#also I put passing in quotations bc I believe sometimes that word can be used a bit nefariously by transmedicallists

[basschan]

I’m not sure if anyone will read this, but have any of you who happen to be trans but not binary “passing” ever felt really really isolated even around other, non-trans, LGBTQ+ people? I always feel like I’m talking to walls and maybe it’s just me but I feel really isolated and excluded because of it sometimes.

Or literally just send me an ask bc I feel so weird about it right now. A really really weird, and to me disheartening, event happened recently involving my cohorts and I have no idea if maybe I’m just overreacting or not.

Edit: I want to specify here that no, I don’t believe that non-trans LGBTQ+ plus individuals are “bad” or anything of the like, I have a lot of friends that are and we’re cool. I’ve just been having a specific problem recently, with a certain group of people I’m around, and I’ve been wondering if I’m the only one who feels this way sometimes. I feel like that should go without saying, but I just wanted to clarify that.

[beloved-child-of-the-house]

Fic Writer Questions! (you can find me here on AO3 if you're interested!)

tagged by dear @theburialofstrawberries mwah!

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

112 yowza!

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

750,421 kinda tempted to go delete one word so it can be 750420 which is a far more Pleasing number

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

12ish but some of them overlap: BBCS/Sherlock Holmes/ACD (these are all different bc my bbcs fics are not the same as my own modern fem Sherlock Holmes adaptation are not the same as my ACD Holmes fic; Good Omens; Harry Potter/The Werewolf Draco Malfoy Cinematic Universe; Captive Prince; The Hobbit; Fleabag (it was a crossover with BBCS but Fleabag is the perspective character so it still counts as a separate fandom imo); Doctor Who; The Office; Parks and Rec; Broad City (one a piece for those last 5 but I AM going to write a Parks and Rec polycule fic for @gaykagome)

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

They're all Good Omens fics from the 2019 Summer of Good Omens! Susceptible to Summer, Fragments Shored Against My Ruin, Something So Magic, Enter Serpent, and Anything We Like

All of those have over 2k except the last one, but average engagement for me is like 400 kudos or so

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try! It depends on what's going on with me. Sometimes I just don't have the energy, and I figure people would rather I spend my brain power on writing new fics than on writing replies to comments. Wish I had a fave button tho so I could let people know I read and reread comments, because I do!

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh I wrote this ficlet series called A Chemical Defect about John and Sherlock's relationship in s3 of BBCS, and it's WILDLY unpopular. People don't read my fic to cry sad tears I guess! John and Sherlock are having an affair in the story, and it ends with the implication that their relationship is unsustainable and that Mary knows about it anyway. I intended to come back to it after s4 and write a more optimistic ending but LOL! Didn't have the heart.

7) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I know this answer is kinda up my own ass, but like. I think stories that feel true to life sort of feel like they end on a beginning if you know what I mean? You don't really consider a chapter of your life closed until you look back on it from the next? SO that said, I think I'd have to say that it's my big BBCS serial The Only One in the World. I spent 2 years writing it, and it ends with John retiring from medicine to solve crimes and write books full time.

Could also be my WDMCU (werewolf Draco Malfoy cinematic universe) series Moonrise, which starts with Draco isolated in his abusive mother's house, trying to cope with lycanthropy essentially alone and ends with him in love and surrounded by found family in a cozy cottage in Hogsmeade, having gotten some lycanthrope rights legislation passed after working at it for years and talking to Harry about whether they want to have kids. Oh man I feel warm and fuzzy just thinking about it

8) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I have written one crossover. It's BBCS/Fleabag, because me and @loudest-subtext-in-tv were laughing about how John seems like one of the horrible guys Fleabag sleeps with basically out of self loathing, so I wrote this fic to make Nattie laugh, and you should read it bc it's so good and so underrated.

9) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really, but people don't seem to know that authors can read bookmark tags unless you private the bookmark, and someone once put in the bookmark tag on one of my fics 'writing was meh but it was okay.' Okay so why bookmark it then??

10) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Fuck yes! I'm not sure what 'what kind?' means? People fucking? Sloppy, silly, and awkward, with lots of laughing. I also really like writing afterglow scenes which are even sillier and gigglier and often involve one character cooking for another. Food as love language is a very distinct pattern of mine tbh

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of, but occasionally I'll write a post on here where I make some elaborate head canon, and I'll see people in the tags talking about how they want to write fic of it, and it makes me breathe fire out of my nose like a dragon like PLEASE DON'T. The WDMCU came out of a ficlet post I made on here like a year before I actually wrote the 60k series so like!!! Please don't do that!

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! To Russian and I believe Chinese. Not my entire oeuvre but a handful of BBCS and Good Omens fics

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I wrote a fic inspired by an RP I did with my gf right around when we met (actually now that I think about it, it's two fics), and I waaaaaaanna do a WDMCU collab with my beloved Sally @clytemenestras at some point if he has time bc he inspired me to even write werewolf draco with his original lesbian werewolf story

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

favorites are hard for me? I always think I'm currently doing my best writing lol so I'll say drarry

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I don't post fics unless theyre finished, so I don't have any WIP up on AO3, but I did intend to continue with my fem Sherlock Holmes series, Your Many Tendencies. I just haven't been in a Holmes mood for a long time. Maybe I'll come back to it idk. This particular series is honestly very unpopular? People will just straight up say they don't read femslash, and it hurts a lot. This series feels really personal too, bc it's about a Black autistic nonbinary lesbian, so it does hurt my feelings that no one seems to care, yknow? I mean the people who read it are extremely kind and thoughtful in their engagement with it, but it has vastly less engagement than my m/m fic, and that's painful. It gets literally 1/10 the attention my fics usually get.

16) What are your writing strengths?

Almost all of my writing is romance, but I tend to write concurrently about recovery and found family, and I think I'm very good at doing that in a way that connects with my audience. I once had someone ask if they could use my words in their wedding vows, and I've had people tell me they started doing things with their spouse that my characters do with their partners in order to express love. I think about that all the time. My Impact. It makes me feel like I have a real duty to my audience yknow?

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

This question is hard for me like I've been writing so long and so much that I'm literally always happy with my final draft! It's always exactly to my taste, yknow? I suppose I could say that my fics tend not to be terribly plotty but so WHAT? That's beside the fuckn point for me. Plot who? I don't know Her. Also honestly like. Stories feel more True to me when they aren't ruthlessly devoted to plot bc like life isn't like that yknow?

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

If you're not fluent in that language, get a beta who is!!!!! That said, I have written scraps of very simple dialogue in French using mostly Google Translate (sometimes I check w Sally bc he speaks French but I am usually too impatient), and I am perfectly well aware that I take my life in my hands each time!!! Also don't do that bullshit thing where it's in italics? That shit is weird and exoticizing. Just write it in quotation marks like normal dialogue.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

BBCS babey back in 2012. Ended a 5 year dry spell for me after I got my writing degree.

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Hmmmm I think it's probably gonna be the fic I'm working on now that I haven't posted yet, but I know it's called Names for a House, and here's a tiny bit of it

Thanks again Shreya for asking me to do this bc I really love talking about myself. I tag @the-moon-loves-the-sea, @clytemenestras, @tomiano, @gaykagome and @totallysilvergirl

No pressure <3

[animakupo]

The Way to a Man’s Heart (Ignis x Reader)

wow i kept putting this off for some reason, but hello cooking mama iggy!!!! yay!!!! lowkey unconfident about this bc i don’t think i executed it well but uh haha stab me

will this be expanded into a two-part story? or will it remain a one shot? whO KNowS

(Also, thanks so much for all the love for Shortcake vs. Beefcake ;___; I didn’t consider it to be one of my better works, so for it to have received this much love has been such a pleasant surprise huhu thanks ebribadi wah)

word count: 3.5k+, fluff + self-deprecation because wow i relate so much to self-hate, Prompto likes to think he’s Cupid haha sure keep telling urself that boye

‘Take cooking lessons, they said.’ You stared helplessly at your burnt attempt at a chicken cordon bleu. ‘It’ll be fun, they said.’ Discreetly shoving the charred poultry down the garbage, you sighed longingly at everyone else’s pristine and mouth-watering dishes. ‘How is it fun when everything I make is inedible?’

Boy, if any of your classmates from high school saw you now, they might possibly throw a fit at the sight of you. Or maybe they’d look at you in awe.

After all, you were never really one for the kitchen.

Sure, you loved food — probably more than the average girl, even — but all you could do was devour dishes that were presented to you. For you to actually prepare something meant for human consumption was easily a recipe for disaster.

Which was why you were here, taking a culinary class in hopes of acquiring even a smidgen of an everyday man’s cooking skill.

But, let’s be real here: you could have lived the rest of your days perfectly content with being a failure in the kitchen. It’s not like you had any ambitions of becoming a chef or anything.

The true reason behind your ongoing efforts in trying to learn how to cook lies in a sole secret ingredient — one that is integral in your current woes as of late: Ignis Scientia.

Now, you were never really one to go to such great heights just to impress someone — let alone a member of the opposite sex — but Ignis was different. Here was a man in an entirely other league of his own. He was refined, patient, kind-hearted, and one of the most well-mannered men you ever had the blessed opportunity to encounter.

Not only did Ignis have the charms to go with his elegant face, he was also incredibly skilled — almost famously so, at least amongst his peers — in the kitchen. You’d probably go so far as to say his concoctions could rival — even best — the foods provided by the royal chef.

(Not that you knew what His Majesty and his son would have for their daily meals. You just believed that Prince Noctis requesting for a certain pastry from Ignis — and Ignis alone — was telling enough of the Royal Adviser’s skills in the kitchen.)

So here you were, struggling to cook up something in order to catch Ignis’ attention and impress him for once. Unfortunately, despite your wholesome intentions, your efforts were simply failing to bear any fruit.

‘I might end up burning my apartment down if I keep up with this,’ you thought glumly, already packing away your belongings as your cooking teacher gave you an unimpressed look for yet another cooking disaster this week.

‘Don’t worry.’ You gave your instructor a nod in farewell. ‘This is the last you’ll see of me in this blasted class.’

The very idea of taking up culinary lessons as a step towards getting Ignis to look your way was actually a suggestion from your friend Prompto. On one of your rare mutual breaks — yours from assisting other staff members with admin work and archiving documents for the royal family, his from Crowsguard training with Cor the Immortal — the two of you had stumbled upon Ignis himself, who was well on his way to a meeting with the King and the rest of his council.

“Hey, Specs!” Prompto greeted cheerfully with a wave of his hand.

“Good to see you, Prompto,” replied the bespectacled man. Ignis turned to you and offered a curt nod of acknowledgement.

All you could do was reciprocate his nod, already feeling your cheeks burn — a usual occurrence whenever you were near Ignis. While this was not the first time you had encountered the Royal Adviser in the flesh — as you would sometimes assist him with research and paperwork when necessary — being around him often made you feel shy and flustered. It was a miracle that you had yet to pass out from the effect he had on you.

“Where are you off to?” Prompto inquired.

Adjusting his grip on the small stack of folders in his arms, Ignis answered, “I’ve a meeting with His Majesty. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I best be on my way.”

It was only when Ignis turned a corner did you release a breath you hadn’t known you were even keeping. ‘He’s so handsome,’ you thought to yourself, clutching at your chest from how fast your heart raced around him.

Prompto looked at you oddly. Although some would think him to be a bit more on the naive side, the young blond liked to think that he was actually much more observant than the people around him would give him credit for. Perhaps that was why he detected your odd behavior in front of his friend.

Or maybe your crush on Ignis was just that obvious.

In any case, Prompto took notice of how tense you had become in the presence of his friend, as he placed a hand on your shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. “Hey, you alright? I know Iggy might seem a little intimidating, but he’s actually a fun person to be around once you get to know him.”

“N-no, I…” you mumbled, keeping your eyes on the floor. “I know. He’s just- I’m…”

“Haha, you sound just like me when I tried asking this girl from school on a date!”

“Y-yeah, hah…”

“There’s no need to be so shy around good ol’ Iggy!” Prompto gave you a friendly pat on the back. “He might look like a strict professor on the outside, but on the inside, he’s just like you and me.”

“Uh-huh…”

“Well, except we’re plebes next to him, but you know. I’m sure you’d like him a lot once you got to know him better.”

“I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON IGNIS SCIENTIA!”

Okay, you were definitely obvious about your crush on the Royal Adviser.

“Woah, what?”

Your face was probably burning brighter than the sun by now. How could you have suddenly blurted — practically yelled loud enough for the entire Citadel to hear, oh gods —your deep, dark secret? Your head must have been in the clouds while Prompto was talking, and in your carelessness, you somehow interpreted his words as an accusation of harboring feelings for Ignis.

Which… well, cat’s outta the bag now, then.

“I-I…!” The embarrassment becoming too much to bear, you hid behind your hands, mumbling into your palms, “I didn’t say anything!”

“Honey, you most definitely said something, and it was a little along the lines of-“

“SHUT UP!” You slapped your hands over Prompto’s mouth in a frenzy. “Someone might hear!”

Pulling your hands away from his face, he replied, “With how loud you were, I wouldn’t be surprised if even Noct heard you from his bedroom.”

You groaned. “Prompto, please don’t say anything to Ignis about this.”

Your friend’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Why not? I’m sure Iggy would be really flattered. Plus, you guys would make a really cute couple!”

“That’s really nice of you to say and all, but I’d rather keep my feelings to myself, thank you very much.”

“Yeah, but I’m a great matchmaker!”

You snorted. “Sure, Cupid.”

“I am!” Prompto whined. “Stop laughing! I’ll get you two together if it’s the last thing I do!”

“No, Prompto, please don’t,” you said. “It’s really nothing against you, I promise. It’s just…” You tucked a hair behind your ear, staring longingly at the direction Ignis had disappeared to. “I wouldn’t want to pressure Ignis into anything by informing him of my… c-crush on him.” Crush? What a schoolgirl term. Surely you were beyond this already, right?

“You wouldn’t-“

Completely caught up in your thoughts, you ignored Prompto and continued. “Confessing would just make things awkward, especially since I know he doesn’t reciprocate my feelings. He already has so much on his plate as it is, so I don’t want to make things uncomfortable between us if I ever do decide to confess.” As an afterthought, you added, “Which I won’t, mind you. It’ll never happen.”

This had always been your mindset right off the bat. Why would you ever tell Ignis how you truly felt about him? It would just be another burden for him to bear, and that was the last thing you ever wanted to be to him.

“But,” Prompto said after a few seconds of silence, “are you really content with never telling him how you feel? Ever?”

When you really thought about it… of course you wouldn’t be content. However, living in silence seemed like a much safer option than getting into messy feelings and affections. Plus, unrequited feelings were definitely a more tolerable reality than the bitter sting of rejection.

You shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. His duty to Prince Noctis will always be his top priority, and I respect that. So even if I did happen to confess, I really don’t think it’d take me anywhere with Ignis.”

Amidst your wistful admissions was a frown on Prompto’s face that you failed to perceive. “Well…” he trailed off. “Well, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least try to get Iggy to look at you the way you look at him!”

“What are you playing at, Prompto?”

“What if you just… try to woo Iggy a little, (Name)?”

“Woo him?” You gave Prompto an incredulous look. “As if I even have a chance with him to begin with!”

“But you do!” Prompto insisted. “I promise that you do! We just need a little somethin’-somethin’ to tip the scales and get the ball rolling.”

“Okay, I’ll humor you. What, pray tell, would your plan of action be to,”—you made quotation marks with your fingers—“‘get the ball rolling’?”

Prompto hummed thoughtfully before suddenly snapping his fingers. “I know exactly what you can do!” Giving you a proud smile, he declared, “You can cook him something!”

You stared at Prompto for a solid few seconds, causing him to falter slightly in his expression. “Or bake him a cake or something…?” he added unsurely.

“You’re joking, right?”

“N-No! I’m serious!”

“Prompto.”

“What? Why are you looking like me like that?”

“I can’t cook to save a life.”

“C’mon, everyone can cook!”

“Not me,” you deadpanned. “I’m serious. I once burned a scrambled egg.”

“That’s not so bad-“

“The heat was on low and I found eggshells in it.”

“Okay, maybe you’ll need a little help. But that’s what I’m here for!”

You raised a brow. “You’re going to help me cook Ignis something?”

“Well, n-no…” Prompto chuckled nervously at the disapproving look you were wearing. “But! I know where you can take cooking classes!”

“Prompto, I know you mean well and all, but cooking classes? I’m pretty swamped with work as it is.”

“You can go after work! They have evening sessions that run an hour a day. It even includes baking lessons!”

“I can’t possibly cook anything for him. Ignis has the taste buds of a god!”

“All the more reason to make him something he’s never had before!” Prompto countered. “You know what they say: ‘The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.’ I betcha Iggy’ll love whatever you make him!” He was not going to let this go until you conceded, was he?

“I dunno…”

“C’mon (Name), don’t you want to show him what you have to offer? Make him see the wife material that you are?”

The wiggling of Prompto’s brows made you chuckle. “I’m hardly wife material.”

“And she’s so humble, too!” he cheered, pulling another giggle out of you. “It’ll be fun, (Name)!”

“Why are you so adamant about this, anyway?”

The grin on Prompto’s face softened into a warm smile. “I just want to see my friends happy, that’s all.”

If Prompto hadn’t won you over before, he definitely did now. This boy was truly an angel.

So that’s how you found yourself struggling to whip up a dish or two after work everyday. Everyday you came to class without fail, but also without fail was the stench of an actual failed dish after each session. Despite this, the encouraging looks Prompto always sent you whenever you chanced upon each other always inspired you to keep on going. Though you had called it quits on the cooking classes, it didn’t mean you couldn’t practice on your own, right?

*

It took a while, but the day finally came: you managed to make a seemingly decent platter of cupcakes. Baking was different from cooking, sure, but at least you finally made something even remotely edible. You had heeded Prompto’s suggestion of baking a cake, except you opted for a much simpler and smaller scale.

It only took about a month of daily trials and errors, but finally, you were able to produce a simple batch without killing yourself in the process. You even managed to put some pink frosting for a cute touch!

‘I’ll let Prompto taste test this first!’ you thought excitedly, scurrying towards where you knew your blond friend trained with the Marshal.

In your hurry to find Prompto, you failed to notice a presence making their way towards your direction. As you turned a corner, you accidentally bumped into the one and only Ignis himself — the very reason for the platter of dessert in your hands.

Alas, good fortune just wasn’t on your side today, though. Typically, bumping into Ignis would be a blessing in disguise. Today, however, it brought more distress than elation, because you lost your grip on the platter, causing the cupcakes to tumble to the ground with a generous smother of pink icing all over the Royal Adviser.

“Ignis!” you exclaimed, hands trembling at the mess you made. “I’m so- I’m sorry!”

You couldn’t read his face as he kept a stoic mask even after your collision. Ignis was often hard to decipher even on a regular day, but this time around, you were certain that he was unhappy with your stumble. His usually pristine clothes were now ruined by pink frosting, and his shoes were covered with the broken remnants of all your hard work.

Your hard work. You had slaved over this batch — the one you deemed the most acceptable out of the many others you had attempted — only for it to crumble before you. You didn’t even get to have Ignis try it.

Helplessly, you stared at what was meant to be a gift of affection for the man in front of you. Somehow, the sight of the disintegrated pastries brought forth a deep-seated frustration within you that served as a painful reminder that this wasn’t going to work out.

Who were you kidding? As if Ignis would ever go for someone like you. Baking or cooking or whatever, you would never amount to even half the person he deserved to be with. No matter how much effort you put into your work, everything will still fall apart — even something with Ignis.

‘What’s the point?’ you thought, downcast and discouraged. ‘No matter how hard I try, I’ll never be good enough for him anyway. I’ll still fail.’

You forced yourself to meet Ignis’ eyes in order offer another heartfelt apology, but the sigh that escaped his lips only triggered the appearance of tears in your own eyes. Now you knew for sure that he was definitely upset with you.

With your blurred eyesight thanks to your tears, you missed the look of what appeared to be panic on Ignis’ face. Bowing your head to avoid looking at him any further, you mumbled a pathetic “sorry, excuse me” before making yourself scarce.

Ignis was quite the sight when Prompto found him just a minute later, frozen in place and covered in pink.

*

‘I am an IDIOT,’ you thought miserably as you dragged yourself to work the next day. After your disappearing act on Ignis, you pretty much beat yourself up for reacting so brashly at your own slip-up. ‘Crying over a few measly cupcakes? Then running away? REALLY? Nice one, drama queen.’

“I bet the cupcakes weren’t even that good,” you grumbled, placing your things on your work desk and settling into your seat. You began to shuffle through some files that were left neglected just a day before, still a bit tense at your recollection of yesterday’s unfortunate collision.

“On the contrary,” a voice in front of you said, “they were actually quite delectable.”

Your eyes widened. Lifting your head from your papers, you found Ignis in front of you. He offered a charming smile to go with his nod.

“I-Ignis!” You shot up in surprise. “Wha… What are you doing here?”

“Am I not allowed to greet a friend good morning?”

“No! I-I mean…” You cleared your throat as you nervously wrung your fingers together. “You’re allowed! You can do whatever you want! Um, I, I mean… Good morning…?

He chuckled softly. “Good morning.”

It was then did you realize that Ignis was holding a small box in his hand. Pointing at the object, you inquired, “What’s that?”

“This?” He held up the box before gently placing it on your desk. “This is a gift for you.”

“M-Me?” you repeated dumbly. Ignis Scientia — THE Ignis Scientia — had a gift for you?!

Ignis adjusted the glasses on his face before continuing. “It is an apology of sorts for causing yesterday’s mishap.”

“Th-that was all my fault!” you sputtered. “I’m the one who’s sorry, Ignis! I ruined your clothes and then I ran away like a crybaby…”

“I’d like to apologize for the tears, then,” he countered.

“No!” you blurted anxiously. “You weren’t at fault! It was all me!”

“Regardless, you would do me a great honor in accepting this gift.”

You stared at the box. “Really?”

“Most certainly,” he assured. “Please, go ahead.”

Upon his insistence, you gingerly picked up the box, feeling a moderate weight inside. When you opened it, you were pleasantly surprised to find a cupcake — one that was identical to the ones you made yesterday, pink frosting and all.

Taking advantage of your silence, Ignis said, “Yesterday was quite the tragedy, wouldn’t you agree? What a waste it was for all the pastries to go spoilt in such a manner. I at least managed to try the icing, since there was an… abundance of it, as you know.”

You blushed, recalling just how much frosting you managed to get on him yesterday. Ignis let out a small smile, as if assuring you that he meant no harm with his comment. “I tried to replicate the taste to the best of my abilities, though I hope you can forgive me for taking the liberty to give my own take on the batter, seeing as I had no basis for what you made yourself.”

“Tha-that’s fine,” you breathed, awe-struck that Ignis had even bothered to make you anything, let alone try to copy your own take on a lame cupcake. Although you were squirming a bit under his gaze, you managed to offer a sincere smile. “Thank you.”

Ignis nodded in response. “I must say,” he uttered, “the icing reminded me of you a bit.”

“It did?” you asked, a little absent-minded at the fact that not only was Ignis making casual conversation with you, he had actually made something for you — and in the same fashion as what you had intended to give to him, at that! What exactly was happening here?!

“Yes,” he affirmed. “It was rather… sweet.”

“O-oh!” You could feel your face burning up at this point.

“I mean that in the highest of praises possible,” Ignis added. “If you’d like, perhaps we could discuss your recipe over a cup of Ebony?”

You gaped. Did he just…? Was he offering…? IS HE ASKING YOU OUT ON A DATE?! “Y-ye-yeah! Sure!” you squeaked, belatedly realizing how stupid you must have looked with your mouth wide open in such an un-ladlylike manner.

“Excellent.” The smile on Ignis’ face grew saccharine, and it made you flush to the tips of your ears. “Will you be free tomorrow afternoon, then?”

You did a quick mental scan of your schedule. All free. “Yes.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Dazed, all you could do was wave at Ignis as he made his exit. Did that really just happen? Are you really going to have coffee with Ignis tomorrow? Sure, he didn’t really specify outright that it was a date, but…

‘Wait till Prompto hears about this!’

*

“Well?”

“She seemed to be delighted at the prospect of Ebony tomorrow.”

“I told you!”

“Shouldn’t you meet with the Marshal for training now?”

“Aw c’mon, Iggy! You gotta spill all the juicy details!”

“My lips are sealed.”

“After everything I did to get you two together?”

“You did no such thing.”

“Iggy! I am hurt!”

“I’m merely jesting. Thank you, Prompto.”

“You’re very welcome! I told you she liked you back!”

“I’ll be sure to express my gratitude to you in the form of some Meldacio Meat Pie.”

“This is why I love you, Iggy.”

“I’m afraid your feelings remain one-sided.”

“Of course they are. You’ve always had your eye on her, after all.”

Silence.

“Iggy, is that…? Are you blushing?!”

“Ahem.”

“L-Lemme get this shot!”

“Excuse me, I must make my leave now.”

“Iggy, hold up! IGGY!”