When Noctis found out about Ignis "crush" on Gladio he immediately wanted Ignis to confess, meaning that he'd noticed Gladio seemed to reciprocate the feelings. Ignis however wasn't convinced, sure he knew Gladio was bi but that didn't mean he liked Ignis. As Valentine's Day was quickly approaching Noctis came up with a new plan, for Ignis to bake some heart-shaped cookies to give to Gladio. If he had feelings for Ignis he'd understand the gesture and otherwise he'd just assume Ignis made some seasonal appropriate cookies. At least that was Noctis' assumption. Ignis still wasn't fully convinced but he had to agree, heart-shaped cookies would be fitting, and possibly even a good way to finally confess to Gladio.

He decided to at least look up some recipes. Nothing too fancy, just a simple sugar cookie with some pink glaze.

As it turned out, Ignis was a bit too ambitious for his own good. The cookie itself was simple enough, but the pink glaze had slowly become beautiful intricate designs. Ignis original plan was to let the glaze dry and then call Gladio to meet up somewhere and give them to him, to be able to pass them off as a friendly gift if he seemed to react badly. But with how much care it seemed like Ignis had put into them now he doubted he'd be able to do that. He left the cookies on the counter as he cleaned up the kitchen.

He wasn't brave enough to confess to Gladio, he couldn't give him the cookies. But he couldn't give them to Noct either, then he'd know Ignis hadn't confessed. Noct's new friend Prompto was also an option but Ignis feared he'd just tell Noct. A sudden knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Ignis looked towards the door, wishing it was Noct and Prompto who could distract him from the cookie dilemma. As he was about to go open it the person outside stepped in instead of waiting. Gladio stepped into his apartment making Ignis feel warm inside, despite his slight disappointment.

"Hey Iggy, you left some papers behind at the last meeting so I'm just dropping by with them." Gladio spoke as he stepped into Ignis's open plan kitchen.

"Oh, thank you. You can leave them on the counter." Ignis said absentmindedly while finishing up the cleaning. He tried convincing himself that Gladio would do something like that for anyone. But still, Gladio thinking of him on a day like this made his heart race.

Ignis had his back turned to Gladio while he put things back into the cupboard. He'd expected Gladio to come talk to him as soon as he'd put down the papers but it was still suspiciously quiet behind him. Then it struck him. Gladio must've seen the cookies.

Fuck.

Ignis turned around with a shocked expression, trying to come up with an explanation. He didn't know what he'd expected to see but Gladio just stood frozen, staring at them.

"I'm... they're... uhm-" Before Ignis could stutter out a reasonable answer Gladio seemed to unfreeze and turned to him with a small smile. It didn't reach his eyes though.

"No need to say anything, I get it" Ignis doubted he did. Gladio raised a hand to scratch his neck. "I guess I should leave then, hope it works out for you" He nodded to the cookies and went to leave.

Now it was Ignis' turn to stand frozen. He didn't know what he should say, or even if he should.

"Eh, bye then" The sound of Gladio opening the door unfroze him.

"No, Gladio wait!" He could hear Gladio stop. Great, now he just had to figure out what to say.

Ignis walked to the door where Gladio was standing.

"It's not what you think" Ignis can hear how bad it sounds.

"No, I get it. Don't worry" Gladio gave him a smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. Ignis missed his usual smiles.

"No, you really don't" Ignis took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to gain some courage. "They're for you. The cookies I mean" He pointed behind him in the direction of the kitchen and cautiously opened one eye. Gladio looked stunned.

"Y-you mean...?" Gladio still didn't seem to be fully getting it.

"I might have-" Ignis took another deep breath. "Feelings for you. Romantic feelings." He couldn't bring himself to look at Gladio, instead just staring down at the floor.

"Oh" Ignis couldn't read his response, was it a disappointed oh, or an understanding oh? Carefully he looked up at Gladio.

Gladio was looking down at his hands, before taking a deep breath of his own and speaking.

"I... might also have feelings for you" He gave a slight chuckle. "Never thought I'd admit that to you" he looked up at Ignis with a nervous smile. "Kinda glad I did though"

Ignis matched his smile.

"Agreed"

Neither knowing what to do next they just stood looking at each other a while. Finally Ignis brain caught up with him.

"Oh, I need to give them to you" He ran back into the kitchen, hurriedly packing the cookies into a nice box. He could hear Gladio laughing slightly behind him.

Flustered he returned to the door, box in hand. As he handed it to Gladio he wasn't sure whether to say or do anything else. Luckily Gladio had a plan, and bend forward slightly to give Ignis a kiss on the cheek as he took the box. The kiss caused Ignis to blush bright red.

Right as he was about to leave again Gladio turned to face him.

"We should do something, you know, valentine-y. I have some more stuff to do but I'll text you later?"

"Sounds great!" Ignis was still blushing from the kiss and couldn't keep a smile of his face. Gladio gave a final wave as he left but from Ignis' last glance at his face he couldn't stop smile either. Ignis couldn't wait until their next meeting.