Renovating the Heart (FFXV)

XX) Dirt

"What the #$%^ happened?"

Rue gritted her teeth as Ignis pulled the last thread of her stitches tight, her fingers digging into the supple leather of the seat beneath her. Her toes were curled inside her shoes and her knees were pressed together. Everything hurt, even after Ignis used a hi-potion to take the edge off the concussion she likely had. Rayne was sitting on the edge of his desk with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised. She'd apparently heard a commotion when Rue'd started screaming nonsense about Cameron Schrader and came running.

"Rue?" Rayne pressed, tilting her head.

Rue avoided her eyes and stared hard at the notebook on Ignis's desk. From this angle, she couldn't read anything; she really just wanted something to look at other than the woman who would revel in her failure to defend herself. Ignis and Rayne exchanged a look over her head as the advisor tucked his tools away. Slowly, he made his way around to his desk, watching Rue as she interlaced her fingers tightly and turned her eyes to her feet.

"Are you prepared to explain this to me?"

"... She leaves first."

"Excuse me?" Rayne snapped. Ignis frowned, but he seemed to understand.

"If she leaves, I'll talk."

"Rayne," Ignis spoke up, nodding when she stared at him in disbelief.

"Are you serious?!"

"We'll speak later."

"#$%^ you," Rayne scoffed, sliding off the table and slamming the door behind her on her way out. Ignis sighed, sitting down slowly with a frown etched onto his face. Rue swallowed hard, pressing her lips together.

"I'm sorry. I just... couldn't have her in here to mock me."

"Mock you?"

"Don't pretend you haven't noticed that she hates my guts," Rue scoffed, finally looking up at him. "She'd kill to get ahold of this."

"I understand your hesitations, but Rayne is hardly one to revel on another's pain." Sure, okay. When she didn't reply, Ignis pushed his glasses up and took a deep breath. "Care to explain?"

"You might want to take notes or something," Rue muttered. "This is some real dirt on Cam; here's your confession for your evidence." Ignis looked uncertain. "Seriously, this is what you wanted, isn't it?"

"... I'm not sure."

"Trust me, it is." Rue dug out her phone, pulled up the voice recorder hardly anyone ever used, and hit record. Maybe he'll need this. She leaned back in her seat, trying to keep calm as she recounted her first interaction with Schrader. "When I first met him, Cam, he kind of creeped me out, I'll admit it. Kept complimenting how I looked and just staring. It put me on edge, but I wrote it off as boys being boys." Ignis's eyebrows twitched together. "But then, about a month after he hired me for guard duty, he offered me a promotion of sorts."

"The position outside the throne room."

"Yeah. But it came at a cost." She laughed bitterly, crossing her legs. "See, he knew I wanted that spot—I kind of needed it, actually. So, he set the price pretty high. I did him whatever favors whenever and wherever he wanted them, and in turn, he kept me placed at that door. It was all pretty consensual; I agreed to all that BS, so there's not much you can pin on him there."

"There was never a time...?"

"Here's the thing," Rue sighed, leaning forward. "I agreed to whatever, whenever, wherever. That meant I didn't get a say, whether I wanted to do it or not."