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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"She's still picky. I'll talk to her," Nida promised, moving to kiss his lover lightly. It worked so good for him, to know someone here could do this for him.

"I'm sure she'll agree. Gonna warn you, your hearing will be a lot sharper."

Ignis smiled, both pleased and relieved with the turn of events. He returned the light kiss in kind and nodded. "I suppose we'll have to see how it all turns out. However, if you're not hungry at the moment, we could take a stroll towards another shop to see about this wedding ring business."

Wait, he wants to try again? Nida's expression softened.

"Are you sure?" he asks, trying to not be too excited. He really would prefer to know. If this was something that wasn't working, he had to figure out how to make it better.

He nodded. "If the reason you've refused my request is due to the possibility of not recalling it at a later point, then that I can certainly understand. Why if Siren agrees to allow me to hold her for a time, my memory of such a precious moment may slip as well should it have been created."

Ignis said all of this matter of factly, but the thought of losing a memory so precious saddened him. However, assisting Nida overrode anything else. "So yes I am sure."

Oh Ignis, was it really right to accept the help when it meant both of them could lose so much? It made Nida's heart ache to think.

"I wish I could just find a matrix to store her when I'm not using her. Back home we found that other things could sustain her and her kind. We even had a way to secure them in computer systems for assignment to others. My metaphorical kingdom for a proper adamantine charm."

But he looks his arm around Ignis's.

"Would you be okay with me getting a stone set in the one I will wear? The color would be a pleasing way to draw the eye."

SO he had an excuse to tell people about his husband.

He leaned forward and gave Nida a brief kiss on the cheek. "Well unless we find one at the specialty shop, I highly doubt we'll find one simply lying about." And then he had a thought. "I suppose I could ask the hunters at my place of employment to see what they know."

It would be worth a shot in his own mind at any rate.

An amused look was his response to Nida's question about the stone as he turned it over in his mind. "If that makes you happy, then that is what you should do." He had no idea why Nida would want a stone set, but he meant what he'd said, he wanted Nida to be happy. That was his job, to make his fiancée happy and do everything he could to keep him that way for as long as possible.

"Sounds like a plan. Perhaps I should check in with Raimon. Maybe he'll have an idea."

Nida wondered if he could meet a price suitable for her. It would likely be so much more than he might ever expect. But wasn't it worth it to try? Yes, Ignis was right, effort mattered.

That said, Ignis was very wrong on something else. While he hadn't expressed it, there was no real truth in that it was his job to keep Nida happy. Happiness was a thing they were meant to find together. Nida should be responsible for his own as well. For now though he smiled.

"What can I say, I feel like I want my shiny to be extra eye catching. Maybe all this time around Julia has made me want to be a peacock myself."

"If anyone should have an idea, I would think he would be the person to inquire with first and foremost. But I will still check in with the hunters." It couldn't hurt to hit the ground running with more than one lead.

The ring being referred to as a shiny had Ignis chuckle good naturedly. "And what a handsome peacock you are." The idea of Nida somehow strutting his tail feathers in the sense of showing off his wedding ring made Ignis feel proud and honoured and humbled all at the same time.

"And yet of the two of us, you're clearly the one with a sense of style suitable to being considered a peacock," Nida offered. He didn't spend much time wearing anything but his uniform, and even wheat he did wear wasn't that fancy. Ignis, though, was always impeccably dressed.

"Maybe I just like looking good for you."

Ignis found himself suddenly standing up a little straighter when Nida referred to him as a peacock. There was a small pleased smile on his face too, but he couldn't let it go to his head because he never put his ego into his looks.

Quietly he reached for the man's hand and lifted it to his lips so that he could gently kiss the back of it.

Lowering it slowly immediately afterwards, Ignis turned to smile at his mate. "And I appreciate your efforts." Really he just dressed how he always did, the carefully crafted image was from years of repetition of always appearing to be the most 'put together' as he'd had to be.

Oh Ignis, there were some places where ego was deserved, and Ignis deserved it for a lot of things. But that is lost in the gentle kiss on the back of his hand. Fuck he's enamored.

"Oh my love the way you make my heart jump just to see you. Sometimes I feel I should let you dress me, that I could look proper next to you."

The advisor's face turned pink at hearing Nida gush at him. He wanted to say he was nothing special but he'd learned early on that it wasn't the correct answer.

A small little laugh escaped him and it was an amusing thought, to be the one choosing what clothing Nida would wear. "We can indulge in that sort of thing at some future point in time if you'd like. But I will warn you that you could be wearing naught but a sack and I would still find you extremely attractive."

This promise was sealed with a brief kiss and he lowered his voice. "Now, are we heading out for more ring shopping or are we going to lunch?" If neither of those were viable options, Ignis gave himself a third option which was to bring Nida home and to bed.

Nida snorted in amusement.

"Come on, the sack would so not bring out my skin tone."

But he leans against his boyfriend and enjoys the brief kiss. But now it's time to go. Really time to go.

"Rings. The sooner I can put an engagement band on your hand, the more overjoyed I will be."

"I believe that would depend entirely on the colour of the sack." Ignis replied with a smirk. But he appreciated being leaned against and then after their kiss Nida was back to the business of acquiring rings which made him smile.

"Then by all means, let us be on our way." If it would make his mate happy, he would definitely agree to getting a ring o his hand as soon as possible.

"Sacks come in more colors than 'potato'?" Nida laughs as he looks his arm with his fiance's once more.

"Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and find the perfect things today."

Nida wouldn't, but oh to put a ring on Ignis's hand today, to have it right.

Ignis was going to say something else, but he decided he'd just let it go for now. "Well since we're out, we can look for our wedding rings as well." At least it had been a thought in his own mind, because why not. There really wasn't a point in going out twice.

But he was sure to reach over and touch Nida's hand which was now linked through his arm. The gesture was warm and reassuring to the advisor as they walked along to the next shop. And as the last time, he held open the door for Nida to go in first.

Edited 2021-04-20 00:44 (UTC)

Wait, now Nida has to pause.

"Are... we looking for two bands?"

Nida looks shocked by that. Quite shocked. "Is that... is that a thing?"

He stopped immediately and closed the door so that they were still outside. "I don't see the issue..that is unless you don't wish to?" This felt like something they needed to resolve before entering the store.

Ignis of course figured it in practical terms since they were already out, why go out a second time? But he was going to be careful here and let the other weigh in. This wasn't up to either one of them on their own.

Nida just looks confused.

"I didn't know men might wear two bands," he said. "Women's rings are so small, so slim, so they do. The first one is sorta a 'possession going to happen' and the second is 'married'. But men's rings are so large."

Was two really even viable?

"If we get engagement rings and not wedding rings, then we won't be exchanging anything at the wedding ceremony?" Ignis really felt lost now because engagement rings weren't a thing they did back home. And the more this went on the more he wondered if he really understood things.

But he waited to see what Nida would say. Maybe he was correct and they had no business wearing two rings. He was just now almost completely lost.

"I thought we exchanged the same ones?"

Oh no, the world isn't prepared with its customs to deal with men wanting other men. They're both very confused. At least they're confused together.

"Perhaps we can find two simple, silver bands? Think ones, to serve for engagement? Could that be the answer?"

An engagement band, simple, he could put that on with no issue he thought. The engagement was the words, the agreement.

He didn't know what to say, but he would go along with whatever Nida had in mind. And just as his mind was puzzling over taking off and exchanging the same rings they were already wearing, his fiancée came up with an answer so he nodded.

"That sounds like a good compromise and I suppose we can see what we can find. That will be part of the fun of all of this." He didn't want to ruin anything Nida had in mind as a solid plan.

Girls he'd seen in the citadel would have their wedding plans written down. But Ignis never entertained the idea of being married. Fate had certainly surprised him here.

"You're certain this is okay?" Nida asked. Because this wasn't supposed to be all about him. It was about them together.

"Would you like that arrangement?"

"Nida, this is fine." Ignis replied patiently. He just felt a little out of his element here. Sure he'd studied all sorts of things about weddings for Noctis when he was supposed to marry Lady LunaFreya. But as far as his own preferences and things along those lines, it made him inwardly flail.

Of course he could never show this, long having since schooled himself not to show anything except someone calm, collected, poised and in control. And of course he knew with something like this, there were so very many decisions that had yet to be made here.

"We won't discover anything by standing out here. And while I'm certainly one for rules and tradition, if we have to break or remake one of those traditions, then this is our engagement and wedding."

"Alright," he agreed with a smile. It was time to head forward. "Let's get back to all of this.

"Onward we go then," he suggested with a smile.

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

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What would you think about handwaving from here on? We'd only be rehasing things i think