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Ignis was something of a worrier. Even he was willing to admit that, particularly when it came to the people who mattered most to him. So when Gladio’s text messages became decidedly incoherent before they stopped coming in completely, Ignis felt his worry kick itself into high gear. The worry ate at him, colouring his every thought and action as he fumbled around for his key, shoes, and jacket before jetting out the door to his car.
He had a fair idea of where Gladio was out with his Glaive friends from the series of progressively drunker selfies Ignis had received from him over the course of the evening. He barely buckled himself in before speeding off in the direction of the club he hoped Gladio was still in, in whatever state of inebriation he might be. His own safety was taking a complete backseat to his ensuring Gladio’s as he sped through the thankfully empty streets of Insomnia.
He arrived at the club and walked into the hazy, strobe-light lit main room, eyes falling on Gladio almost immediately as he sat, hunched over in a booth next to one of the Glaive Ignis knew well. He rushed over, looking Gladio over for signs of injury. He appeared to merely be very drunk, head in his hands, but appeared conscious and otherwise unharmed.
‘Scientia,’ Crowe Altius nodded at him. ‘I assume you’re the one Glad’s been texting all night?’
‘Indeed,’ Ignis frowned. ‘Gladio, are you alright?’
Gladio’s attention shot up when he heard Ignis’ voice over the thrum of the crowd and music. He looked confused for a moment before laughing humourlessly. ‘I guess I’m drunker than I thought.’
Ignis felt his brow furrow. Gladio had said so few words and made even less sense with them. He looked to Crowe. ‘If you‘d like to join your friends again on the dancefloor, I can handle getting Gladio home. Thank you for staying with him.’
‘Of course! We’ve been taking shifts,’ Crowe laughed. ‘We had to send Libertus home in a cab not too long ago. I thought we’d have to do the same with Glad soon.’
‘Never let him talk you out of calling me over to help him,’ Ignis said quietly. ‘I will be there in a flash.’
Crowe smiled, standing up and stretching out her back. ‘Y’know, I’m seeing why Glad’ll never shut up about you. You’re something special, Scientia. I hope he can convince you to join us next time.’
She left with a smile and a wave, leaving Ignis to sigh and look down at Gladio. He reached out to put a hand to Gladio’s shoulder, pausing when Gladio tensed up completely. ‘Gladio?’
‘You’re really here?’ Gladio looked confused. ‘I thought I imagined you.’
Ignis snorted. ‘I’m sure you have a far better imagination than that. Do you think you’re alright to stand? I’ll take you home.’
Gladio shook his head. ‘I don’t wanna go home. I finally got you to come out.’
Ignis rolled his eyes. ‘I came because I was worried when you abruptly stopped texting me. I think you’ve overdone it slightly with the revelry this evening.’
‘I wouldn’t if you’d come when I invited you,’ Gladio mumbled darkly.
Ignis frowned, hands resting on his hips in annoyance. ‘And just what is that supposed to mean? How controlling is your overindulgence at all up to me?’ Ignis knew it was pointless to argue with a drunk person, but Gladio was being difficult and frankly, Ignis was curious. Gladio wasn’t typically one to overindulge; Ignis wondered what had cause this deviation from the norm.
‘Well how else am I supposed to forget that you won’t ever like me?’
Gladio looked so sad that it broke Ignis’s heart a little. ‘Well, I don’t know where you picked up that ridiculous notion. You are well-liked Gladio, including by me. Now come, let’s get you out of here.’
Ignis was rather strong, but still he struggled with Gladio’s immense weight as he tugged him to his feet. He smiled. ‘There, now let’s get you home.’
‘I can’t, Iggy,’ Gladio shook his head. ‘Iris is having a slumber party and she’ll get mad at me for coming home drunk and bugging them.’
Ignis snorted. ‘That’s a poor excuse for staying out if I’ve ever heard one. What’s really bugging you?’
Gladio shrugged. ‘She and I got into a fight earlier, that’s all. Dad took her side and… well, the worst part is she was right and I can’t deal with any of that right now.’
‘You certainly aren’t in any sort of state for that,’ Ignis agreed. ‘Fine, you can stay with me tonight. Come on, let’s go.’
Gladio allowed Ignis to tug him by the hand through the club, out the door, and into the alleyway towards where Ignis had parked his car, but paused in the shadows there, stopping Ignis from walking abruptly.
‘Gladio? You alright?’
Gladio said nothing, an odd, distant look on his face. Ignis was about to ask if he was alright again, but was cut off from doing so by Gladio spinning them both around, manoeuvring Ignis effortlessly until his back hit the brick wall behind him, a strong arm bracing on the wall on either side of him, trapping him there. Ignis wasn’t sure what he had been expecting when Gladio stopped, but it certainly wasn’t this. It was obvious that his friend was a great deal drunker than even Ignis has realised. ‘Gladio, don’t be ridiculous. You’re drunk. I’m not going to let you do anything you’ll regret tomorrow morning.’
‘That wasn’t a no I don’t want to kiss you though,’ Gladio’s face drew ever closer, making Ignis’ mind go fuzzy at the edges. Gladio reeked of beer for certain, but underneath the bite of hops and alcohol, he still smelled like Gladio, all musky and intoxicating, and Ignis, not for the first time, felt his brain failing him.
He was well-used to Gladio becoming quite the flirtatious fiend when he was drinking, having been dragged to many a pub after work, but this was a level Ignis had never seen before. It would be a lie to say he didn’t like it, or hadn’t dreamt of it countless times, but Ignis was firm in his desire to protect Gladio from himself. He intercepted Gladio’s lips with a single finger, his expression stern.
‘Gladio, I’m serious. You’ll be embarrassed in the morning, and probably quite angry with me for letting you. Besides,’ Ignis smiled softly at the frown behind his index finger. ‘I’m not the type of man who takes advantage of his drunk friends.’
Gladio made a noncommittal noise before doing the absolute last thing Ignis expected. He drew Ignis’ finger into his mouth, giving a hard suck before looking up at Ignis, his expression beyond mischievous. ‘That’s just a teaser.’
Ignis closed his eyes to try and get his thoughts straight. Gladio appeared to take that as an invitation and slotted their lips together, removing any form of thought from Ignis’ mind as it went blissfully blank the second their lips touched.
Sparks were flying all around Ignis’ body, starting from the place their lips met. Butterflies took up flight in his stomach knees threatened to give out from under him when Gladio’s tongue demanded entrance into his mouth. Ignis had imagined what this moment would be like countless times, but the reality blew those imaginary moments completely away. Gladio’s lips were surprisingly soft and silky as they moved against Ignis’, a stark contrast from the rough, calloused hands that made their way to cup Ignis’ cheeks. His tongue was skilled as it explored the inside of Ignis’ mouth, appearing to be taking careful inventory, as though devising a map for itself. The taste of beer mingling with liquor followed the tongue around, jolting Ignis harshly back to reality.
Hand trembling, Ignis placed it in the centre of Gladio’s chest to gently push him away, breaking their lips cruelly apart. ‘Gladio, I can’t do this.’
Gladio looked confused for a moment before frowning. ‘Can’t do what?’
‘I’m not confident in my ability to handle my emotions with you like this,’ Ignis admitted, figuring Gladio was far too drunk to process any of what he was saying anyways. ‘I’ve wanted that to happen for so long, Gladio, you’ve no idea, but not like this. Not simply because you’re drunk and can’t seem to stop flirting when that happens.’
Gladio stared at him for a minute before grinning. ‘I wanted to do that for a long time too, Iggy. I just knew I wouldn’t in the morning because sober me is a coward and couldn’t handle it if you rejected me. But you kissed back.’
Ignis really didn’t think he had the mental capacity to deal with this at the moment. He sighed. ‘Come on, let’s get you to bed so you can sleep this off. We can talk in the morning. I think both of us will be in a better state of mind to do so then.’
Gladio grinned again. ‘Mm, yea, take me home to bed, huh?’
‘To sleep, Gladio,’ Ignis rolled his eyes. ‘And you will be on your best behaviour.’
‘Yea, Iggy,’ Gladio’s voice and expression were both soft. ‘Whatever you want.’
Ignis, unsure if he was making a mistake in doing so, simply smiled and led Gladio to his car. Hoping he could get him home and in bed to sleep this off with minimal incident. He and Gladio had a lot to talk about in the morning.
-
Ignis awoke to the smell of fresh coffee. Groggily, he sat up, the blanket he had grabbed before going to sleep on the sofa in the living room falling into his lap as he did. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around, spying Gladio in the kitchen, readying two mugs for the almost-brewed coffee.
‘Oh hey, morning Iggy,’ Gladio smiled at him when he saw he was awake. ‘I can count the number of times I’ve been up before you on like three fingers. This was a wild morning.’
‘Not even a trace of a hangover,’ Ignis looked him over carefully, honestly a little jealous. ‘You never cease to amaze me, Gladio. You were quite drunk last night.’
‘Yeah, uh, sorry about that,’ Gladio looked away to pour the coffee, but Ignis could see the creeping blush headed up his cheeks. He came to sit next to Ignis, handing him a cup of coffee. ‘Thanks for coming to get me, and for letting me stay here, even after I was kind of a pushy asshole.’
‘So you remember?’ Ignis wasn’t sure if he’d prefer that or if he’d prefer Gladio forgot completely and things would just go completely back to the way they were. He held his breath waiting for Gladio’s answer.
‘Yeah, I’m a pretty lucid drunk, just one lacking a filter or boundaries,’ Gladio gave a harsh laugh. ‘I’m sorry I put you in such a tough spot there, Iggy, but I can’t truthfully say I’m sorry I did it, since you did kiss me back before you just had to be the responsible gentleman.’
Ignis took a sip of coffee to give himself a minute to collect his thoughts. ‘So… you’re saying that wasn’t simply because you’re prone to being a complete flirt when you’re drunk?’
‘I’m a complete flirt all the time, but I dunno if you’ve noticed, but you’re the only one I flirt with when I’m drunk. The lack of filter really leaves the truth of it all right out there. I think I’ve been bad at hiding it sober anyways… that’s what Iris and I were fighting about. She kept telling me I’m a moron for not just telling you how I feel about you. And yeah, she was right, but I wasn’t ready to face her after admitting that, even if just to myself.’
Ignis set his coffee aside and sucked in a deep breath. ‘At risk of completely having misunderstood and about to be dreadfully embarrassed… are you saying you would not object to an attempt at a repeat of last night’s performance in the alleyway?’
Gladio set his own coffee aside with a smile. ‘Yeah, Iggy, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Now get over here so I can kiss you again. And hopefully this time you won’t push me away.’
Ignis practically launched himself across the sofa to crush his lips against Gladio’s, landing in his lap with a huff from the impact. Gladio chuckled against Ignis’ lips and brought his arms up and around him to pull him closer before deepening the kiss, liking the way Ignis completely relaxed into him, pliant in his arms and mouth accepting him eagerly.
They pulled away for air after slightly too long, both gasping a little for breath. Ignis chuckled before smiling brightly. ‘Well, that was certainly a great deal more effective than coffee at waking me up.’
Gladio laughed, reaching up to try and move Ignis’ hair into some semblance of order. ‘I don’t think your hair got the memo. Let’s get dressed and head out for some breakfast. We can call it our first date.’
‘I don’t generally kiss before the date happens, but for you, Gladio, I suppose I’ll make an exception, especially since you charmed me so completely last night,’ Ignis rolled his eyes. ‘I have to say, I’m honestly rather thankful things did happen the way they did. Your inebriated lack of filter has certainly proved helpful.’
‘Ha, yea, thank the gods for my drunk ass.’
‘Indeed. How wonderful that the astrals have blessed us through your lucid inebriation.’