Chapter Two – Meddling Cousins

Kel was dreaming. She was standing in the Middle of New Hope as rain started to fall, she could see faces of everyone she knew. Her refugees, Neal, Yuki, her parents and siblings, her year mates and she started to twirl, looking up at the sky as the rain kept falling and she laughed, because she was alive. Thunder broke into her dream and Kel frowned. The thunder didn't stop, and a sharp pain woke her up.

Kel groaned, her head was pounding, and so was her door. She frowned in confusion and tried to sit up only to realise that an arm was snaked around her waist. Her deepened as her pounding head tried to work out what was happening.

"Kel! Open up! I don't believe you have ever slept in, in your entire life!" Neal's voice was loud through her door. There was a moan from beside her, and Kel looked down to see Dom trying to wake up. Dom was in her bed! With only her blanket to cover his, rather gloriously naked body. Kel muttered a curse as the night before came back to her, and she tried to formulate a plan to make Neal leave without noticing his cousin was in her bed.

"Kel! I know you're in there! My new wife would like to practice with you and I am NOT about to deny her anything, especially since she's only been my wife for all of 12 hours!"

Kel groaned and looked beside her again to see a pair of bright blue eyes twinkling up at her. "I'll deal with you in a minute." She muttered to him, finding a pair of breeches and tunic to drag on so she could make her loud best friend go away.

Kel opened the door to a dishevelled Neal and groaned again at the brightness outside. "What do you want Neal?!"

He stood with his hands on his hips, "Did you not hear a word I just said? What's wrong with you?" His annoyance with her gave way for concern and Kel realised she must look terrible.

"Wolset made me drink something last night and it just did not agree with me."

"Serves you right for drinking with the Own. Now can you hurry up and become normal again so I can deliver you to Yuki?"

Kel glared at him, carefully keeping the door open only enough for her to stick her head out of it. "I've got other things on my mind today, you just got married, can't you entertain her for a day?"

Neal whistled, "Wow, that's some hang over."

Kel glared at him and began to think of how many ways she could make him pay for this, that didn't involve opening the door. "Go away Neal. I'll see you when I feel better." There was a thud as something big and heavy hit the ground in her room and Kel closed her eyes and sent a quick prayer to whoever was listening.

"What on earth was that?"

"Nothing. Goodbye Neal." Kel tried to close the door on her friend, but he shoved past her and stopped suddenly, still as a statue. Kel ran her fingers through her hair and turned to see Dom trying to hide from his cousin underneath a blanket. Under any other circumstances Kel would have found the image of Dom like that rather amusing. Instead she forcibly removed Neal from her room and locked the door.

Dom looked up rather sheepishly. "Sorry…"

Kel just smiled and shook her head, and prepared herself for what would inevitably be, a rather painful day.

They were headed down to the mess hall, Kel in a fresh pair of clothes and Dom wearing a crumpled version of what he was wearing the night before, when Dom stopped abruptly. "Kel, we should talk about this."

Kel sighed and looked the couple of inches up into his really really blue eyes. "I know. Can it wait until after I eat something though?"

Dom smiled wearily and nodded. "Okay, let's go and hope Meathead isn't in there. My headache is bad enough as it is." Kel grumbled before continuing to the mess hall.

The cooks had decided to serve breakfast as lunch, considering most of the fort had been part of the celebrations the night before and were only just beginning to emerge from their beds. Kel and Dom both grabbed a tray laden with food and went to find a quiet corner to sit in. They had just begun to eat when Wolset plunked down beside them, one hand on his temple and the other holding his tray which was mostly empty. Dom laughed rather loudly, causing both Kel and Wolset to hold their heads. "Oh my poor kittens." He cooed, "Won't be doing that again in a hurry will you?" He was answered with a series of groans.

Kel was starting to feel better after food had made its way into her stomach, they were still sitting in their corner, as several men from Dom's squad had been periodically making appearances over the course of the next hour. It was in this corner that Neal found his cousin and his best friend, his face red, and as Dom would later claim, steam coming out of his ears.

"Still in last night's clothes Domitan?" Neal drawled. Kel sighed and Dom looked at his cousin with what Kel could only describe, as anger.

"I think we should go for a bit of a walk. Don't you agree Kel?" Dom was artfully trying to extract them from prying eyes before the onslaught of his cousin's anger became a rather public spectacle which would only embarrass Kel. The remaining members of Dom's squad at their table looked on with interest and would have followed to eavesdrop, but decided that Neal was too loud after last night's antics.

When they were safely away from prying eyes, and ears, Neal turned to glare at them both. "What in Mithros' name was going on this morning?!"

Kel decided to play along for a little while because at the end of the day he was her best friend, and she had to put up with him indefinitely at New Hope. "What did it look like Neal?"

"It looked like my cousin naked in my best friends room!" He started to make the funny wheezing noises he made when he was working himself into a tantrum. Kel hadn't heard him throw one this bad since they were pages and he found out about her fights with Joren and his cronies.

"Then that's what it was. Can you leave us alone now please?" Kel really did not want to be discussing this where anyone could hear. If only because she liked her privacy.

"NO! Apparently I can't leave either of you alone! Did he just happen to lose his clothes or was more involved than that?" Kel growled at her best friend and before she knew it she was shaking her finger at him like a disgruntled school teacher, "Come talk to me when you've grown up and become more mature, Nealan!" and stormed off.

Neal was not phased in the slightest and turned to rip into his cousin, when he recognised the look in Dom's eyes. "We haven't even talked about it yet Neal. When we've talked about, I will let Kel tell you what's going on. If. She. Wants. To." Dom's voice was low and he was very angry.

"In the meantime, keep your gob shut and let her work out what she wants." Then he too, turned and stormed off.

Neal stood in the corner by himself for a moment. Then threw his hands in the air and started going on about how unfair the world was. It wasn't until later when he was sitting with Yuki that he realised, he had never seen his cousin like that about any of his female conquests. Nor had he seen his best friend smile as much as she had been at breakfast.