[ That's not the reason at all, but hey-ho. Shiro is leaning on the railings of the foredeck when he catches sight of Ignis, straightening up and offering his overlarge prosthetic for a handshake; when he isn't deliriously ill and swooning over an Adam doppelgänger, he's quite sturdy. ]
Ignis, hello. Would you like to sit inside or talk out here?
[That...hmm. Now that he's not spending all of his attention on fussing over Shiro, there's more opportunity to actually examine the prosthetic in question and mull over it. It's unsettling how much it reminds him of Ravus, when really it doesn't look much at all like Ravus's armored Magitek arm. It's something in the handling of it, he suspects — something set right in the uncanny valley of vaguely unnatural, yet too human.
Regardless, he takes the hand without hesitation, correct and courteous to a fault.]
Whichever you prefer. Though you've seen my home, already; I wouldn't mind seeing yours in return, if you're comfortable with it.
[ The missing chunk of anything between the shoulder-port and elbow tends to weird people out, for which Shiro can't blame them, a little staring at a floating arm never hurt anyone. Without the veil of hallucinogens Ignis does bear a striking resemblance to Adam yet Shiro is grateful for all the little ways he doesn't too. On his peripheral vision as he leads the way inside down the steps, however, it remains a bit of an eerie sight. ]
You're welcome to snoop but I'm afraid we haven't touched much of anything yet.
[ The windows are open, illuminating the grey interior. The couch has obviously been used and there's a couple of armchairs by a warm little stove, Garrison training at least providing enough self-sufficiency for both pilots to keep a small fire going to chase away the chill. Shiro tosses a couple of sticks inside and closes the iron grate, sinking into one of the seats. ]
I would offer you mint tea but I'll come clean, it's just leaves in boiled water.
[He follows Shiro down without protest, buttoned-up icon of snappy-dressed perfection that he is, and almost immediately becomes acutely aware of just how out of place he probably looks in the midst of the little hideaway that Shiro has evidently started to make for himself. Just leaves in boiled water, he says, and Ignis thinks of Noctis turning up with a whole backpack full of coffee beans and a grin on his face, of blankets and shampoo and hair gel procured through quests, of how the kitchen at the house actually almost feels like a proper one despite not having nearly the range of accommodation that was available to him in Insomnia. They have beds and keepsakes and memories. They have the Regalia, for hell's sake.
Here, there's a little fire in a stove and some shabby furniture, and boiled leaves in an attempt at hospitality.
He can't quite put his finger on why that leaves him feeling...off, somehow. Prompto makes him feel like this sometimes, though. As though he's been turned just a little bit inside-out. Reminded, acutely, of just what lofty marbled walls he'd spent his formative years behind.]
That reminds me, I brought a housewarming gift of sorts. I hope that's acceptable.
[With a shatter-flash of blue crystalline light, he reaches into the Armiger and pulls out a casserole dish of what looks to be some sort of creamy chowder with plenty of vegetables and pieces of fish. As the light fades, Ignis doesn't remark on the fact that he's just pulled a container of food out of literal thin air; he simply offers it to Shiro, silently.]
[ Is that hammerspace, what the hell. The scent of actual food has him astonished, sitting up to gratefully accept the casserole and place it atop the stove to keep it warm for later. Keith can actually eat a hearty meal in lieu of whatever they would have rustled up together. ]
Ignis. You didn't have to do that, thank you. Keith will be so glad for a real meal, I'm afraid we're taking turns hunting in the forest right now, that's where he is. He's really good with his knife, you should see him use it.
[ Babbling a little with the force of his gratitude, he sits down again and his reason for asking to speak with Ignis proves sufficient enough to stop hunger clawing its way up his ribs. He's pretty certain that Ignis didn't make that dish as a housewarming gift when Shiro only filled him in on the fact they had one fifteen minutes ago, touched by generosity that he won't forget. ]
I'm sorry to ask you here under the circumstances. You were the first person who sprang to mind after Ardyn offered me a spate of excuses that left him sounding just a little too innocent.
You may not recall this, given your health when you first arrived, but I was cooking for the benefit of the new arrivals when you stumbled across me the other day. It's...one of the skills I've managed to bring to this town, and one I'm happy to put to use where I can.
[Only now, once Shiro takes his seat, does Ignis go to find one as well, settling in and making himself comfortable without being overly familiar, settled back in the chair with one leg crossed over the other.]
I was one of the few — perhaps the only one, actually — who arrived here with seed vegetables in my possession. We were fortunate for that; a friend and I went about setting up the makings of a community garden in Flavo. There's far more added to it now — fruit trees, additional vegetables — but the origins of it were all mine. I'm...a little proud of that, I suppose. As I am when I can put my skills to use making something that friends can eat and enjoy.
[He lets that sit a minute, pausing as the words fade away into the ambient noise of the water beneath the hull and the breath of the wind whispering past, before coming back to the actual point of his visit.]
I'm glad you thought to ask, actually. I know Prompto's reaction to his forum post was...vehement, to say the least.
[ Compared to Shiro who has literally nothing to offer Keith, Ignis is someone to be idolised for taking care of Noctis and Prompto. It might take a few sleepless nights but Shiro is determined to have enough food to feed his best friend at the absolute least. Keith survived for two years on a spacewhale, true, he can hunt and feed himself, it's just that Shiro needs to be of use somehow. ]
I remember that day in blurs. Your cooking is like the lifeblood of the community, it's a great way to bring people together.
[ Not everyone, of course ... ]
Ardyn hurt Prompto, that much was obvious. It's his business and I don't want to pry, I just couldn't ignore some of the claims he made. They were brutal. Not something most people would make up on the fly. [ Both hands on the armrests of his chair and knees splayed, Shiro looks from the demure little fire to Ignis. ] Is Prompto doing better now?
[He doesn't bother to hide the way his eyebrows go up, mildly surprised at the angle Shiro takes in his inquiry. He'd read the forum post, of course — it's public knowledge, and even if he's not quite ready to show his hand to Ardyn just yet, that doesn't mean he's stupid enough not to keep tabs on the acquaintances the man is cultivating — but Shiro's responses had given the impression of tacit acceptance, albeit warily so.
The fact that he immediately, and unquestioningly, makes it clear that he believes Prompto is — well. As far as Ignis is concerned, it's a surprise, and a positive one at that. Certainly a credit to Shiro's integrity, regardless of what might have taken place on the forums.]
He's upset, and understandably so. He has a great deal to be upset about; he's not exaggerating about the accusations he made. But moreso than that, I think he's...afraid. For the people he cares about, because Ardyn Izunia is a man who will not hesitate to target someone's loved ones as a means of causing them harm.
[He's quiet, just for a few moments. When he speaks again, his voice is just as level as it was before, but there's steel in it.]
He won't be allowed to harm Prompto again, of course.
[ That look is very familiar from his own mirror a hundred times before, met with an understanding nod. ]
Of course. Keith also knows to avoid Ardyn.
[ Big and loud and white-haired, Shiro can wield a commanding presence when needs be. On the forums, he prefers to let people discuss their own side of things without being led by encouragement, mollified instead of consoled. It leaves him at a mundane truce with Ardyn, far more preferable to anything the man is capable of (whether by Prompto's or Ignis's account) if Shiro had took a stand and made a target of himself and Keith. Anyone who can launch a metaphorical shrug at the notion of cloning people isn't somebody Shiro will ever take a liking to, too closely reminiscent of Haggar's detachment from empathy. ]
So all his explanations, his excuses: Ardyn was lying? He said very little by saying a lot. The man's got an eloquent tongue in his mouth.
What I note he was careful to omit is that he wasn't simply an average officer or scientist, caught up in the midst of the war he described. He's the Chancellor of Niflheim — so highly placed that he's second perhaps only to the emperor himself. Ardyn didn't simply participate in the war; he's the driving force perpetuating it.
[Which seems to be classic Ardyn, really. Speaking a lot, saying very little. Spinning words that are never quite false yet never wholly true. Hiding in plain sight, by letting other people's perceptions do the work for him.
He can still hear Ravus's voice snarling at Gladio's face — Gladio, who wasn't Gladio, because he was just an illusion.]
And the two nations in question are hardly "equally culpable". Niflheim has been seeking to conquer its surrounding nations for centuries. They annexed the province of Tenebrae, murdered its queen, and took her two children as political captives — hostages. The prince was sixteen; the princess only twelve. Later they came for Lucis on the pretense of an end to the war — asking for the kingdom's peaceful surrender. It was a ruse; they used the signing ceremony of that treaty to attack the capitol and burn it to the ground. That was the city where I grew up. Where our families —
[He stops short, closing his eyes for a minute as his voice cracks and falters — an unusual aberration, when he's been keeping his tone so carefully controlled up until now.]
Our families are dead. All of them. And a man I saw as a second father knew it was coming. Knew the likelihood of Niflheim's treachery. He sent me away, on the eve of the ceremony, so that I would survive while he perished. Casualties of the little war Ardyn Izunia happened to have participated in, doing things that may not be considered good — to some.
[ Ardyn really is an affluent liar. Shiro would be impressed if he weren't revolted, gaze softening around the edges as he notes the tension cutting hesitation through his guest's words. ]
I'm sorry, Ignis.
[ For his losses and grieving heart, and dredging them up with this talk. Shiro faces the problem as logically as he can, head-on looking for a solution to their immediate concerns as he takes on board everything he is told. The thing is, had Ardyn accepted a little more responsibility and not tried so hard to denounce the slander he might have accrued slightly more credibility. ]
So we have a man among us who is by all accounts a danger, but this isn't Lucis or Nifleheim. It's a sleepy little grey town. What do you think his strategy will be? Other than pleading a bystander's innocence.
Assuredly a danger, yes, but perhaps not to the whole of the town. As a matter of fact, the lot of you may well find him quite the philanthropist. He has no motive to act against any of you, save for if you would make useful pawns in an attempt to further one of his greater goals.
[He removes his glasses for a minute, pinching the bridge of his nose to hide the way he's actually making sure his eyes aren't wet, and to disguise how he has to school his expression back into calm.]
He's already begun taking steps to discredit those of us who are familiar with him, and thus know what he's capable of. Robbing us of our credibility deprives us of possible allies against him if he does choose to act, as well as cultivating for himself the goodwill necessary to cast doubt on the things he may do to us singularly. Tormenting Prompto, for example; after that outburst, compared with Ardyn's seemingly more reasonable explanation, why wouldn't anyone simply assume a cry for help from Prompto was simply another so-called overreaction?
[He shrugs slightly.]
I suspect that to begin with, he'll merely toy with us. Seek to tempt us into showing him the cards we're holding, as it were, by way of provocation we can't refuse. I'm likely the one of us here best suited to resisting his attempts, but — I know for a fact that he's aware of the one thing that could incite even me to act against my own best interests. It's a disadvantage I don't relish being at, but it is what it is.
[ As Ignis rubs his eyes with a subtlety Shiro lets him presume, he looks back to the stove. The one thing that could incite even me to act against my own best interests. Shiro doesn't need to guess, not with how protective Ignis is of his friends. ]
Prompto has an earnest authenticity that I think most people would believe in, I certainly did. It's when Ardyn grows bored of tormenting kids, as you say, that I worry.
[ He rests his chin in a flesh hand, sloe-eyes lowered on the stove shifting to Ignis. ]
I wish I hadn't told him about my arm being a power source. It was stupid of me.
I did see that he discussed magitek with you. If you meet him in person, he may remark on your resemblance to someone we both know, who also had a prosthetic arm similar to yours. His features were somewhat more severe than yours, but the white hair and powered prosthetic arm will be enough to suffice, I suspect.
[He sits back in his chair a little, shaking his head.]
I doubt it poses any great threat, however, that he knows it. Abhorrent a field of study as it is, objectively speaking magitek is startlingly versatile. The Empire has used it to create armies of robotic soldiers, to power airships, to fuel mobile suits. It's part of what makes them so effective; they don't need to maintain a living, breathing army. They simply use MTs.
[ It's quintessence, Shiro wants to say, stoically silent as Ignis goes on uninterrupted. The mention of quintessence is something he would rather avoid altogether, not wanting to jinx them all or give anyone ideas about searching for the stuff. The best of intentions, etc. Even as reluctant to share as he is, he still trusts Ignis more than anyone else (besides Keith) in the town and shifts the subject as if blithely absorbing new information. ]
He's not going to suddenly fall in love with me because of the resemblance, is he?
Actually, last I saw of it, the person in question was siding with me over him, and Ardyn attacked him for it — so no, I doubt he'll find it a favorable comparison.
[But it manages to coax a hint of a smile from the corner of Ignis's mouth anyway, less from the talk of Ravus and more just from the fact that he can see where this is headed.]
For what it's worth, it wasn't a particular hardship to bear the brunt of your attentions. I found it rather flattering, really.
[ Shiro's sigh is fuelled by the heat creeping up the back of his neck and ears. ]
I know I was under the influence of ... something, and you're a good man so you don't expect an apology, but I wanted to offer one anyway. I'm sorry about the way I behaved, it was inappropriate. [ Shiro wouldn't need an apology from someone in his situation either, and yet. ] I appreciate everything that you and Keith did to keep me stable and safe.
Oh, we're in complete agreement that it was utterly inappropriate. That said, there are worse ways to spend an afternoon.
[His smile widens, just a little.]
But it's fine, believe me. And as apologies go, I likely owe your friend Keith one, myself. I don't think he appreciated the rather, ah...possessive stance I took toward you, when he first turned up looking for you.
[ Why can't black holes randomly appear and suck out a man's soul so he can't feel like a pervert for hounding another man for his hot bod. Why not. ]
Keith has saved me from some sticky situations in the past, he doesn't like it when his friends are out of reach. It's one of his best qualities. [ A hand waves dismissively. ] He doesn't hold a grudge. In fact, I think you scored brownie points with him for taking in Captain Hot-Mess the way you did.
[ The mirth softens his smile, grey eyes warm on Ignis. ]
You were good to me, I won't forget that. Neither of us will.
Then I daresay Keith and I have rather a lot in common, in that respect. I wouldn't have let a stranger stop me, if I'd been the one in his position.
[A quiet beat.]
I wouldn't have let walls stop me if I'd been the one in his position, frankly.
[Ignis Scientia, liberator of an entire Imperial-occupied city, mostly as a side effect of trying to get to his king.]
I hope the self-deprecation is to make you feel more at ease, and not to try to bait me into flattering you. I'll flatter you entirely of my own accord, thank you very much.
[ See, he had a perfectly good reply and then Ignis had to go and fluster him all over again. ]
Bait —? No! I would never, I wouldn't — that's not how I meant to come off.
[ Sheesh. Can he live behind his facepalm, at least? Oh god, does Ignis fancy him? Is this real life? The last time a man wanted to flatter him it was literal years ago, he's out of practice. ]
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I'm back to myself, thanks.
If you come to the docks we have a canal (kinda) boat that we've taken up for our own. Can't miss it, I'll be on deck.
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[And off he goes, though admittedly it's a bit less like "a minute" and more like "several minutes", when he appears at the docks.]
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[ That's not the reason at all, but hey-ho. Shiro is leaning on the railings of the foredeck when he catches sight of Ignis, straightening up and offering his overlarge prosthetic for a handshake; when he isn't deliriously ill and swooning over an Adam doppelgänger, he's quite sturdy. ]
Ignis, hello. Would you like to sit inside or talk out here?
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Regardless, he takes the hand without hesitation, correct and courteous to a fault.]
Whichever you prefer. Though you've seen my home, already; I wouldn't mind seeing yours in return, if you're comfortable with it.
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You're welcome to snoop but I'm afraid we haven't touched much of anything yet.
[ The windows are open, illuminating the grey interior. The couch has obviously been used and there's a couple of armchairs by a warm little stove, Garrison training at least providing enough self-sufficiency for both pilots to keep a small fire going to chase away the chill. Shiro tosses a couple of sticks inside and closes the iron grate, sinking into one of the seats. ]
I would offer you mint tea but I'll come clean, it's just leaves in boiled water.
[ He's been foraging. ]
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[He follows Shiro down without protest, buttoned-up icon of snappy-dressed perfection that he is, and almost immediately becomes acutely aware of just how out of place he probably looks in the midst of the little hideaway that Shiro has evidently started to make for himself. Just leaves in boiled water, he says, and Ignis thinks of Noctis turning up with a whole backpack full of coffee beans and a grin on his face, of blankets and shampoo and hair gel procured through quests, of how the kitchen at the house actually almost feels like a proper one despite not having nearly the range of accommodation that was available to him in Insomnia. They have beds and keepsakes and memories. They have the Regalia, for hell's sake.
Here, there's a little fire in a stove and some shabby furniture, and boiled leaves in an attempt at hospitality.
He can't quite put his finger on why that leaves him feeling...off, somehow. Prompto makes him feel like this sometimes, though. As though he's been turned just a little bit inside-out. Reminded, acutely, of just what lofty marbled walls he'd spent his formative years behind.]
That reminds me, I brought a housewarming gift of sorts. I hope that's acceptable.
[With a shatter-flash of blue crystalline light, he reaches into the Armiger and pulls out a casserole dish of what looks to be some sort of creamy chowder with plenty of vegetables and pieces of fish. As the light fades, Ignis doesn't remark on the fact that he's just pulled a container of food out of literal thin air; he simply offers it to Shiro, silently.]
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[ Is that hammerspace, what the hell. The scent of actual food has him astonished, sitting up to gratefully accept the casserole and place it atop the stove to keep it warm for later. Keith can actually eat a hearty meal in lieu of whatever they would have rustled up together. ]
Ignis. You didn't have to do that, thank you. Keith will be so glad for a real meal, I'm afraid we're taking turns hunting in the forest right now, that's where he is. He's really good with his knife, you should see him use it.
[ Babbling a little with the force of his gratitude, he sits down again and his reason for asking to speak with Ignis proves sufficient enough to stop hunger clawing its way up his ribs. He's pretty certain that Ignis didn't make that dish as a housewarming gift when Shiro only filled him in on the fact they had one fifteen minutes ago, touched by generosity that he won't forget. ]
I'm sorry to ask you here under the circumstances. You were the first person who sprang to mind after Ardyn offered me a spate of excuses that left him sounding just a little too innocent.
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[Only now, once Shiro takes his seat, does Ignis go to find one as well, settling in and making himself comfortable without being overly familiar, settled back in the chair with one leg crossed over the other.]
I was one of the few — perhaps the only one, actually — who arrived here with seed vegetables in my possession. We were fortunate for that; a friend and I went about setting up the makings of a community garden in Flavo. There's far more added to it now — fruit trees, additional vegetables — but the origins of it were all mine. I'm...a little proud of that, I suppose. As I am when I can put my skills to use making something that friends can eat and enjoy.
[He lets that sit a minute, pausing as the words fade away into the ambient noise of the water beneath the hull and the breath of the wind whispering past, before coming back to the actual point of his visit.]
I'm glad you thought to ask, actually. I know Prompto's reaction to his forum post was...vehement, to say the least.
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I remember that day in blurs. Your cooking is like the lifeblood of the community, it's a great way to bring people together.
[ Not everyone, of course ... ]
Ardyn hurt Prompto, that much was obvious. It's his business and I don't want to pry, I just couldn't ignore some of the claims he made. They were brutal. Not something most people would make up on the fly. [ Both hands on the armrests of his chair and knees splayed, Shiro looks from the demure little fire to Ignis. ] Is Prompto doing better now?
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The fact that he immediately, and unquestioningly, makes it clear that he believes Prompto is — well. As far as Ignis is concerned, it's a surprise, and a positive one at that. Certainly a credit to Shiro's integrity, regardless of what might have taken place on the forums.]
He's upset, and understandably so. He has a great deal to be upset about; he's not exaggerating about the accusations he made. But moreso than that, I think he's...afraid. For the people he cares about, because Ardyn Izunia is a man who will not hesitate to target someone's loved ones as a means of causing them harm.
[He's quiet, just for a few moments. When he speaks again, his voice is just as level as it was before, but there's steel in it.]
He won't be allowed to harm Prompto again, of course.
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Of course. Keith also knows to avoid Ardyn.
[ Big and loud and white-haired, Shiro can wield a commanding presence when needs be. On the forums, he prefers to let people discuss their own side of things without being led by encouragement, mollified instead of consoled. It leaves him at a mundane truce with Ardyn, far more preferable to anything the man is capable of (whether by Prompto's or Ignis's account) if Shiro had took a stand and made a target of himself and Keith. Anyone who can launch a metaphorical shrug at the notion of cloning people isn't somebody Shiro will ever take a liking to, too closely reminiscent of Haggar's detachment from empathy. ]
So all his explanations, his excuses: Ardyn was lying? He said very little by saying a lot. The man's got an eloquent tongue in his mouth.
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[Which seems to be classic Ardyn, really. Speaking a lot, saying very little. Spinning words that are never quite false yet never wholly true. Hiding in plain sight, by letting other people's perceptions do the work for him.
He can still hear Ravus's voice snarling at Gladio's face — Gladio, who wasn't Gladio, because he was just an illusion.]
And the two nations in question are hardly "equally culpable". Niflheim has been seeking to conquer its surrounding nations for centuries. They annexed the province of Tenebrae, murdered its queen, and took her two children as political captives — hostages. The prince was sixteen; the princess only twelve. Later they came for Lucis on the pretense of an end to the war — asking for the kingdom's peaceful surrender. It was a ruse; they used the signing ceremony of that treaty to attack the capitol and burn it to the ground. That was the city where I grew up. Where our families —
[He stops short, closing his eyes for a minute as his voice cracks and falters — an unusual aberration, when he's been keeping his tone so carefully controlled up until now.]
Our families are dead. All of them. And a man I saw as a second father knew it was coming. Knew the likelihood of Niflheim's treachery. He sent me away, on the eve of the ceremony, so that I would survive while he perished. Casualties of the little war Ardyn Izunia happened to have participated in, doing things that may not be considered good — to some.
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I'm sorry, Ignis.
[ For his losses and grieving heart, and dredging them up with this talk. Shiro faces the problem as logically as he can, head-on looking for a solution to their immediate concerns as he takes on board everything he is told. The thing is, had Ardyn accepted a little more responsibility and not tried so hard to denounce the slander he might have accrued slightly more credibility. ]
So we have a man among us who is by all accounts a danger, but this isn't Lucis or Nifleheim. It's a sleepy little grey town. What do you think his strategy will be? Other than pleading a bystander's innocence.
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[He removes his glasses for a minute, pinching the bridge of his nose to hide the way he's actually making sure his eyes aren't wet, and to disguise how he has to school his expression back into calm.]
He's already begun taking steps to discredit those of us who are familiar with him, and thus know what he's capable of. Robbing us of our credibility deprives us of possible allies against him if he does choose to act, as well as cultivating for himself the goodwill necessary to cast doubt on the things he may do to us singularly. Tormenting Prompto, for example; after that outburst, compared with Ardyn's seemingly more reasonable explanation, why wouldn't anyone simply assume a cry for help from Prompto was simply another so-called overreaction?
[He shrugs slightly.]
I suspect that to begin with, he'll merely toy with us. Seek to tempt us into showing him the cards we're holding, as it were, by way of provocation we can't refuse. I'm likely the one of us here best suited to resisting his attempts, but — I know for a fact that he's aware of the one thing that could incite even me to act against my own best interests. It's a disadvantage I don't relish being at, but it is what it is.
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Prompto has an earnest authenticity that I think most people would believe in, I certainly did. It's when Ardyn grows bored of tormenting kids, as you say, that I worry.
[ He rests his chin in a flesh hand, sloe-eyes lowered on the stove shifting to Ignis. ]
I wish I hadn't told him about my arm being a power source. It was stupid of me.
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[He sits back in his chair a little, shaking his head.]
I doubt it poses any great threat, however, that he knows it. Abhorrent a field of study as it is, objectively speaking magitek is startlingly versatile. The Empire has used it to create armies of robotic soldiers, to power airships, to fuel mobile suits. It's part of what makes them so effective; they don't need to maintain a living, breathing army. They simply use MTs.
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He's not going to suddenly fall in love with me because of the resemblance, is he?
[ The wryest self-deprecating smile. ]
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[But it manages to coax a hint of a smile from the corner of Ignis's mouth anyway, less from the talk of Ravus and more just from the fact that he can see where this is headed.]
For what it's worth, it wasn't a particular hardship to bear the brunt of your attentions. I found it rather flattering, really.
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I know I was under the influence of ... something, and you're a good man so you don't expect an apology, but I wanted to offer one anyway. I'm sorry about the way I behaved, it was inappropriate. [ Shiro wouldn't need an apology from someone in his situation either, and yet. ] I appreciate everything that you and Keith did to keep me stable and safe.
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[His smile widens, just a little.]
But it's fine, believe me. And as apologies go, I likely owe your friend Keith one, myself. I don't think he appreciated the rather, ah...possessive stance I took toward you, when he first turned up looking for you.
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Keith has saved me from some sticky situations in the past, he doesn't like it when his friends are out of reach. It's one of his best qualities. [ A hand waves dismissively. ] He doesn't hold a grudge. In fact, I think you scored brownie points with him for taking in Captain Hot-Mess the way you did.
[ The mirth softens his smile, grey eyes warm on Ignis. ]
You were good to me, I won't forget that. Neither of us will.
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[A quiet beat.]
I wouldn't have let walls stop me if I'd been the one in his position, frankly.
[Ignis Scientia, liberator of an entire Imperial-occupied city, mostly as a side effect of trying to get to his king.]
I hope the self-deprecation is to make you feel more at ease, and not to try to bait me into flattering you. I'll flatter you entirely of my own accord, thank you very much.
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Bait —? No! I would never, I wouldn't — that's not how I meant to come off.
[ Sheesh. Can he live behind his facepalm, at least? Oh god, does Ignis fancy him? Is this real life? The last time a man wanted to flatter him it was literal years ago, he's out of practice. ]
I'm, um, not really looking for ...
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[Very, very, very, very very taken. Since as long as he can remember, taken. Since the day he first laid eyes on his prince, taken.]
For a pilot, navigator, and captain of your own space vessel, you're remarkably easy to fluster, Shiro.
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I don't all that often have handsome men saying they'll flatter me whenever they feel like it! You're a troll, Ignis. No mint tea for you ever, buddy.
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