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Noctis [6:37 PM] cold
Noctis [6:38 PM] bring blankets
Noctis [6:38 PM] a lot of the
Noctis [6:39 PM] *them
Ignis slipped the folder he was holding under his arm and walked close to the wall as he headed toward his office, to not block the path of traffic from anyone else exiting the meeting room. He skimmed over his notifications before returning to Noct’s messages, noting two automatic texts sent out by the electric company for Noct’s apartment district--a power outage due to the inclement weather that they were working to fix, and an update two hours later saying that they were still working on it. Nothing after that. He glanced through a window as he passed it, his eyes so maladjusted to the dimness of the winter night that he could barely see the soft glow from the street lights spilling through the snowfall. He could feel the chill through the glass.
[7:03] I’ll bring more blankets. Has the electricity come back on?
Noctis [7:04] not yet
Ignis frowned. It was getting late, and only getting colder. He texted back, Did you find the space heater in the hallway closet?
Noctis [7:05] yep it's on right now
Well, that was good at least.
[7:07] All right. I will be on my way soon. Have you eaten?
Noctis [7:07] Chips
Ignis made a mental note to send an order down to the kitchen to pick up on his way out, then turned the corner and took the elevator to his office. With the solstice celebrations coming up next week and segueing into the new year festivals, he'd been working late every day this week to try and prepare for the inevitable flood of responsibilities after the holidays. Instead of cooking dinner at Noct's apartment like usual, he'd been ordering food from the kitchen and bringing it over with whatever paperwork and paraphernalia was needed from the Citadel. His mind had been too cluttered the last few days to come up with any sort of proper menu, but he wasn't about to let Noct get away with eating nothing but snacks and cup noodles until he returned to the Citadel for the holiday this weekend.
Upon returning to his office, he dropped the folder and meeting notes into his briefcase and began loading in his laptop, setting his phone on speaker so that he could call the kitchen to request dinner and housekeeping to load blankets for Noct into Noct's car, then headed down to the kitchen to pick up the food. He fiddled around on his phone as he waited, answering emails and entering appointments and schedule changes into his calendar, trying to ignore the exhaustion creeping into his neck and shoulders and weighing down his chest.
There was some relief in heading to Noct's apartment, though he'd likely never admit it to anyone. It was usually the part of his day that he looked forward to most, and though Noct's constant reluctance to tend to Citadel matters while in his house was sometimes frustrating, it created a bit of a sanctuary from the high pressure and critical eyes of the Citadel floors and meeting rooms. For a few hours at least, there was no pretension, no need to carefully measure each word and expression, no one questioning his age and his competence at every turn. Just the faintest hint of the normalcy that he knew Noct craved so badly-- the normalcy he'd likely never have again after his high school graduation.
His phone buzzed.
Noctis [7:28] it's still snowing
Noctis [7:29] dont come if the road is bad
Noctis [7:29] I'm fine til tomorrow
A little bit of the pressure in Ignis's chest loosened, and he suppressed a smile. I will check before I leave.
Noctis [7:31] k
As soon as the food was ready he headed out to the garage, checking the weather report as he'd promised before depositing everything into the back seat of Noct's car and heading out. The roads were slippery at intersections and in shadowy patches, and the slush at the edges of the lanes were beginning to harden into crunchy ice. Snow was still falling, but not so thick that it difficult to see, and it was both late and cold enough that the only other drivers were the scattered handfuls of people that had urgent enough business to be out in the freezing weather. The cityscape felt quiet around him, muted by layers of falling snow and softly glowing from traffic signals and streetlights.
It took a little longer to get to the apartment than usual but according to habit, he texted Noct that he was heading up and snatched up his briefcase, the paper bag that contained dinner, and the extra blankets (which were considerably less folded by the time he reached Noct's door). The apartment was dark when Ignis entered, but he knew it well enough that he was able to slip off his shoes and change to slippers without having to wait for his eyes to fully adjust. He set the food on the dining room table and his briefcase underneath it on the floor then stood still with the blankets in his hands, trying to identify where Noct was. Not in the kitchen or dining room, and on first glance, not in the living room, either.
"Noct?" he called.
A muffled, tinny sound was coming from somewhere ahead of him. Ignis stepped toward the sound, moving slowly so that he wouldn't trip in the dark. He could just make out the fuzzy, dusky shapes of the furniture and could see the faint orange glow of the space heater beside the coffee table, where it was aimed at a pile of blankets and comforters on the couch. As he drew closer to the blanket mound, he identified the sound as the audio from a phone speaker on low volume. He stopped in front of the couch. "Noct."
A hand shot out from under the covers and flailed for a second before finding his wrist and pulling him towards the couch. Ignis wasn't entirely prepared to keep his balance and staggered forward with an undignified yelp, throwing out an arm to keep himself from falling forward and crushing the next King of Lucis. He ended up dropping the extra blankets, twisting to the side and collapsing awkwardly onto the cushion above Noct's head. A second hand emerged from the comforters, pushing them away to reveal mussed hair stuffed under a hoodie and a sleepy face lit by the blue glow of a phone screen. How he could look so beautiful, even half awake and curled under half a dozen blankets and pillows like some odd type of hibernating bear, Ignis had never understood.
"Took a while," Noct commented, sitting up with a yawn.
"The roads were a bit slick," Ignis admitted. "Not terrible, but enough to warrant slow driving."
Noct frowned, brow furrowing slightly in worry before his expression smoothed again. He pulled the entire blanket pile closer to himself, knocking a few stray couch pillows to the floor.
"It appears you had no trouble locating every blanket in the house." Amused, Ignis reached down to pick the pillows up and return them to the couch, a safe distance from the space heater.
"The heater wasn't warm enough."
"Perhaps dinner will warm you up," Ignis suggested. "I've brought some cassoulet from the Citadel kitchen."
"I guess," Noct said, looking reluctant to leave the comfort of his freshly reinforced blanket mountain.
"I'll serve it up, then." Ignis rose from the couch and headed into the kitchen, using phone's flashlight to light his way. He did not expect Noct to accompany him there, slippered feet shuffling close behind him to prevent stubbed toes. Opening a cabinet, Ignis retrieved two bowls and handed them to Noct, then slid open a drawer to grab utensils. Instead of heading back to the table, Noct waited for him. Ignis almost tripped over him when he turned to head back to the table, but he appeared oblivious.
"It's too cold to sit at the table. We should just eat on the couch," he said. "Sit under the blankets."
Ignis kept his expression neutral. "Are you concerned that if you eat at the table, you may not be able to re-cover?"
Noct groaned exaggeratedly and tromped back over to the table while Ignis snorted and followed him. Noct set down the plates and pulled Ignis's phone from his hands so that Ignis could pull the containers from the paper sack. He rested his elbows on the chair back, cradling his chin in one hand and holding the the phone-flashlight lazily in the other as he watched Ignis portion the food onto the plates.
"Were you not able to find the candles at the top of the linen closet?" Ignis asked, glancing from one bowl to the other to check the portion sizes.
Noct shrugged. "I just didn't wanna get them. Too high up."
Ah. That would explain why it was still so dark. "I'll go get them so that we can see."
"It's fine, Specs," Noct said dismissively. "We can just use phones. Let's just go eat."
"That is an excellent way to run your battery down before the power comes back on to recharge it," Ignis pointed out, pushing the bowls toward Noct. "It will only take a moment--go sit if you'd like."
Noct shot him an almost petulant look, but he didn't go sit. He shone his flashlight toward the hallway and fell in step behind Ignis, treading close enough so that every few steps, Ignis could feel the brush of his slippers on his heels. They stopped in front of the closet, and Ignis slid open the door, reaching to the top shelf and rummaging around for the box. As he searched, Noct stepped even closer, his hand with the flashlight slowly sinking as he leaned in, resting his forehead between Ignis's shoulder blades. His soft puffs of breath felt hot on his back, and Ignis's hands faltered. He halted his search, frozen in place so not to disturb him.
"Find it?" Noct mumbled.
Ignis blinked, releasing a breath he didn't realize he'd held. His hands were on the box. "Yes. It's right here."
Noct straightened, shining the flashlight up. "Are you grabbing it?"
Ignis cleared his throat and lowered the box from the shelf. Noct nodded and turned, leading him back out to the living room. Ignis pulled the candles from the box and set them on the table, and Noct summoned something from the Armiger with a crackle of blue spark. A camping lighter, likely from the last time Gladio tried to teach him survival techniques.
He clicked it on, lit the candles one by one, then dropped the lighter back into the Armiger, eyes glinting in the light of the flames. "Happy?"
"Happy."
"Good, now let's eat."
Ignis retrieved the bowls from the kitchen and sat down on the couch next to Noct, who'd re-burrowed into the now monstrous blanket pile and tossed a thick comforter over him as soon as he settled in. As they ate, he scooted closer to Ignis until their shoulders were pressed together and balanced his phone on his blanketed knee to scroll through a comic with his pinkie finger. The apartment had gotten chillier as time wore on, but Noct's proximity kept Ignis warmer than the blanket could have alone. They ate in comfortable silence, with Ignis peering over his shoulder at the new comic and trying to decipher the storyline from the images that were visible. Noct shifted to make his sightline better, leaning his warm back against Ignis's chest and nestling his head under Ignis's chin so that his soft hair tickled his jaw.
They sat like that for awhile after they'd finished eating, too comfortable to move or break the silence. Eventually, Ignis reached over with a sigh to take Noct's bowl and bring it to the sink. Noct let him take it, but when Ignis moved to get up, he stubbornly remained planted against him, pinning him in place.
"Just stay," he said, voice slightly muffled by the blanket pulled up around him, and Ignis's willpower crumbled.
He stayed. Noct curled closer to him, turning his phone screen toward him once more and holding it at an angle where they both could see. His page turns began to grow slower and slower, and after a bit, his hand started to droop and then fall, and his phone slipped. Ignis reached over and gently pulled it from his fingers before it could drop, which made him stir and murmur something in his sleep. He didn't wake. Setting the phone on the cushion beside him as noiselessly as he could, Ignis released a breath and pulled the comforter closer around them both. It surrounded them, warm and soft, and Noct's solid weight pressed against him, the rhythm of his breathing quiet and steady, like the sound of the ocean in the far distance. The flickering light of the candles on the coffee table glinted off of his darkened phone screen, and outside, he could still see snow falling.
He let Noct sleep.