Anon dear, I’ll do my best. It’s my usual weird mix of headcanon and scenario instead I’m afraid. Please tell me if this turns out alright. I’ve sort of tried to capture what this kind of relationship would be like by experimenting…By which I mean I ended up writing for more than one person. I hope this is alright. I mostly assumed that they get their physical needs taken care of in other ways. But I didn’t want to elaborate on that too much. (For all i know maybe they’re all ace.)
Noctis:
He’d sit beside them on the couch, resting against one another in a calm silence, and holding each other’s hand. The TV was on, playing a radio station rather than a channel. It served to drowned out both their thoughts. It had been a bad day. And on those days, they needed each other.
This was their ritual. Something they never spoke about with each other, but just sort of occurred. They trusted each other wholly with their mental wounds. Their need for a quiet solitude with another. They knew that they weren’t listening to the music playing, but rather one another’s breathing. They needed the other’s grounding presence.
If someone walked in on the sight, it could have been mistake for a romantic moment between two lovers. But romance had no place among them. No. It was just the feeling of the other nearby. A trust. Not attraction, but a feeling that if it wasn’t precisely this person there with them, it wouldn’t feel right.
A shelter for the dark. Nothing more, nothing less.
Prompto:
With Prompto, things would be a lot more easy to mistake for romance. And a lot more tactile. He’d help fix their hair just to feel close to them, and they would play with the strands of his through out the day. They might lay their head on his chest to hear his heart beat, while he would nuzzle into their hair and sleep. They’d play with each other’s hand when they’re distracted, brush against each other’s thighs when they want their attention for something, link arms when walking together, and just genuinely lack a need for personal space between the two of them.
People often ask them why they aren’t dating already, but they always, each other them, have the same answer. “It’s not like that.”
Because it isn’t. This isn’t love. Not in the way one would expect. This was more of a need fulfilled. They cherished this person, no one else understood their needs. It wasn’t romance. It wasn’t friendship. It was some unknown between the two.
It was comfort and closeness. And it was enough.
Gladio:
Helping the other relax after a long day is normal for them. Massaging tense muscles when they don’t really allow people to touch them. If one of them was sore it wouldn’t be odd for them to help the other undress if they couldn’t manage it themselves. Sleeping in the same bed, couch, or using each other as a pillow was likewise normal. Seeing each other at their most vulnerable, being able to face each other unblinkingly during the moments they couldn’t stand someone else’s stare, watching over each other’s shoulders were all normal to them.
But nothing beyond that. Closeness was what they valued in one another. Someone who’d always have their back through everything and anything.
Sometimes, they’d be afraid that they’d get too old for anyone to understand this. “Call it what it is, you’re in love.”
But they’re not. This was something else. A choice. This person was their person. They didn’t have the word for it, but they didn’t desire one another how other people did. It was just the sense of a missing piece finally coming home.
Ignis:
This is a relationship of space and intimacy. They don’t need to be near each other, but rather look after one another in other ways. They sleep in separate beds to allow the other their privacy. He’ll make sure they have lunch, they make sure he has clean clothes. Things they were perfectly capable of dealing with on their own, but chose to do for one another. They cook together and are much more free with their emotions around one another. (They’re one of the very rare people who have heard Ignis laugh to tears.) They ensure the other’s appearance is perfect for special events. They walk together at work, and leave notes for the other asking if they’ve eaten. (There are very rare times of course, when one of them cries. And the other doesn’t judge them. They only hold them through the whole thing until they settle again.) They just take care of each other. Even though they don’t have to.
People comment on how chilly they are together. They won’t last if they ever get together. They just share a knowing glance and continue on with their day. They know themselves better than anyone else, and know that their care is shown through their actions.
They could live without one another, but why would they?
Ravus:
He sends letters through out the relationship, venting mostly, and sometimes commenting on how he saw them the other day, but didn’t have time to go to talk to them. They in turn write back what they’ve learned and how their own training is going. They’ll make general yet. When they have time, they train together. Fighting one on one until one of them submits. (Neither ever does. It’s time spent together and they want it to last.) At the end of the session they sit back to back for as long as they can get away with, without someone finding out.
They’re not ashamed of one another, but it’s safer if no one knows. They know this is not love, but they also know they would miss the other into eternity if they were gone. This was safer to let no one know.
They depart and go back to letters. For most people this isn’t enough. They need contact and the person to be there with them. But neither of them need those things. They just need the other’s understanding. The knowledge that someone is there, listening.
It’s enough, and more than they could ever have asked for.