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Kaldur admitted that he didn’t often take time off. He liked to keep busy, felt his palms itch and his heart beat faster when he wasn’t occupied with something.
Tonight, however, was the end of a slow day after a slow week. Diana had practically tossed him into the zeta tube with strict orders to “take the evening off, Kaldur’ahm, and for Zeus’ sake, have some fun for once”.
With nothing else to do, he returned to Atlantis.
He hadn’t been below the surface in a long time. Too long, he thought, as he swam through Poseidonis past unfamiliar buildings and shops. Clearly a lot had changed.
At the palace he was informed that both King Orin and Queen Mera were absent, having gone out for dinner with their son. He was of course welcome to enter, the dolphin at the gate told him, but the king had no plans to return that night.
It seemed that everyone was taking advantage of the relative peace to take a break.
“Look who’s back,” a familiar voice said teasingly. Kaldur turned to see Wyynde floating behind him.
“Wyynde,” he greeted. They had met a handful of times since Wyynde had left the purists and joined King Orin’s royal guard, and Kaldur would comfortably say that they were friendly. Wyynde had always seemed entirely at ease around him, not hesitating to say what he was thinking, or lightly poke fun at Kaldur. It was refreshing, especially in the immediate aftermath of his mission with Black Manta, when everyone in Atlantis had been wary around him, like they weren’t quite sure that he hadn’t actually betrayed them. Kaldur had found that he couldn’t blame them.
“It’s been a while,” Wyynde said, pulling Kaldur from his thoughts. “What brings you back, Aquaman?”
Kaldur smiled ruefully. He knew he had been letting his duties in Atlantis take a backseat to his work with the Justice League, particularly since King Orin had transferred his Justice League title and position to him.
“The League doesn’t need me for tonight,” he explained, “I came here to see if King Orin had anything he needed done.”
Wyynde laughed. “It didn’t occur to you to simply spend the evening doing something fun?”
“I thought about it,” Kaldur admitted.
Wyynde raised his eyebrows. “And?”
Kaldur hesitated. As much as he felt inexplicably at ease around Wyynde, he didn’t want to admit the truth, which was that he didn’t really know what to do. His old teammates were busy with their own lives, and Kaldur was left feeling adrift.
Wyynde must have picked up on something, because he didn’t push. Instead, he held out a hand.
“Come on,” he said, “I’ll show you my favourite place to float around.”
It felt irresponsible, to spend the whole evening doing nothing productive. Kaldur was very aware of all the paperwork he could be tackling, the missions he could be assigning and the reports he could be writing.
He looked up. Wyynde was smiling like a challenge, his eyes bright. Before he could ensnare himself further in his thoughts, Kaldur reached out and took his hand
Wyynde took him to an algae bar.
It was a beautiful place, positioned cleverly in the hollow of a rock that allowed light to trickle in from above. Everyone there seemed to be having a good time, and the water thrummed with their laughter and chatter. Wyynde had ordered two rounds of Black Gold, and now he sat opposite Kaldur, grinning.
There was just one problem. Kaldur hadn’t had algae in years, and even in his teenage years had tried it only occasionally. He knew that his tolerance was laughably low.
Wyynde’s grin faded, turning into something softer. “If you’d rather, we can go somewhere else. I won’t mind, I promise.”
Kaldur was tempted, but the truth was, he didn’t know of anywhere that he could suggest they go instead. Back home in Shayeris he could have suggested his old favourites, but here in Poseidonis everything had changed too much.
Besides, for some strange reason, he wanted Wyynde to like him.
“No,” he said, “This is alright.”
He popped a pod into his mouth and chewed. He looked at Wyynde, who seemed to be glowing in the dim underwater light.
“You need to catch up,” he said, as he ate another pod. His ever-lurking thoughts seemed to recede further. Wyynde laughed, and it sounded like music.
It was the best thing Kaldur had ever heard.
Two hours and several more orders of algae later, and Kaldur could barely see straight. He was keeping count, so he knew he hadn’t had too much. Wyynde had consumed almost twice the algae that he had, and yet somehow was faring much better. Kaldur didn’t understand it, but he didn’t want to think about it. In fact, he didn’t really want to think about anything. The way Wyynde’s hair drifted with the current was the most fascinating thing in the world, and he was happy to watch it forever.
A gentle tap on the back of his hand pulled his attention to Wyynde’s eyes instead, which were crinkling at the corners with amusement.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You drifted away for a second.”
Kaldur shook his head, blinking. “I am fine. What was I saying?”
Wyynde’s brow wrinkled. “You were telling me about your first mission with your old teammates. Kaldur, are you sure…”
“Yes,” Kaldur said. He blinked, remembering. He’d just gotten to the part where Kid Flash had promised Superboy that they would show him the moon. His chest hurt at the memory. He shook his head and reached for another pod.
Wyynde’s had closed around his wrist. “I think you’ve had enough,” he said, his voice gentle but firm.
Kaldur frowned. “I am fine,” he repeated. “I just…”
His vision swam, black spots dancing in front of him. He blinked, disoriented, as everything seemed to spin around him. Hands, warm and calloused, cradled his face, and he gripped them tightly like they were his anchor.
“Deep breaths, Kaldur. You’re going to be fine.”
He tried to listen, but before he could, the darkness engulfed him entirely and he was gone.
He was warm, and comfortable, and something smelled like the flowers that used to grow outside his childhood home. Part of him wanted to exist in this bliss forever, but the rest of him was clamouring to get up, get ready, and do whatever work was needed, so with a sigh he forced his eyes open.
He was in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. His waterbearers were missing, but a quick glance revealed that they were placed by the side of the bed, along with his boots and the outer layer of his armour.
There were faint sounds coming through the closed door. Frowning, Kaldur pulled on his boots and swam outside. He found himself in a small but neat living room, with an attached kitchen. Wyynde stood at the counter, barefoot, hair in a wavy disarray around his face, chopping up fruit and humming what sounded suspiciously like Baby Shark.
Kaldur meant to say something normal, like good morning, or thank you for not leaving me passed out in an algae bar, but what came out was “How do you know that song?”
He couldn’t help it. Dick had once hacked into the speakers in the Cave to make them play Baby Shark constantly, for five hours, and now Kaldur had a deep-rooted hatred for it.
Wyynde looked up, surprised. “I heard one of the other guards singing it, I think it got stuck in my head?”
“Yes,” Kaldur said, “It does that.”
Wyynde’s lips twitched. “I take it you don’t like it?”
“I very much do not,” Kaldur agreed. He coughed lightly. A glance around revealed blankets and pillows on the couch, suggesting that Wyynde had slept there the night before. He was struck by guilt. “Thank you for last night. And I’m sorry.”
Wyynde waved a hand. “Don’t be ridiculous, Kaldur, it was nothing. I wasn’t going to just leave you there.”
Kaldur disagreed. Making sure that he was fine was one thing. Giving up his own bed and taking the time to make sure that he was comfortable was another thing entirely.
He’d always been the responsible one, the one who took care of others. Having it be the other way around was disconcerting.
“You scared me a little,” Wyynde admitted. “I think you may have overdone it with the algae.”
“I am unsure how,” Kaldur said, “I didn’t have more than two rounds.”
Wyynde hummed in consideration. “Did you eat anything before it?”
Kaldur thought back. “Not since breakfast.” He didn’t usually skip meals, he was aware of how much he needed to eat in order to fight and function. He’d just been busy during lunchtime yesterday.
Wyynde laughed softly. “That would be why.” He pushed half the fruits he’d cut into a bowl and handed it to Kaldur. “Eat, please.”
“Thank you.” The disconcerting feeling was growing. “Wyynde, I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to be a bother.”
“You weren’t,” Wyynde insisted. He grinned. “Honestly, I am offended that you think it was difficult for me to drag you back here.” Kaldur’s guilt didn’t fade, and it must have shown in his expression, because Wyynde’s gaze softened. He stepped closer, till Kaldur could almost hear his heartbeat through the water. “I care about you, Kaldur. I wanted to take care of you.”
Oh. That was. Oh.
Wyynde frowned. “Was that too much?” He shifted away slightly. “I didn’t mean- that is, I thought…”
“No.” Kaldur caught Wyynde’s hand, preventing him from retreating further. “I care about you too,” he confessed, “I admit, it is strange for me to have someone take care of me.”
Wyynde smiled, squeezing Kaldur’s hand softly. “Maybe it’s time you got used to it.”