half truths vs half lies

The boy woke up with a stinging headache and a burning sensation in his eyes, his heart still racing from the nightmare. He didn't want to open his eyes, afraid of what he would see if he did. He pressed them closed tight to avoid opening them by mistake, and wondered whether he was really awake or asleep.

After that first thought, his sleepy consciousness started to detect other things. His neck ached in a very particular way, sore and throbbing he'd felt this many too times and knew it only got like that when it was bent in an awkward position. The right side of his face was plastered against something slightly cold and smooth-glass, maybe?- and light vibrations rocked his body gently from time to time. His bum rested on top of some sort of seat that was really soft and comfortable. So he was sitting. The question was, where was he sitting exactly?

Curiosity made him want to see where he was, open his eyes, but a deep fear inside prevented him from doing it. It was like the primal fear of the prey that kept it from wandering too far. Something was not right.

He shifted a bit.

"You're finally awake"

Unexpectedly, someone spoke.

Prompto's eyes flew open immediately, his back collided hard with the door from the surprised jump he made. The seat belt was too close for comfort to his neck but he didn't care enough to do something about it. There were things more important happening right now.

It was Cor Leonis who talked, face severe and too many frown lines on it for his age. For a second, Prompto forgot why he had been scared in the first place, remembering the true smile the man had given him and his kind voice apologizing for having scared him, introducing himself. That was ruined however, when the other memories resurfaced (screaming, shaking, was that his voice, what was going on, let me go!, I don't know, I don't know, don't touch me) and a chill descended down his spine. Oh no.

"No" he said out loud. He couldn't stop it, it was natural. Without really thinking about it, his hand moved to the door handle and tried to pull it with all his strength, as little as he had.

He had to get out of that car!

"Could you please not do that?" The man said calmly, his eyes never straying from the road ahead.

Prompto ignored him and continued his failed attempt at escaping for as long as he was able, in hopes that sooner or later the door would yield and he would-he would what? The boy froze momentarily, his gaze on his hand over the handle.

"I…"the royal guard, taking advantage of the moment of tranquility, began again "I am terribly sorry, Prompto, was it?"

Despite his wariness and panic that thrummed furiously in his chest, despite the little voice in his brain telling him to get away from him, the boy found himself listening intently, turning slightly in the man's direction. He said nothing, fingers itching on top of the handle.

Seeing he now had the blond's attention, he continued "You'll come to see I am not exactly well versed in apologies but if nothing else you certainly deserve one. I… don't know what came over me then. It is not like me to act in such a barbaric manner, especially to a child. You must think I'm a monster with how I treated you" His icy blues looked briefly at Prompto, who still said nothing.

"I can't explain exactly why…" he drifted off, shook his head "…Again, I'm deeply ashamed of what I've done and how I acted, but I know that no amount of simple apologies is enough, words are just words until proven true. I thought that if I at least-" Cor stopped, reached for something in the backpack at his feet.

Prompto, conflicted, watched him pull that thing, whatever it was, from it. He was offered the object and he had to blink twice to realize it was a paper bag. A delicious smell came off from the bag and his stomach whined in recognition, his mouth watered instantaneously.

His worries, fears, emotions, suspiciousness, they were all gone at the aroma and sight dangling in front of his face, ready for the taking.

Could it possibly be…?

Cor's eyes went back to the road "I imagined you'd be hungry after everything you've been through. I'm aware this is not nearly close to making up for what I did, but it's a start, I hope"

Through mid-sentence, Prompto snatched the bag violently from his hand, putting it on his lap and opening it savagely. He hadn't heard half of what he was saying, anyway. His greedy fingers found what he was looking for and when he exposed it to the cool environment inside the car, he almost cried out of pure joy, he actually felt the tears piling up.

It was a burger. A greasy, smelly, burger full of meat, cheese, sauce and other delicious ingredients. He couldn't remember when was the last time he had seen one of these or had an appropiate meal, maybe two weeks, maybe it was two month ago.

Prompto dived right in for the kill.

He was in heaven, he decided, biting the burger with desperation. The taste, everything about it, was a remedy for the ache in his stomach that had been haunting him.

Cor saw this unfold with a small smile on his lips. When the kid was on his third bite, he handed Prompto a bottle full of some red liquid. The boy didn't bother to ask what it was or where it came from and just took it, now both his hands occupied by things that hours ago had been dreams of a far away past, the delusions of a boy going insane due to thirst and hunger.

He finished his food and juice in ten minutes flat, his fingers and cheeks a dirty mess of lettuce and mustard. Finding himself at a loss, he turned to the royal guard with pleading eyes "Please, tell me there's more"

The man raised an eyebrow; still, in the blink of an eye another paper bag materialized on Prompto's hands; he beamed happily and began to devour it, no hesitation whatsoever in his movements.

"Don't mind me, have your fill" Cor said jokingly, a humorous tint to his voice. It was a little bit soothing to hear the man so relaxed and not yelling like he had lost his mind.

Once the void inside him was partially satisfied, the pain in his tummy taking a back seat place on his list of priorities now that he could think clearer, he ignored the part of him that yearned for more- he could have eaten way more, there was still a vacant space that needed more food though he decided to wait for later, when there were no answers to be given and the company was less disquieting-and wiped the corner of his mouth, a vain effort since his hand was even dirtier than his face.

Cor took pity on him and provided him with napkins. Prompto accepted them with no hints of the desperation he had shown before at the sight of the burger and cleaned the grease off his fingers and cheeks carefully, biding his time.

Cautiously, he peeked at Cor from the corner of his eye, twiddling his thumbs. He remembered his hands on his shoulder, squeezing, his intimidating words; he remembered the friendly smile, the warm handshake, the kindness he had shown him… Where did that man go? What made him act that way? Though at the present moment, he had done nothing to antagonize Prompto- on the contrary, he apologized and even fed him all the while being earnest about how sorry he was. But could he really trust him?

Prompto chose to take a leap of faith and asked in his small, childish voice "Why?"

Cor turned his icy stare on him but said nothing, he waited for Prompto to continue.

"What.." he faltered. Stupid, useless nerves blocked his windpipe. He took a deep breath. "What did I- what did I do wrong?"

He looked at the man with big, sad blue eyes "Was it so bad what I said? Was that why you got mad at me?"

He half expected Cor to change back to the man he had been for a terrible period on the tent; that aggressive morphing of features that had scared him so much taking over the calm expression. But it didn't happen. Cor instead gazed at him with concern.

"You did nothing wrong, Prompto" he sounded guilty, pained.

Nevertheless, he kept staring, willing an answer out of the man. He wanted to know what had he done to deserve such rough handling (it reminded him too much of unknown hands grabbing him, touching him, hurting him if he didn't behave like a good boy should) and Cor noticed this. The royal guard sighed, his hands tightening his hold on the wheel and didn't utter a single thing for far more minutes that Prompto didn't bother counting; it was like he was carrying an argument with himself, deciding what to tell him or not.

"I need you to tell me something first" he said at last.

Then, to Prompto's surprise, Cor pulled up to the side of the road and stopped the car. The engine died with a quiet hum. Prompto's eyes widened like saucers, the situation was getting more serious apparently.

"What you said back there," Cor began, low and rough, as if it was physically painful to speak ", was it true?" Seeing the boy's confusion at the vague statement, he clarified "When you said your last name was Argentum, was that true?"

Prompto nodded, yellow strands flapping with the action.

Cor nodded as well. His Adam apple bobbed up and down when he swallowed and a frown emerged on his face.

"And when you said your family was dead, that the Empire killed, was that also true?"

Prompto should have answered, with no doubts or hesitation a simple 'yes'. Prompto should have said what he had rehearsed over and over. Yet, he didn't do anything of the sort. For some reason, he didn't feel like lying to Cor in spite of what had transpired earlier. All the same, he had made a promise- he couldn't tell him his origins, where he had come from and how he had gotten there.

So he opted for a half truth.

"I… I'm not sure, sir"

Cor's frown deepened "But you said-"

"I was scared!" surprisingly, he cut the man off "I was scared. I didn't know what to do. But I really don't know for sure… what happened to them. I don't even know if I have a family. I… I can't remember lots of things"

"You don't remember?"

"No, I don't"

"Are you sure about that?" Cor pressed for answers.

"Yes" Prompto insisted "Just colors and flashes…"

It wasn't exactly a lie. He truly couldn't remember much about his past. He had no memories of anything different from darkness, distant voices, foreign touches and hallways, red lights, a weird man calling him 'good boy'-whose face he could not conceive-and a bunch of completely abstract images. Yes, he knew he had been in some laboratories of a kind, that he lived in Niflheim but those were facts grounded deep inside his very being. He wasn't able to explain it to himself well, but it felt like those were things he knew for sure by instinct not because he had experienced them. He recalled emotions but couldn't recall the situation that had brought them up in the first place.

He remembered the cold floors, the cold everything, but the people, what he had been doing in that place… It was all very vague and ambiguous; he could not say exactly what his life had been like. If anything, the moment he had started living, seeing, thinking, remembering with clarity was that day the lady broke him out of that not-life of monotony.

The sun on his skin, the breeze through his hair, her fingers wrapped around his thin wrist and her white teeth as she said "You are out, you made it. You are free". Those were his first real memories. He was reborn on that day.

In other words, he had lied but not entirely. He owed that much to the lady and to himself. His wrist burned.

For his part, Cor still looked unconvinced. Prompto hurried to explain "All I know is that I woke up in Cle-clai,no, Cleigne, is it?" Cor said a dry 'yes'. Whatever. "There, a kind granny found me alone on the shore and saved me. She took care of me for a few days, she even offered me to stay!"

That was a heavily edited version of the story he was supposed to tell.

"Why didn't you?" threw the man immediately. He didn't look necessarily suspicious but he seemed to sense Prompto was hiding something from him.

He was being tested. Prompto opened his mouth, closed it again, and thought about what he had to say.

He tried to convey what was closest to his heart's desire.

"Because the only thing I knew was my name and that I needed to go somewhere" He was filled with determination as he pronounced every part of the sentence, elevating his eyes from his shoes to Cor's blue gaze.

"Insomnia" Cor filled in the gap for him. The man caught up quickly onto the implication he was making.

"Yes" thus the eight year old agreed "Since then, all I've thought about is getting there. I heard the name of the city and I knew I had to go. I believe… maybe…"

He imagined arriving to the beautiful city. Thousands and thousands of nice people welcoming him, inviting him, telling him he was home-and in the middle of the crowd, a sun haired lady standing, her arms wide open as she tells him Welcome home.

"Maybe I'll find my family there…" he finished, feeling an unquenchable hunger inside him; not exactly for food. No, it was for something he couldn't describe quite yet.

The Crownsguard expression had softened considerably by then and he only looked at the boy with sympathy. "You haven't had it easy, little boy. How did you survive so far?"

"People are very kind here in Lucis. I don't know where I would be without their help"

That much was true, if it hadn't been for their kindness, he and the lady would have never made it to this point. The granny from the story hadn't been a total lie, only the part about her finding him on the beach.

"How old are you?"

"Eight"

Cor's eyes widened slightly. He was about to say something but thought better of it. His fingers tapped a rhythm Prompto didn't know on the steering wheel. Introspection time was back with a vengeance and the boy decided to leave him to his thoughts.

He directed his eyes forward and that was when he finally had the opportunity to see it again. Buildings on the horizon greeted him, the hot afternoon sun giving them a blinding glint that even from such a distance was quite noticeable. Insomnia. His breathing accelerated and his heart pumped blood stronger. Oh Gods, if only they were headed that way….

…..And

….What perfect timing to realize he didn't know where they were going or what the time was for that matter.

He had the attention span of a goldfish, he berated himself strongly. As he mustered enough courage to break the silence again and ask for the time and their destination, Cor Leonis took the choice away from him "So, you are telling me your name is Prompto Argentum. You're eight years old. You are completely alone, you don't know how you ended up on Lucis ground, how you turned out to be on your own and you came to Insomnia because you think your family might be waiting for you there, correct?"

He hummed his agreement. That was pretty much it. Except for the part about 'family,' everything was accurate.

"Alright, then. Lucky for you, we'll probably be arriving in Insomnia in thirty minutes, give or take"

"For real?!" Prompto yelled, unable to reign in his excitement. His prayers were answered!

"Yes, for real. You did pass the interrogation, remember?" saying this, the man smiled at him. The tension he had before had somehow vanished, no semblance of it was to be found in this brand new version of Cor Leonis. What changed?

That reminded him…

"You never told me"

"Hm?"

"You never told me why you got so mad. I told you what happened to me, now it's your turn"

The man seemed taken off guard by Prompto's direct demand-he went from zero to one hundred again, face draining of all humor as he pondered the easiest way to explain what had happened.

"You're right. I do owe you a reply. But it's not as simple as…" he frowned; worry lines marred his forehead "I guess I mistook your last name for the one of a person I used to know a long time ago and when you said that your family was dead I…" his voice died. The emotion he was wearing was complex enough for Prompto to be confused as to what the man was feeling. Was he trying to convince himself of something…?

It took him a while to regain his composure "It doesn't matter one way or another. What's important is that I mistreated you. I can't apologize enough times for what I did. I hope you do find it in your heart to forgive me"

He looked at Prompto who stared back at him, thinking about what he just said. Going over every event that had happened since he woke up, every interaction, and every word said, and concluded that despite all the unpleasant events before, Cor was not a bad person. He needed to loosen up more, and maybe practice his smiles in front of a mirror but asides from losing his mind over the thought of someone dear to him being gone… He was fine. He could relate to how he felt anyway.

Prompto smiled and offered his right hand "I'll forgive you but on one condition only"

"Ah, so that's how it is now?"

"Yeah."

The man huffed and turned on the ignition, a gentle purring indicated it was alive and ready to get back on track.

"Okay, what do you want?"

"I want more of those burgers you gave me" Prompto admitted, smile turning sheepish.

The Crownsguard grinned from ear to ear, shaking Prompto's tiny hand with a strong grip.

"Prompto Argentum, you've got yourself a deal"