Imre was bombarded by a cacophony of anticipation as he left the cramped cabin that he and Harvey had occupied for the three-month journey to Garden. He was relieved when the initial surge of sensations gave way to sounds of laughter, conversations and heavy footsteps. Imre wasn't thrilled at the unavoidable nausea he would experience for the first few days at the capital before he became acclimated to the constantly dense environment of emotions. Holding Harvey's hand tightly, Imre allowed the crowd to carry them towards the entrance of the ship and the growing number of people that waited in nervousness and hope. Imre rarely felt this ache in his joints that indicated hope. The feeling became known to him from Harvey, during the week before his first meeting with Aunt Adley. Twelve-year-old Imre had been frustrated as he interrogated his younger brother.
"What do you feel?"
"Excited!"
"No, no, no. You're not excited. That's the sour plum taste."
And Harvey had been too young, at the age of eight, to be able to describe how he was feeling.
It had gone on for a few days before Imre found out what the ache meant. Sitting on the steps at the front of their house, looking into Harvey's eyes, Imre realised that the feeling was hope.
"Are you okay?"
Imre felt his brother rubbing his chest in circular motions with his free hand.
"I'm better now."
"Are you sure? You don't need to hide it." Harvey's brows furrowed as he scolded his older brother.
"I've gotten used to it these past three months."
Imre couldn't help smiling widely at Harvey's concern. Seeing the look on his brother's face, Harvey used the hand that was previously massaging Imre's chest to smack him.
"Stop it."
His words did the opposite of their intention and Imre started to laugh.
Imre believed Harvey was going through his rebellious phase. When children wanted to fly out of their mother's nest but had yet to be strong enough to do so, they practised rebellious acts to assert their independence. Harvey had been recently presenting a stone-cold face and flippant remarks to show what he believed was a sign of maturity, but at the same time, couldn't help caring for his brother. His actions only served to create many funny moments for Imre.
Their interaction was interrupted by the sunlight pouring onto the crowd of people as the doors to the ship slid open. What greeted the ex-inhabitants of B-612 shocked a lot of them. Two rows of people in military uniforms were organised in a neat file on either side of the dock as anthem style music was blaring out of hover bots. The awe of the arriving group was broken by an authoritative voice, "Welcome to Garden. On behalf of the Emperor, I, Commander in Chief Gabel, express gratitude to the inhabitants of B-612 for their sacrifice in the betterment of the Eldridge Empire." The crowd finally shuffled out of the ship and towards the raised platform that the man was waiting. The majority of the arrivals stared at the magnificence of the capital or rushed to meet the influential Commander in Chief.
Imre, still holding onto Harvey's hand, led him towards the terminal that was the official entrance into Garden.
"The reporters." Harvey heard his brother's voice above his head and turned around to look at the dense mass of people behind the soldiers holding cameras and voice recording devices.
"Evicting an entire planet has only ever been done three times before, and none of those planets were as populated as ours. Two of those times was because the planet was going to collapse, and the other one because of conflict. This action of the Emperor's would be a source of ammunition for many."
Harvey had been confused at the welcoming committee that they encountered, but now understood its purpose. Imre felt no need to partake in the Emperor's charade; trying to spot their luggage amongst the hundreds of others was a more efficient use of energy. There was a silence in Gate 2 of the terminal beside the whisperings of a couple and a man tapping his dress shoes on the tiled floors. Harvey peeked at his older brother through his peripheral vision.
"You just don't want to wait in line."
"Did you see the amount of people on the ship? Of course, I don't want to wait in line."
Harvey giggled at his brother's antics. "Anyway, can you stop clutching my hand so tightly?" He raised their joined hands and waved it in front of Imre's face.
"No. Afraid of losing you."
The pair of brothers fell into silence again until Harvey spotted their luggage.
"See? I told you that painting them would be useful. We're the first ones to find our luggage."
"Harvey, there are five people here. It's not that much of an achievement."
Imre hauled their luggage, and Harvey, onto a hover carrier and proceeded to follow it towards the customs queue.
"Hold onto the handle properly."
"It's like 10 centimetres off the ground. It won't hurt if I fell off."
"I was concerned about the suitcases."
After comprehending his brother's heartless words, Harvey pouted; presenting a wronged expression to gain sympathy. Even sniffling for added effect. He maintained this cute expression until they had reached the front of the queue and the worker behind the stand cast odd looks at him.
"Passport."
Harvey and Imre presented the document that indicated they arrived through the B-612 immigration.
"So you're from that fishing planet. Well then, show me your birth and proof of planet certificates."
Their documentation was scanned and shredded; replaced by identification cards. Harvey looked starry-eyed at the card as he stroked its surface.
"You may exit on your right through here. Don't lose the ID cards, you need it to get a permanent citizenship band."
After watching Harvey tuck the card securely into one of the pockets on his belt, Imre nudged the hover carrier towards the exit to the waiting area for their flight.
They had yet to bypass the barrier to the open lounge of the dock terminal before Imre and Harvey heard their names called. Harvey immediately jumped off the hover carrier and ran to their father.
Laughing as he smothered his youngest son in a warm hug, Theodore Brennan couldn't stop the few stray tears that ran down his face. They were soon joined by Imre who began scolding his younger brother for carelessly jumping from the carrier before he was interrupted as his face was pressed into his father's chest. Theodore tentatively wrapped his arms around Imre and rubbed his head. The guilt Theodore felt for leaving an eleven-year-old child to care for with his eldest son, who had himself still only been a child, was strangling him. Imre let his father continue to hug him and relieve the itchiness of his scalp.
"Dad, it's okay. You did what was necessary."
The itchiness faded to become bearable as his father suppressed his guilt with emotions of relief and joy.
"We'll take a detour to the Identification Office before heading to the apartment."
"Mmm."
"I'm so excited for...for…everything!"
Both Imre and Theodore sighed as they anticipated the next days of managing a small hyper bean. The trio hand in hand, as a hover carrier followed obediently behind, walked out of the terminal and onto an unknown path.