#echoes of hope au | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thebiscuitlabryinth · 11 months ago

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Nowadays, Pure Vanilla has gotten used to his sleep fluctuating wildly between turbulent dreams and sleep like the void itself has swallowed him whole. It seems like a game of chance whenever he rests his head down, and neither option leaves him any less tired the next morning.

Today, his dreams are absurd, swirling and spilling into each other, and vividly upsetting in a way he can't identify. He shut his eyes tight, but that doesn't block out the rest of his senses. He can hear begging, crying, shouting, and the scent of something burning and wilted lilies clashes in the air, creating a suffocating smell that winds around him slow. It is awful, but it is slightly less so, now that he knows how to recognise when he is in a dream. More importantly, he has a question, and he is more than aware of Shadow Milk's lingering presence.

"You founded the study of Dark Moon Magic, didn't you?"

It is a soft question, but one that is sure of itself. Instantly, the sounds and smells and sensations that had been plaguing Pure Vanilla disappear. Pure Vanilla keeps both his eyes closed for the time being, just in case. Tonight, his staff is absent like a missing leg, and he misses the added security of being able to look through it.

"Oh, come on! Don't interrupt the scene, we were just getting to the good part!" Shadow Milk's voice responds with frustration, the sound coming from all sides. It is precisely because it comes from all sides that Pure Vanilla keeps his eyes closed, not quite trusting that the shards of his nightmares have been fully swept away. He doesn't want to find out what Shadow Milk could possibly consider to be 'the good part' amidst the sounds of suffering and anguish.

Instead, Pure Vanilla sighs. "It was your choice to stop everything when I asked that, wasn't it? You can't blame me for that."

"Bzzt! Wrong! I can blame you because you did interrupt. It doesn't matter what I did in response, a disruption is a disruption." Shadow Milk declares loudly, voice a little rougher, as if he was daring Pure Vanilla to argue back. But his voice is now only coming from one source, right in front of him, so Pure Vanilla cautiously opens his eyes to check the surroundings.

He finds himself in the library of Blueberry Yogurt Academy, and nostalgia eagerly rears its head within him, somewhat surprised. He's stood beside a littered table, surrounded by the deep blue bookshelves of his youth and the comforting smell of aged paper. The details blur a little past that, some of the shelves lighter, more like the bookshelves in his chambers in the Vanilla Kingdom, leaving it less like a perfect replica and more like a collage made out of bits and pieces of his lifetimes' worth of memories, but it is mostly the Blueberry Yogurt library.

Shadow Milk is across the table from him, tutting when Pure Vanilla takes too long to reply. He leans his elbows on the table, propping his chin on the bridge of his linked fingers. "Sneaky, silly-Vanilly, trying to use me to get out of your funny little nightmares. Very, very sneaky."

"It worked, didn't it?" Pure Vanilla says, a bit stiffly, because that had never been his main intention, mostly because Shadow Milk isn't nice enough for him to think it would work. No, his main intention is genuine curiosity, and that is exactly why he continues to prod. "...You didn't answer my question."

"Because it's a stupid one." Shadow Milk hums back, tilting his head to the side. He tilts it far enough that his cheek is now resting against his hands instead of his chin. "You should be able to figure that out yourself. Didn't I already tell you where my home is?"

Pure Vanilla doesn't answer for a moment, laying a tentative hand on the edge of the table as he tries to squint at the papers across its surface in the dim lamplight. It takes him a second to realise that they're all forbidden texts on Dark Moon Magic, and when he does, he murmurs back. "It's better to clarify than assume, isn't it?"

This time, Shadow Milk is the one who doesn't answer for a moment, instead staring at him with those piercing eyes. Pure Vanilla can feel more around him, behind him, lurking in the shadows pooling in the nooks and crevices and he can't help it – he shivers slightly.

That reaction must be enough for Shadow Milk, because he snorts, and pushes off the table to lean back, kicking his feet up onto the table and right on top of texts, which is already enough to make Pure Vanilla wince. Poor library etiquette aside, the movement is horribly uncanny to watch, partly because he is leaning back onto thin air instead of a chair, partly because he moves so quickly it's like his limbs snap into place, and partly because his smile is stretched far too thin as he does so.

"Of course I did. I'm very talented, you know." Shadow Milk announces smugly, his eyes never leaving him. They narrow slightly, all of them in suspicious synchronisation, and he raises his eyebrows expectantly. "But I must admit, I am crumbling to know why you brought it up."

Whys are always difficult to answer, especially for something as difficult as motives, which can morph and change over time. Pure Vanilla hates lying, but he hates lying in front of Shadow Milk even more, because he seems to recognise every single one and Pure Vanilla doesn't want to give him the satisfaction.

But he really can't admit the core of the matter to his face. He can't admit that ever since he glimpsed the ghost of Shadow Milk's past, he hasn't been able to stop thinking about it. He can't admit that he is actively trying to glimpse it again, and what better way to try and draw it out than with any scholar's pride and joy – their work?

"It's impressive. I, myself, have mastered White Magic over the years, and I certainly contributed to its development, but I cannot claim that I created it as a school of magic." Pure Vanilla explains instead, and it isn't a lie either, just lacking all the details. He fidgets a bit, tugging at his own sleeves, adding quieter. "Dark Moon Magic is forbidden too, so there aren't many detailed sources left on it. I want to know more about its founding."

I want to know more about you.

There is another lapse of silence, and Pure Vanilla is tense with tentative hope. After all, if Shadow Milk was really against the topic altogether, he wouldn't have gone through the trouble of plucking him out of his nightmares.

Shadow Milk's smile is sharp like a knife, clashing with the casual way he folds his arms behind his head, almost languid as he finally muses. "Oh, really? That doesn't sound right. I'm sure there's enough details lying around to get the gist of it. After all, you've used Dark Moon Magic before, so you must know something about it already."

Pure Vanilla flinches back, and it isn't a surprise that he knows about that too, not anymore, but it still leaves him with unstable footing. Regardless, he doesn't let that scare him off the topic, which he suspects is exactly why Shadow Milk said it. "...I've only really used it once, and I don't remember much about what happened. So I may know something, but that something is rather little."

It's a confession, and the truth. His brief tangle with Dark Moon Magic is a complete blur in his own mind, watered down to blinding sensations and a heartache so intense he had felt like he was crumbling. Theoretically, he knows enough about Dark Moon Magic to hold a conversation, but he remembers nothing about it in practise.

"You know who could help you with that?" Shadow Milk asks, seemingly unbothered, but the words curl with open mockery and a smirk. He tilts his head back slightly so he can look down on Pure Vanilla and throws his arms out dramatically. "Our beloved, newly coronated Guardian! She has plenty of experience with–"

Pure Vanilla's heart lurches painfully.

"Don't talk about her!" He interrupts, voice bursting out louder than he expected and panic fluttery in his chest. He doesn't want to hear him tear at her old wounds, even if she can't hear it herself. He knows how vulnerable that cry makes him seem though, and he fumbles to lower his voice to something softer, less shaky. "Don't– please, I'm asking you for a reason."

Shadow Milk giggles, a strange grating sound that climbs higher with each breath, until he is laughing in earnest. He curls into himself, arms wrapped around his middle, and the position looks painful with his feet still planted on the table. Pure Vanilla watches him warily, a little shaken by the mention of White Lily, and wonders if maybe, he was wrong about what he thought he saw in Shadow Milk. He has been seeing more things that aren't there, recently.

His laughter stops abruptly. The stillness that follows is jarring, but doesn't last long.

Slowly – so slowly that it is unnerving, for someone who typically moves as erratically as him – Shadow Milk reaches forward with one hand and plucks a scroll up from the table. He unrolls it with a lazy flick of his wrist, the other end tumbling away over the edge of the table and across the floor. It is a smooth movement, Pure Vanilla notes through the pounding of his heart and his scrambled nerves, a practised motion that speaks of thousands of opened scrolls.

Shadow Milk peers over at the contents of the scroll with an empty, disinterested expression, his legs melting through the table until he appears to be sitting somewhat politely again. The sudden switch to this from his near hysterical laughter leaves Pure Vanilla disturbed, unsure if this is progress or not.

"I wanted to strike a balance between Black and White Magic." Shadow Milk says, his voice a disconcertingly low murmur, almost monotone. While his main eyes remain steadily on the scroll, the rest are eagerly burrowing into Pure Vanilla from all sides. "Black Magic draws from the void, making it unpredictable and destructive by nature, but full of potential. White Magic draws from the moon, primarily, and other celestial sources, making it safer and easier to use, but limited in its purity. If I could find the middle ground, I could harness magic with more flexibility and power but less unpredictability."

Shadow Milk pauses then, his eyes sliding up to stare right at Pure Vanilla, and his lips quirk upwards. When he speaks again, his voice gains a little more character but remains mainly flat, like a poorly-delivered theatrical monologue. "The dark side of the moon was the obvious choice for a source of that kind of power, because it's the natural overlap between the moon and the void. Once you figure out a source for magic, it's simple to find a way to draw from it, and to make it simpler, I had access to the knowledge of the Witches at my fingertips. All I had to do was write everything down, and the school of Dark Moon Magic was born. Easy-peasy!"

Shadow Milk throws the scroll to the side with little fanfare, not even sparing a glance at those ancient texts as they land in a heap of old paper on the floor, uncaring of if they damage or rip. And why would he? They both know this is a dream, and even if it wasn't, he had written that scroll himself.

Pure Vanilla would have cared, dream or not, if he wasn't wholly distracted, reduced to only a wide-eyed blink.

Because Shadow Milk may feign a bored face and voice, as if reading off a report or a particularly uninspiring script, but when their gazes meet, his eyes glitter like shooting stars, sparking with pride and passion and something else.

It captivates Pure Vanilla, the very same shine that comes with a breakthrough for every researcher. It is exactly what he had been hoping to see again, but the sight still leaves him feeling unmoored, even if pleasantly. Intruige and hope swirl within him, and he suddenly finds himself desperate to hold onto this ghost of the past, to make it stay longer and help it spill into the present.

"What does it feel like?" The question comes out before Pure Vanilla can think it through, focused on continuing the conversation before Shadow Milk can pick up his showmanship again in full. "Dark Moon Magic, I mean."

Shadow Milk huffs, a playful grin settling on his face again, and a sickening mix of dread and disappointment trickles through Pure Vanilla as he watches him lean over, crushing more texts beneath his palms. For a scary moment, he expects him to make another quip towards his previous use of the magic, or worse, bring up White Lily again.

He doesn't. Shadow Milk kicks his legs up behind him, so that he is laying on his stomach in mid-air, and cheerfully asks, "How about I show you?"

He doesn't wait for Pure Vanilla to process what he said, let alone reply. He reaches out and ensnares Pure Vanilla's hand, the one normally occupied with his staff, and laces their fingers together. Pure Vanilla doesn't reciprocate the hold, surprised, but only tries a small unsuccessful tug in response.

Shadow Milk's grip is an oppressive pressure, tight but not quite painful. He presses their palms together firmly, and Pure Vanilla gasps.

Magic bursts through the contact, rushing through his jam in a dizzying, warm flood. It is thicker, heavier than the magic Pure Vanilla is used to, thrumming and twisting as if it has a mind of its own, almost scratching at his dough as if trying to consume him, and he can't even concentrate on it because– because–

He can see everything.

Pure Vanilla really, truly can. He can see Shadow Milk's curling smile in front of him, he can see the Faeries having a feast, he can see Black Raisin greeting the moon from one of the Vanilla Castle's towers, he can see Dark Cacao striding through the citadel, he can see White Lily going through her morning routine, he can see his own sleeping body, and places and Cookies he doesn't have the presence of mind to recognise, all simultaneously. He doesn't know what to focus on, doesn't even know how to focus on anything, and his head hurts like it is falling apart.

This is how Shadow Milk has been watching me, he thinks deliriously, the only thought he can manage as he drowns in his sights.

And then, in a snap, he is back in the library with only one scene to see. His vision swims a little at the edges as if it didn't get the message, and he wobbles in place.

Shadow Milk is still holding his hand, but the grip is slightly looser, and the stream of his Dark Moon Magic is gone like a whisper. His grin is sinister and too big for his face, but his eyes still burn like stars.

"Fun, isn't it?" Shadow Milk coos, giddy like it is a shared secret, lifting Pure Vanilla's trembling hand and brushing a kiss to the back that buzzes with Dark Moon Magic. "My very first masterpiece."

Pure Vanilla wakes up disoriented, with a ringing headache and an itch in the back of his hand. White Lily notices his poor state almost immediately when she sees him – wonderful as she is – and she asks if he had a nightmare with that gentle, concerned slope to her brows.

Pure Vanilla adjusts his grip on his staff, leaning against it more than usual.

"No." He assures her lightly, not quite the truth and not quite a lie.

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#oops this was longer than i expected #i mainly just wanted an excuse to wax lyrical about possible interpretations of their magic systems <3 #sm is having the time of his life btw. pv? not so much #writing this is like a tightrope act between pv's idealistic hopes and sm-related psychological disturbance #pure vanilla cookie #shadow milk cookie #shadowvanilla #vanilla milkshake #pureshadow #echo paradox au #the biscuit library

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phantom-of-the-501st · 3 months ago

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Cupcakes, Fairy Lights and One Undead Army

It's Halloween for the Bad Batch

A fluffy Modern AU

@saturn-sends-hugs @inkstainedhandswithrings @the-bi-space-ace

Halloween fic is finally here! Pat on the back to me for not making this super depressing

Cold, dead eyes stared back at him. Deep and black and a stark contrast to the pasty white of the rest of the face. An unmoving grin of uncovered teeth stretched across the front of the jaw and up towards the cheeks. Echo looked death in the face. And he smiled.

"What are you looking at?"

"Just enjoying the new paint job."

"Oh shut it, Echo." Crosshair rolled his eyes. "I'll have you know that I didn't ask for this. I was forced against my will."

"Like hell you were." Echo chuckled and shot his brother a smug grin. "You know you're enjoying this."

"Says the one who hasn't been painted to look like his insides are on the outside. How did you get out of this anyway?" Crosshair pointed an accusatory toothpick in Echo's direction before putting it between skeletal teeth. The dark paint on his lower lip had already begun to smudge.

"Because I'm not the one taking Omega trick or treating." In all honesty, Echo was a little disappointed about not going, but he was more vulnerable to the cold now than he was before the accident and unless he wanted to walk around the neighbourhood wrapped up in thirty coats and fifteen layers of mittens, he would have to stay indoors. Maybe he could dress up as a marshmallow next year. Or just hope that they didn't have a repeat cold spell. "And someone has to stay home and make the cupcakes." At that, he hit away the large hand that had crept round towards the bowl in front of him. "Leave the chocolate chips alone, Wrecker."

"Awwww. But they're so good!"

"I know! Which is why they're for the cakes. If you eat them all now, then there won't be any left." Echo chuckled and turned to look at his brother, finding that he was now leaning on the counter, wrapped in his ghost-patterned jumper and thick orange socks tucked under loose trousers. He had a stolen marshmallow in his mouth. "Really?"

Wrecker just grinned and turned to look at Crosshair. "Looking good, Cross! When are you gonna put the face paint on?"

"Oh ha ha." The other let out a sarcastic laugh and rolled his eyes again, chewing on his toothpick. One day he would get splinters in his tongue and his brothers would one hundred percent all laugh at him for it.

"Where's Megs?" Echo asked, eyebrow raised inquisitively.

"Tech is helping her with her costume. Hunter's sorting out his own face."

As if summoned by his words, Omega came barrelling down the stairs and into the kitchen, Tech and Hunter trailing after, also decked out in black and white paint. Omega was draped in lightly glittered navy fabric, a dark hooded cape and a thick belt adorned with trinkets and fake bones. She'd insisted on a necromancer vibe this year, hence the skeleton army currently traipsing around the house. Tech had taken particular care in making sure her costume was in top shape this year (and every year previous). She ground to a halt just before she collided with the dining table, struck her arms wide and spun in a circle. "What do you think?"

"Looking great, Megs! The most powerful necromancer out there!" Wrecker went over and scooped her into a tight hug. Echo went and joined them.

"You look awesome, kid." He ruffled her hair and she batted his hand away, giggling. It was then that Echo noticed the eyeliner. Neat and precise. Definitely Crosshair's handiwork. 'Forced against my will' my ass Echo thought and laughed to himself. "Now go and get some treats before there are none left. You've got competition this year. I hear Padme and Anakin are taking the twins out for the first time."

Just as fast as she'd arrived, Omega disappeared into the corridor to slip her shoes on.

"Well, I guess we should start making a move." Hunter said. "You two going to be okay here?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine. You lot go and have fun."

Hunter nodded and turned to join Omega in the hallway, closely followed by Crosshair, who gave them a loose two-finger salute before departure. Tech went to go with them before turning towards Wrecker. "Thanks for letting me go this time. I know you don't like missing out on this." He nudged his glasses up his painted nose.

"No worries, Tech! There'll always be next year. Go and have fun. And make sure to bring loads of goodies back!" Tech smiled in response and left the kitchen.

Echo knew that Wrecker had wanted to go again this year, but the others always felt bad about leaving Echo home alone, despite his insistence that he'd be fine. They argued that unless all of them went (as they had done their first year with Omega), no man would be left behind. Last year Tech had stayed, and the year before that, Cross. They took it in turns and this time Wrecker chose to be the one to join him. Echo appreciated the company.

He heard the door shut, cutting off Omega's excited ramblings, and reached up with his left hand to adjust his beanie, a grey one with a pumpkin embroidered on the front that Omega had gifted him last year. He turned to his brother. "Hey, Wreck? Hunter went to put the lights up earlier and they weren't working. Think you could tinker with them a bit? See if you can get them functioning again?"

"Sure thing! The pumpkin ones or the ghosts?"

"Both. Neither of them wanted to do anything today. I think they're just old now. We've had them for a few years."

"I'll go and have a look. I'm sure I can get them up and running in no time!" Wrecker gave him a charismatic smile and made his way to the living room, but not without stealing another marshmallow from the counter first. Echo gave him a half-hearted smack on the elbow, smiling as he heard Wrecker's deep laugh bounce down the corridor.

It was definitely nice to have someone in the house with him. Growing up, there had always been people with him at this time of year. First him and Fives, and then even more when the Batch had moved in. How 99 had managed to corral so many kids around the house and take them all trick or treating without losing any of them was anyone's guess. Their adoptive father was the best. Nights like this reminded Echo of the chaos of Halloween during their younger years, especially with Omega, who had the same amount of energy as Fives had done back then.

The same amount of energy he had now, in all honesty. His twin had had to move abroad for work shortly after their honourable discharge from the military and as a result they didn't see each other nearly as often as they hoped. There were always promises from each side to visit the other, but conflicting schedules seemed to put a stop to every plan before they ever truly got off the ground. Echo made a mental note to give him a call later when the others were back. Until then, he was on important cupcake duty.

He heard music coming from the living room and realised Wrecker had stuck on his carefully curated Halloween playlist to run in the background while he worked. It had been changed and edited several times over the last few months so that it could, as Wrecker put it, have 'the perfect spooky vibes with the right balance of fun'. Echo didn't mind. It gave him something to listen to as he made a start on the cupcakes. And maybe he bust out a few dance moves in the kitchen, but who was to say?

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By the time Echo had the cupcakes made and cooling in the kitchen, Wrecker had managed to fix both sets of fairy lights and draped the pumpkins up the bannister on the stairs and the ghosts around the living room. He and Echo were sprawled out on the sofa, each wrapped in a thick knitted blanket, basking in the glow of the lights and the TV. They had made it part way through Beetlejuice when the door unlocked and Omega came darting into the living room, leaving behind a trail of treats that had fallen out of her bag in her haste. "Look how much we got this year!" She was practically bouncing off the walls.

"Yes, it was certainly a very successful evening. I believe we have exceeded last years haul by approximately a third." Tech added, giving his two brothers a smile. His face-paint was still so neat and precise it looked like it had been applied mere seconds ago, unlike Hunter's, which was starting to go grey where the colours had blended. It was probably a result of his habit of running a hand down his face every time he sighed (a thing which happened very often whenever Crosshair was around). Why he had even bothered to paint a skull onto his face when he already had one permanently inked on was anyones guess. He was picking up the sweets Omega had left on the floor and Echo could hear Crosshair kicking his shoes off in the hall as his characteristic snarky drone chipped in with a "Yeah, and with that much sugar she'll be running around on the ceiling."

"I think she might already be at that point." Hunter sighed and gave a soft chuckle, tucking away some of the strands of hair that had come loose from his bandana. "How about you go and take your shoes off, Megs. Then we can finish the film with these guys." He put the treats back in the bag and slumped down next to Echo, head tilted on the back of the sofa.

"Fun evening?" Echo quipped.

"I'm getting too old for this. I can't keep up with the energy anymore."

"Oh come on, Hunter. If you're old then what does that make me?"

Hunter looked at Echo and grinned. "Positively ancient."

Echo would have shoved him over sideways at that remark, but Hunter had sat down on his right side so the best he could do was aggressively jab him in the shoulder with the end of his stump. Hunter laughed.

"I'm gonna go and make hot chocolate!" Wrecker announced and hopped off the sofa. "Mind giving me a hand, Tech?"

"Of course."

Crosshair seized the opportunity, slinking past his brothers as they went through the doorway and stealing Wrecker's spot, wrapping the discarded blanket around his shoulders. "You been okay, Echo?"

"Yep! Haven't had as many trick or treaters as I thought we would, so it's relatively quiet. I'm thinking of giving Fives a call later as well. I'm sure he would want to see Omega's costume this year."

"Oh goodie." Crosshair said sarcastically. "I haven't spoken to that knucklehead in a while."

"You know you love him really."

"You say that, but he's your twin and I think that speaks for itself."

"Just like I said, you love him."

"I think you two need to be forensically analysed."

Echo just shook his head, smiling.

"We're gonna call Fives?" Omega said excitedly as she wiggled between the two and tucked herself under Echo's arm.

"Sure, kid. I'll set up the video chat when we're decorating the cupcakes. Sound good?"

"Uh huh!" Omega nodded and turned to the film in front of her.

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They finished the movie, wrapped up in more blankets, empty hot chocolate mugs scattered on the floor and coffee table in front of them. Omega sprung off of the sofa as soon as the credits started rolling. "Okay, cupcake time!"

"Jeez, Megs. How have you still got this much energy?" Hunter groaned, practically half asleep. He'd ended up almost lying down with his head on the arm rest.

"Because her bloodstream is almost completely sugar." Tech said. "If she actually falls asleep tonight I'll be impressed." Hunter groaned again and sunk lower into his seat.

"And so our mighty leader has fallen. Defeated by a small child."

"I'm glad you're enjoying my misery, Cross."

"It's what keeps me going." Crosshair shot him a sly grin and jabbed a toothpick in his direction. "And it's why going trick or treating with you is so entertaining."

Echo couldn't help but chip in. "I thought you were forced against your will?"

"Shut it, Echo, or I'll smother you with your beanie."

"I'd like to see you try."

"All bark and no bite, Crossy."

"What did you just call me?"

"Nothing." He said smugly. Crosshair's eyes narrowed and Echo continued. "But if you're too scared to defend your honour then..."

"Oh you are on!" Crosshair lunged at Echo, reaching to grab onto the grey fabric. Echo dodged and tumbled backwards, laughing, trying to keep his brother away with his one available arm. Hunter groaned as Echo's head collided with his stomach and then groaned again when Crosshair joined the dogpile.

"Really, you two? Can't a man get any peace around here?"

"Hey, my life is at stake here!" Echo giggled as he continue to grapple with the man above him. "I'm protecting myself!"

"And I'm trying to protect my kidneys! Move your head!" Echo just tilted his head even further back into Hunter to avoid Crosshair's grasping hands. He was pretty sure his skull was starting to dig into Hunter's ribs at this point and the latter was unlikely to be happy about it.

"Technically, your kidneys are towards the back of your body, so Echo's head poses very little risk to them."

"Okay thanks Tech but I don't really want any of my internal organs squashed right now!"

Suddenly, Echo's hat disappeared off his head. "Huh? what the-"

"Hey, Cross. Catch!" Crosshair sat up and grabbed the hat from the air as Wrecker threw it towards him.

"Oh come on!" Echo exclaimed. "That's cheating!"

Crosshair waved the hat just out of Echo's reach. "It's called teamwork, brother." Echo gave him a playful shove and watch him retreat to the other side of the room, before pushing himself off Hunter and standing up.

"Oh thank God for tha-" Hunter's sentence was interrupted as the stolen beanie smacked him in the face. "Seriously?" Crosshair laughed at him. "I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with you lot."

"Send them back to 99?" Tech asked jokingly.

"Don't tempt me." Hunter stood up and put the hat back on Echo's head, pulling it down far enough that it covered his eyes. "Come on, children. Megs wants cupcakes." The girl in question was waiting in the doorway, thoroughly amused by the events taking place. They were supposed to be the mature ones here and clearly they were demonstrating that very well.

They all migrated to the kitchen, Crosshair, Hunter, and Tech sitting down by the table, while Echo, Wrecker and Omega pulled all of the cupcake decorating supplies together (or what was left of them at least, as Wrecker stole yet another marshmallow from the bag). Echo grabbed the buttercream he had made from the fridge and placed the bowl in front of Omega before pulling his phone out of his pocket and calling his brother. No response. Echo hadn't actually checked with his twin to see if he was available tonight and there was a good chance the man was busy at some Halloween party and wouldn't respond until he was too drunk (or too hungover) to get back to him with any level of coherence. Echo placed his phone down and leant on the counter to watch the cupcake decorating.

Wrecker and Omega seemed to have set up a little system, with the latter piping neat swirls on each cake and her brother delicately placing decorations on each one. People assumed that because of his large size, Wrecker struggled with fiddly tasks. In fact, the opposite was true. He had as good as control as the rest of them, if not better, and could make some of the best damned Halloween cupcakes the world had ever seen. This year was a mix of Frankenstein's monster and little marshmallow ghosts. Echo laughed when he noticed Omega's tongue poking out of the side of her mouth in concentration.

*Thunk*

He glanced towards the other three and found that Hunter had slumped over with his arms crossed on the table and his head tucked between them. Crosshair poked him in the side of the head with a slender finger. Hunter let out a muffled groan of annoyance. A smirk appeared on Crosshair's face, which grew even bigger when he noticed tech taking a picture of their brother. At the sound of Tech's phone camera, Hunter responded again, this time with actual words (though more into the table than to the person opposite him).

"Did you just take a picture of me?"

Tech paused for a second before simply stating "Maybe".

"Tech..."

"I am simply documenting this Halloween. It's what families do."

"Why don't you take a picture of Omega then?"

"Because you being this exhausted is objectively hilarious."

"Shut up, Crosshair."

"And we can use it as blackmail."

"Crosshair." Crosshair just poked him again.

Before Hunter could complain to the table anymore, Echo's phone started ringing. Fives.

"Hey, brother!" The welcome was immediate as Fives' face appeared in frame. He was dressed head to toe in tattered grey clothes and appeared to have painted his skin and hair a mottled grey as well.

"Were you going somewhere or did a bag of flour fall on your head again?"

"Okay, first of all, that only happened once! And yes, I am in fact going somewhere thank you very much. We have a work Halloween party."

"Thought you would have gone with something more eccentric. A ghost seems pretty tame for you."

"Eh, I just didn't have the time this year." Fives dropped down onto a sofa. "I considered going as you before your morning coffee but I decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea to terrify my colleagues that much."

Echo propped his phone up on the middle of the counter and gave Fives the middle finger. Fives simply poked his tongue out in response before adding "What're you guys all up to this evening?"

"Cupcakes!" Omega yelled excitedly, popping up next to Echo in the bottom corner of the screen. She had a smudge of green across her cheek where she had likely rubbed it with a frosting-covered hand.

"Hell yeah! That sounds awesome. Wish I was there. I'd kill to have Echo's baking again."

"Wish you were here too, Fives." Omega said. "Are you going to be visiting soon?

"I'll try, kiddo. I'm a little tied up with work at the moment but I'll be over as soon as I can."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise times a thousand." Fives smiled, but Echo could tell there was a slight sadness in his eyes. He knew that moving away from his family hadn't been easy for him, or for the rest of them. However, the emotion was gone almost immediately. "How about we talk about how awesome you look, Megs? The costume rocks!" Omega stepped back and spun in a circle to let Fives see her outfit better.

"Thank you! Tech helped!"

"Haha, sounds about right." Fives said.

"We've got skeletons all over the house this year because, apparently, what this family really needs is an undead army." Echo added, chuckling, and he flipped the camera to show the three sat at the table, faces still painted like skulls. Although, what was left of Hunter's couldn't be seen as it was still buried in his arms.

"Haha looking good, fellas! It's almost an improvement!" Fives jested before his tone gained an edge of playful inquisitiveness. "Everything okay with the Sergeant?"

"He got defeated by a child on a sugar high." Crosshair said.

"Aw, come on brother! I thought you were more resilient than that!" Hunter merely responded by flipping Fives the bird without lifting his head from the table.

"Wow. So mean." Fives' face contorted into mock upset.

"Don't mind him. He's just coming to terms with the fact that he's getting old." Quipped Tech before Echo followed with a "I think we might be sending him to an early grave."

Fives couldn't resist chiming in again. "We should paint half a skeleton on his coffin! It would look so cool!"

"And tie a bandana round it!" Wrecker added enthusiastically.

"I hate all of you." Came Hunter's reply.

They stayed in the kitchen until all of the cupcakes were done, at which point they decided to migrate back to the living room. Tech had to practically peel Hunter off of the table. The Sergeant's paint was becoming so smudged he looked closer in colour to Fives and had lost most of the characteristics of the skull. Echo made a mental note to remind his brother to wash the paint off later before he woke up to find what would look like the remains of Casper the Friendly Ghost streaked across his pillow.

It didn't take long for more bickering to ensue and for Echo to smear frosting on Crosshair's face. His brother responded by wiping it away and then licking his finger clean, grimacing at the chalky taste of the paint that came off with it. A little bit of flesh poked through at the tip of his nose. "You're a menace, Echo."

Echo gave a dramatic gasp and put his hand to his chest. "How dare you make such unsubstantiated accusations. I'm the older and far more mature one here."

"Debatable."

"Thanks for the support, Tech."

"Mature? Certainly not. Old? Definitely." Tech gave a cheeky grin.

"Okay, that's alright, Tech. You don't need to say any more."

"I don't know. I think he does." Crosshair quipped.

"I really think he doesn't."

"Well, I do have a list of every time Echo has-" Echo threw his balled up cupcake case at Tech's head.

"Wait, are those the times-"

"Fives!"

"Okay, okay. If you don't want me to talk about it-"

"I really don't."

"Boring!" Crosshair exclaimed.

"Don't make me smear frosting on your face again."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

A glaring match ensued between Echo and Crosshair, which lasted far longer than it probably should have before Fives intervened. "Okay, children. Settle down. It's a holiday. Don't kill each other now."

"Shut up, Fives." Crosshair said, although there was no actual aggression in his voice. "Weren't you supposed to be going somewhere?"

"I was, but some people, not naming names, decided to start an argument. Someone has to mediate you lot."

"Oh come on, Fives. If you were here, there would be frosting smeared on every piece of furniture in this house and the next." Echo said.

"You wound me brother."

"Okay. You can piss off now."

"How rude!" Another exclamation of fake hurt from Fives. "And using this kind of language around Omega as well."

"I've heard worse!" Omega chimed in before taking another bite of her cupcake.

"Ten out of ten parenting guys, well done."

"Hey! I distinctly remember you being told off by 99 on multiple occasions for your less than stellar language." Echo retorted.

"Yes, but I also wasn't in charge of a child, so it doesn't count." Fives argued, smugly.

"Are you going or not?" Crosshair asked.

"Trying to get rid of me?"

"Yes."

"Okay, okay. Fine!" Fives held a hand up in surrender. "I'll see you guys around, okay?" A chorus of goodbyes circled round the room (or in Hunter's case, an incoherent noise and a weak wave of his hand). "I'll call you in a couple weeks, Echo."

"Sounds good. And give 99 a ring too. He's desperate to say hi again." Echo grinned. "Take care."

"Of course." Fives smiled and gave a salute before the call ended.

"Your brother is so weird." Crosshair said.

"He's your brother too."

"Don't remind me."

Echo picked up Crosshair's discarded cupcake wrapper, scrunched it up, and threw it at his head.

"Seriously? Are you going to do that to everyone?" Echo just smiled and Crosshair rolled his eyes, already sticking another toothpick in his mouth.

"Can we watch Monster House?" Omega asked, mouth full of cake.

"Hell yeah!" Wrecker said. "I love that film." Echo had to agree that it was a good choice, even if it was creepier than any movie made for kids should probably be. (That film had given Fives nightmares for weeks when he first saw it. Echo would have found it far more amusing if he wasn't missing out on his own sleep because of it).

"Sure." Tech said. "But you will go to bed after this one. Agreed?"

"Okay, Tech!" Omega said happily and snuggled down into Wrecker's side, draping a blanket over herself. Even if she did go to her room after the film, Echo knew the chances of her getting to sleep before her brothers was slim. It was worth a shot anyway.

"You know who should probably go to bed?" Crosshair asked. He pointed his toothpick towards the end of the sofa where Hunter was.

The Sergeant was tucked up into a ball, bandana slipping over his eyes, and his chest rising and falling with deep breaths. He was already dead to the world. Echo chuckled and turned to the TV as Wrecker found the film. Although, it didn't seem he was going to get much peace this evening, even with one brother fast asleep beside him, because just a few minutes into the film Omega decided to circle back round to a previous topic of conversation. "So that list of things Echo has-"

"Nope!"

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