prompto realizes as Nyx pulls him into a hug. He's even lucky enough to have two.