The next day, Edward was a little easier to wake up, and was (after a calming soak in the hot springs) in a downright pleasant mood. Ready to face the day.
Not that he'd be seeing any daylight where he was going.
"So this is like, a crazy big cave system, yeah?" Ed asked, finding himself once again in the back of a cab.
"Mhmm," Roy hummed in confirmation. "Second largest in the country."
"What if we get lost?"
His husband raised an eyebrow. "They have guides, Ed. As long as you only go where you're told, you can't possibly get lost."
Flashing a million watt grin, Edward replied, "Exactly, so you see why I'm worried."
"Even you're not so crazy as to wander off alone in a cave," Roy remarked. "You wouldn't be able to handle it. All dark and wet and cramped…"
"What a sales pitch," Ed groaned. "It's like you're trying to put me off this excursion."
"Not at all. Just trying to make sure I don't end up having to go looking for you."
"It would be the most extreme game of hide and seek ever—kidding!" Edward added hastily as Roy sent a glare his direction.
"You're such a handful," the man complained as the taxi came to a halt. Roy opened the door and climbed out, blinking in the bright sunlight before pulling Ed out as well. "You're going to be the death of me."
"You and me and everyone else I've ever met, to hear Al tell it," Edward agreed, unabashed and laughing. "What can I say, I'm…what was it? High maintenance."
"That barely even begins to cover it," Roy said, rolling his eyes as they began along a short path to the building housing the entrance to the caves. "You need someone watching you twenty four seven to make sure you don't hurt yourself."
"Don't be mean." Ed nudged the man beside him with his shoulder, pouting lightly. "You've been watching me since before we were even together, back when I first entered the military. You'd be so bored if all of a sudden I didn't need you around."
"I didn't say I didn't like it," Roy admitted, opening up the door to the building with a small smile.
Inside, there were rocks stacked on every available surface. Big ones, small ones, some that were boring and lumpy and a wide assortment of all sorts of crystals. Some of them had even been carved into little figurines or landscapes. Taken aback by the sudden onslaught, Edward followed Roy unsteadily as he walked up to the counter, behind which stool a tall, brooding man.
"Hi, can we get in on the next tour?"
The man merely nodded, taking the money Roy offered and pointing them down a hallway.
"Someone needs to lighten up," Ed whispered as they headed off. "Even you've never looked so stiff."
"Shh," his husband shushed, though he was grinning with restrained laughter. Together they walked up to a small group of people standing by a roped off entrance. Steps could be seen through the door, slightly ajar, leading down past Edward's visibility.
"Alright, you all ready?" a woman's voice asked, cheery. She came from behind them, tall, with her hands resting lightly on her hips. Their guide.
There was a collective murmur of assent from the assembled group, and so she walked forward, parting through them and removing the rope from their path. "Follow me, then."
Roy and Ed did so eagerly, near the head of the group, walking down two flights of stairs before they came to a concrete room. "Alright," their guide began. "So before we enter the cave, just an introduction. My name's Shu, and if you have any questions on the tour, feel free to ask. This is the second largest cave system in all of Xing, though most of it is not available to the general public, as many passages are too tight a squeeze for anyone but professionals. We have not added any stairs or handrails in the cave, to preserve to the best of our ability its natural state. All hand and footholds are completely natural. That being said, do not touch anything you don't have to—the oil on your fingers will corrode the rock, and like I said, we try to minimize damage. This tour's going to be dark, wet, cramped, and very far underground. We ask that anyone who is concerned about their ability to handle these sorts of situations turn back now, because it's not safe to roam the caves without a guide, and we aren't going to turn a whole group around for one or two people." Shu paused, looking around to make sure no one was going to speak up, and then gave them a wide smile. "Let's get going, then."
She pulled open a door, revealing the entrance to the cave, which was dripping slightly with moisture. Edward followed her down, Roy close behind him, walking along a natural and gradual slope until they hit a room of sorts at the bottom, lit with spotlights. It wasn't cramped, precisely, but once everyone had filled in, there wasn't much room left. The ceiling was low as well, with Roy only barely being able to stand up straight without hitting it.
"This is actually the largest room in the cave system, so you see why I warned you all," Shu said. "From here on out, the passages will be more tight, but there's plenty of room to maneuver, so don't worry. Now, I'd like to begin by talking about how caves are formed."
Vaguely paying attention to the information, which he already knew, Ed looked around the room. Despite the spotlights, it was still dim, and the columns of rock cast complex patterns of shadows on the walls.
"Right here, we are around thirty feet beneath the surface," Shu went on. "From here on out, we only go deeper. Let's continue on to our next room—if you'll follow me."
They were led through a tiny passage, the walls closing in close and the ceiling dropping. Edward had no trouble with that, but behind him Roy was bent down, his hands resting on Ed's shoulders. Edward was careful to watch his step, as the ground had become less smooth, and the passageway continued downward via an uneven, natural staircase. Finally, the way widened, and they entered another room of similar girth to the first, though the ceiling was extremely low—even Ed was slightly hunched.
"Here in this room, we like to give you an example of just how dark caves are. I'm going to kill the lights now."
Seconds later, everything was pitch black. There was…nothing. Not even the faintest hint of light. Edward was never one to be afraid of the dark, but in this absolute blackness, he searched, clutching tightly onto Roy's hand. It was unnerving, to suddenly be so completely lost.
"And back on again." The room flickered back into view, and the pounding of Edward's heard slowed. "Crazy, right?" Shu asked. "You think about darkness, but it's rare to experience something so complete like that, where you can't even see your hand inches in front of your face. When this cave was first discovered, that's what people were going up against—dangerous pits in some areas, tight turns, unstable rock formations…all hidden in complete darkness. And back then, their lights weren't as efficient, so they couldn't just light up the cave like we can now.
Still slightly unsettled, Ed moved forward to follow the woman as she continued. "Up next we have a long series of tunnels that get quite tight in places, but it's all worth it—they lead to the crystal room."
"Tight" didn't quite cover it. Entering the next passage, the ceiling dropped suddenly, so that he was forced to bend in half to fit through. From there, it only got tinier, until Edward heard Roy mutter, "Fuck it," and begin to crawl through. That seemed like an easier idea, so Ed dropped to his knees as well, heading steadily downward through the maze. Tunnels shot off from their path, but Edward couldn't have wandered off if he wanted to, they were so cramped.
After a while, the ceiling rose, but the walls came in closer. Ed stood, scooting sideways through the narrow opening, careful with his steps as the floor suddenly became much steeper. He pressed his hands into the walls, carefully making his way down tiny footholds slippery with puddles. Roy, now more above than behind him, almost lost his footing a few times, too busy watching Edward to realize he wasn't as steady as he needed to be.
"I'm fine, you know," Ed muttered, a hand pressing into the back of Roy's calf after another almost-slip. "So long as you don't fall on top of me." Roy rolled his eyes, but nodded in agreement, and they continued downward (with no further incidents) into a room that had only a small path cutting through the middle. Most of the room was filled with water, and underneath that crystals glowed in the light of the lamps. The sight was breathtaking, the still water a mirror reflecting the rainbow crystals beneath it as every once in a while a droplet would hit the surface as it fell from the ceiling. It was suddenly very clear what Shu had meant when she said this room made the work to get there worthwhile. "Wow," Roy whispered simply. Really, it was impossible to describe the sight any other way.
The whole group filed in, balancing single-file on the area that protruded from the water, as the woman spoke. "At this point, we are as deep as we can go, around one hundred and six feet below the surface. Below here, there are more caverns, but they are all filled with water—and crystals like the ones you see here. Now, we'll head back up a structure we call the Spiral Staircase. Due to the path you have to take up, you end up winding in quite a few circles."
Regretful to leave the crystals behind, Ed glanced back once more before squeezing through another crevasse. The beginning of the staircase was steep, almost like a ladder. Edward started up, grinning as he thought of the last time he'd done anything like this—on that road trip, when they went rock climbing in the desert. Good times.
Edward hadn't realized he had paused, reminiscing, until Roy gave him a friendly push on the ass to continue. Flushing lightly, Ed continued upward, fingers digging into the slick rock as much as possible. Luckily, the steepest section wasn't very long, and he was shortly able to walk using only the walls as support. The path was indeed like a spiral, going around and around until he was actually stumbling with dizziness. At that point, Roy took it upon himself to keep a guiding hand on the small of Edward's back as they finished the climb, which evened out towards the end. They exited the cave through a dripping, tiny hole in the cave wall, entering another concrete room and shading their eyes from the suddenly abrasive light.
Looking down at himself, Ed had to laugh. From all he climbing and crawling, he was damp and had mud staining his knees, palms, and running down his shirt. "That was a little…messy."
Grinning as well, Roy threw an arm around Edward despite the dirt and leaned down to whisper, low, in his ear, "Well, we should probably a dunk in the hot springs when we go back then, hmm?"
His tone alone had Ed shivering, assured that it wouldn't be just a "dunk." Mutely, he nodded, pulling Roy towards the exit so they could get on with it.