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It was just another day at the Fortress of Meropide. You let out a sigh as you descend the cold steps with Wriothesley in lead. The only sounds emitted came from the breathing of the near prisoners as they shuffled in their cells, and the tinkling of chains hanging from Wriothesley's waist.
"Will it be Neuvillette coming to escort the harbinger?" you ask to break the silence.
The other nods his head in confirmation. "He also requested for another escort to assist him on the journey back to the Opera. I will be entrusting that to you"
A smile breaks out on your face. "Aw are you going to miss me while I'm gone Wrio?" you tease, sliding up next to him to capture his reaction. He only rolls his eyes with a huff.
"Thank you for the concern although... Sigewinne makes better company". The corner of his lips turn up as you stare at him in mock surprise. You resisted the urge to smack the back of his head, instead resorting to a light "tsk", as the two of you have arrived.
Wriothesley gives a nod to the two men standing guard at the cell. They take their que to leave, Wriothesley then bringing the keys needed to unlock the door.
You spot a figure sitting hunched in the far corner, ginger hair hiding his face. He lifts his head at the sound of the keys, dead eyes drifting from you to Wriothesley.
"Finally come to fish me out? Where's the justice in convicting an innocent man of a solved case?"
You only roll your eyes at his words. Wriothesley speaks up, "Whether you are guilty or not will be determined shortly. You are to be escorted to the Opera Epiclese where your trial will commence. In the meantime I ask for your full cooperation. If you really are innocent the court will compensate you accordingly". It sounded straight out of the book from how Wriothesley stated it. You can't tell if he purposefully committed it to memory or if it became second nature after dealing with so many cases.
"Yeah yeah let's just get this part over with" the harbinger replies. Wriothesley opens the door to the cell, and the two of you step inside to cuff the man. However as he stands you didn't fail to notice the purple sparks cackling at his fingertips.
You didn't need to say anything to your partner. The two of you prepare your respective elements to freeze the prisoner, but the latter strikes first. In a blur of electro he dashes at Wriothesley, managing to knock the keys from his grip. They skid across the floor to the front corner of the cell, and you speed to scoop them up before the ginger.
They enter your hands successfully but the harbinger takes this opening to aim for your head. Wriothesley intervenes, blocking the hit from connecting. The harbinger backs off for a second before smirking.
Wait why was he smirking? As you assess the situation you couldn't help but notice Wriothesley's handcuffs also absent from his wais... ah.
What a sneaky guy.
"Block the exi-" Wriothesley gets cut off when dodging a strike of electro, his figure knocking into yours as you found yourselves backed further into the corner.
You were about to say something along the lines of "Watch it!" when cool metal encased your right wrist. You could only see flashes of electro as you felt your body jerked to the barred wall of the cell. You hear several clicks and a satisfied laugh from the harbinger.
"Guess that finishes up my business here. I'd love to have a proper spar, but I guess that'd have to delayed for a better time" he says leisurely, swinging the keys on his finger.
"You.." you go to make a move felt resistance and the clinking of chains. You turn your head in confusion to see the handcuff had been looped through one of the bars and back in, the other end cuffing Wriothesley's right hand. You feel your stomach drop as you realise your other hand had also been cuffed to your partner.
"Anywho, I'm sure your Chief Justice will come around, I have other matters to attend to" the harbinger makes his smooth exit, swinging the door shut and putting extra emphasis on locking it. He then tossed the keys onto the floor, painfully just out of reach. His footsteps become faint as he disappears into the darkness of the fortress.
Movement from behind you snaps you back to the present, and you crane your head to see Wriothesley testing the cuffs only to not budge. A soft groan escapes your lips.
"Now what?"
"What else? We wait" Wriothesley replies, and you almost regret asking in the first place because you could feel his breath on your skin. You didn't realise how close your bodies were forced together, your back just brushing against his chest. Even so you dared to prompt him to speak again.
"And now we got a harbinger running around Meropide..."
"If anything this situation is because of your rash actions"
"MY actions?" you scoff, turning your head again to eye him. "I wasn't the one who lost the keys first"
"If you had recovered faster we could've taken him on easily"
"Hmph. Don't act like you're not at fault either. Arguing about this is meaningless anyway" you retort, facing forwards once again as you subconsciously shift your body to get more comfortable. This proved to be a mistake as you ended up taking a step back into Wriothesley.
The sudden contact caught you off guard and you feel the apologies tumbling out of your lips, instinctively moving forward to create distance between yourself and him. But the chains lock you in place and you end up stumbling forward.
Wriothesley catches you by the waist, as well as shifting his right arm so the cuff doesn't dig into your wrist from the pressure.
"Are you alright?"
"I- uh yeah" you sputter, thankful you were chained facing away from him else he'd see the redness coating your cheeks.
He helps you regain your balance, but doesn't remove his arm from your waist. Instead he pulls you in closer in a sort of embrace, and for some reason you don't seem to mind.
"Thanks" you get out, voice a little higher than what you meant it to be.
"Don't mention it" - 'yeah I really will not' you say mentally.
You occupy yourself with gazing through the bars. "Would Sigewinne be able to hear us from down here?"
"I wouldn't doubt it but..."
"but?"
"I've sent Sigewinne out on an errand..."
You took a moment to process what he said and made a connection with what he mentioned earlier.
"Wait so you were lying earlier about having her for company!" you call him out.
"To be exact I said she made better company, not that she was here" Wriothesley corrects you and you can almost hear slyness in his voice.
"Tsk, would've been nice to know earlier" you say, the end of your words dipping. You could feel yourself starting to lean into his figure. Unlike the cryo vision he carried he was... unexpectedly warm? Such a stark contrast to the stone cold prison cell.
"There's no need to panic. Neuvillette would notice somethings amiss and come down to get us". You almost shiver at the thought of the man seeing you in this helpless state. You actually used to work under the man, ensuring security during the trials and leading missions to capture criminals. After so long you grew tired of this and had requested to be moved to the Fortress of Meropide, where you worked with Wriothesley ever since.
'Wouldn't he have a lot to say...' you think to yourself.
Wriothesley in the same boat also was not looking forward to the Chief Justice descending to see the two prison wardens locked in the very cells they govern, with a missing prisoner on the lose.
Truth be told Wriothesley could break through the chains with his strength. But with you in such close proximity to him, he didn't want to hurt you on accident. Knowing that you would protest against it anyway with "It doesn't matter- just break us out", he chose to remain silent about this fact.
Time passes and you start to grow tired of standing. Wriothesley must've felt the same because he then said "It looks like we're gonna be here longer than I assumed. We might as well sit down and rest ourselves"
You would've cheered at this prospect if it weren't for the fact that the process of sitting is going to be a lot more difficult than imagined. With the extremely short distance of the chain both of you are going to have to lower yourselves at the same time to prevent the other from hurting.
"So how is this gonna work-" you start but you feel the arm around your waist tighten and he lifts you up off the floor. You couldn't help let out a surprised yelp at the sudden action.
This, unfortunately, was the easiest way to get down for the break you so desired. Wriothesley then proceeded to lower himself like it was any other day and it is only now you realise due to the cuffs sitting down would require you to be in his lap.
Oh but its too late now isn't it.
He sat with his legs slightly straightened out in front of him, you finding yourself turned to his right side with your legs hanging off, his left arm still snaked around your waist.
"Should've given me a warning jerk" you mutter but he hears it. The light chuckle coming from his chest proving so.
Despite your words he doesn't fail to notice the way you snuggled up to his body for warmth. Several moments pass when a yawn threatens to escape from your lips and you start to wonder if Neuvillette not coming down for a while was a good thing.
'Maybe this isn't so bad afterall' you think as you drift off. Wriothesley feels you slump against him and some feeling buzzes in his chest. Satisfied, he shifts so you're both comfortable, and closes his eyes, letting his breathing match yours.
.
.
.
"Hmmn" you hum as you start to regain consciousness. You find your left hand intertwined with another, your other beginning to feel numb.
You lift your head slowly to see Wriothesley's resting face, who's eyes fluttered open to meet yours. You catch yourself staring and look away hurriedly.
"Rest well?" he asks.
"Yeah" you murmur back. You can't seem to recall how you got into this situation, or why you're even here. Although, you don't have the energy to care so you find yourself resting against him once again to saviour the peace and comfort you felt.
Suddenly you hear footsteps echoing down the hallway, with the click of a cane every few steps. Your stomach drops when you finally realise the source of the sound and the situation you're in but its too late.
"When the harbinger said the two of you were tied up with something, I was not expecting it like this" came the familiar voice as the steps came to a stop. He sounded amused almost.
Wriothesley ignored his antics and asked "Has the prisoner been apprehended?"
"Yes. Noticed something was amiss the moment I arrived. I successfully intercepted him and had some Gardes nearby take care of him whilst I investigated your absence"
Neuvillette spotted the keys on the floor and picked them up, heading towards the door. He was about to slot it in when he pauses and looks at you and Wriothesley.
"What are you waiting for?" you ask, eyeing the man. You could've sworn the corners of his lips were turned up but you couldn't be sure in your fatigued state.
"Apologies. I couldn't help but notice that our dear warden is in some dire need of sleep. Seeing as the harbinger has been dealt with, your services are no longer required" he replies retracting the key and holding it out of your sight.
"Do not fret. I'll pass the keys onto Sigewinne for when she returns. In the meantime, I suggest you enjoy your peace"
And with that the Chief Justice turns to leave. You open your mouth but you can't bring yourself to object, finding that you... really didn't mind. It seems Wriothesley didn't either as he only emitted a chuckle at your reaction.
He nudges for you to rest yourself on him again (he would've opted for using his hand to bring your head back to his chest again but seeing the current situation), and you comply, once again basking in the warmth that is Wriothesley.
You briefly wonder the events to occur after this whole thing, but you decide to leave that for future you. Who knows, maybe this could become a regular occurance.