Chapter Text
The moon shone overhead in the cloudless night sky. The sea was calm tonight, and the moon shone a moonlit path on the surface of the waves. On this path of moonlit waves walked Sehun the Grey.
Sehun put one foot in front of another on the shimmering water, his immaterial body buoyant and weightless, no more substantial that the water beneath his feet. He followed the beam of moonlight for a long time, striding past countries and continents with ease.
As he walked, shadows fled from him. Once, when he was an elf, the shadows would come to him, calling to him, trying to entice him to join them in their unending, purposeless existence. But now, he was the Grey Wizard. As he walked, silver-grey light radiated out from him, and his mere presence was enough to send them scuttling away. The Kalahui gave off its own light too, a starburst of the purest white on his hand as he walked.
At last, Sehun reached a wall of towering cliffs that rose up from the sea. For a moment, Sehun stood at the base of the vertical sea cliffs, watching the huge waves crashing against its base. Then, he started to climb. Just like when he walked on water, his weightless body made scaling the cliff face effortless.
Sehun climbed up, up, up, until he reached the top. Sehun pulled himself up over the edge and onto flat ground, and found himself standing at the base of a lone tree growing at the very edge of the cliff. Massive and ancient, the tree was a thousand and five hundred years old, older than Sehun. The trunk of the tree was huge, its girth as large as a small house, and it stood proud and tall, almost an extension of the vertical lineation of the cliff that it stood on. Its roots sprawled out beneath it, digging deep into the stony ground, some of them spilling out over the edge of the cliff. Its foliage was thick and full, spread out all around by the tree’s thick and wide branches, extending over the edge of the cliff. It was in the midst of these branches that a tree house stood, an organic wooden structure that was built around the trunk and branches.
Warm golden light spilled out from the tree house into the dark night, and Sehun smiled as he looked up upon it. He was home.
Before he ascended the branches into the house, Sehun put a hand on the ancient tree first, greeting it, telling it that he had come home. Sehun felt the tree answering back, welcoming him home. It was happy to see Sehun. Sehun asked it how it had been doing while he was gone, and the tree talked its happiness to have ample rainfall and warm abundant sunlight during the day. It talked about the new leaves it had put up, food and water it had stored in its trunk, and of its anticipation of its flowering and fruiting season that was due to come soon. Sehun probed with his mind, and he sensed a slight decaying at the edge of its roots, and a fungal infection on some of its leaves, nothing major. Sehun sang a soft song of healing, chasing away the infection and the rot, making the tree whole. The tree conveyed its thanks to Sehun. It told Sehun that his two lovers were on the side of the treehouse facing the sea, but Sehun already knew this. He had already sensed their presence when he was halfway up the cliff. Nevertheless, Sehun thanked the tree for the information, then leapt up lightly into the lower branches of the tree.
Sehun stepped lightly from one branch to another, until he reached the part of the tree where the balcony of the house was. The balcony faced the sea. Below them, the branches of the tree hung beyond the edge of the cliff. Miles and miles of empty air separated where he stood and the sea far below. On the balcony, stood two figures, looking out into the sea.
His beloved Xiumin and his precious Lay.
Their thoughts were of him. They were watching the sea, eagerly waiting for his arrival home, though they knew fully well that they would not be able to see him walk in. Nevertheless, they were watching as intently as their elven eyes and minds could. Sehun followed their line of sight. They were looking at the moonlit path upon the waves, the same path that Sehun had just been treading on.
Sehun walked along the outer side of the balcony balustrade, his weightless body making this feat easy, until he was face to face with his two lovers. Lay was standing the side of the balcony, his hands resting on the top of the railing. Xiumin stood behind him, hugging Lay from behind, his chin resting on Lay’s shoulder. Sehun took a moment to admire them both. In the Unseen Realm, both their auras burnt brightly. When Sehun had first set eyes on Lay, he had been awed by how pure Lay’s spiritual presence was. Sehun had thought it impossible for an elf to have a spiritual presence that pure, so pure it was comparable to an Ainur’s. When he had met Xiumin, Sehun was pleasantly surprised to find that Xiumin’s presence was every bit as pure as Lay’s. There were only two elves like this in the entire world, and these two elves were his.
Sehun stood directly in front of his precious Lay. Lay’s hair and eyes were as the dark as the night beyond. In contrast, his pale skin shone under the moonlight. Sehun admired the curve of Lay’s hair, his beautiful eyes, the straight ridge of his nose, his chiselled jawline, and his lips, pink and full. Sehun could not resist. He ghosted his lips over Lay’s.
“My prince,” Lay breathed.
Sehun was surprised. He hadn’t expected Lay to be able to feel the kiss.
“My love, what’s the matter?” Xiumin asked, as Lay started looking around agitatedly.
“Sehun’s here. I felt him kiss me.”
Puzzled, Xiumin looked around too, but neither of them could see anything. Sehun swung himself over the balustrade, landing neatly in front of Xiumin. He pressed his lips over Xiumin’s too. Xiumin went still immediately.
“You felt him too, didn’t you?”
Xiumin could not answer Lay, because Sehun had put his arms around him, and was kissing him deeply. Halfway through the kiss, Sehun materialised. He continued kissing Xiumin, hugging Xiumin tightly, moulding Xiumin’s body against his own. When Sehun eventually broke the kiss, Xiumin was breathless. Sehun smiled inwardly. It was not easy to faze Xiumin, but he had just done so.
“My beloved Xiumin,” said Sehun in greeting, drinking in the sight of his lover’s grey-green eyes, and coppery-pink hair. No one had eyes and hair in the shades that Xiumin had. He was beautiful.
Sehun then let his eyes fall on his other lover.
“My precious Lay.”
Lay was smiling at him, his dimple showing, pleased beyond measure to have Sehun home again. Sehun swept him up in his arms as well, kissing him thoroughly. Even after the kiss ended, Sehun could not let go of Lay. He held his lover close, breathing in the scent of his hair.
“We’ve missed you so much, my prince. We waited every day for you to come home.”
“I know. I have missed you too. Both of you.”
“Your task, my prince,” said Xiumin. “Did it go well?”
“Yes.”
Xiumin and Lay waited, but that was all Sehun said, and they did not press further. Sehun knew that they were curious as to where he had gone, and what he had done, but the Valar had not given him leave to speak of it, and so he did not.
Xiumin cooked a late night supper for them. Amongst them the three of them, Xiumin was the most skilled at cooking. Like how he approached everything in his life, Xiumin was incredibly meticulous. He monitored the cooking time precisely, and he measured the exact amount of herbs and spices to be added in. Lay could cook too, but to him, as long as the food was cooked long enough to be edible, it was good enough. Food Lay cooked never tasted spectacular, though whenever he did, Sehun and Xiumin always ate whatever he cooked down to the last scrap. Sehun could not cook at all. His princely upbringing meant that he never had to learn, and now that he was a Maia, he had found even less reason to. He sat at the kitchen bar counter, sipping a cup of tea with a slice of lemon that Lay had made for him, watching his lovers as Xiumin cooked and Lay helped, slicing vegetables and handing Xiumin whatever utensils and condiments he requested. Xiumin and Lay worked seamlessly together, their actions perfectly in tune with each other’s, and Sehun liked watching them.
Later that night, the three of them lay tangled in bed together. Lay was already fast asleep. He lay in between, facing Sehun, his arms slung over Sehun’s waist, utterly worn out. Sehun supposed that was mostly his fault. Lay had been entered and made to come a total of six times that night. Two of those times were by Xiumin, and the others by Sehun. At one point, both Sehun and Xiumin had entered him at the same time. Sehun had just climaxed inside of Lay, and it should have been Xiumin’s turn, but Sehun couldn’t help it. His precious Lay was too beautiful. Since Sehun had become a Maia, Sehun realised that his sexual appetite had increased too, and he would have wanted to continue through the night, but Lay was exhausted, and in the end, Sehun’s love for Lay won over his sexual desire for him, and Sehun had let Lay go to sleep.
Xiumin got out of bed, and came back with a wet washcloth. He cleaned Lay’s entrance carefully, so that Lay could sleep comfortably. Sehun smiled. Xiumin was sweet like that. After Xiumin had wiped Lay down meticulously, Sehun traced his fingers over Lay’s entrance. Lay was stretched wide open, the muscles raw and red. Sehun sang a soft song of healing, coaxing the muscles back to their original state. Xiumin settled down on the other side of Lay, watching with a fond expression on his face. He liked watching when Sehun did that.
Xiumin was tired too. He had climaxed two times, after all, inside Lay, and on top of that, had also pleasured Sehun twice using his mouth. He leaned over Lay and planted a goodnight kiss on Sehun’s lips, before settling down to sleep, adjusting himself so that he spooned Lay from the back. Sehun reached over Lay to caress Xiumin, his fingers ghosting over Xiumin’s cheek. Sehun changed his song, singing a well-known elven lullaby now, one of Xiumin’s favourites. His mother had sung it often to him when he was a child. Sehun infused healing magic into this song too, and Sehun was pleased to sense Xiumin’s, and also Lay’s, minds relaxing, their bodies and minds reinvigorated as Sehun’s song washed over them. Xiumin had a contented smile as he drifted off to sleep, and Sehun was glad to see it.
Now that his two lovers were fast asleep, Sehun stopped his song, and moved to get out of bed. He had only moved a fraction of an inch, when Lay stirred in his sleep, distressed, subconsciously clinging onto Sehun, tightening his hold on Sehun’s waist. With alarm, Sehun realised that Lay’s mind was going into panic, his dreams flying back to the time when they were on the mountain top after their battle with the Ungoliant, when Sehun had died in Lay’s arms. Sehun was quick to hum the song again, and its healing magic washed over Lay, soothing him. Sehun was satisfied when Lay’s mind calmed down, moving on to serene dreams once again.
Sehun knew that he had much to do. The world was at peace now, but the peace would not last. One day, before the end of all things, the first Dark Lord, Morgoth, who had been banished into the void, would come back to Arda, and wage war against the Ainur, and the Children of Illuvator. No one knew the timing of that day. It could happen in ten or twenty ages, or it could happen right now. All the Ainur lived in watchfulness for that day, spending all their time between then and now guarding the world from evil and equipping themselves for the final battle. Sehun was a new Maia, and he still had much to learn. Lady Nienna was constantly teaching him new skills, skills that Sehun knew that he had to work hard on. He needed to get up and practise. He shouldn’t be lying here, doing nothing.
But somehow, Sehun could not summon the strength to move. His precious Lay wanted to hold him in his sleep, and at that moment in time, nothing seemed more important to Sehun than to let him.