—

Two weeks he'd been back, Ignis mused. Things were beginning to feel… well, certainly not normal just yet, but more routine. Comfortable.

Largely thanks to Aranea.

Ignis swore that woman was sent by the Astrals themselves. When he'd first met her he never would have guessed a warrior like her could be so gentle and caring. She was exactly what he needed at this point.

She hadn't pushed him on any fronts – merely shared her opinion when she sought something contrary to him. Suggested what she believed to be the best options for his dilemmas.

And she'd postponed his press problem by laying into them about him undergoing trauma and saying he'd talk to them only when he was good and ready.

Perhaps he was only putting off the inevitable, but at least now he had time to think on the direction he wanted to take with those matters.

Right now, however, he was enjoying his first actual relaxing outing since his return. He'd been so busy smoothing things over and undertaking what duties he could since his return that he hadn't had the time to truly take a breather. Now, though… For this moment there was nothing to be done. Things in the city had so greatly improved while he'd been gone, and that had been a delight to discover. With him here now, they had plenty availability for Ravus to make a trip to Crestholm – something he would be undertaking tomorrow.

Ignis wondered if he himself might be sent to assist the other city in the near future. He wouldn't mind, honestly. He was well acquainted with the trip, after all. He'd been all over that route the last couple of years. Plus, it would give him further opportunities to hopefully help bridge the gap between Loqi and Evan. The two of them were still working efficiently together on the city deliveries, but it was easy to tell that their camaraderie had diminished, and Ignis felt a decent amount of guilt over that. Loqi had been the someone Evan needed in his absence, and it didn't sit well with him that the two of them were now at odds because Loqi had kept his silence on a secret he'd never asked to be part of keeping.

"Come on, I don't wanna miss the show." Aranea was all but dragging him by the sleeve into the bar.

"Show?" Ignis questioned, his eyebrow arched in amusement. Things may have been better, but Ignis recalled no such thing as shows being put on at the bar. Which meant… Aranea was up to something.

Ignis wondered if he should be concerned. There was a certain mischievous glint in her eyes at the moment that didn't bode well for someone.

He was shooed into a booth in the corner of the room before Aranea slid into the other side, crossing one leg over the other in a completely relaxed way. "Act natural."

Ignis chuckled. "Not difficult when I have no idea what's going on."

Aranea leaned against the wall on her side, resting her hand atop the table and gesturing discreetly with it.

Ignis made a show of adjusting his position in his chair as he glanced that direction.

It was Biggs. Sitting casually at the bar. That was normal enough. He didn't know Biggs' drinking habits, but he was sure it wasn't uncommon for him to be in here.

"Is there something in particular that I should be noting here?" Ignis wondered.

Aranea's sharp grin reminded him of some daemons when they closed in on their prey. "There are many motivations in this world, but few more powerful than jealousy."

Jealously? Biggs? Jealously over what?

A loud burst of laughter from Biggs drew Ignis' attention back to him. He was blabbing out something, obviously beyond being tipsy at this point, and very obviously flirting with… Sikozu.

Ignis did a double take, but that didn't make the flirting any less obvious. Biggs' entire body language was unmistakable, despite Sikozu not looking remotely interested.

Oh dear.

Ignis sent Aranea a baffled look. Why on Eos was she entertained by this? Everyone in the city knew of Sikozu's relationship with Ravus. Biggs would only accomplish in tarnishing his reputation with this stunt.

"Annny second…" Aranea said, looking at the door to the bar.

And in came Ravus.

Ignis felt his confusion rise. Was Aranea trying to get one of her closest friends beaten to a pulp or killed? Not to mention that the press would have a field day if a fight broke out at the bar that included one of the city leaders.

Six, why? Things had been pleasant.

"I'm waiting for an explanation," Ignis said dryly.

"Biggs isn't drunk," Aranea said smugly. "I bribed him into pretending to be. And I invited Ravus for drinks with us here."

Every moment that passed here was increasing his utter lack of understanding.

"What the devil for?" Ignis asked, not caring that he sounded clueless. He was clueless, and he wasn't even ashamed to admit it at the moment.

"Jealousy and inspiration."

…No. That didn't help in the slightest.

She might have invited Ravus, but he hadn't even noticed them. He was already on a warpath to the bar counter.

Ignis kneaded his forehead.

"What the hell, Callux?" Ravus demanded, apparently already past the point of attempting to solve matters with any degree of subtlety.

"Wot?" Biggs slurred at him, swaying slightly on his stool. He was good at playing drunk, Ignis would give him that.

"You know damn well what," Ravus snapped, and they had the attention of nearly the entire bar now. He gestured to Sikozu, who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else on the planet at that moment. "Our relationship is hardly a secret!"

Biggs gave Sikozu a look that was a little focused for his drunk act. "Don't see a ring."

Sikozu choked on air.

"Yessss," Aranea hissed under her breath. "Goooood."

Ignis resisted a facepalm.

"Yes, well, there's about to be one!" Ravus snapped back. He then went rigid as he apparently realized what he'd said.

Aranea leaned her chin on both hands. She was making no effort to hide that she was watching now. Not that any of the people she was watching even noticed.

Sikozu's expression was all eyes as she clutched a bottle of some liquor to herself. "…There is?"

If Ignis had been Aranea, he would have felt terrible about causing the regret that flashed over Ravus' face.

Ravus evaded looking her in the eyes. "…I had been trying to find the right time to ask."

Sikozu tapped her fingers on the bottle she was hugging. "I mean. Any time? Any time would be fine? I'm not particular…"

Ravus appeared to have forgotten about Biggs, who was now leaning back on his stool and looking entirely sober.

"I… truly?"

"Yeah. No hesitation."

Ravus blinked once. Then he pushed one of his coat tails back and retrieved a small pouch from his pocket, setting it on the wooden surface between them. "…Then I suppose I'd best put the offer on the table properly."

Sikozu's lips twitched in amusement. "…That's a bar, not a table."

Ravus stared at her incredulously.

She stared back.

And then they both cracked up.

Ignis hadn't seen a lot of marriage proposals in person, but he didn't consider this a terribly good one. In fact, he'd be willing to call this one a disaster. A positive disaster seeing as it appeared it was going to end well, but a disaster none the less.

Ignis gave Aranea a look. "What have you done?" he deadpanned.

She grinned impishly once more. "He's had that thing in his pocket for like a million years. I was just being helpful."

Ignis supposed that could have been considered helpful. Sikozu certainly looked happy as she fished the engagement ring out of the bag and slipped it on.

"Well!" Biggs stood up with a clap of his hands. "My work 'ere is done! Cheers, mates!"

Ravus' face dropped right back into a usual scowl. "Work?"

"Blame Lady A!" Biggs stabbed his finger in Aranea's direction before taking off for the exit.

"Biggs!" Aranea yelled after him in protest. "You weren't supposed to throw me under the bus!"

Twin glares from the happy couple were glowering at her in a moment.

Ignis cleared his throat, casually leaning back in his seat. "I would also like to shift blame entirely to Aranea by informing you I had no part in this whatsoever."

"Wow, thanks." Aranea rolled her eyes.

"I will deal with you later," Ravus growled, taking Sikozu's hand in his own. "You're fortunate I have other matters to attend to."

"…Cheers for the soon-to-be wed!" some random hunter cried out suddenly, standing up from his table and raising his glass.

"Cheers!" several other patrons echoed, their own drinks lifting.

Ignis shook his head as Aranea joined in on the cheering.

Bloody hell, he'd missed this place.

…He only hoped this wedding would go better than the last he'd been to.

—