In the Dark

2010-12-21T16:45:35Z

If one were to look back through the mists of years gone by, back to a time before anyone had ever thought of building the great pyramids at Giza and to a place on the threshold between the wilds of the desert and the order of civilization, one might find a tent located there. That tent might just have been constructed facing the west, it's open flap aligned perfectly for the red rays of the setting sun to provide that bloody glow to everything within. There might just have been a man sitting just outside of that tent watching the sun sink slowly toward the horizon.

To just look at him, a person might not see anything of extraordinary note. Surely he was built like a warrior, all taut, tanned skin sliding over corded muscle. Surely his hair was a strange color for those parts, tinged with a red that came not at all from the sun. Surely it was odd for a man to be sitting alone so near the desert wastes. But just as surely, one look in his eyes and the person would understand. This was no ordinary man, not truly a man at all but instead something...more. His eyes seemed to recall times more ancient than these in a way that no ordinary man's could.

He looked up to catch sight of a plume of dust rising in the distance as some traveler still too far away to recognize became visible after they crested a hill. The man let out an almost annoyed huff of air and rose easily to his feet before walking into the tent, letting the flap fall behind him and casting the interior of the tent into comparative darkness. He had no need to watch for who it was. It could only be one person, coming from that direction and in the manner that they were.

The sun had fully set by the time his visitor arrived, scratching lightly on the side of his tent to announce their presence. He'd closed his eyes for a moment before getting back to his feet and going to the flap only to thrust it open ungraciously for his guest. "You've come all this way, you may as well come in."

His guest seemed unperturbed by his lack of hospitality, as usual, "It is good to see you too, Seteh."

His tone was still sour, "You didn't come to exchange pleasantries with me."

There was laughter from his guest as he was shown the several wineskins the guest had brought. "I thought you might like these."

That brought Seteh up short, made him curious, if still wary and hardly gracious as he inspected the skins, "are they poisoned?" He wouldn't put it past...well, anyone.

His guest laughed again as they found cups among Seteh's things and began pouring the wine and only answered his question by drinking deeply from one of the cups after handing the other to him. Seteh watched, momentarily, willingly distracted by his visitor's tongue licking errant drops of wine from the corners of their mouth. It had been too long since...

...well, it had been too long for a great many things and it was that thought that brought a scowl to Seteh's own lips as he took a long draught from his cup before holding it out for more for which it was obligingly refilled. "Good wine," and it was his turn to lick his lips clean, "should I be flattered?"

His companion gave a snort, "you might, at least, be appreciative."

Seteh shook his head, leaning in closer with a wolf's smile curling his lips, "oh but I? I am never appreciative, my friend. So they all say and so it must certainly be true. I am far too much of a brute for the niceties, far too violent to play well with others, far too dangerous to be completely forgotten about and left alone. Is that why you came here, I wonder?" He tilted his head to the side, almost doglike, as he asked his question, curious and yet almost challenging.

And still his guest -- his friend? -- was unperturbed, unafraid of any challenge, implicit or otherwise. "I came to see you, and to bring you my gift, and to see how you-"

"Does he know you are here?" Seteh interrupted, and the complete derision in his tone making completely clear who he was referring to.

"Of course not," came the scoffing reply, "no one does."

There Seteh was again, much too close for almost anyone's comfort, the wolf's smile still on his lips, and a gleam in his eyes that never boded well. "No one?"

Perhaps now there was little cold chill teasing down the spine of the one caught in Seteh's gaze. They were alone, far from everyone, and there was no one to know...And Seteh had never been completely predictable. Could one predict the furious desert storms that often seemed to boil up out of thin air with no warning? Then one could not predict their creator and what he might do. And Seteh might very well do...anything. Anything he desired. If he weren't sufficiently distracted. So, distract him, "you're about to spill your wine."

"You're just trying to get me to back off," Seteh had seen the reaction, the momentary touch of icy fear in his visitor's eyes. He smiled and drank the rest of the wine in his cup before leaning back once more, letting the tension around them dissipate. "Speak to me, then. Tell me of the others. What news is there?"

This was easier and the guest launched into telling Seteh of recent happenings among their family, of things from among the mortals he might find curious, and other stories besides, filling both of their cups once more. They talked until the moon rose high above, illuminating the sands around them with its cold, clear light. They talked until the moon itself sank below the horizon, following after the sun as it did perpetually, and all around them was cast into darkness but for the stars. And once they finished talking, they lay in the dark in silence, near to each other but not touching, together and yet utterly alone.

Until one of them, or perhaps both, reached for the other. That was all it took, a hasty touch in the darkness, for them to come together, skin to skin. That was enough for them to push their bodies against one another, to generate heat and sweat and half-muffled cries of pleasure or pain or both all at once. Under night's cover they were no longer alone, but each found something they had yearned for in the other. And after, they did not separate once more, but instead lay entwined together and for the first time in a very long time, Seteh let down his guard and merely slept, deep and fulfilling sleep while his lover held him and watched him breathe.

Even as there began a lightening of the eastern sky, heralding the sun which would soon burst forth over the horizon to fill the earth with its golden glory, they separated. Not a word was said as each got dressed. There was nothing to say. Not a word was said as Seteh's guest prepared to leave, as both exited the tent. Not a word was said until Seteh, by way of saying farewell, merely commented, "the wine was good." Which elicited a smile and something of a laugh from his departing guest. He had not watched them arrive, but Seteh watched them leave until, as his guest disappeared behind the hill, the sun blazed forth in all its magnificence and Seteh turned his attention toward it. A moment later, he disappeared within his tent with the thought that perhaps that night he would ride in the sun's boat. He was feeling the urge for a good fight.

Bloodied Sands

In the Dark