Summary:

In which Jude means to have a Serious Talk with Alvin about accosting people in dark caves and bottling up your Feelings, but ends up snuggling with him instead. Whoops.

Jude is stupid and doesn't take care of himselfsnugglesCanon CompliantSpoilers for Xillia post chapter 3

Words:2266Chapters:1/1

Jude was tired.

If he were entirely honest with himself, he'd been tired since their initial flight from Fennmont. Following the Lord of Spirits on her mission was bound to be as rewarding as it was exhausting, but there were some days when Jude wished he'd just stayed in med school. This was turning out to be one of them.

The fighting in the marshes had been bad enough--he was very pointedly not thinking about the flying ships--but he hadn't counted on getting separated and washed away to some frozen wasteland. And as welcome, though odd, as Muzet's company was, he could feel what little mana he had left draining out of him to give her more strength. His body ached all over, his clothes were soaked in muddy water, all of his supplies had washed away, and he had a nagging suspicion that the odd bruise on his cheek was actually a boot print.

The icy river water had done a decent job at cleaning the marsh-muck off of him, but he didn't linger for very long. Hypothermia was more of a concern than cleanliness, and he didn't trust Muzet just yet to revive him if he went into shock. Regarding his reflection in the water, the young man prodded at his swollen cheek with a grimace. When had that even happened?

With Muzet floating silently behind him, Jude shivered and considered his options. His supplies were gone, so he had no gels or even a change of clothes. His mana was low enough that casting any healing artes could strain him, but too much time in these conditions would definitely kill him. And when considered like that... With a muttered curse and an apology to Muzet, Jude reduced their tether to a trickle and risked a low-level healing arte.

The effort made his head spin, and for a moment he thought he might pass out again. It was not an entirely unpleasant feeling; despite the soothing warmth that was spreading into his fingers and toes, Jude was so tired, and the darkness seemed so welcoming...

"Mm? Jude?" Muzet's voice--so very different from Milla's--shook him out of his reverie. He rubbed at his eyes.

"Sorry. Let's go." Standing with one last glance at the fallen soldiers who had washed up with him, Jude struck out in a direction that he hoped was useful.

-

The caves weren't much warmer than the frozen tundra outside, but there was a blessed lack of icy winds that Jude was thankful for. As he wandered deeper into the caverns, he struggled with the overwhelming desire to lay down for just a minute, just to regain some strength... But the thought of Leia or Elize in a similar situation made him grit his teeth and keep going. Leia knew enough to stay moving, stay warm, but Elize was too young-

Heavy footsteps broke into his thoughts, and Jude scrambled for cover just as a a few soldiers emerged from an adjacent tunnel. Before he could decide what to do next, a hand clamped over his mouth and he was pulled against something warm and solid.

Despite his exhaustion, he yelped and swept one leg out behind him. His attacker grunted as Jude's foot connected in a solid kick, and the arm around him tightened.

"Jude, would you please stop attacking me?" a low voice hissed in his ear.

Jude breathed in sharply and suddenly recognized the odd, charred smell on the glove over his mouth. "Alvin?" The question was muffled against the glove, which he felt pull away in response. At the sight of his traveling companion, Jude felt his body sag in relief. The older man appeared fine, aside from a smudge of soot on his cheek and a few holes in his jacket, and Jude was reassured by the fact that at least one of them had gotten away no worse for the wear.

Even if Alvin was most likely an enemy at this point.

The man was grinning at him. "What, no 'happy to see you'?"

"If you want people to be happy to see you, you shouldn't accost them in dark caves," Jude groused, flustered. Exhaustion, coupled with one too many surprises, was making him jumpy.

Alvin raised an eyebrow and gave him a look that could definitely be classified as a leer. "So it's okay to accost people not in caves?"

Jude flushed. "That's not what I meant. Anyway, what are you-" He was cut off again as Teepo suddenly appeared, yelling something that Jude couldn't understand due to the fact that his head was in the doll's mouth. After a bit of coaxing, he pried Teepo off and smiled when he saw Elize standing close by. She looked just as tired as he felt, but she offered him a trembling smile when he walked over to her.

"Are you okay?" It seemed like a silly question after the day's events, but Elize slipped her hand into his and nodded gamely.

"I'm okay."

Jude smiled again and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, which she returned. Maybe they would come out of all of this in one piece, after all.

"And who's this?"

"Mm?" At Alvin's question, Jude turned and almost jumped. He'd forgotten about Muzet in all of the excitement, and judging by Alvin's look, explanations were in order.

But then.. he was so tired. Jude felt Elize's questioning glance as he sighed and tried to piece together everything that had happened. Luckily, it seemed Muzet was willing to introduce herself.

What had happened? The fighting had left them exhausted, but they'd been able to push through to Gauis and the Lance. Which, wasn't a weapon after all, but had somehow blown open a hole in the sky? Not to mention the ships and weird soldiers--had to be Exodus, somehow--and Gilland, who had summoned a Great Spirit that not even Milla knew about.

And then there was Alvin, who hadn't seemed surprised by any of it. He'd just seemed... sad.

As if reading Jude's thoughts, the other man turned to him and frowned. "What?"

"You were always an Exodus agent, weren't you?" Jude tried not to let the hurt seep into his voice, but wasn't sure how successful he was. He'd hoped that they would be done with this, after Xian Du, but perhaps he should have known better. Beside him, Elize tightened her grip on his hand, glaring at Alvin's boots.

"Why bother asking? He's just going to lie."

Alvin looked struck. "Now hold on! I feel just as betrayed as you guys. Gilland didn't tell me about any of this."

"He lied to you?" Jude's scowl dropped away in surprise. There were always plenty of lies where Alvin was concerned, but normally he wasn't on the receiving end of them. Jude felt some of his anger melt away.

"You got that right. The nerve of that guy, huh?" Alvin slung an arm around Jude's shoulder, affecting nonchalance, and Jude was abruptly aware of how warm he was. In the ice caves. His head swam a little.

"If you feel so betrayed, you wouldn't be so cheerful," Elize snapped back, stamping her foot. Jude bit his lip to keep from chuckling at her expression, unaccountably giddy all of a sudden. Elize would probably never forgive him if he laughed.

He felt Alvin shrug against him, and shuddered as he was pressed closer. "Not necessarily, eh Jude?"

"Mm? I don't know..." It was too warm, and with Alvin's solid weight pressed against him, he was reminded of how tired he was. Too tired to try and figure out what the mercenary meant by that comment, anyway. Or to consider how comfortable the aforementioned weight was.

Maybe it would be okay, now that he had found them, just for a quick nap... Without warning, he slumped forward on too-heavy limbs, startling a gasp out of Elize.

"Whoa!" Alvin grabbed him just before he hit the ground. "You okay there, kid?"

"M'not a kid," Jude muttered, feeling woozy. Dimly, he was aware of Elize and Teepo hovering nervously nearby. A little further, Muzet floated looking curious but unconcerned. A cool hand touched his forehead, making him groan.

"Wa-hey, Jude! What's the matter?"

"He's got a fever," Elize announced grimly, and Jude frowned. He should have known that. Soaked to the bone, cut and bruised, and dried up in terms of mana, he was practically asking for infection. But he had been in too much of a hurry, too worried to stop and recuperate--

"Alright, let's rest a bit before we keep moving." Alvin's voice was uncharacteristically firm, and he adjusted so that he was half-carrying the younger man. Jude was about to protest, but the expression of relief on Elize's face made him stay silent. Guilt washed over him, because Elize had looked just as tired as he felt, and how she hadn't toppled over herself was beyond him.

"Right. Okay."

They found a slightly more defensible position, and Alvin and Elize did their best to set up camp. When Jude had offered to help, Elize had shushed him and told him to wait, and had reminded him so much of Leia that he couldn't help but laugh. Much to Teepo's dismay, it was decided that a fire would be too risky and might draw attention, so they set about digging out all the blankets they had.

In the meantime, Jude tried very hard not to freeze to death. The cavern wall that he'd been propped up against wasn't as cold as the ground, but it wasn't much better. In the end, he must have been doing poorly, because soon Alvin was shrugging off his jacket and wrapping Jude up in it.

"Alvin, wait-"

"Don't worry about it, kid. I'm fine." He flashed a smile that Jude had begun to consider infuriating, then wandered away again to help Elize.

And really, Jude was going to argue further, but the jacket was quite warm, and smelled a little like spices. So instead he ended up drifting in and out until Elize's soft voice broke in.

"Jude? Where's your pack?"

"Mm? Ah- it got washed away. In the river, probably." Nearby, Alvin swore quietly.

"Looks like we'll have to snuggle up, then."

"Wh-What?!" Teepo sounded scandalized. "Hey mister, what are you trying to pull?"

"Easy, spud. I don't have much in the way of blankets, so unless we all want to end up sick, we gotta stay close together." For all his nonchalance, Jude could tell that Alvin wasn't exactly comfortable with the arrangement either.

Struggling up into a better sitting position, Jude patted the spot next to him. "Here, Elize. Why don't you sit next to me?"

Elize still didn't seem keen on the idea, but she held Teepo to her and cocooned herself in a blanket. By the time she'd settled in next to Jude, however, she was smiling contentedly. Alvin also wrapped himself up and, upon settling in on Jude's other side, spread out their last blanket over all three of them. Muzet had vanished, something that Jude probably should have been concerned about but wasn't.

Instead, he sighed with pleasure as warmth spread back into his limbs. Elize was already slumped against him, face nuzzled into Alvin's jacket as her breathing deepened into a regular rhythm. Alvin, for his part, was watching down the corridor with a puzzled scowl. Jude bumped shoulders with him lightly.

"You should rest, too."

The mercenary turned and raised an eyebrow. "Somebody's gotta keep watch. Besides, I'm fine." It was the second time he'd said that, and Jude was suddenly under the impression that he was actually Not Fine.

His expression must have betrayed his thoughts, because Alvin suddenly grinned and reached through the cocoon of blankets to ruffle Jude's hair. The younger male grimaced.

"Stop treating me like a kid. I want help, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," and Jude really had to have a serious chat with him about shrugging him off, but he stiffened when Alvin's hand shifted to card through his hair.

"Hey, what-"

"Relax, honor's student. I'm not gonna pull anything." Alvin paused, considering, before grinning down at him. "Not here, anyway."

Jude flushed hotly, trying to ignore the way his heart jumped at the implication. "Alvin-"

"Kidding, kidding! Mostly," and Alvin was chuckling and ignoring Jude's sputtered protests to pull him in closer. "But seriously," and his tone softened as he wrapped an arm around Jude. "Get some rest."

Jude frowned. "It'd be a lot easier if you weren't-"

"Accosting people in dark caves? Yeah, I got it." Alvin reached across them to tuck the blanket around Elize before settling back. Grudgingly, Jude snuggled back into the embrace and closed his eyes.

"...hey Alvin?"

"Mm?"

"Thanks."

-

Later, after they emerged from Xailen Woods to find everyone waiting for them, Teepo rushed forward before Jude could stop him and spilled the beans.

"Jude passed out like a little baby!"

No amount of pleading or explanations stopped Leia from yelling at him and force-feeding him all the gels in her pack, though Jude found that he didn't mind it so much.

Elize had the presence of mind to look embarrassed, but Alvin was grinning and Jude was pretty sure that it was something he wouldn't live down for quite a while. But as he took in the wide smile on the mercenary's face and decided that he didn't mind that so much, either.

If anyone noticed or cared that he was still wearing Alvin's jacket, they chose not to mention it.

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