kingkingcxiii | Hugtopia Mailbox/Inbox

He sure didn't. Just said you loved that old thing and borrowed it whenever you could.

[Could be Cid was focusing on the good memories rather than badmouthing an old friend's driving habits, though that had come up at one point or other as well.

Since they're settled in, Noctis kicks the car into gear and rolls back out into the road, keeping the pace steady but not breakneck, since vehicles aren't commonplace and he doesn't want to crash into one of their hapless robot neighbours. He aims for a more abandoned area of town- they can drive fast over there.]

So you're gonna tell me now, right?

[Regis is quiet for a moment, then clears his throat.]

I'm rather captive now, aren't I?

[After all, his girl is now in his son's hands, and while she is likely safer there than in his own, who knows if that might change.]

And I highly doubt you're going to let me get out of this without giving you the full story.

[Noctis wouldn't be his--and more so Aulea's--son if he did.]

Yep. You're in my hands, now. A kidnapped king.

[Technically there is nothing stopping Regis from warping out, and they both know it, but there's no need to acknowledge that fact.]

So? Out with it, Your Majesty.

[For a few more seconds than truly necessary, Regis puts his hand over his heart, expression classic "Oh woe, whatever will I do now?" He then sinks back into the seat, smile crossing his face as he decides where he wants to start the story from.]

When you left the city on your trip, you were likely excited despite all the tensions, right?

Sure, I guess. Never been outside the city and all, I was excited to finally see the world.

[He'd been plenty distracted back then- the treaty, the wedding, his own complicated feelings on both- but there's no denying there'd been some quiet delight beneath the surface. The world had so much to offer, and a part of him had wanted to see it all.]

It was much the same for me. It was dangerous, of course, and I never forgot that our mission was to gain allies in the war, but at the same time, I was finally able to go out into the world and see the places I had only read about. Not only that, but I was getting to do things my way, not my father's.

[Did he have instructions and goals he was to accomplish? Of course, but how he accomplished them was left in solely his hands for the first time.]

The world may have proven...more distracting than I thought it would be.

So... how far did you get before you crashed it?

[Just how bad was it... he almost dreads asking. How true to life do they want the phrase "like father, like son" to end up becoming?]

[Regis looks away for a moment, coughing into his hand. It's all to buy time of course. And to be dramatic. He just can't help it.]

We couldn't see the city anymore, at least. We ended up pushing the car until we found an abandoned gas station where Cid could go to work.

[Golly, doesn't that sound familiar?]

[A little too familiar, if you ask him. Noctis can't help it- he ducks his head, slowing down a bit to avoid veering, and laughs.]

Seriously... seriously! I can't believe it. We really are too much alike.

[Regis can't help but chuckle along with his son.]

Like father, like son. The poor old girl. It's a wonder she's made it as long as she has, but she was meant to be the best and that she most certainly is.

[How little they know.]

At least in my time the gas station was active. She got the best care ever. Cid gave us an earful for "mistreating" her, even though we hadn't done anything but drive.

I would be concerned if he hadn't.

[The day Cid doesn't complain about how a Lucis Caelum treats the Regalia is the day they really need to be worried.]

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