Vrumngun walked back towards the campsite, wood piled high in his hands and a frown of worry on his face. This was his fault, no matter what he might say, he knew that he was to blame. He wished he had been able to give up sooner, but that was not in his nature, could not be. His goal, ((her)) goal, was the most important thing in his life, regardless of his personal feelings. He would catch them, no matter what it cost him, or what is cost the one he - No! He wouldn't think like that, it was hopeless!
When he reached the campsite he forced his features to appear impassive and began to pile the wood close to the fire. Despite his determination to appear unconcerned, he couldn't help but turn his gaze towards the figure sitting by the fire, wrapped in blankets even though the night was warm. He could see shivers still running through the pile and sighed, it was no use there was nothing he could do to help. Zangalus had suffered severe frostbite from remaining on the mountains for too long. Vrumngun had been able to heal the physical damage, of course, but he had been unable to chase the chill from his companion's bones. His heat magic was weak, understandably, his specialty was ice magic after all, and that was decidedly unhelpful here.
The pot he had placed by the fire before getting the wood was boiling now. Trying to clear his thoughts, and failing miserably, he finished making tea and brought it over to the frozen warrior.
Zangalus glared up at Vrumngun as he brought over a cup of hot tea. Damn him for keeping them of that mountain, but damn him even more for not being the slightest bit guilty. Even if he only considered them friends, even in he only thought of the warrior as a useful tool, he should care a little! Damn him for not caring, damn him for not noticing and damn him for being so attractive, even with the bald spot he had tried to hard to keep hidden. He had been so embarrassed, once Zangalus had climbed back up the mountain, it was endearing. Damn it! Damn him for everything!
"Drink this." Vrumngun said, handing him the cup, oblivious to the warrior's anger the way he was oblivious to all his other feelings, and still showing none of his own. Zangalus took the cup without comment and began to swallow the hot liquid.
"They didn't come." He said coldly, watching for any sort of reaction to the tone, finding none,
"No, they didn't come. They must have been able to get on a ship in Sanderia, even with a bounty on their heads. They'll be in Saairag soon."
"We spent all that time on the mountain freezing, for nothing!"
"It was impossible to predict this. They should have been forced to cross the Mountain of Tears. We failed."
"Shit! Is that all that's bothering you? Failing? Again?"
Vrumngun looked up at him, but he didn't reply, and his expression was still impartial. Zangalus continued,
"At the very least you should have felt cold. Or can't you do that? Do you feel anything at all Copy Man?"
Vrumngun winced. The expression was on his face for the briefest of seconds, but Zangalus had seen it and the shock stopped the flow of his words outright.
When Zangalus stopped talking Vrumngun began to panic inside. He forced himself to walk calmly to sit on the other side of the fire and to fix himself a cup of tea, but he really felt like running. What had he seen? Something surely, he would not have been silenced otherwise, the arrogant warrior had a big mouth, it was part of his charm. So what expression had slipped through? He hadn't been able to help it, to keep the mask of indifference on. Knowing how deeply his inner feeling ran, Zangalus' question had cut right to the bone.
Did he feel anything?
Yes, he did. He felt far more than was good for him, more than he would ever be able to express, especially with the limits placed upon his very existence. What's more, he would never be able to tell Zangalus any of this. He could not believe that the handsome warrior would ever understand, and he would not risk making Zangalus uncomfortable, nor would he risk loosing him.
The prolonged silence eased some of the panic he was feeling. Perhaps Zangalus had seen nothing at all. Perhaps it was merely the cold he felt that had stopped him from talking, or something else. Perhaps he hadn't been able to see just how much Vrumngun longed to help remove the chill from his shivering body. The sorcerer closed his eyes and swallowed the hot tea quickly, how was it that he both wished that this was true, and wished that it wasn't?
Zangalus found himself entranced by the way expressions were flickering through Vrumngun's eyes and appearing on the wizard's face, only to vanish almost immediately. He could kick himself, it was all just an act. The calm, the emotionless expression, it was all fake. Here he was, furious at the sorcerer for never noticing his feelings, and he was guilty of exactly the same crime.
Unless he was seeing something that wasn't there. Wish-fulfillment. It was possible, but...
Vrumngun suddenly closed his eyes as if in pain and swallowed his entire cup of hot tea at once.
No, he was not imagining this, his poor little mage was suffering inside, just as he was. It was more than time to change that situation.
"Is there more tea?" he asked, causing Vrumngun to jump almost imperceptibly. The wizard nodded, walked over to take Zangalus' cup, then return to the fire to refill it. Zangalus watched him closely wondering briefly, and not for the first time, exactly what he was wearing underneath those robes. He began to notice that his shivers had stopped, and that caused him to smile. The expression was hidden quickly when Vrumngun returned with the full cup. Zangalus reached for the tea, but forced his hand to tremble when he took it so that the cup almost fell.
"Here." Vrumngun said, and placed his hand over Zangalus' to help him steady the cup.
"Thank you." Zangalus replied, and watched Vrumngun's face over the rim of the cup as he drank. His companion's eyes were shadowed, he would not meet the warrior's gaze. Zangalus smiled to himself, once you knew what to look for, Vrumngun wasn't difficult to read. It was like a battle, you needed to learn your opponent's individual cues. He had them now, he could attack whenever he chose.
"Your hands are warm," he whispered in a low voice as he lowered the cup, covering Vrumngun's hand with his free one. He set the empty cup carefully aside while holding fast to his prize. Vrumngun had almost stopped breathing, another almost imperceptible change. Zangalus raised their hands, holding Vrumngun's against his cheek as he finally caught the wizard's gaze, loving the shock, uncertainty and hope he found buried within his windowed eyes. He caught his companion's other hand and raised it to his other cheek, his faced cupped in the wizard's grasp. "They feel good."
He was rewarded when Vrumngun gave a shaky sigh and began to brush his fingers across Zangalus' cheeks in a light caress.
"Do they?" the wizard whispered, his voice wavering slightly. Zangalus smiled up at him, enjoying the minute shiver the expression sent through the sorcerer's body.
"They do." He replied. "It makes me curious."
Vrumngun gave him a slightly quizzical look.
"About the rest of you." He released Vrumngun's hands so that he could slip his arms around the wizard's waist, and then pulled him forward.
This could not be happening, it just couldn't. But it was. Before he could even begin to accept the situation, Vrumngun found himself being pulled into the warrior's arms and held tightly against his well-muscled chest.
"Just as I thought," Zangalus said, sounding very self-satisfied, "Very warm."
Vrumngun looked up into Zangalus' face and slid his hand around the back of his partner's neck just as the warrior lowered his mouth to kiss him, lightly at first, then deeper, more insistent.
"You want this?" Vrumngun asked when they broke apart, hearing the surprise and uncertainty in his own voice and cursing suck a lack of control. It pleased Zangalus though, and the warrior smiled as he shifted to lower Vrumngun onto his back and came down on top of him.
"Yes I do." Zangalus replied, still sounding quite pleased with himself. "And so do you."
"You're arrogant." The wizard replied, almost smiling as he raised himself to his elbows and watched Zangalus work at his clothes.
"Yes, but I'm still right. Damn, is there an end to these things?"
Vrumngun laughed suddenly and helped the frustrated warrior remove the concealing robes he always dressed in. When they were finished with that they turned their attention to Zangalus' far easier to remove outfit, and fell back into the pile of blankets, hands skating over bared skin, warming it with a touch. Vrumngun's hands buried themselves in Zangalus' long, dark hair, hanging on tightly as the warrior'' mouth closed over one of his nipples, sucking lightly.
"You don't," the wizard gasped, "Seem cold anymore."
Zangalus smiled against his partner's chest as he moved his mouth to the other nipple. "I'm not," he replied, "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop."
And he didn't.
The fire had died down by the time they uncoupled and lay in each other's arms, but neither left the warmth of the blankets in order to stir it up again.
Zangalus smiled and looked down at Vrumngun, whose head was resting against the warrior's chest. The dim light of the fire glinted off the crystal in his lover's forehead, causing the warrior's smile to falter slightly. He ran his fingers gentility over the gem's smooth surface and felt Vrumngun stir.
"Does it bother you?" the wizard asked softly.
"A little." Zangalus replied, "In the end I'll never win against this, will I?"
Vrumngun didn't answer, he didn't have to, they both knew it was true.
I suppose I should consider it insurance," Zangalus continued, "No matter what happens, you'll always be back."
"Well, not exactly, but close enough."
"Not exactly?"
"The 'me' that returns will be a copy of the original. He will unfortunately not have this memory."
Zangalus smiled again, "An interesting notion." He paused then continued in a lower tone, "So that means I'll be forced to seduce you all over again?"
"Is that a problem?" There was amusement in Vrumngun's voice.
"Not at all." Zangalus replied, flipping to sorcerer onto his back again, "It actually sounds like fun. Maybe," he began to nibble at Vrumngun's throat, "I should practice, just in case."
And he did.