I don't know about that!

You're not one of the ones I'm scared of! If anything I'm relieved to see you

[In a few minutes, as promised, he's dragging a very large branch back into the cave. Once he's decently close to the light, he immediately starts snapping parts of it off with his hands and eventually by propping it up against the wall and kicking it. It's probably enough firewood for a few hours]

Ok! I'll only be gone a second. There's a branch right outside I saw earlier. If you need anything just shout!

[There he goes, running off like nothing happened and there isn't a fear in his heart]

Hehehe~

[After all these years, Paullus knows that's basically an "I love you too" coming from him]

Ah! Speaking of being warm! I need to get more firewood if we're staying out here overnight

[He's standing up with some more grunts like a grandpa he is]

No, no, not naked, I'm just curious about why our clothes are different is all. I wouldn't suggest you go bare, I know that's way too far for you and as your best friend I love you too much to make you uncomfortable. Unless of course it was funny but that isn't so ehhhh you know what I mean

Yeah, I don't get that! It's so much more to clean and get out of the way when you've gotta do your business. Besides, there's no shame in it! Everyone has a body. It's natural!

And don't tell me it's a temperature thing, that ScotIand boy doesn't wear pants and he's cold as hell

HA! Wow, really? Vegetables? I get fruit but I don't really see the appeal of fancy roots. I guess they do kind of look like legs sometimes

...

Is that why you wear pants? Or do the pants just cause a leg thing for you since they're covered up so often?

Ah true but it was a little- wait. W- do you think they were eating raw vegetables then going to town on each other?!

[He sits up incredulously]

They weren't even that tasty! What the hell? How could that put anyone in a mood other than disappointed?!

True, true. It could've been that they weren't expecting to have a sleepover and Feliciano didn't want to sleep on the couch. What made it extra weird was that they had a plate full of raw vegetables next to the bed for some reason and he had a weapon

Hehe, yeah he was a cute little guy. I'm glad they found each other again in adulthood.

You know-

[He smiles devilishly and whispers despite no one else being around to hear them]

-when I visited Feliciano once, they were in bed together. They still had their clothes on though which was weird

It's ok

[He turns to look at Aldrich]

Maybe he got it from his mom? Unless you have some crazy parents yourself. Though you seem more like his little brother. The one who's friends with my grandson

[The fire is nice. He sighs contentedly]

I'm surprised. I feel like that one kid you had with the white hair and red eyes would've been flung by a bear. He was so confident

It's fiiine. Didn't your kids ever fall out of a tree? It's basically the same thing

[He readily accepts the offer to sit once he redresses. It's pretty cold in the cave compared to his home. Realizing the cold is probably good for the bruise, he tries to casually lay down with a few grunts]

[With how his clothing is, he does actually have to get naked in order to show him. He knows his friend his more modest however, so he covers himself the best he can and tries to stay turned around. There's a big purple bruise spreading across his scarred back]

[He frowns but complies, only because he knows Aldrich would come after him if he stayed put and he doesn't want him exerting himself more]

Fine, fine, but I swear I'm ok