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Exuberant child Noctis quietly swung shut one of many doors of the palace that led outdoors to the gardens, taking a breather while hoping to have lost Ignis on his tail. Well, more like wishing to lose the thing Ignis was holding on to.
Noctis’s partner-in-crime had reluctantly gone along with a secret picnic of only sweet and delicious snacks when at the end of their munching did Ignis brandish a small, clear bag of lame carrot sticks.
What started off as Ignis’s request to eat turned into a full-blow chase, filled with laughter and name-calling, mostly on Noctis’s side.
“There you are!” came Ignis voice from an adjacent window, one in a row that spanned the walkway Noctis stood in.
Noctis yelped and resumed his run down the outer corridor as Ignis picked up his speed to round the bend and reach the door Noctis had opened to catch up with his vegetable-fleeing friend.
Noctis’s sneaker-clad footfalls resounded off the path as he jogged. He was getting tired, but was determined to not eat those horrible orange sticks.
He could use all the help he could get. “Cor!”
Ahead of him, the walking Crownsguard marshal spotted Noctis and nodded in greeting.
Reaching Cor, a winded Noctis bent over with his hands on his knees. “Ya gotta help me.”
Cor tensed at hearing Noctis’s plea. “What’s the matter? Are you hurt?”
Noctis shook his head. “Iggy is coming after me.”
“…with sharp carrots,” Cor noted dubiously with a tiny smirk, his body relaxing as he watched Ignis rapidly approaching them with the bite-size, rounded carrots bouncing in the bag.
Ignis skidded to a halt in front of Cor, bowing respectfully straight away. “Marshal! Good day, sir.”
“Ignis.” Cor inclined his head. “I see you’re doing your best to persuade the prince to eat healthy.”
“My success has been dismal at best,” Ignis replied between catching his own breaths.
“Continue at it. I’m sure you’ll see better outcomes.” Cor glanced down at the short Noctis who had hidden behind him.
Noctis hugged one of Cor’s long legs and stuck his tongue out at Ignis. “You’re not getting me, Iggy! I’ll have Cor beat you up if you’re mean!”
Cor sighed. “I certainly will not.”
Ignis spoke softly, “Noct, don’t rope the Marshal to ‘beat me up’ on your behalf. All I ask is you finish these. There aren’t many.” Ignis wiggled the carrots in both his hands.
“You eat ‘em!” Noctis harrumphed and shot off again in the direction Cor had come from.
Ignis groaned and their chase was on once more. Noctis had gotten a great head start when he heard Ignis suddenly whine. Noctis spun around to find his dear friend clutching his stomach.
“Iggy!” Noctis rushed back to Ignis, panicking. “Iggy, what’s the matter?”
Ignis’s face pinched with pain for a moment and he tried to smile. “It’s just a cramp. Let’s slow down for a while, ok?”
Noctis nodded, feeling guilty for making Ignis sprint after him for so long. They stood there, Noctis wanting to wait without moving until Ignis felt better.
Ignis, breathing slower to not aggravate his cramp, complimented Noctis, “The ways you escaped were clever. Perhaps later we-“
Noctis cut off Ignis by snatching the crumpled plastic sack in his grasp. Noctis plunged his hand in, seized a carrot stick and shoved in his mouth.
Despite his discomfort, Ignis began to grin and seemed pleased. As Noctis kept shoveling boring carrots and chewing and scrunching his face in disgust, the satisfaction on Ignis’s face continued to grow. Slowly, the bag emptied.
Ignis beamed. Eventually, when the taste of carrot went away in his mouth, so did Noctis.