Learning To Live As A Cultivator

Two black eyes narrowed as he saw the scene before him; a youth sleeping peacefully against a wall, surrounded by flowers .   However it was not quite the romantic picture one would think .   The boy"s pink lips were slightly parted and there was the clear line of wetness from the corner of those lips leading down to his chin .   As Jin Li"s expression twisted in distaste, he could not stop the thought that trailed across his mind; "Why you?"

After the confrontation in the training grounds, Jin Li had tried to consider Justin"s reasons for liking that girl . . . but gave up after two minutes .   These sorts of reasons (he hadn"t listened beyond the initial points) . . . the same sort that his uncle used to explain away why he had fallen in love over and over again . . . might as well be describing a pet .   Just as he had come to see Leon .

After all, did his small alchemist not have those large black eyes that seemed aggrieved when not wearing his ugly gla.s.ses?  Such as that second day Jin Li had known him and had been abandoned by him in favour of swimming in a cold lake?  And then there was the way he often required protection; his meridians could have been trashed beyond repair if those fools had disturbed him while he broke through into secondary cultivation and his body had been at risk when that cutsleeve took a liking to him .

Leon would curl up against his body at night, uncaring that he was using the great him as a pillow or source of warmth .   He was too trusting and too naive .

Granted, he was more useful that an ordinary pet, his cooking had improved as had his brewing of tea .   He sought to improve more pills for him, thus the side effects would be less when he took them .   But still . . .

Jin Li squatted had down before the boy he"d labelled as a pet, while he considered these things and noticed that his small alchemist was beginning to awaken .   He had long lashes for a boy; Jin Li could see them fluttering as his gla.s.ses had fallen askew as he slept .   The movement grasped his attention for several moments, before Leon opened his eyes completely and adjusted his gla.s.ses, obscuring his view .   Despite his eyes becoming hidden, the dazed expression was still apparent as Leon took a deep breath of air, wiped his chin upon his sleeve and glanced about himself .

He froze as he saw the youth before him and stuttered out; "J-J-Jin Li!  W-What are you d-d-doing here?"

Jin Li sneered slightly as he replied haughtily; "This Lord has found that the tea brewed in the martial arts school is not to his liking, thus came here .   It seems you have some skill . "  Actually, this was not the case, though he admitted he did actually prefer Leon"s tea .   It was just, he had been running through the tree tops and over the mountain slopes to burn off a little energy built of irritation and had found himself stepping into this garden in the end .

"Oh," Leon replied and began to ungracefully push himself off of the ground .

"Never mind," Jin Li told him, "this Lord will brew the tea this time and forgive your complacency . "  He stormed out of the garden and into the hut, leaving Leon to stare blankly at his back .   The alchemist tried to ignore the heart skipping in his chest as his mind repeated all the martial artist had said since he woke .

Don"t get any hopes up, he told himself .

Dusting himself off, he followed Jin Li into the small hut to find that the other had placed the kettle upon the iron stove and had taken the container of tea off of the shelf . Leon washed his hands before taking two cups and the pot of honey from their resting place and putting both on the low table . The tea was brewed in the pot during this silent time and shared between them . The silence was comfortable though produced as two hearts settled in each other"s company, while tongues remained quiet unwilling to disturb the atmosphere with words about what had occurred between them just a couple of days prior .

After the tea was drained, they did exchange some small talk and when it was clear that Jin Li was staying for dinner, Leon said nothing of it, just arranged several dishes with reheated soup from the day before, rice, stir fried vegetables and boiled eggs . The meal was eaten with no fanfare (and seconds and thirds were enjoyed by half of the occupants of the hut) and still Jin Li expressed no intention to leave .

This made Leon both nervous and happy as well as cursing his own heart over the fact that he couldn"t hate Jin Li nor send him away . Leon was cursing himself that he could disregard everything just to find contentment sharing once more Jin Li"s body heat . But as Jin Li seemed to be avoiding that subject and both were already treading on scattered eggsh.e.l.ls, Leon couldn"t bring himself to talk about it either .

Thus he settled on the bed next to Jin Li, closing his eyes and allowing his breath to become steady and shallow, thinking it was fine to confront Jin Li in the morning . . . or perhaps next four-day break . But for now . . .

As Jin Li listened to Leon drift into sleep beside him, he once more considered the revelation that he had had the afternoon after the confrontation . Teacher Corvus had been trying to learn of Sun and his "type", or rather what both boys sought in a girl . Even when one had no intention of speaking about this, one cannot help ones thoughts wandering to answer internally such a question, but in Jin Li"s mind only one small person appeared .

Not attractive! Too skinny, though the bones were no longer prominent and flesh had rounded the once flat bottom . The hair was strange, speaking of deviation, failure and weakness and yet there was strength in that there were signs of working hard to regain what was lost . And then there was the ugly gla.s.ses, but what they hid beneath caused a skipping heart and a breathless sort of reaction . Leon was like a pet and yet not like a pet for Jin Li had never cared for any small animals in the past and did not grow attachments to things . What was useful was used and what was not was thrown away . . . but imagining himself throwing Leon away actual seemed to hurt his chest .

Even the almighty he could only think of one explanation for it and it was not heartburn! It took all of yesterday and this morning to come to terms with it and yet still he originally had no plans to confront it . And yet . . .

Now that Leon seemed to be sleeping, he could no longer keep the words inside him . "It seems this Lord may actually have affectionate feelings for you . Do not think that this Lord will show you any kindness just because of this, however . . . ! And rejection is not an option for you either . "

A smile appeared upon the other youth"s lips as he turned over and curled into Jin Li"s chest . "I l-like you t-too," came a whispered response .

Jin Li"s cheeks flushed, but in the darkness, it could not be noticed . "That"s only natural . " A silence descended upon the two youths lying upon the same bed and Leon felt fingers slide beneath his chin, his face lifted slightly . "This Lord will kiss you now . "

"Okay . "