Work Text:
Lion-o looks down at the paper in his hand. He can’t help the smile that pulls at his lips. It’s a drawing of him holding up the Sword of Omens. It’s not the best work of art he’s seen, and having had to attend quite a few galleries and getting his picture painted many times before in his youth, he’s seen some expert craftsmanship. However, this one is his favorite by far, even if it’s only a stick figure with some buff armor. Even his catchphrase is written out in blocky red letters.
The candle on the floor is the only source of light in the hotel room, but with it he can see all the other drawings strewn about. Each one of the Thundercats is drawn on separate pieces of paper with something that they say often written out – often misspelled – above them. There is also one of all of them together where it looks like Wilykat is sitting on Panthro’s shoulder. Wilykit is in the middle with her hands in the air. They all have the same semi-circle of a smile, but Panthro still has his signature deep scowl.
The kittens are asleep on the floor and cuddled up to each other. They didn’t hear him when he knocked or called out to them. It’s his turn to check on them tonight while the other’s go to bed. They don’t usually stay in hotels, but it beats sleeping on the hard ground for nights on end. Next to Wilykat’s head is an open book and a piece of paper with bad writing on it. Lion-o picks up the piece of paper with his free hand and after setting down the drawing of him with his other, he also quietly picks up the book. The kittens don’t seem to react so he looks over the contents in his hands.
It’s a thick guide book about the city they’re in -probably from the night stand – and on the piece of paper are written copies of words and phrases from different pages. Some of Wilykat’s sentences seem to cut off, like he knows what he’s written means but then comes across a word he doesn’t know. Scanning the open pages of the guide, he finds the latest sentence that Wilykat was copying. There is a chance, Lion-o thinks, that Wilykat didn’t finish the last sentence because sleep got to him, but judging from the other phrases, he just couldn’t understand what the rest of the sentence was.
Only recently did the older cats learn that the kittens’ reading and writing skills weren’t that good, but they admittedly hadn’t had many reasons to read or write during their travels. At first, they put it down to the kittens’ age, but Tygra was a bit concerned that they were way behind for their age. They tried not to make a big deal out of it, so as not to humiliate the kittens, but Tygra couldn’t hold back from teaching them for very long. Wilykat’s writing is still a bit difficult to read, but he’s gotten a lot better since his first writing assignment that he showed them.
His ears twitch when he hears quiet footsteps at the open door. Looking over his shoulder, Lion-o sees his brother in the doorway, hand poised to knock. But Tygra doesn’t follow through with the motion when he sees the kittens. There’s a grin on his face, but not the one that usually annoys Lion-o, this is the one he wears when he’s proud of someone, usually the kittens. He walks over – quietly of course – and kneels beside Lion-o to look at the scattered papers as well. He rather quickly locates Wilykit’s drawing of him with his whip drawn with an exaggerated length swirling all over the page. Lion-o hands over the page of written phrases, without saying a word. Neither of them wants to speak in fear of waking the twins. Tygra accepts the paper and his smile only widen at Wilykat’s improvement.
For a moment, Lion-o feels a pang of jealousy. Many times in their youth did Lion-o proudly display his graded work or drawings that he felt proud of to his brother. But back then, Tygra was quick to criticize and mock Lion-o and his work. But after their months of travel, Lion-o has found some respect for his brother and can understand, in a way, why Tygra was so harsh. It still hurt, but compared to Lion-o, the twin never really took anything from Tygra in the way that Lion-o – while unknowingly and without a choice – did. The kittens never imposed or were ever a threat to Tygra and his self-esteem the way Lion-o was.
Tygra lets out a proud huff at the picture of all the Thundercats together. He sets the pieces of paper down before turning to his brother.
“We should probably put them to bed,” he whispers with a nod of his head towards the kittens.
“Probably,” Lion-o replies, his smile not having left his face.
He sets down the travel guide and follows his brother in standing up and quietly kneeling near the kittens. Tygra picks up Kit who was using her brother as a pillow and gently raises her to his broad chest. While he slowly makes his way over to the sole queen bed in the room, Lion-o gently cups his hands beneath Kat’s head and under his knees. Kat slightly jostles in his sleep and quietly mewls, but he otherwise doesn’t wake up. Lion-o lifts him up completely and also turns towards the bed.
With both kittens settled down, Tygra starts tucking them in. Lion-o would laugh, but Tygra has a bit of a protective streak with the kittens. It’s a discussion the two of them should probably have, but not right now. Lion-o, not wanting to just stand there awkwardly, returns to the scattered pages and the book and starts stacking them to put them out of the way. He also packs up all of Kit’s pencils and chalk.
The silence between the older brothers isn’t awkward, but it does feel a bit weird for the two of them to not have some sort of banter. But even without speaking, they both finish the small clean up and put out the candle. Tygra exits first with one last look at the sleeping kittens. Lion-o also waits a moment in the doorway, watching how the youngest of the Thundercats peacefully sleep the rest of the night away. It’s different from how rambunctious they are during the day, but he can’t say he doesn’t enjoy their liveliness after all the hardships they faced in the past few months. He closes the door slowly, holding the handle down so that the door doesn’t click when it closes.
Turning around he sees that Tygra is waiting for him, a proud smile on his face. It feels like a little boost of confidence, because so rarely is that smile directed at him. As they make their way down the hall to their respective rooms, Tygra leans over slightly with a very pleased grin.
“The drawing of me was the best one of all.”
Lion-o can only snort a laugh at that.