Chapter Ten

Ignis & Ravus' Apartment - late night

It is quite late and Ignis is cleaning the kitchen when he hears furious hammering on his door, he plucks out his ear phones and frowns. He's up waiting for Ravus to finish his shift and it's far too late in the evening for visitors. He crouches low, moving across the room towards the door slowly and carefully; he reaches for the handle just as the door slams open, hitting him full in the face. He cries out and falls backwards, he barely has time to recognise Noctis before the other man is on him. Striking him repeatedly where ever he can reach, screaming unintelligible words in a constant stream. Ignis does his best to block but the blow by the door has taken it's toll, he tries to shout to Noctis but the other is louder, so full of rage, like a man possessed.

As suddenly the attack started, it stops. Not the noise, Noctis is still shouting as Prompto drags him off Ignis and pins him to the ground. Noctis struggles against the blonde but Prompto holds fast. Ignis coughs and tastes blood, feels it making a sticky trail down the side of his face from his eyebrow and from his cheek. He touches his lip and hisses aloud, that is split too. He looks at Noctis, writhing and twisting under Prompto desperate to get back to Ignis. When he can't he quietens briefly to draw breath.

"Noctis, wha-"

"You asshole! You fucking prick!" Blue eyes are icy cold with fury as they narrow at Ignis, "I found your letters. What the fuck is wrong with you?! He was my dad. He practically raised you. Raised us. Together. You were like a brother to me. How could you do this to me? What's wrong with you?" Tears leak from his eyes hot and angry as he halfheartedly tries to escape Prompto.

Ignis sinks back against the opposite wall and stares at Noctis, his face starting to swell but the shock is still obvious.

"Noct…" he whispers, "I wanted to tell you… Believe me… Regis…He-"

"Don't you dare!" Noctis screams over him, "don't you dare even mention his name. You were nothing to him. He wouldn't love you. He loved my mom. He loved me, he would never willingly do this to me! He couldn't. He only used you, you offered yourself and he was so lonely that he accepted. Or he made a mistake and knew you're too crazy to handle rejection. He didn't want you to try and off yourself again so he kept you around. You were nothing but a FUCK TOY!" He roars.

"No… n-no." Ignis stutters, standing slowly.

Noctis laughs cruelly, "please Ignis, it's obvious. You were always going to guilt him into staying with you. He was lonely and desperate for company. And you… Well, you were just the easiest slut to find." He spits out and watches as Ignis turns and runs.

Ignis doesn't know where he's going, he runs as fast as he can down the stairs and into the street. He can't think straight, all the things he has feared in his darkest moments made real by Noctis' accusations. His left eye is swollen almost shut and his cheek throbs constantly in time with his pulse, he runs until he winds himself and has to duck into an alley way to raggedly pull air into his lungs. His chest burns and he suspects a fractured rib or two, he spits blood onto the ground in front of him and realises for the first time that everything is out of focus, his glasses have fallen off at some point.

He straightens up and tries to get his bearings, he takes in the neon signs and sounds of laughter and celebration in the streets. He's in the club district, he remembers it from nights out as a student, he and Regis would never have come here; preferring high class restaurants and hotels. He walks to the nearest bar, flinching away from passers by and their concerned faces; their pity. He enters and immediately picks a stool at the end of the bar drenched in shadow and orders a drink. The bar tender takes in his appearance, "rough night?" She asks quietly.

He nods and swallows thickly, "one of the worst."

"My name is Rowan," she tells him, "do you need me to call someone for you?"

"N-no. Thank you. But I just need to sit a while and have a quiet drink." Ignis replies, "besides, I have a phone..." he checks his pockets and notices that he is actually lying. The phone is probably with the glasses.

"Did someone mug you honey? Take your phone?" Rowan asks, "You still have money?"

Ignis nods, his credit card is always in his pocket, he shows it to Rowan and she smiles at him. "No one mugged me." He mutters, "I had it coming. But please, I don't want to talk. Just drink."

"Sure hon." She brings him the drink he ordered, vodka double in lime. It's bitter and sour and it burns, he hisses as it goes down and orders another one to sip at instead.

He wonders if his is how his uncle got started. If his sister, Ignis' mother, dying had triggered the drinking. The irony sitting steady on his shoulders as he drank and drank and abused his nephew because he reminded him too much of the sister he'd lost. This is something he wouldn't discuss with Regis, feeling that he would bring down the mood or make the older man pity him. No, these things are kept tightly between himself and Ravus. Ravus who has been his confidant since they met on that door step years ago, who has literally saved his life more than once, who lives with him because he cannot be trusted to live alone. Who loves him unconditionally even though he's paralyzed by fear whenever he thinks of intimacy. Ignis isn't stupid. He knows how Ravus feels. He just doesn't know how he feels. He misses Regis every single second of every single day but Ravus has seen him through.

He shakes his head and downs his drink, unwilling to think on it any more. He orders shots instead and pointedly ignores Rowan's expression as he downs them one after the other before moving back to his long drinks.

Ravus is tired and grumpy and sore, he has worked a long day and really cannot wait just to soak in the bath and unwind as he rides the elevator up to his flat. He wonders if Ignis is still up, he hopes that the other man is; the slighter man has been doing so well with his grief counselling and other therapies that they are almost like they were in the student house all over again, settled and enjoying each others company.

As he nears the front door he feels an odd tingling up his spine, there is light spilling into the hall way and he can hear someone struggling from within his home. Ignis! He runs the last few feet into the living room, ready to attack, to defend, to destroy, to do whatever he needs to do to keep Ignis safe.

Whatever he was expecting it wasn't this. Prompto Argentum sat astride a struggling Noctis Lucis Caelum, on his living room floor. The door chain is broken and there is a small pool of blood staining the carpet, Ignis' glasses are next to the pool and Ravus' heart stops. Prompto gasps and looks at Ravus, "oh thank the Gods, Ravus."

"What the hell is going on here?!" Ravus yells, confused and frightened. "Where is Ignis?"

"That stupid little whore ran away."

Ravus' blood runs cold at Noctis' statement. He narrows his eyes at the boy, "what did you say?" His voice is low and dangerous, Prompto flinches and looks away.

"I said, he ran AWAY."

Prompto bursts into tears above Noctis, "please Ravus, I can't let him up, I can't let him follow Ignis… He'll kill him..." He sniffs and Noctis stills, the blonde man's tears landing on his face seeming to bring him back to himself. The fight leaves him and he takes a great shuddering breath.

"He was fucking my father Ravus, but you know that."

Ravus ignores Noctis completely, he offers Prompto a hand and pulls the boy up and into his arms. Expressing a practiced patience that he certainly doesn't feel he soothes Prompto, running skilled hands through the boys wild hair. "Hush Prompto, it's all right. I just have to know where Ignis is. Please, is he hurt? Is this blood his?"

Prompto nods as Noctis struggles to his feet wearily. He leaves without another word or glance to the others.

"We have to find him Prompto. Will you help me?" Ravus holds the boy at arms length and looks into red rimmed blue eyes. The other nods and wipes his eyes, "I'll try his phone." He takes his phone out and calls Ignis, the two of them look round as they hear it in the kitchen.

"Fuck." Ravus takes out his own phone and calls Jude, he explains as fast as he can and Jude agrees to start a search of his own. "Call Luna," he tells Prompto, "tell her to come here and wait in case he comes back."

The two of them head to the streets after ascertaining that Ignis' car is still in the lot. They split up, deciding on a maximum radius that Ignis could have covered in the time that has passed. Prompto heads east towards the residential streets and the park and Ravus takes west towards the shops and bars with an increasingly sick feeling. He hopes beyond hope that his hunch is wrong.

Ignis sways slightly on his stool before bringing both elbows down to the bar to keep himself right, he orders another drink from Rowan and shrugs away her concern. There is some music coming from somewhere and he cocks his head to listen, it's a song he recognises but cannot place; he stands up to leave, it's gentle melody is too much to bare. As he turns he collides with a stranger passing by, "oh! I'm sorry." He mutters, or more slurs if he's honest with himself.

"My fault entirely," comes the smooth reply, a voice Ignis recognises instantly, could never forget despite years of trying.

"Pr-Professor Izunia." Ignis stammers, not daring to look the taller man in the face.

A gentle finger is placed under his chin, tilting his face up; liquid dark eyes meet green and a soft thumb brushes over his bottom lip. "My, my we have been in the wars Ignis. Sit down my boy, let me buy you a drink."

Ignis sits back on his stool, powerless to disobey and Rowan returns, taking Ardyn's order and repeating Ignis' again.

Ardyn looks over to the younger man and clears his throat quietly, "Ignis I… I… never had a chance to tell you how sorry I am for the way things ended between us. The way you made me act that last time was completely out of my control… I regret it so much."

Ignis blinks blearily at his former professor, the man who had taken his virginity, the man he'd adored and loved with all his heart and soul. The man who'd beaten him and told him that he was worthless.

Or had he? Maybe Ignis had made it all up in his head. The way the man was looking at him, the sad expression, the down cast frame… Perhaps Ignis had done something to make him react the way he had all those years ago. He remembers the sex too. So good, so full filling, so rough.

"I'm so sorry," he hears himself purr, reaching out to run a finger along Ardyn's arm. "If there was any way to make it up to you..."

Ardyn flinches away dramatically, "I don't know Ignis, I don't think I can deal with that level of rejection all over again… It left me… Well... Broken."

Ignis feels his lower lip start to tremble and his eyes prickle uncomfortably, "I… I loved you so much. I never meant to reject you. I thought you had ended it..."

Ardyn grasps his hand suddenly and Ignis realises that he isn't wearing his ever present gloves. He immediately doesn't care as Ardyn almost cries out, "oh Ignis, a love as passionate as ours was was always bound to erupt sometimes. We were so entwined with one another, so deeply involved… So aflame."

Ignis gasps aloud as Ardyn takes one of his fingers into his mouth, nipping and sucking the digit. "I could, perhaps, offer you another chance. As much as my head rejects the idea, my heart screams at me to take you where we stand."

Ardyn's words plunge straight to Ignis' groin and he moans aloud as the older man starts to nip and kiss his palm. "P-Please, take me somewhere?" He begs, "I need you. Ardyn I need you to take me somewhere."

"Calm down my sweet boy," Ardyn whispers, gently caressing Ignis' hair. "Take this to settle you." He pops a pill into Ignis' agape mouth and kisses him until he swallows. "Good boy."

Ignis preens and pushes himself neatly into Ardyn's side like he belongs there. "Take me somewhere, please?"

Ardyn smirks over Ignis' head and places money on the bar to cover their drinks, Rowan nods her thanks but narrows her eyes suspiciously all the same.

Ignis begins to stumble and giggle as the pill kicks in, Ardyn holds him up and laughs along with him. The boy is as endearing as ever, not as beautiful as he was before but more filled out and with more about him now. There is experience behind the green eyes where naivety once lived.

He has a room close to the bar, and they giggle their way into the bed like teenagers. Ignis flops against the pillows, a broad relaxed grin on his hansom face – aside from the injuries – the pill was a good idea Ardyn thinks. The other effects should be taking hold any time now… Sure enough a satisfyingly large budge is appearing in between the boys legs. He moans wantonly, moving his hands to touch himself, desperate and on the very edge of control.

"Ardyn," He moans, spreading his legs, "pleeeease. Please take me."

"In time my sweet boy," Ardyn purrs back, he moves his hands over the boys body, relishing the responses he gets. The little mews of pleasure, the clenching of hands in sheets. He smugly kisses a line down the boys chest, unbuttoning his shirt as he goes.

Ignis can never remember being this aroused, this needy, this hard in his life. He's desperate for touch, he aches for it, he squirms and writhes under Ardyn's painfully slow administrations. He moans loudly, and his eyes fly open, he has never seen anyone or anything as beautiful as the other man. "Oh Gods, Ardyn… You… Ahhh… You are so beautiful." He reaches up and runs his hand over Ardyn's face, "oh! And you feel so good. How're you…? How do you feel so good?" Ardyn plants kisses over his jaw and collar bones, feather light and teasing. Ignis cannot take it any more, hooking his leg around Ardyn he flips their positions with surprising ease and grinds down hard, smashing their lips together with equal pressure.

"Ahhh fuck… Ardyn… I need you to fuck me. Please." He brings his hips down against the others obvious erection and grinds with wild abandon. "I need… Please."

"Hush, all right my pet." Ardyn pushes the boy off him, standing them both up, and helps him to remove his pants, he is larger than Ardyn remembers and he hums in approval. He drops to his knees before the boy and kisses his thighs and nestles his face in the fine, ashy hair over Ignis' pubic bone.

"Nhhh, Ardyn..." The moaning is beautiful in itself and Ardyn smiles as he huffs air over Ignis' weeping tip. Dipping to lick little trails and kiss his way up the shaft, "good lad," he murmurs just before he takes the whole organ into his mouth and works with practised ease. Ignis grasps at his hair and strains to control his thrusts, his hair has fallen all over his face and his pupils are blown with lust as he stares down at Ardyn. Their eyes meet and Ardyn offers a wolfish grin around Ignis' cock, he pulls back and the boy whimpers at the loss.

He stands slowly and moves close, leaning into whisper in the others ear. "Tell me what you want, Scientia."

Ignis bows his head, breathing erratic, naked, exposed and high. All he wants is to be taken, to be sated, he wants to be hurt. He raises his head to look at Ardyn in the eye, green orbs unfocused and blown black, head swimming and heart pounding he says one thing.

"Pain."

Ardyn doesn't quite hide his surprise quick enough but he does oblige by forcefully turning Ignis and bending him over the bed. He loosens his belt and snaps it through the loops with a flourish, "hold yourself there, on your hands and present your arse." He orders, he pushes Ignis' head down roughly. He smiles cruelly before bringing the belt down viciously striking again and again as red welts form across Ignis' arse. The boy doesn't make a sound, doesn't move just takes it, doesn't flinch when the blows move to land across his shoulders and back. His erection does not diminish.

Eventually Ardyn's arm tires and he throws the belt aside, he leans over Ignis' form and purrs into his ear, "would you like me to take you now boy?"

Ignis lets out a breath, "yes Sir, oh Gods yes… Please."

"Very well, but I want to hear you. Do you understand? I want you to scream and moan and shout." He slaps Ignis' abused arse and grins in delight as the younger man screams and pants. "Good. Now get on the floor. All fours. I want the carpet to burn you."

Ignis obeys wordlessly, taking up the position as instructed. Ardyn watches him and rips a condom open with his teeth, he puts it on with a few extra strokes and spits into his hand. There will be no need for any more lubricant than that, he doesn't bother undressing any more than he has to and settles himself behind the willowy man. He offers no warning, just forces himself into the boy up to the hilt. Ignis' scream along with his tightness almost makes him come there and then. The noise is blood curdling and delicious, the tight, wet heat surrounding him almost too much. Almost. He begins to thrust hard and fast, relishing in the horrific screams and sobs pouring from his boy.

"Yes!" Ignis chants between screams, "harder. Please Sir. Fuck me harder."

Ardyn leans forwards and reaches between Ignis' legs to pinch his balls to stop any oncoming orgasm and the boy weeps, screwing his eyes up tight; he can no longer feel the bruises and cuts on his face. With his other hand Ardyn rakes his nails over the welts and cuts on the boys back.

"Nnnhh." Ignis arches up to meet him, changing Ardyn's angle to hit his prostate with each thrust. "Gods. Sir… Please. Oh Gods. Fuck. Me. Harder." He demands. Ardyn thrusts begin to come more and more erratic and ill timed as he nears completion. He releases Ignis' balls and moans low in his throat as he drains himself into the boy, Ignis comes seconds later, sobbing and sweating and screaming. It feels so good to hurt so much. For the first time in six months, he feels alive. Ardyn lets his full weight settle on Ignis and the slighter man slides down into the carpet, burning his legs on the way down and the buttons on Ardyn's clothes scratching at his thoroughly abused back.

Ravus is growing desperate and more frustrated with every passing second, he is going from bar to bar along the club district. Trying to convey to bar tenders and doorman over pulsing music and loud patrons the urgency of his search. Squeezing himself through crowds of people that either want to dance with him, touch him, kiss him or punch him is his worst nightmare and only his determination to find Ignis is driving him to carry on. He approaches the door of one of the smaller bars on the edge of town, it is not as full as any of the others and very poorly lit. There is also no security on the door, he walks over the threshold and to his relief there is only quiet music drifting through concealed speakers. The barman looks up at him as he approaches and smiles seductively, he pulls up a stool and waits for her to approach.

"Hey sugar, I'm Rowan, what can I get you tonight?" She purrs at him, blinking impossibly long eyelashes slowly.

"I'm looking for someone," he replies quickly, somewhat sharply and she immediately looks defensive. "I'm sorry, it's just my friend is missing and he's ill and hurt and I'm so so scared of what he might do!" He lets out in a rush, hysteria creeping up as he tries to hold himself together and banish images of Ignis' dead body from his head. He pulls out his phone and shows Rowan Ignis' facebook page, taking a few steadying breaths to try and calm himself while she looks at it.

"I can tell you didn't do it, but he was hurt before he got here. Are you his boyfriend?" She asks him softly, handing back his phone with a sigh.

"You've seen him? Please, where did he go?" His heart is in his throat as she regards him sadly.

"He left honey, hours ago. With a guy I've seen in here a few times but who never engages with me like the others do. I think your friend referred to him as a Professor? They seemed to know each other pretty damn well." She reaches to touch him and he jerks back, swallowing compulsively and screwing up his eyes.

"Where did they go?" He grinds out slowly through gritted teeth.

"He, the professor, mentioned having a room nearby… Also, you should know… I think I saw him give you friend a pill..."

Her voice grows fainter, further away as Ravus turns away from the bar, everything blurs and his feet carry him out back onto the street. He turns into the ally next door and snaps, he screams aloud and curses and punches the wall over and over and over again with both hands, tearing flesh and damaging his prosthetic in equal measure.

Ignis lays face down on the floor panting for what seems like hours, until reality starts to creep back in, slowly at first as he comes down from his forced high but then faster; ripping through his mind like a freight train. He starts to shake and shiver under Ardyn, muscles twitching as his brain tries to compensate for the abuse his body has suffered; he is dimly aware that he is going into shock but the over riding thought he can process is that he wants, and needs, to leave. He shifts slightly, feeling Ardyn slip from him and winces in disgust; he braces himself and pushes his body upwards, toppling the older man who simply grunts and sleeps on. Ignis dresses as quickly as he can as quietly as he can and slips from the room, once in the corridor he limps to the nearest fire exit and pops the door.

It takes a while to get his bearings but he soon figures out that he isn't far from the park near his house, between there are the club district. He turns towards the park and pulls his thin shirt as close as he can around his lithe form, its cold and his breath puffs out in front of him in clouds. He wanted pain and he hurts all over, he feels numb emotionally and just wants to be home so he puts his head down and starts to walk through the park as quick as he can; he might warm up if he can walk fast enough but each step is agony. He can feel blood trickling down the inside of his legs and he keeps tripping over his feet; he's not sober by any means though the high has worn off. Eventually he stops to rest on a bench, he leans forward because he cannot bear pressure on his back and holds his head in his hands. He thinks of nothing and does nothing.

Prompto walks briskly through the park, it's cold out and he wishes he'd thought to bring a jacket. He is concentrating hard on looking for Ignis, making sure not to let his mind wander back to Noctis, to Regis or anything else for that matter. He wishes Gladio were here instead of away with his family, he would've been able to contain Noct while they found an explanation or diffused the situation or whatever. He's stopped crying now but only because he's run out of tears to shed, he hopes that if he's the one to find Ignis maybe the other man will forgive him for not managing to stop Noct sooner. He looks out over the lake and notices a figure stumble towards a bench on the opposite shore, he squints but cannot make out the figure but he feels something in his gut and breaks into a run.

"Ignis!" He shouts as he runs towards the bench, the figure doesn't look up from where he sits, head in hands. He reaches the bench and cries out in shock, recognising Ignis' clothes and hair, he drops to his knees in front of the other man.

"Ignis!" He cries again, reaching up to move Ignis' hands away from his face; when he does Ignis falls forwards and Prompto catches him quickly. "Ignis can you hear me?!" He hears a low moan and takes is as an affirmative before lifting the other man up and laying him on his side on the bench awkwardly. He keeps on hand on his friend's side while reaching for his phone, Ignis blinks at him passively and obediently moves his feet up onto the bench as well. He dials Ravus with one hand but the phone rings out to voicemail, "I found him, in the park, I'm calling an ambulance. Call me back."

He doesn't take his hand from Ignis while he calls the ambulance, he tries his best to describe the situation and begs the operator to send help quickly. They tell him to keep talking to Ignis so he puts the phone to one side and starts talking.

"Ignis, can you hear me?" He asks quietly, moving his hand up and down the other man's side. Ignis blinks slowly at him and offers an almost invisible nod.

"Hello Prompto," he whispers, his voice rough, "'m tired."

"I know, it's late. But the lady on the phone said that you need to stay awake okay? Can you sit up if I help you?"

Ignis sighs irritably but does start to move, he winces and hisses out in pain. Prompto moves with him and sits beside him on the bench with an arm tightly wrapped around the taller man's arm.

"What's happened tonight Ignis? What happened after you left?" He asks because it is the easiest thing, the most obvious thing, to ask but dreads the answer all the same.

"I forgot my glasses and my phone and my gloves," Ignis slurs at him, leaning against his side heavily, "but I had my credit card so the lady let me drink a lot." Prompto notices that he is trying unconsciously to hide his hands up his shirt sleeves so strips off his own gloves and hands them over.

"Here, they'll be a bit small..." He blushes as he realises that Ignis has focused on him entirely and that the other man's lips are quaking and his eyes have taken on an unnatural shine. He pulls on the gloves and moves to embrace Prompto, bringing the smaller man in against his side and hiding his face in the blonde hair on top of his head.

"T-thank you Prompto," he mutters, and holds on like Prompto is his life line in rough seas. He closes his eyes and relaxes into the embrace until the blonde man starts to squirm.

"Ignis you have to stay awake!" He cries out, wriggling out of the embrace and looking into Ignis' bruised and bloody face, "come on Specs, I need you to stay with me."