The Brook Twins

@thebrooktwins

brookrichie:

The call could’ve been for just about anyone, but it was impossible to pretend he hadn’t heard it when the boy rounded him, stopping him neatly in his tracks. “I- Yeah. Yes. I am.” For just a couple seconds his shoulders seemed to draw in tighter, but without Jim next to him, there was no one to shrink against. So he smiled instead. Tried relaxing, even if it was just a little. “There is. A test, I mean. I’ve got the notes..?” He trailed off, not entirely sure where to go from there. After all, did you offer people your notes? Did they take them?

“Oh yeah me too.” Ian smiled. “Thanks. I guess I should go cram for the last bit before we have that test shouldn’t I? Well thanks again for telling me.” He continued a bit rushed and a bit awkwardly.

Jim was moving closer now, checking for any signs of danger that might prove that this boy was indeed a ploy. Just someone for his brother to focus on while the real culprits set up their trap for the little one. When he found nothing he wasn’t very pleased.

Originally posted by obriengif

Oh hello, sexy. ll open

#endofmygun #oh hello #sexy

endofmygun:

Originally posted by restlesstymes

“Who am I killing now?”

“Well aren’t you a spoil sport? You can’t even be bothered to pay the compliment back?”

Originally posted by we-love-moriarty

@thebrooktwins

brookrichie:

For a moment, Rich’s jaw set, and he had too many things on the tip of his tongue. Instead, there was a small nod, and his shoulders were hunching that small bit, drawing closer to himself. Right. Doing too much again, Richard. He moved quickly, and he told himself he should wait for Jim, to make sure he really was going to follow him. But he didn’t. He weaved his way between students, and did his best to disappear through the small crowd.

“Hey! Hey you wait up!” A tall kid jogged up to catch up with Rich. “You’re in my maths class aren’t you? He smiled down at Rich. “I was wondering, do you know if we have a test today?”

Jim glowered from a far at the two of them. How dare someone approach his Richard. But perhaps this one would be nice, he told himself. Perhaps this one would be kind to his little brother. He doubted it but he had hopes.

Originally posted by allpeopleareincredible

@thebrooktwins

brookrichie:

The effect of the warning was instantaneous. Rich withdrew his arm, drew back altogether. His arms crossed themselves in front of him, a bit protectively. “No,” he agreed, although he was tempted to refuse altogether, just because maybe it would help. “His eyes glanced down at his books, clutched to his chest. “We should just get to class, Jim.” Not even Jimmy. Because even that probably wasn’t safe, wasn’t normal.

Jim nodded, his heart aching softly at the formality of his name. “Perhaps you should go ahead. I’ll be right behind you.” He smiled again to assure the other. “And that way people won’t think it weird.”

Originally posted by dylanobrienbaby

@thebrooktwins

brookrichie:

Originally posted by hiperaktiffkoala

He didn’t bother trying to stifle the smile Jim pulled from him - largely in response to that chuckle. It was always a boost to hear Jim laugh. “Maybe? There wasn’t really time.” There was rarely time in the morning, Richard always so reluctant to actually let go of Jim and start the day (although, once he was up, he was as perky a morning person as you could ask for).

He slipped an arm through Jim’s, staying close for a moment. “We could do a show tonight, maybe. Whatever you want.” He didn’t need tostress the whatever for Jim to know he really did mean anything. Tame or not.

“I would like that.” He smiled again and nodded before he notcied some people starting to stare. “Perhaps we shouldn’t be so close Richie. People are going to start to wonder and I don’t want them to think that we’re together. Bad things would happen if they thought that and we don’t want that do we?”

Originally posted by obriengif

@thebrooktwins

brookrichie:

The only disadvantage to a two-armed hug was that Rich couldn’t return it without dropping his books, which would’ve drawn attention to them - something he doubted Jim especially needed right now. There was no quiet place to hide and be left alone, which meant that there was no tactic beyond trying to cheer Jim up by talking to him. Once they were home he could hold onto him as much as Jim needed him to.

“And lunch,” he offered helpfully - since there were not people to bother them on the days they did have lunch together. Their school’s groups were always uniquely on display during lunches, and there was a fascination with watching them, seeing how they interacted in ways Richard hadn’t tried, hadn’t wanted to try. But he was more willing to give into that interest than Jim. His brother was never particularly interested in engaging anyone - even their teachers, usually.

There was no way to hide the laugh at Jim’s quiet attempt at flattery, and he stepped back a bit to look down at himself. “I look like this all the time- you saw me get ready this morning.” He didn’t refuse the compliment, because he didn’t need to, Jim didn’t lie about that, at least not to him. “You always look so cool,” he added, which was unpleasantly true. Even angry, Jim had something about him that Richard, at least, felt pulled people closer. He might’ve been wrong, he often was.

Jim smirked slightly and chuckled finally at the memory, something that only his brother would have been able to make him do. “You’re right. I did see you get ready this morning. What were you doing?” He dropped his voice. “Putting on a show for me? You know how much I love it when you put on shows. Even the puppet ones you insist are just for children no older than eight.” He eyed his brother before his smile dropped again as he was unable to keep it up.

Originally posted by hiperaktiffkoala

@thebrooktwins

#brookrichie #rich is trying so hard

brookrichie:

Richard didn’t look especially convinced by it, didn’t actually think that would fix this for more than the duration of the night, but smiled anyway. That was a thing he could do, after all. Smiles were a dime for a couple dozen of them, easy. “Yeah- yes.” There was even a little laugh, propelled by that desire to please Jim. “We can watch… whatever, when we get home.” He leaned a bit closer and pulled his hand away, giving Jim a one-armed hug, which was still something they could do. Mostly.

“And the day’s almost over.” Sort of. There were another couple classes, but looking at the glass as half-full was the best attempt at lifting Jim’s spirits.

Jim looked around to make sure there weren’t any prying eyes before he pulled his brother in for a two armed hug. It felt good. It felt warm and he loved the way his brother smelled, even if he couldn’t express that while he was in a hallway full of other students. “Not soon enough. But we get to have the classes together yeah? So it isn’t so bad.” He tried to lift Rich’s mood which was the only mood he cared about anyway.

Originally posted by stilinski-jpeg

“You look nice.” He muttered. “You should wear that. Or less.... More often you know?”

@thebrooktwins

brookrichie:

Originally posted by welcometohellsxx

Most people wouldn’t have been listening in, there was a little more privacy than you might expect in any sort of school setting that wasn’t packed to the brim. But Rich’s lips thinned at the soft words, and although there wasn’t a smile accompanying them, Richard gave a small sigh that sounded like more of a concession than it was.

“Yes,” he admitted, even reaching up to push a hand through his own hair. “but that’s not what this is about,” but it was a lost cause the second he admitted he very much liked rewatching movies on the sofa with Jim. And the rest of it as well, although that wasn‘t the part you told people.

“It will make me happy. Holding you. You’re so kind and soft.” He gave a smile, all of his focus on Richard for a moment instead of every other tragedy that was going on in the school. Just Richard. His one shining star. “You know how happy you make me when you smile.”

Originally posted by moon-dustt420

@thebrooktwins

brookrichie:

Briefly - only briefly - Rich felt sure Jim would take him up on something, that there would be some magical thing he could do to wipe out whatever had caused that glower. But just as quickly as the assurance had come to him, it melted away in the face of Jim’s clear hesitance. The intense closeness from when they were children, quick kisses and hand-holding, all meant to keep them together was not appropriate here. There was, admittedly, a limit to that now. Siblings didn’t go around holding hands at this age, right?

Well, it didn’t seem to matter a large amount to Jim, because his hand had found Rich’s, and he was adjusting his books so he could thread his fingers between Jim’s a little more easily. “It is,” he protested, not because he’d caused it (although hadn’t, he, somewhere?), but because as Jim’s brother, he needed to fix it.

“That isn’t really something I’m doing to help.” Jim seemed to specialise in doing things for Richard, under the guise of helping himself - Richard was no longer quite so convinced. The flash of a smile got a well-intentioned mirror of the expression, although he didn’t end up scowling afterward, so perhaps it wasn’t quite as forced as Jim’s.

“Of course it is. You’ll be by my side. And I’ll get to hold you close.” Jim seemed to soften a little as he whispered to his brother, careful to make sure no one else was listening. “And I get to show you how much you mean to me, Bunny. Isn’t that something you want?” He tried to look at Rich innocently.

Originally posted by welcometohellsxx

@thebrooktwins

thebrooktwins:

Jim was in his usual foul mood and he wished he wasn’t. Rich never seemed to understand that the feelings weren’t directed at him but rather at the others. The smelly, dirty, cruel others that surrounded them every day. That dared to come near his Richard.

He had been silent most of the day even in his classes, but when Rich asked him a question he merely turned with a glower and took a deep breath before sighing. “Do I look alright to you?” He slammed his locker door shut before turning to Rich fully. “Does any part of me scream that I am perfectly alright to you?”

The look he was leveled with wasn’t easy to smile in the face of, but Rich tried, briefly. It wasn’t more than a vaguely hopeful twitch of his lips, but it was clearly not going to work, and it dropped. It didn’t matter that, if he asked whether he’d done something, Jim would’ve said he hadn’t. It didn’t matter how many times Jim told him that; it wasn’t like his brother really talked to anyone else, as far as Richard knew. Which meant he was part of the problem, if not the entire thing.

The locker slammed, and Rich turned his head away, just slightly. A vague aversion to loud noises was still something he was working on getting over. “That’s why I asked,” he replied, quietly. He took a deep breath of his own, fingers drumming lightly on one of his books as he thought on a response. He tried, at least, to give Jim more than the trite responses he’d have gotten from someone else. Richard always wanted to be better than someone else.

“No. And you’re not saying anything at all.” Unlike Jim, he was not a mind reader. Other minds, maybe, but certainly not Jim’s - and certainly not when he refused to say anything about it beyond it not being his fault.

“What can I do?” It was something closer to an attempt to help than asking Jim why he was angry to begin with. At least this was an attempt at fixing it. Sort of.

A million things rushed through Jim’s mind. What can I do? Such a simple innocent question but it had Jim but more furious and calmed all at once. He took a step forward before taking a step back. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t just kiss his brother in public. Not if he wanted to keep Rich safe that is. So instead he let a hand go to Rich’s books. Tentatively playing with Rich’s fingers in what he hoped was a hidden way.

“You’ve done nothing wrong, so it’s not up to you to fix it. But you can do some things when we get home tonight alright? We can watch that movie you’ve been dying to rewatch? How does that sound, Bun?” He faked a smile briefly before it was back to the scowl again.

@thebrooktwins

He’d stuck close today, like he did nearly every day. They didn’t share every class - they’d been unlucky enough (in Richard’s opinion) to be split into their own science classes, although they’d turned their proposed schedules in at the same time, and quite early as well. But they did share enough that Richard could find himself typically glued to Jim’s hip. Even if that seemed harder as of late when his brother was growing increasingly gloomy, and angry, and a bit unlike what Richard was used to.

It didn’t really matter how many times Jim reminded him that he wasn’t angry at him, that there was nothing he’d done, Rich still quietly took the blame for it and tried what little he could to bring some semblance of a smile from Jim. Reminding him of things they’d done when they were younger rarely seemed to do the trick anymore, though, and Richard had found himself actually speaking to his classmates, in that science class that he didn’t really care about. When they said hello, or god forbid, were paired up with him, he actually tried to engage them. And it seemed like he wasn’t too bad at it.

Some of them even greeted him in the halls when he was at Jim’s side, and that was about as ‘alright’ as you could get in Rich’s book, at that point. He didn’t go over to anyone’s houses, wasn’t invited yet anyway, and he didn’t have lunch with them typically, but they were friends. Friends that weren’t Jim, didn’t already know everything about him and more.

And that was sort of nice.

It was just before lunch when they did it that day, waving at him and even calling out to him to get that wave noticed. He’d returned it eagerly, although it was little more than a wiggle of his hand, not quite sure how much ‘too much’ was. ‘Too much’ around Jim seemed to be even looking at him, and so Richard didn’t, nearly so much as he had, pushing books and papers into a locker that was supposed to be his but tended to accumulate Jim’s things as well.

“Are you okay?” It wasn’t a very good question, too general and not meant to be asked to Jim, it seemed like. But it was a start, breaking Rich’s self-imposed silence since that morning.