Work Text:
Regis could feel it in his bones that a storm was brewing.
The air around the Citadel had been nothing but stuffy and mucky all day and there was this weird smell. That unique earthy smell that penetrates one’s nose when rain has fallen. The one that reminded the king of long summer’s that had since past. The smell was accompanied by the strong gusty winds. They had already begun to pick up, and it forced Regis to shut his window to stop that annoying howling noise from affecting his work. These were all the telltale signs that something was coming and all the king had to do was look out of the window for his assumption to be confirmed.
Regis quickly saved what work he had on the computer before logging off and wheeling his wheely desk chair towards his massive window so he could gaze upon the majesty that was the darkened sky.
A massive dark and angry cloud was towering over Insomnia, practically blocking out the sunlight. The cloud had been forming all day and it was only a matter of time before Ramuh unleashed his wrath upon the king’s citizens.
That was when a massive white light engulfed his office and shattered his vision momentarily.
It was followed by a massive monstrous grumble from the sky and before Regis knew it he was shrouded in complete darkness. All the lights had gone out and his computer had shut down, turning off the monitor as well. The entire city fell into darkness. The only light that could be seen was the tiny amount of blue from the new wall that was creeping through the clouds and through his office window.
This new environment made Regis’s anxiety flare up as he slowly adjusted his eyes to the darkness. He had never liked the dark much. Not many people in Eos did as the darkness was always occupied with daemons. Of course, living in Insomnia, he had nothing to fear in that regard but the danger still lingered.
With his eyes still on the window, raindrops began to violently tap against the glass. It sounded more like someone was trying to break into his office and if that rain turned to hail, Regis feared it may actually break it.
However, that was not the king’s main concern right now.
There was another flash of white light, followed by with another clap of enormous thunder, forcing Regis to spring to his feet as quickly as he could.
He immediately left his office, his heart in his mouth with worry as he stalked along the corridors of his home with his goal of locating his son.
Noctis hated thunder.
Even as a baby his poor son would wail at the top of his lungs at the first sound that shook the building. He may be five-years-old now but his age did nothing to lessen his poor baby’s fear. In fact, Regis was convinced they had only been enhanced, especially since the last thunderstorm made a tree fall down near the car they had been in. Thankfully, no one was hurt but it shook Noctis to his core and Regis would not allow his son to be on his own right now. Not when he was probably shaking and crying all alone in the dark.
He didn’t knock on the door as he entered his son’s room and used his phone to try and locate his scared little one.
“Noctis?” Regis called out in a gentle tone.
But the calmness of the situation was ruined when light flooded the room again and the thunder boomed its way into existence. The rain seemed to get even louder and that was when he heard it.
Amongst the horrible and fear bringing sounds, he heard a tiny little whimper coming from Noct’s giant bed.
Regis’s heart sank when he saw no sign of the prince on his bed, leading Regis to believe he knew the exact location of his scared prince.
Despite his knee playing up today, Regis put his phone back into his pocket and knelt on the floor, lifted up the cover that was hanging over the bed and there his son was.
Curled up in a ball, blanket over his head, shaking and crying like there was no tomorrow, scared out of his mind.
“Noct…” Regis said calmly, hoping his voice would coax Noct to come out from under the bed. “Noctis, it’s me. Are you okay? Can you hear me?”
Noctis didn’t move closer to him, he only shook and whimpered, bringing Regis to the conclusion that his son probably couldn’t hear him over the rain pouring against the window and the claps of thunder making the room shake.
The king had no other option.
He had to crawl under the bed and comfort his terrified son.
And Regis greatly struggled in this task.
Despite the size of the bed, it was still a tight squeeze for him to fit under here, and the carpet floor began to hurt his chest as he shimmied his way towards his son. He really needed to work out more if something as simple as this was making him go out of breath.
“Noct.” Regis repeated, voice a little strained as he finally reached the blanket that was crying. “Son, daddy’s here. Don’t worry.”
The blanket began to rustle and out poked a pair of massive blue teary eyes that locked with his concerned green ones. It made Regis’s heart hurt seeing his precious boy like this, his face red and puffy and soaked with tears. No child should ever be this scared, especially not his child.
“Daddy…” Noctis sniffled, still shaking as he finally moved to get to Regis. “Daddy!”
“It’s okay.” Regis hushed him, as he felt a pair of tiny arms cling around his neck and hold on for dear life.
The king just about managed to force his arm out from underneath himself and wrap Noctis up in a protective embrace as his son cried loudly into his shoulder. He could feel Noct’s tiny heart beat pumping at a phenomenal rate as he continued to hold him close and it only escalated when another loud bang erupted into the room.
Noctis let out a squeal of terror, forcing Regis’s grip on his son to become even tighter so he could feel secure.
“Noct, it’s okay.” Regis hushed him further, rubbing his back as he kissed the side of his head. “Daddy’s here. You have nothing to worry about.”
Noctis disagreed, still crying. “B-bu-t the th-un-der...”
“Oh my little Night Light, the thunder will not hurt you. I promise.” Regis assured him, hoping his words would calm him down a little.
It didn’t.
Noctis merely wiped his wet face onto his dad’s regal attire and hiccuped to try and fight his tears.
Now, Regis had found himself in quite the predicament.
His precious Night Light was clearly not in a position to listen to him and his chest was beginning to burn from laying flatly on it. Yet, he couldn’t move. He wouldn’t move because Noctis needed him and was too scared to leave his hidey-hole. So for the time being, Regis stroked his son’s back, held him close and kept reminding him that he was here with him. That Noctis was safe and that he’d always be here to help his child fight his fears away.
Only when the thunder and lightning became less frequent did Noctis stop crying. He was still very distressed about the entire situation but Regis held him close and told him he loved him.
“I love you too, dad.” Noctis whimpered, shuffling closer to his dad for warmth and protection.
And that was when an idea popped into his head.
“Noctis, why don’t you and I play a game?” Regis suggested, ignoring the sharp pain growing in his chest, as he smiled at his son.
“A game?” Noctis whispered, uncertainty present in his tone.
Regis nodded and went on to explain. “It’s a counting game. Every time we see a flash of lightning we count until we hear the thunder and that will tell us how far away the storm is.”
“But I am scared of the thunder, dad…” Noctis whimpered, reaching out to grab his blanket so he could pull the soft material over his face.
“I know, Night Light.” Regis said softly. “I don’t like it much either.”
“Really?”
“Really. But we can get through this together, can’t we?”
Regis saw a very small smile grace itself across his son’s lips and that was when he thought he had gotten through to him.
“Together. Just the two of us.”
“That’s right, my dear. Just the two of us like always.”
Noctis then unhanded Regis and slid down by his side. Regis was silently grateful to his son for doing that because it now meant his neck was no longer burning with keeping it upright. And the king’s smile grew when he felt Noctis place his blanket across his back and over himself, prompting Regis to wrap his arm over his son. This position wasn’t comfortable for the 35-year-old king but it was better than the last.
A massive flash entered the room again and Regis began to count.
“1, 2, 3-”
A massive clap of thunder penetrated both the royals ears and Regis held Noctis closer as he began to shake once more. But he wasn’t crying so that was good.
“See, we can count the thunder and say hello to it. Isn’t that fun?” Regis said in an encouraging tone.
Noct’s bottom lip quivered as he tried to hide his face into Regis’s side. “How far away is the thunder daddy?”
“Well, I was always told, counting to 5 means it is 1 mile away.”
“Wow, that is further than I can walk!” Noctis exclaimed as Regis felt his little body relax next to his.
Regis laughed and ruffled his son’s raven hair. “It’s probably further than I can walk too, Night Light.”
Noctis smiled and his demeanour shifted slightly. “Don’t say things like that daddy! You are the best person in the entire world! You can do anything!”
Regis felt his eyes heat up by his son’s touching words. He kissed Noctis’s brow and smiled brightly at him. “You are the best person in the world to me. And since you have that title, I think you should count the thunder in this time.”
“Okay.” Noctis nodded and in the time it took Noctis to blink the room flooded with light again.
Regis quickly held on to Noctis’s hand to help him feel safer and began to count and by the time he got to 2, Noctis had joined in with him.
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-”
The thunder rumbled and this time Regis thought of an excellent way to fight the loud noise and held his son closer. And that was by shouting ‘la, la, la,’ at the top of his lungs.
Noctis immediately started laughing at his dad and joined in and before they knew it the thunder had stopped and only the patter of rain against the glass could be heard.
“See…” Regis grinned. “The thunder may be scary but we can be scarier than the thunder.”
“I want to do it again!” Noctis cheered and all his fear and terror was suddenly replaced with excitement and joy.
“Well, you will have to wait for the lightning first.”
Regis now hoped lightning would strike again. Light may travel further than sound but the longer the gaps in-between the flash of light and the rumble of the sky, it meant the sound would be dulled or completely non-existent. And since Noctis was now starting to feel comfortable it would break his heart to see Noctis sad over not counting and shouting until the noise ran away again.
Thankfully the sky ignited three more times. That meant three more times Noctis could count and play the hero by chasing away the nasty sound with his voice. Nothing but pride and love consumed the king as his baby boy became happier, relaxed and more excited as he anticipated the next crash of thunder. His son was just so cute and the complete light of his life. He had no idea what he would do without his son.
After a good 10 minutes of only rainfall, the lights in the room suddenly turned back on.
Regis turned to his son and smiled at him. “I think that means the storm has passed, Night Light.”
“Oh…” Noctis said sadly. “I wanted to shout at the thunder more.”
“I know, my dear. But when another storm comes you be sure to give it a piece of your mind.”
“Okay, daddy!”
“Good.” Regis said with a small nod. “Now, how about we get out from under here, get you tucked up in bed and I’ll tell you a tale about one of mine, uncle Clarus’s and uncle Cor’s adventures?”
“Yes, please dad!” Noctis said with his eyes zigging. He quickly reversed backwards until he was out from under the bed. He then proceeded to lift the cover up so that his dad could get out easier. “Come on, daddy.”
“I am coming, Noctis.” Regis grunted and tried to copy his son but as he did so he found it nearly impossible to move.
Oh no.
Regis’s eyes went wide and he tried to move backwards again, to no avail. He held his tongue to prevent himself from swearing at the situation he had found himself in and thought his best option was to shimmy forward so he could crawl out the other side, but when he tried he barely moved a centimetre. He tried again and this time he couldn’t move all together.
He was stuck.
“Daddy, are you okay?” Noctis asked, a little worry seeping into his tone.
“Yes, I am fine.” Regis said smoothly, very painfully reaching into his pocket to retrieve his phone.
He knew he shouldn’t have forced his way under this bed…
He placed his phone in front of him, ignoring the burning in his eyes as the light stung them, and scrolled through his contacts until he got to his shield’s name. This was going to be one of the most embarrassing phone call he was ever going to make in his life.
“Daddy, do you want to live under there?” Noctis questioned, still very confused why his dad hadn’t emerged yet and why there was this small ringing sound.
“Don’t worry, Noct, daddy is just having a moment.” Regis assured him and switched his attention to his phone as soon as he heard that it had been picked up.
“Regis Lucis Caelum! ” Clarus’s voice boomed down the phone. “Where in the name of Bahamut have you been?! I have the entire guard looking for you as we speak!”
Regis huffed. Clarus could be so dramatic sometimes. “I am with Noctis because he was scared of the thunder and now… well…”
“Well, what?” Clarus’s voice became erratic as he thought both king and prince were in danger.
“I am a little stuck. Would you mind being a brave and noble shield and helping his liege out.” Regis said sheepishly, hoping Clarus would not ask any questions.
But this was Clarus Amicitia. So of course he would!
“Stuck? What do you mean stuck?”
“He’s stuck under my bed, uncle Clarus!” Noctis laughed, crawling up beside his dad to talk to Clarus.
“Don’t you dare laugh.”
Regis warned, trying to make his voice sound threatening but it was completely ignored as Clarus began howling with laughter.
“Shut up, this isn’t funny.” Regis whined, resting his head on the floor speaking with a pity me tone.
“Yes, it is, dad.” Noctis giggled, joining in with his uncle’s outrageous laughter.
“I’m coming.” Clarus continued to laugh louder. “Don’t go anywhere. Oh wait, you can’t!”
“Ha, ha, ha. You are so funny.” Regis muttered under his breath before hanging up think he should have called Cor instead.
Actually no, Clarus was the right person for this job. Since the Marshal would laugh, take a picture and then help him out. Cor was so mean sometimes.
His son, however, did not stop laughtering but Regis couldn’t be mad at his little Night Light for it. Because his son was happy so that meant Regis was happy too.