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The grocery store was abuzz with all the voices of its customers and the sounds of their shopping carts. It's location in one of the busiest parts of Insomnia normally left it pretty full most days; however, the time was currently mid morning during a week day and earlier risers had already gotten their shopping out of the way, leaving the next shopping rush likely to show up sometime after all the average Joes have gotten off work to pick up ingredients for that night's dinner.
Ignis would have done the shopping earlier in the day but Noctis and Prompto were out of school in observance for a holiday and Ignis had been given the day off as well by King Regis.
"Nonsense! You're allowed a day to yourself as much as anyone else here!" The King had said with a sincere smile. "Do take care to keep an eye on Noctis though. While I am sure he will no doubt enjoy his own break, I would appreciate it if you could help him to actually leave his apartment and do something today." Regis gave a hardly concealed smirk at knowing his son was rather lazy and would without a doubt sleep the entire day away if allowed.
"Yes your majesty." Ignis said with a small bow, resigning himself to the day off after the king refused to hear his argument on how it would be a waste.
"You as well Gladio." King Regis said with a turn of his head to the taller male. He had after all called for them both to tell them relatively the same thing. "While I am afraid I cannot just say you can completely be free of your duties, please do enjoy at least a partial day off. But do protect Noctis all the same."
"Yes sir." Gladio said as he bowed.
Thus bringing us back to the now. Ignis, Gladio, Noctis, and Prompto all at the grocery store to purchase food for Noctis's apartment. It had taken Ignis—Gladio eventually physically pulling both Noctis and Prompto out of the prince's bed—a good hour to get his chamberlain and young friend up and ready to leave. Hence why they were at the store later than Ignis would have liked. Of course the entire time the two got ready Noctis complained about how it was everyone's day off and "Why do I have to go to stupid store? You never get what I ask for anyways." The complaints eventually ended but not after Ignis had bargained that each boy could get something of their choosing. No hassling on Ignis's part.
Of course, even Gladio had something to say as well though. Something like how going to the grocery store probably wasn't what the king had in mind when he told him and Ignis to take the day off and get Noctis out the apartment. Ignis's rebuttal had simply been how he was looking for ingredients for dinner for the four of them that night, but if they wanted toast while Ignis had honey garlic salmon with roasted cauliflower and a rice pilaf, that was fine by him.
This trip however was already proving more trouble than it was worth as Ignis heard another item being tossed in the cart. Said item of which he was completely certain was not healthy and was most certainly not on his list.
The brown haired man turned away from the shelf of soup stocks to eye the new item in the cart. He quickly spotted a large bag of chips and blankly looked up to meet Noctis's somewhat challenging gaze.
"I want these." He said as he pointed at the bag. He looked like a toddler ready to body slam the floor in a tantrum the second he was told no. Ignis stared at him for a moment.
"Are you sure this what you want your one free item to go towards?" Was the challenging question in response. Noctis nodded and Ignis conceited, turning back to the shelf to find what he was looking for. Noctis and Prompto wondered further down the aisle to talk amongst themselves—the instruction to not go too far still very in effect—as Ignis decided on what he was getting. He placed the carton of stock in the cart before another unaccounted for item caught his eye.
Ignis eyed the offending Cup of Noodles monetarily before he brought his gaze up to lock eyes with Gladio. They stared at each other in silence, both baring blank expressions. Ignis grabbed the cup of instant noodles and began removing them from the cart to place back on the shelf, his eyes not leaving Gladio's. His hand was stopped midair by the larger man's hand over his.
"No." Ignis said in a tone one would typically use with a small child. Gladio continued his blank stare as he pushed Ignis's hand back into the cart. "Gladio." Ignis warned, his hand resisting.
"Please." The larger man whispered, almost pleaded.
"No." Ignis whispered back immediately. Gladio gave him his best pout and effectively broke Ignis's impassive look with a smile and small laugh.
"Yes." Gladio continued to whisper with a smile as he pushed Ignis's hand to place the cup back in the cart. Ignis pulled his hand away and folded his arms as he gave Gladio a knowing look.
"You know, the rule to get one item of your choosing didn't apply to you." Ignis smiled.
"Yet the noodles are in the basket."
Ignis shook his head fondly and made his way down the aisle to the younger two. The four headed towards another aisle so Ignis could continue his shopping. Gladio leaned with both arms against the handle of the basket and gave his input as Ignis grabbed a couple things off the shelf, unsure of which to get. Noctis and Prompto were a few steps away, meandering slowly down the aisle and talking about a video game of sorts.
"Dude you've played it, there's NO WAY!" Prompto exclaimed at the end as he jumped towards a shelf and snatched up a box.
"I swear I haven't. I don't know what-"
"Not that! This!" Prompto said with a large smile as he held up his newly obtained prize. Noctis couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face at how excited his blond friend had become at some box of... what was that anyways?
"Seriously dude!?" Prompto asked in disbelief at the clearly confused look on Noctis's face. "It's macaroni! Macaroni and cheese?"
"In a box? Doesn't the cheese go bad?"
"What? No it's powder!"
"Powdered cheese?"
"Yeah! It's dehydrated or something! Like dehydrated milk!"
"What?" Noctis was clearly not understanding anything Prompto was saying.
"You've never had this?" Prompto asked in utter amazement. Noctis shook his head with a small shrug. "Dude," Prompto drew out. "I totally grew up on this stuff! It's like the easiest to make and super tasty! I could totally eat like three boxes by myself!"
"Why don't you get it?" Noctis suggested. If it was so good, why not use his one free item from Ignis to get it.
"Yeah! Then I can show you how good it is! Even you can make it."
"Hey." Noctis frowned as he followed after the shorter teen.
They stood at the end of the cart, Prompto holding his boxed pasta close to his chest like it was a trophy. Ignis placed a can in the cart and looked up to see why the prince and his friend had come to him.
"I want this!" Prompto said with a proud smile. Ignis eyed the box he was holding monetarily before looking meeting violet blue eyes.
"Absolutely not."
Prompto's face twitched slightly before becoming confused crossed with a now clearly forced smile.
"Why not?" Noctis immediately asked, anger clear. "You said we could get whatever we wanted and he really wants those."
"They're," Ignis stumbled over his words as he tried to come up with his reason. "They're terribly unhealthy."
"So are the chips but you let me get them!" Noctis said as he pointed to the chips he had put in the cart earlier.
"Yes but, those are so much worse, I can't in good conscious-"
"You'd let us get it if I wanted it." Noctis interrupted.
"I would not." Ignis immediately defended.
"Whatever Ignis." Noctis took the box of pasta out of Prompto's hands and threw it in the basket. His friend too disappointed to really argue with the Prince's behavior. "Come on Prompto." Noctis grabbed the blond by the wrist and marched the two of them away.
Gladio stood from where he had still been leaning and moved to the side of the shopping cart. He pulled out the box of noodles and eyed them monetarily before looking to Ignis.
"You did say one free item." He shrugged, handing the box over.
"I know, but I just..." Ignis stared at the box with a frown.
"I'm gonna go keep an eye on them. You finish up and text me when you're done."
Gladio left the aisle to find his liege. While he was happy to just let them roam, he still needed to have a general idea of where there were. Prince and Shield and all that.
Ignis watched as Gladio left him, guilt twisting inside him. Prompto had seemed so happy over such a disgusting thing. Granted, Prompto was always cheerful and bright, but something about the look he had while holding the uncooked pasta could be described as none other than cute. The crushed expression that followed after being told no stuck in Ignis's mind as he stared the box down. He shook his head and placed the box back in it's place on the shelf as he went by.
Prompto ended up getting a two liter of his and Noctis's favorite soda, but he clearly wasn't as happy about it. Gladio helped Ignis carry the groceries to the car as Noctis made sure he and Prompto stayed a relatively good distance away from them. He was clearly still upset by the whole rejected mac and cheese ordeal.
Once the lot had arrived home Ignis set to work putting the groceries away with Gladio's help, the younger two boys making a beeline for Noctis's room. It was somewhat awkward. You could feel the tension in the air. While it was less noticeable with the Prince gone, it still lingered even with just Ignis and Gladio. Granted Ignis hadn't exactly explained why he denied Prompto his treat, Gladio found it wasn't very important to ask about. He took what Ignis said as fact, even though it clearly seemed like a forced answer.
There were still groceries needing to be put away when Ignis glanced at the clock and detoured to where Noctis's pots and pans were. He pulled out two pots, one medium sized and the other slightly smaller. He filled the smaller one with water and a pinch of salt and placed it on the stove to heat up. He then went over to a cabinet and pulled out a bag of elbow pasta. Gladio watched from where he was crouched on the floor emptying a couple more grocery bags. Ignis's brows were drawn down in concentration as he worked. A clear sign that whatever he was doing was serious business. Gladio shrugged it off and let his friend be. He knew how determined he could get and decided it best to leave him to it. Whatever it was. He was hoping it was lunch to be honest because he was hungry.
Ignis made his way around Noctis's kitchen as he collected different items. All most all of them would have come from the fridge had the groceries been completely put away. A couple times he grabbed items out of Gladio's hands as he figured out where to put them.
The tattooed man hadn't exactly been paying attention to what all Ignis had grabbed from him or the fridge, but all the ingredients seemed to still be sitting on the counter as Ignis stirred the contents of the larger pot. Gladio stood behind Ignis as he peered over his shoulder. The pot had a relatively white color to it and it was a little bubbly. The larger man made a face before going back to put the last few groceries away.
Once Gladio had finished with the groceries Ignis was looking a little less determined and more proud instead. Gladio leaned against the counter next to him and peered over into the larger pot again. He took stock of the items Ignis had used that were still sitting on the counter, a couple of which were different types of cheeses. He raised a brow in thought and let his eyes glide over each individual item as he slowly connected the dots.
"You are one hell of a man Ignis." Gladio commented with a large grin. Ignis shook his head in disagreement but couldn't help his small smile at the compliment. "Denied the boxed macaroni but made your own."
"Honestly, powdered cheese? I could do much better." Ignis said with false cockiness.
"Well we knew that."
Ignis transferred the cooked pasta over to the cheese sauce he had made and began stirring the two together. He grabbed four bowls out of a cabinet and four spoons.
"Do me a favor and tell Noctis and Prompto lunch is done. I dare say they'll enjoy today's meal more so than normal."
Gladio let out a chuckle as he pushed off the counter to head down the hall. It didn't take much convincing, thankfully, to get the two to the dining table where their bowls and one can each of their favorite soda—Ignis was feeling awfully gracious in the moment—sat waiting for them.
Noctis shuffled the contents of his bowl around a bit as he slouched in his chair, a sulky frown in place. His expression slowly changed to one of confusion as he sat up straighter, actually inspecting his bowl.
"No way. Is this...?"
"Mac and cheese?" Prompto asked quite amazement.
Ignis failed to hide his small smirk as he stayed silent.
"This is delicious Ignis!" Prompto praised with a mouthful of pasta. Noctis nodded in agreement as he slowly chewed.
"So, what," he swallowed his mouthful before continuing. "You told Prompto no earlier because you wanted to show off and make your own?"
"Certainly not." Ignis scoffed.
"I'm not even mad." Prompto hummed around a mouthful of food.
"A man can only say no to such a face half heartedly." Ignis said as he glanced up at Prompto. Prompto smiled with cheeks puffed out with noodles, causing Ignis to let out a huff of laughter.
Gladio stood in the kitchen with Ignis and watched the exchange. He took the bowl of macaroni Ignis had handed him and slung an arm around the bespectacled man's shoulders.
"That's our Iggy." He said fondly.