"You know, you could just ask her out," Noctis said as he leaned closer to his trusted advisor.

"I beg your pardon?" Ignis whispered to the young prince standing to his left.

"You're staring at Crowe," Noctis said gesturing toward the young, beautiful glaive standing near the door of the meeting chamber. Ignis had brought Noctis along for a photo-op with some officials from Duscae, but neither of them were doing a particularly good job of paying attention.

"I wasn't staring," Ignis whispered.

"Hey I don't blame you-she's really pretty," Noctis responded.

"Please show some respect, Noct." Ignis tried to keep his eyes focused on King Regis and the representatives who had travelled from Duscae. Noctis had other plans.

"I'd ask her out," Noct began again, clearly ignoring Ignis' request, "but I'm sort of engaged." Ignis sighed and turned back to Noct.

"Even if I were interested, I doubt she would be." Ignis inadvertently glanced at Crowe. Their eyes briefly met. Ignis rarely showed emotion in public, but he could feel his ears turning red.

"There's only one way to find out," Noctis teased. He was enjoying this entirely too much. Ignis clutched his notebook a little tighter and suppressed a series of sarcastic comments that jumped to mind. He nearly missed their cue to join the photo. Avoiding embarrassment due to Noctis' antics was a daily struggle for Ignis.

After a dozen staged photos, the party began to exit the meeting chamber. The glaives stationed at the doors opened them and allowed the dignitaries to pass through. Ignis and Noctis were the last two to exit. Noctis waved at Crowe, offering her a charming half smile. Ignis could have sworn he saw the stone-faced glaive faintly smile in return. For his own part, he simply walked by, offering her an almost imperceptible nod of recognition

"Ignis, you need to work on your game," Noctis said once they were at a safe distance.

"I was not applying my 'game', as you so crudely put it. And even if I were, you'd certainly be in no position to critique it."

"Temper, temper, "Noctis said, imitating one of Ignis' frequent sayings. It elicited a 'hmpf' from his adviser as the two travelled down the long, spacious corridor.

Noctis leaned back in the passenger seat of his own car that he rarely drove. He preferred to enjoy a bit more nap time. His usual driver was Ignis, but today he specially requested that Nyx Ulric escort him back to his apartment. Nyx was one of the most talented glaives in his father's army. He also happened to have become a good friend of Noctis over the years. The two were frequent sparring partners and both men had a disdain for the formality of court.

"So Nyx, I was wondering if you could help me with a project," Noctis said intriguingly. Nyx shot him a quizzical look.

"What, with a science project?" Nyx quipped. He had never known Noctis to be particularly diligent.

"More like my Scientia project."

"Now you've got my attention. What are you up to?" Nyx wasn't sure he wanted any part of this "project" yet.

"Ignis has a crush on Crowe," Noctis said with a glint in his eye.

"No way-really?" Nyx was incredulous.

"You're surprised?"

"He just seems like the kind of guy who doesn't get crushes. He's pretty focused on work." Nyx wasn't close to Ignis, but he knew him pretty well after years of sparring matches.

"Yeah, which is why we need to set them up."

"Wait, set up Crowe and Ignis? You obviously don't know Crowe very well," Nyx replied as he took an entirely too fast turn onto the expressway. Noctis lurched a bit in his seat and privately regretted not having Ignis drive him home.

"No, I don't. That's why we're having this conversation."

"Well, Crowe is a bit of a tomboy. And she's very independent. She's not going to date a guy because I tell her it's a good idea. Especially not a guy like Scientia."

"Especially not? Why?"

"She doesn't usually go for upper class, rich guys," Nyx said plainly. As friendly as Nyx and Noctis were, the class divide between them was still noticeable. Nyx and his friends in the glaives were all refugees from other parts of Lucis. Crowe herself was an orphan practically raised by their mutual friend Libertus. She had never been a part of high society and she didn't want to be.

"Well, she doesn't know Ignis yet," Noctis replied, "that's why you have to talk him up." Nyx sighed.

"I'll see what I can do. Mainly because they both need to lighten up a little."

"Tell me about it. I'll work on Ignis." Satisfied with the progress of his plan thus far, Noctis settled against the passenger seat and was napping in moments. Nyx glanced over and shook his head. He definitely didn't envy Scientia's job.

Author's notes: Poor Ignis-no one needs Noctis as their matchmaker!