Is it bad my mind set this entire time was:
Keith: Devil child, will pull harshly on things, destroys everything, breaks minor rules, is very attached to his elder brother and Mama
Akira: Shy, very sweet, wants to help his Mama out whenever he can, is just very precious, . . . TRAUMA!!!
I'm so nice to my characters.😇
"Keith! Akira! Can you two come here please?" Krolia yelled from the kitchen. There was shuffles before stomping on the ground. Krolia smiled as both her babies came running down. Keith, who's headspace was around four, ran straight up to her. Pouncing into her arms. Akira, who's headspace was around six, stayed and waited for an order. It wasn't until Krolia made motion that he could come over that he slowly walked over and hugged her as well. "So I was thinking that we should get something greasy to eat, huh? Like fast food?"
"Taco Bell!" Keith recommended. Krolia looked over at Akira, who shrugged and dug his face into the croak of her neck. The height difference was weird. Krolia was 6'5, Akira was 5'7, and Keith was 5'2. It was a bit hard for Akira to put his face in her neck but he found comfort there.
"Alright, I'll order Taco Bell. Akira, is there something you want?" Krolia asked again. Akira shrugged and tightened his grip around her. Keith bounced off and began wabbling over to the knives. He knew that Akira was shy at times. And he was going to touch a knife. "Keith Texas Kogane you better stop in your tracks."
"Bu Mama!" Keith fussed, pointing at the knifes. He just wanted to touch them!
"No, we don't touch knifes while we're small. How about you hobble back upstairs and continue to play with your toys?" Krolia recommended. Keith huffed but did as told, rushing back upstairs to go play with his cars. Krolia looked back to her eldest son and smiled. "What do you want for lunch, love?"
Akira shrugged as Krolia brought his face out of her neck, holding a firm grip on his chin. He loosened his grip and tried to get away from his mother but Krolia brought him back. She could tell he wanted something. But getting something out of him was hard. With his past, he wasn't aloud to have an option or make recommendations. It just stuck with him when he got adopted by the Kogane's.
"Subway?" she asked, earning a shrug. "McDonalds?" Another shrug. This went on for a while and Akira seemed to be getting more nervous by the second. When Krolia couldn't name anymore fast foods she went onto some homemade foods. It wasn't until she named ramen that Akira had a small spark into his eyes. A spark it took her a little while to learn. "I'll go make some ramen," she booped his nose before letting him go. He smiled at her before running back upstairs.
Krolia ordered Keith two bean burritos and her a chicken taco. She wanted to wait before making Akira's dinner. She wanted to make it around ten minutes before their food came so that Keith wouldn't start complaining or it got cold.
"I'm coming up stairs!" she warned before walking to the boy's room that they shared. They never really minded sharing a room. Most nights Keith will sleep inside their shed because his Dad use to spend a lot of time there. She got some okays as she came closer.
She opened the door and saw Keith crashing a small hot wheel car into the wall. Akira was drawing on a piece of paper. Krolia frowned and sighed as Keith rolled another car into the wall. Her new mood grabbed Akira's attention, who back up a little bit.
"Keith, what have I told you about that?" she asked in a firm voice. Keith froze as he held his next car. He had a big collection. "Don't do that. You're starting to scratch the paint."
"Bu its funnnn!" Keith whined, looking up at her.
"Here, use this," she smiled, handing him a square piece of wood. Keith . . . he collects random things. Screws, wood, hair ties, pencils, tape measures, hot wheels. A lot of things. He frowned but placed the wood in front of the wall. Fortianlly he gasped and smiled at the sound the hot wheels made with the wood.
Krolia looked back at Akira, who went back to finish his drawing, "It looks nice. Wanna explain it to me?"
"It's us!" he smiled, pointing at each different person. "That's me, that's Keef, that's you, and that's Mr. Kogane!"
"You know, he wouldn't mind if you call him Dad," Krolia said, playing with his long hair. Akira never got the chance to meet her late-husband. But he's heard stories. He has, as he states, respect for the man. His way to show respect to him though was to call him by his last name instead of anything else. It was a little weird at first because he did the same with her and Keith, but he got more comfortable around them. Krolia guesses that he thinks he doesn't deserve to call him Dad or doesn't want to ruin that name.
"No," he shook his head. "Mr. Kogane."
"Alright, I'm going to start making food then," she kissed his head, earning a smile from him and a whine from Keith. "I haven't forgotten about you, Angel." She smiled as she kissed his head, earning a smile from her youngest.
She walked down stairs and began to make Akira's ramen. She set it down and every few seconds would stir it. Akira liked it that way. Not hard, so it had to sit a little bit. But it couldn't sit without being stirred because then it will taste weird. It also needed to be cooked a certain way. Krolia never minded that she had to take some extra steps for him. It never hurt her in anyway. She set the bowl on the table and heard the doorbell ring. She heard some fumbling upstairs and feet stomping down. She quickly ran to the door, payed the food delivery girl, also gave her a tip, and shut the door before the boys came down stairs. Akira probably came down because he heard the doorbell ring. And Keith probably came with because he wanted to follow his elder brother.
"Who was that?" Akira asked from the doorway.
"Food!" Keith exclaimed, squeezing past his brother and running up to his Mama. He almost fell while doing so but Krolia caught him.
"For the last time, no more running in the house," she sighed, setting the food on the table and Keith in his seat. She gave him his food, which he almost tore open in a second, she put Akira in his seat as well. Even though he fussed a little bit about her picking him up.
They talked and joked throughout eating. Keith even told them this very long story about race cars and aliens. Akira made some funny comments and remarks. One was that his ramen was his girlfriend, which made Krolia spit out her water and Keith choke a little on his burrito.
After dinner the boys watched some TV in the living room while Krolia did the dishes. They were watching Rescue Bots, a choice by Keith. Akira didn't seem to mind, he also liked this show. Surprisingly Keith's favorite was the helicopter, Akira's was the firetruck. Krolia joined then after dishes. Keith immanently tried to crawl onto her lap, which she aloud. Akira looked up at them from the floor and Krolia nodded. So he climbed up and curled next to her side.
Around two hours later Keith was out like a light and they had switched what they were watching. Now they were watching the movie Speed Racer, since it was on HBO GO. And one of Akira's favorite movies. Little and Big. He got squeamish when the piranha/interrogation part turned on so Krolia let him hide in her neck again. It wasn't until the end of the movie that Krolia checked if he was still asleep, seeing that he was laying his head on her shoulder. Surprisingly, he was. It was around nine but it was also a weekend so she could push bedtime past ten.
"I'm going to go put your brother to bed, alright?" she whispered. He looked at her for any sort of direction of what to do. "How about you put on another show?" He blinked at her, which made her smile at him. "How about The Super Mario Bros Super Show? I know you like that one."
Akira nodded and Krolia grabbed the remote from him. She typed the show in and put on the first episode. She set the remote back down on the couch and kissed the top of his head, "Sorry Sweetheart, I but there's no reason for someone so little like you to put on a show by yourself again. Right?"
Akira smiled and nodded before going back to his show. Keith whined in his sleep and moved a little bit. Probably because of the loud TV. Krolia walked back up stairs while patting Keith's back. She tucked him into bed and kissed his forehead.
"Mama?" he whispered, opening his eyes a little bit.
"Shhh, baby. It's time for bed now," she replied in the same voice level.
"Nuuuu," he whined, reaching out for her as he pouted. "Nu leave."
"I need to go watch your brother," she said, giving him a soft smile. Keith tried to say something back but was cut off by a yawn. "I'll stay here until you fall asleep, okay?" Keith lazily nodded and held onto her finger. She sat next to him and stroked his hair until she was certain that he was asleep. She slowly got up and quietly walked out of the room.
Then she heard a blood curling scream as all the lights turned off. Damn it, another power out. They've been happening during the past few days. Something with the power lines. Akira's been terrified when they happen. Usually he's near someone so they could calm him down but when he's alone, he can't help but get scared. Krolia doesn't like to think about it, nor has she told anyone, but it's something to do with his past. Krolia ran back down stairs and into the kitchen. She grabbed a flashlight from a cabinet and turned it on, running over to the living room. She was Akira holding himself tightly into a ball on the couch, still screaming very loudly. She ran over and touched his shoulder, one of the few places he'll allow someone to touch him while he's like this.
"Akira? Baby, you're hear. Look around you, Baby. You're safe now," she whispered to him, showing him some of the light that came from the flashlight.
She continued to whisper to him while Akira tried to calm down. It took around twelve minutes to stop the screaming. He lifted his head up and let out a heart wrenching sob. She opened her arms to inform him that he could hug her if he felt like it. Akira shook his head and tried to dry his eyes. Krolia left the flashlight with him as she got him a sippy cup of water. She was quick to return when she noticed that his breathing was getting unstable again. She shook the bottle in front of him, which he gratefully took.
"Are you okay?" Krolia asked, going back to touching his shoulder. Akira didn't respond verbally but took her hand. He cupped his own face with it and Krolia gave him a soft smile. It was a little sign that she was allowed to touch him anywhere else again. "I'm sorry that the lights turned off, Hun. But you're safe here. Nothings going to get you. And no ones gonna hurt you."
Akira nodded and drank some of his water. Krolia stood up from kneeling and ruffled his hair, "I'm going to go light some of Keith's candles. Do you want to come with?" Akira nodded and Krolia picked him up. He held onto her tightly as he tried to calm his breathing down. Candles were another thing Keith liked to collect. He never minded if they were used for a reason like this. But he will bite someone's hand if they tried to take them for another reason. Krolia grabbed the flashlight and walked over to the kitchen. She placed Akira on the counter and put some candles next to him. Akira played with his black leggings and red shirt. She light them before handing Akira the flashlight. She placed the candles around the living room and kitchen. Since they were probably going to sleep there tonight. She grabbed some blankets and spread them around the rug, since Akira liked to sit there most of the time. She grabbed some games that they would most likely play. She didn't mind letting Akira stay up past bed time on the weekend. Especially when they have night like these.
"Mama?" Akira asked, making Krolia look at him. He saw that Keith was leaning into his chest. "Keef woke up."
"I see. What are you doing up, Bud?" Krolia asked, walking over to them. Keith groaned and wrapped his arms around Akira's waist. "Keith?"
"Akira scared," he mumbled. Krolia chuckle softly at his actions. Even though it was past his bedtime and he was really tired, he still got out of bed to go check to see it Akira was okay. He must of woken up by his screams, which would be why he said he was scared.
"He should be alright now," Krolia smiled as Akira handed her the flashlight.
"Brudda otay?" Keith looked up at him. Akira nodded but Keith seemed uncertain. He grabbed a towel and wiped Akira's teared stained face, even though it didn't help at all. Keith might seem as a closeted badass, but that's not how his father raised him.
"How about we go over to the couch? I have some games already set," Krolia offered. Both boys nodded and reached out for her. Akira pulled his arm back immanently when he noticed Keith reached out. Keith didn't seem to notice, his blinks were really long. He was trying to keep awake and not pass out.
Krolia smiled and placed both boys on her hips. She carried them over to the couch and set them down. Keith waved a little bit while holding onto Akira's sleeve, trying to stay up straight. Krolia handed Akira his Gameboy, which made him happily gasp. It was his favorite game to play, both little and big. Frogger was already in there. It was one of his most played little game. Akira handed it over to Keith and gave him a small smile. Keith shook his head and pushed it back over to him. Krolia took one of the brets on her wrist to Keith, who moved behind his brother. He tugged on Akira's hair lazily so that he knew he was behind him. Usually when he tugged on Akira's hair it's to try to rip it out, which he'll also do with his mama. Akira nodded as he began to play his game. Keith began to braid his big brother's hair. Or atleast tried to. He was really out of it, so he was more just playing with his hair more than anything. Krolia sat Keith on her lap and began to braid his hair with the other bret on her wrist. She had two on each hand in case they want their hair braided, mostly Akira, before school. Krolia loved watching over her sons, both little and big. Even if some nights were harder she wouldn't change it for the world.