A/N: Dedicated to the Jacquelyn to my Gustav, who gave me the prompt.


Jacquelyn had imagined something completely different when Gustav asked her if she wanted to feel the sun of the tropics on her skin. She thought he was inviting her to a nice and romantic trip to a beach, not to an expedition to the rainforest with Monty.

She wouldn't complain, though. Sure, there were mosquitoes everywhere, and they didn't have a real bathroom, but she got the very rare sight of the specific sort of excitement he showed when working with reptiles. Gustav reminded Jacquelyn of a puppy, getting excited about many things, but it was different when he was directing a movie, or when he was solving a hard code, or when he was spending some good time with his girlfriend, and when he was working alongside his best friend with those creatures. And she loved all of it. She loved that man so much, enough that she didn't mind the mosquito bites and the heat and peeing on the ground.

The three of them were walking together, Monty in the front, followed by Gustav, and then Jacquelyn. Gustav was explaining about the snake they were looking for, the Abraçadora, and its habits, when he suddenly stopped. Monty didn't seem to notice, as he continued walking.

"Gustav?" Jacquelyn asked, her voice instinctively lowering.

Gustav turned his head to the side, being able to look at her from the corner of his eyes, and pointed to his left foot. Jacquelyn looked down and saw a small snake, thinner than her fingers and pale brown, on his shoe, curling around his leg, its head under the fabric of his pants. Gustav stayed very still, his breath heavy. Then, suddenly he frowned, as if in pain.

"Snakebite." He half whispered, half moaned.

Jacquelyn panicked. She had no idea of what to do, and she couldn't see Monty, and Gustav just stood very still, letting the snake stay around his leg, and she wanted to scream.

"It will be alright... it will be alright..." She repeated, trying to comfort her boyfriend and calm herself down. "What should I do? Do we have antivenom? Do I need to cut your leg off? Tell me what to do, G!"

He frowned at her, and for a moment she thought he was being bitten again.

"Find Monty." He whispered.

Jacquelyn looked around, trying to think of which direction the herpetologist could have been gone to, when she heard an excited whisper behind her.

"You found it!"

Monty approached Gustav and crouched down near him, then somehow managed to get the snake out of his assistant's leg and on his arm.

"Good job, Gustav!" He said, cheerful, petting the snake. "It's even more adorable than I thought."

"G-Gustav." Jacquelyn stuttered, trying to understand what was going on.

Gustav turned to her with a bright smile.

"Don't worry, the Abraçadora is harmless. It was just curious." To prove it, he raised his pant to show the bite mark. Just two small red holes.

"Now you tell me?!" She exclaimed, softly slapping his shoulder. He just laughed. She wished she could laugh too, but the emotions were still strong. "I was scared. I thought you..." She couldn't even finish the sentence.

Gustav stopped laughing, and pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, J. It takes more than a little snake to take me down."

"I know, you dork." She said, burying her face on his chest.

"Do you know what Abraçadora means?"

"Something in Spanish." She mumbled.

"Not really." He said, pulling away from her. "It means 'the cuddler'."

"What a strange name for a snake..."

"I don't think so," Gustav said, pointing to where Monty stood, too distracted with his new friend to even look at the couple.