aterat | If You Like It Then You Shoulda Put A Ring On It

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If You Like It Then You Shoulda Put A Ring On It

Who; Nida and Ignis
What; Engagement Ring Shopping
Where; The Markets
When; One Morning in April
Warnings; These two are sickening sweet?

An agreement had been made early in February, and Nida had taken his time to think about it, to be certain. He made it all the way into April before he awoke them early on their joint day off. Nida slipped from the bed early, made them a hearty breakfast, and then offered Ignis his hand.

Today we shop, he had said, which was basically a confirmation of 'yes, I'm sure about this'.

Dressed for the cool spring weather, and with the fog gone, Nida smiled and led his lover out to find a good jewelry shop or two. It was time to figure this out.

"So," he said as they walked arm in arm through the markets for the first target, "do you have any thoughts to start with on the rings?"

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Ignis had been respectful and quiet, giving Nida time to think things over and simply taking care of both the man and the house. Work kept him incredibly busy as well so that gave Nida more space of course and the time to think. There'd been absolutely no pressure and no hurry as Nida had been through quite a lot and the very last thing Ignis wanted was to apply any sort of pressure. So this would be at the other's pace and as time slipped past, he busily worked on some ideas and sometimes even a dessert or two to see if he liked it enough to broach as a dish for the wedding.

They'd spoken about marrying in Autumn since it was Nida's favourite time of year and of course the advisor wanted to make this as special as he could for the man who'd he'd very unexpectedly fallen for. And while he was at work he would try different recipes to try in case they did get engaged.

Of course it always made him smile to hear of an engagement or wedding at work and he would always listen closely for details in order to gain more intel. Noct's wedding had been one thing, but with his own it was an entirely different kettle of fish. He'd heard all sorts of advice from the hunters when they passed it onto the newly engaged or married couple.

But one morning breakfast was being served and of course he was delighted about it. And afterwards, Nida had extended his hand and Ignis couldn't resist placing a kiss to the back of it as he was told that it was time.

Inwardly he felt like the giddy child he'd never really expressed and they headed out. Nida had slipped his hand in his arm and the strategist applied a wee bit of pressure as if to silently say 'This is mine.' And his green eyes held a smile as he looked at his beloved. "Well the first shop I've heard the hunters say is down near the docks. It's tucked in the back of another business so it's a bit hidden."

Yes he'd done his research and listened a lot.

"Someone was really planning," Nida laughs in delight. "You've been planning while I've been thinking, haven't you? I'm so lucky to have a thoughtful man at my side."

That said, Nida had been thinking too. A lot. He's making plans about their lives, thoughtful things for if he did take that step. But they could be spoken of later.

Fact was that Nida's planning, the training he took in his job, didn't cover as much foresight as Ignis had. He was trained to smaller level planning, just sort of an operations person.

A light laugh escaped the taller man. "Planning is simply something that I've always done, so you could call it a habit." He'd had to be the one in charge, the chauffer, the chef, the chamberlain, the advisor, the strategist, and a whole bunch of other things back home. There were so many hats that he'd worn, and somehow he tried to normalize this place by retaining those positions even if in small ways.

To Ignis their strengths served to work together and not against each other which was nice.

But he steered them towards the shop the hunters had spoken of, and of course he opened the door so that Nida could go in first.

"It's a good habit I shoudln't tease you for," Nida admitted, even though he was absolutely doing that.

But Nida? He wasn't used to so much thinking about his future. Futures were the end of the mission and no further.

Once the door was open he was smiling though.

"Perhaps we should start with measurements and talking about what might be reasonable for our lives.

"Its quite alright." he reassured soothingly. He actually liked the teasing to be honest because it showed him that Nida cared. The lads teased him back home as their way of showing affection and he did the same in turn, once even going so far as to call them all 'riff raff' but they knew better. So he took his mate's teasing in much the same vein.

"Indeed." And that was about all he managed to get out after closing the door behind him before they were greeted by the shopkeeper.

With Nida's comments in mind, the advisor asked for their measurements to be taken for engagement rings, and his eyes turned to look at the gold, silver and platinum rings that sparkled quietly in the glass cases.

And Ignis had to catch his breath at how real this was beginning to get.

Oh yes, very real. Strangely, Nida was calm. Siren's voice in his head, in his blood, just soothed him to patience, to grace he didn't always have. So he smiled as the man measured them and he looked at what was offered to them.

"I don't know," Nida admitted. "Something with shine. I admit I dont' think much on what metals would look good. Not silver I think it tarnishes faster, right?"

"I've heard it does." Ignis replied, coming up behind Nida. "But neither of us are big on gold." He looked up at the shop keeper after they were measured and then at Nida. "We could go with white gold if that is a thing here. Or platinum."

"We do offer white gold bands sir." the shopkeeper, a middle aged man with thin brown hair and a ruddy complexion replied with a solemn nod.

White gold, huh? Nida considers it with a nod.

"Please let us see the white gold would you? I think it would look pretty on him."

Yes, Ignis, Nida is thinking of you first.

The advisor's face reddened slightly as Nida referred to him as pretty. It wasn't a word that he would ever use to describe himself, but here it was, now a thing.

The shopkeeper just smiled and went to task. He pulled out a few different white gold bands for both of them to try on and waited patiently.

Nida hummed happily to himself as he looked over the metal, taking one ring when offered to check it. The thing was too large, but it did give him an eye of how it looked against his skin.

"Yes, this works for me," Nida decided, looking to Ignis. "If that's okay with you?"

The advisor had picked up his ring and hadn't fitted it to his hand yet. He was looking at the designs on it, as if weighing that alone as to whether or not to try it on. Was it bad luck or taste to have Nida try to put it on his hand instead of doing it himself? These were their engagement rings only, correct?

However, Nida's voice cut through his thoughts and smiled. "The metal is rather lovely."

They weren't engagement rings yet. They needed to select something, make decisions, have things made if they didn't have something in the right size.

"What do you think of how it looks against your skin?"

He can't imagine it all on his own. So he smiles at Ignis, tilting his head. Patience. This needs patience.

"I think it's quite a beautiful choice. We should most certainly go with this lovely metal." Of course he still hadn't quite managed to try the ring on. And to his surprise his voice had emotion creeping into it. If it was anyone else he would totally cut them some slack, but it wasn't so easy to do it for himself.

The shopkeeper looked pleased and nodded. "We would need to get them resized for you, or I can put some on hold if you need to do more shopping." No he didn't mean more ring shopping, but a lot of people came in during their lunch break or were enroute somewhere to purchase other goods.

"Do you mind if we have a moment?" Nida asked the merchant, reaching out to take the ring from Ignis's hand and putting it on the counter. Then he caught his lover's hands and pulled him a few steps away so he could speak softly to the man.

"Are you... Ig, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Ignis replied, looking almost startled at the sudden change. He didn't want to admit how much he was wanting all of this, and wanting it to be permanent. The reality was indeed starting to settle in, and the weight of the rings had somehow brought it all into a very sharp and crisp focus for him.

There was no doubt, and no hesitation in his mind or his heart that he wanted all of this with Nida. It was just the reality kicking in, but he couldn't really convey all of that in public. So he just shook his head apologetically.

"I'm terribly sorry to have made you concerned. But I assure you that all is quite well."

He can't help it. Nida reaches up, his hand cupping his lover's cheek, thumb brushing over a beautiful cheekbone.

"You seemed upset," Nida offered, voice low and concerned. He could even feel Siren crooning her concern.

Ignis feels himself immediately relaxing over Nida's tender gesture, even though he's very fully aware that they're in public. Green eyes searched the darker ones, wondering why this was coming up here and now but he'd wait.

"Darling I'm fine, I promise." This was said with a soft tender smile. "We still have rings to pick out as of yet so we should get back to it." It was really sweet of Nida to have pulled him aside like this, but it was just him not ever really thinking he'd ever get married and it was just sort hitting him all at once.

"Alright, but you need to try one of them on to see how the metal looks," Nida reminded him softly, lowering his hand. "And then we have to think of stones. I don't want something plain."

"I'd rather you put the ring on my hand." Ignis replied softly. Putting a ring on his own hand was somehow out of the scope of this day in his mind. Silly as it might be, it was still something he felt strongly enough about.

The last part had him move his head to the side. "You wish to have stones on the band?"

"Wouldn't it be better to put the final product onto your hand?"

Surely that would mean more than any other ring they were just looking at to confirm metal choices.

"Is it wrong to want a stone set into it?"

"Alright." Ignis replied, not wishing to cause a fuss. If this was the way Nida wanted it, he would acquiesce to it. But at Nida's question he shook his head. "No, it isn't wrong. I simply wasn't aware that was your wish though I don't believe there's anything the matter with it."

"I promise, when it's the real ones, nothing could keep me from doing it," Nida says. "I want to only do it twice. Once when I'm giving you it, and once for marriage. So the memories are there, untainted."

In a brief moment of light and clarity, he realized that he had been wrong to proceed the way he'd been going and it was a bit of a shock. And it didn't make sense as to why this was an issue but he thought he'd try again. "I will ask for more clarity at a later time."

He then looked briefly over at the shopkeeper and debated, taking a breath. His gaze then went back to Nida. "Maybe we'll come back another day and look at rings." Leaving the other's side, he politely thanked the shopkeeper for his time and rejoined Nida.

"Let's go have lunch."

"Lunch seems a good way to go now," Nida agreed, voice soft. Whatever it took to make his love happy. At least he knew his own size, and maybe a metal. He'd talk to the jeweler another time, figure out Ignis's size, and they could talk about it in a more general fashion.

"Do I get to buy the food?"

The whole exchange left Ignis with a lot of unanswered questions and it was a conversation which was far better without an audience. But he was delighted when the redirection worked as he'd hoped it would. So they headed out the door and it was only then that the advisor's shoulders finally lost their tension.

"Of course." He was agreeable to Nida buying them lunch if it would make him happy.

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