By the time dawn was approaching, the two young love-dogs, Tenana and Timber, were fast asleep cuddled to each other. Despite the diamond being kinda irritating on Timber's neck underneath the collar, he was still sleeping peacefully, as if it wasn't bothering him. Speaking of sleeping and waking up...
"Timber! Psst, Timber! Wake up! The dawn is coming!" The female voice that belonged to Tenana was waking him up. Timber heard her and now was clearing his head to come to his senses. Tenana was nudging him softly by his shoulder because she was practically fully awake. Tenana just whispered: "Come on! We have to get home before anyone notices!"
That was right! No one knew where they were at the moment and the sole thought of upset dogs in the down would just get worse. Getting up slowly, but steadily, Timber yawned and stretched himself. Groaning out of satisfaction after having a decent sleep, Timber whispered: "Is it already time to go home?"
Remaining patient for this time, Tenana nodded slowly and whispered softly: "Yes, silly! Come on, we better head to Tundra and let her take us to the beach from where we're going to get home!" Of course, if they were still near the forest and in Tundra's territory, then there could be some help provided. Timber said a bit louder: "Let us go."
Without anything else to be said, Tenana and Timber walked outside to the dawn. The sun was rising in the east as the sky was turning bright from the sun. The way through the forest seemed unknown at first... it was all because of that blizzard last night! Despite that misfortune, there was actually one fortune coming out of this.
Timber knew what that fortune was. The diamond underneath his collar, as pretty as it was shiny, was going to be a gift for Tenana the next time they were going to go on their date. Then, he had that urge to show it to his siblings! If Titanium was going to see it, then he'd be definitely proud at him for scoring the luck with Tenana! But if he was going to show it to his brothers, he was going to wait until after Geed was going to return with Nero home!
"Tenana! Timber! Oh, I'm so glad I've found you two!" The yelling was heard in the distance. At first, it startled them both, but as they had enough time to recognize that voice, they realized that they were being approached by Tundra. Judging by the look in her eyes, she seemed quite worried for her cousin and her friend.
Exhaling and inhaling in relief that she got to see them alive and well, Tundra told them both: "I just hope you found some kind of cover to spend the night... Come on, I have to get you back to the town before the others notice you're missing!" That was reasonable enough. What if their parents noticed that!? That'd have alarmed the entire town of Nome.
Trying not to spoil any kind of surprise at all, Timber just let Tundra know: "Don't worry, Tundra. We found a safe cave to sleep inside. Empty and safe at the safe time!" Thankfully, no one suspected a thing about what Timber was saying. Sure, he was laying, but then again, some surprises were meant not to be spoiled!
In the matter of the minutes, they managed to reach the edge of the forest. Since they had a little bit of exercise, it didn't do any damage to them. Therefore, Tundra instructed them: "Try to avoid going next to the boat. Last thing you want is my parents alerting the entire town. Therefore, I have to go back to my pack."
Smiling back to her resourceful cousin, Tenana let her know: "Then see you some other time, Tundra! Thank you for being so helpful!" Timber nodded to Tundra as if he was saying "goodbye" to her. Therefore, Tundra nodded to them both and in the matter of seconds, was gone behind the bushes and woods.
Focusing on their current mission, Timber looked in Tenana's eyes and said: "Alright, let's get home, both of us. We better not rush in case we wake up your uncle and aunt." Tenana nodded in response as if she was understanding him pretty well. Leaving the forest behind, they had to get across the beach while not being seen.
Both of them knew that they were leaving their pawprints behind, but there was no point of them erasing these. In fact, if anyone was going to notice that, they'd suppose that Tenana and Timber managed to return in the night at the end of blizzard. Therefore, that was some kind of relief for them both.
"Alright, we're passing uncle Kenai's boat." Tenana whispered as they were both near the old boat. They had to make sure that they were not going to wake either Aleu or Kenai up. Surprisingly, the path across the boat was relatively easy as both Aleu and Kenai were for that night, or dawn to be precise, heavy sleepers.
Finally, all that was left was to make a stretch for the town. Timber exhaled in relief after a while and just commented: "Alright then, we can do this, Tenana. No one must spot us!" Indeed, if they were going to remain undetected, they had to make it back to their houses slowly and steadily!
Now that they were by the first houses in the town of Nome, Timber and Tenana decided to part away once they were going to reach her house because it was closer to them at that moment. In fact, they were just two houses ahead, with Tenana saying: "Alright, I'm dropping off here very soon!"
When they were in front of her house at once, she climbed on her rear paws to look inside and make sure that her teammates but Ryan, who was in his parents' house living, were asleep. She immediately nodded in an approval, noticing that all of her teammates were fast asleep. She exhaled in relief.
Heading back to Timber and much to his surprise, she gave him a lick in the cheek and softly whispered: "Timber, thank you for this lovely date. I'm glad you were by my side all the time!" While it wasn't entirely true that he was always by her side last night, Timber nodded slightly while he was still blushing.
"My pleasure." Timber approved, nuzzling Tenana back. Then they parted from each other and she turned around, heading into her house to let the others know she was safe. Timber watched her disappear behind the dog doors and in the matter of seconds, sighed inside himself and whispered: "At least we don't have a mail delivery today!" With that said, he went back home, making sure his owners were still asleep.
As the day went later on, Titanium was possibly having his mail delivery delayed for the day after. It was actually for good. Tayer's team had to sleep over in White Mountain due to blizzard kicking in. Speaking of Titanium, he was curious enough to ask his brother about everything that happened on his date with Tenana. Noir was also present whereas Annabeth was looking after Amanda.
"So, while we were in Tundra's territory, we had to make a run for it in the cave once the blizzard kicked in! It's kinda odd I say this, but Tenana's back fur is really, REALLY soft." Timber was narrating his date to his older brother and youngest sister as they were both feeling intrigued by his date last night.
Titanium smiled right away after Timber was done with his short story. Patting him by his back, Titanium just said: "I knew it you'd be good for this, brother. You could have marked my words." Noir was also congratulating to her middle brother. Then, she went on to reveal: "I don't know whether it is for real, but I think I could have seen Annabeth with a male not long ago..."
Curious about Annabeth finding a male for herself, Timber raised his eyebrow as he was asking her: "Is there any chance that her friend is someone we know and like actually?" They just did not want to have another troubles with bad boyfriends. Still, as long as Noir knew Annabeth's friend, she just let them know: "Don't worry, as funny as he is, he's also pretty caring."
While it wasn't revealing at the moment who that male was, it could have been said that male was going to earn the brothers' trust fairly quickly. Before Titanium and Noir were going to leave, Timber wanted to reveal about how he found the diamond, which was now in his bed in his house, but then...
"There's also something I'd like to tell you all, but I think it'd be much more fair that if Geed is home now and Amanda recovers from her worries." Timber furthermore let them know, subtly hinting on Tenana's gift. While it did seem curious what he was saying, Noir nodded in pleasure, saying: "About time you two spend more time with your brother."
She was right. When Geed was going to return home at last, Titanium and Timber were going to spend more time with him. Besides, if Amanda and Nero were going to become mates soon, Geed should leave them be together. Therefore, they were going to be able to see what kind of stuff Geed'd love to talk about!
Titanium looked at Timber and asked him: "How are you going to handle it when Rodney returns? You know, being out of the team again?" It was a bit sensitive topic to discuss about, but at the same time, Timber looked at his short-lasting chance as something to deal with. Not leaving his optimism, Timber just let him know: "One day someone's going to see that I'm capable of being a sled dog and I will become a permanent one!"
Reasonable enough, Titanium patted his brother by his back and just let him know: "I believe in you, Timber. Hope always dies last, remember that." With that being said, Titanium headed back home, leaving Noir and Timber together. Noir also had some stuff to do, yet she sweetly told her brother: "With career and love, choose what's more important to you."
He knew what the right choice was for him. Despite the fact that at some point in future he believed that he was going to be in the sled team, having Tenana as his girlfriend was what mattered to him the most. He did say that he loved her, mostly unintentionally as he was pretty much overjoyed by that. Besides, Tenana was fine with him for not being a sled dog!
Titanium still didn't admit that he loved Allina yet. He did love her, yet he was still unable to muster enough courage to let her know that. In fact, the next time they were going to go on their date was going to be when Nero was going to return from his journey. The reason for so was because of the family joy!
With the days passing, Titanium was doing his regular deliveries whereas Timber only had to do one more. None of them knew exactly when Nero was going to return from his journey, but the chances were pretty likely before Timber's third mail delivery. All in all, even two deliveries count as enough!
While being praised by some people for being a remarkable sled dog, if the humans knew that Rodney was going to return, was there going to be any team that was going to place him in there? For now, after the second mail delivery was done, Timber needed time to rest and to think about his second date... the date he was going to give Tenana that diamond!
Speaking of Tenana and Allina, the two sisters spent time with each other and with their brothers about their marvelous dates with these young dogs! By this point, whenever the brothers had the chance to be with their sisters, they'd spend time talking to them, expanding their relationships. Besides, there was always time to go out on a date!
Now that the days had passed, it was around one week since Nero set off on a journey. At any point his return and the return of his companions: Rodney, Geed, Sirius and Naia, could have happened. The anticipation was growing in them all, waiting to see their beloved ones home and to end this dilemma happily once and for all!
"That was quite of a run today, right Allina?" Titanium asked Allina one day as both of them were on the night streets of the town of Nome. They had returned this morning from the run and up until now, were mostly resting at home. Allina, who had grown not only fond of Titanium, but was seeming braver than before, just sweetly replied: "And with your leadership, we're doing it perfectly."
Even if Allina was the only one who was older than the rest of the dogs in the team, Titanium's leadership skills were excelling! Though, as much as he loved being a lead dog, he still looked up at his teammates as his equals. Something that his own father didn't do when he was a lead dog in a sled team.
Sighing in content, mostly because of his anticipation for the dogs to return, Titanium asked his friend: "Hey, Allina. How does it feel like to have someone close to you to be apart, somewhere on the other side of who knows where?" It seemed like he unintentionally triggered an event Allina witnessed in her past.
Now it was her who sighed, but not because of awaiting of her cousin and the others, but because of what had happened two years ago... thinking how her parents and the others set on a perilous journey across Alaska in order to save the town of Nome once again. She only said: "As much as you're feeling right now... sad and distant..."
That made her feel emotional a bit, but Titanium was fast enough to wrap her in his warm embrace. The embrace was a short one, but full of affection and warmth. Titanium could have guessed that whenever Allina was missing someone close to her, she'd get pretty much emotional.
Suddenly...
"AAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The loud, piercing and triumphant howl was heard in the distance. It immediately gained the attention of both Titanium and Allina. Titanium didn't recognize it at first, but Allina did. She excitedly said: "It's Nero! It has to be Nero, it has to be HIM!"
There was no point of asking her how she was going to know that because Nero was Allina's cousin. One another howl was heard and now the streets were "flooded" with the dogs. While the run was on, Amanda was seen rushing towards the exit of the town, barking happily: "It's Nero! NERO IS BACK!"
Not only that Nero was back, so were Rodney, Geed, Naia and Sirius! Wasting no time whatsoever, Titanium and Allina rushed straight to the town exit and noticed that lots of dogs were in there, making a jam on the exit. There was a good reason for so as some dogs were heard laughing and crying in joy.
Knowing that Geed was his brother, Titanium, just patted the dogs on his way, barking: "Let me through! My little brother Geed should be there!" And when he finally made it to the other side, he noticed Nero, Rodney and Geed being greatly greeted by their families and relatives and friends. Naia and Sirius weren't there, as they could we remained back in the forest.
"Guys, guys! You made it!" Titanium rushed to his friend, stepbrother and brother, hugging them all in one tight embrace. They all gagged up for a bit, but laughed it off because of the welcome they were receiving. After letting them go, Titanium joyfully asked: "Did you made it? Did you get what mom was looking for?!"
Feeling the pat on his shoulder, Geed let him know: "Just how mom was looking for it, brother." There it was, the beautiful purple collar with gems on it. And once again, Titanium rushed to embrace his little brother, saying: "You're one crazy and lovable mama's boy, Geed, do you know that?!" It was clear that he was showing how much he was glad to have him back.
Besides, both Titanium and Geed were mama's boys, but it was more clear that Geed was a bigger one. As soon as Titanium let him go, suddenly another guest came and Geed yelled out of joy: "Amber! It's wonderful to see you!" Both the boyfriend and girlfriend were laughing joyfully to be with each other here. They were missing each other so much!
And then, Rodney made it to tell something: "You probably wonder what was happening with us, yeah? Let us rest for tonight and you'll have everything told away tomorrow!" That seemed reasonable enough, considering the fact how exhausted they were. This left Nero to speak from here: "Well, tomorrow's the day!"
That was something Titanium was dearly anticipating! What Nero wanted to say was that he and Amanda were going to become mates! Even better, all three brothers were going to have the "fourth brother" in the family, much better one than if Amanda's ex were going to remain her boyfriend. If only Timber were here now...
He could have been anywhere in this crowd, greeting the ones who managed to return from this journey. Say, wasn't he talking about some kind of surprise he had to show them when Geed would return? At the moment, it was too late outside to think about this. Instead, he'd ask Timber tomorrow.
By the next morning, the three dogs who crossed all the way across Alaska were praised as some heroes. The night that was going to come was going to be special for both Nero and Amanda! Everyone was wondering how gorgeous she was going to look in that collar with the gems engraved into it?
For now, while it was the main topic of the day, the curiosity of Timber's surprise was greater to Timber. In fact, he was at Geed's, letting him know that Timber had something to show them. What if they could ask him to show them first, then to the rest of the family? In fact, that did seem reasonable.
"Alright, I'll go pick Timber up. And if he won't show it to us, it seems that we'll have to wait to show it to everyone in the family, right?" Geed asked his older brother, hoping that what he just said was going to be more likely. It'd have been nice of their middle brother to show them, but if he had reason to wait, then the latter option was more likely.
Titanium didn't see that as something odd. More or less, he just let him know: "If anything happens, all I can tell you is good luck." After that, Geed headed off to meet up with his middle brother. What kind of surprise it could have been? Was it something valuable, something precious, something rare?
As the minutes went on, Geed wasn't returning yet. Maybe he was still talking to Timber about the arrival? Maybe Timber decided to wait for the rest of the family to see it? With so many options in his head to think, he was so busy to concentrate in reality until he felt someone patting him by his back: "Titanium! Titanium! Timber is coming in ten minutes!"
That left Titanium surprised. He was thinking that Timber was going to wait until the entire family sees what his surprise was. The question was, what made him agree on this surprise, did Geed know what it was? No, that couldn't be, not for now. Not trying to overthink, Titanium simply replied: "Then that's settled. I'm so excited to know!"
Both Geed and Titanium were so excited about Timber's surprise. What could it have been in the end? With each minute passing, the impatience grew inside them out of control. Still, just a little bit more, a little bit more until it was heard...: "Hey brothers! You were looking for me, weren't you?!" That voice belonged to Timber, who showed the signs of curiosity.
Now that they were all in front of Geed's house, Timber was happy enough to come to his brothers and reveal his surprise. Making sure whether this was the right moment, Timber took every risk he had in his hands and asked: "So, you are ready to find out what kind of surprise I bring with myself?"
Out of sheer excitement, Titanium and Timber nodded in an approval. What was that surprise?! If they couldn't see it here, then it was really something small. Timber, looking at his brothers, happily exclaimed: "Ready or not, here comes the surprise that's intended for Tenana, but you two wonderheads will find out now!"
At that exact same moment, Timber reached with his paw underneath his sled collar that he kept. Then he pulled his paw back, carrying that precious and shiny small diamond that was fitting nicely on his paw. He slowly lifted the paw up so both his brothers could see what the surprise was!
He noticed that both Titanium and Geed looked in an astonishment upon seeing that pretty gem on Timber's paw. Smiling proudly, Timber just asked him: "What do you think, isn't it beautiful?! I found it in the same cave where Tenana and I took cover! Just imagine her face when I give her this on our second date!"
While Timber was happily showing them what he found, there was something in the eyes of both Geed and Titanium, something aside from astonishment. Yet what was aside that was no good. With each shine of the diamond reflecting in their eyes, the astonishment was slowly, yet contagiously replaced with... the greed.
"You're right, Timber, it is pretty." Titanium said that, but he was not giving away the compliment. He said it with the greed festering in his voice. It didn't stop him from saying: "This diamond is pretty enough to impress Allina on our next date... which is going to happen very soon!" It was clear that he was not himself at that point, but he did not care at all.
It was at this point when Timber sensed something was just not right. But before he could object, Geed said the following in a greedy and a bit cold voice: "Oh yes, Amber's going to fall for me when she sees this pretty diamond I'm going to give to her at the next date!" It was purely shocking that neither of them were aware about what they were saying!
"TITANIUM, GEED! What's the matter with you two! You want to get this diamond?!" Timber yelled loudly so both brothers snapped back into reality. Hoping that they were merely in trance and that they realized what they said, Timber asked them both: "What's going on?! I showed you this gift for Tenana, but you say how you'll give it to your friends?!"
Instead of brothers realizing that what they were saying was not right. Instead, Titanium and Geed were slowly heading towards Timber, with the greed being still present in their eyes. Titanium asked him: "It's simple, my brother. You just give your dear brother that diamond and we're fine with it!"
Geed added: "Or you can give it to me so all three of us can be inseparable!" They were quite dangerously close to Timber, who was pretty much upset about the greed corrupting his brothers. In the second, he yelled: "NO! STAY BACK, BOTH OF YOU! I'm not giving you this diamond just because you think you'll forcingly gain someone's heart!"
And indeed, both Titanium and Geed stopped in their tracks. Instead of finally realizing that they were corrupted by the greed, they just looked at their middle brother in madness. Titanium, the brother Timber was always looking up to, said coldly: "I thought that we were the closest of the siblings, Timber. It turns out you're being selfish!"
It didn't even help when Geed said: "And I thought that all three of us were going to make a stronger brother bond, but your own interests matter to you more than us! Come on, Titanium, let's leave this greedy dog alone." Much to Timber's shock, who heard the belittling of his brothers, both of them left him alone, with the two going into Geed's.
Watching what just happened, Timber shakingly placed the diamond underneath his collar. With the tears streaming down his cheeks, Timber looked down on the ground, with the regret being present in his voice: "I wish I had not accepted to show them now... I wish I never found this damn diamond!"
Being visually upset, Timber looked around himself and without thinking, started running as fast as he could. He had no clue where he was going nor who he was going to meet up with. If there was a remote and isolated alley in this town, he wished to hide in there and cry rivers of tears all by himself.
While he was heading into direction unknown, as long as there wasn't anyone who'd get him upset, someone was behind him. With the sorrow and regret in his mind, he felt that someone placed the paw on his shoulder and just as he was about to yell to that someone to leave him alone, a soft female voice asked him: "Timber! Timber, what's wrong?!"
That was a familiar voice and with the teary eyes, he noticed that someone was a black-furred female. At first, he thought it was his mother talking to him, but noticing the green eyes, Timber realized that he was looking at his stepmother Shira. Trying to say anything, Timber stuttered: "S-Shira... I've... I've never felt so- so miserable in my life!"
Noticing how upset he was, Shira embraced him tightly to make sure her stepson was going to calm down. While he wasn't really calming down at that moment, he did feel like he was able to say something. Before he had a chance to say anything, Shira asked immediately: "Timber, did Tenana do something to you? Did someone of your friends or family hurt you?"
Now that he was calming down slowly, he did see that if he was going to say anything to Shira, then it should have been worth a try. Parting from her for a moment, Timber looked at her with teary eyes and said: "I had a huge fight with my brothers... now they're calling me selfish and greedy...!"
The mention of fight, selfish and greedy did bother Shira a lot, but she had to ask why the brothers had a fight. She was their stepmother after all. She continued: "What was it that made you have a fight with your brothers? I thought that you and Titanium are the closest of the siblings!"
Knowing that he had to show why the fight happened in the first place, Timber reached shakily for the diamond underneath his collar and he showed it to Shira. When she saw the diamond, she did seem impressed by it. Her look was only showing the astonishment, but thankfully, not the greed.
Timber had to continue where he stopped: "I found it that same night I was on a date with Tenana. I decided to give it to her as a gift for our second date. At the same time, I wanted to show my brothers first this diamond. Instead, they wanted to steal it from me and give it to either Allina and Amber... when I said I won't give it to them, they started insulting me!"
At that point, Timber broke into tears again, which were seen streaming down his cheeks. Once again, Shira embraced him to give a comfort to her stepson. While slowly cradling him in order to calm him down, she knew that Tenana could not know yet about the diamond... but at the same time, she had to now. She, Allina and Amber, because eventually they were going to find out about the fallout.
"Timber, Timber! Look at me. I'm going to talk to your parents. Even if you're my stepson, I cannot bear to witness the fight between the three of you!" Shira said that confidently, knowing that mending things back to good was the only option left. Timber knew that Titanium and Geed were going to learn their lesson, but he didn't want anything mean to them.
Since that was the right thing to do, mending back the brotherhood, Timber nodded. When Shira let him go, she looked him into his teary eyes and just said: "Remember, if your brothers resent you for this, it is not your fault. Eventually they'll both realize that they're the ones who have to apologize!"
With him nodding once again, Shira just turned around and headed to Steele, her ex-mate, and his current mate Elizabeth. Neither of them were going to like what happened between their sons, but some things were not meant to be kept as secret. Someone was easily going to sense that something bad did happen between them.
The thing was, they had to wait for Titanium to do his work because that same day he was making a mail delivery. Allina did not suspect a thing about him ending in a row with Timber. In fact, Titanium just pretended all was fine and that soon enough, there was going to be a nice surprise for her.
And by the next day, Titanium's team made it back to Nome. As it seemed like Titanium was going to have a decent rest, he had in mind to ask Allina out for a date! While they were resting after the mail delivery, Titanium just slowly waited for his move. Allina was going to be surprised by what was going to happen next!
Once the others had left, including Logan, Titanium looked behind to see if Allina was in the mood. She seemed to look pretty decent despite the hard run. As he was starting: "Say, Allina, do you have anything in mind for later on?" But before he could finish what he had to say...
"That something later can wait for another day, Titanium!" An another female said, with a cold and mad voice at the same time. Truth to be said, neither Titanium nor Allina were expecting to be interrupted. Looking in front of themselves, they noticed Taiga standing in front. Judging by the look on her face, she seemed pretty mad about something.
"Taiga? What's going on in here?" Allina asked first, seeing that there was something wrong here. Did she do something bad? How could she? She and Koda were the closest of the siblings! Yet, Taiga continued with: "Oh, don't worry, Allina. It's not what concerns you, but you are somehow relevant to all this. It's Titanium and Geed who are in question."
This was the sign that despite Titanium being mostly confident and responsible, he felt that he was now at his most vulnerable point. He feared that this something had to do with the fight regarding him, Geed and Timber. Furthermore, Taiga continued: "Later you and Allina are coming to the boiler room. We're settling this down, today!"
Without anything else to be said, Taiga just turned around and madly headed back home. Allina, who was pretty sure that her relationship with Titanium was based off on trust and loyalty, was now put on test. Titanium looked down on the floor, totally embarrassed. Without looking her into the eyes, he asked her: "Is it worth if I explain what's going on?"
He knew that what he asked her was pretty unlikely to happen. Even further, Allina said with a voice, full of disappointment and sorrow: "If there's the explaining I want to know about, I'll know about it later there!" With that said, Titanium was left alone as she headed home, being shocked by her boyfriend's behavior.
The day dragged on for Titanium and Geed respectively. It was Rodney who was told by Steele about what Geed was Titanium were doing. Being disappointed at his youngest stepbrother, Rodney let Geed know that both he and Amber should come later on to the boiler room. Moreover, Amber was present there and hearing that Geed did something bad, made her upset.
Now that Titanium and Geed were heading to the boiler room, where some others were awaiting for them. Both of them met up on the Main Street, and so Titanium asked Geed: "Let me guess, you were told to come with Amber to the boiler room like I was with Allina, right?" Geed responded with nodding, the nodding that indicated something bad.
Feeling vulnerable at that point, Geed timidly asked his brother: "What if Timber told someone about our fight?" What seemed like the most likely thing to happen, just made Titanium sigh in frustration. He just commented: "One of us is going to end with the pointy end of the stick by that. Question is, who's more likely?"
It was clear that Titanium didn't want to admit he caused this turmoil, but Geed started to feel more and more guilty about this. All that he wanted was to bond with his brothers, but the way he'd done it was not done in the most right way. What if... what if this was going to cause the tremor in their relationships?
Now that they had made it to the boiler room, they noticed that they weren't alone there. Allina and Amber were there, looking quite upset at their boyfriends. When they noticed Timber and Tenana there, Geed looked away, being obviously embarrassed by this. Moreover, Titanium wanted not to look at him, but he kept looking at him.
They weren't the only ones there. Their parents, Steele and Elizabeth, were present, along with Shira, Taiga and Rodney. None of them were going to like what these had to say... and what outcome would it be out of all this? Elizabeth seemed to be the most upset here, knowing that she adored her oldest and youngest son.
Not wanting to let the grief and anger come out of her to unleash it at them, Elizabeth just emotionlessly spoke to Titanium and Geed: "Boys, go sit by your friends. We're going to talk about this for a while." It seemed like both Titanium and Geed were going to regret their actions from days ago.
When both Titanium and Geed sat next to Allina and Amber, who looked at them quite upset and disappointed, Steele stood up and just said: "Few days ago I've heard from Shira that all three of you boys have ended up in a row because of something that Timber showed you. My question is: what makes you think you can fight with each other like that?!"
Timber, who was sitting next to Tenana, looked at his brothers, who ashamedly looked down on the floor, didn't respond. Expecting that, Steele just moved on: "But as I weren't there or anywhere nearby to hear what was happening, it's from here that Shira's going to continue." He nodded to his ex-mate.
"Thank you, Steele." Shira replied to him, a bit emotionlessly, but still friendly towards him after all this time. Then Shira looked at her stepson, beckoning with her paw she said: "Come, Timber. I think it is you where we talked about it." Timber didn't expect that he had to lead the game here, but with Tenana whispering: "Go, don't worry!", he headed to his stepmom.
Once he made it to his parents and stepmother, Timber looked at them and so did they, with their looks full of warmth and protection. Timber sighed in content and spoke: "I'll start from where Tenana and I were on that date sometime ago. Tenana, I will let you know that cave we slept in was a diamond mine. I found one diamond and I hid it in myself, hoping to give it to you as a gift for our next date..."
It was at this point when Timber started looking down, knowing that the next part could be upsetting for him. Tenana looked at her friend quite astonished, not knowing that he had a precious gift for her! Shira embraced him warmly as she whispered: "There, there... if you can't continue, I will for you."
But Timber shook his head, saying: "No, Shira. I have to tell this... or at least try." Calming down for a few seconds, Timber gained his confidence again and continued: "So... I wanted to show the entire family about the diamond, after Geed was going to return of course... but I felt like I would show it to my brothers first. And then, it got bad there."
Steele headed to his beloved son, placed his paw on his back and said: "Son, I know it's hard to bail your brothers here, but you cannot let yourself be the victim of this." Both Steele and Timber looked at Titanium and Geed. Both felt so vulnerable during this confession. Geed felt like he didn't want any of this, but Titanium seemed like he thought differently.
Yet he had to continue. Sighing once again, Timber looked at his parents and said: "I let them know about the diamond, showed them and said it's going to be a great gift for Tenana. Sadly, both of them wanted it for themselves so they could give it to their friends. They looked at it greedily."
When Titanium heard "greedily", he was about to say: "That's not...!" But Geed cut him in the words, because both Allina and Amber were ashamed by their brother's behaviors. Titanium didn't seem like he was going to accept the truth easily, whereas Geed was being crushed under guilt here.
"When I refused to give it to them, they called me "greedy" and "selfish"! Titanium said that we were the closest of the brothers and Geed said he wanted to bond with us. Because I didn't want to give them the diamond, they said that I could forget about what they said." Timber was finished with his story. He seemed very upset about it.
His brothers weren't saying a word, being too embarrassed to say anything. Even their girlfriends were ashamed how they behaved, Allina much more than Amber. Tenana was by Timber's side comforting him and saying that he did the right thing. All in all, Taiga and Rodney were the only ones in the boiler room who didn't say anything.
Then, Taiga said: "After you, Timber, told my mom about this, she told the rest of us about this accident of yours. Since I've been with you and Titanium all this time, I had to bring in Titanium here." Even Rodney added: "Same here with Amanda and Geed here, I brought him here for the talk."
Of course, all this were connected to the point that it led to the talk in the boiler room. And then, Steele and Elizabeth got on their paws, with Elizabeth saying: "I'm sure that you are old enough to apologize to your brother. Your father and I will leave you to decide that for yourselves, boys." Without anything else to say but for Steele: "Let's go, Lizzy." it was now on them.
Shira, Taiga and Rodney were still in there. Of course, even if they were related to the brothers, they decided to leave them decide upon all this, but they were going to observe it. Shira just let them know: "Don't mind us here. Just carry on as if we're not in the room with you, okay?"
The others, who were looking at them, most of them nodded in understandment. Only one who did not nod was Titanium, much to Timber's dismay. Tenana was still by Timber's side, holding him with her paws by his shoulders. She knew that as she was the oldest one in this scenario, ignoring his step-family in the room, things could bode well.
Timber looked her in her eyes and just told her: "Okay, Tenana... I'm going to see if they know the truth now." She agreed and let him go, though she was following him just in case of support. He walked up to his brothers and their girlfriends, wondering if they came to their senses at last?
As he walked up to them, he noticed that his younger brother Geed stepped in front, with his ears lowered down in shame. Looking him in the eyes, as if he was about to get emotional breakdown, he spoke to his older brother: "Timber... I'm really, really sorry about what I told you few days ago... I took this brother bonding thing too seriously. I thought that if you were going to give it to me, it'd work that way... but I was dead wrong about this!"
And then there was the tear streaming down his cheek. Feeling bad about his younger brother, Timber got him in a warm brother embrace, saying: "I forgive you, Geed. I'm glad that you have understood this. Don't worry, all three of us still can bond with each other without any exchanges, right?"
When Geed let go of him, he nodded and got calm. Now that Geed made amends to his brother, all he had to do was to make amends with his beloved brother. However, when he looked at Titanium, it was seen that he was in denial. Even if Timber was going to ask him anything, Titanium just said: "No... please, just stay away from me, Timber."
Seeing how his brother was still in denial, the rejection his brother gave him left Timber shocked. All this time they spent together, the closest of the brothers, now this cold shoulder?! Not even with Allina's convincing: "Titanium, don't say that! He's your brother!", he still couldn't mutter the crucial words. All he said was: "Leave me alone, just don't..."
"Titanium, what are you...?" Taiga now spoke as she tried to remain off this scene, but in the next moment, Titanium rushed out of the boiler room, visually upset. Timber rushed to the doors, yelling: "TITANIUM! TITANIUM, WAIT! PLEASE!" But that was in vain as his brother was already in the town, out of his range.
Seeing how the greed corrupted his brother beyond, Timber looked down on the floor. Then again, Rodney walked up to him, letting him know: "Give him some time, he's going to learn one day or another." If only Titanium came to his senses now, all this turmoil would have been over by now for good.
Looking back into the room, Tenana weakly smiled to him, indicating that despite Titanium's sudden departure and denial, he did the right thing. Allina, however, seemed quite upset what Titanium had done at the moment. In the end, there was something good out of this - it could be said that Amber and Geed's relationship was going to continue smoothly.