Chapter Text
Ignis stared at his email in disbelief. Congratulations! the email began, Your contestant application has been accepted… Ignis set his phone onto his desk and, without even bothering to take off his glasses, rubbed his face in irritation underneath them. When he finally had the presence of mind to look at his phone again, he immediately opened his contacts to find Noct’s number. Noctis picked up on the second ring.
“Hey Specs, what’s up?”
“You wouldn’t happen to know why I’ve received an email accepting me as a contestant in a baking competition, would you, Highness?”
“Oh, shit, really?” came the surprised voice on the other end of the line. “I mean… uhh.. No. I have no idea what that’s about.”
Ignis sighed deeply so that it would be picked up by the phone. “Are you home? I’d prefer to discuss this in person.”
There was hesitation on Noct’s end of the line and then came a reluctant, “Yeah. Prompto’s here. We’re playing a new game.”
“Then I shall see you shortly.” Ignis hung up the phone and left his office, heading to Noct’s apartment.
It didn’t take long for Ignis to arrive at Noct’s and he let himself in without ceremony, finding Noctis and Prompto on the couch playing a game just as Noctis had said. He waited for the pair to finish the round of combat they were on before clearing his throat to announce his presence. “Noctis. Prompto.” Judging by the sheepish look Prompto failed to hide, Ignis was sure that he’d surmised correctly when he assumed they’d been involved with the mystery email he’d received.
“Hey, Specs,” Noctis said with the same easy air that he'd had on the phone. “You wanted to talk about a contest or something?”
Ignis raised an eyebrow, surprised that Noctis was jumping right into the offending topic, considering it was likely due to his own mischief. “Yes, but I think that perhaps I’ll need some coffee for this conversation.” Ignis moved into the kitchen to brew a pot, “Would you like some?”
“Only if there’s dessert to go with it,” Noctis grinned at his advisor who sighed but acquiesced. “I suppose I could make something quickly, if that’s what you wish.”
Ignis was almost finished making a coffee cake when Gladio let himself into the apartment.
“Didn’t expect you to be here, Iggy,” Gladio said as he sat down at the table so he could talk to everyone.
“Yes, well, it seems Noct and I have something to discuss. But apparently it must be done with coffee and cake.”
Gladio snorted, “Must be an important conversation.”
“Well actually,” Noct spoke up from the couch, “We needed you to be here too.”
Gladio turned to Noct and raised an eyebrow for a moment before frowning, “What trouble did you get into?”
Noct raised his hands up in surrender, grinning, “No trouble.” Beside him Prompto shifted nervously, but he didn’t look particularly guilty, so whatever it was couldn’t have been that bad.
“Yeah like I fully believe that.” Gladio rolled his eyes, but let himself relax.
“Regardless, the cake is nearly ready now, so I’ll put on the coffee.” Ignis turned to the coffee machine and heard the sounds of Prompto and Noctis turning off their game behind him. Something about their investment in the conversation to come made Ignis even more curious about their involvement in the mystery email.
Only once the four of them were seated around the table with coffee and cake did Ignis bring up the email again. “Now that we’re all settled, would you care to tell me what you know about the email I received today, Noct?”
“Email?” Gladio looked at him across the table, “Is that what this is about?”
Ignis tapped his phone for a moment to load the email and slid it across to Gladio.
Dear Mr. Scientia,
Congratulations! Your contestant application has been accepted for the Winter Fest Gingerbread Bake Off! The festivities will be taking place on the 14th at the Tonitrus Convention Center. Registration will be at 6am at the Somnus Hall for Performing Arts.
Contestants and their partners are not expected to bring any supplies or baked goods with them This will all be done on site. You’ll also be provided passes for the rest of the Winter Fest festivities.
If you have any questions, the Bake Off Support Team can be reached at [email protected].
Gladio read the email out loud and then stared at Ignis. “Why do I get the feeling you didn’t sign up for this yourself?”
There was a beat of silence, where Prompto squirmed uncomfortably in his seat and Ignis stared cooly across the table at Noctis. “Okay,” Noctis began with a sort of easy drawl, “So, Prompto and I were at the mall the other day, and we saw the posters for the bake-off, and we thought, hey, Specs could totally win that, and before we knew it, we’d filled out all of the information and submitted it.”
Ignis was quiet while he processed what Noctis was saying. “Noct, that was more of a terribly long, run-on sentence than an explanation. Though from what I surmise from that, the pair of you are the ones who entered me into this contest?”
Noct smiled a little, “That’s right.”
Prompto squirmed again, “I’m so sorry, Iggy! We didn’t think it would actually end up coming back to you.”
“You filled out an application on my behalf and thought that nothing would come of it?”
“We just thought there would be more applications and it wouldn’t end up being a problem,” Prompto answered miserably, burying his face into his arms.
Ignis sighed, “Well regardless, it seems that I now have a commitment that I hadn’t planned on having.”
“Come on, Specs, where’s your competitive side? You could totally win this competition.” Noctis frowned a little, “Besides, it could be fun. I wanted to go to Winter Fest anyway.”
“Noct, you are a Prince. You have responsibilities and so do I.”
“It’s one weekend, Specs. I’m sure we can take the time. And if an emergency pops up we’ll do our jobs.”
Prompto was looking between the two of them nervously. “We do really think that you could win, Iggy,” he added softly.
Gladio took all this in carefully and finally spoke up,“If you think you can handle it, Iggy, it’s really up to you.”
“There is the additional problem of requiring a partner for the competition, even if we can rearrange our schedules,” Ignis pointed out, glancing at all three of them.
Noct smirked slightly, “Well, Prompto and I are useless in the kitchen, so we were thinking that maybe Gladio could help you.”
The silence seemed to stretch forever.
Inside Gladio’s head there was a sound like broken gears stuttering against each other. It took all of his power to not curse out loud. Noct had given him a pointed look when he smirked and it set a churning feeling alight in his stomach. He suddenly regretted telling Noctis about what he was thinking about lately. About who he was thinking about lately. He shook his head, “And how am I supposed to do my job keeping you safe at this event if I’m in a kitchen?”
Noctis grinned, “Prompto will be with me. He’s nearly finished his Crownsguard certification. And besides, we’ll be watching you, so we’ll be in your line of sight the whole time.”
Gladio glared at Noct for a moment, trying to think of a better rebuttal than But it’s my job! and then looked over to Ignis for help. Ignis’s expression was even more unreadable than ever.
“I suppose if we can arrange for extra security then-,” Ignis answered carefully after a while, eyes flicking up to meet Gladio’s, “I wouldn’t be opposed to our partnership.”
Gladio felt his heart stutter momentarily to a halt.