Anytime you need a friend I'm gonna be by your side

[faithfulsupport]

Characters: Tony, Ignis, Madoka, Prompto, Gladio and Peter
When: About a week after new arrivals
Where: Dining carriage
Warnings: Tony
Summary: Growing family dinner




Ignis had called on the fellow members of the Crownsguard to come to a family dinner one night. Normally he made dinner just for them and then had another dinner with Tony afterwards, but tonight was different and so he busily prepared something akin to the Skewered Wild Trout and Spicy Long-Bone Rib Steaks, those being some of Gladio & Prompto's favourites respectively. Working with this month's recipehs too, he made Cheese & Rosemary Focaccia as an appetizer without any onions.

He'd been given fish and meat from the townspeople that he'd helped rescue on the last mission on the ice world. Of course he'd tried politely to decline anything but the young father who'd mistakenly thought Madoka as his daughter (at the time) refused to hear it and the advisor didn't want to insult the man. So when Ignis came home he had just pounds of meat and fish that he stored away in the freezer for a special occasion.

Well now was one such as that.

Having informed Tony of his idea, the Red team leader then invited Peter to come meet the other side of the family. Madoka of course was all for it and she busily started working on side dishes and dessert. Normally the advisor had no problem tanking everything but he wanted Madoka to feel included and she'd worry he was taking too much on by himself. That was nonsense in Ignis' book but the bigger rule than his pride was not to make his daughter worry. It happened once and since he couldn't handle the onslaught of those eyes, he'd silently vowed to never go through that again.

Like ever.

Comments

[callmegladio]

Gladio hadn't meant kinks at all. Nope, those thoughts were not in his head because to him it would be akin to thinking about a sibling in the sack and the LAST thing he wanted was to think about that!

"Deviant? Weird your thoughts went there, Iggy! I meant love." Gladio reached over and lightly thumped the others shoulder. "Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself, I don't wanna know. As far as I'm concerned you tripped and fell and Madoka popped out." He was teasing of course, Madoka wasn't his biologically and even if she had been, neither Ignis nor Tony could actually have kids like that. At least, he didn't think they could...

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis laughed because that's all he could really do. He hadn't been looking for anything from anyone when he arrived and was as lost as lost could be. "I've found love here..or rather it found me." Love was in the form of being pursued very unexpectedly by the leader of the train, after having met the night ironically enough when Ignis was missing Noctis the most.

There was a smile as Gladio said Madoka just popped out, and again the shield's insight was pretty uncanny. True the girl wasn't born from the advisor but it was a thing he would do for his knight if he could. But again, no one knew this but Tony.

[callmegladio]

"And that's what I'm saying! I'm glad you did. I'm really happy for you, Iggy." And he was. Really and truly. Maybe he and Tony hadn't gotten off to the best of starts but he seemed like an okay kind of guy.

[faithfulsupport]

"I..appreciate that." Ignis said, still not looking at the shield. It just never failed to amaze him that he should be the first one of all of them. Noct was supposed to have been first in getting married, and well that didn't turn out the way it was supposed to have at all. And then he ended up here on the train, devastated to have left the side of an unconscious king.

Tony had come on like a hurricane, disrupting the advisor's orderly and lonely world. The man himself was a marvel and amazed the hell out of Ignis at his persistence and inability to just go away and give up and not bother him anymore. He rebuffed the man a few times and that didn't deter him. It was as Gladio had said, he needed someone to chase him>. Not that he knew he needed that, of course.

[callmegladio]

Gladio nodded and pushed himself up to his feet. He stretched and then dropped his arms with a wide grin. "I need another drink. Want anything?" He asked, turning to the advisor to make his offer.

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis wasn't sure what Gladio was doing until he said as much. But really he didn't drink so he had no idea what to even ask for in the first place. "I'll..have whatever you're having."

It was odd, they hadn't drank together in awhile but apparently he'd forgotten how to relax and breathe, even here. It was refreshing to have a chance to just be themselves though and not on duty or off duty members of the Crownsguard. They were still that, but Noct wasn't here so there wasn't anyone royal to protect.

[callmegladio]

Gladio looked back down at his old friend and chuckled. "Nothing stopping you from asking for a coffee or a juice or something, Igs." He knew beer wasn't everyone's drink of choice, and to be honest he hadn't planned on going for that either. He wanted to pace himself and really, he wasn't going to get drink while having a meal with Ignis' family.

"How about I go make us one?" He offered as he started to head off toward the kitchen to go and do that.

[faithfulsupport]

Nodding at the shield, Ignis decided that sounded good to him. "Coffee sounds good to me." And of course it would though It wasn't Ebony of course. He wasn't a drinker and he sat back in his chair as Gladio headed off.

There were times like now he wanted to pinch himself to make sure this was all really happening and not just some dream. There had been many dreams before this about the Crownsguard showing up and all of them spending time together. But this was certainly real, because he couldn't have made these conversations up in his head.

[callmegladio]

And off he went to make coffee. After years of friendship, Gladio was well versed in just how Ignis enjoyed his coffee. It wasn't in a can but it was the best he could do with what was on offer. And it was piping hot which was always a plus in his book.

It wasn't long before Gladio was returning with two mugs, one of which he placed in front of his old friend and the other he set beside him once he was sat down. "See? I'm being good. I won't get drunk for your little party. But..." Out of his back pocket he pulled out a pack of cards that he placed on the table. Gladio grinned. "Later we're gonna play. Like old times."

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis sat there quietly as he waited for his coffee. He watched Tony and Prompto get into some sort of animated conversation and Madoka was so busy smiling at them just enjoying the company. She was such a source of joy and inspiration that he couldn't help but smile whenever she walked into a room.

When the shield returned with the mug, he nodded with a smile on his face. The cards then came out and before he could reply, there was a devious smirk on the advisor's face once he saw the pack of cards. "Like old times you say.." There were a lot of thoughts that went through his ind when he heard that particular line.

[callmegladio]

"That's right." Gladio grinned widely and tapped the cards where he'd set them on the table. "I'm told you guys don't play? Well that's gonna change! We can teach Madoka." He laughed and looked around for the pink haired teen, didn't find her so shrugged and turned back to Ignis.

"You wanted a family dinner, Igs. Some of the best memories I have of us is sitting in those damn motels or late at night at camp sites playing games like these. Might not be what some of these guys would call fun, but..." It was one of Gladio's fondest memories. All of them together, relaxed, laughing, brushing off the stresses of the day and if only for an hour or two, they could pretend there wasn't a care in the world. They could pretend they were their age and didn't have the weight of destiny and duty on their shoulders.

[faithfulsupport]

The advisor shook his head. Leave it to Gladio to want to play cards again. There were times he hadn't played but when the other three went to go busy themselves with something else, he would snatch the deck and play a few rounds of solitaire. And he would learn more ways to play the games they played because when he would play, of course Ignis loved to win, all the while playing it down of course.

There was a genuine smile at hearing the shield want to include Madoka, that was just heart achingly sweet of him. The girl had worked her magic on his fellow Crownsguard members just as he was sure that she would.

"They were fun for us and that is what counts." Ignis wouldn't replace any of those memories when it was just the four of them.

[callmegladio]

Of course he'd want to include Madoka. Even that odd kid, Peter, if he was interested. He already knew Tony would be up for a game. Though when he thought about it he wondered if the card games they played were the same that Tony had on his world. Or that Madoka had on hers? Maybe he could be taught a thing or two? It did please him to know that poker existed on both though, but even then the rules could have been different in each. It would be very interesting to find out when the time came. Gladio was looking forward to it. The excitement shone in the grin he flashed Ignis' way then.

"And it can be fun for everyone else as well. And that's what I want. These guys won't know what we went through back home. They couldn't understand. But then, I can't understand the things Tony's been through, or the world Madoka came from. We've all got our differences, Iggy. But sitting around, laughing and just playing a simple card game. None of that matters. Past or present, who we are, what we've done, none of that matters. We'll just have a good time and to hell with the rest."

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis sobered up when Gladio said the part about what they went through. Tony knew the most, Madoka knew bits and pieces. But their secrets weren't his to reveal, such as Madoka seeing a friend get eaten or Tony sacrificing himself to save his world much like Noctis would have to do. The advisor hadn't told the shield what he knew and he wouldn't even tell the king himself. That last part was because he planned on finding a way to circumvent that future. If he could find the one or ones responsible he'd personally put an end to their plot to have the king die. His oath was to save the king not let him go to his death.

"Well mayhaps we can learn from them. And there's plenty of food and drink to go around." He'd made sure of that, and he might have to rope Madoka into sitting still and playing. But he was sure that she would delight in having this many people be willing to sit and spend time with her.

[callmegladio]

He didn't know that much about everyone's pasts, just the bits that he had been told. He assumed that he would learn more as time went on. He wasn't in any rush nor was he really fishing for information. It just was what it was and he knew it was bad enough that they could all use a damn break and distraction. And a mindless, fun card game was just what the doctor ordered!

"Who knows? They might have different rules than we do back home or different games." Gladio grinned, the excitement plain in his expression. "I'm lookin forward to it!"

[faithfulsupport]

"It's too bad you two don't have your phones, but then again you might not be able to introduce the other people here to King's Knight anyhow." This was a good thing, the last thing people needed was a train full of distracted people with cellphones in hand.

Gladio and his enthusiasm were ways to put a smile on the advisor's face. It was so good to have his old friend and companion back. "There's always games going on in the game room as well."

A smirk.

"Have you ever heard of a game called Hungry Hungry Hippos?"

[callmegladio]

Gladio laughed in remembrance. Playing Kings Knight with the others had always been a happy and relaxing time for him. It had been a nice way to bond that didn't involve actually risking their lives.

But then Ignis was saying words and Gladio gave him a funny look. "What's a Hippo?"

[faithfulsupport]

A smirk played on the strategist's lips. "It's a mammal on a planet called Earth. It spends time in the water and eats plants. But this animal in particular is plastic and is in a game that is a favourite of Madoka's. The object of the game is to gobble up all of these marbles before the rest of your opponents do."

So basically the one that has the most wins.

[callmegladio]

Gladio just stared at Ignis for a long few seconds waiting for a punchline that never came.

"... Are you pulling my leg?" He finally asked. Because Ignis couldn't be serious, could he? What the hell kind of game was that? It sounded strange. It sounded... like something Iris would probably have liked. Gladio shook his head and chuckled softly. "You're not expecting me to play that, are you?"

[faithfulsupport]

Punchlines can't be delivered if they're not a thing.

"No I'm rather not." Ignis smiled. "But yes I am..moreover requesting you to play." Gladio was more of a game player than himself but he would always play the game at his daughter's request. And Madoka would have the Crownsguard playing with her he was sure.

[callmegladio]

"Requesting, huh?" Gladio gave his old friend a narrow eyed look. He did not think that this 'game' was his thing. "I'd have to be very, very drunk to play something like that, Iggy."

Or, maybe, if it was just him and Iris. He would have played it then. But then again he would have done almost anything for his little sister.

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis' green eyes crinkled with mirth. "I see. Then if that is the way you're playing it, then I may have to simply revamp my strategy."

If he brought Madoka into this, he knew Gladio would bend to those cute eyes that belonged to the pink haired girl.

[callmegladio]

"Plying me with booze so I can play a kids game? Iggy, just how bored are you here?" Gladio laughed, very much confused why his old friend was so hell bent on him playing a game with hungry creatures and marbles? Was it really that fun? From the way it was described it didn't sound it.

"Unless you're upping the stakes? Do you guys play for money or does the loser have to suffer a forfeit?" See now, if you made it interesting, maybe he would play. Invoking Madoka would not work on Gladio. He had a sister. Big, innocent eyes were not enough to bend him to their will. He had become immune to such things at a very early age.

[faithfulsupport]

"No alcohol around children thank you very much." Ignis replied crisply. "And you'll most certainly need your wits about you." There was a slight smirk. "I quite assure you that I've plenty to do here, but hopefully one day you'll be kind enough to help me out." How was yet to be revealed but that would come at another time.

His head shook. "I have heard of strip poker and things of that nature." There was a smile as he thought of Gladio's beau but no actual comment was made. "But you'd have to inquire as to games for stakes."

[callmegladio]

"Helping you out by playing a kids game?" Because it very much sounded like a kids game to him. He had no idea what else Ignis was planning, and didn't even pay it any thought. He was far too amused.

He burst out laughing. At no point did he mention of even think about strip poker. At least not while he'd been speaking to Ignis. The guy had come to that all on his own. "... Your mind is a strange, strange place, Ignis. Can I thank Tony for that?"