Title: not quite what it seems
Rating: G
Fandom: Ys
Relationship: Adol Christin/Geis
Wordcount: 2000
Short summary: Adol and Dogi get rescued unexpectedly by Geis from a trap. It turns out that they are here for the same job? While working together again, Dogi thinks, Geis is kind of different than back in Altago, huh…

When Dogi and Adol unexpectedly trigger the floor to collapse under them, bringing them tumbling out a tunnel and sliding down a rock face into some deep rock pit, Dogi takes a moment to gather himself while Adol checks their belongings for any useful tools to get them out. Worst case scenario, Dogi just busts some rock wall, but that could just bust them into a bigger pit unless… Wait a second, did someone just shout?

Dogi wonders if he has imagined the voice but Adol shouts back, and a few moments later the end of a rope ladder is tossed down at them, nearly catching Dogi’s face. So, real. Dogi follows Adol up the rope ladder while contemplating this surprising turn. He’s used to Adol’s crazy luck, both good and bad, but this might take the cake. Because, really, Geis of all people has come to rescue them? The guy who barely spares a moment for other people once he considers his business done, that guy is using a little of his time to…?

“It’d be more work to rescue you later.”

What Geis says surprises Dogi, but the tone which Geis uses surprises Dogi even more. Who knew that Geis could say something without sounding condescending? Let alone…friendly? Adol seems unphased, though, but then again, Adol’s always believed the best in everybody, even when the sentiment wasn’t exactly returned…

But then Geis explains that he is here to find and investigate the local ruins too and Dogi figures that everything makes sense, actually. He was just overthinking things before, thinking that Geis might care. This is just business for Geis.

So when Geis ends up leading the way, Adol and Dogi following him, Dogi thinks back to their time in Altago. Will it be a repeat of that? Well, it doesn’t hurt to have another skilled person to help on this adventure. With the size of the reward they are being offered, splitting it three-ways will still be more than enough to pay for their next journeys. And, well, Adol seems happy with the additional companionship, so…

*****

After a successful ruin excursion that follows (Dogi sure is glad he did not fall into any more pits today), they make it back to town in good time. Adol is about to hand over the treasure they found at the back of the ruins to the merchant when Geis grabs onto Adol’s arm roughly, catching everyone else by surprise. The merchant yells and some verbal sparring occurs between him and Geis while Adol and Dogi can only watch. For once Dogi is appreciative of Geis’ sharp tongue. Because not only is this “merchant” the wrong person to give the “treasure” to because he would have reneged on his promised reward, this “merchant” would have sold this “treasure” to some hotshot Romun noble for a high price with said man not knowing that this “treasure” is actually one of the five sacred relics of this island. A relic that, if removed completely from the island, would cause the local land to lose balance and lead to its destruction.

Of course, after the “negotiations” that followed upon this revelation for an “appropriate” quest reward have concluded (basically the “merchant” storming off in a huff with nothing gained), Adol immediately asks what, where, when and how Geis knows all this information. Geis just huffs.

“Couldn’t stand watching someone take advantage of you.”

Geis speaks in quiet exasperation but Dogi hears the words clearly. Dogi wonders who Geis is referring to; he was facing Adol but now he’s turned away and… Is that a little… No, it must be a trick of the light. Because Geis’ cheeks turning red is kind of strange, right?

Dogi blinks. When he looks at Geis again, nothing is different. Geis has his usual cool expression as he explains to Adol and Dogi who his task master is, what they really should be doing. Dogi gets distracted by the fact that there really are 4 other ruins they need to retrieve relics from to bring back for the priestess’ blessing. And then they’ll have to put all 5 of them back. Man, this is much more work than he and Adol thought they had signed up for, but he can feel his adventurer’s spirit perk up. Adol certainly looks excited, asking the priestess all sorts of questions.

Well, they’ll be here for a while if they wait for Adol, Dogi thinks. He’s pretty sure Adol has charmed another lady with his genuine friendly curiosity and mild manners. Oh, and is that Geis biting his lip over there in impatience? Or jealousy? Well, Dogi knows better than to fault Adol for any of this. He’ll just go to the local bar for a drink and then get some rest for the next ruin spelunking. Even if Adol talks all night he’ll be fine tomorrow. As for Geis… Geis stalks out the house, mumbling about his fairies. Okay, well, that’s cool. Dogi shrugs as he leaves. No matter, he will just treat himself to a nice hearty meal and drink…

*****

The next ruin excursion is relatively fine save for Dogi taking the guardian beast’s headbutt (hey, that second head coming out was completely unexpected!), but this third ruin trip has been a lot trickier, because someone liked making traps. They’ve made it through three so far, but the fourth time when Adol triggers another trap that brings another gate crashing down, unfortunately the timing is such that it separates him from Dogi and Geis.

Geis immediately curses before yelling at Adol to stay, but to no avail. Of course they already hear Adol’s footsteps as he moves away, looking for another path. Geis grumbles something unintelligible and then a tiny red fairy comes swooping in. Geis relays orders without delay and a second later she’s swooping out, most likely to go track down Adol. Then Dogi is following a continuously grumbling Geis as he takes them down the right fork of the remaining open paths.

Well, what else can Dogi do? He’s not going to get ditched by Geis. While he’d like to reunite with Adol sooner than later, honestly the way Geis is just stalking down these passageways is just… He almost seems…worried? Since when did Geis care about more than himself or money or… Oh, well, Dogi knows Geis cared about his older brother, and maybe not having people in general harmed by disasters… So is Geis worried Adol will trigger such a thing? That’s ridiculous! Adol would never…

A shout from Adol jolts Dogi off his thought train. Oh, they found Adol already no worse for wear. There really had been nothing to worry about. But the way Geis regards Adol…stalks over to him, grabs him by the tunic…

“You really know how to make a man work.”

Dogi expects a punch to follow those words, but Geis just releases Adol and stomps off. Or would have, if Adol hadn’t just grabbed his arm and…squeezed it? Dogi had inadvertently taken a step forward, expecting to have to break up a brawl, but Geis doesn’t move or resist. It seems he, just like Dogi, is a bit in shock at Adol’s actions. It’s perhaps the shock that disarms Geis’ anger, although Dogi is concerned still because the flush on Geis’ cheeks means he’s still worked up about something, right?

But Geis just sighs and shakes his head, and before anything else happens, the tiny red fairy comes back and tells them that the next guardian is already waiting for them. Geis thanks her and shoes her away, and says he’ll take charge of leading them to the guardian. He moves before Adol or Dogi can throw any objections, and with a speed that would be hard to overtake. So Dogi just lets Geis go on ahead, instead checking in on Adol who is…laughing quietly? Okay, Dogi is confused. But Adol just shakes Dogi off, indicates that everything is fine with a big smile, then rushes to join Geis.

Well, Dogi hopes he’ll understand later…

*****

The attack comes unexpectedly but the battle is already over by the time Dogi realizes anything had happened. To be attacked in broad daylight in the town by one of the locals? Perhaps it was a bit naïve to think all of their troubles with the priestess’ task would be in the ruins, especially seeing how popular she is around town, and how much she has taken a liking to Adol.

Meanwhile Geis shakes his head as the attacker flees the scene. Adol asks if Geis is okay; it appears Geis is the one who noticed the attacker heading towards Adol first and disarmed the man before even Adol could do anything. In response to Adol’s question, Geis just laughs.

“I won’t be bored if I’m with you.”

Adol smiles back sheepishly. He offers to buy Geis a drink in compensation. Geis accepts right away. And a moment later Dogi is left in the plaza alone, wondering…

Since when did those two get so buddy-buddy? Yes, over the past few days, Geis has been much friendlier than he was back in Altago, but sometimes the words Geis says to Adol don’t seem to match how he says them. As if Geis is speaking in some sort of code, some code that Adol interprets correctly?

Well, Dogi supposes he should be happy about this, whatever it is. He can honestly say they wouldn’t have gotten this far in this adventure without Geis. He might even say he truly likes Geis now, but as to whether he and Geis are friends… Dogi doesn’t know. Geis hasn’t really talked to Dogi one-on-one while he’s been here. His attention has been on Adol…

So Dogi can say, based on how Adol is getting along, Geis is a friend because he’s Adol friend, right? Maybe?

*****

Dogi’s wrong.

First, just when it appeared they have managed to retrieve the fifth and last relic safely, something falls from the ceiling and crashes the celebration, literally.

Dogi had been standing a bit further back from Adol and Geis, so he hadn’t been in any danger from the falling object, but Geis had been right under the spot…until Adol had pushed him aside and taken the blow himself.

For a moment Dogi and Geis stand in shock. Then Geis quickly starts lifting up the stone chunk off of Adol’s body and Dogi moves to help, tossing the blasted piece aside. And Adol… Adol is not moving.

Medicine…yes, he has a bottle of that somewhere…oh.

Dogi clamps a hand over his mouth to cover his shout of surprise. Geis had been quicker, but not only that, he put some of the medicine in his own mouth before delivering it to Adol. Mouth to mouth. Of course that makes sense, with Adol not moving, that Geis should give Adol the medicine this way. It would be much faster than trying to use a salve instead. But also, it’s Geis, of all people, doing this? Without any hesitation?

Geis pulls back just as Adol begins to twitch.

“I’m not fond of the idea of losing you to something like this.”

Adol smiles before pulling Geis down for another kiss.

Oh. This is the second thing Dogi’s wrong about.

Dogi shakes his head and laughs quietly. So all this time, Adol and Geis had been…exchanging more than friendly sentiments? Maybe that’s why it all went over Dogi’s head. And suddenly Dogi’s realizing all the signs he overlooked, thought he was delusional about. All those times Geis blushed were real, and that fond tone really was there. It was just Geis being Geis.

Well, Dogi is fine with that as long as Adol is happy. He turns away to give the two lovebirds some privacy while they continue…doing what they are doing. It’s not like Dogi wants Geis to sock him.

But he’ll rib Adol about it all later.

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