Stuck between dream and memory, it took Raha a moment to recognize the dizzying sensation. It was easier than making sense of his surroundings – as he was certain that it was a place he had never seen in reality.
Invisible and mute but feeling safe, he looked about something that reminded him of a small but busy village. People of various ages and races hurried around and through him, bustling about colorful stalls. A festival of some kind, he realized, as he moved through the soundless image. He involuntarily regretted the silence, watching the crowd part to let through a string of twirling dancers, followed by the men and women armed in instruments of various kinds. He smiled, still somewhat infected by the joy present in the sea of surrounding him faces. Despite the lack of sound, the energy and optimism radiating from the skilled dancers that formed the circle around the musicians set his heart aflutter.
A slight noise – perhaps so loud because of the otherwise silent image – made his ears twitch, and his eyes left the distraction of twirling dancers to search for the source of it among the cheering crowd. It didn't take him long to pick up a lithe figure moving between the spectators with no less dexterity than the finest dancers among the apparent troupe.
A boy with a messy mop of blonde hair and yet familiarly pale, feline eyes used the distraction of an entranced crowd to pick their pockets with a skill that spoke of experience despite his undeniable youth. Accompanied by the delicate noise – the only sound among deafening silence – it intrigued Raha into following the Seeker – or so he guessed – once seemingly satisfied with the bounty, the boy slipped into the tight alley between the buildings. With an undeniably familiar and cheerful grin and pale blue eyes alight in enthusiasm, he couldn't resist the grin pulling at the corners of his lips as he trailed after the kid, lured in by his similarity to the man he loved.
Past the edge of the village, the boy launched into a sprint up the hill and along the paved path, but his short limbs allowed Raha to keep up, involuntarily laughing at the chase. Until the kit – still unaware of him – arrived at the gate of the house that looked bigger than the wooden buildings in the village. He was still smiling, watching the boy stop, visibly fight to calm his breath, then pass the gate as if he had never run in the first place. He followed the blonde across the yard within the fence if his step involuntarily faltered, seeing Seeker's blonde tail whip with undeniable enthusiasm when he arrived at his apparent destination. Where another boy – Seeker, too, but with dark hair and cyan eyes – welcomed the blonde with a cheerful grin. At something that looked like a side entrance of the towering building, both boys launched at each other, soon tangled into a playful scuffle on the dirty ground beside the short set of stairs.
And another smile tilted his lips once that short scuffle ended in a kiss that was heartbreaking in its happiness.
"It's one of my favorites." The sudden noise of the statement had him startle. He turned his head and met the amused stare of unnaturally bright cyan eyes—still somewhat reminiscent of their feline version set in the face of the second boy. Raha dragged his eyes between Damon's light smile and the image that apparently froze with the Ancient's arrival.
"It's a dream?" he asked when Damon's hand brushed his hair, then playfully flicked his feline ear.
"A memory, Raha, one of many locked within your soul," Damon replied, then sighed and, still with that smile, motioned toward the boys locked in a kiss. "No matter your age, gender, or race, the Bond between me and Ares inevitably pulled you together in each and every life. As I said, this is one of my favorites to watch. Because despite being orphaned by senseless war and having nothing, this was one of your undeniably happiest incarnations."
"But not all of them were like that?" he asked, involuntarily intrigued as he side eyed the slight grimace that ran over his Ancient's expression.
"No, they weren't," Damon's bright eyes pinned him with an unreadable look, even as his hand rose and wrapped around Raha's shoulders, pulling him into his Ancient's side. So much taller than him in this form – his original shape yet made far smaller than it would be in reality – Raha complied easily, purring with contentment at the warm comfort of Damon's embrace. If Rhasa was his ideal of a mother, Damon was a father figure he missed out on with his upbringing. Or so he couldn't help but think when he closed his eyes and pressed his cheek against his Ancient's chest when it shook with a fond chuckle. A warm hand petted his hair with undeniable affection, putting a little happy smile on his face. "Sometimes your meeting came at the wrong time and ended in tragedy. Sometimes other's ideas and expectations tore your hearts apart. Yet lives like this… Well, I like to watch them whenever I feel in doubt, Raha. Whenever I struggle with ideas or concepts of broken Eitherys, they're light of hope that no matter the darkness or heartbreak, there are always things worth fighting for, hm?"
"Do you? Feel in doubt?" he asked without opening his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Damon's waist, instinctively trying to offer comfort.
"More often than I like to admit," his Ancient's voice softened with a rueful note, and Raha sighed, nodding in agreement.
"I do, too," he said, then turned to open his eyes and look again at the frozen memory. "Sometimes I get so angry and frustrated with the people around us that I wonder if it wouldn't be better to leave them to their fate. Sometimes, I grit my teeth and choke down the impulse to strike… especially when someone in ignorance or carelessness hurts Senri. But then I remind myself of all he sacrificed and suffered, all for the betterment of the world around us, and find my comfort and meaning in his smile. Because even if he believes that he's broken and even at his lowest… he's still the very best soul I've met, and the idea of others like him makes the world worth saving."
"I understand that sentiment," Damon chuckled, and Raha looked up with a smile. Smile, his Ancient returned. Then Damon's expression grew distant, and he tilted his head as if listening to something. "Ah, it's time to wake up, boy," a familiar devious tilt of his lips accompanied the delicate flick on Raha's nose. He blinked as his surroundings melted into brief darkness that quickly filled with the awareness of his limbs.
And of the heat, familiar and soothing in its encompassing glory. He didn't need the confirmation of the full awareness to recognize it instantly.
"My Sun," he muttered on the happy purr, rubbing his cheek against something soft under it. His head was full with the comforting aroma of sweet apple mixed with his own scent, and filled his mouth with saliva when a rumbling chuckle made his ears twitch in delight.
He somewhat lazily remembered eating dinner Nico brought to his office, then Rhasa fussing as she nearly dragged him – stumbling from exhaustion – towards the door of his and Senri's bedroom. Raha had a fuzzy memory of tossing his clothes in a heap – so unlike him – and the relief of climbing into the red and black nest that somehow still smelled of them. And though it felt like part of another dream, the heat of the body wrapped around his back made him sure that this one he didn't want to wake up from.
Fingers, steady and strong, ran over his side for a big palm to confidently – and with an enticing sense of ownership – settle on his abdominal muscle as heavenly soft lips brushed his cheek. The temptation of it was far too much to resist – like always – and Raha still stuck between a dream and fantasy, shifted to chase their taste. His left hand caught hold of the one resting on his abdomen while his right followed the movement behind his back and soon drowned in the unmatched silk of his lover's hair. Another rumbly chuckle teased his skin before slick warmth trailed over his lower lip, inviting him to open his mouth. He did, gladly, and welcomed the pressure of the tongue invading them with a deep moan of appreciation.
The taste had him dizzy once his senses left the hazy dream-like state, lured into reality with the sweetest flavor they were addicted to. His tongue easily accepted the invitation to play, even when involuntarily, he filled their mouths with a breathless noise. Senri's hand escaped his lax grip and smoothed over his skin, accompanied by the damp heat of oily liquid following his fingers. It briefly stroked his dick, tearing another needy sound from Raha's throat before it slipped between his legs. He accommodated it easily – with years of experience and bottomless want – hooking his foot behind his lover's calf to spread his legs. And was rewarded instantly with his mate's other hand slipping under his side – under his body – to wrap around his cock and offer its heated grip in tantalizing friction. As slick as the other, tight and nearly too hot, dragged another breathless whimper from somewhere deep in his chest when he rolled his hips.
Peering through his lashes into the pale blue fire of feline irises and their undeniable want, put a scorching blush on his cheeks with as fiery lust that set his blood ablaze. It made him feel drunk when Senri's growl filled his mouth and sent a full-body shiver to curl his tail as its red fur bristled. It curled about his lover's hip, trying to pull his much bigger body closer, and its effort was rewarded with the scorching pressure of the head of Senri's slicked dick rubbing against his buttock. Another rumbly noise filled Raha's mouth, sliding off invading it tongue, when one of his mate's long fingers circulated his opening and soon drowned inside him up to its knuckle. He whined at the sensation – needing more – at the same time rocking into his lover's other palm.
Caught up between two mind-blowing feelings, he pulled back from the devouring kiss, arching his back in Senri's tight embrace with a choked sound reminiscent of his husband's name. Chanted it between breathless whimpers as his body's pleasure mounted almost too quickly.
When another slick finger slipped inside him, inviting the tantalizing burn, he hooked his trembling hand around Senri's hip. Nearly clawed at it as he shifted greedily and shuddered when his lover's cock slid between his legs. He pushed harder, impatiently whimpering his name until Senri's other hand tightened around his dick, and his hot breath fanned Raha's lowered ear.
"Missed you, my prince," a slightly aggressive note of a normally deep sound sent another shiver down his spine. The mark on his shoulder throbbed as if invited to it by hunger in his lover's voice. And his insides clenched then melted in a painful need to submit. His purring nearly choked him as Raha dug his fingers into Senri's hip, rubbing against him in an insisted invitation. His head filled with a dizzying static when another rumbly groan accompanied the way his lover's hands pulled back. The brief remorse of losing their heat was swiftly exchanged for anticipation when they wrapped around his hips. Thumbs parted his cheeks and kept him wide open when a hot, damp tongue trailed over the rim of his mating mark. Raha arched his back again, baring his throat with another deafening and needy noise. That trailed off to an even louder moan at the double sensation of penetration.
Senri's sharp teeth sank into his skin, sending a rippling shudder down his spine to where his thick length took his body. To his cock, that twitched, leaking pre-cum as his hand shot to it and wrapped tightly at its base. His starved body edged into a blinding peak too quickly as that hot spear of his mate's flesh filled him with a burning sense of belonging. He shuddered again with a choked whine when fangs elongated and broke through his skin. His tail curled into a leash around his lover's thigh when Senri's pelvis pressed against his ass, and he fought to catch his breath in desperate pants against the mind-shattering sense of fullness. At each noticeable twitch of the hard length, his greedy body answered with uncontrollable clenches.
He heard Senri's swallow, and his shoulder vibrated with his mate's satisfied purring but he couldn't focus on it. His insides clenched and fluttered, and his hand outside his will relaxed then stroked his throbbing flesh. The sensation was almost too much, and Raha's back, this time, arched by itself. He moaned at the feeling when it forced his lover's dick deeper, and Senri's bite vibrated with an undeniably aggressive noise. Those big hands – followed by tongues of fire matching the impression of their sharp claws – slipped off his hips. One returned to rest over his abdomen, and the other climbed up to soon curl about Raha's throat into an overheated collar. An ink-black tail wrapped around his raised thigh loosely, its fur a silky caress when his lover rocked his hips on a slow slide. Raha's hand involuntarily matched it, and he gasped at the overwhelming sensation.
Setting a slow pace of push and pull – taking him in deep but barely there strokes – Senri pulled back from his bite to lick the edge of his jaw.
"My adorrrable mate," he purred, but Raha barely heard it over the deafening staccato of his own heartbeat. It filled his head as his body moved by itself, eager in the way it matched his mate's rhythm. He couldn't understand the words, but that voice's raspy quality sent another shudder to wreck his claimed body.
As claimed as his heart, that found its match in the one thundering against his back. In the heat of his very own Sun, nearly numbing his senses with its warmth. His lungs were nearly too full of his mate's sweet scent, brimming with the musky tang of arousal, when he tilted his head with a keen sound of need. The need only his gorgeous beast could sate, proved by the way Senri's hand tightened around his throat just right, when his lover lifted behind him. Took his slack mouth with an addictive aggression only his Warrior could give him and filled his senses with the unmatched sweetness of his flavor. In push and pull of his tongue, Raha found the rhythm that his heart settled into, as his body and hand matched it to perfection.
His blood sang, and his senses swam as the pressure built with each slightest movement of the powerful body and its delicate slides against his back. Made easier as their skins dampened in the mind-blowing heat. The hot and clawed hand stroked his abdominal muscle while his own hand followed its pace around his cock. Even harder body rubbed against his ass on each painfully slow thrust, in waves pumping his body with the slick and impossibly deep friction. Each precise stroke sensation sent a shower of shivers up his spine as Senri's dick rubbed against his prostate. Sharp fangs brushed his lips, teasing him with the taste of his own coppery blood clinging to his mate's sweet taste.
They breathed in each other's air, passing between their mouth on increasingly desperate noises, and his eyes opened to drink full of devotion filling the pale eyes.
Ice to fire, their eyes locked and drunk on the other's pleasure, was enough to shove his body behind the edge. Senri's deep sound of satisfaction was the last he heard when a wave of heat crushed his mind. He might have screamed – he didn't know or care – as the jolt of mind-numbing release consumed his senses. He surely whined – that he knew for certain – as he regained the awareness of his body to feel the harder, rougher rhythm of his mate's chasing his peak.
With years of experience now, he wasn't even surprised that his ever-overeager body took it for enough of an excuse to instantly regain interest and climb another ridge. His spent flesh thickened in his lax grip, needily begging more as if provoked by Senri's dick taking him in a much sharper rhythm than before. He caved, unable to resist, and the next orgasm it demanded rocked his being nearly as fiercely as his mate's relived noise by his ear.
The next time he regained awareness was to his lover's satisfied purring and to the feeling of a primitive pride swelling his chest in the sensation of the scorching heat of his mate's seed. Leaking his body as Senri's cock throbbed inside him made his chest and throat vibrate with satisfaction. He let himself drown in the heat of afterglow, lazily stroking his lover's forearms when they spanned his chest with undeniable possessiveness. His red tail tangled with the black tightly, flexing in a rope matching their nest, when his mate kissed his throat.
"The best way to wake up," he slurred the statement, and his body shivered at the sound of Senri's amused chuckle. With the tremor of it that rocked the powerful frame wrapped around his back. He grinned – his expression for sure as lovesick as his stuttering heart – as he laced his fingers through Senri's and, for a moment, simply let himself enjoy the high.
"You said the same thing last time," his gorgeous beast purred beside his ear, and Raha snorted, mostly from the sense of happiness and belonging bubbling in his chest.
"Perhaps," he teased, squeezing his fingers around Senri's and rubbing the back of his head against his lover's collarbone. He wasn't ashamed of admitting that he loved how much bigger than him was his powerful mate. How soothing was his radiating heat, that maybe for someone else would be too much. Or how his devoted heart soared within the tight and possessive embrace of muscular arms. "To my defense, Sen, at the time, most of my blood was hardly anywhere near my brain," he deadpanned and grinned wider when his lover's body shook with another amused sound. "Which tends to happen if I wake up to your pretty mouth attempting to suck the life out of me."
"Complaints, my prince?" A delicate nip on the sensitive shell of his ear sent a shiver down his spine, and his body involuntarily clenched around thickening flesh inside him. He laughed breathlessly when his mate growled playfully, pulling his arms back just to force him to his stomach, at the same time climbing on top of him.
"About that or you being an insatiable beast?" he snorted into the red pillow, yet still eagerly raised his hips to follow the hard pressure of his lover's dick when Senri pushed his thighs apart. "Hardly!" he gasped at the less-than-playful slap that landed on his buttock and sent another shudder, this time up his spine.
"I have such a pretty and obedient mate," Senri muttered proudly, stroking his hot hand over Raha's back and he nearly expired in the heat that overcame his face. Still, that didn't make his purring any less intense when he clenched his hands on the pillow, pulling it harder against his face when Senri's other hand locked around the base of his tail. A mistake – or rather conscious provocation – when his lover's hand tore it from his grip as Senri leaned over his back. With an aggressive snarl and matching thrust that made Raha choke on a whimper of his mate's name. "Sing for me, Raha," his beast demanded and he could only cave to its claim.
Because only here – in the scorching embrace of his Sun – he found his meaning. And that was a high nothing – and no one – else could outmatch with the sense of freedom that made his heart soar.
"How long was it for you?" his insatiably curious mate whispered, and Senri reluctantly opened one eye to peer toward the inquisitive expression of crimson irises. Not that he didn't love the sight, with his adorable mate's messy crown of red hair in complete disarray when Raha leaned over him. A few things were a sight more enticing than this: his gorgeous prince, lovely flushed, as he straddled his waist. Lazily petting his lover's hips, Senri smirked before raising his head just enough to peck Raha's rosy cheek. Then he let his head drop back and closed his eyes, simply basking in his mate's proximity and his warm weight when Raha chuckled and fully sagged against him.
"Umm… about two weeks?" He replied, wrapping his arm around his lover's back and tangling his fingers through the crimson strands of shoulder-length hair. "It was hell," he deadpanned and pouted when Raha snickered, rubbing his cheek against Senri's chest.
It was completely dark in their bedroom, though that never was much of an obstacle for their feline eyes. Similarly to the room once created by his skillful mate, the room was dominated by the red and black matching their nest. With plush carpets and silky draperies, he involuntarily smiled as he peered through his lashes toward the plasmascape placed right above them. It was the newer addition, and he couldn't stop a grin from splitting his face when he remembered that absolutely adorable excitement on his lover's face when they stumbled upon it on the market in the center of Lavender Beds. No matter the actual time of the day, it projected a glorious sight of a sky filled with vibrant stars – and Senri loved it instantly, no less than his cute mate's enthusiasm.
Now, staring at it, he ran his fingers through Raha's hair and closed his eyes again with a lovesick smile once that made his mate rub against him with content purrs.
"Hades is a cruel teacher," he complained unashamedly, though again not surprised when his tease of a mate sniggered at his expanse.
"Did he bully you, my beast?" Raha asked while his tone lilted with amused notes.
"Incessantly," Senri whined, using his free hand to fondly pet his mate's delectable behind when Raha shook with another amused noise. "But I guess Damon was right, and it's for the best," he said reluctantly, shifting his head to brush his lips against his lover's temple. "I think I got the grasp of it… and once I did, this whole summoning is pretty fun."
"I'm glad to hear that, love," Raha sighed, then, despite his noise of protest, sat up, stretching as he looked about. "What time is it?" he muttered and yawned.
"Before dawn… I would guess," he replied, pursing his lips when his lover furrowed his eyebrows, staring somewhere above the edge of the nest.
"I should check on Rahm and Shtola," Raha sighed, then looked at him and blinked. He leaned in and, resting one hand beside Senri's head, used the other to run his fingers through Warrior's longish fringe. "Your hair is completely black again…?"
"Ah," he chuckled, then tapped his finger against the top of his mate's nose. "Because Ares's safely inside me. Hades thinks I'm using the aether of my body to force him to manifest. We tasted it, obviously, and every time he does, my… colors get washed out," he deadpanned and shook his head when Raha frowned with worry. "Don't, babe. We are fine, I swear. Ares's pretty thrilled about being able to stroll about, and we're no longer as… entangled as we were. The only issue is that we do need to stay in a certain proximity to each other, otherwise he gets pulled short."
"How long is that proximity?" Raha asked, rolling strands of Senri's hair around his finger.
"Like about five malms," he shrugged slightly with estimation, then chuckled when Raha's ruby eyes grew distant as he hummed with consideration. Then he blinked slowly as his expression briefly went slack, and those crimson eyes grew a familiar calculative look. "Think you could recreate that, Damon?"
The Ancient in his lover's skin smirked as he leaned back, fully sitting. Senri waited patiently while Ares's amused chuckle ran through his head as they watched the gears turning furiously behind the crystalline irises.
"Perhaps," Damon finally answered, raising his hand and scratching his chin in a gesture he shared with his host whenever Raha mused about something. "Not to the same effect, obviously, as Raha would need the summoner soulstone, and to my information, those aren't exactly lying about. I ended up using the Crystal Tower to stabilize his aether, but that might actually work out better once we're out of its proximity. Using those spikes, I mean, to give myself a separate form. Aether is aether, after all…" he sighed, blinked, and then those ruby eyes focused on Senri's grin. "What's so funny, boy?"
"Nothing," he shrugged while feeling his face heat up delicately. He looked up at the starry sight above them and smiled wistfully. "I was just thinking… Um, I would like to be able to hug you, Damon. Real you, I mean. When we were in Elpis and met the past version of you and Ares… I kept thinking about that, you know? Not about that Damon, because he wasn't really you, but… I owe you so much," he trailed off and cleared his throat awkwardly as he folded his hands behind his head. "That's all."
"Gods, but are you adorable," the Ancient sniggered, and Senri peered toward his smirk with an indignant huff. "You are," Damon snorted, then tapped his finger against the top of his nose. "Just like my Raha. I keep forgetting that you – Seekers – feel the drive to express your affection in a physical manner. I'll think of it, Senri, and if I can recreate what you can do with Ares safely, we will see. I can't deny that it sounds tempting to be able to… stretch my limbs, so to speak. But using the moment, I wanted to ask you something, boy."
"And that is?" He frowned, watching Damon's – Raha's – face grow expression chilling in its lack of empathy. Ares's whispered 'uh oh,' was a warning he didn't really need when Raha's Ancient narrowed those soulless rubies toward his face. No, not soulless, but guarded and perhaps even slightly calculating my reaction to whatever question he meant.
"This whole contest and trip to Tural, Senri, makes me… apprehensive," Raha's normally soothing voice sounded with Damon's soft-spoken manner that in his ears sounded like a warning of the upcoming storm. "Plainly, I find your contender unfit to lead a party, much less a whole continent, country, or however it truly works over there. Information we… I gathered from the stores in Raha's memories, suggest that Turali are people of vastly different races and cultures. In the wrong hands, such a mix can turn into a boil, ready to explode in our faces. And our lands, right past getting rid of the threat of Garlemald and Final Days… I wonder what good can come of getting entangled in a conflict on another side of the globe, Senri. Wuk Lamat, amusing as she is, strikes me as thoughtless and inconsiderate. I can't see her as a leader, and having no information about her opposition or their goals, I want to make something clear, my Warrior. I'd rather see you as the eventual ruler than that goof. If not given a proper alternative, keeping the safety of our people and our families in mind, I can end up stirring that pot toward such an , my question is, can you live with that, Senri?"
"And if she proves worthy… or her opposition does?" he asked past numb lips, watching the cruel curve of Damon's lips match the expression of his blood-red eyes.
"I am biased, my boy," Damon purred, delicately wrapping his hand around Senri's paled cheek. "To outshine you, I doubt there's a mortal I can imagine capable of… but I'm also reasonable - at least most of the time. Do you fancy a bet, Senri? With the throne of Tural as the prize?"
Oh, boy, there he goes again, Ares groused, and then his resigned snicker filled Senri's head. He felt a delicate push, then a familiar sensation of disembodiment when his Ancient took over the control of their body. "What are you scheming now, love?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," those soulless eyes filled with fond amusement when Damon leaned in, and Senri's Ancient met his kiss halfway. It lasted for a long, awkward – for Senri – moment before Raha's Ancient pulled back with a peal of quiet laughter. "So, will your host indulge me, Ares?"
I have a bad feeling about this, he edged nervously while his Ancient wrapped his hand around Damon's neck and roughly pulled him back. Ares, don't you dare…!
"He would, my heart." Obviously ignoring him and blinded by his devotion to the ruthless intelligence behind crimson eyes, Ares accepted the bet despite Senri's indignant hiss of protest. And it was the last he knew before his consciousness was locked away, and all went out as if someone had turned off the light.