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Code Word: Chocobo

Summary:

While camping with the group, Ardyn disguises himself as Gladiolus, lures Prompto outside of camp, and attacks him. Back at camp, Gladio hears Prompto calling for help and rushes to his aide. Prompto is left shaken and confused, unsure who to trust... while Gladio is equally confused and then frustrated by the younger man's fear of him.

Notes:

Note: This does not follow the plot of the game. I started with the point at which Ardyn is camping with the group, but the followup chapters don't go along the original plot. Those details aren't as important to the plot of this specific story, so I have them kinda just wandering around, collecting resources and items for upgrades, training together, camping... just generally existing without progressing the actual plot of the main story. This story has a pretty significant plot of its own and I didn't want to be limited by the original story's progression.

Chapter Text

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Chapter 1

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"Mmmph." Prompto flinched and blinked his eyes open with a startled, muffled whimper, bringing his hands up toward the large hand clamped down over the lower half of his face. What a positively surprising and uncomfortable way to wake up...

"Shhh... Come here. I've got to show you something." Gladio's voice whispered. He still didn't move his huge hand off of Prompto's face as he went on. "You've got to come quickly. It's important that we're quiet. Let's go."

Prompto shook the older man's hand away from his mouth and pouted up at him as he pulled himself up into a half-sitting position. What could possibly be important enough to wake him up like this, so harshly in the middle of the night? "Weird way to wake a guy up, man..." He scoffed, seriously contemplating ignoring Gladio's request and going right back to sleep.

"Come on." The older man persisted, grabbing toward Prompto's wrist and starting to pull at his arm.

"Aww... It's so early... Gladio..." Prompto whined, barely able to bring himself to keep his eyes open. "Wh-"

"Shhh." Gladio urged again, looking quite serious as he pressed his hand down over Prompto's lips once again. His hand was so big it covered the smaller man's nose too. "Don't wake the others. This is important. I'm serious."

Prompto reached up with both hands, prying Gladio's hand off of his face again, which actually took a bit more effort than he was comfortable with. Gladio sure was being needlessly forceful about this.

"Okay. Geeze. Stop trying to suffocate me." Prompto glared as he shook his head, finally getting the larger man to back off a bit. "I'll go. Whatever is... better be something cool."

"You won't want to miss this." Gladio noted, smiling slightly.

The younger man exhaled tiredly, but dragged himself out from under his cozy blanket, which he wasn't seeing even close to enough of these days. Gladio wasn't one for practical jokes. If he was acting like this was important enough to get up in the middle of the night and stay quiet about it, he supposed he should trust it.

Prompto practically dragged his feet as he followed Gladio slowly away from the campsite, shrinking down and looking up with disgust as he realized it was lightly raining - again. It seemed like every other freaking day at this point. "Is it far? I maybe should'a brought my jacket..." Prompto complained, glancing back toward their sleeping quarters for the night. They were getting further and further away. "Gladio? Maybe I should go back and get a jacket?" He said again.

"It won't take long." Gladio answered, grabbing Prompto's arm for a moment and pulling him along, leading the way further into the darkness.

Prompto shrugged away from the older man's grip and frowned. "You don't have to drag me. I'm coming." He mumbled. "So freaking tired. You know Ignis made me get up early yesterday morning too? He made me cut up tomatoes... and I don't even think we ate tomatoes for breakfast... Wait... Were they for the chocobos? Do chocobos eat tomatoes?"

Gladio ignored his friend completely as he continued walking, trusting that Prompto was still following. He was lucky the younger man was going along with this. They'd been traveling so far, running, riding... It was exhausting. He needed his sleep.

Hugging his arms around himself and trying to keep from shivering, Prompto exhaled and forced himself to follow the older man. He was so tired, and it was cold out here. Gladio wasn't even being good company either. He wouldn't even say anything back. Whatever this was probably wasn't even a big deal. And why couldn't it wait until morning? Or until the rain stopped? Why did it have to be Prompto who had to come out here and deal with whatever it was? Gladiolus was the strong one. Noctis was the important one. Ignis was the expert on everything... Why the hell did Prompto have to be woken up and dragged out here? What could it possibly be that he was the one most suited to figure it out?

"This better be something really cool, Gladio. Or really important... And like, something I'm for some reason the only one who can solve... Or like a baby chocobo needing rescued or something... Is it a baby chocobo?" He perked up a bit at his own suggestion, jogging up closer to his friend's side and grinning excitedly up at him. "Does it have anything to do with chocobos?"

Gladio rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Oh..." Prompto frowned and decreased his pace again. "It's probably not something fun then... So we're just marching out into the dark, freezing, rainy night - not for chocobos... For some secret nonsense that's not even chocobos... Don't know why it had to be me, but I guess I trust you, Gladio. Probably won't after this if it isn't something that's a really big deal and also somehow something I'm considered an expert at - and again, if it's not chocobos... I'm not the expert... But if it's like a monster we have to kill, you should'a woken up like... I don't know, anyone but me... I mean, I'm okay. I'm getting better at it, I think. Just if it is something big, and-"

"Prompto. Please. Stop. Talking." Gladio interrupted, punctuating each harsh word with a small pause and leading his younger friend up toward a large stone wall. "For once, close your mouth. Stop making pointless noise. Your endless chattering is by far the most annoying thing I've experienced in quite some time."

Prompto stuck his lower lip out in a pout as he looked up at the large structure blocking their path, which Gladio just led him out to as though it was something he absolutely needed to see right now, in the middle of a cold rainstorm. The wall was way too high to easily climb. He looked to the left, then the right. There didn't seem to be an end in sight. It was just a wall. A really big, heavy wall. There wasn't graffiti on it, wasn't any weird moss... nothing... So why were they here?

"Well, you leading me out to dead end, waking me up, soaking me in freezing rain, refusing to even tell me why... That's annoying too." Prompto glared as he turned back around and crossed his arms over his chest. This wasn't the first time Gladio accused his talking of being annoying, but he was usually not quite so harsh about it. The fact that he just woke him up for seemingly nothing wasn't funny either.

"You'll be interested in what I'm about to show you. Trust me." Gladio smirked, with a twinkle of something almost sinister in his eyes.

"Gladio... Are you kidding me?" Prompto felt his shoulders slump. Was this a trick? It wasn't really like Gladio... but was that what was happening? He was teasing? Making Prompto believe something was out here, tricking him into getting out of bed and walking through the cold rain...

Prompto shook his head and stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "And you think I'm annoying? Gladio, I was in the middle of a really good dream where we were at a taco shack, with like endless-" He cut himself off with a small breath as Gladio took a step toward him. They were already standing so close, and this additional step was very unneeded. "Um... Hey..." He laughed nervously, raising his hand up toward Gladio's chest and taking a step backward, bumping into the wall.

Gladio simply smirked down at him as he took another small step forward, further backing Prompto against the wall he was already pressed pretty close against. He was so tall, his chest broad, his arms thick with muscles. Even if he was joking, if he didn't want Prompto going back to camp, Prompto wasn't going back to camp. Joke or not, Gladio was very much stronger than his smaller friend.

"Come on, Gladio..." Prompto's shoulders slumped. "I don't wanna play fight or wrestle... It's like two o'clock in the morning and I'm exhausted. And it's freezing and it's wet..."

"We're not wrestling." Gladio laughed, putting his hand up against the wall, blocking Prompto's exit route with his arm.

"W-what are we doing then?" Prompto asked, glancing toward Gladio's huge arm, hearing his own voice was a little breathless. Was he scared? Did he honestly think Gladio was going to do something cruel? Gladio was his friend. He knew the man would never hurt him... Even so, he was acting weird, and Prompto couldn't help the tiny edge of worry in his mind. Was it a trick? How mean of a trick was it going to be? There weren't even witnesses to laugh when Prompto inevitably fell for whatever it was. Why was he doing this? What even was this?

Suddenly, he felt Gladio's hands on his chest, under his collar bones, shoving him back pretty hard.

Whimpering as the back of his head hit the stone wall hard enough to make his vision swim for a moment, Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and shrunk back. Prompto coughed and brought his smaller hands up toward Gladio's huge ones, trying to push the larger man back. "What the hell, man!?" Prompto complained, his voice shaking with both anger and a bit of fear. "That hurts! Don't do that!" Prompto reached out and shoved Gladio back, knowing he was nowhere near as strong as his friend, but still wanting to show him that his idea of a joke wasn't funny right now.

Gladio simply laughed as he barely let up, remaining quite firmly planted in Prompto's path.

Prompto felt his lower lip stick out in a pout as he raised his hand to the back of his head. "You're gonna give me a concussion, you jerk. Why would you do that?" Prompto glared. "You're lucky I'm not bleeding, man. That was hard! That hurt!"

"Sorry." Gladio smirked. He didn't look sorry. He didn't sound sorry. "You're so easy to shove around..." He noted, like that was new information... and worse yet, like it was information he planned on using.

"Whatever, Gladio. If you don't actually want anything, and you just woke me up to call me annoying and shove me around like a bully, I'm just gonna go back. This isn't funny." Prompto frowned, pushing past Gladio and starting back toward camp. "You need to go to sleep too. I think all these late nights and early mornings are getting to you. You're acting like a jerk. A weird, rude jerk."

"You think?" Gladio growled, grabbing Prompto's upper arm in a tight fist and dragging him backward again.

Prompto gasped, then coughed and squeezed his eyes shut as the force of his back meeting the stone wall knocked all of his breath out of his lungs. Gladio was putting so much strength into this. It wasn't like when they wrestled or playfully shoved each other back and forth... It wasn't like when Gladio put him in a head lock and laughed when Prompto couldn't free himself, while Prompto laughed too - where he knew Gladio could definitely hurt him, but also knew he never would.

This hurt... and he told Gladio that... and Gladio wasn't stopping. Prompto had made it so clear already that this wasn't a joke he was having fun with. Gladio didn't seem to care - and he was indeed being more rough with his friend than he ever had been before. Gladio never viciously slammed him up against a stone wall like they were enemies - never knocked the breath out of his lungs... When they wrestled, it was a test of strength. Gladio quickly won, then he eased up. He didn't slam Prompto around just because he could. This was just flat out mean. Even when they play-fought or trained together, Gladio kept Prompto's strength and abilities in mind. He held back, or backed off exactly when he needed to after proving his point.

Prompto felt tears in his eyes as he blinked them back open while still catching his breath. Gladio had closed in on him again, grabbing each of his upper arms in a crushing grip. His large hands practically circled completely around the younger man's limbs.

"Gladio... Stop..." Prompto whimpered, trying to shrink down as his breaths caught in his throat. He heard his voice shaking slightly now. He was more scared than he was angry now. "Ease up. You're hurting me, man... I'm not kidding. You're actually hurting my arms... I'm too tired for this..." He tried to force a laugh, hoping this would end up being a joke Gladio accidentally took a little too far.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Gladio cocked his head to the side and loosened his grip very slightly as he narrowed his eyes with a weird smirk. "I didn't mean to hurt you. You know I would never do that."

Prompto stared up into his friend's eyes. They looked not-quite-right... They looked amused, in a cruel way - like he was really enjoying watching Prompto's uncertainty and fear. They didn't look like Gladio's eyes... It was almost like he was looking into his longtime friend's face, but somehow at the same time into someone else's eyes. The larger man was smirking, still staring down at him like a hungry predator... Not moving, not backing off other than slightly loosening his grip. But he was still holding onto him - pretty securely.

"Um..." Prompto breathed, looking behind Gladio. He couldn't even see the campsite anymore. They'd walked further than he realized. "Okay... L-let's go back then..." He forced a small laugh, swallowing nervously as he stared back up into his friend's strangely foreign eyes.

"You've got a lot of fear and doubt in you don't you?" Gladio smiled very slightly, raising one of his hands up toward Prompto's cheek. He placed his other hand lightly over the younger man's ribs, rubbing very slightly.

Prompto swallowed. "Right now I do, man... What the hell?" He breathed, feeling practically frozen as he stared up at this friend. Gladio was such a strong, solid figure, blocking him up against the stone wall, refusing to let go, refusing to allow him to leave... getting creepier and weirder by the second. Prompto honestly didn't know what the hell to do.

"You're so small." Gladio noted, smirking as he moved the hand on Prompto's cheek lower, lightly gripping around the boy's neck as he continued rubbing the other hand over Prompto's ribs.

"Gladio..." Prompto whispered, feeling tears stinging his eyes. He really wasn't sure what was happening. What was Gladio's point here? Just to prove to Prompto that he was stronger than him? Prompto already knew that. He didn't need to be scared and humiliated to have that point proven. It was proven every day.

"Shhh... I won't hurt you." Gladio smiled. "I could, but I won't. It would be painfully easy."

Prompto blinked, sticking his lower lip out in a pout and trying to back himself further against the stone he was already pretty firmly pressed against.

"I could break your little ribs so fast." Gladio noted, running his hand up and down over the younger man's chest and side, dragging his fingertips across the lines of the boy's ribs. "All I'd have to do... is push you back." He did this as he said it, pinning Prompto harder against the wall. "And then push more - slowly crush them... Or just punch you."

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered. "Gladio?" He frowned, raising his hands up toward Gladio's arm and grabbing at it, trying to pry it off of him. "Y-you're right... You could... b-but you don't need to like prove it..." He gasped.

Gladio smiled, but finally eased up a bit, no longer actually pushing his hand against Prompto's ribs. Still resting his palm against his small friend's jaw and neck, Gladio ran his second hand down the boy's side, fiddling somewhat subtly with the hem of his shirt, pushing his hand slightly up under the garment.

Prompto could feel the man's fingers lightly rubbing against the skin on his back, inching slowly higher, under his shirt. His other hand moved somewhat forcefully, but not necessarily roughly against Prompto's cheek and neck, while Gladio stared down at him with a smirk, a lingering presence that had Prompto wondering if the man was going to choke him... Or lean in and kiss him - maybe both at the same time. He felt like his heart had practically stopped in his chest. He was quite honestly scared.

Prompto stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "You're acting like a weird creep, Gladio... Cut it out. Stop grabbing me and let me go back." He frowned, feeling the start of tears stinging at his eyes again as his heart pounded in his chest. He honestly didn't know what to think at this point. He and Gladio were such close friends. He never felt at all threatened by the man getting so close - and when they spent so many nights camping, they were indeed often very close.

Prompto moved around a lot in his sleep, and so did Gladio. He had woken up before with the guy practically on top of him - and vice versa... It was never threatening or uncomfortable. Just funny. This wasn't funny. Gladio grabbing his face, staring down hungrily into his eyes... The man's large, powerful hand groping up under his shirt... It wasn't anything but scary.

"Why are you acting like this? Let me go, Gladio... You're being a bully." He raised his now-free arm up and tried to knock Gladio's hand away from his face and then shoved against the man's other hand, pushing itself up under his shirt. "You're being weird. I don't like it. No one's laughing... So stop."

Gladio only grabbed his neck and jaw harder, grabbing his wrist in a bruising hold and eliciting a sharp gasp from the smaller man. Prompto felt his friend's thumb press over his lower lip as the older man licked his own lips and stared down at him. He still looked like a monster ready to eat Prompto alive.

Prompto tried to turn his face to the side, tried to shrink back, but Gladio's grip was only increasing. "Whatever the hell this is, you need to stop... I'm not kidding. You're scaring me!" Prompto gasped, his heart pounding faster and faster with each passing moment. He knew exactly what this seemed like... but he couldn't accept that in his mind - that Gladio was going to try to force something like that... He wouldn't...

"You need not be scared of me, boy." Gladio whispered, his voice breathy and low as he leaned forward, crushing Prompto's body between his own and the wall so he could use his hands for more than holding the younger man down. "I truly won't hurt you unless you make me..."

"Boy?" Prompto frowned. Gladio hadn't ever called him that... Gladio hadn't ever acted like this in general, or spoken so formally. "Gladio, stop it! If you hurt me it's not because I made you... You better not... Just let me go..."

Gladio simply smirked and let out a soft laugh as he pressed Prompto even more securely against the wall, running a hand up under his shirt as his other grabbed the boy by the back of his neck and pulled him close.

"What are y-" Prompto was cut off with a surprised, muffled whimper when Gladio leaned down, pressing his own mouth against Prompto's, forcing his tongue past Prompto's lips and teeth.

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath. He honestly didn't know what to do. Should he fight back - bite down... That would hurt Gladio - if Prompto bit his tongue... He didn't want to hurt his friend... But his friend was hurting him. He could just hurt him back - in self defense... But then what would Gladio do?

The larger man had already proven his strength, his willingness to be rough... Maybe Prompto would be better off to just keep his eyes closed, hold his breath, stay still, and wait for this to be over. Gladio wouldn't seriously take this further, right? It was Gladio... Prompto knew him. He trusted the man with his life... This betrayal was surprising, but it couldn't possibly get worse... Gladio wouldn't do worse than this...

Prompto felt himself shiver and let out another shaking whimper as Gladio's deep, unwanted kiss continued. His tongue pushed itself past Prompto's, deep and forceful, along with one of his hands running down the younger man's side, up under his shirt, resting on his lower back, pulling him closer, his fingers digging painfully into Prompto's flesh. His other hand moved even lower down the front of Prompto's pants, between his legs, grabbing, squeezing.

Prompto had finally had enough at that point. He wasn't going to just quietly allow this. He didn't think Gladio would ever so something like this, but staying still and quiet wasn't making what was happening any less real. The Gladiolus Prompto thought he knew wouldn't do this... but he was doing this... It didn't matter that Prompto could hardly believe it. It didn't matter that this was so unlike him. It was happening, and Prompto wanted it to stop.

With a frantic, muffled whimper, Prompto flinched back and resumed fighting. He put his hands on Gladio's chest and shoved him back as hard as he could manage, not successfully distancing himself from the man, but at least making the kiss stop. He could breathe again. He could speak again.

"Gladio, please!" Prompto breathed, his voice shaking with unshed tears. "What are you doing? Get off of me!" He reached down with both hands, toward Gladio's arm - the one groping between his legs. "Stop!" The younger man cried, trying to scramble away, but feeling quite trapped between his friend and the firm, stone wall.

The larger man finally seemed to listen for a moment, moving his hands off of Prompto's body, leaving the boy to shrink down slightly, breathing shaky, fearful, confused breaths. Gladio put one of his hands on either side of the younger man's head, using his arms to block the smaller man's exit routes.

"What are you doing?" Prompto whispered again, his voice and body shaking as he shrunk down slightly. Gladio's arms followed him down, still blocking any potential escape.

"What does it look like?" Gladio laughed. "Don't panic... You're fine. It's just a bit of fun. You'll be fine. Just calm down. I'll move slowly and carefully. I know there's a big size difference here, but I'll be careful not to hurt you as long as you cooperate. It doesn't have to be scary."

Prompto shook his head as he stared nervously through unshed tears up at Gladio's face. "I don't like this. You're not being funny. This isn't funny, Gladio... You're scaring me..."

"I'm not trying to be funny." Gladio smirked, placing one hand on Prompto's waist and the other against his cheek again. "But you don't need to be scared either. Though I'm not totaly opposed to it." He added with an arrogant grin as he leaned down closer.

Gritting his teeth together, Prompto turned his head to the side. He didn't want another forced kiss. The first one left him breathless, confused, and honestly terrified.

"Are you going to cry, little Prompto?" Gladio smiled smugly as he grabbed onto Prompto's upper arm with a hard fist and pushed his other hand up under the younger man's shirt, running his fingers up over Prompto's abdomen. "You're so soft, but I can tell you try. You've got a bit of muscle on your little body, haven't you?"

Letting out a shaky breath, Prompto stared up into Gladio's eyes. He was so confused, so scared. Why was Gladio acting like this? The whole thing made no sense. He was talking weird, doing things Prompto knew he'd never, ever do...

"Go ahead and cry." Gladio offered, sliding his hand down Prompto's stomach and back to where it had been before between his friend's legs, roughly grabbing and squeezing over his pants. "I might find that I like it." Gladio added with a sickening smirk.

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered softly as he grabbed uselessly at Gladio's muscular arm. The other man was so strong. Prompto could hardly even begin to fight back. His hands were so roughly pawing, grabbing, squeezing. It was more than embarrassing and an infringement of Prompto's personal space. It actually hurt.

"Gladio... Please stop... You're hurting me..." Prompto whispered, blinking his eyes back open, trying not to cry as he was forced to endure his friend's rough, unwanted wandering hands. "A-are you drunk?"

"Not in the slightest." Gladio chuckled, finally moving his hand away from Prompto's pants and opting to hold onto his waist and cheek instead, pulling the boy's face close again and leaning down as if to force another kiss.

Prompto immediately turned his head, shrinking down and breathing a small, shaky breath. "Please don't..." He gasped. "Gladio, I don't like this... Please... J-just stop."

Gladio stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "So rude, Prompto... Not even just a little kiss for your old friend?"

Prompto silently shook his head and shrunk down. Gladio knew this already. He knew Prompto didn't want this... and if he really was sober, there was no explanation for why on earth he was behaving like this. Gladio wasn't even known to be a drinker. He didn't smell like alcohol... As far as Prompto knew, they didn't even bring alcohol with them... He didn't think Gladio would act like this if he were drunk either... but something was wrong with him. There had to be some reason he was doing this.

"That's a shame." Gladio stared, looking somewhat angry. His stare made Prompto's blood run cold.

Prompto felt his lower lip trembling as tears stung at his eyes. He couldn't believe Gladio would do this. He saw the man as an older brother - and a really protective one too. He always thought Gladio would keep him safe - not be the source of danger. Even though he never thought he'd need to do so, he started to beg - to beg his friend not to hurt him, to plead for mercy and safety he never before thought he'd have to ask permission for from this man.

"Please just let me go back..." Prompto whimpered, for now ignoring the hands on his waist and cheek, trying to play nice while also pleading to be let go. Maybe Gladio somehow got the wrong idea - maybe he thought Prompto wanted this and was embarrassed to back out at this point, not wanting to seem like he misjudged the situation, even though he sure as hell did... Maybe Prompto just needed to reassure the older man that everything would be fine - that they'd be friends still... Even if Prompto probably would feel the need to watch his back around Gladio forever after this.

"It's okay..." Prompto whispered, trying not to cringe as his friend leaned down closer, so close he could feel the man's breath on his cheek. "We can just walk back together... Go back to sleep... I'm not... like mad or anything... Don't take this as a rejection... b-but more like a no thanks. We're still friends. No hard feelings. I'm not mad..."

"Great to hear, Prompto." Gladio laughed, leaning down and forcing another kiss, this time a fairly rough one, holding Prompto's face in place with a hand reaching back around the back of his neck. His other hand groped painfully around Prompto's back, pulling him even closer still.

Prompto was unable to pull away until Gladio allowed him to, and even then, it wasn't far. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he stared breathlessly back, shaking his head in a desperate plea for mercy."Gladio, don't do this... I don't want to... Please don't hurt me. I just want to go back to how things were before..."

"Your tears really are a delicious sight." Gladio commented, reaching up and wiping a hand across the younger man's cheek. "I know I told you that you didn't need to be scared, but I think I kind of like it. You're so small and delicate. It's kind of exhilarating to see you so broken, so frightened, helpless..."

Prompto let out another soft whimper as he flinched back. He felt so entirely powerless, so embarrassed, ashamed... He didn't know what to do. He couldn't understand why his friend was doing this to him, and clearly didn't know how to make him stop.

Gladio shook his head and offered a very slight smirk. "Don't panic, sweet boy... I see your fear - it's not needed. I won't be rough if I don't have to be... Besides, it's a little late to turn back now. You're already going to make this into something it doesn't have to be..."

Prompto shook his head and widened his eyes. "I won't say anything to Ignis or Noct... I won't... I won't make this into anything... We can just stop, right now, go back... Pretend it didn't happen. I'll never say anything about it again. I won't make it into a big deal. I swear. We'll just forget this. It's fine... It was like... an experiment that didn't work out, okay? I'm not mad... We'll just stop here, forget about it, and never talk about it again..."

"I'm not finished. We can forget it when I'm finished... Though I certainly won't be forgetting you any time soon." Gladio smirked.

"What's wrong with you?" Prompto stammered, letting out another shaking cry as the man grabbed his lower arms, wrestling them up above his head and pinning them both against the stone wall with one of his large, crushing hands. Prompto could feel the larger man's fingers creating bruises.

"Stop! Gladio, stop!" The younger man whimpered. "You're hurting me! Why are you doing this!? What did I do!?" He felt tears streaming down his face. He couldn't understand why Gladio decided to do this. Did Prompto piss him off earlier today? He didn't remember anything unusual... just the normal chit chat and jokes. Did he make a comment on Gladio's size... Was Gladio teaching him a lesson for that? "Gladio, please!" He sobbed. "I'm sorry! Whatever it is that I did, I'm sorry! I don't know what I did! What did I do wrong!?"

Gladio crushed Prompto's wrists hard against the wall as he leaned forward and stuck his lip out in a mocking pout. "Blaming yourself for this? You poor boy... You're so uncertain... Your endless talking and confidence is all an act isn't it?"

Prompto inhaled a shaky breath and squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't understand any of this. Gladio was his friend - often his protector... The man was so big, so strong. Prompto always counted on that as something to make him feel safer - nothing could hurt him with Gladio there to defend him... But he never considered that Gladio might be the enemy - might be the one who needed to be defended against.

Prompto's eyes shot open as he felt his friend's hand pulling at the front of his pants, ripping at his belt, struggling to force his fingertips down the front of the garment. "Don't!" Prompto gasped, somehow freeing his arms and reaching both hands down to grab at Gladio's, trying to pry it away from him. "Gladio, please!" Prompto cried.

When his friend made no move to ease up, Prompto knew he had to act. He had to be more forceful, no matter how scary it was to fight back as hard as he was capable. He had to. The alternative was more horrifying.

So he balled his hand into a fist and punched out against Gladio's face as hard as he possibly could.

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