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It had all started about a week ago. His mother had called him up out of the blue to tell him that one of his cousins would be coming to live in Destiny City sometime soon; she hadn’t had the details, but the information had caused him to roll his eyes a little. Another secret cousin, this time on dad’s side? Geez…

Even though Colin had learned of his cousin a week prior, he’d only known Khaleel for three days - two of which they had lived together.

Before that, his cousin had been living in a hotel and registering for Sovereign Heights Prep.

Colin had gone to talk to his landlords to make sure that his cousin was welcome for the - hopefully - short stretch of time Khaleel would need to be there. It wasn’t that the blond danseur didn’t like his cousin or begrudged him a place to stay, he just wanted to make sure the guy was settled somewhere permanent as soon as possible.

Camping on a couch indefinitely wasn’t really the best way to go about things for a twenty year old guy, no matter how comfortable that couch might have been or how busy the couch's owner was!

It was really good for sitting and talking though. Or for sitting and watching Colin while he was practicing on his pole, which really did get the blond danseur the most interesting looks.

"So," The blond was hanging upside-down from the pole wearing bicycle shorts and a headband to keep his hair out of his eyes, "Like I was saying, Destiny City's pretty nice as long as you're not being an idiot. There's a really nice arts district downtown - where I work. Plenty of decent restaurants, but not much in the way of vegetarian food."

Colin laughed at Khaleel's good natured reply, "Mmhmm. But you don't give yourself enough credit, you're more like..only a quarter idiot." Even upside down, green eyes flashed mischief and amusement, but then Colin righted himself and spun down from the pole so he was right-side-up once more.

"Yep, don't worry, I'll take you." The danseur plucked his shorts back down from where they bunched up at his groin and then set his shoulder against the pole and grasped it lower down, lifting his legs off the ground and playing flag. "Pole dancing. I started doing it with Nadia a while back and it's really fun." He slipped, palms too sweaty to keep a good grip on the steel pole, and caught himself before he hit the wood flooring.

"Good exercise and as long as I'm careful it doesn't cause problems with my job." Like and yet also unlike his jogging, which he had to be extremely careful about. Not only was jogging usually counter indicated for ballet dancers, but the way he could hyper-extend his legs could also cause problems. But Colin was careful - mostly.

"Mmhmm." What could he say? He'd only had Khaleel in his life for a short time and he already felt a strong kinship to his cousin that went beyond their blood relation. Simply put, they were two very similar creatures in their humor and outlook - it was sunshine squared and brought to one place every time they came together. Which was often, with the whole co-habitating thing.

Another smile crinkled the corners of Colin's eyes at the mention of Nadia, "Yes. She's one of my best friends." And so much more, to be perfectly honest - she and Lorne - they all had a relationship that was as easily moved in as it might have been difficult for others to understand.

"Yeah, technically I'm not supposed to do anything that might hurt my ability to dance, but I'm pretty careful about things." He kicked up, the background in ballet making the movements seem entirely effortless as he did a move called the chopper, upside down once more with his toes pointed perfectly. "She does pole dancing for fun too. You should try it."

"It's very careful!" Colin laughed and swung himself down into a 'flag' type of position slowly and with exaggerated care, smiling at his cousin from that position and then sticking his tongue out playfully.

Khaleel denied dance - pole or otherwise - but had a good point: they did share the same sort of sunny disposition and warm smile, even if there was much else they didn't. "You know it's a skill you can learn." But he wasn't going to push his cousin more, save for in a playful manner, because that really wasn't the way either of them operated.

Colin's stomach muscles quivered from the held position but he worked to keep his breathing as even as possible before releasing it and righting himself with a hand on the pole and feet on the floor. "What do you do for fun? You're free to set up anything you need here, you know." Even if he couldn't offer Khaleel a room to himself, he would do his damnedest to give the other man as welcoming a home space as he could.

Hiking? Now that did sound like a lot of fun! He'd only gone once or twice with Lorne, but Colin knew there were some really lovely hiking trails available.

Hearing about Khaleel making friends with Olga and Fiona also made him smile, for he knew that his cousin was as gregarious and friendly as he was - making friends might have come easy to both of them, but that didn't mean it wasn't a fantastic thing to hear. "Oh wow, a potential job -- that's fantastic!"

Nightly patrolling was one of those facts of both their lives - kind of like really fantastic smiles and generous natures. "You know, I think I'd miss you...but it would be great to throw you a house-warming party."

Colin came over and flopped down next to Khaleel, leaning against his shoulder with an easy comfort and familiarity. An idea struck him, "Hey...you wanna go out tonight?"

Really, he didn't mind his cousin hanging out on his couch, but...well...they were both young men and having your own space was really important. Also, he really did want to throw Khaleel a housewarming party!

"Wonderful and yes, of course I will." Two blond heads leaned in while plans were discussed and made; eventually they'd separate so that each could prepare for the evening out that awaited them...