Oh, Rati - Oneshot (1/5)

[annafeu]

Title: Oh, Rati
Chapters: oneshot
Pairings: Sehun/Luhan
Rating: NC-17
Genre: AU, romance, angst
Warnings (SPOILER WARNINGS! highlight to see): explicit content, violence, incest, character death
Summary: Sehun leaves his land in search of adventure, and finds a little too much of it in a neighbouring village where he meets a veiled enchantress that has hips too sinful to be legal.
a/n: i'd really advise against reading the warnings if you want to enjoy this thing at all lol. set in some fictional time/place idk where they have kingdoms and such.
this is a rati and it’s a metaphor for sehun’s dick. nah i’m just kidding. or am i.
45,000 WORDS LONG have fun





He was out of the mountain ranges now, that rugged and treacherous terrain where the winds blew stronger than a thousand raging oxen, freezing his skin and blood. Where the biting cold nipped at his entire being at night like it wanted to suck the life out of him despite his many layers of clothing. He didn’t miss it in the slightest. He’d found shelter in coves most nights, but even then the wind had whipped inside and found him, scraping its angry claws over him.

Heading east at a steady pace, following the path straight ahead from where he’d started out and hoping it would lead him somewhere, that was what he was doing. He wasn’t foolish; he knew well he might never reach a populace and die of thirst or hunger on the way, a sad excuse for a traveller and an even sadder excuse for a man who claimed he was the embodiment of freedom, but anything was better than back at home, so he kept pushing forward, step after painful step, with his animal skin bag strapped over one shoulder, pulling him down by the sheer weight.

Now there was nothing but barren land and dust for miles, the ground so dry it had cracked up in areas while the blazing sun overlooked it and watched it suffer. He was entering a dust bowl, a hamada with stretches of sand and only small xerophyte plants that could survive. The föhn was blowing from the mountain lee further up north, making Sehun sweat and almost wish it was the icy night time again. It had been several days since he’d found a spring and refilled his water, also several days since he’d bathed and cooled off. The night time by the sand dunes weren’t so harsh, but the long days in the sun were deadly, and he was crazy not to have travelled on horse like his friend Yixing had told him to.

‘You’re never going to get anywhere on foot, you fool; you’ll die trying to cross the desert,’ his words had been, and Sehun thought he was very correct in that assumption, because he’d probably only be able to walk for a few more days before his body gave out and the world went black. Thankfully he had sturdy and rather expensive leather shoes that ensured his feet didn’t erode away or blister too badly. If anything, the sun would only blind him slightly, sear his corneas a little bit and damage his irises. He’d rather that than use one of his kingdom’s stallions to get away; he was leaving that part of him behind, and didn't plan on bringing even the slightest bit with him. Stubborn to the day he died, he'd stick by that.

Sehun was surprised when suddenly he saw a spot of green in the distance, where there had been only dirt and sand for hours on end so far. Perhaps he was nearing an oasis? He’d heard there were people living in the deserts of the East, whole villages of people, actually, so maybe if he walked for long enough he would run into civilization. He didn’t know what the people here thought of his people, but he hoped it was only good things. He knew they didn’t have the best reputation, but from experience Sehun found that villages further away from the West were more hospitable and open minded, so hopefully it wouldn’t be a problem. Sehun did have his charm intact too, so doubtlessly he'd manage to at the very least charm a mother into lending away a spare sleeping mat to this poor, tired soul.

A few more long strides told him that he was indeed nearing some sort of village. He could see a few trees in the distance and a cluster of large, colourful tents that stretched on for miles by the horizon; a dash of colour on a canvas that was dry and cracking. So he was really going to do it. He was going to pass into a neighbouring village, one with people who weren't of his kin, who had different customs and languages to his own. He'd never interacted with anyone outside of his town, and he wondered exactly how different these people were, if they were democratic, if they were superstitious, if they were creative, maybe. What kind of food they had. If their kind had many pretty ladies or boys, unlike the people of his hometown where everyone was so grim and sour that even the most beautiful things appeared dull and menacing.

It was a small village encircled by short, rolling dunes, shielded from the strong winds and thriving with many rich materials, it seemed. Sehun could see smooth cloths and tents of so many magnificent colours it was a wonder to him that the little village hadn't expanded yet. There were no buildings, just rows and rows of rectangular tents that had different sizes and probably different functions. The ground was rather hard albeit dusty as he neared the outskirts of the village. He could see children running around and people carrying things such as large jugs of water and baskets of food. There were merchants and shops and open eating areas, and everyone was dressed in clothing different to Sehun's own sheepskin and wool cloth from the colder territory he was from. The clothes were cloaks and skirts and tunics and dresses and scarves and folded fabrics depending on where he looked, but one thing they all had in common was that they were strikingly colourful and had beautiful patterns, probably having been made with a lot of blood, sweat and tears, as well as an endless amount of patience.

He passed a woman with a vibrant yellow dress, her hands and neck adorned with shiny jewellery. Most of them had slipper-like things on their feet, while a few were barefooted, but Sehun knew the ground was cooler there than out in the desert. People were pulling cows and other animals around, going about their business while Sehun tried to steer and navigate through the packed area that was bustling with people, the walkways pretty narrow between the tents and stalls. Luckily, Sehun was agile and good at blending in, so he had yet to be caught up in the crowd or be questioned for looking foreign.

That all changed when something hard, or rather someone, came up in front of him and blocked his way so suddenly that he released a startled gasp and stumbled back.

"Sir, milk? Fresh milk. High value. Very good."

He squinted his eyes in the bright light of the sun to get a good look at the person standing in front of him, and it turned out to be a boy dressed in white pants with a bare upper body, his skin very light for the region and his frame lithe and fragile looking. Probably malnourished and poor. His shoulders looked like they had a few burns on them of some sort. He held on to a black ceramic jar in his left hand, and his other hand was held out towards Sehun, as if asking for money. Sehun was taken aback when he noticed that the boy had blond hair, something he'd only ever heard of in stories that his mother used to tell him. She'd told him a lot of wondrous stories before she...well anyways, the point was that a part of him wanted to reach out and touch that blond hair with his own hands, to see if it was real, but he pushed that part down firmly. He had to make a good impression on these people and not cause an uproar. He had yet to see the boy's eyes because his head was lowered and he was short enough to hide his face from Sehun's view, but Sehun didn't care for his appearance.

He sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his money pouch, untying the string.

"How much do you want for it?" He spoke as clearly as he could, knowing this boy probably wasn't very fluent in his language. How he knew Sehun was from the West already was beyond him, but it might have something to do with his clothes and hair.

When the boy didn't answer, Sehun stared at the top of his head and waited impatiently, one hand dipped into the pouch where the gold coins lay, ready to pull some out. To his surprise, the boy didn't say an amount and then hand him the jar of milk, like he'd thought he would, but instead reached a hand forwards and wrapped his spindly fingers around the whole pouch, snatching it from him so quick that he barely had time to blink. When he did blink, the boy had turned on heel, dropping what was an empty ceramic jar on the ground and sprinting in the other direction.

"Hey!” Sehun shouted, pulling at his loose belt to tie his clothes properly as he began to run after the scrawny boy, trying not to lose sight of him. “Thief!"

Nobody around him seemed to react or even bat a lash for that matter, which frustrated Sehun. Did they not care that he was being robbed? Was such an occurrence so common that it was really every man for himself there? Or was this a form of isolation of foreigners, wherein everyone else was indifferent to him?

He was left having to run after said boy himself, who had quite some speed in him to say the least, while Sehun wasn't as familiar with the area, so when the boy dodged people and made sharp turns it took Sehun twice as long to accomplish the same task. He ran and ran until he didn't really think he could run anymore (he was already so sore and exhausted from walking for days, not to mention hungry, and Yixing had always told him he was getting old), while the flurry of sprinting white was ways ahead of him, and he saw said boy heading out of the cluster of the village and towards the barren land. He debated on whether to follow him or not, whether it was really worth it, but he decided to run after him in any case, because without his money Sehun was just another beggar with no means to attain food or shelter, ergo his survival technique would vanish.

He panted and heaved and noticed that the boy had run up a small elevation on the far end of the flat ground, a hill of rock and some grassy patches that looked hard to trek up. He grit his teeth and lifted his legs, trying to climb up after him. He had no idea where he was going, but he was prepared to go down with a fight over his money pouch. He hadn't travelled for days on end just to have his pride stolen from him at the last minute. Blood, sweat, and tears had gone into getting his lanky ass out of the mountain ranges and into the free lands where the winds blew warmer than when the air was still.

With two last, painful steps, Sehun reached the top of the hill and searched for the scrawny blond boy, leaning over and clutching his knees as he tried to catch his breath. For a trekker, he sure was out of shape, but he knew that already. It was by the grace of a miracle that he'd even made it all the way to the desert.

"Touching other people's belongings is rude!" He bellowed into the open air, scanning the area for the lucrative kid, but coming up negative as the whole place seemed rather deserted. There weren't even any animals there snacking on the grass.

What he hadn't expected, however, was to find his pouch, his little black money pouch, sitting on the ground right at the edge of the hill, on a small patch of the dry grass. He was puzzled now; thoroughly bewildered. Had the boy dropped it? Was he running so fast that it had fallen out of his grip and then decided to flee the scene?

He walked over to it, wiping some sweat off his forehead and neck. As he did, he took a second to look up and glance over the village he'd just arrived in. The view was breath taking from up there. Every single tent could be seen; every colourful human and every owned animal, and it looked even more impressive from so high up. He smiled to himself, feeling a renewed vigour surge through him along with a lust for adventure. This was what he'd waited for for so long, wasn't it? This was what he'd been searching for. Maybe fate was kind to him today and decided to do him a favour. There wasn't much harm done in any case, especially since he had his life-insurance back. He would just have to walk all the way back down and try to figure out where he already had and hadn't walked now, asking around for a place to stay, maybe. He definitely needed to hurry up if he wanted shelter by the time the sun set.

The walk back was even drearier than the run there, because everything took double the time and he didn't have crazy adrenaline pumping through his veins. But make it back he did. He even managed to find his way to the largest tent around, which he assumed was where the important people were located. It was them he needed to convince. A lot of places didn't take kindly to foreigners invading their town, so he would probably need to present himself to the leader in order to be allowed to stay. He’d done his research, after all, and he was quite proud of that.

The tent was made of black cloth (probably from goat's hair, looking at the texture) and was extremely massive, people walking in and out of it in steady streams, all of them carrying themselves carefully and being seemingly occupied. It was slightly isolated from all the other tents, with a large, open area in front of it that had a fireplace among other things, as well as many animals herded to the left side.

He peeked inside the flaps, catching a glance of the luxurious interior. The top of the tent was high, and it was spacious enough to fit at least two hundred people. There weren't as many people inside as he'd first assumed, and his eyes were mainly drawn to an old man sitting on a pillow at the very back of the tent, mounds of scrolls and barrels resting next to him.

Sehun sucked in a deep breath and decided to try his luck, stepping in with his head held high and his whole body tensed in anticipation. The smell hit him as soon as he entered, almost winding him in a surprise attack; spices and wheat and some sort of sugary fruits, all of it reminding Sehun that he was in a foreign village with customs and traditions different to his own. That was the important part to remember, and also the part that calmed his beating heart. In Sehun's town they had more mellow flavours; things weren't as spicy or stagnant. He could smell strong scents here, oils, herbs, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, and even things that he'd never smelled before. It was as if all the food of the town had been compressed and concentrated into that particular hut, and he almost forgot what he'd come inside for in the first place.

"Welcome, stranger!" Said a deep voice from the other end of the tent, and Sehun snapped his head up to see who had spotted him. The man looked jolly, in lack of a better way to describe him. He had a round belly and a long, white beard, his eyes carrying smile wrinkles and his robes making him look warm and comfortable. "What brings you to my humble village? A little bird told me you've been swarming around for a while, enjoying the scenery and such."

Sehun's thoughts immediately went to the thief boy, but he shook it as he remembered he had yet to be polite and say an official greeting.

"Hello," he mustered out quickly, and rather stiffly, placing a hand on his stomach and bowing ninety degrees to the man who he assumed was the leader of these people. "I am Sehun. I've been wandering for days, coming straight from the Oh Empire--"

“The Red Empire of the West?” The man cut him off, his eyebrows rising. Sehun felt nervous now, tightening his lips in anticipation to how his people were perceived there.

“Yes…I suppose…”

"Oh my, I didn't know we had such an important guest here with us," the man said, stroking his beard lightly, the perfect image of an old, wise man. The other people in the tent were now staring at Sehun too, the chamber girls and advisors with things in their hands. Their eyes were curious.

"I'm not that important--"

"Nonsense," the man boomed, looking distraught. "All visitors are important! It pleases me that you would even want to visit our little village, my son. I am the Chief, the man who is the father of all these people. I protect and serve them to the best of my abilities. May I ask what brings you here?"

Sehun froze, because he didn't really know what to say. He couldn't just say that he was a runaway trying to seek refuge on his pointless adventure eastwards. He had to come up with something that would render him less likely to be kicked out of the place for loitering, that was for sure. He couldn't just say he was there for nothing and hope they'd let him leech off their supplies and hospitality.

"I'm a healer," he said quickly, remembering he'd brought with him many vials of antidotes and dry medicine leafs. Surely this little town didn't have a skilled healer to speak of. "The Great Healer of the most northern town in the Oh Empire. I've been heading southeast, but decided to stop by here for shelter, if you would in any way be willing to accommodate me."

"Oh joy!" Exclaimed the man, clasping his hands together so hard his belly shook. "I knew you were special! I knew it!" He looked ecstatic beyond belief, his wide mouth drawn into a tight smile. "Mr. Sehun, my people would be more than happy to house you while you get some rest from your long journey," he assured him, then turned to a female beside him, throwing his hands in the air. "Anya, prepare a tent for him! Prepare a banquet! Call everyone to come to tonight; we're throwing a party in The Great Healer's honour!"

And a party it was, unfortunately. Grand and extravagant and loud and wild. Sehun had been rushed out of the tent as soon as the Chief had announced it, and had been shown a tent on the south side of the town that was almost fit for a prince, with mustard yellow cloth, gold decorations everywhere, and wooden carvings. No sooner had he been fed, he was pulled out of the tent to return to the Chief's hut, where it seemed like the whole entire village had been gathered solely for him, all shouting and talking and clapping at his arrival.

It was strange how suddenly people were noticing him, whereas when he'd been walking through the village earlier not a single head had been turned. He smiled awkwardly to everyone, accepting various gifts that were handed to him (thrust to him, rather) such as fruit baskets and jewellery and sown cloth of all kinds (probably expensive ones, judging from the soft feel of them). There were people crowding around him now, invading every inch of his personal space and trying to get his attention. The young women in general took it upon themselves to touch him, running warm hands over his shoulders and down his back, and he didn't complain until a bold hand actually cupped his family jewels through his slacks amidst all the hubbub, though his red-tinted face was thankfully masked by the wall of people surrounding him.

A loud sound could be heard, almost like a horn, and then all of them dispersed as if a magic spell had been cast, moving to the edges of the little open area where they were situated and sitting down in the sand and on the dusty floor. Sehun could see a fireplace in the centre of the ring they had formed, and also thankfully saw the Chief waving him over from the front of the large tent up ahead.

He laid all his gifts down carefully next to some people that were sitting behind him, hoping nobody would be offended, and then walked up to the old man, who took his hands as he was in reach and kissed him on the left cheek.

"My son, we are pleased to have you here tonight." His grip was tight and firm, shaking him slightly as he spoke. "Please accept this small ensemble we have prepared for you, and enjoy yourself as much as you can."

"Really, there is no need--" Sehun started in a low voice, but the man cut him off.

"It's entirely our pleasure! A man like you coming by a humble place such as this; it calls for a celebration! Please, be my guest." The old man sat down on the ground, gesturing for Sehun to sit next to him. He did, bending his long legs awkwardly, and as soon as he sat down, music started playing, taking him off guard. String instruments, wind instruments, and most prominently, the drums that set a steady beat. People were up on their feet in a flash, grabbing partners and swinging around. Sehun was offered a goblet of wine by a young woman, which he accepted gratefully. It tasted sweet and sticky, and only enhanced his mood, which was already perfectly good as he watched the inhabitants dancing in high spirit.

"Your people seem like very happy people," Sehun mused, eyeing everybody smile as they lost themselves in the music, shaking their bodies loose and being seemingly worriless. It was like a colourful refraction of water, every little hue of the rainbow sparkling fleetingly.

"They are!" The man agreed loudly, digging into some food that had been placed in front of him. "We never get foreign visitors much, so they're very excited; I hope you'll excuse their eagerness. We're a close-knit community, so we all take good care of each other. I think we're the safest village on this side of the lands too!"

Sehun nodded, gulping down some more wine. He had really struck it lucky in this village. He hadn't even counted on getting any shelter, and now he was being treated like a foreign prince. Well, he kind of was one, but he hadn't intended on pulling out that card or even acknowledging it, so a mere foreign healer being treated so well was still strange and confounding to him. Maybe these people were just so nice that they treated all foreigners this way. If so, he was glad he had come by this place.

The people that had been dancing and running around a few minutes ago suddenly quieted, voices dying down and laughter diminishing, and he saw them walking away from the fire that had been lit in the centre and settle down where they'd been before, on the outskirts of the large, open area. Sehun was curious now as to what was happening next; he could tell that the festivities weren't over, and people were sitting in a sort of spent anticipation akin to his own, like something big was about to happen, something exciting and magnificent. There were only small murmurs now, and before Sehun could ask the Chief what was going on, the man stood up and made his way towards the middle of the circle. Sehun sat his goblet of whine down in the sand, focusing his attention on the old man patiently. The sun had gone down now, and all that illuminated the scene were the flickering warm lights of the large fire, casting an ethereal glow over everything.

"Welcome, everyone," the Chief said with a clear voice, raising his hand in the air. Everyone looked up at him with adoration, and Sehun could only conclude that these people were indeed the happiest in the land. Very calm, in any case. Full of love. "Today, we have a famous healer with us, Mr. Sehun, who has been so kind to drop by here on his journey." Sehun blushed, unable to get used to his highly everyone spoke of him, especially the Chief. "He has travelled far, over a dangerous terrain, and so we should show him the best we have to offer, agreed?" Silent murmurs of excitement rippled through the people, who were all solemnly looking up at the old man. "So without further ado," he clapped his hands twice, and a few musicians came running up to the front of the circle, settling down with their various instruments. They looked slightly nervous, and one of them dropped something on the ground, scrambling to pick it up soon after. "Let's show him a good time."

Dead silence followed after the chief had finished speaking, and the old man walked back to his place with all eyes on him, including Sehun's. He was clearly a man of power, well respected and wise. Sehun could only imagine what he was about to be shown.

The silence continued for a while longer, during which Sehun held his breath and flitted his gaze from the crackling fire to the mass of people waiting just as suspenseful as him. The air was warm and inviting unlike the many cold nights he'd spent on his own, and he felt at peace knowing he was finally in a place where he wouldn't be at risk of getting killed by bandits in his sleep. He honestly hadn't thought he'd make it so far on foot without dying and drying out on the desert floor.

Sehun's patience was rewarded when suddenly one of the musicians up front started playing on his flute, a slow tune that flew through the wind and caught in Sehun's ears most delicately. Oh, how eurythmic. He felt his anticipation rise even further, gripping at the edge of his sheep skin vest as he looked around for something to jump out of nowhere. Nothing did jump out and take him by surprise, but there was someone walking out slowly to the middle of the space, right next to the fireplace; someone wrapped in light, burgundy cloth. He assumed it was a woman, as the person's ankles were slim and their waist even slimmer, alluringly revealed despite the rest of the body covered by thin silks, such as most of the hair and chest area, while from the hips hang a long, almost see through skirt, with a slit up both sides. He could see her legs very clearly, and they were gorgeous, long and pale. A gold-plated blouse covered her chest, and he couldn't see her face due to a thin veil. He could definitely see all the jewellery, though. She was dressed lavishly, with gold trinkets hanging from her waist and shiny bangles on her arms and legs that reflected the light of the fire.

Sehun startled back from his trance when she threw what looked like red powder into the flames, and as it hit the fire, the powder erupted into yellow sparks, crackling in the air loudly like fireworks. That was when the music changed; the drums started kicking in and the beat sped up, and the woman lifted her leg to her midriff, freezing in a pose. Her hand slowly started moving, gracefully and precisely to the rhythm of the music, and then her hips started to shake and sway in time with the drums. To say Sehun was captivated was an understatement; he literally could not tear his eyes away from the show in front of him. The woman had bells on her ankles, he noticed as she started hopping and prancing around, because they tinkled with every step she took a step and rang loudly in his ears. She was swaying her arms and spinning now, completely intact with the music, and Sehun let his eyes follow her every movement, her every bend (god, she was flexible) and snap of hips (so alluring it should have been illegal). She had to be young because her chest was rather flat, and she didn't have many curves, but Sehun had never seen anyone so stunning nonetheless. He could see her eyes, and they were beautiful, catching his own more than once while she shook her hips from side to side, her feet so light on the ground that she could have been a panther.

She was walking closer now, to his horror (and glee), taking slow and seductive steps with purposeful twists of her talented hips. Her eyes were glued to his, and Sehun almost felt winded at the enticement he could see emanating from them. The music kept playing in the background, but he could hardly even hear it when the beauty stopped merely a few feet from him and began swaying her body sensually, as if begging him to touch her. Her flat stomach rolled as her hips did, her ankles twisting and moving as gracefully as the rest of her body. Everything about the dance was perfect, though he hadn't quite expected it. He dared to quickly look to his right, and saw that the Chief also had his eyes glued to the performance, much like every single member of the audience.

He jerked alert when he felt a hand on his thigh, and looked up to see the dancer rolling her hips towards him. He felt his throat dry up and his pants tighten, like they were suddenly many sizes way too small, and gripped the ground as the dancer continued to shake her hips. A second later she had turned around, and now she was bending over backwards until she locked her sexy eyes with his, shaking her non-existent breasts. Strangely, Sehun still found it far more arousing than it should have been. Oh, she was so small and agile; he would really give anything to touch that smooth skin just once, to give in to his lust and meet her in a tender embrace. Even just know her name, at this point. He really wanted to know her name. He wanted to know her name and her story, and most definitely wanted to see what she looked like under all the decoration and cloth.

She was upright again, prancing away from him and twirling near the edge if the crowd, who all cheered and whistled at her, especially the men, whose faces were alive and lit up despite disapproving looks from what he assumed were wives by their sides. He could tell the dancer was smiling even behind the veil, and he wanted her to come back to him and dance only for his sake again. He'd felt this incredible pull towards her, like she was made just for him or had some sort of secret connection to him. What an enchanting creature. Dancing by the blazing fire she was a firecracker, a solar flare careening through the open air, leaving heat and wonder behind. She was a burst of energy that made everyone else seem lethargic in comparison.

The dancer was now twirling her dress for the little kids to touch on the left side if the circle, spinning joyfully with raised arms. People were clapping and hollering, and Sehun felt himself do the same, completely enchanted, as if he was being pulled into a riot where the heat of the moment was the only thing that counted; people egging each other on and creating havoc.

Eventually, the music came to a loud crescendo and then stopped abruptly. He saw the dancer end her performance with a half bow and half curtsey, head lowered and hands delicately placed outwards. Sehun raised his arms and clapped powerfully, and as soon as he started, everyone followed suit, howling with appreciation and making loud noises in general. The dancer looked up at him silently, sending him a knowing smile, and Sehun slowed his clapping down as he held her intense gaze, his mind numbing slightly and making his basic motor functions collapse.

"Our Luhan is great, isn't he?" The Chief shouted while clapping his hands dramatically, having left his seat already while Sehun was busy being dumbfounded, and was now walking over to the dancer in question.

Wait, he? This was a he?

Sehun felt his jaw drop, and he tried to re-translate all the images he'd just seen to compute it as a male, but it was rather difficult, if not impossible. That did explain the flat chest, though; the dancer was too tall to be a prepubescent girl.

The boy removed the veil covering his mouth, and the next thing that shocked Sehun was how the Chief greeted him, rubbing him on the lower back and leaning in to kiss him right on the lips. Good god, this wasn't the Chief's courtesan, was it? Hopefully not. If it was, then Sehun suddenly felt like expelling his luxurious dinner to the sandy floor.

"Another round of applause for our talented little marigold!" The Chief shouted, and everybody clapped harder, not a single person fazed by the interaction Sehun had just seen. Maybe it was some sort of weird custom in that village that Sehun didn't know about. At least he hoped so. He would have to ask up on that.

The Luhan boy bowed and waved and smiled good-naturedly, now a perfectly poised individual rather than the alluring temptress from earlier, and this alone baffled Sehun. Everyone seemed to love this boy, young and old, and Sehun could only bask in his inexplicable light, because there seemed to be more radiance there tonight than only the fire and moonlight.

"Now, how about we turn up that music again and all get our feet working, hm? I think our guest would love a dance too!"

Sehun wasn't really paying attention to anything the Chief was saying by now; he was just following the dancer boy with his eyes, as if they were magnetically attracted to his body. The boy had left the centre of attention and was now chatting to someone at the edge of the circle, waving his hands animatedly around and smiling broadly. He still had his head cloth on and Sehun wondered if he'd take it off now after the performance, but he didn't seem to have that in mind at all. Instead, to Sehun’s displeasure, it seemed he was walking the man (boy?) he'd been talking to out to where the rest of the crowd was in order to dance with him.

Sehun frowned. How could this boy have performed for him, seduced him and flirted with him, only to run off with someone else? Shouldn't Sehun get the first pick of who he wanted to dance with? Weren't these people all about hospitality and treating strangers like kings?

He shook his head to himself for even thinking that way. God, he sounded like his old self. The him that had been back at the palace, back with his rotten brother being obnoxiously royal. He didn't even want to be a royal anymore, wasn't that why he'd left? He sighed. Jealousy really was an ugly, green-eyed monster, as well as a really unbecoming colour.

"Would you mind?"

Sehun jerked his head up at the heavily accented speech, coming face to face with a woman who was holding her hand out to him, seemingly asking him for a dance. She was plump and had a pretty face, her dress a vivid lime green that almost blinded him. He smiled up at her and nodded, getting to his feet. How could he turn down a dance without appearing conceited? It was better to just go with it; it was the least he could do to repay these people after all, and the woman seemed really nice. Perhaps he'd forget about that dumb dancer when he had his own partner.

The music playing now was slightly slower than before, but it was still light and fun and enticing, and Sehun let the woman lead as they held hands and spun around. It was rather fun, actually. His worries disappeared for the moment, leaving only happiness and thoughts of how bad a dancer he was behind. Strangely enough, he couldn't bring himself to care. The woman was laughing with him and making them spin in fast circles, and everything around him was a blur, all the people and all of the scenery. He felt his eyes water from the wind and maybe a few grains of sand, but he couldn't be more ecstatic. Well, maybe he could.

After a solid, long time of dancing, Sehun's eyes found the Luhan boy again, amongst all the other people. He stood out, to say the least. Maybe it was the colour of his dress, maybe it was his presence in general, but it was something. He'd been dancing with that other guy for over half an hour, while Sehun had danced with a whole slew of people, all eager to teach him some steps and laugh at his lack of rhythm. Sehun didn't want them anymore, though. He wanted to dance with the marigold. He tried to keep himself entertained, but every flash of burgundy cloth reminded him that he still hadn't sought what he really wanted.

He decided to grow some balls and leave the girl he was spinning around, keeping Luhan locked in his line of sight. Would it be terribly rude to interrupt the dancing couple and just steal the little dancer away? Probably, but honestly, right now he didn't care. Was that selfish? Most definitely.

Sehun found himself mindlessly marching up to the burgundy-clad boy, trying to catch him when he wasn't being swung around to tap him on the shoulder or get his attention. He failed miserably at that, but the boy he was dancing with seemed to notice Sehun, and so he held Luhan still while eyeing him curiously. Luhan turned around once he realized they were no longer dancing, and Sehun was winded for the second time that night by seeing him up close.

"I..." he started off, but seemingly forgot how to speak his own language at that moment. His voice was caught in a lump at the back if his throat, and he tried to swallow it down, but it wouldn't go anywhere. He felt his palms clamming up and his heart rate increase, and stood there like a brainless fool for at least a few seconds.

"Hello?" Luhan said, eyeing him curiously and accompanying it with a little laugh. Luhan's voice was soft and sweet. His everything was soft and sweet. Sehun wondered if Luhan was able to fully speak his language. He assumed the Chief only knew it because of political reasons. He wasn't sure about the rest if the population. Most of the other people he'd encountered so far had spoken it fragmentally and with heavy accents.

"Um," Sehun continued with his streak of intelligence, deciding to stick his hand out to get the point across. "May I?"

"That's bold," Luhan said, chuckling at him. The other guy laughed too, and Sehun frowned. Was it really that dumb of him to ask this boy to dance? Luhan was apparently able to speak his language though, but he did have a heavy accent, just like the others. Sehun wished he could speak their language instead.

"You speak my tongue?" He just asked, ignoring Luhan's comment from earlier.

"Everybody speaks your tongue," Luhan claimed with a shrug. "Your people rule in the west, and your influence is higher than our infant mortality."

"Oh..." Sehun trailed off, feeling slightly awkward. That was one way to put it. They hadn't heard of all the bad things the Oh Kingdom had done, though, had they? All the bloodshed, the violence, and the conquering? The corrupt royal family with ice in their veins?

"I'll dance with you," Sehun locked his eyes with Luhan, seeing that he had let go of the other man he was with and was standing closer to him than before. Almost a mere breath away.

"Good," Sehun just said, smacking himself upside the head internally because he sounded really, really dumb.

Luhan didn't seem to think so, however, and soon his long, slender arms had wrapped themselves around Sehun's neck, his warm breath fanning over his face. Sehun froze. He'd thought they would dance like everyone else, jumping around and swinging to the melody, but Luhan wasn't dancing like that; he was being sensual, close and pressed up against him. This was probably the type of dance that was banned in his own kingdom. Though he wasn’t very sure, because they didn’t really throw many parties there.

"Who was that you were dancing with?" Sehun asked, partly to get rid of the silence between them and partly to try and relieve the arousal that was stirring in his slacks.

"My best friend, Chen," Luhan said with a bright smile, and Sehun laughed to himself.

"Oh." Oh. Well at least there was no real competition now. Wait, competition for what? What was he even thinking would happen here? He must be delusional, or at least slightly mentally damaged, because there was no way he'd have a chance with this boy. Sehun was a traveller, for god's sake, he'd be out if that village soon anyways, and Luhan was just a dancer. He was a piece of entertainment that had been manufactured to look good for him that evening, and he shouldn't think anything of it. But lord, the many lonesome nights in the desert sure had screwed with his libido. He hoped Luhan didn't notice how hard he was under his clothes. Luhan wasn't even being inappropriate; he was just being polite and dancing with a guest.

Sehun breathed heavily, feeling Luhan's warm body against his make him sweat profusely. Oh, he'd missed company. Back at the palace he'd had all the company he wanted, any girl of the kingdom was at his fingertips, but it was more satisfying now, after being parched for so long. And Luhan wasn't any common girl either, he was the little favourite of the entire town, their pride and glory, from what Sehun had picked up on. Also talented beyond belief.

"And um...the...the kiss...that kiss you shared with--"

"The Chief?" Luhan asked, eyebrows raised. "That's how we greet the wise elderly here. It's a show of respect."

Sehun furrowed his eyebrows, tightening his grip around Luhan's hips that he'd been so graciously allowed to hold. "Are you sure?"

"Very sure." Luhan nodded. "You, for example," he indicated to Sehun with his hand, leaning a little closer to his face and whispering, "I would greet you with the shake of a hand, or a light kiss on the cheek."

"Not the lips?" Sehun pouted, eyeing Luhan's small ones longingly. "I'd say I'm pretty wise...and slightly old. Older than you, anyways."

"No, not the lips," Luhan laughed, his eyes turning into little crescents as he smiled. Cute. "That kiss is only for people who we're close to, who we respect and love."

"What if you become close to me?" Sehun challenged. He didn't know why he was being such a sleazy dog; it was very unbecoming of him, but something about the mood and ambiance he was in right now made the words fall right out if his mouth like a little dam breaking on water that was far too pressurized. Maybe it was the wine. Was their wine higher in alcohol percentage than the rice wine of the West?

"I'd still have to love and respect you," Luhan reminded him, in good humour, and Sehun was glad that at least Luhan was still amused and not appalled.

"That'll come in time," Sehun insisted, feeling like he was doing a moderately good job of charming this boy. He dared to lean in a little closer, his lips only air particles from Luhan's so that he could almost swallow his breaths.

Luhan closed his mouth and grinned brazenly, leaning back ever so slightly and turning his head to the side, spinning the two of them around in a fast curve. Damnit, he'd been so close.

"Do you want to sit down and catch your breath?" Sehun suggested, feeling his legs tire slightly and his arousal scream at him. "We could get out of here..."

Luhan shook his head, the alluring grin still playing there. It was driving Sehun crazy. "I'm good. My stamina is top notch."

"I'm sure," Sehun said before he could stop himself, trying to take the lead back in their whirlwind dancing, but Luhan was too controlling. He was thin, extremely so, but Sehun could feel the lithe muscles in his arms and even his back, pulling.

Thankfully, the other didn't seem to have heard him, and just kept at the steady pace, now almost grinding against Sehun, which he was sure wasn't a very normal thing to do while dancing. Or was their society just more sexually liberated than his own? It certainly seemed so with all the kissing. Sehun felt like he was learning new things every second.

He was moving around in a world with Luhan at focus one moment, the entirety of it all so exciting and great, and then in the next he began to feel everything around him fade slightly, his legs refusing to stand straight and shaking as if they were holding up an excessive weight. Sehun couldn’t really do anything to warn the little dancer as he fell forwards, onto him, dipping into a world of completely alternate images.

*

His back was sore when he came to. The air around him was suffocating hot, and he could feel himself laying on something hard, his tailbone digging into it. As he managed to open his eyes (or rather unglue them, because his lids seemed to be almost stuck together), he was flooded with the vision of a mustard ceiling drape with dark inscriptions on it. It took him a minute to understand where he was and what was going on, because everything looked foreign to him for at least a minute. The very second he’d opened his eyes he’d almost been convinced he was at home in his room, except the deep mustard cloth above him didn’t remind him much of the stone ceiling of his palace in the very least, and then he remembered it wasn’t this warm in the west either.

He blinked his eyes a few times, flexing a few muscles to make sure all his limbs were there and twisting his neck to get a better look at his surroundings. He suddenly felt a pressure near his lower abdomen, as if he really had to go relieve himself in the bathroom, but as he craned his neck up he saw that there was a person rested there, and not just any person, but that really pretty one he had danced with yesterday, his eyes closed and mouth slightly open while he seemingly slept with his head right on top of Sehun's pelvis.

Sehun just stared at him for a while, wondering how they'd ended up here, just like this. He reflected back to last night and remembered having the time of his life with the beautiful, maroon-clad boy, who had danced with him and spoken to him and somehow stayed with him over night. Then he remembered suddenly falling on top him as he blacked out, and cringed, gluing his eyes back to the boy's sleeping face. The allure from yesterday was completely gone, and he now looked roughly six years old, give or take a few years, snoozing like a newborn child.

"Um...hello?" Sehun said cautiously as he reached out and touched Luhan's face, stroking a hand gently over his cheek and down to his philtrum. Long lashes fluttered open, and he drew his hand back in a flash, watching deep brown eyes slowly find his own.

"Oh," the boy just said, pulling his head up from him slowly and straightening out Sehun’s clothes under the spot where he'd slept. Sehun was still in his sheepskins, he noticed. Still in the thin slacks and his trusty shoes. "I'm sorry. I was watching over you and I must have fallen asleep."

"I don't mind," Sehun said quickly, sitting up from the rather hard mat he'd been laid on. He recognized the tent as his own now, the one he'd been given by the Chief for his stay, where he’d had his first meal upon arrival. "What happened to me yesterday?"

"I think you fell asleep," Luhan mused, looking up as if thinking on it. "You must have been so tired from your long journey that you couldn't push the sleep away any longer."

Well, that was embarrassing beyond belief. And here Sehun had thought that maybe he'd fainted from fasting for so many days or that he was coming down with some deadly disease, but no, he'd just fallen asleep while standing. What a laugh. Thankfully, Luhan wasn't laughing, and Sehun hadn’t been conscious to experience it when it had happened; all the eyes on him and the effort to get him back in his hut. Surely Luhan hadn't carried him all the way there.

"I'm sorry for the trouble. You didn't have to stay with me,” Sehun said quickly, scratching the back of his head with his hand. How long had Luhan been sitting there with him? Had he stayed there since last night?

"I wanted to," the boy said with a mellow smile, his eyes soft and genuine. "You're our responsibility."

Sehun laughed nervously, feeling for the fiftieth time that these people were too kind for their own good, a trait he wasn’t very familiar with or knew how to handle particularly well. “You didn’t carry me back, did you? If you did, I’ll have to find some way to pay you back for breaking your spine.”

“No, I didn’t,” Luhan assured him, his grin widening so that Sehun could see his pearly whites peeping out. They were bright; like the rest of him. “I wouldn’t have made it all the way here if I’d tried.” Luhan placed his hands on his knees, then pushed himself off the ground. “Two of my clansmen did.” His smile disappeared as he turned around, heading to the tent opening, but an imprint of it was still etched into Sehun's eyes, and he wanted it back.

"Wait..." he started lamely, feeling slightly down about Luhan leaving already. He wanted to keep him there, for some reason, for some time, though he knew he shouldn't. Luhan had already stayed with him the entire night; he could see the bright light hitting the yellow cloth above him. He also must be tired and want to wash himself and change his clothes after dancing for them near the fire all night. He really should have let him leave.

"Yes?" To his surprise, Luhan turned back around, and the smile had never left his lips. Sehun was spellbound then, not sure what he was to say to the boy now that he'd had him turn around and put a halt to his leave. He felt so greedy it almost made guilt coil painfully in his stomach, but he couldn't help himself.

"Can you...take off the cloth on your head? I want to...see more of you..." He held his breath after he'd uttered those words, dying of shame because it sounded like he had none. Telling one of the villagers to undress; what right had he? Oh Lord forgive him, he was losing it. This was the paranoia from travelling the blinding desert, from leaving his family and people behind and abandoning his heritage.

But the boy, bless his soul, somehow seemed to find it a reasonable request. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, his small mouth pursing. "Fair enough. But...only if you can tell me where you've seen me before."

Seen him before? Sehun had most certainly not. He was sure he'd notice if he was staring into the face of such a timeless beauty. Hell, his eyes alone were mesmerizing.

"In my dreams?" He tried, offering a doltish smile.

"Very funny," Luhan commented, sighing and making his way over to where Sehun was sitting down. He crouched to the ground to level with Sehun's face, staring him in the eyes. "You were equally stupid when I first met you."

Sehun scoffed, making a face. "Excuse me? Is this about my lame attempt at asking you to dance yesterday? I know it was rather reckless, but--"

"Do you like milk?" Luhan interrupted him with, and his face looked so serious that Sehun thought he'd misheard the question.

"What?"

"Milk," Luhan repeated, leaning his head in his hand casually and observing Sehun's face. "Do you like it?"

Sehun wondered if the boy had lost his marbles for a short second, and was prepared to grimace even more or scoff at the boy for playing around with him, when he suddenly remembered, like a rock hitting him in the head, fallen from a clear sky.

"Wait...you..."

"There's not as much money in your pouch as you think," Luhan said cheekily, picking at the hem of his skirt and flicking at his gold anklets. His eyes were equally distracted by the trinkets. "Most of it will buy you nothing in our village anyways; we don't accept or convert foreign money. It's rather useless unless you go back to your kingdom to make good of it all. But why would you go back if you spent so much effort trying to get here, am I right?"

Sehun stared at him, boring his eyes into his face and trying to imagine Luhan as the little thief he'd encountered as he'd first stepped his foot inside the village boundaries, the one who had made him run all the way out again, and then back in simply because he'd had to chase his money. Luhan didn't particularly add up to the scrawny, rather filthy little thing he'd had the displeasure of running into yesterday. Maybe he was just playing with him.

"But you..."

Luhan rolled his eyes, reaching a hand up to grasp the cloth over his head and yanking it off, revealing voluminous locks of matted, blond hair, just like the boy he'd seen. Except his hair had pretty clips in it this time, pinning it back. No wonder he hadn't even seen a peek of it while Luhan had been dancing.

"The eye sees what we want and expect to see," he heard Luhan say. He was folding up the head cloth he’d been wearing, making neat squares with it, each one smaller than the other. "Messing up my hair doesn't make me a poor boy, though you probably assumed I was one. You've been misled by your own illusion."

Sehun could do nothing but stare. He clearly remembered the boy he'd run into having ribs that showed from under dry, blemished skin and dirt that was caught in his fingernails. Had he been wrong? Had that really been all in his head?

He felt a lump in his throat and tried to swallow it down, but it was persistent. Instead he rasped out, "But...why did you steal my money...and then give it back to me?"

"It was practice," Luhan said simply. Sehun was supposed to be hanging off the edge of every word he was saying, but he had to admit he was slightly distracted by the new scope of view he had of the boy, a whole canvas of pale skin and pale hair flaunted to him. He didn't even look real. Perhaps Sehun had lost himself and was headed into an Alice in Wonderland-esque trip of mild insanity and irrevocable slumber.

"Practice for what?"

"The caravans, of course," Luhan said, as if it were obvious, as if Sehun was a fool for not knowing the answer. "They pass by our town and steal food and small animals, so I normally steal things from them as compensation. Rogue caravans. I suppose you'd refer to them as bandits in your corner of the world."

"Right..."

"Plus, I genuinely wanted you to catch a glimpse of the great view from up there. It was nice, right?” Luhan looked excited again, his lips quirked up while he placed his head cloth away safely, tucking it in the waistband of his skirt. “That's my village at its best, you know. When you see it in its whole entirety, every little person and animal in the picture."

"Yeah, it was...it was nice. I guess." Sehun would be lying if he said his eyes hadn’t stayed glued to Luhan’s hips even after he’d finished tucking the cloth away. He was still wearing the burgundy attire from yesterday, with all the jewels and accessories that came with, and he didn’t look any less stunning during the day than he had under the moonlight and flickering flames. If yesterday he was alluring and mysterious and practically glowing, today he was crisp and bright and endlessly beautiful.

“So, mister healer,” Luhan spoke up, and Sehun forced his eyes back up to his face, hoping he didn’t look like a kid who had been caught with a hand in the cookie jar. “What brings you here in the first place? We don’t get visitors often.”

Sehun cleared his throat. He'd been asked that question so many times, but he had yet to answer it. He ran his eyes around the room as he tried to assemble a quick and plausible story in his head, wondering if his skills in information fabrication were still in touch. “I--” Had he brought herbs with him? Was he a spiritual healer or a new-age healer? Did he even know how to mend a broken leg? What if they ever asked him to perform? “I’m....”

“Did you get amnesia when you fell and hit your head?” Luhan asked with a chortle. “Or did you really have no aim or purpose in stopping by here?”

“That’s exactly it,” Sehun said with emphasis, pointing his index straight at Luhan. “There was no purpose.”

“Do your people back at home not need any healing anymore, then? I thought you were ‘The Amazing Healer from The Oh Kingdom’.”

Sehun frowned. He wished he’d thought this out better. “I’m...retired.”

“At...what are you, twenty-three?” Luhan asked, a delicate eyebrow raised. The way he said twenty-three had a satisfying lilt to it, and Sehun found he really enjoyed Luhan’s accent. It almost gave him extra character.

“Twenty-five,” Sehun corrected with a shrug. “Thirty on bad days.”

“Forgive me if I’m wrong, but that sounds a little young to be retiring, don’t you think?”

“Ah, but our cultures are different aren’t they?” Sehun reminded him, sitting up a little straighter on the mat under him, as if it would make him even the slightest bit more credible. “In the Oh Kingdom, we like a young and agile workforce, one that can take a hit and get the job done quickly. We can’t have the working population surpass thirty; that would practically be wasteful.”

Luhan furrowed his eyebrows, looking confused. “But you said you were twenty-five...”

“Thirty on bad days!” Sehun sighed. “Being a healer is tiring; it’s worn me out. I don’t perform like a used to. So, I decided to go on an adventure now that my kingdom has no use of me.”

“Did they cast you out?” Luhan asked, both eyebrows raised this time and his eyes raking over Sehun’s form in suspicion. “I heard they’ve been exiling quite a handful of people these days. The Chief said he saw some wandering up north.”

“Of course not!” Sehun snorted. “If they’d exiled me, I wouldn’t have the I.D. necklace, would I?” He reached into his shirt and pulled out the long black string with the silver rectangle at the end, swinging it in front of his face. “Born and bred I am; they would never outlaw me. Goodness knows they miss me and my skills already.” Sehun babbled on, pushing some hair out of his eyes.

“Can I see that?” Luhan was eyeing his I.D. tag, focusing his eyes on it as if trying to read what was inscribed.

Sehun shook his head, tucking it back into his shirt. “I don’t trust it with anyone but myself. If I lose this I’m as good as outcast, unfortunately. It has my birth number and rank on it and everything. But you probably know that already.”

Luhan shook his head. “I don’t.”

It was Sehun’s turn to raise his eyebrows now. “You don’t?”

“I don’t know anything about the outside world or the Oh Kingdom other than what I’ve heard from the storytellers.”

“What have you heard?”

“Oh, this and that,” Luhan tilted his head from side to side as he spoke, punctuating his words. Sehun found himself jovially tasting Luhan’s eastern dialect on his tongue, liking the way it was sharp and soft at the same time, with a slight roll to it that was hard to miss out. “Trivial things probably. Some facts lost in translation, perhaps. I know you’re the most powerful kingdom around, though. That much is easy to figure out.”

“Have you heard of their handsome princes?” Sehun tried, feeling unnecessarily smug inside. “Well, one is more handsome than the other, but who’s keeping score? They’ve been quite important figures concerning the kingdom’s growth, I’ve heard.”

“I didn’t know the Oh Kingdom had princes,” Luhan said casually, shrugging to himself. “I just know they have a king, whatever that is. I’ve been told it’s similar to the position of our Chief.”

Sehun’s jaw dropped. “You don’t know what royalty is?”

“Like you said, our cultures are different.”

“Apparently," Sehun agreed, sending his eyes around the room he was in once more. It was rather stuffy in there, but he supposed it would have to be that way with the blazing sun overlooking everything. The stuffy air was almost marinated in the other smells of the room, making them ten times more powerful. It smelled different than the Chief's hut, not so much food centred, but more geared towards idyllic smells, lavender and roses from what he could pick out with his dulled senses. What a sensory experience. It was like olfactory treasure, and he was Christopher Columbus, discovering the wonder for the first time. The Oh Kingdom consisted of mainly barren land. Barren land and sterile surfaces with which they built their houses and living areas, sparing no time for details or tradition or smell. Their food was stale and tasteless, even if it had been quite lavish at the castle. So essentially, coming from all that nothingness and being plunged into this village with character and explosive presence, it was quite the experience.

“How do you know so much about our culture?" Luhan asked, his eyes still focused in on Sehun while Sehun's own had been wandering. Luhan was a very attentive little thing. Curious, perhaps.

“Well, I wouldn't say I know much," Sehun corrected, pulling at his shirt neck a little to loosen it. He was feeling oddly heated and confined. "But I’ve made sure to educate myself.”

“Are you calling me uneducated?” Luhan asked with a straight face, and Sehun felt himself freeze up, his palms beginning to grow sweaty.

“No-- no, that’s not what I was...I just...” He tried to backpedal, but he was stumbling over his own dumb words, unable to figure out exactly what he wanted to say. Maybe the heat really had gotten to him. He was usually quite eloquent and clever, always knowing the right words to pick out and string together; one of his many talents. He'd seen talent here in this village that far surpassed anything he had to offer, though.

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