Title: Lucian Thief
Fandom: Final Fantasy XV
Pairing: Cor Leonis/Prompto Argentum
Rating: PG-13
Length: 2, 384 words
Author notes: Spoilers for the second half of the main game, also for Episode Prompto
Summary: Prompto knows that his memories only go back so far. Cor is able to provide some illumination.

"... You got a tattoo there?"

Prompto had been in the process of drying his hair when Cor had made that comment. Cor's tone had been casual; it was unusual for him to make smalltalk, but not fully unheard of. They were close enough for Prompto to be used to that - close enough for him to use Cor's bathtub, close enough to emerge into the apartment's main room with only a towel around his waist and no further thought dedicated to that fact. Not enough, evidently, that his left hand didn't move to quickly cover his right wrist on hearing those words.

The barcode wasn't fully the burden it had once been. For all the time he had spent hiding it, so too did it now bear the memories of his primary childhood fear being uncovered - and also the way that Noctis had practically brushed off the matter without a second thought, because why did any of that matter? He would look to it and remember, back then, the smile that Noctis had given him. The knowledge of a weight lifted. We're still good.

Noctis - and Ignis, and Gladiolus - had been the primary concern, given Prompto's immediate social circle, but it was easy to forget that there were others to consider, too. For the most part, he'd discovered, most Lucians did not know what the barcode signified. He would wear his wristband more out of habit than necessity, thinking less on it in the years since Noctis had seen the physical proof of his secrets - and it had been years, now. Niflheim had fallen, the sky had darkened, and daemons were a constant threat. Compared to all of that, the truth of the barcode felt like something that barely mattered, anymore.

That wasn't to say that he didn't still startle on reflex on having it pointed out, however; the years he'd spent in low-level fear of the unknown didn't go away all that easily. And for it to be Cor, too - Prompto remained in place for a few full seconds, towel still draped over his damp hair, as he wondered how exactly to play this situation. Hesitantly, he moved his hands back to the position required to dry his hair; covering it was no use - Cor had already seen it, so, now what?

"Oh, haha, that--..." He pulled the towel back, to rest over his shoulders. "Just, you know, a troubled past. Everyone's got one of those, right?"

"You're not wrong about that."

Apparently accepting that at face value, Cor didn't pursue the matter. Prompto wasn't sure how to feel about that; his thoughts had already been racing, reaching for explanation and justification - but, like many conversations between them, Cor seemed content to let the words fall to silence, instead. Maybe he doesn't know what it means...? Prompto wondered how likely that was. It wasn't impossible, insofar as that information wasn't exactly common knowledge - but then, of anyone, wouldn't Cor be the most likely to hold that knowledge to begin with...?

Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it, either. Prompto looked to him, in the hours and days afterward, looking for any sign of him wanting to raise the subject, or purposefully avoiding it for Prompto's own sake - but Cor was as inscrutable as he always was, and it was impossible to tell.


-----


"... May I see?"

That request came long enough after Prompto's original indecision that it almost felt annoying. As if he'd almost managed to get away with something--... but not quite. Cor seemed to be a master of picking his moments, too; in their shared bed with the blankets gathered around them, the one place that Prompto had - rationally, or not - come to associate with feeling safe, more than anywhere else in the ruined world could--... and there, Cor was holding his leather-covered wrist, those sharp eyes of his gazing at Prompto with a look that only asked for permission.

It seemed too much to hope for that this would be mere curiosity about a tattoo. He glanced to the side, reluctance evident on his face; he trusted Cor enough to feel that the answer to that question wasn't the emotional disaster it could have been some ten years previous, but that still didn't make him any more enthusiastic about having to explain. He sighed as he pulled his wrist away from Cor's hold, fingers working at the catch of his wristband before offering it back, uncovered, to Cor's scrutiny.

"You know what it is... right?"

Cor kept his hold gentle, rubbing one thumb across the black lines, as if that would grant him any further clarification. "... Indeed. If it were only a mark of some teenage indiscretion, then the coincidence would be astounding..." He released Prompto's wrist, then. "So... you were that kid, huh?"

"I, uh... I guess? Back when I was with Noct and the others... back when we went to Niflheim, trying to get the Crystal back, I ended up at this one research facility. You know, out of all the research facilities in all the world, why did it have to be that one... kind of thing. ...There were--... experiments. Turns out, I was one of them...! There were all these notes, lying around. Like, oh, these test subjects went bad, so we had to incinerate them. This test subject went missing, better lock down security!... You get the idea. ...One of the test subjects got out." Prompto looked over the barcode. "Raised in Lucis for twenty years, ended up back in Niflheim regardless. Weird how these things turn out, right?"

"I had no idea."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't exactly yelling it from the rooftops or anything."

"No, I mean--..." Cor shifted his position, moving to lie back against the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "... I was sent to Niflheim, a couple of times. The duty of the Crownsguard is to protect the King, as well you know, but--... those times, King Regis would take me to one side, hand on my shoulder, saying there was nobody he trusted more to take on these missions and to get results. ...I wasn't happy about it. From Insomnia to Niflheim isn't a swift journey, and the thought of being on the other side of the world to the person I was sworn to protect--... all I could do was to undertake the missions he'd trusted me with, and return to Insomnia as soon as I was able."

"... Sounds tough." (It was unusual for Cor to talk about the past - or to reveal much of himself at all - and Prompto was never quite sure how to respond.)

"The biggest questions that faced the Insomnian Council never seemed to change. What is Niflheim truly capable of? How advanced, exactly, is their technology? Of course, it was never like they were going to just tell us any of that. We'd try to pick up what we could from skirmishes on Lucian soil, but there was only so far that that could go. ...We heard of their experiments, though. The MTs were the most visible element of Niflheim's advances - these troops, seemingly endless, practically identical, apparently inhuman... far beyond our offensive capabilities. From our own research, we knew of the Magitek Core that powered them, and that without that, they were little more than puppets with cut strings - but what was it that could power them like that, to turn these inanimate objects into the vicious killing machines we'd had first-hand experience with on the battlefield...?"

"Easier to fight them when you just think they're robots, huh."

"... We weren't going in blind, of course. For Niflheim to have amassed such an army in such a short space of time, we knew that it had to be--... there had to be some method they'd discovered. If we, in turn, could discover even the smallest hint towards how they were producing these troops - or what those troops even were - then that felt like it would be a victory. That a computer program could be so deadly and so accurate - there had to be more to it than that." Cor paused, then turned his head to glance across at Prompto. "In retrospect, it shouldn't have been surprising that they would experiment on infants. Even MTs had to be born into this world somehow. ...It came as a surprise to us at the time, though. Our expectation was to lift data, or to steal some piece of technology--... anything we could find that could be taken back to Insomnia, that could tell us anything about what Niflheim was planning... and it had been so difficult to get into their compound in the first place, going back to regroup wasn't an option. I don't think I'll ever forget that sight, having made my way into that room - test subjects, filling every incubator. Children. They were experimenting on human children."

Prompto looked up at that point, the realization hitting him. "Wait--... you were there?"

"I had to think on my feet. What else could I do? We were after Niflheim's research, and, well, there was a whole room, full of it. No turning back. All of those tanks, connected to nothing we could even begin to understand... would a child survive outside of whatever setup Niflheim had them sleeping within? There were no guarantees, not of anything, but in that moment, it felt like--... even if we were to bring back only a body, that might still be more than what we'd arrived with. ...I'm not proud of that thought."

"You're saying you're the one those notes were about? That--..." It had been so long, Prompto hadn't realized that there still lay information with the capability of shocking him about his former situation. "You were the one who got me out of Niflheim?"

"... Right. It looks like that's what happened, doesn't it?" Cor brought one hand up, then ruffled Prompto's hair. "Weird how these things turn out. Right?"

"Y-yeah..."

"I'm still not sure how we got you out of there." He gave a self-deprecating half-smile. "I'm no good with kids. You were made of strong stuff, though - you survived, somehow. All the way back to Insomnia."

"So--... all this time--... you... knew? And you never thought to, like, say anything about it to me...!?" Prompto was aware both of the accusatory tone to his voice, and the rational part of his mind that knew that any outrage he could have at this point was largely impotent.

"I didn't know it was you--!..." Cor gave a deep sigh. "I brought you back to Insomnia, but I could only find out what happened once we brought you there after the fact. I know that--... some manner of investigation was performed, but I don't know the specifics. I do know that the investigation was largely unsuccessful, in the sense that, for all intents and purposes, you seemed to be a healthy human child - albeit one that had been marked for experimentation. I think the eventual conclusion was that whatever experiments you were destined for, we had snatched you prior to their execution. Other than the knowledge that Niflheim was somehow creating and storing these infants, and that they were being kept in a facility to create MTs, there was little else we could deduce. What more could be done? It was beyond my responsibility, but I was aware of the fact that the decision was made for you to be raised within Insomnia, as any other child would be. That wasn't something I was responsible for, or had much working knowledge of. There came other priorities; I assumed that, whatever happened to the child, it had been thoroughly taken care of."

"And you--... remember all of that...?"

"It feels so long ago I might almost have dreamt it, but... yes, I do."

"... I don't remember any of that. I mean, why would I, I guess? Who even remembers stuff from when they're that young?... It's so weird to hear about, though. Like it must have happened to someone else, but--... who else would it have happened to? As far back as I can remember, I--... I was always in Insomnia. I don't even know what the first thing I remember is. I guess--..." Prompto looked over his wrist once more. "I remember--... maybe it was members of the Crownsguard? Someone who seemed official, telling me that I should never let anybody see the barcode - not even by accident. I remember being told that, over and over, being told how important and how secret it was. I think I knew that I was from Niflheim, and that that was something I shouldn't tell anybody, way before I really knew what that actually meant. Growing up and only hearing people mention Niflheim if it was on the news, or schoolkids talking shit... but I never let them know. That was the only thing I really knew. Don't let them know."

"... I'm sorry."

"Nah, forget it. Like you said, it wasn't anything to do with you, right?... I was so worried about people finding out, but I guess a whole bunch of people at the Citadel already knew. Turned out fine, right? Nobody at school ever found out. Noct found out eventually, but--..." He couldn't help a small, sad smile. "--... It wasn't a big deal."

"I didn't know your name. Becoming aware of you as a friend of Prince Noctis, you could have been anyone - that was as much as I knew." Cor's expression softened. "You really hung in there, huh."

Prompto attempted a grin in response. "Didn't really have a choice, did I?"

Cor's hand went to Prompto's wrist once more, this time covering it, and then pressed it down into the mattress, as if drawing a line under the conversation. He leant in close, pressing his forehead to Prompto's own. "... Then that's even more impressive, isn't it...?" His voice was low and quiet, a whisper pressed to Prompto's skin. "I'm glad you got this far."