Welcome to Adventu, your final fantasy rp haven. adventu focuses on both canon and original characters from different worlds and timelines that have all been pulled to the world of zephon: a familiar final fantasy-styled land where all adventurers will fight, explore, and make new personal connections.
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year 5, quarter 3
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[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Tifa explained a little more about what Shinra had been up to back on her world, and Noctis grimaced at the description. “I wouldn’t mind hearing more,” he refuted when she got a little self-conscious about rambling. “That’s crazy though. I mean, they lived on the planet too. It’s not like they were just hurting another country.” Humans were bizarre when you got down to it. They could do so much damage to everything around them. Even Niflheim hadn’t been as irresponsible as Shinra though.
Tifa also said that it wasn’t the worst idea to set up a secret basement in her bar, but that she’d probably need help. “I don’t know much about architecture, but I can swing a hammer around if you need it,” he offered with a faint grin before nodding when she asked about his friends. “Yeah, Prompto and Cindy both come from Eos like me. Prompto and I go way back—we went to school together and everything. Cindy was the mechanic who worked on our car for us. And yeah, Prompto’s always had a crush on her. Just uh. Don’t tell him I told you that,” he said a bit conspiratorially as he inspected the roof.
Tifa didn’t seem to mind the warping nearly as much as some people. Honestly, she did damn good for her first time, but that wasn’t too surprising with how much she’d apparently dealt with. Noctis got the impression she was real tough. “Yeah, as long as it’s somewhere in throwing distance, then I can warp there. Doing that helps to give an anchor,” he explained as he banished the dagger back into the glaive and settled in on the roof. The shingles weren’t the most comfortable seat in the world, but the view below them made it worth it. With all the street lights on, the whole city almost seemed to glow. Sonora didn’t seem so bad from up here.
“I guess cups would be nice. I’m sure I have some in here somewhere,” Noctis said a bit sheepishly as he mentally rifled through their camping gear before pulling two glasses and a bottle opener out of his glaive. Uncorking the wine, he poured a little for Tifa first. “Not nearly as fancy as something you could make, but I did promise you a drink,” he said as he held it out for her. Afterward, he poured some for himself and set the bottle down between them for whenever they needed more. He held off on drinking it himself though, as he glanced down at the Accordan wine. He’d picked it up on a whim while they were exploring the city, figuring the four of them would drink it together soon. A lot had gone wrong immediately after that though.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] To put it lightly, Noctis felt like he was recovering from being hit by a train. After weeks of stressing out over what shape his friends would be in, it was surreal to suddenly have them back. They were both in such bad shape that they hadn’t really been able to talk on the journey from Sonora to Provo though. Even now, Noctis had been keeping a respectful distance while they healed and sorted out whatever hell they had gone through. It was taking a lot of restraint to not just kick in the door and see if they needed anything, but he didn’t want to overwhelm them when they’d been locked up for years. Noctis would be there to talk whenever they were ready. Even if he was completely losing it in the meantime.
The prince had been spending most of his time either sleeping or doing odd jobs for Cindy. He more than owed it to her after she’d driven the getaway car for all of them, and he found that it was kind of peaceful to do some mindless fetch quests for the mechanic again. It felt a little like being back at Hammerhead when they were searching for new parts for the Regalia. It was stupid to call that a simpler time when it was right after Insomnia had fallen, but…it really was, in a way. They’d all had to grow up a lot since then.
Noctis had slept in late one morning though, and by the time he sat up yawning on the couch it looked like he had the place to himself. Prompto must have been helping Cindy with something outside, and the prince was in no hurry to interrupt the two of them from having quality time. It sounded like one of them was on their way back inside though as the front door was pushed open, so Noctis was surprised when the voice that called out his name didn’t belong to either of them.
“Caius?” He stood up from the couch, suddenly aware that he probably had a bad case of bed hair, and it was almost noon. He was at least dressed decently since he’d passed out in his black capris and skull t-shirt, so thank the gods for small mercies. He was also still wearing the Ring of the Lucii, which might have contributed to him sleeping in. Taking it off always gave him such a sense of relief, like he’d been carrying around a mountain and had forgotten about it. Part of him never liked to place it aside for too long though. Whether or not he was on Eos right now, he still had a duty to finish eventually. That meant that he needed to train and get strong enough to be the king that everyone expected him to be when he was finally able to ascend the throne. And part of that was getting used to bearing the ring.
“Hey, I’m glad you made it out safe! No worse for wear or anything?” He hadn’t really had a chance to catch up with Caius after the jailbreak since the blond man had made his own way out, so he was really glad that he’d taken the time to stop by. Honestly he owed the kingsglaive quite a bit for risking his life like that. He owed Alex too, but that was more difficult to repay given the burned bridges between him and Prompto now.
“Honestly, you look…way better than the last time I saw you.” Maybe that was a low bar since Caius had been exhausted and desperate for a chance to save Lumina. He probably still was, but he at least looked like he’d slept this time. “Everything going okay on that end? I know things weren’t looking so good then…” With his friends safe, maybe it was finally time to focus on the scourge though.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Tifa talked about how she liked her job because it gave her time to do things during the day, even if she had to sleep in a bit. That made sense, though at this point Noctis wasn’t even sure what a normal schedule was supposed to look like. He and his friends had mostly done odd jobs around Lucis, which could have been at any time of day or night. Well. At least once Ignis had trusted him enough to handle the daemons that were out and about at night at least. Before that his retainer had absolutely refused to drive the Regalia once the sun had gone down. It was both responsible and infuriating, which summed up Ignis pretty nicely now that he thought about it.
Tifa said pretty bluntly that her friends used to blow things up, so overhearing a jail break being planned in her bar wasn’t too weird. Noctis had to laugh at that, since he wasn’t expecting something like that to come out of her mouth. “I hear you.” Literally, since they’d wrecked havoc on more than one imperial base set up around Lucis. “It sounds like Shinra deserved whatever you gave them.” She also said that her old bar used to have a secret basement where they’d conduct their meetings, which made the prince grin. “Maybe you could add one to your new bar. Sonora’s government doesn’t seem so great either honestly. I’d say your services are needed again.” He was joking but also…not. With how horribly Ignis and Gladio had been treated, Noctis definitely wouldn’t mind if someone took on the council here. Or blew something up.
The bartender also teased him that she’d love to meet Ignis and Gladio in a different way than she’d met his other friends. “You’ll get some warning next time, I promise.” He was still a bit mortified by how that had all gone down, even if Tifa wasn’t upset about it. Everytime he thought about Alex blowing up or Cindy showing up out of nowhere, he just wanted to shrivel up into a tiny ball. Maybe this was one of those things that would be funny someday though. Maybe.
Tifa seemed excited that the wine was from Eos, and Noctis nodded as he showed her the bottle. “I picked this one up in an island nation back home called Accordo. That’s the nice thing about my glaive. I still had everything in it when I woke up here.” He’d get through all the perishables eventually of course, but it was just so comforting to have a piece of home in the meantime.
She told him to lead the way outside, and he groaned a little when she called him a prince. “Too much to ask for you to forget that part, huh?” It wasn’t that he was embarrassed or anything. It was just kind of nice to live his life and not have anyone know who he was for a change. He’d had the same feeling when he’d first left Insomnia, and that had only doubled since coming to Zephon.
Zipping up his coat, Noctis headed out the front door of the inn, deciding that Tifa had been right about the weather. “Yeah, it’s not too bad.” It was definitely chilly, but by Sonora’s standards that was pretty good. Nothing a light coat couldn’t fix. Looking up at the roof though, Noctis rubbed the back of his neck as he realized a slight problem. He hadn’t really thought this through before inviting someone else to join him up there.
“I can warp us up there, but you might want to hold onto me,” Noctis said a bit sheepishly as he offered Tifa his arm a bit too properly. That was not going to help with all the prince jokes, but he didn’t know of a better way to carry her without coming off like a creep. Since he needed a catalyst, he also quickly summoned a dagger to his other hand. “This might feel a little weird,” he warned her before tossing it up at the shingles and warping himself after it, with Tifa along for the ride.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Cindy said that he didn’t have to take on everything the world threw at him just because he was a prince, and Noctis cracked a small smile when she pointed out that he was still human. “Wish more people saw it that way, but thanks Cindy. I’ll try to remember that.” It was good advice, really. It was so easy to be hard on himself with everything that had gone wrong on Eos though. He’d probably always wonder what he could have done differently if he had been more mature and ready for the throne.
Talk of King’s Knight was a welcome respite from that downward spiral train of thought though. “Yeah, I bet I just need somewhere with electricity to charge it. Cell service will be toast, but as long as I still have the game downloaded I think it should play.” Was Sonora advanced enough to have cell phones? Maybe he could even get the phone working again if they did. It probably wasn’t worth it though if it would only make calls when he was near Sonora. He had a feeling they’d want to avoid the place after Ignis and Gladio were out.
Cindy also reassured him that Ignis had known what he was risking when he’d put on the ring, and Noctis bit his lip as he glanced down at the seemingly innocuous bit of jewelry on his finger. Even now he could feel its power thrumming through him, and it was honestly exhausting. Like a bit of his life was flowing out of him with every heartbeat. Sometimes he just wanted to chuck the thing into the ocean, but a small part of him always whispered that he’d need it if they ever found a way home. Or if Ardyn happened to turn up here. “I’ll tell him. Thanks Cindy.” That was about all he could manage to get out, but hopefully she understood.
The blonde woman also said that she wasn’t sure if she wanted Cid to show up here or not, and Noct thought that he understood. “You’re right, he’s tough. Think he could get by anywhere.” Speaking of which, Noctis took another look around Cindy’s garage, including the car that she’d been painting before he interrupted. “You’re not so different, you know. It looks like you’ve found a pretty good place for yourself. Glad you’re settling in so well.”
He didn’t want to bother her from working for too much longer, but he also didn’t want to just leave without making plans to see her again. She was the first person that he’d seen from Eos after all. Well. Not including Caius since they’d never met before. At least not in Noct’s estimation.
“When we leave Sonora, can I come back by here?” Hopefully he’d have the others by then. If everything went well.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Cindy lectured him for lingering on everything he’d done wrong in Gralea by saying that no one could fix everything. “Sometimes it feels everyone outside of you guys expects me to,” Noctis admitted. “I know you’re right though. Just got to believe it myself now.” Knowing something was true and actually feeling it were two different beasts sometimes. He could reflect more on Gralea once Ignis and Gladio were safe and sound though.
“Don’t worry, only one of us can cook,” Noctis reassured Cindy, grateful when the subject changed to a future dinner they’d have to plan with all five of them. “I can break out the cup noodles that are left in my glaive.” He also lit up when she mentioned the game that they’d used to play once they made camp for the night. “I almost forgot about King’s Knight! I wonder if we can still pull that up on our old phones here. If I can find somewhere to charge my phone, then heck yeah I’ll show you. Prompto’s really into it too.” Hopefully he wasn’t laying it on too thick about his best friend. If there was anywhere with electricity where he could charge a phone though, it would probably be Sonora. Noctis would have to make sure it was good to go so he could show Cindy once they were all gathered in Provo again.
The tone got pretty dour again after that when the subject of Ignis’ injury came up. “He’s stubborn. He still tries to fight and do everything he did before, but…” Noctis let the sentence hang before sighing. “He hasn’t quite figured it all out yet. I hope it gets easier for him with practice…” He winced a bit when Cindy asked if he was there when it happened. “Yeah, but I was unconscious. He tried to save me by putting on my family’s ring for more power. My ancestors never take too kindly to that.” Feeling a little self-conscious, he scowled down at the Ring of the Lucii on his finger, wondering what the other kings’ problem was. Lucis Caelum blood or not, he couldn’t imagine someone more worthy of anything than Ignis was, and he was still rejected enough that using it burned his eyes. Noctis also couldn’t see himself in the future turning down anybody who asked for his power if they had a good reason. What family they belonged to shouldn’t matter. It was a lot of exclusionary bullshit if you asked him.
“I really do hope you can find Cid if he’s around here though. More and more of us seem to be turning up.” It was a weak attempt to change the subject, but he really did mean that.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Tifa explained that bars were in fact open pretty late, but they did at least close eventually. “No six AM cocktails I guess,” Noctis joked while rubbing the back of his neck. “And I’m glad you don’t have to work all night. You’d never see the sun.” He commented that without really thinking, and then immediately felt weird about it considering that Eos actually had lost its sun. Noctis had only experienced one long night in Gralea, but if Caius was to be believed, then there’d been no light for a decade after that. It was crazy to think that anything could survive that long.
Tifa said that he didn’t have to apologize for the meeting that had gone sour in her bar because she’d seen things like that happen before. “Yeah, you said you used to host those in your bar back home, right? When you were taking on that evil corporation.” He was blanking on the name of the company, but it was hard to forget a story like that. It was partly why Noctis had gotten the idea to meet at Tifa’s bar in the first place. He had a feeling that she’d be sympathetic, or at least look the other way. It was hard to find somewhere else like that in Sonora.
She said that she hoped everything would go well in the upcoming jail break, and that he could reach out if he ever needed anything. “Thanks Tifa. I think we’ll probably just have to lay low for a while after this…” Hopefully between Caius and Prompto, they’d be able to keep their faces from showing up on camera at least. “Then I’ll have two more guys for you to meet. I think you’d like them. Ignis and Gladio are definitely the responsible half of our crew.” They were also the older pair. That just made it all the harder for Noctis and Prompto to do this alone, but the prince liked to think that Ignis would be proud of how they’d banded together and come up with a plan. He could absolutely never hear about what had gone down in the bar though.
Tifa agreed to have a drink with him, and Noctis grinned weakly as he glanced down at the bottle of wine in his hand. “I can guarantee you’ve never had this brand too. I was feeling like a taste of home tonight. Still have a couple of these tucked away in the glaive.” Along with some cup noodles actually, but he really needed to save those for Gladio. “Think it would be too cold up on the roof right now?” He thought Tifa might have an actual answer to that question since she’d been walking home outside just now.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Noctis had assumed that the person coming through the front door was just another patron of the inn, so he was surprised when he actually recognized the voice. “Tifa?” The streetlights from outside shone against her hair and confirmed that it really was the bartender. At first he was a little confused as to why she’d come to an inn—he’d thought that she had an apartment in town—but she explained that she’d noticed his magic in the dark from the street. “Fair enough. I guess it’s pretty distinctive.” Noctis laughed a bit ruefully and glanced at the clock on the wall to confirm that it really was as late as he thought it was. “Must have been a rough shift. I know your bar’s pretty close by, but I didn’t know it was open this late.” He was probably just revealing how little he’d been able to get out and about in Insomnia though honestly. Noctis had been to a bar with Prompto exactly once after he’d climbed out a window to avoid taking security with him. Ignis had lectured him for weeks afterward.
Needless to say, he wasn’t an expert on the nightlife of cities.
“Hey, I’m actually glad you stopped by. I wanted to say sorry about the other day. I know we dropped in without any warning and then things got pretty intense…” That was an understatement. After multiple yelling matches and a planned jailbreak, he was surprised that they hadn’t been kicked out. Tifa was a saint who deserved every cent of the tips they’d left. She’d even gone outside to calm Alex down, which had somehow worked and was more than the rest of them had managed. He honestly didn’t know how to thank her. “You probably heard everything that’s going on. We’re putting that in motion soon, and…guess I just couldn’t sleep. Too much on my mind with that.” There were a thousand ways this could go wrong, and nearly all of them would be his fault. Noctis didn’t want to dump any of that on Tifa though, so he gave her a weak grin as he raised the bottle of wine that he’d pulled from his glaive.
“I don’t want to keep you if you were going home. But if you wanted to stay out a little longer, then I could pour you a drink this time.” Being a bartender, she probably didn’t get that as often as she deserved.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Usually Noctis had no trouble at all with falling asleep. Not just at night either—he used to love sneaking a quick nap in the back of the Regalia while Ignis was driving, and he was still infamous for being hard to wake up in the morning. Gladio was about the only person who could get him up for early training, and that was only because his shield refused to take no for an answer. Thoughts of his friends hurt right now though. They were just a few days out from their big plan to rescue Ignis and Gladio from one of Sonora’s prison camps, so maybe that was why Noctis found himself staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night. His thoughts just wouldn’t slow down this time.
Noctis and Prompto were currently staying at an inn down in the scrapyard of Sonora. It wasn’t exactly the nicest area, but it gave them somewhere to lay low while they made their plans. Prompto was currently letting out tiny snores in the next bed though, so after glancing over at his friend, the prince made the decision to get up without waking him. Prompto wouldn’t be very happy that he’d gone wandering off alone at night, but he wasn’t planning on going far. Anyway, there weren’t any daemons that cropped in the dark on Zephon like they did back in Eos. The biggest threat here was just the other people.
Noctis pulled on his coat as quietly as possible before closing the door behind him and starting to descend the stairs towards the main room. He expected the inn to be deserted at this time of night, and he wasn’t surprised to see that the lights were off except for a single fluorescent lamp behind the counter. The prince hesitated on the foyer and weighed his options before deciding that maybe he could use a drink on the roof. He could warp up there easily enough, and with a tiny flash of blue sparks, he pulled a thin bottle of wine out of his glaive. Drinks from home would get fewer and more precious the longer that he was stuck here, but he could use the nostalgia tonight. So much was on the line right now.
It was while he was starting to move towards the front door that Noctis realized the lobby may not have been as deserted as he had first thought. “Oh.” The prince squinted through the darkness as he tried to make the other figure out. “Sorry. I didn’t think anyone else would be awake right now.”
[attr=class,ooc-notes]
[attr=class,tagline]OPEN
Late night feels anyone? He'll share his wine probably lol.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Prompto seemed just as weirded out as Noctis was about the starscourge being here on Zephon, and he pointed out that there weren’t any daemons around. Caius corrected that assumption though—apparently Ardyn had been spotted spreading the scourge around Provo, and there were actually some daemons hanging about there. That didn’t make Noctis feel any better, but it was good to know. Particularly if they’d be spending any amount of time around Provo at night. Apparently there was also some other guy from Eos who had learned how to control daemons, and that news was just the cherry on top of a really bad news sundae.
“Seriously? Is that the guy who tried to kill me when you-...came here? He’s here too?” Noctis didn’t know for certain it was the same guy, but Caius had mentioned dying to save him in an assassination attempt. So either it was the same event, or people really had it out for him once he was king. “I guess we’ll have to keep an eye out for him too…” Their list of items to check on was becoming really long, and they hadn’t even rescued Ignis and Gladio yet. No wonder Caius looked exhausted. Noctis wanted to join him in a nap, and all he’d done was listen to half the shit that was on his mind. Maybe that was why he wanted to help so badly, but he shouldn’t have brought up Ardyn. He knew neither of them would like the idea, but he hadn’t expected Prompto to leap to his feet, scooting the booth forward a few inches when he bumped his knee against it.
His friend didn’t yell at him often, and maybe that’s why he winced more than he would have if it were a lecture from Ignis or Gladio. “I know I can’t fight him yet. Not without the crystal’s full power. But he has answers. A lot more than he’s let on. Some things he said when I was getting pulled into the crystal…I need to know what he meant.”
Once upon a time there existed a healer. Ardyn Lucis Caelum.
Prompto was nearly in tears, and Noctis impulsively reached up and grabbed his wrist without quite being able to look him in the eye. “I’m sorry.” Of course he was upset given what he must have gone through in Gralea with Ardyn. “I shouldn’t have brought it up like that. I don’t know why I did. It’s just…been on my mind.” It might not leave it either. One way or another, this ended with him and Ardyn. Noctis had been certain of it ever since Gralea. He just knew better than to say that to Prompto right now.
On the other side of the booth, Caius agreed with Prompto that involving Ardyn wasn’t a good idea. And of course it wasn’t, but why couldn’t they see that whatever he’d done to end the scourge was deeply connected to the red-haired man? Noctis couldn’t just hide away and pretend that he wasn’t out there. Their paths would always intersect, even if everyone else wanted to deny that. Frustration built up in Noctis, and he let go of Prompto in favor of balling his fists in his lap instead. He didn’t say anything in argument though. He just went silent.
He wasn’t enough of a jerk to deny Caius though when he asked for help instilling some of his magic into Lumina to hold off the parasite. However much he was currently sulking. “...If you think it would help. I’ve mostly just done that to make potions and phoenix downs, or to give someone access to my glaive.” Exactly three people at this point, though Caius probably got his Lucian magic through Noctis too because of future shenanigans. At some point he would have been expected to support the entire crownsguard and kingsglaive like this father had after all.
Caius also said something odd about Alex that made Noctis raise an eyebrow. “You think my covenants with the astrals would make him attack me? I don’t think those apply here.” Not to mention that he didn’t think Alex would fight him. He didn’t know where they stood anymore after the blowout between him and Prompto, but the two of them had hit it off before that. Noctis had considered him a friend. Maybe Caius had more details on that strange comment though. He hoped nothing else had happened with the blond warrior of light that they’d missed.
It was Caius’ last bit of news that really made Noctis freeze though as he looked up at the man in shock. Luna. An amnesiac woman named Luna who was caring for people with the scourge. “...It can’t be her.” His voice cracked a little, and he quickly cleared it. “She’s the oracle. She wouldn’t just be tending to people. She’d cure them.” If she had amnesia though…
Noctis shook his head, not even daring to hope as he thought about his childhood friend that he’d failed to save. “...You really think it could be her?” He may as well hear him out. Even if he really didn’t want to get his hopes up. He wasn’t sure he could handle having them crushed.
[attr=class,lyric1]i am noctis, prince of lucis and
[attr=class,lyric2]king of fishing
[attr=class,bulk] Noctis hadn’t really been sure how Prompto would react to any of the negativity that he was dumping. When his friend finally did speak, it was just to say that he’d joined the crownsguard because he hadn’t wanted to lose him. The prince looked up at the blond boy in surprise, not quite sure what to say to that for a moment. “You wouldn’t have lost me.” That wasn’t entirely true though when Noct’s own father had barely had time to eat dinner with him sometimes, so he let out a slow sigh before tacking on a more realistic answer. “At least, not because I didn’t care. I’d just have been stretched pretty thin. If things were different, and I’d actually taken over.” That was a pipe dream at this point. But it was stupid to pine for a throne when he’d never been sure if he’d wanted it to begin with.
Prompto walked back his statements a bit by saying that this was all probably stupid and girly, and Noctis rubbed the back of his neck with his gloved hand. “I didn’t say that. And nothing wrong with girls I guess.” That probably wasn’t what his friend wanted to hear right now, but sometimes Noctis just went with the first thing that popped out of his mouth.
The few times that they’d had a real talk like this, Prompto tended to praise Noctis and tear himself down, and right now was no exception. Like always, Noctis vehemently shook his head. “Just because you weren’t connected to the citadel doesn’t make you nobody. You know how hard it is to even pass the crownsguard exam? The failure percentage every year is huge. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. Plus you’re better with tech than anyone else I know, and your jokes are the only thing that kept the three of us going half the time. We fell apart when Ignis got hurt, but you didn’t see how we fell apart again once you were off the train.” The prince was getting emotional now, and he wrapped his hands tightly around his wine glass to try to calm down. Prompto wasn’t making that easy for him though when he said that if things had been different, he wouldn’t have minded being stuck in the citadel with him.
“Prompto…” His friend was blushing as if realizing that he’d said too much, and he was suddenly babbling about how they could pretend he hadn’t said anything at all. Noctis just ignored that piece. Of course he was going to answer him, damn it. “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore since we’re here, but I wouldn’t have wanted you to stay there just for me. You know what my dad was like at the end. You think I’d want you to watch me hold the wall up and waste away? You should live your life.” His voice was getting a little rough, and he rubbed at his eyes so that he didn’t have to see Prompto’s expression.
“Thanks though,” he added a little quieter. “It means a lot. That you would have stayed.” It meant more than he knew how to say really.
