Chapter Text
M.E. 753-V-19th - 3:47 p.m.
The plan initially started after a meeting, when Gladio made a flippant joke. The joke wasn't the surprise, though — Luna getting the joke was the surprise to him. Her time in Insomnia had her becoming more and more accustomed to the jokes and humor that he and Prompto threw around, but this was different.
Noctis didn't get Gladio's joke, but Luna did.
And he found that very strange.
She had explained later that it turned out that she and Gladio, when younger, both read a pair of quasi-related book series starring plucky young detectives getting themselves in trouble. Her's followed a teenage red haired girl and her two best friends, while Gladio really liked one that involved a pair of teenage brothers?
Or something. Noctis didn't really know anything about either of them. Still, he thought it was great that Luna and Gladio had latched onto something they knew together. The next thing Noctis knew was that Gladio and Luna were talking about books and his Shield was even loaning some to her.
Then it came to today, when Gladio had suggested that Noctis take her to his favorite bookstore. ...which, all things considered, confused him. Wouldn't it be better if Gladio took her? They were the ones who were bonding over their love of reading.
Regardless, one short phone call later — Luna didn't really do much in the way of texts (though he hoped he could change that, really) — and an hour later, they were in a car with Gladio as the driver and on the way.
They were dropped off and Gladio had told Noctis that the shop was right there, but he realized he didn't know what he was looking for and his Shield had backed off enough to keep a close watch on them while giving them alone time, as well. This meant that Noctis had no one to ask or confirm.
The districts that surrounded the Citadel were some of the oldest in the city. Over time, older buildings were torn down to be replaced by sleek, and modern storefronts and skyscrapers. However, there was the occasional shop that managed to defy the fate of modernization and retain its identity.
Only as Noctis began to grow annoyed at this game that Gladio threw at them, he saw the red door. He distinctly remembered his shield mentioning that much. It was there, squashed between two concrete walls. No windows were around the door — only above it. It looked impossibly narrow for a storefront, and only seemed to be about two stories tall.
"Here," he reached out to take Luna's wrist and guide her with him. "I think this is it."
"Where are you taking me, Noctis?"
He found the sign next to the door. A small metal placard that listed the name of the shop, and hours. He pointed it out, as if he knew it was there the whole time. "Publisher's Row Bookstore."
Wouldn't it be a thing that, if he opened the door for her, it was locked?
Thankfully, it wasn't. The door popped open with the jingle of a bell, and it was as if they stepped through a portal and into an older Insomnia. The interior of the shop not only appeared to have not aged in the slightest, but it was clearly well-loved, well-known, and was crammed from floor to ceiling — all the way to its second floor — with shelves and shelves of books.
Luna's gasp was one of excitement and her eyes lit up. She was so well composed at all times, that this kind of reaction was so, so rare. Instead of looking at the store itself, Noctis took a step back and only watched Luna instead. He was mesmerized. Luna always held onto the appearance and decorum that was fitting of the Oracle, but now — it was like he was seeing her as a young girl introduced to a new world of wonder.
"I've..." Luna paused as her mind was preoccupied with scanning the walls and walls of books. "I've never seen anything like this before..."
There were even stacks of books on the floor, or boxes in corners. They had more books than they had shelf space. Noctis had to admit that this was pretty cool. He didn't realize that there were shops like this in Insomnia in the first place.
Right at the entrance, there were a few steps to a wood planked floor. Luna quickly climbed them and immediately started down one of the rows of shelves. The shop widened out just a little bit past the entry, but not a lot. Each of the two rows had ladders to go up, and at the very back, there appeared to be a stairwell.
"Oh my goodness," a voice spoke up from Noctis' left. A young woman at the register was surprised as she clearly recognized the guests. "Your Highn-"
Noctis only cast a faint smile in her direction and raised a finger, hoping to discreetly cut her off. "Sorry. I'd rather not draw any attention to us."
There was a quick bow of her head. "No worries. I apologize."
He made the effort to try and keep his identity from being as obvious, with his clothes — dark jeans, a gray t-shirt, and a baseball cap to help keep his hair hidden.
Of course the effort of his look was heavily contrasted by Luna's clothing. She always looked impeccable, regardless of her attire. In this case, she evaded white to keep her identity from being as obvious - a much easier trick within Insomnia. She was wearing an emerald green dress adorned with lace and sleeves that fringed out at her elbows. It was cinched at the waist with a black belt, and she finished it off with black leggings, lace-up boots, and an oversized black purse.
"You're all good." He grinned, then looked up and realized that Luna took off without him. The young woman at the register then pointed towards the left of the two aisles. "She's down there."
There was a sheepish laugh before Noctis nodded to her, "Thanks." He quickly followed down the aisle to track Luna down. How on earth could he lose her in a shop this small?!
At the end of the row was a small cubby and some older, clearly antique books, tucked away behind a glass cabinet. Luna looked up at him and waved him over. "Noctis, look." She pointed to one. "Mother had the first two of these books but never the third. And it's right here." As if to emphasize her words, she tapped the glass door with a slender finger.
Noctis studied the leather-bound book, and the gold leafed pages. It was a beautiful book, at least, but he didn't recognize the title or anything. When he looked up to comment, Luna was gone. He twisted around to search for her, and paused as he found her on a ladder against the opposite shelf, closer to the front of the store. She was trying to see some of the books that weren't at eye level.
This time, instead of following, Noctis settled into an aged, wooden chair that was tucked between the cubby of collectible books and the bookshelf. There, he could lean back and just watch. Perhaps a part of him started to get why Gladio suggested this. At the same time, he felt a slightly jarring sense of pain in his heart — the realization that he never got to experience something like this with his fiancee in his past life. He knew she loved reading, but he never had the chance to see this kind of raw joy from her.
He remained seated while he watched Luna quickly come back down the ladder, and work her way back towards the front of the store, then turn the corner, most likely to go to another aisle. Noctis didn't move, outside of turning his head to look back at the glass cabinet with the antique books. There was that set of three together.
Quietly, he rose to his feet and while he studied the set of books — clearly by a Lucian author from the name. Considering what had happened to Tenebrae when he was eight, Noctis found himself wondering what scenario prevented that third book? Was it that Sylva never had the chance to get it before her death? Or did political tensions make it too difficult to even import a book that was written by someone who was clearly an enemy to the Empire?
When Noctis took a step back from the cabinet, he looked in the direction of the counter where he saw the young woman earlier. She was looking in his direction, too. So he simply raised a hand to get her attention — then pointed at the glass cabinet.
Message received. The young woman got the keys and approached him. Once she was right next to him, Noctis spoke to her quietly, "Don't tell her," Luna, of course, "but I'd like to buy that book." Once he pointed out the book in question, there was a smile before the clerk unlocked the cabinet and she retrieved it. She handed it to Noctis to look over it.
It was a beautiful, dark red cover, with gold leafed accents that decorated it. Again, a title he didn't recognize at all. It wasn't any of the literature he ran across during required readings in school.
"I'd like to check out right away, so that she doesn't see it."
The clerk had a knowing smile as she took the book. "I can definitely help with that."
After they had finished looking around, as they left the bookstore together, Noctis noticed that Luna didn't purchase anything. "You didn't find anything that you wanted in there?" A touch of panic rose internally. He suddenly found himself worried over whether he made a bad decision with the book he bought for her.
"I couldn't decide on one thing." Luna said as she walked alongside him with her hands folded behind her back. She was still clearly on cloud nine, but it didn't help Noct's anxiety over his purchase. However, the bookstore was a great decision, it seemed. "And I have plenty to read in the Citadel. The library there is well stocked."
Noctis was confused. "Mostly for research, though, isn't it?"
Luna responded with a shake of her head. "You don't know where to look. I've found that there's a decent archive of classical fiction kept there, too. Many old books I've never heard of, as well."
"Oh. Huh." Noctis looked away and was surprised. He felt a little embarassed by this bit of information. He lived in the Citadel just never realized this. Then again, he didn't quite devour books the same way she did. Or at all, even. "Oh, hey, Luna?"
He had spotted Gladio's car, but didn't want to give this to her in front of his Shield. "So... uh... I hope this is okay, but..." He first turned his back to the car to try and keep the exchange between them and pulled a small bag from the Armiger and held it out to Luna.
Who seemed surprised at the bag. Luna gingerly took it from Noctis as she asked, "You bought me something?" She peeked into the bag then suddenly looked up, her eyes wide in surprise. "You didn't..." Then she gingerly pulled the leather bound book from it. "This is..."
"I mean," Noctis quickly tried to cover for it. He couldn't tell if she liked it or not and immediately went into damage control. "It's okay, if you don't want it. I can just take it ba-"
"You will do no such thing." When Luna interrupted him with such insistence, Noctis was stunned into silence. "This is such a rare book, you didn't need to.... I mean..." She started to falter, and that's when Noctis noticed that she was fighting back tears...?
All Noctis could bring himself to say was, "It sounded like the book's important to you."
She just nodded once. She was clearly struggling to keep herself together from the emotion. "It is. I can finish reading the story that Mother never finished..." She hugged the book to her chest. "Oh, Noctis. This is wonderful."
It felt like his heart skipped a beat when she smiled that beautiful, wonderful smile at him. His anxiety over the book melted, once he saw just how much it meant to her. Noctis finally said, quietly, "It's an opportunity to start your own collection of books."
"Yeah," she didn't hesitate with her answer and sounded almost like an excited young girl again, "My first book of my own!"
Noctis laughed. Her cheer was infectious. "We'll have to reserve a section of the library, just for you."
"I can see it already," she gestured with a hand, "The Oracle's Archive."
Noctis laughed, "It's perfect." But in the back of his mind, he heard an echo of you're perfect towards her.
"Do..." He hesitated. Noctis now realized that he understood exactly why Gladio made this suggestion in the first place. That realization emboldened him just slightly to see if they could keep the night going. "Do you want to go get dinner?"
Luna's smile didn't fade at all, "Of course." She offered the bag to him. "If you could hold onto this for me, however, I would appreciate it."
Noctis took the bag and tossed it into the Armiger with a grin, "It's not a problem at all."