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When they'd first arrived in Altissia, Ignis had rather enjoyed traveling by gondola. It was a pleasant and leisurely way to see the city.
Upon their departure from the First Secretary's Estate he discovered that riding a gondola without the benefit of sight was neither enjoyable nor relaxing. He needed help to get in. He needed help to keep his balance. He needed help to get seated. He spent the entire ride clutching his seat, hopelessly disoriented, and when it was finally over, he needed help to get back out again.
The royal vessel was even worse: louder, faster, and accompanied by the profoundly unsettling knowledge that they were miles away from land. Were he to fall overboard, he would have no way of knowing the distance or direction to the nearest shore.
He passed the time by clinging to his seat, remaining very still, and concentrating on his breathing.
Noct sat next to him, making idle, somewhat awkward conversation with the Lady Lunafreya, and pausing occasionally to ask if Ignis was alright. Then ignoring Ignis's admittedly dishonest answers. Prompto continually came to their rescue by distracting them all, to varying degrees of success, with a steady stream of curious questions and amusing anecdotes.
Gladio, usually all too happy to get to know someone new, sat off by himself, somewhere near the stern.
Hours into the voyage, somewhere under the rush of wind and waves and the clicking of Prompto's camera, Ignis became aware of a steady beeping, gradually increasing in frequency.
"What is that noise?" he finally asked, dearly hoping it was some sort of navigation equipment and not a Magitek explosive device with a timed detonator. Or a warning that they were running out of fuel.
"That'd be the fish finder," Master Cid said carelessly.
Noct, lounging next to Ignis, abruptly sat up. "The what?"
"Damn thing ain't quit caterwaulin' since y'all pissed off Leviathan. That old sea snake must've stirred up every fish from here to hell and back." There was the sound of Noct's hurried footsteps, and then, "Boy, don't you know not to sneak up on a man when he's driving?"
"What kind of fish?" Noct asked, voice hushed with excitement. "Are there a lot? Are they big?"
"The hell should I know?" Cid griped. The fish finder was positively shrieking, now. "Ahh, shut it." There was a thump that put a stop to the beeping. Hopefully he'd turned the device off, rather than destroying it.
"Stop the boat," Noct ordered, just this once sounding positively majestic.
"Oh, fer cryin' out loud," Cid protested, cutting the engines.
There was the sound of the anchor chain rattling, and the distinctive noise of Noct jumping up onto the deck, followed by the low rush of his reaching into the armiger, no doubt for his rod and tackle.
Lady Lunafreya asked, "Does Noctis fish?"
Prompto let out a single, sharp laugh. "I'm not sure there's a word strong enough for how Noct feels about fishing. I once saw him do it for nine hours. In the rain. Without taking a nap."
Ignis cleared his throat. "Noctis is quite the accomplished angler. How do you feel about fresh fish for dinner, Your Highness?"
"It sounds lovely," she said. Ignis was incredibly relieved and only slightly disappointed to learn that Noct's fiancée was not a vegetarian. "Will this take long?"
Gladio snorted, thumping his way across the deck. "Depends what's biting." Then, shouting, "Don't forget to respool the line!"
"Which lure?" Noct called back at him.
Gladio grumbled, joining Noct at the bow. "You'll want a sinker. Everything worth catching's gonna be in deep. Make sure you pick something that'll --"
"Nnnnot long at all," Prompto said optimistically, over the sound of Noct and Gladio arguing the merits of an assortment of absurdly-named lures. "So tell me, Lady Lunafreya: have you ever played King's Knight?"
—
With the vessel anchored, there was still the unsettling sense of floating in darkness, but the gentle rolling of the waves coupled with the knowledge that Noct and Gladio were getting along, however briefly, made it considerably more bearable. Ignis let himself feel the breeze and listen to the waves lapping against the hull, somewhere under the steady cacaphony of Master Cid's ludicrously loud snoring.
He was very nearly nodding off himself when Noct gasped. "O-oh! A bite!"
"Nice," Gladio approved. "Now keep her steady, and be patient. We're in this for the long haul."
Lady Lunafreya let out a sigh. And then an impressive yawn.
Ignis went back to dozing, to the accompaniment of Prompto's soft snoring coming somewhere from the seat behind him.
He startled awake again to Noct shouting, "Here she comes!"
"Finally," Prompto groaned. "That's my cue to grab some shots!"
"Put your back into it!" Gladio growled.
There was a great deal of grunting and splashing, swearing, thumping and flapping.
"Is everything alright?" Ignis was finally forced to ask. It would be most unfortunate if they'd all fallen overboard.
"Got it!" Noct panted, utterly thrilled. "Luna! Luna, look!"
"It's enormous!" she called encouragingly.
"Massive!" Prompto exclaimed, camera clicking away.
"Get — get the donut thing in there for scale," Noct ordered. "Ignis, you should see the size of this thing!"
There was a distinct oof, as if Gladio'd elbowed him.
"Is it edible?" Ignis asked, before anyone could apologize.
"How can you tell?" Noct asked.
"Looks like some kind of Grouper," Gladio offered.
Impressively unhelpful. "What colour is it?" Ignis tried.
"Brown?" Noct suggested.
"Green," Gladio said firmly.
"Olive," Prompto corrected.
"Ah, yes," Ignis said. "The Lesser Brown Greenolive Grouper. A rare delicacy."
Lady Lunafreya laughed.
"There's nothing lesser about it," Noct insisted. "Seriously, this — this's gotta be a new record. Ignis, where's your measuring tape?"
Ignis found the tape in a pocket and handed it over, along with his phone.
"What's with this?" Noct asked.
"The application is called My Fishing Log," Ignis explained. "Make sure you attach a photograph."
"O-okay," Noct said. Did he honestly think Ignis had memorized the size and species of every fish Noct had ever caught? "Here. Gladio."
Some rustling and thumping, before Gladio said, "Forty-five inches."
"Goodness," Ignis remarked.
"Forty..." Noct muttered. "Where's the — how many feet is that?"
"Three feet, nine inches," Ignis told him.
"Three... nine," Noct repeated, tapping that in. "Forty-five inches exactly?"
"Forty-five and a quarter," Gladio conceded, tolerantly amused.
"Yes!" Noct hissed, his boots thumping on the deck. "New record!"
Muffled giggling from Her Highness.
"This'll feed us for a week," Prompto said, in awe. "Hope you got some new recipehs ready to go, Iggy."
Ignis forced a smile. "I'm sure Monica will make a fine meal of it."
Another uncomfortable silence. Ignis was growing rather weary of them.
"Right," Prompto said, chastened. "You can just sit back and stuff your face for once."
"Indeed."
Fortunately Gladio knew how to clean and pack the fish for later. Attempting to describe the procedure would surely have been an exercise in frustration, and Noct was largely uninterested in fish unless they were either on a hook or on a plate.
—
Noct did what he could to help Gladio with all the cleaning and deboning without getting in his way. Luna was watching, and it didn't feel right just ordering him to deal with it. Plus it was seriously icky, and he wanted it done quick so she didn't get too grossed out.
When they'd finished and cleaned up, he shook Cid awake, got cussed at, and then sat down and settled in between Ignis and Luna.
Up until the fish happened, the ride back to Caem was... it was weird. Gladio was quiet, and Ignis just... sat up straight the whole time, holding himself all stiff and still.
Luna seemed to really like having the sun on her face and the wind in her hair, though, and Prompto made it fun.
After the fish, Luna asked Noct a bunch of polite questions about fishing. He answered, in way too much detail, while Prompto laughed at him and Gladio argued.
Ignis fell asleep, leaning against Noct's shoulder, his sunglasses sliding down his nose. He must have been... really worn out from everything in Altissia.
Noct tried to hold still for the rest of the ride to let him rest. Just sat back, feeling Ignis warm at his side, while the sun made its way down towards the horizon. Eventually the lighthouse got bigger and bigger, until it was almost close enough to warp to.
When they docked, Ignis sat up blearily and let Prompto help him down off the boat. Noct helped Luna onto the dock, up the stairs and into the elevator. As soon as the doors opened up and they stepped out to see the place, she was thrilled.
"It's beautiful," she said, lifting her voice over the wind, trying to keep her braid from coming loose.
"The view from up top's amazing," Noct told her, pointing up at the lighthouse.
"Will you show me?" she asked.
"Yeah," he grinned, taking her hand and dragging her back on to the elevator. "You guys coming up?"
"Yeah!" said Prompto.
"Nope," said Gladio, grabbing Prompto by the back of his collar and steering him and Ignis away. "You kids have fun."
Luna laughed, and god. It was such a good sound. They went up and checked out the view, watched the ocean and talked a bit. She asked about this place, if he remembered it, if the light still worked. Her braid came loose.
The sunset was... almost too beautiful. Kind of like Luna.
When they went back down and met the others, Iris and Talcott were both starstruck, but Iris gushed and wanted a selfie while Talcott half-hid behind Monica's legs.
Luna crouched down to say hi. "I'm told that there's a very brave young man staying here, by the name of Talcott Hester. Do you know him?"
"Um," Talcott said. "I'm. I'm Talcott Hester."
"Then it is my honor to meet you, Master Talcott."
"I'm honored too, Lady Lunafreya! Your — Your Highness."
"Please," Luna smiled. "Call me Lunafreya."
Dustin had a room already made up for her, and while they all got settled in, Monica cooked up the Grouper.
It was alright. Not the best, but Luna liked it, and Ignis sure went on and on about the sauce and the seasoning and the freshness. Monica actually blushed, trying to tell him she didn't have the right spices out here and talk him into share his recipe. Obviously she didn't know who she was dealing with. Ignis nonsensed and nothing specialed until she ended up telling him her recipe.
It wasn't until later, sitting outside on the steps just to be alone for a minute, that Noct realized Ignis wouldn't be able to write it down anyway.
He was still thinking about it when the door opened and Iris came out to check on him. "You okay, Noct?"
"Yep," he sighed.
"Mind if I sit?" she asked.
"Kinda," he said.
She rolled her eyes and sat next to him anyway. "...Sounds like you really kicked ass in Altissia."
He let out a breath. "Sure doesn't feel that way." He tugged at a loose thread on his jeans, trying to rip it off without putting another hole in them. Ignis would see it and — and — no. He wouldn't. "Just be glad you weren't there," he told her.
She wrapped her arms around herself. "Ignis is... taking things pretty well."
Noct snorted. "Not like he has a choice."
"Are you kidding?" she asked. "If something like that happened to Gladdy, he'd be a wreck." She glanced back at the house. "He's a bit of wreck anyway. Do you... know what happened? Gladdy told me not to ask."
Noct shook his head. I was too busy getting rescued to help anyone else, he didn't say.
"You know Ignis would never blame you, right?" she asked, like she'd heard it anyway.
Noct let out a laugh. "Yeah. That kinda makes it worse." He ran a hand through his hair. "Luna's going to heal him."
"Seriously?!" Iris said. "That's amazing. Gladdy didn't tell me!"
Because he didn't think she could.
"Lady Lunafreya really is something special," she said wistfully. "You're sooo lucky."
"I know," Noct muttered.
"Like, I thought she'd be really intimidating and formal and stuff? And she is, but she doesn't feel like it, you know? When she talks to you it's like you're the only person in the whole world, even if you're just, like, some random teenager she just met. She really cares. Or at least she's super good at pretending to be interested in like, everything about me."
Noct frowned.
"And she's soooo beautiful, like, I was kind of hoping she just looked good on TV and that in person she'd be pretty, but not totally gorgeous, but no. She's actually, like, literally breathtaking. I mean, wow. I think Talcott's in love."
"Sounds like he's not the only one," Noct pointed out.
"Wh-what?" she stammered, then punched him on the shoulder. It kind of hurt. A lot. "Noct!"
"Ow," he told her, rubbing at his arm. She lifted her fist again, but it was a fake-out. He smirked. "Maybe you could ask Gladio for some tips on picking up girls."
"Very funny," she sniffed. "Where do you think he learned all that, anyway?"
Noct snorted with laughter. For a while.
"We'll see how funny it is when I steal your girl," she went on, and he laughed even harder. When he finally caught his breath she was flushed and grinning at him, her knees folded in front of her. She sighed. "You're really lucky to have each other."
"I don't — I don't have her," Noct mumbled, before he could stop himself. "She's not mine."
Iris arched her eyebrows. "Are you... not getting married, now?"
"I don't know," Noct muttered.
"I'm pretty sure she still wants to," Iris said.
"I'm not," Noct said, and made himself get up. Why was he even talking to her about this?
"Noct," she tried.
"Forget it," Noct said, heading inside.