[Kitarun]

This is a private 1x1 between myself and Potironette.

Feel free to read along, but do keep your paws off the reply button unless you are one of us. Thank you.

Warnings: MATURE CONTENT: intimate relations between two males, incestuous themes and references, mild language, violence, some slightly sexual behaviour is quite possible as well. (Don't worry though! Nothing explicit, just perhaps some slight adult themes before a timeskip so other readers understand what is going on.) May infer some non-con.

[Kitarun]

Jeisyn 'Jei' McKarthy
15/Male/gay

He's got violet eyes, and his body is littered with burn scars from the fire his father and brother died in...
He's typically quiet, more withdrawn and self-conscious than shy, mostly due to the scars he obtained from the fire. Plus watching two of your beloved family members die would be rather traumatic to a little kid... He suffers from nightmares almost every night. And he doesn't like pda- again, the self-conciousness because of his scars. He doesn't deem himself good enough to be loved.

[Potironette]

Kellan 'Kell' McKarthy
18/Male/gay

He has violet eyes. His brown hair is normally tied back neatly. It was a well-groomed look, as was expected of him.
He puts up a charming front for every guest and he pushes his feelings aside for his family, attempting to be the perfect son. He pushes himself too hard and looks for the good in everyone, an action stemming from his failed attempt at courage during the fire five years ago.

[Kitarun]

The scene plays over and over in his mind, haunting his dreams. Every night for the past five years he's had to endure watching his father and eldest brother die saving his baby sister. Some nights, it's not so bad, only the flames and the sounds of their cries as they were burned alive. Other nights, he sees them, forced to watch.

The worst, though, are the alternative scenes his mind creates- where his sister or the rest of his family dies as well.

Jei woke from a particularly bad nightmare, screaming in pain and fear, still able to feel the flames licking at his flesh. he was just about to get out of bed to go find Kellan, when he heard a knock upon his door.

[Potironette]

Kell wasn't sure what compelled him to visit Jei. He told himself it was because Jei came to him nearly every night around this time. He was here to so to it that his little brother would be well. Yes, that was it.

"Jei? Jei it's okay. It's me." Kell struggled to master his voice. A hint of worry came out. Thankfully, no more than that.

[Kitarun]

Jei got up when he heard Kellan's voice coming softly from the other side of the door. He jumped out of bed, rushing to the door, nearly getting tangled in his sheets in his rush. Unlocking his door, he flung it open, and hugged his brother tightly, trembling slightly from the effort of holding his emotions in check.

He whimpered softly, burying his face in the crook of his brothers neck as the tears he'd tried to suppress spilled over, soaking the shoulder of Kellan's night shirt.

[Potironette]

Kellan tensed for the slightest moment at Jei's sudden hug, then immediately relaxed his shoulders so that the moment of tension was imperceptible. He wrapped one arm around Jei and stroked his hair with the other.
"It's okay, Jei," he murmured, "It's okay. I'm here Jei, we're all here."


# I need to study so I'm going to be off Trisphee for a while.
# If anything irks you about my writing/moving things along please tell me!

[Kitarun]

Jei leaned heavily into Kellan's embrace, taking comfort from it. He stood there a few minutes, before remembering they were still very nearly in the middle of the hallway, where anyone could see them... And report them to their mother.

The very idea of his mum finding out had Jei pulling away, albeit reluctantly. "Thank you... " he said, voice hoarse from crying, and the scream to which he'd awoken. Glancing up and down the hall, Jeisyn reached out, taking Kellan's hand, tugging him gently towards his door. "W-would you stay..?" He asked, peeking up at his brother through the soft white hair that fell across his eyes.

[Potironette]

Kellan brushed the hair out of Jei's face and sighed softly, "Sure, Jei."
Kellan closed the door behind him with a click and pulled a chair up to Jei's bedside.

He would be a little sleepier tomorrow, perhaps. But that was alright, since this was for Jei. Besides, Mother would only nag at him to get engaged with one of the many society ladies she introduced to him in the morning. Being a little sleepier made sitting through her talks less agonizing, made it easier to keep smiling when he held no interest in marriage with a "fine lady." Made it easier when all he could think about was- he stopped his train of thought by smiling reassuringly at Jei. It was no good to think about such things, and that didn't matter now, did it.

[Kitarun]

Jei smiled softly, thankful his brother had agreed to stay, relieved because the only time he got a decent sleep was when he snuck into Kellan's rooms and curled up in the older teen's bed with him.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, he tucked his knees up to his chest, arms wrapped around them, waiting for his brother to join him. Frowning slightly when Kellan pulled up a chair instead. 'Of course he's pulling up a chair, idiot... It's wrong, and inappropriate, to expect him to share your bed willingly... He's probably only staying because you asked him to...' a voice, sounding suspiciously similar to his mother, whispered into his brain.

"Kell..." Jei spoke up after minutes of silence, "why're you here? Usually it's me running to you..?"

[Potironette]

Kellan shifted from his chair and sat at the edge of Jei's bed, leaning backwards on his hands. It was that again. Why did he visit Jei? He wasn't sure himself. Or it was because he didn't want to think about it?

He pulled himself over and turned to Jei, "Because I was worrying about you." He lifted his hand up as if to muss Jei's hair but stopped. Something inside him said that Jei deserved more than that. That he shouldn't just brush the question off with a regular response. "Because, pretty soon, we might not see each other again." He gave Jei a smile tinged with the slightest hint of sadness, then laid down on the bed.

[Kitarun]

Jei sighed softly when Kellan mentioned the two reasons, but laid down and curled up next to him still anyways. "You don't have to go anywhere... Neither do I. Not for a few years, anyways..." As the eldest male in their family, Kellan was expected to take over the home and their lands. Jei, however, would eventually be expected to move out of his family home into a place of his own. He had a few years yet before that, though- he was only 15, after all, and wouldnt be expected to leave until he was anywhere between 18 and 21.

"Sure, mum wants you to marry... But you have to find the right woman, which can take a while... Plus, if you want to do things right, then there's the courting period... You're still looking at a year or two before you should be married... And you don't have to be married to take over..." He said, glad to have a distraction from his own problems.

[Potironette]

Kellan's eyes widened for a moment in a mixture of embarrassment and surprise. How did Jei know it had to do with marriage? No wait, of course he knew. Mother droned on and on about it so. In any case, Jei was right. There was no use worrying about it now.

Then why did he come to visit Jei? He'd think about that later.

"Come on, let's go to sleep." He said.

[Kitarun]

Jei smiled softly, curling up against his brother. "Alright." He replied softly, though he just laid there, still somewhat shaken up over his earlier nightmare. He doubted he'd actually get back to sleep any time soon, after that. He evened out his breathing, and kept his eyes mostly shut, listening to his Kellan's heartbeat. It soothed him a little, knowing there was someone else beside him, that he wasn't alone.

(Im at work right now, on my break. So you probably wont see me reply for a couple hours.)

[Potironette]

Kellan closed his eyes and listened to Jei's gradually calmer breathing. He hoped Jei would sleep alright.
For a fleeting moment, he wondered if he got used to this.
Kellan's body relaxed as he fell fast asleep. Unconcious, he leaned himself closer towards Jei.

(Okay ^^. I'm really amazed you were able to reply so quickly all the time as it were!)

[Kitarun]

(Ive gotten too used to typing on my phone... Almost quicker here than on a computer.)

Jei was prety good at feigning sleep. He opened his eyes back up when He was sure Kellan was sleeping, and took some time to study his features in the pale glow of the moon coming through the window across the room. He smiled softly, thinking to himself that whichever girl Kellan chose for his bride, would be fortunate to have such a good looking husband. That thought caused his smile to flip into a frown, remembering that soon there would be no more nights of them curled up together like this, taking comfort from the others mere presence.