- "So that's why I wanted you to have this."
The apartment was dimly lit and cozy. The snow outside had let up but the cloud was still a perpetual gray, the interior of the home glowing with scentless candles and permeated with the smell of tea. Oliver was seated across the dining room table with his brother on the other, his face utterly perplexed as he held his glass to his face. Behind it the twitch of his lip was masked, his eyes focused on the thing Shiloh had presented to him.
"I think it's got some sort of magical properties." Shiloh was explaining as he turned the dulled glass eye over in his palm. Whatever life had captivated it was there no longer, but Shiloh couldn't deny the strange buzz that he felt as he held onto it. "Maybe you could make a better use out of it."
Oliver finally set the glass down with a meaningful thud, tea nearly splashing out of the side. "It's an eye Shiloh." And then came the exasperated sigh, "An eye from some demon thing that you—what, fought in a park?" His eyes narrowed.
"I mean, I brought jelly too." He produced a jar after insuring that the eye wasn't going to roll off of the table. Blackberry, homemade, 2016 was written out on a side label. "That's what I went there for in the first place. Christmas gifts. I just never got around to giving them out..." He seemed apologetic about this, actually. "There was a lot going on."
"You know I don't care that much about holidays." Oliver said simply, not really caring either way about the whole matter. Still, his eyes glimmered as he picked up the jam jar into his hands. Now he was the one turning it over slowly in his fingers, marveling in the quilted texture under his palms. Ever since regaining control with his sense of touch he had been like this. Never again would he take that for granted. When Shiloh didn't say anything more and gestured to the eye again, Oliver sighed and set the jar down.
Something shifted in his being when he touched the eye, like a buzz or a murmur or a whisper that he couldn't parse. His vision felt shaky, but then it cleared. He could feel the magic behind his eyes.
"It's... definitely something unnatural." He said after a slow moment, "Something different."
"You'll hold onto it then yeah?" Shiloh reached for his glass of cocoa, savoring the warmth as he drank in the liquid. "If it gives you any problems you can always like, give it back... I guess."
"So you're not trying to pawn off a weird eldritch artifact on me then? I'm cursed enough." Oliver cracked a joke, but it was hard to tell when he was joking because of how straight he kept his face.
Shiloh sighed, but laughed. He knew Oliver well enough to catch it. "Look, it ain't cursed. I just thought... maybe you could benefit from it more." He looked up, "I noticed it sharpening my vision. It's kinda useful for art I guess, but you do a lot of reading. It might help with the strain and your headaches and that sorta stuff..."
"I suppose." He turned it over in his hand again. "That's rather thoughtful of you."
"It's not like I did it 'cause I want something." Shiloh said with a huff. "I just... know you're new to magic." He looked to his cocoa, "I just wanted to help."
"I know Shiloh, I know."
"Mm..."
They were both silent for a long moment.
"So just keep it on you okay?" Shiloh finally asked, desperate for that reaffirmation.
And Oliver just shook his head, "You know I can take care of myself. But yeah, I'll do it for your sanity."
"And you know we gotta start training, right?" Shiloh went on.
"Training?"
"Yeah, like magic training. I'm not throwing you to the wolves."
"But—"
"And Moonwalker training, since it looks like you're neck deep in that s**t."
"But—!"
"But nothin'! You're my younger brother. I gotta look out for you."
"Oh for ******** sake Shiloh we're twins."
"Yeah, but I'm still the older one Ollie."
Sigh. "By like ten whole minutes." A pause. "But I guess it might be nice. The training. How much do you even know about moonwalkers?"
"A lot more than I did." Shiloh seemed eager to share what he knew, "It's probably a better conversation to have with Jamie, though. But we know a lot more than we did when he started to turn. Actually, the next full moon's..." He pulled out his phone, on which he had a tracking app specifically for moon phases, "The.... tenth?"
"It's already the second..."
"Yeah, which means you're almost there. Any idea what you even are?" He tilted his head at his brother, but Ollie only shrugged and shook his head. "Well, we'll get you to Otherworld either way. It's nothing to be scared of." He smiled reassuringly, "I mean, I think Jamie seems to actually... kind of like it now? It's sort of an inconvenience, but it's got perks I think. Also having a pack sounds nice..." He had the Court, but they weren't nearly as tight knit as the shape-shifters were. "Having a family, y'know."
"I do have a family still, Shiloh." Ollie rolled his eyes because he wasn't at all accustomed to the mushy s**t. "I got you."
"...That actually kinda means a lot, y'know?"
Oliver huffed. Shiloh kept smiling.
"I'm just saying. I know how anxious you get over s**t." He sipped his cocoa, "And I know you hate to tell people that you get anxious, which is why I'm telling you all this crap. Ain't because I like the sound of my own voice." Actually, it was rather dry, which was why he kept sipping at his cocoa in between conversations lines.
"...I mean, I knew you always cared about me and stuff." Oliver started to say slowly, tentatively, "But you've really... grown up?"
"What— really?"
"You don't act like it much still, but you're way more responsible." He nodded, "You act like you have a purpose."
"I mean—I do, I guess..."
"It's nice. I always hated seeing you so aimless."
Shiloh tilted his head.
"You would get so worked up in yourself that you'd mope. You'd dwell." Oliver was staring at his tea, "You'd get so lethargic and you'd lose your will to fight. You have things helping you forward now."
"Well it's not like I'm replaceable." Shiloh huffed.
Ollie's smile only got wider, "I know Shiloh, I've been telling you that for years."
"N-Not even..."
"Way even."
They stared each other down, though Shiloh was sufficiently embarrassed and Oliver was wearing a gentle empathetic smile. "I'm just proud of you. That's all. Whatever's going down in this place, we can fight it together right?"
"Duh." Shiloh rolled his eyes, "Don't be dumb."
And they both broke into a laugh, the sound almost like the same voice layered over one another.
1,179 words