Forever Stuck in Our Youth

"Oh," Idalia said quietly. She wasn't sure how she had expected him to respond, but hurt feelings hadn't crossed her mind. Selfishly she still worried how it would effect their relationship. There was no way she could pretend she was Incendio any more and vice versa. The antlers he'd sprouted over the winter months had permanently separated them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," she saddled her ears and lowered her head contritely. Her brother was so important to her. His feelings were her feelings, even if they didn't look the same any more. "Do you think I'll grow them too?" she said wistfully, but her head didn't hurt like he had complained of all winter. It was a nice thought, but it would probably never come true.

"You're not a freak," she added, a little bit too late. Idalia would never think her brother was unusual; her hurt came from the ways they were now different from each other, not how he was different from the rest of the world. "Maybe you can hunt deer pretty easily now, huh? They'll just think you're one of them," Idalia joked. If she could make him smile, even just a little bit, she'd feel relieved.