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Alrik Rey couldn't remember the last time he'd been so nervous about returning home - err, his second home - in a long time. Even when he'd gotten into a fight and went to her apartment first to clean up before heading home, Penny hadn't scolded him like his mother would have. Bad grades received looks but the only time he and Penny would ever get into a fight was if one of them was feeling extraordinarily grumpy and he prayed, prayed that she was in a jovial mood that evening.

Twisting the door knob, he was met with the bright light of the kitchen, but no immediate sign of his sister. Wiping his sweaty palms on the back of his jeans, he made a point to close the door as softly as possible before daring to address the otherwise empty apartment in an unusually meek voice.

"Pen? Schwester? You around?"

`

His heart paused for a brief second as he watched his sister appear from around the corner. Judging by her wet hair, she'd just come out of the shower and judging by her pjs, she was definitely staying in for the rest of the evening. Then again, it was already almost ten and a school night, no less...

Alrik could feel his cheeks betray him as she asked her direct question, tanned skin growing red as he glanced around the entryway, moving towards the kitchen to lean against something - anything - to appear more casual. He could tell from his own nervous fumbling that he looked anything but at ease, but he was gosh darn going to at least do his best to pretend! Finding the counterspace clear and available, he turned to press his back against it for support as both arms were pressed across his chest to suppress the fidgeting as he scoffed.

"W-What do you mean? Why's it always got to be about something that I did, huh?"

His defensive attitude probably wasn't helping things, either.

One hand released its pressure against his chest and flew up to his head, running through his hair nervously. Fingers pushed aside blonde locks as he averted his gaze from meeting the stern look of his older sister's.

Crap. So there was no way to just casually drop the news to her. Maybe he could downplay it a bit, pass it off as it not being nearly as big of a deal as Kari would see it to be?

"Look, it was a big misunderstanding, okay?"

He felt his legs begin to weaken and mentally debated hopping up on the counter for a quick seat. No, better not, just in case Penny took a swing at him and tried to smack him - he needed a quick escape route. Instead, one foot fidgeted, his knee bending as the sole of his shoe found the surface of her bottom cupboard. "I went to go meet Kari, you know, for the meeting you arranged."

The tiny, tiny little energy orb was still in his other pants' pocket - was it even worth bringing out at this point?

"And it started off okay.... but um." He bit his bottom lip and finally looked at his sister's straight-lined face. "She might have gotten the impression that I was trying to hurt her. But I wasn't - Pen - I swear!"

Hands moved down to grip the edge of the counter as he nervously adjusted his footing once more. She was definitely not in a good mood now and he already knew it was because of his answer-dodging. He sucked in a breath and rocked slowly forward, then back as his mind scrambled with something better than the half-a** explanation he'd already given her.

"So I started with the energy, like you showed me." Man, it probably would have been better if he hadn't forgotten the orb in his uniform - too late for it now, "But then I got to thinking about how you taught me about starseeds, y'know?"

Pause. He rocked a little more, eyes searching his sister's face as he stared down at her. Despite being taller and larger than his older sister, she was far more intimidating than anyone he knew... well, maybe besides their mother and Miss Alkaid.

"So I asked her about maybe trying to get some energy from that, right? And she didn't say no, she was all for the idea since neither of us had tried it..." Okay, that was a bit of a stretch, but what Penny didn't know made Penny less angry with him, "And I got kind of curious, so I pulled on it a little - I figured it would help if both of us actually saw it, y'know, so we knew what we were talking about and... stuff...."

His explanation was beginning to fall apart and he knew it. Growing quiet, he hesitated, then finished up, "I didn't think it would knock her out, Pen. It was only for a minute - I swear I put it right back as soon as I noticed what was happening."

He flinched as she cursed aloud, the gesture almost as effective as being popped in the back of his tall, blonde head. Penny was sweet and kind and patient - so when she wasn't, it was absolutely, breathtakingly terrifying. Alrik could feel his heart falling down into the depths of his stomach, his palms growing as damp and sweaty as his forehead. Fingers clung desperately to the countertop's edge.

"I guess I forgot, okay??" She probably had told him differently, but more than likely he'd been too caught up with the newness and awe of being a magical Team Rocket member that could kick butt and associate with super magical beings like Miss Alkaid to listen to her careful explanations. At the mention of the Ascended Senshi, his eyes widened and the fear within the turquoise color was obvious. "Please don't tell her, Pen - I'm sorry. I'm sure you can fix things, you're great at fixing these kinds of things. I don't deal with girls, but you know all about them and how they work."

That could work, right? Groveling, mixed with a little bit of flattery?

His eyes turned towards her, working on the best pitiful expression he could muster before reaching out and grabbing both of her hands within his. "I'm sorry, Penny. Ich liebe dich. You know I wouldn't have intentionally mucked things up. But Kari... Kari has the hots for you, right? Can't you just win her back? I'll even apologize - I'll do whatever you want!!"

It's not okay.

The roar in his ears was like white static, overtaking his hearing as he stared at her dumbly. All around him, his world was quickly crashing, the small bubble of hope he'd had for his sister to resume her understanding, comforting role now sinking as dramatically as the Titanic. Instead of comfort, she was cold. Angry. Heartless.

As she analogized their world to his video games, he could feel the shame overwhelming him, chipping away at his confidence, piece by piece. No restart button. No second chances, no do-overs. He had screwed up and not only had he almost killed Stellerite's project, but he'd ruined all her planning - and knowing her meticulous nature, she'd been planning this one out for a while.

Her angry words turned into almost exasperation as she brought up Alkaid, dropping her sentence suddenly and forcing him to realize what she was implying. What she hadn't said. That Alkaid had only brought him into their new world at Penny's request, that he was as disposable to her as a used tissue. That his own life could be on the line for this, or less.

Alrik felt her hands respond to his touch, his sister reaching out for her dumb, teenage brother who had goofed up royally this time. Closing his eyes, he straightened up and did his best to shrug off the growing fear and despair crawling into his heart. "I'll make you proud, Penny. I'll make up for all of this - I promise."

His hands automatically moved out to grasp her, encircling her in his arms as his chin fell down to rest on the top of her damp head. It didn't matter that she was wet, that she was growing dangerously close to ripping holes in his BlizzCon shirt by how tightly she was clutching to him or that her voice quivered as though she were about to cry against the cotton fabric.

One hand rose up to cup the back of her head, holding her against him as he closed his eyes and did his best to keep his own emotions in check. This fun Negaverse stuff was getting way too serious way too quickly and he wasn't sure if he was prepared for the task. But he'd get prepared - he couldn't let her down again.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but closed it slowly when words didn't appear. Sometimes it was best just to say nothing - and both of them needed time to recover from their emotions...and from his epic failure. So instead, he gently stroked her hair like their mother had done to them when they were upset as children and silently prayed to the heavens for strength.

Because, no matter how much effort it took, at the end of the day he was going to fix this.