“Because I was told most of you were there to talk to me, and most isn’t good enough. You’ll all stay with me until I’m sure I don’t need to be concerned about any of you.”

“I don’t think you need to worry anymore,” Byron said. He sighed.

He switched to Tristan, without a second thought.

I could see Tristan’s expression change as he realized he was free. It started somewhere in the neighborhood of anger, and it became something closer to fury.

It froze and became momentary confusion as Goddess set her hand on his shoulder. Coming back to reality.

“Save that anger for our enemies,” she said. “We have plenty of them waiting for us.”

There was no argument.

Gleaming Interlude 9.x

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Tristan asked. “What the hell?”

Byron stared his brother in the eyes, incredulous. “What’s wrong with me?”

“Did you take drugs or something? You’re all aggro, not making any sense.”

“You’re not fucking listening!”

Tristan made a face, shaking his head a little. “Then I guess we’re not going to get anywhere, huh? I’ve got stuff to do that isn’t being yelled at for random shit.”

He headed for the door. Byron stepped into his way, grabbing for his brother’s shirt-collar. Tristan’s attempt to shove the hand aside produced a small ripping sound.

“My shirt! Let go!”

“Sucks to lose stuff you care about, doesn’t it?” Byron asked.

“Oh fuck you, you didn’t lose anything. Now let go. If you want to bitch and shout about stuff, the parents will be home soon, you can share your feelings while we eat and they can tell you that you’re making no fucking sense!”

Tristan’s attempt to push Byron aside and leave didn’t get him anywhere, except to risk tearing his shirt further. He grabbed Byron’s wrist, hard.

“Tried that. They take your side.”

“Because I’m right!”

“You’re not right!” Byron raised his voice, which went a note too high. There were tears in his eyes.

Tristan screwed his face up in disgust. “Come on, By. Name one person we know who would look at what you’re doing right now and say ‘hey man, cool. Good for you for handling this this way.”

“That’s the whole fucking issue!” Byron jerked his hand, tearing the shirt on purpose this time. Tristan grabbed him with his other hand, fingers digging into Byron’s shoulder and wrist, and shoved him against the door.

Through grit teeth and pants of breath, Byron growled the words. “Do you know how hard it is to make friends? To get people who have my back?”

“It’s not hard at all! And that’s the furthest thing from the issue!”