you used to be so kind {c}

Genesis made her way through life alone. It was a decision she'd made when she was 17 years old, packing her things to run away from the circus life she'd known forever. It's not like she made it very far, at least in terms of physical space, but the world of the university versus the world of the circus was at the opposite end of the universe.

She had all but forgotten about the circus life. It was back there in the depths of her mind, remembering the acts she did and the memories she made. She'd had friends, she'd had her family. It didn't matter though; being in the circus wasn't what she wanted to do with her life and escaping was the only way for her to be truly happy.

Or so she had expected, anyways. She'd never really admit to herself that maybe being alone all the time was a little bit lonely.

She never really forgot her family. Her parents were but memories, two people who she shared DNA with but that was about it. She'd never felt close to her parents, and resented them a bit for forcing her to become a performer. But Sycamore was different, of course. He was her brother, her partner in crime, and the only person in the world who she felt truly close to. Now he was just a memory too.

Sometimes she thought about all of these things while sitting in her apartment, alone, just like she had wanted. She didn't even have a pet to keep herself company. Maybe she was putting herself through some subconscious, self-inflicted penance for leaving her brother behind. For someone who was supposed to be good at figuring people out, Genesis had no clue what she was even about.

When the phone rang she wasn't expecting it, and it startled her. Grabbing her phone she looked at the screen, reading an unknown number, but it was from the area. Unsure of who it was, she punched the green 'answer' key anyways and lifted the device to her ear, clearing her throat gently.

"Dr. Gen Dayan speaking," she said simply and curtly. "May I ask who is calling?"

@sycamore

The line crackled a bit, but that voice...she'd know it anywhere. When he confirmed, yes, that it was Sycamore, she couldn't say anything for a little bit. How strange; she was just thinking about him, and then out of the blue he called her. Then again, it's not like she'd ever thought about calling him all these years, but she needed that time alone, or so she thought.

"Hi, Syca," she said, dropping the formalities immediately. Her voice was different. It was softer, more vulnerable, even. She'd never sound like this around anyone...anyone but her brother.

What would they talk about? Maybe he had a reason for calling. It could be anything really. Something might have happened that he was obligated to tell her about or maybe he just wanted to chat after all these years. Vocally the two of them had never been close but they shared a deep, unspoken bond when they were little. Gen wondered if that was still the case now.

"Why are you calling?" she asked, and it sounded a bit harsher than she'd wanted it to. "It's just...it's been so long."

@sycamore

When Sycamore said that their parents had died, she was silent. It was difficult to comprehend; she hadn't seen them in so long and now that they were gone, she would never see them again. She didn't want to cry, but it was just very shocking. Gen had never been very close to her parents, but they were still her parents.

"Oh, Syca," she sighed. "That must have been so hard for you..."

It didn't really matter what she felt like. Sycamore had been closer to them, or so she presumed, since he stayed with them for so much longer than she did. As much as she didn't like the circus life or her family, she really did care for her little brother.

"How are you holding up?"

@sycamore

While she hadn't spent any time with Sycamore for a while now, she could tell when he was hurting. He tried hard to hide it in his voice but she could still detect that it was there. Besides, almost no one in their right mind wouldn't be upset after their parents passed away, at least not so soon afterwards.

Genesis, of course, was excluding herself in this, even if she did know that she' wasn't probably in her right mind at all.

While this was quite a thing to drop on something, Gen wondered if there was any other reason he'd called now. It was an odd time to call to let her know that her parents had died, so she was sure that there was something else going on. While he could have just needed time to cope, it still wasn't anything typical at all. Even though life was quite abnormal, people had patterns and ways about them and putting something off like this wasn't really Sycamore's style. At least it never used to be.

"Is there any other reason you're calling...Syca?" she said, venturing to use his old nickname. Genesis and Sycamore were mouthfuls, especially for children, so they had called each other nicknames. Syca for Sycamore and Genie for Gen - the only person in the world that could call her Genie would be Sycamore.

@sycamore