Accessory Wars

Chapter 37-Ki

            And here I thought Jay couldn't be any more emotional within a twenty four hour period of time.

Upon returning from the school, we defrosted by drinking tea in the kitchen. While Kami and Jay chatted, I set up the materials for kkultarae. Bowls, aprons, ingredients. Then I helped Gran to the kitchen. Jay and Kami watched her explain how to make the candy while I demonstrated. Kami had seen this about a half dozen times already but she acted like it was her first each time.

From there, Gran set us to work. It was a lot of fun watching Jay fail. Kami's didn't look much better. My Gran, being the sweet old lady she was, complimented them regardless. She also kept nitpicking my work, all teasing of course.

While we were making kkultarae, Jay got a phone call. He excused himself and about five seconds later, Kami and I were rushing to the living room when he gave a shriek. Jay was practically beside himself. He started crying and every time he rubbed his face he smeared more cornstarch on himself. Kami brought him some tissues. As I listened, I caught the name Megahn. That was Jay's younger sister. It didn't make sense why Jay suddenly picked up one of her calls until Jay explained later she called through Felisa's phone. That meant Megahn was in Serenhe. Was she there for a vacation? Maybe she was looking to go to college there. Jay did say she was in her senior year of high school.

Once we managed to get Jay to calm down, I forced him to drink some fluids. Any more crying and he'd turn into a prune. He thanked Kami and I for being there and apologized for making a scene. Then he went to the bathroom to wash his face. He missed some of the cornstarch in his hair but I decided not to tell him. Prime teasing material for later.

As we continued on our kkultarae quest, Kami asked Jay about his sister. He told us all sorts of stories. She sounded like a lot of fun and I hoped I got to meet her someday. Kami was in agreement as she already decided she was going to take Megahn shopping.

Jay threw in the towel after another hour of unsuccessful attempts to making honey strings. Gran tasked him with filling the strands with the candied nuts, using the little fork to curl them into bundles. Kami kept sneaking samples and my Gran was too nice to shoo her away. I managed to resist the urge to snack and I was proud of myself.

Kami stayed through clean up and helped me cook dinner for my parents. Jay helped my Gran tidy up around the house. I told him he didn't need to but he assured me it was fine. I think he wanted to make a good impression on my parents. Dinner was fun, especially now that Jay was smiling. My parents lowered their guard around him and Jay even made my mom laugh. She warmed up to him more after that.

Post dinner, Kami said her farewells and went off to meet with some old high school friends still in the area. Jay and I watched a movie with my parents in the basement. Jay fell asleep halfway through, his head propped up with his arm on the armrest of the couch. I put a pillow on my lap and managed to guide him to lie down. He had fallen asleep so fast he forgot to take off his glasses. I carefully removed them and set them aside.

"Just friends, huh?" my dad asked, giving me a sidelong look from the other couch.

I shot the look back at him. "Yes, dad. We're just friends," I retorted.

"Ah, so I must have been imagining all the flirting."

"We're not flirting!"

"Right, and my socks don't match." He chuckled and I let out a groan.

"Fine. I might have done a little flirting. I'm not that obvious about it."