Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Carver Amell]

"Am I still your twin?" he asks, and his voice is very small. "Sometimes I think you wish Marian was your twin."

[Bethany]

Bethany flinches. "I... no," she says quietly, guiltily. "I... I've never wished that. I... sometimes I wished... she wasn't our sister at all, so I could..." She breaks off, mouth twisting. "But no, I've never not wanted you as my twin. Not ever."

[Carver Amell]

"Even though I'm dumb and overprotective and didn't pay enough attention to you and joined a gang?" 

[Bethany]

"You're not dumb," Bethany snaps instantly, her own protective instincts flaring. "And I'll not hear you say that about yourself, understood?"

[Carver Amell]

"Beth, I... uh... the reason we're talking about a new tutor is I'm not doing so great at Vangal school," he admits. "And you know how I woulda been held back a few years if you didn't do my homework sometimes. I'm dumb. It's okay, though, because, I'm strong and can protect people, but I just can't get school stuff working in my head."

[Bethany]

Bethany rises to her feet and stabs at his chest with her finger. "Just because you get bored easily in class doesn't mean you're dumb. You're a good person, Carver Firethorn Hawke, with more to him than a willingness to throw himself in a fight on another's behalf."

[Carver Amell]

"But that doesn't make me not dumb. Just, just good. You can be good and dumb both."

[Bethany]

"Well... yes, yes you can. But you're both. I mean, not dumb and good both," Bethany says, blushing a little. "It's just a different kind of smart. Like how you can have different kinds of strong, like miners and woodcutters using different muscles."

[Carver Amell]

"But I'm not." He sighs. "Marian was smart. You just want me to be more like her."

[Bethany]

"No I don't." Do I? I don't... think so. I never liked it when Carver- or Marian- put themselves down. "I just don't like you insulting yourself. You might not be a genius like Dad or Marian, but that doesn't mean you're dumb. There's a lot of room in between after all."

[Carver Amell]

"Or you," he adds. 

[Bethany]

That gets a snort. "I'm not anywhere near their levels. I have a good memory sure, and I'm alright with maths, but I'm not even half as clever as them."

[Carver Amell]

"I think you're brilliant," says Carver, at once stubborn and loyal as always.

[Bethany]

Bethany gives him a look, one that clearly says and that's how I feel about you, doofus. 

[Carver Amell]

He lets out a long-suffering sigh. "But, anyway, we're cool."