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“You don’t need to be in here if you don’t want to.“
Inibri narrowed his eyes at Harkun. "I made sure to have this evening free, so we could spend time together. Alone,” he said just as couple of children ran by, their feet hitting the floor sharply while their toy guns were making ear-screeching sounds. It took all the control he could muster not to snap at them.
“I know and I’m sorry, but my cousin’s babysitter bailed at the last minute,” Harkun said. He reached out to squeeze Inibri’s hand. “Besides, in a few hours they’re already back and we can go spend some quality time alone, alright?”
Inibri yanked his disgusted gaze off the toddler who was smearing food across the table while laughing jollily and turned back to Harkun. “After this, all I want is a bath and nothing else,” he said, frowning deeply. Harkun looked visibly upset but before he could answer back, his attention was quickly diverted back to the toddler and the rest of the children, and Inibri let it.
To him, children were irritating, messy and absolutely frustrating to deal with. They were loud and rude, clearly having no grasp or understanding of common courtesies. However, there was something in this room that made him stay and it was Harkun.
Inibri took a better position on the kitchen chair and let his eyes wander all over the man. He was confident and relaxed, and interacted naturally with the children, even seemingly enjoying it. There was a wide smile on his lips and a sparkle in his eyes, something that Inibri found quite attractive.
His observations would have run longer if he was interrupted by something hitting his temple. He tensed up and blinked, turning sharply to look at direction the impact had come from. There was a single Nerf dart on the ground and two wide-eyed children who had frozen in place.
Inibri picked up the dart with the Force and twirled it in his hands. “Who shot me with this?” he asked coolly. The stench of fear filled them both in an instant which lessened Inibri’s annoyance. At least they knew when they had gone too far.
“Inibri-” Harkun started but Inibri raised his hand quickly. They stared at each other but when Harkun became privy to his underlying amusement, he hesitantly let him continue. As Inibri began speaking again, he pulled, as discreetly as possible, his own Nerf blaster on the table closer to himself.
“I am still waiting for my answer,” Inibri said, eyeing both of the children carefully. The older one seemed more nervous but the younger was suspiciously closed off considering he had been making a proper ruckus just moments ago.
“I-I did it, my lord, and I’m sorry. It w-won’t happen again,” the older stepped forward. He held a steady gaze despite his small stammering. Inibri raised his brow. “Are you sure you shot me?” he asked sternly.
“I-”
“I would be impressed by your bravery if for not your utter foolishness. You must have known that I would catch you from this lie, so why did you still choose to say it?”
“To stall you.”
Inibri brows furrowed and he turned towards Harkun just as the man pressed the trigger, shooting two nerf darts towards him. However, before they could hit, Inibri stopped them easily in mid-air.
“Really?"
Harkun grinned. "What? Are you too afraid to fight back?” he knew that it was a weak blow but surprisingly effective one, as the three Nerf darts flung through the air and hit him in the chest. “You really want to challenge me?” Inibri asked. There was a familiar edge in his tone, but it was mostly humorous. Mostly. “Because I will crush you if we’re going to do this.”
Harkun laughed brightly, throwing the Nerf blaster to Inibri who caught it easily. “After I’ll finish feeding him, it’s on,” he said and turned to look at the kids, Mycah and Mervic, “Do you mind showing him how everything works? I think he needs all the help he can get.”
Inibri scoffed and stood up. He seemed to handle the toy gun with grace at first but when he tried to load it, it began making a strange, whirring sound. “Lord Inibri, it’s-” Mycah, the older one, started, stepping closer with his hand reached out. Inibri schooled his expression and handed the blaster to him, and with a few swift movements later it was loaded.
Inibri took the blaster back and turned to Harkun with a determined look in his eyes, “We’ll do teams. Us against you.”
“That hardly seems fair-”
“You said that I need all the help I can get, so I’m taking it,” Inibri smirked and Harkun couldn’t help but laugh. “Fine, just go easy on them, this is only a friendly competition,” he said, even though he was rather sure that “friendly” and “competition” didn’t belong in Inibri’s vocabulary together.
Which proved to be true as when the kids began leading Inibri into the living room to prepare, he leaned towards Harkun when passing by him and licked his lips.
“I will decimate you and when I win, you will do whatever I say once we get out of here. Understood?”