[Fic] Dragonrider
Title: Dragonrider
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: R
Genre: AU, fantasy
Summary: Kyuhyun is a man out of time, waiting to find his place.
A/N: This is a fic I wrote over a year ago but I don't see that I posted it anywhere. o_o So....belatedly!
***
Kyuhyun felt like he had been born in the wrong place. Wrong time, wrong location. Not just by a few decades or on the wrong continent, but everything felt so wrong. The only thing that felt right was when he was on his computer, and then it was games that created his own reality. Most people would've called it a sickness, but he thought it was more finding his place. It was the only place he had, besides singing out at a noraebang, or doing what he had to to get by at work. Waiting for his time in the military to come and wondering why he didn't just go in and get it over with. Find some direction before his parents started harping at him to get married.
The problem was that he wanted more than that. He felt like he was meant for more. There was no fantasy in it, no grand designs. No epic love. His friends would have laughed at him, if they'd known.
He woke one night and things were wrong. He woke one night again as a child.
He woke in the right place.
And he woke beside the dragon's egg.
***
Twenty Years Later
***
Kyuhyun had only vague memories of his former life. He didn't know if he had died, if he had been transported. In the end it didn't really matter. What did matter was that he had his place in life and it was indisputable. Or rather, he pretty much rode on his place in life.
Raene moaned under him in disagreement with that thought. Kyuhyun scuffed the side of his laced-up boot against one of the dragon's spikes. Raene knew he was loved, that certainly wasn't the problem. It was all the waiting. Had it been up to Kyuhyun, they'd have been having adventures, flying wherever they wanted. As it was, they were a glorified shipping company - moving important people from one location to another. Most of the time he didn't mind, unless there were those who got airsick. Raene distinctly disliked the scent of vomit. Some flights were several hours, and took little more than a thought to send Raene upon his way. Powerful haunches and wide wings leaping off of the cliffs they lazed on. He was not his own man, a servant if little more. But so he was.
He had never lost the feeling he was destined for something bigger. That the destiny part of things would unfold to him so clearly that it would be impossible for him to miss. He didn't know that he was looking for love at first sight, or even how to put it into words.
But he knew, when he saw the man. Something in him lit and trembled, at the man standing still in light blue robes. A singer, a bard. Face quiet but eyes lively as he stood and listened to those around him speak. Kyuhyun watched only him. He had been with his share of men and women, and was no naive boy. He knew the sight of the man hit him at his gut, hit him where he hoped. Found his desire.
A few bards had shared his bed as well. It was easy to find them, as they traveled, and some looked to fill both body and soul as they went. Kyuhyun was interested in the trading of stories, and the warmth was never unwelcome. But he wondered if he would be satisfied to have this bard just once.
He wondered if there would be the opportunity to meet. If he had never seen the bard, then it was possible that he would want to leave by dragonback. One of the other riders had not mentioned a bard, but there had been a caravan of horses and camels that had come in earlier in the day, and he suspected that was where the bard had come from. And he froze on Raene's back when there was pointing toward them. The bard made a motion as though he would take flight, and Kyuhyun felt Raene laugh beneath him.
You laugh, but it's people like him who see we eat, Kyuhyun scolded.
Not all of them you find that cute, the dragon snidely replied.
It took little more than a threat to withhold treats to get the dragon to quiet down, but by then the little envoy was making their way toward them. Kyuhyun knew his duty, sliding down to stand and wait for the arrival of his betters. As it were.
"This is Kyuhyun, one of our dragonriders," his master said, gesturing but not bothering to introduce those with him to Kyuhyun. "He is free to show you the mechanics of dragonflight. Perhaps you will choose to travel that way in the future. As nice as camels are."
Snide, very snide, but the bard was not affected in the slightest, looking over Raene's dark red hide and darker spikes.
"The dragon's name?" the bard asked.
Kyuhyun's master looked surprised by the question, actually glancing at Kyuhyun.
"Raene," Kyuhyun murmured. "His name is Raene."
The dragons were like all cattle. The dragonriders, they were something else. Owned as well, but by circumstance. Could his master have chosen another man to ride Raene and transport guests or goods, he would have. Kyuhyun had the stripes on his back to prove it. But no matter how hard they had tried, imprinting a dragon on another human was as impossible as imprinting a horse to another master. Both could not be done. Though the difference was, Kyuhyun could speak to his dragon, but the horsemasters could not. And dragons were far less numerous than the beasts of burden and the humans who rode them. It made Kyuhyun special, but it didn't make him free.
The bard smiled at Kyuhyun's master. "Then I will leave my safety to Kyuhyun and Raene's hands. May I go alone? I will join you for dinner. If Kyuhyun has the time to spare."
"He isn't scheduled for anything more tonight, so you may have free use of him." And his master looked back to him, his voice less kind. "You know your duty."
Yes, Kyuhyun had taken up other guests. They were bound within his master's lands, but for exceptions. His eye would be on the sun, to know when the bard would need to return for that promised meal. If not, the fault would be on Kyuhyun's shoulders and not the bard's. And his shoulders were marked enough for past transgressions. He bowed his head as his master left, and then it was him, and the bard in sky blue.
"Perhaps I dressed well for such a journey," the bard said, laughing as he flapped his clothes. Close enough to the color of the sky. But the bard stepped closer, not extending a hand, or in any way attempting to touch him. "My name is Zhou Mi. I knew he would not introduce me. And you are Kyuhyun. And this is Raene? May I meet him?"
Zhou Mi. Raene was curious as well, his head turned to see their charge. And more so when it was clear Zhou Mi intended to introduce himself to them both. Not just a man who considered the dragons to be pets or beasts of burden. Those were few enough between.
"Dragons can speak, is that true?" Zhou Mi asked, as they approached Raene's head.
"Yes. To their riders, and on occasions only they choose to others."
"On matters of urgency, such as a rider's injury, is that true?"
"Yes. Or to a rider's spouse. This is Raene. He is twenty years old, a red dragon. Male, and of prime age."
"Much like you, but for the age exact," Zhou Mi murmured.
Kyuhyun blinked and Raene snickered in his head. You will have a warm bed tonight, my friend.
Altogether too early to decide that, and he sent a censuring look at Raene to prove it. But at least his intuition hadn't been incorrect.
"Raene," Zhou Mi said, and nodded his head to the dragon's curious green-eyed stare. Raene could feel what Kyuhyun could, and he nodded his head as well. A sign of respect from a dragon. And not guaranteed with the capricious moods. But Zhou Mi beamed as though he had been spoken to personally, the smile lighting up the man's entire face and nearly forcing a smile to Kyuhyun's as well.
Ohohoho, the dragon teased for only Kyuhyun.
"Is there anything I should say?" Zhou Mi asked. "I don't want to be rude."
"You learned his name and greeted him. He is pleased," Kyuhyun assured Zhou Mi. And he felt some comfort in doing so. Any other guest of Zhou Mi's rank, and perhaps he would have stilled his tongue. But Zhou Mi had not done it for show. He had done it with respect and pleasure.
"I am glad," Zhou Mi said, though it was as clear as the sun in the sky without saying so.
"Then shall we fly?" Kyuhyun asked.
"Please."
Raene wore special saddles for flight. It was not necessary, but it made it more comfortable for those unaccustomed to sitting on the ridge of a dragon's spine. They had not had such a luxury when both he and Raene had been very small, though they had learned to fly without killing each other. But he taught Zhou Mi how to be safe, how to hold on. Never to let go or try to stand. To ask Kyuhyun before doing anything, and respect the dragon's safety.
"Raene's only mission is to keep us both safe. He knows how to do that. If you trust that, then you are ready."
Though without the robes. The silvery blue bard outfit was no match for the winds they might encounter. It took Kyuhyun a few tries to find leather protectors that would fit Zhou Mi in height, even if he had to wrap the ties several times to accommodate Zhou Mi's slender figure. Zhou Mi looked excited, like a man on the cusp of his first sexual experience. It made Kyuhyun laugh and Raene cough.
Perhaps flying will be a prelude to sex? Kyuhyun mused.
Raene answered with unbridled glee, We’ll try to make it so.
Zhou Mi settled onto Raene’s back behind him, between two spikes that made a cradle big enough for them both. There were stirrups, and a belt that secured them to each other, and to Raene. Raene was rumbling under him, ready to be on the move, in the sky.
“Are you ready?” Kyuhyun asked, turning his head.
Zhou Mi gripped Kyuhyun’s waist a little tighter, and gave his nod. “I’m ready.”
That was all the encouragement Raene needed, lumbering to the ledge’s edge, and leaping.
The shriek didn’t destroy his hearing, but it made him laugh as he had a man squeezing him from the back much closer than before. He knew what it felt like. The rush, the leap, the catch as Raene caught the air, and for a time glided.
“Oh,” Zhou Mi said, as Raene turned. It gave them stunning views of the canyon and mountain, and the city tucked on one side, where Zhou Mi was staying. The sun was still high enough that it made the city adrift in light and shadow.
He’d taken up any number of guests just like that. A leisurely circle, flying over the forest edge, and then back. It was usually enough with people getting shakily down.
Does he want higher? Raene asked.
Kyuhyun didn’t even have to ask, because the sound Zhou Mi made with every sway told him everything.
Go higher.
Zhou Mi leaned with him instinctively as they darted up - higher.
It was the only time he felt free. He flung out his arms, trusting Raene’s steadiness and hearing Zhou Mi gasp with delight. Flying together.
***
Zhou Mi’s legs were shaking with the adrenaline as they climbed off of Raene’s back, and Kyuhyun was watchful as Zhou Mi carefully laid the protective clothing aside. But he was in nothing but underclothes as he went to Raene’s head, without Kyuhyun beside him. Few were that brave, or that bold.
“Thank you,” Zhou Mi told the dragon. And Raene extended his head - an offering. And Zhou Mi took it at its value, laying his hand lightly on Raene’s eye ridge.
As Zhou Mi dressed, Kyuhyun watched, unashamed. There was nothing to lose in it, and Zhou Mi glanced up at him several times. He could have turned Kyuhyun away with a glance, even a word. But as Zhou Mi tied the sash that was his rank, he did not. Instead his long stride brought him closer.
“I want to thank you for this afternoon. It was the most thrilling of my life,” Zhou Mi told him.
He nodded his acceptance, and waited until Zhou Mi made the move.
“Will you come to my rooms this evening?” Zhou Mi offered, without hesitation. “I believe I can get you entrance.”
“At the evening bell,” Kyuhyun agreed. As he had done, more than once. But not quite like that. Not with a man whose mouth curved as he looked away. And Kyuhyun threw rocks at Raene’s tail as he ate his simple evening meal and waited for the bell.
Zhou Mi’s rooms were not hard to find, as he knew the guards. Zhou Mi was dressed simply in white, striking and beautiful, as he answered the knock, drawing Kyuhyun in with a smile and closing - barring - the door behind them.
And before Kyuhyun had time to think, to imagine what he would say, Zhou Mi stepped forward. Zhou Mi’s lips petal soft against his, and his heart took a leap.
“I am glad you came,” Zhou Mi told him. “I finally found you.”
An odd thing to say. But Zhou Mi was guiding him back on the thick feather cushion, and the question was driven from him by Zhou Mi’s touch.
***
Kyuhyun rested on his side, the mattress almost too soft as he body made a furrow in it. Zhou Mi stroked his side lazily, as though he were a cat, his chest still damp from their sexual adventure. Bards tended to be good with their tongues. That premise held true.
“It has been twenty years since last we met,” Zhou Mi said. “We knew each other once before.”
Kyuhyun frowned, the glow of pleasure not that far behind him, but the confusion of Zhou Mi’s words striking through. “I don’t remember you.”
“You would not. You were young, then. Before Raene was hatched, and you were newly of this world.”
“I don’t understand.”
Zhou Mi sat up, considering Kyuhyun with sober eyes. “Yes. Let me tell you. It may make this between us have more sense to you. I was once a worldwalker, going through the bounds of time. And in my walks, I found you. You of another time, and place. And you felt like your place was not there or then. It was fate that brought us together, that night. In a place called a bar, with music loud enough to hurt the ears, and freeflowing spirits. You saw me, and called to me, without voice or words. And in touching you, I brought you with me.”
“When I was a child?”
“No,” Zhou Mi said, and his clinging shirt slid down his arms. “You were not ready for this world, the man I met. You came not as the man you were, but as a child. I left you at a dragon’s egg, unable to stay. I kept walking to finish my journey. And I lost you. But this is not the life I imagined for you. Constrained. Beaten.”
Yes. When Zhou Mi had seen the long-healed stripes of the whip, the ardor had almost gone. The pain in Zhou Mi’s face had been as though he had seen every wound being laid, every drop of blood being sponged away. Every gasping struggle as Raene bellowed his displeasure.
“Others have it far worse,” Kyuhyun said simply. And he wasn’t sure if Zhou Mi had simply been dreaming, or if his words had any truth. Perhaps just another fanciful story. “But you found me. I am… I will always be here. I am bound to Raene, but he is not…mine.”
“Ah, ah,” Zhou Mi said, edging closer with light in his eyes. Pinning Kyuhyun to the bed with delight and long arms. Even amidst the confusion, Kyuhyun was still, blinking up at Zhou Mi’s face. “I have found some favor with the ruler of this land. And I had told him of my desire to go no more from place to place upon horse or camel, or by litter. In searching for you, I knew- I knew I would find you. And you look the same as you did, before I brought you here. Only I wanted you more.”
Kyuhyun held his breath as Zhou Mi touched his cheek.
“I will make the request to have you and your dragon relieved from your master. He will become one of the king’s dragons, and he will be mine alone to use and travel on. It is not the freedom I would seek for you, but it is a step. Because you alone will be with me, and we will see many more things together than you have seen yet.”
“So I would be your servant?” Kyuhyun asked.
“You would be presented that way,” Zhou Mi agreed. “But between us, you would be my traveling companion. And my only lover.”
“Then you’ve come to take me to another place again?” Kyuhyun asked, considering Zhou Mi’s face.
“Yes. But this time, there will be no walking to take me from you. I have finished. It is said that those who walk the worlds may find only one treasure. Only one to keep.”
“Then you should choose wisely,” Kyuhyun said, his head still a little giddy at the thought of leaving, going so many places he’d never imagined.
Zhou Mi smiled at him, and he knew it was more than fate. “Kyuhyun, I have.”
***
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: R
Genre: AU, fantasy
Summary: Kyuhyun is a man out of time, waiting to find his place.
A/N: This is a fic I wrote over a year ago but I don't see that I posted it anywhere. o_o So....belatedly!
***
Kyuhyun felt like he had been born in the wrong place. Wrong time, wrong location. Not just by a few decades or on the wrong continent, but everything felt so wrong. The only thing that felt right was when he was on his computer, and then it was games that created his own reality. Most people would've called it a sickness, but he thought it was more finding his place. It was the only place he had, besides singing out at a noraebang, or doing what he had to to get by at work. Waiting for his time in the military to come and wondering why he didn't just go in and get it over with. Find some direction before his parents started harping at him to get married.
The problem was that he wanted more than that. He felt like he was meant for more. There was no fantasy in it, no grand designs. No epic love. His friends would have laughed at him, if they'd known.
He woke one night and things were wrong. He woke one night again as a child.
He woke in the right place.
And he woke beside the dragon's egg.
***
Twenty Years Later
***
Kyuhyun had only vague memories of his former life. He didn't know if he had died, if he had been transported. In the end it didn't really matter. What did matter was that he had his place in life and it was indisputable. Or rather, he pretty much rode on his place in life.
Raene moaned under him in disagreement with that thought. Kyuhyun scuffed the side of his laced-up boot against one of the dragon's spikes. Raene knew he was loved, that certainly wasn't the problem. It was all the waiting. Had it been up to Kyuhyun, they'd have been having adventures, flying wherever they wanted. As it was, they were a glorified shipping company - moving important people from one location to another. Most of the time he didn't mind, unless there were those who got airsick. Raene distinctly disliked the scent of vomit. Some flights were several hours, and took little more than a thought to send Raene upon his way. Powerful haunches and wide wings leaping off of the cliffs they lazed on. He was not his own man, a servant if little more. But so he was.
He had never lost the feeling he was destined for something bigger. That the destiny part of things would unfold to him so clearly that it would be impossible for him to miss. He didn't know that he was looking for love at first sight, or even how to put it into words.
But he knew, when he saw the man. Something in him lit and trembled, at the man standing still in light blue robes. A singer, a bard. Face quiet but eyes lively as he stood and listened to those around him speak. Kyuhyun watched only him. He had been with his share of men and women, and was no naive boy. He knew the sight of the man hit him at his gut, hit him where he hoped. Found his desire.
A few bards had shared his bed as well. It was easy to find them, as they traveled, and some looked to fill both body and soul as they went. Kyuhyun was interested in the trading of stories, and the warmth was never unwelcome. But he wondered if he would be satisfied to have this bard just once.
He wondered if there would be the opportunity to meet. If he had never seen the bard, then it was possible that he would want to leave by dragonback. One of the other riders had not mentioned a bard, but there had been a caravan of horses and camels that had come in earlier in the day, and he suspected that was where the bard had come from. And he froze on Raene's back when there was pointing toward them. The bard made a motion as though he would take flight, and Kyuhyun felt Raene laugh beneath him.
You laugh, but it's people like him who see we eat, Kyuhyun scolded.
Not all of them you find that cute, the dragon snidely replied.
It took little more than a threat to withhold treats to get the dragon to quiet down, but by then the little envoy was making their way toward them. Kyuhyun knew his duty, sliding down to stand and wait for the arrival of his betters. As it were.
"This is Kyuhyun, one of our dragonriders," his master said, gesturing but not bothering to introduce those with him to Kyuhyun. "He is free to show you the mechanics of dragonflight. Perhaps you will choose to travel that way in the future. As nice as camels are."
Snide, very snide, but the bard was not affected in the slightest, looking over Raene's dark red hide and darker spikes.
"The dragon's name?" the bard asked.
Kyuhyun's master looked surprised by the question, actually glancing at Kyuhyun.
"Raene," Kyuhyun murmured. "His name is Raene."
The dragons were like all cattle. The dragonriders, they were something else. Owned as well, but by circumstance. Could his master have chosen another man to ride Raene and transport guests or goods, he would have. Kyuhyun had the stripes on his back to prove it. But no matter how hard they had tried, imprinting a dragon on another human was as impossible as imprinting a horse to another master. Both could not be done. Though the difference was, Kyuhyun could speak to his dragon, but the horsemasters could not. And dragons were far less numerous than the beasts of burden and the humans who rode them. It made Kyuhyun special, but it didn't make him free.
The bard smiled at Kyuhyun's master. "Then I will leave my safety to Kyuhyun and Raene's hands. May I go alone? I will join you for dinner. If Kyuhyun has the time to spare."
"He isn't scheduled for anything more tonight, so you may have free use of him." And his master looked back to him, his voice less kind. "You know your duty."
Yes, Kyuhyun had taken up other guests. They were bound within his master's lands, but for exceptions. His eye would be on the sun, to know when the bard would need to return for that promised meal. If not, the fault would be on Kyuhyun's shoulders and not the bard's. And his shoulders were marked enough for past transgressions. He bowed his head as his master left, and then it was him, and the bard in sky blue.
"Perhaps I dressed well for such a journey," the bard said, laughing as he flapped his clothes. Close enough to the color of the sky. But the bard stepped closer, not extending a hand, or in any way attempting to touch him. "My name is Zhou Mi. I knew he would not introduce me. And you are Kyuhyun. And this is Raene? May I meet him?"
Zhou Mi. Raene was curious as well, his head turned to see their charge. And more so when it was clear Zhou Mi intended to introduce himself to them both. Not just a man who considered the dragons to be pets or beasts of burden. Those were few enough between.
"Dragons can speak, is that true?" Zhou Mi asked, as they approached Raene's head.
"Yes. To their riders, and on occasions only they choose to others."
"On matters of urgency, such as a rider's injury, is that true?"
"Yes. Or to a rider's spouse. This is Raene. He is twenty years old, a red dragon. Male, and of prime age."
"Much like you, but for the age exact," Zhou Mi murmured.
Kyuhyun blinked and Raene snickered in his head. You will have a warm bed tonight, my friend.
Altogether too early to decide that, and he sent a censuring look at Raene to prove it. But at least his intuition hadn't been incorrect.
"Raene," Zhou Mi said, and nodded his head to the dragon's curious green-eyed stare. Raene could feel what Kyuhyun could, and he nodded his head as well. A sign of respect from a dragon. And not guaranteed with the capricious moods. But Zhou Mi beamed as though he had been spoken to personally, the smile lighting up the man's entire face and nearly forcing a smile to Kyuhyun's as well.
Ohohoho, the dragon teased for only Kyuhyun.
"Is there anything I should say?" Zhou Mi asked. "I don't want to be rude."
"You learned his name and greeted him. He is pleased," Kyuhyun assured Zhou Mi. And he felt some comfort in doing so. Any other guest of Zhou Mi's rank, and perhaps he would have stilled his tongue. But Zhou Mi had not done it for show. He had done it with respect and pleasure.
"I am glad," Zhou Mi said, though it was as clear as the sun in the sky without saying so.
"Then shall we fly?" Kyuhyun asked.
"Please."
Raene wore special saddles for flight. It was not necessary, but it made it more comfortable for those unaccustomed to sitting on the ridge of a dragon's spine. They had not had such a luxury when both he and Raene had been very small, though they had learned to fly without killing each other. But he taught Zhou Mi how to be safe, how to hold on. Never to let go or try to stand. To ask Kyuhyun before doing anything, and respect the dragon's safety.
"Raene's only mission is to keep us both safe. He knows how to do that. If you trust that, then you are ready."
Though without the robes. The silvery blue bard outfit was no match for the winds they might encounter. It took Kyuhyun a few tries to find leather protectors that would fit Zhou Mi in height, even if he had to wrap the ties several times to accommodate Zhou Mi's slender figure. Zhou Mi looked excited, like a man on the cusp of his first sexual experience. It made Kyuhyun laugh and Raene cough.
Perhaps flying will be a prelude to sex? Kyuhyun mused.
Raene answered with unbridled glee, We’ll try to make it so.
Zhou Mi settled onto Raene’s back behind him, between two spikes that made a cradle big enough for them both. There were stirrups, and a belt that secured them to each other, and to Raene. Raene was rumbling under him, ready to be on the move, in the sky.
“Are you ready?” Kyuhyun asked, turning his head.
Zhou Mi gripped Kyuhyun’s waist a little tighter, and gave his nod. “I’m ready.”
That was all the encouragement Raene needed, lumbering to the ledge’s edge, and leaping.
The shriek didn’t destroy his hearing, but it made him laugh as he had a man squeezing him from the back much closer than before. He knew what it felt like. The rush, the leap, the catch as Raene caught the air, and for a time glided.
“Oh,” Zhou Mi said, as Raene turned. It gave them stunning views of the canyon and mountain, and the city tucked on one side, where Zhou Mi was staying. The sun was still high enough that it made the city adrift in light and shadow.
He’d taken up any number of guests just like that. A leisurely circle, flying over the forest edge, and then back. It was usually enough with people getting shakily down.
Does he want higher? Raene asked.
Kyuhyun didn’t even have to ask, because the sound Zhou Mi made with every sway told him everything.
Go higher.
Zhou Mi leaned with him instinctively as they darted up - higher.
It was the only time he felt free. He flung out his arms, trusting Raene’s steadiness and hearing Zhou Mi gasp with delight. Flying together.
***
Zhou Mi’s legs were shaking with the adrenaline as they climbed off of Raene’s back, and Kyuhyun was watchful as Zhou Mi carefully laid the protective clothing aside. But he was in nothing but underclothes as he went to Raene’s head, without Kyuhyun beside him. Few were that brave, or that bold.
“Thank you,” Zhou Mi told the dragon. And Raene extended his head - an offering. And Zhou Mi took it at its value, laying his hand lightly on Raene’s eye ridge.
As Zhou Mi dressed, Kyuhyun watched, unashamed. There was nothing to lose in it, and Zhou Mi glanced up at him several times. He could have turned Kyuhyun away with a glance, even a word. But as Zhou Mi tied the sash that was his rank, he did not. Instead his long stride brought him closer.
“I want to thank you for this afternoon. It was the most thrilling of my life,” Zhou Mi told him.
He nodded his acceptance, and waited until Zhou Mi made the move.
“Will you come to my rooms this evening?” Zhou Mi offered, without hesitation. “I believe I can get you entrance.”
“At the evening bell,” Kyuhyun agreed. As he had done, more than once. But not quite like that. Not with a man whose mouth curved as he looked away. And Kyuhyun threw rocks at Raene’s tail as he ate his simple evening meal and waited for the bell.
Zhou Mi’s rooms were not hard to find, as he knew the guards. Zhou Mi was dressed simply in white, striking and beautiful, as he answered the knock, drawing Kyuhyun in with a smile and closing - barring - the door behind them.
And before Kyuhyun had time to think, to imagine what he would say, Zhou Mi stepped forward. Zhou Mi’s lips petal soft against his, and his heart took a leap.
“I am glad you came,” Zhou Mi told him. “I finally found you.”
An odd thing to say. But Zhou Mi was guiding him back on the thick feather cushion, and the question was driven from him by Zhou Mi’s touch.
***
Kyuhyun rested on his side, the mattress almost too soft as he body made a furrow in it. Zhou Mi stroked his side lazily, as though he were a cat, his chest still damp from their sexual adventure. Bards tended to be good with their tongues. That premise held true.
“It has been twenty years since last we met,” Zhou Mi said. “We knew each other once before.”
Kyuhyun frowned, the glow of pleasure not that far behind him, but the confusion of Zhou Mi’s words striking through. “I don’t remember you.”
“You would not. You were young, then. Before Raene was hatched, and you were newly of this world.”
“I don’t understand.”
Zhou Mi sat up, considering Kyuhyun with sober eyes. “Yes. Let me tell you. It may make this between us have more sense to you. I was once a worldwalker, going through the bounds of time. And in my walks, I found you. You of another time, and place. And you felt like your place was not there or then. It was fate that brought us together, that night. In a place called a bar, with music loud enough to hurt the ears, and freeflowing spirits. You saw me, and called to me, without voice or words. And in touching you, I brought you with me.”
“When I was a child?”
“No,” Zhou Mi said, and his clinging shirt slid down his arms. “You were not ready for this world, the man I met. You came not as the man you were, but as a child. I left you at a dragon’s egg, unable to stay. I kept walking to finish my journey. And I lost you. But this is not the life I imagined for you. Constrained. Beaten.”
Yes. When Zhou Mi had seen the long-healed stripes of the whip, the ardor had almost gone. The pain in Zhou Mi’s face had been as though he had seen every wound being laid, every drop of blood being sponged away. Every gasping struggle as Raene bellowed his displeasure.
“Others have it far worse,” Kyuhyun said simply. And he wasn’t sure if Zhou Mi had simply been dreaming, or if his words had any truth. Perhaps just another fanciful story. “But you found me. I am… I will always be here. I am bound to Raene, but he is not…mine.”
“Ah, ah,” Zhou Mi said, edging closer with light in his eyes. Pinning Kyuhyun to the bed with delight and long arms. Even amidst the confusion, Kyuhyun was still, blinking up at Zhou Mi’s face. “I have found some favor with the ruler of this land. And I had told him of my desire to go no more from place to place upon horse or camel, or by litter. In searching for you, I knew- I knew I would find you. And you look the same as you did, before I brought you here. Only I wanted you more.”
Kyuhyun held his breath as Zhou Mi touched his cheek.
“I will make the request to have you and your dragon relieved from your master. He will become one of the king’s dragons, and he will be mine alone to use and travel on. It is not the freedom I would seek for you, but it is a step. Because you alone will be with me, and we will see many more things together than you have seen yet.”
“So I would be your servant?” Kyuhyun asked.
“You would be presented that way,” Zhou Mi agreed. “But between us, you would be my traveling companion. And my only lover.”
“Then you’ve come to take me to another place again?” Kyuhyun asked, considering Zhou Mi’s face.
“Yes. But this time, there will be no walking to take me from you. I have finished. It is said that those who walk the worlds may find only one treasure. Only one to keep.”
“Then you should choose wisely,” Kyuhyun said, his head still a little giddy at the thought of leaving, going so many places he’d never imagined.
Zhou Mi smiled at him, and he knew it was more than fate. “Kyuhyun, I have.”
***