The Courtship of Kai (3/?)

[guardian_of_hope]

After an insanely long delay...

Previous chapters can be found here (Prologue) and here (Chapter One) Enjoy!


 

Living with Leo and Damon wasn't as bad as Kai thought it would be. There were privacy issues, and bathroom issues, and if Leo didn't stop eating everything in sight it would have gone better, but they adjusted to each other easily enough.

The only real issue that Kai found in living so close to Leo, it was that all the things that should annoy him about the all too pretty Red Ranger didn't even cause a blip in his radar. Oh, he acted annoyed with Leo and he complained, loudly, to Kendrix, but really, he didn't mind. Because every time Leo forgot to hang his towel up in the bathroom, he made up for it by doing the dishes and picking up the living room.

In fact, it didn't take long for them to work together to create a good living situation. Kai cooked and kept the bathroom clean, Leo did dishes and looked after the living area and Damon cleaned the kitchen and did the laundry.

It had startled both Damon and Leo when Kai had simply started cleaning the bathroom, but as he told them, he'd end up cleaning it again if one of them did it because he was that anal. Of course, it could have been that he readily acknowledged that he was that anal.

The first sign of trouble, however, came when Damon started dating a girl from the Engineering Department. "She's pretty, smart and knows about engines," Damon said, "what's not to like." He sighed as he settled onto one of the chairs in the living area, data pad in one hand.

"She is pretty," Leo agreed from his spot on the couch, "but she's not my type."

"What is your type?" Damon asked, "Tall, leggy and blond?"

"No," Leo replied, "I like being taller than my partner actually and too many of the blonds I know like to pretend they're dumb."

"Not Kendrix," Kai felt compelled to point out from where he was working on dinner, "she's a little naïve, but she's not dumb."

"No," Leo agreed, "Kendrix is not dumb."

"Maybe you should think about her," Kai offered, knowing that Kendrix wouldn't be averse to dating the Red Ranger. He slid the noodles into the water and turned on the timer.

"Aren't you and Kendrix together?" Damon asked.

"Me and Kendrix," Kai said, stunned at the idea, "no. Whatever gave you that idea?"

"You two are pretty close," Leo said, looking over the back of the couch.

Kai stirred the tomato sauce for a moment to compose a response, "Kendrix and I have known each other for years. We met at an Alliance meeting in college and hit it off as friends." He put a lid on the sauce and wandered out of the kitchen to claim the other seat. "Kendrix and I are just friends. We're looking for things in a relationship that the other can't provide and what we have is too important for us to risk."

"What Alliance?" Leo asked.

"I'm sorry?" Kai asked, startled.

"You said you met Kendrix at an Alliance meeting," Leo said, "what Alliance?"

Kai blinked and ran his words back through his head, and then he took a deep breath. "In college," he said, "I was part of a GLSBTA Alliance. My ex boyfriend dragged me to a meeting on a dare and I stayed because of Amanda. Kendrix wandered in to a meeting on accident and decided to stay."

"You're gay?" Damon said.

"I prefer the term panromantic," Kai replied and stood up, "it's not as confining."

The door chimed, interrupting Damon's next question, "Who is it?" Leo asked.

"Kendrix and Maya," the computer replied as Kai checked the tomato sauce.

"Let them in," Leo ordered.

Kendrix and Maya came in laughing, "You will not believe what happened," Kendrix said as she threw herself into the chair Kai had vacated.

"What?" Leo asked.

"One of the anthropologists asked Maya out," Kendrix said, "he brought her flowers and everything."

Maya, sitting on the floor by Kendrix's chair, smiled, "You need not tease Scott so, Kendrix. He was so nervous."

"Did you say yes?" Leo asked.

"Once I understood what he wanted, of course I did," Maya replied.

"Hey Kendrix," Damon said, "What's panromantic?"

"It's a person who dates anyone," Kendrix said promptly, "regardless of gender identity or sexuality. It's commonly used as an identifier for a..."

"Does everyone want garlic bread?" Kai asked, stepping out of the kitchen, "Because everything's almost ready."

"Yes please," Maya said.

"Of course I want garlic bread," Kendrix said, "did you honestly think I was going to turn down any of your food?"

"Damon, Leo?" Kai asked.

"Yeah," Leo said.

"Sure," Damon said with a shrug.

"Then would you mind giving me a hand, Kendrix?" Kai asked, "Please."

"Sure," Kendrix said and got up to come help him.

As they cut the bread, put the spread on it and sent it into the toaster, Kai regretted the lack of privacy between the kitchen and living room. Then Leo started up a conversation about Maya's date and Kai took advantage of the noise to hiss to Kendrix, "Could you not bring that up, please?"

"You must have said something," Kendrix replied, "Damon asked."

"It was a mistake," Kai said.

"They'll take it better than you think," Kendrix replied, "You just have to trust me."

"You're not the one I don't trust," Kai muttered. Then he busied himself with finishing the spaghetti, and, he hoped, the conversation was forgotten.

Damon never brought it up again, but Kai slowly became aware that Leo was watching him. Any time the two of them were alone, he started feeling eyes on him. He wouldn't have been surprised if Kendrix was grilled by Leo after that, but if she told him anything, neither of them admitted it to Kai.

The uneasy state of affairs lasted until Mike came back to them, and that opened up a whole new avenue of uncomfortable for the team. Mike knew Kai's secret, and Mike was Leo's big brother. Kai couldn't help but feel that this was going to end well.