In stealth assassin mode, MyKai closed the door to his and dgrequeen's quarters and walked silently up a short distance of the corridor to another door. If the dead could blush, he would have when he realized he was practically tiptoeing. He looked down at the gifts in his hands and wished fervently he could die dead-dead rather than do what he was about to do. But it had to be done, for his own peace of mind. He lifted his fist to knock on the door, hesitated, and stepped away. He waited a long moment, and then steeling himself, stepped back to the door and boldly knocked. 

There was a pause, a deep silence. MyKai nearly wilted with relief at the thought that there might be no one at home. At that instant, the door opened and he found himself looking into the faerie's turquoise eyes. He gulped. 

"Uh… Lady VisionAri…" 

"Hello, MyKai. Here to see Kai10? He's not home at present." 

"Um…" MyKai shifted his weight uneasily. "No. I'm here to see you." He looked down at his gifts again, a small white box, and a bouquet of tiger lilies, which he had learned were her favorite flowers. "Here," he cried, thrusting them at her in a paroxysm of nervousness and embarrassment. "These are for you." 

VisionAri's eyes opened wide in surprise. "What's this? Flowers? And, um… chocolate?" The last was uttered in a low voice, conveying not only surprise but shock. 

"Oh…no…" MyKai stumbled over his words. "It's not… no… it's for… you and Kai10 are going to share it! I love my queen!" He added in desperation, and then rolled his eyes at his own clumsiness. 

VisionAri took his arm and drew him into her apartment. "Come in and sit down. We need to talk." 

She settled him on the sofa and went to put the flowers in water. MyKai sat hunched over, his hands clasped between his knees, wishing he'd never begun this. In the kitchen, conjuring her favorite alabaster vase and water to fill it, VisionAri hummed to herself. She thought she knew what was going on, and it made her smile. 

"Now," she said, putting the flowers beside the box on her low occasional table as she sat, taking his hand, "tell me what this is all about." 

"Well…" He cursed himself inwardly for his Kai shyness which chose this moment to assert itself. "You and I… we've, well, had our differences. And I thought… you've always been a good friend, and my queen loves you. So I thought… maybe we should clear the air between us." 

VisionAri laughed. "Oh, you silly MyKai! Did you think all this time I didn't like you?" She laughed again. 

"People don't beat up people they like," MyKai said stiffly, offended because he felt she was laughing at him. 

VisionAri looked abashed. "Sweet MyKai. I'm so sorry I did that. But you know, I wasn't really myself. We never talked about it, though, did we? I always assumed you forgave me for that." 

"I did." He frowned, insistent. "I know you didn't mean it. But then, there was that time Ten and I ended up in the Outlands, and you blamed me for it…" 

"No. Kai10 told me what happened. I never blamed you. But I *was* put out because the two of you went off like that and didn't tell anybody. dgrequeen and I could have lost you forever, and we would never have known what happened." 

"Doesn't excuse what you did," MyKai sulked. 

"Okay. Making your hair turn pink and blue for a whole week was a little extreme, I suppose." VisionAri giggled, indicating she didn't really think so. She peeked at him. "Do you forgive me?" 

"Well." He sulked a little more, and then decided he shouldn't push his luck. "Yes. Do you forgive me?" 

"Of course!" She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek, just as Kai10 walked through the front door. 

He stood frozen, his hand resting on the knob of the door, his eyes taking in first the clench and kiss, then the familiar white box on the table, then the vase of tiger lilies that hadn't been there when he left that morning. His eyes darkened. 

"What's going on here?" he demanded. He didn't give anybody a chance to answer. Instead, his suddenly fierce gaze pinned MyKai to the sofa. "You brought my lady… CHOCOLATE?!?!" 

"You don't understand---" MyKai started to say. 

"He was just---" VisionAri started to say. 

"JUST WHAT THE FRELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, BRINGING MY LADY CHOCOLATE?!?!" Kai10 thundered. "AND FLOWERS?!?!" 

His brace flew, and MyKai, struggling to get up from the sofa, barely countered it with his own. Hampered as he was by pushing VisionAri away without hurting her, he misjudged, and the braces deflected and tangled, landing on the floor with a thud. When they both tried to retract, the Kais were thrown together, and fists began to fly. MyKai lifted Kai10, carrying him backwards out the door, where they landed, rolling. 

"My lady--- I'll get you--- you interloper!" Kai10 cried, fists flailing. 

"I didn't--- will you just--- stop that!" MyKai countered, punching back. 

"STOP!" VisionAri cried, circling the two battling brothers as Kai10 got MyKai in a headlock, and they rolled on the floor of the hallway, legs flopping like those of two upturned turtles. 

dgrequeen's door flew open and she rushed out, staring at the melee. "What's going on here?" 

Other doors opened and soon the corridor was filled with milling, jabbering, shocked ladies and clones. Finally, Kai13 and TRsKai21 separated the brothers and held them, struggling, apart from each other. 

"The chocolate was for you, Ten!" MyKai finally managed to get out. "To share with her. NOT for me to share with her!" 

"You brought her flowers!" Kai10 accused. "Her favorite flowers! Nobody brings those to her but me! Bring flowers to your own lady, you---you---" 

"I didn't know that!" MyKai shot back. "I just wanted to make friends with her… so she wouldn't be mad at me all the time anymore!" 

dgrequeen put her hand to her face and groaned. "Why does this always happen? All this time with us, and they *still* act like babies!" 

VisionAri stepped between the two angry clones. "Okay, enough of this. MyKai was just trying to be friendly and make up with me, that's all," she said to Kai10. "He wasn't intruding on what you seem to think is *your* territory --- a subject we will discuss at length later, by the way." 

Kai10's anger melted away into dismay. "Vis, I wasn't---" 

"Yes, you were." She cupped his face with one hand. "But I love you for it." She smiled at him and then turned businesslike. "Let them go, boys," she said to Kai13 and TRsKai21, who reluctantly complied. MyKai and Kai10 straightened their clothes, untangled their brace cords, and looked properly shamefaced in front of the tittering crowd. 

"Now," VisionAri said, "shake hands and we'll all be friends again." 

The two hesitated, and then both stuck their hands out, clasping in a single shake, quickly dropped. "Sorry," muttered Kai10. "Me too," muttered MyKai. 

"Come with me, deadboy," dgrequeen said, crooking her finger, and MyKai followed her into their apartment, sparing Kai10 a glare. 

"And you," VisionAri said to Kai10, "come with me. I've got some chocolate and I think we need to talk about it." 

The fun was over. All the doors closed, and the castle was quiet again. 

End