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Oh the crossed arms weren't good, but weren't the worst sign either. Luke had a lot to say, so Jason quietly let him say it. Especially since he'd been holding it in for that whole fight, huh? And Halle had, apparently, embarrassed him in front of someone he wanted to impress? The longer Luke went on, the higher Jason's eyebrows rose.

"You...you like Reims?" Holding up a finger, he tried to restart that, voice slow and reasoning, "I said smart twin like that as a way to test his, well, identity. He reacted very similarly to someone I had talked to normally before, who didn't know you had a twin. I was just testing to see if it was him."

Then he frowned, "I didn't mean to embarrass you by not following your orders. But I have my own priorities, and all of them involve protecting people from the harm that I can actually prevent." There was just so much he couldn't prevent. So much and too many creatures that left him powerless just from the shadows they cast.

But Luke didn't, shouldn't, have to worry about that, and Jason could see why his pride was wounded. Trying to not make it worse, he added, "If you want to come up with battle strategies and some group tactics, I will listen to your ideas. Just, let's figure those out ahead of time, so we're on the same page when we're suddenly in a fight, okay?"

If there was a bit of hurt at the question, Jason just had to remind himself that first of all, he probably deserved that. And second of all, Luke felt things a lot more strongly and a lot more quickly than him. A big fight, embarrassment, and a crush was a pretty dire cocktail for his little brother.

"You should have asked him yourself before tonight, then," Jason reasoned with a wry smile. It still kind of seemed like there was a crush there. But on the other hand, Luke wasn't really used to something like being disliked. He was sweet, funny, generous and cute. Jason was the smart twin, but Luke was the likable one. He was easy to get along with.

But, thinking back, Jason remembered Luke having trouble with that group last year. Trouble feeling that he belonged around them. That he had worth among them. That...well, it wasn't hard to connect a few dots. Then, he thought back to meeting Riker in the park, and that defensive readiness.

"You didn't mean to, but you did, and you got upset when I didn't follow, but I think...I understand. Why it upset you." It seemed that his brother, as Lisse still hadn't quite found his place with Dering, Reims, and the others in their group. Still felt he had to prove something to fully cross whatever barrier was there, real or imagined.

With a quiet laugh, he began pushing Luke towards their neighborhood. "He's tall, dark, and handsome. Good in a fight, obviously cares for his friends, and...he's made you feel like you have to earn his approval. I don't know if he meant to or not, but you'd clearly like to, right?"

"I don't think he hates you. But I don't think you need him to like you, either. Not when it..." Jason sighed.

Then looked away, with all the appearance of scanning the distance for...something. Some kind of trouble that wasn't this. Still facing away, he apologized, "I should have kept to keeping my distance. I'd been trying to, so I wouldn't mess with the friendships you're building. Still, I risked it this time, and probably shouldn't have. I'm sorry."

The problem with being the smart one, was being right about the worst things.

"Luke," Jason sighed turning to look at his brother back as he moved ahead. He was willing to let it drop, he knew when his brother was so much in his own head and feelings that he magically turned into a mule.

But still, there was something he wanted Luke to hear and hopefully understand. "Some people just have a hard time dealing with...kindness that they haven't somehow earned. They can't understand it, and so it looks like a trap. Probably has been a trap in their past." Considering what he'd heard of Riker's past among bullies, it seemed pretty likely.

And it was easy to earn a certain acceptance for kindness on a battlefield, wasn't it? Run into battle, sword raised, or out of battle, carrying the wounded. Things that Luke, as Lisse, likely had yet to need.

"So if you change your mind, try meeting him, them, on their terms instead of yours next time." He sped up a few steps and slung an arm around his brother's shoulders, "You're sulking right now, though. So like, figure that out later after you've had food and some sleep."

"Just because you haven't doesn't mean nobody else has," Jason offered. Sometimes his brother could be a little blind to all the little weaknesses that made a person up, and oblivious to their causes. But it wasn't like Jason was any better for noticing them. He'd just always liked to know those sorts of things, just in case he needed to use them in some way.

One brother was ignorant in his kindness, the other knowing for potential ill-intent.

He let it drop. In the end, his brother was better just being himself, rather than someone like Jason.

"Okay," he said quietly to Luke's back. "Be careful."

Was his brother...entering some kind of phase?