Chapter Text
This night was like any other weekend night. Long and agonisingly boring. Zeke, as per usual, was wide awake, still in his day clothes atop his neatly tucked-in bed. Zeke was odd, especially when it came to the simplest things. Simple things that everyone else could do but not him. Sleep, to name one, and it didn’t help that he never knew why this was the case. He always felt tired, exhausted even, but never felt like sleeping, or dreaming for that matter.
Zeke believed it was because he loved watching, and sleep interrupted his observations. His great plan to fix this problem was to place whiteboards on his ceiling so he could write down his pre-sleep thoughts, so he wouldn’t forget them and continue his train of thought in the morning. What a great plan this was. The only thing it did was only make it worse in the end. He was constantly adding and drawing and planning and writing, so much that it would keep him even more awake and even more exhausted. His body needed the rest, but his overthinking brain said otherwise.
Sleep meds didn’t work, changing his mattress made him uncomfortable, and music annoyed him. Sometimes, he even debated that hitting himself with a brick would do the trick. The worst part is that Zeke’s father was a doctor of all things, and even he didn’t know how to help Zeke. At a certain point, his very own mother offered him alcohol, giving him the empty promise that it would help knock him straight out. But guess what? It didn’t work. Nothing ever worked.
Zeke craved sleep at this point. Just resting or napping would do. Anything, any ounce of relaxation he could get was a blessing, so that's why when he heard his bedroom door open with a loud-sounding clap that rattled his room, he knew this was going to be an even longer night than he had originally planned.
“Zee?” Said a quiet, soft voice from across the room, which was followed by the sound of one of his posters falling from the previous vibrations.
Almost anybody would hear that voice and think they would turn to their side and see the most innocent-looking child they had ever laid their eyes on, but Zeke knew better than that. He knew that voice and its sweet, honey-laced words only meant trouble.
“Yup?” He let out a deep and slightly annoyed sigh. “What is it, Ren?”
Zeke was too lazy to turn his body, so turning his neck 90 degrees would have to give him a good enough view. He knew who it was and where they were anyway.
Eren didn’t respond. He just stood there, dragon plushie in hand and bug eyes glaring. Zeke knew Eren wasn’t exactly the silent type, so he knew this could go down one of two usual ways.
One, Eren will randomly gain a buttload of energy and pounce onto Zeke, crushing his ribs and ripping the air from his lungs.
Or two, Eren would crawl over to his bed and cling tightly to Zeke from dusk till dawn because of a nightmare or a bad day at school.
So Zeke waited patiently, like he always did, in silence, to see if it would be the usual or a secret third option.
“Well? Are you here to apologize for earlier? You know- For calling me a motherfucker just because I won?” Zeke asked. He already knew the answer, but he just wanted to see what his baby brother would have to say in response.
“No, 'cause you deserved it. You were mean.”
“I was mean?” Zeke could only chuckle. “Says the boy who leaped onto me like a wild animal and tried to brawl me cause of it.”
“Not my fault.” Turning away, Eren smirked. “Your fault.”
“Okay, sure. My fault then.” Zeke knew there was no arguing with Eren over who was right, especially when it came to who won and who lost, so he could only add more chuckles to the air as Eren's face quickly turned red from frustration.
More silence followed. This was awkward. More awkward than parent-teacher meetings, even. The two boys had no idea this painfully long silence would last, and they knew the other’s next words would spark some sort of petty sibling argument, which was not exactly the best thing to do at 2 in the morning with sleeping parents.
Zeke’s eyes examined the plush, squeezed snuggly in between Eren’s arms. He debated preparing to dodge because he had no idea if the little gremlin in front of him was going to chuck that supposedly “soft” plush directly at him. It would most likely be a headshot. Eren was good at those.
However, Zeke knew this wasn’t the case because of which plush Eren was holding. It was a bright green dragon with a long neck and an even longer tail, with big, wide wings. This was the only plush Eren wouldn’t throw or even dare to damage. It had a long story and lots and lots of emotional baggage behind it, but in short, it was the plush Zeke bought Eren after Eren had his very first panic attack after an exceptionally terrifying nightmare. Zeke had saved up all his allowance for it. It was specifically a dragon because Eren liked- no, loved fairy tales. The young boy liked to think dragons were made to protect. Never to attack.
“Nightmare?” Zeke asked, breaking the once-quiet tension.
Eren hesitated. His frustrated face quickly turned embarrassed.
“Nope.”
“No? You sure?”
“Yup. Super duper sure.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Boredom.”
“Boredom?” Zeke flashes him a skeptical look. Eren is almost always that more mischievous when he’s bored since he cured said boredom by annoying Zeke till he snapped, but he knew that shy, pathetic look was not out of boredom. “Okay then. Boredom it is.”
A happy but exhausted sigh escaped Zeke’s lips, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes at the thought of how this night would possibly unfold. With that, he gave a sharp tug to his tucked-in covers and quickly pulled his legs to get comfortable underneath the blanket. After a little bit of shuffling, he lifts his arm to reveal an opening beside him. A perfect-sized spot for a certain someone.
“Come here, Mr. Bored.”
Eren's face lit up at the offer, giving the boy a sudden burst of energy. With a run, a skip, and a leap, Eren hoped and huddled underneath the covers next to his older brother.
“Nuh uh. Wrong side.” Zeke wrapped up Eren in his arms and tossed him to his left side instead of his right. The side facing the wall and the side that blocked Eren from falling off.
“Hey! What was that for!? I don’t squirm that much!” Eren protests even though he prefers this side, either way.
“You do. Why do you think we had to put cushions beside your bed? Can't have you getting brain damage just because you like fighting in your sleep.”
“Worth it! I’m fighting the big, scary monsters that want to destroy the kingdom. Plus, I always win! So yeah, Zee, I’m doing the world a big favour.”
“A big favour? I see. Sooooo brave of you, Ren.”
“You’re being mean again.” Crossing his arms, Eren turned away, only for Zeke to roll him around again to face him.
“Just teasing, don’t worry. A tad bit disappointed that I’m not also saving the kingdom.”
“You’re not scary. That’s why. Monsters think you're weak and- and stupid!” Eren laughed at Zeke, hoping to get some sort of angry reaction out of his brother, only to instead see his brother sigh dramatically.
“Aww… Dang it. I was hoping I was a little cool.”
Eren pauses. His eyes try to look anywhere but Zeke's smug face.
“You are a little cool. You’re a… wizard.”
“I’m a wizard?!” A wide smile spreads across Zeke’s features. “I’m a wizard, and you’ve never told me this before? Why haven’t you told me I'm something as cool as a wizard in your dreams?”
“Cause… cause now you think you’re cool when you’re not cool. Okay? It’s not that big of a deal anyway, so I don’t know why you’re so happy about it.”
“Do I save you in some of these dreams?” Zeke's smug grin spread across his face, somehow even wider than before.
“No!” Eren spits back as his face flushes as bright as a tomato. “The wizard never saves the knight! That’s so… so stupid!”
“Alright, alright. Calm down, Ren. Sorry for making your knightly skills less powerful by making my wizardly skills too strong for your liking.” Zeke replied, trying to act sincere, but he couldn’t help but snicker at Eren’s pressed reaction.
His frustration boiling to a brim, Eren pauses. Arguing with someone who didn’t take him seriously was a pain, and it annoyed Eren, but to be fair, he tormented Zeke every day, every hour and every minute of their lives. It was almost always on sight when it came to annoying his much older brother. Did he feel bad? Nope.
“Hey? I didn’t mean anything bad-”
Zeke’s half-assed apology was quickly cut short with an impossibly strong punch straight into his stomach. He coughed, baffled by how painful the punch was. How strong could a 6-year-old possibly be?! He tried to catch his breath and stop the watering in his eyes, but the more he clutched his stomach, the more it hurt.
“There! See? I’m stronger! Much stronger! In and out of my dreams, I'm just better!” Eren was the one who was smug now, and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride at his strength, but just like Zeke’s words, it was quickly cut short when a bolt of suffocating pain shot through his body.
“I think you’re forgetting who's the older brother here!” With a quick and extremely tight hug to Eren, Zeke was able to stop Eren right in his tracks before the younger boy decided he wanted to spend the night brawling.
“Let me go! I can’t breathe! I’m sorry, okay?! Just let go!” Squirming, kicking, and punching did nothing to put Zeke’s relentless bear hug to rest. Eren was trapped in a brother-tight grip.
“You should’ve thought of that before you punched me! You’re sleeping in my bed, so you go by my rules!”
There was no real bite to Zeke’s words and no real pain in the hug, but Eren only thought there was so because of how sappy his older brother was when it came to giving him affection. He hated it. Despised it. He wasn’t some clingy baby who needed to be told what to do. He wasn’t a plush animal, so he had no idea why Zeke held him like one. He didn’t need to be coddled or taken care of. Eren was a strong, big boy. He didn’t need a big brother to protect him.
But in the end, the thing that Eren hated the most was the fact that this felt good. No matter how much his self-dependence shaped his thoughts and actions, he couldn’t help but like letting go. Even if it was just for a while.
Maybe the wizard could save the knight. Just this once.
“There we go,” Zeke whispers to himself as he feels Eren stop his squirming and replace it with relaxation. He gently loosened his grip and shuffled so Eren could rest his head on his chest. “Comfy?”
The silencing was deafening, but Zeke could clearly tell what the answer was when Eren’s eyes fluttered shut. His brother was content, and so was he. That was all that mattered. His observations could come later. His only plan now was to make sure Eren was safe.
With one last twist of his wrist, Zeke flicked the lamp off. The warm lighting was replaced with the soft shine of moonlight. The calm, bluish hue illuminated his brother's peaceful sleeping face as his small fists gripped Zeke’s button-up. Zeke didn’t bother lifting the blankets to cover them fully since they were warm enough already as they held each other with a firm but soft hold.
“Goodnight, Ren. See you in the morning.” Pressing a gentle kiss to Eren’s head, Zeke held his brother close to his body. He didn’t need words to tell Eren he was safe and loved; all he needed was the simple rhythmic beating of his heartbeat next to Eren’s, hoping that it would shoo those pesky nightmares away.
In what felt like forever, their brains shut off. The comfort of the gentle embrace and the sweet relief of sleep engulfed their bodies with nothing but soothing relaxation. That night, the boys had the sweetness of dreams, and no nightmare could break the bond they shared at that very moment. Nobody would understand them, not properly, at least. All they had was each other, and that’s all they needed.