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A small smash was heard beside Aja. She sighed, “Krel, if you keep breaking the ornaments, we won’t have any left to put on the tree!”
Krel sheepishly chuckled and picked another ornament from a box at his foot. “They’re just so round and slippery.” He carefully hung it at the tip of a branch.
The thick green tree was about 7 feet tall and had artificial snow sprinkled on top of the branches. It had a burgundy tree skirt with a snowflake pattern resting around the foot of the tree. Wrapped boxes of all sizes and shapes sat around it, waiting to be shredded open. Small, twinkling lights on the tree wrapped themselves around the branches in all kinds of shades of red, green, and blue. It was a very beautiful sight. Aja and Krel had stared at it for at least ten minutes the moment they saw it.
“Aja, you know how human foods look like normal things but are actual food?” He continued at Aja’s nod, “What if these ornaments are edible?”
She rolled her eyes at his curiosity, “Little brother, that’s not how it works. These things are made of something humans call plastic and it’s not something you eat.”
He shrugged, “Well, you never know.” And so he clamped his teeth on the round, shiny red ornament. He let out a small yelp and threw the ornament out of his hand. He flinched at another scold from Aja. She sighed and burst into a laughing fit a moment later, Krel joining her.
She showed him how to carefully lay ornaments on the tree, and soon decided to go into the kitchen to make some drinks. They were currently at Jim’s house. They were all spending the holidays together with their friends.
Claire was looking up recipes that Jim could bake on Christmas day, Toby was searching for activities to do while making checklists of the things he wanted to get done, and Eli and Steve were slacking off on the couches. Krel was in charge of music and tech-related activities.
He groaned and slumped onto a small couch nearby. They had ended up putting the tree up very late this year. Christmas was only tomorrow. Krel wasn’t a fan of parties, but after being educated more on this earthly holiday, he decided to give it a chance. It would be fun to experience something new like this. Right? Right.
He could hear Jim helping Aja in the kitchen. She was still learning how to make human consumptions. A knock was heard from the front door. He sighed and strode to the door, lazily opening it.
In front of him stood Douxie, Archie, and Zoe. They were also spending the holidays together with them. Douxie was wearing a fluffy dark blue jacket, Archie sitting in his arms, and Zoe had a similar black one. “Hey everyone!” Douxie greeted. Zoe grinned.
“Hi guys,” Krel spoke, “Aja is making hot chocolate in the kitchen with Jim, and the others are in the sitting room.”
Zoe raised her eyebrow.
“Oh. Living room,” He corrected himself. None of these human terms made sense.
While they approached everyone else, Krel went to check on Aja. She was just finishing up, adding a few small toppings to the drink. She squirted fuzzy white cream (whip-ped cream?) and added a dusty brown stick. He leaned over her shoulder. “What is that?”
“I think it’s called-- actually, I forgot what it was called.”
“Cinnamon!” Jim called from the other side of the kitchen.
“Argh, that gross stuff that Varvatos would try to add to food?” He grumbled. Aja nodded. He groaned.
Varvatos had made him taste a cinnamon stick and since then, his tongue hadn’t been the same. Maybe he was overreacting, but ever since, he promised himself not to ever get near the vile spice anymore.
He dragged himself back into the living room, where everyone was. People were quietly chattering and talking amongst themselves. Jim had mentioned that the adults were out on a Bingo night, which he supposed was nice because he was more comfortable without adults watching them.
Jim walked in holding a tray with white mugs sitting on it. They were filled with the hot chocolate he and Aja were making. He walked around the room, handing everyone a mug. When Krel received his, he closely looked inside it.
It was still bubbling as little strands of steam rose from it. He made a face as he braced himself to taste the drink. He took a small sniff. It didn’t smell too bad. It was a nice scent. It reminded him of winter and snow.
Taking a deep breath and raising the cup to his mouth, he took a sip.
His eyes lit up and his eyebrows raised. It was… delicious. He quickly glanced at Aja who was sitting on a couch in the corner of the room and had her arms wrapped around Claire’s shoulder as they watched cat videos on the tv.
He turned away from Aja’s view so she couldn’t spot him from the corner of her eye. And then he began gulping down the drink. It was very hot and scorched his tongue but he endured the pain. The drink was worth it. He didn’t know if it was the cinnamon or if the drink just tasted this amazing, but he was already finished with his cup less than a minute later. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, groaning in delight.
And at that moment he realized he couldn’t let Aja find out that he enjoyed it after calling it supposedly “gross” earlier, so he trotted to the kitchen to fill his cup again, a fresh smell of the cocoa hitting him from the kitchen.
Aja and Claire were still watching on the tv, so they haven’t spotted him yet. Steve had ended up joining them, sitting beside Aja.
Krel wondered what other things could make the hot cocoa better. If the cinnamon made it taste that much better, then there must also be other components he could add. This time, he slowly sipped the drink.
Light footsteps made him jump. Oh. It was only Eli. He was peeking his head from the corner of the entrance. “Krel? What are you doing in here?”
“Oh, I was just--”
Eli’s eyes narrowed at the counter Krel was standing by. It had jars and containers of spices and different ingredients sitting on it. “Were you going to add that to the hot chocolate Aja and Jim made?”
He froze, but his heartbeat slightly quickened at the interrogation. “Uh… well… kind of?” He waved his hands in front of his face, “I just wanted to experiment and try to see what could work.”
The small boy hummed in understanding. He moved the jars and containers around on the counter to make more space on the counter.
He wasn’t the most organized, he could admit that to himself. He went to help, adjusting them to assist Eli. As Eli pulled away, his hand bumped into Krel’s as their fingers brushed each other’s.
Krel pulled away as if he was shocked by electricity. He mumbled an apology. Eli only nervously laughed and speed-walked out of the kitchen.
Minutes later, Aja walked into the kitchen (Krel had cleaned up by then) to pull out the koo-kees she was making, he quickly rushed up to her. Holding his cup with both hands to decrease its chances of slipping and falling, he asked her, “Aja, do you think lemons would go well with this?”
“I-- Krel? Lemons?” He nodded. “Little brother, have you ever tasted a lemon?” He shook his head.
Lemons were yellow. And sort of pointy at the ends. He’s never tasted one before, though. Why did Aja make it seem like a bad thing?
She giggled as she looked in the fridge. She made a small “Aha!” as she found what she was digging for. It was a lemon, but one half of it. “Try this. Just squeeze it and suck on it.”
He took the lemon half. It was cold. And wet. And the texture was weird. It was smooth but had little bumps. He followed Aja’s instructions and squeezed it into his mouth.
It took a moment for the taste to settle in. And when it did, he immediately went into a coughing fit. It was revolting. His face scrunched up in disgust.
Aja began to laugh. “See, little brother? A lemon is the last thing that you should add to hot cocoa.”
He rolled his eyes at her. It was worth a try.
---
Douxie told everyone he needed a few minutes to step outside. Minutes later, he returned with a big wrapped box that was so heavy he had to call Zoe to help him. It just barely fit through the door but they managed to squeeze it into the house. He grinned as he saw everyone’s flabbergasted faces.
“Now, now, I bought this for all of you to use, but it’ll be staying at Jim’s house since we can’t exactly easily remove it.”
“Sooo, what’s in it?” Jim asked.
Archie sprung up on top of the box as Douxie laid it on the floor, “See for yourself.”
Everyone backed away as Jim approached the box. The wrapping was a simple red and white striped wrap. He carefully peeled it away from the box. A colorful box began to reveal. It was a rhythm game.
Eli gasped as Toby and Steve became giddy and ran in place, “Is-- is that what I think it is?”
Douxie smirked and nodded, crossing his arms. Toby let out an inhuman noise. Claire’s mouth was wide open along with Jim’s. Aja and Krel just looked at the box, confused.
Zoe spoke up, “Here, let’s go set it up.”
Jim led them into the basement, which had some vacant space. He and Strickler had installed some extra white lights for more brightness, as the basement was probably going to be used more now.
And so they dragged the box to the basement. Eli stopped to explain what a rhythm game was to Aja and Krel. “A rhythm game is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player’s sense of rhythm! It usually focuses on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments. Basically, the players press buttons in a sequence dictated on the screen.”
“Oh, that seems fun enough.” Music? Krel would enjoy this.
Aja stood there, “I have no idea what you just said.”
Krel laughed and shook his head.
His sister headed back to the kitchen as he followed his friend into the basement. The new lights illuminated the room more than before.
Jim and Douxie began to unpack the components of the box. Claire and Toby were clearing up extra trinkets around the room to make more space, and Steve continued to blabber about how he became captain of the soccer team in Arcadia Oaks High. Zoe had decided to stay in the kitchen with Aja and assist her, making sure Aja doesn’t make a mess. Krel and Eli stood in the corner of the room, watching everyone do their thing.
Eli was all giddy and excited, while Krel stared at him in amazement, taking in the sight. Eli’s smile widened as his glasses shined and his freckles stood out. Krel’s heart skipped a beat. He looked cute when he was excited.
Krel must have been staring for too long because once he realized his surroundings again, Eli was staring at him quizzically. “You ok, Krel?”
He almost choked at the deep voice speaking to him. There was a slight crack in Eli’s voice, and Krel needed a moment to compose himself. This was a sudden feeling that he has never felt before. His blood rushed into his face and his insides were tingling. What was going on?
“Yes-- yes, I’m fine,” He looked away and cleared his throat, crossing his arms and casually pretending like that never happened.
Jim and Douxie began to set up the box. As everyone took the time to help, Krel quietly snuck back upstairs. He walked into the kitchen where Aja was finishing setting up the table as Zoe was washing the extra dishes, Archie at her side. The kids had all collectively decided to skip lunch and go on straight to dessert.
Aja finally straightened and grinned, “Aha! Finally! All done.”
The table was filled with many different kinds of human foods. It was almost too much for Krel to take in. There were different types of cookies, bowls of candy, jiggly brown material he heard was called “pudding”. Such a strange name. There were also many variations of pie, creamy ice (Or iced cream. He didn’t see the difference between the two names)
She spotted Krel from the corner of her eye, “Little brother! What do you think?”
His eyes were still wide at the full table. It was very colorful. He had never seen this much human food before, but he wouldn’t mind giving them a try. Humans did have a thing for food, constantly stuffing themselves with the material. He could even smell the warm cakes from a distance. His sister giggled at his amazement. A moment later, her face fell. “Krel, are you ok?”
He jumped at her sudden question, but he knew he was a bad liar, no matter how many secrets he kept. “Yes-- yes, why?”
She straightened back up and raised her eyebrow, “I don’t think you would pass up the opportunity to dance to a music machine, especially when it’s competitive.”
She knew him too well. And he wasn’t planning on passing it up, he just needed a break. Maybe he could tell Aja. She can keep secrets. And it wasn’t even a secret, he just needed to know what he was feeling. His sister lay a hand on his shoulder, giving him a warm smile. Yeah. He could talk to her.
Taking a deep breath, he sat on a nearby couch. Aja followed and sat beside him but left a few inches of space.
“I do not know, I just-- I had this weird feeling when I was down there. And it even happened earlier. There was this… pounding in my chest, my face felt somehow warm. It felt like a whole new feeling of affection if that makes sense? And it was just-- I don’t know what’s going on. Is there something wrong with me?” He rambled. It felt nice to let out all his feelings to his sister, but he held on to the burden of who he felt like this around. He needed to process things before telling anyone.
Aja thought for a moment, then placed her hand on Krel’s, slightly intertwining them. “Well, I felt like this a few times around people I care about.” Her eyes twinkled knowingly, “I felt like this around Steve for a while, and sometimes still do. It’s a feeling where you just… you just want to get close to someone and be with them because they make you happy! It’s different for everyone, but this is something that usually indicates that you’re just craving affection and might even want to give it to somebody.”
He took a moment to think. She continued, “And it’s perfectly ok to feel like this! I want you to think about this and take the time because these are feelings that take time and effort to decipher.” He nodded and sucked in air, “Alright, thank you, Aja. This helped.”
She leaned in to wrap her arms around him and he immediately hugged back, tightly holding onto her.
After they broke apart seconds later, Aja went back to tending to her task. She had mentioned before that Jim had given her some baking lessons in the times they’ve hung out, and it seemed like it paid off. “Oh, little brother, when you go back, just let everybody know not to spend too long on the rhythm machine so the food doesn’t get too cold. No longer than an hour.” He nodded.
He snuck back down and went over to Jim, carrying the message from Aja. Then he stood where he was before, beside Eli, who looked at him, concerned. “You sure you’re ok, Krel?” He nodded. He was fine. He would be fine. He would just ignore these feelings. Forever.
“It’s finished!” Jim yelled. He and Douxie finished setting up the entire machine. That was quick. But Krel was not complaining. He was ready to kick some butt.
Douxie connected all the cables to a nearby outlet and switched on the power of the screen as Jim made sure the platform where all the action happens was correctly set up. He stood up and crossed his arms. “Alright. Who’s going to go first?”
Krel’s arm shot up as Toby’s did at the same time. This would be interesting. They both took place. Krel standing on the left platform, and Toby standing on the right. Jim switched the main basement lights off so it was only the lights from the machine illuminating the entire room.
Toby cracked his knuckles and smirked, “I know a thing or two about dancing.”
Krel chuckled at him. “So do I.”
Patterns of arrows began to whiz by as hip hop music played.
Toby was sharp on his feet. Much better than Krel thought. But it was no match for him. Krel’s feet danced around as colors shone and his eyes gleamed. His feelings before forgotten, he was having a blast. Before he knew it, Toby had become too tired and surrendered. Krel shook his hand and wished him a good game, grinning.
Toby huffed and went to Jim’s side, “I will never underestimate the power of DJ Kleb again.” Everyone laughed.
“Who’s next?”
More pairs went.
Steve and Eli (Eli won).
Claire and Jim (Claire won, but she gave Jim a peck on the cheek to make him feel better).
Eli and Douxie (Douxie won, though it was a close call).
Toby and Steve (Toby won).
Jim and Douxie (Jim won).
Claire and Krel (Krel won).
Everyone was sweating and panting. Douxie had to bring in water bottles for everyone.
There was time for one more round. Krel could not understand how everyone else was completely beat. He was ready for yet another round, his energy levels high. Everyone kindly declined.
But a small voice piped up. “I’ll do it!”
It was Eli.
Krel stood frozen as Eli approached the game. They took their places. The game began and their feet danced away. Time passed and passed… and the round stretched longer than expected. They both began to break into a sweat, but Krel did not let that stop him.
He would prove his worth to everyone else and show them that he was not only a sidekick. That he could have a role and make a difference. He could do more than just stand by and obey orders. He could make a change and not stay under other people’s shadows.
Krel’s thoughts had become too aggressive and he didn’t realize how far they were drifting until some clamor behind him snapped him out of it. He heard the others whispering and rambling about who was going to win. Krel averted his focus back to the game. He could not lose.
Minutes passed by and Eli began to tire out. Krel noticed though Eli tried to hide it.
Krel could go for a few more minutes. He could do it. The arrows whizzed by as his eyes flitted around the screen to catch them in time.
A small squeal was heard as Eli stumbled backward all of a sudden and Krel’s mind was filled but the first thing he did was rush forward to catch him. Krel’s arm caught Eli’s back, his other around his waist to hold him still and they were almost in a position where Krel was dipping him.
They stayed still. Neither moved. Krel felt his heartbeat quicken and the hairs on his arms stand up. He stared at Eli and Eli stared back, eyes wide open and glasses lopsided.
Jim ran forward to help and Eli jerked back up after getting back into his senses, scratching his neck and looking anywhere but Krel’s direction, and began rambling. “I’m-- I’m so sorry, Krel, I lost focus and didn’t know what I was--”
“It’s-- it’s ok, don’t worry about it.” Krel cut him off. Something inside him bubbled as a flow of confidence streamed through him. “But you know what that means, right?”
Eli quickly composed himself and stared at Krel, not getting the hint.
Krel leaned forward. He jabbed a finger on Eli’s chest and smirked. “I won.”
---
The meal was the best one that everyone has had in a long time. Aja and Jim had outdone themselves working together. Everyone had eaten like they’d never seen food before. Zoe and Claire might have been the only ones with table manners. Steve had been showering Aja with compliments, rambling about how proud he was that she made all this, ignoring the fact that Jim helped (He did it purposely to tease the blue-sweatered boy).
Krel did not know how scrumptious human food could be.
His taste buds tingled from all that he had tasted. All kinds of food. Sweet, salty, creamy, soft, crunchy, and so much more. Everyone else was extremely tired after their large meal, so they decided it was time for bed.
Jim, Toby, and Claire all slept in Jim’s room. They ended up forming a cuddle pile on Jim’s bed.
Douxie, Zoe, and Archie stayed in Barbara’s room.
Aja and Steve sprawl on a couch in the living room on opposite sides, legs tangling together, and Eli curled up on a nearby one-person chair. It was luckily comfortable enough for him to sleep on, and he didn’t complain.
Jim gave Krel an entire room all to himself. It was an extra guest bedroom that was not used often but was well furnished and well dusted.
Everyone was asleep. Krel was wide awake.
He lay down, body slumped on the bed. The lights were off but he was not one bit tired.
He had nothing to do. He was bored. He didn’t feel like sleeping yet.
Video games sounded nice about now. Now one was there to interrupt. No one was there to judge him. That seemed like a good idea. Luckily, there was a small game machine in the room, so he spent the next half hour trying to figure out how it worked.
Once he got it up and working, he looked through the disks available. A colorful one caught his eye. Mine-craft. Interesting. A game with building and amusing mechanisms. He decided to give it a try.
Hours passed. He got carried away. And he still would not be able to sleep. He made much progress in the game and did not realize how much time had passed.
A soft knock sounded from the nearby door. It was quiet but loud enough for Krel’s sharp ears to pick up. He set the headphones on a nearby desk and strode to the door. Eli stood there, hair messy and ruffled, clinging on to a blanket. His glasses were sitting on his head, bringing some of his hair back. He looked as if he had just woken up.
“Eli? What are you--”
“Sorry, I just-- I couldn’t sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night, it felt a little bit… lonely, y’know? Sorry-- sorry for intruding like this, I can go--” His voice cracked as his arm flew up to scratch his neck, something Krel noticed Eli did when he was nervous.
Krel smiled and chuckled. “It’s alright, come on in.”
Eli sat on the side of the bed, patting his hair down and slipped his glasses back on. He looked over to Krel and quietly asked, “Why are you still awake?”/
He thought for a moment. “I’m… I’m just not very tired. Sleep doesn’t come to me very quickly.”
His friend hummed in response. He set down the blanket he was holding onto and stood behind Krel, silently watching him play. Minutes passed, and Krel beckoned Eli over, handing him a second controller. They started a multiplayer game.
They competed and worked together, mostly staying quiet but occasionally whispering back and forth about different tactics and strategies to use.
They had begun mining underground for some time when Eli’s character paused for a few moments. Krel glanced over to him to see that his arm had gone limp. He had fallen asleep. His mouth was slightly parted and his glasses were crooked. Krel’s face flushed at the sight of his sleepy companion.
He gently removed his glasses and placed them on the nightstand beside the bed. He took the blanket Eli had brought and wrapped it atop of his body. He gently pushed all corners down to make sure he was covered so he wouldn’t get too cold overnight.
He took a step back and looked at the boy. The edge of his mouth tugged up into a smile as he stared. Eli was pretty. He hadn’t noticed before, but he had a closer look now. Freckles dotted his nose and cheeks. His hair was swept back and parted, some loose pieces falling over his face.
Out of instinct, he leaned forward, softly placing his hands on the sides of Eli’s head, and left a delicate, feathery kiss on his forehead.
He realized that these feelings did mean something, and he couldn’t brush them away. Though now wasn’t the time to deal with them. He could worry about them another day.
Krel lay in bed, and sleep came to him almost right away this time. This would be an interesting situation.