„Man, I'm so tired!"

Rex folded his arms on top of one of the Vargel Tavern's tables and pillowed his aching head in them. It was times like this when he wished Vandham didn't will him the mercenaries of Garfont. He was a salvager, and a fairly overworked one at that. He wasn't cut out for this.

He kept that thought to himself though, mostly because he was ashamed of it.

Nia, however, did not have any such inhibitions. "Keeping this place up and running sure is hard work," she complained across the table, which even got Dromarch in on the action.

"Vandham was a leader of great skill. It's only a matter of course that replacing him would take its toll on Rex."

Rex muttered something that was originally going to be a snappish thanks for the reminder but went incoherent halfway in.

"Rex-Rex will do great!" Tora chimed from somewhere to the left, cheery as ever. "Rex-Rex already amazing leaderpon!"

Under any different circumstances, Rex would have been grateful for the unwavering belief of his fluffiest companion. But as it were, the words sounded more like a major denial of reality. Not that he felt like pointing out the many ways in which leading a group of six (or seven, or six and a half, he was yet to figure out that whole Mythra debacle, too) which basically led itself and didn't require any paperwork differed from leading a business while he couldn't even be there for most of the time.

Not to mention that he was still grieving.

Rex groaned and hauled himself upright. "Thanks, Tora."

Tora smiled, but a vaguely disapproving snort from Nia caught everyone's attention and saved Rex the effort of returning it.

The girl flicked one of her ears. "So, what are you planning to do? We can't stay here forever."

Rex' eyes narrowed, adding mild annoyance to his general aura of exhaustion. "I know!" he snapped, making her raise her brows. She didn't say anything, but she crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.

Rex sighed and mirrored her actions. "I know," he muttered, staring at his knees and gritting his teeth. The best course of action was probably asking Yew and Zuo to run the place, but it seemed like a very un-leadery thing to do and Rex didn't want to disappoint Vandham like this.

"I'm sure we'll find a way," a gentle voice rang out and four heads turned to Pyra, who was flanked by Poppi and Azurda. All three of them were loaded with steaming cups.

Rex brightened instantly. Tora's ears fluttered with excitement. "Meh-meh-meh! Tea smell really good!"

Pyra chuckled and smiled, eyes closed and head slightly tilted. "Thank you."

"Masterpon. Please do not drool on the table."

"Meh?!"

While Tora dissolved into outraged muttering, Nia threw back her head and laughed loud enough for other patrons to turn their heads. Rex, after a moment of confusion, joined in. The result was even more outrage on Tora's part, but nobody really cared. Even Azurda was grinning when he eventually landed on the table, hugging his cup.

Pyra placed one of her cups in front of Rex and slid into the seat next to him. "I'm glad you're better."

Rex abruptly stopped laughing and sent her a puzzled look. "Huh? Oh…" He sighed and massaged his forehead. "The headache… I'm sorry, I didn't know it would transfer."

"No need to apologize," Pyra said, her smile less one of encouragement and more of amusement now. "Besides, it didn't."

"Then how did you…?!" Rex cut himself off and slumped forward, shaking his head. "Never mind. I'm just that obvious, ain't I?"

Pyra giggled. "It's not a bad thing, Rex."

"Whatever," Rex huffed, then thought better of it and flashed a smile. A tired one, but a smile nonetheless.

Pyra said nothing, and she didn't need to. The relief and the serene kind of mirth that was just so typical for her glimmered in her eyes, rendering words unnecessary and coaxing a soft snicker from her partner.

"Thanks, Pyra."

Humming a bouncy little tune, Rex picked up his tea cup and took a sip.

Somewhere, Nia and Azurda yelled warnings, only to be drowned out by Pyra and Rex screaming in unison. Fortunately, the pain abated quickly and their cries died down. Pyra fell silent as she never experienced that kind of injury before and her body had no idea how to deal with it, however, Rex next to her was panting and fanning his tongue.

"Yeah, that stuff is boiling hot," Nia deadpanned and cupped her chin. "Jeez, you're so stupid."

"Fank yu, Nia," Rex forced out between gasps. "Wad would I do wiffoud yu?"

Nia smirked. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Rex' response, even if he would never admit it, pretty much boiled down to pouting. "No."

Pyra was still busy analyzing the feeling on her tongue. It wasn't hurting anymore, but it felt kind of… furry? Well, definitely funny, but it was not the sort of experience she was in any hurry to repeat.

Still, it was worth it, and she cupped her face with a small snicker. "So that's what a burn feels like," she remarked, making Rex abort his mission of glaring down Nia and turn to her with a surprised look on his face. It eventually changed into an awkward laugh and Rex rubbed the back of his head.

"Hehehe… Sorry about that."

Pyra shook her head and smiled. "It's fine. I'm actually quite happy to share this with you. Most Blades don't get this chance."

"You have some very weird priorities," Nia piped across the table. "I…" She cut herself off. Her ears twitched and her eyes flicked to the side for a split-second. "I mean, if I were a Blade, I wouldn't be too eager to be boiled alive." She swiped an arm along her nose. "Thanks, but no thanks."

"Oh, I think it's very refreshing."

Rex had taken to staring into his cup, his face going redder and redder. Why did he keep getting himself into this kind of waters?!

Someone kill me now…

Confession time: I did not play this game in English. I played it in German and Japanese, got very deep into the feels, couldn't wait to write about it, and by the time I reached the tavern in Garfont, I realized I had no idea what I was doing. Because I was pretty sure 'Taumelschritt-Taverne' was wrong.

So I changed my Switch language to English, sampled some of the cutscenes, and fell into despair.

[Warning: Incoming rant. Please note that it's not meant to offend anyone or sound Better Than You, and if it does, feel free to point it out. Aspie over here, gauging reactions isn't really my strong suit.]

The Nopon have their grammar all backwards, Nia and Rex' speech is so much more formal, and the sheer amount of stuff that got added to the dub is astounding. The hardest part was probably 'Rex-Rex'. Like, I'm sorry, but that construction sounds baaad and it should feel bad! Well, and then there was the fact that I constantly had to remind myself to write 'Pyra' instead of 'Homura', though Byakko/Dromarch is probably the biggest offender in that department. Mórag's nice, though, since I'm not really sure how to transcribe her original name. Merev? Melef? And her Blade. Brighid just rolls off the tongue while Kagutsuchi is another one of those words that should feel bad about itself.

[Edit: I guess the pinch-of-salt part of this didn't come out the way I thought it would. The only reason why there aren't more pro-dub arguments is that I was reluctant to make this A/N even longer, but now that I'm here... I'm happy the dub exists. It's super creative (I love the part with the different dialects especially), makes a lot of people happy and is just generally twice the Awesome With A Capital A because two versions of XBC2 are better than one. There are pros and cons to both versions, and my preference for Japanese voice acting doesn't make anyone's preference for English any less valid.]

Anyway, my point is... I'm working with a very bizarre mixture of voices here, so those who are more versed in the way of the English, feel free to go off in the reviews. Especially Rex and Nia are my problem children. (Incredibly cute problem children, though. Like my grandma's dog, though I guess the problem in this case isn't actually the dog...)