Gears and Steam

Siblings

Jules

The trip back to the house was no easier than the other times. I hated those trolleys with a burning passion. It helped that I had something on my mind distracting me, but it didn't help that the thing was a certain temperamental mechanic. Something had been off about Edmund since the encounter with Floyd. I didn't like it.

I had to remind myself that it was alright to stand up after the trolley stopped. I helped unhook the car and put the tarp over the top. Edmund helped, too, but he didn't say anything. Theo and Freddie were in a good mood from winning, a mood that Edmund didn't seem to share in. Freddie had a bag of coins jangling on her belt.

The sun was just starting to set when we made it back to the house. Theo and I pushed the car inside the shop, Freddie entered the house through the front door to open the store in case we had any last minute shoppers, and Edmund slumped over to his workbench without saying a word to anyone. I joined the mechanic after a minute, slowly sinking down onto the bench in order to not anger him. I sat on the very edge of the bench so our sides weren't pressed together. I wanted to be on his good side. I just wasn't quite sure how to do that. Punching Floyd might have been a good start, but hearing the conversation beforehand...that might have sent me back to the beginning.

"What are you working on?" I asked after a few more seconds of cold silence.

"A crawler, go away," Edmund responded curtly.

"Look, I didn't hear much of th-"

"Don't bring it up. Go away," Edmund repeated with more force in his voice.

"Bu-"

"You're really pushing your limits here, Jules. You're lucky to have lasted this long," Edmund growled, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the toy he was working on. I was glad that he didn't look at me; I would have withered under his icy gaze.

I decided to shut up after that. Maybe if I didn't talk, he would let me stay. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. I didn't think that leaving him alone was a good idea. Sure, he was probably alone all the time, but I knew from experience that a person in a bad mood, when left alone, could get pretty messed up.

"What are you still doing here?" Edmund asked.

"Just sitting," I shrugged.

"Go away."

"If I sit on the other side of the shop, can I stay?"

"No," Edmund finally turned to glare at me. "You really are annoying, you know that, right?"

"I don't think many people would agree with you on that, my sister would though," I chuckled, trying to get a good reaction from Edmund.

"Sounds like we'd get along wonderfully," Edmund muttered, turning back to his work.

"I think you would actually.. Your personalities are similar. Phoebe....she takes some getting used to."

That earned a small smile from Edmund. "I've just got Freddie and Theo. They take some getting used to as well, just maybe not as much as me."

"Obviously," I joked. "At least they're nice, you're just..."

"Mean?"

"I wasn't going to say that," I said, embarrassed.

"Yes, yes, you were. Don't worry, I am already aware of this fact." Edmund turned the key in his crawler and set it down on the desk. It took two steps and fell down. He scowled at it and picked it up to start tweaking it again.

I wanted to keep talking to him. "You know, my sister's the one who told me to climb the tree."

"What?"