“Yuh! That does happen!” Aisha said. She looked over at Rachel and Parian. “I’m not crazy right? He’s being weird?”

“He died, it’s allowed,” Rachel said.

“Big brother, Brian, bro. I’ve been giving you your space, letting you decide when you came to us, and I kinda hoped it would be a week ago, really hoped it would be halfway through this last week when things were quieter. But I can cut you some slack because Rachel’s totally right. You bit it. But you gotta meet me halfway right now, or I’m going to lose my mind.”

“Halfway is hard,” he said. “I have holes in my memories, and I feel like my brain held onto the bad, without enough of the good. Some… tough stuff is sticking in there.”

“Ah,” Aisha said.

She wasn’t sure how to handle that. That was the thing with her and Brian. Their dad had been a hardass and their mom had been an addict who’d thought Skidmark was a neat cape because he was good for a laugh. Their dad had been there to crack down on homework, work ethic, athletics, teaching them to fight, and he’d really taught Brian all of that crap. Aisha had learned from her mom about street smarts, dealing with the shittier side of humanity, and how much you could get away with if you didn’t give a shit. Brian had stuck with their dad because the asshole didn’t know how to raise a girl, so he’d gotten more of Dad, while Aisha stuck with Mom… or learned to survive while Mom did her own thing, more like.

Between the two parents, Aisha had always imagined that they’d gotten a good overall set of lessons in the ways of the world. But they’d missed out on one key component.

“Want a hug?” Aisha asked her brother. She saw him hesitate. “A kiss on the cheek? I can pat your head, Rachel’s told me that works wonders.”

He shook his head, and his smile was slight, unsure. “No thanks.”

“I draw the line at french kisses,” Aisha told him.

“Stop,” Parian said, giving Aisha a light push on the shoulder. “He’s saying he’s going through a tough time.”

“It’s fine,” Brian said, even though he didn’t look fine. The lack of fine seemed to be more general than because of her. “Aisha’s the same as ever. That’s reassuring in its own way.”

“I read now. Is that enough to shake your image of me and put me in that comfortable-but-not-too-comfortable territory?” Aisha asked.

“It helps,” he said.

“Aunt Rachel?”

They looked around. Roman was leaning out of the door into the hallway.

“Oh, Aisha’s there too,” Roman said. “Can Aroa and I go grab more food from the caf?”