The next day, Par was in a medium-sized anteroom, shooting at the wall opposite him with his light crossbow, then pulling out the bolts from where they got stuck; he couldn't afford to waste one bit of ammunition. Malko, once again wearing his trousers and moccassins, watched his lover - no, [i]boyfriend[/i] - practice his fire on the walls before remarking:

"Your best range is three meters? Haven't you been learning how to use your weapon since you were 14?"

"I can actually shoot somewhat longer," was Par's answer, "but, well, with my limited ammunition, I dare not risk it." This elicited a smile from Malko, who then said:

"I can make you illusionary targets; it won't cost me that much energy. You'll have to not use Aurism, though; they might disappear." A smile from the Kvaren, which was returned by Par, who said:

"Thanks, Malko!" before, after pulling out his corporeal bolts, standing back to the very far edge of the room, and, once fairly large, but freely floating, targets began to appear in Par's line of vision (said targets looked like cantaloupes), the 19-year old began shooting again, hitting the large targets more often than not. 

"Shift positions from time to time; you're a sitting duck!" Malko said, forcing Par to run around, changing positions, and even once, crouching, as he tried to hit more of the illisionary cantaloupes, managing to take out two targets with one bolt. Finally, however, he ran out of ammunition, and Malko, clearly a little tired out, stopped decieving Par's senses, allowing the latter to pick up his spent bolts. Once the merchant was done, his boyfriend said:

"So, what other skills do you have? Besides buying and selling stuff, seeing through buildings, and persuading your father to not murder me?" A chuckle at that; that latter part actually happened twice, because Arthur had [i]not[/i] been happy to see that his son had given his virginity to a Kvaren.

"Well, I'm a fast runner, and I can do the simplest of high jumps, stand upside down, and do some backflips..." Par trailed off, causing a spark of mischief to flash across Malko's eyes - the other 19-year old's next words were:

"Why not give me a demonstration, then? Actually, perhaps you can practice that skill here? It'll give us something to do."

"All right," Par was suspecting something, before immidiately beginning a backflip; it was crude, but not too sloppy. Then, he began another flip, and another, to claps of encouragement from Malko.

"You're doing well!" said the Kvaren as Par kept doing backflips, "not yet as good as a true tribesman, but it'll save your life one day, that's to be sure." A smile from him, as he looked at a sweaty Par.

"Yeah," said the merchant, "I'm dripping, though." He then realized what Malko's plan was, and chuckled, waiting for the Kvaren's next words.

"What about taking everything off, then? That way, you can keep practicing, and I can see your hot and sweaty body. Everyone wins!" Malko then watched as Par took off every article of clothing, not ashamed to exhibit every part of his body to his lover, and then resumed his acrobatics practice...

------

After a long and exhausting morning, Malko and Par ate lunch; the former brought his own food and drink, while the latter was clothed again. Malko then continued, in-between mouthfuls:

"I'm thinking of another way to get in shape; why don't we race around the hillfort's keep, within the inner walls?  That way, we'd be safe from any intruders, while we'd still have enough room to race."

"You know you'd win in a heartbeat," said Par, "but the point is to get in shape, right?"

"Of course, of course," Malko said. "And of course, we can do it naked." 

A smile from both growing young men, before the two quickly finished their lunch and went for the door.

-----

A few hours later, the two were naked, resting by the doorway of the old fort and letting the afternoon sun warm them; Malko also had an ointment that prevented Par's pale skin from getting sunburn.

"You know," said Malko, "plenty of things can go wrong. For both of us."

"Hey," Par smiled, "at least we'll have these memories for when things are at their bleakest. These will warm us in cold nights."

"Metaphorically cold, or really cold?" Malko questioned.

"Both," was Par's answer. "So, I have to ask; how long do you have until you have to go back to The Bats and your Shadewalker duties?"

"Oh," said the young man, "I have one more day; debt or no debt, the tribe would kill you if you distract me [i]too[/i] much from my duties."

"One more day of training, eating, talking, and making love, then?" was Par's question. "Let's make the most of it."

And so, the two lay back, looking at the clouds...