-My religious, traditional, dad forgot my pronouns so he called me "It" and my mom laughed.-
Ages:
Jason - 11
Dick - 5
"But Bruce! He's such a wuss!" Jason wined.
"Jason, I wouldn't ask you if there was anyone else available." His father said. "Just a few hours. I want both of you to be asleep when I get back."
"Oh, so now I have to tuck him into bed for you?" Jason asked. "Come on! He needs someone to walk him through his entire nightly routine! I'm not a nanny!"
"Trust me, Jason, I will Never ask you to do this again." Bruce hurried upstairs to say goodbye to Dick, an ordeal that usually took approximately eight hours.
Jason scoffed. His little brother was so stupid! The kid needed help with EVERYTHING! it was pitiful! Bruce totally coddled him. Jason didn't think it was normal for a five year old to need help getting ready for bed.
When Bruce left, Dick came downstairs to join Jason. "Hi Jay-Jay!" Jason ignored him. "What are we gonna do?"
Jason shrugged a little. "It doesn't matter, you're so sensitive that no matter what I do, you're going to go crying to Bruce."
"No I won't."
"Yeah you will. I started a grease fire One time and you tattled. You're such a baby!"
"No I'm not!"
"Yeah you are!"
"I'm not a baby! {I'm five."
"Then prove it!" Jason replied. "Go the whole night without being a baby about something, and maybe I'll stop calling you one!"
"Okay!" Dick replied. "I won't. It'll be easy."
"Great." Jason replied. "Dickie is going to stop whining, starting now!"
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Dick wasn't so sure about their agreement... It's not like he needed help with everything, he just sometimes needed to be reminded what he had to do next. And according to Jason, lot of seemingly normal things were childish and stupid. Stuff like Dick asking him to pick him up so he could reach something.
Dick was five, climbing and being picked up were the only ways he knew how to reach things. Dick couldn't reach the light switches or door handles either, but Jason refused to help him: "I thought you could go ONE night without asking for help with everything."
Dick didn't get it. He didn't want help reaching the light switch, he just physically couldn't do it. Sick didn't like the dark (monsters could be hiding in it, after all), so he mostly sat in the kitchen. He didn't like being down there alone, but Jason made it very clear that Dick wasn't allowed to follow him to his bedroom.
Dick sat in the quiet of the downstairs kitchen, unable to reach anything. He was starting to feel like going to bed. "Jay!" He called up the stairs. "Turn on lights! I can't see." Jason didn't respond.
Deathly afraid of the creatures in the dark, Dick got down on all fours on the stairs and began crawling up them, eyes screwed shut, singing tunelessly to distract himself.
It seemed to take forever to reach the top of the stairs. Dick stumbled to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Luckily there was a step stool there for him, so he managed to brush his teeth (Without toothpaste albeit). Next He stumbled across to his bedroom to get changed, but the door was locked. "JAY! I CAN'T OPEN IT!"
After about forty seconds, Jason left his room, rolling his eyes. "What?"
"It won't open." Dick pointed at his bedroom door.
Jason tried the handle and pushed it open. "See? It's fine."
"Thank you." Dick pushed past him into the bedroom.
Jason looked into the room after him as Dick began the struggle of changing into his pyjamas. He groaned. "Why do you have a nightlight?"
Dick looked at his green nightlight, confused. "What?"
"You're too old for a nightlight." Jason insisted crossing the room and going to pull it from the socket.
"NO!" Dick tried to stop him.
Jason looked him over. "Unless you want me to leave it in?" Dick caught the mocking tone in his brother's voice and shook his head. "Good." Jason unplugged the nightlight, plunging them into darkness. "See? It's not that bad!"
"Uh huh." Dick nodded and began crawling into bed. He really wasn't liking tonight. He reached under the blankets and grabbed Peanut. At least Dick still had him.
"Pfft, you're gonna sleep with Peanut?"
"What?" Dick asked.
Jason reached over him and grabbed the stuffed elephant. "Only Babies sleep with plushies." He tried to take the elephant. Dick tried to grab Peanut back. Jason held the toy out of his reach. "You're not a baby, right?"
"No." Dick shook his head a little.
"Good." Jason took peanut from the room and put the toy in the linen closet in the hall. "See? It's not that bad!" Dick nodded a little, looking up at Jason. Bruce usually put him to sleep. "Go to sleep." Jason stated, leaving the room and snapping the door shut.
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Dick couldn't sleep. He was too scared. There was absolutely no light in his room! The monsters could be ANYWHERE!
He didn't know how long he'd been hiding under his blanket. It felt like days. At least if he had Peanut, he had the slightest hop of sleeping.
He was starting to think that maybe Jason wasn't right about everything he was saying.
Another ten or so minutes of lying in the dark had him certain. He would just have to put up with Jason calling him a baby. He wanted Peanut back.
Careful that no monsters grabbed his ankles, Dick clambered out of the huge bed and crawled across to the door. He managed to pull it open. The hallway light wasn't on either. Dick crawled to the linen cupboard and yanked on the door handle, heart skipping a beat as he imagined something lurking behind the door. But Peanut was the only thing behind that door that he cared about.
He drilled his feet into the floor and pulled as hard as he could. He felt a slight give and the door creaked open. His vision suddenly went black as felt something land on him.
A monster in the closet. He knew it.
Dick let out a blood curdling scream. He kicked as hard as he could. He would give anything for Jason to come out and find him.
"What the FUCK?"
YES! It was Jason. Dick screamed again, unable to form any coherent words. About half a second later he felt the thing be torn off of him, and Jason's face appear in the shadows.
"JAY!" He screamed, raising his hands into the air, as if asking for his brother to pick him up. He hadn't even realized he was crying.
"Why the hell are you out here?" Jason asked, holding up Dick's attacker: a heavy wool blanket.
Dick wiped his face with his arm, pointing into the closet, to the stuffed elephant resting on a high shelf. "I want him!" Jason looked back and forth between Dick and the plush toy. "I want him!" Dick repeated, sobbing a little.
"OKAY! okay, I'll give him to you, just STOP CRYING!" Jason grabbed the Elephant and chucked it at his brother. "Okay? Stop crying!"
Dick grabbed Peanut and hugged him as tight as he could. He buried his face into the toy. Jason pulled his little brother off the floor and staggered a little, carrying him to his room.
"Okay, Dick, go to sleep. You have your plushie, so sleep."
Dick shook his head, grabbing Jason's arm. "Don't. Stop leaving!"
"Well I can't sit here until you're asleep!" Jason pulled away, only for Dick to start crying again. Jason knew his days would be numbered if Bruce came home to Dick still awake and bawling his eyes out.
A sacrifice had to be made, and it couldn't be a goat this time.
"Don't go!"
"Okay, FINE! I'll stay! Do you want your nightlight too?" Dick nodded, tearfully. Jason reached under the bed and plugged it back in. He'd mock Dick for this in the morning.
Jason lay against the wall at the foot of Dick's bed, watching Dick snuggling under the covers. Okay, maybe five was a little young to give up comfort objects... He lent over his brother, who was nearly asleep by now, he must have exhausted himself.
Dick's hair was so unfairly pretty. Jason put his hand in his brother's hair and scrunched it a little. Dick turned over, eyes still closed. "Jay?"
"Yeah."
"Good." Dick turned back over and fell asleep.