Chapter 52: Second Drink
"HRAAAAH!" Solaris takes a swing at Riku and he speeds out of the way in Light Form, then attempting to swing behind him to strike his neck.
"Not this time!" Solaris readies his hand to grab Riku's katana and pull him over.
Riku also anticipated this and dispelled his katana midway through being pulled overhead. Then he blasts Solaris with a cone of energy.
"Ghh...!" Solaris grits his teeth as the floor's cratered around his feet.
He steadied himself and charged forward with a smirk, winding his flaming right arm up to slam Riku's neck when he lands.
Riku hopped back when he landed and looked surprised.
"Hold still damn it...!" Solaris swung his flames out and created a wall for Riku to collide with.
Stalled, he was finally in prime position for him to lay the smackdown on. Solaris kept moving, swinging the hammer of his biceps forward.
Riku closed his eyes and with a flash of light and darkness, he has vanished at the last moment. Solaris swung his head around utterly baffled.
"Where did he...?" He froze up as cold steel scissored him on both sides of the neck.
"You lose." Riku said with a slight hint of playfulness before immediately withdrawing his blades.
Solaris turned around just to catch a glimpse of Riku wielding yet another new power. It wasn't Light, it wasn't Dark. It was some kinda crazy mix of both.
He dispelled the form and clapped his hands together saying, "Lets take a break now."
Solaris felt a cold sweat down his cheeks and then fell on his butt in a huff of frustration, "Augh! I had you!"
"You did," Riku responded, extending his hand out towards him, "That means you're getting better."
Solaris thought on it for a moment and then bobbed his head, "Yeah...yeah!"
He let Riku pull him up and then proclaimed proudly, "I AM getting stronger!"
Riku raised a brow and chuckled slightly, "I meant you're thinking more about your options."
"...Oh."
"But you're getting stronger too."
"Neat!"
As the two wandered off their training ground in the throne room Riku repaired the damage with a casual wave of the hand.
"So I guess that Black-and-White State is my next milestone then." Solaris commented.
"Chaos Form," Riku corrected, "I'll throw it in every and now and then, but I still need to work on both halves of it."
Riku started rubbing his chin in one of those contemplative states that means "I ain't listening anymore".
Solaris lifted his head and shouted "Yo!" to his bookworm sister laying on her bed.
She unglued her head from another dumb book with a look of surprise, "Oh are you two done already?"
"Taking a break," He replied, "You should stop burying your head in paper and ink and train with us Lunis."
Lunis laid the book down open pages first beside herself and said, "Oh maybe I will someday. These books are just so, so...interesting!"
"More like dullsville." Solaris quietly remarked.
As Riku sat down in the chair next to the bed and grabbed a book himself, Solaris stood around tapping his foot on the ground.
Lunis immediately peeked over her book and remarked, "Brother, haven't you found anything else to do?"
"No." He responded bluntly.
Riku laid his book on his lap and said, "I'm going to be a bit, why don't you go hang out with my brother?"
"Pass."
"Oh I know!" Lunis chimed in excitedly, "You should go try and talk to that girl again!"
"Girl?" Solaris raised a brow.
"You know, the one you embarrassed yourself in front of by getting totally wasted?"
Solaris spewed a brief aura of fire from his body and shouted, "T-That's not what happened! I didn't embarrass myself!"
Lunis pressed the book up to her lips with widened eyes, "Oh my bad, I don't know where that came from..."
Solaris settled down while crossing his arms to his chest. With a hefty grunt he remarked, "But you reminded me, I still got to settle the score with that woman."
"Are you still on about that?" Lunis said, laying her book down beside her, "It isn't attractive to hold a grudge Solaris."
"Who cares about what's attractive?!" He barked out, "There's something fishy about that woman I want to get to the bottom of it!"
Riku glanced aside at Lunis and said, "He is right. By his accounts this 'Samantha J' isn't a normal girl."
"Forcing a girl to submit isn't the answer though," Lunis said in a nauseatingly flowery tone, then began to bridge her fingers together with a smile, "You've got to be a bit more...delicate."
"Snnk...!" Went Riku with a half-assed smile.
Solaris glared at him then swung it over to Lunis, "Which tome of bullshit did you get that crap from Lunis?"
"Oh why this issue of Women's Vogue!" She said, hastily pulling out a magazine from her left and thrusting it out in both hands.
The cover read: "Don't settle for less! Seek these five traits to find your perfect man!"
Solaris squinted long at it while Lunis proudly declared, "If you follow the guidelines even you'll become an expert at talking to women Solaris!"
"HARD pass." Solaris turned and brushed his hand up.
"Y-You didn't even let me start!" Lunis said, utterly baffled.
"For good damn reason! That magazine ain't for people like me!" He looked over his shoulder with a firm scowl of defiance, "I'm going to go down to that bar, challenge that woman to arm wrestling, and finally get-"
"SOLARIS ARCAVIRA YOU COME SIT YOUR ASS DOWN RIGHT NOW AND LEARN SOME GODDAMN DECENCY!"
The rumbling in the air from Lunis' voice lingered for a while after, leaving Solaris and Riku's jaws dropped halfway to the floor.
She hung over panting for a couple seconds and then rose briskly with a smile, brushing loose bangs away from her eyes, "Whew...! That felt great!"
She turned to Riku, who quietly hid his blushing face behind his book and pretended he had no involvement.
She then turned to Solaris, cocked her head to the right, and patted down the bed beside her.
"...Tsk!" With his body in a mild sweat he walked back over to humor her whims...
After some time later Solaris was free to go to that bar yet again. He put on the clothes he had worn the last time and teleported into the alley beside the bar.
It was the middle of the day so there were a lot more humans walking the streets. Someone looked at him walking out of the alley but he just brushed them off and walked on up to the front of the bar.
He stared upward at the dim sign and tucked his hands in his pockets, "At least the Big Green Buzzkill isn't here to sour the mood this time..."
He headed inside and saw that there was no party going down today. Just a few people sitting around enjoying a meal or drink.
"Huh...?"
"Welcome to-!" Came the cheery voice of his target.
From over the counter Samantha J propped her head up with her elbows and sneered, "Well well, look who finally got their second wind."
"Mmrr...!" Solaris walked up to the bar stool and plopped down in front of her.
"What kinda crabs pinched your balls today?" She said with a snicker.
"Be quiet, you should be grateful I even came back!" Solaris proclaimed.
"Awww, I'm touched." She said with biting sarcasm as she stood up, and pulled out a menu from below shelf.
As he jerked it out of her hand and began to look it over she remarked, "Flying solo today?"
"Yeah, got that nuisance off my back this time."
"Ah, so should I call an ambulance NOW or AFTER you've thrown up your stomach?"
"Mmrrrr...!" Solaris felt compelled to order the toughest drink on the menu just to shut her up...!
...But waking up the morning after drinking those was very, very unpleasant and he'd rather not recall nor repeat that day.
"..." He quietly laid the menu on the counter and pointed at it without looking her way, "Can you give me something from the 'Grenade' section?"
"Oh ho ho, dialing it back a bit are we?" She was a little mocking in tone starting off, "Alright, one Surprise Coconut Blast coming right up!"
She went to work while Solaris felt his masculinity slowly being drained by the second. He grinded his fist against his cheekbone and looked out at the dull, quiet scenery.
"Why's it so empty today?" He muttered aloud.
"Couple factors," Replied Samantha as she brought the glass to his side, "Its the middle of the week, and the middle of the day. Ain't prime drinking conditions for a lot of folk."
"Hmmm..." Solaris picked up his drink and took a sip. It had a slight bite to it that made his throat wiggle around, wanting to reject it.
He downed it anyways and made a loud gagging sound, "Ughh...What's that awful flavor?"
"Mmm, not a fan of coconut?" Asked Samantha.
"Never even HAD coconut before...Is that what that is? Nasty." Solaris put down his drink hard and coughed a couple times.
"Coconut's added to some drinks to enhance the flavor. But if you don't like it..."
As she went to grab the glass he grabbed onto her fingers and looked her from the side while growling defiantly, "I'll get used to it."
She swung her hands up and muttered, "Alright, if you insist."
He picked up the drink and was about to take another sip when...
"HUP!" Samantha suddenly vaulted over the counter and landed perfectly on the seat in front of him. After the stool went for a quick twirl she leaned towards the counter, propping her head up against her fist.
"Since it ain't too busy I can afford to fool around a bit. So lets talk, mano-a-mano."
"Mano-a...what?" Solaris stammered.
She rolled her fingers out from the face and remarked, "You know, I say something, you say something back."
She curled them back in and grinned, "A conversation."
"Oh," Solaris took a sour sip of his drink, "I knew that."
"Heh," Samantha sat upright and lightly slapped the counter, "So why don't we start with your name, Muscle Man?"
Solaris blinked twice and Samantha starting nudging her elbow into his chest, "C'mon I've seen you three times now and you've never told me it!"
He was reminded of the first step in Lunis' dumb magazine, "Trait 1: They answer your questions. Honesty means a lot in a relationship!"
He closed his eyes partway and remarked, "Fine. My name's Sol-"
Riku suddenly popped into his head adding on to Lunis' advice, "But don't give too much away Solaris...We're trying to keep our cover here."
Admittedly as cool and powerful as his name was it didn't sound normal. So he bit his lip and muttered, "Sol. My name's Sol."
"Huh, like the Badguy?" Her sentence was a foreign language to him.
"Who?"
"Ah never mind," She shrugged her shoulders and then leaned back into her stool with a hand planted on the counter, "Soooo, what kind of profession are you in?"
Solaris took another sip and responded curtly with "What?"
"Your job?" She said, leaning in with a smile.
"Oh, a job..." Solaris put down his glass and said, "Why would I have one of those?"
Samantha recoiled with a blunt scoff, "Whoa, didn't expect to hear that. So you're purposefully jobless?"
"I repeat..." Solaris bluntly retorted, "WHY would I have one of those?"
"Well hopefully to earn money for these drinks you're sipping down." She said with a big chuckle.
"..." Solaris closed his eyes and reached into his back pocket to pull out some dollar bills that Lunis had given him after earning it doing jobs for Auris in her spare time.
He slapped them flat on the counter and then pushed them in Samantha's direction.
She waved her hand out all coolly and said, "Eh don't fret over it. I'll bill you later."
He crumpled the bills in his hand and shoved them back in. He then took another sip of his drink and turned away from her to try and have some peace and quiet.
"Enjoying the drink now?" She wouldn't let him have that though.
"I guess its ok after a couple sips..." Solaris finished it off wistfully, "But damn it, that other stuff was fire!"
"Right? But it ain't good on first timers. Glad you took that book I lent you to heart."
"Pffft, yeah right...!" Solaris rolled his eyes and waved the back of his hand towards her, "I wouldn't be caught dead reading what some nerd crapped onto paper."
"Hmmm..." She suddenly went quiet.
"What? Why's she clamming up now? Did I say something wrong? Don't tell me SHE'S got a fetish for books like Lunis too...!"
In a scramble to figure out what he's done wrong, Solaris forced himself to remember another of the magazine's tips, "Trait 2: They look you in the eyes when you're talking. That means they acknowledge you as a person."
"Is that all it is? God, humans are fickle..." With his teeth grit he turned in the stool to look her in the eyes, finding it hard to keep focused.
"This feels pointless, I was already answering her dumb questions..."
He stared into her eyes and noticed they were blue, "Huh, did I not know that...?"
Somewhat curious, he stared some more. There was a ferocious spirit in those eyes. Sharp, glistening, like a beast on the hunt. He felt that odd twitch pop up in his pants again, and his heart began to flutter.
"W-Whoa..." And his eyes widened.
"Heh." She smirked and lightly brushed her hand out towards him...Whatever that meant.
"Hey Sam!" Shouted a customer, "Can I get a refill here?"
She looked over her shoulder and shouted, "Be right there!"
She then vaulted over the shoulder while shouting vigorously, "Be RIGHT back!"
As she wandered off to do her job Solaris stared at his empty glass and glided a finger around the rim while pouting.
"Having trouble kid?" Came the deep voice of the black man who partnered alongside Samantha.
"Ack!" Shouted Solaris, finding the man suddenly standing before him on recoil.
He was polishing a glass with a towel and gave off this statue-like presence as he appeared to be looking directly at him.
"...Uhhh, Black Frost...right?" Solaris confidently snapped his fingers.
"Call me Zeke," He responded curtly, flashing a smirk, "First time talking to a woman?"
"Besides my sister? Yeah," He put his chin to the counter and rolled his hand in the air, "Is it supposed to be this annoying?"
"Yeah. But you're also just a punk novice." Zeke said bluntly.
"Tsk...!" Solaris jerked up and glared at his sunglasses, "I ain't a novice anything!"
"Heh, sure you ain't." Zeke put his glass down in front of him and leaned in closer, hooking his sunglasses to reveal his green-brown eyes.
"Listen kid, I'm sure you're trying your best but Sam? She ain't just some fish in the sea, you catch my drift?"
"...Does anyone in this bar speak normally?" Solaris said, folding his arms against his chest in a huff.
Zeke sighed and shook his head, "You got to go with her flow, not expect her to follow yours. Got it?"
"...Seriously, what?" Solaris shook his head frantically and then waved his hand out, "Look pops, I'm just trying to do what Women's Vogue said I should."
He raised a brow past his sunglasses and snickered.
"Oh give me a break! My sister shoved that advice down my throat!"
"Ooooo, you have a sister?" Samantha shoved herself into the conversation at the worst possible time.
"Ghhh...!" Solaris flinched and turned to face her at the bar stool, while Zeke coolly withdrew.
"I'll get back to work." He said with another snicker.
Samantha was now eyeing him narrowly and grinning like Lunis when she gets a hold of a new book.
Following the normal pattern of things Solaris replied with a hesitant grunt, "Ugh yeah, my twin sister...She's such a pain in the ass these days."
Samantha rubbed her chin and bobbed her head, "I think I'm starting to piece it together now..."
"What?"
"Oooooh nothing." She said, leaning back with a smirk."
"Hmph!" Solaris sat there and stared at her eyes when suddenly, it was silent. For the next minute they stared at each other and didn't make a sound.
He furrowed his brows and thought, "Oh what NOW? I'm answering her questions I'm looking her in the eyes...!"
Thus forcing him to think more about that drivel, "Trait 3: He asks you questions. A man who only answers cares only about themselves."
"Good grief...fiiiiine!" He rolled his eyes and tried to take a stab in the dark here, "Soooo...What...about you?"
She perked her eyes wide-open and sat upright.
"Do you have any siblings?"
She pointed at herself chest puffed in pride, "Only child."
"Oh." Solaris stated plainly.
"Oh? What's with the 'Oh'?" She chuckled, "Its great being the center of your parents' attention! I bet sometimes you wish your sister would go away right?"
"Ha...ha ha..." Solaris' enthusiasm to laugh dwindled fast. He then twiddled his fingers on the counter.
"Actually..." He glanced down at her leg from the corner of his eyes, recalling the flash of metal he caught on her at the beach.
He pointed to there and remarked, "What's with the metal leg?"
She glanced straight down and looked surprised, "Oh shit you saw that?"
She scooted her stool back a couple inches and then slammed her heel right onto his knee. He braced himself in time but it still stung a bit.
She then grabbed the bottom of her leg and peel the pant back slightly. The metal was pretty slick, looked a bit like actual muscles.
"Isn't it the coolest?" She patted it down a couple times.
Solaris found his hand drawn to the leg, but as he was to touch it she pulled it right out of the way and stamped the ground. She then brushed his wrist with her fingertips.
Solaris pulled back, crossed his arms and shrugged, "I guess its neat. So what, you some kinda robot?"
"A cyborg you mean? Pffft, I wish," Samantha patted her leg some more then gripped the thigh hard, "Hah, its a prosthetic. One-of-a-kind too."
"Prosthetic?" Solaris had remember hearing that word before and got intrigued, "Oh...you lost your leg."
"Yeeeep," She replied cheerfully, "Happened in the war a few years back."
"You're a soldier?" Solaris widened his eyes slightly.
"Ex...soldier," She said with great emphasis on the former, "Surprised to hear that?"
"That's the least surprising thing about you so far." He retorted.
"Hah, same to you!"
"Huh?" He said with a drooping face.
She wagged her pointer finger up and remarked, "You were a soldier too weren't you? I can tell by how hardened your body looked on the beach."
"Yeah I was a soldier," He said in confidence, "My sister too. Though she was trained for stealth, not combat."
"No shit?" She said with vested interest, "How many battles did you fight?"
"I fought a lot of monsters, but they were all weak. I was part of a war just a while ago against some really tough enemies..."
"Oh, the Taliban?" Samantha retorted.
"Uhhh, no?" Solaris hadn't even heard of them, "It was uhhh something else."
"I suppose, the Taliban are weak but I wouldn't call them monsters," She then waved the back of her hand up and said, "Sorry, go on."
He didn't really know how to though, "Uhhh...I haven't done much since then except train my ass off for the next battle. Haven't really had much reason to fight since my father..."
He bit his lip and thought harshly towards himself, "What am I doing? She doesn't need to know that."
"Did your father die...?" She said, her voice somewhat softer than before.
He turned his head away and remarked bluntly, "None of your business."
"I'm not being a dick you know. I get it," She resumed her gruffness and nudged his elbow with hers. He glared at her as she said, "War sucks and too many people die for nothing. Did your dad at least get to...?"
She clamped her lips shut, gave them a smack and then turned towards the counter, "You're right this is stupid. Lets move on."
"Now wait a damn minute," He faced her fully and said, "Did my dad get to what?"
"Haaaa..." She slumped her shoulders somewhat and turned back towards him in a quieter mood, "Did your dad make a difference before he kicked the bucket?"
He dug his fingers into his skin and looked aside feeling soured on the mood, "Maybe. He probably thought so."
"I getcha," She nodded slowly and looked up towards the ceiling, "My dad was the Secretary of Defense for America. He didn't fight in wars but he knew a lot about military strategy and had weapons training. He taught me a few things but a lot of what I know I learned from Zeke."
Solaris glanced up at the black man and spatted, "Him? Really?"
"Are you really in a position to judge someone, Mr. 0-60?" She said with a sinister smirk.
"Fweh, fine!" He spat in disgust, "Continue."
"My dad's connections did help me get into the military when I was fresh out of high school though. I served in a Jungle Platoon and was pretty sharp with a rifle."
"Two years into my deployment we were set to infiltrate a compound hiding important enemy intel. I got a little ahead of myself though and ended up running into one of many pressure sensitive mines they had placed on the ground."
"I don't remember much of what happened next, the adrenaline kinda fucked my mind up a bit. I think I managed to warn my platoon where the other mines were and kept them from getting blown up."
She raised her head back and snapped two fingers up, "Oh no wait, that's right...One of the guys tripped and fell towards a mines, so I dove at them to knock them out of the way...And KABOOM! That's when I lost my leg."
Solaris felt his body flinch on its own, "Holy shit..."
"I fell into a coma for a while after that. One month? Two months? I forget, it ain't important," She rolled her shoulders and started speeding through the next couple sentences, "I woke up to a Medal of Honor beside my bed and the assurance that my platoon made it out alive. Then they told me I couldn't walk ever again."
The doctors were like... She flapped her left hand up while using a mocking tone, "Oh you can't use a prosthetic, the muscle tissue above your thigh is too burnt!"
She then slapped her hand down and sprung her head up wildly towards Solaris, "Well you know what my dad did when he heard that? He told me medical science could bite his ass and that he'd get me the miracle I needed to walk again! So he must've called in some favors from some very powerful people cause the next thing I knew, after a small helping of anesthetic, I had this shiny new robot leg and my muscle tissue was tougher than ever!"
"Sadly they wouldn't let me go back to the fight after I got to walking again," She didn't seem to care much though, "So I came back to the states and Zeke got me a job as a bartender here where I've been working ever since!"
"Sounds like your dad's a pretty cool guy." He remarked.
"Yeah, he was." She replied.
"...Was?"
The moment he said that she tensed up and muttered "Crap damn it" before going completely silent. He looked her in the eyes again and asked, "Did...something happen to your dad too?"
She laid her hand on the counter and gave a heavy sigh, "He died four months ago."
"...Did he, go out fighting?"
She shook her head, "He got caught in a random building fire. Went out in a blaze with none of the glory..."
He pulled his head back and spoke softly, "I'm...sorry."
...
...
She suddenly punched the counter and shouted, "This mood sucks! Hey Sol, why don't you find us a tune on the ol' jukebox to listen to?"
"H-Huh?" He stuttered while she pulled two coins from something called a "Tip Jar" and flicked them over to his hand, "Ok...?"
He slowly got up and looked around, muttering "Jukebox" over and over as he pushed through the tables. He eventually got to a shiny rainbow machine shaped like an arch.
"Huh, maybe this is it..." It LOOKED like the coins would fit into it so why not?
The coins went in with a clicking sound and the machine began to whir, "Ok now what? Did that dumb magazine mention anything about this?"
The next hint was, "Trait 4: They aren't shy about their interests. Don't seek out masculinity. A true man-"
"Ok that one's straight up stupid. I just need to pick a song that fits my tastes..." He stared at the menu of music behind the glass and found his eyes sagging, "I don't know the first damn thing about music."
"Eh, screw it..." He tapped on the first one that sounded cool called "Dread of Sun" The machine started to vibrate like crazy and let out a powerful sound like metal tearing on metal multiple times, followed by the rapid banging of drums.
He pulled back and uttered "Whoa" as the music started blasting a bunch of words into his eardrums. He didn't understand any of it but it sounded sick as hell.
"H-H-Hell yeah! I'd drink to this one!" Cheered Samantha, who pumped her fist in the air.
"Guess I made the right choice." He started walking back with a smirk and bobbed his head a lot to the music. He sat back down with a smile and continued tapped his fingers to the rhythm.
Samantha bobbed her head for a while and then brushed her hand towards his chest, "Not bad taste! I'd have taken you for a country softie, not a grunge metal lover!"
He crossed his arms and smiled wider, "Now she gets how cool I am."
After the song ran its course Solaris had finished another drink and realized that he wasn't feeling dizzy this go around.
"Huh, who knew that'd make a difference..." He then poked his head up and saw Samantha stretching her toughened arms into the air.
"Aren't you gonna get a drink?"
"I wish, we ain't allowed to on the job," She then glanced to the right and he caught her looking at a clock. She then turned further back and shouted, "Yo Black Frost, mind if I cut out for a bit for dinner?"
"Go right ahead Fire Fist," Zeke said coolly, "I'm sure I can ride this roarin' tidal wave of oncoming customers solo."
"Thanks man!" She slapped the counter and hopped off the stool, throwing a casual glance at Solaris, "You coming?"
"To dinner?" He said baffled.
"Sure why not." She said with a shrug.
There was one last bit of advice he remembered hearing from that book, "Trait 5: They love to empty their wallets for you. The pricier the meals and gifts, the more loyal they are!"
He pulled the money back out of his pocket and waved it towards her, "What'll this get us?"
She leaned in and squinted at the money, "Ummm...Two Big Macs, Large Fries, and a couple shakes."
"That's considered pricey foods?"
"Pffft, not unless McDonalds have really stepped up their game since I last went," She stood and gestured a thumb to her chest, "I'm buying. We'll just add it to the bill."
"Well, alright!" Solaris cheerfully hopped off the stool and followed her out the door. Standing side-by-side with their hands in their pockets, they chatted it up the whole way to the golden arches.
After a surprisingly fine if not greasy meal she went back to work, and they agreed to meet up again another day.
He returned to the Lunar Palace smiling from ear-to-ear up until he waltzed into the throne room. Riku and Lunis were still reading from the same books, but she poked her head up long enough to say hello.
"Welcome back brother! How'd it go?"
Riku said dryly, "Well he's not getting carried back this time..."
"Ha ha," He stood still between them and held his head high, "I'll have you know it went perfectly."
Lunis fluttered her eyelashes and held back a smirk, "Did it really?"
"Yes really," He firmly glared her way, "As it turns out I'm an expert at talking to women!"
Riku laid his book down and remarked, "And its all because you listened to a book."
"N-No!" He stuttered, "I'm...just a natural at it! I didn't even need your dumb advice!"
"That's great Solaris!" Lunis said, getting on her knees and crawling up to the edge of the bed eagerly, "So how far did you go with her?"
"How far...what?" As he stared into her eyes she raised her fists to her chest and barely kept herself upright.
"C'mon tell me us all the details! Did you passionately lock lips with her?"
"W-What?"
"Oh! Maybe you held her in your arms and danced under the moonlight!"
"What in the goddamn fuck is she..."
"Or maybe, maybe you slept together!"
"What are you saying?!" He shouted.
She fluttered her eyes some more and then sat upright on her legs, "Y'know you..."
She cupped one hand and then started thrusting two fingers in and out of the gap feverishly. Her eyes innocently staring into the distance.
Solaris recoiled and felt his body seething with rage, "What the FUCK NO! Where the hell did you learn about that?!"
He glimpsed Riku trying to hide his wide-eyed blushing face behind a book and then set his own body ablaze, "Was it you?! Have you been teaching my sister about sex while I'm gone?!"
Lunis squeaked and her face turned redder than a tomato, "N-N-No its not his fault I just..."
Solaris squeezed his knuckles and the bones snapped in his ears, "Get your ass off the chair Riku, we got some sparring to do."
Riku sighed and dropped the book on the desk to his right. As he pulled off the chair he whispered, "Sorry about the interruption Lunis."
She sprawled out flat on the bed and buried her face in the mattress, "He is who he is..."
As Riku and Solaris resumed fighting, Lunis sat back comfortably in place and tried to bury herself in her books with a smile. It was nice to see her brother in good spirits for once...
Next Time: Settling into a New Life