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chrysalizzm · 4 years ago

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i uh. realized people follow me now because of uh. you’re human tonight on ao3 asdjgfs

i have content!! behind the scenes content as promised. i do outlines for my fics as a general rule of thumb just because i personally can’t write things to a satisfying finish if i don’t Do That, and so - here are my chapter/plot outlines for you’re human tonight ^^ (i have no idea if this is interesting content or not i thought i’d put it out there because i think outlines are kinda fun hhhh)

chap 1 fundy

subtitle: an inkling

fundy makes an iron golem gone wrong, dream makes it go boom

chap 2 purpled

subtitle: uh oh social interaction

purpled shelters a fugitive, gets his house explosion-proofed as thanks

this is probably gonna be the only chapter with a funny title hh oh well

update: it’s not and i’m pleased with myself for branching out with my dry humor

chap 3 sapnap

subtitle: dust to dust

sapnap’s dying via wither effect, and he knows respawn’s around the corner but goddamn if it doesn’t hurt til then. dream skids in around the nether fortress corner, drops all his weapons cradles sapnap’s head in his hands, has always taken death much harder than anyone sapnap’s ever met. at the last few seconds, when death creeps up like a shroud, dream starts to hum to him hoarsely, pressing his forehead to sapnap’s, and in the final moments sapnap doesn’t hurt at all. the last thing he hears is dream whimpering. he visits dream’s bunker the next day, knocks on the door over and over, but there’s no sign of life there. sapnap shrugs, bites his lip out of guilt for forcing dream to sit there watching him die (if temporarily), and moves on.

the chapter that introduces dream’s primary ability of soothing hurts. put a lot of emphasis on the fact that sapnap ached up until the moment dream started humming, because for dream to do that is pretty frivolous considering once sapnap died he’d respawn and the hurt would just disappear but dream wanted sapnap to have a peaceful last few seconds. emphasize how abnormal it is that withering stops hurting.

chap 4 ponk

subtitle: beaches dry of sugarcane

dream visits ponk after george burns down the first tree. when ponk arrives to the second tree to move in, he realized dream made the tree flourish, grow healthier and bigger.

chap 5 sam

subtitle: fuck this shit i’m out (edit: the official subtitle is “oh god oh fuck”, i changed it last-minute)

dream picks sam’s brain for manhunt strategies while the latter is mining for redstone. sam stumbles upon a spawner and reels back, trips, nearly misses the moment dream sweeps him behind him and his eyes flash beneath the mask and when sam gets back up, dazed, there’s nothing but the splay of cobwebs all over the walls.

chap 6 punz

subtitle: lines drawn

in an unrelated skirmish, punz drives his sword up to the hilt in dream’s chest, relying on respawn for dream to not feel any pain and for punz to get paid. dream doesn’t die. this is understandably alarming.

can we get some funnies in chap? just a few laughs?? a lil funny for mr luke punz man?

can we get some panicky dry humor for real tho because punz strikes me as someone who copes with morbid humor and dream spluttering up blood is def a situation that punz would not know how to deal with

chap 7 wilbur

subtitle: so about that date

wilbur makes platonic moves on dream while dream fake texts his fiance under the table. wilbur also accidentally vents to dream about his little brother tommy and how afraid he is that tommy will get himself hurt for how reckless he is. dream siphons some of his anxiety from him, smiles as they depart from one another. wilbur notes that dream is shaking when they leave.

chap 8 skeppy

subtitle: get wrecked noob

dream walks skeppy through some pvp. when skeppy demands a rematch w tommy and gets a lil stage fright kinda sorta thing, dream siphons his anxiety and his nerves and goes full soccer mom with bad and skeppy loses 5-2 but like!! he won!! against tommyinnit!! HH

is there any mental image nearly as powerful as dream wastaken, the soccer mom

chap 9 jack

subtitle: mandatory volunteering

after tommy goes on another one of his destructive rampages lmao, dream enlists jack, newest-comer, to help him rebuild stuff bc underclassmen have to do whatever upperclassmen tell them to do thems just the rules. after rebuilding a statue near the community house, dream pats it fondly, and when tommy sneaks back to set in on fire for shits and giggles, he finds that it’s fuckin fireproofed AGAIN

rebuild efforts, i promised monuments rebuilt so thats what theyre gonna fuckin Get

chap 10 antfrost

subtitle: twist the knife

ant on what ends up being an unpublicized manhunt: dream stops the manhunt because he’s triggered a raid and by the time the hunters get there, alarmed by the screaming and the fire and dream’s unresponsiveness, the villagers are all dead and there are raider corpses everywhere and dream is lying near the bell on his side, whimpering. (what the hunters don’t know - dream tried to fight off the raid but was overwhelmed and witnessed the village get slaughtered, he took the pain of the villagers that weren’t dead but were dying.)

segment: There’s a reason they do the manhunts, and it’s not just for them to horse around and try to kill one another for a few days. Antfrost is the newcomer but he’s always been good at reading people and from the outset he knew that Dream was someone filled to the brim with the restlessness that characterizes humans, that never-settling wanderlust, and his brain works too fast for the rest of his body sometimes, and he just needs an outlet. It’s part of why he eggs Tommy on in their little war games, why he holds onto those discs even though he doesn’t need them, why he gets that delighted look on his face when someone tells him that Tommy’s griefed them or stolen from them or otherwise ruined their morning. Antfrost thinks the only times he’s ever really seen Dream silent, Dream waiting, Dream unmoving, are when Dream is

chap 11 karl

subtitle: head in the shallows

karl, sapnap, george, and dream have a sleepover after mcc 11. karl, nearest to dream, wakes up when dream starts tossing and turning from a nightmare. when he tries to shake dream awake, dream’s eyes fly open and he slams his fist into the wall behind him and the earth, the literal earth, the entire slab of it, shudders like an earthquake. sapnap and george sleep like the dead, so it’s just karl and dream staring at one another. finally karl asks, concerned, “do you want some tea or water or anything?”

chap 12 hbomb

subtitle: a maid’s burden

“i want to dress up as a maid for fundy,” says hbomb with false bravado. fundy’s fiance levels a very impassive look at him for an awkward minute or two and just when hbomb thinks he’s misread dream and fundy’s relationship dream says “i’ll get you a wig” and the entire chapter is just dream idly twisting the fabric of reality to get hbomb the items he needs to put the outfit together

pranks, i promised pranks, theyre gonna get pranks

chap 13 alyssa

subtitle: message in a bottle (edit: official subtitle is “ship in a bottle”)

alyssa’s leaving, at least temporarily.

alyssa tells dream it’s getting dangerous on his server, doesn’t relish the expression that brings to his face, but he holds her hands and nods and bids her safe journey. when alyssa returns, running for something (later we’ll learn she had heard that dream was bad, that he might be dying), she finds that her house is completely inaccessible by everyone save her, placed in complete stasis by someone.

start of the chapters leading up to festival arc. build unresolved tension in this one.

chap 14 niki

subtitle: life doesn’t discriminate

wilbur and tommy are relentless, they waste no time; niki is willing to wait for it.

the night before the duel, she goes to dream and holds a sword to his throat and demands he call it off, even though she knows it’ll mean little because of respawn, tells him she won’t stop hunting him down until he gives up l’manberg. dream smiles a little sadly and pats her hand and her fright, her rage, it simmers back down, and the anger that had swarmed her and made dream out to be the devil dies down until it’s just her friend, who was playing along with tommy til it got serious and he got cocky, who’s just as in over his head as she is, and maybe niki’s soft but she likes that about herself, that she’s always the first to forgive. niki is looking at the healing cut on dream’s neck, uncovered by any bandages, when dream shoots tommy, a clean shot that causes no suffering.

a long chapter, probably. i think at some point in this i want to mention niki’s respect for dream for apologizing during the first pet war, for not letting things get any bigger until fundy came back. some parallels can be drawn here - that dream let the fire die down in the initial stages of the pet war, that dream won’t let go of the l’manberg war now, and it occurs to niki that she doesn’t know dream nearly as well as she thinks she does if she expected him to act exactly the way he did during the pet war. she’s got what she’s wanted - dream’s remorse, proof of dream’s humanity - even though it’s not in the form niki wanted it.

chap 15 eret

subtitle: crown of thorns

the king in name only consults with the true leader.

they’re both upset about pogtopia’s exile, eret arguably more so because they think their early betrayal of l’manberg somehow butterfly-effected into the current dumpster fire, and as they talk eret works themself into a full panic attack reflecting on things that were, things that could’ve been - and the tide washes out all of a sudden, and eret’s left with the same looming hollowness they’d been feeling before, no dregs of the panic, they’ve never had a panic attack that left them feeling normal after - but dream is now wheezing like he’s about to die and eret immediately walks him through the panic attack, levelheaded even as they’re confused out of their mind.

chap 16 quackity

subtitle: water to blood

quackity is a snake in the grass.

quackity at schlatt’s side during the few weeks of his presidency. he knows schlatt from before, has been his friend, so he knows when his friend is acting off. the cynical, straight-faced humor is still there, his completely bland delivery and brazen showmanship, but it’s twisted to the left somehow, to make it so that those qualities that make up his friend have rotted, hurt people. quackity eventually goes to dream after schlatt first overdoses with a lot of questions, maybe even to confess that his allegiance has begun to shift because he can’t go to pogtopia and he can’t go to schlatt - and dream just gives him a long, sad look before lightly patting quackity’s shoulder and says “i can’t guarantee anything - just that you’ll be safe” and shooing him off and as quackity heads back to manberg he realises all the hostile mobs are avoiding him like the fucking plague.

it’s big q!!!! fattest ass in the cabinet!!!!! pog!!!

fun fact this chapter’s subtitle was almost “chekhov’s gun” until november fucking 16th of 2020

chap 17 tommy

subtitle: most disputes die and no one shoots

tommy learns how a legacy dies.

a compendium of tommy watching the madness consume wilbur. it needs to be emphasized in this chapter that wilbur becomes an entirely different person when they’re ejected from manberg, that he becomes obsessed with the legacy he’s created and watching it crumble is what twists him; when dream gives tommy his crossbow, tommy, out of desperation and a need to have an older sibling again, asks what’s wrong with wilbur; dream’s face hardens and he asks tommy to take dream to wilbur. it’s a terse meeting, the only one they have before techno and before wilbur completely loses it and demands the tnt; wilbur says a lot of things tommy doesn’t understand (it’s complex mythological jargon hinting at dream’s status as a god but could be misconstrued to refer to dream’s status as simply the world owner) and at one point wilbur sneers, “are you trying to play god, dream?” and dream lurches forward and grabs wilbur by the wrist, and there’s a completely silent moment where tommy feels the air suck out of his lungs and there’s an off buzzing in his ears and he fancies he hears something that sounds, just a bit, like dream, whispering desperately wilbur wilbur wilbur it’s me it’s me listen listen listen then a shrieking, acrid wave of no and tommy reels back and when he looks up dream has staggered back, his hand to his mouth, blood dripping from somewhere beneath his mask, sounding like he’s gagging or maybe he’s sobbing, as wilbur shrieks in a voice that is entirely not his “get out get out if i can’t have l’manberg...” and tommy understands, finally, as dream sprints out. that’s not wilbur.

a distinction needs to be made perfectly clear in this chapter, as with schlatt’s chapter: it’s not them. they’ve been twisted out of control by something bigger than them, something that wants to toy with the young god running an oasis of peace for his people. it doesn’t need to be outright said in this fic; in another we can delve into the madness and who did it and why. for now, just make it clear it’s not explicitly anyone’s fault.

chap 18 techno

subtitle: colosseum

dream had to let techno in first, you know.

techno and dream have interacted often - the duel, the championships, they’re friends more than acquaintances now. but techno was called in by someone wearing his brother’s face that he honestly doesn’t recognize from his voice and when he arrives at spawn, before tommy fetches him, he sees dream sitting cross legged waiting for him and they talk about the situation, dream giving techno a quick brief. when tommy comes, crying “techno, this way, this way to pogtopia”, and crossbow bolts are being fired at techno, dream gives him a lil wave goodbye (or what techno thinks is a lil wave goodbye but what actually turns out to be putting a swiftness effect on him).

“that’s not my brother, dream,” says techno, and dream’s mouth wobbles and he says, hoarse, “i know.”

techno Suspects, but only knows that dream has world-manipulating powers and thus standard minor god powers. he doesn’t let dream know he suspects.

chap 19 bad

subtitle: run devil run

bad trusts dream, perhaps against his better judgement.

dream comes to visit bad and skeppy on neutral grounds in the interim leading up to the festival that everyone on the server is side-eyeing and side-stepping. bad considers his friend and the owner of the world as he gives dream an impromptu tour through the escape route he and skeppy have dug out, wonders with a little reproach how dream could let things get to this point, then, soft, gentle as always, acknowledges that dream is only human kindly. when he says that, though, dream’s face crumples, as though those words hurt him more than any criticism bad’s given him in the time he’s known him, as though bad had driven a blade into his heart, and bad doesn’t understand but he lets dream run away from that. when a small flock of creepers explode over the tunnel the night before the festival and bad grumbles that he has to fix it, he learns dream left him with a fortified escape tunnel.

a/n: i’m sure the irony isn’t lost on you.

chap 20 tubbo

subtitle: cadmean victory

what say the sacrificial lamb?

tubbo is coming to terms with the fact that he might not make it out of office in one piece and it’s not his first time respawning but the older members of the server always, always did their best to shield the younger ones from death. he runs into dream by complete coincidence while he’s avoiding pogtopia (mostly wilbur) and manberg (mostly schlatt), caught between two strangers wearing his friends’ faces. he looks at dream, who looks back at him impassively, and tubbo starts to cry, because it finally hits him that even with his death and respawn nothing will be fixed, nothing can change, the poison’s run too deep into the veins of dream’s beautiful little world and now nothing can be right anymore and it feels like he’s shattering into tiny, aching shards - and then dream kneels before him, takes his hands, presses his forehead to them, sighs like his heart’s breaking, and tubbo feels a small calm thread back into him as dream stands abruptly, jittery. dream, with hands that shake, grips tubbo’s shoulder, hovers for a second, then his head jerks up and he bolts into the forest, clambering up a tree with admirable ease and disappearing away into the leaves as schlatt suddenly emerges from the bushes nearby with a joyous, plastic “hey! tubbo!”

chap 21 george

subtitle: lantern burns low

a moment in the night; george is visited by a specter.

dream comes, pale, and asks george if there is anything wrong, is everything okay with you? takes george’s caught-off-guard face in his hands and says george george george, are you - and george catches a glimpse of dream’s powers (is he safe safe does he hurt no but fear but anxiety there are dregs hush now quiet now he is safe all quiet quiet quiet he’s safe) and he says, stricken even as the constant thrum of nervous energy he’d kept with him fades out, “dream what was that,” and dream presses his hands to his mask where his eyes are and says, despairingly, “they don’t get to have you too,” and staggers back out.

george is the first person dream overtly “comes out” to. this is also why george doesn’t see dream til the festival.

chap 22 schlatt

subtitle: the empty throne

dream visits schlatt in his office.

schlatt, possessed by madness, has no idea what he’s saying but it feels right, it’s exactly right, everything is in his hands, and when dream approaches, his hands facing up, is he there is he there yes yes yes tainted polluted this is twisted this is madness madness madness dream reels back, shaking, and schlatt leans in and leers, not even knowing what he’s saying, “you can’t even fix it, young god,” and relishes the way all the color drains from dream’s face.

chap 23 dream (edit: this monster ended up being split into three for pacing purposes and also if i left it together it was gonna be. h. 14K WORDS. also the drama of a cliffhanger at what most people thought was going to be the last chapter was too good to pass up don’t @ me

subtitle: do you feel like a young god?

running, running, running again

finale!! dream takes everyone’s old hurts into himself, takes the madness from schlatt and wilbur, promptly passes the hell out because no one should be doing that, wakes up, gets the shit hugged out of him, and explains a little, and gets told that he’s loved over and over.

i uh! take questions! i like talking about this story, there’s a lot i still want to show, and even apart from that i just really love mcyt haha

#mcyt #young god #chrys writes #you're human tonight #yg meta #long post

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penguinsocksworks · 8 years ago

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How to Win a Tsundere’s Heart (18/20)

Read on AO3 or FF.net Read on Tumblr: Chapter 1-5// Chapter 6// Chapter 7// Chapter 8// Chapter 9// Chapter 10//Chapter 11// Chapter 12// Chapter 13// Chapter 14// Chapter 15// Chapter 16// Chapter 17//Chapter 18// Chapter 19

Main pairings: Usuk, Dennor, Spamano

Summary of chapter: i love their siblings so much

Chapter 18: Siblings and Domestic Fluff AF

I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I HAD SO MUCH STUFF BUILT UP AND THEN I WAS GOING THROUGH SOMETHING... BUT I PROMISE THAT THIS IS ACTUALLY SLIGHTLY MORE WELL WRITTEN THAN THE LAST CHAPTER OF CRAP! I HOPE U LIKE IT!

New Years was approaching faster than anyone realized. Christmas was great but since everyone was always broke because of school and stuff the only gifts that were exchanged were the ones that were organized via secret santa. Of course there were a few exceptions, close friends and couples exchanged in addition to the secret santa.

New Years was exciting because they had the whole week from Christmas until the seventh of January to do whatever they wanted. And most people chose to go home since the break was so lengthy and the campus would be completely empty otherwise.

With two days left before New Year's Eve, students all over the campus were packing a small bag to get ready for the new year. Arthur peaked under his bed, looking for a novel that he had borrowed from his mother months ago, “Lukas! Have you seen my copy of pride and prejudice?”

“Have you looked in your desk?” Lukas neatly folded a blue shirt before placing it in his bursting case, “When was the last time you even touched that thing?”

“Ah ha! Here it is,” Arthur held the book up triumphantly, “how did it get wedged between the mattresses?”

“It wasn't me,” Lukas struggled to close his suitcase, “When did they say buses were leaving?”

“Um,” the other blond pondered for a moment, “I think Mrs. Calliandra said three.”

“Yeah three o'clock sharp as the bitch put it,” a voice walked in and plopped on the bottom bunk face down, “I can't believe you losers are actually going home.”

“You've been showing up here lately,” Lukas rolled his eyes and picked up the shirt that Lovino has knocked off the bed, “why?”

“Why? Cause we're friends.” Lovino pretended to be offended by the question, “Don't friends hang out in each other's dorms?”

“We're about to leave though,” Arthur remarked, shoulders deep in the closet, “Alfred, Matthew and I are leaving at three thirty in order to make it for an early dinner.”

“You guys live like, fifteen minutes away from here. Why are you guys going to fucking early?” Lovino mumbled, his head still buried in the plush comforter.

Arthur zipped up his final bag, “Because our parents want to see us before they head out to go to Hawaii together. Alfred and Matthew should be back sometime later today, but I'm staying to watch Peter.”

“None of your brothers are coming back?” Lukas quirked an eyebrow, “Don't they usually?”

Arthur sighed, “the twins are out with college friends and Dylan can't cause a plane ride home from Cambridge would be to costly. And Allistor is spending it with his fiancé’s family, they actually might drop by but not for long.”

“I'm trapped here all break,” Lovino complained, “What about you?”

Lukas picked up his suitcase and raised the rolling handle, “I'm catching the bus back home with Matthias, Tino, and Berwald.”

“Oh, Emil must be happy that you're visiting,” Arthur smiled, finally being able to plop down next to Lovino, “does he know?”

“Yeah,” Lukas rolled his eyes, “He's so happy. The grumpy little fourth grader thinks I'll embarrass him in front of some friend he's bringing with him.”

“Oh?” Lovino peaked his head up.

Lukas started to roll his bag towards the door, the wheels making a weird noise as they dragged across the floor. They could hear his voice that was damped by distance, “He called me yesterday to beg me not to come back. Said he was bringing someone important to stay over and that i would be the death of him, I have to go. Bye.”

The door shut and Lovino turned to Arthur, “so dinner?”

“Yeah,” Arthur waved his hand, “Were going out somewhere since we’re all family friends. You're really not going to head home?”

Lovino clicked his tongue, “Sit on a train for a day and a half? That's way to fucking long. Plus my grandpa is away and Sebastian wanted to come see us at the castle or so he calls it.”

“Sebastian is your youngest brother right?” Arthur feigned any real interest. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t absolutely invested in Lovino’s story… okay it was that. But to be fair, Lovino looked bored by his own words.

Lovino nodded, “Yeah. He’s as old as Emil and he wants to come here when he’s older. He’s ridiculous, thinking that far ahead. The brat is bound to get homesick if he comes here.”

Arthur was about to reply that little Peter was only about two years younger than Sebastian and he was already talking about wanting to go to the magical looking high school. His younger brother would constantly grate on him, telling him that he would easily get into the private school if Arthur had been able to. But he was never able to express his annoyance because there was a heavy knock on the door, “Arthur! Are you ready? Mattie’s got our stuff in the car and we need your bag!”

Lovino smirked, “Go on princess. Your knight is waiting.”

“Very funny Lovino,” Arthur deadpanned, “I hope you enjoy your break in this solitude.”

Arthur left Lovino on his bed, closing the front door with a slam.

___________________

“Ah! I am so excited to see my family again!” Tino chirped in front of Lukas, “Were supposed to be eating a special dinner tonight, aren’t you excited?”

Berwald had a small smile on his face, wrapping an arm around the fin. Though his good mood was interrupted as Matthias reached over the bus chair and clapped on him on the shoulder, “Ya excited to tell your parents? Tino, what was your dad’s dating policy again?”

“Hehe…” Tino’s expression seemed to dim a bit and he turned to pat his boyfriend on the shoulder, “Good luck sweetie.”

Matthias let out a howl, “You’re gonna need it Ber!”

Lukas tsked, turning back to his book. Tino’s dad wasn't very fond of Berwald. Never was from the very beginning. Fathers intuition? Call it what you will, but no matter how pleasing or kind Berwald was to the guy, all he received in return were pointed glares.

“Don't worry,” Matthias laughed again, “You can come over to my house if it gets to be too much.”

Since Berwalds family had moved closer to the high school when Berwald was older, the swede would have to stay with one of them if he were to go back to his home town. Which was ideal since he wanted to spend a lot of time with Tino, but scary considering the boy's father was an ever looming presence. Lukas let out a huff, mumbling under his breath, “In Laws can be scary.”

To which all three of them caught, and only Matthias found terribly hilarious. Tino smiled, wishing it weren't true while Berwald seemed to sink just a little bit farther into his seat.

The rest of the three hour bus ride wasn't very exciting. They eventually ran out of ways to poke fun at Berwalds obvious issue with Tino’s dad and settled into sleeping.

Matthias stretched his arms out moments before they had to get off the bus, nearly hitting Lukas who was peacefully sleeping beside him. He had a strange crick in his neck and his legs were numb from not standing for a while, but he didn't seem to mind as he looked over at his companion.

Lukas looked smaller when he slept. Not younger though, like everyone often said, just tinier. His breathing pattern was soft and steady, his hair falling over his face and framing his naturally rosy cheeks. Lukas wasn't analyzing everything when he slept, he wasn't constantly on guard. He looked content and Matthias just couldn't find it in him to wake the guy. He chose to stare a bit longer, deciding to wait until the last possible moment.

“You should take a picture,” Tino turned around in his seat, “it’ll last longer.”

Matthias just smiled, “no picture could ever capture something as beautiful as this.”

________________

Lovino ended up taking a nap in Arthur's bed before he left the room. By the time he finally awoke he had a few missed calls from Feli and a stream of worried texts. Kicking himself off the bed, Lovino went to go find his brother before he worked himself into a panic and called the police. Feliciano was a handful sometimes, meant well, but was a handful. He was slightly glad that the worrisome guy would be out with Ludwig, and the german’s brother and boyfriend for New Year's day. Now the only ones he had to worry about were his pesky roommate and youngest brother. At least he had two days to come up with a game plan.

When he opened the door to his dorm, he wasn't expecting to see his other brother. Sebastian was fiddling on his phone not even bothering to look up when he heard the door open, “Gramps dropped me off and I think Feli is gathering a search party for you. I dunno why though, there’s no one here. Its lame.”

“You’re in fourth grade, go outside and kick a ball or something,” Lovino deadpanned, “Why did grandpa drop you off so early?”

“Because I was buggin him or something like that!” The boy giggles and puts his phone down, “Long time no see Lovi!”

“I can’t possibly see why he would think that you were annoying,” Lovino mumbled, “And don’t call me that Sebastian.”

“Awe, I know, I know,” Sebastian laughed as he attempted to throw an arm around his brothers shoulders, giving him a wink, “It’s a special name reserved for your boyfriend .”

Lovino sneered as he watched the nine year old collapse into a fit of giggles, “Shut up you fucking brat! You know thats not whats going on.”

“Lovino’s gotta boyfriend! Lovino’s got a boyfriend!” Sebastian sung as he continued to roll around on the plush bed, “Haha! You’re all red!”

Lovino was about to pounce on the guy before he heard the door open and a panicked voice call out, “Lovi! Are you here? Feliciano called and said that you were missing!”

“Well well, look what the cat dragged in, perfect timing,” Sebastian said low enough for just Lovino to hear before cupping his hands around his mouth, “Yeah he’s in here!”

Antonio beamed as he walked in and Lovino sighed. The spaniard seemed to notice the younger italian and smiled, “Sebastian! I didn’t know you were supposed to be coming, I would have gone out to find our monopoly game.”

In the past, whenever Sebastian would visit, Antonio would go and find his old monopoly game that he brought from his home. It wasn’t often that the young boy would visit, but the two of them would often spend hours playing while Lovino caught up with his grandfather. Sebastian secretly reveled in time he got to spend with his brother’s roommate. Hanging out with his brothers was fun, sure. But neither of them liked to do things that Sebastian liked to do. Antonio would take him outside to play catch, or soccer, which his brothers did indulge him in once in awhile. The two Vargas twins were on the soccer team. But most of the time they were too preoccupied with their grandfather to want to play outside. And the both of them didn’t know how to play baseball that well.

Sebastian supposed that Antonio didn’t really know how to play the game much farther than being able to catch and throw. The spaniard mentioned something about a friend named Alfred teaching a whole bunch of them in a short amount of time. Sebastian really liked the sport and played it for their town.

But other than playing sports outside with Antonio, Sebastian liked playing board games with him. When he was really young and visited when his older brothers were only freshmen, Sebastian knew that Antonio would let him cheat. Whether they were playing cards or chutes and ladders, Antonio always let him win. It was a nice gesture that he appreciated, yet when he was around seven he asked him to stop.

Sebastian remembered the face that Antonio made, like a dad finding out that his child knew all along that he was really the one putting money under his pillow when the tooth fairy visited. He let out a flustered laugh and just said, “You caught me!”

“Lovino didn’t tell you that I was coming?” Sebastian pouted, “Why didn’t you tell Toni, Lovino?”

Lovino sighed at the boys whining, “I’m a busy person Sebastian. It slipped my mind okay? I'm sorry.”

“You’re saying sorry?” Sebastian looked shocked, “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”

“I’m allowed to say sorry once and awhile brat.” Lovino crossed his arms as his roommate let out another laugh.

“I’m going to go call Feliciano so he can stop freaking out,” Antonio wandered outside, “Sebastian, I’ll go find the game too!”

Lovino groaned as he watched his brother cheer and call out, “Wait for me! I wanna go too!”

____________________________

Dinner with their parents hadn't been all that exciting. It was actually more like a late lunch than anything, meaning that they were all hungry again by six o'clock. Alfred had imagined it to be a little worse than it was. His parents were open minded, so we're Arthur's, so it didn't bother them when Alfred fake gushed for his brother about Gil, cooing, “They're so cute all the time. Gil's real sweet to him, I approve.”

His little comment raised a few eyebrows. Both families knew Gilbert, it was hard to miss the kid when Alfred and him hung out almost everyday during freshman year, back when the boys were too frequently homesick to stay in the dorms. Alfred knew that his parents liked Gilbert too, he was always polite even though his shouting was a bit much at times. Matthew had just shrunk lower into his seat, both him and Arthur kicking Alfred in the shin under the table as punishment. When Alfred lurched forward with a yelp of pain, His brother smiled, “Gilbert is great though.”

“So, why didn't you bring ‘em here!” His father had laughed. The rest of dinner had been boring. It was the usual catch up chatter that occurred between people who haven't talked in awhile. It had gone smoothly without a single hitch. Which was the weird part.

Arthur knew it was too good to be true, his parents whispering to him as they hugged goodbye, getting ready to drive off to the airport, “So love, how are you doing? You'll be okay?”

He nodded, “I'll be fine. Peter probably won't cause that much trouble while you're away.”

His mother nodded and laughed, “Mm, and those two are staying to help you?”

“Ah. No I think they're going back to the academy.” Arthur didn't like the look his mother gave him when she sighed, looking years younger than she actually was and just as mischievous.

“My poor baby, won't be with his beloved boyfriend for New Year's?” She laughed as Arthur squeaked in protest, “It's okay darling, there are many couples who have to separate for holidays right?”

“I'm not dating anyone mother,” the blush crept up Arthur's neck as he clenched his fists, “you know that.”

Letting out a wistful sigh, Arthur's mother kissed him on the cheek, “Let a women dream Arthur. You and I aren't getting any younger and your brothers…”

“What? But, Allistor and his fiancé, not to mention Dylan is dating that fellow. The twins are both older too, and Peter is well...” Arthur scrambled, “Why? What's wrong with them?”

“Ah nothing,” Arthur watched as his mother's shoulders drooped, “I would just love an in law as sweet as Alfred.”

“Mum!” Arthur let out an irritated huff.

The Brit started to pinch at the bridge of his nose as his mother laughed, “I'm sorry sweetie, he's just so cute though. Watching you two grow up, ah my heart! Fiona is nice, but you know she's just not my type of person.”

“Vile and soul sucking? With a personality like that I can't possibly come up with a reason for you not to like my dear brothers fiancé.” Arthur rolled his eyes.

His mom sighed, “I just want what's best for you honey. Oh! I also promised to pass this along.”

His mother poked around her bag before producing a tiny slip of crumpled paper. Arthur took it from his mother, unfolding it, “A number?”

“A friend at bridge has a son who saw your picture-”

“You said you'd stop showing that around!”

“-and he said you were cute. Just think about it, I worry about you Arthur.”

“Moments ago you were gushing about Alfred and now you're handing me the number of a stranger.” Arthur grumbled, stuffing the paper into his pocket, “I don't understand you sometimes.”

His mom laughed as she pulled him into a hug, “call and invite the guy over one of these days! New Years is only two days away and don't you want to have someone with you when the clock strikes midnight? I love you sweetie, we'll be back next week.”

“I love you too,” Arthur hugged her back. He understood her worry for him. Honestly he did. When his brothers were his age they had already gone through a few boyfriends or girlfriends. They had always asked to either go somewhere or bring someone back home for the holidays, so Arthur's mom was a little worried when he hadn't turned out anything like them.

Even Peter claims to have a girlfriend, and he was in third grade. Weren't cooties still supposed to be a thing for kids that age?

Arthur watched as his mother and father pulled away with the mr and Mrs. William-Jones, the car bound for the airport.

Waving excitedly, Peter turned to run into the house, “Are all of you coming?”

___________________

“Emil!” Matthias yelled as he walked through the door of the Bondevik-Steilsson household, placing the hide-away key on the front table to be put back later, “Buddy?”

There was a thumping noise coming from the general direction of the stairs, “Matthias?”

“Hey!” Matthias was taking off his shoes when the little boy jumped up and wrapped his arms around his legs, “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay…” The boy backed off, a little shyer now, “Why are you here?”

Matthias laughed, “My parents said they were going out of town for a while, so I’ll be in and out of here for a few days, is that okay?”

The dane only lived a block or two away, so he was able to travel between the two houses easily. His parents also decided to go on vacation, and not tell him. Instead they left a note on the kitchen counter and a bottle of champagne for him in the fridge. Matthias loved his parents, but sometimes he wished they were a little more… parent like.

“Yeah.” Emil gave him a small smile, his eyes wide and curious.

Matthias ruffled his hair, “Where’s your brother?”

Emil turned wordlessly and ran through the house, Matthias trailing slowly behind him. Emil had ran into the kitchen, gaining his brothers attention.

“Emil? Where’s your friend?” Lukas who was cutting something up, turned around with the knife in his hand.

The knife didn’t change the fact that Lukas was absolutely adorable. The blue and brown striped apron was hanging on his frame and his hair was pinned back with a few extra clips, fuzzy and fluffy socks on his feet. A loose shirt and sweatpants hanging on his smaller frame. He looked a little surprised to see Matthias there instead of whoever Emil had over.

“Matthias?” Lukas raised an eyebrow, placing the knife down and abandoning the pepper he was cutting.

Emil rolled his eyes and pattered back up the stairs, probably back to his room where his friend still was. Matthias scratched the back of his neck, “What are you cooking? It smells good.”

“Its stew, and what are you doing here?” Lukas walked over to the stove and picked up the spoon, stirring whatever was in the pot.

“My parents went on a trip or something… left me a note. So I figured that i’d come see my best friend in the whole world!” Matthias walked up beside him, “Where are your parents?”

“Mor’s went shopping for the New Year’s party they’re going to, and mom’s still at work. She and mor are having a date night since I'm here to watch Emil, they probably won't be back until morning.” Lukas filled a spoon with the reddish looking food, placing the end on his lips own lips. After nodding to himself, Lukas held out the utensil, “Try this?”

It was more like a command than a question, but Matthias would have tried it anyways. He smiled as his mouth filled with the warm liquid and sighed in contentment. As always, Lukas was amazing at cooking. Matthias gushed, “it's really good, what's in it?”

“See I told you.” Emil’s voice cut Lukas’ Possible answer off, “Gross right? Sometimes they’re worse than my parents.”

Matthias and Lukas both turned to the two little boys now sitting at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Emil was smirking while the boy beside him smiled politely. Lukas just rolled his eyes and went back to cooking, but Matthias placed both hands down on the counter, “And who are you?”

“My name is Leon, nice to meet you sir,” the boy said with confidence.

Emil shook his head mumbling something along the lines of, “kiss up.”

“Mmhm. And Leon,” the Dane walked around to throw an arm around the tiny Asian boy, and there was some bite in his tone, “What are your intentions with my little Emil over here.”

“Matthias!” Both brothers snapped imminently. Lukas had whipped around with the spoon, nearly splattering food everywhere with a murderous look and Emil looked up at him with the biggest pout he'd ever seen. Leon seemed to be the only confused one.

Emil was sat mortified, maybe it wasn't his brother that he had to worry about being embarrassing. Sure his brother would probably try to pull out the photo albums, maybe send some glares that Leon would be oblivious to. But he never anticipated for Matthias to pull the whole overprotective, ‘daddy's little girl’ act.

Emil wasn't even a girl! He was a man. A manly man that could take care of himself. Elizabeta had taught him all he knows.

“Matthias, Emil is in fourth grade!” Lukas scolded him, he placed the spoon down on a napkin and shook his head, “They’re kids. And just friends for that matter.”

“You’re not freaking out about this? Lukas, this is Emil we’re talking about…” Matthias was shocked that the norwegian wasn’t fretting over his brother, tilting his head, he added, “I knew who I was going to be in love with forever when I was around that age. Why shouldn't I be suspicious?”

Lukas turned red and Emil started to snicker, “You two are ridiculous, C’mon Leon, I can still build a better Lego dragon than you!”

The two ran up the stairs, their playful bantering fading away as the thumping grew louder. Emil’s door slammed with a bang.

______________________________

After a while of playing board games the three boys decided to call it a night. They had to be wide awake to stay up the next day, since it was New Years. Well they had to be able to stay up until midnight which wasn't too late. Well. For the older boys anyways.

Sebastian had thrown all the pillows and blankets onto the floor so all three of them could be together. Of course those weren’t enough though, so Antonio had to go and nab pillows from Francis’ room.

He may or may not have broken a thing or two in the process.Francis wouldn't miss that lamp right?

When Sebastian snuggled in underneath the pile of blankets in their little nest, Antonio wasted no time following. Lovino sneered at the two, shaking his head, “You two are stupid.”

“Aw come on Lovi! Join us!” Antonio wrapped his arms around Lovino's waist, dragging him down as the boy protested, “We can read that story book that we always do!”

“Ah! I have it right here!” Sebastian pulled it out from underneath his pillow, “We can all read it together this time.”

Lovino stopped fussing and slid into the spot to the left of Sebastian, peering at the beaten up cover. It was one of Lovino and Feliciano’s old picture books, the spine was worse for ware and there was some water damage on some of the pages. But the story was one that they had enjoyed, no matter how old they got.

Sebastian particularly liked it when Antonio would read though. Lovino would sometimes come back to the dorm room early enough from late night talks with his grandfather to catch the last few bits of the story that Antonio could get to before Sebastian was knocked out. It was sweet, the only source light coming from Sebastian's night light. He could hear his brother giggle happily as Antonio used a funny sounding voice for a character. Lovino would always wait until the boy was asleep though to sneak in and go to bed, not wanting to break the magic that the two had created.

So this is to say that this would be the first time that he was experiencing the story up close and personal. Like. Really though dude. He had so many opportunities to but he was more of a chicken than he let on.

Antonio settled in on the other side of Sebastian, watching as the boys little hand flipped the page. He grinned brightly as Sebastian looked up eagerly at him, looking much younger than he actually was.

“Once upon a time, in the world of outer space, great evil loomed,” Antonio read as Sebastian flipped the page, “We must defeat the star defenders! Said the evil overlord.”

Lovino couldn't help but crack a smile at the fake nasally voice. Sebastian was already reduced to a fit of laughs.

“A million light years away, in the star defenders ship, captain Uran was briefing his team,” Antonio looked over at Lovino's, nudging him on the shoulder.

Lovino rolled his eyes but spoke anyways, “Alright crew! We must defeat the menosmen bases before they can grow!but before then, no more ice cream !”

Sebastian couldn't help it. He fell over, laughing into his pillow, at his brother's attempt at a deeper and authoritative voice.

Antonio watched as Sebastian's face absolutely glowed with pure happiness. And Lovino's own wasn't that different. The Spaniard liked times like this, where the only thing they had to worry about was who was going to read what and how much their stomachs were going to ache from laughing. The ever so rare innocent smiles from Lovino were always a plus too. It was a nice break from the usual mayhem.

“But commander!” Sebastian could barely get through his line without breaking down, his voice purposely pitched high for the character, “How are we supposed to do that?”

With the dim lights and warm blankets around them, the three grew tired as they continues to flip through the pages. Their laughter died down and turned into content smiles and small chuckles at particularly funny moments. It was so warm, both from the blankets and the sweet atmosphere in the room. It was relaxing. Sebastian had stayed awake through the vast majority of the book, which he has never done before.

When Lovino was soundly asleep beside him, Sebastian figured that it would be safe to whisper to Antonio, “Toni can I ask you something?”

Antonio stopped reading, placing the book down, “of course Sebastian. Do you want a different story?”

“No it's not that,” Sebastian rolled over to face the taller boy. Placing his hands under his right ear like a pillow, Sebastian yawned, “Do you really like my brother?”

Antonio looked a little shocked, “of course I do.”

“That's good! Cause I really like you… Ludwigs a nice guy but he can be kinda scary,” Sebastian's eyes started to close, “Promise that I'll get to be the best man?”

“Hm?” Antonio smiled, “I promise. Buenos noches Sebastian.”

“You have to love him forever you know,” Sebastian was practically mumbling now, “He may be grumpy but he's my brother. And I know he needs it.”

Antonio chuckled at the small boys concern, pulling the blanket over the both of them. As he settled back in, he felt a smaller finger wrap around his pinky, “gotta promise.”

“I will definitely love him forever,” Antonio squeezed reassuringly, “I promise.”

Soon the two energetic souls were out like a light, both snoring lightly, but Lovino couldn't seem to sleep anymore. The tips of his ears a brilliant red.

______________

“Mattie tell Arthur to stop,” Alfred whined as he and Peter were shooed out of the kitchen, “he's going to poison us all.”

Peter pouted like the older male, both of them crossing their arms like petulant children. Well. One of them was a child so he had an excuse.

“Sorry Al,” Matthew shrugged, “not my house. And I'll be the one cooking so just go.”

Peter gave up, his attention span giving out, “Alfred can we just go play now?”

“Yeah,” Alfred sighed and a smile adorned his face again. He ruffled the boy’s hair, “What do you wanna do?”

“I got an idea! Follow me!” Peter tugged on his sleeve, pulling them towards the family room. The couch was big and placed across from an equally impressive tv. Peter had instructed him to sit on the sofa before he ran towards his room. Alfred could hear his footsteps on the floor and a concerning heavy thump before the frantic patterning resumed. When Peter re-emerged his tiny arms were filled with blankets and a few pillows balanced on top.

Alfred instantly got what he was going for, “Ultimate pillow fort time?”

Peter nodded excitedly and threw all the items in his arms to the ground, “we can make a big castle and play dragons!”

The two of them started to construct the pillow walls, making sure that they were sturdy enough to hold up nicely. When they started to run out of materials they ripped the couch cushions off and Peter sneaked into his siblings rooms. It wasn't like they were home anyways.

The fort was simple, it used the couch and three chairs for the back support, where they draped a nice blanket for a roof. But the majority of it has no roof, it was almost like an open courtyard. The wall wasn't that tall, but if Peter kneeled he would only be able to peer over the top of it. They decided to use Peter's Giant sea turtle plushie as a door, trying to make it seem more magical.

Peters laughter only grew as the tower of pillows Alfred had been working on toppled on top of the older boy. Alfred's stunned countenance only added onto the humor.

Alfred soon joined in, the child's laughter infectious. Both of them heaving on the ground by the time they calmed down. Peter breathlessly let out, “This is fun!”

Alfred smiled and turned to look at the happy look on Peter's face. He felt bad for the kid. All his brothers were much older than him, and he was usually trapped at home by himself. Alfred had always had Matthew growing up. His built in buddy.

“What in the world are you two doing?” Arthur was puzzled, looking down at the two figures lying on the ground.

Alfred peered up, “Pillow fort. Wanna join?”

“Um…” Arthur looked at the pillows then back down to Peter's content expression, he didn't want to ruin the fun, “I don't know if that's such a good idea.”

Peter offered an oblivious smile, “C’mon Arthur! You're always too busy to play.”

Which was true. Arthur of course never meant to be extremely busy whenever he had a chance to see his youngest brother, he just was. Peter understood to some extent, but he was still just a kid. Arthur felt guilty though.

“Okay…” He reluctantly joined them in them pillow fortress, “What are we playing?”

Alfred placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, “Lighten up dude! I think we were just about to play knights right?”

“Yeah!” Peter crawled into the hooded part of the fort, “Wait right here!”

As Peter rummaged through the tent Arthur turned, “This is… rather impressive.”

“Thanks,” Alfred had a proud smile on, “I try.”

Peter re-emerged with three different things in his hands; First was a tail that could be worn as a belt, second was a foam sword, and lastly there was a flower crown looking headpiece. It had nice ribbon intertwined with the flowers, the ribbon extending and flowing freely in the back.

Taking the sword for himself, Peter handed Alfred and tail and placed the crown on his brother's head. “I'm going to be the knight!”

Arthur reached up to touch the object that had been placed on his head while Alfred strapped the tail on. Arthur glanced around confused, “How do you play this?”

“Well, you're the princess,” Peter smiled at him, oblivious to the indignant squawk that Arthur let out. It was one thing to let Feliks embarrass him by making him play such a girly part, but his own family?

Alfred laughed, practically reading his friend's mind, “Or you can be a very pretty prince.”

“Yeah!” Peter cheered, “and I gotta rescue you from the dragon!”

“Why can't I be the dragon? Don't you want to stab me Peter?” Arthur raised an eyebrow. His brother gave him a puzzling look, obviously trying to come up with a reason.

“Because beginners aren't allowed to be something cool.” Peter settled on, crossing his arms.

Alfred nodded, “now go to the tower prince. I must keep the noble knight from getting you.”

Sighing, Arthur obeyed and sat on the staircase between the kitchen and living room. Alfred gleefully followed, standing at the base of the stairs. Alfred and Peter used to play this a lot more when they were younger. They would usually use dolls though, waiting for Arthur to stop doing whatever it was that he had to do before they did something else.

Peter began to count down from twenty. With the dampened numbers from the living room echoing around them, Alfred leaned closer to Arthur “So basically, you have to just stay here until Peter slays me.”

“It's quite self explanatory Alfred,” Arthur rolled his eyes.

Alfred huffed, “Well you were the one that wanted to know how to play before.”

And before Arthur could retort Peter came barreling in, foam sword drawn. Alfred was prepared for it though, quickly blocking it with his arm.

“Die dragon! Let the prince go!” Peter went to go slash again. Arthur let out a fond laugh at the scrunched up and fox used look on Peter’s face, the tiny kid was taking this game extremely seriously.

Alfred let out something akin to a roar and turned to face Arthur. For a split second, Arthur was able to raise an eyebrow, giving him a questioning look. But Alfred never responded, instead he just wore a devious smirk before throwing Arthur over his shoulder.

“Alfred! Put me down this instant!” Arthur wriggled as Alfred made a mad dash for the living room. Peter stood there stunned for a moment. Carrying the princess was never part of the game.

Peter tilted his head before laughing, dashing after the two, “Come back here dragon! Give back his highness!”

Surely running in circles with someone hoisted on his would tire Alfred out, but five minutes later and he was still trying to dash away from Peter. The little boy himself was giggling hysterically, trying to keep himself from toppling over with laughter. Arthur could feel Alfred’s grip on his legs tighten, the warm grip readjusting as they ran in circles around the staircase.

Under different and not so jostling circumstances, Arthur would have been embarrassed and extremely flushed. But instead he was laughing along with them. Alfred was absolutely thrilled to feel the soft vibrations coming from his friend.

Arthur could see Peters amusement from his position on Alfred's shoulder. The little boy was happier than Arthur had ever seen him, which made Arthur's smile just a little bit wider. He cared about his younger brothers happiness, and if playing these silly games with Alfred and himself would offer his brother just that, then he would gladly give his time to watch his little brothers face light up. Of course he would never say this out loud, peter would protest that it was too mushy or something.

But as they were making another lap around the staircase, the front door opened. Peter bumped into Alfred's legs and stumbled backwards as Alfred stopped moving in his tracks. Arthur tried to crane his neck to see what had made the game pause so abruptly,but he couldn't see past.

“I see you're having fun,” came the light yet gruff tone that Arthur recognized and couldn't really tell if he loved or not. His mother did mention something about Allistor coming by.

“Hi Allistor!” Peter chirped, poking his head out from behind Alfred’s leg. Alfred seemed to unfreeze and Arthur felt himself being lowered to the ground. Alfred had wrapped an arm around the shorter blonde’s waist when his feet touched the ground since he had stumbled a bit. After regaining his posture, Arthur turned to his eldest brother

“Hello Allistor, Fiona. I see that Cecillia is doing…” Arthur looked at his soon to be sister in law and her swelling stomach, “Well.”

Fiona narrowed her eyes and Alfred could feel the two youngest Kirkland brothers cower a little, Peter’s grip on Alfred’s leg tightening and Alfred’s grip on Arthur’s waist tightening as well. Fiona rubbed at her stomach, “Yes, Cecillia is doing fine. She is due in two months after all, Arthur.”

“Play nice,” Allistor hissed before clapping his hands together, “So how are my two underlings?”

Peter just nodded, still eyeing Fiona’s long and sharp nails. Arthur just sighed, “We’re good. Mum and Dad just left a little while ago and Matthew is making cookies in the kitchen.”

Allistor nodded before toeing off his shoes and wandering towards the kitchen. As Fiona trailed after the older Kirkland, the three left visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh.

“How about we just go wait in the fort for the cookies to be done!” Alfred tried to get Peter to smile again, “I bet I can beat you there!”

Peter just nodded excitedly, taking off before Alfred could even register the conformation, “Hey! That’s cheating!”

Arthur smiled warmly, walking after Alfred, who started to sprint. The tower of pillows jostled a bit as Peter and Alfred ran full force towards the canopy part of their fort, diving on the couch. Alfred pulled Arthur down by the waist underneath the blanket top once the brit wandered close enough to be snatched. Breathing hard, Peter held something in front of all of them, it was glowing weird colors.

“Look! I got this for christmas!” Peter watched amusedly as the color changed from blue to green, “Its a bright lite!”

He held the fluffy pillow close to his chest, and let Alfred wrap and arm around him as well. Held close to the warmth, Peter could feel his eyes starting to droop down and a small smile grace his lips.

“It’s great Peter,” Alfred mumbled as he and Arthur were left to watch the lights change underneath the dark tent, “It’s really cool.”

In the kitchen, Matthew was rolling out dough and using cookie cutters to make fun shaped cookies. He didn't even look up when he heard someone come into the kitchen, “Alfred! I told you they will be done in one second, I’m taking them out now! Calm your fatass!”

“Wow… I never thought that I would hear little Mattie say something like that,” Matthew lifted his head up so fast that he thought his neck snapped, “Hey.”

“Allistor! What are you doing here?” Matthew sheepishly laughed, “I mean this is your house and all but… ”

Matthew almost jumped backwards at the woman’s appearance. She was sickly thin except for her pregnant stomach, “Hi. I’m Fiona.”

What in all mighty demons hell is that-she. She's a… female. I think. Matthew forced himself to look at Allistor, “Well this batch is done.”

The piping hot chocolate chip cookies looked delicious. The three of them wanted to eat the whole tray by themselves. But they wouldn’t. They couldn't. To stop temptation they let the cookies cool and started to walk towards the living room.

“Al! Peter! The cookies are re-” Matthews voice died in his throat as he peaked into the tent.

Allistor chuckled behind him, Fiona letting out a huff, “Well I’ll be damned.”

Alfred had both of the Kirklands laying on his shoulders, a content smile on all of their faces. Peter was drooling a bit though, the glowing pillow clutched to his body for dear life, and a spot on Alfred's T-shirt darkening with the liquid. hand was caught under Alfred’s, close to his hip and his hair messed up in a funny but cute looking way. All three looked like they had just passed out from exhaustion. Which was extremely possible.

“We should probably let them sleep,” Matthew let the flap of blanket fall from his head, “More cookies for us though!”

_______________________________

They ate dinner about three hours ago, Leon left two hours ago, and Emil was tucked into bed less than an hour ago. Matthias practically melded with the couch after popping a random movie into the dvd player. Lukas wasn’t in any better shape, looking tired as hell from making sure that the two fourth graders were entertained all day. That meant eating, some messy arts and crafts, saving a vase from breaking during an intense nerf war (That vase almost knocking over was sooooo not Matthias’ fault… it was who ever decided that it would be a good idea to place a vase in the corner of a room’s fault.), and an bedtime story that dragged on for an hour or two.

Lukas didn't even protest when Matthias threw a blanket over them and pulled him into a side hug. He greatly accepted the gesture, tiredly leaning into the touch, “Kids are hard work.”

“Yeah…” Matthias chuckled, “I don't remember ever being that accident prone. Not to mention they’re attention spans are practically non-existent.”

The dane could practically feel Lukas rolling his eyes, “You don’t remember that because you still haven’t grown out of that phase.”

“Hey!” Matthias shoved him over a little, “I’m still as adorable as a kid too.”

Lukas just hummed, “Sure.”

It was quiet for a few more milliseconds, Lukas and Matthias finally letting out the desperately needed sigh of relief. The day had turned out to be a more stressful one than either of them had anticipated, fun, but stressful. Just as they had settled in, both their eyelids becoming heavy with sleep, there was a small tug at the blanket. Reluctantly wrenching their eyes open, Matthias and Lukas sat up.

“Emil! Whats wrong?” Lukas looked at the fidgeting boy standing in front of them, Emil’s white nightshirt and dinosaur pants were rumpled and his silky white hair was knotted, “Can’t sleep?”

Emil just shook his head and wedged his way into a spot between the the elder boys, Matthias lifted the blanket for him to crawl under. There were no more words spoken, Emil just fell back asleep after being wrapped up and surrounded by warmth. When Matthias could hear Lukas’ faint snoring he turned to look at the boys next to him. Emils head was snuggly fit in the crook of Lukas’ neck and Lukas’ head rested nicely on top of Emil’s. Matthias reached over, praying to god that he wouldn’t wake them as he placed a small peck on both of their foreheads. He sighed contently, letting himself get pulled in by sleep.

______________________________________

Lovino woke up by someone pouncing on him, laughing in his face. He tried to blink open his eyes, “Lovino! Wake up!”

Lovino’s first instinct was to panic, “What? Sebastian what happened?”

“Nothing! But today’s new year’s eve and were making churros!” Sebastians cheery voice filled the room.

Lovino’s next move was to throw the pillow back over his head, “Where is Antonio? Ask him to help you.”

“He is! We need you to come too!” Sebastian was already trying to tug him out.

Lovino sighed, knowing that it was only a matter of moments before Sebastian would start to throw a fit. But before he could feign sleeping for a few more moments, he was being lifted off the ground. An arm hooked under his legs and back. Squeaking in shock, Lovino glared at Antonio’s bright smile. It was only… what? Nine am?

Who the hell was up at nine am during a break?

“Lovi! We gotta get ready for the new year!” Antonio dropped him on the mattress, “Get dressed! Sebastian and I have already prepared the batter!”

“Lovino! Lovino! Hurry! Were going to go to the kitchen!” Lovino huffed as he removed the shirt that was thrown at him from his vision, “Antonio! I bet I can beat you there!”

“I’ll give you a head start! Count to ten,” Antonio stood, hands on his hips laughing as the boy squealed with giggles before running away, “You better run!”

Lovino rolled his eyes at their childish behavior, “You two are ridiculous.”

There was no malice behind his words, only a faint trace of fondness. Antonio smiled, wrapping him up in a hug, “Get dressed, we have a lot of things to do today!”

Antonio screamed out “Ten!” even though Sebastian was probably already half way across the campus and heading towards a home ec. Room. He ran out after them and Lovino started to get dressed a little faster. Wanting to join in their game.

__________________________

When Peter shook himself awake, he was in his bed. He didn't remember ever going up to his room, but he figured that he must have been transferred there at some point during the night. He had also been changed into Pjs. But not his cool ones, the old shark ones. Must have been his brother, Arthur still thought he was only five. He could smell something good coming from downstairs, which meant that Arthur was not cooking, which meant that Alfred or Matthew had stayed over. And his stomach growled.

Peter was hungry.

As he stumbled into the kitchen, Alfred was plating pancakes and bacon for three. He paused as he saw Peter enter, “Good morning!”

“Good morning Alfred! Happy new years eve!” Peter plopped in a seat at the island.

Alfred laughed, “It’s going to be a good new year, right? Why don’t you go into the living room, we can watch TV while we eat breakfast!”

Peter nodded, smiling wide, he loved sunday cartoons. He hadnt been able to watch them in a while, his parents hogging the TV to watch the morning news. He climbed back down the chair, and padded towards the living room. He tilted his head, confused when he saw that the castle had been dismantled, but he didnt mind. Instead, on the couch Arthur sat and the television was spewing news about the new years party in new york and whatnot.

“Here Peter,” Arthur reached over and passed him the remote, “I think Spongebob or something should be on.”

Peter gleefully took the remote, sitting down on the floor in front of the couch so he didn’t disrupt Arthur’s careful folding. Wait. What? Why was his brother folding laundry?

“What are you doing Arthur?” Peter looked up at his brother.

Arthur furrowed his eyebrows for a moment, “What does it look like I’m doing Peter? I’m folding the laundry that I did this morning.”

“Yeah… but why did you do the laundry?” Peter watched as Arthur carefully folded a pair of pants, “Aren’t those... my... clothes?”

Arthur just nodded, “When I went to go get your clothes ready for today I couldn’t find one pair of socks. Peter, tell me, where are all your socks going? You lose them almost all the time.”

“Are you harping the kid about his socks?” Alfred came in with a tray of food and plopped down next to Peter who reached for a strip of bacon, “Arthur, everyone knows that the sock monster eats them. He’s a hungry guy.”

Arthur rolled his eyes as Peter nodded along, “Yes. I bet his appetite is as large as yours right? And that’s why even after doing all of Peter’s laundry I still can’t find a single pair?”

“We can go buy him more socks when we go get the stuff for the party tonight,” Alfred waved him off before continuing to cut Peter’s extra large pancake up into triangle slices, “Easy fix.”

Arthur shook his head, starting to put all the folded clothes back into the laundry basket to be put away later, “If he keeps just getting new socks, he’s never going to take responsibility for them. And what party are you talking about?”

“He’s a fourth grader Arthur, his socks are bound to disappear,” Alfred held out a fork with a bit of pancake on it for Arthur, “And I am talking about our party of three for New Years eve. Duh. Mattie and Gil are doing something with Feliciano and Ludwig and your brother left for Fiona’s parents house, remember?”

Arthur took the bite of pancake, carefully slipping off the couch, “What a hoot that party will be.”

Peter was absorbed in his cartoons, laughing to himself as the character did something particularly stupid. Alfred stuffed another pancake bit into the distracted boys mouth, “It’ll be the best one of the new year!”

_______________________

“Matthias! No, a little lower!” Emil watched as Matthias wobbled a bit on the chair he was standing on, “It has to be perfect!”

The dane streched as far as he could to hang up the banner, “Is that good?”

Emil made a frame with his fingers, connecting the two L’s that he made, “Just a little more to the right, no my right...Down a bit, up!”

“Desserts 's almost re-” Lukas came in, his apron dusted with flour and chocolate, “What are you doing?”

Matthias huffed and just tied the string where it was despite Emil’s glare, “Decorating!”

“Isn’t it a little late for that?” Lukas looked towards the cable box, “It's five minutes to midnight. New Year’s eve is almost over.”

“Ah is it really that late already?” Matthias hopped down from the chair that he was standing on, scooping Emil up with one arm, “Turn on the countdown! We’ll be there in a second.”

Lukas sighed as the two of them disappeared up the stairs. He went back into the kitchen to grab the ice cream and cookies they had prepared for the count down. Lukas tapped his foot as he impatiently flipped through the channels to find the one the NYC countdown would be best broadcasted. There were only a minute left and he could still hear Matthias and Emil giggling over something above him. They were going to miss it.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

There was a distinct pop noise and Lukas was showered with Confetti. Lukas turned his head and saw his brother smiling, holding a mini confetti cannon, and when he turned the other way-

Lukas didn’t register Matthias’ lips on his own until he heard the dulled out, “Ew! That’s gross!”

Though Emil’s giggles and protests were lost once Matthias placed one hand to the back of Lukas’ head and the other on the small of his back. It was soft and light, nothing intense, but it was still just as sweet.

“Okay… You can stop now,” Emil wedged himself in between them.

Matthias laughed and Lukas just stat stunned, Emil just pouted. Hugging both of them, Matthias cheered, “Happy New Year!”

______________________________________________

“Turn the music up more!” Sebastian cupped his hands around his mouth, “There’s no one here!”

“Sebastian the countdown is going to start soon!” Antonio screamed above the music, “Were never going to be able to hear it!”

Sebastian didn’t listen, instead he wandered over to the speaker system and tapped the plus button until the music was at an ear splitting volume. He grabbed his brother’s hand and Antonio’s, moving around and swaying, “Dance!”

“Five seconds!” Lovino shouted, looking at the small Laptop screen. Sebastian was still jumping up and down as fast as his little body could.

The youngest italian smiled, “Five!”

Sebastian held on tighter to both of their hands before loosening considerably, “Four!”

“Three!” Sebastian pulled his brother’s hand and the spaniards together, linking them, “Two!”

“One!” Pushing his brother on the back, the two older boys crashed together, Lovino’s head on Antonio’s chest.

The taller male just smiled, cupping Lovino’s cheeks and leaning down. Lovino gasped a little and closed his eyes as he sunk into his New Years kiss.

“Lovino’s kissing someone! Lovino’s kissing someone!”

Lovino broke away, hugging the boy so tight that Sebastian was starting to hit his brothers arm, “Shut up you little brat.”

________________________________

“And I think that one’s the big dipper!” Alfred pointed up towards the sky, “And that one’s orion's belt.”

“What about that one?” Peter gestured to a cluster of stars.The air was cold outside, since it was January, and the grass in the Kirklands backyard wasn’t very warm. Peter didn’t mind it though, he was in his fluffiest winter coat and wedged nicely in between the two teens.

Arthur squinted at the stars, “I think thats Canis Minor.”

“Oh! Guys, I think it’s almost time!” Alfred looked at his watch, “Where’s the radio?”

Peter shuffled a little bit, producing a small device from under him, “I have it!”

Alfred took it from the younger boy, pulling out the antenna and playing with the dials until they found a channel. It started playing broadcasting some station in New York.

“Alright folks!” the radio crackled, “Let’s start our countdown into the new year! Grab that special someone and pull them close. It’s time! Five!”

Peter started to laugh and cheered, linking his arms together with his brother and Al, he started to scream along with the radio people, “Four, three, two, on-!”

The little boy stopped when he felt his brother and Alfred kiss his cheeks, pressing hard enough for Peter to have to make a fishy face. Smiling contently, Peter held onto both their hands, pressing them close to his chest.

Arthur’s face was hot and red, from the cold or embarrassment, and Alfred’s smile was brighter than the stars. They held their foreheads together, Peter still wedged in between them and cheering, “Happy New Year!”

________________________________

Domestic af/Siblings side

Alfred (entered 7:28 am) : 24 points

Matthias (entered 12:37 pm) : 22 points

Antonio (entered 3:39 am) : 23 points

_____________________________

Awesome F. Jones changed the chat name to Tsundere’s + kids = my heart is shot x3x

Awesome F Jones: So. How did the plan go for you guys?

Antomato: great! Muy bueno, Sebastian came to visit!

Awesome F Jones: Lovino’s youngest brother came???

Antomato: yeah! I had no idea! It was so fun seeing him o3o

So you got to spend time with the other one. :Me

Well, I guess you didn’t have to worry about Feliciano running off to do something else :Me

Antomato: Yeah! He ended up spending most of the break with Ludwig somewhere so I would’ve failed the plan if Sebastian didn’t show up

Awesome F. Jones: Kids are so cute

Tru o3o :Me

__________________________________

“Emil were leaving now!” Lukas called up to his brother, Matthias already pulling their suitcases out the door.

The boy thumped down the stairs, “Wait! Lukas!”

“Whats wrong?” Lukas looked a little panicked at his brothers flushed face.

Emil just smiled up at him, “Ya know Lukas… Matthias is really cool.”

“Mmhm?”

Emil just gave a smirk that made him look a lot older than he was, “He’s a great guy. And he’d make a great boyfriend~”

“Emil!” Lukas tensed, face bright red.

The younger boy just laughed, “He’s practically family already, why not just make it official?”

Lukas couldn't get his brother’s smug expression out of his head the whole way back to Hetahigh.

______________________________

Sebastian Vargas

Sebastian: Big Bro!

Sebastian: I forgot to tell u!

What is it Sebastian? Did you forget something here again?: Me

Sebastian : U no… Antonio is a very good looking person. He’s like a movie star and I think tht I overheard the lady at the park say smthing about his butt and greek gods.

Sebastian! : Me

Sebastian : Ok ok

Sebastian : Point is, he’s not going to be ‘on the market’ forever

Sebastian : I rly like him 2. I will kill u if he doesn’t come over for vacay in cali

Sebastian, California is supposed to be a family reunion: Me

Sebastian : ur point is?

Sebastian : He’s like my bro 2 its fine

Sebastian just mind your own fucking buisness: Me

Sebastian : I may b stupid sometimes, but he’s not gonna b single forever Lovi!

Sebastian : Go get em bro

SEBASTIAN!: Me

_________________________

“Alfred!” Peter whined, “You’re going to come back soon right?”

Alfred ruffled the boy’s hair, smiling, “Of course buddy! Just tell your brother when.”

And although Peter tried his best to be upbeat, as soon as Alfred went to start the car, Peter started to cry. The tears streaming down his face was a giant contrast to the happy expression he had been wearing all week, and it made Arthur’s heart break slightly.

“Peter… Why are you so upset?” Arthur knelt down to eye level with the boy, “Were going to come back soon…”

Peter furiously swipped at his eyes, “But… I don’t want you guys to leave!”

“Peter… you have to be a big boy now okay?” Arthur pulled the boy into his chest, carding his hand through the boy’s hair, “Why are you so upset?”

“Because… What if Alfred is like Alli?” Peter wiped his snot on his brothers shoulder.

It took Arthur a moment to realize what his brother was talking about. A little while ago, about seven months to be exact, Allistor was still living at home. Allistor worked only a block away, as a manager of a restaurant and it was easier for both of Arthur’s parents and him to stay in the Kirklands house to watch over Peter when he could. Though that all changed when he found out that his girlfriend, Fiona, was pregnant. Suddenly it was all proposals and moving boxes.

And Peter was left alone…

“Oh Peter…” Arthur rubbed circles on his back, “Alfred’s not going anywhere sweetie…”

The sniffles started up again, “But! But! What if he gets a benancy like Allistor! Then he’s gonna have to move away and not visit for a long time.”

“It’s a fiance honey… and that’s part of growing up. You fall in love and get married,” Arthur swallowed a lump in his throat, “But Alfred and Allistor will always love you.”

“But! I don’t want Alfred to get married! Cause then he’s not going to be around,” Peter pulled away to look into Arthur’s eyes, “You can’t let him okay!”

“What?” Arthur tilted his head.

“Promise?” Peter’s voice was hard and serious.

Arthur smiled, “I can’t guarantee that Peter. You marry who you love and you can’t stand in the way of that.”

“Then…” Peter furrowed his eyebrows and stared hard at the ground, “You marry him! Promise me that you’ll marry him! That way he’ll be my big brother too for real and… and… You guys can come visit me more. Together!”

“Peter…” Arthur’s pupils were blown wide, “I…”

The boy just stuck out his littlest finger, “Pinky promise me Arthur? You love him, don’t you?”

Arthur had to leave, he couldn’t be sure if he would be able to keep that promise but he wrapped his pinky around his brothers and kissed his forehead goodbye.

Im posting chapter 19 right after this and then going back and editing all the links! Chapter 20, the last one, should be coming soon! Im so sorry for not updating on here!

#usuk #spamano #DenNor #how to win a tsundere's heart #striped penguin socks #penguin writes

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