Title: Holiday Traditions
Rating: K
Spoilers: none so far
Characters/Pairings: Kevin, Joe, Nick, Frankie, Stella, Macy
Summary: Pure Horace Mantis Challenge #5. Frankie wonders about his brothers sometimes…
Disclaimer: The usual. Don't own anything. Well, except my computer. Which I used to write this fic. But that's about it.
Author's Notes: I'm actually thinking this is going to be more than a one shot. I've got way too many ideas floating in my head with all the prompts. So maybe it will be a series focusing on each prompt. As long as I find the time…
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It was weird, Frankie decided, not only the amount of concentration the group of teenagers that he was observing applied to carving their pumpkins, but also the fact that they were teenagers. Carving pumpkins.
Really, it boggled his mind.
Admittedly, it wasn't really surprising to see Kevin doing something so childlike. But Joe and Nick? Frankie wasn't sure, but it was possible he had entered an alternate reality.
Sure, Joe could be immature at times – like when he was awake – but he was usually caught up in the whole cool teenage image. But Frankie acknowledged that it was still within the realm of Joe's immature behavior that he might decide he wanted to carve pumpkins for Halloween.
But Nick? Really?
Nick was the "adult" one out of Frankie's brothers, the one he had the most in common with. While Nick may not work the angles like Frankie, he was the-man-with-the-plan out of his brothers. Granted, whenever he planned something – and they were good plans – they weren't so well thought out. Because the fact was that whenever you add Kevin and Joe to the mix they tend to muck up Nick's plans and he never took that into account. It was just the way his brothers cancelled each other out. This was why Frankie never included them in his own plans.
Frankie shook his head as he watched Stella cringe back from the pumpkin "guts" that Joe scooped out of his pumpkin. She had hardly touched her pumpkin, choosing to draw out her design first. And considering she was a stylist, it was a pretty wicked design.
Macy was concentrating on her pumpkin, her tongue just poking out between her lips. She was sitting between Nick and Kevin carving out some sort of Frankenstein baseball face. Frankie thought it was so her.
Kevin glanced up from his pumpkin to notice Frankie watching. "Frankie, we didn't know you were back!"
The others shifted their attention from their projects to the youngest Lucas.
"You could have said something," Nick said with a smile. "We didn't mean to ignore you."
Frankie just shrugged and gave them a grin.
"We got you your own pumpkin to carve," Joe told him, indicating the pumpkin on the table between Kevin and Joe.
Frankie let his grin grow bigger as he bounded over to the chair and pulled his pumpkin toward him.
After all, if Nick wasn't too mature for pumpkin carving, then Frankie wasn't either.