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There is no life with no pain, some people said. There is no life without suffering because living means suffering before getting happiness. People can appreciate happiness more after they know how suffering feels. But life is unfair, so, there is no guarantee that there will be equal happiness and suffering for each people.
Some people do suffer more than others, whether it is fair or not.
Peter Paker, now known as Peter-One by his amazing older brothers, knows that. Especially because he is a superhero… because he is Spider-Man, is prone to suffer more than other people. It is a bitter pill that he needs to swallow and he is learning to accept it.
Another bitter pill that he is unwilling to swallow is… he isn’t the only one who is suffering, because his brothers are Spider-Man as well. He knows that it can’t be helped, but it is hard for him to see his brothers suffer more than when he is the one who is suffering.
Just like now, he can feel there is something wrong with one of his brothers… probably Peter-Three? He doesn’t know. But, his chest doesn’t feel good ever since this morning. Peter-Three was absent from breakfast, which was worrying already, but Peter-Two suggested giving the middle brother some time and space. After all, even though from their bonds, they could tell that Peter-Three felt some sort of discomfort, but it wasn’t at a worrying level.
So, Peter-One is trying.
It is especially hard for him because he has never known a time when there has been no phone or internet for all of his life. It disturbs him that he can’t just send a message or call Peter-Three, asking what is wrong with the middle brother. He is trying to be patient, but his patience is running out.
So, after lunch, when Peter-Two is still working, Peter-One decides to pop into Peter-Three’s apartment.
He doesn’t know what to expect, but certainly, he doesn’t expect to find the middle brother looking ill on his bed. “Peter-Three…?” Peter-One mutters in shock, quickly approaching his older brother and checking on him.
Peter-Three opens his eyes with a soft groan, he is sweating and his face is flushed. “Oh… Little Bug—don’t… I’m sick, you need to leave-“ Peter-Three says with a hoarse voice then he starts to cough. Peter-One pats Peter-Three’s back until the middle brother stops coughing. “No, seriously… you need to leave or I will pass it on to you…”
“But… if you are sick… how could I leave you alone?” Peter-One replies with a worried face. However, he can’t lie about feeling a little bit scared because after he became Spider-Man, he never fell ill. So, what kind of illness that swept Peter-Three under his feet… it feels a bit ominous. But, his affection for his brother is stronger, so he puts aside his fear.
“I will be okay… I won’t die… if you get sick then you can’t work… it will be bad,” Peter-Three curls up in his bed, burying his head further under the blanket and Peter-One sees how the middle brother is shivering slightly.
Peter-One frowns. “I’m thankful that you prioritize my work over yourself, but you should know that it is nonsense,” Peter-One retorts back. It has been a while since he took care of sick people. He took care of Aunt May in the past but… she took care of herself enough that Peter-One didn’t do that much, mostly just gave her enough space and time to recover while helping with what she needed.
He doesn’t know how to help sick people who refuse to be helped.
“I mean… if I get fired, I will just look for more part-time jobs,” Peter-One quickly adds. However, he knows that it isn't easy to find a good part-time job that pays well and understands his bizarre availability to work.
Peter-Three groans softly but at least he doesn’t say anything more.
“So… what do you need? Do you need some meds? Have you eaten something?” Peter-One pesters the middle brother again, feeling guilty but he needs some guidance on how to help him.
Peter-Three frowns and grunts. “Meds… won’t work… I don’t want to eat… I’m nauseous…” Peter-Three pulls the blanket to cover his head, hinting that he doesn’t want to say anything anymore. Peter-One sees in helplessness, totally lost of what he should do.
At times like this, he wants to contact the oldest brother and ask for help because Peter-Three is being difficult. But, the youngest knows that he can’t always rely on Peter-Two, so he needs to do his best first.
“Don’t be like that, we have high metabolism bodies. You can’t recover if you don’t eat something, Peter-Three… I will make you something that is easy to digest. And Peter-Two said that you at least needed to triple the dose of meds for them to work…” Peter-One nudges Peter-Three, poking the middle brother who is hiding under his blanket. At least, he has a plan of what he should do, so he needs to get on that.
The only problem is that he is unfamiliar with where Peter-Three put everything in his apartment.
Peter-One is frowning when he sees how empty Peter-Three’s fridge is. There are only wilted and half-dried fruits that don’t seem safe to eat. The pantry is no different either. He finds some frozen foods but Peter-One doesn’t think that it is good enough for Peter-Three.
And where does the middle brother put the meds again…?
Peter-One shakes his head.
Let’s fetch everything from Peter-Two’s apartment first.
Thankfully, Peter-One now is used enough to the oldest’s apartment that he can grab and do everything in there without feeling any guilt.
Peter-One makes a simple potato stew, he thinks that he is getting better at it.
It took him a while, but eventually, Peter-One finds some meds from one of the cabinets in the kitchen. “Let’s see… hhmm… meds for reducing fever and nausea… this one and… this one?” Peter-One checks on the labels, trying to remember the right meds but he can barely remember anything. “Oh right, for coughing too… uuuhh… which one is it?”
In the end, Peter-One is only confident enough to get the fever-reducing med, because he doesn’t know anything more than that. It seems the meds from his universe are different from Peter-Two… or only the brands are different, he doesn’t know.
Peter-One brings the stew and the meds to Peter-Three’s apartment. The middle brother is still in the same position before he left, curling under the blanket and sometimes coughing.
“Peter, I made you some stew.”
“…I don’t have any appetite…”
“Oh, come on, don’t be like that. You need to eat something first before you take the med.” Peter-One puts the tray on the bedside table and nudges the middle brother. “I want you to get better quickly… okay?”
Peter-Three moves and glances at the youngest. Peter-One puts on his pleading look, hoping that his older brother won’t refuse him.
Peter-Three groans but eventually, he sits up. “Okay… but after this… you have to leave.”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Peter-One nods, he doesn’t understand why Peter-Three is so adamant about asking him to leave. “I will leave after you take the med.” Peter-One offers his deal, Peter-Three sighs. The youngest smiles and puts the stew on Peter-Three’s lap.
The youngest sees how Peter-Three is slowly nibbling at his stew. Based on his frown and slightly green face, it seems the middle brother is really nauseous but he is trying his best. Sadly, after a few spoons, he stops eating. “Enough… pass me the med.”
“Huh? But you need to eat more…” Peter-One coaxes the middle brother.
“No… I can’t… just pass me the med,” Peter-Three is covering his mouth then he coughs again. Peter-One pities the middle brother, he passes the meds reluctantly.
“Oh, right, the water I will get it for you-“ Peter-One stops when Peter-Three stops coughing and swallows the meds with no water.
“Now, leave, Little Bug…” he says with a sour face. Peter-One looks at Peter-Three with a worried expression.
“Are you going to be alright…? I don’t want to leave… I’m really worried about you,” Peter-One pleads as he fidgets beside the bed.
Peter-Three coughs again, harder than before. “You will regret it… after you get sick because of me…”
Peter-One frowns. “But… it doesn’t feel good… to be alone while being sick…” Ever since Peter-One got bitten by a radioactive spider, he never got ill. But, he got ill a lot in the past for being a feeble kid. He always asked his late Aunt May to accompany him, and then he indulged himself in her pampering. “Aunt May always stayed with me until I felt better… so that I could recover faster and I always did…”
Thankfully, even if he was feeble, he never got seriously ill until he needed to get admitted to a hospital, never.
Weirdly, Peter-One can feel a weird emotion from their bonds. The youngest can’t identify what kind of emotion that is, aside from that he thinks that it comes from Peter-Three. What he knows is that… it doesn’t feel good.
“Well… I’m an adult… I will live… I will be okay,” Peter-Three covers his mouth and coughs again. “I appreciate your sentiment, but… you better leave, Peter.”
It is rare when Peter-Three drops his nickname for his brothers and calls them by name, usually it means that he is serious. Peter-One frowns harder. There are times when Peter-Three is being really stubborn. “It is okay, I won’t get sick. You may be an adult, but being sick sucks. Unless like… when I pretended to be sick so that Aunt May took a break from work for me… but that one was different, you are really sick-“
Peter-One stops talking abruptly when he can feel the weird feeling from their bonds suddenly become stronger and more intense. Peter-Three is looking at him with a weird look.
Did he say something wrong?
“Peter—”
There are more complicated emotions that flood the bonds, it is so sudden that Peter-One feels quite overwhelmed.
“D-Did I say something weird? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Peter-One says quickly. He sees how Peter-Three suffers another coughing attack. It looks like it is even harder than before.
“Peter—” Peter-One is patting Peter-Three’s back before the middle brother pushes him away rather harshly. The youngest is confused for a second before he can hear a retching voice then Peter-Three vomits the content of his stomach to the side of the bed.
“Cough… cough… ugh…” Peter-Three grunts and tries to stop retching but more stomach fluid with the content splatters to the floor.
“P-Peter…” Peter-One feels helpless and he becomes nauseous as well. He freezes in his place as he sees Peter-Three switching between coughing and retching.
“Peter!”
Peer-One quickly turns to see that Peter-Two has appeared in the room as well.
“Peter-Two!” Peter-One calls, a bit desperate but also relieved to see the oldest appear, but then he also feels ashamed to feel that way.
Peter-Two moves quickly, he avoids the puddle of vomit and massages Peter-Three’s back. “It is okay… just let it all out, you will feel better.”
Peter-Three is retching and coughing, letting out a little bit more vomit, and it drops on Peter-Two’s pants, but the oldest ignores it. “Good, good, take a breath…” he coaxes again with a tender voice, massaging Peter-Three’s nape then ruffles his hair. “You are really sick, aren’t you? You are burning up…”
“Sorry…” Peter-Three whimpers between his coughing, which has started to dwindle. But, Peter-One can also hear a soft sob between the coughing.
“Do you mean about my pants? It is okay… I will borrow yours after this,” Peter-Two searches for something on the bedside table but it seems he doesn’t what he wants there. “Peter, please help me fetch water for Peter-Three.”
“Oh, right… water,” Peter-One snaps out of his trance and moves to the kitchen quickly.
As he is pouring the water into a glass, Peter-One can’t help to think just how composed and calm the oldest is. He is amazed, but also… a bit bitter about it. Sometimes, he can see just how different he is compared to his older brothers… it makes him want to grow up faster and stop being a clueless teenager already.
0o0o0o0
“You need to take this so that you can stop vomiting.”
“No…”
“Come on, Peter…”
“I will be okay… you can leave… Big Bug. You will get sick too…”
Peter-Two sighs, patting Peter-Three’s damped hair but the middle brother curls away from his touch.
“You see that Peter-One and I are wearing masks now, we will be careful so that we won’t catch your illness. So, you need to get better,” Peter-Two coaxes him again. “Take these meds, then hopefully you can eat, then after that, you take a rest. Only after that, Peter-One and I will leave.”
“I’m not a kid… I don’t need you to nurse me… I will be fine.” Peter-Three is still facing away from him, refusing to look at the oldest. Peter-Two takes a deep breath, trying to understand that the middle brother is being difficult and fussy.
“Did I do something wrong…? Are you mad at me?” Peter-Two learns one or more tricks to handle his little brothers, guilt-tripping them is one of them. He feels a bit guilty using this trick, but it is for Peter-Three’s sake.
“No… I’m not…” Peter-Three sighs and grumbles. “I don’t want you to… get sick then blame me when you can’t go to work…”
Peter-Two blinks and tilts his head a little. That is oddly specific. “I never blame you for anything and even if I get sick then I can’t get my work done, I can handle it just okay, you know that.” Peter-Two has gone for days because of his shenanigans as Spider-Man, so he knows how to keep his job. That is the advantage of working as a journalist.
Peter-Two can see that Peter-Three looks hesitant. Okay, just a little more.
“It will be better for me too if you get better sooner. Don’t expect me to leave you alone when you are sick like this, you can’t fight me on this,” Peter-Two says with a stern but gentle voice. Peter-Three finally turns around and pouts a little, but at least, he doesn’t say anything more.
“Now, be a good boy and take this,” Peter-Two offers meds for nausea. Hopefully, Peter-Three can take it without vomiting it out.
“I’m not a boy…” Peter-Three grumbles while sits up and the oldest helps him.
“If you are not then be good and take this,” Peter-Two says with a smile. Sometimes, or actually, most of the time, it is hard for him not to treat Peter-Three like a child. The middle brother can be childish and difficult sometimes…
However, Peter-Two thinks that there must be a reason for that.
Finally, the middle brother takes the meds reluctantly, the oldest offers him a glass of water and Peter-Three drinks it. “Now, let’s wait until the meds work, I will make something for you. Do you want to eat something?”
“Anything is fine…” Peter-Three mutters weakly.
Peter-Two nods, not probing any further. He stands up from the side of the bed and pats Peter-Three’s shoulder before leaving him. The oldest notices how Peter-One has been standing awkwardly in the room, not saying anything, the oldest’s gaze softens and he pushes the youngest to the portal.
They cross the dimensional portal without saying anything and Peter-Two walks quickly to his kitchen.
“Are you okay?” Peter-Two asks the youngest, he can’t fully give the youngest his attention because he has a lot of things to do, but he knows there is something weird with Peter-One as well. It is hard to balance his attention for both of his brothers when both of them need him.
“Oh? Uhm… I’m okay…” Peter-One fidgets in his place. “It is just…”
Peter-One trails off and Peter-Two tastes the youngest’s stew on the stove. Thankfully it isn’t too salty like before, but he turns on the stove again to boil it more. Maybe the potatoes should be overcooked so that Peter-Three can easily digest them.
“Maybe… I said something wrong…?” Peter-One continues but he sounds unsure.
Peter-Two turns at him. “What do you mean?” the oldest takes a bottle of apple juice, Peter-Three’s favorite drink, then pours it into the pot to warm it up. Peter-Two remembers his late Aunt May had made hot apple juice for him when he was sick when he was a child, though it seemed she added spices to the hot apple juice which sadly Peter-Two couldn’t remember what.
“Uhm… I don’t know… I think I said something about… he is an adult, but being sick sucks… I think I said, something about me pretending to be sick so that Aunt May could accompany me at home… oh, but I didn’t accuse him of pretending to be sick!” Peter-One quickly explains his words in panic.
“What? About you pretending to be sick?” Peter-Two can’t wrap it around his head of how Peter-One said something like that in that context.
“Yeah, but I didn’t accuse him of pretending anything… you know, when I just wanted to not go to school and I missed Aunt May when she was so busy with her work… I pretended to be sick… but it was a long time ago when I was really young and small…” Peter-One tells his story.
Peter-Two wants to remind the youngest that he is still young and small even now, but he stops himself. The oldest tastes the hot apple juice and notices that it is nothing like what his late Aunt May had made for him. Well, Peter-Two doesn’t have many collections of spices in his kitchen, though it is lacking he doesn’t have any other way…
But, Peter-One’s words make him think. Pretending to be sick, huh? He can imagine the small Peter-One asking to be pampered by his aunt, even though Peter-Two never met Peter-One’s Aunt May, but he can easily imagine that.
While Peter-Three is so difficult to take care of when he is sick-
Peter-Two pauses.
“Why was he so afraid that we catch on his illness and unable to work…? That is oddly specific,” Peter-Two mutters. Because he never in his entire time knew the middle brother that he ever blamed him for being unable to go to work or anything like that.
“Oh, right, he said it to me too. He was afraid if I got sick then I couldn’t go to work…” Peter-One adds. “Did his boss blame him for being sick and absent from work? Maybe he got his pay cut for being absent because of being sick?” the youngest chimes in.
“I don’t know… getting his pay cut because of being absent from work shouldn’t be something special…” Peter-Two mutters. Yes, because, in his case, it happens all the time. It is nothing surprising anymore.
“So… maybe he doesn’t want us to get in trouble with work because of him?” Peter-One guesses again. “But… he reacted too strongly for that…” the youngest mutters with a softer tone.
Peter-Two turns off the stove and watches the simmered stew for a moment. “Or… someone blamed him before…”
“Who?” Peter-One asks curiously.
Peter-Two doesn’t want to think this way but…
He has suspected something different from Peter-Three, from a long time ago. As far as he knows, Peter-Three’s Aunt May is still alive. But, it doesn’t match how Peter-Three behaves at all.
The middle brother has been acting like he has been utterly alone for years, despite Aunt May still alive.
At first, Peter-Two thought that Peter-Three was being careful of mentioning Aunt May because his brothers had lost their aunts. But, maybe there is something more than that…?
The way that Peter-Three refused to be taken care of while he was sick… indicates that he isn’t used to being taken care of while he is sick…
Which should be… absurd…
Peter-Two can relate to how Peter-Three doesn’t have any friends… but this is different…
“Peter?”
Peter-Two snaps out of his trance and turns to see the worried youngest beside him. The oldest smiles at him, reassuring him. “Oh, it is okay… maybe it is nothing,” Peter-Two pushes aside his worry.
He has learned the hard way not to probe the younger brothers when they don’t want to tell him certain things. Just because they share the same name and existence, but that doesn’t mean they don’t keep secrets from each other. Peter-Two can’t be a hypocrite about this, because he does keep his own secrets from the brothers as well.
“Let’s go back to him, Peter-Three must be waiting,” Peter-Two suggests as he scops out the overcooked stew potatoes into a bowl and pours hot apple juice into a cup.
He just hopes that his brother can get better.
And… stop hurting.
Because, it breaks his heart to see his brother, brothers, in pain. More than anything in this world, or multiverses.
“By the way, what is this? Simmered apple juice?”
“…is it weird? I know I should add something else to it, but I don’t know what.”
“Aunt May made it for me too when I got sick… I think I know what it is, let me borrow your phone to search for it.”
Peter-Two looks at the diligent little brother using his phone to find something on the internet. He smiles warmly at him. The oldest pour the hot apple juice back into the pot. “Well, in the meantime I will bring the stew to Peter-Three.” He pats Peter-One’s hair before he walks back to the portal.
0o0o0o0
For Peter-Three, he despises how hurt and embarrassed he is every time he is reminded just how different his life is from his brothers. Especially, Peter-One.
Peter-Two shares more similar things with him, though his personality is greater than Peter-Three.
But, Peter-One feels like a different breed of Peter Parker at this point.
He is completely stunned to hear that the youngest ever faked being sick to ask for attention from his late aunt.
Well… Peter-Three did… once. However, he was really making himself sick purposefully and hoping that his parents would come to visit him.
Instead, his Aunt May and late Uncle Ben needed to take a leave from work in turn to take care of him. His Uncle Ben scolded him, sternly but… not too harshly, to take care of himself better because the more they took unpaid leaves, the more their pay got cut. Which means, the more they suffered financially that month.
Everything went worse when Aunt May got sick as well, so yeah… it was really bad. Peter-Three doesn’t want to remember it.
Peter-Three was so ashamed of himself for that time, to the point that he hid his illness if he could help it every chance he got sick. He learned how to shop and buy medicines, usually from small stores, with his small pocket money to treat himself. It was surprisingly easy to hide his sickness, because he always holed up in his room whenever possible, hoping that… he wouldn’t get found out and then scolded for being sick or hurt.
He kinds of forget that being sick means the time when he can get… pampered by others.
He hates to trouble others… because he is in enough trouble just the way he is.
But, he doesn’t mean to react like that when he heard how Peter-One used to fake his illness.
Peter-Three felt deep envy and bitterness, feeling just how unfair his life was compared to the youngest. He knows he shouldn’t feel like that, because Peter-One is such a lovely and adorable little brother, but sometimes he just can’t help it. And he hates himself more whenever he reacts that way.
He-
“Peter, here, I brought you food.”
Peter-Three perks up from his bed, glancing nervously at his older brother. Somehow, Peter-One is missing. The middle brother wonders whether the youngest needs to get back to work.
…that’s good, Peter-Three doesn’t want to make the youngest sick because of him.
Probably he needs to apologize later.
“Is it the stew?” Peter-Three coughs a little as Peter-Two sets up everything neatly on the tray.
“Yeah, but I simmered it down more so that you can digest it easily. Our youngest is getting good at cooking, isn’t he?” Peter-Two says warmly.
To be honest, yes, Peter-One does.
“Big Bug-“ Peter-Three stares in horror as he realizes what Peter-Two is doing.
“What? Let me use this chance to spoon-feed you, don’t be shy.” The stew is on Peter-Two’s lap and the oldest scoops it using a spoon and then offers it to him.
“Don’t tease me, I’m not that sick. I will eat, okay, I will eat,” Peter-Three feels his face burns even hotter because of embarrassment. He takes away the bowl of the stew from Peter-Two’s lap and starts to eat it.
Peter-Two chuckles and watches him eating instead. “Geez… it doesn’t like I have many chances to pamper you as much as I want to.”
“Seriously? Big Bug, you have pampered me more than I ever got pampered for my whole life…” Peter-Three grumbles, trying to hide his embarrassment, completely missing Peter-two’s sad look.
The meds from Peter-Two before must have worked, because even though he still feels nauseous it is better than before. And the texture of soft and crumbly potatoes is easy to chew and swallow.
“Wait, you get it on your cheek,” Peter-Two says and takes a tissue from the nightstand then wipes Peter-Three’s cheek gently.
The middle brother wipes his cheek in embarrassment while Peter-Two only chuckles softly.
That gesture reminds Peter-Three a lot of… his parents…
It feels weird… he wants to cry even though it should have been nothing.
“Are you finished?”
“Hm… I don’t think I can eat more…” Peter-Three can only eat half of the portion. Peter-Two sighs but then he smiles.
“It is okay, at least you managed to take some food down properly,” Peter-Two takes the unfinished stew away from Peter-Three’s lap. “Here, you need to take more of the meds, these ones are for your cough and these ones are for your fever.”
Peter-Three never likes the bitter taste of pills or meds. The fact that the dose needs to be tripled means that he needs to swallow many more pills than he likes. He doesn’t complain though.
Once he swallows everything, Peter-Three shudders and tries to fight back the feeling of nausea because of the bitter aftertaste.
“Peter, you need to drink this!”
The youngest suddenly pops out with a big jar of some kind of drink.
“It is called mulled apple juice, apparently. I added cinnamon, honey, and a peel of orange to it, well… the recipe said to add cloves but you don’t have it, but here it is.” Peter-One looks excited and pours it into one glass. “This is for you, I hope you get better soon.”
“Apple juice?” Peter-Three mutters in confusion as he accepts the glass.
“I remember my late Aunt May used to make this for me a long time ago,” Peter-Two says with a warm gaze. Peter-One pours more for him and the last bit is for himself.
“Me too, my late Aunt May did too… well… I think mostly she only added honey and nothing else, but it was good too,” Peter-One chatters, and Peter-Three realizes that the youngest feels nervous now that his excitement has evaporated away.
The middle brother looks at his glass and then sips it a little.
“It is… sweet…” He mutters weakly with glassy eyes.
It still feels weird to be pampered when he is sick… he is still a bit afraid that… his brothers will get angry at him if he passes them his sickness.
But, Peter-Three knows that his fear is silly. His brothers love him and rarely get angry at him.
“Yeah, it is good… I’m sorry Aunt May, but I made it better,” Peter-One has removed his mask. He sips his apple juice happily.
“It is good…” Peter-Two says, also pulling away his mask to drink his juice. But, based on his frowns a little, Peter-Three wonders whether it is too sweet for the oldest’s taste.
Peter-Three stares at his glass, looking at the rest of the apple juice there. He can’t remember whether Aunt May or his parents ever made something like this for him but…
He has his brothers who made it for him now.
It feels good that… they share their happy memories with him and then let him have a taste of it.
Peter-Three drinks the rest of his juice quickly just so he won’t cry. “Thank you, Little Bug, Big Bug.”
“You’re welcome,” Peter-One replies with a happy smile.
“You need to get better soon…” Peter-Two says while patting his head.
Peter-Three nods meekly, giving up his stubbornness of refusing their pampering.
“Now, you better get some sleep,” the oldest pushes him back to the bed and then tucks him in. He takes the Spider-Man plushies that Peter-Three keeps on one side of his bed then surrounds Peter-Three with it. Peter-Three smiles weakly and hugs his brothers’ plushies.
“Good night, Peter,” Peter-One chirps out.
Peter-Three wants to comment that it isn’t night yet but he feels drowsy now that he feels comfortable. So, instead, he closes his eyes and lets himself fall asleep.
It feels way better this way… rather than how he used to hide his illness from anyone, in fear that he would trouble anyone… accepting his brother taking care of him and pampering him is… a little bit overwhelming but also so happy…
So warm…
And it feels like Peter-Three is enveloped by a warmth that drowns him in it.
But, he doesn’t mind it at all.
Not at all.
End
Omake
Peter-Two smiles seeing how Peter-One is sleeping soundly on the side bed of Peter-Three. The youngest worked hard to nurse back the middle brother to health. The oldest checks Peter-Three’s condition for a second before he realizes that…
There is some kind of dark web pattern on Peter-Three’s neck and it crawled up to his face. The middle brother is sweating and frowning as if he is having a nightmare.
Or maybe, he is.
“Peter, Peter… hey… it is okay…” Peter-Two mutters softly to the sleeping middle brother with his hand trembling at the sight of the spreading dark web pattern. The oldest caresses Peter-Three’s hair. “It is okay… you aren’t alone… you will be okay…”
Peter-Three stops frowning so hard and his expression eases, the dark web pattern starts to retreat back before it disappears completely under Peter-Three’s skin.
Peter-Two’s heart is still thumping erratically and he stares at the sleeping Peter-Three.
What was that…? What is happening with his little brother again…?