Work Text:
Ever since he was a child, Noctis loved animals. Always had, always would. Insomnia wasn’t exactly a place blooming with wild flora and fauna, but, luckily for him, the royal stables provided a good enough escape. It had started off with just a few horses and cows and a single donkey, but the population had grown significantly since then. A couple of stray cats and dogs won over the stable hands after they rid the area of pests like mice and snakes. An injured barn owl from outside of the city had been brought in for treatment, but she never ended up leaving. A small aviary of local and regional birds also stood out the back of the stables, so there was never a quiet or dull moment here.
Technically, the stables and animals belonged to the city’s university system, meant to function as a hands-on learning center for students of agriculture and animal science, but there hadn’t been enough open land around the university to sustain all the animals. So, when brought before the king, it was allowed to be built on a large tract of unused land that belonged to the royal family, northeast of the citadel on the outskirts of the city.
During the week the stables were usually busy, both university students and stable hands coming and going, learning and caring and managing the animals, but on the weekends and school holidays the property was largely empty, save for the stable hands. He was awkward at first, but he got used to them. They welcomed him on the weekends, said it was good for the animals to have someone who wasn’t there to poke or prod or study them. He could relate to that.
“Good evening Prince Noctis,” one of the stable managers greeted him as he walked in that evening, offering him a smile and a slight bow. He tried to return the smile, hoping he looked convincing.
“Good evening, how are you?”
“Just fine, thank you. I was just about to leave, but feel free to stay as long as you like. Perhaps not too late though, wouldn’t want your father worrying,” She said, gathering up her things.
“Of course not, ma’am. Thank you, as always.”
She left him be with a small wave and another smile. And, finally, Noctis was alone. Well, not entirely. Quiet scuffs and whinneys, chirps of birds and an occasional bark from one of the dogs still filled the air. The barn owl watched him from the rafters, silent. No, Noctis wasn’t alone, he had all the company he needed. Much better than the company he would have been keeping in the castle tonight.
He sighed, forcing himself to relax his tense shoulders as he entered the stable. He had so much to do, so much responsibility placed upon him, but, just for tonight, he could let some things slide.
----
With the school year coming to a close Noctis had a very strict schedule, and Ignis had lately made it his top priority to make the prince stick to it.
Tonight, for example, the Prince was supposed to study with Ignis for an upcoming test at 6pm, have dinner with his father at 7, immediately followed by a late night meeting with the King’s advisors. Ruling a country was a 24 hour job, so Ignis knew that the King was only trying to prepare Noctis for what would come in his future.
On occasion, he felt sympathy for the boy. He was still young, yet had immense responsibility placed on him at times. He did what he could to ease the Prince’s hardships whenever possible, but, tonight, he wasn’t feeling so generous. Noctis was supposed to meet him in the citadel library to study at 6.
It was nearly 6:45, now.
He had made himself tea in the meantime, but was still holding out hope that Noctis would show up, albeit late. He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, but then the door swung open.
“Ignis,” Gladio called out into the room. Inwardly, Ignis sighed—it seemed that the Prince had chosen not to come.
“Is Noctis here with you?” Gladio asked, approaching the half empty desk where Ignis was seated, study materials arranged neatly. The expression on the bodyguard’s face caught his attention. Gladio looked uncharacteristically distraught.
“No, I asked him to come study with me at 6, but it seems he has chosen not to listen. I presumed he was perhaps with you, or his father?”
Ignis watched as the panic in Gladio’s eyes grew just a little more. “No, the king sent me after him. Neither he nor anyone in the castle has seen him since nearly 5. He’s not in his room, he’s not training, and he’s not answering his phone; we can’t find him anywhere! Shit! ” Gladio swore, and Ignis rose out of his chair. It was common for Noctis to mistakenly doze off somewhere and miss meetings, but the boy going entirely missing? That was a rarity. Ignis knew how seriously Gladio took his job as the Prince’s bodyguard, so, if he was this concerned, Ignis would do anything he could to help.
“Someone must have seen him last, though. Come, let’s ask around with the servants and housekeeping. Then we can get back to the King and see if he’s found anything else out.” Ignis said, striding swiftly towards the doorway, Gladio hot on his heels.
----
The questioning of the castle staff was not as fruitful as Ignis had planned. They eventually met up with Cor and Prompto, the two having just finished one of Prompto’s crownsguard training sessions, and the other two men joined the search. The four ended up outside the dining room, none the wiser to Noctis’ location than before. It was nearing 7:30, now.
“Dammit,” Gladio grumbled, frustration threatening to boil over, “Prompto, you’re sure he said nothing about going back to the apartment?” Gladio asked in a last ditch effort.
The blonde shook his head, averting his eyes from the bodyguard, “No. We had a long weekend and he had a lot of business here at the citadel. It gave me some extra time to train and study here, so we both agreed to stay all weekend. And I’m sure he would have texted me, if he did decide to go back.” It wasn’t his fault, he knew, but Prompto felt guilty not being able to help more. Someday, protecting Noctis would be his job. He wished he knew more.
Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal King Regis and Clarus, both of their expressions muddled with concern. Behind them, dinner was going cold on the empty table.
“Still no word?” Clarus asked, looking to his son. Gladio almost couldn’t look his father in the face, but he knew he had been raised better than that.
“No, sir. We’ve searched every room in the citadel and asked all the staff we could find. No one’s reported seeing him since before 5.” Clarus only hummed in response, placing a finger on his chin in thought. Luckily, Regis chimed in.
“Do not frustrate yourself too much, Gladiolus. It’s not your fault that Noctis left without informing anyone,” he said, massaging his forehead for a moment, “I don’t think he went looking to put himself in danger, though I am starting to grow concerned about his whereabouts. It’s bothersome that he’s shirking his duties, but it’s more bothersome that he doesn’t come talk to me about it.” The King sighed heavily.
All the other men had no response to Regis’ dilemma. They had all experienced Noctis’ avoidant personality; knowing even the King struggled with it didn’t make the situation any easier.
While they pondered over what course of action to take next, one of the assistant chefs quietly approached Clarus, tapping the man on the shoulder. Dinner was still sitting on the table, growing cold.
“Sir, if you don’t mind?” The assistant began, and Clarus motioned for her to continue, “We were just curious if dinner should be left out, or perhaps we could store it away for their majesties to enjoy at a later time?”
Clarus hesitated for a moment, glancing at the frustrated search group then back to the assistant. “I think it could be put away, yes. I must apologize that they were not able to enjoy it. We are having a bit of trouble locating the Prince at the moment.”
She nodded quickly. “Not at all, sir! Though, if you don’t mind me saying, Prince Noctis came into the kitchens shortly after 5 this afternoon to get a snack. Said he was headed out to the stables, I believe!” The five other heads in the group snapped up at the information.
“The stables, of course!” Gladio exclaimed, “I should have thought of that sooner!” The bodyguard was rushing off immediately, Prompto and Cor quick to follow. Ignis gave the assistant a short bow and quiet thanks, hoping he could make up for the other three not thanking her. Regis and Clarus did the same, minus the bow, and the impromptu search party was off again.
-----
Once the worries of his duties melted away, Noctis was excited to be at the stables. The horses and cows all knew him, coming to the front of their pens and nosing through the bars as he passed. He patted them as he walked, greeting them by name. Their presence never failed to relax him.
The reason for his excitement lay at the end of the stables, in one of the previously empty pens. He had heard last weekend that a new foal was being transported into the stables and, if he remembered correctly, it should have arrived just yesterday. When he reached the pen at the end of the row, he did indeed find the new foal, but he was huddled up in the far corner, looking forlorn. Perhaps he wasn’t adjusting well, Noctis thought.
He grabbed a sugar cube from where they were stored and offered his hand though the bars. The foal wasn’t anywhere near his hand, didn’t even seem interested, but all Noctis could do was try. A few minutes of shaking his hand and trying to sweet talk the foal into trying the sugar cube proved useless. He withdrew his hand, sighing, and looked around for some other way of getting the animal’s attention.
Listening to the constant song and chatter of the birds, Noctis had an idea. He smiled, but blushed a little at the same time. Were any other person around, he would never, but since it was just him and the animals, maybe…?
He cleared his throat.
-----
As the stables came in to view, Gladio had to think there weren’t many times in his life he felt so relieved. He slowed for a moment, realizing he had gotten farther ahead of the group—mainly his father and the King, slowed because of his bad knee. He, Ignis and Regis approached the stables as a united front, all ready to scold Noctis for being so irresponsible. Behind them, Prompto hoped his best friend could catch some slack.
Gladio was just about to call out Noctis’ name, when a voice began to drift into their range.
“When the night has come, and the land is dark, and the moon is the only light we’ll see…”
Gladio snapped his mouth shut, glancing back at both Ignis and Regis. Both men wore equal looks of confusion. The three behind them began to hear the voice, too, and they all scrambled for a better look.
“No I won’t be afraid, no I won’t be afraid, Just as long as you stand, stand by me.”
All six men ended up on either side of the entrance of the stable, peeking their heads around the corner to catch a glimpse of the mystery singer.
It was, indeed, their missing Prince.
“So darling, darling, stand by me, Oh stand by me, Oh stand, Stand by me, Stand by me…”
Noctis had started off quiet, so maybe only the foal would hear him, but he raised his voice as he progressed through the chorus. He couldn’t help it; he loved this song. It just made him so happy, made his heart bubble over with good feelings. He hoped that, someday, he would have someone that he could sing this song to.
For now, though, the animals were good enough for him. And his song was good enough for them, apparently, because the foal perked his head up at Noctis’ voice and one of the stable dogs had come wandering over, her ears perked up.
“If the sky that we look upon, should tumble and fall, or the mountains should crumble to the sea,”
Overtaken with happiness, Noctis turned away from the foal’s stall and moved around to sing to the other horses and livestock, stopping briefly to pat the old, friendly donkey in between the ears. The birds in the aviary had, for the most part, stopped making such a racket and had paused to listen to Noctis.
“I won’t cry, I won’t cry, No I won’t shed a tear, Just as long as you stand, stand by me,”
He moved back to the foal’s stall to find the stable’s newest addition up on its wobbly, little legs and curious about the boy making all this lovely noise. Noctis offered the sugar cube again and was overjoyed when the foal hesitantly licked it off his hand. He slipped a hand under the foal’s chin and slowly stroked his neck. The foal did not pull away.
“Whenever you’re in trouble won’t you stand by me, oh stand by me, oh stand, stand by me, stand by me…”
He finished up the lyrics, but continued humming the tune to the song as he became more familiar with the foal. Next to him another stable dog had wandered up and barked at him softly, wishing for the same attention. A cat also emerged, weaving its way through his legs. He stopped his humming for a moment to giggle at the soft tail that wound its way around his calf, and then leaned down to scratch the feline behind its ears.
Luckily for the search party, Noctis had failed to notice them the entire time, too engrossed in his singing and the animals. Ignis and Regis were both discreetly dabbing at their eyes. Gladio was trying to find the sense to pick his jaw up off the floor while Clarus only smiled slightly. Prompto was practically vibrating with excitement, unable to wipe the grin off his face.
“He’s quite good at that,” Cor leaned over to whisper in Regis’ ear, a smirk playing across his lips.
“Yes, well,” was all Regis could manage, finally giving in and sniffling. The six sat in silence for a few more moments as the sounds of Noctis’ humming continued to flit through the air. Eventually, the temptation became too much for Prompto.
“Noooooccctttt~!” He shouted, giggling as he bounded through the stable to pull his friend into a big hug. Unfortunately for Noctis his loud friend scared away the stable cat and the foal retreated a little father back into his stall. The dogs didn’t seem to mind their loud new friend, though.
“That was beautiful! Like wow, I can’t believe I’ve never heard you sing!” Prompto exclaimed, pulling back from the hug but still keeping his hands on Noctis’ shoulders. It took a few seconds for the realization to dawn on Noctis’ face.
“Y-you heard all that?” he asked, voice faltering.
“Yeah, we all did,” Prompto stepped back, gesturing his arm towards the other five men, “We all thought it was great, really!”
Noctis refocused his eyes to the five people at the entrance of the stable. As soon as his brain processed that his father and Cor of all people were among the group, he felt a wave of heat wash over him. Embarrassment and anxiety overwhelmed his senses; he suddenly felt far too dizzy to be standing on his own.
Luckily for him, Gladio and Ignis had chosen that moment to join their younger friends. Gladio wrapped his arms around Noct abruptly, pulling him in for a warm hug. He could still feel the heat of embarrassment in his cheeks, but Gladio’s solid weight kept him grounded.
“Don’t you ever scare us like that again, going off without telling anyone,” Gladio said, and Ignis nodded beside him, patting Noctis on the back and trying to pretend he hadn’t just been crying. “Your voice was…very nice though. I had no idea.”
“Beautiful, truly,” Ignis added as Gladio pulled out of the hug to face Noctis.
“Th-thanks, I guess. And…I’m sorry. I just got…overwhelmed.” Noctis stumbled for the right words, finding it hard to accept the praise. He definitely wasn’t used to this sort of thing. More crunches of footsteps on the stable floor signaled the arrival of Regis, Cor and Clarus. Gladio stepped aside, allowing for Regis to pull his son into a hug.
“It’s okay to be overwhelmed,” Regis assured, pressing his cheek into the crown of Noctis’ hair, “Just, please Noctis, please let me know next time. I—We can help you. That’s why we’re here.”
Very slowly, Noctis raised his arms and returned his father’s hug. He nodded against his chest. “Yeah, I-I can do that.” Maybe someday, he would have more words, something better to say to his father, but for now, it was all he could manage.
They all remained silent for a few more seconds, letting the father and son enjoy their moment. Darkness had already fallen, Clarus noted, and gently broke up the reunion.
“Perhaps we should be getting back,” he said, and Regis lifted his head, only just noticing how late it had gotten. The King agreed, and rubbed Noctis’ back once more before releasing him. The Prince cast his eyes down, once again embarrassed to be the center of attention and to have caused everyone so much trouble. If they were leaving for the night, though, he knew he had to say goodbye to someone. He moved past Prompto to get back to the new foal’s stall.
“See you around,” he said quietly, offering his hand once more. This time, the foal willingly approached him, gaining one more pat behind the ears for his bravery.
On their trek back to the citadel Gladio very proudly led the way, followed closely by his father. Clarus could feel the pride of being the Prince’s shield radiating off him in waves. Even if the day hadn’t gone as planned, he was forever thankful for how seriously his son took his position, as he should. Cor and Prompto took the rear, Cor taking the opportunity to quietly review the importance of tactical formations with his young pupil, while Regis and Ignis walked in the middle with Noctis.
Once they were almost back to the citadel, and Cor had finished his mini lecture, Prompto just couldn’t resist the opportunity to bring up Noctis’ voice again. He quickened his pace a little to catch up with Noctis and tapped his friend on the shoulder.
“If I asked you to sing me to sleep every night, would you?” Prompto sported a playful grin, and only laughed more when Noctis put a palm to his chest and heartily shoved him back towards the back of the group. The others around them chuckled at their antics and Noctis felt a blush creeping up his cheeks again, but, if it meant he was loved, maybe it wasn’t so bad to be the center of attention.