They finally had a bit of a break from the troublesome past few days. After destroying one of the empire's fortresses. Gladio was a bit late to hit the sack as he had some training he wanted to do. When he came back to camp in the dead of night, Ignis was the only one up. "I'll be there shortly. I was just planning our schedule for the next week."

"Good night then." Gladio waved before heading into the tent. Noct, Prompto, and Leo were all asleep already. Probably tuckered out from the past few days.

As he got ready for bed, he heard Leo muttering from her corner of the tent. Curious, Gladio walked over to her to check and see if she was alright. Well, she seemed to be sleeping peacefully enough with that slight smile on her face. It was only when he began to walk away that he heard Leo sigh a word that stopped him in his tracks. "Ignis…"

He whirled back and stared at her sleeping form in shock. She didn't… Holy shit. She totally did, didn't she? No… he could have just misinterpreted her. Or it may have been said innocently. He let it go for the night, despite the ideas such a development set in motion in his head. Leo and Ignis? He had never considered such a pairing. No. He couldn't just let this go.

The next morning Gladio watched Leo and Ignis like a hawk. If there was anything going on between them that they were hiding, he would have noticed. Right? Still, they acted totally normally. Leo was arguing with Noct about something trivial while Ignis was cooking away without a care. He broke his observation when Prompto waved a hand in front of his face. "You okay, big guy?"

This drew everyone's gaze, making Gladio shrug in self-defence. "Just zoning out. Don't mind me."

Ignis looked at him curiously for a moment, but for the most part everyone forgot about it. Gladio kept his investigations subtle from then on out. For the next few days, he watched. Ignis and Leo were perfectly civil to each other, but nothing suggested interest. Sure, Ignis berated her on a reckless move in battle, and Leo passed him a can of Ebony, but that was all normal.

When they were setting up in camp a few nights after the initial incident, Gladio couldn't help but ask Leo about what he'd heard that night. He found her a few metres away from camp, working on a bomb. "Hey kid."

"Yeah?" Leo asked, not looking up from the work she was intently focussed on.

"I heard you say Ignis's name in your sleep a few nights ago." He just said it. Just like that without any warning. Real smooth.

Leo dropped her screwdriver and turned to look at him in shock. "What? Are you making this up?"

"Nope. I'm sure I heard it." He smiled to alleviate the awkwardness in the air. "Wanna talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about!" Leo snapped. "I didn't say anything like that?"

"Anything like… Ignis?"

She turned a bright red. "I didn't." She rose up hurriedly. "I'll prove it. Spar with me. If I win, you admit you were wrong!"

Gladio laughed. Beating him in a fight wouldn't change what she said, and he heard. "Okay. If I win, you tell me if you like Ignis."

With that he led them to a secluded clearing and beckoned her forward. Leo charged with a cry and began a flurry of punches that he deflected with ease. She was flustered. It was making her fight without clarity. Still, when he moved to attack, Leo swung out of his way with natural instinct. They kept at it for a good half hour until they were both drenched in sweat and Leo was struggling to breathe. "Wanna call it?"

"No way!" Leo shouted, moving to attack him again.

Luckily, he spotted an opening and pinned her down. He let go of her after a few seconds and plopped down on the ground with a relieved sigh. He turned to her, where she sat down beside him, a scowl on her face. "I win."

"No need to rub it in." Leo drew her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. "I have no idea why you heard me say Ignis's name." she said earnestly. "I don't like him in that way!"

Fine. He could buy that. But why did she get so defensive if she didn't like him. Maybe Leo was just embarrassed by him coming to that conclusion. "Could you have said it like unconsciously?"

"I don't see why?" Leo brushed her hair back with her hand, frustration clear in her blue eyes. "I mean, even if I did, which I don't, how could it be a possibility?"

"What do you mean?" now they were on the verge of something.

"Well, say I did like Ignis, which I don't, why would he give me the time of day? We're too different. He'd probably like someone more, I dunno, girly." She laughed. "I mean, can you imagine it? I doubt he'd go for someone like me. So I don't know what you heard, but I don't like him."

Gladio could only stare at her, understanding dawning on him. So she didn't want to admit it to herself, because she didn't think Ignis could ever possibly be interested in her. He thought about it and felt like kicking himself. He hadn't considered if Ignis was interested. If he was, he didn't show it. Pushing her like this was a jerk move in that case. "Hey, I'm sorry for teasing you Leo. We don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want to."

She sighed and then fell back onto the ground. "Yeah, that'd be nice. Thanks Gladio."

"If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me." He helped her up before heading back to camp. She went back to her workstation and resumed her bomb with new vigor. He wouldn't push her further. Leo never responded well to prodding. But he'd keep an eye on this development. He could only hope that no one got hurt.