A/N: This is a collection of observational ficlets/drabbles. I thought it should at least be seen instead of rotting away in my computer. Implied pre-shippy stuff, bisexuality if you squint or something, best bros forever, fun Spaniard stuff.

Miguel/Tulio is the #1 Dreamworks OTP. I need to explore Miguel/Chel/Tulio because that's sexy as hell.

It Is What It Is

To say that it was complicated was a vast understatement. Whenever Tulio tried to make sense of their relationship, he always wound up with a throbbing head. He tried to remember back, like it was something you could just trace. They'd met ages ago in Madrid, still young and stupid. When they both tried stealing from the same bakery, all hell broke loose.

Tulio rubbed the bridge of his nose. When had things changed? They were best friends, partners, and... "Shit," he groaned, pressing his palms into his eyes. Headache. As usual. As Miguel scooted over and asked what was the matter, he cursed at himself and thought maybe he shouldn't question it anymore.

"You okay?"

Tulio nodded and shifted, allowing Miguel closer. It is what it is.

Rivalry

Though they bickered often and sometimes pretended to be more frustrated than they really were, there was rarely any rivalry. Except, well, late nights at taverns when there was a lovely lady or two hanging around. If both sets of eyes landed on the same ass, it was on.

City of Seville

Neither of them were sure when things started to feel different. It wasn't an immediately conscious thing, but it was still there, first developing as a tightness in Tulio's chest, then in lost emerald gazes. They had known each other for so long, and were comfortable around one another. It was so natural, so normal, that it likely would've gone unnoticed if they had stayed in Spain.

Miguel followed every crazy scheme that his partner came up with, ready for anything. Tulio would bend over backwards if it would wipe away even the slighest trace of a frown on Miguel's face, and put an arm around him whenever they had to hide in freezing stables. They broke bread, shared blankets (and once or twice, women), and at times functioned as one.

Things really started to change when they settled into Seville after a bad experience with a couple of crafty tías that left them pantsless and broke. "I told you this was a bad idea," Tulio had growled, pulling his shirt down to cover his bare ass.

After they'd recovered (and acquired new pants), they went right back to conning and stable-hopping. They hadn't yet been caught, and after Miguel expressed his love for the city, Tulio decided they should stay longer. That would mean they needed cash, and fast.

Red Dice

Pesetas scattered behind Miguel's feet in little explosions. The moon lit up every piece of gold and silver that peeked out of the bags they had over their shoulders, jingling and clanking. A few necklaces were lost as they hastily helped each other onto a rooftop. They both heard the shouts and the commands to fire at will. Tulio lowered his head and fled, keeping at the top of the roof to avoid losing balance on a wobbly shingle. The racket of gunfire was deafening—but Tulio would know that yelp anywhere. He turned his head just in time to see his partner's form disappear over the edge of the rooftop.

He abandoned the bag of stolen goods as he ran and slid down, there was a vague stinging in his hand but it was immediately erased by the adrenaline lighting fire behind his eyes. He landed, cringing as the bag he'd dropped came crashing down meters away in the alley. His eyes still hadn't adjusted and he wouldn't have found Miguel behind a couple of crates if not for the loud gasp.

He felt another spike of hormones assault his body as he rushed, tripping and falling, to his friend. Miguel was sucking in air and holding his side, and Tulio stared down at him, hands hovering, uncertain. As he opened his mouth to speak, he heard a rush of footsteps and shouts, and smacked his hand over Miguel's mouth to quiet his whimpering. Eyes large and cutting around, Tulio kept listening, waiting for the guards to pass.

They hadn't seen them in the dark alley. His sigh of relief was accompanied by Miguel sputtering and knocking Tulio's hand away—blood at his lips.

"Miguel, " Tulio whispered frantically. "You—blood—I have to—"

"Tulio," Miguel spoke up, hand still at his side.

Tulio grabbed at his own head in panic. "Where—we have to—"

"Tulio, would you—"

"This was a bad idea, we should've waited, we should've—"

"Tulio!" Miguel's hand snapped to his friend's wrist. A pause, both of them panting, Tulio's eyes still wide. "Your hand."

Blue eyes, scarcely visible in the night, cut over. In the center of his palm was a deep gash, blood running a clean river down his wrist and into his sleeve. It must've happened when he jumped down. But, wait—He grabbed Miguel and lifted him to sit up, drawing a hoarse yelp from the blond. "What—where'd they hit you?" he babbled, looking Miguel all over and attempting to lift his shirt where he had been clutching.

"Ow! Tulio, I slipped!"

"Where were... you..." Tulio trailed off, panicked gaze cutting to the side and back like it always did when he freaked out. "Y—You slipped?"

"Yes," Miguel groaned, exasperated. He started to talk more but only drew back and put his hands back at his side.

Tulio stared, stuck between the high of alarm and utter puzzlement. He hadn't been shot. He had slipped. The Spaniard was frozen in thought, shoulders shaking with each breath. But he was still hurt. They both were. Without another word he helped Miguel up slowly, leaving their spoils behind.

In other cities, no doctor would touch a couple of wanted men, so they always had to either find someone else or resort to bribery. Most of the time when they were injured, it was minor, and they'd usually been caught anyway. They hadn't been in Seville long enough to find out who to go to in this situation.

After two streets of trying to read signs in the dark, Miguel began to get heavy. "Come on," Tulio grunted, trying to get a better hold under his friend's arm. "Does it hurt that bad?"

He got only a groan for an answer and kept walking. He must've fallen right on his side. Miguel's bag had been full of goblets and spoons. If he landed on that, he could've broken a rib.

Tulio stopped walking and glared at the dark before him. It was too late, too dark to find someone. They'd have to wait until morning. He had begun to walk back when a low creak caught his attention. A young girl stepped out of her house, setting down a bowl of water. She froze, the candle in her hand having lit up far enough to see two men in front of her neighbor's home. She backed into her doorway.

"Shh, wait, please." Tulio stepped forward carefully. He didn't notice that Miguel's head was against his shoulder. The little girl stared, clutching the candle and the door. Her eyes ran up and down the pair, and landed on Tulio's bloody hand and sleeve.

Miguel awoke in the early morning to a sore body and a wrapped abdomen. It took his eyes a moment to register that Tulio was sitting on the floor next to him, head in his hands, hair untied and spilling over his shoulder. That had never been a good sign.

It was a week later in the southern part of the city when Tulio woke Miguel softly. "Hey."

Miguel sat up, though stopped mid-yawn when something fragrant and steaming was pushed into his hands. A hot plate with thick slices of bacon, turnips and the biggest chunk of cheese on bread he'd ever laid eyes on.

"Buenos días,," Tulio offered, making a silly "ta-da" gesture. Miguel was so surprised that he just stared at the plate.

"Wha... How did you steal all of this?"

"I didn't."

The stare cut up to Tulio now, eyebrow risen dubiously. They had been practically eating their own shoes since paying that doctor off. "Tulio, there's no way you bought..." Miguel didn't finish as his companion slyly lifted a bulging bag of pesetas.

"We live like kings from now on, partner." In Tulio's other hand was a pair of red dice.

Nuzzle

Neither of them thought things would go so great, but God, they were great. They made enough cash in the first day to afford new shoes and belts and Tulio was always buying enormous pieces of bread and cheese. Miguel tried once or twice to tell him he didn't need to be so extravagent with the meals, but Tulio always got a funny smirk on his face. Oh, well. He had said they'd live like kings. It was nice not to be woken up by a growling stomach every night.

Miguel started getting a feeling, though. Things had never been so easy for them. It was almost too easy. If he had known that sunny day would be their last in Spain, he would've eaten his entire breakfast or maybe let Tulio use him as a pillow for another half-hour after their post-lunch siesta.

On Cortés' ship, words hung in the salty air so heavy that neither man could say what they wanted to. It was almost a blur now. Miguel had once wished to see Cuba, and now hated himself for it. But he knew he had to stay positive, for Tulio.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Miguel winced. Tulio was determined. "I'll fix it," was all he said when he started up. But as an eye began to blacken from the repeated head-thudding, Miguel felt if he didn't say anything soon Tulio would do some permanent damage. When his partner smiled, almost crosseyed, he half anticipated some absurd plan. Getting back to Spain in a rowboat was thankfully not as bad as the things he'd expected to hear. Flawed, but not too bad. He'd actually been proud of his prybar idea and beamed while he waited for Tulio to give him a boost.

Tulio, on the other hand, was somewhere inbetween delirious and frustrated. He wrapped his arms around Miguel's legs and made a face when the blond used his face as support for his backside. He pushed back slightly to help keep the balance. He might've believed himself to be dreaming, but asking a horse to find a prybar did sound like something Miguel would do.

Tulio nuzzled his friend's ass mainly to communicate that he'd had enough and wanted to put him down, but he'd also gotten so used to using it as a pillow that it was a natural thing to do. Miguel swayed slightly, barely noticing the gesture.

If Tulio had known that the apple in Miguel's hand would be the cause of their next state of utter shit, he might've bitten his butt instead, he thought when they were at sea. His face scrunched. Well. Maybe not bitten. Headbutted. Something other than nuzzle.

Music

Out at sea, they took turns losing their minds on the rowboat. At first Tulio stayed furious, cursing and threatening to throw Altivo overboard.

"Tulio, stop, it isn't his fault!"

"Then whose is it?"

The blond stared, caught between words.

"That's right, it's yours."

"Well, I'm sorry! What would you have done, let him drown?"

"Yes! That's exactly what I would've done!" Tulio gripped his oar with a snarl and when Altivo tried to bite him he simply clenched his fists and grabbed what was left of the turnips.

"I think those are spoiled—" Miguel tried to warn, but bit his lip when he received a severe glare. An hour later he awoke to find Tulio pushing his face into the wood.

"What's wrong?" he asked, crawling over. "The turnips?"

At that word, Tulio's eyes enlarged and he grimaced, lifting up quickly to retch into the sea. He wiped his mouth and slumped. "Don't... ever say turnips again."

Miguel rolled his eyes, trying to conceal his smile at some "normal" Tulio behavior resurfacing. With careful movements, he pulled his friend back into a comfortable sitting position. Luckily he was too sick to protest but a funny, confused frown tugged at his lips. After a moment, Miguel placed his index fingers and thumbs on Tulio's ears, and gently pinched a few times. Tulio jerked his head and looked up backwards, mouth a thin line now. Normally he would've batted Miguel's hands away, but the pinching eased his twisting stomach, and he closed his eyes in acquiescence.

It was something they'd learned from a gypsy a few years ago. Even though Tulio pretended not to be superstitious, he had been very guarded, and kept pulling Miguel back by his shoulder.

They both slipped in and out of sleep often on the small boat. The sun was draining and the nights were cold. It was near impossible to get comfortable, especially with the horse in the way. They often slept up against Altivo's back, cramped close together because it kept them warm and because, well, it was the only way to fit.

Once Tulio awoke with a yelp, face wet and cold. Miguel hovered over him with a dripping shoe, the sun illuminating him from behind.

"Have you lost your mind?" he yelled, kicking at the blond weakly.

"Y-You looked dead," Miguel explained, dropping the shoe and trying to dry Tulio's now wet hair. Tulio flailed his arms with a growl and accidentally elbowed Altivo, who nickered and threw his ears back.

Ignoring the animal, Tulio wiped his face on his shirt, and caught the look on Miguel's face. "Stop," he said, less of a warning than it usually was and sounding more like an apology.

Miguel sighed shakily. "Stop," Tulio repeated, reaching out to nudge the other's knee gently. "I'm not mad."

There was an uncertain sort of silence that worried Tulio when he noticed it. He was about to nudge Miguel again when the latter spoke up. "Is this... it, Tulio?"

Tulio held his breath and after a moment shifted closer to his friend. This was strange. Miguel was usually the one to calm his panic or worry. He wasn't quite sure what to do, so he sat next to him awkwardly for a moment before his eyebrows twitched with an idea.

"Remember last summer in Madrid?"

Miguel's mouth tugged. "Olives."

Tulio stuck his tongue out. "Olives," he echoed with a snort.

"That's when I got my mandolin," Miguel remembered, pushing a few golden hairs back. "I wish I had it now."

Tulio's lips pursed as he watched his friend's face fall again. He looked to the side thoughtfully and snapped his fingers, getting up to pull leftover pieces of crates over. He began drumming his knuckles against a piece rhythmically. Miguel watched, raising a brow before he realized what Tulio was doing. His smile was almost instant.

They made music together and beamed. It calmed them and sustained the tiniest bit of hope, and made things a little easier when they began to starve and become delirious. Even Altivo tried whapping his tail to create a beat every now and then, which only resulted in an annoyed Tulio.

Stars

The nights leading up to their arrival on land were hauntingly quiet, but never as scary as the nights in the jungles, at least Tulio thought so. The noises kept him up, even when it wasn't his turn to watch, and he often imagined they'd be eaten alive in their sleep. The only nights he slept well were when they found a clearing under the stars and his partner pointed excitedly at the sky.

"Those ones make Altivo—do you see it?" he asked one night, tugging on Tulio's sleeve. The fire crackled and there was still a faint smell of cooked fish in the air. On that note, his ass still hurt.

"Uh-huh," he droned boredly, barely appreciating the night sky.

"Oh, come on, darling, you've got to play." Miguel tugged his sleeve again, purposely a little rougher. He pointed straight up. "What do you see? Connect them."

Tulio snorted at Miguel's affection, turning his head subtly to peer at him. "I see..." Blond hairs shone under the starlight not unlike a one-hundred peseta coin."... pesetas."

Miguel stopped half-way through a thought and squinted at the stars. "Pesetas?" He scratched at his chin, and noticed that he was being stared at. Tulio turned around and feigned sleepiness.

All For You

Tulio's attitude improved greatly after they found the hot spring. Well, Altivo was the one who found it first. When they caught up and gazed upon it in all its bubbling glory, they only had to grin at each other before sprinting, nearly falling as they stripped down. Even after the monkey fiasco, Tulio seemed to smile more.

A day or two later, In the deepest part of the jungle where the trees were hulking and dark, they somehow got separated. Tulio could hear Altivo's whinnying somewhere, and he stopped walking to listen for his friend's voice. After a few seconds of silence, he climbed up onto the thick roots of one of the trees.

"Miguel!" he shouted, a hand by his mouth to help carry his voice. "Mi-guel!"

The Spaniard cursed and put a hand on his head. If that yutz had fallen into a ditch or run into quicksand... Tulio sighed and walked up the giant roots some more, to try getting a better view. There was a shatter of high-pitched bird calls above him and he put a hand over his eyebrows, peering up. Miguel was always the one who was more interested in animals and sight-seeing. Tulio, well, he just wanted to be able to afford anything he wanted. He tried to picture what it would be like to own a castle, or better yet, an island. That way Miguel could explore to his heart's content.

Tulio shook his head, trying to rid himself of that tightness in his chest.

"Tulio!"

He whipped around and saw Miguel at the low end of the root. He skipped down, arms out-stretched, and before his hands touched hips, a high whinny sounded to their right. Altivo stood on the root to another tree, head high.

"There he is!" Miguel said, shading his eyes to see the horse better.

"Hey!" Tulio shook his fist. He pushed some hair back, panting slightly. "Dumb horse..." He glanced sideways at Miguel, who was waving at Altivo, still clutching the map in his right hand. "Where the hell did you run off to?"

"Oh!" Miguel exclaimed, nearly whacking Tulio with the map in excitement (who gave a cry of surprise). "Come on, you've got to see this!"

Tulio let himself be dragged along. After ten minutes he felt the unrest from the night before catching up to him. He began to shuffle slowly behind his partner. "Are we lost?" he asked with a yawn, feeling as though his legs weighed tons each.

"Not at all, we're almost..." Miguel had stopped to turn and saw Tulio lagging, clearly exhausted. With a sigh and a brief smile, he pulled Altivo to a stop. Tulio looked up from his hunched position.

"Well, hop on," Miguel offered, gaining an arched brow from the other. After a moment Tulio climbed onto the animal's back and instantly felt his aching legs relax.

"Thanks," he muttered as Miguel continued to lead the way, one hand on Altivo's reins.

It only took another few minutes to reach their destination, so Miguel was surprised to find that Tulio had fallen asleep against their steed's neck. He almost felt guilty waking him up. "Tulio, hey."

"Mm?" One blue eye opened, then another before the dark-haired Spaniard pushed himself up. There was a loud, constant noise he knew he'd heard in his sleep, and just as he registered tiny sprays of moisture on his head, his eyes went wide in what was either awe or utter alarm.

Above them loomed a magnificent, bellowing waterfall, and below—Tulio made a noise and tightened his grip on Altivo's mane, who nickered and stamped his foot. Miguel petted the animal on the nose. "Isn't this amazing?" Miguel beamed at first, then blinked as Tulio scrambled to take his shoes off and hold them to his chest.

"Yeah—" That bullshit grin. "Amazing."

Miguel said nothing and pretended to cough to hide his smirk. "Come on," he said to Alvito, pulling the animal along. Tulio remained hunched, tired, terrified, practically crushing his shoes in his hands. Leave it to Miguel to find a horrifying death trap amazing. A fallen tree before a gigantic waterfall was not his idea of natural wonder. As they crossed the "bridge", Tulio tried not to look down. Tried not to imagine Altivo's hooves cracking the wood and their skulls popping on rocks below. The water was still spraying at him a little, yet it was somehow refreshing. He spent a minute staring at the water, and their shadows casted against it.

"I wonder how long this tree's been here," Miguel said, smiling big. Tulio watched the back of his head and shifted, unconsciously digging his heels into Altivo's sides. The horse's ears twitched and he gave a warning huff before blinking at the human on his back. He then looked to Miguel and then back. The animal shook its head with what sounded oddly like a shudder before picking up speed. The little armadillo scurried ahead of them.

They traveled until sundown, and the storm came suddenly as they were gathering firewood. Racing and slipping in the gooey soil, Tulio grabbed hold of an oversized leaf. "Get over here!" he hissed, eyes cutting up as another flash of lightning lit the sky.

"But Bibo—"

"Forget the rat! Get over here!"

Altivo whinnied fearfully and somehow scrunched himself up under the leaf. "Miguel! Ven aquí!" Tulio yelled once more, and finally Miguel came scrambling over, armadillo in his arms. The small animal jumped from his hold to cuddle up by Altivo, and Miguel grabbed onto the leaf and tried his best to scoot underneath it next to his partner. After another flash of lightning, he recieved a sneer.

There was no way either of them would be able to sleep. Even when the calm came, they were wet and covered in mud. Tulio reluctantly removed his purple tie to properly wring out his long hair.

"Maybe we should find another clearing—"

" 'Choo!"

Tulio blinked. "Uh—no, uh-uh," he almost laughed, grabbing Miguel's sleeve, which was sopping wet. "Did you just sneeze?"

Miguel was puzzled, hair stuck to his forehead. "I'm not sick," he assured, waving his hands a little. Tulio looked him up and down. They'd both spent a night under a leaf in the middle of a storm. They could get sick if they didn't warm up.

"Hey," Tulio jerked his head at Altivo, walking over and ignoring the sloshing sound in his shoes. "Go look for another spring."

Altivo stared and lifted his nose disobediently. Tulio grabbed the horse's reins and his lip curled into a snarl. "If we start to starve, you're the first animal we eat." Altivo merely growled and yanked his reins away, but Tulio wasn't in the mood and yanked them back. "But if you stop being a stuck up burro, I promise to buy you a hundred apples a day with all the gold we're going to get."

Altivo became still and stared again, then finally huffed and went trotting off. "And make sure there aren't any monkeys!" Tulio called after him.

It was a pleasant surprise to find another hot spring within the next hour. Tulio used Miguel's "trail-blazing" sword to cut some branches for firewood and to let in some sunlight. This way their clothes would hopefully dry faster (and hopefully not be knocked into the flame or stolen by itchy monkeys again).

When Miguel sneezed again while trying to start the fire, Tulio practically threw him in the steaming water. "Alright, alright!" Miguel laughed a little, slipping out of his uncomfortable and muddy clothes and getting straight into the water.

This spring was different than the others, which turned out to be very lucky. It had tiny pools around a larger one, which meant they could wash the soil and twigs out of their clothes. Once that was done and the fire had begun crackling, Tulio finally got into the water himself.

Another sneeze. He made a face and Miguel smiled a little, lowering until his chin touched the water. "I'm fine. You worry too much."

Tulio sighed and brushed some of his hair back before tying the ribbon again. He didn't bother with his usual argument against "you worry too much". Sure, right now, maybe he was. But the reality was that if one of them got sick out here, they were done for. There were no doctors and they didn't know anything about the plants. Tulio wasn't willing to test anything out, especially after Miguel had decided to taste a tiny mushroom he'd found. Tulio had been afraid that if he didn't hold onto him, the blond would've just floated away.

When they'd warmed up and their clothes were nice and dry, they tried to find a spot that wasn't still muddy. Neither of them had slept, and it wouldn't do them any good to travel as exhausted as they were. "We'll fall behind a day," Miguel protested, leaning against Altivo. Tulio didn't respond immediately, ripping down some giant leaves.

"If you want to get sick and die in this smelly jungle, then be my guest." Tulio

had a content little smile on his face as he smoothed out the leaves. That was likely due to the hot spring; they certainly had a positive effect on him. Miguel rolled his eyes a little and sat next to his partner on the leaves. It wasn't very comfortable, but it was dry.

Even though Tulio said he'd stay awake to keep watch, it didn't take long for them both to be asleep, half on top of each other. Altivo even curled up with Bibo and snored.

It wasn't until midday that Miguel awoke with his head against Tulio's chest. For a fraction of a second he believed they were still in Spain and were just enjoying a lazy afternoon nap. The various noises of the jungle pulled him from that fantasy and he sat up, pushing slightly wet hair from his face.

He pulled the map from his shirt (amazed as always that it never seemed to become damaged from water) and gazed at it thoughtfully. Though things had gone bad fast and they'd definitely be safer back home, he had this feeling in his gut that he hadn't experienced since he was a teenager. Something big was going to happen. This was definitely an adventure.

After Tulio awoke, Altivo helped them reach some fruits high up in the trees and everyone was surprised when Bibo came running back with a large fish in his mouth. Stomachs full, they set off again. Tulio's attitude remained strangely positive, and he grabbed the map from Miguel from time to time, blue eyes lighting up.

Fucked

They'd both been so excited to find the city of gold. So when they came rolling and crashing into a massive tablet in the middle of a foggy nothing, a thousand angry thoughts went off in Tulio's head, and within minutes they turned to panicked thoughts. And within minutes again, to wonder and awe. Fear, critical thinking, ideas, plans, escape, they'd butcher us alive! The constant change in Tulio's mood was wearing his psyche raw.

"STOP!"

Making History

Neither of them had considered that their failed con in El Dorado would forever change the people in it. Stories would go for centuries about how the Gods came to them and saved them from Tzekel-Kan's abuse, and then from the evil army. New statues and tablets would be made, featuring Tulio and Miguel with an armadillo, playing ball, stopping volcanoes.

The people of El Dorado would remember them forever. They had made history and they didn't even know it.

Unbreakable

Despite their fight, and all of the feelings that came with it, somewhere deep inside they knew their partnership was unbreakable. As they grinned at each other after falling on their asses when Chel ran off with Altivo, it became clearer than ever.