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“Your Highness - it appears you’ve lost another button.” Ignis looks across the fire at Noctis, and can see that one of the buttons at the top of his shirt has mysteriously disappeared. Now, it very well could have been because of one of their fights with an MT army, or it could have been because one of the others got careless as they were having some fun with the Prince. He knows it wasn’t him, as he takes care to treat Noctis with the respect that he wishes for himself, but he knows both Prompto and Gladio have had a strong desire to disregard decorum in the heat of the moment. “Shall I fix it for you?”
“You don’t have to, Specs.” Noctis shakes his head, as he shifts on the chair, looking into the fire. “It probably popped off earlier when we were fighting those coeurls.”
“Ah, I see.” He tries not to be bothered by the fact that Noctis tells him he doesn’t need him to do that, when in the past he’s always readily agreed to allow him to fix his shirt. It’s been a common occurrence on this trip, and now to hear Noctis say it’s unnecessary - it causes a pain in his chest that he doesn’t know where it comes from.
“He can fix it himself, can’t he?” Gladio comments, a smirk prominent on his face. “You baby him too much, Ignis. He was taught how to fix things. Ain’t that right, Princess?”
“Shut up.” The Prince mumbles, but Ignis can clearly see that the two are sharing a smile that again brings that strange pain in his chest. “Like you can talk, Gladio. We all know why you always wear your shirt unbuttoned. Because you don’t want to button it because you know your tits will just bust each button off.”
Prompto’s laughter across from him makes him wince slightly. “It’s so true! Your pecs are ginormous, dude.”
“Hey - since when did this turn into a rag session on me, huh?” Gladio asks, standing up. “I’ll have you know that I like to keep my shirt open because it gets hot out here.”
“You wore it like that in Insomnia.” Noctis returns, a smirk on his lips. “Right, Prom?”
Ignis can clearly see that he doesn’t need to be here, as it seems the three are doing just fine having a conversation without him. He casually stands up, waits for one of them to say something, but no one does. Oh. He tries not to let it bother him, but that ache returns to his chest as he goes over to where their chocobos are resting. They’d been fed before dinner, and really - all Ignis wants to do right now is get away from these strange feelings he has. Did he overstep his bounds by asking the Prince if he wanted him to fix his shirt again? That couldn’t really be it, could it?
Gladio’s words of babying Noctis return to his mind, and as he climbs up on the back of the chocobo, it gives a soft warble then takes off at a gentle run away from the camp. No one calls out to him, and really - he doesn’t expect them to. They’re too busy talking with each other to notice that he’s disappeared. And again, that reality hurts.
Maybe he’s spending too much time trying to do things for his three lovers, instead of letting them come to him. He is the one to offer to do things. For Prompto, he offers to help during the lengthy battles that they wind up in when a never-ending stream of MTs drop from the sky. Noctis - he offers to help maintain his Princely appearance by fixing his clothes, or by “volunteering” to drive the Regalia for the day. And for Gladio, he always offers a friendly ear whenever he has the need to complain about what both Prompto and Noctis are doing to drive him mad on that particular day.
But no one ever asks him what he wants. What he needs. No, they don’t seem to care about him at all, and that reality makes his heart hurt. Ignis kicks his feet against the chocobos sides, and points them in the direction of Wiz’s, the journey a short one from the haven they’d chosen to set up at for the night. He needs to see a familiar face - one that he knows will be happy with his presence, if it’s not in the same manner as he wishes his lovers would see him as.
“Ignis!” Wiz holds up his hand in greeting as he brings his chocobo to a stop by the chocobos resting in stalls. “What brings you here so late in the evening?”
“I thought I might trouble you for a triple decker sandwich.”
“Having a bad night?”
He knows that the man has a keener eye than most they’ve met on their journey. “It hasn’t been a picnic, if that’s what you’re asking.” Ignis hops off the back of his chocobo, and leads her to where she can feast on more greens.
“I know just the thing.”
Taking a seat at one of the small tables, Wiz brings him a bottle of beer, and a plate full of chips. “It’ll just be a few - but here, I don’t want you to starve.”
“Thank you, Wiz.” He picks up a chip, and tosses it into his mouth.
The sandwich that he really shouldn’t be eating this late arrives, and Ignis picks up one half and begins to munch on it. He wonders if the three have noticed he’s gone, or maybe the three of them have already retired to the tent to explore some fun times with one another. That thought causes another pain to arise in his chest. He knows his mind is playing cruel tricks on him right now - but it’s difficult to see because of everything that has transpired this evening. Why does it take so much effort for those three to realize how much he cares for them? Ignis wonders if he does it too much, and should rein back on his offers to the three. But then, would it be worth the headache that he no doubt will receive if one of them tries to do what he does for them? He picks up a chip and sighs. No, no it wouldn’t be worth it.
“Would you care to take some treats back to your friends?” Wiz asks, as he picks up the two empty plates, and offers another bottle of beer to Ignis. He declines with a shake of his head, and then notices a bag is in Wiz’s hand.
“I suppose that would be alright.” He reaches for the bag, and can smell freshly baked brownies. “Oh, these smell marvelous.”
“Someone taught me a decent recipe the last time they paid me a visit.” Wiz winked, then shook his head as Ignis pulled his wallet out. “Your money’s no good tonight. Take those back with you, and come see me soon. All of you, okay?”
“We will, Wiz.” Ignis stands up and walks over to where his chocobo has settled in. She jumps up with a soft ‘wark’, then allows him to get up on her back. “Come on - let’s go see what the others are up to.” He pats her neck, then kicks his feet, having her run off towards the direction of the haven.
No one is outside when he returns, not that it surprises him. He heads to the tent, expecting to find the three in a compromising position, but no one is in there. Strange. He walks back out and sees that two chocobos are gone. He’s about to look around when a streak of blue appears in his peripheral vision, and he steps back to see Noctis staring at him with an exasperated look on his face.
“Your Highness?” Ignis blinks, staring down at the Prince. “Is everything alright?”
“No, everything is not alright, Ignis. Where the hell have you been?”
“I decided to go for a stroll.”
“In the middle of the night. When you know there are daemons.” The annoyance in Noctis’ voice has him raising his eyebrows.
“I am more than capable of fighting them off on my own if necessary. I don’t think-”
“IGGY!” He turns his head and sees both Prompto and Gladio have returned to the camp, both hopping off the backs of their chocobos. They race up to him, both looking as panicked and annoyed as Noctis looks. “Iggy, where did you go??”
“I went for a ride on my chocobo.” Ignis doesn’t understand why they seem to be so put out, when no one said anything to him when he left. “I’m not sure why you three are upset with me right now. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Yes, you did.” Gladio sighs, and shakes his head. “Ignis - we thought you were going to go put the dishes away. Not just disappear on us. What the hell gives?”
He adjusts his glasses, then looks at the fire, not wanting to look at the three of them. “You seemed to be getting along just fine without me. I figured I would give you space, as I was not needed.”
“Of course you’re needed, Iggy.” Prompto says, suddenly appearing at his side. “Did you really think we wouldn’t notice you were gone??”
It takes a second for him to answer, and in that time, Noctis has returned to be in front of him. “Why would you think that we wouldn’t notice?”
“Because I’m unnecessary.” Ignis spits the words out, the ache returning to his chest as he meets Noctis’ glare head on. “It’s clear to me that the three of you are more than capable of functioning without me. Your love for one another is very apparent.”
“Wait, hold on.” Gladio holds his hand up. “Are you saying that we don’t love you??”
“I’m only suggesting that-”
“Of course we love you.” Noctis stares up at him, the expression of annoyance now replaced by one of tenderness that is only reserved for him. At least, he hopes that’s the case - he can never tell. “We can’t survive without you.”
“That’s why you love me?”
Prompto shakes his head as he stands next to Noctis, a pair of violet eyes now looking up at him. “No! We love you because of who you are! We love you because you make sure we’re fed well. You make sure we’re clean. You fix our clothes. Our bodies. Our minds. Everything, Iggy. That’s why we love you.”
“You honestly think that we didn’t notice you were gone?” Gladio now stands behind Prompto and Noctis, Ignis raising his head to look up at him. “We noticed immediately, and took off. We’ve been looking around this area for the last hour. While you went and got some food somewhere.”
“I…” He really doesn’t know what to say. Again, he knows his mind has been cruel, and it would seem that even he can succumb to its traitorous nature. He holds up the bag, then looks at his three lovers. “Wiz wanted us to have these.”
“That still doesn’t make up for what you’ve done.” Arms are now crossed over Gladio’s chest, as he glares at him. “You can’t do this again. No one gets to leave without telling someone where they are going - even if they convince themselves that no one will care.”
“We care a lot.” Noctis looks up at him. “We love you, Ignis. Please….don’t do this again?”
“I won’t, Noctis.” He sets the bag down, and then finds himself surrounded by his three lovers, happy to feel all of their arms around his body. He sinks against them all, and returns their hug with one of his own. “I’m sorry I acted irrationally this evening. It won’t happen again.”
“Oh, it will.” Prompto giggles, then kisses his cheek. “But we’ll set you straight, Iggy.”
“I should hope not. I prefer being gay.” The three groans that follow make him smirk. Yes, it is good to be back with his loved ones, knowing that he does fit into this four piece puzzle. “Now, who would like a fresh brownie?”
A chorus of “Yes, please!” rings out. He sees the three go back over to the fire - Noctis using some fire magic to rekindle the flames, Prompto gets the chairs closer together, and Gladio gets some coffee brewing in the percolator. Once everything is set up, he passes around the box, and then watches his lovers all enjoy the treat with smiles on their faces, one also appearing on his own. They wind up in a cuddle pile in the tent, with Ignis somehow in the middle - he isn’t quite sure how they managed to get into the position, but having all three of his loves surrounding him, he isn’t about to complain. He recognizes now that yes - they all have their differences with how they engage with one another, but at the end of the day - at the end of the day, they are a foursome that is a fear to be reckoned with. And he will never doubt himself again. Or, at least he’ll try not to.