Velvet knocked on the door of the first member of their family they could think of finding, think of going to, not wanting to face their parents quite yet, waiting for a reply. Once the door opened, she began to speak.

"So, me and Veneer need a place to st-"

SLAM!

"Hey! Come on! Open up!" Velvet said, desperately, as she banged on the door. No reply. No matter how much, how hard, she tried.

That was their maternal aunt, uncle and cousin off the list.

—

Veneer knocked on the next relative's door this time around as he was far much better at playing sweet, according to Velvet. Their relatives did always seem to like him better, it seemed. Though they still loved both siblings equally. The door opened, after a few seconds, and he began to speak.

"So, we really need a place to stay and-"

"If you ever show your face here again, I'll call the cops to arrest you again. Now leave! Leave before we do!" their paternal uncle threatened and the twins turned and booked it, not wanting to go back to prison.

Turned out their paternal uncle, aunt and cousins were also off the list.

—

"Can we-"

SLAM.

—

"May we-"

SLAM!

—

"Me and Veneer really need to-"

SLAM!

—

"Ughhhh!" Velvet groaned, throwing herself on the artificial grass. "No one is helping us! I hate this! I hate this! I hate this! I hate this so much!"

—

She slammed her fist against the ground and grabbed a fistful of grass. She needed an outlet to vent anyways.

"Hey, lighten up. At least they didn't send us back to prison," Veneer said, in an attempt to comfort her, putting a hand on his sister's back.

"Lighten up…? Lighten… UP?! Are you KIDDING me?! We just escaped from prison and when we asked for help from our family, they disowned us! Where else are we supposed to go?!" Velvet yelled, her anger, frustration, and hurt getting the better of her. She moved away from her brother.

Veneer just ignored his older sister's yelling, already too used to it. "We could… ya know… go to-"

"No. Absolutely not," Velvet said, cutting Veneer off, knowing what he was going to say.

"Velvet… mom and dad are all we have left to go to… they'll definitely let us in…"

"You know they're not. You know they won't. They'll be like the rest of our family."

"You know they will." Veneer hugged Velvet and she just froze. She was never too big with affection. "I'm sure of it," Veneer lied. He wasn't, actually, but it was better to be hopeful then be a downer. At least, that's how he saw things.

Velvet stiffened but she did awkwardly let Veneer pat her back.

"Fine…" she sighed. "Let's go to mom and dad."

—

They arrived at their parents' door. Before Velvet could knock, the door opened and their dad appeared at the door.

"Hey da-" Veneer tried to say before getting cut off by who he called his father.

"You're trespassing onto private property, kids. I advise you to step off my front steps before the cops are called."

"Dad, please! Me and Velvet really need a place to stay! Let us stay here!" Veneer begged, getting desperate.

A woman came up behind the twins' dad. Their mom. Velvet looked at who she called her mom and who she called her mom looked back at her.

"Well, I have no clue why you're calling us mom and dad." Who they called their mom said. She handed them them disownment papers that stated Velvet and Veneer were no longer their kids.

"What… what is this, mom?" Velvet asked, her hand shaking as she skimmed the papers.

"You want to torture trolls, that's fine by us but you will NOT besmirch our name while you're at it."

The tone in the voices of those they had called their parents was cold and distant. It was angry and hateful. They were really alone. Their family, all of their family, had disowned them and their parents were holding out the papers to prove it. Bags packed with belongings of theirs were thrust, immediately, into their hands.

"No! Please! We can change! We can be better!" Veneer cried as he clung to his parents… or… who used to be his parents. Velvet had to drag her crying brother away. After all, she was better at composing herself than he was.

Turned away officially, the twins just walked and walked and walked until they saw lots of trees and found a forested areas. They went in, taking a seat to hide from everything. The world, who they called their parents, who they called their family, their feelings, everything.

Velvet looked at Veneer, who was still crying, his face red and puffy with tears. She wasn't exactly one for affection or one for showing her feelings but today she supposed she could make an exception. She hugged Veneer and he hugged back, crying quietly into her shoulder.

Velvet knew this would happen. She suspected it. She had a far better talent, or curse, as some would say, of seeing the bad in others. Veneer saw good. Where he saw good, Velvet saw evil. They had and hadn't expected disappointment from their parents. From their family members.

So, why?

Why did this hurt so much?

Regardless of whether or not she Veneer hugged his sister tighter than he had ever had his life and started crying too.

Veneer should have seen all this disownment coming. Velvet too. Her less. Him more.

—

"And then we came here and—" Velvet finished, exchanging a glance with Veneer before

A quizzical look was quick to appear on Poppy's face. "I get that, but how'd you guys even know where we were?"
The twins opened their mouths to respond simultaneously, but they couldn't think of anything to say. A beat of silence hit, lasting only a few moments.

"That doesn't matter right now," Floyd spoke, waiting a moment before turning his attention to Poppy. "So what exactly were John and Clay having a disagreement about?"

Poppy laughed, rubbing her neck. "Well….."

—

"Are you guys seriously disagreeing on something for no reason other than to disagree on something?" Bruce asked, an expression that was a clear mix of confusion and amusement on his face. He sat off to the side, his eyes flicking between his older brother and his younger brother. Poppy and Branch were sitting near the elevator of Branch's bunker, matching looks that were far more incredulous present on their faces.

"No, because John and I aren't disagreeing on anything," Clay answered, tone serious. John nodded in agreement.

Branch rolled his eyes. "Really, guys? Cause it seems like you are."

"Well, we're not," both John and Clay answered simultaneously, having briefly stopped their disagreement. It was only several minutes, however, the onset of a silence having made itself apparent in that time frame, before the both of them started it up again.

Poppy briefly glanced off to the side before refocusing her attention back to John and Clay. "You know Branch is right," she said with a clear smirk on her face. "You kinda are."

"We already said we're not," both John and Clay repeated.

Branch rolled his eyes. "Well now you're disagreeing with us about disagreeing with one another."

"So… is someone going to go get Floyd? Wherever he is?" Bruce asked, after another ten minutes of watching John and Clay's disagreeing. The pair having gone back to it within seconds. "You guys? Or me?"

"Already on it!" Poppy called out, her and Branch exiting the latter's home.

—-

Floyd let out an incredulous laugh. "Disagreeing on something for literally no reason other than to disagree on something. Typical them."

"Yeah." Poppy nodded. "And I don't know how long it lasted. How long it's going to last. I'll have to ask Branch when he comes back."

Floyd rolled his eyes, letting out a soft sigh. "Knowing John Dory and Clay, it's probably going to last from an hour to an hour and a half."

"Are you serious?" Poppy asked him with a quiet laugh and an eye roll. Floyd nodded. A brief, but short at the same time, moment passed by before Poppy asked, "What exactly were their arguments mostly about? What exactly did they mostly disagree on? Back when all of you were young?"

"Well…." Floyd briefly looked away from Poppy, thinking for a moment. "Let's just say Clay had a tendency to hide his funderdrawers so much it drove John mad."