DISCLAIMER: Xena Warrior Princess is the property of Renaissance Pictures and MCA.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to mrswoman for taking the time to beta this one.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.

The Eyes Have It
By Ann

 

The door to the tavern opened to reveal a beautiful, dark haired woman with a keg resting comfortably on her shoulder. Walking up to the bar area, she addressed the short, well-toned female sitting nearby.

"Gabrielle, have you seen mother? I've got to unload about fifteen more of these kegs, and I need to know where she wants me to stack them."

Gabrielle moved towards her warrior and gently kissed her lips before answering. "Cyrene is gone to the local healer. She said something about being low on healing supplies, and since you always seem to pick up an injury or two when we're here, she wanted to be prepared."

Xena placed the keg on the floor and raised both eyebrows. "Me? I'm not the one who's accident prone. You're the one who's always getting a sprain or splinter somewhere."

The two continued to playfully banter back and forth as to who sustained the most injuries when Cyrene stepped into the tavern with her purchases. Walking directly between the two bickering women, she ordered, "All right, that's enough. I'll cast the deciding vote on this squabble."

Silently, each woman stood with hands on hips, anxiously awaiting Cyrene's choice. The older woman smiled broadly. "Actually, it's a tie. You're both prone to injury. I made sure to buy plenty of herbs and ointments for your two week stay. Now, get back to work. Those kegs aren't going to stack themselves."

With a grin, Cyrene turned and walked towards the kitchen, leaving the Warrior Princess and Amazon Queen standing with mouths agape. Just as two mouths opened to protest, a voice was heard from the back area.

"Close your mouths; you both know I'm right. Xena, I want those kegs back here in the storeroom. Could you stack them against the back wall, please?"

Chuckling, Xena shook her head and bent to pick up one of the kegs in question. As she moved toward the kitchen, she turned to address her partner.

"Gabrielle, would you mind taking Argo over to the blacksmith? She needs new shoes on her back hooves. Be sure to hold her head; otherwise, she'll bite ol' Jason's arm off. You know how she hates strangers touching her."

Gabrielle grudgingly agreed, but loudly mumbled her unhappiness with the situation as she left the inn on her way to the stables. Xena laughed aloud and continued with her stacking chore.

Several candlemarks later, a frantic Cyrene rushed into the storeroom as Xena was placing the last of the kegs against the wall.

"Xena, come quick. Argo bit Gabrielle, and she won't let me treat her wound. We need to hurry before infection sets in."

Xena shoved the remaining keg on the top of the others and quickly followed her mother up the stairs to her childhood bedroom. Rushing into the room, she found Gabrielle lying on her stomach moaning pitifully. Xena quietly motioned for her mother to leave them alone, and Cyrene complied, gladly leaving the ailing bard in the hands of her daughter.

Making her way to her partner's side, Xena gently checked her lover for injury. She scanned the toned body up and down before she finally focused on the series of holes in the backside of Gabrielle's skirt. She was certain that if she held the skirt up to Argo's mouth, the indentions would match the horse's teeth perfectly.

Stifling a laugh, Xena asked, "Where does it hurt, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle whipped her head around. "Go to Hades, Xena. I hate that damn horse. She bit me on the ass!"

Xena looked up just as Cyrene entered with her healers' purchases. Handing the bag to her daughter, Cyrene stifled a chuckle and quickly exited the room.

Turning her attention back to Gabrielle, Xena managed to coax her lover into removing her skirt, but only after she'd explained to the bard what could happen if infection settled into the wounds. Gabrielle quickly grabbed for the ties on her skirt, decided that having her ass fall off was not an acceptable alternative.

Xena poured a small amount of water on a cloth and very gently cleaned the bite marks on Gabrielle's lovely, round ass. Reaching for the bag of supplies, Xena peered inside and smiled when she spotted the perfect, albeit unusual, treatment for the type of injury Gabrielle had sustained. Removing the object, she began to lightly roll it over the injured flesh, and soon, Gabrielle was sighing in relief.

After a candlemark or so of treatment, Gabrielle had only praise for her healer. "By the gods, Xena. That feels so good. Usually the cure is worse than the injury, but the pain was numbed almost immediately. In fact, I can't feel any discomfort at all anymore. What kind of herb did you use?"

Xena palmed the 'cure' and eased it back into the bag, hesitating before she answered.

"Um . . . well . . . it's actually a very rare treatment, mostly because it's so difficult to find. I'm actually surprised mother was able to get her hands on one. It's the absolute best thing to treat infection."

Gabrielle slowly turned on her side and faced her lover. "Well, what is it?"

"What's what?" Xena closed the bag tightly.

Gabrielle twisted her body left and right, trying to see her injury. "Xena, please tell me you didn't use something that's going to make my ass turn a funny color."

"Nope, your ass is still as fine as it ever was."

"Then what are you stalling for? What did you use?"

Xena hem-hawed around for a few more minutes before she finally sighed and answered her lover, "A Cyclops' eyeball."

Gabrielle stared at Xena in disbelief. "Did you just say a Cyclops' eyeball?"

The warrior just smiled and slowly nodded her head up and down.

The next sight to greet Xena's eyes was the bare ass of her lover running across the hall to the bathing room, followed closely by a very loud splash and then a very loud scream.

Xena sighed loudly, knowing the bathwater had neutralized the effects of the 'medicine,' causing the soothing sensation to disappear. She had no idea how she was going to talk Gabrielle into another treatment.

The End

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