Chapter Text
It had been four months since the worst day of Tommy’s life.
Well, there was actually a tie for the worst days of Tommy’s life. The first had to be the day his mother died. Even if Tommy was too young to remember it, its impact rang throughout the rest of his life.
The second, and more recent, was the day his brother died.
It had been four months exactly since Tommy picked up the phone, and was greeted by a police officer asking for his father. Four months since he handed Phil the phone, and four months since he watched his father collapse to the floor with a screeching sob.
The funeral was a terrible day, too. It was bright and sunny, just warm enough to be comfortable, as if the world didn’t understand what Tommy and his family had just lost. The black suits that they all had to wear stuck out like a sore thumb against the bright spring greenery. It was just so wrong. Everything had been wrong since Wilbur died.
He barely remembered the funeral. It was a blur of grief and well wishes from distant family members who never even sent them cards during the holidays. In some ways, he was glad he hadn’t processed it, unhealthy as that probably was. On the other hand, he couldn’t clearly remember his last goodbye to his big brother. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
After the funeral, Phil disappeared. He claimed work was busy, which would have been a valid excuse if it had ever let up. But it didn’t. He spent every day since then either at work or in his study. His other brother, Techno, did the same, throwing himself into school and fencing, even though he was already breezing through both with flying colors. But it was a distraction, that much Tommy understood. It kept them from having to face reality.
Tommy tried to do the same. First, he tried it with school, but he was already a C student at best, and it just wasn’t for him. So he moved onto clubs. Within two weeks of the funeral, he had to have joined and dropped at least fifteen different clubs. But those wouldn’t properly distract him, either.
He was stuck in reality, bleak as it was. His brother was dead, his father hid away in his study, and his other brother spent as much time away from the house as possible.
And even if Tommy understood why his family was avoiding each other, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of loneliness every time he heard Techno come home from fencing and rush to his room to sleep, or when he saw his father bring his dinner into his study instead of eating in the dining room like they always used to.
But that was life without Wilbur.
With so much free time now that his family was avoiding each other, Tommy had quickly grown bored. There were only so many games of Cut the Rope one could play before they went insane. On this particular day, his friends were both busy, so he couldn’t go see them. His bike had broken a few months ago, so he couldn’t do that. He supposed he could go to Niki’s bakery and spend some time there, but he hadn’t spoken to her since the funeral and he didn’t feel like answering any more questions about his well-being in the wake of Wilbur’s death.
That didn’t leave him with many options.
Tommy sighed and opened up his phone, about to dedicate himself to yet another game of Cut the Rope, when an idea popped into his head. It was an idea he wouldn’t have normally considered, but he was sure that if he watched Om Nom chomp on one more piece of candy, he would lose it.
So, for the first time since Wilbur died, Tommy went to the beach.
It was relatively close to his house, only about a ten minute walk away, and it usually wasn’t very busy. There were a lot of shark sightings, which scared most people off. But Wilbur had taken Tommy there since he was little, declaring that they were both big men who weren’t scared by a few sharks. It became a weekly ritual of theirs.
Sometimes, Phil and Techno would join them, but neither of them liked to get in the water for very long, so usually it was just Wilbur and Tommy. And to be honest, Tommy had never minded. It meant that he and his brother had something special to share.
Now it was just a bitter reminder of what he had lost.
But Tommy was bored out of his mind, and it had been so long since the funeral. He could handle it, especially if it meant getting out of the house for a few hours. So, he changed into his swimsuit and grabbed a beach towel out of his closet and headed down to the beach.
The beach was completely empty when he got there, unsurprisingly. There were, of course, a few seagulls, and a beware of sharks sign a bit further back, but other than that, it was Tommy, the sand, and the ocean. And he couldn’t think of anything better.
Tommy spread his towel out on the sand, despite knowing full well he wouldn’t be laying on it, and then he made his way over to the ocean. The beach was sandy, but there were a lot of large rocks that bordered the sea, perfect for someone to sit on and dip their feet in, which is exactly what Tommy did.
Usually, he would get into the water, but he was taking baby steps. The fact that he had even gone to the beach was impressive in and of itself. Besides, he was happy to just watch as the waves farther out in the sea crashed down, and as the seagulls flew about the beach. It was peaceful. He couldn’t think of anything better to do right then.
A few hours of shooing off seagulls who tried to land in his hair later, Tommy found himself thinking about the first time Wilbur had brought him to the beach. Tommy was only five, just barely old enough to remember the trip, and Wilbur was ten. Phil had given them permission to go to the beach, as long as they didn’t swim too far out to sea, and if they went swimming, there had to be an adult of some kind there, too. Wilbur had accepted the agreement, and had walked down to the beach, Tommy holding his hand the whole way, begging Wilbur to let him swim around without anyone holding onto him. Wilbur had agreed, probably just to get him to stop asking, and the two had claimed the largest rock on the shore to be their rock. Wilbur had laid out their blankets and bag of toys on top of it, and declared that this was their home base, and if Tommy ever got lost, he was to come back to the rock.
Tommy had eagerly agreed, and begged Wilbur to go into the water with him. Wilbur had made sure that they were each wearing a life vest first, and blew up Tommy’s arm floaties, despite his protests of not needing them.
“Even big men need to wear floaties, Tommy,” Wilbur had said, and Tommy remembered pouting.
“But you and Dad and Techie don’t wear them,” Tommy said, crossing his arms as best he could with the floaties on.
Wilbur had smiled. “And one day, you won’t have to either. But until you complete your swimming lessons with Dad, you have to wear them.”
Tommy remembered deciding that he was going to finish them the next day, and Wilbur had laughed and told him that it might take longer than that before hopping off of the rock and getting into the water.
Tommy had quickly followed him, insistent on swimming out as far as he could without Wilbur’s help, though he could tell that his brother was following closely behind him, arms likely outstretched in case anything happened.
Back then, Tommy was upset with him, but now Tommy knew that Wilbur was just taking care of him. Wilbur had always taken care of him, even though he didn’t have to. Phil had been a very involved parent, and Techno would take care of Tommy sometimes, too, but Wilbur took him to their rock every week, helped him make his lunches for school, helped him study for his hardest tests, and when Tommy asked enough, Wilbur would let him sit in his room and the two would talk while Wilbur played his guitar, far past both of their bedtimes, until Tommy fell asleep on the beanbags in the corner of Wilbur’s room and Wilbur fell asleep with just enough time to put down his guitar.
Little things that hadn’t happened in so long. Little things that Tommy missed, that he missed so much that it made his heart ache. That he asked what they had done to deserve this loss. Why Tommy had to go about the rest of his life without one of his brothers.
But, as always, the void never answered, and Tommy was harshly snapped back to reality, where a seagull was pecking at his knee, and his feet were freezing in the ocean, and the waves were beautiful and the beach was peaceful but it wasn’t the same and it never would be the same again because his brother wasn’t there.
Tommy needed to leave.
He shooed off the seagull and pulled his feet out of the water in one swift motion, hurrying to pick up his towel from the sand. He shook it out as he walked, only sparing one glance back at the place he had missed for so long but couldn’t bear to stay in.
In the distance, he saw something moving across the top of the water. It looked dark, and the fin that followed had Tommy assuming it was a shark. It was probably for the best that he was leaving, then.
Tommy went back home, feeling just as empty as he had when he left.
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“Have I ever told you the story of the sirens?”
Wilbur and Techno both froze from where they were play-fighting on the living room floor to look at their mother.
“Sirens?” Techno asked first, breaking away from Wilbur. Wilbur made a sound in protest, but also gave his mother a questioning look.
“I’ll take that as a no,” she laughed, patting the seat next to her on the sofa. “Sit with me and I’ll tell you the story.”
The young twins both scrambled to the seats next to her, snuggling into her side in anticipation of the story. They loved her stories.
Once they had finished settling in, their mother began to speak.
“The sirens are creatures of the sea, kind of like merfolk. They’re best known for their singing, which allows them to control the mind of whoever listens,” she began.
“Woah,” Techno breathed. “That’s so cool!”
Their mother laughed. “It is,” she said. “But most sirens use it for the purposes of evil. You see, they aren’t kind creatures. They use their song to drive sailors into rocks, sinking their ships.”
“That’s not very nice,” Wilbur chimed in.
“It isn’t. As I said, they aren’t kind creatures. But not all of them are so bad. One of my friends was a siren, and we were great friends,” their mother explained. “They used to meet me by the shore and we would swim together and play in the shallows. We were the best of friends.”
“What happened to them?” Wilbur asked.
“Well, we were the closest friends each other had, until one day when the siren disappeared.” Their mother’s face darkened. “I don’t know what happened. It was devastating. But sometimes people have to move cities, and sirens have to move pods, so I guess that's probably what happened.”
“That’s sad,” Wilbur said.
His mother smiled. “I suppose there are happier stories out there. But the sad stories are typically the most important ones.”
“I want to meet a siren someday,” Wilbur said. “A kind one, who will be my friend, too.”
His mother chuckled sadly. “I’m sure you will, honey.”
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“I want to meet a siren someday,” Tommy said once Wilbur finished telling the siren story, snuggling into his brother’s side sleepily. “They’ll be my best friend, just like Mum’s friend was.”
Wilbur smiled sadly, his own, similar reply years ago echoing in his mind. “I’m sure you will, Toms.”