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Cyllene tries not to flinch when Laventon lowers her to the ground, she knows the impact is as light as his exhausted arms can manage even if it sends a deep, burning pain shooting through her injured leg. She's grateful regardless, not just for him carrying her this far, what with her right leg being all but useless after she failed to fully dodge an attack from the Alpha Luxray they’d accidentally angered, but how even now, when they’re running for their lives, he cares enough about her comfort to try to be gentle.
They’ve ducked behind a large fallen tree, the trunk blessedly offering enough cover to earn them a minute or two to breathe, and she’s as grateful for that as he clearly is. Running from an Alpha through the thick forest isn’t easy for either of them, though she must admit there’s a pit of shame burning in her chest at how useless she is, which almost hurts more than her injury. On top of that, while they’ve bandaged it as best they can, her leg is oozing blood and thus leaving a trail that she knows will lead the Alpha right to them.
Cyllene’s not just useless, she’s currently ruining their chances of escaping with their lives. Or, more honestly, ruining Laventon’s chance of escaping with his life.
"I just need a moment," Laventon all but gasps, hunching over and resting his hands on his thighs as he tries to catch his breath.
She takes the spare moment to take stock of the Professor’s appearance, her heart sinking at how exhausted he looks. His labcoat is gone, torn into makeshift bandages for her during the last brief reprieve they managed, and his lavender shirt is stained with blood and sweat and mud. It hurts to see him like this, and more than that, it cements in Cyllene's head how doomed they are.
There’s only one thing to do, she knows that, but Laventon hasn’t listened no matter how many times she’s pointed that out. He’s a good man, but she can’t stand the thought that he might die with her.
Still, Cyllene’s never been one to give up, so she puts on a stern front as she once again insists, "You have to leave me behind."
Laventon doesn't dignify her words with a proper response, instead standing and walking over to kneel in front of her and offer his hand. "Let's go."
She shakes her head and shoves his hand away. "That thing is catching up to us, I'm just slowing you down."
"Let's go," he says again, his tone leaving no room for argument.
“I'm bleeding, Professor, I’m leaving a trail right to us, we'll never get away-"
"I'm not having this argument again, Captain, it's a waste of time. We need to go, now."
"I order you-"
"I don't care."
“I don't take insubordination lightly,” she snaps.
"Fine then, you can dole out whatever punishment you see fit after we get back to Jubilife." He holds out his hand once more. "Now get on."
She slaps it away again, harder this time. "I refuse."
"Captain-"
"What? If you won't listen to me then I see no reason to cooperate with you."
“I can carry you without your cooperation, you know, if I have to.” His voice is shaky, but that’s exhaustion, not dishonesty. They both know he’s not lying. Any other day she could lay him out without breaking a sweat, but now? Sure, he's tired and hurt, but he's still bigger than her, after all, and stronger too for the time being, his own injuries nowhere near as disabling as hers. She can barely breathe, let alone stand, she wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing to stop him from throwing her over his shoulders and carrying her out of here if he put his mind to it.
She doesn’t really want to try, either. He’s acting so stubborn she’d have to seriously injure him to get him to drop her, and that would just put them back at square one. She could try to injure herself, but she doubts that’d do anything to make him see reason, anyway. Besides, she’s exhausted. He’d be able to stop her.
It’s a lost cause then, but he’s not the only one who's stubborn, and she refuses to back down even though her cold, sharp threat is completely empty. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I am not leaving you behind.”
“Would you just think about this for a second, Professor, there’s no reason for both of us to die-!”
“You don’t get to preach to me about the rationality of preserving life when you’re trying to throw yours away!”
"I'm a Captain, it's my job to make sure my subordinates make it back alive, even if I don't-"
"We're both going to make it back alive-!"
"You don't know that!"
"Neither do you!"
“Stop being a stubborn fool and just leave me behind!”
“Never!”
“Why?”
"Because I love you!" he shouts, face flushed with something other than anger and exhaustion. "So stop trying to get me to abandon you, Cyllene. I don't care what you say, I won't do it."
But she doesn’t keep trying. Instead she just stares at him, wondering perhaps if he actually did leave her behind and she's simply hallucinating all of this, but for the first time since the two of them wound up lost her mind feels perfectly clear. No, there's no doubt about it, he really is here, and he really just said that.
He loves her.
The first emotion that comes is anger. Anger at him, at herself, at this whole twisted situation. It's not fair. She's spent the last few years praying she could hear him say those words, how dare they come now, when they're both at death's door? When his only hope for survival hinges on abandoning her? What sort of sick gods would design to grant her such a blessing right when she's about to lose it all?
Then her eyes start to burn, because of course this whole mess hasn't been humiliating enough, but before the tears completely obscure her vision she sees the anger on Laventon's face fade into shame and worry.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted," he says gently, "but I won't...no, I can't leave you behind. I can't."
Cyllene shakes her head, far too exhausted to stop her tears. "You're a fool."
"I know."
“You’ll die.”
“Fine then, wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I abandoned you anyhow.”
“I’m not worth it.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I love you too,” she practically sobs, words starting to fail her.
He smiles, his own eyes flooding with tears. “Yeah?”
She nods before leaning forward as best she can and pulling him into a kiss. It’s a desperate mess that makes her wound ache, filled with tears and grime and sweat and interrupted by short, exhausted gasps for air, but to Cyllene, it’s perfect. Kissing him feels just as good she always imagined it would, and oh, the way he holds her. As if he’s scared she’ll vanish if he lets go. She was the fool in the end, for thinking she could ever convince her dear Professor to leave her.
But when they pull apart she tries one last time. "I can't watch you die with me.”
"And I can't leave you to die alone," he replies easily. "So we should get going. We can't give up, not yet."
It’s a fair compromise, all things considered, and she can’t help but love the way his irrational optimism reignites her resolve. He’s right, neither of them can die here, so she wipes her face and nods firmly. “Alright.”
Much, much later, when they’re both at last safe in the Galaxy Hall infirmary, Cyllene isn’t surprised to wake in the middle night to find Laventon asleep in the chair next to her bed, his hand wrapped loosely around hers.
He’s hopeless, truly, but she loves him all the same, so she settles back down, content to rest knowing even now, when all that would separate them is the short distance to his quarters, the Professor, her Professor, can’t bear to let her go.