Title: It Ain't Easy Being Green(e) Status: Incomplete Characters: Original Characters, Greene, Sera Rating: SFW Classification: Series Author: Anonymous Summary: [None Given] [NOTES] Reupload of a fic i originally made and posted to reentry, but I wanted a more "stable" place to host it. If you don't browse /fang/ or /snoot/ you probably won't know who Greene is. Basic rundown is that he's Amber's twin brother in E3, originally made this to try and flesh his character out a bit more. [/NOTES] You are Greene E. Mous. Not a bad person to be, definitely not the best, but nowhere near the worst at least. Currently you are in Science class, blissfully stuck in your head as you watch rainwater drip down the window while the final minutes of class tick down until school gets out for the weekend. As a matter of fact, you're so ingrained in your thoughts that you almost don't notice an elderly dino's fingers snap multiple times in front of your face. "Greene?" You blink when you hear your name, your emerald eyes focusing as you're whisked away from the safe and comfortable confines of your mind and brought to the land of the lucid once more. Dr. Fernsworth, your... very old science teacher, is standing in front of your desk, an impatient frown on his elderly face as he lowers the extremely wrinkled hand that was just snapping in front of your face. For a quick moment, you can't help but wonder how old this guy is. "Greene. I do hope you're paying attention. This weekend assignment is crucial to your mid-quarter grade." Your back straightens immediately, a deep "Uh..." escaping from your lips and the warmth of embarrassment flooding your face as you notice the stares of your classmates burning holes into you at various angles. If you were any other person, there would be some laughs at your expense, or the very least some chuckles. But the classroom is dead silent; nobody dares to make a sound apart from Dr. F, and you can take a pretty good guess at some of the reasons why. "Right... sorry." you quietly mutter. The elderly Parasaurolophus's frown melts into a smile, satisfied at your apology, as he goes back to finishing his explanation about the assignment to the rest of the class. This isn't the first time this has happened, and as much as you try to help it, it won't be the last. The classroom breaks into whispers under the cover of the teacher's words, all talking about you, most likely. This tiny incident already being twisted to further deepen the reputation that you're some huge delinquent who would break someone in half if they looked at you funny, built up from various other incidents being twisted into fitting this rhetoric. For example, how you're part of a gang in Skin Row (You help out at your great-uncle Moe's warehouse every now and then), how you carry various weapons in the many pockets of your jacket (Snacks, your phone, knick-knacks, and a leatherman), your claws being covered in various bandages from fighting in brawls (Your x-acto knife doesn't sit right in your claws when you're working on your models), or even the wildest stories about how you got the long since faded scarring on your tail. (Your dad loves to tell his friends about this one, when you were a little kid, during a visit to Auntie Trish's you were naively showing the adults that you could pet Papaya with your tail, but the giant-bug pup didn't seem to appreciate you thwapping her in the face with it, and you ended up needing to get stitches He always ends the story off by saying the same punchline about how Mom was crying harder than you were. Honestly, you don't mind, you're just happy that you have something in common with your Dad and Uncle Naser). You resist the urge to groan, staying absolutely still as you would prefer that they had just decided to laugh at you instead, at least then it would have been quickly forgotten after class ended. Which... as if right on cue, the bell blares, interrupting Dr. Fernsworth's explanation as his brow furrows for a moment in irritation. "... and don't forget to put your name on it this time!" he raises his voice, trying to get a final word in over the bell, but it's mostly lost on the teenagers quickly gathering up their materials and bags, desperate to get started on their weekend. You're the only one to take your time in cleaning up your desk, as you particularly don't feel like taking part in the clothed gangbang that usually takes place at the door every Friday from everyone else rushing to leave. Gangbang? Really? You had to use that analogy of all things? Raptor Jesus, you need to stop spending so much time listening to your sister's friends at lunch. You shudder in disgust as you put your last science textbook into your AUTHENTIC US Army Lightweight Rucksack your GeeGee Krad gave you for your 13th birthday. Apparently, he actually wore this in the Vietnam War, though he swears that the LRs pre-cursor from the 3rd Human-Dino war, the M1952s, were better. Shaking military trivia and your Dino great-grandfather's ramblings out of your head, you make your way out of Dr. Fernsworth's class, but the Parasaur stops you before you can leave. A sense of dread fills you, but it's quickly dashed when you see the friendly smile on the professor's face. He didn't stop you just to scold you. "Are you doing alright, Mr. Mous? You seemed a bit more... out of it than usual today." he asks with a smidge of worry. From both your own experiences this school year and your parent's anecdotes, it wasn't too uncommon for Dr. Fernsworth to check up on his students, but it seems he had a soft spot for Mom and Dad. And considering what you've heard from Amber, this softness must have carried over to their kids as well. "Eh..." You awkwardly try to answer, but no words come out of your mouth so instead, you just shrug. Fernsworth lets out a dissatisfied hum, fixing his thick cloudy spectacles. You genuinely have no idea how he sees out of those things. But you can tell he's trying to pierce past the blankness on your face. Luckily he doesn't push the subject any further, simply nodding, and signaling to you that you can leave, which you do. As you exit the science classroom into the hallway, you immediately find yourself subjected to the occasional wary glance. Whatever. You're used to it. Just make your way outside so you can meet up with Amber and walk home. You do just that, casually walking towards the exit, at the same time you pull out your phone. A text message from your sister on the home screen catches your eye. "bball team gt out erly, goin hme befre rain wrsns dn't wait up." Ignoring your irritation for Amber's horrid texting grammar, you're thankful she saved you five minutes of waiting outside and a phone call asking where the hell she went. You go to text out a quick response of acknowledgment... ...and in your distracted state, you don't see the giant puddle of water right in front of you, obviously tracked in by some student who was soaked by the rain outside. The world slows down. Your eyes widen as you find yourself staring straight up into the hallway's drop-tiled ceiling. You must have been hasty to leave because considering how your leg is so far up in the air you can see your converses, you were going pretty fast. This is probably why your parents stopped taking you and Amber to mirror mazes when you were little. Before you can even possibly do anything to break your fall, you land squarely on your back... right into the puddle. A brief, but painful shock goes up the tip of your right wing and the base of your tail, both shooting straight into your spine for a double whammy of agony as you immediately scramble yourself up out of the puddle, stowing down various curses that threaten to flow out of your clenched teeth. You quickly try to straighten yourself out, particularly your right wing stowed away under your jacket. Thankfully it doesn't feel like it's broken, but fuck it hurts. You must have fallen on it at a bad angle. Same with your tail, judging by the fact that moving the damn thing slams your body with jolts of pain. You want to take off your now wet (fortunately your rucksack took some of the splash.) jacket to inspect them more closely, but you realize that the usual noise of the crowded school hallway is... gone. It's silent as you notice everyone in the hallway is staring at you. You feel embarrassment creep up into you once again. Like a lump of iron taking hold in the pit of your stomach. You're expecting them to start laughing at any moment, a snicker at first possibly, then a chuckle from someone else, and then it'd go down from there. But that never happens. They just keep looking at you, uneasy blank looks on their faces, as if unsure what to do. You hate it. You wish they would just laugh at you. The silence. Those stupid fucking stares. You know exactly what they're all thinking. Your fists clench, your claws threatening to dig into your palms. Goddamnit. Just. Stop. STARING! When some people do just that, it suddenly hits that you just muttered that last part. And by muttered you mean yelled out loud. Your heart drops into your stomach, and blood drains from your face as it grows paler than it already is. You need to get out of here... Making sure to avoid any more puddles, your legs take you out to the front of the school, and taking a moment to catch your breath from your little blunder, you look around. Because of the ongoing downpour, there is next to no one apart from a few umbrella-touting students loitering around the stairs leading to the entrance of the school. It's quiet apart from the pitter-patter of rainfall hitting the awning above you. Deciding to try and distract yourself, you hastily take off your wet bag and then your jacket, finally letting your wings spread out a bit into the open air as they poke out the hole made in the back of a t-shirt advertising a band that has long since disbanded. You flutter the leathery flaps, appreciating the feeling of cool outside air on them as you raise your thick arms and grab your right wing before bringing a band-aided claw over to the area you can feel lightly throbbing with pain. Lightly touching it sends a miniature shock through your nervous system. Yeah, judging by how it's starting to swell and bruise, you definitely sprained it, but it's not broken or anything, thank god. If you broke your distal you would have probably taken a crack at Dad's bowling record right there on the hallway floor. Moving onto your tail, you can't exactly examine it closely, being squarely above your ass and all, but the pain has somewhat subsided. Touching it, on the other hand, wasn't the wisest idea, as the slightest brush from your bandaged claws makes you nearly jump from the jolt of agony that travels through your body. You really should have expected that, cause of how sensitive the damn thing is. You'll have to let Dad know about this. Hopefully, he'll be willing to keep a secret from Mom, lest she (gently) drag you by the crest to the car and drive straight to Uncle Naser's while sobbing about her little Greeny being hurt (again) and how it's "The cliff incident all over again". God forbid she doesn't believe you fell on your own. After raising someone as accident-prone as you until high school, you would have expected her to calm down a bit. Not wanting to deal with the pain of folding an injured wing back into your wet jacket, you simply throw it over your shoulder, you'd have to walk home without wearing it, which isn't a big deal, it's not like it was particularly cold or anything. Your arm feathers somewhat helped in that regard anyway. All that was left was the rain. Mom nor the weather channel said anything about rain this morning, but thankfully she makes sure you and Amber never leave without your umbrellas for just this occasion. Her constant fussing and worrying actually comes in handy every once in a while... but neither of you would ever admit that out of fear you'll encourage her. Pulling your compact umbrella out of your still-soaked bag and opening it up, a bright yellow-orange circle of cheap waterproof nylon fills your view. Amber has a matching lime-colored one, yet another idea you can attribute to Mom. You vividly remember you both voicing your complaints before school started, but after seeing the sad puppy eyes look on Mom's face (as well as Dad slapping your crests simultaneously) you and your twin gave in, and she immediately perked up before happily posing you both with your matching umbrellas (and embarrassed faces), taking 500 different pictures to later gush over with Grandma and Auntie Trish. Trying not to think about it any further, you go to make your way down the steps, but a familiar shade of purple catches your eye as you turn. Unfortunately it's also a shade of purple you dislike, and for good reason, as it belongs to your least favorite Triceratops in the world, and that's not an easy title to acquire considering you know 7 of them. Sera Freeman. Your Sister's childhood (and best) friend, yours too. Well... you wouldn't consider her a friend. But even if you don't get along with her, like at all, you've known her for just as long as Amber has. Which is more than enough time for you to have formed the opinion that you really REALLY don't like Sera. Enough to be perfectly fine with ignoring her and getting started on your walk home, and you probably would have done so if it weren't for you taking another look at her. The purple triceratops girl was sitting on the concrete, her back against one of the pillars supporting the front door awning, staring at the obnoxiously pink glitter-covered phone in her hand with a stern frown on her face, obviously worrying about something. You want to do nothing more than to turn around and not give a damn, but an ever-present nagging voice screams at you to go ask her what's wrong. You take a step towards her, but you freeze as you realize that you've been having a bit of a shit day, so you REALLY don't want to interact with Sera right now and possibly make it worse. Your distaste begins to throw down with your conscience and after a good minute of standing there with your brain in conflict. Your conscience unfortunately wins. Letting out a sigh, you take another couple of steps toward Sera, her eyes still trained on her phone. She seems so concentrated on it that she doesn't notice you stopping right in front of her. "...sera." "..." She doesn't respond, so you say her name a little more clearly this time. "Sera." "..." Okay you were starting to get annoyed here. Suddenly being reminded of your own absent-mindedness in science just a bit earlier, you reach down and snap your claws in front of her face. "Sera!" She even blinks in the same exact way you did, before putting on a smile and looking up towards you. "Amber I told you I'll be fi-" When she realizes that you are indeed, not your sister, y'know being twice her size and all, her smile threatens to fall, but she turns it into her usual smug smirk instead. "Oh! Hi Greeny~" She says with the sickly sweet tone she always puts on when talking to you. "Hello Sera." You are barely able to hide your disdain right now, morphing it into apathy instead and ignoring the fact that she just called you "Greeny" "You going up to me is rare. Usually, it's the other way around." It's obvious she wants to know why you're bothering her. "You were staring a hole through your phone." Her eyes slightly widen. She must have not been aware of her concentration. "Was I?" "Yeah. You were." You give her another look over, realizing that she is in her basketball uniform, the same type that Amber would wear home every Friday practice so they could wash it for the next week. Hardly surprising considering they're both on the same team. "I thought the basketball team got to go home early today?" She freezes as if she were a WW1 soldier plucked right out of a trench and thrown right into the middle of no man's land. "I was uh... waiting for Cynthia?" Considering how you weren't pestered by a certain green stegosaurus girl in history class nor did you see her at lunch today, you can immediately tell that she's lying. "Cynthia was sick today, remember?" She freezes again. "Uh... I- Er-" She looks away from you, her brain tripping on itself. Eventually, she sighs. "I might have... forgotten my umbrella at home today." She gives you a cheesy smile. "Okay? You're not really the type to mind getting wet." "Oh I know~" Her tone drops into a teasing one as she immediately fires back with a lewd remark. You give her a look that according to your dad, you inherited from your mom. Casting your emerald orbs down upon her. The corner of your mouth slightly opens just enough to bear some teeth in disgust. Contempt. Judging. She suppresses a giggle and holds her hands up. "I couldn't resist! Don't look at me like that!" "I can look at you however the hell I want." "Oh! So forward!" Her smugness deepens. "Look all you want then~!" You grit your teeth and pinch the bridge of your snout in exasperation as she bursts into a fit of giggles. "Sorry Greene! You just make it too easy!" She makes a motion to wipe a hypothetical tear from her eye until she sees you're completely unamused and she immediately begins to pout with her arms crossed. "Ugh... You're such a wet blanket... but to seriously answer your question, I got my horns done this morning and I realllllly didn't want to get them wet." She bends her head down, showing them off. You don't really care for Sera and your Aunt's obsession with their horns, but you can't help but indeed notice how much whiter and brighter they were than usual, there was even a slight shine to them as well. "I can see that." Upon saying this, Sera's eyes brighten up in joy. "Really?! You think your dad will notice?" You give her the look again, and she catches herself, trying to nervously laugh it off. You're not going to let her. "Is this seriously a part of another one of your dumb ploys to seduce my dad?" Her hands immediately shoot up into the air in defense again, this time shaking them along with her head for emphasis. "N-no! No! That was another joke! A joke! I promised Amber that I wouldn't try to do that kind of stuff again! I even promised you too! Remember?" As much as you hate to be reminded of the latest (and hopefully last) of said ploys, which involved a particularly revealing Halloween costume without a bottom, you choke back bile and instead think of the tears flowing down Sera's cheeks as she begged Amber to forgive her. Vividly remembering your sister stating her refusal to do so and Sera's wails growing louder. Only to quiet down in surprise when your twin pointed a finger towards you. 'I'm not the only one you need to apologize to, if Greene forgives you, then I do too.'. Needless to say, you were less keen to forgive the purple pervert for ruining your favorite holiday than Amber was, especially with how much effort you had put into your recreation of a US WW2 combat medic uniform that day, but for the sake of your twin's friendship, you did. Not before you made Sera swear up and down not to try any more "seducing" attempts again of course, but you did forgive her in the end. The look of relief on both of their faces when you did was palpable, those two girls really do love each other like sisters. As much as you would have enjoyed dangling their relationship over Sera's head as a punishment for her own hubris, you cared far too much about Amber to do that. Sera's promise to stop was good enough for you anyway, she hasn't gone back on it yet. Even if it doesn't stop her from making vile comments every now and then. Coming back from your reminiscing, you listen as she continues to voice her woes. "I was planning to just wait it out but..." She gestures outside to the pouring rain, making her point. "Right, whatever. Why didn't Amber just give you her umbrella? I know she's especially not one to mind a bit of rain either, she wouldn't have let you off easy without a fight if she knew about your horns, which I know for a fact that the first thing you probably did when you saw her today was point them out." Sera furrowed her brow. "I didn't want her to walk home in the rain because of my own mistake. So I told her my mom was coming to pick me up." "And that was a lie...?" Her eyes fall onto her phone. "She's in a really important business meeting, like super important. Something about being able to open up another second salon if it went well." That did sound important, there wasn't a single person in your immediate family who didn't know about Auntie Trish's dream to open up a Salon. You vaguely remember your entire family being brought over to celebrate her grand opening when you were barely old enough to remember and it's been the go-to stop for your family's haircuts and various other cosmetic procedures ever since. Being able to open up another in a chain was most likely the next step in her dream. So you understand why Sera wasn't too keen on calling her mom. "Well... when does the meeting end?" You inquire. She rests her chin on her cheek on a knee, hesitating to tell you for a moment. "...Five... at the earliest..." The way she mutters comes across like she hopes you don't hear her. You don't even need to check your watch to know how long of a wait that is. Including the time it'd take for Trish to drive over. "You can't seriously be thinking of waiting here for two hours Sera." She shrugs while puffing out her lips as if it were no big deal. "It's fine. Really. It's no big deal." "You sitting here after school for two hours is a decently big deal." You blankly state. "I can just go back inside!" "Yeah until they kick you out after an hour along with the other extra-curriculars. I doubt the rain will have cleared up by then." "Maybe it will have cleared up just enough to-!" Sera is suddenly interrupted by the sound of the already hard rain increasing in intensity. She goes silent, her teasing grin having long since faded in favor of a sad frown. If it were someone else, you would have felt pity, and in some way you still do. But this IS the girl who you've constantly fought with for a decade and tried to ruin your parent's marriage for several, you almost want to give her an apathetic shrug and a quick "Good luck with that." before turning on your heels and heading home. But before you can consider it, a voice in your head flares up again, this time taking the shape of your dad's stern, hardheaded voice. 'You are not the only person in the world. Everyone's fighting their own battles.' Even with her? The line repeats in your head again, battling once again with the justice part of you that wants to let her wallow in her misery. It wins again. 2 to 0 now if you were keeping track. Sera perks up when both you and her notice your arm stretching the amber-colored umbrella out to her. You're tempted to play it off as teasing, but you can't bring yourself to do it. "Here." So you own up to it. "Take it." The triceratops instinctively reaches a hand to do just that, but her hand pulls back, and she shakes her head. "No. I'm fine Greene. Really." You're taken aback at her refusal. "You can't tell me you're going to sit out in the rain and wind for two whole hours and say you're fi-" "Why do you care?" Her sudden snap-back catches you completely off guard. "What?" "Why do you care? Don't you hate me or something?" "I-" You stop yourself for a moment, despite everything, you actually can't really bring yourself to say you HATE Sera. Maybe it's because you've known her for so long. "No. I don't think I hate you." She seems surprised at how earnest you are in your response. "You... don't?" "No. I don't. There are a lot of parts about you that I do hate though. Particularly how you're constantly making sexual jokes when it obviously makes people uncomfortable. The way you purposely act like a ditzy bimbo when it suits you pisses me off. How you harrassing me. And don't even get me started with how you take advantage of any boy who makes the fatal mistake of falling for you to get what you want like some shallow maneater. But worst of all is your sexual harassment and passes towards our dad, sometimes doing it right in front of us. Showing complete disrespect for my mom, who treats you not only like a niece but her own child." She flinches in pain with every verbal jab, eventually slouching over while you take a deep breath. You desperately want to get into the story you've been told by your grandparents about how your parents met, how much hell the both of them went through in the time between when they met and when they married, and how the both of them supported each other through it all. You want to tell her how she's tried to destroy all that bond because of some naive puppy crush that should have faded a long while ago, and that's why you don't like her. But there was a time for everything, and that time was not now. "...but there's a lot of good parts that even I can see." She perks up a bit upon hearing that. "You're smart, both street-wise and academically. You have a very good knack for electronics. You're dedicated to helping your mom out with her business. When you actually refrain from constantly making lewd remarks you're actually not that bad of a person to talk to. You at the very least know when you've fucked up, even if you don't know when to stop before things get to that point. And probably the most important of all... you actively try to be the best friend you can be to Amber, and I guess that's enough for me to tolerate you." Her eyes seem to light up for a moment, a thought hitting her. "Uhm... Greene? You're not coming onto me are you?" You immediately want to take back everything good thing you just about her, but the way she smugly smiled as she asked causes you to instead clap back with a... "Hell no." Sera winces in faux pain, holding her free hand over where her heart is. "Ouch. No hesitation huh?" "Nope. I'm probably the only straight and single guy in the school that won't fall for your BS." She nods, knowing this to be true for over a decade. "Well... I still don't really get it though." "Hmm? Get what?" "Why are you always trying to help me? You yourself said that you only really tolerate me. So why help me out? You could easily just turn around right now and go home without a single care. Yet you're right here, listening to my problems, and insisting I take your only umbrella. Why?" She brings up a good point... why ARE you here? That's an easy answer. "Everyone- Well... everyone who isn't straight-up evil, deserves some sort of break, especially when they're having a bad day. We're all fighting our different battles, and sometimes we need a bit of air support. Like in the Cross-Continental War, during the Battle of Ancho, the UK had no hope of capturing the Chinese SuperFort Pangaia if it weren't for the initial bombing runs from the US. Despite shaky relations for both of them at this point, they were still allies in the end." Sera blinks at me in a minor amount of surprise and dumbfoundedness, before she looks down at her phone with a sigh. "Air Support? Pangaia?" You catch yourself, realizing you've just made a comparison to military history like an autist. Sera giggles lightly. "I think I get it, but that is... very like you." Now it's your turn to be slightly surprised. "It is?" "You're always so nice to everyone. Honestly, besides this whole mess, I'm not even having that bad of a day. You on the other hand..." She looks you over with a grim frown. "Huh? What do you mean?" "Your jacket and bag look like they're soaked, the tip of your wing looks bruised and swollen, same with your tail, as it's obvious you've hurt your tail, and on top of that..." Sera navigates to something on her phone, before flipping it over to show you something you would have rather forgotten. It's a video of you slipping on the puddle that was in the hallway, harshly crashing on your back, before getting up and yelling at everyone to quit staring. Considering how Sera was probably out here when you slipped, she probably got sent it by one of her other cliques. The video stops playing shortly after you yell, and you suddenly feel like you haven't slept in days. From the point of view of the recording, it does you no favors in dispelling the rumors that you're an asshole. Of course it got recorded. And of COURSE, the video is already making its rounds around the school. It's almost like it's a specialty of Volcano High's for gossip to spread like wildfire, even for a high school. You take a deep breath, calming yourself before your brain hits the panic button. It's really not that big of a deal. You can handle it, You're already used to being treated like an asshole by nearly the entire student body. Especially by now. This'll blow over in a week, a month tops. Mom used to talk about her band being the laughingstock of the entire school when they thought double bass was a good idea. And that only lasted a month so as long as nobody does anything to exacerbate the issue- Oh... Oh no... Sera's eyes look to yours as she scans you with what seems to be... concern? "Does Amber know?" She tilts her head. "No? She hasn't blown my phone up yet, so I don't think so? Not yet at least." A breath of relief flows out your snout holes. "Can you do me a favor and try to keep it that way?" "Why? I'm sure Amber would want to know considering she cares about you a whole lot, she IS your sister y'know." "It's exactly because she cares so much that I don't want her to know. She'll wreak havoc on anyone she thinks has a part in spreading it around, and everyone will run away from me for the rest of the year just to avoid the chances of getting on her bad side." "Oh, that does make sense. She can get a little carried away when it comes to defending you y'know? Oh! That reminds me of the time that she broke that kid's arm when she found out-" A pang of guilt hits you. You don't want to be reminded of this. "Not in the mood, Sera. Can you just-... try to stop her from finding out as long as you can? I don't want her to trash her own reputation as the 'star basketball player' just because of me, especially over something so... little." Sera's concern deepens into a somber frown. "I don't think it's 'little' Greene. Having your image being tarnished is something you should be rightfully upset about. Especially when you've been hurt." "That's-" You pause for some reason before shaking your head. "I'm used to it. Regardless, it's my own problem, I don't want Amber to be upset on my behalf anyway. Just promise me you won't let her suplex half the school?" Sera tries to peer into the depths of your eyes, but you shut her away out of habit. She sighs. "Fine. I'll try. But... you shouldn't really shove these things aside. All that stress can't be good for your complexion. You'll get crow's feet." You think your complexion is the least of your priorities at this point. "I'll... keep that in mind. Thanks, Sera." Her smile is genuine. "No problem. It's the least I could do for a guy like you." "A guy like me?" You're starting to feel like Solid Salamander from Stone Wheel Solid at this point. "Uh yeah? Like I said earlier, you're always so nice to everyone, even after all the crap everyone gives you, you're still always ready to help people out. Especially me and Cynthia and you just said you dislike me." You rub your neck, your father's words once again making themselves known. 'You are not the only person in the world. Everyone’s fighting their own battles.' "Hmm?" Sera inquisitively hums. "You said something like that a little earlier... something about air support?" Damn, you must have muttered again. "Ah it's... just one of the things my Dad tells me a lot. Something his old principal told him one day and he's lived by ever since, I guess he expects me to do the same, along with a lot of things... like not worrying my mom sick." She smirks. "It's not easy being Greene." You blink at her for a moment, and suddenly you can't stop yourself from finding the line very humorous. "Pfft- Hahahahahaha!" You burst into laughter, something you can't help but realize you haven't done in a long time. It doesn't last long, but it's enough to leave you with a smile afterward. She's smiling too, as if she were satisfied with herself. Now that you think about it, that has to be the first time you've ever actually laughed at one of Sera's jokes. You decide to let her have her little victory as you take a deep breath. "No... I guess it's not." "Well... for the record, I think you've done a great job so far." You're not sure if you believe that, but you don't try to argue. Instead, you bring the topic back to what both of you were talking about in the first place. "Here, if you're not going to take my umbrella. At least let me call my mom, I'm sure she'd be happy to drive you home." She shakes her head. "Thank you, but I'm going to pass." "Are you sure? I can stay here and we can work on the weekend math assignment Carl gave us while we wait, it'd save me a walk home in the rain, anyways." "Greene. Are you seriously bringing up math homework?" You shrug, and she huddles her legs up to her chest, putting her chin on her knees. "I'm sorry but... I would feel bad if I asked your mom to help me considering..." She doesn't need to finish that sentence for you to get what she means. You feel like it's a bit late for her to feel remorse, but better late than never you guess. You let out an exhausted sigh. "Well, I'm not leaving you here to rot for two hours, and my mom is going to get worried if I don't get home soon... So I'm going to give you an ultimatum." You point at her. "You're going to take my umbrella and walk home... or I'm going to call my mom to pick us both up." She narrows her eyes right at you. "You wouldn't." Oh but you would. Purple clashes with Green, obviously she's trying to think of a way out that doesn't include taking either option. You'll gladly partake in this staring contest. It's one of your specialties after all. Eventually, after what feels like a hot minute, she finally breaks away with an irritated groan. "Ugh! I take all that stuff back! You're an asshole!" She puts her phone into her backpack before standing up from the pillar and holding her hand out. You triumphantly hand her said umbrella, your turn to now sport a smug grin as she pouts and puffs up her cheeks. Before you can even think to rub in your victory, the trigger chick walks past you with a "Hmph!", making her way out from under the awning and down the stairs. The rain began to pitter and patter against the amber fabric of the umbrella. You swear you hear a "Thank you..." from her but you probably just imagined it. She stops midway down, turning back to you with that concerned look again. "Are you sure you're going to be okay Greene? It's pretty bad. Maybe you should call your mom to come pick you up instead of getting soaked. I'd hate for you to get pneumonia or something..." You shake your head. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I actually quite like the rain." "'Kay..." She puts on a conflicted look as if she wants to say something else. "Hey Greene?" "Yeah?" "I know you might not feel the same, but... y'know me and Cynthia consider you our friend too right?" You're taken slightly aback, but before you can respond, she's gone down the rest of the stairs, your yellow-orange umbrella heading down the opposite direction from your house. "Friends..." You mutter to yourself. To be honest, you've always just assumed the purple triceratops and the green stegosaurus thought of you like you thought of them. An annoying accessory to Amber that while you dislike, you tolerated because they made her happy, and she cared for them. Though you suppose it makes sense as to why both of them go out of their way to bother you even when your sister isn't there. A small part of you suddenly wants to call them your friends too. Ugh... you really don't get this friend stuff. Probably one of the many reasons why you don't have any. A chill suddenly flows over your body, causing you to shiver. You should probably get home really soon before you actually do get a cold or something. After hyping yourself up, you rush out from under the awning, breaking out into a jog, making sure NOT to slip and fall down the stairs as you note the nice feeling of cool rain hitting your body and wings. You look up to the sky, watching as the heavens pour water down to the earth, getting lost in your thoughts as you continue your soaked trek home. You cannot wait to take a hot shower and play Rock Ring 3: ADRT after. Maybe Dad or Amber would be down for some split screen.