Alive

By: Aviantei

33 mph

Nate does the polite thing where he tries to protest to the idea of us having a party so soon, but the rest of us steamroll him into celebrating since that'd been the plan the whole time, and while he makes a pretty good show of reluctance, I can tell by the light in his eyes that's he's excited to get back to normal without any issues. Soon enough, he's blowing out candles and stuffing his face, not to mention taking full advantage of having Alexander there in person. I haven't heard Nate talk so much out loud in ages—not that he's usually silent or anything.

I'll tell him that I'm paying for him to take a trip to meet the rest of Team Velshtein later. He still hasn't gotten over the set of autographs I brought along. Besides, if I revealed everything at once, all of Caleb's hard work on his art piece would go to waste, and we can't have that, not with a bill for art supplies that big.

Well worth it, though.

No one objects to having a night in at home with the mass of reheated delivery food as our dinner, though we do order in an ice cream cake for good measure. I feel bad for the days when people couldn't get whatever they wanted just dropped off at their door. For a group of five people, we sure do manage to make a loud and festive atmosphere. Working the Tailor magic, plus one, I suppose.

From a spot on the couch with an empty soda can in hand, I watch Nate talk animatedly to Alexander inside the kitchen—something to do with mechs, I imagine. Caleb's perched on a bench nearby, more listening than speaking, but he seems to be enjoying things, nonetheless. If Alexander had stuck around in Germany, I'm sure he would have made a great older brother for that sibling of his. Maybe I should tell him that and see what happens.

Before that thought can get any farther, someone plops down on the couch beside me, and by process of elimination, it has to be Dad. He has a plate of chips from the Mexican place in hand, and he offers me one. Even with the lack of salsa, I comply. "It's not like you to stay out of the line of action," he says.

I shrug, still watching the trio. "It wouldn't be much of a gift for Nate if I was there to still all of Alexander's attention."

"And by that, you mean you wouldn't be able to keep your nose out of it?" I pout a bit, but I can't deny it. Dad chuckles. "I'm sure Nate wouldn't mind. He misses spending time with you, you know. Both of them do."

"Trust me; by the time we leave, they'll get their fill of me." When I moved away, I promised myself that I'd always make time for family, no matter what wild adventures I went on, and I like to think I kept that. I glance over to Dad and raise an eyebrow. "It's not like you to think that it's even worth lecturing me over stuff like that. What's on your mind?"

"Ah, you caught me." Dad rubs the back of his neck for a moment, then he catches the nervous tick and lowers his arm. "I figured I'd let you know that I talked things over with…well, you know." I grimace at the mention, but I don't protest out loud. No sense in getting upset when she's not around. "I reminded her that I didn't want her around my family. Reset some boundaries."

I nod, finding the tiny know of anxiety from the whole incident left over in my stomach. "I take it that she took that as well as she takes everything else?"

Dad shrugs as he pops a chip into his mouth. I follow his lead, letting myself indulge in the taste of salt. "You really can't control other people, but you can control yourself. That's all there is to it. She may not have liked it, but I didn't back down." He sighs, moving the snack plate from his lap to the table before lifting a hand to his chest. "Though maybe I should work on that habit. Even sticking to your guns can have its limits."

Though I feel like pestering him with questions and pressing the advantage, I know I would get way too worked up, and that would break up the boys' happy little bubble. I'm not in the mood to be responsible for that. "You sound like you have more than one thing you wanted to talk to me about."

"That's right." His hand presses hard against his chest for a moment, but he drops his arm to the side. "I don't like to admit it, but you have a point. I've been going around putting myself at more risk than usual, and that's not fair to you or your brothers. I don't know if I'm ready to quit yet, but I do have a follow up appointment in a bit, and I'm going to actually follow their recommendations this time." He lets out a sound between a sigh and a chuckle. "We're in trouble if you're the one lecturing me about my safety, Kir."

On instinct, I swat his arm. "You and Nate said the same thing? I'm not that unreliable!" Okay, yes, I'm not the patron saint of rationality, either, but I do have my limits! Just very few of them. I still laugh along, though, more out of relief than anything. "You're at least going to take better care of yourself this time? You promise?"

The words sound childish, as if a promise is going to fix things, but I don't take it back. I'm a kid who's worried about her dad, and if that means I need to get vulnerable for a second, then why the fuck not? It's not even worrying about the stress and the gray.

I just don't want to lose anyone else special to me.

Dad doesn't call me out, either. "I promise, Kirsten. If I went around telling you to not put yourself at such risk, then I should do the same. Even if it is a bit late."

"It's fine. Better late than never." I lean towards him for a hug, letting myself feel safe and relieved for a second in the embrace. "And I know people who are really good at keeping an eye on things. If you don't behave, I'll come back and let you have it."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you." Dad pats my back one more time before I pull away, settling back into the cushions. "I wasn't really planning on bringing up any of the serious stuff tonight since I didn't want to ruin the mood, but I thought you might want to know. Sorry 'bout that."

"Nah, I'd rather know." With those couple of worries out of the way, things actually feel like the fun and relaxing trip it was supposed to be in the first place. Still, I've been sitting in the same place for too long, and I stand, more than ready to stretch out my legs. "Just make sure you let Nate and C know soon, too. They'll so spy on you for me."

Dad nods. "I'll talk to them soon. We can just let them enjoy tonight for now."

While it would probably be nice to just get it over with, I don't mind Dad holding off too much. I don't want to interrupt their smiles for anything, either. So, yeah, it can wait. I give Dad a small wave and head back to the kitchen, hoping to refresh my drink and see if my stomach can tolerate anything else. I don't even get halfway there before Caleb catches sight of me, the excitement more than clear in his eyes.

"Kir!" he says, a grin stretching across his face. "Alexander said he'd show me some fencing stuff!"

While Caleb is no doubt the artistic type, there's just too many pieces of DNA in him to not be interested in something more physically active. He's mentioned fencing a few times here and there, but he hasn't delved into lessons or anything. But Alexander is way too good of a sport, and he's happy to indulge. And so, Caleb and I sit side by side in a private gym room, while Alexander makes his way through his warm up stances, the saber a flick of silver in his hand.

It's funny. I've read all about his fencing championships, seen the equipment in his workout room in his home. But those things don't compare to how Alexander holds himself in perfect form, the dexterity of the way he makes the sword move in shifts of the arm and well times flicks of the wrist, the look of half-concentration, half-determination on his face that ends in a slight smirk and makes him seem oh so alive.

How much else am I going to be able to learn about him in the future?

"So cool," Caleb says beside me, rapt at attention, the same way he looks with a sketchbook open in front of him. "Do you think I could learn to do that?"

"Probably, if you put the practice in," I say. Alexander may be a frickin' genius, but he still puts the hard work in. I don't think there's anything out there that Caleb couldn't do if he put the hours in it to obtain mastery. I catch sight of Caleb's hands twitching and chuckle. "I'm sure he wouldn't say no if you asked to take some pics or video for reference. You'd just have to make sure to keep them to yourself." Though I'm not sure if I or Hamgra would be more annoyed by candid pics of Alexander going viral.

"Really?!" Caleb's otherwise controlled voice shoots up in volume, and Alexander pauses in the middle of his practice to glance over at us. Caleb's face quickly turns red, and he waves his hands through the air. "Sorry! Didn't mean to break your concentration."

Alexander shakes his head with a chuckle. "Trust me. I put up with Kirsten all the time; a little outburst like that isn't enough to break my concentration." Caleb tries to his snigger, but it doesn't work out that well. Yes, yes, make jokes at my expense. You pass since you made Caleb laugh. Despite his words, Alexander moves out of his ready stance and walks back towards us. "If you want, though, I could walk you through some basics. It'd probably be way more interesting than just sitting on the sidelines."

"No, don't worry, it's plenty interesting! I think it's neat to see all the motion and stuff, so…"

I nudge Caleb's side. "You should give it a shot. At least you'll know whether you like it or not." It's kind of funny, how Caleb looks so much like Mom but he's the least adventurous out of us three. I give him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Alexander doesn't bite. That's me you have to worry about."

"Ohmygod, Kir." Caleb groans, but he hops to his feet anyways. "If you really don't mind, I'd love it if you could show me some stuff."

Alexander nods. "Not a problem at all. You ever held a saber before…?"

Though it would be fun to jump in with them, I keep myself situated on the sidelines, letting their excited voices watch over me without having to hear any of the words. I poke at my phone a bit, opening up the camera and snapping a picture here and there while they're not looking. Forget what I said about Caleb; the real funny part is how I always insisted that I need to be in motion to see the world in color. But when it comes down to it, sometimes you can just appreciate the view while slowing down a bit.

What other new things are you going to teach me about myself, Alexander? The only way to figure that out is to keep sharing experiences like these, the memories that bring so much happiness in them out of almost nothing.

I like the little mundane moments more than I thought.

[Author's Notes]

There's only two chapters left after this one? What the what?

You might have guessed, considering how things are slowing down, but I honestly like some peaceful falling action every now and then. Gives you some moments to appreciate how far things have gone. Also I haven't done nearly enough with Alexander fencing in this fic, so here we go.

Next week is the penultimate chapter, so please look forward to it!

-Avi

[12.09.2019]