Rasmus groaned as the photographer nervously showed him how the pictures turned out. Of course, he knew it had nothing to do with the photographer themselves, they were the best in the business. No, his great nephews were to blame.
He thanked them with their pay, even giving a tip for at least trying and marched towards the brothers' bedroom. He could hear their laughter as he approached, and when he entered the room, both turned to him and held mischievous grins. Both sat on Cody's bed and eagerly awaited his response, staring intently.
Rasmus held up the picture in one wing, then got snickers out of both of him. He twitched in annoyance. "Cody, Joe, care to explain this?"
"Whaaaat?" Joe protested teasingly. "We were just having some fun!"
"Is fun not allowed for Atlantis kings? Or princes I guess, we still need to be coordinated." Cody challenged.
Rasmus stared at them for a long time, carefully controlling himself. "Having fun is fine but only in appropriate times. Taking photos in your own phone and using this kind of silly behavior? Perfectly fine. But doing it when these photos are supposed to be SHOWN TO THE PUBLIC SO THEY KNOW THEY'RE PRINCES ARE BACK?" Rasmus couldn't stop himself any longer and screamed the last part. Both of the brothers started to giggle. "These were supposed to be printed all over and this was the best one the photographer could get!"
Then, the pair of princes perked up, interested now. "Wait, which one is it?" Joe slipped off the bed and rushed over to Rasmus, plucking the photo from his hand. Cody followed him and leaned over his shoulder and both started to resume laughing when they saw it. Joe handed it back over to his great uncle when he was finished.
Rasmus softened slightly, gazing at the photo again. Something about it felt so familiar. "I have to ask, how did you two get your eyes to look in different directions? That shouldn't be possible!"
As if it were planned, they spoke in unison and high fived each other without looking. "It's a gift."
Rasmus actually let out a laugh, surprising both of the brothers. They had only been in Atlantis for a couple days but never had they seen Rasmus laugh before. He barely even smiled at all! Rasmus would always be working, stressing and lecturing them most of the time, or at least that's what it felt like.
"You two remind me somewhat of your mother... She always had a more silly sense of humor than your father and would suddenly surprise people with it. Though as a queen, she was supposed to be more serious, she took every opportunity possible to make life a little more fun. Poseidon and her were a force to be reckoned with when they worked together."
Cody and Joe went silent for a while before Joe suddenly blurted out, "She sounds awesome! When do we get to meet her?"
Rasmus sighed. "I wish I knew..." His gaze darkened and his eyes drifted off. He handed the photo to the chicken and began to walk off. He ended the whole conversation with one sentence.
"You know, sometimes you two remind me of them."
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I'd like to point out that this is the 71 chapter I've made in this book. What the actually crap?
Anyways, @TristanDodd9 mentioned I should draw Joe and then this whole thing kinda happened? Anyways, I hope it was good! I'm not a particularly good artist but I tried to make it up with the little story behind it. Originally this was going to reference possibly the saddest thing I've ever written but then I decided "Nah, that's too evil."
Also, why are those two the hardest to draw? Seriously, birds man, so hard to draw. I tried having Joe sticking his tongue out but it came out weird but too late, it's in pen. The hair/top feathers are even worse, holy smokes.
This whole thing was set a couple days after Cody and Joe first come into Atlantis.
Anyways, Chapter 50 of Sea Serpent is taking longer than I thought so I'll have to postpone that to tomorrow or Monday or something. It's gunna be great though. (I hope at least)
Anyways, I hope you liked this picture/story thingy! Be sure to comment what you thought of it, and farewell!
--JustAnAtlantisWriter
BONUS SCENE
Rasmus found himself working late into the night, filling out all the paperwork needed for Cody and Joe to officially be kings, as well as writing a letter to the public that they could trust their kings 100%. He worked himself to the bone, and when he finally stood up to go sleep, he wobbled.
Rasmus took about two steps forward before crashing into the desk so hard that he actually knocked some of the drawers out. He cursed under his breath at his carelessness as papers flew out from everywhere. He was exhausted, but he simply couldn't leave a mess like this all over his work space.
Gathering up the papers by the dozen and placing them in piles on his desk, he tried to get the job done, but one little slip of paper slipped out of his grip as he was doing so. Mildly annoyed, he put the remaining papers on his desk and bent down to grab the last one when he froze. It wasn't just any old paper, but a photo.
A happy couple, both wearing crowns and giving silly faces to the camera. Both had the ability to go cross-eyed at will. The female even stuck out her tongue at the camera while the male just made the derpy-est face he could manage.
Rasmus was struck for a moment, but for the second time that day, softened. He scooped up the photo and gazed at it with a fondness. He couldn't help but see the similarities in this photo, and another one he had seen earlier today. History had repeated itself, but in a good way.
"You know, sometimes you two remind me of them." His own words echoed in his head.
"It must run in the family." He smiled.