So, Reaper had Aranea's age mix up with Cindy's when she thought of this prompt. lol For the sake of this fic, Aranea a few years younger than in game. Just so we're clear. Cor did not have a child at 15. XD

The biggest surprise of Aranea's life was not, in fact, that the apocalypse abruptly landed on the world in one week. That was a surprise, but not the surprise. The surprise was realizing just how much she enjoyed domestics.

Her whole life, she thought she'd hated them. All those gaga-eyed couples gushing over each other and living their simple little lives while she had been working her ass off as a mercenary to get her next meal.

Domestics had been for the simpler-minded saps or just people who happened to get lucky enough to get a good job that didn't involve killing things.

But then Aranea had gone and fallen for some stupidly smart young blind guy – something she'd only realized after she'd noticed they'd been technically dating for months. She had no idea when they'd crossed that line.

First it was just help the blind guy train. Then it was sure, why not grab a bite at the city restaurant as comrades after?

Now she was sitting at a table in his apartment with him across from her as they ate the fancy dinner he cooked and she contemplated seeking outside advice from him on a personal matter.

What the hell.

He was five years younger than her, and she wanted to seek advice from him as a partner. She didn't ask for advice. She always dealt with things herself.

Maybe she wouldn't. It really was her drama to deal with. Not like it involved him.

"Is something troubling you, Aranea?" Ignis questioned gently, his fork paused over his food.

His ability to read her despite his disability still remained a mystery to her. "How can you possibly tell that, Specs?"

He chuckled. "There have not been nearly enough sarcastic comments from your end of the table tonight."

"…Fair enough," she noted. "And yeah. I've been putting something off for a while now. Think it might be time I bite the bullet."

"And what bullet might that be?" Ignis gently stabbed another bite of his meal.

"How to tell the immortal Marshal of the Lucian Crownsguard that he's my dad. Or if I even should."

The bite paused halfway to Ignis' mouth. "…You might have to run that one by me a second time."

Aranea snickered. "Yeah, it's a hellava thing to digest, that's for sure."

"He would have been… eighteen?" Ignis set his fork down.

"Around that, yeah." Aranea put her fork down too. This conversation wasn't meant to have eating during it. "He was on some lasting surveillance assignment. Met my mom during that time. She was a mercenary too. They both needed a cover near Gralea and ended up posing as a touring couple for part of a day. Went for a drink afterwards."

Ignis made a faint noise. "Difficult for me connect that with my mental image of the Marshal, but it does line up more with what I've heard of his younger self."

Ha. Yeah, he'd changed, all right. He was nothing like the stories her mom used to tell her. A brash young Lucian operative with wit as sharp as his sword… Hardly the seasoned and composed warrior that was leading the city.

"Do continue," Ignis encouraged.

She nodded. "Well, he kept coming back to the area for assignments and she was a useful contact, so they kept meeting up. Kept sharing a drink after their missions. Apparently, their cover got blown and they ended up fleeing all the way into a cave in the mountains. Got separated after that. She thought he was dead. Pretty sure he thought the same of her."

Ignis tilted his head. "She never heard tales of his feats?"

"Oh, she did." Aranea thrummed her fingers on the table. "Years later. But at that point, what was she supposed to do? Turn up at the Wall and say her kid was the Immortal's?"

"It does seem unlikely that she would be believed," Ignis conceded. "But you've known all of these years. You've worked with and for him on many missions since the darkness began. Why are you considering telling him now?"

Aranea gave her plate a dirty look. Even if he couldn't see her, she still didn't want to meet his eyes. "It's stupid. I wasn't going to. But Father's Day is coming up and it just got me thinking. I should probably just forget it. He has plenty of things to deal with without having a random daughter thrown at him."

"I would argue the opposite." Ignis steepled his fingers atop the table.

Aranea looked up, her eyebrow arching. "Oh?"

"Whether he wishes to pursue any familial relationship is a matter that's up to him, but I should think he has the right to know."

Well. That was probably true. It wasn't like she resented him and this was going to open up drama. He hadn't known she existed. "Okay. But if I do that, it still leaves one question: how the hell am I supposed to break it to him?"

Ignis tapped his chin. "I should think that easing him into it would be ideal. He's rather intelligent. Perhaps allude to it and allow him the chance to piece it together before you confirm any facts?"

Smart. Yeah. She could do that. Subtle hints.

"I don't mind your company, Commodore, but this outing is random to say the least." Her father– actually, nope, she wasn't there yet. Cor took a sip of his… clearly awful glass of scotch given the face he made at it afterwards. She didn't blame him. All the good stuff was long gone at this point, and Lestallum's home-brewed stuff would have made pretty good furniture polish.

He set the glass down, pushing it off to the side. "What brought this on?"

Go time. Hints. She had to find a starting point and lead him into it.

"So, I'm your kid."

A mental image of Ignis slapping his forehead and giving his characteristic, resigned sigh popped into her mind.

Cor stared at her, the background noise of the bar not helping to break the awkward pause between them that followed.

Well. She'd gotten things started all right. She scratched the back of her neck. "You remember a mercenary you met over twenty-five years ago?"

"…I do."

Jeez. He really could get as stiff as a statue with that military posture.

She shrugged. "Well. That was my mom."

His face didn't shift, but she could see via his eyes that a million and one thoughts were running through his head. "…I had been under the impression that she was killed shortly after we were separated by the Imperial force that was hunting us."

"Yeah." She crossed her arms, the toe of her boot tracing along the grains of the floor absently. "She got the same impression about you."

Cor let out a long breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I need a better drink for this. I assume that by now she…"

"Is actually dead, yeah." Aranea eyed her own drink that she hadn't touched. Yeah… they both could use something good to down at the moment.

Cor nodded.

Well, she couldn't blame him for not feeling much there. He'd already thought she was dead for over twenty years. Hearing that she died at a slightly later time was hardly going to send him into mourning. Mourning. Right. Yeah, she was subconsciously romanticizing that. They'd been so young. Her mother had spoken fondly of him, yeah, but Aranea had no idea how much they really cared about each other.

Cor swore under his breath – something she'd never heard before – and then gave an out-of-place chuckle. "And here I thought I was ready for any news these days."

Aranea snorted. "What, this wasn't on the list of what you expected?"

He smirked for only a moment. "Aranea, had I known you–"

"But you didn't." She held up her hand. "Look, I don't blame you for anything. I didn't have a deprived childhood. And I've seen the way you care for everyone in this city. I know you would have been there. It's just not how things worked out. But… you deserved to know. If you'd like to spend more time together now, I'm down with that, but I don't want you feeling any obligations either."

"I would most definitely like to get to know you better," Cor said instantly. "You may not need raising at this point, but everyone should have a solid relationship with their child or parents if at all possible."

"Cool." Had she been holding a breath there? "Now I don't have to take your Father's Day gift back."

He barked out a sudden laugh. "Came prepared, did you?"

"Damn straight."

"I suddenly have the urge to tell you to watch your language."

Aranea rolled her eyes with a laugh, stretching her leg out to lightly kick his shin. "Not a chance in hell."

Cor rubbed his chin. "I'm going to need time to process all this, that's for certain." He eyed his drink for a moment before apparently deciding the alcohol was worth the horrible taste.

She waited riiiiiight until he was in the middle of a sip. "Yeah, I mean Ignis is likely gonna be your son-in-law."

He didn't choke. He just froze again. He set the glass down. Then he gave a shrug. "I can live with that."

"Guess we got to skip the awkward stage of me bringing the boyfriend home so you can scare him," she teased.

"Scare him?" Cor echoed. "I can scare a lot of people, but after facing the Kings of Yore and Adagium head on, I don't think Ignis is one of them."

"You could have threatened his spice cabinet."

Cor dipped his head. "Now, that might have worked."

They kept talking. Kept laughing. It wasn't even awkward after the first few minutes.

By the time they both agreed to turn in, Aranea knew without a doubt that telling him had been the right decision. Maybe things hadn't gone as planned, but she couldn't imagine them going any better than they had.

She… had an actual, solid start to a relationship with her father.

Hell yes.

Her mother had started with a domestic life. She had been forced to abandon it to survive. Aranea had been born into a life of independence and survival. She was gifted with being able to discover how wonderful domestics could be. While she was slaying monsters.

Between slaying daemons with her father and slaying monsters with Ignis, Aranea didn't have the most normal relationships with her family, but they were family, and she loved them both dearly. Nothing was as good for bonding as shared fieldwork and nearly getting killed every other week.

Plus, they did do some normal things occasionally. Like dinner. Ignis made sure the three of them got that. Dinners that were like the fine wine Ignis lamented them not having – they got better as time went by.

Moments of stability in the chaos of a dark world.

Until it wasn't dark anymore.

She never did get to see Noctis when he came back, but she did get to Insomnia in time find to her father staggering through the city. Alone. And hurt.

"Cor!" She was at his side in an instant, thankful that there were miraculously no daemons in the area.

"Aranea…" He was holding his chest with one hand, and he coughed, stumbling heavily.

For the first time since she was a child, Aranea felt a deep and genuine spike of fear. Of course she hadn't believed his nickname to be anything more than that, but he was a legend on the battlefield. She'd never actually seen him injured with more than a scrape before.

"What the hell happened to you?" She tugged his free arm around her shoulders, helping him walk.

"Dog bite…" he muttered.

"What?" She scowled, making sure her pace was okay for him. "Where's Ignis and the others?"

"Went ahead." His speech was slow. Not a good sign. "Won't be long…"

Aranea grunted as his legs gave out, the sudden weight half dragging her to the ground with him.

"Cor?" She let his arm fall from her shoulder, catching his wrist and checking his pulse there.

He coughed again, making his whole form lurch. "I… may not have raised you… but I'm proud… to have been your father…"

…Oh, hell no. "Don't you dare, you bastard. No goodbyes tonight!" She let his hand fall the rest of the way as she scrambled for her phone and called the Glaive. She barely remembered the conversation, but it was done. They were on the way.

She sat with him, willing to trade her left arm for a potion for him. But potions had run out years back. All she had was her grip on his hand and her words to keep him awake while they waited.

He slipped unconscious barely half a minute before they arrived. They couldn't tell her if he was going to survive.

He missed the dawn by an hour.

But, thankfully, he would have plenty of days ahead to enjoy it. And so would Ignis.

Maybe they weren't all one hundred percent. Maybe some of them were damaged, emotionally shattered, and worried. But that was okay. They all had people around them that cared. They had family.

They'd have all the time in the world for their stupid domestics now, Aranea thought as she trailed a hand through her husband's hair while he wept into her shoulder over the loss of his oldest and dearest friend.

They were going to be okay.