The gravel crunched beneath Carter’s feet as he hurried his way down the path with the moments rushing by until he slowed his pace with a heavy sigh. He shook his head clear as the gentle breeze joined in toying with his onyx locks, cooling his fading blush. His heart calmed, and his eyes washed over the town he called home. Nothing much had changed since he had left early that morning, but the calmness of the town spoke nothing of its heart in the lazy late sun of the day.

    “Carter!” a piece of the heart called out, and his head swiveled to find a rather tall man with a grin, “At this rate we’ll have enough people back for a party!”

    “Oh, hey there Rith,” Carter paused, waiting for the man to catch up to him. “When did you get in?”

    “Few hours ago,” Rith hummed while gathering his long brown locks in a tie, “I took a nap, and I was about to go see how Stin messed up my forge while I was gone. Wanna come with?”

    “I have to run over to Lumi’s,” Carter shook his head.

    “Ah, well, have fun with them,” Rith huffed in amusement, “I’ll catch up with yah later,” he added as he began walking away, “Drinks at Masked?”

    “Sure,” Carter smiled, starting his own way as well.

    “Great! I’ll try not to spoon yah after you pass out this time!” he called back, and Carter went rigid.

    “I swear…” Carter grumbled, “I am not everyone’s puppy,” he huffed to himself quietly while quickening his pace until reaching a small cottage, and he knocked on the front door. No immediate answer came, and no awkwardly long answer came either before Carter tried to peer through the window, but the blinds were shut. “They must be in the lab,” he concluded before testing the knob, and it turned, “Huh… it’s not locked,” he mumbled, and he pushed open the door. “Lumi?” he called out, and a boof of a bark greeted him as he entered. “Hey there Sky,” he smiled, stepping over to the couch where the large fluffy mastiff lounged, and he glanced about the house.

    It was simple, with a nook of a kitchen off to the side of the entrance, and a couple of couches cozied around the fireplace. The most odd bit resided at the end of a short hallway where three doors resided. They were nearly identical except the one at the end that was slightly more odd than the perpendicular ones, with its wooden grain going up instead of down.

    “Is Lumi in the lab?” Carter scratched Sky’s head, earning a huff, “Right, very interesting,” amusement lit up Carter’s face, “Thank you, your majesty.”

    Carter patted Sky’s head once more before heading towards the odd door, and he gripped its handle to find it locked. He hesitated for a moment as he contemplated if he should intrude before he shook his head a bit, and he knocked with his free hand. 

An enchantment came to life with crimson symbols lighting up along the handle. The magic tingled against his palm as if testing him, but after a short moment the door’s lock disengaged, and a small smile found him. Carter pulled on the handle, grunting as he dragged open the heavy metal door, and he slipped through as soon as he could. Despite the difficultly and weight of the door, it softly closed itself behind him without assistance, making a shiver run down Carter’s spine before he shook off the familiar uneasiness of it. 

He started his way down the steps, placing a hand on the cool concrete wall to steady himself as he started thinking “what if my foot slipped” and “how hard would it be to clean my blood from the concrete”. He pushed the thoughts from his mind while he descended the stairs with warm light cascading over him from familiar crimson symbols that were etched into the ceiling above. He couldn’t help the whispering fondness that arose within him from the sight of the enchantments as he neared the end of his descent, and a voice pulled him from his thoughts before he could even reach his destination.

    “How did the border look when you returned, Carter?”.

    “Pretty stable actually,” he answered, more than used to the lack of a proper greeting, “Whatcha got going on down here today?” he pressed as he entered the room of servers and other equipment that included a whiteboard spanning an entire wall, covered in writing from a red marker. 

    “Just maintenance, testing some new programs,” they answered before spinning their chair to face him, “You should be proud of Oliver.”

    “Always am,” Carter grinned, “He’s the best little brother.”

    “I’m your only brother!” 

    “Shit!” Carter jumped with a chirp, and he spun to find Oliver behind him, “How did you do that?!”

    “Luck and timing,” Oliver huffed in amusement.

    “I swear…” Carter was not looking very proud anymore.

    “Carter,” the other person claimed his attention, “I assume you came for a reason.”

    “Ri-Right,” Carter shook his head clear, “Here, Lumi,” he pulled the drives from his pocket before handing them off to them.

    “I take it Eleanor got back,” Lumi surmised with a soft smile as they eyed the drives, “And that she was successful on all accounts,” they commented with a slight smirk finding them.

    “Well… kinda… they got discov-”

    “You mean Tianna did,” Lumi corrected him without hesitation, and he froze, “And Eleanor covered for her because she is hopeless.”

    “She’s not hopeless,” Carter frowned while folding his arms. 

    “Fine then…” Lumi’s silver gaze met his in challenge, “Eleanor messed up then,” they stated, and he looked away, “Mmhmm.”

    “Why do you cover for her covering for Tianna?” Oliver curiously pressed while flopping himself down in a large green chair that was rather worn.

    “Because…” Carter rubbed the back of his head, “It’s what she wants…”

    “Women are complicated,” Oliver sighed.

    “Everyone is complicated,” Lumi commented with flickering amusement, “But yes, Miss Sky is a particularly complicated one.”

    “Oh your gods…” Oliver breathed, and Lumi gave him a questioning look, “I just realized that Eleanor’s last name is the same as your dog’s first,” he started to snicker as the author just realized the same thing.

    “I…” Carter blinked for a moment before giving a crooked grin, “Coincidence?”

    “Maybe…” Lumi hummed before looking away with a light smirk, “Or perhaps not. Do all things happen for a reason?”

    “Okay… I’m going now,” Carter shook his head, and he started making his way up the stairs, “You’re speaking to the abyss again, and it’s just… it’s like Carri.”

    “Hey! Wait for me!” Oliver trotted after him before glancing back to Lumi with a wave, “Catch yah later.”

    The teen hurried his way from the bunker, following after his brother, and heading out into the setting light of the day. Oliver slowed his gate as he joined Carter with his curiosity driving him.

    “So whatcha gonna do?” he pressed while looking to Carter.

    “I don’t know,” Carter shook his head, shoving his hands into his pockets.

    “What’s Guile doing?” 

    “Napping,” Carter sighed, and an amused snort left Oliver.

    “He’s more of a cat than a dragon, huh?” Oliver teased, and Carter shook his head again with a whispering smile.

    “Don’t be disrespectful,” Carter reminded him while the two of them made their way down the road.

    “Blah blah blah,” Oliver made a blabbing motion with his hand, “Did you get anything cool when you were at the city?”

“Oh yeah,” Carter’s eyes lit up before retrieving the water ring toss game from his pocket. “Got this off a street vendor,” he offered it to the teen.

    “Man… I wish I could have gone,” Oliver grumbled while taking the game, “How… are you supposed to play this?”

    “Just push the button to flick the stick, and it throws the rings,” Carter hummed, “You gotta try to get them on the little poles. It’s retro.”

    “That’s… stupid,” Oliver frowned, but he didn’t hesitate to start playing the game.

    “Uh-huh,” Carter let out a sigh, “Have you had dinner yet?” he pressed, but was only met with silence, and his gaze flickered to his younger brother to find him fully immersed in the game with his tongue poking out, “Such a stupid game,” he mused, throwing his arm around Oliver’s shoulders and ruffling his hair, earning an annoyed grunt, “Come on. I’ll cook you something before I head to Masked.”

    “Can I come?” Oliver looked to him for a moment.

    “Er… no,” Carter gave an awkward smile, “You’re not old enough,” he added, and Oliver frowned.

    “Are you drinking?”

    “... Maybe,” Carter gave an awkward smile, and Oliver raised an eyebrow.

    “With Rith?” Oliver pressed curiously.

    “... Yes, and don’t say-”

    “As long as I don’t find you two spooning in my bed again!”

    “He didn’t know it was your room!”

    “I’m not judging,” Oliver smirked while raising his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying, take your boyfriend-”

    “He’sNotMyBoyfriend!” Carter blurted the sentence as one word, and Oliver cackled while they continued their way.