Prompt Post Round Six
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ffxv_kinkmeme Welcome to Round Six of the FFXV Kink Meme!
CLOSED for prompts | OPEN for fills
Please have a look at the extended rules here.
The important rules in short:
Please direct any questions or report any problems to the Ask a mod post.
Prompt, write, draw, comment, and most importantly have fun!
(You can also check out our Pinboard for Filled or Unfilled prompts)
If you'd like to advertise a fill, head on over to the fills post! This is, of course, entirely optional.
CLOSED for prompts | OPEN for fills
Please have a look at the extended rules here.
The important rules in short:
- Post anonymously.
- Negative comments on other people's prompts (kink-shaming, pairing-bashing etc.) and personal attacks of any kind will not be tolerated.
- Don't be an asshole.
- One prompt per comment. Warnings for common triggers and squicks are encouraged, but not required.
- Prompts should follow the format: Character/character, prompt.
- Keep prompts to a reasonable length; prompts should not be detailed story outlines.
- Fills should have the word "Fill:" at the start of the subject line.
- Otherwise please avoid changing the subject line.
- No reposting of prompts from previous rounds, please.
- No Meme-Police. Only ffxv_kinkbuddyffxv_kinkhelper ffxv_kinkbuddy and ffxv_kinkmod are allowed to mod the meme. If you spot a rules violation, don't comment in the thread, report it on the Ask a mod post.
Please direct any questions or report any problems to the Ask a mod post.
Prompt, write, draw, comment, and most importantly have fun!
(You can also check out our Pinboard for Filled or Unfilled prompts)
If you'd like to advertise a fill, head on over to the fills post! This is, of course, entirely optional.
Fill 11/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-15 03:54 pm (UTC)"This the nephew?" he asked. His face crawled with wrinkles, and his hair was bleached by the sun, stark white against his weather-worn brow. "Don't see the resemblance, myself."
Basil tossed his bag onto the deck. "Adopted," he said, and the man laughed, short and harsh. Basil stepped into the boat and held out a hand for Ignis.
The ride to Lucis was choppy and slow, with several stops to wait for the Altissian patrol to pass, and then they were out on the open sea. Basil stretched his long body out at the front of the boat, fitting a black sleep mask over his eyes, and Ignis sat by his feet, watching the sky wheel about them as they set a course for Lucis.
He must have slept at some point, because when he opened his eyes again, the sunrise was dawning over Angelgard. The boat rocked against the skinny dock of Galdin Quay, and the captain was sitting on a bench with Basil, smoking up a small storm cloud. Ignis winced and crawled onto the dock.
A group of Glaives waited for them, including one man with dark braids and a tattoo that looked vaguely familiar. He winked and tossed Ignis a black lump of clothes.
"Congratulations, kid," he said. "For today only, you're one of us."
A woman behind him smirked, and Ignis unfolded the jacket at the top of the bundle to reveal the silver and black uniform of the Kingsglaive.
It was amazing, really, the change that a uniform could make. The men at the border said nothing when they saw Ignis and Basil sitting in the back of the van with the other Glaives--Crowe, Libertus, and Pelna, they said, with Ignis' old magic instructor Nyx at the wheel. Ignis could see nothing of the city this time around, but hurriedly changed back into his clothes while Pelna held a hand over Crowe and Libertus' eyes.
They were dropped off at the University, just a few blocks from the Citadel. "You don't have to," Basil said, when Ignis hesitated at the door. "You can always come back another day."
"No," Ignis said. "No, I believe I can do this."
They had another hour before Ignis' exam, and Ignis spent that hour poring through university pamphlets, reading through every possible math and science program the school had to offer. Their physics courses seemed to be the most appealing, but he supposed he'd have to take poli-sci as well, if he were to help Noctis as king. He stuffed the pamphlets in his bag and tried not to look too terrified as he entered the exam room.
He finished the maths portion of the exam so quickly that he had to read over it once just in case he'd made some terrible mistake. The other test takers were still scribbling away, some with looks of dawning panic, others grim and focused. Ignis placed his maths booklet in the designated box and tried not to notice the stares that were leveled his way.
The only subject that gave him trouble was Lucian history, but Ignis figured he'd still done a passable job. Even with the delay in the last portion of the test, he finished long before the others, and left wondering yet again if he'd skipped some vital step.
"How was it?" Basil asked, rising to his feet when Ignis came through the door. Ignis gave him a helpless shrug. "That's how testing goes, Ignis. I'm sure you did well."
Traffic around the Citadel was a disaster, so Ignis and Basil walked the rest of the way. They took the same side entrance Ignis remembered, up the mirrored stairway, and stopped at Basil's apartment, where Basil paused, ears bright red, as he turned the key in the lock.
The apartment had changed some in the past ten years. There was a new couch, a shiny coffee maker, more pictures on the walls. Ignis made his way to one and was startled to find the photo he'd sent to Basil three years past, before braces had ruined all hopes of taking a decent picture again. He padded over to his old room, only half listening to Basil speaking behind him.
The lights were still there, pinned up in wire constellations on the ceiling. There was a new bookcase, though, with a set of leather-bound books on the top shelf, and slimmer, glossy ones on the bottom. Ignis pulled one out and examined the cover.
"An introduction to particle physics," he said.
"I asked Lily Amicitia to find something suitable," Basil said. "If you choose to live elsewhere while you study, we can have them shipped."
Ignis gently set the book down. "No," he said. "No, I'd like to stay here. If you'll have me."
"You already know I will," Basil said. "Now, I should have enough for an early dinner before the ball. Sit down while I heat something up."
They had leftovers on the kitchen table, sitting in companionable silence as the air conditioner whirred and clicked in the walls. Ignis eyed the empty chair between them and imagined Noctis there, pushing vegetables around his plate like always and holding Ignis' hand under the table. The three of them in the living room, Noctis reading reports while Ignis did homework, Basil poring through the newspaper and trying not to act the chaperone. There, in Basil's apartment, such a dream didn't feel impossible.
After the dishes were cleared away, Basil disappeared into his bedroom. When he came out, bearing a suit on a hanger, Ignis gripped the back of his chair to steady himself.
"Princess Lunafreya sent your measurements," Basil said, grinning at Ignis' slack expression. "After all, if you're to crash an engagement party, it's only fair that you do so in style."
---
Noctis Lucis Caelum, the only son of Regis Caelum and sacrificial lamb to the altar of political engagements, slouched his way out of the safety of a gazebo and onto the dance floor. Gladio was behind him, a firm hand pressed to his shoulder blades, smirking as Noctis dragged his feet into the light.
"You're supposed to be my Shield," Noct said. "So shield me."
"That's what I'm doin,'" Gladio said. He looked like someone out of one of the ridiculous romance novels he and Noct's friend from high school bonded over, and Noct was ready to warp to the elevator and let the horde of admirers have a piece of him for a change. "You can't sulk forever, Noct."
"My whole future's being planned for me," Noct said. "Iggy hasn't written back in a month, Luna's all, all floaty and nice, and Dad's laughing at me, I swear. No, really!"
Gladio rolled his eyes. "It ain't all about you, Noct."
"Gladio." Noct turned around, placing both hands on Gladio's shoulders. "This is my birthday party. And engagement party. And the end of my life. This time? I think it is about me."
The music dimmed, then started up again, picking up a Tenebraean reel that Noct spent the last month stumbling through. The white canvas pavilion over the dance floor fluttered in the breeze, and Lunafreya Nox Fleuret emerged from the masked, glittering crowd, like a divine messenger in a transparent, feathery mask.
"Dear Noctis," she said, and took his hands. Noct gave her a shaky smile, then looked to Gladio for help. Gladio grinned.
"Go on," Gladio said, the traitor. Noct took a step to the right, and yelped as Luna took the lead instead, whirling him into the center of the dance floor.
"I know we haven't had time to talk," she said, as her skirts twisted around Noct's legs, threatening to trip him up. "But I assure you, all will be well."
"I... I mean, I do like you," Noct said. His hands felt uncomfortably clammy. "You're a good friend."
"And I hope we can stay friends," Luna said, with a twinkling smile. "But I'm afraid I will never marry."
Noct stared. Luna spun him in a circle, let out an exaggerated gasp of surprise, and let go of Noct, raising both hands in the air. Noct went staggering, dizzy and disoriented, and he spread his hands out for balance as his new, polished shoes slipped on the slick dance floor.
A hand caught him by the elbow, and Noctis fell into the vest of a suit that glimmered like a field of stars in a summer sky.
"Easy," said a warm, low voice. "I have you."
Noctis looked up into a blue mask, beyond which were the smoky green eyes of the most beautiful man Noct had ever seen in his life.
"Yeah," he said, in a breathless voice. "Yeah, I guess you do."
Re: Fill 11/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-15 04:13 pm (UTC)Ah, this is all so cute and fluffy. What could possibly go wrong? ;-P
Re: Fill 11/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-15 05:06 pm (UTC)Nooooope, deeeeefinitely not going to backfire dramatically whatsoever! *whistles innocently*
Re: Fill 11/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-15 05:20 pm (UTC)Equal parts terrified and excited here.
Re: Fill 11/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-15 10:47 pm (UTC)Fill 12/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-15 10:50 pm (UTC)"How is your birthday going so far, Prince Noctis?" Ignis asked. The cape attached to his shoulders swirled about him, sparkling with the faded shapes of constellations, and his face was remarkably hot under the mask. "Have you had a chance to breathe?"
"Not." Noctis swallowed, and nearly stepped on Ignis' toes. "Not yet."
"That won't do." Ignis tightened his grip around Noct's waist and lifted him over the feet of a laughing, poorly gyrating couple to their right. Noct's breath left him in a rush. "I know what I would prefer for a royal birthday. Somewhere quiet, out of the way, possibly with a new tackle box and a kitten you've been hiding in your walk-in closet for the past three months. Does she have a name yet?"
"Stella," Noct said, numbly, and then blinked. "Wait, how do you--Who are you?"
The music died down, and Ignis stepped back with a bow. As he straightened, he lifted his mask a fraction, and called the smallest amount of frost to his fingertips. Noct's mouth fell open.
"Ig--"
But Ignis was gone, striding off towards the gazebo where Noct had been hiding when he first came in, trying to restrain a wide, ridiculous smile. He made it three feet before Noct collided with him, sending them both into a hydrangea bush with a crash. Sticky dark leaves stuck to Ignis' cheeks on the way down, and his view of the floating lights of the pavilion was blocked by Noctis, collapsing on top of him with a grunt.
"Specs!" his voice cracked, and thin fingers dug at Ignis' jacket. "I. How did you. When did you. How'd you end up like this?"
"In the bushes?" Ignis said. "I gather someone pushed me."
Noct laughed, and Ignis could finally see the boy he remembered, bright and kind and earnest. He took Noct's face in both hands, and the two of them sank fully into the bush, ruining their formal suits.
It took them five minutes to crawl out without ripping a cape to shreds or losing a shoe, and by the time they were done, they were laughing so hard that Ignis thought he might cry. He helped Noctis to his feet, and they hobbled to the pavilion, where they sat together in a tangle of limbs and smiles and bits of twigs and hydrangea blossoms.
"Can you even see in that?" Noct asked, lifting off Ignis' mask to better pull leaves from his hair. Ignis shrugged.
"Up close, well enough. From a distance, you look rather like a blur."
"So long as you can see me now, I'm fine," Noct said.
Ignis pushed a pink blossom from his bangs. Noctis had grown a little, not nearly as tall as his father yet, and his face had thinned out, revealing a delicate jawline and cheekbones that Ignis wanted to--
Well, he supposed he could--
He ran his hand down to Noct's cheek and tried to memorize how his face felt in his hand, how perfectly they fit together. "Your pictures don't do you credit," he said. Noct blushed.
"Sheesh, Iggy. I'm not really... I don't know what to say to that."
"Do you still believe what you said in your letter?" Ignis asked. Noct peeled off his own mask, plain black with gold dusting the corners, and Ignis marveled at how surprisingly long his lashes were.
"Do you?" Noct asked.
Rather than answer, Ignis leaned forward. Noct closed the distance, twisting his hands in Ignis' jacket as he pressed their lips together. Ignis was painfully aware of how soft Noct's lips were compared to his own, but by the way Noct lingered, breathing in hard through his nose, he didn't seem to mind.
"Tell me you'll stay," Noct whispered.
"I'm going to university next spring," Ignis said. "I hope. I'll--"
"You can get here sooner," Noct said. His smile was verging on goofy, the same way he grinned when he met Ignis for the second time, during lessons. "Dad said if I pick someone tonight, that's it. It'll take a few weeks to finalize the engagement, but no one'll be able to take you away."
Ignis' breath caught. "An engagement is... I know you care for me, and I've always, but. Are you certain?"
"More than anything," Noct said. He kissed him again, carding a hand through Ignis' hair, and Ignis parted his lips, deepening the kiss. They fell back against the support beams of the gazebo, and jasmine flowers drifted down from the lattice above.
"I've wanted you here since I was six," Noct said. "You're my best friend, and. You know."
"You romantic," Ignis teased, and kissed Noct's beet red cheeks. "Well, I you know you, too."
Noct stared at Ignis for another moment, and then, seemingly overcome by more emotion than a sixteen year old could feasibly handle, wrapped his arms around Ignis' head and wrestled him onto the bench.
A shadow crossed over the lamp lights, and they both looked up to find a tall, broad-shouldered young man with an awkward mullet and the outline of a feathered tattoo on his bare arms.
"Noct?" he said.
"Gladio?"
"Iggy?"
Noct yelped indignantly as Gladio grabbed Ignis, hauling him up into a bone-crushing hug. "Holy Etro, Iggy, the hell happened to you? You don't look like a drowned cat anymore."
"And you've... certainly grown," Ignis managed to gasp. Gladio quickly let go, then embraced him harder than before.
"So, what," Gladio said, as Ignis wheezed for breath on the bench. "It worked out? You two made your decision?" Ignis and Noctis gave him equally blank looks. "It's just, Princess Luna told me I had to have Noct out during that last song, so I figured she had something planned. This is it, right?"
"No offense, but your sister is kind of scary sometimes," Noctis said.
"You don't know the half of it," Ignis said. They smiled at each other, and Noct took Ignis' hand, threading their fingers together.
"Huh," Gladio said, and Ignis jerked to attention. "Yeah. So. I'm thinkin', before people start catchin' on, you gotta get to the king. Let him know."
"Oh, gods," Ignis breathed.
Noct shook his shoulder. "It'll be fine. Promise."
They stood, scattering stray leaves, and in his hurry to take Noct's hand, Ignis forgot to replace his mask. He was about ten paces out when he reached for his face, flushing dark.
"I'll be a moment," he said. Noctis made a soft sound of protest, but Ignis kissed him swiftly before letting go. He trotted back to the gazebo, breathing in the cool night air, and groped in the dark for the mask. His hand slid over the smooth bench, but he found no cloth, no stiff gems at the edge of the ribbon. It wasn't until he ducked down to look beneath the bench that he heard heavy footsteps behind him.
"Gladio," he said. "Thank you, I can't see a damn without my spectacles."
The hand that pressed down on Ignis' shoulder was too thin and pale to belong to Gladio. He twisted round to look up into the bearded face of the man in charge of the Tenebraean royal guard, his milky grey eyes mournful under sagging lids. The missing mask dangled in his free hand, catching the light off the pavilion.
"Gods above, boy," he said. "You just couldn't leave well enough alone."
Re: Fill 12/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-15 11:18 pm (UTC)Someone come help this poor baby! Noct go save your prince! <3
Re: Fill 12/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-16 03:09 am (UTC)Fill 13/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-16 05:29 pm (UTC)Ignis' feet dragged on the asphalt as he was yanked upwards by the guards holding his arms, slamming his back into the side of a van. He'd been marched out of the Citadel entirely, into a small garage where his captors quickly set about to dismantling the security system at the gate. His cape was torn at last, dangling down one shoulder, and he tried to school his face into the same bland look he used when the king fell into a rage and most of the staff had to tiptoe in the serving halls.
"The king didn't bother to come this time, did he?" Ignis asked. The commander of the guard, Captain Hugo, only adjusted his gloves. "I suppose he wouldn't. Can't have the king of Tenebrae himself be found beating one of his subjects, can w--"
He hissed as an open-handed palm struck his cheek, making the back of his head bang against the van.
"It will go better for you," the captain said, "if you remain silent. Our orders are to ship you back to Tenebrae, to the fortress at Helahn. There, you'll receive the training you clearly need--"
"I'm not yet seventeen," Ignis said. The captain raised his hand, but he didn't look away. "It's illegal to conscript an underage boy."
"You're hardly a boy," the captain said. "You're just as conniving as your father, trying to sleep your way to royal favor like a common whore. The prince--"
"Loves me," Ignis said. This time, the second blow came, and Ignis tasted copper on his tongue. "That will be the last time you strike me," he warned.
"Really." The captain removed his gloves. "It's no matter. You, boy, are a blank slate. Oh, yes, you say you're not seventeen, but there's no way to tell. No papers, see?"
"Then that doesn't make this--" Ignis huffed in frustration at the twitch of the captain's hand. "This isn't a conscription, then. It's a kidnapping."
"Clever," the captain said. "But you will learn to hold your tongue."
When he reared his arm back, the captain found his hand descending on a dome of light, hard as glass and sectioned like dragon scales, glimmering with the rainbow of pure magic.
"I told you," Ignis said, as the captain curled over his twisted fingers. "That was the last time."
---
While Gladiolus Amicitia had spent the past decade training to be a physical shield to the future king, his greatest strength lay in the fact that he was, in essence, exactly like his mother.
Noctis held onto the back of Gladio's shirt, letting his older friend charm a path through the crowd. Gladio gasped at whispered news, winked past flirtations, called elderly doctors by their first names and patted council members aside like old friends at a soirée. The only sign of tension lay in the tightness of the muscles of his back, and Noctis slipped by with him like a flustered child on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
"There they are," Gladio said. "Royal face on, Noct."
Noct pinched his lips together in what he hoped was a neutral expression. Gladio winced.
"Good enough."
They'd only turned their backs on Ignis for a moment. He'd been right there, climbing the steps of the gazebo--but then there'd been that gaggle of rich kids who'd followed Noct around all night, crowding up right between them and Ignis, and Gladio swore up and down that he saw someone in a Tenebraean uniform pushing through the crowd.
Then Ignis was gone, his mask draped over the ends of a scraggly bush near the back of the gazebo.
So there Noct was, standing in front of Ravus Fucking Nox Fleuret and the nicest, most terrifying matchmaker of Tenebrae, trying not to look like he was about to fall apart at the seams.
Luna noticed immediately. Of course.
"Noctis," she said, stepping forward to take his burning face in both hands. It was a gesture so like Ignis' that Noct had to hold his breath, too anxious to speak. "What happened? Did Ignis say no? He couldn't have said no."
"He's gone," Noct said.
"We think one of yours took him," Gladio said, glaring at Ravus. Ravus' cheeks colored.
"I wouldn't," he said. Luna glanced at him sidelong, and he shuffled his ridiculously polished shoes. "But if the king had a hand in this, I may know where he's been taken."
The departure of three members of two royal families did not go unnoticed. Noct could hear cries of alarm behind them as he and Gladio held Luna's foot so she could vault the garden wall, and flashlights flickered all over the closed-off paths leading out of the Citadel.
"He'll want him out of the way," Ravus panted, red-faced and sweating through his thick white suit. "He can't be taken to one of our rooms. Too noticeable."
"A car?" Luna asked. Unlike Ravus, she was hardly out of breath. She kept pace with Gladio while Noct and Ravus staggered and wheezed behind them, her high-heeled shoes dangling from her fingers. "Then we're heading in the wrong direction. The guard keeps their vehicles in the garage south of the library. I remembered, you see, because I wanted to get Noctis' friend to take pictures for Ignis--"
Ravus and Noct groaned in chorus, and the four of them veered around, heading back the way they came.
The garage was small, squat, and easy to miss: Noct had to stop twice to gasp and read the street signs, and his heart was beating double time when the entrance crept into view, a pit of blackness behind the closed grille.
"Shit," he said, and grabbed the grille with both hands. Gladio sighed and pushed him aside, and he and Ravus managed to lift the grille just enough for it to break, stuck lifted about three feet off the asphalt.
Noct was crouching down to slip underneath when he heard footsteps. A light, uneven gait, with the hint of a shuffle. A figure stepped out of the darkness, indistinct with shadow, and it wasn't until the light of Gladio's phone hit the stars on his ragged cape that Noct recognized him as Ignis. Ignis looked up, blinked, and held his hand out in a gesture Noct knew from his own magic lessons, trying to summon a wall.
"Ignis," Noct said, and Ignis slumped, the tight, tense energy draining out of him in a breath. Noct skidded under the grille and ran for him, catching Ignis in his arms before his knees could buckle.
"Noct." Ignis moved to adjust glasses he didn't have, and smiled, faint and rueful. "I fear his majesty's guardsmen are. Ah. Trapped in their van." Noctis opened his mouth, and Ignis shrugged. "I may have welded the doors shut. They probably have enough air to last for a while."
"Better than they deserve," Noct said, and kissed him, tasting of sweat and adrenaline and the sharp, hot sting of magic. Ignis kissed him back, raising shaking hands to his hair, and it wasn't until he heard a light cough behind them that Noct realized they had an audience.
"Hate to break it up," Gladio said, peering out from behind the grille. "But I think we really gotta talk to the king this time."
Re: Fill 13/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-16 05:50 pm (UTC)/cheering for this fic
Re: Fill 13/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-16 05:57 pm (UTC)OMG THIS IS SO YESSSSS!
I love Ignis helping to rescue his own damn self. YES SON YOU GOT THIS!
Also Luna you are relatable AF running with your heels off. Preach. Reason #364 why I love her so much in this.
Re: Fill 13/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-16 07:10 pm (UTC)Fill 14/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-16 07:11 pm (UTC)They never talked about the bone-deep exhaustion that crashed over one without warning, leading to an unsteady, shuffling parade of yawns and creaking bones.
They never talked about fear.
Ignis stood before the silent, wary crowd gathered in the pavilion, hands clasped together behind his back, too aware of the vague, faraway look on the king of Tenebrae's face. King Regis, holding court in his formal suit, Cor Leonis at his back, looked stony and grim.
Behind him, Noctis gave Ignis a pained grimace.
"We find ourselves in a curious position," King Regis said. "As we have gathered upon investigating the disturbance this evening, it has been found that this young man bears no formal paperwork, no proof of identification or, indeed, homeland. Can anyone here make a claim on the man standing before us now?"
It was not the kindest thing he could have done. Ignis could see it in the way the queen's eyes went wide, in the pallor of her cheeks and the curl of her fingers. She could not claim him as hers in front of a crowd of the Lucian upper-class. But she could, Ignis realized, claim him as one of her staff. All she needed to say was that he was a foundling child, a servant at the manor, the son of a soldier long dead in the endless war. Then Ignis would go back to Tenebrae, where the king's soldiers awaited him, and pray his magic could see him through a second time.
Her gaze met his. She'd always been unreadable, too lofty for Ignis to touch, but now, Ignis could see her mind as easily as though she were speaking in his ear.
This was goodbye. The final farewell to a child she could never truly embrace, never raise, never call to as she had with Ravus and Luna. In her silence, she was finally letting him go.
"I claim him." That was Basil, dressed in his work uniform, stepping out from a line of attendants. "I found him as a child, alone on the steps of the Citadel. I claim him."
There was a long, breathless silence.
"Well," King Regis said. "I suppose that will have to do. Ignis Scientia."
Ignis' breath hitched. If this was how policy was done, with a nod of the head and a word from the king, he had a sudden, pressing desire to flee to the desert. "Y-yes, your majesty?"
King Regis' stone face slipped just a moment, enough for his eyes to crinkle in the soft smile Ignis remembered. "Do you have an objection to this claim?"
"No, your majesty," Ignis said.
King Regis nodded. "Well, then. I see no reason why the child of Basil Scientia should not marry my son. In time," he added, and his smile flickered again. "When you're older."
Ignis bowed. Before he could straighten, Luna skipped up to his side, drawing him upright so she could squash his cheeks together in front of the entire Lucian court. Gladio let out a strangled sort of cough, and Noct squeaked.
"'nk oo," Ignis said, through pursed lips. Luna stood on tiptoe to kiss his forehead.
"There is, however," King Regis said, in a voice so cold that Luna's smile froze on her lips, "the troubling matter of the attempted abduction of my son's fiancé, the future prince-consort of Lucis."
Ignis, Luna, Ravus, and Noctis all looked to the king of Tenebrae, who stood still as a wooden statue, refusing to look in Ignis' direction. The queen caught the heat of their stares, and turned to her husband with a troubled frown.
"Rest assured, this matter will not be forgotten. But tonight is for my son. For now, it is his wishes that I will honor."
"Then I have one," Noct said, lurching forward to take Ignis' hand. "Now that it's over."
"Anything you like," King Regis said.
Noct smiled.
---
"Well," Ignis said, thirty minutes later. "This is one way to celebrate a birthday."
Noct snorted, and tacked the line of his fishing rod, jiggling a golden lure across the water. He sat on the end of the dock behind the royal gardens, his fine trousers rolled up to the knee, jacket draped over a post a few yards off. There were Crownsguard pacing the border of the garden, little lights bobbing through rose bushes and marsh grass, but the two of them were, for all intents and purposes, alone on the dock.
Tomorrow, there would be inquiries. There would be long discussions with the Crownsguard, questions made, lies told, names rewritten. And then there would be dinner with Basil, and a night in his own bed, in an apartment that was still home after a decade apart.
But now, with Noctis' hands on the reel and Ignis' bare feet making ripples in the pond, there was just this. Just them, watching stars shift and warp over the surface of the water, shoulders pressed together, Ignis' hand kneading through Noct's hair.
Just two boys, and the stars, and the silence of a new world unfolding before them, bright and vast and wonderful.
-----
One more part to go!
Re: Fill 14/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-16 07:22 pm (UTC)Damn. Just damn. Getting me in all of the feels here, nonny.
Re: Fill 14/? Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-16 07:56 pm (UTC)Fill 15/15 Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-17 12:01 am (UTC)"Breaking news," he said, hanging his jacket next to Basil's on a hook by the door. Basil looked up from a floury disaster brewing on the kitchen counter and raised an eyebrow. Ignis flipped the seal of a thick pad of papers, letting them fall open.
"How does Ignis Scientia Caelum sound to you?" he said. The county clerk's official marriage certificate flopped onto the kitchen table.
"Doctor," Basil said, and went back to sifting sugar.
"Pardon?" Ignis asked. He lined his shoes up at the foyer and stepped into his slippers.
"Doctor Ignis Scientia Caelum," Basil said. "Master of physics."
Ignis sighed. Ever since his graduation that spring, Basil had made it his life's duty to inform every breathing soul on the planet that his boy (yes, that one there, marrying the prince this fall, you know) was one of the youngest students to receive his doctorate in nearly thirty years. Ignis wouldn't have put it past him to be found distributing flyers some day soon, complete with every accolade Ignis had ever received, including the gold star he got in maths at age seven.
Ignis intercepted the sifter, and examined the array of bowls spread out on the counter. "Pastry experiment again, I see."
"Tenebraean tarts," Basil said. "Which you can certainly take over for me, with my blessing." He ruffled Ignis' hair and kissed his temple. "How do you feel about tomorrow? Nervous?"
"I'm marrying Noctis," Ignis said, rescuing what looked like a disaster of a pie crust in the making. "The man I have found, on more than one occasion, sleeping with his face on a keyboard. I expect I'll be fine."
Basil gave him a knowing look, settling back to lean against the stove. "You're avoiding my eyes again."
"Oh, well," Ignis said, fetching ice water. "Perhaps there might be the tiniest matter of the whole affair being televised for three nations to see."
Basil pushed off the stove and picked a blackberry from the bowl in the corner. "Would you believe I've been approached to let a camera crew film your last evening here?"
Ignis shuddered dramatically, and Basil patted his cheek. "Perish the thought."
They ate in silence that night, Ignis flipping through reports, Basil scanning the newspaper, while their phones pinged and hummed with texts and notifications in the living room. The tarts were salvageable, so Ignis made sure to pack a few for Noctis before they set to work washing the dishes.
Ignis waited for Basil to pick a spot on the couch before he sat, and Basil gave him a curious, thoughtful look, tapping his fingers on his mug of tea on the nightstand.
"When I first saw you," Basil said, and stopped. Ignis set his own tea down, and Basil cleared his throat. "You were such a tiny thing. I couldn't imagine why anyone would have left you to be shipped to a strange, new country on your own. Now, I... I can't imagine what my life would have been like without having met you. It's been an honor, Ignis."
Ignis laid a hand on Basil's shoulder. "It isn't over yet," he said. "Just wait until your first grandchild."
"So soon?" Basil said, a note of panic in his eyes. Ignis laughed and leaned forward, pressing his forehead to Basil's, and closed his eyes to the feel of a familiar hand cradling the back of his head.
Ignis knew that for most, happily ever after was the sort of business left for daydreams and myth. It was an impossible ideal, as unreachable as a star, the light at its heart gone too soon.
But there, in Basil's apartment on the eve of his wedding, Ignis supposed he could give it a shot.
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And it's done! Thanks to everyone for your super sweet comments! I'm polishing it up and posting it on AO3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13395588/chapters/30686241
Re: Fill 15/15 Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-17 12:05 am (UTC)Happily ever after...T-thank you anon for the gift of this sweet fairytale journey.
Re: Fill 15/15 Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-17 12:26 am (UTC)Thank you for reading along! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Re: Fill 15/15 Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-17 12:15 am (UTC)And will flail more appropriately on ao3 because you deserve it
Re: Fill 15/15 Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-17 12:27 am (UTC)Oh, gosh, thank you! I'm so happy that you liked this!
Re: Fill 15/15 Re: Gladio/Ignis or Ignis/Noctis - Cinderella AU
Date: 2018-01-17 12:30 am (UTC)This was the best