Work in progress [Final Fantasy X-2 fanfic-drabble]

Word Count: Currently 509
Fandom: Final Fantasy X-2
Warnings: Slash. Mmyup. As in, le gay. =w=;
Pairings: Nooj/Baralai
About:
Written because... A friend and I were staying up super-late to write. XD We have this thing where we try to write a "drabble" a week, and I'm dangerously close to being two weeks behind. x_x BUT ANYWAY, I needed to write so I started with the character who was most active in my head... who happened to be Baralai. And, yeah. :| Sry if you don't know the fandom ._. *coughhack* I'd like commentary on the writing itself, though?
Other:
For those who don't know, there is a race called the Al Bhed in FFX/-2, and they have their own language. (It's actually pretty simple; just letter substitution. XD But still.) The more comfortable the Al Bhed characters in this story are, the more likely they're going to speak their native tongue. If you want to know what they're saying in Al Bhed, you'll need this. I'll be signifying Al Bhed speech in this color, because I'm a nerd and that's the color translated Al Bhed text is in-game. XD
Double-posted at my LJ.

.~.~.p&q.~.~.

"Baralai! Run!"

He was always running.

Macalania had lost its everlasting ice, but during winter it was cold as ever. Baralai breathed in the frozen air and exhaled heavily. Spira was undeniably changing, and... It was to be expected. After being kept in a stasis for a thousand years, it was only natural for the world to start turning once rid of its captor. But for those caught in the transitional period, it was... hard. Change was hard. It was hard to look into the Woods he played in as a boy and see and know that they were dying. The nooks and crannies in the trees, the hiding places, they were all to fade. It was a hard concept for him to wrap his head around, and he took solace in the things that stayed the same. Winter was cold. Work had to be done. Gippal was a cheerful bastard.

"Rao! Baralai!"

He could see where Gippal stood, several feet down the unthawing cliff. Baralai feigned deafness because he didn't feel like climbing down the rope ladder. Gippal shouted up at him a few more times before finally giving up and shimmying up the ladder himself. As he approached, Baralai looked at him with inquisitively-raised eyebrows.

"What is it?"

"Hey, I've been callin' for you for like five minutes."

"Oh, really? I didn't hear a thing. Must be the wind. What do you need?"

If Gippal picked up on the bullshit, he chose not to say anything about it. "Nooot much, just decided to come up and see how you were doing." Which was Gippal for "You're my excuse for avoiding work."

Maybe he should have just excluded "cheerful bastard." Gippal never changed, period.

"I don't know how you can stand the cold," Baralai lied conversationally.

"Hey, it gets cold in the desert, too, y'know." It was one of those times when Baralai wished Gippal could sit still. He was always gesturing, always pacing, always moving. At that moment he was semi-dancing a half-circle around Baralai. He wondered if Gippal did it because he knew it made it difficult to keep a proper eye on him, but knew it was just because he was restless. Who said it couldn't be a combination of both? "It gets downright frigid at night. Nothing like this, of course."

"Bevelle has its winters, too," Baralai said idly. "I just didn't bring heavy enough robes." Gippal paused for a fraction of a second to give him an incredulous look. "I didn't expect to stay as long as I am," Baralai clarified.

"What's keepin' you?"

"I just decided to come out and see how you were doing."

Gippal laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Touché."

"Have you seen Nooj recently?" Baralai inwardly winced. It was bad execution on his part; he had meant for it to casually come up in the conversation, not for him to blurt it out tactlessly. Perhaps being in Gippal's company for more than five minutes had side effects, such as his personality traits rubbing off on you.