gomen for any mistakes ;v;;;
Morning came to Ivan very slowly, as he was awake for a majority of the night. He managed to sleep once, but he was pretty sure it was only for about ten minutes. He was awoken by what he believed to be Yao flopping around in his sleep and kicking him. By the time the sun had risen and was shining through Yao's window, he was extremely exhausted. He was also sure his anxiety about all of this is what kept him awake the entire night.
He glanced to Yao sleeping beside him, curled up against a pillow he had moved so he could hug it. It would be cute if Yao wasn't an evil creep. Such a pity, he supposed. Ivan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It was all messed up and not neat how he liked it, if only he had brought a brush with him on this little journey. Maybe Yao would be nice and let him comb his hair so he didn't look like a wild man.
He rubbed his face and sighed, glancing down at his lap. Why did this have to happen? He would much rather be at home with his family. Damn, he would even prefer to be dealing with that one stubborn cow they had. He missed that grumpy cow a lot. He missed everything about his town. Ivan slowly zoned out, recalling happier times.
Of course, he slowly came back to reality when he felt a hand sneak up his shirt. Ivan nearly jumped out of bed and quickly glanced down at Yao, certain that the hand belonged to the nasty, little bandit. He was right. Ivan made eye contact with Yao, clearly embarrassed and scared. Yao only narrowed his eyes slightly, a little smirk on his face as Ivan's body.
"You are very well built," Yao stated, moving closer and pulling back the covers of the bed and lifting Ivan's shirt. Ivan was honestly too shocked to react, and just sat there frozen and staring at Yao. "I assume you had many women after you back in your village."
"U-Uh… well, not really! I didn't really talk to girls! In a flirtatious way, I just like to make friends with them!" he cried softly, squirming.
"Well, I didn't ask you if you flirted, did I?" Yao scoffed, tracing Ivan's abs with his warm fingers. "I was saying that I think that you would have many young women wanting to be your wife." Ivan blushed and managed to look away.
"I don't know." He muttered, frowning and trying to ignore Yao's wandering hands.
"If I was a woman in your village, I would certainly be after you." He whispered softly, licking his lips. "I would love to be the wife to such a… delicious man."
"Uh… didn't you say we were going to head back to my village today?" Ivan asked loudly, not turning back to look at Yao. Yao exhaled and dragged his hand down Ivan's chest slowly.
"I suppose you're right," Yao removed his hand from underneath Ivan's shirt, and slowly climbed out of bed. Ivan sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead, glad Yao had stopped touching him so… inappropriately. "Put on those clothes you wore yesterday. Once this little trade is over, I will take you to the closest market town and buy you some real clothes." Ivan nodded and got off the bed.
Ivan got undressed, but as he did, he could not take his eyes away from Yao's back. The oriental beauty had his back to Ivan, so Ivan was free to stare. No, he wasn't checking him out. Well, maybe he was but Ivan wouldn't fess up to finding the guy keeping him prisoner hot. Anyway, he was staring at a tattoo that covered almost all of Yao's back. It appeared to be a dragon, and there were many words written on it in a language he did not recognise. Yao soon covered his back with clothing, though, so Ivan quickly resumed dressing himself before Yao could turn and probably ogle at his body.
Yao cared for his ink-like hair with a golden comb, brushing it neatly and carefully. Ivan watched and pouted, wishing he could fix his fluffy hair. He huffed quietly to himself and tried to brush it with his big fingers. It did not work that well and probably just made his hair a bit worse off.
He got so invested in trying to fix his dumb hair that he hadn't noticed Yao watching him.
"Would you like a brush?" Yao asked, grinning at Ivan, amused with his little attempt at correcting his hair. Ivan frowned and looked at him, not wanting to say yes. Yao rolled his eyes. "Well? Do you?"
"Uh… yes." He nodded, crossing his arms and glancing at the floor. Yao chuckled and rummaged through a little box and pulled out a brush. It wasn't as good as the comb Yao used on his hair, but it still looked quite good.
"Here," Yao nodded, walking closer to him and placing it in Ivan's hand. "When you've fixed that silly hair-do of yours we will go have breakfast. I suggest you eat a lot; we have a long road ahead of us if we want to return to your village quickly." He puffed, walking away and pulling open the curtains of his room. Ivan was embarrassed, but quickly brushed his hair regardless. He smiled faintly and patted his hair, because he had thankfully fixed it now. As soon as he lowered his arm Yao pretty much snatched the brush back, and put it away.
Ivan assumed Yao probably did that because there was the possibility he could have used it as a weapon. Of course, in reality, Yao just didn't like watching people with his belongings.
"Come on then," Yao puffed, putting his hands on his hips and walking towards the exit of his bedroom. He held the door open, waiting for Ivan to walk out first. Ivan speedily walked out of the room, not wanting Yao to yell at him or something mean like that.
Yao took Ivan back to the dining hall, and told Ivan to sit in the chair to the left of the head of the table. Yao sat at the head of the table, since he was in charge of the whole place. It was clear Yao just liked to act as if he was a king of some sort. Of course in reality he was just a gross bandit, the opposite of someone who was of royal descent.
"I don't know if I'm really hungry…" Ivan whined softly, playing with his hands. Yao huffed loudly and shook his head.
"If you do not eat lots before we go you will be exhausted quickly!" he huffed, glaring at Ivan sternly. "Eating properly is very important! If you don't eat, I will force you!" Ivan wheezed.
"Okay… I'll eat." He puffed, waiting for the food. Soon other people joined them at the table, happily socialising with Yao. Ivan just sat there silently, watching Yao. Soon the food was placed in front of them, and he reluctantly dug in. It was his first proper meal in two days, and his stomach felt very pleased. Ivan couldn't even look at anyone while he ate, because once again, they were all eating like complete pigs. The food was very nice to eat, however. Yao really did have some good chefs.
"Do you like the food?" Yao asked, resting his on his hand and glancing at Ivan, smiling and watching him. Ivan nodded, smiling a little too.
"Its very nice, thank you," he puffed, nodding his head. Yao grinned at him and Ivan awkwardly broke eye contact, staring down at his plate instead. The meal passed by, and Ivan ate as much as he possibly could. Even though he hadn't wanted to eat, he did know Yao was right to say that he would need to eat a lot.
Yao finished the preparations to leave as soon as he decided he had finished eating. He stood up and told Ivan to stay put, instructing people still eating to watch Ivan. Ivan sat there awkwardly, trying to ignore the fact most of the table was staring at him with such intensity that it nearly made him sweat. Well, he pretty much was a prisoner so this was understandable.
The bandit didn't return to collect Ivan for about twenty minutes.
"Come on, we'll be heading off." Yao stated, nodding at Ivan. Ivan stood quickly, ready to go. Yao was being accompanied by various men and women. Ivan could only assume that they were going to be joining them on their travel. One of the women placed a box in Yao's hands quickly, and Yao smiled. "The Glass Ring is in here," he said, opening it and showing it to Ivan.
It was indeed the relic he had pretty much traded his life and freedom for. Ivan nodded and fiddled with his hands awkwardly. Yao then forced the box into his hands.
"I think it's fair if you get to carry it back. However, if you try to run away with it, I will not hesitate to kill you." He smiled, twirling his hair between his fingers as if the bastard hadn't just made a death threat. Ivan nodded quickly. Yao smiled and took Ivan's hand, leading him out of the dining hall. It was dumb, but Yao insisted that he cover Ivan's eyes until they got outside. Well, it wasn't really dumb or anything similar to that, it was just Yao's way of making sure Ivan never found the way out easily.
Once outside, Yao strapped the box securely onto the back of a horse.
"This is Lily," he said, pointing to the white horse. "You can ride her, treat her well, okay?" Yao puffed, pushing Ivan towards the white horse. Ivan nodded and Yao climbed up onto his horse, a brilliant, black stallion. Ivan clumsily got up onto Lily's back, gently petting her. Yao looked around to make sure everyone else was ready to get going. Everyone was ready to go by the looks of it. "Okay, let's go." He nodded, and the horses and their riders all began to move. Ivan tried to stay safely close to Yao.
They rode for hours and of course, this made Ivan's poor butt and legs quite sore. But thankfully it was getting dark so Yao told everyone to stop, and he said that they'd set up camp for tonight.
A person who had been trailing at the back of the group had been riding a much bigger horse. Ivan hadn't actually noticed before they left, but that horse and its rider had pulled a small cart filled with items all the way out here. That was good to know, because that meant they probably wouldn't just be sleeping out on the grass or something. Ivan hated that, because there were bugs everywhere and he was worried one would crawl inside his ear if he were to lie on the grass.
Yao instructed a few people to start putting up some tents. There were about eight people (including Ivan and Yao), so Ivan guessed it would be something like two a tent. Well, even if that wasn't the case he would likely be sleeping wherever Yao was sleeping. The tents were soon set up, so Yao lit a fire and got stuff from the cart that looked like it was going to be used for cooking. Ivan was a little surprised when he realised Yao was the one who was going to do the cooking.
"Are you excited, Ivan?" Yao asked and he stirred a small pot over the camp fire. "I'm the best cook around. You'll fall in love with my cooking, I'm sure." He chuckled. Ivan nodded awkwardly, just watching him cook. The meal was done soon enough, and Yao served it out among everyone. Yao found a rock, and gestured for Ivan to come sit with him. Ivan shuffled over with his dinner and took a seat beside him.
"When we get up tomorrow, how much longer do you think it will be until we get to the village?" Ivan asked softly, taking small sips of the stew Yao had cooked. It was actually really good, for something as simple as stew.
"I think it will probably be four-five hours," Yao hummed, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Ivan nodded.
"Okay. Will I be able to get any important belongings before we leave? I have stuff I want to keep…" he asked softly, looking down nervously. Yao sighed and scratched his head.
"Probably, but I will go with you. I can't let you out of my sight." He shrugged, patting Ivan's shoulder.
"Okay, thank you." He replied softly, going back to eating his soup. Yao finished eating very quickly. He wanted to talk to Ivan, but he seemed like he was still busy eating, so he just stared at the stars and moon that lit up the dark sky. Ivan soon finished and placed the bowl to his left, sitting his hands in his lap.
"Tell me, what is your favourite colour?" Yao asked seemingly out of the blue. Ivan was confused, but decided he should answer anyway.
"I like yellow. It's warm and happy, like the sun." he smiled. "Purple and blue are nice too, though." Yao laughed softly and nodded.
"The colour yellow suits your personality." He chuckled. "My favourite colour is red. A colour of power and strength, I feel most comfortable wearing it."
"Red suits you very much," Ivan replied, bowing his head slightly and smiling a little. Perhaps Yao wasn't so bad? He really didn't know at the moment.
"Another question, do you have any siblings?" Yao asked curiously.
"Uh… yes. I have a big sister and a little sister." Ivan answered, frowning a bit because he was reminded of just how much he missed them both.
"Ah! So you're the middle child, huh?" he laughed, leaning back a little. "Out of my siblings, I am the eldest."
This conversation led Yao into asking Ivan many different questions about himself. He was genuinely curious, wanting to learn about this man. Ivan would deny it, but he was actually enjoying this friendly chat with Yao. Ivan probably smiled properly for the first time since this all happened.
"Okay… one last question. Is your preference men or women? Or do you like both? Neither?" Yao asked, leaning closer to him curiously. Ivan squeaked softly and leaned back, embarrassed.
"I don't really know! I haven't had contact with either, really!" he whined, turning his head away and feeling embarrassed. Yao laughed and poked his chest.
"Okay, okay. Your preference might become clear enough, since I am absolutely irresistible." Yao chuckled, winking at him and standing up off the rock. Ivan huffed and blushed, was Yao suggesting he was going to turn him into a homosexual? He was worried. "Anyway… come on, we should go sleep if we want to be ready for tomorrow." Yao said, picking up his bowl and waiting for Ivan to stand do the same.
Shortly they went to bed. The tents were actually quite small, so Ivan was once again overly close to Yao. It was a worrying feeling. Of course, the worry was there mostly because Ivan was remembering Yao touching him rather inappropriately earlier that day before they left.
Ivan wasn't sure if he would even sleep tonight, because he began to realise that tomorrow would probably be the last time he ever saw his family, his village and everything and everyone he ever knew, ever again.
He couldn't help but cry a little.