Little Brother

"Okay, so, maybe I didn't see that coming," Dion said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Frazie peered at him from their spot underneath one of the many trees of the surrounding forest. The cool shade provided a reprieve from the hot summer sun. She idly played with a few blades of grass, tempted to start humming a tune with a sharper one when Dion had spoken. Dion slapped his neck and killed a mosquito, quickly wiping the insect on his pants, grimacing as it stained his slacks.

"Didn't see what coming?" she asked, pulling her knees to her chest. She rested her chin on her hands, fingers drumming on her skirt.

Dion rolled his eyes, one brow neatly arching. "You know what I mean. Don't act ignorant."

She clicked her tongue, the corner of her mouth turning upwards. She stretched her back and leaned into the tree, the bark scratching between her shoulder blades. "No need to be rude, dude," she said, ramming her elbow into his ribcage.

Suppressing a yelp, Dion leaned away and narrowed his eyes at her. She returned his glare, her eyes glinting with amusement, and she tilted her head, waiting for his comeback. Dion opened his mouth, an insult on his tongue, but he gulped it down and leered back at the circus, their brother's giggling echoing across the campsite.

They found Raz pointing at the big top. The cloth was striped in various hues of red and orange, bristling in the wind along with the leaves which had started to fall, the end of summer in sight. Raz gestured wildly, clenching his fists and throwing them in the air. Lili stood with her back to them, one finger tapping on her hip. He recalled something they couldn't quite hear, but his smile cutting into his cheeks and intermittent giggles shared with her was enough confirmation to let them know he was more excited than he had been in months.

"I didn't think he'd get a steady girlfriend before either of us," Dion grumbled, resting his face in his hand.

"You're jealous of a ten-year-old?" Frazie sneered, and Dion huffed, wrinkling his nose.

"He knew her for a day, and within that day, they hooked up. It's insane." He cracked his knuckles, each pop loud and grating on Frazie's ears. "Does he know anything about that girl? She's psychic and likes comics, who even is she?" he growled, keeping his gaze narrowed on Lili. As she patted Raz' shoulder, Dion scratched the back of his scalp. "She wasn't exactly forthcoming about herself. Saying that she's his girlfriend and that's it before scampering off with him like a bunch of little kids going to their first show."

Frazie sighed and shook her head. She stretched her legs and rolled her ankles. Resting her head on the tree, she stared at the sunlight filtering through the branches. She turned her hand and caught a leaf before it could land on her head, tracing the veins and flicking it away, the leaf somersaulting before plummeting by her slip-ons.

"Well, they seem to be doing just fine. Not like they're arguing or being too mean to each other, right?" she offered, but Dion scoffed.

"We don't know anything about her. Neither does he." He lowered his voice and dug his fingernails into his palm. "It's messed up, and you know it, Frazie."

"They're ten," she said, stretching her vowels. She laced her fingers together and stretched her arms above her head. As her back popped, she sighed and dropped them on her lap. "We had girlfriends like her, too, when we were his age. Remember Caitlyn?"

Dion smirked. "How could I forget the girl I was dating that you stole from me by doing twenty flips and sweeping her off her feet?"

She laughed, her cheeks darkening as she remembered doing exactly that much to Dion's childhood chagrin. "Oh, yeah, I forgot! You didn't speak to me for a week after she left. Still-" She poked his chest. "-we didn't know anything about our girlfriends when we were kids."

"It's not really a same-different kind of thing. They're actually serious." Dion pursed his lips and glanced over at Raz, grinding on his molars while he watched him take LIli by her hand and guide her into the big top. "I think. I dunno. This might be a fling like ours were."

Frazie hummed and crossed her legs, her heels bouncing onto the ground. "Seems serious to me. We never showed our girlfriends around the inside of there."

A chuckle escaped him before he could stop himself. He huffed out a sigh, his smile swapping for his regular scowl. Hunching forward, Dion shifted his weight on his legs and pushed himself off the grass. He brushed stray ants off his pants, his sister following his lead, and he scrutinized the tarp, the colors brighter under the sunlight.

"They seem happy," Frazie interjected before she could lose him in his thoughts.

"Maybe they do," he acquiesced, Frazie slouching and groaning by his side. He curled his lip and raised his arms, stepping back as Frazie dragged her hands down her face. "Jeez! And you call me overdramatic. What's your deal?"

Frazie straightened and cocked her hip out. She rolled her wrist, smirking and raising an eyebrow as she said, "Even though he's a Psychonaut and has a girlfriend, he's always gonna be our little brother no matter what, huh?"

The way his eyes widened elicited a chuckle from her. She grinned and lightly punched his arm, which quickly earned her one in return. She laughed a little louder, Dion's cheeks reddening and heating up hotter than the sunlight pressing down on them.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he muttered, pivoting away from her and fiddling with his large collar. "He just better not elope with her. Me and Dad will disown him if he does."

Frazie cackled. She smacked his back and followed him away from their resting spot. Peering over her shoulder as Dion announced he was going to check out the waterfall, Frazie smiled at the big top and wished Raz luck.