#is iggy's cruel? yes. do i care? no - it fits

[enkidushield-a]

to those of you who don't m.agpod this will not make sense but listen listen -

GLADIO : THE HUNT - manifesting as a man's primal strength, animal instinct, baring too sharp teeth and roaring with the mouth of a beast, a protective and possessive attachment to others, an affinity for tracking - hunting - finding, and the thrill of the chase.

IGNIS : THE EYE - manifesting as a gaze that never wavers until it does, ceaselessly watching, sensing the danger in others and the potential of what is to come, making connections that others do not, an avid need for knowledge, and plans upon plans.

PROMPTO : THE STRANGER - manifesting as being almost and not quite human, lack of self and wavering identity, being a monster underneath it all, the knowledge that your body isn't your own, uncanny valley, body horror, and the struggle to fit the mould of what you think you should be.

NOCTIS : THE END - manifesting as nightmares and dreams that haunt your waking hours, the uncaring and unstoppable cruelty of death, being born to die, sickness and illness but never death - for the world is not done with you, cataclysms and the ability to end them, sacrifice, and walking toward ones end.

[ragewerthers]

That’s Cold, Dude

Summary:  It's a frigid night at camp and tempers are flaring up. Between shuffle kicks, angry caterpillar wars and sock warping... will they survive the night?

A/n: This is for my friend @bgn846​!

She sent me some wonderful prompts for our F3S and this was the first one I wrote as I couldn't pick between two of them! XD

In it she asked for a cold night at camp... how do the boys cope?

I hope that you enjoy this silliness!

You can also read on AO3 at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21678931

Enjoy! :D

Word Count: 1753

-----------------------------------

Had they pissed off Shiva?

Were they trapped inside Glacial Grotto?

Was it beginning to feel a lot like Christmas?!

Whatever was happening one thing was certain.

It was freezing.  Teeth chattering, nose sniffling, toe numbingly freezing.

Three of the four occupants of the hastily put up tent were currently shaking so badly in their sleeping bags that it sounded like someone wearing a windbreaker suit was doing power laps around their campsite.

Schwickschwickschwick….

The noise was almost as annoying as the biting cold and before long, the silence was shattered by a sneeze and a growl.

“Th-that’s it!” Ignis hissed into the dark, his breath creating a swirling mist in the frigid air.  “We aren’t d-doing ourselves any f-favors like this.  Noct… Prompto are… are you two awake?”

“Y-Yeah… I think Prompto m-might be dead though,” Noct’s muffled voice supplied before the sound of a shuffled kick and a yelp could be heard.

“D-Dude!  I’m n-not dead!  I’m c-conserving body heat b-by not talking!” Prompto said, the sound of another shuffle kick being heard before Noctis yipped.

Schwick… thud…

“Ah!  You ass!”…. 

Schwick… thud, thud kick… 

“St-stop!  That hurts!”

SchwickthudscwickkickyTHUD!

“That’s enou-aachoo!!!” Ignis whisper yelled before having to muffle another sneeze into his sleeping bag and groaning miserably.  Glancing over he could just make out the other two.  The best way to describe the scene was like watching two angry caterpillars fighting to the death.  Noct and Prompto’s sleeping bags were bundled up well over their heads as they shuffled toward each other in cold induced fury.  Sighing heavily Ignis shook his head.  “You’re a-acting r-ridiculous,” he grumbled as the two puffed up caterpillars slowly backed down from one another and slowly settled down into an uneasy peace… for now.

“H-He started it,” Prompto mumbled, hiding his face almost completely back into his sleeping bag.

“Yes, well I’m f-finishing it,” Ignis warned, hearing a delighted little chuckle from Noct.

Schwick KICK!

“OW!  Iggy?!?!” Noct cried out in betrayal, but instantly stopped his snickering.

Settling back down, Ignis took in a deep frigid breath and closed his eyes.  “The most l-logical thing to do would… would be to restart the haven’s fire,” he began, eyes glancing over to Noct.

“........ what?” the Prince asked, not enjoying the look he was getting.

“Seeing as you ha-have the ability to warp… and use f-fire magic… you would be the most… logical choice to do the task.  Not to mention the quickest to go out an-and come back,” Ignis explained, hearing a gleeful little chuckle from the far end of the tent that he knew could only be coming from their gunner.

Noct didn’t seem to miss the giggle as well, but right now he was more focused on pleading his case then muffle kicking his boyfriend.

“But, Iggy!  I’m… I’m cold… and if I go o-out there then I’ll b-be even colder.  You… you don’t want me t-to be even colder do you?” he asked, pouting and trying to give his best puppy eyes to his other partner, hoping he could melt that heart of his.

Ignis was unmoved.

Noct knew he had to switch tactics fast before he was physically tossed from the tent to achieve his task.

“What about Prompto?!”

“What?!  What about Prompto?” the gunner squeaked, instantly sitting up as Noct looked over his shoulder and gave him a glare where his eyes peeked out from his sleeping bag before looking back to Ignis and putting on his innocent expression once more.

“Prompto is cl-closest to the entrance and the smallest.  He won’t have to open the… the tent flap as far and c-can shuffle out there to l-light the fire.  N-not to mention he was the l-last one to check it.  He should’ve added m-more wood to it b-before we went to bed,” Noct mumbled, adding just enough whine to his voice to sound like he had been personally wronged and Prompto should totally sacrifice his comfort to make up for his own.

Ignis opened his mouth to respond, but before he could…

“You jerk!!!” Prompto seethed, his voice another muffled hiss as he all but dived onto Noctis, knocking the air out of the Prince with an ‘Oof!’ before another sad and sleeping bag induced fight took place.

With a deep sigh, Ignis sat up to intervene in this pathetic tussle…

Schwick KICK!

All movement ceased.

Prompto lay frozen over Noctis, still enveloped in his sleeping bag cocoon with the Princes head in a headlock.

Noctis, caught under Prompto, had his teeth biting into the fluffy fabric of his friends sleeping bag near his neck.

Both of them had their eyes, glancing down to where their feet had unintentionally collided with the advisors shin….

“.... oh…”

“.... no….”

Two minutes later….

“T-Titan’s dick!  It’s… f-freezing out here!” Noct gasped as he and Prompto tried to hastily relight the haven’s fire.  Both now stood bouncing from foot to foot around the smoldering fire after being unceremoniously tossed from the tent.  Clad in nothing but their sleep clothes, which sadly consisted of nothing but boxers and t-shirts, they wondered how their boyfriend could be so cruel… and yet….

The look of murder in Ignis’s eyes after they had kicked him… it was safer out here facing frostbitten buttcheeks then going back into that tent at the moment.

Prompto was holding a flint and knife in trembling hands, trying to spark the flames to life while Noct tried to summon any sort of magic flask he could.  Sadly, with the winds of the tundra barrelling down on you it was hard to concentrate on anything other than the loss of feeling in your extremities

“Shu-Shut up, dude!  If… if you hadn’t ki-kicked Igg-... Igg….. Iggy we wouldn’t b-be here!” Prompto squawked back, dropping the flint and trying to find it in the darkness, cursing to every astral there was for the cold.

“You… You kicked him t-too!” Noct snapped back, the anger giving him just enough focus to finally call forth a flask from the armiger.  He was so overjoyed that he forgot the argument for a moment as he raised it high in the air.

“St-Stand back, Prom!  Noctgar m-make fire!!!” he cried triumphantly as he threw the flask into the pit with dramatic flare.

The fire soon sparked and crackled to life, singing Nocts boxers, but who cared?!  They had fire!

Finally, finally they could head back in and ask for forgiveness from the Adviser.

One minute later….

“That...”

“Sneaky...”

“Bastard!”

Upon achieving their goal of finally fanning the flames of life giving warmth back into the haven, Prompto and Noct had assumed it was safe to return to the tent… only to see that the Adviser had apparently already figured out a means of warmth...

The fourth member of their party…

Gladiolus ‘I’m a human furnace’ Amicitia.

Currently, the Shield was still asleep, oblivious to the plight of his fellow tent mates and partners.  Well… two of them.

Ignis was currently snuggled up to the man’s right side and looked snug as a bug in a rug.

This meant that there was still one more side of the human heat blanket to claim.

Nocts eyes slowly glanced to Prompto.

Prompto’s eyes slowly glanced toward Nocts.

All was still…

All was calm…

… for two seconds.

“I’m the Prince damn it!  I get the warmth first!”

“You’re an ass so you get shit!”

All manners, kind words and logic were tossed out the tent flap as the mayhem twins wrestled to claim the spot next to Gladio.

Noct currently had Prompto in a headlock and Prompto had his arms around Nocts waist, both trying to wrestle the other to the ground so the free party could dive into the warm and inviting spot.

Slowly, Noct could feel himself losing ground as he began to get dragged to the other end of the tent so he did what any good, royal blooded human would…

He cheated.

Bringing a hand down he sent a quick tickle attack against Prompto’s exposed side, sending the poor gunner into a startled giggle fit.  Instantly, the blonds arms shot back to cover his sides and Noct took his chance!  Picking up a discarded sock  he threw it toward Gladio’s side and in a flash he warped into the safety and comfort that he had fought so valiantly for.

Prompto glanced up, slack jawed at the betrayal he was witnessing in front of him.

“That…. That’s just cold, dude!” he chided, watching a cheeky little grin appear out from under the blanket Noctis had snagged to drape over himself.

“No… this is warm and comfy… and won fair and square,” he mumbled gleefully.

Prompto couldn’t help it now.

He pouted… and he pouted hard.

He pouted like a five year old denied candy!

He pouted like a chocobo denied it’s leafy greens!

He pouted like…

“Hey, Sunshine…,” a deep and sleep roughened voice murmured in the dark, startling Prompto from his pout-athon as he glanced over.

Gladio’s warm, amber eyes were looking at him, the hint of a smile touching the corners of his lips as he tilted his head, signalling Prompto to come closer.

“Still got a spot for ya,” he murmured sleepily, patting his chest and if Prompto didn’t think that his eyelashes would freeze shut, the gunner probably would’ve wept.

It took all of two seconds before Prompto made his way over to Gladio, cuddling up onto the mans chest and feeling the way Ignis and Noct instantly wrapped an arm around him and Gladio in turn.  Noctis even being so kind as to share his blanket.

With the haven’s fire now happily crackling away outside the tent and the four of them currently in the worlds biggest cuddle pile… it wasn’t long before they were all finally able to nod off.

Ignis, hidden away against Gladio’s shoulder...

Noctis burrowed right into Gladio’s side...

Prompto tucked under Gladio’s chin…

and Gladio surrounded by the three men he loved more than anything in the world.

Ten minutes later....

Eyes snapping open, Gladio realized that while he adored nothing more than being able to give comfort to the ones he loved he hadn’t taken into account one thing.

His bladder.

“Uh… guys?”

Silence.

“Guys… I know you’re comfortable, but I gotta... go…”

Silence… and a snore from Ignis that they all agreed they would never mention.

With a deep sigh, Gladio closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate.

Oh the things a person does for those they love.

[insomniasix]

The Lady.

Ok, so since I started making my old fics FFXV related, I’ve decided to make all of them as such. I’ll add them to a Masterlist of their own later on. 

This is a piece I created for a competition and I thought it fit perfectly for @nemo-ne-impune-lacessit ‘s Evita Hemlock and Ignis. So I did something with that. 

Some might’ve already read it before (It’s been uploaded before) but I finally fixed some of my own mistakes and added a few more FFXV lines and events in it. 

Words: 2782 | Characters: Evita Hemlock , Six Ulric , Ignis Scientia | Trigger Warnings: Death, Fire, Injury and some more death along the way.

Thank you for taking the time to read! I hope you like it!

“Tell me a little about yourself.” The man with the dirty-blond hair asked.

He’s from Insomnia. Evita was certain because of his accent. Born and raised. You don’t really see psychologist from Insomnia. After the fall, there was only one other she’d come across. Ignis seemed to know a few things though.

Her molten gold eyes kept wondering behind him, following the patterns of the dark green. Under different circumstances, Evita would be mesmerized by his incredible features. A face build by perfect carves and lines, no scars or wrinkles; and those eyes, emerald green and filled with compassion and love, even for the people he didn’t know. Like her.

She wondered for a second. Could a person really carry on with such feelings? Or is it simply part of his job?

She didn’t care about it. She didn’t care about anything anymore!

In any other time, she and her sister, Six, would be rendered speechless under the gaze of such a man.

“He’s the man of your dreams, isn’t he?” she heard her sister’s stern voice.

She’d thought about it a couple of times; a man worthy of her own beauty.

Evita was a young lady, she was to turn twenty on the next week; she didn’t care about that either.

Tall, olive skinned, with golden almond-shaped eyes and coper colored, short, messy hair. Her black streak always being her trademark.

She looked a lot like her mother. Or so she remembered.

She didn’t have time for romance.

Evita and Six grew up alone. They were orphaned at a young age when the apartment they all lived in caught on fire. The flames taking mommy and daddy with them.

That wasn’t the reason she’d decided to visit the psychologist, though. The reason was… a dream!

“Evie?” she heard his calm voice ring inside her ears. It felt like an invisible hand, caressing her away from her dark thoughts, away from the wall her eyes kept staring at; leading her straight to his soft lips.

She wanted to listen to him, hear his advice. Take it, so she could save herself. Or so she thought.

“Daydreaming?” he blessed her with a soft smile.

“There’s no reason to dream anymore.” The words fell from her lips like whisper. She didn’t want the world to listen. The world she’d come to know, was cruel, judging, painful. There was no place in it for her. “The world doesn’t give you a reason to dream.”

“How about life?” the young man asked again, mesmerized by her way of thinking; by the darkness that surrounded her.

“Life is just a game, doc.” She smiled a bitter smile.

“Please, call me Ignis. Would you care to elaborate on that notion? Is life a game for you?” it was incredible, there was nothing but compassion in his voice. No hate, no fear, no dread towards her, her words, her idea of the world.

That was… new.

“Not just for me. For everyone. It’s just a pointless, stupid game, that someone, somewhere came up with. A game where all of us are bound to play by someone else’s rules. Forced to do whatever others tell us. Unable to leave whenever we want; just whenever they get bored of us. When they’ve had enough. We all have our own daemons, but…” she took a few seconds to blink the hot tears away from her eyes, rearranging her thoughts as her eyes darkened “ you can get out of it if she blesses you. If she accepts to put you out of this misery we’ve learned to call life. It’s not always a blessing though. Sometimes, it’s the exact opposite.”

“Who is she?”

Evita smiled wearily “Lady Death. The forbidden child of Shiva and Ifrit. The cursed child; abandoned by the Six Astrals and the world beyond.”

Ignis wrote something on his notebook “So you wish to tell me, Death… is a female figure.”

“Isn’t every wrong thing in the world a female figure?” she smirked “The Original Sin: Eos, Shiva, Leviathan; everything began with them.”

“I am curious,” Ignis continued after nodding at her chain of thought “this… Lady Death, tell me about her. Explain to me, how do you picture her?”

Evita’s look was dead serious the second the words left his lips “I don’t picture her, Iggy.” Her voice strong and low “She’s not a fragment of my imagination. I’ve seen her.”

Ignis’ heart skipped a beat at her words, a certain uneasiness taking its hold on him. He fixed his glasses before continuing “The dream for which you came to me.”

“Not exactly.” She breathed, her eyes falling upon the texture on the wall once more “See, it wasn’t a dream.” She explained what the Lady was for her “A tall figure, young face, a thin yet strong presence. Long dark hair, hugging her body like a vail; and her eyes… milky white and screaming chaos! Spreading terror as they fascinate any soul that dares to look at them. She always wears a long dark tunic, taking extra care not to hide her beautify terrifying face. On her right hand, a scythe, even more monumental than her own form, a shiny blade under which countless souls have fallen! That’s how she answers your song, when you call for her. Her face,” Evita let out a heartening sigh and a shiver run down Ignis’ spine as his blood had started to freeze. He didn’t know why, but something in her words, in the meaning of them, seemed so alive, so real; like he could almost see her, standing by her side “her face is so sad. She doesn’t like what she’s doing. Though, there’s no other way, she, herself, is just another pawn of the Astrals.”

“Stop telling him everything! He doesn’t need to know.” She heard her sister’s voice once again. Six was there, whispering in her ears.

Evita stopped talking.

“Can anyone call for her?” Ignis asked. He was so absorbed by her, he hadn’t written anything down in his notebook. Thinking back on that little detail, he smiled to himself for having pressed the recording button.

Evita didn’t answer. She was waiting for Six’s blessing to do so. The latter didn’t speak. She just walked around the room a little longer. Her silver eyes falling on every single picture and frame the doctor had, hanging on the rooms walls. Pictures of his trip with his friends.

“You can tell me.” Ignis smiled “I don’t plan on calling her anytime soon.”

Evita’s eyes fell on Six’s figure, right behind him, leaning against the dark green wall with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Tell him then. I’m not sure Her Highness will be more bothered than I am.”

Evita opened her mouth, as if to say something but closed it right away. She took a small breath, trying to pick the right words “Have you heard of the Swan Song?”

“Yes.” Ignis answered, filled with interest and need for knowledge “Swans sing before they die.”

“That’s just what humans do as well. A little before we die, we let out a soundless scream of sorrow and regret. To her ears, that scream takes the form of a song. A summoning spell.”

“How is it that you have seen her, then?” Ignis thought about her words “You’re still here.”

“It all started when my parents died. I was twelve years old and my sister was fifteen. Our apartment caught on fire because my mother forgot that damn cigarette before dad threw it away.” Six let out a huffed laugh at the thought of one thing leading to another. “It all happened so fast; I can’t recall how fast the fire spread along the house. I just remember… Her! She came for mommy and daddy. She came for me! She lowered herself above me, like a mother, tucking her beloved child in bed before sleep. She whispered how it wasn’t my time, but we were to meet again. She moved so quickly, yet I, like the little child I was, followed. I needed to see; I needed to know what she was doing. Who she was.” She took a breath in, eyes wondering, following her sister’s moving figure; falling on the mesmerized eyes of her listener “They sang for her! I could hear their call. She lowered herself over them, like she’d done for me and; I couldn’t understand why but… she cried for them. It was only a single, heavy tear. When it fell and touched their foreheads, they went silent.”

Ignis was nailed in place. Unable to move, like her words were hands, keeping him down in his seat. Everything he heard, so real. Like he was the one to live through it. Like it was his parents, leaving their last breath in the arms of the dark-dressed woman. Images bombarding his mind; the apartment, the fire, the Lady in black, the shaking of fear and the smell of dread.

“And then,” Evita continued “She opened her ripped black wings and the room went dark.” She mimicked the movement a bird makes when it flatters it’s wings “I woke up in my sister’s arms the next morning. Six never spoke about it, but she’d seen her too. I know. I could see it in her eyes.”

“So tell me, Ignis.” she ordered after a few seconds of silence, her eyes glued to his “How can two kids, who had never felt pain or misery in their lives, dream about such horrid things? How can all this be but a dream? Let me tell you.” she smiled “It’s just another rule. What one cannot understand, must be just a bad dream. ‘Childish Imagination’ the previous doctor called it. ‘A teenager’s dark subconscious’. Six and I know better than that.”

“Talk to me about your sister.” Ignis tried changing the subject, get her mind working on something else “Did she treat you right? Were you happy with her?”

“He’s pushing it.” Six roared, behind gritted teeth. Getting very close to his face while he just sat there, not even flinching; not paying any attention to anything but Evita.

“You’re pushing it, doc.” Evita’s eyes moved from her sister to him “We’re here because of the ‘dream’; not my sister.”

“I’m just trying to understand, Evie. Help me put the pieces together.”

“He’s either very good at his job, or a complete idiot!” Six breathed, raising her eyebrow at him. This time she was sitting in the chair behind him, her intense look not once leaving his figure.

“What should I help you understand?” Evita asked, not paying attention to her sister’s words.

“What brings you here.”

Evita brought Six back to the center of attention, despite her sister’s protests “My sister, Six, is my guardian angel.”

“Is?” Ignis noticed “I thought…”

“You thought right.” Evita cut him off “My sister is dead!”

“We always carry the thought of the ones we lost.” Ignis quoted, fixing his glasses at the bridge of his nose. “Would you tell me how it happened?”

“She was murdered.”

Evita took her time to collect her thoughts while Ignis waited for more information. He pushed her, with his own kind way, so her mind could think of the details, get everything he could out of her. He really wanted to help her move on.

Ignis made a notion with his hand and she continued.

“Her song was beautiful! It was the second time I saw Her. It was a rainy day, back in Insomnia. We hadn’t been back for a year. She went inside the Citadel while I waited with a couple of friends, she had a duty to fulfil. A few moments later, I heard her song and a tear fell down my face. See, the Chancellor of Niflheim was there. He had it out for her ever since she uncovered his plans for the Peace Signing.” Evita looked at the celling, taking a moment for the hot tears to dry out. “And well, here we are.”

“We?” Ignis found himself surprised by her choice of words once again “There’s none other here but you, Evie.”

Evita tilted her head to the side, looking at him with wonder in her eyes “You’re wrong, Ignis.” she said “There’re four of us in this room.”

The blood inside his veins froze solid, terror spreading all over his body. The vision of the young lady he had in front him had changed in an instant. The sweet, innocent version had become cold, like a porcelain doll.

It was only then that he noticed the wounds, scratches and bruises all over her face, neck, arms and legs. There was one, in particular, he got terrified upon noticing. A big wound on her eye! How? When? Why was he noticing them just now?

“What are you saying, Evie?” his voice broke, fear taking the better of him as it consumed his heart and mind.

“You still can’t see her?” Evita smiled a sad smile “She’s right there!” she pointed at the leather couch next to the office’s door.

Ignis’ gaze followed her delicate finger. His eyes instantly falling upon her.

The tall girl with the vail of raven hair and eyes grey as a winter’s cloud. She was dressed in white, just like Evita and she was also covered in wounds and scratches. Ignis’ eyes fell upon the left side of her entire body –the parts he could see anyway. It seemed as if it was still burning. How was that possible? The wound seemed to start at the middle of her cheek, running down to her fingers and toes.

“Hey, Iggy!” Six waved with a smile when he’d finally realized she was actually there as well.

“Who are you?” Ignis raised from his seat “How did you get in here?”

“Get –“ Six sighed while rolling her eyes “I was here from the start. You were just not ready to see us.”

“See… you?” he was starting to lose it, he was sure of it “Evita, what –“

When his eyes fell upon her, Evita’s dress was covered in blood, seemingly running down from the wound on her eye. He run to her side, wanting to help her; but she just stared at his direction, her golden eyes now milky white and her face… nothing like he was expecting.

Ignis expected to come across something. Pain, agony. The only emotion she showed was… regret.

That’s when he remembered.

“Lady Death.” He whispered, feeling his heart ready to burst out.

“Can you see her now?” She asked.

“I…” he’s voice broke at the emotions bombarding his mind “This can’t be happening.” He fell on his knees in front of her.

“It’s all just a dream.” Evita caressed his cheek while she explained as he leaned into her touch “Your way of avoiding the pain. All the stories you heard from me; all yours. The fire, that took your parents when Niflheim attacked Insomnia. The ‘murder’ of your ‘brother’, Noctis. All yours! Your very own Swan Song.”

Ignis’ eyes where filled with agony when he looked at her again “Who are you?”

“I am a Reaper.” She smiled wearily “I’m here to remind you of who you truly are.”

Ignis burst out in tears at her words, realizing it was his time. That this was real.

“Your song is the most beautiful tone I’ve ever heard!” Evita breathed “You truly do not want to die!”

“But you must come with us.” Six stepped in, voice stern and yet breaking for him “Accept the end.”

And then, amongst the pain, the fear and the agony that ripped his heart apart, Ignis saw her standing in the corner, near the exit door.

A dark, shapeless figure; moving closer with every passing second. A single ray of light running along the blade of her scythe.

“My Lady.” He managed to say in between his shallow breaths her sad gaze caused.

‘She doesn’t like what she’s doing.’ He heard Evita’s words in his mind again ‘She’s just another pawn of the Astrals!’

“She’s not here for us, Ignis.” the sisters said in unison, their merged voice caressing his ears like a song “She’s here for you.”

Ignis looked at her through his eyelashes, coming across her haunting, void eyes. She bowed above him and shed a single tear. Suddenly, all the feelings he felt were gone. Pain had become peace, sorrow had become bliss.

It was all over.

But he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything anymore!

Lady Death stretched her black, ripped wings and darkness fell over the room.

“Death,” she whispered in a haunting screech “is only the beginning.”

Tagging: @nemo-ne-impune-lacessit @mzargentum @nykamito @thedragontamerying @fieryfantasy @ladye11e @glacian-apocalypse @asonataspassions (If you want to be added or removed please let me know! Thank you again!)

[captain-zajjy]

Solstice, Chapter 17 - A Final Fantasy XV Story

Pairing: Ignis x Female Original Character

AO3 | Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11��12 13 14 15 16

A/N: Looong chapter today. Hope you enjoy it!

When the citywide chimes struck seven in the evening, Ignis reluctantly rose from the couch to gather his things. Valeria was still sound asleep, as far as he could tell, but he nonetheless felt badly for leaving her, if even for just a few hours.

And he couldn’t entirely suppress the wholly irrational fear that she would disappear in the interim. That she would slip through his fingers once again, or her comforting presence would prove to be nothing but a wonderful, cruel dream.

Nonetheless, he had an appointment to keep. The Marshal had sidelined him from daemon hunting for the time-being, and though Ignis knew it was for his well-being, the demotion still stung. The only recourse he had was to dedicate himself to his training until the Marshal deemed him worthy to rejoin the fray.

When Ignis reached for his jacket, his fingers struck upon an unfamiliar garment - a coat, shapeless, grimy, nearly large enough to fit him. He knew it had to belong to Valeria, even though it was nothing like the expensive, well-tailored clothing he’d always known her to wear. This apparel, combined with the way she’d practically inhaled the food at the market and her genuine, profuse gratitude for a cold shower, left him feeling uneasy, vaguely guilty. My dear, just what happened to you out there?

Various scenarios, each more miserable than the last, played out in Ignis’s mind as he sparred with the Marshal in the gymnasium of Lestallum’s former high school. Rather than channeling the negative energy into his strikes, he allowed it to overwhelm him, drawing his attention from the sounds, the shifting air and vibrating ground that he now relied upon to give him a sense of his opponent on the battlefield.

“You’re distracted,” the Marshal chided after knocking Ignis on his backside for the third time.

Ignis merely picked himself up and said, “Yes. I apologize.” He knew the Marshal didn’t want to hear excuses, least of all those related to his personal life.

“You can’t afford to be distracted.” Even if his words hurt at times, Ignis appreciated that Cor spoke plainly, that he didn’t handle him like some kind of breakable invalid.

“Yes, sir.” Ignis suppressed a sigh. Distractions. He had pushed his feelings to the side, buried them deep for so long, all to avoid that one, shameful word. That was going to prove much more difficult now that Valeria was staying with him, and yet the thought of her boarding somewhere else left him feeling quite sad and lonely. He didn’t want her to go, and yet he wasn’t sure he possessed the willpower to repress his heart if she stayed. The events of the last six months had laid him bare and left him longing for the sort of comfort that he’d once convinced himself was unimportant, unnecessary, to his existence.

“Let’s take a break,” the Marshal said.

Ignis’s shoulders sagged. “I apologize,” he said once more.

“Enough of that.” Ignis felt the Marshal’s hand on his back, guiding him toward the bleachers. “Sit down.”

Ignis did as he was told, setting his jaw. He didn’t particularly want a lecture, but supposed he deserved one. The Marshal sat down beside him, pausing a few moments before he spoke.

“I’m not doing this to punish you,” Cor said. “But the truth is, I have more wannabe Hunters than I know what to do with. What I don’t have is a head for politics. Gods,” he muttered, “I never could stand it. And now I find myself right in the middle of it.”

“With EXINERIS?” Ignis ventured.

“They seem to think the Hunters are their own personal military,” the Marshal replied. “Meanwhile, half my guys refuse to work until their families get let in the city. I know you’d probably rather be out there in the thick of things, but right now I need your mind a lot more than I need your daggers.”

Ignis straightened his back. “I want to help, Marshal. However I can.”

“Good,” the Marshal said. “Because negotiations are not really my skillset, especially with the power company.”

“I... I actually know of someone who may be able to assist with that, specifically.” Ignis briefly told the Marshal about Valeria and her former position at Royal Energy, taking care to make their relationship sound strictly professional, and definitely not mentioning that she was back in his apartment, literally sleeping in his bed.

“A woman?” Cor asked.

Ignis cleared his throat. “As I said, she’s an acquaintance from the Academy.” Not a distraction.

“That’s good,” the Marshal replied, and Ignis nearly fell over.

“I’m sorry?”

“EXINERIS has a thing about men.” Cor let out a wear sigh, probably shaking his head. “They think we should all just shut up and follow their orders. I guess that’s how it’s always been around here.”

“Ah, yes.” Ignis felt strangely relieved, like a child nearly caught sneaking out of the house. “They don’t allow men to work at the power plant.”

“They don’t allow them to do a lot of things, apparently. Anyway, If you could bring her in, that’d be a big help,” the Marshal replied. “Also, anything she can tell us about the occupation of Insomnia would be good to know. As far as the reports go, the Niffs are still there - along with all our people.”

Ignis nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

She was on the run again. The lights of Lestallum, the safety within the walls, Ignis - it was all a beautiful dream. Now there was the only the cloying darkness, the sulphurous stink, screeching, teeth, and claws...

Valeria’s eyes snapped open. Light. There was so much light. A soft pillow and clean blankets. It was all real. The daemons were the dream. That hardly seemed possible, but no matter how many times she blinked, the lights weren’t going away.

She got out of bed, marveling at just how rested she felt, and found Ignis sitting on the couch, listening to the radio with a pair of headphones.

“I trust you slept well?” He asked, switching off the device.

“I did,” she replied. “How long was I out?” Ignis was fully dressed, shoes and sunglasses on, but he wasn’t wearing the same clothing when he met her at the gate (and she noted that, despite his newfound blindness, he was as well-dressed as ever in a starched button-up and suspenders, hair expertly styled).

“Well, the clock struck two in the afternoon not long ago.” A small smile played on his lips.

“Two...” Once upon a time that would have seemed horribly, selfishly late, but she didn’t even know what late or early meant anymore.

“I told you to rest as long as you needed.”

Valeria noticed a folded blanket and pillow stacked at the other corner of the couch. “Did you sleep out here? I don’t want to put you out of your own bed.”

Ignis shrugged. “It’s no trouble. And what sort gentleman makes a lady sleep on his couch?”

Valeria laughed. Oh, Iggy. “Good to know that even at the end of the world, chivalry’s not dead.”

She went into the bathroom, once again marveling at just how clean everything was, how clean she felt. When she came back out, Ignis had a cup of coffee waiting for her at the tiny kitchen table.

It smelled heavenly, but something else caught her eye. “Is this real?” She asked, eyes wide with wonder, picking up a half-filled glass bottle. “Real milk?”

“Indeed,” he replied, chuckling at her bewilderment. “It’s certainly not cheap these days, but I know how you like your coffee.” When she hesitated, he motioned for her to help herself. She used less of it than she regularly would, back when both milk and good coffee weren’t a precious commodity.

“Ebony?” she marveled again when the mellow, smoky brew hit her tongue. “How in the world did you get your hands on Ebony?”

“I have a deal with most of the Hunters.” Ignis crossed his arms over his chest. “They bring me any Ebony they find while out on the road, and they get paid.”

Valeria didn’t bother to ask where he got the money. He still served the Prince - no, the King. “I’m surprised you don’t live with Noctis.” The way the color drained from Ignis’s face made her instantly realize she’d said something wrong. “Is he-?”

“He’s not dead,” Ignis asserted.

Valeria then felt her temper flare. “Did he...dismiss you? After all you’ve done for him?” After what you gave up for him?

“No.” Ignis shook his head emphatically. “It’s nothing like that. It’s...rather difficult to explain. Noct is...gone.”

“Where?”

Ignis sighed, then launched into an explanation about Noctis and the Crystal, the Imperial Chancellor, and the Glacian’s cryptic message. “You probably think I’ve lost my wits along with my sight,” he concluded. “But Gladio and Prompto will tell you the same.”

“Six months ago, I would've told you a world where the sun never rises was absurd. Nothing really seems that crazy anymore.”

“I suppose not.” Ignis sipped his coffee.

“I’m sorry about the Prince. Even if he’s safe, I... I know this can’t be easy for you.”

“No,” Ignis admitted. “It hasn’t been. But keeping Lestallum from descending into anarchy certainly keeps us all busy. And when Noct does return, I’d like to be able to present him with at least a semblance of order somewhere in his kingdom.”

Even now, with all that had happened, and all that had happened to him, Ignis’s devotion to his duty, to his king and country, remained unflappable. She both admired and envied him for that. She had no kingdom, no legacy left to preserve, and no hope that some day all the things she’d worked so hard for and lost would suddenly come back to her.

Their conversation lapsed into contemplative silence then, and Valeria tried to savor her coffee, tried to savor how it felt to be washed and rested, but her eyes kept darting to the windows and the door, to the corners of the room where something might lurk in the darkness...

“Damn,” she muttered, shaking her head.

“What is it?”

“I just...” Valeria shook her head again, as if she could knock the paranoid thoughts free. “You’re sure there are no daemons within the city?”

Ignis’s expression softened. “It was very bad for you out there, wasn’t it?”

Valeria looked away, down at her coffee, choking down a dozen awful memories that floated to the surface at once. “Yes,” she said quietly.

“Val.” His hand slid across the table and felt around for hers, squeezing her fingers tight when he found it. “Forgive me. I should have found you sooner.”

They both knew there was nothing more that he could have done. Aloud, she said, “I think you had enough on your plate.”

“Still, I am sorry.” He squeezed her hand again. “But you’re safe here. Well, maybe not from pickpockets, but I assure you, there are no daemons.”

“I’m afraid it may take a while to convince my subconscious of that.”

Ignis nodded, a small, understanding smile on his face. “I’m happy to remind you whenever you need.”

As he moved his head, a silvery glint around his neck caught her eye. “You still have that necklace.” She couldn’t decide if she was amused or surprised that he was still wearing it after all this time, so it came out as a bit of both.

“Of course I do,” Ignis replied. “Do you finally want it back?”

Valeria chuckled. She’d lost it to him in a bet over their final exam scores one semester (a bet he had won by a single percentage point), and after the month they had agreed upon was over, she'd decided to let him keep it. The little Lucian-style skull peeking through his unbuttoned collar had suited him so well she couldn’t bring herself to take it back.

“No. I told you, it’s too much with the earrings.” Valeria took his hand and placed his fingers on her earlobe to feel the matching skull studs that she too had continued to wear all these years.

“If you say so.” Ignis’s hand lingered there for a moment, running along her neck and the side of her jaw before pulling away, a blush creeping up his neck. Valeria let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

There was no good reason he didn’t kiss her right there, across his kitchen table. The things that kept them apart had vanished with Insomnia’s fall. But like her fear of the darkness, their strangely detached intimacy and the idea that her feelings for him were wrong, as wrong as theft or cruelty, were ingrained deeply upon her heart.

“Best not to let this spoil,” Ignis said, his stiff tone echoing her own thoughts. He put the milk back in the narrow refrigerator and rinsed their mugs in the sink.

“We could go shopping today, if you’d like,” he said.

Shopping? Valeria almost laughed. After a month of scrounging for scraps to eat in between hiding from daemons and dodging MTs, the idea of strolling through the market seemed ridiculous. But it wasn’t. It might be more shoving than strolling, but the market was there.

“Sure,” she said. “What do you need to get?”

Ignis shook his head. “Shopping for you. I noticed your bag was rather light.”

Valeria stared down at her lap, at her knobby, bruised knees poking out of Ignis’s boxer shorts, and tried to choke down the shame that had suddenly welled within her. Valeria Soleil, one of Insomnia’s wealthiest and most successful heiresses, now without a single gil to her name. That it wasn’t her fault didn’t make it any less embarrassing.

“I told you. I don’t have any money,” she said quietly.

“And I told you it was my treat,” Ignis replied. “If you truly feel beholden, then consider your company adequate compensation.”

Company? Valeria looked up. Was Ignis really so lonely, or was he just trying to assuage her?

“What about Gladiolus and what’s-his-name? The one who can’t spell. Aren’t they here?”

“Prompto. And they are,” Ignis conceded. “We see each other several times a week. But,” his expression turned solemn, “to sit here with them, like this...it only reminds us that Noct is gone.”

“Oh.” Valeria reminded herself that Noctis was not merely Ignis’s liege; more than that, he was his friend. “I just... I don’t want to obtrude upon your hospitality.”

“‘Obtrude?’” Ignis laughed, breaking the tension. “Do you have any idea how delightful it is to converse with someone who knows the meaning of the word ‘obtrude?’ That in and of itself is enough to repay me.”

Loath as he was to admit it, Ignis had to concede that shopping with the help of another person was infinitely easier than trying to do it on his own. Prompto and Gladiolus had helped him at first, of course, but then Ignis had stubbornly insisted he could manage by himself; he had to learn, lest he need to wait on someone every time he needed to run a bloody errand. His solo trips had ended half-successful at best. It certainly didn’t help matters that the market was overflowing with people and the stalls were constantly in flux; EXINERIS had yet to draw up any sort of regulations about who could set up shop and where, let alone make any determinations about how they would enforce it.

So, while the shopping trip was primarily so Valeria could get what she needed, Ignis decided he might as well pick up a few things while he had her aid. She seemed too overwhelmed to mind.

“You’re just going to have to push through,” Ignis advised her, after her polite attempts to ask people to move aside failed. He had to keep a firm grip on her arm - tighter than he would have liked - to ensure they didn’t get separated by the pressing throng.

“This is crazy,” Valeria admitted after purchasing some new clothes. He hoped she had managed to find something at least somewhat convivial to her refined tastes. “Where does all this stuff come from?” she asked. “Surely factories aren’t still running...?”

“The last shipments before the Darkness fell.” The market - and therefore all of Lestallum - was operating on borrowed time. Yet another thing EXINERIS needed to plan for, and fast. With that in mind, Ignis decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to pick up some canned goods in addition to his regular groceries, to add to the pantry of non-perishables he’d been stockpiling since moving into his apartment.

They stopped in front of a stall and Ignis began telling Val what he was looking for when they were suddenly interrupted by a man whom he assumed was the shop owner.

“Hey, Tenebrae. Can’t you read the sign?” The man’s voice was laced with disdain, just this side of open hostility.

Ignis scowled, the man’s tone immediately putting him on the defensive. “Ah, no. I cannot, in fact.” That elicited neither embarrassment nor an apology.

“‘Lucians Only.’” Valeria said, sounding a little baffled. Ignis assumed that was what was written on the sign he couldn’t see. “Why does that matter? A gil is a gil.”

I am a Crown citizen, Ignis opened his mouth to say, but the man fired off a response before he could speak.

“This ain’t about money, missy. I’m a patriot. Lucian goods for Lucian citizens, I say. In case you hadn’t noticed, foreigners have turned this place into a real shithole.”

“Well, you’re insulting a member of the Lucian Crownsguard,” Valeria snapped back. Ignis could feel her stiffening beside him.

Again, rather than show some sort of chagrin, the shop owner only became more defiant. “‘Crownsguard.’” There was a sneer around the word. “Now, there’s an oxymoron for ya. Losing two kings in six months has gotta be some kind of record for incompetence. Guess ol’ Cor ‘the Immortal’ was more concerned with upholding his reputation than doing his duty.”

There were half a dozen retorts on the tip of Ignis’s tongue, but he remained silent. Why waste his breath? People like this man only heard what they wanted to. Valeria took a deep breath, like she was about to launch into a tirade, when Ignis tugged on her arm.

“Let’s go, Val.”

When she balked, he forcibly turned them around, felt her dragging her feet as they walked away.

“Iggy, that man...”

Ignis shook his head. “People like him are beneath your notice.”

“Is that normal?” She sounded appalled.

It was the first time he’d actually been turned away based on the way he spoke, but the prejudice behind it had been mounting ever since refugees from Niflheim began pouring into Lestallum. Imperials had it the worst, but people from Accordo and Tenebrae were beginning to get lumped in with them as well.

“Let us hope not,” Ignis replied. Rather than stew on it, he instead thought about how flattering it was for her to come to his rescue.

It wasn’t the first time. His position working for the Crown had deterred most bullying back at the Academy, but sometimes, being the foreign-born, bespectacled kid who skewed the grading curve was just too much for his classmates to bear. He recalled those incidences bothering Valeria far more than him. And every time she had dressed down his tormentors with an alarming ferocity, knowing exactly where their petty teenage insecurities laid and brutally ripping them clean. It certainly hadn’t won her many friends, but it had earned her his undying affection.

“Don’t let it trouble you.” He gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.

“Hmph.” Ignis could just picture her now, long nose in the air, lips pursed and eyes narrowed in silent irritation, long brown hair streaming behind her. He was grateful for that image, as clear as a photograph in his mind. He could live with this darkness, he thought, as long as he could remember the faces of those he loved.

“Let’s go back,” he said, trying to sound cheerful. “I’ll make us dinner.” Hopefully she wasn’t expecting something hot.

Valeria sat at Ignis’s kitchen table, their encounter in the market playing over and over in her head. That asshole. She wanted to go back and give him a piece of her mind, but what could she really do? She had no money, no name, no hired muscle to intimidate him. She was just another penniless refugee.

“I hope you don’t mind cold sandwiches?” Ignis asked hesitantly. She looked up and saw him standing with his hands full in the tiny kitchen. “I’m still a bit, uh, wary of operating the stove.”

“It’s fine, Iggy. Really, I’ll eat whatever.”

He may have had his reservations about cooking with heat, but he moved quite confidently about the kitchen as he prepared their meal. He must have memorized where everything was, she thought, resolving to make sure to put everything away exactly where she found it in the future.

“Would you like mayonnaise?” he asked.

Valeria felt her mouth watering at the word. “Would I?” She didn’t even particularly like mayonnaise, but condiments were a luxury she had thought all but lost.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’” A small, satisfied smile played on his lips.

When the food was ready, Ignis carried both plates toward her, feeling around with his leg for the table’s edge. She nearly got up to help him, but then he connected and set their plates down. Should she have carried the plates in? Or had he known what he was doing all along? It was so hard to know when to step in.

“No tomato, I’m afraid,” Ignis said, sliding a plate toward her. “Plenty of turkey, though.”

Valeria took the plate, examining the generous slab of white meat, cheese, and a bit of wilted lettuce. Real food. A finer meal than she’d had in a long, long time.

“This looks amazing. Thank you, Iggy.” As he went to take a bite from his own sandwich, a small, grey-green splotch on the crust caught her eye. “Ah! Wait a minute.” She grabbed his arm, lowering the sandwich back to the plate, which she then spun around, cutting bits of mold from several places on the bread. “Alright. There you go.”

Valeria began to cut mold from a few places on her own sandwich, then looked up to see the slightly smug look on Ignis’s face had vanished, replaced by one of abject horror.

“What...?” He was fingering the top of his sandwich, the little nooks left in the crust where she’d cut the mold away. “Was that...mold?”

“Just a little.” Valeria pushed the bits she’d removed to the side of her plate and prepared to dig in when Ignis abruptly rose.

“My apologies,” he said, looking as if he’d just accidentally served her arsenic. “I’ll make you something else.”

Valeria frowned, then leaned across the table to tug on his arm and get him to sit back down. “It’s just a little mold, Iggy. Cut it off and the rest of the food is still fine.”

As if to demonstrate, she took a big bite of her sandwich. The bread was, predictably, dry and stale, but that hardly mattered. The light flavor of the meat, the tang of the cheese and mayonnaise, the crunch of the lettuce...could a sandwich really be heavenly? Maybe so.

“Mmm,” Valeria hummed as she took another bite. Ignis had sat back down, but he still looked appalled. “Are you really that bothered by a little bit of mold?”

“I...” His shoulders slumped. “I just wanted to make something nice for you.”

“And you did. Seriously, Iggy, this is really good.”

Ignis sighed and ate, all the while continuing to look dejected about it.

“You’re so funny,” Valeria said, finishing her last bite.

“Am I?”

“You keep apologizing, like I haven’t been sleeping on the floor and eating out of a can for the past month.”

Rather than laugh, Ignis frowned. “This entire time?”

“Before that, it was an uncomfortable cot and disgusting rations.” But Valeria didn’t want to dwell on that. She picked up the last crumbs of her sandwich and licked them from her fingers. “Things changed...well, I suppose things have changed for everyone.” 

After a long moment spent in silence, she turned to Ignis. “How are you, Iggy? With everything?” she asked. “I mean, honestly.”

Ignis immediately opened his mouth, then shut it, seeming to consider his words. “Not without my fair share of frustrations,” he admitted. She didn’t think there was anything ‘fair’ about it. “But I’ve been making do. Better, now that you’re here.”

Valeria felt strangely embarrassed at that. “You’re always worrying about others,” she said, looking down at her plate.

Ignis grunted. “Gladio says I’m in denial.”

She looked up. “Are you?”

“I... I don’t know,” he said. “To put it bluntly, I don’t know how else to live my life.”

Valeria studied his face. The large, angry red scar only partially concealed behind dark glasses, earned protecting others. His sight lost in service to the crown. That should have been more than enough to earn him a long respite to finally put himself first.

“Sometimes I feel so lost,” she whispered. “I spent my entire life preparing for something that no longer exists. Something that was destroyed overnight. All those things I gave up or pushed to the side...” You. “Just what was the point in any of it?”

Ignis’s expression softened. “We never could have predicted this.”

“I know. I just...” She pushed away a sudden wave of grief. “I keep thinking about my mother and all the sacrifices she made for the company. Now, it’s gone, and she’s gone. In the end... I don’t know. It feels like there has to be something more.”

Ignis was looking toward her with a tender expression on his face, the kind he used to give her sometimes that always made her so sad, like they were mourning a life that had never been.

“Valeria. You’re free to choose to be whomever you want. Whatever you want.”

She wished Ignis could look her in the eye. “So are you.”

He opened his mouth, shut it, then bowed his head.

“Even after the King comes back,” she said gently. Valeria didn’t want to push him; she merely wanted to give him a nudge. “Just think on it.”

Ignis, head still inclined, nodded. “...I will try.”

Valeria smiled. Good. Trying was all she asked of him. She rose and collected both of their plates, discarding the bits of mold into the trash.

Ignis got to his feet and turned toward the kitchen, looking concerned. “I can-”

“I know,” Valeria cut him off as she turned on the sink. There was no dishwasher, so she scrubbed the plates by hand. “But you made dinner. It’s only fair that I clean up.”

Ignis managed somewhat of a compromise by standing next to her with a towel, drying and putting away the plates when she was done washing them. He’s trying, she reminded herself. No one changed all at once.

“I’m not him, Iggy,” Valeria said when she was finished. The kitchen was so small their bodies were practically touching, and she had to take him by the waist to move around him. “You don’t have to wait on me.”

“I know that,” Ignis replied, looking a little offended.

“I have something for you.” Talking about her mother had made Valeria remember, and she didn’t want to linger on the subject of Noctis. She went through her backpack, producing a small plastic baggie that held a wallet, pocket watch, and a pair of silver cufflinks. She grabbed Ignis’s hand and pressed it into his palm. “Your uncle’s things. At least, it’s what the Niffs gave me when I identified his body.”

Ignis paused halfway through unsealing the bag. “You identified him?”

Valeria realized that she had merely told Ignis his uncle was dead during one of their calls after Insomnia fell, not how she knew. “I didn’t... The Niffs had photographs of all the bodies they pulled from the rubble. I... I think it was quick.” Like my mother.

Ignis’s jaw tensed as he held the half-opened bag. “Val, you didn’t have to-”

“I wanted to,” she said. “I wanted you to have some closure.” He never needed to know how she had paid for that later on.

Valeria felt Ignis’s free hand on her arm, move up her shoulder, then pull her into his chest, the plastic bag thumping against her back as he enveloped her in an embrace.

“Thank you.” His voice was thick with emotion, both soft and heavy in her ear. “Thank you.”

Valeria closed her eyes and held onto him tightly, reveling in how warm he felt, how stalwart and strong. They had always been so reserved, so scared to touch one another before, but, she noted, the world had ended anyway, regardless of their best behavior. And now that they were here so close together, no bolt of lightning burst through the ceiling to strike them down, no earthquake split the ground beneath their feet.

It didn’t matter anymore. The things that had kept them apart before only existed in ruins now, in photographs of the dead, in little plastic bags of memories. They were free now, together at long last.

Without warning, Valeria began to cry.

“Oh, I...what’s wrong?” Ignis asked when he realized what was going on.

Valeria shook her head, burying her face into his lapel. “It’s not bad. It’s just...today was the best day I’ve had in a long time.”

“Are you certain? I believe I just tried to feed you mold.”

“That doesn’t matter.” Valeria sniffled, still clinging to Ignis’s chest. “Drinking coffee, shopping, having dinner with you - it was all so normal. I...” Even she couldn’t quite explain the sudden onset of tears, only that she was overwhelmed with relief, with the simple comfort of it all.

Ignis squeezed her tight, seemingly unperturbed at the soaking of his nice shirt. “Oh, Val,” he said, his voice softly rumbling in his chest. “I don’t know about ‘normal,’ but things are going to get better for you here. I promise.”

Valeria turned her head to look up at his face. “I know.”