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To put things straight, one must be of sound mind. Jongdae was not that, not with the poisonous bog barely a stone's throw away, seeping into his pores, his breath, his ears. While inhaling it had no harmful effects on humans, touching it was where the issues would arise. Jongdae still felt like it must've had something against his state of mind. Maybe he'd only know once he thought he could breathe freely again.
"What's keeping you?" Asked the sly junior researcher, Baekhyun, whose bedroll lay next to Jongdae’s. They were in the same position, allowing them access to sleep in the tent with Dr. Minseok and senior researcher Junmyeon, but they both opted to sleep under the stars, for some reason. "Not many hours until we gotta up again," Baekhyun didn't seem to understand that Jongdae's silence indicated he didn't want to talk. "And then we're back at the grind. Dusting some more stupid relics."
Jongdae decided to humour him, turning his head to catch Baekhyun's face, eyes settled on the sky. “If you feel like that, why are you still awake?” Baekhyun had the sort of smile on his face like he just won a game. “Can’t sleep with that stench,” his chin gestured towards the poisonous bog behind Jongdae. "I don't know how those two deal with it. Maybe that's why they're a little loopy." Baekhyun turned his head towards Jongdae, the closeness of their faces making Jongdae back away— not subtly.
"It's supposed to be safe to Inhale," Jongdae could see the purple mist in the air. But the flora around it is all basically dead or sturdy. Almost all the animals here are carnivores." Jongdae wasn't an ecologist, but he researched the area before they arrived. Anything green here would probably shrivel up and die within seconds." They had tried, after all, the refugees had tried to live in this marsh many years ago. The Bionis’ landscape was usually lush, green, and vibrant, but the few exceptions were almost deadly. Any sort of plant life died here before long, or it became a foliage-less stick.
Baekhyun sighed. The first emotion he expressed that wasn't smug. “I don't know why the Giants had anything to do with this place. Unless their noses were so big they somehow could get around feeling like they would die being so close to this stuff."
"The artifact we found yesterday suggests that the Giants used the bog as a rite of passage for their younger warriors." Jongdae closed his eyes momentarily, visualizing the little imagery they had on their ancient ancestors. "At least, that's what the doctor's interpretation is on it. I don't know what for. Giants had a much longer life span than humans, throwing kids to the poison just..." Jongdae turned to find Baekhyun still looking his way, "Silly."
“Their main enemies were the Arachnos, who spat poison. The boy is as big as he is because of their probably." Baekhyun smiled when Jongdae didn't pull away. "They've theorized to be why the Giants went extinct, after all."
"So, you do care about this research." Jongdae couldn't help himself when he turned away— again— hoping Baekhyun didn't catch his flush. "The artifacts are recent. Perhaps a measure was put in place to protect the species. If they would wither just like the plant life here."
“Whether or not it was silly," Baekhyun sat up. "They seemed prime to keep the race alive as long as possible. Guess that's how life is, here on Bionis." Baekhyun stretched his arms over his head, then patted a spot next to Jongdae's leg on his bedroll. "Go to sleep. Junmyeon won't be happy if we drop his interpretation papers into a pile of shit again."
“And what are you planning on doing?” Jongdae raised his eyebrow, but made no move to sit up to mirror Baekhyun’s moves. “Gonna go fight off some of the monsters nearby so the Defence Force has less to do tomorrow?”
Baekhyun shrugged, standing to full height. Jongdae looked away to avoid straining his neck. “Told you, can’t sleep because of the stench.” Jongdae couldn’t see his face from here, but he imagined a slight smile on Baekhyun’s face. He didn’t know where that smile was directed, nor did he want to find out. “But I’ll protect you from the monsters, if that’s what you want.”
Jongdae rolled his eyes, catching Baekhyun’s face again, though he had now stepped away towards the makeshift kitchen they had set up for the night. “I distinctly remember you having to ask the soldier to kill off that Arachno the other day while you hid behind me, screaming like a baby Bunnit.”
Frozen in his tracks, Baekhyun turned to Jongdae and scowled, though a playful glint in his eyes. “You promised the Bionis you wouldn’t bring that up again.”
“I can’t recall such a thing.”
But Baekhyun let it go, nudging Jongdae’s covered foot with his. “Get some sleep. One of us gotta be on our A-game if another Arachno shows up.” Jongdae didn’t miss the way Baekhyun shuddered.
Jongdae laughed, closed his eyes, and dreamt of the stars reflecting in Baekhyun's eyes. Their expedition was nowhere near done, and staying in this marsh made the days drag on, but Baekhyun made the times when Jongdae wasn’t studying the ancient Giants’ artifacts and relics worthwhile. A little.