#FLOANGST!

[fantasiasodapop]

Day 26: Crying

Inky tears fall beneath an immovable smile, comforted only by the kind embrace of a prisoner of the dark.

Oh, the damage words can do to the soul...

[fantasiasodapop]

Here’s a Minecraft fic.

Yes, I’m aware this is a new fandom. Curse our ADHD and just read it. XD

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33608326/chapters/83514604

- Ruby

[fantasiasodapop]

The Forging of Brotherhood

AN: This is a scene from when both of the boys were only nine-year-olds at a sleepover at Henry's parents house after Joey's parents died in a car crash a few weeks before and Joey's brother already got adopted.

Enjoy the floof and lore. (And my day 24 of the Ink Demonth.)

Nine-year-old Henry Stein woke up at 2:45 in the morning to the sound of crying and knew exactly what was going on.

"Joey?" he asked softly, crawling over to the edge of his bunk to climb down the ladder. His best friend's sobs hitched for a second as Joey was startled by Henry's question.

"Y-y-you're s-s-supposed to be as-s-sleep," Joey said quietly, trying and failing to hide the fact that he was crying.

"What's wrong?" Henry asked as he climbed onto the bottom bunk with his best friend.

"I j-just r-realized that after th-this s-sleepover, I m-m-might n-never s-see you ag-gain!" Joey's sobs returned to their original intensity as he clung to Henry's form.

Henry held him close as he processed that. It took a moment for him to realize that Joey was right.

With Joey's parents dead from the car crash the week before, Joey and his younger brother Michael had been placed in the orphanage. Michael was adopted immediately, the five-year-old being the perfect age and disposition to be a proposition for new family, but Joseph Anthony Drew had been labeled a problem child because of his ADHD that caused all sorts of problems for him, from harder learning to lack of focusing to his compulsivity.

No one seemed to want Joey Drew.

If this kept up, Joey would be shuffled from orphanage to foster home until he came of age at 18, and that would probably mean that Henry and Joey would never see each other again.

"Hey, hey, we don't know that!" Henry said, trying to be reassuring.

"Yeah, we do! The orphanage lady Mrs. Neiterlander said that if I'm not adopted by the end of the month, I'm going to a foster home in Rochester! And that's almost 350 miles away!" Joey cried in despair.

"We don't know that it's that far away," Henry objected.

"Yeah, we do! I took a map and measured it with a ruler! It's that far by road! We'd never see each other! We'd barely even still be in the same state!"

Good thing Henry had come up with a plan a few days before then. After all, Henry was an only child whose parents had always wanted another but kept having miscarriages until they finally just stopped trying. It didn't take much to convince his parents to adopt the young Drew into their household, especially since Henry learned that his parents had been considering it anyway and just had yet to take the idea up with Henry himself.

And besides, Henry was pretty sure that orphanages didn't allow sleepovers just for fun. No, his parents had told him otherwise. This was the orphanage seeing if Joey felt safe and happy in their home after they had inspected it and considered it good for children.

Now, this plan was supposed to be a surprise... but his friend was so sad! He couldn't just let Joey think that Henry was just going to let them take his best friend away!

After thinking over the consequences of such an action and listening to his best friend cry into his chest as he held him close a little longer, Henry came to a decision. "If I tell you a secret, do you promise to act surprised?" Henry asked finally.

Joey looked up. "H-huh?" he asked, his breath still hitching but his tears slowing slightly.

"I know a secret, and you aren't supposed to know about it until breakfast later, but I hate seeing you like this, so I'll tell you it as long as you promise to pretend to be surprised for my parents, okay?" Henry repeated.

Joey nodded, wiping at the tears on his cheeks. "Wh-what is it?" he asked through his sniffles.

Henry looked around before whispering, "My mom and dad... They're... planning on adopting you into our family."

Joey stared at him, searching for any sign of deception. "R-really?" he asked hopefully, his eyes lighting up as his spirits lifted.

Henry knew that Joey couldn't afford to allow himself to raise his hopes that high. This would be a dream come true for him if it was real. If it turned out to be a trick or a hoax, Joey would shatter. But it wasn't either of those. This was real.

"Yeah," Henry replied with a smile. "We talked together and we decided to adopt you, Joey."

"Yeah," Henry replied with a smile. "We talked together and we decided to adopt you, Joey."

"That's... I don't know what to say... Th-thank you!" Joey's tears started anew, but not because of sorrow, but of joy and relief knowing that he and Henry would get to stay together.

"I thought you would like that," Henry said with a smile.

"Does this mean... that we'll be... brothers?" Joey asked suddenly, a hopeful tilt to his voice.

Henry thought about that for a minute before replying, "Yeah. I guess it will."

Joey smiled. "I think I like that," he said sleepily.

"Me too," Henry yawned.

"I love you... brother..." Joey said as he fell asleep again in Henry's arms.

"I love you, too, Joey..." Henry whispered as he too fell fast asleep, both waiting for dawn to wake them.