“Hey,” Kade said. “How’s Dad?”
Yuka pressed his lips together in a tight grimace, then glanced over his shoulder at their home in the distance. “Not... not very good. Mom said they were calling you to come home, but I didn’t think you’d get here so soon.”
“Of course I’d get here soon,” Kade replied, and he squeezed the younger boy’s shoulder. “Florian helped me.”
“With his teleport magic, huh?” Yuka said, a small grin sneaking back onto his features as he looked past Kade toward Florian, whose face was warming with a pleased flush. He grinned back at the boy; then Yuka’s eyes flickered to Koji, and he hesitated. “Oh. Who’s this?”
“This is Koji, a prince of the dragon kingdom,” Kade said, gesturing between them. “Koji, this is my brother Yuka.”
“Hello,” Koji said, smiling. Yuka’s spine stiffened, and he lowered his head.
“Thank you for coming, your—um—your highness,” he stammered. Florian laughed despite himself, which made Koji laugh, and even Kade let out a small chuckle.
“Just Koji is fine,” Koji replied, shaking his head. “We’re all friends here. No need for formalities.”
Yuka smiled gratefully at him, then took a few steps ahead. “Let’s walk together. Mom will tell you everything again when you get home, but I’ll tell you first.”
Kade chuckled again. “Sure.”
They kept walking, but Florian slowed a bit, letting Kade and Yuka gain some distance ahead of them. Koji lingered behind with him, staying side by side with Florian as they walked.
“I was expecting someone a little... less boisterous, to be honest,” Koji murmured after a moment, and Florian laughed again.
“I don’t think any of them are especially like each other, really,” he said. “Kade’s the oldest, so he’s the most serious for sure. His brother Bowen—he’s the next oldest—they look a lot alike, but they’re total opposites.”
He trailed off as they arrived at the biggest house, which seemed to be bustling with activity compared to the rest of the village. A few groups of people were sitting and socializing in the yard, many of whom looked over at them as they approached. One stood from where he’d been sitting—Bowen, Florian realized—and loped over to them with a similar nervous half-smile as Yuka.
“Kade,” he said, and much to Florian’s surprise, the brothers hugged each other tightly, Bowen’s face disappearing into Kade’s shoulder. They were motionless for a long moment, then Bowen patted Kade’s back and pulled away, his eyes flickering back toward Florian and Koji.
“Florian,” he said, stepping past Kade, and even more to his surprise, hugging Florian as well. “I’m glad you came. I would say it’s good to see you, but considering the circumstances...”
“I’d say I’m glad to see you too, but, yeah, same,” he chuckled nervously, gingerly hugging him with one arm. Bowen straightened, now looking at Koji. “Oh—this is Koji, from the dragon kingdom. He’s helping us out, and he was with us when we got the call from Tatiana, so...”
Bowen grinned. “The dragon kingdom, huh? I think we’ve had more visitors here in the past few months than we have in the past decade combined. Nice to meet you. I’m Bowen.” He held his hand out to shake; at first, Koji only stared at him, then he seemed to jolt with surprise and shook his hand quickly.
“N-Nice to meet you too,” he stammered, his smile becoming decidedly nervous.
Did he... think Bowen was cute? The realization made a mischievous smile curl around Florian’s lips that he swiftly pushed down. That was a question for later.
“I think Mom and Dad would want to see you both,” Bowen was saying, snapping Florian back to attention. Florian glanced at Kade, surprised; but the other man looked grim as ever, his expression unchanged.
“Oh,” Florian said. “Okay. Koji, would you mind waiting out here for us?”
“No problem,” Koji started, only to be interrupted by Bowen.
“I can show you around,” he said, grinning at Koji—and Florian swore Bowen’s grin grew wider as Koji’s smile became nervous and stilted. Either Bowen was teasing him, or also thought he was cute, so he hoped it was the latter. “Not that there’s a ton to see, but, y’know. Might as well see all of it, eh?”
“That—Yeah, that sounds good,” Koji said, his eyes flickering between Florian and Bowen. “I guess, um, come find me when you’re done, Florian.”
“Sure thing,” he said, giving what he hoped was an encouraging nod. Bowen gestured for Koji to follow, and they started tramping through the snow. Yuka had joined a group that was sitting and playing a card game, so now only Florian and Kade were standing in the yard.
“What’s everyone doing?” Florian asked quietly as they headed for the door.
“Probably just here so they can say they’re helping,” Kade replied darkly. “But there’s not enough room in the house for everyone, I’m sure.” Florian hesitated, surprised at how irritated he sounded; but Kade sighed, then glanced back at him. “No, I’m sure theyarehelping. I shouldn’t say it like that. They might have brought food, or came to make sure Amka and Yuka don’t get into trouble. Or maybe my mom just wanted lots of people around.”
“I see,” Florian replied faintly. Kade opened the door, and sure enough, there were several people inside as well, peering over from the sitting room and the kitchen.
“Kade’s here,” someone called out. Luckily, though, no one moved to stop them as Kade headed immediately for the stairs. Florian recognized some of the people in here now. Kade’s cousins, whom they had met during Florian’s first visit, were standing in the doorway to the dining room, giving Florian a tiny wave as they passed through the room.
