Chapter Text
It took two days for you to make your way back to the centre of Altissia after the evacuation. The city had been totally destroyed, the damage was worse than anyone had expected but it was still almost impossible to believe the complete disarray around you. All of the roads were blocked by debris, giant crevasses and vast impassable fast flowing rivers shooting up from once proud buildings. The once magnificent waterfalls were now running unchecked and unmanaged throughout the ruins. There had still been contact with those inside the city, well on what would have been considered with outskirts before; it was just that no one could physically reach them. The Leviathan has done more damage than anyone had thought possible and only emergency services were trying to get back into the city.
No one would help you get back in. People mostly ignored you, deep down you figured that they blamed you for all of this, it’s not like they were wrong. Even when you found people that could speak Lucian they wouldn’t talk to you, how everyone seemed to know that you were one of the prince’s travelling companions astounded you.
You were out of that hell hole of a refugee camp as soon as the path back through the city was cleared and they started sending trucks. No one even looked twice at you when you started down the track that could barely be called a cleared path towards the city. You didn’t know what you were going to find once you got back to the hotel where you hoped everyone was still waiting for you. The news of Lady Lunafreya’s death had spread around the camp; you didn’t need to speak Altissian to know that she had passed on. You assumed that if something had happened to Noctis you would have heard about it; however you couldn’t guarantee that news of his travelling companions would spread the same way. You couldn’t chase away the feeling that something terrible had happened. Surely you would have felt it if something had happened to Ignis.
You remembered screaming and crying on the boat as the rest of the refugees refused to go back for him and then you were waking up on the cold hard concrete outside of the city to hushed whispers in another language. There was no cell phone reception and after everything you had no way to contact the boys and they had no way to contact you.
After what felt like forever you finally reached a familiar area, well familiar in the most twisted sense of the word. Altissia was totally ruined, even on the outskirt docks which had remained relatively unscathed compared to the rest of the city. Some store fronts were still intact, with fresh produce and merchandise displayed like nothing had ever happened apart from the fact you couldn't reach the entrance because the footpaths were blocked by rocks, water or giant sinkholes in the ground. Large crevasses criss-crossed through the floor. There were parts of the gondola tracks littering the road and you could see half a gondola sticking out of one of the remaining canals. You wondered briefly if Lunafreya’s wedding dress in the store front had survived, probably not.
There were too many emotions; you were absolutely terrified of making it to the hotel because you didn’t know what you would find. Prompto had been in your life for so long, you didn’t think you would be able to live without him. Not now that Insomnia was gone he was the only link you had with those memories of your time there. You couldn’t imagine anything happening to Gladio but at the same time he was reckless. He had helped train you to fight back in Insomnia and then out on the road. He helped you pick out a weapon and taught you where to aim and how to take advantage of your strengths. You were so sure that Noctis was still alive but that boy had so many burdens on his shoulders, even more so now. You weren’t sure if he had it in him to continue on.
And Ignis. Ignis fucking Scientia. It had been almost 2 years to the date since you became something difficult to define. The last you saw of him he was trying to play the hero and now you didn’t even know if he was alive. You couldn’t even think about life without his smile or his green eyes glancing at you from underneath his glasses or the sounds he made when he was on top of you.
Your heart was pounding in your chest when you saw the hotel come into view.
The Leville Hotel. It actually wasn’t too destroyed, you were so relieved. At least there was a chance that they were there waiting for you. Its sign was buried into the ground in the side of the entrance, one of the great doors was hanging off its hinges and the whole right side of its gardens were a few metres above the rest of the hotel, a wall of rock separating the two halves.
You fought hard to hold back your anxiety, your worry. You took in a deep shaky breath. You had a feeling that nothing would be the same ever again once you stepped through these doors, but it wasn’t like you had any choice.
Picking yourself up, slowing down your breathing and rolling up your sleeves, you walked as purposefully as you could muster into the lobby.
You carefully stepped over the battered door frame and navigated past the chandelier bent and warped, buried in the floor right in the centre of the atrium of the lobby. Looking around your eyes locked on a massive frame to the side of you. He was absolutely impossible to miss even covered in dirt. You let out the breath you hadn't realized you were holding.
"Gladiolus" you called out, quickening your steps towards him. He turned around just as you crashed into his chest and wrapped your arms around him.
"Hey", he called your name softly. "We were wondering when you would come back. Is everything ok with you?"
“I'm alright" you mumbled into his chest, it felt so good to be around someone that actually tolerated your presence.
He held you tight to his chest for what seemed like ages. He seemed reluctant as he pulled away. He kept his arms on your shoulder, kneeing down so he was more at your level.
"A lot has happened" he paused "Why don't you come up to my room, have a shower and some food and then we can talk about everything" His words were calculated, his tone was cagey. You could read him like a book and new he was hiding something.
Seeing him acting like that made your eyes water. You knew something was wrong but you wanted to appear strong at least.
“Prompto” you whispered his name softly.
“Is fine” Gladio finished for you. “He’s out helping with the rebuilding effort now. He should be back later”
You nodded and went to open your mouth again. Gladio’s expression got worse.
“Noctis” you said even quieter than before.
“Noctis is in a coma, but mostly unharmed. We are just waiting for him to wake up”
You nodded again. You were struggling to hold yourself together now. Gladio’s expression got worse and worse as he spoke.
"Ignis" you started so quietly you weren’t even sure if he heard. It was the only thing you could do to stop from falling apart.
"I" you paused because Gladiolus breathed out heavily and moved his hand off your shoulder. He buried his face into his large hand and he muttered something under his breath.
“Fuck I don’t want to do this” is what it sounded like he said.
"Gladiolus, what's wrong?" you struggled not to sound hysterical. He removed his hand from his face.
"Gladiolus. Tell me" You raised your voice now; you hoped you sounded imposing and confident, but you were terrified, he looked broken.
"He was hurt" He breathed out. "He was injured, badly. He's awake and walking around but" He trailed off "I wanted to give you time to prepare, but I knew you wouldn’t want to." He finally looked you in the eyes. "I'll just take you to him"
"What happened?"
"Just come with me" He leant up to his full height and put his arm behind your shoulders directing you towards the stairs in the centre of the lobby. It’s not like you could resist when he used his strength to push you along.
"Prompto is fine, a bit scratched up but no worse for wear” Gladio spoke quickly and in hushed tones as you walked up the mostly intact stairs in the centre of the lobby.
"Noctis is in a coma, he doesn't seem to be injured, the doctor’s think it just has something to do with his magic and confronting the Leviathan. They seem to think he will wake up soon. Lunafreya ….” he trailed off.
"I know about Lunafreya, I don’t envy Noctis at all, waking up to news like that"
He stayed silent.
You stopped walking; Gladiolus just kept pushing you along though, dragging your feet on the carpet.
"Gladiolus. Stop!" You reached up and grabbed onto his arm and he stopped for a second and looked at you.
"And Ignis?" He looked at you for a second and then started walking again.
"It’s best for everyone if you go in bli… fuck" and then he trailed off, not finishing his sentence. He looked flustered; he raised his arm to his face and brushed his hair back with a sigh. "If you go in without knowing"
You grab onto his arm and pull him back. Forcing him to face you at your level.
"Look. We're almost there" you realize he isn't going to say anymore.
You walk in silence down the corridor until you can see the end of it. Suddenly he stops walking and you almost crash into him. He takes up a lot of room in the narrow hallway. "We're here." He turns towards you and bends down so he is almost eye level with you.
"We need you. We need you to help Ignis however you can. We need you to keep all of us together."
"Gladio what happened?" You demand at him. But he has already leant up and started knocking on the door in front of you. He cracks it open slightly and you can see that it’s dark inside.
"Ignis" he calls out "someone is here to see you"
"Choice words Gladiolus" comes a curt reply from inside. It’s Ignis’ posh accent alright but dripping with sarcasm and another emotion you couldn’t quite pick up on. His tone of voice was unlike anything you had heard before. You turn and look up at Gladiolus. His facial expression is heartbreaking and he looks down at you sympathetically and squeezes your shoulder before releasing you.
You take a deep breath. It was now or never. "Ignis" you call out. You open the door the rest of the way and slip inside.
The curtains in the room are drawn and the lights aren't on. There is enough ambient light coming through the curtains that the room isn’t pitch black but visibility is definitely poor. Ignis normally dislikes the dark while the sun is up and you assume he must be resting. You turn to the bed to try and spot him.
The room is a large one, with a large bed and a seating area. You don't notice Gladiolus closing the door behind you, further darkening the room and leaving you with just the sound of your heavy breathing and the ragged gasps coming from the end of the room. You turn and see hair sticking up above the large armchair that is facing away from you. You start walking towards it.
"Ignis" you call his name softly. "Are you alright? Gladio said you were hurt"
"I..." he starts to speak but cuts himself off, his tone is still not quite right. You can see him slowly stand up from his seat in the chair. He is struggling to stay balanced and you move faster to try and help him. You can only just make out his outline in the dark as your eyes haven’t yet adjusted. You reach out and touch his arm as you move in front of him. He makes this noise, it's like a whimper and it pulls at something deep inside of you, something is seriously wrong. He is standing up straight now and you move, placing your hands on either side of his hips while slowing moving your eyes up to look at him.
The first thing you notice is that his shirt isn't buttoned properly; you reach up to run your hand along the mismatched buttons before moving your gaze up.
Then you notice the different glasses. They are huge and tinted dark covering his eyes and the skin around them.
Ignis turns his head to look down and face you and that's when you see it. The huge scar with its edges peeking out from the frames. Then you see the slices, across his eyebrow and his nose and everywhere, there are so many of them. You reach up and cup his cheek with your hand.
"Oh Ignis" you struggle to stop your voice from cracking as he pulls you close to his body. Your arm drops against his shoulder as he pulls you flush against his body, your head against his chest and his pressed against your ear. His breathing is unsteady. And so is yours.
"How bad is it?" You whisper softly. His hand grips your waist slightly too hard as if it’s an acceptable answer.
He breathes out heavily against your neck and then straightens up to look down at you but it’s off slightly. His gaze doesn't quite meet yours. You’re close enough now to just make out his eyes underneath the glasses. You start searching for those green orbs that lit up your whole world but you couldn’t see them. All you could see was one slightly open eye that was completely devoid of colour.
"I am" he pauses "almost completely blind" and his entire body slumps forward, resting on you for support. "All I can see is darkness. The only thing I have been capable of seeing for days has been darkness. I can't see your face. I can't tell if you are actually in front of me right now. I can't tell if you're injured. I thought it might become easier once you came back to me but now it just feels even darker.” and with that, he buries his face in your neck and begins to cry.
You were at a total loss for what to do, Ignis definitely wasn't the emotional type, you weren’t sure if you had ever seen him cry before, let alone break down like this. It was heartbreaking to see this man who had always looked older than his years and in total control of everything breaking down into pieces against you. He was crushing you to his chest his arms tight around your shoulders and holding you there, the tips of your toes were barely touching the ground as he held you up against him. Most of the time you forgot about the height difference between you but you were struggling to breathe against him his normally incredible strength causing you discomfort. The new larger, pointier dark glasses digging into your shoulder. You wrapped your arms around his back awkwardly, and squeezed at his sides trying to tap out. You managed to move your hands to his chest and pushed back against him, pulling back as far as you were able.
"Sit back down darling" You muttered softly against his chest "You're crushing me".
You felt him reluctantly loosen his grip around you and lowered you back to the ground. He shuddered violently, inhaling a shaky breath against your shoulders. He kept his arms around you but gave you enough room to move around between them. You ran your hands up his chest, across the soft fabric of his shirt. He was just wearing his plain white button down, sans suspenders. The mismatched buttons and creases in the shirt broke your heart a little bit.
You ran your hands up the soft fabric of his shirt, feeling his muscles tensing and his chest rising and falling underneath your hands as he breathed in and out heavily. There wasn't much room between your bodies as you gently pressed down on his shoulders. He took the hint and slowly, carefully sunk down into the plush chair underneath him. His legs were shaking, his face turned away from you, as if he could hide his pain.
"Ignis, I'm here" You said softly as you lowered yourself down and sat on his lap, your knees either side of his legs, straddling him.
Ignis turned his face away from you, trying to hide so you could only see the less damaged side. That went through you like a stab wound, Ignis had never been shy about his body. His hands came up and ran along your thighs, running up and down across them. You couldn’t believe how much expression you could see on his face even though his eyes were closed and he couldn’t make eye contact with you. He looked lost, almost as if he was a timid teenager focusing on a spot on the floor and trying to avoid your gaze out of embarrassment but you knew better than that.
“Let me get a look at you" you reached up and removed the large foreign glasses. The simple act of removing his glasses was something you had done hundreds of times before. Sometimes it was intimate; sometimes it was when he almost fell asleep on his feet from being overworked, sometimes it was just because you wanted to see him without them. The action was intimate; he didn’t like anyone else touching them but never before had he shuddered once they were removed. Immediately turned his head down and away. It seemed like those glasses were his lifeline and that if he kept them on you wouldn’t have to see how bad it was. But you wanted to see him more than anything; you wanted to see what had happened to his face. To hold him in your arms and tell him that everything would be ok. Ignis without his glasses was when he was most vulnerable; they were the main piece of the careful façade he showed to the world.
You placed the glasses on the desk next to the chair and turned back to look at him. You reached out and touched his face, one hand on either side. You tried not to touch the scarring but you underestimated how large the one on the left side was and brushed against it without meaning to.
Ignis cried out and recoiled in pain, his hands tightened around you. Holding you against him like you were the only thing in the world. You swore, “Fuck Ignis I’m sorry.” And then your arms were around his neck as you crushed your lips against his. You wanted to silence his cries but also assure him that everything was fine.
He didn’t return the kiss for a while, his lips just pressed unmoving against yours as you rubbed your hand across the top of his spine and base of his neck trying to soothe him a bit. When he did kiss back it was hesitant and reserved, certainly unusual for Ignis. He knew how to push your buttons and knew how much you liked it when he did; normally he was much more assertive. Eventually you pulled away. You pressed your forehead to his. “I’m sorry I fucked up, can I try again?”
Ignis whimpered but nodded against you, his breathing got heavier and you could feel his chest heaving against yours. It must have been terrifying, not being able to see you, or what you were doing. His hands tightened on your thighs, you could feel small lances of pain from his fingers, but it defiantly wasn't the first thing on your mind.
“I won’t touch the large one. Can I touch the others?” You asked him softly, pressing a kiss to the crown of his forehead. His normally gravity defying fringe was starting to fall forward from the heat in the room and also you realised from the fact that he hadn’t been able to see it when he did it this morning.
“Be gentle my dear” came the quiet response spoken between shuddering breaths and tiny noises coming from deep within his chest.
You looked upon his face properly for the first time.
Across the cut marring his eyebrow, the one across his eyelid and the small scar on his nose and on his lip, well they all paled in comparison to the dark crimson staining half of his face. You leant forward and placed a gentle kiss over his eyebrow, over his nose, over his lip and then as gentle as you could over his less damaged eyelid. Ignis was breathing heavily and digging his hands into your thighs, you could see his right eye fluttering underneath the less damaged eyelid.
"They're not that bad darling" you whispered against his lips before you moved closed and in for a kiss.
Ignis' breath caught in his chest as you pressed your lips to his. You started slow at first, a chaste press to his lips while your hands moved down to his neck. His arms came around you almost immediately, shaking and unsure. One came around your waist and snaked its way up your back the other on the back of your head pulling you into him.
He pressed your head closer to his, pressed your lips together like it was the last time he would ever be able to and maybe that's what he thought.
The kiss got deeper, he was responding much better than he had during the previous one. His lips parted against yours. His hand moved down to your ass and grabbed onto you when his lips parted and his tongue snaked against yours. He didn’t waste any time, sucking on your tongue while his hands rocked you against him, grinding you against his lap.
It felt good to be in his arms again regardless of the circumstances. It felt good to feel the familiar press of his body against yours as he rocked you together. Ignis was warm and with your eyes closed, feeling him press himself against you, feeling his hands against your body you could almost pretend that nothing was wrong.
Everything came fairly easily after that.
You hadn’t even managed to get his shirt completely off. You got maybe 3/4 of his buttons undone before he was hiking your skirt up. His hands were everywhere but his lips were firmly pressed against yours, occasionally moving to your neck to press kisses against the soft skin there and because he knew it made you moan. He was trying to hide his face from your eyes and you knew that. You had wanted to do something about it, to scold him and tell him it was ok. But all of those thoughts went straight out of your brain once one of his hands start brushing over your panties with the other on your hip grinding you back and forth against the growing hardness in his pants. It was nearly impossible to focus on anything but the feel of him shuddering against you and the feel of his hands playing with you expertly. Your hands were all over his chest, pushing his shirt back from his chest but not able to push it off him because it was still done at bottom and there was no way you were coordinated enough to get the rest undone. He bit down on your neck, hard enough to leave a mark, hard enough to make you cry out and rake your nails down his chest. Ignis moaned loudly against your neck at the pain and you could feel it course through his whole body.
You reached up and grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his hair back pulling his head back against his neck. He cried out as you attached your lips to his neck. You bit down hard and suddenly his hands were pushing your panties aside and slim nimble fingers were entering you. Pumping in and out slowly while stretching you out.
“Ignis” You screamed out as he brushed against that spot inside you and you saw stars. You couldn’t wait any longer, you needed him.
You reached down and struggled to unbutton his pants. You bit down on his collarbone as you pulled his belt tighter against him trying to get the catch so it would come off. You were both groaning in frustration and he kept swearing quietly under his breath as your hands kept brushing against him through the fabric but not giving him any relief. Finally his belt gave and you ripped it off him but not before he managed to slip another finger inside you and angling it to make you slump against him.
"Ignis" you cried out his name and willed your hands to work as you struggled with his fly.
Suddenly his pants were finally undone and you pulled them down as quickly and haphazardly as you could. You yanked his underwear down until his cock was free. It jumped straight up once it was free of its confines. You could feel it pulsing against your hand once you started stroking roughly. He called out your name under his breath and the sound went straight to your core. You felt him smile against your shoulder as your body shuddered around his fingers at the sound. You gave a sharp tug on the head of his cock for that and his smirk disappeared, replaced with a loud groan muffled by your skin.
You reached down and grabbed his hand, pulling his fingers out of you. He made a sound of discontent but it didn’t last as you were yanking your panties to the side with the hand that wasn’t stroking his cock. You positioned his head to your entrance and from the change in his breathing you knew he could feel your heat and wetness against him. His hands had stilled on your hips while his breath came in and out in gasps. You angled your hips slightly so his tip and only the tip slipped inside you. You leant up and kissed him, your tongue running against his as you moaned into his mouth. You rocked your hips against his tip but didn’t allowing him entrance.
You sucked his tongue into your mouth, rolling around like you would if it was the head of his dick. He moaned loudly as his hand tangled in your hair and yanked sharply. You knew he could feel you contracting and twitching against his tip and he was desperate for entrance. You were squeezing your legs as tight as you could around his hips to stop him from bucking up against you but it was a struggle.
You shook your head until it was out of his grasp and moved your lips to his ear.
"Beg me for it gorgeous" you whispered in his ear before biting down on the lobe. The moan he let out was loud and you could feel it vibrate through your body through his chest from where you were pressed tight together.
"Kitten. Fuck. Please" he struggled to gasp out in his prim accent, his voice deep and cracking with lust. He only ever swore during sex and the sound was so incredible that it was a habit of yours to try and get him to swear as much as you could. He was always so in control and smooth the only way to make him crack was to tease him until he literally couldn't take it anymore.
You started to lower yourself gently onto him, feeling his cock twitching against your walls as he went in. You controlled your decent as much as you could, forcing it to be as slow and unbearable as possible. You were dripping wet and desperate for him and he slid in with no resistance.
"FUCK"
Ignis swore so loudly you were worried the whole hotel might have heard him. Suddenly there were hands tight on your hips, forcing you into a relentless rhythm against you. You crashed your lips against his and raked your nails against his chest.
Soon the only sounds that could be heard were moans and the obscene sound of wet skin against skin. You were so out of it and lost in your combined rhythm that you didn’t notice one of his hands leaving your hips until it was pressed directly against your clit and moving against you.
You couldn’t take it after that. Your climax bought his one and you both came together. You screamed his name as he pressed you close to his body. You clawed against his skin and he bit down hard on your shoulder and moaned your name into your skin as you felt his hips stutter.
You both stayed there, breathing heavily; your skin sliding against each other’s slick with sweat. He kept his head against your neck, not wanting you to see him.
You felt like you could have stayed like that forever but you slowly felt him slip out of you, followed by a wet trickling down your against your leg. You pulled him back and crashed your lips to his, kissing him like he was your lifeline; which he was. It felt like ages until you pulled away.
"Fuck Ignis" you moaned into his ear. “I really need a shower after that. Will you join me?”