Alasdair woke up to the smell of breakfast, blinded by the light coming in from his undrawn bedroom window and feeling the sure signs of his morning migraine reveal itself as he started dragging himself out of bed. Popping two Advils into his mouth (something Dylan would undoubtedly nag him about once he found out he was taking painkillers first thing in the morning), Alasdair ignored the ringing in his ears and left his room- not bothering to close the door on his way out.
Judging by the lack of Shrieking and smoke from downstairs, Dylan probably made breakfast. Alasdair thought as he stumbled down the hall, briefly pausing to look at the closed bedroom door closest to the stairwell. Quickly looking away, he started his way down the stairs, gripping the stair rails like a lifeline and desperately keeping his eyes shut in an attempt to ignore the too-bright kitchen.
"Good Morning Allie," Dylan quietly offered as he went to grab his half-awake brother his plate. Alasdair only offered a grunt in acknowledgment as he went straight to his beloved espresso machine, pulled two shots into his favorite mug, and sat down next to Arthur, who promptly ignored his older brother's ungraceful entry down the stairs. Arthur, disgusted at the sight of his brother downing straight espresso shots, added in 4 cubes of sugar to his tea, shaking his head at Alasdair's caffeine addiction and innate tolerance for what he believes to be dirt water.
Dylan handed Alasdair a plate and sat down to his own, rushing to finish grading the short essays about what his students believe to be the coolest dinosaur, snickering at the ridiculous responses and writing down suggestions and corrections in the margins. Alasdair shook his head in amused exasperation. Classic Dylan, immature as always.
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"Pfft-look at this one, Artie. Luke even drew me a picture of his favorite dragon. I don't know whether to take points off because he drew a dragon instead of a dinosaur like I asked or give him extra credit!" Dylan laughs as he shows his younger brother a crudely drawn red dragon breathing fire at a knight in shining armor. Arthur scoffs and goes back to his breakfast, "how childish."
"Now don't be like that, Artie; we all know you always enjoyed our little games the most-isn't that right, Paddy-" Dylan cut himself off as he realized in horror what he had so habitually blurted out.
Like magic, the entire house stilled, all eyes unconsciously snapping to the empty fourth chair innocently sitting at the opposite end of Alasdair's seat before looking everywhere but the unclaimed seat at the table. "S-so! Allie, how's work been? Don't think I haven't been noticing you sneaking in in the middle of the night! Haha..." Dylan's desperate attempt to save the awkward turn of events failed to reach Arthur, who promptly rose from his seat and started to get ready for his classes.
"I'm going to class early. I have a project due tomorrow, so I'll probably crash at Connor's. Don't wait for me today." "You still have a lot of time; you didn't even finish breakfast yet." Dylan pointed out, hoping to save the situation. Arthur ignored his brother's silent plea to stay and quickly left without looking back, slamming the door before Dylan would keep him longer than he felt comfortable.
Dylan sighed and started to clean up the ruined breakfast. "You should get to work; I can clean up today." Dylan smiled. "Are you sure? You look like shit. Maybe you should go back to bed, Grampa." Alasdair scowled and went to smack him over the head, failing due to Dylan's expert dodging skills perfected over years of annoying Alasdair (his favorite pastime). "Better take the offer while I'm feeling nice brat. Plus, what kind of lame teacher is late to his own class?"
Dylan laughs, delighted by the rare show of affection, and presses a kiss onto Alasdair's cheek, knowing how much his older brother hated physical affection. “Love you Allie! Dylan rushed out the door, not bothering to put the graded essays into his raggedy old messenger bag beautifully embroidered with dragons and medieval castles, and sprinted towards the nearest bus station, ignoring Alasdair's curses of indignation.
With both Dylan and Arthur out of sight, Alasdair allowed himself to sink into his seat, laying his head on the table in exhaustion. What a crappy start to the day, fucking Patrick leaving me with this mess.
Slowly getting up, Alasdair downed the last bit of his now-cold coffee and started cleaning up as promised, barely keeping himself awake with mild grumblings about his annoying siblings. Halfway done, Alasdair flinched at his phone's loud, sudden announcement of an incoming call. Not bothering to dry his hand, Alasdair hurriedly checked the caller ID, hoping for the long-awaited call, only to find the call to be from his team captain. Disappointed and slightly annoyed, Alasdair picked up his phone, "Kirkland."
"Took you long enough to answer. You know the elementary school right across my house? The one my Daniel goes to? There's been a reported suicide. I need you here." "I'll be there, but a suicide? Do we know who the victim is?" Alasdair asked, rushing to put on his Jacket and shoes. "That's the thing, it's a student there: a ten-year-old boy. It doesn't look good from what I could tell...." Alasdair's eyes widened, "I'm just leaving. I'll be there soon." With that, Alasdair pushed his way out the door, not bothering to tell Dylan he wouldn't be able to finish cleaning up the morning remains."
Hello Everyone, thank you for reading! Please help me improve as a writer with suggestions and comments-i'll be sure to read and appreciate them all!
