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Noctis groaned as the cruel light of day penetrated the defense of his closed eyelids, rousing him unceremoniously back into the waking world. He could have sworn he'd closed the blinds before he stumbled into bed the previous evening, exhausted from a particularly grueling training session with Gladio. Reluctantly surrendering to his growing state of consciousness, Noctis blinked his eyes open to find Ignis standing by the window.
"Ugh…" Noctis complained as he pulled himself into a sitting position in his bed. "I closed those blinds for a reason, Specs."
Judging by the tiny upturned corner of Ignis' lips, which Noctis had zeroed in on in his attempts to find even the smallest hint of what his long-time friend might be thinking these days, he was feeling rather pleased with himself. The expression was the closest Ignis had come to outright mischievousness in what seemed like an eternity.
"Ah, good. You're awake," Ignis stated as if Noctis hadn't even spoken just a moment ago. "Please get dressed and join me in the kitchen in ten minutes."
Ignis swiftly exited the bedroom and Noctis groaned again, rubbing his eyes and flopping dramatically back against his pillow. Noctis missed the days when Ignis used to wake him up by gently touching his face, or stroking his hair, but it had been years since his friend had touched him so casually. He had half a mind to pull the covers over his head, roll back over, and force Ignis to come back to rouse him a second time, but he thought better of it and slowly eased himself out of bed with a wince.
His muscles were sore, his knee felt stiff, and his back was aching worse than usual as Noctis slowly dressed himself and limped his way into the kitchen. Ignis' eyebrows raised as he immediately clocked that Noctis wasn't moving correctly and he swiftly moved to retrieve a couple of painkillers which he set down next to the glass of juice that had already been laid out with an omelet for his breakfast.
"Thanks, Specs."
"Should I schedule a physical therapy appointment for you this morning?" Ignis asked with quiet concern as Noctis gratefully swallowed the medicine.
Noctis shook his head. "I'm fine. It's not that bad. The pills should take the edge off."
Ignis nodded. "Alright, but do inform me immediately if the pain persists or gets worse. Regardless, I will re-schedule our joint training session for sometime next week in order to give you adequate time to recover."
"Oh, uh… okay," Noctis said slowly as he tried not to let his disappointment show. He'd actually been looking forward to training with Ignis today. He fought differently than Gladio did, smarter, and with more finesse. It was also one of the few instances when Ignis would actually touch him. He took a forkful of his omelette and glared suspiciously at the tiny green flecks dispersed throughout the eggs. "What did you put in this, Specs?"
The corner of Ignis' lip turned slightly upward once again, "It's called seasoning, Noct. Now hurry up and eat your breakfast or you'll be late for class."
"Ugh…" Noctis groaned, as he raised the fork to his lips. It tasted fine, delicious even, but Noctis continued complaining more for show than for anything else. "You know I don't like this stuff, I don't know why you keep insisting on adding it."
"I don't have the faintest idea what you mean," Ignis said with a slightly warmer, fond tone seeping into his voice as he watched Noctis eat his entire omelette.
Between the food and the pills, the pain in Noctis' back and knee had subsided into more of a manageable, dull ache by the time he arrived at school. As long as he concentrated on his movements, hopefully he should be able to hide the slightly more pronounced limp that he always had to contend with on bad pain days. Well… hide it from anyone who didn't know him well at least.
Prompto wasn't fooled for a second. He took one look at Noctis and without missing a beat he moved to stand to Noctis' left, covering his bad side from the immediate view of their classmates by throwing his arm gently around his back and talking loudly and animatedly about the newest King's Knight DLC expansion pack the entire way to the classroom.
Once safely settled in his seat, Noctis smiled gratefully at his best friend. "You doing anything after school today?"
"Nothing planned other than homework," Prompto answered. "Why?"
With a shrug, Noctis said nonchalantly, "My training session got canceled for today. Wanna come over? We can get our homework done, have dinner, and then play Assassin's Creed for a few hours."
"Awesome!" Prompto cheered. "Sounds like a plan, buddy!"
Noctis smiled and then turned his attention to the front of the room as the teacher entered and the school day began in earnest.
For a bad pain day, all things considered, things had gone pretty well today. Prompto continued using himself as a literal distraction every time Noctis had to move from one place to another, and no one caught onto the fact that the Crown Prince was hiding a slight limp. The pain was a little more intense towards the end of the school day, and Noctis was going to need to take some more pills as soon as he got home, but he sighed in relief as he made it to the car. The hard part was over.
Noctis gestured to Prompto to get into the car first, which his friend did with his usual boundless enthusiasm.
"Hey, Ignis," Prompto greeted cheerfully as he climbed into the back seat and scooted over to make room for Noctis.
"Prompto," Ignis greeted in a rather flat tone as Noctis sat down. "I wasn't anticipating your presence today."
Noctis frowned, catching Ignis' eyes through the rear-view mirror. "Since my training got canceled, I invited him over."
"I see," Ignis said quietly as he pulled the car away from the curb and onto the road without making any further comment.
There was an awkward silence that fell over the car for a moment before Prompto, in typical Prompto fashion, began to fill it with cheerful babble about everything and nothing at all. He did it all with a bright sunny smile and as if he hadn't noticed Ignis' frosty demeanor in the least.
Noctis followed his best friend's lead, despite being privately frustrated with Ignis' behavior. Prompto had jumped through every single hoop required to spend time with Noctis outside of school and then-some. He'd passed the background check with flying colors, despite the extra harsh scrutiny both Ignis and Gladio had given him. But while Gladio had long since thawed towards his best friend, Ignis continued to regard him as an inconvenience and with barely concealed passive aggressiveness.
While Noctis was thankful that Prompto appeared to take it in stride, and never failed to at least attempt to include Ignis in their conversation, he was getting increasing frustrated by Ignis' attitude. By the time they reached the apartment, Noctis was practically seething. Was it too much to ask for his closest friends to get along?
He sat down at the kitchen table with a scowl, slamming his school bag onto the table with a thump.
Prompto sat down next to him, pulled his math homework out of his bag, and in an obvious attempt to ease the tension, declared brightly, "Woo hoo! Math time!"
"You're insane," Noctis said fondly. "No one should ever be that happy about math homework."
"It's like a puzzle," Prompto said with a shrug. "It's fun figuring it out."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, you dork."
Without a word, Ignis came up behind Noctis and placed another dose of pain killers and a glass of water on the table.
"Thanks," Noctis said as he looked up to catch Ignis' eyes, but his retainer was already retreating back towards the working part of the kitchen.
"Hey, Iggy," Prompto called out with a smile. "I know we have some homework to do but why don't you come sit with us? We could always order a pizza so you don't have to cook."
Ignis spun around on his heel and looked Prompto straight in the eyes as he replied with barely concealed contempt, "If you wish to put on weight, certainly."
Prompto's smile dropped instantly and he looked down at his homework like a kicked puppy.
Ignis' smile was triumphant when his obviously mean-spirited remark landed exactly as he'd intended and Noctis was fed up.
Sitting up straighter in his chair despite the growing ache in his back, Noctis glared at Ignis and ordered, "Green curry, tonight, Ignis. Extra spicy. Then you're dismissed."
Ignis clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, obvious irritation shooting out of him in waves before he forcibly relaxed his posture and replied, "Yes, your Highness."
Noctis continued to glare until Ignis turned around and began pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator. Then he quickly downed his pills and turned his attention to Prompto.
"Thanks," Prompto said quietly as he tried to discreetly wipe the tears that had gathered out of his eyes.
"Don't mention it," Noctis said just as quietly. Then he smiled and joked, "Now, how should we tackle question one, you math loving freak of nature?"
By an unspoken mutual agreement, Noctis and Prompto focused single-mindedly on their homework, finishing it just in time for dinner. Ignis silently served two large helpings of green curry into bowls, placed them on the table, and then gathered his things. Noctis pointedly ignored him.
"Good night, Ignis," Prompto said with a small smile in an obvious peace offering. "Thanks for dinner."
Ignis paused near the door and without turning around, he nodded and then said quietly, "Good evening, Noct," before swiftly exiting the apartment.
Noctis let out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding in a frustrated hiss of air. "I'm sorry, Prom. I don't know why he keeps acting like this."
With a weak smile, Prompto, said, "Nah, it's okay, Noct. I just gotta keep trying. I'll win him over eventually."
"It's not okay," Noctis said firmly. "I've been hoping he'd come around on his own, but I think I've got to talk to him. You don't deserve to be treated like that and you shouldn't have to put up with it."
Prompto took a bite of his curry and his smile grew a little brighter. "Damn that's good. Ignis might not be able to stand my guts, but he sure knows how to make my favorite dish better than any restaurant in the entire city."
Noctis huffed out a laugh. "It's his loss. He could have been eating with us if he wasn't being such a jerk."
"I get it though," Prompto said seriously. "I try not to take it personally most of the time. Tonight just hit a sore spot."
"Well, I don't get it. You've never been anything other than nice to him."
Prompto seemed to hesitate for a moment and then sighed, "I know what it looks like—what I look like from the outside looking in. If I was in his place, I'd probably hate me on principle too."
"What?" Noctis sputtered incredulously. "Are you telling me that, Specs is jealous?"
"Dude, that's exactly what I'm saying. It's obvious. From Ignis' perspective, I'm just some common nobody who came out of nowhere, suddenly got all cozy with his closest friend, and has been taking up time that used to only be spent between the two of you. I know you didn't notice but I saw the look on his face a few months ago when you called me your best friend in front of him. He hid it really quickly into that neutral mask he wears but for a split second, he was looking pretty crushed."
"But…" Noctis sputtered. "That's ridiculous! Ignis is so much…"
"More than that to you, I know." Prompto cut-in seriously. "Look, Ignis is a really rational guy, but emotions like this aren't rational. I know, and you know, that I'm not trying to replace him. Hell, I never could do that even if I wanted to. But Ignis is frustrated, dude. He feels like he's competing with me for your attention and as a result he sees me as a threat to his position in your life. He'd never take out his frustration on you, so he takes it out on me instead."
"You really think he doesn't know?" Noctis said quietly as he stared at his curry without eating it. "I never said anything but… Specs has been pulling away from me for years, long before you even came into the picture. I always assumed the reason he did that was to try and let me down gently."
"If you've never actually told him then I think you probably should," Prompto said gently. "He's been with you forever, dude but he's not a mind-reader. He loves you more than anything and he takes the word devotion to a whole new level but he's probably too close to either see how you feel, or to trust what he sees."
Noctis swallowed hard past the lump in his throat and forced himself to eat his dinner. He had to drink a lot of water to tolerate Prompto's preferred spice level, but he didn't regret asking for it. Prompto didn't seem to mind that Noctis had gone quiet, just sat with him in a comfortable silence as he wrestled with his thoughts and feelings that had been wrought to the surface.
Prompto cleaned up after dinner and gathered his things. "I think I'll take a rain check on the gaming if you don't mind, Noct?"
Noctis shook himself out of his stupor and answered, "Yeah, sure. Want me to call you a cab?"
"No thanks, buddy," Prompto said with a smile. "The bus should be coming by in a few minutes. I'm good."
"Okay," Noctis said as he walked him to the door. "See you tomorrow?"
"You know it!" Prompto said cheerfully before his expression softened. "Talk to Ignis. It will be okay. I'm sure of it."
"Thanks," Noctis said quietly.
"Anytime, dude."
The door closed with a quiet click behind Prompto, and Noctis made his way to his bedroom. He went through the usual motions of getting ready for bed and moved to close the blinds. Then he paused, staring out the window for a moment thoughtfully, before letting his hand drop away from the cord.
He left the blinds open.
The next morning, when the sun streamed through his window, Noctis was already wide awake. The pain of the previous day had thankfully subsided, and he dressed himself without any issues. His stomach was rattling with nerves, but he knew that Prompto was right, he needed to address this, and he needed to do it today.
When the key twisted in the lock, Noctis was ready, and waiting.
Ignis visibly startled to see Noctis awake, dressed, and standing in front of the door. "Noct? What…?"
"Come in, Specs," Noctis said firmly as he tried his best to ignore the nervous waves crashing around in his stomach. "We need to talk."
"I see," Ignis said quietly as he stepped fully into the apartment and closed the door behind him.
Noctis walked over to the couch and sat down, knowing Ignis would follow. Once Ignis quietly took up a seat next to him, he took a deep breath and said, "I'm pretty upset with you right now."
Ignis sighed, and looked down at the floor, resigned as he said quietly, "I know."
"I don't expect you and Prom to be best friends or anything like that. You don't even have to like him, even though I think you really would if you gave him a chance." Noctis took another deep breath to ground himself and then continued, "But you can't keep treating him like crap every time I spend time with him. It's unacceptable, and I'm not going to tolerate it anymore."
"Understood, your Highness," Ignis said quietly without raising his head or his eyes.
To anyone else, that reply would have sounded perfectly neutral. Noctis, however, could hear the tiny thread of hurt hiding under the mask.
"He defended you, you know," Noctis continued softly. "After you left, he told me he understood why."
Ignis' head snapped up at that and the expression in his eyes was more than a little surprised.
“Prompto’s my best friend but you—you’re more than that Specs. Always have been. And whether you feel the same way or not, you always will be.” Tears sprung to the corners of his eyes as his confession came out of him in a rush. "You're irreplaceable."
"Noct," Ignis whispered, his name escaping his lips like a prayer as he reached forward and hesitantly placed his hand on Noctis' cheek. "Noct, you're everything to me."
The tears fell free, streaming down Noctis' cheeks at the touch and Ignis instantly and tenderly wiped them away with his fingertips.
"And you're everything to me too," Noctis whispered. "I thought that you knew. I thought that's why you pulled away."
"Gods, I've been so blind," Ignis whispered.
Noctis wasn't sure which one of them moved first, but the gap between them closed and their lips met in the middle. He clung to Ignis, trembling in his arms as they kissed and the misunderstandings disintegrated between them. Despite the salt of his tears, this first kiss between them tasted sweeter than anything he'd ever tasted, and as Noctis pulled back to meet Ignis' eyes he smiled.
For the first time, in a long time, both of them finally saw each other clearly.