rookshire | Just like me you've got needs

Who: Gladio & Ignis
When: evening after Truth or Dare
Where: One of the therapy offices
What: Apologies need to happen
Warnings: None yet?

This should be familiar by now. Wherever Iggy is, whatever he's doing, the tiger lily that has been absent all afternoon slinks over to him, butting his head into one hip, demanding pettings that rustle the limp dry leaves in his fur dangerously. He rumbles a curious sound, gently tugging at the hem of Ignis' shirt. Leo is a little slower than usual, a little less insistent than he'd normally be. The desert heat is dangerous for all of them but the lilies are struggling far more than the others. If Ignis is observant he may feel a damp patch of fur in the big cat's ruff.

So maybe Gladio had let himself cry over his kitten for awhile earlier.

Gradually Leo will lead him to one of the group therapy rooms, pawing the door open and nudging him towards the cushy armchair beside the desk and Gladio settled on the floor beside it, on his knees waiting to see if Ignis would even answer Leo's coaxing or if he was still too mad to face him.

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He doesn't quite look up at Ignis but the fact that he's willing to try to comfort him eases some of his worries. Gladio tips his head to brush his lips against Ignis' fingers at his shoulder but doesn't move. Ignis will certainly feel a number of welts and scratches under his fingers... proof that he and Liam at least had fun last night.

"There is, actually. Sit down, babe?"

Ignis would be more concerned about the welts and scratches if he didn't know where they had come from. As it is, they are a sign that as least something went right last night. He takes comfort in that, even if it frustrates him that Gladio won't get up.

With a sigh, Ignis takes a seat in the chair as he has been asked, "You don't owe me anything. You do realize that, right?"

"I owe you an apology." He's quick to respond but he sounds tired more than anything. Once Ignis is seated he does rearrange himself though, scooting over to sit at Ignis' feet, back just far enough that he's not in easy petting range. Then he's pulling Iggy's feet into his lap, slowly rolling up the cuffs of his sleep pants, fingers gliding over the skin of his calves.

"I talked to our firestarter earlier." He's not allowed to say it to Ardyn but he still likes the name for him. Shut up, Iggy, let him be sappy.

"You can just say 'I'm sorry,' you realize." Despite the gentle complaint, Ignis doesn't pull away from Gladio. Deep down, he knows this is more for the Shield than it is for him. He just wishes his lover didn't feel so much like he has to do to make up for his mistakes. Everyone makes them, after all.

"And what did he have to say?"

"I am... I'm sorry I didn't listen, babe. I just... I guess I just needed to hear it from him and I felt like, I dunno, you were kinda being overprotective." A little sheepish but still apologetic. He leans down, dropping a kiss on one ankle, before letting his boyfriend have his feet back for a moment. There's some soft sounds of movement, things being slid across the floor, a soft sloshing of water.

Then he's coaxing Ignis to stretch out a little, urging him to dip his feet into a container of warm soothing water, strong hands sliding away then coming back to smooth up over his calves. The lotion they found isn't great, partially separated and quick to dry out so instead it's a light film of conditioner on his hands but it works well enough to massage.

"He said you're right, of course. That me pushing is only going to make things worse, I need to learn to back off... but we figured out a few things to sort of meet in the middle on."

Ignis hums softly in reply. It's not like he's going to say 'I told you so' and it doesn't really matter to him so much why Gladio understands now. It's just good he does and they can all move forward together until they hit the next snarl that needs working out.

As Gladio massages his feet, Ignis slides down in the chair, sighing contentedly. He may not think this is necessary, but it does feel very good. Gladio's hands always feel good on him.

"May I ask what you worked out so I know what not to interrupt?"

Maybe it's a little excessive but Gladio will take whatever excuse he can get to pamper his lover. Just seeing Ignis melt down into the chair is enough to make a tension he hadn't realized was still there uncurl. Iggy sighs and Gladio answers with a pleased hum, hands working over the advisor's feet, ankles, calves... everything he can reach.

"Mostly ways to make it more clear, visually, what I'm intending to do and giving him the opportunity to turn it down. I don't wanna keep making a big deal out of it so if we can keep talking through or around it it's a little less of a thing." If that makes any sense. He shifts briefly, hands returning with a thick mixture of sand and half melted ash soap that he can scrub over Ignis' feet, softening calluses and scrubbing away the worst of the buildup of the weeks on his poor feet.

"And I... sorta got a kiss."

"Signals then. Things he will recognize even if he's not thinking along the same lines as you are." Which means, they should be clear enough for Ignis to spot for what they are without knowing as well should he not be paying attention or happens to walk in on them talking together. Ignis approves of this solution a lot. It's a good compromise. It's not going to be perfect, of course, but it should help.

An slim eyebrow raises when he hears that last statement though, "I swear if you don't tell me the story behind that, I'm kicking water on you no matter how good this feels at the moment."

"Yeah, exactly. And ways that we can just... move on. I guess that's the part that bugged the hell out of me." He sighs, rinses one foot, moves to the other. It takes a moment for him to order his thoughts enough to be able to verbalize what he's trying to get across.

"Okay so the other day, when he ended up asking me to fix his gloves after that whole window fiasco. I kissed his hand. He didn't like it, it was too much he told me not to do it again and... we moved on. Went right back to the conversation at hand. no? okay, got it. so about this whole he's wearing your coat thing, that's cute as fuck and as annoyed as he might have been in that moment we were able to pick up and allow him to let it go instead of brooding over it. Does that make sense?" He honestly wasn't sure he was making any kind of sense here.

"I'm gonna try not to nudge him as much or be more obvious before I do it but idle conversation while he's processing things... isn't necessarily a bad thing. I went too far last night, yeah, but it's kinda like... when you stub your toe and it hurts so bad you've gotta bite your knuckles to distract from the ache with something sharper. Conflicting stimuli means your brain doesn't have to hyperfocus on the ho-shit too much." Finally he sighs, letting both of Iggy's feet settle into the water, working a bit of the sand scrub up around his ankles.

"As for the kiss... I put my thumb in the way and it was okay."

"You were talking about me wearing his coat?" Ignis blushes slightly and then sinks down into the chair more, because obviously after all of the talk about how they were communicating and working things out, Gladio mentioning to Ardyn that the advisor looks cute in his coat is the most important thing.

After taking a minute to resist covering his face with his hands, Ignis finally moves onto the more serious topic, "Yes it does. That is wonderful! I'm glad you were able to make some progress. I know it's not quite the amount of contact you would like, but it's a big step forward."

And it's adorable, but at least he is kind enough not to say it out loud.

Seeing Ignis get all flustered over the discussion of how cute he is only makes Gladio smile wider, even more pleased that he's not only made a point but also gotten the advisor all out of sorts. "It's more than I was expecting so I'm good with it."

Then Gladio is shifting up onto his knees again, scooting forward to straddle the pan of water, leaning against Ignis' legs to pin him to the chair. A mumbled "c'mere" and then one wet hand is tugging at his shirt, pulling Ignis forward gently so Gladio can kiss him.

"Sides I can kiss you all I want."

Ignis hums contentedly, resisting just long enough to mutter, "That you can," before giving in and sinking into the kiss. His hands run up Gladio's arms, coming to rest on his shoulders where they rub gently.

For now, he will ignore the fact Gladio is getting his shirt all wet. After all, it's not like the heat won't dry it out soon enough.

Just like me you've got needs

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