Chapter Text
"Achoo! Ugh…"
Emmet turned his head to face his brother, who was currently cleaning his face of mucus.
"You're really congested, Ingo…are you sure that you don't need the day off?"
Ingo focused his eyes on Emmet for a moment, before quickly averting them, seemingly embarrassed.
"I've told you a million times, Emmet, I'm absolutely fine, it's just a cold, that's all." He claimed stubbornly as he went to toss out some used tissues.
Emmet sighed, defeated. He knew all too well how not taking breaks could affect someone, but Ingo wouldn't budge. He certainly did love this place…maybe a bit too much for his own good.
Emmet adjusted his hat, "If you insist, let's get this show on the road.…or tracks.."
Ingo nodded silently in agreement, watching Emmet take hold of the horn before making his way to the train entrance.
Emmet listened nervously, looking downwards in second-hand embarrassment as he heard his twin's sickly voice ring out throughout the station,
"A-AAALLLLLL A-AAABOOAAARRRD-!! Hack, cough, hack!"
Emmet sighed again as he heard his brother finally finish his coughing fit, pulling the horn regardless, exhaustedly so. Why wouldn't Ingo listen to him? Did he do something?
A moment later, a red-faced, sickly Ingo re-entered the conductor's room. Emmet couldn't help but chuckle,
"Having trouble?" He teased playfully, trying to hide his concern for his brother.
Ingo adjusted his hat and lowered his head, passing Emmet quickly to get to the controls, "Not a word." He nearly demanded sternly, causing any amusement that Emmet felt to dissipate immediately. How could he convince Ingo that he could take care of the station himself, not to mention the fact that Ingo needed rest considering the state that he was in?
-
"Time to slow down, we're approaching our next stop!" Emmet exclaimed, only to notice that the train wasn't slowing down. Huh? He waited a few seconds, but it still had not slowed. What the-? Emmet turned his head to look at his brother, only for his jaw to drop when he realized that his brother was nodding off at the controls!
"INGO!!" Emmet screamed as he nearly jumped 3 feet in the air, catching his brother just in time as he fell back, now unconscious. Emmet grabbed the brake lever, pulling it just in time as the train approached their next stop. Just by holding his twin, he could feel Ingo shivering and sweating, along with heat nearly radiating from him, "Ingo, you’re feverish…"
Ingo blinked, easily awakened. He took a shaky breath, pushing himself out of his brother's grasp, "I told you, I'm fI-" Only to stumble and nearly fall, if it weren't for Emmet's quick reflexes in catching him, he'd be down, face-first on the floor of the train.
"Ingo, you can’t even stand! That's it, I'm taking you home." Ingo could tell that this wasn't up for debate, so he didn't bother arguing.
Emmet lifted Ingo off of his feet, carrying him bridal-style, only to almost drop him when he heard a soft whimper come from the man that he was carrying,
"I-I…I don't want to leave…"
Emmet looked down at his brother, watching in horror as tears coated his eyes, threatening to escape at any moment. Ingo continued,
"...I-I…I just got back, I…I-I missed this p-place…s-so very much…"
Emmet felt a surge of panic flow throughout his body.
"Hey, hey, don't cry!"
He slowly and gently placed Ingo on the floor, before kneeling down, wiping the tears out of his eyes,
"Trust me when I say that I know what it's like to be separated from something that you really love just after you got them back, but you'll get through it, and you'll feel even better when you return if you let yourself rest…" Emmet explained softly, attempting to reassure Ingo.
Ingo stared at his brother, shocked. He didn't usually talk that much. He must’ve really meant it.
Ingo felt another film of tears begin to coat his eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. "..I-I apologize, y-you're right.." Ingo averted his eyes, embarrassed.
Emmet giggled, "Took you long enough to admit it." He teased,
Ingo raised an eyebrow, "Don't make me change my mind…" He playfully threatened,
Emmet laughed, but nodded, before lifting his brother off of his feet again, this time carrying him out of the train station.
-
Emmet gently sat his brother onto his bed. The piece of furniture belonging to Ingo was disheveled and messy, like he had been when he first returned. That was strange. Somehow, Emmet hadn't yet noticed that Ingo had yet to return his part of their bedroom to its former glory. Emmet huffed, frustrated, before quickly moving his brother to his own bed, allowing Emmet to make his twin's bed. While Ingo rested, Emmet washed the sheets and blankets, refluffed the pillows and sorted the many items of Ingo's that had been strewn across the floor.
Returning to their room with the freshly washed sheets, he noticed that his brother was now sitting upright in the bed that Emmet had placed him in. Emmet stopped short, caught-off guard, but he quickly plastered his signature grin onto his face.
"Rest well, brother?"
No response. Emmet diverted the rest of his attention to Ingo, a faint sniffling noise hitting his hears.
"...Ingo?" Emmet asked cautiously, slowly approaching his brother, only to feel a chill snake up his spine when he heard a whimpering noise join the sniffling sound. Then shuddering breaths. Oh no.
Emmet dropped everything that he was carrying almost instantaneously before recklessly covering the rest of the distance between them in a matter of seconds.
"Brother!" Emmet exclaimed worriedly, "What's wrong!?"
Ingo lifted his head to look at Emmet with red, puffy eyes. "I'm so scared, Emmet..." His voice cracked as he spoke.
Emmet stared, confused and concerned, "Of what?" He spoke desperately.
Ingo lowered his head again, as if he was ashamed, "Of losing all of this again...leaving the subway station felt like I was losing it again...waking up without you present felt like I had lost you again...I'm so afraid, constantly afraid..." Ingo didn't even have to look back up to reveal the tears rolling down his face.
Emmet continued to stare in disbelief while his brother rambled meekly. Once Ingo had grown silent again, Emmet finally spoke, "I understand." He knelt down to meet his brother's eye-level, "I won't let anything separate us ever again, okay?" He wiped the tears off of Ingo's face for the second time today, before embracing him.
Ingo glanced back at Emmet, his ashamed expression now that of confusion. "How do you plan on doing that?" He asked, not sounding very convinced.
Emmet grinned, even wider than usual, "If I managed to get you back, then I'm sure it's not impossible to keep whatever took you at bay!" He exclaimed confidently,
Ingo couldn't help but smile faintly, "You think so?"
Emmet nodded, "I'm sure of it!" He collected the items that he had dropped earlier, bringing them to Ingo's bed as he spoke, "But in the meantime, you need to rest."
Ingo's smile quickly disappeared as he averted his eyes, "I'm not really tired..."
Emmet frowned for a second, but only for a fleeting moment as an idea came to him. "How about I read to you? That always helped us sleep!" He recommended, seemingly excited about it.
Ingo raised an eyebrow, "But we haven't done that since we were kids…" He didn't hesitate to show his doubt now.
Emmet was already walking towards a bookshelf on his side of the room, "It'd never hurt to give it a shot!" He began examining the spines of all of the books, "Give me a genre…"
Ingo went silent for a moment, "What about Sci-fi?" He suggested, a bit sheepishly.
Emmet laughed, "Of course! Why didn't I guess?" He took a book matching the genre, before striding confidently back to the foot of Ingo's bed.
Ingo averted his eyes, "You know you don't have to do this, right?" His voice lowered, as if he was embarrassed, "I can sleep on my own just fine…"
Emmet quickly shook his head, "No, I'm sure!"
Ingo chuckled, "If you insist…" He sunk into his bed, letting his muscles loosen, "Try and read with passion…"
Emmet laughed half-heartedly, "I'll try my best!" He exclaimed before taking a seat on the foot of Ingo's bed and opening the book in his lap.
Ingo allowed a smile to crawl onto his face as he listened to Emmet read intently. After a bit, though, Emmet's words slowly started to become slurred, becoming more and more incomprehensible as he was slowly taken by blissful sleep.
Emmet coughed after finishing the last sentence of the current chapter, his throat starting to hurt due to putting more oomf into his voice than he was used to.
He softly closed the book and slipped off of Ingo's bed quietly. "So, did you like my narration?" Emmet chuckled as he turned to his brother, only for his mouth to hang slightly agape at the sight of his brother, usually graceful in unconsciousness, utterly conked out.
Emmet smiled halfheartedly, "I'll take that as a yes…" He fixed Ingo's bed, before silently placing the book right back where he had found it.
He then hopped into his own bed, being much more careless now. He snuggled up with one of his many joltiks, before taking one last peek at his twin,
"Goodnight, Ingo…"