Chapter Text
Orange was rudely awakened as his bed bounced violently beneath him, jostling the sleepy teen to sudden consciousness.
The Hollow elf had been enjoying the luxurious throes of sleep, surrounded on all sides by a comforting cocoon of pillows and blankets to shield him from the sunlit fingers and brisk air of the peaceful, autumn morning. The weather had gradually started to cool as the grips of summer had finally begun to give way to the changing of the seasons and the leaves of the trees outside began to gather hints of red and gold. With it, the ginger teen had hoped the creeping dawn would belay his forced early rises by at least a little bit. But alas it seemed that would not be so as an enthusiastic force collided with his mattress and launched him a foot in the air.
With an audible groan, Orange covered his head with a pillow, trying to ignore the rhythmic bounces of the mattress under his body alongside the persistent chants of his name from the gremlin trying to get his attention.
“Go ‘way Red. ‘M tryin’ t’ sleep,” his muffled voice sounded tiredly out of the downy mass covering his head.
The motion stopped, and for a brief moment he wondered if his plea had miraculously worked. Then the bouncing returned with intensity as a second person joined in on the annoying mantra.
Blue? His foggy mind supplied as perplexity began to pull him from the allure of slumber. Why was Blue joining in?
Red was unsurprising. The hyperactive redhead already had a loose definition of the term personal space and a tendency of taking early-morning snippiness as a personal challenge. But Blue was more unexpected. Sure, the blue-haired human could be just as silly and excitable as his twin, but it tended to take more to get the normally placid teen this riled up and his brand of chaos was usually less directly antagonistic. So why…
Oh. Right. Duh.
With a sigh Orange uncovered his head to glare at the two fifteen-year-olds, “I know it’s your birthday, but did you really have to wake me up at… six thirty?! Ugh, it’s too early to be up!”
A pair of bright grins met his sleepy scowl as Red patted him on the top of his head before poking his puffed-out cheek, “Yes it really is necessary. We’re all going into the city, remember? Got to get an early start!”
“If it makes you feel any better, you’re the last one we woke up, and Yellow and Green got the same treatment,” Blue added, his grin wide and completely unsympathetic as Orange turned his tired ire his way. Ignoring the silent judgement, he pulled Red up by the arm. “But now that you’re awake, we’ll leave you to get changed. Be upstairs soon though! Yellow’s making breakfast.”
“Oh, and you better not fall back asleep or we’ll just have to come wake you again!” Red warned him tauntingly as he bounced backwards towards the door.
“Sometimes I really hate you,” Orange yawned as he slowly pulled himself from the comforting warmth of his blankets out into the cool, morning air.
“Love you too! You have five minutes,” the red-clad teen grinned before slamming the door shut behind him.
The Hollow elf sighed, his eyes sliding closed as he sat on the edge of the bed. Part of him was sorely tempted just to go back to sleep, but the stronger side knew that the twins’ threat was not an empty one. Besides, the curious portion of his brain supplied, he kind of wanted to see what Yellow was making… And maybe just how sleep deprived he and Green were.
So he sluggishly forced himself up to get ready for the big day.
The smell of aromatic spices and chicken greeted his nose first as he made his way up to the kitchen a few minutes later, stifling a yawn behind his hand. A snort left him at the top of the staircase as the Hollow elf immediately spotted Green slumped face down over the kitchen table with his mop of emerald hair hiding his face. Red and Blue moved unbothered around him while Yellow blinked sleepily at the kitchen counter, stirring the contents of the boiling pot in front of him sluggishly.
“You okay Green?” Orange asked as he gently shook the older boy’s shoulder. A muffled groan was the only response he got, so holding back his laughter the tangerine-haired elf let him be to slide into his own chair.
“Don’t worry, he’s fine,” Blue grinned viciously, twirling a fork around his fingers as he explained. “He’s just unhappy with his early morning wake-up call, since Red decided the best way to get him up was to flip his whole mattress over onto the floor.”
“Hey! If he didn’t want to be woken up by me, maybe he should have gone to bed earlier,” Red just shrugged from his position shadow boxing to the side of the stairs, looking far too pleased with his early morning prank (and the subsequent chase through the house).
Orange rested his chin against his hand before asking curiously, “How late was he up anyway?”
“Late enough for me to hear him when I went to bed, I can tell you that much,” Yellow commented dryly from the stove.
Yikes! The orange-haired elf winced. Then he blinked in confusion, “Wait. Wasn’t Green the one who organised our trip into the city today? Why’d he stay up so late then?”
“Because past Green hates future Green apparently,” the emerald-clad table pile moaned.
With a part humorous, part sympathetic look, the blue-haired birthday boy reached over to pat the top of his brother’s head. “Poor Green, so cruelly awakened by the machinations of his scheming brother. What a terrible fate. I would never subject you to such mischief.”
“Says the one who stole my blankets and pillows to get me up this morning.”
Blue turned to grin at Yellow, “Hey! You said you were going to cook! I was just helping!”
“Helping… right,” the blonde turned his dead-eyed stare to pin his younger brother with it, but the blue-haired human just beamed innocently, meeting the look head on until the jug on the counter began to beep. With a sigh, the yellow-clad Colour turned to make up a cup of netherwart brew and a coffee for himself. Passing the steaming mug across the table he teased, “Here’s your drink, you snot-nosed brat.”
“Hey! You would call your favourite brother a brat? And I thought you loved me,” Blue pouted dramatically, throwing his best puppy-dog eyes up at the retreating blonde, even as his hands closed gratefully around the mug.
“Who says you’re my favourite?” Yellow joked, yawning into his coffee as he finally took a sip of the sweet, caffeinated liquid.
Pulling a hand up to clutch at his heart, Blue swooned, “You would wound me like this? And on my birthday no less! Shame! Shame on you and your family!”
Ignoring the very obvious point that his theatrical shaming would include himself, Yellow instead picked up the wooden spoon to pointedly gesture at the younger pair, “Hey, if I can get a cake smashed into my face on my birthday then you can get called names on yours. Fair is fair! You’re both gremlin brats and that’s a fact.”
Red snickered as he finally joined them at the table, unbothered by the name calling, “Ha! That was a good prank! Your face was priceless!”
Next to him, Orange rolled his eyes as he stifled another yawn. It was taking all of his will power to not become one with the wooden table beneath him like Green was currently trying to. Shaking himself awake by slapping his cheeks a few times, the Hollow elf instead turned to regard the blonde teen at the stove curiously, “Hey Yellow, you need a hand at all there?”
“Don’t trust him Yell! It’s a trap! He’ll fall asleep and burn your food!” Blue countered with a conspiratorial grin before the honey-clad human could answer.
“Hey! That was one time!” the elf rounded on the younger teen with a glare.
“You slept through the fire-alarm!”
“I was tired! Because a certain group, who shall not be named, decided to hold a music competition at 3am the night before!” Orange narrowed his eyes as he gestured emphatically with his hands up to the study above their heads.
Blue remained unphased as he took a sip of his drink, “Didn’t you pull the house circuit breaker to get us to stop?”
“Because it was 3am!”
“Hey so new topic! What did you guys get us for our birthday?” Red brightened, cutting the brewing argument off as he abruptly changed the subject with all the subtly of a cannonball to a lake.
Yellow rolled his eyes as he took a long sip of his coffee. Honestly, he was surprised the fifteen-year-old had even waited this long to ask. Looked like patience really did come with age. With his free hand he gestured to the boiling congee and wide array of chopped toppings with a short answer of, “Breakfast.”
“Aww, that’s not very interesting,” the redhead deflated.
“Oi! Don’t knock it till you try it. Do you have any idea how long it took me to find all of these ingredients? You should appreciate getting to try a new culinary experience,” the yellow-clad teen said pointedly. Watching the younger boy pout out of the corner of his eye for a little while longer, he finally relented with a grin, “Besides, this is Blue’s present. Yours is on top of the fridge.”
Instantly perking up, the red-clad human dragged his chair over to peek at the top of the tall appliance. “No way! Are these those high-end animal treats I’ve been raving about?! Thank you! Thank you, Yellow! You’re the best!”
Smirking with pride the blonde was quick to retreat from the food before he was side tackled by a scarlet torpedo and swung in a circle.
Orange watched the affectionate display with a soft grin crinkling his eyes, argument completely forgotten. Meanwhile, under the table, his hands fiddled anxiously with his sketch book as he tried to keep his nerves under control.
Noticing his hesitance, Blue tilted his head with an encouraging smile before softly asking, “You okay Orange?”
“Yeah…” the ginger teen brought the book up to the tabletop to slowly pull out the two loose pages tucked safely within it. “I have something for you too… It’s not anything grand but since you’re all always telling me how much you like my art, I thought you might like something for yourselves.”
Red and Blue were silent as they stared at the detailed, coloured portraits of themselves staring back from the sturdy paper, holding them with careful hands. Blue’s voice was barely above a whisper as he asked, “You drew these?”
The Hollow mutely nodded. Feeling the nerves continue to climb up the rungs of his ribcage like a ladder, he took in a deep breath, hands clutching tight to the book within his grip. It had been a while since he’d been this nervous about his art. But the longer the twins stood dead still, not even seeming to breathe, the worse the anxiety got. He’d never seen them this still or quiet.
He’d just opened his mouth to tell them to disregard the artwork when he found himself suddenly smushed claustrophobically between the two younger teenagers.
“They’re incredible Orange! I’m putting mine straight up on my wall!” the blue-haired human cried in delight as Red babbled excitedly over the top of him.
“Ha! This is awesome! I can’t believe I have an Orange original and the others don’t! Oh, I’m so lauding this over Green and Yellow for the rest of the month!”
Grinning from ear to ear as his face flushed a bright red, the Hollow elf stuttered out, “I’m glad you like them.”
Then just as suddenly as he found himself squashed and surrounded, the pressure released and the pair was gone, giving him the space to breathe again. The orange-clad teen straightened his shoulders as his mind slowly began to unthread the erratic jumble of pride, happiness, embarrassment and doubt that had got tangled up in there in under two minutes.
Once he was finally about to take in air normally again, he glanced over to where the twins were hovering over the half-asleep teen next to him.
“Green?” Red whined as he poked the sixteen-year-old’s shoulder over and over.
A muffled groan and a lazy hand trying to shoo him was the only response they got. But that just increased the insistence until finally he responded, “It’s a surprise.”
“Aww, no fair!” Blue pouted, crossing his arms.
That drew a chuckle as the green-haired teen finally raised his head to give them both a sleepy grin, “You’ll find out when we get to the city.”
The pair of put out fifteen-year-olds returned his smile with impatient scowls as Red muttered, “It better be a good surprise.”
Green smirked as he watched the gaping mouths of the two youngest, pride welling up in his chest.
The journey into city had been long but smooth, giving them plenty of time to chat, sight-see and make the most of the full day trip. All five of them were eager to make the most of this special occasion, spending the long morning checking out a variety of shops before retreating to a tasty, restaurant for lunch. Only after that, had it finally been time for Green’s surprise.
Deflecting the persistent questions from the other four, he’d mysteriously led them through the centre of the city to a large, squat building with flashing lights highlighting the name: The Danger Dome. The most popular adventure complex in all of Stick City. The large building housed a wide mixture of highlights, from the arcade games, to the bowling alley, to the roller rink and, of course, to the realm famous Proving Grounds: a state-of-the-art battleground simulator.
“So,” the green-clad teen asked casually, leaning back with his arms smugly crossed over his chest, “am I the best? Or am I the best? Be honest now.”
“You got us tickets to the Danger Dome?” Red had to double check, a part of him not believing that this wasn’t some sort of prank from the older teen.
But Green just continued to grin as he held aloft the five tickets for them all to see. “Yep!”
“Dude! Very cool!” Yellow whistled, staring up at the large building with just as wide and excited eyes as the younger two.
“Is this place a big deal?” Orange stood to the side of the amazed teens, shifting as he stared up at the building with a puzzled curiosity visible behind his bright green sunglasses. The Hollow had chosen to wear them and a grey beanie this time round to help hide his distinct features in the middle of the bustling metropolis.
Memories of the harrowing events of his last trip here still plagued his darkest thoughts and bad nights, making him cautiously vigilant this time around. Even though he’d been able to lower his guard enough to enjoy his day so far, the extra alertness and undercurrent of tension hadn’t fully loosened its grip on him. Or Green for that matter.
Orange had noted the hood the emerald-haired human had kept up this whole trip. Just like he’d noticed the quick scans of the bustling crowds the older teen had been maintaining when he thought no one was looking. Seems like neither one of them was particularly keen on a repeat of last time they were here. But thankfully there hadn’t been any sign of trouble, and the others hadn’t noticed their extra caution.
“Hell yeah it is!” Red grinned as he threw his arm over the orange-clad boy’s shoulders. “This place is so expensive to get tickets to!”
“How long were you saving up?” Blue asked curiously.
“Most of the year,” Green answered honestly, glancing up at the blinking lights of the entrance. “I knew we were all keen to go, so I thought it would be a good birthday gift.”
“You got that right! This is awesome!” Red was practically vibrating on the spot as they stood in front of the entrance.
With a snort of laughter, Yellow shook his head, “Well what are we waiting for? Come on!”
Passing the tickets off to each member of the group, Green waited for the other four to enter first, his gaze doing one last sweep of their surroundings. Once again, he was unable to spot anything out of the ordinary, so as he felt the tension in his shoulders drop, he followed his siblings inside.
But while green-clad teen thought he’d been observant, he’d never noticed the sharp eyes fixed upon him and his family. Instead, he’d been so focused on searching for any sign of a certain metallic bounty-hunter, that he completely missed the other familiar face in the crowd. One that was far from happy to see the five of them.