New Horizons to Pursue [Raithen]

[Khyan Nykara]

"New Horizons to Pursue"
46 Searing, 122
Continued from Lost in the Wake

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The eve of Khyan's judgement had transitioned into the day of his judgement, whilst he and his old chum Raithen had been availing themselves of ale and catching up. They may have both been at a queer crossroads, but Rai's was decidedly more hopeful. For Khyan it wasn't a question of whether today would be good, but rather a question of how bad would it get? A quick death or a slow? Demise or dishonour? The question of the hour was one the young Patrician (on his last day of being a Patrician) was keen to flee, and Raithen had just offered an enticing means of escape.

He looked around them on the street, making sure no one was watching before answering. He had no concern for his own repute at this point, but rather for Raithen's. He might have been descended of the gods, but he was of the controversial branch... The broken bough in the otherwise 'Unbroken Line'. He was not immune to the court of public opinion completely... But no one seemed to be paying any mind to a tipsy pair of youths on a dimly lit street in the wee hours of the morning. Not even the one of him with wings sprouting from his back.

Finally, his dark eyes locked onto Rai's light and, by way of a reply, he nodded and took the offered hand. He took a deep breath and allowed the Avialæ to situate his body in whatever manner he saw fit. Khyan was no stranger to the skies. He'd flown on wyvern-back and had even begun to experiment with flight via his most recent Rune of Animism, but he was only very new to full body transformations and he'd only taken on his first totem from Anima Æronata a month or so earlier. Prior to that he'd only explored Anima Reptilius, and his attempts at taking to the skies had been fumbling to put it kindly.

All that being said, this was a wholly different exploit and he trusted Raithen to know how best to position him to suit the mechanics of flying with a large, albeit slender, passenger.

[Raithen]

When Khyan took his hand and then allowed Rai to arrange them how would work best he settled them back-to-front, wrapping his arms firmly around the smaller human's chest before unfolding his wings and thrusting them into the air.

He had flown carrying others before, but it had always been in situations of injury or emergency, this was the first time he'd done it merely because he wanted to. Whatever magic it was that kept Avialae aloft was capable of keeping significantly more weight in the air than just Raithen's own. A fact he was grateful for as he pushed them higher and higher. Their ultimate goal would take them even lower than they had been standing on the pavement, but there was nothing to say that the journey there couldn't have a good view. Understanding the delicacy of the circumstance he did not aim that view in any direction from which the mountain hunching over the city could be seen. Instead he swooped here and there over what lights were left on in the upper city in the very earliest part of the morning until he was required to take them back down towards the ground, and then below it.

There were entrances large enough that he could fly through them, but decided not to risk it with his belly acting as an ale skin. Once they were in to the Umbrium proper he snaked his arms back around Khyan, perhaps more familiarly than he had the first time, pressing his face close to Khy's own he said,

"Ready?" Waiting only for assent to be given before lifting them into the darkened upper reaches of the underground city. It was not a sky, but it was tall enough to almost feel like one. His intended destination was a rooftop that had a tiny gazebo on it, with a bench. The roof was lined by a stone railing and while it seemed to have once had stairs leading up to it, at some point, during a renovation, they had been walled off.

It was wholly possible any number of people were able to attain it also, but it was far too small for any Wyrm and the idea of saddling a Wyvern or similar creature just to sit on an abandoned rooftop felt like a lot of trouble. He had never seen anyone on the space, and so, regardless of if it was true, he told himself it was his.

When they arrived he set down gently, his hands lingering on the body he had carried there a moment longer than was strictly needed. He told himself he wanted to make sure Khy had his feet under him, which was true, but not all of what was.

[Khyan Nykara]

The experience of being hoisted into the air was both terrifying and exhilarating at once. He'd never flown with so little control. He was a seasoned enough wyvern-rider that the feel of the wind upon his face and the lighter air at higher altitudes wasn't new to him, but the feeling of being at the mercy of another person in this way was. He was a bit surprised to find that he liked it, but perhaps that was due, at least in part, to his present predicament. His instincts still told him to fear a deadly fall, but his mind told him that death was likely imminent regardless of the circumstances of this flight and that there was no point in fearing the inevitable. Oddly, there was a freedom in that.

He enjoyed the view above the Luxium for a while, but he also shut his eyes a few times to let his other senses have their moment. After a hot, Searing day, it was nice to let the cooler evening air wash over his body- sweeping across his borrowed cloak so he felt like a wraith in the night.

The nicest part of all was the connection. The feel of a firm body at his back and strong arms about his slender waist. If there was ever a time in his brief adulthood that Khyan had wanted for nurturing affection, it was now. Raithen made him feel safe. Protected, if just for tonight.

His eyes had been shut and he'd been lost in his own senses, so he was surprised and even a bit disappointed when they landed to enter the Umbrium. His eyes fluttered open and he looked over his shoulder with a faint, perhaps even coquettish smile.

"That was nice..." He said with a weak rasp, and followed Raithen through the portal.

He nodded rather enthusiastically when the Avialae offered him another ride through a different, starless sky.

Upon landing, he surveyed the spot Raithen had selected, nodding and pursing his lips. Even after Raithen hesitantly parted from touching Khyan, the young human placed a hand on his shoulder and said:

"Well done, you."

Letting his hand slide down Raithen's arm, he slipped his narrow shoulders out of his cloak and let it drop to the floor. Beneath it was a simple, albeit finely hewn tunica. It was a simple, cream colour with blue and gold trimming at the sleeves and rounding the bottom of the skirt, where it danced at his thighs. A braided, gold belt circled his slender waist.

He sauntered lazily toward the gazebo, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Raithen was following.

"I only wish we'd done this sooner..."

[Raithen]

Rai beamed when appreciation of the ride he had given was expressed. He'd never gotten a compliment on his flying before and found himself quite pleased and more than happy to repeat the process when they were again free to take the to 'skies'.

The compliments kept coming and while Raithen was no stranger to the begrudging praise of his captains when he succeeded in a task it suddenly came home that, aside from his mother's, he did not receive praise or appreciation from others he kept company with. Not unless he was paying them, at any rate.

"I'm glad you like it. I found it when I was first learning to fly on my own." The activity had been forbidden him in his youngest years for safety reasons. "I checked to see if anyone else came up here but the stairs were walled off ages ago, guess a balcony doesn't have as much value when there aren't any stars."

The breeze was still nice, for air flowed freely through the immense caverns, and even cooler below than they were above. When Khyan dropped his cloak Rai did not imagine it was from the heat, and was hard pressed to imagine another innocuous reason. Nevertheless, the Avialae followed suit and left his own cloak on the stone floor as he followed the swarthy human. His own garments under were nearly identical to his friend's, excepting the last of ornamentation. His wings attracted enough attention when he wanted a quiet night out drinking, gold and embroidery would have earned him more of it than would be comfortable. His simple chiton made him almost feel the lesser between them, which was an interesting sensation but also one he did not choose to explore.

When Khy peered back to see if Rai was following he would find that the he was, closely. The taller man did not reach out to reestablish touch, but he looked almost as if he might at any moment.

"I would have come to see you but I didn't come to see anyone while I was in the guard, other than my family, of course."

It wasn't strictly a rule that those who devoted themselves to protecting the Empress and her family were to stay out of politics and society but it was encouraged. Rai would never have given up his mother's company, relying too heavily on her guidance, but it didn't feel like a strain, at eighteen, to give up the company of his school chums. He hasn't been particularly close to any of them, though he was friendly with all. Now, four years later, he realized that perhaps it had been a sacrifice, for he had no one who he could reliably call a friend. Even this reconnection might not last, one way or another.

Knowing that did not make Rai reluctant to take the evening as far as they both wanted, it was not in his nature to worry about tomorrow. When Khy stopped under the gazebo Rai stepped up close, thinking the darkness enough excuse if familiarity was not welcomed.

[Khyan Nykara]

Khyan extended his hand to touch one of the gazebo's posts as he stepped under its roof. Blanketed by shadow in the shadow city, Khyan turned to lean his back against the post as he cast another glance toward Raithen. There was an energy between them tonight that he couldn't deny. Maybe it was the stakes of moment or just something unfulfilled in the past having woken more potent in the present.

He was still nervous to broach any of this with his social better. In fact they'd never been further apart in rank. Yesterday he'd only been a few steps down, but today he was a pariah standing before a divine being. But he could see how that divine being was looking at him, and he needed to know more, so he sought out his Aura.

A wry little smirk curled the corner of one lip, as he grasped Raithen's belt and pulled the Avialae toward him. Chest to chest, with his back against the gazebo post, Khyan tilted his head to one side and shut his eyes as he pressed his lips to Raithen's. Shifting his weight to one foot, Khyan's grip on his belt tightened until his knuckles were white, but his kiss was gentle and almost chaste- tentative and a little bit terrified. He made no probing overtures with his tongue, only letting his soft lips explore those of this descendant of deities.

It was thus fitting that this should feel like a religious experience. He was drawing closer to the gods even as he drew closer to his doom. But was this reverence, sacrilege or a little bit of both? The young quarter-elf wasn't sure, but whatever it was felt damned good. Part of him felt released, even as the other was building toward greater tension.

[Raithen]

The winged blond waited, watching the shadows play over the darker man's features. It felt quiet, there, under the little structure, somehow differently than it did on the rooftops beyond. He felt drawn, when his friend turned and cast his gaze over Raithen, as though a cord in his chest was gently tugging at him.

On slow steps he followed, as if rushing might break whatever stillness waited them there under the gazebo. When he was close enough Khy reached out and pulled him closer, a hand wrapped around the slim belt holding the billowy fabric of his chiton tighter about his waist.

His aura was as open as his face, showing his inebriation, his concern for his once school boy companion, his interest that split from simple curiosity into a mire of eddying desires. The latter blossomed into color when Rai found himself pressed to Khyan, hips to lips.

Closing his eyes he let himself feel the warmth and touch being offered, almost demanded, and gave in to them. His aura was pliant, if not subservient, and his hands came up to circle the slip hips pressing into his thicker ones. Holding them together firmly he tilted his head so he was kissing down more then forward and deepened it. He did not delve, not yet, but he opened, pressed for more, made a deep, soft sound against Khyan's mouth.

When the kiss broke naturally he leaned in, pressed his face softly into the shorter man's hair and spoke against the shell of his ear,

"I will lie with you, here in the shadows, if you wish it."

That Rai was interested had become obvious the moment the thin cloth of their clothing was all that kept their bodies apart, that he'd become more interested during the kiss was information currently readily available to his companion.

[Khyan Nykara]

Khyan released his grip on the belt, sliding his hands around the firm form of the Avialæ to rest just above his pert rear. He bit his lip, looking into Raithen's eyes with a coquettish smirk and nodded.

"Of course I wish it." He pulled him tighter against his body, "If I am to face my doom, let me do so sated." And if he was going to suffer the fate of a criminal, then let him behave lawlessly. He would desecrate the sacred idol before him by taking his pleasures with him, and so be it.

He was grinning when their lips met again, and urging Raithen down onto the floor of their little hideaway. First onto their knees, and then laying on their sides. Khyan would entwine his legs with those of the Avialæ as his hands slid up his back to grace the feathery wings the protruded.

"I've never..." He whispered through the kiss, but he didn't bother finishing the thought- It was obvious as it stood that he'd never bedded a boy with wings before, and he there was really no need to clarify that the notion excited him. There was plenty of evidence of that presenting itself physically, as he writhed against the noble half-elf.

This had been a long time coming for Khyan. He'd crushed on Raithen for years and fantasised scenarios in which they coupled, but the added drama of the moment it actually began to happen, made it sexier than even his wildest imaginings. There was force to the feelings- a desperation to be closer and connect physically, as they had emotionally. In that moment, Khyan would have done anything for Raithen, because he felt like a lad with plenty of lust and nothing to lose.

[Raithen]

Raithen's grin when Khyan confirmed his interest was beatific and not at all lecherous. He liked touch and sex but he wasn't one to be overcome by intense lusts. Khyan caused more reaction in his emotional state than did most of his lovers by way of being someone Raithen actually knew.

With the foresight to lay his cloak down as they went so they would not be on bare stone, he knelt and then lay, easily, responding to his friend's touch without hesitation. Once they were there he gazed through the shaded night at the pretty youth he remembered thinking about in similar positions when they'd been in school together. Reaching one hand to unclasp his belt and the other to unpin the shoulder clasp the thin covering of his clothing fell away and he let himself be seen as he was. At the touch and comment, he spread his upper wing up and over Khyan, in a gesture almost protective, as if to shield him from rain or arrows or anyone who might see.

There in the additional shadow of his wing, they moved together, mouths and more; Raithen asking, now and then, if Khyan wanted one thing or another and obliging him when he answered. He was generally an obliging lover, with the exception of spreading his own legs. It wasn't a matter of pride or feeling emasculated, he just didn't like the way it felt, physically, it made him a little sick and tensed him up till he couldn't relax. It was not in his nature to pressure someone else for the same, but if it was offered, or better, wanted, he was more than happy to oblige. There had been plenty of encounters in which his partner had also not wished to be pliant in that way and they had still ended with satisfaction for all, so he wasn't worried about it. However Khyan wanted them to couple, they would figure it out. Raithen had a great deal of determination once he was decided on a course and as soon as the (mostly) human had said he wanted to face the morrow sated, Rai had decided that he would see it done as utterly and fully as he was capable.

[Khyan Nykara]

Khyan gaped up in awe as the beautiful wing curled round to conceal him from the greater Umbrium as he undressed. was a devout Varværyn, subject to the covenant exacted upon the Vastian race by their Founders in remote antiquity. To revere the Blood of Aværys was instinctual to him, and that presented itself in a worshipful response to Raithen's compliance to his desires. It would be anathema for him to seek out anything the other might find offputting, which may have come across as annoyingly obsequious. It wasn't easy to pry out of Khyan what he wanted, aside from 'to please Raithen'. By and by, they figured it out.

If it had been sacrilege, then he would be well damned, but somehow it felt more like benediction. Baptised anew by the very essence of the Founders, Khyan sighed against his old friend and latest lover.

"Now I feel prepared to face whatever comes." He settled against Raithen, hand upon his neck face against his chest, rising and falling with his breaths.

"I know you think I am overly deferential, but... I don't know if you understand how special it is for a Vastian to be graced by the divine. I know, I know, I know..." He rolled his eyes, "You're humble and unassuming, which is part of what makes you so bloody maddeningly enticing, but you must know how others regard you. Not to mention you have bloody wings!" He chuckled, "I don't think I've felt more protected since I was a child."

He sighed wistfully,

"And need I even begin to get into those lips?" He drew his index finger along them, before leaning forth to press his lips to those of the Avialæ.

[Raithen]

Raithen listened to Khyan's voice, drifting a little in his own satiation, which, he imagined to be no less than his lover's. He could understand the words but he was letting them float over and through him a bit more than he was trying to formulate a reply for a little while. His arm was wrapped around the smaller man's bare shoulders and the wing on that side was wrapped over top like a blanket, keeping them both warm from the cool of the Umbrium.

When his post-orgasmic mind did return to the conversation he gave a little smile, glancing down his chest trying to see the beautiful face he'd just shared pleasure with.

"I am glad it meant something to you. It never seems that special to the denizens of the pleasure houses." It was a joke at his own expense and not intended to lessen Khy's reverence for the experience. Rolling a little so he could see the one in his arms properly he pressed his mouth to its opposite and said,

"I don't think you're any such thing. I like you how you are. You're unique, and you, and I wanted that. Still do..." He admitted the last a little sheepishly but somehow with confidence as well. He laughed, soft and delighted at the description of himself, letting Khyan express himself.

The idea that Rai made him feel safe was both heartwarming and heartrending, considering the circumstance. It was a good thing he was doing, and he could accept that without letting the rest destroy it. When he was being kissed again he perked one shapely brow and murmured,

"I don't know, do you need to get into them?" The suggestion and the offer implicit in it were fully intended and he rolled them further, till Khyan was on his back and did all in his power to prove that, yes, Khy really did need to get into his lips.