[ He leans into her touch, hiccuping wetly, but he starts to calm through her answer, her reassuring words. For all Rosalind doesn't see herself as a warm and comforting type, she has so often known just the thing to say or do to bring him peace. She doesn't sugar coat it, doesn't tell him it'll all be fine because it won't. But her emotional honesty means more to him than any hollow optimism could. X'rhun aside, Rosalind is the only person Prompto knows who has been in his position before, and while it's a terrible, terrible thing to have in common with someone, he cannot help but be grateful, at least, that her experience can bring him hope. That she made it through such an unspeakable thing gives him the courage to believe he might, too. It will never fade completely. There will always be a shadow at the corners of his mind. But perhaps...it will stop feeling so wrong, and he won't feel like he's taken something that doesn't belong to him, again.

After all, this isn't the first time Prompto has been granted a life that he was never meant to have.

He was given this chance, and he won't waste it. He may not think he deserves it, but damn if he won't claim it, all the same.

He takes in a shuddering breath, trembling beneath her palm, but a gentle, warm curl appears at one corner of his mouth. ]

It'd be a shame if I spent my whole second life crying, huh? [ A breathless chuckle as he wipes the butt of his palm across his eyes. ] Thank you, Ros. You have no idea...how much it means to me to hear you say that.

[ Coming from anyone else, it wouldn't hold the same weight. But from her...it's different. ]