The Nectar of the Stars

The Eternal Flower
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Early the next morning, Luhan wakes up to the sounds of Kyungsoo and Jongin chatting in the room next to his and Minseok's.

 

Immediately, he looks over to his right where Minseok should be and smiles when he sees him peacefully sleeping on the sole bed of the room. Then, as he looks at him a bit more and Minseok turns over in his sleep, butterflies instantly flutter about in his stomach at the sight of Minseok's well-defined biceps.

 

Luhan then imagines him and Minseok spending more time together after their main quest is completed before he soon starts thinking about the eternal flower. Worry then quickly seeps in as he thinks more about it, and about his mother and whether or not he'll be able to wake her up in time, and he feels his heart-rate pick up a bit before he hears Kyungsoo laughing at something that Jongin said next door.

 

So, with only the thought of trying to calm down, Luhan slowly gets up from his chair (as to not disturb his body-charger) and whispers to a still-sleeping Minseok that he's going next door before he quietly leaves the room to do just that.

 

Then, after lightly knocking on the other two's door and hearing a Come in from Kyungsoo, Luhan enters their rented room and spots the two of them sitting and cuddling together on their bed. And before Luhan can even say anything, they both frown and ask him what's wrong and Kyungsoo pats their bed and tells him to join them.

 

And so, Luhan quickly confides in them as he moves to sit down on the bed and finds relief slowly settle in as he voices all of his concerns. He then learns that the two of them have the same questions and worries as well and ends up feeling even calmer as Kyungsoo reminds him to take deep breaths while Jongin muses that it'll all be alright.

 

Then, soon after Luhan's fully calmed down, Jongin's stomach starts to grumble loudly, and Kyungsoo suggests with a small smile that he and Jongin should get some food to eat then. So, after the two of them get up to stretch and such, the three of them leave the two's rented room to go to the front of the inn where the two married innkeepers, Haran and Dagur, are at.

 

Once they get there though, they quickly stop their quiet chatter when they find Chanyeol already there--sitting at a bench with his head resting face-down on the table. Immediately, the three of them rush over and marvel at the sight of him sleeping like this before Jongin asks if Chanyeol slept out here for the entirety of last night.

 

Then all of a sudden, the innkeeper named Haran comes over to them and asks if they need anything, and the three of them turn to her with wide eyes and ask what happened.

 

"Well apparently, this one was sleepwalking earlier," she says in a tired tone, and the three glance at each other with surprise before looking back at her. "I was still asleep while it happened but Dagur said that earlier, he'd been setting up his things to prepare for making meals for you all when this one came up to him and asked for some mead--"

 

While she continues retelling what happened, Luhan thinks back to when he first met Chanyeol, and tries to calculate everything that could've possibly led to this sleepwalking phenomenon returning.

 

"--when he saw how glassy his eyes looked, that's when Dagur realized that this one was actually asleep the entire time. So, after trying not to startle him awake, he guided him here to sit down and the poor thing's been sleeping like this ever since."

 

"Oh, Chanyeol," Jongin murmurs worriedly, frowning as he looks at their sleeping friend.

 

"...I wish there was something I could do to help but, treating ailments and such isn't really my specialty," she then says. "But, um whenever you're ready to eat--just head on over to Dagur, alright? He'll let you buy anything at a lower price since you're traveling with Baekhyun."

 

The three of them just thank her before she nods and walks away to clean some tables nearby. And so, while Jongin and Luhan sit down in front of Chanyeol at the opposite-facing bench, Kyungsoo goes over to Dagur to order some food for Jongin and himself. Then, he returns to them some seconds later and slides right in next to Jongin.

 

"What should we do?" Jongin then whispers. "Should we ask him about it when he wakes up?"

 

Kyungsoo starts to bite on a fingernail. "I-I dunno, baby. I honestly dunno this time."

 

And Jongin sighs. "Something must be really bothering him inside then, hon...'Cause I don't think sleepwalking can go from everyday to nothing and then just come back again without something having caused it, right?"

 

"...Yeah."

 

Luhan just frowns, feeling so helpless right now, and the three of them just sit there and continue lightly chatting while they wait for the two's food to arrive and for Chanyeol to wake up.

 

---

 

Some minutes later, the other two's meals get served to them by Haran and they thank her before she tiredly smiles and walks back over to her husband to chat.

 

Chanyeol's still not awake yet, and just continues to lightly snore with his head resting on the table. And Luhan and the other two continue glancing at him every so often until they suddenly hear footsteps and look up to see a worried Minseok who's now rushing over to them. Immediately, Minseok hugs Luhan and greets him with a Mornin' and Luhan feels butterflies flutter about in his stomach as he returns the hug and greeting.

 

Then, Minseok pulls away first and greets the other two (and vice versa) before he looks at Chanyeol and asks them what happened.

 

"Um, so basically...he was sleepwalking again," Jongin supplies while chewing on his food. "And now, he's just uh regular sleeping."

 

"Huh? 'Again?'" Minseok asks, eyebrows furrowed. "He's done it before?"

 

"Oh yeah, sorry! I keep forgetting we met you after he joined us on this quest. But um, yeah apparently he used to do it all the time before he joined us. Then, it just...stopped. But now, um I dunno, we figured something's probably bothering him like deep, deep down maybe."

 

Minseok's lips then tug to the side a bit as he takes in that information before he moves to sit down next to a now-shy yet pleased Luhan. Their shoulders end up bumping against each other and Luhan practically melts when Minseok reaches for his hand to hold under the table. With red cheeks, Luhan then curls his fingers around Minseok's hand, and Minseok grins at him before he looks at the other two and asks the question that the three of them haven't dared to ask out loud.

 

"Do you think he'll be able to go to Alftand today then?"

 

Luhan frowns at that and looks back across the table at a still-sleeping Chanyeol before Jongin replies with, I think he'll be alright. And for now, that's the best that any of them could hope for.

 

-------

 

About a half hour later, Chanyeol finally wakes up and slowly lifts his head off the table only to see his seven companions awake and sitting around him on the benches in front of him/nearby.

 

Chanyeol then scratches at his scalp while still half-asleep and asks what day it is to no one in particular. Then, after one of them says that it's Tuesday, he lets out a hum before it actually registers in his mind and he bolts upright.

 

", what time is it?! Did I sleep in again?" he asks them.

 

"Hey-hey, don't worry about that right now," Yifan replies, looking concerned. "We just wanna know if you're feeling alright, man."

 

Chanyeol furrows his eyebrows at that. "Huh? Why--what happened?"

 

"Um, apparently you were sleepwalking again," Jongin's the first to say.

 

Chanyeol's eyebrows lift. "Again?"

 

"Yeah," Kyungsoo responds this time. "And um, we know that you've been through a lot like even before you met us. A-and that there's probably a lot that you'd rather not talk about but...um...we--we just we wanted you to know that...we're here for you, Chanyeol."

 

The others basically chorus out Yeah!'s and We're here for you!'s and Chanyeol can only nod with a growing grin and tears springing in his eyes.

 

"Aw, you guys!" he cries before opening his arms for a group hug.

 

Everyone smiles or chuckles and gets up to hug him/pat his back, and once they pull away, Chanyeol lets them know that he seriously appreciates their concern but his sleepwalking's actually nothing to worry about. The others then ask him why, and with an embarrassed grin, he informs them all that the sleepwalking trait just runs in his family.

 

"What," Kyungsoo replies.

 

"Yeah ehehe, sometimes it like skips a generation or whatever but um, I have it, my mom has it, my sister has it...Like, for us, a night of sleepwalking means we actually wake up well-rested and and don't end up sleeping in 'til like past freakin' midday..." The others just look at him with shock and a bit of awe and he can't help but chuckle when he sees Kyungsoo's slack-jaw expression. "Hahaha honestly, I thought I told you guys about this already though! I guess that was just in a dream then."

 

And so, the rest of the morning is spent with everyone chatting and a few of the others asking Chanyeol more questions about his family and such while he eats a nice, hearty morning meal. And at some point, Chanyeol finally tells Yifan, Baekhyun, and Yixing about the extent of his phoenix descendant abilities, and practically grins from ear to ear when Yifan excitedly bangs his fists on the table and exclaims, No ing way!

 

-------

 

Later on, after the others have all eaten and taken baths and such, Luhan and the others finally depart the inn around midday. And after visiting a general goods' store to trade/buy items and stopping by the stables to check in on their horses, the eight of them leave Winterhold entirely and set off on foot towards the great lift at Alftand.

 

It's been a while since they've all travelled without their horses/the wagon, and so it doesn't take long for complaints about the ascending path and snowy terrain to sound out from a few of them.

 

The whining and such instantly reminds Luhan of Zitao and Sehun, and he frowns a bit as he thinks of the two partners and imagines the two of them dramatically whining like Chanyeol and Baekhyun are right now. Minseok then lightly squeezes his hand that he's been holding onto since their departure, and Luhan glances down at him. Minseok doesn't say anything, but the comforting smile that he gives him lets Luhan know that he can tell who he's thinking about right now.

 

"Hey, what do y'all think those two rascals are doin' right now?" Baekhyun suddenly asks, and Luhan's eyes widen. "D'ya think we'll actually see 'em again? Like, after all this is said 'n' done?"

 

"Man, watch," Chanyeol replies. "Maybe as soon as we get to the lift we'll see them again, and Sehun'll be like, 'Oh yeah, turns out we had a show down there a-heh-heh-heh'."

 

Baekhyun just chuckles at that and so, their conversation stays on Sehun and Zitao for a bit more before they soon start talking about the eternal flower and things of that nature. And Luhan and the others chime in every so often as they all continue walking up the snowy path.

 

---

 

Around two hours later, after many slips and slides on the icy terrain and getting past several ice creature encounters, they all finally make it to the great lift at Alftand.

 

"Okay, everyone..." Kyungsoo says, panting. They all just ran away from a snow bear that Jongin managed to pacify. "Let's all...take a moment...to breathe..."

 

Of course, Luhan's the only one not out of breath but he takes in a deep breath like the others anyway. Then, once the others' breathing have normalized, Kyungsoo asks Yifan and Chanyeol what to do next since the two of them are the only ones who've actually been to this lift before.

 

"Okay, so uh all we have to do now is open the gate," Yifan says while moving closer to it. "And like, it's been a while since I've last been here so it probably froze over a bit and--" He suddenly stops in his tracks. "--wait, what the ?"

 

Luhan and the others instantly ask him what's wrong and Yifan informs them all that there's a padlock and some chains covering the lift's lever inside. He then tells them to stand back as he pries the gate open and steps inside to survey the scene--looking up and down to see if anything else is different.

 

Everything else seems to be in order though and so he turns to look at them all with a frown on his face and his arms crossing over his chest. "Okay, so looks like some jackass locked the lever behind themself. And like, thing is, this looks like a ing master lock--'s gonna take forever to open."

 

And at that, Luhan and the others look at Baekhyun, who grins at the attention and dramatically tells them all to step aside before he saunters toward

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reddoll123
7/18--Hey, so I've started cross-posting this fic onto my AO3~! It's under the same user: reddoll123 btw~ Hope ya all are doing well!

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Damia_Song123 #1
Chapter 20: such a magnificent story. thank you sm sharing with us ^^
Damia_Song123 #2
Chapter 15: the plot is marvelous. I feel sad it end it just show how good it is <3
WR_Supplier
#3
Congrats on the ad bid feature! Not everyday to see a Skyrim feature!
Ghad20
12 streak #4
Congratulations
Damia_Song123 #5
Such an interesting story. I'm falling in love with it ^^ Thank you for your hard work
Just_alee #6
Chapter 14: Thank you for updating this story!!! I hope xiuhan will get their happy ending.. love love!!
MissRegencape #7
Chapter 14: I really enjoy reading this story so much and I'm genuinely always so excited whenever I see another update! Thank you for your great story :) I'm also very happy whenever I still find another good Xiuhan story, so you really make my days a little brighter <3
Petachi
#8
OOooh found this through KFR on tumblr! I’m very excited to start on it! ^^
sookai-
#9
Chapter 1: i'm a kaisoo enthusiast but your story is always the perfectly balanced ot12 kinda fic and i love it! this is really good and i'm looking fwd to reading more <3 fighting ~ ♥
Chanbaek641 #10
This is really good!!