Wen Reian

An unknown number of years after The Long Night

Xi Qiáng Forest

Touching me… touching me so, so gently-

Reian was absolutely stunned. It had been such a long time since he’d experienced anything like this, and even longer since he’d dreamed about it! But here he was. In his mind, in the darkness, wrapped in warmth and feeling hot, delicate hands carefully caressing his neck and collarbone.

Wen Reian swallowed. The man in his dream was definitely as gentle as Songcai, yet when he felt him bend down to boldly press his lips to his, a tongue quickly seeking entrance, Reian was reminded of Yi-jun.

Strange… he has aspects of them both-

Mmmh, Reian’s whole body was shaking, desires and feelings he hadn’t felt in forever taking hold of him at once and drawing startled moans from the healer’s lips.

The hands on him turned rougher, going to grab onto his waist; squeeze, fingers kneading at the bare skin at the small of his back, and then lower. Awash with sensation, Reian shivered suddenly as he realized that he had begun grinding slowly against the man’s thigh. It all felt too good, he couldn’t stop!

The lips coaxing his apart again and again, the firm hands gripping his ass-

Reian felt as his need grew bigger and bigger in the pit of his stomach, until it towered over him like a tsunami.

How can this feel so good?! We’re barely touching, gods… what I wouldn’t give to have him press me down. To come inside-

As if his dream was listening, Wen Reian was quickly getting his wish. Pretty soon he was flat on the ground, his hips arching up and frantic hands scrambling to remove his lover’s clothes.

As he panted loudly, ears ringing, Reian’s knees were being grabbed and pulled up carefully, just as he finally got access to some of the man’s skin! At last-

What… but that’s-

Reian moaned, jaw locking together as he felt Lan Kai-Le’s wet fingers circling his hole. He stared up at the swirling black lines on the man’s shoulder, Reian’s tightening in shock and intense longing as he felt those fingers slip inside.

Feels so good! Need more, oh gods-

Wen Reian was ascending, his body burning, everything burning as Lan Kai-Le kissed him, thrusting and twisting his fingers deeply, pressing a certain spot, giving Reian everything he craved.

“More!” He heard himself begging. “Please… want you so-”

His words were cut off by a deep growl from Kai-Le’s throat, the hunter removing his fingers and causing Wen Reian to whimper as they held and pulled at each other to get closer. This is it, Reian almost wept with joy-

Finally! Just want to feel him, be as close as possible to him…

Forcing his eyes open as Lan Kai-Le pressed his aching member against his gaping entrance, Wen Reian stared up at his face. So good, apparently Reian’s mind had fully reverted to a state of consciousness that he could only describe as desperately horny…

No, I’m not desperate! I want Lan Kai-Le! I want to know exactly how big he feels, inside the deepest part of me. Just how warm he can make me, and what those eyes look like above me as we’re gasping through the motions-

Reian brought his hand up to Kai-Le’s cheek, stroking his thumb over his tattooed bottom lip and watching as the hunter’s eyes darkened to a sultry amber color.

How can he be so beautiful inside and out when his inside is so hidden and his outside is so strange? How can I possibly know that he is pure-hearted, when his hands have so much blood on them and his heart is shackled like this?!

As he felt Lan Kai-Le begin to press inside, the warmth in Reian’s body became ever so slightly too hot. They were not even halfway there when the heat turned into burning, and then Reian began to shake, thrashing beneath the man and unfortunately waking himself prematurely from his dream.

Blinking, gasping, and then finding out he had just imagined having sex with the person he was currently hugging, was not how Wen Reian thought he would die, but the embarrassment was certainly enough!

That only grew however when the healer registered the horrifying fact that he’d actually gotten so aroused by the dream he was hard enough to leak a little in his pants, leaving a very suspicious wet stain…

Oh, just kill me now, I’d rather freeze to death-

As if to make matters worse, Lan Kai-Le was already stirring. Reian could feel the man shifting, unconsciously pressing his thigh between the healer’s legs and causing a startled gasp to slip out. Then, warm golden eyes, dripping with honey and sleepy uncertainty, made Wen Reian nearly swallow his tongue.

Does he, can he… feel-

He watched as the hunter scanned his entire face, leaving no stone unturned, then Lan Kai-Le did something Reian had never seen before-

What is he doing?!

Holding his breath, the healer stayed absolutely still as he felt the man shifting until he had his arms wrapped tightly around Reian’s waist. And he… pressed his face into Reian’s stomach? Gently?? Thankfully though, he didn’t touch or seem to notice Reian’s current… predicament.

Stunned, but unable to keep feeling strangely warmed by the whole thing, Wen Reian just laid still, letting Kai-Le rub his cheek and then his head just above his belly-button. He was… nuzzling him?!

It was odd. Odd to see the hunter do it. And yet, the more Reian thought about it, he realized that Lan Kai-Le never really was a hunter at all.

His wildness and the lengths he’s needed to go to for survival all came from being left alone and abandoned at such an age. But, he doesn’t want to hurt people. He doesn’t want to scare people-

Reian recalled the look in Lan Kai-Le’s eyes whenever he was around children, how it softened his very being. The innocent curiosity in his voice as he’d asked Reian about his life, and the way Kai-Le still clung so desperately to the last remaining artifacts of his parents…

Wen Reian was suddenly embarrassed for an entirely different reason-

Having perverse thoughts about someone as sheltered and naive as Lan Kai-Le?! I really need to snap out of it!

But here they were, together and alone. Separated from the entire world by who knows how many layers of stone and sand. Reian had already made enough peace with the idea of dying. He had a long time ago, but as he kept watching Lan Kai-Le holding him so sweetly, as if Reian was the bed he had come home to after a long day, the healer knew he could not give up.

I cannot allow us to die down here! Not when A’Jun is out there in danger, and I haven’t said what I need to say to Yi-jun and Songcai… I can’t let us die, because Kai-Le deserves a real bed, a real home. He deserves so much more than this-

The hunter had almost drifted off to sleep again, and Reian’s heart ached a little as he noticed the man was shivering. Reian was warm. Lan Kai-Le’s body heat had indeed kept him alive through the night, but somehow now it was the other man who was suffering.

Reian knew it was more than a little dangerous- using his powers on someone like him, someone who’s aura would likely not react to his, or even worse; lash out…

But I have to try-

Steadying his breathing, Reian sent a few warm pulses from his core, all the way to his fingers that were resting upon pressure points on Kai-Le’s back; one at the base of his neck, the other further down. The reason he was using these was to direct the energy flow throughout the man’s body all at once; down his spine to his extremities without it getting stuck or losing its way.

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He gradually felt Lan Kai-Le warming to the touch, the hunter even letting out a soft, pleasant sigh against Reian’s stomach as his eyelids fluttered.

Wen Reian was startled by just how much he’d missed touching someone else like this… it calmed him, yet made his face turn a bit red at the same time.

The healer stared down at Lan Kai-Le, a part of Reian’s highly confused heart begging to reach up just a little bit and run his fingers through the man’s dark auburn-colored hair. Would it be soft? Course? Would the trinkets feel heavy, or just make him sad with all the negative energies they’d absorbed over the years?

Reian knew that as long as Lan Kai-Le held onto his grudge, as long as he lived and breathed for revenge, his soul, whatever was left of it, would have no hope of ever seeing the light.

He wanted that for the man, to see that there was more to this world than killing others before they killed you. Yes, sometimes it’s good to be on guard, but not always. Reian had learned, was still learning, that unless you let go of anger and regret, you aren’t living a life that is doing your heart justice.

We have to get out of here…

From deep inside, Reian found where his last little bit of hope lived. He stoked it, let it grow until it made energies swirl within his body. He felt Lan Kai-Le begin to wake.

“Hey,” Reian whispered. “We’re still alive, Kai-Le. Can you move? We need to leave, we need to… try-”

He felt Lan Kai-Le draw in a deep breath, as if his spirit was coming back into his body. Then the man rolled away from Reian, releasing him. Wen Rei was prepared for the cold to hit him, but not the stunning sadness.

I really was ready to die in those arms-

Reian sat up. Kai-Le did too. They both sat in silence for a long while, Wen Reian carefully adjusting his robes and just praying that Lan Kai-Le was simply too clueless to understand what he might have felt poking him while they slept.

It was the hunter who finally spoke first, “Tunnels are long. We’d be lost,”

Reian nodded. “I know. I was thinking perhaps we could try digging our way out? I know it might be useless, but…”

Lan Kai-Le seemed to think for a moment longer, then he gracefully stood up, allowing Reian to cling onto his arm for balance as he shakily made his way to his feet.

About to ask what he’d come up with, Wen Reian was startled when the hunter began leading him confidently down one of the passages, not even bothering to explain.

Shivering and panicking slightly at the seeping darkness, Wen Reian hurried to keep up with Lan Kai-Le, tentatively grabbing onto his clothes and keeping him within arms reach. It just felt safer that way.

It wasn’t until Reian was so tired he was dragging his feet down every twist and turn they took, that the healer began to understand what Kai-Le was doing.

The ground… it slopes upward. It made sense. Lan Kai-Le must be trying to get us as close to the surface as possible, to try and dig our way out.

The idea of a cave-in, of sand coming down and suffocating them, made Reian’s throat close up, his heart pulsing with unchecked anxiety. But this was still their only shot.

“Kai-Le?”

Wen Reian had nearly crashed into the man as he’d suddenly stopped in his tracks. Reian could tell in the darkness, in the rustling of fabric and the hitch of his breath, that Lan Kai-Le was reaching up, running his hands over the cave above them. A few trickles of loose sand gave way as he did, making a subtle but foreboding sound as they dusted the tops of their heads.

“What are you…” Reian swallowed, aware of how strained his voice sounded. “What are you looking for?”

And all Lan Kai-Le gave in response?

“...no water-”

Yes, Reian wanted to cry out loud… we don’t have any water, it’s been a long time without any water! Have you finally come to your senses and understood just how monumentally screwed we are?!

When Kai-Le seemed to sense his confusion, the man turned to Reian and then took the healer’s hand. Reian let himself be guided to touch the ceiling, over patches of cold, wet sand, and then looser, dryer stuff as well. The realization came to him in a rush and Reian’s eyes widened…

“Oh! The sand… its… drier the closer to the surface? No water-”

Lan Kai-Le gave a soft hmmph of affirmation and then Reian listened as the man began reaching up again, this time to begin carving away at a portion of the cave where the sand was driest and slightly warmer to the touch.

As he began to do so, tiny streams of sand spilled down. Reian heard them and felt the dust on top of his head again.

“Kai-Le?” He breathed, “W-what happens if it caves in too much?”

The hunter didn’t stop what he was doing, only gave Reian a brief hum of acknowledgement and then the soft, unappealing words; “Hold your breath…”

After about twenty minutes of this, Reian continuously growing more and more concerned as he listened to Lan Kai-Le reaching up through the small dent he’d made and then struggling a bit as he tried to shovel more out, the healer finally managed to ask what had been on his mind since a little after they’d woken up.

“Lan Kai-Le? Do you… only want to get out of here so you can get your revenge?”

He heard the man pause, then Kai-Le began working again, Reian heard the sound of the sand coming down above him louder and more frequent now.

The hunter eventually mumbled; “No,” low enough that Reian had to strain to hear it.

Straining as well, was Lan Kai-Le. Reian could somehow tell that the man had been able to dig straight up about two or three feet, but that he could reach no further… there was only one thing left to do.

“H-here,” Wen Rei bit his lip. “Lift me up, I’ll try.”

He didn’t want to wonder about what would happen if he dug as far up as he was able and was met with only more sand and no sky.

Lan Kai-Le yanked his arms out and his voice was darker as he said; “No-”

“Kai-Le…” Reian sighed, going to touch the man’s shoulder.

He squeezed gently, hopefully reassuring him, but Reian was also aware on some level that he was mostly comforting himself.

“We have to.”

And with that, after only a moment of time passed between them, Wen Reian inhaled sharply in surprise as Lan Kai-Le’s hands went around his waist and the hunter picked him up in one easy motion. It felt like Lan Kai-Le could hold him like this all day, there was no imagining the strength he possessed, but Reian didn’t want to test it just yet. He sent out another quick mental prayer for their survival and then wiggled his way up into the hole.

Dark, so dark… and tight-

Panicking for a moment as he felt his shoulders getting stuck, Wen Reian immediately found that when he tried to scrape at the top of the tunnel, sand fell down and went straight into his nose and mouth. Don’t breathe, he thought… don’t-

“Wen Reian?!”

And just like that, there was air again-

Lan Kai-Le had pulled Reian from the tunnel as soon as he sensed the fear in his body. Wen Reian shuddered, blinking dust and grains of sand from his eyes, trying to draw in a breath deep enough to fill the hollowed out feeling in his lungs. Nothing was enough…

“K-Kai-Le-”

Despite his every intention, Wen Reian wrapped his arms around the hunter’s neck, feeling his hold only tighten as hot tears spilled down his face.

“I’m sorry,” Reian babbled, choking a little as he tried to get his bearings.

Being so trapped like that, being suffocated… the only thing that had kept him from fully going out of his mind with fear was how stable and comforting Lan Kai-Le’s arms had been around his torso. Keeping him steady, just as he is now-

“Reian…”

The healer heard the man whispering his name again a few times, but before he was able to apologize for his obvious lack of usefulness, Wen Reian was out. The ringing in his ears and the chill on his skin fading away in an instant, as a different kind of darkness swallowed him whole.

When he came to, it felt like he awoke in a different world…

There were sounds; wind whistling, distant birds calling. There was warmth; something other than Kai-Le’s body. And… There was sun on Reian’s skin.

As if pulled from his sleep by the sheer brilliance of the light, Wen Reian peeled his eyes open, wincing a bit and then blinking a few times at the incredible blue of the sky, the rolling hills, the colors! I’m dreaming, this must be a-

“Hmph!”

Reian looked beside him, mouth dropping open at perhaps the most unimaginable, yet breath-taking sight. Lan Kai-Le had somehow, likely in not too much time since he’s passed out, dug their way out. He’d hoisted an unconscious Reian out first, then managed to climb out most of the way himself, before losing the strength or will to continue, with his hands gripping tightly at Reian’s clothes and his legs dangling down into the freshly dug pit.

The little sound he’d made was clearly one of distress, but a gentle one, as Lan Kai-Le was evidently too exhausted now to do much more than tighten his fingers around Reian’s robes and nudge him a little…

Stunned, Wen Reian was unable to stop himself from gazing at every single inch of the man that he could see; all of him covered in a light dusting of golden sand. He really, how did, when-

Questions died on Reian’s tongue as he watched Lan Kai-Le struggle to open his eyes, vibrant as always but even more so in the sun. The hunter’s gaze fixed on him, and the relief there was unmistakable. Even with half his body still buried, Lan Kai-Le sighed, as if the job was already finished because Wen Reian was safe.

We’re free, he got me out… I have to help him-

The strength to move his body came from a few more indulgent moments of staring at Lan Kai-Le, and then Reian pulled himself up. The hunter’s fingers would not release him, so Wen Rei was forced to maneuver a bit until he could grip the man’s wrists, arms- whatever! Wake up you giant monster! I can’t do this on my own-

After using his gravelly voice a little and calling for Lan Kai-Le, together after a bit of curses and a lot of effort, the two were able to pull the rest of the hunter’s body free.

Reian was gasping, now flat on his back on the hot sand, looking up at a cloudless sky, with Kai-Le’s full weight pressed against his chest; the man having collapsed on top of him as soon as he’d been yanked free.

“Hmnn?”

There was a little puff of air against his neck as Lan Kai-Le sighed, and then without meaning to, Wen Reian was wrapping his arms around the man, though there was no reason to pretend otherwise as the hunter nuzzled his cheek against Reian’s neck and relaxed more against him.

“Well done,” Reian managed to say.

Tears stung his eyes again as he felt his own heart pounding wildly from the exertion and the stress. Lan Kai-Le’s heart was a gentle, steady rhythm against him, as if it was telling Reian that everything was alright, everything was okay and they were safe.

Wen Rei closed his eyes as he listened to that sound, feeling it thread through every vein inside his body as his own heart realized the absurd, wonderful truth.

Both of us… we are still alive!!