#lignis

“I just don’t get it!” Lightning yelled not for the first time. “How come I’m considered one of the worst Final Fantasy protagonists, but you as a side character are one of the most beloved characters of the game!’

“Well you did respond to the news of your sister’s engagement with ‘worst birthday ever’ if I recall correctly” Ignis replied taking a sip from his ebony.

“You would have said the same thing if Noctis had come into your home one day, told you he was going to be absorbed by the crystal, oh, and was also marrying Snow Villars. Fucking, Snow Villars.” Ignis chuckled in slight agreement. “Besides, by the end of the game I was way less of a bitch, I could be downright pleasant in the second game.” Lightning said, trying to defend herself

Without missing a beat, Ignis retorted with: “You’re always a joy to be around love.” Lightning gave him an annoyed look and he winked at her before returning to his ebony. After his sip he spoke again:

“They really didn’t do you any favours by taking your emotions away in the third game.”  He said nonchalantly. Lightning groaned knowing there was a fair amount of truth to that statement. Ignis sighed, took a step towards Lightning, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder while leaning his head towards her’s.

“I’m sure if you were released in a game today, you would have all sorts of fans praising your standoffish personality as being ‘badass’ as Prompto would put it.” Ignis’ tone was comforting, and as much as Lightning appreciated that she was still having none of it. Lightning let out an annoyed grunt.

“Why couldn’t I have been a bratty princess who learns about responsibility and how to be a king? People love that stuff.” Lightning pondered half seriously. Now it was Ignis’ turn to grimace.

“Darling please, I have to deal with one Noctis in my life, I don’t need another one.” that remark did manage to get a chuckle out of Lightning, who felt that most of her displeasure was out of her system after venting.

“Fine, I’ll try and live with not being popular on the internet. Just don’t let the fan adoration go to your head ok?” she headbutted him softly.

Ignis smiled at her. “If you think this is bad, just wait until they actually release Kingdom Hearts III and see how much love Sora will get.”

“That’s different though.” Lightning cut in. “Sora is a cinnamon roll, who deserves all the love he gets. All his weird headmates, minus Vanitas, too.” Lightning finished, assuredly smiling as she nodded her head.

“And I don’t?” Questioned a slightly offended Ignis. Lightning shrugged.

Lightning loves Ignis, she really does. Really what wasn’t there to love? He was dignified, charming, cared about others, the list went on really. With all that being said she couldn’t shake the feeling of embarrassment when one minute they were grocery shopping and the next minute Ignis was yelling: “That’s it! I’ve come up with a new recipe!” because he thought of something while checking a tomato. It was one thing when they were in their early 20s and still had habits from younger years that had yet to be outgrown, but the two of them were in their 30s and Ignis was still celebrating the creation of a new recipe with the same cry of victory.

After a particularly loud outburst in the park earlier that day, Lightning decided to confront him. Despite the glare she was giving him throughout her whole argument, once she was done Ignis had the audacity to smile at her in an amused way, before replying.

“Since it bothers you, I’ll try to refrain myself when we’re not surrounded by friends or alone, But we both know you like it” he managed to wink at her after talking. Which was quite a feat considering everything.

“Ignis, you don’t understand.” Lightning huffed “what if when we have a kid, they hear you going ‘That’s it! I’ve come up with a new recipeh’  then starts mimicking you, then they start saying it around their peers, who see them as a huge dork, and they beat him up because kids are cruel-”

“you’ve thought about children?”

This stopped Lightning’s rant right in its tracks. “It’s just that...” Lightning looked down. “Serah and Prince Noctis are gone and I just feel lost I guess. I thought it would be nice to have someone to look after again.” she confessed. Ignis put a comforting arm around her.

“You know it wouldn’t be the same.” Ignis said quietly, previous smile gone from his face. Memories and thoughts of what he could have done differently flooded through his mind as they had many times before. Lightning’s mind was in a similar place and she nodded sadly.

“I know” The two of them sat in silence for a long time before Ignis spoke again, more to avoid them both getting even more lost in thought than to get any point across.

“Noct, would be disappointed to be honest. If his niece or nephew didn’t scream ‘recipeh’ at the top of their lungs whenever they were excited.” a small smile crept onto Ignis’ face as he imagined his old friend’s reaction. “He would probably try to pass a law to make it illegal to bully them, just so you wouldn’t be concerned and he could give me a hard time.”

“Yeah, Serah would probably gush over how cute they were when they were. Hell, she’d give them a chef’s hat to encourage them to keep doing it.” Lightning added, the corners of her mouth twitching despite herself.

“You have to admit, you would like it too. I’m a little jealous that I would only ever get to hear it and not see it.” a small laugh escaped from Ignis’ mouth. “Hm ‘wecipeh’”

“No, our kid will definitely be able to pronounce their R’s. It’ll be ‘recipeh’ for sure” Lightning chided, but was grinning all the same.

“So you admit you like the it then.” Ignis asked, raising an eyebrow at her.