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“What’s on the menu this evening, Igster?”
Looking up from the cutting board, Ignis couldn’t help smiling as he saw Prompto making his way over to him from the living room.
“A green curry if his majesty will allow it,” Ignis said, making sure the last part was loud enough to reach the Princes ears from where he still sat seated on the sofa with Gladio. Currently the two were attempting to destroy the other in some sort of alien octopus game that Ignis really didn’t care to learn more about.
“Hey… it’s fine by me. Just make sure mine doesn’t have carrots in i-AH! Gladio you dick! ” Noct shouted as the Shield’s octopus alien body slammed Nocts.
“What’s the matter, Prince Charmless? Can’t handle getting your ass handed to you in virtual reality combat too?” Gladio teased and soon all communication from the two was completely cut off. Their competitiveness getting the better of them.
Rolling his eyes, Ignis looked back to Prompto who stood on the opposite island in Nocts small kitchen. “Prompto, would you mind doing me the honors of cutting up even more carrots to garnish Nocts plate with?” he asked, watching as Prompto’s eyes lit up with mischief.
“The honor would be all mine, Iggy,” the gunner in training said brightly, practically skipping around the counter to stand beside the Adviser.
Ignis couldn’t help chuckling at that and slid over the bag of carrots and a knife as he stepped away from the cutting board. “Dice away to your hearts content, Prompto. Whatever we don’t use in his dinner tonight I will find use for tomorrow. Perhaps I can get him to accidentally eat carrot cake again?”
Moving to take Ignis’s place in front of the counter, Prompto took up the knife and grabbed the first carrot. However, at the mention of the ‘’carrot cake fiasco’ a few months prior he couldn’t help a small giggle fit from escaping him. “That was amazing! I thought Gladio was going to crack a rib from laughing so hard,” he laughed as he cut the ends off the carrots and pushed them to the side before slowly starting to chop the vegetables.
Ignis had already turned to check on the garula loin he’d cut up earlier that was browning away in a skillet on the stove, his own smile growing at the memory. “I consider that to be one of my greatest accomplishments to date. He can never take back that he ate it… and that he said he liked it. My only regret is not recording it. Though I definitely appreciate the pictures you took of the moment.”
It had been absolutely amazing watching Noct warp around his small apartment, gagging and attempting to flee from the cake that had wronged him so. Prompto had been kind enough to send Ignis a few of the photo’s he’d snapped of Noct’s theatrics and to this day they were something that he absolutely cherished.
“You are always welcome, Iggy. Promise,” Prompto murmured, glancing back at the man and offering up that smile that always did something to Ignis’s chest that he still couldn’t quite put a name to.
The Adviser smiled back, though he tried to play off the heat rising up his neck to having to do with standing so close to the stove. Prompto always seemed to have a way of doing that to him though it wasn’t anything he would or could ever act on.
Prompto wasn’t his.
They weren’t soulmates.
To be fair, he had never seen the gunners soul mark. It was kept under his gloves much like Ignis’s own. The phrase inscribed across his skin something that mocked him daily. Literally. Some people got normal phrases. Some got romantic ones. His phrase... it was a joke. Or at least that’s how it felt to Ignis.
Glancing down at his gloved hands he knew what lay underneath the material on his left hand and shook his head. There was no way Prompto was his.
Of that, Ignis was certain.
“Iggy? Ignis? You alright, buddy?”
The Adviser’s head instantly popped up, looking over to see the blond staring at him with worry, only about half a carrot cut into tokens at this point. Smiling a litte, Ignis nodded and looked back to the stove, turning the heat down and covering the meat before heading over to Prompto. “I’m fine. Just… thinking,” he said, not really keen on giving the details.
Prompto gave a little nod at that, biting his lower lip as Ignis drew closer and glancing back to the cutting board. “About your mark?” he asked softly as he started to slowly cut the carrots once more, making Ignis pause. The gunner looked back over to him with a little smile. “I feel the same about mine, you know? I mean… I know it’s a touchy subject, but… if you can’t talk about archaic, soul binding writing on your body with your friends then who can you?”
That particular phrasing inadvertently caused Ignis to snort, the man bringing his hand up to his mouth to try and cover the sound, but the damage had been done. Prompto stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before both men couldn’t help falling into a bit of a laughing fit.
“Oh my gods that was adorable, Iggy!” Prompto squeaked, wiping at his eyes as he tried to get his breathing under control. Meanwhile, Ignis had to remove his glasses to wipe at his own cheeks, shoulders still shaking with mirth.
“A-Ahaha-pologies,” he giggled, feeling the tension he’d built up in his chest and head slowly evaporating in the lighthearted moment. Prompto always seemed to be able to help ease him out of those head spaces and for that Ignis was eternally grateful. Slowly getting his breathing back, Ignis thought over the mans words and knew that he was right. If he couldn’t trust to talk to his friends about this… then really who could he talk to? Besides, talking about it might be a bit more cathartic then getting lost in his unhelpful cycle of thoughts that his mark always brought about.
“I was… thinking how incredibly ridiculous my mark was,” he murmured, not looking at Prompto as he leaned back against the counter, his arms folded over his chest. “I am not an… open book, as it were. I like to keep things close to my chest and truly, the words of your soulmark are some of the most personal parts of yourself. There is nothing wrong with talking about it, per se. We both know what Gladio’s says because the man refuses to wear a shirt during training.”
“Oh right! ‘Seeing you here is more than I can take,’. Do you think that’s a threat? It sounds like a threat to me,” Prompto joked, though Ignis gave a little hum of thought.
“It does read as one. Though I think I’d much prefer anger to my own words,” the man admitted with a little smile. “That’s what you caught me mulling over in my head. Lamenting at my own words.”
“Oh, dude! That’s totally okay. Legit, I understand. I think mine is supposed to be funny? Like… to someone at least. I don’t get it though and I mean… I have no idea when it would come up in conversation! Gladio’s could because he is a Shield and a badass and will probably be fighting his soulmate or something. Mine… I don’t know. I just… I think I understand how you feel,” Prompto said with a little shrug, glancing to his right hand, his little crinkle to his nose making Ignis chuckle.
“It’s like you’re looking at something repulsive. Oh gods, it’s not a crude joke on your hand is it?” Ignis asked making Prompto flush scarlet.
“What?! No, no! I promise it’s nothing like gross or anything! It’s just… silly,” he said, his voice going softer again even as the flush stayed and oh if that didn’t make Ignis’s heart flutter more. “But… it’s mine, ya know? It’s silly and… not normal. It’s not badass or a threat or a romantic declaration. But it’s mine and… somewhere out there, I may find that person who will say these silly words back to me and then… they won’t be so silly anymore, right?”
Prompto turned to look at Ignis once more, his expression soft, yet hopeful and honestly, Ignis felt something in his chest loosen to hear that.
“You… You are absolutely right, Prompto,” he murmured, glancing down to his left hand and running his right fingers over the space between forefinger and thumb where the words resided. “I shouldn’t let myself feel resentful to these words because I don’t think they suit me. They may seem silly, but like you said… one day someone will say them and they won’t seem so silly anymore.”
Prompto’s smile grew as he heard that and seeing the way Ignis was smiling a bit more now made him feel like he’d done something truly remarkable. “Glad I could help, Iggy,” he murmured before glancing back to his carrots. “Now… can your sous chef ask for a little assistance? I think I’ve managed to cut about half a carrot this entire time. How do you do that… dicing, choppy, thing you do?!”
Ignis definitely couldn’t stop from chuckling at that and turned back to face the counter properly, grabbing an extra knife and pulling a carrot over to himself. “To be fair, my main choice of weapon is the dagger. Were I in need of someone shooting holes into the cheese, I know the first person I’d contact,” he said with a little tease as he flipped the knife over in his hand before cutting the carrot into little tokens. His eyes never leaving Prompto as he did so and a cocky little smirk appearing over his features.
Prompto absolutely loved seeing that side of Ignis. The one that was so sure of his skills and not made to be modest or humble.
“ Cheese louise… you really know how to butter a guy up,” he teased as Ignis reached for another carrot, the Adviser’s smile growing.
“I’m gouda at doing that. Helps build morel, ” he teased in return, making Prompto fight back a laugh.
“Do they pay you to make puns like that? If so you must have a very good celery,” Prompto giggled and Ignis found himself struggling to remain focused as he started laughing as well.
“Perhaps my soulmate will find my puns egg- cellent?” Ignis mused through his mirth as Prompto giggled so hard he hiccuped.
Caught up in their banter, both men were unable to keep themselves from trying to add to the awful puns, inadvertently talking over one another when it happened. All at once they spoke and all at once... everything changed.
“I’d glove to meet them!”
“I wish they’d curry to tell me!”
And just like that the room seemed to go absolutely still. The laughter that had been there moments before was completely absent. The sound of chopping stopped and even the sounds coming from the living room were muffled to the two men standing in the kitchen.
Turning his head to glance at Prompto, Ignis found the blonds eyes trained on him already. His cheeks were red to the point of almost blocking out the freckles that dusted over his fair skin and Ignis knew that his own face was probably equally as red.
“What..”
“Did you just….”
Once again they both spoke at the same time, each stopping instantly to let the other go first. However, after starting and halting a few times, Ignis finally took the lead and set down the knife he was holding as his hands shook slightly.
“Prompto… please… what did you just say?” he asked, his voice quiet and unbelieving.
Swallowing thickly the gunner cleared his throat. “I… we were joking around and… I said… ‘Id glove to meet them ”. But… you… you said…,”
“Prompto… what’s… written on your hand?” Ignis knew this was something you should never ask of another person. You should never seek to look at or find something so personal, but truly… he had to make sure that he hadn’t been mistaken. That this all wasn’t some cruel trick or bad timing.
Moving on auto pilot, fingers trembling slightly, Prompto moved to slowly remove the glove covering his left hand and held it out for the Adviser to see. And there… in green ink on pale skin were the words…
‘I wish they’d curry to tell me!’
Ignis’s breath caught in his chest. There it was… the silly words that he had spoken matching perfectly to the silly words Prompto had been talking about earlier.
“Ignis?” Looking up from Prompto’s hand, Ignis could see the dawning realization finally taking hold of the gunner and quickly, he moved to take off his own glove, holding out his hand for the blond to read.
And there, in violet letters, silly words that no longer seemed so silly.
‘I’d glove to meet them!’
Both men froze in place as their hands resided beside one another, their soul marks on full display in a way they’d never allowed anyone to see them before. As they allowed what this all meant to fully sink in, the words inscribed upon their skin began to shift and change and before long a new word was put onto each of them.
‘Ignis’ written in perfect cursive, a mimic of the mans own handwriting and still green as emeralds against Prompto’s fair skin.
‘Prompto’ written in legible if slightly loopy print, a perfect copy of Prompto’s own penmanship and still a brilliant violet as fresh sylleblossoms now inked onto Ignis.
“Does… this mean… what I think it means?” Prompto murmured slowly as he continued to look at his hand, his ears now turning the most adorable shade of pink that Ignis had ever seen.
“I hope it does,” Ignis whispered softly before he realized, watching as Prompto’s eyes snapped back up to meet his own. Instantly Ignis wondered if he’d said the wrong thing? Did he misunderstand? Had he read Prompto wrong? Was the gunner in training actually upset over this revelation?! Ignis’s mind went into overdrive as he tried to save the situation. “I-I mean… I know that I’ve always felt closer to you then… you always made me feel… and if you don’t feel the same I’m sure there’s something that can be do-...”
His words caught in his throat as he felt a warm hand holding his, a thumb soothing over the name written on his skin. As he allowed himself a moment to breathe he finally noticed the beaming smile on Prompto’s face, the way his eyes sparkled so brilliantly and how his blush still managed to stay on his cheeks and ears.
“Really, Iggy? You’re like… the most gorgeous, funny, smart, amazing, selfless person I’ve ever met and… to think that… I’m yours?” he whispered, his smiled growing as he glanced at their hands to see the names there. “But I’m afraid one thing didn’t happen.” His expression dropped slightly and Ignis felt the warmth that had been building in his chest slowly extinguish.
“Oh? What was that, Prompto?” he asked earnestly, taking a step closer before finding Prompto’s arms wrapped around his neck, that beaming smile back on his face as his eyes sparkled with that mischief he adored.
“Those words are still silly. But they mean so much more now that I know you’re the silly one I was waiting for,” he teased before leaning up to press a soft kiss against the Adviser’s lips.
Ignis’s shock instantly wore off into bliss as he received that kiss, his own arms wrapping around Prompto to kiss him back just as sweetly.
Perhaps what they had been looking for wasn’t someone who would make those silly words not seem so silly anymore.
All they had needed was to find someone who made those silly words mean so much more than what they were.