All the baws with The Spein and Jonbut (And a non-formatting laaaazy Kiwi)

[not_doing_puns]

For once, the manor was quiet. They'd finished a rather long round of performances, and by the time they got back even Rabbit was ready for some rest, and so The Spine saw no problem in bringing a book out of the Hall of Wires where he usually hid. Instead he took it outside, figuring he could enjoy some of the sunshine while things were peaceful.

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[tortillatrotter]

Powering on for the first time after their return home from war felt like The Jon was waking up inside of a dream.

Granted, all of reality was distorted and odd to The Jon regularly, but now more than ever his head felt it was collapsing in upon itself, his usually swirling and tumbling and colorful thoughts all distorted and monotone and frightening. Moving to his feet made his head spin in an uncomfortable way (not at all like the fun he felt when spinning around himself), the koi in his chest suddenly sluggish and lethargic as the hum of his power core vibrated almost violently through his brass structure, somehow feeling much stronger than it ever had been before.

Something was wrong. The Jon could understand that much, but beyond that he was puzzled.

He moved down the hallway in slow, careful steps, completely unlike his usual graceful movement, before he caught sight of where his feet had automatically taken him. To Colonel Walter's old bedroom. He hadn't even realized this was where he wanted to go, but the sight of a trembling, silver form on the bed was all he needed to see to forget all about that.

"The Spine..." He called softly, standing in the doorway, unable to bring himself to step inside of his creator's old bedroom quite yet. Something, some invisible force only he could vaguely see was holding him back.

"When is Pappy coming home?" It was a question The Jon had asked over and over and over again from the moment they had learned of his passing, causing his oldest brother to lash out and sob and react just as wildly as possible while the middle one had taken on his usual stoic, reserved stance. But no one had directly answered his question. Rabbit had yelled, the maid had given him a particularly sad look that was filled with pity, but there had been no answers that The Jon had been able to logically comprehend. So he had followed Rabbit's example and cried, the inner turmoil of both of his brothers more than enough to rouse him to honest tears. But now, with only The Spine around for company and the rest of the world tucked way elsewhere for the moment, he hoped for a real answer.

"Didn't he miss us?"

[not_doing_puns]

The Spine choked on the sob he was trying to stifle when he heard his name called, optics opening, casting dim light over his tear-streaked face.

"O-of course he missed us..." He murmured, trying to keep his tone soothing. "He... he had to go though... it... was his t-..." He almost couldn't bring himself to say it. "-Time."

[tortillatrotter]

His time. His time. What did that even mean?

Reaching a hand forward tentatively to make certain he could cross into the room, The Jon appeared before his older brother near the bed after softly padding across the floor, peering down at him with a sad glint in his optics.

"..." Not even an inch closer to understanding. But The Spine's distress was enough to keep his attention. "Can I sit with you?"

[not_doing_puns]

"S...Sure." He murmured, scooting back a bit so there was room for the younger automaton, lifting a hand to try and wipe away some of his tears, becoming aware of how distraught he must have seemed.

[tortillatrotter]

With his brother's approval, The Jon wasted no time crawling into his creator's bed, sitting cross-legged beside him and the left behind glasses. If the golden 'bot noticed the other wiping away oily tears, he spoke nothing of it.

For a moment, he was silent, plucking away idly at his sleeves and staring down at nothing, confused thoughts tumbling around oddly inside of his mind. But finally, a soft voice piped up. "I had a strange dream. I couldn't go back to sleep."

Not a nightmare, at least, but it must really be remarkable for The Jon to bring such a thing up.

[not_doing_puns]

The taller automaton was quiet while The Jon settled in, dimmed optics studying the idle picking at his sleeves, wondering what was on his mind.

"Yeah? Did... you want to tell me about it?" The Spine ventured softly, shifting a bit closer to his brother.

[tortillatrotter]

One of his spindly hands slithered over the ruffled bed comforter to tug at his brother's shirt, the other still in his lap, his gaze not inching up to meet dim, green optics.

"Pappy was there." His voice was low, the natural flow strangely choppy. "On the field with us. It was so bright... We couldn't do anything. Rabbit tried and..." A single oily tear slipped down his face. "And then there was a pretty bird with blue feathers and I woke up after he flew into space."

[not_doing_puns]

The Spine listened, lifting a hand to take his brother's free hand, thumb stroking the back of the plating. At what he said, his optics brightened a bit in sympathy and he gave the hand in his grip a light tug.

"Oh... Come here..." He urged softly, trying to pull The Jon down into his embrace, with a long low sigh of his vents.

[tortillatrotter]

Surprisingly, The Jon gave a small resistance at the hug, instead moving forward to embrace The Spine himself. For whatever reason, the brassy automaton wanted to be the one to hug his brother. They had barely had the opportunity to speak over all that had happened over the last four years, their elation at being home from war drowned out almost immediately by the news of their father's death.

"What about you, Spine? Are your dreams acting strange too?"

[not_doing_puns]

The Spine was a bit surprised when he was pulled into the hug, but went without resistance, curling in against his brother and hiding his face against his shirt with a shiver.

"...Yeah..." He admitted after a long moment, not budging. Ever since this war had started, since they'd started their duties. Since the first soldier he'd found that couldn't be saved. The firstfriend he'd found dead in the rain. Marxley, Rex. 142-03-2384. Missing In Action, Presumed Dead. He'd... stopped making friends after that. 'Finest marksman in the west, that's what my daddy called me, did you know that, T'Spine?'

And coming home to the news they had? It had only made matters worse.

[tortillatrotter]

The Jon rubbed his brother's back soothingly as best as he could around his spine, knowing that it was an action that had always felt very nice whenever The Spine had done it to him on bad days.

"What do you see?"

[not_doing_puns]

"..I can't catch up with him. I... was in the Manor. Could see Pappy headed round a corner and so I... started running, trying to catch up. He didn't hear me calling him, and no matter how hard I ran, I wasn't gaining any ground, wasn't getting any closer..." He explained in a weary tone, relaxing ever so slightly under the light touch.

[tortillatrotter]

Oh, The Jon knew all about those kind of dreams! Though generally all of his chasing after people dreams were in happy, brightly-lit colors and with a Scooby-Doo soundtrack playing in the background. But he could tell that The Spine's was different.

Well, just about everything felt different right now.

"...He's not coming back, is he?"

[not_doing_puns]

"...No..." He wanted to make up some excuse, to shield his younger brother from the reality of what was happening... but at the same time, he knew that wouldn't help in this case, that he deserved an explanation.

"He's not coming back..." He hesitated a moment, searching for some way to clarify. "Do you remember when we talked about Heaven before?"

[tortillatrotter]

His golden head bobbed in answer, curls springing here and there as he scooted closer to The Spine, knees brushing against him. Heaven was like a giant playground with all the best toys to play with. "Yeah, I just didn't know it was a place for people like Pappy. He said we were built to live forever, right? Couldn't he fix himself better like he has for us so many times before?"

[not_doing_puns]

"I know he would if he could... but humans aren't built to last forever. Sooner or later, they can't fix what's wrong with them anymore, and that's when they have to go. Humans have a heaven just like animals do." He explained in a soft tone, shifting in closer to his brother. "And... even if we can't see him now... he can see us. He can watch and make sure we're doing okay."