[Fic] The Forest
Title: The Forest
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: R
Prompt: Kyuhyun has received fatal wounds and Zhou Mi is taking care of him and together they spend Kyuhyun's final moments/hours/whatever.
Set in animal!verse at author's choice. XD
Warnings for: angst, character death, happy ending(!!!!)
***
Fifty years had not been long enough. Or fifty six, or fifty eight. Nothing had been long enough, nothing had prepared him to watch as Kyuhyun faded from him. At first slowly, weakening over months. And then so quickly, over weeks, confined to bed, until he was too weak even to speak. Until Zhou Mi was too weak to care for him, as he needed to be be cared for. They had no children, no one to care for them. Zhou Mi was at the care center every day, all day, as long as they would let him stay. The nurses smiled at him, indulged him. Thought it sweet the way he had come in, helped Kyuhyun to eat, and read to him, talked to him.
But he knew Kyuhyun’s time was close. He stroked the white hair, Kyuhyun’s face, and felt death inside him with every wheezing inhale. His whole body was shutting down. A life too long, not long enough. But it wasn’t Kyuhyun there on the bed, just a shadow of the man he’d lived with, loved.
“I love you,” he said, as he said every day, every hour. So many times every hour. That had been the last thing Kyuhyun had said to him, and he needed to know that Kyuhyun knew how much he was loved in return. He didn’t want Kyuhyun to be alone.
He didn’t want Kyuhyun to die alone.
He rested his head on Kyuhyun’s shoulder, closed his eyes, and pictured his tiger other. He stroked Kyuhyun’s papery skin with his thumb, and saw him as he had been when they met. Hair dark, and sheepish smile. The laughter.
“When he goes, I am ready,” Zhou Mi whispered. It was only fair. Once, Kyuhyun had gone before him. And then, Zhou Mi had faded in Kyuhyun’s arms. It was his turn, it seemed, to feel the life fade from Kyuhyun’s body.
“My mate,” Zhou Mi whispered, and felt Kyuhyun draw his last breath. “Kyuhyun.”
There were tears of relief, of sorrow, that slid down his cheeks.
“I want to go home,” Zhou Mi pleaded. He had nothing left to hold him. No love left to keep him holding on. No smiles left to warm him.
He felt his heart falter, and did not panic.
Beat.
Beatbeat.
Beat.
They had been together in life, and they would be together in death. And they would be found that way. Peace on both their faces, at last.
***
Zhou Mi woke to the most wonderful sight. He reached out with a hand, and ran his fingers from silky thigh, over a rounded backside, to lower back.
“Hey,” he was grumbled at.
He stretched in the tiger skin, and it fell away a bit. It let him see Kyuhyun, stretched out on his belly on a spotted hide. He traced one of the dark rosettes with his fingers and kissed Kyuhyun’s shoulder.
“Took you long enough,” Kyuhyun said, turning him head, a smile curving his mouth.
“I was waiting for the tiger to come for me.”
He heard a hum. “And then you grope me, first thing.”
“Hey, it hasn’t looked that way in a little while,” Zhou Mi protested. Not that Kyuhyun had lost his butt, exactly, but he had not been as young and healthy as the man in front of him was in some time. Neither of them had been. “I had to see if it felt as good as I remembered.”
And Kyuhyun seemed just a bit pleased by that.
“There are no laptops here,” Kyuhyun mused, his cheek on the pelt.
“No,” Zhou Mi agreed.
But Kyuhyun reached, tangled their hands together. “Are the others here?”
“You made it first,” Zhou Mi said smartly. “Let’s see though. Run with me?”
The tiger skin slid over him, warm and true. The tiger’s shape as familiar to him as his human form. And for the first time in so long, he saw Kyuhyun as his own animal, his own spirit. A leopard, nearly as large as he was.
And they ran, Zhou Mi pausing every so often to let out a snarling roar. Calling anyone who was there. The tiger’s head lifted and he breathed in deeply. Trees swaying in light wind, reaching toward puffy clouds. The sound of birds, and insects, and the smell of fruit and vegetation. A forest laden with everything they could desire, for each other, for their animal others.
He was nearly trembling, as he came up on the banks of the great river. Kyuhyun rubbed against him, until they stood shoulder to shoulder. Zhou Mi licked Kyuhyun’s face and got a growl, which made him smile inside. And he looked around them. One by one, they came. The wolf, the bear, the deer. The peek of a seal, and soft padding jaguar. Others he couldn’t see. So many, but not all, not yet. They did not speak, but acknowledged each other. He urged Kyuhyun back and they padded the short distance to the tree.
Fifty years, or so, it had grown. Tall, straight. Since Kyuhyun had planted the seed that they had taken back, letting it grow until it had gone with the first spirit to leave the human world, to begin this world anew.
He purred, almost homage, as he rubbed himself against its bark. It had taken Kyuhyun from him, and given Kyuhyun back. It had died, to protect them. It lived, as they did, and would protect them now.
It was the tree at the root of all things, and Zhou Mi urged Kyuhyun to run with him again. Leaping easily, stride for stride up cliff ledges, to a cave at the very top. He’d warmed Kyuhyun once there, taught him to trust. In another life before that, they had been lovers there, in secrecy. But there would be no secrets. The tiger skin fell to the floor and Kyuhyun’s pelt with it. They rested there together, feeling faces, skin.
“We were apart only minutes and it felt like lifetimes,” Zhou Mi said, nuzzling against Kyuhyun’s neck.
“This time the tree will be strong enough to protect us?”
“We’ll keep it strong.”
“We both have amulets now,” Kyuhyun said, touching the pouch hanging at his chest.
Zhou Mi lifted his over his neck, and Kyuhyun did the same, placing them on each other.
“I will guard your heart with mine,” Zhou Mi said, kissing him softly. That would be the thing that kept them safe, kept them whole. It would keep them from fading, from weakening the tree, weakening the world they lived in. And there would be no pain to mar it.
"I love you."
Kyuhyun warmed him then, solid and strong above Zhou Mi’s body. They had moans and joy for finding each other, for being together. Solid and secure as they loved, as though fifty years had passed in only a moment. The tears were happiness, and the laughter was joy. They were connected, heart and soul, and when Kyuhyun’s pleasure rushed over him, Zhou Mi’s pleasure followed immediately after.
That brought laughter of its own.
“I missed the way that happened,” Kyuhyun said.
Zhou Mi, panting and dazed, agreed.
He didn’t know how many human years, until the other spirits would awaken again, or how long it would be for them. It would be death for them, again, to leave the human world. But they would be together with their mates.
And as the tree grew and strengthened with every spirit that lived, their forest home would finally be complete.
***
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: R
Prompt: Kyuhyun has received fatal wounds and Zhou Mi is taking care of him and together they spend Kyuhyun's final moments/hours/whatever.
Set in animal!verse at author's choice. XD
Warnings for: angst, character death, happy ending(!!!!)
***
Fifty years had not been long enough. Or fifty six, or fifty eight. Nothing had been long enough, nothing had prepared him to watch as Kyuhyun faded from him. At first slowly, weakening over months. And then so quickly, over weeks, confined to bed, until he was too weak even to speak. Until Zhou Mi was too weak to care for him, as he needed to be be cared for. They had no children, no one to care for them. Zhou Mi was at the care center every day, all day, as long as they would let him stay. The nurses smiled at him, indulged him. Thought it sweet the way he had come in, helped Kyuhyun to eat, and read to him, talked to him.
But he knew Kyuhyun’s time was close. He stroked the white hair, Kyuhyun’s face, and felt death inside him with every wheezing inhale. His whole body was shutting down. A life too long, not long enough. But it wasn’t Kyuhyun there on the bed, just a shadow of the man he’d lived with, loved.
“I love you,” he said, as he said every day, every hour. So many times every hour. That had been the last thing Kyuhyun had said to him, and he needed to know that Kyuhyun knew how much he was loved in return. He didn’t want Kyuhyun to be alone.
He didn’t want Kyuhyun to die alone.
He rested his head on Kyuhyun’s shoulder, closed his eyes, and pictured his tiger other. He stroked Kyuhyun’s papery skin with his thumb, and saw him as he had been when they met. Hair dark, and sheepish smile. The laughter.
“When he goes, I am ready,” Zhou Mi whispered. It was only fair. Once, Kyuhyun had gone before him. And then, Zhou Mi had faded in Kyuhyun’s arms. It was his turn, it seemed, to feel the life fade from Kyuhyun’s body.
“My mate,” Zhou Mi whispered, and felt Kyuhyun draw his last breath. “Kyuhyun.”
There were tears of relief, of sorrow, that slid down his cheeks.
“I want to go home,” Zhou Mi pleaded. He had nothing left to hold him. No love left to keep him holding on. No smiles left to warm him.
He felt his heart falter, and did not panic.
Beat.
Beatbeat.
Beat.
They had been together in life, and they would be together in death. And they would be found that way. Peace on both their faces, at last.
***
Zhou Mi woke to the most wonderful sight. He reached out with a hand, and ran his fingers from silky thigh, over a rounded backside, to lower back.
“Hey,” he was grumbled at.
He stretched in the tiger skin, and it fell away a bit. It let him see Kyuhyun, stretched out on his belly on a spotted hide. He traced one of the dark rosettes with his fingers and kissed Kyuhyun’s shoulder.
“Took you long enough,” Kyuhyun said, turning him head, a smile curving his mouth.
“I was waiting for the tiger to come for me.”
He heard a hum. “And then you grope me, first thing.”
“Hey, it hasn’t looked that way in a little while,” Zhou Mi protested. Not that Kyuhyun had lost his butt, exactly, but he had not been as young and healthy as the man in front of him was in some time. Neither of them had been. “I had to see if it felt as good as I remembered.”
And Kyuhyun seemed just a bit pleased by that.
“There are no laptops here,” Kyuhyun mused, his cheek on the pelt.
“No,” Zhou Mi agreed.
But Kyuhyun reached, tangled their hands together. “Are the others here?”
“You made it first,” Zhou Mi said smartly. “Let’s see though. Run with me?”
The tiger skin slid over him, warm and true. The tiger’s shape as familiar to him as his human form. And for the first time in so long, he saw Kyuhyun as his own animal, his own spirit. A leopard, nearly as large as he was.
And they ran, Zhou Mi pausing every so often to let out a snarling roar. Calling anyone who was there. The tiger’s head lifted and he breathed in deeply. Trees swaying in light wind, reaching toward puffy clouds. The sound of birds, and insects, and the smell of fruit and vegetation. A forest laden with everything they could desire, for each other, for their animal others.
He was nearly trembling, as he came up on the banks of the great river. Kyuhyun rubbed against him, until they stood shoulder to shoulder. Zhou Mi licked Kyuhyun’s face and got a growl, which made him smile inside. And he looked around them. One by one, they came. The wolf, the bear, the deer. The peek of a seal, and soft padding jaguar. Others he couldn’t see. So many, but not all, not yet. They did not speak, but acknowledged each other. He urged Kyuhyun back and they padded the short distance to the tree.
Fifty years, or so, it had grown. Tall, straight. Since Kyuhyun had planted the seed that they had taken back, letting it grow until it had gone with the first spirit to leave the human world, to begin this world anew.
He purred, almost homage, as he rubbed himself against its bark. It had taken Kyuhyun from him, and given Kyuhyun back. It had died, to protect them. It lived, as they did, and would protect them now.
It was the tree at the root of all things, and Zhou Mi urged Kyuhyun to run with him again. Leaping easily, stride for stride up cliff ledges, to a cave at the very top. He’d warmed Kyuhyun once there, taught him to trust. In another life before that, they had been lovers there, in secrecy. But there would be no secrets. The tiger skin fell to the floor and Kyuhyun’s pelt with it. They rested there together, feeling faces, skin.
“We were apart only minutes and it felt like lifetimes,” Zhou Mi said, nuzzling against Kyuhyun’s neck.
“This time the tree will be strong enough to protect us?”
“We’ll keep it strong.”
“We both have amulets now,” Kyuhyun said, touching the pouch hanging at his chest.
Zhou Mi lifted his over his neck, and Kyuhyun did the same, placing them on each other.
“I will guard your heart with mine,” Zhou Mi said, kissing him softly. That would be the thing that kept them safe, kept them whole. It would keep them from fading, from weakening the tree, weakening the world they lived in. And there would be no pain to mar it.
"I love you."
Kyuhyun warmed him then, solid and strong above Zhou Mi’s body. They had moans and joy for finding each other, for being together. Solid and secure as they loved, as though fifty years had passed in only a moment. The tears were happiness, and the laughter was joy. They were connected, heart and soul, and when Kyuhyun’s pleasure rushed over him, Zhou Mi’s pleasure followed immediately after.
That brought laughter of its own.
“I missed the way that happened,” Kyuhyun said.
Zhou Mi, panting and dazed, agreed.
He didn’t know how many human years, until the other spirits would awaken again, or how long it would be for them. It would be death for them, again, to leave the human world. But they would be together with their mates.
And as the tree grew and strengthened with every spirit that lived, their forest home would finally be complete.
***