Absolute

Chapter nine

Noctis and Prompto may believe they'd gone to bed the latest but Ignis was still very much awake long after they'd fallen asleep, almost bundled on their shared bed like a couple of children. Gladio slept like he was dead to the world that night, never once loosening his hold on his boyfriend unless he desperately needed to shift into a more comfortable position. It was a long night indeed and the next day would undoubtedly be no more merciful than the last.

Last night, before Gladio and Ignis had 'gone to bed', they'd all agreed on taking Iris to Caem with them the next day, it would be safer for her and put her brother's mind at ease a little. Unfortunately for her, they'd found another Imperial base and were set on taking it down, for Jared. Iris may have been forbidden to fight or tag along but she knew what they'd be doing, taking down the Empire one base at a time. Each MT was a small victory for Lucis and a loss for Niflheim, especially with the Chosen King and his retinue gaining strength by the day. The looks on their faces upon returning from their 'bust-a-base' mission were mixed, victorious in some sense but defeated in another. Even so, the base was destroyed spectacularly, with or without their secondary objective complete, it was a victory.

Once they were back on the road, it was as though there was a weight lifted from the group, the burden eased ever so slightly after the little excursion. Sights set on getting to Caem in one piece, Noct and Prompto were summarily banned from driving, not that Iris knew that, Gladio had made it clear before they met here at the gas station.

"So... Lemme get this straight. Ignis drives, cooks, cleans, does pretty much everything and you guys do... What?" She asked, prodding Gladio's cheek with that stare, one she'd learnt off Ignis no doubt. "Gladdy? D'you do anything to help?"

"Well..." Gladio replied, blocking her elbow, relieved when her attention turned to Noct.

"Uh... I sometimes drive..." Even Prince Charmless wasn't immune to her incessant poking and prodding, she jabbed him right in the ribs and he doubled over, tapping the back of Ignis' seat in defeat.

"Well! I set the table, and- Sometimes I drive!" Prompto chimed in before the younger, slightly scarier Amicitia turned her wrath on him.

"C'mon kiddo give us a break. Iggy's the only one that drives 'cause he's the only one we can trust not to crash it or mess around, plus the rest of us suck at cooking anything but cup noodles or toast." Gladio laughed at the way Ignis eyed him in the rear-view mirror. "Well, two of us can cook toast."

"That was one time! Lay off big guy!" Prompto squeaked, throwing Ignis empty Ebony can at him.

"It's a wonder Iggy don't let you near his cooking stuff."

The drive was quiet after that, aside from Iris' giggling at Prompto's pout or the occasional rustling of the snack bag. Gladio remained quiet apart from engaging in the odd conversation or two, adding a quip or pun here and there when no-one else would, finding solace in his novel more often than not. Iris still sent Ignis a worried look whenever she caught his eye in the mirror but she knew he couldn't do anything about it, the man already knew what was bothering Gladio but there was naught he could do but lend an ear and a shoulder to cry on.

It was upon finally arriving at Caem that things took a turn for the worst, yet again. Cindy greeted them on the way to the lighthouse, chattering away about how the boat was almost repaired, the only problem was they were unable to finish it without some Mythril. Ignis told her they were on hand should she need them to retrieve anything, in which case she roped them into helping, not that they had much else to be doing aside from gathering Royal Arms that is.

"Hey, you got a minute?" Gladio asked, the question directed at Noct, who nodded and waited for him to continue. "You guys are gonna have to go on without me. Got some personal stuff to deal with."