Chapter Text
Switching schools was never fun, but Nines thought maybe he would’ve been used to it by now. No such luck however. First day of junior year and here he was, wishing he didn’t have to leave the car. Still, all avoiding it would do was make the problem worse. Best to just get the first day over with and try to make a good first impression. First impressions were always important.
Nines opened the car door, and wondered briefly if he should say goodbye to Hank or not. He decided saying goodbye would probably be the right thing to do, said goodbye, and got out of the car. He opened the back door to grab his backpack from the floor. It had been on the seat but the large St. Bernard taking up most of the back seat had knocked it down.
“Goodbye, Sumo.” Nines scratched the top of Sumo’s head before straightening back up and slinging his backpack over one shoulder. “Are you coming Connor?”
Connor looked up at Nines from where his face was pressed into Sumo’s fur. “No.”
Nines sighed. He’d been afraid of this. “Connor we talked about this. It’s just a new school. There is nothing to be afraid of. We switched schools all the time back in elementary school, remember?”
“Yes, but that was not very fun.. I want to stay with Sumo,” Connor said firmly.
“I know, but that is not an option.” Sometimes Nines’ wished he and Connor shared some sort of psychic twin thing so he could understand how Connor worked and how to help him. Sadly, he had to learn through trial and error. “Well Sumo certainly wants you to go to school. Right, Sumo?” Sumo licked Connor’s hand. Traitor.
“No,” Connor said again, “he wants me to pet him all day, and he wants me to take him to the park. He will be very sad if he doesn’t get to go to the park today,” he told Nines.
“We can take him to the park after school.” Nines looked at Hank for help. Hank mostly stayed out of things between the two brothers. In Nines’ experience, there were two kinds of new foster parents: ones who kept a distance and ones who were so overbearing they almost smothered you. Hank was definitely in the first category, which Nines appreciated. Not that he was neglectful, for the most part, he just gave them the space they needed.
Hank seemed to pick up on Nines’ silent cue. “Y’r brother's right Connor. You can take Sumo to the park after school. Besides, he likes his morning nap.”
Connor shook his head. “No, I can’t because that would mess up the routine. School isn’t supposed to be in the routine so now there is no time to go to the park because I still have to do cleaning and Hank’s dishes from last night and I will probably get homework to do and I am supposed to do relaxing too and I have to make lunch for tomorrow and set out clothes and shower and brush my teeth and dry my hair and put on pajamas and pet Sumo goodnight and then tuck myself in and then sleep,” he rambled.
Nines weighed his options before responding. Telling him schedules had to change would probably be met with resistance. He could remind him what Lucy told them about flexibility; Connor did like Lucy, they both did. He could also offer to help him get everything in his routine done in time. Maybe a combination?
“Well if I help you get things done then there will be plenty of time to take Sumo to the park. You absolutely are not required to clean Hank’s dishes. That should be his job.” Nines’ voice darkened and he frowned. Had Connor been cleaning up after Hank? He was going to talk to him about that. “We have time in the morning to make lunches. So if you change things a little it will all fit. Remember, Lucy said that being open to change is good.” Connor frowned. He seemed unhappy at that last bit.
“Hank is messy,” he mumbled after a moment.
“And that is not your job to worry about. We can talk about that later but for now we need to go to school.” Nines sighed. Connor was avoiding the problem. He was probably mad at him for using Lucy to get him out of the car. Nines would do what he had to, though. He glanced up at Hank in the rear view mirror. He looked embarrassed. Good. If his mess was going to affect Connor, he needed to start being less of a slob. That was rude, Nines chided himself. Still, it was true.
Nines watched as Connor kissed Sumo all over his furry head, but smiled in satisfaction when his brother climbed out of the car with a small sigh. Connor shut the door and waved goodbye to the dog one last time before Hank drove off, leaving the twins alone on the sidewalk.
“Are you ready to start junior year?” Nines turned to his brother. Maybe starting at a new high school wouldn’t be so bad. It couldn’t be much worse than the cultish private school Amanda had sent them to. It would take a lot to be worse than that.
“No,” Connor said simply with a small shake of his head. Now that he didn’t have someone controlling him at all times, that seemed to be his new favorite word, Nines noticed.
“Oh.” Nines wasn’t really sure how to fix that. “Well, it will be okay. We can do it together, and no matter what happens, we will have each other’s backs.” He glanced down quickly. “Can I hold your hand? Would that help?” He knew better than to touch Connor without permission.
Connor frowned a little as he thought it over. It took a moment, but he eventually nodded, holding out his hand for his brother to take. Nines took Connor’s hand and looked forward at the school. Whatever it had to throw at them, he was sure they could take it. They had each other, after all.