From seven in the morning until nearly noon, Prince Noctis and his companions had been on the road, and all of them were eager for a stretch—not to mention lunch. So when their designated chauffeur, Ignis, saw the Crow's Nest logo appear on a towering sign just around the bend, he roused the rest by asking, "Who's ready for a break?"
"Me, me, me!" Prompto sang, bouncing in the passenger seat beside Ignis.
"I'm starving to death," the prince complained, already fidgeting with his seatbelt.
Prompto pointed to the cartoon bird on the fast food restaurant sign. "Kenny's gotcha covered!"
"It would be nice to hear that sort of enthusiasm when I go to the trouble of making breakfast for you all," Ignis grumbled.
He slowed the car as he took the next curve, signaling their turn when they approached the famed restaurant chain.
"Woohoo!" Prompto cheered as Ignis pulled the Regalia into the parking lot. "Aw, man! If we hadn't stopped, I think I'd have wet myself."
"Then I suppose you're excused from cleanup duty," Ignis sighed as he expertly steered the car into a parking space, "since it's an emergency."
Prompto didn't even bother opening the passenger side door of the convertible, instead throwing himself over it to get out before making a mad dash for the Crow's Nest.
Gladio moved more slowly, hefting himself out of the backseat with a grunt. "My ass is killing me," he groaned. He opened his door to climb out of the car then pushed it shut again and leaned against it, arching his back until it popped.
Ignis's lips formed a thin, tight line. "Fine," he said stiffly. "You may be excused, as well."
The brawny man gave his bespectacled friend a crooked grin in gratitude as he lumbered off, rubbing his aching tailbone.
That just left…
"Noct?" Ignis called over his shoulder.
"…Huh?"
"This car is a pigsty. The trash bags are in the pocket behind my seat, if you don't mind."
Ignis felt rustling against his back, then a tap on his shoulder. He turned his head to see that Noct was handing him the small box of plastic bags and sighed, accepting it begrudgingly. A moment later he heard the car door open and shut behind him, and he was alone.
Throwing his arm over the side of the driver's side door in exasperation, Ignis watched Noct's retreating form in the rearview mirror, emerald eyes drinking him in. The prince's long, dark hair bounced with his every step, the wind giving it an extra toss. The boy went straight for the restaurant door and didn't look back. Ignis chuckled in spite of his irritation.
Even though he was just as hungry and weary from the drive as the other men, Ignis insisted the car be cleaned out every time they stopped. It was shocking how much clutter could be accumulated on the road. Each morning during their trip he bought a newspaper, which had to be distributed: he read the news first, then once he got behind the wheel of the Regalia Gladio would take the sports page and hand the comics to Prompto and the entertainment section to Noctis. After a few hours the paper would be crumpled and scattered all over the car. That was to say nothing of the candy wrappers, water bottles, and wadded up receipts. Ignis himself was guilty of filling every available cup holder with empty iced coffee cans, he was forced to admit.
Resigned to his fate, but determined to make someone else do the tidying come evening, Ignis took a trash bag out of the box Noct had handed him and shook it until it opened. He unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over the passenger seat to gather Prompto's amassed garbage first, but when he realized it was going to take him a while, he decided he might as well put on some music.
Their youngest member rode in the front to play the role of DJ, and Ignis knew where he kept his music collection. He pulled the passenger side sun visor down to raid Prompto's stash, but the organizer attached to it was full to bursting and the simple action was enough to bring the whole thing down, sending CDs skittering all over the floor, into the back seat as well as the front.
"Prompto!" Ignis hissed with annoyance.
Abandoning the trash bag, Ignis began scooping up CDs instead, dusting them off on the sleeve of his jacket with an irritable frown. He couldn't reach into the back seat easily, so with a sigh he climbed out of the driver's seat and opened up the rear door.
Two CDs were on the floor behind Prompto's seat. "Gladio!" Ignis growled. It was disgusting how much dirt the older man had tracked in on his boots. Ignis quickly made up his mind about which two were being assigned cleanup chores tonight.
He found the last CD trapped between the driver's seat and the central console of the car. It was wedged in tightly, and he had to take off one of his gloves to get a good grip on it, but finally managed to slide it free.
As Ignis added the final CD to the stack he was holding, he spun the disc around curiously. On it was written: "Noct's Mix." The handwriting was unfamiliar, flowery and feminine. Ignis decided to give it a listen while he finished decluttering the vehicle; one could only listen to "Spira Unplugged" for so many hours, after all, and he didn't think Noct would mind.
Ignis turned the key in the ignition so that the battery generated some power to the stereo, ejected "Spira Unplugged," then slid the disc entitled "Noct's Mix" into the CD player. He finished bagging up the trash and sorted the recycling separately, then sank back down into his own seat to reorganize Prompto's music collection so this wouldn't happen again.
While he worked, he was pleasantly surprised by the sweet sounds of harmonious classical music drifting from the Regalia's speakers. The placid melodies of the delicate arrangements were a far cry from the likes of "Blitz Off" and "The Man With the Machine Gun."
But after the last note of the final refrain softly faded away, and the CD changed to its closing number, Ignis froze in place. The concluding track wasn't music, but the unexpected recording of a personal message to the prince.
"Noctis… I hope you liked the CD. I know I've written to you about the Tenebrae Royal Orchestra a thousand times, but I never felt like I could do its beauty justice by simply telling you of it. I wanted you to hear the music for yourself, and now that you have, you'll have to let me know what you think. I hope you were as moved as I am."
"My word," Ignis gasped. "That…that's Lady Lunafreya!"
Realizing this was a private message from the prince's fiancée, whom they were on their way to meet, Ignis became flustered. He fumbled with the organizer he was arranging so he could get it out of the way and eject the CD before he heard any more. But he wasn't in time before the dulcet voice continued.
"I…received your letter. I can tell by the wrinkles in the paper and the smudges in the ink you must have been very nervous to send it to me… Noctis, I understand how difficult it was for you to write, to confess you don't want to marry me."
Ignis paused, clasping the CD organizer to his chest with one arm, his other hand hovering over the stereo controls. He was too startled to eject the CD, even though he knew he should.
"There's someone else in my heart, as well. His name… Well, that's not important. What matters is that as we've gotten to know one another over the last twelve years, you have become one of my dearest friends. So please accept my proposal—my proposal to end our engagement."
Sitting in stunned silence, Ignis felt his jaw drop. When…when had Lunafreya recorded this message? Why had Noct said nothing of it?
Then he heard the answer to his unspoken question.
"Believe me when I say I wish you all the happiness in the world. I pray you are able to express your feelings to Ignis as eloquently as you confessed them to me, and I hope he can return your love as I cannot. Yours in friendship, Luna."
Ignis jumped, startled, as Prompto's CDs crashed again to the floor.
Muttering a curse under his breath, Ignis reached down and started picking the discs back up. His heart was hammering so hard, his blood pulsing so loudly in his ears, he was unaware he was no longer alone. But when he sat upright again, he caught sight of an intense pair of stormy blue-gray eyes staring back into his in the reflection of the driver's door mirror.
Ignis held his breath as Noct walked a step closer, braced himself on the door, and leaned over to eject the CD from the player. He couldn't meet the boy's eyes at first, instead staring straight ahead through the windshield, even as the prince's arm brushed his shoulder.
The boy held the CD labeled "Noct's Mix" between his hands and stared down at it solemnly. There was no sound now save for the wind rustling his ebony hair.
Finally, Noct said, "You found my mix."
Ignis's gaze lifted nervously. "Yes, I did," he said quietly.
Noctis adjusted his stance, shifting his weight to his other foot as he continued to stare at the CD. "Well?" he pressed, mumbling, "Did you like it?"
Ignis's expression softened. He slowly reached out, his fingers closing over Noct's around the rim of the disc. He tenderly replied, "It was the most wonderful thing I've ever heard."