Sollux sat at his computer, staring at the screen. He couldn't believe that his mom was gone. She was all that he'd had, but she'd died weeks prior, and he'd had two choices: stay with his grandparents or stay with his biological father. He'd never really know his father, hell he never even called him dadwhen he met him. It was always Simon. He refused to call him dad. But his grandparents had told him that they couldn't afford to keep him with them. So his choice had already been made before he'd even gotten to think about it.
He adjusted his glasses and clicked on his father profile pic. His page listed that he had a wife and a son. No wonder he'd never been a part of his life. Oh. Wait. Looks like that's an ex-wife. Serves the bastard right. Now if he could just find his half brother's profile...
Nothing. Hardly even any pictures of him. It didn't look like he kept up on Facebook much. Though who was he kidding? He didn't really either.
It was weird seeing him, though. He bared a strong resemblance to their father. If he was being completely honest, they both did. Straggle-toothed, long limbed and black haired, though Sollux's was by far neater. That probably came from his mom, though. She had the nicest hair. He felt tears stinging his eyes but fought them back. No. He would not cry. He couldn't cry anymore. He was done with that. Fuck it.
He ran his tongue over his braces to distract himself. He didn't know what to do about them. Maybe Simon would know.
He heard a car out front. That must have been Simon. He turned in his chair. His entire life had been packed into boxes and carted off already with a few exceptions, including his laptop and a few things he kept of his mom's.
He shut down his laptop and tucked it into its bag along with a few final stray possessions. He heard the doorbell and made his way downstairs slowly. He looked at the door, fully aware that this was probably going to be his last time in this house. He suddenly felt small and alone, but he moved towards the door, opening it for Simon.
Simon looked down at him, blue eyes gazing down to meet brown and grey. "Sollux."
"Simon." He was so jealous of the way Simon could actually say his S's. His fucking teeth made him lisp horribly.
"Are you ready to go?" He looked around at the stray things in the house.
"Yeah, I've got my things here." He patted at his side then pulled at the straps on his shoulders.
"Then let's get going. I don't want to leave your brother alone too long."
Sollux frowned. He really didn't think of, what was his name? Mitch? He didn't fucking know. But he didn't want to think of him as his brother. Even if they looked so similar. "Whatever." He let Simon lead him back to the car and put his things in the back. The ride was painfully silent, though Sollux didn't care. He just wanted to be left alone. The whole fucking month had been the worst of his life.
A few times during the hour long trip, Simon had tried to start a conversation with some small talk about the weather and they both soon realized that they were terrible at small talk in general. So instead he'd turned on the radio to a station that was fading in and out the entire trip.
Sollux just watched as the scenery changed. He didn't even bother to pull his phone out to check the time or for texts. His service plan was gone anyway since no one was paying the bill, so the only number it would be able to call would be 911. And fuck that was not what he wanted to think about. Instead he looked on as the familiar suburb disappeared behind him and they entered the city. As a kid he'd always beg his mom to bring him, and occasionally they'd go, but now all he wanted was to be back home. He would've given up the chance to ever leave that stupid suburb again if it meant that he could see her just one last time.
Soon though, they found themselves in the parking lot of a high rise. He looked up at it in awe, though he refused to let it show on his face. He looked at Simon, his brows furrowed. "Is this where you live?"
"It's where we live, yes."
He scoffed. "You live in a fucking apartment?"
"Mind your mouth, boy. And yes we live in a fucking apartment. It just so happens that we live in the penthouse."
Sollux rolled his eyes. "That's so special."
"It's something and it's a place to live." They entered the building and walked to a red and blue striped elevator door. Simon slid a key card in and they entered. Only two buttons were in it. G and P. Sollux figured that it must have been a direct route to the penthouse. It also made him a little nervous. No one else could get up to them. But then again it would be privacy. Before he had much time to think, the doors opened again into a foyer. Simon held his arms out. "This is it. This is your new home."
"It's huge." Sollux hated to admit it, but he was impressed. He could get used to this cushy lifestyle.
"It is." Before Simon could say anything else, Sollux heard a loud whooping scream coming from somewhere in the house. "Mituna." That was the last thing Simon said before a long limbed, wild hair boy had leapt from one room to the other and crashed landed in front of them face down. "Mituna, get up."
Mituna turned to look up at him. "Dad where you been?" The way he spoke was almost childish, but it was strange with a grown man's voice. "I been flown-ly."
He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "I told you that I was getting your brother."
Mituna's upper lip curled up, showing off teeth that had been straightened at some point, but were now beginning to shift back into their old spaces. "But I'm a only chai'll!"
"No, Mituna, you're a big brother." He put his other hand on Sollux's shoulder. "This is Sollux."
Mituna's eyebrows knitted together. "I thought, ugh!" He grabbed a fistful of hair in each hand and pulled a little. "I thought being a big brother meant there'd be a baby? You and mom pickthis one?"
Simon frowned. "Mituna.."
"No, they didn't pick me. I'm just a stray he picked up off the street." Sollux didn't want to listen to his shitty father try to explain affairs and shit to this guy. It felt like it was going to take waytoo long. He held out his hand to help him up. "I'm Sollux." Mituna grabbed his hand but instead of pulling himself up, he pulled Sollux down and laughed. He landed with a thump and his face across from the lanky man. "Well I guess now we're on the same level."
Mituna kept laughing and looked up at their father. "Dad, where Sollux gonna sleep?" Sollux couldn't help but notice the lateral lisp with as close as he was now.
"He'll be sleeping in your room until he gets his things settled in his."
"Don't wanna share!" He hit his hands against his head.
"Mituna! Behave."
He looked up and stuck at his tongue then let his head fall back to the floor with a thump.
Sollux frowned. He'd always hated shit like this. "Don't worry about it I can sleep on the floor or something."
A chime came from Simon's pocket. He pulled out his phone and answered a call. "Hello? Yes this is he... Right now? You need me? I can be there in two hours. Right. Yes. Of course. I'll see you then, goodbye." He ended the call and looked at the boys. "Will the two of you be okay on your own? I know that I was supposed to help you today, but I just got a call from work..."
Mituna looked back up, his nose scrunched. "Dad you always gotta leave. Why you don't stay with me?"
"I've told you this before, Mituna, I need to work so I can make money and we can stay here."
Mituna just pouted and rolled onto his back, crossing his arms. "Don't wannastay by myself!"
Sollux poked him in the shoulder. "I'll be here." It wasn't much, but neither of them seemed like they wanted to be alone.
He turned his head, black hair falling in his eyes. "Really?" His grin was wide. Well, at least he seemed happier.
"Uh, yeah, sure. We can stay up all night and watch movies, I dunno."
His eyes widened. "I wanna I wanna I wanna!" He pushed himself off the ground and ran off, flailing and still shouting "I wanna!"
Simon frowned. "I hope you can take care of him."
"Why would I be able to take care of him? I'm fifteen. I've never even had a goldfish."
"Then you'd better learn quick, haven't you?" He looked at his watch. "I'll be back in a couple of weeks. The two of you should be fine. The cleaning crew comes by everyday so if you need anything, ask them." He reached in his wallet and pulled out a key card and a credit card. "I'm trusting you with these in case something happens. You can order some food while I'm away. The fridge should be stocked, so don't be afraid to try and make anything."
"Yeah, I'll do that."
"Goodbye, Sollux."
"Yeah."
Simon didn't wait for Mituna to come back. He just exited, leaving the two of them alone.