Author's note: This is just some sibling fluff, not anything involving romance. If you want to consider it as incest, then do it.
Three in the morning? What was the time? It was so hard to see through the darkness.
Don slightly trembled – either because he was afraid or because he was cold… Of course, his parents didn't really run the steam heating during the night, even if it was the middle of the winter.
The little 4 year old raccoon came out of his room and tried to turn on the lights in the hall, but the light switch was a bit too high for him. After he shivered harder and crossed his arms to warm himself a little, he stopped in front of another door. He hesitantly knocked on the door, but no one answered, so he twisted the doorknob and opened the door. Two types of snoring – a soft one and a loud one.
But he came out three minutes later with a slightly disappointed face and closed the door. There were two other doors remaining – one, which lead to the bathroom and another one, which lead to another bedroom.
This time, without so much hesitation, he immediately pressed the doorknob and entered the room. Its indwelling, the light sleeper he was, shot up from his bed and looked at the door frame.
"Don? What are you doing, dude, it's three in the morning!" Rigby whispered in annoyance and yawned.
"Sorry, Rigby, but… it just happened again." Don apologized at his six-year old brother.
"You peed?"
"No! That dream…" Don trembled more at the thought of it.
"Oh. And what do you want?" Rigby yawned again. He didn't want to be told Don's night experiences.
"Can… can I sleep here tonight?" the little raccoon hesitantly asked and flipped his tail.
Rigby flopped back on his pillow.
"Ask mum and dad to sleep in their room, man." He mumbled.
"But they are asleep and they won't hear me! PLEAASE! At least gimme some sugar!" Don pleaded and looked at his older, yet slightly shorter brother with pleading eyes. His pupils looked bigger in the darkness and his mouth was almost in the shape of the number three. Rigby groaned.
"Fine, fine. You can sleep here tonight. BUT just for tonight." He said. His mouth formed a slight smile to see the joy on his younger brother's face, who quickly climbed in his bed and cuddled up under his blankets.
He turned on the other side and soon fell asleep too.
Rigby awoke from something; he didn't know how much time passed since then, but he felt as if something was shaking in his bed. At first he thought he was just imagining things, then he thought it might be an earth quake, but after it kept shaking, he realized that an earthquake can't last that long. Also, their mommy and daddy raccoons would wake them up and tell them to hide under a table, a desk or a door frame if there was an earthquake.
It was also kinda hot in his bed. Maybe because he was brushing his furry skin against his brother's, which made him feel slightly disgusted for a second, but then he shrugged it off and pulled the blankets a bit off him. After removing them from their chest, his skin met the cold air and made him realize that a certain spot was wet. Was that sweat? He didn't usually sweat when he slept, even if covered with huge blankets. Then it hit him: Don probably drooled on him!
Rigby made a disgusted face and kept whispering "eww" all along. He decided to get up and grab a tissue or tallow or something. But just when he was about to get up, he realized he was gripped by two fluffy arms.
"EWWW! Man, that's sick!" Rigby almost yelled and tried to shove the arms away from him. However, Don didn't move them. He was the one shaking the whole bed and there were tears coming out of his eyes while he was sleeping. Now Rigby wasn't so angry, instead, he grew slightly concerned for his little brother's sake. He wondered how come Don's tears actually landed on his chest, but nevermind that. Rigby gently started shaking Don, but he didn't get up, he just continued whimpering and shaking.
"Don…" at first it was a whisper.
"Don, dude..!" then it got louder.
"DON!" eventually, Don shot up and looked around in fear.
He felt his cheeks were wet, and then he spotted his older brother's glance, which was a mixture of annoyance, anger and yet… slight concern. People, who didn't know Rigby would never notice that concern in his eyes, but Don, had lived with Rigby enough to notice that. Of course, he was oblivious to the fact how much Rigby envied him, but that was another story.
"Would you at least stop shaking?" Rigby finally spat at him, making him put his head down and letting some more tears roll.
The older, but shorter raccoon looked at him in confusion. Now, the entire wrath melted away and the only thing that remained was the concern.
"Are you… alright..?" he blurted out quietly and slightly caressed his brother's arm, near his elbow.
Don lifted his head and gave him a glance that said something between "Not really" and "Are you kidding me?" He placed his face in his paws for a second, then looked at the ceiling and sighed.
"What happens in that dream of yours?" Rigby finally asked.
"Well… it's definitely more like a nightmare than a dream." he started cowardly.
~Flashback/Nightmare~
The little raccoon entered the kitchen. There were all the members of his family – his mom, his dad and his older brother. But something didn't feel right. Why was the kitchen so dark? Why everyone was speaking so loudly, yet so deafly? He didn't understand the words his parents were saying, their speech was gibberish.
"Mommy? Daddy?" he asked in trembling voice, but his parents didn't notice him. They were just arguing, which really puzzled Don. He had never seen his parents fight or argue before.
He looked at the table; his brother was sitting on one of the chairs. He stepped closer and tried to pull him, but he didn't move.
"What's going on with them?" he asked rather frightened, but the limp figure on the chair didn't say anything.
Don poked his brother, but nothing happened. He tried calling his name, gently pushing him, but nothing worked. This made him panic. He finally took Rigby by the paw and noticed how cold and pale was, along with his whole body.
"MOMMY! DADDY! THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH…" he shrieked in terror.
"Yes, sweetie, you can go outside and play." His mother replied to him with a soft tone, and then she raised her voice again. "As I was saying…"
"No, really! Rigby isn't…"
"Your mommy and I are a bit busy now, honey!" his dad said and continued the argument.
Don felt his eyes filling.
"Oh, come on, you can't do that, big brother! Wake up!" He pulled the dead raccoon into a hug and raised his head. Now, their parents were somewhat further away and their voices echoed, it was like they were somewhere far away in the distance.
But Don was a bit busy with something else.
"Come on! You must come back! Please, gimme some sugar! Sugar? Sug…gar…" his voice cracked and faded and some hot tears fell on the decayed raccoon, that he held in a tight embrace. He looked up and saw that everything in the house was now grey. Grey walls, grey furniture, grey ceiling… There was no sign on his parents, except for a note left on the ground.
"Going to the store. BRB."
Mom & Dad.
As the younger raccoon stared at it, the & sign slowly crossed out by itself.
~End of F/N~
"So… that's it, dude?" Rigby looked rather disappointed.
"It was scary for me! What if it happens in real life? What if someday our parents don't care for us and the fact that you…" the four year old couldn't shut his mouth.
Rigby sighed.
"Look now, man. It's not gonna happen, at least not any time soon. Mom and dad love each and they would never fight! Besides, they love you way too much to not pay attention to you." He didn't know if Don caught the hint, but their parents sometimes acted like they loved Don more.
"It's not only that…" Don started. "What if… you know… someday you die and they don't notice it? I don't want you to die, bro."
Rigby looked at the space in front of him. He never really noticed that part of the nightmare; it was one hundred percent unlike him. He would usually rant and pout for being thought of as dead, but not this time.
Was it true? Was Don's biggest feat the loss of his older brother? Rigby then looked down at the blankets, slightly touched by these news.
"R-rigb-by? Can… can you give me some sugar?" the little raccoon asked furtively.
Rigby rolled his eyes, but there was also a genuine smile on his face. He'll let it happen, just once.
The raccoon siblings pulled each other into a hug. It lasted a bit longer than Rigby's intentions, but it really helped his younger brother to calm down.
After they pulled apart, they covered themselves with their blankets once again and fell asleep. This time, without any nightmares corrupting Don's sweet slumber.
As for Rigby… he had gotten used to them.