WHEN: The day before Gladio's age change.
WHERE: Training grounds at Amicita Estate
WHAT: "Sparring"
WARNINGS: STATUS: Complete
The ceremony had been a success, and Ignis still wasn't sure if this world was much brighter than the one they'd left behind, or if it was simply a product of living in the dark with just the dimmest sense of light for so long that made it seem so. Regardless, it had left him with a headache the first few days, though one he'd gladly endured for the return of his sight.
It was hard to remember exactly, but his vision seemed a little bit sharper than it had been before, even, since the world hadn't been entirely blurry before he'd managed to get a pair of regular glasses - just mostly blurry. The light still bothered him, on and off, and the scars around his eyes were lightened but still there. Ignis was oddly glad of that. It would have felt strange to just erase the whole of it as if nothing had happened.
It was odder than he would have thought, adjusting to seeing again. He'd been able to see for most of his life, he would have thought he'd settle back into it naturally. But he caught himself tracking every little flutter of movement because he wasn't used to seeing something as inane as a fluttering bit of cloth in a breeze, since it didn't really make a sound. It threw his focus off.
Still, he was getting used to it again, which made it the ideal time to start testing it when it mattered. He'd been sparring weekly with Gladio and Shiro anyway, to work on doing so without his sight. Now he just would do it with it.
He and Gladio had already done a few light back and forths to warm up - Iggy trying not to be distracted by looking at his friend, which he'd been doing every day since Luna healed him. The changes in Gladio and Noctis were so obvious and telling - and yet they were still exactly themselves. Prompto it showed perhaps a little less startlingly, but it was still an obvious difference. "Shall we try without weapons to start with?" Ignis asked Gladio, idly stretching out his shoulder.
It hadn't been a surprise to Gladio that Ignis gaining his sight back was an adjustment. It made sense. It had been years after all. Years of getting used to not having it, that he couldn't imagine the shock to the system at suddenly being able to see again. He assumed it was probably as disorienting in those first few days as losing the sight had been. But as always, Ignis was nothing if not completely outstanding in his ability to adjust. To rise to any challenge really.
Still though, Gladio had tried to make the transition as easy on Ignis as possible, as they all had. Like when Ignis had first shown up, Gladio had offered company for daily walks. Not because Ignis wasn't capable but he hoped there was comfort there in having someone nearby should things get too overwhelming. Or simply offering a glass of cold water and an advil when he could see the telltale signs of the headaches creeping up on Ignis, a cold compress when things got really bad. He knew it was hard sometimes, they were the ones tasked with taking care of others and not necessarily allowing others to take care of them. But things were different here and Gladio wanted to embrace that. Even if it was baby steps.
He hadn't realized either, just how much he'd started to look at Ignis when there was the safety of - probably - not being noticed in doing so. Now though, he felt it prudent to try to reign it in. How successful he was at that, he honestly wasn't sure. Having admitted his feelings for Ignis to Noctis, having put it out there in words and not just the thoughts he kept close to his chest, it was like seeing him in a new light. Prompto too. And Gladio wasn't quite sure what to do with it.
But this he could do. This was familiar. Working side by side with Ignis, warming up and letting himself focus on the task at hand.
"Yeah, that sounds good," he said as he took a few steps away from Ignis and settled into a ready stance. His gaze lifted up to Ignis and he gave the other a cocky grin - though the warmth in his gaze as he looked at Ignis made it more a tease than anything else. "If you think you can land a hit that is," because it wouldn't be a session for them if he wasn't throwing down challenges.
Ignis rolled his eyes. That was a habit he'd never lost, he just wasn't accustomed to people being able to see it behind the dark glasses. But it felt good, Gladio taunting him. It felt warm, and normal. "Have I ever failed to get at least one shot in?" he asked. Gladio could best him, especially fighting unarmed, but Ignis could usually hold his own, even if his attention still sometimes got caught by something he saw, or he hesitated, not sure if he could trust what he saw.
He settled back a few steps too, pacing around Gladio and watching for an opening that Gladio wasn't going to give him unless it was on purpose. It was strange to think that there were likely tricks he'd learned that Ignis didn't know - he'd had years more time to train and hunt after all. But Ignis did still know him and how he fought - it could be both an advantage and a hindrance, depending on how it was used.
For now, Ignis mostly just wanted to get used to this again and launched himself at Gladio, throwing a punch toward his face to divert him from the hit he sent toward his stomach, neither light but obviously sparring rather than true fighting.
Too many years spent hunting and fighting if Ignis were to ask Gladio. Too many years in the dark, protecting people from the daemons and more times than he was comfortable with, people from people. Things that still haunted him to this day.
But that was neither here nor there. He wasn't in those years of darkness, lost and stumbling. He was in the training yard of his family home, the sun beating down and the faint sounds of the city audible even in the more residential block the manor hand showed up in. Ignis was here, his vision returned. Prompto and Noctis were at the apartment, safe.
Gladio pivoted to dodge the blow to his face, using the momentum to throw his fist at Ignis' side. Though the move did not clear him from Ignis' secondary hit and he let out a oof as Ignis' hit stuck his stomach. But it wasn't enough to bring him down.
Gladio dodged and Ignis moved with him, little huff of a laugh that came just from enjoyment of movement and the familiarity of this. He turned into Gladio's hit instead of away from it, lessening the impact with the angle of his body and trying to throw a leg to trip Gladio up.
The glint of the sun though threw him off and it was Ignis who stumbled, squinting against the light and shutting his eyes for a brief instant, regaining his balance and following through with the sweep of his leg, but likely too slow with it to land after the wobble.
While he wanted nothing more than to grag Ignis' arm as he stumbled, clearly thrown by the light, Gladio knew that was the last thing he should do. Ignis was just as stubborn, maybe more so, than he was and Gladio knew it would be seen a slight against what he was capable of and not just helping. So instead he used Ignis' misstep to his own advantage.
The sweep was too low, not nearly the same force behind it coming off the wobble as he knew Ignis capable of.
He easily deflected the move and taking advantage of Ignis's weight being only on one leg Gladio rushed forward and used the momentum to bring Ignis to the ground, pinned under a heavy arm. It was only when Gladio looked down at Ignis under him - did he realize this was A Bad Idea. Ignis' skin flushed slightly from exertion, features sharp, the scarring around his eyes nothing that could deter from Ignis being one of the most breathtakingly beautiful people Gladio had ever known.
Had it always been this hard to keep himself from getting distracted. Or was it a byproduct of having finally voiced those feelings he had kept hidden for so long. Or the fact the four of them had returned to living in each other's back pockets - four between two bedrooms, evenings spent enjoying dinner together, watching a movie, cards, or just simply enjoying the quiet of each other's company.
You're staring, he chided himself again. "Uhm - reset?" he offered as he shifted off Ignis and got to his feet, extending a hand down to Ignis.
Ignis' breath went out of him with a soft whoosh as he went down, ending up on his back, looking up at Gladio.
Ignis had never had bad instincts for knowing when someone was attracted to him. It was just an instinct he turned off with his friends, because there were complications involved and he needed to remember his duty above the things he wanted.
But he wasn't home now, and his duty was ... muddier. Find a way to get home and change everything was a definite goal, but its execution was uncertain at best. And for now he was here, where Gladio and Noctis had already blurred the lines very thoroughly, and Noctis had admitted that he'd thought of blurring them with Ignis too. So when Gladio froze for just a second, staring down at him, Ignis didn't automatically overlook it, the way he might have in the past.
Instead he just looked back, catching his breath and taking in that sight of Gladio, backlit and new again, in more ways than one. He hadn't seen anything for a long time - but he hadn't seen this Gladio at all until the last few days - with the new lines at his eyes, the hint of gray hair, the slight changes that did nothing to make him less handsome but were fascinating nonetheless.
And instead of making any move to try to get up or dislodge Gladio, Ignis just pushed himself up onto his elbows, licking his lips and looking a good deal less like he'd been downed sparring and more like he was invitingly sprawled. Gladio, at least, had seen Ignis flirt before since he'd been out with Ignis at least a few times before they vowed to never do that on the same night again. He'd just never had it directed at him. Unlike Noct, who had never seen it at all and whom Ignis had caught off guard a half dozen times already.
It was likely poor reasoning, but Ignis had been telling himself since Noctis' confession that he would go back to worrying about duty when he found a way back, and here, he could just ... do what he wanted, provided it was wanted in return. Which it seemed like it might be.
He took Gladio's offered hand when he did get up, giving him a wry smile. "Indeed. It seems I need the practice, he said. His fingers wrapped around Gladio's wrist instead of just grabbing his hand though, and lingered for seconds too long to be convenience as he found his feet. Ignis was capable of great subtlety when needed. Unfortunately, he'd never really bothered to apply that to his sex life, since it had largely involved very brief encounters.
Well, that definitely did not help. And the sight of Ignis, looking practically wanton, was one Gladio knew he wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon. The resolve he had, the reasons for his hesitations - you're too old for him now, what if he's angry at you for breaking the rule, what if he didn't return the feelings - had been fading bit by bit as the weeks passed and it was getting harder and harder to remember why he was holding back in the first place.
The last thought though one that Gladio was slowly starting to let go of. Things… had changed. He could feel it. A sort of anticipation that lingered just under the surface of everything now. As though he and Noctis had just scratched the surface, the first spark of a larger fire.
And while Gladio had long since figured out how to be what one would call smooth, he felt anything but as he stood there with Ignis, the others nimble fingers wrapped around his wrist. Because it actually matters he thought. Not just some fling to pass the time.
"I don't know, seems like you're doing pretty good," he replied, gaze steady on Ignis. And well, if he was meaning more than just the sparring, could he really be blamed.
Ignis' scarred eyebrows climbed, and he smiled, head tilting. When he finally let go of Gladio's wrist, it was slowly with trailing fingers that slid over the pulsepoint of his wrist. "You've seen things I haven't," he said. Because Gladio had more years than him. Because Gladio had been able to see when Ignis hadn't. "You're certain you don't have any suggestions to offer?"
That could have been what he meant. Or he could have meant that Gladio had seen Noctis. He'd seen this world. And he knew where this could go and Ignis was just waiting to hear the word.
He meant it both ways, and he wasn't truly trying to hide it, but he wasn't going to push, either. There was reticence enough in both Gladio and Noctis that Ignis would never push. They had made something together, and whatever Ignis felt, them being happy was most important, above everything else. He'd just ... be very sure they knew the option was there, should they want it - should they want him.
He stretched his shoulder, shifting to account for the light this time and then settling back into a defensive position, waiting for Gladio to engage this time.
Gladio's breath hitched slightly as Ignis' fingers trailed over his wrist - and he wasn't oblivious enough to not know what was happening there. Too quickly though, the touch was gone.
Gladio could hear his heartbeat thunder in his ears, and he knew it was only partially the physical exertion. Things had seemed to be at a turning point - looks that lingered maybe a moment too long, the lack of personal space they'd all fallen into. Like one of them only need say the word. Still though, Gladio held hesitations. Was it too much, was it unfair, wasn't Ignis already with enough on his plate. And that flicker of self doubt - what if he, at nearly forty, was too far gone from the man Ignis had known nearly fifteen years prior.
He let out a slow breath and shifted a little himself to account for Ignis' move. "Not too sure about that one Iggy, I'm just an old man trying to keep up," he replied, a crinkle around his eyes as he smiled at the words. Like Ignis' words, it could be taken at face value or read into what he was really saying. And while Gladio knew old man was maybe a stretch, it still fit somewhat. Ten years of darkness, nearly half of that lost in guilt and grief, it had aged him in a way far beyond simply years.
Gladio rushed at Ignis, all signs pointing toward an attack from the right until the last moment when he threw his fist in from the left toward Ignis' shoulder.
Ignis was just waiting for that word, or a sign, Gladio was right. And his response earned another lifted brow and then a soft laugh. "Somehow," Ignis said, voice soft and too-inviting for the moment, "I don't think you'd ever have trouble keeping up, Gladio." He was waiting, but Ignis wasn't doing it patiently or passively, either.
Gladio wasn't old to him. He had more life behind him, but if things were normal, Ignis and he were nearly the same age. It didn't matter that whatever forces drove this place had decided to take them from different points. The only reason it had any importance was that it left them a chance for Ignis to find a way back and change the course of events to come, somehow. Other than that - he didn't care. Gladio was still Gladio, just like Noct was still Noct and Prom was still Prom, and Ignis was still just as fixed on them as he'd been when he was home. He was just freer to let himself see it, and to express it.
He was prepared this time, and his recent stint of having no sight helped him. Since he didn't believe where Gladio's directions pointed, and instead he ducked into the blow, using Gladio's own momentum against him to catch the hit and swing around, tossing Gladio neatly to the ground and then twisting back to face him, well aware of how fast Gladio came back up.
That freedom was tantalizing. As tempting as it had been on their road trip, when the more miles they put between themselves and Insomnia the more boundaries seemed to fall. Little things. Like it was now. Those looks, those anything but casual casual touches. Little pockets of pretending they weren't who they were as the world quite literally started to fall down around them. Here though, it didn't have to be just temptation. It didn't have to be just pretending. And the knowledge of that fact had started to chip away more and more at Gladio's hesitations with Ignis.
Ignis was right, Gladio did recover quick from the toss. Back on his feet by the time Ignis turned. Gladio charged at Ignis again, sweeped at his legs. There was a smug grin as they ended on the ground again, Ignis pinned beneath him.
Gladio pressed a hand to the ground beside Ignis' head, most of his weight in the bent knee next to Ignis' hip, not wanting to crush Ignis below him. Keenly aware of just how close they were, how different this felt from their usual sessions. Charged. Heat in his amber gaze as he looked down at Ignis.
"I don't know - seems like you've always been one step ahead of me," Gladio said after a moment. Which, given he currently had the upper hand here was meant in so much more than their current spar.
It'd been difficult on the road trip because their world had no structure anymore, aside from what they gave it. And Ignis was a creature of structure, which meant he'd felt he needed to provide it, to try to pull together some semblance of sanity and routine in a time when there was no place for it. And all the while the four of them got closer and the little boxed away parts of Ignis that he never let out of their designated pens wanted what he'd wanted for years, but it seemed somehow both more complicated and more available, at the same time.
Here, it was still complicated, but it was definitely available, and Ignis had merrily pulled open the boxes in his mind that hemmed in the things he wanted for himself the moment Noct told him what he felt.
It was extremely difficult to close those boxes up again long enough to spar. Especially when one of the men you were in love with kept landing on top of you. Ignis wasn't complaining, but really. If Gladio had ever been this pointed even ONCE when they were younger, Ignis might have rethought his plan of not trying to get him into bed - never mind their pact of never being stupid on the same night again.
The breath had gone out of him when his back hit the ground, but the fact that he was having trouble getting it back had nothing to do with the hit and everything to do with Gladio leaning over him like that, staring down with hot eyes and loose hair that really invited tugging on. Ignis had always thought so.
He licked his lips. "Well, I've been trying to let you and Noctis take the lead," Ignis said. Because dammit, he had. They had their relationship and Ignis wanted whatever place he had in it to be on their terms, so he made no ripples there and no one was unhappy. But Ignis seemed to have left the majority of his patience at home, since he was finding it impossible to wait at the moment. Noctis had said something first, Ignis reasoned. He wouldn't mind. And if he did, well, Ignis could back away and let him set the rules. But for now. "You may have slowed down a touch though, since I'm still waiting," Ignis said, and then slid his hand into Gladio's hair (finally) and tugged him down to kiss him.
Gladio had wanted to be this forward back then. Gods how he had wanted to. But their lives had not been their own. Duty and all it entailed had made it impossible to even think about wanting something for themselves. That that something Gladio had wanted was Ignis made it all that more unattainable. The Prince's retainers consorting? The scandal would have been unlivable. And far more than what Gladio would have ever felt okay with putting on either Ignis or Noctis.
There was the briefest of hesitations as Ignis kissed him - not because he didn't want it, but simply that small moment as his mind raced to catch up with the situation. But it was the length of a blink really and as soon as it passed, Gladio was kissing back. A hand slipped behind Ignis' neck and Gladio pulled him up as Ignis pulled him down. More than a hint of desperation in the kiss, the years - decades - he had wanted this catching up.
Gladio sat back on his heels as they kissed, tugged Ignis along with him so that they were more sitting up. He was breathless when he pulled back, let his forehead fall to Ignis' and brought a hand to cup the side of his face. Eyes half lidded as he just basked in this.
"I can't even begin to tell you how long I've wanted to do this."
That brief flash of hesitation was enough that Ignis started to drop his head back and end the kiss, brain already starting to spin toward apologies. But Gladio kissed him back, and that train of thought was abandoned in favor of surging back into the kiss.
He went with Gladio as he hefted him, straddling his knees as they sat up and locking a long arm around his neck. He left his other hand still tangled in Gladio's hair, fisting just enough to tug a little. He'd known he wanted this, but there was still space between wanting and experiencing. That little harsh edge of desperation made his nerves sizzle, and he opened his mouth to Gladio's, tasted his lips and tongue.
He caught his breath as the kiss ended, forehead against Gladio's. He laughed, husky and breathless. "You've taken long enough to do it then. I've been on offer since I got here," he teased. Ignis turned his head, lips wandering down Gladio's neck. "You know that I would never come between you and Noctis, yes? I'd just like a spot alongside you both."
This time Gladio didn't even attempt to hide the way his breath hitched, a ragged little noise on the exhale as he felt Ignis' lips against his neck. His thumb brushed against Ignis' cheekbone. "Yeah, well - I had to grapple with the math a bit," he admitted with a soft laugh. The eight years he had on Noctis had felt bad enough. The nearly fifteen between him and Ignis… Gladio honestly wasn't sure if he'd ever really settle that. But he also didn't want to waste the chance in front of him.
He hooked his thumb and forefinger below Ignis' chin and lifted his head up. Gladio leaned in and captured Ignis' lips with his own once more. Slower, less rushed, but no less desperate. Still filled with decades worth of longing as he kissed Ignis deeply, letting himself get lost in it. The feeling of finally giving into what he wanted, the heat that started to run through his blood.
"There is no me and Noctis without you, Ignis," he said as he pulled back again. Without Prompto either. As much as Gladio had found happiness with Noctis it had always felt a little incomplete. For both of them he knew. Missing the other two had felt like missing a part of himself. And even with the moments of awkwardness as they tried to navigate the changing dynamics, Gladio was happier than he had ever been.
"It's the three of you, Iggy," he added, a soft smile on his face as he looked at Ignis - not holding back the depths of his devotion in this gaze. Not anymore. "It's been the three of you for as long as I can remember. We'll figure it out."
"Math," Ignis repeated between brushes of his lips. "Two plus one equals three. Hopefully plus one more to make four. Which makes a home, here - and a need for a very large bed if we're lucky." The other math - that of their age - what did it matter? In their world there was barely a difference, and Gladio still knew Ignis, Ignis still knew him, they both knew Noctis. Ignis thought he needed to take more time with Prompto perhaps - of all of them, he'd had the least time alone with him, since Ignis had tended to try to leave his time for Noct whenever possible. It wouldn't exactly be a hardship, Ignis craved Prompto's smile now that he could see it again.
He let Gladio lift his chin away from where Ignis had taken to nibbling his way toward Gladio's collarbone, and met his eyes, then kissed back. Ignis might be self contained and disciplined, most of the time. But he was passionate too, given opportunity, and Six, but it was easy to get swept up in Gladio's mouth. His arm tightened around Gladio's shoulders, in case he had any idea of moving, and Ignis kissed back, just as deep and fraught with time and wanting.
Ignis laughed, mouth going right back to Gladio's neck, the other side this time. "That is a blatant lie," he informed Gladio. "Since the two of you were sharing a room when I arrived." Another little scrape of his teeth to Gladio's jaw turned into a sharp little nip, like a playful punishment for that rule being broken. "But I'm happy to be a part, as much or as little as you want me there. It's been the three of you for me, too. It just wasn't where Fate would allow us to go. But while I'm here ... I'll take everything you all will give and give back whatever you want."
"Another request for the house hunting?" His tone amused, and a smile on his lips with the comment as he ran his fingers through Ignis' hair. But wasn't that a lovely thought. That night camping for his birthday with all of them crowded into a tent had been all too brief really before returning to the apartment and dividing up amongst two rooms.
Easy to get swept up indeed. Lost in it really. Lost in Ignis. "You're a menace," he said lightly as Ignis' mouth returned to his neck. His tone far too fond to be anything but teasing.
"In my defense," he started, tone still light and teasing, "Noctis can be very persuasive." A pause before he turned a bit more serious. "Didn't mean we didn't miss you." Gladio had gotten used to the distance between them. At times seemingly insurmountable. Lost to their own grieving processes, the guilt of their failure to save Noctis… it had all really been too much at the end of the day. He had missed them then as well, terribly so. But letting himself be honest to Noctis about his feelings for them had made it that much worse.
But Gladio knew it was one thing to admit the feelings, to have thought about it in some abstract sort of way and another thing entirely to pursue. A relationship between two people could be tricky at times, one between four people? Gladio honestly wasn't even sure where to begin. But he knew they were better together, they always had been. The rest? Well that was just details really.
Gladio dropped a hand to the ground behind him and leaned back a little. "How about we start with dinner and see where that takes us?" They would have to talk, he knew that - all of them. But it could wait a day or two. Or at least until Gladio had a chance to take Ignis out on a date. A novel sort of idea, but one that after all this time felt so much more.
"Only if everyone else agrees," Ignis said. "If so - then yes. I sleep better when you all are close enough to hear anyway." And see, now, but he'd gotten used to being able to hear over sight - the habit wasn't gone yet. He made a little prerequisite of a huffy sound as Gladio mussed his hair, but it was entirely obvious he didn't really care, his fingers running back through Gladio's hair too.
"I use up all my patience on everything else. I never leave any to spare when it comes to those I want," Ignis said. He gave Gladio a smirk. "And given at least three of us have been wanting for years - I think I'm justified in being impatient and demanding." He would back down the second anyone was uncomfortable, especially Noctis who Ignis was almost pathologically incapable of disappointing. But when Gladio was kissing back like that, Ignis was going to do what he'd spent years wanting to do.
Ignis laughed. "He can be." He was more of a talker now than he used to be - quicker to use his words, even if he still stumbled over them. But he'd always been able to con Ignis with a pout. Luckily, he wasn't sure how well Noctis had ever caught onto that when he was younger, so Ignis had been able to at least pretend to have some kind of stern front, now and then. "I missed you too. I know it wasn't as long for me but ... whatever we've been through these years, what we've given for one another. I'm not certain any of us are entirely whole without the others." That was why Ignis thought they'd drifted apart. They all blamed themselves, but even aside from that, if they'd huddled together they would have felt that absence where Noctis should be all the more. The center would have been missing, and Ignis thought that none of them had been quite able to face that in the dark, so they'd focused on other things and let themselves begin to drift. Apparently, that had continued over the years.
Ignis smiled. "As if I'm not happy to cook for you all every night," he said lightly. "But yes. Dinner," he agreed. He didn't quite catch on that Gladio meant a date - Ignis thought he meant talking things out over dinner with all of them. Ignis had never really ... dated, per say. He'd picked people up or let himself be picked up if he was interested, and that was more or less it. An actual date just didn't occur to him. He chased Gladio to steal another, quicker kiss. "Any requests?"
Not entirely whole without the others was a fairly apt statement. Something that had become increasingly clear as their world had started to pull them apart more and more. But that was, hopefully, behind them now. A chance here instead to be together again, to finally be honest about the depths of their devotion - not only to Noctis, but to each other. Maybe it was dangerous, giving into it when no one truly knew the permanence of this place, but Gladio was done living with regret. Whatever chance being offered him here, how could he not take it.
Dating had never been Gladio's go to either, but perhaps it was more than Ignis. If only because Gladio had always genuinely enjoyed spending time with new people. But it had never been more than that, dating. A handful of times before anything could become serious. Always casual, always light. There simply hadn't been room - or want - for anything more.
Ignis completely missing that being what Gladio was asking though, was cute as hell. And he couldn't help the laugh, fond amusement clear in his eyes as he gazed at Ignis. Gladio cupped Ignis' face, thumb brushing lightly against the sharp line of his cheekbone. "Yeah," he answered to the requests question, "you and me and a dinner you didn't cook," he clarified, a grin on his face.
Ignis blinked behind his glasses. He looked a little flustered, as Ignis rarely did, faint blush high on his cheeks. "Ah. I hadn't realized," he said, licking his lips. A date, then. Ignis hadn't actually considered that in this. "But yes, all right." He smiled at Gladio. "Wine and dine me. Though I should tell you - it's really not necessary. I'm already yours. Even if it's a shared property."