Welcome to Gaia! ::

Wildflour was not all that enamoured with the idea of Christmas yet. It seemed to be a festival of greed masquerading as a holiday of charity and the idea of some large man in red watching his every deed was disturbing. The mere fact that whole generations of adults felt the need to lie to their children about where presents came from and for said children to continue the tradition seemed like one of the biggest forms of the corruption in the world.

However he liked his siblings and surely a card telling them that wouldn’t hurt… and he wasn’t going to be getting the new iPhone if he couldn’t at least pretend he was getting into the ‘spirit’ of things.

So Wildlfour strolled through the door and cast a discerning eye upon his brothers craft supplies. "We’re using ethically sourced sustainable paper, aren’t we?" He asked.

Wildflour rolled his eyes and took a seat at the table. "Then it’s probably not and I don’t know why I bother with this family." He grabbed a piece of paper, holding it up and scrutinizing it through narrowed eyes. "By ethically sourced I mean recycled or from proper farms, not a by-product from the murder of entire forests." He sighed heavily. "Never mind, hand me those pens. If a tree died for this I can at least make my sisters happy with it."

“Oh I’m sorry, I don’t recall being given an option about where I live and that it seems my caring about the environment is weird,” Wildflour retorted as he rather aggressively uncapped the pen and started drawing.

If it was a fight Tough wanted, it would not be hard to set Wildflour off. “As much as your ignorance, despite my attempts at educating you all, frustrates me, we still have familial bond and I do like to make my sisters happy. You were the one that invited me to join you, so maybe you should just make your own cards and be quiet.”

Then he turned in his seat, to give his shoulder to his brother and continued to work.

Wildflour spun back around to face his brother. “Don’t be ridiculous!” He brandished his pen at his brother and lifted his nose in the air with all the grand ‘I know better than you’ he could muster because let’s be honest, he was better than the rest of his family. They just didn’t understand.

“You’re such a baby. Who makes a card for someone right in front of them? It would ruin the surprise entirely and now I’m not even going to bother making you one at all.”

Wildflour was going to take the high-ground. He was going to let Tough’s comments wash over him like the nothing they were and keep on making these cards for his sisters despite knowing they’d once been majestic trees brutally cut down and-

"You know what?!" Wildflour slammed a hoof down, sending pens flying off the table. "It’s the ignorant people like you that are destroying our planet. Even when it’s explained or put right in your face, you don’t listen, you don’t care. You think I’m a brat for giving a damn about how we treat the earth, well, I think you’re a brat who only cares about whether he’s going to get a card or not."

He took a deep breath. "So no, you are definitely not getting a card and I hope you have fun in your own ignorant little world while I continue to wonder whether future generations will have an ozone layer."

The glitter exploded everywhere. It was in his hair, in his eyes, on his face. Wildflour blinked the sudden need to cry and was embarrassed. He hated that their argument had gotten this far but he wouldn’t let it get to him. There would also be people against his message, against him and if one of them was going to be his brother, then so be it.

"Maybe you should stop trying because you clearly are a barbarian," he retorted, abandoning his half made cards. "And we shouldn’t talk to each other anymore. Clearly other than our blood, we have no connection and I’d hate to be around to ruin all your fun."

He took in a deep breath and turned around to march out of the room. "Goodbye."

They would live in the same house but never speak again. Wildflour was already making plans and deciding how to explain to their parents that he and his brother were now estranged.

He wasn’t expecting Tough to call him back and Wildflour stopped before he reached the door, looking over his shoulder. His brother did seem genuinely contrite and he didn’t relish having to ignore him for the rest of their lives. Oh and there was that tiny guilty feeling for calling his brother a barbarian.

"It’s fine," he replied, not sniffing a bit at all. "We’ll just use the paper that’s there. We’ve already got it, we might as well make something nice."” He sighed. "I’ll go clean up." There was a brief moment of hesitation. "And… I’m sorry too. I know I’m not very fun and I think too much but I can’t help it. That's just how I am."