Zavier waited until Raguna was soundly asleep before allowing his exhaustion to take him. He still couldn't trust himself to fall completely into unconsciousness- if Raguna was sick in his sleep, Zavier would have to be the one to wake him and stop him choking. He didn't want to leave Raguna to vomit and be unable to help. So, he just lay down on his uninjured left side and closed his eyes.

Despite the heat and uncomfortable ground beneath him, it was very difficult not to fall asleep. He sighed.

"Stupid Raguna," he muttered under his breath, and as if on cue, he felt an arm snake around his waist and a body pressing against his back.

Zavier held his breath. "Raguna? You awake?" he asked. He was answered solely with silence, and he took it as a 'no'. He quickly unhooked Raguna's arm from around him and sat up. He looked at Raguna.

Zavier was pleased to see that some of the colour had returned to Raguna's face and that his breathing was not nearly as ragged as it had been. Zavier brushed his knuckles against Raguna's cheek and pushed a few stray strands of dark hair behind his ear. He smiled.

Then he shook his head violently and snatched his hand away, cursing. He crawled out of the sweltering heat of the tent and out into the cooling evening air. He took a deep breath and rubbed his face angrily and messed up his hair.

He turned around to look back at Raguna inside the tent, scowling at his sleeping body. He'd be all right by himself for a minute or so, he decided, and with that he got up and limped the short distance towards the riverbank, consoling himself with the fact that if in the unlikely event Raguna did start to choke, he'd easily be able to hear from where he was. The river wasn't far at all from where they had pitched the tent, and there was almost no noise so far out in the wild; only the occasional chirrup of a bird and the slow splashing of the water up against the riverbank.

Zavier settled down on the ground, brushing as many twigs and leaves out from under him as he could, and dangled his feet in the river. He gasped as the cold water hit his burning flesh, then relaxed and let the current gently massage his sores. He hated to admit it, but he really should have listened when Raguna told him to wear socks. Of course, Raguna's feet were also blistered by now, though nowhere near as badly as Zavier's.

He leaned back on his hands and then winced- he had forgotten the deep slash on his right palm. He cradled his right hand in his left while looking up at the sky. It had turned a deep blood red. Zavier had completely lost track of time a long time ago, but he knew night would be not far away. How long had he been lying in that tent for anyway? Surely, not all day? It hadn't seemed longer than an hour or two.

Zavier was tired. No, he was exhausted. So exhausted that he couldn't remember a time when he wasn't. It had been that way ever since he'd joined the Resistance. The commanding officers said it toughened them up, that pain was good, necessary even, in order to make them stronger. Zavier could never see the sense in that. If anything would make him stronger it would be a bed to sleep in. And a good meal. And treatment for his injuries. And being able to see his family, even just once.

He blinked furiously and bit his lip, angry at himself for getting carried away. If he kept on thinking like that he'd start crying again. He hadn't cried since he was a child, at most ten or eleven, but it seemed now that he was making up for lost time.

"Shit." He covered his eyes with his hand.

"Zavier? Are you okay?" A small, tired voice called from behind him.

Zavier jumped and hurriedly wiped his nose on the back of his hand and bowed his head so that Raguna couldn't see his face. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said. He turned around. Raguna was washed-out and drooping and there were dark, heavy circles around his eyes, but he was smiling. "You feeling better?"

"Much better, yeah," Raguna said. His voice was still whispery, and his body was obviously still half asleep. He sat down beside Zavier and hung his feet in the water too. He let out a sigh of relief. "Ahh..."

He frowned at Zavier. "You look terrible."

Zavier snorted. "Thanks! You should take at look at yourself."

Raguna just smiled. "Maybe."

Zavier and Raguna sat in silence as the sky slowly turned from blood red to a dark, velvety purple. The stars winked at them from between the leaves. Zavier's head began to nod at intervals, and eventually he gave in and let it loll heavily to one side. This threw his weakened body completely off balance, and he flopped against Raguna's shoulder. If Raguna minded he didn't show it. His arm slung gently over Zavier's shoulders to pull him into a more comfortable position. And slowly, Zavier's eyes began to close...

When he woke up it was pitch black and his feet had gone numb with the freezing water still rushing past them. He blinked a good few time to try to get his eyes used to the darkness, but the only light he had was from the countless stars and the face of the moon in the sky. The thing he was leaning on moved, and he almost panicked, but then he remembered. Raguna was still there, acting as his pillow, though his skin- Zavier could feel it- had turned icy cold.

Zavier felt a hand grip his- which hand been limp at his side up until that point- and pull it onto Raguna's lap. He felt Raguna run his thumb gently over his knuckles and he had to force his breath not to hitch. The thumb slid over his fingers, then turned his hand around and running softly over the bandages that wrapped around his palm. He linked their fingers together.

Probably because Raguna was a fighter, Zavier had never noticed before how much more delicate his hands were than his. His fingers were slender and tapered and felt very fragile compared to Zavier's own, bony fleshless hands and pronounced knuckles.

Raguna gave his hand a little squeeze, and Zavier felt a huge lurch in his stomach. He swallowed, grateful that it was dark and that Raguna could not see his wide eyes or red face. Why was his heart beating so fast...? He could feel it pounding so hard it threatened to break out of his chest. Could Raguna hear his heart thumping so loudly? Zavier resisted the urge to squirm away, praying he wouldn't notice.

Raguna leaned against Zavier, resting his chin atop his head. He raised his hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to his knuckles.

Zavier almost leapt out of his skin. He pushed Raguna away as hard as he could and whipped around so that his back faced him.

"What the hell are you doing?" he spat vehemently, rubbing the feeling back into his ice-cold feet.

"S-Sorry," he heard Raguna say sheepishly. "Did you really hate that?"

"Of course I did, idiot!" Zavier snapped. "Why did you do that? Stupid, stupid, stupid..."

"I said I was sorry," Raguna said. He sounded it, too. He shuffled closer to Zavier and leaned put his hands on his shoulders. "But Zavier..." He pressed his cool cheek against his neck. "Why were you pretending to be asleep?"

Zavier swore he felt his heart stop for a second. And all too suddenly he felt his face flare up horribly. He had never been so humiliated in his life! He jumped to his feet, sending Raguna sprawling backwards, and tried to storm off towards the tent- but only succeeded in embarrassing himself further by walking into a tree in the darkness.

"Ow!" He clamped a hand over his forehead.

"Are you okay?" Raguna blurted out, suddenly worried. He got up and felt his way towards Zavier in the darkness. "Where are you?"

"I'm here, stupid!" Zavier snapped angrily, his face still flaming. He held his arm out and waved it back and forth. He heard a snap and then a rustle, and then Raguna cried out in surprise as he fell, only just managing to cling onto Zavier's outstretched arm to keep himself upright.

"Watch where you're going!" Zavier said rudely.

"I could say the same to you!" Raguna regained his balance and with unsure fingers felt Zavier's forehead. Zavier flinched. "See!" Raguna said pointedly. "You can't see either. Otherwise you wouldn't have done that."

"Whatever," Zavier muttered. "We'd better get back to the tent. If we can find it."

"It's not completely dark," Raguna said, nodding. "We'll be able to get there easily."

They stumbled aimlessly through the darkness. Raguna kept a tight grip on Zavier arm so that they didn't get separated. Luckily the tent was white, and was not too difficult to see. Unluckily, the path towards it was littered with sharp branches underfoot, and they walked into trees more than once.

They fell into the tent, half-laughing, half-groaning. Zavier closed his eyes, all ready to drop off again and sleep until morning, when he felt the presence of a person lying over him and warmth breath tickling his face. He didn't even have chance to open his eyes, let alone push Raguna away, before a pair of lips crashed onto his own.

Raguna was kissing him, forcing his tongue into his mouth and really kissing him, long and rough and desperate and oh God, it felt so good.

Zavier knew it was wrong. It was wrong and unnatural and was ruining the friendship he and Raguna had spent years building, but in that moment he didn't care. The feel of Raguna's lips moving against his and Raguna's body pressed flush against him was too much to bear. He couldn't fight it any more. He didn't want to. So he kissed Raguna back, with as much longing and desperation as he was kissing him.

Raguna's hands moved from his neck to slide down his back to hook around his waist and cup his bottom, and to his own surprise, Zavier didn't force him away. Raguna seemed to take this as a positive sign, as moments later Zavier felt a squeeze on his rear.

He gasped as Raguna's hands continued to stroke over his back, bottom and thighs. Though he was fully clothed, he could still feel every touch burning into his skin like red hot iron. He wrapped his arms around Raguna's neck and pulled him closer, the passion and heat overwhelming his sense of reason.

Zavier frantically pulled Raguna's shirt over his head and threw it aside, and Raguna moved from his lips and down to leave a scorching path of kisses down his jaw and neck. Zavier willingly let his head fall backwards, allowing Raguna full access to his throat. Raguna bit down and sucked hard, making him yelp. He quickly flipped Raguna over to lay fully on top of him as they kissed, giving him the full contact he needed. He was turned on, and from the fee of things Raguna was too.

Raguna's hands caressed up Zavier's shirt as Zavier clumsily kissed along his collarbone, trying to mimic the way Raguna had done to him. He felt Raguna tighten his hand to grip his pectoral muscle, and then dig his bitten nails into his skin as if angry. He gasped and flinched as both his nipples were pinched and twisted viciously. He stopped kissing Raguna and squirmed away.

"What are... you doing?" he demanded between pants. "That... hurts... stupid..." His words were stopped as Raguna bit his ear. "Ow! Stop it!"

"Don't talk," Raguna said breathily, and he turned over again, pinned Zavier wrists above his head with one hand and gripped his chin with the other and kissed him.

Zavier snatched his chin away, furious. "Raguna!" What was going on? Raguna was different. Something was different. "Mmm!" Raguna kissed him fiercely, and eventually, Zavier stopped trying to protest and just let him do whatever he wanted. And as he did so, Raguna became gentle once again, allowing Zavier to take over and making sure he was okay whenever his body jerked or twitched. As long as he kept his mouth shut.

Zavier didn't understand it. But he had never done anything like this before, and for all he knew, maybe they weren't meant to talk. He just knew that it felt good, and so he played along with Raguna's little game. But despite the pleasure, he still couldn't forget how angry Raguna had seemed when he'd dared to talk.

Eventually the heat died down to a pleasant warmth, and the kisses became slower and more tired. Raguna pulled Zavier's head against his chest and they both lay there for a while, letting their breathing return to normal.

Raguna was already on the verge of falling asleep. Zavier bit his lip and glared up at him in confusion. Hell if he knew what was going through Raguna's head. Hell if he knew why he could make him feel so good and yet so scared. And Zavier was scared. He didn't know what was going on. He didn't know anything any more, except the steady rise and fall of Raguna's chest as he breathed and the slow beat of his heart beneath him.

–

I still get embarrassed writing this sort of thing, you know! I was writing this while trying to have a conversation with my grandparents. Awkwaaard!

I really want Raguna to stop messing Zavier around, but I can't yet, because it's all part of the plot! I have to build up the sexual tension, ha ha ha! This chapter focused on Zavier, so we didn't get to see what Raguna was thinking, but all will become clear next chapter, when I will focus on Raguna!

On an unrelated note, same-sex couples are harder too write than heterosexual couples. I have to keep using their names, because if I say 'him' too much the reader will get confused and think 'Who is she taking about?'! In het I can write 'he' and 'she' so it's simpler!

Anyway, I will be very grateful if you review, because I'm feeling a little review-starved with this story. All reviews will be replied to, so feel free to ask questions or make suggestions for later chapters!