Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The big fat rooster let out his first crow of the morning, mighty and loud, but concluding with a rasp. Outside the sun began to peek over the mountains rolling over the land, its nourishment spilling over and cascading over a small farm not far from a smaller town. The air was cold, the grass was wet from rain. Done reeling from his first crow, the rooster puffed up its red feathered chest in preparation for the next.
A shiver ran across Mephone’s sleeping form, causing the boy to snuggle deeper under the blanket. He could feel the call to wake beckoning him, and he ignored it, wanting just a few more minutes of rest before starting a day of work. Half-awake and shivering under the sheets, he made a mental note to start wearing long pants and long sleeves to bed from now on. Another crow from the rooster had his eyes blink open. That little scamp was probably right outside the window wasn’t he? He had to be doing this on purpose. Mephone always believed that their animals had a deeper intelligence that they were hiding from him. He was convinced he could sneak into the chicken coop in the middle of the night and find them discussing plans of being menaces and making his chores harder.
He turned over in his bed, grunting, curling into himself to get more warmth. Still, he continued to shiver, and as awakeness was approaching dreams were getting farther away. Another blanket, yes. Tonight he will search for another blanket and warmer pajamas to hopefully prevent waking up like this tomorrow morning, and all those that follow. Mephone tried to hold onto sleep, but at this point he was just lying down with his eyes closed. Maybe he can just pretend to sleep and wait for father to fetch him instead of getting out of bed himself. It would be the mature thing to do, to get up and get a head start on his day, but he wasn’t mature. He was only twelve.
As he fake-sleeped, he could hear another crow, and this one was without a doubt closer. Following the sound of the crow, he heard stirring from the other side of the room. A smaller form emerged from the other bed. Mephone opened an eye to see who was awake, then quickly shut it, hoping it was still dark enough to go unnoticed. The other hopped out of bed and walked over to his bed. He did his best to keep a neutral face, to stay as still as a statue.
“I know you’re awake.”
Was it that obvious?
He ignored Five, just wanting a few more minutes of peace, even if it was uncomfortably chilly. His younger sibling saw through this deception, and wasn’t pleased to be treated as if she weren’t there. She started to shake him by the shoulder, trying to force him awake.
“Get up!”
Mephone couldn’t resist the guilty smile that came to his face. His cover was blown, but that didn’t stop him from pretending just some more. This of course just made Five mad, and so she saw it fit to slap him across the face for this disgrace. Instinctively, his eyes snapped open and he sat up.
“Ow!”
He rubbed his cheek, the stinging pain fading away as quick as it came.
“What the heck Violet?”
Five didn’t seem to feel remorseful, just standing in front of his bed wordlessly. Then she pointed towards the window, not breaking eye contact.
“Your chicken is too loud.”
Mephone honestly didn’t know where this was coming from. They’ve had a rooster for a good while now, and it crowed every morning. This wasn’t anything new.
“And what do you want me to do about it? He’s a rooster, that’s just what he does! Get over it.”
The younger had no reply.
Mephone turned his back and flopped back down to salvage just a little more rest. Even when he was facing the wall, he could feel the glare from his little sibling. It felt like forever until Five left his side. And for a moment he thought things were going his way again. Then he heard the window open and the surprised cluck of the rooster on the window sill. Immediately he whipped around to see what was going on, only to regret that instantly as he got a face full of feathers and talons after Five absolutely launched the rooster directly into his face.
Needless to say the rooster freaked out, flapping its wings in panic and squawking as it clawed at his face. Mephone pulled it off his face and set it in his lap so he could calm it down. In utter disbelief, he looked up at Five, not even having the words. After having a stone cold face throughout that whole interaction, Five was now grinning like a hyena. She blew a raspberry and scurried out of the room before Mephone could retaliate.
Sighing, he continued to soothe the rooster, petting it gently. Each stroke drew a coo out off the spooked beast, slowly he managed to lull it to sleep. Well. He’s got a chicken in his bed now. He should probably get it outside quick before it ends up soiling his sheets.
4S poked his head down over the top bunk.
“Dude what was that?”
Mephone couldn’t say he was surprised that this all woke up 4S, but it still made him flinch as he came out of nowhere. He picked up the rooster and begrudgingly slid out of bed.
“Violet’s being a turd.”
4S yawned, hopping off his bed to join his brother.
“What else is new?”

…

The smell of breakfast was alluring, but Mephone had a mission. He held the rooster tight as he walked through the kitchen, hoping nobody would notice or beckon him to the table. Of course, he wasn’t so lucky today.
“Four. Why is Larry inside the house?”
His father’s voice stopped him dead in his tracks. He didn’t sound mad thankfully, more confused since it was around six in the morning and his son was still in his pajamas and carrying a chicken around like it was something normal.
Mephone turned to look at Cobs, who was about to pour out a pancake into the pan.
“Oh, uhm.”
He glanced at Five sitting at the table, who had definitely expected him to just put the rooster back out the window. Mephone could see the regret in Five’s eyes develop in real time as he realized one of them might get in trouble, and it was a high possibility that it could be him. Five pulled down his shades and avoided eye contact, bracing to be tattled on. Though, as annoyed as the whole rooster fiasco made him, Mephone decided to take mercy.
“Someone left the window open, and he broke in. So I’m putting him back in the coop now.”
Cobs hummed, continuing with preparing breakfast. Lucky for both of them he seemed to be fairly nonchalant about this. He didn’t get mad or yell often, but when he did he could be quite scary.
“Very well. But he shouldn’t have been outside if the coop had been closed up for the night. You didn’t forget to close it did you?”
He chuckled as Mephone gasped and ran out the door, leaving a cloud of feathers and dust in his place.
“Crap!”
Mephone plopped Larry onto the grass and dashed over to the coop to find out he did not in fact shut the door to the coop last night. This realization probably should’ve hit him sooner, although he wasn’t fully awake yet, but still, it was unusual for the rooster to be crowing this close to the house. He peeked inside of the coop, wincing to see that half of the hens were absent. They can’t have gone far of course, but now he’s on an egg hunt to find where they’re roosting right now. It could be a literal egg hunt too, as sometimes they lay eggs outside when this happens.
Before that though, he thought he’d weed out who was hiding nearby by filling the food and water, the sound possibly drawing them in. He opened up the metal trashcan repurposed as a feed container and grabbed the scoop, filling it with feed and moving to pour it into the feeder. Already there was a couple run-aways flocking back inside from who knows where, hovering by his feet, clucking loudly in excitement.
“Hey hey! You’ll get your food soon enough, move chickies!”
Gently he nudged them aside with his foot as he made his way over to the suspended feeder and poured the pellets into it. All but one of the hens in the coop ran to the feeder and got to work filling their bellies. Mephone noticed one hen was staying in her box, and figured that maybe she was just sleepy, wanting to sleep in longer like he did. Then he checked the water feeder, and decided there was enough for the rest of the day so he left it alone. As he stepped out of the coop he remembered he was still in his pajamas, barefoot too, and that wasn’t exactly ideal for chicken chasing. So he ran back to the house, swinging open the door, zipping through the kitchen and into his shared room to fetch an outfit for the day.
…
Mephone hopped back outside wearing his green overalls and a warm wool shirt, scanning across the yard for any stray chickens. First he peeked back into the coop to take attendance, see who was missing and who he needed to make sure was still here and safe. They had twelve hens and one rooster, currently inside the coop there were eight hens, and he knew where Larry was. He had four hens to track down, but before that, there were eggs waiting to be collected. He grabbed a basket and started checking the hen boxes. One egg, two eggs, five eggs, eight eggs, thirteen eggs, and one egg on the floor. The last box to check was still occupied, the hen hadn’t left this box all morning. She had a sizable nest built up beneath her, her feathers were puffed out.
“Good morning Adelaide, may I take your eggs?”
Mephone slid his hand under her body and lifted her up to see how many eggs she had laid. She cooed loudly, almost angrily, before pecking at his hand when he grabbed an egg.
“Hey!”
He recoiled, pulling his hand away and plopping the egg in the basket with a frown.
“What was that for?”
Adelaide squawked at him, puffing up her feathers even more, shrill coos leaving her any time he reached towards her eggs. This stumped Mephone. She had never acted like this before, nor any of the other hens. Adelaide was one of his favorites, (which didn’t say much because he loved all the chickens very much) she was usually so sweet, never aggressive. He ought to tell father about this when the opportunity comes around. It was just so bizarre, he hoped she wasn’t sick or anything.
Mephone walked out of the coop to drop off the eggs at the house. Approaching the porch, the front door suddenly swung open. X bursted out from the kitchen and darted out across the yard, 4S emerged from the doorway soon after, a soft smile on his face. The dog was huge, could easily knock any of them over with ease. If it weren’t for the injuries he received as a puppy on the streets, he’d be the perfect guard dog. They never figured out what exactly happened to X, whether it was a fight between other animals or humans, but whatever happened to that poor puppy left it blind as a bat with two gashes over its face to mark an x. And as grim as it was, that was what earned the doberman its name. Or, a title more like. Because everyone in the house had all sorts of nicknames for the dog. 4S for example was keen on calling X the Terminator, often shortened to Termie. Mephone wasn’t too creative with names, so he kept it simple with things like;
“Hey puppy!”
He beckoned X over, and the dog immediately came bounding towards Mephone. Realizing it didn’t intend on going around him, Mephone quickly placed the egg basket down and braced for impact. Luckily X was getting better with not tackling people, so he stopped right at Mephone’s feet, tail wagging as it panted happily, expecting many pets. It was amazing how well it navigated the world without sight, X always ran and jumped so confidently and surely. 4S came over to retrieve the eggs and X switched focus to him, sniffing the basket.
“Egg?”
4S took an egg out of the basket and offered it to the dog. X inspected the egg closely, giving it a lick before gently taking it with his teeth. His tail wagged as he looked up, seeming pleased with the egg offering. Mephone cradled X’s face and giggled, squishing his cheeks and petting over his forehead and where his eyes used to be. After a good dose of pets, X then trotted away, egg still held in its teeth.
…
Once he stepped foot in the kitchen, Mephone was practically forced to sit down and have breakfast with the rest of his family. He took a seat next to 4S and impatiently waited for food to be served. The sooner he’s done with breakfast the sooner he can get back to his chickens and adventure. His feet swung back and forth under the table, watching with delight as a chocolate chip pancake was placed in front of him with two pieces of bacon and a sunny side up egg that he just fetched from the coop.
“Thanks Papa!”
Mephone took a bite of the egg, trying to guess in his head which hen laid it. Cobs nodded and hummed, going over to the sink to get started on the dishes. Next to him, 4S idly tore up a napkin into increasingly smaller pieces.
“What do you want to do today Blue?”
Mephone finished up the egg and tapped his chin in thought.
“Hmm. Well I do need to find the rest of the hens to make sure they’re safe.”
“You certainly do young man.” His father chimed in, scrubbing egg residue off of a pan.
Mephone threw his hands into the air and slammed them on the table, fully ready to defend himself.
“It was an accident! I forgot to latch the door okay!”
He sighed, poking a fork at his pancake, thinking about where the missing hens are, hoping they’re safe and sound.
“It’s okay, but don’t let it happen again. It’s our job to keep our animals safe, and when you leave their safe space vulnerable you are putting them at risk. Do you know how many foxes lurk around here?”
Mephone took a deep breath, intrusive thoughts about finding his hens dead or eaten making him feel sick. He really hoped that wasn’t the case, he doesn’t know what he’ll do with himself if one of the chickens died because of him. He swallowed back the sickening feelings rising within.
“Yes Papa.”
With the sink running, Cobs wouldn’t have been able to hear the waver in his son’s voice, but 4S certainly heard it. He patted Mephone on the shoulder, pulling him into a side hug.
“Don’t worry buddy, we’ll find them.”
Mephone looked up from his plate.
“‘We?’”
“Of course I’ll help you dummy! Now chin up! Moping won’t find them will it?”
A small smile rose on Mephone’s face.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Feeling much more hopeful now his smile broadened. “Thanks Red.”
4S let go, X plopping its face in his lap to beg for either pets or scraps. He giggled, scratching the dogs head. “You should finish up your plate, Termie’s getting jealous.”
Mephone took his advice, as X circled around and was now sniffing at his plate. He lifted his plate up and away. “No puppy!”
Quickly he shoved both pieces of bacon into his mouth, figuring that was what was drawing X towards his plate. X sat beside him and whined, tail sweeping back and forth across the floor, kicking up dust.
Covering his mouth with one hand as he chewed, the other pushed X away, the dog not seeing that the bacon was unachievable now, therefore persisting and pushing on towards the scent. X whined louder, on the verge of straight up barking.
“There, it’s all gone. No bacon for you.”
With both hands free now Mephone pushed the dog back. X gave his hand a lick to get just a small taste of the bacon before Cobs pulled it away to guide it to its food bowl.
“Good grief, can’t a young boy like me get some grub in peace?”
Mephone placed his plate back down with a huff, solemnly cutting his pancake into a grid.
Leaning back in his chair, 4S playfully elbowed him.
“You talk like a nerd.”
Fork and knife in hand Mephone side eyed his twin brother, who was balancing a spoon on the bridge of his bandaged nose.
“Yeah, well, uh…”
He frantically tried to think of a quick and snappy response in time.
“Uh, well, you LOOK like a nerd!”
Seemingly proud of himself, he crossed his arms and smirked.
There was quiet for a moment, as Mephone relished in his perfect victory and 4S mulled over for a reply.
“Hm. Well you can’t really talk, just look at what you’re wearing.”
Walking straight into his trap like a mouse to a piece of cheese, Mephone looked down to see what was apparently nerdy about his attire. And that’s when betrayal hit him in the face, literally. In such a vulnerable and unaware state, 4S took advantage of his blissful cluelessness, and flicked his nose.
“Boop.”
Mephone’s head popped back up, mouth agape, eyes wide, how could he be so foolish? After he committed the perfect crime, 4S withdrew his hand and crossed his arms behind his head, knowing he had won, and Mephone had lost.
Mephone stared at his pancake, utterly shell shocked.
“Haha.”
He turned to Five, who was clearly finding this all amusing until the focus was shifted to her.
“Is something funny?”
She hummed, tracing the grain of the wooden table with her finger.
“You two are both nerds.”
With all the accusations and betrayals flying left and right, Cobs had to step in. He stood behind Five and playfully rustled the young boy’s hair.
“Now now, we’re all nerds in this house.”
He turned to the twins after Five swatted his hands away with a whine.
“You all get it from me.”
The inventor got back to work, departing with a hearty chuckle.
All three children at the table were quiet for a moment, Mephone eating a piece of the pancake, 4S continuing to rip up napkins, waiting for his brother to finish so they could start their day. Five pushed her chair back and took her cup to refill with orange juice, grumbling “I’m not a nerd.” on her way to the counter.

For someone who was apparently in a rush, Mephone was taking his sweet time finishing breakfast, conversing with 4S after every bite, occasionally glancing over to Five. His younger sibling was done eating, yet she was still at the table. She wasn’t even talking, just watching. It was like she was waiting for something to happen. As the pancake disappeared piece by piece, his suspicions grew. There was a scheme brewing somewhere behind those triangular shades. Was she going to reveal she spit in the pancake batter or something? The tension was driving him mad.
Appetite soured by the idea of his food being contaminated, he reluctantly ate the last bite, leaving his plate empty. Hastily he picked up his plate and hurried to the sink before any gross prank could be revealed. Halfway there, walking past the tinfoil-covered leftovers, he heard her voice.
“What? No seconds?”
Mephone froze instantly, then whipped around.
“Wh-Did you wait that whole time just to call me fat??”
4S snorted, leaving the table to get ready for outside adventures, and to clear the way for whatever was about to commence. Five shrugged.
“Well, you are getting a little plump.”
Mephone couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How come everyone was after him today? He shook his head, plopping the plate and silverware into the sink.
“I’m a growing boy! It’s only natural.”
Five held her face in her hands with elbows propped on the table, legs kicking beneath it.
“You’re growing too much.”
Slipping on his boots, Mephone paid no attention to the creepily monotone voice of his little sibling.
“Whatever. You’re only nine, what do you know?”
He went out the door with 4S, tuning out any other meanspirited comment from the younger. God, for such a small kid her attitude was ten times bigger.

…

“I think I see one! Red look!”

The twins had covered all the land surrounding the house and coop to no avail. Now they were patrolling the treeline and Mephone spotted a blur of white in the bushes. He leaped into the woods, 4S following close by. The ground of dead leaves and twigs crunched beneath their boots, the tree branches rustled as they rocketed through the barrier of foliage. Sure enough, Mephone’s eyes saw true, and there was a hen wandering in the woods. The hen clucked loudly in surprise, thinking it was being attacked, and it ran deeper into the woods.
“Get her!” 4S commanded, already bounding after it.
This was regrettably not the greatest approach, and Mephone realized that very quickly. The excitement moved his feet before he could think. But there was no undoing, and now he had to run with it. Literally.
The little white hen flailed its wings, clucking loudly. Mephone pushed on and ran ahead of 4S, determined to catch the runaway. Barbed shrubs and tree branches snagged onto his clothes and poked his face, but he ignored it. He was locked in. Gaining on it, he dived forward with outstretched arms and scooped up the frightened bird. Rolling over he hugged the hen struggling to escape his arms.
“Shh it’s okay Blanca!”
Mephone stroked her feathers, calming it down. The hen slowly stopped squirming, and was content. 4S caught up and stopped to catch his breath, bending over with his hands on his knees.
“Got her?”
Mephone staggered up, starting to think maybe shouldn’t have tackled the chicken like that.
“Yup! Let’s take her back now.”

Chapter Text

While the twins were out chicken patrolling, Cobs was catching up on some housework. There thankfully wasn’t a lot to be done, the dishes were finished and the house was tidy. Right now he was outside to hang up the laundry to dry. It’d be nice to have someone else to do this. All the farmwork, gardening, housework all stacked on top of his job was a lot on the inventor. If only there was another adult in the house. He’d have more time to spend with his kids.
Clipping a damp shirt to the line, he heard the backdoor open and the quiet voice of his youngest.
“Papa?”
Cobs adjusted his glasses and turned around, spotting the child standing in the doorway.
“Yes Five?”
Five made her way over, kneeling down on the grass by the clothes basket.
“I finished reading my book. Are you proud?”
Cobs continued with laundry as he spoke.
“Very. You're a good reader, Five. Not many kids your age can read as well as you do.”
He bent over to pat her on the head, and in return Five gave a small smile. “Thank you Papa.”
As Cobs worked, Five stayed put, and they accompanied each other in silence for a few minutes. The air was refreshing that morning. It was cool out, but not chilly. Not cold enough for her to have to wear anything else but a light sweater to be comfortable.
Five wasn’t too fond of the outdoors. She preferred to stay inside, no matter how apparently nice it was outside. The bugs are scary, the plants are itchy, scratchy, the sun is hot and the wind tangles her hair. She didn't get how her brothers were outside so much and enjoyed it. How they could run through the woods without fearing the ticks latching onto their clothes. How they could play around the creek, knowing how dangerous the water is, how they could handle animals without being bit or scratched. And when they do get bit or scratched they simply laughed it off. It was scary wasn't it? How couldn't it be? Why don't they care? Why does she care?
Outside sucked. She leaned against her father's leg.
“Can we go to the book shop today? I’d like to get the next volume.”
Cobs hung up the last piece of clothing before tapping his chin in thought. Did he have any other reasons to go into town today? He could always pick up some more vinyls, but those weren't exactly essential. Oh wait, they were getting low on animal feed though. The farm supply store wasn't too far from the book store…he might just have a plan.
“I don't see why not. I'll just have to finish a couple things first and then we'll go.”

…

Revisiting the coop and bringing Blanca back, Mephone took attendance once more and was pleased to see that two more hens returned, leaving one more to find. Things were looking pretty good, just about all of the chickens were unharmed. He's sure he'll find the last one, especially with 4S helping.
The twins continued their patrol with more confidence. Mephone thought they'd ought to do a more in depth search around the gardens, garage, barn, fields, basically anywhere a little ball of feathers could hide. 4S kneeled down beside the porch, peeking into the crawlspace under it. All he found was a couple beetles and the scattered bones of a small rodent. He reached for the skull to examine it. Pristine, no fleshy remains, cleaned thoroughly by the bugs and father time.
“Aw sick, score!”
4S stuck it in his pocket to save for later, planning to make something cool out of it or use it to freak out Five. Father will probably make him sanitize it first, but whatever. His excited exclamation must’ve given Blue the wrong message though, as he immediately dashed over.
“Did you find her?”
4S clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Nah. I did find a rat skull though.”
He proudly presented it to his brother. “You can’t have it though, finders keepers.”
Mephone squinted at the specimen.
“That’s not a rat! Look at how much teeth it has!”
4S looked at it again. It did have a lot of teeth but what else could it be? He had to double down.
“Nuh uh. Rats have teeth. Probably more than you think.”
“Maybe. But they have buck teeth y'know? This thing doesn’t have any.”
“Well…then what is it smarty pants?”
“I don’t know. But it’s not a rat.”
4S grumbled, sticking the skull back in his pocket as he stood up.
“Whatever. I’m still calling it a rat. Maybe that’ll be his name: Rat.”
The front door opened, and out stepped their father. 4S promptly bounded up the steps and stopped him in his path before the door latched shut. He practically shoved the skull in his face.
“Dad what skull is this?”
Cobs leaned back, taken by surprise. When the question fully processed he took the specimen into his gloved hands to examine it. “Hmm…”
4S waited impatiently for an answer with his hands on his hips.
“It’s a rat right?”
Mephone crossed his arms from the bottom of the steps. “Not a rat!”
Cobs adjusted his glasses, rotating the little skull between his fingers.
“Ah, I see.”
He smiled, handing it back to 4S.
“I’m afraid your brother is right, this is not a rat. It’s a mole.”
4S stared at the skull, mouth agape. “A mole?”
Cobs nodded. “It has no eye holes see? Plus the teeth? Wayy too many for it to be a rat!”
4S turned to glare at Mephone, already knowing he was getting the ‘I told you so.’ look. Sure enough he was, arms crossed, smug smile.
“Oh shut up!”
“I didn’t say anything!”
“Your face is saying it!”
Cobs chuckled, making his way down the steps and gently pushing them apart. They broke their intense glares at each other to look up at their father.
“Let’s not argue over something silly now ’kay, you two still have work to do, yes?”
4S hopped off the steps, muttering under his breath. “I’m gonna check the barn.”
Clearly needing a minute to cool off, they let him go, leaving Mephone alone with Cobs. This had him remember there was a question he had for his father, about the hen acting odd. But right before he could rehearse the question in his head, he was interrupted by Cobs, completely changing his train of thought.
“I’m going to town with your little brother in a few, are you and 4S gonna be responsible?”
Home alone for a couple of hours? This was perfect!
“Yes Papa, we’ll be good.” he said, knowing full well there was a little mischief that may take place.
Cobs smiled, patted him on the head, then went back inside to fetch Five. Mephone giggled to himself before catching up to 4S to relay the news. They were so going to take advantage of this.

…

The car ride to town isn’t a long drive, just under ten minutes. It’s a very scenic ride, especially during this time of year. Watching the mountains turned red orange and yellow pass by was mesmerizing, a sight more than worth it to see in person. Cobs was so grateful his children could grow up in such a beautiful countryside and not some crowded suburb. At first he wasn’t sure if they would thrive in such a setting the same as other children, the same as he did, but he’s glad to be proven wrong. They seemed to be so happy here, well, at least the twins did. Cobs struggled to get a read on his youngest, being so unexpressive and unsociable. It honestly kinda worried him, had him thinking he made a mistake. Five didn’t seem unhappy or anything, he just, well, he didn’t know. It was odd, his behavior. For now, he tried not to overthink it. Sometimes children act this way and there’s just no rhyme or reason. Right?
As dirt roads turned paved and buildings came rolling into view, Cobs shot a glance in the rear view mirror to check up on him.
“We’re going to the tractor store first to pick up some supplies, got that?”
Five gave a slight nod, preoccupied with gazing out the window.
He looked back at the road, adjusting his glasses. Maybe this is something he ought to look into later.

…

The first thing Mephone saw when he stepped into the barn was the last hen dart past him in a clucking frenzy. He froze, taking a second to process before snapping back around to catch her.
“Princess get back here!”
4S giggled watching his brother disappear out the door the very moment he stepped in. He had no idea how the hen got in here, maybe through the hay loft or a worn down plank outside. At least she was found now, he was sure Blue was thrilled. The barn was pretty cozy, a heat lamp kept all the four legged friends toasty now that colder temperatures were sinking in. He sank down into the pile of hay he was sitting in, looking over to the dairy cow waking up with a hearty moo.
“Mornin’ Clarabelle.”
She mooed again in response.
4S got up and moseyed on over to the cow. What a beaut she was. Very big, very fat. He and Blue always nagged their father about taking her to one of those county fairs and winning some ribbons. The answer was always a maybe, which he knew was just a polite way to say no. It was total wack! She could win so many contests this barn would be drowning in ribbons. Standing next to the bovine, her plumpness was even more apparent. This lady was taller than him! 4S tried to calculate how many clones of himself could equate to her mass. Unfortunately he’s bad at math so he took one look and decided nine was reasonable. He put his hands up on her back, and he just barely was able to reach the top of her.
Hearing the barn door open again, he addressed his brother without looking his way.
“Can you give me a leg up, Blue? I wanna try to sit on Clara.”
Mephone made his way over, a bit skeptical about this proposition. Standing next to him, he looked up at the cow with a frown.
“But she’s like a million feet high.”
4S pouted.
“Just help me out bro.”
He snapped his fingers and gestured to Clarabelle. “Leg up, go.”
Mephone rolled his eyes before linking his hands together to create a step. 4S, a little too excited about sitting on top of a stationary cow, stepped on his hands and threw himself onto her. He managed to get his arms over the other side and hold on well enough to dangle off of the beast without sliding off.
“Alright push me up.”
Clarabelle was surprisingly unfazed about all this, not bothered at all by the juvenile climbing on her back. After assistance from Mephone, 4S was well situated on the back of the cow with only mild discomfort. It was difficult to get one leg on each side without essentially doing a split. 4S isn’t who you’d call tall, and the cow, as previously remarked about, was very wide. Plus the absence of a saddle or other protection did not aid him in this situation. Nevertheless, he was glad to have accomplished his goal. He was so high up, Blue looked so much smaller from up here.
Mephone went and flopped down in the pile of hay.
“Papa and Violet are going to the store, so we have the house to ourselves.”
Now this…this piqued the red one’s attention. A devious grin spread across 4S’ face.
“You know what that means?”

…

For very understandable reasons, Cobs forbade them from ever entering their older brother’s bedroom. He wanted it to be as untouched as possible, to look exactly like how it did the day he ran away. So much as sitting on the bed and disrupting the sheets would greatly upset their father. It meant a lot to him that this room was not tampered with, whether 3GS came home or not.
Mephone and 4S understood the importance of this, they respected the room…but they did go in sometimes anyway to listen to the CDs he left behind. In their minds, it was like a way they could spend time with him. The way they justified it, was that as long as everything was placed precisely in the spot they found it in after moving it, no harm was done. They…kinda missed the point, but they haven’t been caught so far, so nothing was wrong. Besides, they were sure he wouldn’t mind, and that their dad cared a little too much about this.
It wasn’t like 3GS was dead or anything! He was out there, and he was going to come back, and he was going to be happy to see them, regardless if a couple things in his room were slightly out of place or not.
The two crossed over the living room, and over to the locked door. They were good children, so they didn’t see why their father didn’t trust them enough to not break into the room. Well. They did do that, but he didn’t know that, so he had no good reason to distrust them!
Unlucky for Cobs, his middle children were clever, real nifty when it came to sneaking around.
4S dug in his pocket and pulled out a bobby pin. An item that wouldn’t typically be found in a house full of boys, but he had a little collection together for situations like this. There were actually a few he found in the attic for whatever reason, maybe from the previous inhabitants of the house. Most of them he picked up off the street whenever they went out. (And even a few he borrowed from the store, but shh don’t tell anyone.)
Mephone was on the lookout as Red worked the lock, just in case someone was still home, even though the truck was very clearly not in the driveway. You could never be too sure! There might be a secret person in the house watching them and reporting their actions to their dad, like how Santa does.

The lock clicked and the door opened, granting them access to a very dusty room. It wasn’t super big, clearly a child’s room that the child grew out of. There were the essentials, a bed, a desk, a dresser, a closet. He had many books he liked to read, all neatly stacked on his desk as well as game cards and dice and unfinished sketches on graph paper and homework and notes, all put in their own places, he was the organized type. He did well in school, the few years he attended before Cobs decided homeschool had a better curriculum.
They tip-toed very lightly, all the way over to his dresser on the other side of the room right beneath the window, where they had a clear view of the road where their father’s truck will return from. On top of the dresser was a CD player with a box full of CDs next to it. 4S browsed through the box.
“How much time do you think we have?”
Mephone shrugged as he plugged in the CD player.
“Not sure, he wasn’t specific but I think we have time for at least one. Let’s make it count.”
4S hummed in response, before pulling one out of the box and offering it to Blue.
“Haven’t heard this one in a while, eh?”
Mephone took it, read the name of the band, and winced.
“This one gave me nightmares!”
The other scoffed, snatching the CD back.
“You’re such a baby, how does music scare you?!”
“It’s not music they just curse and yell and talk about hurting people!”
“Ugh, fine.”
He dug in the box and pulled out another.
“This one?”
Mephone squinted at it.
“Ohh, I like that one, let’s play it!”
He took it out of Red’s hands and popped open the case to take the disc out and insert it into the machine. 4S crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
“This one has curses and violence too, why are they any different?”
Mephone pressed the play button.
“I dunno. The clown guys just sound scary, these guys sound cool.”
Red rolled his eyes as he moved to sit on the floor as the first track began playing, deciding not to press further. His brother confused him sometimes.

…

A bell jingled as Cobs pushed open the door to the book shop. This was a nice, independently owned store, had a cozy atmosphere and always a great selection. They even had a cat lounging around over in the display window, soaking up some sunshine. Never a bad sign for a store to have a cat. He held Five’s hand tight as they stepped in, wary of the amount of people in there right now. Perhaps this wasn’t the best time to come around, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.
“Remember, stay within my sight, okay?”
“I know, Papa.”
They made their way past the display tables of new arrivals and walked by the counter where the owner gave a small greeting. The section of books appropriate for Five’s age were around the back, so getting there meant passing by the music section. It was small, as this was primarily a book store after all, so it was really just the most popular albums that were sure to sell and they likely wouldn’t have many options-oh my goodness they restocked BIG TIME. Cobs’ feet were basically glued to the floor as he caught sight of it. He was starstruck.
Mephone5 wasn’t paying attention to what caught her father’s eye, so the abrupt stop had her confused. She tried to pull away, since he was still firmly holding her hand, but it was futile to tear a father’s gaze away from physical media.
“Papa.”
“Just a moment…”
He let go and gravitated closer to the surplus of vinyls. It was like clockwork really. Five stood there a moment, trying desperately to figure out a way she won’t have to wait a couple hours for him to finish browsing.
“Papa.”
He simply held up a finger and began flipping through the first box of albums. Some of these looked second-hand, they must’ve received some donations.
“I’ll be quick alright? Don’t go anywhere.”
He was not going to be quick in the slightest. Five pouted, but was internally grateful that they at least weren’t in a hardware store. It felt like their father could spend entire days in those at a time. No regard for the little patience his children suffered from having to wait for him to make a decision.
She gave him a couple minutes, he was only 7% of the way. With the boxes being completely unorganized and him being thorough in his search, this could take all day, and it was not going to stand. She needed the next book in the series, it was non-negotiable. This store wasn’t open for long, and she wasn’t going to let the precious time they had here go to waste. With her father thoroughly distracted, she tried taking a couple steps back to see if he would notice. Undetected thus far. She inched back some more, then a little more, took a good few paces back, waited, went a bit further, he barely blinked an eye.
She shot a glance at the section she wanted to go to, it was far, but definitely within Cobs’ sight. Leaving his side and heading off to the fantasy books was technically not going against his rules when it came to being in public. Besides, she knew she wouldn’t get in much trouble. Cobs would never admit it but she knew she was the favorite child. If 4S for example tried this he’d get a lecture afterwards for sure. For her, there wasn’t much risk pulling a maneuver like this.
Glancing back at him, he was still browsing without a care in the world, so she turned around, and moseyed along to her destination.
Five found the right books almost instantly. It was a long series, and very popular, so it took up a sizable chunk on the shelves. He hovered a finger across the numbered spines, scanning for the next book he needed. His finger ended up crossing over a different series of books before he could find what he was looking for. Oh no…they had to have it, they can’t just have an incomplete collection! He skimmed it over again and again, even checking the other shelves. The book wasn’t here.
He sighed, figuring it couldn’t be helped, and tried searching for new volumes of other books he liked. A bit of a bother, he really wanted to know what happened next, but surely he could find some other reading material that would suffice. It was going to be difficult to find something else that he would like.
Mephone5 stood in front of this shelf, scanning it from top to bottom. He was always told not to judge a book by its cover, but he found that to be a stupid saying. The purpose of a cover is to convey to the viewer what kind of book it is, what genre, what audience it’s for, and to show a glimpse of what’s within the pages. If the cover is unappealing to him, then he won’t like the book. Simple as that. But what was more important to consider when this picky child spares your book a glance was the spine. The spine of the book was the first thing he saw when browsing the shelves, and that was the greatest determining factor for whether he’d pull it off the shelf to give it a closer look or not. Weird font? Skip. Uninteresting title? Better luck next time. A design that’s far too busy and cluttered and all in all just plain ugly? He’s already forgotten about it. And these were just his standards for the physical appearance of the book.
These high standards of his left him with very little options. There were the books in the series he’s already read, the ones he hasn’t but can’t read until he gets to the missing one, books way below his reading level, books too short, books too long, and books just plain boring. There had to be something here good enough to tide him over, there had to be!
While he continued to go over this one particular shelf over and over just in case he missed something, someone noticed his deep consideration and internal battle of indecisiveness. Five was too deep into the hunt to notice the soft rolling of wheels on carpet until he was tapped on the shoulder.
He jumped and spun around with a squeak, fearing his father had just caught him and was going to make him leave empty handed. But looking past this stranger he could see that Cobs was still working through the music section. His shoulders eased back down with a sigh of relief, then he looked at this new person. It was a woman, who he recognized as the owner of this store. She had square framed glasses, and periwinkle hair pulled back into a tight bun, with stray strands of hair outlining her face. What was most notable about her appearance to the sheltered child however, was the fact she was sitting in a chair with wheels. And upon closer examination, he could see that the bottom halves of her legs were gone. Something he couldn’t have noticed beforehand with her always being behind the counter. He had not seen anything like this before, so naturally his eyes lingered there for a moment.
The owner cleared her throat to catch his attention.
“Sorry for startling you! Can I help you find what you’re looking for? You’ve been browsing this shelf for quite a while now…”
Five reared back a bit, unable to find his voice. It wasn’t like she was intimidating or anything, quite the opposite really, they were at equalish height, but this was a stranger. He’s never spoken to anyone outside his family aside from pleases and thank yous to store clerks because his father would nudge him to use his manners. This interaction required a response longer than one or two words, and he hasn’t rehearsed.
“...Uhm.” It was barely audible, he wasn’t sure she heard it. The seconds felt longer as he struggled to respond, and it didn’t help that she was watching and waiting so intently. Unusually bashful, he pointed to the books on the shelf, more precisely in between the fifth and seventh volume of his favorite series.
“...I need the sixth volume, miss.”
She rolled a little closer, eyes skimming over the numbered spines.
“Ah, it looks like we don’t have that one I’m afraid. I remember selling it just the other day actually.”
She turned to him with a smile.
“I can put in an order for it and hold onto it until the next time you come in, does that sound nice?”
Five managed a nod, internally glad he could get it in the future but still outwardly disappointed he wouldn’t get anything new to read today. The lady could sense his disappointment, then thought for a moment, and clicked her tongue.
“Since you like these books, then I have another I think you’ll like…”
He veered out of the way so she could roll down the aisle to a different shelf, still very nervous. This was definitely something his father would be less forgiving of, talking to strangers was strictly prohibited. Favoritism might not save him if he were caught right now.
The shop owner pulled a book off the shelf and handed it to him. Reluctantly, he took it.
“This one is about rabbits rather than cats, but they’re similar in certain ways. Just something to keep you busy!”
Five studied the cover, didn’t look bad. He flipped it over and read the back, this did sound similar to the books he liked…this might just suffice.
He held the book to his chest, looking up at the wheeled lady. “Thank you…” It was then he noticed the nametag pinned to her sweater. It read “...Cabby?” That was a nice name, he thought.

…

Things were going good so far, nothing had gone astray, everything according to plan. As fun as this was, it was an extremely nerve-wracking experience. If they got caught…oh it wouldn’t be pretty, they were sure of it. Their father was kind, but he was still a human capable of anger just like any one of them. He was by no means perfect, he could lose composure, and while he always takes accountability after the fact, it was still scary in the moment. Something they would rather avoid.
Mephone kept his eyes peeled, watching the driveway very intensely, as if any second now the truck would come speeding up to the house and they would get caught. He was playing it safe, standing in front of the window like a statue, finger hovering over the eject button in anticipation. 4S on the other hand got himself nice and comfy on the floor. He laid on his back, with his arms crossed behind his head and his legs propped up on the wall.
“You don’t have to act so paranoid bro, it’s only been half an hour.”
Mephone frowned.
“I know, I just don’t want to risk anything. This is the time of year where all the fun stuff happens, if we get in trouble, then it could ruin those things. Your birthday’s in a month! Aren’t you just a little worried?”
4S shrugged. “Not really, because that won’t happen. You can hear Dad’s truck from a mile away, there’s plenty of time to abort if there’s an emergency.”
He wasn’t wrong, Mephone supposed. But he was still nervous.
“I guess…” As the current song playing came to a conclusion, Mephone hit the eject button to swap in another disc. “What should we put in next?” He pushed the CD back in its case with a click and placed it back in the box in the same order it was found in. 3GS had them organized alphabetically, so that helped him keep things in their place.
4S hummed, scooching out of his odd position on the floor. Then he got up to look in the box.
“How about…” His finger hovered over the many titles as he debated which to pick. “This one?”
Mephone took the one he pulled out, a bittersweet smile finding its way on his face. This was one of 3GS’ personal favorites, rather than the heavier ones he had bought for them. (mostly for 4S) They hadn’t heard this one in forever, not since he ran away.
“That one is nice, I’ll play it.”
As carefully as he could, he opened the case, and admired both the disc design and the album art. He slowly pried the disc out the case. This part always made him nervous, because it felt like it would snap in half if he pulled just a little too hard, even if that’s never happened. And with such a valuable CD at stake, he was extra careful. It popped out unharmed. “Do you think if we played it loud enough, Gray would hear it? And then he’d come home?”
4S scoffed. “That’s kinda dumb, I don’t-”
They both went dead silent as they heard the door creak open. Mephone dropped the CD, gasping as he whipped his head around towards the door. This was it, they were done for. How couldn’t they have heard the truck?! It’s so over, Halloween was so cancelled this year.
Though, it didn’t take more than a quick look to see that that was not the case. What made the door creak was not their angry father about to scold them, but it was just their big dumb dog poking his head in.
Mephone clutched his chest and sighed a breath of relief. Thank goodness, They would not be busted today. However…this relief was short-lived as another problem came to mind. 4S was frozen in place, and Mephone soon joined him after realizing too that this could be ten times worse than getting caught by their dad.
A big, dirty, dog in a small, clean, room could end really, really, badly for them. If just one thing in this room got broken or stained, they were already dead. The twins shared a panicked glance, silently telling each other not to make any more noise as that might lead X deeper into the room. Oh jeez, why didn’t any of them latch the door! With X being blind, it didn’t know for sure if they were in there, so they might just have a chance. Mephone held his breath, not allowing himself any movement beyond the flicks of his eyes going from 4S to X and back again. The room that was once blaring music was now dead silent, you could hear a pin drop, and X could hear even the slightest clothing rustle.
The slowest, and quietest minute in the world passed, and things weren’t looking bright. This giant, hulking dog had taken a few steps inside, sniffing everything in sight. Anytime his claws made loud tip-taps on the wooden floor, both 4S and Mephone would use the cover of those noises to breathe or shift out of the uncomfortable position they froze themselves in. Mephone hoped with every fiber in his heart that X would head the other way and let them latch the door to keep him out. But, with all the fascinating new scents, and the familiar scents it hasn’t smelt in a long time, nothing was going to lure the beast away for quite a bit. Plus with his dog brain having swore it heard noises in here a couple minutes ago, he was determined to find the boys.
Mephone could only stand and stare as X followed his scent all the way across the room to his location. Maybe, just maybe, he could keep the dog calm enough not to jump or do anything else that would cause damage, because there was no way to hide anymore. Just calmly reveal his presence, and then guide him to the door. Easy peasy.
“........Hey doggy…” He spoke as softly as possible, sure enough that this wouldn’t excite X…It excited X.
The dog jumped up with a bark, front paws landing on his shoulders. Standing on its hind legs, it easily towered over him. Had his tail not been docked, it would have been whipping around at a dangerous speed, definitely would’ve knocked some things down. Mephone brought his hands to its chest, gently trying to ease it back down to the floor.
“Down boy!” He whisper shouted.
4S joined in too, but not before shooting a scowl at his brother. “Well way to go private, just had to give our positions away!”
“He basically already found us, I was only doing the inevitable!”
The two went back and forth with hushed voices, fighting against the strength of the beast. The scuffle was short lived, the combined efforts of the brothers successfully getting X to back down. And with him back on all four paws, they then got to dragging him out by the collar to prevent any more collateral damage. Then it was an uphill battle again. The dog tugged against their pulls, whining loudly, sitting down and digging its claws into the floor. Mephone wrapped his arms around X to pull him back to his feet. X refused to budge, not one bit.
“Come on, move!” 4S huffed and puffed, doing his darndest to move this canine mountain.
Then there was a crunch, and all three, (yes, including the dog) all three went silent.
They looked at each other, then looked down.
4S lifted his boot, and was petrified to see a CD both snapped in half and scratched like it was thrown to a crowd of cactuses. The boys were completely frozen, and after a moment X stood up and trotted out the door. Mephone fell to his knees, utterly aghast. They broke one of 3GS’ CDs….They’re so dead.

…

Cobs had truly hit the jackpot this late morning. About 80% of the way through the boxes of records, he had amassed a sizable collection wedged under his arm. There were artists so obscure he didn’t even know their music was made into vinyls! Not to mention the prices, oh the prices…This felt like a robbery.
“Oh my stars, I’ve never even heard of these Sinatra tracks! Check it out, Five, this is-”
His heart stopped the very second he turned around.
Five wasn’t there. He lost his kid.
HE LOST HIS-Oh, nevermind, he’s just across the room. Thank the lord, for a second there he thought-HE’S WITH A STRANGER.
He dropped the records with a gasp, immediately dashing over without a second thought.

Cabby pulled another book off the shelf. “This is another one I’d recommend, though you certainly don’t have to get it today, that other one I gave you is a lengthy read for a little one like you.”
Mephone5 took it and gave it a brief glance over. This book didn’t seem too bad either, but she really only needed the one for now. She wordlessly passed it back. Cabby nodded in understanding and slid it back on the shelf.
“Alrighty now, if that’s all you’re content with then so be it.”
She pulled out a notebook from a bag hung across the back of her wheelchair.
“Can I get a name and phone number? So that I can contact your folks when I get the book you’re looking for?”
Her name, now that was an easy thing to answer, but phone number? That was going to be tricky when she didn’t have a phone and never bothered to memorize the home phone number.
“I’m-”
She couldn’t finish that answer when her feet were suddenly no longer on the ground, cut off with a tiny yelp.
“Five!” Cobs exclaimed, hoisting the child up with a ghastly expression. “What are you doing over here!” It seemed like he was still trying to keep his voice down, considering this was a book shop, but was absolutely failing. He scanned her up and down, tilting her chin at different angles to make sure she wasn’t hurt in any way. Once he saw she was entirely unharmed, he let out a relieved sigh.
“Oh my goodness child, you can’t scare your father like that! I told you to stay by my side!”
Five frowned.
“You said for me to stay where you could see. You could’ve saw me from there…”
Cobs furrowed his brow. “You know what I meant, you can’t just wander twenty feet away and talk to strangers!”
Feeling like she was intruding, Cabby didn’t know whether she should roll away and leave them to it, or let herself be confronted. Oh please don’t let this be another difficult customer, she’s just doing her job. And pretty please don’t let this be a situation at home she’d have to report, life just started to become calm and steady for her. She observed their dialog and body language closely, this didn’t seem bad or anything. Of course she felt bad for immediately imagining the worst about this likely happy family, but she’s seen a lot, and this unfortunately wouldn’t be the only case of a bad family in this town.
She waited for them to quiet down so she could butt in, rolling forward a smidge and clearing her throat.
“Excuse me?”
Still carrying Five, Cobs turned to her with an uncertain smile. Ah…the stranger. Sure, she was just the humble owner of this quaint establishment, but still a stranger nonetheless. Who knows what evil motives she could be hiding behind that polite smile? For all he knows, these books could be bound with baby skin!
He decided to hear her out though, before making a scene.
Once she had his attention, she continued. “I apologize for aiding in your fright, sir! Your little one here asked about a book we don’t have on hand at the moment, would you mind giving me a name and phone number so I can contact you once we receive another copy?”
She held the notepad out as well as a pen.
The farmer’s tense shoulders eased down. “Oh.” He slowly lowered Five back to the ground and took the pen. Perhaps he was too quick to judge.
“Right, right. I’ll write that down for ya.” His demeanor shifted to something more friendly and he jotted the information on the notepad and handed it back.
Cabby put it away in her bag and turned back to them with her hands in her lap. “I’ll order that book as soon as I get the chance.” She tilted her head. “Anything else you two need? I can ring you up if you’re done browsing.”

At the register, it was then Cobs noticed the book Five had picked out. The title sounded familiar, so he decided to take a look after Cabby scanned it. He gave the back a read and flipped through a couple pages, then visibly winced.
“Hey, uh, ma’am? You sure this is appropriate for his age? It’s…” He continued to read the snippet he flipped to. “...a bit violent…?”
Cabby shrugged, starting to scan the records. “Trust me, if he can handle the books with the cats, he can absolutely handle this one.”
Five perked up at the mention of her favorite books, pushing up on the counter to stand on her tiptoes. “One of the kitties gets mauled by a wild dog, and then her face gets all messed up.”
Cobs slowly turned to her with a look of horror. Goodness gracious he thought it was just a silly book series for children full of fantastic G-rated adventures, it’s about cats for crying out loud! Has he really been letting his nine year old child read a violent gorefest all this time!?
“And…you like that…?”
She nodded, idly bouncing on her heels. “It’s interesting.”
He only stood there, hand over his forehead. Oh he is such a bad parent. The one time he skips out on doing a background check for whatever media his children consume, it ends up being everything he wanted them to avoid. It just sounded so innocent the way it was described to him, now he feels like it was sugar coated on purpose.
Well, he can’t exactly make her unread it, the damage is already done. He sighed, and paid for everything. No use trying to shut this down, these are the only books she’s invested in and he’s not going to take away a hobby as beneficial as reading. He’ll just hope and pray she doesn’t turn out to be a serial killer when she grows up.

…

“This is all your fault!”
“How is it my fault? You’re the one who broke it!”
“And you’re the one who dropped it!”
“I wouldn’t have dropped it if X didn’t scare me, and he wouldn’t have come in here if you had latched the door!”
“Why did I have to latch the door?”
“You were the last one in!”
This back and forth bickering has been going on for quite a while, and after about ten minutes in, it really got tiring. They didn’t have all the time in the world to point fingers, and 4S was the first to realize this. He took a deep breath, and did his best to compose himself.
“Okay, okay, listen.”
He took his time to make sure his point came across clear and concise.
“Let’s just say it’s both our faults for now, because if Dad sees this, it won’t matter. We’ll both be in trouble just for being in here.”
Sitting on the floor with his arms crossed, Mephone scoffed. “So what do we even do? Cuz you said it yourself, we’ll both be in trouble.” His voice cracked with a sniffle. “Papa’s gonna…he’ll be s-so mad at us…”
4S rolled his eyes. “Pull yourself together soldier, we’re not dead yet!” He pointed at the window, not looking away from Mephone. “When Dad comes home, this will all be cleaned up, and we’re going to act natural. Ya got that?”
Mephone nodded slowly, and wiped his sleeve across his watering eyes. “Yeah…but what do we do about the CD? What if Papa finds it?”
4S snapped his fingers. “He won’t.” He began to pick up the broken pieces of the CD and fit them back in the case. “Think about it, he only comes in this room like once a month to dust things off and cry or something. He’s not gonna inspect every inch of the room every day just in case someone went in and broke something. So…” He headed out the door, dragging Mephone behind him.
“We have to hide it. There’s a bigger chance he’ll open it and find it broken than to notice it's gone.” They entered their shared bedroom, and 4S put a finger to his chin in thought. “Do you know any good hiding places in here, Blue? We need to make sure Violet doesn’t find it either, he’ll tattle on us for sure.”
Mephone hummed, scanning around the bedroom. There were plenty of crevices to cram something like a CD case into, but there had to be one spot that was the most secure. They could simply just toss it under the bunk bed easy peasy, but when spring cleaning comes around and Cobs has them clear out that space, game over. He could stick it in his pillowcase, but would it be worth the discomfort every night? 4S could peel back a floorboard for them to toss it under, but what if it starts creaking differently? Suspicious for sure.
Burying it outside could work too, though X would absolutely dig it back up and leave it for Cobs to find, their heads would get mounted above the fireplace.
Mephone waddled over to his dresser. “What if we just stick it in a drawer?”
Case in hand, 4S followed skeptically. “That’s the best you can do? Seriously?”
Mephone only shrugged, shuffling out of the way for 4S to kneel down in front of the dresser. He must not have any better ideas either, because while grumbling about it, he did pull a drawer out to hide the CD. But then it got stuck. It shifted off the rail, and 4S struggled trying to get it to slide out like normal. And then he fumbled with it. And then it frustrated him. And frustrated him even more. Then he gave it one rough yank and the entire thing came out, sending him falling over on his back with an oof.
Mephone crossed his arms. “Yeesh, you just can’t stop breaking things today, huh?”
4S snapped back up with a growl. “Oh shut up!”
He was about to send another argument into motion, but knew that things were too dire to bicker right now, so he bit his tongue and moved to fix the drawer back in the dresser. Peering into the space where the drawer once was though, it was then 4S saw just how much room there was to the sides of the rails. Just enough space to hide something small. Something…like a CD. With a lightbulb now glowing brightly above his head, he took the CD case and propped it against the inner wall of the dresser. Mephone gasped dramatically, taking a seat next to him to see if this works. “Red you’re a genius!”
4S picked up the drawer, and holding his breath, he carefully slid it back into the dresser. It successfully went into place, flush with the dresser. Mission successful, nobody would find that CD unless they took apart that dresser. He stood up with a proud smirk, hands on his hips.
“Alright! Now we just have to clean all the dirt X tracked in!”
Mephone jumped up and high-fived him. “Haha yeah! All we need to do now is clean!...Aw beans.”
…
For a couple prepubescent boys who absolutely despised cleaning, they didn’t do a bad job. Of course, they lucked out with how little there was to do, but it was still a drag. It would’ve been more enjoyable with some background music, but even with the door latched and barricaded, they didn’t dare touch any more CDs. They lint rolled the bed free of dog hair, scrubbed the floor littered with muddy paw prints, but made sure not to clean things too well, they left the dust as undisturbed as possible. It was hard to say for sure without a before photo, but 3GS’ room was basically the exact same as it was before they came in, just minus one CD.
4S shut the door and locked it, then slid down to the floor with a long, hefty sigh.
“We are never going in there again.”
“Agreed, that was terrifying.”
Hearing the truck come sputtering up the driveway, they moved to a less suspicious location and flopped over on the couch. Mephone threw himself over on the arm of the couch and let out a sigh of his own. They both laid there ragdolled, utterly exhausted from the stress. Since nobody had turned the TV off from this morning, the news channel was still playing quietly. Mephone lifted his face up to search for the remote so he could change it to something less boring. Alas, it was just out of reach. His face fell flat against the cushions with a grunt. He thought back to earlier’s dilemma.
“Maybe we should just ask for our own CD player, and get copies of the CDs Gray had. Might save us some trouble.”
4S groaned, his voice muffled from the cushion he face planted on. “It’s not the same...” Mephone could hear him move around, the shift in weight telling him that Red was sitting up now. He raised his head just enough for his eyes to see 4S bringing his knees up to his chest and hugging them. “I miss being in there with him. I miss when he’d let us in and watch him play on the computer or watch stupid videos.”
He removed his shades, folding them in his hand and looking into them, his reflection barely visible. “I miss him.”
Mephone frowned, somersaulting over the arm of the couch and sitting upright beside him.
That’s what he would’ve done, anyhow, had he been blessed with more grace. So in reality he fell off the couch with a yelp and a thud and scrambled back onto it to play it off as best he could. His fumble did make 4S smile a little, even if he was trying hard not to. Mephone leaned against 4S, fidgeting with his fingers.
“I miss him too. But he’ll come back, I know it.”
4S’ lips thinned into a straight line, he parted them as if to say something, but the words didn’t make it out. The front door swung open, effectively dismissing this topic for the time being. Their father and younger brother filed through the doorway, both carrying bags. The blocky shapes protruding from within the bags made it obvious what the contents were, just stupid books for nerds. They pretended to be interested in the news channel as Five approached.
With their expressions being on the more sullen side, naturally this piqued her curiosity. What could these dunderheads possibly be so bummed over? Did one of those stupid chickens get eaten by a fox or something?
“Why do you look like that?” Her voice monotone as ever.
4S shot her a glare, which was especially fearsome without his shades, then he looked back to the TV without any more acknowledgement towards the younger. Mephone didn’t spare even a glance, seemingly very intrigued into whatever was going on in the stock market today. That was enough to see that she was not invited to this conversation. So she turned around, and went the other way. “So dull…” She grumbled.
In the kitchen, Mephone5 hid behind the wall that divides this room and the living area. Fine. If they don’t want to include her then so be it. She’ll just listen in then. There was a minute or two of quiet, them likely waiting till they were sure she was out of earshot. 4S’ voice came first.

“It’s been two years…If he wanted to come back, he would’ve, right?”

“He…might be doing something important. We don’t know where he went, he’s probably on an adventure.”

“An adventure so important he won’t come home?”

“What if he can’t come home?”

And that’s when she tuned out. Stupid.
Five took his book and went through the kitchen, passed their father in whom he absentmindedly greeted and then went into the next hallway which led to the shared bedroom. Alone time at last. He let the curtain down the window in order to dim the room, and then he climbed into his bed. Stupid stupid stupid…They’re so stupid.
He removed his triangular shades and set them on the side table. Then he glanced at the bunk bed on the other side of the room with a slight scowl. Stupid…what right did they have to exclude him from that conversation! He missed 3GS just as much as them, if not more! The child buried himself under the covers and angrily opened his new book. He started the first chapter to take his mind off that topic. It’s just so dumb. What, do they think he doesn’t care or something? This is the last thing he’d be sassy with! His eyes lagged across the first paragraph, none of the words sticking. He reread it over and over, mind rolling off track in the middle of every sentence.
Gray was so nice to him. He was always there to spend time with when the twins were too busy playing with each other. Even if he might not have been the most enthusiastic to entertain a young child, he would still try.
The words he was reading were not registering at all. It didn’t help that there were now wet spots on the page. He sat up abruptly, wiping his eyes on the blanket hanging over his shoulders. This wasn’t fair. Nothing has been the same since 3GS ran away. Without him being here to act as the mediator, arguments popped up frequently, and she got teased more often. Father could only do so much, 3GS was their biggest role model. The eldest child, they looked up to him so much, and he’s just gone. And now they want to act like he meant the most to them only.
Five shut the book with an angry grunt and flopped back down on the bed. Stupid.

…

It was evening now. Shortly after he got home, Cobs and the twins got some work done. All the animals were fed and tended to, crops were harvested, the garden was watered and weeded, the laundry was taken down and folded, and firewood was stacked. Today was productive, and despite the little incident in the morning, it turned out to be alright. Their worries disappeared rather quickly after occupying themselves with work and cracking jokes with their father.
Cobs headed back inside to start preparing for supper, while Mephone and 4S were picking up kindling from where the firewood pile was. Just one last simple task to end the day. 4S had a decent armful of sticks and pieces of wood too small to stack and shreds of wood that splintered off from the logs when they got cut, Mephone was more focused on filling the air with chat.
“Urghh…I hate firewood, it’s so much work! And it gets used up so quickly in the winter! My arms hurt…”
4S unloaded the kindling into a wooden box. “Maybe your arms wouldn’t hurt so much if you actually exercised them.”
Mephone rolled his eyes, deciding not to expand on that topic and just pick up kindling like he’s supposed to. All this teasing about his apparent lack of activity and sudden growth was getting on his nerves. As a matter of fact, he DOES exercise, mind you! He runs around, and, and stacks firewood…and…he…might just be a little lazy. But what does that matter! He’s strong enough to do what he needs to do, can’t a boy just complain in peace?
Grumbling, he scooped up some sticks so that 4S can’t say that he didn’t do anything to help.
“Whatever. I’m still strong.”
4S broke his focus from loading another armful of kindling to take a judgemental look at his brother. “Yeah, takes a whole lotta horsepower to pick up three twigs.” he snorted “Hey, maybe the bluebirds could hire you to collect nesting material!”
“Shut up!”
“Make me!”
“Hmph!”
Quite the pathetic slap fest started, they both only had one arm to use, and they had to be careful not to drop the kindling. It wasn’t long though until they tired themselves, quietly dumped the rest of the kindling into the crate, then went inside to clean up for supper.

Maybe tomorrow will offer some less stressful activities for the twins, they could really use it.