Do You Blame Yourself?

[Chapter 38] - A Little Family Problem

If anyone was to think that the next morning would be completely normal, they would've been wrong.

Oh, so wrong.

Not in a bad way kind of wrong, no. It was awkward. Very, very awkward. So damn awkward that a certain someone started to suspect things.

"We are not talking about last night, nope." Peso had already brought it up at breakfast, only making the topic more and more widespread.
"Yes we are, don't you dare run away." Kwazii stared him down. He was on the verge of chasing his boyfriend around the whole kitchen if he had to. "I can cover more ground than you, so running wouldn't work well. Try sprinting," he joked.
"Thanks for the advice, Kwaz!"
"Oh no you don't!"

"You guys are acting like little kids, and I don't know how to feel about it," Barnacles stated, turning to look at them. Or, he at least tried to, but they were still too fast as the two continued to run around the kitchen.
"And you look like my dead great-grandfather but I don't say anything," Kwazii shot back, freezing in his spot as he practically stared a hole into his head.
"Please don't make jokes while I'm drinking or I will choke, oh, my god," Shellington stammered, coughing into the crook of his elbow.

"That's on you, you found my jokes funny, which is surprising."
"Ooh, self burn, you don't see him doing those very often," Tweak announced, cutting into the conversation.
"You'll be seeing those more often, don't worry!" he shouted.
"No, no one is hearing any self-loathing from him. Not on my watch," Peso cut in, softly hitting Kwazii on the shoulder with the tips of his fingers.
"Let me hate myself for a second, please."
"Nope."
"Please."
"No, final answer."

This was when a certain someone was getting suspicious. A confession that took too long, awkwardness after, and added onto that? More closeness? Something was up, but did they want to ask about it? No, not right now.

What if the closeness was making up for a rejection- No. No. Don't think like that.

But that made some sense?

But it also didn't.

"What if they ask us things? Anything?" Peso whispered into Kwazii's ear.
"Like what? What would they ask?" he whispered back.
"About if we're dating or something? Do we have an answer for that or are we telling them on the spot? Are we even ready for that announcement?"
"Just tell them, if they ask you, that we're keeping it calm until we're both ready for something serious. They'll buy it."
"Will they?"
"For a while at least, long enough for us to decide when to announce it," he reeled back, looking him in the eyes. "All right, matey?"
"Yeah, it's all right, no worries."

"Odd fact, but did anyone know that it's possible to actually die of laughter? People have died having laughing fits and that's how they passed," Barnacles stated.
"Chrysippus?" Professor Inkling questioned, glancing up.
"Yes, you've heard of him?"
"You can die of laughter? What's next, a breakup?" Kwazii called out, wondering when in God's name did this become a topic of conversation.
"Both are possible, Kwazii. While both are very rare to happen in people, history of people dying due to... that... has been recorded in some historical texts," Professor Inkling explained.
"You can die of a broken heart?"

"Very unlikely, though. Broken hearts can send out lots of stress hormones after a traumatic event. They can put you in short-term heart failure," Peso added.
"That's terrifying."

"Off the topic of death, I have a question."

Uh oh.

UH OH.

Kwazii stared down Barnacles, awaiting the question. "Go on, what's your question?" he asked, not moving a muscle, or even blinking.

It was, according to the captain, genuinely creepy.