Haunted Hydra: Leon & John
Leon brought his hands down from his hair, rubbing his face as though he could just wash away all the negative feelings of being 'less than', like some mathematics equation that was solved with a definitive answer. He sniffed and shook his head, looking over at John. His brother really needed to work on his peptalk skills, but it made him smile.
"I knew she didn't love me," he said quietly. "That's not why I helped the tribe." Shaking his head again slowly, Leon braced his arms around his knees, leaning forward on the step. "If I could go back and choose again, I'd still do it. Because even if I'm not... whatever. I'm still tied to the tribe by blood." Leon's eyes lifted to John's again. "You don't leave your family to suffer. No matter what."
Reaching out, Leon touched John's face, fingertips resting on his cheek. He studied him, the shattered center of himself set to mend, slowly but surely, but one thing would remain now, no matter what news came from his family that would try and tear him apart. And that was the fact that he had a brother.