#twinyardsappreciationweek

“If you say so,” Aaron relented -- not because he actually believed her but because he was too distracted to engage in their usual bickering. There was nothing interesting about the room they were sitting in. It was empty of anyone besides him and his uncle and their daemons, neither of which were very large, and was painted a pale blue offset by a dark gray shallow carpet that made Aaron feel like he was sitting in the waiting room of a dentist’s office rather than a juvenile detention center. Still, despite the general blandness of their surroundings, Aaron’s mind was busy.

After all, today he was going to be meeting his brother. His long-lost brother. His long-lost twin brother.

Yeah, mindfuck right?

Twice already his uncle had shot him a look for the way his knee kept bouncing with jittery nerves, but it’s not like he could help it. It just wasn’t every day that you found out that you had a long-lost twin. That you got to meet that long-lost twin, especially after they’d initially told you to piss off.

Well, more or less.

Andrew’s letter back to him had been more like, Aaron, back the fuck off. Stay far the fuck away until you hear from me. I’m fucking serious. -- A.

No, really. That’s exactly what it said. Aaron had read it so many times that he’d memorized it, first because he couldn’t believe that he’d gotten a letter back, then because he couldn’t believe his brother was such an unrepentant asshole, and then because he couldn’t help but notice that they both wrote their lower-case ‘a’s the exact same way.

That was almost two months ago. Mom had absolutely freaked out and moved them across the damn country within a couple of weeks of the whole ‘Andrew Situation’ coming to light, and if it had been up to her Aaron definitely wouldn’t be here now. Except Uncle Luther, for all that he was a gigantic flaming dickhead, wasn’t quite as willing to let it go. Then, last week, he’d gotten a letter back from Andrew. All it had was an address to a juvenile detention center.

And so here he was, ready to meet his twin brother, and he felt so many things about it that he didn’t even know how he was really feeling.

“Luther Hemmick and Aaron Minyard?”

Aaron jumped at the voice and looked over at the stout man who had just entered the room. He wore a white coat like some kind of doctor and looked weirdly buff for also being old and balding.

Beside him, his uncle stood up, his pomeranian daemon trotting out from where she’d been curled under his chair. Aaron scooped Stella off his shoulder and returned her to her preferred nest inside the pocket of his hoodie as he joined his uncle. He tried to mimic his uncle’s superior sort of calm as he trailed after the two men, passing through the security door and down the narrow tiled hallway into what looked like some kind of common room.

Aaron had expected it to look like the rooms inmates talked to their families on tv, with two-way glass and phones so that you could talk to the person on the other side. He’d expected a lot of cold steel and white stone walls, with all the kids in matching gray jumpsuits or something.

Instead, they were in what looked like a giant living room. There were several couches and tables, a television with a few different video game systems, and a tall shelving unit filled with board games. There were teenagers lounging on the couches or at the tables, one or two of them apparently also visiting with family. Aaron didn’t spend all that much time scoping out the other kids, though, because on his first scan of the room his gaze settled on a blond boy sitting in the bay window with a fucking lion stretched out on the floor beside him, a living, breathing, tooth-filled barrier between him and the rest of the room.

Andrew.

Their little party had stopped just inside the door and Aaron was distantly aware of the warden or the principal or the doctor or whatever the fuck he was telling Uncle Luther about the facility. He couldn’t focus on them enough to actually retain the specifics though, not when he saw Andrew.

It was so… so fucking weird. He was there. Right fucking there. His brother, and they were identical. Okay, so, not completely identical. Andrew’s hair was longer than his own, and since the kids here were apparently allowed to wear street clothes he was wearing black jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt (which was neither a gray jumpsuit nor anything that Aaron would typically wear -- he preferred normal jeans and band t-shirts, thanks). There was also something… colder about him that Aaron didn’t know how to feel about but definitely seemed to match the two brief letters he’d gotten from him.

The lion lifted her head and looked right at him, fixing him with an eerie amber stare he felt both trapped and analyzed by. It was not comfortable and it took all of his willpower not to squirm. As it were, he ended up fully flinching when their guide called out a bit too loudly from a bit too close to him.

"Andrew! Come say hello, your family is here to see you."

Andrew, who up until this point had been reading a book like he hadn't known they were there at all, just… continued to read. He didn't look up, didn't even seem like he'd heard him at all.

The man sighed and gave them an apologetic look. "Sorry, he's, well. He's a bit antisocial."

"Hm." The disapproving sound from Uncle Luther had Aaron glancing over at him and he didn't really like the calculating look on his face. It would be utter bullshit if he finally got a brother only for his uncle to make it so he ended up getting shipped off to military school or something.

Rather than wait around for the adults to come up with some stupid way to attempt to make Andrew bow to their will, Aaron rubbed his thumb reassuringly over Stella's head where she was huddled in his pocket and strode forward with far more confidence than he actually felt. He stopped several feet in front of the lioness and tried not to be intimidated by her. Logically he knew that she wasn't a fully grown lion yet, that she was an adolescent to match her human's age, but Aaron had always been uneasy around daemons who had settled into big predators. Maybe it was because his own daemon was so small and he was protective of her -- or maybe it was some deeper instinct he wasn't ready or able to interpret yet. Either way, he ended up having to keep both hands in his pockets to hide their shaking. He couldn't steady both them and his voice at the same time, and he needed his voice to be steady.

"Hey,” he said -- and yes, his voice for that whole one word was very steady. Maybe even casual. Fuck yeah.

The lion, who had watched him throughout his entire approach, flicked her ears -- but he had no idea what emotion that was supposed to be.

For a moment, Aaron thought that was all he was going to get. Then he saw Andrew sigh and resolutely dog-ear the page he was on before closing the book and setting it down on the windowsill. He looked over at him, just with a flick of his eyes at first and then by turning his head. Aaron kept perfectly still and had the distinct impression he was being judged or evaluated somehow. It was really uncomfortable and also kind of annoying, but the hard stare of the other boy matched that of the lioness a bit too closely for Aaron to be willing to call him out on it just yet.

Instead, he waited, and he used the opportunity to look at his brother too. He wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, he just wanted to know him. He wanted to know what his life had been like and his favorite music. He wanted to know if he and his daemon had played the same sort of ‘what if’ games that he and Stella had growing up. He wanted to know if Andrew had always wished for a brother too, and if he’d grown up feeling like something was missing only to feel all the pieces click into place the second he found out that he had a twin. None of these were things he’d be able to learn just by looking at him, but looking was a start -- and it could tell him other things.

For one thing, he could tell that Andrew liked to read, right? There was the book he’d been reading -- it had been a thick one and he’d seemed really into reading it. He clearly didn’t like adults, since he’d ignored the big guy when he’d called out to him (though really, Aaron figured anyone in juvie probably didn’t like adults). He liked the color black..?

Look, it was a start.

Somehow, Aaron got the feeling that Andrew was able to read more on him than he was able to read on Andrew; or maybe that was just his own frustration at being able to pick out so little. Either way, it was irritating when Andrew nodded a few moments later like he’d made some sort of decision or something. Andrew looked past him then to where Uncle Luther was still speaking with the guy in charge and the casual coolness hardened into something icy with disdain.

Aaron frowned and looked over his shoulder to follow his gaze, but didn’t see anything weird. He looked back at Andrew and said, “So, I’m Aaron…”

Andrew looked at him again, his expression a blank mask. “Clearly.”

Aaron’s temper arrived unannounced and uninvited, but that wasn’t altogether that strange. “I thought you wanted me to come. Isn’t that why you sent the address? If you’re just going to be a big dick about it you could have saved us both the trouble.” He snapped the words out without repent, lifting his chin and glaring down at his brother before he remembered there was a lion between them with sharp teeth and man-shredding claws.

Neither Andrew nor his lioness daemon seemed offended by his little outburst, though. If anything, Andrew looked amused. His mouth quirked a little on the side, almost like a smile -- or like, maybe he had an itch or something.

“Where’s your daemon?” he asked then, familiar-but-not hazel eyes scanning the immediate area then glancing backward toward the window. Most buildings were designed for the ease of use for both humans and their daemons, but some larger daemons preferred to stay outside but close-by rather than squeezing into tighter quarters. Larger daemons also tended to have a larger range away from their person, as well. Aaron wasn’t sure how far he could get from Stella. He honestly didn’t like the idea of her not being physically on him most of the time, so he was glad she was small enough to do so.

Aaron cupped his hand in his pocket and she cuddled into it so he could pull her out.

Andrew looked at her, then to him. “She’s cute.”

From most people, that would probably be some kind of an insult, but Aaron got the very weird sense that Andrew was being genuine. It threw him off enough that he just blinked stupidly for a moment before saying, “Uh… thanks. Yeah, she is.”

Instead of responding, Andrew stood up and strode past him. Aaron quickly stepped out of the way as the lioness rose fluidly to move with him.

“And where do you think you’re going, Andrew?” the big guy who’d showed them in said with a false lightness.

“Outside.” He looked over his shoulder then, and Aaron realized a half a second before Andrew continued speaking that he was being invited along. “My brother and I have about fourteen years of catching up to do.”

Maybe he should’ve see it coming, they live in New York after all.‬

‪And it’s not like he and Aaron don’t usually wish each other happy birthday, they’ve come a long way from their first sessions with Bee, but it’s usually nothing more than a skype call.‬

‪When Aaron sees him approach them he just says “we came because the twins wanted to see uncle Andrew and uncle Neil play.” And then he shrugs and before Andrew has time to process what’s going on he has an armful of children jumping on him and almost toppling him over.‬

‪He just doesn’t get why these two pests won’t understand that normal people would never even touch him, let alone expect to be hugged by him. But he does, hug them. ‬And Aaron, the bastard, smiles at him. ‬

‪When Katelyn finally manages to pry Alex and Ava from him, they head to a restaurant for dinner. True to his word, Neil lets him order only ice cream topped with whipped cream and more ice cream.‬

‪(Neil also snaps a photo of his ice cream and sends it to Kevin, knowing full well that it will make a vein pop in his head)‬

‪Andrew thinks that even if he doesn’t care about his birthday, he maybe likes this one.‬

‪He’s about to stuff his face with ice cream, Kevin is pissed off with him somewhere out there, Aaron is smiling at the twins while they sing happy birthday to their dad and Neil’s hand is squeezing his thigh under the table.‬

‪Maybe, but just maybe, having an away game in New York on his birthday isn’t so bad. ‬

‪Later that night Andrew’s phone pings with a text notification from Aaron. It’s a photo of the two of them sitting next to each other at the restaurant. Aaron has the twins sitting on his lap, Alex sleeping peacefully on his shoulder and Ava eating ice cream from Andrew’s spoon.‬

‪Aaron is glaring at him, pissed because he’ll never get her to sleep now that Andrew has given her sugar for dinner. Neil, right in the corner of the photo is staring at them, not even trying to hide the huge grin on his face.‬

‪And Andrew, Andrew looks as bored as always, but his face is softer. Around the mouth and around the eyes. No one would even notice but Aaron probably does, that’s why he sent the photo. ‬

-

“Aaron,” Katelyn whispered, and her finger tracing at his chest roused him from almost sleep.

“What,” he mumbled, turning to wrap arms around her, pull her closer. She was very soft and cozily plump, his Katelyn, and always smelled nice. God, he was so fucking lucky…

“Aaron,” she said again, more insistently, and he opened his eyes to frown down at her.

“You didn’t come to the coffee shop today.”

“Was I supposed to?” He let his hand skim her hip, and she swatted at it, laughing quietly.

“No, baby. There was just a man there who was your spitting image, I swear.” She pressed full lips to his chin, and left a smattering of yet more soft kisses across his face, ending with a smooch on the tip of his nose, because she liked when he wrinkled it.

“Huh.” He couldn’t dedicate a ton of brainpower to the thought when the fact that she had scooted up in bed to kiss him meant that her very impressive boobs were right there, but he processed it after a minute. “Wait, what?”

“It was weird. He looked nearly identical to you.” She nestled into his collarbone, and Aaron blinked into the darkness.

“Somebody came up to me and called me a different name,” he offered. “I don’t know who the fuck he was. Tried to hold my hand.”

“You have some kind of doppelganger on campus, huh?” she teased. “We need to find him, line you two up next to each other. You’ll see. It was uncanny.”

Aaron lay awake for much longer than he should have that night, thinking about uncanny resemblances to complete strangers.

-

Andrew did not want to be among a crowd of screaming, jumping people that seemed to be way too invested in sports. Neil, however, was in his track uniform of tight orange shirt and shorts and seemed intent on cheering for some even more sporty friends of his, and Andrew would be damned if he missed the chance to see his boyfriend’s ass in those shorts.

***

Aaron would rather skip this pep rally. He’d never had school pride, he was here to study and make it into med school. But Katelyn was in the mass of cheerleaders shouting and waving their pom-poms down on the field, and he wasn’t gonna be the boyfriend who didn’t show up.

***

Andrew decided halfway through the first quarter of whatever game it was they were playing that nothing was more important than obtaining some terribly sweet and appallingly overpriced snack from the vendors. Neil shook his head, still enthralled with their home team, when Andrew asked if he wanted anything. So down the bleachers he went, catching sight of a cart and attendant down by the front.

***

Aaron has abandoned his seat not long into the game, preferring to lurk behind the cheerleaders’ bench where Katelyn occasionally turned and smiled sneakily at him, even reached up to blow a few kisses at him. He glared at the food vendor who slowly walked past, bellowing snack advertisements and giving him a stink eye. He would stand wherever he wanted to, this wasn’t some professional game. They were in college, for chrissake.

Somebody stopped the vendor right next to Aaron, however, and began ordering what sounded like the entire selection of candy in a remarkably apathetic tone. After the fifth item in the list, Aaron’s jaw twitched and he leaned around the attendant to kindly tell the customer he’d die of a heart condition if he didn’t eat right only —

***

Andrew made eye contact with his slack jawed mirror image and let his own voice peter out.

He did not think Neil was lying. But he had not prepared for…this.

“Asshole twins, huh?” the man holding out the candy to him said, but Andrew shoved the money at the man, snatching his food, and pushed him bodily out of the way.

Aaron — it must be Aaron, that was what Katelyn said — breathed an incredulous, pathetic kind of laugh at the look that the man must have shot his way, and returned Andrew’s gaze, searching and disbelieving.

“Eating that shit’s gonna kill you, you know,” he said, weakly, like he did not care in the slightest.

“I know,” Andrew said, and bit off the end of his Snickers, before offering it to his twin.