spira_rp | And there's so much at stake

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And there's so much at stake

Ignis made his way to the room he and Gladio shared. Since the meeting some of the members of Khamja had dispersed, freeing up plush suites once more, but he and Gladio continued to share. They hadn't discussed it. They'd been given a room together at their own request, or at the very least at Gladio's insistence, and Khamja was no less filled with potential enemies now than it had been then. The only difference now was that they were able to identify at least some of the potential threats.

So regardless of what it did to the quality of their sleep, Ignis and Gladio continued to share. In truth, Ignis hadn't asked Gladio if he found it difficult to share the bed, just as he hadn't raised the issue of his own difficulty sleeping in a bed with Gladio. Gladio was just caring enough that he might offer to do something like sleep on the floor, and Ignis would have felt wretched if he put Gladio in a position where he thought he should offer to do that.

He also didn't want to have to explain to Gladio that sleeping on the floor would be unlikely to curb his snoring.

It wasn't the biggest hindrance to Ignis getting a quality night's rest, but it was undeniably a factor. And yet he'd slept reasonably well last night, so perhaps he was getting used to it? One did learn to tune out familiar noise over time. Or perhaps he'd simply finally gotten so exhausted that not even the rumbling thunder of Gladio's slackened vocal cords had disturbed him.

He walked into their shared room to find Gladio already present. "Apologies," he said, in their native Lucian Jyllandi. Their room was a place where their first language was the default; elsewhere, the language they spoke in varied depending upon the company, and the topic of conversation. "I thought you'd be in the library."

The room felt strongly of Gladio at all times, to Ignis. Smelled of him too, to be frank; Gladio's choices in soap and deodorant, as well as the pervasive scent that just him, breath, and skin, and body odours one had to get very intimate to recognise had mingled with the same of Ignis's own, scents he could no longer smell.

"Have you found anything?" he asked, removing his jacket and folding it over the back of a chair. Ignis's fact finding had been cautiously fruitful up to now, but so much depended upon how much time they could continue to claim from Insomnia before they were called back.

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"I bet some of our historians would give an arm to get ahold of that thing," he said, grinning. "And hey, they'd have a shot of getting a new one to replace it down here."

He shook his head, thinking about it. A Pulsian ship, of all things. If he turned around and sold that, he'd be able to retire a rich man at what... thirty? He couldn't be much older than that. There'd be competitors from all sides, the Al Bhed, the non-Al Bhed mechanics, Lucians, governments... he clearly did treasure it.

"What do you think of down here, then?" He asked after a moment's comfortable pause. "Compared to home."

Ignis looked down at his empty can. "The coffee leaves something to be desired," he declared, holding it up in demonstration, along with a wry smile. "As does the technology, but," he tilted his head in consideration and sighed, "in other areas Ivalice is refreshingly forward thinking."

He gave a small shrug, and moved to deposit his can in the bin. If the truth were to be told, Ignis thought he could be quite comfortable down here. He certainly wasn't suffering homesickness, as such, rather he was keenly feeling the absence of certain creature comforts, and individuals.

Although he wasn't missing cleaning up after said individuals, and dreaded what he might return to.

"Maybe this is what proper coffee's like," Gladio said, shaking his head.

Ignis was ridiculous about his coffee, Gladio thought. Coffee all tasted the same to him, bitter and improved only with half a tonne of milk or cream and sugar. Drinking it like Ignis did, he'd rather have chocobo piss. It'd be more palatable.

"I mean, where in Lucis do they even grow coffee? We ain't exactly known for our vast coffee ... fields," he said, finishing lamely. He wasn't entirely sure how coffee grew. They could be coffee orchards for all he knew, but he was still pretty sure Lucis didn't have any. Some of the farmland in Duscae was possible, but he had a feeling they mostly grew root vegetables.

Ignis narrowed an eye at Gladio. He was used to being needled about his caffeine habit, and his brand loyalty when it came to his caffeine habit. It had, in the past, been compared to a smoker's loyalty to their preferred brand, except coffee didn't have deleterious effects on one's physical performance, as Ignis had been quick to point out.

"The coffee beans are imported," he replied. "And before you start on my appreciation for a good cup of Ebony, I have two words for you: Cup Noodles."

"Ain't nothin' wrong with cup noodles," he said airily. "They're good convenience food."

Well, they were. Hot water and a main event of your choice, Cup Noodles were an easy-made tasty meal in a pot. Ignis's coffee, however...

"I'm sure any coffee could taste as bitter and depressing as Ebony if you tried," he said, trying to keep his expression looking like he was making a fair statement. "What's so special about Ebony anyway? Surely the beans are used in other brands. What do Ebony do, read the poetry of edgy fifteen year old girls to them? Expose them to the gin-fueled rants of forty nine year old divorced women..? Is the secret ingredient crushed spiders?" He failed, with the last one, to keep the grin from his face.

Ignis folded his arms and fixed Gladio with a cool look that took some effort to muster. The grin didn't help. Gladio was teasing, and his grin was infectious, but Ignis had many years of practice at playing the straight man.

"I'm already aware your palate's broken, you don't need to prove it," he retorted. "You're as bad as Noct. If it doesn't technically count as dessert you won't drink it. I happen to prefer my coffee to taste like coffee," he pointed out, and flashed Gladio a slight smirk as he concluded, "and strong enough to knock out a herd of garula."

"You mean keep 'em awake for about eight years," he corrected.

Ignis breathed in slowly, keeping his eyes on Gladio.

"Or that," he conceded.

He had to purse his lips to keep from smiling too much.

"What about you?" he asked, changing the subject back to the original one, and away from unscheduled Pick On Iggy time. "Are you eager to return?"

"Eventually," he said, after a moment's thought. "But there's still a lot down here I'd like to see."

It was different to Lucis, though so was Niflheim, and the rest of Eos, strange as Lucis was. Ivalice, the vast collection of lowerworld countries united under one name, was even more so. The landmasses were stranger, the food, the culture and even the Classes. He'd discovered this talking to a couple of the residents.

"I've been talking to some of the Clan," he told him, shrugging his shoulders as if it was less important than the useful connections that Ignis himself had been forging between him and the assortment of weird and scary people who called the palace home, however often. "Seems there's still a lot of stuff down here to do before we go back, even if it makes us tourists."

Ignis felt a weight lift from his chest. He'd worried, in a way, that Gladio would be itching to get back to Insomnia and his family sooner rather than later. As much as Ignis wished to see more of Ivalice, and experience more of its culture, he also didn't want to drag Gladio around like a reluctant dog after himself.

"Personally, I have no objection to being a tourist," he replied, flashing Gladio a bright smile. He'd made his own little list of places to visit, that featured Alexandria at the top, along with Bhujerba, and Archades. If he didn't get to visit them all, well, he could always try and use his position as advisor to excuse going sightseeing, but it would be nice to see at least a couple of new places before they left.

"Where did you have in mind?"

"Some of the historical sites, maybe," he said, thinking about it. "There are some old capital cities, so I'd like to see some of those. Some of 'em have buildings older than Lucis, I've heard."

He just liked history. People could be forgiven for mistaking him for the sort of holiday maker who would like an expensive hotel, with a swimming pool and sun lounger, that happened to be within easy reach of a beach to lie on all day. In reality, he was way more interested in exploring the various types of wilderness, sleeping under the stars, eating whatever he could catch and, when he had to venture into civilisation, looking at the old architecture. It was way more interesting than basking.

"And one of the guys I've been talking to here is a Summoner," he said, hesitating slightly as if it was a weird thing to say. "He said some of the ... summon things are in old Temples. Wouldn't mind seein' some of them."

Summoner just wasn't a class anywhere on Eos. They lacked the history tied into the War of the Magi, and the Fayth associated with them. Generally speaking, Ivalice and Eos had much the same Classes, but they did differ in some ways. Ivalice had Alchemists and Summoners, Eos had Quaternians and Raptors, two classes limited almost entirely to specific species, or individuals who happened to have the same physical requirements as those species, four arms or wings respectively.

It was no surprise to Ignis that Gladio might have an interest in the historical sites. He knew Gladio well enough to know he was more than the musclehead he appeared. At least it probably wouldn't require much persuasion to convince Gladio to visit Alexandria. The city was meant to be home to an all female guard that were renowned for their prowess, and the castle was a beautiful example of Rozarrian architecture. Such things were likely right up Gladio's alley.

Ignis's ears pricked at the mention of Summoners. It wasn't something he was familiar with, although a brief rundown of things to be found on Ivalice had paid lip service to the class. It had sounded, from what Ignis had read, somewhat like beastmastery, although with specific creatures to be called upon. There were still pacts to be made, and trials to be endured.

"Yes," he agreed, "that would be worth a visit." He smiled, faintly. "The temples in particular, some of them are said to be rather grand. Who is it you've been speaking to?" he asked. "Perhaps they can make some suggestions."

"Kadaj," Gladio said. "That skinny silver-haired prettyboy."

It was the only way to describe him, really. Without using the word 'leather catsuit', at least, and Gladio was pretty sure he never wanted those particular words to pass his lips, just in case Ignis took it upon himself to get himself one in purple coeurl print.

He wouldn't put it past him.

"He's been a Summoner for years, apparently. Says it ain't easy, but one of his ... creatures, is a dragon called Bahamut," he grinned.

'Bahamut' was an ancient Pulsian word, long out of use even before the Exodus as a catch-all term. Originally, it was understood to mean 'dragon' and, as such, it seemed to Gladio that the word had been taken and applied to various individuals over time, all draconic in nature or appearance. The version in use in Lucis was the name of the dragon-based emblem on the Kingsglaive uniforms. He was their sigil, their mascot, and his wings were made from swords. Even the Scout emblem was a pair of blade-based wings, even if the rest of the dragon wasn't present.

It had surprised Gladio to find the word in use on the Lowerworld, but there had been trade and travel between certain continents and Pulse so he supposed it made sense.

Ignis remembered Kadaj. They'd met prior to the meeting where Ignis's estimation of him had been that he was a member, but not a very influential one, and likely one that had been a subordinate. He'd shown a solid grasp of the delicacy of his and Gladio's situation, but had been a bit of a brat about it.

Some of the things he'd said in the meeting, however, suggested that Kadaj was rather aware of the implications of events, suggesting he was more intelligent than he seemed. He also clearly didn't like one of the scientists, for whatever reason.

Ignis tilted his head as he looked at Gladio. He hadn't anticipated Kadaj being that interesting an individual, but his creature's name and form was certainly intriguing. "Really?" he asked. "Well well."

Bahamut was the sigil of the Kingsglaive. Little wonder that Gladio had thought that tidbit of information fascinating enough to mention it. The world had traveled, clearly, but finding it down here wasn't unlike finding reference to Etro's Gate in alchemy.

"Have you seen it?" he asked.

"Not yet," he said, disappointment evident on his face.

Summoning didn't sound like his kind of Class, but it sounded fascinating regardless. It was one of those pseudo-Mage Classes and Gladio's specialities tended against the careful control of Chakra and conversion into magic and more towards hitting things with large weapons until they stopped moving.

"He did say he was gonna do some training, though. Maybe we could ask him if we're good to ... y'know, observe?" He suggested.

Ignis frowned at first. The fact Gladio hadn't witnessed a Summoner in action as yet was rather a pity. Ignis knew so little about the class, and there weren't many things that Ignis didn't know about, so it was immediately fascinating. Summoning, and Alchemy were two things Ivalice had to offer that made Ignis feel thoroughly at sea.

And both sounded fascinating.

He brightened up considerably when Gladio mentioned the possibility of watching Kadaj train. "That," he said, "sounds like a capital idea."

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And there's so much at stake

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