Chapter Text
“Now Nikolas, we will be back tomorrow to pick you up. Please be good for Pop Pop please. I don't want any phone calls from him saying you were misbehaving. If that happens, you will be in trouble when we get back.” Prompto explained from the passenger seat of the car. “Do you understand?” He asked him.
Nikky nodded and continued to play with his toy. Prompto sighed and rubbed his temples.
“Cor is going to be fine Prom. He has taken care of him before.” Noctis said, looking at the road in front of him.
“I know but dad is way more strict than we are. I don't want Nikky to get upset with him because of his rules. Or even worse, dad could get upset with me for Nikky being a wild child. I'm not prepared.” He said nervously.
“Him and Nikky will be fine. They get along and Cor has a sweet spot for him. That's his baby since the day he was born. You are overthinking this.” Noctis said, sighing softly. “You are thinking so negatively.”
“It's the first time since he was a baby that he's spending an entire day and night with him. Of course I'm nervous. Nikky isn’t used to being around someone like that. Dad might have a hard time.” Prompto said.
“I'll be good daddy! I promise!” Nikky said from his car seat in the back.
Prompto looked back and smiled softly at him. “Thanks buddy. Just be careful. You know Pop Pop is strict. So be careful how you speak to him and keep things clean around the house okay? He's not me and papa. He is a strict man.” Prompto said.
“Okay daddy.” He said, playing with a toy from his backpack.
Prompto sighed and turned back to the front of the car. Noctis grabbed his hand and smiled at him. “It will be fine. Nikky will be just fine with him. Promise.”
Noctis pulled up the small house and parked in the driveway. “Okay. We are here. Don't forget your backpack Nikky.” Noctis said. Nikky unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed his backpack before opening the door and climbing out.
The front door of the house opened and Cor stood there, arms crossed over his chest. Nikky smiled and ran right into his arms.
“Hi Pop Pop!” Nikky yelled.
“Hi Nikolas. Keep your voice down though. The dogs at the neighbors house will go crazy.” He said, picking him up with a grunt. “Oh, you are getting too big for me to pick up now.”
“Kay Kay.” He said, hugging him around the neck before the older man put him down. Prompto walked up and waved to him, still a little nervous.
“Hi Dad. Thanks for helping us out. How are you?”
“I'm doing good. Are you two gonna stay for breakfast or heading out?” He asked.
“Sorry we can't. We have to head out. Check in at the hotel is at three so we gotta get on the road.” Prompto said. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate you watching him.” He said.
“Not a problem. I don't spend enough time with Nikolas so this is a good chance to spend some good quality time with him.” He said, ruffling Nikolas’ hair. “Say bye to your parents Nikolas. They are leaving.”
“Bye papa! Bye Daddy!” He said, going to hug their legs.
“Volume Nikolas.” Cor reminded.
“Oops. Sorry.” He said. “Bye papa. Bye daddy.” He whispered. Noctis ran his fingers through his son's hair hair and smiled. Prompto got down and hugged him tightly.
“Bye Nikky. See you tomorrow. Remember what I said in the car.” Prompto said before kissing his head and standing up.
Both men headed back to their car; Prompto looking back every couple of moments to look at him.
Nikolas was waving at them, smiling nice and big.
Prompto waved back before climbing in the car with Noctis following suit. They drove off slowly, Nikky still waving to them until they drove down the street.
“Let's go eat breakfast Nikolas.” Cor said, walking in the house. “I make pancakes, eggs, and bacon.”
“Mmmm I love pancakes.” Nikky said as he headed inside, dropping his backpack on the floor.
“Hey hey! Shoes off by the door. Also don't leave your backpack in the floor. Make sure to put it where you can find it later.” Cor said, shutting the door behind him.
“Okay pop pop.” He said, sitting on the floor by the door and pulling his shoes off.
“Put them by the wall so you know where they are.” He said. Nikolas nodded and put his shoes exactly where he said.
“Did daddy take his shoes off by the door when he was my age?” Nikolas asked as he bounced to the kitchen.
“Yeah he did. I don't like shoes on the carpet. It gets dirty.” He said as he made him a plate with a pancake, eggs, and a slice of bacon. He also poured him a glass of orange juice. He set the small plate down at the table alongside his own plate. He put both glasses of juice down as well before sitting down.
Nikolas got up on the chair and smiled brightly. “Thanks Pop Pop!” he said as he put a forkful of eggs in his mouth.
The corners of Cor’s mouth turned up into a smile as he cut a piece of his pancake. “You're welcome Nikolas. Now don’t make a mess of your clothes. I don't want to have to wash them yet.” he said, taking a bite of his food.
“Okay!” he said with a mouth full of food.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full Nikolas. It looks gross.” he added before taking a sip of his juice.
---
After their breakfast was done, Cor went into the kitchen to start and clean up the mess left behind. “Nikolas! Can you please get the cups off the table and bring them to me so I can wash them?” he called out from the sink.
Nikolas was deep into watching whatever it was that he put on the television. It sounded like some sort of superhero cartoon if Cor had to guess.
“Nikolas! Did you hear me?” he called out again.
“I did. But it's the good part of the episode. I can’t leave now! I’ll miss it!” he said, eyes glued to the television. Cor frowned and took his hands out the sink and dried them on a nearby towel before walking over to the tv and turning it off.
“HEY!” he said, turning around to look at his grandpa with a deep frown. “Why did you turn it off? It was the best part!” he whined.
“You have been watching tv for over an hour Nikolas.” he pointed out.
“Daddy lets me watch tv as long as I want.” Nikolas huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’m not your dad. I am your grandfather and we do things different around here.” he said simply.
Nikolas grabbed the remote off the couch and turned the tv back on. He turned around to watch it again. Cor sighed and rolled his neck to keep from yelling at the kid.
This kid is in for it.
Cor walked over to the tv and quickly unplugged it then took the remote from him. He put it in his pocket and looked over at him.
“This is not fair!” Nikolas said, his eyes starting to well up with tears. He always got what he wanted when he started to cry. “I wanna watch tv.” he said, starting to cry.
“Tears don’t work here. Didn’t work for your dad; won't work for you.” he said, walking back to the kitchen to finish washing dishes. “Now, grab those cups and come help me finish with the dishes. We can figure out something to do after we clean up.” he said.
Nikolas wiped away his tears and looked over at Cor, who was running the hot water. He wasn’t going to win this round so he slowly got up and climbed up on the chair to grab both cups and brought them to Cor.
He looked down at him and smiled. “Thank you.” he said before handing his a wet towel. “Can you wipe the table down for me?”
The child looked at the towel and nodded, going over to the table and climbing on the chair again to wipe it down. Cor turned around and nodded to himself before turning back around to set the now clean cup off to the rack to dry.
---
Cor opened up his patio door and lead Nikolas out to the backyard. The grass was lush and green and there were even flower beds and rock decorations. He tended to put a lot of time into making his backyard nice on the off chance his son would visit more often.
“What are we going to do out here?” Nikolas asked, looking up at Cor.
“Play. Do you kids play outside these days? Or do you just sit inside and watch tv all day?” he asked, walking over to a small shed.
“Sometimes Papa will take me to the fishing hole and let me look at the froggies!” Nikolas said. “And daddy likes to take me to go take pictures with him.” he added.
“Well that's good. I was worried the television was rotting your brain.” He joked, grabbing some of the outdoor toys he had bought for the occasion. He had some lawn games, a couple of foam swords, and even some water toys (that included a frog shaped sprinkler)
“Ooooo you have so many toys Pop Pop. Papa says you don’t like fun but you have to if you have all these toys!” Nikolas said excitedly as he looked around the shed.
“Oh really? Noctis said that?” he asked. Nikolas nodded and grabbed a foam sword first.
“Yeah! He told me that I might be very bored here.”
Cor made a mental note to jam up Noctis when he came back to come get Nikky. He could be a fun guy if he had the chance. Noctis just never was able to see him loosen up since he only saw him on duty. It had been a while since he played around with a kid but he was sure he could have fun with the kid.
How hard could it be?
The kid was still young and he had fought enemies for days on end sometimes so he was sure he would keep up with him.
---
“Pop Pop! Come on! The dragon is going to come and eat us if we don’t leave to the castle!” Nikolas said, poking the man with his foam sword.
Cor was bent over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “Do...you ever run out of energy kid?” he asked.
Nikolas grabbed his hand and pulled him to the small fort they had made out of lawn chairs and towels. They had been playing for hours with no end in sight. He wasn’t sure where he was getting all of this energy from and he didn’t seem to see and end in sight.
Was Prom like this? He couldn’t have been…
“Pop Pop! The dragon is coming! Hurry!” he said, pulling his arm to get down behind the fort.
“Okay Nikky, it's getting dark. Why don’t we go inside and get ready for dinner okay?”
“Awwww!” he whined. “Just a little longer?”
Cor sighed softly and sat down in one of the lawn chairs that made the fort.
“Only until the dragon is slayed. Then we go inside for dinner.” he said, yawning a little.
“Okay! But you have to get off the castle! The dragon will see you!” Nikolas said as he hid behind a towel.
Cor sighed deeply and got down onto the grass with him, groan as he did so.
“The dragon is flying around! Let’s get ready to fight it and save the city!” Nikolas said, pulling out his sword and running from behind the fort. Cor sighed and stood up slowly with another groan before slowly following behind him to help him “slay the dragon”.
---
“Dad! Dad we are back! I found the key you leave in the planter so I hope you didn't mind us coming in!” Prompto called out from the door. Noctis walked in behind him and shut the door.
“I thought he would be up already. It’s not like him to sleep in like this.” Noctis added.
“You are right...Nikky! Nikky we are back!” he called out as he walked towards the living room. He heard the tv on and assumed they were just up watching tv and didnt hear them.
Prompto rushed into the room. “Nikky! Dad! We’re ba-”
Cor and Nikolas were dead asleep. Cor was laying on the couch with Nikolas laying on his chest in his pajamas. The one blanket they were sharing was just covering up Nikolas and wasn’t long enough to cover Cor’s feet. There was popcorn all over the floor, accompanied the foam swords and another small fort made from the kitchen chairs and blankets and a board game with all the pieces scattered around on the floor.
The tv was on, but it was just playing the DVD menu of a superhero movie. Cor was snoring loudly, one arm over his eyes and one arm around Nikky. Nikolas was curled up against the back of the couch, face against Cor’s heaving chest.
Noctis found it hard not to laugh at the scene. This was something he didn’t expect to see from Cor. He was known for his strict rules and an even stricter bedtime as Prompto described. This was the opposite of what he was expecting.
“Looks like we didn’t have anything to worry about Prom. I was right. Even Cor can’t say no to Nikky. The kid can break anyone.” he said with a smile.
Prompto looked over at the mess and started to smile. He took a couple pictures of them and put his phone back in his pocket.
“You are right Noct. Nikky really does bring the best out of everyone. Now let's clean up a little. He might have a heart attack if he wakes up and remembers he didn't clean up.” Prompto said, starting to clean up some of the mess.
Bonus:
“So Noctis, heard I didn’t like to have fun. That’s a new one.” Cor said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at his son-in-law.
Noctis looked up from his lunch a little confused. “Huh?” he asked.
“Poor Nikolas was told he was going to be very bored here because I don’t know how to have any fun.” Cor pointed out.
Noctis’ eye widened as he looked over at Nikolas. Prompto bursted out into laughter and looked over at Noctis.
“I told you he was going to find out! Nikky can’t keep his mouth closed at all.” Prompto said through his laughs.
“Nikky! I told you that you weren’t supposed to say it to him!” he said before looking up at him. “It was joke Cor. Promise! Nikky didn’t know I was joking.”
“Oh no. Don't worry Prince Noctis.” Cor said. Noctis let out a quiet sigh of relief. It seemed like he was getting away with it. “I’ll show you how much fun I can have at your next training session tomorrow with Gladiolus. I suggest you get a good night’s sleep.” he man said simply.
Noctis hung his head a little and sighed, knowing he was definitely getting his butt kicked tomorrow.