Luger woke up to a strange sound. Warm, soothing humming echoed around their small room. Yet even with its warmth, it held the weight of sadness. He turned his head, and saw Trellis sitting on his bed, cradling his head in his hands. He was the origin of the song, again.
"Can't sleep?" he asked softly.
Silence filled the room. Trellis' head lifted off his hands. His wide eyes glowed faintly in the darkness. "Yes. Sorry, did I wake you up?"
Luger smiled. "It's fine." Then he frowned. "Has something been bothering you? You've been doing this for nights now."
Trellis glanced away. "Sorry. I'm trying to distract myself, but I can't get them out of my head."
Luger leaned up, a concerned look on his face. "Get what out of your head?"
"The memories. Now that I've seen them, they won't go away."
Luger stiffened. His eyes went downcast. "Well, yes. The past never leaves you. To have it thrust in your face... it haunts you..." He trailed off, his gaze becoming further away.
Trellis stared at him. He shared plenty of these same memories with him. Really, most of the ones he wanted to leave his head the most seemed to involve his brother in some way. A hospital blowing up, a power-hungry monster attacking him, an angry face threatening his uncle.
"I shouldn't have brought it up. I'll try to get some sleep," Trellis said, lying back down on the bed.
Luger jumped as he glanced back over at him, startled out of his thoughts. "No- you don't have to regret it. I'm the one who asked about you."
Trellis looked over at him. He watched as Luger tucked himself back into bed, facing the wall. He looked away, chastising himself for talking about it in front of Luger. It didn't make his thoughts go away, it only made Luger feel worse. After everything that had happened between them, the last thing they needed was to feel worse.
Luger stared at the wall. He tried to organize his thoughts clearly into words.
"I know I've done terrible things, Trellis. To innocent people, and to you. I'm a terrible excuse for a brother. If I could, I would go back and change it all. But I can't." He sighed somberly. "This must be rough transition for you, rougher even than mine. Someday, I'd like to talk to you about everything. But I'll wait until you're ready."
A pained expression appeared on Trellis' face, one that he was glad Luger didn't see. He turned towards the wall as well, making no sound, pretending the pain of held-back tears didn't exist.
