Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP B—!

Kel’s dream was forced to a halt, consciousness returning to him while memories of fantastical events fluttered off—events along the lines of becoming a giant, fighting Captain Spaceboy, who actually turned out to just be one of his teachers, and an extremely important plot twist that changed absolutely everything. But despite the detail’s supposed importance, he couldn’t recall the bare minimum to save his life. 

He desperately tried to reimmerse back inside his mental picture show, though the attempt was easier said than done. Especially when said picture show had been sealed shut in a DVD case. The fingers he was trying to pry with were coated in a layer of melted butter—oh, and with the nails trimmed down to the skin—all the while a grating, godforsaken sound loomed over his shoulder, only serving to add more tension than it's worth. 

Groaning, he turned over in his covers, pulling his pillow over his head to barricade his ears from the onslaught of an aural army. Each blare sent his way was a personal attack on his eardrums. 

—EP BEEP BEEP BEE—!

The boy tried to manifest the downward press of the snooze button with his telekinesis—Oh, wait. No, he didn’t have that. So that was the extremely important plot twist. Well, mystery solved. Alas, superpowers would have been the perfect tool to aid his procrastination. 

Kel lifted his head and stared dead on at nothing in particular. He should definitely wake up unless he wanted his mom to get on his case. Again.

...

Okay, he was going to get up. Riiiiiiight now.

...

Now.

...

Okay, no, right now. 

...

Five more seconds. Five. Four. Three. Two.

…

One.

...

...point...five...?

—P BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE—!

“Mmnnnnnnnnguhhhhhhhh...” Kel drawled out, the sound reverberating and tickling his throat. He sat up, his legs folding into his chest, allowing gravity to lean him against the headboard. His calloused hands rubbed at the crusted outline of his eyelids, the remnants of sleep subsiding as his eyes hovered about the room. 

Gaming console.

Dirty clothes.

Basketball.

A mostly empty hamper.

His desk.

And a cactus that Basil had gave to him a couple of years before. Its spines stared at him judgmentally from behind a cassette tape. It was probably because he hadn’t given it any water in a while, afraid of overwatering it. Kel made a mental note to water it after he got up.

...

Right...

...

...Getting up...

Sighing, his gaze drifted down to the outline of his feet beneath the soft, wrinkled mass, its orange hue clashing with the white sheets. White sheets that were supposed to be snugly fitted under his mattress. Unfortunately for the sheets, Kel never actually tucked them. What would be the point if they were just going to get wrecked when he wakes up? 

His body stung with the same soreness that clung to him after a big game. It was a comforting sensation, a sensation that—

Wait.

Game.

Game...

Game........

THE FESTIVAL!!!

“CRAP!” Kel threw himself out of bed—miraculously not tangling his legs in the comforter that had been tossed in the process. The persistent spot in his mind that the alarm flaunted had slipped from its podium, the position being taken in full force by the next thing. 

He was NOT going to miss out on the Festival this year! He was not going to give Mikhael another opportunity to boast. This year, those bragging rights were his! 

He tossed on a random orange hoodie and shorts, not bothering to check if his socks matched before dashing to the bathroom. Kel did not want to miss this event for the WORLD! Not again. The only reason he couldn’t make it last year was because Hero had refused to let him, something about it being a waste of Kel’s college funds, which had only been ONE TIME for a really cool figurine at the Festival a year before that. The games themselves weren’t even that expensive! But his brother never seemed to let Kel handle large amounts of cash since then, arguing that there wouldn’t be any money left for Kel’s college if he kept it up. Kel never cared much for academics anyway, it’s not like the administration could hold him back for more than two years—not that he had been held back for any of those two years, somehow.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.

Gargle, gargle, gargle. 

Spit.

He watched the cerulean liquid as it steadily drifted to the drain. He decided to give its snail pace a little push. Turning the handle on the sink, the mouthwash began its journey down the pipe along with a flood of tap water.

Kel wiped an imaginary tear from his eye and sent his goodbyes to the liquid in a mock salute. His faux serious face cracked when he locked eyes with his reflection, his lips quirking into his signature goofy smile. He let out a sibilant laugh when he gave his prior action more thought. He started to reach for his orange toothbrush when he spotted a light blue Post-it note in the top right corner of the mirror.

“Prepare for Faraway’s 100th Anniversary” was written in a neat semi-cursive fashion with blue ink. Kel didn’t have to think twice to know what it was referring to. It was basically a celebration of the town’s existence. Although Kel didn’t get the same kick out of the idea like most people he knew, he knew his older brother had been planning for it for the longest time; Hero had been working on this for months. His brother had taken it upon himself to host and design the whole thing. Kel heard that the mayor would be coming as well. He admired his brother for being able to talk to such important people without issue, without being dismissed and ignored like Kel usually was. Hero had always had the best ideas and the best ways to achieve said ideas, mostly by using his “charm”. 

Everyone adored his brother for being so helpful and kind. Kel likes his brother for this, too! He’s always been someone Kel can talk to—like his own personal therapist! But despite how much Hero has helped him, it wasn’t as much of a two-way street as Kel would’ve liked it to be.

Hero had been closed off ever since Kel got him out of bed—closed off in the sense that he didn’t tell Kel what was happening to or troubling him. Kel wasn’t the brightest, he knew that for a fact, but he still wanted to try to understand what his brother had spent that entire year thinking about. 

Probably Mari.

Kel’s smile faltered for a moment. He allowed the silence to encase him before he’d had enough of the solemnity, deciding that he’d spent enough time standing around with a toothbrush in hand doing nothing. He squeezed a log of toothpaste onto the glossy bristles.

But regardless of what or who Hero had been thinking about, there was no doubt that his brother wasn’t the same as he was before. It was like he’d decided to become the busiest guy in the world. All of Hero’s dreams of becoming a chef, like Mari had wanted him to be, had disappeared along with her. It was as if the plan that their parents had been nagging him to follow suddenly seemed appealing. His previous freelance work as a “momma’s boy” became a full-time job. He would compete in so many spelling bees, school contests, and extra credit assignments, and now he was going out of his way to plan a party. There were mountains of other academic things that Kel would never dream of doing, not even for the rest of the Orange Joes left in the—

“—KEL GET YOUR BUTT DOWNSTAIRS FOR BREAKFAST!”

Crunch.

“ACK—FUCK! Shit, that hurt—!”

“KELSEY!!”

A warm copper taste started to trickle from the lining of his cheek. Kel fought back the rest of the responses that threatened to leave his mouth, opting instead to use the pent-up words to formulate a response.

“SHORRY, MOM!”

Yeah, that’d be good enough. For now.

Kel really should stop listening to those true crime shows with his mom. The swearing was starting to rub off on him.

He spat the now red-tinted liquid out of his mouth, watching the blood dance spirals down the drain. As he turned the faucet back on, running the reddish bristles under the faucet, he winced as a familiar throb pressed against his skull. Thinking about complicated things like that made his head hurt, but he found himself thinking more about the past than ever recently, especially about Mari and how Sunny—

...

Kel decided he should stop thinking altogether. He could’ve sworn he’d had a similar conversation with himself about this yesterday. 

Although he still felt the slight grit of toothpaste between his teeth, he squirted a new blob onto his brush anyway. He knew that if his mother were to have cameras in the house, she would shout at him for being “wasteful”. Well, excuse him for not wanting to stain his teeth with bloody, minty paradise, so thank goodness for the lack of theoretical cameras. 

He spat out the gunk in his mouth, turning the handle for what seemed like the tenth time since his entrance to the bathroom. Speaking of time, how long had he been here? Kel lifted his wrist to check the watch, one that he hadn’t put on yet. The boy let out a groan, slapping his head in theatrical exasperation. The watch wasn’t on him, obviously, so where was it? He could faintly recall giving it to Hero to adjust it. He’d seen his brother working on it a couple of nights ago. Maybe it was still on his desk? Hero would have given it to him if he had finished it, though, but then again, his brother has been really busy with planning the celebration and all. Usually, Kel was the forgetful one, but it was probably about time for Hero to forget something, too. 

He made his way back into his bedroom, hearing the continued screams of an alarm growing closer. Kel had left the door swung open, a large golden trophy greeted him idly, but the static gesture was met with silence as Kel turned and ventured into the forest of his brother’s academic achievements. 

Medals, ribbons, cups, and other items signifying success watched him as he stepped. There were so many of them. They reflected bent golden versions of him, wavy, distorted forms smiling at him despite Kel’s neutral expression. They stared at Kel like they were better than him. Flaunting something Kel knew he would never—.

...

Huh? Where did that come from?

...

Wait. Why was he here again?

—EP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP B—!

Kel’s head whipped in the direction of the alarm clock, which he’d completely forgotten about up until now. 

He should probably turn that off. 

As Kel silenced its strident blaring, he subconsciously read the minute hand’s position.

6:27 AM.

Three more minutes until his mother would come upstairs to yell at him.

Wait.

Oh! That’s why he was here!

The boy found the watch lying on top of his brother’s desk after his misadventure. He snatched it with a whispered cheer of celebration. Slapping it onto his wrist, he began trying to fiddle the tongue of the buckle into a hole. As he struggled to get it in, his mind wandered again.

Winning the Festival had always been Kel’s dream. He remembers watching Sunny and his sister play some of the games there, but they never went all out or entered the main event like Kel had nagged them to. The tickets to compete were only 35 dollars, not even that expensive, still Hero forbade Kel to play in it, saying that it was too dangerous for some reason. But there was one year he managed to compete in the competition, without his brother’s permission, of course, and he had nearly made it to the finals. He was ONE GAME AWAY from winning! From getting a big, shiny trophy like one of the many his brother had. From achieving something more than just a medal for eating hot dogs. From winning something worthwhile. But his brother had been told to bring Kel home for dinner—Kel couldn’t remember if he had been dragged out kicking and screaming in the metaphorical or actual sense. Mikhael has been poking at this sore spot of Kel’s ever since. He had been planning the Festival this year. Kel and Basil were on the same team to compete—Aubrey had sprained her ankle badly, so she couldn’t go. Which was also the reason she had been staying over for the past week, his mother insisted she did for some reason. That meant that there was only he and Basil against other teams of three. 

But this year, it was going to be different.

This year, he was going to convince his brother to let him go. 

And this year, he was going to win.

As he fastened the strap into a snug hold, a bright shine caught his eye.

Kel’s gaze drifted to the light’s source, and he found himself staring dead on at a snow globe on Hero’s desk. A miniature grand piano encased by water and aureate sparkles, the glitter settling on the faux wooden planks at the bottom. If he looked really close, he could read a name engraved in the center. 

“OMORI”

Carefully, Kel cupped his hands around its base, supporting its surprising weight with his palms. He turned it slightly to the right and found a faded sticker on the back.

“TO HERO FROM MARI”                      “MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

Kel remembered he was about 10 when Mari gave this to Hero, she had also given Kel a matching snow globe that day. She said they were special because the sparkles were real gold, not the fake stuff that’s in most jewelry, like the stuff his mom owned; real gold. But his favourite part of the gift wasn’t the fact that it was worth more than all of his action figures, but it was the music box inside of it. Kel looked back at his desk on the other side of the room. There was a certain lack of a snow globe on it. His worries were defused when he remembered that he’d given Hero his snow globe, since his brother said that the music box was out of tune and needed to be fixed. Kel didn’t think he would have minded if it became out of tune; it’d probably sound good either way. Man, it’s been a while since he last saw his snow globe; he still hasn’t gotten it back yet. It was probably still being worked on. Kel knew that the music box was Hero’s favourite thing about it, so maybe that was why it was taking so long. He remembered Hero would play his own snow globe’s song all day and all night long when he was stuck in…

…

Right. Breakfast. He shouldn’t keep his mother waiting any longer.

Setting the snow globe back to where he‘d taken it from, he started towards the door. He really should stop thinking about heavy stuff like that. It hurt his head.

Hero snipped away at the rose thorns with a pair of scissors. The green stubs fell conveniently into the trash can beneath his hold. He placed the flowers into an ornate glass vase with precision, his fingers wrapping around the neck of the pottery as he picked it up. He was two steps from his previous position when a gentle but firm hand paused him.

“I’ll take that for you, dear.” His mother’s voice rose from behind him.

Hero blinked down at his mother. There was that soft look of concern in her eyes when she looked at him. 

Hero sighed, “Thanks, Mom.” He shifted the weight of the vase over to the woman, she started to carry it in a random direction, trying not to show that she didn’t know where to put it. But she wasn’t doing a very good job of that, though.

“Oh, uhm, put the flowers on the dining table, please.” He added that before she decided to leave it somewhere that it wouldn’t make sense. The woman let out a hum of acknowledgment and headed into the room south of him. His gaze lingered on her for a moment to ensure that she did it correctly—she didn’t; Hero would have to wait until she was out of the room to fix it. He didn’t have the heart to do it in front of her.

She came back and hugged him tightly, the young man could’ve sworn he broke a rib in the process. She loosened her grip on him and looked him in the eyes, her lips pursed as she put both her hands on his shoulders. “Tsk, awwww. My baby boy, you’re growing up too fast. Ohhhh!” Then she hugged him again. Ouch.

“Ha, ha, it’s okay, Mom. I’m still the guy you know. I’m not going to change anytime soon. Don’t worry yourself, okay?” He managed to cough out with the little air he had in his lungs. The woman seemed to accept this and started over to the living room.

He turned back to the counter and began to sweep the rest of the thorns into the bin. Despite the serenity of the house, Hero couldn’t help but feel as if he were living off the patience of a ticking time bomb. The mayor of Faraway Town would be coming over to meet him in about thirty minutes, and he couldn’t afford to leave a single thing out of place. 

His hands reached for another rose and started to trim its points. He needed this to be perfect. He was about to tie the stems together when he noticed that one of the thorns had caught onto his tie. He plucked and tossed it into the bin with the rest, pulling his sleeve up to check his watch.

6:33 AM.

27 minutes until she was here.

Yeah, he could do this. No biggie. It’s not like he can back out now anyway. This was his chance to make a mark in this town. He was to give a speech at the church in the evening, nearly the whole town was coming over to watch—it wasn’t a very large town, but it was still a significant number of people. And a whole lot of work. He was grateful that Basil’s caretaker had volunteered as his assistant, in a sense. She knew how overwhelmed Basil got when he had to be in any sort of leadership role, and thought she could prevent some of that stress for Hero, saying that she “owed him” this for saving Basil’s life last summer. The young man couldn’t possibly turn her down. Polly had also proofread his script that Hero would read out at the event. He had been practicing and revising that script all week. God, he hoped it went all right. Hero sighed and set the flowers onto the counter—the counter he would need to clean. He paused, staring at the various items scattered around the kitchen. His eyes tracked back to the vase’s off-centered position on the dining table. It was fine, he had time; he could do it later. 

Hero made his way over to the living room, trying to get his thoughts in order. Running a hand through his hair, he took inventory of the boxes and toys that still littered the area. The boxes were either half full or nearly empty, containing various party materials that Hero had personally bought. A good deal of the toys were Sally’s, the other was Hector’s torn bear, its twin lying somewhere in the kitchen still. It was such a clutter, it was making it hard to think. He would put it away later. Wait, didn’t he say this about something else earlier? Oh, right! The flowers.

Making a U-turn, he passed Kel—late to breakfast as usual—and Hector, who, upon seeing him, decided to dance a tango with Hero’s legs, causing the young man to reciprocate an awkward half-shuffle just to make it through the doorway. Noticing the tennis ball left on the rug, he got the pup’s attention by pretending to have the ball in hand, waving it around, behind, then in front of his torso. With a “go get it!”, he threw the “ball” in the direction of its physical copy. Hector’s eyes scored onto the idle green toy and bounded over to it with the enthusiasm that only the canine and his brother seemed to share. He watched Hector scamper off into the living room.

Okay. Focus. He needed to get this done.

He strode past his brother, who had begun to eat his toast. Hero lifted the vase from its off-centered location, setting it slightly more to the right, though he felt its weight tilt upon placement. His brows furrowed as he looked for the source of unalignment. Crumbs. His eyes narrowed at the scraps and then at his brother, who had been talking with his mouth full, sending bits of his food across the table. 

“—tival?” Kel asked, a hopeful expression playing on the teen’s features as he looked up at Hero. His brother seemed to think that Hero hadn’t heard him, which he hadn’t, because he asked again.

Washing his mouthful down with his hyper-caffeinated drink—gross—Kel cleared his throat and started again. “Uhm, I wanted to know if I could go to the—?”

“Oh, Henry! There you are,” Hero’s attention was quickly diverted to Polly, who was holding a clipboard and pen. “The florist wanted to know if the white roses would be—?“

“—Wait. White? I thought I asked for yellow? Polly, sorry, but could you please tell her to use the yellow ones?” 

The woman muttered a stream of apologies, turning the living room, frantically scribbling onto her paper before pulling out her phone and dialing whom Hero assumed was the florist. 

He turned back towards Kel and the crumbs. 

Sigh, Kel.

“I—.”

“Kel, please don’t talk with your mouth full, you’re getting crumbs everywhere.” Hero spoke, sweeping the food into his palm before swiftly turning to the bin in the kitchen. His eyes glazed over the counter’s state of chaos. Goodness, he should clean that now—.

“—Ew, Kel, why is that the first thing you have in the morning?” A familiar pink-haired teen flicked at his brother’s forehead, earning a groan of complaint from the boy. Hero’s gaze flicked down to her calf, which still looked pretty swollen from her tumble off her scooter the week before. 

“Hey! What did I do? I’m innocent here!” Kel exclaimed, his arms flailing upon accusation.

“It’s just really gross. Weirdo.”

“HEROOOOOOOO!!” His brother whined, the sound grating on his ears.

Annoyed, he cut his brother off, “Kel, please stop yelling. Aubrey, stop antagonizing him—!”

“EEEEEEEEE!!!” 

Whump.

Hero looked down and saw Sally clinging to his leg.

“Aw—Sally, come on. Please, let go!”

“EWEEEEEEE!!!!” The small bundle squealed at him. He tried to pry her off, but he had to remind himself that her small, chubby hands are surprisingly strong. He crouched down to try and get her loose, he could vaguely spot a pair of approaching orange shoes.

“Hero, please. I know you’re busy today, but I really need to ask you—!” 

“—Hey. Need a little help?” Aubrey sauntered over to her struggling friend.

The young man heaved out a sigh, allowing his posture to relax a bit in that moment before straightening out again. “Yes, thank you so much, Aubrey.” Hero shifted his leg towards his saviour so she’d get a better angle.

“HEY! I WAS TALKING TO HIM FIRST! AUBREY!!”

Ignoring Kel, Aubrey bent down and began coaxing Sally from his leg. The child didn’t protest; in fact, she seemed to delight in the attention from the girl. Sally slid from her koala-like position and waddled over to Aubrey. Hero watched as the toddler reached her stubby arms up, tiny hands making grabby gestures. Hero and Aubrey both shared a soft laugh at this. Before Sally could begin to whine, Aubrey picked her up, adjusting her hold and shifting her weight until the teen was comfortable with how Sally was positioned. “Huh, she really likes me.” She hummed in surprise, a warm smile spreading across her face. Hero smiled along with her.

“Yeah. I bet she loves you even more than her building bl—!”

THE BUILDING BLOCKS! OH GOD! THE LIVING ROOM!

“Hey, Hero—?” Kel.

“JUST ONE SECOND, KEL.” Hero made a run for Sally’s building blocks, throwing the colourful shapes into one of the boxes that lay in the living room—OH GOD THE BOXES! HE HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN! WAIT, HOW MUCH TIME DID HE HAVE?

6:40 AM

TWENTY MINUTES!!!

OH GOD! TWENTY MINUTES LEFT AND THE PLACE WAS STILL A MESS!! WAIT! THE KITCHEN! DANG IT!

“Bro, I want to talk to—.”

“Baby, have you seen my purse—?”

“Henry, did I leave my apron—?”

“Hey, Hero, can you get me my headband—?”

“BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK!!!”

Hero found himself doing a million things at once. Okay, purse, apron, headband—.

“Hero.”

The young man handed the purse to his mother.

“Hero.”

Then, gave Polly her apron.

“Hero!”

Where was Aubrey’s—?

“HERO!!!”

Crack.

“KEL—NOT RIGHT NOW!”

...

The hustle and bustle of the house seemed to pause, and even Hector dropped his ball, tilting his head. The metaphorical crickets chirped agonizingly in his ears.

“Uhm...” Hero struggled for words.

...

...

...

...

RING RING RING!!

Everyone in the room shifted their focus over to the sound that entered the room.

“Oh! That’s Rosa! She said she’d be calling soon. Out of my way, honey!” His mother shuffled over to the house phone, answering it with eagerness as she blabbed on. The rest of the group seemed to take this as a cue to return to the previous atmosphere. 

Hero pushed a breath of air through his lips and continued to clean up the disaster zone. Everything needed to be perfect for when the mayor came to interview him. He proceeded to spend the next couple of minutes tidying up.

Building blocks. 

Hector’s toys.

Kitchen counter.

Then the—.

Knock Knock Knock.

He heard a knocking on the door, he was just about to get it when his brother opened it instead. Standing in the doorway was Basil. 

“Oh, Kel! Did—uhm—did you ask Hero yet?”

Huh?

“Ask me what?” Hero turned around to face the two boys, leaning the broom against a chair.

“Uhm—Well, there’s, like, this thing tonight.” Kel fiddled with the drawstring of his shorts. 

Hero paused, his brows furrowing. “Tonight? As in the 100th anniversary of the town. That tonight?”

“W–Well, Hero. Uhm. Kel and I have already formed our team to compete in the Festival!”

The Festival...? Oh. Oh. That. 

“Oh no. No way. Kel, you know how dangerous some of those games are! The locations are barely maintained! It’s unsafe! I couldn’t let you get hurt without me there.”

Meekly, Basil spoke up, “Polly said it was okay.”

“Basil, she’s Swedish. Everything is okay.” Hero sharply exhaled through his nose, unintentionally making Basil shrink into himself. “B-But, it’s not your fault, Basil. If you want to go, you can. It’s just that Kel can’t go. Alright?” With that added, Basil seemed a bit better, his shoulders receding from their inward position. “But seriously, be careful.”

His attention pivoted upon hearing the front door open again.

“Come on, Aubrey! Let’s get you some nice clothes! Ooh! Bring Sally with! We can have a girls’ day!!” 

“Later, nerds,” and with that, the two girls were out the door with his mom. The young man watched them through the doorway and couldn’t help but smile at this. As he made his way to the bottom of the stairs to fix up the faux trees, he could indistinctly pick up on Kel and Basil’s conversation from the living room.

“Don’t worry, Basil, go to class without me. I’ll convince Hero to let me compete in the Festival!”

Why couldn’t his brother just accept “no” as an answer?

“Henry,” Hero turned to face Polly, “I got the catering samples ready for Mayor Diane. I put them on the table in the dining room.”

“Okay, thank you, Polly.” Hero checked his watch again out of habit.

6:50 AM

Ten more minutes.

“I’ll drop Hector off at the groomer, don’t worry, I’ll be back in about 5 minutes, it’s just a short jog there and back.”

He watched the woman beckon the pup, clicking on his harness and leaving out the door.

As Hero moved onto the other plastic tree, he heard footsteps approaching.

“Hey, uh, bro. Will you please think again about the—”

“Sorry, Kel. No is no.”

“BUT, HERO!”

“No ‘but’s, Kel. I said this before, the Festival is unsafe, and I can’t go with to watch you, I’m busy all day and night—”

“What do you mean ‘watch me’? I’m 17, Hero! I don’t need a babysitter—!”

“Well, maybe if you’d stop acting like you’re still 12, I’d consider letting you go.”

“But—!”

“No, Kel.”

“HERO, PLEASE! THIS IS EVERYTHING TO ME! I NEED TO WIN THE COMPETITION, CUZ I NEED THE—!”

“Stop. Yelling. The answer is NO.” Hero didn’t want to be angry this morning, but Kel kept pushing his buttons. Calming himself down, he breathed out his tension and continued to work on the branches of the—.

Kel mumbled.

“Hmm? What was that?” Hero was only half-listening to Kel at this point.

Step. Step. Step.

“I hate you,” was all his brother muttered before storming upstairs. 

“HEY! WHAT—?!”

SLAM!

...

Hero stood there for a moment, trying to wrestle the agitated monster that he’d been fighting off all day, but something snapped; the chains restraining his emotions shattered; he couldn’t stand this behaviour anymore.

“Ugh—come on!” Hero groaned, promptly following Kel up to their room. He found his little brother standing idly, staring at the trophy in the center of the wooden floor. Holding something, clutching the item close to his chest. Hero glanced over to his snow globe, silently asking Mari for help—.

Gone.

...

His snow globe was gone.

The young man shifted on his feet, his focus pivoting to Kel, who turned to face him. He and his brother stared at each other with a fire that could not be doused, yet, simultaneously, they avoided each other’s gaze entirely. For a moment, Hero began to regain his senses, eyes widening as he watched a tear trickle down Kel’s cheek, falling onto...

The snow globe.

HIS snow globe.

That was his. 

That was his. 

That was his. 

From Mari. 

From Mari. 

Mari. 

Mari. 

Mari. 

Mari. 

MariMariMariMariMari—

Any previous control Hero had had before slipped through his fingers like grains of sand.

“Give me that.” The words left his lips without his permission.

...

“...” Kel muttered something, but it was too quiet to pass through the haze clouding Hero’s sense of reason. 

“Kel. Give it to me.”

“No, please just let me hold it—!”

Before Hero could rationally comprehend what he was doing, he found himself stepping closer, reaching for his snow globe. Kel protested at this, backing into the shelves of his action figures. 

“Kel, that’s mine. Give it to me.”

“No, please! I—I just need a minute—!”

“Give it—.”

“PLEASE!”

“You're going to break it."

“I’M NOT! I PROMISE! I JUST NEED—!”

Hero pulled on it.

"NO, NO, NO, NO!!! PLEASE, HERO!"

 Kel pulled.

“KEL, YOU’RE FINE! GIVE IT TO ME—!”

Hero pulled.

“NO! I'M NOT—! PLEASE! I JUST WANT TO HOLD MARI—!"

Stop talking about her.

I'm not in control.

"—HOW COME YOU GOT TO LAY IN BED FOR A WHOLE YEAR, BUT I CAN’T HAVE A SINGLE MINUTE TO COMPOSE MYSELF?!"

...

Hero paused, caught off guard, his grip on the snow globe’s base briefly grew less taut. He watched as his brother’s shoulders heaved, desperately scrambling for words and air.

“Kel—.”

“SHUT UP! NO—! DON’T EVEN TRY! IT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE THE FUCKING FAVOURITE!”

“Kel—LANGUAGE—that’s not true, I—!”

“YOU SAW HOW MOM AND DAD RAN TO YOU! NOT ME! YOU! YOU’RE SUCH A FREAKING SUCK-UP!”

Hero pulled back on the snow globe, being met with resistance from his brother. He could vaguely place himself in the center of the room, the sun glaring into his right eye.

“You think it's easy for me? KEL—I HAVE SO MUCH PRESSURE ON ME TO BE ‘THE BEST’! OKAY? IT’S NOT MY FAULT THAT THEY—!”

“—THAT THEY LIKE YOU MORE THAN ME?! NO—IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT!”

He could barely make out the sound of dinging; the glass beneath his fingers began to feel hot, but that didn’t matter right now. 

Kel started up again,

“I WISH YOU'D UNDERSTAND! I HATE IT! I HATE IT—! I HATE—! —BEING LIKE THIS! I HATE BEING COMPARED TO YOU ALL THE TIME! I CAN'T— NOTHING I DO IS GOOD ENOUGH! I JUST WANT TO HOLD MARI, BUT YOU DON'T LET ME HAVE ANYTHING!!”

“I'm being responsible. You are going to break it—"

"—I'M NOT!!"

Henry's grip tightened.

"KEL, GIVE IT TO ME!"

"I WANT TO HOLD HER! WHY CAN'T I HAVE THIS? YOU HAVE EVERYTHING—YOU ALWAYS HAVE EVERYTHING!!"

"WELL, YOU ALWAYS BREAK THINGS! SO, MAYBE THAT'S WHY—!"

"I DON'T TRY TO BREAK THINGS—!"

"THAT'S THE THING, KEL! YOU DON'T TRY!" 

Henry gasped for breath,

"—YOU DON'T TRY, YOU BREAK THINGS, AND I'M THE ONE WHO HAS TO CLEAN UP AFTER YOU!"

"I'M NOT A CHILD!"

"THEN STOP ACTING LIKE ONE."

"—I'M NOT!"

"—YOU ARE—!"

"—JUST LET ME HAVE THIS ONE THING—!"

"—YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK IT, YOU IDIOT!"

Kel's shoulders heaved,

"—I'M NOT AN IDIOT!!"

"YES YOU ARE! YOU'RE SO SIMPLE! YOU HAVE IT SO SIMPLE! THERE ARE NO EXPECTATIONS FOR YOU! IF I MAKE A MISTAKE, EVERYONE NOTICES! IT'S TERRIFYING! NO ONE'S WATCHING YOU MESS UP!”

"I HATE YOU!"

...

"YEAH? WELL, I HATE YOU TOO!"

The metal dinging rose again. Sickening melodies danced flurries around his head as an icy burning sensation flared alarms all across his body. He wanted to run. Adrenaline screaming at him to move, to flee, to do something, but he was unable to move an inch. Melodic metal dinging reverberated around the room, and the sunlight in the window fizzled out as Hero felt himself grow dizzy. It felt as if a waterfall of vertigo struck him in the chest. He felt as if he was going to vomit. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t feel anything but felt too much at the same time. 

Too dark.

Too bright.

Too loud. 

Too hot. 

Too cold. 

Too much. 

Too much. 

Too much. 

Too much. 

Too much too much too much toomuchtoomuchtoomuchtoo—!

Pling. Pling… Pling~.

Silence.

…

…

Light filtered through the window panes, bouncing off his clothes.

His throat felt raw. 

His face felt wet. Why did his face feel wet? Was he crying?

He could faintly hear the sound of breathing in front of him.

Kel.

“You are being SO INCREDIBLY immature right now.” Hero coughed out, blinking the water out of his eyes, he winced as he spoke, unsure if it was the ringing in his ears or the creakiness in his throat that made his voice sound off. 

Kel—Kel?—huffed out a scoff, “Really, Hero? That’s the best you can come up—?“ he cut himself off. Hero, still looking down at the floor, heard his own voice from above him. That was weird.

Hero waited for his brother to continue.

...

...

Once his sight was no longer distorted by tears, Hero looked down at his brother. Expecting to see his tear-stricken face—the one he had caused. Guilt began to pile into his chest, but as he tried to meet the other’s gaze, he was met with the sight of hauntingly familiar dress pants—his dress pants, a fancy button-down shirt—his button-down shirt. His eyes trailed up. And—

Face—HIS FACE.

His own eyes stared back at him. Hero furrowed his brows at this, but his reflection didn’t do the same. Instead, the clone’s eyebrows raised, their eyes widening into a horrified look. 

...

...

...

The Hero across from him took in a deep breath.

...

...

...

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!”

Chapter Text

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Kel screamed, recoiling from his clone. Its eyes widened in surprise at the sudden noise, causing the snow globe to slip from its hold. The sound of shattering glass pierced his ears, the liquid spilling onto the hard wooden floor. Clear, glittery shards dispersing into the crevices of the planks. 

Kel scrambled away, continuing to yell in terror, “GETAWAYGETAWAYGETAWAYGETAWAYAHHHHHHHHH!!” The clone in question made no visible advances towards him; it just stood there with a perplexed expression. 

Kel was so confused, he gripped his hair—

Wait…No…that’s not—

His hair. It felt wrong. It was too short. His fingers moved to his neck, but his hand didn’t come in contact with any of his long, luscious locks. His fingers trailed down to his ears—wait, earrings? But he didn’t have his ears pierced. WHAT WAS GOING ON???

“Kel?” A voice spoke up. HIS voice. HIS!!!

“YO! YOU—YOU STAY BACK, YOU WEIRD CLONE THING!!” Kel snapped at the clone, backing into Hero’s side of the room. He’d watched enough episodes of Captain Spaceboy to know he might need a weapon to fight whatever this thing was. His eyes narrowed at the creature, grabbing one of his brother’s trophies, he held it in front of him like a melee weapon. He started to stalk towards his duplicate. 

Upon seeing Kel’s makeshift weapon, the clone started backing up, tripping over its untied shoelaces. “Kel, NO. NO. Put the trophy down.” The clone tried to coax Kel into disarming himself, it winced as it spoke, as if its voice was too hot in its throat. 

“NO!” Kel’s arms jerked the trophy upwards at the sound of his name, “HOW DID YOU GET HERE?!” He brought the trophy above his head, and was just about to swing when—

“GAH! KELKELKEL IT’S ME IT’S ME! HERO! I’M YOUR BROTHER! I’M YOUR BROTHER!!”

Kel paused.

He stared at the “Kel” on the ground, watching the way it was cornered up against his bed with its arms over its head in a defensive position.

Kel scoffed, “Uhh, no. You are not my brother. My brother isn’t me.”

It sat there, slightly lowering its arms, “I am your brother. Henry. That’s my name. And you’re my brother. Kelsey." It spoke raggedly, slowly getting up and approaching him. But the teen still wasn’t convinced.

After a long and thought-out silence, Kel finally spoke up, “No.” 

“Wh—Kel! It—It’s me!”

“Nuh uh.” He shook his head, somehow keeping a serious face despite the absolute absurdity of the situation.

“KEL—”

“Mmn-mmn.” 

“KEL, I SWEAR TO GOD, STOP BEING DIFFICULT! NOW IS NOT THE TIME!” Even though the response came from—what looked like—his mouth, the tone wasn’t his own at all. 

Hmmm.

“If you’re my brother…then why are you in my body?”

It sighed, eyes closing as it moved to rub at its temples. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but you're currently in MY body right now.”

…

What.

…

Kel whipped his head down at himself—suit, tie, button-down shirt, khakis, and weirdly uncomfortable dress shoes. Dropping the trophy, his hands moved to pat himself down, his arms moving in unnatural and lurching motions as he seemed to become aware of the different timbre in his throat. “WHAT?!” Kel exclaimed. 

MIRROR! HE NEEDED A MIRROR.

Running towards his closet, he easily traversed the messy landscape, nearly ripping the door off its hinges as he was greeted by—

Hero. No—himself??? But, not?

He staggered back, reaching up and feeling along his unfamiliar jawline. Then his cheek. He continued this until he’d mapped out his entire facial structure. The Hero in the mirror copied his every move. 

…

…

…

Kel screamed.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHY DO I HAVE—WHY DO I—WHY DO I HAVE—WHAT THE FFFFFFFFFUDGE!?” He shrilled, his hands didn’t know what to do, HE didn’t know what to do. What was a guy like him supposed to do?! HE WAS WEARING HIS BROTHER’S SKIN!!!

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

He tripped over his comforter, being caught by the “Kel”. The last thing he wanted right now was to be held by some freaky clone that proclaimed to be his brother. OH GOD, HE WAS HIS BROTHER!!!! HE HAD HIS BROTHER’S FACE AND HIS BODY AND HIS—

“KEL!” A sharp, familiar voice—his voice—barked from in front of him. “Stay with me, alright? We’re going to be—...We’re going to be fine. Calm down. Deep breaths, okay? In, and out. In, and out. Alright? Do it with me.”

In.

…

Out.

…

In…

…

Out.

…

In.

…

Out.

By the time Kel reopened his eyes, the adrenaline had started to fizzle away. His breaths were still shaky, but he was doing better. Taking one final deep breath, he pushed it out as his shoulders heaved with the effort.

Regaining his senses, “NOOOO! THIS SUUUUUUCKS!!” Kel groaned petulantly, throwing his head back, palms dragging down his face to the crook of his neck.

“Listen, Kel. I don’t know how this happened either. But I’m sure there is a completely logical explanation for—”

“Wait—This is probably just some weird dream. I’m probably still in bed right now! I—I just need to wake up!” He raised a hand to his face and slapped himself. He watched as the person next to him winced, hissing as if he could feel the pain that radiated from Kel’s cheeks. “GAH! F—F—FUDGE!” Kel’s expression warped into something resembling a mix between exasperation and utter confusion, his chest heaving with the realisation that this was real. Kel reached up to his face again, noticing that the top part of his vision was obscured. 

“Dude,” Kel started brushing his fingers near his eyes, “you’ve got, like, really long eyelashes.”

“Kel—STOP THAT!” His brother slapped his hand away from his face, “You’re going to poke your—uh, my? Oh, whatever—eye out!”

The younger started to pace, his hands making motions as he thought. Man, it hurt to think about things, but he would make an exception for now. “Hero, maybe we’re trippin’! Maybe someone slipped us a drug,” Kel searched into his mind for a suspect, picking one, he snapped his fingers into finger guns, “Aubrey!”  

But before Kel could turn the knob to leave, Hero grabbed his arm, yanking him back and sitting him onto his messy bed. “Aubrey did not drug us.”

“But, we’re obviously sick! I—I’m calling 9-1-1.” He stammered, his vocal cords unused to the force that he usually had, trying to get up again, his mind set on the house phone downstairs.

“WAIT, NO!” His brother’s eyes widened as he shoved him back onto the bed, he landed propped up on his elbows, looking up at Hero. “NO! If we tell the operators on the phone that we switched bodies, we’d be taken to a psych ward and locked in a padded room until at least one of us goes insane—probably me! We are not calling anyone. So, no hospitals. No phones. Okay?” After his brother finished his explanation, there was a beat of silence before Hero prodded again, “Okay?” Kel nodded furiously, his own eyes wide and terrified.

As Hero released his shoulders, Kel’s gaze darted to the floor, pushing himself upright, his fingers gripping the fabric of his uncomfortable dress pants. “But if we’re not calling for help,” he took in a shallow breath, “WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!? CUZ I AM FREAKING OUT, MAN!” His arms lurching into an outspread position, shoulders heaving.

“Kel, BREATHE.” Hero stepped forward and grabbed Kel’s flailing wrists. “Listen to me,” gently pressing Kel’s tautened arms down. “We are going to figure this out, alright?”

"Alright,” he nodded again.

“We are not going to freak out. Okay?”

“Ye…Yeah….”

Once his brother thought he was calm enough, he released Kel’s wrists and knelt to tie the laces that tripped him earlier. “Okay. So, the party is tonight, and—”

Kel groaned, rolling his head back.

“Really?” Hero looked up, exasperation painted on his face.

“YES, ‘ REALLY ?’ ! I WAS TRYING TO HAVE A MOMENT, YOU BARGE IN, START YELLING AT ME, AND NOW ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS THE STUPID PARTY!” 

“Kel, right now, I am trying to help,” his brother enunciated slowly, “and I’d appreciate if you didn’t use that tone with me.” 

Kicking his legs, Kel let out an incredulous cackle, one that was not at all suited for his body’s vocal cords, “Pfffffft, what do you mean? It’s YOUR tone!” His arms flying out in a lousy shrug.

“You know what I mean—”

Kel got up, clearing his throat as he began to mock his brother. “‘Act your age.’ ‘Do your homework.’ ‘Slow down.’ ‘Stop yelling.’ ‘Give me the snow gl—’” His sentence trailed off as his gaze landed on the scattered remains of the snow globe. He paused, his exaggerated expression morphing into horrified realisation. 

“OH, GOD!” He fell to the ground, wary of the glass shards, and scooped the metal base of the snow globe into his hands. “WE TOTALLY BROKE THE MAGIC SNOW GLOBE!!!”

“Kel, I doubt it was magic.” Finishing the final loop of the shoe lace, he rose to his feet.

“...” Kel, still crouched, turned his head and gawked at Hero as if he had said something offensive, “We just switched bodies. Do you have a better idea, Sherlock?!" He squawked, picking himself up and standing over his suddenly shorter brother. He still couldn’t wrap his head around this whole thing, and yet Hero acted as if he knew exactly how to handle it.  Kel tilted his hands slightly, noticing the music box’s wind at the bottom, trying to play it. It didn’t work.

His brother paced about the aureate, shattered disaster in the center of their room. Sighing, “Oh, this is such a mess. The glass is going to take ages to—”

Idea.

“WAIT!” Kel jolted straight, taking a couple strides into Hero’s side of the room. “There were two! Mari gave us two—one for you, and one for me!” The younger’s speech started to speed up, hope revealing a smile, “All we gotta do is get mine and switch back!” He set the broken piece onto his brother’s desk, searching the drawers, “Where’d you put it?” He would have started to recheck the first drawer, but the lack of response from his brother made him pause. After another beat of silence, Kel turned around, “…what?”

His brother stood on the edge of the orange rug, fidgeting with the surplus of hair he now seemed to have, brushing it out of his face. “I…” Hero fiddled with the drawstring of the orange hoodie, “uhm. I…don’t…” Hero grew quiet, lips not bothering to mouth the end of his response.

“You don’t… what?” Kel probed ominously, stepping towards his brother. He looked small, not just from his new perspective, but small in regards to how his shoulders seemed to shrink into themselves.

“I don’t…have it.” Hero finished, meeting the younger’s eyes.

…

…

…

“What—...What do you mean you don’t have it?!” Kel’s voice rose, fear and confusion flooding back into him in full force. “I thought you were working on it?!”

Hero sighed, “I…I gave it to Mom. She sold it.” 

Sold it. Sold it. Sold it. Sold it. 

His heart throbbed.

“When did she sell it?” Kel stumbled backwards onto his brother’s bed.

“It was about a week ago.” 

…

“Kel—I’m sorry, we just—I—...” His brother struggled to gather his thoughts, shifting from foot to foot, “We were just—...Money was tight then, and—”

“But why didn’t she sell yours?”

…

…

…

The silence told everything Kel needed to know. “Oh. Yeah. That's cool.” He hugged his knees, feeling disgust pool into his chest. His brother was trying to apologise, but Kel wasn’t listening right now. The pulsating pain from before returned, slithering into his veins like a viper. Its venom piercing through his lungs and sucking his breath away, toxin filled his heart’s arteries, the organ spreading the emptiness throughout his body, flushing any hope he once had away—

No. No. No. No. Push the feelings down; it’s not good to be sad. He didn’t want to be sad. Stop being sad—

Was the music box ever even out of tune?

His heart hurt.

His chest hurt.

It hurt so bad.

Pain . 

Pain in his heart. 

Pain in his chest.

Push it down. Get distracted. Push it down. Shove it down. Deep down. Away. Empty mind means happy. Shove it down. Shove it down. Shove it—

“Hey,”

Hero shook Kel’s shoulder, snapping his fingers, “listen to me. We can talk about it after we switch back, but right now, we need to focus.” He paused, letting his words sink in.  “I remember going with Mom when she sold it. She sold it to a friend of hers. They work at FIX-IT”

Hero paused, eyes searching for the next thing to say.

…

…

Awkward silence.

…

“Wait,” his brother’s eyebrows shot up, a chipped smile sprang onto his brother’s face, “the store opens at one!” His brother started to make his way to the door, twisting the handle,  “We’ll buy back the snow globe and switch back! All we have to do is make it through this morning, and then we can—“

Whump.

“Oh! Sorry, Kel!” Polly’s voice rang out. “Henry!” The young woman whipped her head to face him. “The mayor is downstairs! We need you right now!” She concluded, turning on a pivot. The swapped brothers shared a glance. The older looked down at himself, then back up at Kel, his eyes widening as he jumped, yanking him over to the door. Rushing down the flight of stairs, they were met with three pairs of eyes—Polly’s, a photographer’s, and the mayor’s. 

Hero watched as his body stood with a dopey expression, mouth slightly agape, staring at the three figures at the door. This was not how he pictured his day going. The spot where Polly had accidentally rammed was sore, he was surprised that he didn’t get a bloody nose. Seeing the shadows on the floor begin to move, he looked up.

“Ah! Henry Diaz! Pleasure to finally meet the man who’s genius enough to plan, design, and execute the 100th anniversary of my town!” Mayor Diane stood before his younger brother, her sharp bob swaying as her hand extended for a handshake. The gesture was left unreciprocated for a second before Kel figured out what to do with it, shaking it as if he’d never shaken a hand before—

AAH! THIS WAS AWFUL!!

“Y-Yeah, uhm. You’re…welcome?” His brother stammered, evading her gaze, he opted to stare at Hero for advice, eyes wide and bewildered. Hero didn’t know how to help him.

Noticing the photographer prepping for a picture of Kel’s disheveled stance, Hero acted quickly, “Uhm, Miss Diane, have you seen the church yet? It’s finally all decorated! Polly, go show her the church!” 

...

“The church!”

…

…

Nothing.

“Please , go—show them the church!”

Only silence and appalled looks answered his desperation. 

“Please?”

…

“Yeah, uhm…” Kel released her hand, “Do that. Church looks awesome.” His fingers folded into a thumbs-up. And just like that, Polly, met with mild resistance from the guests, ushered them out the door. Upon ensuring that the door was locked, Hero pulled his brother over to the dining room, looking back out of paranoia.

“Kel! You HAVE to understand. This interview could be the cover story for Faraway’s magazine! You can’t fluster like that! This is everything to me. So, until we are able to get that snow globe,” gently shaking him, “you have to be me.”

 “Okay, yeah. I understand that, but” sliding Hero’s hand from his wrist, “I have school.” 

“This is more important,” moving to fix Kel’s tie. “You can miss school today.”

Breathing in deeply, “Yeahhhh, no,” his brother tilted his head away from Hero’s gaze, shoulders tensing, “I…actually can’t.”

The older paused, attention on Kel’s guilt-ridden face. “Why?” Hero inquired, brows furrowing. 

His hands fell from the tie as he watched Kel pace about, flipping the tie’s tail between his fingers, “If I have, um, one more unexcused absence, I’ll…” he trailed off, wetting his lips as he began taking a few steps back, “I’ll fail eleventh grade—”

WHAT!?

“FAIL?! WHA—HOW MANY T—! KEL— WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME THIS?! WHEN?!” 

His brother kicked at the orange bag on the floor, “Today.” “At the mandatory parent-teacher conference,” mumbling, “that Mom volunteered you to go to.”

“Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait—wait.” Hero waved his hands, “She volunteered me ?” 

His brother answered with a slow nod, “yyyyyyyup.”

“But, she knows—I told her—that I’m busy most of the day!”

“Well,” shifting on his feet, “it turns out that ‘most of the day’... isn’t the whole day.” The younger weighed the words in his hand, as if to visibly separate them in speech.

“Oh, Mom. Why?” Heaving a sigh, “How did you even—. How many absences have you—” His hands dragged down the sides of his face. “No, you know what? It’s fine. This is completely fine. We can make this work.”

Focus, Henry. Breathe. 

Panicking won’t do any good.

“We need a plan,” he thought aloud, “we need to buy back the snow globe.” “You’ll stay here for the interview, and—” Hero halted at an idea, kneeling at the discarded school bag, “And I’ll go to school!” He winced as his voice cracked at the end.

“Yeah, I guess that could work,” Kel scratched at his cheek, considering the notion. Suddenly, the younger cleared his throat, “Man, why does my voice hurt so much?” He massaged his Adam’s apple, striding over to the green armchair in the corner of the dining room.

Probably because you were screaming for the first five minutes since we’ve been like this.

…

He decided not to say that.

Shrugging on the backpack, “Okay, so. I need you to be me for this interview.” He walked over to his slouching brother, hauling him back onto his feet, “Which means,” he paused for emphasis, “you need to be polite and charming.” 

“Pffft, yeah. Seems easy enough.” Kel waved his hands dismissively.

“I have a piece of—well, you—have a piece of paper in your pocket with bullet points I wrote down.” He pulled a small Post-It note from Kel’s back pocket, “It should cover the main points for—for what I wanted to go over—”

“Ughhh, bro, my brain is killing me.” His brother groaned, throwing his head back petulantly. Kel trudged into the kitchen, grabbing an orange-branded soda and—

NO!

“HEY!” Hero snatched the caffeine disaster away from entering the younger’s lips, “And no drinking—... THAT —while you’re me.” He set it on the counter.

“UGGGGGGHHH! WHYYYYY??”

“—AND!” Hero interjected, “Don’t act like a child. Please, Kel. Please, remember that part. You have to focus.”

“On what? All I’m hearing is, ‘say some words’, ‘smile for some pictures’, and then I’m done! You’re overthinking things.” His oblivious little brother placed a hand on the older’s head, ruffling his hair like Hero did with him. Huh, so that’s what that felt like. Demeaning. Noted. He shoved Kel’s hand off him as his own moved to brush the hair out of his face.

“I’m serious, Kel. You need to focus.” Where were the hair ties? He couldn’t think with this constantly in his eyes. “It’s crucial for you to focus. I can’t afford for this to be messed up.” Ouch, how did Mom keep her hair so tight? Hero finished tying up his hair, letting air onto his face. “This is the mayor we’re talking about.”

“Pfffft, if you think a lady is scary, then this is going to be a breeze. I’m not afraid of girls.”

Hero crossed his arms, “You’re afraid of cooties.” He deadpanned.

“HEY!” His younger brother shot back, pointing an accusatory finger at him, “THERE WAS A PERFECTLY,  LOGICALLY LOGICAL REASON FOR—”

“You said ‘logical’ twice—”

“—FOR WHY I HAD THAT FEAR BACK THEN! GIRLS ARE GROSS!”

Hero quirked an eyebrow at his brother.

“GROSS! NOT SCARY!”

“Mhm. One day, you’ll have a girlfriend of your own. And then I’ll call you gross.”

No response from Kel.

Odd.

“—All jokes aside. I NEED you to focus for this interview. I’ll handle going to school.” The older started towards the front door, peering into the full-length mirror next to it, giving himself a once-over. Shoulder-length hair he tied into a messy ponytail Short-sleeved orange Omodog hoodie. Black shorts—probably one of the only things his brother had that was anything other than orange. Worn-down Converse shoes. And, apparently, a chipped tooth. He furrowed his brows at this, starting to feel at the incisor with his tongue. It was sort of sharp. He noticed a figure walk behind him in the mirror, focusing on its face, he—

Hero nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw his face staring back at him. He had forgotten. He had to remind himself that this…situation… was real. It was Kel. Nothing to be afraid of. He only just realised that his brother had been talking to him this whole time.

“—to act? I mean, my teachers, they’re not the nicest when it comes to me.” Kel rubbed the back of his neck, “I mean, I have been late more than once to a couple classes.”

“Kel, relax. I’ve got this.”

“Heck, I don’t think you even remember the bell schedule! I mean, if you’re late, those teachers are—”

“‘Those teachers, ’ Kel, are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met! I feel like you forget that I went to the same school as you!” 

Silence.

…

…

More silence.

…

“Oh, by the way, Kel, um,” looking down at the watch he found on his wrist, “what time do you usually get onto the bus?”

“Uhhhhhh,” His brother drawled out, making an exaggerated contemplative expression. “I think, like, uhh. Like about 7:15?”

Hero looked back down at the watch.

7:16.

“FUDGE!” Hero’s hand flew to his head, the other to the door’s handle, “GOTTA GO, KEL! GOOD LUCK WITH THE—”

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!

Crap.

Without another word, Hero rushed out the door and onto the bus. He was met by his old driver, Ms. Flink. For some reason, she had a scowl on her face. He felt awful for making her wait. Hero took a seat onto the weird one-person seat near the back exit. 

Please don't make me a fool, Kel.

Chapter Text

Kel watched the bus speed off, its passengers lurching against their seats with the motion, leaving the neighborhood like a yellow ride of death. He couldn’t remember if his brother had motion sickness or not. Hopefully Hero could keep his breakfast down until he’s at the school— hopefully . Kel didn’t get queasy easily, but if Hero was in his body, would that mean Hero would still end up vomiting? Or feel like he needs to, but then not? Wait, would that theoretically be the toast he ate that morning? Or? Or… Wow. The semantics hurt his head. But then again, there’s no doubt he will be thinking about this more later, maybe he should take some ibuprofen in advance? Kel shut the door and accidentally slammed it on his pinky fing—

“GAHH! F—F—FFFFFFFFFUDGE! UHGGGGGHH…!” He continued to create pained vocalizations as he clutched his hand. Kel winced down at the purpling bruise forming on his finger. He was surprised that he hadn’t broken it by how awful it looked. Hero always bruised easily, and badly too. He once woke up with a bruise the size of a tiny watermelon on his back after rolling off the bed. Shaking out his sore hand, Kel started over to the kitchen. Anywho, he was thirsty, he wanted to get that weird cardboard taste out of his mouth.

Kel began humming an indistinct tune he’d heard on the radio the other day, twisting and grooving across the kitchen tiles to the audiated rhythm. Grapevining backwards, he reached over his shoulder, opening the fridge as he grabbed a fresh can of Orange Joe. With a flick, the tab cracked open, letting pressure and delightful citrusy scents hiss into the air. He spun around, leaning his elbows onto the counter. He was just about to take a sip when he caught his reflection in the range hood. 

…

Hah, right. He would have to get used to seeing his brother’s face instead of his own. Just for a little bit, right?

…

How did he even get into this mess in the first place? 

…

The snow globe. 

Scenes of the earlier fight flickered in an old movie-like fashion . He had just needed to hold the snow globe for a little bit. Mari had always helped him when he felt down. He had done this many times before with his own snow globe. It felt like, even though… she was gone… her words could wrap around him in a comforting hug of melody when he’d wind up the music box. And then he’d feel better. But Henry sold it. He sold it. Kel couldn’t find his own, and tried to hold his brother’s instead. And then… that happened.

He remembered that Hero promised to never yell at him again, promised to never let it get that bad, to never say things like that to him again. 

…

He promised a lot of things… didn’t he?

…

Henry sold his snow globe. Without his permission too.

…

Though, it was his fault for reacting like that. For causing Hero to get so angry. But… he still… but…

Kel wanted to continue that train of thought, to justify being upset at Hero, but he knew it was pointless. After all, it was his fault. 

…

Just how many other things has he done behind his back? 

…

The sweet scent of orange brought Kel back to reality. He was dazed, blinking at the sudden glare from the sun in the window as it bounced off metal. 

What was he just doing? He couldn’t remember . His eyes trailed to his soda. Oh. Yeah. He was going to drink this. Turning the can so he’d see the silly mascot on the front, his brain supplied him with his brother’s words.

“...no drinking—... THAT —while you’re me.”

He bit his cheek, carefully thinking over the next course of action.

…

…

…

Meh.

He took a swig of it, sighing in satisfaction as the citrusy taste sizzled down his throat, he wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

“Heheh, sorry-not-sorry, man.” 

What’s the harm in a can or two? Or three. Or… four... The number didn’t matter. It wasn’t like his brother would be able to taste the orange in his mouth when they swapped back, right? 

Speaking of his brother, he should probably take a look at the note that he gave him. Even though Kel never really reviewed things before giving a speech—almost all speeches he'd given being mandatory grades for school—he didn’t think it’d hurt to peek at the bullet points for this interview. His hands prodded his back pocket for the Post-It note. He checked the other one. Then his jacket pockets. Wait, did Hero even give him the Post-It note? He remembers Hero talking to him about it, taking it out of his pocket, and… that was when they got distracted. 

…

It was never given to him. 

…

That’s fine. He could just improv it. Kel believed himself to be a master at talking. This would be a piece of cake. He didn’t get why Hero was all freaked out about this interview, this thing should be routine to his brother at this point anyway, since he always does this sort of thing to himself. It was a habit Kel had picked up on in the past year or two; Hero would sign himself up for the most high stakes thing, and then freak out because of said thing he got himself into, as if it wasn’t his fault. Well, yeah, it was the mayor. But then again, she’s just a person—a person in power, yes, but a person all the same. All he… he had to do was say some… some words, get the snow globe, and BAM! Back to… to normal…!

A bead of sweat dribbled down his forehead.

Man, it was so hot in here. 

Kel shrugged off his suit and tied it around his waist, sighing theatrically in relief as cooler air breezed his skin. It was better, yeah, the button-down was still sort of hot, but Kel wasn’t really in the mood to see his older brother’s body without a shirt. Actually, hold that thought. That sounded weird. Why did he think it like that? Ew. He loosened the neck tie’s constrictive hug, undoing the first button on the—

RING RING RRRRING!!!!! 

RING RING RRRRING—

“Huh?” Kel whipped his head in the direction of the living room, accidentally tearing off the button. Crud . It‘s fine. No one would be looking for a missing button, right?

RING RING RRRRING!!!!! 

He should probably answer it. Trudging to the house phone, he sipped on his soda, picking it up.

[ Beeeeeep. ]

“Hello?” 

“ HENRY !”—

Kel winced. 

— “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? ” Polly’s voice rang out from the speaker. 

“Uhhhh,” Kel looked around, then back down at the Orange Joe in his hand, “getting something to drink?” It wasn’t a total lie.

“Okay—But please, PLEASE finish up soon. Okay? The Mayor…she… she’s getting impatient! I know you and your brother had to talk, but this is important! We’ve been planning this for months! ”

Wow, has she always been this anxious? Maybe this was something she picked up from Basil.

“Sorry—Henry, please—Come to the church! Now. Okay—Bye.”

[ Click. ]

…

Sigh.

Well, he probably should start walking over now. 

[  @  FARAWAY CHURCH  ] 

“Oh! Henry! There you are!” Polly rushed over to him, her breaths uneven and shallow, she held her clipboard against her chest as if she’d perish without it. “I’ve been trying to stall for time, but she—she’s due to leave in ten minutes! I—!” Her words halted, as if suddenly processing something, giving him a once-over. “What—happened—to… your…” Ogling at him, her expression contorting into one of horror and concern. 

He glanced down at his casualized clothes. Sure, it wasn’t exactly ‘fit for business’ or whatever the proper term for it was, but he wasn’t just going to appear to this interview completely drenched in sweat; Kel had standards, not very high standards, yeah, but this was on the bar somewhere. “You mean my clothes, right?”

She nodded aggressively, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  

Goodness, this woman needs to calm down. 

“...” Kel didn’t know what to do. Maybe she wanted an explanation? “I got hot.” 

Apparently it didn’t help. Only seeming to make her more distressed. “Hey, listen! I’ve got this, alright?” He gave her an affirmative nod, placing a hand on her shoulder, though he received a muzzy expression instead of one of comprehension.

Women were hard to understand. 

Shrugging off Polly’s perplexion, Kel strode into the church, confidence radiating from him. The doors shutting a little too loudly behind him. Kel was met with two pairs of eyes. Two blue, and two brown with eyeliner outlining. Kel didn’t know much about makeup, but the mayor must’ve put a lot on if he could see it all the way from the entrance. Ms. Diane shuffled over to Kel, holding a tape recorder and an expression that could only be explained as “pissed off but trying not to show it”, which was being tightly held together by a strained smile. 

She clicked a tab on the recording device, “Mr. Diaz…” She poshly addressed him behind her glasses.

Stiffening, “Thhhhhat’s me.” 

“I’m going to save us both the trouble of asking, uh,” she cupped her hands together, glancing down at his disheveled appearance, “the reason for why you look like you—well—fought a tornado on the way over here. Louis and I would love to start this interview now.” Kel assumed that “Louis” was the photographer. “So, Mr. Diaz, can you—”

“—To answer your question—I got hot!” Kel added in a blurt. Crap, she just said to skip past the reason. FUDGE. But surprisingly, Mayor Diane didn’t respond with annoyance, in fact, she… found it funny?

“Well,” the word bubbling into a chuckle, “Faraway does get pretty humid approaching the summer! I don’t blame you.” She wiped some sweat from her wrinkled forehead, as if suddenly realising the temperature herself. “I was just wondering since you were all fancied up back at your home.” 

“Ha ha! Uh—yeah! AC’s not too good,” His shoulders eased from their tautened state as he started to stroam about. “Uh—but, yeah.” He added out of habit. 

The mayor followed him in a shuffle, extending the tape recorder to him, “So, Henry, I’ve heard that you’ve been quite the busy man these past few months!”

“Yyyyyup!”

“I just have to know, how do you juggle all of your activities while also studying to get your doctorate—and, might I add, at one of the most prestigious universities in Closeby City??”

Kel would have responded with a legitimate answer, but— “I ignore my brother.” 

—his lips worked before he’d given consent. 

What the??? Did… Did he actually think Hero ignored him? No… That couldn’t be right, Hero loved him! Right? But, he sold his—WHAT?? NO! NO ‘BUT’S! NO! HE WAS HIS BROTHER! HE—

“—You… what? ” A perturbed feminine tone rose from in front of—

“—HAHA JUST KIDDING!!! HA!—HA HA!” His arms quickly flew out to the sides, narrowly missing Polly’s distressed face.

“Oh! Heh heh—uhm,” She shot him a nervous glance, “didn’t know you were also a comedian!” She glided onto the nearest bench, crossing her legs neatly. “On another note—I heard that you got local small businesses to pitch in for the catering!” 

“Uh-huh.”

“Not to mention, from what I heard from your friend here,” gesturing to Polly, “you personally designed the main attraction, which I am absolutely excited to see!” She waved her hands around in fluttery scoops.

“Yeah, the main attraction, it’s… ” Wait, huh? “...what?” 

Attraction? What was she talking about?

“Oh!” Polly’s voice shot up, “Your light display! I’ll—I’ll go get it!” She started to the front of the church, pivoting behind one of the wall divots.

“Honestly, Henry,” Mayor Diane spoke up, “I just don’t know how you do it! With all of these events, charities, and such, you might as well be working my job!” She bubbled with laughter, “Not to mention your good looks, young man—I’d say you have it all!” 

God, she sounded like his grandma. Sort of looked like her too. Is this how everyone talks to Hero? 

Jealousy.

‘Have it all,’ huh?

Kel bit the inside of his cheek. “Do I, though?”

“Here it is!” Polly rang out. All three heads turned in her direction, immediately met with ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s from Ms. Diane and Louis. Being wheeled out on a—whatever it’s called—was a giant frame of metal and… holiday lights? It was a flashy replica of Faraway Town. There was the park, the neighbourhoods, the church, the hospital, and the shopping districts; the entire town. 

Polly stepped back, brushing off her apron, “Henry made all of this himself!”

There was bold lettering at the top that said ‘Faraway Town 100th Anniversary’. The whole thing was well taller than everyone—including himself. 

Stepping over to it, “ Woah …” he gawked up at it, “I… made that??” 

SIlence. He turned to see the others’ confused expressions. 

Huh? OH! RIGHT! ‘HE’ MADE IT!!

“I’m just—uh—well—SHOOK—on how—um,” he made random gestures at the structure, trying to explain , “— AWESOME —it—looks in the church. ‘Cuz I worked—so hard on this!” Crossing his arms, he leaned back on—

Polly nudged him off of it.

“It’s spectacular, Mr. Diaz!” Mayor Diane walked up to it, ushering the dazzled photographer over.

“Pfft—Right?” A cocky smirk bounced onto his expression, his eyes thrown top-right in a self-assured roll.

“How long did this take you?” The elderly woman examined the framing.

Beat.

Eyes darted to his right, “Polly?”

Catching the cue, “Oh—uhm, six months—”

“—Six months.” Kel cut her off, repeating her words in a more confident manner.

Mayor Diane leaned closer to the small church on the display, “Tell me more about it,” holding out her tape recorder.

…

“Uhhhhh…” Kel bit the inside of his cheek, his brain struggling to come up with something. “It… uh… .. looks really cool in the dark?”

…

…

The old lady waited for him to continue.

…

…

After another beat of silence, she sighed one of those ‘disappointed mom sighs’ through her nose, her finger pressing the pause button on the tape. “Henry,” turning to face him, “if we’re going to write an article about all of your incredible efforts in my Faraway,” she made a swooping gesture.

“—I want to know who the man behind the planner, behind the party really is.”

Crap.

Kel found the tape recorder being shoved in his face, his shoulders lurching in surprise. Behind the Mayor and camera person, Polly shifted anxiously, her expression taut, clutching her clipboard to her chest as she gave him the universal “go ahead” nod. 

“Uhhhhhm,” Kel drawled, “yes. I can—uh—tell you—about myself.” THINK THINK THINK THINK!!! “No problem...” THINK, KEL, THINK!!!!

Wait.

Wait, just a freak—ing—minute.

He can just bullcrap his way through this.

…

Heh. Heh.

Heheheheehe—

“—Mr. Diaz?” The mayor raised a brow at him.

Kel gracefully threw himself onto one of the church benches in a sprawl, surprising the small group, “You wanna hear about me? Alright then.” 

Mayor Diane unpaused the tape recorder, tilting it closer to him.

Clearing his throat, “I’ve always been the top of my class; academically gifted. Great at everything I do, y’know?” “And—,” Kel threw a thumb back at the light display. “—this bad boy?” He laughed, “is just ONE of the many, many things I’ve accomplished.” 

The mayor glanced over at Louis, signalling for him to ready his camera.

“—I’ve practically got my own fanclub.” He rocked himself forwards into an upright sit, his palms pressing against the wooden seat. “It’s ‘cuz of all the great stuff I do ‘round here.” His arm swooped into an outspread gesture. He stood and began to stroam about, counting “his” good deeds out on his fingers.

“Whether it be helping out random strangers with their groceries—,”

Jealousy.

“—tutoring kids ‘round town—,”

Why—?

“—or personally planning—,”

—was he—?

“—designing—,”

—upset?

“—and hosting this entire anniversary party!” Kel’s arms swung out to the sides, outspread, then settling onto his hips. “HA! Not to mention I’ve got great hair.” Combing a hand through it, his fingers became weird and sticky due to hair gel. Ew. He wiped it off on his pants.

Mayor Diane let out a good, hearty laugh, “Well, it’s nice to know that with all of this you’re doin’, you still got plenty of confidence in you, sonny!” She shook her tape recorder as she laughed. “‘Cuz even though you’re coming into this interview looking like a trainwreck—,”

Ouch.

“—you’re still managing to make conversation without acting like I’m going to evict you!”

…

“Are you?” 

“ No ! For heaven’s sake !” She bubbled, her formal tone starting to wear down. Kel thought that she sounded like one of those elderly black grandmas— which, she probably was . “I’m just saying that you have more confidence than most people who have interviews with me do!” She flashed him a smile, “And I’d say that’s pretty dang special!”

…

Kel was caught off guard; he wasn’t expecting this at all. “You… really think so?”

Placing her free hand over her heart, she hummed earnestly, “Mhm.” 

…

Why, though? He realised he hadn’t been really acting as Hero this whole time, just in his place. 

…

A placeholder.

A waste of—

“—?” Mayor Diane inquired. 

“Huh?” Kel looked up, flinching when he realised she had gotten up from her spot on the bench. WHEN DID SHE GET SO CLOSE?? Taking a step back, “Oh—uh—sorry. Could you repeat that?”

“Would you mind telling me more about what sort of games you’ve got planned for the party?” She repeated.

Crap.

“I… uh… pin the tail on the—?”

“ —SO SORRY MISS DIANE!” Polly cut him off, and started to blabber apologies on ‘Henry’s’ behalf. 

This woman needs to calm the heck down.

…

Still, he did quite like that party game.

“—! Sorry, he is just a little bit off this morning, I’m sure it’s probably just the heat and—!”

“Polly,” Kel placed a hand on her shoulder, she flinched at the touch. “Calm down. We’re fine. Alright?”

“D’aww wwwhh…!”

Both he and Polly pivoted their heads towards the old lady. 

Mayor Diane tilted her chin onto clasped hands. 

What?

After a moment, she spoke up again, “You two are so cute together! Are you dating?”

!!?

His and the young woman’s eyes widened upon hearing those last three words, sharing a glance, they both stared at the mayor.

Kel didn’t think Hero was dating anyone. He always became sappy when a distant uncle or aunt proposed the idea of him marrying a woman some day in the future. And, Hero being Hero, didn’t have the spine to stick up for himself and tell them to stop. Relationships were a touchy subject for him after Mari... Kel didn’t want to make his brother upset, so he never asked. But, then again, Hero and Polly had been spending a lot of time together recently, though the reason for being close was probably due to the party planning, but, again, he didn't exactly know if Hero and Polly WERE dating—

“ WHAT?! NO! ” Polly shoved his hand off her shoulder, putting a good couple feet between them, her hands moving to fix her hair.

Well, that answers that.

“Yeah—yeah. No. Definitely not dating.” Kel tittered, waving his hands about in front of him. 

“Awww, you two should!” The mayor flapped her hands around, “You two are adorable.” 

STOPPPPPP!!!! 

“Uh,” He fiddled with his hands, “maybe we continue this interview?” 

This was making him so uncomfortable, and going off of Polly’s face, she was too.

Mayor Diane nodded, moving beside the light display, “What inspired you to do all of this?”

…

Kel bit down on his cheek. 

“I guess,” pausing , “I like to feel seen?” 

…

It wasn’t a lie.

…

“—and I’m a little crazy.” He quickly added with a breathy laugh. The mayor seemed to enjoy his little quip, bubbling into laughter as well.

“Oh! And—One last question,” the elderly lady pivoted on her heels.

“—How are you feeling about your interview later with your mother? I’ve heard she’s quite the hoot!”

Wait. What?

…

NO! NONONONONO—

WHY? WHY?! HERO DIDN’T TELL HIM ABOUT A SECOND INTERVIEW!?

Kel’s jaw went slack, “Uhh,” drawling, his gaze sliding away before meeting hers again. 

I’m not ready for this. I’m not ready. I can’t do this. I can’t—

“I—am—super—hyped—! —For it.” The words staggered out of his mouth. He fought to maintain a somewhat positive expression, the smile already faltering despite his efforts.

Sensing his distress, which he’d tried so hard to conceal, the old lady moved in front of him, stopping her tape recorder. She took his hands, which were fidgeting with the fancy suit tied around his waist, looking up at him with an insightful gaze. 

Oh god, here comes the pep talk.

“Listen, honey—you’re going to do just fine. It’s just going to be me, you, and your mama.” She glanced at Polly, “And—maybe your little lady friend here.” 

Eughhhhh. Please don’t call her thatttt!!!

“Hey.”

Snap-snap.

“You’re okay.” She released his hands, taking a step back. “And, there we go! We’re all finished up!”

…

…

…

After a long silence, Polly spoke up, “That—actually went really well!” 

“Do you want one more picture?” Louis raised his camera. 

Kel moved over to pose in front of the light display. “You betcha!” He shot him finger guns.

The photographer readied his camera.

Kel shifted his weight against the structure.

“WAIT!! HENRY, DON’T LEAN ON THAT!!”

Huh?

Tilt.

Tilt…

*****} CRASHHH !!!!*

Kel jumped at the noise . A resounding shatter of glass broke through the church followed by screams. 

Silence. 

Silence except for the trickling echoes of glass. 

He was scared to turn around, but he stepped to the side and looked down. 

Glass. 

Shards of glass and pieces of metal.

He pivoted, trying to convince himself that what he thought happened wasn’t true. But, unfortunately, for once, he was right.

The display was broken. Not ‘broken’ in a ‘single light burned out’ kind of way, but in a ‘completely ruined’ way. Pieces of the golden wirey framing had snapped. Shards of glass lay scattered across the floor. 

Kel stood facing the mess of metal and glass. A mangled image. He crouched down, picking up a piece of wiring from a letter. His finger hovered over one of its light bulbs, his eyes trailing the jagged pieces barely clinging on. Looking at a larger piece, he saw his reflection staring back at him, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape in horror.

…

What did he do?

Chapter Text

THIS IS NOT CHAPTER FOUR

IT IS AN UPDATE!!

THIS WILL BE UP UNTIL I AM FINISHED WITH CHAPTER FOUR!!!

I WILL BE REVISING AND EDITING CHAPTERS 1, 2, AND 3! 

THERE WILL BE SUBTLE CHANGES IN THE TEXT, BUT I WILL PROBABLY DO THIS A LOT SO THAT IT FITS THE CURRENT NARRATIVE I HAVE FOR IT!!

 FOR YOUR PATIENCE, HERE ARE THE OFFICIAL DESIGNS I HAVE FOR FFFRIDAY ((FREAKY FARAWAY FRIDAY))) 

(these are from the official FFFriday tumblr blog.  Check it out here!!

ALSO!!!!!

FANART!!!!!

ART FROM @astral-stardust ON TUMBLR!!! (link here)

Art of FFFriday!Kel made by @cr0wxo!! (link here)

ART BY loveiy-mae!! ((link here!))

and finally

@clearlykelsey

wtf bro

     link

        link

            link

      link

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH AGAIN FOR YOUR PATIENCE!!

I AM GOING THROUGH A BIT OF A WRITER'S BLOCK RIGHT NOW, 

KUDOS, COMMENTS, AND FANART ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED!!!!

BYEEEEEEEEEEEE

- Angel