shatteredlenses | LifeAfter Inbox

...He's an idiot. As are you, but at least you've sense enough not to do that. Now if you're quite content, get out and leave me alone.

"Not if you keep that up we won't," Ignis grins at him just a little wickedly when they finally part, but a moment later his expression has calmed and he nods. "There is so much I want to see," he could start making a list, but it would waste far too much time they could be spending on other things, so instead he takes Gladio's hand and starts to pull him away from the beach.

"The farming island first? Or do you want to show me what he's done to help with cottage renovation?"

"Every month, though we must devote a few stories to recharging them." Honestly, for what they do, Ignis isn't surprised by the limitation or the recharge cost. He probably should save their use for times when something very serious is going down, but at the same time, he has grown better at moving and even fighting without his sight. Perhaps it would be better to save them for times when he can enjoy his returned vision with the others?

Something to think about later. For now, there are pictures to be viewed!

"You don't have to take pictures of everything, Prompto. That would be impossible. Take pictures of what you would like to show me and that will be fine. I will be grateful to see whatever you manage to capture. Now, what will we be starting today's viewing with?"

So I am the runner up fool? I suppose I will take that.

[He's not giving in so easily on the rest of that, though.]

Dare I ask what has you so ruffled that you don't wish to spend time with a young chocobo?

[Because even when he doesn't want others around, Ardyn always has time for chocobos.]

Oh, no. Not this time. You think you can get me to confide in you at barely a word, share an endless weight of which you have no power to even imagine?

Not anymore. I am not your pet daemon to be treated as though I need your attentions else I might wither away to nothing.

[Ignis almost jerks when the response comes. While he's come to expect the foul moods, this is something else entirely and it catches him completely off guard.]

Excuse me? And what, pray tell, has made you suddenly decide you are my pet and not my beloved? Did someone say something to you?

[Because he may just need to go kick someone's ass if that is the case.]

Don't act as though I'm going to be so gullible forever. I'm your broken charity case at best. Yet you can't salvage me, so what else is left? I'm just your little daemonic pet to be called when you have need of me, and now that His Majesty is here surely that is no longer a concern.

His plan is to get Ignis naked, fast. Or it was. But blunted nails scrape down his chest and his breath rushes out of him, fingers curling around Iggy's belt instead of unfastening it. The catch and sting of nails over his nipples gets a sharp inhale of breath, a stuttering moan-

It what Ignis says that has him growling softly, though, ducking back down to kiss his lover hard and hungry. He doesn't say how hot that idea is but he doesn't need to. The way he responds to the suggestion, breathless and ratcheting up the intensity immediately, says more than enough. As does the fact that, despite his fingers still being curled around Ignis' belt, he makes no move to continue unbuckling it.

"Dude, I'll help donate."

Even if it was temporary it'd be worth it to give Iggy that time. Logically, he knew they could get equipment or other things with their stories, but it didn't seem to matter in comparison.

And now he had a new goal. He had to find things that he wanted Iggy to see. Maybe he would make things to show Iggy. Now he was always going to be scanning for neat things to show him.

"Let's see, the last time was back when we were up on that floating island? I guess that makes it easy, 'cause I took a pic of Enso from up there, so we could start from there..."

Scooching close to him, he started flipping through his pics to get to the newer ones. As usual, he took them constantly, so there was a lot of share. Of people. Of places. And sometimes, just neat things that caught Prompto's eye.

"This way you can still see the islands when they're gone, too!" With how they came and went so often, no doubt Iggy wouldn't get a chance to see them with his own eyes very often. "Got some pics of us, too... Oh, does Noct know yet?"

Man, there's so much to do, sometimes it feels overwhelming.

Maybe one of the first things we could make with metal is some nails to build those fences.

[He sighed.]

After that last thing, it seems like we need to guard against the entire ocean, not just the mana pool.

Don't pretend like you don't want to take him apart one of these times with your glasses on, Iggy. He knows better.

"Let's go ahead and hit up the farming island, you can actually see where we've been working. Meet some of the animals." Speaking of animals. As they move away from the beach a sleepy lily rouses himself from where he's been lounging in the grass near the cottage. A soft, curious chuff as he starts padding after them and Gladio rolls his eyes a little.

"Yes you can come, lazy beast." The hand not holding Iggy's fans out at his side, waiting for Leo to headbutt his palm before falling into step with them. There's so many things he's busy thinking of showing Ignis that he doesn't even consider the fact that he hasn't actually seen Leo, either.

That's why we must take it one step at a time and do our best not to have to repeat steps. Try not to get caught up in the idea of guarding against the whole ocean.

[Instead, they will focus on those smaller steps so it feels like they are actually getting somewhere.]

The nails might not be a bad place to start. They are small and easily tested. They will also not result in a lot of waste should something go wrong.

Gladio might not think about the fact that Ignis hasn't see Leo, but Ignis doesn't let that lapse last for long.

"A moment, Gladio. There's someone very important I need to see here before we go elsewhere," he gives the Shield's hand a squeeze and then lets it go, moving to kneel in front of Leo. This might not be the best of ideas, but he wants to get a good look at the tiger lily who has been so much help to them.

"Hello there, pretty kitty. It's so nice to finally be able to see you."

Gladio pauses as soon as Ignis speaks, tilting his head for a moment before he sucks in a surprised breath and then laughs softly at himself. How could he have forgotten? "'Course."

Leo, for his part, cocks one ear curiously, perking it toward Ignis though the one on his dad's side stays drooping lazily, focusing on Gladio even while giving Ignis most of his attention. He's not used to getting this much attention from the advisor randomly in the middle of the day, especially so late when they really should all be headed for bed and the sun has been down long enough to have his petals drooping a little. Under the bright moonlight the petals of his flowers look purplish, the rosy hue tinted with the blue of the moon. His coat looks a deeper bronze color instead of the vibrant gold that lets him blend into the dappled shadows on the edge of the beaches here.

Leo blinks slowly at Ignis, clearly tired but still attentive, then he shuffles a half step forward to thunk his head into the middle of the man's chest, a deep rumbling purr vibrating through him.

"Might have to drop him off at the house to sleep, babe." Gladio chuckles softly, bending down just enough to tangle his fingers in Leo's rough. "It's been a while since the sun went down."

If I could just light up the place like Lestallum, maybe we could keep those things away.

[Which was a tall order. Lestallum had way more time to set up a whole powerplant, with tons of people working on it.

But maybe he could get lights up for these little islands and the other areas people had set up shop.]

...Well, as long as we're together, we'll figure it out.

Leo's petals may be drooped and his colors muted a little, but Ignis still thinks him a beautiful creature, one he spends several long seconds just gazing at before that affectionate headbutt comes. It causes him to laugh softly and he wraps himself around the tiger lily's head, his hair brushing Gladio's hand where it's come to rest in Leo's ruff.

"You say it as if it's a bad thing. Were he not tired, I probably would be on my back with a closer view of him than I was looking for," he threads his fingers into Leo's fur, giving him a good scratch before finally sitting back again and turning his gaze up at Gladio.

"Perhaps we should drop him off first. As much as I would like to see everything on the farming islet, he will be cranky the whole time. Besides, Prompto and Noctis will likely be at the cottage."

And he really doesn't have to say why that's a good thing, now does he?

"We can talk about donating later." A few months ago an answer like that would have been Ignis-speak for 'no,' but for now it is merely a request. He doesn't want to waste time he could be seeing things debating if stories should be used to recharge the glasses--let alone stories that aren't his. It will be just as easy to talk about it once his sight has faded again.

Ignis nods to indicate Prompto is correct in his assumption of their starting point and then focuses his full attention on the pictures as the blonde scrolls through them. When they come to a certain set of pictures that features a sleeping Ardyn holding him in a death grip, Ignis can't help but mutter under his breath in an amused tone, "He really is quite the cuddler when he just lets himself be so."

Belatedly, he remembers how uncomfortable the whole thing had made Prompto and he gives the blonde an apologetic smile before shifting the topic to someone the sharpshooter is much more comfortable talking about.

"Not yet. I was hoping he would be here with you, but it appears he's wandered off for a bit. He didn't happen to tell you where he was going, did he?"

You are the last person who I would ever call gullible.

[Ignis tries hard to keep his voice from becoming too angry, and while he has some success his resulting tone is very tense.]

I would like to remind you, in case you've forgotten, Noct has been here before and it didn't change how I felt about you. Why should now be different?

Why shouldn't it? You've had plenty of time by now for it to sink in that I'm never going to change. So you can go back to your king who actually gives a damn about humanity and people other than himself.

Ignis's smile widens under the press of Gladio's lips, his mind delighted at the positive reaction to his little idea while his body willingly allows the passionate kiss to steal his breath away. Once they've parted, he folds the fingers of one hand so his index finger is left alone to trail a light, winding path down across Gladio's stomach.

"I could let my fingers do most of the work or I could let my mouth do it. One of these would require you letting me up, though. I wonder which you will choose?"

"Nah, but I didn't get the impression he was going far. I thought he was going out to grab something or pee or something."

Nothing major as far as he knew. "You'll def have to see him before time runs out." Did he even need to say that? Ignis would naturally want to see Noct again. He was practically his baby.

He let out the softest, amused snort before even asking his question, looking up at Iggy with a cheeky grin, "So, how do I look? Am I still a stud?"

Except that you have. You are willfully ignoring that right now.

[The young chocobo in Ardyn's lap finally starts stirring, now fully awakened by the rising tension between them. She lets out a small bewildered sound, head turning back and forth between the two.]

I've given enough of myself to him over the years. Forgive me if I wish for something outside of him for once.

Don't be such a fool. [Almost automatically, his hand rested on the chocobo's feathers.] No matter what, it will always come back to this. Nothing in this ruined shell will ever be salvageable.

"I will. If he doesn't return before we are ready to leave, I'll go looking for him. We have several hours, fortunately," Ignis doesn't sound worried at the moment, especially with Prompto assuring him that Noctis hasn't gone far.

Speaking of said blonde, Ignis gives him a long, serious look once he's asked his question. He contemplates his answer for several moments before speaking in a very level voice.

"Prompto, you have always been and always will be...a chocobo."

Sorry, bro.

[Leilani coos softly at the touch, hoping to calm one or both of them. Unfortunately, Ardyn's words cause Ignis to shake his head sharply.]

You're just saying that because you're afraid to face the truth. You've changed, you don't know what that means, and it terrifies you!

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