Private Finished Not So Welcome Home

In stark contrast to her brother, Jazz had been having a wonderful day. School had been relatively easy aside from the uncomfortable exchange of turning in late work and asking for an extension at the same time. However, going out to the cinema with her boyfriend had instantly brightened her mood. They'd gotten to see a new horror film, sure, but the highlight was the cuddling and popcorn binging.

And, taking full advantage of free refills, the popcorn binge was still going as she walked in the front door, crunching a couple of the precious buttery top pieces and humming to herself. Hearing the microwave running in the kitchen, she shuffled on in to see who was there.

Almost automatically, her cheerful demeanor dulled slightly when she saw that it was Angus making food. "Oh, um...hey." Jazz raised a hand to wave at him, eating another piece of popcorn as she did. "What are you making?"

Jazz wasn't exactly surprised to see her brother in such a foul mood, but even so it did put a smidge of a damper on her own. She set the popcorn down on the countertop and pushed herself up with her hands to sit there as well, listening to the dull mechanical hum of the microwave for a moment before speaking.

"I mean, um...what happened today? If you wanted to...talk. I dunno." She didn't really expect Angus to take her offer to vent out his problems healthily, but was compelled to ask nonetheless. Even with as much of a jackass as he tended to be, it was still worth a shot in her eyes.

It took her a few moments, but it eventually dawned on her what last night's dinner had been. "O-oh, and you mean, um, the chicken? I mean, I was gonna..." She cleared her throat, crunching another piece of popcorn. Both of them knew fully well that the grilled chicken their mom made was one of her absolute favorite foods, and she hadn't gotten any last night since her stream kept her busy. "Um, nevermind. You can have it." Notably, she made a point of not addressing the question about why she looked happy, knowing that she would do a bad job of lying about it.

As she had figured, her offer to let hin talk about what was troubling him was shot down instantly. Somewhat disappointing, but there was no good that would come from pressing the issue. Less enthusiastically than when she had come in, she reached for a couple pieces of popcorn and crunched them, giving the microwave a dull glance when it went off.

Jazz cringed just a bit as she watched her brother tear into his food, almost commenting that he should slow down but thinking better of it. He was already in a piss poor mood, so if he wanted to choke on a chicken chunk that was his business.

As reluctant as she was to press her brother on what had happened during his day, Angus went right for it for her. She'd never been a very good liar, but at the same time, she wanted to avoid telling him about Deacon if at all possible. "I mean, um...n-nothing out of the ordinary. School was fine, and then I went to see a movie, um. With a friend."

Her brother's persistence in finding out what she had been up to was just a tiny smidge alarming. As far as she knew he didn't usually have any interest in how she spent her time if he couldn't get anything out of it. The bear girl adjusted how she was sitting on the countertop, fidgeting with one of her sleeves and in general doing very little to hide her nerves.

"Hiding? W-what, um...I mean, I don't have any reason to. You would just think it was boring." She tried her hardest to laugh it off casually, which of course backfired due to her blush, avoidance of eye contact, and generally unconvincing lying ability. "He's just, y'know. This...guy. That I saw something with. It's not a big deal or anything."

Jazz was used to Angus talking to her like this, but that didn't mean that his words were any less hurtful. This was something that she was very much excited and happy about, and that was obvious despite how much she tried to downplay it. His harshness was uncalled for, and she tried to tell herself that it was unfounded.

"It's n-not...it isn't like that. He's a really cool guy." She rubbed her arm for a moment, getting up to retrieve some plastic wrap and cover up her remaining popcorn. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling too hungry, even as her brother was feasting on one of her favorite foods right next to her.

"You really don't...what do you mean you don't know why anyone would bother?" Jazz wanted to give him the chance to clarify at least, riding on the slim hope that what he had said wasn't meant in the hurtful way it sounded.