Archive of Our Own

It was an all hands on deck kind of situation, at least, that was what they told him. There were lots of injuries, they said, from the war they had temporarily stopped, and anyone capable of treating injuries with their arcane skill or medical knowledge, was expected to report to the infirmary. Or so, Medicine Pocket had complained at Name Day before dragging him down the hall. Name Day hadn't even been given the chance to process the words before he found himself in a room that smelt of nothing but blood. He lifted a hand to his nose to try and lessen the immediate nausea that came. Blood wasn't something he dealt with on the daily, but something told him that would be changing in the next few weeks.

Medicine Pocket had abandoned him as fast as they'd kidnapped him, so Name Day stood there, waiting for someone to give him an indication as to what he was supposed to do. His arcane skill could heal people, but it was exhausting, and he much preferred using it to entertain children. But as the moans of pain reached his ears, he found that he couldn't turn away. Even if all he could do was help keep someone alive until another better suited to healing could get there, it was better than nothing.

Just as Name Day was about to step into the medical ward, the doors were thrown open and two people stood, one leaning heavily on the other, an arm dangling limply, white coat stained red as blood dripped onto the ground. His eyes widened at the sight of the two men, yet those around him spared the two nothing more than a glance before returning to who they were currently tending. Since it was clear no one else was going to help, Name Day stepped towards the two, getting the attention of the red-haired man's companion.

"This way, please." Name Day gestured towards a free bed, hoping that by the time they got there, it wouldn't be taken.

The man eyed him skeptically. "Aren't you one of them Laplace people?"

Name Day sighed. "I work for the Foundation or Laplace when they need me. Right now, it's all hands on deck."

"You don't strike me as a healer."

"I'm not Medicine Pocket if that's what you're aiming at, but I can still help your friend." The last thing Name Day wanted was an argument, especially with so many wounded who really didn't need to be disturbed.

"Paravyan… it'a fine…" The red-haired man spoke up, voice wracked with pain as he lifted his head to stare at Name Day. "Your help is appreciated. I apologise for taking up a bed."

"You are injured, therefore you won't be taking up a bed. Come." Name Day turned and headed for the bed, expecting the two men to follow him.

Paravyan still seemed uneasy about him, but helped his companion over towards the bed that Name Day led them to, depositing the injured man onto it carefully, but the man still let out a hiss of pain as his shoulder was jostled. The sleeve of his coat was more red than white now.

Urgency caused Name Day to hurry, grabbing a medical kit and pulling up a chair so that he could better tend the wound. "What's your name?" He asked, not really expecting to hear one. Most of the Foundation's employee's tended to be reserved about their identity.

"Creius." The man said, wincing as Name Day began to cut away the bloodied sleeve of his jacket with his knife. "And you are Name Day, correct?"

"I am." Was all Name Day said; it wasn't uncommon for the people within the Foundation to know who he was, so he wasn't surprised that the leader of the group known as 'XII'—because Name Day recognised the name 'Creius' even if he'd never actually met the man—was one of those people. "Is your shoulder your only injury?"

Creius nodded.

"A couple of those Manus goons got a couple of lucky shots in." Paravyan huffed, moving to stand on the other side of the bed for which Name Day was grateful for. He didn't need someone looming over his shoulder watching him work.

Once the sleeve was cut free, Name Day could see what he was working with, and yep, it sure was a few lucky shots. He could see the entry wounds where blood had spread across the grey turtleneck, and so he took his blade to that as well, doing his best to be gentle as he pried the woolen fabric from the wounds. "Sorry," Name Day murmured as Creius' arm jerked beneath his touch and moved slower.

"It's fine." Creius said through gritted teeth, letting out a slow breath as he closed his eyes, seeming rather calm for someone who'd just been shot several times.

Name Day didn't say anything more, focusing rather on the wounds in front of him. It didn't take long for him to remove the rest of Creius' shirt, and he winced at the sight of the bullet holes in the man's shoulder. "I think it was more than a couple of shots," he murmured and leant forward, sliding a hand under Creius' back, "just going to roll you onto your side so I can see what i'm working with." He looked to Paravyan. "Can you help support him?"

Paravyan nodded and put his hands where Name Day instructed him too, grip firm as they worked together to roll Creius onto his side. For the most part, Creius was silent, only the slightest change in expression hinting that it hurt him to be moved, but the new position allowed Name Day to see the wounds better—and see that they all had exit wounds. A relief, really, since Name Day didn't particularly want to go digging for a bullet in someone's shoulder; that was well beyond his skill set.

"Looks like they all went through cleanly." Name Day said, reaching for some gauze to try and stop the bleeding.

"Good news then." Creius said, twisting his head to look at the wounds for himself. "Can you heal them?"

Name Day's lips thinned. "My Skill isn't really… good for injuries like this. I'm useful in an emergency, but for the finer healings, Medicine Pocket or Vila would be better. I can patch you up in the meantime."

Creius gave a single nod, "that'll be fine, thank you."

With a nod to himself, Name Day reached the needle and thread that he'd use to stitch the wounds closed; that was what this was all about anyway, patching the injured up and keeping them stable until the more experienced healers and doctors could get to them. He'd been correct when he'd said that his Skill wasn't the best for fine healing, but he could use it to help minimise the pain, and help the needle to thread through the skin easier. He was grateful that Creius was a quiet patient—there was someone screaming somewhere behind them and the sound sent shivers up his spine—for the man just lay there, eyes twitching whenever Name Day happened to tug on his wounds.

He had to wonder, how bad had it been, out on the front for this many wounded. The mission had been kept mostly under wraps by those in higher positions than he, not that Name Day would pry. It wasn't his business what the Foundation did, he just did what they asked of him, and they hadn't asked him to assist with the job. Technically, they hadn't given him work either, slipping through the cracks in favour of those with stronger Skills to deal with the situation, which meant that Hissabeth and Pointer had taken the opportunity to drag him over to Laplace to show him what they'd been working on. And he'd gotten the chance to see Kiperina and Voyager too; it always lifted his spirits whenever he saw the two girls together, smiling and working hard.

He couldn't imagine them having to see the front lines of a war, not when the Storm had already taken everything from them.

"Was it bad?" Name Day asked when he was on the final bullet hole.

Creius and Paravyan shared a look before Creius answered, "it was, but we succeeded in stopping Manus Vindictae."

Name Day bobbed his head and tied off the last stitch, reaching for the bandages now to protect the wounds.

"Have you seen war before?" Creius asked, voice a little gentler than before.

"No." Name Day said. "I don't want to either. Seeing the aftermath is bad enough."

Creius sighed. "On that, we can agree."

A silence fell between them, although it wasn't a true silence thanks to the noise going on around them, but by this point, Name Day had mostly tuned it out. He couldn't help those people right now, but he could finish helping this one. He tied off the bandage and indicated for Paravyan to lower Creius onto his back again, the man giving a relieved sigh as he stretched and rolled his neck.

Name Day was just tidying up when a weight slammed into him and he nearly pitched forward off the chair.

"Just coming by to check how things are going!" Medicine Pocket, using Name Day as a crutch, leaned forward to study the bandaging, "doesn't look like you need my Skill at all."

"It probably wouldn't hurt if you have the energy to spare." Name Day said.

Medicine Pocket just shrugged and stood to rummage through their bag, pulling out a vial of some liquid that Name Day had no desire to ask about. Unfortunately, it seemed that those of XII hadn't been around the chaotic researcher much.

"What is that?" Paravyan asked, eyeing the vial warily. He looked ready to slap it out of Medicine Pocket's hands but was restraining himself.

"Little something I concocted." Medicine Pocket grinned, eyes brightening in the way they always did whenever someone asked about their research. "Helps with blood loss and Mr Creius here is looking a bit lacking in blood, you know, 'cause he's paler than me and I've been told that's not something to strive for."

Now that Medicine Pocket had mentioned it, Name Day noticed the slight pallidness that Creius' complexion had taken and mentally kicked himself for not realising sooner. He moved back so that Medicine Pocket could work, watching as expert hands slid the needle—when did they grabbed that?—into a vein and injected the… medicine. Immediately, some of the colour returned to Creius' face and the man nodded his thanks.

"You should be fine now, Miss Mesmer will come by and allocate you to a ward at some point. I dunno when." Medicine Pocket stepped back and threw an arm around Name Day's shoulder, clapping him on the chest with their, thankfully, free hand. "I have to steal Mr Name Day away now, many more people to stitch up and all that."

"Thank you both." Creius said. "Take care of yourselves as well."

Name Day didn't get a chance to respond as Medicine Pocket whisked him away.

Name Day hadn't expected to run into Creius again, but fate had other plans when he literally ran into the man coming around the corner within the halls of the Foundation. The books in his arms tumbled to the floor, echoing in the quiet hallway, and Name Day grunted as he joined them on the floor. Why did people never look before they turned a corner? It wasn't like he could magically see over the top of the books to know someone was there. He looked up, ready to grumble unhappily at some poor arcanist when the words died in his throat upon recognising the white coat—new, and free of blood now—and red hair.

"Apologies." Creius murmured, kneeling to start stacking the books.

Name Day stared for a moment before he pulled himself together and began to do the same. He noticed that Creius' arm was in a sling, not that that seemed to bother the man in the slightest as he helped.

"Don't worry about it. What's done is done," he said as he stacked the books on his knee before standing. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Creius stood, the last of Name Day's books held carefully under his arm. "I was giving my report to Madam Z about the war. I would've done it sooner but…" he nodded towards his injured arm, "I was delayed."

Name Day nodded towards Creius' arm, "is it okay? Did you get seen by someone after I was done?"

"I did. That… Medicine Pocket is rather eccentric."

"Yep, we hear that a lot." Name Day chuckled before remembering that he had somewhere to be. "Sorry, I need to get these over to Laplace, if you could just—"

Creius interrupted him, "nonsense, let me give you a hand. I can carry some so that you can see where you're going."

"Oh, uh, thanks." Name Day hesitated, not having expected the offer of help, before slowly stepping past Creius, "follow me then."

The walked in silence, which suited Name Day just fine. He'd had to listen to Hissabeth talk his ears off before being sent to the archives to grab the books that she wanted so that she could keep talking his ears off when he got back. Part of him hoped that maybe by venturing into the Foundation, they would stop and give him a job, but because of the war and Manus Vindictae orchestrating it behind the scenes, those in charge of him and the other arcanists were busy. Even Vertin, for all the Foundation liked to use her, had told the girl that she was in downtime until further notice.

So naturally, Hissabeth had latched onto him, and Pointer hadn't argued when he'd been dragged through the door of their laboratory by the grinning melusine.

Part of him felt sorry for Creius, for the man didn't know what was in store for him.

Before long, they had left the Foundation and made their way over to Laplace, and Name Day watched as XIIs leader looked around.

"Have you not been to Laplace before?" Name Day asked, greeting one of the researchers that waved at him.

"I interacted briefly with Miss Lucy and Enigma during the 1914 Storm, but otherwise no. Our paths don't often intersect." Creius explained, looking a little uncomfortable as people seemed to notice him and began to whisper. "I find researchers to be a bit… much."

"Some of them can be," Name Day agreed, turning down the hall that led to Hissabeth's lab, "most of them are just enthusiastic, although…" he glanced over his shoulder at Creius, "I'd stay away from Medicine Pocket and X if you'd like to actually leave. They are by far, the most eccentric of the Laplace employees."

"Noted."

Name Day came to a stop outside Hissabeth's door and kicked at it a few times; hopefully the melusine wasn't lost in the depths of her research. It only took a couple of minutes for the door to open and he blinked as Voyager greeted him, her eyes sliding over to Creius before landing on the books in his arms.

"Ah!" The girl exclaimed, stepping out of the way quickly to let him past. "You came… back!"

"I did. Where's Hissabeth?" Name Day asked.

Voyager pointed towards the fish tank on the far wall, where Hissabeth and her snakes were watching the fish inside intensely alongside Kiperina, the young girl asking a quiet question. Pointer was at one of the desks, scribbling down notes and Name Day made his way towards the Awakened to drop the books on her desk.

"Welcome back, Name Day," Pointer said without looking up, "thank you for fetching—who's this?"

All eyes in the room turned towards him and Creius, and Name Day just stood there a moment before he realised that he should say something. You know, since he was the one to bring Creius here in the first place.

"This is Creius. He's the leader of XII."

"Ohh, they're the guys that were on the warfront in Germany, yeah?" Hissabeth asked, pushing away from the fish tank with a look of pure curiosity on her face. "The ones that met the strange Awakened and the gargoyle."

Creius glanced towards him before nodding slowly, "… yes, that was us."

Suddenly Hissabeth was right next to them, invading Name Day's personal space in order to study Creius so closely. The melusine's eyes were shining bright, almost glinting, from her desire to know all she could do. "I'm so intrigued, what were they like? I've heard about the gargoyles but I never got the chance to meet one. Is it true that they can turn to stone willingly and control what parts they harden? And the Awakened—"

"Let the man breathe, Hissabeth." Pointer interrupted, lifting her head to give Hissabeth a stern look.

"You can't tell me you aren't curious, Pointer."

"Oh I am, but I at least I have the sense to see he's busy."

Name Day sighed as the two began to bicker, arguing about who had the most sense and what was wrong with asking several questions at once. He turned to take the books that Creius was carrying, placing them on the desk with the others before quickly leading the man away.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Creius asked, brow furrowed as his gaze lingered on Hissabeth and Pointer.

"That's normal for them, it's more unusual for them not to argue." Name Day said. "Hissabeth means well with her questions, she just wants to learn."

Creius hummed and then studied Name Day carefully for a moment, making him feel like an ant under the microscope. "You're the ones responsible for discovering the immunity zones, aren't you? Back when the 1987 Storm came."

Name Day nodded. "Yeah, that was us. Well—it was mostly Hissabeth and Pointer, with Kiperina's help." He gestured towards the young girl who's attention was torn between him and her mentor. "We sent her into space, you know, it was a whole thing. Nearly didn't make it back to the safe zone in time."

"I remember hearing about it," Creius said, "I think it was the most stressed I'd seen Laplace, other than the Ninth Storm."

Name Day could agree, having being apart of the former, and witnessing the latter. The stress of the Ninth Storm was something else, he believed, for it was the first one they'd confirmed to be engineered by Manus Vindictae. There was no telling whether the Manus had been involved in the other Storm's, not when they lost so much information every time they came around. But the Ninth Storm… Name Day shivered at the chaos. He'd assisted Laplace that day, mostly because Medicine Pocket had decided to listen to no one and X had decided that everyone was his personal verbal punching bag, and the Foundation had deemed him to be the one responsible for them.

He remembered wishing that he could have gone back to Plesetsk instead; it would've been preferrable to corralling those two again.

"It was a bit stressful, but we all get stressed when the Manus are involved." Name Day sighed, a defeated smile on his face as he shrugged.

Creius nodded and reached out to place his good hand on Name Day's shoulder. "One day it'll be over. We'll stop Manus Vindictae, and we'll figure out the Storm."

Name Day couldn't help it, he chuckled. "One day." He couldn't help but feel lifted by Creius' words, the hope he tried to keep burning inside of him, brightening just that little bit at the man's own hopefulness. It must've been harder for him, to stay hopeful, when Creius and his unit were so often sent to the front line's of the conflict that the Foundation found themselves in. He looked to Creius and smiled, "when it's over, I'll show you something pretty. The Storm can take our people, but it cannot take the stars from us."

"It's a deal." Creius said and stepped away. "I must be going now."

"Of course, thank you for the help." Name Day said and watched Creius leave the lab, shutting the door behind him.

Immediately, an arm was thrown around his shoulders, and there was a snake twisting about to try and see him.

"Soooo, he seems interesting." Hissabeth said, a teasing smile on her face.

Name Day flushed, "shut up."

There was blood, a lot of blood, and Name Day was pretty sure that losing as much blood as he had wasn't a good sign, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He'd used his skill before to stop the worst of it, but he was still bleeding far too much for him not to worry. But he couldn't stop, not until he found somewhere safe to hide and catch his breath—not that there were many places too hide. Then he could patch himself up and hopefully get out a message to the Foundation staff waiting for him that the assignment had gone so very wrong and that he needed help.

Because Name Day wasn't one of those Arcanists that insisted they could handle impossible situations; he knew his skill was weak compared to others, and while it'd saved his life in the moment, it wasn't going to get him out of this mess.

The mess being the gang of Arcanists he stumbled across in his investigations of a small town somewhere in Hungary. The Foundation had sent him to the town after reports of an Arcanist getting into trouble reached them; they had wanted him to gather more information and determine whether or not the Arcanist was a threat before reporting back for further instructions. And in a small town such as this, it hadn't taken long for him to find the Arcanist.

But he'd also found the Arcanists friends.

He'd barely called a greeting when the group attacked him, firing off guns and arcane skills at him. He could hear them now, trying to catch up with him as he ducked down every street he came across, zigzagging his way across the town. What he planned to do when he ran out of streets, he didn't know, but Name Day hoped they'd either give up or he'd find somewhere to hide.

Pain was all that kept him moving as he limped along, a lucky shot taking out his knee from the first corner he ducked around. Another had pierced something vital, and that was when he'd used his skill to heal himself. Mostly. There was blood coming from somewhere,

Name Day cursed as he rounded another corner to find nowhere to hide. All the doors to the houses were barricaded with planks of wood, the town more abandoned than not, and from the looks of it, there was nowhere for him to hide. To his left were boarded up houses; to his right, open plain with trees too far to get to without being noticed.

"Shit." Name Day swore, looking about for anything he could use, anything all that would give him a chance at coming out of this alive.

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

"There he is! Foundation scum!"

Name Day spun around, careening suddenly to one side as his leg threatened to give out on him with a sharp burst of pain. He gritted his teeth, vision whiting out for only a few seconds, but that was all that was needed; when his vision returned, he found himself staring into the barrels of five guns. The Arcanists must've split up to try and trap him. It gave him a tiny amount of hope; five was manageable. They weren't close enough to hit him if he threw himself out of the way, but he would only have one chance. One chance or he'd be killed before he could stand.

The group was shouting at him, words muffled by the blood pounding in his ears as he glanced around. There had to be something that could help him. He could throw his knife at one of them, but he needed something else. Anything else. His eyes scanned the earth; rocks, broken pieces of wood, scrunched up pieces of newspaper—

Newspaper—in other words trash, and a lot of it.

Name Day swallowed, estimating the distance.

Then he threw his knife at the person with the biggest gun and dived for the trash. A cry of pain came from the direction he'd thrown his knife, followed by the clatter of a gun. There was more shouting and gunfire, but he managed to avoid most of the bullets, and gritted his teeth against the ones that hit him. His fingers brushed against the scraps of newspaper, and that was all he needed. A flash of light—

A memory of a cold night with a salamander, telling Han Zhang how he was no good with guns.

—and then there was a pistol in hand.

Name Day didn't hesitate; he fired at the Arcanists, reaching for another scrap of paper to turn into a weapon.

"Kill him! His skill turns things into weapons!" The leader shouted, hand glowing with arcane skill that Name Day didn't really want to be on the other end of.

They were so close, but not quite there in figuring out his own skill. A relief that allowed him to empty the first gun and discard it in favour of grabbing newspaper and shoving it into his pocket. Let them try and take him now. His aim was terrible, but it was enough to make them scatter for cover, and a lucky shot put a hole into the leaders hand.

The leader cried out in rage, clutching his hand as the skill faded from it, and Name Day pushed himself onto his feet before he started running again.

The group hesitated, before one of them shouted, "after him!"

Name Day ran harder than he ever had in his life, ignoring the pain, ignoring the blood, ignoring everything as he made his way towards the trees. With one hand, he kept a pistol in hand, firing shots when his pursuers got too close, and with the other he created explosives—grenades, smoke bombs—anything to slow them. It worked, the loud explosions behind him wreaking the kind of havoc that would make Medicine Pocket proud.

Keep running, Leonid, just keep running! Name Day shouted at himself. The trees were so close, they were right there, and amongst them, his chances of survival improved.

Then something wrapped around his already battered leg and pulled him to the ground. He cried out at the white hot agony that shot through the limb, noticing the roots of a nearby tree were snaking around it and squeezing. A quick glance showed the leader was responsible, stalking towards Name Day with a look of fury on their face. No wonder the Foundation had wanted them; arcane skills involving the control of nature were always a priority. Especially after Druvis had revolted to help protect the Timekeeper that one time and showed just how powerful a skill it was.

"You really thought you could get away that easily?" The Arcanist sneered at him, clenching his hand into a fist.

Name Day cried out as the roots tightened their grip on his leg, and tried to tug them loose.

They didn't budge.

"I was just investigating—"

"Yeah, 'cause the Foundation is interested in only investigating—as if. You're here to drag me there, and lemme tell you, that ain't happening." The Arcanist snarled at Name Day, "I'd rather die than let you—"

Name Day flinched as warm blood splattered across his face, a hole appearing in the Arcanists forehead. What…? What just… happened?

He got his answer a second later as gunfire came from his right and his attackers all fell to the floor one by one.

At the head of the group was a head of familiar red here, and a face with a familiar scar.

"Creius…" Name Day murmured before collapsing back against the earth, adrenaline fading now that his pursuers were all dead. And wouldn't that be a fun report to give to Madam Z when he got back.

There was a hand on his shoulder as Creius' face appeared above him, concern etched into the man'd brows. "Is that all of them?"

Name Day shook his head. "There's more… somewhere, but I haven't seen them…"

Creius gave a single nod and issued orders, the members of his unit making their way into the village; only Paravyan stayed behind, stepping away to keep a lookout. Then the man was focused on Name Day again. "How bad are you hurt?"

"Oh you know," Name Day chuckled weakly, "just a few bullet holes. I healed some of it, but… I am tired."

"Keep your eyes open." Creius ordered, dropping his gun in favour of a knife that he used to hack away the roots trapping Name Day.

The order was easier said than done, but the pain in his leg kept his senses sharp. He couldn't stop the whimper that came at a not so gentle tug. Now that he wasn't on the run, his body was reminding him of every wound he had, and there were a lot of them.

"Sorry." Creius said, stopping to look before he continued, albeit at a slower pace. "Did you break something."

"Got shot in the knee." Name Day said, head lolling to the side. At the look of alarm on Creius' face, he continued, "I healed it to get away. It—It didn't heal right. So it hurts."

"You did well to stay alive, Name Day," Creius said, slicing away the last of the root, "just bare with the pain a little longer—camp is not far."

Name Day nodded and gritted his teeth and he was hauled into a sitting position, eyes squeezed shut at the pain that followed, fresh blood oozing from his wounds. He couldn't bite back the groan when he was slung over Creius' shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but hey, at least he wasn't being shot at anymore.

"Paravyan, watch our backs." Creius ordered.

"Yes, sir." Came the quick reply, and then they were moving.

Name Day struggled to keep track of where they were, unable to do more than just let himself be carried. His mind wandered towards Creius and why the man was here. He'd heard nothing about potentially running into XII whilst on his own job, and from the sounds of it, Creius certainly hadn't expected to run into him either. He would've asked, but he didn't have the strength; his limbs were like lead, and he couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to formulate the words. It was all he could do to stay conscious, but even that was a losing battle.

Paravyan spoke up then, but Name Day only caught half of what was said. "Sir, we need to… looking so good…"

"Eyes open, Name Day." Creius' voice kept him from the darkness, a hand on his cheek—when had they stopped?

Name Day forced his eyes open a slit and saw two worried faces looking at him. He parted his lips and croaked, "Lap…lace…" He tried to gesture towards where he kept his communicator, but only his fingers twitched. He licked his lips and tried again, "pocket… disk… Laplace…"

Immediately, there were hands patting him down, searching for his pockets, but whatever happened next, Name Day wasn't aware of, consciousness finally giving out on him.

When Name Day opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that there was a ceiling above him rather than the trees he last remembered seeing. The next was the familiar white and brown hair that belonged to Medicine Pocket, the young researcher standing over him, talking to someone he couldn't see. At first, he thought himself back at Laplace, but then he noticed that the ceiling wasn't the familiar white of the research facility, and realised he was in some random house. Slowly, he turned his head, catching Medicine Pocket's attention.

"He lives!" Medicine Pocket grinned and waggled their fingers at him. "Those teleporation disks really are something. X must be jealous that he didn't come up with them first."

"What…?" Name Day frowned before movement caught his eyes, Creius stepping into view a moment later.

"You mentioned the disks and Laplace before you passed out," Creius explained, "we used them to bring Medicine Pocket here. Well… we tried to take you to them, but it didn't work out."

Medicine Pocket's grin widened, "they didn't understand how the disks work, but luckily Hissabeth was there so we got here fast enough to keep you alive." The grin dropped away to a more serious look, "it was a close call, Name Day, you were hurt bad."

"I know." Name Day murmured and lifted a shaking hand to bump it against Medicine Pocket's chest. "Thank you."

Medicine Pocket's cheeks turned crimson and they puffed out their cheeks, "just don't do it again!"

Name Day chuckled, wincing as it pulled on his injuries; without thinking, he tried to sit up so that he could check himself over, to know just how close to death he'd come.

"I wouldn't do that." Medicine Pocket said, reaching out to keep him still. "I patched you up as best I could, but you need to get back to Laplace to be fixed up properly. There's some bullets that imbedded too deep for me to dig out with what I have."

"Okay." Name Day swallowed and closed his eyes. "How long until we leave?"

"My unit is canvasing the area to make sure there aren't anymore hostiles, then we can evacuate." Creius said. "They've cleared the area we're hiding in."

"Great! X told me to scavenge for him!" Medicine Pocket danced over towards a table where there was a massive bag. "Apparently there's lots of good materials here!"

And then they dashed out the door, bag over their shoulder.

Name Day started. "Wait, Medicine Pocket—"

"Paravyan's outside, they'll be safe." Creius reassured him, dragging a chair over sit in beside the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Name Day took a moment to take stock of himself without moving too much. Every part of him ached, but his leg and left shoulder hurt the most. But aside from the pain, he felt alright—as alright as one could feel after being shot several times. He swallowed, "I'm… okay, I think. How bad was it?"

"After you lost consciousness, Paravyan and I tried our best to stabilise you, and we did, but you were still bleeding out and that was when we used the disk. Only, the disk took just me back."

"Yeah, they can be a bit finicky sometimes," Name Day chuckled. "Thank you, though. I… I wasn't expecting to make it out of there alive."

Creius frowned at him, "why were you out here anyway?"

"The Foundation sent me to investigate the presence of an Arcanist. I was supposed to figure out if they were a threat or not." Name Day said. "I wasn't expecting to run into you, though."

"We were coming back from a mission when we heard the gunfire and decided to investigate." Creius lifted a hand to scratch the back of his neck. "I'm glad we did."

Name Day blinked, and then his cheeks began to burn and he turned to hide his face. He was grateful that Creius had been close by; he would've certainly died if the man hadn't shown up when he did. "Well, um, thanks. Again."

"No problem. You helped me before, so this time, I'm helping you."

Name Day felt his face heat up so fast he was almost certain he would pass out again.

And he did.

The next time Name Day woke, he was back in Laplace, and it felt like he was swimming through mud as he tried to understand how he'd gotten back. He could hear a beeping that he recognised as the infirmary machinery monitoring him, and to his left he could see Medicine Pocket talking with the doctors they worked with. Vila too, was there, glancing towards him occasionally with worry and concern. Had they called for her? Name Day swallowed but slowly turned his head to the right and froze.

Creius was sitting by his bedside, in an uncomfortable looking chair, eyes closed and arms crossed. It was hard to tell if the man was actually sleeping, but who was Name Day to stop him from resting if that was the case.

From there it didn't take long for him to piece together that after passing out for the second time, they must've rushed him back to Laplace and treated him there. He wasn't in pain anymore, and he could feel bandages against his skin where he'd been shot.

Carefully, Name Day shifted a hand, lifting it just to prove to himself that he could, and Creius' eyes snapped open, quickly finding his own.

Name Day gave the man a sheepish smile, "you're a light sleeper."

Creius rubbed at his eyes and shrugged. "Comes with the job. How are you feeling?"

The words rang in Name Day's mind, and he vaguely remembered being asked the same thing before; only he had no idea how much time had passed since then. It could've been hours, or it could've been days, it was hard to tell. What he did know was that he'd been fixed up in however long he'd been unconscious for, the pain much more manageable than it had been before. Name Day gave a careful shrug with the shoulder he could still move, the other held still by bandages, "better now."

"Good." Creius nodded. "They did surgery to remove the bullets still inside you, and Medicine Pocket did the rest—they insisted you rest still, though."

"For once, rest sounds good." Name Day sighed.

Suddenly Medicine Pocket was there, as if summoned by the mention of their name. "He lives! Again!"

Vila appeared behind him, "you're awake! Avgust and the others will be so happy to hear that. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'll be okay." Name Day smiled at Vila, "I hope the kids weren't too worried."

"Hissabeth and Windsong are looking after them for the moment." Vila said, placing a hand on his shoulder, smiling down at him. "I'm glad you're okay, Name Day. Please, rest up."

"I will." Name Day said, and a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He sagged against the bed until he was staring at the ceiling.

Beside him, Creius cleared his throat. "Why don't we let Name Day get some rest?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" Vila clasped her hands together, "I'll tell the others to give you some space for now."

"Thank you." Name Day murmured, and slowly the room emptied—except for Creius, who sat back down in his chair and relaxed into it. Name Day studied the man for a moment. "You're staying?"

Creius nodded. "My unit has a handle on the mission. I'll keep watch so you can rest easy."

Heart warmed Name Day's cheeks and if he could move without hurting something, he would've dragged the blankets up to hide his face. But all he could do was face away and splutter out a quiet, "thank you."

"Can you pass me that beaker there, Kiperina? Thank you." The gentle request turned frantic and footsteps hurried across the floor. "Voyager, don't touch that, you'll burn yourself!"

"If you let her, she won't do it again."

"That's—Pointer no."

Name Day glanced up from the report he was writing to see Hissabeth looking at Pointer with a slightly mortified expression. He looked a little further and saw Voyager with her hand inches away from a bunsen burner, eyes wide; Kiperina hurried over a moment later and guided the girl's hand away. Name Day's lips twitched in amusement; he'd missed this, just sitting and listening to his friends—dare he call them family?—work like this. Being apart of the Foundation rather than Laplace, it was rare for Name Day to be given work that allowed him to spend more time with them, and even when he did get the chance to do work for Laplace, it was usually with other departments.

But now that he was on leave after being shot, he'd been kidnapped the moment the infirmary had discharged him, with his only orders being to write out a report on what happened to land him there in the first place, and to rest and heal up.

Orders that Name Day was willing to follow considering that he ached if he overexerted himself.

"Voyager, why don't you come here?" Name Day called, catching the girls attention. He gestured towards the bin by Pointer's desk, "and bring that trash can will you?"

The girl looked confused but did as Name Day asked, placing the bin where he could easily reach it and kneeling beside the couch he was stretched out on.

"Let me show you a trick." Name Day said, leaning over to pluck out the first piece of rubbish, a shard of broken glass. He held it up before Voyager's eyes, waiting for the girl to focus on it before he hid the piece of glass between his hands. There was a faint glow, and he opened them to reveal a mini Voyager made of glass.

Voyager's eyes went wide and a wide smile appeared on her face as she held out her hands towards him. Name Day gently placed the figure into the girl's hands and smiled at her. "You can keep that."

"Really…?" Voyager looked up at him. "For… me?"

Name Day nodded. "For you—here—"

He reached into the bin and pulled out a few more glass pieces and soon Voyager held little glass figures of them all in her hands. The girl smiled widely, studying each one carefully. There was a look of joy on her face that brought a smile to Name Day's own, and he pointed towards where Kiperina was sitting next to Hissabeth, listening to what the melusine was saying. "Why don't you go show Kiperina?"

Voyager nodded and held the figures to her chest. She flashed Name Day her brightest smile yet. "Thank you!"

And then the girl was gone, dashing over towards Kiperina and showing off what Name Day had made. His eyes met Hissabeth's, a quiet 'thank you' mouthed at him, and Name Day inclined his head. Voyager was a curious girl, but still a child, and entertaining children was something that Name Day considered himself good at. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't have the time to play with them; in fact, he had far too much time on his hands and not enough working limbs to do anything about it.

As if his body knew he was thinking about it, a sharp pain shot through his leg from his knee. Name Day grimaced and carefully pulled it towards himself before stretching it out again. According to the doctors, they'd had to rebreak what he'd healed in order to fix it; he would be fine, they insisted, but the damage had been bad. He had a crutch to help him get around, a single crutch, because apparently taking several bullets to one side of his body also hadn't done him any good, but thankfully, he could still get around.

A knock on the door caught everyone's attention, but Pointer was the one to get up and investigate who might be on the other side. It can't be one of the other Laplace researchers, Name Day mused, they all just barge in like doors don't exist.

He got his answer a second later when a familiar voice spoke, "I apologise for the interruption."

"Name Day, your friend is here." Pointer said as she stepped aside, allowing Creius to enter the room.

Name Day twisted as best he could, waving at the man, "hello."

Creius, looking rather out of place in a room full of researchers, wasn't dressed in his usual white coat, but rather, just the grey turtleneck he usually wore and a pair of well-fitting, but comfortable pants. He stepped further into the room and rubbed the back of his neck with a hand. "Vertin told me I would find you here."

Name Day ignored the curious mutterings coming from Hissabeth's desk—especially the teasing remark about Creius looking for him in particular—and tried to keep the blush from his face. There was no denying that there was something growing between the two of them, but Name Day refused to give voice to it. Creius was a friend, and he'd stuck by Name Day's side while he'd been kept in the infirmary, talking about whatever kept Name Day's mind off the pain.

He'd told Creius about his family and how the Storm had taken them from him, and in return, Creius had told him about some of his missions and the places he'd visited. It was in those talks that Name Day had learnt that Creius was rather quiet about himself, preferring to listen and then offer his opinions rather than interrupt—something that Name Day liked about him—and that he wasn't overly fond of talking about himself or his past, which Name Day respected. Sure, he was curious, but he also knew that talking about painful memories was harder for some, and he didn't want to risk breaking this newfound friendship before it had even begun.

One thing he did learn about the man, was that he was fond of spicy foods, and that the spicier the better, and he could smell spice coming from the bag that Creius was carrying.

"Is that…?" Name Day inched himself up, swinging his leg off the couch carefully to give Creius somewhere to sit.

"Pikantné soté? Yes." Creius crossed the room and sat next to him. "I made it myself."

Name Day looked at Creius, "made it yourself? I feel special."

Creius' cheeks turned faintly pink and he cleared his throat, pulling out two containers of food. "You mentioned not eating spicy food often. It's not as spicy as what I usually eat, but… it still tastes good."

"I'll hold you to that." Name Day went to reach for one of the containers, only for it to appear in his face as Creius offered it to him. He flushed, and took it with a quiet 'thanks', removing the lid; it smelt delicious. He hadn't even known Creius could cook, but it didn't surprise him considering how often XII was away and on their own.

"How's your leg today?" Creius asked, handing him a fork.

Name Day shrugged. "It aches, but so does everything else." He pointed towards the desk chair that he'd been using to push himself around the laboratory, "I've been told I'm only allowed off the couch if I sit in that. It's quite fun actually, Kiperina and Voyager keep asking me to roll them around the lab."

A warm smile formed on Creius' face as he began to eat, and spoke between mouthfuls. "I was told you've been spending most of your time here."

"We didn't give him a choice!" Hissabeth called out. "The Foundation keeps stealing him from us, so we stole him from them for a change."

Name Day rolled his eyes but agreed with her, "what Hissabeth said. It's been nice, reminds me of when we were all in Plesetsk together—just with less stress."

"We're heading back up that way soon to test some new equipment." Hissabeth said, a coy look on her face that Name Day didn't trust in the slightest. And sure enough, she proved him right. "You should come with us, Creius."

Name Day leaned back to scowl at her from behind Creius, Hissabeth sticking her tongue out at him, followed by a wink.

Creius didn't seem to notice. "So long as my unit's services aren't required, I could ask for some time." He glanced towards Name Day, "if that's alright with you?"

The idea of spending more time with Creius away from the main Foundation and Laplace headquarters made Name Day's stomach twist—and not in a bad way. He liked spending time with Creius, even if the time was limited because of their respective jobs, and even now, he was content, sharing a meal with the man that'd quickly become his friend. It amused him a little how fast a bond had formed between them, especially when he thought about how it'd started by him helping Creius, and grown stronger after Creius saved his life. Was it strange? Not at all, he was somewhat friends with Medicine Pocket, and Name Day had no idea when that'd happened or how, so actually knowing about a friendship was a bonus for a change.

"I don't mind." Name Day said, and stirred the food with the fork. "It won't be until I'm cleared for work, but the Foundation's already approved my accompanying them. Having you along would be… nice."

The earlier pink returned to Creius' face, and the poor man didn't seem to know where to look. From the corner of Name Day's eye, he caught Hissabeth about to say something and quickly shoved a mouthful of pikantné soté into his mouth—only to immediately begin coughing.

It wasn't as if he'd never eaten spicy food before, because he had, and the meal Creius had brought him wasn't even that spicy.

It was just that spicy food wasn't meant to be inhaled.

Beside him, Creius jumped to his feet, immediately looking for something to help, and Pointer came to the rescue, hurrying over with a bottle of water.

"Here." The Awakened said, handing Name Day the water.

"Thanks." Name Day coughed, drinking a mouthful, and then ignored the increase in burning from the spice. Better that than choking in his opinion.

"Are you okay?" Creius asked.

"Yep," Name Day drank another mouthful of water before clearing his throat, "it's quite nice by the way. You're a good cook."

"Choking on the food I made is an odd way of showing it."

"Just ate too much at once," Name Day said reassuringly, "I promise, it's good."

Creius' brow furrowed, but he sat back down on the couch, returning Name Day's container to him—when had he even taken that?

This time, Name Day took smaller bites, eating slowly so he didn't choke this time, and after a moment, things returned to how they'd been. Pointer returned to her desk, and Creius quietly ate beside him. Chatter started up again from the others as they returned to work, giving Name Day the chance to truly enjoy this moment with Creius.

It ended with a call, Creius summoned by Madam Z to discuss something that Name Day wasn't privy to.

"Come by again." Name Day said before Creius walked out the door. "You're always welcome."

Creius smiled and nodded before he left, closing the door behind him.

Name Day got maybe ten seconds of peace before Hissabeth started teasing him.

"Maybe next time, you should climb on his lap. Might be more obvious then."

"That's—why would I even do that?" Name Day said, wincing as he got himself comfortable on the couch again, injured leg stretched out before him.

Hissabeth grinned as she rose from her desk. "'Come by again.'"

"I was being nice!" Name Day protested, face starting to burn.

"You were totally flirting."

"Was not."

"I have to agree with Hissabeth on this one, Name Day, you seem rather occupied whenever Creius is in the vicinity." Pointer said.

Name Day's face was on fire before Pointer had even finished speaking, and he buried his face into his hands, a strangled noise escaping him.

"There there, Name Day, I'm pretty sure bringing you lunch means he's interested." Hissabeth said, suddenly leaning against the back of the couch.

"I'm going to bury myself in the snow and never return."

Hissabeth laughed. "Oh, don't be dramatic. He's a nice man."

"He's a friend." Name Day said, but even to him, the words were weak.

Hissabeth's hand landed on his shoulder and he looked into the melusine's eyes. "Name Day, if he's a friend, he's a friend, but if something more comes from it, or you want something more, you have our support."

Name Day kept his head in his hands, even though he was sure that they could see how red his face was despite his attempts to hide. But he nodded once, to acknowledge his friends words.

"We just want you to be happy, Name Day." Kiperina said and Name Day's embarrassment shot to a whole new level.

Getting teased by Hissabeth and Pointer was fine; they were adults, but Kiperina was just a teenager. For some reason, hearing her interested in his relationship with Creius brought a whole new wave of embarrassment.

Hissabeth gave him a sympatheic pat on the shoulder before she poked his leg. "Lift that, will you?"

Name Day frowned, but did as he was asked, and a pillow was slid under his leg. He let out a sigh of relief as the pillow took the aching pressure off his knee. "Thank you."

"Tell us when you're in pain next time, idiot." Hissabeth said, ruffling Name Day's hair affectionately before returning to her desk.

It was several weeks before the trip to Plesetsk could even happen on account of that was how long it took for Name Day's body to recover from its near death experience. By the time he was cleared for work again, there was an energy thrumming beneath his skin, deperate to escape. He needed to do something, but since he was assigned to the job at Hissabeth and Pointer's request, there was no work for him until then. So it was safe to say that Name Day was restless. And that restlessness meant he was wandering about the halls with no goal in mind.

Eventually, he found himself outside, and found a bench to sit on.

Plesetsk… he hadn't been back since the Storm in which they'd sent Kiperina to space. How had it changed in the Storm's they'd been through? He knew from what Hissabeth had said that the cosmodrome they'd set up in was gone now, reversed in a later Storm, and that the surroundings had changed—not that much could change when the area was nothing more than snow and not much else. But the aurora would still be there, along with the cold, and… the reminder of home before the Storm was always nice. Painful, but nice.

"Oh, it's Name Day." A familiar voice caught Name Day's attention, and he looked up to see Paravyan standing there, staring at him with surprise. "I thought you were on bedrest?"

"I was cleared today." Name Day said. "Is XII off duty?"

Paravyan nodded and then paused, looking thoughtful. "We're about to do some drills, why don't you come watch?"

Name Day was about to politely decline when Paravyan quickly added on,

"Creius will be there."

"O—Oh will he?" Name Day asked, tugging at his collar and hoping his fluster wasn't completely obvious. Judging from the raised brow he got, he failed. He was pretty sure he was blushing, but for now, he could at least pretend he wasn't developing feelings for a man he only saw every few weeks. "Is that okay, though? I don't want to intrude."

"It won't be an intrusion." Paravyan gestured for Name Day to follow him. "Come."

Name Day only hesitated a moment before he followed the man; it was only fair really, since Creius had always come to him when they'd run into each other, so it made sense for Name Day to go to him for a change. Besides, it could be fun to see what Creius and his unit got up to when they weren't on a mission.

Paravyan led him towards a training ground a short distance away from Foundation headquarters, a place he knew of but had never really set foot in since his skill wasn't combat based like other Arcanists. Already, he could see flashes of skills from one corner, but in the other stood a familiar red head, talking with a man dressed in the XII uniform that Name Day didn't recognise.

Both looked up as Paravyan and Name Day approached, and Creius' eyes widened briefly before a warm smile appeared on his face. With a quiet word to his companion, Creius stepped away and moved over towards Name Day.

"You were cleared by the hospital?" Creius asked, coming to stand before him, eyes looking over him as if he didn't trust the doctors to know what they were talking about.

Name Day grinned up at him, "yep! Medicine Pocket and Vila both cleared me too, so there's no need to worry."

"But you were limping—" Creius frowned at him.

"My knee was shattered, healed, and shattered again, I think it's allowed to struggle a bit." Name Day said, still smiling, and to prove that he was fine, he began to walk, knowing that Creius would follow.

"I know, I just expected them to tell you to take it easy still."

"Oh, they did. I'm just…" Name Day stopped and sighed, "I'm just restless, is all. I'm always working, so to not be working for so long, it's just getting to me." He noticed Creius' frown deepen, expression turning towards worry, and quickly reassured his friend, "I'll be fine once we get to Plesetsk. Which is soon. Four days. Not that I'm counting."

Creius chuckled, looking relieved. "So what brings you here anyway?"

"Paravyan invited me to come watch your drills." Name Day gave a sheepish smile, "I hope that's alright."

"Of course it is." Creius placed a hand on Name Day's back and guided him towards a shaded area where a bench was, along with what must've been the equipment that XII used for their drills. "You can sit here. If you need anything, just call out."

Name Day nodded and sat, stretching out his legs and leaning back on his hands. He watched as Creius shed his coat—and even the turtleneck—to reveal well muscled arms broken up by scars. Name Day was just glad that Creius was still wearing a shirt, because he might actually burst into flames if the man was properly shirtless. Yet he couldn't stop staring, just admiring how well-built Creius was as he walked amongst his unit giving orders. The sun wasn't helping matters, making Creius look even better than he already did, and as he moved, working up a sweat, Name Day found himself getting hot and flustered just watching.

The drills looked easy, yet judging from the way that a Paravyan and the man Creius had been talking to earlier were sweating a bunch, they weren't.

And that was just the warm up.

It wasn't long before they moved on from the drills to hand-to-hand combat, and Name Day wasn't afraid to admit that he was in awe of their skills. First up was Paravyan and the other man, and then Creius and Paravyan, and then Creius and the other man; each round was evenly matched, although Creius came out on top both times. It was impressive, and if falling for someone were a race, Name Day would be winning.

He couldn't even pretend to deny his interest at this point, nobody sane blushed upon seeing a friend sweaty and red-faced and thought about about running their hands over a friends muscles.

Clearly Name Day was insane.

Eventually, Creius called for a break and came to join Name Day on the bench, and he had to fight the urge to just openly stare at the man. But he wanted to—oh did he want to.

"That was rather impressive," Name Day said, pointedly keeping his eyes forward as Creius drank water. "Remind me to never get on your bad side."

Creius chuckled and leaned back on a hand, offering the waterskin out to Name Day, "here."

Name Day slowly took the waterskin, looking at it in confusion.

"Drink, it's warm out today, even in the shade."

"You know, I think that might have more to do with you getting all sweaty and gross, more than it being warm." Despite his words, Name Day brought the waterskin to his lips and had a small drink.

"So is this the friend sweeping you away to Plesetsk?" The man he still didn't know the name of asked, watching the scene in amusement. "Must be a special friend to share your water with."

"Shut up, Yermolai." Creius grumbled, cheeks reddening more than they already were. "You have your own water."

"You have your own water," Yermolai mocked with a teasing grin. "Anyway, you must be Name Day. Glad you're still kicking after that mess in Hungary. I'm Yermolai."

"Yep, I'm rather glad to be alive as well." Name Day smiled before he turned to Creius, "your unit isn't coming to Plesetsk?"

"Now why would we want to third wheel between the two of you?" Yermolai laughed, and laughed loud. "We've so graciously been given time off by the Foundation, and I fully intend on using it by not hanging around these two."

"Third wheel?" Name Day squeaked, actually squeaked, and he turned on Creius, "just what are you telling them!?"

Creius scowled—not at him, but his squadmates—and growled, "nothing, they're just being nosy. Go spar with each other if you're going to be annoying."

The two seemed to get the hint, and shared a knowing look with each other, before leaving him and Creius alone.

Creius sighed, "sorry about them. I haven't implied we're more than friends, yet they keep pestering me."

"Hissabeth's the same, don't worry." Name Day chuckled and ducked his head. And in a moment of boldness, he moved to lean against Creius' shoulder. "They're all excited for you to come too."

He heard Creius' breath hitch, but the man didn't move or try to pull away. There was a silence between them as they watched Paravyan and Yermolai try and throw each other to the ground. Name Day took the time they were being given to think over things; should he say something to Creius? That was what people did when feelings were happening, right? And with the Storm looming over all their heads, with death loitering about every corner, who knew how much time they would have together. Before the Storm had taken his family, he'd thought he'd have all the time in the world to explore, discover himself, and watch his little siblings grow up and find their own lives. He didn't want to regret not saying anything—but he also didn't want to spoil what he and Creius had forged for themselves.

A friendship so new, it felt like he was racing towards a finish line that only he could see, and he didn't know if he wanted to cross it.

Fuck it. If it didn't go well, it wasn't like they had to see each other again.

"There could be something if you wanted it." Name Day said, keeping his voice lowered so that he wouldn't be overheard.

Creius was so still that he may as well have been a statue. "There… there could?"

Name Day nodded. "If the feelings are there for you as they are for me."

"I… I am not sure. I'm not great with—with feelings." Creius cleared his throat. "Not that I'm saying they aren't there—"

"I understand." Name Day said and rose from the bench; Creius looked up at him in alarm, and he smiled at the man, reaching out to give his shoulder a squeeze. "Feelings are hard, really hard. I don't even understand my own to be honest."

"Then why say anything at all?" Creius asked.

Name Day let out a thoughtful noise and shrugged, "I just don't want to have any regrets, is all."

And before he could talk himself out of it, he leaned in and pressed his lips to Creius' brow—quick, and nothing more than a show of affection, but it left the both of them blushing fierce.

"I'll see you in Plesetsk?" Name Day asked, heart pounding and legs ready to flee.

Creius remained on the bench, stunned, and nodded. "I'll be there."

"You kissed him?"

Name Day regretted saying anything to Hissabeth, but in the confines of the boat taking them to Plesetsk, he'd just blurted it out. His only relief was that Pointer was the only other one in the room right now with them, and she wasn't saying anything, just staring at him with a raised brow.

"I didn't kiss him like that." Name Day sighed, falling back onto the bed. "I just—I just kissed his brow, that's all."

"Annnd?" Hissabeth sat next to him and leaned over, her snakes even looking invested in what he had to say.

"And I told him I'd see him in Plesetsk!" Name Day huffed. "I don't know what you want me to say, nothing happened."

Hissabeth sighed and stretched out beside him, nudging him with an elbow. "Did you want something to happen?"

Name Day shrugged. "I don't know. We both have feelings but…"

"Our situations make it hard to act on them." Pointer interjected. "That is a reasonable conclusion, and we cannot fault Name Day for being uncertain."

"It was the complications that made me say anything at all." Name Day sighed and stared at the boat's ceiling, murmuring, "I didn't want to have regrets."

Silence followed his words, and he feared he'd ruined the atmosphere, but then he found himself dragged into Hissabeth's arms, the melusine holding him in a firm embrace that he didn't hesitate to lean in.

"You deserve to be happy." Hissabeth said quietly.

Name Day just hummed and just rolled onto his side, using Hissabeth as a means to hide away from the world, and he was grateful when his friend didn't push him away. He didn't regret how he'd left Creius the last time he'd seen the man, but it had done nothing except open the lid on all the emotions he'd been trying to keep control of, and by the time the day to leave for Plesetsk had come, he'd been exhausted. It was so bad that the past four days were nothing more than a blur to him, but here he was, on a boat towards the arctic circle.

Creius was on the ship too, keeping watch to make sure that nothing went wrong since he was technically acting as their guard for the trip, but Name Day hadn't spoken to him yet, electing to sleep the entire trip so he had some energy for the work he'd be required to do.

Which was how he'd ended up being interrogated by Hissabeth.

"I know," he murmured and closed his eyes. "I want to show him the aurora. It was pretty the last time we saw it."

"That it was." Hissabeth ran a hand through his hair, and he relaxed into the touch. "It's supposed to appear tomorrow night if we've predicted it correctly. I can keep the kids busy so you two aren't bothered."

Name Day huffed a laugh, heart warming at the kind offer. "Thanks."

And then he slept, dreaming of stars and snow... and a warm touch.

He was shaken awake what felt like seconds later, jerking up to see Pointer looking at him. Hissabeth was gone, and he could hear someone giving orders outside their room.

"We've arrived in Plesetsk." Pointer said. "Are you able to give us a hand with the instruments?"

Name Day nodded, and rose from the bed to follow Pointer out of the room. Outside, everyone was already busy unloading cargo from the ship into the trucks that would take them the rest of the way to Laplace's Plesetsk headquarters; he could see Windsong handing a box off to Kiperina and another to Voyager, and Hissabeth was instructing a group of Laplace employees to handle one box with extreme care. Pointer left his side and hurried over to the melusine, ready to play buffer when Hissabeth inevitably stepped on someone's toes, leaving Name Day to figure out what he was to do with himself.

That was when he spotted Creius patrolling close by, gun in hand as he stared out into the snowy landscape. Name Day made to step towards his friend, but stopped himself; Creius was working, which meant that he needed to be as well. He hurried over towards the cargo and began to help move it to the trucks.

"Careful, this one's heavy." One of the researchers said as they passed a box over to him.

Name Day grunted as he took it. Damn, Hissabeth, what's in here?

"You alright, Name Day, sir?" The researcher asked.

"Just fine." Name Day said, and began to trudge towards the truck.

The snow slowed him down, coming well and truly up to his knees, but he made it to the truck and managed to get it into the back with the help of the another employee.

It was as he turned, that his knee gave out on him, and Name Day grabbed onto the edge of the truck to stop himself from eating snow. A hiss of pain escaped him, followed by a throb in his knee that told him he needed to rest or risk further damage.

"Name Day, are you alright?" Windsong appeared at his side, hand curling under his elbow to steady him.

"Yeah," Name Day gritted his teeth as he shifted his weight, his knee protesting every movement. "Just moved wrong, that's all."

"Did you wrap it?" Windsong asked, sighing when name Day refused to meet her eyes. "Name Day…"

"I forgot." Name Day grumbled. "Just, help me sit somewhere, and I'll do it now."

"We're almost done," Windsong looked at the employee loading the truck, "is there space for a person in there?"

"Yes, ma'am, one or two should fit."

"C'mon, let's get you in there." Windsong said.

Name Day nodded and, keeping the weight off his leg, turned and placed his hands on the bed of the truck. With Windsong's help, he clambered into the back and pressed himself against the wall of it. Before he had even gotten himself comfortable, Windsong was holding out a roll of bandages, a stern look on her face.

"Wrap that knee, Name Day, or you'll find yourself back on bedrest."

"I'll do it now." Name Day promised, and Windsong nodded before leaving him alone. He sighed and knocked his head against the canvas of the truck. Stupid, how could you be so careless? Hissabeth and Pointer had both reminded him to wrap his knee before they arrived, yet he'd still forgotten to do so.

He'd just tugged his pant leg up when Creius appeared, and in one smooth movement, hopped into the back of the truck with Name Day. For a moment, he just sat there stunned, bandages in one hand, and he watched as Creius locked onto them immediately.

"What happened?"

"Turned wrong," Name Day said and shivered as a gust of wind hit his bare skin. "I meant to wrap it earlier, but forgot, sooo I'm doing it now."

"Allow me." Creius said, taking the bandages before Name Day could refuse, and then his leg, propping it on his own knee.

Name Day winced as another throb shot through the limb, Creius muttering a quiet 'sorry' before he expertly began to wind the bandage around Name Day's knee. It was like magic, how the pressure the bandage gave eased the ache of his damaged joint, and he had to wonder just how many times Creius had done this before to do it so fast.

Soon Creius was done, and carefully rested his leg back on the floor, "try that."

Name Day slowly bent his knee and nodded; no pain. He pulled down his pant leg and tucked it back into his boot. "Thanks. How are things out there."

"All clear. They're just going over and double checking everything, and then we'll head off."

"Good," Name Day looked out of the truck into the snowy landscape. The sky was cloudy today, threatening to bring more snow with it. "Are you warm enough?"

Creius nodded, huddling into his jacket as he did so. "I've not been this far north before, but it's not terribly cold."

"Just wait until the sun sets." Name Day said with a grin, "even inside with the heating doesn't feel warm enough."

"Then… how do you stay warm?" Creius asked, frowning. "Hissabeth is wearing less layers than you or I."

"She has a special coat Laplace designed that keeps her and her snakes warm. They've been making more of them—apparently the heating went out one day and froze the building—so if we get too cold, we can get one. As for me, the cold doesn't bother me much," Name Day paused as an employee came by to check everything was fine, and make sure nothing would come loose. Once they were gone, he continued, "this is home. Well, not quite home, but…"

"It reminds you of home." Creius finished for him and Name Day nodded.

Creius hummed and turned to rest his elbow on the edge of the truck, looking out into the wilderness as the trucks began to move. The silence was a comfortable one, and Name Day allowed his eyes to shut. It would take them an hour to reach Laplace, meaning he could rest if Creius didn't want to talk. Which was fine; a quick glance showed his friend was deep in thought, head in hand as he thought about something Name Day wasn't privy to.

As of he sensed someone watch him, Creius glanced towards him, offering a gentle smile that Name Day returned.

At some point, Name Day began to doze, the bumpiness of the road preventing him from fully drifting off. At some point, he heard movement from the opposite side of the truck, followed by a warm weight at his side. He felt an arm tentatively come to rest on his shoulders, and Name Day subconsciously leant into the touch, and the weight grew heavier, keeping him still against the moving vehicle.

Before long they arrived at Laplace, and after being helped down from the truck by Creius, Name Day and the others began to unload everything they'd brought with them—a task much easier than loading everything if you asked him. He hadn't actually paid much attention to what they'd brought, but he noticed that alongside all the scientific equipment, there was food stuffs and what looked to be some of X's umbrella's amongst other inventions that must've been sent for testing.

Name Day had no intention of being in the room when they did that.

The first day at Laplace was uneventful, paperwork and all the boring stuff that told the people in charge they were here and what they were doing.

The second had Name Day helping Hissabeth and Pointer—and making sure that Creius didn't accidentally break anything. Name Day enjoyed having the man around; he asked the right questions, and seemed genuinely curious about what the people at Laplace actually got up to.

The third brought about a snowstorm that knocked out the power for two days, meaning that all everyone did was huddle up with whoever was closest and try to stay warm as the engineer's worked overtime to get the heating back on. And because fate seemed to be laughing at him, Name Day found himself in Creius' company, and spent two days sleeping in his friends arms, because when it was that cold, not even he was willing to work. It wasn't the worst place to be, in Creius' arms; the man was warm, and his touch gentle. The only problem it caused was making Name Day's heart feel like it would bounce out of his chest, because despite the close proximity to each other, neither of them brought up the day they'd both mentioned feelings.

Which was fine, feelings were hard and in a building full of nosy researchers, not the best place to bring them up.

The sixth day was when the snowstorm passed, and the power—and heating—returned, bringing with it clear skies and the promise of an aurora that night. Name Day spent the entire day carefully avoiding Hissabeth's gaze, knowing the moment she said anything to him, he would turn into a blushing mess. It worked until it didn't, when Hissabeth plucked the report Name Day had been working on from his own hands.

"Name Day."

"Hissabeth."

They stared at each other for a long moment before Hissabeth tilted her head towards the door. "Go."

Despite that being all she said, Name Day still blushed. "It's not a good idea—"

"Why not?"

"Because I—" Name Day broke off and gave a strangled noise, "—just because!"

"That's a poor answer," Hissabeth crossed her arms and cocked a brow at him, "he likes you, Name Day, and I know for a fact, he's been looking forward to seeing the aurora with you."

Name Day pouted, "how do you know?"

"Because I'm not an idiot. Also Pointer may have said something to him, so I know for a fact he's waiting for you. Right now." Hissabeth gave him a gentle shove towards the door, "so go."

"I hate you both." Name Day grumbled as he left the lab, ignoring Hissabeth's laugh of 'no you don't'.

But as she'd told him, Creius was waiting just down the hall, talking with Pointer, and Name Day was starting to feel as if he were being set up.

The two looked at him as he approached, and Pointer quietly excused herself, passing Name Day with a quick, "good luck."

He only blushed a little bit, muttering a quiet 'thanks' as he walked up to Creius.

"I'm pretty sure she and Hissabeth colluded on this." Creius said in way of greeting, yet he didn't look mad about it, only amused.

Name Day scratched the back of his head with a smile, "yeah, they argue a lot, but when they work together, you don't want to be against them." He clapped his hands together, "anyway, I hope you're ready for a walk."

Creius frowned, "how long a walk?"

"Half hour." Name Day reached out and grabbed Creius' hand, tugging the man along as they left Laplace behind, "there's a nice place not far; Kiperina mentioned it to me before the snowstorm. It's perfect to watch the aurora."

"Will your knee handle the walk?"

Name Day nodded, "I wrapped it earlier, it'll be fine. Now let's go! If we get there just as the sun sets, it's much prettier."

The area that Kiperina had told him about was a small hill that overlooked Plesetsk, providing shelter from the snow with trees, but allowing a clear view of the sky which was the main thing Name Day wanted. One couldn't view the aurora easily through trees after all.

It took them just a little over a half hour to reach the area, and by the time they climbed to the top of the hill the sun had just gone below the horizon, the last vestiges of light being all that remained in the sky as the stars began to appear. Name Day had to stop and look, a relaxed smile on his face because this was what he missed the most about his northern home. He could come to terms with losing his home, his family, but the sky and the stars? He wished to see them more than he currently did.

"Wow…" Beside him, Creius stared up at the sky. "It's beautiful."

"It is." Name Day agreed. "And it'll only get prettier as the stars come out more. And then the aurora will come."

Creius looked at him, "how do you know that?"

Name Day smiled up at Creius, "years of living in this region mostly, but the weather's right for it, we just have to wait."

Without waiting, he trudged over towards the edge of the hill, where they could sit and lean back to watch the sky, and sat. He patted the spot next to him, "come sit. No point in standing to wait for it."

Creius moved slow, uncertain, and carefully sat next to Name Day, their hands brushing against each other.

This feels right, Name Day thought as he stared up into the sky, leaning back on his hands. He tried not to stare at Creius, in fear of seeing any sort of sign that he wasn't enjoying himself, but he couldn't resist glancing towards his friend just once. Relief filled him to see a serene look on Creius' face, more relaxed than he'd ever seen the man before, and it warmed Name Day's heart to know that he was the one to put such a look there. Maybe tonight would go as he hoped—as everyone seemed to believe it already would.

"Name Day." Creius said after the light had disappeared completely, leaving them with just starlight to see each other.

He hummed to show he was listening.

"I've thought a lot… about my feelings, and I think I have an answer."

"You do?" Name Day asked, turning his head in Creius' direction.

Creius nodded, the blush evident on his face despite the lack of light. He seemed to be muddling over something, so Name Day turned back to give him the time he needed to find the words.

Only, there were no words.

One second, everything was still, and the next, Name Day felt a gloved hand on his cheek, guiding his head back towards Creius and then—

Creius kissed him.

Name Day was surprised for not even a full second before he remembered that this was what he wanted, and he leaned into it, eyes closing to savour the feeling of Creius' lips against his own. They were soft and warm, gentle too, and Name Day loved it. He let out a pleased sound, kissing back, reaching with his own hands to cup Creius' cheeks, thumb brushing over the scar that marred the man's face. If this was love, then he'd found it, and he never wanted to let it go.

But he did—to breathe, because that was an unfortunate neccessity.

They broke apart, foreheads pressed together, breathing heavy as they gulped in breaths of cold air. Name Day was smiling—and then he was crying.

Creius made a noise of concern, "did I—?"

"No, no," Name Day interrupted quickly, opening his eyes to see the concern on Creius' face, and he smiled happily, "happy tears, that's all."

"Are you—"

He didn't give Creius a chance to doubt him, leaning in to claim another kiss, and another, each one longer than the last. There was only the slightest hesitation as Creius didn't seem certain on how to react to Name Day's sudden tears, but by their third kiss, he merely brushed away the tears and kissed back, pulling Name Day into his lap, holding his hips so that he could deepen the kiss.

Name Day wound his arms around Creius' neck and just smiled. He was happy, happier than he'd felt in a long time, and he hoped that Creius felt the same.

Then he remembered why he'd brought Creius here in the first place and gave the man a gentle shove in the chest, "stop—look!"

Creius paused and then looked where Name Day was pointing at the sky, eyes widening.

The aurora was above them, shimmering and glowing in the sky, dancing around as if urging them on.

"This is…" Creius started to say, only to trail off.

"Beautiful? Worth the walk?" Name Day suggested, turning so that he could lean against Creius' chest and see the aurora. "It's the one thing that never changes."

"It's amazing." Creius said, one arm wrapping around Name Day's waist, just resting there. "Thank you for showing me."

Name Day smiled and tilted his head up to press a kiss to Creius' cheek. "I told you I'd show you something pretty."

"That you did," Creius pulled his gaze from the sky to look down at Name Day, running a single finger down his cheek before leaning in for one more kiss, the most gentle one yet. "Thank you."