Hey guys! I tried very hard to come up with something for today's prompts, but I just did not vibe with them, at all, so I finally decided to go for one of the alternative prompts today.

It's a bit different from the others in the sense that it's only whumpy in the loosest sense of the word and it's mostly just light-hearted, but it does fill the prompt (although probably not quite in the way it was intended) and there's still some pain, so, y'know.

I hope you enjoy it, I do like it quite a lot (even though I wish I had more time to polish it, but alas I am once again six minutes away from my bedtime).

Character is Gladio for the most part btw.

Prompts:

No. 18: "I tend to deflect when I'm feeling threatened."
Blindfold | Tortured For Information | "Hit them harder."
Alternative prompt: Body modification

Warnings: None

Ignis frowns when the meeting request pops up in his email inbox. It's from Gladio, it's several hours long, and it's a recurring event spread out over months. The first one spans this entire Friday afternoon until well into the evening, and of course, Gladio did not include anything that would hint at the nature of those meetings.

It wouldn't be anything concerning Noct, they both prefer to discuss those things over lunch or perhaps over drinks on an evening out. And other than Noct, they don't have anything to do with each other in a professional sense, so it has to be something personal.

None of the meetings are scheduled on days Ignis isn't free - Gladio must really want him to be available for them.

Ignis knows Gladio sent the meeting requests like that to rile him up, make him curious, and it's working, but he's not about to let Gladio have that victory, so he leaves the email unread, the request unanswered, and Gladio to stew until further notice.

By three in the afternoon, Ignis caves.

You [15:07]: Alright, do share. What are those mysterious meetings?

It's not long before he gets a text back, and he's a little embarrassed by how quickly he's picking the phone up to check.

Gladio [15:18]: Curious are we? :p

Gladio [15:18]: Accept the meetings and I'll tell you

Ignis rolls his eyes and leaves the requests for a little longer, but ultimately he sighs and accepts them anyway.

"Will you tell me what this is all about?" Ignis asks, slightly annoyed, as he follows Gladio to their mysterious destination.

"You'll see," comes the infuriating answer, and Ignis can only hope that there is a point to this.

Finally, Gladio comes to a halt in a Galadhian neighbourhood, in front of a…

"A tattoo studio?"

Gladio rubs the back of his neck, a bit sheepishly.

"You know the traditional Amicitia tattoo?"

Of course Ignis knows it. The tradition itself is a bit outdated by now, and it hasn't been a requirement for Shields in a few generations, but many Shields still chose to get their devotion and loyalty permanently inked into their skin. As a child, Ignis once caught a glimpse of Clarus Amicitia's tattoo and remembers being fascinated by the sheer size of it.

"You're going to get it?" Ignis asks. It's not really a surprise now that he thinks about it. Gladio is practically made for a big, impressive tattoo, but he's never mentioned wanting to get it done before.

"Yeah," Gladio grins, and only now Ignis notices that he's both giddy and nervous. "They recommended I bring someone, just in case I keel over or something. You in?"

Ignis rolls his eyes. "Of course. But you could have simply asked, instead of turning it into a guessing game."

"And miss out on the fun of catching you off-guard? Nah," Gladio waves him off, motioning for Ignis to follow him as he pushes open the door to the studio.

During the first part of the appointment, Gladio is busy wrapping up the final design with the artist, so Ignis busies himself around the store for a while. There are plenty of photos of previous clients' tattoos hung up all around the place, evidence of the artists' skill.

Apparently, Gladio's tattoo artist, Olivia, is the niece of the man who did Lord Amicitia's piece, and her style seems perfect for what Gladio has in mind.

His tattoo is going to be a giant eagle, spanning the entirety of his back and wrapping around his shoulders, down the arms, and onto his chest. Already from the stencil, Ignis can tell that it is going to be a very impressive piece - and very painful to sit through.

Gladio is hiding his nerves well, but Ignis knows him well enough to tell that he is indeed nervous, but that's hardly a surprise - anyone would be. More than anything, though, he seems incredibly excited, and his enthusiasm is rather contagious, and Ignis finds himself equally excited for him.

Finally, he settles himself on the couch in the corner of the studio and gets out his laptop. If he's going to be here all afternoon, he could at least get some work done.

Gladio is handling himself great, all things considered. He keeps making idle small-talk with Olivia, and Ignis is honestly impressed.

At one point, he closed his work files and browsed the internet for information on back tattoos instead, and what they all seem to agree on is that they hurt a whole lot. Watching Gladio now, Ignis can tell that he's in pain from the way a fine sheen of sweat covers his forehead and his breath keeps hitching ever-so-slightly.

But he seems to be more or less alright, so Ignis keeps himself busy on his laptop while occasionally throwing a glance Gladio's way, until he realises he hasn't heard a peep from him in a while.

Looking up, he discovers that Gladio has his forehead pressed into the massage table and is breathing deeply, evenly in a very deliberate way that Ignis immediately recognises as a breathing exercise they've been taught in Crownsguard training.

He puts his laptop aside and makes his way over and, after Olivia assures him he won't be in the way, he pulls a chair up to the table and reaches for Gladio's hand.

"Alright?" he asks, rubbing his thumb across the back of Gladio's hand in a circular motion.

"Fine," Gladio grinds out, not lifting his head. "Just, fuck, a shitty spot right now."

"Yeah, sorry, this is gonna hurt like a bitch for a while now," Olivia agrees. "You're doing great, though. Just let me know if you need a break."

Ha, Ignis thinks, as if Gladio's pride allowed him to call a break if he's anything short of passing out.

Ignis is a good friend, though, and so he keeps a close eye on Gladio while holding onto his hand, and when it starts to look like Gladio really is close to passing out, Ignis calls the break for him.

"I'm fine," Gladio argues, but neither Ignis nor Olivia believes him so he reluctantly does take that break before he lies back down on the table.

Olivia doesn't send Ignis away, so he stays where he is and reaches for Gladio's hand again, and Gladio squeezes his fingers briefly before he goes back to the breathing exercise and lulls himself into a near-meditative state.

Over the next few sessions, it becomes an unspoken agreement between them that Ignis will take a seat next to the table and hold Gladio's hand as long as he's not in the way.

Gladio handles it well for the most part, but sometimes when the pain becomes too much but he won't take a break yet, Ignis just talks to him to try and give him something else to focus on, and when even that doesn't work anymore, he makes him call a break.

During Gladio's second-to-last session, Gladio jokes to Ignis, "You should get a tattoo as well, if you're already here."

Ignis is silent for a beat too long, and Gladio immediately picks up on it. He lifts his head as much as he's able to in his position and peers at Ignis.

"Wait, are you actually considering it?"

Ignis clears his throat, a bit embarrassed. It's, well. He hasn't exactly been planning on getting a tattoo himself, but all the sessions they've spent here have left him somewhat curious.

"Perhaps?" he admits. "I am… not opposed to it."

Olivia perks up. "You can go talk to Adrian over there if you like," she says, nodding towards her coworker behind the desk. "He's free today, you can talk things over with him."

"Iggy, you're serious?" Gladio demands, eyes wide with excitement. "That'd be awesome, not gonna lie."

"I only said that I wasn't opposed to it, not that I'd get one," Ignis argues, but he does get up to go talk to Adrian.

Just to talk about a few ideas.

"Are you gonna tell me what you're getting?" Gladio asks as they leave the studio that evening.

Ignis, after having quietly talked to Adrian so Gladio wouldn't hear a thing for nearly an hour, he's got an appointment on the same day Gladio is scheduled for his last session.

"Absolutely not," Ignis says gleefully, "You'll just have to wait and see."

Revenge for the mystery meeting requests? Perhaps.

The downside of getting his tattoo at the same time as Gladio is that he can't soothe Gladio through the final stretch of his piece and he doesn't have anyone to hold his own hand as he gets his tattoo done.

It's very small compared to Gladio's, but according to Adrian, the ankle is one of the more sensitive spots he could've chosen, and he's certainly feeling it.

"You good, Iggy?" Gladio calls over to him. His artist is working on his arms right now, so he's sitting up instead of lying on his stomach, but Ignis had Adrian deliberately work on the station furthest away from Gladio so he wouldn't see until the tattoo was finished.

"Peachy," Ignis says, hissing as Adrian passes over a particularly bad spot. Now that he's experiencing the pain of a tattoo first-hand, he's even more impressed with Gladio's enormous piece and the way he was able to bear it.

Finally, Ignis is done and Gladio still has about an hour to go, so he wanders over to show Gladio his new tattoo before Adrian covers it up.

"Twin daggers?" Gladio asks, in awe as he inspects the piece.

"My own daggers," Ignis corrects with a smile. The tattoo is gorgeous - Adrian has outdone himself and Ignis loves it already. "I've had Adrian design it after the ones Noct gifted me after I passed my Crownsguard exam. Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful!" Gladio promises. "Sword and Shield, huh?"

"Indeed." Ignis' smile widens. He's never doubted Gladio would pick up on the significance of the design immediately. The eagle for the King's Shield, daggers for the Sword. A reminder that Noctis has both of them, always, that they've got each other, and the proof of that is now permanently etched into their skin.

It's a rather beautiful thought.

I only have one tattoo on the inside of my wrist so far and that one barely hurt so I've no idea what a huge tattoo like Gladio's would feel like but I imagine it hurts like a mf.

Anyway I hope you liked this one even though it was only a liiiiiittle whumpy, and I'll see you tomorrow for Gladio again.

Have a nice day :3