Heavenfall

Buoyed by his success and its reception, Dawei returns to his tent and returns to work on the figure he had begun earlier in the day. He makes some progress on the work (Woodcarving 24), though it does not match the efforts he had made previously.

His brow furrows at the realization as his knife continues to scrape away at the wood.

Have I done my masterwork?

Kaze's arrival was heralded by a quiet shuffling sound just outside the tent, then the sound of a throat clearing. "Ah...Dawei-san, are you within?" comes the quiet rasp of the Crane.

"I am, and welcome."

Dawei sets aside the knife and forming figure, holding up his finger of jade in his bare hand as Kaze enters.

"Welcome, indeed."

Kaze reaches out to touch the jade in Dawei's hand. When he doesn't ignite, always a pleasant relief, he lets his fingers slip down the stone to brush gently over Dawei's hand, then sits down in close proximity to the man that is becoming his man.

"I...had difficulty sleeping. Strange dreams, so...I thought I'd seek your company." He nods at the woodwork. "A new project?"

Once Kaze is seated, Dawei takes his hand in his own. "Always another project. Not sure what it will be yet, but there's always another project.

"But the dreams? Bad ones?"

"Hai, ah...allegorical, I think. I'm not entirely sure what it meant, but it was familiar and strange and so...so silent. No words at all." He shuddered, the hand in Dawei's hand squeezing tight. "I do not think the others know how much we need them. Cannot know, unless they were without them. It was...awful."

Dawei reaches across with his other hand, moves to draw Kaze in towards him, to enfold him in his arms.

"It's okay. You're safe here, safe with me. And I have no intention of leaving you."

He rests his head on Kaze's shoulder, awkwardly, perhaps, given positioning, but not the less for that.

Kaze let himself be drawn close, leaning into Dawei and breathing in the warmth of another human being. He rested his own head against Dawei's, allowing himself to be comforted, embraced. Dawei could feel the drop of a tear against his head.

"I...thank you. I am...I cannot help but love you. You are so...kind."

Dawei squeezes Kaze just a bit tighter.

"Has nobody else been kind to you? Has nobody else seen what is good in you? I've heard your words, felt them in me; they could not come from a man without value, without great value."

And I have always striven to keep safe what is good in this world.

"Lady Doji...and Nanzi. He is a much sweeter man than some say, really." Kaze sighed. "But the others do not understand one who is tribeless, who was suckled by wild dogs. They do not understand just how awesome a miracle has come among them in the Kami. I am...the unfortunate outlier."

He shakes his head. "Listen to me; I am as the young people of Nanzi's tribe, "'No one understands me,' they say. I tell them to use their Words, but it is hard for them. It is hard for everyone, I sometimes think."

"All the Seppun know well the glory of the Kami. But you are right, Kaze-kun. Words fail sometimes, or we just do not have the right ones yet."

He lets go the embrace, leans back, takes both of Kaze's hands in his.

"I won't pretend I understand what it was like for you. But I won't pretend, either, that I don't hurt for your hurt. I don't know how to help you feel better, but I want to. And if all I can do is give you a place to be you, then you have it, and gladly."

Dawei looks at him. "It's like I said, you're safe here, safe with me."

Kaze's tear-filled eyes met Dawei's. "And I...I promise the same to you. No harm will come to you when I can prevent it. And...and though I cannot understand your pain, either, I will...share it with you and we will be stronger together."

He brought their joined hands up to his mouth to press a kiss to Dawei's knuckles.

"I...am growing more and more...comfortable with the idea of the safety you promise, with the nearness of you. I want it, I miss it when you are not near me."

Dawei brings their hands to his own lips, kisses Kaze's.

"And I find my thoughts full of you, the beating of my heart calling your name."

He pauses for a moment.

"I am glad, too, that I can ease you."

Kaze leaned forward to kiss Dawei a little more directly, pulling him closer with their joined hands. When they separated, he was wearing a small smile.

"I think you knew exactly how to make me feel better, Dawei-kun. Although your humility is very attractive. Almost as much as your generosity of spirit, and, well, your kindness, which I have already mentioned, and your artistry, and the way your muscles move as we stalk game..."

Dawei cannot help but smile and blush at the praise.

"If you keep watching me while we hunt, you'll miss your quarry," he replies.

And he places a hand on Kaze's thigh, squeezes it gently. But before he says anything else, he pauses.

Should I ask him if he's...

Even in his own mind, he trails off, falling into outward silence as well as inward. His heart thuds in his ears as he breathes deeply, almost as if steeling himself for a sudden fight.

"Have you, er, have you ever...been...with someone before?"

Kaze blushed. "Ie, Dawei-kun. I have never felt close enough to someone to do so." He paused. "Is that a problem?"

"No! No, it's not a problem. And it's not a problem if you're not ready, yet, either."

The words almost rush out of Dawei.

"No, I just thought that things might, or that you wanted, or that..."

The flood stops almost as suddenly as it had started.

Kaze blinked, his pupils widening as he let out an "oh". He lowered his hand to the one on his thigh and gave it a gentle stroke, then he reached out for Dawei's other hand and pulled it down to his other thigh.

"Fear not; I am ready, Dawei-kun. I trust you. I love you." He looked Dawei directly in the eyes. "Now make love to me."

Dawei leans in towards Kaze, and /ftb...