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“...Can I go in?”
Alexander stood outside of the room where Lord El-Melloi II had been rushed upon his return from Fuyuki. It wasn’t a rayshift that Alexander had been invited to. All he knew was that everyone had returned in a state of panic because their Caster looked like he was really going to collapse (unlike most other times when he looked like he was going to collapse from someone being unspeakably stupid) and possibly die. Doctor Roman took over from there, and for the past several hours, the young King of Conquerors stood outside.
Roman looked down at Alexander, not surprised by his presence or the eagerness Alexander had to just shove past him and run in. Asking was clearly a courtesy. All the same, Roman answered with all the grace he could. “I’d wait until tomorrow. He’s asleep right now, and probably needs some time alone to take in everything that’s happened.”
The eagerness of Alexander’s body language immediately deflated. “He’s okay though, right?”
“Yes, you don’t have to worry about his nature as a pseudo-servant.”
Alexander nodded, his tone serious and concerned. “...Can you tell me what happened on the mission?”
“I’ll...” Roman paused, weighing some invisible decision in his mind. “I will give you an overview. But I think you’ll need to talk to Lord El-Melloi II about details, okay?”
“Got it! There’s some leftover cake in the fridge from yesterday if...”
“Sure, we can talk over cake,” Roman said. The thought of cake seemed to improve his spirits. “Let’s go.”
***
Alexander quite liked the younger version of Gilgamesh. Beyond having someone closer in age to hang out with, he was one of the only other servants who could be summoned both as a younger ruler and an older one. There was comfort in that, and that Alexander would eventually take the other man’s lands felt like a point neither one of them really cared about - of all the people to take over, Alexander wasn’t a bad choice. At least, that was the conclusion Gilgamesh had reached early on.
It also meant that after training missions, they loitered together wherever they pleased, be it in the kitchen (only to be chased out by Emiya and his “mom energy” as Roman once called it), one of the common rooms, or just in the now-empty simulator room, as they were doing now. All of the gentle elbowing about missed attacks during the simulation were gone now, and Alexander’s mind wandered for a moment.
“...Can I ask you something?” Alexander turned to Gil.
Gil nodded. He was seated on the floor, legs crisscrossed and hands splayed flat on the floor. “Yeah.”
“You went on the second Fuyuki mission, right? The one that was about the 4th Grail War?”
Again, Gil nodded. “Yeah, why?”
“...What actually happened?” Alexander asked, a frown on his face. “Roman gave me a really broad debriefing, and Lord El-Melloi II said that he doesn’t want to talk about it right now and...that was a really close call for him, right? I don’t know why he won’t talk about it and why Roman’s so insistent about not giving details.”
Gil shrugged. “Roman probably knows if he says something, El-Melloi II will gut him. Verbally, I mean.”
“I dunno, he could probably really do it if he was super angry.”
“Verbally or physically, that’s probably why he’s refusing to tell you anything. As for El-Melloi II,” Gil leaned back, shifting so his forearms were on the ground instead, supporting him. For all that he didn’t act like his older self, Gil did tend to lounge in similar ways. “I don’t really like the older version of me. It turns out, El-Melloi II feels the same way about the younger version of himself, and we spent a lot of time with the two of them.”
Alexander nodded. “They fought?”
“Constantly,” Gil said. “And the Rider that the younger version of him...older you, I’ll just call him older you, ended up not liking him for a big chunk of time which,” he paused, as Alexander simply cringed. “Exactly. Anyway, if you’re wondering why he doesn’t want to talk about anything, I think that’s it.”
“Did older me end up liking him at all?”
“I guess?” Gil said. “I mean, they ended up getting excited to fight each other in that worthy rivals way, so I think that’s--”
“--That means yes.”
Gil laughed slightly. “Do you think that’s a mystery solved?”
Alexander nodded and began to get up onto his feet. “Yeah, I think so. I also think I saw Emiya poking around the pantry earlier, so we should go find out what he’s making before Arturia does and ends up hovering over his shoulder all day.”
Gil followed suit. “Ugh, she hasn’t been out on any simulations lately. Arturia’s probably there and will fight us for first dibs.”
Alexander grinned. “But we’re all warmed up and ready to fight! We’ve got a chance for sure.”
“If not a chance, then our luck rank is on our side,” Gil concluded. “I believe that this is when you say something about a path of conquest?”
“I don’t think I have time to do that, not when food’s at stake.”
“Then let’s go.”
***
“Duck!”
It was an order bellowed at the top of Alexander’s lungs as he sprang forward from the formation, slashing furiously at Ibaraki Douji. Lord El-Melloi II did so at the very last second, almost causing Alexander to fumble the move. But he had landed gracefully, driving his sword into the dangerous oni. Lord El-Melloi II swore very loudly before letting out a blast of magecraft, and then letting out an order of his own.
“Everyone behind me! Now!”
It was a signal that he was about to release his Noble Phantasm, and so Alexander ran out of the way as quickly as he could. There was anger in those commands, real anger, and as the defenses rose around Lord El-Melloi II, Alexander gave himself a moment to think. This kind of thing was normal on the battlefield, him running out in front of El-Melloi II. His teacher was a bit more fragile, and after seeing the dangers of being a psuedo-servant, well. Alexander had concluded that it would never happen again.
The dust from El-Melloi II’s noble phantasm settled, and it was Arturia who ended the whole thing, leaving the team standing on the field, a shower of cherry blossoms falling on them. Alexander closed the small distance between himself and Lord El-Melloi II as the other servants began to walk back towards Guadko, but it was El-Melloi II who spoke first.
“What the hell?!” he hissed, trying to keep his voice down. “You know better than to run in front of me like that before I’ve cast a spell!”
Alexander blinked. “I...I was trying to help,” he said, taken aback. “She was way too close and you were looking wobbly.”
“I’m fine!” Lord El-Melloi II snapped. “Just...don’t do it again, okay?” He paused, then added in a similar tone, “ I’ve noticed you’ve been putting yourself in front of me for the entire mission, usually before I’ve managed to do anything defensive. Why?”
“Why?” Alexander matched the tone exactly. “You’ve been so....so weird for the past month! You won’t tell me what happened in Fuyuki, our video game sessions have been almost quiet every time except for the control pads making noises, and you’ve been moving to stand in front of me almost every time I take a pause between attacks.”
“I’m fine!” Lord El-Melloi II thundered, managing to catch the rest of the party’s attention.
“No!” Alexander said. “You’re not and--” the party’s eyes settled on them. “...We’ll catch up in a minute.”
Guadko paused, then nodded, giving the two to continue the yelling match.
“Like I said,” Lord El-Melloi II sniffed. “I’m fine.”
Alexander folded his arms across his chest and glared up at Lord El-Melloi II with every ounce of anger that existed in his tiny body. “Don’t make me make you tell me.”
“How, pray tell, do you intend to do that?”
“As your king, I order you to explain what the hell is going on!”
Stunned silence was expected. The muttered, “Goddamnit,” was not. “Fine.”
Alexander kept standing with his arms crossed. “Well?”
“I...I had to defeat you in Fuyuki, okay?!” Lord El-Melloi II said, as if the statement explained everything.
“...And?”
“....And I had to do it in front of my younger self.”
“...Aaaaaaaaand?”
“And what?” he was back to snapping again. “Do you have any idea how horrifying it was for me to realize that in order to ever have a chance to see you again, to make sure I became the person who could see you again, I’d have to destroy you in front of my younger self? You. The person who set me on a far better path than I would ever reach on my own, who I thought I’d never see again. Dead. At my own hands. For the sake of the biggest, most horrible, spoiled brat in the universe, who also happens to be me. I forced myself to go through that trauma again, and unlike the first time when it was Gilgamesh responsible for your death, it was me causing the trauma. So forgive me if I’m a little overprotective of you right now!
“I....” Alexander tried to speak. Nothing else followed, and Lord El-Melloi II’s shoulders slumped forward.
“Sorry,” he said, refusing to meet Alexander’s eyes. “I didn’t mean to yell all of that.”
Alexander responded by hugging El-Melloi II tightly around the middle and squeezing as tightly as possible. Almost immediately, the man melted and brought his arms down to hug back, burying his face in the top of Iskandar’s hair. There was a sudden warmth, and for a while, Alexander didn’t say anything. The moment needed silence. Even when Lord El-Melloi II moved to finally let go, Alexander refused to allow it, keeping him there for a while more.
“You’re allowed to be protective,” Alexander said softly. “But I am too. I don’t have Hephaestion or my other generals or Aristotle to teach me how to become the person I will be. There’s you. I need you, and I’m worried that you’re slipping away because you’ve had to deal with so much else lately.”
A long, sobering sigh came from El-Melloi II, and while he didn’t try to escape Alexander’s grip, he did pick up his head and shift it slightly so that he could finally meet Alexander’s eyes. “I know I’ve been slipping. I...”
Alexander nodded to show that he understood and that no more words were needed. “We’ll work through it together, if you don’t mind if I try to be equal to you when we talk about serious stuff.”
Some sort of strangled noise escaped El-Melloi II’s throat, but he refused to let it have any real staying power. He nodded. “Nothing would make me happier,” he said softly.
Finally, Alexander let go of Lord El-Melloi II from their embrace, but insisted on taking El-Melloi II’s hand in his. “I’m sure the group isn’t too far ahead.”
Lord El-Melloi II shook his head slowly. “I’m sure 90% of them are listening in.”
Alexander only laughed.