Sometimes, Silver thought that he spent too much time with Ethan. Lyra had argued, more than once, that even five minutes was too long to spend alone with Ethan if you wanted to get away with your sanity. Of course, she had known him since they were small children so she was also able to argue that she was just sick of him. She'd done her time, and now it was Silver's turn.

Neither of them had asked Ethan how he felt about being the butt of so many jokes, because they both knew he would prove them right, on the spot, with an unnecessary explanation of how they were both wrong. It was a lecture he often gave without being asked; they were his friends, and should be flattered to have him in their presence. He would stand at his full height – an unimpressive three inches shorter than Silver – and try to convince them that his friendship was a privilege. Silver would stare him down until he got bored, while Lyra would collapse into giggles, which only frustrated Ethan further.

Despite all the flack Ethan had to deal with, they were still his closest friends and it wasn't unusual for Silver to come in and sit on the couch beside him. Usually Ethan would be playing with the Wii, or watching TV, and Silver would sit in silence watching the screen until he fucked something up, at which point it was a free-for-all in the living room until the neighbours complained about the noise.

###

It took Silver a while to figure out what was wrong, and when he did, he realised it was everything. He'd walked in and kicked Ethan's feet off the coffee table, and hadn't received so much as a dirty look. He'd unpacked the take-out from the plastic bag and Ethan hadn't even looked up. He'd started up a conversation – something unusual in itself – and ended up trailing off a few moments later when Ethan continued to focus on his laptop.

"I know I've said this before," Silver started again, reaching over to pull one of the headphones out of his friend's ear, "but if you're watching porn, watch it in your own fucking bedroom."

"Do I look like I'm watching porn?" Ethan asked, confused.

"Thankfully, no."

"Then fuck off."

Silver waited for Ethan to return the earbud to its place just so he could rip it out again.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? There's food right there that you haven't inhaled yet, so you can see why I thought porn."

"I said fuck off!"

"Did you lose to Red again?"

"I'm just trying to concentrate, fuck," Ethan huffed and closed his laptop, taking it with him as he walked out of the room, leaving Silver in unexpected, but not unwelcome, silence.

###

"Here," Ethan said, shoving a folded up piece of paper into Silver's hands. "Eyewitness accounts, stories from people involved, it's all there."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I've met you before, right, so I know that if I said, hey Silver, remember that time when you and Lyra fucking made out on my fucking couch because you thought I was asleep? Yeah. It's all there," Ethan said, a smug grin plastered all over his face.

"What?"

"You heard me. You're never going to live this down, man."

"Yeah, you've met me," Silver scowled as his eyes quickly skimmed the paper, "and you know I will fucking murder you for this."

"Try."

"Don't test me."

"Don't test me," Ethan mocked.

"Have fun sleeping tonight, because I will fucking kill you," Silver seethed as he scrunched the paper up and threw it at Ethan as hard as he could; Ethan just sniggered as the paper rebounded off his shoulder.

"No you won't."

"Fuck you."

###