A/N - As most of you reading this must know, FFN does not have an accommodation for joint writers. This chaptered work is the product of The RyRy and Iconopeiston. The RyRy suggested I post here under my name and I, always the very model of modesty, agreed. However, it must be clearly understood that all under this title is the result of a collaborative effort. We blended our voices to make what we hope is a harmonious sound.

Any comments, reviews or critiques will be forwarded to The RyRy so that she can know how this is being received.

EYEPATCH - CHAPTER FOUR

The desert wasn't dark at all during the night. Baralai had assumed that he wouldn't be able to see in the pitch black, that he would stumble blindly across the sand, but he did not falter on even one step as he approached the tent. He could see clearly, the landscape illuminated by the light from the stars and the moons.

It was his tent, he realized -- Gippal had put up only Baralai's own tent. The squad had dispensed with the notion that no romantic involvement was happening, and the four tents had been condensed into two. Baralai had taken the first watch of the night, even though it was hardly needed here next to the shore, and the rest of the squad had put up the tents and gone to sleep. Baralai could hear Gippal snoring, even from the far side of the burned-down dinner fire.

After scratching three times on the other tent to rouse Paine for her watch, Baralai silently unlatched the flap of his own tent and ducked inside. The glow from the moons and the stars that had guided his steps across the sands filtered in through the canvas of the tent, illuminating Gippal's sleeping form.

He paused to watch his lover sleep, enjoying the scene for a few brief moments. Then, as quietly as he could, he pulled off his long robe and lay down next to Gippal.

The Al Bhed was, as usual, naked. Baralai found it odd that someone so obsessed with keeping secrets would expose himself so needlessly at night.

Then again, Baralai was thankful -- it made rousing Gippal that much easier. His hand traced down Gippal's naked torso, fingers grazing his thighs before stimulating him into full arousal. Gippal grunted as he woke, then turned over and grabbed Baralai roughly.

Soon enough, Baralai too was naked, and both were panting, lying on their backs next to each other and staring at the bars at the top of the tent. Baralai's knees hurt from the force with which Gippal had thrust into him and against the ground, but it was a small price to pay. He convinced his still-shaking knees to allow him to roll over so he could lay his head on Gippal's shoulder.

Gippal moaned sleepily and wrapped his arm around Baralai's back. "Lai, gimme a moment," he muttered.

Baralai smiled against Gippal's neck, his nose brushing the strap of the eyepatch. "Not ready yet," he murmured back in a whisper, making absolute certain his breath chased across Gippal's most sensitive spots. "You're not naked, you know," he said after a moment.

"Am too." Gippal sounded exhausted.

"Are not." Baralai nudged the strap with his nose. "Let me…"

Gippal's free hand flew up to secure the eyepatch faster than Baralai could move; consequently, Baralai recoiled quickly as Gippal's chin smacked him on the forehead.

"I guess that's a no, then," Baralai said, trying to laugh. He'd suffered worse injuries in the course of their previous entanglement than a knock to the forehead. "Why are you so sensitive?"

Gippal muttered something in what sounded like Al Bhed and glared at Baralai. Then he said, "It's ugly. Don't want you to see it."

"Come on," Baralai replied, settling back into position with his head on Gippal's shoulder. "You can trust me… you don't have to tell one of your stories."

"What stories?"

"The ones you tell everyone about your eye."

"I do not—"

"You do," Baralai said as firmly as he could manage, being naked and covered in sweat which was partially his own. "What you told me was different from what you told Paine, and what you said to that other recruit. Which one's true?"

Gippal shook his head, his chin grazing Baralai's forehead where he had just been hit a few moments before. "I don't know what you're talking about, Lai."

Baralai closed his eyes, willing away his instant reaction to become hostile. Finally, he managed to whisper, "Did you tell me the truth?"

"I thought you said I could trust you?" Gippal replied.

Baralai blinked his eyes open. That was an unexpected response. "You can, Gippal," he said.

"Then why don't you trust me?" Gippal turned so that Baralai made eye contact with him. "Seems like you need to learn what the word means."

Baralai couldn't think of anything to say in response.

-X-

Paine heard the scratches on the tent fabric, counted the number of repetitions and unhappily turned back the coverlet on her side of the sleeping bag. She was careful not to awaken Nooj even though it would probably have taken a tsunami to disturb his sleep after the long walk and the prolonged passionate interval they had shared. Only knowing that she had to stand guard had kept Paine in a state of half consciousness. She hated getting up from her warm nest into the relative chill of the air off the desert, however duty was duty.

She wondered if Baralai would have any success in his intended attempt to winkle the truth out of Gippal. In her not inconsiderable experience, the fable that men were susceptible to blandishments after satisfying sex was just that - a fable. She had never been one to overly rely on feminine wiles but the few times she had tried to cozen a confession or a secret out of a lover using her favors as a tool, she had failed badly. Men could be just as stubborn and irritating in a post-coital haze as at any other time. Oh well, Baralai would just have to learn; no amount of telling would take the place of going through the motions and not succeeding.

She paused to look at Nooj. He slept, as always, quietly and with the appearance of following some unspoken rule. His hands were folded over his chest as he lay on his back, looking rather like a body laid out for the final viewing. She liked it better when he slept on his side. That way she could cuddle up against him and he would often caress her as he dreamed. With a sigh, she finished dressing and slipped out the flap into the star-littered night.

She settled down on a dune slightly higher than the others so that she had a good view of the entire encampment. Logically, it was silly to post a guard now that the Crimson Squad competitors were once again gathered together and a certain number were likely to be restless and awake but military discipline had its own reality and she was bound to obey it so long as she was a part of this trial.

She passed her time lazily imagining what was happening in the tent shared by the two younger males of her unit. In spite of herself, she giggled at some of the scenarios which came to her mind. Finally the stars informed her she had completed her watch and she went to rouse Gippal. She scratched the agreed upon three times on the canvas and started toward her own tent when she stopped. It might be possible to read on Gippal's face if Baralai had been successful, so she turned back and waited for the Al Bhed to emerge.

After a few moments of shuffling, Gippal pulled up the tent flap and emerged half-dressed. He was pulling on his purple shirt, exposing his bare chest and stomach to Paine's tired eyes; behind him through the open flap, she could see the dark outline of Baralai lying naked, his buttocks haphazardly covered by some piece of discarded clothing.

Gippal yawned and pulled the tent flap closed. Then, apparently, he noticed Paine waiting for him and a concerned expression crossed his face. "Everything okay?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"Sure. I'm just slow tonight. And I wasn't sure I heard you moving. Everything alright with you? Nooj is dead to the world. I was worried all of us were too tired to stand watch."

Gippal grinned sleepily and nodded. "Hard to talk myself into moving with that," he nodded toward the tent, "sleeping next to me." Gippal pulled on his pauldrons and fastened them securely. "If he's sleeping. I'm not really sure if he is or not -- the little chyga likes to pretend."

Paine smiled back. "Yes, I sometimes pretend too. Just to see what Nooj might say when he thinks I don't hear. He's so silly about seeming to be... well, you know how some people are. They don't like to be thought special toward their lovers. Like it somehow makes them less than..." She let her words trail off again and carefully scrutinized Gippal's face from under her lowered lids. Was that a look of sudden remorse she saw in his eyes? Had he told Baralai what he had intended to keep secret?

From the look in Gippal's lone eye, he was not going to talk - at least not about what had transpired between his lover and himself. He could be amazingly stubborn and she would have to ask Baralai -- waking him up if necessary, She was in no mood to wait.

"Then I'll let you get back," Gippal was saying as he picked up something from his pack -- a knife, it seemed, and some sort of fruit. "Wouldn't want to keep you away, yeah?" He gave Paine one last grin and then walked off through the sand toward the nearby rocks.

Paine glared at his retreating back, then turned her attention to the tent and the partially opened flap. With a determined set to her lips, she flicked open the canvas and stormed inside.

"Wake up, Baralai. You can stop your performance and, for Ixion's sake, pull on some pants, you're disgusting." She nudged him with a booted foot. "Let me guess, Gippal didn't tell you a single thing about his lies. Right?"

When Baralai sat up, it was clear that he was already wearing pants -- he must have pulled them on while Paine and Gippal were talking. He tied his simple shirt around his shoulders, but ignored the robe. No sense getting fully dressed. "I apologize if I offended you?" he half-asked, seeming to bristle at Paine's invective. He was not used to being called disgusting.

"Sorry." Paine muttered. "Gippal is so infuriating with his pretending not to understand. Well, did he tell you anything?"

"He did tell me something." Baralai looked like he was about to stand but thought better of it. "He's testing us in some bizarre way. Something about how is he supposed to trust us if we don't trust him. How that has anything to do with his lies, don't ask me -- probably only makes sense to him." Baralai sighed and leaned tiredly against one of the tent supports. "And then he said something when he thought I was asleep, but it was in Al Bhed and I didn't understand it though I heard it clearly."

"Can you repeat it? Maybe I can make it out."

Baralai closed his eyes and put his hand to his forehead. "He said... what was it? Something... dysh... tyshed ouina cu payidevim?" He frowned. "Something like that. Do you know what it means?"

Paine closed her eyes and began moving her mouth as she twisted the alien words in her mind. Suddenly she stopped and stared hard at the cotton-haired boy. "No. I can't seem to make it out. Maybe you misheard some of it. Anyway, it looks like you didn't get what you wanted from him. Or... maybe I should rephrase that." The corner of her lips turned up sardonically. "Well, I'm off to bed. If Nooj wakes up he'll wonder where I am and may come to tear a few parts off you. Goodnight or what's left of it." She dashed out of the tent before she burst into laughter.

Baralai watched her go with mild confusion. She was looking very amused...

Oh well. Now, at least, he could get some sleep. He felt himself already drifting off as he lay down; Baralai's last waking thought was that he would really need to learn Al Bhed if he would be dealing with Gippal.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

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