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[Shortly after this-

BEEP BEEP

There's a very familiar car horn honking outside your door, Regis. What could that be?]

[Regis pauses on his way up to his room when he hears the horn. Horns in general have become unfamiliar, at least here, so hearing one--especially this one--has him thinking that he has finally lost his mind after his trip home and then return to the city. Nonetheless, he makes his way over to the door, blinking in surprise once he opens it and see who and what is waiting for him.]

Noctis?

[Did he doze off in the back room? This is obviously a dream, right?]

[If it is a dream, it's a very kind one, which is probably more than they've gotten for a while now. But no, it's definitively real- Noctis is in the driver's seat of the Regalia, with the top down and the engine purring. The car itself looks pristine and almost exactly like Regis might remember it, save for any aesthetic changes made between his time and Noct's- and save for a few scratches here and there that he didn't cause himself.

Meanwhile Noctis is beaming, looking as pleased as young Copperoc showing off its full plumage, gloved fingers curled around the wheel.]

Your Majesty, [he coos in the most mock-formal, Ignis-esque tone he can muster,] Might I offer you a lift?

[Regis is quiet for a moment as if he is still trying to convince himself what he is seeing is real, then he lets out a delighted laugh--perhaps the first real one since he woke up--and wastes no time making his way down to the car and Noctis. He trails his fingers lovingly across the hood as he moves over to the passenger's seat and slides into the car.]

Why, I would be honored! Especially, since I'm not allowed to drive her anymore.

Is that why it was always Cor chauffeuring you around when you came home? Was the "big crash" that bad?

[He heard the story, but clearly not enough of it. How had Cid salvaged it if it was so terrible?

He doesn't drive off right away, giving Regis a moment to appreciate her while she's parked. It's been a while for both of them, and he'd felt much the same way.]

Oh, it was not so much that crash as those that followed.

[Regis is totally focused on the car as he speaks. Astrals, even the smell is right. He had no idea how much he missed her until now. ]

Did Cor ever mention the incident that happened when we heard that your mother had gone into labor early?

Wait, wait, wait. That's the crash I was talking about! Which one did you mean?

[Dad, how many times did you crash this beautiful girl!? Is he truly a worse driver than Noct after all?]

Wait, you knew about the hammer, but not...

[Regis looks surprised for a moment and then has the good sense to look sheepish.]

You didn't know about the crash not long after we set out on the road trip?

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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