"I think we may have a problem." Maren Spencer annoyingly glanced from one set of disapproving eyes to the other, never landing on one for more than a second before looking away again.

Captain Drautos leaned back in his chair, a frown playing at his features. "Are you going to elaborate, or are we supposed to guess?"

The mage bit his lower lip, willing himself not to fidget. He didn't like reporting to the captain; but he and the grizzled war veteran had an arrangement, and he'd hate to find out what would happen to him if he did not live up to his side of the bargain.

He was even more loathe to speak in front of this mysterious red-haired gentleman that had recently been lurking about. The man practically dripped smarm and condescension and had a demeanor that frankly made the older man nervous.

"I was asked to measure the magic of the Prince. It seems that it has gotten out of control lately; though I was not given all the information surrounding the situation, it was intimated to me that not only had he tapped into some very deep wells, but that it was running out of control with his emotions; what with the minor localized quakes, electrical surges and such."

Drautos grunted, running a finger along one of the scars upon his face. "I thought you said the Prince was crippled in the way of magic? That the injury from the Marilith stunted his abilities significantly."

Maren nodded, finally meeting the other man's intense blue gaze. "That is what we always believed, but apparently there is now something that has opened its door, so to speak, and what I saw…" he gulped a few times, looking down at his hands which twisted violently in his lap. "What he did...sir, that boy took my magic from me. Even the entry to my reservoir has been closed. I spent hours last night in meditation, trying to access it, to no avail."

The stranger, whom Maren was never introduced to properly, chuckled. "Oh, yes I would imagine that would be quite disconcerting."

Maren glanced over to him, trying to no get drawn into those wicked amber eyes. "It is jarring, to say the least."

Drautos shook his head. "Enough about you, get to the point."

Maren swallowed hard, quickly wiping at his suddenly sweaty brow. "Yes, of course. The last time I was within the Prince's realm of magic, everything was fine. This was less than six months ago. He's always had a great reservoir, but it was...shallow, for lack of a better term. He had small pockets of talent like the more base elements such as lightning, fire, and frost, but that was it. Now-"

He cleared his throat, suddenly wishing he'd brought something to drink. It was hot under the two men's intense gaze. "Gods, there's just so much . And then there was him. Now, I've been in that boy's head quite a few times, and each time he's been the same inside as he his out; bored, easily irritated, melancholy. But not now. The person he is inside has changed. He's greedy. Hungry. Possessive. He…"

Maren glanced to the two men again, forcing his aching hands to still in his lap. They stared back at him, at full attention.

"He's dangerous. "

Noctis hummed to himself as he ambled down the overly familiar hall to Prompto's private room, fast food bags and drink carrier in hand. He nodded to the Crownsguard that stood guard outside his room, who kindly opened the door for him.

Prompto was sitting up in the bed and his father was in the chair that Noctis usually occupied when he entered. Noctis plopped the fast food on the bedside table before fully turning to Prompto, offering him a soft smile. "I couldn't find Ignis or Gladio, so I had Cor take me to that place that sells those little burger slider things you like. Boy, was he pissed-" the prince suddenly stopped, really looking at the two before him. Prompto's eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, and his father's expression was unmistakably guilty.

Noctis' face twisted in barely contained fury as he faced his father. "What did you do?"

The king began to speak, but was cut off by Prompto. "Ooh, are those Citadel Crystal Burgers?! It's been forever since I had one of those."

Noctis flashed him a look that was part way between amused and aggravated. "Don't change the subject, Prom. If he upset you-"

Prompto shook his head emphatically. "He didn't upset me, I upset myself. I...I just got in my own head, you know? Thinking things that I probably shouldn't." Prompto bit his bottom lip, face pinkening as he looked down at the end of his bed. "He was actually...really. He was nice?" He glanced up shyly at the king, who met his gaze with a kind smile and a pat to the knee.

Regis shifted in the armchair, pushing it back a little so he could better view both boys. "I think it is high time we all had a discussion."

Noctis shifted from foot to foot, then finally signaled his compliance by rolling his eyes and turning back to the bags of food. He looked into one and nodded, handing it over to Prompto. "Here, you should at least eat. Got extra pickles just like you like. And yes," he grinned, eyes twinkling a little as he pulled a styrofoam cup out of the carrier and plunked a straw in it before giving that to the blond as well. "Peanut-butter milkshake."

"Nooooct. You're the best." Prompto beamed up at him before nearly snatching the milkshake from his hands and slurping at it greedily.

The prince chuckled and pulled his own boxes of sliders out of his bag. He'd insisted on them keeping his perfectly plain burgers away from the bastardized version of Prompto's, with all of their horrific tiny onions and sour pickles. Why anyone would want anything beyond cheese and ketchup was beyond him.

He plopped himself down on the foot of the bed, turning slightly more towards Regis, but keeping his gaze mostly on Prompto. He bit into his burger and waved nonchalantly at his father. "Alright, go on then."

Regis kept his amusement in check, though Noctis could see it dancing in his eyes. "First and foremost, I want to assure you both that I do not disapprove of your spending time together." He reached out and gently patted the blond on the knee. "In fact, I encourage it. Further, I wanted to thank Prompto for his bravery, and commend him for his strength."

Prompto reflexively swallowed the last of his slider, eyes bugging a little as he looked back at the king. "For my what now?"

Regis leaned back in the armchair, steepling his fingers in front of him. "You showed courage in the face of danger, and hope when it looked like all was lost. Even when you were far past the point in which most men would have lost their strength, you held on.

"What you went through was no fault of your own. You said earlier that you were 'damaged goods'-"

"Prom, no -" Noctis interjected, eyes going dewy with concern.

But his father raised a hand to stop further comment, and the raven haired boy obediently shut his mouth.

Regis' voice was thick when he next spoke, the emotion drawing Prompto's eyes up from where his hands twisted in his lap, little boxed burgers laying forgotten between his knees.

"Young man, you are not 'damaged goods'. Nothing those men did to you could make you less lovable or less valued.

"There is much to apologize for, and to tell you, and I promise that over time we will speak on every issue. But know this, my boy-" The king leaned forward and took one of Prompto's shaky hands between both of his own. "You are brave, you are loyal, and you are very much worthy of my son, and I'm happy that he has you, in whatever capacity you both so wish."

No one moved or spoke for a short eternity, before Noctis finally sputtered: "Holy shit, dad, is that like your blessing ? I don't think we're at the 'needing a blessing' stage in our...whatever...thing…." he petered off, looping his hand in midair.

"Uhm, excuse me?" Prompto piped up, finding a moment in his overwhelmed state to be slightly offended at Noctis' choice of words.

The prince answered by throwing one of his empty boxes at the blond and flashing him a wicked grin.

Regis lumbered to his feet, using the cane that he'd leaned against the nightstand. "Yes, of course. It was not my intention to imply anything of the sort." He smiled benignly at the both of them. "I will take my leave for the day, but I would like it if the both of you could join be for a late dinner. Clarus will come by to collect you at eight tonight."

Noctis rolled his eyes to Prompto over his rapidly cooling burger. "In case you didn't catch the meaning, that 'invitation' is not one we can decline."

Having suddenly lost what little appetite he had, Prompto dropped his remaining sliders into their paper bag and tossed it onto the table next to his half-drunk milkshake. "Yeah, I picked up on that oh-so-subtle clue."

Noctis did the same with his food, then eyed Prompto hungrily. "Well, that's still several hours from now." He grinned and waggled his eyebrows as he climbed in the bed next to the now-giggling blond. "You know what we could do in all that time?"

Prompto's eyes twinkled as he lowered his voice, taking on a mock-sexy tone. "Ooh, I bet we could get some napping in."

Noctis practically purred. "A man after my own heart." They quickly situated themselves on the bed between kisses, eventually settling with Prompto's head tucked into the prince's shoulder.

The prince began to hum once again; a little tune from nowhere. As he did so, he his index finger traced little arcs and loops along the other boy's spine, and it was not long before Prompto was breathing deeply in sleep.

Noctis smiled into soft blond hair as he placed an affectionate kiss upon his lover's head, eyes flashing maroon in the empty room.

" Mine ." He whispered to no one as he pulled the smaller boy closer.

"...one-hundred-fourteen...one-hundred-fifteen...one-hundred-sixteen…"

"Ugh, Gladio, don't you get enough of that at the gym? You really have to do it here, too?" Iris wrinkled her nose at her older brother as he counted off his push-up reps in the middle of their living room.

"...nothing wrong with…extra exercise...one-hundred-twenty...one-hundred-twenty-one…"

She rolled her eyes as dramatically as possible. "Ugh, well I guess I'll just watch my movie on my tv, even though it's a thousand times smaller than the one out here."

"...why don't you...be useful instead?...one-hundred-twenty-seven...one-hundred-twenty-eight…"

Iris watched him for another few reps before practically stomping fully into the room. "Fine, fine." She blew out an exaggerated breath, then with a grin she hopped onto Gladiolus' back and settled between his shoulder blades, slender legs laid down his broad back. To his credit, he only groaned a little when she jumped on him, and immediately continued his reps with her added weight.

He'd reached the two hundred mark whe she decided to speak up once more. "So, you fucked Iggy again, didn't you?"

She did not expect the sudden drop to the floor, and had to hold onto Gladiolus' shoulders to keep from being thrown onto the floor.

Beneath her, the shield was grumbling. "Six, Iris, don't say things like that."

"Like fuck?" She replied cheekily as she rolled off his back and sat next to him. When he made no motion to get up, she flopped down and offered the warrior a crooked smile. "It's fuck, isn't it?"

Gladiolus gave her a parody of a sneer. "Exactly. You shouldn't be saying stuff like that. Especially not about your big brother."

Iris laughed and swatted at him playfully. "Gladdy, if you were worried about my delicate sensibilities, you probably shouldn't leave books like The Rapier and the Dragonfly lying around. Or, better yet, your diary."

Gladiolus narrowed his eyes at the much smaller girl. "You didn't."

"I did."

Gladiolus groaned and rolled onto his back. "You shouldn't read other people's….fuck it, what's the point?" He flopped one arm over his eyes to block out the light.

"Why won't Ignis just like...I don't know...love you or whatever? Seems like he's ok with fucking other guys."

"It's complicated, Iris."

She snorted lightly. "That's what people say when they're afraid to say what they think out loud."

Gladiolus had no answer for this, though she waited a while to hear one. When she figured out the conversation was over, Iris got to her feet and proceeded to send a light kick into her brother's ribs. "I'm gonna make some sandwiches, you want some?"

Gladiolus clenched the fist of the arm that was laid across his eyes, but made no other movement. "Yes please."

"Ok," Iris said, retreating towards the kitchen. "But I'm not bringing anything to you, you gotta get off your ass and come in the kitchen and eat like a fucking adult."

"Irrrissss." Gladiolus growled deep in his chest.

"You heard me!" She called over her shoulder as she skipped the rest the way down the hall.