chasing the sun

Iris sighed as she entered the coffee shop, wondering if this was such a good idea. She was trying to control her drinking and this was the first night she would go without alcohol.

She walked over to the counter and ordered a cup of decafe moccha, not exactly sure what it is. Taking a sip, she muttered, "That tastes so wrong." She pushed the cup away, and laid her head on the table top, not realizing her brother had arrived and sat next to her.

"Well if you're not going to drink it, I will," Game grinned as he sat next to Iris, he took the coffee and began drinking it himself as he ordered her something a lot better.

"Green tea for her," he nodded and pointed over at Iris. Standing up, he looked around towards the rest of the sop and elbowed her slightly with a small smirk.

"Want to go sit somewhere else," Game said with a smile as he played with his hair a little and pushed it back. "You know, talk in private where no one can hear us."

Iris watched amusedly and with slight disgust as her brother drank the whole cup. "How can you like the taste of that? It's so bland." She commented, shaking her head.

She nearly laughed at his order of drink. "Um no thanks, I'll just have a glass of ice water," she told the lady behind the counter. "I don't drink tea either," she told Game. "I just came here for trial."

Shrugging, she stood up as well and went over to a secluded area, away from the crowd. "So what did you want to talk about?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, when you're in a dessert with nothing to drink at all for about.... two days, you learn to love any liquid that's drinkable and put in front of you," Game shrugged. "Besides kid, it's better to like this stuff than the caffeinated stuff. You'll get on a high with the regular coffee; additionally, you get addicted and that can kill you or you have to try more and find the right coffee for you."

"Nope, bring the herbal tea as well," Game suggested as the server nodded and finally walked off. "You've got to try it too.

Sitting in the secluded place, he shrugged at Iris question nonchalantly, "Just... didn't want to be seen, that's all. My job comes with it's risks. But anyways, what do you want to talk about? Ask me anything, I'll be open for it."

"And what the hell were you doing at a desert for two days?" Iris questioned, wondering if her brother was as crazy as her. Not that she'd go stay in a desert without water and food. Smiling humourlessly at his reason, she said, "I don't think I could get ever addicted to coffee like I am with alcohol. Though, this is one of those very few nights I don't drink."

"Just found me and already playing mother, huh?" She said and rolled her eyes.

"Tell me about your job, then." She said, sort of interested to know. "By the way, what do I call you? Cause if it's something like 'big bro', you can forget about it," she told with a smirk.

Game shrugged, "Just a mission, nothing too important." Glaring at her slightly by her statement, his eyebrow quirked upwards, "What's it with you kids and the alcohol now a days? Can't you all wait to be sober until you're of age like I did? Can't be that hard if I did it, now can it?"

He had gotten it into his head that if he were to ever become their guardian, that the first thing to go would be alcohol. Game would probably never give them curfews.... but alcohol would go first. He didn't want them to get alcohol poising at such a young age because he knew a couple of his old friends that had died because of it. There one some already that were on the verge of but didn't stop the drinking.

The young adult shrugged and smirked, taking a sip of the drinks that had just arrived, "Well, it's better than the mom we have now."

"Game'll be fine," the young man said nonchalantly. "Or whatever you want, as long as it's nothing that embarrassing." Game's hand went through his hair and sighed, "My job's a little... complicated to explain and I realize that I'll have to explain in depth a little more some day but in a few words, let's just say I work with powerful people all over the world, okay?"

"And what's with adults and lying these days?" Iris retorted at her brother's comment of 'nothing too important.' She shrugged. "Let's just say that me and Kait discovered the wonders of alcohol at a young age. Even younger for her since she was living with mom," she muttered.

Guessing that he was just like all the other parents, she said, "Don't even think about trying to stop my drinking. With all the shit that's been happening, it's my only comfort. Though I have got a bit of self control," she remarked.

"I haven't actually seen mom," she admitted. "When Kait told me, I just got angry and felt hatred for the woman. But I guess I've been a little curious. Has she kept in touch with you?" She asked.

"Since I'm sister, I officially have the right to give you embarassing nicknames you know," she pointed out with a slight grin. "Nope, I want the whole explanation now. I've had enough secrets kept from me for a lifetime."

"I'm not lying Iris," he deadpanned. "I'm being serious here. It doesn't matter that you guys grew up with the wonders of alcohol at such a young age. Point is, even if we do have it in our genetics to drink and what not, at the end of the day, it's our choice on how much we consume. And trust me, there are a lot of better ways to find comfort than drinking. Don't you have like a boyfriend or something you can find comfort in?" He teased at the end.

Game listened intently to Iris, upon her every word and frowned, "Honestly, no. I wouldn't want to keep in touch with that woman. Ever. I've kept tabs on her in a folder I have but I wouldn't want to ever see her face to face. I'm not saying you shouldn't met her once because for all you know, maybe you'll get along better with her than Kait or perhaps, I would ever had."

"No terrible nick names," he said and pointed at her before he took another sip of his drink.

"Secrets for a lifetime?" Game raised an eyebrow as he put his cup down, "I highly doubt that's possible. How about three secrets of yours for one of mine. It' s not negotiable. Take it or leave it."

"You know what? I don't care if you are the elder one and know better. If I have survived these many years with alcohol, I can sure as hell do it for a few more years," Iris retorted. "And besides, it's not as if I consume like galleons of the stuff. Just one or two glasses daily and really, if I get sick, then I'll deal with it," she shrugged. "For your information, I do have a boyfriend," she muttered. "But there's only so much of me he can handle," she smiled humourlessly.

"Well, at least that's one we both agree on. And I haven't even seen the lady!" She exclaimed. "I hope Kait was just exaggerating, cause the more I think of all the shit our 'mother' does, the more pissed I get. But yeah, I don't plan on letting Kait go to her alone. Not after what happened," she sighed.

She just smirked at Game and said, "If I get a good terrible nickname, I'm sticking to that."

"Three secrets for one?! Yeah sure," Iris scoffed. "That really depends on what your secret is. Will you tell me about your job?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Right, whatever you say Iris," Game said as he rolled his eyes. "But if you ever want to live longer and... you know, want every single of your body organs to keep surviving, lay off the alcohol."

"So boyfriend," he nodded, his curious instinct taking over. "What's his name and how old is he?"

Of course... right after this conversation ended, he would go search him up. He didn't tell Iris that and he sure didn't make it seem like he was.

"No, I doubt she doesn't exaggerate but I'm sure she just wants to you be well," Game frowned. "Just go to her one day, let her know you exist and what not. Maybe, you know, after you all get to know me a little more and trust me, both of you can come live with me."

"Uh no," Game chuckled, "If I don't like it, it's not sticking."

"I will... but it's still three secrets for one," he shrugged.

"So this is what it feels like to be told what to do," Iris stated with a shake of her head. "Must say that I'm not really a fan. I'll try to reduce my consumption...not sure how much and when though," she smirked.

She jusy scoffed at Game's question and gave him a look that said 'Do you think I'm stupid?' "I know you'll probably go all Secret Service on him, so I'll just say that he's fourteen as well, feel free to find out his name," she grinned, knowing her brother has his ways.

"I don't think she'd care if I existed or not," she told and rolled her eyes. "Come live with you?" She asked in surprise. "That sounds...interesting, I guess. But my current foster parents are pretty okay, so I'll have talk to them about it."

Sighing, she decided to spill. "First secret, I'm not actually fourteen. I'm supposed to be fifteen like Kait, yeah? Well apparently, our sweet father slipped me a Deaging Potion and made me a year younger," she muttered. "But I know someone who has the antidote," she told quietly, making sure no one heard. Leaning back on her chair, she said coolly, "Now tell me a bit of your secret."

"No one likes to be told what to do but I'll tell you the when," he laughed at how ironic it sounded. "How about starting... now."

Rolling his eyes at her accusation, Game smirked, "Who says I will? Never said I am, you just implied it. Now that I think about it, you imply a lot of things that are or are not, true. But fine, maybe I will go Secret Service on him. So anyways, what about friends. Got any of those?"

"Right those Foster parents of yours are... they're alright but they're not real family," he concluded. "But whatever, just know that my doors... although quite small house, is always open."

Running his hand through his hair, he shrugged, "Kind of figured that one out when I realized Kait and you were in different years but for your sake, I'll say that one's a secret." Game's eyes lit up. "Oh, really? Who? Maybe we could all go on a secret family mission," he joked. Like he would ever let his sisters go on a dangerous trips with him.

"Alright, alright," he said and rolled his eyes. "I work for multiple of people. That's part of it. Now go on, spill some more."

"Well, I'm not really drinking now, so technically 'now' doesn't count," Iris smirked. "But I'll see what I can do, okay?"

She scoffed at Game's response. "Oh please, you are damn right spy and you're saying you won't check up on my boyfriend. That's rich," she commented sarcastically. "I keep making assumptions till the person tells me the truth," she shrugged. "Hm, friends? You think someone like me would have friends?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "Just two or three, that's it; in case you haven't figured it out, I'm antisocial."

"I know they're not family, but they're doing their best," she told softly. "I definitely owe them an explanation and tell them that I found yet another family member of mine. Thanks for the offer anyways," she smiled lightly.

Ignoring his question, she said amusedly. "Family secret mission? Definitely not the usual roadtrip. But then again, I can't expect anything of normalcy," she winked.

"What? You've got to be kidding me! You already me and Kait that, so it doesn't count!" She protested. "Tell me something else."

Rolling his eyes, he agreed to what she said. Even though Game still didn't like the idea of her drinking, he'd have to deal with that later.

"I never said I was a spy that pried into people's lives," he rolled his eyes. "In a way, I guess you could say I am. Think of me as James Bourne from The Bourne Identity movie."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm sure you have some type of friends. So tell me about these friends of yours. I'm here to met you and a lot can be learned from the people you hang out with."

"Yeah well I'm glad they're nice," he added as he rolled his eyes while drinking his coffee.

"I said three secrets for an entire one," Game laughed as he tipped over his coffee cup as if was toasting her. "So go on. Give me three, legit secrets that I do not know about."

"With the questions you're asking me, you might as well go check out everything for yourself," Iris remarked. "James Bourne, eh? Isn't that getting a little ahead of yourself?" She asked with a smirk. "But yes, I do get the general idea."

She thought about how to answer about her friends. What should she even say? Alec, Adele, and Tshering were all different and she didn't want to go into the details of each one. "I don't say this a lot, bur my friends are awesome," she finally said. "I wouldn't say good influence cause they are my drinking buddies as well, but they are there when I need them," she shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm glad about that too," She told and gave a rare genuine smile.

Iris was getting fed up of running around the bush, and decided to get this done. "First, I used to be tortured with the Cruciatus Curse by some of my previous foster parents. Second, I killed someone when I was thirteen. Not exactly kill, someone tried to get to me and when beating didn't work, I used to my dagger...but it was just to threaten. It was accident," she told in a quiet voice. "And my third secret? I'm engaged," she told with a smirk, though it wasn't her usual one as she couldn't stop thinking about the night of the accident.

"I don't get ahead of myself in situations Iris, I always think things through," he pointed out. "Can't be too brash and fickle in my job, y'know."

"Not too glad with the first one," he said as he began to calculate and look over the file he had memorized for each of his sisters, that he head created. Game didn't hesitate as he began to remember the address.

"The second one, got to admit that I'm pretty proud of that," he admitted. "As for the the last one. I'd want to know who." Game said seriously and curiously. "And please enlighten me on why you're engaged at such a young age? Either way, I'm not allowing you to get married until you're thirty five or something."

As he rubbed his chin in a thinking way, Game deiced on a secret.

"I work undercover all the time," he concluded with grin, satisfied with his answer.

"Oh yes, I forget that being brash and fickle would get you killed," Iris said with mock seriousness.

"Not too glad? Huh, I feel your love you know." She remarked and rolled her eyes, though she was mostly joking. She figured he wasn't the one to have immediate reactions and maybe he was angry on the inside.

She raised an eyebrow at him but couldn't help the small grin on her face. "You're proud of me?" It wasn't everyday she heard such a comment and was surprised. "Right, so I have to do is kill people."

"Thirty five?! That is just bullshit!" She exclaimed. "You want to know why? Oh you know, he proposed and I said yes. Not exactly rocket-science."

"I tell you three 'legit' secrets and you just give one fucking line of your secret?!" She exclaimed once more, ignoring the other customers. "Here I am trying to trust you and you just give me vague responses. You know what? If I could disown you, I would because I sure as hell don't need a brother like you. And I'm sure the feeling is mutual." She muttered.

Rolling his eyes, Game shrugged.

"Of course you can feel my love," Game chuckled. "I'm just full of surprises, y'know?"

Nodding, Game assured Iris of his response, "Proud, yeah. I know it sounds way fucked up but it shows that maybe you can defend yourself when you need to and don't really need all my help."

"What?" He laughed a little, "Thirty five seems like a decent age to get married. Of course I want to know why."

Game shrugged, "It's a legit response at the end of the day." Rolling his head, he cracked it slightly and smiled as he looked at his watch, "Well look at the time." Standing up, he took out some money out of his wallet and placed it on the table, "Got to go to work. I'll see you later Iris." Game then walked out of the shop, quite sure that he had left a fuming Iris back there.