(12 years ago)

"That's not fair!" Joy pouted as her barbie was slowly engulfed in a blob of slime.

"You said it was a planet; you didn't say the planet was un-habited," Burton pointed out with perfect 6-year-old logic.

"It's unINhabited, and he didn't even give me a chance to talk to him!"

"We don't talk to aliens." Burton brought out his GI Joe. "Don't worry; I'll save her!"

"No!" Joy bravely put her hand between the plastic gun and the gooey slime alien. "We have to try peace! We have to be better!"

"We have to shoot it; it's eating her!"

"Let me try to talk to it!"

Burton groaned and threw his soldier on the ground. Why did Joy always have to ruin things by being grown up? "Talking is boring!"

"Talking is right." Joy concentrated on the alien and said slowly, "Blurb, blub gggggggggglub."

She leaned in close to listen for an answer and Burton grinned; she'd just given him the perfect idea. He yelled out a battle whoop and slammed his hand down on the slime as he gave her its answer. "BLORB!"

Green slime splattered everywhere, sticking to the planet's walls and hanging from his sister's hair like alien snot. Joy stared at him in horror before letting out her own battle cry. "MOOOOOOOOM!"

Uh oh… Burton's eyes widened as the planet's scene of death became a much bigger deal.

"What is it this… my word!"

Burton winced; how could he keep from getting in trouble? "Joy started it!"

"I did not!"

"Did too! You wouldn't let me shoot him!"

"You're the one who brought out the slime!"

"You're the one who made the slime!"

"You promised you wouldn't tell! You big ol' forehead!"

"You big ol' ears!"

"ENOUGH!" their mother broke into the battle. "I don't care who started it; I'm ending it." She angrily grumbled something under her breath as she pulled out Joy's doll box. "Barbies and GI Joes. In here; NOW."

She was really mad. The slime started sadly dripping down the wall as they gave up their toys. She closed the box and tucked it under her arm. "You are not getting these back for three days. You also will clean up this mess before you get dinner; you know where the supplies are. I want those walls sparkling." She walked out of the room before calling back sweetly, "Oh, and you're both grounded for the rest of the day."

"What?! But it was our night for TV!" Joy complained loudly.

Her answer breezed up from the stairs in a sing-song. "Not anymore."

Joy spun around to glare at Burton. "This is all your fault."

She was right… "No it isn't."

"Yes it is, and I'm not cleaning up your mess." She sat down on the floor and crossed her arms as a blob of goo finally gave up its fight to hang onto her hair. It landed on her cheek and she screeched before slapping her hand over her mouth.

"Sorry!" Burton quickly yelled towards where their mother had left. "We're not fighting! Promise!"

"Ugh," Joy said quieter as she scraped the slime off of her face.

Burton sighed and quickly went to gather towels and a wet washcloth from the bathroom. He brought them back to the room and handed one over to Joy. "Sorry I slimed you…"

"...Thanks." Joy took the offering and wiped down part of her hair. "I'm sorry I called you a 'big ol' forehead'."

"Thanks." He stared at the mess on the wall. "This sucks."

" It does," Joy readily agreed.

"Wanna race to get it done?"

"Deal."

(present)

"It'll be so nice to have the family together!" Gus' mother said cheerfully as she drove them home.

Gus leaned his elbow into his door and rested his chin in his hand. "Yeah, it sounds great…"

Really, seeing Joy did sound good. But right now he was too worried about being worried to think about family cheer and the holiday spirit. Rowan was back with their extended family and who knew if they'd be back for a second semester. Who would Gus complain about classes and dorm food with?

And Abigail was with them. Who knew if Shawn would ever get to see her again. How would Shawn cope with finally caring about someone enough to kiss them and then have that person be torn away?

Colored lights floated along the walls as Gus moved his feet to the beat of the song. It had always been one of his favorites. Rowan skated next to him, oddly quiet as they watched the other two skaters in the rink.

Shawn and Abigail seemed to have forgotten the rest of the world as they raced each other alongside the wall. It was obvious that Shawn was going slower for her sake, but that didn't make it any less interesting to watch as one would pull ahead and the other would catch up. Abigail suddenly veered towards Shawn, forcing him to slow down before they crashed, and successfully earning her win.

Rowan glided to a stop as they heard a quiet laugh under the strumming of the music. "You were right."

"About what?" Gus asked, even though he could guess the answer.

"About them. About how they're not actually that different."

Gus smiled proudly as he looked back at the couple. And then his jaw dropped when he saw them move together into a kiss. He quickly smacked his hand over his mouth to keep from letting out a triumphant whoop and ruining the moment. They were kissing! In front of their masters, but that wasn't even the biggest part because they were kissing!

"Uh…" was all Rowan had to say on the matter as their eyes took up half of their face. The song died down and the couple finally separated. Abigail glanced over and froze as she realized they'd been watched. Rowan added quietly to Gus, "I think… I might have some rethinking to do…"

Shawn caught Gus' eye, and he couldn't stop from sending a subtle thumbs up in his direction.

Rowan had agreed to keep in touch with email, but it just wasn't the same as seeing both of them in person.

"It's just going to be perfect," his mother interrupted his thoughts with aggressive cheerfulness. "With my babies home, the house will feel full again."

Gus narrowed his eyes and watched her suspiciously. She was being too cheerful… which meant she was bothered by something. Gus had only been in the car for five minutes, which would be a new Guster record for bringing out that specific tone. So if it wasn't him, then…

What did Joy do this time?

The house was already partially decorated, with a lit-up reindeer and a snow globe dominating the front yard. The rose bushes were in full bloom and the grass was bright and green. Interestingly, the bushes next to the fence line weren't looking so healthy, with half of the branches dry and dead while the other half were turning a sickly yellow.

"It looks like Mr. Fuller is having trouble with his plants?" Gus asked.

His mother smirked and finally dropped her too-cheerful tone. "Oh, look at that. It seems like he is. How strange."

"Uh-huh…" Gus said knowingly. His parents had been talking about poisoning those bushes for years. It looked like the blackmail attempt had pushed his mother far enough to actually do it. He couldn't bring himself to feel bad about it; the grumpy asshole deserved it.

They pulled into the garage where a welcome face was waiting for them.

"Burty!" Joy exclaimed as soon as he climbed out of the car. She was the only one who was allowed to call him that.

He grinned and held his arms out for the expected hug. She immediately rushed towards him as he answered, "Hey, sis."

Their hug felt like coming home to a fireplace on a cold day. It had been too long. Joy pulled back and contemplated him with a raised eyebrow. "What on Earth did you do to your hair?"

"I'm growing it out," Gus said self-consciously. He shook his head, even though he couldn't feel anything move. It was still strange walking by a mirror and seeing the longer growth on top and the very beginnings of the shape of the flat top. He hadn't had this much hair… ever. "New me; new 'do."

"Since when do you do a new 'do?" Joy asked. "You're the kid who's style hasn't changed since you decided button up dress shirts made you look smart."

"They do make me look smart!" Didn't they? Maybe it was time to take the next step on his quest to change his look… "Besides, you're one to talk. Since when do you wear pantsuits?"

Joy had always worn skirts and would have claimed suits were for boring people who were boring.

"Since I started needing to be taken seriously. And…" her voice trailed off as she looked behind him. Her eyes widened and she stepped back while looking at Gus like she'd never seen him before. "No. You have a slave? What, is this part of the 'new you, new 'do?' too"

Crap. He'd written to Joy about Shawn, but he'd assumed that his parents had told her about their new slave, so he'd overly emphasized how they were friends. And never actually mentioned the slave part. "No, it's nothing like that. It was actually-"

"Oh my god, I can't believe you're actually trying to justify it!" She leaned forward, jabbing her finger towards his face. "You, of all people. Our family of all people! You should know better! I can't believe that my own flesh and blood… He is a person! Good people don't buy people."

"Good people let other people talk instead of yelling over them," Gus snapped back.

"Not now," their mother hissed. She clenched her teeth and spoke through the forced smile. "The neighbors are watching."

"Let them watch," Joy challenged her like a lawyer. "Then they'll know that at least one Guster knows right from wrong." She spun around and walked with her head held high into the house.

And Gus' mother sighed, her smile still firmly in place. "I still wonder whether she realizes what being a lawyer is about…" Her smile turned more genuine with a sharpness to it as she turned to Gus. "Welcome home, dear."

It was as he picked up the leash that he realized Joy hadn't looked at Shawn once during her tirade.

Gus finished unpacking his bag as he cast worried glances over at Shawn. He'd been unusually quiet since they'd left their dorm. "She wasn't mad at you, you know."

"I know," Shawn agreed quietly, sitting cross legged as he unpacked his own bag. Gus had convinced him to bring some of his stuff over, even finding him his own bag for it all. Shawn hadn't seemed very comfortable with it, but Gus knew it had been the right choice when he saw Shawn's hands run over his sketchbook several times before placing it in his basket.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes."

Gus sighed; ever since Shawn had stopped saying 'sir' so much, Gus had noticed another pattern. Whenever Shawn was freaked out, he spoke more formally and would say 'yes' instead of 'yeah'. And he couldn't even ask if Shawn wanted to talk about it, because there wasn't a guarantee that he was in the right headspace to say 'no'.

So Gus took the third option, walking over to his backpack and digging around for the emergency snacks he always kept on hand. "Here, you can eat it or not, no orders."

Shawn's lips twitched up as he took the chocolate candy. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Gus went digging in his bag again and pulled out a new Spirit comic. His parents could wait; he had a friend to help.

It was five minutes later when Shawn finally spoke as he rolled a yellow candy between his fingers. "I'm going to miss her."

He definitely wasn't talking about Joy. "They might come back next semester…"

Shawn didn't answer, instead just giving Gus a Look. Gus nodded his head to the side in concession; they both knew how unlikely that was to happen. College wasn't cheap.

An uneasy feeling tightened in his stomach; Rowan could probably afford another few semesters if they sold Abigail… But they wouldn't do that; rhey'd know that wasn't the right choice. Right?

"So, is your sister always like that?" Shawn asked, unsubtly changing the subject.

Gus welcomed it as dread continued to settle in his gut. "Always loud and having to be the center of attention? Oh yeah. She's always got some cause she's stuck on. Save the whales, ban toddler beauty pageants, anti-lawn… You should have heard the fights between her and Mom on that one. She even pushed for the whole family to go vegetarian; Mom finally won with malicious compliance. We only ate beans and rice for a month…" A shudder ran through his body at the remembered taste.

"Why would anyone willingly give up meat?" Shawn asked in confusion.

"Something something bad for the planet…" Gus waved his hand carelessly through the air. There'd been something about how much grass a cow had to eat for a pound of meat, but he really hadn't been paying attention. What was more important was how Joy's smug morals had stolen away his rights to hamburgers.

"But… there'll be meat tonight?"

Gus sniffed the air. "Oh yeah. Smells like Mom's overcompensating; there's ham and bacon. Which is probably for the potatoes."

"Oh, good." Shawn ate his last handful of candy and stood up. "Ready to face your sister again?"

"Sure. Now taking bets for how many more times she yells at me before I can get a word in edgewise..."

"Three and a half. You'll finally get fed up and interrupt her," Shawn predicted immediately.

"Dang. I thought I'd get in by the second one…"

They left the room, the conversation still continuing quietly until they reached the bottom of the stairs.

Gus won the bet, it only took him two interruptions to tell his side of the story. But it didn't seem to make anything better. Dinner that night was a tense affair as heated words passed over perfectly cooked ham and mashed potatoes.

"It's just how things are," their father tried to calm down the third argument that night.

"It's owning people! I thought you were better than this. You do realize that a couple of hundred years ago, it'd be us–"

Gus winced as their mother cut in. "Enough! We are having a nice dinner."

Joy had to have known bringing up that point wouldn't help anything. Even if he agreed with his sister in principle, the whole night was leaving a sour taste in his mouth. She still hadn't even acknowledged Shawn's existence yet.

Their mother clenched her teeth into a smile as she asked pointedly, "How's your ham, dear?"

"It's fine," Joy answered grumpily as she cut another piece off. "It tastes like death and entitlement and stolen freedom. Did you know that six percent of white males go to prison, but only three percent of white slave owning males go to prison? Where do you think that difference comes from? Slaves make up fifteen percent of arrests. But even when you take 'disturbance of the peace' into account –when really it's just slaves trying to act like they deserve to exist– they're estimated to only commit five percent of the crimes. And half of those arrested slaves never see the light of day again. How can a world that allows–"

"Joy," their father cut in. "Maybe this isn't the right time…"

Really, he should have known better by now. Gus ate faster so he could leave the table.

"When is the right time? I just found out my family is part of a terrible system and are completely ok with that fact. Do you really think I can be quiet about it?"

"Why us?" their mother sighed into her drink. She drained her wine before leveling a glare at her daughter. "Just because we have a slave doesn't mean we're bad people. The cruel masters are only the most noticeable. Not all slave owners are like that."

"Really?" Joy asked, cocking her eyebrow with sass. "Why don't we ask one? Shawn, have you ever had a good–"

"Joy!" Gus snapped out, stopping her before she could finish. Just in case, he added, "Shawn, you don't have to answer that."

Here she was, talking about freedom, and she still had no issue with forcing a slave to answer her.

Joy lifted her hands in exasperation. "I thought you'd be on my side, at least."

Gus groaned and checked that Shawn's plate was empty. He didn't have the patience for this crap tonight. "I don't really care about any of this." He gestured between her and their parents. "What I care about is that you only paid attention to Shawn when he had something you wanted. Just like every other person in the universe. So, no, I will not let him be a pawn in your newest crusade. May we be excused?"

His mother sighed but nodded her head. "I want help cleaning while you're home."

"Fine. We'll be back down later tonight." He'd show Joy how it was actually done. "Shawn, I'm heading to our room; you can do what you want."

Shawn immediately stood up and stayed close to Gus all of the way up the stairs. Gus groaned as he sat in his chair. "Sorry about that; are you ok?"

"Yes… Yeah, I am." Shawn's hands fidgeted against his legs before he added, "Thanks, though. For stopping her."

"It wasn't right for her to ask that." Joy only thought she knew right from wrong. She didn't actually understand. "It especially wasn't right to ask that in front of your master and his parents. She's usually smarter than that…"

"I… I would have said 'yes'." Shawn looked up and held Gus' gaze. "I have had a good master."

A lump rose up in his throat, and Gus quickly swallowed it back down. "Thank you."

"Thank you."

They continued to stare at each other until the moment became awkward. Gus pointed at his comic on his bed without looking away. "Want to just read for a bit?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

Gus finally broke their stare-off, his eyes burning with emotions. "Good. That's… yeah, that's good."

They settled into their traditional places in his room, him at his desk with Shawn on the bed, and the room filled with the sound of turning pages and the feeling of safety. Gus slowly relaxed in the embrace of the moment; if this was how the whole two week break was going to go, then he was going to need as much relaxation as he could find. Their shield of normalcy cracked when the stairs creaked outside their door.

Shawn's head snapped up at the sound and his eyes quickly darted between Gus and the corner of the room. Gus' stomach clenched as acid burned his throat. He still kept his voice even as he said quietly, "Same rules as the dorm. Do what you feel comfortable with, regardless of what anyone else wants. Including me."

Shawn nodded, hesitating again before a knock at the door sent him scrambling for the safety of the corner. Gus privately listed a litany of insults to throw at his sister, starting with how her ears stuck out and ending with the fact that she always had pigeon feet. He opened the door and had to bite his tongue to keep the list from being said out loud. "What do you want?"

"I wanna know what's wrong with you," Joy said as she pushed her way past him. Typical; she never respected his space.

"What's wrong with me?!" Gus tried to get in her face to slow her down, but she somehow managed to flow around him before stopping in the middle of the room. "What about what's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me is that you said he was your friend!" Joy gestured towards Shawn, making him flinch. "How many friends do you make kneel in the corner? I expected this from Mom and Dad, they're obsessed with their reputation, but you never cared about any of that!"

She'd made Shawn flinch. How dare she? "I don't have to explain anything; get out of my room."

She crossed her arms and stared at him in a challenge. "No! He deserves better than this. I'm going to make sure he gets it."

She wanted to act like a child? Fine; he'd treat her like a child. Gus grabbed her arm and bodily pulled her out of the room as she complained loudly. He let go as soon as the door was closed and hissed at her, "Would you shut up already? He's in the corner because of you, not me!"

"I… he… what?" Joy sputtered.

"You're freaking him out with all of the arguing about him." Gus pointed to where Shawn was on the other side of the wall. Assuming he wasn't listening at the door. "He chose to kneel there; I didn't order him. I've actually been working with him to not need to kneel all of the time. Because I actually see him as a person instead of a new shiny cause to yell about!"

His last word echoed down the stairs, and Gus winced. He hadn't meant to start yelling.

Joy was much more subdued when she asked, "What do you mean he chose to kneel?"

"I mean that slaves are complicated," Gus snapped out, fury still rushing through his veins. "You can't just tell them 'you don't deserve this' and then expect them to act exactly like you want them to."

"But… I was on his side…"

Gus sighed, the anger melting away at her genuine confusion. If their places were reversed, he'd probably be confused too. "That's not how it works. Look, no more barging into my room. You knock, and you wait for me to let you in. And I'm not doing that unless you can treat him like you would anyone else. No raging against slavery, no asking him questions he has to answer. Got it?"

"Burton… Where did this all come from?" Joy asked, her voice tinged in respect.

"A lot's happened since you moved out," Gus answered, the retreating anger leaving a deep exhaustion in its place. "We good?"

She looked like she wanted to give him a hug before thinking better of it. "Yeah. We good."

Gus nodded and turned back to his door, but there was too much space between him and his sister. He had too much space in his family already… "By the way, Mom and Dad don't know, but… I go by 'Gus' now."

The last thing he heard before closing the door on her was a quiet, "Got it."

It only took a few minutes before Joy knocked on his door again. Gus just stared at her quietly after opening it; he wasn't the one with something to apologize for.

"I'm sorry," she said without any fuss. "I should have asked questions instead of yelling."

She seemed sincere enough… Gus stepped to the side and nodded her towards the bed. Shawn still hadn't left his corner. She walked in but didn't sit, instead turning to Shawn to say, "Gus told me I freaked you out. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to."

A weight lifted off of Gus' shoulders as acceptance surrounded him. He and his sister had always fought, but they'd always been able to make up quickly. It was nice that at least some things stayed the same. Shawn didn't seem to know how to respond, so Gus jumped in to direct the attention away from him. "So, what's it like to shadow a lawyer like Rosalind Sharpe?"

Joy's smile held the same warmth he felt in his heart. They held the look for a second before she sat down and started talking animatedly. "She's the best! I've learned so much from her already, and I got to see her make a grown man cry. Don't worry; he deserved it."

"Misogynist?" Gus guessed.

"Oh yeah. Honestly, there's a lot of that in the lawyer circles. But Rosalind says that we can use it to our advantage and it's good to know who thinks we're just walking breasts on legs." She grinned, the expression reminiscent of a shark staring at its prey. "Someday I'm going to be just like her."

For the first time in his life, Gus could see why she wanted to be a lawyer. "So are you allowed to talk about that case, or is it still hush hush?"

"I can't get into the details, but..." Joy leaned forward and excitedly described the scene: a crowded court room, a sleezy lawyer, and a man who thought he owned the world. She was just getting to the good part when another knock rapped on the door.

"What now?" Gus asked the universe. He opened the door to see his mother on the other side. "Do you need us to clean already?"

She blinked and her mouth closed over the words she'd been ready to say. She recovered quickly and said calmly, "Not yet, no. I heard you and Joy arguing… It's the very beginning of Christmas break and we haven't seen her since last spring. Don't you think you should at least try to get along?"

Of course. She'd always been the one to break up their fights in the past… It was time to make her night.

"We are getting along." Gus stepped back so she could see Joy in his room. He let a small smirk show as her jaw dropped. Anytime he could prove to her that he was growing up was a win.

"Hi, Mom," Joy said with a matching smirk as she waved.

"Oh," their mother answered quietly. Tears began to fill her eyes and she pressed her folded hands to her lips "I'm so proud of my babies…"

When was the last time she'd said she was proud of him?

Joy answered in the stunned silence. "We love you too, but point of information: we're not babies anymore."

"No. No you're not…." Their mother fanned herself as she blinked the tears away. "Um… One hour. I could use help with cleaning in one hour."

"Got it," Gus answered numbly. What was going on? Why couldn't he ever understand his mother like he did Shawn?

She smiled warmly at him before walking away with a happy sway in her hips. She was so weird…

"What was that about?" he asked as he closed the door.

Joy just made an unsure noise with a shrug. "It's Mom; who knows."

"She was tired of the fights," a third voice chimed in as Shawn finally broke his silence.

"But we always fight," Joy answered, keeping her promise to Gus and treating Shawn like she would anyone else.

"Not just you…" Shawn glanced at Gus before staring back at the ground. "She had a fight with Mr. Guster I think, then… J-Joy fought them about slaves, then Gus fought about me, then you fought together… she was ready to fight to make it stop."

"How do you–"

"Joy…" Gus said in warning. "He's good at knowing things. I'd trust what he says."

"But…" Joy sighed, clearly unhappy at not being able to cross examine Shawn's testimony. "Fine. At least we were able to make her happy; I haven't seen her like that in years."

"Christmas miracles," Gus said with a smile.

"Amen," Joy agreed.

Maybe it was going to be a good break after all.