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The sun was just going down over the trees in the far distance, its steadily disappearing light glinting off of the lanterns that surrounded the little campsite. Tucked cozily into a clearing beside a wooded area, four figures were finishing off the last on their plates, gathered at a collapsible table beside a warm bonfire.
“Delicious as always, Iggy,” Noctis said while Gladio huffed to his feet and began collecting the plates.
“Thank you Noct.” Ignis got up to help him clear the table as usual but Prompto hopped up from his own seat and stopped him in his tracks, Gladio stepping in and doing it instead. Ignis raised an eyebrow at the sudden action. “Is something the matter Prompto?”
Prompto shook his head, face and voice aloof. “Oh no nothing’s wrong, but weren’t you planning on going grocery shopping after dinner?”
“Well yes, but the table needs to be cleaned and packed up first.” Ignis adjusted his glasses with his finger. “Would you mind letting me do that first?”
“Noct and I will take care of it,” Gladio quickly intervened, already holding the dishes from dinner and gathering them in a box to be taken and cleaned.
“Go ahead and take the Regalia and go to the market, do whatever you need to do. We’ll handle the cleaning and stuff.” Still in his seat, Noctis waved a hand, casual, just barely too much so.
“I’ll go with you Iggy!” Prompto said smiling. “If you have a shopping list I can help you get stuff and carry bags.”
Ignis raised an eyebrow in suspicion and looked between all three of them. “Well this is unusual. What are you all up to?”
“No idea what you’re talking about,” Noctis said. “Just thought we’d help out for once is all.” He tossed the keys to the Regalia over the table where they could be easily snagged out of the air by Ignis.
Gladio kissed Ignis’s cheek, smiling when he saw Ignis try and hide the way he blushed by adjusting his glasses again. He supposed that affection in front of others was still new. “Hurry back so we can get some planning in before it’s too late.”
“Very well,” Ignis cleared his throat, attempting to regain some composure and headed towards the Regalia with Prompto on his heels. He paused just in the driver’s seat. “Are you sure you’ll both be alright with cleaning?”
“Positive,” Gladio said.
“Oh no, two grown ass adult men have to clean for themselves without their glorified nanny around,” Noctis joked finally standing and closing up the grill. “Go do the shopping, mom.”
“If you say so.” Ignis chuckled and got into the car glancing at Prompto before starting it. “Prompto if there’s something going on I’d very much like for you to tell me before we leave.”
“Relax Iggy,” Prompto said. “Nothing’s going on, trust me.”
Ignis sighed in defeat but said nothing more as he pulled away from the campsite. The prince and shield continued their facade as long as they heard the engine, but as soon as it was out of sight, Gladio had his cell phone out, rapidly dialing a number and waiting for Iris to answer. She picked up almost immediately. “Has he left yet?” she asked.
“Yeah, coast is clear. You can come out now. Got everything?”
“Yep!” Iris appeared out of the wooded area around them from where she had supposedly been hiding for some time (based on the number of leaves in her hair), holding a rectangular box and carrying a bag on each arm. “Everything’s here. I went with chocolate because I wasn’t sure what his favorite flavor was, and Cindy insisted you can’t go wrong with it.” she gestured to the box.
“Nice going sis,” Gladio said, his phone now stored back in his pocket. Noctis helped Iris take the bags and took out the party decorations and table cover, quickly decorating their little plastic campsite for a party. Gladio helped Iris set the box down in the middle of the table and lifted the lid off to check on the cake, two layers and hand made by the only friend they knew could also bake. ‘Happy Birthday Ignis’ was written across it in dark chocolate icing, along with dark chocolate hearts on both sides of his name. “It looks perfect. Cindy did a great job. Is uh… where’s the… where’s his piece?”
“Right there!” Iris eagerly pointed to the corner of the second layer that had Ignis’s name and the chocolate hearts.
“You’re the best Iris,” Gladio grinned and scooped her into a one armed hug.
“Aw it was nothing,” Iris said smiling back at him. “Anything for you guys.”
Gladio ruffled her hair affectionately. “Go ahead and eat, we still have plenty of leftovers.”
“Thanks Gladdy!” Iris danced off to where the grill sat, their latest kill still warm, and skewered a piece to char in the fire while Gladio and Noctis got to work cleaning the dishes from dinner and decorating the table with paper plates and a few cheesy ‘happy birthday’ printed streamers.
Noctis started digging through one of the bags to get a paper crown and put it on his head, face deadpan. “Let’s throw Iggy the best surprise party of his life.”
“Way ahead of you.” Gladio was getting the candles out of the other bag and placing them neatly into the cake while Noctis put up other colorful items around the clearing. Moments later, Iris finished off her own food and assisted.
While they spiced up (pun intended) their campsite, Noctis kept in close contact with Prompto, the poorest choice for their distraction as they had seen earlier, to make sure they still had plenty of time.
An hour or so later, the whole place looked like a real celebration. Their lanterns had been covered by colored paper to give the place a cheerful glow and they’d even pinned a few balloons to the corners of the table. The three admired their work with satisfied grins.
“Now all we have left to do is tell Prompto we’re ready,” Gladio said.
“Already texted him,” Noctis confirmed. “They should be here soon. Nervous?”
“Excited.” Gladio folded his arms an obvious poker face keeping his nerves out of his image. “This will be fun.” There were a couple of expressions on Ignis’s face he was pretty excited to see. For some reason, he didn’t think the guy had ever had a surprise party before.
~*~
Prompto followed Ignis to the check-out line, fidgeting nervously with his hands while trying to find any excuse to hold Ignis back, even if it was just for a few more minutes. “Are you sure we have everything Iggy? I keep thinking there’s something we’re forgetting.”
“I assure you we have everything,” Ignis said, already putting the items on the conveyor belt. “We’ve been here for an hour and double-checked everything by now, what more could we possibly need?”
Prompto bit his lip, ready to stage an accident at the cost of his own dignity before he felt his phone go off in his pocket. He checked the message while Ignis wasn’t paying attention and released a breath of relief at Noct’s message. “You’re right, I guess I really am worrying too much.” He typed back that they’d be there soon and tucked his phone away.
“This isn’t like you, you aren’t one to waste your worries on mundane things.” Ignis eyed him again, still suspicious since they’d left.
“I dunno, guess I’m just out of it today or something.” Prompto chuckled.
He hurried to the other end of the conveyor belt to help grab the grocery bags while Ignis paid, then let him grab the rest and followed him back out to the car to load the groceries inside. Prompto was nearly bouncing with excitement, but really did his best to keep it contained. He hoped his excuse about being out of it would deter Ignis from noticing.
Finally they were on the road back to the site, Prompto still giving updates to Noctis and Gladio as they neared the spot. Ignis parked just outside of view, luckily not noticing the lights between the trees as anything out of the ordinary.
Ignis parked and reached for the groceries before Prompto, once again, stopped his hand.
“Wait, there’s something I wanna show you real quick Iggy. The groceries can wait but you gotta close your eyes for now.”
Irritated, Ignis sat back. “What’s this all about Prompto?”
Prompto could barely contain the grin on his face as he took Ignis by the arm. “You’ll see, just close your eyes.”
“And why must I close my eyes?” he demanded, stepping out of the car and obeying anyway.
“Just trust me!”
“Oh alright.” Ignis sighed and felt the air in front of his face stir with Prompto waving his hand to make sure he wasn’t peeking. He folded his arms and allowed himself to be pulled along by the elbow, luckily not tripping over anything and assuming Prompto had courteously cleared the path for him.
Prompto took him to the center of the campsite and positioned him to be facing towards everyone before he let go of his arms and went to join the others. “Alright you can open your eyes now.”
Ignis did as he was instructed and was met with the sight of confetti poppers being blasted and all of the decorations that had been set up just for him. “SURPRISE!” the group cheered in unison, greeting him with excited and happy smiles as Iris snatched the paper crown off Noctis’s head and plopped it down on the advisor’s instead. “Happy birthday Iggy!”
He stared around at the decorations, the cake, then finally at the people, face frozen and clearly at a loss for words. He blinked several times, before a smile tugged at his mouth and finally unfolding his arms. “You all planned this for me?”
“Yep, all for you Iggy,” Gladio said, taking his hand and lifting it to his lips.
Ignis couldn’t help but smile, somewhat overwhelmed and unsure how to react other than to look back at them all. “How long have you all been planning this?”
“Nah, this was all Gladio’s idea,” Prompto said. “We got in on it a week ago.”
He looked at Gladio, still somewhat shaken by the situation. “I don’t know what to say..”
“You don’t have to say anything babe,” Gladio said and sat him down at the table in front of the cake. “It’s your party! Enjoy yourself!”
“Yeah, let’s get this party started!” Noctis grinned, supported by a cheer from Prompto at his shoulder.
“Hurry Iggy, that cake looks fantastic and Cindy wouldn’t let me try the batter!” Iris urged.
Ignis adjusted the silly paper hat she had crammed on his head and once again fiddled with his glasses while composing his face. “Thank you, all of you.” He took a deep breath and blew out the candles of the cake. .
Iris collected all of them into a pile on the table before handing everyone plates and forks. “You get the first slice!” she grinned at Ignis.
“I’ll get it for you,” Gladio quickly took Ignis’s plate and sliced into the cake, getting the piece bearing his name and a few decorative hearts and returning his plate to him.
Ignis let out a small laugh and picked up a plastic fork. “It feels strange being the one catered to for once. I can’t say I oppose to it though.”
“Well maybe it’s something you can get used to from now on.” Gladio plopped down beside him and captured his lips in a kiss.
Ignis returned his kiss, not noticing that everyone was standing around and watching in anticipation instead of getting a piece for themselves. He pulled his cake in half with his fork and paused when he heard a solid object clash onto his plate from inside of his cake. He finished cutting it in half and pulled the piece apart to inspect it, eyebrows furrowed before registering the silvery band that sat on the plate.
He picked it up and dusted the cake crumbs off of it, staring wordlessly at the simple silver ring, three tiny diamonds in the circle with engravings around them. Words once again escaped him as he watched Gladio lower himself to one knee on the ground. Ignis’s eyes widened, then darted around at the scene he found himself a part of.
“Gladio? I… What?” he found himself barely able to form a coherent thought or sentence, but all of his attention had shifted to Gladio, kneeling before him with the most endearing and sincere look etched into his face, as clear as the scars.
“Ignis Scientia, for years I’ve loved you more than words alone can express, which is great because I’m pretty bad with words, but I’d be the happiest man in the world if I could be by your side forever.” Gladio took Ignis’s hands into his own at the wrist so he still held the ring. “Will you marry me?”
Ignis had to remind himself to breathe after Gladio was finished talking but he was no longer fighting the wave of emotions. He’d started crying some minutes ago and hadn’t even noticed. With a sob, he pushed himself out of his chair and onto the ground with Gladio, tugging him into a hug that was both parts affection and hiding his face from the now cheering witnesses. “Yes! I- Yes of course! I can’t- ... I’d be more than happy to be wed to you.”
Gladio held Ignis in his arms while a fresh wave of confetti rained down on them from the other party guests. Gladio let go only to remove Ignis’s glove and slide the ring on his finger, then went right back to their kiss from before. This time with a bit more enthusiasm on Ignis’s part.
Ignis looked at Gladio with a smile he believed could rival the sun as he wiped away his tears with his free hand. “Well this is surely quite the birthday present.”
Gladio grinned playfully and peppered his face with kisses. “I’m gonna make you say those exact words again every year for the rest of your life, Ig.”
“Get a room!” Noctis called from his own seat.
Ignoring him, Ignis just pulled Gladio closer again. “I’ll look forward to that.” After another moment, he wiped his face again and leaned away enough to stand up from the ground. “I wouldn’t want this cake to go to waste, and I believe we’ve kept you all waiting long enough.”
“Are you kidding me? That was the highlight of the night!” Prompto exclaimed. “Do you know how long we’ve been waiting for this? We’ve been placing bets for years on who’d propose first.”
“As if either of you dunces had the spine to do it.” Gladio japed, digging into his own slice of cake.
“We did too!” Prompto retaliated, mouth full of food. “But now I owe Noct twenty bucks.”
“Told you,” Noctis grinned victoriously pulling a piece onto his plate.
“Were you all in on this? Or was it just the party you assisted with?” Ignis glanced at them each in turn.
“I knew!” Iris beamed, licking icing off her fingers.
“Sounds to me like Prompto didn’t think I’d actually do it though, which we will talk about later. But yeah, they all knew the plan too.”
The rest of the night was filled with banter and laughter, enjoying their company and celebrating both Ignis’s birthday and engagement. Ignis wore the ring proudly and found himself laughing and smiling more than he could recall ever doing so in one evening. He was… happy, so glad to have his now fiancée at his side and little family surrounding him while they stayed up late enjoying the surprise party. Everything was as it should be.