Work Text:
In the minute or so it took his senses to come back he was able to determine three things. One: he had been momentarily knocked out. Two: his ears were still ringing. Three: something cold and wet was rhythmically falling onto his forehead in what was a contender for the least pleasant sensation he had ever felt. It's not like it hurt or anything but it was cold and becoming increasingly irritating with every second that passed by. No wonder this was a form of torture, even though he had a headache and his arm was stuck in an awkward position, all he could manage to think about was that dripping, that incessant, God awful-
"Enough already!"
Gil practically screeched as he sat bolt upright all at once, flinging off whatever bits of rock and dirt had fallen on top of him. Oh that's right he fell. The floor had collapsed. Again. If he had a silver coin for every time a dungeon's floor had fallen out from under him, he'd have two silver coins. At least last time he had been able to react, instead of getting brained by a chunk of cobblestone right away. Gil tried to think back to the events leading up to this moment.
Lizel had already guessed that the large black stone chamber, completely unlit and devoid of any objects save for a singular conspicuous chest in the middle, had in fact, most likely been a trap. Sure it was his job to point out any traps or puzzles, but Gil couldn't help making a snide comment in response to his observation. No shit, Sherlock. Regardless, Gil had approached the chest, sword in hand. Lizel had positioned himself back a ways with his gun at the ready. As Gil approached he swore he saw the chest twitch. On closer inspection there seemed to be something that looked suspiciously like drool leaking out of the chest's lid. "Very subtle." He thought to himself sarcastically. Unfortunately, it had in fact been more subtle than he realized as the chest was a distraction. He had barely taken three steps when his foot hit a thin wire running across the ground. At the same time the chest sprang towards him from its resting place. Its lid snapped open to reveal dozens of jagged rows of teeth lunging straight for his neck, slobber flying everywhere as its ghoulish snarl echoed around the chamber. Gil took a swift step to the side and whipped his sword hand around, slamming the blade straight into the back of the chest's mouth and sending it flying into the opposite wall.
Almost at the exact moment steel hit enamel there had been a loud crashing noise from somewhere above them. The room shook, his line of sight tilted as he lost his footing, and somewhere behind him he faintly registered hearing a startled yelp before something hard crashed into his skull and everything went black. When he managed to open his eyes a few minutes later he had been where he now sat, surrounded by only uninviting darkness. Uninviting wet darkness. Looking up, the fall wasn't really that far. Maybe fifty feet at most. The bottom of the ravine he was currently sitting in was covered in a few inches of disgusting murky water and littered with pitch black jagged rock formations. There wasn't much light coming from above, and what little filtered down was absorbed by the black of the stone walls, making the ravine look like a bottomless void when viewed from above. Gil extracted himself from the rubble that had attempted to bury him alive and brushed himself off. He was thoroughly soaked, but there were worse fates to behold. It didn't take long before his vision began adjusting to the darkness and he was able to take in his surroundings. To the left: black rocks and muddy water. To the right: black rocks and muddy water. In front of him: A wall.
"Yep." He muttered bitterly. "We are stuck in a hole." He paused on what he had just said. We. We? Uh oh. He looked around again, a bit more urgently this time. He didn't see Lizel on the ground anywhere. A flicker of panic sparked to life in his chest. "Alright let's not freak out." He attempted to calm himself. Lizel hadn't been standing next to him when the floor crumbled. He must have just landed somewhere else. Probably not too far. Or maybe he'd managed to escape the room before it collapsed. Thinking back to the yelp he had heard before passing out Gil decided the second option was unlikely.
After a moment Gil decided to start by searching left. He spent a good 10 minutes checking the area, walking in progressively wider circles and calling for Lizel. He took extra care to check any piles of rock that could fit a person under them, and more than a few times caught himself glancing up at the sharp stalagmites jutting up towards the ceiling. He was just about to give up and start checking the other side of the ravine when his sharp ears picked up the echo of rubble being moved accompanied by a quiet groan.
"Lizel?" He waited expectantly. Then a second later:
"Over here~" came a hoarse voice from the exact opposite direction he had been searching. Hastily he turned around and picked his way towards the voice, finding Lizel sitting down half buried in pebbles. Just as Gil had been, Lizel was similarly soggy and coated in dust. Gil looked him up and down briefly. His ponytail had half come loose, white hair sticking out in various directions, and there were some small cuts and bruises on his face and hands. Despite this he greeted Gil with his usual placid smile so it seemed that he was alright aside from looking a bit more homeless than usual. Feeling immensely relieved, Gil reached out a hand for Lizel, intending to help him stand up. Oddly Lizel missed a beat before taking it somewhat reluctantly and as Gil pulled him to his feet Lizel made a small "oomf" sound and almost immediately stumbled and had to sit back down.
"What's your problem?" Gil asked, alarmed. Lizel shuffled and awkwardly looked off to the side, trying to avoid eye contact.
"Ah. Hmm. Well…It's nothing really." If it was possible for somebody so composed to ever appear guilty, Lizel did right now. He fidgeted his fingers and kept trying to find new things to look at that weren't Gil. This behavior quickly got on the swordsman's nerves.
"Spit it out already, we haven't got all day."
"Well… it seems that my leg was broken in the fall earlier. Nothing to worry about, just I don't think I'll be able to walk at all."
"Huh…?"
"Hm?" The two stared at each other. Gil glanced at Lizel's legs and noticed that indeed one of them was… not quite angled right. He hadn't noticed because of the filthy water obscuring his view. He looked back up and stared blankly at Lizel who looked back innocently. No pain in his expression, no indication of any potential problems. For some reason Gil was reminded of the water dripping onto his forehead earlier. 'Annoying' was the word that came to mind. Then he started to feel his blood boil. He wasn't totally sure why, but all at once he could no longer stand to look at that stupid face wearing that idiotic benign expression. He started to say something but clamped his mouth shut. It wasn't going to come out right. He could feel it.
"Oh I see." Was all he managed before turning around without another word and stomping away, not totally sure where he was going.
Having been utterly abandoned Lizel blinked, somewhat taken aback by his companion's behavior. He sat there for a moment, wondering what he should do. And ultimately decided 'not sitting here' was the best place to start. He awkwardly scooted a little closer to the wall and leaned his shoulder against it, trying to push himself up on his good leg. If the other limb screamed in protest at the movement and shot molten bolts of pain up through his body, it went ignored. Shakily standing up now with the help of the wall he decided to test out his walking ability. He gingerly tapped the ground with his injured foot. It hurt, sure, and his balance was off, but it would probably be doable he decided. Resolving to power through, Lizel pushed off of the wall, putting his weight on both legs and immediately collapsing as they buckled underneath him. He hit the ground with a loud splash and a pathetic squeaking noise that echoed off the walls. Great, he was right back where he started.
Sitting back up he pondered his options once more, muttering under his breath.
"It's a matter of structural instability, the tissues just aren't capable of support anymore. Maybe if I were to do something like that I could-" Despite his best efforts however, Lizel couldn't think of any viable plans. He thought he could, for example, just switch to walking on his hands, but the more he thought about it the more likely it seemed that such an attempt would only end in further injury. Lizel shook his head vigorously, as if to try and dislodge the idea from his brain. He looked around at his surroundings once more. The silent darkness surrounding him became increasingly ominous the longer he sat. He wanted to get up and explore, find an exit, find a monster, do something other than being rooted helplessly to the ground. The longer he was stuck the more aware he became of the fact that he was drenched in dirty freezing cold water. He didn't particularly mind being covered in grime, even if the sight would have likely put his father into cardiac arrest. But the cold was another issue entirely. His entire body felt the urge to shudder violently in an undignified attempt to warm itself up. An urge he repressed stubbornly.
It was as he was lost in his thoughts about such mundanities that he heard the sound of heavy splashing footsteps approaching him. Looking towards the noise he saw Gil returning with several soggy splintered boards tucked under his arm. Lizel noted that he seemed less agitated than he had been when he'd stomped away; although his eyebrows were still scrunched up in a disgruntled frown. Gil stopped a few steps away and stared at Lizel. There was a few seconds of awkward silence before Lizel decided he'd had enough and lightly coughed.
"I don't suppose you found anything useful over there?"
"Yes actually, there's a staircase on the opposite end of the ravine. I've got no clue where it leads, but it's a better shot than staying down here." As he grumbled out an answer Gil squatted down in front of Lizel and gingerly picked up his injured leg, eliciting an almost imperceptible flinch from the latter. Gil's sharp vision managed to catch the slight movement and he squinted his eyes in an accusatory manner. He said nothing though, and instead started carefully removing Lizel's boot. Lizel had several questions but was a little afraid to ask any of them. What was he doing? Had Gil developed a foot fetish in the last 10 minutes he was gone? Ignoring the quizzical look boring holes into the top of his head Gil continued his work and slotted the wooden boards snugly against the leg with a fractured bone. Making sure they were at about the right angle, he then tied them in place tightly with some black strips of fabric, which seemingly had been ripped from the hem of his long coat. Inspecting his work Gil grunted in resigned satisfaction.
"I guess that'll have to do for now. Good thing that mimic fell down here, eh?" Lizel whipped his head back around from where he had been dissociating into the ceiling, astonished.
"These are monster parts?!" Lizel had never even thought about the possibility of using mimics as wood sources. His imagination ran wild. Could other varieties be used in a similar way? If dungeons reset periodically, could this be a potential infinite resource tap? Gil cocked an eyebrow at Lizel's animated reaction.
"They're not anymore. What, is that a problem?"
"No no, of course not. It's just that it's a bit creepy to think about, or something like that."
"Somehow I don't believe you." Lizel forced a laugh. Gil got up on his feet before once again bending down, this time wrapping one arm around the crook of Lizel's knees and securing the other under his shoulders and around his back, effortlessly sweeping him into what was essentially a princess hold. This was not the first time Gil had needed to carry Lizel but for some reason Lizel felt especially incensed about it this time.
"You don't really need to-"
"Shut it." Gil winced. He hadn't meant for it to come out so harsh. Lizel tried again.
"I just mean that this is an inconvenient position mobility-wise. What if something happens?" Gil considered this, then nodded and placed Lizel back on the ground. This time turning around and letting Lizel hold onto his shoulders while wrapping his one good leg around his waist. Gil held the other one safely tucked under his elbow.
Now prepared for any possible dangers, the two set off towards the alleged exit. The rest of the walk to the staircase was almost entirely silent. When they reached the bottom steps, hidden around a bend and behind some fallen boulders, Lizel couldn't help but grimace. The staircase was narrow and steep. For some unseen reason it was not dark like the rest of the ravine, but the steps were slick with algae and the entire passage was just as soggy as the rest of the floor. If you were to make a single misstep you'd be lucky not to break your neck. Despite this, Gil began to climb confidently almost entirely unhindered, even with the weight of another full grown man on his back. The passage up seemed never-ending, but there was light the whole way up, which it was now clear came from small luminescent crystals embedded in the walls at random intervals. Lizel looked at the crystals passing by with great curiosity. Were they powered by magic? Some sort of bioluminescent organism perhaps? Why were they here in the passage but nowhere to be found in the ravine or for that matter in the rest of the dungeon they had explored up to that point? They seemed placed deliberately. Was this evidence that dungeons were not natural but rather made by some intelligent design? Pondering these questions, as well as many others, he failed to notice that it had been over half an hour since either of them had said anything. Failing to comprehend the reason for the tension in the air, Lizel decided to start a conversation.
"Um. These stairs sure are long. What depth do you think we're at?" internally cringing at his own lack of interesting topics Lizel plastered a smile onto his face, which Gil couldn't see from in front of him anyway.
"Zip it. Save your strength." Was all Lizel got in return. He was starting to feel a little indignant. There was no reason for Gil to be so irate like this, he'd never seen the mercenary acting so immature before. Still he tried to keep his tone light.
"I'm sorry I'm making you carry me but I do appreciate it I hope you know."
"Agh, seriously just knock that shit off!"
"Knock what off? I don't understand why you're acting like this."
"Stop acting like this isn't concerning! I don't understand how you can be so nonchalant about snapping your goddamn leg! That's basically a death sentence in a dungeon, if I wasn't here you'd be dead meat. How can you just… not care!?" Lizel blinked, once again taken aback.
"But you are here. It's not a problem."
"Why didn't you ask for help right away then? If you knew I could handle the situation then why try to hide it? You were like this in the crystal labyrinth too, if I hadn't stopped you when I did, you would have used all your mana and pointlessly passed out. Then what, did you want me to carry your lifeless body all the way back to town? We'd both be better off if you would just speak up when something's off, acting tough just makes you more of a nuisance."
"I-" He was speechless. Not only was Gil, a man of few words, completely reaming him out right now, but he couldn't even think of a good reply. "You never complain about getting hurt either, how is it different?" He tried lamely.
"I don't get hurt in the first place. You're just reckless." Silence descended on the two again for a few moments. The only sounds were wet footsteps on stone. The atmosphere was now even worse than it had been a few moments ago.
Lizel's conversation starter had completely backfired. Now he felt awful. Not just emotionally, all the accumulated aches in his body were suddenly and grandly making themselves known. He fought back a shiver and snuggled up closer against Gil's back, trying to absorb some heat. Unfortunately Gil was also soaked so there was not much effect.
"I guess... I'm sorry. It's not something I really think about."
"Really? Seems like it takes a lot of effort to be as uselessly poised as you." Lizel wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, so he just ignored it and continued.
"It's just second nature to me is all. Or maybe more like a learned behavior I guess."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lizel blinked slowly and took a moment to think about his reply.
"It's just part of my upbringing. Something about growing up in high society." Gil twisted his neck around, making eye contact over his shoulder and giving Lizel a confused look.
"What does growing up rich have to do with you being an idiot? Every other noble I've met can't wait to complain about whatever the hell crawled up their ass…"
"Well I guess when you put it that way." Lizel's head tilted to the side. "Maybe for me it's more like an… aberrant side effect."
"An ab- what?"
"In a noble's eyes, commoners aren't a threat. Their real enemies are themselves. Other nobility that is. The weak are weeded out and exploited, so if you want to secure a good position you can't show any openings. At least that's what my family seemed to believe. And so that's how I was taught. Complaining was bad, sucking it up was good. That's all."
Gil felt his skin crawl. He never liked nobles, with their arrogant attitudes, the way they boasted about wealth they hadn't earned, their ridiculous penchant for flair. They all grew up perfectly safe in their mansions, pampered and spoiled till they couldn't even take care of themselves while everybody beneath them fought to survive. And yet, whenever he thought about Lizel, thought about where he came from, his opinion was a bit different. He liked the thought of Lizel having an easy, happy childhood. Gil thought he deserved it, what with how hard he worked, what a good heart he had. But now hearing this disturbing bit of information he was starting to have second thoughts. Maybe he had never been hurting for luxuries, but he was surrounded by awful company.
"So what, you were some kind of perfect obedient housepet as a child? Somehow I have trouble picturing that." Gil felt Lizel shrug against his back.
"Oh no, I was an awful child. I can't even count how many times I tried to run away, or brought wild animals into the house to keep as pets, or hid my father's reading glasses just to spite him." That startled Gil and made him laugh hard. After recovering from his outburst which towards the end had turned into a coughing fit he had tears in the corners of his eyes.
"That one's a little easier to picture."
"Yes well, after a while I guess it stopped being tolerable to them. My parents I mean. At some point the punishments outweighed the freedom." Lizel grimaced slightly. "Eventually I decided to just pretend to be what they wanted. Nobody gets hurt that way. Except the thing about pretending is that if you do it long enough it stops being pretend. Then you can't remember what you used to be." Lizel dropped his chin on Gil's shoulder when he felt his head getting fuzzy. The cold was seeping through his skin and muscles and it felt like his very core was being drenched in icy slush. Maybe Gil was right when he told him to save his strength; talking this much while in a weakened state was really taking it out of him. "It isn't a matter of pretending I'm okay, more like the thought of being hurt just didn't occur to me."
"Didn't I tell you when our contract expired that I hate that shit? It's creepy. We're equals here, I'm not waiting for you to drop your guard."
"Sorry. I guess I'm still figuring that out." Lizel closed his eyes and unconsciously nuzzled the side of Gil's neck. He felt so sleepy. Although Lizel hadn't quite realized what he was doing Gil certainly had as every muscle in his body tensed up at once, the tips of his ears turning a shocking shade of vermillion. After a few seconds and a deliberate cough he tried to distract himself.
"Funny, I figured you were a fast learner. I guess even you have bad subjects though." The only indication Lizel gave that he had heard the jab was weak 'hmph' from Gil's collar. "Hey, do you remember that thing you said to me that one time?" Lizel perked his head up groggily and opened his eyes.
"I've said a lot of things before, Gil. I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You know, around when we first met. Until we, or your guys on the other side figure out how to zap you back to your world, you're on vacation. You have no status anymore, just forget about that high society shit."
"Hmm. Did I say something like that?"
"Wha- yes, that's the whole reason we came to this pathetic greenhorn dungeon! You just wanted something new to explore!" Lizel stuck his nose up defiantly.
"That doesn't sound like me at all." Gil growled and Lizel snickered. The mood had become miles more friendly than a few minutes ago.
Continuing their childish bickering the two continued up the staircase until before they knew it they had come to a short flat landing blocked by a brick wall littered with cracks through which rays of sunlight streamed. With a good hearty kick from Gil the stone and brick crumbled like dried mud and just like that the duo was outside again. Exactly where they had started, at the dungeon's entrance, although a few feet to the left.
"Well ain't that convenient."
"Aw." Lizel frowned a bit. "I was hoping we would find another unmapped cavern."
"They ain't that easy to find, ya airhead. Was just a regular old trap. One that apparently just sends you back to square one, provided you survived the blast." Lizel nodded thoughtfully as he evaluated their experience in the dungeon just now.
"Well. Should we go back in then? We didn't finish exploring after all."
"Sure sure, as long as you're fine with crawling." Gil started trudging away from the dungeon, completely deflecting Lizel's complaints. Why was it when he finally voiced displeasure it was about something like this.
They could have stayed and waited for the carriage dropping off the next batch of adventurers, but there was no telling when it would arrive and the sun was going down. Besides, Gil wanted to get his slapdash first aid replaced with some real medical treatment. He felt bad for acting so angry towards Lizel before, but at the same time he considered his emotions weirdly justified. Confused by this contradiction, he begrudgingly accepted that Lizel just tended to make him act weird. It wasn't the first time and likely wouldn't be the last. It was like a superpower of the delicate young noble, he seemed to turn everybody around him into fools.
While he was lost in his thoughts Gil paid little attention to the person riding on his back; so he startled a bit when he suddenly felt Lizel's head drop onto his shoulder, the rest of his body going fully limp. Concerned, he looked back over his shoulder and was met with Lizel's face next to his, eyes closed and breathing softly and steadily through his nose. With some relief Gil realized that Lizel must have also been quite shaken up by the day's events. He couldn't help a suppressed grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"Knowing him he'll be out 'til this time tomorrow."
In the end, Gil proved correct. Lizel slept right through their trip to the clinic, didn't even flinch at having his leg reset, made no movements at all as Gil carried him back to the inn they'd effectively made their home at this point, and when he finally did awaken 20 hours afterwards he was perfectly happy to be confined to his bed, reading his books as he ate the meals the innkeeper was kind enough to bring to him. Gil scoffed a bit at his shameless behavior. If he's this content being waited on then what's the big deal with complaining about an injury? Not for the first time that weekend, Gil once again figured that Lizel really ought to complain more often, but deep down he knew that he probably never would.