[Log, Closed] In Vino Veritas... Sorta.

[notolddamnit]

Who: Anemone (canhazjam ) & Squalo (notolddamnit ).
Where: Squalo's (and Anemone's) apartment, Elysium
When: After this conversation.
Summary: In which Squalo tries to be a competent older brother (and fails) and Anemone tries to score some wine (and wins). Or, When Food Snobs Collide.
Rating: R-ish, maybe. For Squalo's mouth.
Other: Underage drinking is BAD. BAD, I

Comments

[canhazjam]

They chatted through the Network, because Anemone was on the Network, and Squalo was working. This was a fine arrangement for Anemone, who was accustomed to having her own space on her own terms. That wasn't so much the case living here with her brother, but it was still better than what she'd left behind.

Usually.

"I'm coming!" She called out, huffy. "It's not like it's going to get cold or anything." She headed for the kitchen sink rather than the bathroom, though, to wash her hands.

[notolddamnit]

Squalo balanced uncomfortably between throwing a fit whenever Anemone messed up his schedule and trying not to be a choking, controlling presence in her life, like their mother had been. Still, he'd lived alone for more than ten years now, and he had to constantly remind himself that he couldn't just scream himself hoarse at her whenever she inadvertently pissed him off. He didn't think she did it on purpose. Often.

"The sooner we eat it, the better it'll be," Squalo lectured as he finished serving their wine, placing the bottle on his side of the bar. "Weren't you hungry?"

[canhazjam]

"It looks good, anyway," she said, peering at the plates. She was a bit hungry, and though she wasn't always happy about eating things that most people considered "real food", she was actually hungry enough to enjoy the smell of the meat - which was as far removed from the sugary sweets she craved as she could get without feeling ill.

She knew her brother was trying for her, but that was as new as living with him. She'd never really had anyone try before, and it was taking a lot more getting used to than she'd first anticipated. She was trying, too, but she was worse at it than he was.

[notolddamnit]

Squalo's lip quirked upwards a bit as he took his seat, perching on the stool and hooking his ankles on its legs. He'd stuck his reading glasses on his hair, above his forehead, least he lost them in the ocean of papers and stuff on his coffee table, and he'd pulled his hair back into a low ponytail, to keep it out of the way. Even though Anemone's presence was a strange thing in his routine, he tried to not let it stop him from relaxing. And it wasn't like her good for nothing bodyguard was with them, either. It wasn't that he disliked the redhead, to be honest, since he, personally, couldn't care less about him. But the fact he was entrusted with his sister's safety made Squalo paranoid for some reason.

"And there's no mushrooms in it," Squalo gave her an amused look as he picked up knife and fork. His? Was covered in a nice, creamy mushroom sauce. And it smelled heavenly. "Feeling better?"

[canhazjam]

"I'm okay, I think," she said, settling into the tall seat. It was awkward, being shorter than her brother by nearly a foot - it made using much of his apartment a bit difficult. Like the tall bar chairs. Her feet dangled above the foot bar, but it was okay, since she had a habit of curling her ankles around the legs, too. "Have you talked to the doctor guy? You never did answer that part on the Network."

[notolddamnit]

"Not recently," Squalo sighed, "Flemming's being a fucktard out there somewhere, but I'll call him in the week." Squalo cut a piece of beef and dug into it with a pleased little sound. It tasted as good as it smelled. "Just don't push yourself too hard, alright?"

[canhazjam]

"I have no choice, really," she said, jutting a lip out as she pushed some food around her plate. This eating half of everything thing was going to be hard. "You should have heard that bitch in Admissions! She's acting like if I miss even one more day, they're going to kick me down to some crummy Terra trade school!"

[notolddamnit]

Squalo scowled darkly at that. His siter wasn't some moronic brat people could just threaten just because they felt like it. But then, a thought occured to him and he found himself starting to seethe again. After all, above all things, their mother hated to let people know when things weren't just perfect. And Anemone...

"They don't know, do they?" Squalo cleared his throat and reached for his wine, "about your... condition. Do they?"

[canhazjam]

"What? Are you stupid?" Anemone hissed, unkindly. "And make them put me on some...disabled student list?" That would be even more unacceptable than getting shipped off to a Terra trade school to slog her life away in some dingy cafe as an underpaid waitress. "I will earn my degree, Superbi, not have it handed to me because I'm broken!"

[notolddamnit]

He opened his mouth to retort something to try and pacify her temper, but her last words sent that spark of anger right into boiling wrath.

"You're not broken," Squalo hissed in a dangerous tone, lowering his hands and turning to look at her through narrowed eyes.

[canhazjam]

She met the dark, dangerous look head on, matching it with one of her own. "No? Why don't you come spend a day in my head, dear brother, and then tell me I'm not broken." She leaned forward, letting her hair dangle into her food without care as she continued. "You don't know how it feels in here. You don't know what it's like to be screaming on the inside as well as the outside!"

[notolddamnit]

"No, I don't," Squalo refused to be intimidated by the furious glare, and reached a hand to keep her hair from her plate, the touch surprisingly gentle, considering their discussion. "But I refuse to believe you're broken, and I fucking refuse to let you believe you're broken." He cupped her chin in his hand, holding her gaze and ignoring the vibrant red line that cut across them, "so don't let me hear you say shit like that again, Anemone. Because it's not true."

[canhazjam]

She didn't have the kind of resolve that he did, and her eyes flitted away from the intensity of his look before too long. "You don't know me yet, Superbi," she said, much more quietly. "You only know the little kid that didn't have headaches and wasn't scrambled up and made into something even Mother is ashamed of."

She didn't want to, but she pulled back, settling her back into the curve of the chair as she continued to look away. It was sort of nice, her brother reaching out to touch her; no one ever really did, but for some reason, she couldn't let herself accept it.

[notolddamnit]

Squalo dropped his arm and let it rest on the edge of the bar, but he didn't look away. He thought he hated their mother, he really did, but every time Anemone talked like that, every time she had one of those horrible headaches and he had to give her her medicine... Squalo discovered new, fascinating depths in his hatred.

"...I don't care," he said after a moment, swallowing hard. "I don't care if you're hurt or you get headaches and mother is ashamed of you. Fuck mother and your headaches. You're my sister and nothing is ever going to change that." He lowered his eyes, the gesture trying to hide his face behind his hair, though his bangs were clipped back by his glasses. "I'm sorry I left you there, Anemone."

This is my fault.

[canhazjam]

"You say that like you had a choice," she said. It could have been bitter, but it wasn't. Her eyes slid back to trace the lines of her beloved brother's face. "What would you have done? Fought Mother for me? You left before the accident, when she still loved me. She would have seen you dead first."

[notolddamnit]

"I don't... know."

Squalo growled in the back of his throat, frustrated. He knew, somewhere in that mostly rational part of his mind, that she was right. Eighteen and arrogant and empty handed, he wouldn't have stood a chance against their mother. He had power now, connections and money and reputation. Now, it was their mother - an isolated aristocrat who had allienated most if not all of her husbands' friends - who stood no chance against him. He could destroy her if he wanted to. She was alone with her money, and though the amount was considerate, Squalo knew the right people to undermine everything and leave her begging for death.

He could.

He should.

"I failed you either way, didn't I?"