Author's note: Discussion of m/m relationship

Ages: Kai - 17, Ronan - 14

"That's it. Just hold it...See, it's fine."

Kai studied the portal with a critical eye. It was big enough to walk though without having to hunch over, but barely wide enough for Ronan, let alone both of them. They'd have to work on that, he decided, but maybe not today. Just getting him to open a portal without flinching was a task in itself.

"Can I close it now?"

He glanced over at his brother, who was still watching the swirling Darkness warily. His hands were balled into fists at his sides, and he was paler than normal. Frankly, he looked like he expected something to lunge out of the Darkness and eat him.

"Yeah, we should take a break anyway. Want a sandwich?"

"Roast beef." The portal vanished, Ronan letting out a sigh of relief while Kai went to dig through the mini-cooler.

"We ought to see if Eli can borrow this thing more often, or just get one of our own. It's a lot more practical than Blizzard."

Ronan laughed, dropping onto the grass next to him.

"A lot less messy, too. Freezing that soda was kind of dumb."

"Quit reminding me. It's been forever since I've put a soda in a freezer, okay? I forgot."

Kai handed off the roast beef before grabbing a turkey sandwich, settling back to unwrap it. "You did pretty good today, we'll give it another shot tomorrow."

"Come on Kai, I don't think-"

"No, tomorrow. You need to learn how to control this stuff, or it'll eat you alive."

Ronan had just brought his sandwich to his mouth, then cringed, putting it down in his lap. Kai shook his head. Damn.

"Sorry. Rotten choice of words. But besides that, you need an escape if something happens to me, or I'm not there."

Ronan shot him a fierce glare, grabbing his sandwich again to take a bite. He waited until he'd swallowed before speaking again.

"Nothing's going to happen to you, Kai. I won't let it."

Kai smiled faintly, tearing a corner off the bread. "I know. We're just talking what-ifs. And speaking of protecting people, you still need to pick a spell."

The glare shifted from fierce to simply annoyed. "I did already; Barrier, remember?"

"That's mostly defensive, Ro. I'm talking Thunder or Fire, or something. Blizzard's good, too."

The other boy fell silent, choosing to eat his lunch instead of answering. Kai watched him quietly before shrugging and digging into his own. It wasn't until they'd both finished and the wrappers were stuck back in the cooler that Ronan spoke up again.

"I don't want to be him, Kai. I don't want to hurt people."

Kai reached over, tousling his brother's hair. Ronan leaned into it for a moment, then pulled away.

"You're not going to be, and you won't hurt anybody. But you should know something besides Barrier."

Ronan let out the faintest hint of a whine, not looking up from the grass he'd begun picking through.

"Okay. Just...give me a little more time to settle on something. A few more days."

Well, that was probably as good as it was going to get. "Fine. A few. I'm still teaching you Cure though, that's just common sense."

Ronan lifted his head enough to peer through his bangs at his brother, then smiled. "Someone needs to help poor 'Jem out, right? She's so overworked."

"She's not! That was a fluke, damn it, I thought I was out of range!"

"It was a Neoshadow Kai, I don't think anyone's ever really out of range."

Kai huffed, flopping back onto the grass and folding his arms under his head as he stared thoughtfully up at the sky. He was definitely going to need to be more careful now...not that he hadn't been before. But...

"Kai?"

His gaze shifted to Ronan; he was still playing with the grass, and it suddenly felt to Kai like he was making a point of not looking at him.

"Yeah?"

"Um. Okay. You know that girl, back in the market..."

Kai grinned. Oh good, true confessions time. "Yeees?"

"She's...she's pretty, and everything, she really is. And it got me thinking, sort of, about some stuff, and I just kind of wondered..."

Maybe he could help Ronan pick out something nice for her. Naw, that was better left to 'Jem. Or Eli, even.

"...What if I like boys?"

Ronan's voice was so soft that Kai nearly missed the question. Once it clicked, he pushed himself up on his elbows to stare at his brother. Okay, hadn't been expecting that.

"Well, then you like boys."

Wow, that was simple. Ronan finally looked up, visibly surprised at the answer.

"That's it? You don't think I'm weird, or sick, or-"

"I think you're fourteen years old and have plenty of time to figure out if you like girls, boys, both, or none of the above."

Kai smiled reassuringly before falling back over. "But you can talk to me about it whenever you need to."

He heard Ronan sigh, and it sounded even more relieved than when he'd closed the portal.

"Thanks Kai."

"Welcome. Now..." He smirked, keeping his eyes on the clouds drifting overhead. "Think you'll still go for redheads?"

He laughed as grass suddenly rained down on him, not bothering to try and block it.

"Thank you Kai!"