Ignis Ardenti

Ignis Ardenti (Part Two)

It was fully night when you opened your eyes again. Sitting up with a yawn, you became aware of two things. One, you were not the first awake; the bed beside yours was empty; Prompto was already up, and had probably made his way downstairs to get something to eat.

The second thing you noticed was that the last person you had expected to sleep in was still in his bed. It looked like Ignis had fallen asleep while working on recipes; he was sitting up against the headboard, his small notebook propped open in his lap. A pen was grasped loosely in his hand, and he hadn't even removed his glasses before dozing off.

Quietly, you slipped out of bed, creeping over to him. There was a gentle smile on your face as you carefully slid his glasses off, placing them on the small table that was next to the bed. Ignis was always awake long before everyone else, so you very rarely got to see him sleeping. It was quite the treat to see him completely relaxed like this.

Turning away, you made a detour to the bathroom for a quick shower before heading downstairs, looking around. Your wayward roommate was nowhere to be found, but you spotted one of uniformed men behind the counter gesturing to you. When you made your way over to him, he gave you a friendly smile. "Good evening, ma'am. Your friends left for Surgate's Beanmine less than an hour ago; they requested that you meet them there when you awoke."

You nodded, returning his smile with a somewhat tired one of your own. "Thank you." As you left the hotel, you had to pause, looking around. Lestallum really only came alive after the sun set; the plant at the edge of the city had released its workers, and the streets were filled with more people than during the day. Even from where you were, you could smell the various food stalls that were tucked away on the many streets, but none of them were the restaurant you were looking for. You'd had a quick look around when you and the others had first reached Lestallum, so you had a vague idea of where you were going, but you wanted to be sure. The streets were narrow and winding; easy to get lost in, and you wanted to avoid that.

Finally, you headed off, and before long, you spotted your missing companions sitting at a table in front of the restaurant. Gladio was reclined in his chair, reading a book, while Prompto was flicking through the images on his camera.

Prompto looked up as you approached, flashing you a bright smile. "Good morning, (Name)!" he chirped, and you had to smile in return. The scrape that had been on his face was gone, you saw; he must have used a potion on himself at some point.

"Technically, it would be "good evening"," you corrected him as you sat down across from Gladio, somewhat amused – and a little bewildered – that he could have so much energy after only a handful of hours of rest. You still felt exhausted, and probably could have slept for longer, if you had simply stayed in bed. Perhaps Noctis and Ignis were the smart ones, although you were sure that the prince's advisor had gotten the least amount of rest out of everyone, so if anyone deserved to sleep in, he did.

"Sorry about not waiting for you," Gladio said, putting his book aside, propping one elbow up on the table and stretching his long legs out in front of him. He had changed into his casual attire, you noticed, and the sleeveless muscle shirt gave you a better view of the intricate falcon tattoo that wound its way across his upper torso and arms.

"Noct could sleep into the middle of next week, and we didn't want to take that chance. All that dungeon-crawling made us hungry," Prompto added, making you smile. Trust him to use a phrase like 'dungeon-crawling', even though it was technically accurate in this case. "Iggy isn't going to be happy that we left him behind, though. You know how he feels about all of us eating together."