Moments

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss in any way, shape or form.

2. Sorting

Guy was sorting through a two-foot stack of reports and documents in Jade's office. It was boring, tedious work – they needed to be sorted first by the type of report, then by date, and finally by name. The papers were quickly coming to dominate every surface of the room – Jade's desk, a table, the floor – as he attempted to keep it all organized. But it didn't take much concentration, so he found his mind wandering. "Hey, Jade."

"Mm?" Jade was keeping to his chair, reading through a thick, leather-bound book and occasionally taking notes on a pad of paper in his lap (since his desk was otherwise occupied).

"What kind of strategies do you use in large-scale warfare?" Guy asked, still sorting.

Jade looked up. "Why the sudden interest?"

"Just simple curiosity," he shrugged, laying down a few more papers, "I know about fighting opponents alone or in small groups, but I've never actually had to fight in a large-scale war."

Jade considered him for a moment before turning back to his book and flipping a page. Without looking up, he said, "I'm sure there are many books in the military library you could borrow."

Guy sighed. "I'm just bored, that's all. Nevermind." Honestly, asking Jade anything was impossible; he shouldn't have even tried.

"Is it that tedious, then?" Jade asked lightly.

"I've done worse, but it's not exactly fun sorting through all this," Guy said, voice mild as he bent over to place another few pieces of paper.

"Oh?" Jade flicked his eyes back up. "Such as?"

Guy shrugged. "Once, I ended up washing Luke's clothes when he rolled in the mud after a rainstorm, then jumped in a barrel of rotten food and smeared it all over himself." He chuckled. "The maids refused to touch it, and I didn't want to bring it up to the Duke, so I washed it myself. It was absolutely disgusting."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "So he got away with it?"

Guy paused, considering the question. Wryly, he was forced to admit, "I guess so."

"Hmm… that explains much about his personality," Jade murmured, sounding amused.

"What would you have done?"

"Probably… I would have made Luke wash those clothes personally, not to mention all the other clothes in the house… for a month or so."

Guy stood back up, staring at Jade incredulously. "Isn't that a bit much?"

"I doubt he'd ever do it again, so no," he said, shrugging carelessly.

Guy stooped over his piles again, shaking his head and laughing under his breath. "I feel sorry for any children you have."

"Then it's a good thing I don't intend to have children." Jade stood up and crouched in front of Guy, feet carefully placed between piles on the floor. While Guy was still trying to figure out what he was up to, Jade took roughly half of the stack from Guy's hands.

Guy could only stare dumbly for a minute while Jade calmly started placing reports. "Um… ?"

Jade spread his hands, papers ruffling as he moved and sighed in a very put-upon way. "I might as well help, since you won't let me read my book. These old bones should be able to handle it for a little while."

Guy smiled, rubbing the back of his head with the hand not currently holding the paper. "Thanks."

Jade's smirk twisted, his red eyes catching and holding his. "Oh, I never said it was for free."

Wondering why his cheeks suddenly became warm, Guy just sighed and went back to sorting.