The day had started like any other. Both got up at different times, got ready, and went to work. They were normally the first awake, due to working with the marshal. He was known to keep odd hours, which meant up before the sun and working through out the day on most things. Being his lead intelligence officer required them to keep the same hours. Which wasn’t all bad. They were always on top of their work, got a longer lunch hour, and were near their beloved at all times.

Gladio on the other hand could take his time getting to the citadel. Noctis never woke up early if he could help it, despite Ignis’ best attempts. Which gave him enough time to sleep in a bit, go for a run, and then get ready for the day. He didn’t have a schedule like his dearest did. More like he was on call in case Noct wanted to go somewhere. But while he was in the citadel? Noctis was as safe as could be which gave him time to wander about and maybe even catch a few moments with his other. 

It was a simple life. There was no push or pull from either of them for things to change. (Though a small part of him hoped that one day, maybe they’d honor him by taking his last name.)

While he was walking by one of the training rooms, he could hear a voice he recognized. Quietly, so not to distract the combatants, he slipped into the room. He wasn’t the only one here too, and he could see why. His dearest was amazing, flowing through blocks and attacks effortlessly. Cor wasn’t so bad either.

He watched them move forward, refusing to step backwards no matter how hard Cor pushed them. Their breath was heaving as they moved, and their collar and tie slightly undone so their movement wasn’t as restricted. And though they would say that they didn’t look their best, he found them dazzling…

Right until Cor managed to slip past their defense and knock them across the room with the back of his blade.

With a loud thud and a grunt from them, they hit the wall and slid to the floor. He frowned but didn’t rush to them. Though he really really wanted to. (As in every fiber of his being was yelling at him to check if they were hurt.) But if he did, he knew they wouldn’t appreciate it. He could practically hear them scolding him in their head.

They huffed and lightly hit their head against the wall at their back. “This round goes to you, Marshal.”

“Alright. I trust you’ll follow through? “He raised an eyebrow, and if Gladio didn’t know better he looked…pleased. 

They got to their feet, having caught their breath and straightened out their clothes before replying. “Of course.”

“Good.” With that, the gathered crowd cleared the way to the door as the Marshal walked toward it. He caught Gladio’s eye and nodded in acknowledgement, “Gladio.” 

He nodded back to him, and then the Marshal was gone. He had to be imagining things, Gladio thought to himself. But he could have sworn that Cor’s eyes had lit up a little upon seeing him. (Should he be worried? He felt like something was going on and just couldn’t put his finger on it.)

It was only after he had put it out of mind and over heard some of the guard talking about an agreement that his sweetheart had made with the marshal. For the sparring match he assumed. He finally walked over to them as they tried to stretch their shoulder muscles and the knots that must have been forming after their bout.

“Hey.” He smiled and when they heard him they turned and beamed at him.

“Hey there.” But then the smile slipped into a frown, “Oh…did you see all that?” 

“I saw only the last few moments. You looked good babe.” He guided them to face away from him and carefully began to massage the part of their shoulders they had been trying to relax.

They sighed with relief and closed their eyes, leaning into his touch. “I don’t agree, but thank you. …Damn, I’m going to be feeling this all week.”

Gladio laughed. “I’ll bet you will. Sparing with the marshal’s no joke. Can I ask how you got him to? He rarely does these days.”

They smiled, and he felt his heart flutter. (Which he’d deny to the end of his days that their smile still did that to him.) 

“It was just my luck honestly. I caught him in a good mood.” They turned around, and before he could ask any more questions, reached up their hands to his neck to guide him down into a kiss. That made him forget his curiosity, and softly relax into the kiss. 

When they pulled away he opened his eyes and couldn’t get over that they had kissed him. In public. They were never one for public displays, and he wondered if this meant they would be okay if he kissed them in public. All the time. Because he had always wanted to. 

“So, it’s my lunch hour now. Care to join me?” 

“Y-yeah. I mean yes.” He huffed with laughter and really hoped that no one could see how stupidly happy they made him. 

They led the way out of the room, ignoring some of the hoots and whistles from the few trainees that were left. While they opened the door, Gladio turned around and glared at those who were making the noises. Like hell he was going to let them make his sweetheart nervous over that kiss. Especially since her really wanted them to be comfortable in public with him. 

But then they left the room and walked toward their office, presumable to pick up their belongings to go home for lunch. However, they surprised him when they entered their office and then gestured to the couch they had inside. 

“Sit. I packed lunch today because I figured we could just hide out in here for awhile instead of taking the time to go to a restaurant.” 

“I’m fine with that. Just gives us more time to eat.” Gladio flopped into the couch cushions and watched them as they went over to the small kitchen area and began to dig around. upon seeing what they brought out, he snorted.

“Cup noodles? I thought you hated those things.” 

“I don’t hate them, I just think they’re not very healthy.” They threw a frown over their shoulder as they set water onto boil, “And after that fight I deserve to be a bit unhealthy. I got all my training in for the week.”

“I hope you don’t mean that,” He smirked from his place on the couch, “We have a training session together later.” 

They froze for a moment and then groaned. “Shit.”

He laughed quietly and then his expression softened. “But if you really don’t feel up to it, we can skip for this week.”

They sighed and then gave him a smile over their shoulder again. “Like I would miss it.”

After that they both fell into silence. They were so focused on the task at hand, not wanting to burn themselves with the water, that they didn’t notice Gladio watching them. He enjoyed seeming them lost in their head. Which clearly they were. Cup noodles, though good, didn’t require much thought or that much hovering. So the fact that they were standing there meant they had something on their mind. And he could wait to see if they would share. If they didn’t? That was fine too.

Eventually, they wandered back to the couch to let the noodles soak up the water. They flopped down beside Gladio and rested their head against his shoulder. He in turn shifted to put his arm around the back of them. They closed their eyes, just enjoying the closeness, and Gladio couldn’t help but press a kiss to their forehead. A small smile crept across their face and they gave a hum of appreciation. 

But then they broke the silence, “And to think in a few hours we’ll be kicking each other’s asses.”

“Babe, we were having a moment.” He couldn’t help the small laugh that followed.

“Our noodles will get soggy if I let the moment go on too long.” They snickered as they stood. They then strode over to where they had left the noodles and carried one in each hand back to the couch. the pair then got to eating and passed the time by comparing their days and letting the other know where they’d be before their training session. 

Before long, they heard a knock at the door.

They straightened themself up as best they could and then called, “Come in.”

The door swung open and there, once again, was Cor. “Officer.”

“Marshal.” They stood and walked over, “Trouble?”

“Yeah. Of the outer agents kind.” Cor pointedly looked past them at Gladio.

“Ah. A moment then.” They looked over their shoulder. “Glads?”

“Go ahead, I’ll clean up in here before I leave.” He smiled at them and waved.

They flashed a thankful smile at him and then followed the Marshal out the door.

~

He didn’t get to see them again until later in the afternoon. He was already in the training room, considering that Noctis was before his dearest. He’d already sent Noctis on his way, though he had a feeling that him an Prompto were lurking nearby, and maybe even Ignis if he had the time. The three of them could not believe that he was in a relationship, especially with them.

Speaking of them…

“Glads, sorry I’m a little late.” They were smiling, but it didn’t quite reach their eyes. Instead there was a nervousness there. Why? Heck if he knew. 

“It’s fine, I figured whatever had the Marshal pulling you off our break was pretty serious.” He smiled as they reached him and pushed part of their bangs out of their eyes. 

Their smile was a little more genuine after that, and they relaxed. But then they smiled, undoing their tie and collar once more. “Ready to begin?”

“You know it. Should we run through some drills, or would you rather just spar?” Gladio asked, likewise removing his coat. He took their tie and bundled it in his jacket before sliding it across the floor to the wall. 

“Just sparring today. I’m out of practice the Marshal said.” They grimace and shrugged.

“Alright. Get ready then.” 

Unlike most training sessions, the pair used live steel. So any injuries would be real. They both had talked it over when they had started training together, and chose this method purely for the lessons it would teach. They’d also had set guidelines and rules that they followed to keep each other as safe as possible with this. Gladio, though it hurt him to harm them, made peace with the idea by remembering that they would learn from it. 

They stepped back from one another and brought out their weapons. Somewhere off to the side, they both heard a startled squeak.

“They’re going to KILL each other.” The voice was soon silenced by a stern, “SSSHH.” 

They blinked at each other, and had to both keep themselves from laughing. The Prince and his friend. But then they refocused, and dropped into the fight. Both were sizing one another up, as usual. Gladio always attacked first, but this time they didn’t give him a chance to fully take them in. They stepped forward and swung at his right side with their left. It was their weaker side, but it would also take him off guard.

His eyes widened and he blocked with his sword before trying to step forward and into their space to use the pommel to strike their ribs. But they quickly stepped out of reach to his left, and thrust forward. He blocked once more, and started to pick up that they were trying to get him on the defensive. Which caused them to lower their defense a bit more than normal.

With that knowledge, he grinned and began to push back. 

They clashed over and over, moving through out the room. Gladio knew that if he could get one good hit on them it’d be over. But their speed made that extremely difficult. But not impossible. However, both parties had already collected a number of scratches and bruises to the cheers and yells of the two watching. (And if they concentrated on the conversation, they would have caught some rather hilarious commentary from Ignis about their match.) It had been an hour almost since they started, and they both were breathing hard. And so they decided they had to end it. 

Then they surprised him by locking their swords together, and using them as leverage to headbutt him. He blindly retaliated, using the pain to fuel a kick to their stomach and send them flying into the wall. But this time, they managed to land with their feet on the wall and push off back toward him. 

They were moving too fast and his eyes were still teary from the headbutt. It would have been a killing strike, had they not reversed their grip and used the haft of their sword. The blow was enough to knock the wind out of him, as it hit the center of his chest. From there, their momentum threw him off balance and he tipped backwards. The back of his head hit the ground and he was dazed…

right until he felt the blade pressing against his neck.

“…Well damn. I submit.” He huffed in amusement, but then groaned in pain. 

They flopped forward on top of him, just trying to catch their breath. “…You certainly…know….how to keep someone on guard.”

“Sort of my job.” He mumbled. They lay their wallowing in the pain that came after such an intense session, but then both got back to their feet.

“…Infirmary?” They asked, eyeing his swelling nose and they way he held his chest.

“Only if you’re going too dear.” He laughed and they shook their head. 

“I didn’t get my ass handed to me just now.” They replied with a raised eyebrow.

“Hey now, I gave as good as I got.”

“I’m not the one who looked like they got jumped.” 

“You’re in denial dear.”

“Call me dear one more time, DOLL.”

“Owch babe.”

From the direction of the door they heard one of the boys call out, “Just get married already!” 

To Gladio’s shock, they called back, “Fine!”

“What?”

“Gladio, will you marry me?”

“Uh….” He couldn’t think of a more eloquent response. But then he figured they were joking and grinned. “Sure why not? And you two punks aren’t invited!”

“GLADIO NOOOO.” They heard a whine.

“Prom, lets get out of here now.” The prince was laughing, and they heard THREE sets of footsteps leave.

They both chuckled and went to retrieve their things. But there, they fell into a loaded silence. He wanted to ask them what that was about, but didn’t dare. If they had only been joking, he’d be crushed, but they’d still be dating and maybe it would be a reality one day. But if he brought it up would that seem like he was taking things too fast? Would they be? He’d like to think that they would be married one day…

“Eos to Gladio?” They called, and snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Oh, yeah?” He turned toward them and froze when they took his hands in theirs slowly.

“I was actually serious.” 

He blinked. And then he blinked again. Then heat rushed to his face as he looked them in the eye. “Uh…w-what do you mean.”

“I’d been trying to ask you ever since this morning with Cor… Which, by the way, we should thank him somewhere down the line.”

“Why?” His voice was soft, but he didn’t break eye contact. 

“Well…we sort of got to speaking, because he’d heard about our relationship I guess. And wanted to know how long we’d been going out.” They squeezed his hands. 

Honestly, he wasn’t really sure this was happening. Maybe he had read WAY too many romances lately and this was a dream. But he really really hoped it wasn’t. “And?”

“He brought up if I wanted to marry you.” They brought up one of his hands to their mouth to kiss his knuckles, and lowered it once more.

“What did you say?” His heart was beating in his ears, making everything seem distant.

“That I do.” 

He surged forward and kissed them, trying press into them just how much he loved them. And when they needed to pull apart to breath, he started peppering kisses all over their face. They in turn just held him close. 

“I love you, you know.” He said, his lips still pressed to their forehead. 

“I love you too.” They said. They they pulled away, a small smile on their face. “So will you? You never gave an actual answer.”

They’d hardly finished speaking before he almost shouted, “Yes.”