[Fic] Shattering Light (2/?)
Shattering Light
Genre: Fantasy!AU, Romance
Pairing: Suho/Chen
Rating: PG/PG-13
A/N: This was originally part of Pt. 1 but it was too big and I didn't know where else to cut it.
Shattering Light
The second time they meet is not an accident.
Suho has never forgotten the strange boy who fell from the sky, even after nearly five years. But despite searching the sky during every thunderstorm, he never catches a glimpse of a thunderbird.
He knows now that Chen was a thunderbird. After returning to the house after their first encounter, soaked to the bone and wide eyed with excitement, he'd told his mother about the strange boy who fell from the sky.
"And then he asked me if I wanted it to rain," he said, his eyes sparkling as his mother dried his hair. "And I said I did, so he stood up and he started to sing, and then it started to rain. And then before I could say thank you, lightning struck him and he disappeared."
His mother smiled gently and hung the towel around Suho's shoulders.
"It sounds like you met a thunderbird."
"A thunderbird?" He asked, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand.
"They're the ones in charge of rain. He must have liked you a lot. They don't sing for just anyone," his mother said with a smile.
Suho smiled bashfully and looked at his feet, the image of Chen's silver eyes smiling at him making him blush.
"I liked him a lot too," he said quietly, and his mother laughed.
"Well maybe you'll see him again someday."
That was five years ago. Now it is the middle of winter but no snow has fallen and Suho is standing with his pregnant mother, watching his uncles break up the frozen ground so that the men of the town can lower his father's linen wrapped body into a shallow grave. His little brother Sehun is crying and clinging to Suho's hand but somehow Suho isn't crying. He can't cry, not now, not when his family needs him to be strong.
He's staring at his father's shrouded face and even though he knows somewhere in his mind that he should feel sad, all Suho feels is a slow, creeping numbness that he knows isn't from the wind that is poking it's fingers through the holes in his coat
It's the realization that he'll have to drop out of school to work the farm so that his family won't starve. It's the knowledge that he is now the man of the house and he'll have to shoulder half of his mother's burden. It's the sinking feeling that his father had so much more to tell Suho, so much more to teach his son, and Suho will never hear the unspoken words.
When the grave is dug, words of farewell are spoken as Suho's father is laid to rest. The priest, Baekhyun, sings a few solemn hymns that Suho doesn't quite hear over Sehun's crying. Suho, as the eldest son, throws the first handful of dirt into the grave, and the black earth spatters the white linen masking his father's face. His mother throws in a second handful, and a wailing Sehun insists on throwing in a third. Then the men of the town pick up their shovels and cover the body one scoop of dirt at a time and Suho can feel his breath catch with each thump of dirt hitting dead flesh.
The mourners leave in twos and threes, each murmuring something that's supposed to be comforting and his mother smiles faintly and thanks them. Suho knows his mother is trying her hardest not to fall on her knees and wail. So he takes her hand in his own and squeezes it, letting her know that he will take on her burden and that she is allowed to mourn the death of her husband.
After the last mourner has left and the grave is a small mound of freshly turned earth, Suho leads his mother and Sehun back to their house. Sehun has tired himself out with crying and Suho carries him on his back, his skinny arms just starting to show the barest hint of muscle. Sehun's breath is hot against Suho's neck, his breathing even and deep, and Suho finds himself smiling just a bit.
The house is cold. The fire went out sometime while they were gone, and Suho spends ten minutes and too many matches trying to relight it. Finally the kindling catches and soon the orange glow of the fire illuminates the main room of the house.
His mother sits beside the fire in her rocking chair, her normally busy hands folded quietly in her lap and her lips trembling with barely held back sobs.
"Mother," Suho calls softly, and she looks at him, her face drawn and etched with worry. He smiles, very gently.
"I'll put Sehun to bed and check on the horses. You should get some rest." He says, reaching out to take her cold hand. She nods and retreats back into herself, and Suho almost begins to worry, but then her hands pick up her knitting and she starts moving the needles instinctively, the wool yarn shaping into what looks like a thick sweater.
Suho lets out a sigh of relief and scoops Sehun's gangly eight-year-old frame into his arms. Sehun mumbles something in his sleep and nuzzles closer to his brother's chest. Suho smiles and carries his little brother into their shared bedroom, placing the younger on his bed and drawing the warm blankets around the small boy.
He gets a coal from the main fireplace and lights the smaller hearths in the two bedrooms before going back out to the main room to gather his warm clothes. It's just starting to get dark out, and Suho knows that the already freezing temperatures will get even colder once the sun's warmth has disappeared
After stealing another glance at his mother, Suho wraps his thick scarf around his neck and face and tugs open the door, struggling against the bitter wind that wants to slam it against the wall. He manages to exit the house and heave the door closed behind him. Suho takes a moment to catch his breath before he begins to walk towards the barn, his feet crunching on the frozen grass.
The barn door protests loudly as he pushes it out of the way, and Suho frowns, making a note to grease the hinges. The horses blink blearily at him and nicker quietly, greeting the boy they've known since they were foals
Suho checks each stall, making sure the five horses have enough food and adjusting the blankets on each of their large backs. The last one, a large chestnut gelding named Lay, sticks his nose into Suho's hair and whuffles gently, making Suho smile. He pats Lay's flank and exits the stall. Lay sticks his long face out and whinnies, tossing his head and staring at Suho with knowing eyes. He knows Suho's father is dead, and Suho isn't fooling anyone with his smile.
Suho presses his lips together and walks back to Lay's stall. Lay gently headbutts the boy in front of him and nickers, softly lipping the hands that Suho raises to stroke Lay's nose. It's then that Suho cries, loud, watery sobs that shake his entire frame and leave him gasping for air.
"I'm scared, Lay," he hiccups, and Lay whinnies again, bumping his nose against Suho's shoulder.
A quiet, drawn out "Hoo" makes Suho look up. An owl with enormous round eyes is staring at him and Lay. Lay neighs at it, and the owl blinks at them both before spreading its wings and flying through a hole in the roof and out of sight. Suho sighs and makes another mental note to fix the roof. He smiles again and pats Lay's cheek before walking to the barn door and heaving it open with another load screech from the hinges.
He's closed the door and is about to walk back to the house when the distant rumble of thunder stops him. Instinctively he looks up at the sky. There are no clouds. He feels his heartbeat speed up and he finds himself searching the sky for any sign of a thunderbird.
Suho's almost given up when the thunder rolls across the sky again, louder this time. Without warning a bolt of lightning strikes a dead tree not a hundred feet from the barn. It splits with a terrifying sound and Suho screams despite himself.
Despite his blinded eyes and ringing ears, he hears the clear, bell-like sound of laughter. He blinks frantically, desperate to find the source of the laughter. It's a boy, perched precariously on a blackened limb of the lightning-struck tree. A boy with sharp cheekbones, a sharp nose, and a sharp chin. A boy with eyes that, despite being almost completely closed with mirth, glint silver.
"Chen?" Suho breathes, taking a step towards the tree.
Chen smiles even wider and waves.
"Suho!" he cries in that clear voice, and then leaps from the tree branch to land catlike on his bare feet.
He's not naked this time, Suho notes with mixed emotions. Well, not completely. He has pants but no shirt, and a cloak that seems to be made of glossy black feathers. Chen walks forward until he's standing in front of Suho. They stare at each other for a while, Chen still smiling and Suho still stunned by Chen's appearance.
Finally Chen realizes that Suho is a little out of it. He cocks his head to the side and blinks, his smile faltering a little.
"Suho?" he chirps, reaching out to touch Suho.
The spark that flies from Chen's fingers to Suho's arm jolts Suho into some form of coherency.
"What are you doing here?" he blurts, and then regrets it because it sounds like he doesn't want Chen there. Chen doesn't seem to mind though, because he smiles again.
"I came for Suho."
Suho stares at Chen, amazed that he can speak in full sentences.
"Why?" Suho asks.
Chen blinks and looks at Suho as if he were stupid.
"Because I love Suho."
Suho's eyes get even wider and a red-hot flush spreads across his face and he desperately pulls the scarf up to hide his cheeks before Chen can notice. Chen seems not to see Suho's flustered movements and instead points back to the splintered tree.
"He told me to come. Because Suho sad."
Suho follows the line of Chen's finger and sees the owl from the barn with its wide round eyes staring back at him smugly.
"Why Suho sad?"
Suho looks back at Chen and sees concern written across the thunderbird's face.
"My father died."
Chen looks confused, but says nothing. Suho looks down at the ground, tears forcing their way out of his eyes.
"How I make Suho happy?"
Chen's voice is small and timid, as though he doesn't know how to handle Suho, as though Suho is a tiny, fragile thing that will break at any moment.
"Will you sing for me?" Suho asks, looking at Chen and remembering the beautiful song that brought rain.
Chen frowns and shakes his head.
"I bring rain when I sing. This…not when rain….be?" Chen struggles with his words, squawking with frustration when he can't find the right ones.
Suho's shoulders slump, and Chen looks at him apologetically.
"I hug Suho?" Chen says brightly, holding out his arms invitingly.
Suho smiles and steps into them, burying his face into the crook of Chen's neck and nearly sneezing from the feathers in his nose. Chen is warm despite the cold air, and the skin of his neck feels tingly and pleasant against Suho's cheek.
"Thank you," he mutters, and he feels Chen hum in reply. He wants to stay in Chen's arms forever, but he feels the hairs on the back of his neck rise and Chen suddenly shoves Suho away, his eyes wide in panic.
"Suho, move!" Chen shrieks, his voice rising into the bird screech at the end of the sentence. Suho, seeing genuine fear in Chen's eyes, scrambles away just as a bolt of lightning falls and hits Chen, snatching him back up to the sky. Suho is far enough away to escape the brunt of the lightning, but a stray finger of electricity catches him and Suho falls to the ground. The last thing he hears before he loses consciousness is Chen's voice screaming his name.
----------
When Suho wakes up, the first and only thing he is aware of is the radiating heat on his left side. Raising his head and blinking blearily, Suho is greeted by the gentle whicker of Lay, who nuzzles Suho affectionately before nudging the boy to his feet.
Suho feels disoriented but he doesn't think he was out that long. The sun is throwing it's last feeble rays across the sky and Suho hurriedly puts Lay back in the stable before hurrying back to the house. Just as he touches the door, a silent something swoops past his face and Suho cries out, stumbling backwards. The something lands on a nearby fence post and hoots at Suho, and Suho recognizes the owl that he first saw in the barn that had apparently gone to get Chen.
It stares at him and until that moment Suho had not been aware that owls could look so disapproving.
"What?" he asks, and the owl ruffles its feathers and hisses at Suho before looking up at the rapidly darkening sky then back at Suho and hooting angrily.
Suho looks up and his heart sinks.
"Chen," he whispers, absently rubbing the arm the thunderbird had touched. It also happened to be the arm that had been grabbed by the lightning bolt. The owl hoots quietly at the sound of Chen's name and Suho looks at it.
"Is he okay?" he whispers, and the owl closes its eyes briefly and hoots so quietly Suho is unsure if he hears it. Suho feels something inside him twist painfully at the thought of Chen in pain and it brings tears to his eyes.
"Tell him that I'm okay, would you? Tell him I want to see him again."
The owl's eyes snap open and it hisses violently at Suho before flaring it's wings and noiselessly taking off. Suho tries to look for it in the dark but his chattering teeth soon drive him to push open the kitchen door and escape the biting wind.
As he pulls off his jacket, a stinging in his left arm makes him hiss in discomfort and Suho rolls up his sleeve to reveal a jagged crisscross of discolored skin spiraling from his shoulder to his wrist. He stares at it for a moment before poking it gingerly. A spark of electricity jumps from his arm to his finger and he pulls back, startled. He stares at his arm for a few more moments until his mother calls his name from the living room and he is reminded that he needs to sleep.
The snow never comes that winter, and the more superstitious of the townsfolk blame the hyperions, the mythical birds that control snow. Suho is almost inclined to believe them, because, after all, if thunderbirds are real, who's to say that the other legendary weather birds aren't? But the fact that it isn't snowing is a harsh reminder that, despite the brief respite of rain five years ago, the land is parched and the drought is continuing.
Baekhyun's sermons, in response to the mutterings of the Old Faith, increasingly speak of the Light God's withholding of rain and snow as a punishment for returning to the old ways. Suho barely hears them as he stares out of the stained glass window of the church, past the glass phoenixes and suns, searching the sky for a hint of a thunderbird. He hasn't seen Chen since the night after his father's funeral.
Suho worries about what he will do when the spring comes and he has to start planting. He knows he won't be able to plant the entirety of his father's land, but, after a long night of calculations at the kitchen table, he comes to the conclusion that if he plants a fourth of the land, he will at least save his family from starvation. It still isn't an easy task for a thirteen year old, but Suho has no choice.
By the time the weather warms, the skin on Suho's left arm is still a jagged spiral of lightning scars, and though he's managed to hide it under long sleeves and heavy coats, the weather is becoming too warm and the work is too hard for any shirt at all.
His efforts to hide it from his family fail when his mother walks in on him changing. Her eyes rake the marred flesh of his left arm before resting on his face, a strange resigned look in her eyes. But she says nothing and only hands Suho a long strip of bandage cloth, which he wraps around his arm, concealing most of the scars.
Planting is hard work. Even with Lay harnessed to the heavy plow, the soil is hard packed and dry and Suho has to take many trips to the spring before the seeds are anywhere near watered. Sehun wants to help, and nearly throws a fit when Suho tells him no. Suho tries to explain that he wants Sehun to continue his studies at the temple school, to get the education that Suho never will, to find a job that will pay well enough to support Sehun's own family one day, but Sehun hears none of it and instead screams of how it isn't fair and how he's old enough to help and finally Suho snaps and bangs his left hand on the table.
"Sehun!" He shouts, and he doesn't hear, in the distance, the merest rumble of thunder. "I am the head of this house now, and you are going to continue your schooling. Do you understand?"
Sehun hiccups and wipes his nose on his sleeve and glares at Suho but he nods before running to their shared room and sobbing into his mattress.
Suho slumps into his chair and buries his face in his hands, jerking away when a spark of electricity jumps from his left hand to his eyebrow. Frowning, he examines his hands, but they look no different. Hesitantly, he flexes the fingers of his left hand, and nearly screams when small sparks dance between the spaces of his fingers. He stares at his hand, transfixed, until a now familiar rumble causes Suho's eyes to snap to the window
Thunder.
His eyes widen and Suho runs out of the door, not even stopping to put on his shoes, and throws his head back to search the sky. The clouds turn dark for a split second, lightning arcs between two grey clouds, and Suho's scars burn suddenly, making him hiss in pain.
For the briefest of instances, through the tears blurring his vision, Suho glimpses a huge bird swooping through the dark clouds before the sky abruptly clears and the sun plays across Suho's face.
Suho has never been more disappointed.
----------
Suho is not nearly as surprised as he should be when he meets a hyperion.
Summer's heat is just starting to build into the blazing white of First Harvest, when the corn and the wheat and some of the summer vegetables are ready to be picked. Suho wipes the sweat off of his brow after a long day of cutting wheat and pats Lay's flank gently. Lay whinnies and tosses his mane, lipping the hair on top of Suho's head.
"Hey!" Suho says with a laugh, waving Lay away with his left hand. The tight bandaging around his fingers has unravelled and an errant spark spooks the horse and he screams, startling Suho.
"Lay! I'm so sorry," Suho says as he rewraps his fingers desperately. Lay's eyes are wide and look over the boy warily, as though he's not sure what to think of his human anymore. Suho flexes his fingers self-consciously, feeling his scars tingle.
Suddenly the temperature drops dramatically and Suho watches his breath billow out in white clouds as ice creeps up the freshly cut stalks of wheat. The lightest dusting of snow melts immediately on Lay's back and the horse neighs nervously, sensing that something unnatural is about to happen.
In a whirl of freezing wind and fog, a boy materializes in front of Suho. Despite his round face, the boy is intimidating, with piercing blue eyes and a slight frown on his face. His brown hair is blown back and crusted with ice, and his lips are tinged ever so slightly blue. He's wrapped in a cloak of white feathers and he glares at Suho for a few moments before speaking.
"You. You're human."
His voice is like snow, soft and freezing cold. Suho feels a shiver run down his spine.
"I am," Suho replies, rubbing his arms. "And you're…not."
The boy's expression doesn't really change but the corner of his mouth twitches slightly.
"No. I'm what your kind calls a hyperion."
"You don't call yourself a hyperion? What do you call yourself?" Suho can't stop himself from asking through chattering teeth.
"I am snow and wind and the one who freezes all that I touch. But you may call me Xiumin."
"Xiumin. I'm Suho."
Suho holds out a hand for Xiumin to shake, but Xiumin just stares at it for a moment before looking back at Suho's face.
"You are human."
Suho laughs.
"I think we've been over this."
Xiumin shakes his head and his frown grows deeper.
"You are human but you reek of lightning."
Suho blinks at the hyperion.
"Lightning has a smell?" he asks incredulously.
Xiumin rolls his eyes and grabs Suho's left hand. His hands are so cold they feel like they are burning through the bandages. With a deft move, Xiumin strips away the bandages on Suho's arm and reveals the jagged lightning scars. The air grows even colder as Xiumin's round face is distorted by a furious scowl. His eyes flicker between blue and white as he glares up at Suho.
"Who marked you?" His voice is the softest it's been so far, but it is laced with cold fury.
"I don't know what that means," Suho whispers, shivering in the hyperion's glacial presence.
Xiumin doesn't stop glaring as he stabs an enraged finger towards Suho's scars.
"This mark," he says, "is a declaration of ownership. One of the Adar has claimed you. This is forbidden. Who. Marked. You."
Wind is whipping around Xiumin's feet, ruffling his white feather cape and blowing stinging shards of ice into Suho's face. Suho covers his face with his arms and Lay shies away from the hyperion.
"Stop it!" Suho shouts above the moaning wind. Xiumin ignores him.
"Who marked you?" The hyperion screams as the wind whips itself into a frenzy, coating the field in a rime of ice. For the first time Suho hears the bird in Xiumin's voice, a high, keening sound like a songbird. Suho realizes Xiumin is destroying the field and all of Suho's hard work, all of his crops that are supposed to feed his family. Briefly an image of himself standing over a grave while they lower Sehun's starved body into the earth flashes through his mind and a primal anger courses through his body.
"Stop!" Suho screams as his scars burn. A bolt of lightning falls from heaven and strikes the hyperion. Xiumin stumbles forward and falls to his knees, the blizzard ceasing and a bit of warmth seeping back into the late summer air. His cape is charred and Xiumin is breathing heavily, but he looks otherwise unharmed. He looks up at Suho, hatred kindling in his eyes.
"So it was him."
And before Suho can say anything, fog swirls around Xiumin and he's gone. In an instant, the blazing heat rolls over Suho and it nearly sucks the air from his lungs. The ice melts off of the field and Suho frantically checks his crops for signs of damage. Most of them survived, but a few are beyond salvaging, mostly the leafy vegetables who were exposed to the worst of the small blizzard. Suho does some mental calculations and bites his lip, worrying that he may have to sell a horse or two in order to survive the winter.
He feels a nudge at his back and absently he pets Lay, stroking his velvet nose and worrying about protecting his family. A soft hoo catches Suho's attention and he turns to see the bug-eyed owl that he sees from time to time in the barn. He's taken to calling the owl Big Eyes.
"What?" he asks, a bit more rudely than he intended.
Big Eyes looks scandalized, ruffling his feathers and coughing at Suho.
Suho immediately feels chastised.
"I'm sorry. But…why are you here? Aren't owls nocturnal?"
Big Eyes gives Suho the "are you stupid" look that he's come to expect from the owl. The owl looks up at the sky and hoots indignantly before turning his back on Suho.
Suho stares at the owl, puzzled, before looking up himself. He sees nothing, and he sighs. He wonders if perhaps Chen has forgotten him. After all, a human can't be that interesting to a thunderbird.
He's leading Lay back to the stable when the scream of a bird of prey pierces the air. Something large and dark swoops low over Suho's head and he ducks, yelling something indistinct and mildly profane.
The large dark swooping thing lands on the twisted, lightning struck tree and Suho stares at the huge black hawk preening itself on the burnt tree. The bird finishes preening and turns one predatory silver eye towards Suho.
Suho feels his breath catch and he walks forward in a trance, unsure if he's dreaming or not.
"Chen?" he whispers, expecting any minute for the bird to transform into the laughing, sharp-featured boy.
The hawk blinks at Suho for a few moments and then goes back to preening, showing no sign that the name meant anything to it. Suho's heart falls and he starts leading Lay toward the stable. As soon as he turns away, he hears the hawk squawk, followed by a flurry of feathers and suddenly a weight presses into his shoulder.
Suho nearly yells again but he manages to keep calm and instead turns his head to the left where all he can see is a mass of black, glossy feathers and sharp talons digging into his collarbone.
The bird chirps happily and sets its claws a bit more securely into Suho's shirt. Suho is not sure how to react and just stands there, motionless, afraid that one wrong move will provoke the bird into tearing his face off.
Finally, Lay, exhausted from the stress of dealing with a hyperion, bumps Suho's butt with his nose and snorts impatiently. Suho starts and remembers his horse, managing to settle Lay in his stall and take care of the rest of the horses while still carrying the black hawk on his shoulder.
The hawk remains on Suho's shoulder as he finishes the day's chores, finally leaving Suho's left shoulder only to switch to the other shoulder. Suho grumbles and tries to shoo the infernal bird away but it's useless since the hawk always comes back.
Finally, just as Suho has finished his tasks and accepted that the bird isn't leaving anytime soon, it spreads its wings, smacking him in the face, and takes off, flying high off into the clouds. Suho stares after it for a moment before yelling at it's retreating form.
"What was the point of that?"
For a moment, he swears he hears Chen's laughter.
----------
The hawk returns the next day, and the day after that, and after a month of its constant presence Suho realizes that it's incredibly smart and incredibly annoying. But he learns to deal with it and does his daily chores with a large black hawk on his shoulder. It arrives in the morning when he walks out of the house and leaves just as Suho finishes his work.
While he tolerates its presence, when it nearly bites off Sehun's finger for getting too close to it, Suho grabs the bird by it's leg and holds it out upside down, ignoring it's sharp beak, and quietly tells it that if it ever harms Sehun, he will roast it.
The hawk chirps meekly and Suho lets it resume it's place on his shoulder. Sehun doesn't try to touch it again. Lay tosses his head and snorts at Big Eyes. Big Eyes hoots at the hawk, who squawks back. Suho sighs and pulls up another potato.
Suho meets Jongin the year he turns sixteen.
In the years since Suho met the hyperion, he's worked the farm in the summer and worked odd jobs in the town in the winter. His mother gave birth to a baby girl and named her Sunny. She follows Suho around like a puppy and always asks to ride on Lay's back. Lay, with his unending patience, does not complain when Suho sets Sunny on his broad back and she pulls out his mane
Sehun is eleven and one of the smartest in his class, as attested by Baekhyun, who passes Suho in the market occasionally and tells Suho of his brother's progress. Their interactions are always a bit nerve-wracking since Baekhyun always inquires after the state of Suho's arm.
"I could have a healer take a look at it," Baekhyun always offers, and Suho always politely declines, fearing that someone will recognize his scars as the mark of a thunderbird and accuse him of heresy.
And heretics are punished by the church.
The air is just beginning to have a nip to it and all of the crops have been harvested and the trees around the spring are just starting to turn yellow. Suho is sitting next to the spring, watching the sunlight dancing on his newly tanned skin. His bandages are off and the contrast between his tanned right arm and his pale left arm is striking.
The hawk is suspiciously absent, and Suho keeps glancing about, trying to see if The Infernal Bird is hiding somewhere. He's so absorbed in searching for the hawk that when he hears a cough from behind him, he falls over on his side with a shout.
The laugh that comes from the cougher is rich and just a little adorable. Pushing himself up, Suho turns to see a lean boy with deeply tanned skin leaning against a tree. Suho blinks at him for a bit, transfixed by the way the boy's teeth flash white in the early autumn sun and his eyes twinkle gleefully at Suho. Suho's face feels inexplicably hot and he pushes himself to a standing position, brushing dirt and leaves off of his clothes frantically as he tries to find words.
"You shouldn't be here," Suho finally manages to say, pointing a finger at the intruder. "This is private property."
The boy shrugs nonchalantly.
"Never stopped me before."
The boy shoves his hands in his pockets and lopes toward Suho, still smirking a little. Suho watches him with nervous eyes. Was this guy even human?
The boy reaches Suho and sticks out a hand.
"Jongin."
Suho takes it warily and grips it firmly, shaking it once.
"Suho."
"Oh, I know who you are."
Suho's eyes widen and he scoots away from Jongin warily.
"How do you know who I am?" He asks, a now familiar tingling growing in his left arm.
Jongin blushes. It makes him look younger and more vulnerable.
"I…um…I see you in the market sometimes. You buy flour from my mother."
Suho recalls that the miller's wife was sometimes accompanied by a tall boy who unloaded the flour from the cart and then meandered away to flirt with the village girls.
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't recognize you," Suho says with a smile. Jongin smiles back with pink cheeks and awkwardly scratches the back of his neck.
"So…." Suho begins after a minute or two of awkward silence. "Do you come here often?"
Jongin shrugs.
"Not all the time, but sometimes it's just nice to….get away."
There's another meaning behind that, Suho thinks, but he doesn't know Jongin well enough to pry. He just nods and sits down beside the spring again. Jongin sits to his left and neither of them speak for a long time. Jongin finally breaks the silence.
"What happened? To your arm, I mean."
Suho looks at Jongin out of the corner of his eye, but he can only detect curiosity in the boy's face.
"I was….struck by lightning."
It's close enough to the truth without telling the whole story.
"Wow…did it hurt?" Jongin is wide-eyed and Suho has to resist the urge to poke his cute face.
"Only at first," Suho smiles gently. "I keep them covered because I don't like people to stare at them."
Suho catches a glimpse of movement from Jongin and before he can react he feels Jongin's tanned, calloused fingers stroking over the scar tissue. Suho scrambles away, scared that lightning will strike the boy. Jongin's eyes watch him curiously and he moves closer.
"What's wrong?"
"Don't touch me," Suho says, with a bit more bite in his voice than he intended.
Jongin looks wounded.
"I'm sorry," he mumbles.
Suho immediately regrets lashing out.
"It's okay…just warn me next time."
Jongin bites his lip and smiles.
"So you think there will be a next time?"
"You mean there won't be?" Suho blinks, a bit unsure.
Jongin smirks and leans a little closer.
"Maybe. Maybe not."
There's a pause where Jongin's face is an inch from Suho's and his eyes are half-lidded and Suho feels heat crawling up his neck as he swallows hard.
"This is your warning," Jongin whispers.
And then he's kissing Suho and Suho isn't sure how to react. He just sort of sits there with wide eyes and stiff limbs until Jongin pulls away with a red face. Jongin looks at the ground and starts yanking up the dying grass as Suho stares at him.
Finally Jongin turns to Suho.
"What?" he spits, his voice a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance.
"Why me?" Suho asks quietly.
Jongin looks back at the grass and mumbles something in reply.
"What?"
"When you smile…it's like the sun comes out from behind the clouds…" Jongin is bright red and tearing up the grass into little bits.
Suho smiles.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," Jongin mutters.
Suho reaches out and turns Jongin's face to him. Jongin furrows his brows and then blinks in surprise as Suho closes his eyes and leans forward.
They don't kiss.
Lightning strikes the tree behind them with a furious crackling roar and something -or someone- yanks Jongin away from Suho. Suho's eyes fly open to see Chen holding Jongin by the collar, black feather cloak bristling and silver eyes wide with fury.
"Don't touch him," Chen hisses. "Don't you ever touch my Suho."
Jongin is pale and shaking with fear, but manages to glare back at the furious thunderbird.
"And what makes him yours?" Jongin stutters, wincing when the silver-eyed boy snarls at him.
"I marked him."
Chen stabs a finger at the scars on Suho's arm.
"I marked him and he's mine."
Jongin's eyes flicker between Suho's frightened face and Chen's furious one.
"What…what are you?"
Chen narrows his eyes and Suho can feel the hair on his arms stand up as the air grows impossibly still.
"I control the storm," Chen barely whispers as sparks dance in his hair.
Jongin stares at Chen.
"Thunderbird," he breathes, a strange emotion in his eyes.
Suho feels the scars on his arm burn and he flings himself forward, tearing Jongin away from Chen as a bolt of lightning strikes the thunderbird. When it clears, Chen is still standing there, blinking at Suho in confusion and hurt.
"Why are you protecting him, Suho?" Chen's voice is quiet. And dangerous.
This is the first time that Suho has ever been afraid of Chen. Suho pushes Jongin behind him, ignoring the fact that Jongin is actually quite a bit taller than him.
"Don't hurt him, Chen."
Chen frowns and looks down.
"But he touched you."
"He's my friend."
"He kissed you!" Chen spits as lightning dances along his arms. "He can't kiss you! He's not allowed to kiss you!"
Suho steps toward Chen. Jongin grabs his arm but Suho shakes it off and walks to the furious thunderbird.
The sharp-featured boy blinks at him and the lightning sinks into Chen's skin as Suho reaches out to hug Chen. Chen stiffens briefly before returning the hug, his bare skin still sending warm tingles down Suho's spine.
A drop of something warm hits the back of Suho's neck and he looks up at the clear sky. It takes him a moment to realize that Chen is crying, his hands fisting in Suho's shirt as he shakes in Suho's embrace.
It tears at Suho's heart and he pulls away from Chen's clinging hug to press his lips softly against the thunderbird's cheek.
"I'm sorry," he whispers, and something hungry flashes in Chen's eyes. That's all the warning Suho gets before Chen is grabbing the back of Suho's neck and smashing their lips together so hard that Suho winces as their teeth clack against each other. Chen smells like rain and something faintly metallic and Suho can't get enough of it and he opens his mouth just slightly to let his tongue flick over Chen's lips.
Chen chirrups and presses his chest against Suho, sucking Suho's lip into his mouth and humming with satisfaction when Suho moans. Suho pulls away just a bit, chest heaving and cheeks flushed, to see Chen grinning like a cat, the tip of his tongue trapped between his teeth.
"You're mine," Chen states simply. He runs his fingers down Suho's arm, leaving a trail of sparks. Suho shivers and bites his lip.
"Yours," he agrees in a small voice.
It's then that he remembers Jongin, but when he turns to talk to the boy, Jongin is gone. But carved on the tree is a single word.
HERETIC
And Suho feels his stomach drop.
A/N: Thank you for reading this far! I hope you're enjoying. A bit o trivia: "Adar" means "bird" in Welsh. I'm not Welsh I just like the language. If you have any questions or comments I'd be happy to hear them. Thank you again!
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