Gladio getting a drink with his BFF Ignis. Enjoy!
Gladio rounded the corner and ran straight into someone. He was barely swayed, but the other person pretty much bounced off him and would've crashed to the ground if not for his quick reflexes that allowed him to grab them by their arms and steady them before they fell.
"Someone appears to be in a hurry."
Ignis, Gladio realized. Whoops.
"Sorry, Iggy. Didn't see you there. You good?"
"Just dandy. I was looking for you, in fact."
"Yeah?" Gladio grinned. "Miss me?"
Ignis breathed out through his nose in a sort-of concealed laugh. "Yes, actually. It has occurred to me that it's been quite a while since we've last had the chance to catch up, so I was wondering if you were free this evening."
"Well, it's not me who's always busy," Gladio pointed out good-naturedly.
Ignis sighed and shifted the folders in his arms in order to bring up his hand and fuss with his glasses. "I know. My apologies."
"No sweat," Gladio waved him off. "Tonight sounds good. Lookin' forward to it!"
Ignis smiled. "As am I. Well then, I'll be on my way. Have a good day."
"Yeah, you too," Gladio said, lifting his hand as a goodbye before he, too, continued his way to the training grounds where he was headed, picking up his pace when he realized he was almost late for training with his dad. Crap. He absolutely did not want to spend his evening running laps again like last time he'd been too late.
A bit winded, he burst out of the changing room once he'd finished putting his training clothes on, glancing at the large clock as he came to a halt in front of his dad and sighed in relief when the hour changed just about two seconds after his arrival.
Clarus glared at him, obviously wanting to say something but unable to since Gladio was not technically late. Instead, he lifted his sword and attacked, and Gladio spent the rest of their training trying very hard not to get himself sliced open.
Once they were done - Gladio even received rare words of praise from his father which made him glow with pride for the rest of the day - Gladio was ready to drop, but there was still the meeting with Ignis. It was only late afternoon, but after training with his dad, the plan was usually to go home, lie down on his bed and never move again. He was more than willing to sacrifice that for a meeting with his friend, of course, but that didn't mean that moving didn't fucking hurt.
Ignis had shot him a text while he'd been training and they'd agreed to meet at eight for a drink, so he left after dinner, cursing the fact that he hadn't bothered to get his licence yet. Driving would've been a whole lot less annoying than walking, with the ache that was already persistent in his muscles, but it couldn't be helped now. At least the place wasn't far, but maybe he could still annoy Ignis into giving him a ride home later.
Ignis was already there when Gladio arrived, because of course he was. He was sitting at their usual table, not having ordered anything yet. When he spotted Gladio, he lifted his hand in a little wave.
"Hey," Gladio smiled as he heavily plopped down on the chair. "Long time no seen."
"Ah yes. What a couple of dreadful hours it has been without you," Ignis deadpanned, but his mouth twitched with amusement.
Gladio grinned and flagged down a server, and after they'd both ordered their drinks, he leaned forward in his seat a little. "So, how's life been treating you?"
"I've been busy, as always, but Noct has been making an effort to make my life a bit easier lately. He's been doing well in school, and he attempts to read the reports from the Citadel, too, if you can believe it."
"No way. Did someone kidnap and replace him without us noticing?"
"You should give him more credit," Ignis chided. "He still struggles with his reports and usually has me explain them to him afterward. It is not less work, but rather than me doing the work for him, I now do it with him. It is… nice."
"I'd bet," Gladio agreed. He'd been noticing an improvement in Noct's training, too. If anything, the kid seemed less eager to piss him off the second he stepped foot onto the training grounds. He still complained, but Gladio couldn't actually remember the last time their training had ended in a shouting match. Huh. "You think that's that Prompto kid's doing?"
Ignis nodded. "Certainly. Prompto is good for him. I am very glad about it."
Gladio took a sip of his drink and hummed. "Yeah, me too. Hey, I don't think I told you yet, but I finally beat Dad for the first time last week."
"Oh? That's fantastic! What did he say?" Ignis asked, sounding both pleasantly surprised and kind of proud.
For the next ten minutes, Gladio launched into the events of last week's training and how his dad had been pushing him extra hard ever since- a wounded pride, Gladio joked.
Ignis asked questions about the techniques Gladio had used, and Gladio answered them, and then the conversation shifted to a different topic. For the next two hours, they chatted comfortably, ordering some more drinks a few times until Ignis called it quits.
"I still have to drive," he explained when Gladio teased him about it despite knowing very well that Ignis could absolutely hold his own in a drinking match against him.
"Yeah, about that. You think you could drop me off at home? I feel like everything hurts, even things that shouldn't be able to hurt."
"Of course. Shall we head home, then?" Ignis suggested.
Gladio nodded. As much fun as the evening had been, he was dead tired. And he had to train some new recruits tomorrow, something that could either be a lot of fun or an absolute pain in the ass depending on how well they ended up doing.
He reached for his jacket to pull out his wallet, but Ignis grabbed his wrist to stop him.
"No, no, it's my treat. I was the one who invited you, after all," he said, placing his own wallet on the table as he got their server's attention.
"Cool, thanks, Iggy," Gladio said and pulled his arm back. "I'll be paying next time, then."
He watched as Ignis paid, then he followed him out to the car. He had to squeeze himself into the passenger seat, groaning when he realized Noct had been the last one to occupy the seat and everything was set for a much smaller person. Damn that prince and his scrawny ass.
"Are you all settled?" Ignis asked mildly after having watched Gladio's struggle with the seat in amusement.
"Yep," Gladio confirmed.
The ride home was silent save for the radio, but Gladio didn't mind. It was a comfortable silence, after all, always was with Ignis.
"Thanks for the ride," he said once Ignis dropped him off in front of the Amicitia residence. "Good night."
"Good night to you too."
Gladio waved to him through the window, and Ignis waved back before he pulled out of the driveway and disappeared into the night.
Hope you liked!
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