A few days after his accident, Sun returned to the Healer's Hall in order that the Healer could check his condition. Actually, Healer's tended not to require students to have check ups following illnesses nor accidents, unless there were special circumstances. Sun's circumstances were not special, but the Healer summoned him anyway. He was hoping to learn more about the mysterious pills the young Master had been fed by Corvus that day. And as he suspected, Corvus did accompany his young student; in fact, he carried Sun in despite protests.
"I can walk!"
"But your injury..."
"Is completely healed! Let me down, old man!" Sun huffed and even spit out the name in insult. Not that Corvus noticed. He merely plonked the boy down upon the bed, then proceeded to ruffle his head, causing strands of his silken, brown hair to come loose and messy.
The boy tried to capture those strands, brushing them back with his hands before unknotting the tie thong he'd worn this morning. It was stolen from his fingers by his Teacher, who decided to rectify the mess he'd created.
In the meantime, the Healer approached and pointed at Sun's covered legs. "May I?" Sun nodded and the Healer pulled off his boot and lifted the silk of his trousers to examine the slightly pink, but well healed flesh of the boy's leg. "It appears that there won't even be a scar," The Healer declared in delighted wonder.
"Getting a scar, not getting a scar," Sun snorted, as he sat there, arms crossed like a petulant and arrogant young master in front of his personal servants, "it's all the same for a man!"
Corvus grinned and agreed with an indulgent; "En."
"Still, the healing would likely have not been so complete were it not for that mysterious pill of yours," The Healer reminded Corvus. Indeed, were the pill just a normal one heart Pill, the tissue likely would have sealed, but the healing would be weak, prone to tearing were the boy not careful. He would have needed more pills to help aid the healing, leading to a build up in internal impurities. And the likelihood of a scar much greater. Like the boy said, having scars was not the end of the world for a boy, but that did not mean that scar tissue was not without its own problems. Fresh scars tended to be itchy, old scars tended to be stiff and drawn and the larger the scar the more apparent this was. And the fortunate Sun would bare none of these problems and was also upon his feet far sooner than the Healer would have ordinarily predicted... or at least that would be the case if not for the overbearing Teacher beside him. "You must recall where you found that pill, Corvus!" The Healer urged.
Corvus dismissed his demand with a wave of his hand.
After convincing the older man that he really did not need to be carried back to the Martial Arts school, the Teacher and Student duo left the Healer's Hall to not-hurry back. Sun would not let himself be carried, so Corvus insisted that they 'take it easy'. Sun rolled his eyes at him and jogged lightly with Corvus leisurely doing the same beside him.
"What was all that about?" Sun asked curiously as they approached the expanse of bridges, those that lead to the various mountain scapes the institute was spread across.
"Hmm?" Corvus questioned, lazily.
"What the Healer said about pills."
"Oh, it's nothing much," Corvus replied, "just that after your accident, I fed you a One heart pill that turned out to be a bit more effective that usual. That old Healer is just getting his panties in a twist about it."
Sun knew this much already; his leg had been scratched by that Dire Fox Bear before they'd both fallen from the high branches of the tree. His wind powers had helped save his life, but the beast had turned into a meat pancake. He'd fallen unconscious from the pain of the fall and his leg. So naturally, the first thing Corvus had done on finding him was to feed him a pill in order to stabilise his life.
"Were my injuries really that bad?" Being unconscious before he could examine the wound personally, he'd just assumed it wasn't really that big a deal and that Corvus was on some guilt trip, hence his insistence on carrying Sun around like a fragile princess. He'd resented that! Still, if the wounds had been worse than he'd thought...
"That Fox Bear had sliced into your flesh deep enough that just a half nail more and the bone would have been visible," Corvus answered him, honestly. Sun shuddered. Martial Artists were somewhat used to blood and injuries, but to know his leg had been hurt so badly could still shake him a bit.
"I wonder where that pill came from then," Sun wondered aloud.
"Who knows," Corvus shrugged. Sun sighed inwardly. He was aware that one heart Pills were a silver a dozen, worth very little and extremely common. They were available in pill shops throughout the common and cultivation worlds. Sun recalled that Leon had even traded them during the Five School Market Festival in those Jade bottles with cute, carved labels.
Ha ha! He thought. Wouldn't it be something if that miracle pill had been something Leon made! Then he could understand why Jin Li thought the alchemist worthy to stand by his side! But that would be too much of a coincidence... right?
Quick edit; I made a mistake on the pill name, it was a one heart pill that was used not a clear spiritual pill. This was pointed out to me by a sharp eyed reader!
The hidden garden within the depths of otherwise untamed wood had begun its transformation as the summer season slowly drifted into the past, while the autumn season quietly ushered into the present. While there was no difference amongst the common herbs such as the abundant sweet sun clover and the hardy purple spirit grass, certain others, such as the silver tea-tree were not quite the same. For instance, the leaves upon the mentioned tea sapling were no longer a vibrant silver, but slightly mottled as if tarnished by oxygen like the metal it was named for.
Otherwise, it was the vegetables that spoke of the greater change; certain fruits were ripening, while others grew steadily, but there were very few blossoms upon these food offering plants left to fertilise. Certain trees dotted about nearby were also burgeoned with not quite ripe fruit and a new wave of seasonal berries could be discovered in the ground foliage if one knew where to look.
As for the keeper of the garden, he was busying himself, inspecting his vegetables and herbs, looking for any ripe fruits to pluck while keeping an eye out for bugs and diseases. Have to say that his plants were ridiculously healthy and were seldom pestered by any insects other than those seeking nectar. Other gardeners would be most jealous and demand to know his secrets! Leon did not think anything of this; he was inexperienced and were he to try to explain it, should he be aware, he would only be able to say that he was just lucky.
The youth picked a strange looking fruit from a vine-like plant that needed much support for its heavy loads. The fruit was deep purple, somewhere between firm and plush to the touch and although they were shaped a bit like bell peppers, they were actually sweet and juicy like tomatoes. He'd learned in town before that these purple fruits were often served in stews and soups, they happened to compliment salted meats and tubers as well. Hence he wanted some for a stew tonight. It was the beginning of the weekend and he was expecting a rather prompt guest.
As expected, once his basket was full enough, his Martial Artist boyfriend dropped from a tree and landed close by. Leon was greeted by a smouldering kiss that left him quite dazed. Jin Li looked at the expression on his small alchemist's face with satisfaction. "I was ab-bout to m-make d-d-dinner," Leon said with a soft smile, "would you like a c-cup or t-tea?"
"This Lord will do something for you," Jin Li's eyes glinted like black diamonds as his slightly calloused hand brushed against the side of Leon's face.
"Alright," Leon felt a warmth spread from his core as happiness enveloped him. And so, he let Jin Li do as he pleased while he threw together a pot of meat and purple-fruit stew and boiled a kettle of water. Not long after he left the pot to simmer and poured the water into a teapot tea leaves to stew, Jin Li entered with a proud grin upon his lips.
"This Lord has done you the honour of personally preparing a bath for you," he said, smugly. "Go bathe and don't let the water get too cool."
He ran me a bath?! Jin Li was sharp-tongued, self-centred and narrow of view. This was his nature, that which he had been shaped to become due to the strict expectations and sense of familial responsibility placed upon him as his father's future heir. He was carved to be a hard, cold man, a strong martial artist and to be the new pillar of their family, if the pillar that his father happened to crumble. Who knew this inflexible Young Master would voluntarily lower himself and soften in the face of the one his heart had chosen.
Leon's smile could not be wider, his heart could not be more liquid, he served the tea before placing a kiss upon his lover's cheek and quickly rushing to wash in that gifted bath. Jin Li waited until Leon was long out of the small hut and into the rickety wooden shed, before almost shyly touching his cheek with his hand and smiling.
His small alchemist did not take a great deal of time washing, but still returned to the small hut with a lingering scent of freshness and cleanliness with just a hint of the unique scent that was him. The two young men then ate the fragrant stew and Jin Li went for a quick bath while Leon cleaned away the dishes and put out the fire within the stove.
When Jin Li returned, it was within loosened inner robes and trailing damp hair, untied and falling down his back like a cloak made of midnight. Leon seldom saw the tall youth in this less than composed fashion, but it proved to be just as distracting for young Leon as when he was standing proud and regal during other times. Leon could not help but stare openly at his man. Jin Li's lips curved as he noticed Leon's darkening eyes and quickened breath.
"Come here," Jin Li ordered him, his deep voice like a siren's call to Leon's ears. The smaller youth's throat became dry and his heart began to beat at a rapid pace. He could not stop his feet from stepping forward, his body succumbing to Jin Li's command and at this moment, he did not want to stop it either. He finally paused just a finger length apart from the other and glanced upward, his large eyes captivating Jin Li in the next moment. His glasses were removed from his face to be tossed upon the table before his whole body was lifted into Jin Li's strong arms. And then he was carried backwards, towards the bed.
Author's note; pausing here to tell faithful readers that the next chapter will be 18+ so skip it if you are faint of heart, underage or not interested in the physical side of their relationship x for everyone else, read on! (To be released on Friday)
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