"Well," Kai laughs, winking at Aidan. "He's the little brother after all." All three minutes worth of it. Kat had found love so very early on. No one had been surprised when she had married the neighbour's boy. Kai on the other hand had been thirsty from early on to figure out everything about life. Kimi had been more cautious perhaps.
"You are a little bit of the same, aren't you?" he asks softly as he pokes his stew and finally selects himself a spoonful of it. Grey was early sure what he wanted and he didn't hesitate in taking it. Aidan had been much slower to realise just what he wanted and how he couldn't get it. Kai had been watching all this from the side lines and it had been the reason why he decided to sign in on the first ship that passed their little shoreline.
"I'm a good deal less... confident than you or Grey, I suppose," he admits with a little shrug, tucking back some hair behind his ear. "But unlike Kimi, I actually am a few years younger than my brother."
And perhaps that's why Aidan had been so slow to realise his attraction to Kat (and Kai) because he's always been the youngest and mostly treated as such.
"Oh, I know," Kai chuckles as he breaks a piece of his bread into his stew and soaks it in the bowl. "You could hide behind the baby status for so long, darling."
He laughs and grins up at Aidan with good mood once again restored. "You were so cute as a baby. Always running after us." Even then it had been Kai who had been the most eager to help him climb over rocks and keep up with the older kids. Grey had been there to make sure Aidan didn't get hurt but out of the whole group of them, Kai was the one with the most nurturing instincts.
"You say that, but I was always faster than all of you in the water," Aidan 'huffs', not really all that offended as he hides his smile behind a spoonful of stew. "It's not my fault all of you were more interested in running around on land."
Some of Aidan's fondest memories of his childhood are from when the others hand hit their growth spurts, all lanky pre-teens that were suddenly towering over the younger boy, but they hadn't used it against him. Instead they'd helped the smaller Aidan keep up with them, and at the end of the day, Grey or Kai would carry the tired young boy on their back, warm and safe all the way home.
Sometimes Aidan wishes they could go back to those times.
He blows on the stew, watching the steam waft away, and lifts the bowl to his lips, tipping it up a bit to just drink down some of the cooled liquid, savouring the warmth of it with a quiet sigh.
"Oh, you were," Kai nods and laughs softly as he remembers their trips to the shore. They were always in the water. Couldn't keep them away from it. Aidan sometimes, small and stubborn as he was, even fell asleep in there. And then they had to carry him back home.
"Do you ever miss those times?" he asks quietly. Because Kai does. Life was so much simpler back then. Full of wonder and joy but not that many complications.
Kai rolls his eyes at the answer that wasn't really an answer. But his smile is still soft and fond as he takes the bowl from Aidan and piles it with his own.
"I'm glad you liked it," he says with a soft sigh.
That smile is arresting all on it's own. Similarly shared between the three siblings, but Kimi's is rarely that soft, and Kat's had somehow always made Aidan feel too young. That smile made it crystal clear, that Aidan would always be a younger brother to her.
Kai's, though...
It makes that fluttering warmth return to Aidan's chest and he hesitates a moment before deciding to hell with it, leaning in and giving a quick little peck to the man's cheek, murmuring, "Thank you."
Even as a child, he'd never been the most physically affectionate, except with Kai and Grey, and even with the latter, they hadn't exactly given each other a lot of brotherly kisses. Those had always been for Kai who had been just as willing to give them back along with warm, squeezing hugs and pets to his hair.
As quickly as he'd leaned in for the kiss, he's pulling back just as fast and straightening away, taking the bowls from Kai and announcing a bit louder than necessary, "I'll get us some drinks. We might still have some of that nice rum from the last port."
And he knows that particular bottle is tucked away so it should give him enough time to get the blush off his cheeks in finding it.
Kai, foolish as he is, for a moment thinks that Aidan is going to kiss him on the lips and his heart suddenly stops working like a reasonable organ and jumps to his throat, racing to the finish line like fire had been set under it. His breath is caught in his throat and he finds himself frozen to where he stands.
Aidan's lips are dry and his beard tickles his face. Kai has nothing to offer but a little bit lost look as Aidan pries the bowls from his fingers and talks something about rum before he disappears with heat crawling all over his cheeks.
It's after he's left that Kai draws in a deep breath and slumps against the railing, blinking as he stares up at the night sky.
There must be a god somewhere there who is laughing his ass off at Kai right now. Just a simple, sweet, boyish kiss that used to be norm for them and Kai knows exactly why Aidan went for it because it isn't supposed to be anything more.
But he hopes it could be, he wants it so bad it makes him ache.
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perhapstomorrow2020-01-25 10:33 pm
no subject
"You are a little bit of the same, aren't you?" he asks softly as he pokes his stew and finally selects himself a spoonful of it. Grey was early sure what he wanted and he didn't hesitate in taking it. Aidan had been much slower to realise just what he wanted and how he couldn't get it. Kai had been watching all this from the side lines and it had been the reason why he decided to sign in on the first ship that passed their little shoreline.
no subject
And perhaps that's why Aidan had been so slow to realise his attraction to Kat (
and Kai) because he's always been the youngest and mostly treated as such.no subject
He laughs and grins up at Aidan with good mood once again restored. "You were so cute as a baby. Always running after us." Even then it had been Kai who had been the most eager to help him climb over rocks and keep up with the older kids. Grey had been there to make sure Aidan didn't get hurt but out of the whole group of them, Kai was the one with the most nurturing instincts.
no subject
Some of Aidan's fondest memories of his childhood are from when the others hand hit their growth spurts, all lanky pre-teens that were suddenly towering over the younger boy, but they hadn't used it against him. Instead they'd helped the smaller Aidan keep up with them, and at the end of the day, Grey or Kai would carry the tired young boy on their back, warm and safe all the way home.
Sometimes Aidan wishes they could go back to those times.
He blows on the stew, watching the steam waft away, and lifts the bowl to his lips, tipping it up a bit to just drink down some of the cooled liquid, savouring the warmth of it with a quiet sigh.
no subject
"Do you ever miss those times?" he asks quietly. Because Kai does. Life was so much simpler back then. Full of wonder and joy but not that many complications.
no subject
He polishes off the stew, cleaning the inside of the bowl with what's left of his bread, and sighs happily. "That was delicious."
no subject
"I'm glad you liked it," he says with a soft sigh.
no subject
Kai's, though...
It makes that fluttering warmth return to Aidan's chest and he hesitates a moment before deciding to hell with it, leaning in and giving a quick little peck to the man's cheek, murmuring, "Thank you."
Even as a child, he'd never been the most physically affectionate, except with Kai and Grey, and even with the latter, they hadn't exactly given each other a lot of brotherly kisses. Those had always been for Kai who had been just as willing to give them back along with warm, squeezing hugs and pets to his hair.
As quickly as he'd leaned in for the kiss, he's pulling back just as fast and straightening away, taking the bowls from Kai and announcing a bit louder than necessary, "I'll get us some drinks. We might still have some of that nice rum from the last port."
And he knows that particular bottle is tucked away so it should give him enough time to get the blush off his cheeks in finding it.
no subject
Aidan's lips are dry and his beard tickles his face. Kai has nothing to offer but a little bit lost look as Aidan pries the bowls from his fingers and talks something about rum before he disappears with heat crawling all over his cheeks.
It's after he's left that Kai draws in a deep breath and slumps against the railing, blinking as he stares up at the night sky.
There must be a god somewhere there who is laughing his ass off at Kai right now. Just a simple, sweet, boyish kiss that used to be norm for them and Kai knows exactly why Aidan went for it because it isn't supposed to be anything more.
But he hopes it could be, he wants it so bad it makes him ache.