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Naia knew something was off when Naiee kept looking to his backpack all evening. All dinner he seemed antsy, as if he were waiting for something, when everyone’s eyes were off of him, and he could sneak off to do- whatever. The older boy tried not to make anything of it at first. Maybe somebody at school had given him something. Perhaps a friend had gifted him a little trinket of some kind. Well, whatever it was, Naia didn’t read too much into it. They went about their evening as usual, and soon retired to bed.
It was then, in the dead of the night, when he heard a set of small footsteps trying to quietly creep past his door, Naia came too. He had always been a light sleeper, ever since he was little, thus waking to any minor noise in the house, be it the pipes clanking, or one of the inhabitants creeping about. He would have waited, assuming Naiee was just going to the bathroom. But when his feet had descended the creaky steps of the stairwell, the brunette knew something was off.
He quietly slipped out of his bed, creeping silently to his door out to the hallway. Going down the stairs undetected would have been difficult to anyone else, but Naia knew exactly were to step to avoid the noisy steps. When he got to the last step, he peered around the corner, viewing down into the dark hallway. A blue light had cast itself upon the wall at the end of it. He could hear sounds coming from the TV. Naia raised a brow. What on earth was Naiee doing down here at this time of night? It was nearly one in the morning.
Nevertheless, the older boy was curious. He listened for a long moment, wondering why Naiee would view something so late at night rather than just putting it on at a more- reasonable time in the day.
“FUCK! NOW IT HAS NO ONE TO PASS TO FUCK!”
Ah. Well. It would seem his question had been answered.
The older boy didn’t waste any time in marching down the hallway, straight into the living room, flipping on the light. The blonde almost jolted out of his skin upon seeing his brother apparate out of nowhere.
“Naia!?” He fumbled for the remote, trying to turn off the TV, before his situation got any worse. Naia sighed, going over to turn off the screen, just as a guy as was getting mowed down by a truck. He stood before the blonde, hands on his hips.
“What is this?” He asked, clearly displeased.
“… Nothing.” Came Naiee’s weak response, suddenly feeling smaller beneath Naia’s glare.
“Oh, someone yelling, “Shoot that mothe- effer” is nothing?” The older boy air quoted.
“Yes?”
The older boy glanced around, looking for the box to the movie that Naiee had just been watching. His eyes eventually landed on a somewhat tacky looking cover, sitting on the floor next to the dvd player, of which a girl’s face was plastered across the front, a rather crude and semi-violent red colored smile almost ripped across her face.
“Smile 2?” He asked, somewhat to himself and to Naiee as he picked up the box.
“Uhhhh, yeah?”
“And you got it, where?”
“… The library?”
“Naiee.”
“Okay, okay a friend lent it to me at school.” The younger boy caved, “I really wanted to see it but I knew you and Dad weren’t gonna let me so I…”
“Played hooky?” Naia filled in, taking the DVD out, putting it back in its box.
“No! Just- tiptoeing around you and Dad. That’s all!” the other defended.
“That’s called playing hooky Naiee.”
“Well, it’s just a movie! Plus, all the other kids in my class get to watch it! How come I can’t?” The blonde argued.
“Because you shouldn’t be watching junk.” Naia calmly replied.
“But everyone else is! Why can’t I?”
Naia sighed, taking a seat next to the younger boy. “Because you shouldn’t waste your eyes.”
The younger boy raised a brow, “What do you mean?”
“They’re better ways to spend your time than to watch stuff like this. You’re drawing, your Studio Ghibli movies.”
“Doesn’t Princess Mononoke have a lot of violence in it too though? How come you’re okay with me watching that but not this?” The younger boy gestured to the box that Naia held.
“Because it’s not senseless. It’s not cheap. There’s a fine line between real on screen violence and animated ones.”
“I mean- I guess but-“
“Plus, that story is filled with a lot of pain and fighting but has a reason to justify it. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense to you now, but it will when you’re a bit older.”
“I mean… I kind of get it. Sort of.” Naiee replied, still somewhat confused but knew what his brother was getting at. If anything, he sounded like their late mother. But he didn’t note that. He didn’t want to upset Naia.
“But isn’t it just a movie too? I mean, scary stuff is fun. I like it cause it’s fun.”
“And what if that were happening to you right now? If someone came in here and tried to kill you?” The older boy filled in.
“Ah- well-“
“Real life can be very horrifying Naiee. It’s not something to be made light of.”
Naiee sighed, frustrated. Naia really was as pure as the snow. His point wasn’t getting across. “It’s a STORY Naia. It’s not real.”
“So you could be watching something good. Something meaningful.”
“Oh my- you sound just like Dad.”
“Dad would tell you the exact same thing. So would mom if she were here.”
Naiee kind of wanted to laugh and yell. He had sort of pegged big brothers as being the kind of people who would be looser, willing to bend the rules a bit to have some fun. But barely sixteen years of age and he was acting as if he were the sole parent of the household. It was both heartwarming and kind of infuriating at the same time.
The older boy put an arm around Naiee and pulled him close. “I’m sorry, I know I’ve been really busy with work and school lately.”
“Nah, it’s okay I know.”
“I promise we’ll do something fun this weekend.”
“Oh.” Naiee paused. That came off wrong. “I didn’t mean it like that I just-“
“We’ll play games, watch movies, whatever you want to do. I swear it.”
“I- sure. That sounds great.” Naiee agreed. He wanted to assure his brother he wasn’t feeling neglected at all, or that any of this “secret viewing” of this movie was a product of him being neglected but decided to leave it.
“Why don’t you sleep with me tonight? Just so you’re not alone.”
“Okay.” A tint of blush dusted itself across the younger boy’s face. Naia still acted as if the younger boy were five sometimes too.
“Come on. Let’s get some sleep.”
The pair promptly turned off the lights, the TV, and soon headed back upstairs, not before Naia had put the movie away in his backpack. He’d be having a word with that boy’s parents in the morning. When they climbed into bed, they talked for a bit, just about what the next day would bring and what they’d do over the weekend.
But then something else occurred to the older boy. Something that hadn’t crossed his mind before.
“Hey Naiee?”
“What?”
“You don’t have anymore of those movies stashed away, do you?”
“… No?”
“That was a long pause.”
“Uh, because I was- gathering my thoughts together?” Naiee tried to explain.
“How m-“
“Ten.”
“… You’re sneaky Naiee. Very sneaky.”
“I have my ways.”
Safe to say the next morning he was already disposing of many horror movies.
Including Audition.