Title: Tarnish
Fandom: Final Fantasy XV
Rating: G
Length: 3, 202 words
Content notes: Contains spoilers for the Final Fantasy XV lategame, specifically up to chapter 13.
Author notes: n/a
Summary: Gladiolus has impressive tattoos; on seeing them for the first time, Prompto starts to wonder.

The first time that Prompto saw Gladiolus's tattoo was on the afternoon of an otherwise normal day; it was the weekend, so he had time free - but Noctis had training, as he often did. Therefore, they planned to meet afterwards, to at least enjoy the rest of the afternoon and the evening together, free from the academic demands placed on them for most of the rest of the time they spent together. Prompto was still nervous about meeting those people - those in charge of Noctis's wellbeing, those in charge of his physical training, those sent to protect him, those sent to guard him... Prompto knew that that was just down to his own insecurity, though. All those around Noctis had only ever been easygoing and pleasant with him, seemingly somewhat amused and intrigued by him more than anything else; hey, His Highness made a friend...! How about that.

As such, Noctis had given him the directions to the Amicitia household with barely a second thought, "I'll be there most of the day. I'll let you know when I think I'll be ready; it's fine if you come early, if you don't mind waiting around." That was easy enough for him to say, but Prompto hadn't been able to shake the nervousness as he'd made his way through unfamiliar parts of the city. The route itself made for a nice weekend walk - from the moment Prompto had left the subway, it felt obvious that this was one of the good parts of the city. The streets were clean and the houses were large, and despite the friendly nods from residents he happened to pass by, he couldn't shake the thought of should I really be here...?

He double-checked the instructions he'd been given on reaching what seemed to be the correct house. It was large, but so too were the rest of the houses in the neighborhood. That's what you get for being in service to the royal family, isn't it...? The atmosphere was otherwise peaceful, but the occasional hit of wood on wood was audible, even from the street. That by itself hinted to Prompto that he was in the right location, but that didn't make the house any easier to approach; he glanced around as he did so, looking over the front gate and what seemed to be an intercom system. Noctis hadn't given him any particular instruction in that regard; is it okay to just... ring the bell...?

On pressing the button, the intercom buzzed into life. The voice on the other end was not one that Prompto recognized; sounds like a girl?

"You're Noct's friend, right?"

"Eh-- ah--...?" Prompto glanced around again, feeling thrown by that sudden presumption. It wasn't incorrect, but he had expected to at least have to introduce himself first.

This reaction caused a giggle. "I can see you on the CCTV, you know. Hold on, I'll open the gate for you." There was a flat tone, and then the sound of the gate unlocking itself. Prompto pushed it forward and closed it behind him, making his way up the stairs to the main door; it opened before he could reach it, and a young girl appeared in front of him. He hadn't been expecting that and wasn't quite sure how to respond, but she gave a wide, friendly grin as she held the door open.

"Uh, I--... don't believe we've met...?"

"Right? And I've heard so much about you--! I've been telling Noct he should invite you over for ever. Oh, right - I'm Iris, Iris Amicitia. Gladdy's my older brother. ...You've met him before, right?"

"Only briefly...!" It seemed that Iris already knew who he was, but it only seemed polite to introduce himself anyway. "I'm Prompto Argentum--! Noct's--... Noct's friend. Like you said." Does he really talk about me that much?

The front hallway opened up into a wide communal area; Prompto tried not to make it too obvious that he was staring, but it was almost impossible not to. He found his attention caught by the wall that was almost entirely made up of glass - the windows and doors were all set in just the right way to let in an impressive level of natural light. It also gave a good view of the garden, in which Noctis and Gladiolus were visible; Iris kept walking, but Prompto halted, just for a moment. Iris was almost at the outside door before she realized that Prompto was a little way behind her; she turned around, tilting her head with a questioning glance. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, uh, n-no, I just--... I haven't seen Noct train before."

"Oh! Yeah, I guess if you hadn't come here before you might not have done, huh. Here or the citadel... and he likes to skip out on practice, so if we don't drag him here half the time, he'd just laze around at home. But that's why we're here, to make sure he does his bit...!"

As she spoke, the clashing of wooden weapons carried across; seemingly neither Noctis nor Gladiolus had noticed that they were being watched, wrapped up as they were in their mock battle. Rationally, Prompto knew the meaning of Noctis's training - he spent enough time complaining about it, at least. At the same time, Noctis was more active than Prompto had ever seen him, wielding the practice weapon with a strength that surprised him. Gladiolus's strength was obvious just to look at him, but to see those blows matched - Prompto found it impressive that they could exchange hits like that with no hesitation. Isn't it scary, fighting someone that strong?

He had his fingers tracing the edges of the camera in his pocket before he knew it, wordlessly bringing it up in the hopes of capturing - something. Taking pictures from behind glass wasn't ideal, but is it okay to interrupt...? Iris simply smiled at his actions.

"I want to see some of your photos sometime...! I bet Noct never got around to asking you, did he."

"Huh?"

"I want to see your photos...! I bet you've got some great ones of Noct. ...And you. And everything! Haha... Noct says you're pretty good with that thing."

"Well, I like to try--! I don't know how interesting it'll be, but I can totally show you, if you want. I've got, like, a drawer full of SD cards at home..."

"That's really cool! I suppose you and Noct are rushing off now, though. But come back around sometime! I'm sure Gladdy won't mind."

The sounds of battle from the garden did nothing to assuage Prompto's worries in that respect, but he decided not to voice that concern. It had taken him long enough to develop his friendship with Noctis - the thought of arriving at the Amicitia household alone, for the time being, felt like just too much to handle. "... Maybe I'll come by earlier next time? We can go through the photos while they do their fighting."

Iris clapped her hands together, clearly approving the idea. "That sounds great! Don't forget, now--! I'll be looking forward to it...!"

For all of Prompto's hesitation about disturbing Noctis and Gladiolus, Iris simply opened the door without a care. Stepping down onto the concrete of the patio, she waved one arm as she called across. "Heyyy--! Gladdy, Noct--! You've got a visitor--!"

This caught their attention; they saw Iris and Prompto waiting for them, and in that moment, seemed to visibly relax. Noctis tossed the wooden weapon to the ground, then offered Gladiolus a fistbump (which was reciprocated with a smirk). Following that, he dropped to the ground, haphazardly sprawled in a half-seated position as Prompto and Iris approached.

"You took your time, didn't you? I'm exhausted. I'm just gonna fall asleep on the train again."

"Well, that's why I'm here, isn't it? To make sure you wake up before our stop...!"

As Noctis and Prompto carried out their conversation, Gladiolus took up a cross-legged position next to Noctis. He yanked off his hoodie and t-shirt in one gesture, tossing them to the side and falling back against the grass. "You even got me breaking a sweat, that time. See, doesn't it feel better when you actually try...?"

"If by 'feel better' you mean 'makes you want to sleep for a week', then sure, that."

"Sure must be tough having no stamina, huh."

"I've got stamina--!"

"I'll believe it when I see it. Maybe if you came round here more often?"

"Hmph."

Presumably quite used to the habit, neither Noctis nor Iris reacted to the sight of Gladiolus with his shirt off. Prompto, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure where to look; part of him wanted to stare openly and yell wow you've got a lot of muscles, but knew that a reaction like that was more trouble than it was worth. His hoodie did a good job of hiding his physique, though; how does someone even get to be that jacked?! He made Noctis seem scrawny in comparison, let alone Prompto himself. Then there was that tattoo...! Again, that hoodie covered the decorated parts of his body, and it wasn't something that either Noctis nor Gladiolus had mentioned to him previously. Did he always have that...? Prompto felt like he had a lot of questions, suddenly, but felt too self-conscious to voice them. And then Noctis was knocking him on the arm, snapping him from his thoughts.

"You ready to go? Still got an hour or two of daylight left, I reckon."

Gladiolus leant up on his hands. "Still under curfew, even at the weekend?"

"You know how he gets."

"Well, I happen to know that a certain person will be wrapped up with Royal Council meetings for the rest of the evening. Not that that's got anything to do with anything, but it might be that he's too busy to check up on you. Just maybe. Not that you heard that from me, of course. Royal secrets." Gladiolus tapped the side of his nose, winking.

Noctis picked himself up from the ground dusting himself off before holding out his hand to help Prompto up. "Hey, Prompto, I just heard this great rumor. Apparently Ignis is working late, so he's not gonna be checking up on me. So we can stay out longer! Isn't that great?"

Prompto let himself be pulled to a standing position. "Totally...!"


-----


The subway line from the area of the city holding the Amicitia house to the retail district that Noctis and Prompto liked to frequent wasn't long, but - perhaps long enough for Noctis to fall asleep? Prompto assumed that the case, sitting in silence, until Noctis spoke.

"You're pretty quiet."

"Huh--!? Oh...! I thought you were sleeping."

"Probably not far off it." Noctis stretched out one arm, pressing at his shoulder with the opposite hand as he did so. "We really went at it. I guess if you feel it, that means it's working, right? Maybe it'll keep Gladio off my back for a couple of days, at least."

"... You didn't tell me about his tattoo...!"

Noctis stared at Prompto for a moment, as if having to remember what precisely it was that he was talking about. "Oh--! Yeah! I think he got that done, like... a year ago, maybe? Hadn't you seen it before? It's pretty impressive."

"It's not like I see him that often, and then he's always wearing jackets or whatever, so I don't really get the chance...! It was really hard trying not to stare, you know, but I figured you guys were all used to it..."

"You should have just said something. Though if you did that we'd probably be there until midnight. He'd probably enjoy the chance to show off his body... so it's probably better not to say anything, actually. He'd totally let you look at his tattoo if you asked him about it, though."

"... That's kinda embarrassing. What am I meant to do, just stare intently at his pecs?"

"You could take a photo...! I bet he'd really like that. I don't even want to think about it."

Prompto swung his legs back and forth in front of him, staring at the blurred lights moving on the other side of the carriage window. "You think it hurts? Getting something like that done."

"I dunno. I think he said they do it with a needle, or something...? It sounds like it would, but then Gladio's the sort of person who'd just sit there reading a magazine while they did all of that. He didn't say anything about it being painful, but... even if it was, I'm sure he wouldn't admit it."

"Do you think that--..."

"Mm?"

Prompto glanced at the carriage floor briefly before looking back up towards the window, glad that he hadn't been looking towards Noctis. "N-nothing."

Noctis smirked, taking his own interpretation of Prompto's reaction. "Thinking of getting one?"

"Uh--!? Um, well--... n-no, I've never really thought about it..."

"I bet it would look really cool if you did, though. Imagine something like Gladio's, all over your body...!"

"I--... I think that probably suits him better than it would me."

"It doesn't have to be that big. Could still go for something small, right? On, like, your arm or something. I think he said something like, it's different depending on where you get it done? That is, some parts of skin are more sensitive... or something. I wasn't really paying attention. I think the arms are meant to be good for it, though." Noctis shrugged and then stretched deeply, sliding down in his seat afterward. "I don't know much about it. The internet'll know."

"Do you think--..."

"... Do I think what...?"

Don't mention it. Don't talk about it. Don't draw attention to it.

"... It doesn't matter."


-----


The day went by quite harmlessly, even considering the fact that the two of them stayed out far later than they would have done usually. They still spent their time doing the same sorts of things - going to the Game Center, getting things to eat, sitting around on the city benches, indulging in snacks. It was relaxing to spend time with one another, moreso with the knowledge that the weekend still had one more full day to it - any concerns of school or homework could be put off for just that long, and even Ignis wasn't a consideration (a rare occurrence). Following the subway journey, their conversation moved to different things, and Noctis didn't bring up the subject of tattoos again; Prompto found himself quietly glad of that fact.

On getting home and ready for bed, Prompto felt quite tired - it had been a long day, after all. Despite that, he still found himself sat on the edge of his bed, fingers pressed to the striped wristband that lay there. He spent so much time trying to ignore it that looking at it directly even felt strange in itself. He took a deep breath before removing the wristband, still feeling the shiver of uncertainty as he did so. Rationally, he knew that he was alone in the house - but what if someone can see? What if other people can tell? Even with only the light of his desk lamp illuminating the room, the stark lines against his skin felt so terrifyingly obvious.

When had it even happened? He didn't remember. For as long as he could remember, he'd had that barcode stained into him, indelibly marking him as--... something. He didn't know what. He'd been told to hide it for as long as he was in Lucis, because if they see it, then they'll know. Who exactly 'they' were and what exactly it was that they would know, Prompto couldn't be sure, but he knew enough to know that it marked him as being different, and different in a way that held a definite sense of danger. All other aspects were vague, but that had been instilled within him from an early age.

If they see it, they'll know you're from Niflheim. Relations between Insomnia and Niflheim are... strained, at best. Don't give anybody the excuse to single you out.

It isn't your fault, but there are many people out there who would wish you harm for this. Don't let them see. Don't ever, ever tell them.

He'd worn the wristband since long before meeting Noctis; so much so that it became beautifully ordinary. It went with his tie. Completely harmless. Prompto still lived in fear of the possibility of Noctis asking about it - it hadn't happened up to that point, but it would just take one casual question for everything to come crashing down. Every time he thought of it, Prompto tried to come up with a different excuse. None of them felt convincing, even only in his head.

Even asking do you think a wrist tattoo would be okay? felt like drawing too much attention to the matter, and so Prompto hadn't been able to say it. Looking at his naked wrist, he couldn't help but wonder. Could people get tattoos removed? That had never been presented to him as an option. (Maybe it isn't strictly a tattoo. Maybe it's different.) Would it be possible to form a design over it? That almost felt possible. Fill it in, make it a rectangle. Make it a band, solid and featureless, entirely covering the curve of his wrist. Cover it with a picture, decorate it with words, remove its power.

A brief internet search told him that the wrist was potentially a painful place for a tattoo, but that didn't matter. If it was possible to cover it, then that was worth any level of pain. The thought was so tantalizing, the solution so close - but to do so would still involve showing the barcode to someone, even if that person was a solitary tattoo artist within the depths of the city. Perhaps they would think it a failed design of the past, and wouldn't care. Perhaps they would know exactly what it meant, and then--... and then--... (Prompto didn't know what would follow that eventuality, but didn't have to know it to be frightened of it.)

There was no way of hiding his marked skin without exposing it first, and there was no way to know who was trustworthy in that matter - if it was even possible for any resident of Insomnia to be trustworthy when it came to that. Even to ask for advice would be to admit it, and to do just that alone was tantamount to self-sabotage. His first instinct was ask Noct what to do--... but the tense fear would spread through his chest at the mere suggestion, and he knew that, as much as he would ask Noctis for advice on any other matter, this was one in which he absolutely couldn't. It couldn't be him, it couldn't be anybody.

Prompto quickly replaced the wristband, pulling it into position and out of sight, out of mind.