Noctis doesn’t quite know what to do when instead of a Tonberry attacking, it tugs on one of his shoelaces as if to get his attention. 

There’s no knife in it’s hand, and it’s just staring at him with large eyes. 

He eventually just goes with it and reaches out to pat it on the head. After all, when else would he get a chance to pet death incarnate? 

And the Tonberry seems to enjoy the attention, so he ends up sitting on the ground cross-legged, and holding a Tonberry. 

The others, though they initially freak out upon seeing just why the prince has fallen behind, let their weapons slip away upon seeing it’s not hurting Noctis.

No, rather, it’s not letting them get near him when it first sees them. At all. As if they’re the threat. 

Eventually, he convinces the small critter to let them near him, because he emphasizes that they’re friends. 

Of course Prompto is the one to win over the Tonberry’s trust. Because once he sees that it’s not attacking, he just rolls with it like Noctis did. 

…except, he actually scoops it up and spins around with it in his excitement. It doesn’t seem to mind thankfully. Rather, he plops down on the ground next to Noctis to spend time with it.

The older two keep their distance, which suits the Tonberry just fine. 

However, the trouble starts when they tell them that it’s time to go. They set it on the ground and tell it goodbye and start on their way. 

…but it follows. And keeps following. And if they stop walking, it grabs Noctis’ shoelaces again.

Both the younger two give Ignis a look and he has to tell them that no, they CAN’T keep a tonberry. 

It doesn’t agree. 

When they get to a haven, it is gone for a short while, but soon reappears. It goes on like this for days, and eventually, they actually smuggle it into Cape Caem to stay with Iris. Which was Gladio’s idea. Because the boys can’t BEAR the thought of leaving it behind. 

(Even ignis has warmed up to it.)

And that’s the story of how Iris the Daemon hunter got a pet Tonberry that assists her in fights.