goldencharms

Almost... everyone leaves or dies. And it wasn't even... he was just trying to protect me because our dad wanted—

[She shifts a little, if only so he can get a little more comfortable, and then instantly starts petting his hair idly.]

Aqua would still be alive if it weren't for me. And I wouldn't have to try to live without him back home. How am I supposed to live without him??

[ oh, he was going to pet her hair more but— he’s a little tired after the shimmying. Ah… he didn’t realize how bad it was… ]

I don’t know…

But you don’t have to right now, right…?

[Too bad, it's him getting pet. She'd rather do that right now, and she's keeping an eye on him anyway.]

... No, but I don't want to go back if he's not gonna be there. It was one thing when I thought he was still alive, but...

[ never being able to go home… that would be so sad, wouldn’t it? But he can understand why she wants to do that, and he nods slowly, taking in a breath ]

That makes sense.

So we're gonna try to find a way to make sure he comes back alive.

[She doesn't know how, but it's on her mind.]

Yeah.

[ he looks at her, his eyebrows furrowing as he seems to think on it. And then he smiles, ]

Lots of impossible things seem to happen here. Maybe this is actually a blessing in disguise.

... Yeah.

[But she still hates how it feels to know she's alone, again. Because she always ends up alone. Because of that, her voice is still pretty quiet and hesitant.]

Mama was always glad we were twins because it meant we wouldn't ever be alone. So...

Mm…

Well, you have your home family and your here family.

And I’m not gonna leave you alone.

... That's a lot to promise when there's a lot of stuff outta control, Kalim...

Hmmm…. Maybe. But as long as I can keep that promise, I’m gonna!

Yeah, okay...

[She stops petting his hair after a moment of hesitation, but only so that she can squish his cheeks.]

Who said you could be so cute??

Ehehe…

I guess without Lilia around, there’s no competition?? Unless you say you’re cutest.

I know I'm the cutest girl. You can totally be the cutest boy!

Okay!

[ at least until Lilia gets back.

But he doesn’t move too much to counter her squishes, just smiling at her ]

We can be your family away from home.

I already thought you were.

[She'd started to consider it awhile ago, but hadn't quite made the connection because the relationship wasn't the same with them as it was with Aqua.]

You're the brother I'm allowed to kiss.

[ ]

Huh?

What???

Um...

I can't think right now. I guess that's... okay??

Then don't think! It's totally fine.

[... Okay she's going to at least lean in so she can press a kiss to his forhead.]

You just need to focus on getting better.

[ he nods, ]

It’s not so bad. A couple of days, that’s all…

Then I'm gonna wait on you hand and foot, okay? You can count on me!

Eh? You don’t have to do that!

[ he looks at her quite seriously, thinking about it. It’s been nice not having servants, in a way. He has to think a lot more, but that isn’t bad, is it? ]

Especially since you’ve got other things to do, right??

But I want to. You're recovering! It's okay to let other people do things! You get better faster when you rest more.

And I definitely won't let Lilia make you anything. Promise.

Ahaha… thanks.

[ he sighs softly, and then smiles easily. ]

Then between you and Lilia, I’m sure I’ll be in good hands.

You're definitely in good hands.

I think there's like, this movie? It's called Lilo and Stitch. It's all big on family and how we're supposed to take care of each other. Sooooo... if you're gonna be my brother, you don't have anything to worry about.

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