Bound by Blood; Chosen by Fate

Chapter Thirty-Five

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"It'll keep for a while," he said, closing the freezer door and letting out a long breath. The long tendril of hair in front of his face had grown fuzzy during the time he'd spent here, strands sticking to his cheek and forehead. A light sheen of sweat covered his brow, aided by the stifling heat of the kitchen that the open windows did nothing against.

Josuke sauntered into the room, hair frazzled with the humidity. For once in his life, he was too distracted with the other boy next to him to care, eyes bright and hands gesturing wildly as they sat down in front of the tv.

The screen flickered to life, displaying the opening screen to a video game- the looping music already eating into my brain as it played quietly.

Kakyoin stretched with his arms over his head for a moment, something in my chest jumping as my gaze settled on the strip of skin bared between the line of his shirt and pants. He'd discarded the coat, revealing a collared white shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, thin, delicate wrists accented with small bracelets on either side- woven leather and string that I didn't quite have the courage to ask about.

He tucked the bang behind his ear, cherry earrings swaying lightly as he leaned against the counter.

"So now that's done," he began, absent-mindedly wiping the flour from his pants, "we only have to get enough information on Egypt."

He paused, and I watched him as he rose his gaze, piercing violet eyes settling on mine. Unwavering.

Sometime in the last half week, I'd decided I liked it.

The way he didn't back down, didn't turn away in fear at the strength of my gaze. It made me feel more... normal. More like myself, in a way.

"I did a little bit of research-" really, how much free time did this guy have? "and I found out that at the museum in town, one of the staff used to work in Egypt, doing work in the pyramids there. Which led me to think that it'd be a lot cooler if we did our on Ancient Egypt rather than modern-day."

I rose a brow, though stayed silent, recognizing that he wanted to say more.

"I got his contact information, and I'd like to set up a meeting with him to get some information, if you wouldn't mind. I figure it'd be more exciting than spending our time going through books in the library, or staring at the computer screen for hours on end."

I was confused for a moment.

Jonathan worked at the museum. He'd never spoken about another staff member- not someone who was doing similar work to him. Because surely someone who had extensive experience working in Egypt wouldn't be stuck in the back of the place doing paperwork.

But then, all Jonathan gave us for information about work was that it was 'boring' and 'not much compared to what I was doing in Mexico'.

Which was understandable.

Kakyoin waved a hand in front of my face. I jerked out of my thoughts.

"What do you think?" he repeated, voice calm and still against the sudden shouts in the living room. Irritation plagued me, but I shoved it away in favor of answering the man in front of me.

"Sure," I replied, glancing away as footsteps sounded in the living room. "Jonathan works there too," I added. Kakyoin hummed.

"I saw his name on the website. It was funny, because the other one didn't include their name."

Jonathan felt my gaze and glanced up.

"How's the baking going?" he asked cheerily. Kakyoin straightened, smirking.