The sound of metal snapping out of its place. Then something fizzled and bubbled. It was drowned by a slurping sound.

A very poetic way to say Lawrence was downing his fifth beer bottle of the night.

"Boy, wwwwwhat a long day nuh...?" He intended to leave it at the first w, but his tongue was coiling and wiggling like a worm in a noodle soup, and he had no power to control it. His head felt surprisingly light, as if someone had taken his brain and replaced it for cotton candy. His legs were so wobbly he didn't even try to stand up, instead threw himself over the under-basement's comfortable couch. His little peaceful corner.

He had locked himself inside. He had the key, of course. He just couldn't find it in that damned pocket. Why did it avoid Lawrence's hand every time he tried to reach for it?! Stop moving, creature of Satan!

Lawrence looked at himself in the smooth, black surface of the TV. His cheeks and ears had a strong red coloration, like someone who had just farted and hoped no one would realize.

"I'm drunk, ain't I...?" The little voice inside him told him that yes, indeed he was. Usually, he could hold his drinks alright, but he had gulped down on those bottles like a marathon runner at a bottle of water. Of course he would get drunk.

To be honest, a part of him had wanted to get a little dizzy... Alright, he wanted to get drunker than an office guy when he gets a promotion. There, you have it. Happy?! He needed a break! This afternoon was waaay too wild for him! He needed to vent it out somehow, nuh?!

He held his head with both hands. Oh, perfect. Now he was speaking with imaginary people.

"I have to calm down" he sat straight, or at least tried to. his head was a leaning a bit from side to side.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Repeat the process until your head's cleared.

"Alright" he stood up when he felt like he wouldn't stumble all the way down to the floor.

He had been in this situation before, usually on the other side of the field. Lawrence's brother, Laurent, was an exceptionally righteous man. He was loved by everyone who knew him, family, friends and strangers alike. When he got the Hero title from the root, no one was really surprised. But sometimes, especially at the beginning when he joined the LHU, the pressure would overwork him. At those times, he and Lawrence would go outside and drink until they popped. At least Laurent.

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Lawrence looked up, thinking about those good times. A part of him missed messing around with his older brother all the day.

Laurent was always much more promising than him. Six years older than Lawrence, the whole family considered him a prodigy. He graduated with the greatest honors from school, picked up a lawyer career and was working like a district attorney (district attorney!) until Wakening Season. The family always liked him more than Lawrence, even though he knew they didn't do it on purpose. He got the love and attention from his mother and father, it's just... there was always silent pressure weighting him down. When he was a teen, he'd often find himself thinking 'what would Laurent do?' The shadow of his brother disturbed him.

"I was about to break down" he said absentmindedly. "Cracked by a sledgehammer I couldn't even see."

Laurent saw it, however. He noticed Lawrence's grades dropping. His mood darkening. He noticed how he finished up dinner early so he wouldn't have to be around everyone for too longer. He noticed how Lawrence wouldn't even look at him in the eye anymore. Blessed his brother, he was such a saint.

He sat down with him. Asked him what was wrong. But Lawrence couldn't tell him, could he? He didn't know himself what was happening...

"No, I did know" he said, putting the bottle aside. "I just didn't want to accept it."

He didn't want to admit he felt envy for Laurent. It made him sick just to think about it.

Laurent realized. And he fixed it, damn right he did. His voice was still trapped in Lawrence's mind, when he told him to stop chasing after his shadows.

"I won't tell you to build your own path. You're too lazy for that. I won't tell you that you don't have to surpass. You would never listen."

Even now, that ripped a grin out of Lawrence's face. He knew him so damn well, that damned Laurent did.

"So here's the deal. Keep trying to catch me. Go after me. Try and fight me. Beat me down until I have to acknowledge you the best of us both. But don't rush. Don't put pressure on yourself. You have a lifetime to do it, after all."

"Curse you, Laurent" Lawrence laughed, and he laughed hard like he hadn't since a long, long time ago. "Forget being a lawyer, you could have gotten a doctorate in psychology without any effort."

His brother was like that. Always knew what to do to get the desired effect on people.

"And here I'm the one who's going around calling himself a mastermind."

Which reminded him of something.

Lawrence was a Villain. One planning for world domination. And Laurent was a Hero, one who would do everything to protect what he loved.

Their ideals would crash at some point, nuh?

Lawrence laid his head in the back of the couch, thinking.

He came up with the only answer he could find.

"If we have to fight at some point, there'll be no getting soft on my side" he said. "He and I are brothers, but that doesn't mean we have to share the other's dreams and hopes."

Besides, hadn't Laurent himself said it?

"When we meet, dear older brother, I'll go after you. I'll try and fight you, and beat you down untill you acknowledge I'm the best of us both."

Lawrence smiled. Family was difficult, wasn't it?