At Least We Have Each Other, Though That’s of Little Comfort (Niles/Kaze)
Niles and Kaze were alone, at the end of the world, wounded, tired, almost ready to give up, but somehow surviving. They run through the remains of cities looking for supplies and their next temporal home, careful not to be caught by the creatures that brought this upon the world, the invisible soldiers.
Niles couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty about all of this. He had watched in silence as Leo turned into a monster more cruel than Garon in the span of a year, and when he reached out for help, it’s already too late. The true menace had escaped its binds. Hoshido fell before Ryoma and Corrin even had a chance to plan a counterattack.
It’s a miracle that there still are some buildings standing in the town they arrive at, considering the carnage that very evidently took place. Niles scavenges for food, vulneraries, weapons, anything that can be of use, while Kaze looks for a safe place to stay the night and gets to work patching their wounds. When everything is done and set, Niles collapses onto the old bed they find inside the house they settle in, enjoying their brief moment of respite, Kaze climbing beside him shortly after.
"Do you think there is a future?"
The question comes out of the blue. Niles was starting to fall asleep when the ninja’s voice broke the silence. "Do you want an honest answer?"
"There's no point in lying now, is there?."
"If you say so, then... I have no idea, there could be, there could be not. Leaning towards no here."
Another long pause. Kaze isn’t sure why he’s asking what he’s asking when the words leave his mouth. "Do you think they’re still alive?"
There were only two people the ninja could be talking about, but Niles pretends to doubt either way. "Midori and Nina?" He meditates his answer but not too hard. He doesn't want to think about it. He doesn't want to know the truth. "They should be, our kids are smart. I'm sure they're doing alright."
But who were they kidding? It was very probable that their daughters ran into the same luck as their wives and the rest of their friends. It was very, very probable that they were the only living humans left.
"Well, we can always attempt to repopulate the world," Niles rolls over Kaze's chest, smirking, winking his way.
Kaze grabs a pillow and shoves it right into the other's face. "You know very well that isn’t even possible."
“Aww, don’t be like that, we could give it a shot, at least.”
The nerve. Only this man could be cracking these kinds of jokes in their current situation. At the very least, they made things easier to bear, sometimes.