THE next few weeks flew by in a flash as you went through your daily routine.  Which consisted of the gym first, then school, which was followed by work, and finally back home for study time before crashing for the night.  It made for a very busy schedule and had you constantly doing something.  And it seemed that every area seemed to feature a different group of people, doing something completely different, like in a series of several different crazy sitcoms.

The gym had the crew from the citadel. Which included, Gladio, Prompto, and of course Noctis.  And the guys were about to become super busy with the final preparations for Korn's wedding. You had offered to help, but they kept saying that you were going to be super busy doing something else for the wedding.  But you weren't sure what that was since you hadn't physically seen Korn in a couple weeks.

In fact lately, all of your correspondence with Korn had been through email. And they had been super short and straight to the point. Here's the topic and it's due at the end of the week.  Not that you needed much instruction at this point regarding the assignments. But it would have been nice to know if he had talked to Ignis or not.  Especially since he hadn't even mentioned Ignis since the first time you asked Korn about him.  Which was started to slightly depress you.

Of course at the school you had Jason, Brady, Gwen, and Trish.  Which had already started to get busy since midterms were within a few days and were making you very nervous.  Even though everyone kept saying that it wasn't a big deal since they weren't the final grade. But they also didn't have to worry about losing their program because of bad grades. Let alone the push to get straight A's just to match Ignis' GPA of 4.0.

The pressure to reach his heights had already caused you to stay up super late a few nights just to get an assignment turned in on time.  You tried really hard not to do that though, since your dad had been highly upset about it one night when he caught you still up at 2am. That night you had only gotten two hours to sleep. And you truly felt it the next day since you kept falling asleep during your College Algebra class.

And lastly, you had Brian and Loqi at work.  Sure Loqi was technically at school too.  But you only saw him in one class and for the hour you were in the library.  And neither of you really spoke to each other while you were there.  Short of just nodding at each other.

Now at work, it was a completely different story.  For one thing, Brian was right, Loqi really was a very good waiter and short-order cook.  And another was that the two of you were able to figure out a way of running the front and back of the café so that Brian was able to actually get some free time for the first time in ages.  His wife and daughter were ecstatic.  Especially his wife, who had decided to treat both of you with a cake on that first night that Brian went home early.

That night just happen to be their anniversary, and Brian had made reservations at the Caelum Via Hotel and Resort restaurant that was in the hotel district.  The place was super fancy and really hard to get reservations at.  But your dad had stepped in and had sealed a deal with the owner for the perfect dinner set-up for the two of them.  Apparently the owner had been one of the people that your dad had saved during the attack on the city from Ifrit.  It still surprised you the people that your dad knew because of work.

"I can't thank you two enough. You have no idea how much this means to me." Brian's wife, Grace, said as she was beaming at you and Loqi as the four of you stood around Brian's office.  "It's been ages since we have been able to go out like this."

"Think nothing of it." You beamed back as Brian scrambled around to finish up what he was doing. "It's long overdue and you two have more than earned a night out."

"Thanks."  Grace beamed even brighter as a tear started to grow in her eye.  "And I hope that you enjoy the cake that I baked for you."

You smiled at her as you looked at the small lopsided chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  Brian had warned you and Loqi a long time ago that Grace couldn't cook for the life of her.  So there was no telling how the cake was going to taste.  But there was no way that you were going to let on that you knew this and make her feel back.  

So instead you continued to smile as you meet her eyes.  "I'm sure it'll be delicious.  And we'll be sure to share it."

You saw Loqi nervously shift beside you as Grace beamed brightly.  And just then, Brian finished what he was doing and turned around to look at everyone.  You couldn't help but to beam at him at well.  Because for the first time, you got to see how good he looked in a suit and tie.  Which was actually quite impressive.

He went with a simple black and white suit. Which seemed to be made just for him. And made you wonder if your dad had had anything to do with the choice in color and style. But you didn't dare ask, for fear that you were right. Instead you simply enjoyed the totally different look of tall, dark, and handsome.

Which was almost the exact opposite from his usually blue jeans and blue button-up shirts that he usually wore for work.  The only difference that he had ever done, was change the color of his shirt.  But even that wasn't really that different from the usual.  Especially since they were all mainly the same style and color.  And because he preferred button-ups and his favorite color was blue.  All of his shirts tended to be blue button-ups.  They just happen to be in different shades of blue and occasionally there was a pattern on his  shirts.  But beyond that, he looked the exact same everyday.

Grace's dress on the other hand was by far the biggest surprise. Sure you had only seen her a few times. But she was usually wearing jeans and a blouse or sweater when she would stop by the café to check on him. Which wasn't very often.  

But that night, she looked absolutely stunning in her floor length black dinner dress.  You had known that she was pretty.  But in that dress, as it hugged her delicate curves, was a totally different thing.  Because she was drop dead gorgeous.  It was impossible to picture her pregnant with a body like hers.  However it did make sense why Brian had snagged her up really quick and made her his wife.

"Okay, everything has been ordered for tomorrow and the cash has been counted for right now.  All you need to do is close out the register at the end of the night.  Then just lock it up in the safe and I'll take care of depositing it tomorrow."  Brian was explaining as he grabbed his coat from his chair and his keys from his desk.  

His computer was started to update itself for the night as he stood up.  

"If you need me, I'm only a phone call away."  He said as he slipped on his suit coat.

"Don't worry.  We got this."  You smiled back at Brian.  "Now will you get out of here?  Your going to be late."

Brian quickly looked at his watch as he straightened out his coat.  "Shoot.  Your right."

He then turned and grabbed Grace's hand.  "Ready, honey."

"More than you know."  She beamed back as he smiled at her.

"Go!"  You said firmly to them as you pointed to the door.

"Right."  He said and quickly left the office as he whisked Grace away.

"I do hope that their going to be okay?"  Loqi said with a slight smile as he watched them head out of the kitchen.

"They'll be okay."  You smiled as well as you exited the office and stood beside Loqi and watched the door close behind them before you turned to Loqi.  "Well, where do you want to start?  You want to be in the kitchen?  Or on the floor?"

"I'll take the kitchen during the rush."  Loqi said as he headed to the line.  "You can handle the floor."

"Sounds good."  You said as you started to walk out of the kitchen.

"Your a bit too slow to handle it back here anyway." He said with a smirk as he walked away.

You were about to get into it with him.   But you knew that that was exactly what he wanted you to do.  Especially based on the taunted look that he was giving you.  So instead, you bit your tongue and quickly left the kitchen before you could give him an ear full.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

The dinner rush started out nice and smooth.  As the tables filled up, you were able to quickly grab their orders and give them to Loqi so that he could start to cook them.  Then after getting their drinks you were able to go on the next table and do the same.  By time you reached the fourth table and handed him the ticket, the first table's food was done.  So you delivered the drinks to the last table, then come back for the food for the first table.

The quick rhythm was simple enough.  And it ended up being easy to work with.  Which made it seem as if Brian was behind the counter and not Loqi.  In fact after a while, you forgot that Brian was even gone as you started cashing out customers before taking in new ones.  But then again, when you got into the zone, anyone could have been in the kitchen and you wouldn't have noticed a difference.  Except perhaps if they didn't have the food ready to go as quickly as Loqi had been able to do order after order.

With the smooth pace lasting the entire time, the dinner rush flew past before it finally started to slow down for the night.  And table after table, as the café was starting to clear out again, you were finally able to slow down and start to relax again.  You were clearing the second to the last table for the night, when your dad and Tracy came walking in. They smiled at you as they took their usual seat by the kitchen. You beamed back as you wiped down the table before heading over to them.

"Hey kiddo." Your dad beamed at you as you walked over with the dishes from the last table.

"Hey. Did you both want your usual?" You asked as you glanced at them as they settled in the booth.

"Did you want anything different tonight?" Your dad asked Tracy.

"No, not tonight.  The usual sounds good." Tracy replied with a smile at you as she rubbed her stomach.

Even though she was pretty far along, considering that apparently they conceived before she was transferred to Altissia, she still wasn't showing that much. But it was obvious that something was up with her abs. Especially when she stood sideways.  You could see a bump sticking out from her. Which your dad took every opportunity to touch and rub as he kissed her.  It was very sweet to watch out of the corner of your eye as you would walk past them in the house.

"Perfect."  You replied with a smile.  "I'll go place the order and be right back with your drinks."

"No rush, love." Tracy called after you.

You smiled big at Tracy as you knew that she was more than likely starving due to the baby. Which seemed to be the new norm in the house.  Not that you minded.  But it did have your dad bringing home more food to cook then before.

"The usual?" You heard Loqi ask as you approached the window.

"You know it." You replied without looking at him.

"Got it.  Hey, I was wondering if you would like to hang out after work tonight?" Loqi asked as you grabbed the food in front of him.

"I have to deliver this order." You said as you quickly walked away with your tray full.

You could feel your heart starting to race as you walked away from him and over to your dad's table.   Did he seriously just ask me out?  I'm not here to date. And I have a boyfriend already.  And he should know that by now.

"Hey kiddo. Is everything okay?" You heard your dad ask as you started to lay down the plates that were on your tray.

"Of course." You said as you looked up at him after you sat the last plate down on the table.  "Why do ask?"

"Well, your very distracted for one."  He said as he searched your face before gestured to the table in front of him that was now covered with enough food to feed a family of four.  "And we certainly didn't order this much food.  And I know that you guys are quick.  But our order would definitely not be done that fast."

Your eyes then got huge as you realized that you had just delivered the food to the wrong table. Shit!

You then quickly looked around the almost empty café.  And that was when you saw the last table on the other side of the café.  It was the only table left besides your dad's.  And it had a family of four sitting in one of the booths on the other side of the café as they anxiously waited for their food.  You looked back at the food on the table.  

"Damnit."  You said as you felt your heart drop.

"It's fine."  Tracy said as she could see you getting upset with yourself.  "Just take it over to them."

"I can't."  You said as you closed your eyes.  "Brian has a strict rule.  Once the food touches a table, it stays there until it's all gone or the customer is through with it."

"Then we're done with it."  Tracy said with a smile.  "Now you can take it over to them."

"Not quite, love."  Your dad said as he looked at Tracy.  "You can't move food from one table to next.  It stands a chance of getting someone sick from cross contaminated.  So in other words, if we don't eat it, then it gets thrown out."

"Oh."  Tracy said as she gave Paul a stunned look.  "I didn't realize..."

"Not everyone does it like that when it comes to small cafés like this one." Your dad started to explain.  "But that's one of the reasons why Brian's café is so popular. He sticks to his rules."

"I see." Tracy replied before she looked at you.  "Then perhaps you and the new cook could join us. There's enough food here to easily feed all of us."

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Your dad said as he beamed at Tracy before he turned back to you.  "What do you think? Are you hungry?"

"But what about your order?" You asked as you started to get nervous about eating with Loqi.

"We can get that to go." Your dad replied.

You dropped your gaze for a moment as you considered it.  Neither you nor Loqi had eaten yet.  And you certainly didn't want to waste any food.  Plus it was with your dad and step-mom, two of the strongest fighters that you knew.  So it wasn't like you would be alone with him.

"Let me go ask Loqi."  You quietly said and headed to the kitchen counter.

Fuck.  I can't believe that I let him get to me like that.  Well not again.  You thought as you stepped up to the counter.

"It's not ready just yet."  Loqi said to you as he continued to cook.

"I know."  You quietly replied.  "But that's not the issue."

"Is there a problem with the order?"  He asked as he stopped in his tracks and gave you a hard look.

"I delivered the last order to the wrong table."  You replied as you slightly dropped your gaze.

You really didn't want to see his glare that you knew that he was giving you at the moment.

"There's only two tables?  And one of them is your parents.  How the hell did you screw up which table?"

"It's your fault you know."  You angrily said to him as you gave him a quick look before you walked away to get their drinks together.

"Now wait a minute?"  You heard him say as you stepped away from the counter.

You walked over to the soft drink fountain and filled two glasses halfway with ice and started to fill them with Brian's famous iced tea.  Suddenly the kitchen door flew open beside you.  You slightly jumped as Loqi came flying out and straight to you.  Your breath slightly caught as a whiff of his spicy cologne hit your senses.

"How is your screw up with which table my fault?"  He angrily asked as he leaned up against the wall right beside the soda fountain machine.

"You distracted me."  You simply said as you moved one filled glass to your tray and started to fill up the second.

"Did I now." He coolly replied.

"Yes.  But I wouldn't look too much into it." You continued without looking at him.  "It's easy to get distracted when someone's in your way."

"Well I'm not cooking that order again." He replied as he narrowed his eyes at you.

"Fine."  You quickly replied as you kept your eyes from his.  "I'll cook it after I deliver these drinks."

"Fine."  He said with a firm tone, before he turned away from you and headed back into the kitchen.

You glared after him as you put the second full glass on your tray.  Fuck you!  It was my only mistake in like, forever!  And it was a simple one.

You then growled and quickly headed over to your dad.  Your dad was giving you a curious look as you walked over and delivered their drinks.

"Is everything okay?"  he asked.

"Yeah.  It's fine."  You said as you sat down their drinks and two straws.

"So are you going to join us?"  Your dad asked.

"After I cook the replacement order."

"And Loqi?"  Tracy asked.

You paused for a moment as you considered lying.  But then you decided not to.  Your dad could always tell when you did lie.  So it didn't make any sense to even try.

"We'll see."  You said before you turned and walked away from them.

After you entered the kitchen, you sat your tray down on the counter and looked around the kitchen. You could see Loqi cooking your dad and Tracy's order as you headed towards him. He gave you a slight smirk before turning back to the chicken breast that he was grilling up for Tracy's salad.  You quickly rolled up your sleeves and went to the sink to wash your hands.

"You do know what they ordered. Right?" You heard Loqi ask.

"Of course I do. I took the order after all." You replied as you started to thoroughly scrubbed your hands.

"Good." He said as he walked right up behind you and placed his head over your shoulder. 

"I would hate for you to fuck it up again." He said in a deep voice as he seductively spoke in your ear.  "That might cost you."

You froze in your tracks as your heart started to race.  "What do you mean?"

"Why? Are you curious how I would punish you?" He asked as his breath gently blew across your ear, causing a shiver through you.  "Fuck it up again and I'll show you."

You slightly gasped as you felt your body respond to his heated exchange. But then you were left breathless as he walked away from you. You slowly turned the water off and dried your hands.

Damnit. You angrily thought as you quickly gathered up your wits again and threw away the paper towel after turning the water off. I will not let him get to me.

Then without glancing at him, you started to remake the order.  But even though he didn't say anything to you, you could feel his eyes watching you as you started to cook. Which was starting to make you nervous.  So you focused harder on the task in hand, oppose to whatever he was doing.

But then after a bit, he seemed to be everywhere that you needed to be.  When you went to the fryer, to drop down the fried fish, he was there to grab his fries. Then when you went to grill for your burger, he hoped on the same grill and tossed on your dad's steak.  Even with the salads, he walked into the cooler right behind you.  Which you quickly exited before you could get flashbacks from when you and Ignis would heat up the coolers.

But despite everything, you just couldn't seem to get around him.  He seemed to be there and was constantly touching you with a brush from his arm or body as he reaching over you to grab the seasonings. Or with his fingers as they kept grazing across you. And each touch was sending chills through you.

That was until you were putting the final touches on the Caesar salads. You were trying to reach the top shelf of the counter to grab the pepper grinder. But it was just out of reach. So you started to climb up onto the counter so that you could reach it.

But right as you put your knee up on the counter and got ready to reach up and pull yourself up, you felt a hand on your hip.

"Whoa." You heard him say as he slightly tightened up his grip as he slightly pulled you back towards him.  "Let's not do that."

"I'll get that for you instead."  He said as he pressed his whole body against your backside as he reached up to grab the pepper grinder for you.

But all you noticed as he moved, was that his hand slid in towards your abs and held you firmly against him as he slid his hips up towards yours as he reached up with his other hand.  You could feel his hardening member slid up and against your butt.  Instantly you felt your heart start to race as your breath caught.  Then his spicy cologne filled your senses again.

You had to close your eyes and bit your lip to keep from responding to him.  But your racing heart and tingling skin was making it practically impossible.  It had been forever since anyone had touched you like that.  And despite your best efforts, your mind and body instantly flew back to that moment in Ignis' kitchen.

Ignis sighed as he moved up in between your legs and pulled you close to him. "Will you let me do something for you for once? Let me be your loving boyfriend. It's the least I can do since you have been my supportive girlfriend. Alright?"

"Okay." You quietly replied as you gave him a slightly seductive smile.

You then reached up and lightly dragged your fingers across his chin before slowly dragging your fingers down his throat. You could see the ignition of a deep burn in him as he slightly licked his lip as he looked at yours. He watched you carefully drag your fingers slowly down his chest bone. His body tenses up as your fingers were once again moving across his pecks.

Then Ignis reached up and cupped your cheeks with both hands. He then lifted your lips to his as he gently kissed you. You placed your hands on top of his as you kissed him back. He then kissed you again. Only this time he kissed harder.  Then he slid one hand to the back of your head as he dropped his other hand down and put it on the small of your back.

You answered his kiss with the same eagerness as you rocked your hips towards his and moved your hands to match his. You felt him shift against you as he deeply exhaled and pulled you harder against him. He then slipped his tongue in between your lips. You slightly gasped from feeling his eagerness through his erection as he pressed up against your pearl.

Then he slightly pulled away......

"Here's your pepper."  You heard another familiar voice say.

But it certainly wasn't who you thought it was going to be.

Instantly your eyes shot open and you slowly looked around as your heart pounded in your chest. Fuck. That's not Ignis.

Then you felt Loqi's hand slid completely around your waist and pull you both back from the counter.

"Let's keep both feet on the ground.  Shall we."  He said in a husky voice as his fingers seemed to tremble as he slowly released you, once both of your feet were back on the ground.

Then he sat the grinder on the counter in front of you and moved away from you as he headed back to the grill. You slowly looked at him as you tried to calm down your racing heartbeat. You hadn't expected that. And neither had your body.   Especially not with the image of Ignis in your head as Loqi touched you.

Holy shit.  Have I been missing Ignis so much that I'm hallucinating now? You thought to yourself as you turned back and grabbed the pepper grinder to finish off the two Caesar salads.  Am I really that desperate?

That has to be it.  And I won't let that happen again. You continued angrily to yourself as you picked up the finished salads and placed them on your tray before you left the kitchen to delivery the salads.

The mother and daughter were glad to get their salads and the father seemed to understand the confusion and was glad that you apologized for the confusion.  And they were all surprised when you said that their meal was on you for the mix up.  Which you figured was the least that you could do to make up for having to make them wait like that.  Plus you didn't want them to think less of the café because of a simple confusion.  It was hard enough to get customers.  The last thing you wanted was to lose the ones that came in.

After a quick smile back at the ecstatic family, you went back into the kitchen to finish their order.  Loqi watched you for a moment as he put the finishing touches on the plates for your dad and Tracy.  Which reminded you that they had suggested that the four of you eat together.

"Hey, um."  You started to say as you walked up to him and stood with your back to his as you started to assemble the plates for your order.  "About the messed up order..."

"What about it?"  You heard him asked from behind you.  "Did you fuck it up again?"

"No!"  You quickly said as you felt a hint of an edge from his tone.  "It's about the food from the first time."

"And what about it?  Just throw it out."

"Well.....you see, my step mom suggested that the four of us eat it."  You nervously said.  "You know.... together."

But after a brief silence, you were starting to wonder if he had heard you.

"You blew me off about doing something after work.  But you are willing to eat here, with your parents present?"

"Yeah."  You said as you dropped your shoulders.

You hadn't quite realized how silly that might seem to someone like him.  You could practically hear him screaming hypocrite in your ears as you finished assembling the plates in silence for a few moment.

"But you don't have to join us if you don't want to."  You continued as you placed the completed plates on your tray.  "It was just a suggestion.  Oppose to throwing out the food."

But Loqi's silence wasn't reassuring as you lifted up the full tray.  That was until you felt his hand on your shoulder.

"Are you comfortable with that? You don't seemed to be too thrilled with the idea."

You slowly turned and looked at him.  His blue eyes searched yours as if he was looking into them for the first time.  You could see the slightly desperate child-like look in his eyes of wanted to join you.  Which seemed to instantly melt your heart and make you smile.

"I am."  You smiled back at him.  "The question is, are you?"

"But what about their order?"

"They want it to go."  You said without taking your eyes off of his.

"So what do you say?  Will you join us for dinner?" You asked as you cocked your head to one side.

You then watched Loqi's whole face relax as he gave you a half smile.  It had been the first time that you had seen him give you an honest smile.  And it warmed your heart as it reminded you that he was a person to.  And it made you smile back at him.

"I would love to."  He smiled back as he searched your eyes.

"Good.  I'm glad."  You smiled back. "I'll let them know as I pass by their table."

"Sounds good."  He smiled back at you before he turned back to the food.  "Just let me pack up their order and I'll be right out."

You simply replied with a smile before you left the kitchen with the food.

That dinner ended up being a nice and relaxing.  The four of you enjoyed the food as much as the other family did.  And you even just sat and talked long after the other family left for the night.  Which was something that you had missed doing since you worked almost every night.

And as you talked, Loqi mentioned that he was originally from Niflheim.  But apparently his whole family had escaped when there had been suspicion that his father had been serving as a double agent to Insomnia.  So, as he described it, they had fled to Insomnia to escape the persecution.  And that was why he was attending college.  He wanted to learn how to clear his father's name.

Perhaps you had been wrong about him this whole time.  Maybe he had a real drive to make something of himself once he left college.  And he wasn't just out to stalk you every chance he got.  Even if he did seem to be everywhere you were.

******Author Note******

Okay, so I had to put this one in.  It seemed like a great place to show some of the changes in Loqi.  But are they real?  Or is he hiding something much different?  Only time will tell.

Thanks for reading.  :)

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