#gladignoct

“Thank you,” Ignis said lightly after a few long moments, looking up from the gift to see Noctis staring intently out of the car’s windshield, his cheeks bright red. “You didn’t have-”

“I wanted to,” Noctis muttered, chewing on his bottom lip, and Ignis’ stomach fell. Still, he plastered on what felt like a realistic smile, taking the present and sitting it in his lap.

“I apologise that I don’t have anything for you, then.”

“That’s cool. You already do so much for me, and I…” Trailing off, Noctis fumbled for his seatbelt and practically stumbled his way out of the car. “Anyway, bye!”

Watching as Noctis jogged over to where Prompto was leaning against the school gates, Ignis swallowed hard and tried to put his thoughts in order. First things first: placing the gift on the empty passenger seat, starting the car, and getting away from the busy school drop-off zone.

At least navigating through the traffic gave him a chance to ignore the nausea in his gut, as did carefully reading and memorising each item on the menu of the cafe he dropped into on his way to the Citadel.

Two large coffees in hand, Ignis tucked the present into the crook of his arm and headed straight for the Crownsguard training grounds, sticking his head in a few doors until he found Gladio talking with his father. As much as he was loath to interrupt, it didn’t look like too serious of a discussion, and both Amicitia men smiled at him when he knocked on the open door.

“Gladio, Lord Amicitia,” Ignis greeted, earning himself a casual wave and an amused eyeroll respectively. Clarus had been trying to get Ignis to use his first name for years, but it had gotten to the stage where it was more of a personal joke between them than an actual point of contention. “I hate to barge in like this, but I was wondering if I could borrow Gladio for a few moments.”

“Sounds like a Lucis Caelum is up to no good,” Clarus said, and Ignis forced a quiet laugh. It was a little too on-the-mark, so Ignis was glad when Clarus didn’t ask any further questions and simply made shoo-ing motions in Gladio’s direction. “Go, make sure the entire monarchy isn’t going to collapse.”

Gladio accepted the takeaway cup Ignis offered him and didn’t say anything else until they were thoroughly out of Clarus’ earshot, but then he glanced around to confirm that they were alone and bent down to whisper in Ignis’ ear. “I know it’s been a few days, but I didn’t think you missed me this much.”

“Not the time, Gladio,” Ignis hissed, although he immediately regretted the sharpness of his tone. Giving his own glance over the area, Ignis pressed an apologetic hand to the small of Gladio’s back and held it there for a few too-short seconds. “Sorry. I’m a little thrown out this morning.”

“C’mon,” Gladio said. Gesturing to a nearby meeting room, he pulled a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, herding Ignis inside and closing up behind himself. “What’s got you so spooked, hey?”

Placing his own cup on the empty table in the middle of the room, Ignis retrieved the gift from the crook of his arm and held it up for Gladio’s inspection. Gladio frowned after a silent moment, turning curious eyes to Ignis.

“I thought we agreed to do Shiva Festival gifts and skip Infernian’s Day?”

“We did,” Ignis said tightly. “But Noct gave me this when I dropped him off at school.”

“So he’s finally decided to appreciate everything you do for him, hey?” Gladio grinned. His expression fell when Ignis shook his head, and Gladio stepped around Ignis’ raised arm to sling his own around Ignis’ shoulders, dropping a kiss to the top of his boyfriend’s head.

“You think he’s serious? That’s why you’re so cut up?”

“I don’t think he was serious, Gladio, I know he was. I could see it in his face.” Placing the present on the table, Ignis picked up his coffee cup again and took a long drink, focusing on the heat going down his throat and hoping that it would soothe the rolling sensations in his gut.

“Okay, so you turn him down,” Gladio said, easily shrugging his shoulders. “He’s a strong kid, he’ll get over it.”

“I…” Ignis started, and the waver in his voice made Gladio pull back and sharply look at him.

“You want to turn him down, right?”

“I don’t know,” Ignis exclaimed, and Gladio froze for a moment before taking two long, heavy steps and dropping himself into one of the chairs surrounding the table. Ignis joined him soon enough, the gift sitting between them like one of the cursed items that had long been rumoured to be hidden somewhere in the Citadel. “Gladio, I love you.”

“I always accepted that he was more important to you than I am,” Gladio said, and Ignis stared at the ground. It was one of the foundations of their relationship, had been agreed upon before Ignis had accepted Gladio’s offer of a date: Noctis came first, for both of them. Their major reason for keeping the relationship a secret had been to avoid having people cast doubt on their dedication to Noctis, but of course that had come back around to bite them in the ass.

Ignis was sure that Noctis would never have done this had he known that his two oldest friends were dating. Their secrecy and half-truths were turning on them, and Ignis didn’t know if he was going to lose both of them.

“But,” Gladio continued, catching Ignis’ attention again, “I never thought he’d take you from me in this, too.”

Gladio looked sad but resigned, and Ignis was quick to grab Gladio’s hand between his own. “Gladio, trust me when I say that I love you. I don’t- I couldn’t- I can’t do this without you.”

“Why do I get the sinking feeling that there’s a ‘but’ coming,” Gladio said, his voice surprisingly devoid of anger. He sounded broken and Ignis would probably have preferred a yelling match to whatever this was.

“I love him too, Gladio. I always have.”

Gladio didn’t try to pull away from Ignis’ grip, which Ignis could only take as a good sign, and then he let out a heavy sigh and crumpled. “I know. And I can’t exactly judge you for it, because if he’d been the one giving me Infernian’s Day presents, I don’t know if I’d be handling it any better than you are.”

“You-”

“Yeah,” Gladio laughed bitterly, sounding like there was gravel in his throat. “Guess agreeing to lay your life down for someone does that to a person. And he did get pretty hot at some point when I wasn’t looking.”

“What a mess,” Ignis said. Gladio made a noise of agreement, but they both fell into silence as they stared at the gift between them. Gladio was the first to move, lightly knocking the box towards Ignis, and Ignis finally managed to meet his eyes with a questioning look.

“Gonna see what he got you?”

“I...suppose I should.” Placing his coffee next to Gladio’s on the table, Ignis felt his heart hammer in his chest as he stared at the plain wrapping. Black, of course; Ignis vaguely wondered where he’d gotten it. As far as he knew, most of Noctis’ gift-giving usually involved the help of either himself or Gladio, but it didn’t seem like Gladio had known about this.

Sliding his finger under the tape, Ignis gently separated the ends of the paper and opened it up, revealing the box underneath. Gladio whistled, leaning in for a better look, and Ignis had to lick his suddenly dry lips.

“Altissian dark chocolate, hey? Someone’s been paying attention.”

Ignis’ nausea wasn’t soothed at the sight of his all-time favourite treat, and he quickly re-wrapped the gift. Shoving it aside, he greedily drained the last of his coffee and tried to think.

He didn’t want to lose Gladio. That much was certain. What was less certain was how deeply Noctis felt for him.

If all Noctis had was a silly crush, then Ignis felt ridiculous for even considering endangering his relationship. If it was more, though- and Ignis had an inkling that Noctis would never do this for just a crush- things were a little more confusing.

The thought of dating Noctis made his heart soar, but the accompanying thought of losing Gladio made him need to scream and throw things. All he wanted to do was to put the stupid box in the trash and pretend like nothing had happened, but there was no way he could leave this hanging over his and Gladio’s relationship- as well as his and Noctis’.

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” Gladio suddenly said, and Ignis looked up to see him playing with his necklace, a habit that tended to appear whenever Gladio was feeling particularly stressed. “I won’t stop you if you want to go on a date with him.”

“Gladio, I already said that I can’t do this without you.” Clenching his fists, Ignis fought the urge to launch himself into Gladio’s lap and cling to him.

“C’mon, Iggy, we both know that he’s already part of our relationship. How often has either of us had to cancel dates because he needed us? It’s not quite the same, sure, but it’s not like it would change much if you were fucking him.”

“So you’d be okay with me fucking someone else?” Ignis said, surprised by his sudden anger. “Would you expect me to do the same if it was the other way around?”

“I only want you to be happy,” Gladio said. Ignis could hear the pain behind it, and the way it shot him through the heart made his anger fade into sadness. He didn’t want Gladio to be hurt- but he didn’t want Noctis to be either. “If you think you’d be happier with Noctis, then go to him. Or we can figure out some kind of, I don’t know, arrangement. He’s going to have to marry someone else anyway so I don’t think he’d put up too much of a fight about sharing.”

“Would you say that if it was someone other than Noct?” Ignis wasn’t clear on exactly where the question had come from, but it felt important.

Taking a moment to think, Gladio eventually shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. But if Noct’s safety is my first concern, his happiness comes pretty close behind- as does yours.”

“You’d give up your own happiness for us?” It came out as a cracked whisper, one that had Gladio reaching out to pull him close, tugging Ignis until his face was buried in Gladio’s neck and shoulder.

“I’d do anything for the two of you.”

Something in the sheer honesty of Gladio’s words made Ignis’ mind up for him, and he pulled back just far enough to make sure his words weren’t muffled by Gladio’s skin. “I’m going to turn him down.”

“You sure?” Gladio asked. Pulling back, Ignis cupped Gladio’s face in his hands and smiled, lightly kissing Gladio’s lips.

“I won’t make you watch me date another man that you also have feelings for. Your happiness is as important to me as mine is to you, so this isn’t a loss of anything at all. We can still love Noctis, just not...like that.” Now that the box had been opened, it wouldn’t be easy to put everything away again, but Ignis couldn’t bear to risk hurting Gladio.

Maybe it would have been different if Noctis had been interested in him and Gladio, but the likelihood of that was so obscenely low that it wasn’t worth wishing for. Dating them both while knowing that Gladio loved Noctis felt cruel, and so Ignis was firm in his decision to let Noctis down lightly.

It would probably be awkward for a while, but they would live.

“I’ll talk to him tonight,” Ignis said, briefly kissing Gladio again.

“You want me to help? It’s probably past time we told him about us.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Ignis murmured, letting Gladio pull him closer again and hold him tight. The warmth and comfort of Gladio’s grip, and the love it filled him with, told Ignis that he was making the right decision. Noctis would understand and life would return to normal.

They only pulled apart when the sound of Gladio’s phone ringing disturbed them, Ignis realising just how much time had passed and jumping up from his seat. Gladio stole one last kiss before he answered his phone, and Ignis squeezed his hip as he left the meeting room, letting his gaze linger on Gladio until his feet carried him out of sight.

He was making the right decision.

He was sure of it.

Gladio wasn’t entirely certain how he’d managed to make it through the entire training session without either saying or doing something stupid to Noctis, but it was an almighty relief when he knocked the sword from Noctis’ hand one last time and called an end to their training.

He was proud of himself for doing as he’d promised the Crown, his father and Ignis that he would, and putting Noctis first; that was what helped him believe that he would survive whatever happened.

He was hoping for the best, but he was prepared for the worst.

Still feeling the slightest licks of jealousy that Noctis had chosen Ignis, even though Gladio knew how irrational he was being when Ignis had already chosen him, Gladio watched as Noctis disappeared into the locker room. Sighing and shaking his head, Gladio set about cleaning and returning all of their equipment, trying to get a hold on his emotions.

Maybe he should tell Ignis to take a few more days until making a decision. That would be smart, right? He didn’t want Ignis to start resenting him over the fact that he wasn’t Noctis, or to feel like he’d missed out on a good thing.

He just wanted Ignis to be happy, and if that meant Ignis would be with Noctis instead of with him, then Gladio would hold his head up and protect them both with his life. He loved them both too much to stand in the way of their happiness.

And he could always hang out with Prompto if the other two got to be a bit much.

The sound of a throat clearing pulled Gladio out of his upsetting thoughts, and he turned to see Noctis standing closer than he should have been able to get without Gladio hearing him. He was still in his sweaty workout clothes, but his hands were hidden suspiciously behind his back.

“Hey, Gladio?” Noctis said, and Gladio raised an eyebrow. “I got you something.”

Gladio stared blankly, and Noctis flushed under the weight of it. “Y’know, for Infernian’s Day.”

“You didn’t have to get me something because you got Iggy those fancy chocolates he likes,” Gladio said before he could think better of it. Noctis went wide-eyed, and despite everything all Gladio could notice was how cute the expression made him look.

He knew why Noctis chose Ignis- who wouldn’t choose Ignis- but that didn’t mean he could turn his own confusing feelings off so easily. Life had been better when he could ignore that they existed, really.

“Oh, he told you about that.”

“Yep,” Gladio grunted, and Noctis ran a nervous hand through his hair.

“It’s not an obligation gift. His wasn’t either. I...I thought…”

When Noctis trailed off and didn’t seem too inclined to start up again, Gladio crossed his arms and took over. “Thought you’d throw out a few lines and hope you caught something? Who else did you try?”

“Fishing reference, nice,” Noctis said, although it rang hollow. “Look, it’s not like that. Prompto was getting sick of me whining about you two, and he was all like, ‘You’re the prince, who says you can only have one royal boyfriend or whatever.’”

His brain catching up to his mouth, Noctis somehow managed to flush even harder. “Not that you’re my boyfriends, or that you even want to be, or that I deserve anything just for being the prince, but-”

“Noct,” Gladio said, abruptly stemming the flow of words coming out of Noctis’ mouth. “Give me whatever you’ve got there, go shower, and then we’re gonna go meet Iggy because I think there’s a few things we need to talk about.”

“Is that a positive or negative reaction? You’re so hard to read sometimes.”

“It’s an ‘I’m not discussing this further without all relevant parties present’ reaction. Go shower so you don’t stink out my car.”

“It already stinks, you behemoth,” Noctis shot back, only then seeming to remember the present he was still hiding behind his back. “Oh, right, here you go.”

Darting forward to shove the gift bag into Gladio’s hands, Noctis ran back into the locker room and left Gladio staring after him. It was obvious from the size and weight of the bag that Noctis had gotten him something different to what he’d given Ignis, and the thoughtfulness was honestly touching. Noctis often seemed like he wasn’t paying attention, but he’d remembered both Ignis’ preferred treat and that Gladio didn’t share that particular fondness.

Of course, he reserved the right to change his mind once he actually saw what Noctis had bought for him, but the thought had already counted for a lot.

He really shouldn’t have doubted Noctis, though. Gladio’s laughter rang out through the empty training room once he opened the bag, reaching inside to pull out a large package of protein powder- in chocolate flavour, naturally.

Astrals, the sheer fondness he felt for Noctis helped to wash away the negative feelings from earlier in the day, and Gladio let the gift bag dangle in one hand while he jogged over to grab his phone from where it was sitting beside his water bottle. Hitting his most frequent contact, Gladio couldn’t tear his eyes away from the bag as he waited for the call to connect, his smile getting wider when he heard his boyfriend’s lovely voice on the other end.

“Hey, Iggy? I think we’d better reassess that chat we were going to have with Noct tonight.”

“Oh?” Ignis sounded apprehensive and Gladio couldn’t blame him, but he was quick to dispel Ignis’ worries.

“Turns out you’re not the only one Noct has a thing for.”

“How interesting,” Ignis said, and coming from him it was practically a scream of joy. “You’ll be here soon, then?”

“I’ll bring him over as soon as he’s done showering.”

“I look forward to it,” Ignis said, his voice dropping in the way that always made Gladio’s heart beat a little faster. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Iggy.”

Cutting the call and lowering his phone, Gladio looked from the screen, to the bag in his other hand, and over to where Noctis was stepping out of the locker room, his wet hair leaving damp patches on his shirt.

“Ready to go?” Gladio called, and the shy smile that Noctis gave him in response made him want to take a bunch of photos and send them straight to Ignis. Still, he restrained himself and settled for swinging the gift bag in Noctis’ direction, taking a few quick steps towards him and ruffling his hair. “Thanks for the gift.”

Noctis spluttered a little and barely tried to escape from Gladio, his easy acceptance of the touch leading Gladio to drop a friendly arm over Noctis’ shoulder and lead him towards the exit.