FFXV: After the Fall

Chapter 9

Gladiolus awoke some time later, feeling slightly woolly-headed from what must have been a deep sleep, and rubbed at his eyes so that he could see his watch. It was five-past nine. He automatically looked towards the curtains, naturally expecting to see a bit of daylight filtering through them...but then remembered that he wouldn't, of course. They were underwater.
So, he quickly dismissed that and looked back at Helena; she appeared to still be asleep, lying on her side with one hand on her pillow and the merest hint of breast showing over the covers, which rested a few inches below her shoulders....
And he smiled.
That had been one hell of a night. First of many, hopefully.
He then decided to check his phone; due to not wanting to be disturbed on any part of last night, he'd switched it to silent. Therefore, he was expecting there to be ten million messages from some of the guys by now.
He carefully got out of bed so as not to disturb Helena, then he walked over to where his trousers were and pulled out the item.
There was.......only one message, and it was from Ignis.
Huh, he thought. First time for everything.
   'Hope your evening goes very well.' It read. 'I've managed to get the others to refrain from bombarding you, but you may need to call one of them tomorrow morning once you're up. Can also sort out when to come for you. All the best.' Okay then.
That explained it, and Gladiolus dreaded to think of exactly how Ignis managed to stop them from bugging him all night. The mystery of that alone could be worth a phone call. He walked into the separate bathroom and after a quick shower, he wrapped a towel around his lower half and stayed in there to ring Ignis.

The blonde quickly answered. "Ah, good morning." He said with his usual air of positivity. "Did you have a good time?"
Gladiolus instantly grinned. "It was fantastic. I've not long woken up but she's still asleep at present."
He then heard squabbling over the phone, followed by several unusual scraping noises. After a few seconds, he then recognised Prompto's voice speaking instead.
   "Did ya do it?" He asked eagerly. "Did ya?"
Gladiolus sighed; should have known. "Oh, good mornin' to you too." He said quite pointedly. "How ya been?"
   "C'mon man, we wanna know!"
   "You mean that you and Noct wanna know, but mostly you. Haven't you got anythin' better to do?"
   "At this time? Not if I can help it. I woulda asked last night, but...never mind."
   "What? What happened?"
There was a pause. "...he hid our phones." Prompto muttered. "Can ya believe it? Sneaky bastard took our phones while we were playin' darts at the Prairie. Still not got 'em back yet."
Gladiolus started laughing. Yeah, that'd work alright.
   "It's not funny!" He heard Noctis' voice yelling from afar, so he now knew that the call had been put on speakerphone.
   "Oh, I think it is." He grinned. "You'll be gettin' withdrawal symptoms by now, for sure."
Noctis' voice then came much closer. "Has he said yet?"
   "No." Prompto replied. "I'm tryin', I'm tryin'."
   "Try harder."
   "Guys, can you drop the speaker please?" Gladiolus asked.
   "Why...you gonna tell us?"
   "I...maybe. If you drop the speaker first."
Why was he fond of these kids again, exactly?
He heard some brief mumbling, then the call's background noise suddenly vanished.
   "There." Prompto told him. "I'm a man of my word, it's off. Sooooo, I'll ask again, did you do it?"
Gladiolus rolled his eyes. "...yeah. Okay? Yes, we did." Telling them did still make him smile, though.
   "Woo-hooo!"
...and then that caused him to quickly pull the phone away from him as the volume stung his ear. A few seconds of silence then followed- during which the two kids were no doubt dancing around in glee- and then he heard Prompto's voice again.
   "Oh man, we are so happy for you! I'm fucking stoked! Gimme the details, dude, what happened?"
   "Oh no, you're not gettin' that. You wanted to know if we did? Now you know. Detail wasn't part of the deal. Can you put Iggy back on now, please? Need to sort pickup out for later."
   "Why, are you gonna have another go? Owwww!" A sharp slapping noise was heard, followed by more scuffling, and then ignis' voice finally came back on the line.
   "I am...so sorry about that." He apologised profusely. "Now you see why I decided to hide their phones."
Gladiolus smiled. "Yep, I do indeed."
   "I'm still not entirely certain if I want to give them back at all. I'll see how I feel after they've calmed down a touch. But...for the record, I am also rather glad."
   "Thanks. How was your night?"
   "Very enjoyable, didn't go too far. Have you any idea of what time you'd like us to pick you both up?"
He looked at his watch; nine-thirty, now. "Uhh...how about somethin' like...noon? Gives us chance for lunch and stuff."
   "Very well, we can grab something here so that we're all ready to set out on the next leg."
   "Okay, great. Thanks again."
   "No problem. I shall leave you to it. Please say hello for us."
   "I will. See ya soon." He cut the call and stood there for a few seconds, laughing quietly. Same old guys.
He then left the bathroom and returned to the bedroom to see that Helena was awake, having turned over onto her other side.
   "Oh, hey." He smiled. "Didn't wake you, did I?"
   "Nah." She smiled back. "Woke up a few minutes ago."
   "Want a coffee while I'm up?"
   "Yeah please."
   "I'll be right back."