No, it's too early to say I am back. But at least I could finally write something to the end :D
not sure how it turned out but... meh, I am happy ^_^

Think think think, he told himself.

He played with the pen in his hand. How should he do this? But the problem was that he had no idea how to start. How did one start this kind of things?

He groaned and pressed his forehead against the table and buried his hands, pen and all, into his hair. This was impossible. He knew what he wanted to get out but he didn't have the beginning.

Suddenly he jolted his head up. There had been a shuffling sound from the couch. Eyes wide he stared at Kai who was staring right back at him, leaning casually on the backrest, arms crossed and an eyebrow up.
He blinked and then smiled a little

"Hi" he said. As an answer Kai lifted his other eyebrow too. He felt a bit silly and fought not to blush. After a moment of staring Kai turned the red eyes towards the telly. He glanced at it too out of reflex. He frowned because it wasn't on. He looked back at Kai. The guy was still looking at it like he would be watching something.

"Umm" he started and braced himself for the beam of red eyes. And indeed the piercing eyes turned to him. He swallowed and tilted his head "What are you doing?"

Kai shrugged nonchalantly. Typical. He was surprised though when Kai actually answered

"I was thinking about watching a movie" Kai said quietly, without the usual commanding tone. Maybe it just wasn't needed outside of training. Kai rarely spoke outside of training. It was weird, because it wasn't like Kai was stupid or had a bad voice or anything.

"For that you need to open the telly" he pointed out, receiving a glare from Kai.

"Thank you for your input" Kai said coldly. The red eyes narrowed "But if I open it you can never finish what you are doing" Kai added and pointedly glanced down at the paper under his elbows. Recalling his project he sighed and looked at it. Blank page. He shrugged

"I can go do it somewhere else" he made a move to collect his pen and papers but Kai shook his head.

"If there would be another place to do it you would be there. Coffee table is not the best place to write." there was a bang and Kai glared at a wall "and with that idiot milling around it's also the only place"

he gave a sheepish smile and scratched his neck

"Tyson is not that bad"

Kai looked at him again and lifted his eyebrow as high as he could get. He had to look away and amend "But he can be quite a handful"

Kai snorted and he could actually feel the gaze move away from him. Carefully he glanced back at Kai.

"What movie?"

Kai continued watching the telly

"Nothing special. I have it on DVD so I don't really have to watch it"

he frowned

"If you have it, why did you want to watch it from telly?"

Kai made a very intriguing move. It was partially shrug partially a roll of the head and something he wasn't even sure what it was.

"It's an excuse" Kai said.

He blinked. He did not understand

"What?" he asked, hoping that Kai would really talk to him. It would be one of those moments that he would recall in old age with a proud smile. Kai, the ice prince, sharing his thoughts with him.

Kai sighed

"If it comes from TV, that's a great reason to watch it because it's more or less like one time chance. With the DVD I can watch it whenever I want to, which means there usually isn't enough time to watch it. Or to make time for it. Because it can always wait. There is always something else to do that couldn't really wait." Kai paused "So it's just easier"

"Why are you that busy? I mean, we have time to watch movies all the time"

Kai snorted, sounding amused and annoyed. His expression held similar emotions

"I know" he said sternly. Then he rolled his eyes "I am the team captain. You have no idea how much extra work that means."

He tilted his head and observed Kai. He was tense, even when he was sitting. And it was rare that Kai would be outside of his room when they weren't at school or training.

"Why haven't you said anything?"

Kai shook his head and didn't answer. After a moment of waiting he gave up and tried to focus back on his assignment.

"What are you trying to do?" Kai asked after a while, looking slightly amused. He gave Kai a dirty look. There was nothing funny about the situation.

"History essay"

"About?"

"Why do you care?" he snapped. His patience was wearing thin because the paper was due to tomorrow and he still had not managed to start it. But when he saw Kai stiffen at his words his anger dissipated and he let out a deep breath "Sorry. It's just that I have to finish this today. And I don't know how to start this"

Kai stared stonily at the telly. He was ashamed that he had snapped at Kai. It was not his captain's fault that he had postponed this to the last minute.

The silence was heavy and he was seriously considering to escape when Kai spoke

"About?"

he couldn't help it. A smile as wide as his face could hold broke out and he directed it fully to Kai, who was still looking at the telly. Like he could see the movie. He made a mental note to check out later what movie there had been going on. It was interesting to find out what Kai was so keen on seeing. But right now he was just hugely grateful that Kai had forgiven his rudeness and was willing to give him another chance.

"World war two" he answered.

"General or certain point of view?"

he shrugged

"General but it's also allowed to have it focus on one country too"

Kai actually groaned

"What the hell?" Kai said and leaned forward, staring him in disbelief "What kind of vague crappy assignment is that?" Kai shook his head and muttered something before focusing on him again "So you have an idea what you want to write?"

"I figured I would do just general thing, about why it started, what went down and how it ended"

Kai didn't blink but he noticed the red eyes waver a bit.

"Oh, that's easy then" Kai said with slight sarcasm. He frowned

"It's not that hard. I pretty much now what I want to write and what I should mention"

Kai lifted his brow questioningly

"So what's the problem then?"

he scratched his head

"I don't know how to start" he mumbled. Kai actually chuckled at that and his eyes were immediately drawn to Kai's face. There was a shadow of smile on his lips and his eyes were sparkling. He didn't think he had ever seen Kai with that much emotion. So alive. He noticed he was smiling but let it be. He was a bit embarrassed but moreover he was proud that he had made Kai express something positive.

"It's not like you are writing a story" Kai drawled out and shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch, lifting one ankle over the other knee.

He sat up straight instead of leaning over the paper and frowned at Kai.

"I know that. But what does starting a story differ from essay? And don't answer that one is fiction and the other is not"

"Hopefully not" Kai muttered before shaking his head, giving him a glance and then tilting his head. "In a story, you should start with something interesting. Something that makes the reader want to read more to find out what is really happening. Like with a scene that could be interpreted in a few different ways and so the writer reads on, wanting to know the truth of things" Kai shrugged "with an essay, the teacher will be forced to read it, even if it does not start well and all that matters is that you have put the right things in the text."

He blinked and frowned

"Sounds like you have thought about it a lot"

Kai shook his head

"Not really. It's rather obvious, don't you think?" Kai said and smirked at him.

Unsure of how to answer he bit his lip and twirled the pen

"So I can just start with "The final straw that made the war inevitable was when German invaded Czechoslovakia. After that, when Britain and France promised to support Poland in case German attacked against it..."

He stopped when Kai shook his head

"I find it boring that everyone just blames German for it all. I mean, Italy was also invading Ethiopia and Japan invaded China. And Spanish was struggling with Civil war. And had Soviet Union not made the non-aggressive treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop treaty, it is unlikely that German would have really been so eager to fight, despite of Hitler's ambitions."

He gaped

"What?" he asked weakly "How do you know all this?"

Kai snorted

"I have had those lessons last year."

"Yeah but... who really remembers stuff like that?"

Kai kept staring at the TV. And it was for the better because he felt a blush creeping on his face. He had not thought that Kai would pay that much attention to history or other subjects that were rather useless. At least he could not think how knowing this kind of stuff would come in handy.

He listened how the clock ticked away and Kai did not answer. He sighed in relief and started writing.

He decided to add what Kai had said and also mention that the WW I piece treaty had treated German rather badly and unfairly, which also added to German's eagerness to show it's strength.

It took surprisingly little time once he had managed to start and he was reading his essay through for errors when Kai got up from the couch.

"Liked the movie?" he asked without a second thought. When his brain caught up with what his mouth had said it put all the alerts on and ripped his attention from his text.
Slowly he looked up to Kai who was just standing and staring down at him. He swallowed with a dry throat.

"...yes" Kai finally said, drawing out the word a bit. "You done?" Kai inquired

he nodded

"Yeah, just reading it through. Thanks for your help" he added and smiled brightly at Kai. Kai grinned a bit back

"Well, someone has to teach you how to use your brain" Kai said and he could swear it was teasing. Was Kai actually teasing him? He opened his mouth to say something but he didn't know what to say. Kai's eyes narrowed amusedly "Don't stay up too late" Kai said and walked out of the room.

He stared after his team captain a while and then got up and turned on the telly. He needed to know what Kai would have watched and what had made him act so relaxed.

"Charlie and the Chocolate factory?!" he squealed in disbelief.

"Johnny Depp version to be precise" came from the door frame. Jumping in shock the remote control fell from his hand.

"I just... umm" he stuttered and fell silent. Kai walked up to him, lifted the remote and turned the TV off again.

Kai stepped right up to him, looking him intently in the eyes. The intense stare made a shiver run through his spine

"You just what?" Kai asked in a low voice, eyes never leaving his

"I wanted to know...what kind of movies you like..." he mumbled, enchanted by the strong presence and the piercing gaze.

"And why is that?" Kai asked, still in that hushed voice that was melting his bones. He licked his lips absentmindedly and when Kai smirked his eyes were drawn to his lips. They were right there, so close. He drew in a shaky breath and tried to collect his thoughts. Kai chuckled and he felt the warm breath on his face and his mind went completely blank. He could only stare Kai's face, eyes traveling from eyes to lips and momentarily he even glimpsed part of Kai's collarbones, peaking from under Kai's shirt.

In the strange and tranquil moment Kai slowly lifted a hand up and if his brains would still work he would have been shocked and surprised. Now he didn't move at all. Kai's hand touched his cheek and Kai chuckled

"You have ink on your cheek" Kai said, rubbed his cheek a bit and without any warning stepped back, dropping his hand at the same time. He was reeling from the contact and proximity and his body swayed in Kai's direction.

There was odd tinge in Kai's eyes and there was actually a soft smile on his lips when Kai took another step back.

"Good night Maxie" Kai said quietly and walked away.

When Kai was out of his sight his legs gave in under him and he flopped down. He had enough control to aim for the couch.

He was still staring at the door, hands shaking. He could not understand what had happened. But he would be lying if he would say that he hadn't liked it. He pressed a shaking hand to his cheek, the one Kai had touched. Right. He should probably wash the ink away.

Deciding not to dwell more on what happened, he got up and aimed for the bathroom. Switching on the light he walked to the mirror.

And then he frowned. There was no ink on his cheek. And there was no way Kai could have wiped it away so easily, there should have been some smudge still on his face. so Kai had deliberately touched him, nearly caressed his cheek.

He splashed some cold water on his face and tried to get himself under control again. He wanted to believe that Kai had kind came onto him. That would be so good. But he was fearful to actually think so. That would be rather too good to be true.

He traced a finger over his lips in thought. Shame that he had not jumped to the opportunity and just kissed Kai.

He looked himself into the mirror. And made a vow. If something like that ever happened again, he would kiss Kai, no matter how badly it would go.

He left the bathroom and went to his bed. And he was going to do his best to make something like that happen again. Soon. He could still smell Kai's scent, he had never been that close to Kai to really be able to smell him.

His eyes grew heavy and he fell asleep, not worrying about the essay but just dreaming of burning red eyes.

Kai was still not in his room. He was not tired yet. After watching how Maxie had stumbled about before going to bed he was convinced that his efforts had not gone to waste. He had indeed got Maxie interested. Which was nice, he was tired of waiting the other to realize there was no need to keep a distance up. No need to be satisfied with just shy glances and outright staring.

He had many times caught Maxie staring at him. At first it had been weird but over the years he had gotten to know the blondie a bit better and he had to admit, he liked the others company.

He just hoped that tonight had provided enough stimulus for Maxie to work up the courage to do something. He didn't want to be the one to initiate things, he wanted to make sure that Maxie was serious.

He went to the living room and read the essay that Maxie had left behind. It wasn't that bad.

Then he put it down and deciding it had been long enough and that everyone else in the house were asleep, he dug an earplugs and DVD case from his pockets. Now he could really watch the movie. Although he did not regret not being able to see it live from TV. Actually, he was rather pleased that he had missed it. thanks to it he had seen a playful smartmouth side of Max and had got proves that the blondie might be serious with his thing with his team captain. and not just teenage swooning.

Happily, Kai watched the whole movie before heading to bed himself. And he fell asleep, still feeling soft warm skin under his fingers.

So. I happen to like Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Johnny Depp version. I know this was a bit PWP but I also hope that it was fun to read.

Yeah. nothing more to add :D