Hiraeth ↭ Kai Parker

3. What Has Been Done

"I need new friends." Indi muttered darkly. 

It was nearing nine in the afternoon when she got another pager from Jo demanding she come and help her look after her siblings.

When Jo mentioned that Kai had, oddly, gone out and didn't say where he was going or when he'd be back. That had been the deciding factor, that and Indi felt stupid for reading too much into nothing. 

So, pushing her bike through the light drizzle with a sweater and Kai's stolen jacket keeping her warm, she regretted the decision two miles into the ride. 

After thirty minutes passed and her teeth ceased their chattering in time of the drizzle letting up, Indi was greeted by Kai who was just walking up the gravel drive. 

Despite her common sense, she called out to him, ignoring the shocked and frustrated look he offered as he came to a stop and let her peddle up to him.

"I told you not to come around for a few days." Kai spoke in annoyance. Though the annoyance faded to something else as he realized she was wearing his jacket and wasn't hiding the fact. 

"I've been looking for that jacket."

"Yeah, I forgot to bring it by this morning." Indi waved him off, hopping off of her bike and taking to pushing it as it separated him and her; they headed up the drive.

"What's up with you? Jo said you left without saying anything." She peered at him, trying to read his expression based on the flashlight tied to the front of her bike; she failed.

Kai shrugged. "Why would she care? What sort of twin keeps a secret?"

Indi was momentarily thankful she didn't have a twin or twin siblings. "Maybe she had the same spell placed on her as I did?" She shrugged as the home came into view.

"I want to show you something." Kai startled her, his hand reaching forward and gripping her handlebars forcing her to come to a stop. 

"It's in the treehouse. But we need to hurry and move it just in case Jo breaks down and lets the kids stay the night in it again." He watched her look between the house and the path that led to the backyard.

"Do you not see me shivering?" Indi inquired, her eyebrows rising just as her body shuddered. The rain was picking back up, slowly soaking her and Kai, though he didn't seem to mind it. To her surprise, he pulled off his jean jacket and threw it onto her head.

"Pushy." Indi muttered, letting go of her bike and tugging the now wet jacket on over the hoodied jacket she had already stolen from him.

Stuffing her hands into the jean pockets and with clattering teeth, they discarded her bike and headed for the treehouse. A tiny voice in the back of her head told her to turn and rather go to the house, go home altogether. 

She wasn't certain why, she wasn't scared or worried, and if anything she was only confused. Her gaze remained fixated on the wet grass as he walked at her side, not running ahead or falling behind to let her go first. 

Maybe that was why she wasn't worried, Kai, for better or worse, always seemed to find himself at her side and a certain amount of comfort could be drawn from it; not that either realized or would admit to such a thing.

"Go on up, tell me what you see." Kai instructed, standing at the base of the tree and gesturing to the nailed in wooden stairs. "I want to know if it's noticeable."

"What am I looking for and why couldn't we do this earlier today?" Indi huffed. She grew tired of the rain and the cold and his evasiveness. 

Pulling her hands from the pockets she muttered softly as flames erupted from thin air, instantly warming her hands. As a kind gesture, she stood closer to Kai, extending her hands and holding her palms flat so he could enjoy the momentary warmth.