Renovating the Heart (FFXV)

LII) Heavy

The piercing sound of alarm jumped Rue's slow heart back to life; she groaned, reaching to her right blindly to shut it off. She was met with nothing but empty air, and yet, the sound stopped moments after it began. Frowning, she cracked her eyes open, but she was met with nothing but total darkness. With a sigh, she rubbed her face and reached out for Honey, sensing her warmth nearby. Her heart nearly choked her when she gasped and scrambled away from the body next to her. For a moment, she couldn't remember what the heck she was doing here or who that was. But then it all came back in a rush of memories and she relaxed, closing her eyes.

"Forget where you were?" Ignis asked in a low voice. She turned to look at him, though she couldn't see his face in the darkness.

"Yeah," she huffed, sinking back down under the heavy blankets and staring up at the ceiling.

Ignis nodded. Normally, he would stand as soon as the alarm chimed, but something forced him to lay there in the silence and relish in her heat. I have plenty of time, he told himself. After a long minute of quiet, Rue rolled over, squinting in an attempt to make out his features.

"What time is it?"

"Five."

"#$%^," she muttered, frowning. I'm so tired. "It's dark in here."

"The sun rises on the other side of the house," he replied, shifting. She could tell that he'd turned over, that he was facing her. She hated that she couldn't see. "And I have good curtains."

"Good curtains are a must with creeping Raynes about," she huffed. A smile traced her lips and she knew she never wanted to leave this moment—the warmth, the soft voices, the genuine satisfaction. "#$%^&*, I left my contacts in again, didn't I?"

"I didn't see you remove them."

"I'm lucky I haven't destroyed my eyeballs."

"That you are." But it has to end.

"Trust me, Ignis, I don't want you to move, but you don't strike me as the sort of guy to lay around after his alarm's gone off."

"I'm not," he admitted with a defeated sigh.

The bed shifted as he turned and reached to switch on the lamp on the table beside him. He squinted in the light, blinking to adjust before turning back to face her. He looks so #$%^&*# young without those stupid glasses. If it wasn't for the scars that gnarled his skin and the freckles that dotted patches of his face, she might've assumed he was the same age as Eren. At least, if he kept his mouth shut. Laughing to herself softly, she reached out and pressed his head to hers. Her free hand curled against his chest and her legs prickled with goosebumps when they brushed his.

"I didn't know you had it in you," she teased. Ignis raised an eyebrow. "Good job, pal."

"Don't patronize me," he huffed, though his eyes were alight with amusement.

"Convenient that Rayne canceled on me, hm?" She looked over his face slowly as she thought aloud, eyes narrowed. The tiny skull that always hung around his neck was still there, standing out against the color of his skin. "I do have to wonder, though: would the Ignis Scientia have made a move if she hadn't?"

"I may have been less inclined to do so," he admitted. She shuddered when his fingers found her hip, gently tracing.

"Why do you wake up three hours before you have to be at work?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He raised his back.

"I take the mornings slowly."

"I guess so," she laughed.

Ignis sighed, pulling away from her to pull the blankets off and stand. The muscles in his back tensed as he stretched. Rue watched as he crossed the floor to the bathroom, pausing at the door. He frowned at the ground before looking up at her.