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"Again," Gladio says, his sword leaning against the wall beside him. "Lean into it more."
Noct scowls and rolls his eyes before aiming for the training dummy 5 meters away. "Eat shit," he mutters. He throws his sword, leans in, and then-
The sword shatters into crystals before reappearing less than a meter away and clattering to the floor. Noct, however, doesn't follow his sword and instead falls flat on his face. He groans, rolls onto his back and stares at the ceiling.
"Hey, Gladio?" he asks, voice flat and tired.
His Shield sighs before crossing his arms. "Yeah?"
"Why did the bike fall over?"
Gladio huffs. "Because it didn't lean into its warp strike?"
"Nope," Noct says. "Cause it was two tired, but like the number two; not the other one."
"Again," Gladio groans, "and don't explain the joke before I get the chance to appreciate it."
Noct rolls onto his hands and knees before pushing himself up slowly. "I'm two tires."
"Then when you feel yourself falling roll into it so you don't break your nose."
Noct snorts before getting up and walking over to the practice sword. He picks it up, heads back to his starting point, and throws his sword.
-
"Gladio?"
"No."
"What's brown and sticky?"
"My foot up your ass. Again, Noct."
-
"Can a frog jump higher than a house?"
"..."
"Houses don't have legs to jump."
"That was barely funny when Iris told me that one correctly half a year ago. Remember the wrist motion Nyx taught you, and do it again."
-
"What do clouds wear underneath their shorts?"
"Thunder pants. Are you even trying or just joking around?"
"...I'm trying to focus over here, jeez."
-
"What do you call a row of rabbits hopping away?"
Noct watches Gladio drag a hand down his face. "You almost had it last time. Follow the motion all the way through."
"..."
Gladio groans. "...I don't know, Noct."
"Your dad's head."
Gladio's face scrunches up in confusion as Noct throws his sword and then successfully follows the warp, slamming into the training dummy before landing on his feet.
"Fucking finally," he says, pulling the sword out of the dummy's neck before tossing it to the side. He looks over to his Shield, but Gladio's just staring at him.
"...I landed it, Gladio."
"Yeah, the warp strike, but not the joke."
Noct squints at him. "You don't get it?"
Gladio shakes his head.
"It's his hair. Like," and Noct gestures with his hand moving over his head, "the hairline." But when Gladio still doesn't say anything, Noct starts to feel that growing nausea of embarrassment. "It's...you know, it's the-"
Gladio shakes his head before grabbing his sword and pushing off the wall. "Try again. I'll rack your practice sword; you pull the mats, and start the joke over."
Noct tenses before he shakes out his hands and feigns confidence as he reaches for the training mats. "What do you call a row of rabbits hopping away?"
"I don't know."
"Your dad's head."
"Hairline...hopping away..." Gladio mumbles to himself.
Noct doesn't say anything as he cleans up. Of course, this is the joke that falls flat, he thinks to himself. After a few moments, he clears his throat. "Uh, never mind-"
"Receding hareline!" Gladio exclaims, sounding just slightly too much like Ignis in his enthusiasm.
Noct finally feels his shoulders relax. "Yeah. It's...yeah. You got it."
Gladio gives Noct a strange look before grinning. "You wanna try an alternate version of that at dinner?"
-
"Hey, Dad?"
Regis looks up from his plate to see his son's unfortunately obvious yet incredibly endearing mischievous face. "Yes?"
"What do you call a row of rabbits hopping away?"
It takes him a moment to realize Noct's going for a joke, but he manages to put on a curious face in time. "I'm not sure."
Noct smiles wide, his eyes slightly taunting. "Clarus' receding hareline."
Regis scoffs and put his hand to his face to hide his smile while Clarus nearly chokes on his food beside him. He notices Gladio give Noct a fist bump across the table while Ignis shakes his head in exaggerated disbelief.