"Do you two seriously not care about your reputations at all!?" Lowks was startled awake by the annoyed voice of his younger sister. He jumped up, knocking Vixen down as he did so."What was that for?" The human girl grumbled as she looked up at him sleepily, then she saw Tira. "Oh, hey Tira."
"Hey? That is what you say about this?" Tira seemed more than a little upset so Lowks decided to diffuse his sister.
"We couldn"t sleep so we were reading. I guess we fell asleep…" Then he turned to Vixen feeling bad about knocking her off his shoulder so harshly, "Sorry, Vixen. Tira startled me. I really had no idea you were leaning on me."
"That"s fair enough, I suppose." Tira spoke in a huff. "But others would not see it that way. You two really should have some more awareness. If you give people the wrong impression Lowks, how will Vixen ever manage to get married. Bad enough that she was already wrecking that for herself without a misunderstanding being added on."
It was not often that Lowks got scolded by his sister. But he had to acknowledge she had a point. But he still frowned. "You"re just worried about her? Not like a guy could get married if he wrecked his reputation either."
"I"ve pretty much given up on you marrying, brother mine. After all, you are already thirty-five. If you were going to get married you would have already done so. Vixen is still fairly young though."
Lowks felt a jolt of annoyance. "We"re half-elves! Thirty-five is still a young adult! And I haven"t gotten married because looking after Vixen takes up most of my time!"
"Hey!" Vixen interjected. "No need to blame me for your singleness. Not my fault you decided it was your job to do so."
"I didn"t say it was." Lowks took a deep breath to calm himself down. "It"s really more your parents" fault." Then he focused back on his sister, "What is the point though of yelling at us? It isn"t a big deal since you were the one who saw this scene. And since you understand that it was an accident I don"t see why –"
Tira held out her hand, stopping him from continuing to speak. "And what if I did tell other people?"
"Why would you?"
"Because Vixen needs to learn consequences of actions. Haven"t we been trying to get her to realize this?"
"You said it yourself. It would wreck her reputation. People don"t always care about the truth of the matter. Her chances of marrying a good guy would practically be nonexistent."
"Then you could marry her." Tira shrugged, "Or both of you can just be lonely all your lives."
Lowks had no real idea how to react to this. He had no idea what his sister was thinking.
Vixen though stared at Tira as if she was horrified, "Tira! What exactly are you trying to do here?"
"Shouldn"t that be obvious?" Tira suddenly stepped forward and took Vixen"s hands. "I"m trying to marry my brother off, by hook or crook. So, Vixen dear, would you accept my brother"s hand?"
Lowks could not help it, he was flabbergasted. His own sister was just trying to sell him off. And in such a round about way.
"So, you"re blackmailing us?" Vixen had the same note of disbelief in her voice that Lowks felt. "Isn"t that a bit extreme?"
"…I want nephews…"
"And now we are on the subject of children," Lowks frowned at his sister, "Look, I really doubt I can actually stop you from selling me off, but – "
Tira ignored him and interrupted him, "So, what do you say Vixen? I can promise you that he would treat you pretty well. He doesn"t like drinking alcohol, so no drunken beatings. He could give you a pretty comfortable life."
"…" Vixen stared at Tira for a while. Then she shrugged, "Whatever. Better to marry him than you make it so that I can"t ever find a good man."
Vixen walked off, leaving Lowks alone with his sister, "Seriously Tira? Why would you do that?"
"I like Vixen." Tira smiled at him and patted his cheek, "I"ve always wanted her as a sister, so I have no qualm sacrificing my brother for this goal. I just needed an opportunity. Thanks for providing one."
"…"
"You wouldn"t actually refuse my request, now would you brother dear? You wouldn"t do that to Vixen would you?" There was something extremely annoying about that smile on his sister"s face/
"You know, if I told Mom, she would get unto you about this."
"Not if I get to her first. I think I could sell her on the idea. After all she would like you to get married and have kids soon enough for Dad to actually get to enjoy the bliss of being a grandfather."
"…" Lowks did not deign that with a response. He was not all that much a fan of fighting with his sister. So, he dropped it. At least for now. Not that he was giving in to his sister, just right now there was no real point arguing over this.