FFXV: Growing Pains (Ignis X Reader)

Chapter 2 - To Play or not to Play

YOU glanced back towards the trees that covered the back of the park that was by the Citadel's security fence-line. You didn't know why, but you would always see Noct coming from the treeline when he came to meet you. You would watch the trees while you waited for him to show up. Then you would get excited every time you saw him emerge from the trees. You smiled to yourself as you thought back to those long summer days. The two of you had spent hours playing in the park.

That first encounter with Noctis had led to a unique bond between the two of you. To you, he was a special friend that you got to see every time you went to the park. For Noctis, you were that friend that he had always wanted. A friend that would treat him just like any other kid for once.

He didn't have to worry about you treating him differently just because of who he is. In fact, he never mentioned that he was the Prince of Lucis. Not once. Because all he wanted, was to just be free to act any way he wanted, without the constant reminder of the image that he was projecting. And that was how he liked it to be. That time that he got to spend with you, was priceless to Noctis. For that was when Noctis really got to act and play like every other child.

The two of you would spend hours playing in the grass at the park or swinging on the swings by the playground. You both had even tried to fish in the pond once. But after a few hours, you both realized that there weren't any fish in there. So, you resorted to skipping rocks instead. You had thought that you were doing really good when you got it to skip twice. But then Noctis got his to skip four times before it stopped.

You had it admit that it was a bit funny, that even though you were a just over a year older than him, you both still loved to play the same types of games at the park. And the number one favorite was hide and go seek. Although Noctis always seemed to win that one. But you were never quite sure why.

Well as fate would have it, it just so happened to be that during one of those play dates, was when you first meet one of his closet companions, Ignis Scientia. Now Ignis was in training to be the royal family Advisor, as he served as Noctis' royal retainer. He was also preparing to train for the Crownsguard so that he could protect Noctis when he got older. This all had him working very closely with his uncle who worked at the Citadel, where the royal family lived. His duties kept him busy with training and studying his various lessons, all while still tending to his normal academic studies at the local middle school. But his top and foremost priority was always taking care of Prince Noctis.

The day you first met Ignis had been on a hot mid-summer day. And just like most, you and Noctis had decided the day before to meet in the park after lunch so that you could play. Well Ignis had decided to follow Noctis that day since he had noticed that the young prince seemed to be going to the garden a lot lately. But he couldn't seem to locate him once he entered the garden.

This greatly puzzled Ignis and made him very concerned. Because what kind of royal retainer was he if he couldn't even keep track of one prince? Which is why he had to find out what Noctis was doing after he entered the garden. Especially since the garden itself seemed to cover up how he has been able to disappear the way that he was.

Which is why Ignis had decided that on that day, he was going to find out where Noctis had been disappearing to all summer. And Ignis knew the best way to figure it out, was to follow Noctis at a safe distance. This way he could see which direction he headed once he entered the garden. And if he carefully calculated it correctly and was stealthy enough, he should be able to figure out where Noctis had been running off to.

This led to Ignis peering around the corner of the wall that led into the dining room from the hallway as he watched Noctis walk into the garden and glance around the area to see if anyone was watching. Ignis quickly slid back behind the wall and waited a few minutes to ensure that Noctis couldn't see him. Then he peered back around the corner to see which direction that Noctis headed for. (Noctis wasn't the only one who could play hide and go seek.) After Noctis felt confident that no one was following him, he set off towards the back of the garden enclosure.