living_memes | Two Truths and a Lie

That must have been amazing.

[Could Iggy really blame Prompto for this? With the way Gladio occasionally picked on him like a big brother. Headlocks and everything.]

I never would have expected that from you. Guess you're a little more 'wild' than I thought. [Have a friendly jab.] But, you know, if you say it like that everyone is going to think it's on your butt.

Perhaps, after all was said and done.

[He has to shake his head, though, when he hears Prompto's guess.]

Why does everyone guess my posterior first? No, it's not there.

[You are allowed to say 'butt,' Iggy. Just putting that out there.]

[He cracked up a little at that. Ignis was a smart man, but sometimes little things seemed to go over him. It was one of his charms, honestly.]

Because if you make it sound like a dirty secret people are immediately going to think of that.

I know it's not there, though. Not that I was checking! You just see a butt sometimes when you're changing and glance back.

[Nothing major. Prompto had tended to change facing the wall, but every now and then they were talking or something and he wasn't desperate to keep his eyes fixed ahead of him. Somehow, just seeing a guy's rear didn't seem like a big deal.]

I can't think of what I haven't seen. Besides... you know. But I don't think it's there... Unless you're a lot wilder than I thought.

...Maybe on the calf or something?

[Ignis rolls his eyes and then responds in a perfectly deadpan voice.]

Oh yes, I am much wilder than you could ever imagine.

[Right. That said...]

Were it on my leg, I'm certain one of you would have spotted it by now. Care to guess again? We seem to be rapidly running out of body parts.

[He laughed softly.]

I'm trying to think of what I've never seen. Unless it's the bottom of your foot or something...

[He hummed thoughtfully. He'd never really done a full body scan of Ignis, so it was hard to determine exactly what he had actually seen or not. Just like his own bracelet, there could easily be a little spot that had always been covered that he never bothered to notice.]

Goodness, no. That would be a waste of time and money.

[He rests his chin in his hand and gives Prompto a grin.]

I'll give you one more guess and if you are still wrong, then I will spill the beans, so to speak.

[Where else? Ignis was a generally modest guy, and could be surprisingly kind of shy, and Prompto had never really tried to intrude. What else could he not see?]

Hey... Is it right under your hairline?

[If it was something small and his hair always covered it, then he would have never noticed.]

[Ignis seems to ponder that a moment--it actually is a pretty good spot for a small tattoo--but then shakes his head.]

It's not quite that small.

[He steps back then and measures with his hand about one inch diagonally down from his left hip, just low enough that even if he stripped down to his underwear it wouldn't be visible. It's also going to be impossible to see should he be turned away as he usually is when he strips down farther than that.]

Really?

[And against he was searching his memory banks. Surely there must have been some time that was in view, right? Maybe it hadn't been after all.]

I wanna see it. Uh... [Okay, maybe that sounded a little bad considered where it was.] Not because of where it is, though. I want to see what it looks like.

[Ignis chuckles.]

I'm afraid I'm not in the mood to strip and show you right now, Prompto. I would offer to sketch it for you, but I don't know that I would end up with much of anything acceptable with my vision gone. Perhaps the next time we're washing up?

Sure, that works.

[He paused for a second as his mind passed over something. He wanted to make a light joke, and suddenly realized his statement would have been wrong. Instead of dwelling too far on it, he quickly tried to brush over his own tattoo and joked.]

Guess that leaves Noct as the only one who doesn't have any ink, huh?

Indeed, that seems to be the case unless there is something His Highness needs to tell me.

[He pauses then, tone turning gentle. Ignis might not be able to see Prompto's nervous gesture, but he can guess it happened.]

Perhaps one day, we can get yours altered to something more fitting who you are.

[Though he generally took some time to try and gather himself before he really responded, it was hard to hide that pauses. He stopped for a moment, glancing down at his bracelet. Originally, he'd wanted to say that Noct and himself didn't have any tattoos, because he didn't exactly have memories of going out and getting one the way Ignis or Gladio did.

But that obviously wasn't true. He'd had one since he was born. Or made. Or whatever. And he was trying not to let that eat at his mind too much right now.]

You think it could be changed into something cool?

[It was hard to think of how a bar code could be altered into something more artistic. But... He'd really like that if it could.]

It won't come off. [He'd tried.] I'm not sure what else it can be turned into without ending up like a big blob. ...That might be better, though.

[Without having seen Prompto's barcode, it's hard to give him specific examples of what could take its place. Fortunately, Ignis does have a bit more creativity than those who know of his penchant for logic would give him credit for.]

A simple solution would be to black it all in and then create a continuous band around your wrist, much like the bracelet you now wear. It wouldn't be all that unusual. I've seen many a person with such bands around their arms. Of course, unless you were dead set on something like that, I wouldn't settle for such a basic design.

[Only the best for his Chocoboy.]

I'm sure a talented artist could make the lines into any number of shapes and then work them into some kind of picture or pattern. Flowers, trees, vines growing up from the ground, for example. Perhaps part of a building or a road, and those are just solid objects. I'm not even touching on the limitless geometric patterns one could work it into even if is just a base to begin the pattern from.

[Though he didn't move the bracelet, he turned his wrist around as if he was looking at the tattoo underneath and trying to imagine the design change.]

A black band would be better than nothing. It's hard to see how...

[Another pause.]

Wait, you never actually saw it, did you? [Though he obviously knew Ignis was blind, it could slip his mind sometimes. Ignis was the same guy to him. When they were just chatting he didn't think about it much anymore.]

It's, umm... [He'd hidden it for his whole life. He definitely had never described it for anyone before. He probably wouldn't for anyone else.] It's basically a barcode.

[Ignis frowns, fingers twitching just slightly to show his unease. He assumed as much. Isn't that how scientists usually mark their 'creations?' That doesn't mean he has to like it, and he most certainly doesn't.]

I have to admit, that is about what I was imagining. Either that or some kind of serial number, but a number would be easier to hide or explain away.

[A barcode, is well, a barcode.]

That doesn't change my suggestions at all. I still believe there are any number of ways we can disguise it. I suspect Gladio would know even more than me considering how much more time he spent in the tattoo parlor getting his tattoo done.

[He was just fortunate that he didn't know what the numbers and letters meant. If he knew he was specifically marked as 'non-human'... Well, that would just bring up even more questions. Still, even without knowing, he knew well enough that he was branded basically like an item for checkout.

He fiddled lightly with the bracelet. He was actually doing well for the moment discussing it, keeping his mind on the shallowest of levels of what it was and avoiding thinking too hard abot what it meant.]

Yeah. I don't really have a family crest or anything to try and make. But an artist design... That would be cool.

[He hummed thoughtfully. Maybe there was some way to get rid of it after all. In a sense.]

If I ever do, I'll make sure to get an etching, too! So you can see it.

Two Truths and a Lie

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