The sun had been up for thirty whole minutes- an eternity to Claus. If his younger twin Lucas didn't wake up soon, it'd be his own fault if he missed the baby Drago. He banged on the door, trying not to whine and yelled, "Lucas! Wake up already! Dragos don't come here every day you know! If you don't wake up, I'm taking them far away from here!"
Perhaps Lucas did deserve to sleep in, Claus thought. He had exhausted himself yesterday trying to get the perfect sunflowers for their Mom. Yet, at the same time, if he helped Dad with the farm work instead of following Mom around like a duck, he'd have more endurance and maybe wake up already! Running down the stairs, Claus whined to his mother, "Mom, Lucas won't wake up and he needs to see the Dragos and he'll miss it and-" but Claus was cut off by his stomach growling.
"Oh Claus", his mother giggled. As she smiled at him, she cooed, "that's why you shouldn't skip breakfast. Have some nut bread and play with the Dragos. Don't worry, I'll wake Lucas up if he sleeps in." Claus took the nut bread and sighed. It could take forever, he thought. His parents had worried about Lucas' wimpiness from time to time, so maybe Mom would keep to her word he silently hoped. Lucas would become tougher if they didn't spoil him after all.
Claus began to play with the Dragos once more. As he rammed into the Mama-Drago he heard a shout in the distance.
"Claus! I'm so sorry I took so long!" Lucas said as he ran to his older brother. Claus smiled, realizing his younger brother may have actually woken up on his own.
"You're finally here, Lucas!" He exclaimed, stopping to take a breath. "I wish you had gotten here sooner. Anyway, I've been play-fighting with the Dragos since this morning. C'mon, give it a try!" He moved off to the side to clear room for Lucas. However, Lucas already seemed scared at the thought, shaking his head slightly. "Come on! The Dragos want you to!" Claus said, pushing Lucas forward a bit.
"Um... um, I dunno, that seems really mean and..."
"But they like it!"
"I don't think it's a good idea. I-I mean it doesn't seem right!"
"Don't be a chicken! The Dragos love it, the harder you run into them, the better!" Claus finally pushed the right buttons. Lucas threw himself at the Mama-Drago, however, at a horrible angle, resulting in Mama-Drago falling on him. Lucas crawled out, sobbing hysterically.
Claus became uncomfortable, unsure what to do. As he inched slowly towards his injured brother, he murmured, "Lucas, don't cry..."
"W-Why..." he let out a sniffle and a hiccup. "Did you make me do that...?" Lucas cuddled the baby Drago which had sensed Lucas' pain, licking him gently.
"I-I didn't think you'd run at it like that! You're supposed to.. to... run straight on..."
Suddenly, the baby Drago let out a howl of pain, catching Lucas's attention.
"What's wrong?" Lucas asked it, suddenly alert. He began tending to the Drago, even putting his own sniffles aside for the most part. "Oh? Your paw? Please let me have a look." Claus felt prickles of jealousy at the sight because Lucas had always been good with animals, better than him, Claus thought. It was like he could talk with them, a power Claus envied so much his head hurt. "There there... it was just a splinter. All gone~" Lucas smiled at the baby Drago, but quickly turned to Claus, frowning. "But Claus... don't make me do that again. It hurt, and it was scary!" Claus felt frustrated, ready to yell in protest, but was struck by inspiration.
"Lucas, you just don't get it!" Claus realized he was shouting, and adopted a more important-like tone, perfect for convincing people to listen. "You should have run straight at her, like a man! The difference between men and women isn't just soft skin and smelling nice! It's courage and hard work, and most importantly, not running away!" Claus knew his speech was the awesomest thing ever and would be inspirational for generations to come.
"Um... isn't courage and not running away the same thing?" Lucas inquired.
"Uh.. um.. Never mind that! You're missing the point!"
"And Mommy works very hard..."
"Just shut up and listen to me!" Claus glared daggers at Lucas. He took a deep breath before continuing on again, "no matter how scary something is, or how much it will hurt, or even if adults or people you trust would tell you not to, if it needs to be done, you have to do it! Even if you die trying. That's what men do! Men don't let fears get the best of them. Do you understand Lucas?" Claus looked expectantly at the younger twin. Lucas, looking down, was completely silent.
"I think you're right, Claus!" Lucas beamed, inspired. "I understand, I need to try harder from now on! I think I'll ram the Dragos some more!"
"Great, Lucas, let's do it!" With that, they smiled, and resumed play-fighting.
There is no such thing as not having enough time in the world, Claus thought. He always had enough time for everything. For teasing, for playing, for eating, for adventuring. After ramming the Dragos one thousand sixty-two times and showing Lucas his growing muscles, they'd even had time for resting. They had sat down and talked for a while.
Claus frowned. Lucas was a jerk. He fell asleep before Claus had finished telling him about fending off the crow that took people's nut cookies. Claus glared as he yawned. It was tempting to try and wake Lucas up, or play a trick on him (drawing on his face last time had been really fun) but, it seemed too cruel. Lucas had worked really hard today to not act like a girl. And he had gotten spanked really hard last time he drew on Lucas's face anyway.
"Fine... you can have your nap, you dumb..."
Claus awoke with a jolt as his younger twin snored lightly beside him. The red headed one of the pair looked at the sun as he tried to figure out how long he had been asleep. It probably hadn't been much longer than an hour. Claus stiffened as he heard a noise, but he wasn't sure what it was. Claus gently shook Lucas awake and the sleepy one rubbed at his eyes.
"Lucas, actually awake early in the day!" A voice came from behind Claus.
The twins both screamed. Fists raised, Claus turned to the source of the noise- his grandfather who was now laughing hysterically. Claus pouted at his grandfather who laughed, "oh, I got you two good! Now, did you have a good time playing with the Dragos?" Claus could already tell that his grandfather didn't care about his answer, only Lucas'.
"Oh Grandpa, it was great! Claus and I rammed into them like there was no tomorrow!" It was true they had rammed the Dragos like they'd never get to do this again together, but Claus thought it just felt so silly when Lucas said it
"So you rammed courageously?"
"Oh yes! Claus taught me how to be a man!" Claus was happy to at least get credit now. Yet, by the way his Grandfather laughed, it felt as if Lucas might have well kept it to himself.
"Oh, hahaha! Making him into a man now, Claus? I tip my hat to you. Best of luck with that!" he said, laughing.
"Grr, Grandpa! You'll see!" Claus tried not to pout. To him, it seemed a little unmanly and Lucas-like.
Ignoring Claus's challenging dare, Alec sighed, "It's a shame you guys have to leave later today. It's been a while since I've seen all of you after all."
"It's okay Grandpa! I'll make Lucas tougher, and then Lucas and me can come up and see you all the time! Right Lucas?"
"Right!" Lucas quickly rammed the Mama-Drago several more times.
"Ha ha, I look forward to that! Now, shall we go see what Hinawa has cooking for lunch?" The twins nodded, and they began to go back.
However, they were quickly stopped by a barely audible voice. "Hey! Make way for the great mole cricket! The best mole cricket the world has ever known!" The three of them looked at their feet.
"Do you have sunglasses?" Lucas asked, bewildered.
"What? You got a problem with that! I heard you guys talking about courage and manliness, so I have to test you! Nothing is manlier than I, the great mole cricket!"
"Come on, Lucas, let's take this dumb bug down so we can get some lunch!" Claus yelled, pepped up.
Before the supposedly-great mole cricket could let out another sassy response, he was quickly defeated. "I obviously went easy on you, but I see you guys have more of a spine than I thought. Not bad kiddies, not bad. You have potential. However, I won't train you. You'd just bring me down. Until we meet again... bros." the embarrassed mole cricket stammered out before he scurried out.
CRUNCH! The mole cricket was finished off with a single hit, from none other than the twins mother. "I stepped on a mole cricket. I hope it's all right..." Their mother turned to them with her usual smile. "Lunch is ready, everyone. I made you boys your favorite, Omelets!" Both twins mouths opened in joy, perhaps drooling a bit. Mom's omelets were excellent, so fluffy and cooked to perfection.
"Ooh! Omelets! Omelets!" Claus shouted in joy, a similar sentiment heard from Lucas. "Last one there's a squished mole cricket!", a race formed by Claus' challenge. They left their Mom and Grandpa in the dust, a "Hey, wait for me!" coming from the distance. "Grandpa, you'd better hurry or there won't be any left for you!"
Claus was sure of it. People who said there wasn't enough time in the world were just whiners. He wouldn't spend hours bored half the time if there wasn't enough time. Claus looked at his mother's smiling face as she entered the house. Grandpa or someone had once said there wasn't enough time in the world to waste on regrets. He was obviously wrong, but it's not like Claus had much to regret. Even when he got in trouble, like when he did that water trick Fuel told him about to Lucas, he always got to apologize and was forgiven. There was nothing to regret. How can people regret stuff, Claus thought as he sat at the table.
"What is your favorite food, Mom?" Claus asked eagerly.
"Well, I like a lot of things, but I certainly like omelets most of all."
"So Mommy, you like the same thing as us?" Lucas chimed in.
"Then the three of us make a perfect match!" Claus piped up once again.
Their mother laughed, "now boys, take your time, but after this we need to get ready to leave. You know how long it takes to get through the forest."
"Now Hinawa, I'm sure the boys will be perfectly capable of going through the forest by themselves soon." Their grandfather explained. "Well, as soon as Claus teaches Lucas how to be manly enough to go through without someone needing to hold his hand!"
"W-well, it's dark... and there are weird noises!" Lucas sniffled a bit, clearly thinking about it. Their mother finished, excusing herself outside a moment. Soon after, a weird tune blared for a moment. However, the meal proceeded as normal, no one mentioning it, but it bothered Claus in the back of his head.