🌌 Introduction 🧨
"Kaite" is the ship between Nate Astraia and Kai Liu from Bewilthred. While they initially start out as friends, they eventually fall in love as the story progresses.
At a first glance, Kai and Nate are complete opposites. Kai’s more laid-back, charismatic, and outgoing personality completely contrasts Nate’s more anxious, avoidant, and cautious nature. Kai views Nate’s “off putting” personality and emotional walls as a personal challenge. He loves to tease and poke fun at Nate to get a reaction out of him. Luckily for him, Nate is very easy to rile up.
Though Nate initially finds Kai’s antics to be an annoyance, he does note how he never has to be mean to be funny. Despite Kai’s nature to tease, he never says anything cruel or disrespectful to do so. That, in Nate’s eyes, is enough to get Kai some respect in his eyes. But…don’t tell anyone he said that. He’d rather not say that part out loud.
Additionally, Kai deeply respects Nate and his dedication to his family. He knows that deep down, there’s a softer side to him. For now though, teasing will be enough to get his point across, but maybe if he keeps poking around, he can get a glimpse into that side of him, even if it means playing the long game. After all, isn’t it more rewarding that way?
🌌 ACT 1 🧨
As Act 1 progresses, Kai and Nate inevitably get much closer to one another. Though they still bicker and tease, there’s a lot more notable fondness towards one another. Unlike many of Kai’s previous “friends”, Nate admires Kai for much more than just for “entertainment”. As a result, Kai feels more able to be open and vulnerable with Nate and let his humorous mask slip a little.
Nate genuinely believes Kai is intelligent, just maybe not so much in his decision making. He admires his ability to quickly problem solve and especially his creativity. You could say he’s got a bit of a soft spot for him…but, he’d rather not ruminate on that for now.
The fact Nate rarely gets close to anyone paired with his intense loyalty also helps calm Kai’s fears of being left behind. Nate also starts to open up to Kai which allows Kai to finally get a glimpse into a kinder, more gentle side to Nate. Even with his harsher exterior, it seems Kai is finally making his way into Nate’s heart. Who knows, maybe even Nate is working his way into Kai’s too…
🌌 Relationship Dynamic 🧨
🌌 Aesthetic 🧨
🌌 Ship Associations 🧨
🌌 Trivia 🧨
- Kaite was the first Bewilthredverse ship ever! Even before Mia existed I was planning for these two to end up together. They are bonded by fate.
- In early versions of Bewilthred, Kai's jacket was a gift from Nate. This isn't the case anymore, but it's still cute.
- Kai almost exclusively calls Nate "Nate-a-Rino" or "Nat" when speaking to him directly. Or he alternates between various terms of endearment. Nate sometimes calls Kai "Smartass" or "Liu" in return.
- Rolling back to that, actually. Initially I had Nate call Kai "dumbass" as like, his term of affection for him, but as I fleshed out Kai's issues w/ being viewed as stupid I decided to switch it. I think it'd be sweet that something that, on the surface seems insulting, is actually one of the first instances of affirmation for Kai that he IS smart, he's just a little bit too impulsive for his own good. Yes I put this much thought into everything why do you ask.
- As my final project for my then-creative program, I made an entire 20 minute episode specifically focused on them. Of course. You should go watch it, actually.
-
Kai affectionately refers to Nate as and compares him to a frog often. They are quite literally the post below
