Who knew such a small man could pack such a stubborn and heroic attitude?

For being just over four inches tall, Jed packed a pretty damn good punch in regards to his personality.

Side by side, Jed and Octavius were faced with certain death. A hand was reaching down to grab one of them to trap into an hourglass. Octavius was fully prepared to take the fall for both of them, but he was pushed aside by Jed and told to save himself. With reluctance, he ran and yelled a promise to Jed that he would save him.

Romans were men of their word. Promises were never broken when spoken by Octavius. So when he was faced with Jed up to his chin in sand, he knew he had a promise to keep.

The glass was broken thanks to Octavius's metal helmet and Jed tumbled out with the sand. With a helping hand, Octavius lifted Jed out of the mess and pulled the other man to safety.

With the rush of adrenaline, both Octavius and Jed began to attack the feet of enemies. Their size restricted their ability help quite a bit, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't be a distraction.

As anyone could have guessed, the New York figures won the battle and retrieved the tablet. It was returned to Ahkmenrah and Kahmunrah was gone. With a fair amount of goodbyes, the figurines returned to their normal exhibits in New York.

Octavius and Jed had made their way halfway to their exhibit when a sudden coughing fit overtook Jed. Octavius thought nothing of it at first, but when Jed stopped walking and grasped onto the other man's sleeve to keep himself from collapsing, Octavius knew something was terribly wrong.

The coughing subsided after a few minutes and Jed argued that he was okay, swatting Octavius's hands away from him. Octavius didn't believe it, but led Jed back to the exhibit anyways.

The two miniature figurines climbed up to the two exhibits and entered onto the Roman side. Here they would usually say their goodbyes for the night and Jed would head back to the Western side. However, it was fairly early and another coughing fit came over Jed.

Octavius was highly worried at this point. Jed would deny that something's wrong and push Octavius's hand away, only to spiral back into the fit.

Eventually, Octavius convinced Jed to let him help. He led Jed into the Roman structure despite Jed's grumbling. From there, they went to a quiet room which didn't seem to be occupied at any point of time. There were maroon colored pillows and heavy blankets strewn among the room and on the floor. Octavius took ahold of a spare pillow and blanket  before Jed's urge to continuously cough returned.

Octavius rushed back to his friend and eased him to the ground as Jed sunk down, unable to grasp on anything to keep his balance.

A groan came from Jed as he cleared his throat, "That damn hourglass took a toll on this cowboy." He said simply, voice hoarse from the mass coughing fits.

Octavius frowned, sitting down against the mass of pillows, "What occurred when I wasn't there?" He inquired, a worryful tone in his voice.

Jed sighed, shaking his head, "Stupid ol' guy dropped me when I was in it. Hurt like hell. I've got some battle wounds from it."

Octavius raised his eyebrow as Jed rolled his sleeve up to his shoulder. Along his arm were a number of bruises, some small and some turning a dark color fairly quickly.

"My god," Octavius muttered, taking a hold of Jed's arm to fully see the extent of the bruising. It wasn't very pretty. The worst one was dotted with red among the middle. Octavius assumed it was blood and that made it all worse.

"Yeah. I feel it on m'side too, but I ain't takin' my shirt off," Jed acknowledged, "Might've breathed in sand. That's why I'm coughin' so much.." He thought out loud, looking to Octavius with a frown.

As if on cue, Jed began coughing again, covering his mouth and turning away from Octavius for the duration of it. When it passed, he turned back with an exhausted expression, "They're really takin' a lot out of me."

Octavius looked to Jed with a worried expression, noting a dark bruise forming around Jed's temple, "You need rest. Here," Octavius pulled a pillow from behind himself and placed it on his lap, patting it for Jed.

Jed raised his eyebrow, looking from the pillow to Octavius. He opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by Octavius, "Jed, your head is getting worse."

Using his thumb, Jed touched the bruise on his head and instantly flinched. He hadn't expected it to be so sore and painful. With a sigh, he laid his head down on the pillow, looking up to the ceiling.

"Can't believe I'm layin' here," Jed grumbled lightly, closing his eyes. He had to admit, it felt better to lie down than to sit up.

A silence fell over them and Jed felt relaxed slowly. It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

"Y'know," Jed started, opening his eyes and looking up to Octavius, "I thought I was a dead man 'n there." He admitted, blinking lazily as he met eyes with the Roman, "It was real scary."

Octavius frowned slightly, mindlessly smoothening Jed's hair out, "You were not going to die. Not as long as I was alive," He reassured the other man quietly.

A slight smile came to Jed's lips and he rolled his eyes up, "Why you touchin' my hair?"

Octavius placed his hand down, not touching Jed's hair anymore, "I didn't realize I was.."

Jed rolled his eyes, "Why do I gotta lay here, huh?"

Octavius sighed, "Why are you so talkative? Because you're injured, Jed."

"Ooh, my poor little arm," Jed teased with a pout, cradling his arm to his chest. It did hurt, but he just wanted to uphold his ego.

"Must I be your mother right now?" Octavius teased back, watching Jed.

"Yeah, toga boy. Kiss it better."

Octavius raised his eyebrow at the command. Obviously Jed wasn't expecting it to be done, which only urged him to do it more. With a light grasp on Jed's wrist, he lifted his arm up and pressed a kiss to a few of the bruises that he could reach.

Jed's face flushed bright red as Octavius actually did what Jed was joking about. He pulled his arm back quickly. "Hey man! I was just kidd-"

Another coughing fit caught Jed off guard and he sat up slightly, coughing harshly. Octavius frowned and ran his hand through Jed's hair, patting his back lightly to hopefully help with the coughing fit.

Jed laid back down to Octavius's lap when the fit passed, sighing deeply, "The cowboys right on the West side know what to do."

Octavius thought about what Jed had said, nodding slowly, "They do?"

"They've worked in the desert parts. I ain't got a doubt that they could help," Jed answered, not complaining as Octavius's hand returned to his hair.

Octavius looked ahead in thought before looking down to Jed, "Well why do we not just bring them here? Perhaps they could be useful."

Jed raised his eyebrow, "No can do. I don't wanna be seen like this."

"Like what?"

"Weak," Jed replied with a grim expression, "In your lap 'specially."

Octavius rolled his eyes, calling out for one of his servants anyways. Jed grabbed onto Octavius's upper arm, furrowing his eyebrows as Octavius gave orders, "Listen, don't bring 'em here. It'll be weird!"

"Jedediah, what matters more to you? Your health or something that does not affect how the people look at you in the slightest?"

Jed fell silent as he thought about the two choices, "You ain't lettin' me decide anyways."

"No, I'm not."

Jed sighed, moving his gaze to meet Octavius's, "Well, there ain't anyone else I'd trust to make the decision."

A smile spread to Octavius's lips for the first time that night, "Is that so?"

"Yeah, but don't let it get to your head," Jed remarked, tilting his head slightly on the pillow.

"I appreciate it," Octavius said with a pleased smile, "I'll see to it myself that you leave the Roman side feeling well."

Jed returned the smile faintly, "Well, I appreciate that, bud.."