#c. ignis

[oraclecrown]

@multitudinus / sc.  ↳ song.   open your eyes  /  bea miller

“ History falling down -- HOPE rising up.    We’re the here && now, and all that came before ... cannot stay asleep.   We’re not CHILDREN anymore. “ 

[amicililium]

@onuscientia

He knows he can’t ask Ignis to stay behind.  Not only would it be uncalled for, it would start a FIGHT.  He KNOWS Ignis can handle himself, but it always comes down to this.  They prepare for a hunt and Gladio just wants him to stay safe and out of the line of fire.  (He doesn’t have to worry about the prince first and Ignis second now, but that isn’t a comfort, and it leaves ashes bitter in his mouth to even think of. ) 

He can AFFORD to look out for Ignis on the battlefield now, and it not be as detrimental.  But he knows Ignis loathes it.  It isn’t for any belief that Ignis can’t do it, can’t take care of himself or fight on par with any of the hunters --- it’s because in this world, abyssal and dark, Ignis is all he has.  Prompto has gone off, separated from them, and Ignis is all he can protect.  

“ Never thought there’d be a day I was actually TIRED of fighting.  The demons get worse with every day that passes.  I hate this. “ 

[amicililium]

@onuscientia

He makes every effort to keep it from them, to keep his strength ever - present and unfaltering in the face of agony.  He is their SHIELD, their rock.  But it’s hard -- fuck, it’s so hard sometimes.  At every turn the burden gets a little worse.  His father, his home.  He’d lost them too -- he never so much as breathes a word toward his grief.  ( He puts on the same brave face for Iris when they see her.  He urges Noct forward through his own, helps and supports and motivates where he can.  A pillar of stability -- ) 

         And then Ignis -- 

That seems to have been his BREAKING POINT.  Of course, he still tries.  The cracks manifest in the form of unchecked and scathing rage, lashing out at NOCTIS.  ( Who in part deserves it and in part does not -- who more than anything needs someone to guide him and Gladio’s never been great at that.  He’s just supposed to PROTECT him, be there and be supportive and never let harm come to him.  Fuck, he’d fucked that up pretty royally too, hadn’t he? ) 

He hangs his head in his own hands, the flower simmers down to embers before him -- the others have retired.  Gladio only hopes that they stay that way, just for a while.  He can’t bear to be there now, suffocating between them.  Any sound catches in his throat-- he doesn’t cry.  He just feels NUMB.  Numb and tired and distraught.  

[amicililium]

@onuscientia

He wants to curse every Astral beneath or above Eos, craddling Ignis close to him the entire trip back to the hotel.  Impossible at first glance to tell how horrible the injuries really were, but Gladio could see with ease that he’d put up one hell of a fucking fight.  ( Silent prayer given in bitter thought that whatever had gotten to him better look w o r s e. ) 

The two of them remain unconscious in the following days, both Ignis and Noctis, doctors in and out of the rooms -- every day that passes is a day longer that he worries iggy may just .. not wake up.  At one point the mounting frustration ends up with his fist through a wall.  

     -- How could he let this happen?  Could he have failed more spectacularly than this?  SHIELD TO THE KING.  And he hadn’t been any good for Noctis either.  Much less Ignis.  

The day Ignis stirs to life again is the day his heart remembers how to beat properly once more.  Gladio is present, of course he is.  He’s hardly left his side in all this time -- the moment he hears Ignis begin to wake, his book is discarded in favor of Ignis.  

“ Hey -- Don’t try to move -- “ And he reaches without any thought, careless, a hand settles gentle against Ignis’s chest, urging him to be STILL.  “ You’re safe -- You’re safe, it’s me... “  He takes note that those eyes don’t flutter awake, and the FEAR that had been bubbling in his gut takes grip of him in cold claws.  The Doctor’s who had seen to him had been honest with Gladio.  It didn’t look good -- it was LIKELY that Ignis would lose sight in one, if not both eyes.  

     --- Gladio rages within.  He’s lucky The Kings of Yore let him get away ALIVE.

He’s never been so afraid in all his life.  Afraid of LOSING him.  There’s never been a day that he wasn’t aware it was a stark reality.  A possibility.  A risk of the profession and their LOYALTY.  They were ready to die at any moment for their KING.  For Noctis.  It didn’t make staring reality in the face any easier.  ( The sheer relief that Ignis is AWAKE seems to take the strength out of his knees.  He settles on the edge of the bed, instead of the chair he’d made his home in for the past few days.  Anything to be CLOSER. ) 

[amicililium]

@onuscientia

He’s been unbearably smitten since their first meeting.  The flowershop has been a dream since he was YOUNG -- and it’s slowly underway now.  He’d bought out the building a month ago, begun work on getting things ready.  It’d been around that time that he’d popped into the bakery across the street to grab something to eat for him and Iris while they were hard at work. 

And fuck, the cute ass baker stole his heart.  It can’t be helped.  He’s witty and charming, and ridiculously, unfairly handsome.  So, the bakery has become a frequent stop before or after work getting things set up -- and then, the inevitable opening day rolls around and Gladio can’t resist the urge to give him FLOWERS in honor of .... something.  He makes up some excuse for it to Iris that sounds DECENT enough but she still raises a brow and crosses her arms, in a way that definitely says that they’re related.  He pays for the flowers regardless, so it doesn’t make much of a difference to her.

It’s crafted with expert care, peach colored roses accompanied by a flower the untrained eye might mistake for the common baby’s breath -- Alyssum flowers, sprigs of it dotted between full, beautiful roses.  ( APPRECIATION, WORTH beyond BEAUTY. ) It’s a special and affectionate message for how he appreciates the other’s wit and tact.  ( He spends way too much time here, and the bakery smells AMAZING when he enters in the early morning.  Scent of fresh coffee and pastries.  He carries the bouquet in a crystal vase and sets it on the counter before the register with a bright smile. ) 

“ A thank you gift -- for ... “  Right, there’s usually a REASON someone gives FLOWERS. “ Morning pick - me - ups, and you’re amazing pastries.  I look forward to seeing more of you, now that the stores open.  Ah ... I, didn’t actually catch your name, if you don’t mind. “  ( He’s positive the Baker in question knows HIS name.  Iris is noisy and excitable, and talkative.  But the mysterious object of his affection is typically quiet, and Gladio hasn’t really seen the perfect opportunity to seek an introduction. ) 

[oraclecrown]

@totalxclarity liked for a lyrical starter !           ⎆ song: rising up by courtnee knotts

“ In the dark I see you with hope and despair all around, and I know that we’re still fighting in this darkness, and with the fear of losing ground -- danger hides in shadows, this wilderness of lost and found, but in this closing darkness, among this terror there’s a light we can see-- don’t give up. “ 

[oraclecrown]

@igtia / sc.  ↳ song.  tabi no tochuu  /  amalee 

“  There’s a world we see in our dreams -- is it out there ?  Is it waiting ?  Is there time for one more journey ... ?  When the day breaks, when the sun burns, when the night comes freezing our world -- let’s go find what is waiting, at the end of everything. “

[eatrude]

@multitudinus / sc. 

“ I’m always thankful for the extra help in the kitchen.   And I’m told you know your way around one rather WELL, mr. scientia. “  His smile is amicable and inviting, no trace of the swarm of dark that lingers beneath SKIN.   Inviting and hospital, patron of arts and friend of the royal family.

“ Is it of passion, or necessity ? “