[It's easy to assume who she must refer to. She's met them all here, but as far as he knows, she was closer to Somnus than anyone. And he, like Noctis, lived under someone else's greater shadow.
For her to bring him up is unexpected, so he carefully avoids the name, instead tentatively asking,]
How'd he deal with it?
[He doesn't imagine she would be lying, of course, but even so it's a hard pill to swallow, that a man with such indomitable presence had struggled and failed at anything. He'd seemed so capable, spoke with certainty. Maybe Noctis was just asking about the wrong things.]
no subject
For her to bring him up is unexpected, so he carefully avoids the name, instead tentatively asking,]
How'd he deal with it?
[He doesn't imagine she would be lying, of course, but even so it's a hard pill to swallow, that a man with such indomitable presence had struggled and failed at anything. He'd seemed so capable, spoke with certainty. Maybe Noctis was just asking about the wrong things.]