Alrighty! 😀

It’d be a quiet friendship. One of the ones where you just see each other, and decide, “Yes, this is my person.”

They’d first meet when they’re 8. Ignis would be on his way into his lessons, and they’d be on their way out. Both are training to be advisers in the future, though they would be training for a lower tier than Ignis. 

It would only take moment, but from then on when they’d see each other going from one lesson tutor to the next, they’d stop and talk for a few minutes, becoming friends. (Though they’d, in the spirit of professionalism, call each other colleagues as they grew older.)

This would go on for a few years, and eventually it would lead to them talking everyday on their phone in their spare time.

He’d talk about his future advising the prince, and some of the troubles he had with that.

They’d talk about how it was to sit in on their parent’s advising sessions with the council and some of the troubles they’d be dealing with when they were older.

Occasionally in high school, they’d meet up for lunch or dinner to talk face to face. Even if they worked in the same place, and in the same field even, it was rare that they’d actually see each other due to their duties. 

(Also in high school they’d start dating other people, much to everyone around them’s distress.)

They also wouldn’t see each other unless they scheduled each other in. 

People would start gently prodding at them, wondering if they realized their own depth of feelings for the other.

Both, to be honest, are oblivious to their own feeling. But this was one of the rare cases where it’d work. Neither would push or pull in either direction, and things would just happen naturally without any words said.

In later years something would shift between them and they’d actually schedule moments together at work. Not to talk or anything, but just to be in each other’s presence. 

(It would also be at this point in time both have stopped dating other people, figuring that dating isn’t for them.)

Outside of work would also have shifted. They’d be comfortable enough to sleep over at each other’s apartments. They’d even sit on the couch and just nestle together. (When had they grown comfortable with contact with one another? Neither knew, it just sort of happened.)

Surprisingly, neither would state they’re dating. (No matter how much literally EVERYONE was pressuring it to turn into that.) Both wouldn’t want to hurt what they had with one another by labeling it.

All others in the Citadel have an unspoken rule of ‘DO NOT PURSUE EITHER OF THEM FOR THEIR OWN SAKE’ but visitors don’t know this.

Which leads to some situational jealousy when visiting noble children take a fancy to one of them. But both would just have to bite their tongue and walk the other way, lest they say something offensive due to this sudden uncontrollable possessiveness they felt. 

They’re so dense about their own feeling they wouldn’t even understand why they felt possessive. Meanwhile, everyone around them would be like, dropping hints. EVEN GLADIO would be aware of it, but know better than to push. (Noctis and Prompto on the other hand are full on like, trying to think of how to get them to realize how much they care for one another. MEDDLING.)

(It frustrates EVERYONE when they still introduce each other as colleagues even after all this time. ‘Can’t they say FRIEND at least?’) 

It’s only when it’s revealed that Ignis will be leaving for a year that they realize they’ve seen each other everyday for years, and neither really knows how to deal with this revelation. (I lowkey head canon that he was sent to travel for a year to get to know the world and see how things work outside of the crown city. As a finishing element in his education to be Noctis’ adviser.)

In the months leading up to his departure, they’d both have time to think of how they felt for each other, grow closer, and finally consider themselves dating. 

Their first kiss was…well, it was something else considering they’re pretty sure they’ve loved each other since they were children. All that pent up tension gone into this one kiss.

(Side note;  I think they’d enjoy still keeping it on the down low. Everyone is still exasperated with them and unaware that their relationship finally shifted into romance.)

When he finally does go, they’d both try and call each other often. But with his future s/o’s duties picking up, they’d be hard pressed for times to talk.

Upon his return, nothing outwardly would change. Both would be full fledged advisers and adults, and keep everything about themselves professional. 

Outside of work though, they keep it hidden that they live together unofficially. They have half their things at his place, he has half his things in theirs. 

Both aren’t very worried when it’s announced that he’ll be escorting Noctis to his wedding. It’ll be a month at most right? They bid their goodbyes earlier the day he leaves and both fall into their usual routines. 

But then Insomnia falls. And there’s no answer to his phone calls. He’d worry endlessly, but both have always put their duties before each other. That was what they’re trained to do after all. 

Things seem a lot bleaker to him, and it shows through subtly in his interactions with the others. 

It isn’t until much later, when they reach Lestallum after the mess with the titan, that he receives a call from an unknown number. He doesn’t answer and they don’t leave a message. 

However, when they’re doing a supply run after getting back the Regalia, he catches sight of them. It’s one of the rare moments he loses his composure and actually SPRINTS over to them.

They drop everything in their arms, which luckily wasn’t much, and throw their arms around him. After he’d put them down, they’d start talking and just, losing themselves in each other. 

They both thought the other dead. 

They’d spend the night catching up with one another, Ignis actually letting Noctis out of his sight for the night. They’d describe the fall of the city, and how they manged to survive. Not many of the advisers did it’s revealed. Most fell trying to guard the king. 

They’d even reveal that at one point in time, they had almost died. 

Ignis would also share his experiences on the road, and what the future may bring. 

(TBH the boys would be lowkey tailing them, along with Iris, because HOLY SHIT THEY’VE BEEN DATING FOR HOW LONG?) 

But in the morning they’d have to leave each other’s side again. But this time they have a way to contact each other and his S/O would wait for him to call. They never dared call him in case he was in a dangerous situation. 

They’d wait for him to visit as well, never pressuring him to come back to them. 

Their relationship would probably be the most stable thing in Ignis’ life actually. And that fact that they’d be willing to stand by him through everything would mean the world to him.