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“Oh, there they go!” Niki says with a laugh, glancing over his shoulder. Eret twists around on the bench to see where she’s looking towards and he finds out where her eyes fell, on the Watson boys naturally. Ever since they moved in a few months ago, they’ve been the talk of the town. “Those boys are always so busy, running around from here to there. They really made the town spark alive again, don’t you think?”
He smiled at that thought. He didn’t mind living in a small town or anything like that. He quite enjoyed the peaceful life Pelican town gave him, he had everything he could need. He could do his diligence as the museum coordinator, spending his time losing himself in the books their library offered. He didn’t mean rereading them time from time, it was an almost nostalgic experience, and he revealed whenever one of the townsfolk brought a new relic, hidden under dirt and dust, only to shine with history once polished and preserved. The people were nice, kind even, and the atmosphere was gentle. He appreciated all these things about the town. It was a simple life and he loved it yet when those boys came bustling through, not a lick of experience with farming or mining on their belts, it as if their passion had spread to everyone in a matter of days.
They were always buzzing around, as if searching for something, as if they always had something to do but never enough time, even with the three of them on their old Dad’s farm.
“Yeah, they really have. It’s like the town is breathing with life again.” He replied, a chuckle falling from his lips. “They’re unlike anyone here yet they belong here, as if they were the puzzle piece this town was missing.”
Niki smiled, “See, you get everything I say, how could I ever live without you Eret?”
“Well, you won’t ever have to.” Eret smiled. “Much like those boys, I’m not going anywhere.”
He watched with a keen eye as they bustled through the town square, passion on their tongue and mischievous in some of their’s eyes. After a few months, while some were more social than others, he eventually meet each one of the brothers.
There was the youngest, the one who was always usually flushing bright red from embarrassment, either from getting caught digging in the trash (apparently looking for pufferfishes?) or from his brother’s chaotic actions. The twins were a bit of a rascal pair it seemed. Like the oldest, he was always dressed in a pair of overalls with a red sweater underneath and in his curly blonde hair, Eret would always catch glances of flower petals or leaves stuck in it. In fairness, he always saw the boy in the forest with an axe in hand and a duty on his mind. He once overheard Wilbur, the brunette, say, ‘Off goes our Eco-Destroyer’ and well, the boy, Tommy, certainly liked cutting down trees.
And then the one who matched with him was the oldest, Techno, he believes his name was. With unnaturally colored hair with a straw hat always sat on the top of his hand, as if to block out the sun, he was certainly the most pale out of the three of them, and the most reserved. The scars on his nose and the ones that covered his arms were rumored to come from the mines, where he spends most of his time, and he always did have a pick-ax in hand, gleaming in sunlight before he found himself exploring the mines, almost in a routine. The mines were dangerous; crawling around with terrifying creatures, minecrafts left abandoned and shacks barely held together, but in exchange, there were gorgeous, gleaming ores at the depths, they were highly wanted and valuable to many around this town. Not many would dare venture down there yet it was his normal.
And of course, that left the middle child, Wilbur. A brunette with a strange knack for always rushing to Pierre’s with a charismatic smile, always buying more and more seeds, like he couldn’t get enough of it. He was always bustling around, some days you wouldn’t ever see him, it felt like he was too occupied with planting, watering, and taking care of his plants that you would never see him unless you came to the farm yourself. And then there were other days, you could practically find him anywhere, from fishing on the riverbend to joining his brother in the mind from chatting up the townspeople on the street, always a smile on his face.
The brothers were…an interesting pair of siblings that’s for sure but there was one thing you could always be for sure, they were family. Taking up your old man’s farm can’t be easy, especially not for those so young, sure the other two were college age but Tommy was just out of highschool. Not to mention, with no experience as well yet they dove straight in.
That in itself was remarkable.
Of course, when they weren’t causing havoc in the town, as the twins especially liked to do.
“This is a horrible idea! Are you trying to get us kicked out of town?” Tommy argued, his hands flailing around as his face turned that familiar shade of red, which was almost endearing. He always seemed to be bullied and picked on by his brothers yet it was never to the point Eret would be concerned. It was always lighthearted and it was clear, even when they were dogging up on him, he was having the time of his life spending his life with his brothers. “He’s the mayor , hello??”
“He’s a shit mayor is what he is!” Wilbur argued and it didn’t take a whole of magic to tell who they were talking about. There was only one mayor for Pelican Town after all. “I mean, what kind of mayor lets the community house get run-down for years? He didn’t even try a money fund!”
“This isn’t like your Animal Crossing games, Wilbur, and in those games, you raise most of the money yourself!”
“But c’mon , it’s gonna be funny!”
“How is this funny at all? Explain it to me!”
“‘Cause imagine you come to your local grocery shop, AKA Pierre’s ‘cause it’s the only one, and boom, you see it right outside the shop! Hilarious!” Wilbur reasoned with a shit-eating grin, the kind he was sure his brother detested in situations like this. Full to the brim with confidence and unafraid of any risk.
“Or embarrassing ! Or y’know, gross! Who wants to see a grown-man’s underwear hung up? And I don’t think Pierre will be very appreciative of it!”
“Well, he can suck it! He overcharges me anyways and I’m his best customer so he better deal with it. Y’know the saying right, the customer is always right!”
“Not when the customer is you , Wilbur!”
“Oh hush child,” Wilbur grins, flicking Tommy’s head, earning a dramatic gasp from him before he turns to Techno. “You got the sign in hand right? I can make Tommy go fetch it otherwise—”
“Why would I hav—”
“I got it.” Techno snorted, taking the wooden sign from underneath his arm where he held as they walked and place it in front of the shop, digging into the ground and man, this is going to be one interesting if not chaotic display that’s for sure.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this—” Tommy gaped. The stress on the poor child’s face was more than clear, as if he was watching someone set up a bomb or something horrific of that nature and he could do nothing to stop it.
“It’s going to be funny.”
“It’s going to get us kicked out.”
“Who will know it’s from us? Could be anyone from this town with a grudge against the ever-so-perfect and totally unproblematic Mayor Lewis?” Wilbur grinned.
“There are witnesses !” Tommy gestured over to them and oh this was about to get interesting. Wilbur glanced over at them and smiled, waving hi. He returned the favor.
“You don’t see anything right? It’s our little secret.” Wilbur said, placing his index finger against his lips and well, him and Niki were curious what they were up to this time so what’s the worst that could happen?
“Sure, by all means, the both of us are blind.”
“See?” Wilbur said, with too muc egotism that it looked like Tommy wanted to snap his neck in half but held off. The kid had good self-control.
He watched as Techno nudged the sign a little bit deeper and then , took out a pair of purple underpants from a sealed bag.
“Oh we’re doing this. I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
“Hey if he didn’t want anyone to find them, he shouldn’t have left them in places they don’t belong.” Wilbur tutted with his finger, wagging back and forth. He watched almost with excited glee as Techno placed the fabric against the wooden boards, using a nail to slam it into place.
“If he’s dating Marnie, isn’t it…fine?”
“No no, that’s not the issue.” Wilbur turned back to Tommy, placing his elbow on his shoulder, leaning down towards him as Techno banged the hammer against the nail, placing the other corner into place. “He’s a total dirtbag, kid.”
“He has a girlfriend and wants to hide her for the sake of the upcoming election season.” Techno reminded them, as if this was a conversation they had been having before, giving the second nail one good last slam before placing the hammer back on his toolbelt, taking a good look at his work. “And he’s in thirty? Early forties?”
“I mean it is a shit move—but….isn’t this excessive ?”
“Us? Excessive? Never.” Wilbur grinned, stepping towards Techno and fistbumping him with joy, stepping back and taking a good look. “Should we take a photo with it?”
Techno grinned. “You’re devious.”
“And deluded, c’mon!” And he watched as the life drained away Tommy’s face as Wilbur pulled him back to stand next to the display, taking a photo with all three of them, as if there wasn’t a care in the world for being caught.
Well, someone always has to ruin the fun, don’t they?
“Oh, it’s the Watson boy, how are you—” The very exact Mayor they were shit-talking moments ago walked up to them, a polite smile on his face, only to fall the moment he caught a glimpse of what was behind them. His very own underpants. Ouch, that’s got to burn. “What—what is the meaning of this?! Do you boys have some kind of explantation you’d like to give me?”
Wilbur blinked and then looked at Techno.
Techno nodded.
And without words ever being heard, Tommy was being picked up by Techno, thrown on his shoulders, and they were racing off back towards their farm, far away from the display or where Mayor Lewis stood. It was almost funny watching them go from zero to one-eighty incredibly quick, as if it was nothing, and maybe he enjoyed watching the Mayor’s embarrassment a little too much.
“Those boys are so…” Niki said, unable to stop giggling, watching Lewis try and tear down the wooden display but it turns out Techno knows how to make a good one stay.
“Chaotic as ever?” Eret grinned back at her. “They never know when to quit and they’ll cross all the lines.”
“Well, it’s worked for them so far!” She said, wiping tears from her eyes. How long had it been since they both laughed so hard like this? The air was full of energy, the sun beaming down on them, but it wasn’t the sunlight or even the clean country air that made everything feel electric, it was those boys and their impossible menacing ways.
“Gosh, if they’re like that out here, you can’t help but imagine what it’s like on the farm…”
“Oh c’mon !” Tommy yelled soon as he entered his room, already finding the pair of the twins relaxing on his bed as if it was theirs .
“What’s wrong now?” Wilbur asked with that stupid goddamn grin of his, like he wasn’t planning on doing this every night in a row for who knows how long.
“You know what’s wrong! You’re both in my bed! You have your own rooms, go there!”
Techno looked over at Wilbur then grin, “Your bed? More like our bed.”
“This is not a communism society! Get out!”
“But I’m so comfy !” Wilbur whined, snuggling deeper in the bed underneath the cover.
“You guys are such losers, I hope you know that.”
“Yet you love us.”
He felt warmth flood his face.
“Oh shut up .” He huffed, eventually relenting, walking towards his bed and climbing next to Wilbur who proceeded to throw his arm around him, nearly choking him to death before he grabbed his stupid arm and repositioned it to not lay right on his windpipes.
There’s a moment of silence in the bed and he stares up at the wooden ceiling of the cabin. This home is much more cozy than their old lives. Stuck in a stuffed up apartment, drowning from schoolwork and feeling like he was going crazy with no clue where he wanted his life to go, this gave him an out. A chance to be more than just another debt-ridden student and he’s forever thankful for that, even if it doesn’t last, even if one day he has to return to being just a student.
Turning towards Wilbur, he threw his arms around him, hearing a soft Oof as his arms landed on his brother’s side and he snuggled into his chest.
Tomorrow was another day and he was incredibly thankful for today, for the brothers in his life that he was blessed with, because without them, how could he ever be himself so freely?
“You want to go to the mines?” Wilbur says, halting the water pouring from the metal. He gently places it on the dirt next to his enormous row of crops, planted all around the base, he swears, it all this guy ever does. Wake up, plant seeds, water, let them grow, go to sleep but at least thanks to him, they’re making lots of money. “Are you sure? It’s pretty dangerous in there…”
“I’ll be fine! I’m plenty strong!”
Wilbur looked at him blankly. “Tommy, you struggled to bring some logs home after deforesting the area by the lake next the wizard. Are you sure you’ll be able to handle an excursion of the mines?”
“I’ll be fine . Trust me!”
“Absolutely not,” Wilbur shakes his head. “But I do trust Techno to keep you safe.”
“I guess I can try and keep him alive,” Techno hummed, placing all his needed gear like food sources and extra weapons in his backpack.
“You better! Harvey charges a ridiculous overnight fee if you get unconscious, remember? We’re trying to become rich here, not broke, so don’t lose me any of my money!”
“Hey!”
Tommy yelled. “You can have at least pretended to care about my safety more than the money.”
“I care about your safety, Toms, but I also care about my money.”
“What the
hell
.”