Senri soon realized that he had a tad incorrect impression about his gorgeous redhead. He thought – a mere few bells earlier – that Raha was absolutely at his hottest when flushed and adorably bashful. Which wasn't untrue, obviously. But the moment he was somewhat… dumbstruck by the teasing side of his lover at that miserable camp… his worldview changed a tad.

Because now he was quite sure that there couldn't be a hotter sight than his cute redhead – still wondrously flushed – but with a mind-numbing cocky smirk and sparks of desire making his jewel-like eyes shine!

From the very beginning – even drunk – Senri couldn't help but notice that Raha had an absolutely gorgeous mouth. His plush lips were eye-catching, and his cute tendency to bite them when either nervous, uncertain, or looking for words was definitely something the Warrior swiftly found just adorable! Every time he caught sight of that cute habit, he felt yearning to smooth the leftover teeth mark with his tongue, and considering that his kisses were even sweeter than his looks – mesmerizing for his poor, lovesick heart – more often than not over the day it ended with him needing to taste those pretty lips… and now, after his lover's shamelessly teasing offer, every single look toward his mouth was giving Senri… ideas.

And downright making walking uncomfortable due to the painfully throbbing erection begging to turn that idea into reality. And mostly because of that, he excused himself from the company after gleefully delivering his lover into the hands of the waiting – much more friendly Shtola – for the promised lesson in healing, and after picking a towel from his bedroom, he headed for the shower to get rid of still covering him blood and gore.

Standing under the stream of scalding hot water after washing off the worst of it, bracing his hands on the tilled wall, he closed his eyes and let his thoughts return to that kiss right after the execution and the promise it tasted of. To the words whispered again his lips in that soothing voice – raspy with desire – and the way it sent his heart to soar somewhere above the cloudy sky of Mor Dhona.

To the way Raha so easily accepted the beast under his skin and its vicious bite… His sweet, adorable Raha, with fiery satisfaction burning red and cyan flames in his eyes….

He was shaken out of this reverie when the sound of the water streaming over him, and despite his carefully lowered ears, someone had the nerve to clear his throat behind him. Pulling his head from under the stream and brushing his wet, longish hair – thinking briefly he should soon ask one of his friends to cut them – he narrowed his eyes with annoyance at the intruder… only internally letting himself be surprised by the sight of Gaia gracefully seated on the bench of the communal shower.

Taking once the title of Logrif in the Convocation, Gaia was the only living female Ancient left – if one didn't count Venat, and they did plan to eventually find a way to free Hades's aunt from her Hydealyn form before her presence could misbalance the Eitherys without her dark counterpart, Zodiark. Like all the representatives of their kind, Gaia was beautiful with wavy ink-black locks cascading over her back and Ancient-bright blue eyes, if hers were darker than Themis's, almost navy. And out of all of them, only she insisted on wearing the set of dark robes and decorating them mask of her station. The only improvement – as Hyth joked about it – was that, as a nod toward her now mortal peers, she let that mask hang around her neck instead of covering her face.

And unlike the other of his Ancient friends, Gaia didn't hide the fact that she was… unhappy in this world. Asked about it once, Themis clammed up, only stating that she had her reasons for missing the Eitherys before it was broken down, and only much later Senri learned from Hades that in Convocation, it was… poorly hidden secret that Gaia was 'involved' with Artemis, holding the Seat of Mitron. They met the man… in a way, since he – or rather his reincarnation – at some point was recruited by Lahabrea into his Ascian group… and it ended poorly. Fed for who knows how long the lies and barely having any recollection of his life as an Ancient, infuriated by Emet-Selch 'betrayal' in how they dealt with Lahabrea, he attempted to get rid of Senri in retaliation… and was promptly snapped out of existence.

Hades had very, very little patience for his fragmented brethren – especially after no longer being bound to pretend that he shared their goals, as Hythlodaeus explained with a shrug afterward. They had to facilitate seven rejoinings, and after doing away with Lahabrea as they did, those of the Ascians who refused to fall in line… well, were very efficiently done away with.

After they restored Gaia, mostly because there were already so few of the Unsundered left, she kept to herself – doing who knows what – but she still, more often than not, was given a vote in whatever plan others cooked up. Due to that, Senri didn't really know much about her, other than what their Ancient friends would decide to disclose if even Hades admitted that they were never close before the Sundering in the first place. For obvious reasons, those who loved Azem were by default frowned upon by their society if, in the case of Hades, none would dare to show him the same malice or rejection as they did toward his older brother… because his golden-eyed sibling had much, much fewer scruples than Ares and was very famously the most powerful of their kind.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Senri drawled, not showing any of his surprise at the unbidden visit – especially in those circumstances – as he turned the shower off, marched across the big room, and dried himself off with the earlier prepared towel, when done wrapping it around his waist. Gaia watched him throughout that with an unreadable expression and none of the appreciation for his looks that he was quite used to.

"Others informed me of their newest… scheme," she replied in a neutral tone, shifting slightly sideways toward him when Senri sat down on the bench next to her. "And the reason behind it. Is it true what you saw, Warrior…?" she raised her eyebrows expectantly, wrapping her hands together around her knees.

"Echo never lies," he said, running his fingers through his messy wet hair before narrowing his ice-blue eyes at the thoughtful expression that overcame her features at that. "You're usually quite indifferent about their plans, Gaia… What's so different about this one?" he asked carefully, leaning in and crossing his forearms over his lap.

"I…" she hesitated, then sighed and lowered her bright eyes to the floor before them. "If what Hades insinuated is a possibility… I know it doesn't really matter – my voice, I mean – since the others are going to overrule it anyway… But if you find it your heart, Senri, and if it does work…" she trailed off, clearly looking for words as she met his gaze again.

"Which part…?" he asked with confusion. "Traveling back or…?"

"I mean… changing this timeline," she answered quietly. "If that's how it truly went with Ares and Damon…."

"So Echo showed," and his soul knew. He hesitated briefly, then asked. "Did you know him, Gaia? Damon, I mean?"

"All knew him," a weak smile tilted her full lips, and some strange amusement flared in her navy eyes. "I know that a mortal may struggle to imagine… but he did carry the title of the brightest mind for a reason, Senri. He was treated as… the treasure of Amarout, in a way. Whenever one of us would have questions or needed sage input on whatever project they'd been working on, it was him they would approach, and there was no match to the solutions he would offer."

"No… I mean did you know him?" he repeated, putting meaningful pressure on the word, and considering that she didn't seem as surprised as Hades was by the revelation, Senri wasn't shocked when she sent him another weak, if indulgent smile. And by it, he was almost sure that he knew what was that brought her to him.

"You could say… we were related," she replied cagily, then sighed softly when he raised his dark eyebrows expectantly. "In mortal terms, I believe you would call us fraternal cousins."

"Oh…?" he hid his surprise, only tilted his head curiously. "And? Were you close?"

"I think you misunderstood, Warrior," she said softly. "Or are too… used to the way others behave, I suppose, if I thought that they did tell you tales of how our world and society… looked like, yes?" she smiled weakly when he nodded, then looked forward once more. "So no, despite being related and in a similar age, I wouldn't say that I knew Damon well. I don't think that anyone did, honestly… The way this man's mind worked was… impossible to understand. Even when we were very young… he would have this cold and calculating look in his eyes that made one think that he knew what you were going to do or think before you did. And that whatever idea or thought you had… disappointed and bore him. He was… unimaginably cold and emotionless, Senri, and our peers admired him for that. Damon was an ideal child of Eitherys, put on as an example of what one should strive to achieve… and perhaps that's why it was so shocking when the rumors that he had been seen spending time with his polar opposite started to spread."

"…Ares?" he asked unnecessarily with a quiet sigh.

"Yes, long, long before he took the Seat of Azem," she said in a neutral tone. "By my recall… we were so young then… Barely considered young adults by our people's standards, and yet they both were... known. Damon for his intellect and gift, and already with the reputation that made some refer to him as the 'Jewel of Amarout,' and Ares, infamous reject whose existence was to be avoided repeating by all means. Wild and uncontrollable, our people would whisper and prone to vicious outbursts with a gift that made our peers tremble. And yet… hearing those rumors and growing perhaps a tad… curious about that anomaly, I visited my… cousin's office and for the first time in our long lives… I saw something else in his crystalline eyes than that… indifference. When he spoke of Ares…" she sighed, and when her eyes moved back to his, a slightly why smirk bloomed on her features. "…our people warned that any sign of individuality led only to envy, Senri, but that day I discovered what actual, true envy feels like. And… perhaps that was why when I took Seat of Logrif and met Artemis…" that smirk turned into a pained grimace.

"Love is a little like infectious sickness," he whispered, hesitating, but then he carefully set his hand over her shoulder. "Gaia… this is why you came here, isn't it? If it works… you want me to save Artemis from Sundering?"

"Am I so transparent…?" she sighed, then, when delicately prompted, leaned against his side and dropped her head on his shoulder. "I tried, Warrior… but I cannot find it in myself to be in this fragmented world without him. I do not wish to sacrifice Themis for my selfish want… but if there's a way to bring him back, I would no longer resent Ares's interference. And if it's not possible… I would know I can slip away into the aetherial sea without regret and perhaps one day be reborn to meet him once more…."

With nothing else in his mind, than to offer comfort, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, resting his chin against her black hair.

"Do you think… knowing him, and perhaps his capabilities… Damon, I mean… could he do that?" he asked hesitantly. "Hades mentioned that his gift was able to bend reality, but I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean…?"

"He could weave the creation magic into spells… and with those achieve anything he was inclined to," she replied. "So if anyone can… Yes, I think that wouldn't be out of the range of his skills… The question is, would he want to? If what Hades told us about your vision is correct, Senri, what reason would he have to bother changing this timeline when he could create a new one…? For all we know… Ours made here plenty of mistakes, creating chaos out of what was supposed to take place. Almost… how would yours say? They went about willy-nilly tweaking whatever fit their wants. Damon, cold and precautious as he was… Can see it as too much of a failure, Warrior, and even if you manage to fix that… interference and they won't choose to escape the Sundering… We don't even know how much exactly they… changed since both Hades and Hythlodaeus are unsure of that. And not that I can blame them for it, either, considering that after the amount of time that passed… I wouldn't be able to remember, either."

"They did best they could… in the circumstances," he sighed.

"I do not doubt that…" she tilted her head, and he leaned away to meet her gaze. Almost nose to nose like this, Senri could see sparks of determination flare in her navy eyes. "But what I mean… Before you do attempt it, and if you wish for the prize, you get that fix to affect this world… you need to find a way to convince Damon that this timeline is worth his…."

The door of the compound's showers snapped open.

"Sen…?" when his eyes snapped toward the sound of his redhead's voice, he froze seeing how mismatched eyes moved back and forth between him and Gaia and narrowed into slits as Raha visibly clenched his jaw. And he would never admit that out loud, but seeing that gorgeous red-cyan irises blaze with a mix of jealousy and fury sent a shudder down his spine and made his tail flick with unbound interest. "What the fuck…?" his lover hissed with outrage, and Senri snapped his arm back, pointedly leaning away from the Ancient female who in turn looked toward the redhead with something almost like fascination in her expression.

"He does very much look like him," Gaia said calmly, then turned her gaze toward the Warrior. "If he seems far more emotional… But keep in mind what I said, Senri?"

"I would… and if it's possible, I'll do what you asked for, Gaia," he said, not taking his eyes off the very infuriated male as he marched into the room, heading toward him with very apparent intent.

She warped away without another word, leaving him alone to pacify his enraged lover… and led by instinct and more than interested in that surprising fiery sparks of fury in the mismatched eyes. He had the great idea to calmly lean back on his arms set against the edge of his seat and look up with a smirk when Raha stopped in front of him with his hands rolled tightly into fists and audibly grinding his teeth. And suddenly, playing with fire seemed like a glorious idea… "Something's wrong, babe…?" he asked with a smirk and fluttered his lashes innocently.

Raha – apparently in his outrage forgetting what Senri told him about never feeling attracted to females – growled loudly at his insolent tone, and one of his hands snapped forward to fist in the still-wet hair at the back of Warrior's head, brutally tilting his head up when he leaned in, curling his free hand around Senri's throat.

"You're mine!" he hissed in the brunette's face with fury blazing fiercely in his eyes right before he closed the space between them and claimed his mouth into a deep, possessive, and almost biting kiss. More than intrigued by the hard need to submit and even more painfully aroused with this new facet of his normally softer lover, Senri instinctively went plaint in his grip, only rumbling on blissed-out purrs under his redhead's consuming lips. He could easily overpower him… but instead, he gripped the edges of the bench behind his back harder and harder as his redheaded wonder seemed bent on reestablishing his claim. As the pressure of his kiss gradually forced him back, Senri spread his legs to let his lover closer, and the towel wrapped around his hips unraveled.

Breaking apart for a deeper breath, both panting raggedly, he almost expired when Raha's fiery eyes ran down his body and got stuck at the proof of what his sweet taste was doing to him. And when he seemingly unconsciously licked these gorgeous, now bruised lips… Senri's overheated imagination dove into a gutter, bringing back in EXPLICIT detail the images his lover's teasing supplied all too readily. A ragged groan tore from his mouth as his dick twitched under the redhead's devouring gaze, and as if reading his depraved mind's ideas, Raha let go of his hair and, without missing a beat, dropped to his knees between his open thighs. Curling his slightly shaky hands around them, he looked up into his face with a mind-blowing mix of hunger and uncertainty filling his expression. Fiery blush on his handsome face grew as that intriguing blaze of possessive fire dimmed in his soulful eyes.

"I am yours," Senri purred, freeing one hand to press it over his lover's heated cheek and melted internally when Raha – holding his gaze – bit his lower lip but leaned his head into his palm. "To do with… whatever you please, babe… Whatever your heart desire…"

"Gods… such a dangerous thing to say, my dream," his lover breathed, sounding utterly hoarse with want and his voice like this… Senri's hand, almost against his will, moved from his cheek to wrap around the back of his redhead's neck, and his thoughts went on fire with the idea of pulling and bringing those plush lips where his cock wept, begging for them. Raha's ears flattened against his head, but his expressive irises filled with intent. Before he knew what happened, his lover sank down lower, clenching his hands around his thighs as he dove in, and a maddeningly slow drag of rough tongue over his aching flesh and Senri's back arched with a choked whine leaving his mouth at the sensation. The sparks it sent shimmered along his spine to settle at the base of it and turn into a painful pressure. And when that rough surface reached the head of his dick, and with additional maddening heat of shaky, quick breath, almost curiously lapped at the pre-cum its touch squeezed out of him, he shuddered with a breathless mewl of his lover's name, struggling to catch his breath. His redhead's hand moved from his shaky thigh and made breathing even harder when it wrapped around the base of his cock, keeping it against his bruised lips when his gorgeously flushed lover looked up and the sight… He whimpered needily, deaf from his thundering heartbeat, when red-cyan eyes ran over his expression, and that hunger in their depths grew more pronounced. "My Sen…"

"Yours," he managed between the downright choking purrs, and intoxicated on the mixed scents of their arousal, his heart tripled its rhythm and wanted to jump out of his chest when a distinctively devious smirk tilted that full lips.

"Not yet…" Raha responded, and a growly note in his musical voice had his flesh jerk in his grip. "But you'll be… before I'm done with you," and with that, he lowered his head again, and Senri nearly jumped out of his skin when the hot, wet cavern of his lover's mouth surrounded the head of his dick. He whined in the back of his throat when it lowered along his length and consumed him… as Raha appeared to set to eat him alive, and he couldn't be happier to let him.


He discovered swiftly that instead of demeaning – as he half expected – it felt impossibly empowering and gratifying to, with little effort, turn his powerful Warrior into a whimpering, shuddering mess chock-full of mewls and moans of his name. And drunk on his sound – surrounded by his thick, sweet scent, distinctively more musky and masculine – Raha came to believe that there just couldn't be a thing more dazzling than the thought that he made Senri look and sound like this.

It was almost enough to chase away the blinding fury that filled his head and chest to the brim to find his Dream cuddled up with some unfamiliar woman. Almost completely naked, at that! And perhaps he did overreact a bit… but Senri was his!

Still, he was a tad surprised when he didn't gag, but instead, his throat opened up easily, letting him take in more of the scorching flesh, and even the ache of his jaw was definitely worth the sound that it tore from his lover's mouth. The throb against his tongue and a choked mewl-purr of his name above his head had his ears eagerly up and made his throat vibrate with an excited purr… if he still almost choked when that caused his gorgeous male to spill with a shaky groan.

"…too… g-good," his lover whined apologetically, shuddering violently as the redhead swallowed down the salty taste around the throbbing flesh. Gasping as he pulled back and a tad self-consciously wiping spill from the corner of his mouth when he looked up, he almost involuntarily snorted at the absolutely mortified expression on his lover's beautiful face. The pale eyes squeezed shut as Senri's expression seemed torn between pleasure and embarrassment, and his ink-black ears flat against his head, he looked so disarmingly cute… Raha couldn't help the downright toothy, smug grin when the thick, black lashes fluttered, revealing a hint of ice-blue irises. And when seeing his expression, Senri pouted petulantly… he kept his grin in place even as his poor heart vaulted inside his chest. "Don't laugh at me," his ruthless Warrior whined like a spoiled kit, and if possible – which he didn't believe before – Raha instantly fell even more painfully for this wonderful, silly man.

"I'm not," he said, but his grin only grew as his insides bubbled up with that strange light sensation, making him want to laugh… to express the happiness making his soul soar above the clouds with the thought that this beautiful male – so full of fascinating contrasts – wanted him. That he wanted to be his, too. Standing up, he wrapped his hands around his lover's darkly flushed cheeks, and despite still very prominent pout on those almost too-pretty lips, Raha set a reverent kiss on them. "Gods… do you even realize how gorgeous you are, my dream?" he purred, resting his forehead against his lover's.

"So they say," Senri snarked but lifted his hand to wrap it again around his neck. "But… I only care if you like my looks, Raha. It's not something that I can do anything about…" he trailed off with a sigh, and he frowned, lifting his head to look into his lover's beautiful face. And seeing his expression, Senri flustered visibly, dropping his gaze and arm as he carefully climbed to his feet – and massive height – on the way fixing the towel around his waist. More than a fulm taller than him, Raha had to climb onto his toes to wrap his arms around his lover's neck, with uncertainty looking for an explanation for Senri's suddenly almost… regretful expression when his lover loosely wrapped his arms around his back. His ice-blue eyes traveled over the redhead's face before he sighed with something like resignation and set a tender kiss on his cheek before dislodging his arms and delicately pushing him back. "We have to talk, Raha."

"Oh…?" he frowned with confusion but easily complied when Senri took hold of his hand, laced their fingers, and pulled him toward the door leading back to the corridor spanning the bedrooms. "Sen… that sounded ominous," he admitted with a sheepish chuckle and scowled involuntarily when his tall lover sent him an unreadable glance over his shoulder, and his pretty lips thinned into a line.

"I..." he looked forward again, clearly leading him toward his bedroom, but didn't finish whatever he meant to say. Instead, at the right door, he pushed the open, then sighed as he ushered him inside, then closed the door behind them, leaning back against them when Raha turned and looked at him expectantly. Confused about his behavior, he folded his arms over his chest, feeling his tail swiveling with growing agitation while his dark-haired male visibly looked for words. Senri finally sighed again and let the back of his head rest against the door when he closed his eyes. "I think… there's just no easy way to say it, babe… but probably in some time, maybe soon, I'm not sure… I'll have to do something that may mean… We – both of us – would never be born."

"…huh?" utterly baffled, he blinked rapidly at the statement. "What's that supposed to mean…?"

Senri sighed, then pushed off the door, running his fingers through his hair as he walked around him and soon dropped into his nest. When Raha turned toward him, his lover looked up with a strangely subdued expression as his inky ears flattened against his head when he fell back and wrapped his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling when the redhead hesitantly neared him, then kneeled at the edge of the pile of blankets, setting his hand over his Warrior's thigh.

"Sen… what's going on?" he asked quietly, feeling as if a pit opened up in his gut when those pale eyes wouldn't move toward him, instead nearly boring into the ceiling as Senri's expression tightened visibly.

"It's a long story, Raha," he finally replied strangely, monotonously.

"Well… I'm listening," he sighed, petting his lover's pale skin slowly and waiting.

His Warrior sighed, then finally looked back at him, if his expression was still hard to read.

"Those people you met, babe… Hythlodaeus, Themis, and now Gaia… And Hades, if you were asleep when he visited… But they are what we call either Ancient or Unsundered, Raha," he said, still in that monotone. "They're literally millennia old… and very much immortal. Powerful, beyond any mortal means, they come from the world… that proceeded this one. Hence 'Ancients,'" he smiled weakly when watching the redhead's baffled expression. "Their world, Eitherys, met its end and become our world, split into smaller pieces, we call Reflections. Thirteen Reflections and the Source we live on right now. I mean… past the seven rejoinings… Calamities, because each was one of the Reflections rejoining the Source…" he sighed with resignation seeing the lack of understanding on Raha's face. "It's complicated, I know… but for now, let's say: they're the only ones that survived what ended their world, Raha, and someday soon… I believe that with their help, I'll be bound to travel back in time to that world of theirs… and if I succeed in my goal there, there's a good possibility that you and I won't be born, babe."

His head spinning as he tried to wrap his head around it – if it wasn't some convoluted joke, that is – Raha hesitated, then sighed, sitting back on his heels.

"I think… just start from the beginning, Sen," he said and settle to listen when his Warrior closed his eyes and launched into an explanation once more. And by the end of it… he was even more baffled than before, but when Senri trailed off, the redhead sighed and tapped his hand over his thigh, waiting until his lover looked at him with uncertainty, raising his eyebrows expectantly. "So… can I go with you if by then I learn to heal?" he asked the question at the forefront of his mind.

"…huh?" Senri's owlish look was definitely worth it, making his lips twitch.

"Well… the way I see it…" he started, climbing to all fours and crawling over his lover's beautiful form to set a kiss on his cheek. "…if it's a be or not to be for me, too… I should be allowed to take part, yes? And hey… it's going to be our first adventure together!" he grinned toothily, quite excited by the thought despite the stakes.

"Azeyma… you're truly perfect," Senri chuckled breathlessly, then pulled him into a scorching hot kiss. And drowning in his taste, Raha left wondering about the implications of that story for later.