Title: Comfort and Jealousy

Summary: Lynus has a sprained ankle and Flavio takes it upon himself to care for the care-taker~

Pairings: Platonic Flavio and Lynus 3

AN: I probably would have had this finished sooner if it weren't for my two cats deciding that they both wanted to sleep on my lap at the same time. And I couldn't persuade them to move :I Once again, this turned out slightly longer than expecte. Honestly, these two as friends just kill me. They're so fluffy~ So, I hope you enjoy reading!

Flavio lugged the street sign advertising for the café out onto the front pathway. It was early morning but it was promising to be a beautiful day, so the streets were quickly becoming full with locals and explorers alike.

Propping the sign up, he crouched down to write down the names of a few specials. He went for the ones that didn't sound too, well, exotic for a lack of a better term. As he scribbled the first title, he habitually glanced around at his surroundings and inexplicably a certain tangerine haired medic caught his attention.

He was a little surprised to see that Lynus was out wandering the streets so early in the morning. Well, wandering wasn't the right word. He appeared to be tiredly stumbling through the steadily growing busy streets. Had he been called to the hospital yet again?

Flavio pushed himself to his feet and debated with himself whether he should call out to Lynus or let him continue on his way, which was hopefully to the inn.

As Flavio was debating what he should do, he watched as a burly man brushed past Lynus rather aggressively, seemingly in a hurry to get somewhere, and sent the slender medic lurching to the side in surprise. He barely managed to stay on his feet before he slipped into the gutter running alongside the road and crashed onto the ground painfully hard, his bag thankfully not spilling its contents when it fell next to him. As Lynus laid there on his side, appearing stunned and winded, the guy who all but walked into him continued on his way, completely unconcerned. Not even looking back.

Flavio immediately forgot what he was doing and raced across the street to where Lynus was slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position. "Are you ok?" he found himself asking stupidly as he crouched next to him.

Lynus glanced up at him, appearing stunned by what had just happened. "I, yeah," he muttered dazedly. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

That wasn't true. The guy walked into him.

"The jerk still could have stopped," he muttered as he slipped an arm around Lynus' shoulders. His brow soon furrowed with concern when he heard little utter a small sound of pain and clutched at his right ankle, the one he painfully rolled when he fell. "What is it? Your ankle?"

Lynus pressed his lips together tightly and nodded his head. He uttered a sigh as he lifted his right hand to reveal a bloody graze to the palm of his hand. "It's been one of those days today…And it's not even lunch time yet."

It was only breakfast time, but Flavio wasn't going to point that out.

"We've all been there," Flavio said in a hopefully comforting manner as he tightened his arm around Lynus' shoulders and pulled him a little closer toward him. "Here, let me help. Were you heading to the inn?"

A grimace of pain appeared on Lynus's face as he tried to find the best way to position himself in order to slowly make his way to his feet. "Yes, was sent home from the hospital early."

Sent home? Did something happen there?

Never mind that.

"The café is just across the road," Flavio as he glanced over his shoulder to see that Fafnir had stepped out, most likely in search for him as he was taking too long with the sign. He then turned his attention back to Lynus and gave him a reassuring smile. "Let's get you there and get some ice on that ankle of yours."

A small but sheepish smile finally made its way onto Lynus' lips. "I don't want to give you any trouble," he said as he idly reached for his medical bag.

"Nonsense," Flavio immediately responded good-naturedly.

"What's going on?" came Fafnir's voice from behind Flavio.

"Hey, Faf," Flavio immediately said as Fafnir approached the stand next to him. "Some jerk bumped into Lynus and caused him to fall. Take his bag for me."

Wordlessly, Fafnir reached out to take the strap of Lynus' bag, the medic reluctant to relinquish his hold but allowed for him to take it and sling it over his shoulder.

Flavio kept his arm around Lynus' shoulders while he quickly slipped his other arm under his knees. He then took to his feet, picking Lynus up off the ground and holding him in his arms. Lynus immediately uttered a sound of sheer surprise and meekly grasped onto Flavio's shoulders. "W-wha…?"

Flavio, however, couldn't help but allow a small frown to tug on his lips. He had expected a bit of resistance when he picked Lynus up. He knew how short and slender the medic was, he wasn't expecting him to be this…light.

"Wow, you're so light," he found himself uttering without much thought.

Though he had a light dusting of red on his cheeks, Lynus pouted at him. "Why does everyone say that…?"

Flavio couldn't help but smile at his response and without another word, turned to carry Lynus into the café. As he turned, however, his gaze collided with that of Fafnir's and he looked…disgruntled?

Flavio arched an eyebrow at him but didn't question him. Instead he continued on his way to the café. The door was thankfully open, propped that way to allow for the fresh morning breeze to filter in.

"There's no need to go this far," Lynus murmured at him but he had a small embarrassed smile nonetheless. "But thank you anyway."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Flavio said as he carried him effortlessly into the café. He couldn't help but briefly wonder if he could talk Lynus into eating something before he left.

"Well, kid," came with Bertrand's drawl. "I'm surprised. You don't seem the type to literally sweep someone off his feet."

Flavio frowned and bristled as he turned to find Bertrand leaning against the breakfast bar, a curiously amused expression on his face. "What's that supposed to mean?" Flavio shot back. "Lynus twisted his ankle and can't walk on it. What else was I supposed to do?"

Bertrand arched an eyebrow at him. "Hm, I guess so," he simply said before his gaze unexpectedly flickered to over Flavio's shoulder and the corner of his mouth equally unexpectedly twitched into a half smirk. "He must be pretty light if you could carry him so easily."

"Hey!" Flavio bristled again as he carried Lynus over to an empty table with a chair thankfully already pulled out and carefully set Lynus onto his feet before helping him to sit down onto the chair. "You're testing me today, old man!"

Bertrand was actually in a good mood. But his teasing still pissed him off!

"Actually," Lynus said as he leaned back against his chair and lifted his foot to place atop of another chair. "Those who rely on archery have great upper body strength. They would need to, to be able to pull back a bow at its full drawing strength. Not to mention immense concentrating and stamina to be able to hold firm and keep your eye on the target."

Flavio turned to look at Lynus with a subtle expression of astonishment, only to smile widely when Lynus playfully winked at him. "Yeah, what he said," Flavio said as he triumphantly turned his attention back to Bertrand.

Bertrand was silent for a moment, though his unquestionably annoying expression of restrained amusement stayed on his face. "Is that so?" he drawled simply. "Well, can't argue with logic, I suppose. I'll just mosey on down to the inn, shall I?"

He was in a really good mood. His date with Hrothgar must have gone well last night. Using the excuse to fetch someone from the Guardians to see Hrothgar, huh? That sly old man.

"Good, go," Flavio said instead of turning the teasing around on him as, honestly, it was good to see the old man not so distant and closed off.

As Bertrand walked out of the café, Flavio turned his attention to Fafnir, whom of which had lingered silently in the background the entire time, with Lynus' bag still in his grip. "Fafnir, could you get some ice?" he asked as he retrieved the said medical bag from him.

Though Fafnir's expression was as deadpan as was usual for him, his bottom lips seemed to be protruding just a little bit. "Fine," he muttered.

Flavio blinked as he watched Fafnir walk away…He sounded sulky. He looked sulky. What was he sulky about?

Whatever.

Lynus smiled at him as Flavio placed his bag upon the table next to him. "Lucky I carry my bag with me everywhere," he said as slipped off his boot from his right foot and dropped it softly to the floor. He kept his right hand curled closed and against his chest as he did so, before his left sought out his bag. He quickly opened it and dug around for only a few seconds before he pulled out a wad of thick bandages, a blue bottle and a few cotton balls and swabs.

Flavio snared the back of another chair and pulled it closer before he sat down on it. "Here, let me do that," he said as he reached out to take the healing ointments and cleaning utensils from Lynus as he was clearly having a difficult time using them with one hand.

Lynus unexpectedly gave him a small, almost dejected smile. "Sorry, I…I'm not very good at healing myself."

Flavio was a little startled by that admission but hoped it didn't show. Lynus was famed for being the Miracle Medic. He would have enough talent to heal himself. If it wasn't from the lack of talent or skill…What could prevent a medic from healing himself?

Though he was curious, he didn't want to ask Lynus straight to his face. It must be a sore subject for him, if the downcast of his eyes and the frown on his lips was any indication.

Instead, Flavio reached out for Lynus' hand and started to carefully clean his minor injury. Thankfully the graze wasn't too deep and there didn't appear to be any small stones or other foreign objects lodged under the skin. His hand felt slightly cold, though. Was it from the shock of the fall?

He hoped Fafnir returned with that ice for his ankle soon.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble," Lynus said again, his tone holding a sense of…guilt. As if he was taking away Flavio's attention from something more important.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Flavio returned with a friendly, comforting smile before he decided to turn their focus away from Lynus' current predicament. "Ah, I just remembered. When you were here the other day dropping off those recipes, you mentioned something about monster grimoires. I'm curious as to why you would need those."

An expression of realisation appeared on Lynus' face and he brightened considerably, subtly informing Flavio that whatever he was going to say next had a lot to do with healing or the hospital.

"Oh, it's just a theory I have at the moment and it's kinda hard to explain," Lynus said before he began to chatter on, allowing for Flavio to care for his injured hand without looking at him with guilt. "But you know how grimoires give you an insight and ability to use the skill that is confined within that stone? I was curious to see that if studying the grimoire stones with monster skills will allow me, or other medics for that matter, insight into that particular skill. If we can better understand how a skill or attack is used, then we may be able to better understand how to assess and heal that particular injury. Tobyn and Hamza both seem to think that with a little bit of fussing about, I should be able to document characteristics of not only the skill itself, but perhaps even help with the documentation of the monster as well."

Flavio listened silently to Lynus as he chatted and found himself honestly amazed. "That's…ingenious! How in the world did you come up with that?"

Lynus blushed but smiled at him as his hand reached into his bag to pull out another roll of bandages. "Healing is very important to me," he said as he tugged back his hand to wrap the fresh bandages around his injured hand. As he did so, however, an unexpected emotion of pain appeared in his eyes and he gazed down at the floor. "Putting an end to people's pain and suffering is important to me."

Flavio couldn't help but feel that Lynus was being…haunted by something. Well, maybe not so much haunted, but as if troubled by memories or events that had happened that he wanted to forget, but for whatever reason were always there, just underneath the surface.

That thought troubled Flavio also and he honestly had to suppress a protective bristle. Lynus was so loving and compassionate to everyone. His capacity to love seemed limitless. Who or what would want to bring him any harm or heartache?

"Here's the ice." Fafnir's voice pulled Flavio from his thoughts and he turned to look over his shoulder to find the said swordsman standing there with the ice wrapped in a handtowel and a thick pillow under his arm. "I also brought a pillow."

"Great, thanks," Flavio said as he jumped to his feet and retrieved the two items from Fafnir before immediately turning his attention back to Lynus. "Now, let's look at that ankle of yours."

"It's only a sprain," Lynus said but grimaced as he lifted his foot up for Flavio to place the pillow on the chair he was using to alleviate the injury. "A support bandage should be enough after we get the swelling down, of course."

Flavio hummed lightly in acknowledgement as he readjusted the ice in the handtowel and carefully placed it over the now obviously swollen ankle. He probably won't be walking on it for a day or two.

He couldn't help but wonder how irritated the other Guardians would be when they found out that a guy walking into Lynus was responsible for his injuries, and how he didn't stop to see if he was all right.

"Hopefully Bertrand actually tells someone from your guild you're here and not get lost looking dreamily into Hrothgar's eyes," Flavio said as he fussed about getting the pillow and ice pack in the best position.

Lynus laughed but chose not to reply. Instead he reached into his bag to search around for something.

Flavio was abruptly pulled from his fussing when he felt a finger suddenly jab into the small of his back, at a very sensitive spot. "Ah!" he all but shrieked before he spun around and looked crossly at Fafnir. "How many times have I told you not to do that?"

Fafnir looked back at him blankly, but his bottom lip was still sticking out in a pout. "I had to get your attention somehow. You've been ignoring me."

"Ignoring you?" Flavio repeated in bewilderment before he reached out to pinch Fafnir's cheeks with his fingers and scolded him. "I haven't been ignoring you; I've been busy helping Lynus. God, it's been, what, fifteen minutes or something?"

Fafnir reached up to snare Flavio's wrists in his hands and tugged them down from his cheeks. "If I sprained my ankle, would you carry me?"

Flavio arched an eyebrow at him, though made no attempt to tug his hands free. "Dude, to be honest, I don't think I'd be able to lift you."

"Are you saying I'm fat?"

"I'm saying that you're heavy. Muscle mass is heavier than fat."

"Are you saying I'm ruggedly muscular?"

"Dude, are you fishing for compliments?"

"I'm looking for your undivided attention."

"What are you, a child?"

An honestly amused laugh from Lynus caused Flavio to stiffen when he realised how close he and Fafnir were standing; nearly chest to chest with Flavio's wrists still held in Fafnir's hands. He felt himself blush and he quickly tugged his hands free from Fafnir, though he had received a bit of resistance.

"Ah, s-sorry about that," Flavio said as he turned his attention back to Lynus. "Do you need anything else? What about something to eat or drink? Have you had breakfast yet? I bet you're tired, huh?"

Flavio was rambling, but he was abruptly cut off with a high-pitched 'eek!' when Fafnir unexpectedly and quite literally pounced on him from behind, his arms around his waist as he rested his chin on his shoulder.

"I'm still here," Fafnir said into Flavio's ear, his heated breath causing an unexpected shiver of…something to race down Flavio's spine. "Anything else?"

Flavio stood stock still, utterly stunned before he found movements back in his limbs and immediately reacted by trying to push the other away. He held firm, though, which was honestly reassuring in a way. "Oh, we're fine, you big baby."

Again, Lynus laughed before he shook his head slightly. "Thank you for your help, Fafnir."

Fafnir suddenly stilled and turned his head slightly to look at Lynus. He was quiet for a moment before unfurling his arms from around Flavio and taking a step back. "…Don't mention it," he said in a surprisingly easy-going manner before he turned around and wandered off.

Flavio watched as Fafnir walked away, feeling a little bewildered and…dejected honestly. He turned back to Lynus when he heard the orange-haired medic laugh softly once again.

"Fafnir appears to be jealous," Lynus unexpectedly said.

Flavio blinked. "...Of me?"

Lynus laughed yet again. "No, of me," he said with a knowing smile. "He's been pouting ever since you carried me here."

That…was true, wasn't it? That made him really happy, actually. What a spoilt little brat.

"Maybe I should apologise to him for keeping your attention away from him?" Lynus added.

"Leave that big baby to me," Flavio said as he dropped down onto the chair next to Lynus. "For now, let's take care of that ankle of yours. Also, I would like if you had something to eat before you left. I bet you skipped breakfast, didn't you?"

Lynus flushed lightly from embarrassment before he pouted cutely. "Oh, don't fuss over me."

"Nope, not listening. I'm going to get you something to eat and you're going to eat it. Even if I have to force-feed you. God knows you could afford a few extra pounds"

"Now, don't you start on me."

…You know, it was nice being able to care for someone like this. Even if it made Fafnir unnecessarily jealous. But, oh well, Flavio would just have to deal with him acting clingy later.

He was pretty sure he could handle that.