25. You're telling me

Ruins had nothing much to see. Doors were indeed doors, or rather, a hole in a wall where doors used to be. Outside was indeed made out of stone, cut to size and meticulously assembled, but inside was made of some artificial material, similar to stone, but different. Nothing like what their home was made of either. 'Concrete', Ivory said.

By the entrance, they found some traces of animals, then stairs in the back that led down to a low corridor that stretched into darkness. There was nothing of interest left to be seen, so they went back out rather fast.

Looking at the food preparation outside was much more interesting. Echo roasted some acorns in one of the pans, while a stew made of peeled acorns bubbled in a large pot. He added mushrooms, those stinky leaves, and shredded dried fish meat into it.

"Alrighty," Floreo said perkily "Peeling acorns is gonna be a rotational duty." His fingers hurt, there's no way he's going to do it everyday.

By then, tents were built and camp was all set up, and Yax agreed "Sure, everyone should do a little bit of everything." He was always open for keeping things dynamic, good way to avoid boredom due repetitive duties.

Blaze set up a campfire separately from cooking stove, and they all brought their blankets to sit around the fire. By now they got used to spend their evenings that way. They found that to be quite a pleasant and peaceful way to relax. Eating by the crackling fire, talking and joking, comparing notes and making plans.

Jone made their daily tea powder mixture, as it was only a week since they left their home, so they were still not quite used to open skies above them. It was not so noticeable when they were under trees, but those two days on the river were a huge change for them, they actually saw a sunset and starry sky. And today, on top of this hill, they noticed that they were actually getting a tan.

Sitting with his legs crossed, with a hot cup of tea, washing away the aftertaste of the stew out of his mouth, Cid observed situation around him. Normally people would sit around fire more or less randomly. But lately, he started to notice changes to usual seating arrangement.

Even before, Yax would look for a way to sit near Mani, but now Mani actively saved a spot for him. And thus, Cid could no longer casually block them from sitting together. One less source of entertainment. Alas, aggrieved Yax was quite amusing.

Also from the start of their trip, Jone gravitated towards picking a spot next to Ivory. Discussing plants they saw during the day, their possible usages as food or medicine, and other such mundanely boring topics. Effectively creating their own little world of scientific babble.

Now, what was new was Echo nonchalantly sitting next to Blaze, feeding him roasted acorns and enquiringly asking for feedback on taste and roasting techniques. Cid found that highly suspicious. Echo usually talked to no one, to the extend that back at home Floreo de facto acted as his interpreter.

As he moved his sight away from that blatant breach of habit, wondering if he should mention it to Jone, Cid's eyes met Floreo's. He did not yet really pick up what that playfulness in the older twins look was, when Floreo got up and went away from the fire.

As Cid continued to drink his tea and ponder all those semi private conversations he could listen from around fire, suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder, and Floreo ploped down by his side.

"Here, try some acorns." Holding a plate of now cooled down roasted acorns, Floreo peeled one and popped it into Cid's mouth. "I saw you watching Blaze sampling them, so thought you might want to try them as well."

Wondering what in his appearance gave off such impression, Cid crushed the acorn with his teeth and immediately regretted it. He pushed it down with tea and complained "It's bitter." He could not understand how is Blaze munching them so happily over there.

"Yes, it is," Floreo said, still with a smile "all those couples around us having fun makes me feel a bit bitter as well." He leaned sideways on Cid and whispered in his ear "I knew Echo likes big strong guys, but had no idea he prefers them honest and simple."

He moved away, peeled another acorn and sampled it himself. Cid was now completely baffled, not that one could tell that from his expression, but he just stared at Floreo wondering since when are Jone and Ivory an item as well.

Floreo glanced at him with evident amusement and leaned close to whisper again "I also like big strong guys, but I prefer them silent and brooding."

There was still no change on Cid, he only narrowed his eyes a bit. What a coincidence he thought It seems I prefer ones that are lively and mischievous. His impression of Floreo was 'chipmunk', now he added 'devious' to it.

Then Floreo offered him another peeled acorn on the palm of his hand. Cid just bend over and picked it up directly with his mouth, lightly skimming his lips over Floreo's skin. Challenge accepted.

By his side, Floreo started laughing, attracting attention and wondering gazes, but they both ignored it. That was their private moment, no need to explain it to anyone.

Sitting on the left from Cid, and being busy listening Mani explaining to him how maples had leaves in different colour and how they were obviously pointing to the specific spot in the valley below, Yax could not be bothered by much else. He did not understand why such odd method of location marking was used, or was it even intentional, but he just liked how Mani talked about it.

Opposite of them, Echo did spare a glance to his twin, saw Cid eating acorns and lightly frowned. Copycat. Next to him Blaze started to laugh as well, pointing at Cid "Hahaha! What's with that face? Can't handle the taste?"

Then he turned to Echo "Bring it on! Let me eat more!" And opened his mouth, ready to be fed. Echo obliged and stuffed him with more peeled acorns.

"They taste like coffee!" Blaze loudly declared while chewing. Mani and him had that habit for years, while Jone and Yax occasionally partook in early morning coffee ritual since recently.

That attracted Mani's attention "Really? Can I try as well?" He eagerly looked at the plate with roasted acorns in front of Cid, so Yax stretched his arm and picked a few. He peeled them and handed to Mani, keeping one for himself to try as well. Yup, bitter.

Ivory and Jone just shrugged "There is a way to remove bitterness after roasting and turning them into flour." Ivory said and Jone added "When we settle, we should process a lot of them and prepare supplies to last for a while." It was hard to tell how long it will take to finish their mission.

Yax noticed that it actually already got dark enough to see stars. "Right, we will arrive to location tomorrow and set permanent camp. Then spend some time on food prepping before starting to clear out the area."

Ivory frowned "Tomorrow?" According to his map, it should be close, but that close seemed a bit off to him.

Yax shrugged "River probably changed bed more than we noticed. Mani saw the spot when we stood on top just now. It's down in this valley."

And he is telling them that now? In like 'oh by the way' manner? Everyone was speechless but Yax ignored them. He had his priorities and they had theirs. If they did not ran off exploring that hole in the wall, they would have heard it back then.

Soon they dispersed and retreated into their tents. Floreo and Echo sat on their beds, staring at eachother. After a while Echo just said one word "Shameless." As he laid down to sleep, he heard Floreo talking to his back "Might be, but so what. True good fortune is what you make for yourself."

Setting their sleeping bags down, Mani placed them together, and that caught Yax a bit off guard. He did not expect Mani to be so proactive. When Mani burrowed into his blanket on inner side still wearing his clothes, he felt a bit disappointed.

Then he saw Mani tapping the spot beside him "Hurry up Yak! I'm cold!" He understood immediately and obediently laid next to Mani, who covered them both with same blanket while wrapping himself over Yax like octopus.

Yax noticed that Mani is a bit on the colder side with his body temperature when he got him out of the river. At first he thought Mani got hypothermia and then realized that was impossible as it was not winter. Then he left him on the sun to heat up, checking occasionally and feeling relieved when he confirmed it's just his natural state.

Now, feeling Mani burrowing his cold palms into his shirt, he shivered and pressed them with his free hand to stop them from roaming. His other arm was under Mani, pulling him even closer, his palm sliding down Mani's back, warming his skin with it's touch.

"Is that your way to claim boyfriend benefits?" He asked and Mani's breath tickled his neck as he laughed.

"Dunno, you tell me." Answered Mani and bit his neck lightly.