Work Text:
They've done this song and dance so many times now that he's lost count of how many times he's heard his name flow from those lips.
"Ruze! Help me!"
A simple beast that didn't need two people to take it down.
"Ruze!"
He ran out of bullets and he didn't have enough time to transform to fight back and protect himself.
"I need you, Ruze!"
He got himself stuck and needed help getting out.
"Ruze!"
"I need your help over here Ruze!"
" Ruuuuuuze-"
Ruze was quite frankly, tired of having to always come to Jurard's rescue for every little thing. Jurard formed Armis for fucks sake! Why does Ruze have to play hero for the prince? Everytime Jurard cried out for Ruze, Ruze came running. He was quite frankly done playing knight to the prince.
Their newest hunt was simple. 'Kill a Corruption Beast that's been terrorizing a small village.' Ruze could do this one in his sleep, but Jurard insisted that this was a two man job, so off they went to the middle of bum fuck nowhere to take down a beast for cheap money.
When they arrived they saw the beast. It wasn't quite as described, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. The fight was going smoothly, and by smoothly, the two were screaming at each other the entire time and as they were bickering, the beast had called for backup.
"Oh great! Just what we need! More fuckin' Corruption!" Ruze yelled as he brought his trusted axe down on a smaller beast. “If you would've just listened this would've been over by now!”
"Ruze! Ruze, I need help!" Jurard yelled as he started to get further away from the battle. He was too close to the beasts. Jurard was a ranged fighter, and was only close combat when he was out of bullets. These Beasts were fast and split the two up without them noticing.
Ruze ignored the cries of his leader as he continued to beat down the black sludge of the Corruption.
"Ruze!" Jurard's voice began to panic. There were too many on him. He couldn't take them all on his own. He didn't have enough time to transform and he didn't have enough time to reload his guns without getting attacked.
Again, Ruze continued to ignore him. 'Jurard's a big boy, he can take care of himself, ' Ruze told himself as he continued to beat back the Corruption.
"RUZE!" The scream was different then Jurard’s usual cries, but again, Ruze ignored him. Something in Ruze's chest tightened a bit at the scream, but he had a job to do. When Ruze finally took down the Beasts near him, he turned to look over where Jurard was, except he wasn't there.
"Jurard?" Ruze questioned. He couldn't hear gun fire, he didn't hear Jurard's yelling. It was silent. Where did the rest of the Corruption and Jurard go? "Jurard?" Ruze called out louder as he started to move to where he last heard Jurard call for him. "Jurard!" Ruze could hear the sounds of the Corruption over the wind, but no Jurard. As Ruze climbed over the sand dunes, his heart dropped and his world stopped.
Jurard laid still as his dark blood stained the stark white sand beneath him. Two Beasts stood over him, looking as if they were ready to feast on a meal of dinosaur flesh. Ruze had no idea if Jurard was alive, but there were no longer any thoughts in his head. Only rage, as he screamed out a blood curdling war cry and with Zephyr raised in his hands, he ran.
"JURARD!"
The Beasts didn't stand a chance as Ruze unleashed his rage upon them. How dare they hurt Jurard, how dare they. The beats turned their attention to the ranging hunter and with a cry, the beasts lunged at Ruze. They were not going to let him take their meal away.
Jurard laid there, his pulse was screaming in his ears, the sun was bright and blinding him and his body felt numb. He thought he could hear something over the sounds of his own blood, but everything mixed together in some sort of strange white noise. Was he still alive? He had no idea. Why didn't Ruze come to help him? Was Ruze ok?
Time either slowed or stopped around him completely. He didn't know how long he was laying in the sand, how much of it was red from his blood? Jurard felt something land next to him, then he felt something touch his neck. Was this it? Was the Corruption finally going to end him?
He felt something pulling at his coat, the fabric brushing against his wound. Jurard screamed in pain as his coat was pushed up.
Words floated into his ears, but everything was muffled and sounded as if he was underwater. It sounded like something was calling for him, but he wasn't sure.
The sudden pain he had received had caused his muscles to spasm. His arms flailed a bit and smacked the thing touching him, sending waves of pain throughout his body. The pain was too much for him, and his already dark and muffled world went silent.
Ruze tried to calm his panicking nerves as he wrapped his jacket tightly around Jurard's waist. Jurard had screamed and smacked him, so he wasn't dead, but now he was eerily silent and it worried Ruze. He placed two fingers on Jurard's neck again to search for a pulse, and luckily, he found it. It was much weaker than before, but it was still there.
Ruze placed a hand under Jurard's knees, then up near his shoulders, picking the dinosaur up in a bridal carry as he began to run. Run to where? Anywhere but here. Ruze had a feeling that that call for backup the Corruption put out might still bring more. Ruze was already exhausted as he ran, the weight of Zephyr on his back and Jurard in his arms caused him to slow down a lot. But he needed to get Jurard to a town, fast.
"You fucking dipshit." Ruze cursed as he looked down to the extremely pale dinosaur in his arms, "why didn't you say that ya' had too many on you instead of screaming my name?"
He had no idea how long he was running for, minutes, hours, seconds... but eventually, a small village came into view. The one they were sent to protect. The hope that someone might be able to help Jurard in there gave Ruze the adrenaline rush he needed to get his legs moving again.
His lungs were burning and his legs were screaming, but hope was right there, right around the corner. Ruze willed his body to move and as he got closer, he could start to see silhouettes.
"Help! I need a doctor!" Ruze yelled as the silhouettes became people, shocked people, but people. Many villagers moved out of the way of the crimson hunter, unsure of what to do. As Ruze got further into the small village, he continued his yelling, hoping someone would help his prince. A crowd began to form around him.
"Calm down son-" an older man started, Ruze's back was to him.
Ruze turned around, anger on his face, "He's bleeding out and you want me to calm down?!" He yelled. The man jumped back in horror at the mess in Ruze's arms.
A woman with shoulder length brown hair pushed her way through the small crowd, walking up to the old man and panicking Ruze. She saw the pale Jurard in Ruze's arms and her eyes went wide. She ran up and placed her hands on Jurard's clammy face.
"Hey! Who are you?" Ruze jerked Jurard out of her hands.
The woman glared at him as she went back to touching Jurard's face, "the doctor you were screaming for." She hissed as she continued to assess Jurard's condition. She felt around Jurard's neck to see if he had a pulse at all. It was weak, almost gone, but still hanging on. "He's alive, barely, but still breathing. Follow me."
The woman turned around to the gawking crowd of people, "move, this is an emergency!" She yelled as she started to go back towards the direction she emerged from. Ruze quickly followed after her with a small bit of hope in his chest. He couldn't let Jurard die.
Time made no sense to Ruze. The world around him seemed fast, yet slow. His body moved on its own as he followed after this strange woman. His mouth moved as he explained what happened, but not once did Ruze even realize he was talking or what was being said. The only thing on his mind was making sure Jurard was alive, and that he wouldn't die. The next time Ruze blinked, he was sitting in a chair in some room.
His mind panicked. Where was Jurard? He looked around the room, it looked like a person's living room that was converted into a doctor’s waiting room. There were a few picture frames on the walls, a house plant that Ruze didn't have the time or skill to identify, and a few chairs. How long was he sitting here for? He didn't have to wait for long, as a side door opened and out walked the woman who hopefully, helped Jurard. Her clothes were clean, but her face was covered in sweat and her hair was pushed out of her face with a headband.
Ruze stood up as he watched the woman's face soften, "he's gonna be fine." Ruze felt his legs give out as he landed back down onto the chair with a heavy sigh of relief. "You're damn lucky I got to him when I did. A few minutes longer and he would've been beyond saving." She signed as he placed her hands on her hips.
Ruze looked up at her, "thanks... What was your name again?"
"What, did your brain crash so hard you forgot our entire conversation, Ruze?" She questioned, "name's Lydia."
Ruze blinked a few times, "Yeah, I guess it did."
"Follow me." Lydia turned and motioned for the hunter to follow her. Ruze quickly scrambled up and followed after her. She led Ruze down a hall and stopped at a closet. She looked Ruze up and down as she opened the door and began searching for something. "I'm washing his clothes right now, because I don't want to send a patient home in bloodied clothes-" she handed Ruze a small pile of clothes and a towel. A confused look was on his face, "-you look like you could use a shower and a change of clothes too."
Ruze looked down at the pile of fabric in his hands, then back up to Lyida, "can I-"
"He's sleeping. Let him rest and get yourself cleaned up. He's going to be resting for a while. The poor guy lost a lot of blood." Lydia said as she led Ruze down to a bathroom and ushered him in, "place your clothes in that hamper and I'll grab it in a few minutes." She shut the door as she left.
Ruze blinked as he stared at the bathroom he was shoved into and the clothes down in his hands. He looked over to a mirror and almost jumped with how exhausted he looked. Ruze was covered in dirt, sand, sweat and blood. Was it his blood? Corruption goop? Or Jurard's blood?
Ruze peeled his clothes off, dropped them in the hamper, then walked into the shower. He has no idea why he was doing this, he has no reason to, but Jurard was resting and what could he do? Continued to sit and stew in worry? Might as well disassociate in some strangers shower for 45 minutes instead. He's not paying the water bill.
As the hot water washed over him, his thoughts traveled back to the hunt, back to the way Jurard screamed his name before the Corruption attacked him and almost ended his life. Ruze sighed, "you better fuckin' live though this you damn gecko."
As Ruze washed himself, his thoughts continued to stay on Jurard. Why was he thinking about this so hard? Why was he so worried about Jurard?
Ruze didn't even hear Lydia open the door and sneak the hamper out. After some time, Ruze finally got out. He dried his hair, and slowly got dressed. When he left the bathroom he stood awkwardly in the hallway. Where was Lydia? Where was Jurard?
"Ah, I take it that you're done with your shower?" Lydia's voice came from his left. He turned to her holding a small tray of medical equipment, a bowl, a sponge and a towel.
"Can-" Ruze started.
"Yes, fine. Follow me." Lydia motioned with her head for Ruze to follow her. Ruze quickly chased after her.
"I didn't even-"
"You were holding onto him in almost a death grip." Lydia walked up a flight of stairs and opened the door to a room. Inside was a simple bed, chair and end table.
Jurard was sleeping on the bed, the sheets were pulled up to his chest. Ruze could see some bandages poking out under the covers, but they looked clean. He didn't want to know the extent of the damage the Corruption left on him. Lydia walked up to Jurard, set the tray down and pulled the sheets back to check on the bandages. Ruze felt his heart shatter as he stared at Jurard. The bandages hidden under the sheets were covered in dark blood, Ruze was sure there were bruises blooming under the bandages as well.
"I almost lost him at one point. Jurard lost a lot of blood." Lydia sat down in the chair as she started to wipe Jurard's brow. He was covered in sweat and Lydia was worried his wound got infected. She started to undo the bandages and Ruze saw the true extent of the slice.
Jurard's left side had been stabbed right above his hip, and had been sliced open. He had a number of stitches on him holding his once milk white skin, was now bruised and bloodied skin together. Ruze watched as Lydia peeled the soiled bandages off, cleaned around the cut, then began to wrap him back up.
"Odd, his wound is healing faster than normal." Lydia mumbled as she wrapped and tightened the bandages. She turned to the still silent Ruze, "I should have you leave and let him rest now that you've seen him, but I'll let you stay with him." She stood up, grabbed the tray and as she walked past Ruze, she mumbled, "just try to stay out of his bed, ok?"
Ruze snapped out of his thoughts as he glared at her, "the fuck are you talking about?"
Lydia shrugged her shoulders, "You wouldn't have been this protective of him if he didn't mean a lot to you. I've seen a lot in my years as a doctor." She walked out of the room and closed the door.
Ruze stared at the door in the now silent room, the only sound coming from Jurard's breathing. Ruze sighed as he walked over to the chair and dropped himself down. He looked over at the sleeping pale prince. Jurard looked down right awful, and Ruze knew that if he listened , Jurard wouldn't have been laying in this bed.
"You dumbass," Ruze mumbled as he moved some of Jurard's bangs out of his face, "what the fuck are you doing to me?"
Everything hurt. Breathing hurt, moving hurt, everything hurt . Jurard groaned in pain as he started to finally wake up. He could feel soft warm sheets under him and a heavy blanket over him. Jurard felt something brush against his side and let out a painful moan. Why did his side hurt so much?
"-rd? A... yo...ke?" Jurard heard a voice, but it was muffled and everything sounded like he was underwater. The voice sounded familiar, but Jurard couldn't figure out who's voice it was. "J..ard?" He heard the voice question again.
When he tried to open his eyes, he was met with blinding white light. Jurard hurriedly shut his eyes as he moaned in pain. He wanted to let the quiet darkness take him back, let him sleep and take the pain away, but the pain forced him awake.
Jurard blinked a few times, his blurred vision slowly coming back into focus. He was staring at a strange colored blob in front of him, but as he blinked a few more times, he started to recognize the blob.
"Ru..ze?" Jurard almost didn't recognize his own gravelly voice. He watched Ruze's worried expression soften a bit.
"Yeah, ya big dumb gecko, it's me." Ruze signed as he leaned back in his chair.
Jurard weakly looked around the room he was in, a frown on his face. "What... happened? Where... are we?" He croaked out.
Ruze shifted in his seat, "you almost died, remember?" Jurard looked at Ruze in shock. "You were screamin' my name, but I... I ignored ya', thinkin' you were just tryin' to get me to go over and save yer princess ass... but, the Corruption got ya' and you were bleedin' out..."
Jurard looked away from Ruze, "I..."
"Why didn't you say you had too many of them on you instead of just screaming my name?" Ruze questioned as he looked at bandages on Jurard's chest.
Jurard continued to look everywhere but at Ruze's face, "I... you always came before when I called for you..."
Ruze sighed as he looked into Jurard's ruby eyes, "before, you called me for the dumbest of things, or for things that you could've handled yourself. How was I supposed to know this was different?"
Jurard looked into Ruze's amethyst orbs, then looked away, "I..."
"You almost died . If I didn't get to you when I did, you would've been Corruption food." Ruze sighed again as he leaned back, "you... I almost lost your dumbass because of this." It was rare for Ruze to express his emotions, so Jurard listened. "I fuckin' ran here, I wrapped you in my coat to try and slow your bleeding, I almost lost you, you fucking moron."
Jurard looked away, ashamed of himself for causing Ruze to worry about him. Jurard was about to speak, but Ruze continued.
"Apprently, I was holding onto you so fuckin' hard, that the doctor had to pry you out of my damn grip!" Jurard turned his head back to look at Ruze, "I like you, you stupid fuckin' lizard! And I don't wanna see ya' dead in the fuckin' sands cause your ass got killed by Corruption!"
Jurard's eyes went wide, "you... wha?" He questioned.
Ruze blinked as he looked down at Jurard and processed his own words, "I... I like you, Jurard. And not in the "I tolerate you like Goldie and Octavio" way..." Jurard hissed in pain as he pushed his arms onto the bed to help him sit up. "H-hey! The fuck are you doin'-"
In a swift motion, Jurard threw his arms over Ruze in a weak hug. Ruze had to stabilize himself, or the sudden weight would've knocked them both over onto the floor, and Ruze did not want Jurard's stitches to open up. The red head started to sob, Ruze wasn't sure if it was from pain or something else, but he slowly brought his hands up to return the hug.
"You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say those words to me." Jurard sobbed into Ruze's shoulder. Ruze felt his heart sink a bit, then flutter as Jurard tightened his grip. It wasn't by much, but it was as tight as Jurard could make it.
The two stayed in the hug for a bit, until Jurard's sobs passed. Once Jurard had calmed down, he pulled back from the hug and stared at Ruze. Ruze's amethyst eyes were full of mixed emotions, happy, worried and relief. There was a light dusting on red on his checks, but Jurard wasn't sure if that was from Ruze blurting out that he liked Jurard, or from something else.
Ruze had a light smile on his face as he looked into those ruby eyes. He could see a small bit of pain on Jurard's face, but his warm hearted smile and happiness covered up the pain he was feeling on his side. Jurard had the biggest grin on his face that Ruze had ever seen.
Ruze wanted to kiss Jurard, kiss his stupid smile away, kiss his plump lips, kiss Jurard until they couldn't breath, but before he could even try to move his shaky hands, Jurard cried out in pain.
" Fuck !" He hissed as he reached for his side.
"Oh fuck! Your side!" Ruze slowly lowered Jurard back down to the bed. He pulled the covers back to see the white bandages start to change to red. "Fuck, your stitches! Hold on!" Ruze scrambled out of his chair, ran to the door and threw it open, "Lydia!"
Jurard heard the heavy sounds of footsteps running up to the room. He saw a woman with short brown hair enter the room, push passed Ruze, then walk up to him.
"What happened?" She questioned as she sat down in the chair Ruze was just in, her hands starting to undo the bandages.
"I think his stitches popped." Ruze replied as he walked up to her side.
Jurard and Ruze watched as Lydia removed the bandages, Ruze winced at the blood, while Jurard had to fight back the painful grunts. Lydia examined the slash, grateful that she cleaned the wound before she left Ruze alone so she could see what happened. Ruze was right, two of Jurard's stitches had torn back open, but the damage wasn't too severe.
"It's not too bad, let me go get my equipment." Lydia stood up and as she passed Ruze, she made a small comment that Jurard could barely hear, "I thought I told you not to get in bed with him."
Ruze's face went red as he started to stammer out something, but Lydia was out the door searching for her suture supplies.
Jurard, face full of pain, looked at Ruze, "what is she talking about?"
Ruze looked between the open door and Jurard, "Hey so about your stitches-" He started. Jurard looked at him with a side eye. Ruze sighed, "she clocked me before I clocked me."
Lydia had returned with her sutra kit and began to patch Jurard up. She numbed the area and began to restitch the wound. Jurard, being awake this time, was trying not to shift away from the needle. Ruze walked up towards the head of the bed, knelt down and offered Jurard his hand.
Jurard grabbed Ruze's hand and squeezed .
Once Lydia finished patching and bandaging Jurard back up, she left the room, informing the duo that she was going to make them something to eat.
The two were alone again, Jurard was laying in the bed and Ruze was sitting on the chair next to him. Ruze placed his hand over Jurard's again, and gently began to rub his thumb over the back of the dinosaur's hand.
"So why exactly did you always call for me to help?" Ruze questioned. He felt Jurard give his hand a small squeeze. Ruze looked up at the redhead and saw a small tint of red on his face. Ruze raised an eyebrow, "what, you wanted to be saved by a 'big strong man' 'er some shit?" He questioned. Jurard's face got redder, "No shot. Really?"
"H-hey! Don't judge me-gah!" Jurard yelled. He started to shimmy about in the bed, but hissed in pain as he irritated his side again. Jurard started to shift around a bit, hoping to find a position that would lessen the pain, but each time he moved, he sent white hot waves of pain rolling over his body.
"Hey! Stop that! You're gonna hurt yourself even more dumbass!" Ruze let go of Jurard's hands and placed them on his shoulders, lightly holding him down. It took a few seconds for the waves of pain to flow over Jurard, but as he stopped moving, Ruze lessened his grip, then removed his hands.
Jurard let a low painful moan escape his lips as he managed to find a spot to relax and lay back down. He looked up at Ruze, shame on his face, "sorry Ruze.. I should've told you beforehand... I... ugh this is embarrassing... I like when you save me, ok?"
Ruze grinned as he crossed his arms over himself, "Yeah, I'm pretty cool. Who wouldn't want to be saved by me?" He watched Jurard's face go red, and before Jurard could respond, Ruze's expression fell, "but I almost lost you because I didn't save you. I'm so sorry, Jurard."
Jurard looked up at Ruze, his own face falling a bit, "Sorry."
Ruze sighed, "Just... tell me when you need help. Don't just call for my name and expect me to come running, ok?"
"I will."
They talked for a few more minutes, in hushed reassuring tones. Lydia returned with stew for both of them. She left again, but returned not long after with a cot for Ruze. She checked Jurard's stitches one last time before she left the duo for the evening to rest.
Ruze almost wanted to climb into bed with Jurard, to hold him close, to let Jurard know that he'll be here to protect him, and that he won't let this happen again. Instead, he pushed the coat as close as he could to the bed, laid on his side and held Jurard's hand. Jurard squeezed Ruze's hand, assuring him that he's alive. Jurard tried to stay awake, but his body was exhausted from the hunt and piecing itself back together. His eyes slowly started to close as he drifted off to sleep.
Ruze rubbed the back of Jurard's hand with his thumb, and watched as Jurard's eyes shut and heard his breathing even out. Once Ruze knew that Jurard was asleep, he leaned over and kissed his forehead.
"I'll protect you Jurard, I promise."