Under The Surface

Chapter 1

"Do you have your things ready for our trip to the beach today, Sollux?" The seven year old boy turned his head in the direction the woman's voice had come from and remained still as he stood by the side of his bed.

"Almost, Ms. Maryam," the boy lisped his answer. "I'm just packing right now," he patted one of his hands on top of his bed near an assortment of items that he had been gathering to pack for the beach trip.

"Very good," the woman smiled warmly. "Are you packing for your brother as well? Where is he?" she asked.

"He's in the bathroom," Sollux responded sounding slightly annoyed. "I'm not packing for him he can do that himself," he said petulantly. He had a frown on his face as he turned his head back toward his pile of belongings on his bed and pushed a few of them around.

"That doesn't sound very nice," Rosa Maryam said and decided to come closer to the child to have a seat at the end of his twin sized bed. "What's wrong, Sollux?"

"Nothing," the little boy grumbled keeping his head down facing his bed.

"It certainly doesn't seem like nothing," the woman probed. Sollux grabbed his sheets in his fist before giving in.

"He won't leave me alone," he finally said. "He keeps following me around and trying to do everything I'm doing."

"Mituna?" Ms. Maryam asked for clarification.

"Yeah."

"He just loves you, dear. You are his brother after all. He probably looks up to you," she reasoned.

"Why? It's not like I'm older than him. We're the same age," Sollux argued.

"I know, sweetie, but you and him went through quite a bit last year together," Ms. Maryam said gently. She reached out to place a comforting hand on the child's arm. He flinched at the unexpected contact but relaxed quickly enough. "The only family the two of you have is each other so try not to be too cold to him," she said softly. The sound of a toilet flushing could be heard faintly and Sollux sighed then pulled away from the woman's hand to continue getting his things together. "I'll see if I can get him to play with someone else on our trip today to give you some time to yourself," she whispered hurriedly.

"Hi Ms. Maryam!" Mituna greeted enthusiastically when he entered the bedroom he shared with his brother and two other boys.

"Good morning, Mituna," the woman responded and stood from the end of Sollux's bed. "Are you excited about going to the beach today?" she asked the child.

"Yes! I want to build a sandcastle," Mituna announced.

"That sounds like it will be very fun. When you and Sollux get your things ready make sure you go wait in the dining hall with everyone else," Ms. Maryam told the two boys. "I will see you two there."

"Alright," Sollux answered. He transferred his stuff on the bed into a backpack and zipped it up while Mituna could be heard rummaging for things to pack in his own bag. "Don't bring too much stuff, Tuna," Sollux warned as he turned around to sit on his bed to wait for his brother. "You'll end up losing something."

"I'm not going to lose anything," Mituna argued. He spoke with a slight lisp as well but it was mostly due to having lost both his front teeth the week before. Sollux knew he would be losing his soon as well and dreaded the day. He pushed his tongue against back of one of his front teeth experimentally and felt it give slightly. He immediately retracted his tongue, not wanting to make the tooth any looser. He figured he probably had until the next week before it would have to come out.