-"Thank you again Winona!" I called out, waving at the old woman as she walked away, and I carried the bags into the kitchen as soon as the front door shut.

-Brahms sat at the table, his head sitting in the palm of his hand as he looked so bored. He was healing up a good amount however, and the past week has been just so difficult to him. He decided to try rolling through the hall this time, which was a hilarious attempt in my opinion. He got really mad when he realized his stomach hurt doing it and even angrier when he heard me burst out laughing at it. So, he was pouty, trying to ignore me.

-"Hello Mr.Grump." I coo, walking around him and setting the bags down in front of the fridge. "I'll make lunch here in a second."

-He doesn't make a sound, and every time I glance at him he hasn't moved. Even as I finish organizing and then finish mixing him up a plate of all his necessities. I set the plate down in front of him gently, and then I sit at the other end of the table as he stares at the wall as of it was the most interesting thing in the world. I put myself in his position as well, but instead I'm looking straight at him, waiting for him to give up this silent treatment. I can't help but smile at the fact he thinks he can get to me like this, as if anything he can pull tantrum wise would bother me. I can tell well enough that he's doing it for attention.

-We sit for a few minutes, and the longer the silence goes the longer I can tell he gets uncomfortable. He looks at me from the side of his eye and then shoots his gaze back forward and I can't help the smug grin that grows on my face. Man deadass just said:

-I let out an exaggerated sigh as I lean back, and then I start putting my lunch in my mouth. I eat in silence, occasionally catching him looking at me as I look up to check on him. Each time I do so it makes me smile a little harder, and by the time I'm done I lean back and reach my hands up in a stretch.

-"Y'know the lunch is good, Brahms." I tell him, leaning forward and leaning against the table. "If you think ignoring me is going to do any good for you, I can just ignore you back. If you're mad because I laughed, I already apologized, and I don't need to do anything else. It's not my fault that you're so funny."

-He then drops his hand and crosses it in front of him, grumpily tightening his arms against his chest. I can tell he wants to give up, but he's got so much pride and unnecessary anger that he just can't.

-"...If you start acting like a good boy, I can give you a good morning kiss tomorrow."

-His head perks up at that note and he looks at me, finally, without trying to hide it. I smile at his excitability, even as he tries to cover it up by looking away from me.

-"...Give me afternoon kisses too." Brahms bargains.

-"Forever?"

-"Forever."

-"Only if you promise to never to try to pretend like I didn't exist again."

-"Okay." He nods. "Can I get good morning kisses too?"

-This is basically a win win at this point, isn't it? I can't help but smile at him, nodding. "Only if you're good."

-"I'll be good. I will."

-"Alright. Eat your lunch." I point, and a little less eagerly, he reaches up and removes the mask off of his face.

-He's quick to start eating soon after.. The ongoing attempts to find a way to move on his own do not falter however. This ranges from him trying to roll on a utility cart(which he fell off because he weighed too much, resulted in a lot of kisses for his booboos), to him attempting to walk just as slowly as possible and sitting down every five seconds. But of course, it ends in me keeping him in bed in the end. Then, he orders a wheel chair a few days later that I only find out about when Winona delivers it to me.

-"How do you think you're going to get down the stairs, Brahms?" I ask, looking at him as he pushes the wheelchair forward with some effort. He stops at the top of the stairs, looking down before looking at me as if I had an answer. "Go back to bed, Brahms. You going downstairs a few days ago was a one time thing and that was because Loki wanted to check up on you. The second time was because I didn't want to leave you alone upstairs as I dragged everything up here."

-"Loki." Brahms grumbles the name, then crossing his arms. "I'm missing all my studying."

-"No you're not. I've been bringing it all up here. Your music is playing right now."

-"Not the same."

-"Well being shot isn't the same as not being shot so things are going to be different." I grab the handles of the chair and pull his weight away from the top of the steps. "Back to bed."

-He groans and kicks his legs, which he stops immediately after realizing it was a bad move. He relaxes, yet he crosses his arms in his own way of throwing a fit without hurting himself. I roll my eyes, before I lean forward and press a kiss behind his ear. He shivers in response, and then turns his head to face me. I press a kiss to his mask this time, and now he's rushing to take it off so then he can get the real deal.

-I can't help but smile as I pick up pace back to his bedroom so he can get back to resting.. Also so I can give him proper kisses without him having to bend backwards for them.

-Finally came the day Loki came over again, and Brahms had his arms crossed tight over his chest as he glared up at our friend with angry eyes. Loki completely ignored this however, looking over their clipboard of notes as they recalled certain details.

-"Well, I'll tell you this now, Brahms heals much quicker than anyone I've ever seen before." Loki says, looking towards me. "I've never seen anyone this well after two weeks, especially given he's moved around so much."

-"He must just be a quick healer then?"

-"Possibly." Loki looked back at Brahms, watching as Brahms' finger tapped against his own arm out of pure annoyance. Then, a flicker of deviousness came upon Loki's expression for a split second. "So, I've been invited to a party not too far from here. Been a while since you've left the house now, right?" Loki looks at me, and I can feel my body tense.

-"Uh, yeah it has."

-"Well, I'm allowed to invite whoever so, if you two wanna tag along I wouldn't mind giving the two of you a ride.. Or, y'know, it could be just you and I?"

-I place my hand on Brahms' shoulder to make sure he doesn't react, and I can tell it was the right call as he seemed to jerk under my hand. I smile as politely as I can. "I don't think I'm going anywhere without Brahms."

-"Hm, figured as much. Got you wrapped around his little finger." Loki said plainly, placing their hands on their hips. "If you'd want to, though, you can drag him along. Might give him a good lesson in not being a sweaty hermit hiding in the shadows.. News flash, juvenile inmate, no one remembers Brahms Heelshire. You could walk outside and the only thing people will look at you for is your doll face.. And probably your smell."

-"Loki, can you not?"

-Loki tilts their head and raises their brows at me, before they relax with a sigh, rolling their eyes in their casual I just stopped caring two seconds ago kind of way. "Whatever keeps you from a tantrum, sweetie.. The party is in a month. Let me know what you think." Loki walks away without another word, right out of the room and soon enough out of the house.

-I look down at Brahms, and he's clearly steaming right out of his mask, but he's trying so hard to keep his cool. I squeeze his arm, and then he blows.

-"I took a bath yesterday!" He snaps. "Loki is stupid."

-"Hey, Brahms, look." I step in front of him and crouch, my hands on his knees. He looks at me soon enough. "Loki is only hard on you because they think you need to make more friends."

-"I don't need anyone but you. You don't need anyone but me! Loki doesn't know what they're talking about."

-I feel a frown nearly grace my features, and I sigh. "How about we talk about this later when you feel better."

-He tilts his head slightly, eyes widening just a bit. "You think I'm wrong?"

-"Later--"

-He grabs my arms as I stand up, looking up at me. ""

-"No, Brahms. You're perfect--"

-"But you wanna leave, "

-I stare at him for a moment longer before I cup his face with both of my hands. "Not everyone can get used to staying in one spot for twenty years straight, Brahms. I'm.. Irritable. I'm used to being able to explore the world--"

-""

-"No--"

-

-"Brahms, I won't!" Raising my voice just slightly gets him to quit with the panic, yet I can still see his anxiety growing. "...Look, I want to go to the party, to see fresh faces and experience things I haven't experienced in forever.. I wanna take you with me. Loki is right. No one remembers Brahms Heelshire."

-"They could."

-"But they won't. I bet, the next time I talk to Winona and if I even mention you you're not even going to grace her memory. She'd even be old enough to remember you."

-He crosses his arms and looks away from me.. But I can tell he's choosing to ignore me just because he's stubborn.. If I could....

-The next couple of days after, Brahms had finally gained the capability of walking once more without too much difficulty. His energy to do so was very short, unlike his height, so he would be sitting around very often. Today, he sat in the living room, bouncing his legs casually as he's getting excited over the fact that he can move and not be in pain as he does it. Today was also the day that Winona comes to deliver groceries.. I open the door before she knocks on it.

-"Oh! Hello." Winona smiles at me, and I smile back.

-"Good afternoon Winona, how are you feeling today?"

-"I'm feeling wonderful, how about you?"

-"Great!" I take the groceries from her and set then to the side of the door, my heart thumping cautiously in my chest as I contemplate whether or not I should try to pull this.. "Say, have you met Brahms Heelshire?" I ask, and she tilts her head.

-"Who?"

-I smile. "I reckon you must not know who he is then."

-"He sounds familiar. Does he live here? I recall a Heelshire being on the delivery letters."

-"Mhm." I nod, and I take a deep breath as I turn around. "Brahms sweetie come here!" I call out, and I turn around to look at Winona. "Keep in mind he's had his face injured real bad so his prosthetic is a little creepy." Yes, I've planned this.

-"Oh, poor thing." Winona puts her hand on her chest and then looks past me. Her brows raise. "Oh, he's tall isn't he?"

-I turn around to see Brahms looking around the corner halfway. He looked scared, and he was partially glaring at me and then glaring at Winona. I couldn't see it through the darkness of his eyes at all. I reach my arm out to him. "C'mon, don't be shy.. it's just Winona."

-Slowly Brahms comes around the corner, his hands reaching for mine and taking it before he stepped up behind me, and I look at Winona who seemed bewildered but was trying to be as nice as possible. She gives him a polite smile.

-"Why, you are quite handsome aren't you? (Y/N) is very lucky to have someone like you to help around the house."

-"He is wonderful. He's an absolute doll." (I'm a comedic genius fuck you) "I figured you'd love to meet him given he's ordered everything from you."

-"Of course I'd love to meet him!.. Bit shy though isn't he?" I nod nervously. "That's alright!" Phew. "My dearest brother Michael had himself a son, just as quiet and distant as dearest Brahms here. Reminds me of him, and I do miss them so." Winona smiles kindly, any sense of tension that she had faded away as she pieced things together in her own head.

-"Really now? So you know a thing or two about it?"

-"Mhm! Most people think Michael's son was creepy but he was just the sweetest boy I've ever met in my life. I can imagine Brahms is too." Winona looks down at the watch that wraps around her wrist. "Oh I'd love to chat, but I have other jobs to handle. It was a pleasure meeting you Mr.Heelshire."

-Winona waved, and I waved back at her as she made her way carefully down the porch steps. Once her safety is guaranteed, I shut the door, and I turn around to look up at Brahms. I'm expecting him to be mad, or at least to throw the best tantrum he can, but he's just standing there instead. For a build up, maybe?

-"..Look, Brahms, you see that? Winona didn't recognize you.. She was nice, right?" Brahms blinked once before looking down at me with a look in his eyes that I couldn't read. His originally tight grip on my hands faltered a little, and how I could tell that he was shaking. "Brahms? Are you okay?"

-"ᵀʰᵃᵗ ʷᵃˢ ˢᵒ ˢᶜᵃʳʸ." He brings his hands up to his own face and covers his eyes. "That was so scary!"

-I smile just a little, before my hands reach up and pull his hands off of his face. "But she wasn't scared, was she? Didn't recognize you either. You have got nothing to be scared of."

-He blinks down at me and he shakes his head. "The party would be too scary."

-"..What if we talk to Winona again next week, alright? See how you feel then.. Maybe this time you can talk?"

-"...O-Okay."

-"But you've gotta use the big boy voice, alright?"

-"..."

-I felt like this was really, really stupid. But honestly would I be here if it wasn't for me and my stupid ideas? I wanted Brahms to explore the world in all of it's varieties, so he would have the best experience, so we could enjoy them together.. So he couldn't pull me down with me. No matter the reason, trying this was better than letting him dictate my freedom. Eventually I had to take control of things, and what better way to do it? This way, it'll be good for him and for me.

-Hopefully, win-wins will continue to grace me.