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Ran, Hiasen, and Kasin all live under one roof. Together they sleep in a single, soft king-size bed, Hiasen on the left, Ran on the right, and Kasin in the middle.
Kasin, in the beginning, thought of this as a bit strange. Shouldn’t Hiasen be in the middle? Or at least have him and Ran be next to each other? It didn’t make sense to him.
However, after attempting to have them sleep next to one another, he soon realized that the backs of the side sleepers unconditionally repelled each other, as if they’re magnets of like poles.
From then on, Kasin gave up on the idea of ever sleeping on either side of the bed.
It’s exceptionally inconvenient for him, who sleeps in the middle, when he is the earliest riser out of the three.
Currently, it is — he checks the time — 5:21 AM, and Kasin is idling by himself in the kitchen. He leans his arms on the island counter, scrolling through his phone in one hand, and holding his ‘Best Papa Ever’ mug in the other. The other two were still resting in bed when he slipped out of it. They usually sleep in until a little later, so for the time being, he gets the rest of the house all for himself until then.
The vast sky was still a deep blue with the Sun just beginning to rise above the horizon, a dim light seeping through the windows and faintly illuminating the inside of the house.
He takes sips of his coffee, savoring the bitter taste of caffeine in his mouth, as he checks the news for today.
It’s been some time since everything went down, and most of the world has calmed down about the hazardous wind storm that was Kasin Em Demislid, who lambasted and trampled Tessera into ruins (in the public eye). Every now and then he still gets mentioned in forums and gets recognized by others as the Well-Known Mr. K, but he could handle that much fame. He couldn’t be bothered to care more if the world revolved around him, much less about those spiting him that were as many as those supporting him. He had a renowned title even before as a member of the Trump of Honor, so this celebrity status isn’t new to him.
Ran too had a high reputation and social position in the past, although that was tarnished when he got labeled as a notoriously wanted criminal, his popularity can’t really be said to be inferior to any.
Everyone who was involved in the past situation is living pretty normally now as far as he’s concerned, excluding the members of Tessera — who continue to serve their sentences confined in jail. On that thought, he hasn’t at all visited Psychi since he got locked up.
It’s not like he wants to see that man, but he sort of wants to just see how he’s holding up now, finally suffering the consequences of his crimes — actions for the sake of ‘social order.’ Perhaps he wants to be petty and withal spite him, rub it in his face, just a little.
He takes one last swig of what was left of his drink, then sets his phone down. Without warning, he senses a presence, a very familiar one, appears behind him. He hisses out a sigh before turning around, only to flinch at the crimson-haired perched on the counter edge, snuggly cocooned in an ivory blanket.
“What are you doing?” Kasin whispers out, narrowing his eyes at Ran. He looks to be barely awake, eyes only slightly open. Even his antennae is sunken over, like a wilted rose.
“…I heard you and woke up,” the Syniez mumbles, just loud enough for him to hear. “Morning.”
Kasin raises an eyebrow. “Morning, huh.”
He’s always known that Hiasen was a pretty light sleeper, but he finds Ran to be an even lighter one, maybe because of his enhanced sense of hearing.
Could all Lucid Dreamers be this light of sleepers? He swears that he hardly made any noise, but Ran seemed to catch it all anyway.
He places his empty mug down in the sink with a soft clink, taking a moment before turning his gaze back to Ran again, who’s swaying ever so slightly, struggling to keep himself upright. “Why don’t you go back to bed? You can’t stay awake like this.”
“Mmm…” he tries to blink his drowsiness away, possibly so he wouldn’t fall asleep on the spot, but his head was already starting to droop as he did.
“Look at this guy,” Kasin shakes his head as he moves in front of Ran, leans in, and smooths out stray strands of bed hair. Naturally, the other lets him.
Ran’s eyebrow suddenly twitches, and he scrunches up his nose. “Your breath smells like coffee and something weird…have you been smoking again?”
“Of course not, isn’t getting rid of my pipe enough for you to know that I’ve quit? And what do you mean my breath smells weird?”
“Is it?” He ignores his second question, staring at him with half-lidded eyes. “I’m tired.”
“Then go back to bed.”
“But I’m awake.”
“Damn, whatever. Do what you want,” Kasin grumbles and pulls his hands back, leaving the hair more tidied than it was before. He turns around to the other counter. “It’s too early for me to deal with you right now.”
“But I’m not doing anything?”
“You’re doing enough.”
He picks his phone back up and continues as usual.
Not too long after, the Syniez slides off the counter, and leans himself against Kasin’s back, head fondly resting on his shoulder as if it was his designated spot. His hair antennas curl into the shape of a heart, an evident indication of feeling pleased. If the other thinks anything of it, he doesn’t show it.
They stay silent like that for a while, until Kasin finds an article written on the Mana Association Head, his face plastered all over the front cover of it. He mutters something under his breath out of annoyance but scrolls through it anyway, just to see what it’s talking about.
“Hey, did you ever meet with this guy?” He holds up his screen with the photo of Psychi he finds on it for Ran to see, turning his head to the side to face him.
“Umm I…” he blinks and squints from the brightness, but despite the discomfort, his photographic memory lets him immediately recognize the man’s face. “Yes, once, when I was staying at Captain’s.
“He asked to see me suddenly. Captain didn’t want to force me, but I accepted. What I was told was along the lines that he did something wrong to me in the past, and that seemed to be true when the first thing he did when he saw me was apologize.”
Kasin smirks wryly, putting his phone up to his chin like a fan. “He? Apologized? What a surprise. What a hypocrite . And what’d you say to that?”
“I told him that I didn’t remember anything, I wasn’t just going to forgive him, and I wanted him to stop living like that from then on. That was all.”
“Oh, I bet that put him at peace,” he says in a low tone, voice dripping with sarcasm, “I can’t stand his fake ass.
“You know when I fought with him, I asked that in the scenario — if you were to come back to life — whether he would have any remorse, say sorry for what he inflicted upon you. Of course, he said no with his whole chest, justifying himself like some selfless saint. He even tried lecturing me about keeping the peace, as if he had the right. That bastard. I wish I could have just gotten rid of him then.”
“Bahn told me that he used to take care of us, but I guess you don’t like him,” he flutters his eyes shut, nestling on the other man.
“Tsk, just dislike huh,” he clicks his tongue at the understatement. He gazes at the other for a moment before his voice softens with underlying reluctance, “what do you think about going to visit him?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have anything to say,” he drawls out.
He really doesn’t harbor any of his past feelings or memories of him, besides what he’s been told by others. He’s been able to gather that their relationship is — complicated, to say the least. What could they talk about? How should he talk to him? He doesn’t know. He wonders how different it would be if he remembered, but he doesn’t care enough to find out.
“Even if you don’t know, I think you can hold some sort of grudge, at least for your past self.”
“I don’t feel like it.”
“Is it so hard to be more spiteful? Whatever, it’s fine, I would do all the talking anyway. Actually, I don’t think I could stop if I wanted to.”
“Then I guess Hiasen shouldn’t be there for it.”
“Oh no — he should definitely be there.”
Even if some of his memories were distorted, the thing that stayed constant is the fact that Tessera is the reason his dad became a criminal.
“Mmm, well if you want to visit him, I’ll talk to the director about it first. Or, I can go to Ai directly myself.”
Following the Captain being established as missing, Ai assumed the chief position at Yeohadan, just as Certa intended. It seems that everything went according to his plan in the end, which may or may not still irritate Kasin, knowing that he and his son both played primary roles in it all. Although he couldn’t say he hated him more than Psychi, most of the interactions between them were far from pleasant.
He grits his teeth and returns to the earlier topic. “Ugh, but the Captain let Psychi see you? How come he didn’t let me when I asked…”
“You wanted to? You came to see me?”
“Yeah, but all he let me have was hearing your voice through the phone.”
“Oh,” Ran ponders for a little before speaking again, his tone distant — his mind elsewhere, recalling a certain incident that seemed to have some correlation. “I remember now, Captain came back hurt after that call.”
“Hurt? Oh please, it was just a scratch, nothing more.”
“Hm, but you still attacked him.”
“And I left him intact, didn’t I? Don’t tell me you really liked living with him that much. Be honest, the only clothes he has in his closet are plain black suits, right?”
Ran side-eyes him before letting out a sigh. “He didn’t really do anything for me, but I know he’s not a bad person. Also, I never went into his bedroom, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Wow, are you sure he didn’t brainwash you into liking him?”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“Almost sounds like you know him personally,” Kasin scoffs, holding a hand up to flick Ran’s hair antenna, causing it to make a movement as if wincing from the impact. “I guess he gave you a nice spare room in his house.”
“I slept on the couch,” he says with a shrug.
“That’s even worse,” he gives him a judgemental look.
“It was comfortable,” he silently yawns, slightly adjusting his head’s position of rest.
“...You’re making my shoulder sore. I’m not a bed.” Kasin gently nudges Ran off his shoulder before turning to face him, “Are you still sleepy? Make yourself some coffee already.”
“I can’t, I’m trapped,” he gestures to his current state, burrito wrapped in his blanket.
“You trapped yourself in that,” he says flatly, crossing his arms and then proceeding to go turn on the coffee machine. “You didn’t leave Hiasen sleeping without covers, did you?”
The Syniez shakes his head. He got a different one to use as a cloak.
He and Hiasen both had the habit of bundling themselves with the bed sheets. It’s amusing to witness — to say the least. Does sharing the same genetics make them this way? Kasin couldn’t care less, honestly. Besides a particular someone waking up a bit earlier than his usual time today, this was just routine for them.
“Here,” he holds up the finished coffee, in a ‘Best Dad Ever’ mug, that complements his ‘Best Papa Ever’ one. Hiasen gifted them those matching cups for Father’s Day.
Ran’s unreadable eyes linger on Kasin, down to the drink, then back up at him, as if he doesn’t know what to do. Kasin stares back with a miffed face.
“Don’t give me that dumb look…” he mutters with a dismissive frown. “You’re not that helpless. Unwrap yourself. I can’t do everything for you.”
After a bit of adjustment, Ran is still cocooned, just with his arms out now. He finally takes his coffee and sips it, pursing his lips at the discernible bitterness but continuing to drink it regardless.
“Thanks.”
“Uh-huh.”
The two sit down on the kitchen stools, Kasin doing his own thing while Ran leans on him from the side, resting his eyes closed.
The former groans inwardly, wondering what the point of the coffee is if the latter is just going to rest again. He keeps quiet though, not bothered enough to point it out.
Some time passes by with them lounging around there until they hear rustling come from the hall. Stumbling out is Hiasen — wrapped in a blanket of his own — with a groggy expression on his face, hair antennas wildly protruding out from many places on his head.
“Look who’s awake.”
“Good morning Hiasen.”
He squints at the two as he staggers his way over, “What time is it…?”
“It’s around 6:40,” Kasin swivels his stool to face him, the other man still sticking against him, as if there’s a magnetic pull attaching them together. “You can go back to sleep, Hia.”
“Ugh, why are you guys up so early…” he sways with each step until he eventually reaches and lets himself fall limp onto his papa, like a puppy to their puppy bed.
He groans, letting out a complaint. “Do you guys think that I’m some living mattress? If you’re planning to fall asleep again then go back to bed.”
His son ignores him and continues to snuggle against him, murmuring in response, “...Too tired.”
If he’s so tired, then why did he get up in the first place? Kasin can’t understand what goes on inside that boy’s head.
Ah, right, with that guy as his father, of course Hia would end up like this. Always testing his patience like a certain someone else.
Kasin is surrounded, with Hiasen in front and Ran behind him. Once again, it seems that he’s become in the middle of them. If he was one end of a magnet, then the other two were opposite to him, but same to each other — an attractive force sticking them on him. He seems to be honey for these Bellenepia bees.
“Like father like son…” he says under his breath, beginning to reach his hands up to fix the mess of bed hair in front of him — a regular routine of his.
The Sun has fully risen now, the warmth of daylight filling every corner of the room, a golden ray grazing the side of Kasin’s face.
He reluctantly lets the other two rest on him for now, feeling the weight of their bodies press against him. He doesn’t have the energy to bicker or deal with this anymore. When it’s time, he’ll get them off, but only when that time comes.
Maybe it doesn’t feel so bad to stay together like this, just for a little.