Prompto grinned mischievously, "Heh, so Iggy, got any embarrassing stories about Noct? You did kinda know him the longest after all."

Ignis smirked, adjusting his glasses, "Well… I may have one or two…"

Noctis stared at Ignis in disbelief, "W-wait, you're not seriously gonna-"

"There was this one time, when Noctis was only six years old and I was eight…"

"Huh?! H-hey! Don't tell 'em anything too embarrassing!" Noctis protested.

It happened when Ignis was eight years old. He had put the prince to bed, as usual, and went to his chamber to retire himself. Ignis wasn't really sure at what time he fell asleep, but a few hours later he heard a tentative knock at his bedroom door.

"Mmm…? Who's there?" Ignis replied, yawning. He had always been a light sleeper.

The door creaked partially open, a beam of light escaping from the hallway and shining onto his floor. There, standing between the door and the wall, stood a tiny six-year-old Noctis clutching a picture book.

"Noct? What are you doing up at this hour?" Ignis said as he took his glasses from the nightstand next to him and put them on.

"I- I can't sleep…" began Noctis. "I… I had a bad dream…"

Ignis was now sitting halfway up in bed, "Oh, I see. But it was all just a dream, your highness, there's no need to worry. Just a bad dream, so do try and go back to bed."

Ignis laid back down again. Truth be told, he was fairly tired himself and wanted only to curl up and go back to sleep.

"Um, but, Iggy…" Now Noctis was fully in the room.

The small boy made his way over to Ignis's bed. He tugged on Ignis' shirt.

"Read me a story, pretty please? I'm too scared to go back to bed!"

Ignis sat up again and sighed, "Alright, but just one…"

"Yay!" Noctis climbed into bed beside Ignis and thrust the picture book he was holding into the eight-year-old's hands.

"I- I didn't say you could climb into bed with me!" Ignis protested. "Fine, whatever, what story did you want me to read to you?"

"Read me the one about the sleeping princess!"

"You mean Sleeping Beauty? Alright, here goes… Once upon a time, there was a beautiful baby princess named Briar Rose…"

Ten minutes later, Ignis finished reading the story. However, young Prince Noctis was still very much awake.

"Another, another!" Noctis grinned from ear to ear.

Little Ignis sighed, he was becoming quite sleepy himself, "Alright, one more…"

"Umm, Iggy…?" Noctis said in a small voice. "Can I… can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

"Whatever for?"

"It's just… I- I'm scared… I'm afraid I'll have a bad dream again."

"My prince, it's hardly appropriate for…" But Ignis stopped himself when he saw the child's round, puppy-dog, eyes.

Bah! The prince knew how to play him like a violin! Ignis' willpower wavered and finally he gave in.

"I…" Ignis let out a sigh of defeat. "...Fine, you can sleep in my bed tonight."

Secretly, the boy made a mental note to himself to wait until the prince was fast asleep and then carry Noctis back to his own room.

"Thank you Iggy!" Noctis hugged Ignis.

A feeling of warmth not just from the little boy's body but also seemingly from within Ignis enveloped him. He could not help but smile. It was not long until Ignis had gone and retrieved another book from the young prince's bedroom. Ignis laid back down next to Noctis, reclining slightly against his pillow while the six-year-old laid next to him. The blanket was now covering both the boys, and Ignis had closed the door left ajar earlier by Prince Noctis.

"Once upon a time," he began, "There lived a young boy living in a cottage in the woods with his mother…"

Five minutes, then ten minutes passed. Ignis became so engrossed in the story himself that he did not notice Noctis had already fallen asleep beside him, clinging onto Ignis's arm. Finally, he did notice and resolved to take the prince back to his room… after a few more pages, maybe.

As Ignis continued to read he could feel himself growing drowsier and drowsier, but of course he omitted this last part when recounting the story to his comrades.

"And then the boy… then he… he…"

Try as he might, Ignis could not keep his eyelids open and eventually he, too, drifted off to sleep. His small hands relaxed and dropped the book.

"Haha, oh man! So Noct had a bad dream and asked to sleep in your bed for the night?" Prompto laughed.

Noctis' face burned bright red, "H-hey, cut it out! I was only six!"

Ignis smirked, but not a smirk of mockery or contempt. It was the kind of smirk a parent might have when looking at their child, remembering the times when they were little. It was a warm, affectionate, smile with just a hint of playfulness.

"Heh, guess even his majesty had a couple of nightmares," Gladio said leaning back.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up! As I recall, Ignis, your uncle found you lying asleep next to me as well, the next morning!"

Now it was Ignis' turn to blush furiously, "N-Noct!"

Prompto giggled, "Heh, so both of you fell asleep in the same bed together!"
Noctis grinned, "Yup! So I wasn't the only one! Mr. Scientia found Ignis asleep as well with the book lying on the floor, open, next to the bed and Ignis was still wearing his glasses when he fell asleep!"

Ignis muttered something obstinately under his breath, although the three friends could tell he wasn't really all that mad. This light-hearted teasing continued for another half-hour or so, before the four men once again returned to the topic of their childhoods.