"I was never really one for pranks," Ned says, with a half-apologetic smile, because he is contradicting her maybe it's a boy thing theory. "Usually ended up on the wrong end of them."
Then again, Ned knows that what he's calling a prank and what she's calling a prank are perhaps not exactly the same thing. He doubts that two brothers, who ultimately love one another underneath the mischief, would do anything truly 'horrible' to one another. Riley probably means 'horrible' in the sense of cheesy or contrived, rather than genuinely degrading. At least, he hopes she does. Otherwise, he isn't so sure he envies her quite as much as he thought he did.
The question isn't exactly unexpected, but he never knows the best way to respond to it. He's a terrible liar, so that's out of the question, and besides, Riley deserves better than that. But any kind of no, whether it's a shake of his head, or a verbal one, is going to be a heavy thing. No one really expects and outright no to that inquiry, in his experience. They expect, at worst, a yes, but we're not close. Which is, technically speaking, somewhat true, for him. His father isn't dead, at least, not that he knows of. He could be. It has been twenty years.
He settles for something more oblique, to give him time, and give Riley a chance to back out, if she was only asking in a polite, cursory way. "Depends on how you define family." He pauses, and adds, "And have."
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Then again, Ned knows that what he's calling a prank and what she's calling a prank are perhaps not exactly the same thing. He doubts that two brothers, who ultimately love one another underneath the mischief, would do anything truly 'horrible' to one another. Riley probably means 'horrible' in the sense of cheesy or contrived, rather than genuinely degrading. At least, he hopes she does. Otherwise, he isn't so sure he envies her quite as much as he thought he did.
The question isn't exactly unexpected, but he never knows the best way to respond to it. He's a terrible liar, so that's out of the question, and besides, Riley deserves better than that. But any kind of no, whether it's a shake of his head, or a verbal one, is going to be a heavy thing. No one really expects and outright no to that inquiry, in his experience. They expect, at worst, a yes, but we're not close. Which is, technically speaking, somewhat true, for him. His father isn't dead, at least, not that he knows of. He could be. It has been twenty years.
He settles for something more oblique, to give him time, and give Riley a chance to back out, if she was only asking in a polite, cursory way. "Depends on how you define family." He pauses, and adds, "And have."