They had just finished their meals, sitting around the campfire in various states of wake. Ignis began gathering plates while Gladio looked on into the distance, presumably keeping watch. Prompto had long fallen asleep in his chair, head lolled back and drooling. The bird version of him lay curled beside him, while Gladio's bright pink chocobo lay on the other side of Prompto. Ignis' blue chocobo was hogging the fire's warmth, while Noctis and his own grey chocobo dozed on the opposite side.

"Bout time we head in, don'tcha think?" Gladio called out to Ignis, nodding towards the tent.

"Let me just finish this up," Ignis gestured to the pile of dirty dishes in his hand. Gladio grunted in agreement, then proceeded to grab Prompto by the back of his collar and drag him into the tent.

"Wh-whoa! Wait up, where's the fire?!" the blonde startled, swinging gangly limbs everywhere and alarming the sleeping chocobos.

"You were never going to wake up anyways."

"I was having a nice dream 'bout Cindy…" Prompto grumbled and was soon cut off after the pair slipped past the tent entrance.

Ignis turned to Noctis, who seemed completely asleep if it weren't for the occasional swatting at flies near his face. Ignis took his mostly empty plates and crouched over him. "Come now prince, you'll catch a cold out here."

"Mn. Don't wanna," Noctis mumbled, burrowing further into grey feathers.

"Noct."

"… 's warm enough. Lemme stay with Iggy for a bit," he yawned as he patted the chocobo's side lovingly.

Ignis huffed. "Why you chose to name him after me, I'll never know." After a moment's deliberation, he continued. "He's not even the right color!"

"Your hair looks kinda grey sometimes. How does it do that?" The prince furrowed his brow, then smiled deliriously with sleep. "Look at your hair, Specs. Prompto isn't the only one who looks like a chocobo."

"Har, har. Now are you done inconveniencing the poor bird?"

Noctis lazily turned his head to look at the sleeping chocobo, then back at Ignis. Without giving it much thought, he said what he thought would be a playful quip. "What, you jealous I'm sleeping with this Iggy and not you?"

The other just stared, eyes like saucers and lips set in a firm line.

Noctis kept smirking, until he noticed Ignis' awkward demeanor and the smirk melted away. "A-ah! That's not what-"

Ignis turned on his heels, walking towards the tent already. "Just don't stay out too long," He called out, voice suddenly hoarse.

"…Fuuuuuuuck…" Noctis moaned and shoved his burning face into his hands.

The next time was a lot more innocent, but still just as embarrassing.

The boys had been scouting the place, searching for vegetables and herbs while keeping on the lookout for a bounty nearby. The atmosphere between the to-be king and his advisor was still a little awkward, but if the other two noticed it, they chose not to say anything.

The bounty didn't prove to be too hard, and once that was done and over with, Noctis called the chocobos back with the chocobo whistle.

It was getting exceedingly difficult for Ignis to know when Noctis was talking about him, or his beloved bird. This time was no exception.

"C'mere Iggy," Noctis called out with his back turned to the bespectacled man. Ignis just made his way over, and lo and behold, Noctis was motioning to the grey chocobo. Ignis simply shook his head and turned to leave, but stopped dead in his tracks once he heard Noctis' sickly sweet tone.

"Hey, Iggy. How are ya, sweetie?"

Ignis almost choked. Almost. However, he stood quietly, stiffly, and slowly turned back to see the younger ruffling grey feathers playfully.

"Didja miss me? Oh, I know, I know. You're such a cutie, Iggy-"

And the only thing that stopped Noctis from continuing to baby the chocobo was Gladio's booming laughter. Noctis turned to see what was so funny and locked eyes with Ignis. In the light, Noctis could notice Ignis' face turning a dusty pink.

His eyes snapped over to where Gladio was doubled over, no doubt tearing up. Prompto stood by his side, hand over his mouth and shaking with unheard laughter. The blonde snorted, couldn't take it anymore, and leaned into Gladio, joining him in the hilarity.

"Guys! Don't sneak up on me like that!" The pair continued to laugh while Ignis looked increasingly uncomfortable, shuffling his feet. "It isn't funny!" Noctis whined. Meanwhile, the chocobos just squawked, tilting their heads to the side.

"We should be reporting back to a tipster soon," Ignis reminded them, refusing to make eye contact and stare at the road not far from there.

"Yeah, yeah! It'll get dark soon! Let's- let's just go," Noctis hurried to climb onto his chocobo, urging the others to do the same.

"Of course, your highness," Gladio chuckled, finally settling down. He looked over to grin at Ignis. "Let's go 'cutie'," the behemoth of a man couldn't help himself. He received two glares for his trouble.

"Cram it!" Noctis yelled at the same time Ignis hissed, "Not now, Gladiolus!"

Prompto just carried along behind them, snapping a few shots to eternalize this moment.

This instance was probably the worst, especially out-of-context.

Their cute bird friends weren't even around this time and they still managed to wreak havoc on Ignis' and Noctis' relationship.

Noctis was out fishing and to pass the time, Prompto started going through his roll of pictures and debating on which ones to keep. Gladio leaned over, taking interest in Prompto's camera.

"Watcha got there? Looking to shoot some more shots?" Gladio grinned, pointed his thumb at his face as if to make an example. Prompted, the shorter snapped a quick picture and couldn't keep the infectious smile from getting to him. "Yo, let me see!"

"All right, all right, calm down you giant," Prompto waved him over and together they scrolled through the gallery.

"Ey, why're there so many pictures of Specs? You got a secret man-crush?" Gladio teased, nudging him with his elbow and almost knocking Prompto over.

"Nuh-uh!" The other shouted, causing the advisor and his prince to look over from their spot on the dock. Prompto just waved them off, laughing weakly, while Gladio stood behind him and smirked.

The blonde swiveled around to glare at the taller. "Could you be any louder?!" He hissed.

"So, do you?" Gladio wiggled his eyebrows.

"No! It's just, Iggy's really pretty, don't you think? Even with his uh, amazing hair."

"I think that's you crushing pretty hard."

"No, no, no! Ugh you don't understand, it's like, an art thing. He's like my muse or something, I don't know," Prompto shrugged, ears turned red. "Ah! But I mean I still think you look cool, too!"

Gladio scoffed. "Of course, I'm the coolest." The blonde simply rolled his eyes, no doubt a move he picked up from Noctis. "Why don't you take pictures of yourself more?" Gladio decided to give him a break and change the subject.

"Ah, um. Well. I don't know. Uh. Should I?" He looked to the side, suddenly looking somber.

Gladio patted him on the back, this time trying to reign in his strength. "C'mon, it's not a party without you. Gotta include yourself, too!" Then, he slightly pushed him forward, indicating they walk towards the others. Prompto smiled despite himself.

"Yeah, ok. Anyways, look at this shot here! Pretty cool, right?" He motioned with his camera.

"Perfect timing."

"Right? And then there's this one, ahhhhh, chocobos are the best…" He scrolled over to a picture he had taken of Noctis riding his chocobo, looking regal and majestic. "Ooh! And this one I snapped of Notcis riding Iggy is super cool, kinda cute actually."

Just then, the disappointing sound of fishing line snapping could be heard, as Noctis swore loudly and Ignis suddenly had a coughing fit. Beside the photographer, Gladio's head was craned back as he unleashed a torrent of deep laughter.

Prompto looked around confusedly, wondering why everyone started acting up at the same time. "… What?" Gladio laughed even harder. "I don't understand."

And because Gladiolus was a saint and couldn't leave his friend in the dark, he decided to clear things up for him. He reiterated, "Yeah, a pretty good shot of Noctis riding Iggy."

"Oh my god, don't say it again!" Noctis threw his sword at him, which Gladio easily caught. The prince came stomping past them, to which Gladio offered up the sword to him but Noctis kept walking. "Let's just go."

"A-ah, ummmm, I didn't mean it like that, oh gosh," Prompto stammered, having now slowly realized the horror of his words. "Uhhh… guys…?"

Ignis followed Noctis, albeit farther behind than he usually liked. He passed Gladio and took the sword that was still held out.

"Ah. Oh no," Prompto worried his lip, wanting to laugh, but embarrassment won out. The brunette beside him lay a meaty hand on his shoulder, eyes still smiling.

"Don't worry about them, it takes a lot more than some- ah- suggestive words to come between them," Gladio assured.

"I swear I didn't mean to say it like that, oh my god, you guys have dirty minds," Prompto flushed.

"Pfft, yeah, ok. Let's just head back before we lose 'em," Gladio nodded at the pair in front of them, quickly disappearing into the horizon.

"Ah, wait up guys! I'm sorry, ok?!" Prompto chased after them, leaving Gladio to shake his head and start running as well.