Chapter Text
"Laurence-"
"Don't call me that." The brunette growled, rubbing his head as he felt a massive headache come on. Oliver had forced him to drink water to help sober up, thanking Emily for bringing him back and was now beginning the inevitable scolding.
" Lore ," he corrected himself, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "What in Yoba's name were you thinking?"
Lore pulled his knees to his chest, looking off to the side in shame. Also guilt. He already felt horrible enough as it was.
"Honestly, I don't know who I'm more disappointed in. You, or Gus. He gave you alcohol without asking for ID, which was a very poor decision, but you took it, like a dumbass!"
Lore mumbled something, softly petting a very concerned Dakota. "You're the one who ignored me. We both know nothing good happens when I'm unsupervised."
"What do you mean I ignored you? You didn't say shit!"
Lore grew angry at this, canine digging into his bottom lip. He decided not to keep his mouth shut. He always did. He shuffled off his bed, "Excuse me? I told you I was going to get a drink! You were too busy with your new friends -" he makes air quotes with his hands while saying the word, "to notice! So suddenly I'm the irresponsible one?"
Oliver's eyes widen, he opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again after words failed to come.
"I don't need you to look out for me, Oliver! It's not your job! That's Dakota's. Not yours. I'm sorry that I did what I did, but I was so upset. It's… it's hard being like me. I can't watch movies, play video games, join you in pool- I can't do anything like that. I'm not like you. Yes, I'm different, but that doesn't mean I need you to protect me! Your job is to be there for me, unlike mum and dad was."
Oliver sighed, looking at his brother, who was now on the verge of tears. He quickly went over to him, arms wrapping around the younger brunette. As he did this, the tears finally spilled. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have raised my voice at you." Oli muttered, gently patting Lore's back.
"It's alright, you asshole." He pulled away, chuckling nervously, "best friends always?".
"To the moon and back." Oliver said with a smile, "but you're still grounded."
"You can't ground me-"
"I just did. Now go to your room… bed."
"Yes, mother." Lore drew out, rolling his eyes.
Laurence woke up to the sound of crying. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Oli? You okay?" He asked, yawning.
"W-what?" Oliver replied quietly, sniffling. "Of course I am."
Lore got off the bed, following the sounds of sniffles and choked back sobs. He sat down on his bed next to him. "Hey… what happened?"
"Nothing happened… I'm fine, Lory."
"You only call me Lory when you're upset. Besides, you are clearly crying right there next to me." He commented, expression softening as his cloudy eyes looked at the crying boy. Oliver just stayed quiet for a few minutes. Laurence didn't have a problem with this, he shuffled himself around so he could hug his brother. After a while, he piped up, "you don't have to tell me what happened, but can you at least tell me why you're crying?"
Oliver mumbled something, he sniffled, before answering, "ds."
That was codeword for dysphoria. Back when Oliver was only out to Laurence, they made codewords so they could communicate without their parents knowing.
Laurence frowned, patting his brothers head. "Dad again?" He asked.
"...mmhm."
Lore sighed. "I'll be right back. In the meantime, pick out some disney movies to watch." He got up, grabbing his walking stick and he began to leave the farm.
"I guess father still isn't over Oliver being a guy, huh?" He told himself, rolling his eyes. "Whatever. Who needs him? He has me and his friends. Cut the negativity from your life and keep the positives." He hummed, stopping as the white cane hit something, the smell of cigarette smoke hitting his lungs, he coughed.
"Ow- shit!" Someone said. He heard the person get up.
Laurence blinked, "oh, Yoba! I'm so sorry-" he said quickly, eyes looking around hopelessly.
The person sighed, "it's fine, Lore."
"Ehh… Sebastian?" He guessed, getting a hum of confirmation from him. He backed up a bit so he didn't smell the smoke.
"What're you doing up so early?"
"I haven't slept yet."
"... oh."
"What about you?" Seb asked back, dropping the cigarette and stepping on it, grinding it into the ground.
"Oliver is... he's not feeling well, so I'm gonna go get some ice cream from Pierre's." He explained calmly.
"You sure you know your way?"
"... not really. Dakotas still asleep and I didn't want to wake her." He answered, chuckling nervously, he rubbed his neck.
Sebastian sighed, "I'll show you there, then."
Lore's face brightened, "oh? Thank you, Sebastian! I'd probably get lost without you, heh."
Sebastian didn't reply, just started to walk off.
"huh? ...oh- oh! Ah- wait-" Lore laughed, picking up his cane, he speed walked over, slowing once he was beside him. He set his cane back down.
They walked in silence. A comfortable silence, though. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable for the both of them.
Sebastian stopped in front of the store. "I can walk you back if you want."
Laurence hummed. "no thanks. I can find my way."
Sebastian didn't reply, just turned to leave.
"Ah- wait."
"... what?"
"Get some sleep, will ya?"
Sebastian sighed. "Whatever." He walked away.
"I'll take that as a yes!" Laurence called after him, grinning to himself. He then went into the store, walking up to the counter.
"Oh, hey, Mr. Farmer." Pierre said giddily.
Laurence smiled, "hey. Do you sell ice cream here?"
"What flavour are you looking for?"
"Ah- vanilla bean would be great."
Pierre nodded, walking over to a cooler behind the counter. He pulled out a box of ice cream, setting it down on the counter. He told him the price, to which Laurence set the gold down. He grabbed the container of ice cream. "Thank you, Pierre." He smiled, turning away.
"Come back soon!"
"Oli, I'm back~" Lore swung open the door in a dramatic way, grinning ear to ear, the box of ice cream between his arms. Oliver laughed.
Lore walked over to the bed- beds. "You pushed them together?"
"Mhm. This way we wouldn't have to squish together."
"Oh, cool. What movie do you wanna watch first?" He asked, grabbing two plastic spoons from the table.
"... Mulan."
"Your favorite. Of course." He laughed slightly, smiling to himself as he came back.
"Shut up…"
"You know, Shang officially made a man out of you-" he bumped his shoulder with his own. Oliver rolled his eyes, letting out an airy laugh. He clicked play on his laptop, shuffling over a bit as Lore played next to him. Lore wasn't always blind. He watched this movie before; he knew what was happening based on the dialogue and music, so he didn't mind the fact he couldn't see it. Soon enough, Dakota woke up, only to curl up between Laurence and Oliver, heading back to sleep.
Oliver woke up before Lore, smiling to himself as he got up. "I guess we fell asleep halfway through Moana." He brushed out his hair, changing into a black and white striped shirt and black shorts. He checked the time. 8:47 AM. "Not too late. If I water the parsnips in half an hour, I should be able to be free by 10. Not bad, I guess." He told himself, making sure to keep his voice down. After 30 minutes of unpacking some of his stuff, he left the small cabin, watering can in his hands. He sat down, beginning to pour some water on the small crops.
Once he finished, he stood up, dusting the dirt off his knees. "Now that's done. Time to wake Laurence up." He turned around, only to stumble a bit as his sight met someone familiar. He narrowed his blue and brown eyes, hand settling on his hip.
"... father." He said flatly, glaring up at the man.