There's Always a Way

Ever since I read this scene in the fic I was consumed by a need to do fanart for it. I originally wanted to do both Noctis and Regis' faces in close up, ideally in the same canvas, but couldn't get perspective to work. Then I realized it would be most logical as mini comic.

I think the part of that fic I most appreciate is how instantly Regis enters dad mode when he realizes the strange man is Noctis. Like literally he just is like "my son! my beloved baby boy! he looks older than me! oh my god he looks older than me there's gray in his hair he looks so tired he doesn't even have clean clothes :ccccc im going to dad you and silently judge your own father for his childraising choices. yeah I know i'm him sans 10 years of defeated acceptance but that isn't going to stop me."

Since 30 year old Noctis from canon seems uh, healthier and more groomed than this fic Noctis, I tried to make him more disheveled and crustier. He's paler than Regis too but that's the (likely?) vitamin d deficiency/ten years without sun. Wish I had made him Crustier tbh but my art program kept crashing. I also wanted to make him with an expression close to tears / smiling anxiously like in the fic ...so I hope to revisit this fanart someday and do it More Justice... and include Regis closeup as planned...