Stay Awake

Part 3

Hercules but his lip in frustration as he accidentally flicked another piece of calamari off of his plate.
He blushed as he could hear several bits of stifled laughter radiate across the large table.
"First time eating with chopsticks?" Lien, Kiku's Vietnamese sister, asked, hiding a smile.
"No," Herc grumbled. "I've used them before. Or at least I've tried to at oriental restaurants, but I always end up having to ask for silverware."
"Oh, well you're not doing bad. Do you want me to get you a fork?"
"No, I'm fine."
Another lull in the conversation causing everyone to return back to their food.
Honestly, that was the peak of conversation so far.
Mei swallowed the last bit of rice in her mouth, and tried to clear the awkwardness out of the room.
"So, where are you from? Pretty much all of us were adopted and brought here when we were kids. I'm from Taiwan."
Herc raised an eyebrow as he swallowed the piece of food he had gotten triumphantly into his mouth.
"My family is from Greece, I was born there but we moved to America when I was young."
"Yes I remember you saying that," Kiku said, finally speaking up. "Do you still speak the language?"
Herc raised his eyebrow.
"Greek? No not really. I can recognize basic words but I was maybe five when I moved here."
"Oh."
"Didn't you say you were Japanese?"
Kiku nodded precisely.
"Yes. Part if the reason I got into anime and manga was because of the stereotype that I was supposed to. After I found a few  good series, I developed a strong passion for drawing and reading the genre."
"Yeah that's why he's got more anime junk in his room than a museum," one of Kiku's brothers chuckled.
The group laughed as Kiku sunk down in his seat.
"Hyung!" The eldest brother snapped sternly.
The rest of the siblings gripped their chopsticks nervously as Yao glared down the young South Korean.
"I was just teasing him. We aren't going to have him around that much longer ya' know," Hyung murmured.
Kiku and Herc met each other's eyes nervously as they simultaneously realized it was tradition for newly met soulmates to move in together. Especially if one or both of them had their own living space like in their case.
"Uh, Hyung was it," Hercules asked.
The young adult nodded.
Hercules shifted nervously.
"It's going to be a while before that can be situated."
Yao set down his chopsticks forcefully, a stern look in his eyes.
"And why is that?"
The Grecian took a calming breath.
"I was recently fired from my job at the college archives."
He fidgeted nervously as Yao locked eyes with him.
"Why?"
Hercules swallowed again trying to calm himself. For such a small man, Kiku's eldest brother was extremely intimidating.
"I have hypersomnia. I fall asleep really easily unless I'm actively occupied. I was trying to switch out to a new medication that was supposed to, and does work better, but my boss wouldn't let me take the few days off I needed and wouldn't take my excuse when I dozed off a few times. So I ended up jobless."
He couldn't read Yao's expression, even when he spoke.
"Are you actively looking for one?"
Hercules nodded curtly.
"Yes, Kiku is trying to put in a good word for me at the train station and I've applied to several other businesses. I just don't really have past job experience because I only worked at a small restaurant during college and that was it. It might also be the fact that they see my medical history and make up excuses."
It was silent for a moment as Yao pondered this.
With a grunt, he stood up and motioned for Hercules to come to his side of the table.
As they finally stood face to face, Herc suddenly felt a lot smaller compared to the man who was nearly a foot shorter than him.
With a final drawn out look, Yao scanned with sharp angry eyes.
After thoroughly examing his brother's soulmate one last time, he exhaled and in a swift motion, his cold exterior melted into a warm, inviting one.
He bowed his head and spoke.
"My apologies for unnerving you. After our adoptive parents' death, I have had to take over as head of the household. With everything we had to deal with since then, it's been a rule that no one gets near my siblings without my approval, soulmate for not. I tend to act a little sterner when judging someone and I can see I have made you nervous."
Hercules shifted back in shock and looked to Kiku for reassurance.
The young man shrugged.
"I wasn't supposed to warn you. But Yao is generally a lot nicer and more approachable of a person."
Li Xiao, Kiku's youngest brother who was also Chinese(actually from a 'separate' place called Hong Kong) also threw out his two cents.
"You should have seen poor Emil when I brought him in the first time. I thought he was going to cry when Yao was questioning him about his college choices. Even I was a little scared."
Yao shrugged.
"Yeah, I'm overprotective, but you know who his brother in law is. I don't trust a man who owns a store specifically selling decorative weapons. The axes are unnerving."
Hercules pushed his eyebrows together.
"So did I pass or or are you going to throw me out?"
Yao recoiled in surprise for a moment, but relaxed when he saw Hercules' goofy smile.
"No, I think you passed."
He gave Hercules a soft pat on the arm before gesturing for him to go sit back down.
Once settled, Yao picked up his chopstick sand pointed it at Herc.
"You said you worked at the Archives. Does that mean you are interested ingoing into that type of field as a career?"
Herc nodded.
"Then I might be able to help. I work as a curator at the museum down on Louis Street, so I might be able to help you get some footing with that group. If you prove to me you are a hard worker, I can even give you a good recommendation with my boss that might gloss over your hypersomnia a bit."
Hercules' heart warmed at the realization of how nice everyone had been to him.
"Thank you."
The group sat in silence for a few seconds before Yao spoke up.
"I'm glad we could help, you are part of our family now and we stick together. We try and-"
"Oh come on!"
The group startled as Hyung shouted and dramatically threw his arm over his face.
Yao sighed and rolled his eyes.
"What are you whining about now?"
Hyung practically sprang to his feet in preparation for his explanation.
"We now have practically two of the biggest guys in all of Chinatown in our family and they're both wimps."
"Hyung!" Yao and Kiku snapped in unison.
The rest of the group held their breath as Herc watched Hyung quizzically for a second before shrugging.
"What's so bad about having emotions? I think you would like me a lot less if I were completely cold."
The whole room sighed in relief which prompted Hercules to look at everyone in confusion. What did they expect them to say?
Poor Hyung was being stared down by Yao with a gaze that could melt steel.
Kiku opened his mouth to apologize when a new person rounded the corner.
"I hope you weren't including me in your 'wimps'. That would be very unkind of you to say about me."
Hyung shrunk down in fear as a very tall silver blond rounded the corner and walked into the room.
It only took a few strides for him to reach Hyung's chair.
The young man flinched away from the near-giant man as a hand was pressed down on his shoulder.
"Ivan," Yao sighed setting down his chopsticks. "Stop scaring him. He might be stupid, but he means no harm."
"Hey-" Hyung started but was silenced by a solid squeeze.
"Don't you think you should apologize to your siblings for disrupting dinner? Possibly by cleaning their dishes while they continue their conversation?"
"Yes sir," Hyung mumbled as he stood up.
Once the young teen left with his arms full of plates. The newcomer turned back to Hercules.
"Sorry about that. Hyung has a habit of getting on my nerves. I am Ivan Braginski, Yao's soulmate."
Herc nodded and stood, taking Ivan's outstretched hand.
"I am Hercules Karpusi and I'm Kiku's other half."
Ivan tilted his head and offered a gentle smile.
"I have heard of you. I am truly sorry if I scared you."
Hercules sighed and shook his head.
"Not really. I think Yao had me more unnerved than you."
Ivan chuckled and looked over at Yao who was watching the confrontation with a raised eyebrow.
"You really should stop doing that. You are going to scare away someone important one day."
Yao shrugged and gestured towards the table.
"Do you want to sit down and eat?"
Ivan shook his head and made his way around the table to Yao's side.
"I'm just happy to be home," he murmured nuzzling his face into Yao's neck.
"Aiya! Your nose is cold!"
The rest of the table chuckled as they watched the pair's interaction.
Slowly the rest of the dinner dissolved into separate conversations, one of them being Hercules reassuring Kiku that the night wasn't a disaster.

After another hour or so, Herc said his goodbyes and dragged Kiku out the door, promising Yao to come by the museum later.
Once outside, Hercules took Kiku in his arms as a slight protection against the biting wind that was swirling around them.
"So," he purred. "Did you give any thought to what we are going to do about our living situation?"
Kiku fumbled with a wayward strand of hair.
"Sort of, but I think we need to figure out the whole job situation first."
Herc tilted his head.
"Do you not want to move in with me?"
Kiku shook his head forcefully.
"No that's not it, it's just-"
Hercules squeezed him tighter.
"Yeah I know. It's a little much right now."
He pulled back and looked Kiku in the eyes.
"Would you like to take it slower?"
Blushing furiously, Kiku nodded.
"Okay then, goodnight Kiku."
Hercules pulled back and turned to leave., but arm was caught by Kiku's and he was forcefully turned around.
"Hercules, aren't you forgetting something?"
Herc was momentarily stunned but covered it up with a light smile.
"Of course."
He leaned in, taking Kiku's chin in his hand.
Barely a breaths width away, Hercules made the move to push their lips together.
And was stopped by Kiku's hand pushing on his chest.
"I meant you were going to introduce me to your cats," Kiku practically shouted, blood rushing to his cheeks as he stumbled backwards.
It was also Hercules' turn to blush furiously as he backed up.
"Sorry."
Kiku shook his head.
"It's okay. Can we get going now?"
"Of course," Herc said, offering his hand.
As the two walked down the steps Hercules suddenly stopped and reached into his coat.
"I almost forgot about these."
After wresting with the zipper, he pulled out a slightly squished box of Pocky.
"I was doing some research on Japanese culture and I thought these looked good. Do you want one?"
Kiku stared at Hercules, wide eyed for a second before realizing Herc had gotten a separate stick out for himself.
So he wasn't offering to play the Pocky game?
Kiku took the treat and tapped it against Hercules'.
"To a new beginning?"
Herc nodded.
"Yes, a new chapter that might as well be purrfect."
Kiku laughed as he realized the pun. Then laughed again recognizing Hercules' reference to their shared love of reading.
"Alright, let's get going. Cats are waiting for us."
Hercules put on a fake frown.
"It sounds like you are more in love with my cats then me."
Shaking his head, Kiku intertwined his fingers with Hercules'.
"That's impossible. I love you more than cats and manga combined."
"The feeling is mutual," Hercules said taking a deep breath.
Hands interlinked together, the couple began their journey to the train station.
And for once, all seemed right with the world.
----
Author's Notes
Okay, that ending was a bit cheesy. But I finished! And a 2k chapter at that!
This will have to be the last chapter.
I can't keep coming back and trying to beat a dead horse. This was supposed to be a strict one-shot.
If you are interested in more, check out some of my other works.
Bye for now.