He took awhile to respond. “You could say that,” he whispered back, still staring at the flames. “We were a family. A twisted, broken, fucked up parody of a family. But still family.” He crossed his arms over his knees, shaking his head, frustrated. “I…I wish I had the words to explain it… But it’s just something you know. We didn’t even get along half the time. But it’s still there. It’s something you only understand if you’ve been there.” Celestia carefully listened to the human try and communicate his feelings. His shoulder slumped as his head sagged. Clearly feeling as though he failed to convey his point. “They were my brothers…” he finally whispered. “And I’ve had to bury far too many of them.” Shane stuck what was left of the cigarette in his lips, burning the stick down to the filter. The human snorted.  “Boohoo, right?” he added icily. He stuck the smoldering stub under the heel of his boot, grinding it into oblivion. 