A/N Okay I've got the rest of this drafted but I feel like I need to read through the end bit one more time before posting, so here's the part that's more put together. Remember you can also find it on AO3 here, fully edited (therefore behind where I'm posting here): http://archiveofourown.org/works/12346446
Part 9 will probably have to be subdivided because I doubt it'll fit in one post, but I think I should be able to get it up tomorrow!
***
It's raining. Not hard enough to be a real problem, but enough to be annoying, as Ignis fumbles with an umbrella that doesn't want to hold still in the gusting wind. He manages to make it across the parking lot and wrangles the umbrella into submission as he slides into the car, only getting himself minimally wet. Shoving the umbrella into the plastic bag he's brought along for just this reason, he tosses it in the back and sets his wet satchel on the floor of the passenger seat.
It's a Friday, and it's late -- long past the time he normally would have left the Citadel and driven to Noctis's apartment or home. But Noctis had gone out with Prompto after school, and Ignis had had a feeling that if he went home, he would end up thinking rather too much about the evening he'd spent with Noctis two nights ago. Instead, he'd thrown himself into his work, trying to force himself to focus by keeping busy. It wasn't like he ever ran out of work to do. He'd lost track of time, poring over immigration reports, and hadn't noticed how late it had gotten until his phone had buzzed and startled him out of his haze of statistics.
Now, close to midnight, he starts up the car and heads out to pick up Noctis and Prompto. At least Noctis had the decency to apologize for calling so late, and to apologize for having gone to a party in the first place without notifying Ignis or Gladio or anyone in the Crownsguard to keep an eye on him. The party isn't too far away, still in the nice part of town, and Ignis gets there as quickly as he can. Noctis hadn't sounded upset, exactly, but Ignis had gotten the impression that his presence was desired as soon as possible.
He pulls up in front of the address Noctis had texted him. It's a nice house, and there are a lot of teenagers around. He wonders, briefly, if the parents who own the house are aware that there's a party going on, but he supposes it's not really his place to interfere. He's only here for Noctis, after all. And there Noctis is, on the covered porch, with Prompto hanging off his side looking like he's had far too much to drink. Noctis notices the car immediately, and rushes Prompto through the rain into the back seat.
"Thanks," Noctis says as he leans over to buckle Prompto in, then fastens his own seatbelt and wipes raindrops from his face. "Sorry for dragging you out here. I didn't think I could get him home in the rain like this."
"Hey, Iggy!!" Prompto says, far too loudly, as he leans forward and gives Ignis an awkward, drunken hug around the back of his seat. "You're not mad at Noct, are you? It's totally my fault, I made him come with me because I didn't want to go alone."
Ignis sighs. "Please tell me nothing happened at this party that I'll be seeing in the tabloids tomorrow." Prompto starts giggling, and Ignis takes a deep breath, holds it for a count of five, then lets it out. "Noctis, I hope you haven't had as much to drink as your friend."
He examines Noctis in the rearview mirror. Noctis doesn't look drunk, though his cheeks are a light pink. "No, I only had one drink. With food. Two hours ago. And I don't think there's anything that will be in the tabloids."
"Dude! What about that girl, though."
Ignis raises his eyebrows as he pulls away from the curb. "A girl, Your Highness?"
Noctis shoots Prompto a dirty look, then says, "Nothing happened."
"She practically climbed on your lap and threw herself at you, buddy, I don't know how you said no to that." Prompto puts his hands on Ignis's shoulders and adds, "Iggy, Iggy, this girl was so hot. So hot! And Noct just-- he didn't even-- I would have been freaking out, dude, if that girl was coming on to me, and you just said, what did you say?"
"Prompto, please take your hands off of my shoulders, you're making it difficult to drive." Ignis is half imagining a tabloid with a cover photo of a drunken schoolgirl in the Prince's lap, and half relieved that it sounds like Noctis didn't actually allow things to progress past that point.
"Oh shit sorry," Prompto says, pulling his hands back. "But Noct just took her hands and put them back like this," he grabs Noctis's hands, puts them on his shoulders, then puts them back in Noctis's lap, "and said, 'I'm flattered, but I'm afraid--'" Prompto trails off into hysterical giggles. "He sounded like you Iggy, it was amazing -- 'I'm afraid that's not appropriate,' and then he got up so she'd have to leave him alone."
They pull up to a red light, and Ignis looks in the mirror to see that Noctis is hanging his face in his hands. "That was very well done," Ignis says quietly, and Noctis looks up at him with a small smile.
"Dude, you could have at least sent her over to me. I don't know what kind of wingman you think you are, but you're a really shitty one."
"Hey, it's not my fault you get tongue-tied whenever a pretty girl talks to you," Noctis says, giving his friend a playful shove as the car starts moving again. "Besides, you drank too much for me to leave you alone anyway."
"Aww, come on. It's totally not fair, you're royalty, and you're so hot, and everyone wants you, and then you don't even do anything about it! What the fuck, dude, what the fuck."
In the mirror, Ignis sees Noctis glance up at him once, then back down at Prompto, who is now slumped against his side, looking up at him with an expression that reminds Ignis of Gladio's concerns about their relationship. "I'm not allowed to do anything," Noctis tells him. "It's-- You said it, I'm royalty, I'm not allowed to date whoever I want. There's . . . you know, politics."
"Wait, seriously? You're not allowed to date? Ignis, did you know about this?"
"I'm afraid Noctis is quite correct," Ignis says. He's actually surprised that Noctis hasn't mentioned this to Prompto before, given that the two seem to share everything else about themselves.
Prompto flings himself back against the seat. "Well that explains a lot," he says. Then he seems to think some more, and exclaims, "That sucks!"
Noctis laughs. Ignis can see him looking fondly at Prompto in the mirror, before he glances up to meet Ignis's eyes. "Yeah," Noctis says, "it kind of does."
They pull up at Prompto's door, and Noctis helps Prompto out of the car and gets him safely inside. Ignis lets the engine idle and tries to figure out what he's feeling. He's proud of Noctis, for staying level-headed in a provocative social situation, for appropriately turning down the girl who'd propositioned him, and, most of all, for taking his responsibilities seriously. Well, aside from having gone to the party in the first place, but in the grand scheme of things that's far less an issue than an illicit affair with another student would have been.
He also feels sorry for Noctis. It isn't fair, not really, that Noctis can't give his heart away as he'd like to, that he can't have those first innocent fumblings toward romance that all young people should have. Ignis may have been able to help him with the awkwardness of losing his virginity, but romance was never part of their lessons. It simply wasn't relevant.
Noctis emerges from Prompto's house, closing the door behind him, then gets in the front seat of the car. Ignis tries not to worry himself about his bag getting crushed under Noctis's feet. Instead, he looks over as Noctis sighs and leans his head back on the headrest.
"Is Prompto going to be alright?"
"Yeah, I got him some water, he's going to sleep it off. Hey, do you think--"
"Yes?"
Noctis rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "I know it's really late, but, uh, I'm kind of hungry."
"I admit I missed dinner myself. Shall I drive through somewhere?"
"Yeah, burgers maybe?"
"Of course."
The drive passes in companionable silence, though he suspects Noctis is waiting to be chewed out over having snuck out to a party. He'll have to talk to him about it eventually, but it's a conversation that would be better had with full stomachs.
Re: FILL (8/9) Re: ignoct, virginity kink
Part 9 will probably have to be subdivided because I doubt it'll fit in one post, but I think I should be able to get it up tomorrow!
***
It's raining. Not hard enough to be a real problem, but enough to be annoying, as Ignis fumbles with an umbrella that doesn't want to hold still in the gusting wind. He manages to make it across the parking lot and wrangles the umbrella into submission as he slides into the car, only getting himself minimally wet. Shoving the umbrella into the plastic bag he's brought along for just this reason, he tosses it in the back and sets his wet satchel on the floor of the passenger seat.
It's a Friday, and it's late -- long past the time he normally would have left the Citadel and driven to Noctis's apartment or home. But Noctis had gone out with Prompto after school, and Ignis had had a feeling that if he went home, he would end up thinking rather too much about the evening he'd spent with Noctis two nights ago. Instead, he'd thrown himself into his work, trying to force himself to focus by keeping busy. It wasn't like he ever ran out of work to do. He'd lost track of time, poring over immigration reports, and hadn't noticed how late it had gotten until his phone had buzzed and startled him out of his haze of statistics.
Now, close to midnight, he starts up the car and heads out to pick up Noctis and Prompto. At least Noctis had the decency to apologize for calling so late, and to apologize for having gone to a party in the first place without notifying Ignis or Gladio or anyone in the Crownsguard to keep an eye on him. The party isn't too far away, still in the nice part of town, and Ignis gets there as quickly as he can. Noctis hadn't sounded upset, exactly, but Ignis had gotten the impression that his presence was desired as soon as possible.
He pulls up in front of the address Noctis had texted him. It's a nice house, and there are a lot of teenagers around. He wonders, briefly, if the parents who own the house are aware that there's a party going on, but he supposes it's not really his place to interfere. He's only here for Noctis, after all. And there Noctis is, on the covered porch, with Prompto hanging off his side looking like he's had far too much to drink. Noctis notices the car immediately, and rushes Prompto through the rain into the back seat.
"Thanks," Noctis says as he leans over to buckle Prompto in, then fastens his own seatbelt and wipes raindrops from his face. "Sorry for dragging you out here. I didn't think I could get him home in the rain like this."
"Hey, Iggy!!" Prompto says, far too loudly, as he leans forward and gives Ignis an awkward, drunken hug around the back of his seat. "You're not mad at Noct, are you? It's totally my fault, I made him come with me because I didn't want to go alone."
Ignis sighs. "Please tell me nothing happened at this party that I'll be seeing in the tabloids tomorrow." Prompto starts giggling, and Ignis takes a deep breath, holds it for a count of five, then lets it out. "Noctis, I hope you haven't had as much to drink as your friend."
He examines Noctis in the rearview mirror. Noctis doesn't look drunk, though his cheeks are a light pink. "No, I only had one drink. With food. Two hours ago. And I don't think there's anything that will be in the tabloids."
"Dude! What about that girl, though."
Ignis raises his eyebrows as he pulls away from the curb. "A girl, Your Highness?"
Noctis shoots Prompto a dirty look, then says, "Nothing happened."
"She practically climbed on your lap and threw herself at you, buddy, I don't know how you said no to that." Prompto puts his hands on Ignis's shoulders and adds, "Iggy, Iggy, this girl was so hot. So hot! And Noct just-- he didn't even-- I would have been freaking out, dude, if that girl was coming on to me, and you just said, what did you say?"
"Prompto, please take your hands off of my shoulders, you're making it difficult to drive." Ignis is half imagining a tabloid with a cover photo of a drunken schoolgirl in the Prince's lap, and half relieved that it sounds like Noctis didn't actually allow things to progress past that point.
"Oh shit sorry," Prompto says, pulling his hands back. "But Noct just took her hands and put them back like this," he grabs Noctis's hands, puts them on his shoulders, then puts them back in Noctis's lap, "and said, 'I'm flattered, but I'm afraid--'" Prompto trails off into hysterical giggles. "He sounded like you Iggy, it was amazing -- 'I'm afraid that's not appropriate,' and then he got up so she'd have to leave him alone."
They pull up to a red light, and Ignis looks in the mirror to see that Noctis is hanging his face in his hands. "That was very well done," Ignis says quietly, and Noctis looks up at him with a small smile.
"Dude, you could have at least sent her over to me. I don't know what kind of wingman you think you are, but you're a really shitty one."
"Hey, it's not my fault you get tongue-tied whenever a pretty girl talks to you," Noctis says, giving his friend a playful shove as the car starts moving again. "Besides, you drank too much for me to leave you alone anyway."
"Aww, come on. It's totally not fair, you're royalty, and you're so hot, and everyone wants you, and then you don't even do anything about it! What the fuck, dude, what the fuck."
In the mirror, Ignis sees Noctis glance up at him once, then back down at Prompto, who is now slumped against his side, looking up at him with an expression that reminds Ignis of Gladio's concerns about their relationship. "I'm not allowed to do anything," Noctis tells him. "It's-- You said it, I'm royalty, I'm not allowed to date whoever I want. There's . . . you know, politics."
"Wait, seriously? You're not allowed to date? Ignis, did you know about this?"
"I'm afraid Noctis is quite correct," Ignis says. He's actually surprised that Noctis hasn't mentioned this to Prompto before, given that the two seem to share everything else about themselves.
Prompto flings himself back against the seat. "Well that explains a lot," he says. Then he seems to think some more, and exclaims, "That sucks!"
Noctis laughs. Ignis can see him looking fondly at Prompto in the mirror, before he glances up to meet Ignis's eyes. "Yeah," Noctis says, "it kind of does."
They pull up at Prompto's door, and Noctis helps Prompto out of the car and gets him safely inside. Ignis lets the engine idle and tries to figure out what he's feeling. He's proud of Noctis, for staying level-headed in a provocative social situation, for appropriately turning down the girl who'd propositioned him, and, most of all, for taking his responsibilities seriously. Well, aside from having gone to the party in the first place, but in the grand scheme of things that's far less an issue than an illicit affair with another student would have been.
He also feels sorry for Noctis. It isn't fair, not really, that Noctis can't give his heart away as he'd like to, that he can't have those first innocent fumblings toward romance that all young people should have. Ignis may have been able to help him with the awkwardness of losing his virginity, but romance was never part of their lessons. It simply wasn't relevant.
Noctis emerges from Prompto's house, closing the door behind him, then gets in the front seat of the car. Ignis tries not to worry himself about his bag getting crushed under Noctis's feet. Instead, he looks over as Noctis sighs and leans his head back on the headrest.
"Is Prompto going to be alright?"
"Yeah, I got him some water, he's going to sleep it off. Hey, do you think--"
"Yes?"
Noctis rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "I know it's really late, but, uh, I'm kind of hungry."
"I admit I missed dinner myself. Shall I drive through somewhere?"
"Yeah, burgers maybe?"
"Of course."
The drive passes in companionable silence, though he suspects Noctis is waiting to be chewed out over having snuck out to a party. He'll have to talk to him about it eventually, but it's a conversation that would be better had with full stomachs.