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Isi carefully watched Aphismet, a little relief bubbling at the edges of his sudden realization that this time of just he and his adoptive brother was not going to stay the same forever. Sure, for a moment, Isi believed that they would. But he supposed, now, that it was a stupid thing to assume. Not only that, but not all change was bad. Perhaps it'd just keep getting better and better, who knew! "Well, whenever and whatever happens, I'm there to support you."

Blinking, Isi thought on Aphi's next question, an all too familiar thought that the elder had been pushing on him for a while. Well, to be honest, Isi hadn't given much thought on it. It seemed so far away. "Er...I'm not entirely sure, Aphi," Isi answered honestly, "Singing...I like to sing. But I have no training at all. Perhaps gardening...Crafting. I like to make things. Writing. I'm not sure, Aphi, I'm really not. The thought of going to college actually kind of intimidates me." The youth thought back on his other public experiences, more than half not exactly great.

"Maybe I'll just be a hermit," Isi muttered with a sarcastic grin.

"Delicious," Eiry countered quickly, thinking only of how he consummed death. His non-existent tummy gave a little growl and he thought hopefully on getting home and finding a patch of dying foilage he could feat upon.

Isi watched as the terrain outside the window slowly become more familiar. It was a comforting change of scenery. When Aphi prompted him to think more, the boy tried his hardest to "think more". It didn't really get him anywhere. His imagination about the future was severely limited by his realist attitude. However, the idea of online classes tickled his fancy. He didn't feel strong enough to simply dive into the work force, so he leaned more towards learning more.

"Perhaps the online classes," Isi muttered aloud, grinning at his brother as he ruffled his hair again, "You think it's possible for me be even more of a sourpuss than I am now?"

Eiry lifted his brows when he heard Rivener say "Roux". Out of all the encounters he had with the icy raevan, he never had a good one. He first recalled the first encounter with Roux, when he was new and scared, wandering around the Lab complex. Their encounter simply left him lonely.

"Isolated," the wispy frei replied, still tucked underneath Rivener's wing and arm.

Isi gave a slight embarrassed smile at Aphismet's statement about a "nest egg" for the cripple. He hadn't known before! He knew that Aphi had been spending some extra hours at work, but he hadn't known what for until now. "You're too kind to me, Aphismet," Isi admitted with a quirk of his cheek, "I will let you know."

The cripple shrugged his shoulders back at Aphi, "Haha, I think it might have been people that made me this way in the first place. I hope I don't get worse...but then again, I don't ever remember laughing so much than the time I've spent being your brother," Isi smiled humbly, "I'm being honest, you know."

Islands. Huh, what did islands make Eiry think of? Kitchens of course! The island in the kitchen they had at home was the first thing that popped into his mind but the word that tumbled off his lips was: "Aphi" because the chef was the one who was almost constantly near the island and the kitchen.

What Aphi said, could be true. Isi did have the misfortune of stumbling into people who didn't treat him kindly or people who didn't understand him. There weren't many who understood him and his not-that-very secret burden. Only now, now that he had met Aphi and got involved with the Lab did he actually start meeting people who weren't that half bad. Perhaps there were more like them? But, because of previous experiences, Isi wasn't keen on the thought of going out there and meeting new people. "Aphi, you've done more for me than I'd ever be able to do in return. You gave me what I've been missing all along, okay? So buck up and accept it. I'll try to repay you somehow...I just don't know what's great enough to give in return." While Isi gave this little brother-to-brother speech, he crossed his arms and spoke gruffly, trying to make it not seem as cheesy as his twisting stomach told him it was.

Isi watched as the familiar road became the road he labeled "home". It was a long paved road that eventually turned into gravel. He watched through the window as they passed by the willow tree he often visited in his free time or when he was sad. There, underneath the branches, flickered the lazy lights of fireflies.

Eiry should have seen that one coming. He gave a prankster laugh at this, just at the choice of word that slipped from his brother's mouth. It surprised him what word came out, but what surprised him even still was the fact that he stated, "Isi."

What went through his mind at that moment was the incident that had happened in the painting room just a few months ago. Paint was what Eiry found Isi twitching in on the floor of that fateful evening. Not only that, but it would be interesting to hear what came first out of Rivener's mouth then. Eiry turned up his big roung red eyes to watch Rivener, glancing too out the window to stare at the comforting familiarity of the surroundings. Almost home!

Isi gave a brief embarrassed smile at Aphismet, his freckled cheeks momentarily lighting up with happiness. He wanted to grow up happily and let Aphi know that he was needed, but he also wanted the same for his adopted brother. If Isi had a say about anything, then he was going to do his best to make Aphi's Greatest and Dearest Wish come true.

Even if Aphi sternly pointed out that Isi was in no state of karma bankruptcy, the boy still felt like he had to do something in return. So he would do what he could, little things here and there, to make Aphi's life easier. When Aphi announced that they were home, along with the death of inertia, Isi opened the car door and started his slow evacuation, crutches and all. He glanced in the back of the car as Eiry practically exploded from the confines and he smiled despite himself. He fixed his crutches beneath his arms and got his weary legs moving towards the house. But he cause a strange sight: Rivener ducking out of the way as if something had happened. Which was confusing since Eiry and he were just having a good time.

Turning to his frei, who was now rolling around in the grass of the front lawn in a steadily brightening patch of green, singing a jubilant song of nonsense, Isi interrupted with a question: "Eiry? What happened?"

Eiry lifted his head, his red eyes following his brother as he disappeared around the corner of the house. He was quite surprised by the sudden change in mood, not paying attention long enough to realize that his scorpion brother was somehow hurt by their last round of Word Association. The connection didn't click in the distracted frei's mind. He just...accepted it. Still rolling around on the grass, Eiry paused for a moment and pointed out somberly, "I said 'Isi' and he said, 'Sorry'.

And that was that. Turning and lifting his brows at Aphismet with a shrug-like attitude, Isi followed his brother into the house, somewhat saddened to hear that Rivener was still sorry. Eiry remained outside, enjoying the verdure of the yard, even thought a part of him worried for Rivener.

But Eiry and Isi both knew, very well in fact, that some wounds take longer than others to heal.