Chapter 74 - Laid Back

Note - If you have already read this chapter please ignore.

With a chuckle, he surfaces again to find the little snake red faced and panting hard.

The crayfish hugged his shoulders and whispered, "You tasted so sweet,"

Long Aotain closed his eyes and held onto the rock wall firmly. 'Goodness' sake,' he thought.

His body slowly started slipping down.

Xia held him up and chuckled, "Looks like my little snake is dazed again," he softly pecked his chin and dragged him towards the cave.

Past the water curtain, they both climbed onto the rocky surface to eth mouth of the cave. Long plopped himself near the entrance and closed his eyes.

Xi Che was a little worried seeing his behaviour. "Are you okay?"

With his eyes still closed Long whispered, "I'm fine, I think I'm still high," he rolled around with a silly smile on his face.

The little crayfish chuckled at his antics. "The sun is going down let's change and leave, ah," he said and pulled the little snake up.

"No~ I want to lay down for a while," Long mumbled.

Xia pouted. "If we start late, we might not reach the next town, ah. We would have to sleep in the forest again,"

Long opened his eyes and gazed at his lover. "What's wrong in sleeping in the forest? There is nature, the stars,.."

"The mosquitoes, bugs." Xia finished.

Long pulled him down and hugged him to his naked chest. "Ow come on, I will chase away all those pesky bugs and mosquitoes. No one gets to taste my lover's blood,"

Even in afternoon sunlight, the cave looked super dark.

There was a faint smell of herbs coming from inside the cave. He wanted to explore, but the little snake was hugging him without any leeway.

Xia scratched the newly formed bumps in his arm. "Too late for that,"

"Which bastard left a mark on you?" he softly caressed his bumpy swollen bite marks.

Xia chuckled out loud. "You are calling a mosquito a bastard." He pulled his collar down and showed him his new hickey, "aren't you calling yourself a bastard too? hehe,"

"No. anyone other than me is a bastard," he said in a whispered.

Xia swatted away few pesky mosquitoes and whispered, "Yeah, right, come on, get up. We should get going,"

"No, no, I want to stay like this longer," he whispered and hugged him tightly.

Xia softly touched his firm chest. With his wet fingers, he wrote something over and over again.

He wrote, 'Xia marries Aotian,' but the little snake never knew.

"So… Aotian ah?"

Long's heart stopped for a moment. "xia, i… I can explain. People are after me. I didn't want to put you at risk even more, I…."

The little crayfish kissed his blabbering mouth. "Okay, I understand, so stop being so nervous," he whispered.

"No! Me? Nervous? pst, I am not nervous," he said. But his sweating forehead, clamping muscled told another story.

"You said only your family calls you by your full name. So… do you have a…. Family?" Xia whispered in hesitation.

"I do," Long whispered. "I do have a family. My mother, father and I also have a brother,"

Xia popped himself up in joy. "Wow, hatchlings. You should have been so cute,"

"We are not hatchlings of the same batch. He is… quite older than me," Long whispered, caressing his lover's smooth back.

"Wow, elder hatchling, that sounds wonderful." Xia said with a grin. But his smile quickly faded away. "Even I should have had siblings, but by cruel fate they all died even before they were born," he whispered.

His mother had told him about his birth mother's demise and how his sibling were killed by a raven. He was sad knowing that.

Growing up, he always wanted siblings to play around in the river. He played with tadpoles, but soon they got legs and went to shore. He played with little fishes, but soon they too grew up and tried to eat him.

He even tried playing with a bird, thankfully his mother rescued him.

It was just Yukiya mommy and him, always.

He never knew he was so lonely until he met his little snake. He entered his life and literally turned it upside down.

'You are my treasure too little long,' he thought as he caressed his coarse jaw.

The little snake hugged him tighter. "Well… my sibling is your sibling to you know,"

Xia perked up. "Really!" he exclaimed. "Can I play hide and seek with him? Can I play 'go' with him? Can I fly a kite with him?"

"'sigh' you are making me jealous of my own brother," Long Aotian patted his arched back. "Really though, you are better off without his presence."

"Why? Is he mean? Is he dumb?" he whispered with his head tilted slightly.

"No, he is sweet and very smart, actually," Long mumbled.