A Prince's Friend is Hard Work

[chocobosnap]

 Prompto was nervous.

That was not the least bit unusual in itself, he had some terrible anxieties that made his life complicated and challenging all at once, all the time, but he'd had a handle on things, at least, he thought so. 

He received a letter and turned his world upside down.

All of that hard work had come to fruition and he was now a new friend to the prince, someone he got along with a lot better than he used to. He'd seen and met some of his retainers, some of the people around him. They all seemed nice, if wary, and huge. 

Prompto had never been tall, and he was slightly shorter than Noct who seemed short beside his bodyguard Gladio. He was kind of hoping he'd get bigger, but he doubted it. 

The longer he spent with Noctis, they'd begun asking him questions about his skills in self-defense, because there could be danger inadvertently. Ignis had been the one to deliver the message that he should learn, and asked him to report to the Citadel one Sunday morning to meet with Cor Leonis - The Marshal - who was going to test him, or teach him, or something. 

He was on time, had been escorted to the gym and, dressed in his gym clothes, he was waiting nervously, pressed against a wall to avoid any looks from any of the Glaives around. He couldn't have looked more out of place if he tried, with his black track pants and dark purple t-shirt with a frolicking cartoon chocobo on it. 

Comments

[immortalmarshal]

Three weeks, at least, and Prompto is clearly ill... How in the Six are there people who are that careless about being away from their kids for so long without leaving proper supervision for them? Cor's highly tempted to make sure that he's holed up Noct's place, under the watchful eye of Ignis, before he goes off to hunt down the Argentums.

"...do you have their phone numbers? In case we need to reach them?" Cor finally asks, right when the door dings and he leads the lad onto the floor dedicated for the medical wing of the Citadel. Hopefully, the kid isn't in as much pain as Cor fears that he may be...

[chocobosnap]

"Y-Yeah, but they're pretty busy. It's nothing. I can handle this." Prompto insisted.

He was in a lot of pain and feverish, so very feverish. He didn't know what was wrong, but he didn't feel well at all.

"I'm sorry. I'll...I'll make sure I fix this."

[immortalmarshal]

Cor takes a good, long look at Prompto...and he has a flashback to when Noctis was eight. He can still remember peeking into a certain hospital room some nights, and see his king keeping vigil over his grievously wounded son - sometimes sitting by the bedside, sometimes kneeling, always talking softly and keeping a Carbuncle charm by the boy's side...

"...no. You won't be going thru this alone. I'll stay with you until I'm certain that you'll be taken care of."

[chocobosnap]

"I'm r-really okay Marshal." Prompto tried another weak looking smile.

"I just..." He groaned, leaning over with his hands on his stomach, for a moment unable to hold back.

Three slow breaths and he straightened.

"I'll be okay. Really. I m-mean I can text my parents so that they'll know." Was that better? They wouldn't sit by his side, that he knew, he was already unwanted and the older he got the less they wanted him.

There were times in his life he cried about that, but he'd been trying to move beyond it.

[immortalmarshal]

That groan and doubling over? That makes Cor's heart slow to a stop for a brief moment. One hand's already moving to help support the lad, in case he was feeling weak in the knees or light-headed...

And then came those words, and Cor felt something inside of his heart just...crack. How can this kid just keep acting like he can handle this when he clearly isn't? How could he keep acting like it's alright to suffer this alone? Like...

Like a far younger Cor tried to, before Regis claimed him as part of his retinue.

"There's no time for that. We need to get you seen. Now." And with that, he hustled the blonde over to the nearest medical profession and demanded that Prompto Argentum, barely an official trainee, needs to be seen to immediately.

[chocobosnap]

"Y-Yeah, okay." Prompto stammered and let Cor bring him over to the nearest professional.

She took him to a room and began pressing at his stomach and shook her head a little bit. "We need your guardian's contact information."

Prompto whimpered and cried out as she pushed at it. "Uh huh. S-Sure."

"But we may not have time to wait. Prompto, you need surgery immediately. You have appendicitis. It could get very dangerous and life threatening very fast."

He chewed his bottom lip, Prompto didn't like the idea of surgery and he was terrified, but he also didn't want to die. He took heaving breaths and nodded. "Okay." He whimpered. He knew they'd never get ahold of his parents. Never.

[immortalmarshal]

Cor's face grows stony as he heard the diagnostic. That's a very serious condition - and not one that develops simply overnight. "I'll contact his parents to let them know what's going on - they're on a business trip, from what he told me."

He takes a deep breath. "Just...do all you can to help him, Doctor. And put it on my tab."

[chocobosnap]

They're already preparing him, Prompto is getting hooked up to an IV which has made him look pale and uncertain, but he's putting on a brave face.

It was easier just to hand over his phone than give Cor the number.

His phone was yellow, several years old and had a chocobo charm hanging from it.

Dialing the number for his father yielded no answer, but the one for his mother did.

Amelia Argentum responded with a sigh. "What is it Prompto? I'm working." She sounded impatient.

[immortalmarshal]

Cor nods his thanks to Prompto, and agreed to step outside to try and reach out to his parents. He sighs in mild frustration when the father seems to let it go to voicemail, so he left a message advising him that They Need To Talk.

His mother, however, seems to nearly make him more irritable. Nearly. "This is Cor Leonis, Mrs. Argentum. I need to talk to you regarding your son." Let the full weight of the famous name take effect; hopefully, she'll realize that this is serious from that alone.

[chocobosnap]

She paused for a moment and just sighed. "What did he do?"

Amelia was sure this meant Prompto had gotten himself in some kind of trouble, and that was not going to be tolerated.

"Whatever it is, we'll pay for it. And we'll punish him thoroughly, don't you worry about that."

[immortalmarshal]

Cor looks surprised for a few moments. This is his mother, and she's acting like he's some kind of street gang member. Prompto, Mr Sunshine and dedicated friend of the Crown Prince, getting into that kind of trouble?

"No, no, you misunderstand. He's not in that kind of trouble. He's in the hospital - he's sick. He contracted appendicitis, and needs to undergo surgery in order to remove his appendix. Because he's been training under me, I need to know if you'd be willing to give the official go-ahead for it."

Cor's proud that he's keeping his tone more concerned than angry, despite the growing fury lingering in his chest and the tightening grip on Prom's phone.

[chocobosnap]

The woman sighed heavily.

"Oh is that all? Fine that's fine. Tell them it's fine and they can fax me whatever. I'll get to it."

Amelia paused a moment. "Is there any more? Oh billing. Just have the bill sent to the house."

[immortalmarshal]

Cor's visibly twitching as any semblance of politeness flee him in this moment. "'Is that's all?' 'Is that's all?' Lady, your son runs the risk of dying under the surgery knife, and you're acting like it's just a mere damn annoyance? How the Six can you sleep at night if this is how you view your own gods-damn child?"

He's vaguely aware that people are staring at him. And at this point, he doesn't care one bit. His focus, his fury, is on this seemingly neglectful parent. "Aren't you even considering come back to the Crown City to check up on him?!"

[chocobosnap]

"Look, I'm in the middle of a big project here. I'm sure he'll be fine, or whatever. It's not really my department to come running back to Insomnia. Try his father maybe but we'll text him."

She hesitated a moment. " You have to understand he's just not really ours, we're doing our best but you know what Niffs are like. On top of all of that he's even clingy and needy like he's not one of them."

[immortalmarshal]

As soon as he hears that one worn, that 'slur', Cor freezes for a few moments. Niff. Prompto is of Niflheim descent. That explains the fair skin and blonde hair, the freckles...

The apparent neglectfulness of his adopted parents.

"...'Niff'? He's a Six-damn Lucian, you heartless bitch," he growls furiously. "It don't fuckin' matter where his bloodline came from; if he's been raised here, he's one of us. And he deserves a whole lot more than a pair of asshole guardians who can't be fuckin' bothered to make sure that he's not dying while they're away!"

Monika's walking up to him in this moment, and that makes him stop and take a breath. "As soon as you or your husband are back in town, we will discuss this further. In person. Goodbye." The fact that it's Prompto's phone, chocobo charm and all, is the only reason why he simply ends the call and not throw it at the nearest wall.

"...Prompto's about to go into surgery," he explained to her. "And I think some of our suspicious about his parents were just proven true."

[chocobosnap]

She gasped slightly. "You can't possibly believe that. They're rotten, to the core, you should know that. The king should, I mean-" She babbled slightly.

"You didn't have to listen to that grating voice, asking for things." She scoffed. "We could barely stand to look at him. He looks more and more Niff every day. You understand right? We can hardly be blamed."

Amelia paused and sounded relieved. "Yeah, sure, that's fine. Great! Uh, we'll text him later check up and whatever. Bye." She seemed completely immune to his anger.

[immortalmarshal]

It's a good thing that he's already ending the call. Otherwise, he would channel is old teenage self and unload onto her all the colorful language that he picked up from Cid and various Hunters across the years. As it is, though, Cor's face looks like a brewing storm cloud as he finally ends the call.

Monika waits until he calms down. "...sir, I presume that was Mrs. Argentum?"

"...yeah..." He takes a few deep breaths to gather some semblance of control. "...I'm going to check on how Prompto's doing, and then I'm going to contact his Highness and brief him on Prompto's status. In the meantime, I need you to start preparing casework for neglect charges."

And once he got that confirmation - along with any news updates regarding the prior investigations - Cor will then start making his way back towards where Prompto's being held, to see if he's still waiting in pre-surgery status.

[chocobosnap]

He was, in fact, still waiting, although it wouldn't be much longer and they had taken the time to medicate him to ease the pain. Pain he must have been suffering awhile, that he never complained about.

Prompto smiled at Cor sleepily, but did the man seem frustrated.

"Oh. You must've talked to mom or dad." He murmured, and frustration meant they weren't coming.

He'd hoped, for a moment.

No one ever said he wasn't foolish.

[immortalmarshal]

"Your mother," he simply quips as he hands the phone back to Prompto.

"She...she at least agreed for you to go into surgery." He takes another deep breath. "...she's not coming back for a while. But I did leave a voicemail with your father, just in case he will return to the Crown City soon."

[chocobosnap]

"Thanks for asking." Prompto said genuinely, but he didn't finish the thought. He curled up a little and pushed his phone back into the pocket of his sweater.

"They said I'll...be here a few days and I can go home."

He would be out of their hair, what was he even thinking coming here? Befriending Noct? Training? If his parents knew any of that they'd be angry.

[immortalmarshal]

Cor had the sudden urge to hug the poor blonde, and he's not sure why. Because he's dealt with racist parents? Because the kis looks like he needs one? He can't figure it out...

He does, however, pat Prompto on the shoulder. "We'll make sure there's someone around to help keep an eye on you once you're allowed to leave. In the meantime, relax. The folks here are among the best - evem if they can be mother hens at times," he adds as a tease as the doctor approaches them.

[chocobosnap]

"I'm okay." He smiled reassuringly at Cor. "I will be...just...'sokay, I'm used to it."

Prompto found himself beginning to doze, and that was the point, they had to take him and bring him to a sterile room.

Surgery took about two hours, before he was put back into the room, fast asleep. He was going to be just fine.

[immortalmarshal]

Cor waits until he's taken into surgery proper before he let himself sit down and breathe in relief. He knows that the kid will be okay, even before he gets the 'everything went well' verdict. If the staff could bring him back from being grievously wounded, they can handle something like this.

Once he feels calm enough, he starts making phone calls on his own cell. First to the king to apologize for missing the next meeting - and a brief summary of why did the trick. Regis' calming and sympathetic words helped ground Cor more than any meditation did.

Which was a good thing, because Cor then had to call the only other 'authority figure' in Prompto's life - the Crown Prince. Noctis' first reaction was to panic-worry, but Cor's reassurance helped calm him down. "He needs his friend to help support him thru the recovery, not just a mentor to fuss over him," Cor explained to him, and that seemed to help set Noct straight.

Once he got what he needed, Cor ended the phone call and spent the remaining time parked next to Prompto's bed, keeping vigil until either the lad wakes up, or Noctis and his retinue arrives.

[chocobosnap]

It took half an hour for his head to loll and his eyes to flicker and begin to open. He could hear Noctis' voice, in the hall.

He rubbed his eyes and raised his head a bit, looking around groggily.

Maybe they would let him go home before he got Noct worried.

[immortalmarshal]

Prompto will find Cor slipping back into the room to check on the young blonde. A rare smile graces his face upon seeing the younger man slowly waking up.

"Good, just in time. The others just got here a few minutes ago." After making sure the door's closed, he approaches the hospital bed. "How are you feeling?"