Renovating the Heart (FFXV)

XIII) It Gets Weirder

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Rue asked carefully as Ignis tried to suffocate a sneeze. The mere force of it almost knocked him out of his seat. He pushed up his glasses with an indignant sniff and waved her off.

"I'm fine. Are those finished?"

"Forms are filled, data's entered, Cor's good for two-thirty, and I brought an Ebony just in case." She held up the chilled can in her left hand, raising an eyebrow. Ignis nodded, gratefully accepting the source of his mild caffeine addiction.

"Thank you."

It had been almost a week since she started. It quickly became apparent to Ignis that she wasn't as incompetent as Rayne made her out to be. Certainly, she made a grave mistake, but that didn't entirely figure her into a failure. She caught on to what he needed quite easily, though everything he'd allowed her to touch was simple. Rue was most definitely eager to please.

"Anything else?" Rue urged, trying to pry another assignment from her boss. Ignis shook his head, slowly cracking open the can.

"Not currently, no." He lifted the Ebony to take a sip, pausing when the cool aluminum touched his lips. Sighing, he set his drink down and looked up at his assistant. "Close the door and have a seat."

"Yes, Sir," Rue muttered, turning on her heels and obeying before returning to his desk and plopping down on the leather seat behind her. Crossing her legs, she leaned forward, ready to listen.

"In two days, I will be leaving with the Crownsguard and Noctis." Rue frowned, a thousand questions flurrying about her head as gnawing jealousy chewed at her insides. Why couldn't she leave? Ignis's brows were pinched in such a way that tossed concern into her mix of emotions. "I cannot say why, but we should be gone only a few days at the most."

"Does this have anything to do with those kids?"

"No," he replied firmly, folding his slender fingers together. "Nothing of the sort. I'm telling you this so that you can prepare to run things on your own."

"What?" Rue stared at him in disbelief. "I've done nothing but paperwork, data entry, and coffee runs. And scheduling appointments, but that's not my point." She leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms and shaking her dark hair out of her eyes. "What do you expect me to do around here?"

"Everything you've been doing already," Ignis replied simply. "I can handle my own duties from my placement; all that matters is that you keep our database up to date and manage any schedule changes."

"So actual assistant stuff," Rue retorted, rolling her eyes. Her heart stuttered when Ignis arched an eyebrow. "Sorry," she mumbled, staring hard at her knee and absently smoothing her skirt. She'd used the money Cam gave her to buy some more "professional" clothes for the Citadel, which Ignis seemed to appreciate in a "you make me look a little less bad for letting you work here" kind of way. She had to admit, she hated using that man's "donation" for what he wanted but looking less like a homeless woman was worth it.

"For now, go see if Prompto needs any assistance."

"Oh, so now you're passing me around," Rue teased. Ignis made no reply, and this time, she didn't hesitate to defend herself. "It's a joke."

"I know."

"Then what's that face for?"

"It wasn't very funny," Ignis replied simply, taking a drink of Ebony. Rue stood and blinked at him in silence, stunned by his sudden participation in a conversation that was anything but bland.

"That's subjective," she bit back, cocking her head to the side. "Maybe your sense of humor isn't very funny." Ignis hummed as his eyes turned back to his computer screen, though Rue didn't miss the slightest twitch of a smile that tugged at the corners of his lips.