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For the first time in weeks, Damon did not awaken to the sound of Tozu’s 8am alarm.
He noted how strange the calm that had fallen over the facility was as he made his way toward the dining hall for breakfast. Somehow the halls seemed quieter, and not because of his solitude.
Suddenly it hit him: the cameras were longer operating, and the buzz of them falling him around had vanished.
It was interesting, how quickly he had adapted to something so unnatural.
Unsurprisingly, he was alone for breakfast in the dining hall. He fixed himself a bowl of cereal and examined the unsettling goat paintings on the wall. If only Tozu and Mara had taken them with them when they left.
The killing game had ended, though his imprisonment had not. Last night, after the 14th body had been discovered, Tozu had appeared and announced that throughout the chaos they had managed to survive, and therefore won by default.
“Of course, since you took the easy way out we won’t be allowing you to leave our facility. No, instead Mara and I will skedaddle and leave you to your own devices. No more motives, no more trials, no more darling host. You’ve shown yourselves to be complacent, so here you shall stay! Don’t worry! You will continue to be stocked with all the essentials, so you can continue to live here for the rest of your lives.”
Easy. Right.
How ironic that the escape promised was not a physical one, but more of a metaphorical one. There was still nothing to prevent them from murdering each other, only a lack of motive.
He wondered if this would have been the prize for the blackened: an eternity of loneliness- freedom from their classmates.
Tozu may have said they took the easy way out but Damon was certain their fate was better.
After breakfast he decided to go play the gachapon machine. He had already won one of every prize but there was nothing better to do.
He hoped his fellow captive would get over his anger soon enough so he wouldn’t be so goddamned bored. It should be inevitable since there was no one else to talk to anymore.
After the time when he should’ve eaten lunch, he went up to the library to read for a while. Books were just about the only true solitary entertainment left in this place; all of the video games they had were co op.
He chose a mystery novel and curled up in the lush chair by the fireplace to read it. With him he had a small notebook and a pencil to jot down his theories as to who the killer was while he read. It was a hobby he had picked up between the trials; something to practise his deduction skills to try and keep them alive. He supposed there was no use in practising anymore, however he still found the puzzles fun.
Hours later he awoke to a rough tap on the shoulder: he must have fallen asleep only a few chapters. It was a luxury to take a mid-day nap- certainly in the common area. It was wonders what the assumption of peace could grant you.
“What are you doing?” Kai hissed. “I’ve been looking for you all afternoon.”
“I’ve been here,” Damon answered, unwilling to feel bad for doing his own thing.
The influencer had made it very clear last night that they needed some space.
Despite this, Kai accused, “You missed our lunch meeting. Something could’ve happened to you.”
“Like what?” Damon replied mildly. “There’s no one left to kill me other than you.”
“You are such a jackass!” Kai cried, then stomped away.
Really, the way Kai was behaving wasn’t fair at all. Any action of Damon’s that he took issue with was only done to protect the both of them, and Damon had no hand in their current predicament.
He didn’t mind that Kai was ungrateful, though, for it was nothing he wasn’t used to. Ever since the beginning of the killing game he had led his peers through trial after trial only to receive scorn because his attitude wasn’t what they would’ve hoped. Kai had typically been the most understanding of him, but he was cursed with the same ignorant optimism as the rest of them.
Damon didn’t mind that; it was one of the things he liked about Kai.
Even though he had been the one to skip lunch, he couldn’t deny that seeing Kai had made him feel a little better. As much as he told himself the danger was gone, it was too early to completely shake the instincts he had hardened. Being unsure of anyone’s whereabouts (especially Kai’s) was not something he was a fan of. He needed to know who was where and with who at all times, lest there be another murder.
There wouldn’t be anymore murders, though. Kai was safe, and so was he.
The next day looked much the same; Damon woke up, got himself cereal, spent the morning at the gachapon, then the afternoon reading. The only difference was that he didn’t nap, and that Kai came to check on him much earlier.
“You skipped lunch again.”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“Are you going to spend all day in here reading, again?”
“There’s not much else to do.”
Kai didn’t seem to have a response for that, judging by how quickly he left the room.
With that, a static routine was born. For the next week Damon’s days followed the same pattern, and Kai continued to follow him to the library for short conversations that ended almost as quickly as they started. Damon found himself a little curious as to what Kai was spending the rest of his time doing but couldn’t bring himself to go investigate. He was ready for the two of them to have peace again and he knew that he needed to allow Kai time to come back around on him.
“Come workout with me,” Kai demanded one afternoon, barging into the library. It had been long enough that Damon was working on his third mystery novel.
“Why?” Damon set his book down, unwilling to ignore the olive branch.
“I’m gaining weight. I don’t like it.”
“Who are you trying to look good for? It’s just you and I in here.”
“You don’t have to remind me,” Kai replied coldly. “I know that fact very well.”
With that, he left the library again. Damon found himself a little peeved since it’s not as though he said anything offensive. Kai could be sensitive: it was impossible to tell what would set him off.
Still, because he couldn’t help indulging the other man, he found himself making his way to the workout room after breakfast the next morning. Thankfully, Kai arrived soon after he did; since Kai had stormed off before they were able to make official plans Damon was worried that he would spend all day waiting for someone who was never going to arrive.
“Just stay quiet, please.”
Damon followed Kai’s request, working out as quietly as possible. The two of them used the treadmill, then the bike, then lifted some weights. He decided not to remark on the fact that Kai was using 5lb weights.
“Are you ready to go get lunch?” Kai asked after they finished.
“Sure,” Damon agreed easily.
They ate lunch together in silence. Though he would have preferred to have some conversation, it was nice to be able to spend time with Kai again. It reminded him of when they had first been assigned to be roommates; they hadn’t really talked much then either.
It was nice to have a companion, even one who hated him.
In the afternoon he returned to the library and continued reading his book. With that, a new routine was born: morning workouts with Kai replaced playing the gachapon machine and the sinister loneliness that had been festering inside him began to be subdued.
One morning, another week later, Damon slept in. After weeks of being woken up at 8 on the clock, his internal clock had adjusted to Tozu’s schedule. Like it or not, he had been waking up on his own accord at the scheduled time. Sleeping in felt like one of the first true forms of freedom he had been allowed to enjoy after the killing game. It was a shame it had taken so long to happen.
Still a little groggy, he made his way to the kitchen. He was surprised to find Kai already there, making his own breakfast.
“Good morning,” Kai greeted him. While they hadn’t had any real conversations, they had gotten to the point of exchanging pleasantries.
“Good morning,” Kai replied through a yawn.
A mostly comfortable silence fell over them as Damon began making his own cereal. Then, he noticed something:
“Why are you putting an espresso shot in your frap?”
Kai gave him a confused look, responding slowly, “Uh. To give it the caffeine?”
“I thought you always made yours decaf.”
There was a bit of a pause as Kai seemed to consider his response.
“I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
Kai avoided his eyes as he stirred his straw into the frap.
“Oh.”
Damon didn’t feel it was his place to question that statement. Still, he struggled to imagine Kai tossing and turning in bed. For the many nights they had shared a room, the bed itself even, Kai had always been out like a light. Damon had been the one to stay away, unable and unwilling to sleep in case an intruder descended upon their bedroom in the dead of night. He would always wake up the next morning and feel a little defeated because he wasn’t able to completely stave off sleep.
He’d been sleeping much better since the game ended; it surprised him that Kai’s experience would differ.
“Well?” Kai interrupted his thoughts. “Are we going to the gym?”
“Sure.”
Even though the distance between them felt shorter than it had immediately after the killing game Damon felt frustrated.They were supposed to be a team- that was why he had done what he did and it was what kept them alive and together. He understood that his actions upset Kai but it had been long enough that it was time to get over it.
Then, as though Kai could hear his thoughts, he followed him to the library after lunch. While Damon picked up his fifth mystery novel, he observed Kai choosing some silly fantasy. Whatever; he wouldn’t mock the other’s reading habits (at least not right away).
A couple hours in, Damon found the courage to break the silence with a question, “How have you been spending afternoons normally?”
The question didn’t seem to catch Kai off guard as he easily answered, “Watching movies in the theatre.”
Oh right. Damon had forgotten about the theatre; he hadn’t stepped foot in there since he had to investigate the fourth murder.
Poor Toshiko’s death had hit him the hardest, somehow. In spite of her insistence that she was just as mature of the rest of them, seeing her crumpled body only reminded them how small she was- how clear it was that she really was only a child. It was the cruelest murder, in many ways.
Though with hindsight he was able to understand Mark a little more than he had been able to in the moment; he now understood the desperation he must’ve felt with Jett gone.
“Cool,” he replied to Kai, leaving out his dark thoughts.
“Maybe sometime we can watch something together.”
Another olive branch. Good. It was the little hints that reconciliation was in their future that kept Damon going. For now he would be happy with shared silence joint activities; it wasn’t like there was any rush.
One morning (before they had actually watched a movie together) Kai asked him, “Do you think we’ll ever be rescued?”
“I don’t know,” Damon answered honestly. “Is anyone looking?”
“My followers would,” Kai insisted. “They miss me if I take one day off of posting. It’s been months now!”
Damon doubted they still cared; their interest in Kai had been superficial, and they would have moved on to the next trendy thing. Of course he couldn’t say that, however.
“I just wonder if Tozu faked our deaths. So no one knows to look for us.”
That theory led to a moment of uncomfortable silence. It was something Damon had been pondering, though he understood why Kai would feel unsettled at the thought.
Of course, regardless of whether or not their deaths had been faked it would certainly be assumed they were long gone by anyone on the outside. The detectives in his novels assumed the worst after only 48 hours.
“What if the food runs out?” Kai questioned. “I know Tozu said we wouldn’t have to worry about that but will whatever’s keeping us stocked still be around in 25 years? 5 years, even.”
Damon thought on that for a moment before suggesting a solution, “Let’s start a garden, then. As a contingency.”
“I don’t want a contingency. I want to leave,” Kai whined.
It was frustrating, considering Damon had no way of giving that to him. Yet, in a small way, it was refreshing to hear Kai whining again. During the game he would’ve never imagined himself saying that, considering that the man whined more than he spoke, but it was a sign that maybe things would begin to go back to normal.
“Let’s focus on what we can control.”
So, they planted some fruits and vegetables. They started with easy plants like potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, and blueberries. Ideally, they wouldn’t need to actually use the food for sustenance until they had developed more of a green thumb.
He was smart enough not to voice this but Kai looked very cute covered in dirt. He imagined it was the first time the influencer had ever done this sort of manual labour, and it was endearing to see the brown smudges on his cheeks. Not that Damon was exactly an outdoorsman himself; he just played it off better.
Planting was harder work than they thought, and it took nearly the whole afternoon. Kai yawned the whole way to the dining hall for dinner.
“Sit,” Damon instructed when they reached the dining hall. Then, he cooked them a simple pasta for dinner. It was the first time since the end of the game that they had eaten dinner together, and the first time Damon had actually cooked something.
“This is good,” Kai complimented his work.
With that, a new routine was born. They didn’t need to put great work into the garden everyday (most days just a quick watering would suffice) but they did begin to eat dinner together. Damon found some cookbooks in the library and began to branch out from the simple dishes he knew how to make.
Slowly, bit by bit, they were becoming inseparable again. The only time they were spending apart was night, when they would return to their separate rooms and sleep in solitude. Ironically the opposite of how their relationship had begun.
Still, though their physical distance had lessened, their emotional distance had not. Some days Damon wanted to scream out in frustration, to beg Kai to see reason and stop using him as a scapegoat.
Finally, weeks into their shared confinement, Kai broke the unspoken agreement to avoid the subject and asked, “Do you regret it?”
“No,” Damon answered honestly.
He could have lied; perhaps he should’ve.
Unexpectedly, Kai didn’t respond. He didn’t lash out in anger and accuse Damon of being callous; instead he simply went back to reading.
It was disappointing. Damon had been waiting for Kai to be in a less emotional state so they could argue about who was right and then move on. Damon was the ultimate debater, if Kai was ready to listen to reason then there was no doubt that they could see eye to eye. Hell, even if Kai was willing to argue from an emotional perspective Damon could likely sway him to the side of logic.
Silence was impossible. Damon was useless in silence.
He wouldn’t force a debate, however. He was steadfast in his desire to allow Kai to come to terms with what had happened at his own pace.
That night after the two had parted and Damon was preparing himself to sleep, he head a knock at his door. Of course it was Kai- who else would it be? Why, though?
“I want you to apologize,” Kai demanded as soon as he opened the door.
An apology? That was all that Kai required? Damon wouldn’t mean it (and Kai wouldn’t forgive him) but he could say the words. He could put an end to this torture and give Kai what he claimed to want.
No; Damon was much too stubborn for that.
“I won’t,” he decided. “It would be pointless and meaningless.”
Tears welled up in Kai’s eyes; he shook angrily as he began to shout, “I hate you! Who are you? My Damon wouldn’t be so heartless! I don’t care if you mean it, I don’t! You can continue to be a monster, I just want to be able to pretend that you aren’t one. Please. Please.”
Kai’s tears, so much more genuine than normal, almost made Damon crack. He couldn’t, though. Perhaps Kai was right that he was a monster, and perhaps he was right that he wasn’t. Regardless, it changed nothing. He refused to let them live a lie.
“Would you like to talk about this, again?” He offered. “Maybe you’ll be more able to see my perspective.”
“I don’t care what pretty words you use,” Kai spat. “Murder isn’t justifiable.”
“Do you wish I had an execution?” Damon asked. “Kill me, then. Or ask me to kill myself. If that’s what you think I deserve, I’ll do it.”
“No,” Kai gasped. “God, you’re so fucking frustrating. Now you’re playing the victim!”
“I’m not.”
“You are! Of course I don’t want you to die. I didn’t want anyone to die. Why? Why did you have to kill Diana? It could have been the three of us. We could have been happy.”
Damon’s reason had not changed so it was easy to answer, “She would have killed one of us. It was the only way to win.”
“Was that all it was about for you?” Kai accused. “Winning the game? What about rejecting it? Diana wouldn’t have killed us, she wouldn’t have.”
“Tozu and Mara were still around,” Damon replied. “They demanded the game continue, and I knew that eventually they would force our hands. There were only three left, and the game could only end with two. I killed her so you wouldn’t have to, do you think it was easy?”
“You played into their hands! You did exactly what they wanted, like every other blackened!”
It was an argument they’d have before, almost word for word. Damon hoped that the end was different, that they wouldn’t be trapped in a cycle of rebuilding their relationship only to destroy it when they got too close.
“It’s easy to assume her innocent,” he whispered. “The final martyr, sacrificed so we could live. The true villains have left, so it’s even easier to assign me that role.”
“I haven’t assigned you anything. Do you think it’s not destroying me to be so alone? To worse, have lost you with everyone else? I wasn’t supposed to lose you. We were supposed to survive.”
“We did,” Damon spoke gently. “We did survive, Kai. I knew that would be worth you hating me, and I was right.”
“I don’t want to hate you,” Kai confessed. “I want things to go back to the way they were.”
Damon considered his options, then, “I have something to tell you. But you won’t want to hear it.”
“What?”
Damon took a deep breath, preparing for what was to come next. After he had slit Diana’s throat he made a decision to never tell Kai the true circumstances around her death. However, he realized that keeping it a secret hadn’t protected Kai’s peace the way he wanted it to.
“Before Diana’s death,” he said delicately, “I overheard her having a conversation with Tozu. He told me to meet him down in the boiler room, alone. I knew that if I brought you there would be consequences, so I kept it a secret. When I arrived, I overheard Diana crying. I was going to enter to check on her but Tozu’s voice stopped me.”
“Well, Ms. Venicia,” Tozu had drawled. “Do you finally understand what your peers must have felt? The desperation to live, the willingness to do so at any cost?”
“You’ve cheated,” Diana accused.
“It’s my game,” Tozu replied sinisterly. “I told you from the beginning, it would only end with two. In fact, I’d say it’s you three that are cheating by attempting to avoid that.”
“I don’t want to kill them,” Diana cried, her voice broken.
“You only have to kill one. How interesting, though, that you haven’t considered simply allowing the poison to take its course. No, Ms. Venicia, for all of your moral grandstanding you are no better than any of the rest of your peers. Don’t be too ashamed, humans are nothing but animals following instincts. And what instinct comes before anything else? To survive.”
“After that, Diana didn’t say another word. I hid in the storage room as she left, and then followed her. She stopped in the kitchen to grab a knife, then made her way to your door. I don’t think she knew it was both of our room, at that point. When she raised her hand to knock, I tackled her and took the knife. I could have spared her but I knew that inevitably one of us would die. It couldn’t be us.”
When Damon finished his story, he took a peak at Kai. The influencer was staring at him with wide yellow eyes- it was unclear if his expression read shock, disbelief, or fear.
“You’re lying,” Kai tried.
“I’m not. You know I wouldn’t.”
Kai did, and so after another few moments of shock, he fell into Damon’s chest and weeped. Damon wrapped his arms around the other, wishing that their first contact had been in better circumstances.
“I didn’t want to tarnish her memory,” Damon confessed through a whisper. “I thought you’d hate me but that it would be easier than hating both of us.”
“You should of told me you were forced,” Kai cried.
“I did,” Damon replied, confused. “I told you that either she would kill one of us or we would kill her.”
“But I didn’t know she actually would’ve killed one of us.”
Kai’s naivety could be frustrating, even if it was something Damon loved about him.
“I’m still angry at you,” Kai clarified. “For not telling me the truth.”
“Sure,” Damon sighed. At least that seemed to be an easier offence to overlook.
“Could you come to my room? I haven’t been able to sleep alone,” Kai revealed, his voice small.
“Of course,” Damon agreed easily.
Never in his life would Damon have assumed that he’d miss the colour pink, yet he found himself comforted by the familiar sight. Honestly, this room felt more like home than the one with his name on the door ever had. Everything about the atmosphere that should’ve been off putting was instead welcoming; from the ridiculous ring lights to the tape that Kai still hadn’t taken off the floor.
“Are we back to splitting the room in half?” Damon joked.
“Don’t be an asshole.”
The two of them crawled into bed without any more words; they stayed firmly on their sides of the bed but it was nice to feel Kai’s warmth beside him, to hear Kai’s snores when he fell asleep first.
It felt like finally there had been some sort of breakthrough between them; if only he had told Kai the truth from the beginning maybe they would’ve avoided all of this strife.
In all honesty, he hadn’t only been trying to protect Kai by withholding the information about Diana. He had wanted to protect her memory, too. It felt like he owed her that, given he was the one who took her life and he didn’t even have the decency to feel sorry about it.
For the first time, he dreamed of what would have happened had Tozu not given him the hint. If Diana had been successful in her plan, and it had just been the two of them left. He awoke suddenly in the morning, heart beating fast as the image of Kai’s dead body played in his head.
That was why he couldn’t feel remorse; even if Kai never truly forgave him it would be less torturous than the reality where he died.
Thankfully, Kai was still sleeping peacefully next to him. Damon decided not to get out of bed; he worried that any movement would risk waking his bed partner up.
Kai slept for a long while, until 11:16 when he let out a small yawn and stretched.
“Good morning,” Damon greeted.
Kai jolted a little, as if surprised Damon was in his bed. Then he relaxed, seemingly remembering the prior night.
“Morning.”
“Did you sleep well?”
“I did.”
“Good.”
From there, they fell back into their routine. They skipped their morning workout, of course, instead going outside to water their garden then continuing normally from lunch. Kai was a little more talkative than normal, though not as much as he had been during the killing game.
It was progress; Damon would savour that.
At dinner, Kai suggested, “Let’s watch something before bed.”
So they did. It was some silly kid’s movie (Kai refused to watch anything containing violence or dark themes) that Damon wasn’t too invested in.
Twenty minutes in, Kai’s hand took his own.
Damon smiled softly, closed his eyes, and savoured the touch.
Neither of them addressed it, even after the movie was over. Damon worried that any acknowledgement would prevent it from happening again, whilst Kai was likely embarrassed.
It was now clear that Kai had been feeling just as lonely as him, and had been yearning to reconnect all the same. It made him even more glad that he refused to give a false apology: that only would’ve reinforced his isolation. No; this reconnection felt earned, and true.
“Do you miss your life?” Kai wondered aloud one day.
The question confused Damon so he asked, “What do you mean?”
“Before.”
“I miss my family,” Damon admitted. “And little things. Like going to the grocery store.”
“I hate the grocery store. I thought everyone did.”
Damon let out a little laugh, “I thought I did too. But I miss it. What about you?”
“I don’t know,” Kai admitted. “I guess I miss my family too, but I don’t know if I miss my life. I don’t know if I was happy.”
“Are you happy now?”
It was a dangerous question; how could anyone be happy under the circumstances?
“Sometimes,” Kai answered, and somehow that was good enough.
Happy (sometimes) and surviving- it was more than any of their classmates got.
“I think I am too, sometimes,” Damon agreed.
A few days later, they were playing chess. Kai knew the very basics but Damon was attempting to teach him deeper strategy. It was going about as well as expected.
“Check,” he stated, capturing Kai’s queen with his rook.
“Asshole,” Kai complained. “You can’t go easy on me?”
“What would be the point in that?”
Kai huffed. Damon expected him to give up on their game altogether but he moved one of his remaining pawns to protect his king.
“Check,” Damon repeated, taking out the pawn with his queen.
Kai moved another pawn.
“And mate,” Damon declared, using his knight to remove the pawn, leaving Kai’s king defenceless. “Good game.”
“For you, maybe,” Kai pouted.
“Would you like to play another?” Damon offered politely, though he expected the answer to be yes.
“No,” Kai sighed. “I’m going to go prepare dinner.”
Damon raised an eyebrow and said, “Really?”
“Really.”
Kai had never cooked them dinner; Damon wasn’t sure he knew how. Still, Kai looked determined so he wasn’t going to stop him.
“Would you like help “ Damon questioned.
“No. I’ll see you later,” Kai announced, then walked off.
It was strange but Damon wasn’t interested in ignoring Kai’s wishes. He read for the next couple of hours to entertain himself, then walked to the dining hall.
“Can I come in?” he asked from the hall.
“Fine,” Kai’s voice called back. It sounded defeated.
Damon entered the hall to find the table nicely set with two places. It was a nice looking spread, with napkins, cutlery, wine glasses, and even a wine bottle. There were some flowers from the garden inside a vase between the two seats, and a silver cloche on top a platter.
Clearly, Kai had gone all out.
“What’s the occasion?” Damon asked.
“No occasion,” Kai answered, his voice somewhat shaky. “Sit down.”
Damon obeyed, watching as Kai took his own seat. He allowed the influencer to pour both of them glass of wine, hands trembling. He decided that going along with the evening was the correct move, rather than questioning it any further.
Only, then Kai lifted the cloche to reveal a blackened chicken.
“Uh,” Damon started.
“Shut up!” Kai cut him off. “I don’t want to hear it!”
“I don’t think we can eat that.”
“I worked really hard.”
Damon sighed, but decided for both of their health that he’d have to object, “I’m sure. And I appreciate that but it’s really not safe.”
“Why? It’s definitely not raw!” Kai defended.
“That’s not the issue.”
“Ugh,” Kai groaned, dramatically falling back into his seat. “This sucks.”
“Why didn’t you ask for help?” Damon tried.
“I wanted to do this on my own!”
“Do what?”
Kai took a deep breath, then sat up. He looked Damon in the eyes seriously as he said, “I figured it was time we stopped ignoring the inevitable.”
Damon felt a little guilty, since he had absolutely no idea what Kai was talking about. The influencer looked so serious (and a little nervous) but he couldn’t even begin to pretend they were on the same page.
“Uh.”
“Fuck! Your title should be Ultimate Thick Head,” Kai swore, then leaned across the table and smashed their lips together.
Sending the bottle of wine crashing to the floor in the process.
Damon barely had a moment to savour the kiss before Kai was pulling back and shouting, “Fuck!”
“Was that the inevitable?”
“I hate you,” Kai complained.
“Do you normally kiss people you hate?”
“Never mind. I’m going back to my room, please allow me to wallow in my humiliation.”
Damon found himself smiling; out of happiness or relief? Maybe both? It was impossible to tell but he wasn’t going to waste time thinking about it. He reached across the table to grab Kai’s shirt and pulled him back in, gentler this time. He kissed him softly, allowing both of them to actually appreciate the moment.
“Woah,” Kai breathed out. “Have you done that before?”
Damon laughed, “Kissed someone? Yes.”
“Oh,” Kai frowned.
Wait.
“You haven’t?” Damon asked, doing his very best to keep the shock out of his voice.
“No,” Kai admitted. “Could you tell?”
“No,” Damon said honestly. “I’m a little surprised. What about your fans?”
“Ew,” Kai stuck his tongue out. “I’d never kiss a fan.”
Yeah, that was probably fair.
“Do you want me to make us ramen?” Damon offered. “I’ll clean up the wine, too.”
“No,” Kai insisted. “I’ll clean up. This whole mess is my fault.”
Damon smirked a little.
“Thank you, then.”
“Don’t look so smug!” Kai whined.
They ended up cleaning up the wine together, though Damon wouldn’t let Kai near the ramen.
Finally, it felt as though the last weight on Damon’s shoulders had been lifted. They were still stuck, of course, but he could assume that he officially had regained Kai’s affection.
They didn’t know when (or if) they would leave Eden’s Garden, ‘nor if they would ever truly be free but they did have each other.
That was all Damon wanted from the beginning.