Lost on Titan

{Part 39}

~Videl~

Lunch with Kane's family had been something that Videl didn't know that she needed. As they ate the strange-but-tasty concoction that Millie had made, they talked about Kiana's classes she was taking in School, and Millie's new job in the Recycling Center. When Kane had taken his first bite, he'd screwed up his face in an endearingly comical way.

"I liked  this?" Kane had scoffed incredulously.

"You loved it!" Millie had said. "Sometimes I thought you were pretending to be sick just so I would make it for you."

Kiana had burst out laughing, doing an impression of what she imagined a little-boy-version of Kane would sound like if he was faking being sick, "Mommy, my tummy hurts."

Kane narrowed his eyes at his sister, but his smirk betrayed his lack of annoyance at her. "Oh, please!" He rolled his eyes, and folded his arms over his chest. "Somehow I doubt that's true."

But Videl noticed for someone who acted like they didn't enjoy the taste, Kane sure scarfed it down like he did, leaving no remnants of the food behind. She also noticed that Kane and Kiana's father was never mentioned once, and neither was the topic of Millie's new love interest addressed. Though the atmosphere was friendly, they all seemed to be dancing around the serious subjects. Videl wondered if they were sweeping the hard stuff under the rug for her sake, or if they had always just preferred not to broach anything that might be uncomfortable. She supposed that maybe it was a little of both.

Kane had seemed extremely tense when they first arrived, and she was glad to see him eventually loosen up and relax. At some point after the meal, when they were all making small talk, Videl saw him brooding about something, but she reached for his hand under the table and he snapped out of it - his silver eyes appearing to say "Thanks."

When they went to leave, Millie and Kiana took turns hugging Videl and Kane, thanking them for paying a visit. Before they were out the door, Kiana caught Kane's wrist and gave him a meaningful look, a little bit teary-eyed.

"Don't be a stranger, okay?" Kiana pleaded softly. "I need my big brother around."

Kane had been stiff after hugging his mother, but Kiana's words made him soften a little, and when he spoke, there was a fatherly-sounding love in his words.

"I'm here if you need anything, Kiki. Just give me a call."

Kiana smiled with relief. "Okay."

They nodded at each other, and Kane guided Videl out the door and down the hallway toward the elevators. Videl's heart swelled at the love his family seemed to have for each other. She wished she had known that sort of familial love growing up, or if she had, she wished she remembered it. But spending the afternoon with Kane's family and being showered by his mother and sister's approval and compliments made her feel so welcome, like she was already an extension of their family now. And that made her feel less alone, more whole.

"You're smiling," Kane noted stoically, as he glanced down at her while they waited for the elevator doors to open. "I take it that means you had a good time?"

Videl blushed and nodded, peering up at him. "I really did."

He gazed deeply in her eyes for a moment in quiet contemplation, something dark lurking in his silvery depths.