Chapter Text
For as long as Asriel can remember, he’s been treated differently. Other’s may think he’s ignorant to the lingering looks that are thrown his way when walking through the town market or even the way his own mother glances at him with a sort of exhaustion behind her eyes, but he sees it all. He notices the glares and the way people speak about him when they think he isn’t listening.
“That boy is a witch.”
“He’s a danger to this town. I mean, have you seen his mutation? He’s a damn monster! A disaster waiting to happen I tell you.”
“-born with white hair too. And none of the other members of the family even have mutations!”
“It’s unreasonable keeping him here. The poor parents…”
At the very least his brothers don’t seem to mind too much. At most his older brother, Chris, scolds him and tells him to be careful of their younger brother, Ryan. Not that Asriel even uses his power to begin with; he doesn’t even think he knows how. He remembers accidentally cutting himself on a knife that had magically appeared out of his forearm one day and his mother frantically patching him up and his father coming home and their panicked voices later that night when the three boys were supposed to be sleeping. Chris had stayed up with him the entire time and comforted him with a hand intertwined with his own and a shoulder to rest on when he eventually became too tired to sit up anymore. Meanwhile, their youngest brother, hardly 5 at the time, had slept soundly on the bunk bed beside them.
Things became a little tenser as he grew older and with it, bolder. He started trying to master his mutation and ignore the lingering whispers placed in his mind by people who hardly knew him. What did these people really know anyway? Their town was so small, he’d be surprised if they’d even seen another mutant before! Why did they get to judge him when he hasn’t even done anything wrong? They thought he was a monster? Well then, he’d prove them all wrong. He’d show them how useful his powers could be, and maybe even impress his brothers in the process.
“C’monnn guys! You’re so slow, the sun will be down before we even get there!” Asriel called back teasingly, a slight wheeze to his words due to a newly missing front tooth. This was, of course, thanks to his and Chris’s roughhousing. That, and the fact that he had turned 10 years old not too long ago and was still losing some of his baby teeth.
“Hush it, I’m the oldest. I decide the pace we go and I think we’re doing fine.” Chris states definitively. Asriel had always said that was older-brother syndrome. A need to be right all the time. Ryan just thought it was funny.
“Faster! Faster!” From Chris’s back Ryan tugs and pulls at him insistently. “Go faster, Chris! Azzy is gonna beat us!!”
Chris merely huffs fondly and if asked about it later, no, he didn’t speed up. Nor did jostle Ryan around a little just so he could hear a few more of his little brother’s precious giggles.
After a little while longer of walking, or in Ryan’s case being carried, the three boys arrived at the bank of a large creek. Mid-day sun dusted the area in a warm, comforting glow. The creek ran wide and a few feet deep, enough to play around freely but not enough to worry too much about Ryan accidentally drowning should he travel too far inward. Birds sang soothingly overhead and little bugs buzzed around them. If they were lucky, they could catch a glimpse of a squirrel in a nearby tree or the snap of a deer stepping on a twig in the distance.
Far enough from the town, the area was teeming with wildlife, undisturbed and beautiful. It was perfectly prime and ready to be disturbed by some early summer fun by a bunch of young boys with nothing better to do besides cause trouble or steal in the market (something they could no longer do after getting caught last time. What were they supposed to do though? Ryan had tripped and scraped his knee and no one would dare leave their sobbing mess of a little brother behind. They wouldn’t at least. Their mother had yelled at them for hours before grounding them from tv and giving them double chores for a month. It was still worth it though to see the bright smile on Ryan’s face when he realized he had acquired his first ‘in action’ battle scar.)
Asriel huffed a large breath in, puffing up his chest. He then put on his best, fake accent he could muster up before turning to Ryan.“You smell that, young one? That, my young, naive protege, is the smell of adventure!”
Ryan’s eyes sparkled with amazement before the white-haired boy let out a loud battle cry and ran steadfast into the water, tripping and splashing himself soaked in the process.
Chris huffed, unamused, before setting the youngest down.
“You forgot to take off your shorts and shirt numb-nuts. What are you going to change into now?”
The boy looked down at his soaked attire before cursing, “Shit!”
Ryan slid off the small backpack he’d had on his back before smiling and handing it to the taller boy. Chris smiled at him gently before taking it and thanking him, ruffling his hair fondly. The fondness melted away into faux exasperation as the irritated grumbles of Asriel could be heard not too far away.
“Honestly that’s what you get for being so hasty.”
Chris helped Ryan remove his shoes, shorts, and doggy-printed short sleeve shirt before nudging him to go meet the other boy where he waiting for him at the side of the stream. The younger boy giggled and ran happily over to his other brother where he was promptly picked up and spun around (and almost dropped) before being plopped down into the water gracelessly.
“Nah, not hasty. You’re just slow. And lame. And that’s why you’re the last in the water.” He sticks his tongue out.
“Uhuh, suree. We’d be dead if it wasn’t for me y’know. I keep us safe and tidy like Ma says.”
“You kiddin me? Awh, c’mon now. You may be older but I’m definitely stronger. I’ve been practicing y’know! If Ma should trust anyone to keep us safe, it should be me- AH!”
After Chris finally finishes stripping down and half attempts at folding his own clothes and setting them off to the side to keep dry and runs forwards and jumps into the water, splashing the others. Asriel and Ryan both let out a yelp before Chris tackles the taller boy into the water. They squirm and kick at each other, laughing loudly all the while.
“It sure doesn’t seem like it! You’re awful at this so far!” He laughs before pulling the other into a tight hold, dragging him down.
Asriel barks out a laugh before being submerged fully along with the other boy, kicking up water everywhere with his flailing. Ryan claps and laughs loudly all the while, trying his best to flap his arms and create a fuss as well.
Chris lets up and they both come up for air panting before Asriel takes his chance to tackle the other and pull him into a wonky headlock.
“Oh yeah?” He remarks snarkily. “Then you must be worst than awful!”
He lets out a quick yell as Chris grabs his arms and yanks him up and over his head, letting him land on his back with a loud splash and an “oof!”
He recovers quickly and spins back around and up, charging again before Chris meets him at the middle, the two pushing against each other in a show of messy coordination of strength and splashing.
Asriel huffs out a laugh before a grin overtakes his face and he shoves forward. The brunette holds against him before he feels a shift in his weight and he realizes slowly that he’s slipping. And a little too late, he realizes that he’s falling backwards. Asriel falls forward with him and lets out a panicked cry. Panic shoots through both boys before they crash into the water, Chris head first.
The next few moments are hazy and messy. After a moment, Asriel picks himself back up and sits back in the stream, coughing up some of the water he’d accidentally inhaled. The next moment he’s looking forward at his older brother who’s already sat up with him with his hand cradling the back of his head. When he pulls it away slowly it comes back crimson.