The distinct smell that Faine could only describe as a spicy concoction unique to the Helewys family recipe comforted him. As he stood in the clumpy kitchen, watching Evelina dance around a boiling pot and two very energized twins, he smiled to himself, realizing that it was everywhere under their roof. Home, he thought. It smelled like home.
"Elva, Eli, go help your daddy before I send your vocal chords flying with a spatula." The frustrated ginger raised her hand, wooden spatula gripped tightly like a weapon of destruction. The two children ran away screaming, Elva, as if she had not been a little girl with weak, miniature hands, pushed her twin forward, silently threatening to hurt him if he didn't move any faster. Faine would've called it an overreaction had he not been so scared of the twins' mother as well. Said mother, however, certainly thought they were overreacting as a hurl of curses left her lips like rapid fire, demanding the two act more sophisticated.
He didn't see Llyris enter, too engrossed in watching the man's spouse cook up another masterpiece, but he didn't need to. The courtesan heard him trying to catch himself from falling. The sound of clanking metals echoed throughout the room, and a lively voice followed soon after.
"Kids! Look at what daddy found today!"
The man had a habit of ransacking people's garbage to collect all sorts of metal knick knacks. It was more or less a blessing and a curse. At times, the man's hyperactive mind led to inventions of true genius, earning the family enough money to live comfortably before having to settle for scraps. But most of the time, as Faine's heard from Evelina's drunken complaints and from what he's seen for himself, it just left them with useless junk lying around and less space in their already cramped home.
Faine was fond of the man's passion for innovation, though, despite the disadvantages it came with. The indistinguishable spark that lit up in his eyes whenever he saw literally any piece of trash on the ground had the courtesan wishing he had the mindset of an inventor as well.
"Ducky, you know we're running out of space. You're gonna have to empty out the storage if you want to bring more of your junk in." Evelina reminded, voice uncharacteristically soft, as she watched her children attack their father with hugs. The wildfire known as Evelina Helewys was only ever gentle with her dork of a husband. She was otherwise a menace, always finding herself in fights in the middle of the market. Faine's been consistently doing their groceries just to prevent the news of another poor middle-aged woman getting her hair ripped off her scalp.
He realized, as Captain Calixto's words echoed in his head, that he would be missing all of this. Even when he was nowhere near related to a single one of them, the family took him in as one of their own, and for that, he was forever devoted to making sure they lived their best lives.
When Evelina finished cooking, the dining table was already set. Faine had a struggle trying to remove Eli's hands from his sister's hair, who refused to let her twin arrange the utensils the way he wanted to, but he managed to do so without breaking anything breakable. For that alone, he pat himself on the back in congratulations.
"You're here, Faine. I'm not complaining! But I thought you'd be too busy entertaining your patrons to visit us in a while. I keep hearing your name whenever I go out."
Faine's focus skipped to Llyris, the lanky man already digging into his wife's seasoned soup.
"Well, I've found myself entangled in someone else's affairs and... I don't think I'll be here for a while. I wanted to say my goodbyes."
Everyone's brows raised in interest. The twins' father was the first to speak up after a long pause.
"You're always entangled in someone else's business, Faine. You've never had to..." The inventor left the words unsaid.
"It's kind of worrying me."
Before he could answer, Evelina abruptly stood from her seat, causing her husband and, in consequence, the courtesan to jump.
"Who's threatening you? Let's go beat the living shit out of them."
"Honey, language."
"Yeah! Was it the man from the market?"
"We'll kick his ass for you, Uncle Faine."
"Elva, darling, language."
"No, no, it's not like that. Everybody, sit down."
As he was about to explain himself, yet another interruption emerged in the form of a rather loud slam of the door against a wall.
Saeger, almost as clumsily as his father did, barged into the makeshift living room connected to the kitchen. Llyris welcomed him back with a hearty cheer, barely showing a hint of surprise or concern, used to his adventurous son breaking and entering their home without a moment's notice. Evelina stayed seated, but Faine could tell that her son had just set himself up for a beating by disappearing from the family for so long, unusually long, even for him.
Faine followed after the twins as they ran towards their older brother's arms, heart thumping in joy at the sight of their completion, the third finally filling his spot where he belonged.
Cheers bubbled up from both Elva's and Eli's throats as they were picked up and spun around in their big brother's arms. Sae's "I miss you two rascals," just as lively as their squealing.
"You stink!" His younger siblings pinched their noses, forcing him to put them down as they made exaggerated gestures of digust. Faine could only chuckle as he watched the eldest Helewys stick his tongue out in retaliation. The man was preparing his own verbal attack, never one to stand down in the face of his siblings' mockery. He couldn't, however, let a single word out of his mouth as his eyes met with Faine's, scrunched up into two pleasant crescents as he laughed to his heart's content. The fisherman, against all his wits, forgot how to fill his lungs with air—completely clueless about matters like oxygen or carbon dioxide like a fish out of water.
He knew that if he saw a reflection of himself at that very moment, he wouldn't be able to leave the corner in his room for a matter of days. His cheeks would be flushed, pupils blown wide, mouth slightly agape like a total idiot. Still, his wanting held on strongly, the grip it had around his throat leaving him close to choking and fainting. He wanted to pull his longtime friend into his arms, wanted to feel his warmth, vacuum his scent straight into his brain until it was the only thing occupying the hollow organ, he wanted so badly to spin him around too, hear noises of glee leave the pretty man's lips. And as he blinked his eyes open, he realized that that was exactly what his body, almost subconsciously, moved to do.
"Put me down, you hunk!" Faine managed to let out, despite the world spinning into incoherency, barely a single solid figure processing in his eyes. Hands clenched in fists, he softly hit Sae's built back, not wanting to get back on his feet dizzied and ditzy. He knew that even if he threatened, bargained, or begged, Sae's affections would end on his own terms.
"Nooooo! I missed you too much!" Sae whined.
"I wasn't the one who disappeared—!"
At the sight of a flying rolling pin aimed at Sae's head, Faine was ungracefully dropped to the floor. He yelped, the sound slowly dissolving into a groan as he felt exactly where it had bruised. He couldn't even complain, barely having the ability to identify where right or left or upward was.
"You good-for-nothing brat, where have you been this past week and a half, huh?!"
"Ma— ow! No, no! It's not what you think–! I got a job! I got a job!"
"Your boss tell ya to never tell us where you are, huh?!"
--
The silence was intense. Suffocating? No. In fact, Faine found it comedic in a sense. He waited, eyes wandering from one family member to another, making predictions as to who would snap first. To soothen the tension for himself, he focused on taking part in the salivating dinner laid out in front of him. Taking audible sips of Evelina's soup, opposing all the manners he was taught from childhood, he tested the waters on what exactly he could and couldn't do when blame wasn't directed on him.
Llyris eyed him judgementally but said nothing in fear of starting the spark that would end in their entire home in flames. Instead, he picked up the conversation from where it had ended. Before Sae got a proper beating from Evelina, who was already preparing herself for round two before both her husband and Faine had pulled her away in an act of mercy.
"...So. Faine. You were going to tell us something important."
"Ah, yes.. Well."
"Before anything," the dishes on the table rattled, Sae's fist making a loud thumping sound, "I have something important to say!"
"Let Faine talk, you rascal. Lord knows whatever comes out of your mouth is gonna make me wanna throw you out the window."
If looks could kill, Evelina would've had a bounty of over millions by now. Not that she needed looks to be able to achieve that. However, the glare she sent in Sae's direction was threatening for everyone in the proximity, (except for Elva and Eli, who were giggling in amusement). Faine and Llyris prayed for their lives, sharing each other empathetic looks. Still, Evelina's eldest son, stubborn and as headstrong as his mother, did not falter. Gulping down his anxiety, Sae continued to speak.
"About my job..."
"Saeger." His mother warned.
"I'll be gone for a while, you see..." He continued. The courtesan thought his fearlessness was deserving of medals.
"I'm warning you, brat."
"I got a job in Captain Calixto's ship as a cook's assistant"
"WHAT?!"
Faine flinched. His eyes widened in realization. The shout hadn't come from Evelina, nor Llyris, nor the twins, but from him.