Phayu made a displeased, “hmph” sound making Rain look up from where he was planning the renovations of the lower rooms of the tower. P’Phayu was scowling at a letter he had received this morning.
“What’s wrong, P’Phayu? You seem upset.” Rain says.
“The letter is from the wizard council, they are impressed with the work we did on stopping the earthquake.” P’Phayu says. “They are interested in making my methods more widespread since they save on resources.”
Rain makes a sour expression at the life force of the village boys being called resources. “But that’s a good thing isn’t it?” Rain asks in confusion.
“It is, it’s a very good thing. I’ve been trying to convince them for years.” P’Phayu says.
“Then what’s wrong?” Rain asks.
P’Phayu sighs, “They want me to take an apprentice, in fact he is already on his way here.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Rain asks.
“No not necessarily bad,” P’Phayu runs his fingers through his hair as if he is stressed. “It’s just that he will need to observe everything that I do to learn properly.”
Rain, nods that makes sense.
P’Phayu gives him a look like he is still missing the point. “Everything” the wizard says, putting strong emphasis on the word.
Rain frowns for a minute, then his eyes fly open wide, “You mean he will need to watch us doing that?”
“Only if you are comfortable with it. It would be the easiest way but I can figure out something else. You don’t have to decide right away either, there will be plenty for this,” P’Phayu glances at the letter, “Prapai to learn first. When will Sky and the others be here?”
Rain smiles at this, “The day after tomorrow. I have the plans all drawn up to get started.”
Rain goes to stand by the wizard, showing him what he has been working on. He gives a gasp of surprise when P’Phayu takes him by the wrist and pulls him into his lap putting his arms around him and taking the plans to look at.
He bends down to study the plans and he is so close Rain can feel the wizard’s breath on his neck. It makes Rain shiver pleasantly. “Good job,” P’Phayu croons in his ear. Those words never fail to affect Rain.
These days Rain can never seem to get enough of P’Phayu and the wizard seems to feel the same. Sky will probably roll his eyes and say they are like one of the newly married couples back home but Rain doesn’t care. Even when they aren’t working, especially when they aren’t working, Rain wants nothing more than to be touched by and held by P’Phayu.
P’Phayu kisses Rain on the neck and gives him a little nip right below the ear where Rain is most sensitive. Rain gasps and P’Phayu gives a low chuckle at this. He continues to trail kisses down Rain’s neck before while his hand slips under Rain’s loose shirt and starts playing with one of Rain’s nipples, the little nub getting hard almost immediately. P’Phayu slides his hand over to the other while moving a hand down teasingly playing with the waistband of Rain’s pants and softly trailing his fingers over Rain’s abs. Rain whimpers and squirms as the hand slips inside the pants and takes Rain’s cock in his hands, rubbing his hand along its length.
“P’Phayu,” Rain says slightly breathlessly, “please.”
“Please what good boy?” Rain doesn’t have to see P’Phayu to know that he is smirking. The wizard loves to tease Rain.
“Please fuck Rain.” This earns Rain an extra hard nip on his shoulder.
“Language.” P’Phayu says but he maneuvers Rain to slip down his pants and adjusts his own just enough to release his cock. P’Phayu reaches for the small bottle of oil he keeps at his desk. Because they had a session earlier, Rain is still soft and open, ready for P’Phayu to fill him. He moans as P’Phayu lifts him slightly and pulls his back down onto his cock. Rain grasps the arms of the chairs using the leverage to ride the wizard. P’Phayu reaches around and takes Rain’s cock in his hand. Rain loves the way P’Phayu’s big hand feels stroking him. Rain feels himself slip over the edge as he reaches his climax, almost at the same time P’Phayu groans in his ear and shudders. Rain leans back against P’Phayu’s chest, exhausted but feeling very blissful.
Sky is used to keeping secrets, he had been keeping them his entire life. From the time he could talk he knew better than to tell anyone where the bruises came from, claiming to get them while playing. He never told anyone that his parents sometimes got so drunk that they forgot to feed him and he had to scrounge for scraps that people threw out. He especially never told anyone how his parents sometimes sold him to strangers for coins to buy their precious drink.
His parents hadn’t completely managed to break him despite all their efforts. By the time he was fifteen, Sky had enough, he knew he had to get out. It wasn’t hard to find a night when his parents were passed out drunk, the hard part was finding the courage to grab his small bag of possessions and run.
Along with his scant possessions and the clothes on his back Sky had a few coins he had managed to squirrel away from doing odd jobs over the years. He had been hiding them carefully under a floorboard so his parents didn’t discover them.
Other than that he had left everything behind. Even his name. That next morning as the sun rose and he breathed free air for what felt like the first time in his life, he had chosen the name Sky. The reason he settled on that name was that morning sky to him had been his future finally looking like hope to him. That was one thing his life had been short on.
He had come to this small village and taken work as a gardener. He had always loved plants and the family he had worked for was kind to him, giving him a room and making sure he always had plenty to eat. Sky had never known people could be kind like that. It was during this time that he had also met Rain. Rain was the most innocent and open person Sky had ever met. He had a bubbly sunny personality and often made Sky secretly smile, although Sky often told him he was annoying and a pest.
Eventually he had saved enough to buy his own dwelling and had his own garden. It was a quiet, peaceful life and Sky loved it. If sometimes he was a little lonely then that was okay, he knew better than to let people in. Rain was the only exception he was willing to make and even with Rain he didn’t share details about his past with.
Sky had thought that nothing could truly hurt him after his past, but the day Rain had been chosen for the tower he felt as if all his breath had been stolen from him. Not sunny, bubbly Rain, the only person Sky had let in beyond his walls for years. It wasn’t fair. He would have done anything to swap places with his friend, it would have been so much better to be him. He had kept a brave face for Rain the rest of that day. Once alone in his own home that night all the pain had come to the surface. He didn’t cry, he hadn’t shed tears in years. Instead he lets out screaming dry sobs while rocking back and forth.
He had been surprised a few days after Rain left for the tower when he received a message from Rain saying he was fine and would be visiting the village that weekend. The wizard was bringing him for a visit? That was unheard of among the boys that went to the tower. When Rain had visited him, Sky had been frankly relieved to see his friend looking well. Even more so to hear Rain was happy. Sky had worried about the future but he would support his friend no matter what happened. As long as Rain was happy, he was happy. He also relished the idea of helping restore the old tower with his friends. It was just the sort of work Sky loved to do and maybe P’Phayu would even agree to let him add a garden for Rain.
Their plans had been delayed by the pending earthquake and the draining magic the wizard had to do to prevent it, but now Sky was due to go to the tower tomorrow. One of the local families had agreed to take care of his garden in return for all the free produce and flowers that they wanted. Sky knew the family well and trusted them with his precious garden.
Rain had sent a message that P’Phayu had some important business to take care of, but Rain will be coming with the guards to escort the four of them to the tower.
Sky meets the others by the gate. Sig is teasing Por and Lee about not sneaking off to the deserted rooms of the tower when Sky arrives. Lee has a sunny personality and takes Sig’s teasing in stride, even firing back that Sig is just jealous he doesn’t have one like her.
Rain brings a carriage for the five of them since none of them, including Rain, can ride a horse on their own. Plus it’s good for all their luggage.
The first sight of the tower is amazing, but once inside Sky realizes why Rain wants it redone. Dark and dank are the only words that come to mind. Plus there is a damp smell that hurts Sky’s head. Rain tells them they will start cleaning and scrubbing everything tomorrow. He introduces them to Ple and Som. Sky doesn’t miss the look Sig gives Som, someone is smitten, Sky thinks. Both the siblings are extremely friendly though and Sky sees why Rain likes them so much.
The seven of them make a game out of cleaning out the rooms and scrubbing the tower walls and floors. They laugh at each other about how dirty they all get as they work. A lot of the furniture is only suitable for burning but they are in the middle of scrubbing down some of the better pieces in front of the tower when the new wizard apprentice arrives. The first that Sky realizes someone else is there watching them is when he looks up and sees the handsome man astride a beautiful chestnut mare. He is the most handsome man Sky has ever seen. Sky automatically tries to wipe his smudged face but ends up leaving it more smudged than before.
“P’Prapai?” Rain asks, coming up beside Sky.
The wizard pulls his eyes from Sky and smiles at Rain, “P’Pai, please. You must be Rain?”
Rain nods, “P’Phayu is waiting for you in his workroom. I’ll take you there.”
Sky stays back with the others but his gaze follows Rain and P’Pai as they disappear into the tower.
That night before bed, Sky has just finished washing up when something catches his eye in the mirror, causing him to drop the clothes he had picked up to put in for washing. There, on his shoulder blade, is a tattoo of a red fox that hadn’t been there before. It is like the choosing tattoos but no one has performed the choosing spell. Sky’s mouth goes dry at this wondering what it could mean.
Prapai had three natural talents that all bordered on magical, two that were discovered when he was very young and the last one not discovered until he was an adult.
The first talent discovered was an ability to heal. This was discovered when he was barely walking when he amazed his parents by healing the mangled paw of the family dog. The wound had been received in a dog fight years ago but at a touch from baby Pai it had healed. As the child grew he discovered his powers also worked on emotional wounds.
The second talent discovered was an ability to "read" people by looking in their eyes. This talent was discovered when he had already started his wizard training, which had begun when he was four. He couldn't hear thoughts or see memories, he could however read a person's emotions and tell when a person had old emotional wounds even when they tried to hide them.
The third talent, discovered as an adult, was for what he had dubbed sensual arts. He was especially talented at giving and receiving sexual pleasure, and used every opportunity he could to put this talent to use. He never believed it would be a practical wizard talent until he had heard rumors that a wizard had perfected the art of using sexual power instead of life-force to empower their spells. Pai immediately signed up to learn this process.
As Pai sat in his room the next morning, he couldn't stop thinking about the boy with the smudged face. Rain had said his name was Sky. He had been so cute, although that wasn't what had captured Pai's interest. Pai has seen his share of cute people, more than his share if he is being honest with himself. No, it was something in the boy's eyes that had Pai's attention.
What he had seen in Sky's eyes had been a little bit of sadness mixed with longing. It was buried deep, telling Pai that these were old wounds, but heavy ones. Pai doesn't know what Sky has been through but he has some serious emotional scarring.
Pai wants to use his healing talent for Sky, if the boy will give hine the opportunity. He's not going to lie to himself by saying that part of it isn't that he wants the boy, but it's not just sex. He also wants to help Sky if he can.
He lets his mind drift from Sky to Phayu. Phayu is a controller, good at controlling magic, weather, land, people, etc. He wouldn't have been a good match for someone else with controlling powers but his and Pai's talents compliment each other very well.
Pai gets dressed and goes down to meet with Phayu. He isn’t going to sit in on any of the “sessions” as Rain calls them until much later, if at all. To be honest Pai is pretty sure that part of the magic will be fairly easy to pick up just from the theory. After all, he has plenty of experience in that area. That was one of the main reasons he was chosen for this apprenticeship. Also Phayu seems to be very possessive of Rain, it had taken Pai all of five minutes alone with the two of them to realize their relationship wasn’t just a professional one.
Pai thinks about the day he might have his own assistant and a smudged faced cutie pops into his mind. He would like that, he would like that very much.
Pai is led into Phayu’s office, he almost grins at the sight that greets him there, Rain is sitting on Phayu’s lap as they go over some paperwork together. Rain looks up and greets him with a smile. Pai can see why Phayu has fallen for the boy so quickly, Rain has such a sunny and sweet personality. He exudes innocence.
“P’Pai, do you want breakfast? P’Phayu says you two have a lot to go over today.” Rain says.
“That would be nice,” Pai admits.
Rain bounces up and leaves the room to find Ple.
Rain sends Ple back alone while he goes to help the cleaning crew. Today they are moving a bunch of old bookshelves in the library. Some of the shelves need to be replaced and all need to be cleaned, but before that can happen there are what seems to be thousands of books that need to be removed and cleaned gently to remove layers of dust without damaging the more delicate ones.
Rain has just turned to ask Sky a question when the bookshelf he is cleaning collapses, sending Rain, his ladder, and the books down in a heap. Sky is also hit on the back by several of the falling books.
Lee runs to get help and comes back quickly followed by Phayu and Pai. Pai immediately moves to check on Rain. Phayu is there before him pulling books and pieces of rotten bookshelf off of Rain. Rain appears to be unconscious.
“Don’t move him,” Pai warns him. “Let me check him first.” Phayu nods at this and moves back slightly to give Pai room. Pai starts by holding his hand around an inch above Rain’s head. Then moving his hand down Rain’s body until he ends right below his feet.
“He’s ok,” Pai says, “He’s had a knock on the head, but not a bad one, a sprained wrist and a small fracture in one ankle. I can have him fixed up in a few minutes. Do you have a powered up stone I can draw a little energy from. Not completely necessary but it will make the healing process a little quicker.”
Phayu nods and sends Som to get one of the smaller stones.
Rain’s eyes flutter open and he starts to say something. “Lay still.” Phayu warns him, “Pai is going to heal you.”
Rain still looks like he wants to say something but lays still at a warning look from Phayu. Som comes back with a stone and Rain is quickly healed. As soon as he is pronounced fit he says, “Check Sky, he was hit by falling debris and books on the back.”
Pai turns to Sky who is standing close by, but the boy shakes his head and says, “I’m fine.”
Pai frowns at him, he is obviously lying, Rain must realize it too because he says, “Don’t be stubborn, Sky. Let P’Pai check you.”
Sky looks between Pai and his friend. Pai picks up something in his look and says, “Phayu can we use your office? I will examine Sky on my own.”
Rain starts to protest but Phayu says, “Of course.”
Once in the office Pai asked Sky to remove his shirt.
“You won’t tell Rain?” Sky asks.
“I will never do anything you don’t want me to.” Pai assures him.
Sky studies him for a minute then nods and removes his tunic. Pai’s eyes widen at the tattoo and at first this is what he thinks Sky is afraid of his friend finding out. It’s a choosing tattoo and it happens to be a fox which is Pai’s family symbol. That has some strong implications.
Once he pulls his eyes from the tattoo he gasps softly. There are some red marks and scraps from the falling debris, nothing too bad it would cause the boy some bruising and mild pain without healing. What causes Pai to gasp is the older scars, all several years old and broken in a way to indicate Sky received them in his childhood while he was still growing. Pai identifies some as burn marks and others as whip marks. He puts out a hand to gently touch one of these but Sky jerks away.
“Sky who…” Pai starts to ask.
“It doesn’t matter, that happened to another person,” Sky says, coldly. “Just do what we came here for.”
Pai quickly heals where he was hit today and says, "Sky, I can heal these scars if you like but there are so many. It will take several long healing sessions."
Sky gazes at him for a minute as if deciding then says, "What do you want in return?"
Pai decides to be honest, "It depends on what you are willing to give. If I had my choice I would like you to be my assistant the way Rain is to Phayu. I will heal you no matter what you decide, but you have seen the tattoo right?"
Sky nods, his expression going even colder, "Just a business arrangement?"
"If that's what you want." Pai says. He knows it won't be that for him but he will let Sky lead on this matter. He senses that Sky needs to be in control to help him heal as well. Sky has obviously had control taken away from him too many times in his life.
Sky waits in his room for P’Pai that night. He isn’t nervous, this part will just be sex and he knows that world well enough. They had gone together to talk to P’Phayu that afternoon while Rain was resting. If at all possible Sky wants to keep Rain out of this for as long as possible. If he permanently becomes P’Pai’s assistant he will need to talk to Rain. P’Phayu has agreed to keep it just between them for now and hands over several smaller power stones for them to practice with.
Sky is wearing only a towel around his waist, having bathed and prepped himself earlier. He is determined to get this over with as quickly as possible. There is a soft knock at the door, and Sky goes to let P’Pai in.
The wizard looks at him appreciatively making Sky flush slightly.
“Go lie down on the bed and we’ll start with a healing session.” P’Pai tells him. Sky is surprised he had expected the wizard to want to take his pleasure first. It’s been Sky’s experience that most men, well most people except maybe his small circle of friends, are assholes only wanting to take what is given and maybe return a few crumbs of what they consider kindness if they are feeling generous. Sky removes the towel and lays face down on the bed.
P’Pai sits down beside him and seems to study Sky’s scars carefully. Sky hates the scars because they remind him of when he was too young and weak to protect himself. He never wants to feel vulnerable like that again.
Pai runs his hands over Sky’s back and Sky feels a slight warmth radiate from the wizard’s touch. He starts to feel desire just from this small touch which surprises Sky. He turns his head away from the wizard and closes his eyes to concentrate on the sensation. P’Pai traces the scars he has been working on with one finger, causing Sky to shiver with delight.
“I think they are already fading,” P’Pai says. “If you want to, we can stop tonight.”
This suggestion annoys Sky for some reason. He sits up and pulls P’Pai into an aggressive kiss, not letting the wizard catch his breath as he unties the fastenings on his shirt and tosses it aside.
P’Pai breaks the kiss and says, “Sky are you sure?”
Sky rolls his eyes and says, “Will you please shut up.”
“Okay, shutting up.” P’Pai says with a grin and leans down to lick at Sky’s nipples. Sky throws his head back at this, just now discovering how sensitive his nipples are when the man swirls his tongue around them, taking his time on each one. Sky moves his hand down and rubs P”Pai’s cock through his trousers feeling it grow hard under his hands. P’Pai stands to remove his pants and underwear. Sky’s eyes follow his movements as he removes the small bottle of oil that Sky had placed on the table by the bed earlier that night. Sky takes it from him and pours some in his palm, he takes P’Pai’s cock in his hand and strokes it up and down, coating it in the oil. P’Pai lets out a moan at this.
“I want you inside me,” Sky says and means it. He is eager to feel that cock inside him. It’s something he has never felt before now. He pushes P’Pai back and straddles him, lowering himself down on his cock and riding him. He likes the feel of the wizard’s hands on his hips helping to guide him and the way the moans now escape him and he thrusts up into Sky.
Sky uses the remaining oil still coating his hand to take himself in hand and stroke in the same rhythm that he is riding P’Pai. He feels P’Pai spasm as he reaches his climax, cumming inside of Sky. Sky soon reaches his own pleasure cumming over P’Pai’s chest.
They go two more rounds then Pai helps to clean Sky up. It was probably Sky’s intention for Pai to go back to his own room, but Pai takes advantage of the boy’s exhaustion and gently lays down to cuddle Sky. He watches as Sky sleeps peacefully in arms for a while, gently brushing his hair back from his face. He knows for now Sky only wants a business arrangement, his walls have been built too high to let Pai be more than that for him. Pai thinks he may already be falling for Sky despite everything.
It's the whimpering that wakes Pai. He had fallen asleep with Sky in his arms but sometime during the night they had drifted apart.
The whimpers are soft, barely audible and are coming from Sky. Pai frowns wondering what sort of hellish nightmare Sky must be having to pull such hopeless sounds from the boy.
Pai lays a hand on Sky's forehead concentrating his healing power. He breathes easier when Sky settles into a peaceful sleep. Pai does have the ability to heal emotional scarring but it's an even longer drawn out process than physical one. The scars on Sky's back may take weeks or months to heal but the scars in his mind could take years.
"What have you been through, sweetheart?" Sky is young but has been a healer long enough to know that the world can be cruel to the young and innocent.
It's early morning, so after Pai is sure Sky won't have another nightmare, he decides to return to his room to get ready for the day.
They fall into a routine of healing sessions followed by varying degrees of intimacy during the nights. During the day Pai and Phayu study together while everyone else works on the tower renovations. Twice a week Phayu and Rain have private sessions to refill the energy orbs. Pai had been able to learn this process by studying the theory and much to Rain's obvious relief hadn’t needed to sit in on a session.
The scars on Sky's back have begun to fade and he hardly has nightmares anymore. He is healing emotionally. Still Pai has been unable to breach the walls that Sky has built around himself at all.
Sky takes turns being hot and cute when they are in bed together, but the rest of the time he acts civil but cold towards Pai. He has seen Sky laughing and playing around with his friend while they work, and he seems particularly attached to Rain, but he has barely given Pai so much as a smile.
"When will you get bored of me?" Sky asks one night as they lay together the afterglow of a particularly vigorous round of sex just fading. "The surrounding villages are full of people who are much prettier and more interesting than I am."
Pai isn't sure that there is anyone prettier or more interesting than Sky but he has long given up trying to convince the boy of that. Sky just tells him to save his "pretty words" for someone who believes them.
"Is that what you want? For me to get bored of you and go elsewhere?" Pai asks. He leans up on one elbow so he can study Sky's expression.
Sky shrugs, not meeting his eyes. "It's what will happen eventually anyway."
"How can I get bored of you when you are so cute?" Pai asks. Sky rolls his eyes at this and turns over to sleep. Pai grins and snuggles up to Sky's naked back. For some strange reason the more Sky pushes him away the more he wants to get close to the boy.
Pai is studying the book that Phayu has selected for him when Rain bursts into the room. Phayu looks up in surprise from the paperwork he has been going over. “What’s wrong sweet boy?” he asks.
“There’s a rider from our village, he says they need a healer.” Rain says breathlessly.
“Did he say why?” Pai says, standing up.
Rain says the one word that freezes him to the bone, “Plague.”
Phayu and Pai are adamant that Rain, Sky and the rest stay at the tower, while they are just as adamant that they will go with the wizards. “You can’t do this alone.” Rain tells Phayu, “You will need our help.”
“Besides, we have probably all been exposed. We all talked to the rider and Rain even helped him down from his horse.” Sky tells them. “What if we get sick after P’Pai leaves and he isn’t able to get back in time? It would be better to keep us close to the only healer around wouldn’t it?”
In the end it’s agreed that Phayu and Pai will accompany the rider back to the village and the rest of them will come with the guards and supplies afterwards.
Pai thinks he is prepared for the worst, he has dealt with plague before, but when he gets to the village even he is stunned by the sight. The village hall has been set up as a makeshift hospital. There are probably over 100 villagers laid out on mats. Many are too sick to move. Considering there are over 500 people in the village Pai feels like more people will be sick in their own homes.
He turns to Phayu, “Please tell me you have some healing skills.”
“A little,” Phayu says, looking around helplessly. “Can we really help all these people?”
“We can try.” Pai says.
He is already working with the worst cases when Rain and Sky arrive, friends and tower guards in tow.
Pai gives them all instructions, “Take the healthy villagers that are willing to volunteer and go house to house, try to get anyone sick here so we will have them all in one place. Phayu, you work on the ones that are the least sick first. Try to heal those and free up beds for the more severe cases. The rest of you assist us by bringing supplies, water for the patients, and power stones.”
Pai works through the night with the others to support him and by morning over half the villagers are healed. They have lost 34 people, some had already been found dead in their homes or were simply too far gone by the time they had been brought into the hospital. Pai is currently trying to save a small girl with a dangerously high fever, he is afraid she will be one of the ones he can’t save but she looks so small and helpless he has to try.
Sky is currently assisting P’Pai, holding power stones and water at the ready for when needed. He has watched the wizard with growing amazement and admiration throughout the night. Before now he had only thought of him as a charming but slightly shallow and completely shameless person. Sky knew P’Pai could be kind but the wizard has also always seemed a little arrogant and narcissistic to Sky.
Now Sky was seeing a new side to the wizard. He had seen him crying to the strangers that he couldn’t save and working himself to near exhaustion to save those he could.
P’Pai put a hand on the girl’s head and said in relief, ‘Her fever is dropping.” Sky scouts around to find the next patient and comes face to face with Rain.
“Is P’Pai free? It’s Ple.” Rain says with a scared look. “She collapsed while helping P’Phayu. Her fever is high.” The one rule P’Pai had for the group was to see P’Phayu immediately if they started feeling the least bit off. Apparently Ple had ignored her own symptoms and continued to work anyway until she was too sick for P’Phayu’s lesser healing skills to be of use.
P’Pai goes to her and Sky hands him a fresh healing stone. Som stands worriedly to one side with Sig by his side as P’Pai works on Ple. “She’ll be fine,” P’Pai tells them gently, “we got to her in plenty of time.”
After that they seem to turn a corner, they lose two more villagers, an elderly woman whose heart gives out and a younger man who had been in ill health his entire life. The rest of the villagers are out of danger and Sky insists that P’Pai rests. “You won’t do anyone any good if you get sick yourself. P’Phayu and the village doctors can treat the patients for a while.” The rest of them have had short rest periods throughout the night but P’Pai hasn’t stopped since yesterday afternoon.
There is a room in the back where they have been taking rest, Sky leads an exhausted P’Pai there and makes him lay down. The wizard is asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. Sky sits by him watching him sleep, he doesn’t realize that his face has taken on a tender expression and he reaches over and brushes the hair back from P’Pai’s face.
Rain brings him food and water and a portion for P’Pai when he wakes up. “P’Pai is a good person.” Rain says, looking at Sky thoughtfully.
“He is,” Sky says.
“Kind, funny, charming and handsome as well. Although not as handsome as my P’Phayu.” Rain says, causing Sky to roll his eyes. “You could do worse.”
Sky turns red and says, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Then why are you turning red?” Rain asks with a teasing light.
“I’m not.” Sky says.
“Your cheeks are as red as a summer apple.” Rain laughs.
“Be quiet, you are going to wake him up,” Sky says in an unusually sulky voice.
Rain grins and leaves to help the others.
In the end over three hundred villagers are healed and the remaining ones show no symptoms at all. It is a subdued group that returns to the tower, everyone is exhausted and a little sad over the ones they couldn’t save. Everyone knew that it wasn’t possible to save everyone but it still hurt.
After several days rest everything returns to normal around the tower. Well almost normal, Sky finds himself seeking out P’Pai more often. He just wants to spend time with the wizard getting to know his likes and dislikes. He finds he actually enjoys talking to P’Pai. He talks to the wizard about plants and his love for gardening and P’Pai tells him about his studies as a wizard. Sky knows he is in danger of falling in love with P’Pai or maybe he already has. He feels a tenderness towards the wizard that wasn’t there before. He sometimes even hugs P’Pai close when the wizard is sleeping, loving the warmth of his body pressed against his own.
Pai tries not to grin as he feels Sky hug him, he knows the boy thinks he is sleeping. Sky often hugs him like this now. Sometimes he even catches Sky smiling at him. Pai falls back to sleep feeling Sky’s arms around him.
“No,” Sky cries, waking Pai up. Pai looks over at the boy and realizes he is having a nightmare, the first one he has had in weeks.
“Sky, shh.” Pai says, laying his hand on Sky’s forehead. This is a bad one, maybe the worst nightmare Pai has witnessed yet. “Shh good boy I’m here.”
“Don’t touch me,” Sky cries out, seeming to come half awake but still caught in the nightmare.
“Shh, Sky, it’s me, your P’Pai.” Pai says gently.
“P’Pai?” Sky asks, sounding confused.
“Yes, it’s me.” Pai assures him again, he is surprised when Sky throws himself into his arms with a sob.
“P’Pai don’t let me go, I don’t want to have a dream like that ever again.” he cries.
“It’s okay, I have you.” Pai says, rubbing his back.
Pai holds him until he calms down.
“Do you want to know?” Sky asks him.
“Only if you want to talk about it,” Pai tells him. He wants Sky to always feel like he has a choice with him.
“I do.” Sky says, “I never have before but I want you to know.”
He tells Pai everything about his parents, the way they were and the things they did. Pai is shocked and saddened that Sky went through so much from such a young age. He feels tears streaming down his cheeks as Sky tells his story.
When Sky finishes he reaches out and touches Pai’s cheek gently wiping away a tear. “Why are you crying?” he asks.
“I wish I could have met you sooner, I wish I could have protected you from all of that.” Pai tells him and means it.
After that Sky doesn’t have any more nightmares. He still has healing to do but Pai promises him that he will be there to help with that, always.
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Notes:
Part two went a little darker on Sky's past than I intended. It was a dark plot bunny that I was forced to chase.