A/N: This is sort of the opposite -older-younger- brother principle, opposite from the story "Normal Days" On my wall... Co-written with Rubblestrength! Thank you for reading!

Anatoly: Younger, Vladimir: Older

"Lights out!"

The loud exclamation was repeated multiple times. Several children obediently switched off lights as the clock struck eight-thirty. Vladimir shifted, sliding off the bed. The thirteen-year-old moved toward the closest light switch. He briefly glanced back at Anatoly, who looked half-asleep already... before it was even dark. In a few moments, he reached the light and turned it out. Several other lights flicked off, and the sound of people walking through the darkness was audible.

"No noise!"

Everyone was already quiet. Vladimir vaguely glanced in the direction of the voice that shouted out orders. He would leave this place... one day. Orphanage? Right. It seemed more like a children's prison. Vladimir reached the bed, and only found it because his bare foot met the metal edge. He cringed and barely kept back an exclamation... after all, they were supposed to be quiet. He paused. Moving to the next bed, he knelt beside it. He had to make sure Anatoly was all right.

Anatoly blinked owlishly at the figure, yawning. "Vlad'ir?" he whispered, despite the yawn.

"Mhm... You okay?" He ruffled Anatoly's hair and smirked. Just because he didn't like it here, he wouldn't make it miserable for his little brother.

Anatoly nodded, leaning forward and shifting until he was sitting on top of his legs. He sniffed, light brown bangs falling in front of his eyes. "How long do we have to stay?"

Vladimir shrugged. "You don't like it here?" He didn't blame him. Vlad couldn't stand it here.

"No," Anatoly confirmed miserably.

"Okay. We won't stay long then," Vlad announced in a whisper. The idea of living on the streets wasn't a pleasant one... still, Vlad knew there were ways to survive-in fact, do more than survive. And he had every intention of surviving, and keeping Anatoly safe. "Just a few more days, all right?"

"Da." Anatoly started fiddling with a loose strand on the blanket. "Can we play a game, Vlad'ir?"

Vladimir grimaced. Lights out had come and gone. He was supposed to be in his bed, and everyone was supposed to be asleep. Then again, he'd never been one for following the rules. "Sure," Vlad whispered, glancing around to ensure no one was near enough to hear them.

Anatoly grinned and scrambled off the edge of the bed, dropping to the floor.

"Quiet, remember... we have to be quiet," Vlad gently scolded, whispering quietly.

"Sorry," Anatoly replied with a shy smile, even as he moved to his brother's side.

"It's okay. Now, we're gonna..." Vlad needed to think of something fast, because Anatoly didn't really like playing the same thing more than once. "We're gonna draw in the dark... and see what it looks like, okay?"

"Yay!" The child jumped, though somehow he stayed silent despite his burst of excitement.

Vlad pulled a worn half-used notebook from under the bed, then retrieved the pencil.

"Can I go first?" Anatoly asked timidly, following his sibling like a lost puppy.

"Yes." Vlad pushed the notebook to Anatoly and stuffed the pencil in his hand.

"What should I draw?"

"Draw..." Vladimir paused. "Draw the woman who calls lights out."

Anatoly started doing just that - scribbling what he thought would turn out to be a pretty decent drawing of the woman. A circle for her head, circles for eyes, a mouth, and some noodle-like scribbling for hair.

Vlad waited in the silence. He had a lighter, which he'd smuggled in. He could use it to look at the drawing... whenever it was finished. Vlad smirked as he wondered what it might look like. With no light... he could only imagine.

"I'm done," the younger spoke.

Vlad flipped open the lighter and turned the wheel... once, twice... then it lit. He held it far enough away from the paper that it didn't start a fire. Blue eyes widened and he held back his laughter. The thing-supposed to be a woman-was a disfigured donkey creature with eyes of the devil.

Anatoly gasped in shock, as though the five-year-old had truly thought it was going to turn out quite well. He gaped at the paper, looking somewhat horrified by his creation; until the laughter came, quiet squeaks as he tipped over, head falling against Vladimir's chest.

Vladimir flipped the lighter shut and grinned. His own laughter was silent. That thing-the creature Anatoly had drawn-actually looked pretty accurate, as far as Vlad was concerned. He couldn't stop laughing. He tried-truly he did. It was all he could do not to laugh loudly enough to wake everyone.

Anatoly handed the pencil back to his brother, "You try it!" he beamed, covering his mouth as he kept back more laughter.

He took it, and the paper, and asked, "Okay, what am I drawing?"

"Me!"

"Oh boy... okay. You asked for it." Vlad set about drawing. His eyes tried to see the paper, but only saw blackness. He drew a circle-at least, he hoped it was a circle. Slowly, he inched the lead a bit to the right. One eye... a bit more... the other eye. He paused, moving a bit left and down. Nose. Further down and right, then left... lips... or, a line that ought to represent lips. Shoot... He sighed. He'd forgotten the hair. This picture was doomed to have a mop hanging on its face somewhere... unless its hair was floating mystically off its head. Still, he carefully moved up and drew hair... a few strings of it anyway. Then he flicked on the lighter.

Anatoly looked on in anticipation. As the light turned on, the child bit back a squeaking laugh. It resembled a pelican, he mused. The lips eerily close to the nose and the eyes just-oh-so-off-centered. The hair floated above the scalp.

"Oh..." Vladimir shook his head. Well, it looked... it looked terrifying. That was about how Anatoly looked to him at five in the morning... bounding all over the place with... energy. Vlad smirked. "Looks about right, I think!"

Anatoly made an indignant sound, even through the bouts of giggling.

Vlad nudged the five-year-old and passed the paper and pencil to him again. "Your turn." He closed the lighter. "Draw me." He wondered how devilish it would look.

And so, Anatoly went to drawing. He picked the led from the paper - seconds later realizing what a mistake he had made. So, he guessed, drawing a crooked smirk somewhere in the general vicinity of the circle that represented Vladimir's head. Then the eyes, and the spiked hair. He lightly smacked his brother's arm to get his attention and signal his finish.

Vlad flicked on the lighter again and shone it over the paper. He snorted-it hurt, but it was funny. The picture was... well, his eyes were VERY close together, his lips... they were right under the eyes. He didn't have a nose... or, was that it? Yes, that thing hovering beside his head was a nose. His hair was in the right place though. He laughed. It looked a bit like Satan with his face smooshed in.

"Wow," Anatoly managed, his expression strange as he stared on. He wondered why it was so difficult. He laughed, leaning against his sibling as he did so. Things were already looking up...

Now may I suggest going back and re-reading, imagining them with their show-ages... Hehe. God bless!