Holiday Spirit; Peace and Goodwill [Part 2]

[duke_devlin]

[Continued from this previous log, and finishes the details of duke_devlin and jai_bakura's Christmas, and finishes this Christmas trip arc of theirs. Backdated to December 25th. The warnings in the previous entry's summary aren't applicable anymore in this section of the log.]

It wasn't precisely how Duke had thought their Truth or Dare Poker game would end, in a hot tangle of limbs against Jai's sheets, but the game had been worth it. He would have liked to have remained in bed longer with Jai afterward, simply to lie content in the warm aftermath, but that was simply impossible once the remainder of Jai's relatives returned back home. Immediately when Duke heard the front door open upstairs, he insisted he and Jai shower before revisiting the family again. And that was something Duke did want; he had promised to meet back up with Byron and Alec in particular, and was looking forward to seeing the two of them sometime that day.

To say that it was a difficult task to convince Jai to drag himself out of the bed he had been so comfortably settled in would have been an understatement.
With all the grumbling protest he could muster he pointed out, several times, that everyone upstairs was going to be there for a while and he did not care if they were wondering where he and Duke were.
No more, Jai insisted from a decidedly cold bed after Duke had left it again ignoring his complaints, than he cared if Duke decided to spend the entire rest of the day and all night playing video games or hunting down book-totting recluses as long as he did not have to move himself for a few moments.

Lost battle, Jai was still muttering under his breath ten minutes later in the shower. But at least the water, viciously cold because he preferred it that way, woke him up some.
Nothing to do with being lazy and everything to do with being relaxed; Jai liked to sleep when he was comfortable.

But by the time he was dressed and Duke was looking apologetic about even wanting to go upstairs Jai gave in and tamed his own muttering, glossed it over with a shrug and agreement to the idea less protesting.

Though he bit back the want to be irritated it swung back in full force by the time Jai was up the stairs and in the kitchen, right about the instant he practically tripped over a box that apparently had once housed, of all things, a chainsaw. Yelping in surprise at the compromise of balance, not to mention the sting across his foot since he had abandoned the idea of shoes or socks in the house, he regarded the box with morbid amusement.

“Damn, I hope for my sake that wasn’t what Doug got Charles,” then his gaze swung back to Duke, “and for yours I hope it’s not the other way around either.”
Before there could be much question of it though he walked around the empty box and retreated to lurking near the island in the middle of the kitchen. From there he could hear the noise of people in the other rooms, had less than an overwhelming desire to deal with them yet, so he watched for a moment.

“Psychotic, every last one of them,” Jai mused as he listened to the crash and wash of voices from the living room.

Duke winced in sympathy when Jai came into contact with that box, and that expression kept in place after Jai spoke of Doug and Charles. Regardless, he was determined to make his best impression to the both of them, and Duke hoped they would grow not to think too badly of him. He really had tried thus far to act his very best toward those two men in particular, and he hoped he hadn't done anything to warrant death by chainsaw. But Duke was distracted from his thoughts by Jai's comment about his family, so he left any morbid thoughts behind for now.

"Jai, they're not that bad, really..." Duke replied with a smile, looking out into the living room briefly before turning his attention back to Jai. He still felt guilty for dragging Jai out of bed, wanted to make it up to Jai if he could. No words were going to work - he'd already tried that earlier downstairs. But perhaps something else would.

Duke settled his elbows against the island and begin to think for a moment, gaze trailing away from Jai for now. He would have remained in thought much longer had his sight not fallen on one particular piece of holiday greenery strung up from the ceiling on the opposite side of the room, green leaves and pale berries, adorned with a yellow bow to blend in subtly with the rest of Julia's kitchen: mistletoe. That would be the perfect way to make up for dragging Jai out of bed.

Mind made up, Duke latched hold of Jai's wrist and tugged lightly, as if insistent that Jai follow. "Jai, pay attention to me." It wasn't an altogether uncommon command Duke gave Jai, nor was the habit of physically leading Jai in this fashion, so he hoped the other man wouldn't expect what was to follow. Once beneath that mistletoe, Duke stopped abruptly and turned to face Jai, unable to still an absolutely pleased grin that he'd managed to trap his companion. He looked up with an exaggerated, significant glance, before tilted his head back down to look at Jai, smile still on his face as if suggesting they play along with this holiday tradition. "Oh, look. Mistletoe," he stated obviously, quite amused.

“Are you kidding, the mild psychosis’ are the main reason I can even get along with most of them. It’s like a constant case study around this place.” Jai snickered and found his musing interrupted by Duke’s grasp.

Upward stare, Jai eyed that bizarre symbol that was subtly trained into the subconscious of everyone who ever had crossed paths with Christmas. “Excuse me?”

"You heard me," Duke replied with a grin, releasing Jai's wrist in favor of curling his arms around the other man's neck, a light, affectionate embrace. It kept Jai from moving away, and this close, it was easy to tune out the noise from the living room and concentrate strictly on Jai.

But for the moment, Duke was less than concerned about the people in the living room, and put all his focus into convincing Jai to carry out this traditional holiday kiss. "What, no one's watching... It just wouldn't be Christmas if we skipped this. I promise you'll like it..." He tried to make his tone as convincing as possible, though after the fact he wondered just why he was asking permission for this. Perhaps because Duke assumed mistletoe was a 'Christmas thing,' and he didn't want to force anything Christmas-related on Jai without permission.

“You’re really enjoying obliterating my sense of normality lately, aren’t you?” Still looking upward in study of that plant, “So, is every other holiday you plan to make me stumble my way through going to be this complicated?”
Jai rolled his eyes, recapturing a bit of his earlier mood, it was difficult to stay in a dire mood when Duke was so intent on changing his mind.

And it was difficult for Jai to argue something when he knew it was actually an attempt to shift his outlook brighter, though very likely looked like an odd balance from the outside looking in.
Or lack of balance, since Jai did not request much himself, but everything was different depending on the view.

“Only if I don’t have to even hear a request to play video games later,” Jai stipulated something he knew would not be an issue in the first place, difficult for the sheer sake that he could be.

Though afterwards he did warm to the idea, and to the close proximity, enough to agree, “But, Duke, I don’t know anything about this sort of thing.”
Jai bit back a grin in favor of as much of a clueless expression as he could hold.

No video games later? Duke nodded with a grin to that request, agreeable. He certainly wouldn't ask Jai to play video games with him later today - besides, he still wanted to play with Byron anyway. But... later sometime in the future? He certainly would ask Jai to play with him. Jai, unfortunately for him, hadn't specified what exactly was defined by 'later,' so of course Duke was eager to agree to the vague request.

"Liar," Duke replied playfully to Jai's final statement, taking a look up at that mistletoe again. "If it's in Julia's house she must have told you about it. Hm, how I learned it was that after each kiss, you're supposed to take a berry off of it, and when all the berries are gone, no more kissing. But see, there's plenty still there; we could even come back for more later." He turned his amused expression to Jai, still with all intents of lightening Jai's mood. It was something he always strove to do whenever Jai wasn't in high spirits, and while it didn't always work, he wanted to try regardless.

But now that Jai had given him permission, Duke didn't have any further reservations about closing the distance between them. It was a gentle kiss at first, warm and affectionate to ease any of the leftover irritation Jai might have had about having to get out of bed. The angle was different, Duke noticed; without Jai's boots on, the other man was shorter, and Duke relished the times he could appreciate subtle differences, even with something so simple as a small height adjustment. It was different too in a setting like this, beneath mistletoe; he wasn't certain he would have had this sort of chance with Jai back in New York, and it made him happy to have the opportunity here.

“Yes, I am.” Jai agreed to the accusation with a faint grin, “And you make it sound like you’ve spent a lot of time hanging around doorways at Christmas.”
He understood the idea of mistletoe, in a general senses, but it was more amusing watching Duke try to explain things.

The grin stayed during the kiss though, even though he failed to notice the details of those subtle changes as much as Duke did, Jai was more interested in the less subtle things; like the vague warmth that translated through the motion. Which he tried to match, as best he could, if only slightly less focused than Duke’s attempts. So he offset it instead of being ushered through the motions; yielding enough to keep the kiss uncomplicated but not shying from the chance to push back just a bit.

Jai ended the kiss himself though, once his lungs started to complain about how he was paying more attention to the moment than he was to actually breathing during it. At some point his hand must have moved too, because after Jai had drawn away with a slight nip in parting against Duke’s lower lip the flat of his palm rested against the other man’s shoulder.

Duke was so very reluctant to have that kiss broken, as comfortable and content as it had made him feel, though he was reassured with the simple fact that the mistletoe probably wasn't going anywhere, that it'd still be here later today for them to visit again. But then again, it wasn't as if they needed an excuse to get close, though it felt more festive this way to Duke. This particular kiss had lightened his own mood substantially, and he couldn't resist sliding his fingers through Jai's hair once it was over, appeasing that lingering desire for contact.

"...I think I like obliterating your sense of normality," Duke voiced quietly with a smile, gifting Jai with a small series of slow, soft kisses to pass the time while Jai caught his breath, trailed along the line of his companion's jaw. A part of him was beginning to regret dragging the two of them upstairs, and he wasn't paying enough attention to anyone but Jai to notice any sounds in the living room. Selective hearing made the moment at least feel so much more private than it probably was.

“I think normality has been highly overrated,” Jai mused, fingers folding and flexed back out slowly, continuously where his hand was pressed to Duke’s shoulder. “Lately, anyway.”
Selective hearing, no, Jai was more prone to selective focus instead; it was too difficult to pay any attention to anything else.

Or, would have been, aside from the fact that the law of averages had a bad sense of humor.

“Why don’t you ever kiss me like that?” Broken across the span of the kitchen, the voice as clear and as brightly entertained as usually was the case. Trisha offered up some manner of what Jai assumed was supposed to be some swooning sound and a deep sigh as she dramatically slid back against the fridge. “It’s just not fair Alec.”

Alec, stationed at the counter next to her and in the process of stacking several small boxes on it, barely glanced up. “Because last time I kissed you like that we ended up with Morgan.” He laughed softly and pushed the boxes back against the shelves to the tune of Trisha’s complaints.

“My husband, the hopeless romantic,” She sighed again behind a Cheshire cat smile, “Though he does make a valid point.”

Selective hearing could only work to a certain degree; when Duke heard other voices in the room, it was impossible for him to ignore them. Or rather, more than ignore - Duke's gaze and attention turned on Trisha and Alec the moment they began talking, and he smiled sheepishly, not really having expected an audience. Beyond that initial surprised feeling, he didn't particularly care, though if it had been Doug, perhaps, or Charles, he would have felt so much worse, so he was grateful for the knowledge that those who had seen really hadn't minded that much.

Duke reluctantly lowered his arms from around Jai's neck, giving his companion's shoulders a gentle, affectionate squeeze in passing. "I don't think we have to worry about the problem," Duke replied with a grin, though gave Jai's midsection a dubious look after that, as if mildly suspicious now that he'd been given the suggestion. "At least I don't think so." But the thought of Jai-with-child drew a snicker out of him before he could suppress it. It was playful teasing - he was in too good of a mood not to joke.

“Hey, wait a second,” Jai narrowed his eyes on sheer principle alone at that joke; and half lamenting that Duke had beaten him to it. “You’re the one who gets all moody and demanding; I remember Trisha was like that when she was about to have Byron.”

Jai could fake suspicion just as well as Duke, maybe a small bit better in fact. “Should have known, you were just waiting to sneak that up on me, weren’t you? Dammit Duke, I can barely manage to keep a dog.”
But the attempt faltered there, unable to bite back the amused laugh.

Trying his best to look as undisturbed by the conversation as possible, not the easiest task given that Alec could exercise tolerance but he certainly had a more reserved sense of humor than Trisha, he laughed faintly as well for lack of anything else he could find fitting. “Disturbing, that entire idea.”

“Exactly,” Trisha agreed as she pushed away from the fridge and shook her head, “all of it but mostly Jai with kids. Like giving a kitten to a badger, if the poor thing survived it’d never get out of the house because he’d be snapping at everything within miles.”
But it was not as much fun if the jest was not spread out; Trisha was equal opportunity in her strange sense of humor.

A quick glance was spared back at Duke with a counseling expression before she snickered as well, “Don’t listen to him Duke, that sort of thing is nightmarish on your figure.”
And midpoint through turning to head back into the living room she paused to add; “And since I just can’t trust Jai alone with you; why don’t you join the rest of us instead of sneaking around? I’m only looking out for your wellbeing Duke, I’m far too young to be an aunt yet.”
Still laughing, and with Alec following along in tow, Trisha left the two of them standing there.

All the while that the others talked, Duke couldn't help but grin, amused at the exchange. It was an odd idea, yes; he'd never particularly thought about Jai with children before, save for the times Jai had interacted with Trisha's kids on this trip. While Duke didn't think Jai would be quite as bad as a badger to a kitten, he knew the idea probably didn't suit Jai's lifestyle very well, anyway. But the topic was amusing nevertheless.

Once Trisha and Alec had gone, Duke turned his attention back to Jai, grinning still, and belatedly defended himself, "Hey, it's a little silly when you call me moody." He reached out to give Jai's wrist a squeeze, just to let his companion know that he was still teasing. It was hard for him to keep his hands to himself, because he wasn't used to the idea of being this openly affectionate with Jai in public and he did like it. He was in a good mood, and because he still did want to visit with the rest of Jai's relatives today, he suggested, "We should go see everyone else."

“You are moody, especially when you don’t get your way.” Jai replied, not really fazed by the odd conversation past the wit in it and dismissing it just as easily.
“Yes, by all means, let’s suffer through the joys of social existence just a little more.”
Jai shrugged, nothing of real protest in his tone.

Stretching off some of the lethargy that had settled comfortable against his frame during the past few moments Jai turned his hand upward to trace his nails across Duke’s palm for an instant in return for that brief touch across his wrist, then squared his shoulders and motioned towards to doorway. “Go ahead; I’ll be there in a minute.”

"Okay," Duke agreed simply, reluctantly breaking off contact and taking a step back from Jai. Even if it wasn't particularly needed, he wanted to reassure Jai that the situation in the living room wouldn't be all bad, that he shouldn't stress out about it yet. Duke wasn't even certain just who was in the living room, but he didn't mind venturing in first. As extroverted as he was, as much as he liked being around people, he didn't necessarily need Jai beside him at all times during this trip. "It'll be fine; everyone'll be in a good mood, probably. Don't stress over it, okay?" He offered a smile, then turned to walk into the living room to see just who was there besides Alec and Trisha.

“Not worried about them,” Jai muttered to himself after Duke had wandered out of the room, turning back to the sink and the cabinets above it, rummaging through them for a moment before finding what he was seeking.
Which, he hoped as he pulled free from the various others much like it a single white bottle and snapped the cap open, would work.

Otherwise it was not going to matter much what mood everyone else was in, he simply was not going to be able to care.

***

When Duke entered the living room at first, he hadn't expected the opportunity to play video games so quickly afterward. Bryon was settled in front of the television, tearing off the plastic wrap on a new video game that he'd received for Christmas. The moment he saw Duke his eyes brightened, and he asked Duke if he wanted to play, too. That enthusiasm startled a grin out of Duke, and he replied with an affirmative, though he lingered to interact with Jai's other relatives a little longer before joining Byron in front of the television to play his new game.

This particular one was a new racing game that had just been released this month, Cartoon Network Racing, a game designed for one or two players for the Playstation 2. Neither Duke or Byron had played the game before, though to Duke the game did seem like a bit of a rip-off to Nintendo's Mario Kart, but perhaps he was biased. Either way, they figured out the controls of the game together, stumbled through the first few initial races before become better acquainted with how the game really worked.

After the controls were figured out, it was much more fun for the both of them. But it wasn't only the controls they'd managed to figure out, but also the different cars and weapons that could be used, as well as the various characters' strengths and weaknesses during each race. In the end, Byron had claimed Johnny Bravo with his special ninja abilities, while Duke chose Dexter simply because he looked rather like Jai: pale, a bit short, smart, not exactly a people-person, and with glasses - aside from the red hair, of course. Duke voiced this comparison to Byron, and it earned him an amused laugh in return.

Having wandered in only just after that comment from Duke all Jai offered was a roll of his eyes as he bypassed the far side of the room and had to swallow down a protest over the fact that Charles was seated the middle of the couch.
Not in the mood for an argument, Jai made it a simple question of asking him to move over some and earned a studying stare because of it until finally the other man relented and shuffled over one corner of the sofa.

Nearly grateful, Jai took up residence in the other corner, folding his arms over the arm of the couch and dropping his chin against his wrists, eyes half mast.
Which caught the attention of Charles and he voiced the fact; “What’s wrong with you?”

“Starting to get a headache,” Jai responded and ducked his forehead down more against his arm, discovering that the aspirin from a few minutes prior was evidently going to be leisurely about the issue.

Charles kept his eyes on Jai, observing, “No wonder really, you probably sleep too much and I’m sure all the drinking and smoking isn’t much help, I’m surprised you’re still alive.” He took a moment to gather more ideas before continuing, “If you exercised more and put some effort into keeping yourself in better standings then you wouldn’t have to worry about things like that.”

Jai opened his mouth to say something but retreated back as the dull throb in the side of his skull sank deeper until it finally settled some. “I haven’t smoked in years, even you know that, and it’s been a while since I’ve had a drink period. And…do I bother you when you’ve got a headache? Just leave me alone for a while; you can make my life hell later.”
Jai dropped the conversation in an effort to ward off the sting across the back of his skull, stronger gradually until he shut his eyes to block it out.

Silence fell as Charles admitted the fact that he was not going to get much of a response anymore from Jai and frowned, feeling somewhat robbed of a chance to lecture.

Byron, meanwhile, noticed nothing at all of the exchange, too busy trying to control the car on screen without crashing into anything. His brow furrowed in concentration and he leaned to one side as though it was helpful, but even so the cartoon car smacked into another figure on the track and bounced back into a spin.

“Man…” he sighed and straightened the controls back up, not in the least dismayed by setback. But he did notice that Duke picked up the handling of the game faster than himself and quickly pointed it out. “You really must play a lot of games, you’re already better than me and we’ve playing the same amount of time.”
Not annoyed with the fact, actually Byron was quite captivated with Duke’s abilities and of course the fact that Duke was just as eager to play as himself.

"I've been playing games since before you were born," Duke replied with a smile, not particularly smug, but rather pleased that he was in the company of someone who really was interested in talking about gaming. Jai wasn't interested in this sort of conversation, so Duke hadn't bothered to bring it up to him before. Still in a good mood from earlier, Duke played up his gaming history in the fashion of an old man retelling his younger years - and honestly Duke did feel old when talking about these earlier consoles.

"Back in my day," Duke began, embellishing his story as much as possible while still concentrating on the screen, "there weren't any high-definition TVs or graphics of this quality. I started out playing on the Super Nintendo... and the Sega Saturn... and a really run-down old PC. And if I got tired of those, I had to hike to the arcade to play games there. Uphill. In the snow." He grinned, teasing. "You kids have it easy these days." Laughing softly, Duke eased up on his storytelling tone. "...I remember being so excited with the Playstation 1 came out, that's how old I am." How long had that been, he wondered, ten years? That really had been a long time, but the love for gaming now was just as strong now as it had been then.

“You really are old,” Byron commented as he listened to the story and tried to balance his attention between it and the game. Not so easy for a kid though, so one had to win out and he kept up the banter secondary to darting around the screen on four wheels. “Probably even older than my dad and he's really old too.”

"Hey now, I'm not that old," Duke commented with a grin, amused; he wasn't nearly as insulted by a comment like that as Jai probably would have been - Jai was awful delicate about his age, after all - and besides, he knew Byron hadn't meant it maliciously. Duke was used to speaking while playing, a task he had to be proficient at for demonstrations at work, so it didn't faze him in the least to talk while racing. Though he did quiet down now, because he and Byron were on the last lap of this particular track, and would soon move on to the following race afterward. The winner was determined by the highest score at the end of a series of races, a set up Duke was quite familiar with from all the racing games he'd played in the past.

Deciding that his choice of words must have been a bit brasher than he first realized Byron offered a sheepish smile, “Sorry.”

He certainly did not want to upset Duke, not since he was the only one around that seemed interested in playing games with him, and of course since Duke was also an adult it also was not very nice for that reason.
He was apologetic, but could not imagine the man being angry at him, Bryon could not really imagine Duke being angry ever actually, but it never hurt to say sorry anyway.

That settled, Byron returned to the game and trying not to crash the car again, at not into the one Duke was playing. A few walls and other characters suffered some for his erratic driving but he did get the hang of it much better by the end of that final lap.

To that apology, Duke simply shook his head with a smile, as if to say it was nothing to worry about. He really had known Byron hadn't meant anything by it, and Duke didn't want it to distract from their game, because it really hadn't bothered him in the least.

Duke won that particular race, with Byron coming in second, and the other game characters filling in places after that. The final race track, however, was much more complicated than the last races had been, and Duke was at a clear disadvantage in this race. The car he'd picked was wider, heavier so that it wouldn't slide around as much. However, wide cars did no good whatsoever on the thin, wooden bridge that made up one part of the track, and he'd managed to fall off of that bridge three times during the course of the race. That was the problem with these racing games, Duke decided, one can't switch cars from race to race to better suit each particular track. Byron beat him in this final race, his smaller car that slid around in previous races was thin enough to pass over that bridge without having to worry about falling off.

After the cumulative scores had been added for all the races combined, Duke still came out on top regardless of that loss at the end. But both Byron and Duke had enjoyed their time playing anyway, and Duke promised if he were ever visiting again the same time that Byron was, that they could definitely play again in the future.

Duke stood up from the floor after Byron had taken over playing that game in one-player mode, and he stretched his arms out, wondering to himself where Jai had gone. But it didn't take long for Duke to find him once he turned around. Jai, still at that same end of the couch, had fallen asleep some time ago during game play, and Duke certainly didn't want to disturb Jai if the other man was tired.

What he did want to do, however, was make Jai as comfortable as possible. Even though he was well aware that the cold didn't affect Jai as much as it did him, it was still a habit of Duke's to seek out warmth for Jai anyway, just as he'd done at his own apartment before. He took the liberty of borrowing one of the throw blankets from the back of a nearby chair in the living room and unfolded it, carefully placing the soft fabric over Jai's form. Duke couldn't imagine sleeping on the couch like that was very comfortable at all, but he really couldn't do much else for Jai without waking him, and he did not want to do that.

Leaving Jai be for now, knowing he'd be able to see his companion again later, Duke wandered. Curious by nature, he wasn't afraid to venture into rooms he'd been in before, and the kitchen was the first place he thought of to visit. But after a peek inside, and seeing Julia, Miranda, and Trisha cooking there, he knew he'd only be in the way if he tried to talk to them now. Besides, he didn't particularly want to be around Miranda if he could help it.

So he ventured elsewhere, into the nearby dining room next, and was pleased to discover Alec there, along with a younger girl that Duke assumed was another of Trisha and Alec's children. He hadn't been introduced to her yet, but he planned to fix that soon enough. And as for Alec, Duke had promised to make it up to him for yesterday's accident with the coffee, so Duke had few reservations about walking over to visit the both of them at the dining room table.

"Hi there," Duke greeted them both with a smile, then turned his attention just to Alec's daughter for the moment. "I'm Duke, a friend of Jai's." He offered his hand for her to shake if she so chose, quite friendly in demeanor because he really did want the chance to be introduced.

The girl glanced up from where she sat at the table sorting through several open magazines that sported bold pictures of various cities, each page exposed just offset from the others enough so that none of the pictures overlapped, and her steady hazel eyes studied Duke very quietly for a long moment before she did speak.

“Yes, Byron has made it his goal in life the past few days to make sure I know that people can actually get a job playing video games, so I have a starting idea of who you are.” She tucked a strand of her long, dusty brown hair back behind her ear and took the offered gesture of greeting lightly before pulling back her hand and returning to flipping through the glossy pages spread out in front of her. “I’m Kylia,” pausing for an instant she repeated the name just in case he had any question of it before adding, “Ki’lee’a, not Caley or Kiley; but everyone gets it wrong anyway.”
The humor was faint and not with a missed beat, her focus remained on the pictures even as she spoke.

In the meantime Alec had slowed in the quiet questioning he had been addressing each of those magazines with, the conversation died down as soon as Duke wandered over. He offered a sidelong glance to his daughter in silent chiding before motioning to the other chairs around the table. “Just wandering past? Or did you plan to join us?”

"Nice to meet you, Kylia," Duke replied, smiling still. It was easy for him to pronounce just about any name; there were far stranger and more complicated names in video games that he was expected to know for work, so he wasn't worried about getting it wrong. But he did take a seat in a nearby chair when Alec offered, explaining his situation as he got settled. "Join you. Jai's sleeping, though, so that's why he's not here, too. But he'll probably see you sometime later."

As much as he tried not to be nosey, Duke was simply curious by nature and couldn't help but notice those magazines, resting his elbows on the table and leaning in just a little to inspect them. "Are you going somewhere? Vacation?" His question was genuine; vacation plans interested him because he rarely had the opportunity to go on one. But this trip in itself had been a vacation to him, somewhere mostly pleasing to go to, and he was still grateful for being invited here.

“Actually I’ve already seen more of him this year than I have the last few times,” Alec mused as he regarded Duke, “Forced social nature? Seems the case. And just as well for me, you have no idea how glad I am to see you here; usually it’s me that gets stuck playing lackey to everything that ends up needing to be done around here. I had no idea the trip could be so relaxing until I didn’t have to deal with lights and orders.” It was all in jest, mostly, and Alec laughed softly to stress that. “Though I do miss the sitting around not talking just a little.”

“Because dad can sit around and not talk to someone better than anybody else,” Kylia added and stared at a wide photo of Miami at night, bright lights and busy boardwalks.
She ended up answering Duke’s question instead of waiting for her father to do so, “I wish we were going somewhere, but we never go anywhere during the year but here.”
Bypassing the article attached to the picture she skipped over to the next spread; that one the sandy-white stretches of Mexico.

“I tried to convince Jai’ to let me stay with him for a week or two over summer break but he keeps telling me he doesn’t live in a very nice place,” She added with a displeased frown at the failed attempts. “But it’s still somewhere different, and he told me about how he used to travel, wish he still did; I’m sure sooner or later I could talk him into letting me go too.”
The magazine was set aside and another one picked up instead before she thought to ask; “Do you get to do that much? Travel? Like for work or anything?”

Duke couldn't help but grin in amusement as Alec voiced just how much different this visit had been for him than the norm. Honestly, Duke hadn't minded at all going shopping, or stringing up the lights - bar the danger of falling off the roof and the general 'manual labor' aspect of it all. But still, it was something he'd never be able to do in New York, at least not outside. Stringing lights up inside his apartment, however, didn't seem like such a bad idea to Duke. But he didn't even have the chance to reply before Kylia spoke, and he listened quietly to her, not speaking until asked that final question.

"Just a few times a year for gaming conventions, to bigger cities: L.A., Chicago, places like that," Duke explained. "But I don't have the time to really get to enjoy those places because I'm at the conventions the whole time for the most part. So this trip here is like a vacation to me. First time since... I don't remember how long ago, I actually went on a vacation. I never really traveled around like Jai did."

But there was one other point Duke had to clear up, because he really didn't want Kylia to think badly of New York because of anything that Jai had said. "And Jai's only half right when he says he lives in a bad place. The area of town he lives in isn't exactly the best... and his apartment's way too small. But the city itself, and downtown especially? That's where you want to go. Don't listen to him when he's says it's all bad, it's definitely not. There's just so much to do there... It's amazing. But then again, maybe I'm biased." And to further encourage the idea, he added with a smile, "If Jai ever gets a better apartment, I'll try to get him to invite you for a visit."

“Chicago…we did go there once when I was too little to remember it much, dad was teaching a course up there for a few months, right?” She looked to Alec for confirmation and received a nod, then continued onward, “And I figured New York wasn’t all that bad to begin with, since I was getting an overview of it from the world’s biggest overprotective pessimist in the first place.”
Kylia was somewhat of a frank realist herself; very few minced views about people in general from a young age. But it did little to spoil her naturally positive nature.

“Good, you can tell him that I’m not a kid anymore, I’m not going to get mugged or murdered, and he can follow me around the entire time if he wants to.” She certainly needed as much help in the matter as possible and was not past employing any aid offered, “He probably will anyway, but I won’t complain about it if it helps convince him.”
Returning to her pictures then, she pondered over the vivid images and the places locked away in them, wanderlust bred young.

That comment about Jai's pessimistic streak drew a laugh out of Duke, and he had to admit to himsef that it was true to a degree. But still, that fact had never stopped Jai from going around town with Duke, so hopefully Jai would be open to having Kylia come for a visit sometime in the future. "'Will do. It's not always easy to convince him of things, but I'm just as stubborn as he is." And for that reason alone he was more much confident that Kylia's visit would be a possibility in the future sometime.

Though Duke left Kylia to her magazines for a moment, not wanting to disturb her too much from looking over those pictures. Instead, he turned his attention to Alec, not hesitant at all to strike up a conversation of a different topic. "How long are you guys going to be here? Jai and I have to leave tomorrow."

Alec, out of habit, had only listened quietly in the background until the conversation had tamed down some and drawn to a close. But once he had been spoken to again he turned his attention away from his daughter and back fully to Duke.
“A few more days, Trisha is going to try to hold out leaving until the weekend but it depends on if she’s back on call before then or not.”

In general Alec knew very little about Duke, had never even heard of his existence before a few days prior, but he kept his curiosity well in check to avoid crossing any lines and instead tried to keep his own questioning as unobtrusive and impersonal as possible. “You two are leaving early, work that strict?”

"With Jai it is," Duke replied with a nod. "All my work for Christmas is already done, same with New Years. Working on projects for later in January when I go back to work on Wednesday. Ah - I guess I didn't say; I work in advertising. Not just playing games, I have to make them sell too." Duke could have afforded a few more days off, and with as much of a hard worker as he was, he would have made sure to make up all the work as quickly as possible afterward. But of course he respected Jai's decision about the trip dates, wouldn't dream of pressing him for more time here. Even this long had been absolutely amazing, and he was quite glad to be here.

"He went to work really early in the morning on Friday so he could get all his hours in on that day," Duke continued, not hesitant about offering up the information because he figured Jai wouldn't care if he told anyone else about it. "And he's going to go to work once we get back in the city tomorrow. So... technically he's not missing any work at all, but... he just really doesn't like taking off time from work, so that's why we're not staying longer. But I'm glad we've been here for this long. It's been good... I think even Jai's liked it for the most part even though he said beforehand that it was going to be horrible here. I'm glad he was proven wrong." He smiled, proud that Jai had taken the time to visit even with that pessimistic streak of his.

“Must be a hassle to work around schedules like that, Trisha and I barely get out anywhere with just her hours, must be worse trying to deal with two different time clocks.” Alec replied as he edged the magazines over more towards Kylia and focused in fully on the conversation.
Once a person could get past his normal introverted shell he usually was a very engrossing conversationalist.

“Or, at least two set ones; I do most of my work from home between taking care of Morgan and Nadia, Trisha usually stays on call until the other two are at least out of school for the day. But it works out well enough for us, I write, mostly smaller articles for local papers and things like that, so my deadlines are flexible. But trying to run off of two different schedules has to be difficult.”
Alec realized midway through the topic that he sounded very assuming, and he really did not want to come off that way to Duke.

“I’m sorry, I’m probably jumping to conclusions about things,” he paused though before giving an honest and somewhat awkward confession over the matter, “Actually, I don’t know what I’m assuming or not, or if I even am. I don’t actually know what I’m supposed to assume or not.”
By that point he was feeling even more awkward, trying to patch his mistakes over, “No offense Duke, I really just wasn’t even aware that Jai was…involved with anyone so all of this is much different than what I’m used to.”
So much for his articulation skills, Alec only hoped he had not come off as sounding too blatantly ignorant.

"Ah... it's okay, I don't think anyone else did either," Duke mused, though he figured Julia had possessed some idea before they arrived. But Duke didn't know just what Jai had told her, so he couldn't be certain. Still, Jai hadn't particularly gone out of his way to tell everyone else in the house until now, besides his earlier attempt with Doug. Not that Duke particularly cared; he really didn't mind having to introduce himself ten different times over the course of their stay.

Duke didn't have reservations about revealing more information about the two of them. None of it was particularly personal, so he figured Jai wouldn't mind either. "We met October of last year. Hm, we don't live together - I just see him on weekends. And... e-mail him during the week. We're both on the computer a lot at work. And I'll call too sometimes during the week if I really need to talk to him. Or text-messaging, too. So... it's not so bad, there's lots of ways to talk to him if I need to."

But more than anything now Duke didn't want Alec to feel awkward, so he switched the subject to something more comfortable. After all, his intention from the start had been to make it up to Alec for yesterday's coffee spill, and making him uncomfortable wasn't going to help with that at all. "I didn't know what sort of writing you did until now. How many years have you been writing?" It was genuine curiosity, paired with the nagging desire to make the other man as at ease as possible.

“That sounds like more than Trisha and I get to talk to each other,” Alec laughed softly.
Admittedly it was a little easier, awkwardness aside, for him to talk to Duke than it was some of the other people around the house. Charles totally ignored him because Alec shied back from the attempts to insult and confront, for much the same reason he tried his best to avoid Miranda, and Julia and Doug he kept a respectful distance from unless they addressed him.

And since he really was one of those people most comfortable around his peers it was even more difficult for Alec to be very social around the place because of that.

Duke’s question was simple, even if the answer did carry some heavy implications towards things that generally were not spoken much about. “I started a few years into college, didn’t get very far and those days it was all mostly interviews for school functions and things like that; barely much use for an actual job. But once I got past that it was easier to get bit jobs here and there, finally had to move out to Boston before I could get anything better. All in all I’ve only been trying to make a career out of it for about seven years.”

Duke didn’t bother to think back seven years, to do the math in his head. He was too busy grinning over the mention of Boston that he wasn’t thinking too much aside from that. “I have a friend that went to college in Boston. He really liked it there, though it was only a few years ago. Do you and Trisha still live there?” Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember if Jai had told him where Trisha and Alec lived, or if he had, that fact had gotten lost in all the excitement of the rest of the visit here. “I don’t think Jai said. Or at least… I don’t remember.” He trailed off there, not wanting to ramble on too much.

“We still live there, once we got settled it was more of a problem trying to move than just deal with staying put.”
At least it had been at the time, it was difficult to get back in motion once situated though, so that had just become the norm for them.
“The downside to it is that Miranda doesn’t live too far from us.” Alec added with a soft laugh.

The mention of Miranda caused Duke to frown, and if Alec didn’t seem to much care for Miranda, then perhaps it wasn’t all Jai’s fault she was like that, maybe she was just… unpleasant in general - that’s the best way he could think of to describe it. “Ah… is she really like that to everyone? Even you?” His voice was lowered a little, just so there’d be no chance that anyone in the kitchen would be able to hear them.

“To be fair, probably not everyone, but I’m not sure what it must take to get on her good side because I haven’t come close to finding it yet myself.” Alec confessed as he cast another glance to Kylia for a moment, knowing full well that she likely was listening to them but just as likely would not say anything.
The girl returned the brief meet of eyes and gave a faint nod as she flipped pages and added, “She doesn’t like many people that aren’t part of the family, she told me that before.”

“It usually works best to just avoid getting in her way, she’s only been on my case a few times but it’s not something I’d like to repeat,” Alec felt a little sheepish admitting the amount of effort he took in trying to skirt around those confrontations. “Of course some people would rather just have it out with her, and…as bad as it must sound, every now and then I catch myself hopeful that they’ll win one of those arguments so she can’t.”
He fought back a grin, because it really was not the sort of conversation that was right to find amusing.

Duke furrowed his brow a little in sympathy, slightly confused at Kylia’s words. It didn’t make sense to him why Miranda didn’t like Alec - he seemed nice enough, and wasn’t he part of the family now? But he didn’t press the matter, knowing it was probably a sensitive subject and he didn’t want to make either Alec or Kylia feel awkward. “Yeah... I hope no one’ll start any more fights though, especially not today.”

Idly, Duke peered over to look at the kitchen door, and he suddenly felt as if he weren’t doing enough to help around the house, especially if he was going to be eating what was being made now. He was so used to cooking for himself, or cooking for Jai, or helping his mother cook, that being cooked for in a setting like this was rather unfamiliar. “I feel kind of useless... Would it be bad to ask to help out?” he asked Alec, not wary of Miranda in this particular case because Julia and Trisha were there too.

Alec turned in the direction of the kitchen when the question arose and seemed to debate it himself. “I don’t know, I’ve never even tried to ask because Trisha won’t let me in the kitchen back home so I figure she’d be just as unlikely to out here. But what’s the worst they could do, yell at you and tell you to get out?”

“They wouldn’t yell at a guest would they?” Duke mused with a grin, gaze still locked on that kitchen doorway. Honestly he wanted to help out if he could, but if the others in the kitchen thought he’d just be in the way, he wouldn’t press the matter. “I guess I’ll give it a try.” Confident now, Duke stood again, pushed his chair back in. “If they don’t want me, I’ll be back. After I check on Jai. So long as you’re not tired of me.” He smiled, trusting the other two to be honest about it, because he really didn’t want to annoy anyone in the house. And after that, he walked the short distance over to the kitchen, peeked inside to look to see whether or not Julia or Trisha was free enough to talk to him for a minute, because he didn’t particularly want to talk to Miranda.

“Wouldn’t count on it,” Alec replied with a hint of humor as he watched Duke wander back towards the kitchen, “And can’t say I’ll be right here if you come back, I think I’ll head out to the back porch for a while.”
Said as much to Kylia as it was to Duke before he fell silent once more and let the conversation die back down.

Sharp contrast to the noise in the kitchen and the motion amid the bright yellow and vivid colors of the room, chaotic. Controlled chaos though, with Julia leaning back against one of the counters and laughing softly at something Miranda had said before Duke showed up, Miranda herself at her said with a large bowl and equally large spoon, both in use.

The entire room was a heavy mix of the scent of cooking and the rush of motion of everything in progress, lively and the brightest point of life in the house at the time. The soft clang of the stove door shutting under the push of Julia’s hand, the low whine of the sink in use, all of it hectic in a carefully watched sort of way.

“Duke,” Trisha chirped from her place at the island brandishing a knife beside a pile of already cut vegetables. She smiled brightly and started to wave in greeting but decided to first place the knife down on the flat surface before doing so, “Just what do you think you’re doing sneaking around?”

Duke smiled right back when he'd managed to catch Trisha's attention, pleased that she wasn't too busy to talk, before edging into the kitchen to stand near her on the other side of the island. "Jai's asleep, so... wanted to know if I could help. I'm not as bad in the kitchen as Jai is, really." He grinned, not at all guilty about poking fun at his companion because Jai himself often said how horrible he was in the kitchen. Whether or not the three women wanted his help was their choice, and Duke really didn't want to get in their way if he wasn't allowed to help. If denied, he'd leave to find something else to do, though he did want to help, or he wouldn't have offered it; it really did feel a little awkward doing nothing to help out.

Trisha laughed at the mention of Jai cooking, the lack of ability there was pretty much apparent to most of the family, as well as some of the stories that went along with it. “I’m amazed he hasn’t starved yet, or keeled over from living off fast food. Lazy boy, what’s he doing asleep, he’s supposed to sleep at night and be up during the day like any normal person.”

It crossed her mind to make another comment along those lines, and she almost did but held it back behind a quick glance to the other side of the kitchen where Julia and Miranda were before her eyes snapped back to Duke with a smirk.
She could say something about why she doubted Jai’s sleeping habits were entirely normal during his stay here, and the glint in her eyes stated that very clearly, but it really would have caused more chaos with the lack of humor some people had.
“Better be glad I have some tact,” she teased before picking back up the knife.

“Speaking of boys, yes, you…out of here. This isn’t a boy thing, even if you can cook.” Trisha grinned and pointed in the direction of the doorway with the knife as though it were a dire order. The conversation reaching Julia and startling another laugh from her and a quick reminder to Trisha to be nice and ‘stop pushing poor Duke around like that’, which she took in stride and kept that grin intact.

“They have enough problems with me getting in the way, I’m sure they’d be glad to run me out too but I get special privileges because I’ve got the right chromosomes to be in here. Something I’m afraid you lack, so…out. Besides, you’re here as a guest, you’re supposed to leave all the slaving over things to the hosts, basic rules of going on any trip and freeloading around.”
Nothing of real command in the words, mostly playful and matching Trisha’s bright mood, just as much as the repeated reprimand from Julia a moment later was just as humored.

“And while you’re at it,” she added while motioning to the far side of the island, “take that with you before he steals something.”
Trisha was speaking about the lump of splotchy-color fur that was sprawled out watching her from the floor with pitiful, big brown eyes in hopes of being able to do just that, steal something not being watched. Lucifer was an opportunist and was quite content to lie in wait for that off chance.

Duke couldn't help but laugh sheepishly as Trisha's words, quite pleased himself that she did indeed have tact, because he didn't want anyone to become offended. But that couldn't be the only reason Jai was sleepy, could it? It wasn't as if he'd kept Jai up all night... mostly. Either way, he'd be sure to wake Jai up at dinnertime, because he didn't want him missing out, especially if so much care and time was being put into the meal.

"Okay, I'm leaving," Duke replied with a grin, amused. He certainly didn't want to get in the way, and didn't mind leaving the others alone for a while. But his expression turned curious when Trisha mentioned someone else in the kitchen - though he smiled when he noticed just who she was referring to, Jai's dog there on the ground.

Bending at the waist, Duke reached down to scratch gently behind Lucifer's ears, as if offering the promise of attention to entice the dog away from the thought of food. "C'mon, let's go check on Jai," he told the dog; if Duke wasn't allowed to stay in the kitchen, the canine couldn't either, and Duke didn't mind being the one to lead him out of here. A gentle tug on Lucifer's star-lined collar was given to encourage the dog to stand and walk with him, and he led Lucifer back into the living room, offering Trisha a wave as he left her.

When Duke arrived in the living room, he noticed that it was otherwise deserted except for Jai, and after edging near enough to see Jai closer, Duke determined that he was indeed still asleep there at one end of the couch. That was all right; he wanted Jai to sleep if he was really tired. "...no more nightmares today, that's an order," Duke spoke quietly to Jai's sleeping form, barely a whisper, before leaning down briefly to press a wisp of a kiss against the top of Jai's head, careful not to disturb his companion.

Afterward, Duke sat down on the floor a short ways away from Jai, just so that he could pet Lucifer for a little while, not wanting the dog to get any ideas about going back in the kitchen, at least not while the others were working inside. The wait to dinnertime wouldn't be too long, or at least Duke didn't think so, and he was content to laze about the house in the meantime, talking to whomever else he happened to pass by until dinner.

***

Duke spent the remainder of his time before dinner entertaining Lucifer, spending a little more time with Alec and Kylia, and finally just settled in to relax on one of the chairs in the living room, simply because he didn't want to overwhelm anyone with his presence. It would be easy for him to talk for hours, but he didn't want to monopolize everyone else's time to keep away his own boredom, so he kept to himself a little while before dinner was ready.

Toying idly with the padlock charm on his wrist cuff, Duke remained lost in thought, remembering everything that had happened earlier today, the good and the bad. The overwhelming amount of it had been good, however, and the day itself had been very full so far, pleasantly so. It felt so very odd that it was all going to be coming to an end tomorrow, and part of Duke really didn't want to go back to New York again so soon. This trip had been an absolute joy and he wanted to make the time he had left really worthwhile if at all possible.

Alec's voice stole Duke's attention back soon after, causing Duke to shift his gaze up from where it had been fixed on the silver charm on that cuff. Dinner was ready, that's what Alec had to relay before leaving again, though it wasn't hard to tell - Duke could smell the finished food all the way in the living room, and he knew just from that scent that everything was going to taste good. He'd neglected to eat lunch, so he was a little hungry now, but he knew Jai hadn't eaten all day, which made him all the more eager to wake Jai up now.

Crossing over to the couch, Duke set about doing just that, kneeling down in front of Jai before he spoke. "Jai? Jai, wake up, dinner's ready." He gave Jai's shoulder a gentle shake to try to wake him faster, though he was careful so as not to startle the other man awake.

Jai had been, for a few hours, enjoying a distinctly blank and very empty sleep. Deep enough to feel the tug of dreams but subconsciously his mind fought the impulse because of the disturbing images those always brought with them, restful in nothingness.

It helped to dull the edge off his headaches usually and set him back to a far more stable frame of mind, if not a somewhat lethargic one.

Which was all the more apparent when he tried to shrug aside the notion that someone was trying to upset his restful state, grumbling about the fact and automatically trying to recoil from both the sound and the touch.
Unfortunately it was a thin line, once disturbed in sleep Jai very rarely could simply return to it without effort.

Not bothering to do any more than slide one of his eyes open, the bloodshot lines having faded during his nap, the glimmer of muddy crimson encircling his pupil was unfocused and lazy to train in on the direction of the sound of words.
At first not recalling where he had fallen asleep confusion furrowed across his brow before the world came back into focus and he calmed some, still barely on the edge of waking as he kept that other eye shut while he tried to reason through what Duke had just said to him and came up short in the attempt.

"'Evening," Duke greeted with a smile when Jai opened that eye, and he stood up then, taking the liberty of picking that blanket up off of Jai, folding it back up again as he continued to speak. "It's dinner time... You haven't eaten all day; you're going to get a headache if you don't. If you're still tired afterward you can go to bed again." Jai had neglected to mention the first headache to him, so he was oblivious to it. After placing that blanket back on the chair he'd originally found it, Duke returned to stand in front of Jai. "Awake yet?" He wasn't trying to rush Jai, or push him to get up too fast. Remaining patient, and pleased with the opportunity to talk to Jai again, he simply waited.

“Too late,” Jai yawned and fought the urge to stretch, his joints already felt like they weighed too much to even fathom trying to move. The sharp ache in the back of his skull was gone, not even a trace of it still nipped at him, but he certainly felt as though he had been sleeping for months instead of hours.
And was not too eager to give up that rest, still.

But there was little point in just lying around after he had already done that for half the day as it was. Listening to the bone against metal complaints of his shoulder in the process of doing so, he pried up from being slumped against the arm of the couch and blinked in irritation as his glasses decided to slide down his nose and had to be rescued before they fell totally off his face.

Barely caught, he held the frames in one hand and scrubbed at his left eye socket with the other, trying to will away the tired sensation.

“And not eating all day is uncommon for me?” He managed quietly, a try at humor that fell somewhat flat when coupled with the yawn he was caught off guard by.
Hand lifted to press the back of it to his mouth to cover some of that motion, he flopped his head back against the couch with a lazy complaint about life in general.

“M’wake now,” Jai proclaimed and dropped his head back down, regretting the motion a second later with the faint trickle of warmth against the hand he had not yet bothered to move. “Dammit.” Irritation rang in his tone as he drew his hand away and used his other thumb to rub at the pale tint of crimson across his skin before he tilted his head back once again and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose to ward off any more of the problem. “Just..give me a second.” Jai muttered as he waited out that uncomfortable pressure.

Instantly Duke became worried when he saw that blood, regardless of how minor the problem might have been. It was just in his nature to care about Jai's well-being, though he forced himself not to act too concerned because he knew Jai would call him neurotic for it. "Jai, you should..." He pointed in the direction of the bathroom as if to suggest that Jai go clean up after he managed to get the blood flow to stop, his brow furrowed with concern. Even if he tried to keep his voice from sounding too worried, it was impossible to hide his expression, but he was genuinely worried, dinner forgotten by now. For the second time today he felt rather useless, as if he should be doing something to help.

“Duke,” it was a soft warning that, yes, he did think Duke was being just a little neurotic anyway, “It’s fine, does that sometimes. It’s not a big deal.”
And to stress the point he waited a moment longer before lowering his head again, swiping his palm back against the very faint trace of blood still left and effectively getting rid of it.
“See? No big deal, it just happens with bad headaches every now and then, not anything new.”