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Noctis paces in the waiting room of the hospital. His father, the King, watches him calmly. As if nothing’s wrong, Noctis frets. A simple sparring match had turned into an unfortunate accident, resulting in Ignis getting hurt.
He’s been denied twice now to visit Ignis in the emergency room by the nurse sitting at the check-in desk.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but you can’t be allowed to see your friend while he gets checked over. I know that he’s your future advisor, but I can’t let you pass since you’re not family.”
Noctis, of course, had complained to his dad. “What would be so wrong for me to see Ignis? Just because we’re not related doesn’t mean that Ignis isn’t family.”
Regis just smiles as his son and says, “It is the hospitals policy, Noctis. There are rules that even we as royalty cannot break.”
It’s a few days after the hospital incident. Noctis is at the arcade with Prompto and Gladio, who’s definitely not flirting with a couple of cute girls and showing off his “gaming skills”.
They’re sitting at a booth eating junk food when Noctis announces his idea. He’s been thinking it over since that day at the hospital, about not being able to be with Ignis in the emergency room. About the family members only rule. Noctis has always viewed Ignis as a part of his family. Ignis has been there for him since day one. And since it’s not possible for him to adopt Ignis as family, he’s decided that they should get married.
Prompto and Gladio think that it’s a joke and start laughing him. They stop when they notice Noctis’ neutral face.
“Wait, you’re serious, dude?” Prompto asks.
“Noct, marriage is a big deal. It’s no joking matter,” Gladio says.
“Look, I’ve actually given this some thought. And I know it sounds crazy--”
“It doesn’t just sound crazy,” Gladio interrupts.
Noctis huffs. This isn’t going how he had planned in his head. He’d imagined them approving of his great idea.
“You can’t possibly think that this a good idea.” Gladio continues.
“Why not?” Noctis asks.
“Well, for one,” Prompto says, “you two aren’t even dating.”
“And it’s not like you’re in love. You literally just want to marry Iggy because a nurse wouldn’t allow you to see him in the emergency room.”
Noctis pouts.
Maybe they’re right, though. He was just being petty. But, he did love Ignis. And he was just now realizing this as he watched Ignis make dinner for him that night. He’s not exactly sure when he started to feel this way, but a million emotions come rushing at him and it catches him off guard.
He doesn’t dare tell Ignis about his plan, though. That would be too embarrassing.
And Prompto and Gladio have made it their mission to make his life a living nightmare by bringing it up to Ignis that weekend during movie night.
“You should have seen him, Iggy,” Prompto says. “He was going to ask you to marry him.”
“Just so that he could be with you in the emergency room for five minutes,” Gladio adds.
They’re all in the kitchen assisting Ignis make another one of his pastries. Ignis has slapped away each of their hands away at least once already from “taste-testing”. Or, in Prompto’s case, from stealing the fruits.
“Is that so?” Ignis asks. He peers over at Noctis beside him and smiles.
Noctis doesn’t make eye contact and focuses on stirring the batter. He makes a mental note to have them executed later.
“I thought he was going to cry,” Gladio continues.
“He probably would have if Ignis didn’t come out when he did,” Prompto laughs.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Noctis says. He tries to sound like a king, like his dad. He’s heard that tone come from his father many times. But he can’t pull it off like his dad can, he just sounds like a whiny teenager and they laugh at him. The fuckers. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up.”
“C’mon Noct, you gotta admit that it was a little ridiculous,” Gladio says.
“Yeah, and it’s not like the council or your dad would have approved even if you did decide to go through with it.”
“And what would you have done if you found someone else later on?” Gladio asked. “Or if Iggy found someone?”
“Plus, you haven’t even graduated high school, man,” Prompto says.
“Can we just drop it already?” Noctis asks. Red crosses his cheeks, both from annoyance and embarrassment. And Gladio and Prompto must get the hint because they stop and the subject changes.
It’s after midnight when Prompto crashes on the couch and everyone decides that’s their cue to turn in for the night. Gladio ends up waking up the blond for a short enough time to escort him home. A mumbled goodbye from Prompto and a loose wave from Gladio and both of them are out the door.
Ignis turns to the kitchen after they leave and starts on the dishes. Noctis sleepily follows him to help.
“I think it’s sweet, Noct,” Ignis says as he washes the dishes.
Noctis is confused for a moment before he finally realizes what Ignis is referring to. “Not you, too,” he groans. “Look, I know. It was stupid.”
Ignis shakes his head. “Not at all. A bit irresponsible, maybe.”
“Says the guy that ended up in the emergency room because he wanted to try a new training technique.”
“I suffered a few stitches.” Ignis motions towards his cheek. “Not exactly life or death.”
Noctis lifts his hand, too. He touched Ignis’ cheek, careful to not touch the stitches. “I was afraid that you’d lose your eye. I felt responsible, like it was my fault that you ended up in the hospital. I shouldn’t have tackled you so hard.”
“I did ask for you to not go easy,” Ignis says.
“No more recklessness, then.”
“Agreed.”
It’s been almost a year since the dawn returned. Every day was a new beginning, and every day they worked hard on rebuilding Insomnia. Sometimes there were struggles, whether it was rubble, nature, beasts, or even man that stood in their way.
At the moment, they were battling a group of vicious sabertusk. It’s nothing that the Guard, a few hunters, the King, and his chamberlains can’t handle.
But things are different without magic. And Noctis may be a bit out of practice.
He makes the mistake of throwing his sword across the street, forgetting that he can’t warp anymore, as a sabertusk pounces on him. Noctis wrestles to get away, puts his hands up in defense to stop the beast from chewing off his face. It digs its claws into his side and Noctis lets out a painful groan. He hears his shirt uniform tear, feels blood run down his skin. The beast snaps his teeth at his arm.
“Noct!” he hears Ignis cry.
The weight of the beast is pulled from him. Gunshots fire in the distance.
Someone tries to sit him up. He cries in pain.
Pressure is laid down on his side. Voices call out to him.
And then, darkness.
Ignis paces in the waiting room. Hours before, he had been rejected the chance to be with Noctis while he went into intensive care. Since the use of healing items had become sparse, only blood relatives or close relations such as married couples were allowed for visitation to lighten the risk of infections.
No one argued against the rule. They all wanted the best for their King, no matter how much they worried.
And yet, Ignis couldn’t help the outburst as he stormed to the front desk.
“I demand to see my fiance!”
It throws the nurses, a few doctors, members of the crownsguard, Prompto, and Gladio off guard.
“I apologize for the outburst,” Ignis continues. “We weren’t supposed to announce our engagement, but I cannot stand here and do nothing. Please let me through so that I can check on the well-being of my future husband.”
The timid nurse that had been trying to hide behind her desk is the first to say something. “R-right this way, Sir.”
Noctis is sleeping when Ignis enters the room. A doctor debriefs him of Noctis’ condition.
He lost quite a bit of blood. Needed stitches from the gash. And broke his wrist along with a cracked collarbone.
Ignis waits for the doctor to leave before taking a seat beside Noctis’ bed. The sight of Noctis like this hurts Ignis’ heart. He reaches out and brushes a few strands of hair from Noctis’ face. Exhaustion takes over Ignis and he finds himself lowering his head down and drifting off to sleep.
When Noctis wakes, he sees Ignis sleeping in a chair by his bed, head in his arms on the mattress.
“Iggy,” he says, voice cracking from sleep. He reaches out and groans in pain.
Ignis wakes, mutters his name softly. Noctis watches him reach over to a tray on a trolley and pour a glass of water. He raises to to Noctis’ lips, easing him to take a few sips.
“What are you doing here?” Noctis asks.
“Well,” Ignis starts, but he doesn’t get to explain as a nurse comes in to check up on Noctis.
“Oh, Your Majesty, you’re awake,” the nurse says.
“What happened?” Noctis asks, looking between the nurse and Ignis.
“What’s the last thing that you remember?” the nurse asks, taking notes from Noctis’ charts.
“There were sabertusks in the city. We were fighting them off.”
“Unfortunately, one got ahold of you. You’ve lost some blood and cracked a collarbone, as well as broken your wrist. You gave your fiance here quite the scare. He was very insistent on being here with you.”
“My… What?”
“Which reminds me,” the nurse continues. “Congratulations on your engagement, Your Majesty. The whole city is talking about how beautiful a wedding it will be.”
Noctis waits for the nurse to leave before turning to his “fiance”. Ignis doesn’t make eye contact with him.
“Ignis?” Noctis pushes.
“They wouldn’t let me through,” Ignis says, sounding like a teenager trying to talk himself out of being in trouble. “I had to make sure you were okay. It didn’t seem right that you were all alone…”
“Iggy.”
“But I knew that they wouldn’t let me pass without being family,” Ignis blushes. “So, I may have taken your idea and told that we were engaged.”
That was fifteen years ago, Noctis thinks. How does Ignis still remember that?
“We’ll have to make an official announcement soon, even though over half of Insomnia knows by now. Or if you’d rather we void the situation, I’m sure we can come up with something.”
“Iggy!”
Ignis stops rambling. He and Noctis lock eyes. Noctis reaches for Ignis with his unbound hand. Ignis meets him halfway and holds his hand.
“Noct,” Ignis starts, “I’ve loved you for a long time. I couldn’t help but remember your little proposal idea when we were teenagers and used it so that I be here with you right now.”
“I’m shocked and embarrassed that you still remember that,” Noctis says. “The whole reason I had that bright idea was because I had feelings for you. I just didn’t realize them until afterwards.”
Noctis leans in and Ignis meets him halfway for a kiss. It’s slow and sweet and doesn’t last long enough due to Noctis’ injuries.
“I can wait a little longer,” Ignis says when Noctis tries to lean forward again and hisses in pain. There’s a small pout on Noctis’ lips and Ignis finds it too cute, so he leans in and places a small peck on his King’s lips.
“I guess, in the meantime, I’ll ask the question my teenage self thought was so perfect at sixteen,” Noctis sighs. He takes a deep breath. Ignis watches him with anticipation. “Ignis, will you marry me?”
“Yes, darling.”