"You're gonna die, and it's gonna suck, because I was just starting to figure you out, Sis. You know? I was just... I was just starting to understand..."

Their relationship was ever increasing. Joking about their relationship was their relationship: This is a step too close. Curtains. He said no to things, because they caused his Self to split. Sean's sister is the only thing he has.

Sean holds his hands to his face and his skull and he sobs in great screams, holding the pieces of himself together, and he can't stand. On his knees, shaking.

Sean's sister's seen the world end before; she knows what happens next. She could wrap both arms around him, press so close around him they'll be one sobbing creature on the banks of the Mississippi, but she can't undo the damage here. He's already too torn. Sean's sister isn't cruel.

He cries out for God and then for nothing at all, just unceasing roars of pain. And so his sister smiles, to test it, smiles behind and against his back. And then a quiet laugh, and then she builds until she beats upon his back, hysterical. Putting everything back where it belongs. It hurts his ribs, the way she held him. Pressing on his bruises, holding him together.

"You think I'm a low-hanging fruit?" she gasps, through her tears, when he can finally stand. "Oh, you should see your face right now!"

She knits the world together and Sean stops weeping and the roar recedes. She dances on the edge of it, the very surface. Her eyes are lying but her smile is real: She'll be missed. At least Sean understands her place.

"Why don't we spark up that doobie?" she asks, and smiles until he turns away. And when his back his turned, Sean's sister's smile falls. Save your tears for yourself, she thinks, and stares out over the water at a far-off shore.

Sean lights the joint, takes a pull, shakes his head at his sister's madness. That was a good one. A little shock -- a big one -- but good, like pushing on a bruise. Everything back where it belonged. They have a lot in common, maybe, after all, Sean thinks. That was a very good one, Sean thinks. Sean's sister is amazing, and will never die.