Leon happened to have a small package of mixed nuts and dried fruit, having thought of keeping a snack on his person in case he, himself, was hungry while watching the fights. After all, he was once a modern man who liked eating popcorn at the movies. In the end, he had forgotten about it, but handed the snack into Jin Li's eager hands without hesitation. It was soon devoured.
"I wish I c-could g-go home n-now," Leon said, suddenly after they had seen Pike and Bowyer off to the portals.
"Why?" Jin Li said, irritably. Did his s..alchemist really wish to leave his side now? How foolish! It was already getting dark, if the youth could even make the journey with his weak body, he would likely trip and fall off of the mountain!
"I j-just want a b-bath," Leon replied. He'd been nervous watching Jin Li fight, his body was coated in a thin layer of sweat, much unlike Jin Li who had hardly broken a sweat at all!
Jin Li and Sun glanced at each other, the latter was also eager to spend a few points in order to soak. Jin Li had been so stingy, insisting they save their points for more important things than bathing. It was not like Sun could simply show up at Jin Li's servant's place and insist on using that small tub whenever he felt like a free bath! Jin Li grumbled a bit, but glancing into Leon's hopeful face, he coughed away his reservations and lead the smaller boy towards the baths.
The door they went through lead to a room with shelves and benches. Clothing was both scattered and neatly folded upon these with drying cloths nearest an open door where steam was leaking into this changing room. The three youth divested themselves of their clothes, Leon quite shyly averting his eyes from Jin Li's body. He knew already that he was attracted to the other boy, but he had always kept his feelings at bay. Now he felt the stirrings of other emotions, he wasn't so certain of his ability to do so.
Sun felt scorn when he saw that Leon's body, while a lustrous shade of white was also very skinny, lacking any semblance of muscle. Of course, that did not mean Leon had none, his legs were slightly more toned than the first time Jin Li caught the boy naked, and his upper arms were a tad more defined as well. His ribs were no longer showing either, something that Jin Li approved of.
Sun went ahead first, to wash off the dirt before they could soak in the tubs, while Leon lifted his heavy cloak of hair and used his tie in practiced fashion to form a loose sort of bun, so his hair did not get wet. It took an age to dry it and Leon was not in the mood to do so now. His slender back was revealed to Jin Li as was the round flesh of his bottom. It looked meatier than Jin Li recalled and the youth felt his throat go unexplainably dry. Leon's glasses had steamed up and he had to remove them, so he did not see the strange look upon Jin Li's face.
Jin Li then had to guide the half-blind youth into the bathhouse and explain how things worked. They would wash up and then could bathe. It cost points to bathe in the normal baths, more to bathe in the herbal baths.
"Why?" Leon asked curiously as he felt Jin Li's hands press down upon his shoulders until he sat upon the wooden stool beneath him.
"The herbal baths are meant as tools for cultivation," Jin Li advised him. "They are meant to relax the body, make it easier to slip into a meditative state as well as help stabilise cultivation so it doesn't become turbulent and backlash if one practices foolishly."
Leon's curiosity was peaked; he had, after all, created his own herbal bath salts although they were just meant to make the water softer and smell pleasant. He couldn't help but wonder what a herbal bath here was like in comparison. Something must have flittered upon Leon's face as he heard Jin Li sigh heavily. "Wash up," he ordered, "this Lord will take you to the herbal baths afterwards."
"Really?" Sun blurted out next to them. Leon glanced towards him, but naturally could not see the surprised expression upon the other's face.
"B-but I d-don't have p-points," Leon reminded him.
"This Lord has sufficient for both of us," Jin Li said, rather smugly.
"Yay!" Sun cheered. He hadn't had a herbal bath in forever! He'd disliked them before, when he could not break through. He had felt as if he was constantly being reminded that he could not rise to secondary stage even though he had access to these and other aids. But now his cultivation had stabilised at secondary stage, he felt different about it.
Jin Li helped Leon to wash, even though the latter protested, feeling as if even the simple back wash was too intimate between them now he was slowly recognising the feelings overflowing within him. But Jin Li would not be swayed and even insisted Leon help him wash his own back, however blindly. Leon felt glad that the atmosphere was fairly thick with steam and his flushed cheeks did not stand out in amongst other bathing men.
Leon was then guided by Jin Li to a doorway in the back which had a barrier preventing them passing. He hadn't noticed before and still didn't due to his lack of decent vision, that both Jin Li and Sun wore bracelets that contained their points upon them. Sun went in first, Jin Li held Leon's hand to help guide him through, somehow making his intention clear so his deduction of points were doubled.
The bath Leon settled into, although it was for just one person, was bigger than his own bath by quite a bit. It was nice to simply lie in, even if this bath was meant for cultivation. The herbal scent drifting from the water was quite nice and it was definitely easy for Leon to slip into meditation required to cultivate. However, after cycling his energies about his body for one round, he opened his eyes with a slight frown.
"What is wrong?" Jin Li asked, not bothering to cultivate. This sort of medicinal bath did not really aid him much, so he had simply found himself watching Leon's reaction instead.
"N-nothing really," Leon felt embarrassed. Jin Li had spent his points on this bath for him and here he was feeling as if he wanted to complain about it.
"Speak," Jin Li demanded.
"It's j-j-just th-that," Leon stuttered over the words, worryingly, "it's n-n-not as c-comfortable as with m-my b-b-bathsalts for some reason." His words turned into a whisper as he spoke, still feeling bad about it.
"What do you mean?" Jin Li asked. As Sun, he was used to these herbal baths, in fact the scent was no different to those he had used at home, so he had thought nothing of it.
"I... I think the same," Sun blurted out suddenly. He was loathe to admit it, but after three cycles, he didn't feel that the herbal bath was all that good. At first, he felt as if it was just because he was at secondary stage now, of course it would be harder to cultivate to tertiary. And he wanted to say that Leon was being big headed, claiming that his cheap bath salts were better, but then he recalled the rush of energy he had felt when bathing in them and how easy it felt to cultivate, he began to question his own beliefs. Had he really been responsible for his own break through? The three youths fell to silence, thankful that no one was around to hear them, but also sharing one thought; we must test the salts in the future.