( 24 )
Rubedo's walking more or less peacefully down a Residential Area hallway when Nigredo finds him.
It's definitely not something you see every day: his jaw is locked, molars biting down against each other; his eyes are narrowed, brows drawn; he's frowning. This worries him.
"You okay...?"
Nigredo shakes his head, and without saying a word, reaches out to his brother. He holds his hand very tightly, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. Rubedo can feel the waves of stress just as sharply. Not good. He squeezes Nigredo's hand and sends soothing thoughts his way.
Sighing in aggravation --though not with Rubedo, that much is obvious--, Nigredo quickly scans the hallway. Nobody's around, so he heads for the nearest room, Rubedo in tow. Nobody's in there, either; Nigredo shuts the door behind them.
Rubedo instantly places a hand on Nigredo's arm. "What happened?"
Nigredo growls in frustration. "Four absolutely useless hours of generic conference call bullshit."
"Bullshittier than usual?""Yes. Know why?"
"Why?"
"Some company we recently invested a significant amount of money in decided it'd be clever to go against everything established in Article Four."
Rubedo sighs, shaking his head in disgust. "Let me guess. More experimentation, written off as 'cutting-edge maintenance'?"
"That, and the very nicely worded, 'providing hospice services.'"
"Nice. Real fucking nice." He clicks his tongue. "That's... Well. We'll report them as soon as we get enough information to hold them accountable. And get that money back. Give it to people who deserve it."
Nigredo goes quiet, putting his face in his hands for a moment and exhaling shakily before running his fingers back through his hair. "I'm just so tired, Rubedo."Rubedo wishes now more than ever that he was taller. Reaching up, he pulls his brother into a reassuring hug, petting his hair gently.
"It's alright. We'll deal with it. It'll all work out."
"I know it will."
Rubedo chuckles. "Yeah, so... I dunno. Why don't you take the day off? I'll handle anything that needs doing. You could use a break."
Nodding against his shoulder, Nigredo makes no move to leave.
Rubedo simply holds him.