Original Two Sides of the Same Coin - Part 14/? - Updated Jan 11, 2022

[obsessed]

I didn't finish reading but I have to ask.

THEY KISSED THEY KISSED THEY KISSED?!?

I died.

Absolutely <333333333333 this.

[PaperThings]

This story is absolutely amazing! Gah, you are SUCH a brilliant writer! I just love Caliph, and I feel so bad for him! You write he and Rio so, so adorably together. -is awed and rather speechless-

[everest]

I... and then they... and Caliph...

*melts*

[27jj]

This story is so amazing:) I love the characters, love the plot, love the way you write:) Oh and the sneezes Loving it all!

Edited July 27, 2010 by 27jaredjensen

[ooo]

Safe. Whole.

For the first time in his life, he truly understood what those words meant.

Zeth and Marcum hadn’t made the rift.

[VoOs]

God, I love this. Love it, love it, LOVE IT. >< *hyperventilates*

[Aprilcot]

1. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. If you hurt my Zeth I will die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. I. Love. You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So.

Damned.

Cute.

[Ciuty80]

so freaking awesome

thank you a thousand times!!!!

your story is like a drug i can´t get enough of it

[Dye]

....Caliph... a-and Rio...

Th-they kissed...

*faints and melts into puddle of goo*

[queenie]

"Baby." He called him... "baby."

Excuse me while I put out the flames.

[LeapYearKisses]

...KISS!!!! C: So happy! But I hope Zeth is okay... Please.

[meepsy]

ohhhhhhh goodness....that was wonderful.

I am in love with this story.

[Candy]

*whimpers and flails as this section of story has taken away my ability to speak*

[starpollen]

Part 9

Falling... he was falling...

Scrambling, he tried to latch onto some purchase to prevent it, but the stones just crumbled in his hands.

Rio, where--... can't see him... I gotta...

A blue light winking in the corner of his eye, drawing his gaze. Dangling helplessly on the edge of the steep cliff, he could see Rio and the alien wrestling a good fifty yards away... the alien raising his deadly-sharp knife...

... too far away! I’m never.... get there in time... RIO LOOK OUT!

"Caliph, wake up. Come on, love. Come back to me...”

Caliph came awake to Rio's low, soothing voice, to the feel of his trembling, sweat-soaked body being held in warm, solid arms.

Blinking open his stinging eyes, he saw the lights were low and realized the brunet was sitting on the bed, holding him, rocking him, calling him back. Taking the edge from his panic.

“It's okay. I’m here. Shh. I’ve got you."

Oh god, he groaned, all his breath leaving in a rush as he realized he’d been having a nightmare. Relaxing into Rio's arms, he let the comfort of the embrace wash over him, burying his face in the hard chest and revelling in the other man’s scent...

Which, he suddenly realized, he could smell.

He knew dimly that it was probably due to the adrenaline coursing through his veins, his heart still struggling to slow its fierce pounding, but right now he was too happy to feel the thick congestion in his head momentarily gone. Even if it was replaced by a floating light-headedness.

"You awake?" Rio whispered, continuing to rock him gently, one hand slowly stroking his sweat-soaked hair.

Nodding, Caliph made no attempt to move. He liked it here, in Riordan's arms. It was warm. And they were both safe.

Too bad it didn’t last.

“Hehh?? ...” It was all the blond could do to lift his head and turn to the side for the convulsive, “NnkKTCH-shuh!-Hh’ISSHuh!” that burst forth.

"You okay now?" Rio asked quietly, not relaxing his hold for a moment as he reached over and plucked a tissue.

Caliph hesitated for just a second before answering with an honest but reluctant nod, dropping his head back to Rio’s firm, comforting chest. His lungs constricted, knowing that answer probably meant the younger man would lay him back down.

But all he heard was, "Sleep, baby, just sleep," softly whispered in his ear, the tissue gently brushing his damp nose. “You’re running a little fever... Just relax. I’ve got ya...”

Closing his eyes, Caliph felt the prickling of tears as he realized Rio would continue to hold him, keep running those miraculous, soothing palms down his sweat-soaked back. His fingers curled, fisting Rio’s shirt, and he gave a shuddering sigh, finally allowing exhaustion to claim him.

-- -- --

The next morning, Rio had to go back to duty.

The pair wasn’t going to be active for combat until Caliph was cleared by the doc, but Rio was put back in the rotation for tasks around the ship: generator maintenance, weapons, KP, laundry, drills...

He spent the morning distracted, thinking about his shill.

Caliph had slipped back into a quiet sleep, but Rio had sat with him in his arms for another hour, listening to him breathe, monitoring the low-grade fever. The blond's sinuses were still congested, and sitting up helped. If he’d had his way, Riordan would have held him until he was well. Days if necessary. But finally, he hadn’t been able to keep his eyes open, so he’d reluctantly lowered the bigger man to the bed, fingering a stray lock of hair away from the closed eyes and brushing a light kiss to the warm temple before crawling into his own bed for barely two hours’ sleep.

The nightmare had been scary. For both of them. Rio didn’t remember Caliph ever having one before, although they didn’t share a room until the Academy. Rio had woken with a start at his shill’s first fearful cry, already moving to sit on the low bed and pull the shaking blond into his arms before he’d even known what was happening.

Afterwards, Caliph had slept so well, being held. The best non-drugged sleep he’d had since he’d gotten sick. Maybe tonight they could push the beds together, let them both have a shot at sleeping soundly through the night...

“Yo, Rio,” Dev called out from across the hangar where they were organizing Rift suits.

“What, man?” he yawned. giving his head a hard shake.

The redhead threw the suit he was holding onto a peg, stepping around the piles until he got close.

“I’ve, uh... I’ve been thinking...”

“Don’t strain yourself.”

“Very funny,” the shorter man was silent for a second. “I... I wanna go look for Marc and Zeth.”

Pain stabbed Rio’s gut, and he turned away before the other man saw the grief in his eyes. “Let it go, Dev. They didn’t make the Rift. End of story.”

Dev’s hand on his arm stopped him. “You know there’s a chance. I asked one of the majors and he said there’s over 300 pods still floating out there... and they’ve only got 3 teams checking them. At that rate it will take weeks to check them all. If they’re out there, they’re running out of time. They could be hurt... Cap said he’d let me take a shuttle, join the three crews on S&R.”

Rio stopped, blinking at the black fabric in his hands. S&R... Search and Rescue. “Fine. You do that. I gotta get back to work...”

But the redhead wouldn’t be ignored, his grip tightening. “I want you to come with me.”

Amber eyes met anxious blue. “I can’t. Caliph won’t be cleared for--”

Dev slowly shook his head. “Caliph wouldn’t come.”

Rio frowned. It was against regs for soldiers with shills to go on missions “unaccompanied.” He knew what Dev was asking: he and Caliph could both be courtmartialed for it, face a dishonorable discharge... which could be a death sentence for the blond, depending on how it went down.

But... This was Marc. And Z. Images flashed through his mind of a hundred different moments over the past year on the ship, of training and card games and fights... Of Zethren’s serious face as he told Rio to pull his head out of his ass and take better care of Caliph...

Rio turned and punched the wall. Hard. How could he choose between his best friends, almost his brothers... and Caliph?

Blowing out a breath, he concentrated on the throb in his hand, pressing his forehead to the cool metal and closing his eyes.

“Okay. I’m in.”

-- -- --

“Nn’EHHGhtsh!” Caliph snatched a tissue from the box and buried his nose in its folds, freezing for a moment before the second drawn-out, “HAAEEGGSSCHhuu!” that scraped past this throat. It made him cough, and he reached for another bottle of water.

He’d been sneezing all morning. And when he wasn’t sneezing he sat there feeling like he was going to.

Caliph swallowed the tepid water just in time to inhale sharply, but the need momentarily abated. Then, after another couple of hitches, “Iih’GgkTSCHu!”

He imagined with each wet sneeze that he was expelling all the tickly little germs from the sinus infection, that his body was in de-crud mode and soon he would sneeze enough of the infection out not to be sick anymore.

“...hegghh... haihh... ahhhh. Dab.” It went away, making Caliph scrunch his face and scrub his tickly, congested nostrils with his fist. The pain pills he’d taken when he woke up were some good shit... it took them a while to kick in but once they did... whoo!...

Which was a good thing, because as much as he was sneezing he’d be in a world of hurt otherwise.

“haihh... heh!-heh-heh!... ihHH!... ugh!” It backed away again, his eyes beginning to water.

He tried to blow, thinking the action would alleviate the crawling tingle. But as soon as he emptied his nostrils they filled again, the trickle causing the itch to flare even more strongly. “Huh-uh... uhhh..." it seemed to stick in his sinuses, seizing his muscles in its quivering grip and making him silently beg his body to just let him fucking sneeze... "heigkh!-hh!... hah!...”

But it wouldn’t come.

He grunted, bringing his fist up to rub his nose again, eyes screwed up and squinting at the light, still expecting the sneeze... needing to sneeze... but it just teased and tormented him mercilessly. "...ihhh...heh...ihh-HH!... -HHH!!??..." he froze, finally expecting relief...

Nothing.

Nothing but itch and pressure and congestion and oh god he just wanted to fucking sneeze already!...

“Ohhh God... This sugks.”

Caliph sniffed wetly with annoyance and scrubbed ever harder at his traitorous nose, feeling one irritated tear slip down his cheek. He stopped, reeling back, breath hitching wildly. But it proved to be yet another false alarm, leaving him breathless.

"Dabbit! Fugk... lost id... -- uhh, waidt... hahhh!..." the blond gasped clear to his toes, then expelled a violent, wet "--uuh . . .NNKGIHHSHHshahh!” The sneeze was so good, he just had to do it twice. “ --HEII-ZZXNNchht! -u!... ohhhhh...”

Flopping back on the bed, Caliph moaned weakly in relief. God it felt so fucking good to finally sneeze that out...

He kept going.

“h’GHkkgsshht! ... hh’NGghtschuuh!” He lay on his bed, sneezing freely into the air. Welcoming each one. “Uh’EKGsch!-’GSHchiih!... Aahhhhh.” He cleared his throat with a couple of coughs and fumbled for the tissues, gearing up for another sneeze, dazedly smiling.

-- -- --

Rio followed Dev into the armory, strapping on a pistol and slinging a rifle over his back as Dev strapped on a sash of grenades. He hoped they wouldn’t need all the firepower, but the likelihood of a few of those pods having alien survivors was very high.

Something about picking them off like sitting ducks didn’t sit right with him, but he reminded himself that they would do the same thing to he and his squad if the situation were reversed.

“How’re we gonna explain me?” Riordan asked the short redhead. As one of only three soldiers on board with a shill - well, two now... - he wasn’t exactly anonymous.

“We’re not.”

“Um,” Rio shoved a clip into the pistol with a quirk of his brow. “Gonna be kinda hard to ignore me when I swing up into the cockpit beside you and request clearance for takeoff.”

“I took care of it.”

Both brows raised, the pistol landing snugly into its holster. “Oh? How’d you do that, Houdini?”

Dev smirked, his freckles standing out under the glaring industrial lights. “I know who’s on shift on the flight deck. And I’m on vid suite duty for the next two weeks.”

Rio stopped and looked, his lips slowly curving in a wicked grin. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

-- -- --

“Fifty meters to contact...”

“Cutting thrust.”

“Forty meters...”

“I can see it, Rio.”

“Thirty meters... just doing my job as navigator. Sir.”

“Sorry. Just jumpy.”

“Twenty meters... this is the seventh pod, Dev. You’ve been jumpy at every goddamned one.”

The freckled skin blushed. “Just... wanna find ‘em. That’s all.”

“Ten meters.”

“Okay. We’re stopped.”

Both men took an unconscious breath, steeling themselves for whatever they might find. All six other pods had contained frozen carcases of enemy soldiers, which they’d left alone. But it took time to cautiously approach each pod, scan for life signs, then get visual confirmation. Last, they had to mark the pod as clear with a swath of paint before they could move on to the next.

No wonder it took weeks to check this many escape pods.

“Scanning...” Rio sighed, giving another jaw-cracking yawn. “After this one, we’ve got to head back. We’re due for KP at--” The computer chirped.

“Two signatures detected.”

Both men froze.

Edited January 9, 2022 by starpollen

[meepsy]

GAHHHHHHH! so happy to be lurking right now! This is sooooo yummy! the suspense, rio's lovely caretaking...and those sneezes. I have to say, they might have been the most delicious yet! ohh Caliph, don't get better just yet!

anxiously awaiting the next installment

[everest]

Dude. This whole story is amazing. I love it so much!

I wanna know what happens next!

[melonbun]

Oh man. Incredible update.

The suspense is killing me. > u <

[PaperThings]

Wow... I'm kind of obsessed with this story. Caliph is just amazing; EVERYTHING, actually, is just amazing. I love the way you write: the characters, the sneezes, the plot. So, so wonderful! I can't wait to see what happens .

[Ciuty80]

freaking adorable update !

[27jj]

Goodness gracious. That was icnredible. I am seriously loving this entire story. Your writing is incredible, the story and characters are interesting and funny and hot and sweet, and you, my freind, are awesome.

That stuck-sneeze part, that ended in a fit? *fans self* Super hot.

You can't stop there!!! The suspense is too much!

[obsessed]

... what signatures?! WHOSE.

What's going to happen to Caliph? [Who was very . <3]

What's going to happen to the rest of them?

And ohmigosh, that was too adorable the nightmare.

And the everything.

And I want more.

...

You are brilliant. I adore this.

...

I WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS.

[Candy]

The sneeze was so good, he just had to do it twice.

Ohgod best line ever!

This is seriously one of my favorite stories ever of yours, and that's saying something! Can't wait for more.

[Aprilcot]

CONTINUE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to know what happens, and Rio needs to get back to Caliph!!!

Please continue!!

Love the sneezing by the way!

[SterlingSilver]

STARPOLLEN.. ZOMG.. the BEST STORY EVER!! GAH! Especially the relationship you develop between the two main characters. I mean, it's so ORIGINAL. And they way you describe it-.. *O*... It's just perfect XD. I really hope you continue this, but even if you don't, what you've given us is already more than enough! <3

[BlueGirl]

Hey! I was lurking when you were writing this and I loved it! I'd promised myself that if i ever joined the forum i would comment on this brilliant story, Soooo...

I love this story, I think for its plot and the way you've written it as much as the sneezes. I love the way that Rio develops, from this evil brat into a guy who does care for Caliph, and Caliph's bemused reaction to him . If you ever decide to finish this, I am totally waiting! I want to know if the guys are alright and if Rio gets back without being caught, and if Rio and Caliph get together.... You get the idea

Anyway, fantastic story!