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She stuck her tongue out and poked his stomach, "But I'm your idiot, Sammy. And you're stuck with me forever. Sorry not sorry." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and shrugged. At least, if it were up to her, he'd be stuck. While he worried about socializing and his ability, she worried that he'd leave her behind once he was okay. It was never voiced, but she was pretty sure that he knew it was in the back of her mind every day.
When his arm locked around her neck she cringed, "God dammit, Sam. Not cool! Let me go you dweeb, before I flip you over and break you in half." Which would not take much, he was so skinny. When she found that his hold loosened, she turned into him and hugged him, "I hate you." Which was obviously the biggest lie she could ever tell, but after years of saying it, it had translated into a much different meaning. It was probably the only way she even knew how to tell him that she loved him despite his dweebishness.
Of all the people Sam had been exposed to in his life, the only one he could honestly say he couldn't live without was Alex. She was his twin, she was literally his other half. Say what you will about co-dependency, Sam needed Alex in his life. She was a big part of the reason why he was still alive now.
"Empty threats." Sam snorted, even though he heard no tell tale signs of a lie in that sentence. So he loosened his hold on her and his smile softened when his twin hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her thin frame and squeezed.
"Fuck off, numb nuts." He responded just as quietly.
Alex buried her face in his shoulder and shook her head, there was no moments of cuteness between them. Not if they could help it. Most siblings could say that they loved each other and that they were happy to be part of the other's life, but not them. It wasn't that they didn't feel it, but they'd built up their own language more or less of insults that doubled as affectionate remarks.
With all that implied, Alex never took the time to question whether he cared about her or not, but that didn't mean he couldn't ditch her. All he needed was to meet a nice girl that loved him outwardly and she was certain that she'd fall to the wayside. She'd blame her overactive mind on the way she reveled in what few affectionate moments they had. There was always a chance that she'd never get to hug him again and for the longest time, she'd wondered if it was possible for him to be permanently taken away from her because of his condition.
Pulling away, she punched him in the arm, "You're an asshole, you know I hate it when you do that."
When Alex pulled away, Sam laughed in her face as he shrugged. "We've been together for the past...twenty-three years. In what shape or form have I ever done anything that you like or love? Oh and to that point, how many fucks have I ever given?"
He tapped the side of his head with a knowing smirk.
"Okay fuck this, let's go to the arcade. I hear they're bringing back an old Pac-Man machine. Let's go!"
Her eyes narrowed as he continued spouting off his big mouth. She gave him a smile before shoving him hard, "Fucker. I swear you were only born as punishment from the She Devil. Or maybe you were adopted at the same time because she knew you'd be a giant pain in my ass from the start."
She did, however, light up at the mention of an arcade. Pac-Man was a weakness that she hated he knew about. She couldn't be mad at him for much longer anyway. Alex grinned and hooked her pinkie through his again, yanking him in the right direction, "I'm gonna fucking crush you. Are you ready for this? Do you have tissues on you?"
Sam would have been hurt by Alex's words, had he not known better. But he did and he wasn't. They shared the sharp wit but Alex never actually meant anything she said when it came to him. They both had a mutual understanding.
He squeezed her finger when she hooked it around his. Her trash talk made him roll his eyes. "To wipe your guts off the machine? I think I have a packet or two." He responded as he followed her, despite it having been his idea. He really was just a follower, after all.
When he squeezed her finger, she smiled and leaned into him a little. There was just something about the comfort she could feel with her brother that she didn't have with anyone else. Even as they were ripping each other apart, she still felt much better with him than she did in other social situations. He was one of the only people that she could actually trust, if not the only person.
Alex nudged him, "Oh please. You and I both know that I'm the good one when it comes to video games. You will always be the second high score to me, Sammy." She kept him close as they walked and she avoided groups of people as best as she could. Once they made it to the arcade, she dug around in her pockets for money and paid for some tokens. She could feel her ability being poked and prodded at by all of the machines, but she took comfort in the lesser technologies. They were easier to handle than the newer stuff.
"Whatever lets you sleep at night," he shrugged, grinning at his twin. Just because he knew she was stating facts, didn't mean he was going to take it lying down.
"Pac man first." Sam echoed as they moved towards the machine after getting tokens. The two machines were unoccupied. "I wonder why they avoid the classics. I mean it's good for us, obviously but like...so dumb." He shrugged as he slipped the token into the machine and started playing.
Alex grinned at his agreement for PacMan. It was one of her favorite games growing up and she could play it for hours without stopping and without complaint. She looked to her brother with a grimace and shrugged, "People don't have any appreciation for classics. They're too busy trying to fix things that aren't broken. Bunch'a lunatics if ya ask me."
She placed her coins into the machine beside him and made her way quickly through each level. It was like muscle memory for her, knowing which direction to go when and how to move through the course without running into the ghosts. She was in a dead stare at the screen for a moment before she glanced over at her brother's screen to see where he was at and how many lives he had to spare.
Sam chuckled at Alex's assessment. Her colour commentary always cracked him up. "When you're right..."
He wasn't as seasoned on the machine as Alex was but he got by and he rose up the ranks not so long after starting to play. Alex's comment made him blindly pat his hand in the direction of her face.
"Shut up, monkey. I'm trying." Sam grumbled as he continued to play the game. When he finally finished the level, he stepped back and did a little bow when he got to first place on the machine. It was lucky for him that the machines didn't sync up the scores. "How you like them apples."
