It was another golden afternoon on the property of Galinarael Grymn. For an expanse located in an area otherwise known as Shadowfen, it certainly wasn't as constantly dark and drab as the town of Adam's unfortunate upbringing. Of course, such thoughts had no place in the boy's mind as he hung from the branch of his favorite tree, suspended by his cloak which he'd fashioned into a makeshift hammock. From his lazy drapery he could observe the entire front yard, if it could be given such a title.

From here he could see Brandy's favorite creek, where Daddyman was teaching her to weave a fishing basket from the thick reeds that grow along the banks.

If he looked below him, at the base of the twisting tree, he could observe Julian attempting an oil paint portrait of his raven.

The intelligent corvid was normally very obedient, as he was well-trained and had a strong bond with Julian. Today, however, he seemed to be feeling the same bit of spunk that was festering in Adam's ever-scheming soul. The blasted bird kept tipping things over, pecking holes in Julian's canvas, and stealing paintbrushes.

Adam observed all of these things with an air of smugness. He would have felt bad for Julian if the spectacle wasn't so satisfying to watch. Producing a few lizards from the stash he kept within his shadow, he nibbled at their feet whilst pondering. Julian was frustrated, that much was evident, and it was all Adam could do to keep from laughing at the human. Humans were so naïve and stupid.

Like a spark, a devious plot ignited Adam's mind and he found himself grinning, holding up his half-eaten reptile and nodding slowly.

Adjusting his position so he wasn't merely dangling from the hammock, he peered down at Julian and hollered, "Oi! Want me to get you anything?"

"I'm good, thanks..." Julian mumbled, blinking up at the chewed lizard held in Adam's lanky fingers.

"Not even anything to drink? Sun's kinda hot, isn't it?"

"I'm in the shade..."

"Yeah but Cooper's stressing you out isn't he?"

Julian frowned incredulously. "His name isn't Cooper. You know that."

"I didn't actually, but thanks for the heads up." Adam's cheery tone was...disturbing, to put it lightly. Yet those big brown eyes of his played off such innocence, how was Julian to know any better? Maybe the kid was coming around after all.

As Julian resumed painting, Adam snuck down the tree and into the cave. He cold-steeped some tea and poured it into a mug with a dash of milk. He knew Julian was fond of that milk tea stuff with those little ball things. It was some human fad drink...

When he'd completed the concoction, Adam slipped outside and sauntered over to the tree, holding the mug out to his brother.  "You like that milk tea stuff with the balls, right?"

"You got me boba?" Julian's green eyes brightened at the prospect of his favorite drink.

"Yeah, sure. 'Boba'. Drink up," Adam smirked, placing the mug in Julian's hands. He stood, waiting for the human boy to drink.

Julian took the mug, which was another of Adam's garish creations, and took a sip. Smooth tea flowed into his mouth, followed by little bulbous things that bobbed in the liquid. He bit down on them, expecting a soft bite with a burst of maple-sugary flavor. What he got instead was quite the opposite: the little pearls snapped between his teeth, salty and fatty, almost bloody, with a flavor unspeakably terrible to the human palette.

As quickly as it had entered Julian's mouth, the liquid came spraying out in Adam's face. Adam was already shrieking with laughter, pleased with himself for this awful trick, and stumbled back trying to wipe Julian's spit off.

"Ew, why'd you spit on me?"

"WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!" Julian screamed, dropping the mug and its contents and gagging as the liquid poured out on the grass, draining away to reveal the disturbing reality of the "boba" pearls: they were lizard eyes. Adam had laughed himself into a wheezing fit, fully immersed in the enjoyment of the evil he'd committed. So immersed he was, that he didn't notice Daddyman and Brandy had returned, nor did he notice that Daddyman had quickly assessed the situation was quite cross as he rapidly approached the boys.

By now, Julian had had enough of Adam's antics. Without even a second thought he attacked his brother, and Adam screamed in shock before returning the offense.

Within moments the boys became a writhing tangle of kicking legs and flying fists; their father reached into the fray to grab them both by their collars, knocking their heads together before prying them apart with force. "ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!"

"HE STARTED IT!" Julian insisted, wiping blood from his mouth.

"OH SHUT UP!" Adam screeched, kicking his brother again.

Galinarael held them further apart, "I don't care who started it. You both know better than this. Now...stop."

Adam snarled again, writhing and twisting away from his father's grasp, but Galinarael merely readjusted his hold to maintain restraint of the boy. He may as well have been holding a snake, with all the wriggling and hissing that came from his charge.

Nursing his wounds, trying to figure out where all the blood was coming from, Julian kept his distance. Galinarael guided Adam into a sitting position, beckoning Julian over. Julian glared, mistrust flaring hot in his otherwise pleasant green eyes as he stood in obstinance, using his wraps to soak up the blood from his nose and lip. When Galinarael persisted to urge him closer, he chose to obey rather than cause the man more disappointment than he was already expressing. He sat to Daddyman's right, opposite of Adam.

Daddyman pulled a fae's version of a first aid kit from within his shadow and began with one hand to tend Julian's wounds, all the while keeping a tight grip on Adam's shirt collar. He spoke to Julian in a low, soothing voice, calming him and coaxing out his side of the situation. Once Julian had told him everything that there was to be said, Daddyman turned to Adam and snapped his fingers in front of the boy's face. The feral kid was still seething, no doubt humiliated to some degree, low hisses and growls vibrating from his skeletal chest.

Daddyman rolled his eyes and muttered, "Such a drama king." He slowly relinquished the tension on the boy's shirt until he was no longer restraining him, but before Adam could take off running, Daddyman's shadow knocked him down. He lay on the dirt, ribs heaving and limbs sprawled out. He certainly hadn't anticipated that. Daddyman rose, strode over, and stood above his son, looking down on him with the firm sort of affection only a father can express. "Are you ready to try again? Do this the right way? Nicely?"

"Go to hell."

A shadowy hand swatted Adam's face, leaving a dull and resounding ache in his jaw and teeth. The sheer discomfort of such a reprimand caused him to squirm and grimace.

"I'll ask you again: are you ready to do this the right way?"

Adam glared at his father, wishing he could burn through the man just by the intensity of his stare. Why does he have to try so hard? Can't he see that I'm not going to cooperate? Doesn't he know when to stop? How long is he gonna persist? What if I never cave in to what he wants, then what?

"You are forbidden to hunt, capture, kill, or eat lizards until further notice."

Though the words startled Adam, he wished to give his father the impression that he was unfazed. "That is the most unjust punishment if I ever heard one."

"For feeding lizard eyes to your brother and beating him up? I find it quite fitting."

"Well, obviously we don't see eye-to-eye so either get on my level or get off my ass."

"I will take away other privileges as well if you're going to cop an attitude," Daddyman threatened sternly.

"You can't do anything to me and you know it," Adam replied airily, folding his arms beneath his head. "You're too weak-willed to follow through on any of those threats."

"Have I ever not stuck to discipline when it comes to you?"

"You favor the others."

"I don't. They just tend not to behave as stupidly as you. Now get up."

"Eh...you knocked me down, I suppose I have to stay down." The boy smirked, showing absolutely no remorse for any of his actions.

Daddyman glared at him, patience worn quite thin. Yet he knew he needed to stretch it further, for Adam always required more patience than the others. They were not as feral nor as damaged as he, and while this did not give him neither pass nor excuse, it did mean that he was inherently not going to be easy to deal with. He'd grown up in hostile territory and did not know how to behave in places that were safe. He was not used to not being the only other person in a household. And, as he had so often expressed, he clearly felt slighted by the fact that his own father would take in so many other strays who were not blood related.

"Fine. You may lie there as long as you wish, and you will miss the evening meal. You are forbidden to hunt, capture, or kill any kind of food. You are also forbidden to leave the premises of my property. That means no escaping to the woods. Do I make myself clear?"

Maybe it was the severity in Galinarael's voice, or maybe Adam was starting to understand, or maybe he had ulterior motives (as he so often did), but whatever the reason, he looked his father in the eyes and nodded obediently. "Yes, Sir."

"No late night snacks either. You're also going to help Julian wash the dishes tonight."

"Even though I won't get to eat?"

"Precisely." The sternness in the man's tone and on his face did not waver for even a moment.

Adam huffed a sigh and shut his eyes. "Ugh."

"Any grumbling and I'll make you two wash the laundry as well." Turning on his heel, Galinarael went back to Julian to administer discipline to him as well. As far as he could understand, neither of them was innocent in this trifle and he needed to ensure he was addressing things equally.

The evening meal came and went, and Adam remained outside for the entirety of it. He had not moved from his place lying in the dirt, and it seemed as though he might have fallen asleep. Galinarael sent Julian out to rouse the boy and bring him inside so they could wash the dishes. With Brandy tailing him as she often did, Julian went. He was barely in proximity to Adam when the feral kid leapt up, startling the poor human. Julian almost smacked Adam, but he did not want to start another fight...

"Get up," he grumbled. "It's time to wash the dishes."

"I know," Adam sneered, dusting himself off and sauntering toward the house. He was not going to walk beside Julian. He could not bring himself to stoop so low, and he wanted to make sure everyone in the household was aware.

It must have been a large meal, for the amount of dishes in the sink was quite substantial. Adam glared at Julian in disgust before muttering, "I'll wash and you dry."

Julian nodded and rolled up his sleeves, taking his station to Adam's right. Adam sorted the dishes into piles ranking from least dirty to dirtiest, rinsing some of them before filling the sink with hot, soapy water. He began to wash them, handing them off to Julian to rinse and dry. They worked in an uncomfortable and heated silence, both of them burning with some form of hatred for one another,  though Julian was clearly more gentle about it.

"I hate this." Adam was scrubbing furiously at some saucepan, and while it seemed he was referring to the object in question, Julian knew he was speaking of the very fact that they were doing a chore together.

"Maybe if you weren't always coming up with schemes, you wouldn't be stuck doing chores with me," Julian reasoned. His tone held no guile, but was meek and subdued.

Adam merely scoffed at this proposition. "Humans deserve to be schemed against."

"Why is that?"

"Humans are cruel. And stupid. And untrustworthy."

"I wouldn't know," Julian shrugged honestly. Having been raised by faes, he had not dealt with others of his race very often. He had always assumed his species was like the fae species in terms of good and bad people.

"Stop defending your shitty race." Adam glanced over his shoulder to make sure Daddyman wasn't hanging around to eavesdrop, for he knew he'd get further penalties for foul language.

"I'm not defending them. I'm saying I wouldn't know if humans are cruel, stupid, or untrustworthy, because I've never really been around them."

Adam was silent, knowing Julian was being truthful on this matter. Still, he wanted to prove his view of humanity was correct, if only to have some advantage over this calm human boy. "Well, they are terrible. They enslave our kind, abuse us, treat us lower than animals. They murder their own children before they're even born–can you imagine?!"

"Some sects of fae also engage in those things," Julian pointed out. "Not that it justifies their actions. That sort of behavior is demonic, no matter who's committing it."

Adam narrowed his eyes and scrubbed more furiously at the stains in the saucepan. Julian watched him in silence, perhaps even with sympathy.

"I'm sorry they treated you that way. The humans, I mean."

Adam just stared at his brother, unsure how to process this apology. He wanted to be snide about it, to brush the kid off and make him feel like an idiot. But there was something inside him that told him Julian was not done talking, and moreover, that he should listen.

So he waited.

Julian continued, "I know you don't like me, or really any of us for that matter. I think if I had gone through what you did, I would hate people too. I don't trust most of them anyway. Dad says the universe is not as safe as it used to be, and I've had tastes of that when I'm out running errands. Of course I'll never actually know how hard it was for you. But I can respect that, you know? I won't force you to get along with me. Dad might, for the sake of peace in his household, but I won't. I'd rather earn your respect than demand it from you."

Adam could not get his words out. In fact, his mind was scrambling to even form thoughts. He always prided himself on being quick-witted, on always having comebacks for every remark that came his way. But Julian's words had floored him somehow.

"You don't like having to fight for everything, do you?" Julian asked. It was a genuine question. Adam felt his thoughts slowly stop spiraling; he felt perhaps he might be able to answer this.

"The fight is all I've known."

"Well maybe it's time to let it go. You won't grow if you don't leave those things behind. You'll never have peace." Julian spoke all of these things objectively, yet it was clear he meant every word he said.

Adam was back in a state of being unable to form his words, and he just shook his head in frustration. Let it go. Let it go? LET IT GO?! People were constantly telling him this. Especially now that he was "safe". Letting it go...won't that mean all his struggles were for nothing? If he releases what harmed him, how will he have a testament for his victories? Where will the proof of his survival be? Will it even matter?

"Holding onto that kind of stuff makes a person pretty sick," Julian shrugged, reaching for the saucepan to rinse it off. Adam let him take it. He was lost trying to maintain his frame of mind, and he was no longer listening to Julian's gentle words. A nagging thought in his fragmented mind told him that Julian was expressing concern, care, and compassion, and those three things were what he had marked the three C's that he needed to experience but refused to accept. And he was trying his very hardest not to accept them now. He did not need anybody to tell him anything. He had made it this far on his own, and he was in no way ready to open up to anyone and let them in. It was better to suffer in silence, because it made things more painless. Or at least kept the pain hidden. It aided in maintaining the impression that he was numb, that nothing could affect him.

Yet his current dumbfoundedness was screaming proof that he was being affected.

"I hate you," he muttered, struggling to gain control.

Julian merely smiled and waited for the next clean dish.