(a/n: So if it seems like an odd beginning compared to the last update, go take a look at the end of the last posting.  By moderately popular demand, Jongin fainting was largely requested so yeah...  lol  I hope you enjoy all the same!)

                A quiet groan hissed through slightly parted lips and Jongin reluctantly pried his eyes open to see what was going on.  “Xing?” he asked in a soft murmur, blinking up at the silver eyed demon as the other male peered down at him with no small amount of concern.

                “There you are,” he breathed, smiling in relief as he caressed the side of Jongin’s cheek, his other arm supporting the human’s head while he rested his shoulders on his outstretched legs.

                Jongin’s brow scrunched together and he cringed with the realization that he was lying down.  “What happened…?” he trailed off, wincing against the answer.

                “A hero is not supposed to faint,” Yixing chuckled, the dimple appearing while he rested his hand on Jongin’s good shoulder, helping to anchor him in place.

                “I didn’t,” Jongin muttered immediately, almost completely content with staying exactly where he was.  All he needed now was for Yixing to start combing his fingers through his hair like he used to and it would be just like old times again, minus the injuries anyway.

                “Oh?” the demon laughed once, clearly unconvinced.

                “Nope,” Jongin supplied, closing his eyes, only to reopen one of them so he could peer at Yixing.  “I passed out.  There’s a difference,” he maintained cheekily, relaxing further as he reached up to cup the other male’s cheek, the position awkward but the affection present.

                Yixing leaned into the contact, placing his hand atop Jongin’s as he smiled back with a slight shake of his head.  “Come on,” he urged gently, sliding his fingers around the other male’s while he sighed.  “We need to get your wounds looked at.”

                “Ergh…  What about you?” Jongin asked, allowing himself to be shifted with care, voice stuttering when the mere act of getting up took his breath away.

                “I’ll be fine,” Yixing assured him, rising with Jongin stiffly, the pale expression and pressed lips telltale signs he wasn’t as well as he was pretending.  “Honestly, I think I’m more worried about your mother,” he admitted once Jongin was standing, hands resting against the other male’s waist in a supportive manner as he watched him gain his balance.

                “Momma?” Jongin chirped, brow furrowed while he looked for the axe that was no longer in his hands.  “She’s harmless,” he assured the demon, smiling in satisfaction when he found the item only a couple steps away.  He started to move for it but paused… remembering very clearly what happened the last time.

                “No mother is harmless when their child is involved,” Yixing pointed out softly before he retrieved the axe for Jongin, handing it off to the younger male hesitantly; not because he was worried but more for the fact that he didn’t want it to overburden him again.

                “It’ll be fine, Xing,” Jongin assured him again, stepping close enough to press his forehead against the demon’s since it was the only thing he could do with one useless arm and the other currently occupied.

                Yixing just looked at him with those silver eyes again, taking a brief moment to shift them to a more mundane, acceptable color.  “If you say so,” he sighed, not in the least bit convinced.

                “I do,” the other smiled, tilting his head so he could press his lips to Yixing’s, a quiet, tender promise.  The demon smiled weakly and eased his arm around Jongin’s ribs, holding him close but not firm enough to cause him additional discomfort, as they headed for his mother’s home.

                “Momma...” Jongin cautioned, good hand out as he filled the doorway with his body while Yixing practically cowered behind him and his mother brandished a chopping knife in his general direction.

                “Tha’s the demon!” she yelled, glaring at the shorter male behind her son as he flinched at her high pitched tone, eyes wandering the exterior to make sure no one else was coming.

                “I know,” the younger male responded, eyes trained on the knife.  “It’s alright, momma,” he assured her, swiping at the improvised weapon with his good hand, the axe having been deposited by the door.  “He’s not going to hurt you,” he promised, jerking back when she swiped their general direction, gaze still trained on the demon.

                At the statement, her eyes darted to Jongin and her jaw dropped open partially, “But ya stabbed him!”

                “And I was wrong!” Jongin admitted, holding his one good hand up in immediate surrender, though he stayed firmly in the doorway.  “Kris was the demon.”

                “The bad one,” Yixing murmured correctively behind him to which his mother squeaked.

                “Right!  The bad one,” Jongin assured her, taking a careful step forward to close the distance between them.

                His mother stared at him incredulously before she glared at the demon again.  “What have ya done ta my son?!”

                “Nothing!” he admitted immediately, following Jongin’s example as he held both hands up in surrender and looked pitiful; not that it was difficult under the circumstances.

                “Momma!” Jongin barked, annoyed at the accusation.  “Oh, for goodness…” he started to say, a perturbed frown pulling at his lips before he huffed in irritation and loudly groaned, letting his knees buckle as he folded to the ground, mindful of his injured side arm.  That didn’t stop him from crying out when he hit the ground though, the pain jarring through his already scored body.

                “Jongin!” both Yixing and his mother cried at the same time, immediately moving to his side.  His mother discarded the knife and the demon hovered close, biting his lip as he was mindful enough to keep his distance while the woman checked her son over.

                Hissing between his teeth, Jongin clasped her hand with his one good one and assured her quickly, “I’m alright momma.  But Yixing isn’t bad.  He helped me today,” he explained sincerely, holding to her hand tighter when she examined the demon with flashing eyes.

                “But he’s a demon…” she trailed off, not entirely convinced.

                “And I’ve known about him since I was six,” he admitted, waiting for her to acknowledge the statement before he said anything else.

                His mother paused and blinked at the demon, not seeing him as she processed what she’d been told, before she focused her eyes on her son once more.  “Eh?”

                Jongin nodded slightly, keeping his movements abbreviated as he let his eyes drift towards the door, reminding Yixing to shut it as best he could.  “He was the man in the pond, remember?  The one I tried to tell you about?” he explained further, keeping his expression neutral when Yixing pushed the door shut gently, the soft sound making them all jump as the barrier locked into place.

                “But ya imagined it,” she murmured, blinking in astonishment.

                “No, momma,” he chuckled softly with a shake of his head.  “I didn’t.”

                While Yixing made no move to assist Jongin otherwise, it was obvious he wanted to, worry etched onto his features as he looked between the young man and his mother, hands clasped tightly in his lap so he couldn’t try and reach out.  The older woman exhaled through her nose, teeth biting into her bottom lip firmly, before she eyed the demon once more.  “Ye.  Over there,” she pointed with her free hand, indicating the spot furthest from the kitchen and the respective location they were huddled in at that moment.

                “It’s alright, Xing,” Jongin assured the demon with a nod and a small smile, watching as Yixing hesitantly got up and shuffled over to where his mother had indicated.

                “I want to help…” he admitted in a dejected whisper, pouting at her as he did as commanded.

                Unconvinced, Jongin’s mother helped her son to his feet and ushered him into the kitchen, settling him on a stool so she could get a better glimpse of his wounds and treat them accordingly.  “Ya’ve a lot of explainin ta do,” she told Jongin sharply, one finger pointed at his nose before she helped him out of the bloodstained and torn shirt, mouth pursed when she saw the wounds beneath.  Back to being all business, she was the unquestionable caretaker once more.

                “I know, momma,” Jongin winced, jaw clenching at the pain when he was unable to lift his left arm to help her.

                “And ya’ve dislocated yer shoulder?!” she asked incredulously.  Jongin gave an unconvincing smile and shrugged with his good shoulder.  Incomprehensibly, she muttered under her breath and shook her head.  “I’ll need help fer that,” she explained at last, standing upright to place her fists on her hips, glaring at her son before she cast a glance at the demon in the corner.  “Stay,” she commanded, pointing between the both of them with one determined finger.

                They watched her leave the house with nervous expressions, not entirely sure who she was going to get for assistance.  “Jongin?” Yixing asked quietly, taking up as little space as possible on the floor, form balled up and arms wrapped around his legs, hiding the majority of his hurts from obvious sight.

                “It’s alright, Xing.  She’ll come around soon enough,” Jongin nodded encouragingly, hoping he was right.  She should at any rate.  It wasn’t like Yixing was particularly harmful after all and he certainly didn’t look nearly as intimating as Kris had.  Speaking of which, he’d need to send someone out to retrieve the body so they could burn it as soon as possible.

                “Are you sure?”

                “Positive,” Jongin responded after a brief pause, nodding his head for emphasis as he tried to find a comfortable position on the chair, gaze wandering out the window to keep an eye out for who she’d return in tow with.

                The steady clip-clop of the horses’ hooves tattooed evenly on the dirt road as the two riders ambled along, side by side in the early afternoon hours.  “Sorry about your mother,” Yixing apologized quietly, glancing over under the shock of short blonde bangs as he handled the reins of the considerably livelier but still agreeable brown gelding that Wufan had ridden into the village.  Without the use of the sedative, he was considerably more responsive and while he didn’t exactly like carrying a demon, Yixing’s presence was a great deal more tolerable than Wufan’s had been.

                Jongin grimaced at the other’s words and shrugged half-heartedly, patting his gray gelding lightly.  “She just needs time,” he sighed, peering down at Demon Killer resting against his left hip.  “And besides.  The village will take care of her,” he spoke as if to himself, picking at a piece of the white mane between his fingers.  That was true enough.  His father had gained a fair bit of respect in the village and it wasn’t like Jongin himself was without any claim either.  He’d slain the demon, after all, even if it hadn’t happened exactly as they’d expected.

                “She took it rather well, all things considered,” Yixing reminded him in a gentle tone, nudging his mount closer with his knee so that he could reach over and grab Jongin’s hand in his, holding tight.  Their initial introduction had left much to be desired but after the first scare, she’d grudgingly accepted his presence nearby.

                “Well… she did let you stay inside anyway,” he agreed with a reluctant nod, finally looking over at his companion who appeared considerably better than he had only a couple weeks ago.  The wounds he’d suffered at Jongin and Wufan’s hands had generally healed over and he looked mostly like his old self.  He’d always have scars from the binding blade, but they simply added to the ones that had already been present and Yixing took it in stride.  Jongin wasn’t particularly happy he’d had other scars that had been revealed in time, due in no small part to the effects of the binding blade, but with Wufan dead, it wasn’t like there was anything he could do about it anyway.

                Jongin on the other hand, looked as scarred up as ever and was suffering from a mother in the throes of denial.  Stupid human limitations.  None of his wounds ever healed seamlessly, much to his annoyance, leaving him irritable about the weakness of humans.

                “And she liked my cooking,” Yixing nodded, giving a dimpled smile that prompted one from Jongin as well, even if it was reluctant.

                “Yeah… but you’re just… not a woman,” Jongin remarked with another shrug, clearly unsure how he himself felt about the statement.  He truly cared for the demon, he did, but there was no getting around his mother’s concerns in that regard.

                “I should think not,” Yixing chuckled lightly, falling silent when he received very little response from his companion.  “Jongin,” he called, asking the other to look up and meet his buckskin eyes, expression tender and concerned.  “We’ll take it slow, alright?” he promised, tightening his grip on the other male’s hand.  What with their healing up and getting everything sorted out in the village, there’d been neither the time nor the privacy to get further acquainted beyond a simple hug or kiss here and there.  “And while I don’t exactly want to share you with anybody, if you must have a child, I suppose I can accept you fathering one with-”

                “Xing!” Jongin yelped incredulously with his mouth open.  Granted, it wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about it himself, but it certainly wasn’t something he’d dared to voice aloud.

                “What?  I’m just saying,” Yixing shrugged, ducking his head slightly.  He was more than well aware of his shortcomings when it came to what was expected…  There was a reason such pairings weren’t openly supported.

                “You’re not helping!” Jongin groaned, slumping in the saddle though he made no effort to separate their hands, just as frustrated by the reality as his demon.

                “Sorry,” Yixing mumbled again, sighing sadly.  He wanted to fix things as best he could but there were some problems that had no easy answers and because he loved Jongin, their pairing and the results thereof, was one of them.

                Jongin took a deep breath and forced himself to relax.  He knew his mother was happy for him in that he’d found someone he truly cared about but he was hardly what she’d been expecting.  For one, there was no point in trying to hide the fact that Yixing was a demon, though he’d agreed to hide his eye color when they left the village.  He explained that he’d never bothered with doing so around Jongin because he had never felt the need to.  While Jongin was perfectly fine with those facts, the rest of the villagers, his mother included, were uneasy because the most recent demon had successfully infiltrated their lives posing as an adventurer and had slain his father as a result, nearly turning the village against each other.  Wufan’s legacy would not soon be forgotten, though his body was long since burned to ash.

                They’d had an easy enough time incinerating the body after the fact, which he’d made sure to accompany them to oversee.  After everything that had happened, he hadn’t wanted anyone touching his sword, just in case they had any strange ideas when it came to Yixing.  Binding blade or not, it was still fatal to anyone if used in the proper manner.  If nothing else, Wufan’s body and head had burned just fine and he’d retrieved his weapon with no further trouble, though he could barely stand at the time and had been supremely grateful no one had thought to challenge him for it.  His mother had been his stand for support while Yixing lingered nearby, not touching but still clearly connected to the pair.

                The other problem was that Yixing was undeniably male and his mother desperately wanted grandchildren to continue their lineage.  It didn’t help that he was the only surviving male in the family so that alleviated not amount pressure whatsoever.  Ironically enough though, she had seemed to accept the fact of Yixing’s demon status far better than his gender in retrospect; especially when it was obvious he cared just as much for Jongin as the human did, if not more so.  In his current relationship though, progeny were simply… impossible.

                Of course, his mother had spoken with him and reasoned that since he was only ten and seven, it was likely he’d grow out of this ‘experimental’ phase but looking at Yixing again, Jongin wasn’t so sure.  He didn’t argue with her on the matter and had let it drop easy enough but the tension in the village was still palpable all the same.  The majority couldn’t get over the fact that Yixing was a demon, even if Jongin, and his mother to a varying degree, trusted him implicitly.  So once they were both sufficiently healed up, they’d agreed to head out together.

                He wasn’t surprised when Sehun and Tao had been the saddest to see them go.  Maybe it was because of their established leanings as well, but the pair had been more open to Yixing than most, hanging around far more often than the majority of the village.  It didn’t hurt that despite being a demon, he was perfectly polite and rather disarming; especially since he had those interesting moments of drifting off into his own thoughts.  He professed to thinking about Jongin at such moments but the other male had his own thoughts on the matter.  Quite frankly, Yixing had a much larger time span to consider than Jongin did so of course he was skeptical, even if the demon refused to tell him just how old he was or what type of demon class he belonged to.  Jongin knew he was certainly older than seventy years of age though, which was an odd concept to get around since he looked to be in his early twenties…

                Still, he wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about their relationship himself.  Aside from loving the demon in an emotional manner, he hadn’t given much thought to the physical side yet.  The prospect of it was both intriguing and very much frightening… beyond the kissing and cuddling side anyway, which was just plain fun.  Yixing wasn’t bothered by it in the least, but then again he’d been with other men before, the last of which had been Wufan.  Just the thought of that bastard touching his Yixing made his blood boil and his hand tightened on his companion’s unconsciously.

                “Are you alright?” Yixing asked, leaning closer when the other male didn’t loosen his grip after a moment.

                “Huh?  Oh!” Jongin gasped, forcing his hand to relax as he smiled sheepishly.  “Sorry.  I’m fine,” he assured him with a nod.  “Just thinking a bit too much.”

                “We can take a break if you’d like,” Yixing suggested, glancing around, seeing nobody in the vicinity but plenty of places to pause if they cared.

                “No,” Jongin shook his head and grinned.  “I’m good.  Let’s just get to Lorrelstown and go from there.  I’m sure Minseok and Kyungsoo will have plenty enough work for both of us and we can just lay low for a little while, right?”

                Yixing laughed at his response but nodded in agreement.  “Whatever you say, love.”  Jongin had explained that such relationships weren’t unheard of in the larger town, though Yixing knew as much already.  He didn’t specify where but he did admit to having been around the world a bit and that was enough to keep Jongin occupied for several days as they made their way to the city and whatever future adventures it might old for them.

(a/n: So I anticipated having fifteen chapters total but with this one extending the way it has (fainting scene and extended mother encounter after the fact), it is apparently going to be fifteen + 1, give or take.  So the next will be (in all likelihood) the final actual chapter but the sixteenth is probably going to be a bonus attempt for KaiXing since they've been a bit lacking of late.  ;)  Any thoughts/requests/hopes/etc. at this point?  If not, that's fine and I just hope you enjoyed the latest installment.  ^_^  Thanks for reading along and please look forward to the next update.  :3)