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The school yard was a fun place, most of it being covered in trees. The tall pine tree’s branches hung low, creating a canopy that everyone loved to use as forts or pretend houses. Smaller trees were fun to run between. The roots and rocks made great obstacles for different games and races.
But Emmet’s favourite place was the climbing tree.
Now, everyone knew that they weren’t supposed to climb the tree. But it was fine as long as no one told the teachers. And no one would! Because everyone loved the climbing tree.
That’s were Emmet and Ingo were this recess. Ingo wasn’t that good at climbing, so he stayed on the ground as lookout. Emmet, however, was up in the branches with a couple other kids.
And he was determined to win.
He and the other kids in his class that liked to climb the tree had set up a competition. It was simple, whoever climbed the highest won. They had set up brackets and took turns each recess climbing since the tree was only big enough for about three of them.
Emmet was close to the final round. If he could climb the highest today, he would get to compete in tomorrow’s lunch recces event and finally show everyone how good he was at climbing.
He was between the other two kids in the tree. Henry was above him and Grace was below him. Henry pulled himself onto a branch and sat down.
“Bet you can’t beat me!” he called down.
Grace whined, then huffed, “I give up. The branches are too wobbly up there.”
Emmet looked at the branches around and above him. He squinted in thought.
“What about you, Emmet?” Henry taunted, “Give up?”
Emmet shook his head and started climbing again. He got up to the branch Henry was on and tapped his leg, trying to tell him to move over. Henry got the message and shimmed across the branch a little.
He pulled himself up, then grabbed the next branch above them. It was thinner than the others and shook as Emmet pulled himself up. But if he could get up here, then there was no way he would lose tomorrow.
“Woah!” Grace called from the ground, “That’s super high, Emmet!”
“Emmet!” Ingo yelled up, running over to the base of the tree, “Emmet, be careful!”
Emmet managed to give Ingo a thumbs up, wobbling a bit where he sat.
“Okay, fine,” Henry huffed, climbing down, “You win.”
Emmet kicked his feet his with an excited hum. He won today! He was going to win the final tomorrow for sure.
“Okay, Emmet,” Ingo called up again, worry clear in his voice now, “Please come down!”
Not wanting to scare his brother anymore, Emmet swung around and prepared to climb back down.
There was a crack. Emmet froze.
“Emmet?” Ingo called up again.
He just had to be careful. That was all. It would be fine.
He shifted again. There was another crack.
New plan, go fast. Then he would be off this branch before anything happened.
Crack!
Uh oh.
Emmet tried to grab onto the tree. He missed.
He fell.
Emmet hit the ground hard. A sharp pain stabbed up one of his legs as he crumpled.
“EMMET!” Ingo yelled, dropping down next to him. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
Emmet pulled himself up to sit and looked at his leg. It still hurt. He poked at it, trying to find out if it was just sore or really hurt. Everything seemed fine, until he got to his ankle.
He poked it, causing another burst of pain to shoot up his leg. He whined as tears sprung to his eyes.
“Okay, it’s okay,” Ingo reassured, sounding like he was trying not to cry too. “We can… We can find a teacher and get some ice and it’ll be fine.”
“Me and Henry can go find one!” Grace said. “Should we say that you tripped and didn’t fall from the climbing tree?”
Emmet hadn’t thought of that. He was going to get everyone in trouble all because he had got hurt. He nodded, trying even harder not to cry.
“Okay!” Henry said, running off with Grace, “We’ll be right back!”
Emmet and Ingo sat under the tree for a little bit, waiting for a teacher. Then Emmet realised something. After wiping his tears away, he tapped on Ingo’s shoulder to get his attention.
“How do I get inside? I think walking will hurt,” Emmet signed.
“Oh! Um…” Ingo trailed off, wiping at his own face. “I- I could carry you?”
“How?”
“On my back? Like how Dad does it. Do you wanna try?”
Emmet nodded, then stood up with Ingo’s help, keeping off his hurt foot the best he could. Ingo let go and crouched in front of Emmet.
“All aboard the Ingo Express!” he said. Despite trying to hide it, Emmet could hear the nervous waver in his voice.
Emmet wrapped his arms around Ingo’s neck and let Ingo pick him up. It took a minute for Ingo to rebalance himself, but once he did, he started walking the way Grace and Henry had run off.
It took a few steps for Emmet to notice that Ingo had forgotten something. He tapped Ingo.
“What?” Ingo said, stepping over a root carefully, “Are you okay?”
“Whoo whoo!” Emmet called, imitating a train whistle. It was what they always did when they got to ride on the Dad Express.
Ingo laughed, small at first, but soon building into his normal loud giggling.
They met up with Henry and Grace, a teacher behind them, a little while later. The teacher told them to go inside and get some ice from the office. Ingo went directly inside, not listening to the teacher saying that he didn’t need to carry Emmet.
“Excuse me, Miss V,” Ingo said, walking into the empty office, “Emmet needs ice for his ankle. He tripped.”
The secretary, Miss V, walked in from the hall to the teacher’s room. “Sorry, I was having lunch. What did you say about ice?”
“Emmet tripped. He needs some ice for his ankle.”
“Alright, I’ll go get some and take a look,” Miss V said, “Why don’t you two go wait on the chairs in the hall. I’m sure Emmet’s getting heavy if you carried him all the way from outside, Ingo.”
“He’s not heavy, Miss V,” Ingo said, “He’s my brother.”
-----
Emmet hated Wednesdays.
He had a two-hour lecture at eight in the morning. That wouldn’t usually bother him that much, but it was immediately followed by a second two-hour lecture across campus. Not only that, he had another lecture and a weekly seminar in the afternoon. At least he had an hour or two break between things by then, but he had to stay on campus since there wasn’t enough time to go home and come back.
At least the day was done now and his seminar had ended early. He just had to wait for Ingo to leave his class and then they could go home.
The chair across from him at the table he was resting at screeched across the floor. Emmet glanced up, wondering who thought sitting across from someone who probably looked like they were sleeping was a good idea.
“Hey, Emmet,” Elesa said, sitting down, “Are you waiting for class?”
Emmet took a breath. It was just Elesa, not a random stranger to get annoyed at. He put his head back down as he said, “No. Ingo does. I am waiting for him. You?”
He heard Elesa put her bag on the table. “Nah, I just got out. We had to change rooms because of those renovations down in B Hall. Then I saw you and thought I’d say hi.”
Emmet hummed. If Elesa just got out of class, that meant Ingo should be done soon.
As if on cue, he felt a light tap on his back. “I’m done, Emmet.”
“My class got moved,” Elesa said for some reason as Emmet sat up and stretched. “Are you alright, Emmet? You didn’t really respond to anything until Ingo tapped you.”
Ah.
“I did not hear you. Sorry,” Emmet apologised, “Verrrry long day. Been on campus since eight.”
“Yikes,” Elesa winced, “It’s five now.”
“I know,” Emmet whined, flopping back against the hard plastic chair.
“At least you don’t have any classes tomorrow,” Ingo said, “We don’t have lab this week.”
Emmet weakly raised a fist into the air. “Woo hoo.”
Elesa laughed as she stood. “Did you two want a ride home? I drove today since I needed to do groceries before I went home.”
“We wouldn’t want to inconvenience you,” Ingo said.
“We can take the train,” Emmet chimed in.
“Don’t worry about it!” Emmet laughed, “Besides, Emmet looks like he needs a bed as soon as possible.”
“Mmm… Bed,” Emmet hummed.
“If you truly don’t mind, Elesa,” Ingo continued, actually providing to the conversation, “We would love the ride.”
“Alright! My car’s a bit of a hike. I tucked in the back of Lot F.”
“That’s behind the Charles building, correct?”
“Yeah. It’s about a fifteen minute walk.”
“It’s a little quicker to get to the closest station from here. But I am willing to walk longer for the ride. What about you, Emmet?”
Emmet groaned, finally standing and grabbing his bag. “I do not want to walk. But I will. I love the subway, but I do not want to deal with a crowded train car right now.”
“Well then,” Ingo said, a look in his eye, “simply do not walk.”
“How are we going to get to Elesa’s car like that?” Emmet asked.
“Elesa, I hate to ask you for more,” Ingo said, turning to her, “but could you carry my bag?”
Elesa took Ingo’s bag, asking, “Uh, yeah why?”
Ingo turned around and crouched slightly. “All aboard the Ingo Express.”
Emmet couldn’t help but giggle a little as he wrapped his arms around Ingo’s neck, letting him pick him up. “It has been a while since the Ingo Express. Will you be okay with my bag?”
Ingo shimmied a little, readjusting Emmet slightly. “I believe I will be good. It is just your binder and pencil case in there at this point since you ate all your food.”
“And my water bottle.”
“Well, that is a given.”
Elesa laughed. “Okay, okay. Let’s go.”
“Not without the whistle,” Ingo said, “It’s important.”
“The what?” Elesa asked.
“Whoo whoo!” Emmet called out with a laugh.
“Full steam ahead!” Ingo said, walking down the hall.
Emmet didn’t say much during the walk to Elesa’s car, instead resting his head on Ingo’s shoulder and listened to Ingo and Elesa talk. It was nice to have a break after such a long day.
“How long are you planning on carrying him,” Emmet heard Elesa ask once they left the building.
“All the way to your car,” Ingo said, the rumble of his voice soothing, “It is not like he’s that heavy. He’s my brother.”
-----
It had been long day at work. Not bad, just long. Emmet was more than happy that it was over. Now he and Ingo could go home, enjoy dinner, and relax for the evening.
Ingo nudged him, knocking him out of his musings of what to make for dinner. “Hey, Emmet, look over there.”
Emmet looked towards the park they were walking past. There was a group of schoolkids, no older than eight or nine, running around as they carried each other on their backs.
“I remember when we did that,” Emmet laughed, “It was verrrry fun.”
Emmet didn’t trust the look in Ingo’s eye as he said, “Well, who said we had to stop?”
“We are grown adults,” Emmet said. "Subway Bosses."
Apparently, that wasn’t a good enough reason, as Ingo stood, slightly crouched, in front of Emmet. “All aboard the Ingo Express!”
“I am not doing this.” Emmet tried to step around Ingo, who only blocked him again.
“You were just complaining about how tired you were from work.”
“I can still walk home.”
“Nope! I have decided that I’m carrying you.”
“Fine,” Emmet sighed, wrapping his arms around Ingo’s neck and letting himself be picked up. “But only if you do the dishes tonight.”
“A fair compromise!” Ingo said, adjusting Emmet slightly to get a better hold on his legs. “Now, we just need the whistle.”
“I am not doing that!” Emmet hissed, “You already got me on your back.”
“The Ingo Express cannot depart without a whistle, Emmet. You know this.”
“You are blocking foot traffic.”
Ingo shuffled over. “I am standing to the side and doing no such thing. Besides, aren’t older brothers supposed to humour their younger ones?”
Emmet wasn’t letting him have this one. “Don’t give me that. You’re the older brother right now.”
“I gave you the Big Brother Pass this morning.”
“And I returned it at lunch.”
“And I slipped it in your coat pocket before we left.”
“Excuse me?”
Emmet tightened his hold with one hand and rummaged around in his pocket with the other. Sure enough, he pulled out the decades old, laminated at the library for preservation, slip of paper, reading ‘Big Brother Pass’ in blocky, childish handwriting.
Emmet slapped it against Ingo’s hat. “Bastard.”
“Language, Emmet.” Ingo laughed. “You’re supposed to be a good example for your sweet baby brother.”
Emmet put the pass back in his pocket and wrapped his arm around Ingo again. “Whoo whoo...”
“Louder.”
Emmet scoffed. “Come on.”
“Louder.” Ingo repeated, the corners of his mouth flicked up.
Fine. Two can play at that game.
“WHOO WHOO!” Emmet shouted, not caring that he was next to Ingo’s ear.
Ingo was, rudely, unaffected. “Full steam ahead!” he called, finally starting to walk again.
Emmet couldn’t help but chuckle at the fading calls of the kids in the park as they copied him.
A few blocks later, they were nearing their budding.
“Alright,” Emmet said, patting Ingo’s shoulder, “you can put me down now.”
“You cannot disembark yet. Our terminal is our apartment,” Ingo said. “You may have to help with the keys, though.”
“Really, you can put me down,” Emmet insisted, felling Ingo shift him slightly. “I am probably getting too heavy.”
“That is nonsense, Emmet. You would never be too heavy,” Ingo said, glancing back at him with a smile. “You’re my brother.”
-----
Out of all the places and scenarios Emmet had ever imagined finding Ingo, hearing him shout then hit the ground in the forest wasn’t one of them.
He wasn’t even sure it was Ingo at first. What were the chances? Emmet had to be mistaken or hearing things. But he still went to check. He had to, even if it wasn’t Ingo, someone could be hurt.
But sure enough, there Ingo was, face down on the ground. His coat was splayed around him, hat knocked off, arms pinned under him from failing to catch himself. One of his feet was caught in a small hole, likely what had caused his trip to the ground.
Emmet couldn’t say anything, just slowly crouch to the ground and reach out towards Ingo’s hat. He hesitated right before touching it. What if it disappeared when he did? What if this was all just some mean dream and he woke up alone again?
Emmet picked up the hat.
And it was real. It had weight. Emmet could feel the old fabric, the scuffed brim, the scratched emblem under his fingers.
“Where is-” Emmet heard Ingo say before he cut himself off, whispering, “It’s you.”
Emmet finally managed to look up from the tattered hat. Ingo was sitting up now, staring at Emmet, tears already threatening to fall. One of his legs was sticking out awkwardly.
“In- Ingo?” Emmet choked out.
Ingo nodded, wiping furiously at his eyes in an attempt to clear them. “Yes, yes Emmet. It’s me! It’s you!”
Then they were hugging and laughing and crying there on the forest floor. Neither could get out anything more than half formed words between it all. An absolute mess, the both of them.
Eventually, they managed to calm down and pull away from each other. They still held tight to the other’s arms, neither wishing to let go quite yet.
“I have- I have s-so much to tell- tell you,” Ingo stuttered out, eyes bright.
Emmet laughed lightly. “You do. But at home. After we rest.”
“Yes,” Ingo sighed, leaning against Emmet again, “Home… Home sounds good.”
“One more hug?” Emmet asked.
Ingo’s response was wrapping his arms tight around Emmet again.
When they finally managed to separate long enough to stand, Emmet was quick to notice Ingo favouring one leg.
“Are you injured?” Emmet asked, already at Ingo’s side and preparing to help.
“I think I twisted my ankle slightly when I fell,” Ingo said. He put some weight onto it and hissed, immediately balancing on one foot again. “Or a lot.”
“We will have to make a stop for maintenance before going home,” Emmet said, “There is a PokeCenter nearby.”
They made it a total of three steps of Ingo using Emmet as a crutch before Emmet had a better idea. After informing Ingo of this and getting out from under his arm, Emmet stood in front of him, slightly crouched, back facing Ingo.
“All aboard the Emmet Express!”
It was quiet for a moment. Then Emmet heard Ingo laugh softly as he wrapped his arms around Emmet’s neck. Emmet hooked his arms under Ingo’s legs and hoisted him up onto his back. Ingo rested his head on Emmet’s shoulder.
They continued on in silence for a few minutes, simply relishing in the fact they were together again and listening to the forest sounds around them.
Then, muffled by Emmet’s shoulder, Ingo gave a soft, “Whoo whoo…”
“Louder,” Emmet laughed lightly.
Ingo lifted his head. “Whoo whoo!”
“Louder!”
“I don’t want to deafen you.”
“You know our hearings are already shot.”
Ingo was silent for a moment, his hold tightening slightly. Right before Emmet was about to ask if something was wrong, he felt Ingo take a breath.
“WHOO WHOO!”
Emmet laughed, readjusting Ingo slightly. “Now that is a whistle! Full steam ahead!”
Ingo laughed too, resting his head back onto Emmet’s shoulder.
It was another few minutes before they reached the route proper. Emmet had to admit his legs were starting to burn, but the PokeCenter was only a few more minutes away now. He readjusted Ingo again.
“I am not too heavy, am I?” Ingo asked quietly.
“Of course not,” Emmet reassured softly, “You’re my brother.”