Mu Mu’er is holding Bai Yao’s hand naturally and following with a spring in his steps – literally, hopping 2 steps up the stairs with every move, while waiting for Bai Yao to climb up one by one.
Qi Ya, behind the two of them, sees and can’t help but comment, “are you two addicted to holding hands or something? We were in public too, you know.”
Seems like he still haven’t figured out the dynamics at play.
Bai Yao doesn’t answer him directly, or even look at him, but instead turns to ask Mu Mu’er, “it means differently when we hold hands now. Mu’er, do you know why?”
Mu Mu’er, eager to please, nods and says with a serious expression, “yes, because Mu’er is Yaoyao’s boyfriend.”
“Achwa~?!” Qi Ya’s sneeze got interrupted.
The island actually has officially designated campgrounds only in the foothills where fires are explicitly allowed, but no legal restrictions on where fire and camping is forbidden. Given Qi Ya’s line of work, he also has permits he can show that’ll allow him to get away with camping in most places if needed, though he would get in trouble if any accidents occur.
Bai Yao and Qi Ya continue climbing up the hill, while Mu Mu’er falls slightly behind, pulled by Bai Yao’s hand.
The island is quite deserted this time of the year. Past the small tourist information booth slightly away from the coast in the foothills and the stairs built as a trail that only extends halfway up the hills, the traces of civilisation disappears quickly.
Which means the way up is getting more and more difficult to traverse, and there aren’t even actual footholds for the last two kilometres or so of the journey. They even have to do actual rock-climbing in some places to proceed. Very few people have made it this far inside the island.
As they go, Mu Mu’er ends up letting go of Bai Yao’s hand at some point, and turns to tugging his clothes instead. Bai Yao, busy with chatter and clearing the way forward, doesn’t take note.
However, this means that some dozen minutes later, Mu Mu’er’s hand has also slipped from Bai Yao’s clothes.
Finally, Bai Yao realises his little sea otter isn’t by his side. He looks back, and Mu Mu’er can be seen some ways back. There’s a bit of distance between them.
He slows down to wait for Mu Mu’er, and the boy notices him looking, so quickly catches up to hold hands again.
“Tired?” Bai Yao feels the temperature on Mu Mu’er’s slightly cold fingertips, and asks.
Bai Yao is fit and slender, while Qi Ya works right outdoors most of the time. They both have visible muscle masses and the stamina that goes with it.
Mu Mu’er, though, is quite short and thin in contrast. His stamina wouldn’t last either. Most importantly, his legs are short, meaning he actually has to move more frequently than Bai Yao and Qi Ya to catch up with their great strides.
Mu Mu’er feels like he might be a burden to Bai Yao right now, and immediately shakes his head at the question, “not tired. Mu’er is not tired at all.”
He says, but Bai Yao can hear the gasps as he speaks. His chest is also visibly moving to his breathing. His forehead is already covered in a layer of sweat.
He pulls the boy into his embrace to warm his extremities, while telling Qi Ya, “we need to slow down.”
Qi Ya nods, but cautions, “that’s fine, but not too much, though. We can’t stay here at sundown.”
If they do not find a suitable camping site by the time the sun sets, it’d be much more dangerous. The impediment caused by navigating in the dark aside, the risk is much greater that they’d slip or tumble, too.
Bai Yao also knows, and so looks up towards the hilltop. The verdant trees are blocking most of the view of the peak and the sky above, which makes it feel like it’s too far to attain.
He jokingly suggests to Qi Ya, “go fly over and see how far we’ve left.”
“No way,” Qi Ya rolls his eyes, “do it yourself.”
“… I can’t fly.”
“… Uh, right.”
They bicker teasingly a little more for the next leg of the journey, when Bai Yao turns to look – Mu Mu’er appears enervated. His head hangs low, and there is no more spring to his steps, but merely a determination to follow closely behind and making larger steps where he can help it.
Bai Yao feels a little bad for him, and so grips Mu Mu’er’s hand to get his attention. Then he leans a little to give him a big hug, while whispering into his ears, “hug my neck. Don’t fall down.”
Mu Mu’er always does what Bai Yao asks, and does so without delay, then waits for Bai Yao’s next step while also brushing his cheeks against Bai Yao’s chin.
Bai Yao adjusts his equipment before lifting the boy up, giving him a comfortable lap to sit on. Mu Mu’er wraps his thin but well-proportioned legs around the man’s waist, becoming a makeshift koala on Bai Yao.
Bai Yao can feel the little guy relax immensely, like a little kitty would when mother cat lifts them by the neck to move around.
Qi Ya notices the commotion and look around, seeing the enviable scene, and goes “tch, never saw you give me a piggy-back, ever. You sure spoil him.”
Bai Yao ignores his complaints as he continues forward with Mu Mu’er, before throwing his own bags at Qi Ya as he passes by, “carry these, thanks.”
“No, wait, seriously?! You get the cutie, I get the bags?” Qi Ya then winks at Mu Mu’er, “Mu’er, can Qi Ya-gege also get to carry you?”
He spoke in such a flippant tone that Mu Mu’er appears spooked by the prospect, widening his eyes and tightening his arms around Bai Yao’s neck, while warily observing Qi Ya’s every move.
Qi Ya is going to be Qi Ya, so Bai Yao simply continues walking forward with steady steps and a steady hand supporting Mu Mu’er on the buttocks. He doesn’t slow down at all carrying someone in his lap, his stride equally great as before.
And near the end of the journey, they definitely have enough time to spare, so Qi Ya tells Bai Yao that he can let Mu Mu’er walk the rest of the way if he doesn’t want to tire himself out completely, but Bai Yao simply responds by tightening his hold.
In any case, Qi Ya is now looking for a suitable site for their tents. He’s experienced, and easily picks out a large enough clearing nearby. The site is downwind, and covered by a suitable amount of foliage. It offers adequate shelter from the elements.
The trio work to tidy up the grounds, cleaning the foliage and loose rocks, then removes the grass from a small area near the centre where they’d build a fire.
They need to collect the branches needed to maintain the fire before night falls completely, so Bai Yao takes Mu Mu’er scavenging in the nearby woods, while Qi Ya remains to build their tents.
Since they’re out in the wild, Bai Yao is worried Mu Mu’er might get lost, so he keeps most of his attention on him and tells him not to go too far.
Along the way, he picks up suitable kindling, which isn’t too hard to find where humans barely frequent. Soon, he heads to Mu Mu’er to return as he’s already found a load of dry twigs he’s carrying.
Mu Mu’er is crouching under a tree right now with his back to Bai Yao, seemingly studying something, not even noticing the footsteps approaching.
Bai Yao asks, “Mu’er, are you done?”
Mu Mu’er hops up hearing him, and informs him with bright eyes, “yes, done!” Mu Mu’er shows him the ‘branches’ he’s found, “Yaoyao, look, I found this giraffe, and this grasshopper, and this! Looks like Yaoyao’s paw!”
It appears Mu Mu’er has chosen wood by appearance – they’re all sprigs at best, barely suited to get a little flame going. Actually, he’d probably be sad if they get burned, as Bai Yao suspects he’ll be wanting these for his collection of knick-knacks the way a hamster hides food.
“…”
Mu Mu’er, ever the observant, sees Bai Yao’s odd expression, and asks, “are these not good?”
“They are very good,” Bai Yao gives him a kiss, while exchanging those twigs with the branches he’s gathered.
Back by the campfire, Bai Yao has Mu Mu’er put the kindling he got down, and lets him relax nearby before throwing the twigs in his hand to Qi Ya.
Qi Ya “?”
“What, toothpicks? Got something between your teeth?”
“I’m no good at getting firewood. Make do,” Bai Yao yawns lazily, “my BF got us enough anyway.”
Mu Mu’er is holding Bai Yao’s hand naturally and following with a spring in his steps – literally, hopping 2 steps up the stairs with every move, while waiting for Bai Yao to climb up one by one.
Qi Ya, behind the two of them, sees and can’t help but comment, “are you two addicted to holding hands or something? We were in public too, you know.”
Seems like he still haven’t figured out the dynamics at play.
Bai Yao doesn’t answer him directly, or even look at him, but instead turns to ask Mu Mu’er, “it means differently when we hold hands now. Mu’er, do you know why?”
Mu Mu’er, eager to please, nods and says with a serious expression, “yes, because Mu’er is Yaoyao’s boyfriend.”
“Achwa~?!” Qi Ya’s sneeze got interrupted.
The island actually has officially designated campgrounds only in the foothills where fires are explicitly allowed, but no legal restrictions on where fire and camping is forbidden. Given Qi Ya’s line of work, he also has permits he can show that’ll allow him to get away with camping in most places if needed, though he would get in trouble if any accidents occur.
Bai Yao and Qi Ya continue climbing up the hill, while Mu Mu’er falls slightly behind, pulled by Bai Yao’s hand.
The island is quite deserted this time of the year. Past the small tourist information booth slightly away from the coast in the foothills and the stairs built as a trail that only extends halfway up the hills, the traces of civilisation disappears quickly.
Which means the way up is getting more and more difficult to traverse, and there aren’t even actual footholds for the last two kilometres or so of the journey. They even have to do actual rock-climbing in some places to proceed. Very few people have made it this far inside the island.
As they go, Mu Mu’er ends up letting go of Bai Yao’s hand at some point, and turns to tugging his clothes instead. Bai Yao, busy with chatter and clearing the way forward, doesn’t take note.
However, this means that some dozen minutes later, Mu Mu’er’s hand has also slipped from Bai Yao’s clothes.
Finally, Bai Yao realises his little sea otter isn’t by his side. He looks back, and Mu Mu’er can be seen some ways back. There’s a bit of distance between them.
He slows down to wait for Mu Mu’er, and the boy notices him looking, so quickly catches up to hold hands again.
“Tired?” Bai Yao feels the temperature on Mu Mu’er’s slightly cold fingertips, and asks.
Bai Yao is fit and slender, while Qi Ya works right outdoors most of the time. They both have visible muscle masses and the stamina that goes with it.
Mu Mu’er, though, is quite short and thin in contrast. His stamina wouldn’t last either. Most importantly, his legs are short, meaning he actually has to move more frequently than Bai Yao and Qi Ya to catch up with their great strides.
Mu Mu’er feels like he might be a burden to Bai Yao right now, and immediately shakes his head at the question, “not tired. Mu’er is not tired at all.”
He says, but Bai Yao can hear the gasps as he speaks. His chest is also visibly moving to his breathing. His forehead is already covered in a layer of sweat.
He pulls the boy into his embrace to warm his extremities, while telling Qi Ya, “we need to slow down.”
Qi Ya nods, but cautions, “that’s fine, but not too much, though. We can’t stay here at sundown.”
If they do not find a suitable camping site by the time the sun sets, it’d be much more dangerous. The impediment caused by navigating in the dark aside, the risk is much greater that they’d slip or tumble, too.
Bai Yao also knows, and so looks up towards the hilltop. The verdant trees are blocking most of the view of the peak and the sky above, which makes it feel like it’s too far to attain.
He jokingly suggests to Qi Ya, “go fly over and see how far we’ve left.”
“No way,” Qi Ya rolls his eyes, “do it yourself.”
“… I can’t fly.”
“… Uh, right.”
They bicker teasingly a little more for the next leg of the journey, when Bai Yao turns to look – Mu Mu’er appears enervated. His head hangs low, and there is no more spring to his steps, but merely a determination to follow closely behind and making larger steps where he can help it.
Bai Yao feels a little bad for him, and so grips Mu Mu’er’s hand to get his attention. Then he leans a little to give him a big hug, while whispering into his ears, “hug my neck. Don’t fall down.”
Mu Mu’er always does what Bai Yao asks, and does so without delay, then waits for Bai Yao’s next step while also brushing his cheeks against Bai Yao’s chin.
Bai Yao adjusts his equipment before lifting the boy up, giving him a comfortable lap to sit on. Mu Mu’er wraps his thin but well-proportioned legs around the man’s waist, becoming a makeshift koala on Bai Yao.
Bai Yao can feel the little guy relax immensely, like a little kitty would when mother cat lifts them by the neck to move around.
Qi Ya notices the commotion and look around, seeing the enviable scene, and goes “tch, never saw you give me a piggy-back, ever. You sure spoil him.”
Bai Yao ignores his complaints as he continues forward with Mu Mu’er, before throwing his own bags at Qi Ya as he passes by, “carry these, thanks.”
“No, wait, seriously?! You get the cutie, I get the bags?” Qi Ya then winks at Mu Mu’er, “Mu’er, can Qi Ya-gege also get to carry you?”
He spoke in such a flippant tone that Mu Mu’er appears spooked by the prospect, widening his eyes and tightening his arms around Bai Yao’s neck, while warily observing Qi Ya’s every move.
Qi Ya is going to be Qi Ya, so Bai Yao simply continues walking forward with steady steps and a steady hand supporting Mu Mu’er on the buttocks. He doesn’t slow down at all carrying someone in his lap, his stride equally great as before.
And near the end of the journey, they definitely have enough time to spare, so Qi Ya tells Bai Yao that he can let Mu Mu’er walk the rest of the way if he doesn’t want to tire himself out completely, but Bai Yao simply responds by tightening his hold.
In any case, Qi Ya is now looking for a suitable site for their tents. He’s experienced, and easily picks out a large enough clearing nearby. The site is downwind, and covered by a suitable amount of foliage. It offers adequate shelter from the elements.
The trio work to tidy up the grounds, cleaning the foliage and loose rocks, then removes the grass from a small area near the centre where they’d build a fire.
They need to collect the branches needed to maintain the fire before night falls completely, so Bai Yao takes Mu Mu’er scavenging in the nearby woods, while Qi Ya remains to build their tents.
Since they’re out in the wild, Bai Yao is worried Mu Mu’er might get lost, so he keeps most of his attention on him and tells him not to go too far.
Along the way, he picks up suitable kindling, which isn’t too hard to find where humans barely frequent. Soon, he heads to Mu Mu’er to return as he’s already found a load of dry twigs he’s carrying.
Mu Mu’er is crouching under a tree right now with his back to Bai Yao, seemingly studying something, not even noticing the footsteps approaching.
Bai Yao asks, “Mu’er, are you done?”
Mu Mu’er hops up hearing him, and informs him with bright eyes, “yes, done!” Mu Mu’er shows him the ‘branches’ he’s found, “Yaoyao, look, I found this giraffe, and this grasshopper, and this! Looks like Yaoyao’s paw!”
It appears Mu Mu’er has chosen wood by appearance – they’re all sprigs at best, barely suited to get a little flame going. Actually, he’d probably be sad if they get burned, as Bai Yao suspects he’ll be wanting these for his collection of knick-knacks the way a hamster hides food.
“…”
Mu Mu’er, ever the observant, sees Bai Yao’s odd expression, and asks, “are these not good?”
“They are very good,” Bai Yao gives him a kiss, while exchanging those twigs with the branches he’s gathered.
Back by the campfire, Bai Yao has Mu Mu’er put the kindling he got down, and lets him relax nearby before throwing the twigs in his hand to Qi Ya.
Qi Ya “?”
“What, toothpicks? Got something between your teeth?”
“I’m no good at getting firewood. Make do,” Bai Yao yawns lazily, “my BF got us enough anyway.”
