chef_chocobro | Entries tagged with who: liliana

After a weekend like the last, Ignis and Liliana had whisked themselves south, shirking their oh-so-pressing duties on the island to cloister for a few days in the sunny countryside villa that had entered their ever-growing roster of hideaways, habitations, and households, and weren't they both better off because of it. Of course, for Ignis, it wasn't just about some well-earned relaxation to ease the physical and mental strain and drain that went with several days hunched over in a workroom or traipsing around Innistrad.

For Ignis, things were rarely so singularly intentioned as that, although yesterday....that had been intentionally simple, a day of basking in each other's company, feasting on local foods, making idle plans that may or may not be followed through on, distractions pending, and just reveling in the intricate steps of their surprisingly easy and endless waltz. And today had been much of the same, with just a bit more laziness involved. Lounging in bed a little later, less complicated recipehs that lent themselves well to distracted cooking, skipping his training forms out on the deck in favor of appreciating the fine work of Liliana's fingers as they plucked at her lyre or brushed through his hair and behind his ears, his head in her laps, as they discussed the artistic merits of more of that Kamigawan poetry she'd recently unearthed.

And now, as evening fell, the next second. The underlying purpose. And also the edge of a potential point of no return. And one might argue that he could still step back from that precipice, but he would find that arguement faulty and flawed. The last few days had only bolstered his convictions.

He might not be able to see the slowly emerging stars in the stretch of sky darkening above them, but he could feel the coolness creeping into the air, he could hear the sounds of the day shifting into the music of the evening, and feel the oh-so-subtle weight of the shadows shifting and lengthening to let him know that the twilight hour was upon them.

"Darling?" He found Liliana, two glasses in one hand and a bottle of one of the wines they had cultivated together on one of their first ventures out here in the other. "I think tonight is an excellent one to enjoy the fruits of our labors. Don't you agree?"

[[ for the paramour, por favor, and NFB for distance~ ]]

Prompto had been a bit anxious about getting back to Liz and Noctra, so when they left their weeend campsight that morning, they did so early. Far too early, Ignis imagined, for Liliana, unless Liliana had simply not yet been to sleep yet, which he fully acknowledged was just as likely. If she thought her tendency to use his absences for an excuse for marathon workshop sessions had escaped his noticed just because he wasn't there, then she clearly underestimated him...and the amount of ready-meals and instructions to the steward to ensure that they were being consumed.

It had been a long weekend, though, perhaps not as physically demanding as their days in the wilderness of the past had been, but emotionally? Mentally? Convicing your best friends and brothers that the road of vampirism was the best course to take was more than a little exhausting. So his first goal was to find his way to the shower, to clean off the dirt and sweat of the great outdoors, and then the next step was, of course, coffee. Not that there's been any lack of it at the campsite, but, well, there were degrees, and a nice cup made in his own kitchen would be just the thing. And then breakfast, where, if the aromas alone didn't pull Liliana out from either slumber or study, he could simply bring it to her.

He was not at all surprised that it ended up being the latter, finding his way to where she was, and now able to up the ante to wake her up with a soft, careful kiss and a murmured, "Good morning, my love."

[[ mostly for the lady in the house but certainly can be open after that~ (and nsfw-y what a surprise]]

For a good, long time, even when they were back on Eos, Ignis had never been afflicted with that particular Fandom phenomena of random animal (or, in some cases, plant) transformations, as if the powers behind such whimsy knew that he'd need to still be quite himself for the sake of the others. But as soon as that was not necessary, as soon as he, too, seemed to have someone to take care of him, he had his first bout, a little bat comfortably nestled against Liliana, dreadfully on the nose with its thematic accuracy, and that was, then, what he suspected he would continue to be in those moments. After all, Prompto was always a puppy, Gladio always the flower of his namesake.

But that was, clearly, not the case. He'd taken a different form this time, at a horribly inopportune time....or was it? The 'foxicorn,' as he had been so charmingly dubbed by Chandra, was in actuality, a carbuncle, a legendary Eosian creature. A Messenger, in fact, a creature that might inspire comparisons to angels in other realms, though you certainly wouldn't catch Ignis making that connection. Of the twenty-four messengers that served the Astrals, all of them answered to the Oracle...except for one, who answered specifically to the Lucian royal house. Carbuncle, of course. Noctis' father had given him a Carbuncle totem in his youth, around the same time as his mother's death, around the same time that he'd also brought Ignis to him to be his companion and steward. Carbuncle, too, was a helper and a healer. A guide, a guardian, a protector.

So was it really much of a surprise, then, that it had been the form that Ignis had taken, in that moment? It wouldn't have been the first time, either, that Carbuncle made its presence known to him, at some moment of imminent danger.

But while he was in this new carbuncle form, it was all warmth and comfort and light. It was all a bit fuzzy, too, and it was with a feeling of clarity and the return of darkness that Ignis realized he was back to himself again. He was curled up against Liliana, and there were cool, chill fingers in his hair, right behind his ear, where her nails had gently scratched. There was the slightest moment of a hesitation before he uttered his first human sound in several days, just a deep, grateful rumble of appreciation, his head tilting and leaning into the touch. And were it not for the fact that he had arms again to hold her and lips again to kiss her, he might have stayed exactly there to revel in it. But he did have both those things, and so much more, and memories and awareness starting to flood back in, as well, so while he may have lingered a bit longer than he might have ever allowed years ago, he shifted, unraveling himself only to turn and wrap himself anew around Liliana and seek out her lips with his own, and murmuring into this as he regained his voice.

"Hello, my love," he said. "Miss me?"

He had no idea how many days had even passed, but it hardly seemed to matter.

[[ obviously for the shamelessly modded necromancer in the bed with him, and NFB for ~distance~ ]]

Ignis was grateful for the convenient excuse of the kitchen once things were settled (for now) with Jace. Not only because the whole unexpected ordeal had put a pause on preparing a prize that he'd been looking forward to substantially, but also because, preparing that prize would now also give him the opportunity to think about something else for a short while. To focus on creating dinner, with a few stray thoughts here and there that were then neatly carved from his attention and thrown into the compost with the rest of his scraps.

But, of course, once the meal was finished, and he and Liliana sat down to enjoy it (with a plate, of course, dutifully sent up to their reluctant guest), those thoughts returned, balanced between the attempt to convince himself that none of this was any of his concern, even without consideration to Liliana's clear distaste for the situation, and that unavoidable tug to want to be able to help. Of course, it all might be moot by the morning, but he, from what he could discern from the man in even this brief meeting and from the pictures presented to him of (he certainly assumed) alternate futures, very much doubted it.

And therein was, indeed, a bit of a problem. When his attentions were turned to the outside world and his surroundings, Ignis' attention and senses were sharp and precise and didn't miss much. But when they turned inward, to his own head, it was all too easy for him to forget what existed outside of him, and so while his mind felt like a veritable cacophony of tumultuous thought and indecision and arguments from every side imaginable, his body exuded that deep, silent pensiveness as it cut into the tender venison and lifted it to his mouth, chewing it almost mindlessly besides for a small moment of acknowledgement to its excellent flavor, how well it was washed down with this particular wine, and now back to this conundrum of some haplessly misplaced plane-destroying creature on the loose in the Multiverse thanks to Liliana's clearly reckless, clearly foolhardy, godsdamned ex....

( A *Minor* Difference of Opinion.... )

[[ continued from here and torturously preplayed with the ever effervescent and erudite

deathsmajesty. NFB and NFI, but OOC to help ease the pain is always welcome! ]]

Apparently, it would seem that spending the weekend as his seven-year-old self had not tempered with Ignis' natural sleeping patterns, so he awoke rather early that Monday, just slightly over when he might normally extricate himself from Liliana to get ready for the early morning training session. Of course, the only thing he had to extricate himself from was the bed in one of the guest rooms, and that....well....that simply would not do.

And so he he got up, made his way through the halls after taking a moment to orient himself based on which guest room he wound up in, and found himself at the more familiar threshold of his and Liliana's bedroom.

Where he returned to their bed, slipping back in as smoothly as he could, so as to not disturb her until his arms were around her and he was nuzzling his face into her neck.

"Mmmm," he hummed softly, "much better."

[[ for she in the bed, naturally. As natural as the NSFW warning that follows~ ]]

Although there were still a great deal of books he was curious about and he felt the temptation of Lady Vess' game room calling to him, Ignis had something very important to do that day, and so he was setting to the task of doing it with focus and determination. He had requested some nice stationary, as well as some other scrap pieces of paper because he knew he would require a few drafts to really get his thoughts down perfectly, and didn't want to waste the nice stationary as he worked through his words, or needed to start over because he'd spelled something wrong or made another error. Simply crossing it out and moving on just wouldn't do! And there was also picking the right words, too, which is why he had a handy dictionary and thesaurus to cross reference, and, with that, he set to this very important task of writing the younger Liliana Vess a letter, with meticulous care to make sure that his penmanship was excellent and everything very neat and precise.

( Dear Liliana.... )

And, with that, and with many crumpled up pieces of paper already filling the waste basket at his feet, Ignis held out his letter to look it over for any other sneaky errors that might have slipped in, to make sure it said what he'd like it to say, and then smiled a little with approval as he nodded. He smoothed it out in front of him on the desk to start very carefully folding it so that he could slip it into an envelope and then pass on to Lady Vess so that she could ensure that it got to its intended recipient.

And then, he could get started on his next letter, this one for Noctis...

Sometimes, things were much easier to say when put down in writing than in spoken words, after all.

[[ somewhat establishy, since work is very likely to eat me, but also definitely open! ]]

Today was Liliana's birthday, and, in a bold act of selfishness, Ignis had made the request that the squander it all away by spending it with him. Granted, he was fully aware of the fact that Liliana would be the exact type to subscribe to the idea of a birthday week, especially when she had to make up for last year's unfortunate timing that rendered her a mere child for the event, and he rather suspected that she did (somewhat, maybe, perhaps enjoy spending time with him, so he wasn't too terribly fussed about it. Especially since he was fairly certain she would also enjoy what he had in store for them.

Starting, of course, with him taking the day off of both work and training, allowing them to sleep in, especially since he was planning on having breakfast (or, rather, brunch) handled elsewhere, in a cute little bistro in the shadow of the gleaming Citadel in New Insomnia. From there, a car had been rented (did Ignis briefly contemplate making the sojourn with chocobos? Yes, for a split second before reminding himself that he did actually value his life and didn't want to be murdered) to drive them out to the Vesperpool, a journey that weaved through most of Lucis, affording Liliana a glimpse of most of what it had to offer: from the sparse badlands of Leide, the plains and woods of Duscae clustered around the Disc of Cauthus and the ropes of rock from the impact of the Meteor. They skirted past Lestallum when they entered Cleigne to head, instead, through the mountains and the old Hunter headquarters to emerge into their destination. The weather had, unfortunately, not cooperated, but the rain was light and warm, and, really, made short stroll through the swamp feel more true to the experience, anyway. There was no way to keep one's self that dry in approaching Steyliff Grove, anyway, and so Ignis certainly hoped Liliana had taken his warning about footwear to heart.

Trudging through a rainy swamp might not have seemed like what anyone would imagine to have been an ideal birthday excursion for Liliana, but, well, Ignis had nothing but confidence that it would be worth it.

And, eventually, there they stood among the pillars that flanked the entrance to the ancient mausoleum of the long-gone Solheim civilization, the structure of imposing stone laced with hints of old technology and nature's attempts to reclaim it, with its broken cracked stone stairs leading up to its towering entrance.

The timing should have mostly worked out, but as they approached, Ignis explained, "If the entrance is not glowing red yet, then we'll have to wait a moment. The tombs only become accessible when proper night falls."

[[ for the necromancer with the birthday and NFB for distance, obvi ]]

The quiet spot on the beach was the same, as was the fisherman's paella, but the date, the fruit salad, and the wine were all different, as Ignis had been saving one of the bottles they'd cultivated together in Argentina with the hopes to bring it out for this exact occasion: a celebration of the very first meal he'd ever cooked for Liliana, on this very same beach, as a bold response to a coy and cloying inquiry that had not only kicked off his experience at last year's Three Minute Dates, but had also fundamentally altered the trajectory of his life in ways he would have never imagined were even possible.

It was hard to put into words exactly how completely and extraordinarily things had changed for him during this past year, and so Ignis wasn't even going to try. In fact, he was just going to do what he knew was a far better way for him to communicate all of that, the same method he'd used to channel all the things that couldn't be expressed otherwise, for one reason or another: by pouring it all into food instead.

And so, his camp station was set up, there was achingly familiar music drifting quietly from a familiar music box, there was an excess of fruit that was not going into the salad to satisfy any grazing fingers, a spoon that being ostentatiously flipped far more than could ever be necessary, and, of course, someone to share it all with.

[[ and the post is for that someone~ ]]

For how exhausted he was, for how battered and broken and bruised, it had been a very rough and restless night for Ignis. Thank goodness they still had a long stretch of the night ahead of them, because it was slow going, shambling their ways through the jungles of Shandalar in their current states to find the rendezvous spot for their portal. A night filled with tenuous uncertainty that had nothing to do with what might lurk there in the shadows of the wilderness, and a bit of paranoia, that their exhaustion would sweep them under so much that they would miss the short window they had to get off of this plane and get back home. Ignis had set his phone with an alarm, but it proved mostly unnecessary. He'd barely slept a wink, plagued as he was by thoughts of what had just occurred here. They'd came in search for answers about the Chain Veil, and, well, they certainly got some, didn't they? Just as he suspected, those answered were not encouraging, either, but he took no pleasure at all in being proven correct, and now, he just desperately wanted to be away from here. He wanted the safety and comfort of their own home, food in their stomachs, proper treatment for their wounds, a godsdamn bath...

Thankfully, when the portal finally did arrive, it had the decency to drop them off at their own doorstep, and so all of those things could be attended to immediately once they arrived. And Ignis could focus on something productive, something useful, instead of just sitting there and stewing in his own thoughts about what had transpired the previous night. Forget any concerns he may still have lingering about that Liliana might just eventually lose interest or get bored with him or this plane and simply 'walk away; those fears had long been assuaged. Now, apparently, he had to concern himself with the fate of just simply being forgotten, of having his entire existence erased from her memory thanks to a bunch of stubborn, persistent spirits that she had unwittingly bound herself to--

No. No. He'd spent too much time already dwelling in these thoughts. He'd barely even started to unpack the implications of what had happened in the mausoleum, about what might have happened, if not for Gentiana, if not Noct, and why now? How did it even happen? What did that all mean?

But those were things for later. For now, there were things that needed doing, and he was going to do them. Or, rather, instruct the steward to do them, if Liliana hadn't already. First and foremost, to get a bath started, so that it would be ready for them once they'd finished cleaning off in the shower. Then, if he would be so kind as to ensure that his medical supplies were also brought to the bedroom? And lastly, some food, something simple and nutrient dense, iron rich for all of the blood loss, that should be easy to procure from what was already prepped and prepared in the kitchen, easy to eat in small bites. And plenty of water, no matter how desperately he'd rather coffee or wine.

Once that was in order, then, his attention shifted back to Liliana and helping her upstairs.

"We're home now," he told her, quietly, and he wished he could say unnecessarily, but... "Come on. Let's clean ourselves up, and get some proper rest."

Ahh, damn. He'd have to tack one more task onto the steward, he realized, in letting Summer know that their plans for this weekend would, indeed, need to be...postponed.

[[ for the necromancer, of course ]]

Several months ago, an artifact had arrived at the Consortium, and item that, if you were to ask Liliana, was of no importance, significance, or even worth a second thought. And yet that item, in all its lack of significance, had left the shop and stayed with her, making appearances in the house, in her office, occasionally plucked, though her hand would still the strings and silence its song once she realized anyone was near. But Ignis had still heard it, and he felt the sort of listless absence in her on the days that followed, though she would no doubt laugh in the face of anyone who thought to point it out to her.

( Ignis did NOT point it out to her. )

And before she could suggest just leaving it or sending the steward after it, he was already on his way.

[[ for the lightly and permissibly modded necromancer, as one might fully expect; and ~~a bit~~ pretty NSFW-y, also as one might fully expect, ahem. ]]

Overall, when it came to animal transformations, Ignis was not terribly impressed with his very first one. Not only did it interrupt what was supposed to have been a very lovely post-semester vacation with his paramour, but it was also wreaking havoc on his sleeping schedule and was quite frankly fraught with a whole manner of indignities that he'd rather not divulge too deeply, although the most recent one was newfound disgust for cloying soaps that apparently attempted to smell like fruit while truly failing at the task, and just leaving his sense of smell offended and his appetite craving actual papaya to an almost distracting degree.

He did rather like the flying, though, he had to admit, and, though far less likely to admit it, all the little ear scritches and pets and cooing and the comfort of Liliana's ample bosom.

He'd also taken to the much more comfortable method of sleeping inverted, hanging upside down from the bed's canopy, his wings folded neatly and tidily around his small, furry body. Which was an excellent way to spend the morning as a bat, but while bats were nocturnal, Ignis was decidedly not. And even if he was, there was simply the fact that when Ignis made the sudden switch from being a bat to being himself, he was not nearly so well equipped for sleeping inverted from a bedpost as his bat-self was.

If he had a bit more warning and a bit more room to fall, then Ignis might have been able to avoid his fate. He might have been able to twist and turn and probably flip his body in a way that avoided the edge of the bedframe. He might have even have been able to have landed gracefully. But, jolted out of a sleep he'd just started settling into by the rudeness of weight, mass, and gravity, and being much too tall all of a sudden than he'd previously been to make use out of what little space he had between canopy and bed, he descended quickly and ungracefully, his surprise twisting his body in a way that meant his back landed quite painfully and unfortunately on the edge.

His surprised sound was then met with a groan (and quite possibly a whisper) as he landed and winced against the spot where his back hit the bedframe instead of the much softer mattress, and then slinked down to the floor with a string of curses that matched the addition of another indignity to the whole situation.

This had to be some sort of karmic retribution for all those times he accidentally broke Gladio's vase in the past...

[[ for she who lives there with him first and foremost, but certainly quite open after that! And a bit NSFW-y, but you'd probably guess as much ]]

It had been, for the most part, a very typical Saturday morning for Ignis. Slipping out of bed without too much complaint or resistance from the necromancer he shared it with was even that much easier as Liliana slept off, hopefully, what still lingered and remained of all that rage and frustration they'd so diligently worked on easing out of her throughout the day yesterday. There was the morning run around the island with Gladio and Prompto followed by a small training session, a return to the mansion for a quick shower, and then down into the quiet of the morning kitchen so he could make his coffee and a light breakfast to tide him over until what Liliana would deem a far more acceptable hour for such things. And then settling with his mug and some quickly whipped up eggs on toast to be very contemplative about things and also take a moment to listen in on the morning's broadcast.

As as he listened with the sort of vague detached interest as he usually did, he chose a very poor moment to lift his mug to his lips and take a sip just as a seemingly innocuous sever-word sentence hit his ears.

Dean was helping Liliana learn to drive.

And, yes, folks, that would indeed be the very rare, the very hilarious Ignis Scientia spit-take.

Mind suddenly reeling out of its rather calm and placid meditations on life, he quickly wiped the coffee dribbling from his chin and splattered onto the table up, attempting to tidy himself and frowning deeply at the small wet spot marking his shirt that let him know he'd managed to get some on himself, as well. And it was likely nothing a napkin could solve, so he dabbed at it futilely before heading to the sink to treat it more sufficiently with something that would not allow the stain to set. And, really, he thought to himself that he should go change the shirt right away, but he had to, at least, verify that he'd even actually heard what he thought he had and go and listen to it again.

And even a third time, just to really make sure.

Well, then.

This certainly put a lot of things from yesterday into perspective, didn't it? That furious, demanding need when she got home after what had been a much quicker excursion than he'd expected it to be, the tension he tried to work out with a massage, and the tentative questions and the dodgy answers that tumbled into more distraction from the point. All that ridiculous car horn beeping he'd heard even from the mansion while he was outside enjoying the sounds of the woods with his (second? third?) cup of the day.

Dean was helping Liliana learn to drive.

Help with necromancy stuff, indeed.

Now, to try and decide exactly how to proceed from here, as it was very clear that this was something Liliana had wished to pursue in secret, but had not been, shockingly, more thorough in her attention to the squirrels.

After tending to that potential stain on his shirt and procuring a new one, of course.

[[ and it's open! ]]

It was well into the morning, well past the time that Ignis would usually be strolling into Luke's to start ordering the staff around to help him get the ingredients to work on the day's specials, and he was still very much in bed, and not at all fussed about it. The weekend had been a whirlwind and it had been a gauntlet of keeping himself calm and composed through a great deal of hurdles and a fair amount of uncomfortable situations that he tried to...well, if not make the best of, at least survive through, and he might just be perfectly content to just stay here with Liliana and make up for all the time they'd lost due to the various moving parts of their unexpected progeny.

Besides, he hadn't slept too terribly well. Quite possibly not at all, his hands idly drifting through Liliana's hair as she curled up next him (for the comfort of the position and the lulling tempo of a heartbeat, of course, and no other reasons, perish the thought), with the darkness that usually surrounded him now filled with the reminiscence of Irrim's gift. How could he sleep, with all that to replay in his head, again and again? He supposed they might graciously leak into dreams, as well, but when Ignis had dreams, they weren't exactly good ones, and it seemed like too much of a risk to chance it.

Nothing a little coffee later couldn't fix, if they ever decided to leave the bed, or, really, not even that, as the steward could just bring some, confirming even more that there truly was very little reason to leave this spot, this moment.

[[ and for the brazenly modded sleeping necromancer beside him, of course ]]

After what felt like quite possibly the worst detour ever to the Perk after doing his shopping, Ignis made his way back home with only the fact that the espresso was quite serviceable to console him.

That, and, with a little bit of hindsight, something that he was suddenly very interested in getting Liliana's opinion on. Granted, he knew that there were many ways that conversation could go, but, once it was in his head, it was not going to let go until he knew the answer.

Damn his sometimes insatiable curiosity!

Upon arriving, he gave the task of putting the groceries away to the steward for now, so that he could go and find her before he thought better of any of this.

"Liliana, darling?" he called out, taking a moment after the steward shuffled away to the kitchen with his bags to get a sense of where he should be heading next. "Are you home?"

Yes, he could have just asked the steward where she might be at this time, but there was always something so much more satisfying of sending out a call and having her answer.

[[ for the ~~world's~~ MULTIVERSE'S bitchiest sorceress, of course ]]

Although he felt he'd made a pretty good show of not being too distracted by his and Liliana's impending trip, Ignis had been rather...dare he say it?....impatient to get through the day and get through their classes, and finally find their way to this little excursion down in Argentina. And who could hardly blame him, when as soon as they'd settled things upon arrival and found their way to dinner and a meal with beef so tender it practically melted on their tongues. And while there wasn't much on the agenda besides that and arrive, it was made clear that they would need to ensure that the whirlpool tub was up to their incredibly high standards.

Thankfully, it passed the tests exceptionally well, so that when Ignis eventually extracted himself from it, he could just go and find himself comfortable reclined and relaxed in the bed.

Well, relaxed for him, anyway, which meant that his mind, as much as he tried to quiet it in the spirit of the trip, was still already buzzing with the itinerary they were likely to pursue in the morning, especially since, well, he'd been looking forward to that coffee bar ever since Liliana mentioned it. Funny, that. For all he'd be up thinking about it, he was going to be in that much more need of it, though he figured, once Liliana finished up in the tub and joined him, she'd surely help him find a different reason for needing that coffee in the morning.

[[ for whatever may just so happened to be in this villa in Argentina with him, please. Who I also stole a little bit of phrasing from for the post, so credit where credit's due, and yes, I know it says Thursdays, whatever, time is meaningless, shut up, and NFB for distance and time travel, obvi. And now with totally unexpected, to be sure, NSFW-y warnings! ]]

In his unending quest to reveal to Liliana that patience was a gift that would reap many rewards, part of his Christmas gift to her could not be fully enjoyed until this very evening. It had involved a gown, as well as tickets to the opera, and the promise of dancing the night away afterwards. His own suit had threatened to cause them to miss the performance entirely, but thankfully, that particular crisis was averted, the show did, in fact, go on, and Liliana had faithfully whispered to his the details of the more impressive visual elements....as well as whispered many other things that had absolutely nothing to do with the show itself, and much more to do with the way her fingers tantalizingly brushed against his wrist. It was enough to make him wish he'd skipped the propriety of proper opera gloves if not for the fact that he was quite sure the gloves themselves were the inspiration for those trailing touches.

And lovely as the opera had been, Ignis was eager to move on, and they finally arrived there at the dance hall, which he had been assured was quite astonishing to behold. The swells of lively music with sweeping cadences and the din of conversation layered over it was promising, but his attention was entirely focused toward the woman on his arm to gauge its suitablity.

[[ and for said shamelessly modded woman, and NFB for disance, natch~ ]]

It would hardly surprise anyone that Ignis was the first one stirring in the mansion that Christmas morning; it was quite his natural state to be an early riser, but this was especially so when he had a lot to do in preparing a good proper feast for Liliana's first Christmas, and this was made especially true now that he'd gone and invited Gladio and Nell to join them later. All that food for just the two of them seemed like a waste, and sharing was quite a key element of the season. Besides, they'd have the morning together for their own exchanging of gifts and for him to get a break from the cooking for a bit once several things were prepared and set into motion, and he was going to revel in those quiet hours of just getting to work without worrying about half his ingredients going missing.

Besides, he absolutely planned on informing Liliana that her getting to sleep in without nagging was part of her Christmas gift.

The best gifts truly were priceless.

She would eventually be waking up to cinnamon rolls and coffee, though, so he doubted that would be too many complaints. Especially once the gifts that actually came wrapped in boxes actually made an appearance.

But for now? Just quiet reflection over the first of many cups of coffee to come, the beginnings of a day in the kitchen, some soft instrumental carols playing lightly in the background, and, quite honestly...contentment.

Quite the rare and priceless gift, indeed.

[[ up early for great holiday SP justice, with some minor ocd! Mostly for those who know who they are, but also open for anyone who might want to stop by! ]]

It had been quite the eventful whirlwind of events, these last few weeks.

Although, really, if he was honest with himself, things had been like that ever since he sat down across from Liliana at a table in Caritas as the start of the very first round of Three Minute Dates months ago, now, which seemed simultaneously an impossible long and small amount of time ago. But ever since Liliana had gifted him that kaapi from Kaladesh, it felt like he'd been all but stumbling from one thing to the next, with barely enough time to recover before it was onto the next peak or low, low chasm, and it had given him a lot of food for thought, and, staying at the mansion as much as he had that week, still not a lot of time to really chew it over. Thus, this morning became a bit of reflective refuge, knowing full well he'd be awake well before Liliana would even dream of breaking her slumber, and, so he slipped out of bed without disturbing her, to let her do just that, while he went downstairs and made himself a cup of that kaapi, and then just...thought.

( Some of the thoughts were practical, and then lingered, drifted, meandered from there: )

So, in due time, there would be the sort of breakfast that proved that Ignis had a lot to think about coming up the stairs to the bedroom, with fresh juice and coffee (of course), and if the aromas alone didn't stir Liliana gently out of her slumber, that was fine. He naturally had a Plan B on hand, but he could make no guarantees that would remain so gentle once it got started.

[[ well, if I have to tell you who this is for....]]

It was not unusual for Ignis to wake up in a very large bed not his own, as he and Noctis would often drift off together at the end of a long day, but it was a bit unusual for him to wake up in a very large bed not his own without Noctis there as well, and even though there was another small, dark-haired head amongst the pillows, it was very clearly not the prince. And so Ignis, somehow able to find his glasses waiting for him on the bedside table and putting them on, took a moment to look around before wholly dismissing everything about it, climbing out of the bed, and going to go find where the prince might be.

He, naturally, planned to check all the usual places around the Citadel, but this was very clearly not the Citadel, although it did feel similar to it in many aspects. All the same sorts of rooms, really, although aesthetically a bit different, but no less grand and ostentatious. Eventually, though, he found himself in the kitchen, and the kitchen was the first room he'd found that wasn't completely empty as all the other rooms except the bedroom had been, but the person standing there gave him pause, especially the odd way he looked, and then a small spark of panic made his heart jump.

"Are you," he asked, "an MT?"

He'd never seen one before, but everyone always said they looked like pale imitations of humans, lifelike but actually lifeless, uncanny and unsettling, and all of those things Ignis felt he could use to describe the figure that stood before him. And if an MT had made its way into Insomnia, then they were going to be in dire straights indeed.

But when the figure didn't answer right away, and when it seemed that there was no immediate threat, Ignis tilted his head thoughtfully. "Have you seen Prince Noctis?" he asked. "I should really find him as soon as possible..."

What followed was a thorough description of the prince, ended with a hopeful glance up, but the figure just shook its head in the negative and Ignis' shoulders fell with disappointment But then the steward made a sound and a gesture toward the kitchen, and it became clear what was inherent in its suggestion.

"Oh, I suppose you're right," Ignis realized. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and if I'm to have to look for the prince this morning, I'll need fuel and energy. Do you know how to make tea? Here, I'll show you."

And that was how, eventually, Ignis came to be sitting at a table, with a hot mug of tea and a small plate of a meager breakfast before him, chatting eagerly at Liliana's steward, and explaining to him further about what an MT was. "So, I'm terribly sorry for making such an incorrect assumption, but you can see why I might have been mistaken when I first saw you, and why I would be doubly concerned if there was an MT here as well as a missing prince....Is there a fishing pond, in that garden just outside? He would enjoy that a good deal, although, I have to admit, it looks as though you could use a more capable gardener, it looks a bit overgrown, and I've heard that that's a good way to invite both rodents and potential structural damage...."

[[ and, of course, open for she who lives there, should she feel so inclined! ]]

One week ago, a small bit of shaped and cut metal of practically no significance had been pressed into Ignis' hand, granted him the ability to come and go as he pleased with regards to certain allegedly creepy but hardly abandoned mansions in the woods. And that was exactly what he'd been doing on several occasions throughout the week, especially since it appeared as though Liliana's steward had gotten quite lax in his duties in answering the door, should he deign to knock. After a while, it became clear that announcing his entrance with such formalities was a wholly unnecessary thing, and in some cases, like today, it was actually crucial that he did not.

It was rather early in the morning, so Ignis knew that Liliana would likely be asleep for some time, without him there to wake her up with various forms of persuasive efforts. He planned to be in and out with barely little more than a nod to her steward, leaving behind only one hint that he'd even been there at all, though it was a fairly obvious hint: a meticulously arranged platter of raspberry key lime tarts, though the one at the very center, instead of being garnished with a wedge of lime and a plump, juicy raspberry, was instead supporting a small bit of shaped and cut metal of practically no significance of Liliana's own.

After all, what was key lime without the key?

[[ mostly establishing, but obviously quite open for she who lives here to react if she so desires~ ]]