#brotherly

~~~

𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘖𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦.

~~~

Yellow sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. He glanced around the room at his sleeping friends. Green and Red were snoring quietly from the bunk bed they shared, and he assumed that Blue was also asleep. 

Groaning, Yellow climbed out of his bed. He checked the alarm clock. 2:27 AM. He sighed, making his way to the stairs. There, he sat down. 

His mind swirled with unreadable thoughts. His insomnia had grown worse over the past few months, but he didn't have the heart to tell anyone. Red was too young and Blue and Green already had enough to think about. 

He sat hunched on the stairs, fighting the troubled thoughts in his mind. 

Until he heard the soft patter of feet behind him. He felt the warmth of someone snuggling up beside him.

“Can't sleep?” a small voice asked. Yellow recognized it as Red's voice. Red was like their little brother, and everyone made sure to look out for him as if their life depended on it. Red hated being babied sometimes, but they did it anyway. 

“Uh-uh,” Yellow replied. 

“Did you have a bad dream?” Red inquired.

He didn't answer Red's question. “Why aren't you in bed, buddy?” 

“You woke me up,” Red replied. “I heard you getting out.” 

“Oh.”

“Do you wanna talk? Maybe it will help your scary dreams go away,” Red offered quietly. “And you can hold Reuben.”

Yellow chuckled softly. Reuben was Red's beloved stuffed pig. “Sure,” he said. “What did you have on your mind?” 

“I won the sparring match today,” Red said. “I won against Green. He got mad. It was pretty funny.” 

Yellow laughed quietly. “Yeah. That sounds like Green.”

The two sat in silence for a moment. 

“Can we go outside?” Red's question was sudden.

“What do you mean?” Yellow said, stifling a yawn. 

“There's gotta be more than this old house,” Red explained. “I wanna go out. Explore.”

“Well . . . we only stay in here ‘cuz it's–” Yellow paused to let out a yawn. “–Safe.” 

“You mean it's dangerous outside?” 

“Mm-hmm,” Yellow mumbled. He leaned his head against the wall. “Safe here.” 

His breathing steadied, and his eyelids grew heavy. Red snuggled closer, sensing sleepiness as Yellow's shoulders slumped. 

“Goodnight, Yellow,” Red said softly. 

“Hmm,” Yellow sighed, sleep finally claiming him. 

~~~

“Hey. Blue. You gotta see this.” 

Blue looked up. Green was standing at the doorway, poking his head out. He motioned for Blue to come.

Blue obeyed, hopping down from the top bunk. He peeked out the door with Green.

Yellow. And Red. They were snuggled up on the stairs, fast asleep. 

“Awww!” Blue crooned. “Did they fall asleep out here?”

“Apparently,” Green chuckled. “Should we wake them up?” 

“No! You'll disturb them.” Blue rolled his eyes at Green. “I wonder why they came out here?”