You Have Us... Always.

Chapter 40- Uplifting Spirits.

Her tongue swiped over her lips, "and..."

Silas rummaged around the drawer.

"And the drawing from Maths, we almost got caught, but she- Heather- hid it underneath her book so we didn't. I, even, added a speech bubble."

Silas got a packet of crisps out, closing the drawer with his right hip, simultaneously opening the packet.

Maybe she had said too much.

He leaned back against the countertop, reaching into the packet and Brynn would be lying if she said something inside didn't sting.

She swallowed, trying to focus back on her work, but her gaze kept going upwards to Silas, who reached into the packet and brought out a couple of crisps.

The pencil was transferred from two hands to her left one as she began to actually start the next question.

She circled the brackets, like Silas had. And she could already answer the first part of her calculations.

"What did your speech bubble say?"

She shot her head up.

Silas was no longer looking at his packet, although his left hand held it up and his right one was still holding a few crisps.

The pencil was back in both hands as she sat up a little straighter. Silas might not find it as funny as she, or Heather, did.

She was a little quieter saying it, "stupid Verlices." It did sound a bit childish now that she thought about it.

Silas snorted, smirking into his packet. "Accurate."

---

Brynn hadn't ever made conversation with her fifth eldest brother, but she had to start somewhere. Some people weren't very good at making conversation.

She could sympathise with that.

Somewhere was here.

"Do you have maths at university?" she asked, quietly, unsure if boundaries were being overstepped.

Silas stopped chewing the crisps in his mouth, looking up from his focus on the blue crisp packet.

He stared, then swallowed, digging into the packet once more, "no."

Brynn's mouth was parted a tad as she nodded minimally, letting out a breathy, "cool."

She fiddled with the pen again, in both hands. She didn't think Silas wanted to speak much more.

That was okay.

The math homework she refocused on was not. But it was doable now. Silas didn't make a move to leave the kitchen area, still eating his crisps with the back of his hips against the counter.

The silence was okay. Brynn tried the next question on her maths sheet and eventually Silas finished his crisps. He crumbled the packet up and threw it to the middle of the island, opening the drawer in front of him once again to get another packet out.

Brynn stared at the question for a few seconds, then circled something that seemed relevant in the question. Then, she subtly looked up to Silas who stood still, looking into the crisp packet.

His index finger tapped the outside of the packet repeatedly as he shifted on the spot every so often. Brynn watched the movement vigilantly.

Then she went back to her math sheet, concentrating on that as much as she could when all she read were words that made little-to-no sense and all she could feel was the tense silence around the kitchen, accompanied by the occasional rustle of Silas' crisp packet.