All Because Of You (Kai)

[Deleted]

It was closing in on the time when the big war was scheduled to go down. The tug-of-war, actually. Until then, Zach had ample amounts of time to simply meander though the attractions and enjoy watching other people have all the fun they could have. He watched a group of kids on the bouncy castle and was reminded of when his siblings were that age....and then realize how creepy it was for an adult man like himself with no relation to those kids to be watching them like a creeper.

Sigh....

What else could he do? There wasn't really much he wanted to do. Ring toss. Nope. Climbing wall. Nope. Pies...nope, as delicious as they looked. Three-legged race...he'd trip within the first two steps, so no. No, Zach's only vice was the food and he'd already long since stuffed himself with that. The only other thing to look at were the various booths and shops scattered around selling novelty items and crafts.

His eyes landed on something. A wallet. Not just any wallet, a Game of Thrones wallet. He wondered if he had enough cash on him to get it? Probably not. So Zach simply pressed his hands up against the glass like a child and yearned for it.

[Malachai Roen]

Normally Kai would have asked someone to come along with him to the field day event, but lately he'd been feeling... Weird. Between work stress and college stress and Zach stress (the worst of them all, but also the best because it involved sex and kissing), he was a bit less social and more pensive than usual, and going to the event alone seemed like a good way to get some fresh air and think about his situations and try to determine what to do with his life, all while enjoying some unhealthy food that he rarely allowed himself to indulge in and perhaps buying a handmade trinket or two.

He'd already indulged in the two foods he was allowing himself to consume (a giant soft pretzel and a large cotton candy, which weren't the worst he could have chosen) and so he was meandering around the merch booths, trying to determine what was handmade and what was probably manufactured in China. With his sharp, experienced eye, it was pretty easy to tell them apart.

Kai had found a promising booth with a bunch of high-quality products that were obviously made with a lot of time and care, and was busy determining which of the many purses they had that Vanessa would like most when a familiar head of dark hair caught his attention. Of all the people to run into....

The Asian man's eyes fell down to what Zach was looking at, and Kai smiled to himself. "You wouldn't completely hate me if I bought that for you, would you?" he asked the writer without warning, making sure his voice was loud enough to be heard over the other people milling around. Kai stepped closer to the shorter man, hesitating a brief moment before giving him a quick peck on the temple. Things might have been weird between them, but at least they both knew they still had feelings for each other. "Because I would like to. It's a very nice wallet. Not like the crappy made-in-China stuff they're selling over there," he added, nodding towards a booth across the way.

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Zach could afford to indulge a little bit, couldn’t he? He knew he had the money on him, Zach just didn’t know if he was going to be needing the cash later for something else.

He could at least yearn for it. And maybe wish that his knight in shining—

“Eh!?” Zach exclaimed, startled at the sudden appearance of somebody whom he was only just starting to thinking about…NO! No, no no! Kai was absolutely not Zach’s knight in shining armor. Fuck, why’d he even think to think that for even a minute now he was certain he jinxed something!

Color filled his cheeks as Kai continued to speak with his offer, having turned away from the tall asian back to the display case, keeping his head down as it to hide his blooming red face. “N…not…necessarily….no…” he muttered out shyly, like some girl who’d just had a random chance encounter with her super-crush.

Damn, it was exactly like that, wasn’t it?

“I mean, if you want to, I’m not going to stop…you…” Attempt at being nonchalant: failed.

[Malachai Roen]

Kai hid a chuckle at Zach's reaction to his sudden appearance. If he was honest with himself, he thought he probably would have reacted the same way had their positions been reversed. He just wanted to wrap his arms around the shorter man and nuzzle him and kiss him...

Maybe he'd invite him over later. Yeah... That wasn't a bad idea, was it?

Kai slowly let his eyes trail from the side of Zach's head back to the display case, a tiny, smug smile resting on his lips. He had missed these sorts of interactions with Zach. "It's not unreasonably priced for what it is," he mused, already reaching for his wallet. "I'm sure a lot of time and effort went into making it."

He grinned down at Zach again. "Good, because I'm buying it." It took only a few minutes for Kai to make the transaction, and he thanked the artisan as he handed over the wallet. Kai studied it a little closer for a moment before turning over to his... Lover? ... And offered it to him. "I'm not just trying to make you feel like you owe me anything," he promised, feeling a tad awkward now himself. "So... Don't feel like you do. I wanted to do it." Kai shoved his hands down into his pockets and glanced over his shoulder. "So... Are you here alone, then...?"

Kai hoped he would say yes. This opportunity was perfect.

[Deleted]

Things had...happened...during the camping trip this summer. The one where Zach got to spend a weekend with Kai, Vanessa, and Kai's horrible sister, along with her friends. It was nice, yes, to find out that they could still be something, but...weren't they just right back where they started, in a sense? Zach had no idea what they were to each other now. And besides, things had only happened while on the camping trip. They hadn't really done anything since, they were both so busy all the time...so it was still up in the air.

"I'm sure you would have even if I told you 'no'," he chided as he took the offered wallet. It was a small criticism, an honest one, and one he'd used several times before, but it was said somewhat playful today. And with the smallest of smiles. "You're so impulsive." Not that Zach wasn't sometimes, though those were usually only incidents where Kai was involved anyway, so it still fit the facts.

Zach crossed his arms over his chest, a little awkward an uncomfortable only because...well, because he was usually awkward and uncomfortable and he happened to run into Kai at the fair and...didn't know how to approach it. "Um...yes...no, I mean, I'm with my family...the whole clan, but...I'm just kind of wandering around by myself right now." Until the big tug-of-war event started.

[Malachai Roen]

Kai wished he hadn't been so busy lately, but then again.... That had partially been an excuse so he could avoid thinking about this too much. He was afraid he would get his hopes up only for them to be crushed again, despite what had happened during the trip. Because sex was one thing (a great thing, don't get him wrong, especially when out in the woods and with the pressure of not being caught...), but going beyond that was just... Hard. And scary. And Kai didn't know how to bring it up.

"You're right, I would have," he told the writer with a smug smile. "I can tell how badly you want it, and I uhh... I owe you something for making you put up with my sister and Alice during the trip." Yeah, good excuse! "So take it and use it with pride, you... Uhh... What show is this from again?" Kai didn't watch a lot of television, although he could have sworn it looked familiar, like they'd watched it together. "That show with a lot of naked women and sex, right?" Shows how much he paid attention...

Ahh, that made sense. Of course he'd come here with his family. "That's cool," Kai replied, looking around as though expecting one of the Bishops to appear at any moment. "The twins didn't tell you I gave them money to take their girlfriend out on a nice date, did they?" he asked, a sly grin twisting his lips. "I think those guys like me. I just... Need to win over all of your other siblings." And the only way he really knew how to do that was with money. "Uh, anyway... I've been wandering solo too, so..." Kai shuffled his feet. "Would you mind some company?"

[Deleted]

Zach stared at him with a blank look. “Liar, you just like spending money.” He rolled his eyes soon after. Of course Kai only remembered it for the naked women and sex scenes. Zach sighed and closed his eyes, as if irritated. “It’s not a porn, you know.” Though he was more annoyed by the fact that they added in a lot more sex and naked scenes in the show than there was actually in the book. “Maybe you should bother reading the books sometime? You might enjoy them.”

Zach had said all this bluntly and without compassion, though afterwards a small smile still remained on his lips. Why was it that Zach always felt strangely at ease with this guy around, even when he was being annoying, to the point where he actually had some composure and stopped stumbling over his words so much. Especially when he was bickering.

“You did?” Zach looked up at Kai, surprised to hear that he’d encountered his little brothers…and that Kai had given them money. “Don’t do that!” he scolded the tall man, giving him a firm(but harmless) whap on the chest. “They’re gonna start expecting it now every time you meet!” Spoiled, those boys were. And besides, who was Kai that he thought he was allowed to give Zach’s family money out of nowhere?

What was Kai?

Zach blushed again and dipped his head. After all the drama they’d had, was it really okay for them to be wandering around together like there was nothing wrong…? “Okay….I’d, uh…like that….” he muttered. "Where would you...is there any place you'd...like to...?" Sigh....so much for composure.

[Malachai Roen]

"Well... That might be part of it too, yeah," Kai admitted with a laugh. It was true... When one had more than enough money on their hands, spending it just seemed to come naturally and without question. It was just how he grew up, don't judge! "Yeah, well... They could have done a better job at making it seem less like it was," he said in a mumble, not really wanting to offend his... To offend Zach. "I don't have time to read," Kai huffed with a wave of his hand. "... Or the patience or concentration." Nope, he would just keep watching the boobs on TV instead of his imagination.

He wouldn't have felt comfortable bickering back if he didn't see that little smile on Zach's face, and knew he wasn't taking all this seriously. Kai was just glad that they were back to being able to talk like this.

"Yeah I did, and-" Kai was cut off by Zach's exclamation, and he chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "See, I told them not to tell you because I knew you'd say that," he chided. "Ow!" He winced at the whap as though he'd even really felt it against his broad chest. "You're so abusive. Don't worry about it, if they want money I don't mind giving them a bit. They're just kids." Kai tried flashing a bright-white smile to see if that calmed the writer down any.

It probably wouldn't. Oh well.

Sure it was okay for them to walk around together. Right? Yeah, of course... "Good," Kai replied, his smile falling into something more natural. "Ahh well let's see... I've already got my food quota in for the day, and I think I'm too tall to go on a lot of the rides, so..." He shrugged uselessly. "I could try to win you a giant stuffed animal at one of the games," he suggested in a teasing voice... Though Kai was kind of serious.

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“Might?” Right. If Kai could spend money, especially on someone he liked, then he would. Zach wondered just how much he’d spoiled Vanessa with that tendency…or Christian, for that matter. Zach was surprisingly not jealous of them at all. Well, he had no right to be, for one(because they still weren’t technically ‘together’), but even if he did….Zach was surprisingly okay with the situation now. “They could have,” Zach agreed. “But apparently turning it into a porn gave it better ratings.” Which was ridiculous, because it proved that there were some people(like Kai) who would only watch that sort of thing if it had loads of bare tits on the screen. “You have both the patience and concentration to read those boring textbooks of yours,” he pointed out. “I think you just don’t want to.”

Zach couldn’t believe Kai sometimes. He shook his head in utter disbelief. “‘Just kids’, he says..” Zach sighed and looked up at him. “Those ‘kids’ you’re talking about get hefty monthly allowance, I’ll have you know. One that they…they always blow on crap for the treehouse, then complain that they don’t have any money.” It was their own fault if they didn’t have any money to spend on their girlfriend.

Oh well. Zach tried to push it aside. He’d scold the boys later.

For now, he had some free time to just wander around the fair with Kai…and that was okay. “Too tall? I thought it was a minimum height requirement?” Zach wasn’t really one for rides anyway. Actually, anything that spun more than a merry-go-round had the tendency to make him sick. “A stuffed—?” Color filled Zach’s cheeks. “I’m…I’m not a girl!” he protested, giving Kai another whap on the chest. Though if Kai pushed it, Zach would have to acquiesce, as embarrassing as it was.

[Malachai Roen]

"Well, let's be honest, some of the exposition of that show would be really dry if sex wasn't involved," Kai said as though he knew anything about what he was talking about. He had heard the term 'sexposition' somewhere, though, so he was rolling with it. "What? Boring?" he exclaimed, scowling. "Reading about how the body functions on a cellular level is incredibly interesting," he argued. Among other equally as interesting things he read during his undergrad years. "You keep... Keeping your head in the clouds with your fictional stuff, and I'll keep my feet planted in science and logic." Oooh, shots fired. Good thing Kai was still smirking with amusement.

Kai was sure those 'hefty allowances' would make him roll his eyes, considering what his own parents had given him and his sister when they did what they were supposed to, but he didn't say as much. "Hey, that treehouse sounds awesome," he argued. "I want to come and see it for myself sometime. Maybe try my hand at some... Construction or something." As though he would dare to do anything that might chip his carefully manicured nails. His type of 'constructional help' would likely just be offering to pay a shitton to make the thing even more epic. He could hire a professional and everything...

Now Kai was just getting carried away. But damn, did he want his own treehouse now!

He shrugged as he brought himself back to the present. "I don't know... I thought most of this stuff was for little kids," he admitted a bit sheepishly. At least neither of them were all that excited about going on one. Kai smiled broadly at Zach's reaction to his offer, and laughed, casually looping his arm over the shorter man's shoulders. "I know you're not, but that doesn't mean I don't want to treat you with something," he murmured, wincing playfully at the second whap, but not moving away. "I... I want to do something for you that doesn't entirely involve me just buying you stuff." He had to prove he was a man that could win stuff too... Yeah! Kai nodded towards the gaming booths. "So... What do you say? Anything over there catch your eye?" Kai's own were twinkling with a mixture of mischievousness and nerves.

[Deleted]

“Maybe…” he sighed.  “It’s just sad that it takes…people having sex…while they’re talking about politics for people to actually be interested in it.”  Because Kai was right, without the sex, the entire story was just one long, drawn out political battle.  “They’d probably get more voters in the US elections if they offered porn during the campaigns…” he mumbled.  Zach wasn’t too interested in politics himself, but he did pay attention to what he read in the paper or saw on the news.  

“And yes, if I…if I ever have to…have trouble sleeping, I just have to call you. And…ask you to talk…about that…” That was supposed to be a clever comeback. Now Zach wished he hadn’t even tried for it. He sighed and shook his head, rubbing his fingers against his temple in some embarrassment.

“It is awesome,” Zach agreed. “I have a lot of memories from that…that place.” But the suggestion that Kai come and see it…it sounded like a bad idea. Completely terrible. “It’s not like…it’s a secret clubhouse or anything. It’s just a house in a tree.” That, granted, they’d expanded upon over the years. Expanded, repaired, furnished. If it weren’t for the lack of central air, the place could serve as a very small living space, for all the junk they kept in there. “Try your hand? Sure, you do that,” he said blandly. “Don’t come crying to me when you break a nail.” Zach held back a smirk at the thought of Kai actually trying to build something.

Shirtless…outside in the heat…muscles shining from all that….

Zach pushed that image from his mind. He didn’t need to go there here.

Still, his face twinged a bit red at the thought. “Haven’t you ever been to the fair here before?” he asked, somewhat surprised at Kai’s outlook. Sure, Zach didn’t get into everything, but there were still some features he enjoyed. Like Mrs. Knight’s cookies. And watching his siblings have fun. “Hey!” he exclaimed, half in protest against the arm over his shoulder and half against Kai’s ridiculous idea to win him things at the fairway. “I told you, you don’t have to—“ Zach held his tongue as Kai directed him to the games. Was he seriously considering this?

“Fine,” he said firmly, glaring his challenge up at the Asian man. “….A panda. The giant one. Think you can manage that?”

[Malachai Roen]

Kai had to laugh at that. “Yeah, no kidding. You should suggest that to someone.” Kai was somewhat engaged in politics, but only because he had to be. None of it would have really mattered to him otherwise if his parents weren’t involved. He was a scientist at heart, not a politician (even though he would probably make a pretty damn good one with his looks and charm).

Oh Zach, the king of comebacks. Kai laughed again. “Sounds fine to me,” he agreed. “Although if you ever do have trouble sleeping, I’d just invite you over…” He trailed off, wondering how appropriate it was to say that. Oh well…

I could think of other memories we could make in there… Kai mused, his mind already taking a sort of kinky turn. No, he should not be thinking about hooking up with Zach in a kid’s treehouse… But he was anyway. “I’ve never been in a house in a tree,” he argued. “And I’m all for new experiences.” Mostly expensive experiences, but… “Hey!” Kai retorted. “These muscles aren’t just for looks, you know (yes they were). I can do hard manual labor if I want to.” He’d just… Make sure his hands were very well protected.

“Uh…” Kai glanced around. “I mean, yeah… A few times, when I was younger.” Not too much younger. Just when he was at Hammel; his parents would never have taken him to such a… Gross and low-priced affair. Still, he was incredibly amused (and his heart fluttered a bit) at Zach’s reaction to his offer. “I know I don’t have to. But I want to,” he insisted. When the older man finally gave in, Kia beamed.

“The panda. It’s because I’m Asian, right?” he teased playfully. Granted, he was Taiwanese, not Chinese, but he never really bothered to tell Zach that, and it wasn’t like it really mattered now. Kai paid the price to get in the game, waiting a few moments for his turn before he took his position and tried it out.

Within a couple minutes, he was pointing out the giant panda to be handed over to him and his smug (and surprised)-looking face.

“Well, I guess fair games is something I can add to my long list of talents,” he said vainly, chest puffed out as he handed over the plushie to his ‘sweetheart’. “And you had so many doubts.” Kai had had them too, but he would never admit that, especially now.

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Zach flustered a little at Kai’s words. “Y-yeah…no doubt,” he commented. Were they…allowed to be at that point? Where they could joke and play about their potential…intimate moments? They weren’t even dating! Or were they? They were….if asked, Zach wouldn’t know what to say. But also if asked, he couldn’t deny that he….anticipated that their current relationship would have it’s fair share of sexual moments.

Moments that, like Kai, Zach was already imagining happening in the place that held his childhood memories. Sometimes Zach really was surprised at how…impure his thoughts could be. And…it was all this guys fault! How irritating, he thought, sending the taller man an unreadable glare. “If you could manage that….then maybe I’ll invite you into the ‘secret clubhouse’ one of these days.” Zach pictured Kai giving up like a spoiled princess within five minutes of that ‘hard manual labor’.

He’d be a lot cooler actually working out those well-polished muscles building something like…a bookshelf or toolshed or something than trying to be a cool 10 year old trying to win a silly game at the fair. What was that supposed to prove anyway? “No…that has nothing to do with it,” he sighed. It was just…well, if he had to choose, then pandas were pretty cool, weren’t they?

……though he didn’t expect for Kai to actually win the darned thing! Zach took the stuffed panda with a bland face of unimpressed while Kai decided to boast about his talents in…fair games… “Is that really something you need to be prideful about?” Zach asked bluntly, holding the panda by the ‘arm’ in one hand while his other rested smartly on his waist. Though if one looked closely, one could see the hot blush that was gradually spreading from his cheeks, to his ears, and down his normally pale neck.

Zach sighed, giving up and finally deciding to hold the plushie like the cuddle device it was meant to be. He smiled, hiding it behind the panda’s head. “T….thanks…” he said, looking away in his embarrassment.