Disclaimer: The characters in this story are from Tales of Vesperia and do not belong to me.

Karol's grip on Flynn's arm was starting to hurt. "The power's almost out!" 'Out' emerged as little more than a squeak. He'd been speaking in a higher and higher register as the game progressed, and Flynn had to admit that his brother's agitation rattled him as much as the grainy visuals and disturbing animatronic designs. He nearly shouted as Yuri suddenly leaned on the back of his chair.

"I don't think we're gonna make it." Yuri's voice was calm, and Flynn spared a glance back to see him staring intently at the screen, a tiny smile on his face.

"We're going to make it."

"Not if you don't open that door."

"Yuri, the chicken's out there!" Karol had a particular aversion to the chicken. Something about the combination of those teeth and that beak...

"Well, it's gonna be in there once that door drains the last of the power. Better to go out fighting."

"You can't fight in this game," Flynn said tightly. He pulled up the feed from the security camera just long enough to check the door. They were still besieged.

"That's bull—"

"Did something just move?" Karol shook his arm. Flynn was certain that he was going to have a bruise the width of his brother's hands all the way around his arm. "Check the other door!"

"Don't shout in my ear!" His heart was pounding in his chest. They had an hour left. Their power usage was too high. One of the animatronics was at the door and the others—

"Where's the fox?" There was uncertainty in Yuri's voice.

"Oh, shi—"

"Shut the door!"

Foxy screeched as the dim camera feed winked out to show him lurking in the open door. With a shout, Flynn shoved himself away from that unhinged maw and those glowing eyes, knocking Yuri back and nearly toppling his chair to the floor. Karol wailed and flung his hands over his face.

"Turn it off! That's enough!"

Yuri chuckled, though Flynn thought his laugh sounded a little shaky. He turned back to see him ruffling Karol's hair.

"It's just a game. It's not like these things live in your closet, or anything."

"Yuri!" Karol glanced wide-eyed at the closet door and crept sideways, putting Flynn and his chair directly between himself and any potential monster jump scares.

"Did you have to say that?" Flynn asked.

Yuri looked completely unrepentant, leaving Flynn to calm down his brother on his own. He closed his computer and they sat around talking for a while with every light in his room turned on. Normally thrilled to be around Yuri, Karol relegated him to the computer chair and insisted on having Flynn sit next to him on the bed. It didn't seem to faze Yuri, who grinned and joked and slowly helped Karol recover from the trauma he'd helped invoke. It had been his idea to play the game in the first place.

Eventually, it came time to turn in. Karol couldn't hold back his yawns, though Flynn saw him eyeing the dark hall between their bedrooms with trepidation. He sent his brother off to bed, reassuring him with utmost confidence and a roll of his eyes that he would not be grabbed up and stuffed into a costume to be mangled by wires and moving parts. Despite his reluctance, Karol allowed himself to be ushered out rather than lose face. Flynn compromised by watching him walk to his own room and flick the light on before shutting the door and turning to Yuri.

"'A really fun new game?'" He crossed his arms, letting his tone demand an explanation.

"I had fun." There was laughter in his grin, though Flynn could remember the touch of a clammy palm on his arm.

"Did you have to go and make it worse?"

He turned away, knowing whatever answer might be forthcoming wouldn't be a good one. Inside his closet were a couple of extra blankets and an old sleeping bag. He was pulling them down off the shelf when Yuri's fingers suddenly dug into his sides as he shouted right behind Flynn's ear. Flynn jumped, heart suddenly racing, and whirled around.

"God...! Yuri!"

Flinging the blankets at Yuri's face served as a distraction as Flynn charged forward, forcing him back across the room to tackle him onto the bed. He took revenge for his little brother's trauma by tickling Yuri mercilessly, a particularly satisfying torture in that it sapped Yuri's strength to fight back. He was a helpless, laughing mess in moments, shouting in broken syllables for Flynn to stop, and writhing in a pathetic attempt to get away. Flynn didn't let up until he begged for mercy.

They collapsed onto the mattress, side by side. Flynn lay on his back, letting his legs dangle over the floor as he stared up at the ceiling. Next to him, Yuri remained curled up and gasping for air. Every now and again, he cursed or swore he'd get even. It was safe to ignore such threats.

"We were just at a Showbiz a couple weeks ago," Flynn said.

"Ahh...that kid's restaurant with the games and the pizza?"

"And the animatronic band. We went for my cousin Patty's birthday."

"Hmmm."

"I hadn't been since I was a kid. The robots were pretty much just like I remembered." They'd looked a little bit older, maybe. A little shabby around the edges, but they were iconic and the management kept up with their maintenance as well as they could.

"They give you the creeps?"

Flynn shook his head. "I always thought the workers in costumes were creepier than the animatronics."

"Heh. Just so long as I didn't ruin any of your childhood memories."

The game hadn't spoiled any memories, but Flynn knew he wouldn't be able to look at the Showbiz band quite the same ever again.

"Did you ever go when you were a kid?"

"Nah." Yuri took a long moment to stretch, then sat up. "Time for bed. You want me to leave the lights on after I get set up?"

Flynn blocked out his teasing grin with a well-aimed pillow to the face and left Yuri to spread out his pallet of blankets on the floor. When he finished, he turned out the lights, leaving the room lit only by the pale blue glow of the streetlights through the blinds. There was a bit more rustling as he crawled beneath his blanket and made himself comfortable, then silence as Flynn drifted off to sleep.

Sometime later, Flynn woke to midnight shadows and the vague sense that something wasn't quite right. Peering at his alarm clock, he frowned to see that he'd only slept for a couple of hours. He squinted into the darkness, trying to pick out Yuri's form on the floor. The pallet looked flat, and he sat up cautiously, straining to catch the soft sound of breath or a glimpse of movement. Instead, his attention fixed on the streak of pure darkness where his closet door stood ajar. He tried to recall whether or not he'd left it open while pushing away thoughts of Yuri's remark about closet monsters. He kept picturing the poorly-animated grotesques from the game and grimaced. If Yuri was playing a trick, Flynn was going to give him a good, solid reason not to joke like that. He cracked his knuckles and got out of bed.

There was a primal rush of relief when nothing grabbed his ankles.

"Yuri...?" he whispered. He crept toward the closet, wide awake now thanks to horror game-fueled adrenaline. Reflexively, he wiped his palms off on his shorts before reaching for the handle. He took a breath and yanked the door open.

Something pale plummeted through the darkness, sending his pulse skyrocketing. He only barely kept from shouting, and drew a shuddering breath as he looked down to realize that it was nothing more than a sheet he'd missed earlier. Picking it up, he poked at the clothes hanging from the bar. There was nothing unusual, and no sign of Yuri. Maybe he'd gone to the bathroom?

It was only curiosity that made him check. He padded to his bedroom door and opened it to peer out into the hall. There was no light on in the bathroom, but he could see light spilling from Karol's room still, though there was no sound to accompany it. Karol wasn't quiet. If he was awake, Flynn should have been able to hear him. Apparently, he'd gone to sleep with the lights on.

As quietly as he could, Flynn made his way down the hall. To his surprise, when he peeked into his brother's room, he saw Yuri lying on the floor between Karol's bed and the hallway. He'd brought his pillow and a blanket to cover himself, but that was it. For a moment, Flynn stood frozen. Then Yuri turned his head to acknowledge him and raised a finger to his lips.

Yuri rolled over as Flynn came to lay down with him. He moved close, sharing both blanket and pillow, and whispered soft as a breath. "I got up earlier and saw that his light was still on. Told him I was sick of listening to you snore and begged asylum."

"I don't snore." He put as much heat into the comment as he could without risking waking Karol.

"He says you do, too." Yuri's smirk was entirely too self-satisfied.

"Are you coming back?"

"I'm good here."

Flynn frowned, wondering if Yuri had taken his earlier scolding to heart. "Yuri, he's twelve. You don't have to baby him over a game. He'll be fine."

"Go back to bed." He shoved Flynn's shoulder lightly. "I only brought one pillow."

"It's my pillow."

"You gave it to me."

"Loaned it to you."

On the bed, Karol moaned softly and turned over in his sleep. It was enough to halt the argument, though after a moment, Yuri was ready to start another one.

"You're gonna wake him up."

"We won't wake him up if we leave."

"So leave."

He turned his back to Flynn, tugging at the covers and taking up more than his fair share of the pillow. Seeing that arguing was pointless, Flynn gave in. The floor was hard and uncomfortable and Yuri was hogging the blanket, but if he was going to stay and protect Karol from the monsters, then Flynn was staying too.

"Thank you." Flynn whispered the words into Yuri's hair and punctuated them with a kiss.

They made themselves as close to comfortable as they could get with Yuri's head pillowed on one of Flynn's arms and the other draped over his side. Luckily, Karol was not an early riser. So long as nightmares didn't drag him from his sleep, there was little worry he would wake up to see his big brother cuddling his self-appointed bodyguard. Curling up a little closer, Flynn sighed contentedly and drifted off once more.