The Bird and the Garden 2: Restart!

Chapter 2: It Lives

"Books get that big!?"

Y/N hung his head. His brother was an idiot, no doubt. He passed off the controller to Qrow, who was passed out on the floor. "Cardin, play a round with my uncle if you want a real fight. Vao, you got any food downstairs?"

The femboy seemed to think for a moment. "... Do you like nachos?"

Y/N beamed. "Hey, that actually sounds pretty good! Are they in the fridge or something?"

"No, we don't have nachos. I just asked if you liked them."

Y/N had to repeatedly remind himself not to deck his brother. "You're kind of a jerk..." He muttered. Vao nodded, puffing out his chest proudly.

"Yup! Mom had to save me from going to juvie once!"

"That is nothing to be proud of, you delinquent."

They continued to argue as they moved out of the room and down the stairs, their footsteps heavy against the creaky floorboards. The rest of the house was empty; Raven had gone out with Summer. Neither of the brothers knew where. But it left them free to raid whatever food they wanted. Well, Vao would definitely get yelled at later, but Y/N would get off scot-free. As his father always said, it's not wrong if you're eating someone else out of house and home.

Vao opened the freezer, taking out a bottle of vodka. "Hey, I know you don't drink and all, but you want some orange juice or something?" He asked. Y/N was currently eating from a box of cereal he found in the cupboard. "Yeah," he answered. "Orange juice is fine."

It didn't take long for Y/N to find out why Vao mentioned orange juice specifically. He poured a glass of orange juice and passed it off to him, and then mixed his own juice with vodka... And not a small amount of it. He emptied more than half the entire bottle and put it back in the freezer.

"Hey... Won't your mom be like, super angry at you for drinking that much? I'm pretty sure that's her bottle..."

"It's fine. It's not her bottle, it's Uncle Qrow's."

"Vao, it literally has her name marked on it."

"I can't read. And besides, I drink with my mom every now and again," Vao replied calmly. Y/N looked down at his orange juice and took a small sip before answering.

"Aunt Raven doesn't sound like a very good parent, Vao..." He muttered. Vao glared at him.

"Not true! Legal age to drink in Vale is seventeen, so it's not bad parenting. She teaches me to do the right thing; I just don't do it."

"That's why she's always screaming at you."

Vao shook his head. "Not all the time. We actually watched a movie together with Yang last night. Uncle Qrow was at a bar or something, I dunno. She's actually really nice to us when we aren't in trouble." He took a sip from his alcoholic beverage, pointing his index finger at his younger brother. "Mm. What about you? Is Auntie a good mom?"

"She burned Dad's breakfast because he changed the T.V. channel while she was watching it," Y/N groaned. "She's a good mom, though. She still calls me that embarrassing nickname, 'cause she thinks it's cute."

"Oh, Rosebud?"

Y/N set the glass down on the counter and folded his arms. "Don't call me that, crossdresser."

Vao held his hands up defensively, a grin on his face. "Woah, woah, calm down. Do dresses really look that bad on me?"

Y/N shook his head. "I hate to admit it, but no. That's because there's literally no way to tell you're a dude." Vao snickered, stepping up to his little brother and looking up at him. Vao was short.