Heavenfall

There is no rest for me tonight, thinks Dawei as he approaches the supply wagon. But if I'm going to be up, I might as well be useful.

The hunter moves to take up a concealed position, doing a more than adequate job of it (Stealth 37). In his hidden location, he takes up a vigil (Investigation 24), alert as he is able to be against the threat of incursion in the increasingly strange and hostile lands through which he travels.

I hope you're getting some rest, Kaze-kun.

As it happened, Kaze was getting no rest. His sleepless wanderings around the camp had brought him, at last, to the Supply Wagon, where he drifted to sit by one of the wheels.

Spot the Dawei=26

He draws his knees up to his chest and rests his head on his forearms. He had lost the battle against the nightmares that he and Umeno had decided to fight, but perhaps stillness might be of help, if something better refused to present itself.

Dawei sees Kaze take his seat, arrange himself, and fail to see him.

Guess not, he thinks.

And he emerges from his hiding spot, putting his hand on his jade as he does and quietly asking "What did you dream, Kaze-kun?"

Kaze looks up, alarmed, but quiets down after seeing that it is Dawei. There are dark circles around his eyes, and there are some signs of tears on his cheekbones.

"Oh! Ah...I..." He shakes his head. "I...did not see you, Dawei-kun." He took a breath. "Dreams...yes, I dreamt that you...your clan did not want me among them, with you." He shook his head. "I am sure it is a silly fear, but it is one I have felt."

Dawei puts his hand on Kaze's shoulder as he sits there. He continues to watch, so he does not turn to face him so much, but he does squeeze the shoulder just a bit.

"I very much want you to be with me, Kaze-kun. And I do not see that changing anytime soon."

And my dreams have been darker, yet.

Kaze nodded, his hand reaching up to cover the one on his shoulder. "Hai, I know. But it feels good to be reassured. Thank you, my love."

He looked up at Dawei. "You have not had trouble with sleep, I hope?"

Dawei draws a breath, holds it for two heartbeats, sighs it out.

"I've slept better, certainly. My dreams..."

He trails off, looking out away from the wagon, away from the camp.

"I think I'm lucky I don't often remember them, if they're normally like the past few nights."

Kaze turned his head, still resting on his knees, so that he could get a better look at Dawei's face. "You bear it better than I do, it seems, but...the weight feels less with one to share it with." He gently stroked Dawei's knuckle with his index finger. "I want to listen, to help you."

Another held breath released slowly.

"I was...hunting. And I knew my...prey. Knew it better than I should."

Dawei sighs another breath. His hand grips Kaze's shoulder just a bit tighter.

Kaze frowns in sympathy. "We have, I suspect, both done things of which we are not proud. It is difficult to build the skills we have without having done so. And it is difficult, at times, to see one's self as another may see one. For instance, I...often feel like an animal, a dumb beast, but even when I told you how I survived as a child, you did not change your affections for me. Trust me, my love, I will not reject you, even if your nightmares are what I suspect they are."

He lifted his other hand to clasp Dawei's wrist. "Not even then."

Dawei nods in the darkness.

"I would not have such dreams as these. I'd not have them become real. I don't want to become...what I was in the dream. Or you."

Another sigh, shuddering slightly.

"I'm glad you're with me, Beloved."

Kaze preened at the pet name.

"And I am glad that you are here, too. I...spoke to Nanzi-sama about us. Or rather, he got it out of me. The poetry might have been a give-away." He blushed.

Dawei chuckles quietly.

"Art reveals the artist no less than what is in the medium. What did he say?"

"He was very pleased, both for me and for us. I think that he and Lady Doji have been eager for our clans to remain close as the Empire develops, and our marriage would help that." He smiled. "He said that my family and I would always be welcome to visit, so...so I take that as a very positive sign."

Dawei is silent for a moment.

"I never thought I would get to choose my spouse. Among the Seppun, it had always been that the Tribe--and the Family--ensured marriages with an eye towards producing children. Even The Seppun's own children were treated so. To have such freedom..."

The hunter trails off for a moment.

"I am glad to have met you, Kaze-kun."

Kaze smiled. "And I, you. But I am sure that if my choice had not suited Lady Doji's will so, that we would find our plans in some trouble. Lord Hantei would still need to agree, as well." He looked up. "Just two more hurdles, Dawei-kun."

"Two?"

Dawei looks at Kaze, then.

"You only describe the one remaining. Though I am happy to jump it with you, for you."

Another squeeze of the shoulder. Kaze might see a wink in the dark.

"You've certainly put a pep in my step, recently."

Kaze's eyes widened as he blushed crimson. "Oh?! Well, I'm glad. Really...really quite pleased that you like it."

He found himself chuckling. "I had a suspicion that you did." His voice dropped just a little. "I know that I do."

Dawei lifts his hand from Kaze's shoulder, finds his cheek in the darkness, strokes it with the back of his hand.

"I hope I've been a good teacher so far, at least with what I know."

Kaze found himself leaning into the touch. "Oh, yes, you have been." He sighed. "If you weren't on watch, you wouldn't have to take my work for it."