InsaneJournal

Gladio + Iggy

Sock Garters

WHAT: Making pretend other plans into real ones on Ball night.
WHERE: At Galdin Quay.
WHEN: The 1st, in the evening.
WARNINGS:Dinner devoling into makeouts super quick.
STATUS: Complete!

Ignis had been planning to likely go to the Ball. He generally enjoyed dressing up and it had seemed a good opportunity to meet more people, and to try to get the others into formal wear, if Noctis was up for it. He never did enjoy gatherings of more than a few that much.

But he in no way minded changing his plans on orders from Gladio, once he'd explained. A night with Gladio sounded good, and if it hopefully left Prompto and Noctis with some time together to sort things out - all the better. Ignis and Noct might have come to a better understanding lately, to Ignis' delight, but he wanted to see all of it settled and Noct as happy as he could possibly be.

And a night with Gladio, who'd promised dressing up anyway, was hardly a sacrifice.

Ignis saw the others off and finished the last minute tailoring for Nyx and Squall before he took himself to Galdin - making sure he wore Gladio's request. He set about making some of Gladio's non-noodle-based favorites as he waited, music playing lightly in the background.

Gladio had headed to the manor to see the kids all snazzed up, did his fatherly duty of making Eddie pose for a million embarrassing photos and then headed back to the house to change. A dark purple suit with a white shirt, the first few buttons left undone and he forewent a tie given that it was just him and Ignis. Two more quick stops and he headed to Galdin.

Ignis tended to get lost in it when he cooked, something which had been endlessly endearing to Gladio for years now. Especially since it tended to give Gladio a few moments to just watch Ignis. Get lost himself briefly before he walked up to the counter.

"Smells amazing, as always," he said, a grin on his face as he set the bottle of red he had picked up on the counter, a small and simple of flowers in his other hand that he offered to Ignis. "You're far too good to us, Iggy."

Ignis had been caught up in his cooking. His awareness when they were out at a campsite near a hunt was much higher - but even then he usually relied on the others to be his warning system while he focused on the food he prepared. He might have begun to learn to cook for Noct, but it'd become something Ignis loved for himself, and it was easy to get caught up in perfecting a dish.

So he was unaware of Gladio until the other man spoke up, and then Ignis looked up. Ignis wasn't a man of big reactions, generally. People who knew him could read his expressions easily enough, but when they didn't, he could be accused of being stone faced. There was no missing the look of appreciation he gave Gladio though, eyes running along him. "While I would manage well enough without sight if I lost it again - I'm very glad to be able to see at this moment," Ignis said with a slight smile.

He gave the sizzling meat another turn and turned the temperature down a bit, and then stepped up to Gladio's side of the counter, looking at the flowers with some surprise. Ignis was used to being the caretaker - when other people did for him, he never did get used to it. He blushed just a little, turning them around on the counter to look at them from all angles before leaning over the width of it to kiss Gladio. "They're lovely, and you're dazzling. Thank you," he said afterward. "How were your fifty children?"

Gladio wasn't exactly trying to hide his own look either. Nor did he make a habit of it at all anymore. What was the point. Cards had more than been laid on the table and he had more than a few years to make up for in the outright heart eyes as the kids would call it department. He kept that gaze as he smiled, cheekily, at Ignis' words. "I'm glad you can too," and not just because he knew he looked damn good - but there was something to be said about being able to look at each other like this. To see the depth of the emotions between them written clearly on each other's faces, after years of having to hide it.

Ignis' little blush brought a smile to his lips, happy that he could surprise Ignis even after all this time. "Almost as dazzling as you," he replied, eyes crinkled in the corner with amusement and fondness. He lingered at the kiss, a hand slipping behind Ignis' neck and drawing him again for a moment when Ignis tried to pull away.

"They were good, they clean up well," he answered with a soft laugh. He had known what Eddie had picked, having gone shopping with him. But it had still been nice to see it all pulled together and with all of them dressed up and most in outfits Gladio had no doubt never would have been a possibility in Derry. They'd all come a long way and Gladio was endlessly happy for the fact they all felt they could be open about themselves here.

Ignis chuckled. "You never have lacked for ego," he teased. Not that he blamed Gladio. He was both accomplished and beautiful - he deserved every bit of his ego. That didn't mean that Ignis hadn't cheerfully poked at it now and then, over the years.

"Flatterer," Ignis said, but it held a laugh and he leg Gladio pull him into another kiss all too willingly. If he hadn't had food on the flame, he might have just hopped over the counter to slide up next to him.

"I'm sure they do. They're all very handsome young men, and Bev is a beautiful young woman." It still amused Ignis a little, the way Gladio had just taken so many young people in hand. It suited him, the role of pseudo-father and his life here in general. But it was a far cry from where they'd been. "Did you imagine you'd be a father by now, back home?" he asked, just because he never had. Future plans beyond their duty weren't something Ignis thought they'd ever really gone into.

He turned back to the food, automatically adding a touch of spice here, stirring peppers there. He had three pans and a pot going at once, but it was easy to keep track of. He did like the little round counter - it was very efficient.

"Before - everything?" everything was a good word. Weighted with what that everything was but without bringing the specifics into it. Ignis looked good, better than good, the food smelled amazing and they had a wonderfully open night ahead of them to themselves. The last thing Gladio wanted to do was bring the room down entirely ten minutes in.

"Yeah, it was more a given really." Marry someone appropriate, pop out some kids and keep the Amicitia line and traditions going. Gladio's life had been mapped out for him long before he even took his first breath. "After - not so much," he added. Making it through a day was enough of a battle and he had barely been taking care of himself, let alone thinking of taking care of someone else.

"You?" he asked, gave a good look over at Ignis behind the stove, thoroughly distracted by the line of his arms as he cooked.

"Before everything," Ignis agreed. It was an easy enough catch-all. Their lives had changed drastically more than once, after all. But before it all, the trajectory of them had been fairly well set he supposed, at least for Gladio. "Would you have wanted that? Do you still, given the turns our lives have taken?" he asked curiously. "Not that your current crop of dozens of children aren't enough, but I hear they can be started from a smaller size."

Ignis considered the question. "No," he said. "I imagine if I hadn't been sent in service to Noctis, it might have been something expected of me. But since it wasn't, I never considered it." Thankfully, he supposed. He'd never really had any interest in women in a sexual sense, and that would have been necessary if he was expected to actually father children. He'd much rather dote on ones that weren't biologically his, given a choice. Or at least feed them.

He looked up to see Gladio watching and laughed. "If I burn anything because of you watching me like that, I am blaming you," he said, throwing Gladio a grin. He turned the heat off though, plating up the two servings as prettily as he could without dawdling and then handing Gladio a corkscrew to open the wine, crossing over to the bar to get glasses and putting them in front of both of them before he settled down next to Gladio, shoulder up against his. "Shall we toast to us, to the pair we sent off hopefully figuring themselves out, or both?" he asked, indulging himself by leaning in to kiss at Gladio's jawline.

"Yeah, I wanted it," he admitted, a small shrug of his shoulders. Even as he distanced himself from the traditions of his family, the expectations that had been put on him from such a young age he still knew that had been something wanted, not just expected. A family. It had always seemed like a nice idea to him. To hear Ignis hadn't wasn't necessarily a surprise though. For all they had to be subtle he still knew Ignis' attraction had been exclusively with men for a very long time. Though there were other ways of course, Ignis had never struck Gladio as the type to necessarily seek them out. Though he couldn't help but wonder if that might change if they were to know their lives would be lived out here as opposed to home.

Did he still was a hard question. "I really don't know," he answered honestly. There were moments it still struck him. A little pang of it would be nice. One that tended to creep up the times he helped Noctis watch Caroline's son. Seeing Noctis with the toddler was a sure fire way to spend an afternoon wrestling with the complicated emotions it brought up. "Sometimes. But I'm happy with my life," he added. Anything above what he had right at that moment would just be a bonus at this point. He had all he needed.

He just gave Ignis a cheeky grin at the call out and took the offered corkscrew. Once the wine was opened he poured them a glass. He smiled warmly at the suggestions, and okay that little kiss helped there too. "Both." He clinked his glass against Ignis' and glanced down at the plate in front of him. "This looks, and smells, amazing as always, Ignis."

Sometimes, Gladio said. It was enough that Ignis wanted to start researching, because that had always been what he did when someone he cared for needed something - he made a plan to see it done. But it was different here, where things felt like a much needed break, but perhaps not a permanent one, too. So he just nodded, filing that away with the part of his brain that was forever cataloguing and assembling lists. "It's easy to be happy here," he said instead. "With most of us here and safe, and nothing looming over our heads. Nothing to stop us from being with who we want, or having what we want." Sometimes Ignis thought he ought to feel guilty for how happy he was here, but he had decided that he wasn't going to let himself be. He hadn't chosen to be here, but he was going to make the most of it while he was.

"Both," Ignis agreed, glasses clinking. He took a sip before setting it aside. "Thank you," he said. "So do you," he added with a smirk, leaning in to press his nose against Gladio's neck in the guise of smelling him, but really just kissing there again. "The wine is good too," he said, not bothering to straighten back up for a long moment. Gladio really was a lot more enticing than food.

He had indeed said sometimes. But truly Gladio wasn't even sure what that meant himself. How it would even look given the relationship between the four of them. And it wasn't enough of a want then to press more on it. Maybe it never would be.

Besides, he had nothing to complain about. Not when he had a hell of a meal in front of him. And the dinner too.

Gladio smirked, chuckled softly as Ignis mouthed at his neck. "You keep that up I might be inclined to let this delicious looking dinner go cold," he said. Though really, he was sure it would still be just as good.

He shifted a little in his stool, slipped a hand behind Ignis neck and drew him up to kiss him properly. Slow, languid, tasing the hint of the sip of wine he'd just had.

Ignis rolled his eyes, but just smiled, reaching over to drag his fingers along Gladio's arm lightly. "I might not complain too much. We could always reheat it." Ignis' standards clearly slipped when Gladio was dressed like that and Ignis had free access to time alone with him to enjoy it. He'd feel guilty for it, but Ignis didn't feel like it.

He actually felt fairly good about his lax standards when Gladio's mouth met his again, and Ignis sighed into it, kissing back just as slow and deep. Ignis was used to the brief thrill of one time affairs - new kisses and quick efforts to learn someone's body enough to make sure he did the job well, but Ignis was never anything less than a perfectionist. But this was new, getting a chance to sink into someone and learn them fully. He'd known Gladio for more of his life than he hadn't. But this was a whole new way to know him.

Far more interesting than food, even food Ignis had made. Still, that didn't mean he was going to ruin it, so Ignis turned his head, freeing one hand to carefully move aside food and wine, and then he moved to slide neatly between Gladio and the counter, perching on it with Gladio in front of him and between his knees, easier to lean in and kiss him, wind his fingers into Gladio's absurdly pettable hair.