Chapter 52 Chapter Fifty Two - Alternative Ways of Doing Things (2/2)

”How would I know?” Paul asked him, reminding them of his non-ability user status. He took the basket from Shaun, mentioning that he was going to wash the vegetables before Shaun rolled his eyes in thought that Paul was looking down on him and his disability again. Not that Paul meant to make Shaun feel inferior, just that he couldn't help being overprotective of his friend.

”Never mind,” Dexter decided to change the topic of conversation. ”Come help us figure out how to create a cold room in the basement.”

”Can't you just fill it with ice?” Paul asked Tyler directly. Tyler gave him a cold glare, before filling up the bowl with water. Paul tossed the vegetables in nonchalantly.

”If Tyler did that,” Shaun pointed out, ”we'd have a serious problem with mould and damp if Tyler couldn't keep the place frozen all of the time. What about freezing water contained in sealed buckets or something? I could probably make some.”

”It's a thought,” Tyler agreed. ”But it would be difficult to maintain a consistent temperature throughout the room and the buckets would take up space.”

”Metal tubing,” young Nan Li Liang suggested. ”If cold water is running through metal tubing, wouldn't the air about it be cold? If the tubing is above everything, then the cold air would descend as well.”

”How would we keep the water running through the tubes though?” Paul asked aloud.

”Ice melt,” Tyler pointed out and ruffled the teenager's hair in approval. ”If the running water was collected at the bottom, I only need to return it to a tank and freeze it again once or twice a day. So long as the cold room isn't opened too often, the air will reduce in temperature and stay cold as well.”

”And metal walls, floors and ceiling would reduce chances of damp,” Dexter mentioned, rubbing at his chin. He slammed his open palm upon the table. ”Let's get some measurements worked out and get this thing sorted.”

*****

Upon the roof, a few hours later, the long, auburn lashes framing two sapphire eyes fluttered apart and glanced over the face pressed close to his own, two foreheads pressed close. Heat rose rapidly through his face. He should have felt uncomfortable, he should have flinched away, but as two obsidian crescent moons captured him as they observed him, he felt as if it wouldn't be bad to move closer still. He was disappointed when Ren Zexian backed away. Yet even then, their hands remained intertwined as if neither man wished to separate.

Ren Zexian sat beside Nathan, smiling warmly. ”You did very well,” he praised.

”Can I make more water now?” Nathan asked him. ”I wish to grow rice for you in the spring.”

The older man could not help but falter as he realised that the reason that Nathan was serious about Cultivating now, about wanting to learn, about wanting to strengthen himself, it was all for him, Ren Zexian. His heart quickened a pace and his gentle smile suddenly lacked any distance, becoming softer, more genuine. ”En,” he murmured, ”though, you will need to cultivate more often in order to notice the difference.”

Nathan's head tilted a fraction to one side. ”Then you will help me again and we will practice together.”

Ren Zexian's expression fluctuated once more. A different method of 'Cultivating together' flashed through his mind, distorting the innocent words into something less wholesome. He pressed the notion down, lamenting his sudden lack of control and patted Nathan's hand with his own. ”En.”