Declan stopped himself trying to find the right words. Words that would inspire her? Unlikely. Words that would at least fizzle out the flame. Plausible.
“I can’t just what?” Blaire asked, her voice was tender and soft but Declan sensed the subtle mockery. Declan was good with speaking but he had never been as gracious as Blaire. They both knew that to be a fact, but Blaire found a certain joy in reminding him of it. After a moment of tension, or rather a moment of Declan convincing himself that her tone wasn’t worth getting upset about, he continued. “This,” Declan gestured to the walls of the facility in which he lived, “this is their livelihood.” He emphasized the word ‘livelihood’ as if she didn’t understand basic human needs. Blaire’s green eyes, the same ones that their mother had, grew wide. If a stranger were to witness this scene they would assume that Blaire was growing afraid of Declan. But her eyes weren’t wide with fear; this was tactic that Blaire used often. Her eyes grew wide with expression but really she was expanding in boredom. Declan tilted his head and frowned at her. He had already lost her. “Blaire,” he said again, her eyes shifted toward him, “this is my life. You can’t waltz in here and pretend to be something you’re not.”
There was a pause. He had expected her to say something. Her body language shifted into a more guarded position, Declan took note of this. “Don’t you care about anyone?” he asked. His mood had shifted, soon the calm would start to heat up and then it would boil. Blaire pressed her lips together. For once in her life, Declan thought, she was too quiet. “What about David or Victoria? What about Adrian? Or me?” Each name was laced with more gunpowder and he was growing tired of her games.
“I like Adrian,” Blaire said with a crooked smile.
There were defined ideas that she had for the people who worked at Plumeria. Declan didn’t know how Blaire would, or could, get all the information she needed out of them, but she would no doubt be successful. Adrian was of course her main target, and what Blaire wants Blaire gets.
“That’s it!” he shouted, smacking his hand against the countertop. The steady boiling inside of Declan had turned into a sudden explosion. Blaire jumped in her seat, it was the first real sign of emotion that she had during this entire conversation. “I trusted you and you lied to me,” he said, lowering his voice. “You came to me, and I willingly- no, lovingly provided for you.” The bored look that had previously smothered Blaire’s features were washed away, just like the rest of the blood in her face. Instead of yelling, per Declan’s usual way of addressing such stress, his voice was low and intense. “There were no jobs for you here. Plumeria doesn’t have job openings. They don’t just hire people.” Declan threw his hands up into the air and let them drop, needing some physical way to express his frustration. “They have a specific mission and they hire very specific people.” An aggressive hand ran through his greasy black curls after he spoke.
“I wanted you here, you’re my little sister for God’s sake… And I thought you wanted to be here for the good of these experiments and for my companionship.” Declan stopped, hoping that she would finally say something. Blaire was so difficult this way; she didn’t like to speak until she had the upper hand. Declan took a deep sigh and shook her head.
“You write a gossip column,” Declan accused. Blaire rolled her eyes at him, crossing her arms over her chest. “Universal Science is a harmful magazine and you know it Blaire,” he said with urgency. Her eyes began to fade again. “I know many a people who have lost their jobs or lost their projects to the government because of Universal Science.” Anxiety was settling into his voice, realizing the mass destruction that Blaire could cause Plumeria. Another spark of raw emotion ran through Declan as he spoke, “you alone have ended entire corporations as whoever fucking Nova!”
“Okay, stop.” Blaire said calmly as she gestured with her right hand, it was as if she had been in control of the conversation this entire time. “I’m not the grim reaper of science experiments,” she said with a dash of humor behind her lips. “I’m not here to ruin anything. I’m simply here to get the whole truth from sources that are reliable.”
“Who don’t know they’re sources,” Declan butted in. Blaire looked sideways and then returned her gaze back to her big brother. Perspiration was beginning to collect on Declan's brow and the veins in his neck were bulging with distress. He had never been very good at hiding his emotions.
“This story is going to take me at least six months to finish,” Blaire began her defense. She had already been here a year and a half without detection. Now it was only a matter of finishing the story before her brother cracked under the pressure. “You cannot say anything, Declan. If you even hint at something it’ll be over.” Declan shook his head, he was tired of protecting his sister for all the wrong reasons.
“I can’t,” he said, standing up straight and owning up to the responsibility of his position. Before he could go on Blaire interrupted him, “you can, and you will.” Blaire stood up from her seat, taking advantage of the space between them. “Remember that you recommended me for this job, and as far as I remember you don’t have the strongest track record with Plumeria.” Declan furrowed his brow, sensing where this was going. “If I get caught, you get caught,” she said simply. The love that Declan usually felt for his sister even the most disagreeable times had vanished. Blaire would frame him and Adrian would think the story was a joint decision. Some act of resentment against the establishment on Declan's part.
Something clicked inside of Blaire and it was as if this conversation they were having had never happened.
“Well I’ve got to run, big brother. Thanks for the coffee.” Blaire took one large gulp of what was now cold coffee and bolted for the door. “Toodles!” she chirped before closing the door behind her. Declan stared at the empty seat in front of him. It was moments like these when Declan, despite his years of study, would never understand how he and Blaire were related.