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Magician watched as his brother nearly dozed off, head tilted to the side before he managed to shake himself awake once more with a few quick slaps to the cheek.
Alchemist. That was the name of his brother. His true brother.
While Magician was interested in the world of magic, Alchemist was interested in a different kind of magic; alchemy. Mixing and transformation. Turning one thing into another.
Like he had done many years ago.
He still remembered Alchemist’s panicked voice coming from a lizard’s body. Some of the Smurfs poking fun at him, resulting in him unleashing his magical wrath upon them. Papa’s reassurances. Alchemist’s desperation as he tried to reverse the condition himself, only to fail.
While he was turned back into a Smurf, it came at the cost of him now having green scales and other lizard-like traits.
That day had changed Alchemist. He had started covering up, hiding as much of his scales as he possibly could out of fear of judgement. Out of disgust for himself.
He never judged his brother. Not for his scales nor for his fear.
Their fellow Smurfs…weren’t always the most accepting. Especially Passive-Aggressive. Fuck that guy.
For years, he, Al and Papa had tried to reverse the condition. Tried to turn Alchemist back to ‘normal’. But nothing ever worked.
For years, they had tried to reassure him, backing off before they went too far. Even during the hotter days, Alchemist refused to remove his gloves or roll up his sleeves. Refused to go to the beach, only relenting when it got too hot and only when no one else was around.
Eventually, Alchemist had stopped trying and told them to stop trying.
And then, they met Firefly.
The glow-in-the-dark girl from Smurfy Grove, the village of Smurf Girls that Team Smurf (or Team Smurfette as he called them sometimes). And…Magician’s sister-in-law.
At first, it seemed unlikely, considering how shy they both were and Alchemist’s first words….and Bubble’s reaction to them. Yeah, one of the many reasons Alchemist was afraid of confessing to Firefly was Bubble being very protective of her.
Didn’t stop them, though. Still, he and Bubbles couldn’t believe that Alchemist and Firefly had been dating for weeks and didn’t tell them until after that whole situation with Razamel and Nocturne.
And now here they were…her brother was married, and Magician had a niece.
Chameleon was her name. And she had inherited some things from her father.
Which was probably why Al was staring at her daughter in tired concern. Had been for a while now.
Right, time to step in.
“Al?” He said softly. Still, his voice got his brother to jump an nearly scream before he bit his lip and tuned to face him.
A moment of silence passed before Magician spoke once more, “It’s 3 AM. What in the name of Smurfkind are you doing?”
“Nothing. Just…just checking on my daughter,” Alchemist said, eyes darting.
“Checking? Or worrying?” Magician asked, walking over and placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder, concern flooding his body.
Alchemist didn’t respond, eyes darting back to Chameleon who slumbered peacefully.
“…She has my condition,” Alchemist choked out, the noise stirring Chameleon, “You know how judgemental some of the others got when I didn’t fully reverse my transformation. Especially Passive—.”
“Al.”
"—I don’t want her to go through what I did. And what if she repeats what I did—?”
“Al.”
“—And what if we can’t reverse it this—.”
“Alchemist,” Magician said firmly, “That’s not going to happen, okay? I know you. You and Firefly will do everything in your power to make sure she has a good life. It’s going to be difficult, yes, but you have each other, me, Bubbles and the rest of our friends.
And if Passive-Aggressive says something, we’ll make him pay for it,” Magician grinned before dropping it down to a reassuring smile, “But she’ll be fine, alright? We’ll be okay.”
“…Thanks, Magic.”
“You’re welcome, brother,” Magician said, pulling his brother into a tight hug which Alchemist gladly returned. Just like the ones they gave each other when it got too difficult for one of them.
After some time, they separated, and Magician gave him a warm smile before frowning as Alchemist’s eyes turned to his daughter who stared at them curiously.
“Come on, off to bed,” Magician sighed, “You can’t expect to look after your daughter if you’re smurfing exhausted, Al.”
Alchemist’s eyebrows narrowed and Magician gave his brother a reassuring smile, “I’ll look after her, I promise.”
“Are you sure, though—?”
“Yes, Al,” Magician sighed. He loved his brother. He really did but sometimes, he could be too worried for his own good, even if it was for understandable reasons, “I can look after Chameleon. Keep her safe and help her get back to sleep.”
Alchemist looked at him, tiredness and concern mixed in before he nodded, “Yeah…okay.”
“There we go,” Magician grinned, lightly patting his brother on the shoulder, “Now go to sleep…or I’ll put you to sleep.”
“Can I say…” Alchemist yawned, “…goodnight to Chameleon?”
“Sure.”
“Good night, my little Chameleon,” Alchemist said, leaning in to kiss his daughter on the forehead before walking back to his and Firefly’s room. Magician watched him go before turning his attention to his niece.
“Sorry about your dad waking you up,” Magician smiled, sitting down and resting his arms on the walls of the crib, making sure not to put too much weight, “He’s very worried about you but…don’t worry, I know you will be alright with us.”
Chameleon tilted her head and gave a questioning babble.
“Now…let’s try and get you back to sleep, shall we?” Magician grinned before clearing his throat and he began singing. He wasn’t the greatest singer around, but he had been told that he was still good at singing.
And so he sang, rocking the crib as he did.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
When the blazing sun is gone
When he nothing shines upon
Then you show your little light
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night
Chameleon let a yawn as her eyes began to close…
Then the traveller in the dark
Thanks you for your tiny spark
How could he see where to go
If you did not twinkle so?
Chameleon’s eyes were now closed but Magician kept singing.
In the dark blue sky, you keep
Often through my curtains peep
For you never shut your eye
Till the sun is in the sky
Soft snoring filled the room as Chameleon returned to slumbering the night away. Magician smiled softly before quietly bringing over a chair and sitting down on it. He conjured up a blanket and wrapped it around himself.
Sleep deprivation was going to slap him in the face tomorrow when the sun rose but hey, he was doing it for a good cause.
…Ah. Guess he was a hypocrite.
He shrugged. Well, Alchemist needed sleep more than he did and besides, he had a spell or two to help with that.
For now, he got comfy and watched the crib, keeping an ear out for any noises from inside or outside the house…