shatteredlenses | LifeAfter Inbox

Coconut oil? Isn't that just for cooking? Gladio may want to enlighten Ignis to its other uses sometime, just not right at this time. Right now, all he wants to do is drown in the kiss and be proud of the fact that Gladio was brave enough to kiss him even if he was unsure. Ignis' hands fall away from the Shield's face and hair, so he can spread them over the man's chest and eventually let them settle linked against his back.

Breaking the kiss has to come whether he wants it to or not, and so soon Ignis does, pulling away with a content sigh and a smile, "Hey there. Feeling better or do we need to do that again just to make sure?"

Shortly, it will strike Ignis he should make sure his weight against Gladio isn't aggravating his wound, but for now such logical concerns hold very little interest for him.

He's not in the most comfortable position but it doesn't matter. Nothing matters but Ignis' weight against him, the taste of him still on his lips, that soft tease when they part. He laughs, strained and choked with tears of relief, presses his forehead to Ignis' and just basks in this moment, this seemingly impossible moment.

"I love you." His words are thick and rough and punctuated with a brush of lips against his cheek. But once he allows himself to voice it. Say what's been in his heart, desperate to be expressed for so, so long. He can't stop saying it. Repeating the words like a prayer.

No more "be better" just this, soft kisses over his cheeks, his brow, his lips and nose and jaw, everywhere, each with another "I love you."

Ignis intends to allow the soft kisses and 'I love yous' to continue as long as Gladio needs to get it get out of his system--he's got almost 10 years to make up for, after all--but one thing proves to be his undoing...

That blasted scruff!

After a while, it starts tickling and he can't quite hold back the giggles that start rising in his throat, "Enough, Gladio, enough! That tickles! If you don't stop, I'm liable to topple us over laughing and that will be no good for your wound."

It's not just a laugh but giggles, something carefree and unburdened and it makes Gladio laugh as well, soft and amused, rolling in his chest. He shifts his focus from kisses to rubbing his jaw against Ignis, grinning and intentionally letting his beard scrape over delicate skin. It tickles, Ignis is right that if they fall over it's going to hurt.

None of that means a damned thing when he can make Ignis laugh like that, though.

Ignis makes the most undignified sound--which he will never admit to later--when Gladio changes tactics, doing his best to curl into the man's chest so he can protect his face and neck from the assault. It will also, hopefully anyway, keep them from toppling over should Gladio continue despite it all.

"Blast it, Gladiolus, stop! I will be most cross with you if you reopen your wound after all this!"

Thank you very much, he's had enough of your blood on his hands to last him a lifetime at this point.

He lets Ignis curl into him, lets him hide, but he does laugh, loud and rich and deep. He laughs hard enough that it makes his belly hurt and he ends up pressing a hand to his side as he tries to stop but he can't because if he stops laughing he'll start crying again.

Slowly the laughter subsides and he's all but crushing Ignis against his chest, breathing unsteadily from both pain and emotion.

One last breathless, desperate, "I love you."

It's easy for Ignis to give into staying curled into Gladio's chest for a while, just listening to his laughter and hiding away from all the troubles that wait for them just outside this embrace, but eventually he does uncurl himself, sitting up straight and cradling Gladio's face in his hands.

"I know and I love you. I'm so sorry you had to wait this long to say it," he leans forward to press a gentle kiss to the Shield's lips and then settles back again. "Now, be honest with me please. Are you hurting? Will you let me heal you?"

He still can't heal the wound completely, but his power should at least take away the sting of straining it.

Gladio almost takes that light kiss and presses into it, chases after more like he's certain Ignis will come to his senses any moment now. But he breathes out, slow and grounding, smiles softly with a little exhale that accompanies the twitch of lips, wry and familiar.

"Okay... okay but... come up here with me first, yeah? Then you can heal me up a bit." He leans back, patting the bed behind him, nudging Ignis away just enough that they can get up off the ground.

He doesn't lay out on the bed though, he sits with his back against the corner where the bed frame is tucked in against the wall, one leg raised, the other hanging off the bed to give Iggy access to the wound... and plenty of room to come curl up in his lap a little more comfortably.

"All right," Ignis is hardly going to argue with a suggestion like that, especially since he's sure Gladio will be much more comfortable on the bed than on the floor. He waits patiently for the Shield to settle and then carefully crawls onto the bed himself, hands feeling in front of him so he can figure out how Gladio's positioned himself. Once he does, a small, slightly sly smile crosses his face.

"It seems you've prepared a special seat just for me. I'm honored."

Surely, Gladio is just imagining how Ignis' fingers linger as they brush against his legs. Nothing going on here!

Gladio smirks at the words but the lingering touches make his breath catch in his chest, still so strange after so long of dreaming it. He catches one of Iggy's hands, draws it up to press a kiss to his fingertips, like he had at the storytelling fire.

"You should be." Honored that is. How many people would he let sit in his lap?

Okay, honestly, he'd be cool with sleeping cuddled up with quite a few people but this was different. This was Ignis, this was a dream come true.

Ignis chuckles as he carefully settles into his appointed seat, reluctantly pulling free the hand that Gladio has taken so he can remove both his gloves and tuck them away. Oh, he doesn't need to do that in order to heal, but he regretted not removing them before. He isn't going to make the same mistake now.

While he has a pretty good idea of where the wound is, he takes his time letting his hands get there. There is a fair bit of territory to explore between Gladio's shoulders and his waist and unless he's told otherwise, Ignis is planning on taking the long way to get from point A to point B.

"How badly is the wound hurting you?"

The slow path his hands are taking gives Ignis ample opportunity to feel the way Gladio's heart races the longer his hands are on him, his breath catching and shivering out. He has to swallow thickly before he trusts himself to speak.

"Aches mostly, only stings a bit. Stood up too fast, I think but it didn't split." Just a consistent throbbing pain in his belly. It's all good.

Honestly he's hardly thinking of it now, not with Ignis in his lap and touching him like that. Not with the other's taste on his lips.

Ignis hums softly at the answer. If he was a crueler man, he would point out the pounding of Gladio's heart as a sign that the wound is hurting him more than he's admitting too, but he knows well the real cause and can't help but feel a little proud to be it.

Well, if Gladio is distracted, that means he will hurt less. It all works out.

Eventually, his fingers find the wound and rest over it lightly. Ignis pulls the magic into himself and then lets it out to do its work. At the same time, he leans forward to begin pressing a line of kisses along Gladio's collarbone.

The Shield's not the only one getting something out of this particular kind of distraction. Ignis is enjoying himself as well.

Ignis' clever fingers have been a source of distraction for years, long before Gladio had fully admitted the depths of his feelings for his friend. Now, feeling them skating over his body, light and exploratory, is enough to have him completely forget about any discomfort that his recent movements might have caused. There's that flicker of of magic and he starts to sigh, soft and relieved.

But the sound catches in his throat when Ignis' lips find his collarbone. His hands come up to catch at Ignis' shoulders, not discouraging, just holding onto him for a moment.

"I-Ig..." A gasp and then he's tangling his fingers into Ignis' hair, hauling him up for another kiss, this time a little less cautious, intense and hungry but no less emotional for it.

The soft sigh and the gasp of his name cause a shiver to run through Ignis. For just a moment before Ignis is pulled away, Gladio will be able to feel the advisor's lips curl into a smile against his skin. He makes a soft startled sound when he's pulled up, but he can't say that the kiss that follows is any kind of disappointing.

Ignis' hands flatten against Gladio's chest as he presses into the kiss, returning it with every bit of intensity and emotion. When he finally has to pull back to catch his breath, he nibbles lightly at the Shield's lower lip as he goes.

"Feeling better or do we need to reapply this particular treatment once more?"

"I'm fine." The assurance is a little too quick and he sighs, leaning up to catch one more soft kiss, to ease the insistence there.

"I don't want you over taxing yourself again." He nudges Ignis a little, trying to coax him into sitting down, leaning back against him again. "And I am fine, like I said. A little ache but it's better. A lot better. Promise."

Don't do too much and make him carry you to the mana pool, Igs.

Ignis huffs and if Gladio listens close enough, he will hear him mutter something that sounds suspiciously like 'I'm not made of bloody glass,' but as disgruntled as he might be, he doesn't fight the change in position, eventually settling into Gladio's hold.

"You'll tell me if you need me to move?" He just has to mother hen little more before he lets it go. Please, humor him.

"Know you're not ba-" The pet name catches in his throat, uncertain, and he nuzzles into Iggy's hair. It's not that he thinks Iggy can't handle it, not at all, there's just no need. He knows the limitations of his regroup and it's not meant to handle something so severe.

"Long as we both go this way a little..." And he coaxes Ignis to lean a little into the wall so his weight was distributed between the wall and Gladio's upper chest. Nothing on his belly. It's fine, Ignis. Not babe. Not yet.... but maybe soon?

Before speaking again, Ignis allows Gladio to shift their positions in whatever way he needs in order to be comfortable. Once that's done, he tilts his head up toward the Shield and smiles fondly, "You were going to say 'babe,' weren't you? It's okay. If you want to say it, that is. I don't mind."

What's one more nickname among all those he already has? Besides, this one is special.

That smile just melts his heart all over again and Gladio's kissing him again, just the press of lips to his hair, just above his temple.

"I did that once, y'know." It was embarrassing and hadn't gone over very well. Shortly before the big blowout that had them all going their separate ways. "You sure you don't mind?"

"I don't mind," Ignis repeats confidently, one hand raising so it can weave its way into Gladio's hair. "The me who didn't like it was a different man than the one who is here with you now, and I dare say, this me has much better taste than that one."

Gladio hums softly, enjoying the feel of Ignis' fingers in his hair. It's so nice as is the reassurance. It gets another kiss to his hair and a squeeze around his middle. "I think so... hope so anyway."

Ignis sighs contentedly, relaxing into Gladio as much as he dares with the man still recovering from his injury, "I don't know if I have the right to ask you to trust me yet, but I promise we'll find a way to make all this work."

"I'll always trust you, Iggy." And he squeezes a little, regardless of his injury. "You don't have to ask. Whatever it is we'll find a way because we trust each other."

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