#gladnis

"Oh no, you walked into that one," Noctis chuckles. "Reap what you sow, Prompto."

Ignis steps out of the shower and sets to his multistep skincare routine. Cleanser, toner, antioxidant, eye cream, moisturizer, and sunscreen, one by one. Finally, he drops in the medicated eye drops that Lunafreya sends to him monthly from Tenebrae to combat the side effects of his magic. As he drips a drop into each eye and waits for the telltale sting to abate, he thinks about Gladio's frustration the day before. The surprise that he was kept so far out of the loop about Ignis' condition. It wasn't a decision that Ignis made easily, nor one he made with malicious intent. He just… didn't want Gladio to worry about him. Gladio already has so much to worry about. He carries so much for Noctis and Iris, that adding Ignis' issues onto the pile feels unfair.

"Ig—" Gladio stops. He takes in a deep breath and holds. Gladio falls back into the passenger seat of the Regalia and runs a hand through his meticulously styled hair. He takes in a few more breaths, his torrent of emotions slowly settling. "Compass acquired. Would you like to explain, or shall I take a guess?" he asks instead, his tone calmer than before.

Something about Ardyn Lucis Caelum seems to terrify Gladio. To a degree, Ignis understands. Ardyn is nothing if not menacing. Or perhaps it's more accurate to call him a menace, in accordance with his family name. On one hand, he's highly intelligent, witty, and sarcastic. On the other, he's manipulative, petty, vengeful, unafraid to use people's connections to their disadvantage, and Six help anyone who finds their way to his bad side. With all that in mind, Ignis doesn't think he's anywhere as horrible as Gladio thinks he is. After all… a lot of the things that people say about Ardyn can be said about Ignis, too. People have called him pretentious, vengeful, and sometimes even petty when he dresses people down for causing any of his loved ones undue anguish. He knows he's intelligent, and he's definitely equipped with more than his fair share of sarcasm. Perhaps that's why Ardyn seems to carry a soft spot for Ignis. Their similarities, for better or worse. Of course, this all begs the question: if Ardyn terrifies Gladio so much… why doesn't Ignis? Or maybe he does.

It goes against Gladio's better nature to leave Noctis alone with a relative stranger. While, yes, he may be aware <i>of</i> Prompto, he doesn't exactly know <i>who</i> this kid actually is. And while he may be scrawny and flightier than a baby chocobo who just learned to run, Gladio knows better than to judge a book by its cover.  Danger lurks around every corner of Insomnia, especially for those born in the Lucis Caelum family.

Just half a mile to go until he gets his mandatory five miles. Which is good, because his legs are starting to tingle just a little. He slows to a jog as he approaches Libra, the restaurant on the main drag. It opened a handful of years ago, and it looks really nice. It always smells so good whenever he passes by, but Prompto has never really been able to justify going inside. He's always by himself, and who the heck goes into a sit-down restaurant alone? Losers, that's who. Lonely losers with no friends, no family, and no one to invite out but a seventy-seven-year-old man and his granddaughter who would sooner spend all her time tinkering in the garage than go anywhere else in the city.

This bad boy is finally heree!!!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE