Ah. There. For a split second, a breath, Ignis's fingers pause where they're lathering soap up there against Gladio's palm, inbetween all the little lines that form in his life. "Now who's taking responsibility for decisions you didn't make?" he points out, fingers dipping inbetween the gaps of Gladio's and breaking through white bubbles.
"The only thing you've made a choice on was... responding to Noct." And that still makes him feel uneasy, agitated, but not so bad as being hit with it so unexpectedly. He can swallow it down, not let his fingers slow or quicken too much as they roll over Gladio's knuckles. "Everything else was already in place before we ever had a chance to speak. I doubt any of us would have chosen such a discrepancy in how much of our lives we've lived, after all."
His hands pull back, up inbeween the same gaps they'd pressed through, until his fingers splay there slightly in Gladio's palm. "...Noct and I had only just had an argument not long ago." At least, it was tension that finally came to a head, and which both of them struggled with. Ignis hadn't even ground against it as much as he could have; just retreated. "Yet I see him again in this place, and he's grown so much that the difference may as well be night and day. And it's not that I'm unhappy about that."
...But to suddenly be looking straight into the sun when you were walking in the night would be enough to give anyone a sheering headache at the very least.
"As for us, while one never hopes that their relationship will end... It's still different to see that it's lasted well into the future." He tugs their hands, together, over to the spray of water once more, now that he's satisfied he's washed them well enough. "...I've never even had a chance, as of yet, to think that deeply on our relationship. That we'd make exceptions for anyone." Let alone Noctis, although now that he's had a chance to simmer down, he has to admit to himself that he could see the conversation happening.
It just hasn't, yet. Not for him.
"...It felt a betrayal, of some nature." That seems like the right word, he feels.
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"The only thing you've made a choice on was... responding to Noct." And that still makes him feel uneasy, agitated, but not so bad as being hit with it so unexpectedly. He can swallow it down, not let his fingers slow or quicken too much as they roll over Gladio's knuckles. "Everything else was already in place before we ever had a chance to speak. I doubt any of us would have chosen such a discrepancy in how much of our lives we've lived, after all."
His hands pull back, up inbeween the same gaps they'd pressed through, until his fingers splay there slightly in Gladio's palm. "...Noct and I had only just had an argument not long ago." At least, it was tension that finally came to a head, and which both of them struggled with. Ignis hadn't even ground against it as much as he could have; just retreated. "Yet I see him again in this place, and he's grown so much that the difference may as well be night and day. And it's not that I'm unhappy about that."
...But to suddenly be looking straight into the sun when you were walking in the night would be enough to give anyone a sheering headache at the very least.
"As for us, while one never hopes that their relationship will end... It's still different to see that it's lasted well into the future." He tugs their hands, together, over to the spray of water once more, now that he's satisfied he's washed them well enough. "...I've never even had a chance, as of yet, to think that deeply on our relationship. That we'd make exceptions for anyone." Let alone Noctis, although now that he's had a chance to simmer down, he has to admit to himself that he could see the conversation happening.
It just hasn't, yet. Not for him.
"...It felt a betrayal, of some nature." That seems like the right word, he feels.