Ignis and Prompto stood outside the hotel room waiting, neither of them making a move to enter. Ignis was straight faced and seemed calm, Prompto shifted uncomfortably back and forth as they waited for the yelling on the other side of the door to stop.

"You're supposed to be a King, act like one!" The door flew open and Gladiolus came out and stomped in one direction. Noctis wasn't far behind and went in the other away from the rest area.

Prompto looked at Ignis, who nodded, and they each went after one of them. Ignis after Gladiolus, Prompto after Noctis.

Prompto followed after Noctis, past the borders of the rest area and into the trees. "Noct, hey, wait up!" He called after as he tried to follow the trail Noctis cut through the underbrush.

Eventually Prompto caught up, reaching out to grab Noctis by the shoulder, "Dude, come on, talk to me."

Noctis angrily twisted out of Prompto's grasp, rounding on him. "What's there to talk about?" He pointed back towards the camp. "You heard everything there is to hear already, it's all been said, so just leave me alone."

Prompto flinched as Noctis directed his anger at him, but he knew Noctis didn't mean it. "It's not like that man. Gladio is just frustrated and tired, we all are."

Gladio stomped off to where they had their cooking supplies set up for dinner later. He grabbed a beer out of the cooler, dropped into one of the chairs, popped open his drink and took a long draw, feet up on the table.

Ignis approached, considering where to start. Gladio, after a second of him standing there, looked at him then nodded towards one of the empty chairs. Ignis took the offer and sat.

Ignis knew it was best to wait and let Gladio speak first in these situations. Let him sort things out in his own head before Ignis tried to figure out how to proceed.

"Yeah, and that's my fault too, isn't it?" Noctis spat.

"No, it's not. None of this is your fault, or any of ours, we're all doing our best." Prompto tried to keep his voice calm, not wanting to pick another fight over nothing. "We're tired, nothing has been easy since we left Insomnia. It's like nothing's going right for us."

Noctis didn't say anything, just crossing his arms and pointedly looking away, so Prompto continued. "Everyone's lost something and doesn't know what to do with that."

"It's like he doesn't care sometimes." Gladio spoke, his voice calm and quiet, none of the yelling from moments before coloring his words. "It's like he just wants to dick around and bitch when things get hard. Sleeping in, not eating his gods damned vegetables, he's like a spoiled little brat."

"Perhaps you are reading him wrong?" Ignis suggested, speaking carefully for the time being.

Gladio scoffed. "How the hell do you read that wrong. He doesn't want to do anything, he complains, and bitches about everything, how the hell am I supposed to get him to take this seriously?"

"What would you know about loss?" Noctis suddenly burst out, and even though Prompto knew he didn't mean it that way, it cut deep. Noctis seemed to realize he'd crossed a line, suddenly backing down. "I'm sorry man, that was uncalled for."

Prompto shook his head, a bitter smile on his lips. "No, you're right? What would I know about that, I'm one of the lucky ones. I didn't have a family to lose, I didn't care for that big empty house. Everything that mattered to me, everything I loved, is right here with me. You guys are the closest I've got to a family, and you're all with me every day. What would I know?"

"Indeed, it is troublesome." Ignis thought about how to answer the question for a moment. "Do you remember," He said, seemingly changing the subject, "Some years ago, I think it was shortly after Noct moved out on his own, and you and I we're not quite friends with him yet."

"Yeah, he was a little shit then too." Gladio took another sip of his beer, an action that would equate to a long suffering sigh in anyone else.

"Quite so," Ignis agreed, taking off his glasses to clean them as he continued. "I was supposed to check up on him, make sure he was able to take care of himself. It mostly turned into me cleaning up his apartment and cooking his meals for him."

Noctis looked away, ashamed to make eye contact. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know you didn't," Prompto took a deep, shaky breath. "You lost everything, your home, your family, your kingdom. Pretty much everyone you knew is gone. We still don't know if Lady Lunafreya is alive or not. The only thing you've got is rumors and a desire to kick the ass of the guys who did this."

Noctis turned away, moving to sit down against a tree, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back with a small thump. "It's so damn hard sometimes." He said after a minute.

"So nothing's changed." Gladio gave Ignis a pointed look.

Ignis raised an eyebrow, but didn't take the bait. "I was getting quite frustrated with Noct, he was living in squalor if unattended, eating garbage if left to his own devices, and seemed completely unmotivated by just about anything."

Gladio gave him a look that asked 'where is this going' and 'are you trying to prove my point for me'.

Satisfied with the state of his glasses Ignis returned them to his face, bringing the world back into sharp clarity. "He and I got into a fight over it, where I called him out on his neglecting his duties, and left rather frustrated. Much like you now."

"So, he still needs us to hold his hand and make sure he does his job, great." Gladio finished his beer and got up for another, offering one to Ignis.

Prompto squatted down then let gravity pull him onto his butt beside Noctis. "There's been so much hurt and loss since we left, and it's like if we want to get any of that back we have to beat the big bad guys and be these impossible heros." Prompto continued. "Gladio knows how impossible it is, and he's got to worry about you, Ignis and me. Then there's Iris who is putting her life in danger to help us out too. It's a lot."

"I know you're right." Noctis admitted, still not looking at him. "He just pisses me off sometimes, I've got the weight of the fucking world on my shoulders and I can't take a break for even a second or it seems like it's all going to come crashing down."

Ignis accepted the drink, continuing with his story. "Not knowing who else I could talk to about him, I went to you. You seemed to have gotten over your initial dislike of him, and if anything, had grown rather fond of Noct."

Gladio smirked, laughing to himself. "He does have a way of growing on people, like cancer."

Ignis smirked at the comment as well, briefly wondering what Noctis would think at being referred to as cancer with such fondness. "Do you remember what you told me after I talked to you about the situation?"

"Well, you don't look like Titan," Prompto joked, "Too much hair." They both laughed, the mood less heavy, almost feeling like normal as Noctis opened his eyes and stared up into the canopy overhead. "You aren't doing it all alone Noct. Gladio is there to push you, to push everyone, to be better than they think they can be. He can be rough around the edges, but he's always got your back. You have Ignis with his insanely good ability to examine even the craziest of situations and figure out the right way to go from there. And I'm always here for you, to take embarrassing pictures, and remind you that you have a friend."

Noctis turned to look at Prompto then, his expression unreadable as he just sort of stared until Prompto was uncomfortable and could feel his face flushing. "How the hell do you have any doubts about being one of us?"

"Get used to it?" Gladio offered jokingly.

"Not quite, you told me that I wasn't giving Noct enough credit." Ignis remembered the confidence that Gladio had said those words with, that Ignis was wrong in his assessment of Noctis, which he hadn't believed at first. "And when I returned that evening to check on him, as was my job, I found a kitchen with a sink full of blackened dishes, a sad attempt at a salad, and the report I had scolded him about thoroughly gone through with notes."

"Alright, I'll bite, I was wrong." Gladio sat up and leaned his elbows on the table, looking down as if to examine his hands. "He's not a complete little shit. Just mostly."

Ignis felt a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, drinking his beer to cover it."