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"Minseok!"
The voice of the shopkeeper turns his attention away from the distant sight of the palace glowing gold, and mirage like.
The white sands of their home only made it seem more dreamlike and untouchable than it already was, but with the fact that the population had for the most part seen the palace of the Empire up close.
They had seen the residents come out to greet them in all of their lovely splendor each year, golden, pristine, and everything other worldly.
They were the ones that allowed them to be able to thrive in this harsh environment.
Where the sands should have cooked them, buried them, eroded them until there was nothing left but the rolling dunes of sand; there was an actual chance at life, water flowed as sweet as honey and the people around them prospered.
It was paradise.
Minseok smiles at the older woman who had finished wrapping up his order, placing them in another bag to protect them from the heat and the sand, a reminder of such was added on by the warm breeze blowing across his face and the glimmering sand blowing slightly beneath his feet.
"Thank you." He pulls out the necessary payment, trading them for his package, sparing last little glance at the glimmering visage in the distance before heading the other way to his own home to remain a little cooler until the sun stopped trying to beat them in from overhead.
Although his head covering allowed for some sun protection, he knew, and had learned the hard way that it wasn't just enough to keep his skin from burning, peeling and even blistering at the prolonged exposure as he had lost time working on the garden just outside of his home.
The walk is quick and easy, recognizing a few of his neighbors as he passed by before entering his own door with the swipe of his hand, immediately shaking his shoes off at the door lest he spend the evening trying to get more sand out of his carpets.
"You're back, finally..."
Minseok has just turned around from the door when the voice of his roommate greets him, one hand resting on one lone hip, white sleeves of his lone tunic rolled up, and the pinkish color of air held back from his face by a headband.
"I'm back." Minseok agrees, handing the other man the bag.
Luhan gives it another glance, a tiny nod gracing the interaction to confirm that Minseok had indeed gotten everything that he needed. "I thought that you'd gotten swallowed up out there."
He remarks as he heads to their kitchen, immediately going to wash the vegetables, the other man had gotten in the mood to cook, something that was from his childhood he'd told Minseok when he'd proposed the idea to him.
Minseok chuckles, letting the thin embroidered head covering fall away from his face, the cool of the stone hitting his feet in the kitchen. "You would like that too much wouldn't you?" he moves to take a sip of the fresh orange juice that he had just pressed in this morning.
Luhan snorted, the sound almost covered by the sound of a cleaver hitting their cutting board as the vegetables were being turned into nice little neat cooked sections. "That would mean way too much trouble. I would have to come look for you."
Minseok smiles at that. "So you would come and look for me."
Luhan shoots him another eye-roll, but it's followed with a small smile. "Of course I would, Ge, who else would I have here if not you."
Minseok kind of hums at that, but the thought did also make him kind of sad, thinking back to how he did meet his now roommate, at the edge of their city, tracks of dragging himself in this direction until he couldn't anymore. Skin peeling and burnt, sand seemed to have embedded itself into the very fibre of his being. On the edge of death as nature had driven him there, if Minseok hadn't found him then he would be sure that the other wouldn't have made it another ten minutes.
"That's why you need to go out, Lu. Make some friends. "
Luhan only makes a soft acknowledgement at the sound of the words, although it had been a year, almost two years since then when Minseok had found him and brought him to his home, and thankfully he hadn't been murdered or anything like that for the act of kindness.
Although it had been understandable that the other man was jumpy when he suddenly woke up in a building, just moments before he had been lying in the sand waiting for his imminent doom.
And even then the other man didn't like to go out into the city much, only if he had to.
Minseok doesn't say any more on the topic then, and only moves in the kitchen to see if there was anything that he could do to help the other as he was instructed, and Luhan seemed happy enough to hand him a pot or two, or give him something to wash.
Before he knows it, time has passed, and the leaking daylight was beginning to turn their surroundings golden, the cooler breeze of the night coming through their house with ease as they finally sit down for their evening meal, their table nearly packed with the other dishes Luhan had decided were necessary for their meal to be in any way successful.
Minseok looks over all of them. "Isn't this too much?"
Luhan shrugs as he pulls into the table. "Better enough, than not enough. We'll have leftovers then."
Minseok nods, picking up his first dish to place on his plate, steaming with freshness as they caught the light of the evening sun, soft voices carried on the afternoon wind as they soon joined in with their idle chat once their first few bites had been satisfied.
"I'm going out tonight... so don't wait up too late." Minseok mentions, taking a sip out of the bronze cup in front of him, the water clearing his taste buds from all of the fragrance that this meal had.
There is a heady silence for a moment, especially when Luhan's utensils stop moving against his plate.
"You're going to see him aren't you."
The sentence is more a statement and accusatory than it is a question, and Minseok didn't need to look past his plate to see the look that was more than sure to be on the other man's face at the confirmation backed by Minseok's silence.
It's not like he needed to say anything after all.
Minseok places his cup on the table, the orange light coming from the sunset was fading a little more now, and the velvet of night was beginning to take over the day with rapt purpose, the moon was rising and the sun was setting.
"Ge..." Luhan's tone trails off then, but his disgruntled expression doesn't fade as he crosses his arms, face pinched. "This is beyond stupid. He could get you killed."
This was a conversation that they'd had before, and the first time it nearly had turned into a screaming match, but Minseok now knew that the root of all of Luhan's worries stemmed from something personal. Whatever it was he had never spoken about it, not that he rarely spoke of anything before Minseok had scraped him from the sands into safer hands.
Even now, Minseok wasn't exactly sure how Luhan had ended up alone in the desert, the other man only giving a few vague references to what had happened before.
Minseok could only tell that he had run, and exactly from what he would never know.
Secondly, he was figuring that anything to do with 'Gods' was hitting a lot close to home, as Luhan's appearance at times seemed almost unnaturally good looking like some of the paintings or sculptures that came from people's imaginations.
But here he was walking, living, and breathing, Pink hair and all that almost looked sun streaked at some points, despite someone's best efforts.
Minseok releases a sigh, placing down his utensils as well. "It worked out for Sehunie and Junmyeon."
Luhan releases another sigh then, scoffing. "No offense to Junmyeon... but he isn't the heir to the Solar Throne."
Minseok's mind briefly flashes to the minor water god although he was thinking that minor was relative to god terms, to them he was the very person that supplied them with the water that allowed them all to live here in their little oasis.
Their desert rose.
Minseok had even been to his shrine a few times that resided in the center of town.
"And Sehun just happened to be able to survive the transfer. He was lucky." Luhan states. "What you're dealing with is a whole other level, it wouldn't take but a second but to dismiss you if they decide you're not worthy." Luhan scoffs. "They'll throw you to the side like trash."
Minseok clinches his hands at the thought, it wasn't as if he hadn't had the thoughts of his own, especially in the beginning. He who had the gall, and he who was foolish enough to fall in love with a god.
And Luhan was right if he wasn't careful he'd end up with a lot more than a broken heart.
Minseok stands then, pushing himself away from the table, shooting Luhan the briefest of smiles before collecting his dishes. "Thank you for the meal, it was delicious."
He leaves soon after that, Luhan's gaze and words searing into him and his thoughts like the midday sun.
***
Even after this, later on in the night, when the ground had cooled and the sands turned a ghostly visage of themselves, only occasionally lit by moonlight, the rest in the distance only showing shadow. The only beacon in the distance was the Solar palace, easier to see now that it wasn't fully gleaming in the light, though it still reflected every inch of its name, gleaming almost like a star in the night.
Minseok fidgets with the bracelet around his wrist, feeling it hum and vibrate in that way that it always did as he got closer to the palace, as he got closer to him, though his nerves were causing his stomach to form into knots.
And for the first time in a while, he was beginning to doubt all of this, what if Luhan was right? What if there was actually no light at the end of the tunnel in this situation, that he'd just naively thrown his heart to the wind.
What if he was actually just something to pass the time.
What was a mortal to a god after all?
In Minseok's mind he knew he was getting close as he passes the fountain in the middle of the main square, though this time of night it wasn't as fully occupied and only a few other people spent their time around the gleaming monument around the center, quietly chatting next to the glimmering water.
With another breath he pushes himself upwards and onwards.
And soon the familiar visage of the palace comes into larger focus, the once distant lights now large and warm in his vision, almost like small suns the closer he gets. Though he supposes that that was a real possibility given the nature of the people who lived in the residence, growths of ivy snaked their way up the stone walls, gently pulsating with golden light that ran through their own veins.
It made the bracelet on his wrist pulsate in familiarity, and he could feel it pulling himself closer into the walls of the palace, from here he could see the gardens coming just over the wall, the flowers over there too hanging from the edge of the walls.
Almost looking as if they were going to climb down the walls themselves to reach the streets below, to be able to see what they hadn’t beyond their own walls.
It's easy getting through the gates, as the bracelet does most of the work for him and he doesn't have to worry about anything else, the guards there barely giving him a look as he passes through without issue.
It wasn't like the security measures here wouldn't just burn him into a crisp, not to mention even if he did get to the royal family, what was a mortal like him supposed to do against gods?
Minseok's feet carry him to his destination purely on muscle memory as he gets lost in his thoughts once again trying not to desperately pick at his clothing as he walked, the cool night air making him thankful that he'd thought to wrap on of his shawls around his shoulders, even if the material was a bit thinner than what the night dictated, it was better than nothing.
Soon he's rounding another corner and then the flowers that had been reaching out soon greet him in full expanse, and it was something that never failed to take his breath away no matter how many times he'd seen it.
Something that he was sure made the ambrosia that the royals would drink.
Perhaps it was only because he didn't get to see it everyday, almost every flower within view glowed with collected sunlight, shimmering shades of all of their petals greeting him and lighting the pathway for him, and soon the object of his affection came into view.
Once again Minseok found himself stopping and starting to admire the view.
Jongdae had his back turned, the lush design of his robes visible as they glowed with his very being, the epitome of sunlight as the other man continued to look up at the night sky, hair as black as ink decorated in a few jewels that Minseok couldn't name as he was more than sure that they weren't of this realm, they draped over his hair and down glimmering in welcome it almost seemed, a symbol of his status.
The heir to the Solar Empire.
Minseok could imagine the face of the Prince before he even turned to face him, so with that thought in mind, he called out to him finally.
Jongdae turned around at the sound of his name, the stoic expression he'd had on his face immediately melting upon seeing Minseok standing there, the golden fire of his eyes lighting up even more if that were possible as he comes to meet him with a gait that was perhaps not supposed to be as someone with his status.
But Minseok knew deep down that the other man didn't care as he met him halfway, Jongdae's hand almost immediately coming up to cup Minseok's cheek, a warmth flooding throughout his skin at the touch.
Somehow Minseok had expected his touch to be burning, or even scathing, but no.. it remained as gentle as it did the first time Jongdae had raised his hand to place a kiss there.
It was only noticeable that he was obviously warmer than a normal person.
Jongdae's normal pout turns into a deeper one as his other hand comes up to cup Minseok's other cheek thumbs slightly brushing his cheekbones. "You're cold."
Minseok laughs at the statement. "I'm always cold to you."
Jongdae shakes his head earnestly. "This is different..."
"Well it is a bit cooler out tonight... it's probably from my walk." Minseok looks around, placing one hand over Jongdae's own, turning his head to kiss the inside of one of the palms holding his face. "Let's take a seat."
Jongdae is quick to pull him by the hand where he'd been observing the sky just before, realizing now that there was a seat there he hadn't noticed before.
"It's new." Jongdae says as if reading his thoughts. "I thought it would be nice to have somewhere to sit other than the ground or remain standing even if we were strolling."
Minseok smiles as Jongdae pulls him closer into his side, feeling the warmth seep through the thin fabric covering his bare shoulders, he can feel Jongdae's gaze on him, pleased probably that he was wearing his latest gift.
"I'm glad to see that you got my gift."
Minseok hums, fingers running over the fabric. "It's lovely." It was possibly the most beautiful thing he's ever owned, and had never seen anything else like it.
“Woven by starlight… it’s only befitting of you.” Jongdae’s piercing eyes find his again, placing a kiss of his own on Minseok’s knuckles with a light yet present touch.
Almost as if he were the prince, and it took him back to the first time they’d met, or rather that they’d seen each other out when the royal family had been out doing one of their outings to greet their subjects and locked eyes. Minseok had been shocked to see that the Prince had looked as enraptured as he had been.
Love at first sight.
And from then on as they say the rest was history, or it would be if the small voice in his head would actually stop casting doubts.
Luhan’s words.
What if he really were Icarus and he was flying too close to the sun, the wax on his wings melting while he was blissfully unaware going higher and higher to somewhere he couldn’t possibly achieve.
“Min?”
The gentle touch of Jongdae’s hand holding his chin brings him back to the present, blinking away some of the thoughts that had been overtaking his mind.
“Hmm?”
“You left me for a bit… what’s wrong?” Jongdae’s eyes immediately flash in concern, patiently waiting for Minseok’s answer as he searches his eyes.
Of course he can see it.
Minseok sighs. “It’s… it’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid if it worries you.” Jongdae says, stroking his cheekbone gently, he always handled him like a piece of fine pottery or a vase.
“I…” Minseok takes another breath, knowing that it would be best to be direct in this case. “You’re not playing with me are you?” he feels himself wanting to flinch and then shrink away immediately at asking the question but he knew it needed to be done. “Your family might not approve so...”
There’s silence between them and Minseok’s worried that he might’ve actually offended Jongdae in some way, as it continues to stretch between them and then an exhale of sound escapes Jongdae’s lips, his hands coming down to squeeze both of Minseok’s in his own.
“It’s a valid question, Min. But no, I'm serious about you.” It comes out in a whisper, and although Minseok knows he understands why he would ask the question, he doesn’t miss the slight tone of hurt that’s laced in the words. “I wouldn’t be so cruel to lead you on if I didn’t think you’re the one.” He takes his hand running his hands through Minseok’s brownish hair fingers just lightly brushing the skin on his neck.
“If I didn’t think you would survive the transfer.” Jongdae gives him another solid squeez of his hands as if to enforce the words into his very skin, so that they would become something more tangible rather than just whispered across. “You just don’t realize how brightly you shine.”
Minseok feels relief wash over his frame, and he knows the other is telling the truth, some tension slightly leaves him then and he can feel tears prickling in his eyes.
Jongdae is catching them with his thumb before Minseok can really register them, and in his other hand he sees the familiar flash of a Moonflower coming up in his hand, the bloom glowing and shimmering as it’s placed behind his ear with gentle touch.
Jongdae flashes him a smile, one that Minseok swears makes even the sun show with envy.
“As for my family, if they disapprove. They would’ve already made it known. And even if they did, I would fight for you.” Jongdae leans in then, pressing a solid kiss to his forehead and to the rest of his face, enveloping him in warmth.
It was then that Minseok knew that even if he had Icarus’ folly, and flew too close to the sun that Jongdae was going to be the one to catch him without fail.