Disillusioned

Four

I tapped my finger along my glass of water, staring down onto my lap. Lucas had his attention drawn to a few documents spread out in front of him inside an open binder. He was intently concentrating as he slid his thumb down the edge of one of the papers, silently mouthing off words as he went down the page.

I zoned in on the snake tattoo sculpted on his hand; it was coiled around the stem of a rose and progressed down the back of his hand until it disappeared under his sleeve. It was among other small tattoos that peppered his fingers and larger ones that merged together under his knuckles. I squinted in an effort to visualize some of the newer ones that I hadn't seen before. Lucas and Warren alike had been getting tattoos together for a while now; their first one being since Warren got back from basic training.

He peered up from over his glasses, catching my observant gaze. "Something interest you?" His deep voice was raspy, laced with sleep that he wouldn't grant his body.

I placed the glass on the desk and cleared my throat. "Nope," I replied, displaying a half hearted smile.

He stared at me, unamused before reverting his attention back to his pile of documents. He continued his way down the page as I threw my head back over my chair, bored and cranky. I threw my arms over my head, crossing them to stretch out a bit as I let out an obnoxiously loud yawn.

When he failed to look back up, I picked up my glass and chugged the rest of my water to soothe my burning throat. It had progressively gotten worse since we came back from the hospital but I refused to say anything, afraid that I'd be dragged to a doctor's office against my wishes. I despised any type of doctor; all they did was lie. "This won't hurt," "It'll be over before you know it," "Just gonna take a little blood;" next thing you know, the woman sticks me with a needle for the umpteenth time because she can't find a good vein.

Yeah, no thanks I'll pass.

I huffed out, annoyed and tired, as I watched my brother through half-lidded eyes carry on with work I couldn't give a flying fuck about.

"So did you wanna reschedule or like..." I returned the glass to its place on Dad's desk just as Lucas finished scanning the current page he was on.

He abruptly closed the binder shut, trapping the documents inside. "No," he spoke, clasping his hands together as he now gave me his full attention. His jaded eyes fell onto the transparent glass before looking back at me disapprovingly.

"What?"

"There's a coaster there for a reason," he spoke bluntly.

I sighed, leaning forward to lift up my glass and put it on the light-wooded, round coaster. I peered back up at his watchful gaze, "Are you satisfied now your highness?" I asked sassily, slightly irritated but mostly cranky due to the late hour.

"I would be better without the attitude." He peeled off his black-framed reading glasses, sending me a look.

Ooou, sassy Lucas. Well two can play at that game.

"I would be better if I didn't have to sit through you doing your homework," I retorted, beginning to scoot my chair closer in towards the desk. I paused midway, hesitantly looking up with a sheepish look on my face. I didn't know what came over me —whether it was the sleep deprivation or the dread of the impending conversation— but I was feeling bold and I was loving every second of it.

He studied me through narrowed eyes, displaying the scrutinizing glare that I had a feeling I would be seeing a lot more of. He cleared his throat and turned away, having ignored my snide comeback. He flipped open his laptop that was angled on the corner of the desk, silently typing something quickly into the keyboard. I smiled victoriously, assuming I had shot down his defenses and that he wasn't going to try to mess with me again.