Love Bites [Noctis]

[Gladiolus (Scar) Cicatrix]

After splitting from Prompto, Ignis and Prompto’s ‘friend’ Shotgun, Gladiolus had been wandering around for…well not that long. The streets of this place, Gaia as they called it hadn’t been full since those Cie’th had appeared. It sort of made Gladiolus feel a bit nervous. He knew very well that Noctis was one of very few that could handle himself, but that didn’t mean that difficulties couldn’t arise. Hell, those Cie’th that he, Prompto and Ignis took care of – with the help of the suited lady – hadn’t been all that easy, and there was four people to fight against, Noct was by himself, at least that’s what Gladiolus thought for the time being, he wasn’t sure where his friend would’ve ended up. All of them seemed to be thrown into different directions and Gladiolus, as much as he wanted to squash Prompto’s face into the pavement for this…he figured it was best to just leave him be, go find his friend, and go home, with or without Prompto, he probably wanted to stay for the blonde girl anyways.

Speaking of blonde girls though…

Gladiolus wanted to get home to see his own girl that was waiting there, or off stabbing someone with that lance-sword weapon of hers. It really was hard to get around this though, Prompto seemed to be just fine with it, Ignis though…there was still far too much tension between them to make anything feel right at this point in time. Glady wasn’t going to make his life choices based on every single opinion that his friends had though, even though he did take them into great consideration, especially Ignis and Noct’s opinions since they’d been friends since childhood. This specific topic though, Kirtana Thrakena, Gladiolus just couldn’t get himself to side with Ignis. He knew what he was feeling, he understood his friend’s frustration – and Glady might’ve overdone things with punching him due to an inner burst of rage – but…why could he just trust the big guy and trust his judgment? Gladiolus was far from stupid, even though he wasn’t the brightest, he still had a working brain and could easily judge a good decision from a bad one.

With a deep sigh and pushing all of these complicated thoughts from his mind, Gladiolus decided it was probably time for a break. Maybe he could check out one of the local bars or something, he’d always believed a bartender was the eyes and ears of the city, so if Noct had been noticed somewhere, the bartender would know about it right? Conveniently up the street was a small little bar, a funky looking sign on it as it read ‘Seventh Heaven’, seemed nice enough, tiny, so yeah, it was the place to stop. Stepping up and pushing the door open, Gladiolus glanced inside. It looked as if this place had been rebuilt from old parts to another building, but it was still sparkly clean and very homey with the pictures on the wall. Behind the bar was a dark haired woman, short, long legs by the look of it though, busty and she was gazing up at him, probably thinking he was a customer, and he was. But first, he wanted information.

His eyes swept the bar as he took a step in before his eyes registered on another dark haired figure, one very familiar. It was like…his mission here had been made so much easier! With a look of relief crossing his face, he walked across the bar before putting his hands behind his head, smiling slightly as he did so. “Glad to see you’re okay, Noct! Ignis probably would’ve had a fit if we didn’t find ya, especially since Prompto ran off, but whatever. Havin’ a good time?” Gladiolus said, walking over and standing next to Noctis for a brief moment. His eyes gazed around the tiny bar at first, his arms moving from behind his head and slowly crossed his chest. At least Noct was safe, and sooner or later they could go find Ignis and possibly Prompto, or they could wait and let them arrive here…or something along those lines. It seemed pretty easy to remain stationary and let the others come to you. “Welp, one task off my to-do list.” Glady mumbled in a somewhat content tone as he turned heel and started for the bar. Might as well make use of the time instead of wasting it right? He was in a bar, yes, definitely time to make use of a good drink….or two…or twenty, whatever it came out to be.

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Words:[/color] 866
Muse:[/color] Great!
Tagged:[/color] Noctis
Wearing:[/color] His usual
Listening To:[/color] Nothing!
Notes:[/color] FINALLY UP!

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

Somehow, Noctis managed to occupy himself as he waited within Tifa's bar by intermixing two extremely entertaining tasks - watching Tifa do her work in the bar and marveling at how his cell phone had no signal whatsoever. The latter was just more proof that Tifa had spoken the truth. Portal travel meant world travel. Noctis was surprised that didn't worry him more than it did, but if Tifa had apparently been through a portal before and yet, had returned here to her home at some point, Noctis didn't understand why he couldn't do the same. He didn't ask her many questions about it, though, because as nice as Tifa seemed to be, bothering her while she worked wouldn't exactly gain Noctis any favor. Honestly, the reason he watched her was because he didn't go around with too many...everyday people. The people who ran their own bars for a living. Noctis found the way Tifa worked to be interesting, so he didn't disturb her from her tasks. He was still trying to think of a way to thank her more decently than he had, but...he supposed he had plenty of time to come up with an idea.

The door squeaked as Noctis had begun to take note of the pictures on the wall, and he craned his neck around to see who had entered. Hopefully no one problematic...though he couldn't imagine any patrons could be as problematic to Tifa as Noctis himself had been earlier. But to his great relief, the form that stepped inside had an unmistakeable sense of presense and appearance. Noctis raised his eyebrows and turned around in his chair to face Gladiolus, who seemed to completely overlook him in favor of Tifa (which Noctis couldn't find surprising) at first. Noctis stood from his chair, though, as Gladiolus spotted him and walked over. Noctis gave a pleasant curve to his mouth as his friend walked over. Hearing that Prompto had run off somewhere didn't surprise him at all, so he shrugged, but...why would he go running off when they were already separated enough as it was? Oh well...nothing to do about it now.

"Plenty," Noctis responded to Gladiolus' question, pushing a hand against his hair to reveal the small scar he still retained from the blow he'd taken upon arrival. His eyes shifted over to Tifa momentarily, and he nodded her yet another unspoken thanks. "I had a good nurse," he added, before glancing back in Gladiolus' direction to see the larger man walking towards the bar. Noctis glanced the doorway and followed, easing himself into a bar stool once the two of them arrived at the front. Noctis propped his elbows on the bar and rested his chin on clasped hands, looking between Tifa and Gladiolus. "Where are Ignis and Prompto? Did the three of you split up, or did Prompto go chasing skirts and leave you and Ignis to stew?", he ultimately chose to ask Gladiolus, assuming the more serious and more...Prompto of the group were probably out strangling each other, as per usual. Or Prompto had found his fantasy girl, which would likely cause an even worse situation with Ignis.

Ah, the women around Noctis these days. He didn't know what to think about the other gender anymore. As he considered it, his eyes shot to Tifa long enough to wonder which poor soul's mind she was torturing.

Words - 619
Muse - Faaantastic
Notes - This is weirdness, but it should do. XD[/size]

[Gladiolus (Scar) Cicatrix]

Welp, it was nice to find Noctis in on piece. Ignis would be pleased, at least…in due time once all was said and done and they got to go home, pfft, whenever that would be. Gladiolus was just pleased to see that things were okay, no danger had been caused by their arrival – though the cie’th from earlier weren’t exactly...safe or anything, but that matter had been taken care of, and yet, here was another one taken care of. Seeing the wound – small, but still visible – that Noctis had gotten, probably from coming out of the portal or something along those lines, Gladiolus shook his head. No simple bump on the head was going to be worth complaining about, but it was something to show for their travels eh? When he commented about having a good nurse, his gaze followed Noct’s towards the bartender who had her back towards the men, doing…bartenderly things or whatever. Nodding in approval somewhat, he turned his gaze back to his friend. “I’m sure you did.”

After making his way towards the bar, Gladiolus sat down and began to ponder over what it was he wanted, still listening to Noct of course, his gaze moving from Noctis, to the bar, to the stock within the bar, to the bartender, and back to Noct once more. Shrugging his shoulders, Gladiolus leaned back in his seat slightly, a careless look on his face as he thought about his two other friends who’d gone to Etro only knows where. “Guess you could say Prompto went off chasin’ skirts, more like he found some girl he’d met here before, no surprise there. Ignis and I split up from there…unless you’re blind, I’m sure you’ve noticed a bit of…hostility, so sticking around together wasn’t in my best interest at least.” Gladiolus shrugged as he looked at Tifa, about ready to order before he turned to Noct quickly and asked the most proper question at a time like this. “You want anything? I’m buyin’.” Of course it was a good question to ask, they’d probably be here for a little while until either Prompto and his lass or Ignis came across them, or even word of a portal came to the ears of the bartender, might as well enjoy the time right?

Waiting for an answer regarding the drinks, Gladiolus took a brief look around this makeshift bar – at least that’s what it seemed like – but still it was a cozy and cute little place, somewhere that riff-raff probably didn’t like to hang out, and if they did, well he felt sorry for whoever was working. That kind of stuff in a tiny place like this surely didn’t go over well. Anyways, Gladiolus sighed, wishing something would come along, he wanted to get back home, so maybe he could track down Kirtana and go spend time with her rather than deal with stubborn Ignis and his…stubbornness. That reminded him, Noctis had yet to hear about Gladiolus’ wonderful new friend, one who just happened to be a former enemy, one who just so happened to butt heads with Ignis, and one who just so happened to be amazing in absolutely every way possible. Well, the prince couldn’t get mad could he? After all, hadn’t he had a run in or two with that Fleuret girl? Guess now was the time to talk about things, right? They had the time to kill…

“Heya…Noct? I think we need to have a talk about something. Maybe…as to why Ignis seemed so steamed at me, or rather, he still is.” Glady’s words trailed off a bit in a more quiet tone as he folded his arms across his chest. Of course anyone close to either Ignis or Glady would be curious as to the hostility, but had something been said already? It was best to find out how much Noctis knew before jumping right in to a logical explanation. Who knows, Ignis might’ve told him everything.

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Words:[/color] 773
Muse:[/color] Fine and dandy
Tagged:[/color] Noctis
Wearing:[/color] Uh...normal stuffs.
Listening To:[/color] Nothing
Notes:[/color] Hope this was alright :3

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

Hostility...yeah, Noctis had picked up on that. Having Prompto run off to chase his dream girl was expected, but bad blood between Noctis' oldest friends could be considered a rarity. Gladiolus typically got along as well with Ignis as...anyone could be expected to get along with a man of Ignis' temperance. Noctis had been meaning to ask about the cause of it as soon as he'd noticed (which had been soon), but as it was, being sucked through a portal tended to distract Noctis from the other matters in his life. Now, even though they were still separated from Ignis and Prompto, Noctis had a chance to ask Gladiolus about what had happened between him and Ignis. Judging by the way Gladiolus referred to the tension, they weren't squabbling over an especially trivial matter. Noctis held his question, though, until they had taken care of the actual alcohol that sitting at a bar usually entailed. Noctis wasn't much more than a social drinker...but after today - no, after the last few weeks - Noctis could use a little numbing. "Tifa," he said to the brunette, who was probably glad Noctis wasn't going to just loiter there and never order anything. "We'll take something to drink."

Now that Noctis had found someone else...it was time to start thinking about how they got organized and eventually got back. Prying Prompto away from his...whoever wouldn't be easy, and apparently getting Ignis and Gladiolus to focus on the situation instead of casting threatening glances on each other. Funny how they could find themselves in such a bad situation, yet the other three could still busy themselves with skirts and disagreements. Noctis shook his head at the thought despite himself. This day had turned into a mess, hadn't it? The situation was manageable, considering they'd all apparently dropped out in roughly the same place and there didn't seem to be any particular dangers. Sounded like Noctis was going to have to be the one with his head fully in the game this time around. Drinking probably wouldn't help him think sharply, but unlike some people, he had a little self-control. He'd always had to. Princes didn't go stumbling around chin-deep in alcohol. Well...not the ones with any sense.

“Heya…Noct?"

Noctis knew that tone. Gladiolus was about to drop a bomb on him about...something. Probably the issue with Ignis. His eyes flickered over to the larger man, studying Gladiolus' face. Yep...it was about Ignis. Noctis drew his head back off of his propped arm and nodded. "Yeah...that's probably a good idea," he responded, simply, not jumping to any conclusions or getting to excited or disappointed about it yet. He genuinely had no idea what was going on...and that kind of bothered him. Typically, no secrets were kept between the lot of them. And how had anything happened without Noctis knowing, anyway? The mansion wasn't a huge place, and Noctis hadn't known anything about Gladiolus and Ignis heading out for anything in particular, and he typically was told about these things now that conflict had been basically brought to their doorstep. So...yes, Noctis was very curious about this whole situation, no way around it. "Something tells me you two aren't having another disagreement about what you read in the newspapers, like usual."

Words - 612
Muse - Good!
Notes - Short and bad.[/size]

[Gladiolus (Scar) Cicatrix]

Gladious was just…wanting to sort of forget about the fact that Ignis was being a major pain in the ass lately regarding Kirtana, in fact, he was pretty sure if Ignis had his way, Prompto wouldn’t be running off with that gal of his, Noctis would go nowhere near the Fleuret girl, and Gladiolus? Well, he would be knocked upside the head a few thousand times for what Ignis would call his ‘incredible stupidity’. Oh well, this was the perfect place to be if you wanted to sort of cheer up, forget a few things and not worry so much, a bar. And a nice one at that. Gladiolus had moved over to the bar and offered to buy today, he would and as he waited on Noctis, is was kind of cool how he just talked to Bartender by name. Tifa…and odd name, but seemed nice as she had smiled and nodded. Gladiolus was never a picky one, so he would gladly just let her pick something to serve, she’d obviously had her fair share of services, so nothing girly or fruity would come his way. “Whatever ya got.” He simply shrugged, giving the girl all the freedom in the world with whatever she decided to serve.

So…what to talk about from here? Gladiolus wasn’t sure how Noctis would react to news such as ‘hey bro, I’m dating a girl who has tried to kill you, hope that’s cool.’, that didn’t exactly sound right. How did one approach something like that? Well, he was sure that the prince would be curious as to why Ignis and Gladiolus had been at wits end with each other, after all, all three of them grew up together as friends, when there was tension between them, it wasn’t anything minor, they’d grown to ignore petty things like that, so this was a bit different than what Gladiolus had been used to in the past, though friendly quarrels were nothing new, this was anything but friendly. Classic, two bottles had been placed on the bar in front of both men, it was definitely nothing fruity or girly, the oh so normal thing, and Gladiolus was okay with that. Giving the bartender a friendly and thankful nod, Gladiolus then decided to man up and start the talking again. His tone had changed a bit, it wasn’t quite as chipper and carefree as it had been only a few short moments ago, more of that ‘prepare yourself for something’ tone.

“Ah…no, it ain’t that.” Gladiolus said with a semi grin on his face as he shook his head for a moment, finding the place to start was always hard, talk about Ignis? Start with a rhetorical question? Maybe ask him not to say anything until he was done talking…whatever, he was over thinking things once again, which was never good when you weren’t exactly keen on being an intellectual all the time. “So…a few weeks back, I went out to check out a building within the city, thought something suspicious was coming from it you know? Went to see what was up, and along the way, I happened to…cross swords with a girl from the other side.” This really was story time, Gladiolus figured it’d be better to just start quickening his words instead of babbling and beating around the bush, I mean it wasn’t that big of a deal, he just wanted Noctis to understand everything. “Uh…let’s just say said woman and I are on more friendly terms than when we first met, Ignis I guess you could say tried to intimidate her, to scare her off, and…in the end I guess my temper got the best of me. That’s why I’ve been a bit scarce lately.” He shrugged before pulling the beer bottle to his lips. It wasn’t much of an exciting story, boy meets girl, girl tries to kill boy, then…okay it wasn’t normal, but whatever. Chuckling a bit as he set the bottle down once more, he tried to end it all on a humorous note, though nowhere near the type of humor Prompto tried to squeeze into conversations. “What can I say? The ones who try to kill me seem to catch my eye.”

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Words:[/color] 819
Muse:[/color] Good
Tagged:[/color] Nocty
Wearing:[/color] Did I link something? If not, normal clothes!
Listening To:[/color] random stuffs.
Notes:[/color] None!

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

"The same," Noctis added to the "order." Normally he would have been pickier with a drink. Today was not that day, especially after he'd already bothered Tifa to absolutely no end, and it wasn't as if she would give them something miserable knowing their misfortune or anything of the sort. Yes, he was already making character judgments about her, but he thought - or hoped - he was right to believe she was a genuinely helpful person. Had to be to upkeep a bar as nice and...agreeable as this one. Seeing her turn to get the drinks, Noctis' gaze returned to Gladiolus, who was clearly still building up to an explanation about the rift between him and Ignis. Their drinks had arrived before Gladiolus would even start saying anything, and Noctis gave Tifa his thanks as he reached for the bottle in front of him. He only inspected the label for a few seconds before he brought it to his mouth. Then, Gladiolus finally got to talking.

Sounded normal enough. All of them were always running some sort of security in the city. And...judging by who Gladiolus found in the city, it was a good thing they did run security. Noctis couldn't help but think of Stella, but he knew he would have heard about it if Gladiolus had gotten into a fight with her. His assumption was that Gladiolus had done something reckless during the fight or caused collateral damage or, of all things, won and let the woman go, and Ignis was upset about it. The last thing he'd expected to hear was that Gladiolus and this...woman were on friendly terms. Noctis narrowed his eyebrows, trying to comprehend this whole situation. Another sip of his drink wouldn't hurt, either, and he took one. Noctis again considered the situation between himself and Stella when Gladiolus finished speaking. There were some parallels here...though it sounded to Noctis like Gladiolus and this girl were on very good terms. How had Noctis missed out on this situation? Did Ignis and Gladiolus not think it was worth at least mentioning to him at all?

Despite questioning what was going on in his oldest friends' minds, Noctis couldn't bring himself to be too...disappointed about the situation aside from the fact that it seemed to be turning said friends against each other. Noctis had noticed a small bruise Ignis had been sporting on his face lately, but hadn't made much of it. They all had their bruises from time to time. Now, he supposed it was linked back to Gladiolus in some way - the bruise had shown up around the same time Noctis had noticed that he never saw Gladiolus and Ignis together at any point. So...Ignis had come across the girl, and tried to run her off. Gladiolus had jacked him in the face for it. Didn't seem like much more than what could happen between any two friends. The wild card in this, though, was that a woman, apparently dangerous, happened to be involved in the equation. Not just some nice girl within the kingdom...that would have been too convenient. Noctis knew he would be hypocritical if he blamed Gladiolus for playing way too damn closely with fire due to his own situation with Stella - her recent visit had made sure that they were both likely considered "on friendly terms" to anyone who cared. Stella was...of a different breed, though. Noctis didn't want to say Gladiolus' girl wasn't above damning family ties or loyalty, but...

"Is she anyone special?", Noctis asked, deciding not to touch the actual situation between Ignis and his larger companion at the bar just yet. Noctis figured that by "special," Gladiolus would surmise he meant "is she anyone important enough to the enemy that she's tried to kill me before?" How convenient would it have been for her to have just been a messenger girl or a foot soldier or something as simple as that....but when it came to women, nothing was convenient.

Words - 719
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - This is about to get awkward. [/size]

[Gladiolus (Scar) Cicatrix]

This wasn’t exactly a conversation Gladiolus wanted to be having in general, but hey, he was drinking, they were on a completely different world, and hell…Noct needed to know what was going on lately, especially since Glady went out of his way to avoid Ignis on a daily basis these past few weeks or so. It was difficult, like trying to admit something bad you’d done to one of the people you’d trusted practically all your life. It almost felt like betrayal. Good god that word…it hurt, it stung, and it made him grimace a bit, like a knife twisting in the pit of your stomach. Noctis and Ignis were his childhood friends, the two men he’d trusted the most in his life, he’d travel to hell and back for them yet…his own personal choices seemed to be blinding him. He wasn’t going to just drop everything right here and think everything would be all peachy keen, he did have his eyes on Kirtana, and he wanted to remain loyal to the Caelum kingdom…

…this was just a big messy load of crap spiraling downwards to hit rock bottom, wasn’t it?

With quite the sigh, Gladiolus rubbed a hand against the stubble on his chin for a moment, thinking about how he wanted to put all of this, even if he did feel horrible about it all now that he was thinking about it – not that he hadn’t before, but Noct was here, it made it much worse – he didn’t like feeling so…unloyal. He’d hit his good friend, gone behind his other good friend’s back…and for…what? A set of pretty eyes, blonde hair, and a rough attitude that made any man run in the opposite direction screaming and crying like a girl. Finally getting the words he wanted to say, out, Glady’s eyes sank to the bar top, taking another quite long swig from his drink. Everything was a lot easier to talk about when you weren’t completely aware of what you were doing. Whatever though, it was best to talk instead of keeping secrets, besides…you don’t keep secrets from the people you’ve known and trusted the longest, that would be betrayal.

Glancing up a bit when Noctis spoke, Glady sighed for a moment, pondering his words all over again. Was she someone special? In many different ways, yes, but to the other side of things…not so much anymore, at least that was a comforting thought. Gladiolus had seen her leave her previous life behind with his own eyes, but that didn’t stop him from getting a few cautious thoughts in his mind. Running the hand that had been rubbing his chin to his hair, he then finally gazed at Noct for a moment. “Erm…she’s quit the army. She used to be…a high ranking soldier I guess, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about with her. I’ve been keeping a close eye on her, as dense as Ignis may think I am these days…I know to watch people for awhile after meeting them, anything could be a farce, but…like I said, no worries. If anything does happen, which I doubt, It’ll be on my head.” He shrugged for a moment, letting a bit of silence kick in before he felt the need to talk again. Why? Well, we don’t know for sure. Probably the buzz that was kicking in started to make him feel a little better, a little more…confident about everything, super duper! “And what about you and that Fleuret girl, eh? I’m more observant than you guys give me credit for.” He said with a small grin on his lips, time to turn the tables. He knew the topic of Kirtana wasn’t going to go away just like that, but for now, it could at least be put on hold.

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Words:[/color] 755
Muse:[/color] Good
Tagged:[/color] Noct!
Wearing:[/color] Normal stuffs.
Listening To:[/color] Something.
Notes:[/color] Here, have a post that probably doesn't make sense

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

Noctis felt pretty sure he didn't like what he was going to hear in relation to the woman's role with the opposing forces to his family. Simply looking at Gladiolus' face told him that without the larger man having to say a word. And people wondered why Noctis wasn't much in tune with the part of his life that a woman should have filled. With the thought, he glanced Tifa to check if she was listening, but he couldn't tell. That was probably a barkeeper's talent. His eyes didn't linger in her direction for long, as he turned back to Gladiolus, who was still buying himself a few seconds of thought. Noctis took those few seconds to bring his drink up to his mouth again. He was probably going to need it once Gladiolus spoke.

He listened to Gladiolus' words with an indifferent expression, staring at the rows of different drinks arranged behind the counter. Former military...why was Noctis surprised? Gladiolus would go for the tough ones, wouldn't he... And high-ranking military, at that. A foot soldier by the sounds of it. Noctis rubbed at the bridge of his nose, leaning over the bar. Noctis wouldn't be surprised if his friend went on to tell him that she'd attempted to assassinate him at some point. It really wouldn't have been a shocker, considering all the people who'd tried over the years, some of them indeed female, and some of them had tried it in a manner of seduction. This would turn into a very awkward conversation if that turned out to be true. Instead, though, Gladiolus moved on to explain how he'd been watching her and how he knew what he was doing and generally explaining it away, leaving Noctis with more questions as to who this woman was. So many explanations as to who she could be. Who knew? She could have been using Gladiolus to get to Noctis, easily. The exact same thing had been going through Ignis' head, Noctis was sure. But for right now, that didn't matter. She was a billion miles away. "You'll have to introduce me," Noctis spoke, looking back at Gladiolus. "I remember faces pretty well... For your sake, I sure hope you're right about her." For all of their sakes, for that matter.

And Noctis should have known this conversation would divert to discussing Stella eventually... He sighed slightly at Gladiolus' words, leaning back on the barstool. "Or you're really good at gossiping with the night guards like an old maid," Noctis lightly joked in his dry way, cutting his eyes at Gladiolus. "She showed up at the mansion. She wanted to talk. I let her in. I had it under control." He shrugged. "Nothing beyond that. She's idealistic and had some good ideas, but I don't know if she was just putting on airs and looking for a chance to throttle me that she never got or if she was genuine. Either way, she didn't accomplish anything, and she's long gone for right now." Did that sound like denial? It might have sounded like denial. But Noctis hoped the other man didn't pick up on it.

To cover himself, Noctis shrouded his face behind his drink again, peering over at Tifa before he looked back to Gladiolus. Considering Tifa seemed to be a humble barmaid, this conversation must have been out-of-the-ordinary for her. Noctis huffed a little to himself at the thought. What a day this was turning out to be for everyone involved.

Words - 645
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Kind of wonky.[/size]

[Gladiolus (Scar) Cicatrix]

Explaining Kirtana was a complete challenge on many different levels. It wouldn’t be worth the trouble of explaining how they met, what was going on and why things had turned out the way they had, it was best just to keep things simple. She was on the other side, formerly, and he’d seen what she could do, what she did to betray the other side to get away from that life. It was amazing someone was strong enough to break away from their roots, Gladiolus wasn’t sure that he himself could do it. Not only was Kirtana strong physically, but mentally as well, he liked that about her, she wasn’t just a ditzy blond who could wield a weapon. She was much more than that, tough of course, stubborn and intelligent, and maybe it was just the entire package that drew Gladiolus to her, if so, then hey, he’d done pretty well. So far so good, and since then she hadn’t tried to wipe him off the face of the planet, that was always an added bonus.

“I’ll be sure to do that, sometime.” Gladiolus commented in response to Noctis, tilting his head back for another drink, buying himself time and giving himself a chance to think, what more was there to say? He’d spoke about Kirtana, admitted it, and unlike Ignis, Noctis was rather calm and cool about it, not that him being like this was out of the ordinary, he just expected something a little more than all this…calmness. Not that he was going to complain or anything, in fact, Glady was very grateful that his friend seemed so easy going about it all, like Prompto had been, Ignis on the other hand…there had just been issues there that no one wanted to repeat. Had Noctis flown off the deep end like his other childhood friend, Gladiolus wasn’t sure what he’d do, or what he was capable of doing. It really would’ve put him at an impasse. Choosing between a woman and your closest friends, it was the cruelest thing a man would have to go through should that ever be thrown at him. Luckily, it didn’t seem like that would be happening to Gladiolus anytime soon. That was worth another collective sigh of relief.

Flipping the conversation to the Fleuret girl, Stella was her name, Gladiolus turned his gaze to Noctis, trying to read his friend’s face and see what it was he was thinking, even though his words could be saying something completely different. “Me? I do not gossip!” he claimed with a bit of a furrow in his brow, smirking only slightly before he shook his head and slumped a bit more in his seat, feeling more relaxed – the alcohol and getting the Kirtana subject off his chest had really done him a world of good – he was just…content, listening to what Noctis had to say was interesting. Had you asked Gladiolus awhile back what his relationship with Kirtana was, he probably would’ve sounded the same way, not as admitting to anything, denial…it was a thing every man went through, Glady knew that much at least. Smirking a bit more, he let Noctis have this one, not bringing up anything about what he had been catching onto while he’d spoken, it was better that way.

“She seems like a nice gal, at least. Can’t say much about her father though, somewhat of a tyrant if you ask me.” Gladiolus shrugged and let the topic drop from there as he signaled to the dark haired bartender for another drink. Now that that was out of the way…or not, another thought popped into the head of the larger guardian. “So, since I'll be introducing you to Kirtana, I say it's only fair that you introduce me to this Stella Nox Fleuret.” he said with a mighty amused grin on his face.

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Words:[/color] 764
Muse:[/color] Great!
Tagged:[/color] Noctis
Wearing:[/color] His usual
Listening To:[/color] Show me what I'm looking for: Carolina Liar
Notes:[/color] We can...end this shortly and get to the wife swap? xD

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

"Sometime soon," Noctis added to his taller friend's statement. He was willing to give Gladiolus the benefit of the doubt now, but having this woman within arm's length without knowing who she was or what she was capable of would not be something Noctis would be willing to let continue. It was a shame that war had to betray trust in such a way, but Noctis had to assume Gladiolus understood the exact reasons why. After Ignis' actions, even Noctis' suspicion was probably a welcome relief to the older man. Noctis couldn't say Ignis was in the wrong, but he'd still moved too quickly and caused more of a problem than was necessary. Noctis would have to confront him about it later - after he'd met this woman of Gladiolus' and if he wasn't dead from her showing a hand she'd kept concealed from the man beside him.

A shake of his head and a sip of his drink was all Noctis needed to discredit Gladiolus' announcement that he didn't gossip. If nothing else, Gladiolus did listen to gossip, intently. Though Noctis supposed one wouldn't have to be too intent to gather from the troops that he'd been in the same room with the girl for at least twenty or twenty-five minutes - not long, but long enough to gather attention - and they hadn't started knocking down walls in the heat of a duel with one another. Noctis sighed to himself. He liked to keep the dynamics of his life simple, to completely sabotage the meaning of dynamics. He defended the crystal. He kept to himself. The only people Noctis opened up even slightly to were Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto - even his own father only ever saw Noctis as the defender of the crystal anymore. Now Noctis was inviting women into the mansion for chats - specifically, women who were regarded as complete and total enemies to the entire Caelum Kingdom. Complications seemed to be a key cog in Noctis' life lately.

Noctis had little to say about Gladiolus' words on Stella. Yeah, she seemed like a nice gal indeed. Who was to say that her visit hadn't been another assassination attempt originally, and Noctis had simply kept too close of an eye on her for her to try and make a move? A close eye on her, though, could have been exactly what she was wanting. Noctis could analyze the dangers and the young woman's tactics all day if he wanted. In fact, it had occupied at least a few of his idle hours since the day of her visit. His eyes flicked over to Gladiolus as the man ordered another drink, Noctis peering into his still half-filled container and then to Tifa. Sometimes, Noctis would have preferred being a bartender, he thought...aside from the fact that she probably heard problems like the ones being exchanged between Noctis and Gladiolus almost every hour of the day.

The prince glanced back at Gladiolus just in time to catch the man's grin. Noctis smirked slightly and shook his head again - not to deny, but incredulously. "If she ever shows her face again," Noctis tempered, thrumming his hand lightly on the bar. "For all I know, she'll disappear into the Fleuret holdings again and neither one of us will ever catch another sight of her." In that event, things would become much, much simpler.

But who was to say Noctis wanted them to be so simple?

Words - 627
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Yeah, I think one from you and one from me could do it. Unless you think we need more![/size]

[Gladiolus (Scar) Cicatrix]

Welp, things were going a bit better than Gladiolus had imagined they would have! At least Noctis seemed to have an open mind about things rather than being rude and jumping to conclusions and theories like some friends of his, oh well, that was done and over with and hopefully he could get over that minor speed bump in his relationship with his friends, but whatever. He was quite content with things right now, hopefully Prompto returned in one piece – and didn’t leave the town in pieces – but should he not show up for a bit, Gladiolus figured they’d just have to follow the trail of destruction and that would lead them to their dear friend Prompto. Shaking his head at his mental thoughts, Gladiolus just felt too content for his own good, feeling less tension within his muscles since Noctis knew about Kirtana now…

…a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

If only Ignis could see it like Noct did. Noct was also one of Gladiolus’ childhood friends, yet he knew how to keep an open mind on things and trust his friend in his judgment. Glady wasn’t stupid, though some may disagree with that statement, he knew right from wrong and when things just weren’t going to work. Of course, he felt differently about Kirtana. He trusted her, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to keep an eye out, that would simply just make him foolish. Though he wasn’t suspecting anything, he knew well not to let his guard down completely, after all she was a strong woman alone. Anyone who can take on Gladiolus the tank deserved an award. But…now that the topic of Kirtana had come and gone, it was time to turn the tables. Sure Gladiolus had overheard a few things from some of the night guards, but he was by no means a gossip, that was for women anyways. Still, the idea of the Fleuret girl in the mansion was a bit unnerving. He understood where Ignis’ distrust came from, but his friend seemed to go a bit overboard with that. If Stella was a friend, then cool, Noctis surely needed more friends aside from Ignis, Glady and Prompto, otherwise he surely would go insane if he hadn’t already.

With the most amused look he’d had on his face in a long time, Gladiolus just gave Noctis a look, suggesting that Noct should introduce him to Stella. It was only fair, wasn’t it? Sure it was. With a chuckle at his friend’s words, he shook his head and waved a bit at him. “Don’t worry, she’ll be back, I’m sure.” He said encouragingly, though not actually knowing the answer to that. She could be long gone, but something told the group’s senior that this blond Fleuret woman wasn’t gone just yet. She would be around for quite some time if she had the choice. From what he’d heard, Mr. Fleuret wasn’t exactly a saint, or a nice guy, so who would want to be around that? Oh well, that was just rumors of course, nothing more but word of mouth. For all he knew, Stella could be happy at home, just fooling Noctis for some reason, but that wasn’t going to happen either. How weird was it? All these women and their troublesome personalities or backgrounds that sent all men in the mansion on edge.

Life was funny like that, wasn’t it?

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Words:[/color] 667
Muse:[/color] Great!
Tagged:[/color] Noct!
Wearing:[/color] Uh...usual?
Listening To:[/color] Snuff: Slipknot
Notes:[/color] Let's wrap 'er up!

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

At least Gladiolus knew when he shouldn't go picking all too much about subjects. Noctis couldn't tell if Gladiolus was doing it on his account or on the account of decency, but avoiding a drawn-out conversation about Stella was welcomed anyway. There was no drawn-out conversation to be had about her. Noctis still barely understood her. The steps of their interaction - firstly, she'd tried to lower his guard at the treaty signing. Secondly, she'd taken advantage of his flight to the streets and separation from his allies to try and assassinate him. Thirdly, she'd arrived, without any reason to, at the mansion to discuss how much she wanted to stop fighting. Fourthly, she'd seemed almost disappointed when he'd thought it best they separate before too many people caught notice. That was all Noctis knew, and that did not combine to form any solid answers. He just..needed to get back home and figure things out.

"We should get busy finding the other two...", Noctis considered, a hand rubbing lightly at his chin. After this conversation with Gladiolus, he almost wished he could keep the larger man and Ignis separated from the day, but they couldn't dawdle in Gaia for too long, even if the company seemed pretty pleasant if Tifa was any indication. Still, Noctis had a crystal to protect, and, considering the presence of this "girl" of Gladiolus', he didn't need to go on long without having this meeting Gladiolus had proposed. And maybe he needed...ah, who was he kidding? Stella wouldn't be coming back. Not after Noctis had been forced to run her off for the health and security of the both of them. Things would go back to normal once they all got back and either Ignis could be convinced that the woman was as harmless as Gladiolus indicated or Gladiolus would be convinced of the opposite. Heh, normalcy...Noctis didn't know the meaning of the word anymore.

Peering down at the remains of his drink, Noctis went into his jacket pocket to retrieve the gil within. No using cards in a different world, after all. Once he produced it and sat it on the counter - probably more than was needed - he took in the last of the drink and started to stand. "We're losing daylight. Need to get moving while we still have time to search." His eyes moved from the rest of the bar, now featuring only a pair of people in the corner who were paying them no mind, back over to Tifa, whose attention he got with a light pat on the bar beside her. "Thanks again," he told her, because it was all that needed to be said, before he nodded to her and pushed away from the counter. Sharing a glance with Gladiolus, Noctis trotted back through the row of tables towards the entrance he'd basically been dragged through, before he pushed it open and emerged into the rest of this "Gaia" for the first time while conscious. Time to get back to "normalcy."

Words - 552
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Fin![/size]