hello again, sorry it took this long for the next chapter. I have been rather busy making drawings for a certain person, so it took me a while writing this chapter down. think its length makes up for it. I do not know when next will come out, don't really have a firm plot on this one as I just wanted to write about Scar's brother.
Major Miles heads towards Scar's house, wondering how the scarred man and his newfound brother have been spending their time and how much Shade's amnesia has been affected their relationship. From those few times Scar spoke about his brother, it was always with such a sense of great sadness, hint of pride and respect when explaining people about his brother's vast knowledge- not only in alchemy but in all kind of subjects his brother had decided to learn in order to sate his great thirst for knowledge.
So Miles is very interested in getting to know the older brother of Scar better, see how the creator of the arrays on Scar's arms is as a person.
Approaching the house, Miles notices a child's laughter coming from inside. He removes the drape covering the door, heads inside and finds an adorable yet strange scene with the once killer.
Scar is lying on the floor, having the pale-skinned Ishvalen girl Selena sitting on his back and covering his head with that turquoise green scarf which Selena roughly stroking her hands against it. Declaring victorious: "Behold; my greatest attack!" She pulls the scarf off and pokes his cheek, a sound of electricity, revealing what the girl has been doing. The funny part of this scene is that Scar; a man who has killed some of the most powerful State Alchemists; is getting his ass handed by a teenager girl.
"Show mercy little moon child, your power is too great." Scar tells her and for once has more than just a hint of amusement in his voice. Young Selena hugs his neck with a whooping laugher, telling her watching father proudly. "I told you I could defeat him!"
"You sure did," Shade says from his spot at the table, having the youngest one sitting on his lap and is reading the book he found for her.
Oh, how amusing it is to watch Scar has been put down to a whipped dopey uncle type by a small girl. Clearly, the man has more than a soft spot for children; considering he let the girl from Xing tag along, even protected her back when he still was a wanted man. Chuckling, Miles tells the 'defeated' man on the floor. "Maybe I overestimated your strength Ishvalen, for it seems you cannot handle a little girl."
"It's Selena to you, mister!" Selena exclaims confidently, pointing up at him while still sitting on Scar like he is a hunting trophy. "I may be small, but it's because I'm compacted with danger!"
All Miles does is raises a brow of her words. Yup, he can clearly see she's in family with Scar with that attitude. She just has more of it in her mouth instead of action like the nameless Ishvalen. "She's surely not lacking confidence." He remarks to Shade who smirks back in agreement. Back to the still floored Scar or rather the girl keeping his co-worker prisoner. "May I have your punching bag? I'm going to need him for today's assessments." Scar scowls at what he called him, but that's all the scarred man does.
Selena thinks about it for a moment. "Hm, okay." She shrugs and jumps off, allowing Scar to get back on his feet.
Scar can see what his brother meant with Selena being like a wildcat, she doesn't really fancy being commanded around, only if there is a good reason. That and she has the strength the children of the moon have. Yet, she still has the fire of the sun like most Ishvalens have. Speaking of the sun. "Brother, you should pay our local doctor a quick visit. He will get you three a salve against the sun, you and Harika will get used to the sun over time-"
"But Selena will need it, I'm aware." Shade finishes for him, nodding in understanding. To be frank, he had been planning on asking if the town has a doctor, and he also would like to see what the lands of Ishval have to offer. "After that, I would like to investigate the town, maybe the marketplace. See if anything is interesting."
"The market has a lot of different food to offer," Miles tells the man. "Soon we should get goods from Xing as well, but for now; you'll have to settle on what the rest of Amestris has to offer."
"If you buy any food, do me a favor brother:" Scar eyes his older brother in a way there says 'I'm serious about this' "Let me cook it."
Miles sends him a question look and Scar explains. "The only thing he never got the hang of." He still remembers clearly all the horrors of food his brother made the few times their mother told him to cook
and how no one— not even the local stray dog would eat it. Easy to say that their mother quickly stopped asking him to help her in the kitchen.
Shade smiles sheepishly. "I'll keep that in mind."
Scar briefly explains to him where they can find the doctor before leaving the house with Miles, having the thought he won't be surprised if his brother hasn't left the medical clinic when he's done with the morning work.
After having gotten some breakfast, Shade and his daughters head over to the local doctor. There is a single woman before them, so they will have to wait. Patience is something Harika still hasn't mastered and about ten minutes later, she starts complaining about her boredom. "How much longer do we have to wait?" She whines, hanging over her father's shoulders. Shade turns away from his book, glancing up to the girl whose hanging is starting to push off his glasses. "I don't know." He tells her calmly. "You simply has to be patience."
"Can't you tanmute something?"
"Transmute, dear. And no, I will not."
"Why not~?" Harika whines disappointed.
There is a good thing to see her get impatience again. It shows she's not as scared as she was in Xing. Dealing with an impatience kid is easier than a paranoid one. "Because, if I transmute something, I either have to ruin the floor or any the nice things the doctor has. We can't have that can we?" Not to mention that alchemy is not a toy to play with.
Harika shifts embarrassed. "...Guess not." She didn't really think about it like that. Still, she wants something to happen so she won't be so bored. "But I'm so bored...!"
Shade gestures at the book he found inside the waiting room, not exactly his kind of read but better than nothing he guesses. "Tell you what, I can read you this book aloud." Harika doesn't really seem to fancy the idea, but she's bored enough to do anything. So she takes a seat on his lap, letting him read the magazine.
Selena did listen to their father's read aloud, but only with a half ear as she has found her source of entertainment in a wayward lizard skittering over the floor to get caught once again by her when it gets too far away. Selena watches this quite scared lizard in her hands, intrigued how it threw off its tail when she caught it the first time. She hasn't seen many lizards in Xing, so getting a closer look at one here is a treat.
When the former patient leaves the doctor's room and the doctor requesting them coming inside, Selena releases the probably very relieved lizard back outside, following her father and tells him what she had caught.
"And you sat it free when you were done?"
Selena nods. "I did, and I think it appreciated it."
"I'm sure it did," Shade agrees, glad Selena treated that lizard with some respect. She can, after all, be quite rough when she gets too excited about something.
The small family steps into the doctor's room, Shade has to bite his own lips so he wouldn't gasp at how this doctor's face looks. The whole face is disfigured by a lot of nasty scars like someone has torn it up and then put it back wrongly. His daughters, on the other hand, don't have that form of self-control.
"What's wrong with his face?" Harika asks scared, hiding behind him. Selena isn't as scared as she is curious and gives the seemly used to this doctor a scanning look. "It looks like grated cheese."
"Girls!" Shade scolds them, both girls look quite startled up to him as it is rare he gets angry and raises their voice at them. "You don't say such crude things to people." He lectures both.
"We're sorry." Both say, but Shade doesn't want their apologies. "Say it to the doctor, not me." And they say it to the now amused doctor.
Shade gives the scarred man an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that."
"It's quite alright, they're not the first children asking such questions." The doctor brushes it off, not really bothered by the pale girl's ignorant insult, but he must admit that it's the first time anyone has called him a grated cheese.
"Probably not the last either." Shade remarks, giving the two embarrassed girls a look that states they better not insult the man further.
The doctor agrees with the Ishvalen's words, he chuckles lightly before asking since he has come to know almost anyone in the city of Arjun. "Are you new around? I can't recall seeing you or your daughters before."
"That's correct, we have been living in Xing beforehand." Shade explains the doctor, blinking when the man muses thoughtfully. "Hm, I wonder how many other Ishvalens has fled to Xing after the war?"
Again that with the war thing, but Shade doesn't want to ask about it now; not with Selena around. He doesn't want to make her relive those memories again. So instead, he replies to the man with a shrug. "That I do not know: I never met others in the years I had lived there."
"Of course—oh, where are my manners." The doctor realizes he hasn't properly introduced himself. "I'm doctor Tim Marcoh." And doctor Marcoh offers this new Ishvalen his hand. Shade wants but can't shake it since he's missing that hand. It's not like Marcoh can see that since the poncho his brother gave him is covering both his arms. "I don't have a right hand at the moment..." He explains the doctor, taking Marcoh off guard, more so when Shade offers him his left with: "but I still have the left." Revealing the well-known tattoos of reconstructions.
Marcoh takes a step back seeing those tattoos on someone else's arm. Only Scar should be wearing them since he helped the man to recreate these marks out from his right one.
Shade blinks of this move from the doctor, his confusions do get answered when the doctor asks almost fearfully. "Where did you get that array?"
"Hm? Oh, I have it as long as I remember." Shade replies, giving the tattooed arm a small glance before dropping it back under the poncho's cover. "According to my brother, I created this one along with the one used for deconstruction."
"Y-Your brother?" Marcoh repeats, eyes wide of what his head is putting together. Scar told him about the creator of those two arrays, but Scar always said he died during the war of Ishval. "Is your brother a man with a large scar on his forehead?"
Shade nods and his confusions increases but also starts to worry when the doctor falters on his feet.
Marcoh grabs the table's corner right before he collapses onto the floor of who is standing before him. "I can't believe it... you're Scar's older brother!" He starts laughing, catching Shade and the two kids very much off guard. The two girls look up to their father, hoping he knows what is going on with the grated cheese doctor, but their dad looks just as startled by this reaction. More so, when Marcoh tells him with so much gratitude. "I never thought I would get the chance to be thanking the man who helped us to save this country!"
"What?" Shade asks, this is getting strange and sort of annoying when he doesn't remember anything from before Xing. "I did what? Me? Saved this country? How?"
This time it is Marcoh's turn to get taken off guard, for a moment thinking he got the wrong guy. But it has to be, this man said Scar is his brother, he has the array AND missing his right arm.
Shade shakes his head lightly from the warning headache he got from the news that he apparently has saved a whole country, what is he? Some sort of hero? He doubts it, but then again; he doesn't remember. "I'm sorry. This is quite overwhelming."
"Daddy does not remember anything before Xing." Selena says from her spot, poking a fake skeleton with her sister watching and unsure if she should join or not./p
Ah, that makes more sense. With memory loss, Scar's brother wouldn't know about anything about what happened in Amestris. But doesn't that also means... "How do you remember your brother then?"
Shade snaps his attention back to the doctor, allowing the girls to mess with the man's stuff a while longer. "Oh, he told me. Of course, he could've been lying but the one you know as Scar doesn't seem like a person who would lie about something like this."
"No, even with everything he has done, Scar is still a very honorable man." Marcoh agrees, he has been around Scar long enough to know that. He blinks at the confused look Scar's brother gives him and he realizes that the man doesn't know what Scar had been doing a few years back. And honestly: he does not want to be the guy telling the older brother that. "You can trust his words." Scar's brother simply nods, and even though the man doesn't remember; Marcoh still wishes to show his gratitude. "Without the research notes you left your brother, we might not have won. For that, a lot of people owe you their lives. If you wish to see your old notes; I still have them."
"I would like that very much, but that can wait." And Shade explains his reason for being here in the first place.
Marcoh is at first a bit confused why Scar sent them here, several shops sell the sun resistance salve, then realizes that Scar might have sent them to him so he could adequately meet the older brother of the man. He feels quite honored the former killer trusted him with such a meeting. Scar always spoke with such pride, but mostly great sadness when the topic came to his older brother.
He hands the older brother of Scar the salve, explaining him. "In the future, you can simply buy it in the local shops- as for your oldest daughter." Looking at her properly now, Marcoh realizes that this one isn't Amestris- which wouldn't make sense if she is this man's daughter. No, the girl is an albino. He has met a single person with this condition before, but never an Ishvalen. It's quite curious to see an Ishvalen without the trademark brown skin and red eyes. He fetches a salve people from far up north or with incredible sun-sensitive skin gets when coming this far south. This girl going to need it since albinism removes the dark pigments in the skin which protects the person against the sun rays and won't get nasty sunburns. "This should protect her skin, but it won't make her immune, so I suggest proper clothing when out in the midday sun."
"I'll keep that in mind, thank you, doctor." And with the business out of the way, Shade thinks he can allow himself letting the hungry beast for knowledge- as his wife used to call it- out. "If you don't have any more patients today, could you indulge me with my old research notes?"
Marcoh smiles. "Of course."
"You can go outside and play if you like." Shade suggests to his kids. He doesn't think they will find a bunch of old papers that interesting. "Just stay close to the building."
"We will!" Selena promises and runs out with her younger sister close behind.
"Don't forget your salve!" Shade calls after them, not really sure if they heard him or not, but he figures they did since Selena pulls out her new salve and puts it on her and Harika's skin before storming outside.
Marcoh walks over to his worktable, takes out a once again put together and worn notebook and hands it to its rightful owner. The doctor watches quietly the older brother of Scar read the first pages with a focused gleam in his red eyes. A look Marcoh has seen many times before in other alchemists, never in Scar's eyes though. Yes, Scar's brother is indeed an alchemist in heart.
"Some of the words... they are different." Shade muses, he recognizes them but cannot place what the words mean.
"They are ancient Ishvalen," Marcoh replies, about to explain what they mean but the Ishvalen stops him. "No, don't say it. I want to figure it out myself. My mind thrives on codes and mysteries like this." So Marcoh stays quiet, watching the first Ishvalen alchemist try and break his own code.
Shade takes a seat, skimmed his eyes over the text in the book, as he gets through the pages, he starts to recognize it and the style of writing as his own. Slowly, as he continues stumbles on the word he at first couldn't translate, realizes what it means. "Gold, it means gold." He muses, flapping the page to where another word for gold appears, but also another word, it takes him a moment, but he notices that word is 'immortality' and he starts to realize that the words 'gold' and 'immortality' are on every page, not always in the same word, but there. That must mean those two words hold some importance. He also takes notices that there is a subtle change on what side of the page he's reading. One side feels like Alchehestry and as for now the one he's most familiar with, the other side might be the alchemy Alphonse told him about. With this small fact in mind, Shade reads the words on each page more carefully but does quickly realizes that all that alchemy writing is not really useful. Just the basics about alchemy are written all fancily. "Oh, I see." Shade chuckles lightly and puts the book onto the medical table. "My style of hiding research hasn't changed much. Can you take it apart?" He asks the doctor who has been so kind enough letting him figure this out on his own. And Shade is glad he did, solving a mystery from his past self is exhilarated. It fills him with excitement; he only feels when facing a challenge of codes to a knowledge he yet has to understand.
Marcoh separates the pages from each other, letting them spread out onto the table. He's quite awestruck how fast Scar's brother figured this conundrum out. "Do you remember?" He asks the other man.
"No," Shade admits, turning the page he's holding, trying to figure out what he should do with it now. "I mean, I recognize my style hiding research. Back at Xing, I always hid my research as history books. This isn't exactly written as a history book, more like a teacher's book like the one I read last night. Still, the style is there." He starts seeing a pattern again and begins to organize the pages slowly into a form of a circle. With the last page done, he grabs a pen and draws up the erased lines once again. Shade frowns at the transmutation circle he made, from how it had been hidden and how big it is. He figures this transmutation circle is a big deal. "Now, what do you do?" He muses, reading the put together words around the circle.
The more he read, the more horrified he gets. Shade takes a step back, staring in fear at this transmutation circle. According to his old writings. This one should cover the whole country, each pointer at a place been covered in blood made of large conflics. One of those pointers is Ishval. Worse still, if this transmutation circle got activated: a lot of people will die. He turns to the doctor, fearful this transmutation circle still threatens to be activated in this country. "Please tell me this isn't looming over us anymore." For if that's the case, then why aren't people trying to stop it?
"Don't worry, the threat is over." Marcoh assures him, very impressed how quickly the man figured out the code. Then again, this was his old research notes and the Ishvalen did say that he recognized the writing style, so he had one advantage Marcoh and the others didn't have.
That's such a relief Shade thinks, yes giving this out as a warning could make whoever solved this a chance to stop the threat. But he feels like this isn't all his past self did. There is still the mystery of why the writing style changed from Amestris alchemy to Xing's alkahestry. What does that mean? Shade starts turning the pages and with the last one turned. He redrew the transmutation circle. After having read this new and more alkahestry based one's properties, Shade realizes that his past self has made a sort of counter to the one on the other side of the pages, something to draw out the limitless power of the earth and destroys something disturbing the other one was suppose to do. A reverse transmutation circle so to speak. Shade is beginning to understand why Doctor Marcoh here thanked him when he realized who he was. He has given a lot of people, maybe this whole country a fighting chance to whatever his past self discovered. Tapping lightly on the papers holding this new knowledge, Shade tells the doctor. "I'm glad my research helped."
"Your research saved a lot of people," Marcoh points out.
Shade doesn't reply, he's still wrapping his head around of what his old research notes taught him and how he has in an indirectly way has saved countless of people lives. Noting to himself, he better keeps that smug feeling in check, or he might turn out into an arrogant fool, but he will allow himself a moment of pride and a pat on the back over this grand succession. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Past midday, Scar is done with the morning duties and thinks it's about time to check up on his brother. knowing him; he probably still at Marcoh's place. He heads over to the clinic and to no real surprise finds his two nieces goofing around outside and from the looks of it: they have found themselves some new friends.
Harika spots him first and calls happy after him. "Uncle!" It warms his heart hearing the girls call him that single word with so much love. Love, he long didn't think and still thinks he doesn't deserve. Yet, even though he doesn't deserve it, he will not hesitates for a second to show the girls how much he cares for them, how much having them around means. He lets the youngest jump up into his arms and he obliges by lifting her up. Has to braces himself when the wildcat to Selena does the same, least this time he doesn't end on the ground. "Did you finish your chores?" Selena asks him.
"I did." He replies, although he wouldn't call what he did today for chores. Alright, maybe discussing the importance of the new well to the fields with Mustang can be considered a chore. He and the Brigadier General may have found neutral grounds, but the hostility still lies under the surface; one that might never go entirely away. But enough about the military, right now he wants to be with his family. "Where's your father?" He asks them, not one bit surprised with Harika's answer.
"He's solving puzzles with the weird faced doctor." Harika points at the clinic.
"Yeah, his face looks like grated cheese." Selena remarks.
If Scar hasn't been so strictly trained in keeping his emotions under constant control; he might've laughed from how the girls described Marcoh. "Dad didn't like we called him that, though," Selena adds.
Of course, he didn't and Scar wouldn't really either. "Your father is correct, it's not polite to call people names."
"Then everyone is being mean to you." Harika says, pointing out that she's indeed his brother's daughter from how observant she had been. "They call you scar because of what happened to your face; that's not very nice."
"That's different." Scar had really hoped they wouldn't have noticed it this soon, but what else could he expect from the children of his brother? "They are not calling me Scar out of spite, they are calling me this because that's my name for them."
"Why don't they call you by your real name?" Selena asks with a deep frown under that scarf of hers. "Don't you like your name?"
"I do, but..." how does he explain this? Lying to them won't work, as they will figure the truth out sooner or later but telling them their uncle is a mass murder; he cannot bring himself to do that either. "I have done some horrible things. Our god Ishvala does not consent such things, so I do not deserves bearing the name Ishvala gave me through my parents or priests."
"So... you lost your name because you did something awful?" Harika asks, mostly just to get this clear. She gasps and asks scared that she might too lose her name. "Can I lose mine too?!"
God, he hopes not. "No, you won't lose your name as long you stay fair, kind, and respects the teaching of Ishvala."
"What kind of teaching?" Selena asks this time, she does recall the name of this god, but not really the teachings. Scar would tell them, but not now. "I will tell you later." He puts them both back down on the ground and turns to the clinic of Marcoh. "Right now; I need to get your father out so we can buy something to eat tonight."
"Good luck with that!" Selena laughs, she knows how hard time her second mother had getting him out from the study room.
Luck indeed. Scar sends the two off to play a bit more with the local children before heading inside Marcoh's clinic. "Brother?" He calls, reaching for the door with a strong sense of déjà vu. Stepping inside, the feeling of déjà vu gets stronger in seeing the mess of papers and books lying scattered all over the table. His brother seems to have been in an in-depth discussion with Marcoh before getting interrupted by his arrival.
"Oh, hey," Shade greets his brother and is surprised to see him here. "Finished with your duties already?"
Scar scans the many papers lying around the two alchemists, it's incredible how quickly his brother can make a mess. "What were you talking about?"
In the past, he would've gotten angry at his brother of researching alchemy, but Scar has learned to be a bit more open-minded and reign in his temper.
"Medical mostly." Shade replies.
"Your older brother's new research is a valid resource in the medical community," Marcoh explains the scarred man with an excited gleam in his eyes. He admits it's been long he last has been around a fellow alchemist and healer. "He's been trying to teach me more about alkahestry, but I just can't wrap my head around this 'dragon pulse' business."
"He will have to teach you about it some other day." Scar tells the doctor and turns to his brother. "You haven't been to the market place yet."
First there, Shade realizes how long he has been talking with Marcoh. "Ah, sorry about that..." He smiles embarrassed, scratching the back of his head. "Guess I forgot the time."
Like he always does when doing research, typical brother. But something he no longer gets angry about, he has missed his brother so much these long years. "You can return back here tomorrow, figure Marcoh could set you with a small job." The healing trick of alkahestry is incredibly useful, he knows that fact by personal experience.
"I would love to." Marcoh replies, these few hours talking with Shade has been very enlightened and also a great honor.
Shade thanks for the possible job, however, there is one thing he would like first before taking any jobs or responsibilities. "I will take the offer, but only when I have both my arms." He places his hand over the stump of his right. The wounds have healed fully thanks to Mei and his own ability to heal wounds, so he should be able to get a new automail arm on it now. Marcoh did suggest he might be able to return the arm fully with Philsopher stone in his possession, but Shade doesn't want anything to do with that blood-red stone. Being near it makes his skin crawl from the disturbing chi that stone gives out. Marcoh looked quite surprised when he said this, which did lead to the dragon pulse conversation. But even if he hasn't gotten that creepy vibe from the stone, for some reason Shade doesn't want his right arm back. He isn't sure why, but seeing the stump doesn't fill him with grief or despair. It feels him with pride. And that's why he will instead get a new automail arm. But even though he knows it has to be done and he will be better off with the surgery. He still shudders by the thought of what he has to endure it all over again. "I really hoped I didn't have to go through this again but..." However, his mind is made up and he needs two hands, so; "brother, the moment you have the time. Can you help me find a suitable automail engineer?" Shade asks his brother with a determent gleam in his eyes.
Scar nods, of course, he will help his brother with that. And he wants his brother to have the best automail there is, which means they will be going to Rush Valley.
"See you later, doctor." Shade bid Marcoh farewell and leaves along with Scar, both hearing the doctor replies back. "It was an honor meeting you."
The two pick up the kids and together head to the market place, here Shade tells his brother about his old research notes. "You know, looking at something I know was made by me, but has no memories about compiling them. It was very bizarre."
"Did you solve it?" Scar asks only mildly curious, he simply keeps on the subject just to hear his brother talk. Strange how he has missed it.
"Took me a while, but I did." Shade replies proudly, glancing at one of the many stands that sell food. "And I'm glad that crisis is over."
Scar pays for the vegetables and fruits he bought, handing the two girls an apple to each. This kind of fruit had been a rarity in his youth but now; with the trading routes open to the rest of Maestris, it has become quite common.
"Was it bad?" Shade asks, turning to the back of his brother. "The crisis?"
"The hardest one I've ever fought." Scar replies, the fight with Bradley almost cost him his life. He is now genuinely grateful that Armstrong saved him. If she hadn't; then he would never have been reunited with his brother again. He stops and meets his brother's eyes. "But it had been all worth it. And I'm glad to have survived."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you." Shade muses, he wishes he could've remembered when he recovered from his coma. If he had, then he would have left Xing and tracked down his brother: help him any way he could— as much as a bookworm like him could anyway.
Yes, it would've been comforting and kept him from going the path of vengeance, but Scar fears that if his brother had been around that time; then the Homunculi would've tried using him as a sacrifice. Maybe even killed him and that would've made him completely give in to the beast of vengeance. It might have been for the best that his brother had stayed in Xing all this time, safe and alive. "Don't be brother... What I fought during the crisis... I fear you wouldn't have survived those encounters or they would've forced you to work for them. Praise Ishvala you instead stayed in safety and-" he eyes the two girls chatter with one of the shop owners. "-you blessed the world with two wonderful children."
"Yeah," Shade smiles, his troubled mind of regret eases. If he hasn't stayed in Xing, Selena maybe never would have gotten a new family and Harika born. "They are a blessing indeed." Speaking about children. "Do you have any?"
"No."
"Any woman caught your eyes?"
"No." But apparently, his eyes betrayed him. That or his brother has become a mind reader as the older brother retorts with a teasing smile. "You are so lying, must be one heck of a woman if she finds that ugly mug of yours handsome."
Scar shoots him a glare, he knows it is a trap and he hates himself for falling so easily for it. More so as his cheeks feel like the sun is burning them. "Like you're any better with the hermit behavior of yours." He retorts, suddenly feeling like the age he's supposed to be.
"I had a wife and trusts me when I say that she could make some impressive moves—"
"Brother!"
"Ooh, what were you thinking about?" Shade pretends to be shocked, but the grin on his face isn't deceiving anyone. "I was talking about how gracefully she could move when she practiced her fighting." and starts laughing of how flustered his brother has become. "Shame on you little brother: thinking such dirty thoughts about your big brother's wife."
Scar grumbles something incoherent, which only causes Shade to laugh harder. It did stop when the younger one punches him over the left shoulder. "There's no woman." He repeats in an irritable tone and leaves before his brother starts on his teasing again.
Caressing his sour shoulder, Shade follows Scar with a smirk on his lips. "Of course not."
I know far too well how times seems to disappear when engulfed into an interesting project. mostly happens to me when I am writing stories such as this one.
do you guys feel the same when it comes to something?
comments and such will be a great, as it will tell me if you guys like this story or I should simply keep it to myself.