—

Loqi did not look well, Ravus decided officially. He hadn't been certain at first. Initially he'd wondered if it had just been due to all the lovely shades of bruising since Loqi's nose had been broken, but that wasn't it.

Even while he was unconscious Ravus could see the effects of stress and exhaustion that clung to Loqi's form.

He was too thin. Too pale. Too still in his sleep.

Ravus had to wonder when the last time he'd truly rested was, because sleep and rest were very different things, and Ravus knew Loqi hadn't gotten much of even the lesser of those two before Fita's abrupt demise…

Well, at least Ravus wouldn't have to do much probing to discover what was wrong. He already had a great deal figured out.

Loqi stirred weakly, his face scrunching up despite the bare amount of light in the room.

"Fleuret?" he mumbled, his palm pressed to his head. He winced and pulled his hand away a moment later as he touched the highest part of his bruised face.

"Too much to drink or not enough?" Ravus questioned, giving Loqi a simple question to start off with that would hopefully help him orient himself.

Loqi groaned, dropping his head back against his pillow. "Yes."

Ravus snorted, and then silence fell between them for a moment.

"Would you like me to retrieve you a potion for–"

"No," Loqi said firmly, yet softly. He'd clearly already given the topic some thought and wasn't going to be argued with about it. "I'll live. Others might not if we waste supplies."

"A statement I would accept more readily if you didn't look halfway to death despite it."

Loqi didn't even glare at him or deny the observation. That wasn't a good sign.

Ravus mulled over some quick statistics in his mind before he spoke again.

"Loqi, do you and Petra need assistance?"

Best to drop it out in the open. Loqi would probably be more mad at a patronizing and delicate nudge than Ravus being direct.

Surprise flickered across Loqi's face, but then his expression settled. Without him protesting.

Sweet Shiva, he truly was at the end of his rope. A couple of months back he probably would have rather died than admit he needed help.

Loqi sighed, rubbing his eyes gingerly as he shifted to sit up in his bed. "…Yes. By the Six, yes. The sheer amount of duties to be performed… We just can't handle it all."

There was a time when Loqi would have used that admission against Loqi to force some degree of humility. But not now. Loqi was wholeheartedly swallowing his pride all on his own.

"Then we will send aid," Ravus said factually. He was going to make this casual. It was not going to be a big deal.

Crestholm was more than a city of allies. The two bastions of light were linked beyond that now.

And… If Ravus was honest with himself… Loqi had become far more than his first initial nuisance.

Well. He was still a nuisance. But Ravus wouldn't deny now that he would care if they lost him.

Six help him. He'd never been able to have normal friendships. He was incapable. He'd thrown Scientia through a window their first meeting, and he'd hated Loqi for years with their time working around each other for the empire. Hell, even the woman he loved had been dumped into the city by a teleporting, daemon-infested immortal.

"What type of aid?" Loqi asked, his expression strained. Although Ravus wasn't sure if that was something emotional or if the poor man's face just hurt.

Never in a million years would Ravus have expected a punch from Evan to do more damage than one from Amicitia. He'd been lucky.

"Whatever you need." Ravus turned his palms up, almost as though the aid was there to give this moment. "Sheer manpower? An information runner such as Prompto? A temporary fellow leader? Now that Lunafreya is assisting, I could potentially move between the cities as needed."

The offer was out of Ravus' mouth before he'd truly given it much thought, but he didn't regret it. It was manageable. Particularly with Scientia now back, though it was a bit soon to have him back on any duty rosters as of yet.

"…I will… have to confer with Petra–"

"Later." Ravus crossed his arm, trying to project an aura of finality. "I'm enforcing at least three hours of relaxation upon you and Scientia. Find peace with your minds. Then it will be time for us all to… face the music with the others, as it were."

Loqi nodded.

Still no fight in him.

"I fear I have irreparably damaged my relationship with Evan." Loqi swallowed. "His trust in me is more broken than my nose."

Ravus snorted. "He'll get over it."

"Will he?"

"I suppose time will tell."

"Indeed."

Ravus reached out to softly clap Loqi's shoulder. "Rest, you menace to tranquility. I have others who need my attention." Other friends.

Loqi shooed him. "Give Scientia my regards."

Aranea was proud of her work. Granted, she usually did take pride in her accomplishments, but those were usually more of the daemon-murdering type of accomplishments, not anything artistic.

But this… oh this was a work of art, in her humble opinion.

Haircutting wasn't exactly a popular profession these days, and a lot of people learned how to do their own. That hadn't been that hard for Aranea. She'd spent most of her life figuring out how to do random shit for herself. But her own hair had been a far cry from what she'd done to Ignis'.

What the hell she had actually done to Ignis', she wasn't totally sure, but she'd followed his instructions, and whatever it was called, it suited him.

It was fairly close to his old cut, but a little fluffier and the top was folded back a bit.

He was lucky hair gel wasn't in high demand.

"I quite like this," Ignis mused as he looked himself over in the mirror. "Much more to my tastes."

"Good." Aranea snipped the scissors shut a final time, setting them on the counter. "Ready to take on the world, then?"

Ignis sighed before sucking in a deep breath. "As ready as I'll ever be. Where might the others be no–"

There was a knock at the door.

The two of them exchanged a glance.

Well, maybe they wouldn't have to hunt down anyone else.

Aranea started for the door, but Ignis held a hand up. "We both know it's for me."

Aranea nodded. "Just watch out for your face. "The hospital staff might have strokes if you ended up back there so soon."

Ignis chuckled. "Noted."

It wasn't someone who was going to punch him, though. More someone who'd already been on the other end of that particular event.

"Ravus," Ignis said, relief audible in his voice, even with the extra rasp that Aranea was slowly growing used to.

Ravus' double take was obvious. "Well, I see you've wasted no time in cleaning yourself up."

Ignis expression held no apology. "I've spent long enough pretending to be someone else. Did you need something in particular?"

Ravus shook his head. "Merely checking in. Though I would like to hold a true meeting with all those directly affected by current events in a few hours."

Ignis arched an eyebrow. "I had rather hoped to meet with them individually since I'd been under the impression Lunafreya had already held a factual group meeting."

Ravus linked his arms behind his back. "I don't blame you for wanting to confer with those remaining separately, but there is more to discuss than apologies. No offense."

"None taken."

So many meetings already. Ignis probably didn't miss that aspect of living in the city.

"To what do you refer, specifically?" Ignis said.

Ravus gave him a look.

Oh. Right. The stupid media. It was definitely going to be noticed that Ignis was back from the dead, and they needed to be on top of it.

So much fun.

Ignis opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off by multiple ringtones.

Ravus' brow furrowed in irritation as he plucked the phone from his pocket, and Aranea did the same with her own ringing phone.

Prompto? What was he up to now?

"What is it?" Ignis asked after a moment.

"Prompto." Ravus continued to scowl. "He seems very set on us all meeting him."

"For what purpose?" Ignis wondered.

"Getting everything back on track, apparently. Doesn't say how." Aranea arched an eyebrow at the sheer amount of capital letters in the message. It was excessive even by Prompto's standards. "But he seems very excited about it."

Well, Prompto always had been good at breaking tensions with his…

Frankly, just his spazy personality.

Maybe his approach would he best. Or a horrible idea that would make everything a mess. It was hard to tell with him.

The question was… would Ignis be willing to put all this in his old friend's hands?

"Well, Specs? What do you think?" Aranea asked. This was his choice. "Tell him we already have a meeting planned, or see what he's got up his sleeve?"

—