• rockabye ; hans&gret
twxhansel:
Despite the long day, and despite the monotonous routine they have found themselves stuck in – in this world where there’s all these rules and systems, all of which seem far too complex – a bright grin, a grin that is reserved solely for Gretel, a grin that he only grins around Gretel, shines in his face. To Hansel, he just needs a simple life, not all of this bustling pace that the Mundies seem to call ‘living’. He just needs a few things to make him happy: a sheltered and warm home; his sister; and food and clean water.
To him, the Mundies’ living seems more like running a fast track to a quicker death. No wonder they don’t live nearly as long and have so many problems.
Once everything truly is done and dusted, and their ‘day jobs’ are over (at least for the day before they have to get again go back and earn their survival), Hansel takes Gretel’s hand to start leading them on the way home. Some might give them funny looks, even think they were something other than brother and sister, because both of them in this world are considered ‘grown ups’, and grown up siblings in this world should be independent, both in affection and reliance. But to him, he doesn’t care. He will still hold his sister’s hand when they walk, out of care and love. Subconsciously, it’s also because of his need to be near her, of his inability to be without her. He just needs to always have that connection with her.
“I wonder if our mice have eaten the food we left out for them this morning. Do you think they would have finished it all?” Youngdoo asks his sister, both pondering aloud to himself and asking her opinion.
they’re always so close, and gretel appreciates it more than ever in these moments where she feels dead on her feet. he holds onto her hand and she feels attached, a need to keep their fingers locked and knowing well that if she doesn’t, she’d probably fall asleep on her feet. their life is simple, but it’s still tiring. and she thinks that maybe, if the way that hansel grabs her hand, he knows - even though she doesn’t say that she needs him to.
hansel, to her, is a light when he smiles or when he frowns and especially when he holds her hand because he anchors her to this world so much stranger than where they’re from. she knows that no one misses the homelands more than he does, their woods and their house and their animals - but still, he finds a way to make it through here. she wants to be just like him.
gretel wants to be strong, too.
but she is less than capable when it comes down to it - her body grows weaker easier, she gets tired much easier than he does. he will say it’s because she stays up late, that she doesn’t eat enough - but how can she, when he needs so much more than she can live without? it doesn’t make it easy to hide the yawning behind a hand or the way she starts to look worn thin. even a simple eight hour shift is enough to knock her dead on her feet, but hansel takes her hand and hansel smiles and suddenly everything is all right in the world. in this world. in the world that isn’t their own.
she leans into him when she hears him talking, allowing him to lead her through the city by tangled hands. a gentle hum is gretel’s response when he speaks about their mice, living in the walls - a friendly pet that most would call a pest. “ we left a lot for them to eat their fill.” she finally says, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “ it depends on if they were greedy or if they rationed it.”
