Stormbringer: King

S E V E N

"Shortly after, a spy was found
snooping around the kingdom.
He was arrested and jailed, after interrogation."

・ ・ ・

A grumble.

Xenor slammed his book shut, and leaned back against his chair with a groan.

"Fuck this, I'm done," he swore, pushing the history book he had been reading as far as possible away from him. He'd only read two chapters of it, but it was so absurdly boring he got fed up.

This is why I hate history. And books. Basically history books, bloody hell.

Across him, Storm blinked, an eyebrow raised in bewilderment. "What's 'fuck'?" he asked, and Xenor wanted to smack himself in the face for so carelessly swearing in front of his little brother.

What was that called? A facepalm?

Yes, he wanted to facepalm himself.

"It's a word with a meaning you do not need to know of, and one you should never use, my dear little brother. I would hate to corrupt your innocence," he sighed, checking his nails as he propped his feet up on the table. He slowly picked out the little bits of dirt underneath his nails as Storm stared at him, brows furrowed in absolute puzzlement.

"... I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, or if you really meant it," his little brother stated after a moment, running his hand through his hair.

Xenor rolled his eyes. "I really meant it, Brother. Do not ever use that word, if you know what's good for you." He wagged a finger at Storm.

"Why can you use it, then?" Storm asked, disbelief in his voice.

"It's because I'm older than you," Xenor grumbled, putting his feet down. "You're still a kid."

"You're only older than me by two years, Brother," Storm exclaimed. "You're technically still a kid too."

"I am a mature child," Xenor argued, feeling himself bristle at being called a 'kid'. "There is a difference." He glowered unhappily at his brother.

Storm huffed, dropping his gaze back to the book he had been reading. "Whatever you say, Brother. I won't use that... 'fuck' word."

"You just used it," Xenor pointed out.

"Fine, from now on, I won't use it again," Storm fumed, grumpily flipping through the pages of his book.

Xenor gazed at his brother, slightly surprised. Storm was rarely grumpy. Heck, just a few days ago, he fell asleep while Silix had been teaching them about the origins of Ultra Titanium.

Not to mention, two weeks ago, he'd started taking naps during their study sessions.

And from what Xenor knew about his little brother, he was pretty much a goody-two-shoes. Storm wouldn't dare do such things.

It was quite startling, honestly.

He observed his brother's face, and noticed faint bags under his sky blue eyes.