Ignis & Gladio, post-Altissia

I wrote the chapter for #16 on the list because I was super inspired for it but since the last thing I posted was #11 there are still a few to go before I can post it. I high key want to post it, though, so now I gotta hurry to fill these other prompts til we get to #16, starting with this one.
Also, it's been almost a year since I started this project, and we're only at #12 now, so this might as well take another eight or nine years *lies down in a corner*

Anyway, hope you enjoy. Gladio's inner voice swears a fair bit in this one, so beware if that's something that bothers you.


Zegnautus Keep was a fucking nightmare, Gladio decided.

The place was a godsdamn maze packed full with daemons, the floors were littered with things for Ignis to trip over if Gladio wasn't fast enough to stop him, and Ardyn kept taunting them. Even worse, there was absolutely no trace of Noct. Plus, they were still missing Prompto.

Gladio wasn't prone to anxiety, but this place paired with the worry for all three of his friends had him practically vibrating with nervous energy. He couldn't wait to haul ass out of here, but unfortunately, they were still a long way from getting to leave.

It was also real damn cold.

Gladio himself didn't really notice, or rather, he didn't mind enough to notice. It was cold, because this whole country was a godsdamn fridge. But he wasn't feeling cold.

Ignis, on the other hand…

Of course, Ignis wasn't complaining or anything. Gladio was waiting for him to say a damn word, but at this point, he was sure the moron would rather freeze to death than admit he was feeling cold. Not that he needed to admit it, the shivering was kind of speaking for itself.

As for why Gladio hadn't said anything about it yet, well. That was mainly out of spite, even though he would never say that out loud. He was mad at Ignis for not speaking up and just fucking bearing everything without complaint. And he was pissed at himself, Noct, and Prompto for not realizing that, whilst Iggy's beloved coeurl print shirt had been safe in the Armiger back in Altissia, his jacket had been absolutely destroyed during whatever the fuck he'd put himself through at the altar. And none of them had even fucking thought to get him a new one.

So now here they were, stomping around ignoring the fact that Ignis was about to fucking freeze.

Gladio cast a careful glance at Ignis, who was following a few steps behind trying to navigate through the narrow corridors. Still shivering, jaw stubbornly set, it was clear he wasn't about to admit his defeat anytime soon.

Rolling his eyes dramatically, Gladio came to a decision. His only options were to wait until Ignis stopped being stubborn (not happening), let him freeze to death or catch pneumonia and then have him die from that (not in a million years), or stop being stubborn himself and being the one to address it (happening, apparently).

He stopped, letting Ignis catch up with him.

"Something wrong?" Ignis asked, head slightly tilted. He'd started doing that since Altissia, keen on making up for the lack of his sight by paying greater attention to sounds.

"You mean besides" Gladio gestured wildly at themselves and everything around them, "everything?"

Ignis frowned, but didn't say anything.

Gladio sighed deeply, slipped out of his heavy leather jacket, and held it against Ignis' hand expectantly until his fingers closed around it.

"Gladio, what is it?" Ignis demanded, clearly frustrated with the lack of insight on what was going on.

"Take my jacket, it's cold. You've been cold the entire time, you should've said something." It came out more accusatory than Gladio had intended. Somehow, that seemed to happen to him a lot lately.

"I did not say anything because there was nothing to be done about it," Ignis snapped. Trying to hand the jacket back, he continued, "Take it back. You'll only get cold yourself."

"No can do. I'm still wearing a sweater, that's much better than your flimsy shirt. I won't be responsible if you catch your death in this damned place so you're keeping the jacket."

Ignis kept holding the jacket out to Gladio, no doubt preparing himself to out-stubborn him.

Gladio wasn't having it. He was neither in the mood nor were they in a position to have a staring contest. Not to mention the unfairness of such a contest; with Ignis unable to see, there would be no reason for him to look away first.

Already hating himself for that thought only two seconds later, Gladio sighed again. If this was how Iggy had felt every single day putting up with the three of them, he was starting to understand why the guy was constantly chugging caffeine to keep up his energy levels.

"Just take it. I won't get cold, promise."

Another beat passed before Ignis lowered his arm in defeat. "You'll tell me if you need it back."

"Oh, you mean like you did?"

Ignis glared, but he did put on the jacket, and that was good enough for now.

"Ah, isn't this heartwarming?" Ardyn's annoying voice sounded over the speaker.

"Shut your fucking mouth," Gladio growled at the ceiling. He couldn't remember having ever hated a person as much as he hated this bastard, and every time he heard that voice, he remembered how bad he wanted to deck him square in the face. "C'mon, Iggy. Let's go."

Ardyn only laughed and then the transmission cut off, but Gladio knew their every step was being watched. Even more reason to get out of here as fast as possible.

He shuddered for reasons that had nothing to do with the cold.

The next door he approached opened, but instead of revealing another corridor or nearly empty storage space, it lead into a dorm room. The uncomfortable looking beds with the thin mattresses and shabby blankets were the best thing Gladio had seen all day.

"Hey, Iggy! Check this out!" he called over his shoulder. "It's a dorm room. We're gonna rest for a while before we continue."

Ignis frowned as he entered the room. "Are you sure? We don't have time for that."

Gladio already plopped down on the nearest bed. If Iggy wanted to keep going, well. He'd like to see him try to get him off this bed first. "We can spare a few minutes. That fucker is playing a game with us, I doubt he can continue without us. Plus, we've been walking around this place all day. I dunno about you, but I'm beat. Any more fighting without rest and we're gonna end up getting ourselves killed."

Ignis, looking reluctant to sit down, finally nodded in defeat. "You're right. Just a few minutes, though, not longer."

"Sure thing." Something across the room caught his eye and he hauled himself off the bed despite his initial plan of not moving until they had to leave. "Oh, Iggy, you're gonna love this."

In the mini-fridge he'd found, there was one lone can with a very familiar design. He pulled it out, cracked it open after making sure it hadn't expired yet (of course it hadn't, that stuff would probably survive longer than any of them) and handed it to Ignis.

Ignis' look was one of disbelief and pure delight as he took one sniff and immediately started chugging the whole thing without so much as a breath in between.

Feeling as satisfied as Ignis looked, Gladio let himself fall back onto the bed, ignoring the worrisome creaking of the metal frame. It felt good to be lying down.

Just for a few minutes.


First and most importantly of all, I want to thank all of you who have been following this for so long now, the people who keep leaving me so, so very kind comments, the ones who still come back to read my updates even though it's sometimes months in between them, and the new readers that decide to give this thingy a shot. Thank you so much, everyone 3

I spent some time debating if it's really cold in Gralea, since I couldn't see any snow where Noct gets separated from Iggy and Gladio (unlike right by Shiva's body), but the map clearly shows pretty much all of Niflheim being covered by snow. So I figured it's still cold enough to be uncomfortable without a jacket, lol.
And yes, the dorm rooms have mini-fridges now. The Niflheim army need their coffee, people!
Oh, and writing Gladio is a lot of fun because it allows me to swear however fucking much I want, hell yeah. On a more serious note, I think Gladio is super fucking stressed at this point in the game and he doesn't know what to do with himself and his emotions, so he spends the time alternating between being kind of an ass and beating himself up for being an ass. He really needs and deserves a hug :(