Noctis laughs, feeling some of the tension in his shoulders ease when Prompto launches himself at him. He's pretty sure the Carbuncle wouldn't mind if there was an embrace it got smushed in. He reaches out his other arm to wrap it around Prompto's shoulder, returning the one-armed hug.

"It's really me," he promises, the words a little raw - he's sure, since Ardyn used hallucinations of Prompto against him, that he'd done the same to Prompto with the others.

And then, despite himself, Noctis gives his friend a look, his lips pressed tightly together to hold back a laugh. Especially because the metaphor isn't wrong.

"... Kind of, actually?" He settles after a moment. "According to Bahamut, I needed to absorb the Crystal's light. So it was keeping me safe so I could do that, but then I ended up here after the Draconian and I spoke."