WHAT. The guys talk about fate and not letting home decide their future here WHERE. the Chocobro house WHEN. Backdated to right after the darkness plot WARNINGS.mostly sap STATUS. complete FANART.here
It had been a quiet few days since everything went back to normal. The sun was rising, the daemons were gone, and people were back to their jobs. Quiet wasn’t something they were going to complain about, even when they’d gone through a telekinetic connection that had powered them up from the crystal and left the four of them with open doors in their mind.
That part didn’t bother Ignis. Not really. He was a quiet man that kept his feelings close to his chest, but he didn’t keep secrets from his partners. So it was probably not a secret now that he was still dwelling on everything. The worries of home that he had set aside had crept back up to nag at him with an insecurity that he didn’t like.
It would pass, as all things did with time and distance. But now, things were still a raw open wound. Quite literally in some ways, as it had been a long time since they had spent a week straight fighting daemons. Now he gave himself some quiet on the balcony of their house, tucked into his favorite chair with a book he had snagged from Gladio’s shelf and a cat stretched across his lap.
Ignis felt Noctis before he heard the door open, which was a new strange he was still adjusting to, but his head lifted just as the door opened and he offered his boyfriend a gentle smile. “Did you come to retrieve your lap warmer?”
Noctis was still muddling through the effects of everything too. The near miss with the crystal. Being mentally connected to the men he loved. Absorbing all of that energy and wondering if he could find a way to have this even if they got sent back. Fate was an ugly burden. He didn't want to think about it anymore.
But he knew he couldn't be lazy and rely on their lingering mental bond to do all the heavy-lifting for him. He sought out Ignis on the balcony, barefoot and sleep-mussed. The collar of his t-shirt was stretched out. At least he had a cup of coffee that tasted more like condensed milk than coffee.
"Maybe I'm here to be your lap warmer," he answered. It was still a little too summer outside for that, but Noctis still sat on the arm of Ignis's chair and leaned over to kiss his head. "I can come back if you need the solo recharge time. I just uh. Thought maybe you might need to talk."
As if on cue, Bass stretched across Ignis’ lap and flexed his paws, sinking claws into his leg. Ignis winced and suffered through the long second it took the large cat to stand up and move over to the new hands that might offer him attention. “It seems he’s enough of a traitor to allow you to do just that.”
Ignis closed his book and tucked it away, as if he was already telling Noct that there were no complaints to his appearance. “I have no complaints about this newfound telepathic bond of ours, but it is going to take some time to adjust to you being more attuned to my thoughts and moods.” He could have reached in and plucked the answer from his question, but they were all still learning their own boundaries and that felt rude. “How are you feeling?”
Noctis smirked at Bass and pet him while he sipped from his coffee mug. No doubt there were things he'd rather the guys not pick up from his mind, but they'd been in each other's pockets for so long that it felt like they already knew all the worst of him anyway. And they loved him anyway. So really, it was only a minor concern that they'd see something that finally drove them away. At least it wouldn't be anything as shallow as the little bit of smugness Noct felt over Bass coming to him the first chance he got.
"I feel like I could sleep for a week but in a good way?" He shifted to squeeze down onto the chair with Ignis, bringing Bass more fully into his lap and setting his mug on the side table. "I think…I was going dread what happened happening for as long as it took to happen. If that uh, makes sense. So it's a relief to just be on the other side of it." It was tempting to dig around for Ignis's feelings the telepathic way too, but he'd already gotten the edges of it and didn't want to steal the rest. "How are you feeling?"
Ignis likely would have felt that smug smirk even without the telepathic tug, and it made him smile himself. He had never been worried about always being second best to Noct when it came to feline affection, that had started when they were mere children feeding strays in the courtyard. Noct had that way about him, one that Ignis loved himself, so it was hard to be annoyed over it. He understood their draw to the gentle king’s kindness.
“If you wish to catch up on sleep, now would be the time.” He understood the feeling of dread, and nodded solemnly. “Knowing your destiny never made it easier for me. I apologize for lashing out when I was firm on a different plan. But I do appreciate you opting to go that route in the end.” There was no point in not being honest at this junction. “I don’t know if I- we - could have gone through that again, Noctis.”
"You don't--You don't have to apologize for speaking your mind, Ignis." Noct slumped a little further down into the chair and against Ignis's side. Bass sensed his withdrawal and settled closer to his chest, bumping his big head up under Noct's chin. "I mean, I wouldn't call a very stubborn no lashing out anyway."
The relief of being on the other side of the crystal's appearance wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. But he couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if the choice had been taken away from him.
Noct reached for Ignis's hand and weaved their fingers together. "Would you have really tried to follow me in? Even after what the power already did to you once?"
“I know. But I also know your sense of duty and what is right deserve respect.” Which Ignis had promptly ignored, this time around. He still remembered their conversation after Lunafreya’s passing, and how Ignis had made the suggestion that perhaps, they didn’t have to go this path. When Noctis had disagreed, Ignis had dropped it. He had known that tone, and was serving his king.
Now things were different. Noct was no longer his king but committed partner. That had emboldened him. Ignis brought their entwined hands to his mouth to kiss Noct’s fingers. “For you? Yes. I might have had competition, as well. But there is very little I wouldn’t do for you, Noctis. I’m very glad it didn’t come down to that decision, we have a lot more we need to accomplish here.”
“Yeah, we do,” Noct agreed, resting his head on Ignis’s shoulder. He didn’t want to think about Ignis or Gladio or Prompto doing anything self-sacrificing to support him. He wanted to get married and have a family. Do ridiculous domestic things like take Vivi to parks and the beach. Maybe open a bait shop on the dock next to Galdin Quay like there was at home. It was a good excuse to fish all day when they eventually stopped going out into the battlefield as often.
“It’s weird. Part of me has no problem planning out my future here with you guys. I can picture it, you know? But Gladio got hurt out there and I couldn’t help but fall back to that duty. My whole life has been about preparing for that and I want to be able to protect you guys and help people. The hard part is letting you all risk yourselves too. It felt…” Noct shrugged as Bass settled down in a circle on his legs. “…Selfish. Scary. I don’t know.”
Ignis reached over to stroke a hand on Bass’s soft fur, letting that calming rumble of purrs soothe him as the cat felt into a sleep, clearly pleased at having Noct there to use as a bed. “It’s a difficult habit to break, reminding yourself you aren’t responsible for every person in this world. While none of us want to be injured in any battle--”
He sucked in a breath, remembering two years without Noct. The worst two years of his life. “It is not truly living without you in this world with us. It may be selfish on all of our parts, but that will simply have to be a fact I live with. I would rather be selfish and with you than selfless and alone, again. Should we all return home, you will be back on that path, but here? We are the masters of our own destiny, Noctis. You deserve that, now.”
The flash of memories from those two years of darkness slipped through the mental bond and Noctis grimaced. He covered Ignis's hand on top of Bass, petting Ignis more than the cat. His seeking fingers found the scar where his ring had marked Ignis forever.
"We deserve it." He wasn't always convinced he'd earned a happily ever after, avoiding his destiny the way he had. But he never once doubted that the guys had more than earned theirs. They'd sacrificed so much for him, for Eos. They'd suffered so much. Noct turned to kiss Ignis's shoulder and then rested his forehead against it.
"I don't think I could've done it knowing you might follow me. I'd make a lot of hard choices to try and save a world, but not lead you guys into that crystal. Risking absorbing it together was hard enough…" Noct shivered, even though it was warm in the mid-morning sun. "...But I knew at least that we were making that call together. As a team."
Ignis leaned in and pressed his lips to the top of Noct’s head. He just basked in this for a moment, didn’t move or shift, just held, and let the quiet rumbles coming from Bass soothe them both a moderate amount. The choices they’d all made had been difficult ones, their lives had been hard for so long, with a burden that was a price too heavy for one person to pay-- and yet.
“I like making those calls together, as a team. I very much like being a team with you, darling. We all make quite a good one.” Ignis gave into his desire to run a finger over Noct’s hand, where his wedding ring would sit someday. “By your side is where I belong, it’s destiny, not a burden or a requirement. Our souls are linked, all of us, and now we’re even closer than that. I’d say it worked out as well as we could have possibly asked for.”
Noct let Ignis's embrace calm him. It was something Ignis had always been good at, ever since they were small children and Noct would sneak into Ignis's bed during storms. Or after the attack, when he was listless and lost. Ignis had been one of the strongest things to pull him back into the world. Noct couldn't imagine where he'd be if it hadn't been for Ignis. He really didn't want to imagine it. He scooted closer, determined to plaster himself along Ignis's side.
"Yeah. Definitely. The best team there is." He'd never been particularly poetic. But he hoped his adoring thoughts were better at getting the point across. "Can I stay here and nap on you while you read?" Bass meowed loudly. "Right, sorry. Can we stay here and nap on you while you read?"
Ignis chuckled. He knew there was no moving Noctis once he curled up like the cat he was, and Bass added even more weight to the situation. Literally and figuratively.
But there was also no part of him that wanted to move either of them. So he brought his book back to rest on his knee and let the pair of them settle in comfortably. “So long as you both keep the snoring to a minimum, you may nap.”