Gladio's gaze came up when Ignis came close, taking in the tension in the lines of the other's body. Ignis had been his closest friend since they had been young, a found partnership in 'raising' Noct together as they had, bodyguard and tutor, friends, brothers, family. There was an understanding between them that he had with no one else because they understood what the other was going through. The effort. The way that they needed to be handled, how Noct did.

There hadn't been this sort of tension between them since that first less-than-good 'meeting', but this felt a thousand times worse.

"You know it's bad because I'm not even hungry," Gladio tried to joke, to ease off some of the tension, but he was pretty sure it failed.