Twisted immortality

XXIX - Happily... Ever... After

In the snow, he stood. He waited. It was incredibly difficult to breathe.'

Anything and everything going through Songkarn head was killing him. Why would anyone decide to torture him with such sweet painful illusion? Songkarn closed his eyes. He knew that the shadow of Anurak would pass through him in an instant and he was desperately trying to not acknowledge that truth. That this strong illusion, this clear vision of him would, could only mean one thing. The end of all this, the end of his maddening, but desperately craved for illusions.

And then it didn't. The lips that were suddenly crushing his, the hands that were roaming over his body, holding both of them firmly against another, it was really Anurak. He could only feel his tears cover them both as he closed his eyes and answered with passion.

Everyone present on that square was either watching with admiration or they turned away with shame. Love so honest, adoring of one another, could not be easy to watch if you had not an inkling, or have not had the pleasure of experiencing themselves.

Finally, only when they had to let go of each other did Songkarn really look over his loved one.  Was he blushing more noticeably? Or was that his imagination? Also, he looked thinner.

"Songkarn! I'm really here. Never leaving you again." Anurak looked at him with a gentle smile. His features were relaxed and happy. This was the easiest description. Else ways Songkarn would have used something like, 'light shone from behind his brilliantly content smile', but that would have been too otherworldly. They had, had enough of that. So now Songkarn just smiled in content and happiness to the one who could make his world as bright as he could turn it dark and sad in the same instance.

It all just went on from there. For some time still Songkarn turned to check if Anurak was beside him. It took a while to start believing that he was really again there, with him. The first thing he searched stepping into the room was Anurak. The first thing he felt in the morning was Anurak's body, sleeping beside him. Their life went on as it had been before, though with one huge difference. They didn't have to be scared of their time ending. Also, Anurak didn't have to change his identities anymore. He was content with just one name.

Anurak did some big merging with his companies. He delegated more and more to other people, but he never left all the work to others. The habit of working for almost a millennium had its consequences. But he did learn to rest and take more of his time for himself. Also slowly he started realizing the extent of his mortality. His body wasn't able to withstand everything anymore. They got rather healthy with their lifestyle. Not just with food, but also with exercising. Songkarn felt it was a good chance. They went hiking so often that at some point he wasn't worried about his fitness anymore. He just found the stamina was building up and it felt great to climb Hallasan Mountain at least once a month. Also, it had become one of their favorite spots after the first time they conquered it. There were 5 different trails to climb and they often switched between the shorter and longer trails. Because you could see the same thing but feel totally differently about something you had been seeing for quite some time.

Anurak was looking up, his face covered with a light blanket of sweat and blush so lovely, Songkarn subconsciously let himself watch that lovely sight more than the sight that was all around them. He wanted to do so much more but somehow it dawned on him that there was a reason he needed to wait, needed to push his own desires back for a second.

"You know how good it is to get up here? It feels like someone gave me a chance to live. Like really live. Before, this whole time, I just waited. I know I did a lot and felt a lot, and lived in a manner of speaking. But the real truth is that I never tried. I never used to set goals for myself. Like this kind. Realistic. Doing something with my own body. Down to earth, real goals. I really never saw the reason. My life felt like one secret after the other and because there was no actual risk to my life ending, it really didn't matter to me."