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"Psst! Noctis? Hey, Noctis!"
Noctis, who had been enjoying a peaceful night's sleep until now, frowned in annoyance that his sleep was interrupted by someone whispering.
Blearily opening his eyes, Noctis realised the culprit who had woken him up was none other than Agrom. How predictable. "What is it, Agrom?" He asked grumpily, making his displeasure known.
"I've been wondering something," Agrom began as he sat up, and great this was turning into an actual conversation Agrom wanted to have and not a simple yes/no question.
Noctis refused to move from his current lying position on his back as he stared at the night sky above them. "Spit it out. I don't have all night."
Agrom grinned. "Wow, someone needs his beauty sleep."
Noctis was this close to launching a verbal attack on Agrom, but remembering something Piron had told him, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his temper.
Shouting at Agrom wasn't going to solve anything. Instead, if he remained quiet and didn't engage with Agrom, then there was a chance Agrom would think he had fallen asleep again and therefore go back to sleep himself and leave whatever he so desperately wanted to talk about until morning.
"You know," Agrom began casually, dashing the hope Noctis felt at being able to get some peace and quiet to sleep again. "You and Piron have been using that Mist Fist combo move a lot lately."
"Your point being?" Noctis retorted, wanting to get this conversation over with as soon as possible.
Agrom shrugged. "I'm just wondering if there's any deeper meaning behind it. That's all."
Noctis frowned. "What deeper meaning? We use our combined powers as required. It's no different than Tasaru and I using our combined powers, for instance."
"I know that," Agrom said. "But it looks different with you and Piron. I can't really explain it. It's like you're closer with him, as if you —" he gasped excitedly as he came to a sudden realisation "— wait, hold on, do you like him?!"
"Agrom!" Noctis quietly hissed back, feathers fluffing out in alarm as he quickly sat up. "Could you be any louder?!"
Noctis cast a look over at their sleeping teammates, hoping that neither of them noticed the commotion. Despite his irritation at Agrom, his gaze softened when it landed on Piron's sleeping form. Piron was sleeping peacefully on his side with a contented smile on his face and he wondered what he was dreaming about, with the selfish part of him wondering whether he was dreaming about him.
"Oh, you totally do!" Agrom whisper-shouted, taking the hint about needing to be quiet. "The way you're looking at him just now tells me everything I need to know. Why didn't I think of this possibility sooner? It makes so much sense!"
"Because it's none of your business!" Noctis whisper-shouted back, embarrased at being caught so blatantly staring at Piron. Clearly he wasn't on top of his game because he still needed his sleep.
"Are you going to tell him?" Agrom continued, eyes lighting up. "Because I can totally help you out! And I can ask Piron if he likes you!"
Alarm bells were ringing in Noctis's ears at Agrom's proposition. Agrom wasn't the most subtle, and Piron was smart. If Agrom proceeded with his operation, the most likely outcome would be for Piron to figure out why Agrom was asking these kinds of questions, and he didn't want to risk Piron figuring it out through Agrom of all things. Not when he didn't want Piron to know in the first place.
It was time to do some damage control.
Noctis grunted. "I don't need your help, Agrom. I can handle this on my own. I've been handling this on my own for quite some time without your involvement."
"So this isn't a recent thing?" Agrom once again continued, and Noctis noticed his slip-up too late.
The sleep deprivation was clearly doing things to him he wouldn't normally do, since when was he so careless with sharing personal information?
"I won't answer that." Noctis's tone indicated finality when he spoke, and he laid back down before closing his eyes. "Now can you please leave me alone and go back to sleep?"
"How can I go back to sleep after knowing what I know now?" Agrom asked, bouncing his leg excitedly. "I still have so many questions I want to ask!"
"What else is there to ask?" Noctis retorted, cracking an eye open. "You already know I like him, and that I don't want any interference. What else is there to know?"
It felt like he was playing with fire asking Agrom that — ironic given that Agrom was an Earther — but part of him was curious about the supposed "many questions" Agrom had, so he reluctantly gave in to his curiosity. He'd find out soon enough whether that was a mistake.
"You never answered how long," Agrom stated, and Noctis wished Agrom had forgotten that piece of information.
Out of all the things Agrom wanted to know and just had to ask in that very moment, it had to be that one, and he knew for certain he had just made a terrible mistake giving in to his curiosity. Agrom's curiosity was what led to this situation in the first place, so he should've known better than to give in to his own curiosity since curiosity was causing him nothing but trouble.
He had to end this self-inflicted line of questioning, and fast.
"And why should I?" Noctis answered angrily. "Again, it's my business. Not yours." He sat up and met Agrom's gaze. "And if you're really so desperate to talk to me now, can we at least change the topic?"
Agrom gave a long, drawn-out sigh in disappointment. "Fiiiine. I'll change the topic."
Noctis gave a satisfied smile. "Thank you."
"What do you like about Piron, anyway?" Agrom asked, and Noctis's satisfied smile vanished.
"You call that a topic change?" Noctis stated incredulously, feathers fluffing up in a mixture of surprise, agitation and defensiveness.
"Uh, yes?" Agrom replied, looking at Noctis in confusion like he was the illogical one. "I moved on from asking about how long you've liked him to why you like him. There's a difference."
Noctis huffed. "That's hardly a difference."
Agrom grinned. "But still a difference!"
Knowing Agrom wasn't going to drop the topic anytime soon, Noctis grit his teeth. "Fine. If you really must know, it's only natural that I fall for the only other sane one here. At least Piron doesn't wake me in the middle of the night to ask questions instead of waiting until morning like a normal Gormiti."
"Oh come on, there's gotta be more to it than that!" Agrom insisted, surprisingly not taking any offence at being deemed not sane nor normal. "It's got something to do with his personality, right? How he's all calm and collected a lot of the time — at least compared to the rest of us — but still fun to be around and you like being around him because he makes you feel at ease? Or what about the fact that you already have things in common, like both of you being actual princes born into royal families and have that shared experience Tas and I don't have? Or maybe he's just really good looki—"
"Agrom!" Noctis exclaimed with a furious blush, barely remembering to keep his voice down at the last moment.
Agrom wasn't fazed by Noctis's mood, and tilted his head curiously. "So was that a 'yes' to the good looking thing? Or a 'yes' to everything?"
He didn't want to admit to Agrom that he was, in fact, right about everything. Even the good looking part. Piron's looks weren't everything and certainly weren't the main reason for his attraction, but Piron wasn't exactly horrible to look at. It was a welcome bonus to the entire package that was Piron, and it was a shame they couldn't have met under better circumstances. Maybe then they'd have a chance.
But since they couldn't change their circumstances, he just had to continue doing what he had been doing and keep his feelings under lock and key, even if it was becoming increasingly harder for him to do so — and that was without the added complication of Agrom finding out — so it was more imperative than ever for him not to make any more major mistakes that would result in his feelings coming to light.
He remembered the close call he had with Piron not that long ago when Eagle's Peak was on fire. Piron had told him he had an idea but that he needed to be lifted up high to do so, and while he lifted Piron he had tried to play it cool when taking Piron to the skies but the close contact was doing strange things to him, so instead of telling Piron how much he was enjoying being close to him, he said it wasn't the time for sightseeing since they should focus on what they came here to do.
Although his words were directed at Piron, they were also directed at himself, since he couldn't let his feelings jeopardise such an important mission by getting distracted by Piron in any way. Not by looking at Piron, not by hearing Piron's voice, not by his own thoughts about Piron, nothing.
And then a rogue Air Gormiti slammed into them, causing him to lose his grip on Piron.
Piron started falling and was screaming as he fell, gazing up terrified at Noctis with outstretched hands and something in him snapped as he swooped down as fast as he could to rescue Piron because he didn't want to see Piron getting hurt or killed and couldn't bear the thought of anything bad happening to him and it was terrifying seeing his friend desperately hoping to be rescued from certain doom when he was already feeling terrified by what was happening to his home and his people and his father, so when he managed to get a hold of Piron again by the arms and flew both of them up again, he had to restrain himself from saying anything more than a "Gotcha!" or else he'd end up spilling his guts to Piron about how worried he was about him or doing something equally as reckless and embarrassing like pulling him up and hugging him with a hold so tight because he didn't want to risk letting him go.
He tried to get his feelings and his rapidly-beating heart under control, but when Piron looked up and met his gaze, it was like he knew how worked up Noctis felt.
"So you do care," Piron had said simply, coming to a conclusion that was too close to the truth for comfort, so Noctis had to say something to set the record straight.
"Do I? Or do I value your connection to the water that might just save my home?"
His words were harsh, he knew, but it was for the greater good of the team that Piron didn't know anything about how he truly felt. Although Piron didn't say anything else about Noctis caring about him, there was an understanding in his gaze that indicated he knew the reason Noctis was being so standoffish was because Noctis cared about him in some way, and Noctis hoped the conclusion Piron would come to was that he was just embarrassed at seeing Piron as a friend. Nothing more, nothing less.
After that, Piron created his Water Jet, and knowing Piron would be safe, he let go of Piron so he could grab hold of it. Once he did, the two of them heard Agrom instructing them to create a "massive double Mist Fist" which they did with practiced ease to put out the flames.
The fire was gone because of them but he still needed to find his father, but he couldn't even do that without running into Lava intruders and while he, Agrom and Tasaru were busy fighting them, Piron had snuck off to find the Fire Seed and Noctis's father. Once the fighting ended, Piron had returned with the Fire Seed and said being slow and steady allowed him to jump ahead to the real mission before mentioning he was glad they had an escape route because they were going to need it.
He was confused by what Piron was talking about, until he heard a commotion and noticed his father and other Air Gormiti coming after them.
Piron had said that the Fire Mind had them and that the four of them needed to regroup to figure out how they could best help all of Gorm and not jump right in with fists flying and that they should trust him on this — that he should trust him on this — and the gentle sound of him asking "Noctis, do you trust me?" was something that became etched into his mind.
He remembered looking away from the commotion after hearing that, before gazing into Piron's eyes and earnestly telling him "I do."
Because he did trust him.
And Piron knew that, and trusted him back.
Time felt like it slowed down when they briefly gazed into each other's eyes before the two of them retreated to the Solar Sailer with Agrom and Tasaru.
Even though he was worried about the Air Kingdom he left behind, when he saw Piron smiling at him in the Solar Sailer after the four of them took care of the Fire Seed because he remembered what Piron said about being slow and steady, he felt good for being the reason Piron was smiling and it made him feel a little better.
And then later when Piron took him to the side and told him everything that happened when he was away from the team, he found that out of everyone who could've come across his father instead of him, he was glad it was Piron.
Being lost in his memories, it took him a while to realise Agrom was still waiting for a response.
"...You're insufferable, you know that?" Noctis finally said.
Agrom grinned. "I take it that's a 'yes' to everything, then?"
"What gives you that impression?" Noctis asked.
"You took a while to answer," Agrom explained before looking smug. "And you didn't deny any of what I said, so it's probably all true."
Noctis shrugged casually in an attempt to deflect. "Think what you want, but I took some time to answer because I was lost in thought."
"So what you mean is you were thinking about him?" Agrom translated.
"I was lost in thought," Noctis repeated.
Agrom nodded in understanding. "Thinking about him. Got it."
"That's not —" Noctis began before sighing, arms folded defensively. "Okay, so maybe it is. It isn't a crime to think about him."
"I never said it was," Agrom replied. "But you're being pretty prickly about your crush on him. Getting you to admit things and talking about your crush on him is like trying to pull out your feathers. Not that I'd ever do that, but still. You'll need to work on showing your affection and making your feelings clear to him before you tell him. You don't want to give him the wrong idea and make him think you're not interested when you really are."
"I didn't ask for your advice," Noctis said through gritted teeth, trying his best not to snap at Agrom. "And even if I did ask, I wouldn't use it anyway because I'm not telling him."
"Why not?" Agrom asked. "If he likes you back, you guys would make a cute couple."
"That's a big if," Noctis replied before frowning. "Also, in case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a war, Agrom. Now isn't the time for romantic endeavours."
"What about after?"
It was a valid point all things considered — even if it did come from Agrom — and Noctis found himself pondering it for a moment. "I'll consider it."
At least confessing to Piron after defeating Magor wouldn't spell the end of Gorm if things went horribly wrong, so it was a good option to keep in mind.
"I still think you should tell him before we stop Magor," Agrom said before shrugging. "But it's your decision. It would be nice being able to tease you both without having to wait until the war ends."
"You'll just have to be satisfied with only teasing me, then," Noctis stated reluctantly, resigning himself to his fate. "I highly doubt you're going to forget about this anytime soon, so I may as well expect it. Just do it away from the others."
"Believe me, I was planning on it," a smirking Agrom revealed before his look became serious. "But I have to ask something."
Noctis raised a brow. "Like you haven't already asked enough questions for the night?"
"What if Piron confesses to you and we haven't stopped Magor yet?" Agrom wondered, ignoring what Noctis said. "Would you still wait until after we defeat Magor to be with him and tell him this? Or would you let yourself enjoy the new experience with him and be happy with him so you don't have any regrets in case you never get the chance to if we fail to stop Magor and he destroys us?"
"Your never-ending faith in our abilities is great for team morale," Noctis dryly replied. "Really. Keep it up, O Brilliant Leader."
"I'm just saying," Agrom defended himself. "You don't want to regret not being with him when you had the chance."
"There won't be any regrets," Noctis insisted. "We'll stop Magor, so stop worrying about what-ifs."
"Are you worried in case you ruin things with Piron, and therefore ruin how well we all work together as a team because the awkwardness interferes too much?" Agron asked. "Either by confessing and he doesn't feel the same, or by confessing and he does feel the same but then you break up after a while? Or even if you're both happy being together, but your relationship changes the dynamic with the whole team?" Something must have shown in Noctis's face, because Agrom's gaze became sympathetic. "You don't want your feelings for Piron to affect the team, because you don't want to be the reason we fail to stop Magor. That's why."
"It's simple logic," Noctis rationalised. "My feelings for Piron introduces an unknown variable into things, so if I don't let my feelings show or let anyone else besides myself know about my feelings, then it's like the variable doesn't exist and therefore won't have an impact on our normal routine of saving Gorm."
Agrom shook his head. "That's not completely true. Your feelings still have an impact. Like if Piron needs help and you go and, well, help."
"I know," Noctis said, trying to clear the memory of Piron falling and screaming from his mind. "That's why I said 'like' it isn't there. It would still have an impact in the way you just described, but nowhere near the amount of having my feelings out in the open. And now that you know, I'm..." he sighed as he screwed his eyes shut, preparing to admit something he never said out loud. "I'm increasingly scared of Piron finding out and having the situation I'm trying to avoid be all the more real. Because if you found out, what's stopping Piron from finding out, too?"
"What's that you told me about 'stop worrying about what-ifs'?" Agrom reminded.
Noctis snarled as his eyes blazed. "I'm being serious, Agrom. I don't want Gorm to be destroyed because I couldn't keep my feelings in check."
"I'm being serious, too," Agrom argued. "You say your feelings are an 'unknown variable', but you don't know whether the bad thing you're expecting will actually end up happening. For all you know your feelings for Piron will end up making the team stronger, not weaker. If he doesn't feel the same or if you break up or if the team dynamic shifts because of your relationship, well, overcoming challenges is kind of our thing, right?" He playfully nudged Noctis. "You should have more faith in us to come out the other side stronger than ever. And I'm pretty sure the others would agree with me, too. If we can handle the knowledge of Old Sage being Magor's brother, then we can handle anything else that comes our way. Including what you do about your feelings for Piron."
After a few seconds of letting Agrom's words sink in and reflecting on them, Noctis chuckled. "Since when were you the wise one?"
"I learned a thing or two from Old Sage," Agrom stated proudly. "A leader must be wise to help his teammates through their problems."
"I'll be honest, I wasn't particularly fond of this conversation at first," Noctis admitted. "But first impressions aren't always what they seem. To my surprise, talking with you actually helped, so... thank you, Agrom."
Agrom grinned. "Aww, what are friends for?"
"I still think I'll keep my feelings for Piron between the two of us for now," Noctis added with a fond smile at Piron. "But I won't go out of my way so much to keep my feelings hidden behind a 'prickly' exterior as you say. If he finds out, he finds out and if he doesn't, he doesn't. We'll cross that mountain of what happens when he finds out once he actually finds out, so for now I should just continue to enjoy his company and not worry so much."
Agrom pretended to wipe a tear. "I'm so proud of you, Noctis."
Noctis playfully shoved him. "Don't go all sentimental on me. It's not like you."
"Too late," Agrom dramatically sniffed. "You've come so far since then."
Noctis folded his arms, remembering just what started this conversation in the first place. "By 'since then' you mean since you rudely woke me up?"
"Hey, it worked out, didn't it?" Agrom responded happily, not sounding the least bit apologetic. "You'd be much worse off if I didn't interrupt your beauty sleep. It's a small price to pay for my wisdom," he added proudly, placing a hand on his chest as he sat up straighter.
"As much as I hate to admit it, I can't deny that," Noctis said truthfully, letting the comment about his beauty sleep slide like earlier. "But I would like to get back to sleep sooner rather than later. We can't keep talking all night."
"I know, I know," Agrom sighed. "We don't want to be too tired to fight. I'll let you get back to your beauty sleep."
Noctis once again let the comment about his beauty sleep slide. This was starting to become a habit he'd need to rectify soon. Most likely tomorrow. "Good to know you understand."
"If you want to talk about Piron some other time, I'd be happy to listen," Agrom offered as he laid back down again.
Noctis also laid back down again and closed his eyes. "I think I'd like that. Goodnight, Agrom."
"Night."
Agrom was out in a matter of moments if his loud snoring was of any indication. Noctis smiled, feeling at peace with his feelings before he, too, fell asleep.
And when he woke up the next morning in a much better mood than usual, only Agrom knew the real reason was because of him.