Nia and Kid followed Ava into the backyard, noticing they were early. Only three others were there. Another tall boy with freckles and black hair as well as a blond boy of similar height and age were also present, lastly there was a shorter lankier boy closer to Nia's age with black hair and dark eyes.
Kid asked Ava if she needed help setting anything up. She shook her head 'no' while stating, "my cousins came early to help with that."
She pointed to the three other boys, and Kid suddenly realized he'd seen two them from somewhere. Ava waved her cousins over and the boys climbed out of the pool walking over to them.
"Hey, I'm Ace," the dark haired freckled boy stated as he extended his hand to Kid.
"Kid," He answered as he shook the boy's hand.
"Alright so it's three boys and two princesses so far," The blond commented. Ava rolled her eyes before shooting a disapproving glare at him and groaned, "for real Sabo? Can you not be a lecher for five minutes?"
"Hey! I said 'Princesses' that means—any chumps wanna mess with one of you one of us steps in—or all of us," Sabo defended himself.
"Uh-huh—careful Nia. Sabo's a smooth talker but he's also a major flirt," Ava cautioned.
"Ah Pipsqueak can handle herself," Kid replied while shooting an aggressive glare at Sabo. She demonstrated this when she dodged Luffy's attempt at leaping onto her back, and glared at the boy stating, "well you haven't matured any, Luffy."
"Ah," was all that came from Sabo after seeing the expression Kid gave him. Ava retreated into the house to change into her swimsuit and almost bumped into someone else who was carrying a tray containing a covered pitcher of lemonade and a stack of solo cups.
"Sorry Law," Ava apologized before resuming her race up the stairs. The raven haired 18-year-old raised an eyebrow at her antics but shook his head as he headed out to the pool area and set the tray of lemonade down.
"Alright we've got some lemonade for refreshment whenever you guys get thirsty," he announced.
He glanced over at the group and stated, "So the menu is basically barbeque. There's salmon, pork sausages, beef patties and tofu dogs. I've got some green salads and potato salad in the fridge. "
Kid observed Law turning and heading back into the house before asking Ace, "Who's that guy?"
"Oh—that's Law, he's our older brother. If you hadn't guessed: Luffy, Sabo and I are adopted. So's Law," Ace answered with a shrug of his shoulders.
At this Kid blinked a few times, then his shoulders shook with a quiet chuckle that erupted into laughter.
"Sounds like the five of us all have something in common. We're orphans," Nia explained. Kid pointed to Nia and gave the thumbs up as he calmed himself down. He couldn't believe this. What were the odds of five orphans being at the same party?
"Cool deal," Luffy acknowledged, his voice squeaking a little. Kid almost blushed in sympathy for him. His voice had changed overnight, and he'd thankfully never gone through the embarrassment of his voice cracking. He hoped he never would. He knew some guys did, and he felt bad for them.
Nia smiled a bit as she sat by Kid, the tall redhead shifting a little so Nia could rest her head on his shoulder. He knew that sometimes walking in the heat would cause her lungs to feel a bit sticky, but not enough that she'd need her inhaler. Sometimes just being close to someone who knew about it was enough for her to be able to calm down from the initial panic of 'my lungs don't feel right'. Luffy observed them for a few minutes before asking, "what's the deal?"
"Friends," Kid and Nia replied in unison. Luffy stood with his hands on his hips, watching their body language before stating, "I'm not buying it. You two are pretty close together."
"So? I'm not about to steal a feel from her, she won't do that with me either," Kid retorted with a dismissive glare at the younger boy.
"Luffy, sometimes guys and girls are just friends. Kinda like me and Yamato—or Isuka," Ace offered.
"You got the hots for Isuka though," Luffy pointed out.
"Shut up about that," Ace growled out.
"Or me and Koala," Sabo threw out then looked to Luffy as he hinted, "You and Nami…. Or are you trying to say there's something else there?"
"Huh? N-no way! Na-Nami's older than me," Luffy sputtered. His brothers chuckled at his stuttering as they exchanged knowing glances with Kid and Nia.
"I'm getting back in," Luffy stated as he made a running jump into the pool. The other guys shook their heads and Nia straightened up, sitting next to Kid without leaning on him and brought her knees up to her chest.
Kid watched her shift and asked, "you good?"
Nia nodded her head in response. Ace watched her for a moment, taking in the way she was sitting, he figured Kid was thinking the same thing as he leaned down and whispered in Nia's ear. Ace watched as Nia shook her head from side to side.
Kid placed his hand on Nia's shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. The girl stood up and pulled the dress over her head. Kid hesitated momentarily before doing the same with his muscle shirt. Nia looked to Kid and gasped. Ace's eyes went wide while Sabo blinked his eyes repeatedly.
Nia sat back down next to Kid as her fingers grazed over a scar on the lower left side of his back. She glanced at Kid's face which held a look she hadn't seen before but the sadness held within his eyes prompted her to not ask the question that was trying to force itself off the tip of her tongue.
This wasn't a transplant scar, like the one she had seen on her mom when she began experiencing kidney failure from her chemo treatments. This scar was from being on the receiving end of malicious intent.
"Dude," Ace spoke.
"Don't," Kid requested. The dark-haired boy nodded in agreement while the blond suggested, "who's up for Marco Polo?"
Kid lowered his gaze to the deck before telling Nia, "I know you have questions. I just—don't want to answer questions right now. Later, okay?"
"Yeah, definitely," Nia agreed.
He grabbed the sunscreen and looked to Nia, "C'mon, I'll help you make sure your back's covered."
"You don't have to I can-" she began to protest before stopping herself. She bit her lip while admitting, "actually—I can't on my own… not all of it. My mom used to help me."
"Well, right now you've got me," Kid advised her. She looked up at him from down cast eyes.
He chuckled as he admitted, "yeah. It's a little awkward—but better a little awkward now, than skin cancer later."
He set the backpack over his lap and gestured for her to stand in front of him. He squeezed some sunscreen into the palm of his hand before holding his other hand over it to warm the lotion up a little. He then began applying it to the areas of her back he knew she'd struggle to reach effectively, namely center and lower center.
"Just so we're clear though—if you need a reapplication—come to me or go to one of the girls. Don't trust just any guy to do this," Kid warned.
Nia nodded a little while verbally replying, "Okay. I'll get your back after you're done with mine"
"Sure," Kid agreed. 'I may need to use the washroom before I join them in the pool,' He thought to himself.
