"But first of all - kneel. And hands behind your head." Juto mimicked the gesture of waving the rifle to hurry the man.

He grumbled, visibly upset but did as told. He lowered himself on one, then the other knee in the sand and slowly cupped the back of his head with both hands. He glared up at his captor.

"There. Good boy.” Juto teased.

“Don’t you good boy m-!”

“What's your name?"

"...Jun." He replied after a short pause.

Juto yanked at the chain to pull out his vape, when he remembered that it’s broken, so he tucked it back in.

"So, Jun, got a spare cig?"

"I don't smoke."

The soldier cursed under his breath. He really needed one right now, but Lady Luck was fickle that day. If only his personal belongings didn't go down with the mobile unit. He sighed and resumed the conversation.

"Ok, whatever. Are you a local? What is this place?"

"Yeah, I am... you're on Sansa Isles.”

Juto raised an eyebrow.

“We're in the neutral zone. You and that other guy were trespassing." Jun added.

That took the soldier by surprise. He looked to the side visibly concerned, his shoulders slumping.

"I went this far off course…?" He mumbled. "Is there any working radio station nearby?" He looked back at Jun.

There was no answer, only a questioning squint. The tall man clicked his tongue with impatience.

"Look, I just need to make a call for my people to pick me up and you won't see me ever again."

"You mean, for your people to pick you up after you invade and plunder my town?"

"I'm a soldier, not a pirate."

"I don't trust you!"

The kneeling man raised his voice, loud enough for a bird to get startled and leave the bushes with a squawk. The sudden movement made Juto jolt and he pointed the rifle in that direction. He had no time to relax at the false alarm, when Jun decided it was the perfect opportunity to pounce at him and get the gun back. When someone falls to the ground, the height difference doesn't matter. It's all about strength and the tiny man had plenty compared to the exhausted soldier.

They struggled, wrestling in the sand. Juto freed himself for a moment and tossed the rifle to the side. Jun wanted to crawl towards it, but he was dragged back by his leg and immobilized with a headlock. A bit of thrashing and a shift later, Juto firmly pinned both of Jun's wrists behind his back with one arm, his other gripping the shortie's neck, forcing him to lean his head back a bit. Jun clenched his teeth and breathed hard through his nose, kicking his legs as much as he could, while Juto hissed in his ear.

"Listen here you little shit, one wrong move and I'll turn your lights out with one swift squeeze, so you better fucking behave, is that clear?"

To make a point Juto's thumb caressed Jun's neck before stopping at the strategic place. However, he almost let go in surprise when Jun reacted to the gesture with a jolt and a loud moan.

Which sounded rather lewd.

"The fuck was-"

"I'm sensitive there OKAY!?"

Jun immediately cut him off mid sentence, his cheeks flushed a deep red, not exactly clear if from anger or embarrassment. Most likely a mix of both.

"Is that so...?"

Curious and somewhat amused, Juto caressed the spot again. His little prisoner squirmed immediately.

"StooOOOOP IIIT!"

He sunk his head between the shoulders to protect the sensitive area as much as he could. Deciding it's enough, Juto stopped the tease and pulled at Jun's bandana that he wore loosely around the neck to tie his wrists, immobilizing them behind his back. He picked him up and put back on his feet and dusted the sand off his T-shirt. He paused, wondering something was amiss.

“The glasses.”

“Right.”

He found the item that slipped off as they were fighting and returned to the owner.

“There you go~” Juto patted his cheek and quickly moved the hand away when Jun wanted to bite it.

"Alright, listen..." The tall man spoke as he picked up the rifle and hung it over the shoulder by the strap. "I just want to get the hell out of here as soon as possible. I've got enough shit awaiting me at the home base, trust me. So here's the plan - you take me to the city... town, whatever; you let me use a radio; I call a buddy over, just one I swear. He can pick me up here on this beach even, would be for the best. And that's it. I'm gone. Everyone's happy." He waved with his hands.

"And a day later you're back with an army."

"I'm NOT! Fucking hell! We have enough to do at the frontier than to bother some godforsaken neutral islands. If I'm back then only to pick up my dead mech from the bottom of the sea! Though I can assure you there's not much left of it to give a damn!"

Enraged, he paced back and forth in front of the local inhabitant who just waited until the rant was over. He took a deep breath and tilted his head.

"Okay... assuming I take you there, how can you be so sure my people won’t seize you?”

Juto stopped pacing, straightened his back and looked him in the eyes.

"You'll pretend that we're buddies."

"Bitch, I don't even know your NAME!"

The soldier was about to say something, but paused for a second. He brushed his chin, thinking.

"Fair. You can call me... Juto. Just call me Juto. You can pretend you saved me or something. Well technically you did. Giving up and dying here was very tempting you know..."

"Next time you feel like giving up again, I can deliver a bullet right between your eyes."

"Why didn't you do so right away?"

"Because-!"

Jun paused when he realized that bringing Juto to the town was his objective from the start, and this man just offered to go there willingly. Well, not exactly the way he intended, but the most important thing right now was the mutual goal. Once in the town there would be plenty of opportunities to break the promise and imprison the mech fighter, after all the people there would believe Jun's word more than some suspicious outsider.

He composed himself and continued in a calmer tone.

"Because I don't shoot people on sight like you bastards out there. I wanted to hand you over to the authorities, because it's their duty to decide what to do moving forward. I'm just a guerrilla trying to protect what little we have."

"Mhmm... authorities, huh? Who may or may not decide to extort some classified information from me?" Juto added with a deadpan face.

"Well, that's a possibility.” Jun shrugged. “Anyway, fine I'll stick to your plan, so you better behave or else I won't hesitate to blow your cover, understood?"

The tall man raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty cheeky of you to say that while you're tied up."

"Oh, I hear that a lot." Jun smirked.

"In bed?" Juto grinned.

"Not what I meant, asshole!"

Juto laughed, stepping aside to dodge a kick to the shin. The little angry guerrilla huffed and started walking in the town's direction with a heavy stomp, hurrying his temporary ally.

"Move it before that damn tiger shows up again."