Work Text:
They had been working all day.
Kavik knew they had things to get done, but when Yangchen and him retreated to their room to work on paperwork for a while he was hoping they’d get distracted for a minute. He was really yearning for a kiss- or two- or three. It wasn’t his fault Yangchen was so gorgeous whenever she was bossing people around.
He paused in the doorway of her bedroom, causing her to bump into him with a grunt.
“Move your huge ass,” Yangchen grumbled, throwing her hip into him. She had some weight to it, but he mostly allowed her to move him.
He laughed, “I thought you liked how big my ass is?” She threw him a look and a roll of her eyes as she sat down, but he watched a smile twitch at her lips. She didn’t need to dignify that with her confirmation anyways, they both knew the truth.
He leaned in her space just to keep annoying her, practically sitting in her lap while she tried to sift through the papers on the desk. He didn’t feel like letting her work- usually he’d just seduce her, but this is fun too.
“Kavik,” she muttered, a little muffled due to his shoulder being right in her face. Her fingers jabbed into his side and he squeaked, jumping up and freeing her.
“Oh, sorry, was I in your way?” He teased, trying to brush past his embarrassing squeak before she commented on it. She likely would later, but he could get her back. She squealed when tickled, after all.
“You’re always in my way,” she joked in reply, throwing him a smile. He had made his way over to her bed now and sat on the edge of it. Her back was to him when it happened.
Tears started to burn behind his eyes. It was so sudden that he couldn’t even stop it as the lump grew in his throat. His vision blurred as the words echoed in his mind.
You’re always in my way.
He hiccuped, trying to stifle his cry so Yangchen didn’t notice. She did, of course. She turned and her eyes widened as soon as they landed on him, taking in his teary expression.
Her figure was in front of him in a flash. She knelt between his legs, cupping his cheek and holding one of his hands.
“Kavik? Kavik, what's wrong? What did I do?” She sounded horrified, concern shining in her gray eyes.
Kavik was 13 when he spoke to his brother for one of the last times.
Kalyaan kept sneaking out. Their parents didn’t notice, but sometimes he’d come home with some bruises or bandages on him. Kavik was tired of his brother dodging everything so he made a plan.
The young water tribe boy curled up on their family couch, small enough that it hid him from view. He almost fell asleep like that, tucked into the plush fabric while his parents slept down the hall.
It was more like he felt Kalyaan’s presence than heard it. His brother always walked silently, but recently Kavik hadn’t even been able to notice him moving half the time. He always said he wasn’t sneaking around, but it seemed like everything he did was sly.
“Kal?” Kavik sounded a little sleepy when he stood up, crossing between his older brother and their front door. He was dressed like a criminal, a hood over his head. He didn’t look like Kavik’s brother.
“Kav! What are you doing awake?” Kalyaan looked genuinely caught off guard for once. It made him feel a little proud, honestly. He never caught his brother off guard. Despite his nerves a little smile caught on his young face.
“I wanna know where you’re going,” he stated, crossing his arms over his chest. Currently, his brother towered over him, but Kavik still raised his chin high and stared him down. He was going to get some answers.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about kid, just a late night shift,” he replied casually. Kalyaan was always so casual. He started being so calm and emotionless recently. Kavik frowned.
“Late night shift? Why are you dressed like that?” His brother tried to move around him and he shifted to be in his way again, still blocking him from access to the front door. Surely Kalyaan could move him out of the way without difficulty, but he didn’t think he would.
“I said don’t worry about it,” he stated. Now, annoyance shifted in his tone and his frame. He looked down at Kavik as if he were some bug under his shoe. He looked at him like that a lot, it didn’t feel very good.
“Why won’t you tell me?” He huffed. Kalyaan tried to walk around him and he grabbed his arm. Of course he couldn’t stop him with his own strength, but he paused.
“Kavik, forget about it,” he snapped, pulling his arm away from him. He flinched slightly at the sudden intensity in his words. His brother didn’t seem to be bothered by the visible flinch.
“You keep coming home hurt! I’m worried about you!” Kalyaan tried to step around him again and he got in his way, the two of them bumping into each other. Clearly, that pushed his brother over the edge. He pushed him back by the shoulders and Kavik stumbled, almost falling.
“Oh my spirits Kavik! I told you to leave it alone!” He growled, clearly trying to keep his voice hushed so they didn’t wake up their parents. “I’m so sick of you trying to follow me around like a polar bear puppy! You’re always in my way!”
This time when he pushed him he did fall. He hit the wood floor with a thud that would definitely be leaving bruises behind.
He watched the shadowed figure of his brother leave the house without checking on him.
He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face comfortably in her neck. He was still crying softly, shoulders shaking while he tried to calm himself down. This was so incredibly stupid, he hadn’t expected something so simple to upset him.
“Darling, my love, can you talk to me?” Yangchen’s voice was a wash of comfort through his panicked fog. “Did I do something wrong?” She sounded so confused, so worried. She thought she had hurt him somehow.
That was enough to force him to talk. “No,” he murmured against her neck. He felt her fingers start to card through his hair, and after a moment the leather holding up his wolftail was removed. “Memory,” he attempted to explain. She didn’t respond right away, and he was happy to just be nuzzled into her neck while she pet him.
Like a polar bear puppy.
He sat up suddenly, wiping tears from his face. Yangchen still looked incredibly worried, but now a bit of confusion and hurt colored her gaze. It wasn’t like him to pull away from her.
“What’s going on?” Hesitantly- she never hesitated to touch him- she placed her hand on his thigh. He let out a shaky breath of relief, his own hand moving to entangle their fingers. She gave it a squeeze.
“I- Kalyaan said that to me once,” he finally confessed, choked with tears, “that I’m always in the way.” He let his head fall to stare down at his lap, at their connected hands and the way she gently traced over his scarred knuckles. “We had a fight and then he pushed me and- the next day he just came home and cuddled me and apologized. But he just- kept treating me like a roadblock.”
He was pretty sure he was crying again, or at least he was getting even more choked up. His hand clenched hers hard, but her gentle touch on his knuckles paused. He blinked away his tears and swallowed before raising his head to look at her.
She was pissed. It wasn’t rare for her to be angry, to have her pretty eyes darkened into storm clouds, but he hardly saw it directed at him anymore. He didn’t like it.
Her voice was cold, “If I ever see Kalyaan again I’ll-“ Her free hand tangled in her robes, balling it up in attempts to control herself. It took a moment for the scene and her words to register.
Oh, so she wasn’t mad at him. She was mad at Kalyaan- on his behalf. She was… threatening his life? Suggesting that she would break her own morals just because his brother was a little mean to him? That’s just how brothers were, right?
“Stop, it’s not worth it ‘Chen.” His voice was rough, but he tried to swallow it down and sound confident. Her gaze softened slightly, she could tell he didn’t want the anger at the moment. She relaxed the grip on her robe and cupped his face instead, gentle even with the fury still lingering in her gaze.
“Of course it’s worth it,” she spoke as if she hadn’t almost said something against her very core values, “ you’re worth it.”
His argument died on his lips. She sounded so genuine, with such a sweet look on her face. He sniffled as the tears built up again. She quickly wiped her thumb under his eye, catching them as best as she could.
“Hey, I really don’t like making you cry by the way,” she murmured, a bit of humor in her tone. Kavik managed a watery smile and a little chuckle.
“You do sometimes,” he replied. She rolled her eyes with a little blush but her lips twitched with a smile. She brushed her thumb over his lips and he kissed the pad of her finger.
“There’s my boy, you’re alright.” She shifted to press a gentle kiss to his lips, soothing him to his very core. He smiled and rested their foreheads together. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I didn’t realize-“ he shook his head, lifting it to meet her eyes again. “It’s stupid, something like that shouldn’t bother me.” It was such a dumb thing to be upset over.
“Kavik,” she said firmly, squeezing his hand, “your brother consistently made you feel like you weren’t enough, of course that bothers you.” He frowned. His brother did have a lingering effect on him- a worse one than he thought, apparently.
“I’m usually better at hiding it,” he snorted, “I’m slacking.” She gave him a look, that look she always gave him when he said something self-deprecating. Usually she’d do more than just raise an eyebrow, but he didn’t need her to at the moment. “It’s fine, I’m used to feeling that way.”
She didn’t like that answer either. A frown graced her pretty lips and she caressed his cheek for a moment longer before she responded. “Well, you have me now, alright? You’ll always be enough with me.”
He exhaled shakily and pulled her into a crushing hug.