But still, Casey felt it was unfair of him to just sit here and wait for lunch to be prepared. After all, he's not some customer at a restaurant. The one cooking over there was one of his newly recognized nephews. As an uncle, shouldn't he at least help?
"It's fine. You'll only get in the way if you insisted on helping," Reas suddenly said, as if reading what's on Casey's mind.
He looked at his other nephew, who had a bored expression on his face. The two of them were the only ones in the small living room. Tommy went out to wait for Nicol's arrival. So, he was alone with Reas now.
The two of them hadn't really talked properly since he and Tommy had arrived here. This would probably be the only chance he could talk to the other, so he should take this chance to start a conversation rather than stay silent.
"Ahm, so... how is the academy?" he started.
Reas lifted his head. Casey thought that the other would just ignore him, but surprisingly, he responded.
"It's fun in its own way."
"You're in the Mecha Department, right? Have you always been interested in Mechas?"
"I guess so?"
"I heard you're at the top of your class. You must be a really great Mecha pilot."
"Well, I do put in a lot of effort. So, that only mirrored my performance in class."
After that answer, silence prevailed once again. Casey scratched his cheek in an awkward manner. He, unsure of how to proceed, felt a growing sense of awkwardness and disconnect, like trying to navigate a conversation in a dense fog where every attempt to connect was met with an elusive barrier.
A smile crossed Casey's lips. "Thank you, I will try my best to follow that advice wholeheartedly."
-----
Just before Astrid finished cooking, Thomas returned to the apartment with Nicol. The first the kid after he walked inside was to run in Astrid's direction and hugging him. Astrid was sauteing vegetables then. He had to step back from the stove so any stray cooking oil wouldn't hit Nicol.
"Nicol, that was too reckless," Thomas quickly chided his son.
Nicol, who seemed to not hear what his father said, just raised his head and looked at Astrid with shining eyes. "Dad said that Brother Aster is the son of my aunt. Does that mean that Brother Aster is really brother?"
Before Astrid could answer, Reas snorted. "What kind of brother? He's your cousin, that's different."
Nicol, looking annoyed, turned to Reas. "We're still related, so it's the same thing!"
"If you're talking that way, then shouldn't I also be your brother?" Then Reas smirked, obviously trying to annoy Nicol on purpose. "After all, I'm Aster's twin 'brother'."
Nicol's eyes widened in shock, as if a sudden realization had just dawned on him. He then nervously bit his lower lip, the reluctance evident on his young face. "Fine. Then you can also be my brother."
Everyone looked at each other after hearing that. And then they just burst into laughter.
---------
After finishing work, Wulfric was now in his study reviewing surveillance footage of the entrance of Aster's apartment building, a routine check he did as the owner to ensure no unauthorized individuals entered.
It's for Aster's safety, after all.