A/N: So this is a short little something. I've been talking with SuprSingr a bit, and per the norm it has inspired me to write. Like a lot. And because I'm a giant ball of emotional sap, it's angst. Eris-centered angst to be exact. Silver-Arch (thank you for that, Supr) also makes an appearance for some protective!Older brother floof. In other news, here you'll get a better feel for the middle and eldest Gifaldi siblings.
Disclaimer: I only partially own the Gifaldi siblings. It's a weird time-share thing. Heck, I don't even own the universe. Based on the SuprSingr fic: Life with the Shortmans (which is based on the characters of Hey Arnold!). In fact the Gifaldi patriarch is owned by whoever owns Hey Arnold! now. Things have gotten weird at this point... does this count as parody law yet?
In any case, I am a poor college student and I own virtually nothing.
It took Silver all of five minutes of being home to tell that something was wrong. Call it what you will, whether it be sibling telepathy or brotherly intuition; the point is, he knew that something was up with Eris.
As a creature of structure (an irony if he'd ever known one, considering her namesake), Eris's afternoon schedule was always the same. Upon arriving home with Sydelle Clover, she would proceed to complete her homework with a light afternoon snack, work on her chores of the day (which always included disinfecting her room), and then practice an instrument until Mom or Dad got home. Usually Silver got home around the time that she was just finishing off her snack. Today, however, was completely different.
The sound of drums was a common one in the household as the drums happened to be what Eris loved the most. Even when she was just a tiny tot she had loved playing around on their father's old bongo set. There was no place that Eris felt more at home than seated behind a bass drum and some cymbals, and honestly she was pretty amazing with them. Then again, Eris was pretty amazing with any instrument.
So to the unsuspecting observer, the sound of someone banging away on drums in the Gifaldi house would be considered pretty standard. Judging from the fact that it was at least a good hour before she should have started practicing and the fact that the drums were Eris's go-to instrument of comfort, however, it was clear to Silver that something was definitely wrong.
He made his way to the music room in a flash. Originally the space had been designed to be a second guest room, but their parents had decided to transform the space to provide a "classier" living situation. Silver wished that they could have made it into a laboratory to experiment in, but he also knew that Sydelle Clover would probably have tried to combine his most fragile and volatile specimens so that they "could all be friends," so it was probably for the best. At least this way they had a space for all of the instruments (which technically they were all allowed to use, but Eris was particularly fond of them). The walls were also heavily padded to prevent the sounds from being overheard a neighborhood over.
Knocking slightly was the only warning he gave before intruding on Eris's jam session. As he opened the door, Eris paused in her drumming and sighed.
"What is it Archie?" she asked. He shrugged.
"A little early for you to be practicing," he commented. Eris frowned.
"Well maybe I just felt like it," she stated defensively. There was a certain tiredness in her tone that Silver couldn't help but catch. "Or maybe I'm just embracing my place in life."
"What do you mean?" Silver pressed.
Eris scowled and hit the cymbals once. Silver winced.
Regaining her composure, Eris sighed. "Mom wants to throw me a birthday party," she told her brother. Silver gave her a confused look.
"So? Mom always wants to throw us birthday parties."
"Well maybe I don't want one!" Eris insisted, hitting the cymbals again.
Silver frowned deeply. Sure, Eris was a bit of a reserved person who preferred her instruments to hanging out with people, but she always enjoyed herself at his and Sydelle Clover's birthday parties. What was the issue?
"Why not?" he finally voiced his concern. His sister set down the drumsticks and turned to face his general direction.
"Do you have any idea what they think of me in my grade?" she asked him sincerely. Silver's eyes widened. Did his sister not want to throw a party because of something some kid told her? Was she being bullied? He scowled at the thought.
"What do they say?" he asked, his anger deeply embedded in the question. His fist was clenching and unclenching at his side in preparation of a potential battle. If someone was making his sister feel bad…
Eris's expression shifted to something of melancholy, a sad smile gracing her features. "You are in the presence of the Phantom of the Music Room."
"What?" A general helping of annoyance was sprinkled on top of Silver's disbelief. There was no way he was going to let this slide. "Who do I have to go after for that one?"
The darkness lacing his voice caused Eris to frown.
"You are not to get after anyone," she scolded her brother.
"Why shouldn't I?" he snapped back, "Look, E, I may not be the best guy around but if you think I'm going to just sit on the sidelines while someone is bullying my little sister when I could be doing some-"
"It's not bullying!" Eris interrupted hastily, then continued with a sigh, "It's not. The other kids don't mean anything malicious by it. They just… they don't really notice me as a person, I guess. I don't know. It's hard to tell what people are thinking sometimes."
Silver looked at his sister, trying to understand what she meant. The moments where he was forced to realize Eris's limitations were always difficult ones. So much of the time she was just his little sister, a kid like anyone else. She had her neuroses and her instruments and they got into sibling squabbles just like he did with Sydelle Clover. The three of them were so close-knit that Eris's limitations didn't matter. It was always in the background as just one of the things that made Eris, well, Eris. She didn't make it seem like she felt disabled by it.
The truth was, however, that there was a disconnect. While he and Sydelle Clover might be used to it the rest of the world certainly wasn't. He always thought Eris to be too big of an introvert to really make any friends, but for the first time he realized that there was more to her seclusion than that. She couldn't read body language like the other kids, talk about television shows like they did, or even discuss fashion with the other girls. Eris would never admit any of that either, partially because she didn't know that those were things she was missing out on.
"It's not right," he told her angrily, "Why don't you just tell them it bothers you?"
"And what, tell them to be my friend because it's the nice thing to do?" Eris shot back sarcastically, "Look, I don't know why it's so hard to talk with the other kids, it just is. I'm not even that bothered with the whole 'Phantom of the Music Room' thing. I like the music room. I like the fact that my aid doesn't have to walk me through everything in there. I like being able to keep up with the other kids for the most part. And I like the music teacher, who appreciates my work regardless of whether I am seeing or not. In there, I'm not told that I'm doing well for a blind girl. I'm just doing well. So of course I spend a lot of time in there. There's even something nice about having that label, you know? Maybe I like the attention in some twisted way, I don't know."
"But what does this have to do with a party?" Silver asked. Eris let out an annoyed huff.
"Everyone likes an urban legend. No one is very interested in befriending one," she explained, "Mom wants to invite my 'friends from class.' How can I tell her that I don't have any? She thinks I'm doing well here, but hanging out with you and Sydelle can only go so far."
Silver watched his sister as frustration welled up within him. If there was one thing he hated more than anything, it was feeling like there was nothing he could do. Especially with something like this. Eris could be annoying at times, but overall his sister was great and any kid would be lucky to be her friend. Kids were idiots.
He frowned thoughtfully before pounding his fist into his hand with resolve.
"Y'know what? We are going to throw you a great birthday party. You, me, Syd, Bard, and any other kid we deem cool enough to join us," he told her, "Who needs the dumb kids in your class anyway?"
Eris smiled softly and shook her head. "They're not dumb, Archie."
Silver waved the thought away. "Who needs them, E? Seriously? Sydelle and I know you better than anyone, Bard thinks you're pretty cool for a girl, and I'm sure we can round up plenty of kids that have participated in one scheme or another that would love to party with you. You are Eris Gifaldi, the Phantom of the Music Room. You said it yourself, E. You are a legend."
A moment passed and suddenly Eris was laughing, long and hard. She clutched her stomach as she chuckled, mirth evident on her face.
"Thank you, Archie," she told him sincerely, "I really did need that."
He smiled. Even in the moments where he couldn't fix all her problems, at least he could make her smile.
"Hey, what else are brothers for?" he asked, "Through thick and thin, we're Gifaldi siblings to the end! How else will we survive this weirdo family?" He smiled warmly. "Now come on, we've got to do our homework. I'm sure this little pity party of yours really threw a wrench into your perfect schedule."
Eris frowned. "That could have been a nice moment, you know."
"C'mon, you know me better than that. I'm not that nice of a guy," Silver reminded her with a mischievous smirk, "Come to think of it, I'm sure all of the bacteria that will multiply in your room with the added hour they have to live could provide me with some pretty great specimens."
"They will not!" Eris cried as she picked up a drumstick and hurled it at him. He easily dodged the projectile, laughing as he did so.
"There's only one way to find out!" he told her as he made a swift exit to deter any other weapons she might throw at him.
"Boys," she mumbled under her breath. As she moved to pick up the thrown drumstick, however, she smiled. Her brother may be a jerk and a half more often than not, but he did make it clear that he cared about her in his weird "Archie" way. When she really thought about it, it would be easier for both him and Sydelle Clover to simply bypass her in their schemes, especially with how much she always protested. Still, Archie would always convince her to lower her guard. The parts where they got in trouble weren't fun to be certain, but even if she never had anyone to talk to in school she knew she would always have her siblings. Through thick and thin, Gifaldi siblings to the end. The thought was comforting. Eris knew she always had people in her corner, and that was all that mattered.
A/N: The ending is a little wonky, I realize. Let's be real, I didn't spend a lot of time on this, but wanted to post it nonetheless. Still, I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think!
-NerdilyNi
