WHO: Ignis Scientia & Noctis Lucis Caelum WHAT: Noct makes a dumb wish and ends up with stupidly tall shoes stuck to his feet WHEN: During Pride WARNINGS: None that I can think of STATUS: Complete
This whole Pride thing was wild. There hadn't been anything really like it in Lucis. Not in recent years anyway. At home, Noct's sexuality only really got questioned in the frame of royal expectations. Even then, his father had always been more concerned with keeping him alive than pushing for heirs. His engagement hadn't even been his dad's idea.
He wasn't really even thinking about that right now, anyway. He had a pina colada that was almost as tall as he was and he was halfway through it. His cheek had a bi pride flag painted on it and he had another actual flag draped around his shoulders thanks to Bucky. It was hard to think about old expectations and prophecies with so many people crashing into him and all the loud music and shouting. He might've minded more if it wasn't for the giant drink.
He took a noisy slurp from the straw and grabbed Ignis with his free hand. "Come on. Gladio's taking forever in line at the bar. Let's...let's go check on him or something. Oh wait, what's that?"
Noct wandered towards a colorful stage where some kind of musical act was setting up.
Ignis chuckled quietly as he turned to follow Noct, his own tall and colorful drink in hand. Pride was similar for him, of course, and even if it had been a thing, there was no way he would have been given leave to disappear into a crowd like this.
They were a little more free here, and open, and had the chance to be themselves, which is why Ignis had allowed his pristine white button down to be painted upon, and hadn’t complained when that paint smeared like a rainbow up his neck. At least the glittery flag on his cheek had been on purpose.
“It sounds like music.” He was dry, but pleasantly buzzed and smiling ever-so-fondly at Noct as he joked. He could see over most of the heads, and down to where the band was playing. Ignis inclined his head towards the stage. “Over there, we might have to elbow our way in.”
Noct got a little distracted from the stage by just looking at Ignis and that rainbow smear. He was beautiful on a normal day, but this little bit of colorful chaos was something extra and it made Noct's chest warm. Some of that might have been the giant pina colada but still. He reached up to pat Ignis's bare cheek.
"You're such a sassy shit sometimes," he said fondly. "I love it a lot." I love you a lot was there, under the words, but he nervously shuffled past the moment by dragging Ignis a few steps further into the crowd. Unfortunately, he still couldn't see a damn thing.
"Ugh. I wish I could just see over these people."
Too late, he remembered the noodles. Between one second and the next, he was suddenly taller, just tall enough to see over the people in front of him, and wobbling like a baby giraffe. Noct looked down, horrified to find himself in bright pink platform shoes. "Fuck. I'm an idiot."
At first, Ignis didn’t know what happened. The crowd was thick and he was being pulled along, his free hand clutching his alcoholic beverage like it was as much of a lifeline as Noctis was. But then, the hand holding his shifted in angle, and the words Noctis had said registered. “Oh, no.”
He looked down, and had to smother a chuckle before it could burst free. Noct now had a good inch or two on him, which put him up more than just the average heel. Ignis himself had been known to sport a short one, but always on a boot or something similar, and he didn’t bother to mask the interest that Noct’s legs now held.
“Well. I can’t say that pink is your colour, but--” He cut off his words with a helpless little shrug, but he tightened his hold to give Noctis something more solid to hold onto. “You’re in closer kissing distance now?”
Noct flushed, but even tripping closer to Ignis didn't hide the flash of pleasure on his face. He doubted he'd ever get tired of Ignis looking at him with a little heat in his eyes. It took the sting out of being laughed at. Well, it took most of the sting out of being laughed at. He rolled his eyes and dove forward to kiss the corner of Ignis's mouth. It had been said and he couldn't pass up the offer.
Of course, his center of gravity was a mess at the moment so he fell into Ignis a bit more bodily than he intended. He let out a very unkingly whine.
"Ignis. Please don't let me die like this," he begged, deadpan serious. There was a brightly colored lawn chair nearby. He nearly tipped it over completely as he fell into it. "If these things are magicked onto my feet for a week, I'm going to break something. Like my face," he snorted.
Oh, that smirk was dead set on staying firm on Ignis’ face, so he didn’t bother trying. He only took his eyes off of Noct long enough to make sure he wasn’t gathering too much attention, and he wasn’t. Thankfully, wearing heels wasn’t wholly uncommon at an event like this. He wedged himself around so that he could kneel in front of Noctis, still unable to keep that damned smirk off of his face.
“If that’s the case, we’ll teach you how to walk in them. Practice.” Ignis lifted up one of Noct’s feet and brought it to his bent knee to rest. His hand ghosted over the straps. “If this was something you had wanted to try, we would have started you with a shorter heel. A kitten heel.”
He began unfastening Noct’s pink platform and finally his smirk melted away for something a little more serious. “But I promise you that I would never let you die like this.”
Annoyance and fondness were such a dumb combo. Noct couldn't help but enjoy Ignis's smirking and teasing, even if he grumbled petulantly with his arms crossed. And okay, having his shoes removed in a public place was weirdly hot. Even if the shoes were freakishly tall pink platforms.
"Do you want me to wear heels?" He reached forward to help tug off the other shoe, mostly because it let him be close to Ignis and that rainbow streak on his throat. "I...could be interested. I mean, if you're interested! And if it doesn't freak Gladio out--"
Pulling off the platform should've been a relief, but once the platform was off, another ridiculously tall boot took its place. This one was pitch black and dangerous looking, with a heel so sharp, Noctis immediately worried for his cat's tail, even though Bass was miles away. "You gotta be kidding me," he sighed.
“We can discuss that when it isn’t being thrust upon you.” Ignis made a point to emphasize thrust, just a little, in his low voice and royal accent. He knew it made Noct (and Gladio) shiver when he said certain things in that particular way, and he was just a little too tipsy to stop himself from doing it in this very public place.
Ignis had a sharp intake of breath with the second set, and leaned away just slightly to get a good look at them. “Oh.” Yes, that was a little more-- attention grabbing, to him. “Ah--” Words, Ignis. A reminder to breathe and to find his voice before he just looked ridiculous and stunned. “We may have to just make do with these, if you keep trying new ones they might just get taller and taller.”
Noctis predictably did feel a zing up his spine, not to mention heat all the way to the tips of his ears. Thankfully, those were hidden by his hair. The same couldn't be said for his eyes and how giant they got watching Ignis look visibly flustered over a pair of shoes. Noct had to look at the shoes again to process this information.
"Uh huh," he said in a teasingly flat tone. His I'm onto you voice, with a dash of those pina coladas are really good. "So you're just keeping me in these to watch out for me." He sat back so he could prop the leg with the new boot on the chair next to them, stretching his leg out tauntingly. It wasn't the world's longest leg okay, but Ignis didn't seem to mind. The sharp heel glinted in the sun and Noct could admit that they did look better than the pink platforms.
He leaned forward abruptly and whispered, "Wait, do you think I'm close to Gladio's height in these?"
“Now you’re just being mean,” Ignis replied with an easy, humored tone. He still appreciated the view, even with objections as if he wasn’t. There was no point in denying himself something nice to look at, was there?
With Noct seemingly more settled now, or at least less put out over it, he could have leaned away and stood up again, but that would have put him out of the reach of Noct’s calf, a body part that he gave a squeeze to as he reached out. Once again, why deny himself? Clearly this was the alcohol speaking, and not the fact that Ignis finally had free reign to be a little more outgoing towards things without the eyes of the crown on him.
“I think--” Ignis had to shake his head to clear the cobwebs of distraction. “You would at least be close. Do you want to go see him?” He tried hard at hiding the regret in that question, because there was no actual regret. Ignis loved Gladio’s company, but it meant he would get just a little less of Noct in these heels to himself at this moment and he was suddenly feeling a little selfish and unsure.
Snorting a delighted little laugh, Noct put his leg back down."I like this," he said cryptically, waving a hand in front of Ignis's face before he explained. "When your emotions are painted on your face. It's...nice." It was more than nice. It was a reminder that everything that zinged around inside of him whenever he so much as thought about Ignis was mirrored right back at him.
"We'll catch up with Gladio in a sec." He pushed wobbly up to his feet, one hand on Ignis's shoulder to steady himself. As ridiculous as this was, he did appreciate the few extra inches of height. "I want to see the band that was getting ready. Will you keep me from falling on my ass?"
It shouldn’t have poked at him the way it did, but Ignis lifted an eyebrow at Noct’s remark, unsure of how to take it. It was innocent enough, of course. The idea that he was giving away a lot right now was no big surprise. But then they’d had a few miscommunication errors of late and it was difficult to tell who that fell on. Was it Ignis? For his ability to school his face in any situation and be professional?
It may very well have been. “I-” He helped Noct to his feet, stepping back just enough to hold out a hand to help. “I’ll help, of course.” He chickened out in that moment, of asking Noct what he meant, about his face. It was too easy to read into it when his brain was a little more mush. He stared off towards the band, “I’m always open to constructive criticism, you know. About my help, or anything else.”
Noct was definitely a little too buzzed to understand where this had veered off path, but he knew that Ignis looked perplexed. And that he didn't like the words constructive criticism. He held onto the front of Ignis's shirt and slid one hand up around the back of Ignis's neck.
"I don't...have anything to criticize? You're great. You're so...great." Master of romantic speeches, Noctis Lucis Caelum. Hopefully the way he stared at Ignis - deep blue eyes soft and appreciative - helped send the message. "I didn't mean to sound like I was complaining about how your face normally is. I like your I'm working face too. And your please eat your peas face." He pulled Ignis closer and pressed his mouth to his ear. "Your by the Six, do that again face is good too."
Ignis almost lost his composure right then and there. His eyes closed and he sucked in a deep, sharp breath against the weight of Noct’s lips and the words that came from them. His shoulders relaxed, relief coursing through them at about the same speed as the alcohol in his veins, and Ignis leaned into the voice. “Astrals. I’m glad to hear it.”
He wasn’t one for public displays of affection, but a lot of that had come from home and the rather strict guidelines he’d set for himself in his position. Ignis had learned that the public still made him pause, but the desire to touch Noct and Gladio often overruled that, and it was exactly what happened in this case. He turned his head to steal a kiss from Noctis, in full view of everyone around them and unhindered by any height difference.
This made the whole shoe mess worth it for Noct. He wasn't especially a public displays person either, but without a country watching over his shoulder, it was mostly just awkwardness that held him back. He didn't feel awkward right now. He felt warm down to his toes and really, really lucky. He looped his arms around Ignis's neck and kissed him fiercely.
Right up until his ankle gave out and he clung to Ignis just to stay upright.
"I want to make a weak at the knees joke but it feels like testing fate. That was good, though. That was good, right?" He regained his balance and frowned. "You gotta tell me if I'm getting too handsy in public, Specs."
Ignis resisted the urge to push Noct’s hair off of his face and dive back in for another kiss. His smile was warm and gentle, though, and he used that hand to steady Noct as needed, as it wrapped around his back. “That was good. I’ll be sure to let you know if I have any complaints, but none have popped up thus far.” And it was true, though admittedly sometimes he was known to suffer in silence, but in this case there was nothing to win for that particular lie, and he had not a tense muscle in his body.
Well, aside from the muscles that were currently being used to hold Noctis up. But that was for a good cause. He smiled and directed them ahead, through the crowd. “Come on, let’s go see your band before we go find Gladio. Or all of this will be for naught.”