Chapter Text
After signing a bunch of names at a fan meet-and-greet for their new book, the Sheps brothers were happily exhausted and ready to go home.
The car drove down an empty road. Streetlights quickly flashed past the window, one after another. Watching the lights outside, Oleg suddenly felt like inviting his brother over to his place. Psychics always trusted their intuition, so Oleg didn't hesitate to ask.
"Why?"
"Why? Have we become so distant? Do I need to come up with a reason just to invite you over?" Oleg felt a little hurt. "After all those years we lived together?"
Sasha remembered that time they lived together during the show. It hadn't been exactly peaceful. So he teased, "Thank God that was the last time, kid. Living with you was such a headache."
Oleg raised an eyebrow. "Blaming it all on me? I remember when you first competed, you had a lot of complaints about me. We were at each other's throats for quite a while."
"Was it wrong of me to care about you? The road to fame isn't easy. You were young — how much had you really thought through? Our parents never supported you taking this path because they knew the dangers."
"Parents, parents again. Always using them to pressure me. Sasha, can you stop lecturing me all the time? Can you stop treating me like a kid? I'm not a kid anymore."
Oleg frowned and turned away, staring out the window. In the dark, people always found it easier to say what they really felt. Oleg was more emotional than usual.
Fine. Alexander admitted that somewhere inside, he still saw Oleg as a clueless little brat — after all, he'd literally changed his diapers back in the day.
In the moonlight, Sasha took a good look at his brother for the first time. The moon's glow outlined his strong shoulders. His fairly sturdy build was like a wall, blocking most of the light from outside. He wasn't wrong… Sasha suddenly realized his brother was quite a bit bigger and stronger than him — a hundred percent natural, fully mature adult man.
Alright. He had a point. But Sasha thought, as the older brother, it was his job to smooth things over. He grinned, showing his signature fang, and gently patted Oleg's shoulder. "Don't be mad at me. I didn't mean to keep treating you like a kid," he said. "I just care about you."
Feeling his brother's hand on his shoulder, Oleg felt half his defensiveness soften right away, but he still fought the urge to smile.
He shifted uncomfortably. "You care about me, but I think you care more about your crown. You say you're worried I'll run into trouble or danger — don't you believe I can handle it all myself? And even if I couldn't, couldn't you? That's not what you're really worried about."
Indeed, no matter which of them ran into trouble, the other would do everything to help. The Sheps brothers both knew that.
"You're just worried about your crown…" Oleg wanted to say — worried that if I compete, I'll take your crown away. Worried about losing to your little brother. Unable to stand losing that big-brother pride. That's the real reason you stopped me. That's the real conflict between us. The words almost slipped out, but Oleg held them back. Years of experience told him that once those words were spoken, a huge fight would break out for sure.
But I love you so much, he thought. I want to win, but not to prove that you're worse than me. To me, you'll always be the strongest, no question. I knew your abilities back when I was still in diapers. Mom saw them too — she trained you, helped you. So why didn't she do the same for me? You got the Blue Hand, basked in the crowd's cheers, and won your lady. And I stood behind you, like your little shadow. To everyone, I'm just a little shadow. Even you.
I love you, brother. I'm proud of you. But everyone loves you, everyone is proud of you. Your world is so big it makes me jealous. I'm jealous of you. I almost want to say — I hate you.
Oleg sank deep into his seat. He let those thoughts race through his mind. God knows how many years they'd been running through his head. But he didn't plan to say them out loud.
An awkward silence filled the car. Finally, Sasha broke the deadlock. "You talk about the crown… of course I want the crown. Of course I want to win. Don't you? But if you want it more, I can give it to you…"
"I don't want you to give it to me!" Oleg got angry, turned his head, eyes wide, showing his full gray irises. "I'll take it myself. I have the ability!"
"Of course, of course you do. I've never doubted that." Sasha patted Oleg's thigh soothingly. Then he turned to look out the window. "We're at your building, aren't we?"
Sasha cut the conversation off. Oleg sulked, unhappy. Sasha always dodged topics like this so abruptly, leaving the words hanging in the air — like a ghost that died by suicide, carrying a thousand unspoken words into silence.
What Sasha wanted was not just the crown — but a crown called "being the older brother." He saw himself as the elder, smarter, more experienced, responsible for taking care of his younger brother. But Oleg didn't like that. Weren't they both their mother's children? Even though Oleg was more than ten years younger, he always wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with his brother. Always wanted to prove he was no worse. Shouldn't real brothers stand together? I want to stand there too. I want to get what you can get. I want their cheers, their recognition, the final victory. I want everyone's eyes on me — if that's the only way to get your eyes on me. I have to beat you. That thought gnawed at him, day after day.
After entering the house, Alexander took a careful look at everything in Oleg's new place.
But ever since they got out of the car, Oleg had gone silent. Alexander thought for a moment, then dramatically put a hand to his forehead, trying to get his brother to lighten up. "Oleg, Oleg… this whole place is filled with such intense Oleg energy," he joked. "I've stepped into a world that's all Oleg. Feels like you've kidnapped me."
Oleg finally smiled. He pulled over a couch for his brother to sit on, then settled comfortably into it himself. They started chatting, sharing funny moments from the meet-and-greet. Suddenly, Alexander froze.
"Wait," he said.
Oleg looked confused, but he quietly watched his brother close his eyes with a serious expression and didn't disturb him.
Alexander spread his fingers and held his hand in front of him, sensing for two seconds.
"…"
"Someone put a love spell on me."
"?!"
Oleg's eyes widened. What was this? A provocation? Showing off in front of an expert? Or was someone actually stupid enough to think a love spell would work on his brother? Oleg was shocked.
"It was at the meet-and-greet just now. A girl. Pink hair, pink lip piercing. Rebellious teenager look. Seemed like just an enthusiastic fan."
Alexander spread his hands and sensed again, then spilled out all the information like pouring beans from a bag. "Why would she do that? To annoy me? Get my attention? Well, she succeeded."
He frowned slightly and started probing for everything about the girl. "No boyfriend, never even been in a relationship. Lives with… lives with her parents. She's still an underage student!"
Alexander looked genuinely annoyed. "Where did she learn this stuff? Casting spells on people randomly? On someone like us? I don't even know where to start."
Oleg didn't interfere. He trusted his brother to handle these things. He stretched lazily on the couch, resting his arms behind his head, and watched his brother's bizarre unwanted romantic entanglement with amusement. "Looks like you're popular with underage girls."
Oleg studied Alexander's somewhat lean figure, his high prominent nose, his fluttering eyelashes, those startlingly big blue eyes. "Young girls these days like your type?"
Alexander shot him a displeased look.
"What's wrong with my type?"
"Pretty handsome. Nothing."
"I can hear you making fun of me."
"You are handsome. … Just a little old."
He received a sharp look from his brother and quickly added, "For her you're a little old. For me, you're just old enough… uh, I mean, yeah… I like older guys." Oleg's EQ plummeted to zero whenever he was around his brother. He struggled for words, only making the atmosphere more awkward.
"Just shut up."
Oleg obediently shut up.
Alexander quickly prepared everything needed to break the spell. "I'm going to find her parents and make sure they teach her a lesson," he said as he lit a candle and burned the paper in his hand.
Oleg watched his brother work with great interest.
Come to think of it, his brother was quite a famous ladies' man. It wasn't surprising someone would put a love spell on him. Along the way, how many girlfriends had his brother had? He especially remembered when Sasha was dating Marie — those two were real romantics. When his brother won the Blue Hand and they kissed passionately in front of everyone, Oleg had been standing right behind him.
If I were a woman, I might be jealous, Oleg thought. In terms of charm, my brother really is unbeatable. If I were a woman, I might fall for him too.
No kidding. Right now, there was already someone who'd cast a love spell on Alexander hoping to sleep with him.
"No," Alexander looked up after finishing the ritual, starting to think. "The spell isn't broken. So it wasn't that girl?" He paused for a second. "… No, it must have been her. I saw her. Unless there's another possibility: she's not the main target of the spell? That's very rare… but considering her age, maybe it's possible… Alright, let me check the people around her." Alexander slipped back into a semi-trance, half-closing his eyes as he probed the people near the girl.
Having listened to this long deduction, Oleg showed no intention of helping. Of course, he trusted his brother's ability. And he also trusted his brother's charm. If someone else wanted to sleep with him — that was perfectly normal.
Watching Alexander work so seriously, Oleg's mind began to wander. Who could it be? One of his brother's ex-girlfriends? Someone who couldn't let go and wanted to rekindle things with a hookup? Possible. Watching Alexander with his eyes half-closed, Oleg couldn't help but imagine whether those eyes looked the same when he was in bed with a woman, hazy in the throes of orgasm — damn, that was hot, practically an aphrodisiac. Even he was starting to fall for it…
Next to him, Alexander still hadn't figured it out. He glanced at his brother, who hadn't moved a muscle, and felt a bit humiliated — he was really off his game today. His heart began to race. Maybe it was the nerves of not performing well in front of his brother, he thought. So he knelt down, spread his arms, and started probing even harder.
But Oleg suddenly jolted. Wait — what had he just been imagining? Imagining his brother in bed?! He placed his left hand over his heart, and in a flash, everything became clear.
That girl had cast the other half of the love spell on Oleg. This was basically… taking your fan shipping directly to the actual people. That's pretty rude, isn't it! No wonder his brother spent ages trying to figure it out and couldn't — who on earth would ever expect something like that!
"Sasha…" Oleg tried to say something, but his brother cut him off. "I don't need your help! I can do this!" Oleg rolled his eyes, got up to move closer, but Alexander stopped him with a gesture. "I said I can do it! Just watch."
Oleg was speechless. He sat cross-legged on the couch, trying to control his chaotic fantasies and physical reactions. Fine, keep looking, he thought. Let's see how long it takes you to realize it's me who wants to sleep with you.
After checking every woman, Alexander finally realized the subtle possibility: the other half of the love spell might be a man. He felt a chill run down his spine. Meanwhile, Oleg felt anything but cold — he was burning up. His eyes traced over Alexander's bare arms, his neck, the back of his neck, imagining touching that pale, fragile skin with his nose and lips. The thought made him tremble slightly.
Ah… when are you going to figure it out, bro? I'm about to lose it over here… Oleg desperately suppressed the urge to pin his brother to the floor and fuck him, while the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily. Maybe it was because he enjoyed seeing his brother screw up for once. Maybe it was because this sinful fantasy was actually his brother's own fault (since he'd stopped Oleg from helping). Or maybe it was the competitive blood in him finding deep satisfaction in the fantasy of pinning his brother beneath him. Whatever the reason, this sexual fantasy gave him a kind of wicked pleasure. Seeing himself as an innocent victim under a love spell, he indulged in this guilty joy. Waves of heat surged into his lower belly. Oleg tilted his head back slightly, trying to keep his breathing under control.
By now, Alexander had finally realized something was wrong. His heart was racing, his body felt weak — it meant the love spell had taken effect, and the target was nearby. Very close. He looked up and suddenly saw Oleg sitting cross legged in a strange posture with an eerie smile on his face. In an instant, everything became clear.
"Oleg?!" Alexander jumped to his feet. He couldn't tell whether he was angry or something else. He rushed over, intending to haul his little brother off the couch, but his legs gave way and he fell right onto Oleg. The younger man's heavy, hormone laden breath hit him immediately. His brother's hot skin and muscles pressed against him, nearly driving him out of his mind.
He wanted to melt together with him. For a moment, he thought: we're blood brothers. Our blood should melt together, everything should melt together. His hair stood on end. A deep, aching hunger rose from his belly — a desire to kiss Oleg wildly, to make love, to fuse their bodies completely into each other.
Oleg pushed him away with difficulty. Alexander immediately felt something unspeakably hot shift from his thigh to his lower abdomen. "Fuck." At the last moment, Alexander staggered to his feet. Oleg also sprang off the couch and moved as far away from Alexander as he could.
"Hurry up, do the ritual." Alexander heard someone — himself or his brother — gasp. His vision blurred. Flames, whirlpools, rushing noises flashed past his ears. He even heard panting. For a moment, he wondered if they had actually made love on the floor. Then, with a soft pop, everything finally stopped.
The two brothers lay exhausted on the floor.
Oleg suddenly let out a low, muffled laugh, showing a few slightly crooked canine teeth. He turned his face toward Alexander. "You see, Sasha? That's what happens when you keep treating me like a kid with no sexual ability."
Alexander didn't want to answer. That damn little fan — how dare he assume Alexander was the bottom. He gritted his teeth again and again, and finally said: "Don't talk nonsense. It's because your magical space is full of your own scent, which messed up my senses. I couldn't pinpoint you."
Oleg didn't agree or disagree. He was smart enough not to push his luck after getting the upper hand. But the joy inside him didn't fade. In fact, he thought wickedly: if he'd known the love spell worked this well, he would have cast it on his big brother a long time ago… (No, he wouldn't.)
After they'd rested enough, the brothers parted awkwardly that same night. Let's hope they don't have any unspeakable dreams tonight!