Chapter Text
Javier Asrahan considered himself a patient man. Someone who was calculating and calm in the face of danger. He was a knight of the Frontera estate and a protector. Javier thought himself quite patient, especially when it came to the younger master Lloyd. The day Arcos had asked Javier to guard Lloyd had been a… less than happy day.
Lloyd was a mess. A drunkard and a slack-off. The estate was failing and things were going south and while all that was happening, Lloyd destroyed bars and got blackout drunk. And Javier was forced to pick up the pieces in a vain attempt to save the Frontera name. Javier absolutely detested it.
However… recently Lloyd had been… frankly weird.
Ever since Javier had found Lloyd in the middle of some dirt road, the young master had been different. Javier had been on guard. It was clearly not the Lloyd Frontera that he knew and loathed. This Lloyd, if that was his name, was clearly a hooligan.
Javier looked at the bed before him and nodded to himself. Yes, this man was a hooligan. A reckless, self sacrificial, idiotic hooligan.
Javier silently fumed as he recalled what fuzzy memories he did have.
They had been trapped by the cave-in and together the worked to fight the ants and escape with their lives. The realization that they had fought together still baffled Javier. Never in a million years had he thought that he would willingly fight alongside that wretched man. Yet when the explosion came down the tunnel, Javier had willingly thrown himself over Lloyd to protect him. N When he blearily came to, Lloyd was digging.
“We're getting out of here together, no matter what!” Lloyd had promised, likely unaware that Javier was conscious.
Javier had promptly passed out, the pain from burns forcing him under into the oblivion of unconsciousness. When Javier had woken up again it was inside the manor. Arcos Frontera had informed Javier that Lloyd had shoveled his way out and then carried Javier till he collapsed. Javier had kept his skepticism to himself but Arcos, a man who was like a father to him, had read through his facade and informed him that it was the truth.
As Javier stared at Lloyd's unconscious form he couldn't help the rage that bubbled within him. He was supposed to be patient but all he felt was anger simmering inside! He let out a quiet huff and tapped his foot once against the hardwood flooring. It was as close as he was going to get to losing composure. Javier craved the answers to his questions. Like who had replaced the young master of the Frontera Barony? Where had the real Lloyd Frontera gone? Why had Lloyd saved him? It was maddening. Why had this strange man risked his own life to save him?
Javier felt an odd sensation in his throat as he looked at the battered and bruised body of his master. It made him feel restless and unsettled. Mixed emotions swirled within him as his gaze washed over his master.
Lloyd's hair was cleaned by a nurse not long ago, all traces of the mine shaft's dirt and soot gone with the only hint it was ever there being a lingering scent on Lloyd's prone body that smelled of ash and earth. Javier found himself brushing the not-quite bangs out of his master's eyes. He felt bitter seeing Lloyd sleeping when the Baron's son should be out working or wrecking havoc. He didn't- Lloyd didn't deserve to sacrifice himself for his knight. Lloyd Frontera was a selfish alcoholic and Javier was running out of reasons to still view his biggest adversary that way. He wanted to be mad. Be angry and spiteful. Yet it was becoming impossible to view Lloyd in that way when this imposter had turned things around.
Javier scowled. It was inevitably true that he had come to… care… for his charge.
Javier looked at Lloyd with a sigh, “Why must you make me care for you?”
Lloyd, predictably, didn't respond however he did stir. Javier's breath caught in his throat as Lloyd blearily opened his amber eyes for the first time since the accident and Javier found himself relieved. The tension drained from his body and he sighed openly as Lloyd sat up in bed.
Lloyd held a hand to his likely aching head, “Oh, Javier! Just the man I wanted to see.”
Warmth bloomed in his chest unbidden. While yes, Javier had been the one at his master's bedside, it was surprisingly nice to hear that Lloyd had wanted to see him upon waking. It soothed a part of him that he didn't know he had. Still, before he could indulge in these new thoughts, the door burst open to the Baron and Baroness who rushed to their son's bedside. Javier stepped back and quietly exited, for this moment wasn't his.