five times smiled we Love Brothers
five times smiled / accepting
ONE. jarrod is fourteen, and he’s got no qualifications as a babysitter - except, perhaps, the fact that he was once a baby. but this kid’s mom offered to pay him ( REAL MONEY! ) and jarrod couldn’t possibly refuse. so he makes it his mission to make this kid his friend, even if they don’t really seem to have anything in common. when he shows up to the apartment next to his with an old chess set and a gameboy, the kid is behind his mom’s leg, which throws jarrod off a bit, because he can’t really remember being that small. like, ever. but that’s fine. his mom introduces the kid as theo, and jarrod crouches a little, sticking his hand out with a quieter-than-usual “hey, man”. when theo takes his hand, jarrod shakes it ( maybe a bit too roughly ), and he can feel himself beginning to grin - maybe babysitting won’t be half bad.
TWO. the lights on his face are OVERWHELMING. he’s been in the hospital often, considering he’s an accident magnet, but the ACCIDENTS have never been so completely tragic - at least as far as he can remember. he’s barely nineteen, and kenny is w a s about to be the same. ( shit, his birthday was so s o o n. ) before he can break down again, there’s a knock on the door - specifically patterned, just like he and tink had practiced - and he draws in a deep breath, preparing himself for questions, or updates, or whatever tink might be here to tell him. but, upon letting tink in, that never comes. he just sits at his bedside, and takes his hand ( which jarrod can’t feel, but he would never tell tink that ). the only thanks that jarrod can muster is a soft smile and an attempt at squeezing tink’s hand back, but he thinks it’s enough.
THREE. they’re all aware that there are bits and pieces of their past that didn’t really stick after the explosion. some are missing more than others, but it’s really just a grab bag of what you will and won’t remember. jag, for example, doesn’t remember where his dad lives. or his birthday. and he knows that tink doesn’t remember that they were basically brothers, which, to be fair, isn’t that big of a deal when he considers how much everyone else has LOST, but it still hurts. however, the first time his “tink! bro!” is returned with an almost equally as excited “bro!”, jag grins. it almost feels like they can just be kids again.
FOUR. jag can’t believe it when zahara tells him that tink is going to be alright. poor kid has had enough tragedy in his life, and when falco SHOT him, jag thought that was it. he couldn’t imagine losing his brother that soon - even spending over twenty-five years with him wouldn’t have been enough. so, when jag crouches at the side of tink’s mattress, taking his hand like tink had done so many years ago, he’s still a little scared. scared of losing his one connection to the past, scared of having another kenny, scared of being stuck with memories and photographs instead of the real thing. interrupting his thoughts, though, is a weak squeeze against his hand, and jag gasps out a sob, smiling for the first time in days. “welcome back, buddy.”
FIVE. it’s almost like a dream - how everything has happened in the past few weeks. after twenty-five years, jag finally gets to be with zahara, they’re in a warm building ( with WATER ), tink is healing up - and so are the rest of them, but jag is most concerned with tink. when he passes by tink, who seems to have been enjoying the, uh, endless party, he catches the overall happiness that tink exudes, and it seems to make everything just a little more PEACEFUL. jag pats tink on the back, almost making the poor kid drop his drink, and when tink turns around, he’s greeted with the biggest smile anyone has ever seen.
