Oh, Brother... [Pluto]

[Jupiter Roy (DELETED 7122)]

She had been told she couldn't.

Everything she had once known, everything that had once made her comfortable, in the familiarity and homeliness of it all, was now out of bounds. The house they all lived in out in the wilderness, farm-like in its warmth. They were so loud out there, with their guns and their arguments. They never got violent with each other, though. Just very loud. Vicious rhetoric that they all sat down and hashed out later on. Because they were a family, and they had no neighbours, and they had to be honest with each other.

Father Stephen, who was a butcher. Mother Lucy, who wanted to be a fashion designer but who stayed behind in Harper Rock to do dry cleaning and alterations instead. Sometimes she regretted her choices but she loved her family, and she could never regret that.

Brother Pluto. Dearest ******* Pluto. Jupiter hated him, once. But that was just because he was young. She was allowed to be judgemental of his youthful ways, wasn't she? But if they bullied him at school, they had Jupiter to deal with. She really was quite fond of him, in the end. In the end, he was the only one she really talked to. Told everything to. A confidante. Even if he did sometimes tease her mercilessly. It was the honesty that she craved.

And now she wasn't supposed to see him ever again. Video chat? As if he was going to buy that. She was specifically told not do. Do not go and see them. They can't see you like you are.. But she couldn't. She couldn't do that to Pluto. At least, that's what she told herself. In the end, she realised, she couldn't do it to herself. She missed the ever living **** out of that little turd and she wanted to see him. Needed to see him.

In the end, she caved. A simple text, telling him to meet her at the playground where they used to go as children; the one near where their father worked, as they waited for him to finish for the day and take them home. She had no idea what she was going to say to Pluto. She had no idea. She just needed to see him. To assure him everything was alright. But to make sure he was alright, too. There was a vague notion of getting him to help her; help by telling her mother to stop calling, and her father not to call the cops like he threatened to do. They didn't listen to her. They didn't know why she wouldn't come home to visit, when she used to visit every second day.

As she sat on one of the swings in the semi-darkness, she chewed mercilessly at her nails, her eyes wide and fearful as she kept watch on the shadows around her. What would they do to her, if they found out she was fraternizing with her human brother? What would the punishment be? Hopefully, they just wouldn't have to find out.

[Pluto (DELETED 7184)]

Why can't his sister be more like everyone else's sisters. Nope, his was the type to make late night phone calls and scare the **** out of you, talking about murders and having witnessed them. He could still remember that call, just the sound in her voice was enough to let him know that she was really frightened. He told her to hang up with him and to call 911. He had believed she did, but Jupiter was also supposed to have called him back and let him know she was okay, but she isn't "normal" and of course, she didn't.

After what seemed like a million phone calls and texts to her phone, his relief was met with a phone call from his sister, an even stranger than before Jupiter. When she talked to him, it was brief and full of half explanations. Pluto knew that there was something going on and that his sister was hiding things from him. The other calls that followed that one, were no different.

They may not be a shining example of sibling love, but there was one thing that he was always able to count on, and that was that his sister never lied to him. She knew that he needed things to always be straight forward and no one else understood that as much as she did. Even her half-assed insults were precise and direct. He never had to second guess the meanings behind what she said. Now? Now he couldn't say that any longer.

The fact that she hadn't been home, in what seemed like forever, had Pluto worried. Then add in that she texted him to meet her at the playground they used as kids, instead of just coming home, had him even more confused. He swore that she had better have a damn good explanation and not a half way contrived one. Pluto wasn't going to allow her to dodge his questions this time, not with her face to face with him.

Shrugging into his black hoodie, he pulled the hood over his head, covering his messy brown locks. So many times his mother would make the comment " I swear you are the only person I know, whose hair looks better when they wake up, than before they go to bed." To save himself the headache of even trying to figure out what was wrong with his hair exactly, he would just throw on ball cap or a hoodie. That usually came along with "why are you always hiding under that hat?" Yeah, people were confusing.

"I'll be back, Mom!" Pluto yelled on his way out of the closing door. Wanting to avoid the line of questions that would have came from his mom, if she had found out where exactly he was going, he had strategically planned that getaway. He could already hear her yelling through the closed door, and he knew she was asking him where he was going. This was when he put on his headphones and turned up the music; the soundtrack for Halo Combat Evolved tuned her out.

Just as the seventh track started to play, the silhouettes of the playground equipment could be made out beneath the glow of the moonlight. Through narrowed eyes, he strained to see if he could spot his sister. As he got closer, his sight settled on her. She was sitting on one of the swings. Pluto kicked at a rock and then made his way over to his elusive sister.

"What do you know, she lives." The corners of his eyes wrinkled as he offered her a smile, while pulling off his headphones.

[Jupiter Roy (DELETED 7122)]

Jupiter snorted. Living. But not living. What a thing for him to say! But she nodded in agreement nonetheless, a smile spreading across her lips as she stood and closed the distance between herself and her brother. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight, personal space be damned. She knew that she missed him, but she didn’t realise she missed him just this much.

”Thanks for coming, Putty,” she said, still with her arms wrapped around him in the tight hug. She took a deep breath as she pulled back, trying to gather her wits and control her voice, which, in those short few words, threaten to crack. Only now, as her eyes settle upon the familiar face of her little brother, did she realise that she was close to some kind of emotional breakdown. Kept at arm’s distance from all that she loved and knew, she didn’t realise just how on edge she was. Now that he was here, she had to figure out how to proceed. But for the moment she didn’t care. It was good to just see him.

Another couple of steps back and she turned, shoving her hands her into her pockets as she sauntered over to a table and bench and sat down, her hands still in her pockets.

”I’m sorry I haven’t been around. I’ve… I’ve been busy. I… I met a guy,” she said. The lie sounded flimsy. It was the first time she’d uttered it. This was what Velveteen wanted her to do – tell them that she’d met someone, tell them she was going out of town. Hide, lay low. Bide time, until she could come to terms, and realise what she had to do. She bit the inside of her lip.

It felt wrong to lie to Pluto. It felt like the absolute wrong thing to do, despite all the danger that Velveteen had warned her about. She pulled her lip between her teeth, watching Pluto with wide eyes – waiting for her brother to either believe her, or call her out on her lie. She was hoping for the latter.

[Pluto (DELETED 7184)]

His eyes widened a bit as he felt the tight squeeze that was being administered by his sister. It was a little too tight for his comfort level and just as he was about to lodge a complaint, Jupiter let go. With a raised eyebrow, he nodded slightly toward her, as an acknowledgement to her thanking him for showing up.

He watched his sister as she made her way over to a nearby table. She looked the same as he had last seen her; that was good. Close on her heel, he followed behind and then sat down next to her. Turning slightly so the two could see each other better, Pluto listened to her. Yep, another barely formed explanation. His shoulders dropped just a bit and his eyebrows rose again.

"A guy... Really Jupiter?" She wasn't going to just get off that easily. He needed more input than that. " What's his name and why couldn't you just meet me at home? I know Mom and Dad would love to see you." His blue eyes averted hers and he looked at an old oak tree that was growing not too far behind from where they were sitting on the table. He waited for her to explain better.

[Jupiter Roy (DELETED 7122)]

Jupiter had sat with one knee up on the chair, facing Pluto as he sat next to her. When he pushed, though, with his questions, she turned away, both hands upon the table. Her fingers were splayed at first, but soon they closed into fists. Of course Pluto wasn’t going to believe her. She’d brought her boyfriends home in the past. Even if they weren’t boyfriends – just friends that happened to be boys, or men she’s slept with just the once. She wasn’t shy of her parents, nor did her family embarrass her. Of course, she mused. Of course they would find it strange that she wouldn’t bring this one home to meet them.

”Okay, okay. So it’s… it’s not technically a boy,” she said. It took her a while to blurt it out; to begin with she’d considered giving Micah’s name, because it was the first name that came to mind. It almost amused her, wondering what Velveteen would think. But then she knew she’d be in trouble for a whole lot more than just claiming Micah as her boyfriend.

”I can’t tell you, Putty. I’m not even supposed to be seeing you. I don’t know what they’d do if…” she stopped and sucked in a breath. She didn’t want her brother worrying about her, or thinking she was being held against her will. She didn’t want him thinking that she was in danger of physical harm. So she just shook her head, licked her lips, and went on in a rush.

”The point is, something happened and it’s huge, and I can’t tell you, or Mum and Dad, because it’d put you all in danger. I’m putting you in danger now but I just… I wanted you to know that I’m safe. I’m fine. I’m alive and I’m being cared for and everything has changed, but it’s all going to be okay,” she said, pulling her lip into her mouth to gnaw at it, turning her large wide eyes to her brother. She had no idea what she was going to do, and now it had come to this – never mind that she wanted to break down and cry. It would all be okay, eventually. But right now it was overwhelming.