Crash and Burn (PG-13+)

[Bast]

Sebastian turned, slightly startled. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't even smelled or heard Cameron approaching. "Hm...You could dry them," he suggested, handing a towel and a dish to the Humanoid. "Just set them in that little dish rack after you wipe them off."

[Cameron]

The Humanoid nodded and smiled, drying the dish thoroughly before placing it on the rack. This wasn't so hard - he didn't know why his parents griped about it, but then he shrugged. 'This isn't really doing the dishes, per se,' he thought, drying another one; there shouldn't have been too many, since they're breakfast was relatively small, and didn't need a great amount of dishes.

Cameron leaned back on his heels and looked forlornly at his bandaged hands. The fabric was wet from the dishes and the skin underneath was starting to sting and burn and itch. He undid the bandages on one hand and started to blow on his hands, his dish drying job forgotten for the moment. Water really irritated his cuts and scratches.

[Bast]

Sebastian finished another dish and leaned over to hand it to the other youth, but..."Does your hand hurt?" he asked in concern when he noticed the way Cameron was messing with his hands. He took a moment to dry that last dish quickly before moving over to look at the Humanoid's cuts.

"Hm...We'll have to redo the bandages, won't we? They're kinda...soggy right now," he commented, taking his mate's hands within his own. Inspecting them for a moment or two, he bent to kiss the palms before grabbing the towel to lightly pat Cameron's hands dry.

[Cameron]

"Thanks," Cameron said, a little grin finding its way to his face, "But I think they're fine. They only hurt because the water was kinda dirty from all those dishes, you know." He tried his best to make an excuse, but it was a little pathetic, so he tried to change subjects instead. His hands kind of felt fine, and he didn't want anymore bandages hindering his sense of touch.

"So when is your brother coming over? I'd like to meet him soon, and I'm getting a bit restless," he explained, wandering around with his hands behind his head, and a dull pain still settled in his lower back from his claiming, though he took no notice of it.

[Bast]

'Bastian nodded and tapped his lips for a moment. "He should be...," the cat boy said, trailing off. That's when he heard it. To a normal person, they wouldn't have heard much of anything...Not only was he Zercan though, but had spent the last couple years listening for that sound.

"He's here!" the cat boy said happily as he moved to swing open the door. Taking two to three steps back, he slowly counted down in his head...5, 4, 3, 2...1!

A tiger shot into the doorway and tackled the black haired youth to the ground before turning into a human. The boy wrestled with Sebastian for a minute or two before the older boy got tired of games and flipped him over. "Nice to see you too, Opa," he said, smiling as the orange haired youth looked up at him with dazed green eyes.

[Cameron]

Cameron giggled loudly and then leaned over Sebastian and looked down at Opa. "He's cute," the Humanoid said, then playfully picked on his mate, "Are you sure you're from the same family, Sebastian?" He put a hand to his mouth and laughed quietly behind it. What he had seen earlier was enough to make him spazz out into a giggle fit, and he was still laughing at that.

Once he had calmed himself (which, surprisingly, didn't take long at all), he knealt beside his mate and swung an arm around his neck. "You think it might be time to get up off of the floor?"

[Bast]

Bast huffed quietly before nodding. "Yeah...I suppose so," he said. "Come on then..." He started to stand and helped his brother up too. When everyone was situated and all calm, it wastime for introductions.

"Cam," he started, shortening his mate's name. "This is my younger brother, Tiropa. Opa, this is my mate, Cameron."

Opa looked over at the Humanoid with wide eyes. "You're my brother's mate? He has a mate? Weird...But good. I mean, it's good, but it's kinda weird at the same time...'Cause he's my brother and stuff...And yeah." He laughed slightly and bit his lip before holding out his hand. "Nice to meet'cha! Call me Opa," he said.

[Cameron]

Cameron carefully grasped Opa's hand, wincing a bit as he rubbed against the cuts and scratches on his palm. "And you can call me Cam. It's a pleasure," the Humanoid said, smiling sweetly. Maybe he did need those bandages after all... his hand was so raw it hurt for anything to touch it, save those bandages.

He turned his head toward Sebastian, mouthing the words 'Bandage my hands, damn it'.

[Bast]

Sebastian turned just to see Cameron's mouthered words. He looked at the other in surprise slightly. It wasn't his fault, so why was he getting demanded in such a way? He already offered to do just that, but his mate had insisted...

Snorting to himself, the cat boy's ears flicked in agitation before he sighed. "Opa, stay here with Cam for a moment. Talk get to know each other. Don't get into my nip," he said to his little brother absently as he went to find some more guaze. He didn't need a hostile, injured, pregnant mate on his hands, after all.

[Cameron]

Cameron bit the inside of his lip, and looked at his feet. If he had cat ears, they would be slanting down on the side of his head, like a scolded kitten. And he would have gone after him to give him a hug and say 'thanks', but he wasn't one for public displays of affection, even if said public was one person and was his mate's brother; but he especially didn't like showing affection in front of family members. He never knew why.

He stopped biting the inside of his lip and turned back to Opa. "So, Opa," he said, grinning, "What's the rest of the family like?" He was especially curious about that subject.

[Bast]

Opa smiled and dragged the other boy over to the couch to sit on it. Finding a nice spot to perch himself on, he turned to look at his new brother-in-law. "Let's see...Right now it's sorta just me, Rye, and Bast. Wait, it'd be Rye, Bast, and I, wouldn't it?" He bit his lip in thought before shrugging. "Sorry. It's just that Rye always gets on my case about grammer and what-not's," the Zercan explained before shifting positions again.

He had to think for a few moments about what would be interesting or useful enough to tell Cameron. "Rye is our older brother. He's sort of in charge of us while our parents are on a trip around the galaxy, so I live with him. He's almost twenty nine and is a scholar of sorts...," the carrot-top said, smiling at the thought of his eldest brother.

"And, well...you already met Bast and I, so that's really all of our family is at the moment. I'd tell you about our parents, but they're not here. I mean, what's the point in that? They've been gone for about...four months, I think." Opa smiled and shrugged. It wasn't like he didn't want to talk about his parents, but he did think it pointless since they'd be gone for quite awhile still.

[Cameron]

"Oh, I see," Cameron smiled, settling himself down in the couch, "I don't have any brothers. My parents got me whatever I wanted, and so I guess I'm a bit spoiled. They shipped me off for Sensaforia a couple days ago, but our ship got attacked and crashed somewhere in the forest. Sebastian came and got me, and, well..." The Humanoid blushed, which ws becomming quite common for him. "Well, I think you get the whole idea," he said at last, his toes curling up in the carpet. "Oh," he added, as an after-thought, "I'm from Mentsiquar, and my parents are from the middle class, but I've never been one for machines and things. I don't even think I could fix an Earth computer, so it's kind of pointless for me to be on my home planet, where all they do is make coms, other technoloical wonders, and... stuff."

[Bast]

Opa nodded in understanding and sighed a bit. "Must have been sad without having anyone to play with when you were little. Even if you did have a lot of toys...At least you have my brother now though!" he exlaimed happily, moving to sit 'indian-style'.

"As for the not being able to make stuff, I totally understand that! I can't make anything cool like that, but then again...I'm not a Mentsiquarian." He laughed a bit and smiled as his brother entered the room again with some guaze and ointment.

"Well, it's about time you got back!" the smaller Zercan said, laughing. "I've just told Cam here our entire life story, including your most embarassing moments and everything!"

Bast laughed in sarcasm before sitting down in front of his mate. "I was hardly gone that long," he muttered as he began to apply the medicated ointment to the Humanoid's outstretched hand.

[Cameron]

"I dunno," Cameron teased, raising his eyebrows, "I could tell my basic life story up until this point in the time it took you, but without every single detail." He laughed, trying to keep his hands still.

Details... ah, yes, those details. The first kiss, things you did when you were a young teen (and Cameron's parents concidered him a young teen still), your first party, most embarrassing moments. It was all fun. Unless, of course, you've had some trauma somewhere in your life. The most trauma Cam ever experienced was when that ship crashed, but there was another point where he was absolutely shocked and he couldn't believe his ears. It was something his teacher said (and did) to one of his friends. Cam (when he was still a boy, thirteen or fourteen), was wondering around the school looking for his friend when he walked by a classroom. His teacher and his buddy were in there, doing something totally inappropriate for school, especially since his friend was the same age as him and the teacher was around forty (and he thought that, since there was a possiblity they were mates, it wasn't completely wrong). He backed up and hid behind a corner until they came out, and his teacher told his friend, 'Now, that was really great today, but it could have been better if you brought your friend along. Cameron, wasn't it? Yes, he's a looker, and I wouldn't mind doing what I do to you with him. Now run along, and maybe invite him next time.' Cam held his breath, and it was clear that they weren't mates at all, because his friend didn't get upset or anything, he just laughed and said 'Yessir!' playfully. Cam thought he was going to be sick, and the next day he really didn't feel like school. But that was something to tell his mate another day, since nothing really ever happened to him with that teacher, or any other for that matter. He wiggled his fingers absently as Sebastian fixed them up, smiling as he bit the inside of his lip when his palm gave a sudden edge of pain. Yes, details were meant for later times, when Opa wasn't around.

((Bah. Ramble, ramble... x3))

[Bast]

'Bastion chuckled and stuck his tongue out at his mate in a childish display. "Surely I wasn't that long...And besides, you haven't heard the way Opa tells a story. He won't leave anything out - even if he forgets a small detail, he'll go back to add it in. Actually, he makes things hard to understand sometimes..."

The younger Zercan huffed and started to sulk like a petulant kitten. "...Not true...," he muttered. "You're just jealous of my story-telling ability."

His brother finished up with Cameron's bandage and stood. "I'm sure that's the case," he said absently as he bent again to kiss his mate on the forehead. "Now that we have all that settled, is there anything in particular you want to do?"