Chapter Title: Being Stupid
Series Title: Unlikely Brothers
Author: Obi the Kid
POV: Dashen (Tannerlin is 18, Dashen is 24)
Series Summary: A series of non-chronological stories taking place in the world of my OC's Dashen and Tannerlin.
Chapter Summary: The brothers have a falling out over Tanner's commitment to staying true to the ways of the Jedi.
Rating: PG
Characters: Dashen Lesedi and Tannerlin Vai (Jedi).
"Tanner, you're an idiot!"
"No, that's your forte, Dash. I simply did what the job asked for. It's not my fault the bottom fell out. Literally."
"It didn't ask to be blown up!"
"Then you should've told me that. For what other reason would we bring explosives?"
"As a precaution."
"Precaution for what? Just in case we happen to needed a building to fall on top of us? Look, Dash, how many times must I tell you that I hate this job? If I hadn't been so worried that you'd get sucked into Jayla's hormonious trap again and to something magnificently stupid, I'd have let you go this run alone."
"Hormonious? You know that's not a word."
"When you learn to keep your hormones in check, I will cease using it. Until then, it's a word."
"Well, I didn't fall for it…or her…this time. Okay?"
"This time; thanks to me. I could see her set up a mile away. And that was before the explosion! It's how your insight improves when it comes to women, if you don't have to worry about your hormones being ramped up all the time."
"Look, little brother, because you choose to keep your Jedi morals and codes and all that other crap and stay out of relationships with women, is not my fault. That's your issue and your loss and your problem and I don't think…"
"It's not a loss or a problem and it's not crap. It's my life and it's choose I want to live it, so don't start on me about drooling after women, especially ones who constantly try to lure you into traps and routinely use you to cross your boss."
"I didn't fall for…oh never mind. Damn it!"
I stopped shouting then. It wasn't like me to not continue an argument, but the look on my brother's face sort of told me that I'd hit a nerve I had previously promised to stay away from. Tannerlin Vai was eighteen with a slim build, great hair and killer pale brown eyes that ladies his age would drool after. Some already had. Not to mention he was a straight up all around good person – a rare find these days. Nine years ago however, he'd made a decision. Despite the elimination of the entire Jedi Order, he'd decided to stay faithful to those ways - at least as faithful as possible in most areas. The opposite sex was one of those areas. I respected it, although I didn't understand or approve of it – being a guy. But he was determined to stay true. And for him, it hadn't been a problem. Of course, for all those girls who found him adorable, studly and all those other teenager things, it was whole different story. But, I had promised him that I wouldn't tease him or call him out on it and well, I'd just sliced up that promise into tiny little pieces right in front of his face. Might not seem like a big deal to any ordinary person, but to Tanner, it was huge. So huge in fact that he walked away from me…angry. Something he'd never done before.
"Tanner, come back here! Come on! I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. You know I have a hard time understanding all your weirdo Jedi ways."
He turned back to me. "Funny. I don't have trouble understanding your weirdo ways. It would seem after nine years, you'd have figured it out by now. All I ask is that you leave it alone. That's it. I don't ask much, Dash, I really don't. But…ah whatever. It doesn't matter anyway. You'll do what you do. Just…leave me alone for a while, okay?"
I did. And he stayed away. It took a lot to get Tanner angry, but I'd managed it well this time. We didn't speak much for the next several days. He attended his classes and teaching aid job. I had my planned runs on the schedule and a few that popped up last second. Things were strange between us though – truly strange for the first time since we'd known each other. It actually got to the point where I wondered if I'd scarred our relationship permanently. All these years removed from pulling a skinny terrified nine year old out of a basement of bloody terror and perhaps we'd hit a turning point that we couldn't detour away from.
On the fifth day of our falling out, I sat on the outside balcony of our upstairs apartment. In the distance, the last of the local livestock herds were being driven out of Kaolin and towards Loam or Vale or someplace to the east. An old fashioned way of doing things, but on this planet – on Terra - some of those old ways still held. And some of its citizens still held tight to those ways. They were familiar and comfortable. Not unlike my brother and his dedication to an Order long dead.
I sipped at my drink; a cold root ale. Another thing Tanner didn't do -drink until his head exploded. He didn't drink at all really. Somehow I'd managed to never tease him about that one. It never bothered me either that he didn't indulge in that pleasure. Why it bothered me so much about the whole woman thing, I couldn't say. Maybe I was afraid that he'd never be truly happy without being able to share his life – his eventual golden years – with someone special to him. Maybe it was just me being a guy…or an idiot.
Either way, it bothered me and it shouldn't have. In truth, Tanner was the most at ease person I knew. More content than most who'd lived much simpler lives. But then there was this big brother of his who excelled in screwing things up. Yes sir, I continued with high-powered gusto to live up to my 'idiot' label – the one that Colton had so nobly bestowed on me when I was nothing but a foolish child.
Now it seemed I was nothing but a foolish adult.
Another drink of ale, and I put the bottle down, set my elbows on my knees and leaned my head heavily into my hands. And naturally, just because I am who I am, I felt the need to berate myself a bit. "Stupid, Dash. One day you'll learn from your screw ups. Stupid. Just so very stupid sometimes."
The familiar voice from behind startled me, but I didn't move. "Yes, you are that. Sometimes. But…" Tanner came and sat in the nearby empty chair. "Aren't we all guilty of that at just about any given point in our lives?"
My words were muffled through my hands when I replied, "Yes, but I tend to find more stupidity than most other twenty-four year olds, don't you think?"
I waited for the smart-ass reply. I mean, I'd left that one wide open for him. It never came. I peaked sideways at him through my fingers. Still waiting…Expecting.
"I'm sorry, Dash, for being so weird about what you said."
I was expecting…but I was not expecting an apology.
He continued. "I've made the choice to live the way I do, and I should be prepared for others to not understand and to jab me about it. It's life and that's how it works outside of protected temple walls."
My head lifted. He was right – to an extent. Those jabs though, they shouldn't come from your brother. And I told him as much. "You should expect it, but not from me, Mouse. You've reminded me countless times, right? And I'm just too pig headed to comprehend that you actually mean it. I'm the sorry one; in more ways than one."
"If you want to be, go ahead, but I didn't have to carry it this long. So, I'm sorry, Dash."
"No, I should have apologized sooner. I'm the big brother, I should know better. I'm sorrier."
He was about to reply again when he froze in mid thought and said, "Now this is stupid. Battling over who is sorrier? I'm thinking that we're both pretty sorry."
"Yeah well, it's what brothers do. They get stupid and they fight."
Tanner smiled at me. It was a good smile. A contented smile. A smile that said we'd be okay. And what he said next only topped that off. "Yeah. I'm glad though. Glad that I have someone to get stupid with and to fight with. Sure beats the alternative."
…Of being alone.
"It does that, kid." I offered him my ale. "Drink?"
"No, but I could use a good dinner out. I'm tired of all that instant stuff we've been chewing on lately."
"I thought you Jedi were used to all that instant crap? Don't tell me you used to pawn meals off the local politicians and royalty during your missions? Now how did that look to the locals?"
"Of course we pawned meals off of them! Well, I was small, so I didn't eat much, but you didn't expect us to go save a planet and just eat hard bread and bland soup, did you? And some of those politicians were idiots, Master Ayden used to tell me. You couldn't deal with them at all unless you did so with a full and contented stomach."
"Ah, so you were really a Mr. Big Shot Jedi, huh? And maybe all those politicians really needed their egos popped once in a while…"
We kept on. Being stupid, that is. Except this time it was good old fashioned brother-to-brother teasing. And it felt good. No, not good. After these last five days of uncertainty and hesitation, it felt great.
I grabbed Tanner by the neck, squeezed hard and then pulled him out of the chair. "Come on, you royal pain in the…"
"Hey! Don't go comparing me to those cretins. Those sorts – the real royals - they could've used some meals of hard bread and bland soup. I remember the second mission Master Ayden ever took me on and we had to sit with some King type guy – he wasn't really a King, just a wannabe - and he had all these servants around him…he even had one in charge of cleaning his feet. Nasty. But anyway, one time they did serve him with bland soup – I think on purpose - and the guy took the servant's face and dunked it into the soup and created this huge dramatic scene about eating beggar's food and how someone in his position should only eat the best of everything and…"
His story continued. And then I tossed my own tale about ghastly food. It went back and forth for the next half hour. We laughed a lot, Tanner and I. We laughed all the way to dinner and then all the way home; our falling out long forgotten.
Now we were just two guys being stupid…and being brothers.
The end.
