Niner & Caboose Siblings. Niner can't believe what her brother will do for her.
Wondering Why We're Here
Chapter Thirty-Six: Caboose Siblings: Take a Grenade For You
When all was said and done, Niner wasn't sure what infuriated her more, that the ship was blasted to hell or that these Sim Trooper morons and their Freelancer buddies had just given a sigh of relief when the Caboose siblings emerged from the wreckage.
Caboose was a little quick to take off his helmet – not a complete surprise since the visor seemed busted – which gave Niner full access to his big, content smile smacked right across his face. Like he had done something worthy of a treat rather than just ducked under a missile launcher.
Niner stared at him before grabbing his shoulders and yanking him down to her level. Michael's eyes nearly spun around in his skull before settling sights on her.
"What the hell was that!?" she demanded.
He gave her a curious look then squinted slightly. It was as if he was trying to figure out whether or not she was asking him a trick question.
Finally, he answered, "An explosion." He hesitated, thinking over the answer again, and then rubbed a little bashfully at his ears. "It was an explosion, right?"
Niner gave him a serious look, wouldn't let him drop his gaze, and then harshly bumped her forehead against his. He flinched at it, the way he did when they were kids, but didn't pull away. The bridges of their noses nearly touched and Michael went cross eyed to keep eye contact.
"You big lug," Niner grunted, tightening her grip on his shoulders. "Don't you ever do something so dangerous again – not for me, not for anyone." He frowned a bit at the order, making Niner sigh. "Damn it, Mikey. That was so brave. That was… I can't believe you'd just about get yourself killed for me like that. It was awful! Don't do it again. I'm not going to lose you just because I'm too stubborn to abandon a ship. You got that? I make my beds, you let me lie in them, kid."
He reached back, rubbing at his neck. "Oh okay. Good. See. Here I thought. You were mad at the ship thing. You like ships a lot. I'm glad you're not mad about it exploding. That would've been bad. But since it was good, I did it."
Niner shoved him back and glared at him. She threw her arms in the air, "Mad!? I'm goddamn livid about my ship! Fucking A, Michael, that was the first ship in my name since fucking Freelancer. Am I mad? Of course I'm goddamn mad! I'm so mad I could beat someone's brains in over the ship! That was a fucking great ship!"
Taking a step back and holding up his hands, Michael J. Caboose blinked widely at her. "Oh… okay… Tucker did it."