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ganondoodle · 4 months ago

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Regarding Demise: He is an interesting concept, as is the whole eternal cycle, but for that to actually become something worthwhile the games/stories would have to actually DO something with it. So far they are introduced in Skyward Sword and thats it! No other game even references them. And, yes, that cheapens EVERY other game because there is this implication that its all out of the control of the actual characters in the story because of this one asshole that we only ever saw once! Why not have Ganondorf realize that he is possessed/manipulated by this weird old Demon God? How would he react, would he embrace it, would he rebel, would he be broken by the realization that none of his actions were ever *his*? I dont even care which of these options they pick, as long as they pick any of it and do just ANYTHING with the concept.

Or maybe Link or Zelda figures out the Cycle and starts looking into breaking it because endlessly repeating Demon Attacks kinda suck and you dont want that for your descendants.

Or have a game focus on them remembering bits from past lives and having to piece it all together or, again, just ANYTHING!

The closest they ever came to was with BOTW Zelda praying to Hylia, aka HERSELF, to unlock her powers, which is some brutal narrative irony, but not much more.

And regarding the whole Zelda is Hylia thing, I've seen some headcanons about how Skyward Sword Zelda is terrified of herself after learning that, because she now has to assume that everything she did was planned by a version of her that she no longer is. Is Link her friend or is he the useful pawn that Hylia needs to turn into the Hero? Does she even deserve his affection when she probably manipulated him into becoming her champion and fighting, possibly dying for her all her life?

Thats juicy, thats something you can do something with but Nintendo really does like to plan those stories game per game without any care for the larger story.

Which I guess is the Irony of it all. They tried the whole larger connected story/universe thing once: With Skyward Sword. After all that was also the time we got the first Hyrule Historia & "official timeline" as well as "How it all began" in the game itself.

It felt like the start of a new era for Zelda games and stories and then it just... wasn't.

And while I get that they want to focus on gameplay over story, I will never stop mourning the stories we could get/have gotten, if they put a bit more thought into things.

I actually feel like its harder to make the 'cycle' into an interesting plot point when its a .. divine thing that happens, and not perpetuated by the people (though not impossible, given how the series is build up it would need alot of work to not make it worse still..)-

i actually cannot stand the idea that ganondorf is possessed or manipulated, made eviler by demise somehow (demise is dead, leave him beeeeee hes not some evil master mind behind anything aaaaah) bc it STILL takes away ganondorfs agency and character and gives right into the whole hes basically born evil and just pushes the fault tm onto someone else it in turn legitimizes that the kingdom of hyrule and its high rule (heehoo) is right and if only gan wasnt manipulated hed be good tm, aka allied with the goodest guys, hed gladly accept their invitation and join their holy empire of goodness tm if wasnt for da demon

(and i love to say, who decides what is good tm and evil tm? bc hyrules monarchs making every other tribe their subordinate and persecuting shiekah for example isnt what id call good but its fine bc the good holy guys did it in the name of "peace" -what is their idea of peace? everyones under their rule and must worship their god? uh oh- and resistance to it is gonna get you labelled as evil!! (unless you join their holy kingdom and become their vassal of GOOD) what good and evil boils down to in zelda is .. being allied/ruled by the kingdom of hyrule and being opposed to them, even if its only not wanting to be subjugated by them)

i can see the appeal to some degree, but i dont like the idea of ganondorf even being able to be manipulated or possessed, what makes his character, before it got flattened into well he just be demon in the eyes of the average fandom, interesting is his unbreakable will, that drive to keep on living and resisting those that want him dead, its poetic and sad, to the point that (until totk ...) it was really just ONE ganondorf that refused to die and came back over and over (also something i found a compelling thought for botw, that after all this time theres nothing left BUT his will to resist, its a tragic idea that rly spoke to me)

my personal idea of the cycle is that its only a cycle bc they, the kingdom of hyrule and their belief system, keep it going, its not a divine thing that needs to be broken (though the divine surely messes with it, just for the bit i guess) but something that keeps repeating bc hyrule is so soaked into the idea that their princess once was a god and hers is the right to rule it all in light- so anyone who doesnt agree must be of the demons from the darkness seeking to destroy the world, and what means the 'world' could just mean the kingdom of hyrule- in botw even with the calamity people went on and lived, same in windwaker, they dont need the holy kingdom to live- (who is to say the 'monsters' are bad for the land, to me they mostly looked like well adapted territorial beasts, and the bokblins etc clearly arent mindless monsters either, why do they need to be eradicated? they attack you? ok dont go into their territory, or defend yourself, you dont need to exterminate something just bc it could be a threat at some point)

(i do agree that conflict with zelda being interesting but uuuh .. well they never did anythign with that huh)

in the end, demise was just a throw away villain, and if i may get my tin foil hat back here, i feel like the whole creation myth skyward sword does was really just a way for them to get out of the predicament of having to consider a villain to be treated like a person to save themselves from having to think about what they imply and can just go, well this is the evil demons, this is the good gods- ironically enough the attempt to get out of having to consider complicated writing it ends up reversing straight back into the WORST of kinds of implications .. that arent even subtext anymore, if totk is anythign to go by, the most 'simple' or 'easy' narrative to go for might not be actually simple, just a so often retold one that it appears simple if not made aware of its dark maw, the status quo repeated ad nauseam

(and if i may, the whole gameplay over story thing is bs in my eyes, that sounds like the typical attempt of dismissing any critique, just like the stupid, and frankly, offensive "its just for kids" argument, story and gameplay are inherently intertwined, the story influences the gameplay, the gameplay influences the story, especially in a series like zelda that is a futile thing to go for and a reason why the stories themselves lack depth, how are you gonna have an epic adventure that drives you to get through any amount of puzzles and battles if there is no story to motivate you, at this point it feels like the series has set itself up for catastrophic failure bc i imagine, people might just keep buying and playing the games bc its attached to the series, bc they hope to see characters they loved return, new ones that will grab their attention, perhaps be taken away by a world that meant alot to them once before, hope that there will be something exciting-

i am not saying the series has no value or doesnt do anything well (hello who am i) but how many times can you repeat 'this guy good he fight evil guy he get the pretty princess as reward' without any interesting twists or narrative, even the most beloved characters can only keep it passable for so long, even the best gameplay loses its potential if its surrounded by cardboard characters and a story so "simple" as offensive it fits into a single page, i often wonder how a game would be seen if it wasnt titled -the legend of zelda- ..

it hurts especially when looking at its long history, how much estblished thigns it could exploit and expand, the potential the series has is still immense, it hurts to see it be wasted over and over :(

#ganondoodles answers #ganondoodles talks #zelda #i dont need it to be mind breaking #i just want it to be interesting #botw was interesting to me!! so much so!! god i miss loving that game- totk just gives everything a bitter taste..#i dont find echoes of wisdoms lore that interesting as some seem to do #the main thing being you play.. as zelda (and need to transform into link via mystic energy to be able to actually fight hahaaa)#and i find that cool but also a little .. sad? like this series is so set in its path that even playing as the other good guy is a big hook #i have nothing much against the game (other than how zelda is handled- of course she da priestess not a hero .. the FUCKING UI ARGH)#idk totk kinda killed how invested i was into the lore #im just kinda numb to it by now ... like whatever #i still care mind you- but it would take alot ot get me excited again #also this long ass response isnt meant agressively or something #i just have .. opinions tm #also .. the whole breakign the cycle is the entire idea of my totk rewrite- with zelda having to realize she is part of what perpetuates it #and everything shes been told all her life was a lie- shaking her entire worldview to the core #anyway #im gonna guess this wasnt the point of the ask but uh ... words go brrrrr

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phantom-of-the-501st · 3 months ago

Text

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?

✴〰✴〰✴〰✴〰✴〰✴〰✴〰✴〰✴

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.

✴〰✴〰✴〰✴〰✴〰✴〰✴〰✴〰✴

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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