The video had changed to a close up of Changmin’s eyes in his unmistakable smirk, the challenge obvious. Then the image returned to show his full long body sprawled on the sofa. A hand got under the t-shirt and another moved from the knee to the inner thigh. 

Yoochun was mesmerized. He couldn’t believe Changmin had filmed such a thing. His eyes greedily followed the movement of fingers teasing a and a hand almost cupping a growing bulge. Changmin’s expression changed to smug confidence as he took his t-shirt off. Yoochun’s mouth went dry. He missed those muscles under his hands and lips. He wished it was his own hands all over Changmin.

When jeans were removed, Yoochun had to take a deep breath and actually closed his eyes for a second. There was no underwear and Changmin was proudly pointing up. With another deep breath, Yoochun turned to the real time Changmin on another screen. He was smirking, just lounging in his chair and no longer hiding. Plus, he seemed very interested in observing Yoochun and actually chuckled when he noticed how his video was proving effective. 

Yoochun blushed. He could feel his cheeks burning but nothing could hide the way he was pointing up and agonizing over their distance. 

-By Lhara, I hate you, Max!

-Ah, yes, Yoochunnie. I can see how much you “hate” me. Aren’t those trousers proving uncomfortable?

-Shut up! What is this?

-Hmmm?

-Changmin!

-Yoochun. Get out of those clothes. Now!

The authority in Changmin’s voice caused Yoochun’s arousal to spike even more. Without much thought to it, Yoochun simply obeyed. He took everything off, becoming as as Changmin was in the video. 

Changmin greedily looked his fill of Yoochun’s body. He felt a pang he couldn’t control. He was suddenly very much aware of their distance. And of how he was starting to miss being able to touch his Linked One. 

-Touch yourself. Follow my every move from the video.

Yoochun’s eyes darkened. He took himself in his hand and copied every little detail from the video, especially whenever Changmin had smirked in it. He wanted to give back the challenge and the smug confidence. He wanted to cause Changmin some effects of his own. 

Yoochun’s mouth opened unconsciously and his hand increased the rhythm over his . He pulled at it, rubbed the tip, scratched the underside, and squeezed his . He rubbed one between his fingers with intent. Then he slowly, with just the tip of his fingers, traced his lips, down his neck, over a collarbone, teased a again and went across his stomach. Yoochun bit his lower lip hard as he was wrecked by shivers. His was full and his head lightheaded. 

Changmin’s breathing became more rapid. He couldn’t get enough of looking at Yoochun. With a cry of rage, he gave up and took off his own clothes as well. He had wanted to get a rise out of his Linked One but he wasn’t immune himself. It was impossible to just sit there and simply watch while Yoochun was so aroused because of him. The feeling was fantastic. He had never felt so powerful seeing Yoochun and yet it was incredibly bitter sweet because they were so far away. 

The Changmin on the video looked as if he was pleading. Yoochun knew that look. Knew it and loved it. While on the video, Changmin raced to his , Yoochun decided to tease his naughty Linked One who he knew was watching him. His hand abandoned the fast rhythm and became lazy, just going up and down slowly. One fingertip rubbed the head of the , spreading the pre- over the entire length.

-Tell me, Changmin. Do you want to come?

-What? 

It took effort to try to understand Yoochun. Changmin was starting to feel his brain getting all fried up. He had barely touched himself, so fixated he was in watching Yoochun as he copied the video. Yoochun’s eyes were no longer glued to the images but staring straight at him. Changmin knew that in the video he would have his entire body pleading and screaming to reach an . He placed his hand in his own , starting to feel a little desperate. Yoochun was once again turning the tables on him. 

Yoochun captured his eyes and didn’t let go. Changmin wasn’t even really looking at all that skin anymore. All his attention was on the man’s eyes and the aura of control he was displaying now.

-Yes, Changmin, that’s it. Look at me. 

Yoochun knew he was close, oh, so close but he wanted to both reward and punish his Linked One for the surprise video. The sounds from the video became more urgent. Yoochun wasn’t going to last much more, it was too much having two images of Changmin in front of him, both , aroused and with that pleading look in one and angry in the other. 

-Come for me.

Changmin’s vision threatened to go black but he forced his eyes open. He wanted to keep looking at Yoochun. His entire body trembled and convulsed. He almost couldn’t breathe. Yet his hand still moved, the sensation too irresistible to stop. On the screen, Yoochun was coming too. That made Changmin feel powerful. It didn’t matter that his brain was fried up once again, it didn’t matter that he had come on Yoochun’s command. What mattered was that Yoochun was a mess as well. A mess because of him. 

Yoochun slowly regained some control. On the screens he had twin images of a spent and satisfied Changmin. One a recorded image because Changmin had wanted to . And the other his real time Linked One that he had successfully teased in turn. He wished again that they weren’t so far away.

-Lhara, you’re impossible.

-Just admit it, Yoochun. You can’t live without me.

-Impossible.

They ended up laughing together. 

…

Junsu stirred a little confused and found himself still in the lab, holding a sleeping Sarah and propped against a wall. He smiled softly, cupped her face and gave her a kiss on her forehead. An idea that had been burning on the back of his mind was emerging fully formed. He just needed to prepare everything. Sarah fidgeted and woke up, blinking at Junsu.

-Hi, Sarah.

-Did we fell asleep here?

-Yep.

…

Later that same day, Sarah was again in the lab, this time testing the dragon water she had brought along. Both she and Junsu hadn’t wanted to interrupt the search for a cure for Jaejoong for the many months the trip would take.

Junsu practically ran inside the room. Startled, Sarah dropped some water on herself. She frowned as she removed her gloves. Some droplets had seeped into her blouse and came in contact with her skin. She dismissed it tough. The dragon water only affected people from Lhara. Turning to Junsu, Sarah prepared to tear into him for barging in like that but stopped when she noticed his eager expression.

Junsu grabbed one of her hands. He remained silent. Sarah waited, curiosity burning her. Then her eyes bulged in surprise. Junsu dropped to his knee in front of her. 

-Sarah… will you marry me?

-…

Sarah opened but no sound came out. She just stared at Junsu and stared. 

-You are the person I want to spend my life with. But I don’t want you to be with me due to some duty or obligation because you know I won’t connect to anyone else. I want you to choose me because I am who you want. By Lhara’s standards we are a Linked pair. By Seffren’s standards we are just dating. I want more than to just date with you. I want you as my wife. So… will you marry me?

Sarah had tears in her eyes. Some little part of herself, she hadn’t even known was there, was exhilarated with the proper proposal. She couldn’t believe she had somehow been waiting for it but she obviously had. And Junsu saw it. And he was right there, on his knees, a ring on his hands just poised at her finger. 

-Yes! Yes! Yes! I love you! I choose you! For life. Oh, I love you, Junsu.

Junsu placed the ring on her finger. Sarah was now laughing and crying. He got up, swept her into his arms and twirled her around before he held her as humanely close as possible and kissed her to an inch of her life.

…

The wedding took place that very night. They didn’t want to wait to reach Seffren. Sarah especially quite wanted to arrive in front of her mother a married woman and therefore put an end to any wild reason her mother might have to try to keep her in Seffren. 

Sarah was so nervous. It was her wedding night. She smiled to herself. They hadn’t done much besides kiss and touch. Junsu had realised she didn’t want to go all the way and he had never pressured her. But now she wanted everything. She deserved it. Just thinking of how Junsu could hold both their weights on his arms while he held himself upside down by his thighs to Mira was enough to make her blush and have her heart flutter. She smiled and giggled, hiding her flaming face. He was such a strong man. And funny and annoying and perfect and she loved him so much.

…

Yoochun went to bed with a sigh. Junsu looked disgustingly happy. Maybe there was some charm to the old costume of a marriage ceremony. He knew the legal aspects protected the union under the different laws of all the colonies. But the ceremony itself was… while not necessary, it was a better way to choose someone than to have The Connection compulsively throw you into someone’s arms. His thoughts went to Changmin. The bed felt huge. Yoochun missed him. Giving up on sleeping for the moment he got up and sat down to send a message to his Linked One.

-Hi, Max. As you know, Junsu and Sarah had an old fashioned wedding ceremony. Seffren is one of the few colonies that still uses it according to ancient Earth’s costumes. It was rather pretty. You’d hate it. Very sappy, emotional and I quite liked it. Tease away. 
Anyway, I’m sending you this message because… my bed feels huge without you. Gigantic, really. 
I miss you. I miss you a lot. 
I miss how I’m never bored around you. I miss how you light up a room, how you try to order everyone around, how you insist in teasing everyone for the silliest reasons. 
I’ve seen so many things and the trip is only half way yet. I have so much to tell you and show you. I’ll probably come on another trip like this if there’s the opportunity. But…
I had no idea how much I’d miss you. There’s this empty space around me. That next trip will have to be shorter and with you. 
Oh, Lhara. In case your stubborn brain hasn’t got it yet, let me try to explain this better. I don’t just miss having with you. Yes, that video still has me pointing up at odd hours of the day and I am going to watch and re-watch it. But I miss you. All of you. I…
What I’m trying to say, Changmin, is that… I love you. 

…

With a deep sigh and a weight settling in the pit of his stomach, Yoochun finished the message and sent it before he got cold feet and deleted it. He had no idea how Changmin was going to react. And now he really wouldn’t be able to sleep.

…

Changmin and Jaejoong went to the Lhara Council to meet with the Elders. They wanted approval for their plans. The Elders were the closest they had to a form of government. If the Elders believed them, everything would easily fall into place. 

-Do you two really think we should take measures regarding this cryptic warning? This Augur dragon seems… senile? It’s just too weird. Against what possible threat should we prepare for? 

-The measures are simple and can be introduced as an addition to our usual training. We learn to fly ships anyway. Everyone is linked to a dragon. We’ll just be adding fight skills to that. Look at it as, I don’t know, added physical fitness and strategy training. 

Changmin finished with a shrug and turned to Jaejoong next to him.

-I met with the Patriarch twice already. During all of our colony’s history we never doubted the dragons. They saved our colony from extinction. They welcomed us into their planet at a time when we would not have been able to fight for it and we had no other viable choice. The history records are very clear on that. The ship we came in was a wreck. It was Lhara or nothing. And the dragons not only allowed us to move to their planet but also to introduce other life forms: animals, insects, plants. Not to mention giving us permission to use their DNA to mix with our own to help us adapt better to Lhara with the unexpected added benefit that we were able to increase the birth rate. I mean, mathers and cathers? For our ancestor it was unbelievable. Lhara, I sound like Yoochun. 

-You kinda do. – Changmin smirked behind Jaejoong’s back.

-Anyway, what we are suggesting is a small measure that… well, if nothing happens, it won’t have any unwanted effect. For sure, we’ll have better integration with our dragons and between ourselves. 

The Elders regarded both young men. The older one moved forward.

-Allow me to view your memories of the encounter.

Changmin and Jaejoong suddenly found their heads hurting a little. Jaejoong especially felt very weird and nauseous. They revisited their memories of meeting with the Patriarch as if it was someone else’s. The Elder controlled the pace and the unfolding of the memories, sharing it with the others as well. 

-Quite the mystical creature. – The Elder said when he was done. 

Changmin felt a little off. Next to him, Jaejoong nearly collapsed.

-Jaejoong! Are you ok?

-Ah, yeah? Sorry, that was intense. My head hurts. – Jaejoong accepted Changmin’s arm on his shoulders and rubbed at his forehead.

-Ah, your injury. Pray, pardon me for causing you undue pain but it was best to view the meeting ourselves. 

Another of the Elders handed Jaejoong a glass of water.

-Thanks.

The older one closed his eyes and obviously engaged in a telepathic discussion with the others. After a while he opened his eyes.  

-We have stories of how dragons hibernate, you know. It’s not included in the public records. It was an old decision in order to keep them as godlike figures. It seems the dragons were facing extinction themselves. Too many of them would hibernate for so long that they would change into stone and like stone they’d succumb to the elements. Our arrival brought back some novelty. And more diversity to a dying planet. Lhara thrives once more. Apparently, few dragons choose to hibernate now or, at least, they do so for much shorter periods. The entry is obscure but it did made it seem as if the dragons had a sort of prophecy that they should accept us. It now makes more sense after seeing your memories. 

-So, you’ll help us? – Asked Changmin.

-Yes. You’re plan is simple and easy to put into effect. We have no idea what threat might come our way but I guess Augur has proved himself before. He saved both our colony and Lhara if he was the one who advised the dragons to welcome us. Yes, start immediately.

…