Work Text:
It had been ages since those three went out to the theatre. Father, Mother, and young Three were supposedly having a great time without One and Two. One couldn’t blame them for not inviting the two — the family couldn’t afford to get two more tickets and it was basically their parents making up for missing out on Three’s birthday. Luckily, Two preferred musicals and One disliked theatres.
Speaking of Two… the boy had been rather quiet these past few hours. Usually, he’d be attempting to use this freedom to annoy One to death… only this time he didn’t.
What was baffling was that despite Two being the most influential and lovely out of the three sons, Father and Mother seemed to care less for him compared to One and Three. Whenever his birthday came, Father and Mother would just hand him a present each and a plain “Happy Birthday” card you’d get from a store. On the other hand, when One and Three’s birthday passed, their parents would have planned something big like a trip to a museum or amusement park. It was quite sad, really, but Two never minded it. The boy was already grateful for having a family by his side.
One strode across the entire house, eyes scanning for any sign of his little brother.
“Oh, come on. It’s not that hard to find a boy with a mop top and an oversized coat.” He muttered to himself before heading over to the living room.
And there was Two, daydreaming as he subconsciously drew circles in the ground.
One stared at the little black-haired boy, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor.
“Two. There you are.” He looked to the boy. “What are you doing?”
Two focused his attention onto his older brother, his eyes full of innocence. “I’m bored, One.” He said. “There’s nothing to ponder about, and I’m a bit tired.”
“Hmm… is that so?” One chuckled and knelt down to Two’s level, fondly ruffling the latter’s black mop top. Two giggled in response, his eyes immediately sparkling with joy and thrill.
“How about we go and find something for you and I to do, huh?” Said One, offering a hand to his little brother to take. With haste, the two brothers stood up and trodded over to One’s bedroom on the second floor.
One’s bedroom was full of scientific tools and decorations. The walls were mainly white as a sheet, with posters like the Periodic Table as well as posters of sci-fi movies like “The Omen” and “Alien”. On wooden shelves there placed figurines of police boxes and these little robots One referred to as “Daleks”. The older sibling was proud of the later creation, not because he came up with the concept, but because Two named it “Dalek”. There are more details as to how that occurred, but that’s a story for another time.
One guided Two to his bed, plopping the boy onto the fresh white sheets.
He rummaged through a box of things from his childhood — before he became a brother. Two swung his legs and stared with curiosity at One, wondering what the self-proclaimed madman was up to. But before the younger boy could utter any word, One let out an “aha!”, standing up straight and walking over to where Two was.
In One’s hand was a recorder, which had a blue ribbon attached to it.
“This.” One took Two’s hand and placed the recorder in it. “Is a recorder. I used to play it back when I was your age.”
“Woah!” There were stars in Two’s eyes, as he examined the recorder. He looked up to the older boy. “Can I have it?”
One let out a hearty laugh. “Of course you can! That’s why I gave it to you.”
Two gasped, his excitement threatening to come out all at once. “Really?!” One nodded in response. “Oh my word! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Two excitedly latched onto One, giggling with joy and gratitude. Unfortunately, he also just happened to be squeezing his poor brother to near death.
“Oof — alright, alright, I think that’s enough.” One gasped as soon as Two released him from the suffocating but lovely hug.
“I love you, One.”
One didn’t reply, but the warmth in his eyes said enough.
***
Creeaaak!
“William, Patrick! Are you up there?” A voice shouted from downstairs, followed by another set of footsteps. However, this question remained unanswered, for the recipients were up in a bedroom, asleep as they cozily snuggled against each other.
A boy who was evidently younger but slightly taller than Two gently pushed open the bedroom door. A smile crept onto his face as soon as he saw his brothers in deep sleep, a copy of The Hobbit laid forgotten in One’s lap. Two cuddled the older brother, his face snuggled into the latter’s side.
“Where did they go… Jon, have you seen your brothers?” Father came up the stairs, before coming to a halt once he laid eyes on his children. “…Ah, I see… Well, best not to disturb their sleep, m’boy! Come along, come along…”
Humming a peculiar but soothing tone, Father led Three down to the living room, where Mother was busily fixing up the kitchen.