#notes: noctis can't hold a normal conversation and ignis shuts down when confronted with a break in routine

[aij-writes]

“Whoa,” Crowe said, eyes widening.  “Gets hot out here, huh?”

Libertus let out a long whistle.  “I’ll say.”

“You’ll say nothing of the sort,” Ignis snapped back at him.

Libertus leaned forward, battering Ignis on the arm.  “Hey, relax.  Where we’re from?  You’re lucky if we wore even that much.”

“I’d love to see you in a bikini top,” Luche teased.

“Right, let me out,” Noctis huffed, pushing on the door.  He tumbled none-too-gracefully.

“Whoa there!” a cheerful woman in her mid twenties called over.  “Is this a Crown City-issued car?”  She practically skipped over.  “What a beaut.  You don’t see too many of these all the way out here.”  She eyed the Star of Lucis like she was checking it out.  She had a cute face, curly blonde hair under a red cap.  Her yellow jacket matched; both stamped with the service station’s logo.  Hammerhead, a place to fuel up both the car and the passengers.  If they had any money.  Out here, their Crown cards and wallets of Yen wasn’t going to get them anywhere.

Due to the heat, and probably style, the woman wore a lot less clothing than Ignis or Noctis were used to, but the rest of the boys seemed to appreciate.  Still, the young woman was cute and clearly dressed for herself.

“So which one of ya’ll should I be talking to?” she asked, eyeing the crumbled up prince at her heals.  “Well howdy, look it here!  Lady Lunafreya herself.  Well it is a pleasure.  I’m Cindy, Cindy Aurum.  Quite the entourage you got here.”

Luna clasped her hands on hers, not minding the grease as she offered a nodded greeting.  “Oh, thank you, but I’m afraid these are all Noctis’s.”

“The prince?”

Ignis blinked, silent for a moment to be taken as anything as grand, only to realize Noctis was still slumped on the ground.  “Honestly, your highness...” he muttered.

Luna let out a giggle but composed herself.

“Well howdy down there!” Cindy called, waving at him.  “How you all managed to cram into something so sleek is beyond me.”

“Some of us are pretty flexible,” Luche offered.

Ignis was blushing harder than Luna was giggling, but it was an arms race.

“You’d have to be,” Cindy agreed.  She wiped her hands off on a rag before running them over the car’s trunk.  “This baby was built for efficient luxury.  They say, just like the prince.  Well now, what all can I do you for?”

Noctis had finally gotten to his feet, but he was hovering back, hoping Ignis would handle it.  Considering he had no idea what was going on, it seemed fair.  But Ignis had looked around, eyeing the place.  There was nothing like this where they were from and he seemed preoccupied.

Finally, Noctis offered an awkwardly casual, “Uh, hello.  I was wondering, um, who was in charge?”  For negotiations, died on his tongue.  That would be odd to say here.  They weren’t hostages.  Not yet, at least.  Would being in Nifleheim territory really be better than what they fled?  The girl didn’t look hostile, more preoccupied with the car than its famous owner.  Still, she had recognized Luna.  She was famous all over, not just him by name all the same.  He really wished Casual Conversation with His Subjects had been a required class.

“Oh, that’s Paw-paw,” Cindy answered, knocking on the tires with her boots.  “This girl doesn’t get to really stretch her legs much, does she?”  Noctis started to say he didn’t know only for her meaning to sink in.  Cindy had her head stuck into the window, admiring the paneling.  “How fast you take her?”

“It’s a smooth ride.  I was driving it yesterday,” Nyx assured her.  “We’re mostly freeways in Insomnia, but I could tell she wanted to race.”

Luna laughed.  “You sure that wasn’t the driver?” she asked, head tilted with a quiet reproach.

“Well, Specs and I sometimes took her out for a real race around the abandoned warehouse district.  What’d we hit?”

“Our heads,” Ignis said dryly.

“Got it to 140 on the speedometer but she had plenty more push.”  Noctis was getting into the conversation.  “She handles like a dream.  Remember?” he called over to Ignis, who still wouldn’t look towards him.  “The only time he came with us, Gladio kept roaring at you like he thought for sure you’d lost your mind.  Every pylon he was sure was going to knock out the electricity.”

Ignis took a deep wavering breath, but said nothing.  He reached into the car and pulled out his suit jacket.  He walked away toward the store without a word.