Who: Gladiolus Amicitia and Ignis Scientia What: Summer nights, talking, flirting When: Early August, after this. Where: Orrinshire, FFXV house Rating: TBD Status: Ongoing
It was beautiful out. Ignis had been unable to resist the call of a clear night sky, even if he might have been better served by getting to sleep at this hour. Though it wasn't as if he had to worry about keeping to any particular schedule anymore. Back in Eos there had always been one more plan to make, one more care to sort out, one more thing to do so no one else would have to worry about it. Here, he could stay up all night if he wanted, with no other consequences than some teasing if he dared sleep past breakfast time, and he was more than willing to face that teasing in favor of the garden at night.
The house was quiet behind him, and any worries over his friends were, too. They might still be sorting their new relationship out, individually and as a group, but it was a different, more exciting sort of tension than the one that had taken root before they all talked. And that conversation had been well worth it, as nervous as he'd been about it. Prompto's renewed ease with being close to him was a relief, and as for Gladio, Ignis hadn't been complaining about the flirting before. He certainly wasn't about to start, not when he enjoyed flirting back. Maybe a little cautiously, but that would fade quickly.
Figuring out new boundaries and getting rid of old ones took some time, and goodness knew Ignis has plenty of old walls he'd long forgotten about or took for granted that needed to be taken care of. He was well aware of his tendency to keep himself to himself, that there were things he'd never spoken of. Altissia came to mind, the entire, haunting tragedy it had turned into, and Ignis sighed and let his eyes slide shut. He hadn't come outside to mull over the past. It was too nice a night — the warm breeze, the croaks and chirps of frogs and bugs, the heady scent of the night-blooming flowers Lunafreya had planted.
If nothing else, being blind had left him with very sharp senses. He was aware of things in a way he hadn't been before, didn't need to see to place sounds, or people — even people who moved quietly from years of training. He knew all of them by sound and feel, now, an almost sixth sense that had come from being close to them for so long and then having to relearn them all over again. It was easy enough to tell it was Gladio before he'd even turned to look, leaning back against the railing of the porch. Ignis' smile was warm and fond as he glanced over him, and he had to admit, it was nice not to feel guilty about looking. He doubted Gladio had ever minded, with all of the flirting taken into account, but it was different now.
Ignis wasn't pretending not to look because he didn't have to anymore.
Still. It was late, and he while he knew why he was awake, he didn't know why Gladio was. "Something keeping you up?" he asked quietly, other thoughts momentarily put to the side to check in on his friend.