Work Text:
The first thing Brian notices when he gets home is the sniffling. He follows the sound to the living room, where he finds Dexter hunched over on the sofa. Fuck, that sight breaks his heart.
"Dex?" He asks softly. "What's wrong?"
He steps closer but his brother whips around in surprise, and the scared look in his eyes makes Brian hastily put some distance between them.
"Brian!" Dexter exclaims, scrubbing his face. "I didn't think you'd be home so soon." His voice cracks as he speaks. Brian frowns, imagining how long his baby brother has been sitting alone bawling his eyes out.
"Dex," he says again, "what's wrong?"
"It's... nothing." Liar.
"Considering the last time I saw you cry was before we got separated, I think it's very much not nothing. So tell me, little brother."
Dexter shakes his head and starts to cry again. Brian stands there, trying to work out what the fuck is going on, when it all comes spilling out.
"You've been so distant lately, like you're pulling away." He sobs. "I've been trying to show you how much you mean to me, but it's not fucking working and I don't know what to do! I love you so much, but it's wrong to feel the way I feel... but I don't wanna scare you away because I need you, so much, and you're so wonderful, caring about me and teaching me magic and I can't lose that or I'll go crazy and I don't know what to do! Please, don't leave me, Biney!"
Oh. Is Lady Luck finally smiling down upon him? Brian can't believe it. It's unfortunate that his dear brother is so upset, but to find that they both feel the same way is euphoric.
"Brother," he says gently, coming to sit next to Dexter on the sofa, "I will never leave you, ever."
He takes his brother's face in his hands, wiping away the tears like he did when they were children. Dexter's eyes are red and puffy with dark circles underneath, and he frowns again, whisking away the irritation with a flicker of magic.
"I love you more than you could ever imagine." Dexter opens his eyes, still shiny with tears, mouth falling open slightly. "Those years we spent apart were excruciating, knowing you were out there somewhere and I couldn't come rescue you. And then I finally found you, darling baby brother, with such beautiful magic that's perfectly compatible with mine, and I was overjoyed."
"Really?" Little brother looks awed, and that face is so precious. Brian can't help the smile spreading across his face.
"Yeah. So you have nothing to worry about, Dex. You don't have to hide a single thing from me, okay?"
"Okay." And then Dexter is leaning forward, closer closer closer, until Brian can taste his brother's breath and feel the soft skin of his lips pressing against his own, and he can tell that everything's going to be just fine.