It has been a WHILE.
I haven't wrote something for so long. Well I did, but never finished them.
Tales of Xillia is my new obsession. I absolutely adore these two.
Constructive critism is very, very, very much appreciated. I am positive I'm a bit out of it, so I could really use the help.
I hope you'll enjoy it. Please review and thanks for reading!
''What the hell happened to you two?''
Leia stood there, mouth gaping and obviously deciding on whether to help or to laugh. Before her stood the two youngest males from their group, soaking wet. Behind them stood Elize, a shy smile on her face. Teepo was grinning from ear to ear.
''Can we come in first, it's not exactly warm out here.'' Alvin grumbled, squeezing water out of his scarf.
''R-right. Milla! Rowen!''
Leia stepped aside to let the trio pass. She gave Elize a question look as she passed, but the girl merely shrugged. Her smile did seem to widen though, but it could have been her imagination.
''What happened?'' Milla and Rowen entered the room,, both raising their eyebrows.
Jude scratched the back of his head, his face tinted with a slight flush. ''We fell into the water.''
''Well we guessed that much.'' Milla sighed while Leia gestured for their coats.
''I'll hang these to dry first. You can give me the rest after you've taken a shower.''
''I'll go first'' Alvin mumbled, skipping past the others and disappearing further into the house.
''What's up with him?'' Milla cocked her head to the side, shifting her eyes from to where Alvin had gone to Jude, meeting his.
''The big fat liar just can't take a joke.''
Everyone turned to Teepo, who although sounding offended, was grinning more than usually.
''I should have known you had something to do with it. Care to explain?''
''Elize wanted to see the fireflies,'' Jude started. ''They're around a lot at this time of the year, but more so near Fenmont than anywhere else due to the night clime. I offered to go see them with her and we got Alvin to join us too.'' He spoke while trying to take his shoes off.
''They're really pretty'' Elize interrupted, blushing when all eyes suddenly turned to her, but smiling when they all seemed to enjoy her statement.''
''They were. Anyway, I thought I'd try to catch a few so she could see them up close. That proved to be a bit harder than expected. I ended up chasing them all the way to the water's edge and almost fell in.''
''Not as almost as you thought though. You're drenched.''
Jude scratched the back of his head. ''Yeah well, you have to thank Teepo for that. Alvin caught me at first. Just when we seemed stable enough Teepo...''
''He knocked the both of you in?'' Milla guessed, sighing when Jude nodded.
''No wonder Alvin is in a bad mood. I'm surprised to see you so calm though.''
Jude shrugged. ''It's nothing a hot shower won't solve.'' He turned to Teepo. ''However, you need to apologize to Alvin.''
Teepo let his ears hang down at the same time Elize shoulders slumped down. Jude leaned forward and ruffled Elize's hair. ''Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be okay. He won't be mad.''
Jude smiled and excused himself, trying to leak as little water as possible as he went to the room he, Alvin and Rowen shared to gather his dry clothes. Alvin should almost be done by now. The water was still running and steam flowed from under the small gap under the shower door. He knocked on the door. ''Alvin?'' No response.
''Hey Alvin? I'm kinda cold so could you hurry up a bit? Alvin?''
The door suddenly opened and he almost fell forward. A rush of pleasant heat hit his face and it took him a few seconds to realize that most of the close warmth was coming from Alvin, who was clad in nothing more than a towel around his waist. The brunette stared down at him, still not entirely calmed down, but obviously amused by Jude's shocked expression at Alvin's lack of clothing and their close proximity.
''I let the water running for you. Enjoy'' He smirked as he brushed past Jude, who needed a few seconds before he called out after him. ''That's not a good thing you know.''
He closed the door behind him and released a sigh before rushing out of his clothes and into the shower. The warm water created goose bumps on his skin, causing a shiver to run down his spine. He let out a content sigh and stood there for a while before kneeling, settling for leaning against the wall in a more comfortable position. His feet kind of hurt. Then again, they walked quite a bit, with his feet stuck in cold and wet socks and shoes.
His mind strayed back to the lakeside. Milla had been right about him appearing to be so calm, but she couldn't be any further from the truth. His heart was still racing, his breathing was still faster than its normal rate and if it wasn't for the cold water he'd fallen in he'd be sweating more than a pig. He let out another sigh.
Truth was that he let out a part of the story. It was true that Alvin caught him and that Teepo pushed them, but...
He felt a blush creep up on his face again and he dipped his head down to rest on his knees to hide it. What for even, the towels? He mentally scoffed at himself.
-.^
''Wha-''
Jude felt himself lose his balance, his body falling to the side. A hand clutched the front of his clothes and jerked him back, preventing him from falling into the water.
''Carefull now,you don't want to get wet now, do you?'' Alvin smirked as he pulled Jude back just enough to stand more upright, but not enough for him to be able to let go without falling in anyway.
''Thanks.''
They stood there in awkward silence for a while, Jude shifting under Alvin's gaze, still holding on the man's arm that held him the same way he held the man with his other hand, clutching the front of their clothes. His heart was thumping loudly and his hands were starting to become sweaty.
''Uhm, I-'' He cut off his sentence as Alvin suddenly crossed the distance between them. His heart skipped a beat and his face flamed up. ''Gotcha.'' Alvin smirked beside his ear. Jude tightly shut his eyes as he felt himself being pulled forward, not sure what to expect but deciding he didn't want to watch.
''There. Was that really so hard Jude?''
huh?
He opened his eyes in an instant and met Alvin's eyes, then looked at the man's clasped hands just in front of his face. He opened them a bit, revealing a firefly. Alvin chuckled.
''Let me see, I wanna see it too!'' Teepo floated their way, circling around Alvin's hand impatiently.
''I can't just open my hand, it'll fly away.''
Jude blinked, still trying to comprehend what had just happened. Elize smiled brightly as she cupped her hand over Alvin's and he released he firefly into her hands. She giggled and Teepo floated around her enthusiastically. Alvin turned to him, letting out what Jude interpreted as a mischievous smirk. He swung his arm around Jude's neck, his breath hot against the young man's ear.
''No need to be so flustered. What were you thinking about?''
Jude's face turned red. ''I-''
''Oh!''
'Wuah, Heeey! Come back! Alvin, it escapes!''
Next, everything happened in an instant. Teepo charged at Alvin's face and even though the mercenary instinctively dodged, Teepo still crashed into him. Alvin held on to Jude in a reflex as he fell backwards, both of them flailing their arms in a last attempt to regain their balance. In vain. Jude barely closed his mouth in time when they hit the cold water, which caused him to nearly gasp at the seemingly ice cold water soaking through his clothes. He flailed his arms again, turning his body and kicking his legs to resurface. He coughed and quickly got out, turning around to help Alvin.
Who looked absolutely pissed.
''Uh-oh''
''Teepo I'm gonna kill you.'' He growled as he hoisted himself out, enough water dripping from his clothes to fill a bucket.
''N-no!''
Teepo turned around and fled into Elize's arms, who held him protectively against her chest.
Alvin opened his mouth but Jude silenced him before he could speak. ''I'm sure Teepo didn't mean to push us into the water. For now it's more important to go back and get ourselves out of these wet clothes and into some dry ones. He gave Alvin a sharp look and, after a few moments of silence and glaring, the mercenary let out a sigh. ''Fine.''
Jude nodded in satisfaction while Alvin shot Teepo a deadly glare. The booster audibly gulped, turning back to hide in the safety of Elize's arms. Jude urged Alvin to move, which he grudgingly did, before giving Elize a reassuring smile. ''It's okay Elize. Accidents happen. Let's go back to the others for now.''
-.^
He felt his face heat up. He had spent the walk back well behind Alvin, trying to reassure both Elize and himself. While he was confused as to what happened, he wondered if Alvin even realized that what he did could give someone the wrong idea. He let out a breath he'd been holding. He should probably not think anything about it. It was much like Alvin to tease, the man's actions were most likely not intended to give him finished his shower and put on his dry clothes, minus his blue tunic. When he opened the door the first thing he noticed was the silence. He walked to the kitchen, crossing Alvin.
''Hey.''
''Hey.''
A short silence.
''Where are the others?''
Alvin shrugged. ''Probably off to bed. Coffee?'' He raised a mug. Jude nodded. '' Please.''
He settled down on the nearby cough while Alvin prepared two mugs with steaming coffee. ''Thanks'' Alvin nodded as he handed Jude one of the mugs, taking a sip from his own. ''Aah, that's nice.'' He sat down next to Jude, stretching one arm out behind Jude. Jude stilled, not sure what to say or do.
''What, it's not good? You usually drink it the same way I do.''
''No that's not it.'' He shook his head.
''Then what are you- Ah I see. '' Alvin smirked. ''You think I'm hitting on you.''
''What? No!'' Jude shook his head with so much force his body joined him, causing him to almost spill some of the coffee. His look softened.
''I was just thinking. Your behavior at the lake...It was a bit...odd?''
''How so?'' Alvin arched an eyebrow.
''Well, you got so close. And the way you said things just gave me the idea you were after more than just keeping from falling into the water.'' A slight blush colored Jude's cheeks, but he masked his slight embarrassment by keeping a straight face.
''Ah so that's why you got all flustered.''
He nodded. '' Yeah...I guess. I-''
''So what if I was?"'
Jude froze. He looked at Alvin, confused. ''What?'' A silence followed during which Alvin refused to break eye-contact.
Then he started laughing.
''I'm just messing with you Jude. The look on your face is gold.'' He gave the boy a gentle slap on the back. ''No worries mister honors student. You're not quite the type I'm looking for.''
''Right.'' Jude smiled.
''I'm heading off to bed. You coming too?''
''Yeah, I'll be there in a bit.''
Alvin nodded as confirmation and stood up. However as soon as he passed Jude, his calm expression turned into a solemn one.
Not my type huh? He let out a disappointed sigh. He placed his mug on the night stand beside his bed and got into bed. He scowled at the ceiling and rubbed his temples with the palm of his hands. He was a fool to think it could have gone any different.
Little did he know, that across the shack the young man on the couch was feeling just as disappointed as he did.