As night fell over the wasteland, the overbearing heat of the sun was overtaken by a subtle chill. Loid and Jacqueline sat within a dark ruin around a pile of smoldering embers, a baby nestled in the latter’s arms. Alistair kept watch outside.

Jacqueline smiled down at jackie in her arms, idly stroking the baby’s hair; across from her, Loid sat with his chin in his hands, staring at her with narrowed eyes.

Jacqueline: “...you look like you wanna say something.” Finally she gave in, shooting him a quick glare.

Loid: “Because I do. What’s on your mind?”

Jacqueline: “Really, that’s it?” She rolled her eyes, returning her attention to Jackie, “Nothing, really. Just winding down from the stress of splitting up.”

Loid narrowed his eyes further, adjusting his glasses. “Don’t lie to me, Lyn. I can tell. What’s wrong?”

Jacqueline: “There really isn’t anything wrong, alright?” She glanced at him again, irritation clear in her bright red eyes.

At that, Loid straightened his back, leaning back with his hands on the ground behind him as he looked up to the ruin ceiling. “I see. So it’s about me, huh?”

Jacqueline sighed, finally turning her full attention to him. “Could you stand to be less perceptive sometimes? It’s really annoying.”

Loid lightly snorted, cracking a smile. “I’ll consider it, if you tell me what’s wrong.”

Narrowing her eyes in annoyance, Jacqueline slid her gaze away from him. “I just… feel bad.”

Loid: “For what?”

Jacqueline: “For taking you from your family.” She pressed Jackie gently to her chest, taking a deep, shaky breath. “You should be with them.”

Loid paused for a moment before stepping around the fire, sitting beside Jacqueline. “And not with you and Jackie?”

Jacqueline kept her gaze away. “That’s the problem. If I hadn’t seduced you, you’d still be with them. I stole you away.”

Loid wrapped a careful arm behind her, gently taking her opposite shoulder and pulling her against him. “None of them see it that way. And neither do I.”

Jacqueline: “That doesn’t make it any less true.” She finally turned to look at him, tears pooling beneath her red irises.

Seeing this, Loid cocked his head to one side, giving her a warm smile as he raised his free hand to her face, cupping her cheek and gently wiping away the tears beneath one eye. He slowly retracted his hand and raised it up—then suddenly flicked her on the forehead, earning an “Ow!?”

Loid: “Stupid.”

Jacqueline: “What was that for!?”

Loid spoke while maintaining the same warm smile, and Jacqueline demanded an answer with a huff, her voice causing the baby in her arms to stir.

Loid: “For getting upset on behalf of other people, like you always do.” He gently stroked Jackie’s hair to calm them as he replied, “You aren’t just some vixen who came and stole me away. I love you, and Mom and Dad love you, too.”

Jackie cooed in their mother’s arms, and with them satiated Loid wrapped his other arm behind Jacqueline and pulled her close. “I wouldn’t give you or Jackie up for the world.”

Jacqueline remained silent for a moment, until finally she let out an exhausted sigh, resting her head against Loid’s shoulder. “See, this is why I didn’t want to tell you.”

Loid: “You feel a bit better now?”

Jacqueline: “I felt terrible before, but now I just feel stupid.”

Loid chuckled. “That’s a small improvement, I guess.”

Alistair: “Oi, ya lovebirds still awake in there!?” Interjecting as the tender moment came to an close, Alistair called to the pair from outside. “If y’ain’t plannin’ on goin’ to sleep soon, one of ya can come out here and take over for me.”

Breaking their embrace, both partners exchanged glances before cocking their heads and laughing softly.

Loid: “Sorry, Al. We’re settling down now. You can get me when it’s time for next watch.”

Loid stood as he called back to him, moving to kick out the embers of their fire. Jacqueline made her way to the bedrolls tucked into the corner, lying down with the last of the firelight. Loid joined her a moment later.

And so, they both dozed off to sleep.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

Jacqueline was a light sleeper. She’d found it was a rather common trait among the few people she’d met throughout her life—awaking easily was a good skill to have if you wanted to survive. In any case, it was thanks to this that she’d drifted into consciousness after detecting just the slightest movement in the room.

She remained still and quiet as she let her eyes adjust. Had something dangeorus entered the room, moving hastily would simply invite it to attack her while she still couldn’t see it; it was better to feign that she was still asleep, forcing whatever it was to keep moving slowly and quietly.

That, and she was genuinely drowsy. Getting her thoughts off her chest had been a relief, but she still couldn’t help but feel crushed under the stress of splitting the group and the guilt of being the cause. Her head was pounding, and she just wanted to lie still regardless of the situation she was in.

Even so, her eyes did adjust, and with the faint starlight that filtered in through the cracks in the stone structure she was able to make out the vague shape of the darkness approaching her. At that, she felt a rush of relief.

It was humanoid. She blinked, and the shadow was undeoubtedly a Human person. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed since she fell asleep, but it was likely time for Alistair to turn in for the night, approaching to wake Loid and trade spots.

She relaxed, nestling Jackie closer in her arms. She would be taking the third watch, so she needed to get back to sleep now while she had the chance.

And yet, she couldn’t seem to close her eyes.

Something about Alistair’s approaching figure unnerved her. Did he walk like that? Did he move like that? She came close to calling out his name, but she decided against it, not wanting to disturb the sleeping infant at her side. She was just paranoid—riling herself up over nothing, no thanks to her incessant headache.

And so, he moved closer. Carefully he stepped over Loid, looking down at Jacqueline’s sleeping figure.

And as he crouched down, reaching for his belt, Jacqueline caught the briefest glimpse of starlight reflecting on silver.

Jacqueline: “AL—!”

The world, having just been silent and still, erupted into sound and movement. Her eyes widening with sudden realization, Jacqueline clutched Jackie to her chest with one arm, bracing the other against the ground to spring up as she called out for Alistair. The figure, startled by her sudden shout, hastened its attack, thrusting its arm downward. Its dagger met its mark, piercing through Jacqueline’s forearm and embedding its tip into the ground below, painfully pinning her in place.

Jacqueline screamed out in pain, instinctively gritting her teeth to muffle the sound. She swung her lower body forward with as much force as she could muster, striking the figure with a kick that sent it tumbling backwards, over Loid and into the center of the room.

It was now that Alistair came rushing into the room, sword drawn. Seeing the stumbling silhouette before him, he rushed at it without hesitation. The figure, on the other hand, regained its footing with an irritated grunt, flinging a second dagger from its belt at Alistair.

The old man slid to a sudden stop, flicking his blade in front of him. It caught the incoming blade with a clash of sparks, ricocheting it aside with a ringing clang. He readied his blade, prepared to rush the figure again, but—

A crash erupted behind him. With the terrible scraping sound of metal bearing into stone, the wall behind Alistair shuddered and crumbled, a shower of debris falling loose and scattering across the ground. The source of the destruction, a jagged nail affixed to the end of a pale appendage, retracted backwards into the darkness from whence it came, slithering through the air.

???: “Looks like you’ve got bigger issues to deal with, huh, Al!?” The figure spat out in a rush, their voice hoarse, their tone almost desperate.

A voice that was far too familiar.

Alistair gripped his sword with such force that the wooden hilt audibly creaked, the words that followed a roar. “What the hell is wrong with you, Roy, you piece of shit!?”

Jackie began to cry. As Alistair took a step forward, Roy recoiled a step back. “D-didn’t you hear me, old man!? There’s a monster out there! If you don’t go deal with it, it’ll kill all four of you!” He stuttered through a second threat, seeming almost offended that Alistair didn’t take the bait the first time.

Alistair growled in return, overcome with a rare fit of emotion. And then, in a split-second shift, his emotions distorted, calm overtaking the anger just present with unnatural swiftness, only unnerving Roy further.

Roy had pointed it out himself: there were four of them. One was just a baby, who posed no threat to him; one was the old man standing in front of him; one was the woman pinned to the ground by his dagger.

And one, having creeped up beside Roy knowing he was too much of a coward to take his eyes off of Alistair, was the man holding a javelin over one shoulder like a baseball bat.

Loid: “Al, take care of whatever’s outside!”

He shouted, and the next moment the metal shaft of the javelin rang out with a satisfying clang as it cracked Roy’s skull.