This one's been sitting in my Scrivener files finished for a while, long enough I'd forgotten about what exactly I had written there, and when I came back to read it all I could think of was "Oh man this slaps, I really love this" so! Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did both writing and reading it!


Ignis stood in the hallway, feeling more unsure of himself than he had in years. His hand brushed against the door, lingering before pulling away as he reconsidered. Noctis had made his wishes perfectly clear - and yet, it took all of Ignis' willpower to not walk right back into the apartment and… then what? Noctis was clearly not receptive to any sort of productive discussion. Anything that would be said now would be aimed to hurt; Noctis tended to lash out when angry, and Ignis couldn't honestly say there wasn't at least a small possibility he'd slip up and do the same, with how off-kilter he was feeling.

No, right now, it was better to step away.

Ignoring the ache in his chest, he moved away from the door and went to press the elevator button with more force than necessary. As he waited for the elevator, he pulled out his phone and typed up a message.

You [20:23]: Would you please be so kind as to pick up His Highness for school tomorrow? See attached his schedule for the day.

Ignis sighed and stepped into the elevator, keeping the phone in hand rather than tucking it away. Gladio usually responded within a couple minutes unless he was training, and Ignis knew he was free tonight.

Sure enough, when Ignis climbed into the driver's seat of his car and placed his phone in its holder, there was a message waiting for him.

Gladio [20:27]: Sure. What's up? You sick?

You [20:28]: Noctis and I had a disagreement. He has stated in no uncertain terms that he doesn't wish to see me for the time being.

Gladio [20:28]: Shit. Must've been one hell of a disagreement. You good?

Ignis' mouth pressed into a thin line. Briskly, he locked his phone and started the car. His phone screen lit up again, but he ignored it. Gladio meant well, he knew, and his question came from a place of concern, but Ignis was not in the mood to discuss the issue any further.

He hardly even understood what had occurred, himself.

Noctis had been in a bad mood from the moment Ignis had set foot into the apartment. In retrospect, it was obvious, and Ignis should have noticed. But his own day had been stressful, frustrating, and exhausting, and so he hadn't realised things were just about one wrong word away from going downhill fast.

It was unexpected in more ways than one. Firstly, Ignis had failed to pick up on the prince's terrible mood and therefore wasn't prepared for an outburst, but more importantly, it was unlike Noctis to get angry like that. Usually, their arguments were much more subdued, with Ignis being forced to keep calm despite his frustration from trying to get through to Noctis, who in turn either completely tuned him out or gave him listless one-word replies that were obvious attempts to get Ignis to just stop talking.

Ignis wondered what had left Noctis in such a terrible state. He half considered asking Prompto if anything had happened at school, but dismissed the thought the very second it entered his head, knowing Noctis would consider it an inexcusable breach of trust.

For now, there seemed to be nothing Ignis could do about it, especially seeing as Noctis had all but ordered him out of the apartment. He would simply… have to wait until Noctis elected to speak to him again, however long it would take.

Once home, Ignis went straight to bed, not bothering with making dinner. He had, after all, already spent the better part of the afternoon preparing supper for Noctis, who had taken one look at it, discovered a speck of something green and leafy, and refused to eat even a single bite.

Looking back, Noctis whipping out his phone and ordering a pizza instead had been Ignis' last straw tonight.

Ignis sighed, not for the first time that day, and finally opened the chat with Gladio. There was one more message now, sent a few minutes after the one Ignis had ignored in the car.

Gladio [20:29 p.m.]: Don't worry about tomorrow. I'll pick him up.

Gladio [20:40 p.m.]: Hey, if you wanna talk about anything, just say the word. I'll be glad to listen.

It was a testament to Ignis' own mental state that he considered, for a very brief moment, taking Gladio up on his offer. Gladio wasn't quiet about his dislike of Noctis' attitude. Surely, he'd understand, surely, in him, Ignis would find someone on his side.

He dismissed the thought as quickly as it had entered his mind, thoroughly ashamed of his moment of weakness. Instead, he replied "Thank you for taking over my duty" and ignored the second text, not bothering to make up an excuse Gladio would see through within seconds.


Morning came, and Ignis felt… unbalanced. Off-center in a way he rarely did. Normally, he woke up, got himself caffeinated enough to function, and then drove straight to Noctis' apartment to get him up and ready for school.

Today, he woke up, got himself caffeinated, and then… just sat at his kitchen table, practically vibrating with nervous energy and having nowhere to channel it. His schedule so unexpectedly cleared, he didn't have to be at the Citadel until nine, although he was still planning to arrive early and get some work done.

He simply. Could not bring himself to get up and out of the door.

It was a cruel sort of irony, he thought, that the one time he got a free morning, he couldn't even enjoy it for the circumstances that had led to it.

He scoffed, abruptly slamming his empty coffee cup onto the table.

"Get yourself together, this is ridiculous!" he said out loud, standing up with so much force the chair nearly toppled over.

Grabbing his laptop bag, he walked out of the apartment before he could change his mind.


Coming to the Citadel early had been a mistake. Everyone knew to never book Ignis before nine in the morning. No matter what, that time was reserved for the Prince alone.

Ignis could practically feel their stares when he walked to his office around half past seven.

He ignored them, of course, but the damage was done, and he was not looking forward to the rumours and whispers his unusual presence was already bringing forth. Noctis had, after all, an impressive track record of tutors, nannies, and whoever else had attempted to work with him. No one had ever expected Ignis to last this long in the moody Prince's service.

"Do you think the Prince dismissed him?" a young Crownsguard had whispered to his comrade when he had believed Ignis out of earshot.

And indeed, were they really rumours if they were true?

Certainly, Noctis had not formally dismissed him from his service. But dismissed him he had, and where did Ignis even go from here?

Focusing on the reports before him quickly proved to be a fruitless endeavor. Ignis read the same sentence over and over, retaining not a single word, and finally slammed the file shut in frustration.

It wasn't like he and Noctis had never had a disagreement before. They'd practically grown up together, there were bound to be conflicts every now and then.

But none of them had ever quite felt like this.


For the next few days, Ignis let Gladio take over Noctis Duty like the coward he was. It meant Noctis was probably being fed a diet consisting of solely Cup Noodles and takeout, and Ignis hoped Gladio wasn't being too harsh to Noctis about their argument, having somehow gotten it into his head that this whole mess was Noctis' fault alone as if Ignis had not severely spoken out of turn as well.

After the third day, Gladio had offered via text message to "kick Noctis' ass" if Ignis thought he needed it, an offer Ignis had shut down really damn quickly. Instead, he let Gladio know he didn't need anyone to fight his battles for him, ignored Gladio's rebuttal of "Yeah, but maybe you could use someone to talk to", and buried himself in non-Noctis work.

Of course, this strategy was bound to fail at one point, and that happened nearly a week after he and Noctis had initially fought.

Gladio: [15:17]: Hey Cor spontaneously booked me for training with the new recruits, so I can't get the kid to school tomorrow. Sorry!

Ignis pursed his lips as he stared at the text, as though its content would change if he glared at it long enough. It wasn't like he'd thought he could simply avoid Noctis forever - this was, after all, his job, and if he wasn't performing his job, then by all means he should be dismissed.

Well. It looked like Noctis was simply going to have to deal with Ignis in his apartment again, whether he liked it or not.

Ignis tried not to think about what he would do if Noctis sent him away again.


Ignis let himself into Noct's apartment, surprised to hear the sound of an alarm going off in Noctis' room. Usually, the Prince never even bothered with alarms, instead counting on Ignis to wake him up on time.

Gladio was unlikely to have considered being Noctis' personal alarm clock part of taking over Ignis' duty, though. Most likely, this new development was his doing.

Well. It did give Ignis an excuse to avoid the Prince for a little longer, instead starting on breakfast as he waited for Noctis to get up.

The alarm went off a few more times - being immediately silenced each time - but eventually, something stirred behind the closed bedroom door and eventually in the living room.

Ignis heard the steps come to an abrupt halt behind him.

"Ignis."

"Highness. Gladio was scheduled with the new recruits this morning and therefore unable to collect you. I hope this is acceptable.

Noctis said nothing, watching Ignis with an unreadable expression before he nodded and trudged into the bathroom.

The rest of the morning continued in a similar fashion, with Noctis wordlessly picking at his breakfast and Ignis busying himself with the dishes, followed by a car ride spent in silence apart from the quiet music on the radio.

Ignis hated every second of it.

Noctis hadn't thrown him out of the apartment, which was something, he supposed. Still, he didn't know what to do with the silence, Noctis' refusal to initiate a conversation - and Ignis knew better than to push, that never did go over well - and the tension that made the air around them almost too thick to breathe.


At least Noctis still bothered to inform Ignis that he was going to the arcade with Prompto after school instead of simply standing him up. Though that was most likely for Noctis' own benefit, considering the last time he hadn't texted beforehand, he had been escorted home by an entire squad of Glaives who had been dispatched to investigate the Prince's disappearance.

It meant that instead of another car ride in silence, they spent a car ride with Prompto chattering a mile a minute, no doubt either having been informed of their argument by Noctis, or simply picking up on the tension between them. Either way, he was doing his best to lift the mood and fill the silence.

Ignis was immeasurably glad for it.

Still, once they dropped Prompto off, it was once again just the two of them in the car, and any discomfort Prompto had managed to alleviate with his presence returned in full force.

Ignis couldn't help but notice Noctis was different from that morning, though. Still silent, but nervous and fidgety somehow. More than once, Ignis looked in the rear mirror to catch Noctis quickly looking away as though he had been watching him.

Back in the apartment, Ignis lingered despite not being needed any longer - Noctis and Prompto had eaten at the arcade, so he wouldn't need to take care of supper that night. And yet, something kept him from walking out the door. They needed to settle their differences, he knew, but, well. Noctis was notoriously allergic to discussing his feelings in any way, and Ignis, while perfectly content to discuss Noctis' feelings, wasn't so keen on sharing his own either.

Similarly, Noctis, instead of flopping down on the couch or vanishing in his bedroom like he normally did, took a suspiciously long time taking his shoes off and then hung up his jacket with immeasurable care.

By the time Noctis started randomly searching his bag, Ignis couldn't take it anymore.

"Noctis-" he started, but was interrupted by something being shoved unceremoniously into his hands.

Ignis could only stare at it, trying to process what he was holding.

A… coeurl plush?

"You… got me a toy? Why?"

Noctis shrugged, not meeting his eye. "Just because."

Ignis looked at the plush, then at Noctis, then back at the plush - a bright purple monstrosity clearly from an arcade claw machine, good gods - and set it down on the dresser by the entrance, very gently, acknowledging it for what it was.

An apology.

He hesitated for only a second but then stepped closer to Noctis and tentatively spread his arms.

Relief flooded him when Noctis practically barreled into him and pressed his face into his chest.

"Coeurls aren't usually purple," Ignis said, hand coming up to cradle the back of Noctis' head.

"It goes with that shirt you like so much," Noctis mumbled into Ignis' shirt - a non-coeurl one that was better suited for work. His arms were wrapped tight around Ignis' waist, and he didn't seem at all inclined to let go anytime soon.

"Very thoughtful. Thank you, Noct."

They stayed like that for a while, neither really wanting to be the one to break the embrace.

"You do know those machines are rigged, yes? How many tries did it take you to get this?"

Noct made a sound that was somewhere between a snort-laugh and a choked sob.

"Don't ask. I think the arcade workers were judging me."

Ignis smiled into Noct's hair. "Well, in that case, I shall treasure it until the day I die."


Many months later, Ignis packed the last of his things for the journey to Altissia. And there, safely tucked into the corner of his travel bag, sat a bright purple coeurl plush.


I'm a firm believer of those boys need to hug more so these two are GOING to hug it out, because yes I make the rules.

Anyway, I owe the premise of this chapter to my bestest friend Lies (or Ajalea here on AO3), who listened to me complain about the prompt and then suggested a fight between Ignis and Noctis apologizing with a gift but pretending it's not an apology. It's unlikely she'll see this because while she did play FFXV, I haven't managed to actually pull her down to hell with me, but! She has actually written a FFXV crack fic before she knew anything about the game apart from my rambling, it's fun and you can check it out here: /works/15225477
She's also written fics for various other fandoms, so check her out!

I hope you enjoyed it, I know I had a blast with this one, and have a lovely rest of the weekend!