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It was shaping up to be a nice, stress-free day for Cor. Regis had decided to fully commit to the part of the Righteous King, rather than the Troll King. The Crownsguard were behaving and performing exceptionally during training. And Drautos was still on his trip, kilometers away from Insomnia.
Cor actually had a hint of a smile as he sat at his desk, filling out light paperwork. No interruptions in his office, air-conditioning set perfectly. Indeed, everything was running smoothly and-
His phone buzzed in his pants pocket. Setting down his pen, he pulled out his phone, noting the caller ID (and smile growing bigger), and answered.
“Hello, Son.”
“Hey~ Dad~”
Cor’s smile dropped. The tone in Prompto’s voice… It sounded just like when a ten-year-old Prompto had called from a tree. He had been trying to save a kitten stuck in the branches but ended up getting stuck himself.
Cor straightened. “Prompto, is there something wrong?”
“Ummm… Kind of?”
Cor stood up immediately. “Which park are you at? Aerith Memorial Park again?”
“What...?” A few beats of silence before Prompto groaned. “No, Dad! I’m not in a tree again!”
“...Are you sure?”
“Gods, Dad! Come on, that was two years ago!”
Cor held back a laugh. His husband was truly a bad influence on him sometimes, particularly when it came to teasing his son, but Prompto’s tone did seem to lighten up a little. Still, there was an unknown problem at hand. “All right, then what’s the problem, Son?”
“Well… when I was walking home, I noticed a kitty near the sidewalk. And she looked really sad.”
Cor hummed. “And then?”
“I… I couldn’t just leave her, Dad! So I picked her up and brought her back home… You know, just to at least give her some food and stuff. Honest! You’re not… You’re not mad at me, are you?”
“Prompto,” Cor said affectionately, shaking his head a bit despite his son not being able to see. “I would never be mad at your kind heart. It’s one of the many things I love about you. Though, it may be a little dangerous to pick up a stray.”
“Hehe… Yeah… Dangerous…”
Cor’s pulse quickened. “Prompto, are you okay? Did the stray hurt you!?”
“No, no! Not me! But uh… I don’t think the kitty likes our house… and uh….”
Cor moved to retrieve his coat from his coat hanger. “Are you inside? Home alone?”
“No, outside. And Dad’s here, too.”
Cor paused upon reaching the hanger. “Ardyn? Is he helping?”
“Ummmm…”
Cor listened as he heard a door open from the other side of the phone. And then shrieking.
“OFF MY HAIR, YOU MOST WILD BEAST! OFF MY HAIR!”
Cor sighed and yanked his coat off the hanger. “I’ll be right there.
~
Thankfully, the damage inside the house wasn’t severe at all. Lots of knocked over furniture, a few broken lamps and vases, some shredded fabric, but that could all be easily replaced or fixed. The main problem at hand was Ardyn, who was currently rolling back and forth on the floor with a cat clawing in his hair, Prompto watching on with his hands over his mouth and jittery feet. Upon arrival, Cor immediately went to the kitchen to fetch a bowl, filled it with water, and then returned to throw the water upon both Ardyn and the cat. Thankfully, it worked, as the cat hissed and retreated out of Ardyn’s hair and to the wall.
“Darling! I’m soaked!” Ardyn moaned, shaking his dripping arms.
“You’ll dry,” Cor answered without missing a beat. He then kneeled down to inspect the drenched hissing cat, noting its pattern and shape. “Prompto, I don’t think this is an ordinary kitty. I believe you found a coeurl.”
Prompto’s eyes lit up. “Wow! A coeurl!? How cool!” He reached his arms towards the coeurl.
“Careful, Son!” Cor held up an arm protectively in front of Prompto, between him and the coeurl. “I think our friend is a bit feisty. And… I’m not sure if this quite fits under ‘cool.’”
“But we never see coeurls in the city,” Ardyn chimed in, wringing out his hair. “I think this most certainly fits under the ‘cool’ category.”
Cor deadpanned and looked at his husband. “Ardyn, you nearly got seriously hurt.”
While Cor was distracted, the coeurl meowed and jumped over Cor and into Prompto’s waiting arms. She purred happily as she rubbed against Prompto’s chest. He smiled brightly. “Aw, what a good, cute girl!”
Cor turned back to Prompto, raising an eyebrow. “You say that after what she did to the house and your father?”
“But darling, look at how happy our son is with that coeurl!” Ardyn wrapped a still-wet arm around Cor’s shoulders, gesturing at their son. “She is most certainly a good girl if she can bring happiness to our wonderful son!”
“Yay!” Prompto hugged the coeurl. “Can we keep her, Dads?”
“My vote is yes!” Ardyn declared, standing triumphantly.
The two looked expectantly at Cor with big pleading eyes. Cor blinked. Raising a new pet would be a lot of work, especially one as wild as this coeurl. But… Cor could never resist the charms of his beloved and his dearest son. “All right. We have a new pet.”
Prompto and Ardyn cheered and high-fived each other.
“But be prepared, training this coeurl will be hard work,” Cor warned, standing.
“Yes, yes,” Ardyn answered, waving a hand haphazardly. “But it will most certainly be worth it. We are going to have the most wonderful time with our fabulous new pet and-”
Just then, the coeurl jumped out of Prompto’s arms and back into Ardyn’s hair.
“DARLING PET! NO! NOT AGAIN!”
Prompto gasped and turned stern. “No! Be nice to your new daddy! Out of his hair!”
As Prompto attempted to assist a (once again) shrieking Ardyn, Cor just shook his head and smirked.
Never a dull moment in his life.