Sibling Rivalry

[Omi]

Marisa stared into her dessert - which, being a class above normal Manhattan cuisine, had the common courtesy to not stare back. Had there been any particular reason for her wanting to catch up? The answer to that seemed obvious.

"I just missed you," she muttered, watching as her brother annihilated his cake. The sight brought a genuine smile to her face as she set to work on her own - though her approach was markedly neater and slower. Being the pudding maniac of the family had always been Mal's title - a title he showed no signs of losing any time soon. It was a nostalgic sight.

"It's just - what made you come back, Mal? I know you're happier outta the cockpit than in it." The question came a little later, after a brief pause wherein Marisa had scooped off a portion of her pudding. "We both know that. Mal, you don't have to feel like this- like doin' this is something you have to do." She had said as much over a year ago - and, truth be told, she expected his answer to be the same today.

Thankfully, she found herself spared from further explanation by the arrival of the tea she'd ordered. Even that looked halfway decent - no small achievement for any Libertonian café, let alone a Manhattan one.

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