xxvi. i'll cover you / 99 a.d.d

Seeing Jules like this hurts.

He's one of the bravest people that Vito knows, but he looks terrified as he watches Berengar drill into Eirian's skull. All the color has left his face and he's grabbing onto Vito's hand like it's a lifeline.

"Eirian was such a good kid," Jules mutters, tears forming in his eyes. "I honestly thought he was going to win."

"I did too," Vito admits. He knows Jules hasn't been the type to get overly attached to the kids he mentors, Vito isn't either, but Jules does have the tendency to be right with everything he says. Vito really believed him about Eirian.

"I'm sorry Berengar did that."

Even if he wasn't Vito's official mentee, he was with Berengar for a whole week. He saw the way Mads would panic when he got into fights during training, but neither of them thought he would do this.

(Then again, nobody expected what Vito did either, not even himself. He went into the arena as Springridge's golden boy, noble and honorable — the pinnacle of what a cadet should be. He came back a monster, covered in his own brother's blood and the guts of six others.)

"You don't need to apologize." The Jules that Vito fell in love with would've said otherwise — damn he's going through it. "I just keep thinking about the interviews I'm going to have to give in Eirian's memory, and how I won't be able to explain any of what happened."

Vito remembers Elessia being a struggle for Jules for a different reason. She was an abuser — how was Jules supposed to have sympathy for her?

"Maybe you don't have to do the interviews," Vito suggests. "I can do them for you, if you want. I know I didn't know Eirian the way you did, but I can think of some things to say."

"You don't have to." Jules wipes the tears from his eyes. "I can pull myself together, I promise."

"I'm sure you can, but I'm saying you don't have to. I've got you — I promise."

"Okay."

Vito gently unwinds his hand from Jules and sets it down on the table in front of them. "I'll be back before you know it." He presses a kiss to Jules' forehead.

He takes a quick glance at the screen before leaving the room and notices Raptor, his own Tribute, roaring like a wild animal, his entire face turning red like a tomato. Yeah, it's best that Vito doesn't watch what very well could be his mirror.