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Damn, he was gawking again.
When Noctis caught himself staring at Ignis’s hands for the third time in the past two days, he knew he had to do something to stop the insanity.
A bit of harmless idle wondering during some downtime at camp had Noctis thinking about how he rarely saw Ignis without gloves during the day. Sure, during Ignis’s studies he didn’t wear them, but that was a long time ago. Night couldn’t count because Noctis usually conked out way before Ignis did and by the time Noctis woke up, the gloves were on. When was the last time Noctis had witnessed the man gloveless? He honestly couldn’t remember.
He didn’t want his memory to stay that way during this long voyage.
Those infernal hands were moving horizontally and Noctis realized Ignis was meandering towards tonight’s fire which was set up on the other side of where Noctis sat. Gladiolus and Prompto were already settled nicely there. Good thing the sky was dark to shield his roaming eyes.
“Hey, Noct! Wanna play charades?” Prompto’s arm-waving broke Noctis’s eternal vigilance on Ignis this evening.
Noctis laughed at Prompto’s choice of game. “Later, ok?”
Later, once Noctis concocted some plans. There had to be a way to get his wish.
The night was his savior and lady luck. Dark was dark and Noctis seized the chance that came with this fact.
Dinner had been Ignis’s choice, some sort of long pasta with a chunky bright red sauce consisting of tomatoes and wholesome diced vegetables which Noctis grudgingly gulped down. He couldn’t get on Ignis’s moody side if he wanted the highest success rate, so no complaining was to be had.
Noctis waited patiently, his new idea plotting in his mind when Ignis loaded his plate with the colorful meal. Normally upon eyeing any green stuff in his meals, Noctis would make some discontent noise or comment negatively. This instance, however, Noctis took the dinner like a champ, smiling ever so sweetly in thanks.
He had to admit, Ignis’s lit face of surprise at Noctis’s willingness to eat his greens was priceless. And pretty damn cute.
Dishes were being stacked on the “queuing table” as Gladiolus sometimes called it, as dinnerware either flew by on it like a conveyor belt line or got heaped on top for someone to clean up.
Noctis had leftover vegetables on his plate —no shock there— but he wanted to use this to his advantage.
So when Noctis got his turn at the table to drop off his finished plate, instead of dropping and running, he casually hung back as Ignis was distracted by wiping down various cooking utensils with a damp cloth.
When Ignis wasn’t paying attention, Noctis deftly flicked a small clump of sauce on Ignis’s immaculate boot.
“Need a drink?” Ignis eventually asked when he noticed Noctis still hanging about. “There’s some Ebony left I wouldn’t mind sharing.” Ignis passed Noctis a short and warm twinkle in his eyes that wobbled Noctis’s knees. A tad bit of guilt of what he secretly did to Ignis did not go unnoticed.
No, no, no, focus on the goal. The goal. Noctis could do it.
“Generous of you. No, I’m good.” Noctis then pointed at his workmanship.
Ignis lifted said foot and rubbed at the spot. Studying his glove, he noted, “Pasta remnants.” Ignis resumed cleaning up, idly running his hand over the cloth he held and not bothering rinsing even though the orange mark was still there on his glove.
“The sauce will set.” Noctis hoped he sounded convincing. “You ought to scrub.”
“A quick rinse later will do fine.”
Later. Which meant not now. Ignis sure didn’t seem to be in a hurry, either, if the leisurely rate he was cleaning barbecue tools was any indication.
Noctis couldn’t believe his luck. The gang had slain an impressive number of beasties over the next day and raked in great loot. Sometimes, they couldn’t scrounge up decent enough fangs for a real cookout.
The spoils were always a welcome sight. Prompto made sure to let everyone know it as he essentially danced in excitement.
Another welcome sight were the spots of blood spread along the top of Ignis’s glove which did not come from an injury.
“Oh, looks like you picked up some blood during our monster hunts today.” Noctis tried to sound as casual as he could while anticipating the long-awaited reveal.
Ignis frowned at this unfortunate smudge. “Damn. I had just cleaned these, too.”
“Really?” Shame Noctis missed out on that show. When was this?
Gods, he was losing it.
“Well, once we reach camp, I’ll set about with the cleaning once more.”
As morning had peaked shortly before, setting up base wouldn’t happen until hours later.
“Uh, won’t the blood not wash out if you leave it for so long?”
Ignis smiled at his marred glove, a strange dichotomy. “These should be fine. They’re quite resilient.” Then he added a little more loudly, “Even unintended gravy comes out.”
“Hey, it wasn’t my fault,” came Prompto’s cheery claim. Gladiolus snickered.
So the guys went on searching for their next battle. Noctis resisted a letdown sigh.
Noctis couldn’t believe he was about to do it. Desperate times needed drastic actions. He was willing, but he didn’t have to like it.
Birdsong filled the air. A stiff breeze felt so comfortable, everyone had chosen to take a short break. Noctis had taken up a non-bumpy patch of grass to sit and relax.
He was glad the others were occupied with their alone time, as he couldn’t have witnesses for this abhorrent act.
The innocent and unsuspecting fly that landed on the side of his mug would meet a grim end, but for a good cause.
Noctis quickly pushed over his mug, effectively smashing said fly into the grass. Its innards smeared the mug’s shining metallic surface, along with some mud granules. Noctis grimaced. Disgusting.
He tapped the mug’s base on the ground until the smooshed fly fell off, leaving its drying ooze as its only sign of former life.
Dredging up courage, Noctis straightened his expression and with the far tips of his fingers, he plucked at the handle of the mug, keeping his hand farthest away from that gross stuff. This would only be for a minute.
He stood and walked over to Ignis, where his face re-enacted his disgust just a moment before. Not that he had to put much effort into it. Noctis figured he could get Ignis to wash the mug for him, maybe forcing Ignis to not ruin his gloves with all that water…
“Iggy, look at what happened. One of the other guys must’ve had too much fun with my cup.” Noctis injected a little extra frown as he looked at Ignis.
Ignis raised his eyes from the traveler’s magazine he was reading. Upon spotting the nasty stain, he also made a small face.
“Likely Prompto. What a troublemaker.” Ignis set down his magazine.
“Yeah. So, uh, could you rinse this?”
“Fair enough. You should remove any excess dirt for easier cleaning.”
To Noctis’s horror, Ignis reached out with his pristine silver-colored gloves and swept his palm over the flecks of dirt sticking to the bug guts. Dark bits stained the underside of his glove.
What the hell was Noctis doing, making Ignis touch such a vile thing? He hadn’t expected Ignis to go after his cup like that! Noctis immediately pulled his mug away from Ignis’s grasp.
Ignis raised a brow in confusion. “What is it?”
Noctis wanted to apologize, over and over. Instead, he cleared his throat. “N-Nothing. I just got your glove dirty.” Score!
Ignis saw what Noctis meant, peering at his hand. “Oh, the mark is wet. I thought it had already dried.” He rose from his folding chair and headed for a flagon.
“You should soak those!” Noctis insisted, trailing after Ignis. Ignis’s health was at risk!
Ignis let out a chuckle as he popped the lid off with his clean hand. “No worries. It’s not a big mark.”
Forlornly, Noctis watched the stream of heavenly clean liquid cascade over Ignis’s dirtied palm, unsure if he was disappointed for not getting the result he wanted or for subjecting an unknown Ignis to such nasty goop.
Then Ignis was in front of him again and reaching out for Noctis’s sullied mug. “Now, let’s rinse this, shall we?”
Noctis had to blow off his frustrations on some game and since he wasn’t planning to take on hoards of beasties, he took his opportunity for chilling out alone when the group next pitched tent for camp.
The clear sky gave great visibility on the field and everyone else took advantage of the bright lighting too; Ignis attempted to conjure up some tasty new flavored drink mixes he had just bought and Prompto was practicing his photo-snapping with a not-so-eager but willing model that was Gladiolus.
Amped to head out into battle alone, something he hadn’t done for a while, Noctis quickly left.
Noctis only had to walk for a few minutes out into the grassy and slightly rocky plains before spying easy enough enemies to fight. Sabertusks were plentiful in this area so there was Noctis’s target, a lone Sabertusk gnawing on some weeds.
Summoning his sword, Noctis then immediately warped to the right spot. The orange, wolf-like creature caught sight of him almost right away and snapped sharp teeth at Noctis.
The Sabertusk howled once, a long and high wail before lunging at Noctis’s weapon arm.
Noctis spun away, pirouetting to the left and slashing out in a wide arc aimed at the Sabertusk’s neck. The nimble beast dodged and turned to leap at Noctis again, but Noctis’s blade was already whipping through the air and it drew a deep scratch along the Sabertusk’s side.
Noctis was doing great against this one Sabertusk and hell, even as two of its buddies joined the fray, the fighting got pretty exciting as Noctis flipped and razed his way for his heart to pump.
It wasn’t until two more Sabertusks joined in on the fighting fun that Noctis understood he was in over his head and needed backup.
Of course, none was forthcoming as he hadn’t told anyone where he went.
Breathing heavily, Noctis surveyed his surroundings. He downed two of them already and though there were only three Sabertusks left, their agility and ferociousness was starting to wear him down.
Man, group fights really were a godsend. Noctis could clearly understand that now.
His admiration about teamwork cut short when a pair of jaws clacked near his right shin. Noctis drew up his foot to avoid becoming chomped on. When his foot settled back down, he unexpectedly felt himself teetering and the sharp twist of his heel sent him flying back.
An unforgivingly solid surface smacked the base of his skull and colored lights flashed across Noctis’s vision.
His head whirled. Man, that rock packed a punch without trying.
Amidst all the hungry snarls around him, Noctis pulled off a vicious snarl of his own as he forced his arms to swing his blade to keep the Sabertusks at bay. His actions felt like they came from a puppet and not from his volition.
Disorientation was fogging his battle tactics. He didn’t want to and yet his eyes were closing.
What was that voice in his head saying? His muddled thoughts were crawling in confusion as Sabertusks circled him, their growls increasing in pitch and frequency.
Noctis couldn’t be sure if he passed right out because he thought his arms were still swinging his weapon. Were they? All he saw was a haze of gray and mashed hues.
...ct. You all right?
Noctis groaned, his eyes rolling up. His brain spoke again.
Stay with me. You’re not passing out here. Noct!
Solid warmth pressed on the side of his neck. It stayed there for a couple seconds, maybe longer, before trailing up to his chin. This time, the warmth lingered. Gentle, yet insistent.
It slowly dawned on Noctis a familiar hand was urging him to remain conscious.
His eyes cracked open and Ignis was kneeling there beside him, his arm outstretched to his face.
Relief suffused Ignis’s expression when he saw Noctis stir. “Goodness, you know how to scare me.”
“I aim to be dramatic.” Noctis’s voice wobbled and he took a moment to gain his bearings. Ignis hadn’t released him and he smiled at how nice his touch felt. He didn’t feel any antagonistic presences around them, but he still attempted to look from his lying position. “Are those things…?”
“Terminated. I wasn’t about to let them go after what they did to you.” Lightly, Ignis stroked Noctis’s cheek with his thumb.
Noctis had grown used to the merge of leather and skin from Ignis whenever they made contact. Though the buttery fabric was supple, the gloves did have ridges which couldn’t be avoided.
A lopsided smile began spreading over Noctis at the smoothness of unrestricted warm skin on skin.
Ignis’s glove lay on his bent knee.
“Something the matter?” Ignis asked as Noctis sat up, relinquishing his touch.
“No, no, not at all.” With his heart suddenly thundering in his chest, Noctis couldn’t answer anything else. Ignis’s eyes had become rich, deep jade pools.
“Good. I didn’t want to misinterpret what you wanted.”
“Whatever do you mean?” Noctis tried his hardest not to stare at the peach tone of Ignis’s exposed hand which rested on his thigh. It was so bright, too bright against the ebony.
“Let’s say you’re lucky I don’t mind you being rude by staring.” A curl made its way to the corner of Ignis’s mouth.
“I wasn’t-“ Noctis sputtered, hating that his face was burning.
Ignis’s bare fingers wiggled. Noctis inadvertently flicked his gaze downwards before he realized what he did. His advisor’s grin merely grew.
“I had wondered what preoccupied you lately. I’m delighted to reach my answer.”
Ignis chuckled as Noctis grumbled while rising to dust off his clothes, “Yeah, yeah, yuk it up, Speccy.”
Following suit, Ignis straightened, grasping his glove. He folded it and slid it into his back pants pocket. “I think I will.” But he instead quieted. Silently, he held out his open gloveless palm towards Noctis. Assured, trusting.
“You’ve worked so hard for exclusive access. Unless… you don’t want to?” Ignis spoke his question knowingly, with great smirking, almost daring Noctis to refuse.
Noctis accepted the invite, letting loose with a smile of his own at the eager way Ignis curled his fingers around his. “Be careful what you’re offering.”
-THE END-