ETHAN

Keren practically bounced off the passenger's seat when he plopped himself behind the wheel, pamphlet in hand. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as his little brother pointed at the map for him.

"I can read directions, Keren," Ethan mumbled after one more map shove into his nose. "Can I start the car first?" His Cobra purred to life with the twist of his prismkey, backing out of their driveway before returning his attention on the road out of their community. He rolled out of the area and thought of the many excuses he could give to Mother as to why they went to the south-end of Roxton. In a perfect world, she'd never have to know.

A drive wasn't against the rules.

Keren flicked through stations with no sense of taste. Ethan shook his head when the massive buildings of Roxton came into closer view, with Chalen's casino shining against the overcast clouds. Whenever an ad blared out of his speakers, Keren grimaced and switched the channel. On the instrumental station, Keren glanced at him with a scowl.

"What?"

"Why is this in your favourites?"

"What's wrong with not wanting to hear people sing sometimes?"

Keren switched the channel and settled on a repetitive beat for jigs and dances before sitting back in his seat. Relieved for the less distracting noise, Ethan set the directions into his dash. It lit up over the panel and directed him to where Keren's spaceship museum was. Traffic held him up within the twisting roads of Roxton leading into south side, and he tapped his foot when he came to a forced stop outside the border of safety.

Figures cloaked in shadows loitered outside night clubs, handing over packages to the runners. Ethan bit on his tongue and kept moving instead of staring down the group and rolled out of the intersection. His dashboard beeped at the last turn, and he rolled into the small parking lot off to the side of the new museum. Keren went to jump out, but he lunged forward to stop his brother from a rash action.

"Stay here for a minute." Ethan left the car and swept over the lot, into the small alleys between the variety stores. Through the windows, people stood behind the counter and bought their supplies. Across the street of the museum, another bar where two guys flanked a Suit. Ethan tipped his head forward when one sent a glance his way, coming to a stop.

"Can I come out yet?" Keren complained.

Ethan rested his arms on the top of his car but never turned his back until they followed the Suit. Danger gone, he opened Keren's door and hauled him out by his shoulder, but dug his fingers deeper into Keren's shirt when he continued to run away from him.

"What did I say?" he asked.

Keren shuffled on his feet. "... to stay by your side."

Ethan let him go and locked the car, and waited when Keren slipped into his shadow then wrapped his arm around his. He glanced over his shoulder when he tugged Keren along to the spaceship museum, refusing to tug out anything of value or worth to catch the attention of anyone who observed their movements. All the while, Keren bounced along and spouted random facts about ships, but an icy tongue raised the hairs on the back of his neck. He refused to let his guard down when they reached the building, where two holograms of ships floated on pedestals.

"We're not staying too long," Ethan told him when they fell in line behind other patrons.

Keren nodded, but looked up at the holograms with a smile.

He's not even listening. He sighed and kept his grip tight on Keren who poised to spring when he paid for their entry tickets into the ship museum. Ah well... Inside the uncertain safety of the museum, Ethan noted all the security cams in the corners of the room nearest the exhibits. Must have some sort of Central Security Modi. He kept a hand on Keren's shoulder, though let his younger brother take the lead and point out interesting exhibits to examine. He spoke words, but Ethan heard none of them and trained his attention on every corner and crevice, but none of the other patrons paid them any mind.

"Ethan, are you listening?" Keren accused.

"Absolutely."

Keren pursed his lips. "I was trying to tell you about the old standard for Sanctum Goliaths," he enunciated with a point at said holographic exhibit with length and width numbers at each side, the new standard and the old, with size comparisons of other ships, from small fighters and scouts to medium and large sized Titans. Goliaths dwarved them all. He dared to let Keren go so he could take a closer look, wary of anyone who passed by to proceed deeper into the museum, allowing himself to be dragged along to follow the flow of movement when Keren returned to his side, only to stop when Keren huffed.

"You could at least pretend to listen to me."

"I am listening."

"Okay, what did I say last?" Keren questioned with a prod into his ribcage.

"You said and I quote 'you could at least pretend to listen to me'." Ethan braced himself when Keren shoved him, and found a laugh growing in his throat.

"That is not what I mean! Stupid."

Ethan nudged Keren through the rest of the museum, bracing himself for the wave of random facts and trivia about different ship models. He tried to listen, to focus on the words Keren told him, to bridge a gap no one else would, though whenever his attention drifted, Keren was quick to demand it back. Ethan set his head into his hand when Keren stopped at the gift shop to grab the one model they both struggled to find in antique stores in the north end of Roxton. Left to pay for his little brother's collection habits, he led Keren outside.

"Thank you, Ethan," Keren said as they returned to the car. "Even though you ignored me half the time."

Ethan rested his arms on the top of his car. "I wasn't ignoring you." He clicked his tongue and pointed at Keren. "I'm sad to say, I can't give you my attention 24/7, Keren, no matter how much you want it."

"I don't want your attention 24/7!" Keren threw back. "You're annoying!"

"Oh, really?" Ethan ducked when Keren did to glance at him on the other side, through the interior. "It's like any other time I can't get you to leave me alone, and yet you claim to not want my attention 24/7 while shoving your nose into everything I'm doing, and forcing me to shove my nose into whatever you're doing." He patted the door when Keren scowled further, and he beamed at him. "It's okay to admit it, Keren. I know I'm great and have a fun aura to be around."

"Only thing you have is a swollen head."

Ethan got into the car when Keren relented, but leaned forward. "You just don't like it when you're not the center of my attention. Didn't Ma ever teach you to share?" He dodged when Keren swiped at his head, then lunged forward to wrap his arms around Keren's neck to tug him closer. "That wasn't very nice."

"Let me go." Keren squirmed and pressed his hand into his face, but Ethan refused to lose the fight his brother started, though he put up a valiant effort in trying to escape his grip. He adjusted to hold Keren in a headlock, careful to give his brother ample breathing room, but with no leeway to retreat.

"You started it, I'm just finishing it," Ethan reminded him, and he leaned back when Keren tried to slap him.

In a tangle of elbows and fists, Ethan tossed his brother back into his seat with a grin and started his car while Keren collected his composure with a pout and a huff. He shoved his new scout model into the safety of the glove compartment, kicking it closed.

"Don't wreck my car." Ethan pointed at him.

Keren returned his point and scowled. "Didn't Mamma say it was rude to point?"

Ethan reached forward to pinch Keren's cheeks, who went into a wild flail to try and dissuade him. "Stop."

He stopped and adjusted the volume on the music, but sighed when Keren switched it almost instantly. "I can never win with you, can I?"

Kerne's devious smile returned. "Nope."

Ethan knew when to pick his battles, so he allowed his brother the small win of radio control for the bigger war of brute force. Out of the parking lot, he tried to keep a comfortable speed within the flow of traffic, back to the north end of Roxton. Into safety, where people Father knew milled about the streets, but coagulated around the casino Chalen owned and the surrounding businesses which tried to attract further crowds to bolster them.

Father never lets anything slip underneath him when it comes to our side of the city...

Keren swayed with the beat on the radio, losing his irritation in a moment.

But it is safer. As long as we're not on the south side.

She doesn't need to know.

Their house in the small community protected them further behind its gates. He rolled into the parking lot, then stepped out of the car with Keren, but he leaped back when Keren ran around the other side. "Nope." He braced his arms and swung Keren to the other side, who stumbled and almost landed on his back. Ethan pushed him upright and closed both doors. "Try again."

"You don't make it easy, Kellzoro..."

"It wouldn't be fun if I made it easy, Sellzora," he matched Keren's shift in formality, but smiled when Keren drove his heel into the lawn, but he leaned back through the car window to grab his model scout. "Don't forget this."

Keren took it from his hands, and hugged it against his chest. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said. "I'm sorry I wasn't quite as focused as you wanted me to be, Keren. Next time."

Maybe when the south end isn't a hot bed.

"Are you going to Jesti's later?"

"I don't know." Ethan motioned for him to head to the front door. "Why?"

"He's fun. He gives me all sorts of advice about how to build lasting model ships," Keren said. "I like him better than Urto, at least."

"Urto is hard to get used to," Ethan said and pulled out his key. "Jesti can be... overbearing, to say the least. Besides." He tapped the edge of his key on Keren's head. "You need your own friends."

He stopped when Keren lowered his gaze to his boots. "I'll try," he mumbled. "It's hard."

Ethan stopped himself from slipping the key into the lock of home. "Are you... having problems?"

Keren snapped on his knees. "No! Nothing like that, I swear."

Ethan narrowed his eyes.

"I promise," Keren insisted.

"Alright," he gave up another fight. "You know you can talk to me though."

"I know!" Keren nodded. "I will if I am having issues." He scoffed, then chuckled. "I mean... unless you want to do my math homework."

Ethan snorted. "I'll pass."

"You're so good with numbers though!"

"So are you, Keren, you just don't want to do it." He grinned at him. "Try not to say you're bad at it, I've seen your grades. Math is your best subject."

Keren let out a groan of frustration of another battle lost, and Ethan opened the door to victory.

Into the darkness, he came to a stop at the shadow looming in the kitchen with their arms crossed. He held his ground when Keren bumped into him with a quiet 'oof'.

Mother stood beside the cooking pots, where warmth and comfort swelled in his nose with bitter tasting pain. Her footsteps weighed the floorboards as she left the kitchen to face them down.

"And where were you two?" she asked, her voice tight and cracked her Tersilian.

Everyone will pay their dues.

Ethan tested the words, but drove them into his tongue to taste blood when Keren went around him, "Ethan took me to the ship museum that opened in the south end of Roxton."

The last laugh, but not a lie in his brother's naivety. To escape punishment and failure.

Mother's gaze broke between them in horror and disbelief. It smoothed out into stone as she turned to Keren, who beamed at them both.

"Can you go up to your room for a minute, Keren, so I can discuss that with Ethanius?"

Ice crawled through his spine when Keren's smile faltered, but he nodded, never questioning the debt he forced upon him. Stuck at the entrance into his home, on the edge of being chased out from the warmth of cooked dinner as Keren left his side. He came to a stop at the staircase, then said, "Thanks, Ethan. Now I have something to talk about with my classmates."

Ethan cowered in the shadow of her.

"You're welcome," he forced out, and Keren left him to pick up the pieces of his dues.