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#Post#: 697--------------------------------------------------
Drabble - I'm Willing To Bet... - Reese/Daniel
By: Mascii Date: June 11, 2013, 10:46 am
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[quote]Anonymous asked: Dream: Reese dreams that he entered a
high stakes poker game, knowing that his enhancement would give
him the upper hand. But when the game starts, he realizes that
his enhancement has been disabled... and the stakes are higher
than he thought: if he loses, Sydora and Daniel are thrown into
a game of Russian Roulette. He loses and wakes up just as the
gun goes off.[/quote]
The gunshot threw him into blessed wakefulness with a powerful
blast that the waking world couldn’t comprehend. Reese’s eyes
opened as he stared up at the ceiling, completely dark save for
the thin ghost of illumination from the crack in his doorway.
The hall light was on, and Reese let out a sigh. Dreams were
usually a sort of escape for him. An escape from the headaches,
the super sensitivity, from friend drama, from money problems,
from girlfriend issues…everything. Part of the reason he could
cope with everything so smoothly was that there was always that
comforting restfulness that awaited him in the world of the
semi-dead. To have that dream perverted with such images…
He let out another sigh, rubbing his hands over his face and
relinquishing a soft groan. There was nothing for it – he wasn’t
getting back to sleep anytime soon. Reese crawled his way off
the bed, pulling out the earplugs and setting them on his
bedside table before heading downstairs. He blinked stupidly in
the brightly lit hallway, and then again in the kitchen, where
he found Daniel baking.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed? You’ve got school tomorrow, you know.”
Reese yawned, running a hand through his hair. Daniel was
concentrated on some kind of complex-looking pastry, pink
strawberry swirls running through the bits of chocolate it like
traces of gold in a mine. “And you shouldn’t be baking by
yourself yet anyways.”
Daniel said nothing in response to any of his comments, the
white, bulging bandages over his eyes looking strange and
moth-like. But somehow, Reese could still see determination
written all over his tightly pressed lips and in the set of his
shoulder. Reese felt his heart pang with memories of his dream.
His own stupidity putting him in a dangerous card game…and his
own Enhancement, his ability to read others, taken away… How was
that even possible? He didn’t know. But what he would have once
welcomed eagerly as an opportunity for a rest quickly morphed
into a nightmare, as he put the two people he cared about most
on death row with no advantages on his side to win the game. Syd
and Daniel in a game of Russian Roulette. His brain was a
twisted sort of sick, wasn’t it? Trying to make him choose.
Scaring the crap out of himself.
But what if it came down to something like that? A choice? He
already knew it was hard to struggle time with Sydora and
dealing with her stalker, trying to make her feel safe and
confident again, and helping his brother out after the surgery.
Reese could sense how neglected Daniel had been feeling, and he
considered himself powerless to change that fact. He looked down
at his brother’s hands, already seeing small bruises and
scratches from where he had been trying to blindly feel his way
around one of the most dangerous rooms in the entire house. And
he was already so clumsy and awkward, too. Reese shook his head
in dismay. “You should be in bed,” he repeated.
Daniel frowned, somehow looking as though he was about to cry.
Reese wondered vaguely if he even could cry, now. Would his kid
brother, the ‘crybaby’ of the family, ever be able to shed a
tear again? Did he even know? Did anybody know?
“Does it look right?” Daniel demanded, pointing at the cooked
pastries with his burned fingertips, bright red and slightly
swollen-looking. The pastry was lumpier looking than his brother
usually made, and Reese wondered how he had even known how had
even gotten something completed, but it looked fairly edible and
normal.
“Yeah, Danny, it looks right,” he said after a moment. He tried
his best to keep the sadness out of his voice, but he knew
Daniel picked up on it, even though he smiled.
“Good.” Daniel felt around for the oven mitts, grasping the
baking dish and setting it over on the cooling rack. “Getting it
out of the oven was the hardest part, I think.”
“I can imagine…look, Danny, I know Erin and Sydora would come
help you, in fact, they would love the opportunity to, so-”
“I know,” Daniel said quietly, stopping where he was, facing
away toward the cooling rack their mother had bought for him.
“But…I have to do at least a little myself, first. So I’m ready.
I don’t…I d-don’t want to look like an idiot.” Reese’s face
dropped into a frown. “Well, at least, not anymore than I
already do.”
“You don’t look like an idiot, idiot,” Reese said, reaching over
to take a cupcake that hadn’t been frosted yet. His heart felt
like breaking when he tasted bits of unmixed flour in its
center. He ate the whole thing anyways, and reached for another,
wanting to hide the evidence somehow. Reese was halfway through
the third one when he realized he had already known the answer
to the dream’s riddle. First of all, he would never play any
kind of gambling game again, no matter the stakes. Secondly, he
knew that he couldn’t depend on his Enhancement for everything.
Thirdly, although he was now firmly attached to Sydora’s side in
many ways…his brother would always have to come first. To
whatever end. And he had been neglecting that truth lately, when
it needed him the most. The cupcakes tasted too salty now, and
kind of soggy. Stupid kid brothers…
“I never noticed how quiet the kitchen is until now..” his words
made Reese look up. Daniel was quietly washing off the counter,
one hand touching lightly to tell where the mess was with his
fingertips, a small smile on his face. “It used t-to be
peaceful, but now I guess it’s kind of creepy to me.”
“Well, maybe you should suck it up and get a music player in
here or something,” Reese retorted nonchalantly.
“But then I don’t know if I could hear anyone coming in…” he
mused thoughtfully.
“You’ve got a point there. But I’m sure if it was the right
volume, it would be okay. You’ll get used to sorting through the
noise.”
“You think so?” The idea seemed to brighten him up a bit.
“Totally, trust me, I’m an expert on white noise,” Reese said
with a smile. Daniel beamed at that, facing Reese’s general
direction. He knew Daniel had always wished to understand his
older brother’s Enhancement better. But Reese had wished for the
opposite. But now that Daniel’s little unspoken dream had come
true, they would just have to get through it, together.
“So why are you up, anyways?” Daniel inched his way across the
floor, his foot feeling for the edge of the counter as he went
to put away the baking soda and salt.
“Eh, bad dream.” Reese sighed.
“What?” Daniel’s genuine surprise at the question caused Reese
to arch an eyebrow. “You still get bothered by nightmares?”
“Of course. Everyone gets bothered by nightmares.”
“Well, what was it about?”
Reese thought for a long moment before speaking, then finished
off his final cupcake with, “It was about the worst
case-scenario, and it scared the crap out of me.”
“What?”
He let out another sigh, and smiled. “Let’s just say I’m never
taking you to a ****.” Reese straightened up, walking over and
patting his brother on the head, before giving in and embracing
him for a long moment. “Goodnight, Danny. Don’t stay up too much
longer, okay?”
“M’kay,” Daniel muffled into Reese’s shirt, confused. As Reese
retreated back up the stairs, he called out a thin little,
“Goodnight, Reese!”
Reese knew he had to try and get some sleep tonight. There was
nothing for it, he had school and all. Seeing Daniel safe and
sound – or as close to it as he could be right now – had
reassured him, but he wasn’t sure if it was enough for a decent
night’s rest. But he was willing to try, the taste of the
poorly-made cupcakes bittersweet on his tongue.
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