The entire crew had a betting pool.

Granted, this was their normal routine. The twins would wind each other up, the crew would take bets on whatever it was they were doing, and credits were collected at the end of the week depending on who won. Normally, the twins would fight, try to outmatch each other, or prank each other. This week, it was the latter.

The aftermath of this week's pranks were apparent – and Miranda had to applaud the twins' resilience. Kane came to school on Tuesday morning with his normal pale blond hair dyed oily-black, following a rather nasty argument with his sister the day prior. Helene didn't look much better, her clothes all an alarming shade of bright lemon yellow. They didn't talk to each other, and the crew didn't feel like setting off their tempers, even given their patience was that of a saint's. Miranda and Steve even approached them with caution, something the two of them didn't normally have to do, but felt it was prudent, all the same.

On Wednesday, Helene's clothes were back to normal, and Kane's hair had returned to a more normal shade of blond. A gleam of silver caught Miranda's attention when he came to sit down at their usual table in the mess, and she couldn't hide the sudden snort of laughter that escaped her right then: a stud, about as big as a pinky nail, shined silver in his left ear, the skin around it red and angry (about the same color as his face, he was so embarrassed). Miranda glanced over to her girlfriend where she came over to sit next to her, and her smile was amused, if a bit pissed off. As Helene sat down, Miranda could see the same stud in her right earlobe. The entire table began to murmur with chatter and aborted chortles of laughter, James and Ashley among the louder of the group. Steve smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand as Kane sat down next to him, causing an eruption of snarking from nearly everyone at the table.

And the pranks only got worse.

By the end of the week, the twins had inflicted multiple modes of prank-dom on each other, ranging from the dyed hair and ear piercings to the mysterious wax slick on the biotiball court during Kane's game and the dead fish stuffed into the trunk of Helene's car. As if to witness the finale they would torment each other with, Miranda and Steve were invited over on Friday night, the twins having the house to themselves after their mother went off-world to run a couple errands for their father. Miranda was cautious – even a bit terrified – but Steve met her at the door, his quiet confidence soothing her nerves. They entered the twins' home together, prepared to see paintballs splattered on the walls or the place overrun with varren.

They were pleasantly surprised to find nothing wrong with the place. Miranda raised a brow and hung her coat next to the door, peeking into the living area with a curious tilt to her head.

"Nothing?" Steve said softly. Miranda turned to look at him, and shrugged her shoulders at his amused smile. "Did they call a truce?"

"I highly doubt it," Miranda answered. "You know those two."

Steve rolled his eyes. That answer was sufficient enough.

Surprisingly, the rest of the evening passed without incident. The twins greeted them kindly, nothing showing on their bodies, no new piercings, no odd hair or outfit colors. In fact, they got along with each other nicely, as much as the two of them could tolerate each other after Helene tattooed "KANE LIKES LATINO DICK" on his cheek and Kane shaved Helene's eyebrows off. Miranda was glad those two pranks were reversible, even though they were grand, in her book.

"So," Miranda started, after she and Helene had retired to Helene's room. Kane's was down the hall, and, thankfully, she couldn't hear what was going on. Although she suspected Steve was having a very similar conversation with his boyfriend. "Did you and your brother make a truce?"

Helene's smile was mysterious. She didn't say anything, simply pulling Miranda closer and kissing her. Miranda dropped it and let herself be kissed, her body falling easily into the routine. Helene gripped her hips and drew Miranda closer, their bodies tipping back onto the mattress behind them, and Miranda locked her arms around Helene's neck. She tangled the dark hair in her fingers, their kisses growing deeper and open-mouthed. Miranda let her legs fall apart as Helene pushed herself closer, and they began to rock their hips together, their hands coming down to caress each other's breasts and ribs.

After a while, when Helene had shed her shirt and Miranda was sucking a mark under Helene's jaw, a loud, surprised yell boomed down the hall and through the walls. It startled Miranda, and she flared her biotics briefly before Helene started to laugh, loud and hysteric. She fell off the bed and clambered up before falling again, Miranda looking on, dumbfounded and confused. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but Helene was rolling on the floor, holding her ribs as she cried from how hard she was laughing – and then the bedroom door slammed open, a harried, angry, and naked Kane standing in the doorway.

He held a pillow between his legs – thank God – but it was obvious he'd been in the middle of having sex with Steve. His chest was blushed pink and his hair was mussed from Steve's fingers, but his brow was stormy, and if looks could kill, Helene wouldn't even be breathing right then, let alone cackling with uncontrollable laughter. He was brandishing a tall plastic tube filled with a sticky, amber liquid, the cap off and dripping thick blobs of… something.

"What. Did you. DO," he growled. Steve's howls of laughter could be heard down the hall, and Miranda couldn't keep the smile off her face. She hid it behind her hand when Kane's glare glanced to her.

Helene seemed to have calmed down enough to answer, but small giggles escaped her every other breath. She sat up, using the edge of the bed to pull herself to her feet. She looked her brother straight in the eye, facing the storm growing in his bright blue eyes. "I replaced your lube."

"With WHAT."

Miranda didn't want to hear the answer. But curiosity killed the cat, right?

"Honey. At room temperature. It's sticky when it starts to cool, and not at all good for what you were trying to do, and if it isn't cleaned up, it starts to—"

"I don't CARE what it does!" Kane roared. He threw the bottle at his sister, who ducked, then proceeded to crumble into peals of laughter once again. Kane groaned and stomped out of the room after slamming the door. Steve's laughter only grew louder.

Miranda peeked over the edge of the bed at her girlfriend, who lay on the carpet with a satisfied look on her face. She leaned her chin on her hand, a curious look crossing her face.

"Was it worth it?"

"Totally."

Helene's smile was more serene than Miranda expected it to be. She'd just replaced he brother's lube with honey. That had to be an interesting mess to clean up. The image that passed through Miranda's mind, however, was not.