sieg/iggy fic rough outline 1

- story kinda cold opens w/ iggy's paralogue; siegbert and soleil have already been recruited by this point
- xander orders siegbert to assist ignatius in defending the village
- and it takes siegbert a bit to recognize ignatius, because he finds it so hard to believe the timid boy he met as a child is the valiant wall of a man fending off the invisible soldiers
- but it is. that's ignatius. and siegbert's stunned and impressed by how well he fights.
- and when the smoke metaphorically clears and they return to camp, ignatius returns with them.
- and siegbert approaches xander and asks if it's okay if he asks ignatius to become his retainer, and xander tells him to take that up with ignatius.
- and when he does bring it up, ignatius agrees, citing that he always assumed this was the way things would go and that he basically had been trained w/ this assumption in mind
- it's on a trial basis at first, because becoming a nohrian retainer is a big deal and requires the retainer drinking their liege's blood and taking a whole oath and all. even soleil hasn't done it yet, despite being sieg's retainer.
- siegbert and ignatius train together, they mesh well (soleil's kind of impressed)
- however, ignatius keeps throwing himself in harm's way and siegbert is confused, especially observing how iggy is outside of battle, who's just as timid as he was when they were children
- siegbert asks him what drives him and ignatius explains he was raised to serve nohr and sieg at the cost of his life
	"even if you're scared?"
	"that doesn't matter. what good am i if i can't defend you?"
- sieg is apalled that ignatius would put so little stock in his own self worth and how he's resigned himself to simply die for siegbert's sake, and like. fires him.
- soleil steps in and asks sieg what went down; she then explains that iggy kind of lost his direction and just. not exactly 'shut down' per se, but he's definitely not himself. she insists siegbert go talk to him.
- siegbert and ignatius reconcile, but siegbert finds ignatius working on a charm. he says that before ignatius can return to his service, he has to make siegbert a charm, the best charm he's ever made.
- eventually, ignatius bring siegbert one, explaining that he poured his heart and soul into it, and it's a symbol of his devotion to siegbert. sieg gladly accepts it and invites ignatius back into his service.
- ...and is quickly angered by ignatius throwing himself into training and into battles just like he was BEFORE siegbert gave him a sabbatical. but there's something different about the way ignatius fights, siegbert just can't figure out what it is.
- and he brings it up to soleil and she just. loses her mind.
	"siegbert. sieg. sieggy. oh my gods."
	"/what/."
	"you're so dense sometimes, it's hilarious."
	"soleil, please be straight with me."
	"impossible."
	"soleil, please, stop dancing around--"
	"siegbert, he's in LOVE with you."
	"i-i...beg pardon?"
	"no one fights like that, with that kinda passion or fierocity, unless they've got someone they're protecting."
	"but he was doing that before--"
	"no, it's different now. you said yourself, there's something about the way he's fighting that wasn't there before. it's passion. he's not just being a wall, sieg, he wants to make it back from battle. he's doing that for you."
	(there's more here but that's the general idea)
- sieg's floored because the thought had literally never occurred to him
- and it makes things between him and ignatius weird at first because then he starts noticing all the little things ignatius does for him, but not only that, he finds himself watching ignatius more. and picking out little details about him.
- and then WHAM hits him like a thunderbolt, fuck. he. he might feel something more than admiration and fondness for his retainer.
- and he has literally no idea what to do with this realization. so he approaches soleil and she's like "man. took you long enough."
	"what?"
	"oh, come ON, sieg, have you SEEN the way you look at him?  and you call /me/ the lovestruck one."
- long sequence of soleil being like "talk to me like i'm ignatius."
	"why would i--"
	"listen, it's good practice. get it out. tell me what you want to tell him."
	"this is stupid"
	"it's only stupid if you don't take it seriously"
- sieg starts off slow and thinks the idea's ridiculous but suddenly his words start snowballing and it turns into him gushing over ignatius and he just sits there staring at his hands with all the words in the air and the sudden realization of the depths of his emotions hits him. and he looks at soleil and she's got this shit-eating grin on her face.
	"see. now tell /him/ that."
- so siegbert tries to make a charm and gives it to ignatius and is basically like "consider this a totem of my devotion and affection to you and my desire to serve you as best i can, as both your liege and your friend."
- but then sieg doesn't stop, and he starts fumbling over his words as he tries to explain his emotions and feelings
- and ignatius cuts him off with "siegbert, is this a confession?"
- and it's awkward and quiet and the words just kind of hang in the air.  and sieg just glances up and says, "yes. not a very good one, but...yes."
	"oh."
- awkward silence continues.
- and siegbert scrambles to salvage the situation and aggressively backpedals and is like "i apologize, this whole situation is extremely unprofessional, and i hope i didn't damage our relationship--"
- and suddenly ignatius is sobbing and sieg FLOUNDERS
- but ignatius is immediately like "no, listen, i'm sorry, i'm just. this. this is a lot to handle. you just...caught me really off-guard?"
	"i'm...i'm sorry."
	"don't be. this is... look, i know i don't look it right now, but i'm. i'm happy. relieved, really."
	"relieved?"
	"this wasn't really a possiblity i allowed myself to consider."
- cue sappy overprotective siegbert who gushes about how ignatius is so important and deserves the world and siegbert would do anything to make sure ignatius understands that
- at some point, siegbert makes a comment about relieving ignatius of his position just to ensure ignatius's safety because the thought of losing him is more than siegbert can bear and ignatius gets angry for the first time
	"NO--...i-i mean. i. siegbert, please."
	"ignatius--"
	"you don't understand. it would kill me if you did that. do you know how much i would worry if you went into battle and i wasn't there to protect you?"
	"but i don't want to put you in harm's way--"
	"i'm doing this of my own volition. i want to go. i want to protect you. my place is by your side."
	"but--"
	"i am your sword. let me serve as such."
- and ignatius pulls out the SAPPIEST SHIT, "to die for your sake is a fate i accept, but to live by your side is what i'd prefer."
- sieg flushes because that's the sappiest, most heartfelt thing anyone's ever said to him and just gapes.
- now ignatius backpedals because he think he fucked up and said too much and siegbert cuts him off midsentence by grabbing his cheeks and kissing the shit out of him
- other things happen??
- epilogue is basically gonna be ignatius taking the retainer's oath, i THINK