Ascending the tiers was an interesting task.
It seemed that the guards let normal folk wait the time for a candle to burn as the night life flocked through like a river.
A farmer was being asked for his life story whilst the nameless group walsed right through.
The walls layers were thick, it took them a while to walk through the gate itself never mind the actual tier.
It should be that the further one walks in, the better and safer they should feel, yet this was not the case for Yi Lian. The further they walked the more eyes sort him in the crowd, but equally the more he held onto Nie Asreal, the safer he felt. He didn't even notice that he was glued to his side until Nie Asreal placed a hand around his shoulders.
Nie Asreal, "Orchid, you do know you're much stronger than me. Holding onto me is like a bear hugging a fish down a river."
Yi Lian didn't care.
This place was backwards. The first tier had been quiet, dark, the only sound and light came from those who walked through. the second, the middle tier, was quiet but not as tense. There were lights around the streets, elders sitting out to watch the stars, children walking home from playing outside all day. It seemed all so normal, more normal than The Island in some regards.
The Island had a few cities but the majority of the island was made up of villages that were reasonably quiet. That was The Island for you! Quiet, secluded and traditional.
Yi Lian was quite lost in thought, so much so that he unconsciously spoke.
"I'm hot."
Nie Asreal chuckled and replied, "Yes you are Orchid."
Yi Lian didn't get it which made Nie Asreal some chuckle more.
Yi Lian, "How can it be getting hotter if it's the same sky from just ten steps ago."
Nie Asreal looks him over with a calculated gaze then stops walking.
"You really are sensitive… makes me wonder what else is."
Yi Lian again doesn't understand but it seemed the group of halflings walking past them did, causing two to choke half to death from shock whilst others laughed.
Nie Asreal's smile morphed back into one of mischief, the way his eyes raked Yi Lian's body made a shiver dance down his heated spine.
He blamed the heat for his flushed cheeks but Nie Asreal isn't quite as gullible. He decides to stop teasing him. In reality he was only half teasing because there was really something in his mind he was trying to figure out; it's just that the ability to test out his theory could not be done here.
So in the end he settles for something less intrusive.
Nie Asreal, "Thorn! We take a second in the mid tier."
Thorn, who was stationed at the front, didn't even frown at the interruption. He simply shrugged and pointed to an inn where the party then flooded inside.
Nie Asreal took Yi Lian's hand and brought him to the side next to the tall Inn. Yi Lian cast his prayers to the poor inn owner, most likely not used to such a crowd just casually stopping by to buy out all their liquor.
His thoughts are soon ripped away though when he feels his back hit the alley wall and dajavu lightly sparks in his mind.
Nie Asreal leaned his whole body against his, pinning him back against the wall whilst providing a safe and cozy feeling even if he was melting under the close heat. Yi Lian's skin felt alight however each part Nie Asreal touched was alight in a different way.
Nie Asreal, "I may have been wrong about your condition. It seems that demonic energy is what causes this. Do you remember before when the heat was at its worst?"
Yi Lian had flashes of the unbearable heat from the years prior and his eyes blew wide. It seems the memory alone was enough to create a body of frost on the wall behind him.
Nie Asreal thought better the wall than him but still had no verbal answer so he just stares intensely at Yi Lian.
When no reply is given, Nie Asreal's voice comes out stern and raspy, "Sect Leader Yi…"
Yi Lian immediately brings back his attention and shrinks a little in his arms. "Yes, yes! I remember too well it seems…"
Nie Asreal looks down at him with the eyes of a hunter, something Yi Lian hadn't seen before. What he was unaware of was what it was like to see him with such attentive eyes, mouth slightly agape and prettiness in the shadowed light.
What Nie Asreal was doing was exercising his self restraint. This was someone who had managed to be around Yi Jian knowing what he had done and not ripped his head off, yet somehow now it seemed harder.
Nie Asreal, "I'll sort out the heat better than last time, it's actually going to be much worse as where we're going is not only stained by demonic energy but active and pulsing with it. The way to do this as...
Comfortable as possible you must let me have my way."
This meant his technique was good but the reasoning was wrong. The upper tier was already seeping into Yi Lian and unlike last time when he only skimmed the surface of his skin from demonic energy, now he needed to go deeper.
Yi Lian thought the words held some strangeness but he didn't dwell on it much. "Do what you will, I trust you Nie Asreal."
The words were so innocent but the act was not.
With the go ahead Nie Asreal grabbed a hold of his waist and pulled him into his body. In one clean motion he started to kiss along Yi Lian's jaw and across his neck. All the self restraint washed away and flooded into an overbearing tsunami of sin.
Yi Lian let out a small gasp. His eyes fell gently shut. His arms and hands found themselves wrapping around the god before him, clutching at muscle and hair, anything to get closer.
Nie Asreal shoved him back against the wall again causing a thud followed by a whine. That whine was immediately replaced by lips.
Yi Lian was sure he was about to be devoured but he was more than willing to comply.
Nie Asreal absorbed the demonic energy inside him. Instead of skimming the tops of his skin he took from the inside making him pure. This was like the king of demons creating a god as pure as the sun but that love is what made it possible.
Nie Asreal felt every part of his skin catch fire. The power flooding him accompanied by the overbearing love he felt for Yi Lian made him feel light headed. He wanted to give him everything, anything. Everything was him and it wouldn't be long until he had gone back to The Island.
This reminder made him step away swiftly like a bolt to the face.
He brought one hand to Yi Lian's bruised lip and looked him in the eyes. "Stay close to me."
Yi Lian nodded swiftly. "Always."
Nie Asreal's heart tugged and thudded in his chest. Could he kidnap the Sect Leader? No, an army would be after him… Could he take them?
Yi Lian took his hand and cleared his throat. "Please never do that in public."
Nie Asreal, "I would never." he said in an unconvincing tone.