Understandings
Authors note: An idea I got after reading a review which said Briar was a bit of a player in The Will of the Empress. I still haven't read it (sob). This is not necessarily a romantic view between Tris and Briar, but it is implied.
Disclaimer- Belongs to Tamora Pierce.
"I can't believe you Briar! What you're doing is disrespectful, degrading and downright dishonourable!" Sandry rarely got mad at him, so Briar was almost too shocked to reply. Then he remembered he didn't get talked at, not like that and not by some kid who thought she could stick her neb in where it didn't belong. Never mind it was his sister and friend.
"It's none of your business what I do or who I do it with, Sandry. I don't need coddling, for Mila's sake. I'm eighteen and I'll make my own damn choices, got that?" He growled back, getting up from his chair indignantly. Even after all this time, she was still meddling into his affairs. Daja looked at him intently, and then took a breath.
"Briar, she's not meddling this time. We're worried about you." She retorted, already regretting butting in. "This behaviour isn't healthy."
"And I suppose you know all about what is healthy and isn't? The great Trader, unable to do any wrong. I'm still an ignorant kaq right?" He was getting more and more defensive, feeling he was outnumbered and ignored.
"You're not listening to us, Briar," Daja said with a sigh. "What has bought this on? You must remember you are speaking to teenage girls. How you are treating these girls is disrespectful to them, certainly, but us as well. It's like a personal insult. It means you don't care about them, or us." Briar snorted.
"Well, you're right then. I don't care about them, and I don't care about you. All you girls are too much trouble." He spat, wondering after a moment if he really meant that.
"Briar!" Sandry sounded shocked and extremely hurt. "You don't mean that!"
"Really?" He asked with hard eyes. "I guess you want to tell me what to feel as well as what to do? Just because you're a control freak, doesn't mean you can control my life as well! Settle with leading your uncle around by the nose, and leave me out of it!"
"You had better shut it, Briar, before you say something you will really regret, you selfish kaq!" Daja shouted, jumping quickly to Sandry's defense. Suddenly a gust of strong wind swept into the room, making them all stop. Tris jumped up angrily from her chair in the corner of the room, glaring at the three of them.
"Will you three shut it! I'm trying to read! The entire world does not revolve around you!" She snapped. Briar pounced on her.
"I suppose you agree with them? That I'm disrespectful and degrading?" He asked belligerently. Tris scowled so hard he thought her braids would pop out along with her lightening sparks.
"I was trying to read!" She said again in a clipped voice. She stomped upstairs, muttering under her breath about selfish people. Briar was stunned, and it made him stop. It wasn't her attitude, he was used to that. Something irritated him, he didn't know what, but he would give her a piece of his mind anyway. Why should he have to be quiet just because she was reading? She obviously thought the whole world revolved around her. He followed her without even glancing at the other two grimfaced girls, already forgetting the earlier fight. He was itching for another fight, without consequences, and he knew Tris wouldn't disappoint him. When he reached her room, he barged in without knocking, slamming the door into the wall with a heavy thwack. Tris, sitting in the middle of her bed, didn't even flinch or look up, just continued reading innocently. He realized then that it was the fact that Tris didn't seem to care at all about his 'habits', was what irritated him the most, not her attitude.
"You don't care?" He asked indignantly. She didn't answer. He became more confused and almost… disappointed, strangely, than angry. "Why don't you care?" Tris sighed, scowling, and lowered the book. Briar sat on the edge of a chair on the wall in front of her, calming down already.
"Why do you care if I care?" She asked exasperatedly with a heavy sigh. She took in his odd, hurt expression without sympathy.
"Why don't you care?" He asked again, softer. She frowned again.
"It's none of my business what you do with your personal life," She said, picking up her book again. "Just like you said." She tried again to concentrate on the old book, dismissing him.
"Tris," Briar tried again, his eyes serious. "You really don't have an opinion?" He was extremely disappointed, and wondered why. Did he want her to be upset? Did he truly just want the attention? Or was it simply he wanted her attention? A part of his mind confirmed yes, he wanted her to care, to care that it wasn't her he was spending his nights with. The realization sent his head spinning.
"Of course I have an opinion," She said patiently, though her mouth was set in a hard line. "It doesn't matter what I think, though."
"Maybe it matters to me," He murmured without thinking. Tris looked up sharply.
"I think you have a reason for everything you do, Briar Moss. And you have a reason for this. It doesn't matter what it does to me, or Sandry or Daja, or anyone, except you. If it helps you, then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Including me." She settled back against her pillows again. "Now go away. Go find some new girl to help you keep your mind off your past." Briar, stunned at the depth of her understanding, got up and started to walk out.
"You seem to understand me, Coppercurls, but I'll never understand you," He murmured under his breath as he walked out. She smiled after him, hearing his murmur on the breeze.
"You're wrong, Briar. You will always understand me better than anyone else. You're the one with a heart almost as thorny as mine."