"Ooooh, baby brother." He smiles as he enters the garden, they'd put Zaves down for a nice nap, and he had a promise to fulfill, "Where ever are you?"
The chirping of the birds in the vast Garden is the only response he gets, no sight nor sound of his precious, sneaky baby brother. Joshua has always been good at hiding from them when it came to them deciding he needed a bit of laughter in his life, their little Gardener worked much too hard, he'd use this time to put a bit of laughter into his quiet life and then force him to take a nap, when he was through with him.
He sees his brother's clippers and watering can resting lightly on the dirt path next to a rose bush, it had been the rose bush they had last seen him at, and he'd taken his moment of peace to find himself a nice hiding spot to hunker down in, hoping beyond hope that he would give up the chase and return to the Infirmary.
Akriel wasn't so easily deterred though.
He made a promise, and he keeps his promises.
And he doesn't make empty threats either.
"Oh," he spoke into the hush of the Garden. "You want me to hunt you down, do you?" He waits, ears tuned for the possible crack of a twig or shuffle of a bush. "You know how much worse it is if you make me find you, little willow." Not a sound of an angel, not a breath, not a single inkling of the other being hiding from him somewhere in the fauna. He chuckles as he leaves the evidence of his brother's being there laying in the soft dirt, walking slowly down the beaten path, gazing into the shadows of the trees and the dancing tall grass. "I'm going to have a nice go at that belly of yours." He speak out in the open, he knows that where ever his brother is hiding that he can hear him, and he hopes he can make a giggle of anticipation escape him, giving away his location. "It's going to get lots of love. It's so neglected. It needs as much attention as it can get." Silence echoes around him, the wind hums through the trees, the birds chirp above him, but nothing manmade. "And, let's not forget those little armpits of yours."
He pauses, listening for any sound that would indicate any direction, but there's nothing but the sounds of nature. This is Joshua's domain, he knows the Garden more then any of them do, save for their Archangel, he knows all the nook and crannies for one to hide away in. They always find him though, when they play these games of theirs, at the end of the day they get to have their way and their beloved little brother gets his.
Joshua is a workaholic, he works none stop, and sometimes he needs convinced to take a rest.
That's where they come in.
"And that bitty little neck, you could never stand it when we gave that neck some loving, those high pitched little giggles you give." He smiles, peering over a thick berry bush. "Music to our ears."
There it is. The slight rustle in the bushes. The sound he's been waiting for. He turns in the direction of the noise and steps through the bushes. The Virtue smiles as he comes to stand behind a tree, hands pressed lightly against trunk of the tree, he peers around it to the other side. His eyes meet those of forest green. "Found you."
Joshua shrieks lightly and pushes away from the tree, turning to run in the other direction, and he laughs softly. "I love this part." And darts around the tree to make chase.
They run through the trees, jumping over overturned tree trunks, off boulders strewn about, over bumbling creeks. Joshua nearly shakes him, through many twists and turns around trees of different kinds, but he manages to pick up the trail after a moments loss. He loves the chase, it's his favorite part, the delirious laughter that comes from his younger brother as he peers over his shoulder to see the distance between them makes his heart soar.
The chase doesn't usually end in such a manner as it did this time though.
He skids to a stop, watching with horrified wide eyes, as his brothers boot catches on a tree root, and he tumbles forward. His knees hit the ground hard as he rolls forward, rolling head over heels, he comes to a rocking stop. His legs spread in front of him, back curled inwards, he shakes his head to clear away the forming clouds.
"Josh!" The healer rushes forward, jumping over the tree root that had caught his brother up, and kneels behind him as he gently curls his fingers over his shoulders. "Josh, are you alright?"
His brother shakes his head, fists pressing lightly to his temples, and takes a deep breath. "I..I think so."
"Does anything hurt?" He feels at his head for any knots forming under his curls. "Your head? Your knees?"
"No…." Joshua shakes his head again. "No, I think I'm alright."
"Don't lie to me."
The Gardener shakes his head, this time in denial, and turns to look at him from over his shoulder. "I'm not, older brother."
"If you're sure?"
He nods this time. "I'm sure."
"Good." The Virtue smiles at him mischievously. "You know what's going to happen now?"
He giggles softly, nodding his head, and the older angel smiles at him fondly as he curls his fingers around his shoulders a bit tighter, to keep him in place, and steps around him to straddle his waist as he pushes him down into a laying position among the soft grass under them. "We haven't gotten to play together in months." He pokes him in the belly playfully. "Have you been taking care of yourself without our intervention?" The Gardener giggles lightly and nods his head, squirming under him, and he smiles at the younger angel. "You have? Good angel."
Joshua settles under him, his head cushioned on the soft grass, and he smiles down at him softly. "You know what I'm going to do now?" He pokes him in the belly gently and he giggles lightly, squirming from side to side, and swats at his fingers. "I'm going to give you the most torturous of all tickle tortures. To make up for lost time." He continues to poke him in the belly and sits back softly. "But where to start?" He reaches forward and wiggles a finger under his ear. "There's so many fun spots to go for."
"Ak, no!"
"Ak, yes!"
He digs his fingers into his belly and the Gardener jolts harshly, bursting into bright laughter, he squirms from side to side under him. "How about we start with this belly, here?" He spiders his fingers over his lower belly and Joshua shrieks under him. "I've always loved this belly." He stills his fingers for a moment and Joshua breathes in frantically. "What do you say?" He wiggles his fingers lightly. "Should I go at this belly?"
"Nohoho!"
He looms over him, smiling down at him, and digs his fingers back in. Joshua arches his back, shrieking in laughter, and drums his heels into the soft ground underneath him.
Then his face drains of color.
Akriel pulls back immediately, frowning in distaste for the sudden loss of color, and rests his hands on his thighs lightly. "Josh?"
"Hurts."
"What hurts, baby brother?"
He grimaces. "My knees."
"You knocked them pretty hard." Akriel climbs up from his waist, falling into healer mode, and feels lightly at his knees, watching him for reactions. Joshua inhales suddenly, his legs jerking, when he finds the sensitive spot. "You've probably bruised them." He climbs to his feet, kneeling down, and slides his arms under the Gardener. "We should get you to the Infirmary to take a closer look." The younger angel curls his arm around his older brother's neck as he stands them up again.
…
"What happened?"
He'd crossed to their side at first sight of them. Raphael leaned over the Gardener's bed to pet his curls back, looking to his trauma specialist for clarification. Akriel places a pillow under the young angels knees and rests them gently over top of it. "He took a bit of a tumble in the garden while we were playing around."
"We'll get some ice, in case of bruising."
"You guys are overreacting."
"Hush you." The Healer taps him on the nose. "We rarely get the chance to dote on you."
Joshua blinks up at him, but cuddles down against his pillows and blankets, closing his eyes lightly. "I'm going to take a nap."
"Good. You could use one."
