Thanks for the reviews. Yeah... Like I said, I was a lot younger when I was writing the original. I'm almost tempted to delete it... I also appreciate spelling mistakes/grammar errors being pointed out (I think I've mentioned but I've never really been schooled in English). So I must apologize for those when they pop-up. Still, nice to know that there are still some people on here who read the original or embarrassing to know, I haven't quite decided yet. :)

/

Morning came around steadily. Reggie tried his best to sleep as much as possible. He had a feeling in his gut that he wasn't going to get quite as much as he usually did in the coming days so he'd might as well prepare for it now.

He could probably have slept on a little bit when the smell of something cooking in the kitchen served to stir him. It took a few moments for his brain to kick into gear and remember just why he could potentially be smelling something from the kitchen. He groaned slightly, brushing his hair out of his eyes before sitting up. His eyes drifted over to the picture by the side of his bed. A soft but somewhat sad smile appeared on his face. His eyes drifted over to the face of a young woman with her arms wrapped around the neck of her eldest son.

"Well… This is it mom." He spoke silently to the photo. "Giving it my all. I've got to get those two back together."

He got out of bed silently. At this early hour of the morning, he doubted that his brother would be awake. He was even more dubious as to whether he would start preparing food. Paul was the sort of guy who didn't care what he ate so long as it prevented him from starving. He most definitely wouldn't go to any effort to prepare it. Reggie suspected that it was only the few times that he was round at their place that the boy actually ate a decent meal. As such, he always went to the effort of preparing something wholesome whenever the lad decided to grace him with his presence, which was increasingly rarely these days.

Putting on his slippers, he left his room. He checked on his brother quickly, opening the door open a crack. Paul was still there and hadn't attempted to do a runner it would seem. He was however still fast asleep, it was probably best not to wake him. Instead, he shut the door before making his way downstairs.

In the kitchen, he found Brandon preparing breakfast. Trust the man to make himself at home without actually being invited to do so. He'd gone through the kitchen, found what he needed to start cooking and done so, all without asking for permission. Today, it looked like bacon, eggs and beans were on the menu this morning. Reggie stood in the doorway watching for a few seconds, a fry-up seemed to be just about the only thing his father really knew how to do and even then, it was something of a curious concoction which somebody really should go over with him. It was no secret to those who knew him that the Pyramid King wasn't the greatest cook in the world. Samuel, his assistant would do most of the cooking for him, although curiously he seemed to manage okay when he was out camping. It was as if a kitchen somehow confused him.

The man glanced over his shoulder. As he took note of the pokemon breeder's presence. After a period of the usual "Oh right, I have a son" stare, amazingly Brandon managed a slight smile.

"Morning." The man declared.

"Morning." Reggie responded offering him a warm smile. "Sleep well?"

"Fine."

Reggie cast a glance into the living room. It didn't matter that he had offered to take the couch whilst Brandon slept in his bed, they could have had a thousand bedrooms and the frontier brain would still have opted for the darn couch. He always did. Reggie couldn't recall the man sleeping in a bed in their presence in the past five years. All to distance himself from the prospect of this being anything other than an extremely temporary stay. An actual bed had a feeling of something a little more permanent to it which naturally he would reject. At least he cleaned up after himself, there was absolutely no trace of his presence, no doubt what he intended.

No time to think about that. Now that the two of them were up, there was a chance that the commotion would serve to wake up Paul. That meant that there had to be as few sources for a potential argument as possible. That meant nothing which the lad could and would remark about. Because Reggie knew his little brother and was fully aware that if his father did even the slightest thing out of place, he would let him know. Trying to take his mind off of the challenge awaiting him, the pokemon breeder came over to inspect the pans his father was currently using.

"Smells good." He informed the man coming over.

Brandon gave him an odd look. Reggie let out a sigh and headed over to the counter where he usually ate his breakfast. Given that he already didn't know what to say to the man, it looked as if they were in for a fun week ahead. Hopefully, things would find their own pace. It was always awkward the first few hours they were back together. It was as if they were out of practice; being father and son apparently didn't come quite very naturally to any of them. Whilst it might (the pokemon breeder dared to hope) have been easier for him and Brandon to eventually get back into the swing of things, it was naturally Paul he was more concerned about. Frankly, if at the end of the week they had stopped periodically insulting each other, he would consider it a victory.

He was stirred from his thoughts when a plate of food was placed in front of him. He raised his eyes to meet those of Brandon, apparently done cooking. His gaze travelled back down to the fry-up.

"Thanks..." He muttered quite genuinely.

The frontier brain said nothing, simply nodding as a response before sitting down opposite him on the table and starting to eat. For a few moments, Reggie simply watched him wondering when the last time they had been together like this had been. A while ago no doubt, if he put his mind to it, he could probably remember the exact date. It wasn't as if there were that many to chose from.

He turned back to his food before deciding to get started before it got cold. Although it had been a good few years since had been 'treated' to his father's cooking, Reggie found that it hadn't changed in the slightest. Taste-wise, it was perfectly edible, it was more just what it was doing to his arteries which concerned him. Brandon had a bad habit of using a truly excessive amount of oil, creating a veritable pool of the stuff. Noland, the factory head, had often joked about it, saying Brandon's cooking could have been used to run his plane. To the Pyramid King's credit, he never claimed to be even a competent cook using the "it's better than starving argument". In that respect, he wasn't entirely wrong.

"What do you hope to accomplish by doing this, Reggie?" Brandon's words startled him given the silence which had proceeded them.

"What?"

"I'm saying: what do you think will happen at then end of all this?" The man reformulated his sentence.

"Well, I think we both know there's what I hope will happen and what's likely to." Reggie muttered looking away for a moment.

Brandon chose not to respond immediately. He liked to be able to chew things over a few times in his head. There was little doubt in Reggie's mind that whilst his promise of stopping to bother them after the end of this week would have had some effect on the Pyramid King, he remained a man very much governed by what he wanted to do. That meant that if he was still here, then maybe it wasn't entirely a lost cause after all. That served to give the Pokemon breeder at least some hope as he sat there.

"Can't fault your optimism." Brandon spoke after a minute or so.
"Brandon… Can I rely on your help?" The Frontier Brain gave him a confused glance. "You know Paul's going to be difficult. Don't let him get under your skin."

Asking Paul would be a waste of time. Reggie knew him well enough to know that he was far too pig-headed to ever listen to what anyone else, much less his older brother or father were telling him. As such, he had decided to waste little to no time in trying to get the young trainer to play nice because simply put: it wasn't going to happen. Instead, he was going to take a chance. His idea was simple: if everyone around him was being nice, perhaps Paul would try it as well. It would in theory at least limit the amount of things he could get worked up about. That being said, it wasn't as if the kindness of others tended to have any effect on the lad, if anything, it seemed to get him all the more worked up such as with Ash and his friends.

With the Pyramid King here however, he hoped that things might be a little different. Perhaps, if he could keep those two from fighting for just long enough, Paul might be willing to give the man a second chance which in turn would mean that Brandon wasn't spending the entirety of his time scolding his youngest which only ever served to make things worse. Of course, all that depended on if their father was willing to play ball and Reggie knew from personal experience that the man could be tremendously stubborn where his adrift son was concerned.

"I think you're being foolish." Brandon informed his eldest, his voice quite serious. "Still… I dread to think what your mother would have had to say if I didn't at least try. Very well… I'll do my best to avoid a fight."

"Thanks Brandon."

The man nodded once but said nothing else. It was more than Reggie could have hoped for. He must have been in a good mood or something. With nothing else to do, they chatted. It was idle banter of absolutely no importance. Not the sort of thing which Brandon typically partook in and it showed, the long pauses and monosyllabic answers but he was making an effort. He should be grateful for that much at least. The man showed some interest in just what he was doing as a breeder. When he asked him about how his explorations at Snowpoint had gone, the man was a little evasive. Apparently, he hadn't gotten the pokemon then…

The sound of some footsteps on the stairs caused Reggie to look around. Paul was up. Now the fun would start. He cast his father a brief glance, the man would say nothing at least not unless truly provoked. The lad came in slowly, his gaze drifted from his eldest brother to instinctively focus on his father. Time to intervene before some snide remarks about Brandon's cooking were made.

"Morning Paul!" Reggie declared getting up and stepping forwards. "Did you sleep well?"

"Too warm..." Paul's eyes narrowed as he contemplated his brother. "You nailed my window shut."

"Well..." The eldest brother rubbed the back of his neck somewhat embarrassed. "Didn't want you escaping now did I?"

Paul simply huffed. He made his way into the kitchen taking note of the food prepared by his father. There was still some left should he decide to accept. A simple glance was all the lad required before he walked past. Reggie struggled with the urge to roll his eyes as he watched his younger brother simply take a piece of bred and eat it whilst still standing up. The pokemon breeder turned briefly to check on his father, to his credit the man wasn't taking it personally. Hopefully, he would be able to keep this up for a while longer.

"So when are we leaving?" Paul asked them as he leaned back against the counter.

"As soon as you're both ready." Reggie replied glancing up at the clock.

"I'm all packed." Brandon informed his sons. "I've informed Samuel that I'll be gone for a while."

"Guess that leaves you Paul." The eldest turned to his sibling. "You all ready?"

"Yeah. Sure."

The rest of the meal passed in complete silence. Paul made a point of ignoring everything that Brandon had prepared, not even acknowledging its presence. That was only to be expected. He was going to be doing things like this for next foreseeable future, the only uncertainty was whether or not Brandon would keep his cool and avoid reacting to them. Because that's precisely what the Frontier Brain's youngest would want, the chance to start a fight.

Whilst Brandon agreed to deal with the dishes, Reggie returned quickly to his room in order to grab his rucksack and a couple of last minute provisions. He took extra care when picking up the photograph, treating it as if it were made out of glass. He gave all of the family one last kind look before slipping it into his bag. If Brandon and Paul claimed to be ready, then he had no reasons for doubting them. It wasn't as if either of them had a ton of possessions that they would try to carry around with them. Unless they had changed, they would carry only what they deemed to be an absolute necessity.

He found the two of them waiting patiently for him by the door. He had to ensure that everything was safely locked up before they left but made sure to do so as quickly as possible. Neither father nor son appreciated being kept waiting, least of all when they didn't particularly want to go on the trip in the first place. Reggie rather wished that he felt a little more confident as he shut the door behind him, locking it as he went but the truth was he wasn't. Brandon wasn't entirely wrong when he'd raised his doubts. It wasn't as if this was the first time he'd tried to get them back together although it was by far the most drastic measure he had ever taken, all previous attempts had been met with rather spectacular failure, usually just getting the two of them even more riled up.

Those thoughts troubled him as he drove along. His father sat in the passenger seat and Paul somewhere behind them. Neither said so much as a word. It would seem that they had both opted for the same strategy: say absolutely nothing to avoid conflict meaning they could make it to the end of this and then never have to talk to each other again. All Reggie could think was that this was going to be one hell of a trip if they kept it up which he believed both of them to be more than capable of doing. He would have to deal with that issue later on, for the time being at least they weren't tearing into each other.

"Why are we stopping?" Paul asked as they pulled up outside a small house in the suburbs of Veilstone.

"I need to give my keys to a friend." Reggie explained to his younger brother, unbuckling himself. "I'll only be a minute."

He closed the door, leaving the two of them be. He'd parked the car intentionally so that Paul wouldn't be able to see just who lived in the house he was about to knock at. Walking quickly, the young man decided not to make them wait for too long.

Paul watched carefully for as long as he could before his brother disappeared from view. Trust Reggie to park as far away as where he wanted to be as possible! With his brother out of sight, his eyes instinctively went back to focusing on the Frontier Brain sitting in the passenger seat. The man sat there with his arm resting half way out of the open window as he looked out at the surrounding town. It was probably a good thing Brandon wasn't more famous around Sinnoh or many other regions for that matter. Sure, people had heard of the Pyramid King. Even then it wasn't exactly common knowledge and you wouldn't see his face plastered everywhere like you did that idiot with the pixie wings. It allowed him to both maintain an aura of mystery and not be bothered in public by people constantly trying to challenge him.

He was pretty sure that the man was fully aware he was being starred at yet he didn't react. Paul didn't speak, entering into a silent competition with his father for who would be the first to break the silence. The arrogance of him infuriated the lad. There was a man who had walked out on them years ago and whose only reaction whenever he encountered to his two suns again was generally to wipe the floor with them in a battle or to point out each and every one of their failings which seemed to be legion in his books. His mere presence served to infuriate the youngest of the brothers as even just sitting in the same car as him proved to be almost unbearable.

"What's Reggie even thinking?.." Paul growled lowly speaking his thoughts without even realizing it. "Does he think that a week's camping is really going to erase everything that's happened?!"

"Your brother's an eternal optimist." Brandon answered him without turning around. "When he puts his heart into something, there's just about no stopping it."

"Really? Then how come he gave up after losing once to you?" There was a barb on the end of the sentence which he expected to get a response.

"His heart wasn't in it..." The man replied after a few seconds. "But it sure as hell is in this."

"Then he's a fool."

Brandon didn't respond to that. Making it impossible for Paul to tell if he at least in part agreed with him. When met with the silence, he let out an exasperated sigh and opted instead for looking out the window and drumming his fingers loudly against the glass. Get a move on… He mentally spurred on his brother.

Reggie meanwhile had reached the house. He knocked on the door carefully. The person would be in, he had checked before hand. Sure enough, a few moments later he found himself greeted by a woman with a broken nose and short pink hair. The smile she offered him was a quick one which struggled to hide her concern. As such, the pokemon trainer did his best to try and reassure her by returning the gesture.

"You're sure about this?" She asked him, skipping the "hallo" all together.

"I'd be lying if I said I was convinced it was going to work." He admitted letting out a sigh. "-but Paul and my dad are in the car together so I'm going to give it a try."

Curious, Maylene accompanied him to the edge of her garden. From there, they could make-out the car. He doubted that either of the two inside could see them however as for starters they weren't even looking in the right direction. Good thing too. The encounter between the gym leader and his little brother had been less than pleasant and he dreaded to think what the lad would have said had he known that Reggie was about to give the keys to his house to her. No doubt there would have been the usual harsh and sarcastic comments made. The kid didn't seem to be able to help himself much to his brother's despair. Being nice or even just indifferent (as their father so often was) seemed to be something he simply wasn't capable of.

Speaking of, the two of them were actually sitting there in the car out of earshot and didn't seem to be laying into each other. Although anyone passing by would have mistaken them for being prisoners on their way to jail judging by their grave and vaguely angry expressions.

"So that's Pyramid King Brandon, huh? He looks, uh..." Her voice trailed off visibly searching for a word which wouldn't offend the eldest brother.

"Gruff? Angry? Mean? I've heard it all before." He laughed trying to relax her a bit. "He's a nice guy inside but well… Lets just say he's not the easiest man to get along with..." He hesitated a moment before adding. "Or to please..."

"I can see the resemblance to Paul." Maylene confessed before turning back to face the pokemon breeder. "But you..."

"I look more like my mom." Reggie informed her smiling softly. "Remember? I told you about her. I wish you could have met her. She really was the kindest person you would ever meet."

"And she ended up with Moody of Grump Town over there?" Maylene couldn't help but ask.

Reggie had to laugh at that. He'd told her about his father before. Unfortunately, many of the stories ended up portraying the man in a slightly unfavourable light. It wasn't exactly true… The problem with Brandon was that it took him a while to open up to others. By that read, he would only do it when he really felt like it. A lot of people would be faced with a stern, humourless and proud man who seldom cracked a smile. As such, many of his amusing tales related to the Frontier Brain having to deal with some of his more 'excitable' challengers and generally moping the floor with them to prove a point. Either that or his encounters with Tucker which for some reason tended to end with the Pyramid King vowing to throttle the Dome Ace after defeating all of his Pokemon using just a Magikarp. For the moment, the said battle had never taken place.

"Yeah. World's funny like that..." Reggie smiled sadly to himself for a moment.

"Well, they certainly look like they're enjoying each other's company." Maylene couldn't help but comment.

"Yeah well… Dad's a perpetual frowner and Paul you know." Reggie rubbed the back of his neck a little awkwardly. "That and they don't exactly bring out the best in each other."

"So… Why are you doing this again?"

How many times had he asked himself that question over the last few days? No, years. A lot. Really, more than he cared to count. It seemed like such a stupid thing to do. He was ramming his head against a brick wall again and again with these two. They didn't want to have anything to do with the other and every time he tried to change that it almost always ended up blowing up in his face. Logically, it shouldn't be any different this time. He wondered for a moment how he could best explain himself to his friend… It was difficult when she hadn't known them for very long and the few encounters that she had had with them had only been with Paul who frankly had a way of making most people hate him.

Eventually, he let out a sigh as he contemplated the two from a distance. He wished he could travel back and show her the good old days. He was fully aware that she struggled to see Paul as anything other than the trainer who had humiliated her. If she'd known him and indeed Brandon back then… Well, things might very well be different...

"Because they weren't always like this." Reggie informed her as they looked at the two, memories came flooding back to him. "I know it's hard to believe but dad and Paul, they were really close once. My brother used to idolize him… He'd even dress up as Regirock sometimes."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah… Remind me to show you a picture just in case Paul ever comes back in a bad mood. It's pretty good leverage."

"You're a good person Reggie." The declaration caught him off guard.

"Thanks..."

He smiled before giving her the keys. She promised to give him a call half way through the week just to let him know how things were going and to reassure him that the house hadn't burned down. He thanked her, promising to make it up to her somehow when he returned.

She watched him from a distance but chose to remain out of sight as he got into his car and drove off. His father expressed momentary interest in finding out just who he had left his keys with. With Paul in the car, Reggie chose simply to be a little vague and say "a friend". He wouldn't know them anyhow so stopped his interrogation quite quickly. The pokemon breeder suspected that if Brandon was concerned by such things then it was mainly because he feared for the safety of the house as opposed to his eldest son's social circle.

They set a course for the foot of mount Coronet. It was quiet, secluded and hopefully not somewhere where they could run into any distractions. Just a simple camping trip, that was all it was to be. No pokemon battles (asides perhaps those done in self-defence against wild pokemon), no gyms, no ancient ruins, no Battle Frontier, nothing asides each other.

It took them a good three hours driving to reach the point Reggie had selected for them. During that time, Paul and Brandon literally didn't say a word. Not even an "are we there yet?". Close, confined spaces with absolute silence barring the sound of the engine were never pleasant and only served to remind the three of them that at least two of their number would be much happier somewhere else doing their own things. Given he'd pretty much press-ganged them into coming along with him, the eldest brother wasn't too sure why he was surprised. So for the car journey, he decided not to try and force things. Maybe if they got their heads around what was going on, the two of them might actually start talking out of boredom more than anything else.

Pulling up at the foot of the mountain, Reggie carefully parked his car. It was pretty much impossible to come to Sinnoh without seeing mount Coronet. It dominated its surroundings and given it's location pretty much smack bang in the middle of the region, it was visible from almost all round. Although he knew quite a few young trainers would go there to try to train or alternatively simply be passing through. It was remote enough to provide the isolation they maybe needed. At least out here, he hoped that no one would interrupt them.

His father and Paul remained silent as they slung their bags over their shoulders and started the trek. Both of them were used to the exercise, as the youngest spent his time travelling for the most part on foot around the region in order to challenge the local gyms and Brandon, an adventurer by nature, wasn't about to shy away from a little bit of hiking. The worst thing they were likely to run into off of the beaten path was some wild pokemon and given that all three of them were competent battlers, he was reasonably confident that they could handle that threat if it ever arose. So, it wasn't the physical aspect which concerned him but more just what it was going to be like with these two over a prolonged period of time.

It was quite an ambitious climb they had planned. It would take nothing less to tempt both Brandon and Paul and to keep their interests peaked (no pun intended). Reggie was well aware that neither of them would appreciate a prolonged stroll through some flat countryside. They needed a challenge to keep them interested. Those two possessed some sort of combination of genes which the pokemon breeder felt he lacked: it was something which pushed the two of them to always strive to go further and better themselves, admirable but that often lead them to either confrontation or danger, often both. The eldest of the brothers would never have attempted such a journey in ordinary circumstances. His sibling might have just to see how he measured up. It was harder to tell with the Pyramid King, whilst he was by any standards a brave man, he had lost much of his foolishness and recklessness a long time ago (or at least so he claimed) and so was unlikelier to take unnecessary risks.

They made relatively fast progress. So far, the terrain wasn't all that difficult. Pretty darned easy in fact. That lead to much of the first day being spent in complete and utter silence. He was the only one who ever seemed to express a desire to talk, asking if any of them needed a rest or at one point questioning their father as to how many times he'd done something like this. More than the man cared to count apparently. That was largely it as far as discussions went that first day. Whilst Reggie couldn't exactly fault the logic that if they didn't say anything to one another they were more unlikely to end up fighting, it hardly served to create a pleasant atmosphere.

"We should camp here." Brandon declared as they arrived in a small clearing. "It will be dark soon."

"Sounds good." Reggie agreed nodding slightly.

Paul said nothing but set about getting a fire ready. Well at least he was doing something productive. Reggie for his part set about both helping their father with the tents and preparing some food for humans and pokemon alike. Again, barely a word passed between them save for when Paul managed to 'collide' with one of the pegs Brandon had just hammered in to the ground and almost went flying. There was a curse, the usual shout of "language boy!" but thankfully that was about it.

"Do the Regis eat Brandon?" Reggie asked his father as he prepared the dishes for all of the pokemon.

"No but some of my others do." The man replied sending out Dusclops and Ninjask.

"Dusclops eats?" The Pokemon breeder asked surprised to see it out.

"Well... It absorbs a whole lot of stuff if given the chance." Brandon replied glancing at his pokemon. "I'm not sure if he actually needs to but he looks all hard done to if I don't at least offer him something."

"Oh..." The eldest brother muttered wondering just what a hard done to Dusclops looked like.

Ninjask was quick to rush up to the food which Reggie had almost finished laying out for the pokemon, Dusclops however seemed to have other ideas. It hesitated for a moment, looking at all that food before suddenly turning around and charging off. Brandon watched it curiously, pausing setting up the final tent as the ghost rushed over to the youngest of his sons. Assuming it was simply curious, both Frontier Brain and breeder turned away eager to finish up their work. Paul, who had been trying his best to light the fire, turned to it giving the pokemon a cold glare for a few seconds. It looked him right in the eyes.

"What?!" He asked it, his voice marked by frustation.

"Dusclops!" Replied the Pokemon.

Paul's alarmed cry caused them both to spin around. Dusclops came trotting past Brandon before joining the others for dinner time. The pokemon trainer lay flat on his back, the ends of his clothes were somewhat singed. Any concerns his eldest brother and father might have had were quickly dismissed as the lad sat up a little shakingly. Almost as soon as he noticed he was being watched, his usual cold demeanour returned. Getting up, the family's youngest sat down in front of the fire and set about mindlessly poking it with a stick.

"A will-o-whisp." Brandon informed his eldest son when he turned to him for an explanation. "Apparently Dusclops thought that Paul needed some help."

"Seriously?!" Reggie questioned his eyes wide with confusion. "I hope Regirock never thinks I need a hug!"

"Who knows, kid? Maybe he gives really good hugs."

Reggie couldn't quite work out if his father was joking or not. It was almost impossible to tell sometimes with him. He wasn't the type to crack obvious puns. If he was joking, he wouldn't exactly leave a pause anticipating a laugh or anything. So he either was aware that he wasn't all that funny or was still trying to perfect his version of humour. His eldest son could easily have believed both. He opted for simply chuckling a little to avoid potentially causing offence. For the moment, he intended to stay well away from a Regirock hug, he doubted that the local chiropractor would be very sympathetic…

A few moments later, he joined his father and brother for dinner. It was pretty simple stuff, wholesome though. If nothing else, it would give him the chance to ensure that his little brother was eating properly for about a week. The only complement for the meal came from Brandon and had he been served up a piece of meat too charred to eat he would probably have thanked his son for it anyway. He at least seemed to be making an effort. Albeit a somewhat contrived and forced one which basically went something along the lines of: be nice (or at least try not to be hostile) to your eldest son and ignore the little one.

It was a technique he supposed. Sitting there round the fire, with nothing and nobody surrounding them, only each other. It was amazing how lonely you could feel even with company. Paul was sitting there looking absolutely disinterested with the world around him. Brandon was making some notes in an old journal. They'd seen it before, he seemed to carry it around pretty much everywhere with him. He'd definitely had it as long as Reggie could remember. He didn't care to ask the man about it however. He felt a little too tired to start bothering either of them right now.

"I'm going to bed." Paul announced, plainly and simply.

"Goodnight!" Reggie called after his brother as the latter disappeared into his tent.

He was optimistic in hoping for a response. Now-a-days it was pretty hard to tell with the lad if he was sulking and thus in a bad mood or if this was simply some sort of perpetual condition of his which lead him to being a near permanent grouch. The sooner that his little brother got his head around the notion that they were all in this together, the better. Of course, he could be impossibly stubborn and simply ignore both of them for the entirety of the trip. Reggie wouldn't put it past him. In any case, they were in for a bumpy ride.

"I think, I too shall retire." Brandon declared getting to his feet. "Try not to stay up too late."

"I won't." He promised turning back towards the man. "Sleep well."

"I hope to." The Pyramid King told him. "Goodnight, Reggie."

Reggie stayed out for a little while, waiting until the embers of the fire died down. His gaze fixed itself on the sky. He took advantage of the quiet that surrounded them, he was well aware that in the days ahead, he wasn't likely to know much more of it.