(Backdated, June 29th) Dori returns home for vacation~!

[x-squirrel.livejournal.com]

Dori and her younger brother discuss, the best they can, why he came to her graduation and exactly what's changed in their family in the last couple of years.

The ride from the Airport to their Grandpa's farm was a quiet one, if only because Dori spent most of it sleeping. The time difference between New York and LA coupled with jet lag made her very out of it to say the least. She did perk up though, when they finally pulled into the farm. Unpacking was done quickly and she assumed Mom and Grandpa were getting dinner ready which left her alone with her brother, who had actually been to graduation.

She said the only thing she could think of, "So, uh, what's up?"

Ryan had been a little more subdued than usual - he hadn't been his usual teasing self when they'd met Dori at the airport, and had retreated into the world of his iPhone as soon as they'd gotten in the car. And now he hadn't fled to his room to avoid his sister, which he might have a year ago.

"... Uh. Um." Ryan searched for something to talk about. "Mom's been totally unfair, she wouldn't let me bring my car, it's like..." He trailed off, belatedly realizing that maybe Dori wouldn't want to hear about the awesome car their dad bought him for his 16th, so he searched for something else to talk about. "So, Disneyland huh? That'll be cool."

"Yeah, that should be fun," Dori said. So, Ryan got a car. That wasn't surprising it was pretty much expected. Her 16th birthday she hadn't even gotten a card that asked how she was doing, "So, um, what type of car is it?"

"It's a Lexus F-Sport," he mumbled, torn between wanting to geek out about his awesome new car and not wanting to rub anything in for Dori. "It's pretty awesome." Change of subject time! "So, uh, where is. Uh." He blinked a moment, trying to remember the name of Dori's squirrel pet. And failing. "Your squirrel. How is it?"

"Monkey Joe!" Doreen said, "Mom brought his carrier in. I better go get him out! I forgot about that completely," normally he rode with her which was why it slipped her mind this time, because normally he'd always be right next to her, "I hope he isn't mad at me!"

"Aha, yeah. That'd probably be a good idea." Rather thankful that the subject change worked, he was still a bit fidgety, his gaze not sitting still. "I could uh. Come say hi?"


"Sure," Doreen said giving her little brother a look, he never really cared about Monkey Joe, but she didn't want to leave him waiting. She got to the carrier and opened it, and her friend was being really vocal indeed, [I'm sorry,] she clicked, [You KNOW you're not allowed out the plane and I didn't have time to get you before we got here.] He kept clicking even as he settled on her shoulder, "Well, here he is."


"Uh. Hi." Ryan shoved his hands in his pockets, looking warily at the squirrel. He still didn't get what so special about a stupid animal, but he'd said he'd try and be nice. So he was. Trying. "Can he understand me?"


"Yeah, pretty well, anyway," Doreen said, "He knows a lot more than people think," she said, scratching his head, "He still remembers you throwing stuff at him before I went to the school."

"...oh." Ryan looked down at his feet, scuffing them. What was he supposed to do here? Apologise? It was just a damn squirrel. Just because Dori could talk to him, didn't make him actually... smart. Or whatever. And animals didn't have feelings, did they? His dad would probably smack him upside the head for even considering apologising to the squirrel. Or to Dori. "Sorry? I guess."

"It's okay," she said, "Monkey Joe holds grudges though, so you'll have to bribe him with candy or something if you want him to accept your apology," Doreen mused, "But I think I can grease the wheels some. He listens to me."

"What?" Ryan sounded shocked by that. He wasn't that sorry. He'd only apologised to be nice, he didn't really care what the squirrel thought. "I don't have any candy."

"Well, we'll have to find a way to bribe him later," Dori noted, "So, uh, thanks for coming to my graduation," she said suddenly. She wished Dad could have been there, but as far as that went, she was starting to lose hope.

"Oh." Ryan looked fidgety and nervous again, but there was a little bit of a smile on his face. "It's cool. You only graduate high school once or whatever." He tried to make it sound like less of a big deal than it was, even though their dad had been pretty against him going.

"Yeah. And I mean who thought I'd be able to graduate, right?" Dori joked. Mostly. The way things had been going when she went to the institute it was likely had she stayed in public schools she never would have gotten through even that last year.

"So.. uh... Dad, well, say anything?" Like 'congrats', she thought. Because it was always possible to cover everything up by him being really busy.

"Yeah, you sure you didn't, like, bribe them or something?" Ryan joked back thoughtlessly. He was avoiding talking about their dad, since... well. Sure, he'd said stuff, but not stuff he wanted to repeat to his sister.

"Um, no?" Dori returned. She hadn't bribed the school and it didn't occur to her until a moment later that Ryan was likely joking about it. And avoiding the subject of Dad all together, "Dad didn't want you to go, did he?"

"... uh." Ryan scuffed his feet again. "Nah, not really." Which was basically an understatement. Ryan wasn't really used to him being the one being the focus of their dad's anger, and that definitely hadn't been fun for him.

"So, why did you? Not that I'm upset you did, it was really awesome to have you there, but Dad..." Besides showering all that attention on her brother, Dad had, she recalled, been drinking more when he left and she didn't know if that still went on. It did manage to make his temper really impressive though.

She hated alcohol.

"Yeah."

"Yeah." Ryan squirmed, looking at his feet. "I don't know, I started going to this group thing at school because..." He trailed off, going a little pink. "It's called Helix or something. Anyway, I figured maybe he was wrong about stuff." He looked up at her. "You're still a huge nerd, but." He shifted uncomfortably. "I guess you're not that much of a freak." He paused. "Kinda the same amount of freak you were before the tail and stuff."

That took her aback. Not the idea that there was a HeliX at their old high school now - she bet she knew which teacher started it - but the idea that Ryan was actually going. Whatever the reason behind it might be she wasn't going to tease him about that. It was good he was going! "Awww, that means a lot. It really does." She wasn't being sarcastic.

"It's not a big deal," Ryan said with a shrug, trying to brush it off. It was a big deal, especially considering their dad's attitude, but he didn't want to make a big thing of it.

"Is that Mom calling us for dinner?" He hadn't heard anything, but he had this suspicion Dori was going to try and hug him or something.

Dori chuckled, "No. Mom's talking to grandpa," she knew, she could hear it, "But yeah, we might as well head on over to the dining room before Mom thinks we killed eachother or something."

"Yeah." He flashed a sudden grin at his sister, before he started to hurry away. "Race ya!"