( He's heard it before, years ago, when Ignis was so wrapped up in books filled with that language, so busy learning, that he practically hummed it everywhere he walked. It's a familiar, musical lilt of a curse, so soft Gladiolus might even call it beautiful. Or perhaps that's just because of what it signals, the gentle pulse of his orgasm spreading warm between them as Gladio continues slow, tender shifts of his hips and returns the kiss with every piece of long unspoken feelings between them caught up in it.

He doesn't last much longer. A few more thrusts, a wordless groan, a muscular arm wrapped tight around Ignis' shoulders, lips pressed clumsily to every part of his face as the wave rides through him.

By the Six--

He's glad. Glad that Ignis finally gave him an answer, glad that he even met the man in the first place. There's a whole other vibrant world which opened up before Gladiolus, and it's all thanks to Ignis. )

[It rolls over him in slow, steady waves and draws another harsh, breathless gasp before the end. Was it just that he hadn't fully recovered from the first, or something more than that? Something closer to the words and affirmations passed between the two of them before they started?

Ignis groans again, quietly as he sinks into the bed and lets himself slowly relax, gathering his mind and composure back together. He keeps his eyes closed for several long moments, then lets them open as his heavy breathing evens out.]

I suppose... I did keep you waiting long enough. [He murmurs with a small, lopsided smile. An understatement by any account, but it doesn't feel right to make something like that kind of confession linger too long in seriousness. Ignis pushes a hand into Gladio's hair, pressing a few soft, warm kisses to his lips.]

But you should know... I'm very irritated with you now. [Lightly, he smooths his thumb across the other man's cheek bone.] For giving me something else to lose.

Edited (holy repetitiveness) 2018-09-01 03:41 pm (UTC)

( He keeps himself propped up just long enough to move off Ignis before he collapses against the bed. No amount of fighting can really train a man for the exhaustion of such emotional confessions or the adrenaline and thunder of making love. There's a different kind of intensity to it, one which leaves sweat beading down his back and across his forehead as he catches his breath and stretches out on the bed, a moment's respite before the kisses rain down on his lips and breathlessness turns into a smile. )

I don't go down that easy. ( ... Not in battle anyway. Gladiolus catches Ignis' hand in his, running his thumb over knuckles idly. It's a fear they both share, all the more acutely since the events that hastened the darkness, the loss of their Prince.

He can't say Ignis won't lose him, though he'll try his damnedest to make sure it doesn't happen. All he can do is make whatever time they have together worth it. )

I'll hold you to that. [Ignis replies, with a firmness in his voice that he doesn't feel. He shuts his eyes for a moment and focuses on nothing but Gladio's body against his, their hands clasped together, and he exhales a slow, steady breath.

So. This is what it comes to.]

I'll be right back. [He says then, giving the other man's fingers a small squeeze and sliding from the bed. A well-known move, by now, and Six knows Gladio must be so painfully used to seeing the back of him, but when Ignis returns this time it's not partly dressed to wait out the awkward minutes until one of them leaves.

No, this time, he settles back beside Gladio with a soft huff, pressing his forehead into a broad shoulder.

It's different.

He... Yes. He could get used to this.]

( Ignis says that and Gladiolus almost feels his heart sink through his chest into his stomach, that move so incredibly familiar that the emotional reaction is all but automatic, and the lurch of joy which follows his return is almost boyish in its intensity and glee.

By the Six, Iggy, what have you done to him to make him so utterly hooked, so utterly in need of you?

His lips find Ignis' hair and drop a kiss into it, an arm wrapping around his shoulders, pulling him closer still. No words exchanged, just the softness of even breath as they sink into something new. Something unfamiliar and yet so comfortable that Gladiolus can only think they were always meant to have it. )

[He would be lying if he said he didn't feel something to, and it makes him wonder just why it took him so long to stop running. It feels so foolish now, so far behind them as Gladio's lips press against his hair and he's pulled in closer.

This could have been something they'd had, if he'd allowed it. If Gladio had ever said anything... But no, Gladio was too patient, and he had been too afraid of what he could lose to realise how close he was to losing it.]

Your sister will never let us hear the end of it. [Ignis murmurs softly after a few minutes have passed in quiet comfort. Iris had been rooting for this since the first time she'd seen how the two of them looked at each other.] You know that, don't you?