Days Go By | lavashipping

..✰..

Although they met just a few times, Cole recognised the dirty blonde hair even from across the street.

"Lloyd?" Said man turned to him, mouth full of some wrap, hands busy taking a picture of some cat that lay in the window of a nearby shop. Cole had time, so he didn't have a problem waiting for him to put away his phone and free his mouth. As desperate as he may have been, patience was still his strong suit.

"What's up?" Lloyd dusted off his hands – bringing Cole's attention to the fact that despite how much of the wrap he had seen, Lloyd somehow took care of it in the meantime. For how long was he stuck in his own head?

"Uh... Can we talk, actually? I have some concerns... About Kai."

Lloyd's eyebrows went up in a quizzical look. "You mind inviting me somewhere first? Or do you wanna discuss this in the middle of the street?"

"Didn't you just–?" Cole was about to point at what he assumed would be Lloyd's hand clutching the foil from the wrap – but he was holding nothing but his phone and there wasn't any bin nearby.

Shaking his head, he tried to redirect his focus to what really mattered.

Lloyd seemed to catch his drift. "Boys in development need to eat, you know? Besides, it's not like I said anything about food, you could've just gotten us a coffee or something."

Yeah, he totally forgot how weird it was to be in Lloyd's presence. Like hanging out with a friend who's also the teacher that at least looks like they know everything about you.

"Hate to break this to you but I think you're a little too old to be considered 'boy in development'."

Instead of an answer, Lloyd gave him a bemused face, so before he could get a chance to flash his wit some more, Cole sighed. Giving in, he readjusted the strap of his bag.

"You wanna go to Chen's?"

"Oh, if you insist, who am I to refuse?" Maybe not blood related but definitely brothers.

✰

Not even the presence of great food made him feel any lighter. At least Lloyd seemed satisfied. Looking up from the already half-empty plates, he leaned into the backrest of his chair, one arm loosely hanging over it. Piercing gaze set and steady.

"So what did our dearest Kai do to you?" Without even getting a chance to take a breath to answer, Lloyd's face twisted in disgust. "I swear to First Master, if this is about what he didn't do–"

"No, no, no!" Cole waved his hands dangerously close to the crowded plate. "Nothing like that – I wouldn't talk to you about that."

"What's the trouble in paradise all about then?"

Yeah. What is it?

Cole turned into a tiny ant at the table of Chen's Noodle House.

"I can't tell what's going on, they just– they keep giving me gifts and doing literally everything... Which he used to do before too but it's like he turned it to a thousand. I mean, it's not unusual for him to cook – he doesn't even let me in the kitchen! But this... I dunno."

"And that bothers you?"

"If you'd seen them! There's something he's not telling me... The way he monitors my every reaction, I... I feel like I'm being tested or interrogated or something. But I just can't tell what I did wrong... Like did I miss some important date? We can't have an anniversary yet and I definitely remembered their birthday – I did a whole thing! I pulled out my old ukulele and all..."

No. No. He was not going to cry in front of moo shu wu shu. Or Lloyd, for that matter.

Eyes widening, he buried his hands into his hair, elbows digging into the wood. Not exactly a proper way to sit in a restaurant but the more he spoke his mind out loud, the harder it became to keep his composure.

"Oh god, is this about me overworking myself? What if—"

"All right, buddy," Lloyd stretched. "I'm gonna stop you there before you tuck yourself in on our food." He pushed him off the table, so Cole slumped in his chair instead. Then he shoved a puffy potsticker into his hand. What a better way to soothe your sorrows than to eat them away?

"So you're saying he's doing everything under the sun for you without seemingly no reason?"

Cole managed to nod, mouth full of the puffy potsticker, however, even that tasted somewhat bitter.

"Y'know, the way I see it, there are two options–" Lloyd raised a finger, "either they did something bad..." he raised a second finger, "or he thinks he did something bad." After that proclamation, he took care of the last remaining puffy potsticker, eyebrows furrowed in thought as he chewed.

"Or, possible option number three, you drove him crazy. Could be possible, I've never seen him like this before, so..." He shrugged. "You made my brother malfunction. Congrats!"

"That's not exactly making me feel any better."

"Oh, I wasn't trying to do that."

If only there was something stronger to drink. "Well, what do I do? I keep trying to talk to him... Not really successful at that..." At least he heard and understood. As his voice got quieter and words crammed closer together, Cole didn't believe anyone could understand him. Even he himself.

To his lousy luck, Lloyd sucked in breath through his teeth. Was he really that terrible?

"Yeah... That's not the most reliable strategy." Despite his previous words, Lloyd seemed to try and change his approach when Cole's face became even more miserable. "I mean– He's definitely getting better at this but not really his strongest ability. He has that one-man army mentality. Any problem there might be he has to figure out and fix all by himself. Until he gets burnt."

"So... What? I'm supposed to let them drive themselves crazy?"

"No, no. You gotta try his tactic first. Actions, do stuff for him... And if you're good enough, then you can try your magic words again."

There were only two fortune cookies left amongst the empty plates. Cole drilled his gaze into them. If only they were magic cookies, problem-solving cookies. Miracle munchies.

"What if he needs some space? Maybe I should—"

"No!"

"Okay, never mind!" Cole raised his hands in a defensive gesture, completely kicked out of his head.

"Do not do to that. Ever. Not in a million years if you seriously want them to stay."

"Duly noted?"

"If you give him a reason to believe you're drifting away or getting over him, trust me, pretty difficult to reel him back in. He will try to remove himself from the equation if he senses that's what you might want. Just keep things how they've been until now between you."

Lloyd leaned closer, offered him one of the cookies.

"I might've misjudged you but I definitely didn't misjudge how much you mean to them. And... getting to know you... I can say the same about you, so. I think it's for the good of the world if you work this out. As disgusting as you two can get."

He leaned back away, making Cole feel like a plate of rejected leftovers.

"Ugh, I don't get paid enough for this."

"You had the all-star menu, my treat, is that still not enough for you? What else could you possibly want?"

"Brain bleach. Or weed. Both. Anything to make me forget this. Why am I making you a couples therapist?"

"Wrong place, wrong time, darling, suck it up."

Looking down at the broken cookie in his hand, Cole sighed. A lot to process. His mind felt a little lighter having dropped all the recent burdens, although he had a whole lot of new information to let simmer and absorb.

Even a lesson learnt the hard way is a lesson learnt.