fourstrings | i'd like to show you a million things

i'd like to show you a million things

[Ignis is nesting.

He wouldn't admit it aloud, of course. The little house out at Caem was good enough for occasional stops, but now that Noct's... condition is progressed enough to slow her down it's become more of a fixture, and one that sorely needed a few homey touches.

Taking funds from their coffers to finance his own pet project was unthinkable, of course, and he'd attempted a few hunts on his own to bankroll it. It hadn't taken the others very long to cotton to that, however, and after a fairly sound telling-off he'd found that either Gladio or Prompto were always willing to accompany him and that it made the process much smoother. There's a better bed for Noct's back, and decent linens to make it more comfortable. The kitchen has expanded far beyond its original adequate setup, and he takes pleasure in having a more robust place to prepare meals for Noctis, his friends, and whoever happens to be passing through at the time - and a lot of people pass through, to offer congratulations and check in on Noctis. Cor's visit had been alarming ( I ought to find a dungeon to throw you in, he'd said, before clapping Ignis soundly on the shoulder and smiling a smile that didn't move his mouth at all but danced in his eyes regardless ), but Gentiana's absolutely took the cake. They'd been sitting around the table after dinner when she appeared from nowhere, announced that the Queen of the Stone had spat in the eye of fate, and produced a large plush chocobo that made Prompto squeak.

She'd even stayed for dessert.

This room, though, is a secret. From Noctis, at least. Dustin had offered it up, and of course Ignis had refused until Dustin insisted he'd much rather be staying with his partner, and that this gave him a good enough excuse to present to the marshall. There are curtains, sky blue and printed with clouds but heavy enough to block out the light when sleep is needed. He's painted the walls yellow, which wouldn't have been an option he'd consider until he saw this particularly warm, pale hue that makes him think of the sunrise on a clear day. Some of Prompto's photographs have been blown up for the walls - cute and calming things, chocobo chicks and views of a calm ocean. There are bookshelves, the collection they may someday hold started with Iris' joyful donation of some of her own childhood favourites, and Gladio had helped him smuggle in soft, plush rugs and a comfortable chair. He can't take any credit for the crowning glory, however - that's all Cid's doing. The old man had pulled him aside one day, cussing and grousing about doing things the right way and damn kids keeping secrets from their elders, and shown him a crib of beatifully carved pale wood. One look at Ignis' face had him snorting that raising a kid would knock the softness right out of him, but he'd seemed pleased.

The door has stayed securely locked until today. When he peeks his head around the doorframe to their room Noctis is thankfully not asleep but fiddling with her phone, and just looking at her fills him with such a profound swell of love for her that he feels it aching in his chest and has to clear his throat before he speaks. ]

Dinner's ready. I'd like to show you something first.

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[ He leans in the doorway, just watching her as she moves about the nursery. She already seems comfortable there, and he can't help a little swell of pride over it. He resists the urge to narrate as she goes and lets her explore at her own pace instead, but when she turns back to him he can't help jumping on her comment and striding to her side, eager to rectify whatever's missing. ]

What do we need?

One sec.

[ leaning up to kiss his cheek, and then making her way back to her bedroom. although they've mostly settled in caem, they're still living out of their luggage -- ready to pick up and leave at a moment's notice, if the empire draws close enough. so she hefts up her bag onto the bed with a little grunt of effort, taking a second to root through it until she finds what she's looking for.

and then it's back to ignis and the nursery, taking a moment to find the perfect place before she finally settles her wooden carbuncle carving on a little shelf overlooking the crib. ]

There. [ stepping back, resting one hand on her stomach. ] Now it's perfect.

Ah.

[ She's right. It's perfect, and despite being convinced at every turn that he loves her more than is possible there's a little burst of adoration at the gesture. The little carving is a familiar sight from their childhood, and he understands what it means for Noctis to put it there, to pass it on to their child. He moves to her side, rests his hand on her stomach alongside her own and curls an arm around her shoulders. ]

You're a wonderful mother.

[ Yes, already. ]

You can't say that yet.

[ but there's a laugh in her voice as she says it, leaning to rest her cheek against his shoulder. ] We haven't even gotten to the hard part.

I can, and I have. You agree with me, don't you?

[ And it's almost become habit now, to reach out through that connection they have when he's talking to the baby. He's so grateful for it; for her magic that gives him the chance to be involved in this unique way, and as time goes on he could swear that the baby is starting to know him, to react to him. It's never been anything as defined as when he reaches for Noctis yet, that connection giving him a full, defined sense of her and all that she is, but it's special nonetheless.

Although this time, he stills. It's different. Or - not different, perhaps, but more. Like listening to a piece of music he's heard countless times before and being aware for the first time of the different instruments that make up the melody. ]

...Noct?

I know you'll be a great parent. But... I think I still have a lot to learn.

[ and that might be a terrifying thought if she didn't know that she'll have ignis beside her for every step of this journey. if she stumbles, if she falls short in something, he'll be there to pick her up and make up for any way that she might be lacking.

but she blinks a little at the sound of her name, shifting slightly. ] Mm?

Something's - [ he bites back the urge to say wrong, despite his natural discomfort with not understanding a situation. Wrong is a leap to the worst conclusion, and one he's not ready to make. Besides, Noctis would know first, wouldn't she? It's her body it's happening in, her magic that gives them this connection. Unless she's so close to it that the change was too gradual to be perceived - but no, he mustn't make her panic. Not without good reason. ]

Something's different.

[ even though he moderates the term, she still knows ignis well enough for it to make her worry. and immediately her brow furrows with concern, feeling a swell of anxiety seize in her chest. ]

Different? [ and she goes to rest a hand on her stomach, but it's too hard to establish that tenuous connection when she's upset -- and it only serves to make her worry that much more. what if he can't feel it, either? what if something's happened? what if -- ] What's wrong? Ignis?

I don't know.

[ It's not comforting, he knows, but it would be unfair to try and reassure her when he has no idea. Instead he moves in front of her, goes to his knees before her and puts both hands on her stomach, his forehead leaning against the swell of it. He tries to force himself to stay calm and fails, but the fierce protectiveness he's always felt towards Noctis has never prevented him from feeling close to her, even when he's taken it far enough that it annoyed her. He tries to harness that instead, to cling to the fact that his concern is rooted in love, and he reaches again.

It's the same. The same feeling he knows, and that's something, at least. ]

There you are.

[ And impulsively, without any idea of whether it well help, he reaches for the hand Noct has on her own stomach and laces the fingers with his own to make them a loop, a circuit of love for their child. He pours everything into that connection - all his love, all his hopes for a bright future. Under his hand he feels a kick, but through the force of Noct's magic he feels it again - that same presence, but as if there's some kind of reverberation to it. Like hearing a voice echo.

Or, it occurs to him, two people speaking almost in unison. ]

... do you feel that?

[ she's terrified.

this little life inside her already feels so fragile -- it's impossible for her mind to come up with anything other than that something's different must mean something's wrong. add that to the fact that she's too shaken to find the connection to that tenuous little thread of magic, and...

oh gods, what if she's done something? what if she wasn't careful enough, what if --

but then ignis says there you are, and she nearly feels her knees buckle underneath her with relief. and, of course, now that it doesn't feel like her heart is bound to stop at any moment, she's tempted to smack him for scaring the hell out of her, but --

he catches her hand before she can consider it, and she returns her focus back to trying to feel that bond. and... now that he mentions it, there is something different. the connection is so soft and everpresent in the back of her mind that she hadn't noticed any change, but... ]

Oh. [ which escapes her as a startled little gasp. ]

Is it -

[ He almost feels foolish for asking. Especially so given that it's her magic that ties them all together, her body that houses their child - and if he's correct, that thought's going to need amending. But the more he thinks on it the more correct it seems, and her gasp only seems to support that.

He squeezes her hand in his, looking up at her with an unflattering stunned expression on his face. ]

Two?

[ two.

it's undeniable -- now that she's aware of the variation in the magic connection, it's impossible not to feel it. and even so, she can't quite seem to wrap her head around the idea; wrapping her mind around the idea that she was going to be the parent to one child had already been hard enough, but --

... two. ]

I --

[ she pauses, swallows, takes a moment, and then: ] ... I think maybe I should sit down.

[ because passing out on her feet at this weight seems like a profoundly terrible idea. ]

[ Of course! Of course she should sit down, and he rises maybe a little too suddenly to steer her to the armchair and help her settle.

Two. It accounts for how huge she is, obviously. but it hardly seems fair; she's a tiny little thing, not fragile by any means but so small. It's hard to imagine her body hold room for one entire human being, let alone two. And the room - the room that's been set up so carefully for one baby -

Ignis sits rather suddenly at Noct's feet, and rests his head on her knee. ]

Twins.

[ sitting down is a relief, because the rest of the room is still spinning, and if she keeled over, ignis would probably never stop fussing.

... and his head on her knee is also an oddly steadying thing -- she reaches out to thread her fingers through his hair, taking comfort in the familiarity of the touch. ]

... y'know, I'm starting to think all of those lectures about birth control might have been a waste of time.

[ He exhales as her fingers wind into his hair, soothed by her touch. And of course, then she speaks, and her feels his cheeks flush a little. ]

Well, no single method is 100% effective.

[ And he can really only blame himself for that. He'd grown comfortable, careless, and that blame carries in the sheepish tone of his voice...

but he still can't quite bring himself to regret any of it. ]

If I'd known you were the most fertile woman on Eos, I'd have... [ and he laughs, low and warm. ] I wouldn't change a thing. Twins. A best friend, right from the beginning. What a wonderful thing.

Pretty sure this one counts as, like... anti-effective.

[ resting her other hand on the swell of her stomach, giving it a little pat. she remembers all too well the Talks ignis had forced her to endure when she started getting older -- consent and respect, ways of protecting herself against disease and any possible scandal, and then... once they'd gotten involved, he'd been even more diligent about making sure she took all necessary precautions.

and after all that? twins. ]

... they'll never have to be lonely. [ because she knows full well that the bloodline she passes on to them is a thing that tends to separate you from everyone else. she'd been endlessly lucky to find a friend in ignis when she was small, but still... ] They'll always have each other, I mean.

A blessing.

[ He means it. He'd been a quiet, solitary sort of child before he was brought to the Citadel, and while he'd been happy enough with his books and toys it has been nothing compared to the pure, colourful joy that had come into his life when Noctis befriended him.

It's actually quite nice being like this. Close to her, his head on her knee. He turns his face to press a kiss there and then settle back just how he was, rests a hand on her foot so his thumb can trace gently over the bony rise of her ankle. There's still a miniscule part of him that wants to object that their contraceptive methods played no part in just how pregnant Noct ended up, but... well. It's a lot of news to process, just at the moment. ]

I love you. I feel I don't say that enough.

[ He says it at least daily. But still. ]

You say it all the time.

[ but it's not a complaint; no matter how many times she hears it, it just makes her want to have him say it that much more. she's absolutely spoiled on the warmth of his adoration, there's no denying it, but he's always been more than happy to indulge her.

and she leans forward until she's able to press a kiss against his temple, cupping her hand against his cheek. ] And don't think it gets you off the hook, either. I can't believe you knocked me up with two.

[ And he's laughing again, his shoulders trembling with it. Honestly, it's ridiculous. Just when he thought they were out of surprises, twins. ]

Really, it's statistically very unlikely. There's no history of twins on my side of the family, and I'm reasonably sure we'd know about it if there was on yours.

I blame Gladio. He's some kind of - human fertility idol.

[ she makes a face at that one, scrunching up her nose in a silent ew. ]

That kind of makes it sound like I got infected just from standing too close to him. Like... sexy radiation? Gross.

[ Sexy radiation. As disgusted as she looks, it does absolutely nothing to stifle his quiet laughter. ]

Make him take responsibility. He can take care of nighttime feeding.

So, we're co-parenting, now?

[ as if there was ever any doubt about that, honestly. ]

Our kids are gonna start calling Gladio 'Mom', and then you'll be sorry.

[ They've had plenty of time to adjust, but he still gets a little thrill from hearing her say our kid. And now it's kids, and by all rights he should be terrified but he's too happy to worry. Yet. ]

I suspect it'll be worth the look on his face.

[ she snorts a little laugh, leaning back in the rocking chair and letting herself settle. and then, after a few moments: ]

... Ignis? [ her voice is a little smaller, uncertain. ] We can do this, right?

[ Oh. The tone of her voice is enough to make him shift, lifting his head off her knee to kneel in front of her and take her hands in his own, thumbs stroking little circles against her skin in an attempt to soothe. ]

We can. I won't pretend it won't be difficult at times, but it's going to be worth it. And we won't be alone. We're blessed to be surrounded by good people, who want to see these children safe and happy almost as much as we do.

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