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"Elder Liu-Shen."
Liu's head shot up off the desk, his mouth working before his brain caught up. "Huhwha-- I wasn't sleeping, Marica, I swear--" He stopped, blinking owlishly at his visitor. "Oh. It's you."
Luo-Tao inclined his head in acknowledgment, his expression impassive. "Elder Liu-Shen, you're obviously exhausted."
"Nah, I'm just a little tired. I've gotta finish working this out before I go to bed, anyway. I'm almost done." He glanced at the map that had been serving as his pillow, ineffectively trying to smooth the creases from it. "Or I would be, if I could find--"
Wordlessly, Luo-Tao picked up a page of notes from the floor and held it out.
"--um. Yeah. Thanks." Liu grinned embarrassedly, grabbing the paper from him. "Honestly, I'm fine."
"If you're going to lie, you should try to do it more skillfully." There was a faint smile at the corner of Luo-Tao's mouth, which was all the warning Liu had before he found himself being picked up off the chair and into Luo-Tao's arms.
"H-hey, Luo-Tao, seriously, what are you-- put me down!"
"Taking you to bed." He paused just long enough for Liu to begin to worry about the implications of that. "You need the rest. After all, you can't expect to send the company out on a strategy you planned while half-asleep, can you?"
Liu's mouth snapped shut on his half-formed protests.
It was just their luck that the storm had settled in after they'd left Dogha's hut behind them.
"It was pretty lucky, wasn't it?" Sieg said brightly, despite his chattering teeth. "I mean, if we didn't have Dogha with us, we'd never have found this cave!"
Roberto bit back a scathing remark, settling for what he thought was a rather evocative roll of his eyes. He was quickly learning that things like sarcasm and criticism rolled off Sieg like water off a duck's back. Like the water from the melting snow in Roberto's boots definitely wasn't doing.
The old man and the kid were slowly feeding the fire, the kid's excited chatter blending into the growing crackle of what little dry brush and branches they'd been able to find. Roberto had to hand it to Dogha -- after all the traveling the Blades had done, he considered himself something of an expert at setting up camp, but this mountain was truly something else. And yet the old man had found this small cave out of the wind amongst what had looked to everyone else like nothing more than sheer cliffs and swirling snow.
A loud sneeze broke through Roberto's thoughts. Sieg was still shivering, despite the heavy cloaks and woolen blankets -- like the one currently draped over Roberto's own shoulders -- they'd bought on Nhazu's advice back in Tehah. Though he'd never been to the mountains, Roberto at least remembered Astrasia's long, cold winters. He knew Citro, on the other hand, was fairly mild all year long. It was no wonder Sieg was the most affected by the weather.
Roberto sighed. "Hey," he said. He extended the arm closest to Sieg, holding out the blanket.
Sieg looked at him blankly. "Huh?"
Not for the first time, Roberto found himself wondering how someone so dumb could have such an effect on so many people. "You're freezing. Get over here."
Comprehension dawned and Sieg scooted over. Roberto tried not to think too hard about the feel of the slightly smaller body pressed up against his side, and adjusted the blanket until it laid properly over both of their shoulders.
"Thanks, Roberto," Sieg said. His smile was blinding.
Roberto felt his face heat. "I-it's not like I did it for your sake," he muttered. "If you get frostbite, you'll slow everyone down."
"Jeez, and here I was trying to be all appreciative!" Sieg jabbed Roberto in the ribs under the blanket.
"Hey! Do that again and I'll--" Roberto stopped, suddenly unable to finish his thought. Sieg's head was pillowed on his shoulder, his hair tickling Roberto's jaw. Swallowing hard, Roberto kept his eyes fixed on the the flickering light of the fire. At least that way, he could claim the red of his cheeks was from the fire's heat.
"Your stance is too wide!"
Atrie automatically started to correct himself, but it was too late. Sigmund's leg shot out, hooking around the back of knee. All Atrie had time to do was duck his shoulders to prepare for the inevitable impact with the dusty training yard. He hit with a muffled oof, his sword clattering from his hand to lie uselessly next to him.
Blinking up through sweat mingled with the dust kicked up from his fall, Atrie sighed. "Was that really fair?" he murmured.
Sigmund gave a small laugh. He offered his hand, and when Atrie took it, he effortlessly tugged the boy to his feet. "Last time I checked, fairness wasn't really an issue in a fight."
"I guess you've got me there." Atrie glanced ruefully at his fallen sword. His next words died in his throat as Sigmund licked his thumb to wet it and dragged it across Atrie's cheek to wipe a smudge of dirt from his skin, as though he were a child.
"Are you all right? I don't want to actually hurt you, you know," Sigmund said, concern in his eyes.
Atrie tried to ignore the blush he knew was staining his pale cheeks. "I'm fine," he said firmly, then let his voice go teasing. "Besides, how am I supposed to learn anything without getting knocked around a few times first?"
"Better to be knocked around here than at a time when it really matters," Sigmund agreed. He bent to retrieve Atrie's sword, pressing the hilt into Atrie's hand. Once Atrie gripped it properly, he moved around behind Atrie to guide him into the proper stance. "Let's try this again."
All Atrie could do was nod wordlessly as he felt Sigmund's warmth at his back.