In Due Time ((June 1920))

[amanika]

Tugger nodded, "I guess sleep ain't a bad idea." He dug around under his pillow to find his current pair of pyjama pants. Since he'd had the additional fur of his mane to contend with, and it seemed to still be getting thicker, he'd given up sleeping without any kind of nightshirt because he just got too hot.

He turned his back on Munkustrap to change, if their sharing a room again was going to be long-term, then being bashful and changing in the bathroom seemed a little excessive. Slacks were descreetly swapped for the worn pyjama pants and then Tugger straightened, stretching a little as he stripped off his shirt, back still to his brother.

[Meadowlark]

Munkus pulled his pyjama shirt over his head, freezing at the sight of Tugger's scars. "Tugger..?"

[amanika]

"Hrm?" Tugger turned to frown at his brother, Munkustrap having seen the scars yet to cross his mind. He was seldom in the habit of doing much that showed the scars, and never seeing them himself, tended to forget they were there until his attention was drawn back by someone else.

[Meadowlark]

"What did he do?" Came the quiet question.

[amanika]

"Wh..? Oh!" Tugger stiffened as he reslised what his brother was referring to, ears laying back. The odd thing was, he kept his back to Munkustrap, it was looking at him as he answered that Tugger found harder.

"Broken bottle."

Tugger's tone was a little expressionless, though not as closed as it might be, it had been years since he'd given anyone a straight or truthful answer about the cause of his scars, yet, with Munkustrap, he found he couldn't lie. Maybe even didn't want to.

[Meadowlark]

Munkustrap's ears flickered back at that. "When?"

[amanika]

"I..." and Tugger was surprised to find himself swallowing back a waver in his voice, "I was fourteen. So I guess a few months after you went."

[Meadowlark]

Munkus dropped his gaze to the coverlet. "Damn it. Damn him."

[amanika]

Tugger turned around at long last, sitting back down on the edge of his bed, even risking a glance at his brother. "Ain't no one's fault but his." and somehow that seemed more true than anytime he'd tried to reassure himself of it in the past.

"And it coulda' bin' worse." he added after a moment, less believeing this but wanting to say it all the same. "Least Mac got me to hospital. Wern't like there was ever anycat t'do that f'you an' him."

[Meadowlark]

Munkus looked up, meeting Tugger's eyes for a long moment before nodding. "Nothing else major happened?" At least damagingly major.

[amanika]

Tugger retruned his brother's gaze fully, though it took him several moments after he finally looked away to be able to speak again, tone gruff.

"Nothin' else that left lastin' marks," or probably such bad memories, though there were a few occasions that had been close, "dunno if it's the worst I've had off him or just the most messy."

[Meadowlark]

The elder brother nodded his understanding, having a few of those himself. "I see... I'm sorry you had to go through that, Tug."

[amanika]

Tugger shrugged, "Ain't your fault. An' not like you didn't experience the same."

[Meadowlark]

"Still, all the more reason for me to wish you hadn't." Munkus responded.

[amanika]

Tugger sighed, "Can't change the past, best y'can do is learn from it. I just try t'make myself scarse when he's around."

It had been one thing when he'd had school as an excuse everyday, even if he'd seldom gone there, but now he was unemployed, it was harder to keep out of Deuteronomy's way. He'd come to blows with his father a few weeks ago, and despite being older and more able to defend himself, fear from previous experiences rather stopped him doing so. Though at least he'd got away with nothing worse than bruises.