Voicemail.

[chef_chocobro]

"You have reached the voicemail of Ingis Scientia. I am unavailable to take your call at this moment, but if you would please leave a message, I will assuredly get back to you as soon as possible."

**BEEEEEEP**

___________________
[[ In creating this journal, the author has assumed the identity of a fictional person for use in the role-playing game fandomhigh, for the sole purpose of entertainment, without intending to obtain a benefit or to injure or defraud either the creator(s) of the fictional person, or any reader of this content. The author does not purport to be the creator of the fictional person, or to be affiliated with the creator, or with any person or entity with an interest in the fictional person. The author does not claim to be the person who is being used as the graphical representation of that fictional person, nor intend to obtain a benefit or to injure or defraud that person by use of their image. ]]

Comments

[chef_chocobro]

Well, there was hardly any point in asking questions one could already guess the answers to with a least some level.

"Mmm." The sound was as much grunt as it was a hum. "Indeed."

And it was tempting, to just leave it at that, and allow the brevity to continue to speak volumes, but it was far more tempting to not give it space to linger.

"Anyway," he said, almost dismissively; the wave of his hand was practically audible in his tone, "one can hardly expect a man who wears his scars like badges to ignore a golden opportunity to go picking at old wounds, and he does have so few chances to be clever..."

[deathsmajesty]

And as insatiable as Liliana was for details, her own desire to let secrets be secrets had her following his lead as easily here as she did in the dance.

"Very kind of you to give him the opportunity to needle you, presumably as part of your overall Christmas gift," she said smoothly. "I do believe he plans to make a habit of calling me Lils."

[chef_chocobro]

"No doubt," there was more gratitude there, in his soft huff, than wry amusement, though both were making a marked effort to be there, "to make for a fitting companion to Igs. But I'm sure you can sympathize with how much of challenge words can be, once they start gaining syllables past one..."

Forget the fact that Gladio was easily one of the most well-read people that Ignis knew. This was hardly about the man's actual intelligence...

[deathsmajesty]

"Four letters is about the limit I'd expect," Liliana agreed, also ignoring how many of his books she'd read while convalescing at their apartment. "It just means that I can call him Beefslab with impunity now."

Not that that had really stopped her before, either.

"It's not Lili, though, so I suppose I can deal. Besides, the bigger the fuss I make, the more glee he'll derive from calling me that."

She was certain that if she said, in all seriousness, to call her Liliana that he'd respect it, but 'Lils' seemed an unworthy line to draw in the sand, especially so long as he kept it to casual conversations. If he started using it in ways that undermined her authority, they could have talk.

[chef_chocobro]

"Don't," Ignis drawled with an agreeing rumble, "feed the trolls."

Then, there was a silence, the kind that tried to stretch and fit itself oddly into the vast emptiness of the house that had, almost suddenly, opressively, inexorably, settled around him in Liliana's absence from it.

"Darling," he said, not quite a whisper, but with the softness of a voice trying to avoid echoes in such cavernous spaces, "if your work has become tedious to the point of boredom, then perhaps you should put a pin in it for another time and come home. I'm sure there a far better and more productive uses for your time..."

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana was already standing up. She rarely needed a reason to leave work and the...nameless something in his voice - an ache, perhaps, or a yearning - had her moving faster than normal.

"We may have to to argue how productive I intend to be when I get back," she says warmly, grabbing her mantle. "Because I intend to wrap around you and induce both of us into idleness."

[chef_chocobro]

Good.

"Good," said Ignis, though it was quite a bit of a different variation of the word than the one spoken in only his head. "Perhaps a good repartee and lively debate might be just the thing to sharpen your wits again and turn that productivity around. Though I have a feeling, much of the discourse may end up revolving around what may or may not be considered productive in the first place."

He himself was making quite the case to himself for the immense amount of benefit to be found in being wrapped around Liliana in kind just now.

[deathsmajesty]

"Or, rather than trying to waste my sharpened wits on this so-called productivity, we can break in the chessboard," Liliana said, locking the store behind her and towards the road that led to the house. "You did promise to teach me to play, after all."

She so clearly needed instruction, after all. "Surely that would be plenty of productivity for all of us."

[chef_chocobro]

Ignis was quite certain he had never felt so less inclined to play chess before in his life.

"Perhaps," he mused, as another thought started to filter in and, as Liliana was making her move from the store, Ignis gave a little gesture in the effort to summon the steward from...wherever he might have been at that moment, "we shall see how you feel when you arrive. It is..." He drifted into another room, and, yes, there was his distinct presence, and he gestured again, "...a rather complex game after all, and....just a moment, darling..."

He cut himself off to mute the call while delivering some very important, very specific instructions that best not be overheard, and then continued returned to the call.

"Sorry about that. As I was saying, it's a very complex game, many moving parts, and you're best to approach it when your mind has not been dulled by endless inventory. And I would certainly not want to deprive myself of going against you at your best, either."

[deathsmajesty]

"Oh?" Liliana asked, brow arching in intrigue. She wasn't entirely certain what he was building towards - she had her own ideas about what she'd enjoy, of course - but she was curious enough to see where he was going. "Well, you do make an excellent point on the incredible dullness of my day. I believe I shall be guided by you in this, my darling. Perhaps we'll come up with a suitable activity when I arrive." She paused. "So long as it can be done while being wrapped around you. I was quite serious about that."