“Yes I know he and I are much the same.”

“So why don’t you leave him alone?”

“He has his ways of dealing with it, as do I.”

“But if you get it - you know how much it hurts him. Why don’t you seem to care?”

“You realise what you are asking me to do right?”

“…”

“You’re asking me to care about him more than covering myself. You think that’s smart? You think that’s a sustainable strategy? Yeah, right. Let’s go with you, the king of virtue, and join the freaks club. All eyes on all of us. Sure he’ll thank us for that! Sure you’ll thank me too?!”

“Ha! Run to the wildest conclusion, that’s mature! Am I asking you marry him? Move in together? Be blood brothers?

“That is kind of what you are asking. Everyone needs an icon, something to look at. Why shouldn’t it be him? So what if he hates it? Does that make him unique? We all do. All we are all trying to do is get the eyes off ourselves for a God damn minute! But you! You just want us to all get together and HUG. What’s your solution anyway? All I did was say he walks a bit funny. Everything looks weird if you draw a crowd to it. Honestly I don’t see whats so wrong with that? It’ll be forgotten in a day.

“A day you reckon?”

“Yeah, I really do.”

“Wow, you’re naive.”

“What the hell is your problem?”

“Your selective memory man, it’s exhausting. By the way - what are you assuming is ‘his way of dealing with it’?”

“I don’t know what it is, but its not like he’s started homeschooling or just dropped off the face of the earth. He’s still around isn’t he.”

“You are being cruel to him.”

“Well.”

“Well, nothing.”

“I can’t protect the both of us can I, it’s him or me.”

“No it’s not! Wow, that’s what you actually think, isn’t it.”

“Well.”

“Brother, your world is small.”

“Looks that way.”