He's tempted to throw a second one after them for good measure, but that would be a waste of good spells. If they form up again into a fighting force he'll destroy them. It's that simple. 

"Glad you brought me now?", he asks Layla.

"I will admit that was impressive." 

Almost excessive, in fact. But she's not going to complain when it's the lives of everyone in her caravan at stake.

"Let's keep moving."

"As you say."

Rana goes back to Baqir's tent that night, and stays. 

It would seem he is forgiven.

And the caravan marches on. 

Until one morning...

They've just passed the night in one of the villages on their route, and are camping at the edge of it. It's relatively safe territory, given that they're still out in the middle of nowhere. They have fresh onions for the pot and are taking a slower day. 

Baqir's off in his tent, probably having sex with Rana; so Layla is left at the fire to collect her morning soup and chat with Hayat, Fahim and Fayruz as they take a small rest. They'll be making Kalit within the week if nothing goes wrong. 

Zamir comes out of his tent to collect his morning soup, but rather than retreat back to his tent as he usually does, this morning he clears his throat and looks around. 

"Um," he says. "Do you mind if I join you all?"

Keeping his own company all this time when the caravan's so obviously close-knit finally got to him, huh? 

Layla nods. "Of course," she says. "Please, sit."

Fayruz offers him a bowl of soup. "Careful," she says. "It's hot."

He nods and accepts it, and comes to sit by the fire next to Fahim, whom he nods to.

Fahim nods back. 

"So," he says. "What's there to talk about?"

"I really think these onions are the best batch yet, for the soup. They're more mellow, a little less harsh. Very sweet. And it's always a treat to have fresh bread on the road." She gestures with a bun from the village's single clay oven. "Have you tried these, Zamir?"

"No, I can't say I have." He makes no move to take the offered bun. "I..." He looks down at his lap.

Fahim raises an eyebrow. "Not used to speaking to women?"

Zamir opens his mouth, then closes it again. 

"... not in such a... informal context," he admits. "Most of the time I'm not in... groups where women are in the majority."

Fahim claps him on the shoulder. "You'll get used to it. I know they put a lot of rules into your head about what's right and what's not to do with women, but it's different on the road. Don't worry, everyone's nervous the first time they travel with us. We do have a reputation. No thanks to Rana."

Fahim looks over at Hayat and winks.

"We're not all like my sister," Layla says. "She's... A bit overenthusiastic, at times. And just because we have less rules doesn't mean we don't care about each other."

Hayat draws Fahim in with an arm around his waist, and kisses his shoulder. 

"Don't think that you're going to steal my Fahim anytime soon." She grins.

"Now, now, Hayat, no need to tease..."

Zamir flushes a little at the idea of "stealing" Fahim, and ducks his head to focus on his soup. 

"I don't..." He bites the inside of his cheek. "I don't - it's shallow, between two men - I mean..."

"I think you have more rules in your head than even your father put there," Fahim observes. "There's nothing wrong with two men having a relationship, is there? After all, no-one's going to get with child, so..." 

Fahim raises an eyebrow. "Not that Hayat would let me, of course."

"I don't know, if you tried to convince me hard enough..." 

Fahim lightly swats Hayat. "Alright, alright, I think that's gone far enough. Let's not scandalize Zamir."

Zamir is studiously inspecting his bowl of soup.

"Please don't take things too seriously," Fayruz says. "We all like to tease in this caravan, and it's meant gently. I know you might be used to... more mean-spirited jibes... But you are genuinely welcome here and we mean it."

Fayruz looks over at Fahim and Hayat. "Now please stop trying to embarrass the first-time caravanner. This is how we get our reputation, you know."