A/N: This was requested by @ItalyDudex !
Thank you so much for requesting, I hope it meets your expectations :,)
Jed's POV in this one.
"Have you seen Octavius anywhere?" I asked Leo, a friend of Octavius'.
The Roman Diorama looked busy—people were working and keeping themselves occupied.
It was loud, people chatted with each other and the city was being worked on.
Leo seemed like he had work to do, too—but finding Octavius was more important to me right now than making sure I don't distract someone with their work.
It could wait.
"No?" he said, which sounded more like a question to me, rather than an answer.
"I thought he was with you actually."
I furrowed my eyebrows at him as I thought for a moment.
With me?
So, if Octavius is not here, and not in the Western Diorama—where could he be then?
As I climbed down to the floor of the museum, I thought of where I could start my search.
Maybe Octavius has gone out for a walk, maybe he's with Larry, or maybe—he got lost.
I couldn't hold back a giggle as I pictured a lost Octavius who stood in the middle of the museum and looked around frantically.
I pushed away the funny thought and reminded myself that he could also be in need of help.
The sooner I find him, the better.
I wouldn't want to have to run back before the sun rises, and I sure wouldn't want Octavius to be left alone in the museum somewhere for the entire day.
I should concentrate on searching for my best friend.
However, to my surprise, it wasn't needed.
It didn't take a long walk when I finally spotted him.
He sat on the floor, leaned against a wall on the right side of the path.
My face lit up as I made my way straight to him.
A smile spread on my lips as I was happy to have finally found my closest friend.
Thoughts of things we could do together entered my mind—a range of activities.
Drive around with the car, fly around with the plane, mess with Larry, play hide and seek, take a walk outside ... The ideas were endless!
However, my smile didn't last for long when I spotted in which condition Octavius was.
The first thing I saw was the blood slightly above his knee.
He had some on his elbow as well!
Although he wore armor, it didn't seem to have protected him well enough.
His face didn't show anything postive either.
His expression was empty and a frown fell upon his lips.
"Octavius," I began with a strong tone of worry in my voice as I approached him, "what happened?"
Octavius' head turned to me, but he kept the same saddened expression on his face.
Usually when Octavius and I caught eye contact, he always smiled.
That friendly smile of his that he always wore.
A smile which always gave me a feeling of comfort.
However, that surely wasn't the case now.
"It's alright, I'm fine," he said.
"Don't tell me you're fine, you're bleeding!"
I kneeled down to him and examined his wounds.
It looked cut; like something sharp has cut through his skin.
The cuts on his leg and elbow weren't deep, but they still needed to be taken care of.
"Jus' what the hell happened?" I was eager to find out.
All kinds of scenarios flooded my head—from him walking through a rose bush to someone trying to stab him with a knife.
I searched my pockets and found some leftover roll of bandages from a conflict I've had earlier.
Great timing...
I took it out and began to take care Octavius' elbow.
"It's just..." Octavius began and sighed, "I was out with Gracilis, Nidia and Hale, but it didn't work out as I wanted it to."
The mention of such familar names made my eyebrows shoot up.
Octavius talked about them before.
Judging from his stories, they didn't seem so bad.
They seemed to be nice people—the kind that Octavius deserved.
I have seen them a few times, too.
Whenever our paths crossed—whether it was while I was with Octavius or just when they walked past—they always gave me a friendly smile.
I guess they weren't so nice after all...
"And they hurt you like that?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed in worry and a small amount of anger.
If they seriously thought it would be a good idea to hurt Octavius like this, then they have no idea what consequences they will have to be met with.
I'll make them and their waxy bodies into candles.
Well ... no, not gonna do that exactly, but I'll think of something!
"No," Octavius said, almost chuckling, "no. The reason behind my injuries is that I fell, while I tried to climb down from the Roman Diorama."
"You fell?"
Normally, I would laugh, but now my body strictly dismissed this as the right time for a laugh.
Although picturing Octavius falling looked funny in my head, the worry in my face stayed.
"Yeah, I guess there were some glass pieces in my way. They made me bleed. And I think I also twisted my foot a bit, too..."
Damn.
Poor Octavius.
How can one be so unlucky?
I ripped the unneeded part of the bandages, putting it aside, and tied the ends into a knot.
After Octavius' elbow was done, I made my way down to his leg.
A part of his armor was in the way which covered his knee.
The injury was right above it.
Octavius removed it and I began to cover his injured leg with the bandages.
I was careful to not hurt him, my hands were steady and gentle—I made sure I didn't use any force on him.
"Listen Jed, I'm sorry you have to do this," Octavius started as he watched me take care of his injury, "you can leave, I'll take care of it."
"I'm not leaving," I just said, my eyes concentrated on his leg.
"You've gone through lots of trouble today. You had to take care of that issue with your people earlier, you've gone out to search for me, you came all the way here—and now you have to take care of my silly injures," Octavius said and played with his fingers, tightly pursing his lips together.
"I'm sorry that we can't do the things we usually do today."
I stopped bandaging up his leg for a moment and looked up to Octavius, who looked away in discomfort.
"This is not about me, nor about us. It's about you, and only you," I stated, "I'm here now and I won't leave 'til you're alright again."
I watched him for a moment before I got back to what I was doing.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled.
"Say sorry again and I swear, the minute you feel better, I'll punch you."
I saw a smile on Octavius' lips from my words.
I couldn't help but smile as well.
As I finished up his leg, I ripped the leftover piece of bandage and tied a knot—just like I did on his elbow.
I put a hand on his now bandaged leg, "you're good as new now, friend."
Octavius put his piece of armor back on, and I stood up from being kneeled in front of him.
I took a seat next to Octavius and leaned against the wall—just like he did.
My eyes wandered around the empty halls of the museum.
The museum was such a gigantic place for us—just an average chair was like an own museum for itself.
I always wondered how it was like for Larry.
Was it just an average hall for him?
If yes, what would he consider to be big then?
I tried to imagine an even bigger museum in my head, but I couldn't really go far.
Damn it, Jed, this is not about the museum right now.
I should think of Octavius.
He needs my support more than ever now.
My eyes left the halls and I looked at him.
"What did your friends do?" I asked Octavius, remembering how upset he looked about them.
It was odd enough to say friends.
I felt like whatever it was that Octavius was sad about, it had to be something that would show that the term 'friends' didn't really fit their description.
The more I looked into the disappointment in his face, the saltier the words felt on my tongue.
It took a while for Octavius to answer.
"I'm not sure you want to hear this."
My head turned to him for a moment, before I continued.
"Come on, tell me what's going on. What's on your mind?"
Octavius fell silent.
His eyes were glued to the floor.
He looked unsure of whether he wanted to tell me or not.
Or maybe he was just thinking of where to start?
I'm unsure.
Either way, I patiently waited for him to talk, whenever he felt the time was right.
"I wanted to spend some time with them today. I prepared board games for us, something we would all enjoy. Everyone enjoys board games in Rome, you know. This day was planned beforehand, and I was so sure everything is going so well..." Octavius explained.
"Then they just cut me off. Cut me off, tore up our plans, said they made plans with someone else instead. It's more fun for them, after all."
What?
It was hard to believe that the friendly faces in my memory were all just a lie.
The friendly smiles didn't match the things that Octavius was telling now.
It just reminded me of how fake people can be.
I saw how Octavius sat there, like a caged animal—swollen with his thoughts and feelings.
I couldn't even begin to imagine how he must feel like.
He felt like he had been fooled by his friends—people who he thought were trustworthy and reliable.
I'm sure he couldn't stop thinking and wondering what he had done wrong to make them treat him like that.
Octavius continued, "I remember how Hale said 'you're all busy since you're the Roman General, ain't that right? We just thought you had other important issues to deal with'."
"To hell with him," I said.
Octavius smiled at my small pun of his name.
I tried to imagine the look on their faces while they gathered all together and excluded Octavius from their plans.
Just what kind of excuse is it that they 'thought he had other important issues to deal with'?
That's just pathetic.
"Don't listen to them. They're not worth it, alright?"
"It's not really about what they said..." Octavius began, "it's just that they left me all alone there, all by myself."
"You're not alone. You have me," I corrected him.
"And if the whole Roman city is against you, I will be on your side. You ain't jus' gonna get rid of me that easy, friend!"
The sad expression on Octavius' face seemed to have gotten a bit better by now.
Even if it's not much—the fact made me happy.
It was sad to see Octavius being hurt by people that he doesn't deserve to be sad about.
He took his time for them, prepared and waited—but they just took the care he gave them, and tore it apart.
It was a lot to deal with; also considering that Octavius was a person with a big heart.
Now that he was getting a bit better, the world looks brighter, too.
"I know how stupid it may sound, they just cancelled plans after all, but what they did truly hurt my feelings. I just didn't expect them to do in in such a mean way."
"It does not sound stupid. No, never. Never has been and never will be," I said in a serious, but calm tone, "you're not crazy or somethin', and it's not just a small thing that I'm gonna ignore like it never even happened!"
Octavius just kept his eyes on the floor, a sad smile tugged on his lips.
"If you need time for yourself, I can talk to your people to let them know you'll be takin' a break for a while. Just let me know and I'll do it, without questions," I said softly and placed a hand on his shoulder while maintaining eye contact.
"Thank you, Jedediah," Octavius said as a sigh escaped his lips, "I'm glad you're here."
"I'll always be here," I said with a reassuring smile.
My hand left his shoulder and wandered to his back.
I hoped to provide him with a sense of relief from his worries.
"You should have come to me when all of this happened. You wouldn't be so alone with your thoughts."
"You're right."
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and embraced him in a hug.
I couldn't hold back a smile as I felt the warmth of the embrace.
Octavius buried his face into my neck.
I just hoped I could give him some sort of comfort and make him feel better about the situation.
He didn't deserve any of it.
As I broke the hug, I looked at him and spotted a smile on his face.
The same smile he always wears.
That was a clear sign of him feeling much better.
Nothing could make me as happy as that.
"You don't have to hang out with them, we can hang out instead!" I said, offering support.
"Yeah," he breathed out and gave me a warm smile.
"I could really use a distraction."
The smile didn't leave my lips.
My hand was placed on his shoulder again in a comforting manner.
"No but seriously Octy," I started, making sure he knows that I'm there for him, "I don't care if your issue is that you've hurt your arm, or that you're annoyed with someone—if it's something that's botherin' you, I'm all ears."
Octavius placed his hand on top of mine.
"Thank you, Jed, really. I promise to tell you from now on."
I couldn't help but embrace him in a hug again.
This hug was rather quicker than the previous one, but nevertheless a comforting one.
"So," I started, a grin appearing on my face, "you said you needed a distraction."
Octavius looked at me, interested to hear what idea I had in mind.
"Yeah... where is it?"
"You're looking at it."
Octavius still didn't really understand where I was going with this.
So, I stood up.
"Come on."
I helped him stand up, making sure I was careful with his injuries.
Octavius was limping slightly, but still capable of walking.
"Let's get some ice cream," I said as I helped him walk. "And we can go outside to watch the stars while we're at it."
I saw Octavius' face lit up at the mention of ice cream.
"I'd love that!"