Ghost Scarab

-A-

Corey was in the living room playing Skyrim on his Xbox and Sang was stretched out on the couch idly watching. Corey had given her a Superman T-shirt and a pair of old black boxer shorts. Sang had tightened them using a rubber band so they weren't constantly at risk of falling down.

Corey had been so furious at Brandon earlier. Rationally he knew that Brandon didn't actually think it would have been better to leave Sang picking pockets at the mall. He knew his brother. He knew how caring and fiercely loyal he was. He also knew that Brandon sometimes had a bit of a temper and could say things that were hurtful without even realizing it. However, even knowing all that, when he saw the amount of hurt in Sang's eyes it made him want to throttle his twin.

He had been reluctant to leave the two of them alone but when, fifteen minutes later, they both exited his bedroom looking as though a weight had been lifted from their chests he knew that it had been the right thing to do. He was still going to demand an explanation from Brandon but that could wait until later.

The sound of wolves howling alerted Corey of an impending attack and he readied his character for battle. The wolves were easily defeated and he turned towards Sang to ask, "Are you sure you don't want to play something with me?"

Sang shook her head and reached down to pick up the whiteboard that was resting on the floor by the couch. Since Corey often used whiteboards when he was working on equations there were quite a few tucked away in various spots around his apartment. He had gotten another one out for her to use.

Sang wrote, "Thank you for the offer but I'm feeling worn out. All I want to do is rest here for a little while before I go home and go to bed."

Just the thought of Sang returning to that place made Corey's stomach curdle and he wanted to at least delay her return there for a little while. He would prefer to delay it indefinitely but for the time being, he would settle for just a little while longer. "Why don't you just stay here tonight? If you go home we'll just have to go fetch you tomorrow anyway."

The look of wonder and confusion on Sang's face when he said that broke his heart a little. The expression she wore clearly told him that the concept of someone wanting to have her around was completely foreign to her. He could relate to a certain extent. He had never been able to live up to his parents' expectations. His parents had this vision of what the Henshaw twins should be like and while Brandon was able to play the part for their benefit Corey never quite managed it. He was shunned by his parents for being more interested in computers and math than sports and at school, he was shunned by his peers for that same reason. However, he at least had Brandon and he knew Brandon was on his side no matter what.

Corey wondered if Sang had her voice at the moment if she would have told him how she was feeling or even give her insecurities a voice by asking him why they wanted her around. But she did neither of those things and instead wrote on the whiteboard, "Where is everyone else?"

Brandon who had walked in just as Sang had finished writing out her question answered, "They had to make a stop."

He walked across the room with an iPad in his hands and gently patted Sang's legs, silently asking her to make room for him on the couch. Sang bent her legs at the knees and Brandon took a seat.

Brandon had been on the couch for less than a minute when he felt Sang subtly try to stick her toes between his back and the couch. He looked at her smirking and asked, "What are you doing?"

Sang returned Brandon's smirk with a slightly sheepish smile of her own and wrote out, "Warming my toes."

Brandon was unable to resist teasing her a little so he schooled his expression to one of mock disapproval and said, "And you decided the best way to do that was by putting your cold toes on me? Do I look like a heating pad to you? If your feet are cold I can grab a pair of socks for you."