Sibling Squabbles!

He didn’t want her to leave ….

That brought a little hope to Emma as she reached out to comfort her brother, but quickly withdrew when a knock had startled her. She had been so focused on Kyren she hadn’t noticed his roommate sneak up on them. His rather rude roommate at that, it was obvious that Kyren was in no state for introductions and still the boy he’d be sharing a dorm with for the rest of the year, had no respect for either of them barging in on their personal conversation. Dropping her eyes to the ground Emma wasn’t sure what to do she wasn’t good with new people, and although she recognized him from class the boy had yet to say two words to her until now….and with the current situation this hadn’t been the best time.

Kyren jumped as the outside world made itself known in the form of his roommate. It had felt like time had stopped as the Stills siblings had their conversation, but now, he had to face the fact he would have to be more careful from now on. Or things like having a rude roommate barge in at the worst possible time might happen more often. Sighing, Kyren turned to face said roommate. He looked slightly familiar, but he couldn't say he remembered his name. Not bothering to wipe his tears, Kyren said, "Well, now that we know what each other looks like..." Trailing off, he simply grabbed the side of the door and pushed it closed before leaning against it. Putting a hand up to his face, massaging his forehead with his fingertips, he mumbled, "What great timing he has," sarcasm evident. Then he thought of something, "Do you want to leave, Emma?" Kyren had technically prevented that with his actions just now, but he wouldn't stop her if she said yes. He'd cry some more and maybe be sick again, but he wouldn't stop her; he had more dignity than that.

Ah-Gyul pursed his lips. He had probably not chosen the best manner in which to do things, as evidenced by Emma averting her eyes silently and his teary-eyed roommate's dry response before shutting the door in his face. He considered the situation briefly, soon realizing he hadn't had a full meal in a couple of days--that wouldn't do.

The refrigerator had been stocked recently--Ah-Gyul had almost forgotten he'd hired someone to do his initial shopping--so he pulled out the ingredients for BBQ beef.
He began mincing and grating ingredients into a tantalizing marinade before coating the thin steaks in it. Suddenly Ah-Gyul remembered the unfortunate thing about his beloved meal... He had to wait another day to cook and eat it. He sealed and put the beef away and and turned back to the fridge. He pulled out chicken that he set to cooking in another skillet, and instant ramen noodles which he cooked to boiling.
Cutting the poultry into small, thin pieces, he added it to the soon-finished noodles and seasoning. Thinking about the food some more, the boy immediately added some of the excess spices to the pot, enjoying the aromatic steam. This meal was quick, and nowhere near as delicious as the next day's dinner would be, but he could settle for it.
Maybe....Just maybe his roommate would accept some of it as dinner--Ah-Gyul had made extra servings without fully thinking. The Korean was not one for apologizing, but he realized he might have been in the wrong in his haste to introduce himself. The boy would never say sorry about his manners just before, but he felt he should offer the food and good (at the very least neutral) will anyway, to Kyren and the girl.
He set out two bowls and the remaining noodles on the dining table, after serving himself and writing a note to the two to eat the ramen if they liked.
Ah-Gyul then took his own bowl and retreated to his own room to dine in solitude.

Emma’s gaze stayed on the floor as Kyren spoke to his roommate, the door slamming in its frame causing the tiny girl to jump slightly. Looking up as her brother slumped against the door all she could do was nod to agree with him – his roommate did have rather horrible timing...but now she was feeling rather ill mannered. The boy –whose name escaped her at the moment- had no idea what he was walking into, but his presence did manage to bring the Stills siblings back to reality. Time hadn’t stopped during their talk, and no the world hadn’t crumbled around them as Kyren felt it might. It was certainly past curfew, being caught in the boy’s dorms at this hour would have dire consequences regardless if it had been her brother’s dorm or not. How did she keep finding herself in this situation? Her roommate must be wondering if she truly existed, seeing as they had yet to properly meet each other.

"Do you want to leave, Emma?"

It took a few seconds for Kyren’s words to sink in. One minute he was telling her that he wanted her to stay…and the next he was asking if she wanted to leave…Barely shaking her head Emma removed her glasses rubbing her tired eyes, this was going to be a long night… Sliding them back in place Emma lifted her head to properly look at her brother answering, “Yes, I would like to leave Ky.” Waiting for her brother to step away from the door where he had been preventing her leaving, she exited the bathroom. Once free from the tiny confined area Emma stretched out her arms taking a deep breath, “Better!” She said dropping her hands down looking back at her brother, a small smile on her lips. If he thought she was leaving the dorm if was mistaken…but if she hadn’t gotten out of the bathroom soon, she just might have lost her mind. “Are you leaving the bathroom as well?”

Taking in Emma's appearance as she stood there, Kyren thought she looked tired. The instinct to tell her things would be okay pushed to the forefront of his mind, but he held it at bay. Now, more than ever, he believed the opposite would come true. He felt the phantom touch of panic as Emma told him that she would rather leave, but when she stopped outside of the bathroom, her true meaning chased it away for now. He had given her the choice, but how long would be until she didn't choose him anymore? Kyren would like nothing more than to smile back at Emma, to go back to the way things were just yesterday, but he wasn't so sure it would happen anytime soon, if ever again. Still, he wasn't in the mood for crying and feeling childish, so he attempted to fix his hair by threading his fingers through the fringes, which had become unruly in his dash to the bathroom, and walked through the doorway slowly. He thought he smelled faintly the aroma of food, and figured if talking wasn't working that well right now, maybe eating will. Sounding weary himself, he asked Emma, "Are you hungry?"

Groaning, Ah-Gyul stretched and slid out of bed. He fumbled for his glasses, rubbing his forehead with his other hand as he did so. His sleep hadn't been restful, and for some reason he awoke as stressed as he had been the night before, but somewhat sore as well. Ah-Gyul took his things to the bathroom where he showered quickly and thoroughly. His expression was dark as he stepped out and wrapped a towel around his waist. Condensation clung to the tiles and mirror and the Korean's brow,
I need to clear out my head. I can't work like this... Ah-Gyul took a deep breath, expelling the negative emotions plaguing his mind or at least any outward signs of them. He dressed himself in a black blazer and pine-green shirt and dark jeans before striding out of the bathroom. Ah-Gyul had no clue if his roommate had yet gotten up and his face momentarily held an odd expression when he saw drips of black makeup along the sink edge, remembering their less than friendly encounter of the previous night.
Was his roommate normally that unstable, or had Ah-Gyul caught him at a particularly bad moment? He exhaled through his nostrils and shut the bathroom door behind himself, reacting slightly because he'd closed it harder than he'd intended.
Ah-Gyul felt something like relief when he realized the food he'd set out had been eaten, but he had little desire to interact with his roommate or the girl more than was necessary. I doubt they care much for me, either, he thought as he seated himself at the dining table with his computer to check his email. He'd head out shortly.

The night was a roller-coaster of emotions and even after filling their bellies the mood between the Stills siblings was still tense and disheartening. Emma spent the majority of the night talking with her brother, curled up at the end of his bed snuggling Riza under her chin. Some reason having the soft fluffy bear near made her feel at ease. In the younger years of Emma’s life-- whenever she had a nightmare or was feeling under the weather, she would come tiptoeing into Kyren’s room. Curling up at the foot of his bed she’d snuggle Riza and everything would magically be better…or at least in her mind it was. Their close sibling relationship was slowly tearing and from the looks of it this wasn’t going to ”magically” get better. This was something they were both going to have to eventually face, and it wouldn’t be easy.

Morning was an unwelcomed sight. Groaning Emma rolled over burying her head deeper into the blankets, the events of the night before still lingering in the back of her mind. “Why does this keep happening to me?” She silently asked herself. It seemed that within her first week at Valevay she had managed to sleep in her own bed only one time. Her roommate probably thought she didn’t even exist, since neither of them had had the chance to meet each other. Unable to summon the energy to get up and greet the morning, Emma closed her eyes waiting for Kyren’s annoying alarm to insist she get up.

As Kyren thought, it was a tough battle keeping down the food that his roommate had prepared. However, as the Stills were not the wealthiest of families, the siblings had learned not to waste food. It had crossed his mind that the meal was his roommate's way of apologizing, but he hadn't come to a decision about whether he would think anything more of what happened between them that night; he was dealing with something much more pressing. Staring into the bowl, he thought about the current situation. Kyren most certainly wasn't happy with it, but who's to say that this arrangement was permanent? It was only one date, and Kyren was almost positive that Emma would realize her mistake soon enough. But being positive wasn't really his thing, and he was forced to realize this as his previous thoughts made him feel no better.

Sighing yet again, he picked up both his and Emma's bowl, spending only half a second of triumph at almost finishing the food, and allowed Emma to precede him into his room. He found one of his old T-shirts and one of the few pairs of shorts he owned for her to wear, and left for the bathroom to get changed into his own sleepwear. Returning, he prepared for a long night. Talking to Emma was always welcome, but the strain was still there, and Kyren wasn't sure when (or if) it would leave.

Staring at the ceiling for the rest of the night, he was startled by the buzzing of the alarm clock on his phone. Knowing he was going to look even rougher today, Kyren just laid there, unsure about what was going to get him through the day.

And there it was, as bothersome as ever! The annoyingly persistent buzzing of Kyren’s cell phone alarm- insisting that the Stills siblings get out of bed. Seeing that her brother wasn’t going to turn it off, Emma forced herself to get up. Adjusting her glasses, which thankfully hadn’t been crushed by her in the middle of the night, Emma silenced his alarm setting the phone back down on his bed side table.

“Kyren?” Emma called out her voice slightly hoarse from sleep. “Kyren?” She repeated, this time tugging at the back of her brother night shirt trying to stir him out of bed. “Hey sleepyhead, it’s time to get up. We have gym class this morning, and I will not let you be late!” Emma insisted tossing the blanket’s off of him. She wasn’t going to dwell on the tense conversation of the night before. There were more pressing matters at the moment. Like how the small (far from athletic) brunette was going to survive this year’s physical educations class.

Hopefully she wouldn’t get stuck with Mr. Robinson again. Because of Emma’s lack of “hustle” he was constantly yelling for her to pick up her pace demanding that she take another lap or two around the track whenever she came in last on their classes daily run . Honestly she didn’t think she would come out of his class alive, but he insisted it was to condition her body and push her limits. Dreadful as it was Emma would eventually have to thank him- because of his rough and constant physical curriculum, she was able to avoid being caught by a large hungry looking dog that had gotten loose from one of their neighbors yard during summer break.

Searching under the blanket at the end of Kyren's bed Emma found one her hair ties that had fallen out of her hair while she slept. Tying her hair up out of her face she turned her attention back to her brother to see if he was actually getting up.

Kyren wasn't very keen on moving from his spot on the bed, but knowing Emma, she would only have so much patience with his tendencies to wait until the last possible moment to get up. Groaning at the words "gym class", he rolled over and out of bed, but made no effort to rush his morning routine. He had a feeling that they were going to be late no matter what they did. "It's not like gym is something to cry over missing in the first place," Kyren grumbled as he brushed his teeth. Sighing, he got ready to exit the dorm, making sure Emma had everything she would need before locking the door behind them.

Cold feet walked aross the bathroom floor as their owner grumbled under his breath about morning and torture. Kyren was sick of being so damn moody, and as it was obviously not making the situation any better, he figured he had better snap out of it, before Emma suggested that he go to some form of counceling to their mother when it came time to visit her. It was an extremely unpleasing idea to entertain, and while his sister might mean it in jest, their mom might not think the same.

Standing before the mirror, hair brushed down in place of the recently common sight of unruly strands everywhere, eyeliner applied as well as he had patience for, and an outfit consisting of a pair of grey jeans and a 30 Seconds to Mars band tee, Kyren was determined to look as unaffected by his problems as he wanted to feel. Glancing at the time via his cell phone, he allowed a smirk to cross his features as he realized he just might be late to class. Yup, he thought, I'm on my way to being back to normal.

Link: History