Author's Note: Hi again everyone. I feel I should apologise again, but at the same time that's going to get super repetitive, especially for those only just coming to this story, so I might skip it this time around.

Thanks as usual to those who've taken the time to read this far; doubly so for those who've followed and favourited the story. I'm glad you're liking what you've read so far that you want to read more.

Special thanks to my reviewers as always. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to write and let me know what you're thinking.

Astrid Midnight: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. As for the interview... I guess that's a wait and see.

Anyway, thanks again everyone. I hope you enjoy Chapter 8.

To say that he was worried about Prompto was a bit of an understatement. Sure, he knew his friend wasn't in any danger at the Citadel, but at the same time that interview his friend had left to attend...

Well he didn't know what would happen if Prompto failed it.

Not that he thought he would, of course. Despite his nervousness about it, Prompto had seemed pretty confident going into it that everything would be fine, and if there was anything in his life that the Crownsguard might find surely – surely – he wouldn't have agreed to this in the first place.

Right?

So when at the end of the school day, Noctis sent him a quick text to see how it had all gone he didn't think much of it when Prompto didn't answer straight away. Maybe he was on the bus? Maybe he'd forgotten to turn his phone back on after the interview? Maybe...

"Is something the matter, Noct?"

Apparently he was more worried than he thought he was because it was obviously showing on his face. Glancing up and meeting Ignis' eyes in the rearview mirror, Noctis offered his friend a quick shrug. "It's just... Prompto. I haven't heard from him since he left for the interview with Cor. I just... I wanted to check in, make sure he was okay."

Ignis just shrugged. "He was still with Cor when I left the Citadel, so perhaps he remains indisposed."

"Still in..." And Noctis' voice trailed off in surprise. Moments later, he was frowning. "Wait seriously? What's taking so long?"

He could sense that Ignis didn't appreciate the snappy question but the older guy suppressed what he was feeling and simply shook his head. "Noct, you are the crown prince of Lucis and Cor needs to determine whether Prompto's presence in your life will put you in any danger. Not a small responsibility and Cor will take it incredibly seriously. It will take as long as it needs to."

He supposed Ignis was making sense but he couldn't help the worry that slipped into his mind at just how long this interview had gone so far. After all, it wasn't as if Prompto was all that old... how much could there possibly be in his life to talk about?

"Does it usually take this long?"

He'd learnt over their years together that Ignis responded more readily to calm questions than he did to whining and tried to keep any of the worry he felt from his voice.

A quick glance at him in the rearview mirror – a quick flash of concern in those eyes – and Noctis had his answer.

No it didn't.

So then what in the name of Eos was taking so bloody long?

Upon arriving back at the Citadel, Noctis made a beeline straight for Cor's office, determined to wait outside as long as it took them to finish. Dead set on finding out exactly what the hell was going on, instead he was gripped by the elbow only halfway there and was pulled around to face Gladio.

"Easy, Noct. Where're you off to in such a hurry?"

Indicating the direction with a nod of his head, he elaborated quickly. "Going to see Prompto. He's still in with Cor. Wanna know what's taking so long." And when he attempted to duck off he was caught again by the Shield-in-training.

"Woah, there. Slow down. Heading over there isn't going to speed things up, and you're supposed to be training." Ready to argue, Noctis opened his mouth to speak, and Gladio immediately shook his head. "You can see Prompto when Cor's finished with him."

"Will I?"

He supposed the raised brow on Gladio's forehead meant that he'd heard the scepticism in his voice, but the older guy didn't respond. He also didn't continue with his efforts to chivvy him along, Noctis seizing the opportunity to get his opinion on the situation.

"Seriously, Gladio. What could possibly be taking this long? This isn't normal, right?"

Hesitating a moment – it was clear that Gladio wasn't one hundred percent certain of the situation either – eventually his friend shrugged. "Maybe not, but keep in mind this is the first civilian you've ever requested be vetted before. He's going to be around a lot and this friendship did kinda spring out of nowhere. And then there's the whole troublemaker thing..."

But his voice trailed off when he saw the expression on Noctis' face at this revelation.

"Wait, you guys told them about that?"

"Noct, we had to. When Iggy put the request in they asked us what we knew."

"And you told them? Six, Gladio you're supposed to be my friends." Okay so he knew he was probably overreacting a little – he knew Gladio was probably right – but the threat of Cor deciding that perhaps Prompto wasn't the best fit for a friend of the Prince had just become so much more real.

And honestly he couldn't imagine not having Prompto around anymore.

"We are your friends, Noct, I promise, but we're also tasked with keeping you safe. We had to tell them everything we knew."

"Glad you've figured out where your real loyalty lies," he snarked back, turning to leave. And when Gladio reached out to grab his arm again he tugged it away before the guy could get a grip. "I'm not coming. I'm going to see Prom."

"Noct!"

But he didn't turn back, didn't even acknowledge that he'd heard him speak, and just kept walking.

Gladio didn't follow.

After taking his seat on the Citadel floor he was approached by a few members of the Crownsguard, asking whether he wouldn't be more comfortable waiting elsewhere. He didn't know what his expression looked like when they asked this but he assumed nothing good when after taking a brief look at it, those same Crownsguard withdrew without another word.

Truth was, he wasn't angry; not at Gladio, not at Ignis – they had a job to do and they were both brilliant at it. He didn't resent them for the choices they had to make at times. He was just worried. Worried that Cor might find something he didn't like about Prompto, even something as simple as his innate ability to find himself in detention at least twice a week, and make damn sure that the guy never saw him again.

Not that he thought Prompto was in any danger; Cor was in all things a fair man, even if he was a little strict. Definitely not someone he'd ever consider 'nice', still he had no doubt at all that the man would give Prompto a fair go.

Unless he was ordered to do otherwise.

"Damn... You're looking like a particularly stormy thundercloud today. What flew up your ass?"

So caught up in his own thoughts he hadn't noticed the door opening, Prompto now standing before him, watching him with a look of curiosity and a faint smile.

"Prom! Hey!" And he scrambled back to his feet, eyes darting quickly over Prompto as if searching for any signs that his friend was any less than okay. Besides a faint red colouring high on his cheekbones and the tips of his ears and a tightness around his eyes that suggested he might be annoyed, his friend seemed to be just fine. "You okay?"

"Course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"I..." Without a good answer to that Noctis just shrugged. "No reason." Glancing behind the other guy as Cor emerged from the office, he shot his friend another quick look. "So how'd it go?"

Before Prompto could answer, Cor had nodded briefly as he passed with a quiet "Highness" in acknowledgement and it was impossible not to notice the way Prompto immediately tensed at the sound of the voice. Nor could he fail to notice the way his friend rubbed almost unconsciously at his wrist; at the familiar cuff covering the tattoo he disliked so much.

After Cor had disappeared around the corner Prompto seemed to relax again, and ignoring the look of concern on Noctis' face, Prompto just answered his earlier question with a shrug. "As well as can be expected, I assume. Way to bury the lead with Cor by the way."

Noctis couldn't help but smile at that. "Well you did say..."

"Yeah yeah, I know what I said."

For a moment after that neither of them spoke, honestly Noctis has no idea what to say to the other guy and whether it was okay to ask what was bothering him. Had Cor found something? Had he confronted Prompto about it? Is that what had made him so uncomfortable?

Eventually – only because eventually one of them would have to speak – Noctis took a deep breath and dived right in. "So what's the story? We allowed to hang out or what? What'd Cor say?"

Looking back at him, Prompto offered him a quick shrug. "I dunno. Said they'd let me know. Couple of the Crownsguard are supposed to escort me home or somethin' like that."

Noctis just stared for a moment, glancing briefly over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps to see a couple of the Crownsguard approaching, both giving him a cursory glance before beckoning Prompto to walk ahead of them. Refusing for the moment to just let it all go, Noctis fell into step with him. "So what's that mean? Shouldn't Cor already know if you're dangerous or not? You were in there for hours. There can't be a whole hell of a lot that he didn't ask you."

Prompto cracked a smile at that, but Noctis was familiar enough with his expressions now that he could see it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah... was definitely in there a while. And he did ask me a lot. Impression I got though, was that he had to run his 'findings'," and he made inverted commas with his fingers. "By the King."

"My Dad?"

"No the other King," and after a brief pause, "Yes, dumbass your Dad," and when Prompto flashed him a grin – genuine this time – Noctis couldn't help but grin back. The memory of when he'd said something similar was still fresh in his mind. "Apparently he just needs to approve it."

"So it's all good, right? There's no reason he might not?"

The look Prompto gave him then... Noctis wasn't one hundred percent certain what it meant but if he had to guess it looked like Prompto was on the verge of telling him something. Eventually however the guy just shrugged. "No reason I can think of, but then I've never really been in charge of a Prince's security. I don't really know what a 'threat' looks like."

"A threat? Usually not a kid in high school, I can tell you that much." He chuckled then when he saw Prompto arch a brow. "Unless you're a super young super secret agent from Niflheim or something?" Apparently he wasn't being as funny as he thought, because Prompto responded to that with nothing more than a grimace. "Seriously, Prom, don't worry about it."

"I'm not the one who's worried. You're the one freaking out here, dude."

It was true too; Prompto had never given any indication that he was at all worried about how it was all going to go; at least not to the degree he was. He had been the one working himself up with his worries about what might happen; about what Cor might decide and how it might affect his friendship with Prompto.

Honestly... he was terrified he was going to lose the guy.

"Okay fine. I might be. But seriously... Cor Leonis, the Commander of the Crownsguard was sent to vet a high school student. That's just not normal. At least it doesn't feel normal." After a brief pause he quickly added, "Did he bring up anything about detention?"

When Prompto cocked a brow, looking curiously at him for the question, Noctis just shook his head. "Gladio and Ignis might have mentioned it to Cor, is all..."

"After you'd mentioned it to them?"

Noctis grinned. "What can I say... you were a bit of a troublemaker and I was trying to convince both them and myself that I didn't want to be your friend."

Prompto laughed at that, but there was something behind his eyes; something a little more fragile than Noctis had ever seen there before. "How'd that go for you?"

"Well you were persistent. And a little bit irreverent. And just... fun to be around. So I guess you changed my mind."

"But not Ignis' or Gladio's?"

Noctis shrugged. "I think they're coming around. They just... they were looking out for me, doing their jobs and I guess they thought it best to warn Cor of your less than perfect school record."

He was answered with a nod. "Makes sense. But to answer your question, no... the guy didn't bring it up."

"So what did you guys talk about?"

But they had come to the Citadel's large front doors, and Prompto paused a moment before exiting, the Crownsguard escorting him hovering at his elbow. "I'll have to tell you later." And he indicated the Crownsguard standing just behind them. "I think these boys are under orders to get me home sooner rather than later."

"And away from me." Noctis could read between the lines easily enough, his expression dark enough that the two Crownsguard shifted a little uneasily where they stood.

But Prompto nodded, obviously less bothered by the fact. "Yeah. At least until everything is approved. Gotta follow procedure, right?"

He caught himself wondering then if Prompto was finding this whole thing a little too tiresome. Maybe the idea of Cor or the King rejecting this request wasn't quite as big a deal for his friend... because at least then all this shit would just be done. "I'm really sorry, Prom. I know it's a pain."

"Seriously dude, stop freaking out and for the sake of the Six, please stop apologising. It's fine. It is. So calm the fuck down, yeah?"

Though the Crownsguard shot the boy a look for the expletive, Noctis just nodded. "Okay fine. Calming down." And then after a brief pause, "I guess I'll see you at school then?"

And Prompto just flashed him a grin. "I guess you will." Then he turned and Noctis just watched in silence as the Crownsguard followed his friend out of the Citadel.