Archive of Our Own ^beta

In retrospect, Noctis should have worn gloves.

Nature had plenty of ways of warning clueless predators away from danger: the reddish vines of toxic plants, the unnatural glow of fungi, the markings of a coeurl. One would think, then, that the sight of a rainbow frog croaking lugubriously in the muck would make the future king of Lucis step back and invest in rubber gloves. Or perhaps a pair of tongs. Instead, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Chosen King of Light and inheritor of the crystal, leaned down and picked up a frog with his bare hands.

“Got it!” he shouted, and the frog, disturbed either by the sound of his voice or the presence of royalty, squirted bright green liquid all over his fingers. “Shit.”

Noct ran for the bag in the center of the clearing, where a number of other rainbow frogs were crawling about in mournful resignation, dropped his newest acquisition in, and dumped his hands in the murky water of the slough.

Please don’t let it have poisoned him, Ignis said, from somewhere behind Noct. Then, in a louder voice, he said, “Noct? Are you well?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Noct said. He shook his hands out of the water and turned to hold them up for his friend’s inspection. “Not even a rash.”

“Thank the gods,” Ignis said. He took Noct’s right hand. It always surprises me, he said, in a soft voice, how calloused his fingers are.

“All the sword practice,” Noct said. Ignis narrowed his eyes.

“Pardon?” Then, like an echo: What was that?

Noct stared at Ignis for a moment, and then, without opening his mouth, Ignis spoke.

Perhaps it did something to him after all. We should return these frogs to Sania and make camp.

“It may be best for us to return these frogs to Sania and make camp,” Ignis said. “Just in case there are any adverse effects.”

Noct smiled weakly. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, that… sounds like a plan.”

Holding hands again. That was Gladio’s voice, as though he spoke directly in Noct’s ear, but Gladio was standing some ways off, lips closed in a sideways smirk. Noct pulled his hand away from Ignis’ grip, and Ignis sighed.

One day, said Ignis, without actually speaking, I would like to feel those fingers on my back.

“Let’s just go,” Noct said, and, without considering the consequences of ingesting frog mucus and pond water shortly after hearing his friends’ voices in his head, stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled for his chocobo.

---

BIRD. BIRD. OTHER BIRD. FEATHERLESS BIRD ON BIRD.

“Hey, Noct?” Prompto asked, steering his chocobo towards Noct’s as they headed to where Dr. Sania was waiting for their fucked-up rainbow frogs. “You doing okay?”

BIRD, said Prompto’s chocobo, flapping its dinky little wings. BIRD FRIEND!

BIRD FRIEND! said Noct’s. It let out a pleased little “kweh.”

“Uh, yeah,” Noct said. “Not really feeling the chocobo riding today, honestly.”

Dude, Prompto said, in the same mind-voice Ignis and Gladio had used. Betrayal.

“Dude,” Prompto said.

“Betrayal,” Noct said, before he could finish. “Yeah, I know.”

He’s so cool, Prompto said. Or thought. Noct was pretty sure, at this point, that when his friends’ voices rattled around between his ears like echoes in a cave, they weren’t actually talking anymore. How does he do it? It’s so effortless. Gods, I’m pathetic.

“Uh.” Noct ruffled his chocobo’s neck feathers, prompting another round of BIRD! BIRD BIRD! from the creature’s mind. “You know, you’re a pretty cool guy, Prompto.”

“Aw, you’ll make me blush,” Prompto said, grinning. When he smiles like that, I just wanna bend him over Ignis’ camp stove and fucking wreck him.

“What,” Noct said. Prompto raised his eyebrows.

Just, like, that ass. That ass! Give me a few minutes to go to town on it, please, gods, that’s all I ask.

“You doin’ okay, buddy?” Prompto asked.

BIRD, said Prompto’s chocobo.

No longer able to trust himself enough to speak aloud, Noct only nodded.

---

After a silent argument between Ignis and Gladio that only Noct could hear but everyone could interpret, it was agreed that they’d spend the night in a hotel. Noct tried to ask Sania to look into the frog toxin, but it turned out that Sania thought in numbers, so many equations slipping through her consciousness that Noct felt dizzy just being near her. So he settled for hoping that this new, unexpected side-effect would wear off, and followed his friends to the hotel room.

You can do this, Ignis, Ignis thought, as they split up the beds for the night. Even if he spoons you, remember: He’s the future king of Lucis. He’s the future king of Lucis.

Yeah, bend over just a little more, big guy, Prompto thought, as Gladio unpacked. Gods, between Gladio’s ass, Ignis’ pecs, and Noct’s everything, I’m in a fucking hormonal nightmare.

Maybe I can convince Ignis to make us Cup Noodles tonight, Gladio thought.

“Let’s not do noodles tonight, Specs,” Noct said. Ignis and Gladio glanced his way. “I was thinking maybe… steak skewers? Something on a stick?”

“I think I can manage,” Ignis said, his mind suddenly filling with measurements, spices, and cooking times. Gladio sighed.

“You don’t think we can go with something I want once in a while?” he asked.

“One day I’ll ask you what you want,” Noct said. He sat down in a chair opposite Prompto and crossed his legs. “Today’s not that day.”

Fuck, thought all three of them at once.

Step on me, thought Gladio. Noct looked up at him sharply, and Gladio stood. I can’t do this. I gotta. Fuck, I gotta…

“Gotta take a shower,” he grunted, and fled for the bathroom.

“What’s his deal?” Prompto asked, as the bathroom door clicked shut.

“You know what, Prompto,” Noctis said, leaning back in his chair as the sound of the shower turning on made the pipes in the walls rattle. “I think I might have an idea.”

---

The smell of cubed garula sirloin rubbed with spices wafted through the hotel room as the shower hissed and clinked, Ignis considered whether he needed to leave the vegetables in the oven another ten minutes, and Prompto ran through the chocobo theme song in his head for the thirty-third time that day. Noctis leaned back against the wall next to the bathroom, seemingly flipping through his phone, but all he was doing was running his thumb over his apps and back again.

In the shower, Gladio was thinking in pictures.

They weren’t complete ones: Just fragments, scattered images pieced together by the guilty mantra of I really shouldn’t be doing this. One was from a sparring session a few days before, when Noct had managed to disarm Gladio and was standing over him, the point of his sword trained on his throat. The other was Noctis, sitting on the throne, fire in one hand, chin resting on the other, the light of his crown glinting off the high windows of the Citadel. Gladio at his feet. A hand pressing Gladio’s face into a mattress—it wasn’t Noct’s hand, and the face blurred, but it could have been Noct. Gladio wanted it to be Noct.

Gladio, come. That was Noct’s voice, in Gladio’s head. A memory: How many times had Noct said that, calling Gladio away from a diner or an outpost as they made for a new hunt? Now, Gladio’s mind went white, and Noct shifted uncomfortably at the thrill that ran through him.

Gladio wants me, he realized, just as Gladio’s thoughts rang in his ears.

Just once. Please, just once.

“Noctis. Dinner’s up.”

Noct creaked to his feet, and threw his phone on the middle of Prompto and Gladio’s bed. He took a plate of skewers from Ignis, and set it down on the small table where Prompto was sitting. Then, just as Gladio opened the door to the bathroom, he slowly peeled off his shirt.

“Noct?” Ignis asked. “Are you feeling warm?”

“Hot day,” Noct said, and tossed his shirt to Gladio, who scowled and let it drop. “You’re always telling me to take it off, aren’t you, big guy?”

Gladio squinted at him. Don’t know why he doesn’t do it more often, he thought. He’s pretty built, for a scrawny guy. “Yeah, whatever.”

Oh, man, he’s not gonna walk around shirtless all night, is he? Prompto thought.

For a moment, Ignis thought in pictures, as well. This one was simple: Ignis running his hands through Noct’s hair. Noct smiling. The air around them was soft, tinged with pink. There were rose petals under Noct’s head, and they shifted as Ignis bent down for a kiss.

I love you, Noctis said, in Ignis’ daydream.

Noct grabbed one of the skewers off his plate and slowly pushed it as far into his mouth as it would allow. Prompto’s mind went blank, and Noct let out a soft moan of delight as he dragged the skewer back, pulling off one of the pieces of meat and chewing slow.

“That,” he said, “was amazing.”

Someone get this man a popsicle, Prompto thought, and Noct had to suppress a snort. He proceeded to eat as slowly as possible, drawing out faint sounds of pleasure, licking his fingers, tilting his head back just a little when he leaned in his chair. By this point, Prompto’s mind had sunk so far into the gutter he was thinking of building a house there, and even Ignis had abandoned the remains of his meal to entertain the thought of Noctis kneeling before him, taking him into his mouth. Gladio was gone. He wasn’t even trying to read the book he had propped up in his hand, skimming over the page as he thought of Noct’s hands in his hair, pulling just right as Noct thrust into him.

Should be illegal, moaning like that, he thought.

“Hope you didn’t use up all the hot water,” Noct said, and pushed his plate aside. His hand went to the buttons of his pants, and Ignis made a strangled sound of distress.

“Dude,” Prompto said. “Don’t strip right here.”

Noct lowered his gaze. “Sure you don’t want me to?”

Buddy, you’d give the weirdest strip-tease in Lucis, but I’d still fuck you into the wall.

In a perfect world, you’d never be clothed, thought Ignis. Well. Except perhaps in that lovely strappy number.

Put on your uniform, Gladio thought.

Gods, Noct was learning a lot about his friends today. He unbuttoned his pants and stepped out of them, and tossed them at Gladio again. Sure enough, there was a spike of pleasure mixed in with Gladio’s irritation. He liked it when Noct was a brat.

No. He liked it when Noct was commanding.

“Don’t go anywhere,” Noct told him, trying to put a hard edge in his voice, and heard a desperate Oh, hell, oh hell, as Gladio tried to shift and obscure his tenting sweatpants. Noct was half out of his boxers by the time he made it to the bathroom, and Gladio definitely wasn’t the only one trying to look discreetly uninterested.

Maybe he moaned a little too loudly in the shower when the warm water came on, but he was rewarded by what had to be the filthiest imagery outside of a porno he’d ever come across. Prompto in particular was a little too enthusiastic—Noct wasn’t sure that the human body could actually bend that way, but he did have to admit that he was probably flexible enough to prop his legs on Prompto’s shoulders while his best friend bent him in half.

Wait.

Noct stopped mid-way through shampooing his hair. How far was he going to go with this? Sure, he’d always had a thing for Ignis and Gladio, and half the school assumed he was dating Prompto two weeks after they met for the second time, but…

He let water run suds down the drain as Ignis thought of taking Noctis to the sounds of a live band outside their window, or lying out on the roof of the Citadel and watching the stars. Gladio was thinking of kissing his fingers, Prompto of the two of them at a rave, surrounded by a faceless crowd, eyes on each other.

“Okay,” Noct whispered. “Okay, I’m doing this.”

He dried off as quickly as he could and only barely tied the smallest towel he could find around his waist. When he stepped out of the bathroom, still damp from the shower and wreathed in steam, all thoughts turned towards him.

“Hot in here,” he said.

Yeah, Prompto thought. You are.

Noct ran a hand through his hair, scattering drops over the carpet, and padded his way over to his travel bag. He pulled out his fitted black briefs—the ones Prompto had lovingly called his saddest attempt at being sexy but personally thought of as those fucking briefs, holy shit, holy fuck, and slipped them on. He let the towel fall, and looked back at the others over his shoulder.

“I think I’m gonna go to bed,” he said.

He lay down on his and Ignis’ bed and stretched, arching his back and gasping as his bones popped. He rolled over slightly, and looked at Ignis, blinking slow.

“Hey, Specs,” he said. “Aren’t you tired?”

He must be ill. Ignis’ voice in Noct’s mind was tight with tension, his eyes bright as he regarded Noct from the kitchenette. He strode across the room, and placed the back of his hand on Noct’s forehead.

“You aren’t warm,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like you have a fever.”

“I’m fine, Ignis,” Noct said. He sat up and took Ignis’ hand, but instead of lifting it away from his face, he guided it until Ignis was cupping his cheek. In his mind, he heard cursing from Gladio, a wordless whimper from Prompto. They all stared at him, disappointment breaking across Gladio and Prompto’s faces, and Noct took an unsteady breath.

“Maybe we need to be honest,” he said. Ignis’ fingers brushed the lock of hair that framed his cheek, and his mind was a rambling chaos of, He is your king, not your lover, he is your king, your king. “Cause I don’t know what you’re thinking.” Well, so much for that brand of honesty. “But maybe I’m getting a hint. Maybe you guys want me as much as I want you.”

I’m dead, Prompto thought. Ignis must’ve killed me this morning when I stole that can of Ebony, and now I’m dead and Noct just said he wants me.

You can’t really, Ignis thought.

Ifrit’s ballsack, thought Gladio.

“Ifrit’s ballsack,” Gladio said. “You mean it. You fucking mean it.”

“Yeah.” Noct looked at Ignis. “I’ve wanted it for years.” He turned his gaze to Prompto and Gladio. “How long have you?”

Always.

Forever.

Dude, what the fuck.

“Yeah,” Noct said. “Thought so.”

Oh, damn it all to hell, Ignis thought, a fraction of a second before he kissed Noct full on the mouth.

It was a sloppy kiss, more teeth than tongue at first, both of them too unused to each other to really get a feel for it. Then Noct remembered Ignis’ daydream, and tried kissing him the way he had then, tugging at his lower lip, soft pecks, wandering lips trailing up his jawline.

Thank the Six I brought lube, Ignis thought, and for a moment, Noct saw the image of a toy Ignis had shoved in the bottom of his bag in the trunk of the Regalia: Big, purple, and distressingly wobbly. He nearly choked. Ignis pulled away, radiating concern, and Noct stood up, pushing him back a step.

“Gladio,” he said, in the same tone he used during battle. “Come.”

Fuck me. Fuck. Me, Gladio thought, and stood. Dad’s gonna come back from the grave and fucking—

“Don’t overthink it, big guy,” Noct said. “You want this, right?”

Yes. “Yes.”

“Then c’mere. You, too, Prompto, don’t think I haven’t seen you staring at my ass, like, all the time.”

“What can I say?” Prompto said, with a weak laugh. “I’m an ass man.” Oh, shit, he noticed. I need to delete those photos on my phone. And the camera. Oh, shit.

Gladio kissed like he was starving, all desperation and hard edges, gripping Noct’s face with both hands. Then Prompto was there, bouncing on the balls of his feet, and Noct turned to him, keeping his hand at the nape of Gladio’s neck.

“On your knees for me, Gladio,” he breathed. Gladio sank down so heavily that the bedframes rattled.

Yes, sir, Your Majesty, he thought. Noct beckoned to Ignis, who stood at Gladio’s back and leaned over him to kiss Noct again, deeper this time, drawing a moan from Noct just as Gladio dragged down his briefs.

I wonder if there’s a joke I can make about eating royal ass, Prompto thought, as he nuzzled into Noct’s shoulder from behind. Noct nearly bit Ignis’ tongue.

“You make a pun, you’re sleeping in the car,” he said. Prompto snickered.

“That’s a fair…” Oh! I know! “ass-essment, Noct,” he said. Noct almost said something scathing about exile, but then Gladio’s lips pillowed over the head of his cock, and that was it for his own attempt at rational thought.

“This isn’t uncomfortable?” Ignis asked between kisses, glancing down. His own bulge pressed against the back of Gladio’s head every time Gladio bobbed along the length of Noctis’ cock.

I love this, Gladio thought.

“Don’t worry about it,” Noct said, and Gladio hummed in approval. Prompto took that moment to kneel down at Noct’s back, kneading his ass in both hands. Noct pulled Ignis into another crushing kiss as Prompto licked up to Noct’s entrance, teasing his rim with his tongue. Noct started unbuttoning Ignis’ shirt, which did absolutely nothing with his suspenders still on but reveal a few inches of skin. Ignis shrugged the suspenders off, and Noct dug through the frantic storm of thoughts in the room until he lighted on one he could use. He ran his fingers over Ignis’ nipples, and Ignis moaned into his mouth.

Between Prompto using his tongue like some goddamned expert in the field, Gladio mentally worshipping Noct’s cock even as it bumped against the back of his throat, and Ignis exploring his mouth, Noct was close to the edge. He broke for air and groaned into Ignis’ neck, hips bucking forward involuntarily as he felt his orgasm approach like a cresting wave.

Look at me when you come, Your Majesty.

He looked down, and Gladio’s steady gaze tipped him over. Ignis held him as he came, and when Gladio finally pulled off, he looked dazed and just as overwhelmed as Noctis. Noct looked further down, saw the damp patch on Gladio’s leather pants, and understood. He’d come just from sucking him off, probably at the same time. It was the only way Noct could’ve missed it, too overwhelmed by his own release to hear.

“Damn,” he said. “That’s hot.”

“Yeah, I know,” Gladio said with a grin. I live to serve. Noct ran a thumb over Gladio’s scar, and Gladio leaned into the touch. Gods. I’d die for you. Even if you weren’t the king, I’d…

“Tell us if we’re moving too fast,” Ignis said. Prompto, who had reluctantly pulled away (Noct suspected, a little distressingly, that Prompto could probably eat ass for hours and not care) smacked Noct hard on his left cheek, and Noct silently thanked them for the distraction. That had felt… too personal. It was something that needed to be said aloud, when there was time.

If there ever would be time.

Please say it’s alright, Ignis thought. I want to make love to you.

I’m gonna leave you limping, dude, Prompto thought.

“I’m good,” Noct said. “But I want… Ignis, first.” He didn’t think he could handle what Prompto wanted to dish out right away. “Something tells me you go kinda hard, man.”

“You know me,” Prompto said.

“An ass man,” Noct said, before he could finish. “You know, Gladio’s probably just your type.”

More than my type, Prompto thought.

If I can fuck him into silence, someone’s gotta build a statue of me somewhere, thought Gladio. Noct snorted, and Ignis gave him a curious look.

You know something you aren’t telling us, said Ignis’ voice in Noct’s mind. Remarkably intuitive today. I wonder—

Noct kissed him, pulling Ignis backwards onto the bed. As he fell on his back, Ignis tumbling gracelessly after him, he caught Gladio and Prompto watching each other.

“Bend him over the bed,” Noct said, and Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis all looked at him. “Prompto. Bend Gladio over the bed. Uh, if he wants to.”

He wanted to. Noct knew. But he was too busy to clarify, since Ignis had… Ignis had summoned a bottle of lube out of his goddamn armiger.

“How d’you know how to use that for more than just weapons?” Noct asked. “Why was it in there in the first place?”

I like to be prepared, Ignis thought, and watched Noct expectantly. Noct made a helpless gesture between them, and Ignis sighed. “I like to be prepared,” he said aloud. “And I’ve been experimenting with the armiger since I saw you put a whole box of fishing tackle in it.” He ran a hand down Noct’s thigh. “Now, if you’re done?”

There was a thump as Gladio fell on his side on the bed, laughing. “Fuck, Prompto, that almost had muscle behind it.”

“Oh, shut up,” Prompto said. Oh my gods, oh my gods, he said I have muscle. I have muscle? Did he mean that? Please mean that, please mean it.

He’s like a fucking puppy, Gladio thought, with more than a little fondness.

Noct snapped his fingers, and Gladio glared at him. “Hey. Eyes on me when he fucks you.”

Yes, sir. “Oh, fuck you, princess.”

“That would be my job, thank you,” Ignis said, and Noct grinned.

I love your stupid face, Gladio thought.

Gods, he’s perfect, thought Ignis. I can’t believe this.

I’m still not sure if Ignis didn’t kill me, Prompto thought, taking the lube from Ignis. Gladio blinked—Okay, that’s a lot of lube, Prompto—and Noct let his head thump back on the bed as Ignis’ finger, slick with lube, pushed gently into him.

“Go slow,” Noct told Prompto, who grinned and winked. He looked at Gladio and tried to lower his voice. “Don’t come.”

“Easier said than done, princess,” Gladio said. Ignis pushed in a second finger, pumping into him slowly, and laid a reverent kiss on Noct’s cheek.

I don’t deserve you.

“Sure you do,” Noct said. Ignis smiled. “Fuck!”

“What’s… that?” Gladio asked.

“Nothing,” Ignis said. He looked down at Noct. Hopefully whatever this is remains superficial. No digging through our pasts, or secrets? Noct shook his head, and closed his eyes for a second as Ignis stretched him out. Are you ready?

“Yeah,” Noct whispered. “Yeah, do it.” He reached out to Gladio and tugged at the hair at the base of his neck. Gladio moaned raggedly and pressed his face to the bed.

When Ignis’ cockhead pushed through Noct’s entrance, his mind went blank for the first time since Noct had started listening in. He moved slow, inch by agonizing inch, giving Noct more than enough time to adapt to any discomfort. In the meantime, Prompto had completely forgotten the concept of slow and was pounding into Gladio, holding onto his hips for support. Noct took Gladio’s hand, and Gladio, just as he had in his daydream, lifted his head and kissed the tips of Noct’s fingers.

“I love you guys,” Noct said.

They didn’t respond in words. Noct just knew, and he fell into that knowledge so fully that even Gladio’s inner mantra of Holy shit, how is he so hung, how did I not notice this before, wasn’t enough to pull him out of the blissful haze.

Ignis pulled out before he came, and Noct squeezed Gladio’s hand through it. They were both hard again, even after Prompto pulled out of Gladio with a sigh that sounded like something had broken in him, and Noct claimed one more kiss from Ignis before he turned to Prompto.

Of course Prompto was ready to go in record time. Of course. He fucked Noct so hard and fast that Ignis had to keep asking if Noct was sure he was okay, and while Noct meant to suck off Gladio at the same time, the best he could do was press himself as close to the coarse hair at the base of Gladio’s cock as he could, breathe through his nose, and try not to bite down. Gladio came first, hot and thick down Noctis’ throat, and fell back against Ignis to watch Prompto push Noct over the edge for the second time that night. Noct came all over the sheets, his scream muffled by the mattress, and all it took was him clenching around Prompto’s cock for Prompto to follow after. They slumped together on the ruined bed, panting heavily, and Ignis leaned over to pet Noct’s hair.

Come? Ignis thought. Come along? Or… gasm… No. My pleasure? Ah!

“That,” he said, with the grin of a man determined to see the worst joke on the planet through to its horrifying conclusion, “was a long time coming.”

Noct groaned.

I don’t care if I’m dead, Prompto thought. That was so worth it.

Would they think less of me if I want to cuddle? Gladio thought, amid an uncomfortable memory of a stranger, eyebrow raised in a dubious expression, looking down on him. The memory was thick with shame, and Gladio buried it, pushing it beyond Noct’s reach.

“I know I’m gross,” Noct said, wriggling uselessly up the bed until he lay between Ignis and Gladio, “but I’m kind of tired.” He grabbed Gladio’s arm and wrapped it over his shoulder. “Don’t get up. Royal decree.”

Sentimental fool, Ignis thought. Noct winked.

“Don’t leave me,” Prompto said, and scrambled up to wedge himself in on Noct’s side. Noct smirked, and settled down to wrap his legs around Prompto’s.

“This,” he said, “has to be the best idea I’ve ever had.”

---

Noct woke up the next morning in the second bed, feeling warm, dry, and surprisingly clean. He sat up, dislodging Prompto’s arm, and saw Gladio and Ignis in the kitchenette, speaking softly over plates of toast and eggs. Noct strained to listen in on their thoughts, but came up empty. Whatever the frog toxin had done to him the day before, it must have worn off overnight. For just a second, Noct felt a little uncertain, cut loose from his moorings. Without knowing exactly how they felt, how could any of this have been possible? What if it changed? How would he know?

Then Ignis looked up at him from over Gladio’s shoulder, eyes crinkling in a smile. Gladio waved, his shoulders sloping down from their usual straight-backed stance, and at Noct’s back, he could feel the bed shifting. He turned, and Prompto sat up, grabbed him by the shoulder, and yanked him down onto the mattress again. Noct lay in his best friend’s arms—one of his lovers’ arms—and laughed. Sure, maybe this was a little scary, and new. Maybe he couldn’t hear their thoughts anymore.

But really, when it came down to it? He didn’t think he had to.