#( x. || v; Once a grounder. always a grounder )

[sly2o]

Season 6 Plot Big Giant Spec Post

A - Major pieces I’m spec’ing for next season when I am feeling semi-confident on spec:

Nightblood is only needed for when BOTH suns are up. 

Clarke will come to view the leader of the peaceful group they meet as a father figure.

“Our People” (Eligius, Delinquents, etc) will be sent on a mission to go mine hytholodium from a nearby asteroid. That hytholodium will be brought back and will power up something important for the finale.

Colonization of the new planet was originally modeled after how England initially settled the New World.

That plan went up in smoke when it was revealed the Earth had gone up in smoke and no subsequent waves of colonizers arrived.

B - Major pieces I am spec’ing that I am low-confident about:

Over the ~200 years that passed since those initial events, the planet split into two major factions: those with nightblood, and those without. 

Nightbloods may be the subjugated class on this new planet. 

 The arrival of our people (Grounders, Eligius, Skykru, etc) will throw the current nightblood v. non-nightblood power balance into flux when it is revealed that the religion that evolved on Earth is one where nightbloods are revered. 

It will become important for the oppressing class to figure out how to control The Flame. 

C - Wilder pieces I am spec’ing:

If the non-nightbloods are the oppressing class, they will power up their version of ALIE in the finale.

OR, if the non-nightbloods are the oppressing class, we will get the AU where the “Mountain Men” got to return to Earth in the finale. 

D - I am personally motivated to spec this, but also I got real reasons

“Unintended Consequences” (or something similar in Trig) will be the name of the Finale

Explanations for why I am spec’ing these things are under the cut, but can majorly be summarized as 1) I read The Sparrow, and 2) assumption that the EligiusIV twitter account is a valid source. 

Warning: contains major spoilers for “The Sparrow” 

A1 - This is implied through the BTS pictures we have of Clarke and Echo on the ground, the fact that “two suns, no sunscreen” was uttered by Shaw, and that in “The Sparrow” there is a species that sleeps through the time of day where only one sun is up. 

A2 -  “Clarke is in a really bad place right now” that Eliza has been saying in interviews, I strongly suspect she is having a similar story to the main character of The Sparrow. In the Sparrow the main character comes to view one of the aliens they meet as a daughter-figure. Clarke already has a daughter-figure (Madi), but Clarke has been missing a father figure for a while now. Plus Jake Griffin was back on set which supports this theory.

A3 - The BTS pictures that came out recently showed our cast on an Eligius vessel which describes a asteroid in the background that had a high amount of hytholodium. A while back there was a summary chart of the fake titles the writers had given to next season’s episodes - including two called “7 days part 1″ and “7 days part 2″ - with a gap in the middle. I strongly believe at minimum a subsection of our known characters will get sent on a mining mission.

A4 and A5 - I’m spec’ing this primarily on how “space colonization” has been stressed in the Eligius IV promo materials. 

To clarify what I am talking about when I say “how England settled the New World” - I specifically am speaking to very early days colonialism (before the American Revolution) when lands were initially being taken away from the First Nations who lived there as England expanded. This is where England would have a white colonizer over there with a plot of land they were setting up for their way of life, and contracts would be made where other white colonizers would become “indentured servants” where they would have a contract drawn up where they got X amount of clothes per year, meals, a place to live, and at the end of 10 years or so of work would be given their own piece of property. Then they would become the lead of their own piece of property - and could coordinate a contract where they get their own indentured servants, and so the cycle repeats. 

The destruction of Earth would have resulted in - to put it mildly - some contract disputes for those who were expecting subsequent waves of people to come to help them set up their own properties. This would set off major conflict among those who settled the new planet.

Particularly a new tweet from EligiusIV specifically mentions “there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves”.

B1-4 - I put these all in a “low-confidence” category because I am uncertain what this “alien” life is and how important it is. My spec is based on a premise that the Alien life is either 1) not really important, or 2) a cute way to say that “we’ve evolved so separately it’s like they are alien to us”. If alien life is a real thing, then a lot of my spec will likely be hogwash. 

B1 - I am spec’ing this because it’s a redux of the Mountain Men vs Grounders, and also because a similar divide is found in The Sparrow. I am also spec’ing this because we know that redblooded people can give birth to people with nightblood. I have assumed that people with nightblood can give birth to people with redblood because otherwise the 100 year evolution that allowed people to reclaim the ground makes no sense. However we don’t really have proof of this thanks to the conclave, and the science/math on this show can be dubious anyways. It’s also another way to divide Clarke from her people which Jason loves to do.

B2 and B3 - This would be a reverse of how the religion on Earth evolved, which would naturally cause conflict, which is part of why I am spec’ing this. 

I am also spec’ing this because 

only the nightbloods would be able to be outside during the day - raising cause for why they are obligated to be the workers

it puts Clarke in the worker class (”let the privileged do the work for a change”)

it implies that that once the redblooded people started to be born that instead of casting them out for being genetically inferior, that work was done initially to protect them. We know Murphy and Clarke are going to be at odds this season, and that them being at odds could in some ways present a different look at “protecting the weak” vs. “taking advantage of the strong” because of how Murphy is tied to Emori who got cast out for being different, and Clarke being tied to this subjugated class. (I hope I explained this properly, since this is a very messy and complicated idea).

The fact that people with redblood worship someone with nightblood would be seen as radical and cause major issue on the new planet. 

An easy way to temporarily placate the masses would be to say that Madi is only raised up as a nightblood because she has The Flame. 

B4 - Irrespective of who the subjugated class is, the fact of the matter remains that a group of people led by a child soldier have landed on this planet and the reason she is raised above others is because she has a chip in her neck. The BTS pictures on the Eligius ship seemed to me to include an electronic schematic of The Flame - which to me begs the question of if they will try to reverse program The Flame this season (or something similar).

I am also low confidence on this one because another thing that could be happening here is that this chip wasn’t meant to last 200 years - and that it is starting to decay in Madi’s head after 125 in cryo, and needs to be repaired. 

Or maybe it’s both things!

C1 - Putting this in the “wild” category for a few reasons. However I will say my primary reason for spec’ing this is because ALIE can relieve pain - and I have to wonder whether she can relieve the pain caused by solar radiation. To me the cascading events here are 1- redblood people can’t access their own mining ship or simply don’t have mining ship, 2- they get Our People to go mine the asteroid, and 3 - they turn on their version of the ALIE1.0 machine in the finale. This presumes the ALIE code was ever sent to these people in the first place. However it is possible it could be retconned that ALIE1.0 was developed as a permanent solution to the “nightbloods don’t always give birth to redbloods” problem - if that indeed was a problem. Also - with the trauma that was caused in the 6 year stay in the bunker, Abby’s addiction being stressed as a longing for the City of Light, and the fact that our main characters are almost evenly divided between those who did and didn’t go to the City of Light - I think the return of ALIE1.0 wouldn’t be so easily defeated. 

C2 - Alternatively, it may be that Abby and Jackson are leveraged because they know (although may be a bit rusty about) the recipe for creating nightblood. They may spend the season recreating that recipe with the scientists on the ground. We did see a BTS picture (that got deleted) where the guy who played Robin Hood on OUAT was in a medical smock and had bits of black on that smock - which may be nightblood. 

Either way for part C - I am anticipating these new “Mountain Men” to find a way to the ground in the finale.

D1 -  Jason has spoken about how Clarke really takes to heart Monty’s message of “be the good guys”. It would follow the plot of The Sparrow, as well as simply fit into the type of show this is, to have Clarke try her hardest to “be the good guy” and then end up “being the bad guy” due to unintended consequences. 

[justauthoring]

He Lied

Request: Omg what about a bellamy blake imagine where you both have a fight, he says something v hurtful and to cool off you wander off in the forest and get hurt (and you can complete it!) FLUFFY ending please <3 THANKYOU

Requested by: anonymous.

A/N: I loved writing this, SO THANK YOU FOR REQUESTING IT!

Pairing: Bellamy x Reader

Warnings: none.

“Fine run off!” Teary eyed, you turned your head back, staring at Bellamy in a mix of fear and shock, as well as hurt. He’d never sounded so angry at you before and you still didn’t even know what you did so wrong. With a red face, and wet palms, you shook your head at him.

“Bell… please… tell me what I did wrong and I can try and fix it.” You begged, taking slow steps towards him. Once you reached him, you brought your hands up to hold his face, desperately wanting to fix what you had or had not done. It hurt you deeply to see him so angry at you, and without knowing what you did, you were at a lost on how to fix it.

He shook his head, shoving your hands away from him. You gasped, he’d never laid such harsh hands on you before, and holding your own against your chest, you stared confused and desperate up at him. He was always so gentle when holding you or embracing you, he’d never lay a head to hurt you, or at least that’s what you thought. “Please, Bell. I-I-”

“Don’t call me that.” He spat, his hard and cold eyes falling on you. “Not anymore. Not after what you did,”

“What!” You screamed, confused and hurt and just wanting all of this to end. “What did I do?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know.”

“I don’t!” He scoffed, shaking his head. “Fine. pretend. That’s what cheaters do, pretend.” He finally explained, and with wide eyes you searched him for any sign that he was kidding, but obviously, he was not. You opened your mouth to try and explain that whoever told him that was lying. That you’d never cheat on him but it was hopeless, because before you could even think of what to say, he glared down at you. “I was stupid and dumb to ever love you. You were and are a lying cheater incapable of loving.”

Shocked beyond words, you tried to reach out to him before he turned and smacked your hand away. It was too much, you felt like your heart was ripping into shreds. Bellamy was your one and only, the only that mattered to you in the disgusting and corrupt world. To have him so angry at you for something you’d never do burned beyond words. You stared after him, wanting to run after him but knew better and sobbing, you turned towards the gates, running off.

You were never out of the gates very often, and you didn’t know any path you just wandered. Wandered and wandered. The tears had left you and you were dried face, with puffy red eyes and hurt feet. Seeing a tree before you, you sat down, exhausted and looking up at the sky you realized that the sun had begun to set. Your heart began to race erratically, you were definitely lost and had no idea how to get home. With the threat of grounders just around the corner at any moment, you felt your heart quicken and you jumped up to your feet.

You tried to retrace your steps, but you were in no way a tracker. Staring around at the tree that all looked the same to you, you lost your sense of direction and suddenly felt very disorientated. A branch cracked, you snapped your head to the left, scared, you saw no one. But still, alert, you let your eyes wander through the cracks the trees gave and squinted to see if there was anyone near you. You saw no one, but suddenly an arrow soared through the air, you gasped, screaming as you tried to duck but it was too late and before you knew it the arrow had lodged itself into your leg.

You gasped, tripping over and falling. Your head smacked against the ground and you groaned, blinking as the world became a blur. You lost sense of time and what felt like two seconds a figure stood before you. You groaned, your breath frantic as you held your hands before you desperately. “Please… don’t…” Was all you could manage to say. The figure moved before you and you tried to scoot away, but with an arrow in your calve and your head dizzy there was no way. You could do nothing as the figure picked you up, and supported your head. Before you knew what was happening, you felt yourself lose consciousness.

When you woke up, all you saw was the familiar ceiling of the dropship. You groaned, your head still pounding as you sat up. It hurt but you ignored the pain and looked up, your eyes drifted to your leg and you noticed the arrow missing. You removed the blanket around you and took a look at your leg, you wouldn’t be able to walk on it for a while but you didn’t care, all you cared about was how you got here.

You’d been stranded in the woods, and you clearly didn’t get back on your own so…?

The curtain to the outside opened and turning your eyes there you felt you heart quicken when Bellamy walked through. You positioned yourself, scooting back from him and missed the way his eyes lit up in relief as you turned your head the other way. He was silent himself as he made his way over to you and sat down next to you. You stared at the wall next to you, your voice coming out just above a whisper; “were you the one who found me?”

He grunted a yes and you rolled your eyes more angry than hurt now, “why? Thought you hated me? Should’ve just let me die…” You whispered the last words, feeling your eyes brimming with tears again. You heard him shuffle and suddenly he was leaning over you, you backed up, apprehensive of what he’d do.

“You’re wrong!” He shouted and your eyes widened, “no sorry… I was wrong…” He frowned and your eyes softened. “About?”

“About you cheating. Clarke set me straight, it’s just Jack said something about you and him and I got so angry I wasn’t even able to think straight.” He grabbed your face and Bellamy’s eyes softened, you uncrossed your arms, no longer angry and you watched as his eyes drifted towards your leg and then his thumb rubbed over the bloody mark on your forehead. “I was so worried, Y/N. I’m so sorry.” He sighed.

“It’s fine.” You whispered, turning to smile weakly up at him. “Just next time hear me out, kay?” You smiled lightly, he smiled himself letting out a breath before leaning down to kiss your forehead. You leaned into the warmth, relishing in the fact he was no longer mad at you.

[piranhartist]

 A bumblebee ( @thememime ) poked me

Rules: Tag 10 followers you want to get to know better

Name: Katherine- but nobody even calls me this in person so, Kati (I prefer it if jus close friends use this though :,P And only if ya wanna outside of whatever nicknames we already have djskhflskj)

Nicknames: Pira or Kito

Gender: Female

Star sign: Capricorn

Height: 4′9″

Sexual Orientation: Ace/aro

(little tangent on this, but once in a while I still wonder if I’m demiromantic towards girls? I feel most comfortable calling m’self aromantic, since my interests with romance never really changed since middleschool. Though admittedly there’s been a few close friends past and present I guESS I’ve had a romantic crush on? But I never know for sure since I don’t really understand what the feeling is even like?? x,D And even if I did have one, any other stuff relATED to romance I’m jus not comfortable with, so it really wouldn’t change anything about how I love n’ care for them regardless. .;,P Down the road if I ever had the chance to live with any close friend(s) I’d jus wanna be able to chill out on couches together or get hugs from each other when we need em. That kinda stuff (✿´‿`)

If a close friend ever brought the idea up of romantic interest I guess I wouldn’t be opposed to it, since at that point anyways they’d already know what I’m like and what my boundaries are hhahha,

I guess this sorta explains why I always found the bachelorettes in harvest moon games cuter than any bachelors though- ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ)

Hogwarts house:  Gryffindor (I never know this I have to take a quiz everytime and I’m p sure this is different than before)

Favorite color: Emerald green followed by Yellow Orange! ;v;

Favorite animal(s): House cats, birds, and manta rays :,0

Average hours of sleep: 4 or 11 no inbetween

Cat or dog person: k i t t y

Favorite fictional characters:

Jus kinda in random order off the top of my head rn

Grounder (aosth)

Gengar

Kerubim (dofus)

Osmond (dark cloud)

Eduardo (fosters)

Strong Bad

Mr Blik (catscratch)

Buttercup (ppg)

Glenda (petite princess yucie)

Doraemon

Hank (finding dory)

thaTS A GOOD AMOUNT FOR NOW

Number of blankets I sleep with: It’s like- 3 and counting on my bed atm

Favorite band/singer: Dunderpatrullen is one of the only ones I have enough songs from to remember them by name .;,,P

Dream Trip: FLYING/DRIVING WHEREVER IT TAKES TO HAVE LUNCH WITH FRIENDS

Dream job: Doing freelance illustration for cute creature designs (like a mobile game that needs a buNCH of random monsters or something ;o;)

When the blog was created: Uuuuhm- I think almost 3 years ago now?

Current number of followers: I always keep the number hidden but atm its 1,962

When did your blog reach its peak: Undertale fanart (I LEFT THIS ONE THE SAME CAUSE ITS THE SAME ANSWER FOR ME HHHAHA)

What made you decide to make a tumblr: InITIALLY it was cause all my friends moved to here from dA and I wanted to stay in contact .;V While I’m still pretty active on both.

I’ll tag these 10 goobs, but you don’t have to do it unless you’d like to! ;v;

@spizacki @mischieflily @synduo @hyperchronic @morningbagels @harushururu @diabebus @soupgeist @acynosure  @firelara

[ichigopanhpff]

Ignis x Reader Fic: Next To You Pt. 3

A little early, but here’s part 3! This is slowly turning into a novella. Oh Six... -_-

And a sidenote: give Drew ofthe Drew’s “Cry, Die, Fly” a listen. I feel this song reflects the theme I’m trying to get across in the story. Enjoy!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9

(Y/N)’s mobile phone alarm vibrated on the nearby coffee table, slowing stirring her from slumber. Softly groaning, her eyes gingerly flickered open to see the blinking LED light in the darkness of Ignis’ apartment with faint traces of mixed light from the street lamp and sun peeking through the curtains. She lazily reached for her phone to shut off the alarm and sighed, giving herself another 15 seconds to fully wake up, hugging her pillow still. As grateful as she was to him letting her crash at his place yet again, she didn’t want to overstay her welcome and decided to wake up an hour before him to make breakfast.

While in the gifted children’s program, they were taught everything from self-defense to home economics to fully utilize every skill set to be a functional human being to the crown prince. A deadly homemaker, as she humorously remarked. As much as she wanted to forget all those years of training, it’s all become muscle memory now.

Finally determined to wake up, she yawned, slowly sat up and reached for her glasses while throwing the blanket off of herself, welcoming the cool air on her legs and felt goosebumps rising. Even though it was near the end of summer, parts of Insomnia had interesting chilly sub-climate pockets. (Y/N) quietly pattered to the main door to grab the newspaper from outside and set it on his dining table. She then made her way into the kitchen and turned on the light on the hood for more visibility. Grabbing the bag of Ebony Dark Roast from the lower cabinet, she filled the electric kettle up with water and waited for it to come to a boil. In the meantime, she placed the coffee beans into a manual grounder and got to work.

Ignis had grown to be a coffee snob and said time and time again if you want something done to your standards, do it yourself. After grinding the beans to the right consistency, (Y/N) took out the ceramic coffee dripper from another cabinet, placed a paper filter inside it and filled it with the coffee grounds, measuring it to exactly three scoops; she knew he liked it strong and took it black.

Once the electric kettle automatically shut off, she prepared a small pot with water in it to poach some eggs while she waited for the kettle to cool off a bit before steeping the grounds. When the water in the pot came to a simmer, she drizzled a small bit of vinegar in before slowly tipping the eggs in. After three minutes, the eggs were done and the kettle water had cooled to its optimal temperature. (Y/N) steadily bloomed the grounds as the dark liquid filtered into two mugs and his portable thermos. Satisfied with her work, she set his mug aside and decided to let the aroma awaken its drinker as she grabbed some bread to make toast for the poached eggs.

She heard Ignis’ bedroom door open moments later, followed with slow footsteps softly echoing down the hall. He turned to his right and saw (Y/N) busying herself over his stove, wearing an oversized t-shirt and shorts. Her bed hair had been left as is. It’d been a long time since he’s seen her like this and never realized how adorable she looked. Were her legs always that well shaped? He inwardly blamed his grogginess for this random insight and lightly shook his head.

“Morning, sunshine,” she greeted in a sing-song tone while tending to some bacon slowly frying in a pan as the toast popped up from the toaster. “Slept well?” “Well enough,” he replied while reaching for the prepared mug of coffee, trying to rub the sleep from his face. Upon sipping it, he drew his head back slightly in shock. “… You made this?” “Who else would?” “It’s… good.” “Wow, a compliment from the Impeccable Ignis,” (Y/N) drolled as she plated the bacon alongside the poached egg and grabbed the toast. “What a way to start my day.”

She took their plates to the dining table while Ignis grabbed their respective mugs and utensils. He noticed she drowned hers in milk; she’s always liked her coffee weaker than his with a spoon of brown sugar. Before sitting, he drew the living room curtains open to let sunlight in.

“Y’know, people would mistaken us as a married couple if they saw us like this,” she joked and sat down. “So this is what it feels like to have someone understand and irritate you on a daily basis,” Ignis off-handedly added and sat down across from her. “I’m not that irritating.” “You’re a six on a good day, at most.” “Thanks for that vote of confidence.”

(Y/N) looked up and her eyes widened with a slight shock; it’d been a while since she’d seen Ignis’ hair completely unstyled and not in his work clothes. He was wearing a fitted white v-neck t-shirt and charcoal grey loose fitting sweatpants. He actually looked… sexy unkempt.

Was his chest always that chiseled? His shoulders that broad? And were his eyes always that green without his spectacles?

“Are you alright?” He looked up from the newspaper and asked. “Your cheeks are pink.” “Hm?” His voice snapped her out of his thoughts. “Y-yeah. Must’ve been from cooking.”

(Y/N) sipped her coffee and dug into her breakfast, finding every possible way to not look at him directly. But she’s done so many times before. Why is it bothering her now?

“These Niflheim bastards...” She heard Ignis mutter under his breath, continuing to read the paper with a concerned expression. “They’ll be attacking us before we know it.” “Haven’t there been talks of a peace treaty?” “Nothing’s set in stone yet,” Ignis replied. “My main question is what’s their goal in this war? Land? Power?” “Curious you ask that, considering you want nothing to do with the royal family.” “Curiosity’s gotten me in nothing but trouble is what you’re saying,” (Y/N) translated and sipped her coffee. “Your words, not mine.” “Anyway.” She downed the rest of her liquid sarcasm and collected the dishes to put into the sink. “I’m gonna go get ready and get out of your hair.”

As she entered the bathroom, Ignis tended to the dishes and heard his phone chirp from its charging station in the living room. Placing the final piece of clean ceramic on the drying rack, he walked over and grabbed his device.

It was an email from the Citadel. Opening the message, he slowly scanned it with his eyes considerably widening.

King Regis agreed on the ceasefire with Niflheim, but the date of the treaty signing had yet to be announced. As part of the agreement, Noct was to wed Lady Lunafreya in Altissia and he, Gladio and Prompto were assigned to take him there in the Regalia. He’s to help the crown prince pack up his belongings before they set foot on their journey in the next few days.

He halfway expected this to happen, but so soon?

“Ig, you okay?” (Y/N)’s voice called for him, drawing him out of his thoughts. He jolted his head up and saw her look at him with a confused expression. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing. It’s just work,” he dismissed and locked his phone. “I have to head out soon, so I can drop you off if you like.” “Sure. It’d be better if it’s a few blocks from the building.”

Ignis silently nodded as she continued analyzing his body language. She knew something was wrong.

“Ig...” She called softly and placed a gentle hand on his forearm, grabbing his attention to her concerned gaze. “Are you sure?” “Yes...” he lied. “We should head out in the next ten minutes.”

Ignis quickly finished his coffee, washed up and reemerged in his usual suit with his spectacles on while (Y/N) changed into her usual hoodie, t-shirt and jeans. They left his apartment and hit minor traffic en route to her sector for work due to road work.

He felt this would be a good time to tell her, but should he? This was official royal business, after all; she had no part of it. But she’s his friend and felt she had a right to know. What was the right choice in the end?

“Ig, whatever you’re debating in your head, just spit it out,” she impatiently blurted out, staring at the road. “What are you–” “Don’t play dumb. That’s beneath you,” (Y/N) dryly commented. “You’re gripping the steering wheel tightly while we’re sitting in traffic, you haven’t touched your coffee for the past four minutes and you have your thinking face on,” she listed off her analysis. “So whatever’s on your mind, which is most likely the work email you received, you’re debating whether it’s proper of you to divulge its contents to me or not because of my non-affiliation.”

There were times he hated when his logical reasoning was used against him, especially by her. He continued to remain silent.

“Ignis Scientia, I swear to the Six I will take control of the wheel and crash this goddamn car if you’re still pussyfooting around,” she threatened with a sense of eerily calm. “What happened to making clear cut decisions?”

Shit. (Y/N) used the full name card. He knew she was crossed now and it was a lost battle. Even his parents never did that. Sighing aloud, he divulged what he read from his email.

“When...” She swallowed hard, trying to digest the news she forced out of Ignis. “When do you think you’ll be back?” “A week… A month… It’s hard to say,” he murmured. “I see...”

The rest of the car ride went by in silence. (Y/N) had a gut feeling it was something related to the treaty; her parents had been talking about it non-stop and complained about how they would’ve been able to resolve things quicker if she hadn’t wasted her life not being apart of the council.

Despite her dissonance with her family, she only cared for Ignis’ safety; her one and only friend, her most important person. What could she do to assure his security when he leaves Insomnia?

“(Y/N), I’ll be fine,” he reassured to break the tension, noticing her hands wringing on the strap of her bag. “Gladio and Prompto will be there with me to protect Noct from anything that comes at us.”

Traffic gradually cleared and Ignis was able to drop her off nearby her work building as requested.

“Call me before you leave. I’d… like to see you, if that’s possible.” “It may be hard with my schedule the next few days, but I’ll try.” “Try a little harder for me? Please?” she softly pleaded. 

Ignis placed the car in the park gear and looked up to meet her expression mixed with sadness, loneliness and concern. This was why he didn’t want to tell her: he was never good at consoling the opposite sex.

“I’ll… see what I can–” he hesitantly began but was cut short by her sudden embrace.

Her head was buried halfway in the nook of his neck and caught the faint scent of his cologne. (Y/N)’s heart was pounding intensely in her chest, feeling the escalating rhythm at the base of her throat, trying to figure out why she did what she did. Ignis found his arms moving on their own and gently hugged her back, half unsure in what he was doing. He, too, felt his pulse slowly increasing from her sudden contact.

“Silly girl...” he spoke softly into her ear and stroked her hair as a way to comfort her. “I’m not leaving yet.” “I-I just felt…” she stuttered out into his collarbone. “If I didn’t do this now, I wouldn’t be able to for a long time.”

Slowly releasing, (Y/N) avoided eye contact with Ignis and hurriedly gathered her belongings, hoping he didn’t see the blush she was trying to hide with her hair.

“Have a good day… and all that stuff,” she mumbled out shyly and let herself out of the car. Quickly blending herself into the sea of the Lucian working class, she gripped the strap of her bag tightly, reeling in embarrassment.

That’s when it hit her. She had non-platonic feelings, romantic feelings, for Ignis Scientia. The insufferable perfectionist Ignis Scientia. And she hated herself for it. The Six play a damn cruel game.

All (Y/N) wanted to do right now was hide away in a hole and never come back out. Or bang her head on some kind of surface. Either one works right about now.

–

“This… is quite a lot to prepare given the timeline,” Ignis fretted, looking at the Citadel’s schedule for their upcoming trip. “Is there any way to get an extension on this, General Drautos?” “As much as I’d love to, our honorable guests from Niflheim are to arrive within the next five days,” Drautos tiredly replied. He noticed the general’s cheekbones have sunken in more. “Do you think you can make do?”

The adviser softly sighed and adjusted his spectacles as he re-read the document until it was fully committed to memory and nodded.

“I’m sure I can make this work if the rest of the group pitches in.” “Good. I leave it in your capable hands,” the general finalized. “We’ll be in touch should anything change. Keep your mobile on you at all times.” “Yes sir.”

Ignis gathered his belongings, formally bowed and left the Crownsguard office. As he took his mobile phone out, he heard Gladio’s voice call for him down the hall.

“Ah, just the person I was looking for...” he greeted and put his phone away. “What’s up, Iggy?” “I’m guessing you received intel on our upcoming trip?” “Yup. This’ll be fun. Our first time outta Crown City...” Gladio replied with an excited smirk. “Regardless, we need to be prepared. I’ll need your help gathering supplies.” “You got it. Just tell me what I need to get.”

He took his mobile phone out again and sent Gladio a list of items he’d be most efficient with gathering. The two walked down the long marble hallway, listening to their footsteps echo down the corridor in conjunction with the sounds of clattered armor at the opposite end. They walked past two guards and greeted one another.

“You look a little tired, Iggy. Long night?” Gladio asked with a suggestive tone. “I’m exhausted from all the drinking we did,” he briskly replied and took another sip of coffee from his thermos. He looked down at it with significance. It’s strange how (Y/N) made it the same way he did daily, but hers tasted better.

“Coffee that good today?” Gladio pointed out. “Yes… It’s rather tastier than usual.”

Gladio hummed with interest and decided to continue chiding Ignis.

“(Y/N) made it?” “… Yes.”

Ignis knew where this was going.

“Sure you two aren’t an item?” “She’s just a friend and nothing more.” “I dunno if you’re just telling yourself that or you’re really that emotionally idiotic,” Gladio casually replied. “No, please. Tell me what you really think.” “Look, friends of the opposite sex don’t normally do the stuff you two do, like letting her crash at your place on a whim and make breakfast for you both,” he pointed out. “That’s couple stuff. The fact she made that extra effort on the coffee for you means something.”

Gladio’s words struck a chord in him. Thinking back on it now, his previous girlfriends never did that for him when they slept over. It was always him doing so, mostly out of habit. It was different with (Y/N) for some reason; his trust with her ran deep. Only now did he realize there were so many pieces of their lives that fit together and entwined like a red thread of fate.

“I’m sure she did it out of courtesy,” Ignis brushed off his friend’s observation. “Considering how impulsive she can be most of the time.” “I dunno. If you ask me, she’s got guts. Up and leaving her family responsibilities to make her own path,” Gladio remarked with respect. “She would’ve made a great Crownsguard, if you ask me.” “I’m sure her parents would be elated to hear that.” “Just… keep an open mind, Iggy,” his friend coerced. “You can’t plan everything out in life. (Y/N)’s good for you. She keeps you on your toes.” “I wish she wouldn’t. Just last night, she was taking off her–”

He immediately stopped himself mid-sentence. Feeling the heat rise up to his cheeks, Ignis cleared his throat, not wanting the passing guards to misunderstand the conversation.

“Taking off her what now?” his friend asked with interest. “It’s– Never mind.” “C’mon. You can’t just stop right at the juicy part,” Gladio teased with a sly look and playfully elbowed his bicep. “Don’t you have supplies to go pick up?” Ignis harshly dismantled the topic and turned it right back to business. “We both have a few busy days ahead. I suggest you not slack like Noct and Prompto.” “Yessir,” he lazily responded and eye rolled.

Gladio walked a few steps ahead and stopped halfway, giving some parting advice. “If you don’t snag her up, someone else might.”