I'm Not a Cynic

A smile of amusement perched itself onto her sibling’s lips and her spirits lifted further. Ah, there was the brother she liked to see. Truly, all she wanted for him was for him to be happy and healthy. It was what she wanted for all of her family, really, and if she had anything to say about it they’d have that.

Suddenly, the dark Hervok-Archer was leaning toward her, his grey gaze looking around them and for a moment she looked around to see if there was someone around that she needed to be wary of and somehow had missed. But instead, he whispered words that she didn’t think would ever come out of her brother’s mouth. Her head whipped around and stared at him for a moment, her gaze wide like he’d grown two heads, then her lips pressed firmly together. They quivered at the ends, her body trembling before she couldn’t keep it in anymore. She burst out laughing, her chest heaving with the force of the amusement she felt. Tears actually came to her eyes and it took her several moments to collect herself, but the amused look never left her face. “You’re right, Scully is a dick.”

She looked at her brother for a moment, really looking at him. He was small by their family’s standards, that much was clear, and he was too inexperienced for her liking. She’d tried to shield her siblings from the bad, hurtful things in the world, but maybe she’d done them more harm than good. Nineva had wanted her to explore more of the world away from her while she looked for Clouse but she hadn’t let herself. Maybe she needed to let go a little for the both of them. “Okay, I’ll propose you a deal. Option A. you come hang out with me, your father and your Uncle Ramiel and we’ll teach you all about fighting, hunting and anything else you want. Option B. you can stay with Scully and Avella and...do whatever you’ve been doing, but you have to check in with me at least once a week so I can make sure your cousin hasn’t had you tossed off a cliff. Either way, we don’t go back to the Dell unless you want to.”