Neutral Omens

Adam glanced between Brian and Pepper, letting some interesting pieces drop into place.

"All right," he decreed. "Nothin' sayin' the lady love can't be a pirate, too, but Brian dun't hafta be the one if he dun't want. I don't wanna give Wens a tortured past, though. How 'bout he has a pet jaguar from the rainforest and the three pirates hold him for ransom?"

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"An' Dog can be the pet jaguar!" Pepper added excitedly. She was a little put out that he couldn't have a tortured past, but a jaguar was just as good really.

She looked up at Brian, hoping that was all right and he wasn't feeling morbid anymore. "How's that Brian? Think Wensley wants a pet jaguar?"

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"Yeah!" Brian liked the idea a lot better, and took to it with enthusiasm. "Named Bagheera or something."

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Pepper smiled. "Sure! Bagheera could work real good." She wondered if Brian had been reading the same books she had while they were away.

And because he was still standing, she crawled forward and tackled him, pulling his legs out from underneath him and sending him flying.

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"HEY!" he said, flailing for balance. "No fair playing it on the ground, Pep!"

His landing was cushioned by the greenery. He still wasn't atall amused.

Much. He burst into a peal of laughter before he could stop himself.

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Pepper crawled forward and started tickling Brian's sides, kicking Adam lightly with her foot to get him involved in the fray.

"Since when did we ever have rules about how I could attack? All that rugby make you go soft in the head and forget Our Rules?" She flexed her finger mercilessly, remembering again that Brian had the most ticklish ribs of anyone she had ever known.

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"Hey HEY! Don't insult R-- DON'T DO THAT!" Brian burst into giggles, trying to punch her arm and block his poor ribs at the same time.

As a maneuver, it failed.

"Adam, Help! Help!"

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Adam just sat and laughed, hugely comforted by the familiar display.

"I can't help," he managed to say. "Otherwise she'll come after me. Every boy for himself."

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"Adam!" Brian said, looking utterly betrayed. "That's it, Pep! I'll just get you MYSELF." He folded over to grapple with her, trying for one of those wicked wrestling holds you weren't s'posed to be able to break.

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Which was, of course, the point. Adam just laughed more. He'd make it up to Brian later.

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Oh boy. If he was going to do wrestling holds, then she could do karate kicks right? She put a knee to his chest and pushed -

Oy, he was heavy.

"Adam?" she said desperately, being crushed under massive Brian-weight, "what good are you doing just sittin' there?" She looked up at Brian. "Get off me, you, or I'll bite you like when we were on vacation that time!"

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Brian squeaked in remembered pain and crabscuttled back. "Not ON, Pep."

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Pepper smirked. "Well, I got to defend meself now that you're all big and hefty. Should warn you, though - I just learned to chop wood blocks with my hands." Well, it hadn't been a completely clean cleave, but she was getting close. Hurt like hell, though.

Her hand shot out lightning-quick and wrenched a shoe off of Brian's foot. She tossed it to Adam. "You know how it goes! Better run!"

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"Utter bastards!" Brian bounced to his feet, launching a tackle to Adam, hoping to catch him before he made a break for it.

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"Hey, what are you gettin' me all involved for? It's your fight!" Adam tossed the shoe back at Pepper and tried to roll out of Brian's way.

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Pepper caught the shoe and tossed it at Adam's head. It made contact quite nicely.

"Since when do you get to stay on the sidelines and watch? You forgotten how to play, or somethin'?" she teased. "Or are you just afraid of Brian now that he's all big and scary?"

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"Since now, that's when," said Adam rubbing his head. "I didn't forget how to play. I just gotta be careful 'bout takin' sides."

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"I am not scary," Brian said to Pep. "YOU'RE scary! So there."

He dove for the shoe when it bounced off of Adam's head, rolling with it held tightly to his chest. "Hah!"

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Pepper let the shoe and the comment go, and looked hard at Adam. Well, there was a way to kill fun that she hadn't seen used before. She'd thought he seemed a little somber for all the sillyness. More cautious than he used to be.

"Adam..." She really wasn't sure what she wanted to say about that. Except exactly what was in her head, and she wasn't sure he would respond well to it. "Adam, it's just me and Brian. It's not sides, it's just...." She finger combed her hair out of her eyes, stared at the ground in frustration. "You're not going to hurt anyone, Adam, if that's wot you're worried 'bout. I know you won't."

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Brian frowned. The victory of the shoe seemed a bit diminished.

He dropped it and wriggled his foot into it.

"...woss going on?"

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"I'm sorry, Pep. I guess it's just habit now or somethin'. People keep thinkin' that if I'm not with 'em, I'm against 'em. Nobody trusts what I'm doin' and you guys are all I've got left. If you think I'm on Brian's side or Brian thinks I'm on yours, even in play, then one of you's not gonna trust me at an important moment and we'll all lose. And this isn't a game we can lose. Okay? I don't mean to ruin the game, but I hadda say that."

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Pepper sighed. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You know we never had sides between us, even when we played, not really. It was always the four of us 'gainst everyone else." She reached forward and prodded the toe sticking out through his tattered trainer. "And I trust you, Adam. And you know that Brian and Wensley do too. But I'll trust you more if you don't trust us to act like the rest of them. You should know better."

It was all true. They were Adam's since their first day on the playground. And once you belonged to Adam it was difficult to belong to anyone else. Pepper had figured that out the hard way. "You've forgotten us, haven't you? Maybe you don't think you have, but you have a little. We're not the burden Adam. We're not like everyone else you're tryin' to take care of. If we're not here to make things easier for you, then why are we back? And don't say it's to keep us safe, or I'll punch you in the mouth.

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"I know that. Course I know. It's just weird gettin' used to havin' you guys around again. I been havin' to be grown-up all by myself and yellin' at people thousands of years older than me when they're actin' stupid. You three mean everythin' to me. And I don't want your feelin's to get hurt. If that's keepin' you safe, then go ahead and hit me, Pep."

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I been havin' to be grown-up all by myself...

Well, that was the easy way to make Pepper feel totally guilty. Wait, no, that wasn't fair. Why couldn't he have just asked? Why didn't he ever ask for help, instead of just handling everything on his own? He could have. There was nothing stopping him from doing that. It wasn't her fault that he'd been alone.

"You better get used to it fast," she said carefully, laying back in the grass again. "I still want to hit you, though. You're bloody thick sometimes, dun't care how much responsibility you've been takin' on."

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