Voices preceded footsteps on the stairs. Reina's voice, one that presumably belonged to Cor, and one to Iris.
Given the choice of how Reina would first see him, he would not have chosen laying on his stomach on the ground beside the boat, covering in grease up to his elbows, with a great black smear across his forehead from attempting to wipe away the sweat. He might have changed one of those things before she made it to the bottom of the stairs, but certainly not all of them. And certainly not well.
"I said monkey wrench, boy, that's a crescent wrench!"
"Apologies." Ignis took back the offending tool and passed the correct one across to Cid.
"What do they teach you kids in the Crown City, these days? Can't even tell a crescent from a monkey…" Cid grumbled under his breath as he worked.
The footsteps reached the bottom of the stairs. Ignis pushed himself up on his elbows to turn and look. Reina stood at the bottom of the steps, eyes fixed on him as surprise worked across her features.
"Ignis?"
"Beneath the grease and grime, I suspect that is whom you would find," Ignis said.
"Torque wrench!"
Ignis grimaced, grabbed what he hoped was a torque wrench from the line of tools beside him, and passed it to Cid in exchange for the monkey wrench.
"Well, well, well. You are attracting quite the company, aren't you little Dreamer?" The man who waltzed down the steps after Reina was the last he had expected to see. But of course he was here. She had been close to him, hadn't she? And against all logic she still was.
Cor came after. He glanced Ignis over.
"Are you keeping him, too?" He asked.
"She kept you." Iris filed in last, nudging Cor as she passed him by.
"You're one to talk," Cor said.
"Shall we once again discuss how I am the only one attending this party by invitation?" Ardyn asked.
Reina was still staring at Ignis as if she had never properly seen him before. "You came after me…?"
"Of course, Your Highness." He could think of few other people he would subject himself to Cid's tutelage for.
"But Noctis…"
"Is a grown man, full capable of handling himself for some time." Or he would have to be, given that Ignis had just walked out on him.
"But you're the Royal Adviser!" She said.
"Not quite yet, I am pleased to say. That honor is still held by Master Amicitia. And, strictly speaking, my instructions from the king were to take care of his children. In the plural form, you will note."
"That was years ago. I'm sure Father doesn't expect you to mother me when I'm thirty years old. Twenty years old," she amended.
"Whichever it is, I am certain you will find King Regis did not include a statute of limitations."
Any further objects she had were lost in the noise from below the dock: a metallic clang, a muffled swear, and a splash.
Cid's head appeared at dock level, right beside Ignis'. "You a good swimmer, boy?"
Something told him he was about to become one.
"Here, haul me on up." He tugged on the rope that held him hanging in the air, harnessed over the edge of the boat. "You get that Mythril, Yer Highness?"
Ignis climbed to his feet. His muscles were stiff from a few hours of unusual treatment and strange positions. He climbed aboard the boat and began hauling Cid up.
"I did," Reina said. "How long will it take to finish?"
Cid gave another of his noncommittal grunts as he put his feet back on solid ground. "A day. Two days."
"It would seem we have a few days of rest," Reina said.
That was not, so far as Ignis recalled, something Reina had ever been especially good at. Not even before this. Ten years in darkness and war was unlikely to have improved her ability to sit back and relax.
In light of new developments—namely the arrival of Cid's required Mythril piece—Ignis was graciously allowed time off for good behavior. And also for lunch, though his watch said that should have been a few hours ago and his stomach said 'by the Gods, why have you not fed me yet?'
Ignis was understandably reluctant to pick up a sandwich when he had only managed to wipe perhaps thirty percent of the grease off his hands. The rest was permanent. Or at least required more serious treatment than a dirty rag he had found underneath Cid's tool chest, but it had been that or his trousers. Then again, the trousers were likely just as dirty by now.
Following lunch, Reina volunteered Iris to help Cid in Ignis' place. Iris submitted herself to this without objection. Whether this was because she had no objection or because she would not pose it to Reina, Ignis couldn't decide.
"Just for this afternoon," Reina told Iris. "But Cor could use some rest and I'm afraid Cid and Ardyn would kill each other."
"So kind of you to worry about me, little Dreamer."
She cast him a long-suffering look, then turned back to Cor. "The house down the hill is furnished. The beds are functional, if not comfortable."
Cor shook his head.
"You need to sleep, Cor. I know you don't trust Ardyn, but I would think Ignis would count as sufficient supervision."
Cor looked at Ignis. Muscle memory took over; Ignis sat up a little straighter, as he might have stood at attention for when the marshal came for inspection.
"He'll follow your orders," Cor said, "Not mine."
Ignis cleared his throat. "With all due respect, Marshal, I will follow Her Highness' orders insofar as they are reasonable orders."
He had just walked out on his prince and king, disobeying instructions to remain in Insomnia while others—namely, a fifteen-year-old girl—went after Reina. If that wasn't evidence enough that he would exercise due judgement, he didn't know what was.
"If she tries to walk off on her own, are you going to let her?" Cor asked.
"If I had intended to do that, I would not be here."
"Are you going to follow her without telling anyone else?" Cor pressed.
"If I were given the choice between following her or letting others know, I would choose the former. If I chose the latter, none of us would know where she had gone."
Cor scrutinized him for another moment. Finally he pushed his chair back and stood up. "Keep your phone on you. Charged."
"Of course, Marshal."
He left them alone at the table, Cid having already taken Iris back to the harbor and Ardyn having disappeared to gods knew where. Much as Ignis hated having Iris sent on an assignment that should have been his, he was grateful for the reprieve.
"Did Noct put you up to this?" Reina asked.
Ah. Here was the start of an uncomfortable conversation. She was not going to like the answer by an ounce.
"No," Ignis said.
"My father?"
"No, Your Highness. I fear I have come very much of my own accord." And very much against direction. His phone had yet to stop ringing. He had turned it on silent a few hours ago. Now that he was with Reina he likely should have answered, or at least sent Noctis a text telling him as much, but he wasn't ready to face Noct with the knowledge of what he had done yet.
"Does no one know where you are?" She asked.
Ignis shifted in his chair. "I did leave a note, which I am certain Noctis has found by now."
"A note?"
"Yes, Your Highness." He dropped his gaze. Whatever she thought of what he had done—whatever he thought of it—he wasn't going back. This was where he needed to be. He understood that now.
She was silent for long enough that he braced himself for an explosion. What he had not been prepared for was laughter.
"You're as bad as I am," she said. "I left a note for father. He was livid. Not that he shows that like any other person would."
"He summoned Noctis not long after he discovered it," Ignis said. "I was, thankfully, not present for that conversation."
"I wonder if it's because of what I did with the crystal. Healing him."
"In what way?"
"He used to shout. But that was when he was angry with himself or frustrated that he couldn't do what he thought he should have been able to do. And it was more recent—or else he hid it from me better when I was younger. I think I remember him being more like this when we were kids, but it was a long time ago."
"Longer, still, for you."
"Yes…"
"You have turned back time for him. He is grateful for it."
"I know." She smiled faintly. "Anyway, you should really call Noct back. He'll only be more angry the longer you make him wait."
"How did you know—?"
"You keep looking at your phone, swiping notifications and putting it back away. Who else would you be avoiding?"
"Then… you are not cross with me for coming after you and leaving Noctis behind?"
She sighed. "I don't know. You should be with him, not with me. You're his Adviser. He needs you."
"And you?"
"I'd prefer to know you were safe in Insomnia."
"I have made a choice, Your Highness. Time may tell whether it was a good one or a poor one. Noctis is inside the Citadel—as you said—safe. While he may well benefit from my guidance in political areas, I suspect he will also benefit from standing on his own. But my responsibility is to both of you no less than Noctis. And you are preparing to throw yourself into danger for reasons I ill understand. I cannot well allow you to do that on your own."
"But you are Noctis' Adviser."
Pieces fit together slowly in his mind; some that she said and some that she did not say.
"You spent all those years with me in your Dream, yet still you believe I make that distinction?" He asked levelly.
"Don't you? You stood with him in the end, like you were meant to."
He had gone with Noctis? What did that mean? She had admitted that she had taken Noctis' place and died for Lucis, but what did that have to do with Ignis?
He tucked the questions away. He could hardly ask what she meant. Instead he responded to the comment on hand.
"I do not, Your Highness. Nor have I ever. I consider both of you to be my charges, regardless of which has been slated for the throne and which has not. Though the case may be that Noctis required more of me, do not think for a moment that I would not have given the same to you if I had even the slightest indication that you might need or want it."
She stared at him, eyes too-wide in her face, before dropping her chin to her chest. With a start he realized she was crying.
"Reina—" He pushed his chair back and dropped to his knees beside hers so he could see her face. "I apologize. I did not mean to upset you. If I have said something…"
"No." She swiped at her eyes, sniffling. "It isn't that."
Ignis dug in his pockets for a handkerchief, which came out more than a little grease stained. She took it anyway. When her eyes were more dry, she continued.
"I always believed I was secondary to Noctis for reasons no one else seemed to understand. You were puzzled by it—are still puzzled by it. So was Father. I daresay even Noct is. But you have to understand that's what I saw. Everyone gave Noctis more. More attention, more time, more purpose.
"In my Dream I was just beginning to understand that half the reason Father did it was because he didn't think I needed it. It never really occurred to me that you had done the same."
"Reina…" Ignis took her hands in his. They were going to get covered in grease and grime, but that would wash off. "I have never considered you less than Noctis. For any part I played in perpetuating this belief of yours I am truly sorry. Perhaps my presence here will help dispel it."
"You're not going back either, are you?"
"Of course not." Ignis sat back on his heels. "I intend to see this through to the very end, whether you profess to want me here or not. Now that I know what you claim to need and what you truly need are two very different things, I shall be rather more critical of your words and actions."
She smiled—shakily, but a smile nonetheless.
"Now, if it is all the same to you, I should like to make use of any sink and soap facilities to be had in this place." He released her hands, which were now marked with black imprints of his fingers. "Ah. It seems you may need the same now."
Reina glanced at her hands.
"Apologies," Ignis said.