happier than ever

family dinner

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊

♡

"what's this?" karl asks as he enters the dining room just after arriving home from school. his gaze dances over the table where his mom has set out four seats with placemats, plates and cutlery, as well as wine glasses at three of the places.

he shifts his gaze to her as she startles upon his sudden entry. "well, good afternoon to you too, karl," she says, half-playful as she lightly shakes her head. "i'm setting up for dinner. elix and adam are on their way."

karl nods, looking back at the table and figuring he will be sitting in the seat lacking the wine glass. the brunette always loves seeing his sibling and their husband, but he would really appreciate it if he was given a warning before they had guests. "i'm just gonna go change, this hoodie is too hot."

karl's mother just hums and the brunette doesn't bother himself with any more chatting as he turns and rushes up the stairs. he isn't too hot, in fact karl practically always feels cold, but he needed an excuse to change his hoodie out for a nicer-looking sweater.

karl loves elix, but his sibling would definitely make fun of him for his no-effort outfit. not in a malicious way, just in the way that siblings often do when they find anything to pick at to annoy one another. karl doesn't do the same to his sibling, but he thinks that's more of a respect thing since elix is older.

even though he changes into a sweater, karl still looks in the mirror and sees an absolute mess staring back. he spends the next few minutes trying to sort out his hair and make himself look less drowsy but he ultimately gives up when he hears the front door and his mom calls up to him.

he doesn't shout back, instead just leaving his room and heading downstairs to where everyone has relocated into the kitchen as their mom gets out dishes of food.

"hi," he greets as he enters, internally cursing himself for how small and weak the singular word comes out. his sibling and their husband look over at his underwhelming voice and adam moves over to greet him with a hug.

"have you lost weight?" elix asks, stepping forward when adam leaves the hug and trailing their eyes up karl's smaller form. "you look skinnier."

"you shouldn't say that," adam reminds his partner, reaching out to squeeze at their forearm, and karl doesn't miss the small tut from his older sibling.

"i didn't mean it in a bad way," they defend, reaching out to take hold of adam's hand and tangling their fingers together. karl doesn't let himself think over the way that elix explains themself to adam instead of him. "i was just observing."

"well just don't," adam replies with a smile, visibly squeezing his hand around elix's. adam takes the bottle of wine from the counter and says, "why don't you take this and go sit and i'll help your mom with food?"

elix nods in agreement and takes the bottle before leaving the kitchen. karl's mom leaves just after them, taking a plate of bread out to the dining room and leaving karl alone in the kitchen with his sibling's fiancé.

karl isn't really all that surprised when adam pulls him in for another hug. the older man has always been physically comforting. "sorry about your sibling, they never think," he speaks into the hug, squeezing around karl's shoulders. "how was school today?"