That one actually stings, and Gladio winces, although not really from the venom in Ignis' voice. He expected to get in trouble for this, at least with an Ignis that comes from before they ever really dissected their mutual feelings for Noctis together. Before they had long talks about their feelings versus their duties, and how neither would ever consider flaunting those duties - or risking Noctis - simply for the sake of their own personal desires. The not-quite-spoken understanding in the way they'd talked about it that if it was a question of what Noct desired, as opposed to them, then their answers might be different. The spoken and implicit understanding that to both of them, what makes Noct happy is a hell of a lot more important than what makes them happy.
An older Ignis, who'd had these conversations with Gladio...he'd trust Gladio more here, certainly. Though even then, Gladio knows he'd have to...reassure him, at the very least, that it had been exactly the sort of scenario they'd both quietly fantasized about but never fully articulated, where it was something Noct wanted and therefore something the two of them could dare to allow themselves. That it hadn't just been his resolve and his steadfastness in his duty suddenly weakening. After all, Iggy when he's older is no less protective of Noct than he is at this younger age - no matter how much he might love and trust Gladio, he'd want to...make sure.
But this is...somehow worse than Ignis' anger, or the very real threat that he's about to get castrated by his own boyfriend. There's a level of...disgust, there. Disbelief, that Noct would ever look at him like that of his own accord.
If Gladio ever needed his confidence cut down to size, being asked in tones of pure ice by his own boyfriend why someone would ever look to him for romance does it in one stroke. Not the least of which is because, Gladio knows, Iggy is probably questioning right now why he ever did, either, with his opinion of Gladio clearly having bottomed out in a heartbeat.
Well...he can lick his wounds later, and he'll be damned lucky if he can limit them to just his feelings. For now, he has to deal with the job in front of him, no matter how messy or unpleasant it is. The only way out is through. So he sets his gaze straight ahead, keeps walking, and tries to focus only on finding the words he needs.
"What makes you think I know? I still don't get it myself. The guy who's always busting his ass, making him do things he hates, never cutting him slack even when he deserves it because the world can't afford it. And there's plenty of other ways I haven't been the best to him, either - fights we've gotten into you haven't even had the chance to see yet. He should resent me a lot more than he does. But...he's not the Noct you knew at your age, Iggy. He's grown a lot. He values both of us and the things we've tried to teach him a lot more than he used to - think he sees why we were doing those things more clearly now. That's part of it, I guess. But also, hell, maybe it's as simple as he doesn't have a whole lot of people he's ever been able to get close to in his life, and we're some of the most important relationships that he's got."
He turns his head to look down at Ignis. "But I didn't have the luxury to just stand around questioning why he feels the way he does. He told me how he felt, and I had to respond. Decide if I wanted to deny him yet another thing in his life - something that was in my power to give him, something I wanted to give him if it'd make him happy - or if I could actually, for once, let him have something he wants. I made my choice, and if you hate me for it I'll have to live with that. We might not agree on what was the best choice I could have made. But I won't let anyone say I made it because I wasn't putting Noct first, Iggy. Not even you. So if you're pissed at me because you think I'm trying to get away with something, or I'm not thinking about what's best for Noct, you'd better back up and give it another think. You can question my judgment all you want, but you've got even less place to question my devotion to Noct than my devotion to you."
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An older Ignis, who'd had these conversations with Gladio...he'd trust Gladio more here, certainly. Though even then, Gladio knows he'd have to...reassure him, at the very least, that it had been exactly the sort of scenario they'd both quietly fantasized about but never fully articulated, where it was something Noct wanted and therefore something the two of them could dare to allow themselves. That it hadn't just been his resolve and his steadfastness in his duty suddenly weakening. After all, Iggy when he's older is no less protective of Noct than he is at this younger age - no matter how much he might love and trust Gladio, he'd want to...make sure.
But this is...somehow worse than Ignis' anger, or the very real threat that he's about to get castrated by his own boyfriend. There's a level of...disgust, there. Disbelief, that Noct would ever look at him like that of his own accord.
If Gladio ever needed his confidence cut down to size, being asked in tones of pure ice by his own boyfriend why someone would ever look to him for romance does it in one stroke. Not the least of which is because, Gladio knows, Iggy is probably questioning right now why he ever did, either, with his opinion of Gladio clearly having bottomed out in a heartbeat.
Well...he can lick his wounds later, and he'll be damned lucky if he can limit them to just his feelings. For now, he has to deal with the job in front of him, no matter how messy or unpleasant it is. The only way out is through. So he sets his gaze straight ahead, keeps walking, and tries to focus only on finding the words he needs.
"What makes you think I know? I still don't get it myself. The guy who's always busting his ass, making him do things he hates, never cutting him slack even when he deserves it because the world can't afford it. And there's plenty of other ways I haven't been the best to him, either - fights we've gotten into you haven't even had the chance to see yet. He should resent me a lot more than he does. But...he's not the Noct you knew at your age, Iggy. He's grown a lot. He values both of us and the things we've tried to teach him a lot more than he used to - think he sees why we were doing those things more clearly now. That's part of it, I guess. But also, hell, maybe it's as simple as he doesn't have a whole lot of people he's ever been able to get close to in his life, and we're some of the most important relationships that he's got."
He turns his head to look down at Ignis. "But I didn't have the luxury to just stand around questioning why he feels the way he does. He told me how he felt, and I had to respond. Decide if I wanted to deny him yet another thing in his life - something that was in my power to give him, something I wanted to give him if it'd make him happy - or if I could actually, for once, let him have something he wants. I made my choice, and if you hate me for it I'll have to live with that. We might not agree on what was the best choice I could have made. But I won't let anyone say I made it because I wasn't putting Noct first, Iggy. Not even you. So if you're pissed at me because you think I'm trying to get away with something, or I'm not thinking about what's best for Noct, you'd better back up and give it another think. You can question my judgment all you want, but you've got even less place to question my devotion to Noct than my devotion to you."