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It looked as if there'd been a war on the front lawn of the reaper's dorm. A beat up motorcycle laid on the ground, the front tire looking distinctly wrong. There was a blonde ghoul with dirty, torn up clothes and a guilty look on her face, and there was Roch, who was taking the bike apart.

"Y'forgot to turn," Roch said dryly.

"Si, hermano," Terra said. She was looking for someone--anyone--to distract him from the mangled mess that she had made of his motorcycle. "But I thought I could make it!"

"Why didn't I get you a dirt bike to train on?" Roch moaned.

"Oh! That fellow, he has purple hair!" she said abruptly. "His is a friend of yours, no?" she said as she caught sight of Kettil. "Hola!! Hii! Mi hermano--my brother, he wishes to talk to you! It is very important!" she yelled--then darted into the dorms, leaving Roch looking up blankly.

And remembering Kettil.

Well, then, he thought, looking at the other boil. He wondered if Terra had any clue that the guy had declared him dead, once. Either way, Terra was going to get SUCH a noogie for this, he thought.

"Looks like a new front tire," Roch said, sighing and sitting down on the ground. "Nice to see you lookin... alive, Kettil. It's been a while." And it had, he thought abruptly. The whole blow up with Kettil seemed like a lifetime ago. He started digging through his pockets, pulling out a wrench and starting to take the front wheel off.

"Y'know," he said as he got into a crouch to work on his bike. "I figure I should apologize," he said, glancing up at the other boil. "I acted like a d**k, back then. You'd pissed me off a bit--which, I ain't gonna lie, can be easy to do, and I pulled a dirty trick. So I'm sorry." He sounded sincere. "I'd probably off a guy for doin' that in front of my ghoulfriend, so I can't blame you for gettin' pissed, too."

He went to the other side of the bike, working on the second set of bolts. It seemed almost as if he expected the other boil just to walk away.

"I don't know about you, man, but I don't even need ghouls for that t'happen," Roch said with a little grin. He pulled out his eyephone, texting someone quickly. "Looks like I'm gonna haveta take this to pop's," he said thoughtfully, poking the bent wheel with a sigh.

Then he looked at Kettil again. "Sucks that it didn't work out, man," he said sympathetically. "It ain't easy, especially when you're in this school." Maybe he could hammer it back into shape, he thought. Otherwise he was going to have to call Bruno and hook up a suspension set up in the back of the truck. "Do y'still talk to her?"

Roch looked at the bike, shaking his head. "What I SHOULD be doin' is haulin' my lil sister's sneaky a** back here an' forcin' her t'help," he said bluntly. "She totally used you t'escape punishment, you know," he pointed out. But there was a grin on his face. "An' once Pop finds out she's the reason he's gonna laugh his a** off at me. But yeah, an extra pair of hands could be useful."

He motioned the other boil over. "Can you put this on the ground over there for me?" he asked, offering the front wheel. "I'm going t'haveta put the body down, but ain't no point in screwin' up a good paint job if y'don't gotta," he said.

"Y'can say that again," Roch said as he brought his phone to his ear. "Yo, Bruno--yes--no, the jackin' playboil wasn't mine--they did? Yeah, I'm not surprised--but I need t'ask you a favor--ok, fine, one free night of pupsitting--no. No. Fine. Can y'bring the truck and some rope? Yeah, my bike got crashed. No, not t'Gramps', to Pops'. Why? Because he's the guy with the tools t'fix it. Yeah. Twenty's fine," he said, sighing and hanging up.

"Looks like I'm waitin'," he said, gently sitting the bike down on its side and sitting down next to it. "Thanks for the help," he added, resting his forearms on his knees.

"Several, huh?" Roch said, looking at him curiously. "I was raised as a single child--I guess y'could call it bein' raised, at least. I didn't get Terra till just a lil while ago--didn't even know about her," he said a bit obscurely. "How d'you... DEAL with a sister?" he asked. "For the most part I've been makin' it up as I go along."

Poor Terra.

"Eh, the bike," he said, motioning to it--"hell, I dunno, I wrecked the first time I tried to drive, too--course I was about ten, but she's what, fourteen, fifteen?" he said. "But she barely knew what a computer was, so I don't see her havin' tried it that often--or at all. But I WILL make her come an' help put it back t'gether," he decided. "She can at least learn the difference between a socket wrench an' a screw driver."

And he was perfectly willing to haul her butt over his shoulder if she didn't want to go, he thought in amusement. "I dunno, I guess I can figure it out," he said. "I haven't broke her yet."