Hello! Wow, I haven't update in forever!

Alright, well, again, I can't seem to remember where this story is headed, but let's keep going anyway!

Salty Pain

"Wake up," Jack called irately, tossing a leaf-made sac at Ralph's side. Blinking tiredly, the laying boy reached out for the small sac and opened it to find several berries inside. "Well don't just stare at it – eat some!"

Rolling his eyes, Ralph plucked a bright blueberry and slipped it into his mouth. "Thanks," he muttered quietly after he'd swallowed it down.

"Are you almost done healing, then?"

Ralph glared.

"Well you sure are taking long."

"It hasn't been more than three days! What do you expect?"

"Shut up and finish eating."

The two sat in silence for a few moments longer before Jack began, "I'm going to love beating you to a bloody pulp. You know that, don't you?"

Biting back a snarl, Ralph thought for a moment. He'd been considering Jack's earlier behavior around Henry and wondered if perhaps Jack did hold a slight fancy for him. It was time to find out.

"Where's Henry?"

"Why do you care?" Jack snarled.

"I find him to be great company. A lot better than you, that is."

"Well Henry won't be coming back to visit you anymore."

"And what about my wounds!" Ralph exclaimed, genuinely shocked.

"They'll heal just fine on their own."

"That's not fair! I could get an infection!"

"If you were going to get an infection, you'd get one either way. Henry doesn't know bullocks about healing. All he knows is what all the rest of us know through common knowledge."

"That's not true," Ralph began, reeling back to his original objective. "I thought he was very gentle with me earlier. He was very caring."

Jack let out a growl.

"I can take care of your wounds if there are any other problems."

Ralph let out a chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Well then stop acting like a bloody fool."

"Me? You're the one who won't let Henry tend to me for no good reason that I can see."

"I just told you."

"And I just told you: it's not a good reason."

Silence fell upon the two boys once again.

Jack watched as Ralph rolled his eyes to himself. He was always rolling his eyes. Such an act was not in the least bit endearing, and yet on Ralph, it was.

Ralph let out a moan of pain.

"What is it?"

"Nothing you can help me with."

"Just tell me!"

"There's a pain in my chest." He replied haughtily, hating Jack's constant need to have control over everything.

"Is it here," Jack asked, his voice only slightly more than a whisper, as his shaking fingers touched a particularly gruesome cut.

Ralph's wince was his only answer.

"I'll get someone to fetch some seawater to cool it down."

"Seawater! Are you insane? Salt water will only make it hurt worse!"

"But the salt will help clean it out."

"How could salt possibly help clean it out!"

"I don't know, but it just will, alright!" The red-head swiftly stood and walked the short distance to the opening of the cave. "Sam, get over here!"

The twin, who had been dutifully standing guard outside, quickly scuttled over to his newest leader. "Yes, Jack?"

"Go fetch me some water from the ocean."

"No! Don't do it! Sam, please! Get it from the lake or something!" Ralph yelled from within the cave.

"Sam, do as I say." His growl brought a shiver to the shorter boy's frame.

"Yes, Jack," the small boy replied, his voice quiet and frightened.

The tall leader walked back into the cave and sat crossed-legged, next to Ralph.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Ralph asked, mournfully.

"It's going to help you."

"No, it's not! It's going to hurt like bloody hell!"

"And then you'll be properly healed."

"You don't know that! Get Henry! Please! Bring Henry here!"

"I told you Henry won't be coming back!" His voice was loud and fierce, and Ralph wisely remained quiet after that.

In a short time, Sam came back with a coconut half, filled with clear water, though the salty smell was evident. Ralph tried to pull back, wishing he hadn't told Jack about his pain, but his wounds kept him within arm's length of Jack.

"Hold still, will you?" Jack growled, as he took a hold of Ralph's writhing body. "Sam, leave us."

"Ay, ay, Jack." The boy said, giving a small salute.

With one arm still holding Ralph down by his right shoulder, Jack carefully set down the coconut half, ripped off a small piece of fabric from his already tattered shorts, and dipped it into the salty water.

"Jack, no! Please!"

"Shut up, already!"

"Jack, please! Don't do it!" Ralph called out, panicked. But Jack wouldn't listen. He squeezed the piece of fabric, letting some water dribble out and proceeded to bring it to Ralph's wound. "Jack, no! Ple- agh!"

Jack pressed the wet cloth into the wounded boy's cut and watched, intrigued, as he screamed out in agony. His legs kicked out and he tried to pull away; tried to push Jack's hand away, but the older boy was too strong. He then pulled away the cloth, dipped it once more in the water, but did not squeeze the water out, as Ralph's motivation to move away grew, and he quickly pulled away.

The red-head roughly pulled Ralph back and pressed the now fully drenched cloth into the cut, inducing an even more agonized scream from the boy beneath him. His throat thickened, and the veins crisscrossing along his slender neck bulged out, prominently displaying several tracks of blue.

Suddenly feeling for the boy's pain, Jack brought Ralph into a tight embrace, his forehead lightly pressing into the ground as he kept a firm hold on the other boy.

"It's okay, Ralph. It's almost done."

All he received in reply were several more screams and then a few ragged sobs as the pain slowly died away. Jack lifted his head and looked into Ralph's eyes, their noses touching. Ralph was still breathing loudly and raggedly, hot tears sliding down his cheeks, his eyes rolling back as his lids fluttered rapidly.

The boy seemed to be only half conscious, and Jack took his chance.

Gently, he turned his head and pressed his lips against the other boy's rough, chapped ones and quieted him down, silencing his sobs. Ralph half-heartedly tried to pull his head away, but Jack roughly turned his head back with his large, callused hand and deepened the kiss, licking the other boy's lips open.

Ralph did not return the kiss, but he did not try to pull away again, either. His mind was stiflingly clouded and his body felt completely drained from his earlier attempts to get up; to run away from the menacingly freckled boy. Ralph simply continued to breathe heavily through his nose until he slowly fell into a tired fit of sleep.

Jack did not break the kiss, but pulled back his tongue and kept their lips together, his eyes closed, thinking; pulling himself back together. After a few moments of Ralph's deep, slow breathing, the red-head swallowed deeply and pulled away.

He stood, looking at the blue cloth in his hand, too dark to show whatever little blood may have seeped into its threads. He then clutched the cloth tightly before turning away and stalking hurriedly past Sam, without so much as a nod of acknowledgement.

The small boy bit his lip worriedly, having heard the loud screams within the cave, but stayed put, fearing the wrath of his short-tempered leader.

AN: Alrighty! Well, the actual chapter is only about twenty words shorter than the last, so that's pretty good. I'm pretty sure that everyone seems completely out of character and that my writing was a bit crappy, but oh well. :( Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter at least slightly. Maybe I'll update again in about a week since I'm on break from school. Please review!

xoxo Spideria xoxo