Looping Hearts

Chapter 22 - Dissuasion time

 Days passed for the two men who alternated manual labor, love, leisure, harvest and training. Harvest was a real chore they could have lived without, especially Taehyung. But Jimin insisted they gathered at least one medicinal or edible plant a day. The slightly better weather had certainly arrived, but this quieter season never lasted very long. Not knowing when they would leave, supplies had to be prepared to ward off the possibility that they would spend the bad season here, under snow and storms. Rare were the plants that grew or could survive during such seasons. So the two men did not idle, despite Taehyung's great reluctance.

Manual labor was another chore they could have lived without. They spent a lot of time carving tools such as knives, picks or bowls. And when they did not do that, Jimin and Taehyung sewed most of the time. Jimin had once walked quite far away from the cave, which had greatly worried Taehyung who had not seen him coming back that day, and discovered a whole garrison of silkworms in a mulberry field. Since then, the two men regularly came back to see if new cocoons appeared, and harvested as many as possible each time. Jimin had made them new clothes, long pants and long-sleeved tops, footwear and two scarves, while Taehyung had been working on easier weaving such as making towels or blankets. Now, both men worked on something much bigger: a windbreaker for the entrance to the cave. It took them quite a lot of time walking to find cocoons and confectioning fabric. But again, Jimin was formal, better be prepared.

Fortunately the two men did not just work all day long, quite the opposite in fact. They preferred to indulge in various leisure activities such as swimming, running, climbing the mountains or big trees. But what they preferred above all, none of them could deny it, was to not do anything. Jimin and Taehyung liked to be able to simply lie down in the cave or in the meadow with something to nibble, and discuss everything and nothing. Jimin often taught new things or concepts to Taehyung, such as making nets to catch deep aquatic plants for example, and the latter, when he was not trying to get his memory back – he had decided he wanted to remember – constantly distracted the little redhead with jokes and kisses. Of course, Jimin's teachings were always very interesting and Taehyung liked them a lot. But sometimes, he just wanted to cuddle his lover, cover him with kisses and relax in his arms. And to relax, they both needed it. Because if Jimin had, had a rough time controlling Lyka's energy during his first three days, his ability to use it had then quickly improved, making them burn more energy than they could provide.

Jimin was now capable of the same practical spells as Taehyung. Although he still could not levitate objects for too long and was not very precise when he tried to catch anything, Taehyung still felt very proud of his lover and student who learned so quick. The latter was very thrilled. Not only did he learn fast, but now, just like Taehyung, he looked pretty cool. If there was one thing he would never reveal to him, if he had not noticed it on his own anyway, was his complacency in looking cool, looking enviable. Even now when there was no one but his lover to impress with his own feats.

If he learned quickly, Jimin still remained eager to try some other things that Taehyung was able to do, such as breathing underwater, not getting burned by fire, or jumping far and high, as he often did to taunt him. But Taehyung waited for the right time. These spells were more complex and energetically greedy, and Jimin respected that. Now that he was able to use this energy more comfortably, but not actually knowing the extent of what he could do with it, he no longer had to insist on trying new things and act impatient, almost childishly, to have what he wanted. Taehyung, as he had lost his bearings, had blindly trusted Jimin when he had found him. Now that an unknown door opened to Jimin, carrying him into a world he knew nothing about but that Taehyung seemed to know like the back of his hand, it was his turn to trust him and follow his advice.

« He thinks he's an elder now. » Jimin had once muttered to himself as Taehyung had teased him about their reversal of situation during an afternoon that Jimin would almost had described as hot – which was in fact just less cold than usual to be exact. Taehyung had laughed a lot that time, which had only annoyed Jimin even more, before he had made them both fall into the grass of the plain. He had then hugged him tightly and shaken him from left to right, a habit he had picked on pretty quick. « You're so cute. » He had said.