Aarik: "So now that you're rich and powerful, are you going to take me in? I could use a rich patron - they're much better than getting a job".
I can't be the only one to read it as Aarik asking Kenton to be his sugar daddy? Aarik all around seems to me like he's in unrequited love with Kenton. Kenton is of course oblivious and Aarik suffers.
It looks like Aarik rushed back after hearing about Kenton's death. He returns and says that he wept and mourned Kenton but plays it cool, says that he got over it, stays flippant in tone and faces away, hiding his expression. He mentions his disinheritance and then asks Kenton if he can stay. We don't know why exactly he was disinherited by his father other than "avoiding duty". Maybe the duty wasn't just about being a soldier. Maybe he was avoiding being forced into a marriage as well.
Later on, Aarik agrees to become the new Lord General just for Kenton's sake. He avoided this duty so desperately that he even traveled to the Darkside of the planet, but for Kenton he would do this one thing he hates the most. And he looked so dead inside even when he casted the vote for Kenton.
TLDR; Aarik could be gay and in unrequited love with Kenton.
