Splintered [Complete | GB+SB]

Seventeen: Do I Dare To Eat a Peach?

For @roxieturner who should have been thanked on last chapter too. And probably the one before that. Definitely this one, and already the next one too. And many of you should be thanking her, as well, because the Tomas weren't supposed to show up until the last chapter, and I didn't think I could pull off #all14 so they were just going to be secondary characters for a couple specific purposes, none of which involved Raven leering at Sang while flicking his lip ring with his tongue.

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When we returned to the dining room, there were two more men there.

Corey had finally sat down on top of a table, still next to Raven with an arm loosely wrapped around his waist, but chatting with Victor. Raven was standing, arms crossed and feet planted like he was waiting for a blow, and he appeared to be alternating between talking or smiling at Corey and glaring at North. Marc was sitting on a chair near Luke, and the two of them and Gabe were showing each other things on their phones and talking in low voices while occasionally glancing around at the others. As if they were plotting and planning...

The two newest arrivals stood slightly back, not quite part of the group.

Brandon was an exact clone of Corey, though while Corey was normally dressed in t-shirts with some terrible geeky pun or reference on them, a button-up shirt hanging open with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of jeans, his twin was wearing an ancient Metallica t-shirt with the sleeves torn off, a pair of loose cargo pants, and steel-toed workboots. He had a smear of greasy dirt along his tanned (and nicely developed!) bicep, his hair was rumpled and sticking up in places like he'd just taken off a hat and run his fingers through it, and he was twirling a set of keys around one finger — it seemed to me like a nervous habit though he was trying hard to pretend otherwise. He saw me enter the room almost immediately and offered up a small, wary smile.

I walked right up to him and stuck out my hand, marveling how nearly identical he and Corey were in appearance, though so different in mannerisms and body language. Corey tended to be relaxed and cheerful, while Brandon — on first impressions — was more aggressive. More waiting-to-be-kicked-when-he's-down. His eyes were shadowed, pained, while Corey's were always bright and alert, looking for the next grand adventure for his brain. He took my hand in a solid grip, gave me a self-conscious half-smile, and said "Hi, Sang."

"Hi Brandon," I answered, squeezing his rough, calloused hand lightly. "Thank you for looking out for me without me even knowing, though I think I spotted you a few times in the back of the parking lot."

"Yeah, I kinda thought you did," he said sheepishly, "though I was hoping you'd just think it was Corey creeping on you."

"Naw, I knew it wasn't Corey, he'd never act that suspicious and, well, look like a rabbit frozen in place wondering if he can make it to his hole before the owl spots him." The man next to him started laughing, a low, rich rumble, while Brandon's cheeks pinked up in embarrassment. "Corey would have probably just waved and flashed me nerd gang signs—" I held up my hand and did the Spock, the Napoleon Dynamite, and something he claimed was the "Ubuntu."

Brandon nodded with a poorly repressed smile, finally releasing my hand. "Noted. Next time I want to pretend to be Corey, I'll just do the most embarrassing hand gestures I can think of and smile like a creeper."

"HEY!"

"You'll have to wear sunglasses too, your eyes will give you away. You'd be fine from a distance but no way up-close."

He gave me an incredulous — yet somehow condescending — look. "We're identical. Even our eyes."

"Not quite. You have a small, permanent line between your brows, and Corey has crinkles on the edges of his from smiling."