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A weary exhaustion had settled over the group, and even Fo Ye wasn't opposed to stopping for a break this time.
It helped that the lair where the Japanese had holed up held potential clues.
Xiaoyu returned to the cluttered table that Xiaojin and Ba Ye had taken over with two steaming bowls.
Ba Ye thanked him repeatedly with a wide smile before promptly burning his lips as he shoveled the first spoonful into his mouth.
Xiaoyu was only temporarily worried, because Ba Ye was already preparing a second mouthful a moment later.
Xiaojin, on the other hand, barely responded when Xiaoyu placed the bowl next to his left hand. He merely gave an absent nod along with a quiet “Thanks” before getting back to mumbling to himself and reaching for other documents.
Xiaoyu hated being unable to do anything to help him when he got like this, so he ended up lightly nudging Xiaojin again and again until the other man actually seemed to break out of his stupor and turned to look up at him.
“Take a break. Eat before it gets cold,” Xiaoyu quietly urged him.
Xiaojin looked at the bowl as if only just noticing it existed, then looked up at Xiaoyu helplessly, mouth opening as if to protest that decoding the notes was more important than eating, when Ba Ye spoke up.
“That's right! Come over here and sit with me! Eating together makes the food taste better too. Come on, come on! Here! Sit here!” Ba Ye urged him, patting the spot right by his side on his left.
Xiaojin's eyebrows shot up, and he glanced at Xiaoyu as if asking Can you believe this? with his eyes.
“Aiyo! What are you waiting for? Come on over! Your brain needs a break too! It can't just work, work, work. If you keep going like this, soon the symbols will melt together before your eyes and cause you to make errors. Who's helped then, eh? Besides, have you forgotten? When Fo Ye isn't present, I'm the one in charge! And I'm telling you, it's a good time to pause and rest. Now grab that bowl and sit down.”
Probably realizing that Ba Ye wasn't going to let this go and would keep bothering him—and Xiaoyu along with him—Xiaojin threw the latter a mildly exasperated glance before rising with a long-suffering sigh.
Grabbing his meal, he plopped down next to Ba Ye, just where the man had gestured, and started to eat.
Blowing on his food first, unlike a certain someone.
Ba Ye laughed, clearly delighted that Xiaojin had listened. Then the man suddenly directed his attention toward Xiaoyu.
“You too! Don't just stand over there! There's enough space for you to take a seat as well!” Ba Ye declared, shifting his bowl into his other hand and scooting a little closer to Xiaojin to pat the free space on the other side of him.
“You can still look after me while seated by my side, right?”
Xiaoyu swallowed the protest he'd been about to make, because yes, of course he could. And how could he deny Ba Ye when he'd just made Xiaojin take a break by going along with his antics?
Still, there wasn't a lot of space on the fallen pillar Ba Ye had made his seat, and Xiaoyu felt a bit odd sitting this close to Ba Ye.
Even in the barracks during high-traffic times, people didn't usually get this close and personal with him.
Now, here by Ba Ye's side, he could practically feel the other man's body heat radiating off him, could feel his every shift and movement despite them not quite touching.
Of course Ba Ye wouldn't be Ba Ye if he didn't start running his mouth again the moment it wasn't occupied otherwise.
No sooner had he finished his portion of food than he started throwing ideas at them both, easily drawing them into a debate.
It was only when Fo Ye came back to check in on them that Xiaoyu realized how successfully Ba Ye had distracted them from their actual work.
From the way Xiaojin's eyes widened and he shot up to dive right back into his translations, it was clear the other hadn't been aware of how much time had passed either.
As much of a nuisance as the Eight Master had at times proven to be, Xiaoyu had to admit that at least he owned up to his actions and drew Fo Ye's attention by updating him on all the theories he'd come up with and the results of their discussions.
The break—or possibly the presence of Fo Ye—certainly seemed to do wonders for Xiaojin. By the time Xiaoyu returned with a tray of tea, Fo Ye and Ba Ye were intently listening to Xiaojin's translation, along with his variations of possible interpretations.
Xiaoyu heard enough to get a general idea, and the further ensuing conversation was enough to get him up to speed without needing to ask for clarification.
This was mostly thanks to Xiaojin and Ba Ye pretty much taking turns summing up the core essentials, and Xiaoyu couldn't help but wonder if they were even aware of the way they worked off each other.
With the subtle side glances either threw at Xiaoyu when they thought no one else would notice, it was clear that they were at least partly doing that on his behalf.
He felt grateful for their consideration, even if it made his stomach feel weird.
Or perhaps it had been something in his food.
Even if it had been conserved for long-term storage, there was no guarantee that it had all stayed airtight or undamaged.
Nothing to be done about it now, and it wasn't like it would be much of an issue for him. He only hoped that Ba Ye's meal had been fine.
He was, after all, just a common man, even if supposedly one capable of reading the will of the Wheel of Fate.
Fo Ye nodded from time to time, then started throwing in questions and theories of his own. Xiaoyu found himself voicing his own questions and contributing his thoughts here and there. By the time Fo Ye rose to his feet again, they had not found any satisfying answers yet. A lot of maybes and possibilities, but no explanation of how the tower and everything else worked.
“Rest up. All of you,” Fo Ye ordered, with a side glance at Xiaoyu that had the young man blink. He was on guard duty, was he not?
“There are already soldiers working in shifts to keep the perimeter safe. I need you in top form and well-rested,” Fo Ye continued before giving them all a nod and marching off, ignoring Ba Ye half-getting up with a protesting, “Fo Ye! What do you mean? Why do we need to be rested? Aren't we going back?”
The man scoffed at being dismissed like that and settled back down into his spot with a huff.
“So rude. Dragging me out of my own home—”
Xiaoyu only half listened to Ba Ye's complaints, already used to them. By now, the words had become like a familiar, almost comforting background noise.
It was when Ba Ye got quiet that you had to watch out for him like a hawk.
Xiaojin, on the other hand, smirked and poked fun at Ba Ye, pointing out that no dragging had been involved and that Xiaoyu had, in fact, saved him from getting buried alive, had he not?
Obviously, once again caught in his own lie, Ba Ye had no choice but to tell Xiaojin to shut up and not tease his elder. Xiaoyu was glad that the half mask was hiding his lower face and thus Ba Ye couldn't see his grin.
Or at least he'd thought himself safe.
Somehow, the seer could tell anyway.
“Stinky Yu! Are you laughing at your elder's misfortune?!”
Though they were supposed to be resting, Xiaoyu allowed himself to indulge in the ensuing banter. It was fun to rile Ba Ye up, and he didn't seem to take the jabs they threw at him personally, so it was all in good humor.
Ba Ye really should learn to pick his battles better, though. Starting something like that, had he really thought he wouldn't end up getting tag-teamed by the both of them?
It seemed Ba Ye came to that conclusion as well, though far too late. After cowering for a few minutes, he waved them off and redirected the conversation.
Soon they drifted off into a more comfortable lull. Words became quieter, slower, fewer until it was mostly silence, until someone—mostly Ba Ye—found some more to say.
The man was stifling a yawn behind his hand when he unexpectedly froze.
Xiaoyu's hand instantly flew to the handle of his dagger, mind alert even though he had not sensed anything. Sometimes Ba Ye was capable of catching shifts in the air before any of them could.
Xiaoyu watched as Ba Ye slowly, barely turned his head to the left, as if afraid of what he'd spot there.
Snapping his own eyes over, Xiaoyu promptly did a double-take a moment later before softly exhaling.
Looking back at Ba Ye with a barely contained roll of his eyes, his eyes widened a little when he saw the older man's expression had melted into soft fondness.
“Aiya,” the man said, surprisingly quietly, barely more than a whisper, then turned to Xiaoyu to flash him an equally fond and soft smile.
“Seems like someone's mental fatigue finally caught up with him. Let's not disturb him, shall we?”
Xiaoyu couldn't help but stare at Ba Ye for a few more moments before flickering his gaze over to where Xiaojin's head was resting against Ba Ye's shoulder, his pair of glasses askew.
His eyebrows were still drawn together, and his partly open mouth still carried a frown. Yet with each passing moment, the tightness seemed to ease up little by little.
“Actually,” Ba Ye started, and Xiaoyu somehow already dreaded what the man had thought of this time. He gave him a flat look, hoping to dissuade him from whatever he had in mind.
Somehow, that only ended with Ba Ye being the one to give him a roll of the eyes.
“Actually,” Ba Ye started up again, more firmly this time. “I think Xiaojin has the right idea.”
He beamed up at Xiaoyu and then motioned at him to come even closer.
As if there was much space left between them.
“C'mon. Fo Ye did tell us to rest. All of us. You included! Don't think I didn't see that look he gave you, specifically.”
Trust Ba Ye to be suddenly observant when it suited him.
Glancing up at the rough stone ceiling above them for a fleeting second, as if it held the answers or gave him strength, Xiaoyu steeled himself for whatever Ba Ye was up to and then slid closer, until their hips touched.
Ba Ye grinned as if he had won big and then lounged against Xiaoyu, who tensed briefly before he found his arm in a vice grip.
A moment later, Ba Ye somehow managed to twist his upper body in a way that actually let him snuggle up against Xiaoyu's arm and shoulder as if that was his newest favorite pillow, both of his arms somehow wound around Xiaoyu's, allowing no escape if he didn't want to use force.
Even more surprising was that Ba Ye managed all that without moving his own shoulder, which was functioning as Xiaojin's pillow.
“Good night!” Ba Ye declared without a care, eyes already closed and appearing content with the state of the world as it was.
Xiaoyu could only stare, then looked away, feeling warmth crawl into his cheeks.
That man really knew no shame.
Later, when Fo Ye came by to check on them, the man promptly froze, eyes widening in surprise.
He carefully circled them from a safe distance, then even lowered himself onto one knee to get a glimpse of their faces.
A fond smile slowly grew on Fo Ye's lips.
He quietly got back to his feet and slinked away on featherlight, soundless steps.
Who would have thought that his bubbly Ba Ye could manage to get even Xiaoyu to drop his walls?
Throwing one last glance at the huddled-together trio, each using the others as a safe resting place, Fo Ye smiled to himself once more.
Then, with a more serious expression, he turned his attention back to their surroundings. His gaze soon met that of another soldier on duty, and he gestured for him to come over.
“Ba Ye and the lieutenants are finally resting,” he told the man, who listened attentively. “Find three more and set up a rotation. Make certain no one disturbs them.”