He didn't know what prompted him to dig the priest's body out of the snow drift or start to shoulder the unconscious man back to what he was calling (much to Noah's disappointment) the hideout. It's not like he cared for the man; in fact, he had tried more than once to kill Justin.

So what was making him carry the man through the snow? Loyalty to a fallen comrade? Giriko just scoffed at the thought, stopping for a moment to balance Justin precariously while he rummaged in his pocket for the flask of whiskey that he always carried with him. Throwing his head back he took a shot of it, exhaling at the comforting burn.

A smirk crossed his face as he lowered Justin to the ground. He used a grimy finger to pop open the priest's mouth and carefully poured some of the whiskey in.

Justin's eyes flew open, and Giriko's hand clamped over his mouth. "Nuh, you swallow all that. You're not spitting out good whiskey."

Justin glared up at the chainsaw, finally, reluctantly, swallowing the whiskey.

"I knew that'd bring you round. Tired of carrying your lazy ass." Giriko upended the flask, nearly draining it before slipping it back into his pocket. "Now come on, let's get before those Shibusen nuisances catch back up."

Snowflakes fell as Justin stood unsteadily to his feet. The priest's teeth chattered and Giriko just sighed as they walked on. Eventually he pulled the whiskey from his pocket and sloshed it around a bit.

"Here."

Justin just shook his head, his teeth chattering.

"Just drink it before I change my mind. Don't want your ass to freeze to death."

Justin hesitantly took the flask and upended it, drinking the little bit that was left in it.

Giriko kicked his leg and started the chains rotating. "Alright. I'm going to carry you back- I'm starting to get cold and you just drank all the booze I had."

"That's not-"

"A request," Giriko finished, grabbing the startled man and taking off.

"I was going to say necessary…" Justin murmured into Giriko's chest, red spreading across his cheeks that wasn't caused by the cold air.

Giriko just ignored the muttered statement and forced himself to forget that it was Justin that was in his arms, convincing himself it didn't matter if it was Justin or not.

Even though he knew he wouldn't have bothered had it been Gopher or someone else.


A/N: Prompted by TheAUWalker for the word "Snow" and the pairing of Justin and Giriko.