“And I thought Chinese people were polite.”
“Polite, yes, but polite isn’t the same as nice,” Leander said.“Now, we need to find reeds for baskets.”Xi grumbled as he led the way down to the lazily moving river.
Once they’d reached the stony riverside, Leander sent out threads of his magic into the algae clinging to the rocks, tiny bits flowing down the river.Algae never fit comfortably with his magic, but he could force it over short periods of time.He tied knots of the magic around the algae and closed his eyes as he let himself float with it.It wasn’t long before he found what he sought, a widening in the river where the shallows tumbled over rocks and reeds grew tall and strong.Those would be perfect for a large basket.
He opened his eyes and found Xi right beside him, his back to Leander as he scanned the unbroken wilderness around them.“And you wondered why I don’t want you to be alone in the forest,” Xi said with a snort.“I know all too well how easy it is to get lost in your magic and lose track of what your body is doing.”
“I did not lose track of my body,” Leander said dryly.
“A dragon or a lion or a griffin or whatever lives in these woods could gut you before you realized you were dead.And then you would look back at your body and say ‘oops.’”
“I would not.”
“Would too.”
Leander glared at Xi.“I know how to take care of myself.”
“And I know how to have my partner’s back.”
Leander clenched his fists as he strangled the desire to pummel Xi in his stupidly handsome face.Instead, he splashed down the riverbed in search of those reeds he had found.Rocks turned under his shoes and water pulled at his legs, but he ignored that.
Xi came splashing after him.“I didn’t mean any of that as an insult.Everyone needs someone to watch their back.”
“Unlike some testosterone-fueled idiots with delusions of competence who chose a career that includes shoot-outs, I don’t engage in the kind of risky behavior that would require someone to watch my back, and I include walking along this river as a safe activity.”
“Magical forest,” Xi said, and then he repeated louder as if Leander were incapable of hearing him, “Magical forest!I would have one hundred percent faith in you in a normal forest, but you are ignoring the wordmagical.You don’t know the rules of a magical forest.”
Leander stumbled as a loose rock slipped under his foot.“They appear to be exactly the same rules as a mundane forest.”He gritted his teeth as his ankle throbbed dully even if it held his weight.He’d prefer to walk the riverbed, but the slope was so steep here that the river cut through the land, leaving no dry path he could walk.
“You won’t feel that way when a magical creature eats you,” Xi warned.
“Then I guess I will be part of the magical circle of life, and it won’t matter to me anymore.”Leander gave him a malicious grin.
Xi caught his arm and hauled him around so fast that Leander nearly fell to his knees.Xi was so close they were nose to nose, and he snarled, “Do not talk about your death like that.”
Leander tried to pull himself free, but Xi’s fingers dug into his arm.“We’re all going to die.Hell, we’re the last two standing from our sad and broken little family, so I thought you would’ve learned that already.”Leander sneered when he couldn’t pull himself free.True, he could call the plants to his aid, but he didn’t want to accidentally kill Xi out of frustration.
Leander thought he had seen Xi angry, but those were pale emotions compared to the fury on his face now.“Don’t even joke,” he said, enunciating each word as if he struggled to say them.
“I’m not saying that I plan to chase my death,” Leander said.“I have an obligation to Shanlin, and more than that, I’m terrified of the idea of dying and what comes after.Only brain-damaged teenagers with the unshakable confidence of someone living in the shallows of the gene pool seeks death.”
The fire eased in Xi’s expression, and he loosened the hold he had on Leander’s arms.“You scare me sometimes,” Xi whispered.
“Your bruised magic is causing emotional constipation,” Leander said.
Xi took a step back and rubbed a hand over his face.“Are you accusing me of being hysterical and irrational because I don’t want you to die?”
“I’m accusing you because I never said I wanted to die, and I don’t,” Leander snapped.“It was a joke, and you’re overreacting.”Leander ripped himself free before heading downriver again.Awkward silence replaced awkward conversation.Within a few minutes, they reached a cluster of tall reeds.
Leander let his magic tangle with the plants.Reeds were a balm to his soul, accepting and open and peaceful in a way that few other plants were.Reeds survived flood and drought and disaster.Leander’s awareness sank into the reeds, and he waded to the shore.
“You can’t joke about dying.All we have is each other,” Xi said.
Leander sat on the shore, slick rocks under his ass.He started with several simple baskets: some with curved sides and some with straight.
“Are we going to talk about this?”Xi asked.
“No,” Leander said, his emotions too sunk into the plants to hold any sway over him.He started a grand basket, letting the magic flow into the reeds, detaching the roots, withering the leaves away and weaving the stalks in a pattern so complex human hands could not manage it.Small reeds the width of blades of grass created the texture of feathers.He wove tiny reeds into a curving neck.Magic strained, forcing him away from the scales and claws he had intended to weave, but he yielded like the reeds.Sometimes plants and magic chose their own form.
