Slate had awoken beside Willow not long after they had curled up beneath the furs together. He watched for several long moments as the boy breathed slowly and steadily, deep in slumber, his heart had felt full.
This life was the first one where he had been able to spend time with his lover from childhood, even if this was in fragmented moments, each sunrise and sunset together was precious. It had been both difficult and easy to adapt to the fact that his adult mind was lingering within a small child's body. Difficult, as it was hard to deal with the men and women around him who spoke down to him, as if he was not mature enough to understand, to handle other forms of address. Easy, as Willow had been.. and still was.. like a burning star in the sky, full of bright inner light and seemingly inexhaustible energy, most of the time. Everyone, even Willow, had their off moments after all.
But perhaps nothing was as difficult as feeling the sexual urges return as his body hit puberty. The desire to touch him, the need to hold him, the sour thoughts that flooded his brain in those times that they could not be together and the dreams of his past that plagued him. Time after time, he had to remind himself that Willow did not remember him that way, that Willow was not ready in this life.
And that first time, when Willow had sat between his legs as he had stroked his erection for him, it had taken all his willpower not to plunder his tender arse there and then.
Lost in these thoughts, he stroked Willow's soft green cheek with one finger. He had given himself to him. Yes it was due to curiosity and the release that he insisted only Slate could give him, but while inside him, it was as if Slate finally felt complete again. As if the past few years of torture had not happened.
Slate felt his heart melt for his lover all over again. How was it possible that he could love him so much more than he already thought he did? It was as if the boy was as much part of him as any of his cells, a part of his soul. "I love you," he whispered into the shell of the boy's ear. Willow swatted away the tickling breath and had turned over, causing Slate to chuckle.
Slate did not return to the village that evening, he planned to watch over Willow all night, the forest boy was especially vulnerable lying upon the ground at night. Though the forest denizens were all asleep, it did not mean that the creatures of the caves would not attempt to attack him. However, what he wished was not always what was possible.
The pendant lying upon his tunic began to glow brightly.
*Mission; Locate And disarm the explosive devices.*
A compass point glowed upon the surface of the pendant, pointing towards the tunnel that led to the village. Slate felt torn. "But I can't leave him here like this!"
*I will watch him.*
It was the first message Yang had ever given him outside of the missions and though Slate remained reluctant, he was aware that these missions were meant to keep his lover safe. "Okay," he agreed and left the cave for the underground world, but not before taking one last look at his sleeping Willow.
*****
Amber casually walked past the barracks, glanced into the arena to scan over training youths and their experienced trainers, before casually making her way back past the barracks. Two groups of hunters had left the barracks as she performed her unsubtle routine, but the one she was looking for did not appear.
Although it had been two years since a formal engagement had been rejected, she had not given up hope that Slate would become her husband one day. She believed deep within her soul that it was destined.
Oh how she had cried on the day she finally discovered that Slate's grandfather had declined the proposal on the boy's behalf. She had refused to leave her room for a week despite her father's urging. "Come now, I'll speak to the Elder again, I'll make it happen for you, pebble!" Her father had crooned.
"No," her brother had said as he listened to the man's words. "If you force this, you will drive them both further away."
"But what should we do, brother," Amber had wept. "How can I make him love me?"
"It would be better if you stopped chasing him like a mole digging for worms," the boy had suggested. "Try getting closer to him in more gentle ways."
"How?"
"Start by becoming his friend."
This was easier said than done. Slate was known as being a bit of a loner in the village. He seldom hung around with the other hunters his age unless it was to hunt, patrol or train. When he wasn't performing his duties, he usually left the village with no one the wiser to where he disappeared to. So she had started her campaign by 'bumping' into him one evening when he had just left the barracks to apologise for her father's pushy proposal.
"I had no idea that he was planning on trying to wed us," she lied and artfully managed to summon a blush. As she had apologised in front of a small crowd, Slate had no choice but to accept her explanation and apology. "I do hope you won't hold it against me when we see each other from now on."
"Of course not," Slate had replied. Wiping clean her misdeeds and starting afresh their relationship meant that he had to acknowledge her when she greeted him in the street. But, although he was not specifically avoiding her or anything, he was harder to pin down than sea slime to a rock wall. If she really wanted to see him, she needed to 'bump' into him coincidentally, which meant hovering around the barracks or the eastern tunnels, where he usually disappeared into. She tried not to use this method to much, less he get the wrong idea and begin to avoid her again.
As he clearly was not in the barracks, she headed for the tunnels, only to see him ducking into a cavern entrance a little south of those tunnels. Naturally, she followed him. He was staring at something in his hand and did not seem to sense that she was there, but the caverns in this area were interconnected creating a space that was confusing and easy to get disoriented within. It did not take long for her to lose him. It did not take long for her to lose herself.
With a sigh, she sat down upon a boulder and waited. This was why she did not usually venture far from the village. She had a horrible sense of direction. Hopefully, Slate would come to her rescue and she would have a reason to thank him and maybe invite him to dinner and then they would become closer and he would visit her more often... as she began to indulge in her fantasies, someone did find her. But it was not Slate.
"What are you doing here?" Her brother asked. He was carrying some satchel, which looked full and heavy, but his muscular arms did not look burdened.
She sighed and replied; "I was following Slate, but I got lost."
"I wonder what he was doing down here," Basalt mused as he shrugged the bag up to a more comfortable position upon his shoulder.
"Probably the same thing as you," she replied, not interested either way.
"Ah, one of the miner's forgot his supplies," he murmured. "I was on my way to where his wife claims he usually mines. Anyway, I'll take you back to the village first." Amber nodded and began to follow him.
Just as they reached a familiar path within the tunnels, they heard a voice echo within the cavernous area. They were unable to locate the source as it bounced about the ceilings and walls, through smooth holes and over rough ground, but each word was as clear as if it had been spoken directly to them. "What do you mean, that I need to intercept him and the people with him? I thought you were going to watch him while he was asleep!"
"Was that Slate?" Amber mused aloud. Basalt shrugged, but just as he did this, they noticed his form dart down intersecting tunnels nearby and vanish from sight. Basalt frowned, looking torn between duty and curiosity. Amber was not so torn and convinced him to leave the bag behind for a while and dragged him to where they had seen the boy go. This time she would find out where her beau disappeared to so often.