From: hardluckwoman	Date: October 19th, 2010 09:40 am (UTC)		(Link)

Okay, so that stung. Erica's expression contorted a little, as if slapped, and she quickly turned her head away, facing the door instead of her brother's back. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of letting her cry, and she bit the inside of her lip a little to try and hold it back. Why did he have to be such an asshole?

"Fuck you, you're just being rude," she muttered, without much conviction.

	From: formaldehyde	Date: October 19th, 2010 06:46 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"Rude? --Or honest?" Ben sighed sharply; his first real visible display of emotion since his sister had walked through the door. He glanced up at her, only just noticing that she wasn't looking at him anymore. It gave him pause.

	From: hardluckwoman	Date: October 19th, 2010 07:45 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"Just rude," Erica replied, turning back to him again, her eyes slightly narrowed. She never knew how to deal with him, and she felt he would probably agree it was a mutual predicament. They were just opposites.

"An honest brother would care about his family and not some.. some stupid dead bird!"

	From: formaldehyde	Date: October 20th, 2010 01:44 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"I think you've confused honest with 'blindly sentimental'," Ben shook his head and turned back to said bird, condescension clear in his voice.

It was true that he didn't think much of his sister, or his family as a whole--but if he didn't care he wouldn't bother with them at all. The fact that he let her into the room should have been proof enough. Clearly Erica didn't agree.

	From: hardluckwoman	Date: October 20th, 2010 10:56 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Erica rolled her eyes, a dismissive huff following it. Definitely a sign that she was out of proper argument responses; she had been doing it since she was small. She was on the verge of 'I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I' territory.

"Well, whatever. Just call mom or something, why is that so much to ask?"

	From: formaldehyde	Date: October 21st, 2010 08:35 am (UTC)		(Link)

"Fine," He said dismissively, not answering her question and not really meaning that he would actually call their mother.

	From: hardluckwoman	Date: October 21st, 2010 09:32 am (UTC)		(Link)

"Do you mean it?" Erica quickly replied, pouting vigilantly at his back as he worked. She didn't plan to leave him alone until she at least cajoled him into a phone call, hopefully more. For some reason that Erica couldn't totally grasp, Barbie did to genuinely care about her son. Or at least Erica figured she had to, with how much she always rambled about him. It seemed like every other week she wanted her to go-tell-Ben-this or go-to-Ben-that.

Last year had been worse, at least this year she had stopped coming, unless it was important.

	From: formaldehyde	Date: October 22nd, 2010 12:26 am (UTC)		(Link)

God, she really was distracting. He looked up from the bird once again, giving her a stern look--though it was almost completely indiscernible from his normal expression. The only real differences were that his eyes were narrowed, and his jaw set.

For someone who seemed so unaffected by the outside world, he had little patience.