#but pink sheep himself was actually pretty woke which is cool

[anqaspond]

not kidding

pink sheep is the epitome of he/him nonbinary

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Insomnia

A JSE Fanfic

Switch AU

It’s been so long, I missed these boys ;-; Many things happen in this story, mostly focused on programmer Anti. I feel like he hasn’t gotten a lot of love in this AU yet. There’s a certain villain who...doesn’t like him very much. Things happen. I’m too tired to write a more proper description. Enjoy

More of this AU found here

The phone was ringing. Or actually, not ringing, Anti kept his cell on vibrate. But the buzzing was loud enough to get Anti to look away from the computer screen where he was editing a video. He checked the caller ID, then after a moment of considering, he answered. “Why the fuck are you calling me at two in the morning?”

Schneep was unfazed by the lack of a greeting. “Why the fuck are you still awake at two in the morning?”

“Hypocrite,” Anti said, voice monotone. “I’m editing. Sleep is for the weak, all that. Uhhh, answer to my question? Now please.”

There was a muffled huff on the other side. “I just remembered that I have to ask you something. On Wednesday, Jackie has a free shift, so we were planning on meeting at Waffle Cone around noon. Do you want to come?”

“Two questions.” Anti turned back to the computer, clicking automatically as he cut out marked sections of footage. “One, I thought you had work on Wednesdays? Did Latte Lake finally fire you?”

“I traded my hours.” Schneep sounded like he did not appreciate the slight at his ability to do his day job. “What else?”

“Is anyone else coming?”

“Ah...” Schneep hesitated. “Yes...Jameson and Marvin will be there.”

“I’m good.”

“You need more than two friends, Anti!” Schneep snapped. “It did not go so bad with them last time, did it? Until you left early.” The last statement sounded slightly accusatory.

“I’m fine, really,” Anti said, shrugging even though Schneep couldn’t see him. “I’m not lonely.”

“Maybe so, but it is not healthy. For your mind! Humans are social, we need interaction.”

“Volt, please, I double-majored in psychology, don’t try to pull shit like that on me.” He’d tried to diagnose himself often enough.

For a moment, there was silence on the other end. Well, actually, there were some muttered words, but Anti wasn’t sure they were in English. “Anti, for the love of god, you are going to come to this thing and talk to people other than Jackie or me.”

“Or what?” Anti grinned.

Another silence. And then: “Or I will teach William how to say swear words.”

Anti froze. “You motherfucker.”

Laughter on the other end. “Honestly I am surprised he doesn’t already—”

“I soundproof my walls for a reason, bitch!” Anti sighed. “Okay, fine, Wednesday at twelve?” Three days from now. He didn’t have anything going on that day. Well, to be fair, he never really had much going on.

“Yes. We will see you then.”

“Cool. I’m hanging up now.” And he did. He opened up the calendar on his phone and made a note: Wednesday 12pm: Blackmailed into lunch.

Turned out that the call had ended at an opportune time. There was a small knock on his recording room door. Anti spun around in his chair and walked over, opening it and revealing a small, redheaded boy in dinosaur pajamas, clutching a pink sheep plushie. “Hey Will,” Anti said softly. “What’re you doing up? Tomorrow’s Monday, you have school.”

Will looked down, scuffing his feet on the carpet. “I had a bad dream.”

“Oh, that sucks.” Anti kneeled down on the carpet so he’d be level with Will. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yeah...” Will hugged the sheep plushie closer. “I’ve, uh, been having pretty weird dreams sometimes. But this one went bad. In the dream, I was with this strange man, and he was really gray and crying but he was really nice. We were in a house, but I dunno where it was. I was exploring for a while, but then I got to the basement. The guy was there again, but he was different. He looked happy, but I don’t think he was. He said he’d leave me alone for a while, and that he was gonna visit you.”

“Me?” Anti asked.

“He said, ‘your dad.’ He had a nasty smile, Dad. I told him to leave you alone, but he laughed. Things got very dark, and he said that when you weren’t around anymore I could stay with him, but I didn’t want to! He was scary...an’ I don’t want you to go away...” Will rubbed his teary eyes on the sheep plushie.

“Hey.” Anti pulled Will closer. Will closed the rest of the distance, hesitantly leaning into him. It was a silent ask for a hug, since Will knew Anti wasn’t always comfortable with that. But he was this time. Anti wrapped Will up in a warm hug, feeling his head burrow into his shoulder. “Maybe it was scary, but it was just a dream. It’s over now, and it’s not gonna come back. And I’m not going anywhere.”

“...promise?” The plea was a bit muffled.

“Of course I promise.” Anti rubbed Will’s back reassuringly. “Hey, if you want, you can stay with me on the sleeper sofa for the rest of the night. I was just going to bed.”

“You should go to sleep earlier, Dad.”

Anti laughed. “Maybe. But do you want to?”

“Yeah...”

“Alright.” Anti pulled away from the hug. “Let’s go then.” The editing could wait. He saved the project, it wouldn’t do any harm to let his computer go to sleep. And he was happy he’d taken the time to change into pajamas earlier, he wouldn’t want Will to wait and probably get even more scared.

So it was only a few minutes later when both of them were asleep, Will snuggled up to Anti’s side on the mattress that folded out of the couch. Though the apartment had two bedrooms, Anti had turned one into his recording room and slept in the main living area instead. He gave the other to Will, of course. Kids need their own space.

Since both of them were asleep, neither of them noticed the person sitting on the foot of the mattress, watching them.

---------------------

It's windy. Gusts are blowing his hair in front of his face. Frequently. He can hardly see where he's going. But between the moments of obscured vision, he’s walking against the wind, through empty city streets. This is not the city he’s come to know in recent years. But it’s familiar.

There is nothing. The buildings are hollow shells with glassless windows, and any cars are abandoned. He doesn’t know where he’s going, just that it’s important that he gets there. He’s been walking for a long time. There is blood in his mouth.

The city is overtaken by a gray fog, hiding everything from view. He stops walking, only to find that his heart stops when he does and suddenly he can’t breathe. The only way to keep that from happening is to keep going through the motions, even though there is nothing ahead. Some parts of him want to look behind him. But other parts warn him that there is nothing there. Or worse, there is something.

Movements are slowing. Something has grabbed his legs, but he is scared to look down at whatever’s dragging him. It feels bony and cold, and so very, very heavy. He thinks he knows what it is. Or who it was.

The fog clears, and the city drops. Sidewalks, buildings, roads, everything, all ending at a sudden cliff, like someone cut a part of the city out. There is not darkness at the bottom, instead, more gray fog. He can’t go forward. But the weight is gone. So he turns around.

There is someone there. Standing in the quiet. They stare at each other. Until there is a feather-light whisper falling in his mind.

“You deserve this.”

The bony weight returns and pulls him into the depths.

---------------------

When Anti woke up, he found he was standing at the window. There were only two in the apartment, and this one was located in the main area. It was open. His hand was on the sill. He quickly jerked it backwards.

He blinked and shook his head to clear it. How did he get here...? Did he sleepwalk? And...open the window in his sleep? He rushed to close it again, firmly. The sky outside was the type of blue between the usual daytime color and the midnight variety. He glanced at the clock. Five thirty. He glanced at the sofa. Will was still asleep, the sheep plushie flung across the mattress. The plushie was actually named Brian, which Anti had always found funny.

Anti sighed, smiling slightly. There were a couple more hours before Will had to wake up for school, and therefore before he had to wake up to walk him to the school bus. He could put aside one instance of sleepwalking, wait to see if it happened again. He quickly crossed the room, put Brian the sheep plushie back in Will’s arms, and climbed into bed again.

Yet, even though he promised himself he’d forget it, an uneasy feeling lingered, and he didn’t actually sleep for the couple hours he had left.

---------------------

Three days later, Anti walked into the establishment known as The Waffle Cone and immediately wanted to leave again. Why did he agree to this? Why didn’t he break that agreement? He yawned, then looked around the main room. It was pretty empty on weekdays, so it was easy to see the group of four sitting at a table by a window. Also Jackie was waving at him and shouting “Hey Anti over here! Over here!” Anti inhaled deeply, braced himself, and walked over.

“You made it!” Jackie stood up, hesitantly reaching out, waiting for the signal to continue. Anti shook his head. This wasn’t a good day for contact. Jackie withdrew, continuing to talk like nothing happened. “I told them you would come. I mean, free food and ice cream, what’s not to like?”

Anti mumbled a response, pulling a chair over from one of the other four-chair tables and sitting down with the others. Jackie was wearing his hoodie and round glasses, like always. His hair was tied back with a sparkly red clip that he’d probably bought for his daughter, since it wasn’t his normal style. Sitting next to him was Schneep, wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt and his blue scarf. He greeted Anti with a single wave.

Then there were the two other people, JJ and Marvin. Anti had seen them a total of three times before, but they were memorable. JJ with his thick mustache and posh accent, Marvin with his thick accent and posh clothes. Not to mention the last time Anti had seen these two, they’d been in the middle of a...strange situation, one neither of them was discussing with anyone else, apparently. The two of them were sitting opposite Jackie and Schneep, currently having a discussion between the two of them.

“We already ordered food, but we have free orders of fries!” Jackie said, pushing a basket toward Anti. Even though The Waffle Cone was technically an ice cream place, they sold food as well. “You can get something when the server comes back, if you want.”

“...sure, yeah.” Anti pulled the basket the rest of the way towards him, picking through the fries absentmindedly. He blinked slowly. Every time he closed his eyes, he was tempted to just keep them that way and pass out. His head felt heavy...

“Anti!”

Anti shot upward at the sound of Jackie’s shout. “Hmm, what?”

“Are...you okay?” Jackie asked, brows lowered in concern. “You were zoning out.”

“’M just tired,” Anti mumbled. “Haven’ been sleeping well lately.” Kind of true. When he actually went to sleep, he slept like a log. Except for the dreams. The strange, vivid yet surreal dreams that happened every night, every time he slept. They were...disconcerting, but they wouldn’t be such a problem if it wasn’t what happened when he woke up. One time when he woke up he was in the kitchenette area of his apartment, his hand resting on the knife block. Another time he was leaning over the bathroom sink full of water, his face close to the water and getting closer. The most recent dream ended with him waking up in his recording room with his gun in his hand. Which was especially worrying since he kept that in a locked box whenever it wasn’t with him.

Because of these strange wake up calls, he tried to not sleep at all. He passed out eventually, but he set an alarm on his phone for every fifteen minutes to help wake him up. He was sleeping through it more and more often, though. It got to the point where he scheduled an appointment with a therapist yesterday, but it wouldn’t happen until next week. Hopefully he wouldn’t do anything bad while sleepwalking.

Schneep looked over at him. “You look like shit.”

“Gee, thanks.” Anti threw a fry at him. It missed.

“I think your sleep cycle has been thrown off,” Schneep continued, undeterred. “It is important to have a regular one. Right, Jackie?”

“Right,” Jackie agreed. “If you have to, you can stay up late, but just make sure to do it at the same time every night. Oh, and Volt?” Jackie glared at him. “You know the expression ‘the pot calling the kettle black’? This is it, you’ve just made a prime example of that expression.”

Schneep made a face at him.

Meanwhile, JJ and Marvin had finished talking about whatever they were talking about. JJ glanced over at Anti. “Oh goodness, are you alright?”

“Fine,” Anti said firmly.

“Oh I see.” JJ was clearly not convinced.

“He’s been having trouble sleeping,” Jackie explained.

“Fuck off with that!” Anti threw a fry at Jackie. It missed again. “You don’t get to say the thing, I get to say the thing and I don’t want to.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that,” JJ said patiently. “Obviously you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but there are some types of tea that are supposed to help with that. If you don’t want to use pills or the like. I have some boxes I can give to you.”

“No, I’m good.” First off, he wasn’t in the habit of taking free things from people, they always wanted something back even if they said they didn’t. Second off, he was trying to avoid sleep. “I prefer coffee anyway.”

“Ah, a man after m’own heart,” Marvin popped in. Schneep nodded.

“Y’know, maybe that’s your problem,” Jackie said. “Too much caffeine.”

“Can we drop it, please?!” Anti hoped he was imagining the pleading note in his voice. “Let’s talk about something else. You two!” He pointed at JJ and Marvin. “Talk about something.”

Marvin raised an eyebrow. “A bit upstage, aren’ ye?”

“Oh yea, far shure I am,” Anti drawled, thickening his own Irish accent to an absurd degree. "Yer real bang on there, now feck off.”

Marvin grinned, which was the opposite effect Anti had intended. He leaned back in his chair, grabbing the cane that was always by his side and twirling it loosely. “Well, if y’want somethin’ to talk about, I’m still fairly new to this city, in a way. Anythin’ locals would know?”

“‘New in a way’?” Anti repeated.

“I’ve been here before, but ‘t was a long time ago,” Marvin admitted. “T’ings have changed. Jems has been a help, but more t’oughts and opinions is always a good t’ing, nobody knows everythin’, after all.”

Anti smiled. “Oh yeah, I can give you a grand tour. We can go down to the Kelly Bridge—”

“Anti, for the love of god,” Schneep muttered. Meanwhile, Jackie had flopped face-first on the table.

“—maybe drive down past the house on Aspen Street—”

Jackie popped back up again. “Nooooooooo!”

JJ’s head whipped over toward Anti. “Don’t you even joke about that.”

“Oh, wow, okay.” Anti raised his hands. “Just making a suggestion.” The corner of his mouth was twitching.

“The Kelly Bridge is s’posed to be haunted, right?” Marvin asked. “I r’member that one. About the bride and groom? Is this...house in the same vein? Are you plannin’ t’get me haunted?”

“No, I don’t think you’d get haunted. Just freaked out,” Anti shrugged. “This city actually has a lot of urban legends. The house on Aspen Street is probably the most well-known—”

“Because it’s freaky!” Jackie half-yelled. “Dr. Orwell, at my work, her cousin moved into that house and then died two weeks later. Nobody lives there now because everyone who has somehow died in under a month!”

“Not everyone.” Anti leaned on the table, grinning. He was relishing this, the way everyone was captivated by his story. Finally, a high in the last few days of just low moments. “It all started with that case about four years ago...”

“Oh god, I remember that.” JJ covered his mouth. “That was terrible.”

“What case?” Schneep asked, suddenly paying attention. “You’ve told me the creep story about the house, but never mentioned a case.”

“Really? Guess it never really occurred to me...” Anti frowned. “It happened about a year before you moved here, so you wouldn’t have heard it on the news like the rest of us.” Anti, Jackie, and apparently JJ had all been living in the city at the time. “I must’ve just assumed someone told you.”

“No, nobody talks about it,” JJ said firmly. “Because it’s bad enough that it happened, we don’t need to keep reviving it.”

“...but what if we do?”

“Anti, stop, please, the food’s going to be arriving soon and I don’t want to think about this while eating.” Jackie sounded tired of these antics.

“No, t’is sounds int’resting, keep goin’,” Marvin was leaning forward, clearly intrigued.

“Nah, I don’t want to push Jackie too far,” Anti waved it away. “Otherwise Schneep’ll punch me with his zappy gloves.”

“I don’t have them,” Schneep piped up. His eyes narrowed. “...right now.”

“Yeah, see? We can talk about something else. Like, uhh...” Anti trailed off. “Fuck, I dunno.” His brain was still a bit full of mush. Couldn’t come up with anything new.

Luckily, he didn’t have to. Food arrived at that very moment, and he had to admit that the rest of the time spent there was pretty fun. He probably would’ve enjoyed it more if he wasn’t fighting to keep his eyes open.

Still, he half-wished it lasted longer. Social engagement gave him some form of stimulus to keep him awake. Once he returned home, he put on loud music, tried playing more games, turned up the volume of his alarms, walked in circles around the main area, and it was still barely enough to keep him up long enough to pick up Will from the school bus stop.

The next few hours were an exhausted, lengthy blur. He tried his best, he really did. He managed to get all the way through dinner with Will. But soon after he sent Will to bed, he realized he was going to pass out, and there was nothing he could do about it. And that was the last thing he remembered.

---------------------

He’s in a dark room. There is no sign of light, not even aimless drifting in from windows or under door cracks. Someone is laughing. He walks forward, and runs into a table. His hands search the surface, grabbing a small rectangular object. It flickers, and lights. He still can’t see enough, but he can’t lose the small sphere of safety he gained.

There is a doorway, leading to a hallway. He walks through it. Somehow, even in the dark, he knows that this place is run down, that the family pictures on the walls have faces that have faded to gray.

Is that what will happen to him? Will he fade? He doesn’t think anyone would take care to keep him around. It was only a matter of time, wasn’t it?

He doesn’t like thinking about that fact—because he knows it is a fact—and so he concentrates on the solid here and now. There is still laughter. It sounds like a child, or perhaps children. He can pick out a familiar giggle, and he speeds up. He can’t leave him behind.

“But you will.”

The hallway doesn’t end. It just changes. Now there is the smell of copper, thick and cloying. It’s on him, it’s on his hands, and it won’t come off. He still walks forward.

And he is sure there is someone here.

There’s a movement, a gust of wind, and his light flickers out. He can’t get it back on, though he tries. He looks around the dark. “Where are you?! What do you want from me?!”

Someone touches his shoulder. He gasps, and flails away, hitting the wall of the hallway. He presses his back to it and looks and looks and looks and looks and

“You’re going to die, you know.”

It’s a statement of fact. But it sounds like someone is very happy this fact exists.

“I-I-I’m not—”

“I’ll tell your kid that daddy loves him. Now goodbye.”

The voice is gone. But there’s light—light in the distance, faint yellow, he can see it. He walks toward it—

Someone screamed.

He blinked.

“Anti!”

The light is coming closer—there’s a loud deep noise and a screeching sound—the lights are in front of him—they’re very...nice—

Someone tackled him with oof-inducing force. Suddenly he was rolling against a rough, hard surface that scratches at him through his clothes. The world became streaks of black and gray and blue until the motion stopped, and he was looking up at the night sky.

“What were you thinking?!”

That’s a familiar voice. Familiar...yeah. Who was it again?

“Anti! Fucking answer me!” A face, half-covered by a black mask. A man wearing a gray coat with glowing blue spots. The man grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him.

“I...” Anti closed his eyes slowly. He was really, really tired...

“Scheiße—Anti, no!” More shaking.

Anti opened his eyes to look at the man again. He hummed. “...Volt,” he said after a while, and started closing his eyes again. He was so tired that the spots where he hit the hard, rough surface only dully ached, when they should’ve really hurt, even burned.

“Yes! Yes, that’s me! Anti, what happened?! Can you tell me that? Tell me!”

“I was...it was dark...was looking for Will...in the hallway...” The words sound a bit slurred.

“What? What hallway?!”

“...dunno...” He could feel himself falling into the deep waters of sleep again.

“Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong, isn’t it? Anti, hang on, don’t fall asleep, I have to—I have to take you somewhere. Do not fall asleep!”

But it was too late. He was falling already. His head tilted sideways, and the last thing he saw was a man in gray.

---------------------

“I think he’s awake?”

“Why is that a question? Is he or is he not?”

“I don’t know. He’s kind of responding?”

“Maybe you shoul’ just slap him.”

“I actually tried that, he didn’t even seem to notice.”

“May I ask what happened?”

“I do not know how to explain it to you...”

“Try your best, ‘m sure we’d understan’.”

Anti opened his eyes just a little. Even that was a tremendous effort, so instead of going all the way, he stopped halfway through. He was lying on his side on a bed, underneath the covers. It was...really soft...he could sink into this...but he kept his eyes half-open. There were three people in the room. They all looked vaguely the same, and it took him a while to recognize them. JJ was standing nearest to him, recognizable by his mustache. Though Anti was a bit confused by the bluish glow around his hand, especially when said hand was grabbing his own. Schneep was also nearby, wearing his super suit but with the mask pulled down. He was pacing. Marvin was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, legs crossed and cane in lap.

And then Anti realized he didn’t know where he was, or why these people were with him. And he was probably asleep in from of them. That jolted him just a bit more awake. No, he couldn’t—why were they here? What did they want? What did they do while he was sleeping? He tried to get up but...god, he was so tired.

“Well...” Schneep contemplated his words. “There is...someone who I’ve fought a couple of times, when I go out on patrol.”

“The hero has a villain?” JJ sounded mildly amused.

“Yes, I suppose you could say that. Anyway, he showed up tonight. He...led me to a place.” Schneep stopped his pacing. “He laughed, and asked me if I was ‘fast enough to save him.’ His exact words. And it is lucky I looked around at that moment, because I saw—I saw Anti, he was standing in the middle of the road. I ran there, and I saw there was a car coming, and I...”

The lights. Anti remembered the lights. Headlights. They’d been coming closer. And the words in...that was a dream, wasn’t it? You’re going to die, you know.

“Well...’t least you were fast enough,” Marvin said, sounding like he was offering up a silver lining.

“Yes, but Anti...he was acting very strange. I think this someone might have done something to him, then tried to kill him.” Schneep looked troubled. “He tried to do the same thing to Jackie.”

“Someone tried to kill Jackie?!” Marvin repeated, anger evident.

“Yes, three weeks ago,” Schneep confirmed. “He tried to pull him out a window.”

“Terrible,” JJ muttered. He adjusted his hold on Anti’s hand, and a little bit of the blue glow flowed down over Anti’s arm. Anti flinched a bit, eyes fluttering. “Why did you come here?”

Schneep shrugged. “You were...close. But also, your magic...it is real. And this someone, he has...he does strange things. I am not sure he is human. I thought it would be a good idea.”

Anti took a deep breath, and coughed. He’d meant to say something, but it hadn’t come out right. Nevertheless, everyone was instantly on alert. And suddenly Schneep was leaning over him. “Anti? Anti? Are you awake? Can you say anything?”

Another deep breath. “...helicopter,” Anti mumbled.

Schneep looked confused. “What?”

“You. You’re helicoptering...” Anti explained. “Close...and he’s touching...” he tried to shake his head.

Schneep leaned back, now slightly embarrassed. “Ah. I see. Unfortunately he has to touch you for his magic to work, he is trying to wake you up.”

Anti groaned. “Don’ like...but fine...”

“Are...are you okay?” Schneep asked hesitantly.

“Mm...tired...” Anti closed his eyes for a bit. “I...h’vn’t slept...at least a day. Bad things...sleepwalk...”

“Oh, this is natural exhaustion, then.” JJ slumped in relief. He turned to Henrik. “Nothing bad’s going to happen if we let him sleep. Provided we keep an eye on him.”

“Alright...but one moment.” Schneep leaned just a bit closer. “Anti...can you tell us what happened?”

“Bad dreams...sleepwalk...bad things...” Anti’s head fell a bit more into the pillow.

“What kind of bad things?” JJ asked.

“...wake up, an’ like...one time, I woke up holding...knife...” He was trying to explain, but everything is a bit disconnected when you’re tired. “Dreams said...w’s gonna die...”

JJ and Schneep exchanged glances. “What happened tonight?” Schneep asked softly.

“Will went asleep an’ then...I did...din’ wanna...” He wanted to now, though. Just a little longer. “Bad dream...dark...someone there...woke up an’...lights coming closer...” His eyes opened a bit wider. “Saw a guy.”

“...who?” Schneep sounded like he already knew the answer.

“Gray...cap...smile...can’ ‘member all...”

Suddenly Marvin was right behind the other two. “Was t’ere blood comin’ from his eyes?” The other two looked at him, startled. He continued anyway. “Black eyes? Kinda dead-lookin' arms? Blood on his head?”

“Mm-hmm,” Anti mumbled. His eyelids were drooping again.

“Marvin...how did you know that?” Schneep asked.

Marvin looked at him. “Because I’ve seen him before.”

“So have I,” Schneep said. “He’s the one I’ve been mentioning, who tried to kill Jackie, who I have been trying to fight and find out more about.”

Marvin stared at him. “I t’ink we have t’ings to talk about.”

Anti squeezed JJ’s hand, which was still holding his. “C’n I...?”

“Oh!” JJ let go. Immediately, Anti was hit with a wave of exhaustion. “Yes, go to sleep. We can talk more in the morning.”

Anti didn’t even respond, just drifted off. It was a relief to finally do so without worry.

He wasn’t aware of the worries that were to come.

[ask-angel-niisan]

Visiting Home

((So uh I have a story set out for this blog. This doesnt affect the blog, just a fun story for you all. These will eventually conatin BLMatsu, but I'll be sure to tag it! I'll post this to a03 as well)) ------- Todomatsu looked out the window to his his older brother, Jyushimatsu, sitting excitedly on the cirb, knees curls up to his chest and rocking back and forth as his wide eyes stared up at the sky. Todomatsu smiled softly. Osomatsu must be coming home to visit today. He’d been visiting for about five months now, making regular visits since his training had ended. He say it was no problem, but the youngest had always known He was sneaking out while his comrades were sleeping, hurriedly scrambling back before any of them noticed he was gone. Choromatsu walked up from behind Todomatsu, “He’s waiting again, huh?” “Yeah. He was pretty much bouncing with excitement when he woke up this morning.” Choromatsu gave a soft laugh. “Well, let’s just be ready for when he comes. It’s been a few weeks, he’s gonna be mushy.” Choromatsu said. Todomatsu nodded, and headed back inside.Choromatsu watched Jyushimatsu for a few more seconds before following suit. Jyushimatsu had heard the whole conversation, but didn’t really pay attention. His eyes had glued themselves to the clouds, looking for a particular shape. He felt another presence sit beside him, the dark aura telling him who it was. “You think he’s on his way, Ichimatsu-niisan?” “I’m sure he is.” “Ah, look look! There he is!” Jyushimatsu pointed to a shifting shape in the clouds. A small tint of pink and yellow was barely visible from the clouds. As it got closer, the crisp white uniform of a celestial became visible, accents of red and gold. Osomatsu landed with a flutter of pink feathers. He stood up straight, looking down at his younger brothers, his celestial aura fading to a dim light. “Hey guys! Niisan is back!” Jyushimatsu jumped up and hugged his brother, “Osomatsu-niisan!” He gave his brother a big hug, Osomatsu hugging back with both wings and arms. “I have your clothes all set out! And Karamatsu is cooking dinner! Come on!” Jyushimatsu dragged Osomatsu inside, the eldest waving at Ichimatsu as he was dragged past. Once inside, Osomatsu walked to the bathroom, stripping himself down and turning on the hot water in the shower. He left his wings out of the water, scrubbing his body to rid himself of the sweat he had accumulated. He sighed happily. The bathroom door opened behind him, and Jyushimatsu came in, holding a pile of clothes in his arms, “Here you go, Osomatsu-niisan!” He smiled, setting the clothes on the sink and leaving again. Osomatsu left the bathroom soon after, dressed in jeans and a red shirt with an open back for his wings, pushing his wings tightly against his body as he navigated the narrow hallways of the house. He walked into the living room, greeted by Choromatsu and Todomatsu, who were setting up the table for dinner. They greeted him with open arms, and he helped set out what was needed. Karamatsu walked out of the kitchen finally, carrying a big dish of food. “Osomatsu! It is good to see you. You had a safe trip here, I hope?” “Yeah, things were good!” The eldest smiled, “How’s things holding out with you? You doing a good job being the oldest brother?” Karamatsu gave a light hearted laugh, “It is harder than it looks. I am trying my best, however.” He set the dishes down. “Everyone! Dinner’s ready! Osomatsu, take a seat and stretch out your wings, Todomatsu will take care of them after we eat.” The missing four brothers made their way into the room, gathering around the table, and once all of them were seated, they all dug in, Osomatsu having the biggest portion. “Ne ne, Osomatsu-niisan! Do you have any stories to tell?” Jyushimatsu asked with a mouthful of rice. “Jyushimatsu, swallow your food before you talk!” Choromatsu lightly chastised. “I do have something I can show you guys after dinner.” Osomatsu said, making the others perk up in interest, “But we have to do it outside and away from people.” “I know a place where we can go…” Ichimatsu said, “There's an industrial park. We can go there.” “Sounds perfect!” Osomatsu smiled, wings flapping, making the window panes shutter and lightly ruffling everyone's hair. He quickly stopped, “Sorry… bad habit of mine.” ------------------------ When the plates had been cleared away and the boys got their shoes on, Osomatsu closed his eyes and concentrated. His pink wings faded away, on his back were two nasty looking scars. He reached back and felt around, making sure that his wings were fully dispersed. His halo vanished with a flick of his wrist, shrinking down to the size of a ring that he slipped onto his gloved hand. Jyushimatsu handed him an old red parka, slightly dusty from not being worn. He pulled it over his head, taking in the smells of cinnamon and sandalwood. Osomatsu smiled, “Alright, let's get going!” The brothers all headed out of the house, gathering around Osomatsu in a semi-protective circle. Choromatsu walked in step beside Osomatsu. “So… how have you been?” Choromatsu asked softly. “Alright. The commander worked our asses to the bone. Me and the other guardians were sore for weeks after bootcamp.” Osomatsu sighed. “But, hey, I got some exercise from it! And I actually got some muscles on me now!” He rolled up the sleeve of his parka and flexed. It was true, he had a noticeable lump of muscle on his bicep. Choromatsu was almost impressed. Almost. Ichimatsu guided them through the industrial park to a clearing in the heart of it. Osomatsu looked around, formulating a plan in his head. “Can you guys set up some cans over there?” he asked, pointing to a discarded steel beam that laid on its side. Jyushimatsu set to work immediately, enlisting Karamatsu to help him line up about five tin cans, each about six feet apart from one another. Osomatsu slipped his halo off of his finger, and with a flick of his wrists it expanded, the gold band glowing and filling with holy energy. It rested above his head almost daintily. He pulled up the left sleeve of his parka again, looking at his brothers with a playful grin, “Ready? The five of them nodded in unison. Osomatsu’s wrist started to glow, two bands of holy energy starting to spin and lift up from his skin. With a snap of fingers from his outstretched hand, the rings transformed into a beautiful golden bow, a red string connected the ends together. Osomatsu gripped the bow in his left hand, hearing the gasps of wonder and amazement from his siblings. “Osomatsu-niisan, that's so cool!” Jyushimatsu gasped. “Is that the weapon you were telling us about? You got a bow for your spiritual weapon?” Choromatsu asked. “Yep! And I'm pretty good with it too!” Osomatsu winked. He touched the strings with his right index and middle finger, and two more rings glowed on his right wrist. He pulled the string back, and the rings seemed to stay hanging in the air. He aimed at the first can and released the bowstring. A bolt of energy rocketed from the string through the rings, which snapped back onto Osomatsu’s wrist, like two bracelets hovering about an two inches from his skin. The tin can shattered in a burst of divine light. The younger brothers all gasped. In rapid succession, Osomatsu eliminated three more cans with perfect accuracy. He began to put on a show, his wings unfurling and pulling his parka up onto his shoulder blades in the back and he took to the air, doing flips while simultaneously drawing back and firing his arrows, destroying the remaining cans. With a final flurry of feathers, Osomatsu landed a perfect three point landing, the bow reverting back to two rings, and both sets of marks on his wrists faded. His brothers were all silent, eyes wide and jaws hanging open as Osomatsu hid his wings and halo. He turned to them, rubbing under his nose with a proud grin. “So, what did you think? Pretty cool, right?” “Osomatsu-niisan… THAT WAS AWESOME!!” Jyushimatsu yelled, latching onto his oldest brother and nuzzling their cheeks together. “If only I had recorded that!” Todomatsu said, “That was pretty impressive!” “To think that one of the laziest of us could pull off acrobatics like that…” Ichimatsu said. He was impressed. “Oh bruzah! What a spectacular show! Truly your training has been paying off!” Karamatsu praised, ruffling Osomatsu’s hair. Osomatsu laughed, loving the attention he was getting. He turned to Choromatsu, who hadn't really said anything yet. “Oi, Choromatsu, what did you think?” Osomatsu asked. The green brother looked up at Osomatsu, his brown eyes full on an emotion Osomatsu couldn't read. “Osomatsu-niisan…” Osomatsu stiffened slightly. Tears had picked the edges of Choromatsu’s eyes, which were quickly wiped away, “I'm so proud of you… and I miss you terribly…” Osomatsu felt his heart break for his younger sibling. He rushed over and cradled Choromatsu close, cooing softly to him as he cradled the back of his head soothingly. The other brothers gathered around, and it soon turned into one big group hug of crying and missing the oldest brother, with said brother being crammed in the center of the embrace. ----- Off to the side, hidden in one of the concrete pipes of the industrial park, a lone figure sat, one leg lazily hanging out of the pipe. He had seen the whole display. The bow, the wings, the halo… he smirked to himself. “An angel, hmmm? Interesting…. I didn't think they came down and introduced themselves to the human sheep.” A tail swayed in amusement, and a forked tongue licked lips. A wicked grin spread pale lips apart. “Interesting… I'll have to keep an eye on you, little angel.”

[handwithquill]

Cymar

Hello, @we-aim-to-misbehave, My name is @handwithquill and I was your zookeeper this year. I hope you like the fic I wrote for you.

Title: Cymar

Rating: NC-17

Summary:When moving to a new village after Milah abandons them, Rumpelstiltskin finds the one thing he was always missing.

    He continued on, watching as the sun started to dip in the sky and was about to turn back, when the snap of a branch caught his attention. He stood up straight, ears and eyes straining for the source of the sound. When no animal or person presented itself, he clutched the wood closer to him and spun to hurry home. But somewhere in gathering the firewood, he got turned around and he wasn't sure which of the paths in front of him led the way back to the village and to Bae.

He could feel his heart start to quicken in his chest, his constant desire to flee heating his blood and clouding his mind. He took a deep breath, and made the decision to take the left path. Only about a hundred feet in he realized it was the wrong one, the trees not the ones he remembered. The trees were older here. Taller and thick with centuries of growth. But something kept him going.

But as he walked, the feeling they gave him calmed his pounding heart. And he was too busy admiring them to notice that the path behind him disappeared. He looked up to see the canopy of the trees had woven together and became a tunnel.

The tunnel let out into a clearing with the golden-pink light of the setting sun flooding it. In the middle was what seemed to Rumple to be a stone altar. One end was raised and there was warm looking furs covering it so it looked like a chaises. On it, basking in the setting sunlight, was the most beautiful woman Rumple had ever seen. Her brown hair shone with red highlight. She wore a chiton of almost translucent silk of the palest blue. It was draped around her and was pinned together over her shoulders with clasps with a full moon design, and scattered around her were the white and yellow petals of the plumeria tree. Their perfume filled the air and his head.

He must have gasped as she suddenly opened her eyes and they were the bluest color he had ever scene. He didn't know how long they stared at each other, to him it felt like an eternity as he felt like he was falling into her eyes, as if the broken and cracked pieces of his soul were being filled in and nothing would be wrong ever again,  but as her face took on a startled look and she jumped up, he assumed it was only seconds. She scrambled off the altar and ran to the trees.

Rumple blinked trying to figure out what he just saw. He must have missed the moment that she passed into the forest because he couldn’t have seen her disappear into the tree. He shook his head and headed back to the village.

Bae was waiting for him, wondering why he was so late. Rumple only told him that he got turned around in the forest. He didn’t tell his son about the strange woman, for some reason it felt wrong to mention her. And he didn’t want Bae to think his father was losing his mind with tales of pretty woman in the forest. He put the wood away and after fixing a small supper, they readied their supplies for the morning. Their first Market day in their new home.

In the morning, they woke early and made their way to the spot where they intended to set up their stall. It didn’t take long for them to get ready. Rumple put the raw wool that had been prepped to be spun near at hand and made sure that Bae was alright manning the front of the stall, ready to help on customers they might get.

He started spinning, letting his mind wander while keeping a ear out for any trouble. He hopped that since no one knew them here, they might be able to sell all the thread and yarn they had left over from before they moved. That this new town would be a better environment for his son. That without his reputation as a coward, Bae could have a good life. He felt a twist in his gut as he also thought that without Milah, they might be happy finally. He was barely aware of time passing as he worked, but as he reached for the next bundle of wool, his hand came up empty and looked to see that he had finished all they had brought.

Standing, he stretched his back and grabbed his walking stick. He saw that Bae was having fun trying to cajole an older woman into buying a fourth spool of thread in a dull pumpkin orange-yellow they had never been able to sell back home. He watched his son, his heart singing at the happy smile on the boys face. He turned to look out over the crowds and blinked as he thought he saw a strand of red thread leading out of their stall and down the road into the forest. The trees waved in the windless day and when he blinked, the thread was gone. He shook his head, think he was seeing things from spinning too long. He nodded to Bae and took a walk through crowd.

Later that night as they were packing up, he took inventory of what they sold and was surprised to see that it was more than a full month of Market days back home, the money actually ‘clinked’ in their pockets as they walked home. Because of their good fortune, he stopped at the butcher's stall and bought a steak for them to share. That night they went to sleep with full bellies and rested peacefully under the moonlight of the first crescent moon.

The next few weeks were full of preparing for the next Market day. The sheep they had brought with them were ready for shearing and both he and Bae were busy preparing the wool. Because of that, they usually fell into their beds and fell right asleep, but that night Rum couldn’t sleep. He was exhausted, but no matter how he twisted and turned, sleep wouldn’t come to him.

Not wanting to wake his son, he stood and left the cottage. The air was cool in a way that felt good and he started walking. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and some part of him wasn’t surprised when he found himself in the old part of the forest. He took the left path and slowed his gait when he was just outside the clearing. His feet seemed loud to him as he crushed dried leaves, but it was nothing to the sounds coming from the clearing.

The full moon light the space like it was day. The altar was still there and the woman was upon it again. She was leaning back,  braced on her left hand. Her dark hair fell in a sheet of silk behind her. Her eyelids flutter and her mouth moved with words he couldn’t hear, but they were interspersed with gasps. The gasps were due, he was sure, by the fact that her skirt was pulled up and her hand moved frantically between her legs. He found his feet moving him closer.

“Oh, Badra!” the woman gasped, “Your Amaris, your children of the moon, on the night of Parvani, when you messenger in the sky is full, we honor you with our bodies, just as you honor us with the deep and pleasurable fulfillment that lets us touch stars for a moment of life and death"

Rumple swallowed deeply as he was now close enough to see the dark patch of hair her fingers glided through. They glistened in the light of the moon and he found himself licking his lips with the need to taste it. With another step he was next to the altar and the woman’s hands halted as her shocked face turned towards him. They looked at each other for a moment, a moment that stretched until the stars died and were reborn, before she titled her head and held out the hand that had been between her legs.

He let his staff drop as he cupped her wrist and wrapped his lips around her fingers. He moaned, a sound that reverberated from deep in his chest, a sound he had never heard come from his before. The flavor that exploded on his tongue was the best thing he had ever tasted. The sweetness and scent filling his mouth and nose. It was as if he was drinking the honey from the plumeria tree. He groaned and fell to his knees at the foot of the altar. He met her eyes and when he nodded, he reached up and grasped her hips, pulling her closer to the edge and placing his face between her legs.

His eyes rolled back in his head as the heavenly scent overwhelmed him. His nose pressed forward until it parted her folds and he brought his nose, now covered in her juices, up to rub on her clit. His tongue darted out to lap up the nectar spilling out of her. Her hands clench in his hair. She tugged and pulled and called out.

“Oh, Badra! Please accept this offering of pleasure! Give your grace to all those who serve YOU!”

The last word was shouted as she started to shudder around him and bucked up into his face. His hands held her still as he continued to lick and suck her most private place.

“Badra!” she called, “Oh, Brada! Most high goddess of the moon and children! OH! BadRA!” She came on his tongue again and slumped down on the altar as her body trembled in aftershocks. Rumple sat up, and watched as she panted in lassitude. She smiled at him and held out her hand again. He took it was let her pull him over to her where she reached up and wiped her juices off his face and sucked it off her fingers. She tilted her head towards the moon and smirked at him,

“Oh, Badra! Goddess of the night and all that happens in it, will you accept this offering tonight?” She said as she reached out for fastening of his pants. He blinked and before he knew it, she had them down around his ankles and was caressing his length. He hadn’t ever realized he was hard until the cool night air hit his heated skin. He only had one more second to prepare as her head descended and she took him in her mouth to the root!

“Oh!” he called, his head falling back so that it was exposed to the moonlight. “Oh!” His hands came up and tangled in her hair as she sucked and bobbed on his cock. He continued to gasps and moan as he could feel the heat of his approaching orgasm filling his body. He could feel it building, that overwhelming feeling of pure pleasure that he hadn’t felt with someone else since before Bae was born. The few times he had taken himself in hand after he had come back from the Ogres War had left him feeling empty and worthless, so he didn’t continue after that, just pushed that need down where all the others he put aside were.

But it was back now as he felt his balls tighten and his hands clenched in her hair as he pulled her forward and thrust all the way forward. He had a brief thought that he was probably hurting her, but that was lost as the pleasure overwhelmed him. He could feel every spurt of his come shooting out of him into her mouth as his eyes rolled all the way back and her throat worked to swallow every drop he had given her.

As his strength left him, she pulled him onto the altar with her and they lie face to face. He brought his hand up to cup her face, his eyes searching hers. She smiled at him before he could say anything and put her finger on his lips to keep him from speaking.

“Belle,” she said with a smile. He nodded and tried to fight as his eyes started to close. “Sleep,” she whispered, reaching up to help close his eyes.

When he opened them again, it was when the morning light streamed in the window of the cottage onto the head of his bed. He blinked against the light and rolled over. He was about to fall asleep again, when he remembered and sat up! He tentatively brought his hand up to his nose, but when he didn’t smell any scent on it, he fell back onto the bed. It was a dream. It had to be. There was no way a beautiful woman like that, like Belle, would let him do those things to her and she wouldn’t do them to him either.

It was a dream.

He laid in bed for longer then he should as he tried not to consider why the fact that it was a dream made a pit form in his stomach. He laid there until Bae called for him and he put it out of his mind.

As much as he tried, he *couldn’t* put out of his mind. Every moment he wasn't engaged in some other task, his mind wandered back to the clearing and the woman there. Who was she? Did he really see her merge with the tree? What was her name? Belle was a truly fitting name and he could see why his mind chose it, but he wanted to find out for real.

As the days passed, the villagers started preparing for a festival. On another market day Rumple watched Bae bounce from stall to stall seeing all the things the villagers were making for the festival.

“What festival is this?” Rumplestiltskin asked the woman who had walked up to his stall. She was gray haired and wore half-moon spectacles. She ran the inn with her Granddaughter. Rumple didn’t know her name as everyone in the village called her Granny.

“It's the festival of Badra,” she told him, looking confused for a moment.

“Badra?” he whispered, his heart skipping a little at the word. That was the name ‘Belle’ kept saying in his dream. He thought his mind had a made it up!

“I forgot that you and your son are new to our village,” she told him. “Badra is our patron goddess. She resides in the moon and watches over the village making sure we..” she trailed off and grinned at him, ”That we multiply, if you get my meaning!” She chortled as his eyes went wide, looking around to make sure Bae wasn’t near. “Don’t worry,” she told him, “Your boy is over by the blacksmiths.”

Rum look to see that she was right. Bae was leaning into the stall was the blacksmith pounded a piece of metal into...something.

“Anyway,” Granny went on, “The festival goes all day and after the sun goes down, a bonfire is lit in the square. After the little ones are sent to bed, the adults dance to honor Badra. As the dance goes on, couples ask Badra to bless them for a ‘productive’ night. Most matches made that night are very successful. I met my husband at a dance.” She sighed and her eyes unfocused as she remembers, then she shook her head, “If Badra approves, the bonfire will shoot up higher into the sky. If the dance really pleases her, she might send one of her children to dance with us.”

“One...one of her...children?” Rum asks. Belle had said that too, that she was a child of Badra.

Granny nods.

“It hasn’t happened since before I was born,” she tells him. “But I want to see you at that dance! You need a good woman and I’m sure Badra will bless you with one!”

Rum could feel his cheeks heating at her words. He ducked his head and changed the subject by offering her some of his best red thread for her granddaughters cloak.

That night as he lay in his cot, he felt that restless feeling in his body. Time and time again, he stood up and paced around the cottage and kept finding himself opening the door and looking at the sky. The moon was nearly full, just two more days until the full moon and the festival of Badra. He looked towards the forest as the scent of plumeria blooms wafted to him. His heart started to beat faster and his body reacted by hardening in his trousers. He tightened his grip on his walking stick and closed the door.

He returned to his bed, undressing, slipped under the sheet, and closed his eyes. He didn’t know how his mind added the village’s patron goddess to his dream. He probably heard it at some time and didn’t realize it. But as he closed his eyes, the woman’s, Belle’s, image was before him.

He didn’t think he had already fallen asleep, but apparently he had as she stood in the moonlight. He sat up in the bed and without his telling it, his hand reached out to her. She smiled shyly and took it, sliding into the bed with him.

“I missed you,” she whispered, caressing his cheek. “You were gone so long.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, leaning into her hand his eyes half closing as the perfume of the plumeria petals woven in her hair overwhelmed him. “I didn’t know you were waiting. I missed you too. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“And I, you,” she told him, a smile on her lips. She opened them to say something else, but he didn’t let her. His mouth pressed against hers and they both moaned into the kiss. His lips moved against her slowly before taking her bottom lip in and sucking on it.

“Belle,” he sighed, kissing his way down her neck, then back up again.

“Yes, Cymar,” Belle said, her hands trailing down his chest and pulling up the hem of his nightshirt. One of her hands rested on his hip, while the other moved to cup his still hard length. He hissed and bit down on her neck. She gasped and giggled. “Is that what you like, Cymar?” she asked. “I like it. I want you to mark me. Let the world know that I am yours, like you are mine.” She squeezed his cock. “Touch me, Cymar,” she whispered, “Touch me like I’m touching you.” She started stroking his cock.

It was with trembling hands that he reached for her and pulled up the silk gown she was wearing. It slid through his fingers like water, but it was rough paper compared to her skin. He placed his hand on her cheek and gently lowered it until he was cupping her between her legs. She moaned and arched into his hold, squeezing him tighter.

“Cymar,” she sighed. She was already so wet and warm that his fingers slipped right into her passage. “Yes,” she groaned. He groaned with her as his hand pleasured her. “Cymar, Cymar,” she called over and over again as his fingers moved in her, his palm pressing against the nub over her entrance. “Cymar!”

“Rumpelstiltskin,” he gasped. “My name is Rumpelstiltskin.”

Her eyes opened and she looked at him. And as the first time their eyes met, he fell into them. Everything that hurt, stopped, and everything that was missing was found. The feeling of being home filled him and he kissed her. “Belle.”

“My Rumpelstiltskin,” she said, “My Cymar,”

Their hands were still moving and they were reaching their peaks. He started to crook his fingers, trying to find that place inside her he’d heard made this act ever better. He was determined to let her find her pleasure before he found his. When she arched and bucked into his hand, crying out, he knew he found it.

“Come for me, Belle,” he whispered to her, kissing her face all over. Her eyelids, her cheeks and the tip of her nose. “Come for me, Sweetheart. I want to hear it again.”

She was gasping, her grip on his slacking as he pleasured her.

“Oh, oh, oh! Rumpelstiltskin! Cymar!” she groaned, “Yes! Rumple-” she cut off as she let out a yell, her passage clamping down on his fingers, as she bucked and trembled against him. “Cymar!

He held her as she collapsed against him, running one hand up and down her back as he brought the other one up to his mouth and licked it clean. After that he continued to kiss whatever he could reach until she looked up and smirked at him.

“Your turn,Cymar,” she said as her hand started moving on him again. “Let me make you feel just as good, my Cymar.”

“What does-” He stopped speaking as she did something with her hand that had him seeing stars. “Ah!” he gasped out, arching up into her hand. “What-What does Cymar mean?”

She used her other hand to push him flat and then took one of his and pressed it to her chest so that he could feel the beating of her heart. She then placed her’s in the same place on his.

“Cymar is you. Cymar is me. Cymar is the two of us entwined. Our hearts beating for each other and our souls mated. Cymar is us.”

“Oh? Oh!” he said as he understood her meaning.

Soulmates.

They were soulmates. He reached up with his free hand and pulled her down into a deep kiss. The idea of someone whose soul was a perfect match for his was a balm for his broken soul. Too many people in his life told him he wasn’t good enough for them. Everyone he cared about left him, found him wanting. He dreaded the day when Bae came to the same realization that, even if this was just a dream, Belle was his perfect mate made him hungry for her.

He kissed her and let his hips buck up to meet her hand, letting the pleasure she was bringing him overwhelm him.

“Belle!” he gasped, breaking the kiss as his orgasm neared. “Belle!”

“That’s it, my Rumple,” she whispered into his ear. “Show me that you enjoy my touch. Show me your pleasure!”

He did, coming with her words, back arching, neck tight as he threw his head back as his hips shuddered. He could feel each and every spurt of his seed as it erupted out of him. As he slumped back on the bed, he watched with half lidded eyes as she cleaned off her hand the way he did his. He groaned and then gave a chuckle as his softened cock tried to give a twitch. She smiled at him, and kissed him softly. They wrapped their arms around each other, trading kisses as sleep took him.

In the morning, he awoke alone, in the clothes he had worn before he had gone to bed the first time. He sat up, blinking at the early morning sun just starting to come in the window. The space next to him was as cold as it usually was and as he turned, he saw Bae sitting up in his bed as well.

“Did you have a bad dream, Papa?” his son asked, “You were making a lot of noise last night.”

“No, Bae,” he told him. “I didn’t have a bad dream.”

It was a good dream. One of the best he’d ever had. Too bad it was only a dream and only would ever be one.

The next few days passed quickly as the village prepared for the festival. The events started with the town leaders giving gifts to the parents of the children born from the festival last year and adding the children’s names to the village census. After that, the air was filled with the sounds of celebrations, the scent of food and the feeling that something special was happening.

Rumple sat at his stall, grinning at Bae each time he came back to show something he bought. He was proud that they were doing well enough in this new home they were making to be able to give Bae all the pocket money he wanted. Rumple was surprised that the thread he made for the day sold out so quickly, his yellow and blue going the fastest, and it wasn’t even noon yet when he closed up and joined Bae in walking around the crowds. As they passed, people would nod and smile and for the first time in his life, he felt like he belonged.  

He had wondered how the entire town would have the children to bed before the dancing started, but he found out it was a clever plan of sheer exhaustion. In the last afternoon light, a smaller dance for the children was held, the parents standing around, smiling and smirking at the matches their little ones made. The parents of the older children moving closer to talk over possible arrangements. The young ones started to drop off as the sun set and were carried off to be watched by older siblings who weren’t old enough to attend the dance.

Once the sun was down, the leaders lit the bonfire and the couples who had married since the last festival started the dancing. Rumple watched from where he was sitting with those who had lost their spouses and weren’t looking for another. Granny gave him a look as he sat beside her, but he ignored it. He was good at ignoring the stares of others, but this look was different, it had caring behind it and that filled his chest with a warmth he didn’t know what to do with, even as his cheeks started to heat.

He watched as the couples would approach the fire and say a few word before tossing in a leaf from a basket nearby. For some, the just burned, but for a few, the fire blazed up, higher than the highest building in the village. When that happened, everyone applauded the couple, who would look at each other and giggle. As one couple walked up, Rumple could feel all who watched tense. The man was tall and thin with hair so blonde it nearly matched his pale complexion.

His wife had blond hair also, but her was more of a honey blonde that went will with tan skin. The man reached out to squeeze his wife’s hand and held it before they both tossed a leaf into the fire.  The whole village seemed to hold it’s breath until the fire roared and shot up higher then for any other couple. Everyone jumped and cheered, swarming up to them to congratulate them.  

“It’s about time!” Ruby, Granny’s granddaughter, said as she came to deliver a drink to her grandmother. “William and Elizabeth have wanted a child for such a long time!”

After that the dancing seemed to turn frenzied as the music turned fast. Couples dance, changed partners, broke apart and danced alone or grabbed more people and danced in groups. Men danced in a circle around women, women danced around men. Women danced with women and men with men. No type of partner seemed off limits as the young people of the village enjoined the one night they had of complete freedom.

Rumple sat watching, eyes wide, until he noticed it was only the young adults. The older ones or the ones who were happily married, were off to the sides and when the fast beat of the music stopped, the dancers dropped and moved to the other side of the square. When the music started again, it was softer and the couple nearer to rumple started to drift out to the dancing area. The couples held each other tenderly, swaying and talking. They traded kisses and let their nose rub together.

Watching them made Rumple’s heart ache. This is what he wanted with someone. What he had originally hoped he and Milah could have. But that was not in the stars for him. He knew he was destined to alone for the rest of his life. In that moment he wished for Belle. He knew she was only a figment of his dreaming mind, but he wanted her with his whole heart. He breathed in deeply and whispered her name, “Belle”

It was also at that moment that the fire burst up nearly to the heavens. The couples jumped away and when the fire returned to norman, a woman was standing there. She was wearing a chiton of almost translucent silk of the palest blue. It was draped around her and was pinned together over her shoulders with clasps with a full moon design, and scattered around her feet were the white and yellow petals of the plumeria tree.

“An Amaris!,” someone gasped. “A child of Badra,” another whispered. One of the village leaders approached her, saying that she honored the village by her presents, but she ignored him, stepping forward a few steps. Rumple found himself once again standing and walking towards her.

“Belle,” he breathed out, but it echoed in the square. “You’re real?”

“My Rumple,” she smiled, reaching for him, “My Cymar,” She took his hand and before he knew it, they were swaying to music that he was sure was not being played. “I’m so happy you called for me,” she told him.

“I can’t believe you are real,” he sighed, “I thought I dreamed you up. But I’m so glad I didn’t. I love you.”

“Of course you do,” she giggled at him, “We are Cymar.”

“Cymar,” he breaths out and then leans in to kiss her. “Marry me?” he asked.

Before she could answer, the fire blazed up again.

She nodded, a smile so bright it no longer seemed like night time on her face. She reached up to caress the side of his face. Then she took his hand and turned towards the crowds.

“Badra is very pleased with your village for your continued honoring of her and she will continue to bless your village for years to come!” The people cheered and started to dance again as Belle pulled Rumple away towards the forest.

She laced their hands together as she guided him into the trees. They quickly come to the clearing when Rumple first saw her many months ago. In the space that had held the altar now there was a soft looking mattress on the ground. They stopped next to it and Rumple cupped her face as he leaned over to kiss her. He let his hands move as they kissed to the clasps holding her dress up. With a flick of his thumbs, the silk flowed to the ground. He stepped back to look at her.

“Beautiful,” he said, taking in her. She smiled and raised her hands.

“My turn,” she told him as she pulled up the hem of his shirt and tugged it over his head. She let her hands caress his chest as they traveled back down to the stays of his pants. She looked up from the top of her eyes, a smirk on her lips as she pulled then open. His pants dropped and he stepped out of them. Once they were both naked, they fell into each other’s arms, kissing and touching whatever skin they could reach.

Rum wasn’t sure when they moved to the bed, but as he lay on his back, Belle straddling him, it didn’t really matter. She was even more beautiful bathed in the moonlight. And as she lifted up on her knees and guided his length to her opening, he thought no memory would ever be more cherished. She slowly sank down on him, their hands entwined to give her something to brace on as she started to rise and fall on his cock.

“Belle,” he sighed, the feeling of being inside her more than he ever thought it would be. He fit inside her like she was made for him, and he was made for her. Maybe they were? They were Cymar. Soulmates. He watched as she rode him, her breast bouncing with every down thrust, gasps leaving her mouth as she pleasured herself on his cock.

“Rumple!” she called, leaning forward to change the angle of him inside her, letting his cock rub against a place inside that had her seeing stars. “Oh! Rumple! My Rumple!”

He leaned up and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her deeply before moving to suck on her breast.

“Badra!” Belle called out as she rode him, her head thrown back. “Watch over your child and bless the union she talks part in! Grant her and her Cymar your grace in their future together. Bless US!”

The last word was gasped out as Rumple could feel her nearing her orgasm and leaned back and started to thrust up into her. Wanting to feel her clamp down on him as she came, he reached between them and rubbed her clit until she was shouting with each of their thrusts.

“Rumple!” she called, “Rumple! Oh, my Rumple! My husBAND!”

She came with the last word, shuddering in his hold as her walls fluttered around him, squeezing him enough that he found his pleasure and came as well, filling her with his seed.

They fell back on the bed, panting and trading kisses as their heart slowed.

“You called me ‘husband’,” he said as he pulled her against his side, kissing her temple. She hummed and snuggled closer.

“Yes, this bed would only appear in my clearing on the night I was to claim my husband. I know your people have a different custom, but for mine, this is our Wedding night.”

“Well, my wife,” he said, rolling to his side, “If I’m to be a good husband, I think I should make sure my Cymar has a very pleasurable Wedding night. He moved so he was over her and joined their bodies. For the rest of the night, if anyone would have been close enough to hear, they would have heard Rumple giving Belle the best Wedding night possible.

In the morning they returned to the village and Bae met his new Stepmother. The town prospered greatly for having one of the Amaris living, and having children, there.

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

Horse Trekking in Kyrgyzstan and Tackling the 3-Day Panorama Trek

When it comes to horse trekking in Kyrgyzstan most travellers tend to make a beeline for Song Kol. This is one of the best-known routes in the country and it’s the same route I took on my first trip to Kyrgyzstan.

Song Kol is as beautiful as can be and reaching the lakeside camp around sunset is about as postcard-perfect as it gets, but coming back to Kyrgyzstan for our second trip, Sam and I were looking to veer off the trodden trail and maybe try something new.

Luckily for us, in the past year, the tourism board has been developing a whole bunch of new trekking routes along Issyk-Kul’s south shore so we got to be one of the first travellers testing out one of the trails!

We ended up doing a 3-day horse trek along the Panorama Trail, which starts and ends in Bokonbayevo doing a big loop through the valley. Physically, it was a challenging 3 days that involved a mix of horse trekking and hiking, but it was also a rewarding 3 days where we shared meals with our host families, picnicked by alpine lakes, befriended the sweetest Kyrgyz hunting dog, came face to face with ancient petroglyphs, and saw the hard work that goes into being a shepherd in the summer pastures.

Here’s a recap of that adventure:

Day 1:

Riding to the jailoo, a crazy hail storm, and a light hike.

Our tour started at 9 in the morning when we were met by our guide who came to pick us up from our guesthouse in Bokonbayevo. He already had the horses saddled up and ready to go, so after saying goodbye to our host for a few days, we hopped on the horses and started the journey out of town.

This was a very easy day of riding with most of the terrain being relatively flat. We briefly rode through a residential area as we maneuvered our way out of town, but it wasn’t long before the landscape gave way to pink fields in bloom and mountains off in the horizon.

We rode a total of 4 hours that morning reaching camp right around lunch time, and let me tell you, we were ready for food!

Our host family had a large plot of land in the valley consisting of one modern two-story home and an older traditional stone house where they had the kitchen and ate their meals.

Feeling famished from a day of riding, we sat down at the table where we had a typical Kyrgyz food spread consisting of fried bread known as borsok, fresh-churned cream, raspberry jam, biscuits, fresh apricots, and non-stop cups of tea; the Kyrgyz are renowned for their hospitality and they’ll ensure your cup of tea is never empty!

Shortly after lunch, a hail storm unleashed above us, so we retreated to the yurt for cover. From the intensity of the thundering and lightning, I was expecting rain for the rest of the day, but the storm passed as quickly as it arrived. Within a half hour, the skies had cleared, the rain had stopped, and we just had a bit of hail left on the ground as evidence.

With the storm past us, our guide suggested an afternoon hike, so we walked up one of the hills for views of snow-capped mountains off in the distance. It was on this hike, that we also befriended the cutest Kyrgyz hunting dog who would become our companion for the rest of the trip! He was happy to tag along with us, take a detour or two when he spotted some prey, and then rejoin our trio for pets and ear scratches.

That evening we had dinner with the family. The wood-burning stove had warmed up the entire kitchen, so it was very toasty despite the low temperatures outside. We all sat down around the table, where we enjoyed heaping bowls of plov; a mixed-rice dish with carrots and beef.

Since it was already dark out but still too early to go to bed, we sat around in the kitchen watching a kok-boru match on their television. This is a popular game across Central Asia, often compared to polo, except instead of using a ball, players are trying to score with a sheep or goat’s carcass! This brought back some memories from the World Nomad Games where I first watched the game.

Day 2:

Steep inclines, an idyllic picnic, and the best views!

After a hearty breakfast of fried eggs, bread with cream and jam, and many cups of piping hot chai, it was time to say goodbye to our host family. We took lots of photos together on their smartphones (because rural living doesn’t mean you have to be disconnected!), and then it was back on the horses to continue the journey with our new dog friend in tow.

This was the hardest day of riding since it involved some steep inclines, but it was also the most beautiful day of riding bringing us ever closer to the snowy mountain peaks. The highest pass was 3,080 meters, but don’t let that scare you off; just be prepared to take it slow with lots of zig-zagging up the face of the mountain.

Also, lunch that day was about as scenic as it gets. We rode to a small alpine lake at the very top of one of the mountain passes where our guide laid out a picnic for us to share. Our meal consisted of loaves of bread, smoked cheese, sausage, juice, peanuts, dried apricots, bananas, chocolate bars, and more snacks than I can remember.

The whole experience was rather mystical because we had this thick fog rolling over us, so there were moments we were shrouded by a veil of grey, but then it would part and we’d get a glimpse of the scenery in front of us. It was one of the coolest picnic locations ever!

The afternoon trek was a bit challenging; now that we had gained all that altitude, we needed to come down the back face of the mountain. There were parts that I did on horseback, and other parts where I hopped off and hiked instead – if you’re not an experienced rider or your knees can’t handle going downhill, this is always an option.

It was a slow descent and I had to slide down on my rear on a couple of tricky sections, but in the end, we managed. I think we were all pretty thrilled to reach our camp – our guide included!

That night we stayed with a shepherding family in their summer home. It was a simple 2-room structure made of stone, mud and straw. The first room as soon as you entered the house was a dining area and kitchen; here they had a wood-burning stove, a low table, and a few mats for people to sit on. The other room was the family bedroom, which looked empty by day, but this is where they rolled the mats and blankets out at night.

I will admit that this was unlike any homestay I’ve ever done in the past and at first I felt a bit out of my comfort zone. In total, we slept 11 people to one room all lined up next to each other on the floor, but at the same time, everyone welcomed us so warmly and they were willing to share everything they had with us, that we couldn’t help but feel humbled by their generosity.

Without distractions like Wi-Fi, television, or books to pass time, we spent the afternoon watching the family herd their 700+ sheep and get them back into their corral for the night. We then had a dinner of oromo; a steamed layered dough filled with carrots, cabbage and potato, and then it was time for bed.

That night I fell asleep to the sounds of the family’s cooing baby, soft snoring, and the smell of fermented mare’s milk in the air.

Day 3:

Ancient petroglyphs, easy riding, and a farewell.

The following morning I woke up feeling refreshed by some of the best sleep of my life, but I guess fresh mountain air and some heavy blankets will do that to you.

For breakfast, we had white semolina porridge, bread with jam, and many cups of chai, and then again, it was time to say goodbye to our host family and hop on our horses.

This turned out to be a really easy day of riding, starting out with a slight downhill incline, before levelling out into flat terrain.

Halfway through the morning, we stopped off at a field that had giant boulders with petroglyphs. We were able to spot a camel, a mountain goat, and a man on horseback, who our guide claimed was Marco Polo himself. How cool is that? The petroglyphs were hiding in plain sight making history feel so palpable.

After visiting the petroglyphs, we had another picnic lunch. It was another generous spread consisting of flat bread, sausage, canned fish, biscuits, juice, nuts, raisins and more. Of course, we also fed our dear Kyrgyz hunting dog who was still with us on day 3. Our guide actually had to approach some locals to find out who owned the dog, and then leave him in someone’s yard to be picked up by his owner because otherwise, the dog would have walked with us all the way back into Bokonbayevo. It was bittersweet parting with the pup, who had earned the name Dog Friend, but he had a home and we were moving on.

After 3 days up in the mountains, it felt a bit strange arriving back in town. Even though Bokonbayevo has a population just over 10,ooo people, it still felt very busy!

Back in town, we returned to our guesthouse, picked up our luggage, and hopped in a taxi to Bel Tam, where we would spend the next 3 days doing a lakeside yurt stay, but that’s another story for another blog post.

Planning your trek from Bokonbayevo

CBT Kyrgyzstan (Community Based Tourism Kyrgyzstan) has offices across the country, including the town of Bokonbayevo. They can help arrange everything from drivers and homestays, to horse treks and day hikes. The best thing you can do is pop into their offices once you’re in town, or send them an email if you prefer to organize things in advance.We did our 3-day trek through them and had a great experience. They speak English in their offices and they can offer suggestions on routes that often aren’t even listed in your guidebook.

A few tips for trekking in Kyrgyzstan

Pack for all kinds of weather. Over the course of our 3-day trek, we had sunshine and overcast skies, hail storms and light rains. You could experience all of the above in one single day, so go for light and breathable layers that you can easily add and take off. Also, always have a rain-jacket on hand.

Protect yourself from the sun. Needless to say, the sun is a scorcher at high altitudes, so you’ll want to bring sunscreen and apply it more frequently than you normally would.

Drink lots of water. On that note, it’s also important you stay hydrated. We brought two bottles each and always finished them by mid-afternoon. Your guide will usually also be carrying extra water, but re-confirm that before you set out on your trek.

Wear the right shoes. Go for something sturdy that provides arch and ankle support. I did not pack the right shoes on this trip and regretted it. Hiking boots are ideal but at the very least a good pair of running shoes with tread.

Bring your bathroom essentials. That means toilet paper, baby wipes (no chance of a shower), and hand sanitizer.

Keep a flashlight handy. You’ll need it at night to find your way to the outhouse.

Choose what’s right for you. There are all kinds of treks in Kyrgyzstan in varying lengths and levels of difficulty. Some treks involve homestays, some yurt stays, and others camping in tents. Some treks are 2 weeks in length and others are only a half-day. Ask for information at the CBT offices so you know what you’re getting yourself into and then make an informed decision. You can find a few more tips for travel in Kyrgyzstan here.

Also, here’s a video from our 3-day horse trek so you can get a better idea of that trip:

  Have you been trekking in Kyrgyzstan? What were some of your favourite spots?

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