I have a tendency to wear my mind on my sleeve

Koa

I'm the king, and you're the queen
and we will stumble through heaven

It isn't just criminals who have made use of the tangled root system. Children, too, scramble through the dangerous anti-canopy, searching for secret passages and hidden coves to claim as clubhouse or hideaway, challenging each other to go a little deeper, terror and exhilaration equal in their young hearts.

Or so it had been for Koa and Noe, not so long ago. These days it's rare to find the Dragoon in the tangled system,  but at one point he'd basically lived here. In the months after their mother died, when the world had surged into the sky and their father had fallen into despair, it was here the children made their refuge.

So of course it here he returns when he needs to heal.

He's not alone. Pipsqueak is with him, only permitted to explore the places where they painstakingly put in floor.  And their mother is here, too, or the ghost of her at least, present in the scarves that drape the makeshift walls, in the pictures hung from trailing vines, in the long-forgotten stuffed dragon that Koa now holds before him, a sigh on his lips. He's grown too tall for the hideout, has to curl and duck to fit, but there's something comforting in this precious space that blocks out the rest of the world.

"Life's a bitch," Koa tells the dragon, while Pipsqueak tries to chew on its worn out tail. "Adulthood sucks. How'd you make it look so easy, Ma?" Sighing heavily, he leans back into the trees and fabric, fingers running over Pipsqueak, bloodshot eyes drifting shut.

If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight

{/code}

Why you got it in for me?
Is it cause I bring it to your knees?

The hideaway nestled amongst the roots of the Grotto was not the first place that Noe thought to look for her brother, but it also wasn't the last. It had been some time since she'd wandered these tangles, but it was still a place she came to find solace when things got hard. And, after checking at home and the usual haunts - like Molly's - and finding no trace of Koa, it was to their old skyhouse that she went.

She clambered through the roots, cursing occasionally as she tripped or banged her head, navigating the familiar path with more difficulty than when she was younger. Though still small in stature, as a child she had been smaller still, and it had been much easier to duck beneath branches. At least as an adult it was easier to clamber over them, and she smiled at the memory of trying to do so when she was younger.

When she finally popped into the skyhouse, she half expected it to be empty, full of nothing but ghosts of a distant past. But then she saw Koa, looking so dejected that her heart broke, and she climbed in, sliding past Pip to sit on the planks beside him close enough that their shoulders touched. "Hey," she said, soft and affectionate. Then, more playfully, to try and cheer him up: "Who do I need to beat up?"

Throw water on electricity just to see
If the sparkle make us feel the way we used to feel

Noe

Koa

I'm the king, and you're the queen
and we will stumble through heaven

He hears her coming. It's hard to miss the sound of snapping branches and muffled curses, and besides that, Noe has never been a quiet child. He doesn't open his eyes as she slinks into the tiny space that they once could share comfortably, though her presence does soften his expression by degrees, the abject sadness giving way to a wry and weary smile.

"Hey kiddo," Koa greets softly, unfolding and refolding his legs to give her more room. The little stuffed dragon perches on his knees; the little live dragon scrambles over to Noe, climbing into her lap with a series of concerned and expectant croons. He scoffs a laugh at her offer of violence, one copper eye cracking open to fix her with a slightly disapproving - albeit grateful - look. "You couldn't take Pip in a fight," he chides his sister, shoulder jostling playfully against hers.

Then he sighs, his expression falling, fingers picking idly at a seam in the stuffed Fang. "Besides, it doesn't matter - there's nobody to beat up. I'm fine." This could not be a more obvious lie, despite the weak smile that totally gives away his lack of fineness backs it up.

If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight

{/code}

Why you got it in for me?
Is it cause I bring it to your knees?

At Koa's greeting, Noe made a face. "I'm hardly a kid anymore," she pointed out wryly, though from her tone you could tell she didn't really mind. She'd always be Koa's kid sister, and that was just the way she liked it. As Pip settled in her lap, she stroked the little dragon absently, her mind far more focused on why her brother was so down. She laughed outright at his suggestion that she couldn't take on Pip in a fight before sticking her tongue out at him. "I can so too," she said petulantly, a joking pout on her face. "I did learn from the best, after all." Koa had been giving her self-defense lessons for a while now, and she could hold her own in a fight, thankyouverymuch.

At Koa's weak smile, Noe pulled her knees to her chest, resting one arm on them, stretching it out to look at her nails. Turning her hand this way and that, she vaguely considered what color to paint them next. "You know," she said, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Why don't we skip past the annoying-kid-sister part to the part where you tell me what's wrong?" She turned her head to look at him with a mixture of fondness and exasperation. She wasn't about to give up until she got something out of him, after all.

Throw water on electricity just to see
If the sparkle make us feel the way we used to feel

Noe

Koa

I'm the king, and you're the queen
and we will stumble through heaven

"Ma was the best," he corrects automatically, ever the dutiful son. But he cracks a ghost of a genuine smile, warmed both by the compliment and the simple presence of his sister. Damn if she isn't a pain in his ads, but at least she'll always be his.

Unlike Soh.

He scowls at the intrusive thought, tugging harder against the loose thread. "It's nothing," Koa says again, but the protest is perfunctory, his fate already sealed. Sighing he leans back against the root wall, holding Fang up toward the low ceiling. "I just... there was a girl. I liked her a lot, and I thought she felt the same." Maybe not the most spectacular revelation, but for Koa, this is big. He's never brought a partner home, let alone pursued a relationship.

"But I was wrong. Turns out she wanted someone else." He shrugs through wry, humorless laugh, angry and hurt. Hes scowling at the stuffed dragon, as though it, and not Sohalia, had broken his heart.

If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight

{/code}

Why you got it in for me?
Is it cause I bring it to your knees?

"Oh." Whatever Noe was expecting, "there was a girl," was not it. Oh, sure, she knew that her brother saw girls, but to have feelings for someone enough to pursue an actual relationship? Her eyebrows rose a little, though she pursed her mouth in disapproval. On the one hand, she must have been some girl, to have caught Koa's eye; on the other, Noe couldn't say much for her taste, if she could choose someone else over Koa.

His humorless laugh brought anger to the surface; though she was the younger sister, she was fiercely protective of her big brother, and for someone to have hurt him? Well, she simply couldn't have that. Just who did this bitch think she was?!

"I'm sorry," she said finally, scarcely contained fury bubbling beneath the surface. "She sounds like a real idiot, to have chosen somebody else over you." It wasn't particularly helpful, of course, but what else was she supposed to say? "Who was she? Are you sure I can't beat her up? I'm pretty sure I could."

Throw water on electricity just to see
If the sparkle make us feel the way we used to feel

Noe

Koa

I'm the king, and you're the queen
and we will stumble through heaven

"She's not an idiot." There he goes again, defending a woman who left him behind isn't here. Who's the idiot now?

Koa heaves another sigh, pulling angrily at the dragon's seams. "You probably could," the boy concedes, his glare only growing fiercer. "But I'd rather you not. I'd hate to have to arrest you for assaulting our new queen." The last word is bit out hoarsely, lodged like a rock in his throat. "Gods, I'm an idiot," Koa exclaims, pressing the plush dragon against his face as though to muffle a scream.

But he doesn't scream. Instead he begins to laugh again, mirthless and angry and somewhat pathetic. "I never even had a chance. She probably had some prince charming waiting for her the whole time, and I was just a fun little game." While this is both uncharitable and (technically) untrue, right now it makes Koa feel a little better to imagine Soh as some sort of villainous seductress who toyed with his heart, rather than a beautiful and enchanting girl who had committed no sin, except to be out of his league.

If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight

{/code}

Why you got it in for me?
Is it cause I bring it to your knees?

Koa's staunch defense of a woman who let him go left Noe scoffing, though she tried to pass off her snort of derision as a cough. She certainly didn't want to make Koa feel worse, but she'd never been much good at hiding her emotions, and that wasn't changing now. She was angry, angrier than even Koa seemed to be, because nobody hurt her big brother and got away with it.

Except, apparently, they did. At 'our new queen,' Noe sat up a little straighter, tilting her head as she regarded her brother. Well, that was unexpected. Whoever she'd been anticipating, the new so-called Heart of Stormbreak had not been it. Koa really knew how to pick 'em. Still, it didn't matter to Noe who this girl was. If she'd turned down Koa, then her decision-making skills were clearly not cut out for leadership.

Her lip curled in a sneer. What a fucking bitch. "She doesn't deserve you," Noe said fiercely. "You're way better than some random nobody who named herself queen. 'Heart of Stormbreak,' my ass."

Throw water on electricity just to see
If the sparkle make us feel the way we used to feel

Noe

Koa

I'm the king, and you're the queen
and we will stumble through heaven

"Language," Koa scolds her gently, without any amount of bite in his voice. It's more reflexive than anything, and he finds himself comforted by the mundanity of it, the normalcy of a sibling relationship crafted and perfected over eighteen years. Here is a woman the boy can rely on, even if he hates the idea of putting any of his grief on her. Since the fall of their mother Koa has carefully held the burden of their family on his shoulders, trying to keep Noe's spirit light, his father's health intact; an Atlas of the Carpenter family.

It feels good to let some go, if only for a night.

There's a schriip! of fabric as the plush dragon gives way, his seams finally splitting beneath prying fingers (and isn't it just poetic, the symbolism of that?). Koa's response is to look stricken, absolutely shocked by the consequences of his actions as fluffy innards peek out through the wound he's torn in his old toy. "I broke Fang," he says blankly, dumbly, as mournful as a child - and then those plaintive, puppy-dog eyes turn to his sister, the already-patched plush outstretched. "We need surgery, Doctor No." It's an old game, where he played nurse to her skillful surgeon, and many toys and hours had been sacrificed to it in their youth.

If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight

{/code}

Why you got it in for me?
Is it cause I bring it to your knees?

Noe snorted at Koa's halfhearted scolding, throwing a lovingly exasperated glance his way. A little language had never bothered the young woman, and she had no problem with throwing around a curse word or two, which her brother well knew. Still, if it made him feel better to chastise her, she'd gladly let him do it - even if she had no intentions of really listening.

The soft rip of fabric drew her gaze down to the stuffed dragon that Koa had been picking at so intently, and she frowned at the new hole even as her brother lamented its appearance. "It's an emergency!" she cried, gently taking the dragon from Koa's outstretched hands, falling into her old role as skillful surgeon as easily as breathing. "Where are the sutures? We have to get this stitched up!" Careful fingers replaced the stuffing that poked out of the hole, squeezing the two sides of the fabric shut as she held out a hand for the needle and thread that she knew her capable nurse would find.

Throw water on electricity just to see
If the sparkle make us feel the way we used to feel

Noe

Koa

I'm the king, and you're the queen
and we will stumble through heaven

Pipsqueak climbs up Noe's legs as she takes the tiny invalid, head tilted uncertainty. She's new to this game, but Koa is not, and he manages (with much bumping of his head and crawling on his knees) to scrounge a well-used sewing kit out of a back corner. Steady hands thread a needle, which is then passed to Noe; "Here you go, doctor," the boy intones, happy to play the dutiful nurse.

The rest of the hour passes much the same, with the pair reminiscing as repairs are complete. When they leave this place, it will be much as they found it, except with a new patch on an old stuffed dragon, and some much needed sutures on Koa's aching heart.

{Fin}

If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight

{/code}