Beta read by: SinikkavonWolperting

Request for: Defiant Drift

Summary: After a year of dealing with his new life, it was only a matter of time before Ignis would have to learn to cope with it.


websky: Thank you so much. It's always pretty nice when I get to include Cor, he's such a fun character and deserves way mire attention.

MasterThiefWolf: Thank you kindly. :D And yesssss, as much as I loved ad enjoyed the game, I really wish there was more variety when it came to missions and side quests. But, it got a bit repetitive. ;w; Thank you again for such a lovely review~

xYukiNoYume: Well, with the pace I've been going lately, that shouldn't be too hard to do now. XD SAME, papa cor is the best, and I totally believe the theory of him being the one to save Prompto. Like, even if they were t say it wasn't true, I probably wouldn't believe it. XD It's just too good not to be true. Oh, you know they would have, there is no telling what they would have done, and it would have been encouraged, I'm sure. lol

Misaki Murakami: Thank you so much! Glad they are being enjoyed. :D Even though I've been slacking so hard lately. -


Another muttered swear and the shattering of glass filled the small area. The sound instantly roused the brute of a man from his light slumber as he jolted upright. Rubbing the back of his neck and blinking against the darkness, Gladio brought his attention to his left, and a saddened, yet frustrated, sigh escaped him.

"Ignis…" he mumbled, peeling the covers back. The small and quiet sounds of the blonds light snoring were still filtering out, so he still tried to stay quiet enough not to wake him as well. Though, if that crash hadn't woken him, then he doubted anything would. "How many times do I have to tell you, it's alright to ask for some help every now and then," he reminded, the words were starting to become repetitive, losing all meaning.

The same heavy breath left the adviser's form, but he didn't move from the spot. Even in the shadows, the shield could see the slight lowering of his head. "It's just a glass of water," he nearly spat. "Surely I can accomplish a simple task such as that."

"It's only been a year."

Ignis said nothing, but Gladio quickly got to his feet as he saw the other crouch down to begin cleaning up. "Let me take care of that...you just go sit down." He reached out to assist in the trek over, but his touch was harshly swatted away with a sharp intake.

"I don't need your help…"

Now he was starting to get irritated. "Iggy, come on, you're being stubborn, and you know it as well as I do," Gladio ground out. "You're being childish about all this, now shut up, get out of the way, and let me take care of this," he more or less ordered. Behind him, barely, he could hear the shuffling of covers as their third member shuffled into the waking world.

For a few seconds, Prompto said nothing, still trying to chase the remainders of sleep away. But, he did knew the two of them were arguing...again. He had lost count of how many times this had marked now. Sitting up, the blond rubbed the sleep from his eyes and groggily gazed upon the both of them. Chewing on his bottom lip, he finally built up the nerve to get to his feet and slowly make his way over.

"Careful…" the shield warned, "there's broken glass on the floor." The gunner merely hummed in acknowledgement and slowed down his pace, practically dragging his feet instead.

"Iggy…" Prompto uttered, slightly confused at the sight of the bespectacled man crouched on the floor. "What's going on?" As his eyes adjusted, he glanced from him to the larger man, and then to the floor. Slight glints caught his attention and the pieces easily and quickly fell into place. "Oh…" he added, mostly to himself and shot a questioning glance at the brute, who in turn just slowly shook his head. "Let us...take care of this," he offered. Prompto instantly reeled back when he received the same treatment.

"I don't need to be hovered over twenty-four seven," he reminded, spitefully. How did they expect him to learn to cope with his knew life if they never trusted him to do anything on his own? Over a year of this...it was really beginning to grate on him; he didn't know how much more he could take of this mother henning. But, unfortunately, the two of them showed no signs of giving up. He was in the minority here. So, he released a low breath and slowly rose to his feet.

Out of instinct, Prompto placed a hand on his upper arm to try and guide him, but that, too, was shrugged away. Taken aback, and trying not to let the sting from the action show, the younger man stepped back to allow the adviser his space.

"Leave him be," Gladio grumbled, raising a hand to stop the blond before he could go after him. "Get the light, will ya? So we can get this cleaned up." With each word spoken, Prompto cut his attention over to Ignis, hoping none of this was getting to him. It was nothing more than wishful thinking though. Of course it was...all of it was. Even when they didn't say anything, he could tell it was long before the man would recover mentally and emotionally. He may have said he was fine...but all of that was painful lies.

"Prompto."

"Oh, right." Ripping his attention from the strategist, he strolled a few feet over and flicked on the light. Instantly, his eyes widened at the mess on the floor. Water and glass was everywhere. It was a miracle he hadn't stepped on anything on the way over. Tiptoeing back, he evaded all of it and made a beeline for his shoes, grabbing Gladio's while he was over as well. "Here," he offered, dropping them at the man's side.

The shield nodded his thanks. Seeing as he had this part taken care of, Prompto instead grabbed another glass and half filled that with water. "I'll be right back." Cautiously, still painfully aware of the storm brewing inside, the gunner made his way over before carefully placing the glass on the table. "Here, I uh, brought you some water," he announced, mostly so Ignis wouldn't accidently knock it over.

Nothing.

Dipping his head and about to turn around, Prompto paused, something alarming caught his attention and he instantly turned back around. "You're bleeding…" he observed, bright orbs darting to the adviser's right hand and the red that was still steadily dripping from it. Not a moment later did a fearful 'shit' sound out from the other side of the room.

"Ignis, why didn't you say something?" Gladio asked, hand gesturing to the droplets that decorated the tiled floor. "Dammit," he added, back on his feet. This was starting to get ridiculous now. The man was clearly a hazard to himself, and he was so adamant on being this hard-headed. Sure, it wasn't this bad this time, but what about the next?

Before things could escalate any further, Prompto raised both hands to signal to Gladio to stay where he was. "It's alright, I got this," he assured. The best thing for all of the right now is if the two of them were separated, even if just marginally. Hell, the three of them had spent so much time together recently, it was only natural they were start to grate on one another's nerves. Even so, this had to have been a tad excessive.

"I-I'll get the first aid," he mumbled, only slightly frazzled. The grips of sleep were still barely hanging on, and he had yet to shake the last of them from his conscious. So, everything was still a bit on the hazy side. But, the sight of the blood, it had been enough to sober him up quite a bit.

It didn't take him long to locate the little white box and drag it back. The cut didn't look too bad, not bad enough to warrant a potion anyway. Those were pretty hard to come by these days, so they had to be sparing with what they had.

"Give me your hand." Surprisingly, Ignis didn't complain, but the look on his face told just how unhappy he was about it. It was humiliating; like being a child in need of a parent to patch them up after a fall. But, against himself, he kept his opinions to himself and did as he was asked. If for nothing else, then to get this over with as quickly as possible. So lost in his own bitterness, he jolted with a pained hiss as fire erupted in the palm of his hand.

"Sorry," Prompto apologized.

"Would it hurt to give some warning?" Ignis shot back, but he quickly calmed himself down. He knew he was just lashing out now...Prompto did nothing wrong. He was just trying to help. And, here he was just making it harder for the both of them. Either way, he was resilient in his ways. For the rest of the time, he sat in muted agitation, only a few more hisses and twitches emitted from him.

Within just a few minutes, the gunner hummed to signal that he was finished. "It's not the best, but I suppose it gets the job done," he lightly chuckled to himself, trying to lighten the mood.

"Thanks," Ignis muttered, drawing his hand back to rest in his lap. Thinking that was the end of that, Prompto went to turn around to lend a hand to Gladio, but the purposeful inhale drew him right back in. "I'm not sure how the two of you deal with this…" he sighed out.

Taken off guard, the gunner stepped slightly closer. "W-What are you talking about? Deal with what?" His brows knit together in confusion.

Ignis took another deep breath, the thought of talking about any of this sent a shiver down his spine. He's never really done this, and honestly, it was unbecoming. He repositioned himself, visibly put off by this, but he pushed through it. "This," he repeated, gesturing with both his hands all around him. "With me, with the babysitting, the constant worrying and watching my every move to make sure I don't cause any more harm to myself or my surroundings? I know it hasn't been easy for the two of you either. So...how?"

The both of them paused, Gladio ceased his cleaning to glance out of the corner of his eye. Prompto looked to him, silently begging him to take over...this wasn't exactly his strong suit. The brute was fast to pick up on the silent cues and waved for the gunner to switch roles with him.

Thankful for the rescue, the blond swiftly took over with the sweeping, but his eyes remained on the two of them, unsure how this was going to play out. It could take any number of turns, and with the way things had been as of late, he wasn't getting his hopes up. As he watched the shield stroll over, he could sense a lighter air around the man, like he had completely cooled off. Maybe it was the tone in which the adviser spoke, but whatever it was, it was relieving.

Though, it seemed as though Gladio was as uncomfortable as the younger had been, for he stood there, shifting from one foot to the other before he finally found the right words. "Ignis, that's enough of that. We deal with it because we care, alright?"

Clearly that wasn't enough, and the brunet just scoffed to himself.

"Yeah, you know what, things have been rough, for all of us, and it sure as hell hasn't been easy. But, we're still here, aren't we?" He folded his arms over his chest and gazed down at the man. "You can believe and think what you want, but that's the truth. Why do you think I've been trying to drill into that thick skull of yours that we're here for you? It sure as hell isn't because I feel sorry for you or think you're incapable of anything."

Deep down, Ignis knew that to be true, and he wasn't sure why himself, but he hated having to need assistance for things. No one thought any less of him. He supposed it was the pity they all felt for him. Every time they looked at him, he could feel it, feel their watchful guys with every step he took. Every minor task, they were there, making sure he didn't fuck it up in one way or another.

"You gotta stop trying to rush things...you'll get there eventually. For now, just let us do what we can." With that, he was done, he was finished with the conversation. There was nothing more he could say. If this didn't get through to the man, then nothing would. Not that he could blame him. In the matter of a day, the guy went from managing all of them and being on top of everything to needing to be taken care of. His whole life...snatched away.

"We'll get through this...but it has to be together."

Prompto kept to himself during this whole exchange; he didn't want to intervene when the two of them were getting along better than they had in months. He couldn't help but to smile to himself as he swept up the last of the shards. Or what he hoped to be the last of them. He was right though, all they had was one another now, they had to stick it out through these hard times, no matter how challenging.

They fell into a comfortable silence for a while, both Gladio and Prompto finished cleaning things up and making sure nothing else was out of place. Ignis, for once, stayed where he was and didn't try to jump in like he normally did, much to the relief of the others.

Then, after a while, the adviser rose to his feet with a deep breath, both hands hovered over the arms of the chair. "I think I'm heading back to bed," he announced, and they knew exactly what that meant. 'I want to be left alone for a bit.'

"Right," Gladio sighed getting the hint before he let out a worthy yawn. Come to think of it, he never checked the time, but based on how exhausted he still was, it couldn't have been that late into the night. Even the small walk over, the brunet knew they were watching. They were becoming more subtle about it, and a little bit more sparing with their glances, but it was definitely there. He was just thankful neither of them tried to jump in and guide him this time. He wasn't sure he'd be able to keep it together if they had.

Taking the cue, and honestly wanting to get some more shuteye themselves, the other two followed Ignis' example, slipping back under their own covers. It was still some time before either of them could get back to sleep, and when they finally did, it wasn't the most restful. Maybe it was being woken in the middle of the night in the manner that they were, or maybe it was the fact that Ignis had finally broken, even if just a little bit, that didn't allow them the sleep they craved.

Soon enough, morning rolled around, or what could be assumed to be morning. It was hard to tell anymore. Gladio slowly sat up, feeling a lot more refreshed this time around. And, to his surprise, he glanced over to see Ignis back in the chair. It didn't appear as though he had noticed his presence yet.

"When did you wake up?" the shield asked, stretching out the stiffness in his muscles. These beds really weren't to be desired.

The brunet shrugged and turned his head the brute's direction. "A little while ago. Had trouble sleeping," he mumbled, left hand raising to pull down the length of his face. He then cleared his throat, and it was obvious there was more he wanted to say, but took a bit of mental preparation to come out with it. Finally, figuring he couldn't hold off on it forever, he finally just asked.

"Actually, I was waiting for you to wake up…" he admitted, the shame tangible in his voice.

"Yeah?"

Again, Ignis debated continuing. But, he already made it this far, there was no turning back. He knew Gladio probably would have wrung it out of him anyway. "I was thinking...it's been a while since I last tried to cook." The thought of that last attempt brought with it the tingles in his hands, and his thumb ran over the scars it had left. "I wanted to ask if you would mind lending a hand."

The shield could easily tell how uneasy this made him, the one thing that use to bring him comfort now a thing he couldn't do himself. Of course, the answer should have been obvious, there really wasn't a need to even ask. "Yeah, you know I will. You just have to tell me what to do, because I don't know what the hell I'm doing."

Ignis thought back to last night's meal. "...I'm quite aware."

"Yeah yeah," Gladio muttered to himself. It was true though, it had been far too long since they've had anything that came close to his cooking in a while. "What's with the change of heart?" he asked. It was a complete one-eighty from last night.

Ignis just shrugged. "I guess everyone has to come to terms at some point. I can't go on thinking things will just fix themselves over night. You were right, unfortunately. As much as I desire it, I simply can't do things on my own." From the sounds of it, he was still trying to convince himself of that.

"It took you long enough."

"However, that doesn't mean I'm happy about it, and that doesn't mean I'm alright with any of it in the slightest. It's the lack of choice in the matter, and nothing more," he clarified. "I wish that weren't the case, but it is, so I have to suck it up and deal with it while I have to."

Well, Gladio supposed it was a start, and most likely as close as he was going to get. "Well, it won't always be like this. Like I said, you just have to get used to it and relearn how to do everything. But, in the meantime, that will have to slowly be worked on."

"I understand that," Ignis replied, "but I didn't want to believe it." He swallowed thickly and looked down. "Thanks...to both of you for all of this. I promise, and it won't be smooth in the slightest, but I promise to try to be a little more appreciative of your efforts." He raised his head just enough for his face to be seen. "You were right though, the only way any of us will get through this is if we stick it out together, through all the ups and downs."


~AND I BELIEVE IT IS TIME TO CLOSE REQUESTS~

(I apologize, but they're starting to really add up now. xD)

And, I'm sorry and hate to do this, but from now on, I will message people before I do your story, and if I don't get a reply, it will be skipped until I hear from you again. Only reason I feel the need to do this is because multiple times, I have written a request, and the person would never show up again. And, honestly, these take time, and if the person that asked doesn't stick around, then I don't want to take the time to do it.


Queue as of now:

54 - Prompto-cam

55 - xYukiNoYume

56 - __C'estletemps_

57 - Mirajane92

58 - Brooke3131

59 - Free_Bird

60 - MasterThiefWolf


~IF YOU REQUESTED AND YOUR NAME IS NOT ON THIS LIST, PLEASE LET ME KNOW, I SOMETIMES LOSE TRACK~