[FIN][Yael] Boys Will Be Boys [Kaleth | Ko]

[MissMisnomer]

Ko was practically giggling in ecstatic glee as they descended down into the dark building, riding high on his victory against authority and the still unfamiliar sensation of magic clinging to his skin. Being quiet was something he was not particularly good at right now, a few octaves above what might have been acceptable as he whispered loudly, a toothy grin curling into his freckles as he hopped in place. “That was SO COOL, I can’t believe I did that! It was just, WHOOSH, and then, BAM! I wonder if I’m gonna have to go to JAIL now, I’ve never done anything like that to an adult!” There were practically starts in his eyes, covering his mouth as he squealed. “And when I’m in the slammer, I can get a tattoo, and a cool nickname, and join a gang!!”

“But they ain’t gonna catch me THAT easy, come on Kal!” Dragging the other boy along, he pushed a door open, then another, until they came to a supply closet, lined with dusty shelves of old gym uniforms. Moving to sit curled up with his knees to his chin, he put his finger to his lips as he shushed loudly, eyes crinkled in a conspiratorial grin. “Gotta keep quiet now, we can hide here til morning I bet, no way they’ll find us!”  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Kaleth could tell the ‘quiet’ portion was going to be the most challenging obstacle, as his ‘whispers’ seemed barely more muted than normal speech in their enthusiasm. At the talk of incarceration, Kaleth pursed his lips, glowing eyes scanning the dark space.

“Being imprisoned isn’t something to-” Whatever Kaleth might have said, however, was cut off as Ko yanked him forward, intent on leading him—somewhere. It probably didn’t matter where exactly at this point so long as they found a spot non-obvious and stuck to it. He closed the doors behind them to make their trail less obvious until they came to Ko’s destination. A store closet.

Kaleth grunted, stepped in, and pulled the door shut behind them, leaving the space pitch black but for the luminosity of their eyes. He eyed Ko, and then settled across from him. It wasn’t exactly spacious, particularly for him, though Ko seemed to fit neatly enough. Still, it wasn’t cold or uncomfortable. It was dusty, but didn’t reek. It was unlikely to be dangerous, and if they did stay quiet, they might well avoid detection entirely. He let out a soft breath. The thought of remaining until morning didn’t seem necessary, or even necessarily a good idea, but in truth, the hour was late, they had had a busy evening, and the alcohol in his system made it easy to relax.

They could stay for a period at least, until he determined what seemed best.

In the meantime…

He eyed Ko. Somehow, he had began the night intending to go out with some acquaintances, have a bit of liquor, stare at the stars, laugh at a few people, and go home. Instead, he had managed to find himself in a storage closet holed up as a fugitive from school authority with his tiny, bubble tongued, half naked roommate. Alone.

And yet, it wasn’t the worst thing. He shut his eyes. “If you fall asleep…I’ll carry you back to our dorm later. We don’t want to be caught waking up here when people are about. But you can rest if you like.”

Especially if it helps keep you quiet.  

[MissMisnomer]

With a vehement shake of his head, Ko stamped his feet against the hard floor as he hissed, “NO WAY, I’m not gonna fall asleep, that’d be so LAME. I’ve gotta help you keep watch in case the adults come back.” Flexing his arms, he wiggled his eyebrows saucily in an over-exaggerated cocky manner. “Since I’m such a tough guy after all; have YOU ever knocked over TWO grownups? It wasn’t even that hard! Looks like it’s up to me to keep us safe this time.”

He leaned across the small space and patted Kal’s head with an open palm, paffing against the boy’s hair with an air of sage wisdom. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered, friendo. I get to be the hero this time!”

After ruffling Kal’s hair a bit, Ko scooted across the floor to face the door, legs crossed as he held his hands on his knees, just willing someone to try to come through. He would turn them into fried calamari. Or something else equally badass.

He stared intently forward, swaying slightly as the minutes ticked by. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. He kept his ears peeled for sounds and shifted his bony rear end on the uncomfortable floor. But as it was apt to do, his mind wandered, and ever so slowly, he leaned back further and further, until before he really noticed or cared anymore, he was laying down with his head by Kal’s feet. With a heavy sigh of boredom, he tried making little sparks in the air between his hands like he did earlier, but was having little success on that front either.

“Well...this is just dumb. Nobody is looking for us at all!” He looked up at Kal, frowning petulantly. “Was I not intimidating enough?” He mumbled with a moody little huff, crossing his arms. “Nobody takes me seriously, next time I’ll just burn the whole building down…”  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

For someone who had just insisted he be quiet, Ko was—

Well, Kaleth supposed it was to be expected, and he doubted any amount of shushing on his own part would discourage Ko’s hissed ‘whispers.’ At ‘tough guy’ Kal inadvertently felt the corner of his mouth edge up.

Have you ever knocked over two grown ups?

Yes.

But that seemed beside the point.

“Uh huh…” Kal peeked an eye open, and then shut it again, shaking his head as Ko stood silent ‘guard.’

He didn’t move himself until Ko’s head fell at his feet, at which point Kal glanced down. By the end of the boy’s pouted rant, however, he was smiling. “The goal was not to be caught, wasn’t it?” Kal said. “And thanks to you, we got away with it. It didn’t sound like anyone else did…that’s impressive in itself. They may even rat us out…all the more reason we should head out of here before dawn. That way, if a teacher is sent to check our rooms in the morning, we can be tucked away and say we had nothing to do with it.”

Assuming Ko didn’t reek of alcohol.

Kal frowned in the dark. Well, that could be dealt with when the time came.

“Burning a building down would get you attention…but I am not sure it’s the same as being taken seriously. And that’s not really the kind of attention you want, is it?”  

[MissMisnomer]

Looking especially put out, Ko grumbled, taking what Kal said with a certain amount of acceptance. “Yeah, I GUESS, but what’s the point of doing something cool if you don’t even get to talk about it? Everybody is still gonna think I’m some useless baby. But I can’t help it, magic isn’t as easy for me, it kinda just...happens sometimes. We’re working on controlling it in class, but I haven’t had much luck there…”

Sitting up, he leaned forward off balance, then righted himself again, kneeling in front of Kal as he whined in his throat. “But you saw, right Kal? Was I cool?” His head tipped forward, thunking against Kaleth’s sternum solidly. “I can do it, I CAN, it’s just not as easy to show other people. But I can be relied on, I can be trusted, I’m not totally dumb!” He lifted his chin, smacking palms against both sides of Kal’s cheeks as he practically scrambled on top of him, rambling in slurred determination. “I said I was gonna do it, and I’m GONNA! Real soon, I’ll be a super strong soldier, and then NOBODY is gonna doubt me ever again! You think I can do it, right Kal??”  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Kal shrugged. “The point in this case I suppose was to do it and escape. I’m sure some of our classmates saw it was you, and even if they didn’t, I did, yes. You were…” He hesitated only a moment, “very cool.” When Ko put his hands to Kal’s cheeks, climbing atop him awkwardly, Kaleth frowned, distracted by the small limbs moving about in the dark and for a moment far more intent on them than anything Ko was actually saying.

By the end, though, as Kaleth was still busy trying to figure out where to safely put his hands and adjust the boy, it became evident he was anticipating some kind of reply.

He glanced up. “Hm? Yeah.” He nodded. “Right. You can do anything. But first, could you...adjust so that your knee is not pinching my crotch. If you wanted to just turn around and sit…” ‘…in my lap…’ Kaleth squinted at himself, second guessing the offer halfway through. “Well, just, try to get comfortable and stop squirming. I’m sure you’ll make…an amazing warrior one day.”  

[MissMisnomer]

Ko wasn’t really paying much attention to anything else, so when Kaleth’s confirmation came, as distracted and perhaps half hearted as it was, that was all he needed to hear to feel confident in himself again. He grinned smugly much as a satisfied cat might, nodding his head as he remained where he was. “Yeah, YEAH, you’re right! You can do anything if you put your mind to it! The gods reward hard work, even if you don’t see success in the dark part of the tunnel, but it’s there, at the end.” He patted Kal’s cheeks in contentment, smiling heartily as he wrapped his arms around the other boy’s shoulders in their second hug of the night.

“Thanks for being so nice, Kal. I think I might have been a bit worried about getting lonely here, since I’m so used to a full house. But with you around, it’s like I’ve got another brother here with me!” Pulling away with a gasp, his eyes lit up as a light bulb popped over his head. “We can be BLOOD BROTHERS!”

And moving at breakneck speed on his train of thought, he shoved the edge of his thumb into his mouth and bit down hard, sawing there for a moment as he made drops of blood well up. He held his bloodied hand up triumphantly in the older boy’s face, that same manic spark from earlier alight once again as he grinned around the blood on his teeth. “Now you do it!! And then we say the oath together!”  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Yeah, YEAH!

Kaleth tried not to move too much, hoping to minimize the unwanted and unasked for effects of squirming and pressure against private places. Fortunately, Ko’s babbling was enough to remind his mind at least that he was dealing with a six year old, not a teenaged boy that should be thought of as anything other than—a brother, yes. That seemed appropriate and safe.

He was still fairly certain he wasn’t ‘nice’, but with Ko’s arms looped around him and small frame tucked close, it was easy enough to return the gesture this time, carefully keeping his grip high of the boy’s hips. Ko’s curls were soft where they tickled his cheeks.

Then-

BLOOD BROTHERS!

Kaleth felt an immediate sense that he wouldn’t like what followed and all before he could process what it was he was supposed to stop—it was too late, and Ko’s bleeding digit was being pressed towards his face. “Ah-k…mmm…”

He frowned. “Ko…” Reaching, he put his own thumb to the wound to stall the bleeding. Not serious, of course, but still, he would have preferred to have something to wrap it with. “I think we can be shield brothers, Ko…without needing to spill our blood here. One day…if it comes to it, we may spill or lose blood together on a field of battle. When and if that day comes, we will be blood brothers. For now…I am glad just to be friends. Come…”

He shifted, attempting to hoist Ko around himself so that he could sit more comfortably in his lap.

“It’s late and you’ve already performed many heroic feats. I’ll keep watch over you…and in a few hours, we’ll move out.”  

[MissMisnomer]

Wincing more from disappointment than any real pain, Ko whined quietly as he was turned down. “You don't wanna be blood brothers with me? But how else are we supposed to prove how much we trust each other and everything? It's supposed to be good luck, that's what I've heard anyways…”

But apparently Kaleth was having none of it, and was not very impressed with Ko's dramatic show of comradery. Sticking his tongue out at him, Ko wiggled as he tried to avoid being sat down in the nest between Kal's legs. “I thought I said I didn't need any protecting, that's what I was gonna do for you.” He put his hand at his mouth, sucking the blood until it stopped beading up. “It's not like you need to always watch out for me, I'm not gonna kill myself, I'm not that dumb.”

But struggling didn't seem to be accomplishing much, so he just relaxed in miffed defeat. He'd lost track of how long they'd been out tonight, and the longer they'd been on the roof, the more his memory of what had happened so far got patchier and patchier. He wiggled his toes, and only as he looked down at them did his eyebrows rise in surprise, moving his hand away from his mouth.

“What the heck happened to my pants?”  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

“Good luck, huh…” Kal said, more to himself than his company as he watched the other boy pout and whine. Thankfully, his squirming was short lived, and eventually he settled, at which point, he too rest back-

What the heck happened to my pants?

Kaleth couldn’t help the immediate snort of laughter that bubbled up at the inquiry. “You’ve forgotten already? I knew you’d had a bit much,” he said. Then, because he’d asked. “You took them off. Someone told you to so you stripped them. They’re up on the roof somewhere I’d guess, unless you tossed them over the side. I was more concerned with making certain you didn’t tip over the side…”

If Ko’s memory was fuzzy, which wasn’t surprising, the dark room likely wouldn’t be doing his stomach any favors unless he was lucky enough to pass out before the nausea hit. “For now, I think you should relax. It’s too risky to go up when there still might be staff about…at least you kept your undershorts on.”  

[MissMisnomer]

Ko seemed perplexed by this newest revelation, looking down at his barely clothed crotch as Kal elaborated. “Geez, really? That was dumb, I shoulda at least held onto them.” He shrugged, slurring as he said, “Well, I'm just lucky those weren't the pants for our uniform, my mum woulda killed me if I had lost those!”

And as much as he would have liked to remain a vigilant watchman alongside Kaleth, that was turning out to be an unrealistic goal as well. He had been sitting up straight, but a momentary lapse of awareness had him tipping forward, catching himself before his face smacked against his knees. “Whoop! Silly, I'm good, don't worry!”

But this lasted all of a minute before his motor skills failed him again, head lolling limply as he zoned out. Not for the first time tonight, the whole world seemed to tip and twirl with him at the focal point of it all, like being caught in the center of a wave. He had to focus to lift his chin off of his chest, something that was so hard to do it managed to baffle him, even in his drunken state.

“This is so weird,” he mumbled, holding a hand under his chin to keep it up. “I can't control my neck Kal…when did my brain get so heavy?”

And suddenly, a wholly primal sensation came over him that overruled any other thoughts on his mind. Lurching forward away from Kal, he dropped to his hands and knees, vomiting the whiskey from this evening onto the dusty floor.  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Kaleth watched with knowing vigilance as Ko maneuvered the winding road of inebriation. Fortunately, there were few hazards about here, and it was private, so there was little risk of Ko doing accidental injury to himself or others. It didn’t, however, spare him from-

Kaleth reached when Ko vaulted forward, catching what he could of the boy’s loosely swaying violet curls before came the inevitable. It wasn’t a pleasant sight or sound or smell. But nor was it unanticipated or unfamiliar, and behind his compatriot, Kaleth sighed, patting and then rubbing lightly at the other boy’s back.

“Alright…breathe, and let all of it out that you can. Trying to hold it in will only make your stomach hurt longer…” On the one hand, Kaleth did feel a pinch of guilt that his inattention had allowed Ko to come to this state. He probably could have prevented it, if he’d been pushy and watchful enough.

On the other, however, he reasoned it really hadn’t been his job or anticipated role to parent Ko. Look out for him because he was inexperienced? Perhaps. But beyond that, it was a rite of passage of sorts for Ko. Kaleth was fairly sure he’d never before participated in a similar event with so many unrelated peers, nor consumed alcohol in like fashion. Better he learn now under these circumstances.

“When you think you’re done, we should probably get out of here…I think it’s been long enough. No one is likely to be out for us.”  

[MissMisnomer]

Ko couldn't really do anything else but follow Kaleth’s advice even if he had wanted to; apparently the top item on his body's agenda was expelling all the poison it possibly could from his unprepared system. The first wave left him spitting sporadically into the muck, saliva pooling in his mouth. And just as suddenly as the first time, he was puking once again, completely oblivious to whatever it might be that Kal was saying. The one consolation was that, with how drunk he was, he couldn't really feel himself vomiting. He knew when he was starting, and when he was done, but the details in the middle were far more hazy.

A small blessing in the midst of disgusting hell.

Racked by a full body shudder, his eyes watered as his stomach once again settled in his gut, raw and empty and angry like a hive of agitated bees. With a distressed mewl of protest, he tried to regain his breath, spitting the taste out of his mouth. “Uhhh―I feel awful.”

Flopping limply to the side, Ko leaned against Kal's leg. He burrowed his head against the other boy, putting as much distance between himself and his vomit as possible as he mumbled in defeat. “I don't like this anymore…”

He was having a hard time recognizing where he was anymore, or what time it might be, the things that happened minute by minute. What he could comprehend was the here and the now, as it happened, before it disappeared into the past. Who knew when he would go dark again, and not even realize it? It was like he was a time traveling stone, hopping into his own time-line at moments he had no control over, before being pulled out of the river to be dropped back in again and again.

However, what he could piece together of the evening left him with the clear understanding that while he had been having fun before, he most definitely was not now.

Ko held onto the fabric of Kal's shirt loosely, curling up against the larger boy as he gripped his sore stomach. He whimpered quietly, cheeks wet with the tears of his prior efforts.

“I wanna go home.”  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

As Kaleth watched on in the dark, one hand still loosely in Ko’s hair until he seemed to finish, he couldn’t help but muse on how he’d come to these circumstances: alone in the dark at the pit of an abandoned school building with the giddy ball of raw energy he had scoffed at on their first meeting now emptying his stomach onto stone. It wasn’t exactly what he’d intended to be doing at this time of the night, nor was it a situation he ever anticipated finding himself in with Ko of all people, but he supposed it wasn’t the worst that it could be, and he was reminded fleetingly of that unpleasant experience the first day of their training, before he tucked the thought away altogether.

It was an odd sort of vulnerability to have shared in exposing.

But as Ko shifted and fell towards him, nestling in, Kaleth found his thoughts bound again to the present, snagged back by the weight of Ko’s body and his muted mumbling. And it was rather pitiful to hear, causing a guilty pull at Kaleth’s gut for having let the boy consume as much as he had. But, even as he opened his mouth to say, “I’m—” ‘…sorry?’ his tongue second-guessed it, because: Was he? On the one hand, he did feel a touch bad to see Ko in the state he was, but on the other, he was a growing boy older than looked — even if his mindset hadn’t all the way caught up — and he had taken on the new experience in his own fashion. Surely it was better to learn now, in this manner, than some other worse way under less stable circumstances.

Not, Kaleth supposed, that drinking with teenagers past curfew on the roof of an abandoned building was especially pristine in terms of safety but, well, at this point everything seemed to be under control. Thus, after a moment, he simply nodded in the dark, running a hand up the other boy’s back for his ails before giving a gentle tug towards himself.

“I know,” he said at length as he collected the other boy to him. “And we’re going to go home now, alright? Can you stand with me for a moment? When we get out into the moonlight, I can carry you on my back if you’re tired. We’ll get you to bed, and you’ll feel much better in the morning…”

Or afternoon, depending on how his body treated the experience come daylight. But that was a matter to concern themselves with later. For now, Kaleth busied himself with helping Ko onto his feet and working them out of the closet—and eventually out of the building.  

[MissMisnomer]

A half hearted mumble that sounded vaguely like confirmation was all that Ko managed at the moment, little more than a barely shambling bag of limp potatoes that all but left Kal to drag his useless carcass around without any help on Ko's part.

This was probably the most despicably inconvenient he'd been in a very long time. He tried to not make a habit of it anymore; but this felt distinctly like a failure, steps backwards in becoming the kind of adult he wanted to be. And he was very vocal in letting Kaleth know just how dissatisfied he was with the whole situation.

Well, as vocal as he could be with his face pressed against Kaleth’s backside, arms draped over his shoulders as the older boy did all the work keeping Ko from falling down.

“I'm so sorry,” he whined, rubbing his nose against the fabric beneath it. “I'm so useless…I'm sorry…I am a baby.” His eyelids felt like balls of lead, he couldn't open his eyes even if he wanted to. “So sorry…”

And anymore protests might have had to wait, as he had drifted off while Kal was carrying him. He couldn't remember when they made it back to their room, or when Kal got him a cup of water, or when his dirty clothes came off. What mattered was the warm bedding surrounding him, and the sense of familiarity to the space. That was all he needed to sleep through the night, moving little more than a corpse in the grave.

He had no dreams, only the oblivion of sleep.