Noctis found himself descending the stairs in silence, not exactly enthusiastic about his upcoming meeting, but certainly a lot less panicked than he had been. He tried not to think too hard about what he'd just done and concentrate on the present, but that had never exactly been his strong point. As the foyer came into view, he saw that, while it was not empty of people, it was empty of Prompto—the person he wanted to find. The receptionist was busy with customers, so he'd have to improvise.

Where was Prompto most likely to have gone?

He probably hadn't followed Noctis's advice and gone after Ignis and Gladio, and he couldn't blame him. He certainly wouldn't want to deal with Gladio with the mood he was in. So where could he have gone? He said he'd be downstairs, and other than the foyer, there was only one place he could think of that Prompto was likely to be.

As he walked into the restaurant, he suddenly felt a sudden flash of vertigo, as though the world went spinning for a moment. The feeling quickly passed, but it concerned him. He knew that it would be a while before he fully recovered from his reckless behaviour, but he hadn't expected to be blindsided so quickly. He tried to distract himself by looking around the restaurant. He noted that it was a lot less busy than it had been when he last entered, and suddenly realised he had no idea what time it was. Or date it was. That was an intimidating thought. Going off how concerned everyone had been upon his awakening, he guessed he must have been out for at least a day.

There was one bright spot to having entered the restaurant though, and that was that he could see Prompto sitting alone, at the same table he'd been at when he met up with them the first time. He was looking out of the window, deep in thought. If he knew Prompto, and he was pretty sure he did, then he was likely blaming himself for the argument that had happened earlier. An idea which Noctis was determined to put out of his head as soon as possible. He knew there were complexities to it which his words alone wouldn't ease, but he still had to try. This was his chance to make things better, and his behaviour towards his friends was no longer going to be the exception.

He sat down opposite Prompto, causing him to start a little when he noticed Noctis was there. He didn't say anything at first, instead looking glumly at the table, so Noctis decided to start the conversation.

"So, how are you coping with all this?" he asked, in as reassuring a manner as he could.

Prompto's eyes widened a little, as though he were taken off guard by the question.

"I—uh—how do you mean?" he asked, apparently more confused than anything.

"Oh, right, sorry. With Insomnia being gone, I mean." Noctis said, internally berating himself for not realising that there was another fairly obvious issue Prompto was having to cope with—namely him.

"Oh, right. Fine, I guess?" mumbled Prompto, clearly not up to talking about it yet.

"Look, I'm sorry about sending you away back there, I was just…overwhelmed, I guess. I shouldn't have taken it out on you." He said, hoping it would ease Prompto's worries a little.

"What? Oh, no, that was fine, I know it's difficult when stuff like that happens. But really, if anyone should be apologising it's me. I'm the one who went to fetch him." Prompto said, trying to effect a cheerful attitude, though Noctis could see that he was very nervous.

"What makes you think that?" asked Noctis. "You couldn't have known he'd go off like that."

To his surprise, rather than be reassured by this, Prompto instead just looked fixedly at the table, refusing to meet his gaze, and Noctis guessed he was close to tears. It'd been one hell of a week, that much was certain.

"Yeah," mumbled Prompto, his voice trembling slightly.

"What's wrong Prompto?" asked Noctis, sensing there was something deeper behind Prompto's self-blame than mere anxiety. Prompto shielded his eyes with his hand at this question and took a deep breath before answering.

"Listen, don't hate me for this or anything, alright?" he said quietly, clearly terrified.

"Prompto, I could never hate you. What's wrong?" Noctis asked, and Prompto gave a snort, which he elected to ignore.

"Okay, so when we found you yesterday evening, we were all really freaked out, right?" he began, and Noctis nodded, indicating for him to continue and ignoring another stab of guilt. "I was upset, Ignis was upset, but Gladio? He was really angry, and I mean really angry. It kind of scared me to be honest. He was shouting about what an idiot you were and stuff, and it was obvious he was just really upset, but it was pretty startling, you know? So yeah, we kind of suspected he'd go off on you when you woke up."

"I see," said Noctis, who, while not exactly happy, was certainly not surprised by this development. "It's still not your fault though, he's the one who shouted at me. But can I ask you something?"

"Um, sure. What is it?"

"How long was I out, exactly?" he asked tentatively, not sure he'd like the answer.

"Oh, well, we found you yesterday evening, and now it's about ten, so around twenty-four hours I guess? We were pretty freaked out when you didn't wake up to begin with." Prompto said, apparently relieved that they'd moved on to a different topic of conversation.

"Right. Could be worse, I guess."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"So, have you found out anything about your parents yet?" asked Noctis, eager to steer the conversation away from his injuries.

"No, nothing yet. Nothing wrong with hoping though, right?" said Prompto, and his projected cheerfulness was back. "I mean, Iris said that most of the outlying neighbourhoods weren't too badly hit. Sorry, I guess you didn't know that, being unconscious and everything."

"It's fine, I'm glad you were able to find some news about what happened," he replied and hesitated before continuing, unsure if his suggestion was going to go down well. "Do you want to find out more?"

"How do you mean?" asked Prompto, and he looked perplexed.

"About the fall, I mean. Which neighbourhoods were hit, whether…" he trailed off, unable to complete the sentence, and Prompto looked reluctant. "We don't have to, but, all of the rest of us know for sure that what we have is gone. My dad's definitely not coming back, and neither is Gladio's. Ignis's family live right next to the Citadel so there's no way they got out. It just seems…unfair, to keep you in suspense, I guess."

Prompto sighed deeply and continued to stare at the table.

"I know you're right," he said, barely louder than a whisper. "I guess I just…want this moment, you know? At least if I don't know, I can still pretend they might still be alive, even if it turns out…"

"I know," said Noctis, choosing his words with care. "And it is…easier, sometimes. But once we leave Lestallum, I honestly don't know when we'll get back—if we'll ever get back. Nothing's the same anymore Prompto, and if you want to find out, I want to be there too. Who knows, they might still be alive and worried about you as well."

Prompto smiled at this and sat in a more upright position.

"Yeah, maybe," he said, and for a moment he seemed a little less nervous than he had been. "Do you want to go and look for news or something then?"

"Sure, especially if it means I won't run into Gladio for a while," he said, smirking.

"Oh yeah, no kidding. I guess he's still around here somewhere," said Prompto, glancing around the restaurant, just to check he wasn't in earshot. "I found him brooding outside on one the benches when I went to get him, I guess he might have gone back there, but somehow I doubt it."

"I think we'll be safe," said Noctis, rising from his seat, and Prompto quickly followed suit.

"So, where should we go first Noct?" asked Prompto, as they headed out into the lobby.

"I was thinking just look around the city and grab any newspapers we can find. Or radios. Whatever works." He said, then noticed that Prompto looked a little scandalised. "Then pay for them. Obviously."

"Obviously," said Prompto, somewhere between sarcasm and disbelief.

They continued out into the street and Noctis was relieved to see that it had not changed in his absence. There were no graves lining the streets today.

"I guess we should go to the marketplace first, huh?" said Prompto, taking Noctis slightly off-guard, causing him to start. "Oh, are you okay?" asked Prompto, quickly rushing to his side, obviously worried about him collapsing again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, internally noting that this was probably going to last a while. "You just startled me a bit, that's all."

"Ah sorry. Guess I was being too loud…" said Prompto, clearly still feeling a bit guilty.

"No—it's fine. I'm probably not one-hundred percent just yet," said Noctis quickly, not wanting to add to Prompto's distress. "The marketplace sounds like a good place to start."

"Great! Let's get going!" said Prompto, who began jogging towards it.

Noctis quickly followed after him, though he noted that for all his reassurances he was beginning to feel shades of his strange lightheadedness again, and decided to keep to a pace that wouldn't wear him out too quickly. The last thing he needed was to faint again. As he jogged he thought about the situation he was getting himself into. If he was perfectly honest with himself, he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. After all, he already knew that Prompto's parents were dead, and he felt guilty about providing a false hope that they might be alive. But even so, he could hardly have just told Prompto that, or dismissed his misery—that would simply have been cruel. No, it was better this way. At least this time he'd have someone with him who could empathise and reassure him, whereas last time he would have been…alone. It was a disconcerting thought, and he tried not to linger on it as the marketplace came into view.