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“And the reason you brought me is…? ” Apollo asked, shifting awkwardly on his feet as if the air around them was poisonous and would suffocate him if he stayed still too long.
“Surely you hadn’t forgotten our promise to Rayfa. She requested we bring her something back from the States,” Nahyuta said, poking through the shelf of brightly coloured earrings.
The store they were in was perhaps a bit much, but between Rayfa’s taste and the tastes of the people his dear little brother surrounded himself with, they were bound to find something.
“Yeah, that’s why I bought her something basically when we got here,” Apollo grumbled, looking as if he was trying to find the nearest escape route rather than something for their sister.
“And you didn’t think to bring me? Your brother, who also has to find something for her?”
“Well you’ve known her longer than I have! I’ve barely known her more than a year and you’ve known her her whole life. I figured you’d have the easier time.”
“Between my knowledge of her and your knowledge of the city, you didn’t think for a second that we should work together? This is why you’re going to be reborn as a stink bug. The Holy Mother in all her infinite kindness has allowed you to be reborn as something smarter.”
“You’re lucky it feels morally wrong to fight you or swear in a store meant for middle school girls,” he huffed, as if he had ever won a physical fight against them ever in their lives. “...And I thought I was up to stag beetle?”
“You were, but you lost that privilege when you went off to do this without me. Keep questioning me and you’ll be back down to red pepper.”
Apollo muttered under his breath, but Nahyuta was over it.
“So...what exactly was it that you bought her?”
“Well I asked Trucy what’d be a good gift for someone Rayfa’s age, because she was in those shoes like a year ago, so she dragged me here actually. I hope the people here don’t think I’m here shopping for me. You can get away with it because you’re pretty. I’m handsome , so it’s weird for me to be in here. It’s like I walked into the wrong classroom and now I’m not allowed to leave.”
Nahyuta stared at him a moment longer, as the silence lingered on. “That’s not what I asked. You would make a horrendous witness.”
“If you’re the prosecutor, I’d make your life hell .”
They flicked him square in that big forehead of his. “You do that anyway in court with your wild accusations. Now get to the point, pepper. ”
“Ow! Fine! ” He rubbed the spot that his poor, fragile little head was touched. “I got her a little stuffed frog. It was glittery and pink, and I don’t really know if she’s a fan of girly things like that, I figured it’d at least be a novel thing. You don’t see a lot of things like that back in Khura’in.”
“I wanna see the one you got her, because I wanna get her a bigger one.”
“Get her something else! This is my good idea and you’re not going to one up me and get her a bigger one,” he huffed, but turned and started heading to the little stuffed animals. Apollo picked up the biggest one. “Though I knew you’d try and pull this move, so I got the biggest one. Not all my cases are pro-bono.”
Well didn’t he look like the cat who caught the canary.
“It would seem as though there is a brain up there after all. You have my sincerest apologies, little brother.”
“I’ll take a backhanded compliment. Does this mean I’m back to stag beetle?”
“Oh absolutely not, you haven’t been helpful in the slightest.”
“ Dammit... ”
What was that he’d said about swearing in here? It seems he had already forgotten.
Though as they scanned the shelf of stuffed animals for anything, something did catch their eye.
There was a sparkly and sequin panda, sitting in all his pastel glory in the middle of the shelf.
“It would seem the Holy Mother has given me a sign to give a gift to my boyfriend,” they said, picking up the panda.
Apollo stared back with tired doubt. “ Seriously? You don’t have a secret boyfriend that I don’t know about, do you? One who isn’t Simon levels of goth?”
“Why would I not give My Panda a panda?” they asked, with a faux innocent smile.
There would have to be a fate worse than putrid pepper, because their nuisance of a little brother pretended to gag.
“As if you’re any better with your boyfriend. I say nothing of your gross PDA with Mr. Gavin.”
“Well next time don’t be a year older than me, then maybe you can have some younger sibling privileges. It’s my legal obligation to be a pain in your a- neck. Pain in your neck.”
It seemed he remembered where they were.
“Your foul language is going to get us kicked out of this Claire’s, you putrid little dung beetle.”
“I didn’t even swear! I stopped myself!” Apollo pouted. “Hurry up and get your boyfriend his sparkly panda he won’t like so we can move on.”
“Oh Simon’s going to hate it, but he’s still going to love it.”
Apollo stared at him. “I hate that I know what you mean. I also hate that there’s going to be another source of indirect glitter in my life.”
“I’m sure we could find you glitter of your own, Apollo. There’s lots of options here.”
“Yeah, hard pass. I have enough second hand glitter, thank you very much.”
They snort a little. “Very well. But when will you build up the courage to come to a place like this again?”
“Hopefully soon because if you don’t find something you like here, you’re going to drag me across the city until you find something.”
“I’m only helping you with your penance, dear little brother. You did say something about wanting to be upgraded back to stag beetle.”
Apollo stared back at them, his face scrunched up and disgruntled. “ Whatever , let’s just get to looking.
One day they’d tell him Nahyuta didn’t have that kind of authority, but today was not the day. He would much prefer to drag him around the city in his quest to one up him.