"Ah, fiddlesticks!" Brady grumpily cried out, kicking the grass and putting on an angry and disappointed pout after he did.
"Fiddlesticks today, huh?" Ananias dully commented as he calmly walked beside him. "Well, now we know it's serious then, don't we?"
Brady grimaced at him. "Hey! Don't you even start with me!" Unshed tears began to form at the corners of his eyes as he lips began to quiver and he let out an audibly sad and discontented sniff. "Just because you have a better showing out there in the battlefield than I do doesn't mean you gotta rub it in, you hear?!"
"Yeah, sorry about that," Ananias said. "But I've gotta get my kicks somewhere, right?"
"Ah ha!" Brady cried, pointing an angry and accusing finger at Ananias as he did. "So you admit to it then!" He then let out another dejected sniff. "You admit that all you do is look down on me, don't you?!"
Ananias let out an exasperated sigh. "Brady... it was just a joke."
"Y-Yeah!" Brady sobbed. "Well, that's what they always say too! But I'll show you! I'll show all of ya! I'm gonna become so strong, that none of you are gonna be able to talk smack behind my back ever again!"
"Since when did I ever say that we 'talked smack' about you from behind your back?" Ananias innocently asked.
"You don't gotta tell me!" Brady said. "I can just tell!"
Ananias sighed. "Brady, you're being irrational. No one would ever talk badly about you behind your back. Why would anyone waste the time and the effort to do that in the first place?"
"Oh, I see how it is! I ain't worth the time and the effort to any of you people, aren't I?!"
"Come on, Brady. That's not what I said."
"Well, you were thinking it!"
"You don't know that."
"Don't tell me what I know and what I don't know! I ain't stupid, ya know! I can think for myself! I can put two and two together! I can be a decently bright leaf in the sycamore tree!"
"Since when have I ever accused you of being any of those things?"
"Like I said, you don't have to! I just know that you're thinking it, alright?"
Ananias sighed. "Brady, you know how silly that makes you sound, right?"
"It ain't silly if it's true!"
"But it isn't."
"Yes, it is!"
"..."
"..."
"... Alright. Fine. Yeah, it's true. We DO all look down on you."
"Ha!" Brady cried, pointing an accusing and exciting finger at Ananias as he did. "See?! I knew it!"
"Well, good for you," Ananias deadpanned. "It's just too bad that there's nothing you can do to change it."
Brady cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "Huh?"
"Yeah, you heard me," Ananias monotonously said. "We all know how physically frail you are, Brady. There's no way you could possibly change our opinions of you, so I guess you're just going to have to get used to it for the rest of your life."
"Ha!" Brady cried as he clenched his teeth in seething anger. "Well then, you're in for a rude awakening, pretty boy! Starting tomorrow, I'm gonna start working out!"
Ananias raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Oh, really?"
Brady nodded defiantly. "Yeah, 'really'! I'm gonna become big and strong! Strong enough to force those words down your throats once I start making you eat them!"
Ananias shook his head. "It's not going to last. I say you quit after getting your first injury."
"Oh, so now we're placing bets on this, are we?!" Brady cried. "Well, fine! How about this! If it sticks, then you take back everything you said about me and become my personal butler for a week, but if it doesn't, then I'll go on an entire shopping spree at one of your family's shops! How about it, huh?! Ready to put your words where your mouth is, punk?!"
"... Fine, you're on." They then proceeded to shake on it. "I'm still going to win though."
"Ah, you just wait and see! I'll be proving you wrong in no time!" He then proceeded to look around. "Now, where did those practice swords go?" He then wandered off to go look for them.
When he was well within ear shot, Ananias let out a weary sigh and muttered, "Honestly, this guy."
Author's Note: Ananias must once again deal with irrational behavior, poor guy. Well, this is just the beginning of his supports with Brady, so maybe things will be looking up in the future, who knows? Ah well, see you next time!
