Magnum Opus

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"But I can't do it, I can't do any of it. It's all hard and... and I'm only still doing it because I need to get into college if I want to be a vet," he began, happy to change subjects when the opportunity presented itself. He didn't get irked often, but constantly hearing the negatives of Tyrone, someone he clearly liked, wasn't too comforting. The more irked he got, the hungrier he tended to feel, and he hated feeling consumed by that sort of hunger. Ignoring it as best he could meant he needed to talk about something his brother wasn't going to upset him over.

"Cos maybe then I'll find a way to keep Patch alive forever, 'cos I don't want him leaving-- or Midnight. I'll keep 'em alive, somehow. I gotta get good grades to do that, don't I?"
 
"I would love for Midnight to live forever. If... I'd we ever get separated, I want to be able to look at her and think of you," he insisted, though knew that would never be the case. Even if he longed to be able to have a nice life with someone he was attracted to, he knew he'd probably glued to Gabriel's side for the rest of their lives - not that, that was a bad thing. He had accepted it, by that point.

"Do you want me to cook the liver, or do you want it raw?" He questioned once faced with the cutesy home's door. Fiddling nervously with the door, he motioned his brother in before immediately following and properly locking the door. "I kind of want teriyaki sauce."
 
"We aren't ever getting separated, silly. We're gonna live with Mom forever and ever and... don't say silly stuff like that, it's upsetting. You're my best friend and my brother and... no, we're gonna, like, be together forever, dummy," he laughed, kicking off his colourful sneakers and, once ruffling his brother's hair up affectionately with a wild grin, wandered hungrily to the kitchen.

"I mean, I want it a little cooked, but not much! Just so it's hot. I hate eating it cold. I... I like it like it's just been out of a body or something. That sounds gruesome, but... b-but anyway! Maybe some salt and pepper with it, a-and... and sweet chilli sauce," he decided firmly, pulling himself up onto the stool at the fashionable kitchen island that had recently been installed. It did look like it cost a fortune, and it would have indeed cost a few thousand for the fancy marble and designer seats that came with it... but Pearl managed to get it all installed for a fraction of the cost. She was the object of many desires, though she was naive to all of that. When she met a nice man at the grocery store and got talking, she thought nothing of it when she accepted the offer of help - she didn't realise he was flirting and looking to expand their friendship to something more. As of now, they were just friends-- though she'd refused the offer of going on dates with him because she, typically, put her sons first.

Trailing his finger across the expensive marble surface, he shot his brother a grin as he prepared the meals for them both. "You're so clever, cooking like this. Mom doesn't let me go near the oven, says I'll just burn myself. I'm not that dumb, am I?"
 
"You're not dumb, but you are clumsy," he replied simply, his anxiety clearly eased once taking that first step into the doorway. Letting out a heavy sigh, he immediately made his way to the kitchen. Rummaging through the refrigerator, he eventually pulled out the liver wrapped in deli paper. One thing he loved about their mother is her attempt to try and make them feel a bit normal in what they were doing, so to wrap a human liver in paper, although it being something so unnecessary and purely based on aesthetic, it didn't stop him from smiling. Carefully taking out the liver, it took everything in him not to tear the meat apart himself, and instead popped it into the oven for a quick heat - not cooking it long enough to actually cook it, but enough to make it warm throughout the meat. He then moved to creating the other's rub of choice, taking out the needed ingredients.

"Look, so what if you can't do some math homework? Do you want to know what you can do? Amazing paintings and sculptures. I bet that, if we had the resources, you could be featured in, like, The Louvre. I think you could definitely cook, by the way. I think you could do well if it weren't for the fact that you'd somehow cut off a finger or something."
 
"I would not cut off my finger, I... I can do things without Mom hovering behind me. I'm 16, I... I can do what you do. We're twins, we're the same. Not identical, obviously, but... but let me help you, I can season the meat myself," he decided boldly, his mouth practically watering the moment he came closer and got the full smell of the coated liver. He would have wolfed it down there and then, but he did want to be civilised and eat the liver with a fork and knife. His mother had always taught them to do that, to eat the meat as if it were a normal meal, to make them feel... well, normal, and not like some monsters who ravenously tore apart meat the moment they got their hands on it. As easy as it was for Gabe to resort to that, the years of being taught to eat the meat normally was ingrained in him.

Proudly grinning at him after simply dousing the meat in a combination of salt and pepper, that was, sadly, the most preparation he'd ever done for himself. Pearl did tend to keep Gabriel away from knives and the oven, and even the toaster, after one bad incident when he was 14 and had stuck a metal fork in it - he'd been one second away from a bad electric shock.

"See? And... And I'll do my homework after this and then Mom will be home and we can watch cartoons~ She's so cool, isn't she? Working with dead bodies and finding out how people died and... and she's the best. Everyone likes her. I hear all the teachers at school talking about how pretty she is. And some of the students, too! Like, Felix's friends always say it."
 
"I can fact-check at the end, if you'd like?" He offered to the other before dousing the meat in the chili sauce over the fsalt and pepper. He was no top chef, so it certainly wasn't a neat and even spread on the liver, but he didn't really mind. Offering his brother a grin in excitement, he popped the meat in the oven and impatiently tapped his foot, licking the uncontrollable drool from his lips and sharpened fangs. "Oi, go get the homework and we can do it together over dinner, yeah?"

With that, Cain rummaged through his pockets and tugged out the crumpled up homework from Felix. He knew he shouldn't feel bad for the other teen, but he did, especially if the rumors were true about his family. That was no excuse to comment on their father, though, especially knowing what he did to their mother. The topic was often the most sensitive with Cain, especially after being told it at such a young age.
 
Gabriel was up and out of the room to collect the homework long before he could allow his frown to be seen. There was a reason he avoided doing that particular piece of homework, and why he'd 'forgotten' to bring his book in for that class for the last two weeks. Now, though, he knew his brother was only going to insist to help him, which is why he arrived back into the kitchen with the green schoolbook held closely to his chest-- though it didn't hide the words that had been doodled on the covers, all of them typically being insults Felix and his friends threw at Gabriel.

"...Don't get mad, I'm sure it was a joke. Look, it looks kinda cool, like that graffiti on the walls in the lane," he babbled, resting the book out on the island and fiddling through it to find a clean page. "I-It's not a bad thing, I... I like the decoration. The teacher will get mad though, and I really like her a-and I don't want detention again."
 
"You won't go to detention for this," Cain sighed, before leaning over the island to take in the insults and cruel words thrown at his brother. "You should tell the teacher, Gabe. She'll tell them straight, you know? These... These aren't nice words, and you know that. I know you like to see the good in people, but this isn't them being cool - this is them being assholes." He admitted, before letting out a heavy sigh and flopping on one of the modern stools.

"I know you don't want to hurt them, but please tell me when someone does something like this to you. I... I need you to be safe and happy, and this doesn't make me feel either of those."
 
"I... I knew what you'd say and then I'd feel bad 'cos it's kind of my fault. I dropped my stuff that time you were off school sick a-and Felix picked them up and he and Tyrone doodled on it, and... and they said I had nice handwriting, so I thought they were just being... friends to me," he shrugged quietly, forcing another smile out as he absently traced the words along the front of the book with his finger. Despite how vitriolic and insulting the words were, he didn't see them as a negative thing. In his eyes, this showed that Felix and Tyrone liked him and that they were his friends, regardless of how hurtful they could be sometimes.

"They're not bad people, I... I don't know. It doesn't matter," he giggled lightly, reaching out for the can of soda opposite him. "I-I mean... hey, we'll probably move in a couple of months, so Dad doesn't catch up to us. Mom said I look a little like him, which sucks, I guess."
 
"I've been thinking a lot about... dad. We're pretty powerful, right? He's so persistent on finding us, why don't we just kill him?" The other asked flatly, his eyes locked on Felix's homework. "I mean... I don't understand why we don't just do that, make life more simple. We wouldn't have to run anymore, and... you and I and Mom could stay here, in this town. You like Tyrone, and I like the woods here. It's a lot better than Arizona, after all. That place was way too hot, yeah?"

He added on the casual quip in hopes to lighten the topic a tad, but he was still very much questioning the idea. He had been for months, though was always nervous to bring it up. Once hearing the ding of the oven, he smiled over to his brother before hurriedly grabbing the proper mittens and tugged out the hot pan, carefully setting it on the counter. A liver was only so big, so Cain decidedly cut through the still bloody liver, giving the larger piece to his brother.
 
"...Are you serious? W-We can't do that! G-Gosh no! Mom said we should never kill anyone, she said that's why she gets us our food, 'cos we... we probably won't be able to stop if we kill someone once. It'll snowball a-and... and it's illegal, for a start. A-And I couldn't do that, not to our father. Sure, he... he's not a nice man, but he's an alcoholic, so... so he has issues. Maybe if he cleans up one day and Mom sees he's a different person, maybe we can see him," he babbled quietly, beginning to bite on his already broken lip. The fact his brother even had these thoughts was overwhelming, really. Sure, they'd always had urges to kill someone, but that was for food, when the urges and cravings became too much. What his brother was suggesting was murder, plain and simple.

"I... I... maybe, let's think about it," he continued as a compromise, reaching for his cutlery the moment the food was placed in front of her. His brother was practically is idol in life, second only to their mother, so of course he was willing to consider anything he suggested. Hell, he would probably go along with it with a little more pressing and persuasion.
 
"We should talk to Mom about it, how about that? It's just... I know it's dark, and it might sound scary, but we could always eat him after...? O-Or Mom could kill him! We could protect her if he tried to do anything, right?" He promised, before moving across the island to hold his brother's hand tight.

"No matter what we do, whether we move or put an end to all of this nonesense, I still love you. More than any stupid guy who thinks he can mess with us. Got it?"
 
"...We can't eat o-our father, I-I... How would we even recognise him and know who he was? I-I don't want to talk about this, it's making me feel weird," he whispered earnestly in response, his smile only lighting again at the first mouthful of the liver, especially when it was just how he liked it - pretty much raw and warm enough to taste fresh. That said, it was difficult to just get over the proposition of eating their own father. Granted, he couldn't control his cravings, and, while it made him feel incredibly horrible, he often felt hunger when around his own mother. Therefore, it was only inevitable that he would feel that way about a man he not only really knew, but who he thought had abused and hurt his mother-- though he preferred not to even think about eating the man.
 
Slicing strips of the meat neatly, he attempted to try and seem civilized... despite the fact that he desperately wanted to shove the meat into his mouth in whole. Instead, he happily embraced the meat and savored it, knowing all to well that it would be quite a long time before they'd be able to have some proper meat - that is, unless their mother came home with some fresh food. Leaning against his hand, he stared at the homework silently.

"... Hm. Hey, let's paint over that notebook, yeah?" He declared, to at least change the subject. "We can paint some pretty flowers and stuff to cover up those mean words. It'll be good to do, you know?"
 
"I want to make those cupcakes first. I... I want to make one for Tyrone, I was really mean to him tonight. I called him a nasty person, and he's really not like that. He... He said he thought I was cool. I think, maybe if I bring in a cupcake for him that I made, he might spend some more time with me-- and he'll definitely defend us from Felix and his friends," he murmured slowly, absently rolling his shoulder back and wincing once the pain kicked in again. He hadn't looked at it yet, but he already knew there would be a mighty bruise forming overnight.

"I wonder if Felix is going to be in. His parents are awful, they won't help him out, and his nose is definitely hurt. I-I feel bad for him. I know he hurts us, but... but his parents are horrible to him, everybody knows that. He lashes out, but I think he'd be a lovely person if we got through to him, perhaps..."
 
Shamefully looking away, Cain pressed his lips together tight. He wasn't heartless, he felt like utter shit, but he needed to seem confident for his brother. So, with a smile, he offered a nod in response before taking another good bite of the liver, purring in content at the flavor.

"Yeah, we can make cupcakes. I think it would be nice, if only to apologize a tad. We aren't going to bow down to them, though. We're only going to apologize and that's it, understand? We aren't bad people. I-I... I'm not a bad person. This was all my fault, anyway."
 
"No it's not! No, he began hurting us first, right? You defended me and... and I didn't do anything 'cos I'm a coward and... and I get scared easy. It scared me and I froze and I should have jumped in and, like, pushed him off you," he admitted meekly, focusing his eyes on his already empty plate, the mess around his mouth evidence of just how quickly he'd wolfed down the meal. It would satisfy him for a few hours at the most before he would crave something else, but he was pretty confident his mother would bring something home with her.

"A-Anyway, we can make a few cupcakes for Felix and Tyrone, mostly. I think Tyrone likes chocolate-- who doesn't like chocolate, right? And... And maybe he'll ask me to the dance, that'll be lovely..."
 
"Of course," he reassured, before passing over the last part of the organ. Glancing at the time, he then shot a smile at the fact that the night was still relatively young. He really was determined to do the homework, as some sort of peace offering, but if he could distract himself from the idea with cupcakes, he would love to.

"Anyhoo, do you want to whisk up the batter?" He offered to his brother, knowing nothing would make him happier. Tugging out the easy mix and basic ingredients, he knew that neither he nor his brother were good enough to make a cake from scratch. Sure, Cain could cook enough to survive, but he'd never be able to live with his brother and not with their mother. He'd most likely starve, thanks to his lack of money management.
 
"Yeah!-- I mean, do you think Mom will get mad if she realises you let me do this by myself? I-I totally can, I-I can make them all by myself if I wanted, but Mom doesn't let me. It's not even dangerous. It's... It's just whipping up a batter, she's too protective sometimes," he shrugged, though rolled his eyes endearingly. If he was honest, he probably would hate it if his mother took a back seat. He was entirely dependent on her, and even when he got older, he knew himself he was always going to live with her, up until the day she died.

Rolling his sleeves up happily, he shot his twin a proud grin the moment he began tipping the packets into the bowl and reached for the other ingredients. It was hardly real cooking, but it was the most he'd ever done. "We gotta make Mom one too, she's expecting it."
 
"Obviously," he snorted as he rummaged through the cabinet to snatch his favorite sprinkles and setting them on the counter. He also tugged out a cup of frosting and decided to curiously dip his spoon in the frosting to just lick it up. "These'll be the best cupcakes, now that you're helping. Mine are okay, sure, but you'll add some magic!" He declared with clearly overdone grandiose. Hell, he went as far as to raise the spatula with a grin.

"Do you want to frost, too? I know mom is all spooked, but I think you're fine. I dunno about cutting up stuff, though. You're notoriously ditzy, I'm sorry." He teasingly cooed, before hopping on the counter as he brought the homework with. "You can eat the batter, if you'd like, but not too much,"
 
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