A/N: Little bit of character exploration to make my 750words wordcount for the day. Implied holy trinity, if you squint.

BLUE HOUR

Jude found Alvin sitting outside the hall and around the corner, out of the merrymakers' sight, staring off into the blue gloaming of a Nia Khera summer evening.

"Hey," he said softly, taking a seat at Alvin's side without asking.

Alvin gave him a grin and a shoulder-bump, but it was obviously half-hearted. Jude could guess what he was dwelling on - or rather, how many and what range of things he might be dwelling on - but he wasn't here to cheer Alvin up. Long experience had taught him that Alvin's occasional mopes were something he needed, to remind him what kind of choices he needed to make in the future to avoid adding to that pile of regrets. It didn't help to try and break him out of them. He always came out on his own anyway, once he had settled his feelings again.

"Thanks for helping us save the world again," Jude said instead, light enough to not require a serious response but serious enough that Alvin would know he wasn't being flippant. "And thanks for helping me fix my mistake."

Alvin frowned, his attention caught. "You still think dispelling the schism was a mistake?"

Jude shrugged self-consciously. "Not exactly? I don't think doing it was wrong, it's just that I did it without a thought to the future consequences, without a plan, and it caused a lot of suffering that could have been avoided if I'd put some more thought into it."

Cuffing him gently upside the head, Alvin glowered. "You were put on the spot. You didn't have time to consider things carefully. You made the best decision you could with what you had, and you worked your ass off to make sure things turned out all right afterwards. Don't be an idiot."

"You know what it's like to regret decisions even if they were the best you could do at the time," Jude said quietly. "I know you do."

"Well, yeah," Alvin admitted awkwardly, "but I don't like to see you beating yourself up. You're a hero, kid. You should be proud."

Jude leaned heavily into Alvin's shoulder, dipping his head to hide his face. He didn't need to ask; he felt Alvin's arm settle heavily around his slender shoulders a moment later, a gesture that had long since become a comforting habit for both of them. Jude liked to feel the weight of Alvin's arm, the warmth of him. Alvin was like a steady, reliable wood furnace, always warmer than Jude and willing to share the extra.

"Sorry," Jude mumbled. "I didn't come out here to make you comfort me. I just didn't feel much like partying either."

Alvin laughed fondly and planted an exaggerated kiss on the top of his head. "Well, that's fine. We can just be miserable old codgers out here together."

"Can I be considered old? Or a codger, for that matter? I'm only nineteen."

"I hereby grant you honourary codger status," Alvin said, pompously waving his free arm.

"I'm honoured," Jude said drily.

The gloaming deepened from blue through violet into the true velvety darkness of full night, and the stars brightened overhead. Nia Khera was a long way from any city, so there was nothing to dim the shine. The sky was black velvet embroidered with diamonds and seed pearls, glittering and flowing as the planet turned within it.

A beautiful night, peacefully cloaking the beautiful world that had somehow survived the whims of the gods yet again. Jude thought perhaps he could be a little proud. Just a little.

Reaching over, he took hold of Alvin's free hand and wove their fingers together. Startled, Alvin almost pulled away, but stilled when he realized what Jude was doing.

"Are you cold?" he asked, cautious and tentative.

"Yeah," said Jude. "A little. Lend me some more of that excessive heat you put out."

"Sure," said Alvin, and turned a bit so he could put a leg around Jude's hips and pull his back up against Alvin's chest. Once secured, Alvin wrapped his voluminous overcoat around them both and rested his chin on Jude's head. "Better?"

Jude could feel the faint but steady thumping of Alvin's heart, the regular rise and fall of his breath. He was warm. He was so warm. "Yeah," he said. "Thanks."

Alvin curled his arms around Jude's midriff and let them rest there, comfortable and intimate. Jude thought he could quite happily stay there forever, if not for his needs as a mortal human being.

"Jude," Alvin murmured after a long, easy silence, and lowered his head alongside Jude's to press a kiss to the side of Jude's throat, a question as much as any words could have been.

Careful not to disturb the coat too much, Jude twisted in Alvin's lap until he could look up at Alvin's face without spraining anything. "Yeah," whispered Jude, reaching one hand up out of the warm sanctuary of the coat to lay it along the side of Alvin's face.

Alvin closed his eyes, quietly losing the last of the battle with himself, then leaned down to press his mouth to Jude's.

Jude welcomed him, curled his hand around the back of Alvin's neck to keep him as close as possible. After a hesitant moment, he felt Alvin's tongue sweep softly across his lower lip, asking permission. Jude opened his mouth and drew it in, curling his own around it, drinking Alvin in. He'd wanted this for such a long time, thought about it so many times. It seemed so much more natural and easy than his fantasies had been. In those, Alvin always argued and tried to push him away. Here, now, Alvin only seemed to want to be right where he was as hard as he could.

If Milla could have been there, it would have been the best of all possible worlds.

As it was, it was far from the worst.

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