Jackson hissed, pulling his hand back and frowning at the blue ripple that spread across the force field in front of his tent. He poked it again, hissing once more as a shock ran from his fingertip throughout his entire hand. He cursed out loud this time, pulling his red finger into his mouth. “Seriously, why this damn barrier hurts so damn much when I touch it,” Jackson mumbled to himself with his finger still in his mouth.

“Why the hell do you keep touching it if you know it hurts so much?” Mark answered. The red sighed when he saw Jackson jump, the bag of seemingly fresh food the other was holding almost dropping to the ground when he did. Mark reached over to catch it before it could, opening it and finding out that he was right. It was a bag of fresh food. “Where the hell did you get this from,” Mark asked as he plucked a warm bun from out of it and took a bite.

“A friend,” Jackson mouthed off, snatching the bag back from the red head, “And don’t sneak up on me like that!” He then snatched the bun from the other’s mouth and pointed to the barrier, “Now how about you stop bs-ing and take down the ‘I hate Jackson even though I was created to protect him’ barrier. I seriously think that your magic is trying to tell me something, Mark.”

“Well, to be fair,” Mark said after he whispered the de-barrier spell to himself, “It’s only my electrical magic that hates you. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that sword you’re carrying around is for more than just show.”

Jackson rolled his eyes as he walked inside the tent tossing his sword on his sleeping bag in a huff. “What are you trying to say,” he yelled to Mark who was still outside, “Am I some type of monster to you or something?”

Knelling on the ground outside, Mark laughed at the pout in Jackson’s voice that he just knew was also on his face. He paused in his whisperings before yelling, “Well to be fair, dragoons have an elemental affiliation. Why not you?”

“Trust me,” Jackson said as he stepped out of the tent and dropped the food between them, his voice soft, “I’m no dragoon.” He then stood beside Mark, watching the other man work. “What are you doing?”

Mark took the subject change in stride. After traveling with the man for two years, he knew when Jackson didn’t want to talk about something anymore. He instead continued to finger the circular carvings beneath his feet. “I’m making sure that the runes are safe for the next person that decides to camp here.”

“So, aka you’re wasting your MP,” Jackson asked, his face scrunched up in a pout.

“Seriously, it’s called common courtesy, Jacks,” Mark answered without looking up, “It’s a Black Mage’s duty to keep these runes up and running. They were the first sign of trust from Zyraion and their mages and the gesture led to centuries of peace between them, Riel and Empire City. It’s a mage’s job to continue to maintain that trust.”

“What trust,” Jackson said as he rolled his eyes and rubbed at this sleeveless wrist, “The Three Nations have been at each other’s throats for years now.”

 “It doesn’t matter, Jacks,” Mark sighed, “Besides without these, those without magic wouldn’t be able to travel safely without being attacked.”

Jackson gave another eye roll at Mark’s textbook response before kneeling beside the muttering red and staring at the runes as well. “Alright, I’ll entertain you. Why do they have to be maintained? Do these runes run out of magic or something,” Jackson questioned with a shrug. Honestly the swordsman was actually quite intrigued. Jackson didn’t know too much about magic or the runes. He just knew that they were ancient and powerful enough to keep the roaming ‘wildlife’ away at night.

“Run out wouldn’t be the right word for it,” Mark said as rubbed his fingers over the many circles and arcs carved into the plateau beneath them. His hand tingled as he touched it, feeling the rock humming with power, so much so that his own shied away from it. No matter how many times he’s done this, the sheer abundance of unprecedented power that he felt radiating from the rock always fascinated him... and slightly terrified him. “No, definitely not running out any time soon,” Mark continued speaking, though more to himself than to Jackson now, “I doubt the magic that created this rune could ever leave this rock. I would say ‘break’ would be a better word. If not kept in check the runes can break, then you’ll have a rock filled to the brim with ancient power, but no directions on how to use it. Free magic so to speak – really powerful free magic.”

“Uh huh,” Jackson hummed and Mark could practically taste the complete defeat in Jackson’s voice. He was forced to stifle a laugh as the blonde laid flat beside him, his confusion written so plainly on his face. Mark finally cracked at the bewildered look. It wasn’t very often that he saw it on Jackson. The man was rather smart, but magic got the look to appear on the swordsman’s face every single time. “This stuff is confusing,” Jackson bellowed, “How do you even understand it?”

“The same as your swordsmanship, I guess,” Mark shrugged finally leaning back from the runes, his hands still buzzing. He gave them a shake before turning to Jackson and giving him a devious smirk, “Practice.” Jackson gave him an affronted look for his dirty joke and Mark laughed once more but his face was somewhat more serious. “I’m serious!”

“You so full of ,” Jackson said with a frown before smirking himself. Discreetly he grabbed a bun from out of his bag, shoving it in Mark’s mouth, “I rather you use your mouth for eating instead of spewing crap like that.”

“What the truth,” Mark asked with his mouth still full. He then took the bite and laughed. “Honestly, I thought you’d rather I do other things with my mouth,” he smirked. The red laughed before he continued to eat his bun, almost choking on it as Jackson wiggled his eyebrows in the most ually suggestive way possible.

“That is when its best utilized but I just got out the shower and climbing that inn once was tiring enough.”

“Fair enough,” Mark chuckled as he sipped from a bottle of water, “At least you got the inn. I had to climb into some old lady’s house. I almost knocked over her pie twice. I’m pretty sure she now thinks that there are pie-moving spectrums in her house.”

“What,” Jackson asked as he dug into the bag, smiling when he found a burger miraculously inside, “She thinks she’s on the ghost train or something.” Jackson tore into a burger before he paused and gave Mark the most mischievous smirk he could muster, “Think I can suplex it?”

Mark gave Jackson a dirty look. The blond knew how much he hated that urban myth, “And you say I’m full of .” Jackson just laughed louder, throwing his head back before taking another bite of his burger after he’d calm down. “Seriously,” Mark said after watching Jackson wolf his burger, “Where did you get that from?”

“The bag,” he began before he saw the glare burn in Mark’s eyes. He held his hands up, palms out for a second time that day and started again. “A friend, Markie. That’s really all I can tell you.”

“Fine, okay,” Mark sighed. He trusted the other with his life, but a straight forward answer every now and then would be much appreciated by the red. “But is your friend going to feed us again, because we don’t have any food or any gil left, Jacks.”

“Sorry, but it was only a onetime thing,” Jackson shrugged. He pulled out another burger and unwrapped it before handing it to Mark. He could tell that the other was going to hesitate and insist that the blonde ate it so he shoved it into his mouth before he could. “I mean,” he said once he was satisfied that Mark ate more than just a roll, “We could take on some quests.”

Mark gave him another dirty glare and Jackson couldn’t tell if it was for shoving a burger down his throat or for suggesting that they take on quests with the little supplies that they had. “We’re going to ing die if you keep saying dumb like that.” Apparently it was for the quest suggestion. “We got like, what,” Mark began, “Two potions between the two of us, one ether? The same ether I need if I’m going to keep these runes from breaking.”

“I know we’re low on supplies, but hear me out.  We take on something big,” Jackson spoke, “One quest. All or nothing.”

Mark raised an eyebrow, “Are you serious?”

“Deadly so,” Jackson answered.

Mark took a look at his friend before he laid out on the smooth surface of the plateau behind him. The red crossed his fingers behind his head and looked to the sky above them as if he was in deep thought. The two laid in silence for a moment before Mark finally let out a breathless laugh, “You’re ing crazy, Jacks.”

“Yeah, but so are you,” Jackson returned with a knowing grin. He further stretched out on the rock below, the two of them watching languidly as the clouds above floated by. “You’re doing this, you already know you are.”

Mark sighed, before letting out the most devious smile Jackson has seen on him for a long while. “Of course I’m doing this. So, what kinda quest do you have in mind?”

---------------

“A Behemoth, Jackson,” Mark bellowed, “Really!” Mark nearly growled at the shrug he was given in return and he was half tempted to just start the car and drive off without the other. They’ve both done some outrageous things in the past to survive, but never have they had to do something so risky. “It’s practically suicide, Jacks. We’ll die before we ever see a single gil!”

Jackson took a quick peek from the trunk of their old convertible before rolling his eyes and returning to packing the duffle bag with their gear. “Get over yourself, Mark,” he yelled with his head still in the trunk, “We’ll be fine.” Jackson let a smile out when he heard the other grumble back in denial. He expected for Mark to put up a fight when he told him of the quest he saw posted in the mini mart the other day. He also knew that Mark would agree to it. Though they joked around, they both knew how dire their position truly was. They couldn’t keep stealing forever. They were already wanted by one of the Three Nations. They couldn’t become criminals in the only place left for them to hide as well.

“It’s not even just that, Jacks,” Mark sighed. Jackson could tell that the other was being serious now so he quickly tossed in his sword and Mark’s quiver into the back before shutting the trunk and meeting the other in the passenger seat so he could look the red in the eyes. “This is a high profile quest,” the other continued once Jackson was finally in the car, “What if the Imperials catch wind of it?”

“That would be true if we were somewhere else,” Jackson nodded, “But we’re in the middle of nowhere. The only thing of note out here is that damn inn and those runes. There’s no reason for any Imperials to be anywhere near here. That’s why we ran out here in the first place, remember?”

Mark nodded knowing that what the other said was true. After their last encounter with some new Imperial recruits further north in Ingale, the two decided to head south towards Riel and stay in one of the smaller villages between the two bigger cities. They ended up in Ferin, a small hick town with more plains than actual town, before they were forced to leave there too once the inn fee of 40 gil per night was getting too rich for their blood. They moved to the outskirts of the town instead, camping on the runes that dotted the area and hunting the local wildlife for food when stealing became too much.

 Mark knew that they were nowhere near the Imperial reach, but that wasn’t enough for Mark. To him it was as if the Imperials were everywhere and no matter how much he ran they were always right behind him. “We thought that the last time,” Mark said as he finally put his key in the ignition and started the hour long drive back into Ferin, “And we were wrong.”

“No, I was wrong. I was too careless,” Jackson frowned and Mark instantly wanted to tell the blonde to stop blaming himself for that run in, “I didn’t think that they would train their rookies so far from Empire City. Honestly, I didn’t think that their reach ran as far down as Ingale, but I know better now. If it’s on the northern half of the continent, then they’re under the Imperials watch.”

“Then what makes you think that they wouldn’t be here too,” Mark questioned as he drove along the winding road, slowing to a stop for the small guard hound pups that hobbled across.

Jackson leaned over the side of the car, cooing at the pups as they cross, “Man if you guys weren’t an extra mouth to feed I would so keep all of you.” Mark rolled his eyes and let Jackson coo, knowing that he would have to wait for his answer. The blonde finally stopped once all the pups passed finally turning to Mark to answer him, “They won’t be here because this town is under the protection of Riel. Sending troops here would be a declaration of war. Neither of us is worth that.”  

Mark gave a sigh. If only Jackson knew. “I suppose you’re right,” the red said instead. He increased his stepped on the gas once the last pup passed, continuing their ride into town. He checked his rear view mirror to insure that nothing was sneaking up from behind. “Wait,” Mark said as he saw the trail of puppies get smaller in the mirror, “Where’s their mother?” It was rare to see a trail of guard hound pups without their protective mother close by. He almost missed the anomaly, too busy waiting for Jackson’s response.

“My guess is inside a Behemoth’s stomach,” Jackson shrugged. Mark gave the blonde a dirty look and an annoyed frown. “What,” Jackson asked, “It’s the truth. I mean when have you ever seen a pack of pups without their mom?”

“I’m pretty sure that there were so many better ways for to say that,” Mark sighed. Jackson just gave the other one of his boyish smiles and shrugged. “Anyway,” he said, frankly ignoring Jackson’s ‘charm’, “That must mean it’s close to town.”

“That’s what Min told me,” Jackson said. He leaned back in the seat, letting his arm hang from the open window with his feet planted on the dashboard. “She said they’re scared.  The people that lived closer to the outskirts are moving into the plains. They hope to get some protection from the runes.”

“So that’s why we had a hard time finding somewhere to camp,” Mark added, “This is more serious than I thought.”

“Exactly,” Jackson agreed. He turned to Mark, watching as his red hair whipped wildly with the rushing winds. “I mean, it has to be. This hick town’s paying 300,000 gil to whoever kills it and brings back its horn.”

“300,000 gil,” Mark questioned. He nearly lost control of the car when he turned to Jackson with wide disbelieving eyes and was only saved when the blonde grabbed the wheel and stirred them back on track. “Sorry about that.” Jackson chuckled at the mumbled apology. “But c’mon Jacks, can this town even generate that much gil?”

“Apparently they can,” Jackson said. Actually Jackson had the same reaction when he heard of the amount they were willing to shell out just for a Behemoth cleaning. He remembered asking Min, the store clerk, a similar question too. It just doesn’t seem possible, even with the impressive inn. “Min told me that they pooled all their money together, apparently. They’re most likely expecting the large reward to gander some attention.”

Mark frowned. There was only one reason why they would go to such desperate measures. It was starting to kill people. “They really want this thing gone,” he whispered.

“Then let’s get rid of it for them.”

Mark paused after Jackson spoke, the serious determination in his voice clueing him to why the swordsman really wanted to take this quest. It wasn’t about the gil and it wasn’t about survival. He wanted to save these people. “Let’s do it then,” he decided to say. If Jackson wanted to play hero then he’ll play with him.

-------------

“Min-Min!” Jackson burst into the store, the bell ringing in protest from his harsh push. He bounced into store as Mark watched with a fond smile. Running into shelves and knocking over chips, he ran to the counter and showed a bright smile to the woman behind it. “I know you hear me, Min-Min!”

“Oh, trust me I heard you.” A short, round-faced woman turned from where she was stacking the shelf behind her. She leaned over the counter, her arms folded under her bosom and head cocked to the side. She gave her caller a raised eyebrow. “What did I tell you ‘bout coming into my store and starting trouble,” she asked. She stopped the blonde as he opened his mouth to answer. “I told you not to, remember,” she answered for him.

“Of course I remember,” Jackson cooed. He let his eyes roam down her ped overalls briefly, his lips before looking back up. He smirked when his eyes met hers again. “How can I forget,” he asked slyly, “Where were we again when you said that? Was it the back storage room or the garage?” He grabbed the edge of counter and leaned back to dodge the hit she aimed at him. She had a mean right hook. “But I didn’t come here to reminisce, sweetheart,” he said once the coast was clear, “I wanted to ask you about the Behemoth quest. Markie and I want to take it.”

“I believe it was in the garage on the hood of your car.” Jackson smiled at the reply. He loved her confidence and unapologetic attitude. It was one of the reasons he took her to the garage to begin with, the constantly ped overalls being another. “Can’t help you with the quest though. Somebody else already claimed it.”

“What do you mean?” The two at the counter turned to Mark as he spoke and stocked menacingly to the counter, his bow in his hands. Min’s eyes widen as she gave the red a nervous frown. “Just tell me what you mean.”He let his shoulders droop at her rare expression.  The two weren’t as ‘close’ as her and Jackson was, but he still had a soft spot for her and he didn’t want to truly scare her.

“Well,” the store clerk began, “You’re too late.” The two boys looked at each other, confused, before looking back at Min. She sighed and bent under her desk, plopping a clipboard in front of Jackson. The two boys looked at the quest request form with a frown. “Someone else already signed a contract. You guys know the rules. I can’t give the quest over to you unless they fail. The contract gives them three days. Just wait it out.”

“I don’t think you get it, Min,” Jackson frowned. He pushed the clipboard back across the counter. “We don’t have the time to wait. We need the gil right now.”

“I hear you,” Min answered, “But there’s nothing I can do.”

Jackson sighed and backed away from the counter. What were they going to do without this quest? He looked over his shoulder to Mark, the two boys sharing a frown. “Add us to the contract,” Mark said after a pause. Both Jackson and Min looked at the boy as if he was crazy. “I didn’t stutter,” he added once he saw their disbelieving faces, “Put Jacks and I on the contract.”

“Are you crazy,” the girl said, “I can’t do that! Cid would have my head if I do.”

“I’ll have your head if you don’t,” Mark responded. He pointed the sharp end of his bow to but Jackson grabbed his wrist and slammed his hand on the desk, shaking his head. “But,” Mark began.

“Don’t,” Jackson said, “Just don’t.” He let go of Mark’s wrist, the red pulling his bow back to his side. “Look Minnie,” Jackson began, “Just do what he says. We’re at the end of our rope here. I know you don’t want any trouble, but trust me when I say that Markie can do a lot more damage than your old man can.”

Min whimpered as she looked between the boys and the back room that she knew her adopted father, Cid, slept in. She then took a deep sigh, her shoulders sagging and lips in a pout. “Fine,” she said, “Fine, I’ll put your names on the contract, but if you succeed and the other guys are still alive, you’re only allowed half of the reward.”

“Vice versa, right,” Mark asked.

“Yeah,” she gulped, “Vice versa.” She then pushed the clipboard to the boys once more, handing Jackson a pen. “And I can’t guarantee that these guys won’t mind being jipped like this.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Mark said, “We can handle ourselves.” He fitted his bow across his back as he said the words. “If they got a problem with our ‘help’ we’ll solve it.”

“I don’t know this time,” Min said as she turned worried eyes to Jackson.

Jackson paused after signing his name onto the contract, Mark reaching over him to do the same. He looked at her, “What do you mean, Minnie?”

“These two are different,” she began, “They look tough, I mean really tough.” She looked down at the names written in neat cursive along the bottom the form, prompting them to look too. The two boys stared at the names ‘Im Jaebum’ and ‘Park Jinyoung’ as she continued to speak. “One of them, the ‘Jaebum’ one had a lance, like my old man. The other one, he was the scariest. He had no weapon, but you can just feel the power coming off of him in waves. These guys are no joke-“

“Wait,” Jackson interrupt. His face was scrunched up in a contemplative frown with his eyebrows meeting in the middle as he stared down at the first signature. “You said the ‘Jaebum’ guy had a lance?” The two boys looked at each other when Min nodded. “You don’t think,” Jackson began as he watched Mark, the red nodding, “A dragoon?”

“And the other one,” Mark said, frowning at the paper, “’Power in waves’ and no weapon? Not even a staff? He’s gotta be a Black Mage – a trained one. Even good White Mages at least have staffs.”

“That don’t make any sense,” Jackson said. Sighing, he stood fully from the desk and pushed Mark away from the counter and Min’s eyesight before he spoke to the other in hushed tones. “The Imperials and Zyraions are supposed to hate each other. What the hell is an Imperial General and a Zyraionian Black Mage doing traveling together – in the middle of nowhere!”

Mark sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Things were starting to get out of hand. If dragoons were in the area it meant that the Imperial Army was too. They had run, but they had no funds to run with. “Look,” the red said, “Let’s just do this and go. We keep low, kill the Behemoth and run for the hills. This place is getting too hot for us, Jacks.”

“I hear you nice and clear.” Jackson nodded. He then ran up to the desk, startling Min in the process. “Don’t worry about us.”

“You guys are idiots,” she whined and Jackson gave her a kiss on her cheek for her troubles.

“We know,” Jackson smiled. He ruffled the girl’s hair before giving her a dimmed, sincere smile and met his friend outside the store. The bell on the door ringed shut as it closed behind her. Min slumped on the table after the sound, placing her clipboard back into the draw.

---------

Mark sat back on the roof of his car with his eyes closed, the warmed metal bleeding into his ripped white tank-top and warming his back. He popped a chip into his mouth, the cheese residue from off his finger before reaching for another one, a sigh coming from his lips. It’s been a while since the last time he had a bag of chips. A shadow loomed over him but his kept his eyes closed, his clean fingers plucking the string of his bow in warning.

“Calm down, it’s just me.” Jackson rolled on the car beside the other, plucking chips from his bag. “When you snatch these,” he asked with his mouth full.

“When you knocked them over,” Mark replied before downing another chip. “I think I’m getting too good at this ‘stealing’ thing.”

Jackson laughed as he ate another chip before turning on his side to face Mark. “No, you’re getting better at the whole ‘acting’ thing.” He nudged the red in the shoulder with his clean hand before rolling back on his back and smiling towards the blue sky. “Nice bad cop in there, man.” Mark shrugged with his eyes still closed, but his lips tilted in a mischievous smirk. “You really had her going man. She really thought that you were going to cut her.”

“Maybe,” Mark said, “She did have on the top my car. That’s worth killing someone for.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Jackson began, “We didn’t have to pay for the oil change she did. Plus I made her wax it after hand.”

“Glad to know you always got my back,” Mark snorted. He rolled his eyes when Jackson yelled ‘anytime’ and hopped off the roof, the blonde following him. “Ready to hunt a Behemoth,” he asked as he hopped over the passenger door and into the seat. He tossed Jackson the keys as the swordsman rounded the car, Jackson easily snatching them out of the air.

“Of course I am,” Jackson said. He popped open the door and hopped behind the wheel, smiling wildly as his hands caressed it. “You know you don’t let me drive that often.”

“Thought I’d be a friend and fulfill your dying wish,” Mark sassed as he put his feet on the dashboard and crossed his arms behind his head. Jackson laughed as he put the key in the ignition and drove back to the outskirts of town in search for the Behemoth’s latest snack. 

AN: I know not too much happened in this chapter, but I really just wanted Jackson and Mark to just shoot the a little bit. I wanted you to get a feel of what their relationship is like so when it starts to change, you can see it. They're homies right now. JJProject sliding through next chapter. I'm having fun writing this. (Also comment if you caught the FFVI reference in there) Hoped you enjoyed and commment if you did.