Renovating the Heart (FFXV)

XVIII) Vanilla

Rue was half asleep on the couch when she heard the sound of Ignis retching in the room on the opposite side of the thin wall to her life. Alarmed, she sat up abruptly, unsure if she should help. How could she? She doubted Ignis wanted her to see him in such a position, but at the same time, she couldn't leave him there to suffer... Could she?

Sighing, Rue fell back into her seat and slouched, trying to get her mind off him by scrolling through the old photos on her phone. She'd give him a second to clear his system before she bothered him. She watched the minutes tick by before taking a deep breath and getting to her feet, hobbling to his bedroom on sleeping legs. His bed was empty, but the bathroom door was cracked open. Nervously, she slowly pushed the door open. Ignis was slumped against the bathtub with his head thrown back toward the ceiling. The sweat dripping down his face had loosened his hair, which was currently falling into his eyes and sticking to his skin. His glasses were missing; she couldn't help but notice that he looked years younger without them.

"Ignis? You okay?"

There was no reply. Frowning, she held her breath and avoided looking into the toilet bowl. She stooped at his side, shaking his shoulder gently. The sharp, uneven tile dug into her knees and the pins and needles in her legs responded with sharp jabs here and there, up and down her calves. Ignis still didn't react. Her heart started to beat harder; was he alright? Carefully, unsure of what else to do, she pulled one of his arms across her shoulders and started to lift him to his feet. #$%^, he's heavier than I thought he'd be.

Gritting her teeth, Rue took a few steps, hardly able to sustain his weight. She glanced at the mirror. The guy looked huge next to her. She huffed, startled when Ignis's eyelids fluttered and one of his feet took an uncertain step.

"Ignis?"

"... Rue?" He glanced over at her sleepily, frowning. He tried to pull away and walk without her, only to stumbled into the countertop, grasping the smooth surface for support. "I'm alright," he reassured her. His throat sounded raw. "Just... give me a moment." Rue shook her head.

"Let me help you. You need to get back in bed."

"I can—"

"Please," she insisted, tugging at his arm.

His eyes were hardly open at this point, and his face was pulled into a half-hearted scowl that quickly changed to a grimace as she pulled him into taking another step. A strangled grunt came from his throat as he reached for the doorframe to steady himself while she faithfully allowed him to lean on her. Finally, they made it to his bed, where he carefully sat down and swiped at his forehead.

"Thank you," he said, though his words were so quiet that Rue hardly heard them. She sighed, ducking down to look over his face.

"You need to get out of these clothes," she advised, frowning at the shoes that were still tied to his feet. "I'm assuming you don't want help with that, though I don't know how you'll get to the closet."

"I'll manage," Ignis replied. Nodding, Rue turned to leave. Ignis cleared his throat and she faced him expectantly. Finally, he looked up at her. "How long do think you'll be here?"

"However long it takes," she shrugged, hurrying out of the room and making sure to close the door behind her.

She took her time in retrieving a bowl of cool water and a cloth; he was practically boiling when she found him. Sweating the illness out was certainly a good option at this point, but she didn't want him to overheat and cook from the inside out. She let the cloth she was toying with plop back into the water. I don't know what I'm doing. It's not like he's a child... But why couldn't it be like treating a child's sickness? Minus the cooing and coddling, the care was essentially the same. The only difference was the appreciation for the little things that grew with age, not that she thought Ignis even had the capacity to appreciate anything she did. Even his thanks sounded obligatory.