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[balthier-strahl.livejournal.com]

Who: Balthier and Squall
What: More raiding
Where: Omega Ruins
When: The morning after the last adventure
Rating: R


Squall had been trying to dig through the fallen rocks and rubble as Balthier slept. He wasn't making much of a difference to things. There was just too much.

Blinking awake, Balthier frowned and coughed hard as he tried to sit up, a horrible pain in his side. He forced himself to his feet, only to swoon and end up emptying his stomach behind the same rock as last time.

At the sound of Balthier moving, Squall quickly returned to him. He was confused and a little shocked to find the man still being sick, he was supposed to be getting better! He reached a hand up to Balthier's forehead. "Your fever is getting worse..."

Coughing a little, he swilled his mouth with whiskey again then looked to Squall. His skin was pale and could've even looked slightly green. "I'll be fine. We need to get out of here..."

"I don't understand though. I removed the blade... you should be getting better!" The younger male rested his hand over Balthier's side.

Hissing at Squall's touch, Balthier pushed his hand away. "Don't touch..." he murmured, scooping up his gun where he'd left it after the battle. He dusted it off, cussing at a scratch on it, before studying the build up of rocks. "Hmm..."

"It still hurts bad?" Squall asked, frowning. "It should be getting better!" He gave a frustrated growl. "Sit down and let me look!"

Balthier lifted his shirt to show the gash on his side. It was infected, weeping, bloodied and half healed but the skin around it was tinted green. Poisoned flesh.

Squall frowned more, resting his fingers against that skin. "That isn't right! There shouldn't be any poison left..." He hissed, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small blade.

"Don't you fucking dare jab that knife in my side," he pushed Squall back with his palm against the man's forehead before pulling his shirt back down and holstering his gun. He then moved towards the rock pile and began to heave a larger one out the way, grunting in pain as he set it down.

Squall gave an annoyed growl and followed Balthier. "Will you just stop! You're not well enough!!" He huffed, casting a Sleep spell over the other man.

Balthier collapsed where he stood, thanks to the spell, and his knees hit the ground with a horrible crack, the rest of him following with a thud.

Squall winced a little at that deafening thud, before all but dragging his Pirate lover across to where he had slept before, pulling his shirt up once more, before deciding to remove it entirely. He removed his own t-shirt, ripping it into strips of cotton. He rested the blade between his teeth as he positioned the torch enough to see what he was doing properly, before cutting into Balthier's skin.

He didn't wake but a noise of pain escaped, a cough following. When his skin parted, greenish yellow pus wept from the wound, quickly thanks to the long time to ferment inside him.

Squall gagged a little at the smell of infection and decay that oozed from Balthier's side. He cut deeper, his hands being covered in puss, poison and blood as he tried to find the source of the poisoning.

The pain he was being give began to stir the pirate and his eyelids fluttered slightly as he began to awaken, several pained sounds coming from him.

Squall found the cause. A shard of the knife, no bigger than a pinhead, lodged in Balthier's side. He carefully removed it, trying not to lodge it deeper.

Balthier stirred more, coughing harder, his body instinctively curling up in pain. Once the shard was out, his wound began to bleed more profusely.

Squall instantly pressed his hand to the wound to try and stem the bloodflow, trying to reach into his pocket for a potion.

Balthier blinked his eyes open, his skin pale and damp with a cold sweat. Coughing a lot more, his eyes rolled back in his head and he stilled.

Squall spread the potion over the bloodied wound, followed by a Curaga spell, slapping a bloodied hand across Balthier's face. "Hey! Hey!! Don't you dare give up on me!!

Balthier said nothing and didn't even react to the slap. His head lolled to one side, a bloody handprint bright against his deathly pale flesh.

Squall growled a little, slipping a bloodied thumb between Balthier's lips to pry his mouth open, pouring a potion down the man's throat, casting Life, follwed by Regen over him.

Balthier gagged as he inhaled at the same time as swallowing the potion. Rolling onto his side, he coughed hard, his eyes watering.

Squall rubbed Balthier's back for a moment, before beginning to bandage the wound with his shredded t-shirt.

Balthier's face was still very pale and he was breathless but his eyes were mostly focussed, which was generally a good sign.

Once the wound was bandaged, Squall shifted to cradle Balthier's head in his lap. "Balthier? Hey? You with me?"

"Probably...?" He laughed dryly, coughing a little bit. "You do realise that... ngh... when I am able, I'm going to really punish you for that spell, right?"

"The Sleep spell, the Curage spell, the Life spell or the Regen spell?" Squall asked, even though he knew exactly which spell he meant.

Balthier reached up and slapped Squall lightly. "You know which." He smiled slightly, settling down against Squall, his face flushing lightly and slowly.

Squall wrapped his leather jacket around the topless Balthier, holding him close. "Well... You wouldn't've let me cut you open otherwise..."

"You could've opened me up when we got back to the airship. I'm quite sure that would've been cleaner and safer..." he murmured, nuzzling into the fur on the jacket.

"And you'd probably've been dead by then." Squall murmured, motioning to the puddle of infected pus soaking into the ground.

"...ew." He shifted slightly, pushing himself to sit up a little more, nuzzling his nose against Squall's stomach. "Thank you..." he murmured.

Squall threaded his bloodied hands through Balthier's hair. "It's my fault for not noticing it sooner."

Balthier shook his head slightly and kissed Squall's abs. "It's not your fault, sweetheart," he murmured. "I thought you'd got the whole thing out, too."

Squall shifted to lay in the dirt with Balthier, holding th eolder man protectively against him. "Get some rest, okay?"

Balthier shook his head slightly. "Your Regen spell is picking me up quickly. I should be good to go in a few more moments," he murmured, his voice gradually slurring less.

Squall kept hold of Balthier, his own energy levels dropping little. He'd been awake all the time Balthier had slept, trying to clear the rocks, he was cold and hungry and his own wound ached, but he wouldn't speak on it.

Balthier kissed Squall gently on his forehead. "You rest. I can see the exhaustion in your eyes." He shifted from Squall's grasp, stretching a little before beginning to lift rocks aside, finding it a lot easier now he wasn't on death's door.

Squall soon joined Balthier's side. "I'm fine." He murmured, moving another rock.

Balthier leaned to kiss him on the nose, nuzzling his cheek gently. "Alright..." he murmured. Balthier grabbed his gun, raising it and aiming a bullet at a single rock. It shattered and a few others rolled out of their way, leaving a hole big enough for them to climb through.

Squall smiled and jogged to grab Balthier's shirt and his gunblade. "Right. Let's get the Hell out of here."

Balthier nodded. "Here, I'll give you a boost..." The hole was a little high up and Squall was... a little guy. He would need a boost.

Squall scrunched up his nose a little and gave a nod. He knew Balthier wasn't intentionally digging at his height. "Okay. Don't drop me!"

"I don't plan to, little one." Now he was digging at his height, but in a sweet way. He lifted Squall and helped him through the hole before jumping and gripping the edge, pulling himself through.

Squall dropped down on the other side, landing on both feet. He waited for Balthier, shivering a little. "I should leave you behind for that!"

"You wouldn't." He leaned down to kiss Squall lightly, pausing for a moment to suckle lightly on the brunette's lower lip.

Squall purred, leaning into the kiss. "I so would." He whispered against Balthier's lips.

Balthier nipped his lip gently. "You wouldn't because you love me. You cannot live without me." He whispered, turning away a moment later and heading back the way they'd come.

"Hmph. You hope I do!" Squall huffed, following Balthier. He was a little annoyed they had found no treasure.

Balthier chuckled and slid his hand into Squall's, kissing the back of it. "I do hope so... because I love you dearly."

Squall smiled bright, lacing their fingers together, the tattoos on their wrists touching.

Balthier walked for a moment then seemed to pause. His gaze drew to a wall and he raised his gun, shooting it at a cracked area. The rubble fell away and behind it was an absolutely incredible sight.

Squall blinked, his eyes following balthier's gaze, a soft gasp escaping him. "The jackpot...?" He murmured, looking at Balthier.

"Quite." He chuckled, heading inside the room that was inside the wall. It was filled with coins, everywhere, and in the centre was a pedastal with a large, blood red crystal. He tilted his head. "How much do you bet that it's booby trapped?"

"No doubt it is." Squall picked up a small rock, throwing it at the pedastal with a fair amount of force to see what would happen.

As the rock hurtled near it burst into flames then turned to ashes. "Ah... I see." He chuckled and raised his hand, throwing a fireball at the crystal. It fell from the pedastal, rolling along the floor towards them. Pressing a fingertip to it, he felt it was warm but not hot and scooped it up, handing it to Squall. "Put your son through his education with that."

Squall held the crystal in his hand, looking at it for a long moment. "Woah. Woah. No. It's yours. You found it!"

"I said keep it." He kissed Squall's head then shifted past the pedastal, tilting his head at a chest. Kicking it open, a small skeleton tumbled out. On its hand was a ring and he smirked, taking it. "This is what I shall have."

Squall watched the skeleton, watcjing as it shatteredon the floor. "Well I guess he won't be needing it any time soon." He stated dryly.

"It is not that it is a ring, it is what stone is in the ring." He showed Squall the ring. It held a stone that looked like an eye. It even seemed to watch you as you moved.

Squall shuddered. "Eugh... That's kinda creepy... Why would you even want something like that?"

"Because, my dear, it is the Eye of the Nix. A creature of legend that summons beings into the waters it lives in, marks them and then claims them for his lovers." He smirked a little. "I think my son would quite like it when he's a man."

Squall scrunched up his nose. "It's still pretty freaky looking!!" He huffed.

"It changes colour, you know," he murmured, slipping the ring into his pouch. "It is a little like a mood ring." He curled an arm around Squall's waist, leading him back out.

"It's a creepy eye!" Squall mewled, pocketing the crystal, leaning into Balthier as the walked back towards the entrance.

"You've no sense of value. Sometimes, the best things aren't always as pretty as they should be." He shrugged a little, toying with Squall's hair.

"Yeah well there's pretty, un-pretty and down-right freaky." Squall mewled, nuzzlign into Balthier's hand.

"You've an odd sense of what is 'freaky', Squall... that ring is exceedingly rare. Only two in the world, of course." He chuckled lightly, smiling.

"So... where is the other one?" Squall asked, nose scrunching a little. He still found it freaky. It was an eye that watched you move.

"Supposedly no one knows. I expect it is just as hidden as this one." He smiled as he spotted the airship and let go of Squall, jogging towards it and inside, heading for the bathroom to clean up and wrap his wound properly.

Squall followed at his own pace, stepping up the steps onto the airship. He moved to the bed, wriggling out of his pants to treat his own wound.

Balthier cleaned the wound with a small hiss every so often, stripping off the bloodied pants he wore, kicking off his shoes. He grabbed a bandage and began to wrap his wound, looking at Squall a moment later. "Are you alright...?"

Squall gave a nod. "Throw us a wash cloth would you?" He asked, touching the scabbing wound lightly.

Balthier tossed him a clean, wet wash cloth then finished wrapping his wound, heading to the bedroom and settling on the bed, wincing a little.

Squall washed the wound carefully, washing dirt and grit from around it. "How's your sde looking? Still clean?" He murmured through a hiss or two.

"A little infected, due to being poisoned so long, but it'll go." He stretched a little, flopping to lay back, wearing absolutely nothing but his jewellery.

Squall dabbed some potion on his own wound, before wriggling up the bed to lay head to head with Balthier.

Balthier smiled, reaching to brush some brown hair out of Squall's eyes. "Feeling a little better now, darling?"

Squall gave a nod. "Yeah. How about you?" He asked, running his fingers over Balthier's cheek, remembering just how pale he'd looked.

"I feel a lot better, thanks to you," he murmured, nuzzling into Squall's palm, kissing his hand gently. It was nice to relax after that stressing time.

"Heh. I didn't really do anything. I just cast a few spells and bandaged you up..." Squall murmured.

"You performed untrained surgery on me, Squall..." he murmured back, nudging his nose against Squall's.

"By untrained you mean dangerous and foolish, hm?" Squall replied, nudging his nose back in return.

"Yes. That is exactly what I mean," he whispered, his gaze finding Squall's lips as he stroked the brunette's cheek gently.

Squall flushed a little. "Well... That's what being a SeeD is all about. Making life or death decisions without time to think."

"And you saved my life." Balthier brushed his lips over the corner of Squall's mouth, a hand sliding down to stroke and massage the man's hip.

Squall cupped Balthier's cheek, stealing a soft, chaste kiss from him.

Balthier smiled gently, nipping Squall's lip softly as his other hand joined the first and continued teasing the brunette's shapely hips.

"Your hands feel nice." Squall purred softly, smiling lazily at Balthier.

"I'm glad. They're supposed to." He nuzzled lightly at Squall's neck, placing soft, chaste kisses to the pale skin.

Squall threaded his fingers through Balthier's hair, closing his eyes for a long moment.

Balthier nuzzled a little more, biting gently and sucking just a little, trailing kisses to his ear. "You are so very pretty, my sweetheart," he whispered against it.

Squall flushed. "Heh. To you, maybe." He murmured, continuing to toy with Balthier's hair, just enjoying the chance to relax with him.

"Mmn..." he nuzzled a little more, relaxing against Squall, continuing to pet his hips slowly. He was glad of the chance to just be calm with him.

Squall wriggled closer, pressing himself against Balthier, simply to feel the heat of the man's skin against his own, his eyes remaining closed.

Balthier let out a soft sound, resting his head against Squall's shoulder, his face flushing slightly at the feel of Squall tighter against him.

Squall draped an arm around Balthier, cuddling him contently. "Mm'comfy." He murmured, almost asleep.

"I can tell..." he murmured back, nuzzling him. He wanted to do so much more but they were both injured and he figured it wasn't the best option.

Squall shifted, nudging his head under Balthier's chin to settle there, letting out a content sigh.

Balthier kissed the top of Squall's head, curling both arms around him and just holding him close and tight.

Within minutes, the brunette had fallen asleep in that warm, safe embrace.