Chapter Text
The sky was dark and the stars twinkled in the air, clouds sparsely moving to cover them. The moon wasn’t very high in the sky quite yet, but it illuminated the forest well. The leaves were oranges, reds, and browns, falling to dry up on the dirt below. Many critters were asleep, and the wood was quiet aside from an occasional breeze and the crunching of leaves.
“Darned sister…” the Snork mumbles to himself, stomping along the path and crushing the leaves beneath his feet. “Haven’t a clue where she is and it’s been hours since she was supposed to be home… Could be with Moomintroll, but she could also be in trouble… Wouldn’t be surprised,” he huffs, his fur red opposed to its normal mauve. “Hope I haven’t missed her,” he says, looking up and around the forest, pulling his hood down from over his head. “Certainly I would have heard her yell if she needed help… Pah, whatever. If she’s not with the Moomins then I’ll have something to worry about.”
The Snork continued to go along to Moominhouse, slowly letting the anger within him go and turning to worry and his color to green. Once he found the blue house on the hill he quickly ran for the door. “Moomins!” He called, hoping one would hear him before he even got to the door. He forces himself to a halt before knocking on the door, and finding it almost immediately opened by Moominmamma.
“Good evening, Snork, is there something the matter?” She asks, moving away from the doorway to let him inside.
“Well, I don’t quite know where Snork Maiden is, she was supposed to be home about three hours ago, but I didn’t see her on my way here and-” the Snork explains breathlessly.
“Oh, do calm down, dear. She’s just upstairs with Moomintroll, they’re getting ready for bed. I had no idea she was meant to go home for the evening, else I would have sent her off. Are you okay?” Moominmamma asks, moving from the living room into the kitchen, Snork trailing behind her.
“Yes, ma’am, I’m alright now…”
“Good. Would you like to stay too?” She asks, offering him a glass of water. “I’d hate for you to walk all the way back home after just arriving, especially in the dark like this.”
“Oh, no, I would just like to speak with my sister before I go,” he says. “And thank you for the drink. I got quite excited when I saw your house…”
Moominmamma gives a soft smile, “Of course. They’re upstairs in Moomintroll’s room, and I’ll be downstairs a while longer cleaning up the house. If you do end up staying overnight you don’t need to ask permission or let me know, but do tell me if you leave so I can give you something for the road.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Of course,” Moominmamma says before giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder and returning to the kitchen sink and cleaning her family’s mess.
Snork smiles at her a moment, his color settling back to mauve. He finishes his water and gently sets the glass beside the sink while she works before heading upstairs.
Up the spiral staircase there was a hallway with a few doors, and at the end a window with a string above it to a door to the attic. The hallway was surprisingly uncluttered compared to the rest of the house. To the right there was one door partially cracked open with soft laughter coming from within, all other rooms silent.
“Oh, silly Moomintroll, you can’t just say things and expect me to get what you mean,” Snorkmaiden says with a giggle, carefully brushing out her tail.
“But it’s true! Yesterday I saw a-”
There came a knock from the door.
“.. um, hold on,” Moomintroll says, moving to the door before opening it wide. There stood Snork, who quickly looked past Moomintroll and to his sister, who seemed none too pleased to see him. “Hello, Snork! What’re you doing here?” the Moomin asks.
“I came to talk to my sister, is all.”
“Certainly! Snorkmaiden, I’m going to go to get extra blankets and pillows in the meantime. Are you staying, Snork?” He asks.
“Oh, no. I don’t intend to stay the evening. I’ll only be a few minutes, hopefully,” the Snork explains, stepping past Moomintroll and into the bedroom.
“Okay… Well, it’d be no trouble if you decide to stay! I’ll go get that stuff now,” and with that Moomintroll was quick down the stairs, Snork shutting the door behind him.
“What is it?” Snorkmaiden asked, giving him an annoyed glare. “Is there something wrong?”
“Yes, there is. I really would have appreciated it if you’d come home when you said you would instead of staying here. You had me worried sick, Snorkmaiden,” Snork says. “You were supposed to be home three hours ago, I was scared you might have gotten hurt on the way home or something like that,” he says, approaching his sister.
“Well I can handle myself perfectly well, and you should know by now I change my mind about how long I wish to spend with Moomintroll all the time.”
“When we first met him you almost died because of a bush,” Snork comments with a roll of his eyes.
“And I stopped Moomintroll from dying to a giant octopus!” Snorkmaiden counters, raising her voice and beginning to turn red. “You need to learn that I very well can manage myself and whatever situation I may find myself in. I can be resourceful and not only take care of myself but others too! If I decide I don’t want to come home exactly when we’ve discussed that’s entirely my business and not one bit yours!”
“You know I’m only worried about your well being, right?” Snork asks, looking her over.
She gives a huff and opens the door. “I’d really like it if you went back home and left Moomintroll and I to enjoy our evening. I’m not an infant, I know the way home, and if you’re so scared for my safety then I know that Moomintroll and the rest of the Moomins would keep me safe. Don’t expect me home at any specific time tomorrow, or even tomorrow at all.”
“Snorkmaiden, you’re overreacting, I didn’t intend to upset you.”
“Well you did, and I’d appreciate if you left now. I don’t want to have a meeting about this when I get home either, unless you make me the head of the meeting, as it’s my choice to how much time I spend where and with who.”
“Snorkmaiden-”
“No! Not another word! Away with you!” She takes Snork’s arm and shoves him out of Moomintroll’s bedroom and into the hallway before slamming the door shut.
“...What happened in there?” Moomintroll asks quietly from down the hall, approaching Snork carefully with his arms full of pillows and blankets. “Are you ok? Is Snorkmaiden?”
Snork sighs, “Oh, yes. She’s fine, I’m fine… Just an argument between siblings. You and Little My have them don’t you?” He asks.
“Not necessarily, she may play a trick on me or make me mad, but there’s never really an argument to be had. We get along well enough, even though we’re as different as can be. So what was all that about?”
“She’s displeased because I fretted over her a little, we arranged that she’d be home three hours ago, but she decided to stay the night instead… I was worried about her, is all.”
“Oh… Well, I know she wants you to leave, but I got enough pillows and blankets for you to stay the night too, since it’s so late.”
“I appreciate that, but I don’t think it’d be the best of ideas,” Snork says
“You could sleep on the couch downstairs, I’m sure Mamma wouldn’t mind, especially after such a fuss.”
“No..”
“Yeah, yeah! Here, let’s go ask Mamma.” Moomintroll says, setting everything down on the ground beside his door before taking the Snork’s hand and leading him down into the living room.
Moominmamma sat in her chair in the living room, the fire low and quietly knitting to pass time before bed.
A cry from Snork interrupts the relative quiet, “Really Moomintroll, I can make the way back home, it’s okay!”
Moominmamma looks up to the two boys rushing down the stairs. “Good evening boys. Everything alright?”
“Mhm! Can Snork sleep on the couch tonight? It’s really late but he and Snorkmaiden got into a fight, so he doesn’t want to sleep in my room with us,” Moomintroll explains rather quickly.
“So that’s what all that was… Mm, yes I don’t see why he can’t, and if Snorkmaiden changes her mind then you wouldn’t mind having him stay in there with you, would you?”
“No, of course not. Here, Snork, let me get the stuff I set aside for you,” Moomintroll says before running upstairs without any time for Snork to have any input.
Snork sighs, “Goodness.. I meant to leave, Moominmamma, but-”
Moominmamma shakes her head, “No, I understand. My little Moomintroll can be rather insistent, can’t he? Here, I can help you get ready for bed, then. He is right, it’s rather late. It could be best you stayed,” she says, rising from her chair and setting her project aside. She carefully undoes his cloak for him and hangs it up. “There are snacks in the kitchen if you find yourself hungry, and Moomintroll will help you make your bed. I’ll be rounding up Moominpappa, so if you need me I’ll be in the second door on the left of the hallway, okay, dear?”
“Yes ma’am, thank you…”
“Of course.”
Moomintroll comes racing down the stairs, out of breath by this point with all the running up and down, before setting two blankets and a pillow down by the couch. “I didn’t know how many pillows you wanted, but Snorkmaiden said you only ever used one your whole life, so,” he says with the occasional pause for air.
Snork gave an unconvincing smile, “Oh, thank you, Moomintroll.. Ah, um.. Really, I think I should go home, though…”
“It’s no bother to us! Here,” Moomintroll began to set up the blankets, and Moominmamma gives a soft chuckle from the stairwell.
“Sleep well, you two.” She bids, before going to retrieve her husband from his study.
“Night, Mamma!” calls Moomintroll, and the Snork gives a quiet thanks.