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Adam brushed a hand against his cheek, and was dismayed to feel that it came away moist. He'd been sitting in the window of the room he and Dalton had been staying in, watching out the window and letting his imagination wander to the place his father always told him was 'dangerous'. The imagination, his father had said, is a wonderful thing, but when you let it go to the place that fears are born, it becomes dangerous, and you can tell yourself that terrible things are going to happen and upset yourself before they ever come to pass. He'd been trying not to let his mind wander so- but after he'd woken up to find his brother run off somewhere in Isto and Slush's house, and to know that he was all alone... it was hard to keep his thoughts pleasant. It had been days since his parents had called, days since he'd heard his mother's sweet voice or his father's deeper, gentle one telling him that everything was going to be okay, and to take care of his brother and to be good to Isto and Slush and Tourmaline. He'd followed their words as best as he could... mainly by staying away from the skullmonkey girl his own age, remembering their past encounters and not wanting his father to not be proud of him again. But now, his mind was away from the colorful girl- it had gone to the worrying spot. He'd not been aware of the first tear, it had been so silent- but now he followed it with a snuffling, low sort of sob- more like a wet hiccup that persisted.

It had been hard to ignore the general feeling of fear and dread looming over the house, and it was obvious to even the youngest of the household that the situation was dire. For all intensive purposes, their small cottage was on lockdown. Tourma had been told repeatedly by both parents to stay away from Headquarters and other Skullmonkeys not living in their abode. From the grapevine and some spying, the young teen learned of Banda's sickness as well as the worsening condition of the twins' parents.

Because of this, she had taken to dancing as much as she could to distract herself from how tired Isto looked lately. Not to mention the worry lines that had developed on Slush's smooth skin, creating the illusion that he was much older than reality dictated. This, above everything, bothered her the most, and when she was too sore or exhausted to dance, Tourmaline tinkered with whatever machine she could get her hands on. She had been fixing some old and out of date antique machine from the thrift store when the noises from down the hall caused her to stop and really listen.

The SM tried to ignore it, figuring whoever it was wanted privacy, but the emotion in the noises were like nails on a chalkboard to her. Setting down the tools, she wiped her hands off on a towel and quietly made her way down the hall till she reached the source. With the door cracked, she managed to catch sight of Adam, and after a moment or so of watching, her heart sank further. Swallowing, she stepped away from the crack and knocked lightly on the door.

The knocking was like an emotional siphon which desperately willed Adam s tears to dry up. He muffled the chuffing noise in the sleeve of his long, blue shirt, and also drew the material across his cheeks and eyes to blot his tears: willing them to dry would hardly be enough.

He gave himself only a moment or two for this motion, then turned his face to the window, hoping that he would seem nonchalant, petulant, irritated, really, anything that wasn't crying .

"Come in." He carefully weighted down his voice, stripping it of its emotion as best as the pre-teen knew how.

Ironically enough, the entire situation had really thrown everything in perspective for Tourma. Well, not everything, but enough that she had forgiven Adam for his nastiness towards her previously. At least for now, that is.

At his comment, she pushed the door open and stepped inside, pushing the hair out of her face and behind her ears out of habit. "How are you holding up?" The question could be interpreted how Adam wished, but she made it clear that she knew something was bothering him. It would be hard not to notice, even with everything going on.

He didn't turn back to face her- but rather, continued his focus-free stare out of the wide window. He was afraid that his face would betray more than just the puffiness around his eyes, or the moisture on his brown cheeks. There was fear behind his eyes, and embarrassment- and those, almost more than the tears, he was hiding. "I've been worse." He said. "Do you... know where Dalton went?"

She nodded silently to his answer, and within a few steps, Tourma found herself standing awkwardly next to him before she finally sat herself down on the mattress. "Probably outside somewhere," Tourmaline explained, eyes turning towards the window, where she stared for a moment before continuing. "Sometimes fresh air can clear the mind."

Then he looked at her, puffy eyes, moist cheeks, and fearful expression and all. He couldn't fool himself that she didn't know what he'd been doing- not when this powerhouse of a girl came in so gently, and with words so kind. He didn't know what to say, and so, instead, just turned his face to her to confirm what she must already know: he was scared.

Her gaze remained on the window for a while, taking her time to turn and look at him once more. Though she didn't need a confirmation, it had an impact on the young teen nonetheless. Tourma really couldn't imagine what it was like to not know if her parents were dead or alive, but one look into his eyes and her heart sunk. Not knowing what to say, she opened her arms in a gesture she had often seen Isto do when Slush had been crying recently. "I won't tell anyone," she offered on top of the hug.

Hugs were common in their household- whether it was one of a surprise-tackle sort that Dalton would launch at him from behind the kitchen counter, or one of those soft, bubblegum scented embraces that his mother would give him in the morning, Adam was well accustomed to the gesture. So he did not hesitate in letting himself be enveloped in her arms. As he settled his head down on her shoulder and gave her a soft squeeze in return, he did wonder, however, what was going through the girl's mind. She seemed so different than the girl who had taped him to the door. "Thank you," he said- quietly, for he was near her ear- "I just worry about them."

She carefully wrapped her arms around him, aware of her own strength even then, but held him close, rubbing a hand comfortingly across his back. "From what I've overheard, they're doing worse... But they're working on a cure... They'll pull through. They've got to you know...? You can't live with us forever." The last phrase was accompanied by a light smile, to try and brighten the mood as best she could.

When Adam pulled away from the hug, his face was one of a nonbelieving bafflement. "What do you mean, they're doing worse?" He'd not heard from his parents in days- almost a week.

A deep sigh exited from her at the question, and she rubbed the back of her neck, frowing slightly before looking him in the eyes. "Well uh... I listened in onto the last call from your father..." She began, but quickly tried to turn the subject to the positive, "But they've made progress on the cure! Real progress." Hopefully this would be enough to cheer him up even just a little bit.

"When did he call?" His eyes widened at the mention of a cure, and although he only dimly registered that it had been connected to the word 'progress', a glimmer of hope still lit up inside of him. Adam's focus, however, was almost uncompromisingly tied to that of his parents- when they had called, and when they were coming home. He didn't mind staying with Isto and his family... their house was so much bigger than the small apartment he had spent his life in, and he was unaccustomed to the space, if not to the kindness that they all showed to Dalton and him during their 'stay'. The fact remained, however, that ever since Tawn had stopped communicating with his sons, Adam had dreamt that terrible things were happening.

Using her fingers to count, Tourma thought carefully before responding, "Four... Maybe five days ago?" A hopeful and encouraging expression passed over her features before she scooted herself further back on the bed so that the edge wasn't bending as much from her weight.

"You need to get your mind off it... Like keep busy, or else you'll go crazy. It's why I've been dancing a lot, and I'm sorry if the bass has bothered you at all... It's getting cold outside..." Looking away outside once more, she pursed her lips, but instead of dwelling on the moment, she changed the subject, "What do you like to do?"

"I haven't noticed the music at all." He meant it, too. He was used to blocking out all extraneous sounds- cramped living had given him such an ability to focus on only that which he was exactly around him. Tourma, with all her metallic girth, would have had to pound on the floor directly above him for Adam to even let it 'blip' his radar. He smiled, though, at the thought of her dancing. She was already so colorful and decked out in so many different sorts of baubles that he half expected her to look like a rainbow if she twirled. Colorful things, cheery things- he enjoyed them, likely because they reminded him of his mother. He didn't realize that he wouldn't have seen such qualities in Tourma before due to the... nature of their encounter. "I like to...look for things. Like, hide and seek, or scavenger hunts. Whenever things are missing in the house, I like to try and find them." He grinned- a bright white streak against his darker skin.

"That's good," she said softly. Regardless of previous feelings, Tourmaline had been rather worried about bothering either of the twins given the current situation. Be it pity or sympathy, the young SM couldn't bring herself to be nasty or abrasive to either of them. In fact, she found herself helping out around the house more than usual. Her parents didn't need any more stress or hassles to deal with, afterall.

Her tail found it's way around her hips and into her lap, and she smiled at his response. Or maybe it was the fact that he was smiling again. Either way, it was a step in the right direction. "Well... Maybe we could set one up? Oh! Does that mean you like puzzles too? We could get a bigass puzzle or something..."

"I've never really done any puzzles," he said, his smile persisting. "No one in my family really keeps them around- Sk always does this evil thing where he cuts slivers off the edges of some of the pieces, and then puts them back in the box so they'll never fit together again." He mimed the cat snipping the edge off the puzzle piece, then shrugged, a sweet grin on his face.

"I'll ask Dad to pick you up one the next time he's out, or I can call Babcia..." A finger was brought up to her absently rub and pull at her bottom lip thoughtfully, eyes not really focused on anything. "Anything else that you like?"

He didn't answer her question, but rather, quirked an eyebrow at the girl- who, strangely enough- he was just starting to realize was the same age as him. "Who's Babcia?"

"My grandmother, but since no one really knows Polish around here, she's always had me call her Babcia, which is Polish for grandmother. It's funny, she doesn't look old at all, so she tries to hide that she's a grandma," Tourma laughed softly to herself and shook her head, deciding to leave out the fact that she was rich and spoiled her granddaughter rotten.

Adam's grin was like his father's- whenever he had an amusing thought, it would stretch across his face until his lips were practically light with the exertion of such a wide smile. "That sounds like my grandma. We always stretch out her name... Graaaaaaandmaaaaaa... just because it makes her play dead and fall over the back of the couch." He laughed- not nearly as softly as Tourma's more feminine version of amusement had been.

Tourmaline chuckled a Adam's story, face lighting up, "Oh gods! If you did that to Babcia... Well, let's just say it'd be a very bad idea, and that's putting it lightly." She didn't know if Adam had heard stories about X, but she wasn't about to tell them all considering the mood had been considerably lifted.

"Why, what would she do?" The boy leaned forward, and his cream colored, multi-spotted tail moved with him, edging nearer to the rainbow child as if it, too, were rapt in attention.

"She'd get really really pissed, but to tell the truth, she's always doted on me and I wouldn't want to ruin that." A smirk formed on her lips and her hand reached to tuck a loose hair back behind her ear.

Adam thought a moment, his tail flipping aimlessly at his side. "You only have the one grandma, don't you? I mean, I think I remember Dad telling me that Uncle Isto's not got any...parents." He said it softly, in case it was a sore point- he didn't want to seem like he was rubbing anything in.

"Well we used to live with Babcia, but Isto's mother is Grandma Moo. She lives at the Jivvin mansion and is a bit crazy, but then again so is Babcia... Only a different type of crazy I guess..." She shrugged as she trailed off, "I don't visit her very often anymore though. Maybe Thanksgiving or Christmas though?" Her smile had faded into a neutral sort of expression, not really sure what to think of this realization.

At the mention of the impending holidays, Adam's smile withered, then disappeared altogether. The thought of his parents alone in the HQ (his parents had neglected to tell him that there were others quarantined there, in the effort to keep their sons from being worried) gave him another, even bleaker picture of a holiday without them.... of all his holidays without them. "Thanksgiving and Christmas... are always... a really big deal in our house," he spoke slowly, as if the pauses would invite his smile to return, "we usually go to Grandma Doomi's for Thanksgiving... and then... for Christmas we go to Grandma Em's."

His look sucked the wind from her sails, and the good mood was almost instantly deminished.

"Hey," she murmured, sitting up a bit more and giving him as serious of a look as she could muster without appearing sad, "They'll get better, and even if they're still in Quarantine, they won't be alone you know? And they'll be happy to know you're with a family they're close to for the holidays rather than be alone. You know?" It was the best she could do as far as cheer up speech goes. "And you guys can go play in the snow, at least." She offered him a half smile that didn't quite reach her eyes with this comment.

"They are alone, though. They're the only ones over there." He leaned closer, as if to confide in her. "I can only imagine how lonely they must be over there, but at least there aren't any others who are... ill." It was a sad euphemism, but necessity to stay at least somewhat upbeat required its use.

A befuddled expression came across her face, which soon fell even more with realization. "Banda's sick too, and I'm pretty sure that there are others... From what I can gather... But let's hope there aren't many?"

"There are others?" His eyes went wide. "How many? Do you know?"

Tourmaline shook her head almost immediately, "I don't know how many... I'm sorry."

Adam sucked a huge ream of air through his nose- almost more than his lungs could take, for a sharp exhale followed. He felt a little dizzy with the exertion of it, then shook his head. "I'm sorry. I guess... they didn't want me to worry." He rubbed his hand against the underside of his nose, as if to stave off any moisture that might come with his emotions. In truth, he was beginning to calm- he was not surprised that his father would have been so sparing with the truth. It was in his nature. But still, Adam could not submerge the longing he felt for them- or the fact that he wished he had been told the truth. But even so, he took another breath and felt it calming the surface of his emotions. "Would you do me a favor, Tourmaline?"

Silently, she watched him, clearly unable to figure out how to react other than to just sit there, and when he spoke again, the SM simply nodded.

"Don't tell Dalton about any of this. I want to let him know. I mean... I know that you and him are friends, but I just have to think of a way to tell him that he'll not get scared." He felt embarrased, then, for his brother's sake. They weren't identical twins by any stretch of the imagination, but even still, he was close to his brother, and didn't want Tourmaline to think that he was scared, so he knew that telling her that Dalton might feel that way could be embarassing. It was a second-hand emotion, but even so, if it weren't for the tone of his skin, Adam might have blushed.

"No problem," she said softly, chuckling, "Dalton's very uh... Distracted by girls isn't he? Or is it just me?" An eyebrow cocked upwards as she attempted to nudge the conversation into a less depressing topic.

Adam looked out into the hallway, as if his brother would be there, his pink head poked around the corner. But when his cautious glance revealed nothing, he half-grinned and turned back to Tourma. His smile wasn't nearly as wide as it had been before... but this minute grin was a start. "Well, he doesn't have many girlfriends. Well.. I mean... girls... who are friends, you know. So I don't know."

Her brows raised further at the display of checking where Dalton was before answering, finding this ever so amusing. "He gave me jewelry you know, but... Well I don't know either I guess. I just stick to dancing and my machines."

"He gave you jewelry?" Adam practically squealed in a sort of brother-teasing delight. Though he could be embarrassed for his brother at times, he could also revel in a bit of brother-prankster'ism.

"Yep," she chuckled, grinning wide as the boy squealed like an excited girl himself. "I think Mom's trying to set us up or something..." That, on the other hand, was something Tourma didn't quite know how to handle, and so she didn't.

"You two would be so... so..." his lip quivered in amused anticipation, "PINK!"

"He reminds me of cotton candy." Tourma stated simply, covering her mouth to try and hold in the laughter. "I felt bad when I first saw, but I mean, really... A head of cotton candy for hair? C'mon."

"It's okay, when I first saw you, I thought you were made out of melted skittles." He grinned wide to show that he was kidding. In actuality, he adored bright colors- again, an affectation from youth and fond memories of his mother wearing anything but drab colors. But he was loathe to tell a girl his age that even a minutiae of her reminded him of his mother.

Kidding or not, Tourmaline found his comment to very much be a compliment, considering that she herself obviously loved to wear bright colors. To her, they seemed to compliment her eccentric, and ever changing sense of style quite well. "Skittles are my favorite candy... And ShockTarts too."

"I've never had a ShockTart."

"They're ******** awesome man, but if you eat too many your tongue feels burned."

As if his stomach had grown ears and picked up on the nature of their conversation, Adam's midsection began to growl quite audibly. His grin turned to a sheepish one, and he stepped up off the bed. He put a hand out to Tourma, offering to help her to stand. "I think that means it's time for food."

She eyed his hand for a moment before taking it and letting him 'help' her. In reality, she did most of the work so that he wouldn't have to feel how much she really weighed because of the metal. "Anything in particular?" Stretching her arms above her stomach, the SM ignored her shirt lifting up as she made a few uncharacteristic feminine noises.

"How much of a meat eater are you?" He said, his characteristic smile back in its rightful place. "Too many people in my family go for the whole... dirtburger thing. But I don't like anything more than a big hamburger."

"I'm vegetarian," she quipped proudly, giving him a look that dared him to challenge her on that topic. "I stopped eating meat a while ago."

"Ohhhh noooo..." it was a deep, throaty groan, exaggerated for her benefit, and he put both hands over his heart and let his knees wobble, as if to show how she'd wounded him. "They got you, too?"

She huffed indignantly and crossed her arms over her chest, giving him one of her infamous stink-eyes. "It's healthier and better for the environment."

"But my stomach... oh, she suffers," he said, letting his knees wobble him down to the floor, where he batted his eyelashes up at her in a mock-pathetic way.

"You're stomach's a girl?" Tourma questioned, peering down her nose at him as her tail gave a lash behind her. "Does that mean you're just a girl with small breasts?"

Adam was, frankly, rather shocked at her mention of breasts, and his joking look fell to the wayside a moment as he blinked back his surprise. It took him a long while to recuperate, but then he smiled, and climbed to his feet. He came rather close to Tourma and said "I have no response to that." Then he took a step back and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Food?"

Her reaction was to simply waggle her eyebrows at him to try and make him more uncomfortable, but eventually just chuckled and nodded, walking past him and in the direction of the kitchen. Also, a mental note about the topic of breasts and how it affected Adam made its way into the back of her mind.

Apparently I can’t dance anymore unless I can find a partner who can easily haul my heavy a** around.

Fat ******** chance.

Until then I guess I have to just practice on my own or just feel like the odd girl out. It’d not my fault I have metal for bones and organs and whatever else.

Maybe I gained a little extra pudge over break, I was so busy I really didn’t have a chance to work out aside from teaching classes, fixing machines to sell, and helping the ‘rents out. I didn’t even go out much for that matter.

Bing’s about the only person outside the family that I’ve seen, and that’s because he’s actively saught me out. His roommate lost interest every since I got busy as well, which doesn’t help the self esteem.

At all.

Well, Mom’s calling me for dinner.

Too bad I’ve lost my appetite.