"You're an idiot."

It was pointless to try and insult a man who was unconscious, but Maxie was determined. Perhaps his biting words and his stinging insults would rouse him from the unnatural unconsciousness Archie was in, get him to wake up from this sleep that stirred an anxiety in Maxie that he didn't like in the slightest.
The redhead's hands fumbled, gripping under Archie's arms and heaving, grimacing as he looked up.
The cave was dark, formerly lit up by the entrance that they had come in through, but now all he had to provide him light was through the cracks of the boulders that had come crashing down.
His head was pounding and he could taste blood in his mouth from biting his tongue, still feeling rattled from the sudden caving-in of what he had thought as a safe place within the mountain, somewhere secure that many others had passed through long before them.

Maxie grunted, Archie's dead weight causing him to tremble as he discovered dragging him to a safe spot was not as easy as he had thought it to be. Without some sort of assistance, he was a useful as one of the boulders blocking sure freedom, and even then, with him trying to be tender about his movements, progress was sluggish either way.
Giving one last heave before deciding resting Archie against the cave wall was the better choice at the moment, he pushed him up, bracing his back against the far more stable wall.
Seconds later he joined him, breathing deeply from shock and exertion as he sat back, closing his eyes.

"Fuck," he snarled, slamming a foot down—a far better option than smashing his fist into the wall in his frustration, but nowhere near as satisfying as his eyes snapped back open, glaring down at the cave floor.
If they hadn't trekked out here to see if there was some method of reviving Groudon—if Team Aqua hadn't followed them out here to stop them—

Maxie sighed, running trembling, dirty hands through his hair, which had become tussled and messy, falling into his face from the chaos.
"Think clearly, Maxie," he muttered to himself, looking at his hands that were covered with dirt and scratches, though he had not suffered the brunt of the cave-in.
He would have, had Archie not shoved him out of the way, the man barely avoiding getting crushed himself by the boulders that had come crumbling down from the cave ceiling.
Reminded of his fellow sufferer and his injuries, Maxie put his own pain aside for the time being as he shifted, kneeling in front of Archie.

"Please don't tell me you are actually unconscious…"
Maxie reached out, hands cupping his face, turning his head to either side. There was no response, and in fact, his head went limp in his hands, not supporting itself like it would have had Archie been awake.
The anxiety he had felt before soared into true panic, but he swallowed it down, forced himself to focus as he gently propped Archie back up, making sure he wouldn't fall as he switched his attention to his pokeballs.
In a flash of red light, his Camerupt emerged, the pokemon giving a low, unhappy bray at the darkness, Maxie reaching out and stroking his nose.
"Shh," he murmured, soothing the pokemon, who perked his ears up, attentively listening to Maxie's voice.
"I need some light, please. Can you do that for me?"

The Camerupt gave a low rumble of confirmation and a few moments later, lava began to bubble up in the craters on his back, not quite spilling over but still emitting enough light for Maxie to be able to see clearly. It wasn't as fantastic as having an actual fire, but with there being nothing to build a fire with, it would have to do.
"Thank you."
His Camerupt rumbled pleasantly before folding his legs and lying down next to him, Maxie petting his warm fur.
It was enough of a comfort to encourage him to turn back to Archie, taking a deep breath before trying to think of anything.

Archie was unconscious, probably suffering some sort of head injury.
With this in mind, Maxie reached out again, tenderly removing the bandana that had somehow survived everything and placing it to the side. It would hopefully come in handy shortly if he found any open wounds that were still bleeding.
Gently, he looked Archie's head over—he didn't see any outright bumps or open wounds and as he smoothed his hands through his hair, feeling his scalp, he still didn't feel anything out of the ordinary.
Hopefully whatever had knocked him unconscious hadn't left any kind of serious damage, for he had zero medical training and absolutely no possible way of telling what kind of head injury he had suffered.

Propping Archie back up, tentative about laying him down, Maxie sat back, wary about all of this.
What was he supposed to do…?
All he so far knew was that one, Archie had suffered some kind of head injury that had rendered him unconsciousness and two, he was covered in a lot dirt, and possibly had cuts.
Uncertain of where to even begin, his Camerupt nosed his elbow, the pokemon staring intently at Archie.

"Yes, yes, I realize. I don't often deal with injured people so I'm not exactly eager to possibly mess up," growled Maxie, gently pushing away his Camerupt's snout, his eyes falling back to the bandana.
"… I suppose I could see if there are any cuts," he muttered, figuring that was a safe route he could take without possibly harming Archie further.

Why did it matter so much, whether or not Archie was hurt further, or even if he died?
It would only benefit Team Magma and it would be the fall of Team Aqua, allowing him to expand the land and pursue his goals.
Yet, at the thought of possibly letting Archie die, he felt sickened. No, he had to do the right thing.
Scooting a bit closer, he gave a low sigh before swallowing down his hesitation and carefully peeled back Archie's coat. The other man was breathing, Maxie was relieved to find, but otherwise unresponsive to everything and anything.
He didn't acknowledge the crackling heat of his Camerupt's craters, nor had he responded to being shifted about.
Even as he worked away his coat to check for any cuts hidden by dirt and torn fabric, Maxie fretted over his deep unconsciousness, his mind going to drastic ideas of comas, of him being nothing more than a vegetable with the capability of breathing.
The idea of being trapped in this cavern with only a half-dead man for company terrified him, Maxie having to pause, taking another deep breath and dive back in rather than dwelling on his own fears.
Everything would be fine.
Everything had to be fine, lest he went mad.

Dark red caught his eye, Maxie drawn back from his thoughts as he spotted the first thing he had to worry about, being a cut tracing down from Archie's shoulder. Well, he was covered in cuts, but most looked minor and capable of healing on their own.
Grabbing the bandana he had set aside, he ripped it in half, delicately tying one scrap of the blue fabric around the wound before pulling it snug. Checking that it wouldn't cut off any blood flow, Maxie, thankfully, couldn't find any major injuries that rivaled the one on Archie's shoulder.
He spent his time instead cleaning up deep enough cuts with the leftover cloth, grumbling somewhat about dirt and his sudden loathing for boulders in the meantime.

Eventually satisfied with his handiwork, he leaned back, checking that he hadn't missed anything.
Archie's legs looked fine—there was no way in Hell he intended on taking off his pants. Coat he could do. Everything else was a no.
Double-checking the knot on his makeshift bandage, he managed to get Archie back into his coat, sitting back and taking another breath.

"I'm never going into another cave ever again," Maxie groaned, his Camerupt rumbling in agreement. The redhead took Archie's unconsciousness as some cruel form of agreement, Maxie looking over at the blocked entryway and presumably the only exit, and then back into the depths of the cave. There was no way he was going to explore this place by himself, so instead of going further into the mountain, he pushed himself up against the wall next to Archie, ignoring his own soreness.
He knew he hadn't sprained or broken anything, and the worst he suffered were a couple of scratches on his cheeks.
He hurt, he ached, but he didn't care—his eyes kept trailing back to Archie, fretting and worrying over his health, even if he hated him.
You could still care for someone's wellbeing and hate them, couldn't you?

Maxie buried his face in his hands, ignoring the stinging from his cuts as he groaned.
In his mind, he tried to reason that he felt worried for Archie because, well, the presently unconscious man had saved him from suffering a far worse fate than he currently was enduring.
Maxie was lucky he had been able to even drag Archie out from beneath the pebbles that had been covering him rather than some boulder that could have smashed one of his legs, or worse, crushed him.

He felt his chest tighten at the thought of Archie dying in the process of pushing him, an enemy, out of the way.
As much as he may have loathed the water-loving imbecile, he cared.
He cared about whether he lived or died, and he cared too much to just leave him behind.

Maxie nearly leapt out of his skin when feeling a heavy weight thump onto his side, turning his head sharply to see it was only Archie, who had slowly been dragged down by gravity into falling onto him.
"I didn't say you could do that," growled Maxie, leering at him. He got so response, as anticipated. He was about as talkative as the rocks surrounding them at this moment.
Pursing his lips, still having not shoved Archie back into his designated spot, he grimaced, shuddering as a cold wind managed to snake into the cave via the gaps between the boulders.
"What a perfect shelter this is," sarcastically he grumbled to himself, looking at Archie, and then to his Camerupt, who was still laying down, watching them both in curiosity.

In a burst of energy, Maxie got up, mindful of not letting Archie simply thump down onto the ground. It was slow going, but with determination did Maxie wrap his arms around Archie's torso, grunting from the effort of dragging him back to where his Camerupt lay. Thankfully, it was only a few steps away, Maxie feeling exhaustion already seeping in as he thumped back down, bracing his back against the warm side of his Camerupt. The chill that had been threatening to creep in slowly ebbed, though Maxie was not quite done as he reached back out for Archie, huffing as he managed to drag him closer.
"You owe me for all of this," he muttered to the still very much unconscious man, pulling him up and letting his body rest against his chest, too afraid of letting him just sit there on his own, lest he fall down again.

Maxie had no idea as to when Archie would recover consciousness, but in the meantime, he let his arms wrap around his midsection and Archie's rather heavy—god he was heavy—body rest against himself as a prevention measure against any more falling.
Admittedly, though, he was warm—and despite being quite heavy, it was strangely comfortable.
His Camerupt turned his head around, nudging his elbow and Maxie sighed, letting his head fall back against the pokemon's side.

"Hopefully someone will be coming for us soon. I don't really care to try and move those boulders myself," Maxie murmured to the Camerupt, blinking drowsily in the heat emitted from the fire-type's warm fur and the craters containing molten lava that barely boiled to the surface.
The Camerupt grunted, letting his head settle back down on the ground as Maxie lifted his head back up.

He wanted to stay awake.
He truly did.
But, he was tired from the brief adrenaline rush he had suffered after nearly being crushed to death, and now that he was warm, he could feel the drowsiness seeping in.
Maxie blinked once, and then blinked again, the second time his eyelids lingering shut before managed to open again.
The next time they didn't, the redhead slowly crumbling, his head drooping down to rest his forehead against Archie's shoulder as he fell asleep, only his Camerupt remaining awake as it studied the boulders blocking their freedom.

"Ey, Maxie—Maxie, wake up!"

Maxie groaned, trying to turn away from the invasive voice that dared to interrupt his dreaming, groggily waving a hand as he pressed his face deeper into warm fur.
"Stop, 'm tryin'a sleep," he grumbled, voice muffled by something soft and warm, pushing his face a bit deeper into it, hoping for sleep to return to him.
"Maxie, you gotta wake up now."
A hand grabbed at him, wrenching him from anymore sleep he might have gotten as he was pulled away from the source of warmth, his eyes opening.

"Let go of me," he sputtered, his eyes still fogged over with sleep, his body delayed in defending itself as he was removed from the side of his Camerupt. Blinking a few times, he had to stare for a moment as the fog lifted and Archie emerged, bearing a strangely concerned look as he was held in front of the Aqua leader.
"You're awake."
Archie looked confused by this statement, blinking.
"I am?"
Shaking his head, Maxie sighed, pursing his lips.
"No, no, you were unconscious, and… What are you doing?"

Sitting upright by himself now, Maxie was distracted from his explanation as he watched Archie go from holding onto him to moving his head to either side, looking him over intently.
"Lookin' for injuries," Archie stated, tilting Maxie's jaw up to look over his neck.
"You should be far more mindful about yourself—you were unconscious for quite some time, and have you seen your shoulder?"
Maxie was reminded of Archie's shoulder injury when seeing how carefully he moved it, obviously the wound hurting considerably.
"I'm fine," Archie grunted dismissively, pausing as he looked into Maxie's eyes, as if he might be able to see all that was possibly wrong with him that way.

"Archie, I'm quite well, but thank you for your concern… I suppose."
Maxie, delicately, removed both of Archie's hands from his jaw where they had lingered, feeling quite uncomfortable with the close proximity.
It was ironic that he was feeling so uneasy now when just hours prior—assuming it had been hours, he had no way of telling time—he had Archie practically in his lap. He had even fallen asleep on him, Maxie belatedly realized, and he internally grimaced at this thought.
He shouldn't have fallen asleep.

"Thanks."
Maxie roused himself from his thoughts as he was thanked, taking a long look at Archie, who seemed sincere.
"For…?"
"Taking care of me while I was conked out, instead of leaving me in the dirt, since you didn't have to do anything. Considering we're, uh, rivals."
Maxie grunted, waving a dismissive hand as he looked over to his Camerupt, petting his head when seeing that he was awake as well.
"You had saved me, it was the least I could do. If someone does something for me, I'll do something for them."
Messing with his hair, which kept falling back into his face without it being carefully smoothed back with gel, Maxie nearly growled in frustration.
And it didn't seem like any progress had been made on the boulders while they had both been asleep.

"… Does that 'something' involve cuddling?"
Maxie froze, snapping his head back around to see Archie sitting back with a raised eye brow.
"What in the world do you—"
"When I woke up, I found myself up against you instead of, well, on the ground or at least against a wall."
Maxie felt blood slowly make its way into his cheeks as he tried to come up with an appropriate response.
"You—you had fallen down when I had put you up against the wall, and, and well I didn't want you falling down again—"
Grimacing at his own attempt at excusing himself, he snapped back to attention as Archie scooted close, back up next to the Camerupt instead of sitting in front of Maxie.

The redhead thought little of it, for his Camerupt was understandably quite warm and comfortable to lean up against, but when he was grabbed onto, the understanding he had fell away with a yelp.
"I hadn't said you could do this," hissed Maxie, face surely bright red as he was pulled close to Archie, his hands flinging up to lightly press against the other's side.
"I saved you."
Maxie blinked, going from staring down Archie's offending arm quite intensely to actually looking the man in the eye, who had become serious.
"You owe me. So," He held him a bit more snug, Maxie feeling his arms be subsequently squashed against Archie's side rather than serving as a barrier, "You get to pay me back with this."

Mouth opening and closing similar to a Magikarp out of water, finally Maxie just closed it, appearing defeated as he just sagged, letting his weight fall against Archie.
Archie was far sturdier than Maxie had been when he had the formerly unconscious man leaned up against him, yet he remained just as warm and again just as strangely comfortable to be pressed up against.
"How long do I have to do this?" grumbled Maxie, hearing a chuckle from Archie.
"However long it takes for someone to get us out of here."

Maxie sighed, but let his head rested against Archie's uninjured shoulder, his arms falling away as he let himself cave and lean into his rival.
"… Only until someone gets us out of here," muttered Maxie, closing his eyes.
"I'm going back to sleep. Good night."
He could practically hear the smile in Archie's voice, tensing as lips brushed the top of his head, though soon relaxing with the assurance that all was well—Archie was so warm, he could already feel himself drifting.
"Good night, Maxie."