"I'm gonna miss you, Little Guy… Gonna be real quiet here without you." Gladio squeezed Prompto's shoulder and gave the boy an apologetic look.

"Indeed… I'm going to miss not having to wake Noctis up every morning again… And someone to finish his vegetables." Ignis kept his distance a bit, standing straight and looking all business as usual, but the underlying soft tone of his voice gave away how sad he was to see the beta go.

Prompto bit back his body's urge to cry, physically biting his lip so hard the skin almost broke. He forced his face to mold into something resembling a grin, clapping his hand over the shield's larger one and placing his other hand on Iggy's shoulder. "Gonna miss you too, Big Guy. Thanks, Specs. Sorry I wasn't good enough..."

Gladio furrowed his brows. "Don't say that, Prom. You're damned good. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Which reminds me…" The shield reached behind his body, pulling something out of his back pocket. "…Keep that pistol. You'd do better with it than Noctis would." Prompto's eyes widened and his mouth fell open as Gladio placed said gun in his hands, the same one he had grown accustomed to these past few days. The blonde felt the familiar weight of it and he gripped it gently, looking up at the alpha with watery eyes. "It's connected to the Armiger. No matter how far away from Insomnia you are, if you want to use it, it'll appear for you. Same as always." Gladio smiled warmly down at him as Prompto made the weapon disappear in a flurry of blue magic.

"Thanks, Gladio… I… I don't know how to thank you- I don't know what to say…" Prompto returned the fond smile, not being able to hold in a tear as it trickled slowly down his freckled cheek.

"Don't gotta say anything. Just go out there and give 'em hell, kid."

Prompto nodded and turned his attention to Ignis. "Man, I'm gonna miss all of that good food, Iggy. And the way you smack people on the back of the head… Promise me you'll come visit me at Wiz's some time?"

Ignis held back a cringe at the thought, giving a smile to the beta. Chocobos were awful, but Prompto would be worth it. "Of course.", he offered, and was suddenly wrapped inside of Prompto's arms as he was pulled in for the tightest hug of his life, even being lifted off his feet a little. When the beta was finally released, he mocked an unpleasant frown and tried to smooth out the wrinkles in his freshly pressed shirt. Gladio and Prompto laughed at him and Ignis smiled, all the same.

Noctis watched his friends saying goodbye to each other from afar, inside the regalia. Ignis had offered to drive, but Noctis had immediately refused. He wanted the alone time with Prompto. Watching the other two men so close to his friend made him frown as jealousy welled in Is chest. It was dumb to feel that way, Noctis knew. But there it was, and he wasn't dealing with it well. The prince grumbled before laying on the horn a bit, drawing their attention.

Prompto turned around and met his eyes, and Noctis gave him an apologetic look. "It's time to go, Prom…"

The blonde nodded solemnly and trudged to the car, opening the passenger door and sliding onto the hot leather seat. It was only a few hours into the morning, and the sun was already beating down hard, making everything hot to the touch. Even with his tank top and vest that exposed a good bit of neck and arms, Prompto felt like he was going to melt into his seat. The beta gave one last look and wave to his new friends before Noctis started the engine and steered the car into the direction of Wiz's.

"…Bye, guys…" Prompto whispered as he watched the two men in the rearview mirror, becoming smaller and smaller, until they became tiny blotches and disappeared altogether. Once they were finally gone, he folded his arms on the door next to his seat and laid his head there, looking off into the distance with a tired sigh.

It was all over. The life he'd hoped he'd have was over. He was on his way to the life he knew before, wandering from place to place and working at Wiz's, sleeping in the loft above the chocobo stables. Hay and straw and feathers was not going to be as comfortable as Noct's bed. Not to mention, he'd be alone again. Wiz was kind, and he was a very caring omega, but he was far from someone to talk to about anything other than the weather of his birds.

Noctis glanced at him from the side of his eye a few times as he drove. He felt the need to speak up, to say something, but nothing would form in his throat to come out. He could see that Prompto was emotionally drained. Noctis could tell the blonde had been crying, more than just that single tear with Gladio. His eyes were puffy and red and there were heavy bags under them, from lack of sleep. Noctis didn't notice it when they met up that morning, but now, after everything was final and relatively calm, it was glaringly obvious.

Noctis felt like a complete asshole. Prompto had been up half the night, worrying about what the hell they had done together that and how he was probably fucking up an entire nation, and all Noctis had been thinking about was wanting more. Even now, as he drove through the tall outer wall of Insomnia, all he could think about, all he wanted to do was hold Prompto's hand, pull him closer, kiss him, make the sadness go away, put a smile back on his face. He wanted to take in his smell, let it envelope him, and never let it go.

He huffed a sigh and just decided to stay quiet. Better say nothing at all than something he'd regret later.

…

The two were well into Hammerhead before Noctis finally got the courage to say something, the heat of the sun enveloping them even further, making the road dance in the distance with the radiating heat of the blacktop. The desert stretched on for miles, no end in sight. Small clusters of brush dusted the layout. Sometimes the rare tree. But it was mostly just rocks and dirt.

The prince could stand the silence no longer. Now was the right time, he was sure. Noctis briefly looked behind his chair to make sure the item was still there an unharmed. It was. Perfect. He cleared his throat. "Hey, Prom?"

There was a long silence, and Noctis thought maybe the blonde had fallen asleep, but then a dry, "Yeah, Noct?", sounded and he was relieved.

"I got something for ya. It's in the back, on the floorboards. You can have it, if you want."

Perking up a bit, Prompto gave the prince a curious look before turning back in his seat to search for said object. He felt the floor of the car beneath his fingertips vibrate as he felt up the surface, searching for the item, eventually landing on something hard and plastic. The beta grasped it, lifting it up and turning back correctly in his seat to view it. Almost immediately afterwards, Prompto practically stood up in his seat, the seatbelt being the only thing stopping him.

"Oh, Six, Noctis- really?! Are you serious?!" Noctis smiled as Prompto turned the new camera over in his hands, inspecting every detail and button and every feature. It was a brand-new model of the ancient one Noctis had stepped on. Able to take a picture in crystal clear HD and print it out in a polaroid fashion. The pictures could also be saved on a sim card and uploaded to various devices, so it was the best of both worlds. Prompto looked at his friend. "Gods, Noct. This camera is way better than the old one. I couldn't possibly take it, it's too much! I- "

Noctis shook his head and cut in before his friend could finish. "It's the least I could do. After all, I do owe you one… From before… And with everything I put you through recently, you deserve something nice… Something that'll make you happy."

Noctis had practically begged Ignis to skip their lessons for an hour of the afternoon, to allow them to drive to a store and buy it for the beta. At first, Ignis had absolutely rejected the idea. But as soon as Noctis said that he had broken Prompto's original one, the man gave him a stern lecture about treating others' items with as much care as his own, and that smashing things was behavior he expected of Gladio, not the future King of Insomnia. Noctis thought he'd never hear the end of it, but it finally ended, and the advisor drive them to the city. He'd had it for a while now, waiting for the right time to give it to Prompto.

Prompto's heart fluttered in his chest before he mentally stomped it into the ground when the thought of, 'you make me happy' popped into his mind. Soon, they would be apart, probably to never see each other again. He had to squash those feelings for Noctis. Even so, he didn't want to forget about the man. Or the others, for that matter. He wished he could have taken a picture with them, but he figured a picture of Noctis would be sufficient enough. He'd also show it to Wiz later, and tell him all about the royal palace and his adventures. Prompto was sure the man would be ecstatic to hear about it all.

"Hey. Noct?"

"Yeah?"

"Want to take a picture with me? You know. For memories."

Noctis looked at the blonde for a bit before turning his head back to the road. "Sure. Love to." He smelled Prompto's radiating happiness as the blonde smiled and immediately began scanning the area for potential locations that would look nice. 'So adorable', the prince thought as Prompto turned every which way in his seat, even standing on his knees to get a better range of the area. After a short time, he pointed to a large rock that was shaped in a pretty neat, odd sort of fashion. Nothing super special, just a weird rock. But it would do.

"Let's take it over there! By that cool rock with the desert in the background. That'll look nice!"

Noctis chuckled and began driving toward the location. "Sure, Prom. Sounds good."

The prince eventually veered off to the side of the road, grateful that the roads were so clear of other cars that day. It felt like they had the whole world to themselves, and the alpha wished it were really true. Noctis killed the ignition and they exited the car, making the short walk over to the location Prompto had pointed at earlier. He watched the beta with an amused look as the boy practically skipped on the way. He didn't know the camera would make him so happy. 'Good job, Noct. Best friend ever.', he inwardly congratulated himself with smirk.

Once in front of the rock, Prompto turned their backs to it and pulled Noctis close time him, an arm over the prince's shoulder. Noctis flushed a little, not expecting to be pulled so close, smelling Prompto's unique scent mixed with the soft, warm scent of his happiness, and he had the huge urge to wrap his arm around his waist and pull the boy closer, but refrained. 'Friends.', he repeated over and over in his mind, 'Just friends.'.

On Prompto's part, he had pulled Noctis close without even thinking about it. After being so close to the boy for so long, it came as second nature and he didn't register it until it had already been done. His heart thudded, and his nerves were screaming at him to put distance between them, but at that point it would be strange to pull his friend so close and then push him away immediately after. He could smell the shampoo Noctis had used that morning and fought back the urge to nuzzle his nose into those silky strands and inhale deeply. 'Damn it, Prompto. Quit being so weak! You're a beta, damn it. Not some needy omega! Quit wanting to be so close! Think of Luna! Think of her feelings!' He had to stay strong.

The picture needed to happen and be over with as soon as possible before either of them got more urge. Prompto raised the camera to face the two of them and he grinned widely. "Selfie time! Smile, Noct!" Noctis barely had the time to, but somehow pulled it off, before the flash went off and a slip of photo paper whirred out of the bottom. The beta snatched it up gladly and allowed the alpha to see it.

"Not bad." Noct smiled, nodding. He had to admit, they did look rather nice in the photo. Prompto looked happy and Noct looked pleased as punch, their cheeks pressed against each other and fluffy blonde tufts of hair mingling in soft blue-black strands between them. In the background, you could see the rock immediately behind them, followed by the vast expanse of desert. "Can I have one, too?" Prompto nodded and printed off another copy, handing it over to the prince. "You're a good photographer, Prom. Ever thought of making a living out of it?"

The other man scoffed and elbowed the prince in the ribs playfully. "I don't think I'm that skilled, dude. You're totally embellishing my abilities."

"I'd like to see the other photos you take, sometime… If that's cool." Noctis looked down at his feet and a light blush dusted his cheeks. He hoped Prompto would blame the desert heat for it.

"…Really?" Prompto noticed. He absolutely noticed. Noct looked really handsome like that, looking all shy an shit. It made the beta want to pull him close and kiss those soft lips, but he refrained. 'Just friends.'. The knowledge that Noctis would still want to see him after they separated, to hang out with him and look at his photos, warmed Prompto and made his heartrate increase profusely before he could stop himself.

"Really." Noctis's reassured him, stormy blue eyes met with sky blue ones and he smiled a small, shy smile.

"Anytime." Prompto returned the smile and turned his camera off. If he wasn't going 'home' soon, he knew that those eyes would eventually be the end of him.

"…I'm… really going to miss you, Prom…"

Now it was Prompto's turn to blush. "Me too." A few moments of silence passed between them, both wanting to say so much more but holding themselves back. Instead, the only thing that came out was, "We should head back to the car."

Yeah. Yeah, they probably should.

They turned around and began making the journey back, photos in hand, Noctis leading the way. Prompto stared at his back, shirt clinging slightly to his skin due to the sweat from the sweltering heat, jacket forgone long ago. He could notice how each muscle moved beneath the fabric as the alpha walked, could see the slight sway of his hips as each leg stepped in front of the other, boots crunching on the ground as he walked. The breeze that came through made his short hair flutter gently and Prompto wanted for all the world to run his hands through it. He could smell Noct's unique alpha scent mixed with the sweat on his body coming at him with the wind, and he breathed in deeply, never wanting to let it go. Pretty soon, he'd have to. He wouldn't be wrapped in Noct's wonderful scent for a long, long time.

Prompto frowned and made an unconscious move to reach out for Noctis, to grab the back of his shirt and pull him into his chest, but stopped abruptly as something hit him from his right, knocking the wind out of him, and sending him skidding to the unrelenting, rocky surface of the desert ground.

Noctis spun around at the sound of Prompto's cry of pain and his sword materialized in his palm as soon as he noticed a sabertusk was atop his friend, sharp claws pinning him to the ground as fangs desperately tried to get to Prompto through his thick leather vest. Noctis growled and threw his sword at the animal. The blade landed deep between two of the creature's ribs, eliciting a wild, pained roar. Noctis was next to it in an instant, warping along with the blade. He pulled it out of the beast, kicking the wounded thing off Prompto and sending it landing and rolling off to the side. The beast cried out in agony and growled, running off some ways, trailing little pools of blood behind it. It wouldn't go far, though. Noctis knew. Sabertusks were relentless creatures, especially when hungry.

From the looks of the creature, furless skin clinging to muscle and the prominent bones of its spine and ribs, it had not eaten in days.

Prompto pushed himself off the ground with shaky arms and held back a strangled cry at the pain that flared up. Deep, red and irritated scratches ran in long swipes down one of his arms and his shoulder. His right side throbbed. No teeth had made it past the protection of his jacket in that short amount of time, thank the Gods, but damned if the sabertusk hadn't tried. The teeth had attempted to bite into him, but only succeeded in deeply bruising the flesh that had been beneath the fangs. Once crouching on his knees, he felt Noctis at his side, arms gripping his shoulders gently and trying to help him to stand.

"Are you okay? Can you stand?" Noctis saw the scratches and felt the warm wetness of Prompto's blood beneath his fingers. He growled low in his throat and looked to the wounded sabertusk, who was still only a few feet away, keeping its distance, but eyeing the two of them hungrily, absolutely ignoring his wound in favor of stalking and plotting another pounce. It wasn't alone. Noctis looked around them from left to right and back again to find a whole pack had surrounded them in those few seconds, the creatures pacing and stalking back and forth like lions. There had to be at least seven. Maybe nine. And the pack leader was nowhere to be found. Not good.

Prompto's body ached and stung and he could feel some blood lightly trickling down his arms, but he gritted his teeth and nodded. "Yeah." With the help of his friend, the beta pushed himself up to stand, slightly hunched, on shaky legs. He noticed the mass of animals circling them and he gritted his teeth. "Fuck."

"You can say that again." Noctis agreed, and turned around, so that they were back-to-back, able to see all the sabertusks without any blind spots. Noctis' eyes darted frantically from one to the next, trying to study their body language and attempt to figure out which would try and pounce first. "Can you fight?" Noctis silently called his blade to his palm once more and readied the weapon, glancing behind his back at Prompto.

The blond nodded, materializing his own weapon into his hands. "Yeah, I think so." He took the clip out, verifying how many shots he had, and placed it back in with a snap. "Never shot anything living before, so we'll see how this goes… I'm guessing these guys move faster than those moving targets back at the palace, huh?"

"Yup. A lot faster. And be careful not to let one get you again. They're known to be sometimes be poisonous. Let's hope you aren't already inflicted. I didn't bring any potions or antidotes." He hadn't thought to bring anything along, assuming there would have been no stops along the way or back. Ignis would have smacked him for being so careless. He could already hear that snooty voice in is head saying, 'A good king must be prepared for anything.'.

"Oh. Goody." Prompto said sarcastically, and let out a strained chuckle. He was trying to hold in his nerves the best he could, not wanting to lock up out of fear and being unable to fire his gun, and humor was always there to assist. His vision was a little blurry around the edges, and he blinked rapidly, attempting to stay focused on the sabertusks ahead of him. Fuck. He was already poisoned. Already, he could feel himself growing weaker and weaker by the second. "Let's make quick work of this."

"Right." The sabertusk that Noctis had stabbed earlier was the first to pounce, running up on the duo with a shrill cry before leaping in the air, attempting to take out the source of his pain, the prince. "Here it comes!" He called, sidestepping and dodging the creature as it landed on the other side of them. With that, the relative stillness of the crowd was utterly destroyed, sabertusks bolting in every direction franticly, attempting to become harder to aim at and harder to predict with their frantic movements.

The two separated and split away, giving each other more room to work so as not to accidentally hurt one another.

Noctis made easy work of the first couple of the beasts. The one that had started it all came at him once again, from his side this time. The prince crouched down where he was standing, ducking under the pouncing beast and thrusting his sword upward, into it's belly as it went overhead. The beast screamed in pain, momentum halting, gravity pressing the blade further into it and impaling. Noctis threw it off his sword with some force and a grunt, and it landed not too far away, writhing and crying out in agony in a heavy pool of blood. He ran over to it and stood over it's head, thrusting the sword down into its skull, finally putting the beast out of its misery with a sickening crunch.

The next came out of nowhere, pouncing on the prince's back. Noctis cried out, feeling its sharp claws dig into his shoulder blades and the backs of his thighs. Before it could take a bite of him, Noctis worked fast, grabbing the animal by it's skin and throwing it over his shoulders. It flew into the large rock where they had taken their picture

Noctis stood with his hands bracing his knees. He could feel the sting of the claws, could feel the hot desert breeze hitting his back and legs through the rips in the back of his shirt and pants. His clothes felt damp and he knew it was with his blood. The animal cried out before scrambling to it's feet and coming at him again with a renewed vigor. The sabertusk swiped long claws at the alpha, but was easily evaded as Noctis phased out of the way in a shimmer of blue. He called upon his blade and made a few swings, cutting the surface of the beast's skin before finally making the finishing blow, swiftly cutting the back of its front legs at the joints and lobbing off it's head as it fell to the ground.

This was Prompto's first, real fight, and boy, was it a doozy. A sabertusk ran towards him and leapt for the beta. He ducked and rolled, avoiding impact, but snapped his head to the left as another animal made its way to him. He raised his gun and let off a few rounds, impacting the beast in the chest and sending it falling back. He stood back up and whirled around, shooting at one of the sabertusks stalking them in the background.

That was two kills. How many had Noctis killed? His vision blurred in and out and he shook his head. He couldn't let the poison take him over. He couldn't black out. Not here, not now. He looked to the prince, who was swiftly cutting down another foe, but not noticing the sabertusk that was closing in on his northwest side. "Noctis, crouch down!" The prince did so, still swinging at his own opponent, and Prompto ran full speed, jumping onto Noctis' back and pushing off, propelling himself high into the air above the sabertusk. Twirling in the air, he rained a barrage of bullets down on it, severing its spine with a loud snap and a high-pitched growl before it fell motionless on the ground. Prompto landed and rolled along the ground, coughing from the dust that rose up at the impact.

Noctis slit the throat of his sabertusk before sprinting to Prompto's side. "Prom! You okay?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I'm not dead, so I guess pretty good."

They formed back into their back-to-back position that they started in, eyeing the remaining beasts.

"How many have you killed? Prompto asked over his shoulder.

"Three. You?"

"Three, I think."

Six down, two to go. The duo made quick work of the final ones, working together to take them down with bullets and blades. After the last sabertusk fell lifelessly to the ground, Prompto fell to his hands and knees. He was lightheaded, ever movement making it feel like he was walking on the surface of the rocky sea, sending the world swaying back and forth. His arms shook and stung from the scratches. It was probably the sting of the poison infecting his blood stream.

"Prom?" Noct noticed how his friend had fallen to the ground and went to meet him, but let out a startled cry as something impacted him, sending him flying into the hard surface of the rock a few feet away from them.

"Noctis!" The beta cried out, watching his friend's body fall to the ground in a heap. Next to his body stood a large flexitusk, it's albino skin rippling with wound up muscle. It was the leader of the pack, and it towered over the others, almost twice as large. It had used all of its strength to crash into the prince. Prompto shot at the ground around the flexitusk, scaring it a bit so that it would back away from his friend.

It roared and sprinted away, disappearing. Prompto knew I wouldn't be gone for long. He crawled as fast as he could to his friend, shaking his shoulders vigorously. "Noct! Noctis! Wake up!" The alpha didn't stir. Blood was smeared onto the rock where he had impacted, and Prompto stared at Noctis with wide eyes. Was he breathing? He knelt down, pressing his ear to his chest. There was a heartbeat. Good. Noctis wasn't dead, just knocked out. He looked around, but still saw no signs of the pack leader.

"AH-!" As if luck could not be any worse, a cramp tore through him, sending him falling to the ground next to Noctis, his arms and legs giving out. He felt hot, searing pain all over. His arms felt numb from the poison coursing through them, pure adrenaline being the only thing keeping them moving this long. He turned to lay on his back, gun loosely clutched in one hand.

The world around him was going in and out, and it took everything he had not to pass out right then and there. From the corner of his eye, interrupting the never-ending expanse of cloudless sky, he saw the flexitisk's head, peering down at the two of them from atop the boulder, baring his teeth and letting out a primitive, shrill cry of anger for his fallen packmates. Prompto clutched his gun and brought the weapon up with shaky arms, aiming it at the beast.

It jumped, then, High into the air, blocking out the sun in the beta's line of vision. It was falling down, towards them, paws outstretched and claws at the ready, mouth wide open, ready to chomp into their flesh as soon as he connected. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Prompto placed his finger on the trigger and waited until the beast was only a foot or so away, until he had absolutely no room for error, and he pulled the trigger.

The gun went off, the bullet soaring straight through the pack leader's open mouth and into his skull, shattering bone and sending bits of brain flying, raining down around them. It landed on top of Prompto and he lifted and kicked it off, letting the body roll over to rest beside him. He heaved a few shaky breaths before allowing the gun to disappear back into the armiger.

He rolled over, facing Noctis. Since when were there two of him? 'Need to… do something… Need to… get Noctis to safety…'. The beta reached into Noctis' pants pocket and grabbed his phone, tugging it out and in front of his face. He squinted, trying to make the contacts legible when all they looked like were blurred scribbles. Finally, he came upon Ignis' contact and clicked the button to call the other.

The line rang a few times before the other beta picked up, giving a soft. "Yes, Noctis?"

Prompto laid his head on the prince's chest, allowing his eyes to close. Just for a moment. Just to make the spinning stop. "Not… Noctis…" Words were becoming hard to get out, but he hoped he could relay the message before the darkness blotting his vision overtook him.

Ignis made a worried sound. "Prompto? Why do you have Noctis' phone? Everything alright?" He could hear Gladio asking questions in the background, but couldn't make out what the alpha was saying.

"Sabertusks… Noctis… Hurt… Come to… Hammerhead."

Prompto could hear Ignis give Gladiolus orders to bring a car around. "We're on our way. Where in Hammerhead are you?"

"Big… Rock…" Prompto faded out of consciousness then, unable to hold on. Noctis' phone fell from his hand as it went limp next to his side. Ignis was urgently ordering him to stay on the line, to stay awake, to stay strong, but none of it hit his ears.

The two of them laid there, unconscious, until help finally arrived.

…

Prompto awoke in a comfortable bed, his entire body hurting. His eyes snapped open, and he sat upright in the bed, franticly looking around him. Where was Noctis?

"Relax, my boy. You're at the palace, in Insomnia again. You're safe."

Prompto's eyes followed the sound of the voice and landed on none other than King Regis, himself. Prompto's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. The king was here. Next to his bed. He forced his mouth to work, his voice coming out a little higher pitched than he would like. "Where's Noctis?"

Regis smiled warmly from where he stood next to the bed. "He's just fine, Prompto. Resting in his own room." Prompto looked around, noticing the familiar style of the room around him and the bed he laid in. This was his room at the palace. The one he had only stayed in for one night. "He's still resting, healing prom his own wounds. Ignis and Gladiolus are by his side."

Prompto let out a relieved sigh and fell back to rest against the headboard. "That's good to hear."

"Mind telling me what happened?"

Prompto looked up at the king and worried his bottom lip. What would he even say? 'Sorry, I wanted to take a picture of your son and it caused us to almost be murdered and eaten by sild sabertusks! But don't worry, we only almost died!'? He swallowed, and his throat felt tight. "Well, your Majesty… Noctis and I got out of the car to take a picture. It was my idea." He purposefully left out the fact that it was a picture of his son. The king didn't need to know that selfish detail. "On our way back the car, we were ambushed by a pack of sabertusks."

"How many were there?" The king inquired.

Prompto gave a half-shrug, shaking his head. "I'm not sure of the exact number, but probably… eight or so?"

Regis nodded, urging the boy to continue. "What next?"

"Well, we took them out. Killed every last one. Well, at least we thought we did. There was a bigger one, a flexitusk. I think it was their leader. It attacked Noctis from behind, sending him into the boulder and knocking him out cold."

"What happened after that?"

"Well, sir… I was really woozy and weak. I had been poisoned. Not sure if Noctis was as well. But the flexitusk was about to pounce on us from above, and I shot it and killed it. I could only call Ignis before losing consciousness…" Silence fell between the two and Regis only nodded, placing his hand along his jaw and looking at the beta thoughtfully. "…I'm really sorry, Your Majesty… Noctis got hurt… I couldn't protect him…"

Regis smiled down at the boy, lifting a hand to ruffle his blonde hair a bit. "Nonsense. My son is home. He's alive, and it's all thanks to you, Prompto. Just you." Prompto stared up at the king alpha with wide eyes. The king was praising him! "I was wrong about you, Prompto Argentum. And I apologize."

Prompto felt tear well up in his eyes and he wiped clumsily at his face. "Don't apologize! You did nothing wrong!"

"That may be so, but still. Please… forgive me." The king bowed to Prompto and the beta felt like his heart was going to stop. The king was bowing to him! To him!

"Um. Thank you!" Prompto did his best to bow back, wincing as his bruised side pained him. The king merely gave him a find chuckle. "Um. If it's okay, before I return to Lestallum, could I maybe say goodbye to Noctis one final time? Just to see that he's really okay?"

"Before you leave?" Regis raised an amused eyebrow. Prompto furrowed his own in confusion. "You're a retainer now. You'll be seeing plenty of Noctis from here on out. Welcome to the family, my boy." He clapped a strong hand to Prompto's shoulder and the blonde smiled widely, unable to stop the tear of joy that streamed down his freckled cheeks.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Regis bowed again before taking his exit. "Don't thank me. You've earned it. I'll see you at the party tomorrow."

Prompto gripped the blankets in his fists, clutching them tightly, afraid to be torn out of this wonderful dream. "I'm a retainer now… I'm a retainer now!" He whispered happily to himself.

This was the start of his new life.