Ornithogalum
Sora had lived pretty quietly for a while, nothing really exciting happening except maybe his elderly neighbors coming over to give him their leftovers. So can you really blame him for panicking when his ex-best friend said he wanted to introduce him to his daughter? If Sora had any self respect he’d say no and not try to talk to the man who abandoned him for six years, yet here he was childproofing everything in his house and buying toys for a child that he’d never meet. His mother would be so ashamed.
With a resounding snap, he finished the last of the proofing in the kitchen. Each cabinet was shut with a plastic lock. It popped out compared to the black timber of his cabinets, yet it strangely worked well with the white marbling of his counters. Though it didn't actually matter as he was more so going for practically more than looks.
He looked above his fridge, to see the wall clock read out 12:07 pm. Kismet and his daughter would be arriving soon, inside he silently wished they were late.
And if the gods heard his prayers for them to stay away for a little longer, then they boldly ignored them, as he heard the ringing from his doorbell, echoing throughout the peaceful apartment. The bell rang mockingly, as it rang over and over again on purpose, an act that didn't seem to be out of the ordinary for his old friend, yet childish enough for his daughter to be the one responsible for, the fact that he has to think about who is responsible for the act, says a lot about his old friends' character.
He trudged towards the front door, his anger boiling up at the potent ringing, as he swung the door open, a shout bubbling his throat that cut off when he saw Kismet holding his daughter up to ring the doorbell, sharing the same look he had given to the teachers whenever he was caught making trouble.
He looked at him unimpressed, his previous nervousness silenced for only a moment, to relish in his pure disappointment in the man. He should’ve known it was a two-party effort. Kismet laughs cheerfully, ignoring the look on his face with a curve of his lip. “Long time no see!”
“If only it stayed that way…” he says without much thought, widening the door to let them both in, as they both take seats on his plush white couch, the girl practically sinking into it, it looked like it was eating her whole but she didn't seem to mind, as her eyes sparkled looking around the idealistic apartment of his, he shivers when he sees her eyeing an expensive vase with a little too much curiosity for his comfort.
Even at that comment, Kismet lets out a huff of laughter, with a light smile. It's not very sincere and Sora feels denigrated that Kismet thinks that he could pass it on like it was. He doesn't say anything, he doesn't want to break this already very fragile moment of peace. “It’ll be ready, in a minute. The house is completely child-proof so she can play around. I should have some toys lying around.” He says, as if he just didn't spend the whole day childproofing it and his wallet knows well enough that those toys aren't just lying around.
Though Kismet's face slaked open, his mouth slightly ajar, his mouth opened and then closed, the words he wanted to say stopped by the tugging of his child, pleading for permission. “Can I?”
Kismet softened, and petted alongside the sides of her hair trailing onto the ends of her cheeks with a small smile, ruffling her pale blonde hair, “Just don't make a mess, and just ask if you need anything ok?”
She nodded, making her way down the hall, exploring every crevice in the hallway until she disappeared into a random room, away from sight. Leaving only the two of them alone.
Kismet could never handle awkward silences, and in that regard, he hadn’t changed as he spoke as quickly as she left. “Need any help in the Kitchen? I’ve always been a good cook.”
“Is that so? That fire in my home must have been my imagination.” He said, leading him into the kitchen anyway.
“Ha! You haven’t changed !” He laughed, the tension between his shoulders dropping with a shadow of a smile.
Sora directed Kismet and it wasn’t long before they fell into a familiar routine, their movements synced with one another as they made their way through the recipe, it’s so natural it’s almost as if Kismet didn’t decide to just up and leave for six years without ever calling, his good mood dims a little at the reminder.
He finishes off by putting a little bit of parsley on the tomato soup. He admires his hard work. He’s made thin-cut spaghetti, sausages substituting for meatballs, heavy sauce drowning the noodles and garlic breads thanks to Kismet.
He wiped off his sweat, with his handkerchief, trying to ignore the pair of eyes that burned through the back of his head. He can tell Kismet wants to say something but is hesitating for some bizarre reason, it’s so unfamiliar that it makes him uncomfortable.
Just as he turns to Kismet, annoyance drips through his voice, “What? You’re staring li-“
“Are you married?” Kismet says cutting Sora off with an apologetic look, yet his curiosity still shined through.
Sora looks at him with shock, but it slowly turns into anger. Did he look like he could have a wife? And shouldn’t he be the one asking that?!? “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? I mean you decide to have a kid without telling me, it wouldn’t be too out of your book to have a wife.” He comments bitterly, and guilty enjoys the way Kismet flinches.
“It’s not like that, she isn’t mine, I mean she is, but she was adopted.” He speaks hurriedly, desperately trying to get his point across, though it falls flat on his ears as soon as he says she’s adopted.
Sora looks between the playing Jia, distracted by the main (expensive) toys to notice the rising tension in the room. Although Jia doesn’t look exactly like him, she shares many like qualities, her eyes are a different shape, but they share the same brown hue, and the most telling part of it all is their hair color, although hers is a paler blonde it’s the same texture as Kismets own dirty blonde hair.
It feels like he’s trying to play for Sora for a fool, and he’s gonna be honest it hurts. “Whatever you don’t have to tell me the truth, I mean who cares, you don’t tell me anything else so what’s this one thing?”
“Sora… I promise it’s not like that. I just-“
“Couldn't you call? Couldn’t see me? All you could do was send me a text every once a year, just to tell me you're alive or okay because that’s all I’m worth?”
Kismet's patience begins to wear out as well, as he too joined in the not-so-hushed yelling, “Damn it, won’t you let me speak for a second? When did you become so hardheaded?!”
“Maybe you would’ve known If you just stayed!”
“I couldn’t! T-Things were complicated, I just couldn’t ok?! I wanted us to talk, god I wanted to see you again, I wanted you to meet my daughter, I wanted to be in your life again, I just-“
“All of sudden? You didn’t think what that might’ve been for me? My best friend since childhood, up and disappears from my life after high school and doesn’t reach out to me besides the conversations that I have to force to happen.” He inhales strongly, his voice trembling with temper, as he spits each syllable like it’s venom, digging into Kismet's chest with an angry finger.
“Just for you to suddenly want to talk and come back into my life like nothing changed, and you suddenly didn’t just ghost your best friend of seventeen years and go disappear with some woman and have a child!?!”
“She’s not mine! She was adopted! I would tell you the full story if you just sat down and listened and stopped yelling for a second!?”
He gritted his teeth in frustration, the tension in the air was thick, that you could choke on it. He couldn't think straight and he honestly didn’t want to, he didn’t owe anything to Kismet. Why does he suddenly get to decide when they talk huh?
“I don’t feel like talking, and especially not to you. I’m such an idiot, I thought I could get through this dinner without wanting to punch you, but I overestimated myself. Please leave.” He spat out, his plea more of a command than anything.
“Sora, I didn’t mean to make you angry, just please I’ll explain everything, just listen, you can hit, hate, and yell at me all you want.” He held his shoulder strongly, he sounded and probably was more logical than Sora was feeling. If he wasn’t so upset, he’d probably laugh at the irony of their reversed roles.
“I’ll call you when I don’t feel like killing you,” he said, throwing his hand off his shoulder.
“Fine, just please call me. Don’t ghost me?” Kismet pleaded he ruffled his wild curls, attempting to call himself down, a habit that he’d only seen a handful of times, and he'd one day guess he was the reason for it.
“You’re one to talk about ghosting” he scoffed harshly, Kismet ignored it, and for the best, his voice was still horse from all that yelling.
“Jia, we have to head home, Daddy got some last-minute work calls.” The lie, falling off Kismet's tongue smoothly, he'd almost be impressed if he wasn't still mad at him. He waited a few seconds, but Jia never called or answered back, his anger started to falter when he heard the worry that came out with every call of her name. “Jia, Honey? We have to go... This isn't a time to play hide and seek…” he trailed off, his face sunk when he looked towards the door, and Sora didn't think he was gonna like what he was gonna see.
“What’s wrong, where's your daughter?” he asked nervously, peeking over his shoulder to see his usually closed door, very open.
He laughed helplessly, “I don't suppose you have a roommate or a human-sized cat that left the door open by accident?” He looked like he was on the verge of tears.
“Let's go find your daughter, she couldn't have gone far,” he reassured, he couldn't find himself to be mad at someone who was about to sob.
He ran out the door, shouting her name with a trembling voice, “Jia?! Honey, please come back!
Sora ran alongside with him, searching for Jia with his eyes as they covered every ground they could, “Miss Jia!” He sighed not seeing her in sight, as he looked up at Kismet “Does this happen a lot?” he asked hesitantly not wanting to open up any old wounds.
“Not as often, when I first got custody of her, she used to always run away. The therapist says it's her coping mechanism, to get away from the stress.”
“Do you know where she usually goes?
“Somewhere quiet and dark, yet still familiar, she usually used to go to the playground and stay in the slides tunnels but she doesn't know this area well…” Kismet started shaking, a bad habit of his was always overthinking, and he didn't want to imagine what he was thinking.
“Calm down ok? If she goes somewhere familiar to her, that's dark and quiet there's only one place it could be here.” He put his hands on the taller shoulders to steady him, and Kismet in return processed his words before his eyes widened.
“My car!” and he ran without a second thought, leaving Sora to catch up with him, he made it only a few minutes late, standing still to look ahead to see Kismet, comforting his crying daughter who sat next to the car.
“I-'m so-sorry..” she hiccups over and over again, her tiny body trembling in her father's comforting home as he shushes her slowly,
“It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong, Is it Daddy's fault ok? Daddy is the one to blame.”
She sniffles into his shoulder, deepening the already dampness that appeared before he got here. “My fault, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be so sad about your friend.”
He petted her head, her head falling against his chest. “Now who told you that?”
“You said when talking to mister, th-”
“What did I say about assuming things?”
" Just ask you instead.”
“Please, take the advice to heart, it's not your fault it's like this.”
“B-But I overheard, you wouldn't make up” Sora raised a hand towards Jia, stopping her monologue before it went any further.
“Miss Jia, please understand that isn't your fault, I was being irrational, it's my fault.”
“Please don't apologize, it's not your fault. I wasn't thinking straight either, I just forced myself into your life without considering if you ever wanted that.” Kismet pleaded, and Sora was sure they differentially looked like an odd trio. All on the ground huddled next to a black car, looking as if they came straight out of a dumpster, which isn't too far off from what he feels.
“But I should've at least listened, I'm supposed to be your friend, I'm supposed to support you.”
“I'm supposed to be your best friend, and I left you for six years, I don't blame you for getting angry.” Sora doesn't refute instead he just simply sighs, resigned. All his adrenalin seemed to disappear at the moment of finding Jia, and he couldn't find himself upset at anything right now.
“Are you still hungry, Miss Jia? ” He says offhandedly, Jia nods hesitantly as Kismet turns to him in surprise.
“You still wanna go to dinner?” he practically whispers.
Sora shrugs, “It's not in my policy to leave children to starve.”
Kismet scoffs playfully, a light smile shadowed upon his face, “I hope you just mean Jia.”
“We both know who I meant.” He joked. Later Sora will probably have to talk to Kismet, they’ll probably have to bring up old wounds, and perhaps they might even yell at each other, Later Sora will get closer to his Niece and not have her act all skittish around him, shying away from everything he does or said, and maybe later he and Kismet could be best friends again. Although that's for later, right now all Sora wants is to get some pizza.