Chapter Text
Sun grimaces as he picks himself up from the floor, moving slowly so as to not antagonize his mother any further by acting ‘combative’. She was already upset that they’d been late getting home from school, causing them to fall behind on their after-school-before-aerial-practice chores. He knows it’s no excuse, they should have been faster.
He glanced upwards when nothing more happened, eyes flickering behind the irate brunette to check on his brother, who was looking up from trying to set the table as quietly as possible after she’d hit and screamed at him for being too slow and too noisy, keeping an eye on their mother and Sun.
Sun felt the familiar heat of tears forming behind his eyes, not just from the pain as their mother abruptly kicked his side, but from seeing his twins’ hands shake, seeing the way he was moving his torso gingerly as he turned and the little pre-emptive winces at the tiny clicks the dishes and cutlery made against the glass dining table.
Thankfully, it was quiet enough that she didn’t hear and therefore did not turn to punish Moon for the noise and for ‘damaging’ her ‘good set’. Personally, Sun thought they were hideous and didn’t get how they were the good plates, what with their bright neon pink base, lime green trimming and white polka dot design compared to the normal white with spirally blue vines design they used every day.
And that was saying something, since Moon always insisted his taste in colour combinations was hellish and that he apparently had unhealthy obsession with the colour yellow. Well, Sun had retorted grumpily at the time, the same could be said about you and blue!
“I only asked you to do this one thing for me, Sunday!” She shouts, gesturing to the half-finished preparation for dinner and the roast he’d only just managed to put in the oven before the rolling pin came down on his shoulder, narrowly avoiding dislocating it.
Again.
Sun cringes away instinctively, desperately trying not to let the stupid name get to them again. He really hates his ‘proper’ name. His mother hadn’t bothered to think of a better one than the day he and Moon were born, and since it was the night of a full moon on a Sunday, that became the names that went on the hospital paperwork. Probably didn’t help that she hadn’t wanted a son, let alone two.
They weren’t sure if their dad had protested or not since they hadn’t seen him since he vanished one day when they were six. Some people from her work thought their names were unique and a cute sentiment, but both Sun and Moon will always know it was just her not bothering to come up with proper names for them.
Hell, after their dad left the only reason she allowed them to continue doing hoops and silks (that their dad had originally been the one to sign them up for when they expressed interest) was because her boss’ daughter was in their class, and it got her in the boss’ good books for her boys to be doing it too.
Sun didn’t mind his name so much once Moon started calling him Sun instead a few months after their dad left. Sun had tearfully expressed his hatred for the ‘girly’ and unoriginal name that got him bullied at school and made him think of their mum’s years of attempts at creating a daughter out of him whenever it was said. Thankfully, Moon didn’t mind his own name, though he wasn’t always happy when people who weren’t Sun called him it since he also got his fair share of bullying. Moon had shyly explained, when Sun had asked, that he liked them being Sun and Moon because then they would always be together, just like their namesakes in the sky.
The clatter of several metal cooking bowls, spoons and the knife Moon had used to carve the roast slamming to the floor near his face caused him to flinch backwards into the cabinet and away from his wandering thoughts, pale blue eyes snapping up to his mother’s face, catching an angry red flush just visible through her make up. Moon jumped and fumbled with a fork, just barely managing to catch it before it fell and hit something.
“I do everything for you ungrateful brats, and all I ask is that you help me around the house! You knew your father and I were having guests tonight, and now dinner is going to be late because you were too lazy to get things done on time! I’m getting so tired of you!”
“I’m sorry mum, we didn’t get home until late because of the bus and then we had practice-“ Sun is cut off by a sharp slap to his right cheek and a sting as her ring grazes him, reddening the splotchy birthmark and pale skin on that half of his face.
“I don’t want to hear your damn excuses, Sunday. You know you’re supposed to do your part around here, don’t go blaming others for your inability to do such simple tasks!” Sun stared at the floor silently, a lump forming in their throat. He knows it’s no use to try and explain, why does he keep trying? It’s like his mouth just has a mind of its own sometimes and he can’t help but try to explain, to just make her understand that it wasn’t their fault this time!
She lets out an aggrieved sigh, flicking her wrist around sharply to check her shiny new watch their step-father had bought her last month. “They’re going to be here soon. Clean this mess up, or there will be consequences.”
With that, she turns on her heel and leaves the kitchen to head upstairs, cuffing the back of Moon’s head as she passes for good measure. The clicking of her heels fading as she hits the carpet to dull thumps and small creaks. The siblings both stay frozen in place, listening intently for the sound of the bedroom, then bathroom door clicking shut. It’s only then do they allow themselves to breathe.
Sun slumps back to the floor from his kneeling position with a huge gasp, breath stuttering as he chokes on air, forehead pressed into the tile as he desperately tries to stifle his sobs into his wrist, biting down hard.
Moon quickly shuffles over on socked feet- they learned early on it was easier to sneak around while wearing socks. They’d saved up and even got some gripy socks! They also very quickly learnt Moon was generally a lot better at sneaking than Sun was, much to his chagrin and Moons smug amusement. Though, it wasn’t amusing when sneaking was actually important versus them playing hide and seek and Sun accidently giggling to himself or tripping and giving away their hiding spot.
A tanned hand appears in his blurry line of sight, and he feels an insistent tug on the sleeve of his sweater, gently pulling the rolled-up fabric back down his arm until it hits his mouth, fabric straining against his face until he manages to unclench his jaw enough to let Moon slip the thick wool between his teeth and abused skin. He bites down again immediately and scrunches his eyes closed, sucking in air through his nose harshly, the wool providing enough of a barrier to prevent him from causing too much more damage to himself.
His brother is quiet as he sits next to them, leaning into their side warmly and rubbing slow, firm circles into his back. It takes a few minutes- too long – for Sun to calm himself enough to stop biting his sleeved wrist and instead turn to press his face into his twins’ stomach, arms snaking around each other and hugging tightly.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.“ He whisper-mumbles quickly. “I’m so sorry Moony, I- I should’ve been faster. She barely even did anything this time, I don’t know why I- and she hit you and it’s my fault-“ Moon squeezes him tightly, just once, but quick enough to catch his attention and halt his panicked rambling.
“S’okay Sun. I’m fine, she got you worse. We’re fine. Let’s just finish dinner and clean up, then we can go do something fun, okay?” Moon tells him softly, lips pressed against pale yellow curls.
Sun nods quickly and pulls back, only just now seeing how much mess there was to clean up. His gut twists uncomfortably and then he’s cleaning up the spilled food and kitchenware as quickly as he can.
Moon stands up and goes back to cutting up vegetables for the soup, moving as fast as he can so he can clean as he goes, that way he and Sun won’t have to stress about more mess. He knows how Sun gets with mess when he’s not in a good frame of mind. Though, mess stresses them both out, because what if this mess is the one that’s inexcusable? What if it’s this one that their parents decide to punish them for?
Sun has already begun stacking the used dishes into the dishwasher and then started on sweeping the floor. Of the two of them, Moon is the better cook when it comes to things with more steps, so Sun will continue cleaning instead of continuing to help cook for now. Sun can cook quite well if he says so himself, but when there’s a lot of steps he gets lost and forgets what he has and hasn’t done yet and then he starts getting anxious which makes his memory worse. Thus, Sun does the simpler things like roasts and spaghetti, and Moon gets stuff like soup and pies. If its their turn to bake, Moon will make sure to help set everything out already measured and in order for them so they can both have fun without Sun worrying about messing it up.
They continue like this in comfortable silence and Sun lets himself temporarily forget anything but cooking with his favorite person as he meticulously cleans every inch of the kitchen and sweeps the floor from the dining room back to the kitchen where he can easily transfer the dirt into a dustpan and dump it in the bin.
They playfully bump into Moon as they pass, making a show of dramatically stumbling and using the broom to ‘catch’ himself with a fancy spin, grinning when his brother lets out a small huff of laughter, blue eyes twinkling in amusement at his antics. It eases the stress of the mess and lets Sun calm down enough to not try and deep clean anything unnecessarily.
The more relaxed atmosphere is shattered when the doorbell rings through the house, and they hear their mothers’ hurried footsteps as she rushes to answer it.
“Just a moment!” She calls pleasantly, and they hear her open the front door to happily greet her friends and co-workers.
“The hubby will be home soon, so just make yourselves comfortable. I’ve just got to check on the food!”
Sun and Moon share a panicked look, frantically double checking to make sure everything looks perfect. They think it is, but even if it wasn’t there wasn’t enough time to do anything about it. Their mother rounds the corner, and her pleasant smile drops into a displeased scowl.
“The food better be ready.” She hisses, shoving Moon aside and ripping the stirring spoon from his grasp. Moon stifles a gasp as his still tender ribs smack into the bench, but he backs away to stand next to Sun obediently where they discreetly link their fingers behind their backs.
Their mother takes a sip of the soup and purses her lips. “This will do. Now go to your rooms, both of you. I don’t want to hear a peep out of you both. Your father and I will discuss appropriate punishment after our guests leave, I refuse to bother him with your nonsense when he gets home. I’ll decide later if you’re getting dinner.”
She turns away and they both say a quick, “Yes mum.” Before swiftly fleeing, sneaking up the stairs and avoiding being seen doing so by the oblivious people happily chatting in the other room.
After dashing down the hall with silent steps, they quickly shut the door to their shared bedroom which unfortunately has no lock. Their stepfather took that away years ago when they realised locking the door temporarily prevented a beating unless he wanted the neighbors to hear him breaking the door down.
Moon slumps to sit on the bed in relief and Sun, face devoid of his usual smile, shuffles over to wrap himself around his brother like a koala.
“Love you, Moony.” Sun whispers, squeezing him tightly around the shoulders and pressing a kiss to the identical birthmark they share on Moons right cheek. Moon huffs, and Sun can imagine him rolling his eyes fondly.
“Yeah, love you too, dork.”
They stay like that for a long time, having shifted at some point to lay down more comfortably on Moons bed.
“Hey, Moon?”
“Hmm?”
Sun hesitates, shifting uncomfortably, idly sliding his foot back and forth against the sheets as he thought about what he wanted to say. They have a few hours yet before they need to worry about their parents so it should be fine, but…
When Sun doesn’t continue, Moon shifts, looking down at them in silent encouragement.
“I know you said we could do something fun but… could you tell me a story instead?” Sun whispers, trying to press himself further into their sibling’s chest in shame. They’re nearly fifteen, and Sun knows he’s too old for stories and lullabies, but Moon is the best at them! And they always make him feel better and-
“Which one?” Moon asks softly, hand moving up from their back to idly play with the longer parts of Sun’s curls.
Sun shrugs. “Don’ care.” He mumbles, exhaustion creeping in now that he feels a bit safer in their room with just Moon.
Moon hums in thought for a moment, before softly starting to speak. Sun sighs, relaxing further into Moon as his smooth voice sooths him. It’s not long before he falls asleep, Moon continuing just long enough to make sure he stays that way before settling in to keep watch.
One of them always must on days like this.