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The plan was simple, a simple plan, pop a tire and go, easy, right?
…Not when you're 3 inches tall and weigh not even a pound, there were 5 of them in total, the two leaders, Jedediah and Octavius, Octavius brought along two Romans, Novenus and Decimus while Jed brought along his most trusted companion, José Clayton. The tricky part wasn't executing the plan, but getting there….and not fighting with each other along the way
The two soldiers were bickering, which, all in all, was kinda funny to José, he thought it was all one big thing in Rome where every soldier got along with every other soldier over doing the brave thing of fighting for the “glory of Rome” or whatnot but apparently not! Jedediah and Octavius were…. something, putting it lightly, and all of them were on companionable terms, if for this thing only, to get there, the miniature Jeep car the night guard bought for Rexy would be the key, in order to make sure everyone could be at their place with no one left behind (apart from the miniatures which, all in all, only complained a little bit) Jedediah would drive and Octavius would be in the passenger, in the back would be the three others, that's why they chose only three others, after all, it took a very…very competitive game of roshambo, which Octavius' won, to pick who would bring along two of their companions.
Decimus was on José’s right, Novenus to the left, leaving José in the middle, feeling….trapped, but not in a particularly bad way. Throughout the ride there were twists and turns and bumps, José looked up at Decimus after a quick apology to him, his face felt hot for some reason, he blamed it on there being so many people in the car, he could feel Decimus’ hand on his thigh, looking down and up again before he got the memo and pried his hand away, flashing a charming smile “sorry, Clayton, bumpy ride” José nodded dumbly “y-yeah…bumpy….bumpy ride” Novenus mutterrd something José couldn't make out, he thought about asking him about it but right as he opened his mouth, Jed announced “we're here, folks! C'mon!” first step after getting there was ..ironically, the steps, it would take far too much time to go down each and every one so they opted for the snow breaking their fall, and thankfully it worked like a charm, while Octavius and Jedediah were talking, José let out a boisterous laugh, looking to the Centurion
“Did'ya just do a front flip inta the snow?!” to that, the Centurion nodded proudly, shrugging “if not only to make up for Novenus’” you could practically see his eyes rake up and down the archers body before he finished the sentence with a quiet “....form” José wasn't even the target and yet they could feel the glare the archer gave “I'll show you form” Decimus chuckled and muttered “I bet you will” making Novenus flush and flail angrily against the snow in order to dig himself out, it did, in fact, take a bit of digging before they got through but eventually they did, rushing up to the tire in order to air it out, Octavius was at the front, giving the command, José went behind Jed, Decimus and Novenus followed, the carefully lined themselves up, José felt like he was gearing up for a fight, holding on tight to the spear, Novenus was behind him, far enough to be spaced out evenly, but close enough that José could feel the others breath on the back of his neck, it made him shiver in a way he knew couldn't be from the cold but Octavius’ voice cut through that
“Ready?”
They were, and with a sharp jab, all hell broke loose, José had been in a dust storm and face to face with a tornado and somehow it didn't feel as strong as this, Decimus, for all his cockiness, ended up loosening his grip enough to fly back, José and Novenus ended up losing ground but pushed back, hauling their weight forward, Novenus tried to hold onto both the spear and José, that ended up to his fault and he fell after, José wasn't far behind, leaving the two leaders to handle the spear and three in the snow, Decimus was making sure the archer was unharmed when José hit the snow. Hard. He tried to get back up but hissed out a curse, to his surprise, the two Romans were concerned. “Clayton! Are you alright?!” José tried to make a snarky retort, trying to stand on his own two feet but once he felt the shooting pain in his right leg, making his knee buckle, he sighed “Might need some help”
Decimus and Novenus took to either side of the cowboy and helped him walk, it was, what Clayton described as “a bitch and a half” to get up the stairs but eventually the feat was done, they had made sure to at least get back into the museum before collapsing and/or assessing some issues, Decimus looked Clayton over “I believe you sprained your right leg and there's some bruising on your collarbone, even if another comes to our aid, I'll make sure that you get back home to your diorama safely”
“You mean we will” Novenus piped up from the other side, making Decimus sigh, some would say fondly “yes, I suppose, if you must share my glory” José laughed at that, these guys were…. actually quite fun.
Getting back was actually easier than previously thought, due to the night guard's son coming to their aid, the three of them walked up to the west when a group of cowboys saw the two Romans “ay ay ay ay! You two tincans ain't ‘lowd ‘round here, ya-” José put out a hand “oye, Cabron! Chill, they're alright, they're with me, n’ even if they aren't, show some respect to the guys who helped save our asses, eh?” the two Romans exchanged surprised looks, was the cowboy really….sticking up for them? Even the other cowboy looked surprised, a bit confused but ended up shrugging and shuffling away, Clayton gestured for them to keep moving and eventually they got to the tents, he pointed at one “that one there is mine”
The two Romans nodded and guided him to the tent, putting him inside, José sighed and Novenus straightened “I can go find a healer” Clayton shook his head “naw, naw I just need to sleep it off, don't need a pill, y'all have done enough anyhow” the Romans exchanged glances again before nodding, Decimus giving a salute “it was an honor to defend the museum alongside you, Clayton”
“José…call me josé” Decimus blinked in surprise before smiling, giving a short nod “as you wish, josé” the cowboy couldn't explain why his cheeks heated so much…the amount of people, it was crowded in here, alright? Novenus chuckled, a smooth, rich sound that the cowboy quite liked before speaking “I hope to see you again, I quite like being comrades instead of enemies”
The cowboy nodded, blinking dumbly, why is he getting so starstruck over this? “Uh-huh, m-maybe I can have y'all over for a couple drinks tomorrow night” Decimus gave a suave smile “already asking us on a date? How straightforward”
José flushed bright red and sputtered “n-naw! It ain't like that! It-” Decimus laughed and held a hand up “I'm kidding! I'm kidding! We'd be delighted to”
“Oh…” José smiled softly and nodded “...neat”
The two soldiers started back to Rome, talking kindly about their new companion, while the cowboy laid down, excited for the following night