A/N: I've been churning out a ridiculous amount of angst lately, partly due to the awesomeness that is season 5. So, here's something a bit happier. Enjoy it while you can!
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not my world. Just my imagination borrowing them for a bit.
"Ok, but did he really get out of doing his chores by hiding in a barrel of dead fish?" David asked, arching an eyebrow.
Liam laughed as he glanced sideways at Killian, who scratched his ear nervously, a pink blush spreading across his cheeks. "Actually, he did. He smelled so bad, none of the crew wanted to go near enough to tell him what to do." Killian felt the smile on his own face, a welcome change from recent events. He knew this time would end, and far too soon, but he was determined to enjoy his brother's presence while he could, but he could almost swear Liam was making it difficult on purpose.
"Oh, I have one!" Henry piped up, sliding across into the booth beside David. "He said he once talked down a giant squid from attacking the ship. Is that true?"
"Hold on," Killian interrupted, holding up his hand. "First of all, I said I convinced it, I never said I talked to it-"
"Did he ever show you the signs he learned to communicate with whales?" Liam forced in, leaning forward on the table. Killian let out a sigh, hiding his face in his hand. "He was so certain he could get the whales to understand him," Liam continued, his voice carrying that familiar playfulness he had used whenever he was making up stories to entertain them as lads, a voice he knew well from so many nights spent bunking together aboard the various vessels that had been their home, a voice he'd missed so much for over a century. "You should have seen him, standing at the edge of the ship, waving his arms like a fool toward the open sea."
He heard Henry and David laughing as he covered his eyes, and he could feel Emma beside him struggling to control her reaction, her arms shaking as suppressed laughter shook her.
He looked to her, feigning insult. "I can't believe you saved me from Hades just so my brother could kill me from embarrassment."
She nudged him gently in his side, his recently healed ribs aching only slightly against her light touch. "Just be thankful I haven't shared any of my stories about you."
"-and when it breached, he was adamant that it was a reply to his previous question," Liam was saying between wheezing breaths. David had tears in his eyes and Henry had his head on the table, his shoulders heaving with his laughter.
"Ok, you win," David said, calming a bit as he wiped the moisture from his cheeks. "He must have been quite an imaginative little boy."
Oh no, Killian groaned inwardly. Not-
"Little boy?!" Liam exclaimed loudly, leaning back in the booth. "He was 19 at the time!"
The three of them exploded with a new round of laughter and, this time, even Emma couldn't hold back her giggles.
"Dealing with Cerberus was less painful than you lot," he grumbled, her cheeks flushing hotly and, he was sure, quite red.
He felt Liam's arm around his shoulder as his brother pulled him close.
"It's all in good fun, Killian," his brother said happily.
"Thanks for that, Liam," he grunted sarcastically. "I could have done quite well without you utterly destroying my fearsome reputation."
Liam threw his head back and let out a laugh. "I just think your new family deserves to know what they're getting into."
Despite the levity of the conversation, he could feel his throat tighten at the word. Family. It was true. These people, gathered around him in this poor excuse for a diner in the centre of the Underworld, they were his family, old and new, the people he cared for most in the world. He swung his arm across Liam's back, embracing him tightly, just for a moment. Liam met his gaze, his brother's familiar blue eyes mirroring the same emotion as his.
Family.
Killian coughed, clearing his throat.
"All right," he nodded, turning to the Charming family across the table. "Then I think it's only fair I tell you all about the time my brother managed to give the entire crew food poisoning because of something he misread in a book."
"This sounds like a good one," David said, crossing his arms over his chest as Henry put his elbows on the table, chin resting on his hands expectantly.
"Wait, wait, wait," Liam protested, pulling his arm away, his hands held up in surrender. "That's definitely not fair!"
Killian winked at him. "I'm a pirate now, brother. We don't play fair."
Liam groaned and covered his ears. "Fine, but I'm not listening while you butcher the facts again."
"Funny choice of words, 'butcher'...," Killian began, leaning toward Henry.