Loathe the way they light candles in Rome
But love the sweet air of the votives
But love the sweet air of the votives
It's whiplash as Kaisel snaps from loose and easy to taut as wire; Koa's recoils as though he's been slapped, shock and anger stinging on his cheeks. His eyes narrow, jaw set and teeth groaning as he glowers, bewildered, at his cousin's back. So Jack nearly turns Kai into blackened bacon, but somehow he's the asshole?
Cool cool cool cool cool.
"Then act like it!" Koa snaps, mirroring the way Kai's hackles raise, the same proud defensiveness a fire in both their eyes. They're cut from the same cloth, after all, complimentary motifs of men woven by both nature and nurture to bruise in all of the similar ways. But it's hard to see past the glare of the glass as their eyes meet like iron and steel, sparks flying, pent up adrenaline needing somewhere to go.
Away seems to be where Kaisel lands, which rankles Koa that much more. His hands fist beneath the water, anger and hurt roiling in the base of his gut, begging for release. 'Don't turn your back on me!' coils on his tongue like a snake ready to spring, venomous and demanding and entirely unhelpful because, fuck, that isn't what he wants to be. He wants to be a commander his troops can turn to, a man his family can look up to, a beacon of bravery to whom others can look.
But gods, he keeps fucking it up.
"I thought you were dead, Kai." Strained and constricted by anger and fear, Koa's voice cuts over the fountain like the creak of bending wood. "I saw you lying there, not moving, barely breathing, fried to a fucking crisp, and I thought you were dead and I--"
He breaks away as his voice catches, fists clenched at his side. His eyes flick to the Court in the distsnce, focusing on chiseled marble as he forces himself to breathe. When he finally manages to speak again its softer, earnest and honest and raw and tired. "I know you're not a kid, Kai. And I'm sorry if I've treated you like one. You're as much a Dragoon as I am, and you're getting stronger every day, and someday you're gonna fully outpace me - hell, I'll be mad if you don't." He chuckles softly, unshed tears stinging in his eyes.
He takes a step forward, reaching for Kaisel's shoulder to spin him around, hoping the distance between them isn't too big to breach. Tugging his cousin in toward him, he envelops the slimmer boy in a bear hug that makes their chests squelch as water escapes the compressed gap. "But you're still my baby cousin, and I'm sorry dude, but that's never gonna change. Even when we're 85 have to use walkers to fight, you'll still be the kid whose diapers I changed, and I'll still be the overprotective asshole who wants to keep you safe."
Cool cool cool cool cool.
"Then act like it!" Koa snaps, mirroring the way Kai's hackles raise, the same proud defensiveness a fire in both their eyes. They're cut from the same cloth, after all, complimentary motifs of men woven by both nature and nurture to bruise in all of the similar ways. But it's hard to see past the glare of the glass as their eyes meet like iron and steel, sparks flying, pent up adrenaline needing somewhere to go.
Away seems to be where Kaisel lands, which rankles Koa that much more. His hands fist beneath the water, anger and hurt roiling in the base of his gut, begging for release. 'Don't turn your back on me!' coils on his tongue like a snake ready to spring, venomous and demanding and entirely unhelpful because, fuck, that isn't what he wants to be. He wants to be a commander his troops can turn to, a man his family can look up to, a beacon of bravery to whom others can look.
But gods, he keeps fucking it up.
"I thought you were dead, Kai." Strained and constricted by anger and fear, Koa's voice cuts over the fountain like the creak of bending wood. "I saw you lying there, not moving, barely breathing, fried to a fucking crisp, and I thought you were dead and I--"
He breaks away as his voice catches, fists clenched at his side. His eyes flick to the Court in the distsnce, focusing on chiseled marble as he forces himself to breathe. When he finally manages to speak again its softer, earnest and honest and raw and tired. "I know you're not a kid, Kai. And I'm sorry if I've treated you like one. You're as much a Dragoon as I am, and you're getting stronger every day, and someday you're gonna fully outpace me - hell, I'll be mad if you don't." He chuckles softly, unshed tears stinging in his eyes.
He takes a step forward, reaching for Kaisel's shoulder to spin him around, hoping the distance between them isn't too big to breach. Tugging his cousin in toward him, he envelops the slimmer boy in a bear hug that makes their chests squelch as water escapes the compressed gap. "But you're still my baby cousin, and I'm sorry dude, but that's never gonna change. Even when we're 85 have to use walkers to fight, you'll still be the kid whose diapers I changed, and I'll still be the overprotective asshole who wants to keep you safe."
Koa Carpenter
Hurt and grieve but don't suffer alone
Engage with the pain as a motive
Engage with the pain as a motive
