Chapter Ninety Two - Enduring Relationships

The night was quiet with a slither of a moon surrounded by an ocean of stars above the sleeping world. Chang Min had awoken a little bit before the end and had experienced the hazy amber aura caused by the artificial lighting that the humans of this world used instead of torch or Mage light, but he could definitely say that he felt less perturbed by the current world that was without. As he sat upon the wall, listening to the occasional rustle of leaves and the distant scuffling of unknown entities, he could feel the similarities between his home realm and this one in broken moments such as this.

But there were differences as well.

The spiritual energy was thin, not too different from his home realm, but different in the way that it was natural here for it to be so. That and due to the current situation the world had fallen in, this energy leaned towards being predominantly yin. But the other differences were the attachments; the attachments he had formed back in the realm of his birth were all in amongst that small group of travelling Cultivators that he had become a part of. Those he knew not the fate of he did somewhat feel the lack of, though as he had already found his Master, they were a little like shadows at the cusp of noon in summer in his heart.

In this realm, in this place he'd formed new attachments. Not so much with the people he'd protected in the army base, but here amongst this small family. And at this moment, in the quiet of the warm, solemn night, he felt strongly the attachment of one person who was not currently beside him.

Footsteps disturbed his musings and he glanced upward to witness Tyler and Eraj walking along the wall towards him. Both had pulled night duty this week with him, along with Harry and Arthur and two of the soldiers from the second property. One ability user would be paired with one ordinary person, Chang Min and Ren Zexian were the exception.

"How is it?" Tyler asked beneath his breath. He'd volunteered for night duties; the heat of the summer days had become unbearably too much for his slightly altered body. Eventually, his own abilities tempered towards the variant of ice would help him cope with future heatwaves, but at this time, he could only endure. It did not interfere with his other duties of providing drinking water and ensuring their ice cellar remained frozen.

Chang Min turned his attentions back out westward before replying; "About three li in that direction, there currently passes a small zombie hoard of roughly two hundred bodies. From their footfall, I'd say they were predominantly humanoid. They move north, as the rest." Tyler calculated; from what he had learned of the youth Nan Li Liang, a li was a length that differed in meaning over his father's ancestral history. However, they had deduced from speaking to both Chang Min and Ren Zexian that where they were from originally, it was somewhat over 500 metres. Where the strange pair were from originally... the rest of them had thrown this long since to the back of their minds. It no longer mattered in the scheme of things.

"Don't you find it odd?" Eraj voiced his opinion, thinking of the zombies that had brushed past the wall the previous night. His excellent night vision was not a fortune when seeing the distorted bodies of those that had once been human. Fortunately, the zombies had seemed less interested in attacking the wall for the food above their heads than they had been travelling north. "That they all seem to be heading in the same direction?"

"Like birds," Tyler mumbled, causing Eraj to look at him in question. "Don't birds fly south in the winter only to return in the summer? It's not impossible that the zombies aren't doing something similar. They all disappear by noon as well remember."

"Noon is when the yang energy is at its strongest," Chang Min replied, touching upon something for the moment, but it quickly escaped his grasp as he rose to his feet to begin his patrol. He would leave Tyler and Eraj here to continue to watch while they rested as he moved towards the pair watching a different portion of the wall.

Eraj watched him go. "He seemed a bit... distracted."

Tyler's expression was drawn into a sneer. "That's not surprising, did his burly shadow not leave on another mission with that army squad just the day before yesterday." Not only him, but Patrick also left the compound to assist, while two soldiers one again remained to receive Ren Zexian's teachings.

The gears took a while to tick in Eraj's mind before his eyes widened as he stared at Tyler in realisation, the latter nodding in confirmation. "Ah, everyone seems to be pairing off these days! Why do I have to remain single?!"

"No one is forcing you to," Tyler pointed out, but as both men's minds considered the lone single woman amongst them, they shook their heads in unison. Neither felt capable of wooing that one, even if Monika was in the mood to be receptive to such. Melancholy fell over both of the single and straight men, who then proceeded to comfort themselves silently that perhaps out of all of them, Jonah should be pitied the most.

However, as pitiful as they considered themselves to be, Dexter was experiencing dispiritedness of a different sort.

Just as the last body left the kitchen, stomach padded with a slightly oily breakfast of wafer-thin bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, sliced potatoes and half a boiled egg, Autumn began chopping the last of the harvested spring vegetables for soup for lunch. Dexter placed the damp t-towel to one side, planning on hanging it out to dry later, before he looked at his nearly inexhaustible woman.

Every morning, she was the first to rise to brew some sort of herbal tea and prepare a breakfast of sorts for their large family and the soldiers who'd already handed over the small supplies they'd brought with them to eat, naturally preferring home cooking to instant noodles, rice or pasta. And as soon as the many waves of breakfast were over, she'd handle lunch before taking a break to cultivate then beginning dinner. She did this day in and day out, occasionally with an assistant, but mostly she was content without. However, Dexter was not content at all.

Rubbing the stubble on his beard, for his last razor was waiting upon Shaun to clean it up and sharpen it's blades, he decided that things needed to change. Everyone in the base had at least a day off in a week to rest, everyone it seemed except his lover. His eyes narrowed in contemplation.

Ren Zexian's eye's were also narrowed in similar contemplation as he observed the slight frame of his lover as the youth examined the few melon vines sheltered in the greenhouse for the male and female flowers on the ones not yet bearing fruit.  Comfortable in the older man's presence, Nathan softly rambled on; "That empty house, it could be good if we can grow more things in some of the brighter rooms.  The strawberries, the radishes and the peas don't like the rain, but there's only so much room in here.  And the radishes aren't good in the heat." 

Actually, they could no longer eat radish or lettuce.  The high temperatures had encouraged these both to bolt and flower.  As it happened, the small, green seed pods produced by the radishes were still edible, but the lettuce leaves no longer tasted good and were tougher.  Nathan could only collect their seeds and wait until it was cooler to plant a fresh.  Some of the north facing rooms in the empty house could be good for lettuce growing...

"We'll speak to Dexter and the others about it," Ren Zexian promised as he sat in a relaxed manner close by, earning himself a bright smile which caused his aching heart to thump.

Following the hurried yet still unforgettable experience of their first joining, their relationship had not so much progressed as had taken a step or so back.  Nathan did not shy away from his kisses and gentle embrace, but would call a stop at more intimacy, not even following through on his original wish for Ren Zexian to help him when his body troubled him.  Instead, he would retreat and call forth water to shower.  Ren Zexian knew he had experienced some pain during and discomfort following, he could only bide his time at first, but it seemed that the more he waited, the more Nathan would push him to endure.

"Nathan," he said with an inaudible sigh.  The youth looked at him with crystal clear eyes.  "Do you dislike what we did that day in the empty house?"

Nathan blinked once or twice, his eyes sliding sideways, but he truthfully answered; "No.  It did hurt at first, but it made you well.  You stayed with me."

"Yes, dual cultivating with you did make me well," his eyes curved, joyful inside despite the frustration. "What about when I made love to you, after cultivating, how did you feel?"

"Scared."

Ren Zexian sat upright, slightly startled by his response. There was a flicker of concern within the depths of his black pupils as he questioned Nathan; "Why did you feel so?"

Nathan frowned, lines etched upon his brow, trying to find the words. "So many things..." he murmured then added; "My heart was racing really fast in my chest, I thought it would burst and my brain as well. I couldn't even see for a time, it was all white!"

Ren Zexian was swift to interpret his words; "I overwhelmed you," he rose to his feet to encompass Nathan in his arms. "I'll admit, making love to you was extremely wonderful for me and I would like to do so again, but when you are ready."

"You liked it?"

"Very much so," Ren Zexian advised him. "But if it frightens you, then I won't do so. I will wait."

Nathan nestled in his arms, laying his cheek upon the other's shoulder. What was running through his mind, only he would know, but what came from his lips was; "It was scary, but it was okay because I was with you. And I like you, Xian."

"I love you, Nathan," the Cultivator felt at ease in his heart, as if it sensed that everything would be fine between them once more. He'd tasted his beloved once and in doing so he'd become impatient to do so again. Their relationship was still developing, still being tested, that was normal. As long as they continued to communicate openly, continued to share affection, they would overcome this minor obstacle and all obstacles that formed in their way. Such a love would always endure.

The following day, breakfast, lunch and dinner were all types of stir fries. There were some complaints, which were quickly silenced by one glare from Dexter, who then proceeded to pamper his woman.