Where we come from

I tilted my head at her. "What do you mean you don't know? It seems like you spend a lot of time with him."

I nodded slightly.

I stole a piece of jerky, giving her a good-nature smile. "You know, I have- had a brother. He was great."

I tilted my head slightly as if asking about him.

I nodded and adjusted in my seat before biting a bit off of my jerky. "He was... great. He looked out for me. He's the only one who did..."

I rubbed her back a bit.

((What’s her brother’s name?))

((Cause it’d be kinda cliche and kinda cool if Icarus was her brother...))

((I don't remember naming him, but that would be awesome!))

I smiled at her. "I-He, went to the war. He went to war so we could have a better life, you know? He, uh..." I swallowed and forced the tears back. "He came back under the flag."

I frowned a little and wrote ‘Name?’ On a little notebook I kept with me.

I smiled a bit and looked down at my lap. "He had a weird name, I had the normal one of us."

I waited.

((Hey, I don't know how the time lines would fit, but I have a vague idea.))

"Icarus, by the way. His name was Icarus."

((What is your idea?))

I tensed and quickly grabbed my bag before going through it, I pulled out a picture of me, Icarus, and Aiden and showed it to her.

((Maybe he was drafted to Colorado before Alaska and that's how.))

I looked down at the picture. The neat auburn hair that was kinda growing from the haircut he got when he enlisted, his goofy smile, the mole on his neck.
I looked at Autumn. "Where did you get this? Who are you?"

((Sure!))

I wrote, ‘He was my boyfriend.”

I bit my tongue and closed my eyes. No. No, he would have brought me along, he wouldn't leave me unless it was safer. I opened my eyes before I stood up and left the room, slamming the door behind me.

I flinched when she slammed the door.

I went outside to take some air. My brother wouldn't... he couldn't leave me if it wasn't safe. I sat down on the curb. Maybe I was always just something that could be thrown away when convenient. He didn't want his trouble-making little sister to get in the way of someone better.

I didn’t mean to upset her...

Aiden: I woke up when the door slammed shut. I quickly walked over to Autumn. She looked troubled. "Hey, hey. What's wrong?"

I wrote, ‘Icarus is her brother and I accidentally upset her.’

I rubbed her back. "It's okay, it's not your fault."

I sniffled a little.

I sighed and looked up as Tea came back in, her face blank. I was about to throw her out the window, but she looked at Autumn. "Can you tell me how he died?"