"Yea, the pipsqueak does that. Hell, first time I saw him I thought he might be a bad influence for Noct so I tried to be all intimidatin' and scare him off. Didn't stop the two from bein' friends and sooner'n I could blink he'd gone and made a friend outta me too."

Gladio raised his glass, sadly noting the dwindling amount of alcohol in it, in acknowledgement of the compliment paid to his friends. "They're the best. We've been through a lot together."

That was the understatement of the millennium, but the truth of it was what mattered.

"Thanks for lookin' out for him. I'm sure the others appreciated it too. So where are you from? Or what did you do on your home world?"