Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain.

[claritatis]

Who: Ignis Scientia & Aranea Highwind
What: Ignis hasn't seen Aranea yet, and gets wind of her presence in the best way
Where: Outside the clinic/guard HQ
When: Jan 11th-ish
Warnings: None yet but Aranea is here so who knows

---

The previous day had been full of surprises. First Noctis, then Prompto, and then Ravus had all fallen onto Ignis' radar as familiar faces. Some were more welcome than others, but all were ultimately a sight for sore eyes and he had even found himself glad to see the erstwhile prince of Tenebrae standing in front of him. He'd been buoyed by these discoveries since the day before, having gone from being the only Eosian in Hadriel to part of a small group in one fell swoop, and it's partly this lifting of mood that has him lingering on his goodbye to to a certain petite blonde woman as they go their separate ways for the morning.

He's close to her, their foreheads almost touching moments after a kiss when he hears a sharp wolf-whistle sound from-- not close, but far too close for comfort. It jolts him, pulling him upright out of a state that is as of yet still new to him into one of careful wariness.

Then, he sees, her, and for a moment the surprise across his face is clear as day. He gives the woman he's with a quick peck on the forehead and then quietly says something to her before leaving her, crossing to the commodore.

"You always do know how to make an entrance," he comments, wry amusement laced through his voice despite efforts to divest it of humour. "Though I might have appreciated something more subtle."

Comments

[unweaving]

Aranea has a way of seeming sarcastic when she's entirely sincere. A lot of it is to do with the way she speaks, pronouncing everything in a wry sort of drawl, but sometimes it's physical too. For instance: she's currently very pleased to see Ignis - she'd always liked him back home, and her time in Wayward Pines had only cemented that. It's good to see him, and especially to see him well. But to look at her, it would be easy to think the smile on her face was a smirk.

Then again, that probably wouldn't be wrong. Especially not when she's raising an eyebrow for good measure.

"Seems like a day for surprises. I'd ask how you've been, but..."

[claritatis]

"It's been a trying few months," he comments, cleanly brushing over what she is probably referring to and shifting right over to the business angle of things. A brief glance goes over his shoulder, back to the buildings behind them that are still in a state of semi-disrepair.

"We recently suffered an almost wholly devastating invasion, losing a number of important structures."

Ignis, this is not what she means. You know it's not what she means. He looks back to her with a brief smile and loosely folds his arms after giving his spectacles a quick nudge up the bridge of his nose.

"There's still room in the reconstruction efforts, if you've a mind to assist."

[unweaving]

Because Aranea is a grown-ass woman, she neither sticks her tongue out at him nor makes a loop of her thumb and index finger to demonstratively thrust the index finger of her other hand in and out of. Instead, she follows the line of his sight to the buildings. It seems like kind of a raw deal to escape the wreckage left by an invasion in one place she didn't belong just to end up with a new batch she wasn't even here for, but anyone from the Eos she remembers knows that life and fair are usually mutually exclusive.

"My work's usually more in the breaking shit side of things, but it can't hurt to try. Beats sitting around."

Not that he's totally off the hook about all the kissing. She plants a hand on her hip, gives him a quick once-over.

"How long've you been here?" (In which here is pronounced in a tone usually reserved for places like the DMV or anywhere featuring Kenny Crow.)

[claritatis]

He smiles slightly and nods, knowing very well that itch of needing to do something even if it wasn't what you might have chosen with other options on the table. Ignis is only slightly acquainted with Aranea, but despite her background is already certain that he doesn't need to expect any trouble from her. It simply isn't how she works.

His eyebrows lift slightly as she looks him up and down and the question, while entirely valid, is delivered in a tone that draws a knowing half-smirk to his lips. There are certainly many places one might choose to be over this. Myrlwood, perhaps.

"Several months. Perhaps six. I could tell you the season I arrived, but it was difficult to ascertain while enclosed inside a cave," he tells her. "And only recently has been the first time in a damnably long while that I haven't been in immediate fear for my life. It's almost refreshing."

[unweaving]

"And now here you are, free time on your hands and someone cute to spend it with. Nice work."

It's not even really teasing. She's happy for him, and it's something that shows in the genuine warmth of her smile. He's not the Ignis she was most recently acquainted with - his eyes alone are evidence of that - but she'd always kind of liked these boys, even before she officially defected. Likes them enough to cut him a break, even, and she moves on to something that might actually be useful.

"I read the guide. Seems like no matter where we go, it's a party. Lot of people here who look like they know what to do when something big and nasty crashes it, at least." She smiles, and this time it's all teeth and overconfidence. "And now there's me."

[claritatis]

"That would be Kate."

There, he said it, he acknowledged that she'd seen them together without neatly dodging around the topic, and now hopefully they can move on from it. She seems willing to do just that, and his posture relaxes as the conversation continues.

He returns her smile easily, and though his is far more subtle it is not lacking in the same confidence that her own shows.

"We manage well enough, with some outliers. I'm sure you'll fit in splendidly."

[unweaving]

He said it! She's so proud of him she could kiss him. Of course, that would mostly be for her own entertainment and she's seen how quick he is with a dagger, so she doesn't.

"Probably hard for anyone to go too far astray with you around to whip 'em into shape. Speaking of... what do you folks do around here for fun, when nothing's actively trying to kill you?"

[claritatis]

Never mind how quick he is with a dagger - it would be Kate she'd have to worry about. He makes a small gesture to bid her to walk with him - his next patrol isn't for a while yet - and moves away from the twinned buildings with his hands clasped behind his back.

"We all have our ways of... blowing off steam." He says nothing further, but the way his smile tilts wryly more than implies what he would have certainly said without hesitance were he more inclined towards being so blunt.

"Our current position certainly offers more range than the caverns did."

[unweaving]

Walk and talk, she can do that. Or at least she thinks she can, until he says something that - coming from him - is as good as saying bone down and she nearly trips over her own foot. She recovers just enough to clap him on the back and fall back into line, but it still takes her a beat to respond.

"Glad I missed that part of things. I'm a delicate flower, I need sunlight." More like she needs sky, because even without her ship being closed in for more than a couple hours makes her feel crazy - but saying so is too close to admitting weakness, and she saves that for special occasions. "More potential for trouble though, right? Not that you guys were safe before, but now there's a whole lot of out there for nasties to come in from."

[claritatis]

Ignis, raised to be a diplomat, has known for many years just how to say something in such a way that a second meaning is put behind it. Sometimes it's subtle. This time, it was not. He lifts an eyebrow at her. Nothing about Aranea has ever given the idea that the word 'delicate' is one that could be applied to her. She wouldn't have been the only one to be uncomfortable with the enclosed nature of the city until recently. Ignis had never fully got used to it.

"True, and resources are spread thinly enough as it is." He isn't sure of the wisdom of fortifying their position when he knows that the city will eventually move, but she's right about the increased potential for danger. "We're still learning about the hazards that this planet poses, potential sunstroke aside. Someone of your considerable skill would be an asset, if you'd consider joining the city's Guard."

He's seen her fight, after all.

"Naturally, you'd have my full recommendation."