Prompto didn't startle at the sound of her approach as he normally would. Not because he wasn't surprised, but because he'd been so caught up he hadn't noticed her arrival. He flinched when he heard her voice though, jumping back from the statue of Cor. He spun to face her, wings tight to his back, arms crossed over his front. His face must've been a mess, streaked with tear tracks and flushed from emotion. He tried not to think about it.

He didn't recognize the woman. He hadn't known Eli well enough to pick out her features now that she was grown. "What? Sorry, I um- I don't-" He felt shaky, thrown off kilter and having a hard time catching his footing. It didn't help that her words made no sense to him.

His eyes darted from her face, to the creature on her shoulder, back to her face. Was it hissing at him? Like a cat? It almost sounded like laughter. He stood, and stared, and felt stupid and small.