Work Text:
Late nights working at the castle had become part of your routine, the 16 hour shifts that you’d been taking on has been wearing on you despite it only being about 4 days out of 5. One of the guardsmen had to call out for a few days because of a family emergency and, trying to be helpful, you volunteered, not knowing that it would be almost a week long of nonstop work. For what felt like the 50th time that day you watched the marble walls as your shadow traced along the cold polished castle rock, recalling a time where after a hard day’s work you could just go home and relax. Although you knew the pain and effort it took to earn peace like this, to have the luxury of complaining about long work hours instead of wondering where your next meal is coming from, the full work day situation was starting to take a toll on you. Both your legs and feet felt like lead pipes and concrete blocks as your exhausted figure lumbered through the hall, even though you maintained the posture worthy of a crownguard your back muscles were too tight and were screaming at you to stop and lay down for the night or maybe for a whole week. Again, you count all of the things you’re grateful to have hoping that it can stave off the crippling pain growing in your hips, knees, ankles, and your bone marrow. Passing by a massive stone mural you remember the story that led to the peace that everyone could enjoy today. At the time Prince Noctis was set to marry the oracle Lunafreya and the day after he left, Niflheim attacked and destroyed the city of Insomnia, which then led the Prince to save what remained of his home. Of course he was victorious and even managed to save all of his friends and loved ones along the way, now he was happily married to the world’s oracle and there had been rumors that the throne of Lucis might get an heir soon. A small smile made its way on your face, how sweet it was that you had the honor of knowing many of these heroic people personally. After all Gladiolus was your boss, you guarded King Noctis’ room so you saw him rather frequently, Prompto had become a good friend to you while also giving you tips on how to slack and get away with it, and even the King’s advisor Ignis had seemed to take note of your contributions. Sure life was still difficult, however, at least you didn’t have to worry about daemons or the imperial army in your day to day life.
Rounding yet another corner you saw faint light coming from under the farthest door, that was strange, it was Ignis’ office, sure he was known to work late hours, however, him working this late was almost unheard of. Tentatively you walk over to the door, not knowing what to expect, hoping that it was simply Ignis working way later than usual. As you approach you hear what sounds like muffled crying, or at least someone trying to cry silently, but the marble walls and doors do little in the way of noise cancellation. The ornate door was open ajar and peaking in you see a very rare sight, there was Ignis with his hair down and his glasses in his hands surrounded by paperwork to the point you could barely see his face. Without thinking you walk into the room, “Sir?” You ask, only after the word left your lips did you realize what you’d done. You could’ve walked away, but once again in an effort to be helpful you got yourself into more work. Ignis jumped at your voice ,thoroughly startled at your sudden appearance, he quickly tried to bring himself back together, putting on his glasses and smoothing his hair out which didn’t help much at all as his eyes were red and puffy. “Yes? Is there something that you need?” His voice is hoarse, the usual smooth sound of his voice is nearly gone. His words didn’t match his tone of voice, it sounded like a pre-recording or a learned script, you could tell he didn’t want to help anyone with anything else on top of his normal duties which he was already visibly drowning in. “I heard some noise over here and I just wanted to make sure there weren't any intruders in the castle. I didn’t think you worked this late. Please forgive me for the intrusion.” Ignis relaxed, “You’re quite alright. It seems as though I buried myself in work again. Thank you for checking up on me.” With that you give a salute and begin to leave the room, as you begin to move your bones groan with your movement, your walk is even more stiff than what it was a few hours ago, and it feels like if you don’t sit down in the next couple of minutes your hip sockets would just decide to stop working. “Wait a moment,” Ignis said, “you look tired, would you care to sit for a few minutes.” You want to start crying from the relief that washes over you, finally a break. Turning around, you see Ignis gesturing to the plush leather chair sitting across from him, you’re more than happy to sit down.
When you do finally sit, a rush of blood greets your legs, the sudden surge makes you acutely aware of how far you’ve been pushing yourself this past week. Pins and needles assault your muscles and you squeeze your eyes shut and try to steady your breathing, knowing that the pain will pass after a few minutes or so. Once the pain passes it feels like your legs weigh a couple tons, you could probably move if you desperately needed to, however, that would only hurt more in the long run. “I’ve noticed you’ve been putting in extra hours lately,” The King’s advisor says and you look over at him while he’s holding a stack of papers, “it says here you’re covering 5 full day shifts on top of your occasional night shifts.” You wince, hoping to forget about the one last day you still had left of near endless walking and standing. “Yeah I’m covering for a colleague.” Although you wanted to sound dignified or maybe even noble, your own voice betrayed how exhausted you were having to force those words out of your throat for what felt like the billionth time this week. “He had a family emergency and I volunteered to take up his shifts.” Just thinking the days that had passed felt draining, you tried rubbing the tiredness out of your eyes but if anything it amplified your exhaustion becoming more and more noticeable. “How kind of you,” Ignis spoke, “Did you know it was going to be 5 days or so?” You placed your head in your hands and let out a long sigh followed by a muffled no. Had you known beforehand that it was going to basically only be 5 days straight of work, leaving you with hardly any time to relax or sleep, you would have begged the people around you to help. “I wanted to do something nice, which I have, but at the same time I wish I was a little selfish and only covered about two shifts and had a few other people pick up the rest.” Ignis stayed silent, regret slowly started to creep into your mind, you’d probably said too much or not the right thing; after all many regarded Ignis as a perfectly selfless hero who’d sacrificed so much for not only the good of the king but also for the good of the kingdom, who were you to complain about long hours to someone who’d given everything short of his life to his duty.
“I think I know how you feel,” Although barely audible you heard him, “it is difficult to give so much when you feel as though you should’ve asked for help.” He sunk into his office chair, no longer sitting perfectly upright; he took off his glasses and placed them on the small stack of papers he had on the mahogany desk. “I know that many regard me as a pillar of mental strength and I need to maintain that image.” Tears creep in the corner of his green eyes, “However, there are times where even I would want help.” He paused again and his eyes met with yours, “Just know that you are not alone, even though our situations may not seem comparable I want you to know that you are not alone in feeling overwhelmed by a choice you made.” For the first time ever you were seeing a completely unfiltered Ignis Scientia, yes he was a hero and yes he was renowned as someone to aspire to be, however, that isn’t the entirety of him, just like anyone else, he is vulnerable, he is human. Tentatively you move your chair closer to him and place your hand on his desk, Ignis watches your movements quizzically. “Ignis,” you started, voice low, “I know you probably don’t want to rely on people except for Captain Gladiolus, King Noctis, and Prompto… but if you ever want someone to just talk to,” you swallow the growing lump in your throat, “just know that I’m here too.” His eyes soften and he takes your hand in his gently caressing the back of your hand with calloused fingers. “Then may I be honest with you?” Ignis’ voice is low, and you nod at his request, “This may sound odd and tell me if you’re not comfortable, but would it be alright for you to stay with me a bit longer and just talk?” A tired smile makes its way across your face, “Of course.” Although you had somewhat of a superficial crush on Ignis, now seeing him in this light made you think more about a future. What if this was the start of something sacred or something beautiful.