4 - Comfort zone

Aria made a face. Yeah, she remembered about the Brad accident all too well. It had not been an accident whatsoever, but it was a way like another to try and dismiss it. She shot a sympathetic smile to Carleen. "Well - maybe Christmas would be a good time to break the news to him", she commented gently. "I mean - he knows Horknath a little by now, if anything through Asterius. Maybe that would put him at ease."

Asterius nodded at Sakrish's explanation. "I see. If that's the case, if we need to do anything to make you feel more welcome at our place, don't hesitate to tell me. As for anything, really - our Christmas is just an excuse to come together and do things that make us happy", he added then, looking at Theseus too. Well, even if they had said they weren't strictly respecting their religion's rules, better be safe than sorry. His mouth twitched with a little smile. "Poor indications?", he asked then, feeling curious.

Carleen nodded. "If we end up visiting your house at the same time during the holidays, then sure I should mention it to him." She smiled at Aria. "I'll let you know, although I doubt now that Horknath could hide it from you anymore," she added with a grin.

"As long as there isn't beef on the table, I'll be fine", Theseus began, before he frowned a lot. Sakrish was trying his best to hide a grin, let's be honest. He knew that story. "Well- this girl I was dating two years ago invited me to her family Christmas dinner, and told me I was supposed to look at my best. Now let's be honest, I always look at my best. But I put a little extra care into it, and then she had the audacity to complain about my eyeshadown when her own wasn't even matching her outfit."
Sakrish was now laughing freely.

Aria laughed. "Oh, I'm going to torment him as soon as I'm out of here", she admitted, mirroring Carleen's grin. "I have to ask him how dared he hide the fact that he was dating one of my best friends from me! The audacity!" She winked at her. "Don't worry, I won't torment him too much."

"As long as you don't count me as beef, I'll make sure there isn't any at the table", Asterius answered lightly - joking, of course, before he laughed as well at Theseus' clear indignation as he recalled that story. "That was very rude of her", he commented with a smile. "There's no dress-code at our Christmas holidays. Come in however you wish."

Carleen chuckled. "Well, do as you wish. You're his siter, after all." She grinned. "And I sure will pester Thee as much as I can the moment he and Asterius become a thing!"

Theseus beamed. "So I'm officially invited over to your place on Christmas day?"
Sakrish smiled to himself. He was glad that Theseus had found himself a new friend that didn't complain or criticize his odd fashion choices - that he was responsible of, let's be honest. He had encouraged his son to explore things to his heart's content and had even designed outfits for him that involved a bit of makeup in his teenage years.

Aria laughed. "We're the best sisters one could possibly wish for", she commented with a grin.. "Well. I was already eagerly waiting for Christmas to come around, but now I am even more curious to see how it will be."

Asterius held back a smile. "Of course. Let me know at what time you'll wish to come over. I'll tell my parents." He should start thinking about what he could get for Theseus as a gift. He wanted for it to be thoughtful - not necessarily pricy. If anything, he could already exclude anything that had to do with clothes. He didn't want to risk offending his taste.

Carleen chuckled. "Me too! I should probably get going by now, though," she told Aria when looking at her phone. "My father just wrote to me to say that Theseus is awake and that he's going to drive him home. I'll take the opportunity to tag along."

"Oh please choose the time, I'll adapt to meet you there," Theseus replied with a grin. "I can't wait to see you again."
Sakrish cleared his throat. "Until then, we should probably head home. Your mother has left work when I told her you would get operated, so she'll probably arrive home by the time we get there." He got up and helped Theseus to sit up a bit in his bed.

Aria nodded at her. "I should go too", she answered. "Dio shouldn't take long to get here either." She smiled at her. "I'm glad we finally found some time to chat. We should do it more often."

Asterius got up as well. "I will head back to university. I shouldn't miss practice, even if it's the last one before the holiday break." He threw a glance at Theseus and Sakrish. "Do you need any help, before I go?"

"We totally should! I'm sorry I didn't find much time this semester, but I'll make sure we can see each other more frequently. And, well-" Carleen held back a smile. "Now I know we can totally meet at noon while I'm with Horknath without it being too weird for any of you."

Sakrish shook his head. "We'll be alright, don't worry. Thank you already for everything you've done for him today, Asterius."
"I could still go and watch him practice-" Theseus started, while he made a motion to stand up.
"You," Sakrish interrupted his son with a smile, "are going home to bed.
Theseus held Sakrish' gaze for a bit, frowning, but he had to surrender in the end. No matter how stubborn he was, he always ultimately listened to his parents. "Alright. You may use my car to go back to your place, Asterius - I'll text you later to make plans to retrieve it."

Aria beamed. "Yes! Maybe we can even organize double dates sometimes!" She raised from her chair. "C'mon, I'll keep you company until your dad passes by to fetch you."

Asterius held back a smile. So there was someone who could keep Theseus from doing whatever he pleased all the time. "You're welcome. It was a pleasure." He threw a fond glance at Theseus. "Alright, then - thank you. Text me when you get home. I'll answer once practice is done." He bid goodbye to Sakrish as well and walked away from the room, to leave them some privacy if they needed it.
As he sat down in Theseus' car and revved up the engine, all he could think about was him. His boyfriend. His smile, and his lips against his, and the sweet promise of yet many more kisses to come once he would be feeling better.
He smiled as he drove off to the university. All in all, a very nice day.

Carleen patiently waited for Sakrish to show up with Aria, and couldn't help but tease her brother about his nose cast as soon as she spotted him. She bid her friend a good day, and they drove home.

Thankfully, shortly later she was able to confirm that they would both come over for Christmas, given that both her brothers had invited them! She made plans with Horknath to go shopping for last-minute presents on the 22th. She wouldn't come alone empty-handed!

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