Title: Patched Together
Fandom: Final Fantasy XV
Characters: Cor Leonis, Iris Amicitia, Prompto Argentum
Rating: PG13
Length: 2, 040 words
Warnings: Spoilers for the second half of the game.
Summary: Relying on others doesn't come easy for Cor, but Prompto and Iris try their best.

There were some reasons to venture out beyond Lestallum, but there were many more reasons not to; everything was managed under the watchful eye of the Hunters, so as to best provide protection to those who still survived the darkness. Blockades had long been set up, and travel between outposts was monitored. Safety was paramount, and the daemons beyond showed no sign of subsiding.

It hadn't been long before Iris had suggested to Cor that she 'help out' - "I can hold myself in battle," she would insist. Cor didn't doubt her, but there was still a wide gap of difference between whatever training she had been previously provided with (and perhaps battling wild beasts with her brother) and taking on the daemons, the mutated creatures, things that she would never have had opportunity to encounter before. Like that, it was easy to give a rational argument, but time passed, and the darkness still remained unabated. Time passed, people grew, and even Gladiolus would run a hand through his hair and sigh when the subject came up in conversation for the hundredth time.

"You know what? She's an adult now. She knows how to handle herself. What kind of Amicitia would she be if she couldn't? She might look sweet and innocent, but she's not just some random civilian who decided to pick up a sword one day. She's got good instincts. She knows what's up."

"And knowing what's out there yourself, you'd still let her go?"

"Can't keep her cooped up here all the time. Sure know I'd go nuts if it was me."

"I do trust your judgment--..."

"But? Look. I trust her. Nothing's gonna happen to her." Gladiolus had smiled, then, but the expression didn't reach his eyes. "And if anything did?" He cracked his knuckles. "Well, nothing's gonna. So we don't gotta find out."

Cor knew himself what it was like to be bound by red tape, at times - for all that his reputation preceded him, they still wouldn't allow him to leave Lestallum alone. It's the same for everyone, they'd say. He understood why, he knew the reasons, but there was still that small part of him that felt stifled by those rules and regulations. He'd worked for so long largely under his own supervision and nobody else's, and he never would have said to the face of any Hunter or Glaive that they were a burden, so to speak, but traveling in groups brought with it a responsibility that was, nonetheless, not present otherwise. All he could do, he knew, was try to partner himself with those who had the same mindset - or as similar as he could find.

How that had led to him taking watch at camp alongside Iris and Prompto, he still wasn't quite sure. Either one alone had the strange power of being quite persuasive, but both of them together - he didn't quite know how to deal with it, and knew that he didn't stand a chance arguing against them. Iris had come on leaps and bounds since having been allowed to train, either with him or anybody she could find who'd agree to test her, and took to battle with an enthusiasm that still came as a surprise, somehow, even now. Prompto, too, could easily take on anybody who might have immediately discounted him in battle; he could seem laid-back to the point of frivolousness, but Cor knew when to recognize those who were almost desperate to keep a brave face on things. As thick as thieves, Iris seemed to like encouraging Prompto, Prompto seemed to like showing off for her benefit. It worked, somehow. Again, somehow, Cor had found himself in the middle of this. Such thoughts played on his mind as the other two lay sleeping in the tent.

These spots, scattered across the continent, still seemed safe. Indeed, there had been some cases of civilians otherwise stuck in the middle of nowhere, having been rescued - stranded, but otherwise safe - from these spots and these spots alone. Out of anywhere outside of the major outposts, these campsites surely were the safest - but you could never leave anything to chance, and so they set up this casual sleep roster. In truth, it was beyond the point at which Cor should have woken Prompto, and put him up for his shift; Cor was the last person who would ever have admitted being soft on anybody, but there still lay the thought within him, you can sleep a little longer. I've handled worse than this. He knew, too, that if he argued that they needed their sleep, they would only turn that argument back at him - you need your sleep too, right? And yet, for now, this patch of the wilderness still lay relatively quiet. No place was free of the far-off scream of daemons, but the campfire embers still glowed, and that small patch of rock was still, for the moment, safe. Iris and Prompto seemed to feel safe enough in their slumber, and for that moment, it felt like enough. Cor tightened his grip on his katana and glanced at his watch; the sun would no longer rise to tell them of morning, but they couldn't stay in one place for too long. Being rested was important, but the less time spent out in the company of daemons, the better.


-----


On one such shift, Cor found himself surprised to be confronted by both Prompto and Iris at once.

"Oh! You two. It's still early, isn't it? You don't have to keep watch for... another hour yet, by my estimate. And you should be asleep."

The two of them seated themselves by the campfire, close to where Cor sat. He noticed that Iris seemed to be holding something, some kind of fabric item folded neatly and held close to her chest. She only smiled in response to his lightly reprimanding tone, "You're one to talk. If we left it to you all the time, we'd never wake up."

"Is that my role, now? I should expect a grown adult able to wake without needing someone else to do it for them."

"You know what I mean. We're all working together, right? We agreed on these shifts for a reason...!"

"This still doesn't explain to me what you're both doing here, awake, in front of me at this moment."

Prompto and Iris shared a glance, apparently momentarily reluctant to elaborate. Prompto indicated towards Cor, "Go on...!"

Iris glanced down for a moment, as if gathering some sort of emotion, and then stretched her arms out, offering the thing she was clutching towards Cor's direction. "This is for you. I made it."

"I helped. I mean--... she was like, oh, I'm not sure, and I was like, you totally should. I was moral support!"

Cor still wasn't quite sure what he was being offered, but he placed his katana to one side in order to accept it. He faltered slightly. "Well... thank you, you two. What, exactly--..."

Prompto jumped to his feet, then leaned in to take the thing from Cor's hands; he spread it out and held it behind Cor, then wrapped it loosely over his shoulders. Walking around to stand in front of Cor, he leaned in once more to tug it around him properly. He considered this for a moment, made a few adjustments, and then went back to sit down. "It's a blanket! Since you're always the one sitting out all night. I mean, yeah, there's the fire, but we can't leave that burning too long, and then what? You can't just, like, sit there all night like that. If you're not moving around, you're gonna get cold."

A few thoughts came to mind immediately - if we were called to battle, the call would be immediate. We can't be weighed down by unnecessary items. Would I be able to move quickly in this? The blanket was light enough to carry in the pack, but still substantial enough to give warmth - and, in some respects, weight. Could it be thrown aside at a moment's notice? Was this truly needed? And yet. Aside from any of those considerations, it seemed like those two had been working together - Iris had made it, Prompto had 'helped', and now they were looking at him for his reaction to having had it wrapped around him, all of a sudden.

"You know, it's just, when I'm working on those clothes, you end up with these parts left over... you gotta use it all up, right? Can't be wasteful right now. So, yeah, I mean--... it's just, you know, something I put together, but hopefully you don't notice that too much. There's only so much you can do, but I tried to make it look kind of like a pattern. I think it does, though. Kind of? Of course, it's not just about what it looks like, what it does is more important. It's just, you know. You're always watching over us, so... I wanted to do something in return. If you're gonna insist on letting us sleep longer. If you're going to keep doing that, then at the very least, I'd want to think you were keeping warm. Gets pretty cold out here these days!"

"Right? For a guy known as 'the Immortal', you're not very good at looking after yourself, sometimes. This only works if we all rely on each other! That's what we're here for. So, you know. Get some sleep! Keep warm! Brush your teeth! All those things."

At the very least, Cor could recognize basic concern for his wellbeing when it was presented to him so blatantly. How long was this weighing on your mind that you saw fit to take action like this? He shifted in position, tugging the blanket further around his shoulders. Perhaps it wouldn't be the easiest thing to move in, but it felt warm.

"... Honestly. Thank you, Iris. ...And Prompto, too." Cor turned his gaze back towards Iris. "You're very talented. You should be proud."

"Haha, well... I'm just doing what I can. If it's helpful to anybody, then that's a plus, right?"

"We're all very grateful for your contributions. ...Now, is this the two of you volunteering to take the shift, or...?"

Prompto waved his hands, "Not just yet...! We just thought, hey, since it's your turn right now, we might as well give you this now, see how it works out. Then, when it's our turn, you can tell us how it went! Give it a test-run."

"Right. Well, be sure to get some sleep. We've got a long way to go, yet."

"That applies to you, as well...!" (With that, Prompto and Iris stood up and went back towards the tent; Cor watched them as they went, listening to their conversation die down.) "You should teach me some of that stuff, sometime."

"What, sewing? I mean... I guess? If you wanted?"

"Sure I'd want...! It's useful, isn't it? Can't leave it up to you to fix everything any time someone gets a hole in something. If I can do it myself, then that's just less for you to do, right?"

"Remind me when we next get back to Lestallum. I won't take it easy on you...!"

"I wouldn't expect you to--! Hit me with those sewing skills!"

"Man, I wish Gladdy had your enthusiasm. He's hopeless with stuff like this. He did try, I guess, but all, like, fiddly detail things? Not so much his area of expertise..."

There was something encouraging in the way that the two of them were still able to chat so easily, even here, even now. And there was still some time before they next needed to move on - and still some hours before either of them were due to take up position by the camp, just in case. Like that, Cor felt there was little danger in allowing himself to indulge, just for those moments. Warmed by the feelings of his companions as much as the blanket itself, he supposed that it didn't hurt to let himself rely on those two, sometimes. That's how this all works. Right?