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“Bubba? Is there any macaroni left? Please tell me there is!”
Remus looked up from his bowl of macaroni he was hunched over, his spoon halfway up to his lips with a plethora of cheese covered macaroni pieces overflowing from it. His nails were cracked, but other than that, he was remarkably well kempt compared to his surroundings. His mustache was covered in a thin layer of watery cheese, as a type of cheesy milk mustache.
His surroundings were clean, in the sense that there was no visible grime or dirt on the items, but on the border of the kitchen, there was a bunch of cardboard boxes covering almost every inch, leaving a sliver of walking space to the table and the cooking space.
In the kitchen doorway, there was a younger boy who looked about 6-8 years old with a pair of large glasses and a slightly wrinkled cardigan tied around his neck, a short sleeved light blue shirt under that and a pair of khaki shorts that had a very small hole on the leg of it. His eyes were wide and they were already glistening and damp, as if he already knew what the answer was. The boy sniffled, but his expression remained a smile despite the tears Remus could see the tears just about to spill over .
Remus glanced down at his macaroni, staring into his bowl for a long moment before dramatically groaning, stretching himself out while cradling his stomach.
“Well, while I got the rest of the pot, and for that I’m sorry Patton, I don’t think I could eat anymore of mine. You can have the rest of mine Patton, I’m full.” Remus announced, maybe slightly louder than normal, picking up his bowl to show Patton how much macaroni was in it. Remus’s bowl was filled almost to the brim, as he had just started to eat.
Remus sighed gratifyingly as he saw Patton’s eyes light up, and Remus could swear they almost looked like the cartoon stars or heart eyes he remembered from... before.
“Really Bubba?! I get all of that?! Thank you!” Patton ran in from the doorway, not going for the bowl itself as Remus initially assumed, but instead slammed into the side of Remus, hugging him fiercely, squeezing as hard he could. Remus brought his hands out like he was prepared to brace himself when Patton slammed into his side, eye bugging out for a moment.
The moment passed quickly, Remus’s brain catching up with his body, Remus smiling down at Patton as he brought his head up from nuzzling against Remus to look Remus in the eyes, getting on his tiptoes as placing a kiss on Remus’s cheek.
Remus felt as if his insides were melting as Patton was so adorable as he did that. Continuing his theatrics, Remus quickly brought his hand up to cup where Patton kissed him.
“Oh, I’ve been given love! What ever shall I do?” Remus dramatically fell out of his chair, falling to the ground still cupping Patton’s kiss. He nearly smiled as he heard a giggle from above him, seeing Patton covering his mouth to try to suppress his giggles despite his eyes crinkling obviously in laughter.
“Bubba, I gave you love, not a punch, that’s Robba’s job!” Patton exclaimed, and Remus’s heart melted even more as Patton ended his sentence with another giggle.
Remus didn’t let up, turning onto his belly and pulling himself with one hand, of course still cupping Patton’s kiss with the other, towards the nearest empty cardboard box that wasn’t being used.
“I must hide myself in a box til I recover from this love!” Remus clawed his way to the box, trying to heave himself into it from the floor, but accidentally brought it open side first onto himself instead, casting Remus into darkness as it surrounded him.
Muffled slightly by the box, Remus heard Patton exclaim, “Bubba!” His voice was concerned, but not overly scared, though the giggles were gone.
To try to bring them back, Remus continued his dramatics, clutching his heart even though Patton couldn’t see him, “I have enough love, please return in 24 hours or if you have eaten your macaroni.”
Remus smiled as he heard Patton whisper to himself through the box, “Okay, gotta eat so Bubba can get more love!”
The padding of Patton’s feet rapidly fled, Remus hearing the kitchen chair scoot forwards, likely so Patton could reach the table for the macaroni. He heard desperate eating sounds as Patton dug in, and Remus spoke up again, adding a stipulation to his dramatic requirements for more love.
“If you have eaten your macaroni normally, enjoying the taste like you’re eating normally.” Remus waited a moment, hearing Patton stop, the eating sounds slowing down just like he requested.
However, he didn’t enjoy that fact for too long as he jumped where he sat, yelping as the box around him was hit by something repeatedly. It wasn’t until he heard a tiny giggle, tinier than Patton’s that Remus understood who it was.
Remus raised the box, pressing his face against the floor to get visual confirmation of his suspicion, and he got both visual and auditory confirmation as he heard the person banging on the box babble, “Bu Bu Ba Ba!”
“Jani! Don’t bang on Remus’s box, he has enough love, but if I eat this macaroni he can get more!” Patton instructed Janus, who Remus saw clear as day with a faded snake onesie on, his pudgy toddler hands slamming against the box without pretense.
Remus waited for Janus to notice Remus’s eye looking from under the box, but Janus in his toddler way was to focused on patting the box to notice. Remus got a devious idea, his smile turning wicked as he waited for Janus to bring back his hands before he struck.
In a flash, Remus brought the box up, causing Janus to swing his hands into open air, tipping him off balance, Remus wasn’t perturbed as he caught Janus as his head tipped down, rolling him in almost a somersault fully into Remus’s arms, the box falling to the floor again, casting both of them into darkness.
But instead of the happy gurgle Remus expected as Janus had been asking for him, he heard a tearful sniff and then heard felt Janus begin to whine, squirming in Remus’s arms immediately. Remus suddenly realized how Janus would be feeling, suddenly being in a dark place, unable to see, and just as Janus burst into full on tears, Remus threw off the box fully, cringing at the unintentionally loud sound.
Remus cradled Janus, looking over at Patton, who was staring at him with wide eyes, a piece of macaroni falling from his lips. He heard sounds coming from the living room before his identical twin Roman scrambled into the kitchen, shouting, “What happened? Who’s hurt? I heard-”
Roman cut himself off as he saw Remus holding Janus while sitting on the kitchen floor, the cardboard box a distance away behind him. Roman didn’t hesitate to retrieve Janus from Remus’s arms, though, as Remus was not attempting to bounce or sway Janus to comfort him. Roman did so, whispering soothing words to Janus while glaring at Remus, who stared at his empty hands for a moment before rolling his eyes at Roman’s glare.
“What happened?” Roman asked roughly, a subtle edge to his voice as Janus’s cries slowly grew quieter.
Remus went to answer, but Patton, with a mouthful of macaroni, answered first, turning halfway around to face the twins.
“Robba! Bubba gave me his macaroni and I gave him a love kiss on his face and then he said that if I wanted to give him more love I would have to eat my macaroni, cause he hid in the box. But Jani walked in a started to pat the box and Remus made the box eat him, Jani did a cool flip too! But Jani started crying cause he doesn’t like the dark, so Remus threw the box away to get in the light. Remus, if you aren’t covered by the box, can I give you love now?” Patton rattled off the events, and Remus could’t tell if Patton took a single breath in that whole monologue.
Remus spoke up, affirming what happened, “Yeah, what Patton said. And Patton... sure.”
Patton immediately bounded up, side hugging Remus, Remus letting out a grunt as the wind was nearly knocked out of him, ignoring Roman’s glare once more.
“You really need to learn how to interact with Janus properly, he’s not like Patton or Logan or even Emile, even if it hasn’t been long since Emile was this small. He needs consistency and security, and unlike you as his age, he’s afraid of the dark, Remus.”
“Bold of you to assume I know how to handle ANYTHING properly.” Remus retorted, patting Patton leg as he watched Janus rub his eyes as he stopped crying, looking almost like Roman as he glared for a moment at Remus before paradoxically making grabby hands at Remus.
Roman begrudgingly allowed Janus to squirm into Remus’s arms, Janus gurgling and shouting “Bu Ba Bu Ba!” as he patted Remus’s shoulder enthusiatically.
Remus started bouncing Janus like Roman was, but was much less pronounced than Roman’s.
“I’m surprised Remy, Virgil, or even Logan didn’t come running.” Remus absentmindedly remarked as he brought Janus out from him, bringing him in playfully to rub noses, making baby sounds at him. Roman frowned, running his hand through his hair, frowning, considering Remus’s words.
“Yeah that is odd. It is The Day so-” Roman froze, hand frozen in his hair eyes gazing at the floor where he was in thought, Remus looked at Roman was he cut himself off, eyebrows furrowed.
“It’s The Day.” Roman repeated, whipping up to look Remus directly in the eyes. Remus looked blankly back into Roman’s eyes before realization sparked in Remus’s eyes, his breathing increasingly rapidly.
And suddenly, they ran out of the kitchen, Remus grabbing Patton from his side as they sprinted towards their other brother’s bedrooms.
Remus hoped it wasn’t true, but only time would tell as he threw open the first door.