Wen Reian

2019 years after The Long Night

Xi Qiáng Forest

Heavens, it was nice to be outside… Wen Reian had almost forgotten how much he enjoyed just strolling through the forest on a pleasant day like this, his hair tied up and tangled a bit by the breeze. Sure, if it was up to him he wouldn’t be alone, but Reian understood better than anyone why he was.

Lan Kai-Le had given him what probably equated to seven-hundred wet, slobbery puppy-kisses a few nights prior, when the hunter anxiously informed the healer that he was returning to Xibu Shataar.

“Bring A’Qin here,” he said, as Kai-Le’s hands squeezed a bit harder on Reian’s, as if pleading with him.

At first, Reian insisted he go with, but the hunter just shook his head, nuzzling up to his side and sighing loudly even though he was the one that insisted Reian stayed.

“Wen Reian must be safe. I’ll come back.”

Parting with the man had been… more than difficult. Reian fell asleep at night, alone again, tossing and turning as he tried to hug his pillow, wondering how on earth he ever slept without Kai-Le and the man’s heartbeat there to lull him to sleep.

Is he eating? Wen Reian would lay there and think… Is he sleeping on the ground again? Has he run into trouble, or will he decide to stay there longer than he said?

Reian held the man close to him the night before he left, petting his hair and trying his best to comfort both of them, with as much of a promise as he could confidently make-

“I’ll wait for you, Kai-Le…”

And, that’s what he was doing.

Well, he was waiting, but he wasn’t idle! Wen Reian had been a busy man before and he was even busier still! After firmly deciding on what he wanted to do, which involved a lot of anxiety, soul-searching, and planning, the healer threw himself headfirst into the project which he’d coined; ‘Home Sweet Home’, appropriately.

Keeping it a secret from Xie Yi-jun and his sneaky weasel of a child child had been the fight of a lifetime, but Reian was confident that his innocent little lies had worked for now-

“I’m just going for a walk! No, you don’t have to join me, really… yes, indeed that is a lot of dirt on my clothes, heh, I suppose not even I am immune to tripping in the forest!”

Okay, granted, Reian didn’t actually trip, but he had been working so hard that his body did feel as if it had taken a tumble down some steep hill. The soreness eased eventually, and then he’d shown up with blisters on his fingers and palms, which had been a little harder to explain.

Wen Reian sighed out loud. The water felt amazing on his sore feet and hands as he stood there, knee-deep in the river, but he wondered what it would look like if someone happened to stumble across him in the middle of the forest, bent in two, exhaling in relief as the cool water washed away his aches and pains.

Whatever, the healer smiled to himself… it’s not like anyone actually knows I’m out here-

“Wen Reian?”

Turning so fast he ended up losing his balance, Reian’s cry of surprise was silenced in a second by Lan Kai-Le suddenly leaping into the river beside him, catching him before he fell. But then Reian was stammering, clutching onto the man’s clothes as he stared up into those eyes, too stunned to make sense-

“You’re h-here?! What are you doing here??”

The hunter scanned his body and face quickly, a nervous tension about him, before he slowly let Reian go.

“Missing,” Lan Kai-Le frowned.

Wen Reian blinked a few times at how the man had leapt into the water with his boots still on, as if it was a first-instinct to catch him. It warmed him down to the bone.

Mind working slowly, Reian didn’t even process the meaning of Kai-Le’s anxious mumble…

“Missing-”

The man was still staring at him, of course, when did he ever stop?! Reian blushed shyly and felt like straightening his clothes or tidying his hair suddenly.

Then the Hunter pursed his lips and said very gently, and with much caring in his voice;

“Missing you…”

He really must stop saying things like this, I’m about to turn into a pile of goo and float downstream-

Reian’s knees did go a bit weak then, as he stared up into Kai-Le’s fascinating eyes. It wasn’t until he felt the man’s palm carefully on his shoulder that the healer came back to some of his senses though.

Kai-Le was urging Reian out of the water, so he followed. When he was properly dressed in his shoes and socks, sleeves pulled down again and righted, Reian took Kai-Le by the hand and led him into the thicket of trees.

“Did you find A’Qin?” He asked, their hands swaying comfortably between them as Reian’s whole body relaxed, feeling the safety of the man beside him wash over him like his favorite song…

“Yes. Resting now,”

He assumed Kai-Le meant Mu Qin was resting back at Hei’an Palace, but he supposed it could also be that Lan Kai-Le was the one resting now, here, together-

Reian watched the birds while Kai-Le watched him. It was sort of like being on a stroll alone, as Lan Kai-Le was an energetic void. Reian simply sensed the man’s eyes on him, his even breath, as well as his warm hand and steady pulse that echoed in his own veins…

“You said you grew up in a place like this, right?” Reian said, thinking out loud.

He wondered suddenly if it meant Lan Kai-Le was apprehensive about being in forests, or if it made it more comfortable. It was clear the man was familiar with it, but that didn’t necessarily mean he liked it. Reian found he was curious.

Lan Kai-Le answered after collecting his thoughts.

“Forest, cave… yes.”

Wen Reian paused, turning to him and inquiring gently-

“A cave, by yourself? How old were you?”

The hunter pursed his lips again and Reian was drawn to the subtle movement. The healer’s pupils darkened and he felt his mouth go dry as he stared.

“Not by myself. Child, maybe… five or six?”

Reian was puzzled. “Not by yourself. Yes, you’ve said that before. You shared that cave with those others, right?”

Kai-Le only nodded, squeezing Reian’s hand thoughtfully.

“Mmhm, others. Saved me. Kept me warm, fed me. They’re gone now.”

Reian’s heart lurched, “Oh no! How come?!”

The man before him answered, very calmly, like it was okay…

“Others don’t live as long,”

Wen Rei thought. He thought for a while, and then he remembered something he’d heard Kai-Le say before about this. It all clicked in Reian’s head in a split-second.

“Others… you mean wolves?”

The hunter nodded. Wen Reian wished that he could somehow convey to the man how much that image, of a little child all alone in the forest, surviving only due to the gentleness of some of the most famed creatures for being bloodthirsty, made his heart ache. It also made a lot of Kai-Le’s habits make a lot more sense… walking so close to him, the growling-

Reian wanted to explain to Kai-Le that not all human beings are cruel and vicious, and wanted to either hurt or exploit him. Although, he also felt like a huge hypocrite too because at one point in time, Reian had done both of those things himself.

Going to take both of the man’s hands, he brought them up one by one to his lips. Wen Reian kissed the back of them individually, then closed his eyes and sighed...

“I wish, somehow, I could put a shield of light around you. So nothing bad could ever get in again, and you’d always know that you are safe. But I’m afraid right now I can’t,”

Someday, if we ever get to the point that Lan Kai-Le’s aura becomes unsealed-

When Reian opened his eyes he saw with a bit of shyness that Lan Kai-Le was watching him intently, pupils blown wide and dark, his lips parted as he breathed, shallow and distractedly.

Maybe enjoying himself a bit too much, and also wanting to take both of their minds off of the bitter past nobody could change, Reian smiled and fluttered his eyelashes...

“Now that I think about it a little more,” he nodded. “You were rather predatory when we met. Wouldn’t you say I’ve done a good job at taming you?”

Reian chuckled and then felt Lan Kai-Le’s hands move, easing around his back and pulling him close enough that Wen Rei could even see the flecks of green in the hunter’s golden, and fiercely captivating eyes.

Swallowing, noticing the spark of electricity growing between them in the air, growing to nip at his skin like tendrils of fire, Reian held his breath when Lan Kai-Le bent and very slowly grazed his teeth along Reian’s jaw-

“Ah!”

The healer jumped in shock, Kai-Le kissing a few times on his cheek as his fingers tightened on Reian’s back...

“Don’t know,” the hunter rumbled darkly.

Wen Reian’s entire body was humming with excitement now, past turned on and more than a little frightened at the same time, he suddenly felt like escaping with all his heart, as if he really was in the presence of a deadly killer. And, he supposed he was.

“Doesn’t Wen Reian like me like this?” Kai-Le asked softly, licking Reian’s cheek.

Panting softly, Wen Rei clung to the man’s shoulders, searching desperately for the right response when at last, he found it! Grinning and almost cackling maniacally at himself, Wen Reian pulled himself close to whisper directly in Lan Kai-Le’s ear-

“Do you always tease your prey this much?”

Fully aware that he was the one doing the majority of any teasing, Wen Reian was thrilled when his words had their desired effect. Lan Kai-Le growled, gripping at him so hard that Reian almost winced...

“Ah, no need to be so vicious! I will submit-”

That was definitely not what he should have said if he wanted the man to slow down.

Between this breath and the next, Wen Reian was flattened against the rough bark of a nearby tree, his neck being brutally attacked by Lan Kai-Le’s incessant lips and teeth and tongue. While the healer closed his eyes, enjoying it maybe a bit too much, he also felt a sudden panic slice through him as he heard the sound of tearing fabric in the dead-silent forest.

“Lan Kai-Le!” He gasped, peering down in absolute astonishment to see where the man had ripped apart Reian’s sash and the ties of his outer robes in one movement.

Well shoot, I really liked this one-

“Want to touch you,” Kai-Le’s voice was so deep but also so gentle, a juxtaposition to his actions as he roughly dragged Reian’s outer robes off his shoulders and then tried to go for the inner.

“Have to touch you-”

Reian’s heart was pounding, aware that Lan Kai-Le had been pushed past what he was used to, and that now there might be no going back for either of them. Just before the man could get his hands inside Reian’s shirt, the healer somehow managed to stumble away, feeling very much like someone being taken advantage of in the privacy of the woods, as he held his ruined clothes with both hands and tried to run away...

He really didn’t expect to get very far, so when he had been running for a good thirty seconds and Lan Kai-Le still hadn’t caught up, Reian stopped and turned around.

“Ahh!”

The shock of being suddenly grabbed from behind and picked up was what caused Wen Reian to scream out loud. Glancing around, he saw Kai-Le’s hair out of the corner of his eye, the healer begging uselessly to be put down as he was quickly taken all the way back to the bank of the river and then laid down across one of the stones heated by the sun.

Blinking blindly up at Lan Kai-Le, who had kneeled on top of him in such a way that Reian was essentially pinned down, the poor man could only bite his tongue as he recalled his earlier instigating...

I’ve brought this all on myself, haven’t I?!

“Kai-Le, I-”

His pleading was cut short by the expression on Lan Kai-Le’s face. Reian was definitely expecting some frustration, maybe even anger, so the fact that the man was smiling down at him now like he’d never seen, was all the more frightening.

“W-why are you…”

The hunter’s eyes were deadly for sure, but his smile was angelic and more than a little pleased by what had just happened.

Lan Kai-Le gently took Reian’s cheeks in his hands and bent to press their foreheads together. Such a sweet and simple gesture that it made the butterflies in Wen Rei’s stomach flutter so much they ended up gathering in his throat and threatening to bring tears to his eyes.

“Haven’t played in years,” Kai-Le said breathily. “Like to play with Wen Reian…”

Reian gaped at him, “Play?! That was fun for you? What, chasing me through the forest?!”

The man above him nodded and carefully rubbed his nose against Reian’s.

“Mmmn,” he mumbled in agreement.

Then the hunter surprised Reian. Instead of moving to kiss him, or even continue ridding him of his tattered clothes, Lan Kai-Le laid down beside Reian on the warm stone, curling all his limbs around him and tucking his chin beside Reian’s shoulder.

Smiling and going to brush some of the hair from his face, Wen Rei shook his head as he stared in awe at the man.

“No, you’re not a wolf, you’re a puppy. A little puppy, aren’t you?”

To his joy, Lan Kai-Le nuzzled Reian’s neck and sighed, closing his eyes and appearing to want to lay there and rest. Just as long as he was touching Reian in some way, it seemed Kai-Le was content to sleep wherever.

With the sound of the river gently drifting past, and Kai-Le’s even breathing, Reian too found the excitement of a moment ago fading to exist as a sweet warmth in his chest, everything about where he was and who he was with, lulling him into a easy, healing dream.

He dreamed about the life he was building, slowly but surely for the both of them...

About being caught over and over again by Lan Kai-Le, who always smiled at him like Reian had been running straight into his arms all along.